The Missions in Evil Dead: The Game are arguably its toughest challenge, which rearranges the game in a potentially grueling survival-horror gauntlet. Some of the best Survivors are locked behind the Missions, but getting through them isn’t easy.
The fifth Mission, Homecoming King, is the longest and toughest of them all. Here’s how to get through it without tearing your hair out.
How to Beat ‘Homecoming King’ in Evil Dead: The Game
You play Mission 5 as King Arthur, up against an assortment of skeletal enemies. He’s effectively got maxed basic stats, but no active ability. Like Pablo, however, he gets a little more out out of Amulets than Ash does; one bar of Shield on Arthur can absorb one full hit from a standard or elite skeleton without being entirely dispelled.
Homecoming King differs from the other Missions in that it’s slightly randomized. You always begin at the Lucky Valley Lodge, but your path through the level may take you to either Flight 666 or the Fishing Village first.
Further, Homecoming King rewards exploration a bit more than the other Missions do. It’s usually not worth going off the critical path in Evil Dead‘s solo levels, because places you don’t have to go will generally be empty. That’s not the case in Homecoming King, which has a lot of extra loot stashed throughout the map, as well as multiple extra vehicles.
Arthur starts the mission with empty pockets and bare hands. Check the building directly in front of you for matchsticks, a Shemp’s cola, an Amulet, a crossbow, and some Special Weapon Ammo. If you take a quick detour into the nearby cabin, you can find some more ammunition, another Amulet, and a shovel in its basement.
While Arthur can also find a blunderbuss and a handgun for use in this mission, the crossbow has a lot going for it. It does high single-shot damage, and makes so little noise that you can take out a lot of random roaming Deadites with a headshot without alerting any others in the general area. The skeletal Deadites that make up most of your opposition in this level have a relatively short detection radius compared to the zombie crowd.
As silly as it might be for a knight in plate armor to be pursuing stealth objectives, you can go a long way in this mission playing assassin with a crossbow. Right up until almost the end of the level, you can even drop the elite skeletons with a successful headshot with the crossbow, especially if they’re charging directly at you.
Taking the shovel here does set off a trap, so three skeletal Deadites will spawn at ground level to chase you down, but it’s worth it if you’re heading to the Fishing Village.
Either way, secure a car and head to your next objective: claiming the Dagger of Kandahar.
Flight 666
Drive north along the roads in the general direction of the plane crash. You may want to stop at the base of the electrical tower, as if you can deal with the local skeleton population, there’s a blue-quality sledgehammer and a can of Shemp’s to be had here.
Proceed to the crash site. Snipe a couple of skeletons on approach, then approach the Dagger. This triggers the appearance of several new Deadites, including a pair of elites. Withdraw back the way you came and use the wing of the plane to your advantage; it’s a flat, smooth surface that the Deadites stand out against, which makes it easy to shoot them.
Once they’re handled, claim the Dagger. The last elite skeleton you kill will drop a blue-quality crossbow. Other elite skeletons also frequently drop a blue-quality improvised spear.
If you didn’t get the sledgehammer before, you can take a small detour here to climb up to the plane’s passenger compartment and find a rare-quality nail bat. If you’re not feeling the crossbow, it’s also not uncommon for a pistol to spawn somewhere in the general area.
The Fishing Village
Of the two potential locations of the Dagger on this map, the Village is arguably easier because there’s a lot of loot nearby. You can search the cabins surrounding the Dagger’s spawn point for tons of ammunition, Shemp’s, and a spare Amulet or two, although you’ll end up dealing with a couple of stray Deadites in and between the cabins.
When you approach the Dagger, it triggers the appearance of a new wave of Deadites. As usual with sudden ambushes, it’s easiest to withdraw from the area and use paths and staircases to your advantage, so the Deadites can’t surround you. The last elite skeleton to fall will drop a blue-quality crossbow.
Deal with them, then grab the Dagger and head back out.
The Knowby Cabin
Your next goal is to grab the Necronomicon, but there’s another stop you can make first. If you’re coming from Flight 666, this is on your way; if you’re headed over from the Fishing Village, it’s a significant detour.
Either way, it’s worth taking a trip to the Sewage Treatment Plant before you hit the cabin. Here, you’ll find one of Knowby’s reels playing on the back of a crashed car, surrounded by some familar-looking bodies. Macabre as it is, their loss is your gain, as you can loot their gear for an Amulet, two cans of Shemp’s, an epic-quality nailed bat, and most crucially, a legendary crossbow.
Once you reach the cabin, search the work shed outside and the rooms in the back for some more ammo. There’s also an Amulet and an epic-quality lumberjack axe in the living room, among the dead bodies of yet more playable characters, plus some Shemp’s in the kitchen.
Once you take the Necronomicon, it triggers an attack. Most commonly, this will be a wave of 8 normal and elite skeletons that show up outside, but once in a great while, you’ll get jumped in close quarters by Deadite versions of the dead characters in the cabin’s living room. Either way, take them out. One of the final elite enemies to fall will drop an epic-quality crossbow, which is unnecessary since we’ve already found the legendary version.
The Time-Space Rift
You’ll be informed at this point that the storm is closing in, and it’s worth taking that warning seriously. The fog at the edges of the map will begin to contract, and if you’re caught in it, you’ll be dramatically slowed down, your health will steadily drop, any car you’re in will be destroyed on contact, and even your flashlight battery will be drained. It’s easier and safer to sprint straight to your next objective, the underground cavern.
You’ll have to drop into it from above. Approaching the time-space rift causes Evil Ash to spawn. You can’t beat him right now, and instead, just have to survive for just under a minute.
It’s actually helpful here to bring a couple of extra Deadites into the fight with you, by letting them chase you into the cave, in order to burn a couple of valuable seconds with the invincibility frames on a finisher. Evil Ash himself can regenerate by Vader-style force-choking you, and his standard attack is a three-hit combination that takes a little practice to successfully dodge.
Fortunately, Evil Ash despawns instantly once you run out his timer, but the storm immediately starts closing back in. Don’t bother looking for a vehicle; just sprint straight towards your destination.
Payne Manor
The storm will stop closing in once you’re on the manor grounds, thankfully. Use your crossbow to take out the local skeletons from a safe distance.
Your first task is to track down and destroy the red skeleton flautists on your map. Each one has about 500 health, so they can soak up two hits from the legendary crossbow or 4-5 melee swings.
The red skeleton in the cemetery and on the lake both trigger Deadite ambushes when attacked or approached. If you’re running low on resources, it may be helpful to keep that in mind.
You may also be running in the red on your fear meter by the time you reach Payne Manor, between the fight in the dark with Evil Ash and the time it took you to get here. While there aren’t any handy lanterns or campfires to light on the manor property, there are plenty of exterior lamps you can use for a respite. I like to hole up next to one of the light sources and take the opportunity to snipe any skeletons I can see before continuing.
The destruction of the last red skeleton instantly drops the barrier on Payne Manor’s doors. Arthur’s sword is right in the front hall, but don’t pick it up right away, as that triggers the next stage of the Mission.
Instead, take a couple of minutes to ransack Payne Manor for resources. There’s an Amulet and a lot of ammo in the side rooms on the first floor, while on the second, you can find a Shemp’s, another Amulet, more ammunition, and a legendary-quality blunderbuss. This is overall a bit of a sidegrade from the crossbow, but if you’ve got a lot of handgun ammo stocked, it may be worth swapping over.
Once you grab Arthur’s sword, it triggers the next stage of the Mission. The storm begins to close back in at this point, and while you’ve got a grace period of about a minute, it’s easy to get stuck in Payne Manor if you don’t know the storm’s coming.
Arthur’s sword is hilariously powerful and does 1,000 points of damage on a normal hit. This is enough to destroy a standard or elite Deadite in one swing, but it’s not quite a cheat code. Deadites with a shield can block the first swing, although it costs them an arm, and if you aren’t careful, they might still get an attack off before they drop.
Dash from Payne Manor back to the space-time rift as quickly as you can. Tons of Deadites will spawn in ahead of you, and with the storm on your heels, you don’t have time to spend on fighting. Only destroy the ones directly in your way, and do what you can to evade and outrun the others.
When you return to the rift, you’re automatically transported back to Arthur’s castle. There’s an Amulet directly in front of you, but otherwise, you’re left with the resources you’ve got. Head forward for the first of two boss fights, against the Pit Zombie.
This guy’s got a simple attack pattern, but hits like a freight train and can take a lot of punishment. Play patiently and wait for safe windows in which to attack. You’re better off wearing him down than trying to end this ASAP.
Finally, it’s time for your showdown against Evil Ash. He’s not quite as scary when you’ve got a little more room to move, and he’s got less health than the Pit Zombie. On the other hand, he’s got some Deadites for backup.
Once again, don’t try to wade into him; Evil Ash simply doesn’t take balance damage from any source, so you can’t interrupt his attacks. On the other hand, 1,000+ damage per sword hit does cramp his style in a hurry, so he’s not hard to outlast unless you’re sucking fumes after the Pit Zombie fight.
Return of the King
Victory over Evil Ash ends the Mission on the spot. Your rewards include the final Knowby Recording in your Extras menu and Lord Arthur joining your Collection as a playable character.
Arthur is a Leader who functions as a solid force multiplier for a melee-focused group. His starting active ability, The Lord’s Wrath, temporarily boosts melee damage for Arthur and his teammates within his aura range, as well as reducing fear. Arthur also always starts with a sword, and inflicts more damage with one while Lord’s Wrath is active.
Both of Arthur’s advanced skills further empower his aura. At level 10, he receives Weapon Master: Light Attacks, which gives both him and nearby teammates a 30% bonus to damage from light melee attacks.
At level 25, Arthur unlocks a unique version of The Last Word; any finisher Arthur performs during The Lord’s Wrath extends its duration by 3 seconds. If you’re looking to chop something up in a match, it’s worth either using Arthur or having him nearby. He synergizes particularly well with Scotty, who can combine Arthur’s aura boosts with his Collateral Damage ability to knock out entire crowds of Deadites at once.
