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Dead Rising Deluxe Remasteris packed with different enemies and threats for Frank West to take down, but the most dangerous and time-consuming are the human enemies known as Psychopaths.
Psychopaths are Dead Rising’s equivalent to boss battles and are notoriously difficult encounters that offer some big rewards for Frank. There are plenty of tough fights, but one of the most infamous is Cletus the gun shop owner. He’s less of a pain in Deluxe Remaster, but he still packs quite a punch.
How To Find Cletus The Gun Shop Owner
Just like the Prisoners,Cletus is annoyingly one of the few Scoops in Dead Rising that isn’t officially pointed out by the game, meaning you have to either know or randomly stumble into it.From 3pm on Day 1 all the way to 12am on Day 3, Cletus can be found in the Huntin' Shackthat’s located near the entrance to North Plaza.
If you come in from the side that’s close to Crislip’s Home Saloon,just take a left and keep going until you see a red sign pointing to the Huntin' Shack. Go here between the times above (which is most of 72 Hour Mode) and you’ll trigger a cutscene where a survivor named James tries to calm Cletus down and gain access to his guns. That doesn’t go well, which kicks off the fight with him.
How To Defeat Cletus The Gun Shop Owner
Preparation
Before you head over to the Huntin' Shack, there are a few things you’re going to want to bring. For starters,make sure you have a few healing items in your inventory such as Orange Juice, Wine, or Coffee Creamer(one of which can be found in North Plaza on top of a walkway).You’ll also want to bring a gun or two, which are best picked up from zombie cops, or bygrabbing the infinitely spawning Submachine Gun from Paradise Plaza.
Melee weapons aren’t as effective in the fight against Cletus until you’re a higher level and can tank his damage,but it’s still good to carry the Small Chainsaw orthe Katana from Paradise Plazato quickly attack him if you get up close and personal. Prioritise guns for this fight, though, as they’re more effective overall.
Cletus' Moves
As you can imagine from a gun store owner,the main way that Cletus attacks Frank is by shooting at them with his powerful Shotgun, which can take off multiple blocks and send Frank flying.Cletus will usually fire around two or three shots in a row, take a quick break, and then fire some more before reloading.
If you do manage to avoid Cletus' shots and get behind the counter with him to attack with a melee weapon,he’ll respond by chucking Frank back over to the other side. This doesn’t do too much damage, but he can follow up by shooting so make sure to dodge roll immediately if he does. It’s better to just use a weapon that can reach him from the other side so you don’t need to jump over.
While not an attack per se,Cletus will also respond to being shot by crawling along the floor and getting out of sight. This is a good chance to heal as quickly as you can, or run up and attempt to hit him with a melee weapon while he’s doing it. Only do that if you’re confident, though.
If Cletus does hit you, he’ll take a swig from his Wine, which won’t heal him but does offer a nice 6,000 PP photo opportunity. Silver linings, right?
Defeating Cletus
Cletus is a mostly long-range fighter, which is something you’re going to have to match with your own firearms. Whenever he shoots at you, the best thing to do is either move side to side, dodge roll out of the way (which is much easier in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster),or hide behind the shelves that are in his store. It’s a bit finicky, but it does block his shots most of the time.
One of the new tactics in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is picking up items to block gunfire, something which does work with these shelves. It’s not super reliable since you’re able to’t do much while holding them, but it does give you another way of avoiding gunfire.
When Cletus is reloading or moving around the shop,you’re going to want to aim at him and attempt to shoot him as much as you can before dodging when he retaliates. It’s much easier now you can move while aiming, but Frank still goes pretty slow when holding a gun, so make sure to get your timing right with it.
Finally, you can choose to run up to Cletus anduse a powerful melee weapon to hit him when he’s reloading or in between shots. It’s a lot riskier, but it does deal more damage than the Handgun. Really, your best option is to bring the Submachine Gun with you to the fight, as that does more damage and is faster.
Rewards For Defeating Cletus The Gun Shop Owner
Cletus might be one of the biggest pains to deal with in your first run of Dead Rising, but he’s got one of the most important and useful rewards -permanent access to the Huntin' Shack. Now, whenever you need guns,you can just come straight to the Huntin' Shack and stock up on them, making the rest of the run a whole lot easier and turning some Psychopaths into jokes.
The guns on offer at the Huntin' Shackinclude unlimited Handguns, two Sniper Rifles, and three Shotguns. The Sniper and Shotgun in particular are some of the best weapons in Dead Rising and are hard to come by if you don’t defeat Cletus,so getting rid of him should be one of your first priorities in any run. They’ll decimate almost every enemy in the game, and infinitely respawn if you come back to the area.
Combine a trip to the Huntin' Shack with a visit to Seon’s Food and Stuff that’s also in North Plaza, and you’re able to be fully stocked up at any time.
The Huntin' Shack also offers a pretty good place to hide out and catch your bearings since it has closing doors. That’s not such a problem since you may now skip time, but if you’re avoiding that mechanic for whatever reason, it’s a nice place to hang out, and always has at least one bottle of Wine to drink.
