A legendary creature from Star Wars canon, the Rancor always has a mighty on-screen presence from its first appearance in Return of the Jedi or the recent Book of Boba Fett series. And that translates to an incredibly difficult enemy to face in the Star Wars video game world. Battling the Rancor, especially early on, is quite a dangerous endeavor, but if you’re willing to risk it all, this is how to beat the Rancor in Star Wars Jedi Survivor.
Preparing to Face the Rancor
First things first, get familiar with fighting several powerful enemies and make sure you understand how to use your attacks and defensive maneuvers. By getting practice against hordes of Stormtroopers or droids, and surviving the game’s early hazards, you’ll be sharpening your skills and reactions — an absolute must before taking on the savage Rancor.
Next, take at least some time to upgrade your HP so you can survive more than one or two hits from the Rancor. Getting one or two-shotted by an enemy is not a fun experience and will lead to more frustration and wasted time than anything else. You’ll also want to pack as many healing stims as you can so you can quickly heal after taking big damage from any of the Rancor’s devastating attacks.
Where to Find the Rancor in Star Wars Jedi Survivor
To fight the Rancor, your best bet is to get the rumor by speaking to a Prospector by a workstation next to the Meditation Point on Rambler’s Reach.
This will give you the ‘Find Missing Prospectors’ rumor, which will mark an area on your map in the Southern Reach for you to explore.
Head to the marked location and you’ll see an entrance in the side of a cliff face. This is the entrance to the Sodden Grotto. Now all you need to do is make your way through here — watch out for the Shiverpedes! — scanning the Prospector’s dead bodies as you go, and you’ll eventually find your way coming face-to-face with a rather angry Rancor.
How to Defeat the Rancor in Star Wars Jedi Survivor
Now that the fight is on, remember this golden rule: don’t get greedy. Instead, make sure to take it a little at a time by getting in and out after landing one or two attacks. This will ensure you’re able to do damage, and not take damage back. That’s a trade you’re not going to win anytime soon.
Always look out for the Rancor’s stomp attack. You can’t dodge or block it, and it sends a shockwave traveling forward that you must evade it by jumping over the residual damage from erupting rocks, water, and debris. After this attack, get in a hit or two and retreat to safety.
Along the same lines, the Star Wars Jedi Survivor Rancor can also perform a ground slam with its two massive clawed fists, which is another big attack you can’t block. So jump over more of the shockwaves after its fists pound the ground, and once again jump over the eruption of dirt and debris. After Rancor’s attack, get a hit in if you’re close enough, otherwise stay defensive. Rancor’s recovery time after this attack is faster than its stomp attack.
Continuing with its lethal fists, Rancor can attack with its claws in an old-fashioned one-two punch combination, so as you see it wind up, be sure to dodge or parry each fist attack, and then follow up with a counter attack of your own with two of your strongest attacks. You have a bit more time here so make your attacks count.
The biggest and best opening for your attacks is right after Rancor charges forward to grab you. If you sidestep early enough, you should be able to combo a solid three hits before having to reposition yourself and get back on guard. If you don’t dodge… well then … be prepared to be a Rancor squishy toy and stress ball.
With knowledge of when to attack the Rancor, you’ll eventually do enough damage to stagger him. Even at this point, don’t go all in; stay disciplined and get a hit or two in, then back off before he starts flailing around in anger. Stay back until he tires and moves on to a different attack.
One final tactic you can use as a sort of trump card is to get near a bone on the ground and use the Force to throw it into Rancor’s mouth. This will get stuck in the big beasty’s mouth, giving you a small window to get a few attacks in. But make sure not to try it more than once or twice because Rancor learns from this trick quickly and it’ll no longer work.
Rancor Rewards
For beating the Rancor, you’ll be able to get a perk called Shatter from the back of the arena you’ve fought it in.
The Shatter perk makes your attacks more effective at breaking enemies’ guard. It essentially means you’ll be able to take down enemies faster, as you’ll be able to break their guard with fewer hits and start dealing significant damage to them sooner.
Now you know how to beat the Rancor in Star Wars Jedi Survivor, so don’t be afraid to take on the beast and claim a victory worthy of a Jedi Knight.
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