Royal Inquisition

Gears of War 2 Guide - Act 4: Hive

Chapter 6: Royal Inquisition

There is some ammo, Frag Grenades, and a fully loaded Mulcher straight ahead from this chapter's starting point, so grab what you need before continuing up the steps and through the doorway in this room.

Collectible (1/1): When you enter the second room, turn left and walk all the way to the last column in the row. The collectible (Locust Tablets) is on the ground by the base of this column.

Collectible 1/1

Locust Tablets

Pull the lever along the railing and you'll then have to choose between the Left Hall path and the Right Hall path. Again, you won't miss anything by choosing one path over the other, but for the sake of following this walkthrough, choose the Left Hall path.

Left Hall Path: Move up and take cover behind one of the column bases. Kill the Mauler and Palace Guards that come through the doorway up ahead before moving on. You'll encounter a couple more Palace Guards and some Tickers in the next room, so take cover behind one of the columns. The next room branches off to the right, however there are some Torque Bow users across the pit, so you're going to want to take it slow here to avoid an early end. If you're carrying a Longshot, take cover along the railing and try to pick off  the Torque Bow users from your side, otherwise wait for Dom and Baird to kill them before moving on.

There are Torque Bow-wielding Palace Guards to contend with on your end as well, so once the other half of your squad have taken out the guards on their side, move up and take cover behind the wall before the corner. If you're carrying a Longshot you should have no problem taking them out from here, but just be sure to shift back behind the wall if one of the enemies is readying a shot. When the way is clear, move up, hop over the railing and head through the doorway at the far end of this area.

Continue into the next room to reunite with the other half of your squad. When you're ready to proceed, step onto the lift and pull the lever. In the next room, step on one of the pressure plates to bring up a piece of mechanized cover and start firing at the Palace Guards on the other side of the gap. After the first encounter, move up to the next gap to trigger more enemies. Take cover and kill the Palace Guards on the other side to close the gap.

You'll encounter even more enemies at the next gap. The Palace Guards will likely head up the steps to the right and up onto the walkway there, forcing you to hide behind one of the pieces of cover along the side. Make sure you've killed the first batch of enemies on the other side of the gap before switching over, because otherwise you may leave yourself open to Torque Bow bolts.

Kill all of the enemies to open the gap, then step onto the platform up ahead. Unfortunately the platform falls through the floor, leaving you surrounded by more enemies. The two ammo containers here spawn indefinitely, so take advantage of this to fill up your weapons.

When the second batch of Palace Guards funnel through the doors across from the pillar and handwheel, get on the handwheel and turn it until the platform reaches to the floor above.

This is it, there's no turning back now! Head up the steps and through the large door to confront the Locust Queen.

Boss Battle - Skorge: At the start of the battle, Skorge will engage you in a chainsaw duel. Rapidly press the B button to win the duel.

Skorge has three different attacks. The first involves the use of his Gorgon Pistol and Ink Grenades; he'll run along one of the walkways on either side of the arena, firing his pistol and tossing Ink Grenades at you. First you must determine which side of the arena Skorge is on, and then hide behind a piece of cover to avoid taking damage. When the POI icon appears at the bottom of the screen during the battle, pressing it will show you where Skorge is.

If an Ink Grenade lands near you, immediately shift over to one of the other pieces of cover to avoid getting caught in the poisonous fumes it emits. To make matters worse, Tickers also periodically spawn and romp through the Imulsion pools along the sides of the arena; you'll have to do a lot of shifting around during this fight to avoid an early end.

Another method of attack Skorge employs is taking to the ceiling and cutting the stalactites there loose. If one of these stalactites happens to fall on you, you're mush, so dash over to the opposite side of the arena when you spot Skorge up above. If you can see pebbles and sand falling around you, quickly roll to the side to avoid the falling stalactite. After he's cut loose one or more of the stalactites, Skorge will lob three Ink Grenades into the arena, or simply return to the walkway and fire at you with his Gorgon Pistol.

If he does toss the Ink Grenades, steer clear of these and head over to the opposite end of the arena to avoid Skorge's follow-up attack. After throwing a batch of Ink Grenades, Skorge will take to one of the pillars along the arena, cut it down, and send it falling towards you. These pillars won't just fall straight, so move as far away from the site as possible to avoid being crushed.

Don't waste any bullets on Skorge throughout this entire fight, just avoid his attacks and wait until he drops down for another chainsaw duel. He'll also lower the cover in the arena by stepping on the switch at its center when he drops down for a duel, so be sure to bring the cover back up right after the duel by stepping on the switch.

Best Skorge in three chainsaw duels to end this part of the fight. When he runs off, head through the doorway to the right of the throne to reunite with Baird and Cole. Cross the gap when the bridge connects and roadie run over to the Reaver pen at the other end of this area to complete Act 4.