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The Dead End Butcher is the first major story boss inZenless Zone Zeroand can easily be the first major roadblock for anyone who’s behind on upgrading and outfitting their characters. Beating this monstrosity can become a matter of course, but your first encounters with it are bound to be tough.
And because you can expect to fight the Dead End Butcher plenty as you progress in the game, knowing how to beat it consistently and with which teams is invaluable. You’ll find out about all that and more today.
All Phase One Attacks
Eachfight against the Dead End Butcher takes place across two phases. The first phase is very much a warm-up, as the boss gains a second set of arms and a ton of additional damage and aggression in its second phase. It shares a few attacks between phases, but for the most part, understanding one does not immediately grant you mastery of the other. Here’s everything you need to watch out for when taking on the Dead End Butcher.
Jumping Thrust and Sweep
The first attack can be parried. Both can be dodged.
The Butcherjumps across the arenaand thrusts its spear into the ground at your location. The boss then sweeps the area behind itself.
If you have the resources, parrying this attack is viable, but if not,dodging to one side or behind the bossavoids it easily. If you’re not out of range of the follow-up,you’ll need to dodge twice.
Three Hit Combo and Slam
After a brief windup, the Butcher swings its spear across its body twice,then charges energy into its weapon’s bladeand slams the ground, causing an explosion shortly after.
Parrying the first attackof the combo gives you breathing room to dodge the second and third hits. Asthe attack doesn’t have much forward momentum, dodging away lets you avoid it entirely.
Spinning Four-Hit Combo
The first and third attacks can be parried. All can be dodged.
The Butcher winds up the spear behind itself, then swings once beforegrabbing the shaft with both handsand swinging vertically, then horizontally in a spin. The spin can hit twice.
You need to parry this attack on the first and third swings to neutralize it, and because of the forward momentum,you’ll need to dodge at least twiceto get away from it.
Stomp
Can be parried and dodged.
One of its rarer attacks, the Dead End Butcherraises its left leg and stomps the ground.
This attack has a small AoE, but being even a few feet away avoids it, as does parrying.
All Phase Two Attacks
Phase two of the Dead End Butcher fight is a much more challenging experience, as the boss hits harder and faster and has a wider variety of attacks.
Can Be Dodged or Parried?
Jumping Slam
Can be dodged but not parried.
If you’re too far from the boss, it will briefly push three of its hands into the ground, then launch itself across the arena, slamming down where it lands.
If you’re facing the Dead End Butcher when this attack starts, you candodge directly toward itto get underneath the jump arc and avoid it.
Charge and Claws
The charge can be dodged and parried. The claws must be dodged.
Another attack that occurs at a longer range, the Butcher hugs its upper arms around itself and charges at you. At the end of the charge, or when it hits you,it will swipe with its claws in an arc.
Your best bet to avoid this attack isdodging twice to either side, as the charge and swipe have light but still noticeable tracking.
Six-hit Ground Swipe Combo
The first, third, and fifth attacks can be parried. All attacks can be dodged.
This multipart combo starts with the Butcher bringing backits upper-right arm and swiping across its body, followed by:
You’ll can parry three out of this attack’s six hits, butwe don’t recommend taking the Perfect Assist immediately,as the timing is tricky. Dodging to the side is a good way to deal with it.
Seven-hit Slam Combo
The first, fourth, and sixth hits can be parried. All attacks can be dodged.
This attack starts with the Butcher trembling as it winds up its upper-right arm, thenchases you down over six slam attacks, followed by a spin that ends in a seventh slam. Note the seventh slam has a large recovery window for damage.
Each slam has significant tracking, but not quite enough to track behind the boss’s body, so getting behind is safest if you don’t want to parry. You can alsododge away to avoid it.
Two-handed Stab into Three-Hit Combo and Explosion
The first and second hits can be parried. All attacks can be dodged.
The Butcher winds up its upper arms,causing them to turn bright pink, then stabs with its claws. It follows up with a claw swipe and a spin move, ending with a slam that generates a large explosion.
Your best action here is toparry the first two attacks, then dodge directly into the Butcher to get behind it. You can also try dodging in circles around the boss to avoid the attacks.
Three Slams into Explosion
The first hit can be parried. All attacks can be dodged.
The Butcher raises its arms and slams its lower ones into the ground, followed by its upper ones, before raising its arms once again,gathering energy, and slamming them into the floor. The ground explodes shortly after.
Parrying the first hit does little to deal with this attack, asyou’ll still need to dodge around the subsequent slamsand the explosion. Get either far away from or behind the boss.
Laser Sweep
Cannot be parried, but can be dodged.
The Butcher fires alaser from one eye from right to left.
You’ll need to dodge the laser, preferably bydodging into its arc, to avoid getting caught as it travels.
Rising Laser
The Butcher powers up its eye and thenshoots a laser verticallyfrom the ground.
While powering its eye,the Butcher will track your movements. Once the laser fires, tracking ends, so dodge just before it would fire.
Gore
You can parry and dodge this attack.
This attack sees the Butcher briefly bringing its arms behind it before thrusting them forward. If it connects,it tries to rip at youwith both its upper claws.
Parrying this attack neutralizes it, as doesdodging to the side and behindthe boss.
Best Teams And Strategies
The Dead End Butcher is weak to Ice and Ether damage, meaningthere are several teams you canuse to make the fight more comfortable. As for strategies, keep the following in mind:
Damage
Bangboo
The premium Miyabi team with Astra Yaowill make the fight against the Dead End Butcher laughably easy. You get Miyabi’s massive damage, Yanagi enabling Miyabi and supplying top-tier damage of her own, and Astra’s buffs for the whole team. In short, don’t expect a fight with this team to last long. Specifically:
Support
Though she’s not the powerhouse she was during the launch window, Ellen remains a fantastic Ice damage unit who’s easy to play and build around. And with the Dead End Buthcer’s Ice weakness, this team is well-suited to the fight. Specifically:
If you don’t have many S-rank characters,this free-to-play team can get the job done, though expect to fight a bit harder for victory. Anton is a very straightforward DPS and benefits from long Stun windows, which Anby can provide. Nicole ensures you get the Cunning Hares team bonus. Specifically:
