Quick Links

  • How To Defeat Broken Tripod
  • How To Defeat Drone
  • How To Defeat Tripod
  • How To Defeat Citadel Turret
  • How To Defeat Broken Automaton
  • How To Defeat Armored Machina
  • How To Defeat Automaton

You need a lot of patience if you want to progress through the biomes of Returnal since you have to start all over again at the crashed ship. Derelict Citadel is the third biome you'll stumble on, but you have to beat two bosses in Overgrown Ruins and Crimson Wastes before you can get here.

RELATED: Returnal: Guide To Hostiles In Crimson Wastes

The Citadel is a place with a lot of broken structures and it gives a post-apocalyptic vibe. The enemies here are quite special since they have a unique pattern. If you want to get past this area, it's important to know how to beat these enemies in a head-on battle.

How To Defeat Broken Tripod

This might not be the first time you'll be seeing the Broken Tripods since they also exist in a specific room in Overgrown Ruins. Although, you can only get past this room after you defeat Ixion, which is the same for getting into Derelict Citadel because you need the Icarian Grapnel.

As the name suggests, this enemy has three legs but it walks like one of its legs is malfunctioning. The distinctive feature of these enemies is the blue light shined on the floor by them.

The Broken Tripods are self-sacrificing enemies that don't have any particular attack on them. They're more like landmines that blow up if you get close to them. If you get caught in the explosion from this enemy, they'll deal a lot of damage. Moreover, these enemies have one of the least amounts of HP in the game.

You can shoot it with one or two bullets and their health will deplete as they explode. It's easy to deal with these enemies, you just have to make sure you don't get close to them. Whenever a Broken Tripod is nearby, they make some malfunctioning sound as well.

How To Defeat Drone

It seems like there's no lack of self-sacrificing enemies in the Derelict Citadel since Drones are another enemy that throws themselves at you. These enemies usually appear near the edges and they come up from below just like Strixera in Overgrown Ruins. You'll always find them in a group of at least three.

There's a distinct audio cue whenever these enemies appear, and you'll see the red pointers for them on your map. These enemies only have one ranged attack where they throw multiple missiles from their body and the missiles auto-lock on Selene as they turn according to your movement.

These enemies also have quite low health, but there's a special effect to them when they're low on health. Whenever they drop below 40 percent HP, the drones will dash to the spot you're standing on with speed.

They create an explosion when they break near you and deal a lot of damage. To prevent this, you have to remove each Drone's health completely instead of leaving them on low health and focusing on another enemy.

How To Defeat Tripod

The Derelict Citadel is filled with different types of machines, and Tripods are the most common machines you'll find here. These enemies look similar to the Broken Tripods except they walk normally and emit red light on the floor instead of blue. You'll generally find these enemies scattered across the room in groups targeting you from different directions.

Here are the two attacks you can expect from these enemies:

  • Usually, the first attack used by these Tripods is when they shoot a set of four to five orange-colored orbs in your direction. These orbs spread in an arc shape as they travel toward you, which makes them easy to dodge if you're far away from the enemy.
  • Alternatively, the Tripods sometime start aiming at you with a yellow line. Once the line follows you for a few seconds, it will turn into a laser that can slowly turn with your movement. The turn speed for these lasers is quite slow, so you can outrun it easily.

The special thing about these enemies is that they can be engulfed in a red shield sometimes. The shielded Tripods are completely immobile, but you won't be able to deal damage to them with your weapon. You need to hit them with a melee attack or attack them with the Shieldbreaker alt-fire.

How To Defeat Citadel Turret

The turrets are a signature of Returnal since you can find one type of these hostiles in each biome. The turrets in Overgrown Ruins and Crimson Wastes focus on fighting head-on with Selene, but it's different for the Citadel Turrets found in this biome. These turrets have more of a support style.

The Citadel Turrets can be differentiated from the rest as they're taller and have only one red eye shining on their face. Once they detect your presence, they'll shoot a small red projectile at your position. This projectile will travel slowly and won't change its direction with your movement.

When the projectile hits the ground, it will create a circular red laser that constantly expands its radius. This laser can be in any direction based on where the projectile drops, but it's quite easy to dodge since it expands slowly. This is why the Citadel Turrets aren't lethal in a head-on fight.

On the other hand, if you get distracted by other enemies and don't see the laser coming during a fight, it will deal a lot of damage. Some of these turrets can also have the same shield effect as the Tripods. The turrets are usually inactive until you reach a certain distance, and you can't hit them while they're inactive.

How To Defeat Broken Automaton

Another addition to self-sacrificing enemies, the Broken Automatons are crawling enemies since they don't have any legs. As shown above, these enemies use their hands to try and get close to you. Initially, these enemies will be quite slow while they're crawling to Selene, but they get an adrenaline rush when you damage them.

This makes their crawling speed a lot faster, and they'll explode if they manage to get near you, dealing tons of damage. Moreover, you don't get off easy even if you manage to defeat them before they get close. These Automatons release a circular laser after getting defeated, and the laser expands very quickly.

You need to pay attention and defeat these enemies before they get anywhere close. The structures of the Citadel are separated from each other, so you can always grapple to another structure and then defeat these enemies.

Since they don't have any jumping or flying ability, you'll easily be able to defeat them.

How To Defeat Armored Machina

An armored Machina is a special spherical enemy, as shown in the picture, and they're quite a rare find in the Derelict Citadel. These enemies usually appear from the red aura that spawns a boss enemy in a room. The only attack from the Armored Machina is where they open all the circular portions of their body and throw out tons of orbs.

While it's easy to dodge these orbs, it can get difficult if you're fighting other enemies throwing their attacks at you as well. You can defeat these enemies by shooting at any part of their body, and they can teleport like the Severed in Crimson Wastes.

How To Defeat Automaton

The only real mini-boss in the Derelict Citadel is the Automaton. This enemy can be easily identified with its giant buffed structure and it'll usually spawn from different auras in the room. Here are the unique attacks that this boss can perform:

  • If you're far away as soon as this boss spawns, its first attack will be a high jump where he'll stomp the ground near you and emit a speedy circular laser on the ground. If you're far away from the boss during the fight, it will keep performing this jump.
  • When you're in its range, the most common attack performed by the boss is where it uses the two Sentries on its hand and constantly shoots bullets at you. You can outrun these bullets, but they'll hit you if you get slowed or double back on your path.
  • Finally, the Automaton has a little grapple on itself. The enemy shoots this grapple in Selene's direction and pulls you close to it if you get caught.

With all these attacks, the Automaton can easily defeat you single-handedly. Moreover, this boss also has a Malformed form where all the above attacks are more aggressive and there's a set of purple lasers that shine at random places.

NEXT: Returnal: Complete Tower Of Sisyphus Guide