Sanctuary ape guide: the six apes, the ten fights and Magog

A GUIDE TO SANCTUARY OF THE PLANET OF THE APES · 1 NOVEMBER 2026

The six apes in Sanctuary of the Planet of the Apes really are different animals. Tano has two-thirds more health than Pip, Oden’s punch reaches a third further than Caesar’s, and Pip jumps twice as high as Tano. This guide compares them with the numbers the game uses, then goes through the ladder, all the way to Magog.

HOW DAMAGE WORKS

A hit does the move’s base damage, times the attacker’s power, divided by the defender’s defence.

A blocked hit still does 14% of its damage. Blocking also fills both meters, though the blocker gets more meter than the attacker.

Grenades are different. A grenade blast can’t be blocked. It knocks down everyone inside it, and the closer to the middle you are, the more it hurts. That includes the thrower: if you’re inside your own blast, you take 40% of the damage.

Armoured specials (Tano’s Ground Pound, Colonel Brace’s Breach Charge and Magog’s Earthbreaker) don’t stop when you hit them with an ordinary attack. Your blow does half damage and they carry on. Only a special can interrupt them.

THE SIX APES

The number after each special is its base damage.

• Caesar is the baseline: 1.00 on reach and jump, and just above it on the rest. His Rifle Shot is a fast, straight shot across the screen and easy to aim. Learn the game with him.
• Tano is in a class of his own for toughness. Between his health and his defence, a hit that would take 10 off Pip takes about 6 off him, out of a much bigger bar. He’s the slowest ape and barely leaves the ground, so he can’t chase. Block, walk in, and let the Ground Pound do the work.
• Oden has the longest punch in the game, and a punch is the fastest attack. Stand at the very end of his arm and jab. Anyone walking in gets hit before they can reach you.
• Saba is Oden the other way round: the longest kick, and a short punch. Kicks do nearly twice the damage of punches, so play her at kicking range and she hits hard for her size.
• Quill is fast and jumps well, but he’s fragile. Blade Rush is the cheapest special of any ape, so you’ll have it more often than with the others.
• Pip has the least health and the weakest blows, but he’s the fastest, jumps highest, and his Grenade does more damage than any other ape special. He’s the hardest ape to win with, and air kicks are his main attack.

THE LADDER

Opponents react faster and block more as you climb. “Blocks” is how often they react in time to block an attack coming at them. The last two columns are for Caesar: how much one of their specials takes off him, and how many clean kicks it takes him to finish them.

THE EARLY FIGHTS: HOLLIS, DRAY AND KANE

The first three rarely block and don’t hurt much. Use them to learn your ape’s range. Kane, the collared chimpanzee, is the first one who jumps much, so be ready for air kicks coming in.

SGT. VOSS AT MARKET STREET

His Frag Out is a grenade, so blocking it is useless. When he throws, jump or get out of the way. He’s slow and rarely jumps, so a sweep followed by stepping back works well. If you’re Pip, keep your own grenades well away from you: Voss is happy to fight at the distance where your blast catches you too.

LT. ANSARI AND CAPT. REEVE

Ansari fights from range, with a fast Aimed Shot. Block it low and walk in behind your guard. Reeve swings a length of rail with plenty of reach, so don’t stand just outside his range. Either fight him from further out, or get right in close.

MAJ. STRAND ON ALCATRAZ

Burst Fire is three shots in a row, up to 35 damage if all three land. That’s a third of Caesar’s health in one go. When his meter fills, block and keep blocking until all three shots have passed.

COL. BRACE AT THE PYRAMID

His Breach Charge is armoured, so you can’t interrupt it with a punch or a kick. Block it, or use your own special to meet it. He nearly always fights on the ground, so the air kick is your best way past his guard.

ELLIOT HAYNE AT CITY HALL

The Prime Minister blocks more than half of everything you throw, and fires the fastest shots in the game, two at a time. Mix high and low on every approach: he guesses which way to block, and an air kick followed by a sweep beats whichever guess he makes.

MAGOG

The last fight. Magog has more health than anyone in the game, a long reach, and the cheapest special of any opponent, so he uses Earthbreaker often. It’s armoured, so you can’t knock him out of it with a normal attack.

How hard Magog hits each ape, and how long each ape takes to beat him:

He barely jumps. Wait for an Earthbreaker to finish, then punish him while he recovers, and use the clock if you need to: a round you’re ahead in at the buzzer is a round won.

▶ PLAY SANCTUARY OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

The controls, the story so far and how the game was made are on the Sanctuary of the Planet of the Apes page.

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