We still have a full guide we’re in the process of putting together but one thing people seem to be struggling with is that infernal Rancor.

Encountered quite early on in the game, while exploring the world of Koboh and taking on the rumor ‘Find the Missing Prospectors’ at Rambler’s Reach, right by its Meditation Point, the quest eventually leads, spoiler alert, to a Rancor.

To be fair, this battle is a significant upgrade compared to other drones and troopers you’ll have fought up to this point, and actually proves to be a tougher fight than some later in the game too, but we’ve got a few strategies that might help you.

Bare in mind, the difficulty of the fight will also play into this and probably negate some of these strategies, so worst case, maybe consider dropping it down a little.

But anyway, here’s a few things that worked for us…

Keep your distance

This should seem obvious, but get as much distance as you can between you and the Rancor. This beasty hits hard and even has an attack that can take all of your health in one. Yup!

Rancors are iconic Star Wars enemies and Respawn have definitely done their due diligence and homework in recreating them. So bare that in mind as the Rancor is always most deadly when it’s facing you and you’re right in its face.

So, initially, keep dodging, ducking, jumping and stay moving. And if you’re frustrated you haven’t hit it in a while, throw a lightsaber or two at it. The damage won’t be significant, but it can help gradually deplete the shield and bring the health bar down a little bit to keep momentum swinging your way.

Watch those arms

Even if you are keeping your distance, it’s worth noting the Rancor has some decent range and flails around a lot. But in the midst of these strikes, this can also be your opening window to get some shots in. When it’s thumped the ground or turned itself around a bit, that’s your chance to get in close and slice him up.

Try to get somewhere between the front belly and just under its leg and unleash for a second or two, then quickly retreat. The important thing here is not to get greedy because the Rancor’s swipes and stomps can take over half your health and if it grabs you, it’s game over.

And that stomp!

Yeah, this is a beasty that uses all parts of its body to hurt you and the stomp can really catch you out if you’re not expecting it. Especially the ripples and shockwaves that follow.

When Rancor stamps down, jump over the shockwaves and ripples and try to pull as far back as you can.

Stick and move.

Unblockable combo

As you know, whenever an enemy goes red, that’s a sign they’ve got an unblockable attack coming and you definitely aren’t going to be blocking anything this one throws at you. And if you’re in the way, it’s gonna hurt. Hard.

The big double stamp on the ground, is best avoided entirely. If you are close enough for a counter, you’re probably only going to be able to get a strike or two in before he attacks again. It’s up to you if that’s worth the risk.

The one you’ll want to watch out for is the grab. Sidle to the side when he charges at you and when he misses, that’s a huge window of opportunity to unload. Here you can do some big damage. That said…

Use the Double-Bladed Stance

So, there’s a few things to this. If you insist on doing this mission early (and the good thing is you can revisit and try again at a later point in the game) then go with the Double Bladed Stance. Other stances later in the game could be more effective but for the purposes of early game, this one hits hardest.

If you also have Gathering Tempest and Endless Hurricane, this can be really effective in getting in extra strikes within small pockets of time. Just don’t get too into the flow or you can leave yourself open for a massive counterattack.

While having two sabers can be faster, you can really maximize your most powerful attacks against an enemy with a thick skin.

Finally, try and upgrade your health and force abilities and seek out more Stims

Try to come into this fight as best prepared as you can. It’s definitely possible to do win this early on (I’ve done it twice considering my restarted playthrough) and the best way to do that is upgrade your health, regen, your stim potency and force abilities.

Use your Stims as sparingly as you can, though if you’ve dipped below 25%, one hit is going to kill you, so play smart. And when Rancor is very low on health, a strike or two can finish the job ahead of time to preceed a killing animation, so don’t be afraid to go all out if it’s the difference between surviving the fight or losing.

Defeating it is tough and you deserve credit for getting through as this fella hits harder than bosses that follow it, quite deep into the game. So there’s certainly no shame in failing here.

Good luck!