There are numerous boss fights in Metroid Dread, the first of which pits Samus against the scorpion-like monster, Corpius. The battle takes place in the Artaria region about one hour into the game, and, like all of the game's other major boss fights, is made up of several different phases. With the right strategy, however, none of these should cause players too much trouble.
Given how few of Samus' power-ups players have collected at this point in the game, the Corpius fight is more about basic movement and timing than anything else. Players will need to measure their jumps well to avoid taking too much damage, while also being sure to target the right parts of Corpius with either missiles or charged shots.
How to Open the Boss Door
Like other games in the series, Metroid Dread features many different types of doors. One of these is the boss door, which is made out of some kind of bioorganism that players will need to kill before they can progress. These doors are guarding all of the game's major bosses, with Corpius' boss door located in the northeastern part of Artaria.
To "open" the door, players need to approach it and then perform a melee attack. A few moments later, the door will respond with an attack of its own, at which point players should be ready to counter by pressing the X button when prompted. This will lead to Samus destroying the door, which will usually drop enough health and missiles to completely refill the bounty hunter's stock.
How to Beat Corpius (Phase 1)
During the first phase of the fight, Corpius will only use a handful of attacks. The majority of these involve its scorpion-like tail, though it will occasionally spit balls of poisonous gas in Samus' direction as well. This gas tends to linger for a few seconds after impact, so players should aim to give it a wide berth when possible. Better still, they can shoot the gas balls while they're still in the air, which will provide Samus with health and missiles.
When Corpius rattles its tail, a slash attack is imminent, which players can dodge with a well-timed jump. If the tail slowly moves backward, however, it means that Corpius is preparing to stab its tail into the ground. Instinct may tell players to move back to avoid this attack, but doing so will make damaging the boss' head impossible for a few seconds. Instead, players should slide forwards, allowing them a chance to dish out some extra damage.
How to Beat Corpius (Phase 2)
After dealing enough damage, a short cinematic will play out and the boss will turn invisible. Players will still be able to see its outline though, as well as the glowing orange ball on its tail. This orange ball now serves as the boss' only weak point, but it can also be used to dodge any incoming tail attacks as well.
While on the subject of tail attacks, the boss starts using a quick stab attack in this phase, which players can dodge by moving either left or right. Retreating too much will lead to Samus getting trapped against a wall, however, so players should be sure to drive the boss back from time to time by moving Samus forward and firing between the boss' actions.
How to Beat Corpius (Phase 3)
Eventually, the orange ball on Corpius' tail will begin to glow red and the boss will reappear. At this point, players will need to slide under it and will get an opportunity to counter using X. Doing so allows them to unload a bunch of missiles right into Corpius' face, which once again returns to being the boss' sole weak point in phase 3.
Corpius gets a few new moves in this phase too, one of which sees it spewing a stream of gas out onto the floor, while another sees the boss ramming into Samus with its face. Both can technically be dodged using jumps, though grabbing onto the blue panels that can now be found on the outer walls is a lot more effective, particularly when it comes to the gas attack.
If players spend too long on one of the blue panels, Corpius will eventually try to stab them with its tail. This can actually work to the player's advantage though, as moving at the right time will lead to the tail getting stuck in the wall. When this happens, players will have two or three seconds to unload a few missiles directly into the boss' face.
Providing players can keep Samus alive, it really shouldn't take too many charged shots or missiles to end the fight from here, particularly if players made the most of the counter opportunity at the beginning of the phase. In fact, with enough missiles, it's actually possible to kill Corpius during the counter animation before the third phase even truly begins.
The Reward for Beating Corpius
Defeating Corpius will reward players with the Phantom Cloak, which, while in use, will make Samus invisible to both enemies and motion sensor doors. The latter, in particular, is going to be vital for players' progress, though the former can also be pretty helpful when it comes to avoiding the game's killer E.M.M.I. robots.
The Phantom Cloak can be activated by pressing in the right analog stick when the yellow Aeion meter in the top left-hand corner of the screen is fully charged. Players will need to remember to turn it off when they're finished using it though, as once the Aeion meter runs dry, the cloak will begin to drain Samus' health at an alarmingly fast rate.