How to beat the Rat King in The Last of Us Part 2 explained

Now that The Last of Us Part 2 is out on PC, there will be plenty of new players who are yet to have had the pleasure of meeting our hospital-dwelling friend.

If you're struggling with a keyboard and mouse, be sure to check out The Last of Us Part 2 PC controls to get yourself up to speed.

You can also check to see what chapter you're in so you have an idea of how much longer you have to play or what the fuss is all about with the TLOUP2 Lost Levels.

And though we succumbed to them time after time before we beat them, we can't wait to see how the Rat King will look in The Last of Us season 2 either. It's sure to be gross, though.

But with all that said and done, let's get to it!

How to beat the Rat King in The Last of Us Part 2

When you’ve made your way into the bowels of the hospital, and you see an ambulance, you’ll know it’s about to kick off.

To start the encounter, open the chest in the ambulance. Abby will find the supplies that she needs, but at the same time, the Rat King will find you. Uh oh.

In this intro part of the boss battle, all you need to do is run away. Don’t stop to try and shoot the Rat King. Remember that you need to press down L1 to sprint, and get yourself out of there!

If you get caught by the Rat King, it’s instant death for you. We were playing on Normal difficulty and that was hard enough!

You’ll need to unblock a few doors and take the correct turnings, which are as follows:

• Squeeze through the first door
• Rapidly press the button prompt to open the next set of doors, then turn left
• Hop over the hospital bed and then open the door on the right
• Once through the door, turn right and then immediately left and squeeze through the gap
• Take a right and then immediately left to avoid the Rat King as they burst through a wall
• Go straight and hop over another hospital bed, then immediately turn left
• Run to the door with the fireaxe jammed between the doorhandles and take the axe
• Rapidly press the button prompt to swing the axe at the rat king

This brings us into the first proper phase of the boss battle, and the key is to keep moving. Do not stay in any one spot for too long.

Keep your distance from the Rat King and fill him with as many bullets as you can. Any throwable weapons will help, too.

This may take a few attempts, but it’ll all start to make sense when you start learning the layout of the room.

If the Rat King gets close, slip through the nearest gap and run away to make some more room.

Repeat this running and shooting until the Rat King splits into two separate beings. Now you’re in the next phase.

Your main goal in this second phase is to keep damaging the bigger part of the Rat King.

Keep on keeping your distance, and shooting him, using the items around you to craft more ammo as and when you need it. Remember to keep an eye on your health bar too!

You’ll want to stay away from the smaller one as best you can, as well. Luckily, the mini version doesn’t have a one-hit kill, so you can afford to take a few hits there. Staying away from the big boy is your main concern!

Finally, the Rat King will die, and you can leave through a ventilation shaft above a door blocked by boxes.

Surprise! The smaller guy is still alive and will ambush you in the space above the ceiling, and now you need to defeat him. He’ll start throwing acidic waste at you — not cool, man.

Again, keep your distance, maintain your ammo and your health bar, and pepper him with attacks until he goes down.

Once the Rat King’s mini-me dies, this encounter is finally over, and Abby can go back to her main plot. What a day!

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