Post by mitchell on Jul 7, 2013 3:20:28 GMT -5
Dead Space 2 Hardcore Mode Guide
I finished this mode a few days ago having died twice, once in the very first chapter to the tripod and once in the last chapter because of failing the QTE with Tiedemann. I know this game is quite old and this guide may never be used but I felt like writing one anyway as I think I learnt a lot of good strategies to use for different sections of the game and have tips for HardCore mode in general to share, enjoy ! .
Some things to take note of....
These are the strategies I used, many of them were found by other people so when I say “my strategy” I often mean the strategy I used. The game is two years old so I doubt anything I do hasn’t been done before.
I tried hard to make stuff clear but some areas are hard to explain without diagrams, check out the untouchable (no damage !) hardcore run by cjgarof (youtube) as I learnt many of my avoidance strategies from his videos.
If I could have made something clearer or missed out something please let me know !
Before attempting HardCore Mode
Play through the game on normal then on zealot, this will improve your skill at the game and help you to recognize problem areas that will need special preparation in a hardcore run. You should also be deciding where to put your 3 saves so they are not too close together, I have some good recommendations on where to put saves below. Finally, you should be figuring out your weapons of choice, Tactical upgrading is key so it is not wise to be focussing on improving more than 3 weapons at a time, there is always the respec option remember ! . What I also did was start a playthrough on survivalist and play each section just before attempting it on hardcore. This really helps iron out difficult rooms and keeps the enemy spawns fresh in your mind. If you lose too much health in a particular area, use checkpoint restart until you are happy with your ability to get through the same area in hardcore without taking too much damage.
Weapons
I understand people have differing opinions on which weapons to use, I personally only used 5 weapons in my hardcore run and I will only be covering those as they proved a very good combination.
Plasma Cutter
Your go-to weapon of choice for precision and decent power. Keep this the entire game as it will prove invaluable for the majority of your firefights. The secondary fire is great for cutting off legs or lurker tentacles and ammo is relatively plentiful especially early in the game. This should be a staple in all loadouts.
Ripper
Once upgraded this weapon is amazing for taking down strong enemies quickly and safely. Later in the game when enhanced necros are the norm the ripper will make mincemeat of them. It is also very economical in terms of ammo usage and I prefer using this to the force gun as it delivers constant damage and even if you miss the first shot you can drag it back over enemies . I never personally used it’s secondary fire but I’ve seen some players use it well. This weapon is crucial to some of the more confined and intense battles.
Detonator
The Detonator is invaluable in stalker areas and great for laying traps when you know where some of the necros spawn. Ammo stacks well and just shooting a mine at an enemy can do great damage. This coupled with the Plasma Cutter and Ripper was my loadout for the majority of the game.
Line Gun
Only use this in the early chapters when the ripper is not yet available. It’s a good back-up weapon for when you want to get something killed quickly. The secondary fire (mine) is useful for taking out infectors before they can create more slashers but ammo stacks poorly and is expensive. Don’t bother upgrading this one as it is powerful enough to get you by until the ripper is available.
Contact Beam
The final weapon I used in my run is the Contact Beam. I only used this in the final boss fight as, when fully upgraded and coupled with it’s secondary fire, it can take out the final boss in half a minute max. I’ve seen it used elsewhere due to it’s sheer power but it just isn’t economical enough for my taste.
Upgrades
Here I will suggest the best way to go about upgrading your rig, stasis and weapons with the power nodes you find. I used this guide wikigameguides.com/Dead-Space-2/wiki/Power-Node-Schematic-and-Semiconductor-Locations-4850
to make sure I found them all as well as schematics and semiconductors. Only carry schematics for suits and weapons you are actually intending to use as they take up valuable inventory space.
Plasma Cutter: go straight up the middle to the special fire damage upgrade, then go for remaining damage upgrades. You will most probably have this maxed out by the end of the game anyway.
Ripper: Damage and duration are your main targets here, it is so economical that you will very rarely need to reload in the midst of combat. You will probably have this maxed out by the end of the game too.
Detonator: Don’t upgrade this one much, reload speed and capacity (right at the start of it’s upgrade path) for the tripod elevator fight and maybe the next damage upgrade for later in the game.
Contact Beam: just pump everything you have into this at the final workbench before the last boss making sure to get the alt fire special upgrade. I personally respecced the detonator to get more nodes to do this.
Rig: Upgrade health every few chapters, don’t bother with air as you get plenty of time already. TK damage is something you shouldn’t really be worried about either unless you want to really conserve ammo and are comfortable with using it in risky situations
Stasis: This becomes invaluable especially later in the game, duration and no. of shots are your targets to upgrade here as stasis stacks extremely well in your inventory and you will get plenty of it.
Enemies
Here I will be detailing the enemy types that you will encounter and how to best deal with them.
Slasher
Your basic enemy, cut off each arm to kill them although the safest way in my opinion is to take out one of their legs and then cut off an arm. There is also a rare variant of these called the spitter so deal with those the same way as the puker (detailed below)
Puker
These guys are probably the next most common enemy in the game. just dismember them although their projectiles can be caught and thrown back at them with kinesis for an instant kill, that is my recommended way for taking them out.
Lurker
Use the plasma cutter or line gun to take out their tentacles, you need to take out 2 to kill them, sidestep their projectiles if they manage to get a shot off.
Leaper
These guys are your biggest threat in HardCore mode imo. They will leap at you and attack quickly and efficiently, Open fire immediately as taking off an arm will stun them enough for you to take out the second arm and thus kill them, act quickly or they will be your downfall.
Exploder
Do not let them explode on you or you will definitely regret it, take out the sack at a safe distance or try and use them to take out other necros in one shot.. You can also dismember the arm and use kinesis to throw the exploding sack at other enemies.
Pack
One plasma cutter shot each to take them out but it’s expensive this way, a line gun’s mine works well early game if you can group them up and later in the game the ripper should be used to kill 4+ of them in one shot.
Pregnant
Two shots to the leg to floor her and two to the arm to kill her, do not hit the belly !. The ripper works well if you can get up close, stasis and tear her apart as her swarm will be killed by the blade too.
Infector
Anticipate these guys and take out the limbs of nearby bodies so they can’t be resurrected. Otherwise dismember the wings with the plasma cutter, fire a mine from the line gun if they are in the middle of infecting something or just stasis and rip him apart with the ripper.
Swarmer
One ripper shot can take the whole group out otherwise try use other objects to squash them with kinesis.
Crawler
One plasma cutter shot each but they always come in groups so what i like to do is kill one without detonating them and throw them at the others with kinesis, you conserve much more ammunition this way.
Cyst
Be careful of these things, learn to recognize their distinctive noise, locate and take them out as they will deal heavy damage if you get too close. One-two plasma cutter shots will do the trick but if you want to save ammo use kinesis to fling objects at it if it’s on the floor, it will shoot it’s projectile up and kill itself. if it is on the ceiling/wall, do the same thing but catch the projectile with kinesis and throw it back at the cyst to kill it.
Brute
You only encounter 4 of these hulking necromorphs throughout the game, my strategy was alway the same. Simply stasis them, run behind and use the ripper to saw into their weak points, if the stasis wears off re-apply from your reserves while still sawing, he will die soon enough. If you don’t have the ripper for the first encounter any weapon will do as long as you use stasis and get behind him. A line gun mine also works well if you upgraded it a bit (not recommended unless you intend to respec).
Guardian
I believe there are 3 of these in the game, for the first one quickly stasis it and use the plasma cutter to cut off all it’s tentacles. DO NOT get close to him or he’ll 1 hit K.O you with no hesitation. For the last 2 guardians there is an explosive canister near them, usually around the corner. Simply stasis him, grab the canister and fling it at him for a 1 hit kill if done right.
Nest
These are only found in zero g areas, stasis and shoot the weak points, dodging his projectiles is easy enough. I simply glided over to him and used the ripper to saw his weak points, killing him with 1-2 blades.
Divider
The rarest necromorph in the game, there are only 2 of them in the game and 1 is optional and not recommended. The other is easy to deal with and will go over it in the main guide.
Squiggly necromorph things
These come out of a divider and are also found by themselves in several instances, Plasma cutter is your best friend here but be careful as they deal decent damage if and when they hit you.
Enhanced Necromorphs
Your normal enemies heading into the last 5 chapters, they are faster, have more health and deal more damage than their regular counterparts. Deal with them the same way but use an upgraded ripper in close quarters as it shreds them to pieces with no trouble, just saw at the legs for the enhanced slashers (by far the most common) and they won’t even be able to hit you. For puker your best bet is the projectile trick if they are far enough away. The enhanced leapers are the most painful but hopefully your weapons are well upgraded by the time you reach them. Shown in the picture above is a dark slasher.
General tips
Always upgrade to the next suit when it is available, the increased inventory space is invaluable not to mention the extra armor
If you are swarming in credits then don’t be afraid to buy the odd power node/med-kit. I sometimes bought medium medkits simply to store them, helps quite a lot in the later half of the game.
Keep a node spare for node rooms, there are a few that give you a lot more bang for your buck, I’ll let you know about them at their appropriate places in the guide.
Be prepared to buy ammo, especially for the plasma cutter as it is the least economical of the weapons in your arsenal. The ripper actually accumulates ammo at a faster rate then it uses up so you shouldn’t need to worry about it.
Be a packrat, if you have inventory space, pick everything up, everything except schematics can be sold for credits and if you need the space for something more valuable later on you can simply drop the less useful items.
Stomp enemies, every enemy drops something so make sure they have before moving on.
Don’t waste health packs but also don’t run around with under 70% health if you can avoid it, one vicious sequence of attacks can end a few hours work and you could end up cursing yourself at the last save point for not being properly healed up.
Here is a guide to locations for all schematics, power nodes and semiconductors, use it well as it is important to pick that stuff up in a hardcore run.
Use the respec healing trick, if you are under 50% health it is cheaper to respec your rig at a workbench for 5000 credits to attain full health rather than use medpacks.
Saves
1st Save: I put mine at the beginning of chapter 6, some put theirs just before the betrayal in chapter 5 but I don’t see the point when the tormentor battle is so easy. Another possible spot is right before the dragging sequence in the church as poor aim can end your journey right there. Any earlier would be bit too early in my opinion, you don’t want to be risky but leaving too much ground to cover is a mistake not worth making.
2nd Save: I put my second save at the end of chapter 9 right before the tripod’s nest which is also where most other players put their second save. The tripod nest is easy once you know the strategy so beginning of chapter 10 is another good spot although better being safe than sorry as they all say.
3rd Save: There are a few decent spots for your final save. I would target the end of chapter 13 right before the eye-poke sequence but chapter 13 has some tough sections and may be be too risky for some. Beginning of chapter 13 is a decent choice too but I wouldn’t go any earlier. Some players save before the drill ride but the sequence has no advanced necros and isn’t much to worry about in my opinion.
Chapter walkthrough
Here I will be detailing the tougher spots within all the game’s chapters. I will not be telling you how to play the game (you should already be fairly proficient at this), it is more my strategies that I think will help you get through the more difficult sections when doing a hardcore run. I go into depth quite a lot in the tougher parts. mainly because I have specific strategies for those parts. This isn’t a full game guide so I won’t of course be detailing where every necromorph spawns and how to get past every room, that’s what previous playthroughs are for !.
Sometimes you have to rely on your ability in combat because many rooms don’t have a specific way to go about getting through them and simply demand reflexes and firepower so be ready for that.
When I refer to enhanced/dark necros I mean the more powerful variants of the basic necromorph types.
Some rooms have multiple different spawn/enemy variations. The variations that I mention in this guide are what generally happened in my experience although it could still differ.
Finally, good luck !!, you are going to need it !!
Chapter 1
The main concern in this chapter is the tripod fight. What I did was stick close to him and bait him into doing one of his two attacks (sweep or arm smash), when he attacks, his other arm will stall for a bit, there should be enough time to get 1-2 easy shots in on his weak spot/s before he recovers. Lead him around the central pillar while doing this. Don’t get overconfident and stay too close to him or he will hit you, don’t stray too far away or he will do his leap attack and take off around 50% of your health, something you definitely don’t want to happen at this stage. Remember the stasis meter on the back wall but turning around to run and use it could be your downfall.
Make sure you get all 5 power nodes in this chapter, the one most people miss is floating in the small section where there is no oxygen. Refer to the link at the beginning of this guide for complete list of locations.
Chapter 2
The battle in the washing machine area can be a problem, once it goes dark, camp near the door you came in through . They will spawn either next to the machines or in front of the large door, use stasis on the leapers and you can also knock out the glass walls for some kinesis projectiles.
The second problem spot is the room with the travelator and the exploders, it really isn’t too difficult if you run to the exit and camp there, the majority of them will spawn at the other end of the room though be ready for one popping out of a vent near the exit.
The tram station isn’t too bad either, stasis the infector and shoot a line gun bomb on him, there’s a second slasher that comes from behind so watch your back. On the train ride, knock out the vertical rails to use coupled with kinesis , it’s still a powerful combat technique at this early stage of the game. You don’t need to shoot on the slide section as the slashers don’t seem to hit you anyway. The battle upside down can be hectic, try to line up one of the exploders with a slasher to take them both out in one shot, most of the enemies actually come from your left so stasis them and dismember. Bring out the line gun to take out the brute quickly and make sure you loot all bodies.
Chapter 3
For your first encounter with the pack try and group them up and shoot a line gun bomb ahead of you for them to run onto. Plasma cutter makes short work of stragglers but don’t worry too much about ammo wastage as the store is right there and the pack drop a lot of supplies.
Once you get to the rectangular room with glass panels at the end you will be assaulted by various necros, blow out the glass to suck them all out (aim a bit above the switch to help close it) and quickly enter the vent otherwise more pack will arrive.
The lobby can contain a few combinations of necros but there is always an infector that begins to infect a dead body, stasis + line gun bomb will take care of him. Aim at the central doorway down the steps (where you will eventually leave from) and usually an enemy will spawn here, finally you will get at least a pair of enemies spawning, one from each side of the area as well as possibly a 2nd infector. Stasis+line gun mine the infector as always and dismember the other 2-3 necros, if you are lucky most of them will be exploders but expect the unexpected. Always use stasis to avoid getting overwhelmed.
Just run straight through the gunship area and you won’t get hit.
Chapter 4
At the beginning of this chapter the path splits, your objective is right but go left to find a store and workbench, up the stairs to the study lies a power node too but beware of a necromorph waiting to attack after you collect it.
The circular room can be a challenge, stasis+bomb the infector while it infects the body upstairs then head downstairs. Quickly run to the right to do the same to an infector there, on the opposite side is another infector to take care of in the same way. A couple of slashers will also spawn so dismember them like usual, stasis is very important in this room.
Another room with a back wall made of glass/windows, you know how to deal with this one.
The first stalker section shouldn’t pose much of a threat, stay in front of the broken door, stasis the creatures and shoot out their legs first. There are several rods around to use as weapons with kinesis, remember to use the stalker claws as projectiles as well.
The final room in this chapter contains a few necros and a large group of swarmers, just kill the necros and dash past the swarm to the elevator, beware of the puker inside !. You may want to do a lap around the room while you wait for your ride so the swarm don’t get you.
Chapter 5
In the crypt, you only need to kill one necromorph, dismember the first puker and in the 5th room don’t even wait for the 2 slashers to spawn. Simply run to the right, stasis the puker around the corner and do the same to the slasher playing dead before sprinting out the door, you may need to reapply stasis if you haven’t upgraded it much yet.
Hopefully your aim is good enough to take out the tripod tentacle, when the pack arrive run up the ramp behind you on the left hand side of the room and use the ripper+plasma cutter to take them out once you have a bit of a train going. More necros spawn on the other side but stasis them, grab the medium med pack on the podium (in front of the exit) and high tail it out the central door, you can kill the necros if you want but don’t hang around too long or more will spawn.
Be wary of the necro that bursts into the elevator on the way down
The Tormentor battle is easy if your aim is decent, be quick with exploding the canister at the end.
Chapter 6
This is where it will start to get tough, I used my first save here right before the lobby (same room as in chapter 3)
In the lobby, take out the first pregnant and run to the other side of the room before killing the second (spawns behind you) . Camp next to the exit here as two leapers will spawn and will have to get to you by jumping right in front of your lines of sight (in order to get round the corner) allowing safe stasis+dismemberment. Quickly run out the door or 4 more will show up. Make sure you have the detonator+ammo once you leave this next store as it will prove useful soon enough
Watch out for the cysts here and the puker in the elevator after the zero-g section.
For the stalker section run into the room to trigger the onslaught, place a detonator trip mine between the crates in front of you and simply doing this should clear the room as long as you replace each mine after it blows up. It might be worth it to put another mine to your left as the odd stalker may charge through this gap too.
You meet Ellie here but first take the first left as a leaper will spawn and come after you, you should be able to take care of him much easier in this small room as he will have to land before attacking you.
This next room can be tough. It consists of 3 pairs of enemies and some cysts, take out all the cysts before moving forward and spawning the first pair of necros. you will get another pair ahead before 2 more necros behind you, turn around and be ready. Most of them are spitters/pukers so use kinesis to throw their projectiles back at them for quick kills.
The nursery shouldn’t be much of an issue except for the gym which can be a nightmare if you play it poorly. What I do is take out the first few pack, head to the left, spawn the enhanced puker and move backwards to make him spit so I can quickly take him out with it. Then stamp the limbs off all the bodies so the incoming infector can’t do it’s work. Hack the panel and immediately run down the steps and take out a few crawlers/pack. Run back up to the stage and try take out enemies using the crawlers as mines, then use stasis + the ripper to kill the rest of the pack and infector at close quarters.
You will meet your first brute here which will come down in front of the big electronic timetable board.Stasis and get behind him while attacking his vulnerable spots, ripper is great here.
Chapter 7
The tripod elevator can be a huge pain so bring plenty of medkits and a detonator with plenty of ammo as it is the weapon of choice for the ride. I would use the workbench to upgrade both capacity and reload speed (for the detonator) once as it will be a great help for the fight. Spin the camera around and once a tripod appears shoot a detonator mine right at his belly to knock him off, try to get them centred on the screen for near quick-scope like kills. The battle is tough and for me was the hardest part of this second section of the game. Moving back to avoid one tripod may move you into the path of another, it’s hectic and hard but you should survive as long as you stick to the strategy and don’t start walking around the elevator too much.
Beware of the cysts after exiting the elevator, use the explosive and stasis canisters to help take them all out.
Blow out the window once you reach the centre of the room (between the two spawning lasers) and once the enemies spawn here but be careful as the game will keep spawning a couple of slashers/leapers afterward so be prepared.
After using kinesis to activate the bridge lay a detonator mine in front of the small vent ahead (it’s at ground level). When you head left to loot the lockers (destroying the laser that appears in front of you in the process), a necromorph will pop out of the vent and be promptly killed by your trap.
Remember to grab the peng treasure while in the mainframe area, the stuff in that room is worth well over 30,000 credits. Once the fuses on both sides are fixed and you have exited from the vent, immediately place detonator mines across the doorway as a couple of slashers will attack. Stasis and ripper combination also works great here. Place more mines, one on each ramp to take care of the enemies spawning while you destroy the cells, reapply mines once the first ones are destroyed.
In one of the next areas you will be on a walkway and a leaper will attack, be ready because a dark slasher will climb up onto the catwalk afterwards. The leaper is easy enough (shot his legs while he runs at you) but you will probably have to use stasis on the dark slasher to help kill him. Next, 3 lurkers will appear on the wall to your left, use the plasma cutter to dismember their tentacles.
The zero g area shouldn’t be an issue. make sure to engage the nest straight away and also to grab all the loot scattered around the walkways.
You are now back at the transport hub, collect items quickly as once oxygen cuts out a lot of pack and other necromorphs will attack. Once they do simply run around the room in circles while avoiding straying too close to the walls. If you don’t turn around or slow down you will never get hit, you should also have plenty of air to get out once the door is unlocked.
Chapter 8
Once you get to the semicircle room where you can see an infector attacking bodies, get ready for an onslaught of dark necromorphs, by now you should have upgraded the ripper a bit and it will be a huge asset in this battle. Use a power node to enter the node room here as you get the vintage suit schematic, a ruby semiconductor and TWO power nodes, totally worth it.
The processing room with the workbench can cause issues as once you proceed to the exit a bunch of enemies will spawn. What I like to do is lay a detonator mine to the left when I walk in, then run down to activate the first dark slasher. Run back the way you came while laying a detonator mine to kill him, a normal slasher will spawn in the corner as will a puker, these guys shouldn’t be too much trouble. Remember to use stasis if you need extra time.
In the zero-g area, use your thrusters to help dodge lurker attacks while you dismember their tentacles
Chapter 9
As you walk along the catwalk 3 leapers will spawn, as soon as you hear them, run back to the first corner and take them out as they run at you along the straight path, a slasher will spawn soon after so plan accordingly as he may drop on top of you, might be wise to move to the left a bit.
Soon enough you will be attacked by a puker and two lurkers as you enter a control room, keep the puker in stasis while you kill the lurkers as he is hard to get with the projectile trick and while you waste time killing him the lurkers may already be firing off their darts.
Once you enter a hallway and hear the divider, run forward and stasis him once he enters one of the pathways around the central structure, run down the other path and take the elevator down, you should have plenty of time before he comes to his senses again.
Be careful when you step off the elevator as a dark slasher and exploder will drop from the roof not to mention the room is one of the ones you can “blow out”. Don’t panic here, what I recommend is one of two options. You can either charge in, stasis the dark slasher, take out the exploder and finish off the slasher with the ripper, or you can run in, stasis the slasher, back up to the back wall and blow out the room although this option is risky when you have little time to close the emergency metal wall with the red target.
For the guardian, stasis him and head into the alcove to your left to find an explosive canister to help take him out quickly.
Be careful when taking the elevator that stops just short of the top walkway, a slasher will appear followed by an exploder which you will have to take out quickly or risk dying. To your left will be a pregnant so take care of her without hitting the stomach.
Be careful of the squiggly head necro under the large wheel object while you are doing the small puzzle required to call the tram. These guys do decent damage so kill him quickly with the wheel or a plasma cutter shot.
Once the tram is called 2 dark slashers will spawn out on the catwalk. Using stasis and the ripper will make short work of these two. Be ready as one will climb onto each corner.
The stalker section consists of 3 waves. Run well into the room to spawn them and then run back (to where you came in) to place a detonator mine between the first two crates, there will also be one without his legs and a few cysts so watch out for those too. Once the first wave of 2-3 stalkers is over run further into the room to spawn an exploder which you should take out asap. Then sprint to the back-right corner of the room and be ready for another exploder popping out of the vent in the wall at ground level. Once he is taken care of more stalkers will be readying to attack so camp in this corner placing detonator mines across both entrances to finish the wave off.
The guardian in the next section is easily taken care of, stasis him and check around the corner for an exploding canister to make your job much easier.
Save at the end of the hall full of cysts (plus a normal slasher). There is a store here too so stock up on supplies as the tripod battle is up next.
For the tripod nest there is an easy strategy to get through unscathed. Try and shoot the first two exploding canisters at the target before the first tripod drops down. When he does stasis him and shoot off one of his arms, next run circles around the room picking up the canisters when they respawn and taking down what remains of the target’s meter.. The tripod should find it hard to hit you this way and as long as you don’t stray into the middle of the room you should be sweet.
Chapter 10
Ahh the Ishimura, a number of tricky sections here so keep plenty of medkits on hand and a power node for a nice amount of loot within one of the node rooms.
First up is the dark tunnel where you will encounter two brutes, take care of them using stasis and the ripper. They come one at a time luckily and the second one drops a diamond semiconductor so definitely make sure to pick that one up afterwards. Next, run to the other end of the tunnel taking out a pregnant/dark slasher along the way. Pick up the power node here and turn around as a few normal slashers will charge at you allowing plenty of time for you to chop off their limbs with your trusty plasma cutter.
After exiting the decontamination room for the first time open the next door and ready your weapon because a puker will be to your left as you enter the hallway, there are quite a few enemies here including dark slashers, lurkers and a pregnant. Even more will spawn if you go for the power node down at the left-hand end but I still believe that is a worthwhile “investment”. The ripper was my weapon of choice here except always be prepared with your plasma cutter too as I felt safer taking down the puker at a distance.
Your second entry into the decontamination room is much more dangerous, luckily you get a bit of time to prepare before the first enemies spawn. Lay detonator mines in the vent on the ceiling, 2-3 should be fine. You may want to do the same to other ceiling vent but up to you This will take care of 1-2 of the dark necros that will soon spawn. Next head to the corner between the crates and the glass window (next to the exit). Soon enough, some pack will attack with the first one crashing through the window right next to you, just punch this one and kill the 2-3 that come for you from the right. Another will come through the window so melee him too. I believe a few more come from the right after that so take them out too. Once that’s over 3 dark slashers and a dark puker will come out of the vents one at a time. Make the puker your first priority as he is close enough to vomit straight at your, your traps should take care of at least 1 slasher so use stasis and the ripper to take care of those remaining. I cannot stress enough how useful an upgraded ripper is for these types of fights.
The next annoying room is the first large room you enter on the medical deck ( has a weird chamber in the middle). Stand in the doorway and place a detonator mine connecting the central chamber to the wall that the entrance is part of, next run to where the exit is on the back-right side and place another detonator mine across between the central chamber and the back wall, be ready with stasis if a necro gets through these traps. Get out of the room asap as you can actually avoid fighting most of the second wave if you use stasis and are quick enough.
Next up is a fight with multiple enhanced/dark slashers and leapers. I have a good strategy for this section. After you have used kinesis to help cross the moving platform a second time (before the small lift), lay a few detonator mines next to each other above the elevator so the lines point back parallel to you. The first leaper will jump right into them when he crawls out of the vent. After he’s dead look at the floor below and take out the power cell from it’s socket to shut down the faulty generator (wait for the first slasher to run into it’s electricity first). Take the elevator down and be ready to run because as soon as it gets to the bottom the next wave of necros will spawn. Immediately hug the wall to your right and enter the room along here. Grab the power node and camp in the doorway while taking potshots at the necros as they try to get to you. You might need to move into the main area a bit to tempt them some more so don’t get overconfident when doing this ! . Once they are all down go across the ramp and use a node on the node room as it contains a bunch of medpacks including a large and two medium. This isn’t compulsory but a great help if you are running low.
In the zero g section avoid the lurkers, land and run out the exit, they shouldn’t hit you if you are quick.
This last big room can be tough so make sure to practice the run I’m about to describe in a separate playthrough beforehand. As soon as you enter run left (make sure to be close to the central structure) and then turn right around the large central pillar/structure(it’s actually an elevator if you played the first game). You will meet a puker which you should stasis then run past between the crates to meet a second puker, stasis him too. Turn right then left to meet a 3rd puker coming up the set of stairs, stasis him and you should have just enough room to squeeze past and make it to the elevator, I took no hits in this room in my run just make sure to be fast with the stasis as one hit will slow you down heavily and possibly cause your death. This strategy is high risk but high reward so if you want to play it safe take out enemies as usual although you will be using a lot of ammo and possibly be overrun by the multiple enhanced necros and stalkers.
Chapter 11
A few tough moments in this one too, first up is a battle against stalkers down a large sloping room. Run down to the bottom right to be greeted by some metal poles which can use against the stalkers. The battle is also much easier down here as they tend to give themselves long run-ups so you should have plenty of time to stasis and dismember them one at a time.
The huge, open room with two floors isn’t as bad as you might think, you can make out a dark slasher on the opposite walkway but don’t worry about him just yet. There will be a lurker on this top level so head left and take him out along with the dark necro that you saw earlier. Head along the top walkway (the one you saw the dark necro coming along) and grab the loot before heading back and finding a dark puker who you should kill using his own projectile. Next go down the ramp and go to where the power cell slot is (where the stasis refuel machines are too), a bunch of necros will attack from the direction you just came so aim down there to take them out. In my experience none come from the right side but be cautious nonetheless.
You will come to another zig zag catwalk soon enough, take out the first dark slasher when he spawns then take a deep breath and run along the rest of the walkway stassissing every enemy that spawns . There should be just enough room to squeeze past (same as at the end of chapter 10). You can of course fight them if you wish but at the expense of ammo as well as health unless you are a decent shot. Use a node on the node room straight after this section as it contains the awesome advanced suit as well as a bunch of other goodies including a ruby semiconductor.
The elevator fight is the hardest part of this chapter for most people. What I do is stasis one necro (usually a normal one if the other is an enhanced one) every time a pair drop down. Then I simply use the ripper to tear the other slasher to shreds then return to the one I stasissed. Make sure to find a corner and stick to it, you don’t want to be moving around too much between groups.
Chapter 12
The shortest chapter in the game but the drill ride can be a pain in the ass. Bring plenty of medkits, at least 5, and lots of plasma cutter ammo. You can always backtrack to the store beforehand unless you have already hacked the panel. Stand in front of the cab where Ellie is seated and look to your right as once the first ledge comes into view there will be 2 medium medpacks and 1-2 exploding canisters which you should grab and drop on the drill with kinesis. There are 4 groups of 3 lurkers, two groups to your right followed by 2 groups to the left. A canister should take out 1-2 at least leaving you to open fire on the tentacles of those remaining, remember you can always move to avoid their darts. Slashers and pukers will board the drill as well so use stasis and the ripper on those. There are no dark necros here which is great. Once the lurkers appear on the left, take out the first group and there will be another exploding canister amongst the last group. Tough it out and you should be fine.
Chapter 13
The first battle is super hectic, laying detonator mines and funneling them into the outer hallway that you start in is a decent strategy, try use the exploders to your advantage. Hack the panel quickly or a couple of dark lurkers will show up although no more necros spawn after them so don’t be too worried.
When the cops shoot at you duck right, through the door, follow the corridors and take out the battery as always. On your return poke your head out the door and saw the necros up with the ripper as they funnel through towards you, watch your back as one likes to jump into the hallway behind you. There aren’t too many enemies so you could just simply enter the main room and back up to the entrance taking out enemies as they charge at you.
Be careful in the room before the lab that has an infector in it, an exploder will drop down when you enter and put you in a sticky situation, wait until the infector has done it’s work then enter and stand behind the counter in front of you. Use the ripper on everything but the exploder, stasis is key as it always is in these tight rooms.
Entering the next node room will spawn a divider so if you decide to do this (I recommend against it myself) then be prepared to suffer the consequences.
The stalker section is similar to the one at the end of chapter 10 as 1-2 pukers are also present. I believe the stalkers are of a dark variety so unless you have upgraded detonator damage be prepared to place two mines on each gap to cover both entrances between the crates.
Be patient with the lazers here, you don’t want to die this late in the section. I am assuming you have played this part multiple times already so it should be no problem.
Here we are, the final real challenge of the game, in this red room a HUGE number of normal/dark necros will spawn and come after you. The room is tight so if you don’t want to risk it stasis the first through and run out the exit at the other end. If you choose to hold your ground the ripper coupled with stasis is once again the weapon of choice. The next level of this area isn’t as bad but the two options are still present, run or stand your ground. The bottom level has a dark brute but use the stasis canister to slow him down, get behind and rip up his weak spots as always. He also drops a diamond semiconductor so make sure to pick that up.
I used my 3rd and final save here, now is the time to be happy because the challenge of this mode is now over in my opinion. Stock up at the store and use the workbench if needed.
Chapter 14
Take the eye poke slowly, stop if Isaac’s eyes are getting too jittery and wait for them to slow down a bit before continuing. When the ubermorph arrives saw off all it’s limbs, put him in stasis and hack the panel before leaving.
Now RUN, try get all the easy-to-find power nodes in this chapter but otherwise you should be running most of the time, stasis necros in your path and if you must stand and fight use the ripper to tear everything apart. If you want you can avoid the nest in the zero g section, the chapter will be over very quickly.
Chapter 15
The same deal here although I would recommend more ripper and less stasis particularly when you must wait for a door to open, for the pukers, fling their spit back them for easy kills.
Use a node on the node door to get 2 in return as well as a ruby semiconductor among other goodies.
At the last workbench+store. Take all the medpacks you can muster then spend your remaining credits on nodes and contact beam ammo (you will need around 15-20 shots at least for the final boss fight) . Then head to the workbench and respec the detonator while pouring every node you have into the contact beam, hopefully if you have been conservative you can nearly fully upgrade it, especially if you collected every node in the last few chapters.
Once you get to the marker, be quick with the QTE to kill Tiedemann . For the final boss unload contact beam shots at Nicole then the marker when it appears, if the pack get too close use secondary fire to blow them away. The battle will be over before you know it. Survive the final escape sequence and you are home free.
Congratulations on beating Hardcore mode !!. I had a lot of fun playing it myself despite what was at stake and I hope you found this guide helpful !
Mitchell
I finished this mode a few days ago having died twice, once in the very first chapter to the tripod and once in the last chapter because of failing the QTE with Tiedemann. I know this game is quite old and this guide may never be used but I felt like writing one anyway as I think I learnt a lot of good strategies to use for different sections of the game and have tips for HardCore mode in general to share, enjoy ! .
Some things to take note of....
These are the strategies I used, many of them were found by other people so when I say “my strategy” I often mean the strategy I used. The game is two years old so I doubt anything I do hasn’t been done before.
I tried hard to make stuff clear but some areas are hard to explain without diagrams, check out the untouchable (no damage !) hardcore run by cjgarof (youtube) as I learnt many of my avoidance strategies from his videos.
If I could have made something clearer or missed out something please let me know !
Before attempting HardCore Mode
Play through the game on normal then on zealot, this will improve your skill at the game and help you to recognize problem areas that will need special preparation in a hardcore run. You should also be deciding where to put your 3 saves so they are not too close together, I have some good recommendations on where to put saves below. Finally, you should be figuring out your weapons of choice, Tactical upgrading is key so it is not wise to be focussing on improving more than 3 weapons at a time, there is always the respec option remember ! . What I also did was start a playthrough on survivalist and play each section just before attempting it on hardcore. This really helps iron out difficult rooms and keeps the enemy spawns fresh in your mind. If you lose too much health in a particular area, use checkpoint restart until you are happy with your ability to get through the same area in hardcore without taking too much damage.
Weapons
I understand people have differing opinions on which weapons to use, I personally only used 5 weapons in my hardcore run and I will only be covering those as they proved a very good combination.
Plasma Cutter
Your go-to weapon of choice for precision and decent power. Keep this the entire game as it will prove invaluable for the majority of your firefights. The secondary fire is great for cutting off legs or lurker tentacles and ammo is relatively plentiful especially early in the game. This should be a staple in all loadouts.
Ripper
Once upgraded this weapon is amazing for taking down strong enemies quickly and safely. Later in the game when enhanced necros are the norm the ripper will make mincemeat of them. It is also very economical in terms of ammo usage and I prefer using this to the force gun as it delivers constant damage and even if you miss the first shot you can drag it back over enemies . I never personally used it’s secondary fire but I’ve seen some players use it well. This weapon is crucial to some of the more confined and intense battles.
Detonator
The Detonator is invaluable in stalker areas and great for laying traps when you know where some of the necros spawn. Ammo stacks well and just shooting a mine at an enemy can do great damage. This coupled with the Plasma Cutter and Ripper was my loadout for the majority of the game.
Line Gun
Only use this in the early chapters when the ripper is not yet available. It’s a good back-up weapon for when you want to get something killed quickly. The secondary fire (mine) is useful for taking out infectors before they can create more slashers but ammo stacks poorly and is expensive. Don’t bother upgrading this one as it is powerful enough to get you by until the ripper is available.
Contact Beam
The final weapon I used in my run is the Contact Beam. I only used this in the final boss fight as, when fully upgraded and coupled with it’s secondary fire, it can take out the final boss in half a minute max. I’ve seen it used elsewhere due to it’s sheer power but it just isn’t economical enough for my taste.
Upgrades
Here I will suggest the best way to go about upgrading your rig, stasis and weapons with the power nodes you find. I used this guide wikigameguides.com/Dead-Space-2/wiki/Power-Node-Schematic-and-Semiconductor-Locations-4850
to make sure I found them all as well as schematics and semiconductors. Only carry schematics for suits and weapons you are actually intending to use as they take up valuable inventory space.
Plasma Cutter: go straight up the middle to the special fire damage upgrade, then go for remaining damage upgrades. You will most probably have this maxed out by the end of the game anyway.
Ripper: Damage and duration are your main targets here, it is so economical that you will very rarely need to reload in the midst of combat. You will probably have this maxed out by the end of the game too.
Detonator: Don’t upgrade this one much, reload speed and capacity (right at the start of it’s upgrade path) for the tripod elevator fight and maybe the next damage upgrade for later in the game.
Contact Beam: just pump everything you have into this at the final workbench before the last boss making sure to get the alt fire special upgrade. I personally respecced the detonator to get more nodes to do this.
Rig: Upgrade health every few chapters, don’t bother with air as you get plenty of time already. TK damage is something you shouldn’t really be worried about either unless you want to really conserve ammo and are comfortable with using it in risky situations
Stasis: This becomes invaluable especially later in the game, duration and no. of shots are your targets to upgrade here as stasis stacks extremely well in your inventory and you will get plenty of it.
Enemies
Here I will be detailing the enemy types that you will encounter and how to best deal with them.
Slasher
Your basic enemy, cut off each arm to kill them although the safest way in my opinion is to take out one of their legs and then cut off an arm. There is also a rare variant of these called the spitter so deal with those the same way as the puker (detailed below)
Puker
These guys are probably the next most common enemy in the game. just dismember them although their projectiles can be caught and thrown back at them with kinesis for an instant kill, that is my recommended way for taking them out.
Lurker
Use the plasma cutter or line gun to take out their tentacles, you need to take out 2 to kill them, sidestep their projectiles if they manage to get a shot off.
Leaper
These guys are your biggest threat in HardCore mode imo. They will leap at you and attack quickly and efficiently, Open fire immediately as taking off an arm will stun them enough for you to take out the second arm and thus kill them, act quickly or they will be your downfall.
Exploder
Do not let them explode on you or you will definitely regret it, take out the sack at a safe distance or try and use them to take out other necros in one shot.. You can also dismember the arm and use kinesis to throw the exploding sack at other enemies.
Pack
One plasma cutter shot each to take them out but it’s expensive this way, a line gun’s mine works well early game if you can group them up and later in the game the ripper should be used to kill 4+ of them in one shot.
Pregnant
Two shots to the leg to floor her and two to the arm to kill her, do not hit the belly !. The ripper works well if you can get up close, stasis and tear her apart as her swarm will be killed by the blade too.
Infector
Anticipate these guys and take out the limbs of nearby bodies so they can’t be resurrected. Otherwise dismember the wings with the plasma cutter, fire a mine from the line gun if they are in the middle of infecting something or just stasis and rip him apart with the ripper.
Swarmer
One ripper shot can take the whole group out otherwise try use other objects to squash them with kinesis.
Crawler
One plasma cutter shot each but they always come in groups so what i like to do is kill one without detonating them and throw them at the others with kinesis, you conserve much more ammunition this way.
Cyst
Be careful of these things, learn to recognize their distinctive noise, locate and take them out as they will deal heavy damage if you get too close. One-two plasma cutter shots will do the trick but if you want to save ammo use kinesis to fling objects at it if it’s on the floor, it will shoot it’s projectile up and kill itself. if it is on the ceiling/wall, do the same thing but catch the projectile with kinesis and throw it back at the cyst to kill it.
Brute
You only encounter 4 of these hulking necromorphs throughout the game, my strategy was alway the same. Simply stasis them, run behind and use the ripper to saw into their weak points, if the stasis wears off re-apply from your reserves while still sawing, he will die soon enough. If you don’t have the ripper for the first encounter any weapon will do as long as you use stasis and get behind him. A line gun mine also works well if you upgraded it a bit (not recommended unless you intend to respec).
Guardian
I believe there are 3 of these in the game, for the first one quickly stasis it and use the plasma cutter to cut off all it’s tentacles. DO NOT get close to him or he’ll 1 hit K.O you with no hesitation. For the last 2 guardians there is an explosive canister near them, usually around the corner. Simply stasis him, grab the canister and fling it at him for a 1 hit kill if done right.
Nest
These are only found in zero g areas, stasis and shoot the weak points, dodging his projectiles is easy enough. I simply glided over to him and used the ripper to saw his weak points, killing him with 1-2 blades.
Divider
The rarest necromorph in the game, there are only 2 of them in the game and 1 is optional and not recommended. The other is easy to deal with and will go over it in the main guide.
Squiggly necromorph things
These come out of a divider and are also found by themselves in several instances, Plasma cutter is your best friend here but be careful as they deal decent damage if and when they hit you.
Enhanced Necromorphs
Your normal enemies heading into the last 5 chapters, they are faster, have more health and deal more damage than their regular counterparts. Deal with them the same way but use an upgraded ripper in close quarters as it shreds them to pieces with no trouble, just saw at the legs for the enhanced slashers (by far the most common) and they won’t even be able to hit you. For puker your best bet is the projectile trick if they are far enough away. The enhanced leapers are the most painful but hopefully your weapons are well upgraded by the time you reach them. Shown in the picture above is a dark slasher.
General tips
Always upgrade to the next suit when it is available, the increased inventory space is invaluable not to mention the extra armor
If you are swarming in credits then don’t be afraid to buy the odd power node/med-kit. I sometimes bought medium medkits simply to store them, helps quite a lot in the later half of the game.
Keep a node spare for node rooms, there are a few that give you a lot more bang for your buck, I’ll let you know about them at their appropriate places in the guide.
Be prepared to buy ammo, especially for the plasma cutter as it is the least economical of the weapons in your arsenal. The ripper actually accumulates ammo at a faster rate then it uses up so you shouldn’t need to worry about it.
Be a packrat, if you have inventory space, pick everything up, everything except schematics can be sold for credits and if you need the space for something more valuable later on you can simply drop the less useful items.
Stomp enemies, every enemy drops something so make sure they have before moving on.
Don’t waste health packs but also don’t run around with under 70% health if you can avoid it, one vicious sequence of attacks can end a few hours work and you could end up cursing yourself at the last save point for not being properly healed up.
Here is a guide to locations for all schematics, power nodes and semiconductors, use it well as it is important to pick that stuff up in a hardcore run.
Use the respec healing trick, if you are under 50% health it is cheaper to respec your rig at a workbench for 5000 credits to attain full health rather than use medpacks.
Saves
1st Save: I put mine at the beginning of chapter 6, some put theirs just before the betrayal in chapter 5 but I don’t see the point when the tormentor battle is so easy. Another possible spot is right before the dragging sequence in the church as poor aim can end your journey right there. Any earlier would be bit too early in my opinion, you don’t want to be risky but leaving too much ground to cover is a mistake not worth making.
2nd Save: I put my second save at the end of chapter 9 right before the tripod’s nest which is also where most other players put their second save. The tripod nest is easy once you know the strategy so beginning of chapter 10 is another good spot although better being safe than sorry as they all say.
3rd Save: There are a few decent spots for your final save. I would target the end of chapter 13 right before the eye-poke sequence but chapter 13 has some tough sections and may be be too risky for some. Beginning of chapter 13 is a decent choice too but I wouldn’t go any earlier. Some players save before the drill ride but the sequence has no advanced necros and isn’t much to worry about in my opinion.
Chapter walkthrough
Here I will be detailing the tougher spots within all the game’s chapters. I will not be telling you how to play the game (you should already be fairly proficient at this), it is more my strategies that I think will help you get through the more difficult sections when doing a hardcore run. I go into depth quite a lot in the tougher parts. mainly because I have specific strategies for those parts. This isn’t a full game guide so I won’t of course be detailing where every necromorph spawns and how to get past every room, that’s what previous playthroughs are for !.
Sometimes you have to rely on your ability in combat because many rooms don’t have a specific way to go about getting through them and simply demand reflexes and firepower so be ready for that.
When I refer to enhanced/dark necros I mean the more powerful variants of the basic necromorph types.
Some rooms have multiple different spawn/enemy variations. The variations that I mention in this guide are what generally happened in my experience although it could still differ.
Finally, good luck !!, you are going to need it !!
Chapter 1
The main concern in this chapter is the tripod fight. What I did was stick close to him and bait him into doing one of his two attacks (sweep or arm smash), when he attacks, his other arm will stall for a bit, there should be enough time to get 1-2 easy shots in on his weak spot/s before he recovers. Lead him around the central pillar while doing this. Don’t get overconfident and stay too close to him or he will hit you, don’t stray too far away or he will do his leap attack and take off around 50% of your health, something you definitely don’t want to happen at this stage. Remember the stasis meter on the back wall but turning around to run and use it could be your downfall.
Make sure you get all 5 power nodes in this chapter, the one most people miss is floating in the small section where there is no oxygen. Refer to the link at the beginning of this guide for complete list of locations.
Chapter 2
The battle in the washing machine area can be a problem, once it goes dark, camp near the door you came in through . They will spawn either next to the machines or in front of the large door, use stasis on the leapers and you can also knock out the glass walls for some kinesis projectiles.
The second problem spot is the room with the travelator and the exploders, it really isn’t too difficult if you run to the exit and camp there, the majority of them will spawn at the other end of the room though be ready for one popping out of a vent near the exit.
The tram station isn’t too bad either, stasis the infector and shoot a line gun bomb on him, there’s a second slasher that comes from behind so watch your back. On the train ride, knock out the vertical rails to use coupled with kinesis , it’s still a powerful combat technique at this early stage of the game. You don’t need to shoot on the slide section as the slashers don’t seem to hit you anyway. The battle upside down can be hectic, try to line up one of the exploders with a slasher to take them both out in one shot, most of the enemies actually come from your left so stasis them and dismember. Bring out the line gun to take out the brute quickly and make sure you loot all bodies.
Chapter 3
For your first encounter with the pack try and group them up and shoot a line gun bomb ahead of you for them to run onto. Plasma cutter makes short work of stragglers but don’t worry too much about ammo wastage as the store is right there and the pack drop a lot of supplies.
Once you get to the rectangular room with glass panels at the end you will be assaulted by various necros, blow out the glass to suck them all out (aim a bit above the switch to help close it) and quickly enter the vent otherwise more pack will arrive.
The lobby can contain a few combinations of necros but there is always an infector that begins to infect a dead body, stasis + line gun bomb will take care of him. Aim at the central doorway down the steps (where you will eventually leave from) and usually an enemy will spawn here, finally you will get at least a pair of enemies spawning, one from each side of the area as well as possibly a 2nd infector. Stasis+line gun mine the infector as always and dismember the other 2-3 necros, if you are lucky most of them will be exploders but expect the unexpected. Always use stasis to avoid getting overwhelmed.
Just run straight through the gunship area and you won’t get hit.
Chapter 4
At the beginning of this chapter the path splits, your objective is right but go left to find a store and workbench, up the stairs to the study lies a power node too but beware of a necromorph waiting to attack after you collect it.
The circular room can be a challenge, stasis+bomb the infector while it infects the body upstairs then head downstairs. Quickly run to the right to do the same to an infector there, on the opposite side is another infector to take care of in the same way. A couple of slashers will also spawn so dismember them like usual, stasis is very important in this room.
Another room with a back wall made of glass/windows, you know how to deal with this one.
The first stalker section shouldn’t pose much of a threat, stay in front of the broken door, stasis the creatures and shoot out their legs first. There are several rods around to use as weapons with kinesis, remember to use the stalker claws as projectiles as well.
The final room in this chapter contains a few necros and a large group of swarmers, just kill the necros and dash past the swarm to the elevator, beware of the puker inside !. You may want to do a lap around the room while you wait for your ride so the swarm don’t get you.
Chapter 5
In the crypt, you only need to kill one necromorph, dismember the first puker and in the 5th room don’t even wait for the 2 slashers to spawn. Simply run to the right, stasis the puker around the corner and do the same to the slasher playing dead before sprinting out the door, you may need to reapply stasis if you haven’t upgraded it much yet.
Hopefully your aim is good enough to take out the tripod tentacle, when the pack arrive run up the ramp behind you on the left hand side of the room and use the ripper+plasma cutter to take them out once you have a bit of a train going. More necros spawn on the other side but stasis them, grab the medium med pack on the podium (in front of the exit) and high tail it out the central door, you can kill the necros if you want but don’t hang around too long or more will spawn.
Be wary of the necro that bursts into the elevator on the way down
The Tormentor battle is easy if your aim is decent, be quick with exploding the canister at the end.
Chapter 6
This is where it will start to get tough, I used my first save here right before the lobby (same room as in chapter 3)
In the lobby, take out the first pregnant and run to the other side of the room before killing the second (spawns behind you) . Camp next to the exit here as two leapers will spawn and will have to get to you by jumping right in front of your lines of sight (in order to get round the corner) allowing safe stasis+dismemberment. Quickly run out the door or 4 more will show up. Make sure you have the detonator+ammo once you leave this next store as it will prove useful soon enough
Watch out for the cysts here and the puker in the elevator after the zero-g section.
For the stalker section run into the room to trigger the onslaught, place a detonator trip mine between the crates in front of you and simply doing this should clear the room as long as you replace each mine after it blows up. It might be worth it to put another mine to your left as the odd stalker may charge through this gap too.
You meet Ellie here but first take the first left as a leaper will spawn and come after you, you should be able to take care of him much easier in this small room as he will have to land before attacking you.
This next room can be tough. It consists of 3 pairs of enemies and some cysts, take out all the cysts before moving forward and spawning the first pair of necros. you will get another pair ahead before 2 more necros behind you, turn around and be ready. Most of them are spitters/pukers so use kinesis to throw their projectiles back at them for quick kills.
The nursery shouldn’t be much of an issue except for the gym which can be a nightmare if you play it poorly. What I do is take out the first few pack, head to the left, spawn the enhanced puker and move backwards to make him spit so I can quickly take him out with it. Then stamp the limbs off all the bodies so the incoming infector can’t do it’s work. Hack the panel and immediately run down the steps and take out a few crawlers/pack. Run back up to the stage and try take out enemies using the crawlers as mines, then use stasis + the ripper to kill the rest of the pack and infector at close quarters.
You will meet your first brute here which will come down in front of the big electronic timetable board.Stasis and get behind him while attacking his vulnerable spots, ripper is great here.
Chapter 7
The tripod elevator can be a huge pain so bring plenty of medkits and a detonator with plenty of ammo as it is the weapon of choice for the ride. I would use the workbench to upgrade both capacity and reload speed (for the detonator) once as it will be a great help for the fight. Spin the camera around and once a tripod appears shoot a detonator mine right at his belly to knock him off, try to get them centred on the screen for near quick-scope like kills. The battle is tough and for me was the hardest part of this second section of the game. Moving back to avoid one tripod may move you into the path of another, it’s hectic and hard but you should survive as long as you stick to the strategy and don’t start walking around the elevator too much.
Beware of the cysts after exiting the elevator, use the explosive and stasis canisters to help take them all out.
Blow out the window once you reach the centre of the room (between the two spawning lasers) and once the enemies spawn here but be careful as the game will keep spawning a couple of slashers/leapers afterward so be prepared.
After using kinesis to activate the bridge lay a detonator mine in front of the small vent ahead (it’s at ground level). When you head left to loot the lockers (destroying the laser that appears in front of you in the process), a necromorph will pop out of the vent and be promptly killed by your trap.
Remember to grab the peng treasure while in the mainframe area, the stuff in that room is worth well over 30,000 credits. Once the fuses on both sides are fixed and you have exited from the vent, immediately place detonator mines across the doorway as a couple of slashers will attack. Stasis and ripper combination also works great here. Place more mines, one on each ramp to take care of the enemies spawning while you destroy the cells, reapply mines once the first ones are destroyed.
In one of the next areas you will be on a walkway and a leaper will attack, be ready because a dark slasher will climb up onto the catwalk afterwards. The leaper is easy enough (shot his legs while he runs at you) but you will probably have to use stasis on the dark slasher to help kill him. Next, 3 lurkers will appear on the wall to your left, use the plasma cutter to dismember their tentacles.
The zero g area shouldn’t be an issue. make sure to engage the nest straight away and also to grab all the loot scattered around the walkways.
You are now back at the transport hub, collect items quickly as once oxygen cuts out a lot of pack and other necromorphs will attack. Once they do simply run around the room in circles while avoiding straying too close to the walls. If you don’t turn around or slow down you will never get hit, you should also have plenty of air to get out once the door is unlocked.
Chapter 8
Once you get to the semicircle room where you can see an infector attacking bodies, get ready for an onslaught of dark necromorphs, by now you should have upgraded the ripper a bit and it will be a huge asset in this battle. Use a power node to enter the node room here as you get the vintage suit schematic, a ruby semiconductor and TWO power nodes, totally worth it.
The processing room with the workbench can cause issues as once you proceed to the exit a bunch of enemies will spawn. What I like to do is lay a detonator mine to the left when I walk in, then run down to activate the first dark slasher. Run back the way you came while laying a detonator mine to kill him, a normal slasher will spawn in the corner as will a puker, these guys shouldn’t be too much trouble. Remember to use stasis if you need extra time.
In the zero-g area, use your thrusters to help dodge lurker attacks while you dismember their tentacles
Chapter 9
As you walk along the catwalk 3 leapers will spawn, as soon as you hear them, run back to the first corner and take them out as they run at you along the straight path, a slasher will spawn soon after so plan accordingly as he may drop on top of you, might be wise to move to the left a bit.
Soon enough you will be attacked by a puker and two lurkers as you enter a control room, keep the puker in stasis while you kill the lurkers as he is hard to get with the projectile trick and while you waste time killing him the lurkers may already be firing off their darts.
Once you enter a hallway and hear the divider, run forward and stasis him once he enters one of the pathways around the central structure, run down the other path and take the elevator down, you should have plenty of time before he comes to his senses again.
Be careful when you step off the elevator as a dark slasher and exploder will drop from the roof not to mention the room is one of the ones you can “blow out”. Don’t panic here, what I recommend is one of two options. You can either charge in, stasis the dark slasher, take out the exploder and finish off the slasher with the ripper, or you can run in, stasis the slasher, back up to the back wall and blow out the room although this option is risky when you have little time to close the emergency metal wall with the red target.
For the guardian, stasis him and head into the alcove to your left to find an explosive canister to help take him out quickly.
Be careful when taking the elevator that stops just short of the top walkway, a slasher will appear followed by an exploder which you will have to take out quickly or risk dying. To your left will be a pregnant so take care of her without hitting the stomach.
Be careful of the squiggly head necro under the large wheel object while you are doing the small puzzle required to call the tram. These guys do decent damage so kill him quickly with the wheel or a plasma cutter shot.
Once the tram is called 2 dark slashers will spawn out on the catwalk. Using stasis and the ripper will make short work of these two. Be ready as one will climb onto each corner.
The stalker section consists of 3 waves. Run well into the room to spawn them and then run back (to where you came in) to place a detonator mine between the first two crates, there will also be one without his legs and a few cysts so watch out for those too. Once the first wave of 2-3 stalkers is over run further into the room to spawn an exploder which you should take out asap. Then sprint to the back-right corner of the room and be ready for another exploder popping out of the vent in the wall at ground level. Once he is taken care of more stalkers will be readying to attack so camp in this corner placing detonator mines across both entrances to finish the wave off.
The guardian in the next section is easily taken care of, stasis him and check around the corner for an exploding canister to make your job much easier.
Save at the end of the hall full of cysts (plus a normal slasher). There is a store here too so stock up on supplies as the tripod battle is up next.
For the tripod nest there is an easy strategy to get through unscathed. Try and shoot the first two exploding canisters at the target before the first tripod drops down. When he does stasis him and shoot off one of his arms, next run circles around the room picking up the canisters when they respawn and taking down what remains of the target’s meter.. The tripod should find it hard to hit you this way and as long as you don’t stray into the middle of the room you should be sweet.
Chapter 10
Ahh the Ishimura, a number of tricky sections here so keep plenty of medkits on hand and a power node for a nice amount of loot within one of the node rooms.
First up is the dark tunnel where you will encounter two brutes, take care of them using stasis and the ripper. They come one at a time luckily and the second one drops a diamond semiconductor so definitely make sure to pick that one up afterwards. Next, run to the other end of the tunnel taking out a pregnant/dark slasher along the way. Pick up the power node here and turn around as a few normal slashers will charge at you allowing plenty of time for you to chop off their limbs with your trusty plasma cutter.
After exiting the decontamination room for the first time open the next door and ready your weapon because a puker will be to your left as you enter the hallway, there are quite a few enemies here including dark slashers, lurkers and a pregnant. Even more will spawn if you go for the power node down at the left-hand end but I still believe that is a worthwhile “investment”. The ripper was my weapon of choice here except always be prepared with your plasma cutter too as I felt safer taking down the puker at a distance.
Your second entry into the decontamination room is much more dangerous, luckily you get a bit of time to prepare before the first enemies spawn. Lay detonator mines in the vent on the ceiling, 2-3 should be fine. You may want to do the same to other ceiling vent but up to you This will take care of 1-2 of the dark necros that will soon spawn. Next head to the corner between the crates and the glass window (next to the exit). Soon enough, some pack will attack with the first one crashing through the window right next to you, just punch this one and kill the 2-3 that come for you from the right. Another will come through the window so melee him too. I believe a few more come from the right after that so take them out too. Once that’s over 3 dark slashers and a dark puker will come out of the vents one at a time. Make the puker your first priority as he is close enough to vomit straight at your, your traps should take care of at least 1 slasher so use stasis and the ripper to take care of those remaining. I cannot stress enough how useful an upgraded ripper is for these types of fights.
The next annoying room is the first large room you enter on the medical deck ( has a weird chamber in the middle). Stand in the doorway and place a detonator mine connecting the central chamber to the wall that the entrance is part of, next run to where the exit is on the back-right side and place another detonator mine across between the central chamber and the back wall, be ready with stasis if a necro gets through these traps. Get out of the room asap as you can actually avoid fighting most of the second wave if you use stasis and are quick enough.
Next up is a fight with multiple enhanced/dark slashers and leapers. I have a good strategy for this section. After you have used kinesis to help cross the moving platform a second time (before the small lift), lay a few detonator mines next to each other above the elevator so the lines point back parallel to you. The first leaper will jump right into them when he crawls out of the vent. After he’s dead look at the floor below and take out the power cell from it’s socket to shut down the faulty generator (wait for the first slasher to run into it’s electricity first). Take the elevator down and be ready to run because as soon as it gets to the bottom the next wave of necros will spawn. Immediately hug the wall to your right and enter the room along here. Grab the power node and camp in the doorway while taking potshots at the necros as they try to get to you. You might need to move into the main area a bit to tempt them some more so don’t get overconfident when doing this ! . Once they are all down go across the ramp and use a node on the node room as it contains a bunch of medpacks including a large and two medium. This isn’t compulsory but a great help if you are running low.
In the zero g section avoid the lurkers, land and run out the exit, they shouldn’t hit you if you are quick.
This last big room can be tough so make sure to practice the run I’m about to describe in a separate playthrough beforehand. As soon as you enter run left (make sure to be close to the central structure) and then turn right around the large central pillar/structure(it’s actually an elevator if you played the first game). You will meet a puker which you should stasis then run past between the crates to meet a second puker, stasis him too. Turn right then left to meet a 3rd puker coming up the set of stairs, stasis him and you should have just enough room to squeeze past and make it to the elevator, I took no hits in this room in my run just make sure to be fast with the stasis as one hit will slow you down heavily and possibly cause your death. This strategy is high risk but high reward so if you want to play it safe take out enemies as usual although you will be using a lot of ammo and possibly be overrun by the multiple enhanced necros and stalkers.
Chapter 11
A few tough moments in this one too, first up is a battle against stalkers down a large sloping room. Run down to the bottom right to be greeted by some metal poles which can use against the stalkers. The battle is also much easier down here as they tend to give themselves long run-ups so you should have plenty of time to stasis and dismember them one at a time.
The huge, open room with two floors isn’t as bad as you might think, you can make out a dark slasher on the opposite walkway but don’t worry about him just yet. There will be a lurker on this top level so head left and take him out along with the dark necro that you saw earlier. Head along the top walkway (the one you saw the dark necro coming along) and grab the loot before heading back and finding a dark puker who you should kill using his own projectile. Next go down the ramp and go to where the power cell slot is (where the stasis refuel machines are too), a bunch of necros will attack from the direction you just came so aim down there to take them out. In my experience none come from the right side but be cautious nonetheless.
You will come to another zig zag catwalk soon enough, take out the first dark slasher when he spawns then take a deep breath and run along the rest of the walkway stassissing every enemy that spawns . There should be just enough room to squeeze past (same as at the end of chapter 10). You can of course fight them if you wish but at the expense of ammo as well as health unless you are a decent shot. Use a node on the node room straight after this section as it contains the awesome advanced suit as well as a bunch of other goodies including a ruby semiconductor.
The elevator fight is the hardest part of this chapter for most people. What I do is stasis one necro (usually a normal one if the other is an enhanced one) every time a pair drop down. Then I simply use the ripper to tear the other slasher to shreds then return to the one I stasissed. Make sure to find a corner and stick to it, you don’t want to be moving around too much between groups.
Chapter 12
The shortest chapter in the game but the drill ride can be a pain in the ass. Bring plenty of medkits, at least 5, and lots of plasma cutter ammo. You can always backtrack to the store beforehand unless you have already hacked the panel. Stand in front of the cab where Ellie is seated and look to your right as once the first ledge comes into view there will be 2 medium medpacks and 1-2 exploding canisters which you should grab and drop on the drill with kinesis. There are 4 groups of 3 lurkers, two groups to your right followed by 2 groups to the left. A canister should take out 1-2 at least leaving you to open fire on the tentacles of those remaining, remember you can always move to avoid their darts. Slashers and pukers will board the drill as well so use stasis and the ripper on those. There are no dark necros here which is great. Once the lurkers appear on the left, take out the first group and there will be another exploding canister amongst the last group. Tough it out and you should be fine.
Chapter 13
The first battle is super hectic, laying detonator mines and funneling them into the outer hallway that you start in is a decent strategy, try use the exploders to your advantage. Hack the panel quickly or a couple of dark lurkers will show up although no more necros spawn after them so don’t be too worried.
When the cops shoot at you duck right, through the door, follow the corridors and take out the battery as always. On your return poke your head out the door and saw the necros up with the ripper as they funnel through towards you, watch your back as one likes to jump into the hallway behind you. There aren’t too many enemies so you could just simply enter the main room and back up to the entrance taking out enemies as they charge at you.
Be careful in the room before the lab that has an infector in it, an exploder will drop down when you enter and put you in a sticky situation, wait until the infector has done it’s work then enter and stand behind the counter in front of you. Use the ripper on everything but the exploder, stasis is key as it always is in these tight rooms.
Entering the next node room will spawn a divider so if you decide to do this (I recommend against it myself) then be prepared to suffer the consequences.
The stalker section is similar to the one at the end of chapter 10 as 1-2 pukers are also present. I believe the stalkers are of a dark variety so unless you have upgraded detonator damage be prepared to place two mines on each gap to cover both entrances between the crates.
Be patient with the lazers here, you don’t want to die this late in the section. I am assuming you have played this part multiple times already so it should be no problem.
Here we are, the final real challenge of the game, in this red room a HUGE number of normal/dark necros will spawn and come after you. The room is tight so if you don’t want to risk it stasis the first through and run out the exit at the other end. If you choose to hold your ground the ripper coupled with stasis is once again the weapon of choice. The next level of this area isn’t as bad but the two options are still present, run or stand your ground. The bottom level has a dark brute but use the stasis canister to slow him down, get behind and rip up his weak spots as always. He also drops a diamond semiconductor so make sure to pick that up.
I used my 3rd and final save here, now is the time to be happy because the challenge of this mode is now over in my opinion. Stock up at the store and use the workbench if needed.
Chapter 14
Take the eye poke slowly, stop if Isaac’s eyes are getting too jittery and wait for them to slow down a bit before continuing. When the ubermorph arrives saw off all it’s limbs, put him in stasis and hack the panel before leaving.
Now RUN, try get all the easy-to-find power nodes in this chapter but otherwise you should be running most of the time, stasis necros in your path and if you must stand and fight use the ripper to tear everything apart. If you want you can avoid the nest in the zero g section, the chapter will be over very quickly.
Chapter 15
The same deal here although I would recommend more ripper and less stasis particularly when you must wait for a door to open, for the pukers, fling their spit back them for easy kills.
Use a node on the node door to get 2 in return as well as a ruby semiconductor among other goodies.
At the last workbench+store. Take all the medpacks you can muster then spend your remaining credits on nodes and contact beam ammo (you will need around 15-20 shots at least for the final boss fight) . Then head to the workbench and respec the detonator while pouring every node you have into the contact beam, hopefully if you have been conservative you can nearly fully upgrade it, especially if you collected every node in the last few chapters.
Once you get to the marker, be quick with the QTE to kill Tiedemann . For the final boss unload contact beam shots at Nicole then the marker when it appears, if the pack get too close use secondary fire to blow them away. The battle will be over before you know it. Survive the final escape sequence and you are home free.
Congratulations on beating Hardcore mode !!. I had a lot of fun playing it myself despite what was at stake and I hope you found this guide helpful !
Mitchell
