Cancer is the first major boss that you will encounter in the Root Earth after you arrive in the Ashen Wasteland. It is a massive tree who is deceptively fast for its size. It is also capable of using roots to incapacitate the player while dealing an incredible amount of damage. This guide will walk you through all there is to know about easily defeating Cancer in Remnant 2.
Remnant 2 Defeat Cancer
To find Cancer, you will need to progress to the Root Earth. After reaching the Ashen Wasteland, you will be ready for a showdown against one of the most annoying bosses in Remnant. Also, do note that Cancer is one of the World Bosses. This means that you must defeat him in order to progress the story.
Cancer’s Attacks
Cancer has a variety of hard-hitting attacks which make sense since it is a massive tree. The table below outlines all of its attacks:
| Root Attack | When you see Cancer slam the ground, pay attention to the ground to see sprouting roots. Simply dodge away from the area and you should be fine. |
| 3-hit Combo | This one is pretty standard. It will wail its branches onto you followed by a headbutt. You should try to dodge into it to avoid any damage. |
| Shockwave | Cancer leaps into the air and sends a shockwave toward you. It is important that you dodge as it is about to hit you. |
| Leap Slam | If you are too far away from it, Cancer will jump toward you to close in the gap. |
| Glitch Attack | This attack usually happens whenever it reaches around 50% HP. Cancer will glitch all over the arena. Whenever you see this, run away from him. |
Cancer’s attacks are fairly predictable as opposed to something like Venom or Annihilation.
One tip that I can give you is to try to stay behind as much as possible. This will not only let you land some much-needed Critical Strikes but you will also be safe from a majority of its hits.
How to Defeat
While easier than some of the other boss fights in Remnant 2, Cancer can get pretty frustrating since it is so deceptively fast. The boss is capable of closing in the gap instantly and some of its attacks like Root Attack has a very long reach.
Other than that, it can be somewhat hard to consistently hit its weakspot since it is on its back. With that said, here is a rundown of how the fight plays out:
Phase 1
During the first phase, Cancer only uses a couple of attacks. One of the attacks is its 3-hit combo attack which is not hard to avoid as long you dodge into it. Cancer will also try to sprout roots from the ground so keep an eye out. Remember, you can destroy these roots instead of letting them spread.
Phase 2
At about 75% HP, Cancer will start to use the Shockwave. As mentioned earlier, try to dodge it at the last second to avoid it. In this phase, it will also use the 3-hit combo more aggressively. If you can somehow manage to get behind it, you will be able to do a lot of damage.
Phase 3
This is where Cancer starts to glitch. It will gain a lot of speed, damage, and even fake attacks. Luckily, it will not get any new attacks. If you have learned its attack pattern, you should be good here.
Cheese it with Melee Builds
Melee Builds may not in the best state right now, but these are incredible for this fight. As long as you are running Challenger with Bulwark and an upgraded Melee Weapon, you should have no trouble with this fight. Here is a quick demonstration for those of you who are interested:
Alternatively, if you are an Archon with a Mod-spam build, you should be able to use multiple Firestorms in order to lock Cancer in a place.
Gear Recommendation
When it comes to defeating Cancer, there are quite a few options that you can use. Some of these we have shared in the table below:
| Weapons | Blackmaw AR-47, Chicago Typewriter, Nightfall, Crescent Moon, Sagittarius, Widowmaker, Enigma, Nebula, Meridian, Pulse Rifle, Alpha-Omega |
| Mods | Hot Shot, Firestorm, Witchfire |
| Mutators | Momentum, Bandit, Slayer, Harmonizer |
Rewards
Once you have defeated Cancer, you will receive these items:
- Necrocyte Strand to craft the Defrag
- Lumenite Crystal 4x
- Tome of Knowledge
- Scrap
This is everything we have on how to defeat Cancer in Remnant 2. If there is anything else that you would like to add, be sure to let us know in the comments down below!