How to beat Ramón in Resident Evil 4, Ramón Salazar boss strategy
Rain or shine, he's going down.
Ramón Salazar is the boss near the end of Chapter 12 in the Resident Evil 4 remake.
You'll want to bring the ideal guns and use the best strategy to conserve your health and ammo for taking on Ramón in Resident Evil 4 - especially on Hardcore and Professional difficulties, as it's a long battle.
To help you finish Chapter 12, we've detailed the best strategy for how beat Ramón Salazar below.
Please note that this is a guide for the remake of Resident Evil 4 so the exact boss strategy might not be the same in the original version.
For more help, you can visit our Resident Evil 4 walkthrough.
How to beat Ramón Salazar in Resident Evil 4
Here's our Resident Evil 4 Ramón Salazar boss strategy:
Preparing for the Ramón Salazar fight
Depending on what you have upgraded, and how much ammo you have, there's a few different weapon options we recommend bringing to the Ramón fight.
If you have it, and want to shorten the length of the Ramón fight (and boy is it long), then the best weapon to use is the Broken Butterfly Magnum. We only recommend this as a last case scenario, however, as ammo is very limited for this powerful gun, and you might want to save it for another boss fight.
If you're not using the Magnum as your main damage-dealer, then we suggest bringing a rifle like the CQBR Assault Rifle or bolt-action Rifle with a scope. Upgrading the damage on your pistol of choice is also a good idea. We like the Red9 with the stock attached the best of all the pistols, as it acts as a sort of mini-rifle in pistol form, due to its power and effectiveness at long range.
Grenades and a shotgun can help with the rare instances Ramón is on the ground, but the shotgun isn't an essential weapon to upgrade in order to beat Ramón.
Like with all our boss guides, we also recommend that you ensure you have Charms equipped that increase your healing from fish, eggs, or vipers if you have any of them spare in your inventory. Charms are randomised rewards from the shooting range, however, so you might not have any healing ones before the Ramón fight.
If you don't have these items or Charms, then we recommend buying a First Aid Spray from the Merchant if you can afford it. The Merchant refreshes his First Aid Spray stock pretty regularly throughout the game, so if you have room (and don't mind spending the money), it's always good to have extra healing going into a boss fight.
Fighting Ramón Salazar strategy - Phase 1
As with a lot of the bosses in the Resident Evil 4 remake, we suggest you break all of the boxes and barrels in the boss arena first, to get all the resources you can hold. They contain ammo, health items, and crafting resources, but keep in mind that their contents are randomised for each encounter.
For the actual fight itself, you should stick to the side with the undamaged column, as hiding near it is how you can avoid most of Ramón's acid spray attacks.
During the first phase of the Ramón fight, his acid sprays come in two forms: a continuous spray with one stream, and a shotgun blast-like spray that covers a wider area. Ensure you're close to the column and when you see Ramón start an acid attack, then hide at an appropriate angle.
In between his acid sprays, you should shoot at the yellow eye or body of Ramón with your rifle or pistol. Hitting the eye is ideal, but it's a lot harder to do, as Ramón likes to move around the arena very quickly.
We didn't find Flash Grenades particularly useful, as it doesn't stun Ramón for long enough to actually let you cause a significant amount of damage. However, they can be used as a last resort if you can't hide behind the column in time when Ramón starts an acid spray, as Flash Grenades stop his acid attack.
There's not much more to the fight, other than hiding and getting shots in when you can. Then, when Ramón has taken enough damage, he will fall down and you can either press the knife prompt, or unload your most powerful weapons on his eye. This is where you should use the Magnum, Shotgun, or grenades, depending on what you're using as your main damage-dealer.
Keep in mind that Ramón is probably the longest boss fight in the game, so even though it might seem like the battle isn't advancing, you are chipping away at his health.
Fighting Ramón Salazar strategy - Phase 2
Once you've damaged Ramón enough he'll enter his second phase and add a vertical acid spray attack to his arsenal. To avoid this continuous spray, hide under the platform attached to the undamaged column.
The strategy for damaging Ramón during his second phase is the same as it is in the first phase: shoot at his yellow eye, or the body of Ramón with your rifle or pistol, in between hiding from his acid sprays.
The main differences during phase 2, however, are that Ramón is a lot quicker and aggressive with his attacks, and that he will drop little blobs that explode if you get too close to them - so you have to keep an eye on where you're walking at all times.
The good news is that you can shoot these blobs to get more resources for the fight, including ammo and health items. Ramón's acid spray will sometimes handily burst these blobs for you instead.
Ramón positions himself on the ground a lot more during the second phase as well, but annoyingly, it's not usually long enough to cause a lot of damage with weapons like the magnum or shotgun. Still, make sure to take advantage of these opportunities when you can!
You'll get Ramón's Lip Rouge for defeating him, which can be sold to the Merchant, and if this was your first time taking on Ramón, you'll also get the 'No Thanks, Bro!' Trophy or Achievement.
Our Resident Evil 4 walkthrough can help you through the village with guides on the Large and Small Cave Shrine puzzle solutions, the Church dial puzzle, and Del Lago, El Gigante, and Méndez bosses. When you reach the castle, you have to tackle the Treasury sword, Wall With Four Slots, Dining Hall bell, and Grandfather Clock correct time puzzles, along with the Dungeon Garrador, two giants, and Ramón Salazar bosses. The island is up next, and there's still brain teasers with callibration puzzles, keycard locations, and a hidden wrench, along with final bosses Krauser and Sadler.
Fighting Ramón Salazar on Hardcore or Professional
There's not much difference in strategy when fighting Ramón on Hardcore or Professional difficulties - the increased health on Ramón just adds even more time to this already lengthy battle!
The only thing we recommend doing differently is shooting Ramón when he's downed with your most powerful weapons, instead of knifing him, unless you're confident that you can survive the long fight.
Additionally, remember that if you're playing on Professional, you should make a manual save right before the fight, as there is no autosave.
Good luck taking on Ramón!
If you'd like more help with the Resident Evil 4 remake, you can visit our walkthrough for more puzzle solutions, boss guides, and Request help.