Why is the Ivy Fight so sadist? Skills are no use.

[Mary Virgin]

I beat that fight on hard mode by luck after scraping past with one blow left to die. On replaying game on hard mode again I have breezed through most boss fights and hard fights easily except this ♥♥♥♥♥ fight. This fight is too sadist. Blocking guards never works for some reason. Dodging them just prolongs the Vine attack endlessly taking HP down a lot. Fighting goons disturbs rythmn and gets Batman caught in Vines. Counter simply does not work properly. Dodging is useless they manage to damage Batman. A Boss fight is useless if your skills to dodge,. counter and attack are useless.

[Salander]

The vines can easily be dodged by moving to a zone where they doesn't have hitted the floor. There's also a checkpoint between the two health bars of Poison Ivy.
And the trick is to never stop throwing batarangs or, at least, shoot them while her barrier is down for extra damage.

I defeated her on Hard for the first time last night and thougth the difficult was okay. It was one of the only parts that it ACTUALLY IS Hard (besides some fights with Titans and thugs at the same time or some predator segments) and the only boss to be like that.

[Mary Virgin]

Originally posted by Mapache Malvado:

The vines can easily be dodged by moving to a zone where they doesn't have hitted the floor. There's also a checkpoint between the two health bars of Poison Ivy.
And the trick is to never stop throwing batarangs or, at least, shoot them while her barrier is down for extra damage.

I defeated her on Hard for the first time last night and thougth the difficult was okay. It was one of the only parts that it ACTUALLY IS Hard (besides some fights with Titans and thugs at the same time or some predator segments) and the only boss to be like that.

I am stuck on that second part of fight. First time also after many tries scraped past with luck. Even now I am dying when its just a matter if one or 2 batarangs more. The guards as long as they are up the Vine attack goes on and on and at some point you get snapped. At corners suddenly without grass vines come up at times randomly. If it takes a million attempts to cross its not a good design. I am amazed a few people can actually fight it out minute you attack guards it all goes haywire. I am atm experiencing almost 10 vine attacks at start and getting snagged in at least 3. I have used explosive gels also at start but somehow the guards despite getting blown and snagged by Ivy just don't go down strangely. But Batman takes a huge hit when trapped. I read some comments of people throwing guards down off stage when they jump in at start, I don't know it even works I tried they dont fall off when punched down but you get snagged by vines. And when I attempt to take down knocked out guards pressing Y and RT, grappling hook starts shooting out instead of knocking the fallen guard out. Its so stupidly random. And my finger is constantly on LT Quick batarang throughout while dodging.

I have managed to also pass a combat challenge without taking damage so its not like I am bad anymore in my second run through on Hard. First time I scrapped past most major fights. I scrapped past almost all boss fights with just one blow left to die at lowest health bar. On second run I am getting past those fights in one or 2 tries easily not fighting it 25 times and comfortably. I unlocked most upgrades also faster with faster story progress. I have gotten past all Titan fights also so far with minimum health damage. The 2 Titan fight this time I lost no health. In Pump Room also managed to get past with half health easy. Electric Floor fight got past easy where first time I died 50 times. In first run I had struggled and played all these fights 20 times and scraping past with lowest health barely. So in all fights my improvement is massively better except this one. Its very poor design. Its a shame to lose a fight badly if skills are bad but thats not the case here. Its just too long and drags on and on.

[Salander]

Let's agree to disagree in this one but I still wanna help somehow:

I noticed you're talking about fighting the guards but that doesn't really help, it's more of a distraction set by Ivy. The best way is to jump above them, attack just a few times and counter some of them attacks (but mostly just avoid them). But never use explosive gel, the throw move or anything else because it took a lot of time.
All of the guards will be knocked down when you deliver enough damage to Ivy, that's why throwing batarangs non-stop is a prority.
There's also an upgrade to the damage dealt by those but I'm not sure if it has any effect in this battle.

[JonoAMano]

Mapache's right, don't engage the guards. Just evade them and the tendrils to hit Ivy. I've passed this level on Hard setting without injuring a single guard:
"Poisen Ivy Boss fight [Hard difficulty]"
https://steamcommunity.com/app/35140/discussions/0/611698195156343350

[Mary Virgin]

Originally posted by Mapache Malvado:

Let's agree to disagree in this one but I still wanna help somehow:

I noticed you're talking about fighting the guards but that doesn't really help, it's more of a distraction set by Ivy. The best way is to jump above them, attack just a few times and counter some of them attacks (but mostly just avoid them). But never use explosive gel, the throw move or anything else because it took a lot of time.
All of the guards will be knocked down when you deliver enough damage to Ivy, that's why throwing batarangs non-stop is a prority.
There's also an upgrade to the damage dealt by those but I'm not sure if it has any effect in this battle.

Originally posted by JonoAMano:

Mapache's right, don't engage the guards. Just evade them and the tendrils to hit Ivy. I've passed this level on Hard setting without injuring a single guard:
"Poisen Ivy Boss fight [Hard difficulty]"

https://steamcommunity.com/app/35140/discussions/0/611698195156343350

The issue is I avoid guards, work on dodging. Attacking them barely only when they are persistent in a corner and they keep causing damage sadly and the Vine attack goes on forever till they are up and running and like I said over 10 vine attacks you get snagged 3 times taking lot of hit. Sigh!

EDIT: Just got it with 75% Health left. Ivy did not snag me even once. I had gotten the hang of the pattern needed to avoid those distracting mis steps that led to tangling by vines. I started bataranging her from word go. The minute one of you said her guards were a distraction it hit me bullseye. So I removed that distraction from mind's eye watching only the grass growing and quick bataranging at every chance. You get to hit maximum batarangs at start before guards get active almost 10 hits. So I kept jumping and watching the grass and kept only hitting batarang as usual on jumping. if most guards get caught in vines and you get a safe corner you can keep hitting more batarangs almost 5-7. I allowed the guards a couple of hits in but this time chose to not engage even in defense to a single guard like I did previously. Did not waste a second to getting in even one defensive punch. It worked and I had almost full health.

Thanks guys. That tip to not engage with any guard at any point or using explosive gel or anything was the key. So after this discussion I played - resumed 4-5 times to see just the pattern and how to avoid attacking guards totally and got through comfortably. One guard was left and I did not even fell like decking him for fun knowing it had already ended.

As for grass when you are center, if it grows on right jump right towards right side grass as it starts and then back jump away on left before Vines sprout on grass. And immediately when grass starts growing left, jump in left almost touching grass and jump back on right before vines solidify. So this way when vines grow at both sides you fool Ivy staying at center pretending to be jumping at sides and diverting vines there trapping guards on sides. And if you are safe in a far left or right side corner when vines are in action it makes sense to get to other extreme end fast. As your side will get vines next. If around center you notice both sides getting grass then jump in and out as said before to be safe in center. Standing at center without moving will make vines grow there so a player can also manipulate where vines will grow. So yes moving fast and not fighting guards are the key with non stop quick batarang.

This round I am making backups of all main fights and boss fights saves so I can play those in free time and keep playing it better.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2353373296