Resident Evil Requiem Boss Guide: Exterminating Victor Gideon
Nothing says survival horror quite like an arrogant scientist injecting himself with a bioweapon and mutating into a three-story pile of angry flesh.
If you made the correct narrative choice to release Elpis at the terminal, you finally get the chance to exact some revenge. If you are curious about what happens when you pick the alternative option, read my Resident Evil Requiem endings guide to see why you avoided a bleak outcome. Dr. Victor Gideon has spent the entirety of the game kidnapping Grace, siphoning her blood, and generally making your life miserable from the shadows. Now that Leon is cured of Raccoon City Syndrome, the gloves are off. The director of the Rhodes Hill facility has abandoned his humanity, replacing his left arm with a massive tentacle and daring you to stop him.
This is the true final boss of the game. If you have been hoarding magnum rounds, stacked grenades, and heavy medical injectors for the last ten hours, this is exactly where you burn them all. The fight is split into two distinct and incredibly violent phases. I spent my first few attempts getting completely flattened by his electrical attacks because I misread his movement. I am going to break down his exact attack patterns so you can walk out of the ARK facility alive.
Phase 1: Surviving The Tentacle And The Lightning
After Zeno loses his head and the platform gives way, Leon lands at the bottom of the facility. Victor immediately goes on the offensive.
The arena down here is suffocating. It is entirely filled with large mounds of scrap metal that will catch you if you try to backpedal blindly. Victor is relentlessly fast in this form. He uses his new tentacle arm like a bullwhip to close the distance instantly. Do not try to outrun his melee strikes. You need to stand your ground and use Leon's combat hatchet to parry the incoming slaps. If you are unfamiliar with the precise windows required to block these strikes, my Resident Evil Requiem combat guide breaks down exactly how the timing works.
The Stagger Window
Equip a heavy hitting weapon like the shotgun or the Requiem revolver. Wait for him to finish a melee combo and dump damage directly into his chest. If you deal enough sustained damage quickly, Victor will drop to one knee to recover.
Do not keep shooting him while he is down. Use this brief window to run around the immediate area and smash the wooden crates. You need to pull every single shotgun shell and herb out of this arena before the environment gets destroyed.
The Electrical Bombardment
Eventually, Victor will leap onto one of the large scrap metal piles and begin channeling raw electricity. You will see a bright, glowing line appear on the ground indicating exactly where the blast is going to hit.
You have two choices here. You can shoot him while he charges to decrease the overall power of the attack, but I honestly find this to be a waste of good ammunition. Your best bet is to simply watch the floor, sprint out of the glowing damage zone, and prepare for his follow up. Immediately after the lightning strikes, Victor will launch himself into the air and attempt to crash down directly on your skull. Keep moving laterally to avoid the plunge.
The moment his feet hit the dirt, he will initiate a relentless forward charge. You have virtually zero room to dodge this. Raise your hatchet and perfect parry the collision, or prepare to eat a massive chunk of damage.
Stealing The Rocket Launcher
Towards the end of this phase, Victor decides he is tired of playing fair and literally pulls a rocket launcher out of thin air.
Do not let him fire it. Put your crosshairs on his center mass and hit him with a few rapid bursts of damage. He will flinch and drop the RPG onto the floor. This is where things get slightly annoying. You have to physically pick up the weapon to proceed.
It is a massive pain if your inventory is completely full of random crafting components and empty bottles. You are at the absolute end of the game. You do not need scrap metal anymore. Open your menu, discard anything that is not ammo or a heavy heal, auto-sort your grid, and grab the launcher. If your pockets are constantly overflowing, consult my Resident Evil Requiem crafting guide to learn what materials are actually worth keeping. Aim the launcher directly at his smug face and pull the trigger. The blast will knock him into a bottomless pit, ending the first phase.
Phase 2: Exterminating The Flesh Mountain
Falling into a pit never actually kills a Resident Evil villain. Victor re-emerges as a towering, fleshy kaiju that looks suspiciously similar to the Nemesis parasite from Raccoon City's past.
Your movement space is now severely restricted. You are trapped on a small platform staring up at a wall of meat.
Target The Extremities
Your natural instinct is going to be aiming dead center at the dark core in the middle of his chest. Ignore it. Shooting the center mass right now does zero damage.
Look at his massive arms. You will see several glowing red pustules scattered across the flesh. These are your primary targets. Equip a precision weapon and start popping the orbs on his left and right limbs. While you are aiming, Victor will routinely slam those massive arms down onto your platform. The attack patterns are highly telegraphed and function very similarly to the Plant 43 boss fight. Simply strafe left and right to avoid getting flattened.
Clearing The Ground Orbs
Once you destroy the arm pustules, the protective layer over his main core will peel back. Dump your heaviest firepower directly into the center.
Dealing enough damage to the core causes Victor to groan and completely collapse onto the platform. When he hits the deck, he spawns a cluster of new glowing orbs all over the floor around his base. You only have a few seconds to destroy these before he recovers. Put the rifle away. Pull out your shotgun or equip a stacked grenade. The wide pellet spread or explosive radius will wipe out the entire cluster of ground orbs instantly.
The Final Execution
When Victor stands back up, the cycle repeats. He will spawn even more pustules on his arms and body, forcing you to pop them while dodging increasingly aggressive arm slams.
Do not panic as the visual noise increases. The mechanics never change. Pop the arms, shoot the core, blast the ground. Keep sinking lead into him until the game rips control away from you.
Victor will lunge forward and physically grab Leon in a scripted sequence. A quick time event prompt will flash on your screen. Smash the required button to break his grip. Leon will dynamically leap onto the creature's back, scale the mound of flesh, and you will get one final button prompt. Hit it, and Leon will bury his combat hatchet deep into the pulsating orb at the peak of the monster.
The screen cuts to black, the facility crumbles, and you have officially survived Resident Evil Requiem. Enjoy the final cutscenes, watch the credits, and prepare yourself for an Insanity difficulty run. If you want to optimize your platinum hunt, map out your next playthrough using my Resident Evil Requiem trophy achievement guide.
