Meat-Eating Gnats and Pirates in Owlboy: Enemy Guide
How the Meat-Eating Gnats and the Pirates behave as enemies in Owlboy and the best approach to each.

How do you deal with Meat-Eating Gnats and Pirates in Owlboy?

You deal with Meat-Eating Gnats by staying in the light of the Floating Continent, and you deal with Pirates by expecting them alongside the larger Battle of Advent. The official materials do not list a dedicated strategy for either enemy group, so what follows is limited to what is documented, mainly on the community wiki.
What do Meat-Eating Gnats do and where do they swarm?
Meat-Eating Gnats are enemies found in the Floating Continent, according to the Owlboy Wiki. They look like small bugs that are red, yellow, and pink.
Their threat is darkness. According to the same wiki, the gnats damage Otus over time if he stays in the darkness for too long, but they will not attack him if he is in the light.
They are also hard to spot: the wiki notes they are initially unseen, though one segment shows them visibly when a hole full of them is disturbed by a light. Geddy, one of Otus's gunner companions, is fearful of the prospect of gnats, per the wiki.
Who are the Pirates and where do they show up?
The Pirates are the sky-pirate force behind the Battle of Advent, one of the story's major conflicts. According to the Owlboy Wiki's Advent Guard page, the Advent Guard attempted to hold the city against the pirates during the Battle of Advent.
Their leader, Molstrom, directed the assault: according to the wiki, during the Battle of Advent, Molstrom led The Pirates aboard his Dreadnought in search of the second Owl Relic.
How should you deal with each enemy type?
Against the gnats, light is the confirmed defence: the wiki states they will not attack Otus if he is in the light, so staying lit is the documented way to avoid damage over time. How best to traverse the dark stretches themselves is not described in the material here, and the wiki does not list specific counters, so treat that as undocumented.
Against Pirates, no individual pirate attack patterns or weaknesses are recorded in the wiki entries consulted, only their role in the Battle of Advent and Molstrom's Dreadnought assault.
Are Meat-Eating Gnats and Pirates a major threat?
Not based on what is documented. The gnats are a hazard tied to dark areas of the Floating Continent rather than a boss encounter. The Pirates are part of the story's big battle sequence, but the material here does not rate their difficulty or give damage figures. For the game itself, see the Owlboy Steam page.
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