The Surge 2

[Wunderbar]

I beat little johnny as my first proper boss (after the prison escape) with 10 core level i think.
It's not too bad. Just stun him via directional blocking, then break his coolant canisters. Use sliding attack for the last three canisters on his legs.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Any tips for Little Johnny? I hate those kind of bosses, when proper targeting is half of the difficulty. If I could push some button to be done with him and continue, it would make me very happy. Same reason I never beat Nameless King in Dark Souls 3 (annoying first phase).

I'm core level 38, using upgraded MG Negotiator.

It's a good game besides that, but fuck this boss.

-Upgrade your armor, every point of defense helps. Try switching to a goliath class if you have one, I'm not quite sure what's available at that point in the game.

-Maybe try a different weapon. Staves are good but I found that to be a weaker one. Look for something pure damage, electrical weapons are probably the worst type.

-If you break both his pincers you get his special 2.0 weapon but I found it very useless, so don't worry about it unless you're a completionist. Parrying helps.

-I just had to spam dodge a lot. You can also avoid a lot of attacks by sprinting. Try to run away when he barfs mines everywhere and move to a different part of the arena. When he raises up to do the slam just sprint out of there.

-Try using the drone to take out a canister or two.

I just realized between this guy and Delver they may be the two hardest bosses. I definitely had to retry more than most.

 

[cvv]

Any tips for Little Johnny?

By far the most useful tip for almost any boss in this game is - learn directional blocking. Seriously, with parrying most bosses are 10x less pain in the ass than without it. I can't even imagine fighting Delver or the last boss without it.

With Little Johnny it takes only 3 successful parries for him to splat down, then you smash his two head tanks. After that smash his four leg tanks one by one.

If you want his special weapon, tear off his crabby limbs first but his weapon is bad because poison is useless in this game.

P.S. Also as Grampy_Bone said, get a Goliath class armor and a better weapon. Your starting staff is kindda shit.

 

[Markman]

For Johnny use a spear. Its good for poking in and out.
Press run button plus attack to lunge at the guy and then back out again.
There is a pattern where he flips twice and time the second flip to charge up heavy attack when he lands to fill your batteries.

 

[Haplo]

I exclusively used Heavy Duty. They were good for lunge and charge attacks due to high damage per hit.

 

[cruel]

By far the most useful tip for almost any boss in this game is - learn directional blocking. Seriously, with parrying most bosses are 10x less pain in the ass than without it. I can't even imagine fighting Delver or the last boss without it.

With Little Johnny it takes only 3 successful parries for him to splat down, then you smash his two head tanks. After that smash his four leg tanks one by one.

If you want his special weapon, tear off his crabby limbs first but his weapon is bad because poison is useless in this game.

P.S. Also as Grampy_Bone said, get a Goliath class armor and a better weapon. Your starting staff is kindda shit.

I was afraid somebody will mention directional blocking For some reason I have no problems using it with enemies attacking from above or below (based on implant input), but swings from left and right are hard to parry for some reason.

Is Goliath armor even available at this point? Haven't seen any, I'm running upgraded VULTR set. Probably can upgrade it a little bit more.


Best video I saw so far:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz3cP4soGII

It seems it makes sense to damage all the legs first, but don't destroy them completely - so he doesn't start to speed poison. Cutting the legs is easy, but for some reason he wrecks me when I try to reach those cylinders ech

 

[Markman]

Best guide, explains everything in detail.


Lil Johnny starts at ca 51:00

His Surge 1 guide is also one of the best guides i watched on youtube.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

he wrecks me when I try to reach those cylinders ech

Try the drone, I think you can kill at least one canister with it.

I used the VULTR set for most of the game because of the scrap bonus but the defense is really low. Try the SCARAB set if you can get it, enemies in the downtown area drop it but I don't remember if that's post-Johnny or not. You should be able to buy the Nightfall set from the vendor lady in the safe zone. Both have much higher def than the VULTR set.

 

[Haplo]

he wrecks me when I try to reach those cylinders ech

Try the drone, I think you can kill at least one canister with it.

I used the VULTR set for most of the game because of the scrap bonus but the defense is really low. Try the SCARAB set if you can get it, enemies in the downtown area drop it but I don't remember if that's post-Johnny or not. You should be able to buy the Nightfall set from the vendor lady in the safe zone. Both have much higher def than the VULTR set.

You can also get Nightfall by beating the guards at security posts. Just try to fight them one by one. It's a very good tank armor.

Also among the Scarab and Liquidator guys at the plaza there's a Rhino guy also. Rhino was my favorite armor set troughout the Surge 2 - even stronger charged attacks and slam Shockwaves (Heavy Duty user).

 

[cruel]

You were right, A.I.D. Nightfall armor upgraded to Mk3 gives 345 defence, big difference with 195 def for the VULTR.

But know different problem arises - running out of stamina

Well, will try 10 more times and we'll see. Hate this boss. With humanoid bosses, I can always see what's happening and react properly - dodge, move away, parry, whatever. I hate big bosses like this in all kinds of games - it's just one big clusterfuck for me. Give me Genichiro, Isshin, Friede, not something like this.

 

[Shackleton]

I really struggled with Little Johnny as well cruel . If it's any consolation, I found pretty much every boss after him to be a lot easier. Whether that was because my relative power level was higher or just that they were more predictable I don't know, but once you're passed him I think you'll find it plain sailing.

I remember doing the central canisters first by lunging in with the spear like Markman suggests, then sliding attack three of the legs and taking the final leg with the drone. It was a pain, but keep at it, you'll get him eventually.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

But know different problem arises - running out of stamina

Yeah, heavy armors are meant for more of a parry playstyle.

Another question is your energy management. You may try using a high energy generating weapon and the implant that grants energy when you get hit, so you can spam healing.

 

[cruel]

Thanks for all the advice. I finally beat the fucker. What worked for me after all was:
- switching to long range, but fast weapon (Vibrating Quickscythe)
- mixing A.I.D. set (3 pieces, high defense) with VULTR (no stamina penalty on legs)
- damaging all the legs, but not destroying them completely (no poison to deal with)
- staying VERY close to the main body, but a little bit behind, when attacking cylinders (easy to bait body slam and evade back)
- using drone to finish one cylinder
- finishing the legs after both body cylinders are done

Still, one of those bosses when you are just happy to be done with, and not excited with satisfaction.

 

[Markman]

Just wait till you face Delver. Hohoho

 

[cruel]

Delver was surprisingly easy, 3 tries only. At least in his case you can observe and react properly, not like with Little Johnny crap. And of course done the manly way, no parrying.

I'm wondering though if he was easy because of the weapon I used. The game may have some balance issues - after Little Johnny, everything was very easy, the whole downtown was a breeze. Then, I entered Gideon Rock and suddenly got my ass kicked by robots, getting heavy damage and barely damaging them. But then, by accident I cut one of the robot's arms and got Gaia Lancer - and all difficulty was gone. Amazing weapon for this part of the game, upgraded to Mk5 wrecks everything. While fighting Delver I just felt, that the speed with how fast his HP drops wasn't intended for this part of the game (or at least my impression).

 

[cvv]

Gaia Lancer is probably the second highest DPS weapon in the game, yes. The only drawback is a dismal energy input, as with all spears.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Gaia lancer is very good but I found staves killed quicker. Codename Lohengrin deals twice as much damage per hit, and General's ACU V2.0 does double the damage of that.

Fast, low damage weapons are only good against lightly armored enemies.

 

[cruel]

Another interesting weapon - A.I.D. Warhound. Slow as fuck, but hits like a truck. So much damage in a charged attack with Rino set, that you cannot cut any limbs - because you kill in one hit :D

Maybe some poll in this thread for favorite weapon on weapon types?

 

[v1rus]

How good is this?

Also, is is it worth beating the first one?

 

[cruel]

I didn't like it in the beginning, but the game grew on me while playing - so yes, worth playing. Not a contender to be a better game than Dark Souls, but solid 7.5/10. Very good combat, good exploration, very good level design, nice item / build / implant variety. Story is meh, characters are boring, music is also average. But for most people liking Souls, this will be good experience.

I think the first one is a much worse game, but didn't play much - got bored after 1h or so.

 

[cruel]

Probably not important, but... Gideon Plaza Basements - very close to the guy who asks you for nano prototype stuff - there is poison on the floor and iron bars. Behind that, I see some treasure - anybody had an idea how to reach this area? This is 11:10 in this guys video

https://youtu.be/6AhNLgsjnIg?t=670

 

[cruel]

Finished the game, took 39 hours. 68 deaths, out of which most were to... Gaia Statues in Gideon's Rock :D Little Johnny was next.

Surprisingly, the game was not that challenging after Little Johnny. Most bosses were down in 2 or 3 tries (Delver, Celeste, all Eli encounters). The only one that gave me some trouble was Ezra Shields first phase, I hated this crappy fire AOE - was forced to switch armor sets because of that. Took 5 tries.

I liked the game, had fun, gameplay was there - was doing 2.5h in one sitting, which is not that common for me. If somebody likes Souls and wants to fill the urge to play something similar, this game should work. Story is shit, characters are shit, music is meh, but core is very solid: combat + exploration + itemization + bosses. And last but not least, level design! I really wish more games would do something like that.

If this was a FROM game, probably some weapons would get nerfed though. I felt the game becoming much easier after getting Gaia Lancer, and kept using it for the rest of the game. Similar feeling after getting and upgrading General's A.C.U. (failed to get v2) - those two weapons were enough to get me through the game.

Also, big plus for devs for not forcing the player to learn directional blocking. I used it few times in the beginning, but rarely used it after, and was doing just fine.

 

[Haplo]

I didn't like it in the beginning, but the game grew on me while playing - so yes, worth playing. Not a contender to be a better game than Dark Souls, but solid 7.5/10. Very good combat, good exploration, very good level design, nice item / build / implant variety. Story is meh, characters are boring, music is also average. But for most people liking Souls, this will be good experience.

I think the first one is a much worse game, but didn't play much - got bored after 1h or so.

I actually liked part 1 more. Sure, enemy and equipment variety is much worse there (with whole weapon categories/movesets like hammers or double duty missing). Less elaborate mechanics - no directional parry, worse charge attacks, elemental weapons just dealing extra "energy" damage, simpler energy management. But I thought exploration, atmosphere, equipment and character progression were a lot better in part 1. Also it had more challenge in regular fights.

 

[Wunderbar]

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Your specs:

• 2+ years professional experience in the field of game design, with an emphasis on driving combat experiences from conception to final polish

The Surge Kart

 

[HoboForEternity]

is it just me or the surge 2 looks weird?

the gamma is just all over the place, it hurt my eyes. the character model just looks super blurry and there's just weird artifact like there is a heat light distortion effect but everywhere? the surge 1 looks great imo, while the gameplay is better in surge 2 so far, it just look pretty awkward.

Edit: it seems to be the in game TAA or whatever i just use nvidia anti aliasing setting and use the nvidia sharpening it looks good now. Run better too. It is a little mess compared to buttery smooth surge 1