As the end is fast approaching in Dead Space Remake you may have trouble jumping over the final hurdle which is the last boss, Hive Mind. This monstrosity can be difficult if you’re not prepared or don’t know what to expect, but thankfully, we have you covered here with our in-depth guide on defeating it.

Before Fighting the Hive Mind¶

Just before you head into the fight with the last boss, there is a Save Station, Bench, and Store. As this is the final part of the game, you may as well purchase the following items:

• Med Packs, preferably Medium.
• Plasma Cutter Ammo
• Contact Beam Ammo
• Force Gun Ammo
• Nodes

Throughout the fight, the boss will drop plenty of Ammo and Med Packs, but it never hurts to have more, especially if it doesn’t give you the ammo you need for the guns you have equipped. When you’ve purchased all the supplies you require, the rest should go on Nodes, so you can have one final upgrade to make you the strongest you can be with your resources.

We recommend upgrading the Plasma Cutters DMG (Damage) as this was one of the better guns to use on the last boss as you’ll need some precision when shooting the growths. Next up is your Suit, you’ll want to have at least all the Health upgrades, the rest doesn’t matter, although Stasis could be useful. Finally, upgrade the Contact Beam, and Force Gun for DMG as they’re both powerful guns, and will help you against the other enemies that spawn during the battle.

Hive Mind Phase 1 Attacks¶

Explosive Bulb¶

Throughout the battle, the Hive Mind will regurgitate several bulb-like objects around the arena which will explode shortly after. These can be destroyed by shooting them, but it’s just a waste of ammo. Instead, find a safe spot away from the proximity of them, and focus on shooting the boss’s growths around its mouth.

Tentacle Slam¶

The Hive Mind will periodically slam down its tentacles at your last position. You’ll know this is coming as the boss will arch back a little before it unleashes it. Get out of ADS (Aim Down Sight), and keep moving to the side to avoid it.

Hive Mind Phase 2 Attacks¶

Tentacle Barrage¶

Similar to the Tentacle Slam attack, the Hive Mind will throw its tentacles at you multiple times, and It will always be at your last position, so make sure you’re moving side to side to avoid it. Later on, the boss will cut the arena off by using its Acid Stream attack.

Acid Stream¶

The boss will vomit a stream of Acid from its mouth which persists on the battlefield for a period of time. At first, it’ll fire it straight down the center of the arena to cut it in half, giving you less space to work with. As more growths are destroyed, this attack will turn into Acid Barrage.

Acid Barrage¶

When more and more growths are destroyed, the Hive Mind will become erratic, and start unleashing barrages of Acid Streams at you, and around the arena. This will also be combined with Tentacle Barrage, and if you happen to get caught in a small portion of the arena, this can be difficult to avoid. You can avoid the initial barrage by staying mobile and running to each side of the arena. If you do get stuck in a small section of the arena cut off by the acid, simply walk over it into the larger section. You won’t take much damage for this, and it’s better than the alternative.

Hive Mind Strategy¶

Phase 1¶

There are two phases to the battle with a phase change in between. The first phase starts off with you needing to destroy the growths around its mouth. There are five in total, and while you attempt to do that, the boss will use attacks of its own. The hardest part about this boss is hitting the growths as the boss is constantly jerking its head making it difficult to shoot them. The best way to handle this phase is to wait for the Explosive Bulb attack, get into a safe position (usually the corner of the arena), and shoot at its growth while moving side to side. This will normally avoid the tentacle attacks and nullifying the Explosive Bulbs. After all the growths around its mouth have been destroyed, you’ll get a phase change.

Phase Change¶

During the phase change, you’ll get swarmed by numerous varieties of Necromorphs. Switch over to the Force Gun and use its gravity alternate fire skill ( / ). This will place an area of effect wherever you choose, and suck the monsters towards it, grouping them up. Now switch over to the Contact Beam and let rip with a few well-placed charged shots ( / ) to destroy them all. If you don’t have the upgrades for the Force Gun, throw a Stasis at the group to keep them together longer. Once they’ve been dealt with, pick up their loot and get ready for phase two.

Phase 2¶

Phase two will start off with multiple tentacle slams before it opens up its stomach revealing five more growths. These are easier to hit, but the boss will hide them while it attacks you. The attacks will also change for this phase, this time the tentacle slams will turn into a tentacle barrage where it’ll repeatedly keep attacking you with the tentacles at your last position. You can avoid this by running/moving side to side.

After every attack sequence, the stomach will open, giving you a brief period of time to shoot them. The Contact Beam is great here as all the growths are bunched up meaning you can unleash a few charged shots at them. As the phase continues, the Hive Mind will add another attack to its arsenal, the Acid Stream. This attack allows it to vomit an acidic liquid out of its mouth, usually in the middle of the arena, cutting the arena in half for the duration of the attack. If you get hit by it, or walk over it, you’ll take some damage.

Once the acid has been placed, it’ll use its Tentacle Barrage attack which will be harder to avoid due to the lack of space you have. When these sequence of attacks occur, try staying as far away from the boss while still moving side to side to avoid the tentacles. The more growths you destroy, the more erratic the boss will come. What was once a singular acid stream down the center becomes an acid barrage where it’ll repeatedly keep vomiting streams of acid at you, and across the arena. Make sure you stay mobile to avoid the acid, and if you happen to get put on the smaller part of the arena cut off by the acid then run over it.

It’s better to take a small amount of damage running over the acid than taking one of the attacks to your face. Keep running side to side with weapons holstered to avoid the barrage of attacks, and shoot the growths when they appear. This shouldn’t take you too long as they’re relatively easy to hit due to them being huddled together and once all the growths have been destroyed, you’ll have one more thing left to do.

Finish It!¶

With all the growths destroyed, the Hive Mind will try one more last-ditch effort to end your life. After a short scene, one of the tentacles will grab you, leaving you to defend yourself while hanging upside down. One more growth will appear in its mouth and your goal is to destroy it. This is probably the hardest part of the fight as the aiming can be difficult due to the constant swaying of your reticle. Unload every last bullet you have at your disposal towards the growth and hope some of them hit it. Once you destroy it, you’ll be dropped to the floor, and the Hive Mind will be no more. The only thing left to do here is to escape Aegis VII via the shuttle. Congratulations on finishing Dead Space Remake!

That’s not all that’s left to do though as new game plus will add hidden markers around the chapters, and if you get them all, you’ll get a secret ending that was added with the Remake.