Metroid Dread: How to Beat the Corpius Boss in Artaria
Corpius, a scropion-like creature found in the Artaria region of Planet ZDR, is the first major boss that players face in Metroid Dread.
In Metroid Dread, there are numerous boss battles, the first of which pits Samus against the scorpion-like monster Corpius. The battle, like all of the game’s other major boss fights, takes place in the Artaria region about an hour into the game and is divided into several phases. However, with the right strategy, none of these should cause too much trouble for players.
Given the scarcity of Samus’ power-ups at this point in the game, the Corpius fight is more about basic movement and timing than anything else. To avoid taking too much damage, players must carefully time their jumps, while also making sure to target the correct areas of Corpius with missiles or charged shots.
How to Open the Boss Door
Metroid Dread, like the other games in the series, has a wide variety of doors. One of these is the boss door, which is made of a bioorganism that players must kill before they can progress. All of the game’s major bosses are guarded by these doors, with Corpius’ boss door located in the northeastern part of Artaria.
Players must approach the door and then perform a melee attack to “open” it. After a few moments, the door will launch its own attack, at which point players should be prepared to counter by pressing the X button when prompted. This causes Samus to destroy the door, which usually drops enough health and missiles to completely replenish the bounty hunter’s stock.
Phase 1: How to Beat Corpius
Corpius will only use a few attacks during the first phase of the fight. The majority of these involve its scorpion-like tail, though it will also spit poisonous gas balls in Samus’ direction on occasion. This gas tends to linger for a few seconds after impact, so players should keep a safe distance from it whenever possible. Even better, they can shoot the gas balls while they’re still in the air, giving Samus health and missiles.
A slash attack is imminent when Corpius rattles its tail, which players can avoid with a well-timed jump. However, if the tail slowly moves backward, it indicates that Corpius is about to stab its tail into the ground. While instinct may tell players to move back to avoid this attack, doing so will prevent them from damaging the boss’s head for a few seconds. Instead, players should slide forward, giving them the opportunity to deal more damage.
Phase 2: How to Beat Corpius
When you deal enough damage, a short cinematic will play and the boss will become invisible. However, players will be able to see its outline as well as the glowing orange ball on its tail. This orange ball is now the boss’ only weakness, but it can also be used to avoid any incoming tail attacks.
While we’re on the subject of tail attacks, the boss begins this phase with a quick stab attack that players can avoid by moving left or right. However, retreating too much will trap Samus against a wall, so players should make sure to drive the boss back from time to time by moving Samus forward and firing between the boss’ actions.
Phase 3: How to Beat Corpius
The orange ball on Corpius’ tail will eventually turn red, and the boss will reappear. At this point, players must slide under it and have the option to counter with X. This allows them to launch a swarm of missiles directly into Corpius’ face, which returns to being the boss’ sole weak point in phase 3.
Corpius gains a few new moves in this phase as well, including one in which it spews a stream of gas onto the floor and another in which the boss rams Samus with its face. Both can be avoided by jumping, but grabbing onto the blue panels that have been added to the outer walls is far more effective, especially when it comes to the gas attack.
If players stay on one of the blue panels for too long, Corpius will try to stab them with its tail. This can actually work in the player’s favour, as moving at the right time will result in the tail becoming stuck in the wall. When this occurs, players will have two or three seconds to launch a few missiles directly at the boss’ face.
If players can keep Samus alive, it shouldn’t take too many charged shots or missiles to end the fight from here, especially if players took advantage of the counter opportunity at the start of the phase. In fact, if you have enough missiles, you can kill Corpius during the counter animation before the third phase even begins.
The Reward for Beating Corpius
Defeating Corpius will grant players the Phantom Cloak, which will make Samus invisible to both enemies and motion sensor doors while in use. The latter, in particular, will be critical for players’ progress, though the former can also be quite useful in avoiding the game’s killer E.M.M.I. robots.
When the yellow Aeion metre in the top left-hand corner of the screen is fully charged, press in the right analogue stick to activate the Phantom Cloak. Players must remember to turn it off when finished using it, as once the Aeion metre runs out, the cloak will begin to drain Samus’ health at an alarmingly fast rate.