Stomping is one of two types of melee attacks in Dead Space where you crush Necromorphs to death using your heavy boots. The other melee attack is your regular punches that are best to push Necromorphs into Gravity Panels.
Since resources are scarce in Dead Space, you will want to use melee attacks to preserve as much ammunition as possible. You should also make it a habit to stomp corpses on the ground to ensure that they do not return as Necromorphs.
Another reason to stomp enemies is to unlock the Backbreaker achievement where you need to stomp 10 enemies in the game.
However, stomping is not as easy as it sounds. You need to get close to a Necromorph that carries risk. You need to also find a window of opportunity to prepare a Necromorph to be stomped. They will not let you place your foot on them just like that.
How to stomp enemies in Dead Space
The first thing to know is that you can only stomp enemies that are lying on the floor. While there are some Necromorph types that are already crawling on the floor and are automatically ready to be stomped, you have to knock the others down before you can stomp them in the game.
So, how do you stomp enemies in Dead Space? You first take out their legs to knock them down on the floor. That, however, is going to take some skill.
Some Necromorphs are highly mobile while others are climbing on walls. You will need to find an opportunity as well as the correct weapon to dismember their limbs to force them onto the ground.
There are several ways to dismember their legs. You can either use the Force Gun (primary fire) or the Kinesis Module to throw a heavy object at their limbs. You can also cut off their limbs with a Pulse Rifle or Plasma Cutter.
Once a Necromorph is on the floor, you need to get close enough to prompt a stomp attack by pressing R2/RB/Space Bar on PlayStation/Xbox/PC respectively.
Take note that stomping attacks are not executions. They do lesser damage than your weapons. If the Necromorph is near death, you can kill them with a single stomp. Otherwise, you will need to stomp them multiple times to kill them.
When you are dismembering a Necromorph, you are not only slowing them down for a stomp attack but also reducing their health for an instant kill.
Necromorphs that can be stomped easily
Something else to know is that some Necromorphs are particularly easy to stomp or in other words, easiest to bring down to the ground for a stomp attack.
| Necromorph | How To Knock Them Down |
|---|---|
| Leaper | Shoot their arms first or use Stasis to slow them down. |
| Lurker | Dismember its tentacles to force it to fall on the floor. |
| Slasher | Shoot their legs and then rush in for a quick stomp attack. |
| Twitcher | Shoot their chest and destroy their internal stasis module to slow them down. |
Best way to unlock the Backbreaker achievement
If the Backbreaker achievement is not working for you, it is because you need to kill an enemy with a single stomp. Any kills that took more than one stomp do not count toward the achievement.
Here, there is one Necromorph that is the easiest and best way to unlock the Backbreaker achievement. You need to find either Swarmers or Pregants that spawn Swarmers.
Swarmers are often found in groups and have low health to begin with. Use Stasis to slow them down and rush in to stomp all of them at once. If you find a Pregnant, shoot its stomach to release its Swarmers and then use the same Stasis strategy.
