Annihilation is, by far, Remnant 2’s most difficult and mostunique boss encounterin the game. With that uniqueness comes a night-long struggle of trial and error, because this beast is quite the monster to deal with. Unlike other bosses throughout the game, Annihilation has more than just two phases. In fact, he takes the very concept of a boss phase and turns it on its head. If you’re struggling to beat him, I don’t blame you. Having bested this monstrosity on the hardest difficulty, I can give you everything you need to crush him. Here’s how to defeat Annihilation on Nightmare difficulty.
How to kill Annihilation in Remnant 2
Despite the difficulty of the encounter, it isn’t technically complex when it comes to mechanics. Most of the fight involves moving, rolling, and shooting like the rest of the bosses in Remnant 2. However, what makes Annihilation so difficult is the sheer volume of minor complexities the fight forces you to deal with at a moment’s notice. The simplest way to contextualize this is to break down each phase.
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Annihilation - Phase One
Phase One begins the moment the fight starts. Annihilation flies down from the smoky sky and engages you by slashing down at you with his massive sword. This will happen every time the fight starts, so be sure to avoid it each time. From here on, there are a number of abilities you need to watch out for:
These are all the abilities Annihilation will use in Phase One. Keep shooting him until his health reaches zero, and then a cutscene will play which begins Phase Two.
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Annihilation - Phase Two
Phase Two is where the real fight begins. That’s right: Phase One was the tutorial to get you used to dealing with his attacks. In Phase Two, the entire area will shift into what appears to be a retro-style arena. Nine red blocks separate the arena into three clear lanes. Think like a 3x3 grid. Each block also has a set of red vines that fold onto other blocks to impend your movement.
Annihilation will also appear completely different and remain stationary in front of the arena. Effectively, this is like fighting a second boss, because he has a brand new moveset that you need to remember.
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Annihilation - Phase Shifting
Beyond these abilities, there’s one more core mechanic I want to bring up.Malware Phaseis an ability that allows Annihilation to shift between his Phase One and Phase Two forms instantaneously. That is to say, he can shift Phases at will, even while attacking you. At one moment, you could be crouching to avoid the horizontal variant ofMalware Block, and within the blink of an eye, be facing down a Phase OneMalware Wave.
This shift is seamless, random, and typically without warning. There are no tells for when he is going to do this, so you have to be prepared to dance the way Annihilation wants at any given moment. To make matters worse, if Annihilation decides to switch phases during one of his attacks, the moment he shifts back to the previous phase, that attack will continue as if nothing happened at all. What this means is that youmust remember what Annihilation was doing in the previous phase before he shifts, or you’ll be killed when he shifts back.The only saving grace is that Annihilation takes about a second to continue his previous phase’s attack, giving you a small window to adjust.
It will take some time before you’re able to pull off everything I’ve stated here. As mentioned, Annhiliation is an incredibly difficult boss to learn. He is fast-paced, requires crazy reflexes, and even tests your short-term memory. However, if you can piece everything together, taking each phase one step at a time, you can squeeze out a victory in the final hour.
For more quality guides and useful information on Remnant 2, check outWhat to do with the Plain Ribbon in Remnant 2right here on Pro Game Guides.
