Dead Space Remake: How to Beat the Hunter Boss Fight (First Encounter)

The diverse cast of necromorphs that you’ll fight in the Dead Space remake is made up of some lethal and formidable foes, but none, perhaps, is as persistent as the Hunter. Created by Dr. Mercer, the Hunter stalks Isaac through the Medical Wing of the USG Ishimura for nearly the entire length of Chapter 5: Lethal Devotion.

You’ll have a handful of encounters with the Hunter during the chapter, but right at the end, all the doors will lock and you’ll be faced with taking the necromorph out for good. The fight is something of a puzzle, so here’s everything you need to know about fighting the Hunter and how to beat it at the end of Chapter 5.

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Hunter Boss Guide

Because it shows up so many times over the course of the chapter, it can be a little tough to know on a first playthrough when you’re meant to find a way to kill the Hunter and when you’re simply meant to run away. As you play through the chapter, run from the Hunter until you find the room that has the liquid nitrogen in it that you need to help purify the air. After picking it up, Dr. Mercer will appear on the other side of the glass in the upper section of the room and he’ll talk for a moment. Once he’s done, the Hunter will burst into the room from the floor and the fight will begin.

As soon as the Hunter enters the room, the doors on either side of the section of room that Mercer was in will unlock and a few baby necromorphs will spawn to attack you. Take the babies out as they come, but you’ll want to put your main focus on the Hunter. Bait it into the center of the room inside the chamber where you picked up the liquid nitrogen and then destroy one of its legs and both of its arms.

Once it’s been put out of commission, the Hunter will be incapacitated for a few seconds as it regrows its limbs. As soon as you’ve taken three limbs out and it curls up into a ball, hit it with a stasis blast (if you don’t have any stasis charge, there’s a dispensary in the corner of the room.) While it’s immobilized, run through one of the doors into the room where Mercer was and interact with the screen that Mercer was standing in front of to activate the cryochamber.

If you’ve properly immobilized the Hunter inside the chamber, a voice over the speakers will say that the freezing was successful and that the specimen will be taken away. With that done, the boss fight will be over. Clean up the remaining necromorphs in the room and you’ll be on your way to Chapter 6.

If the Hunter was able to crawl out of the cryochamber before you were able to activate it, simply try again and you should be able to get it.