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=============================================================================== Batman: Arkham City - Nightwing Combat and Challenge Guide Contents: 1. Version History 2. Introduction 3. Nightwing vs. Batman move list 4. Analysis of new or different moves and gadgets 5. Combat differences summary 6. Enemy strategy differences 7. Combat Challenges special notes 8. Predator Challenges special notes 9. Campaign special notes 10. Copyright and contact info =============================================================================== 1. Version history 1.0: First version. =============================================================================== 2. Introduction Nightwing is available as DLC for Batman: Arkham City. The DLC package adds: * A new playable character, Nightwing, for both Combat and Predator Challenges and Campaigns * New enemy/Riddler dialogue in Challenges (Nightwing is unvoiced) * Two Nightwing skins and character trophies (regular and Animated Nightwing) * One new Combat and one new Predator Challenge map, both set in Wayne Manor * Two Achievements, for 100% completion of the Challenges (excepting Robin's) This guide assumes you are familiar with playing the game as Batman and focuses on what is different for the Nightwing experience. In general, Nightwing's Combat Challenges are slightly harder; the Predator Challenges are mostly easier (due to simpler medal requirements) but a few are very tough. Nightwing mostly controls like Batman. His moves are generally faster than Batman's but slower than Catwoman's. Other than missing/replaced gadgets, the big difference is a lack of a cape, which limits him to Catwoman-style Pounce/Drop from high points instead of being able to Glide Kick a target. For an excellent discussion of combat mechanics in general, head over to AbaddonOnion2's Combat Mechanics Guide. This guide assumes you're already proficient with Batman and discusses shared moves and strategies only minimally. =============================================================================== 3. Nightwing vs. Batman move list The combat engine for Nightwing is the same as for Batman, so he mostly has similar moves. This list compares their two movesets. Note that Nightwing has fewer moves total, leaving blanks in his list. New or altered moves will be considered in detail in a later section. This list was created for the XBOX 360; the controls work the same for a Playstation 3. Y=Triangle, X=Square, A=X, B=O. LS and RS are Right and Left (analog) Stick. RT (R1) and LT (L1) are Left and Right Trigger. RB (R2) and LB (L2) are Right and Left Bumper. Buttons | Nightwing | Batman | Differences ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISCELLANEOUS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X | Strike | Strike | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LB | Detective | Detective | Many, despite the name | Mode | Mode | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RB | Grapnel Gun | Grapnel Gun | No Grapnel Boost ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RT | Crouch | Crouch | Nightwing has a great duck walk ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RT+A (near | Climb Down | Climb Down | ledge) | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RT+A (near | Enter Grate | Enter Grate | floor grate) | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A (in grate) | Exit Grate | Exit Grate | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RT+A (near | Corner Cover | Corner Cover | corner) | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X (directly | Drop Attack | Drop Attack | above enemy) | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X (above | Pounce | Glide Kick | Nightwing's range is shorter enemy; middle | | | distance) | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RT+Y (near | Ground | Ground | No functional difference. downed | Takedown or | Takedown or | Nightwing will occasionally do stunned | Ground Pound | Ground Pound | a brutal electric-prod-to-the- enemy) | (in FreeFlow) | (in FreeFlow) | crotch attack. STUN ATTACKS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B | ???? Stun | Cape Stun | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBB (same | Ultra Stun | Ultra Stun | target) | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B+XXX... | Beat Down | Beat Down | Nightwing may not alternate (repeatedly) | | | fists; move is faster ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B+AA | Aerial Attack | Aerial Attack | Nightwing is faster ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B+AA+ | Directed | Directed | Nightwing is faster [LS(towards | Aerial Attack | Aerial Attack | foe)+X] | | | MOVEMENT & MOTION ATTACKS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LS+A (hold) | Run | Run | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AA | Evade | Evade | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LS (towards | Redirect | Redirect | foe)+AA | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LS+A(hold)+RT | Slide | Slide | COUNTERS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Y | Counter | Counter | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Y(hold)+ | Blade Dodge | Blade Dodge | LT(back) (x3) | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Y(tap)+ | Blade Dodge | Blade Dodge | LT(back) (x3) | Takedown | Takedown | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Y(under fire) | --- | Smoke Pellet | Nightwing is missing this move FLYING MOVES (Nightwing cannot fly and is missing all of them) SPECIAL COMBO MOVES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X+A | Group Attack | Bat Swarm | No similarities ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A+B | Group | Multiple | No similarities | Electrify | Takedown | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X+Y | --- | Disarm and | Nightwing is missing this move | | Destroy | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Y+B | Takedown | Takedown | QUICKFIRE GADGETS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LT+X | Group Stun | Explosive Gel | No similarities ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LT+B | Escrima Stick | REC | No similarities ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LT+Y | Batclaw (Pull | Batclaw (Pull | | or Disarm) | or Disarm) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LT (tap) | Wing Ding | Batarang | New whimsical name, same attack ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RT,RT | Wrist Dart | Freeze Blast | Both instant stuns; not similar ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== 4. Analysis of new or different moves and gadgets Altered moves Detective Mode (LB) Batman's Detective Mode is vastly superior to Nightwing's. I'm not familiar with Nightwing from comics or TV shows, but apparently he's a lesser detective. In any case, Nightwing's Detective Mode is actually the same as Catwoman's Thief Vision, except that it's gray instead of red and he doesn't get cool goggles. Here's a list of things Batman's Detective Mode does that Nightwing's doesn't: *Highlights interactive objects in the environment, and provides data about them or how to use them *Highlights enemies by color (all are white/orange for Nightwing) **Blue for unarmed ***Held hitting weapons (sticks, blades, shields, electric prods) highlighted yellow **Orange for enemies armed with guns **Yellow highlights around armored enemies *If an interference backpack is present, its location is visible **Occasionally Detective Mode cuts through the interference and you'll get a peek at your foes *Activates automatically in smoke (from Smoke Pellet or a detonated fire extinguisher) *Highlights proximity mines Nightwing's Detective Mode is unusable when jammed - the already grey screen gets darker to the point that you can't see much of anything. Grapnel (RB) Apparently Batman let his protege who became Nightwing borrow a Grapnel gun. Nightwing's functions exactly the same. The only difference is that Nightwing cannot use the Grapnel Boost or the Grapnel Boost Takedown. The only place I've ever found to use it in the Challenges is Natural Selection (Extreme) where you can get the sniper on the middle bridge with it as Batman. Suffice it to say you won't miss the move. Crouch (RT) This move works the same - I just want to make a point of noting the motion capture actor's great duck-walk. I guess Batman may walk similarly but you can't see through his cape... Pounce vs. Glide Kick (X while above enemy at middle distance) Batman glides in on his cape to kick an enemy down to the ground, and can go for quite a distance. Nightwing makes a single leap in his version of the move and thus has shorter range. In Predator Challenges, the distance is irrelevant (the rooms are too small for it to matter). Nightwing does not have any of the Glide Kick/Dive Bomb related moves (Shockwave Attack, Glide Boost Attack), since he doesn't glide. Nightwing's Pounce is shared by Catwoman. Beat Down (B+XXXXX....) The moves work the same for both characters. I just want to note that Nightwing uses his Escrima Sticks instead of fists, and doesn't alternate sides the way Batman and Catwoman do. He'll sometimes to two left or two right strikes in a row. Nightwing's is a bit faster than Batman's, but it's not faster enough to make much difference. Aerial Attack and Directed Aerial Attack (B+AA, B+AA+(X+LS)) Aerial Attack and its Directed variant work the same for Batman and Nightwing, but Nightwing performs his a bit faster. Besides serving as another variation for bonuses, the move is intended to be used against shielded foes - it knocks them to the ground and drops their shield. It seems that enemies stop their attacks when you perform Aerial Attack on a shielded foe. This AI interruption does NOT occur against unshielded foes. Batman's Aerial attack is so slow that he'll often get attacked anyway (by an enemy that started attack after Aerial Attack began), losing the combo. As Batman, it's usually better to Disarm and Destroy the shield (X+Y) instead: it's unblockable, makes you invincible, and then they can't just pick the shield back up. For Nightwing, Aerial Attack is sped up so he can take out shielded foes without getting hit; he can't destroy the shields so he's forced to use Aerial Attack much more frequently. It's still too dangerous to use in the middle of a pack. Catwoman's Aerial Attack is similarly faster. New moves - Special Combo Moves Special Combo Moves are the moves that become available when your combo counter has increased by 5 (or 8, lacking the upgrade) since you started the combo or last used one of these moves. Note that the instant Takedown (Y+B) is unlisted in the game, but works just fine for Nightwing (and identically to Batman's). Nightwing has no X+Y move. Group Attack (X+A) Group Attack, well, attacks the whole group of enemies. Not a great name. The trick with Nightwing's Escrima Sticks (this is also true for the gadget) is that they ricochet. So, for this move, he throws them and they ricochet off thugs like pinballs, dealing damage and racking up points. The move scores 10 points per hit, can hit a huge number of guys (15 at least), and increases your combo counter by up to 5. So, if you're at combo 20 and use it on a large pack of guys, you can net something like 10 (points) * 15 (guys) * 25 (combo) for 3750 points - pretty good for a combo 20 move! It's hard to have enough guys left standing late-game for the move to reach full potential, but it's still worth using every chance you get. The move doesn't damage armored foes. It can hit shielded guys the Escrima Stick ricochets in from the side, but they can block it from the front; there seems to be no way to aim this. It is less likely to hit through a shield if there are fewer foes. Group Attack can knock guys down to set them up for a Ground Pound (RT + Y). If everyone gets knocked down, or if a guy is isolated on the ground, feel free to follow up with Ground Pound for big points. Group Electrify (A+B) Group Electrify, while as boringly named as Group Attack, is just as accurate. Nightwing charges up the stun rod in his Escrima Sticks and then sends out an electrical blast. The range and effect is the same as Batman's REC gadget blast when supercharged (combo count above 12; red glowing combo counter). It sends out electrical currents at nearby foes; all are interrupted from their current activity for a very brief stun (they don't go into stars-around-the- head stun). Armored enemies will be blasted to the ground for a medium-length stun. Blunt-object armed enemies and Lieutenants (the one-armed Abramovici twins) will involuntarily swing their weapons in a circle for Collateral Damage points (10 points each; no combo multiplier or multiplication). This move is very, VERY effective at getting Lieutenants to kill the rest of the thugs in the level. It's not very effective for getting a good score - the move itself does no damage and thus earns no points or extra combo counter. This move is extremely time-consuming, but not slow in a tactical sense. It acts normally with respect to combo timeouts, but the move sends the game into slow motion to zoom in on Nightwing while he charges the Escrima Sticks. I guess if you need a breather in combat but don't want to pause, you can use it for a free few seconds to think. New moves - Gadget Moves Nightwing has a subset of Batman's gadgetry, plus some new tricks of his own. Of the combat-relevant gadgets, Nightwing is missing Batman's Smoke Pellet, Explosive Gel, REC, specialty Batarangs, and Freeze weapons. They share basic Batarangs (Nightwing's are called Wing Dings), the Firearm Jammer/Mine Detonator, Batclaw, and Line Launcher. Nightwing has the new Electrical Blast and Wrist Dart weapons. Nightwing's gadgets are not powered up once you enter FreeFlow Focus (red combo counter), nor does their use lose Focus. The gadgets function fairly differently in Quickfire versus manual use so each gadget has two subsections. Wing Ding (Tap LT) The Wing Ding functions identically to the Batarang, it just has a new name. Nightwing does not have any of the specialty modes on his Wing Dings (no Sonic or Remote Control for him.) Batclaw (LT+Y) The Batclaw functions identically for Nightwing as Batman. On gun-armed foes, you'll do Batclaw Disarm to remove their weapon and pull them towards you slightly (enough to trip on an edge for the Fall Guy Predator Medal). Shielded and gunless armored thugs can't be hit with the Batclaw. All the remaining thugs will be pulled towards you for a Batclaw Slam; don't do this to foes with Stun Rods because it will hurt you instead. Group Stun / Electrical Blast (LT + X) This move has different names; it's called Group Stun on the score card in Combat Challenges, but Electrical Blast in the Predator Challenge Medals. In any case, Nightwing charges up his Escrima Sticks and slams them into the ground (with or without a vertical leap) to send out an electrical shockwave to stun nearby enemies. The Quickfire version is very short-range and does not induce much stun. It will only interrupt enemies and not daze them or put them on the ground. Armored enemies are knocked down (like they are for all electric attacks). When used with no enemies in range, it will count as a miss. As it does no damage, it is worth 0 points and doesn't affect combos. The manually aimed version can be quite powerful, as it will induce a brief dazed-on-the-ground stun in enemies it hits. This version has a lot more range in the electric shockwave itself, plus Nightwing can leap a short distance to fire it off. When you activate the gadget with LT you'll see two blue concentric rings on the ground showing where it will hit once you fire the move with RT. Fired manually from zero range, where Nightwing doesn't have to leap, he slams the sticks straight down instead. This causes enemies to pop up in the air before falling to the ground and can knock them over ledges - there is a Predator Medal (Bowled Over) for this in several Challenges; it's easier to get it from close range. Electrical Blast can be fired from Vantage Points (gargoyles) or from high ledges. The extra vertical leap gives the blast more power when it lands, leading to a larger stun radius and longer stun times. You can abuse this to get all the enemies in a level stunned: stun a few, grapnel away, wait for them to awaken and call for help, then stun the group again. This is a good way to get three thugs together for the Triple Header Medal in the Predator Challenges. Finally, Electrical Blast itself is a silent or quiet move - I never hear enemies react to it (they usually call out when they hear you use a gadget). This means it can be used for a silent grounding for a Ground Takedown; of course Ground Takedown is nonsilent so it won't help much. You can use this to bypass an enemy you want out of the way but not KOed (usually to alter the timing of their patrol patterns). Escrima Stick (LT + B) When Quickfired, the Escrima Stick functions almost the same as a Batarang or Wing Ding. The only difference is that it goes in a straight line instead of an arc and that it ricochets so you can see it returning. The Escrima Stick won't hit armored or shielded enemies. It is worth 10 points and adds to the combo multiplier, unless you miss, in which case you'll lose the combo. When Quickfire picks an invalid target (an armored or shielded enemy) it won't lose your combo counter but it also won't count as a hit. When used manually, the Escrima Stick has a lot of extra effects. It will ricochet similarly to the Group Attack. When you aim manually, the cursor is white and centered, but does not lock on immediately. You can throw now to get a Quickfire-like straight shot to stun an enemy. If you wait, it will give you a green cursor lock on enemies near the center of the screen; a throw will hit those enemies. The interesting effect is that it hits enemIES, not just one enemY. It will hit up to three in a group. It can also hit around corners and out of line-of-sight - for example you can hide on a Vantage Point and hit thugs in the upper-level shack in Meltdown Mayhem. Targeting multiple foes or around corner is finicky - there's nothing you can do to make it aim in a particular way other than wiggling the camera around and hoping you're offered a better firing solution. It's also slow to trigger the ricochet throws, it takes a second or two after pulling the stick out (LT) before you can get a locked-on ricochet throw with RT. There is a Medal in Meltdown Mayhem (Extreme), Triple Ricochet, for hitting three guys with one throw. Be wary that it won't affect the armored thug. Wrist Dart (RT,RT) Nightwing has a limited ammo stun dart. In Quickfire, it will lead to a long ground stun in any regular thug it hits (it misses armor and shields). You only get three and they do not regenerate between rounds in Combat Challenges. The dart appears to be invisible and moves very quickly - it's effectively a nonfatal gun with three bullets. In Predator Challenges, the Wrist Dart is a lot more useful. For body shots, it has the same effect as a Quickfired shot - a long stun. However, a head shot is an instant KO - very useful for taking out snipers, or just reducing the number of moving bodies early in an Extreme level. You can zoom in by tapping RS after you've activated the gadget with LT to improve your aim for headshots. Nightwing's arm isn't terribly steady so getting headshots consistently takes some practice. Top of the World (Extreme) requires you to hit all three darts as headshots (Triple Head Shot), and other levels require either one head shot or one body shot + Ground Takedown. There is a bug with the combo counter associated with the Wrist Dart. I haven't seen it in Combat Challenges where it would be useful. For Predator Challenges, when you use the dart, you'll get a combo counter that doesn't time out properly. It's especially noticeable with the Triple Head Shot Medal on Top of the World (Extreme), where the combo counter may just sit there for a while if you are sitting still on a gargoyle, etc. =============================================================================== 5. Combat differences summary Nightwing's combat is not terribly different than Batman's. Nightwing has a small speed edge, the same health bar (excepting that Nightwing's is blue), and many shared gadgets. The biggest intentional difference is Nightwing's lack of Special Combo Disarm and Destroy, leaving him unable to get rid of pesky shields. A minor difference is that while Nightwing can enter FreeFlow Focus (red counter, blurred slowed-down combat), he does not get supercharged gadgets in this mode. The other difference is Nightwing's combat pacing. There is an occasional bug in Nightwing's FreeFlow targeting and timing. Usually you can hit the button for your next move as the previous move ends; this is how you get the Critical Strike bonus. Nightwing will occasionally just refuse to do a move at all, or refuse to automatically target as intelligently as Batman or Catwoman. You have to stay on your toes to make sure he doesn't ignore the move input, since you've only got a second to input it again without losing the combo. Be careful with not targeting moves with LS as well, so he doesn't just target empty air and break your combo. This happens to me about once every 3 Combat Challenges, and seems to occur most on Hell's Gate and Rooftop Rumble, and very frequently on Freight Train. To learn about the flow of combat in general, read AbaddonOnion2's excellent Batman: Arkham City Combat Mechanics Guide. I will summarize the important points here: 1) To get high scores on Combat Challenges, and to get lots of EXP and replacement health in Story Mode, the key is to keep your combo counter high. 2) Keeping the counter high means: always do something (a Strike, Redirect, or other special move) within 1 second of the end of the last move, do not perform a move that hits no enemies, and do not get hit. 3) Abuse Redirect (AA + LS towards foe) constantly. Your average combat will look like this: Strike, Strike, Strike (enters FreeFlow), Redirect, Strike, Redirect, Strike... with special moves interspersed where appropriate. You are invincible to most attacks (Titans are the main exception) while Redirecting. This gives you a moment to plan your next attack and keeps the combo going. You are totally invincible while in the animation for a Special Combo Attack. =============================================================================== 6. Enemy strategies Normal foes and blunt-object-armed foes Normal unarmed and blunt-object-armed enemies are treated the same for Nightwing as Batman: beat on them and redirect over them, they're just there to soak up damage and provide points! Blunt objects (pipes, hammers, and bats) give them a little more range, and they'll give you a blurry screen if they hit you. Try to Counter foes with blunt objects when you can - the animations are usually pretty cool. Blade armed Nightwing treats these guys the same as Batman. Blades include knives and broken bottles. I am not including Assassin's swords here. These guys should be treated the same as Batman treats them: as if they were unarmed. I suggest never bothering with Blade Dodge and Blade Dodge Takedown - it's a losing proposition because the timing is challenging and the point reward isn't worth it. Redirect over them to interrupt the attack and then smack them in the back of the head instead. Shielded Nightwing has less trouble than Batman with your average shielded foe because enemy AI interrupts its attack if you do an Aerial Attack (B+AA), the only one that works, against a shielded thug. Batman also gets this interruption, but he performs the move so slowly that it doesn't help much. This means Nightwing can safely Aerial Attack non-isolated shielded thugs - just don't try it in large groups. The shield itself is much more dangerous, because Nightwing is missing Special Combo Disarm and Destroy (X+Y) and thus can't destroy the shield permanently. Any shield on the field will stay there for all rounds of a Combat Challenge, forcing you to Aerial Attack it off the enemies again, and again, and again. Special Combo Instant Takedown (Y+B) works on these guys. Group Attack _may_ hit them, depending on the angle the Escrima Stick ricochets in from; it's not dependable. Group Electrify will work, but the move won't do much. Stun prod armed You have to attack stun prod armed thugs from the back or the side to prevent a nasty shock (with screen blur) from the prod. Like with shields, you cannot get the electric prod itself off the field - it's there to stay. The lack of Disarm and Destroy really hurts when you accidentally punch a Stun prod armed enemy. The game is more forgiving than Arkham Asylum was about hitting them in the back - a strike from the side from a distance (via FreeFlow) will hit them, but it's dangerous to try this regularly. Generally anything that disorients them (Group Attack, Group Electrify, Redirecting over them) and then attacking from not-directly-in-front will work. At least you have electric sticks of death of your own.... Armored Nightwing will treat armored foes similarly to Batman. The best option in Combat Challenges is Beat Down (B + XXXXX...) - Beat Down is great if you can do one early because it will get your combo counter up by 11 or so. You don't have a REC, but you do have Electric Blast (LT+X) and Group Electrify (A+B), each of which throws armored foes in the same fashion. In Predator Mode, Electric Blast (used manually) is a great tool against armored thugs. It's quiet, so it won't alert enemies immediately (until you Ground Takedown (RT+Y)). It can knock them clear off ledges for an instant KO. Inverted Takedown from Vantage Points is better, but Electric Blast is your best replacement. Note that Nightwing's Detective Mode, unlike Batman's, will not highlight armor - so always doublecheck your target in Predator Challenges when attempting a failable takedown like Silent Takedown, Corner Takedown, or the Drop/Pounce Attack. Assassins Assassins should be treated the same as for Batman. Note that they can dodge most attacks, especially projectiles - these won't count against you as a miss if they do the purple-smoke dodge animation. Also note that they cannot be kept down on the ground by Ultra Stun or the Wrist Dart, so don't try a Ground Takedown. Use Beat Down on a lone remaining Assassin. Lieutenants (Abramovici twins, the one-armed huge guys) Nightwing can crush Lieutenants more easily than Batman. All strikes against a Lieutenant become Beat Down, which is a little faster for Nightwing. As the Lieutenant winds up to strike, you have a couple of options: you can leap over his head (AA) to dodge the attack and continue your assault, use Group Attack (X+A) to rack up points against nearby thugs, or use Group Electrify (A+B) to force the Lieutenant to spin his weapon (missing you due to attack animation invincibility) and mow through the other thugs. Prefer Group Attack if you need points, or Group Electrify if you are more concerned about time/health. Batman's version of this strategy is to use Bat Swarm in place of Group Attack (superior, points-wise) and REC gadget for electrically-induced swinging death (inferior, due to no invincibility frames). Nightwing's second advantage is that Group Electrify will let easily force the Lieutenant to stun Titans, making the Funhouse Brawl (Extreme) stages much easier. You may be tempted to leave them for last, but in Combat Challenges, you should aim for the Lieutenants first. You should be able to get a combo of 50 or so by the time the Lieutenant is dead: a great way to start a stage! Titans None of Nightwing's missing moves or different gadgets are useful against Titans, so Nightwing tactics are unchanged from Batman tactics. Ultra Stun (BBB) followed by 8 strikes within the stun period puts you in Freakshow Rodeo mode, where you ride on the Titan's shoulders and direct him to wail on your hapless foes. From there, you are invincible and can hit thugs with their swinging arms for Rodeo Strikes (10 pts), charge forward with A, and do a Titan Ground Pound with B. It helps to charge up 5 attacks before taking one on, so that you can unleash a Group Attack just after the Ultra Stun to interrupt nearby thugs while you attack the Titan. If a Titan is the last foe, any stunning blow (generally any combo of 8) will KO it for good, even if you haven't done the stun cycle three times yet. =============================================================================== 7. Combat Challenges special notes For getting a high score on the Combat Challenges, incorporate the advice on moves and enemies above. This section contains just a few pointers specific to the Combat Challenges. * Nightwing's Quickfire gadgets do not have to be used in ONE combo to get the variation bonus. Using them anywhere in battle will work. * You cannot use the Wrist Dart in each phase of a Combat Challenge, as you get three darts and there are four stages. * Group Electrify is useless for points. It can be used to stun armored foes, make gun-armed foes shoot into the air, and make Lieutenants crazily attack their own thugs. Prefer Group Attack for racking up points. * When doing the Campaign mode, ALWAYS save Super Powered for levels with shields and stun prods, especially Prison Riot and Hell's Gate. Nightwing's inability to break these items (due to the lack of Disarm and Destroy) is negated by this bonus effect. Also, the Predator version of the effect-crawl faster-is useless. * Nightwing seems to be much more vulnerable to thrown items in Combat Challenges than Batman or Catwoman. I can't quantify this, but I certainly took a lot more hits from them. Blind Justice (Medals at 6000, 12000, 24000) This is just a warm-up level. Opponents are thin on the ground, and shields and stun rods are not present. Survival of the Fittest (Medals at 8000, 16000, 32000) Rooftop Rumble (Medals at 8000, 16000, 32000) Hell's Gate (Medals at 8000, 16000, 32000) Assassins are common here. Funhouse Brawl (Medals at 15000, 30000, 60000) Prison Riot (Medals at 8000, 16000, 32000) Shields and stun rods abound in this level. Blind Justice (Extreme) (Medals at 8000, 16000, 32000) This is just a warm-up level. Opponents are thin on the ground, and shields and stun rods are not present. Survival of the Fittest (Extreme) (Medals at 15000, 30000, 60000) You'll face a Titan in stages 2 and 4. Rooftop Rumble (Extreme) (Medals at 10000, 20000, 40000) Assassins and Lieutenants are mixed in in this level. Hell's Gate (Extreme) (Medals at 12000, 24000, 48000) Assassins are everywhere in this level. Funhouse Brawl (Extreme) (Medals at 15000, 30000, 60000) You'll face a Lieutenant + Titan combo in stage 2, and a Lieutenant + 2 Titan combo in stage 4. Abuse Group Electrify to keep the Lieutenant stunning the Titans as necessary. Prison Riot (Extreme) (Medals at 12000, 24000, 48000) Shields and stun rods abound in this level. Assassins are mixed in as well. Freight Train (Medals at 8000, 16000, 32000) This is Robin's DLC Combat Challenge. You can skip it as Nightwing to no ill effect. They tried to make it like a sidescrolling beat-em-up, but in my opinion the combat engine works poorly in 2D. There are very few foes in range at any one time (or even in the level at all), making it hard to rack up combos. Using your gadgets and getting in as many combat variations as possible is important. You'll get at least half your points on the last stage, which has a Lieutenant and Black Mask. Black Mask has a large HP boost (as if he were armored); you can Beat Down both him and the Lieutenant to get your combo pretty high. The funny 2D space makes Redirect and Group Attack work poorly so you may need to use Group Electrify to keep the Lieutenant from killing you. Wayne Manor Armory (Medals at 15000, 30000, 60000) This is Nightwing's DLC Combat Challenge. You *must* do this level to get his Achievements. The thug type is TYGER guards, you're in a large mostly square room, and there are a ton of blunt objects and knives available to the thugs. There are no shields or stun rods. You should be able to rack up huge combos with Redirect, as the only foes you can't attack freely are the occasional Armored thugs, and the stand out as red instead of black. =============================================================================== 8. Predator Challenges special notes This section features a few pointers for the Predator Challenges. After general tips are per-Challenge tips. I don't offer walkthroughs in text because Youtube videos already do it better! * Nightwing has many repeated medals, unlike Batman. She has fewer gadgets and some environment tools are missing, and I guess the developers got lazy. Unfortunately, some of the really hard ones that require hitting three guys at once are repeated. * Like with Batman, but unlike with Catwoman, air duct gratings are present. They take time to remove so plan your escapes accordingly. Air Vent Takedown is present, but there's no Medal for it (Batman has one on Meltdown Mayhem (Extreme)). If using the normal Nightwing skin, watch his face as you remove the vent cover - he gets a hilarious look of concentrated straining just before he tears the cover off. * Explosive Gel walls are present, but Nightwing has no way to actually blow the wall up. * Electric Blast is silent or at least quiet, so you can use it to bypass a foe that you want to keep alive for whatever reason. * If you have enemies to spare (more than you need for medals), abuse head shots with the Wrist Dart for silent takedowns from a distance. * Heat Signature Conceal is supposedly built into the Batsuit but it works for Nightwing too! So long as you don't move, you can't be seen by the thermal vision guys looking at Vantage Points (gargoyles). * Speaking of Vantage Points, you have no Inverted Takedown. It's my favorite, so I miss it. It was one of the better ways to get armored thugs in Predator. * Nightwing is missing the Sonic Batarang - this makes it tough to lure enemies to a particular location. You use a Wing Ding for the purpose - sometimes they'll turn and look at its source, but sometimes they'll look at where it lands. * Knockout Smash will occasionally do a suplex animation. If you played as much Resident Evil 4 as I did, you'll love to pretend that the thug is a monk Ganado! For each Challenge, I've listed the medal name, what it is/how to do it, and how hard it is on a scale of 1-10 (and if it's hard, why). Meltdown Mayhem * Bullseye - get a body shot with the Wrist Dart, then Ground Takedown the thug ** Difficulty 2/10. This is trivial to get, you don't even have to aim if you use Quickfire Dart (RT+RT). The Ground Takedown is noisy, though. * Fall Guy - Batclaw a thug off a railing and watch them fall for a KO. ** Difficulty 6/10. This is mechanically very simple, the hard part is that Nightwing doesn't aim through railings too well, so your opportunities to pull them off without being shot at are slim. If you leap to the middle island as the level starts, then focus on the thug in front of you moving right, you can get him on the stairs. * Fists of Fury - take out a thug with Beat Down ** Difficulty 3/10. The move is easy, but it's noisy and leaves you vulnerable, so do it late in the level. Police Brutality * Pound the Beat - knock someone to the ground with Electrical Blast, then do a Ground Takedown. ** Difficulty 3/10. The only vulnerability is if you accidentally knock them off a ledge (which KOs them for the wrong Medal, Bowled Over), plus the Ground Takedown is noisy. * Grate Moves - leap out of a floor grate for an Instant Takedown. ** Difficulty 3/10. The move is easy, waiting for a target is boring. It's a noisy move so escape fast. * Mind Your Head - Knock a foe down with a Wing Ding, then Ground Takedown for the KO. ** Difficulty 2/10. This is trivial to get, you don't even have to aim if you use Quickfire Wing Ding (tap LT). The Ground Takedown is noisy, though. Natural Selection * Stick Up - knock someone down with the Escrima Stick, then Ground Takedown. ** Difficulty 2/10. You can get the Escrima Stick hit from around a corner if you use the manual version and wait for the green reticle. The Ground Takedown is still noisy and attracts foes. * Line Drive - Kick 1 thug while riding the Line Launcher ** Difficulty 2/10. Sight lines are good in this level, so you won't have too much trouble finding a target in range. Be sure to escape afterwards. You don't have to KO them. * Break Your Fall - Use the Drop Attack (not Pounce) to knock down a thug, then use Ground Takedown. ** Difficulty 2/10. Get up on a Vantage Point and drop down on someone isolated. They have to be close enough for your context-sensitive attack to read Drop not Pounce. The attack itself will draw foes, so you may get shot at during the Ground Takedown if you take too long. End of the Line * Head Shot - instant KO a thug with a head shot from the Wrist Dart. ** Difficulty 1/10. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Hitting a head shot is a little difficult from a distance, as Nightwing's arm isn't very stable, but you get three tries. Try to shoot at thermal thugs looking up at something, or foes on walkways looking down, as their heads are still. * Weapon Jam - Use the Firearm Jammer on a thug, let him try to shoot, then take him down before he gets another gun. ** Difficulty 2/10. The Firearm Jammer will prevent your target from shooting at you. Wait for him to start shaking his gun as he tries to make it work, then take him down with three Strikes and a Ground Takedown. You have until he re-arms from a gun crate to get him, but any time after he tries to fire will work. If he doesn't try to shoot you, and yell about his gun not working, you won't get the Medal! * Knockout Smash - Tap X for a Knockout Smash during a Silent Takedown (thus making it non-silent...) ** Difficulty 1.5/10. The thugs will hear it so be sure to escape promptly. Leave it for the hostage-taking thug if you want. Lost City This challenge is easiest if you go for Kick Off first, then get Over the Ledge when someone comes to investigate. Stick Up can come at any time. * Stick Up - knock someone down with the Escrima Stick, then Ground Takedown. ** Difficulty 2/10. You can get the Escrima Stick hit from around a corner if you use the manual version and wait for the green reticle. The Ground Takedown is still noisy and attracts foes. * Kick Off - Use the Line Launcher to kick a thug over a ledge for a KO ** Difficulty 7/10. It can be very hard to find a thug that's isolated and aligned properly for this award. I suggest going aggressively after the thermal goggles thug patrolling the upper walkway, ASAP. You can hop onto the first Vantage Point, swing over to the one on your left above the middle walkways, hop down, and immediately target this henchman for Kick Off. * Over the Ledge - While hanging from a ledge, grab a thug for an instant KO ** Difficulty 5/10. There is a lot of upper walkway to hang from to get this. It can be hard to get onto the upper ledge, because the context-sensitive A button will usually offer you Corner Cover instead of Climb Down. Once you've dropped down from Kick Off, if you immediately Grapnel back up, you can pull down the first thug who comes along looking at the Kick Off victim for this Medal, then disappear downstairs after. Top of the World * Bowled Over - knock a guy off a walkway with Electrical Blast for a KO. ** Difficulty: 5/10. Aiming the Electrical Blast properly is the hard part; aim so that the foe is directly between your landing point (circles' center) and the ledge. You're going to have to wait for someone to walk along one of the narrow ledges to get this. Alternatively, if everyone is downstairs, let yourself be seen at the top of a ladder, and fire the Electrical Blast just as he stands up. If a thug has taken a hostage, you cannot perform this move above them (it would cause the hostage to die, so the game prevents it). * Fall Guy - Batclaw a thug off a railing and watch them fall for a KO. ** Difficulty 7/10. This is mechanically very simple, the hard part is that Nightwing doesn't aim through railings too well, so your opportunities to pull them off without being shot at are slim. Your best bet is to stand near the bottom of a ladder and wait for someone to pass the top of the ladder to pull them off. You can also try climbing a pile of crates so you're at the same level as the upper walkways. * Grate Moves - leap out of a floor grate for an Instant Takedown. ** Difficulty 3/10. The move is easy, waiting for a target is boring. It's a noisy move so escape fast. Meltdown Mayhem (Extreme) This level is a HUGE difficulty jump over the non-Extreme Predator Challenges. It's probably the second hardest Predator Challenge for Nightwing, and it's much harder than any of Catwoman's or Batman's. Two of its three medals require you to attack three enemies (simultaneously for one, separately for another), and the third medal has spotty targeting. Note that none of the medals require a KO, so you can theoretically have one thug involved in every single medal, and could get all three medals if you had only three guys left. I suggest you start the level by leaping forward and left and then Grapneling up to the Vantage Point on the left. Get a Wrist Dart head shot on the sniper thug, then swing across to the Vantage Point on the other wall. Look towards the shack that you start on top of; there is one fairly isolated thug in or near it. Jump down behind him and punch him three times. Get the Ground Pound if you feel like risking it, but it isn't necessary. Escape. Now, hide on a Vantage Point and wait for everyone to come join this guy / look at his corpse. This is your opportunity for Triple Ricochet. * Triple Ricochet - Hit three non-armored thugs simultaneously with one manually targeted Escrima Stick ** Difficulty - 9/10. This is preposterously hard. Guys always spread out unless you do something to bring them together. There is no way to manually target three thugs - you can just target in their direction and hope you'll get three valid green reticles. Also, one of the three is the armored thug, you won't get the Medal. On the up side, this doesn't KO thugs, so you can keep trying so long as they don't spot you. See my advice on starting the level above for a way to reliably get this Medal. * Rope-a-Dope - While doing a Wire Walk with the Line Launcher, knock a thug down with a Drop Attack. This won't work with Pounce Attack and does not require a KO. This does NOT involve cutting down an Inverted Takedown victim, as it did in Batman: Arkham Asylum. ** Difficulty - 8/10. This is far harder than it ought to be for two reasons. For one, you are NOT very stealthy while doing the Wire Walk, so getting seen and shot at is not infrequent. For two, the targeting for Drop Attack is TERRIBLE - you have to move back and forth to get a sweet spot where it will let you perform the attack. The only good thing is that you don't have to follow it up with the Ground Takedown for the Medal. * Three Strikes - Punch any three different thugs. ** Difficulty - 9/10. This is a very small arena, and your escape options are thin. Punching a guy and then Grapneling will usually get you shot at AND your Vantage Points destroyed. You have to wait for isolated guys and then punch and run, or wait until you're down to just a few and punch all of them. A Beat Down punch against the armored thug counts. See my advice for starting the level above for an easy route to your first punch. Police Brutality (Extreme) This level has a Jammer Backpack thug. There is a good way to get him first. He'll walk along the floor grates 10 seconds into the level, so if you can beat him to the grates he's an easy takedown. From where you start, the grates look like this: /-----Y----\ | | | | | | | | \-X-/ If you can get to point X within 8 seconds (run straight there, then drop down from the railing with B), you can get in the grate (RT + A). Move to point Y, and hop out (A) and do a Silent Takedown (Y) right after he passes. This leads into Triple Header and Chain Reaction. * Triple Header - Hit 3 thugs with one Electrical Blast. KO not needed. * Difficulty 6/10. The hard part here is getting 3 guys together. It's easier than the other Triple moves because the Electrical Blast is an area-of-effect attack and has a huge range. If you do the suggestions above for the Jammer thug, then immediately turn back towards the start point and Grapnel up to the upper level (not the Vantage Point). Climb up on one of the computer box things and wait for someone to discover the Jammer thug's body and call for help. You should shortly have 4 thugs near the body, all in range of this attack - fire it off for the Medal. I suggest following this up with Chain Reaction. If you don't use this method, in general you can get it by Drop Attacking from a ledge, NOT doing the Ground Takedown, waiting for thugs to investigate, and then doing the Electrical Blast. *Chain Reaction - Hit two thugs as you travel down one Line Launcher line. No KO required. ** Difficulty 6/10. This would be really hard with three, but two is doable. In general, do Triple Header and then pick up Chain Reaction as the thugs stand back up. If you take my Jammer and Triple Header advice above, you'll have 4 guys down in the middle of the level and two running towards you. Hit both with Wrist Darts (RT+RT) and position yourself in line with any two Triple Header victims while they begin to stand up. Usually I fire my line parallel to the long portion of the floor grates and escape through the door to the left of the starting platform, then take out thugs in the hallway as they come looking for me. * Confiscated Weapon - Disarm a thug with Batclaw Disarm, then KO them before they re-arm ** Difficulty 2/10. This will draw thugs to your location, so follow with the KO quickly. I wait until there's only two guys left to do this - one will give you this medal and the other will take a hostage, leaving him vulnerable to an easy Silent Takedown. Natural Selection (Extreme) This level features an armored thug with a sniper in the middle. You can KO him early get rid of him painlessly. I suggest getting Head Shot on the thug walking down the stairs as you start (around 8 seconds), Grapneling up in front of the sniper and giving him a Ledge Takedown, then working on Triple Ricochet. Escape from the ledge either up to a Vantage Point or down and forward to the floor grates. * Head Shot - instant KO a thug with a head shot from the Wrist Dart. ** Difficulty 1/10. Aim for the thug walking down the stairs as you start for an easy, close-range target. He is moving, unfortunately, but if you wait until he turns away from you, his motion is imperceptible. * Weapon Jam - Use the Firearm Jammer on a thug, let him try to shoot, then take him down before he gets another gun. ** Difficulty 2/10. The Firearm Jammer will prevent your target from shooting at you. Wait for him to start shaking his gun as he tries to make it work, then take him down with three Strikes and a Ground Takedown. You have until he re-arms from a gun crate to get him, but any time after he tries to fire will work. If he doesn't try to shoot you, and yell about his gun not working, you won't get the Medal! * Triple Ricochet - Hit three non-armored thugs simultaneously with one manually targeted Escrima Stick ** Difficulty - 9/10. This is preposterously hard. Guys always spread out unless you do something to bring them together. There is no way to manually target three thugs - you can just target in their direction and hope you'll get three valid green reticles. Also, one of the three is the armored thug, you won't get the Medal. On the up side, this doesn't KO thugs, so you can keep trying so long as they don't spot you. If you do the Head Shot/Ledge Takedown start I suggest, then your next move is to find and watch the armored thug. He'll be in the walkway above where you started the level. Follow him with Detective Mode as best you can and wait for him to lay a mine. Hit the mine with the Mine Detonator to take out the armored thug - this will take out the armored guy so he can't screw up Triple Ricochet, and draw a large crowd of thugs as Triple Ricochet targets. If you're in the upper areas, target them from a Vantage Point; otherwise wait around a corner to let the Escrima Stick bounce off a wall. End of the Line (Extreme) This is, improbably, even harder than Batman's Lost City (Extreme), even harder than Catwoman's End of the Line (Extreme), and takes the cake for hardest Predator Challenge. Switch Hitter is ... unpredictable, and you have no Freeze Cluster to simplify it. Recall that all enemies are armored in this Challenge. I suggest starting by moving forward either to the right wall and hopping into the floor grates, or (if Scattered Weapons is active) into the right train car to the first door on the right, and then to the floor grates. Go to the far end of the grates and wait for the armored Jammer Backpack thug to come along (47 seconds), then do a Grate Takedown. Hide in the (thankfully grateless) air vent just beyond this and watch though the far side for a thug through the train doors. Once he moves (1:04 or so) enter the train, turn right, go to the end, and Grapnel into the sniper nest from below. This is the safest place in the room and sets you up for Fall Guy. * Triple Header - Hit 3 thugs with one Electrical Blast. KO not needed. ** Difficulty 8/10. The hard part here is, surprisingly, escaping rather than getting 3 guys together. Thugs are extremely aggressive in this small arena and they'll come running whenever you're spotted, so getting a group is simple. The problem is that they're rarely all on the same level (most areas have ground, railcar, and walkway levels) so you can only get some of them with the Electrical Blast; the rest will shoot you. Detonating a mine under a thug is a good opener to draw attention to get a group for this move. * Switch Hitter - Fire a Line Launcher, kick one thug, re-fire in a different direction while still moving, then kick a different thug. ** Difficulty 10/10. I have no idea how to reproducibly get this Medal; I only ever got it once (I used Free Medal in the Campaigns). You can try knocking groups down (for Triple Header) and then getting them as they rise. You can try waiting for two guys to be separated but at the same height on the upper walkways (argh, why are they not all at the same height?). The walkway sniper and a mobile thug are good bets for this. You can also try sacrificing to the volcano gods; maybe that will work better. Email me if you've got a good strategy and I'll put it here! * Fall Guy - Batclaw a thug off a railing and watch them fall for a KO. ** Difficulty 3/10. This level features a perfect setup for Fall Guy. From the sniper's nest on the far end of the level, you can try to Fall Guy the sniper into the hole you climbed in from. If he misses the hole (he usually magically flies over it) then just Ground Takedown him and stand behind the pillar. Any thug walking over the bridge in front of you is a perfect target for Fall Guy. I usually get the walkway sniper this way when he trades places. Lost City (Extreme) Bullet Proof is the real challenge here. Also, you'll be abusing that same poor thermal goggles thug as in Lost City (not extreme). * Bowled Over - knock a guy off a walkway with Electrical Blast for a KO. ** Difficulty: 5/10. Aiming the Electrical Blast properly is the hard part; aim so that the foe is directly between your landing point (circles' center) and the ledge. I suggest going aggressively after the thermal goggles thug patrolling the upper walkway, ASAP. You can hop onto the first Vantage Point, swing over to the one on your left above the middle walkways, hop down, and then duck. After he turns around, get him with the Electrical Blast and then Grapnel away to safety. IF you don't KO him, run away anyway and try again later - you can't take a hit because of Bullet Proof. * Confiscated Weapon - Disarm a thug with Batclaw Disarm, then KO them before they re-arm ** Difficulty 2/10. This will draw thugs to your location, so follow with the KO quickly. I wait until there's only two guys left to do this - one will give you this medal and the other will take a hostage, leaving him vulnerable to an easy Silent Takedown. * Bullet Proof - KO all thugs without taking damage. ** Difficulty: 8/10. For this medal, you need to stay stealthy. First, get Bowled Over. Next, hide on Vantage Points and get unarmored thugs with Wrist Dart head shots. Then, hide in the area with floor grates and Weak Wooden Walls in the lower level - this offers your best chance for escaping after each kill, and offers through-the-wall and floor grate instant takedowns on armored thugs. The Medal MAY allow you to take grenade or mine damage (so long as it's not bullet damage) without penalty - I believe I once got the Medal with incomplete health, but I'm not sure. Also, getting shot at doesn't count so long as you don't lose health. Top of the World (Extreme) This challenge is very frontloaded in difficulty - hitting all three headshots for Triple Headshot is challenging, but it's smooth sailing from there. I find it best to start by turning around, Grapneling up to a Vantage Point, and making like Tarzan until you find the platform with a guy on it. Drop him with a Wrist Dart head shot, then fall (B) and aim for the platform edge with your Grapnel (RB). (This may take some practice). This will bring you back up to the platform ledge just in time to get a Ledge Takedown on the armored Jammer Backpack thug. Get him, then drop again (B) to reappear safely elsewhere in the level, with 1/3 of Triple Head Shot in the bag and the Jammer out of the way. * Triple Head Shot - Hit three thugs with Wrist Dart headshots for KOs. ** Difficulty 8/10. Getting A headshot is easy. Getting all three is hard, Nightwing's aim just isn't that steady. The best way to do it is to get a Ledge Takedown on a thug on one of the platforms on the outside of the level, escape to a Vantage Point, and then hit enemies as they watch over the side. Another method is to target thermal goggles thugs while they are looking at Vantage Points. Try not to get all the thermal goggles thugs with Wrist Darts - they're your best bet for Feet First. * Feet First - Do a Reverse Ledge Takedown from a walkway on a thug below ** Difficulty 6/10. This is an easy move to perform but requires extreme patience. They took the hostage out of this level because the hostage position offers a super-easy Reverse Ledge Takedown. Your best bet is the thermal goggles thugs, who pass under walkways frequently as they wander out to the outer platforms. * Mined Your Step - KO a thug by hitting a mine with the Mine Detonator. ** Difficulty 5/10. Listen for a "arming the mine" call from a thug and hit him as soon as possible. The mine turns a different color once they're out of range, so you'll know if you waited too long. I believe it's green for in range and red for out of range. You can also just watch a laid mine and hit whoever walks near it. Try to get an armored thug for this medal, since it's an instant KO despite the armor. Black Mask (Sionis Meat Packing Factory) This is Robin's DLC Predator Challenge. You can skip it as Nightwing to no ill effect. You will notice that this level, like Nightwing's DLC Wayne Manor Main Hall, is HUGE for a Predator level. Escape will rarely be an issue. It is much simpler if you go for Bowled Over first, immediately followed by Get Over Here. * Get Over Here - Channel Scorpion and pull a thug through a window with the Batclaw. ** Difficulty: 7/10. The challenge here is in getting someone to walk near a window. You can reliably get it on the guy who starts in the room to your left as the level begins, but you'll have to pull him at least twice to get him close enough, and you'll get shot at in the meantime. You can also get it on a guy in the windows in the upper area in the left side of the room after getting Bowled Over (see below). This does NOT have to lead to a KO for the Medal. * Bowled Over - knock a guy off a walkway with Electrical Blast for a KO. ** Difficulty: 5/10. Aiming the Electrical Blast properly is the hard part; aim so that the foe is directly between your landing point (circles' center) and the ledge. If you immediately (from the start) Grapnel up to the Vantage point above you and to the left, then drop down, you can get Bowled Over on the thug on this walkway very quickly. This sets you up for Get Over Here on the windows nearby as a thug runs by to see the guy you just knocked out. * Head Shot - instant KO a thug with a head shot from the Wrist Dart. ** Difficulty 1/10. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Hitting a head shot is a little difficult from a distance, as Nightwing's arm isn't very stable, but you get three tries. Try to shoot at thermal thugs looking up at something, or foes on walkways looking down, as their heads are still. Wayne Manor Main Hall This is Nightwing's DLC Predator Challenge. You must do this level for his Achievements. Go for Knock Knock first, there's a very reliable window for it just at the beginning. * Stick Up - knock someone down with the Escrima Stick, then Ground Takedown. ** Difficulty 2/10. You can get the Escrima Stick hit from around a corner if you use the manual version and wait for the green reticle. The Ground Takedown is still noisy and attracts foes. * Fall Guy - Batclaw a thug off a railing and watch them fall for a KO. ** Difficulty 7/10. This is mechanically very simple, the hard part is that Nightwing doesn't aim through railings too well, so your opportunities to pull them off without being shot at are slim. I wait until foes are few and try to do it across the open space near a corner on the upper level (so that you are at the same level as the thug), which makes targeting easier. * Knock Knock - distract a foe with a Wing Ding, then do a Silent Takedown while they're distracted ** Difficulty 7/10. This is mechanically challenging because the thugs are, well, dumb. Getting close enough to Silent Takedown and having a wall close enough to bounce a Wing Ding safely off of is hard. I suggest going for this Medal first. Run right from the start and go into the floor grates. Wait for a thug to come along. Hop out and throw a Wing Ding past him; it may take a couple of tries for him to react. Do the Silent Takedown while he's still looking around in confusion. =============================================================================== 9. Campaign special notes Here, I have listed the campaign conditions, what order you should take them in, and why. I may be missing positive conditions (Replenishing Health and Takedown Projectiles) because they are irrelevant if you are good at the levels; take them when you need them. First, some notes on conditions in general: * Negative conditions matter a lot less on Combat Challenges than Predator Challenges, so get used to loading up on negatives there. * Time Limit: You should always take Time Limit on Combat Challenges. Unless you aim for record times, Predator Challenges are best done calmly and slowly. * Increased Aggression is a positive for Combat Challenges, because enemies will have more health. More health means they take more hits, which means greater combos. * Increased Aggression and Time Limit pair poorly, especially on levels with Titans (Survival of the Fittest (Extreme) and Funhouse Brawl (Extreme)). It's plenty doable, but you have to cut some corners and KO as fast as possible to make up for the slow Titan rides, or kill the Titans last. * Super Powered is useless in Predator (extra crawl speed) but excellent in Combat (stun rods, shields, and armor no longer prevent attacks). * Decreased Health is much worse in Predator (start with a sliver of health, so you can take no hits) than Combat (start with a weak normal health bar, but with the split bullets/punches bonus health full). * Avoid using Beat Down while One Hand Tied is active - not seeing incoming counterable attacks makes the move harder to pull off. Against Lieutenants and Titans, position the camera carefully and jump around as much as needed. * Protective Aura is a bit buggy. If you start a KO animation while a thug is yellow, and he turns red before the animation completes, then he counts as KO'd for the purposes of "kill X guys to finish", but he stands back up! Usually if he stands up, his AI is broken and he just ignores you. If you don't touch him again, the match will end when you get the next-to-last guy, even though one is still standing. If you do attack him, the slightest attack (even Bat Swarm) will take him out. Also, he won't ever re-gain the red aura. * Gadget Malfunction is suicide on Predator maps - no Detective Mode! It's nearly meaningless in combat. * You get infinite retries on the first level of each campaign, but only four tries altogether for the latter two. Front-load hard conditions onto the first level, and don't waste Free Medal early! Search and Destroy * Meltdown Mayhem * Blind Justice (Protective Aura and Time Limit) * Police Brutality (take Replenishing Health if you didn't yet) Street Justice * Rooftop Rumble (Decreased Health, One Hand Tied, and Takedown Projectiles) * Natural Selection (avoid Takedown Projectiles, which complicates Stick Up by precluding Quickfire Escrima Stick) * Survival of the Fittest Offensive Maneuvers * Funhouse Brawl (Danger Zones, Scattered Weapons) * End of the Line (Free Medal, Replenishing Health) * Hell's Gate City Invader * Top of the World (Increased Aggression) ** Increased Aggression is a bonus on Combat maps, but take it here because the other three conditions are best handled on Prison Riot. * Prison Riot (Gadget Malfunction, Decreased Health, Super Powered) ** Gadget Malfunction and Decreased Health are both very hard to handle in Predator but no issue in Combat. You can swap Increased Aggression for Super Powered if you like. * Lost City Midnight Assault * Natural Selection (Extreme) ** This one is not easy, but you can restart for free, so take no negative or positive medals. You can take Danger Zones if you stay low in the level or Increased Aggression if you want. * Hell's Gate (Extreme) (Increased Aggression, Danger Zones, Scattered Weapons) ** You may have enough negatives here to make survival hard. Play conservatively and hit the gunmen with Wing Dings as necessary. * Meltdown Mayhem (Extreme) (Free Medal!, Replenishing Health) ** Any of the three Medals are good candidates for Free Medal. Work on all three, and whenever you get two, ignore the third. I skip Three Strikes. Hostile Takeover * Prison Riot (Extreme) (Super Powered, One Hand Tied, Time Limit) ** Prison Riot features the most shields and stun rods, making Super Powered great. Time Limit is better here, as Funhouse Brawl (Extreme) will feature multiple slow-to-kill Titans. One Hand Tied makes Titan and Lieutenant KOs hard on Funhouse Brawl, so take it here. You can swap Protective Aura or Decreased Health to here for Super Powered if you wish. * Police Brutality (Extreme) * Funhouse Brawl (Extreme) (Decreased Health, Protective Aura) ** Switch Super Powered in for either of these if this level gives you trouble. Double Jeopardy * Lost City (Extreme) (Protective Aura) ** Restart if Protective Aura lands on the Bowled Over thermal goggles guard target. Otherwise this is a slow and patient level so Protective Aura is no threat. If you feel gutsy, take Scattered Weapons and use the preset mines as traps! * Rooftop Rumble (Extreme) (Gadget Malfunction, Scattered Weapons, Increased Aggression) * End of the Line (Extreme) (Free Medal, Takedown Projectiles) ** You'll get Fall Guy easily. Once you have Triple Header, go to town with the Takedown Projectiles! Ruthless Vengeance * Survival of the Fittest (Extreme) (Decreased Health, Gadget Malfunction) * Top of the World (Extreme) (Super Powered) ** Super Powered doesn't help, but it doesn't help much on the Combat challenges either. It's most useful on Blind Justice, but that is the easiest challenge, so it's already loaded with negative conditions. * Blind Justice (Extreme) (Time Limit, One Hand Tied, Danger Zones) Combat Expert * Survival of the Fittest (Time Limit, Danger Zones) ** You can swap Increased Aggression for Time Limit. They're dangerous together because the extra health keeps enemies alive too long. * Funhouse Brawl (Increased Aggression) ** I prefer Increased Aggression here to hit the high score targets. * Prison Riot (Replenishing Health, if not needed elsewhere) Predator Expert * Meltdown Mayhem (Gadget Malfunction, Scattered Weapons, One Hand Tied) ** There are few thugs in this level, and it's pretty open, making it your best bet for Gadget Malfunction. First get Fall Guy on the thug that starts directly opposite you (one down, four left). Escape to a Vantage Point. Wrist Dart somebody and KO him for Bullseye (two down, three left). Return to a Vantage Point and wait patiently to tag two more as they step over the Scattered Weapons mines (four down, one left). Beat Down the last guy for Fists of Fury. * Lost City ** Avoid Takedown Projectiles, as it complicates Stick Up. * Top of the World (Takedown Projectiles) Combat Master * Blind Justice (Extreme) (Decreased Health, One Hand Tied, Scattered Weapons) * Rooftop Rumble (Extreme) (Protective Aura, Gadget Malfunction) * Hell's Gate (Extreme) (Super Powered) ** Hell's Gate features the most shields/armor/stun rods of this triplet, so save Super Powered for last. Predator Master * Police Brutality (Extreme) (Time Limit, Danger Zones/Increased Aggression, Protective Aura) ** This is the best level for Time Limit, as the Medals that require certain enemy configurations (Triple Header for a triple Electrical Blast and Chain Reaction for a double Line Launcher kick) are best gotten A) together, and B) immediately after KOing the Jammer Backpack thug, which you'll do ASAP. Danger Zones is a good choice here because you can hide in the side passageways instead of using Vantage Points, but Increased Aggression will complicate Natural Selection by making it harder to get groups of three (and REALLY hard to try again if you miss) for Triple Ricochet. * Natural Selection (Extreme) (Increased Aggression/Danger Zones) ** If you take Danger Zones, stay in the bottom area and you can try to get Triple Ricochet from around blind corners in the bottom passageways. * End of the Line (Extreme) (Free Medal!, Scattered Weapons) ** Totally ignore Switch Hitter. Get Fall Guy as usual, then escape to a Vantage Point. Use your Mine Detonator to KO someone on a pre-laid mine, then get Triple Header when everyone comes to investigate. You can get another guy with the Mine Detonator; after that my favorite tactic is Electrical Blasting thugs off railcars for KOs. You can also hide in the sniper nest and Batclaw away. Black Mask Campaign (not needed for Achievements) *Black Mask *Freight Train Wayne Manor Campaign (needed for Achievements) * Wayne Manor Armory (Protective Aura, Takedown Projectiles, Scattered Weapons) * Wayne Manor Main Hall (Danger Zones) ** Danger Zones is irrelevant here; there are tightropes on the ceiling that work as Vantage Points but are not booby trapped, so you can avoid the trapped Vantage Points. Avoid Takedown Projectiles, which complicates Stick Up by precluding Quickfire Escrima Stick. =============================================================================== 10. Copyright and contact info You can contact me with corrections, suggestions, strategies, or proofreading edits at stillnotelf ==at-symbol== gmail ==you-know-it's-a-dot== com. Copyright 2012 Steven Lewis. I have borrowed GameFAQs' suggested copyright notice: This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document (such at Batman, Nightwing, Catwoman, and the game title Batman: Arkham City) are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.