How to beat the Abaddon boss fight in Stellar Blade

The Stellar Blade Abaddon boss stands out, as they're the first proper boss fight you encounter after you've completed the tutorial. This pits you against a huge Alpha Naytiba perched on the parking lot, who harnesses lightning and electrical powers to keep you on your toes. If you charge into this fight aggressively then your attempt will more than likely end in failure, so it's much better to adopt a defensive approach and focus on counter attacking instead. If you're having trouble dealing with the Abaddon in Stellar Blade, then we've got the lowdown on how to handle this boss fight.

Abaddon boss guide for Stellar Blade

The Abaddon boss fight in Stellar Blade doesn't have an obvious "cheese" or guaranteed strategy - it's more about developing muscle memory and learning attack patterns - but there are certain principles and key pieces of information that players can use to make the whole thing a lot easier, that I'll take you through below.

Play cautiously. Abaddon attacks aggressively, and its attacks are a lot more powerful than yours are. Focus on dodges, counter attacks and parries for most of the fight, and feel free to back away if you need to heal.
Use Beta attacks immediately. Your Beta attacks don't just do damage, but carve through Abaddon's damage-reducing shield. There's really no reason to conserve them - the moment you have the chance, unleash them so they can start recharging.
Get ready to Blink. The reason that Stellar Blade teaches you the Blink move before this fight is because it's borderline essential here. When your sword flashes blue, press towards Abaddon and press Dodge to phase through it and set yourself up for a high damage counterattack. This is one of those abilities you really need for this fight, as its Fatal attacks are exactly that - fatal.
Use the explosive barrels carefully. The arena has explosive barrels that can be struck to start them fizzing, but this is a difficult, high-risk/high-reward strategy. They do a lot of damage when they explode a few seconds later, but in a small range, so setting them as traps for Abaddon is something you need to treat carefully. Strike them, hang around them to try and lure the boss in, and then dive away at the last second for the best chance.
Dodge ranged attacks at the last second. Abaddon has a few ranged attacks, including homing bolts of electricity and giant blades of lightning that sweep across the floor. You have to wait for the very last second to avoid these - jump over the sweeping blades, and dodge to the side for everything else.
Grab grenades from Camp. If you keep dying, pick up some shock or pulse grenades from the vending machine. These don't do much damage, but they do stun Abaddon long enough to either heal yourself or leap in for some fresh damage.

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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.