Remnant: From The Ashes - 13 Alternative Boss Kills

Remnant: From the Ashes is one of the most popular soulslike games out there, and probably one of the most unique ones as well. This game, usually described as 'Dark Souls with guns' actually has so much more depth to it than what players would initially expect. And, one of the aspects of this depth is the alternate kills for bosses, which are unique ways players can defeat certain bosses in order to obtain completely different rewards.

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There are a ton of bosses in Remnant: From the Ashes (as well as in its sequel, Remnant 2), so let's take some time and go over some of the most impactful bosses across all of the realms and talk about their alternate kills.

Updated September 18th, 2023 by Jacob Buchalter: With all of the popularity surrounding Remnant: From the Ash's prodigal sequel, Remnant 2, the first game is finally getting new players again. Plus, Remnant 2 has been out long enough at this point for most people to get through the absurd amount of content it offers. So, a lot of them are going back to check out the original game or re-experience the Survival Mode it has. With all that in mind, let's take a look at a few more Boss Alternate Kills.

13 Corsus: Cessnya, The Iskal Queen

The Iskal Queen is a character that Remnant: From the Ashes players are already familiar with, but this time around they can actually fight her. In the base game, players could only talk to Cessnya and either give her the Guardian Heart of Ixillis or give it to the Undying King instead. However, with the Swamps of Corsus DLC, a boss fight was added for her (exclusively found in Adventure Mode). This fight, when encountered, is probably the one most comparable to a standard Dark Souls boss fight. Not only that, but it's comparable to some of the more difficult human-sized bosses across the entire Souls franchise.

To get her alternate kill, players will need to wait until the phase where the Iskal Queen transitions from her first to her second phase, slowing the player to a crawl, flying down from the throne, and walking towards the player. This is where the alternate kill happens. Before starting the fight for the first time, players should notice a decent-sized puddle in the back left side of the arena. Directly above this Puddle, they should also see a stone stalactite dripping a singular drop of water down into the puddle. This drip of water is what players will use to 'mark' when to shoot the stalactite above so that it falls onto Cessnya. As soon as she walks over or is about to walk past that drip, players just need to look up and blast that hanging rock a few times, and the Queen will get squished.

12 Reisum: Brudvaak the Rider & Vargr the Warg

Speaking of Remnant: From the Ashes DLC bosses, here's one of the best bosses added in the Subject 2923 DLC, which would eventually pave the way for a lot of what happens in Remnant 2's Campaign.

In this DLC, players are tasked with exploring a new world called Reisum (as well as Ward Prime), home to all sorts of intelligent rodents called Emin. And, for the final boss of this Realm, players will be up against an Ornstein and Smough-esque dual boss by the names of Brudvaak and Vargr. The reason it's so comparable to those iconic Knights of Gwyn is simply that the alternate kill for this boss is decided by which of the two enemies (the rider, Brudvaak or the mount, Vargr) is killed first. When one is killed, the other becomes empowered and will showcase a whole new moveset that players will need to learn to overcome.

11 Earth: The Ent

This is the first big World Boss players will encounter where they'll be forced to make a choice between two items. By just killing the Ent outright, they'll receive the Spore Gland (which becomes the Sporebloom). If these players focus on destroying the Ent's legs first before ending the fight, they'll get the Twisted Heart Instead (which becomes the Petrified Maul)

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In general, the Ent is a pretty simple boss despite its terrifying and imposing appearance, and according to the in-game lore the one that players fight is only an adolescent, so who knows who it would've fought when fully grown.

10 Earth: Singe

Singe is the other option players can get when they encounter the World Boss of Earth, and this is a reference to the same dragon the protagonist of Chronos: Before the Ashes were hunting. Singe's two kills are very similar to the Ent's in that players will have to focus on a specific body part to get the alternate kill. For Singe, it's the tail, and if this is destroyed before it is killed players receive the Dragon Links, which McCabe will turn into the Smoulder sword.

If players ignore the tail and just kill Singe outright, they'll get the Blazing Heart which then becomes the Spitfire flamethrower-type gun. It makes sense that a fire-breathing Root nightmare would be turned into a flamethrower weapon, and it's another gun that basically comes back in Remnant 2 in the form of the Hellfire Hand Gun.

9 Earth: Brabus

Brabus is the first non-World Boss on here, and he's also a boss fight that can be avoided entirely, as long as the player is willing to cough up a certain Pocket Watch. To get this Pocket Watch, players will need both Mudtooth and Brabus to spawn in their world. After getting it from Mudtooth, they can then give it to Brabus to avoid his encounter as a whole and be rewarded with the Bandit Set, one of the biggest fan-favorite Armor Sets that makes a return in the second game.

If players encounter Brabus in a multiplayer session, they'll instead get an option to fight each other instead of Brabus, and the player that manages to come out on top will get the Cold as Ice Trait. Lastly, and this is actually the default reward (with the other two being Alternate options), players can just straight-up fight Brabus and get the Shrapnel Shard which turns into Explosive Shot. Thankfully, Remnant 2 confirms that the path where players kill Brabus isn't canon, as he appears in that game's hub area.

8 Rhom: Maul & Houndmaster

The Houndmaster and his primary 'hound' named Maul are the next bosses on here. While Maul is the primary 'target' of the encounter, the Houndmaster plays a large part in the Alternate Reward. For example, destroying the Houndmaster's horn will make Maul attack its master and reward players with the Control Rod at the end of the fight. However, if players haven't also found Wud's Shop in their version of Rhom, they should go for the Hound Choker instead as they'll need both Wud's Shop and Maul in order to fight the Ancient Construct.

To get the Hound Choker (the default reward) players simply need to fight Maul as they would any other boss, and once they have it they can take the item to McCabe and have it crafted into the Howler's Immunity Weapon Mod.

7 Rhom: Claviger

The Clavier is one of the two options players will have for the World Boss of Rhom, and it's also one of the biggest fan-favorite bosses of the franchise. The default kill and Alternate Kill for Claviger both involve the minions that Claviger summons part-way into the fight. If players manage to kill all the minions before Claviger slams the arena and 'absorbs' them, they'll get the Void Sliver alternate reward. This is a pretty tough alternate kill, as it forces players to do this each time the boss summons mobs, and if they miss even once they'll need to die and rest.

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The fight itself isn't too difficult once players figure out the mechanics, and the default reward AKA the Stone of the Guardian can be crafted into the imposing World Breaker Melee Weapon (even if Melee isn't the best option in the first game).

6 Rhom: Harrow

The second World Boss option to get the key leading to the Undying King is in the hands of the Harrow. To get the default reward players will just need to defeat this horrifying boss normally, which rewards them with the Thermal Geode.

Taking this back to the hub can get players the Defiler, one of the most beloved Handguns in Remnant: From the Ashes​​​​​​. However, to get the alternate reward, players will have to stagger the boss by shooting its legs, causing the creature to fall to its knees. After this, simply walk around to its backside and pull the Lost Harpoon out of its back.

5 Rhom: Undying King

There are a lot of different options players have with the Undying King of Rhom (these games are packed full of content). They can choose to accept his quest to get the Guardian's Heart from Corsus as one path. Alternatively, they can accept his request just to have the King open an early portal to Corsus and then ignore him for the rest of the game.

Finally, as a last option, they can choose to fight the Undying King, and this is where his standard reward is gained. Killing the King this way nets players the Ruin Long Gun, which is the only gun (in either game) with the ability to bring players back from the dead. Bringing the Guardian's Heart to the Undying King will also net the player some great rewards, such as the Riven, a Melee Weapon with fast swings, and some innate life steal.

4 Corsus: Ixillis

The Guardian of Corsus, Ixillis, is a beast of a boss fight. There's a lot to keep track of, Ixillis uses a beam that can easily one-shot players or knock them off the bridge, and the arena is very narrow. As if it's not bad enough, players will have to fight 2 Ixillis' in the second half of this fight. The default method to win is killing one of the two Ixillis and then taking out the (now empowered) remaining one. This rewards the player with the Hivestone, a material that can be made into the Hive Cannon Hand Gun. However, attempting to take both Guardians out within a few seconds of each other rewards players with the Guardian Tentacle instead. This is a much more disgusting-looking material that can be made into a Melee Weapon, the Guardian Axe.