Bayonetta 3: How to Beat Strider

Bayonetta 3 is without a doubt learning from its contemporaries — games like Devil May Cry 5. In Platinum Games’ latest entry in their legendary action game series, you don’t just play as Bayonetta, the titular witch, but you also get to take a stab at a few levels as a brand new character — Viola. One of toughest boss fights in the game pits you against Strider, who appears in two of this Viola’s chapters. 

Strider appears in Chapter 7 and Chapter 10 and is extremely fast and incredibly dangerous. He is actually just Luka, one of the most important side characters in the Bayonetta trilogy, transformed into a monster. Whatever you do, don’t underestimate this beast and don’t forget to use your entire arsenal of weapons and inventory items. 

How to Defeat Strider in Chapter 7

At the end of Chapter 7, you’ll watch a cutscene where Viola encounters Luka and witnesses his transformation into Strider. He is a fast enemy, and it’s easy to get caught in the boss’ combos, losing health quickly.

Before going into the fight, we recommend crafting some items for healing and boosting your damage output. While hardcore Bayonetta fans might take issue with using items, Bayonetta 3 doesn’t care and won’t punish you for it. It’s also a good idea to equip any accessories you have that allow you to activate Witch Time more often. 

The key to beating Strider is activating Witch Time. Since you have to parry an enemy attack to activate Witch Time as Viola, this makes the fight trickier than if you were playing as Bayonetta. Unfortunately, this boss is a bit of a test for your blocking and parrying skills and meant to be quite a challenge in that regard. 

However, if you make sure to use your Witch Time opportunities to summon Cheshire, your Demon cat can do massive damage to Strider. Using Cheshire’s finishers by using “ZL” to incorporate his attacks at the end of combos is the most effective way to damage Strider. When in trouble, it’s okay to keep your distance and attack with Cheshire — just know that when you run out of Magic, you’ll have to get up close and personal to damage the boss. 

How to Defeat Strider in Chapter 10

The second Strider encounter is the final boss of Chapter 10. He is a lot easier this time around, since you are stronger and have access to Viola’s faerie form (L+R on the analog sticks) whenever your meter is full. For this reason, we advise not using faeire form until this battle in the final Verse of the Chapter. 

We recommend using the same tactics (and items if you wish) until Strider gets down to about two or one and a half health bars left. From here, you can activate your more powerful form and chew threw the rest of Strider’s health, leading to the end of Chapter 10. 

And that’s how you beat Strider each time. For any more tips and guides on Bayonetta 3, look no further than our hub right here.