Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart: Nefarious Juggernaut Boss Fight

The Nefarious Juggernaut is one of the first bosses you’ll battle upon crossing dimensions in Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, a powerful robot that uses its huge body and artillery to try and bring down Ratchet and Rivet alike. We’ll show you how to beat the Nefarious Juggernaut boss fight here, along with all the tips you’ll need on how to beat the others that show up over the game.

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How to Beat the Nefarious Juggernaut Boss Fight in Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart

The Nefarious Juggernaut boss fight in Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart appears in Nefarious City itself when Ratchet is heading to steal a ship, ambushed by a huge robot in a dimensionally-unstable area. This is a boss fight you need to learn all the tricks for, as you’ll have to fight juggernauts multiple times across the campaign. We’ve laid out a basic guide for that below though.

Tips and Strategy

• The Nefarious Juggernaut is aggressive, and aside from moments where it stops to taunt the player (usually after landing a hit), it’ll constantly be attacking. You need to learn its attack patterns and how to counter them.
• The main attack is a laser from its chest that sweeps across the battlefield. You can use cover to block it or jump over it, but the speed at which it moves means that the safest option is the Phantom Dodge.
• When the Juggernaut jumps into the air, it’s trying to land on you and cause a short-range damaging shockwave. Move away from your current position as fast as possible, and either jump or Phantom Dodge to make sure the shockwave doesn’t catch you.
• The Juggernaut also fires missiles that track onto the player and land wherever you’re currently standing. By staying agile you can move ahead of them, though don’t jump - they come from the top-down, so you’ll only make yourself easier to hit.
• Juggernauts have lots of health, so familiarise yourself with the locations of ammo and health crates in the area.
• The orange head is a weak point, but honestly it’s just easier to keep attacking it anywhere while just focusing on dodging.
• At 75% health you’ll get transported to a new area with alien monsters who will attack if provoked. Keep your distance, and use the Topiary Sprinkler or Mr. Fungi to keep them off your back if they get difficult. Once you get it down to 25% health, you’ll go back to the previous area in Nefarious City.

Follow this advice and eventually you’ll achieve victory! All future Juggernauts follow this pattern, though the arenas you fight them in and the minions that spawn will differ. It’s always worth keeping this above advice in mind whether you’re fighting the Displaced Juggernauts or Elite Security Guard, though there’s one variation worth talking about.

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Invasion Commanders

The Invasion Commanders are a pair of Nefarious Juggernauts who fight the player on top of the Savali Archives, along with numerous minor minions. This is a difficult battle, so while all the above is true as well, here’s some extra tips to keep in mind.

• The circular arena means you can use the hoverboots to loop around and get some breathing space, or just deal with the minions.
• The fact you can only see one health bar at a time can make it tricky to work out how much health both are on (though visual signifiers like smoke or damage obviously mean something).
• Using the Topiary Sprinkler or Lightning Rod can help slow or paralyse them.
• You should focus on defeating one before the other. Fighting both is a lot harder, so just focus on taking one out before anything else.

Once you’re done, you’ll get Bolts and Raritanium as a reward! If you are having trouble though, we can show you how to lower the difficulty of all combat encounters here, or prepare for the next big boss fight here!