How to destroy Kraid in Metroid Dread with a quick kill

One of the many highlights of Metroid Dread is its inventive boss fights, which are designed to feel like puzzles as you gradually whittle away at each boss’ health with a variety of attacks. One boss in the game, Kraid, is a returning favorite. But taking the creature down is trickier than in previous installments. You can battle Kraid the normal way, or — thanks to the discovery of a sequence break — the boss can be taken down quickly. Here, we’ll show you both methods of defeating Kraid with ease.

Metroid Dread Kraid boss location and guide

Kraid is located on the lower left side of the Cataris biome. To reach this location, follow the red path to the right of the Save Station on the far left side of Cataris. Make your way down, and you’ll come across the boss’ dungeon.

Phase One

Once the first cutscene ends and you have control over Samus, immediately start shooting missiles into Kraid’s mouth. You know you’re hitting the right spot when Kraid flashes white momentarily.

After a short while, Kraid will begin coughing up deadly projectiles, some of which are on fire. At this point, stop firing your missiles and instead focus on dodging and shooting the balls coming at you. This attack is easily telegraphed by Kraid’s throat swelling up. In between destroying the projectiles with your standard cannon, try to get some missile shots into the boss’ mouth to keep lowering its health.

Then, Kraid will begin shooting claws at you, and for these, we recommend using missiles to destroy them quickly. Make sure you’re always moving and shooting during this section so you can ensure you don’t get hit. In between destroying the claws, you should try to shoot missiles into its mouth, just like before.

Phase Two

After you’ve dealt enough damage, a short scene will play, showing Kraid breaking one of its chains. At this point, Kraid will start shooting more projectiles out of its belly, which come out two at a time. Make sure you use your Charge Beam to take them out quickly and once you do, focus fire on the hole in Kraid’s belly. Doing so will destroy the projectiles before they even come out.

Next, the boss will shoot three platforms at the wall to your left. Your timing needs to be spot on here, but essentially, you need to jump on each one as they crash into the wall to reach the top. You can see Kraid readying this attack ahead of time, so be prepared.

Once you’re at the top, grab the blue section of the wall with your Spider Magnet. From here, fire more missiles into Kraid’s mouth, but be careful of the claws. If one hits you, you’ll get knocked down. Keep repeating this process and eventually, Kraid will swipe you with its arm, which can be parried by pressing X. Do this, and a cinematic sequence will start but don’t stop shooting missiles. He’ll then go down for good.

How to execute a quick kill sequence break on Kraid

There’s a much easier way to take down Kraid, and it involves sequence-breaking the game. To use this method, you’ll first need to head to Dairon right after you’ve acquired the Varia Suit. Make your way to the red area of Dairon at the bottom center, and follow a secret path on the far right side.

These are a few tough platforming sequences here, but keep moving to the right. Eventually, you’ll come to an elevator that leads you to Artaria. Once there, move to the right and you’ll be able to collect the Grapple Beam early!

Now, head back to Dairon and enter the E.M.M.I. area. Keep going all the way to the left and you’ll come to a door that normally leads to an inaccessible area with a Grapple Beam lock. However, since you have the Grapple Beam now, unlock it and head all the way up to activate the generator. Finally, make your way to the top left area of Dairon (to the right of the save room) to acquire the Morph Ball Bomb.

You can now head back to Kraid to utilize your newly acquired skill. Get past the first phase like normal, and once the second phase begins, you can use the new strategy. In the bottom left of the stage is a hidden Morph Ball block, so destroy it, and it will lead to a launcher. Roll into it and it will shoot Samus into Kraid’s belly. Once inside, repeatedly use bombs to deal damage and the boss will go down quickly. Keep in mind, you’ll take damage while inside the boss, so make sure you have at least a tank of Energy before attempting this.

We spoke to Twitter user Glaedrax who popularized the sequence break.

“I knew [Nintendo] mentioned sequence breaking in the Dread reports,” Glaedrax tells Inverse. “The game gives you the Pulse Radar very late in the game so you can't see the multiple hidden paths on your first run. It was so amazing to see the game rewarding you for trying to break it!”

Metroid Dread is available exclusively for Nintendo Switch.