It Takes Two Joy Boss Guide: Beat Every Phase Together

Prepare by Splitting Cody and May’s Jobs

The It Takes Two joy boss turns Cody into produce while May fights to keep a poisonous arena under control. Winning the It Takes Two joy boss fight means coordinating cleanup, crowd control, and attacks on exposed infection across three phases. Split those jobs early, and the shifts from tomato to potato to lime become much easier to follow.

Joy has no health bar. Progress comes from completing the encounter’s mechanics: defeat the attacking plants, open a route into Joy, and help May cut away the infection. Between those opportunities, you must survive crushing plant attacks.

Before the action gets busy, agree on who will call out poison, incoming attacks, and exposed targets. Cody and May have different responsibilities, but both players need to recognize when the fight switches from clearing enemies to helping Joy.

Situation	Cody’s responsibility	May’s responsibility
Poison-spreading plants appear	Charge into enemies while transformed	Attack with the sickle and wash away poison
Poison covers the floor	Clear enemies around May	Use the water hose to remove it
Soil becomes accessible beneath Joy	Ground pound the watered soil to enter Joy	Water the soil
Infection becomes vulnerable	Break open or lower the infected section	Cut the exposed infection with the sickle
Crushing plants attack	Watch ground shadows and evade	Watch ground shadows and evade

Keep your attention on the current objective. During cleanup, protect the space May needs to work. During an infection opening, shift immediately to the interaction that lets Cody expose a target.

The three transformations mark your progress:

Phase	Cody’s form	Main challenge	Infection objective
One	Tomato	Clear poisonous plants and enemy minions	Expose infection for May to cut
Two	Potato	Survive ground slams and repeat cleanup	Lower a leaf so May can rail ride to the infected bulb
Three	Lime	Survive attacks using five pot lids, then repeat cleanup	Bring Joy’s head down for May’s finishing attacks

Official page: It Takes Two (ea.com)

Phase One: Clear the Poison as Tomato Cody

The It Takes Two joy boss begins with Cody transformed into a tomato. Smaller versions of Joy appear around the arena, along with enemy minions. Those smaller plants spread harmful pink-purple poison across the floor.

Cody damages enemies by charging into them. May can attack with her sickle, but her water hose is essential for keeping the arena usable. The smaller Joy plants take roughly five or six hits to defeat, so keep attacking rather than expecting a single charge to finish them.

Clear Enemies While May Washes the Floor

Work through the opening sequence in this order:

1. Attack the smaller plants. Charge into them as Cody and use May’s sickle when she has room to fight.
2. Wash away spreading poison. Switch May to the water hose whenever contaminated ground blocks your movement.
3. Protect May during cleanup. Keep Cody near enough to attack enemies approaching her.
4. Finish the remaining attackers. Clearing the group leads to a short scene and exposes soil at Joy’s base.

Resist the urge to chase enemies across poisoned ground. Use May’s hose to clear a route, then send Cody through it. If May needs to stop attacking and clean the floor, keep Cody focused on the enemies around her.

For the opening of the It Takes Two joy boss, use a simple callout such as “washing” whenever May switches tasks. That tells Cody to cover her while she removes the hazard.

Water the Soil and Expose the Infection

Once the enemies are gone, look for the small soil patch beneath Joy. This changes the objective from arena combat to a coordinated interaction.

May waters the soil, and Cody ground pounds it to enter Joy. Inside, Cody works through the button-mashing interaction to open the infected section. May then attacks the exposed infection with her sickle.

Keep talking through that handoff. Call “soil” when May needs to water, then “open” when Cody exposes the target. Short instructions help both players switch tasks without searching each other’s screen.

After May cuts the infection, stay alert. Joy’s next attack sequence begins before you can settle back into the opening routine.

Phase Two: Dodge the Slams and Reach the Infected Bulb

Joy places thorns around the arena, and the view changes from split screen to a shared camera. Large plant bulbs then slam down toward the players.

Watch the shadows on the ground. They mark the areas about to be struck. Move out of those spaces and keep watching for the next warning.

During this part of the It Takes Two joy boss, focus on survival. The immediate task is to avoid the descending plants until the next transformation begins.

Attack or hazard	Tell	Response
Poison spreading across the floor	Pink-purple patches cover the arena	Have May wash them away
Giant plant bulb slam	A shadow appears on the ground	Move out of the marked area
Later pot-lid slam sequence	A shadow appears on a lid	Jump to a lid without a shadow

Avoid watching only the plant overhead. Read the floor to judge where the strike will land. With both characters sharing the camera, call out the dangerous area while still checking your own position.

Repeat the Cleanup as Potato Cody

After the slam sequence, Cody becomes a potato. The familiar combat cycle returns: attack the poisonous plants, clear enemies, and use May’s hose to remove contamination.

Carry the same division of labor forward. Cody handles charging attacks and protects May while she cleans. May keeps routes clear and contributes sickle attacks when she can.

Once the plants are defeated, return to the soil interaction at Joy’s base. May waters the patch, and Cody enters Joy again.

This time, Cody brings down a leaf that May can rail ride up. At the top, May reaches a bulb with yellow globules that she needs to attack.

Follow the sequence rather than remaining at the base waiting for another ground-level target:

• Have Cody lower the leaf.
• Take May up the leaf rail.
• Attack the yellow globules on the bulb with her sickle.

The important change is May’s route. The opening phase teaches the shared rhythm, but this infection target requires her to travel upward before attacking.

Phase Three: Use the Pot Lids and Finish as Lime Cody

The next survival sequence introduces five pot lids in the middle of the arena. Get onto a lid as they rise, then watch for the shadows that signal incoming plant attacks.

Image: Steam / Hazelight Studios

When a shadow covers your lid, jump to one without a shadow. Keep checking your destination before committing to the jump.

This stretch of the It Takes Two joy boss changes where you dodge. Earlier, you escaped marked patches on the arena floor. Here, you move between raised lids while tracking which landing spots are threatened.

Call Out Safe Landing Spots

Use direct callouts such as “my lid is marked” or “this one is clear.” Check the shadows yourself as well; your partner’s destination still needs to be safe when you jump.

Do not keep following the same route automatically. Choose each jump from the current shadow pattern. The mechanic asks you to react to the marked lid, so keep your attention on those warnings.

Once the survival sequence ends, Cody transforms into a lime. Return to the established routine: charge into the attacking plants, wash away poison, and finish clearing the arena.

Lower Joy’s Head for the Final Attack

After the lime combat sequence, repeat the soil interaction so Cody can enter Joy once more. This time, he brings her head down.

May must attack the lowered head with her sickle until the infected section bursts. Keep attacking the exposed target to complete the encounter and trigger the ending scene.

Use this final checklist:

1. Survive the pot-lid attacks by moving away from shadowed lids.
2. Clear plants and minions while Cody is a lime.
3. Wash away poison with May’s hose.
4. Water the soil and send Cody into Joy.
5. Lower Joy’s head and attack it with May’s sickle.

Exploit the Infection Openings and Save Joy

The It Takes Two joy boss revolves around creating access to the infection. Cody makes vulnerable sections reachable, and May cuts them away. Treat each completed arena sequence as a cue to find the next interaction.

Vulnerable target or obstacle	How to handle it
Smaller attacking plants	Damage them with Cody’s charges or May’s sickle
Poison on the arena floor	Remove it with May’s water hose
Soil beneath Joy	Water it with May, then ground pound it with Cody
Exposed infection	Attack it with May’s sickle after Cody opens it
Bulb with yellow globules	Reach it using the leaf rail and attack
Joy’s lowered head	Keep attacking with May’s sickle to finish

If you lose track of the objective, identify what is currently on screen. Poison calls for water. Attacking plants call for charges and sickle strikes. Exposed soil calls for the watering interaction. A vulnerable infected section calls for May to attack.

Keep those jobs distinct during busy moments. Have Cody cover May while she washes the floor, then switch together when the arena clears. During slam sequences, prioritize dodging over searching for an attack opportunity.

Completing the fight removes Joy’s infection and leads into a recovery scene. Joy survives, and the conversation turns to Cody’s neglected gardening dream and the responsibility of supporting a partner. The outcome gives the encounter its purpose: every charge, spray of water, and sickle strike helps restore her.

FAQ

How do you beat the It Takes Two joy boss?

Clear the poisonous plants, have May water the soil beneath Joy, and send Cody inside to expose the infection. May cuts the vulnerable sections with her sickle. Repeat through the tomato, potato, and lime phases while surviving the ground-slam and pot-lid sequences.

Why doesn’t Joy have a health bar?

The It Takes Two joy boss progresses through phases and infection-removal objectives. Track your progress through Cody’s transformations and the changing targets: the exposed infection, the elevated bulb, and finally Joy’s lowered head.

How do you remove the poison during Joy’s fight?

Use May’s water hose to wash away the pink-purple poison on the floor. Keep Cody attacking nearby enemies while May cleans so both players can move through the arena.

What should May do when Cody lowers the leaf?

Rail ride up the leaf to reach the bulb with yellow globules. Attack those globules with May’s sickle to complete that infection-removal sequence.