As always, prepare wisely. I recommend bringing:

• Your titanium hammer (your titanium ax may also work)
  
• Your titanium short sword
  
• Any pistol
  
• The best shield you can find, basic shield otherwise
  
• Bandages, 50 or more
  
• A shotgun, rocket launcher, sniper rifle, or titanium hunting bow
  
• Hunting spears, 50 or more
  
• Cooked steak, 10 or more.

If you have better armor and/or weapons from a previous character, using them will help.

If you are playing as a Novakid without any non-Novakid friends, you should bring the highest DPS melee weapon you can find and the highest DPS short sword or dagger you can find.

Put the shield and either your bandages or your short sword in your default slots. You won't need your matter manipulator, so you can set <R> to duplicate one of the number keys from Options>Controls and then place the third item in that slot. Make sure the other items are in your hot bar.

Dreadwing has six attacks. If you damage him, his health meter will appear with the attack he is currently using. His most common initial attack is a snowball-like barrage. He also likes to slam his ship into the ground in an attempt to crush you. A healthy shield will block both of these attacks. If he tries Mega Swoop, jump over him or duck*. He can also teleport. If this doesn't put him right back on your screen, you can recharge before finding him again. When he has one bar of health remaining, he'll use Plasma Cannon to deal high damage no matter where you stand. (He may not use this if you aren't playing solo Novakid. If he does, treat it like an Erchius plasma stream you can't avoid.) His other two attacks call in reinforcements: one tank or two penguins.

The tanks have a slow rate of fire, but each shot deals a lot of damage. Their armor is practically plasma proof, so use your hammer on them. The penguins take time to aim their weapons, but they can kill you easily if you stay in one place for too long.

To the left of the teleporter pad are two penguins, a campfire, and a tent. Use your hammer to kill them. If you took damage, sleep in the tent. If you continue left, you'll only find some spikes and an invisible barrier.


Eat a steak and head right with your hammer. Take out the penguins you find. The first tank is broken and can therefore be ignored. The other tanks should be eliminated as quickly as possible because they deal high damage. If you move your camera as far right as it goes, you may be able to spot Dreadwing before he spots you. When Dreadwing appears, or you start receiving a snowball-like barrage, clear the area and continue to the next section of the guide. If you see more spikes, turn left.


If at any time your health drops to 25% or less, hold up your shield with one hand and apply bandages with the other hand. Try to dodge projectiles while doing so. Eating steak regularly will help keep your health up.

Eat another steak. Switch to your range weapon and fire a few rounds into the UFO. If you haven't cleared the area, use your pistol in conjunction with your shield. When Dreadwing starts smashing the ground, move to the side and smack the edge of the UFO with your hammer as many times as you can before he lifts off. If Dreadwing spawned any more tanks or penguins, take them out now. Swap back to your range weapon and hit him a few more times to encourage him to dive again. Keep smacking him when he dives, shooting him when he flies, and clearing spawned enemies until the UFO starts blowing up. At this point, you should stand away and clear out any remaining tanks and/or penguins. Collect the fragments of wreckage and the codex and then return to the teleporter pad. Beam to ship, and you're done!

Alternatively, you can retreat whenever Dreadwing calls in penguins or tanks. You can use hunting spears when Dreadwing is close enough, or you can use them on penguins and tanks from the other side of a hill.

Changes may have occured that I didn't encounter. Please tell me about them in the comments.

*- Ducking suggested by Lucardio via the comments.