Metroid Dread Final Boss Guide: How to Beat Raven Beak

The Metroid Dread final boss fight is, as you'd expect, one of the most difficult in the game. The Raven Beak fight is a three-part affair, and while you'll likely die multiple times early on, the key is paying attention to what Raven Beak does (though reading this guide helps too). Raven Beak follows set patterns, and exploiting these makes the fight go much faster and, usually, in your favor. Here's how to defeat Raven Beak

Read More: Metroid Dread Review

Metroid Dread Final Boss Phase 1

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The first phase is Raven Beak's most versatile. He has several possible attacks.

Jump Attack

Raven Beak glows purple and launches his version of a Screw Attack. In most cases, you can actually just stand still to avoid this one.

Beam Attack

Raven Beak points his arm cannon at the sky and unleashes a wave of energy. There's a small safe area right next to him. As soon as the energy clears, space jump and phase shift above Raven Beak and move to the other end of the arena.

Dash

Raven Beak slams into Samus.

Melee

He punches Samus three times, though you can sometimes jump to escape after the first hit.

Energy Wave

The Mawkin leader emits a screech and blasts deadly energy across the screen. Switch to morph ball mode as soon as you see him ready this attack. It's the only way to avoid it, and you'll open a chance to counter him as well.

Energy Ball

Raven Beak shoots a charged ball of energy into the air. It continues growing until it makes contact with Samus or she destroys it. Rapid blasts from her arm cannon often work more effectively than the charge beam or storm missiles, which take longer to fire.

Your goal in this phase is hitting Raven Beak enough times until he turns golden. Use Storm Missiles for this, and make sure to destroy the energy ball to recover some energy and missiles.

Once he turns gold, stop attacking because he's invincible. You're looking for chances to counter with a melee strike now. Timing it for his dash attack is difficult, so that should be a last resort. Your best bet is approaching Raven Beak while he beckons Samus and makes a beak-y sound. This triggers an attack you can counter.

Metroid Dread Final Boss Phase 2

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After you counter Raven Beak several times, he'll shed his armor and sprout wings. His attacks are easier to read now, but also more dangerous.

Slam

He slams down on the ground from mid-air. It's clearly telegraphed and easy to avoid

Charge Beam

Raven Beak tries aiming at Samus and unleashes a powerful beam attack. Avoid the sight line from his cannon, and you'll be fine.

Dash

Here, he'll slam into the wall at level with Samus. He moves fast with this one, and it's tough to avoid, but you can slide under him if you time it right.

Homing Beam

This is his most dangerous and annoying attack. Raven Beak fires a stream of beam shots in a counterclockwise circle. You'll have to space jump around him to avoid getting hit.

This phase is significantly more challenging, as Raven Beak moves faster, and there's no energy ball to recover with. Storm Missiles are, again, your best bet here since they track your foe. He moves too quickly to aim precisely with regular ice missiles.

Metroid Dread Final Boss Phase 3

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This is actually an easier phase, despite the hectic pacing. You'll need to pull off some melee counters again to win, but Raven Beak only has one new attack. He creates a flaming sphere every so often that emits energy pulses, and while Samus can't avoid these, you can recover energy again by laying a power bomb and destroying it.

You're looking for his charged fist attack, noticeable thanks to the red glow on his fist, as this is the one you can counter.

After you deal enough damage, you'll trigger two more attacks that have to be parried. Successfully parrying moves the fight to a fourth phase, but for story reasons, there's not much you have to do there other than fire your beam.

And that's a wrap on Metroid Dread. If you're eager to beat your best time, make sure to brush up on where the important upgrades are, including the Varia Suit and Gravity Suit.