All the boss fights are too difficult

[Pesky]

I think the programmers of tis one were very into combat and lost their sense of proportion. The game is meant to prepare you for boss figthts by facing you with harder and harder enemies. This game instead has normal fighters who are, at bes, 30% of the boss fighters. Every boss fight so far (I'm up to Bane at the Royal Hotel) has been a tedious series of attempts until I am lucky enough to get through. My skill does improve a little but I rech the point where I know I'm just going to have to try it 50 times in the hope that one time I'm in the right place at the right time.

Grr.

[JonoAMano]

Evade Bane in a simple Phi or Theta pattern, i.e. run around him in a semicircle when he charges up the center. Dodge or evade when he performs his shock landing to avoid injury. The rest is easy, just pay attention to the prompts, and don't get too hung up on the annoying thugs. You can also use the Concussion Detonator on Bane to stun him temporarily while you set him up for a repetitive Ultra Stun, Beatdown and Combo Takedown.

[<< BATFINK >>]

For me, this was always the most difficult fight (first Bane on the rooftop). But as mentioned above, evading is key and don't worry too much about the thugs, you don't need to KO all of them, once you get Bane down the third time, you're done.

You do know the Boss fights are generally in a sequence of 3? So you have to keep your health up enough to get through all of them. Sometimes, it's better to restart if you are too low early on, rather than keep fighting when you can't win.

[Jac]

I just did that one on IATN and it's real tough. The hard bit being the evading of his charge. You need to jump at a right angle to his run but too early and he will just turn into you, too late and he will get you as you land. Other than that it's not that tough, a rapid Ultra Stun and then in for a beatdown. Then straight in for a special combo takedown, you should be able to get a few blows in after that because you will have cut of his Venom supply. You can evade Bane and use the goons to get your multiplier up.

Hard though, had to pull out and restart quite a few times.

[Pesky]

My problem is not with this boss fight in particular. It's that I think that *all* these boss fights don't belong in the game. You have to learn special tactics which are useless everywhere else, and I spend my time in the boss fight just annoyed that I cannot progress with the plot. They're just delaying tactics.

[Lord Villain]

I actually liked the boss fights for the main game, though I think deathstroke was brought out too soon and would have been better as a later bosss as it seems to make little sense to pull out a relatively hard (and somewhat fustraiting) boss so early.

The boss fights actually add to the variety of the game and change things up so you have to adapt.

I actually think the lack of proper boss battles for the side missions is the thing that made them seem rushed and anti-climactic.

[Jac]

I think the boss fights were a strongpoint as well. They built on the base mechanics of the freeflow combat system. Having a good fight near the start was good for the narrative and the gameplay up to that point would get you through that fight. It's basically batclaw slam, special combo takedown and counter - a bit of trial and error but once you work out what works it's not that hard.

[Lettmon]

If you have played the previous games, all you really need for Origins boss fights is a pulse

[Pesky]

Originally posted by maikaal:

If you have played the previous games, all you really need for Origins boss fights is a pulse

Sorry, but I disagree. I've played all the way through Asylum and City. In those games, apart from the Titan Rush, the boss fight bosses were enhancements of the normal thugs. You did what you did for normal thugs but more and faster. In this game each of the bosses has their own fighting technique and the things you leaern from fighting one of them are no help in fighting another.

[goka9696]

Originally posted by PeskyTheTroll:

My problem is not with this boss fight in particular. It's that I think that *all* these boss fights don't belong in the game. You have to learn special tactics which are useless everywhere else, and I spend my time in the boss fight just annoyed that I cannot progress with the plot. They're just delaying tactics.

Haven't had a single problem with any of the bosses except Copperhead.

What's the problem you are having?

[Pesky]

I got really interested in the boss fights and attacked them scientifically. This involved playing the entire plot twice on "normal" and once on "easy". I'm not good enough to win on "hard".

First, the advice usually posted is insufficient. Most of the people posting seem to have already worked out the attack patterns. Their problem is that they don't have enough protection. So the first piece of advice to these people is that they should do everything possible before engaging the bosses, mostly a matter of getting all the datapacks and transmission dishes they can, and solving any murders the game tells them about. But you also get points for winning some of the stages you can play at the batcave simulator.

Unfortunately the game does not offer multiple saved games, just a single save. So if you have, for example, already entered Penguin's ship to meet Deathstroke, there's no way to back out to a point before entering the ship, and therefore no way to get more powerups. You have to restart the plot.

Secondly I did some observation (i.e. lost a hundred or so times on purpose) to find out exactly how the boss fights work. Almost everything you see onscreen is a lie. The game may show you that your punches are getting str`onger (x2 x3 x4). It doesn't matter. One punch/kick ilanded s one unit of damage. The game may show you that the boss is losing health faster or slower. It doesn't matter. All it's really doing is counting hits you landed and hits the boss landed, and using them to trigger cut-scenes. After each cut-scene the boss's actual health gets set to a fixed point. To win the fight punching stronger does not help, just trigger all the cutscenes. Difficulty levels are a matter of how many cut-scenes there are.

This is why so many people have trouble with the boss fights. They don't work like normal fights. They have different rules, and you have to learn the rules for each boss separately. If you know this, and you have maximum armour, you can win.

Looking at the Global Steam Achievement figures a lot of people don't. They seem to stop either at the Deathstrike fight or the Bane rooftop fight. And I'm not surprised.

[JonoAMano]

Pesky, you make valid points. Many of us tend to forget what it's like to start all over from the beginning. I do address this in my Worst Nightmare guide, suggesting to new players to fully rank up at least the first 13 Combat upgrades including armor and 5x Combo Boost before even approaching the Jezebel Plaza Arms Deal and certainly before even entering the Final Offer ship. I also suggest quitting the game to the Challenge Maps periodically to rank up if needed, but eventually every player will discover through trial and error what works best for them. Some players have time-constraints such as school or jobs, whereas others can afford the time for a lengthy thorough playthrough. While answering topics about boss fights, many of us including myself simply forget to mention it.

I do agree with you about the Origins boss fights throwing new curves at you which weren't in the previous games, but this serves to ramp up fighting techinique and not get too comfortable with what's been done before. Chronologically this is Batman's first video game excursion, so a rawer approach is expected where the character doesn't yet have his combat down to an exact science as that displayed in Arkham City.

The upshot to all this is that if you observe Deathstroke's attack patterns long enough you'll find that he can be beaten without taking any damage. I've played rescued saves where a player I've helped didn't even have all his armor or combat upgrades -- seriously, going into upcoming boss fights practically naked -- and still beat Deathstroke with little or no damage. It can be done, it just takes patience and perseverance.

An easy method to beat Deathstroke is to use repeated Reverse Strikes -- flip over, strike from behind -- to build up a 5x or 8x combo depending on combat upgrades until you can perform Combo Takedowns. Do this enough times and you'll get to Quicktime events where you only have to Counter him until the impending Beatdowns. Do this 3 times and you'll defeat Deathstroke.

[CupCupBaconBox]

Lol, Deathstroke took me three attempts without any combat upgrades. As long as your counter-attack timing is on point, you'll be fine.

[Damien Azreal]

Origins has the best boss fights of the entire Arkham series.

[goka9696]

Originally posted by PeskyTheTroll:

I got really interested in the boss fights and attacked them scientifically. This involved playing the entire plot twice on "normal" and once on "easy". I'm not good enough to win on "hard".

First, the advice usually posted is insufficient. Most of the people posting seem to have already worked out the attack patterns. Their problem is that they don't have enough protection. So the first piece of advice to these people is that they should do everything possible before engaging the bosses, mostly a matter of getting all the datapacks and transmission dishes they can, and solving any murders the game tells them about. But you also get points for winning some of the stages you can play at the batcave simulator.

Unfortunately the game does not offer multiple saved games, just a single save. So if you have, for example, already entered Penguin's ship to meet Deathstroke, there's no way to back out to a point before entering the ship, and therefore no way to get more powerups. You have to restart the plot.

Secondly I did some observation (i.e. lost a hundred or so times on purpose) to find out exactly how the boss fights work. Almost everything you see onscreen is a lie. The game may show you that your punches are getting str`onger (x2 x3 x4). It doesn't matter. One punch/kick ilanded s one unit of damage. The game may show you that the boss is losing health faster or slower. It doesn't matter. All it's really doing is counting hits you landed and hits the boss landed, and using them to trigger cut-scenes. After each cut-scene the boss's actual health gets set to a fixed point. To win the fight punching stronger does not help, just trigger all the cutscenes. Difficulty levels are a matter of how many cut-scenes there are.

This is why so many people have trouble with the boss fights. They don't work like normal fights. They have different rules, and you have to learn the rules for each boss separately. If you know this, and you have maximum armour, you can win.

Looking at the Global Steam Achievement figures a lot of people don't. They seem to stop either at the Deathstrike fight or the Bane rooftop fight. And I'm not surprised.

I don't see any problem with Deathstroke specifically. He doesn't require any upgrades at all. Just counter his attacks.

[Vintage Devilry]

Yeah, I don't get why there's 15 guides about that one mostly canned fight. Literally all you have to do is pay attention and properly counter instead of just mashing the button like a maniac. No upgrades necessary. That Bane fight isn't particularly difficult either, just dodge TO THE SIDE at the last minute when he charges and give priority to taking out the adds.

This is the only game in the series that actually has interesting boss fights.