Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart: Doctor Nefarious, second encounter Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart guide, walkthrough
Last update: 22 July 2021
This page of the Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart game guide covers the second boss fight with Doctor Nefarious. It occurs when Dr. Nefarious appears after you return to the Arena in the Scarstu Debris Cloud. We describe all 4 phases of the boss fight in detail.
- This is where you meet Dr. Nefarious again
- The first phase of the fight
- Second phase of the fight
- The third phase of the fight
- The fourth phase of the fight
This is where you meet Dr. Nefarious again
You already had the opportunity to face Doctor Nefarious in the prologue of the campaign, and we described that first fight on a separate page of the Bosses chapter. It was only a warm-up, as the second clash with Dr. Nefariousem is much longer and more challenging.
The heroes will run into Dr. Nefarious after completing tasks on the planet Cordelion. After you return to the Scarstu Debris Cloud, you must reach the Gastropub. Doctor Nefarious will appear in one of the cutscenes and you will have to fight him in the local Arena.
The first phase of the fight
During the first phase (out of four), your task will be to get his health bar down from 100 down to 80%. You are free to choose the weapon you want to use to attack the boss. You can use medium and long range weapons, as well as melee weapons whenever the boss gets close.
Watch out for the boss's melee attacks. There is little time to react appropriately. You must use Phantom Dash to avoid being hit.
Nefarious will also shoot at you. Here, things are pretty simple - you can run sideways or use Hoverboots and Phantom Dash if things get more dangerous.
During battles, watch out for explosive crates that the boss can detonate with his attacks. You can, of course, try to use them against the boss when he gets close to them.
Instead, look for regular boxes so that you can replenish your ammunition and restore health when needed.
The first phase of the battle against Dr. Nefarious will conclude with a rail ride scene. The most important is its final part - you have to catch on the fly the interactive grapple (we've marked it on the screenshot 1), and additionally catapult your character (hold L1) to the place where you enter the second phase of the fight.
Second phase of the fight
In the second phase of the battle, you have to drop Dr. Nefarious' health from 80 to 50 percent.
The boss in this phase of the duel will keep his selected attacks, and again you must pay most attention to his melee attacks. As before, use Phantom Dash to avoid taking damage.
Nefarious' new attack will include bombarding the arena with green missiles. Fortunately, they do not land on the entire arena, but only on a selected area. When you see where the missiles are headed, quickly go in the opposite direction, using the Hoverboots and Phantom Dash to get out of their range.
Keep fighting until Nefarious has half his health bar left. The boss will move the fight to another dimension (to the planet Sargasso) where the third phase of the battle described below will begin.
The third phase of the fight
After advancing to the third phase of the battle, you must first deal with Grunthor, a mini-boss "summoned" by Nefarious. Here's a quick reminder of how to fight Grunthors:
- Attack Grunthor from a distance and avoid getting too close to it,
- Use Phantom Dash when Grunthor starts charging towards you,
- Phantom Dash is also useful for avoiding large boulders thrown by Grunthor.
Only after defeating Grunthor you can continue fighting Dr. Nefarious and in the third phase of the battle you must deplete the boss's health bar from 50 to 25%.
Dr. Nefarious' only new unique attack in this phase is massed rocket fire that targets roughly half the arena. Pay attention to signs appearing on the ground and quickly use Hoverboots and/or Phantom Dash to leave the danger zone.
Don't forget to destroy nearby crates in order to renew your health and ammunition supplies. There should be at least a few to find.
After Dr. Nefarious will only have 1/4 of his health left, a slot will open for you to return to the arena and advance to the final phase of the duel.
The fourth phase of the fight
In the final phase of the fight, you must deprive Nefarious of the last 25% of his health bar.
The boss will summon minions and you should also decide to do the same. Mr. Mushroom, Glove of Doom) in order to be able to distract regular enemies from Rivet and be able to deal with attacking Nefarious. If any enemies get in your way, it's a good idea to quickly get rid of them with area attacks or, for example, temporarily stop them by using Lightning.
During battles, again watch out for red boxes, which can be a convenience (weakening bosses and surrounding enemies) or a hindrance (accidentally detonating near Rivet).
When attacking Nefarious, as before, avoid his melee attacks, as this is the easiest way to take damage - Phantom Dash is the universal solution to this problem.
You will not succeed in ultimately stopping Dr. Nefarious, as Emperor Nefarious will make his first appearance. You will face the Doctor and the Emperor later in the campaign.