How to Kill The Rat King in The Last Of Us Part 2

The hardest new type of Infected to fight in The Last Of Us Part 2 is definitely The Rat King. We've put this guide together to help you not only kill The Rat King, but master the fight and emerge a true professional Infected killer. This monster of an Infected is made up of at least four separate Infected humans, and while it's huge, it's also agile.

How to Kill The Rat King in The Last Of Us Part 2 Cover

Around 14-16 hours into The Last Of Us Part 2, whilst playing as Abby, you’re going to end up heading into the hospital. This chapter will take you right into the basement of the hospital, ground zero of the pandemic in Seattle. The Infected found here are are some of the oldest ever encountered in the series, and The Rat King is the oldest of them all; the most evolved Infected ever seen, with the most advanced stages of the Infection on show to see. This is how to kill The Rat King in The Last Of Us Part 2.

The Rat King is no pushover. It’s a huge mountain of an Infected enemy, made up of what appears to be four separate Infected. This is the toughest Infected enemy that you will encounter in the game, and the boss fight is probably one of the best moments because of it. 

Stage 1 – Run

The Rat King will surprise Abby in the ambulance

The Rat King will surprise Abby in the ambulance

At first, The Rat King is going to run after Abby, and you just need to flee. This monster will not stop; in fact, it’s going to break through walls in order to try to get to you. Keep pushing forward, avoiding it where possible, and eventually you’ll come to a door with a fire axe in it. At this point, The Rat King will grab Abby, and you’ll need to hammer the square button to avoid being killed. After a short moment, the floor will collapse, and both Abby and The Rat King will fall to the floor. This is where the fight comes into your hands. 

Stage 2 – Separate The Rat King

You need to shoot The Rat King until you separate its two parts

You need to shoot The Rat King until you separate its two parts

The Rat King consists of two main parts: the Bloater-like segment with three heads, and the Clicker segment, seen on its lower right-hand side. You need to separate these two segments before you can kill the boss. There’s no real secret to killing the boss, although shooting the pustules on its body do seem to hurt it more and cause it to stagger, opening up an opportunity to get more shots in. The area that you fight The Rat King in is a giant circuit, so you can flee the beast whilst reloading, or just to get some distance and craft.

The Rat King will charge Abby if it sees her far enough away. Baiting this attack is a good way to open up a window for hitting it with the shotgun. If you dodge quickly enough, then you’ll be able to land some pipe bombs at its feet and severely damage it. You can pick up ammo and supplies around the arena, so keep moving and picking things up, and you should have enough to continue the fight. 

Stage 3 – Kill The Bloater Segment

Killing the Bloater segment of The Rat King is only half the battle

Killing the Bloater segment of The Rat King is only half the battle

Once you’ve dealt enough damage, the Clicker segment and the Bloater segment of The Rat King will separate. The Clicker segment is going to run and hide in a side room, and the Bloater segment will continue to rush you. 

Keep fighting the Bloater segment as you have been so far, and remember to aim for those pustules. It will begin to throw acidic spore bombs at Abby more frequently, forcing you to move closer to it. You can still avoid it, but it’s important to remember that the spore clouds last longer than those of any other Infected, so don’t stop in them for long if you have to at all. 

The Clicker segment of The Rat King will occasionally pop out to attack Abby as you fight the Bloater segment. When you see it, shoot it with a powerful weapon a few times, and it should run back off into a side room to hide. The Bloater Segment will continue to attack all the while, so don’t get distracted by the Clicker segment if the Bloater segment is rushing you with a charge attack.

Stage 4 – Hunt And Kill The Clicker Segment

The Clicker segment of The Rat King is sneaky

The Clicker segment of The Rat King is sneaky

Once you’ve killed the Bloater segment, the Clicker segment is going to run away through a blocked door. You need to chase it through the corridors and up into a vent. Here the Clicker segment will surprise you, attacking Abby and causing the pair to fall through the vent and onto the floor. 

The only tactic with this part of the boss is just to fire everything you have at it. Pick up any and all resources as you move around it, dodging any incoming attacks where possible. The boss will die eventually, but it can take a lot of punishment before that point. If you find yourself needing to reload, or without ammo, and too close to the boss to get away, dodge and immediately attack with your fists or a melee weapon. This smaller part of the boss can be attacked in this way, and all that damage will add up to kill it in the end. 

That’s how to kill The Rat King in The Last Of Us Part 2. This boss feels like an adventure, but the entire time you will also feel like you’re caught in the middle of a horror movie. Remember to pick up all resources and ammo that you can as you move around the boss arenas, these will serve you well in the end. 

1 Comment

  1. Avatar photo

    Wasn’t really a tough boss TBH, was able to do so on my first try on survivor difficultly. What a game! Game of the gen

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

×