How to Beat Kraid in Metroid Dread

People always talk about how Ridley is the baddest dude in Metroid, but personally, I’ve always been a Kraid fan. He’s just a big gross dragon man, launching weird spiky things out of his tummy. He’s kinda elegant in his simplicity, y’know? I was happy to see Kraid again in Metroid Dread, though I guess the feeling’s not mutual, because he’s in a bit of a mood when Samus encounters him chained up in a sweltering basement. Here’s how to beat Kraid in Metroid Dread.

How to Beat Kraid in Metroid Dread

This is a two-phase fight, first up on a platform at Kraid’s shoulder height, then down near his belly in the lava. To keep things concise, here’s a quick step-by-step guide on how to beat Kraid in Metroid Dread:

1. Shoot Kraid in the mouth with a missile or charged beam to make him roar. While his mouth is open, fire continuously into it.
2. When Kraid breaks the platform, fire missiles and charged beams into his middle belly hole, the one glowing pink. When you deal enough damage, Kraid will knock loose a Spider Magnet panel, which you can ride up to resume shooting at his face.
3. If Kraid rears back with his left arm, you’ll get a chance to counter him and stay on the panel longer. Repeat the loop until Kraid is beaten.

For phase one, you’ll be face-to-maw with Kraid as he launches nails and shoots fireballs at you. Kraid’s armor is impenetrable, but his mouth is nice and squishy, so pop off a missile or charged beam shot at his face to make him roar at you. While he’s roaring, pump as many missiles and charged shots into his mouth as you think you can get away with, while dodging all of his projectiles.

After you deal enough damage, Kraid will free his arms and smash the platform, knocking you down to his belly. His middle belly-hole is glowing pink, identifying it as a target. Fire continuously at the hole, but watch out for the wave of pink slime you’ll have to jump over, as well as the small, bouncy projectiles that you’ll either need to destroy or slide under. Kraid will also deploy his signature move, launching his weird spiky things out of his belly holes, but you can dodge these by either crouching or using your Morph Ball. When you deal enough damage to Kraid’s belly, he’ll clutch it in pain, then launch three spikes at once, which you can also duck under. The impact from the spikes will shake a Spider Magnet panel loose on the left wall, which you can ride back up to Kraid’s eyeline.

Up here, it’s business as usual. Shoot Kraid’s face to make him roar again and resume pumping missiles and charge beams into his mouth, all while shooting down the nails he throws at you to stay on the panel as long as possible. Watch his posture after he stops shooting; if he rears back with his left arm, you’ll get a chance to counter and stay on the panel. If his eyes glow, he’s going to rush you, which you can’t counter, so just drop back down to the belly to avoid damage. Repeat the loop, and Kraid will be toast, leaving you to escape the prison and claim the Diffusion Beam.

Incidentally, if you’ve performed a certain sequence break and obtained the Morph Ball Bomb earlier than you were supposed to, there’s a secret way to instantly beat Kraid in his second phase. When you drop down to his belly, bomb the panel on the bottom of the left wall to reveal a Morph Ball Launcher. Activate the launcher to launch yourself right into Kraid’s belly hole, and repeatedly detonate bombs to defeat him instantly, even resulting in a slightly different cutscene.