Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance walkthrough, Part Six: Mistral

Raiden's doing well. He's in the Refinery, he's taking down Desperado's soldiers like it's no one's business, and his mission is clear. But, as before, his mission is about to be called into question by a new foe…

Head out of the massive factory floor and go up the stairs to the top of the Refinery (after checking the down stairs beside the up to find VR Mission 004, of course.) Waiting in a circular arena here is Mistral, another Desperado cyborg, who shares her philosophy on violence and death before calling together a big heap of Dwarf Gekkos to help her out. Your next fight is against multiple opponents, many of these Gekkos, so hopefully you don't mind fighting the little pests.

Mistral is a tough lady, though she's not quite as difficult as her predecessor, Blade Wolf, for the simple reason that her Gekkos drop items that restore your health. In the first phase of the fight Mistral will plod slowly around the arena atop the Refinery, watching as her Gekko leap in to pester Raiden and hold him in place. It's important not to let the Gekko get a hold of you, as they'll leave you wide open for one of Mistral's way-too-swift strikes. The primary thing to note here is that Mistral will jump over your head when she rushes at you; turn around to parry before she can slice at your back.

Eventually Mistral will get you with her light whip. Use Blade Mode to slice it up and knock her out of the arena. This will open up the second section of the fight, where you'll have to face Mistral on a long section of pipe. This almost turns the battle into a two-dimensional fight, as you can't manoeuvre to the sides. Your tactics shouldn't change that much, though there are two new moves to watch for:

• A ranged attack. Pretty simple: if you get too far away, Mistral will launch projectiles. These are easy enough to parry, though if you get caught by Dwarf Gekko this attack can do some surprise damage.
• A three-hit whip attack. If at any point you see Mistral rise into the air, parry. She's about to slam down hard on you.

Whittle Mistral down to around 40 percent of her health and you'll trigger the final phase of this fight, which isn't terribly different from the first. Mistral's now much more mobile, and will spend most of her time zipping around, but she has a lot of openings. Parrying is always good, but if you're quick you can catch her in the middle of her attacks and do lots of damage. Most notable is during her light whip swipes; as soon as you see her staff go golden, fly in and start to slash her like crazy. Eventually you'll be prompted to end the fight, and a final Blade Mode rush will finish her off for good.

The only notable change in behaviour comes if you manage to parry Mistral's attacks and slice up her whip in Blade Mode. Watch out if you do this - she'll leap away and launch projectiles at you like crazy before forming a new weapon. Doing this can stem the tide of Dwarf Gekkos, which is both a blessing and a curse, so think twice before jumping right into Blade Mode.

Dolzaev, Mistral's accomplice, won't be happy with her dead, and after he's done his bit the chapter will come to a close. Enjoy your newly-earned BP - and the Pole-Arm L'Etranger you earn as a reward for the victory. (Or, rather, you earn the right to buy it. You'll probably have earned more than enough during the chapter to afford the thing.)