Always keep moving during the boss fight, always walk sideways and do short dodges before orbs hit you. Just keep shooting constantly but focus more on evading than attacking! It’s all about staying alive. The most important thing to keep in mind is to focus on evading the orbs that the boss throws at you. The assault rifle has the highest damage output. The best weapon for this fight is the assault rifle, try to unlock its permanent trait before the fight by killing other enemies with it (the progress bar in bottom left, also seen in the equipment screen under the weapon stats). If you do the house sequence (find the key which is in a random room near the house and then enter the house) you may also get an astronaut artifact that gives you a self-revive when you die, which greatly helps with this boss (but you can only get this artifact once and if you die it goes away). Try to keep the health item for the 3rd phase. This crafted item fully restores your health, use it when your health gets in the red. Going into the boss fight you should have at least 1 health item, you can craft one for 175 Obolites at a crafting station, which you should come across on your way to the boss. General Tips: As mentioned in the intro, all bosses in Returnal have 3 phases and their attack patterns change with each phase. For dodging orbs the short dodge is usually fine so you can quickly do another dodge if needed, and for lasers, red circles, and energy walls the long dodge is safer. The quick dodge recharges faster but doesn’t have as much range. Also remember there’s a short dodge (quick press ) and a long dodge (hold ). So if you get lots of orbs thrown your way, don’t be afraid to dodge into them, because you’ll be invulnerable during the dodge. Remember you can dodge through orbs and attacks.
The main strategy for each boss is to learn their attack patterns and focusing on evading. Also try to unlock all permanent weapon traits by killing enough enemies with them. If you rush straight to the boss, there’s always a pistol before the boss which is better than the starting pistol. This comes down to personal preference but it’s worth trying both approaches to see what works better for you. Technically, you can rush past all enemies on the way to the boss, but depending on your playstyle it can help to defeat enemies along the way to get better weapons and more Obolites for crafting.
Ideally you can bring 2 of these to the boss fight, but you should bring at least 1 and try to keep it for the 3rd phase which is always the hardest. They are always found at the start of a Biome (except the one where you respawn), and they can be crafted for 175 Obolites at crafting stations. Always try to bring at least 1 “Large Silphium Vial” with you, this is the health item that restores all of your health. They change their attack pattern with each phase and their attacks get harder to evade.
Whenever their health bar depletes a new phase starts.