File R-02: Research Facility

THE SEWERS

Head through the sewers until you reach an intersection; straight ahead lies a box with some [REPAIR NANOPASTE]. The other path leads you to an inevitable battle with a new type of grunt UG called Mastiff. Try parrying/blocking its attacks and avoid his grapple attack (as all enemies, it'll flash yellow beforehand).

Ranked Battle #1

Continue and go up the small stairs; from this upper catwalk you can easily perform a ninja move from above on the first Mastiff. The second one can be dispatched either by using the boxes to reach a second catwalk, or by slashing the door on the right side of the sewers open, running towards the other side, and approaching the Mastiff from its back (the second method is faster).

VR Mission #5

After defeating the second Mastiff, look for a door on the right side of the sewer hall, nearby the boxes that lead to an upper catwalk. The VR intel can be found in the corner of the first room.

Dwarf gekko fight.

Cut through the fence on the left side of the walkway and jump down the hole to access the next part of the sewers. As you move further through the sewers, dwarf gekkos attack you (mostly dropping from the ceiling). Taking them out one by one makes it easier to get an S-ranking for the entire battle. Don't miss the box on some debris to the right side of the hall after moving around the corner; it contains [500 BP]. A second box on some debris to the left side of the hall contains an [ELECTROLYTE PACK].

Humanoid Gekko + Raptor fight.

HUMANOID DWARF GEKKO: Head back to the beginning of this hall (where you dropped down) to fight a humanoid dwarf gekko (which is part of the 'Tearing Away the Disguise' trophy/achievement). It gives 5000 BP, so that's not too shabby!

Before heading through the gate at the far end of the hallway, look for an [E M GRENADE] in the dead-end corner. Cut through the gate and approach the hole to trigger a cutscene.

You'll have to fight off three hounds, who can be quite fierce. Do your best at parrying and try to take them out one by one.

After the fight, backtrack slightly to find a [GRENADE] in an item box around the corner. Proceed through the sewers and cut through the door to reach a generator room. You can find a [CARDBOARD BOX] on the right side of the room, which allows for some classic sneaking around!

VR Mission #6

This piece of intel is easy to find. Simple search the left side of the generator room in the sewers to spot it.

Cut your way through the doors and you'll reach a heavily guarded area (three Mastiffs patrol it). While it's possible to sneak to the far left side of the hall, there's a more efficient and rewarding way to go about things.

Wait right before the lower doorway and activate your AR. There's a Mastiff walking in the lower part of the sewers, a second one walking on the upper catwalk, and a third one patrolling the upper catwalks on the far left side.

You'll want to destroy the second Mastiff first (the one walking on the nearby upper catwalks. To perfectly time your stealth kill, wait for the first Mastiff to walk underneath the bridge (coming from the right, moving left); the instant the second Mastiff on the catwalk turns his back on you, rush towards him to stealthily kill him.

Note: If you want to collect the data storage in this area, it's important you slice up the second Mastiff on the catwalk (the one you kill first) horizontally, otherwise you risk destroying part of the catwalk that leads to the data storage (see below).

Immediately after this you can either perform a ninja move from above on the first Mastiff down below, or approach him from the back. The third Mastiff can be killed be keeping your distance and ninja running up the right catwalk, approaching him from the back as well. After defeating these three foes, a new battle becomes fightable.

There are some items you can now collect:

- You can find a [GRENADE] in a box underneath the first set of stairs.

Data Storage #7

In the sewer area with the three Mastiffs, follow the upper catwalk and pipes to the left side of the hall to find this data storage inside a box. Be sure to not slice up the catwalks

- If you backtrack into the sewers you can fight a battle against four (?) Vodomjerka and various dwarf gekkos. This is a fairly tough battle, but it can help you get the 'Pond Scum' trophy/achievement (for which you need to destroy a total of five Vodomjerka's). Try parrying most of their attacks and make good use of the moment they're stunned, allowing a fairly quick kill.

From the hall where you defeated the three Mastiffs, you can either go through the door at the end of the area, or you can use the 'sneak route' by slashing up the door on the right side of the area (just before the stacked boxes leading to the second upper catwalk to the right). In either case, backtracking is no longer possible after you proceed.

If you head through the door on the right side of the hall you'll reach a room with a box that contains [300 BP]. Proceed into the next area where a single Vodomjerka patrols the block in a clockwise fashion. It's easy to destroy it by approaching it from behind, but it will be replaced by another Vodomjerka; you can kill up to four of them before they stop spawning.

Slashing up the nearby (upper) catwalk can net you a [REPAIR NANOPASTE]. The room in the center of the area contains an [ELECTROLYTE PACK], and there's a cyborg hiding inside one of the boxes (a so called [MAN IN BOX] - there are more of them, and finding all of them is part of the 'Peekaboo' trophy/achievement).

Head to the north part of the area and use AR to find/destroy the hidden door. Slash the two turrets to pieces, then enter the room around the corner. There are two more turrets here, one halfway up the stairs, the other at the top. Destroy them, then look an [ELECTROLYTE PACK] on top of the forklift, and a [CARDBOARD BOX] in the corner. Unlock the door at the top of the stairs; there's an [RP GRENADE] inside a box at the end.

Stealth approach to cyborgs in the secret facility.

After opening the door, look for a [REPAIR NANOPASTE] at the far end of the catwalk, then activate AR to study the patrol patterns of the three cyborgs below. The two guards in the middle of the area will keep walking in a straight line from the left to the right and vice versa. The third one will soon enough head upstairs. Stuff Raiden inside a cardboard box a few meters away from the stairs, and as soon as the guard turns around, carefully sneak behind him to waste him while he's still on the upper half of the stairs. Return to your original position and wait until you can take out the guard closest to you (whenever the other has just passed him with his back towards you). Quickly take out the third cyborg after this for a perfect stealth operation.

Ranked Battle #6

Enter through the door on the ground floor to trigger a cutscene. Afterward you'll have to fight a mandatory battle against seven cyborgs. The pole arm works well for crowd control, especially in the more narrow hall, but you will want to take out the ones with guns first. As usual, they are the most dangerous of all when attempting a no-damage run.

You can find an [ELECTROLYTE PACK] in a box at the end of the hall that is now accessable. You'll need to activate one of the dwarf gekkos in the rack to access the next area.

DWARF GEKKO FUN

There two trophies/achievements to be gotten here. The first one involves knocking all five cyborg guards in thi area unconscious. The second requires you to interact with all dwarf gekkos in this area. We'll start with the first one.

The first cyborg guard is located directly in front of you. If you're quick you can disable him immediately; otherwise wait for him to return and turn his back on you again. After this, look for a small shaft on the left side of the area, but wait with going through (with LT/L2); there are more guards on the other side.

Data Storage #8

During the time you're controlling the dwarf gekko, look for a small shaft to the left of your starting position and use LT or L2 to move through. This data storage item is inside the shaft.

Perfect stealth approach with dwarf gekko.

Before exiting the shaft, carefully monitor your map and pay attention to the red blips. If you were quick to disable the first guard, the second guard here will just about pass the shaft you're hiding in. But be careful; there's a third guard up the catwalk just ahead. Wait for him to move away (watch the blip), then immediately roll out of the shaft, turn left and disable the guard.

Now, quickly hop onto the crates granting access to the catwalk and disable the third cyborg. Fortunately, the fourth guard should now have his back turned on you as well, allowing for another swift takedown. Head back up the catwalk you were on just now (via the stairs) and move to the far other side (carefully hiding behind the yellow bars to avoid being seen) to take out the fifth and last guard at the end of the catwalk. Your reward is the 'Dwarf Raiden' trophy/achievement.

Data Storage #9

During the time you're controlling the dwarf gekko, jump on top of the crates in the upper right corner of the area, stacked underneath the yellow catwalk. The data storage can be found here.

Dwarf Gekko interaction.

SOCIALIZING WITH OTHER DWARF GEKKOS

Since you have some time to spare, feel free to locate and socialize with the other dwarf gekkos in the area. Their locations are as follows, and you can interact with them by pressing Y or Triangle:

1. The first one is easily found; it's located on some crates to the right of your initial starting position.

2. The second dwarf gekko is the hardest to reach. From your starting position, jump on top of the crate in the middle of the hall, and from here, jump on the yellow bar. Turn around and walk to the other side of the bar, carefully hopping on the thin bar that stretches to the walls. Hop onto the machines and from there, leap to the yellow crane device. From here, make your way to the top yellow bar to find and interact with the second dwarf gekko.

3. The third one is hidden in the dark corner at the upper right of the first hall (or southeast corner from map perspective).

4. The fourth dwarf gekko is on top of the pipes just around the corner. Hop on the crates to your left as you curve around the corner to reach it.

5. The fifth and last dwarf gekko can be found on some boxes in the corner of the other hall (or northwest corner from map perspective).

Doing all this nets you the 'Love at First Sight' trophy/achievement.

Hop through the vent duct nearby where the fifth cyborg was patrolling (on the catwalk) and press the button inside this room to open the door for Raiden. You can now Zandatsu the unconscious guards if you wish. Enter through the door to the north to proceed.

In this hall, go around the corner and hop on top of one of the cabinets to find a [REPAIR NANOPASTE]. There's an [E M GRENADE] lying next to another. Enter the next area and prepare for a boss battle.

Before you proceed up to the GRAD, first check out the left side of the area to find a box with [5000 BP] inside. From here, quickly rush to the opposite side of the area and hide behind the wall. You can move from wall to wall, closing in on the GRAD until you are close enough to hit him. Keep parrying his push attack and the real boss battle will commence after pushing him back far enough.

Boss Battle: GRAD

GRAD Boss Fight.

GRAD is quick on its feet, so you'll want to hide behind the large canisters every once in a while, especially if it locks on to you. A flurry of attacks and parries against him will occassionally stun him; continue to damage him and Raiden will enter Blade Mode, allowing you to cut off some panels. Once GRAD is down to 10% of its HP it will be stunned for a longer period of time, allowing you to further damage it and enter Blade Mode (twice) to finish it off for good.

SLIDE SMASH: The GRAD will quickly slide towards you and attempt to smash you with its panels. This can cause a BMI error, so try to parry, block or evade this attack.

ARM SMASH: This is a regular smash attack that can be parried or blocked.

LOCK ON: GRAD will lock on Raiden and fire its turret, while also launching homing missiles. Either avoid the lock-on or block against the missiles, which can cause a BMI error.

PANEL SMASH: GRAD smashes his large panel into Raiden; attempt to block this.

Go through the door and collect the [RP GRENADE]. It just so happens that two cyborg dudes with rocket launchers are waiting around the corner (they have been waiting there for their entire lives, truly). Throw the RP grenade just around the corner, wait for it to burst, then rush in for the kill. Don't miss the box on the other end of the hall (it contains an [E M GRENADE]).

VR Mission #7

After defeating GRAD, head through the hall and enter the cryo chamber. This piece of VR intel is to your immediate right.

Head through the next door to end the chapter.