[GameSpot] - Metroid Dread Boss Guide: How To Beat Samus' 10 Monstrous Foes

[343iBot]

Metroid Dread may canonically follow Metroid Fusion, but the latest entry to Samus' 2D adventures closely follows Metroid: Samus Returns in terms of combat. That means the boss battles can be pretty tough, encouraging you to be aggressive and react to attacks with skillful displays of Samus' abilities. There are a total of 10 different boss enemies in Metroid Dread, though you will face a few of them multiple times and in different iterations. Below, we go over strategies for each.

Metroid Dread is the conclusion to Samus' 2D saga, and it goes out with a bang, telling a more cinematic story by using cutscenes and voice acting. The game leans hard into narrative themes of fear and dread, which primarily come through with the seven EMMI you encounter throughout the campaign, each of which has been programmed with one of Samus' abilities. If this is your first time playing through one of Samus' adventures, we've got a few tips and tricks for overcoming Metroid Dread.

In GameSpot's Metroid Dread review, Steven Petite writes, "More than anything else, Metroid Dread feels like going back to a place of comfort after a long time away. Though the gameplay is refined and new features have been added to the mix, Dread sticks closely to the formula of its predecessors. In the end, for longtime fans like myself, that's probably for the best. There's nothing to dread here. We're home again."

Corpius

Corpius is the first big bad you face. This boss is more of a training tool than a challenge so don't worry too much about this fight. Corpius just has two attacks you have to look out for, and both involve the swiping of its spiked tail. If Corpius rears its tail back, it's planning to plunge it forward, and if it twists its tail to the side, it's going to swipe at you. Dodging towards Corpius or away from it will get you away from the first, while the latter can be easily dodged by jumping. He does have one more attack--an acid ball spit--that's very easy to dodge, though it's worth shooting it out of the air for some easy health and missile ammo.

Corpius has a really easy and obvious weak spot: the head. Your normal beam attack won't cut it--you'll have to use the charge beam or missiles. Just keep shooting at it. Of note, when Corpius uses the plunge attack, you can dodge forward to get in close. Corpius' tail will be stuck in the ground for a few seconds behind you, giving you the chance for some easy hits on the head. Do enough damage and the fight will go into its second phase, where Corpius will turn invisible. Your strategy is the same as before but now it will be a bit harder to dodge its tail and hit its head.

You can keep shooting the head while Corpius is invisible, but it's far easier to just use your beam attack on the glowing part of its tail--this will eventually open up a chance to slide underneath Corpius and counter its follow-up attack, playing a brief cinematic in which Samus can land some easy missile shots on its head. Following the animation, Corpius will attempt to cover the floor in acid, so use the Spider Magnet to cling to the walls to avoid the attack. Keep dodging and shooting and you'll win in no time.

Kraid

If you spam attacks fast enough, you can clear Kraid's first phase in seconds. Shoot him in the eye with a charge beam or missiles and he'll roar in pain, allowing you to unload into his mouth. He'll try to stop you by throwing out his talons or breathing fireballs and bombs--the talons and bombs can be shot out of the sky for health and missile ammo. Just fire into his mouth with reckless abandon, however and you'll rocket past this first phase of the fight.

In Phase 2, you need to be careful of three attacks that will emerge from Kraid's belly buttons. The first is a purple blob that erupts into waves of energy when it hits the ground, which is easy to dodge by jumping off the wall to your left. Kraid will also fire bouncing ball-like bombs which can be dodged easily enough, but they're worth destroying as they provide health and missile ammo. Finally, Kraid will also fire massive spikes--just crouch and they'll sail over you.

The entire time you're dodging these attacks, you want to keep shooting his second weak spot, the wounded belly button. Eventually, Kraid will clutch his stomach with pain and fire spikes at you--dodge the spikes and they'll crash into the wall, knocking down a magnetic strip that Samus can cling to and ride up, allowing you to shoot Kraid in the face again, exposing his primary weak spot, his mouth. Eventually he'll move to knock you off and you can jump back to his feet to dodge the attack. Rinse and repeat until he's dead for good.

Robot Chozo Soldier

This boss likes to move around and attack with a mixture of different strikes and beam attacks, all of which travel at a variety of speeds. Standing still is a very easy way to die to the Robot Chozo Soldier. For an optimal chance at success, move so that you're near the robot but not in its face. This way, you'll bait it into using more mid- and close-range attacks, which are simple enough to dodge once you get a handle on their tells.

Robot Chozo Soldier has two slashing attacks--if the robot ***** back its bladed arm and it glows blue, get ready to counter, and if it glows reddish orange, get ready to jump and use Flash Shift to dash over. This boss has two beam attacks too. The first is a series of three orbs and the second is a powerful single beam--both can be dodged easily. This boss is fast so you'll basically be dodging, getting a few hits in, and then dodging again on repeat. Outside of countering the Robot Cozo Soldier, there's no opportunity to land repeated hits. This is a hit-and-run fight.

You'll actually face Robot Chozo Soldiers repeatedly throughout Metroid Dread--sometimes even two at once. They all behave exactly the same, so your strategy for one will work on the others. Of note, this fight becomes increasingly easier as Samus unlocks additional abilities, especially Storm Missile, which allows you to get in a lot of damage without having to resort to hit-and-run tactics.

Drogyga

Your worst fears have been realized--you're fighting a boss while underwater and you don't have the Gravity Suit yet. If you fought Nightmare in Metroid Fusion, you'll have some idea as to what you're in for with Drogyga, where you have to take Samus' sluggish movements into consideration when fighting. Remember: You can't slide underwater in just the Varia Suit; nor can you jump as high or run as fast as you could before.

Drogyga will use its tentacles to slice or stab you. You can tell based on whether the beast is using one tentacle to block the magnetized panel above you--if it is, you'll have to jump over two slices, and if it isn't, use Grapple Beam to pull yourself out of the way of the incoming stab. It will also fire slow moving fireballs that will descend towards you--the blue ones can be destroyed for health and missile ammo while the orange ones need to be dodged.

Your goal is the large tentacle above Drogyga's head--keep shooting it and eventually you'll stun Drogyga. When you do, use Charge Beam on the glowing panel on the wall and then Grapple Beam the magnetized panel above you to ride to the opposite side and shoot the other panel. Doing so will drain the water, opening up Drogyga's protective shell and revealing its purple weak point. Unload missiles on it, but be ready--when Drogyga recovers, it's going to try and attack you. You can counter its lunge but it's a fast window. Afterwards, just repeat the process--revealing Drogyga's weak spot two or three times should do the trick.

Chozo Soldier

As it so happens, some of Raven Beak's X-infected Chozo warriors are still around. In the first phase, jump over the Chozo Soldier's lunge attacks and use the slide or Flash Shift to dodge to the side when it leaps into the air and tries to hit you with a downward lunge. No fancy tricks to this phase--just keep firing missiles at the Chozo Soldier.

In the second phase, the X parasite will mutate the Chozo Soldier into a more beast-like creature. In this phase, the Chozo Soldier is faster and its lunge attack covers more distance. The downward lunge attack will also send out damaging black waves of energy, so after getting out of the way of the initial lunge, you'll need to also jump. In this phase, the Chozo Soldier will also regularly cling to the walls and spew giant beams of black gew at Samus. The Chozo Soldier will track Samus before spewing the beam so wait until just before it opens its mouth to dodge before attacking.

Like the Robot Chozo Soldier, you'll face the Chozo Soldier several times over the course of Dread's campaign. Some versions of the Chozo Soldier carry a shield in their first phase, allowing them to easily block your Missiles. These are easy to deal with however--get into the Chozo Soldier's face and bait them into trying to bash you with the shield, allowing you to counter the attack and then follow up with the Grapple Beam, tearing the shield away. Once the shield is gone, the Chozo Soldier behaves like any other you've faced before.

Escue

This bug has only one trump card up its sleeve: It can cover itself in electricity, making it immune to your missile and beam attacks. Other than that, Escue isn't all that much trouble. The monster uses a mixture of homing-based attacks: It can fire a purple orb that slowly flies towards you, it can launch a series of purple missiles that race at you, or it can just charge you head on and try to skewer you with its horn.

Regardless of what it throws at you, Flash Shift can get you out of trouble. Eventually, its electric shield will temporarily fall and you can fire your missiles at it before Escue recharges and resumes its onslaught. Rinse and repeat.

Upon defeat, a massive spike-covered X parasite will emerge from Escue. Use your missiles to damage the outer shell, relying on jumping, sliding, and Flash Shift to dodge it when it floats towards you. With each hit, the X will become invulnerable for a few seconds, before returning to its normal state, allowing you to shoot it again. After a few missiles, the shell will crack, allowing you to absorb the powerful X parasite within and take on Escue's Missile Storm ability for your own.

Experiment No. Z-57

Similar to Corpius, Experiment No. Z-57's weak point is its head. Unlike Corpius, this guy actually does a pretty good job at keeping you jumping and dodging so that you rarely get opportunities to land multiple hits in a row. Careful management of the Space Jump is crucial for making it through this fight, as Experiment No. Z-57 will regularly use slashing attacks that can cover up anywhere between a third to three-quarters of the screen, forcing you to hold your position in midair if you want to have any hope of dodging.

Unlike many of the fights up to this point, Experiment No. Z-57 is not one you want to rush. You'll get opportunities to attack and (thankfully) counter and stun the monster to land hits, but this is not the battle you want to try to tank. Experiment No. Z-57 dishes out some hard-hitting attacks and can catch you in some devastating combos if you don't remain mobile.

There are two moments in particular that you want to watch out for as you'll need to respond with abilities that aren't usually required for taking on bosses. The first is when Experiment No. Z-57 uses all five of its tentacles to brace itself in preparation to attack you--to counter this move, you need to use Storm Missile and hit all five tentacles at once. The other sees Experiment No. Z-57 blow hot air and lasers at you--both of which travel from the right side of the screen to the left--attempting to both damage you and knock you back into the left wall, which will also damage you. To overcome this move, you need to use a combination of both Space Jump and Speed Booster--the former will help you achieve the necessary height to find openings in the laser barrage while the latter will make Samus fast enough that she doesn't ultimately get blown into the left wall and take damage.

Golzuna

Golzuna has three very clear phases, each signaled by the evolving X parasite mutation inside it. This crab-like monster is no different from your average Muzby in its first form. Take it out like you would any other. When you do, it will evolve into a much stronger form, signaling Phase 2.

In Phase 2, the boss grows larger and gains a stronger attack, but it behaves the same as it did in its tinier form. You can't counter its attack though--instead, when it rears back to attack you, slide or Morph Ball underneath it and shoot it in its unprotected back. Any attack will do but Storm Missile will allow you to do the most damage the most quickly. If you don't want to wait for Escue to rear back, you can also use Space Jump and Flash Shift in conjunction to clear the top of it.

When Phase 3 starts, Escue grows even larger, so sliding or using Morph Ball to go underneath it to shoot it in its back is your best option, but you can still rely on Space Jump to go over. In Phase 3, Escue also starts trying to hit you with bombs, which explode in a grid. You can get an idea as to the shape of the grid based on where Escue shoots the initial bombs--the explosions fire in a + shape, so vertically and horizontally. You never have to worry about the explosions firing in a diagonal direction. Once you defeat this phase, a giant spiked X parasite (similar to the one that came out of Escue) will appear. Defeat the X just as you did with Escue to steal Golzuna's Cross Bomb ability.

Elite Chozo Soldier

The Elite Chozo Soldier isn't all that different from the standard shield-bearing Chozo Soldier. The Elite version has a larger health pool and attacks a little bit faster, so you'll need to perform better than you do against standard Chozo Soldiers. But ultimately, this guy isn't that much harder than what you've already faced before. He's just a speed bump on the way to the true threat: Dread's final boss.

Raven Beak

Hope you've done a few finger exercises beforehand to keep your hands limber, cause boy, you're about to be put through the ringer. Raven Beak has five phases, making this last fight more of an endurance test than anything else. Play your cards right and you should make it through Phases 1 and 2 without suffering a scratch, allowing you to make a few mistakes in Phases 3 and 4. Don't worry all that much about Phase 5--the game will graciously heal you and autosave beforehand and it is very easy to complete provided you know what you're supposed to do.

Phases 1 and 2 are basically the same; the only difference is that Raven Beak becomes invincible in Phase 2. In both phases, rely on Flash Shift to retreat from Raven Beak's three-hit melee combo, Space Jump to escape being cornered, missiles to take out the purple orb he throws at you (you'll get health and missile ammo for doing so), and counter to deal with his dashing gut punch. When he raises his cannon, he's about to flood most of the screen with painful energy, but there's a safe area right next to him--just be prepared to move away as soon as the energy field dissipates. In Phase 1, keep unloading Missiles on him. In Phase 2 (he'll start glowing reddish orange), your attacks won't have any effect, so you'll need to counter his dashing gut punch or approach him when he taunts you and counter his counter to open him up to attack.

In Phase 3, Raven Beak takes to the air. Hitting him with missiles is still your best bet, but he's also a bit faster while in the air so you may want to rely on Storm Missile or Samus' standard beam attack. If he's charging a beam attack, you just need to get under him as he'll only shoot in a diagonal line; once he begins firing, it's a good opening to use Storm Missile. He also has a gatling gun beam attack that tracks you--use Space Jump to circle him in order to avoid the attack. Raven Beak will also dive at you, either stomping down or soaring across the screen. Flash Shift will get you out of the way of the former, while sliding/Morph Ball will get you out of the way of the latter.

Phase 4 is basically a harder version of Phase 1. Raven Beak will add a hyper beam attack to his arsenal that does a lot of damage if it catches you. While he's charging, try to Space Jump towards the ceiling and then drop down while he's firing the beam, giving you an opportunity to send some missiles his way. There's also a new, for lack of a better term, Sun attack to look out for where Raven Beak summons a massive orange fireball that hangs in the sky and sends out beams of deadly energy--dodge it long enough and it will go away.

After all this, for Phase 5, Raven Beak will be infected by an X parasite and he'll mutate into a monstrous gooey blob. To beat him, just use Charge Beam and hit him in the face. Congrats! You've finally won.

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