How to Beat Kraid in Metroid Dread

Kraid might be an unfamiliar face to those who’ve first started their galactic bounty hunting journey with Metroid Dread, but to fans of old, it is a more than recognizable foe. In this encounter, the extraterritorial creature finds itself in chains but still raring to claw its way into the flesh and bones of Samus Aran. Kraid is among one of the earlier bosses that will be encountered by the player on their journey to escape from Planet ZDR. Though it may be intimidating in size, the guide will give players all the information they need to defeat this returning adversary and all the methods available that could help the player reach such a goal.

Kraid Phase 1.

After having obtained the ability to turn into a morph ball, Players will stumble upon the boss chamber of Kraid in their journey to the bottom parts of Cataris.

If the cutscene isn’t skipped, the player will be able to get an extra shot in for free. Kraid will be leaning forward as close as it can with its mouth wide open, with the camera angle featuring both Samus and the creature. Charge up a shot with the shooting button, aim it directly towards the beast’s mouth, and fire. This will enrage it further and officially begin the boss fight.

Kraid only has access to a simple variety of moves during the first phase, being able to attack in two different ways. It will either start spewing blobs of flesh in conjunction with fireballs or fling its nails at Samus.

None of the projectiles that it’s launching at the player will prove much of a threat. They travel slowly and can be destroyed by the shots or missiles coming out of Samus’ arm cannon. The only thing of note is the fireball, which will require dodging from the player’s part. It is necessary to note that both the flesh blobs and nails will give the player opportunities to recuperate. Blobs will drop energy or missile pods upon being shot down, whilst nails will only give missile pods. If the player has kept their aim steadily trained on Kraid’s head, they will soon reach phase 2.

Kraid Phase 2.

Kraid will still maintain the same attack pattern that it held in phase 1 of the fight, whilst adding a variety of new moves into its arsenal. The meat blobs and fireballs will now start to pour out of the hole in its stomach instead, whereas its nails have become reserved for when you are using the magnet strip to reach the upper parts of the chamber so that you could shoot for its head.

Some new attacks that it has now gained access to include firing bone missiles from the three protruding holes in its stomach, and a left hook with its claws whenever you are using the magnetic strip. The bone missiles can be ducked under or used as footing, whilst the punch can be countered with good timing, leading to a good opportunity to dish out some damage.

The key to this section of the boss fight is the usage of the magnetic strip. On occasions where the large center stomach hole has closed up, the player will need to ride the strip up top so that they could continue inflicting damage upon the boss. Rinse and repeat the process a few times and another cutscene will play, this time to signify the end of the fight and the player’s victory.

There is a quicker method to conclude this part of this fight should the player have engaged in sequence breaking beforehand. If the player has managed to obtain the bomb ability before their encounter with Kraid, they can simply destroy the hatch behind them, enter into it and launch themselves into Kraid’s stomach, bombing it repeatedly to swiftly put an end to the second part of the boss fight. Though this method would make the second phase of the fight into a cakewalk, the process of getting bombs early would require getting the grapple beam early or a series of side paths that necessitates navigating through E.M.M.I zones. Thus, making this method not necessarily time-efficient or the cut and dry easier alternative.

Metroid Dread is available now on the Nintendo Switch.