How to beat the Abaddon boss fight in Stellar Blade

Stellar Blade Abaddon
(Image credit: Sony)

The Stellar Blade Abaddon boss is the first proper boss fight once you're through the tutorial, a giant Alpha Naytiba perched on the parking lot who uses lightning and electrical powers to keep you on your toes. This is one of those fights where going in aggressively is likely to result in disaster, and it's far better to play defensively with a focus on counter attacks - but I get ahead of myself. If you're struggling to take out the Abaddon in Stellar Blade, we'll show you how to take out the boss fight here.

Abaddon boss guide for Stellar Blade

Stellar Blade Abaddon

(Image credit: Sony)

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.

Stellar Blade Abaddon

(Image credit: Sony)
  • 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
Guides Writer

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. 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 USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.