How to beat Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s annoying final boss

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a great game, but I hated fighting the final boss. This guy is designed to absolutely wreck you in a very short period of time. It took me well over 20 tries to defeat this guy. I don’t want you to suffer like I did, so here are some tips to bring the final boss down. Be warned, spoilers follow.

They call him Senator Armstrong for a reason. He possesses incredible strength due to nanomachines that harden this body whenever it’s hit with blunt force. Armstrong cannot be manhandled or pummeled into the ground. The only thing that can hurt him is the high quality HF blade left behind by Sam. However, just because the blade can cut him doesn’t mean he’ll flinch very often.

I used the stick-and-move strategy to defeat Armstrong. Much like the Sundowner fight, getting too close to Armstrong for too long will result in your swift defeat. Try running circles (at a safe distance) around Armstrong and wait for him to attack. When you have an opening, ninja run towards him and get in a few slices. Every now and then, you may stun Armstrong for a second. Use this opportunity to unleash Hell, but don’t get greedy. Also keep an eye out for the red aura that appears around him. This is how he telegraphs attacks. When you see the red, ninja slide away from him. If he starts to glow gold, get away quickly.

One attack you should look out for is the wall of fire Armstrong creates. Sometimes, he’ll create the wall and immediately charge you from behind the flames. If you time your slide just right, you can dodge this attack.

Once you’ve caused enough damage, Armstrong will use another charge attack that you can parry (press the analog stick towards the attack and press the light attack button) into a quick-time event. It may be a little difficult to recognize this attack from others, but it can be distinguished by the slight slow down that occurs right before he connects.

If you can get through the first QTE without taking much damage, you pretty much have the fight in the bag. Armstrong’s attacks don’t really change as his health decreases. He’ll throw boulders at you sometimes, but you only have to manually slice through them in slow motion. Don’t forget to move the camera to get more accurate cuts. These boulders also drop plenty of health.  You could have 5 health packs before the battle is over.

That’s the strategy I used to beat Armstrong prior to the game’s retail release. I’m sure other strategies are out there by now. How did you put Armstrong down? Share you experience and help your fellow gamers out!