In Death Stranding 2: On the Beach‘s Order 22, Sam is tasked with looking for Tomorrow after she mysteriously leaves the DHV Magellan. While looking for her, you’ll encounter the Blade Ghost Mech enemy type for the first time, and be presented with something of a mini-boss fight. This is the first time Sam will encounter these heavily armored red mechs, and they present a significant increase in difficulty over the mechs Sam had encountered up to this point. In this guide, we’ll show you how to defeat Blade Ghost Mechs in Death Stranding 2, not only in this encounter, but for the remainder of the game.
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How to Kill the Red Blade Ghost Mechs in Death Stranding 2
Things Get Tough:
If you’re like us, when you first encountered the Blade Ghost Mechs at the end of Order 22, you were immediately wiped out. Playing on DS2‘s Brutal difficulty level, the first attack – a twirling blade attack – killed Sam in one go. Even when playing at lower difficulty levels, this enemy is far tougher than any other enemy found in the game up to this point. However, after dying repeatedly, we learned some tricks that will help you get through the fight.
Technically, there are at least two locations where the Blade Ghost Mechs appear while looking for Tomorrow. After crossing the first ladder Tomorrow places over a river, you’ll see a group of 3 mechs hovering off the ground to the left. You do not have to engage this group. If you want, you can keep following Tomorrow’s footsteps until you reach her jacket. Once you reach the jacket, you’ll have no choice but to engage the mechs.
Preparation:
First, it’s important to prepare yourself for the full fight, which consists of two groups of three mechs. Once you defeat the first group, three more will rise from the tar. With this in mind, you want to make sure you bring enough ammo to deal with all six mechs. Consider the following loadout:
- Machine Gun – you want something with a large clip. These mechs have a shield system that you must wear down before you do any real damage. Low-level assault rifles require reloading at a rate which isn’t great for this fight. You’ll make some progress on the shield, but by the time you reload, you will have the other mechs attacking you. You will have brief windows to attack. Make sure you have a large enough clip to maintain and break the shield.
- Shotgun – If you feel extremely confident in your aiming, the Shotgun is a viable option. However, you need to make each shot count. The damage, especially at Lv2, really helps. Make sure to add extra ammo to your backpack if you take this route.
- Grenade Pistol – the Grenade Pistol is the secret weapon for this fight. Despite its low overall ammo count, the benefits are extremely useful. First, they do major damage to the shield, but more importantly, they will send the mechs flying to the ground, giving you a brief window to attack one of the other two mechs.
- Backpack – Extra ammo is the best thing you can out on the backpack for this fight. If you struggle with dodging the mech’s attack, and are constantly taking damage, you may want to add a Utility Pouch if you’ve unlocked it, or carry extra Blood Packs.
- Battle Skelton – The extra boost and protection offered is helpful here. The Boost Skeleton is also a viable option, if you prefer an increase in speed.
- APAS Enhancements: Improved MP Bullets (40), Aim Assistance (80), Proximity Alarm (40), Skeleton Auto-Assist (40).
Hits from the Blade Ghost Mechs are incredibly damaging, so you may want to take the time to collect a good amount of Cryptobiotes before entering the fight. The Blood Bag system helps, but using Cryptobiotes is much faster.
Defeat the Blade Ghost Mechs:
In this fight, the name of the game is evasion. Dodging attacks in DS2 takes a bit of practice, which is a major part of why this fight can be so challenging. Every attack can be dodged. It’s simply about getting the timing down. Generally speaking, you want to dodge just before an attack hits you. With some attacks, if you evade at the right moment, the Odradek will engage, and physically block the enemy’s blade.
The Blade Ghost Mech features a shield system that is color coded. As you attack, the shield will begin to weaken, and change colors as it does so. It will go from blue, to orange, then to red. Finally, it will break, leaving the mech vulnerable to attack. Take advantage of this moment to deal as much damage as possible.
The Blade Ghost Mech will use several attacks, but keep an eye out for these attacks specifically:
- Wind-Up: The mech has two wind-up attacks that are incredibly dangerous. The first is likely the most damaging attack the Blade Ghost Mech uses. It will slightly twist its body, then begin to spin in a circle with both blades outstretched. If Sam gets caught in this, he can be taken out in one attack. The second wind-up attack is a sprint-to-lunge attack. You can tell the difference by the height of the blade when the wind-up occurs. For the lunge, the blade will be much higher over the mech’s head.
- Ranged Blade Throw: While focusing on one mech, keep a look-out for blades being thrown at you from off-screen. This can happen suddenly, and cause serious damage if it hits Sam. You’ll get a slight red flash when this happens, so watch for that as well.
- Leaping Plunge: The mechs will bow low, then leap into the air, flip, then plunge both blades into the ground. Wait until just before the blades hit the ground to dodge. If you evade too early, the mechs seem to recover faster, then attack while Sam is getting up.
These are the three special attacks we witnessed during this fight. Use these strategies the best you can. It may take a few attempts, but you’ll get there.