This post was authored by Stan Guderski. You can contact him at [email protected]
Crash the Bludhaven Police Department
As soon as Harley’s mission starts you’ll find yourself in the Bludhaven PD’s garage staring down 7 police officers. This will be your quick introduction to how Harley controls in a fight. She isn’t too different from Batman, with a Jack in the Box doubling as explosive gel, a snare attack to bind incoming attackers, and laughing gas that works like a smoke pellet. She has a baseball bat that’s used like Batman’s cape stun and is used in some pretty brutal take downs.
Familiarize yourself with the way Harley fights here, and take down all 7 cops. Once that’s done you’ll be prompted to head through the door and into the break room area.
Once inside the game will have you enter Psychosis Mode which functions like Batman’s Detective Vision. With it Harley can see through walls, as well as see crazy writing scrawled over every surface. She’s insane, what do you expect? Hell, if you stay Psychosis Mode for a while, Harley will even start to talk to herself!
In Psychosis Mode you’ll quickly see that there are three police officers around the corner in the break room. Place a Jack in the Box on the ground and then hide in the nearby grate. The officers will be alerted to the music from the box and come investigate. Once all three are near the box detonate it to take them all out instantly.
Pop out of the grate and you’ll notice a staircase leading to a doorway that’s currently barred shut. This is where you need to go. Getting there is pretty simple, just round the corner into the break room and you’ll notice a grate in the ceiling above. Use Harley’s acrobatics to climb up there, and head over to a wall that looks destructible (in Psychosis Mode a comic-book style BOOM will be overlaid on any destructible surface.)
Set up another Jack in the Box here and detonate it to watch the wall go boom. From here you can leap down into the stairway you saw when you came in. Access the door at the top here and head into the building’s control room.
Secure the BPD Control Room
Unlike the Bat, Harley Quinn just doesn’t do stealth. You’ll notice this pretty quickly upon entering the control room. This area is made up of two floors, with a large tower of monitors stacked high in the center of the spacious area. The area is being actively patrolled by 12 police officers, and has various wires, low walls, and ledges to traverse between. There’s even a few grates and vents you can make use of should you choose. Once you enter the room you’ll be prompted to use Harley’s Mayhem Mode on the guards here.
Mayhem Mode is a special ability exclusive to Harley that powers up her strength and agility and turns every attack into a brutal takedown. It’s a useful skill that you can utilize both in hand-to-hand combat or when getting the jump on a group of enemies. In order to use Mayhem Mode you first have to eliminate several enemies to build the meter up. Once the meter is full you can activate it at any time you choose and let loose on up to four enemies back-to-back.
Because Harley Quinn isn’t stealthy you’ll have to hit the cops here hard and fast. There isn’t one specific strategy that will always work, but your best bet is to play Harley like Batman on speed: strike fast and leave the area just as quickly, over and over again.
The best method for clearing a room as Harley is to leap up to a ledge, walk or skip across some wires/scaffolding, pounce behind an unsuspecting cop as he passes and then use a Loud Takedown with his back turned to eliminate him. Once he’s down for the count leap to higher ground before anyone else can find you. Rinse, repeat. Conversely you can pounce attack a cop in a similar way, and then use a ground takedown while they’re seeing stars. Harley doesn’t have a grappling hook, and must rely on her acrobatics to get away from attacks if she’s spotted. Be mindful of this.
Never approach a group of armed guards unless you’re ready to enter Mayhem Mode, and if the situation ever gets hairy Harley can use her laughing gas as a distraction so you can leap to the nearest ledge. Break the sight of enemies similar to how you would as Batman to get away. You’ll know you’re in the clear when Harley makes a shushing noise and then giggles.
Harley’s Psychosis Mode is useful here, as it works the same way as Batman’s Detective Vision. It’s crucial to use when figuring out how many officers are around you, and any breakable walls or grates.
After you’ve taken care of the cops you’ll need to head back to the tower of monitors to track down where Ivy is being held. Harley discovers Ivy in the basement of the police department, which she’ll need to access from the BPD’s entrance lobby. Leap up to the second floor and follow the waypoint to your destination.
Infiltrate the BPD’s Basement
In the lobby you’ll be greeted by 8 more cops, one of which has a shield. You’ll have to take them out hand-to-hand. On the right side of the door you came in will be an electrical panel, which you can use for an environmental takedown if you lure an officer to it. Dispose of them and take the elevator into the BPD’s basement.
It isn’t long after entering the elevator that the officer’s attempt to sabotage it, causing it to stop between floors. No worries, simply leap up through the elevator’s roof and detonate the wall right in front of you. From here, drop down to the bottom of the shaft and climb into the vent. After a little chat with the Penguin on Harley’s radio you’ll exit out into the BPD’s basement. You’re almost there!
The basement is just like the control room you were in earlier. There are two floors, plenty of grates and ledges, and about 9 cops to deal with. The one difference here is that Ivy has left behind several cop-eating plants that can and will devour the your enemies should you aggravate them when the officers pass by. Do this at least once to watch the violent spectacle.
Deal with the cops however you see fit, but try and save your Mayhem Mode for the next area. After you’ve taken care of all 9 cops you’ll have to walk through two sets of double doors on the bottom floor of the basement where you’ll see, at long last, Poison Ivy!
Take Down Nightwing, Rescue Ivy
The reunion is cut short, however, as you’ll be ambushed by another 5 cops. If you’ve saved your Mayhem Mode you can unleash it now, and make quick work of them all. If not, deploy the same methods you’ve used earlier to take them out of the picture.
You’d think at this point there’d be no one left to try and stop Harley, but nope! Nightwing makes his grand entrance to try and put a stop to Harley’s plans once and for all. Harley and Bat Night Nightwing will have a little high-noon stand off before Nightwing charges at you, his electric batons at the ready.
The game will prompt you to cartwheel towards Nightwing and leap over his head and attack him from behind, and the way the game starts moving in bullet time you might be tempted to. However, a much better option is to cartweel away. This is because leaping over Nightwing’s head will land you right into the arms of a group of cops who will also join the fight (where do they keep coming from?) Instead roll back a few times and Nightwing will chase after you.
Once you and Nightwing are alone in the corner you can now leap over his head. You need to do this, because Nightwing fights with his electric weapons which will damage you if you try to attack him head-on. When you’re successfully behind Nightwing hit him with your bat to stun him, and wail away on him with the regular attack button. If you manage to pull this off before the cops reach you Harley will end her combo in a takedown which will cut a huge portion of Nightwing’s health.
From here it’s just a matter of countering, attacking, and taking down any cops that get too close while also leaping over Nightwing to hit him upside his head when he’s not looking. Don’t focus too much on the cops, because they will just keep coming. Instead work up enough of a combo until you can execute a takedown, and do your best to use those takedowns on Nightwing himself. He’s vulnerable to them and it will shave off a ton of his health every time.
An even better strategy might be to build up your Mayhem meter, as you can attack him with consecutive takedowns. Keep this up and you’ll make short work of the boy wonder. After you’ve beaten Nightwing he will get back up, only to be ensnared by vines controlled by Ivy’s mind. With him out of commission you’re free to spring Ivy and put Scarecrow’s plan into motion. Good show!
Published: Jun 24, 2015 07:24 pm