How to beat Krauser in Resident Evil 4, Krauser boss strategy
Been a long time, comrade.
Krauser is the boss near the end of Chapter 14 in the Resident Evil 4 remake, but there's also a small fight with him during Chapter 11.
Krauser is one of the more unique bosses in Resident Evil 4, as there's quite a build up to the actual fight with him in Chapter 14.
To conserve your health and ammo, we've detailed the best strategy for how beat Krauser below.
Please note that this is a guide for the remake of Resident Evil 4 so the exact boss strategy might not be the same in the original version.
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For more help, you can visit our Resident Evil 4 walkthrough.
How to beat Krauser in Resident Evil 4 during Chapter 11
This fight during your initial meeting with Krauser in Chapter 11 is a small taste of what the long boss fight in Chapter 14 will be like.
First of all, grab that Boot Knife sticking out of the structure in front of you! You're going to be doing a lot of parrying, so it's best to have a back-up knife, as they lose durability with every strike and parry.
For the rest of the fight, all you need to do is strike Krauser with your knife, parry his attacks, and melee him when he's stunned. This is easier said than done, especially on Professional difficulty where you need to perform a perfect parry for it to work.
If you're finding the timing of parrying difficult, you might want to look at the knife symbol above your health bar instead. It flashes and the button prompt appears here when you should be parrying.
If Krauser grabs you and you're low on health, it's best to escape using your knife instead of button mashing, as your health will go down otherwise. If you're struggling with knife durability and have plenty of health items, however, then you should button mash instead.
When the fight's over, you won't have to battle Krauser again until near the end of Chapter 14.
How to beat Krauser in Resident Evil 4 during Chapter 14
Here's our Resident Evil 4 Krauser boss strategy during Chapter 14:
Fighting Krauser strategy - Ruins
The lead up to the Krauser fight might actually be harder than the main boss fight itself, as there's a lot of ways to get hurt.
For the first part, you should crouch and take cover from Krauser's laser sight behind the crumbling ruins and shoot at Krauser after he has taken a shot at you, as this is when he's vulnerable. We used our bolt-action Rifle here, but any medium or long range weapon can do the job.
After taking enough damage Krauser will jump down and initiate a knife fight. It's all about parrying here in between getting your own knife slashes in, so remember to keep an eye on that knife symbol above your health bar if you're struggling with the timing of your parries.
Krauser will periodically jump up and start firing again, but then quickly jump down and get back to the knife fight. Make sure you're crouched behind some debris or run behind a column when this happens, then try and shoot him before he jumps down if you get the chance.
Krauser throws a Flash Grenade to end this portion of the fight. When he does, climb up the ruins to turn a wheel and open the door with the yellow symbol printed on it.
The next section is full of traps, so keep an eye on the ground for mines and bear traps, but you also have to look above for cameras with a turret attached. To make matters even worse, Krauser will sometimes surprise attack you from behind and you have to mash a button to get out of his grasp.
Once you go up some stairs after the small area with a red herb and box to smash, you need to run and crouch behind the debris here to avoid Krauser's laser sight, but don't get too close to the debris, as it explodes when Krauser hits it.
Hit Krauser in between his shots with a long ranged weapon if you can and work your way up the ruins. When you get near the door, ignore the box and run straight through, as Krauser will throw grenades down. You can go back out and destroy the box once you've avoided the grenades.
Through the gate ahead is another knife and gun fight with Krauser. You should use the same parrying and shooting strategy here, avoiding Krauser's gunfire behind columns - but watch out for the mines! If you can, bait Krauser away from the mines so when you evade his attacks, Leon doesn't land in one of them.
After Krauser takes enough damage, Leon will fall through the ground, meaning it's almost time for the boss arena fight.
Our Resident Evil 4 walkthrough can help you through the village with guides on the Large and Small Cave Shrine puzzle solutions, the Church dial puzzle, and Del Lago, El Gigante, and Méndez bosses. When you reach the castle, you have to tackle the Treasury sword, Wall With Four Slots, Dining Hall bell, and Grandfather Clock correct time puzzles, along with the Dungeon Garrador, two giants, and Ramón Salazar bosses. The island is up next, and there's still brain teasers with callibration puzzles, keycard locations, and a hidden wrench, along with final bosses Krauser and Sadler.
Fighting Krauser strategy - boss arena
Instead of parrying a knife, you have to parry strikes from Krauser's mutated arm during his boss arena fight. Only this time, in between parries, we recommend you use a shotgun to damage Krauser, or any high damage-dealing weapon you have a lot of ammo for.
When Krauser has his arm guarding his body, prepare for a parry, as if you shoot him here you're just wasting ammo. When Krauser is staggered from your parry or kick, that's the best time to whip out a gun and damage him.
If you're struggling, then the Broken Butterfly Magnum is the best weapon to hit Krauser with while he's unguarded. There's not a lot of ammo available for it throughout the game, however, so you might want to save it for the last boss fight instead.
Once Krauser has taken enough damage, he'll jump up in preparation from slamming down into the arena. When you see him jump up like this, either run to the edge of the bottom portion, or climb up a ladder to the top portion. On harder difficulties, you probably won't have enough time to run to the ladder, so stick to the edge to stay safe.
Other than this added attack, Krauser is a lot more aggressive during this second phase of the boss arena fight, so prepare for even more parrying! Remember to shoot him in between parrying and it shouldn't take long to end the fight after the second phase has activated.
For defeating Krauser, you'll get his Fighting Knife, which you can use or sell. If this is your first time taking on Krauser, you'll also unlock the 'You Used to Be a Good Guy' Trophy or Achievement.
Good luck taking on Krauser!
If you'd like more help with the Resident Evil 4 remake, you can visit our walkthrough for more puzzle solutions, boss guides, and Request help.