Out of all the boss fights in Resident Evil Village, Heisenberg is one of the only ones where's there no easy strategy to take him out. You sort of have to just play the fight out as the developers intended. Oddly enough, there's no fighting him in his base form, which I guess makes sense, given that Ethan stole his hammer.
That said, to get the "Blitzkrieg" challenge, you'll have to beat him in under four minutes, and there are a few ways to make the whole process easier, even if you're just speedrunning in general, so let's go over some of those now.
Keep Your Distance
There is literally no reason why you'd want to get close to Heisenbergs mutated form, even if it isn't all that scary, so try and stay as far back as you possibly can while still being able to easily aim at his weak spots.
You can move while shooting, so find a comfortable distance for both positioning and aiming.
It's Obvious, But Aim For The Weak Spots
Just like any video game boss, Heisenberg's "ultimate" form has a bunch of glowy weak spots for you to target. Not sure why'd he have those so clearly marked, but he's a mysterious guy. Specifically, it's his two elbows and the base of his mutated form that all glow red with light.
You should always be trying to fire into these spots, though if he's at an angle where it's difficult to hit any of them, prioritize the one at his base since you'll still be doing damage anyway if you miss, where missing his elbows could miss his body entirely.
Never Stop Firing
The machine gun on the alloy tank Chris built has infinite ammo,. This means:
- There's no reason to ever stop firing it
- Like Dimitrescu or Salvatore Moreau, he takes extra damage in his weak points, but hitting him anywhere else still does damage.
- He only staggers from destroying his weak spots, but any damage will get him into phase two quicker.
Save The Cannon Shots For When He's Charging At You
Heisenberg's most commonly used attack is the one where he holds his sawblade up and starts slowly chugging toward you. To stop this:
- Aim to destroy all of his weak spots
- If he gets a bit too close for comfort, unleash your cannon (preferably at a weak spot) to push him back and likely stagger him.
- If you're having a hard time hitting his elbows while he's moving, aim at the base then cannon his elbow when he staggers.
Spam Fire During The Cutscene Moments
When the fight progresses enough that Heisenberg creates a sort of tornado of metal in the air (with you in it) and Ethan hops back onto the tank in mid-air, just start spam clicking/pressing the fire input.
There is absolutely no aiming that needs to be done in this section, so save yourself a few seconds and just make sure the cannon fires as soon as possible to save some seconds for the Blitzkrieg challenge.
How To Easily Breath Through The Second Phase
After a certain point, Heisenberg takes your shiny toy tank away from you and forces you to fight him on foot. Now, this section might seem scary, but there are a few important things to remember:
- Save your Magnum ammo for this, as you really don't need it for the Sturm fight, and it has a much better use here. Using the magnum or the GM 79 explosive shots on his face can keep him pretty much locked down.
- But, if you don't have any of those options, simply keep firing at his head while putting the metal sheets stuck into the ground around the arena between you and Heisenberg. He stops briefly after running into and destroying these sheets, opening himself up to more shots from you and some time to create some more distance as well.
End Thoughts & General Tips
And that's about it! Heisenberg's fight has the least amount of unexpected variables like the other bosses do, such as Dimitrescu's invincible moments or Angie's predictable hiding spots, but it's also one of the most enjoyable boss fights in the game. That said, here are some final, more generalized tips to help you through this encounter in under four minutes:
- If you have to block any of his attacks at all, it's worth it to just restart the fight, especially because of how long the block animation is for the tank.
- The base weak point can be a bit hard to see sometimes, so if you see a massive amount of sparks coming from where the bullets hit, you're aiming in the right spot.
- And lastly, if he's getting too close for comfort in the second phase, flashbangs will absolutely work to give you a second or two to breathe or put some space between you two.
- Make sure you keep an ear out for that beloved boulder-punching reference everyone keeps talking about.