Batman Arkham City

This guide will cover everything you need to know about Robin, his gadgets, how to complete all of his extreme predator challenges both individually and as campaigns, what modifiers to use for the latter, and how they change the dynamic of the challenge, along with anything else I deem pertinent.

This is mainly to save people time, as having done all three starting character's campaigns, it is my opinion that Robin's are the hardest to work out what to do, but the easiest to execute once you have a consistent method.

This guide will not cover how campaigns work in general or general tips, only advice pertaining to Robin. There is already a very fruitful guide on the subject by Lord Hamma Time, and can be found in the guide section for the Campaign Gold achievement. Also this will not cover combat strategies, you need to be able to consistently meet the requirements for combat challenges before attempting campaigns, and there are guides to be found for this across the internet, the principles for doing well in combat are pretty much the same for all characters, and as such I will only list Robin's combat moves and what they do.

These are Robin's gadgets:

Smoke Pellet

Explosive Gel

Shuriken (Batarang)

Remote Shuriken (Remote Batarang)

Snap Flash
A type of grenade that cannot be thrown but instead has to be tagged to an enemy, Robin carries 3 of these and once tagged to an enemy can be detonated whenever you desire with RB. Once detonated it will stun the enemy it's tagged to and any other nearby enemies. To tag an enemy hold LT then press RT when next to an enemy. If you sneak up behind an enemy you can tag him without him realising you are there. It can also be tagged to a stunned enemy, or if you tag an enemy then render him unconscious you effectively have a mine that will stun people if you detonate it when they are in the mines vicinity. You cannot tag an enemy who is already unconscious. All tagged snap flashes will have a glowing red aura around them visible only to you whilst in detective mode.

Zip Kick
Allows you to traverse the terrain in the same way as the Batclaw. When fired at an enemy you will propel yourself towards them and render them stunned. With enough distance it can be used to knock an enemy off an edge, or with a bit of luck a walkway. It will not work on armoured enemies.

Bullet Shield
It can block bullets from the front but after absorbing a bit of damage will need to recharge. It can also be used to stun an enemy, knock him off an edge, or with a bit of luck a walkway. To bring up your shield hold LT, to hit an enemy press RT whilst holding LT. The shield bash will not work on an armoured enemy.

Robin's detective mode is essentially the same as Batman's, however it does nor reveal enemy data such as their mental state. Also mines are easily avoided with Robin as they glow with a red aura whilst in detective mode.

Robin can glide, perform a glide attack, and a drop attack. As well as the usual stun, beat down and so on, He lacks the ability however to perform an inverted takedown.

These are Robin's special combo moves:

A+X
Performs an area effect attack using his staff.

A+B
Grabs a single enemy by an arm and a leg, swings them around and throws them, can damage enemies hit by the body.

B+Y
Performs a standard takedown, the animation of which is contextual.

I will now list the extreme predator challenges, their requirements, and how to go about doing them.

Meltdown Mayhem

Zip Kick Off
Knock a henchman off of a walkway using the zip kick.

Have A Nice Trip
Trip up a henchman then finish him with a ground takedown.

Friends Fly Free
Perform a double ledge takedown.

In the north east corner of where you start there is a building with glass windows and a henchman inside, there is also another henchman approaching this building, Make your way to the gargoyle in the east and use B to land behind the henchman approaching the building. Perform a silent takedown then crouch walk to the doorway of the building.

Run at the henchman inside and use RT to trip him, finish him with a ground pound then turn around and throw a smoke pellet in front of you. Turn back around and open then vent. Once inside go left, grapple up and place explosive gel on the weak ceiling. Thin their numbers further by detonating it when they are underneath it, but do not stop and wait, instead exit via one of the other 2 unopened vents, preferably the one that's closest, if however it is unsafe exit via the vent at the very bottom. Make sure there are at least 3 people left after you have detonated the ceiling.

After you have left the vent make your way back round and hang from the ledge near the building and try for the double ledge takedown, if you don't get it, or you do but come under fire then retreat back into the vents. If you didn't get it be patient and lure enemies into position. Once the Double takedown medal has been procured dispatch of all but one enemy. Wait for him to get near a walkway or if you're impatient manipulate his movements. Once there abuse his inability to fire whilst recovering from a stun and repeatedly perform zipkicks until it knocks him off the walkway, don't spam it though, wait until he has nearly stood up to zipkick him again. Challenge done.

Police Brutality

Shield Bash
Knock down a henchman with the shield bash then finish him with a ground takedown.

Two For Two
Take out two different henchman with two different walls at the same time using explosive gel.

Smoke Detector
Use smoke to disorientate an enemy and perform a silent takedown as he panics.

The Two For Two is a horrible medal to work out what to do, but easily obtained once you know how. I cannot stress enough this method will work every time, as long as you follow it exactly and do not alert the guards.

Make your way to the gargoyle east of where you start (be quick about it), if you are facing away from the gargoyle and look down you will see 2 enemies, the one to the left will stop and face the same way you are, once he does drop down and crouch walk behind the one on the right, he will walk in to the building, stopping briefly to look out of the window, then carry on walking. Never enter his line of sight, stay crouched behind him, at the first possible moment place explosive gel on the weak wall then continue following the guy up until the doorway, stay inside the building and on the left of the doorway until the guy you where following has started walking to the right. Look at the gargoyle to the north west of your current location, walk out of the doorway while looking at this gargoyle and spamming the RB button. Do not crouch while doing this and you will grapple to the gargoyle after you have walked a few steps, don't worry this will not alert any of the henchmen.

Move from the gargoyle you just grappled to to the one west of your current location. If you look down and to the left you will see a henchman standing stationary next to a weak wall. Go into detective mode to see a back pack jammer enemy inside the building the previously mentioned henchman is standing by. The back pack guy will eventually exit the building via the big opening. Wait until he has taken a few steps out into the open, and then glide down towards this opening, the line you should take while gliding is in between him and the guy standing next to the weak wall.

When you land, crouch walk into the building and place explosive gel on the weak wall. Then crouch walk out of the building via the entrance you didn't enter from. The moment you reach the entrance turn around and grapple to the ledge above you, then grapple to the gargoyle above you.

Listen very carefully to what I am about to say and do not think you know best. Shortly after you grapple to the gargoyle the proximity detector for the explosive gel will flash red and contain the number 2. Despite everything common sense would dictate to do, do not press the detonator, it will not register the medal, instead wait, it will drop from 2 to 1 after a few seconds, then after a few seconds more it will go back up to 2. The moment it goes back up to 2 detonate the gel giving you the medal.

I would just like to point out that you do not have to get rid of a hostage taker to free the hostage, you can give him an ultra stun freeing the hostage and leaving the hostage taker available to go for remaining medals. Thin the remaining enemies until you have two non armoured henchmen left, then get the remaining requirements.

A few things worth noting, if an enemy is isolated or there is a big group close together you can get the smoke detector early, manually aim the smoke pellet at them, drop down get the silent takedown and retreat back to the gargoyles. Also as tempting as it is to try and off the back pack jammer guy it can be risky, where he is armoured you can not take him out silently, and this is a small map so you could come under heavy fire making an escape. It is one of the friendlier maps to not have detective mode on any way. If you leave the back pack guy he will usually end up taking the hostage. This a good thing. Whatever you decide, with the Two For Two medal done this will not be too difficult. Challenge done.

Natural Selection

Snap Flashed
Stun an enemy with a snap flash then finish him with a ground takedown.

Smoke Detector
Use smoke to disorientate an enemy then perform a silent takedown as he panics.

Crowd Control
Take out 3 enemies with 1 wall using explosive gel.

It sounds difficult, but this method will make quick work of this challenge. From where you start take a few steps forward and look to your right. There will be an enemy waking down a staircase, he will go right, when he does take corner cover on the left side of the staircase, also take note that this is the enemy you will shortly be performing a silent takedown on but not yet. From corner cover there will be another enemy walking towards the first one, he will stop then turn around. When he does crouch walk over to him and stay crouched behind and on the right of him, he will walk near a weak wall then go left, when he goes left spray explosive gel on the weak wall.

If you look through this wall in detective mode you will see the first guy is on the other side but a fair distance away, he will walk right up to the weak wall, before he does you need to get to the right side of the staircase you started by then get as near as possible to the weak wall without entering his line of sight. When he is next to the wall perform a silent takedown. Then turn around and crouch walk to vent on the left and enter the vent. Then stand anywhere with a good view of his body. On rare occasions after you did the silent takedown the guy will have fallen too far to the left to make this method work, but it is rare, normally his body will fall in the middle of the weak wall.

In a matter of seconds a henchman will notice the body, then he and an armoured henchman will investigate, then shortly after they arrive a third guy will come over from the right. The moment the third guy is next to the others detonate the wall, ignore the fact the proximity detector does not say 3 people, it will still take them all out and give you the medal.

Now to be really cruel, you will notice you are standing near another weak wall that was adjacent to the one you just blew up, place explosive gel on it and take a few steps left. Despite the ominous circumstances under which their comrades where just taken out, more will inevitably come to investigate. When the first guy who comes is next to the wall, detonate it, this will leave you 2 henchmen to get the remaining and easy requirements on. There will be a second guy on his way there, throw a smoke pellet at him then do a silent takedown. Then go up to the armoured sniper, place the snap flash, detonate it, then give him a ground takedown. All of this will have taken less than 2 and a half minutes. Challenge done.

End Of The Line

Triple Snap Flashed
Knock down 3 enemies with 1 snap flash.

Fists Of Fury
Perform a beat down on a henchman.

Over The Ledge
Perform a ledge takedown.

Unequivocally the most enjoyable challenge when done with this method. From where you start crouch walk to the right of the map, you should see some floor gratings, get in them and follow them north as far as possible. Exit the grating and look straight ahead to see a small alcove. Crouch walk into the alcove and you should see a backpack jammer guy drop down. After he takes a few steps forward, sneak up behind him and tag him with a snap flash. Stay crouched and he will go left of a column and look at a poster, you should head right and into the grating you came out of originally, at the first possible moment perform a takedown from the grating, then crouch walk straight ahead into the alcove. Follow the alcove round but do not exit yet. The henchmen will go to investigate the body, wait until the one a little in front of you is out of your line of sight then get into the train and go right, you will end up in a location north of where you started. If you look up there will be a small entrance to the sniper's tower, grapple up to it then look at your snap flash, there will be a plethora of henchmen around it, so detonate it and enjoy watching the bodies fly and the medal pop up.

Dispatch of the sniper by detonating explosive gel on the floor behind him to send him flying off the balcony. Get to the very back of the room you're in. You are completely safe here even if spotted. You also have a great view of the trains in front of you. Now the henchmen may be armoured but their ass isn't. Seeing as the trains have no barriers it is incredibly easy to send henchmen to their doom when atop the trains, via boosted remote shuriken to the ass, it is also incredibly enjoyable.

Make sure to leave 2 henchmen, who will now be in a terrified state and usually stick close together, throw a smoke pellet at one and perform a beat down on the other, then retreat to the walkways above. Throw shurikens near the remaining henchman until he spots you, the moment he starts to run to your location climb down to the ledge, when he reaches his destination give him a ledge takedown for your last medal. "Robin? Batman's little helper? this is going to be easy." Yes, yes sir it is. Challenge done.

Lost City

Shield Smash
Knock a henchman off of a walkway using the shield bash.

Snap Flash Trap
Place a snap flash on a stunned henchman then use it to stun a different henchman.

Grate Moves
Perform a takedown from a floor grating.

Go straight ahead onto the gargoyle to see a henchman scanning a different gargoyle with thermal goggles. Follow him via gargoyle and you will see he will walk near another henchman, just before he enters the other henchman's direct line of sight, perform a drop attack on him and if done correctly for some reason the other guy will not be alerted right away, this allows you to place a snap flash on the guy on the ground and detonate it giving you the medal. At this point I like to throw down a smoke pellet and take these two guys out then retreat to the gargoyles.

Take out all but 2 of the remaining henchmen in whatever way works best for you, be it meticulously or recklessly. When you're down to 2 get the floor grate takedown on one of them, retreat to the gargoyles, then lure the last guy near a walkway and repeatedly shield bash him until you knock him off of it. Again don't spam it, wait until he has nearly stood up before doing it again. This challenge is a little tricky, but not that bad once you get you're bearings. Challenge done.

Top Of The World

Bullet Shield
Block a henchman's bullets then knock him down with a shield bash and finish him with a ground takedown.

Round The Bend
Use corner cover to take down an approaching henchman.

Fire Hazard
Use a shuriken on a fire extinguisher and perform a silent takedown on a henchman caught up in the smoke.

Although the most difficult, this map is not as bad as it first seems. From where you start grapple up to the ledge and while hanging from it, keep following it around going left until you come across a balcony with two henchmen on it. Hang to the left of the henchman on the right and the other one will move into position allowing for a double ledge takedown. Remain in a state of ledge hanging and go right until you get to another balcony. There is also a balcony to the right of this one, move from one to the other constantly until the armoured henchmen planting the mines arrives at one, he could come straight away or take 5 minutes, be patient.

When he does get rid of him with a ledge takedown, then move whilst still hanging from the ledge until the message about being discovered disappears.. A lot of henchmen will show up to look over the balcony, after they turn around try another ledge takedown, or a double ledge takedown, prioritizing the back back guy if you have the luxury of choice.

If you did not get any then make your way to the next balcony and try there. The ultimate goal is to thin there numbers via ledge/double ledge takedowns until there are 3 left. There are 8 enemies total and you will take out 2 at the start, then the mine guy, so you will need another 2 before proceeding to the next part of the guide, just be patient, there is no need to keep messing it up with this method.

You will now have 3 enemies left, one of which could be a back pack jammer. One of them may take a hostage, which is what you want. I would like to point out you can't get the fire hazard or bullet shield medal from the back pack guy as he's armoured. You can however get round the bend on him even though it will not take him out.

Lure a non armoured guy to a balcony then get on the gargoyles, when he comes to the balcony to search for you, drop down behind him, have your shield out then walk into his line of sight, the moment he fires at you give him a shield bash then a ground takedown, then run off the balcony and let the game grapple you to safety.

Now you will be left with 2, if the back pack guy takes the hostage go get the fire hazard medal on the other guy (not difficult as no one else will be shooting at you). Then ultra stun the back pack guy to free the hostage, get to corner cover, initiate a takedown, which will give you the medal but will not take him out, then perform a beatdown on him. If the non armoured guy takes the hostage just do it the other way around. If none of the remaining enemies are armoured then it doesn't matter.

Four things to keep in mind. When you are down to the last 2 henchmen re-enter the map via one of the two vents and subsequent gratings. The fire hazard and bullet shield can not be done on the armoured henchman so make sure you don't take out a non armoured one with a corner takedown if one of the remaining 3 is an armoured henchman. If it took a while to get the ledge takedown on the armoured guy planting mines, then just be aware that the map will be a mine filled death trap so be careful. And lastly if you are ever under fire during the ledge stage just press B. Challenge done.

I will now go through the campaigns and what modifiers to use, and give advice where needed on any important changes, if an individual challenge has no negative modifiers on it then just use the guide already stated above for that challenge. I will also explain what requirements free medals should negate.

MIDNIGHT ASSAULT

Natural Selection
No modifiers

Hells gate
Increased aggression, scattered weapons, danger zones.

Meltdown Mayhem
Free medal, replenishing health.
Use the free medal to negate the double ledge takedown.

HOSTILE TAKEOVER

Prison Riot
Time limit, decreased health, protective aura.

Police Brutality
Super powered.

Funhouse Brawl
One hand tied.

DOUBLE JEOPARDY

Lost City
Takedown projectiles, free medal.
Use the quickfire batarangs to rapidly thin the numbers to 2, then get Grate Moves and Shield Smash on the remaining henchmen.

Rooftop Rumble
Gadget malfunction, increased aggression, scattered weapons.

End Of The Line
Protective aura.
All this modifier will do is make it more protracted but not more difficult, and if the back pack guy has the aura at the start, then still follow the guide as normal just wait until the aura wears off before placing the snap flash and doing the grate takedown.

RUTHLESS VENGEANCE

Survival Of The Fittest
Gadget malfunction, danger zones.

Top Of The World
Super powered.

Blind Justice
Time limit, decreased health, one hand tied.

PREDATOR MASTER

Police Brutality
Increased aggression scattered weapons, free medal.
The room will be mined up and enemies will be more on the ball. However you have a free medal to negate the Two For Two requirement, allowing for a better start to the map which will get rid of 2 people including the back pack jammer. From where you start get to the gargoyle to the north. If you look underneath there will be a glass ceiling, Soon A henchman will come and stand near the ceiling, when he stops right next to the ceiling perform a silent takedown on him, then climb on to the ceiling and give the back pack jammer guy beneath you a ceiling takedown, then grapple back up to the gargoyle and clear out the rest of the room with care. This should not be that difficult.

Natural Selection
Time limit.
Although There is a time limit in place it will have no bearing on the challenge, as the method described will have taken out 5 to 6 people rapidly, and if you didn't know, time is awarded after every knock out. You will have plenty of time.

End Of The Line
Danger zones, protective aura.
I have already explained how to deal with the protective aura in DOUBLE JEOPARDY, as for the booby trapped gargoyles, you would not be using them anyway following my guide.

The individual challenge guides and modifier choices should make this campaign a great deal easier, all in the quest of a 1.5 ratio achievement