In the fifth and final mission of Evil Dead: The Game (until perhaps the teased Army of Darkness DLC), King Arthur is tasked with the impossible. He's got to defeat two unique bosses, hosts of new deadites, and try and avoid unnecessary damage. Oh, and don't forget about the map slowly shrinking and limitless deadite hordes either.
Although the third mission is giving most players the fits, it's this fifth one that determines who is ready to take the Evil Dead: The Game skills to a pro level. Take a deep breath and get ready for a challenge that hits from every side. With this guide, it'll work out just fine for the once and future king.
How To Beat "Homecoming King"
Getting Geared Up
Time is something of a factor, but if Arthur gets in the nearest car and drives to the next point, he'll have to hope friends join in the game. Since this is a single-player affair, that won't be happening. So walk into the cabin dead ahead and grab ammo, a crossbow, an amulet (use it right away), and a Shemp's Cola.
Turn toward the vehicle but instead of climbing in, loot the basement of the house across from it. There is an amulet and a shovel here.
This shovel is critical to success, the meat cleavers are ineffective against the enemies here. Picking up the shovel will spawn three enemies outside but it is worth it for the item. Kill these minions, then get in the car and head out.
Getting The Kandarian Dagger
It should be noted here that this second objective location will change between two locations each time gamers play this mission. The strategy is the same, so don't fret.
There is a vehicle at the destination, so feel free to recklessly crash this one into any deadites by the point. Enemies here spawn without much end, so do not fight until the last enemy falls.
Kill a few, then grab the Kandarian Dagger when there is a break in the action and run away. A rare spear will drop, but the shovel is better in this area since it smashes through the opponent's shields, so leave it alone.
Grabbing The Necronomicon
As before, take the vehicle to the destination. Once inside, find a rare axe on the ground that should finally replace the common shovel. There is also a Shemp's Cola in the kitchen that should be picked up for when health gets low.
Picking up the Necronomicon triggers a horde of eight deadites and a boss named Deadite Scotty.
Deadite Scotty is very resistant to melee damage and lethal up close. Thankfully, he's quite weak to headshots from the crossbow. He'll go down in only three shots. For the eight deadites that follow, the minions can be easily killed with a single light swing. The larger horned units, however, are fairly strong and time is not on Arthur's side.
They go down with two headshots from the crossbow. One of these deadites will drop a Shemp's Cola, loot that.
The final opponent in the wave will drop an epic crossbow and special ammunition, both of which will be required for completing the mission.
Surviving Part One Of The Final Boss Encounter
The next location marked is within walking distance, there are several deadite minions along the way who go down with a light attack and button prompt from the axe, so they're not a bother. Drop down into the blue-ish area to trigger the first half of the final boss fight.
Evil Ash can not be killed at this time. There is a timer in the upper right corner, the only thing that matters is surviving. The boss will summon two deadites, kill them but do not attack Evil Ash. It has an undodgeable attack and is invincible anyhow. Stay safely out of reach.
Stocking Up For The Next Encounter
Exit the cave to the south and go toward the sewer treatment plant. Here, there is a legendary crossbow, more ammo for it, two Shemp's Colas, and an amulet by a broken down vehicle. Directly across from this vehicle is another car, take it to get to the Payne Manor.
Taking Out The Guardians
Because of the way the world is shrinking, the order to take out the guardians is somewhat important if Arthur falls behind schedule. The guardians are playing some sort of woodwind instrument and pose no threat to Arthur but there are deadites that regularly spawn all around them.
It will likely be necessary to take out a few opponents, but do not get bogged down in combat. The crossbow should make the easy as it kills all common deadites with a single headshot, even the horned ones.
The icon in the center of Payne Manor is not a guardian, though it looks like one, it is Arthur's Fabled Sword. It is not accessible until the four other guardian icons have been dealt with. The first one to take out is across a river, shoot it with a crossbow from afar instead of trudging through the lake. After that, simply go from guardian to guardian until the barrier falls.
Getting To The Final Destination
Once the barrier falls, head inside and grab the sword. There is not enough time to explore, but Arthur should be plenty stocked up from the wrecked vehicle so long as he avoided combat in this area.
Look for the car in the courtyard (just above the 'y' in Payne on the map). It's time to head back to the portal where Evil Ash was first encountered. Unfortunately, the quick way has either been consumed or will be soon by the shrinking map, so head through the center and get back to the portal through the south side, the same entrance that Arthur used to leave this same area.
Defeating Two Bosses
Enter the portal and find a small cage with a single entrance. Before heading inside, look at a skeleton next to an amulet and pick it up. These amulets should be used anytime Arthur's shield falls for the next few fights.
The Pit Deadite is the first boss. It has no ranged capabilities and essentially one move, charging at Arthur and unleashing a fury of wild swings. It is highly resistant to ranged attacks; for perspective, a headshot does just over 500 health while a light sword swing does over 1,000. Use light swings, dodge its attacks, and after a few strikes, the button prompt should allow Arthur to perform a scripted melee attack with high damage.
It's not reasonable to take no damage during this fight, but thanks to the scripted attacks and two dodges per flurry, Arthur should have plenty of Shemp's Cola and amulets for the final encounter.
Evil Ash will summon minions. His horned minion will just barely have enough health to survive one shot with the crossbow, but a light attack from the sword will polish it off with no problem. Kill the summoned units when they appear or else Arthur will be facing an army.
Don't be afraid to attack Evil Ash in melee, he'll often be traversing the edge of the room trying to find some peace and quiet so he can summon more units. Attacking him will interrupt this process. he will occasionally lash out with a melee attack that has no trigger for when to dodge, but this is a fine price to pay for double-digit attacks.
Groovy job beating the campaign!
Evil Dead: The Game was released on May 13th, 2022, and is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.