"Know your enemy and know yourself and you will win 314 battles."
--Sun Tzu (slightly modified)
"What is best in life? To necrotize the Bowmen, see them flip-
flop before you, and hear the lamentation of the Fatties."
--What Genghis Khan would have said, with Arnold Schwarzenegger's
voice, had he stayed at home and played Parasite Eve II.
This document is the intellectual property of Gerard Schiela.
Unauthorized duplication in whole or in part is illegal. Posting
to any but authorized web sites (see below) is not permissible.
If you would like to post this FAQ please write
Gerardvv@yahoo.com for permission. Violators will be prosecuted.
Copyright 2001. "Parasite Eve" and related names are the property
of Squaresoft and are considered to be used in accordance with
"fair usage" laws. "Playstation" is a SONY trademark. DEXDrive is
a trademark of Interact.
If you have downloaded this document from anywhere but
www.gamefaqs.com you are reading an unauthorized version.
Disclaimer: This document is intended as a strategy guide for
Nightmare Mode in Parasite Eve II. It assumes that you are
already familiar with the game and have played it at least once.
It is not intended as a walk-through or an in-depth FAQ (there
are several excellent ones already available at www.gamefaqs.com,
so if you are having trouble with puzzles, item locations, etc.
please see one of those FAQs). It is recommended that you play
Bounty Mode and Scavenger Mode before attempting Nightmare Mode.
Some of the advice in this document, although it works fine in
all the modes, would be ludicrous to employ in other modes
because there are much better options available. This document,
IMHO, contains the best solutions to difficult spots in Nightmare
Mode from a holistic standpoint. That means that although there
may be better solutions for individual battles I have kept in
mind what battles are yet to come and what items will be needed
for them. If you believe you know a better way, or have any
comments or suggestions for this FAQ, please e-mail me at
Gerardvv@Yahoo.com with "PE Guide" in the subject line. Full
credit will be given in the "Thanks" section to those who write
in suggestions.
Thanks:
To Stewart Moore for donating his time to copyedit this document.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(9.B.i) Twin Chasers (terrain illustration)
(9.B.ii) Cage Match (tight spot)
(9.B.iii) Chaser (tight spot)
(9.B.iv) Giant Stalker (BOSS?)
(9.B.v) Unarmored Slasher, Unarmored Shooter (tight
spot)
(9.B.vi) No. 9 (BOSS)
(9.B.vii) Armored Shooter (tight spot)
(9.B.viii) A Rock and a Hard Place
(9.B.viii.a) The Hard Place--A Ghost
(9.B.viii.b) The Rock: Two Bowmen
(9.B.ix) Armored Slasher, Unarmored Shooter (tight spot)
(9.B.x) Ghost (tight spot)
(9.B.xi) FireBreather (BOSS)
(9.C) Shelter
(9.C.i) Leader of the Pack (Boss)
(9.C.ii) SuckMeister (Boss)
(9.C.iii) Mad Dash
(9.C.iv) Strangers (3rd Stage)
(9.C.v) Tlaloc (Boss)
(9.C.vi) Giant Bowman (Boss)
(9.C.v) FINAL BATTLE
(9.C.v.a) Ultimate Being
(9.C.v.a.i) FULL SCROOGE MODE:
(9.C.v.b) Eve
APPENDIX A: End Game Bonus Values
APPENDIX B: Medicine Wheel Usage
APPENDIX C: PE Reviving--Recommended Order for SCROOGE MODE
APPENDIX D: Slug Usage
SECTION 1: What is Nightmare Mode?
In order to play Nightmare Mode you must have beaten Scavenger
Mode, or downloaded a DEXDrive save with Nightmare Mode unlocked.
I have uploaded one to www.gamefaqs.com. If you download it, you
can start Replay Mode with over 400,000 BP, and with all items
unlocked.
Nightmare Mode is a cross between Bounty Mode and Scavenger Mode:
it combines the worst of both worlds into one. You will encounter
virtually the same opponents as Bounty Mode and have nearly the
same limited supplies at your disposal as Scavenger Mode. The
enemies are tougher than they were in Bounty Mode, and you are
weaker than you were in Scavenger Mode, but you start off with
more MP. You begin with 50 HP, 30 MP, O EXP and O BP. Enemy
attacks do more damage and your attacks do less. Also, the normal
enemies you encounter will no longer drop the same goodies they
did in the other modes, so don't count on getting a ton of belt
pouches, for example. To add injury to insult, the Bosses are a
lot tougher than they were previously.
So why play? Parasite Eve II has a great engine, a good story
line, and some excellent graphics. Unfortunately it is far too
easy to be challenging. Nightmare Mode is the only real challenge
in the game.
SECTION 2: General Tips and Comments
(2.A) In-Game Hints
Pay attention to everything that happens in the game. The game
designers have built in many clues to help you win the mode.
There are things you might not have noticed the first time you
played (basically because you didn't need to use them) that make
this mode a lot easier. They come in the form of items you
receive at certain points, the visual layout of certain areas,
and the sound at certain stages. The game is incredibly well
designed and all the design teams seem to have worked together.
Kudos to the design teams.
(2.A.i) Items
When you get an item after killing an enemy, think before you use
it. Remember the shops will be bare so you must make the best use
of everything you get. You will be given all the items you need
to beat the Bosses, but if you waste them before you get to where
they are most useful you will have a lot of trouble. It is
recommended that you read through the entire Boss battles and
tight spots section before using the items you obtain. SEE
SECTION 3 for more detailed information on the items themselves.
(2.A.ii) Visuals
Pay attention to the layout of certain areas and also the way the
enemy appears before it attacks. In certain areas--the battles
with No. 9 for instance--the scene layout is vital to winning.
Fortunately at such scenes the graphics designers have built in
clues to help you (see SEE SECTION 9.B.v). The layout of some
hallways and areas will also define how you enter those areas
because you can gain a tactical advantage by entering through one
side, and put yourself in jeopardy by entering through the other.
Learn to use obstacles, such as tables and beds, that appear in
the scenes to your advantage (SEE SECTION 9.A.i, for example).
(2.A.iii) Sound
TURN OFF THE MUSIC. It is not essential to the entire game to
have the music off, but it is nearly impossible to beat the
Special Op Golems you encounter in the first scenarios without
being able to hear them. There are certain moments in the music
that can confuse you during these battles and cause you to fire
at the wrong time--and if you fire at the wrong time you die. If
anyone knows a reliable way to beat these first guys without
close attention to sound please let me know by writing to the e-
mail address below. Other sounds are important as well. The Giant
Bowman Boss, for example, gives aural as well as visual clues as
to what attack he is about to employ.
(2.B) Armory
DO NOT forget the Armory Cardkey. Weapons are at a minimum. For
the first part of the game you will have only your M93R. Once you
get to Douglas Trailer, the only other weapon available you don't
already have is the Grenade Pistol. You want to get the SP12 and
have access to all the free ammo. Winning will be very difficult
without it. The Armory Cardkey is located at the Akropolis
Garden, behind the statue, in between the bomb and the exit door.
(2.C) Bonus Points
Don't worry about hoarding your BP. Spend them. You will use your
BP to buy Pepper Spray, Flares, the Grenade Pistol, Riot
Grenades, Rifle rounds, possibly Lipstick, and Protein Capsules.
You will get a huge BP bonus for beating Nightmare Mode, so you
want to spend them, but spend them wisely. When you have
accumulated a respectable amount, around 12,000, then you might
wish to buy Protein Capsule, or you can hold onto them for an
even bigger bonus. You will receive 1,000,000 BP towards the
next restart for every 100,000 in your Complete Bonus total at
the end of the game.
There are 152,562 BP available if you kill 100% of the enemies,
and kill ten of Eve's Shadow Clones, that means you need to make
up the rest by saving items and getting the valuable Key Items if
you want to restart with the highest possible BP. If you wish to
maximize your Complete Bonus see Section 2.K, introducing SCROOGE
MODE, and APPENDIX A.
(2.D) Breaking Attacks
It is possible to halt the attack of many of the opponents while
it is in progress. There are various methods of accomplishing
this. Please see the specific descriptions listed in SECTION 8
for the opponent you are interested in or SECTION 9 for the
various Bosses.
(2.E) Escaping vs. Battling
Aya is a bounty hunter. What kind of a bounty hunter escapes from
the enemy? This is not survival horror--the point is not to live
but to exterminate. Check under SECTION 9 if you are having
difficulty in a certain area.
If the appeal to principle above doesn't work, I will give you a
practical reason: YOU SHOULD KILL JUST ABOUT ALL OF THE ENEMIES
TO GET ALL OF THE ITEMS AND BONUS ITEMS--you will need to employ
many of them to win, and they contribute to your final BP tally.
(2.F) Good Ending
In order to get the good ending you must do five things at set
points. You want to build up to the good ending so that you can
get all the possible items, and it is a lot easier to play the
last round through the Shelter if you can recharge your
batteries. This will only be an option if you keep Flint alive.
(2.F.i) Flint
You must save Flint so that later on in the game he can guide
Ironheart out of the Shelter. To save Flint you must kill the
FireBreather.
(2.F.ii) Dryfield/Pierce
To return to Dryfield, you must open the Full Moon Gate. The
code is 15. When you encounter Pierce in Dryfield, bring him 3
bags of ice. You must go in a straight path from the Ice Machine
to Pierce or you will end up with a bag of water. He will give
you Ofuda on your 3rd trip.
(2.F.iii) Pierce
After you whack the Giant Bowman Boss, head back to the Pod
Service Gantry and check the phone for the coded message, then
call the office.
(2.F.iv) Flint (w/ the military)
Stand in front of Flint and use the Teddy Bear Key Item.
(2.F.v) Pierce (again)
After you have encountered the military, you will find Pierce in
the Golem Freezer. After you find him, be sure you call the
office.
(2.G) Parasite Energy
Different people will have different favorites, but for my money
the most important spells are Energyshot, Plasma, Necrosis,
Apobiosis, and Inferno. I like to have Energyshot at full
strength ASAP, and Apobiosis not long thereafter. Getting there
can take a while. This is not wasteful because Plasma is very
useful. Antibody is a decent spell, but quite frankly, until you
make it out of Dryfield, it is only minimally helpful because if
you take hits you are probably going to die: LEARN TO PLAY
WITHOUT TAKING ANY UNNECESSARY DAMAGE. The other spell you should
work on in the interim is Heal. Energyball is actually my
favorite spell for dealing with various enemies, but that is only
because I like the way it looks--you don't ever need it to win a
battle. If I am playing SCROOGE MODE, I will revive it because of
the amount of MP it gives you. Also, you don't need Inferno at
all until the end of the game so it is not a priority.
It is not wise to revive a spell just because you have the EXP
for it. Keep your EXP in reserve and when you are low on MP you
can revive a spell to recover your MP. It is especially important
to keep at least one revive in reserve in between the last Ghost
and the final Boss fight. I also keep one revive in reserve for
just before the battle with the Giant Bowman Boss. Those Speakers
can really whittle your MP down.
By the end of the game you will have revived most of your
energies, but the order of revival is important in this mode. A
suggested order would be as follows, Energyshot l, Energyshot 2
(having Energyshot 2 in the first battle with No. 9 can be very
helpful), Healing 1, Necrosis l and then build up to Necrosis 3
(you'll want that at full strength for the FireBreather). You
will not be able to revive all of your most powerful spells, so I
recommend that you not worry about Lifedrain. A few specific
notes on spells follow.
NB: See APPENDIX C if you are going to play SCROOGE MODE.
(2.G.i) Apobiosis
This spell and Plasma can save you a lot of headaches over
keeping Flares and Pepper Spray attached. In addition, it will
stop a charging Ghost or Unarmored Golem in its tracks. The
Unarmored Golem will be stunned for a while; the Ghost will only
have its current attack broken. Both will take minimal damage as
well. In addition to those benefits, Apobiosis will cause major
seizures or death in most other creatures. It is particularly
useful against Trilobites and other pack ANMCs. I recommend
getting this spell at full strength ASAP. You can finish the game
without reviving this spell or Plasma at all, but you will have
to worry about stocking Flares and Pepper Spray even after you
are out of Dryfield. Apobiosis will also destroy all nuisance
creatures such as Butterflies, Bats, Rats, and Sucklers.
(2.G.ii) Energyball
This spell can do a number on Unarmored Golems and Ghosts. If a
Ghost is charging, however, he could slip through the balls and
still hit you. However, once the battle is engaged, they can make
short work of Ghosts. They are very useful against groups of
Unarmored Slashers. They are also bizarrely effective in the
Final Battle with Eve. One Energyball in that battle frequently
does damage from around 580-788 HP. I have seen Eve take 3 of
them all hitting at 788 HP. If you luck out with 3 hits like that
you are doing 2000+ HP damage which means a bad hair day for Eve.
That much damage from one spell makes it the most powerful hit in
the game. Also, if you are fighting one of Eve's Shadow Clones,
just one Energy Ball can hit at 999 HP damage.
NB: If you are going to cast Energyshot (or Antibody) and
Energyball then cast Energyshot FIRST. If you cast Energyshot
after Energyball it will cancel the balls.
(2.G.iii) Inferno
If you want to kill every single part of the Ultimate Being,
Inferno 3 is vital for the Final Battle. With Ofuda attached, it
turns what could be a difficult battle into a snap. With Inferno
3, all you need is timing for a quick and near painless battle.
Keep this in mind when you are reviving your energies. I
generally save Inferno 3 as the second to last spell I revive,
and revive it in between the last Ghost and the Ultimate Being.
(2.G.iv) Lifedrain
If you want an entirely effortless battle with Eve, then revive
Lifedrain 3 at the expense of one of the other spells. Eve,
however, is a great big pushover as it is, so it really isn't
necessary. It can also be used with good effect, in conjunction
with Inferno, for the battle with the Ultimate Being. It can be
used with great effect elsewhere, but it really shines in the
Final Battle. SEE SECTION 9.C.v.b for more details.
(2.G.v) Necrosis
This spell is extremely important. You will use it for the Giant
Stalker, FlameBreather Boss (it isn't essential, but makes it a
lot easier to kill), the Bowman types, the Jelly Blobs, the
Leader of the Pack, and Tlaloc. There are other uses for it as
well: to save ammo by using it against the Divers in the Ark, for
example. You can line up multiple targets, cast Necrosis, and
then sit back and wait for them to die.
(2.G.vi) Plasma
Plasma is very important in SCROOGE MODE, and can be used with
good effect even if you don't care about saving BP. Plasma will
stun most critters, breaking their attacks, and will destroy
nuisance critters. It is especially important in battles with
groups of ANMCs, such as Scavengers, before you have Apobiosis or
the P229.
(2.H) Range
Your weapons will do more damage and have a higher incidence of
critical hits the closer you are to an enemy. Get as close as
possible in combat while maintaining a safe distance.
(2.I) Recharging/Refueling
You will not be able to recharge items until the very end, and
only if you save Ironheart. That means you should use your
batteries and fuel wisely. DO NOT run around using the Pyke after
you get it just to see the flame. You will need all the charges
for very specific things so save them. Once you have saved
Ironheart, then knock yourself out.
(2.J) Restarting
You can get back to the Start/Option screen if you are
disappointed at any point in your game (maybe you let the
SuckMeister turn the corner in the hallway and you want to start
again at your last save) by holding Ll+L2+Rl+R2 then pressing the
Select and Start Buttons at the same time.
(2.K) SCROOGE MODE
SCROOGE MODE is something that I created to make Parasite Eve II
more challenging. If you are playing in SCROOGE MODE, you cannot
spend any BP, except for purchasing the M4A1 (but don't buy ammo
for it, we want it to make use of the attachments we will
receive), or use any items that you receive aside from weapons.
Why did I do this? Although Nightmare Mode is challenging the
first time you play it, after that it is not much of a problem.
If you play SCROOGE MODE the game can actually be exciting and
not just cool. Why should you do this? It is the best way of
setting BP high scores. If you play Nightmare Mode in SCROOGE
MODE, then restart with that save data and play SCROOGE MODE
again in Bounty Mode, you can score over 600,000 BP. I have
uploaded a save with a high score, 630,000+ that I think is
within a few thousand of what is possible. Please e-mail me and
let me know if you beat it and how you did.
SCROOGE doesn't use Belt Pouches or swallow Protein Capsules:
they are worth 5,000 BP each in the Complete Bonus tally. SCROOGE
DOESN'T BUY ANYTHING EXCEPT THE M4A1.
The only exception he makes to using items he finds is with
regard to the Final Battle. He thinks it is preferable to invest
a couple of hundred BP in order to earn several thousand. I have
provided a FULL SCROOGE Method for the Final Battle if you want
to be a purist. SEE SECTION 9.C.v.
Keep these things in mind when reading this document. If, for
example, you are reading Section 3.C on Flares, and you read "I
just about always keep one Flare equipped, and several others in
my inventory," that obviously does not apply to SCROOGE MODE.
If you want to do what I call a "Full SCROOGE" then you can't buy
anything, not even the M4A1. If you are doing this, you will
simply use the M950 on anything for you would have used the M4A1
and its attachments.
(2.L) Training
It is very important that you do the training levels before
heading out. You only have the M93R, but you should be able to
get the first two bonus items. You want the Hydra rounds so you
can save the Spartans for Dryfield--don't sweat it if you don't
get them, but they will make your life easier. More importantly
you want the BP that you can earn in training. Remember that you
are starting off with no BP. It would be nice to have some BP to
buy several Pepper Sprays before you leave your base. If you
aren't good enough to get at least 300 BP in training, then you
probably aren't good enough to play Nightmare Mode. I recommend
playing Level 1 before the Akropolis to get the Hydras, and
playing the other levels after you return. This way you probably
aren't clogging up your inventory. You can probably get the
fourth bonus item as well, but beating the Level 3 is difficult
with the M93R. The trick to Level 3 is learning when the red
targets are coming so you aren't pointing an empty gun at them,
or engaged with targets of lesser value. Getting the Hunter
Goggles would be great because the Golems flashy-thing you so
much, but don't sweat it if you don't; one of the Golems is going
to drop them for you. Beating the Level 5 is almost impossible in
Nightmare Mode. You should leave your base with at least 2 Pepper
Sprays, but preferably 3.
SCROOGE says to forget about buying anything. You want to do the
best you can in Training because there are 1,700 BP available if
you beat all the levels perfectly.
SCROOGE also says that you will need all the room in
inventory at the Akropolis to hold onto everything available
there.
(2.M) Trigger Points
There are certain actions (e.g., giving the full Jerry Can to
Douglas) that are going to trigger enemy regeneration in sections
of the level. Wait until you have eliminated ALL of the enemies
in those sections before hitting these regeneration trigger
points or you will not get a 100% kill rating.
SECTION 3: Item Specifics
Stores are bare in Nightmare Mode, so learn to make the best of
the items you get from winning battles and the items that are
available for sale.
(3.A) Belt Pouches
DO NOT go through the game flippantly using the belt pouches as
soon as you get them. Save them so that you have enough for the
Tactical Vest once you get it. You will get fewer belt pouches in
Nightmare Mode because creatures that dropped them in the other
modes no longer will. You are able to buy them, but that is
10,000 BP better saved or spent on a Protein Capsule.
(3.B) Combat Lights
These are quite useful in Nightmare Mode. I never bothered using
them in the other modes until Nightmare. They can be attached to
a weapon or an individual light (don't bother buying the
individual ones). Not as useful as the Pepper Spray, but very
helpful against the first Strangers you encounter, and the
Stalkers.
(3.C) Flares
Flares are truly the panacea of Nightmare Mode, especially when
you don't have Plasma or Apobiosis. It is possible to go through
the mode without using a single one, but in that case you will
probably end up using some of your Recovery items. Flares make
good economic sense from the standpoint of BP. Instead of using
Riot Grenades on Stalkers, for example, you can use a Flare to
stun them, and then pick them off with the M93R or the P08. 9mm
ammo is free, Riot Grenades are expensive. Flares have the
advantage of stunning all of the Stalkers in a given area, and
not just the 1 or 2 that would be caught in the limited blast
radius of a Riot Grenade. It will take 5-6 Riot Grenades to kill
a Stalker. If you are in an area with 3 Stalkers and use a Flare,
then finish them off with the M93R, you have saved several
hundred BP. It is true that you are not looking to hoard BP
unless you are in SCROOGE mode, but why waste BP that could be
saved? The Grenade Pistol is also rather slow to reload, so using
a Flare instead can save you some unnecessary damage. Flares
affect most creatures, and are downright devastating to some. I
just about always keep one Flare equipped, and several others in
my inventory. Flares will burn up nuisance critters such as
Bats, Bonesucklers, Butterflies, and Rats. Flares will also
interrupt, and give slight pause, to the charge of a Ghost. If
you are not reviving Plasma and Apobiosis, you should stock
Flares the way someone who lived through the Great Depression
stocks toilet paper.
(3.D) Lipstick
Keep one Lipstick attached to your armor and use or save the
rest. If you didn't win a Lipstick in Training, and you are not
going to revive Apobiosis, then you may wish to purchase an
additional Lipstick during the game. This is because if you are
going into the final Boss fight with Inferno, Lifedrain, and
Energyball it is preferable to fight that battle with 106 MP
(enough for 3 Infernos and 1 Lifedrain). This isn't necessary, it
will just make your life a little easier.
(3.E) MP Boost Items
I never keep these attached to my armor except for Boss fights.
I will keep one in my personal inventory. I usually reserve Colas
for lesser Boss fights, such as the FireBreather and the Giant
Bowman. The MP Boost 1s can be used whenever you want. Try to
plan your battles so that you will recover your MP without using
your Boosts. Cast Heal right before the end of a battle so that
you don't waste MP points earned from battles, or better yet,
save areas with high recharge potential until you are through
fighting the other battles. Jelly Blobs and Bonesucklers reward
the best recharges.
(3.F) Pepper Spray
Pepper Spray is useful in the battle against the first Slasher
Golem you encounter and can be used in the first occurrence of
the Giant Stalker creature under Dryfield. It is also useful, and
EXTREMELY helpful, in your first battle with No. 9, and at least
one of the Chasers before you get the Grenade Pistol.
(3.G) Protein Capsules
You may choose either to hoard these for BP, or use them to
increase your health. You are going to get a huge BP bonus for
beating Nightmare Mode, so you don't have to worry about using
them to boost your score. Use the Protein Capsules when you get
them, or attach them and use them for healing. SCROOGE says BAH
HUMBUG to this. Using the Protein Capsules is the same as
throwing away almost 50,000 BP.
(3.H) Recovery Items
You will not be able to buy Recovery Items, so save your strong
Recovery Items for the big fights. Put away all Ringer's
Solutions until the Final Battle. I learn Heal early--that way I
can heal myself right before a battle ends and not use up these
items. I usually keep one Recovery 2 attached for good measure
before the Bowman Boss, but I try not to use it unless it is an
emergency. After the Bowman Boss I will attach a Recovery 3.
Until you are through Dryfield you probably won't have the HP to
warrant using anything stronger than a Recovery 2. Try not to
take damage at all. Recovery 1 items are negotiable and you can
use them as you see fit.
SECTION 4: Armor
There are no choices involved until Dryfield, so I will not
discuss the Armor available at the Akropolis Tower.
(4.A) Assault Suit
This is the armor that Aya will go to Dryfield with. Very weak.
The only advantage it has is that it features Resist Poison.
Trade it in for the PASGT Vest the first chance you have.
(4.B) Belt Pouches
I tend to save all of these and then use 3 to bring the Tactical
Vest up to 10 attachments. You can hoard them all if you like,
but 10 attachments really make a difference in the Final Battle.
In any case, you are going to get enough, so I don't recommend
buying any.
(4.B) Chicken Armor
You can only get this if you let Flint die. You aren't going to
do that. Are you? It is located in the green junker outside of
the Douglas' trailer. It has good IMPACT resistance. Big deal.
(4.C) Combat Armor
Available for sale in the Armory or from the military. Not bad
armor because its built-in features (High-sensitivity Motion
Detector and Resist SILENCE) allow you to unattach your GPS and
your Lipstick. I could see an argument for using this armor for
most of the game. The deciding factor for me, however, is the
fact that it doesn't have HP Recovery. Buy it if you like, but
you are better off holding onto your BP.
(4.D) PASGT Vest
Available for sale from Douglas. With Resist POISON and HP
Recovery this is not terrible armor. I trade in my Assault Suit
for this at the first opportunity. This is the preferred armor
for Dryfield and the first part of the Shelter.
(4.E) Shoulder Holster
Don't bother. The only advantage this has is Quick Draw. It
offers nothing else appealing. You can win it in Training or buy
it from Douglas or the military.
(4.F) Tactical Vest
Your armor of choice in Nightmare Mode. You get this from Pierce.
It is the best overall armor available to you in Nightmare Mode.
I leave 3 Belt Pouches in my Sedan: this way as soon as I get it
I can upgrade it to hold 10 attachments. It has Quick Fire and
HP Recovery.
(4.G) Turtle Vest
Available for sale from the military. By the time it is available
it is entirely unworthwhile--don't bother.
(4.H) Special Armor Attachments
With the exception of most of the Lipsticks, I don't recommend
using special items. You should attach them to your armor. If I
want to make room on my armor for various reasons, I will detach
the Medicine Wheel, MD Player, and Hunter Goggles, in that order,
but I recommend leaving most attached at all times after you get
them except for the Medicine Wheel. In SCROOGE MODE, I don't
bother using the MD Player until the battle with Eve.
(4.H.i) GPS
Aya starts with this. It lets you know the location of nearby
critters. Mostly useless once you are in Nightmare Mode. You
already know critter locations. It can still be helpful, though,
when fighting Trilobites, Divers, and other opponents that appear
in groups. I generally detach this as soon as I get to the
Shelter to make room for other items.
(4.H.ii) Holy Water
Available from the safe in Dryfield. Decreases damage taken when
hit by an enemy. I keep this attached at all times after I get
it.
(4.H.iii) Hunter Goggles
You get this from a Golem you kill, or you can win one in
Training Level 3. It provides Resist DARKNESS. Attach it once you
get it and leave it there until the Final Battle. Its main use is
to prevent the Golems from flashy-thinging you.
(4.H.iv) Lipstick
You get these all over the place. You can win one in Training
Level 4, 2 Golems will drop them, Pierce will bring you one, or
you can buy them. They provide Resist SILENCE, or can be used to
fully recover MP and add one point to Max MP. Keep one attached
and use the others if you wish. If you don't win one in training,
and you are going to use Inferno 3 and Lifedrain 3 in the Final
Battle, you should buy one in addition to the ones you receive so
that your Max MP is 106 before the battle with the Ultimate
Being. I remove this item when fighting round one of the Final
Battle.
(4.H.v) MD Player
A Golem will drop one for you and there will be one available in
the Nursery. Provides Resist CONFUSION and Resist BERSERKER. You
only need one, but you can put the other one away for extra BP in
the final tally. Very few things can actually inflict either of
these to your status. Red Ghosts, Security Turrets, and Eve can
cause CONFUSION; Red Jelly Blobs and Eve can cause BERSERKER.
Keep it on if you want or detach it. If I am playing SCROOGE
MODE, I only have it attached for the final Ghost battle and the
battle with Eve. The final Ghost is much faster than the previous
Ghosts, and you don't want to catch BERSERKER in SCROOGE MODE.
(4.H.vi) Medicine Wheel
The graphic of this makes it look like a dream catcher and I
think that is what it is supposed to be because it catches items
for you. You get this in the Dumping Hole after killing the
SuckMeister. It allows you to win bonus items. See APPENDIX B for
when you should have it attached.
(4.H.vii) Ofuda
Pierce will give you this after you bring him 3 Ice Bags in
Dryfield. It boosts the effect of your spells. Keep it attached
at all times after that.
(4.H.viii) Skull Crystal
You get this from the water after killing Tlaloc. It increases
the damage your weapons do. Keep it attached at all times after
you get it. If you are going for max BP in the battle with Eve,
you may detach it to minimize the damage you inflict so you don't
kill her too early.
SECTION 5: Weapons
(5.A) Tonfa Baton
This weapon is mostly useless in Nightmare Mode. It actually does
decent damage, but since ammo is free I reserve using it for
points when I am low on ammo, or for just plain fun. It is quite
satisfying to beat a downed Golem with the Tonfa. If you tap the
fire button once you will swing once with a forward slash; tap it
twice quickly and you will swing once forwards and then once with
a back slash. The back slash does twice the damage as the forward
slash. Does anyone else miss the batons from the first Parasite
Eve? They were great.
(5.B) M93R
This is what you are going to start off with. Uses any 9mm ammo.
The good news is the 9mm ammo is free, and so are Hydras once you
unlock the Armory, so use as much of it as you need.
Unfortunately, it has very little stopping power and needs a lot
of reloading. It is also your only choice for the beginning of
the Akropolis Tower and the beginning of Dryfield. Learn to use
it wisely. SEE SECTION 7.B.
(5.C) MP5A5
You will get this from the dead SWAT member outside of the chapel
in the Akropolis Tower. Uses any 9mm ammo. It does the least
damage of all 9mm weapons, but it has a larger clip than the M93R
and has a Combat Light. It is useful for cleaning up many of the
enemies at the Akropolis. Use the Combat Light to good effect on
the Strangers, Butterflies, and Bats.
(5.D) P08
This is a great weapon, but has very limited use. From what I can
tell it has the highest critical hit rate of any weapon, the
Mongoose aside, when used against Unarmored fleshy creatures. You
can also get a +25 round Snail Clip from the weapon cabinet in
the Dryfield underground. The P229 does more damage when it
criticals, but the P08 criticals more often and that, plus the
extended clip, evens things up. The main use for this weapon is
to eliminate Fatties, especially 4 of the 6 you encounter at the
Akropolis. SCROOGE could not survive without this to use on the
Stalkers in Dryfield because when you encounter them in the
Garage, they are very close to you. Without Riot Grenades, the
P08 is the only weapon available at this stage can take out a
Stalker at such close quarters. After you get the P229 you can
retire the P08 because the Combat Light and Silencer on the P229
make it a better weapon.
(5.E) PA3
Don't bother with this shotgun. You will get the SP12 from the
Armory. The SP12 holds more rounds and does more damage.
(5.F) Grenade Pistol
This is the only weapon, that you don't already have, that
Douglas will have to sell you when you first reach Dryfield. It
can be useful, but it needs reloading after each shot and is very
slow to reload. You will only be able to purchase Riot Grenades,
but you will learn to make good use of them. Riot Grenades knock
Chasers and Strangers to the ground. In addition to knocking down
Scavengers and Stalkers, it will also inflict PARALYSIS on them
with a pretty decent blast radius. This equalizes the slow
reload. Learn to time your shots to affect the greatest number of
enemies possible. You will also use this weapon in the battle
with the Giant Stalker, the FireBreather, and the battle with the
SuckMeister in the Garbage Incinerator. I retire it after the
SuckMeister, but you may choose to use it against the Giant
Bowman, or in the Final Battle, if you are not out to maximize
your BP. If you want to use it against the Giant Bowman, you must
use the M950 against the SuckMeister.
SCROOGE says this slow monstrosity that takes forever to reload
is a really waste of money.
(5.G) M950
This item has two main uses: first, use it to fight round one
against the Leader of the Pack; second, use it against the
SuckMeister when you are out of Grenades. You can also use it to
clear up the Mine Shaft. It would be of more use except that you
get the P229 shortly after you get the M950. I take it to the
Incinerator to clean up the SuckMeister if necessary, or if you
want to save your Grenades for the Giant Bowman. It is also
useful for clearing out Golems after your battle in the
Incinerator.
SCROOGE says this is the best weapons in the game. The ammo is
free and it has the second fastest rate of fire of any weapon.
SCROOGE uses this weapon for many things, including most of the
Golems. It is also the second best weapon for dispatching Ghosts.
If you cast Energyshot, you never have to worry about reloading
your clip and can inflict 200HP every time the Ghost appears. He
only retires this weapon after the ammo for the M4A1 is free.
(5.H) P229
This little handgun is a great item and has many uses. First of
all it criticals more than most weapons, only the P08 and
Mongoose critical more often. It is the best gun to use against
the Security System. Right after you get it you will use it
against the second Giant Stalker in the entrance to the Shelter.
You will also use its Combat Light against the Stalkers and
Scavengers. It is useful against the final Giant Stalker, so you
should reserve some Combat Light charges for that battle. You can
use it on all the Unarmored fleshy creatures (Rats, 1st and 2nd
stage Strangers, Fatties, etc.). You will also use it during your
Mad Dash through the Incinerator. Use it for both of your returns
to Dryfield. It has enough Combat Light charges for the Stalkers
and packs of Scavengers you encounter throughout the entire game
as long as you use them wisely. It is best when loaded with
Spartans, but it is still excellent with all the free Hydras in
the Shelter. The biggest disadvantage is that it only holds 12
rounds.
(5.I) SP12
Great item with 3 different ammos. Its main use is against groups
of Divers because they will not spit at you after they are hit
with Buckshot. It is also the best weapon against the Trilobites.
Slugs are hands down the best ammo available for dropping Golems,
and if two are in a line will often shoot straight through the
first and hit the second (these must be Sabot Slugs!). You will
receive precious few Slugs, so reserve them for the points where
they are used best (See APPENDIX D). Fireflies will break the
charge of Unarmored Golems. I use this weapon for many other
things because the ammo is free. There are 2 big drawbacks:
first, it only holds 7 rounds; second, it has a very slow rate of
fire and reload. When using Buckshot, aim at the centermost and
farthest critter. This will get most of the guys in front of it
as well. This tip is very important when fighting Scorpions and
Trilobites.
(5.J) M4A1
You will be able to buy this from Douglas during your first
return to Dryfield. You will already have several attachments for
it. After you get this it becomes your main anti-Shooter Golem
weapon. There are 4 attachments available in Nightmare Mode.
(5.J.i) Hammer
A stun gun that attaches to the M4A1, you will get this from a
Ghost in Parking in Dryfield. It can be used effectively on many
things, but save it for the Forest Paths to the Shrine of Time.
SEE SECTION 8.N.ii.
(5.J.ii) Javelin
Probably my favorite weapon in the entire game. A Ghost will drop
it for you in the Temple. It is a laser attachment, if you can
line up 3 the Javelin will shoot through all of them. It is also
the best weapon against the Security Turrets. You can destroy
all of them before they can fire with one squeeze of the Javelin.
Use it judiciously until you save Ironheart. After saving
Ironheart it becomes my main weapon, but I switch it off for the
Pyke for battling Ghosts.
(5.J.iii) M9
A bayonet that is available for sale from Douglas. It hits with
pretty good damage, but I don't find it useful in this mode.
(5.J.iv) Pyke
A flame throwing attachment that you will get from a Ghost in the
Breeding Room. It is useful against many things, it is the best
weapon against Divers, and the second best weapon for dealing
with Ghosts. Save it, however, for the battle with the Giant
Bowman Boss. If there are any charges left after that, reserve
them for the Ghost in the Pedestrian Airlock. If you really want
to use your charges on other things, then see the Full SCROOGE
Option for the Giant Bowman Boss included in SECTION 9.C.vi.
(5.K) Mongoose
This is great--unfortunately, you don't get it until late in the
game. Use 18 Magnum rounds against the Giant Bowman Boss, and
save the other 32 rounds for the Ultimate Being. After the battle
with the Giant Bowman Boss, put away any rounds you have left for
the Final Battle. Use the 25 Maeda SPs against Eve in the Final
Battle.
(5.L) M249
This has one use and one use only, to eliminate the Ultimate
Being's extremities. Well, it has another use too: holding down
R1 until the clip is empty also gives a very nice hand massage.
SECTION 6: Ammunition
Ammunition in Nightmare Mode only does about half of the damage
it did in most other modes. Keep that in mind during battles.
(6.A) 9mm
This is your basic combat round for the Akropolis Tower and
Dryfield. It is weak, but it is free and it is your only option
for the beginning of the game. Use it effectively with the Stick
and Move technique described in SECTION 7.B. You can use 9mm
rounds with the M93R, MP5A5, P08, M950, and the P229.
(6.B) Hydra
Soft, hollow point 9mm rounds. Free once you reach the shelter
with the Armory Cardkey, limited supply before that. They work
well against Unarmored fleshy creatures, e.g., Fatties. Not all
that powerful, but better than plain 9mm ammo. You can use Hydra
rounds with the M93R, MP5A5, P08, M950, and the P299. You can win
50 Hydra rounds in Training Level 1.
(6.C) Spartan
Fragmenting 9mm rounds. You will get a limited supply of these,
so use them wisely. They are the most powerful 9mm ammo and can
be devastating on Unarmored fleshy creatures. Due to the limited
supply, though, you will have to save them for only a few
encounters. Use them with limited effect in the second battle
with No. 9 (they are your only option aside from plain 9mm), with
good effect against the FireBreather Boss, and with excellent
effect against the Fatties. Due to their limited supply, however,
you probably won't get to use them on the Fatties at the
Akropolis, unless you didn't get the Hydras in training. You can
use Spartan rounds with the M93R, MP5A5, P08, M950, and the P229.
SCROOGE MODE: SCROOGE holds onto his Spartan rounds for a few
specific creature types and battles. Save your Spartans for the
Cage Match, Stalkers that are close, the FireBreather, and the
Mad Dash. You may also employ them against Scavengers and
Chasers, but keep a close eye on your supply until the Mad Dash.
I like to use 32 on the FireBreather, and save 100 for the Mad
Dash.
(6.D) Riot Grenades
The weakest Grenade round, but it has a good side effect. Upon
impact it will cause a flash that stuns opponents who are
susceptible. The flash will affect creatures in the same way a
Flare does. You have to trade BP for these rounds. They can be
used with good effect against Chasers, Scavengers, and Stalkers.
They will be your main ammunition for the second round of the
battle with the Leader of the Pack. They can be used with the
Grenade Pistol.
(6.E) Airburst Grenades
You will only receive 16 of these during the first half of the
game and be able to get a few more after that. Because of this
you will only be using them against two opponents: the
FireBreather, and the SuckMeister. You may also choose to hold
onto them for the Giant Bowman Boss. They are used with the
Grenade Pistol.
(6.F) Grenade rounds
These are the most powerful rounds for the Grenade Pistol. There
will be 8 in the storage box in the Sterilization Room and you
will get another 8 from the SuckMeister. You will use them
against the SuckMeister. Discard them, or save them for the Giant
Bowman Boss if you just can't live without the Grenade Pistol.
They are free once you encounter the military.
(6.G) Buckshot
Not all that powerful but has the advantage of Scatter: that lets
you hit multiple targets with the same round. When fighting
groups, aim for the opponent closest to the center and furthest
away from you. This way you will hit the maximum number of
opponents with each shot. Buckshot will break the attacks of
various creatures, including Divers, Scavengers, and Stalkers.
They will stun Trilobites. They can be used with the PA3 and the
SP12. They are free once you unlock the Armory.
(6.H) Fireflies
These rounds do added damage from fire, and will ignite fire-
sensitive creatures. They have good power and can break the
charge of an Unarmored Golem. They can be used with the PA3 and
the SP12. You can only get these rounds by winning battles. You
only receive 60 in this mode. Use them as you see fit. They are
excellent against the Grubs, Fatties, Divers, and many other
creatures. I sometimes use them against the 3rd Stage Strangers
so I don't have to make a trip back to the Shelter to restock my
ammunition.
(6.I) Slugs
Excellent power. These are the preferred rounds against Golems,
but you will only receive 40 of them in Nightmare Mode, so you
must reserve them for when they are necessary. They can be used
with the PA3 and the SP12. You can only get these rounds by
winning battles. See APPENDIX D.
(6.J) 5.56 Rifle rounds
These are for use in the M4A1 or the M249. After you buy the
M4A1, during your first return to Dryfield, they become your
standard Golem ammunition. You must trade BP for them, but they
are not that expensive. Unfortunately they only do a fraction of
the damage they did in the other modes, so unless you have a
Golem at a good distance you won't be able to break his charge
with these rounds as easily as you could in other modes. They are
free once you encounter the military.
(6.K) .44 Magnum rounds
You will get 50 of these from a Golem. Put 18 rounds away for the
Giant Bowman Boss battle and reserve the rest for the Final
Battle. They are used with the Mongoose.
(5.L) .44 Maeda SP
You won't get these until you fight the second-to-last Ghost. You
will save them for round 2 of the Final Battle. They are used
with the Mongoose.
SECTION 7: General Battle Strategies
(7.A) General Tips
EVERY enemy is dangerous in this mode, and most can kill you with
one or two hits. When you have the opportunity to run away and
fire at your opponent from a safe distance, take it. Even the
Rats and Butterflies pose serious threats. They can't kill you
with one shot, but the slight pause that they inflict on you can
be enough to cause your demise. Enemy attacks you could shrug off
in Normal Mode will now kill you. The Bowman enemies, for
example, can now kill you with one Plasma Blast when you
encounter them early in the game.
This guide will not tell you to do obvious things like casting
Antibody and Energyshot in Battle Mode. You should have a sense
of how to play the game from your first few times through. If you
reach a point where it is important to cast Energyshot or another
spell at a specific time I will let you know.
(7.B) Stick and Move
For many of the early battles you will have only the M93R as a
weapon. This does not allow you to stand in one place and just
fire away. Learn to shoot as much as you can safely and then move
out of position right before you opponent attacks. Learning this
strategy is essential to survival against Strangers, Chasers,
Scorpions, Scavengers, and the Golems. Generally you want to have
Energyshot cast whenever possible in Battle Mode to make your
life easier, but make sure you are in a safe position to cast it.
(7.C) Rope a Dope
There are many obstacles that you can use to your advantage in
the game, especially when fighting multiple opponents. Your first
encounter with 2 Slashers in Dryfield provides a good example.
You can lead one of them behind the columns so that he gets
trapped there when he charges you. This will allow you to dispose
of one enemy at a time. Whenever possible, try to lead opponents
into places where you can attack them, but from which they can't
attack you. SEE SECTION 9.B.ix for the ultimate example of this
technique.
(7.D) Shake It, Don't Take It
You can minimize the damage you take from certain attacks by
using the following technique: take your thumb off the joystick
and put it on the directional pad, then, without lifting your
thumb roll it over the pad in a very rapid circular motion. For
these attacks you want to hit EVERY direction on the keypad up to
6 times from when the attack begins. The enemies you can employ
this against are: Bats, Bonesucklers, the FireBreather, Ghosts,
Scavengers, Stalkers, and the SuckMeister.
For the weaker enemies, the number of times you need to hit the
directions is less. It is most difficult to shake off the Ghosts'
Vulcan Neck Pinches, but it is worth learning the technique. I
can generally shake off their attacks about 9 out of 10 times,
which makes the game much easier.
SECTION 8: ANMCs and NMCs (and Security Turrets)
NB: In Nightmare Mode all of the NMCs start out in their strong
forms. That means that you start off facing brown Grubs, not
green ones, etc. You cannot fight some of the situations the way
you would in Normal/Replay Mode. Wherever possible, I have taken
the names of opponents from the game itself. There are some
creatures, including the Bosses, that are not given names. In
these cases, I have created names that seemed appropriate and
that people familiar with the game would recognize.
(8.A) Bats
Use Buckshot or Riot Grenades. In most scenes you can time the
shot just right to take them all out at once. Their bite does
minimal damage, but it will prevent you from taking any action.
Use Shake It, Don't Take It to minimize this effect. The problem
is that they appear in large groups, and if they swarm on you
they can bring you down, but I don't consider it a serious
threat. Generally speaking, when you face an appearance of them
you should locate yourself in the narrowest part of the scene
facing them. This way you can eliminate them all with one shot.
Often it is necessary to just run away when they first appear and
let them line themselves up. This is key when you only have the
M93R. Get as far away as possible and just pick them off. They
are a good source of HP and MP recharges. Combat Lights and
Pepper Spray will knock them back, Flares will burn them up, and
Plasma will destroy them.
(8.B) Bonesucklers
Killing one of these guys is like taking candy from a baby--and
then sitting back and watching its head explode. They have two
attacks. Their main attack is to explode and cause a lot of
damage. They will explode when hit with just about anything
except Combat Lights. Also, if they get close, they will grab
your ankle and hold you in place and then explode. If they do
this, it will give other enemies time to get near enough to
damage you. You can break the ankle grab by using Shake It, Don't
Take It. What is cool is that if you pull it off, the BoneSuckler
will kind of melt without exploding, and if other ones are close,
they will explode when the blood puddle hits them. They are not a
threat unless you are extremely clumsy with the controller. They
are actually quite useful in combat because they often appear
with other creatures. Learn to time your shots so that they
explode when another enemy is near them. Flares will make them
all pop. Pepper Spray will make any that are hit by it pop as
well. Plasma will do the number on them as well, but make sure
they aren't close enough to damage you. They are an excellent
source of HP and MP recharges.
(8.C) Bowman Types
Be cautious because their Plasma Ball can be fatal with one shot
in Nightmare Mode. The general principle in fighting these guys
is to hit them with Necrosis before they can cast their spell and
then shoot them while they are flip-flopping. They will not be
able to complete the Plasma Ball while necrotized; if, however,
they began to charge it before you hit them with Necrosis, they
will complete it. With three exceptions they travel in pairs
(Bowman himself, antisocial to the last! and two other
occurrences) and while you are killing one the other can let
loose a Plasma Ball. The best thing to do with a pair of them is
to try and line them up so they get hit with the same Necrosis
blast. It is sometimes possible to hit one with Necrosis and then
hit the other before he lets loose, but this is tricky. If you
are fighting both at once try to use scene layout to your
advantage. Hide behind an object or around a corner while you
kill one so the other's blast can't hit you. If you are in a
narrow space without room to dodge and you see or hear the Plasma
Blast charging, run straight at the Bowman and try to get behind
him before it discharges. They have great tracking with their
shots, but can only cast them in a limited forward arc once they
are charged. They can also slash you with an arm spike if you get
close when they aren't Necrotized. One hit like this in the early
part of the game and you will die. They are not so much of a
problem once you are in the Shelter because you will be stronger
and better equipped, but in Nightmare Mode you encounter them in
Dryfield. The best weapon in Dryfield is the P08; after the P08
is retired use the P229; but after they are necrotized you can
drop them with anything. Apobiosis will make them freeze in their
tracks whatever they are doing, but you will fight a good number
of them before that is an option, until then, you can use Pepper
Spray for the same effect.
(8.D) Mindsucklers
No longer simply annoying, they are quite dangerous in Nightmare
Mode. They often appear in large groups. Riot Grenades will drop
them out of the air like stones, but in open areas it will be
tough to situate all of them within a one shot blast radius. The
M93R is all you have at first so you will learn to use it
quickly. This is where Training comes in. It will take two
squeezes to drop each one out of the sky. Once it has dropped,
ignore it and switch targets to the next one still airborne.
Stick and Move can work, but these guys move and swoop quickly so
it is still dangerous. The P08 or P229 with Spartans does an
excellent job. Once you have the SP12 they are much easier.
Flares will make them all drop, as will well aimed Combat Lights.
Plasma can be used, but they need to be dangerously close because
they tend to hover just above the blast. Any caught in a Pepper
Spray or Apobiosis will drop as well.
(8.E) Butterflies
Not a problem, but be careful when they appear with another
enemy. If they hit you without the Hunter Goggles they cause
blindness and they cause Aya to shudder. This little pause can
ruin your timing in a fight with Chasers, Grubs, etc. Combat
Lights are good against them, but common sense is your best
weapon. Kill them while they are still distant. When they die
they give out a little powder puff and if you kill them when they
are close, or move into their area right away, you will get the
shudder and darkness effect. Flares and Combat Lights will
destroy them. Plasma will dispatch them, but, as they are often
high up, it must be timed right. One shot from any weapons will
take them out.
(8.F) Chasers
Until you get the Grenade Pistol, use the Stick and Move
technique described above for these critters. You will also
employ the Rope a Dope technique. Stand in front of a wall or an
object, dodge at the last moment before impact, and they will hit
the object, thus taking damage and getting knocked to the ground.
If you are fighting more than one in a tight situation you can
also use Necrosis at an opportune time and let them leak out life
as you stick and move.
Pepper Spray functions well on these guys, but you will probably
not need to use it once you get the Grenade Pistol, or if you are
quick on your feet. If they are on the ground from Pepper Spray,
your attack will do greater damage. Flares and Combat Lights will
drop them to the ground--they will get right back up, but that
brief drop can make a big difference, especially when they are
coupled with Mindsucklers or Butterflies. Plasma can knock them
down and Apobiosis will put them on the ground in seizures
leaving little life left.
The Riot Grenades will knock these guys to the ground if it
impacts on or near them. This equalizes the slow reload time for
the weapon. It is the recommended weapon against 2 or more of
them once you have it. Learn to time your shots so that if you
are facing multiple opponents the grenade impacts while they are
all in its blast radius. Often this means that when you enter an
area with multiple Chasers you should run right past the first so
that he chases you and ends up in proximity with his comrade.
Spartans can do a tremendous amount of damage, especially with
Energyshot cast.
If you see you are going to take a hit from a Chaser no matter
what, move straight in front of him before he charges. He will
then give you a little head bump that does minimum damage.
(8.G) Divers
These are another group of guys who were mere annoyances in the
other modes, but are dangerous in Nightmare Mode. The good news
is that you will be pretty strong once you encounter them and all
it takes is one Pyrokinesis 3 to kill them. The bad news is you
often encounter them in packs of 3. Your preferred weapon against
either one of these guys, or a close group, is the SP12. The
shells are free, it doesn't cost MP to use, and each time you hit
them with the Buckshot they will be unable to spit. The P229 is
highly effective against them as well and faster than the SP12,
but it will only prevent their spitting if it criticals--what I
use all depends on my mood. (The best weapon against them is the
M4A1 with the Pyke attachment, but you will want to save the fuel
in that for their "god", Tlaloc.) Use scene layout to your
advantage by hiding behind objects or positioning yourself to hit
more than one with each shot. Plasma will also break their
attack. I like lining up more than one and letting them have it
with Necrosis. Then you can either find a safe spot, or run
around until they are dead.
(8.H) Fatties
These guys have a really long reach. Your preferred weapons are
the P08 and the P229 with Spartans or Hydras. A critical hit with
either one of these rounds will make them drop, and any hit, with
Energyshot cast, will break whatever they were doing and force
them to start again. If you are unavoidably close when they begin
a swipe, run straight at and past them. They move slowly and
cannot help but keep swiping directly in front. Time it right or
you will get hit by a Poison Puff. Plasma will break their
attacks as well. I actually feel bad killing these guys. When you
encounter them they are usually looking down at their huge hands,
or stretching their huge arms, contemplating their existential
plight. Sometimes they are playing in the water with their hands.
Someone did a really good job on the incidental aspects of these
guys. They actually look angry when you shoot them or they shoot
the Poison Puff, and they look upset when they are going to die.
Then, instead of shrieking or something, they make that haunting
Eeyore-like moan as they dissolve. The weird thing is that they
were plants in the original Parasite Eve. Major kudos to whoever
was behind creature design for these guys: they are definitely my
favorite creature.
Here is a cool Fattie trick--hit the Fatty with Necrosis and then
Apobiosis. Funny but sad to see the purple fat guys moaning in
convulsions while leaking life. Not too sad though, mostly
funny. Do it on the island for the aerial view. They look like
fat purple people eaters trying to make snow angels in the dust.
(8.I) Golems
I am going to ignore the names the game uses for these opponents,
and instead will discuss them according to characteristics. There
are basically 3 different types of Golems and 2 subdivisions:
Shooters; Slashers; and Ghosts. The Slashers and Shooters will
either be Armored or Unarmored. The Shooters are the easiest and
don't really pose a threat unless you are trapped in a tight
situation like the alley in front of the Dilapidated House or you
are fighting a Shooter and a Slasher at the same time. We will
deal with individual tight spots as they arise but will give
general combat principles immediately below. Your preferred
weapon against all the Golems is the SP12 loaded with Slugs. With
Energyshot 3 a Slug will shoot straight through one Golem and
damage the one behind it, but you must save your Slugs for a few
tricky points, SEE APPENDIX D. The Javelin goes through Golems
like crap through a goose (if there are multiple Golems in close
proximity it even gets all of them at once). You will also face a
good number of Golems with the M93R as your only option.
Armored Golems have a large shield that they hold out in front
when they are charging the flashy-thing, or attacking. If you can
do enough damage to this shield to destroy it, then you can
damage them no matter what they are doing. The M950 with
Energyshot cast is an excellent way to destroy the shield, as is
the Javelin.
I love fighting the Golems. They are the most fun in the game,
probably because they are the biggest challenge. There is just
something very satisfying about seeing them drop after they have
absorbed a lot of damage in Nightmare Mode. Especially when you
see the first 3 Ghosts drop. Remember this is a GAME, and games
are for fun. So while you are trying to finish Nightmare Mode,
take some time to stop and kill the Golems on the way.
(8.I.i) Shooters
These guys are not difficult unless they appear in a tight spot
or as part of a team. They fire bursts of grenades and flashy-
thing you. The flashy-thing can cause Silence and other troubles,
but will not matter for most of the game because you will be well
equipped, and it will give you time to cast spells, change
weapons, etc. The grenades can do a lot of damage but worst of
all they can inflict PARALYSIS. If you get paralyzed when a
Slasher and Shooter are working in tandem you are most likely
toast.
The good news is that Shooters are obvious. Don't waste spells on
them, except for Energyshot. There is also no need to use any
special ammo against them: stick with either 9mm or best of all
the M4A1 once you have it. They track you with a highly visible
laser and you can hear the shots once they are fired. The
grenades are easy to dodge unless you are in a tight spot or
already engaged in a battle with a Slasher. The tight situation
is tough because the Armored Shooters shoot twice with four
bursts each time, with a slight pause in between each burst as
they reload--the Unarmored Shooters will shoot their entire
complement of grenades at once and then reload. The reloading
pause of the Armored variety is an opportune time for you to do
damage to them. If you are engaged in a battle against multiple
Golems then try to keep an obstacle between yourself and the
Shooter's line of fire. Obstacles can be walls, other Golems, or
even Kyle. You can also use a Shooter to help you drop either a
Slasher or another Shooter by positioning yourself so the other
enemy is in between Aya and the Shooter's line of fire.
The only difference that matters between an Armored Shooter and
an Unarmored Shooter is that while you can do damage to the
latter no matter what he is doing, you can only damage the former
at certain times. You can damage Armored Shooters when they are
walking around before they spot you; right after they flashy-
thing you; while they are reloading; and when they are in between
actions (turning around to see where you ran to, etc.). So plug
away at the Unarmored Shooter, but pick your moments to fire at
the Armored, unless you have already destroyed his shield.
(8.I.ii) Unarmored Slashers
Until you have the Javelin, your best bet is to stick and move
until they drop. Unfortunately this is not always an option, as
before they slash they can charge great distances straight at
you, and if there are no obstacles to run behind or corners to
turn they will hit you, because the M93R is just not strong
enough to stop their charge. In an open situation you can dodge
before the slash. If you meet an Unarmored Slasher in a tight
spot--the first encounter with one at the Akropolis, for example-
-then you can use Pepper Spray when it gets close. This stuns him
and you can drop him, or get to a safer position after chewing
him up a little. Apobiosis will do some damage, but more
importantly will cause all of those caught in the spell radius to
go into a standing seizure similar to Pepper Spray. Energyball is
devastating on Unarmored Golems, so use it if you don't feel like
running around or wasting Javelin charges (or if you are facing a
group of them--at one point you will face three together in close
proximity).
You can break the charge of an Unarmored Slasher by either doing
serious damage to him before he reaches you, using Apobiosis or
Pepper Spraying him. Strong ammo such as Fireflies or Slugs will
also break their charge.
(8.I.iii) Armored Slashers
The preferred weapon against these guys is the SP12 loaded with
Slugs. They are the reason you are holding onto your Slugs. It
only takes 2-3 Slugs with Energyshot 3 to drop them when they
aren't protecting themselves. These guys are tough at close
quarters.
They are tough because Pepper Spray doesn't work against them and
Energyballs are only slightly effective. You will need to employ
fancy stick and move footwork against these guys until they drop.
Fortunately, the Armored Slashers often pause to flashy-thing
you. While they are preparing the flashy-thing, get to a safe
distance. Hold your fire until the flash bursts and then start
shooting. You can't do practical damage when they are covering
their bodies unless you have destroyed the shield. Armored
Slashers also protect their bodies as they charge, so the only
time you can do real damage against them safely is right before
or after they charge, and right after they flashy-thing you.
The only way to stop an Armored Golem from charging is to take
away his credit card. (I just couldn't resist the old rhino
joke.) You can actually break an Armored Golems charge by doing
enough damage (around 300 HP) to his shield, but the only option
in this mode is to waste 2 Slugs doing this, or hit continuously
(3 to 4 hits) with the Javelin, or with the M950--the Golem must
be a good distance away when you start this process. You will
have done minimal damage to the Golem and will have wasted ammo.
You are better off avoiding the situation.
By far the toughest Golem battle is when you are facing off
against 2 Armored Slashers at the same time. These are tricky
battles and will be discussed under Tight Spots.
If you are stuck in a position in which you know a Slasher's
(Armored or Unarmored) charge would otherwise hit you, then wait
for the charge to start and run straight at the Golem. You can
sometimes slip around behind the Golem before he gets his slash
off. You want to slip past on the unarmed side. This maneuver
takes a little practice because right before you would collide
with the Golem you slip around his shoulder at an acute angle
with a little twist ending up behind him. If you pull it off he
will be temporarily confused by where you went. It is actually
kind of neat to see him look around. Use the opportunity to
either get to a safe distance or let him have it in the back. You
are better off dodging right before the Slasher starts to move.
Wait until he hunches his body up, and then run. The Slasher will
charge to the position you were standing in when it sized you up,
and you will be safely somewhere else. Never run away in a
straight line, the Slasher will simply keep running until he
reaches you.
Often you will fight 1 Slasher and 1 Shooter. This battle sounds
a lot worse than it is because you can use the Shooter as an
ally. It is very easy to tell when and in what direction they are
going to shoot. What you want to do is to position Aya so that
you end up with the Slasher directly in between Aya and the
Shooter's line of fire. This can drop the Slasher for you or at
least weaken him a lot. One full burst of 4 grenades from a
Shooter is capable of downing an Unarmored Golem that you have
worked on a little. It will take more than one burst to down an
Armored one. Always take out the Slasher first. When you are
fighting an Armored Slasher and an Armored Shooter in close
quarters (just down from unlocking the generator door at the
Temple for example) then you can use Slugs on the Slasher, and
then switch to the M4A1 to finish the Shooter.
(8.I.iv) Ghosts
When I was younger and played Dungeons & Dragons, there was a
Dungeon Master who would simply eliminate you with bizarre traps
when he was angry with you. There was one trap called the death
pool, and the dialogue for the encounter went something like
this, "You open a door. You see a pool. You die." I am sure your
first encounter with a Ghost in Nightmare Mode seemed like this.
By the time you encountered Ghosts in Normal Mode you were
already plenty strong enough to handle them. In Nightmare Mode
you face one as early as the Akropolis Tower and you are
extremely weak at that point. In fact, until you get out of
Dryfield, you will be weak enough so that just one slash from a
Ghost will kill you. When you have Apobiosis and the M950 or the
Pyke, these guys are easy. When you only have the M93R they are
extremely tough.
There are actually two different types of Ghosts, Purple (Night
Operations) and Red (Special Operations). The differences are
minor as far as fighting them goes. Purple Ghosts can inflict
POISON, Red Golems can inflict CONFUSION. Also, Red Ghosts are
much faster with their attacks and appearances.
They have 2 initial attacks. They will either get you from behind
with the Vulcan Neck Pinch and then drop you, which can cause
Poison or Confusion, or you will see their targeting laser and
they will leap and slash you. What you should do when you see the
laser all depends upon the location. If you are in an area that
would allow you to dodge, then go for it. You can dodge most of
their leaps by knowing what entrance to use for a given area. If
you wait until the last moment to dodge, and the Ghost slashes,
but misses, it will be disoriented for a while, giving you time
to reposition yourself.
Dryfield Parking: Enter through G&R's door. When you get the
laser, turn around and run back behind Rest Room, putting
yourself in the corner where the Rest Room and the fence join.
Breeding Room: Enter through the Corridor where Bowman was. Run
straight into the first breeding cage and into the curl of the
bag of garbage.
Sleeping Quarters: Enter through the hallway closes to Bowman's
locker. Run into the shower and back yourself up into one of the
stalls to screen left.
Temple: Run to the puzzle. It is important to keep right against
the wall to Aya's left. If stay center, you will get the pinch.
When you reach the far corner, to the left of the puzzle, you
will get the laser. Cast Apobiosis, and then run along the wall
and get yourself in the bend near the entrance.
Power Plant: Move out from behind the railing and you will get
the laser. Turn around and run back to the stairs, so the railing
prevents the Ghost's jump.
Pedestrian Airlock: As soon as you enter, you should RUN. Run
straight down the airlock, staying close to a wall. You still
have a chance to get pinched, but usually you will get the laser.
Don't stop, don't try to cast a spell, get all the way to the end
and turn into the niche where the door is. Put your back to the
door, and you are set.
If you are in a position that you know you wouldn't be able to
avoid the slash, then as soon as you get the laser you should
cast Apobiosis or ignite a Flare. That will give you time to get
into a better position.
You can't always avoid the Neck Pinch, but you can take avoid the
damage by using the Shake It, Don't Take It technique described
in SECTION 7.D.
After either avoiding the Slash or shaking off the pinch, the
Ghost will begin the disappear, reappear game. He will hit you
with a slash attack as soon as he appears, if you don't either
hit him with an attack, or have room to take a few steps back.
You must react immediately. To make things worse, Ghosts cast
shadow images of themselves that look just like they have
appeared in front of you. If you shoot at a shadow image the real
Ghost will appear almost immediately and slash you--again, you
die. DON'T SHOOT THE IMAGES. So how do you tell the image from
the real enemy? You turn off the music and put the sound on your
TV way up. The real Ghost makes a Phzzzppt sound when it appears.
The images appear silently. You want to have your back to a wall,
preferably in a corner or niche. Otherwise the Ghost will
probably Neck Pinch you again from behind. As soon as you hear
the Phzzzppt press the Square key and then pull the trigger. This
will stop the Ghost in his tracks and prevent the slash. You will
also be able to get several bursts in before he phases out again.
When you see him start to fade, though, it is time to stop
shooting. This is because if you keep on shooting he can reappear
right away and you won't have time to reposition yourself before
the slash and you die. If you shoot an image, you die. If you
hesitate to shoot, you die. If you try to run away, you die. If
the Ghost appears when you are in the middle of casting a spell,
you die. If you are struggling to reload when the Ghost appears,
you die. There are lots of ways to die when fighting these guys
with the M93R or MP5A5, but only one good way to win. Take
advantage of image appearances to do things like load your clip
or cast Energyshot. Sometimes the real Ghost appears several
times in a row. This is dangerous because you can empty your clip
without time to reload. Keep ammo attached to your armor, and if
your clip is running low you should reload it immediately after
you have stopped the slash, or stop firing early and hold the
rounds in the clip in reserve to prevent the next slash.
Although Pepper Spray is effective for stopping these guys, it is
not recommended. It does not freeze them, it only stops their
appearance or their charge. It can be used if you enter a room
and get the laser, but it is tricky to hit them.
The best weapon for these guys is the SP12 with Slugs, but we
will be saving them. I like using the Pyke on these guys once I
don't have to worry about charges. It does massive damage and the
graphics look pretty cool. It is very satisfying to burn them up.
Before you can use the Pyke, use the M950. With Energyshot it
will take less than the 100 rounds to kill the Ghost. It is also
satisfying to use the Tonfa on them once they are down.
(8.J) Grubs
To tell you the truth I can't tell what these things are. They
appear in garbage, so I sometimes think they are maggots. But
they also drop out of trees on lines so I then think they are
silkworms. I call them Grubs because that is what they look like.
These are tough opponents. Keep your distance from them and blast
away. Getting too close to them is asking to be poisoned, and a
couple of them leaping at once will do you in. Fortunately they
are sensitive to fire, and any of the fire spells will make them
leak life the way Necrosis does. The best rounds to use against
them are the Fireflies, but you will be saving your Fireflies for
the Bowman Boss. Use scene layout effectively and they will leap
into objects or walls. Combustion works great if they are in
groups and Inferno if they are spread out. Fortunately, they are
slow and Buckshot blasts set them back. The nice thing about
igniting one of them is that any of the others that touch it will
also ignite. This can save both MP and ammunition. If you run
when one is in front of you it will get pushed along. You can
use this technique to ignite any Grub not caught in the original
flame blast. Just push a flaming Grub at others that are not on
fire. Use care or you will get a face full of poison. I like to
ignite them and just run back and forth. Not only can they ignite
each other, but also do fire damage to other critters. This is
most fun to watch when they appear in conjunction with Trilobites
in the Breeding room or the at the Temple. The Trilobites bounce
up and down as if hit by a combat light, but also take damage. A
sight cool to behold.
They are too slow to adjust their attacks. Plasma can knock them
back, and Apobiosis gives them seizures.
(8.K) Jelly Blobs
I don't know what these things are supposed to be either. They
look like giant amoebas or something. They are one of the only
monster carry-overs from the first Parasite Eve, but appear and
act quite differently (Trilobites and Fatties are also much-
changed NMCs). They still have their ball attack but it does far
more damage. Fortunately you will never get hit by it because
they will be dead long before they get around to using it. One
Necrosis blast dissolves them. Try to save your blast until they
are all lined up together. These guys are no threat, unless you
are slow to act, and in fact are quite useful. Learn their
locations and use them when you need to recharge your MP and HP
because although they are worth very little experience they give
you phenomenal MP recharges. Bizarrely, they give you a
disproportionate amount of BP. You will notice 2 distinct types:
blue/green and red. Since they will be dead before they do
anything, their differences are irrelevant except that red Jelly
Blobs yield more MP and HP.
(8.L) Rats
These guys are pushovers, but be careful when they appear with
other enemies. Their little poison bite gives Aya a slight
shudder that can spell disaster if there are other opponents
nearby. Flares and Plasma will burn them up.
(8.M) Scavengers
These guys can be a real pain when you meet them in packs. They
have two attacks, they will either Pounce on you, or grab your
leg. Be careful of the pounce, because even if they don't hit you
directly, but you are running past them, you can take some
damage. If they grab your leg, they will rub up and down against
it ("My goodness, Scraps is a boy dog, isn't he?") causing a lot
of damage, and giving their allies time to advance. You can
employ The Shake It, Don't Take it technique to free yourself. I
like using a Riot Grenade or two and then finishing them off with
Buckshot. Unfortunately, this technique isn't possible until
after you have reached the Shelter. Use the Grenade Pistol when
you have it and until then use scene layout and the Stick and
Move technique if there is room. Riot Grenades knock them down
and stun them. Also, they don't like light, so if you leave the
lights on in the basement when they regenerate down there they
will be drowsy and pose no threat. Flares will knock them on
their backs and stun them. If you don't have Flares, or are in
SCROOGE MODE, then use Plasma. Combat Lights make them freeze and
start rocking back and forth. The graphics for this are cool and
I recommend viewing them. The best place for it is in the room at
Dryfield with the Gas Can. Be warned though, if you have stunned
them with a Combat Light, a critical hit will wake them from the
trance. If you hit them in the air your shot will do double
damage. The incidental aspects of these critters are really cool
and someone did a great job designing them. They are my second
favorite opponents.
(8.N) Scorpions
Dangerous in packs, especially in tight situations when you only
have the M93R. The preferred weapon for these guys is the SP12,
but you won't have that for a while. Use the Stick and Move
technique on them if there is room to maneuver, otherwise use
Plasma. The good news is that these critters are lazy. If you run
a long way away from them, only a couple will chase you while the
others lose interest and mill around. You can gingerly dispose of
the chasers, then nail the others from a distance. Learn to use
scene layout against them. They leave a poison spot after they
die, so try to kill them at a distance and avoid stepping on that
area until the poison dissipates. If you are using the SP12 they
will blow into pieces with the final hit and leave no poison.
Pepper Spray will give them seizures, as will Apobiosis.
Apobiosis 3 will kill them instantly.
(8.O) Security Turrets
No longer a mere annoyance, the Security Turrets in Nightmare
Mode can be deadly. They can hit to cause CONFUSION and
Paralysis. Fortunately you will be able to turn them off
at 2 different points in the game. There are a few simple rules
for dealing with them before the first time: use the P229; take
out the turrets while they are distracted with NMCs; use stick
and move. The P229 criticals phenomenally and is quite handy
against the Security System not only because of this, but also
because it is silenced and attacks only one Turret at a time. The
M950 with Energyshot and Hydras can take out a Turret before it
can hit you, but you will wake up any other Turrets in the
vicinity. If you are shooting at a Turret with any 9mm rounds or
the 5.56 mm rounds, you will do the most damage by shooting the
Turret head on. The SP12 is good too, but because of the scatter
shot you will get multiple turrets tracking you at the same time.
If you are in a corridor alone with the turrets, use the bends of
the hallway to hit the turret with a few shots until the
targeting laser is on you. Pop around the corner before the
turret discharges and repeat. Keep your distance. If there is an
enemy in the corridor, let the Security Turrets work on him while
you work on them. Don't shoot the enemies until after the
Security System is eliminated. When they are back on the second
time, the preferred weapon is the Javelin. One shot from the
Javelin will destroy an individual turret before it can hit you.
The Pyke also does a fine job on Turrets if you are close. The
machine gun turrets are the worst because they track you as they
fire. You turn the turrets off using the Shelter monitoring
system in the Pod Bay. DON'T FORGET TO TAKE OUT ALL THE TURRETS
ONCE THEY ARE SHUT OFF. They are only worth EXP, but every little
bit helps. In one instance you will use Slugs against some
turrets.
(8.P) Stalkers
These guys are dangerous in groups when you are in Nightmare Mode
and even an individual one who catches you with a face hug is bad
news. Buckshot does a nice job on them, especially in groups, but
if they are too close when you use it you are going to take a
hit. Also, when you first encounter them, you don't have the
SP12. Fortunately Riot Grenades not only knock them over but
paralyze them as well. Try to time the shot when they are all in
the blast radius. You can arrange this by running into a corner
or a tight spot so they have to converge on your position, so
even the invisible ones caught in the blast radius will be
stunned. My favorite weapon for them is the Javelin, if you have
the charges for it, but chances are you won't. The P229 does a
good job too. The Combat Light stuns them and you can pop away at
them until they drop. If they are not right on top of you, the
SP12 with Buckshot is the best choice. Before you have either the
P229 or the SP12, the P08 is a good choice and can yield some
high criticals. Flares will knock them on their backs, stun
them, and will also affect invisible ones. Plasma will knock them
back.
(8.P.i) Giant Stalkers
These guys can be killer. In fact I think that the most difficult
battle in all of Nightmare Mode is the first Giant Stalker. They
do not like bright light, they don't like a face full of hot
pepper, they take a lot of damage from fire, they are susceptible
to Necrosis, and Riot Grenades, although they won't stun them, do
give them a slight pause. One slash or head bang in the first
battle is enough to kill you. Pepper Spray will stun them, and
Flares will make them fall to their backs and appear if they are
invisible, but they will not be stunned.
(8.Q) Strangers
Stick and move and use scene layout. When these guys appear in a
Bronco room you can often use a bed as a barrier. Their bites do
real damage in Nightmare Mode, but I do not consider them a
serious threat. Plasma, Combat Lights, Flares, and Riot Grenades
knock them down. If you are using the Grenade Pistol and fighting
a pair of them, wait until they are in close proximity to get
both in the blast radius. The P08 and the P229 are your best
options for them, but at the Akropolis you will have the Combat
Light on the MP5A5, so use that. There are actually 3 different
stages to these guys, but the 1st and 2nd stages are so close I
treat them together. The only difference is that 2nd stagers move
far faster and do more damage than 1st stagers.
(8.Q.i) 3rd stage Strangers
These are deadly if they hit you (one pounce in Nightmare Mode
and you are probably dead), but fortunately with the right
equipment extremely easy to kill without taking a single hit. Use
the M4A1 with the Hammer attached. Stun them, fire 3 or 4 bursts
at them; stun them, fire 3 or 4 bursts at them, etc. The thing to
keep in mind is that they will not jump if you are close to them,
so get close as soon as they pop out of the woods. Outside the
Temple path you will need to stun them around 3 times. Once you
are on the path to the Temple you will only need 2 stuns. When
they first pop out you should stun them, cast Energyshot (if
desired), and then fire away standing slightly to screen right
from the center of the path. They will follow the same pattern.
Right when they appear they will either leap on you if you don't
get close enough or they will come straight at you to bite you.
After you knock them down with the Hammer they will get up and
walk towards the woods and then jump in. If they are going for
the woods, just keep shooting (you can position yourself in the
way and make them take an extra few bursts of ammo). If they are
going for the bite, then stun them and repeat. If they leap into
the woods, run back the way you came and they will pop out again.
Usually they are so weak when they do this that you can just fire
away. If you run forward you may hit another trigger point and
now have to fight two at once. Fighting two at once is actually
kind of economical because you can get them both with the same
Hammer shot (remember that you can't recharge it until after you
save Ironheart), but if one gets in front of you and the other
behind you it can be trouble. If you are out of Hammer charges,
cast Energyball and get close to them. Because they do an aerial
leap on top of you they can impact you right over top of the
Energyballs, so stay close. They don't jump if you are close. The
MOST fun way of fighting them is with the GunBlade in Replay
Mode. The graphics look great when they take the sword hack with
them on their backs and their legs flailing. This has nothing to
do with Nightmare Mode, but I thought I'd mention it.
(8.R) Trilobites
These are a real pain in Nightmare Mode. They do a lot of damage
with just one ankle nibble, and after each nibble Aya will be
disoriented and need to bring her weapon up again. The Grenade
Pistol with Riot Grenades will stun them, but the reload is very
slow, so don't use it unless they are in a close pack. Buckshot
will knock them on their backs and stun them. If you are fighting
them when they are very spread out, try to run to a point that
will make them converge so that you can nail as many as possible
with one shot. Also you can head to a corner or the end of a
hallway and shoot the closest one, then wait as the others
approach you. When they are in close proximity to the one on its
back, shoot it again to knock them all over. Generally aim for
the centermost and farthest critter (after you have knocked over
the ones closest to you). This will include the enemies that are
forward of him in the blast radius. If you have Apobiosis, go
ahead and use it as soon as you meet a group of them. Flares will
knock them all on their backs and can be used with good effect in
conjunction with Buckshot. Combat Lights will make them stand in
place and pop up and down like a child's cheap wind up toy.
(8.S) Leftover Critters
There are a bunch of different enemies that don't warrant
separate paragraphs. There are Flesh Puffballs who roll up to you
and explode; Baby Chasers who hang around and giggle when you
shoot them--give them the chance and they will also leap onto
you; Floormat Fatties, who swipe with one long arm and spit
poison; Disembodied Heads that just sit there; and the Flesh
Melanges which seems to be composed of the parts of many
different critters. None of these are problematic individually,
but when they are teamed up in large numbers, such as in the
Garbage Incinerator, they can do a number on you. You can use the
Puffballs to your advantage by making them explode when next to
another enemy. A critical hit from the P229 will make them pop.
This is very important in the mad dash through the Garbage
Incinerator. Enough damage as they are rolling at you will make
them deflate. Flares will make them stop rolling towards you, so
you can wait until they are in proximity to other creatures,
ignite a Flare, and then pop them so they do damage to the
surrounding critters. Apobiosis can be used with similar effect.
The best weapon against the Flesh Melanges is the SP12 with
Buckshot. One shot will kill them. A single critical hit to the
head from the P229 will kill the head, and the headless body will
deflate with another hit--it is kind of cool to watch. Other
weapons just don't do that much damage to them, but if you are
using one, then target the head first. These guys are slow, but
if you let them get up close they can ruin you. The Floormat
Fatties can do a lot of damage with a single swipe so keep your
distance. Flares will make them stop swiping for a while.
SECTION 9: Walkthrough of Tight Spots and Boss Battles
NB: This is not a walkthrough of all 300+ battles. It contains
only those battles that are either especially difficult or for
some reason instructional. It includes all of the Bosses.
Directions, unless otherwise noted, are given from the viewer's
perspective of the screen. The methods described are the best
ways that I know. If you know better ones please e-mail me at
Gerardvv@yahoo.com, with "PE Guide" in the subject line. Best
here means most efficient, both for the individual battles and
for conserving the ammunition you will need later. In other words
it means best from the perspective of most easily completing the
ENTIRE mode and not necessarily best for the individual battle.
This doesn't mean they are the most fun ways.
When in doubt as to what you are about to encounter in an area,
WALK don't just run into it.
(9.A) Akropolis Tower
Head back to the ammo case after finishing each battle to stock
up on 9mm rounds and use the phone to save.
(9.A.i) Stranger (Pseudo-Boss)
Location: Diner
Weapon: M93R
Ammo: 9mm
This really isn't a Boss fight. She is a Stranger that is caught
in between 2nd and 3rd Stages. She is a piece of cake, but if you
are used to Normal or Replay mode, be warned, you will not be
able to just shoot her with the M93R and expect her to drop at
your feet. As soon as you enter Battle Mode, turn around and run
back towards the door, but get behind the table to the right of
the door, standing in between the door and the corner close up to
the table. The Stranger Boss will get stuck at the table and not
be able to get to you. Just shoot until she drops. If she slips
around the table, just move out from behind it and go to the
other side of the room behind the other table.
When you go back into the Diner, after calling for backup, there
will be one Stranger in the kitchen. Don't go into the kitchen to
fight her. Go right up to the counter in between the two rooms
and she will come after you. She can't reach you, but you can
reach her. Save your bullets, and use the Tonfa to beat her like
a red-headed stepchild. You can only hit her with the forward
strike. You can also use this trick in the Bronco Rooms when you
have a Stranger trapped on one side of a bed. This example is not
only quite satisfying, it also saves ammo.
(9.A.iii) Grubs (tight spot)
Location: Garden
Weapon: MP5A5
Ammo: 9mm
The Grubs will appear when you move out from behind the statue
heading towards the Chapel door. Run back and duck behind the
statue. Facing the back of the statue, pop out from behind it on
Aya's left hand side. Cast Pyrokinesis, aiming to include the
maximum number of Grubs possible in the blast. Fire makes them
leak out their life. Go back behind the statue and wait while
they leak life. If one or more slips behind the statue, just run
down the path and back etc.. This is a little boring, but you
need to conserve ammo because you will be fighting 2 Golems
before you have a chance to restock.
(9.A.iv) Ghost (first Ghost)
Location: Chapel Path
Weapon: M93R
Ammo: 9mm
Have your ammo attached to your armor for this battle. You will
encounter your first Ghost upon exiting the Chapel. As soon as
you exit, run left, hugging the wall. If you reach the corner,
turn right and head towards the dead SWAT member. At some point
during this dash you will get neck pinched. Use Shake It, Don't
Take It, then position yourself with your back to the niche and
walk backwards to make sure there is not enough space for the
Ghost to appear behind you. Follow the procedure described in
SECTION 8.I.iv.
Don't move, just start shooting. Take out the near enemy first.
If you didn't get the Hydras in training, then you have a choice:
either use the Spartans or use plain 9mm. The Spartans will make
short work of these guys, plain old 9mm makes a real challenge.
No matter the ammo, use the P08.
When you get off the escalator target the Golem. He will be
walking away from you. Use this as an opportunity to run straight
at him, away from the Rats. Run until you reach the opposite
wall. The Golem will respond as soon as you pass him and try to
charge; also some of the Rats will chase you. Pepper Spray the
Golem in the face, thus also catching the pursuing Rats. Fire
away while he is paralyzed. As soon as he drops out of Paralysis,
run past him back to the escalator side of the walk and start
shooting again. He should drop before he can reach you with a
second charge. If he doesn't, then use another Pepper Spray when
he gets close. Be careful though, you want to have at least 2
Pepper Sprays to deal with No. 9 in the coming battle.
(9.A.vii) Fatties (tight spot)
Location: Fountain
Weapon: P08
Ammo: Hydra
Target the Fatty to your left, cast Energyshot, then run straight
at him and past him. Turn around and drop him. Walk forward and
drop the other. In Normal Mode you could just stand on the steps
next to the garbage can, but their arms are just too long now. If
you don't have the Hydras, then use Spartans or plain 9mm. The
other Fattie is far enough away not to be a threat at all.
Attachments: 2-4 Pepper Sprays, Penicillin (just in case)
No. 9 is can be tough in Nightmare Mode. You need to use
everything in the scene at your disposal to beat him without
Pepper Sprays and you should be very wary of taking a hit.
Here is an easy victory:
Have your M93R loaded with Spartans. When the battle begins, cast
EnergyShot. Then hit No. 9 with a Pepper Spray and keep shooting
until it runs out. When it runs out, hit him with another Pepper
Spray and do the same. If you have 3 or 4 keep doing this. When
you are out of Spartans, switch to 9mm. After you are out of
Pepper Sprays, run around the corner to the first Power Cable.
Position yourself so that you are as far away from it as
possible, but it is still in view and target it. Wait for No. 9's
approach. If he fires a Grenade, then run 2 steps forward so that
it passes over your head. When he reaches the Power Cable, shoot
it. If you had at least 3 Pepper Sprays, he will go down. If he
doesn't, then hit him with a Pyrokinesis and keep shooting, he
will drop after a clip or two.
If you want to conserve Spartans or Pepper Spray, or you are
playing SCROOGE MODE, see below.
SCROOGE MODE:
Weapon: M93R
Ammo: 9mm
SCROOGE says: before you fight No. 9, you should discard the
MP5A5 and whichever armor you won't be using. If you discard
those items, then you have room for all of the possible items
from the Akropolis, and the Recovery 3 from base.
When the battle begins, cast Energyshot and start firing. Run,
when it is necessary, to the corner and keep firing. When he
reaches the corner, run down past the first Power Cable. Stand as
far away as possible with the Power Cable in view. Keep shooting
No. 9. If he launches a Grenade, then take two steps forward and
let it pass over you. When he is approaching the cable, target
it, and wait for him to be in position to fire. If he is leaping,
then hit the cable right when he begins. After he takes the
cable, hit him with a Pyrokinesis. That will knock him back a
little, do some damage, and let you keep firing. Repeat the above
procedure with the second Power Cable and then the third. Right
after you hit him with the final Cable, then blow the Steam Pipe.
If he doesn't drop, hit him with another Pyrokinesis and keep
shooting. If you nailed him with all the Cables and the Steam
Pipe and had been shooting him he probably will drop after the
Steam. If not, it will only take a few shots.
(9.B) Dryfield
Use the cabinet in Motel Room 6 as a drop point for ammo. This
saves you from having to return to the Gas Station to reload when
your ammo is low.
There are many obstacles in Dryfield that you can employ to your
advantage in battle. You can trap Scorpions on one side of the
fence while you shoot them safely from the other side; you can
use the truck as a barrier in the garage, etc.
(9.B.i) Twin Chasers (terrain illustration)
Location: Motel Walkway
Weapon: M93R
Ammo: 9mm
This is not really a tight spot, but it is very typical of what
you can do in these sorts of encounters. It also illustrates how
to use layout to your advantage. I will not deal with all of the
Chaser tag-teams, because the same principle is in effect in all
of them.
You have 2 options at the start of this battle. I like to walk
forward until I am almost on top of the 1st Chaser. I cast
Necrosis, then run straight past him and straight past the 2nd.
This will wake up the second and have both of them running at you
in the same direction. In this instance you want to run straight
down and turn the corner. This should cause either 1 or both of
them to crash into the wall. If the one that wasn't necrotized
drops, it is a good opportunity to necrotize him. Then lure the
two of them into the bend and when they get there, run back out
into the main alley. Run and stand right next to the Bathroom,
with the door just slightly forward of you. One Chaser will start
pacing on the other side of the bend while the other tries to
charge you. If you stand right against the wall he will keep
banging his head into the drainage pipe and never get close. You
can take potshots at him when this happens, then repeat with the
next chaser. Or you can just wait until he leaks out all his
life.
The other option is how you will generally proceed in these
situations once you have the Grenade Pistol and there are no
bends. Don't bother sneaking up on the Chaser, just run right
past him and run right up to the next one. They will both wake up
and charge. Sidestep the charge and they will be in close
proximity to each other. You can Necrosis them both at once this
way. If you had the Grenade Pistol you would just lob grenades
until they were dead.
(9.B.ii) Cage Match (tight spot)
Location: Water Tower
Weapon: M93R
Ammo: 9mm
The bad news: you are trapped in a tight situation with multiple
Chasers. You are at your weakest and one charge can kill you. The
only weapon available to you is one of the weakest in the game.
The good news: you can choose how many Chasers you want to fight
in the cage, from 3 to 6.
After you cap the first 2 Chasers you encounter, you will have 6
more to fight. The first 2 are easy, use the fence as a barrier
and just drop them. Here is how you can determine how many to
fight inside the cage. Pull the gate lever, then run around the
corner of the cage until you are right behind the next corner.
There is a Chaser in the middle of the walkway. Stand behind the
fence and plug away until he drops. Instead of running forward at
this point, run back to the switch and wait for the gate to
close. When it closes, pull the switch again and repeat. You can
do this 3 times. After you have killed the 3rd one you might as
well head into the cage because no more will be waiting for you
outside of it. Inside the Cage you should be fast on your feet
and use the support pole as a barrier to break Chaser charges.
You may employ Pepper Spray if you are cowardly by nature, but it
really isn't necessary.
This fight is tough only because you have very little room to
maneuver. As soon as the Chaser drops from the cliff, Pepper
Spray and then finish him off. He is only dangerous because he
literally has the drop on you when the battle first begins and
you have nowhere to run.
This battle is a real piece of cake if you know what to do, and a
major pain if you don't. You are very weak at this point in the
game and the Giant Stalker can do you in almost instantly. I
recommend the same method for normal play and SCROOGE MODE.
Have Plasma 2 revived for this. If you don't, substitute a Pepper
Spray.
As soon as the battle is joined, cast Plasma without hesitation.
Follow this up with Necrosis, and then run as fast as you can.
Get into the niche in front of the Game Room door. The Stalker
cannot fit in there and his attacks can't reach you. Now, creep
forward. You want to be as far forward as possible, without the
screen point of view changing. The Stalker will titter away,
running back and forth. When you get to the full forward
position, he will no longer run, but stay more or less in front
of Aya. Fire away when he is directly in Aya's line of fire
and as long as he is still Necrotized. If it runs
out, hit him with it again. This is a waste of MP, but do it
because the damage indicator acts as a flag for Aya to target.
Location: Dilapidated House Alley
Weapon: M93R
Ammo: 9mm
Attachments: N/A
This is not a tight spot, unless you are playing SCROOGE MODE. If
you aren't you can use a couple of Pepper Sprays to take out the
Slasher and then finish off the Shooter.
If you are in SCROOGE MODE, here is what you do: walk forward and
target the Shooter. The Slasher will be in between you and the
Shooter, so hit Square twice. Then cast Energyshot. Fire your
weapon, you will hit the Slasher, who will turn to face you. Run
past him, but not too far past. If you time it right he will go
for the Slash but miss and be facing the other direction. If he
turns to face you, cast Plasma. Now, if you don't already have
the Shooter's attention, fire a burst at him. Then cast Plasma to
disorient the Slasher and slip back behind him so he takes the
full burst of 6 grenades from the Shooter. You can finish him off
with the M93R, or just repeat the process to make him take
another burst of Grenades. The Shooter is no problem once the
Slasher is down.
(9.B.vi) No. 9 (BOSS)
Location: Dilapidated House
Weapon: M93R
Ammo: Spartan, 9mm
Attachments: 9mm, a boost, a recovery (just in case)
This encounter is tough. No. 9 is no longer affected by Pepper
Spray, and he is very quick at protecting himself from Grenades.
One slash will take away 75% of your life with Antibody cast, and
one overhead strike will kill you.
Fortunately, the set designers were on your side. Take a good
look at the layout of the Dilapidated House. The moon is coming
through the window. The moonlight is shining on 2 spots of the
floor. One is pretty much dead center, and the other is in front
of the door from which you entered the room. Across the room, on
the far wall directly in line with the dresser, there is a big
hole in the plaster. These are your hints for this scene.
You should have your M93R loaded with the Spartans you have
because every little bit counts in this battle. (I like to use up
whatever Spartans I have left at this point, but you may choose
otherwise. You can put aside 50 for the FireBreather Boss if you
like. It is fun to kill him with the P08 and Spartans.) Keep the
other 9mm ammo attached to your armor.
As soon as you enter Battle Mode, cast Energyshot. No. 9 will
then slash at you, but his slash will fall short. Run straight
across the room and line yourself up with the hole in the
plaster, making sure your back is right against the wall. Cast
Antibody if you wish. Now shoot away. As you shoot him, pay very
close attention to his position in relation to the moonlight on
the floor. If he is more than one step away from the moonlight,
nearer to you, then his attack will hit you. If he is in the
moonlight, his strike will miss. Right after his strike, run
straight at him and go to the opposite side of the room.
Make for the doorway, when you get right in front of it, in the
moonlight, then let yourself turn and face him. You want it to
look like you are standing right in the doorway, with Aya's right
shoulder behind the door jam. As long as you can see no more of
his body than his shoulders down to his hips, you are safe. If
you can see his hips and the beginning of his thighs, you will
take a hit. You can avoid this by stepping back into the closet
and then running back to the hole in the wall after the attack.
The problem is that he steps forwards sometimes to position
himself. That is why you should start firing immediately when you
get in position. This can cause him to attack before he gets
close enough to reach you. What you want to do is get the timing
down so that he has come very close to you with his attack when
against the hole. This way when you are at the doorway, he needs
to advance a pretty good distance to hit you. Keep this up until
he is dead. Choose your reload times and your spell recasting
times well or you will take a slash. If you run straight at him
when it is his turn to attack, he will grab you, choke you, and
dash you to the floor. Another trick is to wait until he is about
to launch an attack and then run past him (you run in the widest
arc you can around him this time). In other words, you are
running out of turn but before he is positioned to attack. He
will make a slash at you as you go by and you can get in a few
extra shots. Although this is possible, I DON'T recommend it.
It is also possible to fight this one out standing in other
positions, but I find that these two spots give the best timing.
This is a long battle, with many chances to mess up. It will take
approximately 200-220 Spartan rounds to finish him. That is with
Energyshot cast the entire time. The P08 will do more damage than
the M93R, but because it is so slow I don't recommend it. It will
take about 3 times as long to get through the battle. If you do
it with just the 9mm and no Spartans, it will empty nearly all
500 rounds, and you will have an empty weapon for the next 3
battles--while you can get through that way by hiding behind
Kyle, it is very tough.
SCROOGE MODE:
Weapon: M93R, Tonfa Baton
Ammo: 9mm
Waste your Spartans? That's nuts. Besides, you will need at least
32 for the FireBreather, and it is a lot easier to do the Mad
Dash with 100 Spartans.
Follow the exact same procedure as above, but use the 9mm. It is
going to take all of them if you don't do anything else. That is
going to leave you with an empty clip. You have several options
to do additional damage. Right after each of his attacks you can
either hit him with a Pyrokinesis or a Plasma. This costs MP
though and you won't have much. Plus, if you don't have
Energyshot for every 9mm round you fire, you will run out of
rounds before he is dead. What SCROOGE recommends is that during
No. 9's attack, you switch the M93R off with the Tonfa Baton.
Then, as soon as his attack is over, run up and give him both a
slash and a backslash, then keep running to one of the attack
points. This will save your MP so you can keep Energyshot cast,
and will leave you with some ammo.
(9.B.vii) Armored Shooter (tight spot)
Location: Dilapidated House Alley
Weapon: M93R
Ammo: 9mm
This encounter can be tough, not because of the enemy, but
because the scene layout is against you. The alley is very narrow
and the Golem keeps retreating until he is against the door of
the Store. What this means is that through most of this fight you
won't be able to see your opponent, and there is very little room
to dodge the grenades.
Fortunately you have an ally. Kyle will be fighting on your side
for a few encounters. Take full advantage of this and use him not
just for his offensive strength, but his defensive strength as
well. He will be your shield from the grenades. If you get hit
with a burst you are going to be paralyzed. If you get hit with
another while you are paralyzed you are dead. Keep Kyle between
yourself and the grenades when necessary. He absorbs a lot of
damage and I have never seen him drop.
Full SCROOGE MODE:
You are either out of 9mm rounds, or close to it. Don't bother
fighting this battle. All you have to do is dodge the first 2
sets of Grenades, and then get into the curve of the fence, once
the Golem has passed it. He will continuously target you and
fire, but the Grenades are blocked by the fence. In the mean
time, Kyle will take him down for you.
Let him do the fighting until you reach the car and once that
battle begins you can run up to the ammo case and load up on 9mm.
(9.B.viii) A Rock and a Hard Place
After several tough battles you have made it to your wrecked car.
Unfortunately the phone is always ruined. You want to get to a
phone ASAP and save, because if you buy the farm at this point,
you are looking at the whole No. 9 sequence to the car all over
again.
Unfortunately you only have 2 possible directions to go towards a
phone and both are very tough battles.
Choose either the Rock or the Hard Place below for your
direction. I strongly recommend the Hard Place first.
(9.B.viii.a) The Hard Place--A Ghost
Location: Cellar
Weapon: M93R
Ammo: 9mm
OK, you have your Ghost-eliminating procedure down, so what makes
this a hard place?
Once again it is scene layout. You will be coming down the ladder
into the cellar from the Gas Station. The Ghost is going to grab
you right after the first few steps you take in any direction.
For the easiest fight you would head towards the end of the
hallway and get your back to the switch. Unfortunately, that wall
is too far away. You will only end up getting neck pinched again
and again and be dead before you reach that position.
So what do you do? As soon as you enter the hall, RUN in a
straight line toward the opposite wall. Then, hugging the wall,
start running down towards the Gameroom door. The point you are
heading for is a support post that is right before the hallway
that leads into the Gameroom. You will get the neck pinch right
before you get there. If you can shake it off, then run to the
door and turn around for the appear/disappear game.
If you fail to shake it off, you want to get your back against
the wall next to that post. Once you are in position you will be
facing the wall that has the ladder you came down, the post will
be on your left, and your back against the wall. When the Ghost
appears for the first time (the real Ghost, not an image) hit him
with one shot and then run and get your back to the door.
This is important because if you just keep a flat wall at your
back, the Ghost can appear in a 180 degree arc around you. This
is dangerous: the greater the arc, the longer it takes for you to
target lock and face that position. Also, if you are firing at
the Ghost and he is to your extreme right, then disappears and
reappears to your extreme left, he will have time for another
neck pinch or quick slash. The post will prevent him from neck
pinching you, and give you time to lock and fire when he appears.
Follow the procedure in SECTION 8.I.iv for the rest of the
encounter.
(9.B.viii.b) The Rock: Two Bowmen
Location: Main Street
Weapon: P08
Ammo: 9mm
If you exit the Gas Station toward the Dryfield Midway you are
going to encounter twin Bowmen. This is ordinarily not so bad.
Unfortunately the area is wide open, and the only obstacles to
use are on the opposite side of your entrance. To make things
worse, both of your opponents have the drop on you and will begin
charging their plasma blast as soon as you open the gate.
If you choose this path you have one of two options. Immediately
target the near Bowman and cast Necrosis. Then, without
hesitating, run towards Bronco Room 1 and slip around behind the
support post. This should make the Plasma Blast miss. Then run
towards the second Bowman and necrotize him. Shoot away at them
until they are dead. You will probably need to cast another
Necrosis at some point.
The other option is to enter this battle, but then escape it
through the Well Alley entrance. In order to escape successfully
you will need to run right as soon as you enter Battle Mode and
head straight toward the gate. You should reach it right before
the Plasma Blasts discharge. You must not hesitate at all. This
will put you in a good position to reach the phone in Douglas'
Trailer. This is one of only 2 escapes I could be convinced to
sanction. I don't recommend it, because the entire rest of the
game you will have to see that damned escape tally when you save.
I understand if you choose it though. If you do choose it, you
can enter the Bowman battle back through that same gate, but this
time you will have the drop on them, so it is no longer a
problem. This is also the way you will face them if you chose the
Hard Place first.
This is only a tight spot if you don't know what you are doing.
You can beat these guys with the ultimate in Rope a Dope, more
like Rope a Dope squared. As soon as you enter the Junkyard,
target the Shooter and hit him with a burst to get his attention.
Then get the Slasher's attention. Either with a quick burst, or
by running into his line of sight. As soon as you have the
attention of both of them, run behind the Forklift and stand in
between the tines. Then just wait. The two of them will walk up
to the other side of the Forklift and they will either just stand
there or keep walking into it. What you do now is pop out from
behind the Forklift to get the Shooter's attention. As soon as
you get the laser, pop back behind the Forklift. The Shooter will
just empty his Grenades into the Slasher. It will only take two
bursts for the Slasher to drop.
If you slip, and allow the Slasher to get around the Forklift,
then run all the way down the other end of the scene to behind
the Green Junker. They will both just walk up to the end of the
Junker and stand there while you shoot them down. The first
method is far more fun.
(9.B.x) Ghost (tight spot)
Location: Parking
Weapon: M93R
Ammo: 9mm
The only thing tricky about this Ghost is that he will cause
CONFUSION unless you shake off the pinch. Choose your entrance
wisely. You want to enter from the G&R door and not through the
Midway gate.
This guy was a snap in the other modes. Even when he nailed you
with one of his attacks it hardly did any damage. Unfortunately,
you are very low on HP, and his attacks do a lot more damage. He
will also attack more frequently than in the other modes. This is
probably why the opening graphic for Nightmare Mode shows Aya
hiding behind a corner and not even fighting this guy. Don't do
that. Anyone who lets Flint die doesn't deserve to read this
document. The good news is that if you know what equipment to
use the battle is not that difficult.
He has 4 basic attacks:
Forearm Smash;
Pimp Slap;
Fire Breath;
Mamma had a baby grab.
You need to watch out for all of them. The good news is that if
you hit him with Necrosis right before he begins an attack (he
has many pre-attack warning signs: a puff of flame before Fire
Breath, drawing up his arm before the Pimp Slap, etc.) he will
not carry through on that attack.
Forearm Smash: He will raise his arm up in the air and bring it
down on the walkway. If you are running under it, it will hit you
unless you are right against the wall. If you are running from
one side to the other, and he goes for this attack, duck into the
path to the stairwell to avoid it.
Pimp Slap: He sweeps with his arm across the path, knocking you
senseless against the wall. You will see him raise his arm
slightly off to the side. The good news is he usually goes for
the Pimp Slap after you have run from the corner to the opposite
end of the walkway and have hit him with a grenade. If you are
running back and see him getting ready for the Pimp Slap, duck
into the stairwell path. If you are closer to the corner, try to
run around the bend.
Fire Breath: He breathes fire and immolates you. He will give a
small shift to his head before lowering to breathe fire. Run! Try
to stay dead center on the walkway because if you veer to either
side and are running against the wall, it will slow you down and
the flame will catch up with you. (He also has a small Fire Puff
that he can catch you with--watch out for it.)
Mama Had a Baby: When I was young, we would pluck dandelions from
the lawn and sing a terrible little song. Clenching the dandelion
stem in our hand we would sandwich the flower between our index
finger and thumb singing "Mama had a baby and its head popped
off!" When we got to "popped" in the song we would pop the flower
so that it went flying off of the stem. This is more or less what
he will do to you. Granted, we didn't breathe fire onto the
flower but I assure you that was due to a lack of ability and not
to a lack of desire. He will squeeze you in his hand doing
damage, breathe fire on you, then throw you smack against the
wall. Receive this treatment in Nightmare Mode and you will
almost certainly die. While you are in his grip you can wiggle
your finger on the arrow keys to make him reposition you and
minimize damage. If you do this you will have your arms free for
a moment and be able to fire your weapon. He kind of reaches
forward with his hand when he is going for this move. Prime time
for this move is right after the cut-scene in which he grabs his
injured face in pain. If you can get a Necrosis shot off right
when he starts you will avert this move, but the timing must be
perfect. You can also run to Aya's left and go around the bend in
the walkway.
As a general principle you want to keep running back and forth
along the long section of the hallway, spending more time in the
corner before the bend. When you run, make sure you are right
against the wall. Use the passage to the staircase only to dodge
attacks, most especially the Pimp Slap. If you stay in it he will
just keep up his Fire Breath. I avoid the little bend in the
walkway unless I need it to dodge Fire Breath or Mamma Had a
Baby.
The fight can open with different attacks, so what I do all
depends on what he is about to do. I generally open the fight
with a Necrosis blast right in his face. Then turn to Aya's left
and run down to the corner and cast Energyshot and Antibody. Then
let loose with an Airburst round. Usually you have time for 2,
but at the first corner you will probably only have time for 1.
Watch for what attack he is going to use. If he is going for the
Fire Breath, I run and duck around the bend.
This fight is pretty much you running from side to side, firing
grenades when you can and hitting him with Necrosis to keep a
constant leakage on his HP. It is important to let him approach
your position fully in between running back and forth. This will
make him take more time in between attacks because he has to
reposition himself. The corner is the best part to stand and fire
because his Forearm Smash can't reach you. Make sure you move
fast if he goes for the Fire Breath.
If he is still kicking and you are out of Airburst Grenades,
switch to Riot Grenades.
Right before he dies he will smash through the walkway. Try to be
on the side closest to Bronco Room 6. This way, after the fight
you can save your game. It will also enable you to make a
complete loop through Dryfield to take out all the newly
generated enemies and leave you at the garage, which is where you
want to be, instead of having to make a broken loop in the
opposite direction.
SCROOGE MODE:
Weapon: P08, M93R
Ammo: Spartan, 9mm
SCROOGE says to use only one P08 32 round clip of Spartans, with
Energyshot cast, on the FireBreather, hit him with 2 Necrosis in
the first part of the battle. It will take 2 Necrosis, the 32
Spartans, and about 40 9mm rounds from the M93R. For round 2, hit
him with 3 Necrosis and just keep peppering with M93R. You can
also reload the P08 to finish round one if you like, but don't
waste them in the second round.
(9.C) Shelter
Please read through APPENDIX D on Slug usage for various tight
spots not included here. If you use the Slugs correctly, they are
not tight spots.
Overhead Pounce--He will mount the Mining Equipment and crush you
by dropping right on top of you.
Head Butt--Similar to your basic Chaser, he will charge you and
butt you with his head, but this Boss can also swing his head to
the side, making it more difficult to dodge. You can't simply
sidestep this attack, you must put more distance between yourself
and him.
Terrier Shake--He will grab you by the back of your neck with his
mouth. In addition to doing massive damage, this attack can also
inflict POISON.
There are two rounds to this battle. In the first round, the Boss
has about one-fourth the hit points, but his attacks do about
twice the damage, which means that just about any hit will kill
you in the 1st round.
A good deal of the time, the Leader of the Pack will run around
like a 1st grader on a sugar rush at recess. As he runs around
you will hear his footfalls and his heavy breathing. When the
footfalls stop you will either hear his breathing or dead
silence. If you get dead silence, he is probably setting up for
the Pounce. This is a good way to make him land in a spot you
want. Right before he drops, you will hear a loud grunt. Move as
soon as you hear it, or you will take a hit. If you are in Round
One, then just keep moving and his pounce will never hit you. If
he stops at one end of the Mining Equipment, you want to approach
from the opposite way he is facing. If you approach from the side
he is facing, do so with great caution. He is very fast with his
charge and attack. Generally, unless I am trying to set him up in
position, I run in the same direction he did. If he turns around
at the end of the room, I will turn around and run back in the
other direction.
Round One:
In this round, you will ignore the four barrels that are in the 4
corners of the room and leave them for Round Two.
The battle will begin with him in front of you and a barrel to
screen right. As soon as the battle begins, he will run away from
you. Run a few steps past the barrel, then turn around and run
back behind the barrel. He will either have turned around and
charged you, or have stopped and will face the way he just came.
If he charges you, dodge it and hit him with a Necrosis, then
cast Energyshot. If he stops, cast Energyshot, run around to the
other end, make sure he is facing away from you, then hit him
with Necrosis. The Necrosis does minimal damage, but since he
only has about 500 HP in this round, it will help. More
importantly it will serve as a tag to let you know where he is.
After you hit him with Necrosis, run after him, taking the
opportunity to shoot him with the M950 as the occasion permits.
It doesn't take much to put him down in this round.
OR, when the battle begins, cast Apobiosis, and while he is
having a seizure, take the opportunity to hit him with Necrosis
and cast Energyshot. If you do this, you will probably want to
drink an MP Boost item in Round Two.
Round Two:
Switch to the Grenade Pistol for this round. The round will begin
identically to Round One, but you will be standing at a different
barrel. You should begin exactly the same, but if he charges you,
after you sidestep it, definitely cast Apobiosis if he is in
position for the barrel, cast Energyshot, then hit him with
Necrosis and target the barrel. If you hit him with 2 Necrosis
blasts and all 4 barrels, he will be ready to drop, or will drop
after a couple of Riot Grenades. I like using his Pounce to
position him in front of a barrel. Stand next to a barrel, close
to a wall. When you hear the grunt, slip around the barrel, to
the other side in roughly a 180-degree arc. Hit the barrel before
he moves out of position.
If you don't have Apobiosis, don't worry. You can position him at
the barrels by using the trick above, both on his Pounces and his
charges.
SCROOGE MODE:
Weapon: M950
Ammo: 9mm
This is probably the toughest battles in the game in SCROOGE MODE,
because he is so fast and without the Grenade Pistol it is
difficult to blow the barrels with the right timing. Also, since
you can't use an MP Boost, you have very limited energy.
Round One:
As soon as the battle begins, position him by a barrel and cast
Apobiosis. Target the barrel and shoot it until it blows. Then
target the Boss and fire away. It will only take the Apobiosis 2,
the one barrel, and about 20 rounds to get to Round Two.
Round Two:
Position him near a barrel, cast Apobiosis, blow the barrel, hit
him with Necrosis. Then do the same for another barrel. If he is
still Necrotized, then wait until it runs out to hit him with it
again if you have the energy. Then use fancy footwork and the
method described above to pepper him up with 9mm rounds or get
him near the last barrel. I like to stand by the barrel and
weaken it a little, then wait for a pounce to blow the barrel.
Even so, he may still have some HP that you will have to
take away from him with the M950.
It takes the two Apobiosis, two Necrosis, and two Barrels
to take him down, if you hit him with a few shots as he runs
around as well.
You should also have the P229 and the SP12 in inventory along
with 3 or more Flares.
NB: There are ammo cases in the Incinerator. On the side in front
of the chute there are Hydras, and on the opposite side there are
9mm rounds. Take the opportunity to load up on ammo.
Also look at the floor. The floor is composed of a grating with
various joints. You will use these as a marker to force her into
certain attacks.
The SuckMeister has 6 attacks:
Preceding all of these attacks, she will give a little nod to her
head. Your distance from her and screen position right after the
head shift will determine which attack she is going to use.
The Suck--She will raise her head slightly, open her big mouth
and start sucking. If you get sucked in the game is over. Also,
if you are too close when she stops sucking she will just slurp
you up, and once again, game over. Sometimes in other modes,
prior to the Suck, two Baby Chasers will drop into the room. If
she sucks in those guys they will heal some of her hit points. I
have never seen her do this in Nightmare Mode, but I have never
let her live that long. You want her to go for the Suck as much
as possible because it is the best time to do damage to her. It
is not difficult to avoid, just keep the joystick pulled back as
you fire and make sure you don't get too close. You will try to
force her to suck as much as possible.
Aerial Drop--Bits of debris will fall from the ceiling and if
they land on you they can do massive damage. Fortunately you will
see the shadow of where they are going to hit and you can easily
avoid them. The best thing to do when she launches this attack is
to run in the opposite direction from where you are standing,
then turn and run back, dodging the debris as necessary. The Drop
tends to follow your location, so you can lead it away from you
and then reposition yourself safely.
French Kiss--She will look just like she is going to Suck, but
then will thump out her tongue. If you are too close, you will
die. The tongue is deadly in this mode. When she tries to slip
you the tongue, run away, and as soon as you are at a safe
distance, start firing. It is a great opportunity to inflict
punishment.
Super Glue--She will give a slight shift to her body, coming up
slightly on the left side, and will shoot out a few blobs of
sticky stuff that will glue you to the floor. Use Shake It, Don't
Take It (SEE SECTION 7.D) to free yourself if you get hit. All
you have to do is avoid the hits by running though. Be careful
where you end up, because she will definitely be following it up
with a Poison Cloud. The good news is that if you follow the
method outlined below, you will not see this attack or the Poison
Cloud in Nightmare Mode.
Poison Cloud--She will tilt her head, thump the floor and shoot a
Poison Cloud from her left shoulder. The cloud always comes from
the left: that means that the safest place to be is either too
far away for it to hit you, or right next to her right foot. If
you follow the advice below, you will never see the Super Glue or
Poison Cloud in Round One.
Chaser Spit--In Nightmare Mode, you will only see this attack if
you take pot shots at the Boss' right shoulder. She will raise
her foot and thump the floor. Two Baby Chasers will drop from the
garbage chutes. They will sit there for a moment and the Boss
will start sucking. If this happens, then immediately start
shooting the Chasers to kill them. If you let the Boss swallow
them, each one will heal 100 HP of damage. Then, for the next
attack, the SuckMeister will tilt its head with a gulping motion,
almost as if choking on a fur ball, and then spit a masticated
Baby Chaser in your direction at very high speed. If you take the
hit you will die and it is too fast to avoid. So, avoid this
situation by not picking away at her right shoulder. This is
actually an excellent graphic sequence. It looks especially cool
in the second round, and I recommend you do it there to see it. I
had never seen this in about 10 times through Nightmare Mode, but
I was experimenting with ways to elicit different attacks and
couldn't stop laughing. It looks really cool in the corridor
because of the fixed point of view.
You can do minimal damage by shooting her in the right shoulder
throughout the battle, but don't bother. You can't inflict much
damage, it is a waste of ammo, and picking at the shoulder might
make him go for the Chaser Spit.
Tickling the Dragon: Apobiosis will set up a convulsion that
causes her to open her mouth in pain and giving you the time to
hit her with more rounds. You can do this in between attacks, and
break some attacks, but you can't break the Suck once it begins.
It is a good way of opening a window of damage opportunity. The
best time to cast Apobiosis is when the SuckMeister is advancing.
Not only will this give you time to do damage, but it will give
pause to her forward motion. You can also Tickle the Dragon by
hitting her with an Airburst Grenade right when her mouth is
closing after the Suck, if you are standing within 2 steps of
her. This, however, is a waste of a Grenade. I think that what
causes the convulsion is receiving a hit to all three weak points
(Mouth, and both Shoulder Sockets) at the same time.
After the SuckMeister takes a certain amount of damage she will
advance forward. Use this as an opportunity to reload, or recast
Energyshot. From the first position, she will advance after
taking about 1,000 HP of damage; from the second position, after
about 500. The third position is the most deadly, as the attacks
are difficult to avoid and there is no more room for her to
advance. You will use this knowledge to gain a quick and safe
victory.
This battle also has two rounds. Round Two, however is a real
piece of cake. I have provided a method using the Grenade Pistol,
because I know people like using that. Also, it seems the game
designers intended you to use it, as the creatures generally drop
the ammo you should use against them. However, I recommend using
the method described for SCROOGE MODE, whether you are playing it
or not.
Round One:
As soon as the battle begins, turn around and run about half the
screen away from her, cast Energyshot, and then hit her with 2
Airbursts as she Sucks. It is tempting to hit her with another,
but resist. If you hit her with 3 good hits, you run the risk of
her advancing right then, which will make for a tougher battle.
You want to end up about 3-4 steps away from her mouth after you
have fired and she is done sucking.
After the Suck, she will go for an Aerial Drop. Turn around and
run away from her, almost to the end of the screen, then run back
towards her. Look at the floor. You want to be standing just on
the far side from the SuckMeister of the joint in the floor that
has the cable running over it. I like to head back to the point
where the cable makes an arc, just so I have something to aim at.
Once you are there, the Aerial Drop should be ended, so take the
time to switch to the Grenade rounds. If you reach this position,
or within 2 steps of that joint, she will go for the Suck again.
As soon as she starts the suck, take two steps back, then holding
the joystick back, hit her with 2 Grenades. You have time for one
or two more, but don't take it. Use the time to reload and cast
Energyshot again. Then repeat exactly as above, dodging the
Aerial Drop, but stick with Grenades. Hit her with 2 more and she
will advance. It is better if you can hit her with 3, but you
have to have the timing just right.
The sequence of firing is important because if you hit her with 3
or 4 Airbursts for the first Suck, she might advance then. If you
hit her with 3 Grenades after the 2 Airbursts, she will
definitely advance. This way you have inflicted 2 Airbursts and 4
Grenades before her advance. That is, instead of between 1,000-
1,200 HP, you have inflicted about 1,500, which means you have
taken over half her life.
After this she will advance. While she is advancing, cast
Apobiosis and "Tickle the Dragon". This will give you time to do
damage, and recast Energyshot if you didn't do it above. Then run
just about all the way to the far wall. Get some distance so you
have time for 2 Grenades, but you want to force the Suck. She
will go for the Suck again. She will advance again after those 2
Grenades. If you were lucky enough to hit her with 3 Grenades,
just before her last advance, she will die now. If not, "Tickle
the Dragon" again and she will die when you hit her with the next
Grenade. If you messed up at some point, and she makes it to the
final position, see below.
This time you are in tight quarters, so it is important to make
sure she goes for the Suck. So after just a brief pause, run all
the way to the wall, and she will go for the Suck. The good news
is that she is dead after just one more Grenade. All told, that
is 2 Airbursts and 7 Grenades, with Energyshot 3 cast.
If you mess up the timing, or miss with a shot, she may either go
for the Super Glue, or directly for the Poison. Once she starts
this in this position, it is difficult to get her to stop,
because in order to not get hit by the poison, you either have to
be in the far corner by the door, or right next to her right
foot. If you are in either location, she will tend to keep going
for the Poison, or Super Glue/Poison combination. So what you
want to do is to run away, but make sure that you pause slightly
before you do.
If she goes for the French Kiss, it is quite dangerous here, but
also desirable. If you aren't too close, just turn around and run
to the back wall. The tongue will miss. Now, hit her with the
last Grenade and she is dead, because while, and after, she goes
for the French Kiss you can do damage to her. If you are close,
run immediately to the side, at an oblique angle away from her.
If you missed or wasted any Grenades, don't worry, that is why
you had the M950 attached. Just switch to it and nail her when
she goes for a Suck or French Kiss.
Round Two:
This round is a cake walk. Right when the battle begins, turn
around and run down the corridor to the far wall. DO NOT turn the
corner. What you want to do is follow the seam in the floor that
is furthest away, run straight down that to the point where the
wall bends, and put your back to it. You want to be by the bend
that is in line with that seam in the floor, so you are just
slightly off center from the SuckMeister. Cast Energyshot. She
will walk up and will either Suck or go for the Poison. If she
goes for the Poison Cloud, then just stand there. It can't hit
you in that position. Just stand there waiting for her to Suck.
If you hit her just right in the First Round, you have 5 Grenades
and 2 Airbursts in inventory. That is enough to take her out, but
if you get a bad hit, or miss, you can switch to the M950. Just
repeat the procedure: after each Suck, run back to that spot on
the wall. The main difference is that you don't want to get as
close to her in this round.
The danger here is that if you finish standing as close to her as
you did in Round One, she is going to go for the French Kiss, and
in this round it reaches all the way to right before the wall. If
you are in position against the wall, it will miss, anywhere
else, you will take the hit and die. So don't get as close, and
run back to the wall immediately. If you slip up, turn the corner
when you see the tongue coming, then run back before the next
attack.
As soon as she starts her death convulsions, run to the panel and
step on it, then run back. Every second of the 5 minutes counts
for the Mad Dash in Nightmare Mode.
SCROOGE MODE:
Weapon: M950
Ammo: Hydra
Attachment: 9mm rounds
Follow the exact same procedure as above, but use the M950 the
entire time. If you are playing in SCROOGE MODE, then make sure
you pick up the plain Jane 9mm rounds as well as the Hydras,
because you run the risk of running out of Hydras in Round Two.
The only other important difference is that you want to watch the
damage you do, especially after the first advance. What I like to
do for the battle opener and the first advance is to fire until I
see about 500 HP of damage, then reload the M950 so I can empty
nearly a full clip down her gullet when she goes for the Suck
again. So keep the Hydra rounds attached to your armor. Also, you
must time your reloading and Energyshot recasts. I generally like
doing either right after the "Tickle the Dragon" procedure.
After Round One, I attach the 9mm rounds, so that if I run out of
Hydras, I can switch to them.
(9.C.iii) Mad Dash
Location: Dumping Hole
Weapon: P229
Ammo: Hydra (Spartans if you have any left)
Attachments: 2 Flares, Restore item
I call this a Mad Dash, but really we are going to keep our
position for the most part.
After defeating the SuckMeister, head back into the Incinerator
room (make sure you have already stepped on the panel to raise
the floor). Move to Aya's right and load up on Hydras if
necessary. Also load up on 9mm rounds if you choose, so that you
have plenty of Hydras left for your return to Dryfield. This is
important if you are playing SCROOGE MODE.
Head to the box in the back of the room and get the Medicine
Wheel. It is worth a lot of BP (13,900) and will earn you Bonus
Items after certain battles (SEE APPENDIX B).
Round One:
After getting the Medicine Wheel, you will walk forward and a
slough of "Leftover" critters will drop into the incinerator. The
only real problem here are the Flesh Puffballs, as they can do
you in right away if they explode nearby. So right when things
start dropping, run straight to the other side of the room, by
the last floor juncture before the door, and ignite a Flare. This
will stun the Floormat Fatties and the Flesh Puffballs. The Baby
Chasers will be momentarily halted, but not paralyzed. Now, run
back towards the box that you got the Medicine Wheel out of, but
don't go all the way back. Get to the spot right before the
screen changes, so you can still see some of the Critters. Cast
Energyshot and then start taking things out. The important order
is that nonstunned Flesh Puffballs come first. If you get them
with a critical hit they will pop and inflict damage on anything
around them. Next come the Baby Chasers that are advancing on
you. Their flop attack is no longer an annoyance but can cause
serious harm in this mode, especially in SCROOGE MODE as you
still only have 50 HP. None of the Floormat Fatties can reach you
if you are in that position, so they are your least concern.
You can tell what you are aiming at by the sound it makes when you
hit it. Puffballs make a squeaking noise when hit, Baby Chasers
make a light thud and then they laugh, Floormats make a heavier
thud, and then growl/grunt.
If you reach a point that there are Flesh Puffballs and Baby
Chasers advancing on you, and you won't be able to pop them in
time, then ignite the other Flare. DO NOT run forward again. A
few steps forward will put you within swiping range of the
Floormats.
After you have eliminated all the rest of the critters, there
will be one or two Floormats who are just out of range, advance a
few steps to put them in range, but don't get close enough for
their swipe.
Two Flares should be enough. If you run out of Energyshot, use
one to give yourself time to cast again. If you have Apobiosis
revived, you can also use that to stun the Floormats and
Puffballs. Be careful though: if the Puffballs take a good hit
and they are close, they will pop next to you and do you in.
Avoid using Plasma, except on the Baby Chasers. Plasma will pop
the Puffballs, and unless they are right at the edge of the
blast, you will take damage.
The critters will make different sounds when they hit the floor
and that will let you know when different things have dropped in,
even if you can't see them.
Round Two:
This round is more or less the same as the above, but when the
battle begins, run to screen left and ignite the Flare and cast
Energyshot. Then you can just stay in that position, or move to
the center and pop away, paying close attention to the Puffballs.
You will have to advance to take out the last two Floormats.
The Flares are key here, and turn a difficult battle into a
tricky one at best. You should have about 2 minutes left to
escape. If you are not playing SCROOGE MODE, you should have some
Spartans left as well. They pop the Puffballs a lot easier than
the Hydras.
SCROOGE MODE:
Weapon: P229
Ammo: Hydra
This is a very tough battle in SCROOGE MODE, because you can't
use Flares. I mean come on! They are worth 75BP each in the end
game tally.
In SCROOGE MODE, you will follow basically the same procedure as
above, but use Apobiosis instead of Flares. This is trickier
because you will only have Apobiosis 2 revived, so you have to be
sure that the things you want to stun are in range, but not close
enough to nail you. It also means you may run out of PE for
Energyshot at the end of Round 2.
Also, because you only have 50 HP, it only takes 2 Baby Chaser
flops to do you in. One Puffball or swipe from a Floormat and you
are toast.
Follow the same procedure as above, but be extra careful, use
Apobiosis, and make sure you target the Puffballs as soon as they
appear.
These battles don't require notes unless you are in SCROOGE MODE.
Please see SECTION 8.Q.ii, on how to handle them if you are not.
In SCROOGE MODE you can't buy ammo, so you have to deal with
these guys with various weapons. You will have received 80 5.56
mm rounds from a previous battle. Use them and your Hammer only
in the Forest on the outside path, not the path directly before
the Shrine. You will run out of ammo, but when you do, just keep
hitting them with the Hammer charges. This means that you should
reserve your Hammer charges for after you have viewed the Stele,
etc.
On the path to the Shrine you will use Fireflies and Plasma.
Then, when you are out of Fireflies, you will switch to the M950.
Remember the Strangers' behavior on the path: they will attack
once, then jump into the woods. So right when they appear, hit
them with Plasma. Try to stand to block their walk to the woods.
All it takes is one Plasma 3 and 7 Fireflies to do one of these
guys in. If they make the jump, you can either hit them with
another Plasma or just fire your remaining Fireflies. When you
are out of Fireflies, repeat this procedure with the M950. If you
would rather save your Fireflies for other uses, then just use
the M950 for them, but it takes about 70 rounds, plus the Plasma
to do them in, which means you will probably have to take a trip
to load up on Hydras. That isn't so bad, because it will give you
the opportunity to save your progress, but I like to do the
entire trip through the Ark in one sweep.
NB: If you are going to use your Pyke charges for Tlaloc and the
Ghosts, then you must use your M950 and reserve all of your
Fireflies for the Bowman Boss in SCROOGE MODE. I don't recommend
this, but it is your choice.
In Full SCROOGE MODE, you won't have the M4A1, so either use the
Fireflies, or, if you don't mind heading back to the Shelter,
then just use the M950 and take a trip back to restock your
Hydras.
(9.C.v) Tlaloc (Boss)
Location: Island (Feeding Area)
Weapon: M950, M4A1 Pyke (optional)
Ammo: Hydra
Attachments: Medicine Wheel
This guy ought to be ashamed to be a Boss, let alone be
considered a god to the ANMCs.
He only has one attack, an energy spit. It is different than the
spit of the lesser Divers though, in that he can track you in
about a 120-degree arc. It also does massive damage. Aya can run
much faster than Tlaloc can track though, so just stay in the
center of the path and keep running until the blast stops.
If you want an easy victory, just use the Pyke. As soon as he
stops spitting, just torch him and hold the trigger down. The
flame will prevent him from spitting and it will only take about
18 charges to do him in.
Don't forget to get the Skull Crystal from the water after
finishing him off.
NB: If you take this route, you will have about 12 Pyke rounds
for dealing with Ghosts, but you will not have the Pyke for the
battle with the Giant Bowman Boss. I don't recommend it, I
recommend following the SCROOGE MODE procedure below, whether you
are playing it or not.
SCROOGE MODE:
Dodge the Energy Spit as above, but when he is finished spitting,
hit him with a Necrosis, then cast Energyshot. Pepper him up with
the M950, dodging the Spit when he goes for it. When the Necrosis
runs out, hit him with it again and repeat. It is only going to
take 2 Necrosis blasts and less than 100 Hydra rounds to finish
him.
(9.C.vi) Giant Bowman (Boss)
Location: Training Room
Weapon: M4A1 Pyke, Mongoose, M950
Ammo: 5.56 mm rounds (80), Magnum rounds (18), Hydra
Attachments: Medicine Wheel
The techniques described below are the same for both regular
Nightmare Mode and SCROOGE MODE. If, however, you have used your
Pyke charges, then you should take both a full inventory of Hydra
and 9mm rounds, or all of the Magnum rounds, or the Grenade
rounds you saved by using the M950 on the SuckMeister, and follow
the second method below.
There is a short sequence leading up to the Bowman Boss that is
worth reviewing.
Before you go down the Elevator shaft, make sure you have the
Security Turrets turned off. I like to have enough EXP to revive
a spell after taking out the first set of Speakers and the
Security Turrets, and then one for after taking out the next set
of speakers. If you haven't already revived Antibody, then this
is the spell to revive. This is in case you mess up when fighting
the Fatty. If you are not playing SCROOGE MODE, then you can
simply swallow an MP Boost item right before going into the
Training Room.
When you go down the elevator, have the M950 attached. When the
battle joins, cast Energyshot and target a Speaker. Drill it
until it pops, then target the other speaker and do the same.
Finish off the Security Turrets. Nothing here can do damage to
you, but the Speakers will whittle down your MP.
Revive a spell, and go down the elevator, or use an MP Boost if
you are not in SCROOGE MODE.
As soon as you get off the elevator cast Energyshot and Antibody.
Your position is very important in this battle. Walk forward, but
not too far forward. You don't want to cross the line on the
floor that is in line with the first speaker. If you do, you will
draw the attention of the Fatty, which may prevent you from
blowing all the Speakers. You want all the available experience
from blowing the three Speakers.
Standing as close to it as possible, without crossing the line,
target the first Speaker and let it have it.
Now, what you want to do is get the Fatty's attention and draw
him away from his position in front of the final Speaker, because
if you kill him, the battle ends and you are out 100 EXP. What
you do is target the second Speaker and then cross the Fatty's
line to get his attention. Next, run all the way back to the
corner by the Elevator. The Fatty will come after you; you will
hear him walking. After he takes 3 steps he will get ready for a
swipe. Cast Apobiosis, then run past him and run right up to the
second Speaker and blow it. Repeat this for the third Speaker,
but don't get too close to Eve or you will get knocked over. Blow
the speaker, and then turn around and do the Fatty.
After this sequence is over, revive another spell, and then enter
the Training Room.
This Boss is one tough cookie to make crumble. It took me a while
to come up with a foolproof battle plan, but after you know what
to expect you can fight this one without losing a hit point.
Your attacks will do minimal damage most of the time, but there
are times when he is particularly vulnerable. These are the
moments in which he is flopping backwards, off balance after
certain attacks. You can also hit him with a Necrosis when he is
flopping, but it only lasts a few seconds. It can be used to good
effect if you mess up with your ammo. The other time you can
inflict serious damage is when he is charging the Big Bang. It
will take about 300 HP to get him to break off any of his
attacks. You don't have to inflict it all at once. You can do a
little damage to him in between attacks and then inflict the
remaining damage when he starts the attack. Be warned, however,
because if Eve heals him, although she will only heal about 88
HP, you have to rebuild to the 300 HP from scratch, even if you
had inflicted nearly all 300 HP of damage.
I will describe his individual attacks, but frankly you don't
need to know all of them with the method we are going to use.
The Giant Bowman Boss has 5 attacks:
Energy Balls--These are very easy to avoid. They will drop to the
position you were standing when they were released, but they have
limited tracking ability, so you can't simply sidestep them. You
need to run a few steps after they are released. The Boss will
flop backwards after releasing the balls, but you probably won't
have time to inflict punishment on him then. The sound for this
attack is unique, and you will see him hold his hands as if he
were praying with multicolored dots in between.
Big Bang--The Boss will charge a Plasma Blast just like a normal
sized Bowman. However, this blast will spread through the entire
room causing massive damage and hitting with IMPACT. If you have
150+ HP and have Antibody cast, you will survive, but if you are
in SCROOGE MODE, you are doomed. The good news is that you can
inflict decent damage on him while he is charging the blast, so
if you have the right weapons you can break the Big Bang and
cause him to flop backwards. While he is flopping you can do the
most damage to him. There are several weapon/ammo combinations
that can do enough damage to him while he is charging if you have
Energyshot cast. They are: Grenades, Slugs, Javelin, Pyke, and
Magnum rounds. The bad news is that, unlike in other modes, one
Grenade, unless it criticals, is not enough to break the Big
Bang, and since it is very slow to reload, you don't want to risk
it. The sound is unique for this attack as well, and his entire
body will begin to glow red. There will be several separate rings
of red that appear around him, each growing more intense than the
next. He will discharge the Big Bang right after his entire body
is glowing red.
Tracking Laser--The Boss will make a high-pitched noise, and one
Laser will emanate from him. This Laser has pretty good tracking
ability, but you can avoid it by running in one direction away
from the Boss and then switching directions near the end of the
room and running back towards the him. The Tracking Laser will
run out, as it can only travel about 1.5 room lengths. If the
laser hits you it can do about 50 points of damage and inflict
PARALYSIS.
Zig-Zag Lasers--The Boss will make a high-pitched noise, and dual
lasers will emanate from him. They will zig-zag across the floor
heading away from him toward the end of the room. There are
certain safe points that you will notice, the two most important
being right next to the speakers on the far side away from the
Boss. They do the same damage as the Tracking Laser.
Triple Lasers--The Boss will once again make the high-pitched
noise, and 3 lasers will emanate from him. They will move in
straight lines from the Boss to the end of the room. The center
laser will move straight down the center of the room, the left
and right lasers will move at about a 20 degree angle. If you are
near the center of the room, the safest thing to do is to run
away from the Boss in a straight line about one step away from
the center line of the floor. As soon as you are over half the
room away from him, you can stop and the lasers will pass over
you.
You can avoid taking damage from any of these attacks by running
straight towards the Boss and running straight into him just
before the attack discharges. You will bounce off him and fall to
the ground, but will take no damage.
As soon as the battle begins, cast Energyshot and run towards the
near Speaker. Stand dead center and right in front of it, it
won't take long to blow it. When you blow the Speaker, it will
stop whatever attack the Boss was working on, and cause him to
flop backwards.
Here is a sure-fire method for the safest victory:
After your blow the Speakers, run to the Boss' right, screen
left, and go right behind his leg. Switch to the Mongoose. Make
sure Energyshot is cast, and wait for him to finish an attack. If
the attack was either the Energy Balls or the Tracking Laser,
then run into his leg and use the bounce technique so you don't
take damage. You will hear the sound of the Energy Balls. Wait
until you see him flop backwards, then bounce off of him. If it
is a laser sound, then wait until you see the tracking laser
appear and bounce off of him immediately thereafter. Wait for him
to go for the Big Bang, and let him have enough Magnum rounds to
break the Big Bang. It will take 3-4 rounds. When he is flopping,
cast Apobiosis, this will freeze him in his vulnerable position.
Now switch to the Pyke and pull the trigger until it goes
"click". You will do over 2,000 HP of damage to him and take away
most of his life. You may have to let go of R2 if Eve heals him
while he is launching an attack and bounce off of his leg, but
otherwise the Pyke will continuously break whatever attack he
employs.
At some point you will need to recast Energyshot.
For the rest of the fight, just stand in that position behind the
Boss and hit him with the 5.56mm rounds, switching to the
Mongoose whenever he goes for the Big Bang. It only takes the 30
Pyke charges, the 80 5.56mm rounds and the 18 Magnum rounds to
take him down. Use the Magnums only when he is going for the Big
Bang, and cast Apobiosis to use them up. If you mess up with the
Mongoose and waste your ammo, you can switch to the M950, or wait
until he is flopping and hit him with a few blasts of Necrosis or
Pyrokinesis, if you have it at full strength.
If you have already used your Pyke, or you are playing Full
SCROOGE MODE:
You can do this without the Pyke, but it is preferable to do it
with. If you used your Pyke then you should head down to this
battle with either a full inventory of 9mm and Hydras, or just go
down with all your Magnum rounds. Use the plain 9mm on the
speakers and switch to the Hydras for the Boss. Simply keep
hitting him with the Hydras and switch to the Mongoose when he
goes for the Big Bang employing the Apobiosis trick. If you
prefer, just take out the Speakers with the M950 and use all the
Magnum rounds to take down the Boss. Under no circumstances
should you use more than the 18 Magnum rounds in Full SCROOGE
MODE.
Or, even if you aren't in SCROOGE MODE, you can battle the
SuckMeister (SEE SECTION 9.C.ii) with the M950 and have 16
Grenade rounds for this battle. Use them either in conjunction
with the M950, or with the Mongoose. You will need to do more
bouncing if you don't use the Mongoose, because it is difficult
to break the Big Bang with the Grenade Pistol in Nightmare Mode.
You have to hit him with the first Grenade AS SOON AS the Big
Bang begins and then reload and hit him again right before the
discharge.
If you want more of a challenge, you can stand in the center of
the room and dodge the attacks as they come and as you do damage
to him. This is more fun, but more risky.
(9.C.v) FINAL BATTLE
Location: Pod Bottom
Weapon: M249, M950 (Full SCROOGE only), M4A1 Javelin (Full
SCROOGE only), Mongoose, Grenade Pistol (if you used all of your
Magnums)
Ammo: 5.56mm rounds, Hydras, 9mm (Full SCROOGE only), Magnum
rounds, Grenades
Attachments: Medicine Wheel, Ofuda, Skull Crystal, Holy Water,
Ringer's Solution
You should also have the 25 .44 Magnum Maeda rounds, the
Lipstick, and the MD Player in inventory for the battle with Eve.
Even though you have a 100% kill rating, there is one Ghost left
when you go down the elevator to the Pod Bottom. I like to have
the M4A1 Pyke equipped to dispatch him easily, and the Javelin in
inventory. I also keep the MD Player attached for the Ghost and
then detach it after the battle. In Full SCROOGE MODE, use the
plain 9mm rounds on him and then switch to the Hydras before
entering the Pod Bottom.
After the Ghost I switch to the Javelin, load the M249 with all
of the 5.56mm rounds, get all my armor attachments ready and
revive all my spells that aren't yet revived that I plan on
using. NB: If you are going for Full SCROOGE, then you should
revive Energyball fully but don't touch Lifedrain. This is
because you want to have the maximum MP available. That will come
to 106 MP with all Energies revived but Lifedrain while wearing
the Tactical Vest. This is enough for what you need. If you are
not playing Full SCROOGE, you can do whatever you want as long as
Inferno 3 is available.
There are 2 rounds to this battle.
(9.C.v.a) Ultimate Being
The first round is against the Ultimate Being, a giant baby like
in the first Parasite Eve. There are 17 points that you need to
destroy to fully eliminate the Ultimate Being, possibly more if
you don't move fast enough to eliminate each Tentacle group in
its entirety on the first try. This is desirable to get the
maximum BP and EXP available.
These points are:
(1) Head
(1a) Head Socket
(2) Right Arm Carapace
(2a) Right Arm
(3) Left Arm Carapace
(3a) Left Arm
(4) Belly Button
(5) Left Tentacle
(5a) Left Tentacle, Left Split
(5b) Left Tentacle, Right Split
(5c) Left Tentacle Socket
(6) Rear End
(7) Right Tentacle
(7a) Right Tentacle, Left Split
(7b) Right Tentacle, Right Split
(7c) Right Tentacle Socket
(8) Trunk
(9)
The order you remove the points is important. We will deal with
that under the description of the battle, with some important
information below.
There are certain things to keep in mind for this battle. The
Ultimate Being will remain stationary as far as lateral movement
goes, but will spin on its center axis. Although you are playing
on a flat screen, you should keep in mind that the battle is
taking place in 3-dimensional space. This is important because
the programmers did an excellent job of simulating a 3-D
environment. This means a few things. First, it means that if the
Ultimate Being is discharging the Mega Blast, you are safest when
you are at either a high or low point if you are near the end of
its arc. The attack is conic, so picture the curvature of a
circle, its diameter is widest in the center, tapering off
towards the bottom and top. This is important when you are
eliminating the Trunk. The other important thing about this is
that the Ultimate Being rotates faster because of his
extremities. Every extremity you destroy, with the exception of
the Tentacles, will slow down his rate of rotation and make for a
much safer battle. The important points to remove are: the two
Arms, the Belly Button, and the Rear. The Arms drive the body
very quickly, so you want to knock them off ASAP. After the arms,
you want to eliminate the Head entirely (in Full SCROOGE MODE,
you will eliminate the Head first). It doesn't make the body move
faster, but it does massive damage on an attack in a very wide
arc. Then go for the Belly Button to slow the rotation down
further. Next, eliminate one of the Tentacle Groups, then take
out the Rear, the final Tentacle Group, and finally the Trunk.
When you destroy any of the Boss' attack points, except the
Tentacles, this will give pause to the Ultimate Being, whatever
it is doing. So if you know that the Belly Button, for example,
is about dead and the Boss is going for the Mega Blast, you can
keep firing because he won't complete the blast if you take the
Belly Button out. You will know when any of the attack points,
except the Tentacles, are dead because the Ultimate Being will
have a mini-convulsion and there will be a puff of white smoke.
The Ultimate Being has 7 attacks at its disposal:
(1) Psionic Blast--The Head will begin glowing yellow and a wave
of psionic energy will issue from its head. Because this attack
comes from the top of the Being in a sort of downward cone, you
are safest in one of the low points of the walkway as far away
from its epicenter as possible. The blast covers almost a 180-
degree arc, but you can out pace it if you are running downward
and start as soon as the Boss is charging the blast. The Psionic
Blast hits with IMPACT, and can cause BLINDNESS. The blast will
do 120 HP of damage if you don't have any protection. It will do
90 HP if you have the Holy Water attached, and 54 HP with the
Holy Water and Antibody 3 cast. This attack is different
depending upon whether you are dealing with the Head or Head
Socket, but the difference is irrelevant, and mostly affects the
way the blast looks.
(2) Mega Blast--The Boss' trunk will open up and will begin to
glow red. If you take this blast in Nightmare Mode, whether you
are playing SCROOGE or not, you are doomed. The Mega Blast takes
in about a 90-degree arc in a horizontal cone, but the Ultimate
Being can turn on its axis while blasting. How far he turns
depends upon how many extremities he has left. If he has all his
extremities intact he can turn in about a 45 degree arc in the
direction you are running, but only about 30 degrees if they are
all gone. It does not, however rotate during his first Mega
Blast. If he goes for the Mega Blast and still has all of his
appendages, you can only avoid it by running immediately.
However, if he goes for the Mega Blast and the Belly Button is
still intact, there is a safe point in the first valley you come
to. You must stand at the center of that platform to avoid it. I
call this the "Eye of the Storm". Otherwise, the safest points
are either high or low on the walkway as described above. This
blast hits with massive damage and hits with IMPACT. The basic
principal to adhere to if it goes for the Mega Blast is RUN. Get
to the point just out of the blast's range and fire. If you are
still working on the rest of the body, take the opportunity to
continue doing so. If not, work on the Trunk itself. If you are
working on the Trunk, run to the point where the blast is going
to end and target the trunk. You can begin firing while it is
issuing the blast. The higher points on the walkway put you in
the best position to begin firing.
(3) Green Poison--The Boss will give a shrug of his shoulders and
little jets of Green Poison will exude from his Arm Carapace's.
If you are playing as described, you will never be hit by this.
The only time I think you can get hit by it is if you are running
to avoid either the Psionic Blast or the Mega Blast and you
haven't yet taken out the Arm Carapaces.
(4) Big Time Pimp Slap--By now you should be getting the idea
that in the Final Battle you are facing most of the attacks you
have already seen from other Bosses. The Ultimate Being will
shift his body and raise his arm, then swipe across the screen.
The slap does massive damage, about 60 HP if the Holy Water is
attached, but you can survive it if you are at full strength. It
is better not to be hit by it, though. If it goes for the Pimp
Slap, then run quickly away from the arm that is slapping. The
Pimp Slap has limited range. It is mostly dangerous if he starts
it when you were in the middle of doing something else and can't
run immediately.
(5) Poison Jet--A stream of white poison can issue from one of
four places: Belly Button, Rear End, or the Left or Right
Tentacle Socket. The Poison does heavy damage, about 50 HP, and
can inflict Paralysis. Unfortunately, if you get hit by it once,
the chances are good you are going to keep getting hit by it. The
safest place to be when the poison is issuing is at a high point
far away from the Boss. None of the jets can reach you there, and
you can take the opportunity to drill the Tentacle Sockets.
(6) Poison Drop--Either Tentacle can hit you with this attack
when they are fully intact. The Poison behaves exactly as the
Poison Jet above, doing about 50 HP and inflicting Paralysis, but
due to the fact that it is coming from above your head, you have
very little chance to escape. The solution is NEVER let a
Tentacle get directly above your head.
(7) Tentacle Swat--After you have done enough damage to split the
Tentacle, either side can be use by the Ultimate Being to swat
you the way a cow would swat a fly with its tail. The Swat
doesn't do all that much damage, around 30 HP, but any hit is bad
news in this battle.
NB: SCROOGE says it is OK to employ the method below, but he
sometimes substitutes 1 Cola for the Ringer's Solutions against
the Ultimate Being (that saves 140 BP). If you go this route,
then have the M950 loaded with Hydras attached. SCROOGE prefers
to live to enjoy his wealth, but see below if you want to play
out the Full SCROOGE MODE. It is possible to defeat the Ultimate
Being without swallowing anything in Full SCROOGE MODE, but it is
very difficult.
Here is an easy way of defeating the Ultimate Being. The only
danger is if you mess up your location or the timing of your
firing.
NB: The Ultimate Being is very sensitive to fire-based attacks.
Begin the battle equipped with the M249.
When the battle begins, stand where you are and cast Inferno.
Then cast Energyshot and target the head. Let the head have it
until it is dead. At some point you will most probably be hit
with a Psionic Blast. Don't worry, this is the only hit you are
going to take. After you take off the Head, without hesitation
and keeping the Head Socket targeted, cast another Inferno and
two Combustions. This will knock off the Arm Carapaces and
prevent another Psionic Blast. If you move quickly, you will have
time to hit the Head Socket with a Pyrokinesis as well. This will
destroy the head. If you missed the opportunity, don't worry.
The Ultimate Being will go into convulsions, and immediately
after the convulsions will start charging the first Mega Blast.
It will not rotate during this first blast. As soon as the blast
begins charging, turn to Aya's left and run up the walkway. Get
to the top platform, but stay on the edge to Aya's right. In
other words, don't go all the way onto the platform. You want to
be in this position because if you cross the center of the
platform, your next Inferno may only hit one Arm. If you missed
your chance at hitting the Head Socket with the Pyrokinesis, then
do it now and right afterwards swallow your Ringer's Solution and
cast Inferno. You will have just enough time to catch the Trunk
with the Inferno if you move quickly. It is better, however, if
you had gotten the Pyrokinesis in before the Mega Blast. If you
did, you can swallow a Ringer's Solution as soon as you reach the
top platform and definitely catch the Trunk with Inferno. This
Inferno will take off both Arms.
The Ultimate Being is going to go for another Mega Blast, so run
down the path to the low platform, and target the Belly Button.
Stay to the center and as far back as possible. Start firing as
he discharges the blast. You should have enough rounds left to
eliminate the Belly Button. If you don't, don't worry, just
reload. Either the Belly Button will go for a Poison Jet, or the
Trunk will go for the Mega Blast. It doesn't matter, just start
firing at the Belly Button. If it is shooting poison, you are out
of reach, and if he goes for the Mega Blast you will destroy the
Belly Button and break that attack.
Congratulations, you have just eliminated 3 key appendages and
have slowed down the Ultimate Being's rotation.
The next attack will be another Mega Blast. Run as soon as the
either attack charges, and when you get to a safe distance recast
Energyshot.
You should have plenty of MP after the Ringer's Solution so hold
onto it so you can keep casting Energyshot.
Now you can begin to work on the back portions of the Boss. Run
until you can target the first Tentacle and let it have it. After
about 200 HP of damage, the Tentacle will begin to split, and you
won't be able to shoot it for a few seconds. If you want to waste
a Maeda SP Round, you can hit the Tentacle with it; they are the
only portion of the Ultimate Being upon which you can inflict
POISON.
In the mean time, the Boss will be periodically discharging Mega
Blasts, but just keep running ahead of them, while staying close
enough to the rear of the Boss without getting close enough to
get hit by poison. Also, if you go too far, the Boss will start
turning in the other direction and you will have to reverse your
direction to avoid the rear attacks. If your clip runs dry, don't
just reload. It takes a long time to reload the M249 and you may
end up caught in a blast or hit by poison. Wait until a Mega
Blast is charging, get to a safe distance and then reload as it
discharges.
While the Tentacle is splitting, you can't do any damage to it,
so if you are in a good position, target the Rear End and start
peppering it. Once the Tentacle splits you want to destroy both
the left and right halves, and then nail the Tentacle Socket. The
safest place for this is at one of the top platforms. If you
stand far back on the platform the Poison Spray can't reach you.
You must be careful of 2 things: once the Tentacle splits you can
be hit with a Tentacle Swat, so keep your distance; also, if you
don't finish off the Tentacle Socket immediately, it will grow
two new Tentacle halves. You will then have to begin again. This
isn't so bad as the new Tentacles will be very weak, but it means
you will be wasting ammo and it can just keep growing them.
After you finish off the first Tentacle group, it is time to
finish off the Rear End. Follow the same procedure as above,
taking the chances to nail the Rear End as they arise. The best
points for hitting the Rear End are on the low platforms and the
slopes leading away from them. You won't be able to hit it from
the high points.
After taking out the Rear End you can repeat the procedure on the
last Tentacle. If you didn't waste any ammo, and had Energyshot
cast the entire time, you should be left with a few rounds
(around 60) left in the M249. I like to use them up, but you can
switch right to the Mongoose. If you were playing limited SCROOGE
MODE and only swallowed one Cola, or if you messed up and either
wasted your ammo or let the Tentacle Halves regrow, you will need
to switch to the M950 at some point in the battle.
Time to take out the Trunk. The Ultimate Being will open up and
go for the Mega Blast every time your path crosses near his
center, or within about 15 degrees. Use this to your advantage.
When the blast begins charging, target the Trunk and run to the
point just after its range. As soon as you are sure you are safe,
start firing. You will have time to get off 4 Magnum rounds if
you are on one of the high points. If you end up on a low point,
you will probably have to run back a little after the blast
discharges and retarget the Trunk. In this case you will only
have time for 2 shots. If you used up all of your Magnum rounds,
you can substitute the Grenade Pistol at this point. You are
better off with the Mongoose though. Each Grenade will do massive
damage, but you will only have time for one or two shots. The
Magnum rounds don't do as much damage, but they will do about 3/4
of the damage and with the ability to fire off 4 rounds and the
faster reload, it makes for an easier battle. In limited SCROOGE
MODE, you may not have enough Magnum rounds to finish off the
Trunk, so just switch back to the M950.
After not too long the Ultimate Being will give up the ghost and
round two, against Eve, will begin.
Before we get there, though, here is how to deal with the
Ultimate Being in Full SCROOGE MODE.
(9.C.v.a.i) FULL SCROOGE MODE:
Location: Pod Bottom
Weapon: M249, M950, Mongoose
Ammo: 5.56mm rounds, Hydras, Magnum rounds, 9mm
Attachments: Medicine Wheel, Ofuda, Skull Crystal, Holy Water,
9mm
NB: You don't gain anything from fighting the Ultimate Being this
way except personal satisfaction. Why do it? Well, although
Parasite Eve II is a lot of fun, this Final Battle is a real let-
down. Doing it this way, however, is a major challenge. The
method above is just too easy. I caution you, however: figuring
out how to eliminate the Ultimate Being without using anything
was most of the challenge, so YOU SHOULD STOP READING IF YOU WANT
TO FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF. Or, maybe you could come up with a
different way and e-mail it to me.
The order and speed with which you do things here is vitally
important. If you alter the order, or hesitate even slightly in
the first 30 seconds of the battle, you will die. If anyone can
come up with a better way of doing this, I would like to hear it.
(Remember you can't buy anything, and you can't use anything you
receive except ammo.) It is very difficult to pull this off, so
you really must have the timing down.
In Full SCROOGE MODE it is vital to have as much MP available as
possible. This means that you should not revive Lifedrain at all,
but have all of your other spells revived to their maximum
levels. You will then have 106 MP to use.
Have the M249 equipped. When the battle begins, stand where you
are and immediately cast Inferno. Then cast Energyshot and target
the Head. Fire until it drops. Somewhere during this, you will
almost certainly be hit by a Psionic Blast and be reduced to 10
HP. After the Head drops, target the Head Socket and start
casting Combustion. After 3 Combustions you should have destroyed
the Arm Carapaces. This will forestall the Psionic Blast that the
Ultimate Being was just about to cast. IF YOU HESITATE AT ALL IN
THIS ORDER YOU WILL GET HIT BY THE PSIONIC BLAST AND DIE. If you
are quick, you will have time to destroy the rest of the Head
before the Mega Blast. If not, see below.
The Ultimate Being will then go for the Mega Blast. Do not switch
your target from the Head. It is your top priority because you
cannot heal yourself. Run to the same position as described
above, but instead of casting Inferno, start firing immediately
at the Head Socket as the blast discharges. It won't take much to
destroy the Head Socket, as it has just taken 3 Combustions.
Remember that you must be somewhat to the right of center on the
platform, or you will waste about a second of firing time and
quite possibly die. IMMEDIATELY after destroying the Head Socket,
target the Right Arm and cast Pyrokinesis. That will take off the
arm and give you enough time to run and get to the safe spot for
the coming Mega Blast. You are going for the low platform to
Aya's left and you are going to stay dead center and back on the
platform. While the Ultimate Being turns to face you, target the
Belly Button and begin firing. Keep the trigger squeezed as you
will run out of ammo right before the blast and you want to be
reloaded as soon as possible. The blast will blow right around
you without damaging you. This is what I referred to above as
"The Eye of the Storm". It seems to only work as long as the
Belly Button is intact, I think it tilts the Being up a little or
something. Make sure you are firing at the Belly Button as soon
as you stand up. The Inferno spell you cast will have weakened it
just enough so that with Energyshot cast you will have just
enough time to destroy the Belly Button before it can hit you
with its Poison Spray.
After you destroy the Belly Button, run to the right and hit the
Left Arm with Pyrokinesis. Congratulations, you have now removed
3 of the 4 appendages that hasten the Boss' rotation.
Unfortunately you now only have enough MP for one more
Energyshot.
Wait until you are in position to destroy the first Tentacle
before casting your final Energyshot, this way you will have that
going for you while you eliminate the rear of the Boss.
Follow the procedure outlined above for eliminating the rear
attack points. You will definitely have to switch to the M950 at
some point, probably to remove the final Tentacle group. I prefer
using the M950 to eliminate the final Tentacle itself so that I
have the M249 to deal with the Socket. Be careful though, as you
will run out of Magnum rounds and the Trunk will still be alive,
because without Energyshot cast they only average about 80 HP a
hit to the Trunk. When you are out of Magnums, switch back to the
M950 for the finishing touches.
This is a long Trunk battle, so be extra cautious. You will be
facing about 3 times the number of Mega Blasts you would in the
previous method, which means you have 3 times the chance of
messing up.
Now bounce up and down and run around the room shouting joyously-
-you have just SCROOGEd the Ultimate Being in Nightmare Mode. No
small feat.
(9.C.v.b) Eve
Location: Pod Bottom
Weapon: M4A1 Javelin, Mongoose
Ammo: Maeda SP Magnum rounds
Attachments: Ofuda, Skull Crystal, Holy Water, Lipstick, MD
Player, Ringer's Solutions (unless you are in Full SCROOGE MODE),
Maeda SP rounds (Full SCROOGE MODE)
After you destroy the Ultimate Being, it is time to take on Eve.
If you are in Full SCROOGE MODE, then revive Lifedrain 1; if not,
revive whatever you have left. You will not be able to revive all
of your Spells, but you can have Lifedrain 3 with Energyball 1,
EnergyBall 3 with Lifedrain 1, or Lifedrain 2 and EnergyBall 2.
If I am not playing SCROOGE MODE, I like to leave both Energyball
and Lifedrain untouched: this way I have 8,000+ EXP available the
next time I play Bounty Mode. Even if I am in SCROOGE MODE, but
not Full SCROOGE MODE, I will do this, because, unfortunately,
Eve is a pushover, even in Full SCROOGE MODE. The only way to
make her difficult is if you run around messing up to see what
damage you can take and still survive.
It is for this reason that I set a different goal for myself,
whatever Mode I am playing. That goal is to see how many Shadow
Clones I can destroy. They are worth 1,000 each in the final BP
tally, and there is a max of ten that you can destroy, which
means that you can earn a full 20,000 BP in the round. The
problem is that you do have to do damage to Eve to break off her
Feedback attacks, and you will eventually end up killing her no
matter how long you try to prolong the battle. This is why I came
up with the Apobiosis method set out under the Feedback
description. Also, the Shadow Clones don't start appearing until
after you have inflicted a certain amount of damage on her, and
entered Round 3 of the battle.
Eve is very sensitive to energy-based spells and attacks, such as
Energyball, Lifedrain, Apobiosis, the Javelin, and the Maeda SP
rounds. Grenades also do decent damage to her, but the Grenade
Pistol is so slow I don't recommend using it. Also, because I
like trying to kill as many Shadow Clones as possible, I don't
like the Grenade Pistol, as I believe it does too much damage
when breaking Feedback, which means you won't keep getting your
PE recharged. I like using Apobiosis against her when she is
going for Feedback, and the Maeda SP rounds both to inflict
enough damage to make the Shadow Clones start appearing, and for
when it is time to do her in. Apobiosis 3 will put Eve into
convulsions, but not for very long. You can use it to break some
of her attacks, or use it as an opportunity to inflict POISON on
her with the Maeda SPs.
It is very important, especially in SCROOGE MODE, to make sure
you keep your Antibody spell cast. Several of Eve's attacks can
do all of your 100 HP of damage if you don't have Holy Water or
Antibody. When you are using the two of them in conjunction, the
Torpedo still hits with over 50 HP of damage. This means that if
you take 2 in a row without healing yourself somehow, you will
die. It is also important to always have Energyshot cast because
without it you may end up taking a Feedback attack.
By far, the weapon that does the most damage is the Mongoose
equipped with Maeda SPs. In addition to hitting her with massive
damage, if you hit her at the right point, she is susceptible to
POISON. You can inflict POISON on her right after her Antibody
spell runs out--it will run out every time she reappears through
the center of the bridge after about a second. The best time to
inflict Poison on her though is when she is setting up for her
Torpedo. As soon as she flips into a horizontal position, you can
hit her right in the head with a Maeda SP, this will not only
break the attack, but it will inflict Poison on her as well.
That is one way to break an attack. You can also break, or at
least nullify, all of her attacks, with the exception of the Dive
Bomb, with Lifedrain. Lifedrain 3 is good for this, because you
don't have to be close. Lifedrain will not break off her Torpedo
attack, but as long as you have enough health to survive it, you
will be fully healed as soon as it hits. Just cast the spell as
soon as she starts the maneuver and it will be completed right
before she hits, but will recharge your life after the impact.
Just about all the attacks can be broken by inflicting about 200
HP of damage to her during the attack. If you aren't going to use
Lifedrain, you can cast Inferno 3, or Energyball. Unfortunately,
Inferno costs nearly twice as much as Lifedrain, and Energyball
can do too much damage if you are trying to keep her alive. If
you want to break an attack off with a weapon you have 3 choices:
Mongoose (with Maeda SP), Javelin, or Grenade Pistol. You will
need a critical hit with the Mongoose, but, with Energyshot 3
cast the Mongoose will critical on Eve around 3 out of 4 shots.
It will take two hits with the Javelin and Energyshot 3 cast. The
M249 can also pull it off, but if you used the method above for
destroying the Ultimate Being you won't have any ammo for it
left.
As far as spells go, Energyball 3 will do the most damage. Each
ball can do around 788 HP of damage, which means that if all
three hit she is in trouble. Hitting her with all 3 balls makes
for the most powerful hit you can inflict in the entire game.
Because of this, I only use the Energyball spell if I am playing
Full SCROOGE MODE, and simply want to end the game quickly.
See the specific notes below regarding her attacks for more
information.
Eve has 6 attacks, with some variation:
Slap Happy--Eve will come in close and slap you around, first
with her right hand and then with her left. The Slap does decent
damage, 40 HP against Holy Water and Antibody 3, and can inflict
PARALYSIS. You need to make her stop slapping right away. This is
especially important if you are facing both Eve and a Shadow
Clone. The easiest way to break off this attack is to run away.
If that is not an option, then see the section above on breaking
attacks.
Dive Bomb--Eve will shoot straight up into the air and then come
down at high speed, head first, on the center of the bridge. This
attack does massive damage and hits with IMPACT. If you are
caught in the direct blast, you will be knocked all the way down
the bridge and hit the railing for damage as well. You will take
damage from this no matter where you are on the bridge, but you
will take less damage the further away from the impact you are
standing. This means that if she goes for this attack you want to
get off the bridge ASAP. There is no way to break this attack,
but she will only go for it if you are on the bridge, near the
center. Immediately after this attack is a good time to hit her
with the Maeda SP.
Torpedo--You will see energy dots appear from the center of Eve's
head, then she will flip horizontally and shoot straight at you
at high speed. This attack does massive damage and hits with
IMPACT. You can break off this attack by hitting her with a Maeda
SP round in the head as soon as she flips. The easiest thing to
do though is to dodge the attack. Run down the walkway, but keep
running. If she doesn't hit with the attack she will keep
launching it at your position. If you keep moving you will never
be hit by it. Once the attacks start, they tend to come in pairs.
In Nightmare Mode, I have seen her go up to 5 pairs, which means
10 Torpedos in a row, so it is important to keep moving if you
are trying to force Shadow Clone appearances. If you just want
the battle over, then you can just stand there and cast
Lifedrain. You will take the hit, but will be fully healed
immediately afterwards. The biggest danger is if you are on the
walkway and Eve is located on one of the top platforms. This is
because you will have no way to avoid the attack because she will
be heading in a straight line along your path of escape.
She also has two variations on this:
A single Torpedo run in which she will head to one of the top
platforms, and spin to face you. Then she will do the Torpedo.
This is ludicrously easy to avoid. Just stand there and see which
direction she is going to turn, and run in the opposite direction.
This means it is good to be on a platform when she does this.
If you are not, then you should get as far away as possible.
The other variation is if you are at a low point, she will head
to a top platform and face you. Then she will shoot straight
downward in the Torpedo, but it will terminate before it hits you
and she will give you a nudge with her head. This nudge does less
damage than a Torpedo, but can still hurt. She will usually go
for this right after she lets go of the Energy Balls, or produces
a Shadow Clone.
Feedback--Eve will put her hands together as if she were praying,
and begin to hum. The screen will begin to waver and your MP will
start rising. This is less of an attack than a way of helping
you. At least that is how I use it. Make sure you have Energyshot
cast. As soon as she starts Feedback, I hit her with one Javelin
shot, then I wait. Wait until you have received around 20 MP from
her, then hit her with the second shot. Two shots is enough to
make her break off the attack. You can also break the attack with
Maeda SPs or the Grenade Pistol. This, however, I consider a
waste of the Maeda rounds, and the Grenade Pistol will break her
attack with just one shot, not letting you recharge your energy.
Lifedrain or Inferno will also break this attack. If you are
trying to prolong the battle for maximum BP, then you should
stand in position and wait. Note the amount of MP you have before
she begins the attack, and watch it as it rises. As soon as you
gain 10 MP cast Apobiosis. You will have regained the 18 MP it
cost, plus an additional 4-8 MP, depending on how quick you were
with the spell. You can wait for 11 MP if you hit Apobiosis
immediately, but chances are good she will get off the attack
first. Even with waiting for the count to reach 10 you will see
flame start to appear on your back right before the spell is
completed. If you let her complete the attack, she will cause an
internal combustion in your mitochondria which will do 99 HP of
damage and take away all but one MP from you. That is bad news
and if it happens you should swallow a Ringer's Solution
immediately. This can happen if you are too far away from her
when the attack begins, if you don't have Energyshot cast, or you
get too greedy. She often goes for 2 Feedbacks in a row, so you
can recharge between 8-40 MP if you play it right.
Energy Balls--You will see energy dots appear from a little above
the center of Eve's body. Three multi-colored energy balls will
launch from her directly at your position. The balls don't do all
that much damage if you have Antibody cast, but if she uses them
and then goes for the Torpedo, which she does with high
frequency, you will not live through both attacks in SCROOGE MODE
unless you heal yourself. They can hit with SILENCE, CONFUSION,
BERSERKER, and PARALYSIS. They have excellent tracking ability.
It is possible to dodge them, but difficult. They can turn over
180 degrees and will pursue you at a faster pace than you can
run. There is a way of dodging the balls that is difficult to
pull off, but with practice you can achieve good success. I can
dodge them about 4 out of 5 times, which lets me maximize killing
Shadow Clones in SCROOGE MODE. Stand on a high platform, and when
the balls launch run down the platform weaving left and right.
"Serpentine, Shell, Serpentine." What you want to do is to get
close to the railing just before the balls impact, then zag
towards the inner edge, still running downwards. It is important
that you continue your downward descent as you make your turns.
Hopefully, two balls will have impacted on the railing, and the
third will impact on the next platform that you pass. If they
keep following you, continue zagging all the way down to the
bottom platform. Lifedrain 3 will break this attack.
Eidolon--Eve will come close and put her hands together. She will
then glow yellow and create a Shadow Clone of herself. Eve will
then proceed to the top platform closest to you, while the Shadow
Clone approaches your position. The Shadow Clone will always
approach and attack with Slap Happy. This attack can inflict
BLINDNESS. Eve will react either with Slap Happy, if you are
close to her, or Torpedo if you are not. This can be bad news if
you are on the walkway but not on a platform, because if you are
on a walkway you have no chance of avoiding the Torpedo and the
Shadow Clone will have time to get up on you. Try to be on a
platform when she goes for Eidolon. This way you can destroy the
Shadow Clone and then either run away from Eve herself, or do
enough damage to her to make her go away. The Shadow Clone has
about 999 HP. There are several weapons that can hit her with
this much damage with one shot. They are: the Javelin, the
Mongoose with Maeda SP, the Grenade Pistol, and the SP12 with
Fireflies. The Javelin is the preferred weapon, because it will
definitely kill the Clone in 2 shots, and usually in one. The
other weapons will do that most of the time, but not all the
time. It can take 3 Grenades, and up to 7 Fireflies to do this.
While you are tied up in this battle, chances are you are going
to take a lot of damage. Lifedrain or Energyball will both
destroy the Shadow Clone and get Eve to back off. The Eidolon
attack is my favorite part of this battle because each Shadow
Clone you kill will give you an extra 1,000 BP in the final
tally.
There are actually three distinct rounds to this battle, but this
is only important if you are going for the maximum possible BP
(20,000). In the first round, Eve will rely only upon Feedback
and Torpedo on the perimeter walkway, and will use Dive Bomb and
Slap Happy on the bridge. In the second round, she will add
Energy Balls and Slap Happy to her attacks on the perimeter
walkway. In the third round, she will add the Eidolon attack. The
way to move from round to round is to inflict damage upon her. I
am not sure of the exact amount. I like to poison her twice to
get her to the second round and then twice again to get to the
third. If you are using something like the Grenade Pistol or
Shotgun, you will actually see the transition because bits of her
carapace will drop off in between each round. I like using the
Maeda SP so that I can control the damage I do to her and then
just run around maximizing my Shadow Clone kill.
As soon as the battle begins, cast Antibody. You are going to
take a hit from Slap Happy and have PARALYSIS inflicted upon you,
and you want to take minimal damage. Cast it without hesitation,
or you will take the first hit without it. Then cast Metabolism
to cure the PARALYSIS, you will take another hit. Cast Lifedrain
to make Eve back off and cure yourself. Then run ASAP to one of
the platforms, because the chances are good she is going to go
for the Dive Bomb, and if you are on the Bridge at all, you will
take damage or die. If she doesn't go for Dive Bomb, she will go
for a Torpedo. If she does this then keep running when you reach
the platform. Run down and to Aya's right.
Congratulations. If you make it out of the first 5 seconds of
this battle, then victory is almost assured, unless you really
mess up.
You can also cast Lifedrain 3, if you have it, as soon as the
battle begins. That will get Eve to back off and heal you, BUT
don't want to go this route in SCROOGE MODE. The reason is that
if you cast Lifedrain first, you will have to run immediately,
but you will have PARALYSIS to deal with. This means that if she
goes for the Dive Bomb, you will be stuck on the bridge, not far
from the center, and you will die in SCROOGE MODE.
You can also hit her with a Maeda SP and hope for a critical, or
just try to run. The problem is that there isn't much time to do
any of the above. So I would opt for what I described first no
matter which mode you are in.
As soon as you get to the platform, cast Energyshot. Then you can
do whatever you wish. If you just want the battle over with, you
can start firing with the Mongoose and Maeda SPs. It only takes
the 25 Maeda rounds, 2 Lifedrains, and one full hit with all 3
Energyballs to finish her off. Pretty lame, huh?
I like to make the battle last a long time so I can whack as many
Shadow Clones as possible. Read through her attack section above
and either break or avoid the attacks as they come. The trick to
making the battle last a good long time is to avoid being hit by
the Torpedos and use the Feedback for PE recharges. My longest time
was 50 minutes, but I got bored. I also had not seen a Shadow Clone
for over 30 minutes.
Remember to keep Antibody cast throughout the battle and to keep
healing yourself if you take hits, either with Heal or with
Lifedrain. I keep my Ringer's Solutions in reserve for when I am
entirely out of PE. Keep Energyshot cast once the Shadow Clones
start appearing.
FULL SCROOGE MODE:
All you have to do is follow the opening sequence above and just
not let up with the Maeda SPs and Lifedrain. You can end the
battle in less than 3 minutes.
SCROOGE, however, thinks you are better off prolonging the battle
and using a couple of Ringer's Solutions or Colas to do so.
SCROOGE thinks it is wise to invest a couple of hundred BP in
order to make ten thousand.
Congratulations! You have just beaten Nightmare Mode.
(B10) Pod Bottom: Ultimate Being
w/: Recovery3; MP Boost2
w/o: Recovery3
APPENDIX C: PE Reviving--Recommended Order for SCROOGE MODE
Energyshot 1 (by Fatties at top of Escalator)*
Plasma 1 (by Rats and Slasher Golem)
Energyshot 2 (by No. 9 roof battle)
Healing 1
Necrosis 1 (by Bowmen outside Room 6)
Plasma 2 (by Giant Stalker)
Necrosis 2 (by Bowmen on Dryfield Main Street)
Plasma 3
Necrosis 3 (by FireBreather)
Apobiosis 1
Apobiosis 2 (by Leader of the Pack)
Energyshot 3 (by SuckMeister)
Apobiosis 3 ASAP
NB: If you are going for Full SCROOGE MODE, under no
circumstances should you revive Lifedrain, until after the first
round of the Final Battle.
Then revive whatever you want to revive, keeping EXP in reserve
for PE recharges when low. NB: In SCROOGE MODE, I generally
don't recharge Lifedrain or Energyball at all, preferring to hold
the EXP for my next start-up in Bounty Mode.
*You may reverse the order of Plasma 1 and Energyshot 1. Either
way works fine. I prefer Energyshot first, but, because of the
number of Rats inside the diner you may wish Plasma first. It can
also make the first Fattie encounter a lot safer.
Enter battle mode, cast Energyshot, take step forward (from Aya's
perspective) and to screen left. Target last Turret.
Switch to P229, take out Fattie.
Cost: 1-2 Slugs
(D2) Pod Service Gantry Hall
Enemies: 1 Armored Slasher with the drop on you.
Cost: 2-3 Slugs
(D3) Pod Bottom Hall
Enemies: 1 Armored Slasher
Go down the elevator right after the previous encounter so you
can get the drop on him.
Cost: 2-3 Slugs.
(D4) Pyramid (after dancing to open the Power Plant)
Enemies: 1 Armored Slasher, 1 Armored Shooter
Target the Slasher, cast Energy Shot. Let him have it in the
back, then hit him again when he turns. Run around to the side
of the stairs, by the plaque of Tlaloc. Then either switch to
the M4A1, or let him have it with another slug. Finish the
Shooter with the M4A1.
Cost: 2-3 Slugs
(D5) Garden Path (right after doing the dance for the Power
Plant)
Enemies: 2 Armored Slashers, one has drop on you.
Enter the gate. Cast Energyshot and Antibody (if he goes for the
flashy-thing). If he begins the charge, try to slip around him
and hit him with 2 or 3 Slugs without Energyshot. After he drops,
target the other guy and give him the treatment.
Cost: 4-6 Slugs
(D6) Pod Bottom Hall
Enemies: 1 Armored Slasher.
You have the drop on this guy, so you can get away with using the
Javelin if you like.
Cost: 2-3 Slugs (Optional)
(D7) W/E Golem Freezer Hallway (in line with Sleeping Quarters)
Enemies: 1 Armored Slasher, Security Turrets
Enter from West after having turned off Turrets. Enter Battle
Mode, cast Energyshot and let him have it in the back.
Cost: 2-3 Slugs
(D8) Bulwark
Enemies: 1 Armored Slasher, 1 Armored Shooter
Cast Energyshot if Slasher goes for flashy-thing, otherwise slip
behind him and cast. Use Slugs on Slasher, switch to M4A1 and
take out Shooter.
Cost: 2-3 Slugs
(D9) Shrine of Time
Enemies: 1 Armored Slasher, 1 Armored Shooter
(Armored Shooter has the drop on you.)
Run straight past them both and go into the niche of the Pyramid
where the plaque is (screen right). Cast Energyshot, target the
Slasher and let him have it until he drops. Then either switch to
the M4A1 Javelin or nail the other guy with Slugs.
(It depends on how many you have left: you want to have 6 in your
inventory for the next encounter.)
Cost: 2-6 Slugs
(D10) Pavilion (right after doing the dance for the Power Plant)
Enemies: 2 Armored Slashers, one has drop on you.
Enter the gate. Cast Energyshot and Antibody (if he goes for the
flashy-thing): If he begins the charge, try to slip around him
and hit him with 2 or 3 Slugs without Energyshot. After he drops
target the other guy and give him the treatment.
Cost: 4-6 Slugs
"Now you know, and knowing is half the battle."
--G.I. Joe Motto.
Copyright 2001 by Gerard Schiela.
Please e-mail me at Gerardvv@Yahoo.com with "PE Guide" in the
subject line with any comments or suggestions.
This document is the intellectual property of Gerard Schiela.
Unauthorized reproduction in whole or in part without my express
consent is illegal. Violators will be prosecuted.
