Brutal Legend Guide/Walkthrough

Version 1.0: Just the walkthrough
Version 1.1: Added several sections, including shop list, combo list,
solo list, and sidequest information.  Also made minor edits to the
content of the guide and added a certain plot-based poem to the relevant
section of the guide.  You'll know what I'm referring to if you've gotten
that far.  Also added advice from readers.
Version 1.11: Added Information about unlockable upgrades, revised some
solo info, added info to Bound Serpents section and Side Mission section.
Updated credits.
Version 1.12: Minor Edits to several sections of the guide
Version 1.13: Added info from King Forsaker about DLC upgrades, the Bring
it on Home solo, and the Steel-Quilled Blade
Version 1.14: Added reader strategies to one of the later stage battles,
and added my own tactics for the dreaded tree (you know what I'm
referring to if you've run into it; I didn't mention the tree because I
didn't have a problem with it, but multiple readers asked about it, so I
added the info).

1.) Introduction
2.) Basic Controls
3.) Walkthrough
4.) Exploring the World: Landmarks, Collectables, and Side Missions
5.) Shop/Upgrades
6.) Solo List
7.) Combo List
8.) Credits/Contacting the Author

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________


1.) Introduction

Welcome to the world of Brutal Legend.  This guide will attempt to help
you out through the campaign mode of Brutal Legend.  While the guide is
written based off of Normal difficulty, my first playthrough of the game
was on Brutal difficulty, so most of the strategies should work with a
little bit of tinkering. This guide is very much a work in progress, so
if you feel like correcting mistakes or sending in additional
information, feel free to fire off an email (details at the bottom of
this guide).  So, without further ado, let's get to the guide.

At the moment, this is just a walkthrough, although I will update soon
with more.

Warning: I will try to avoid spoilers, but some are inevitable given the
nature of this guide.  If you want to avoid spoilers, I highly recommend
not using this guide.  At the very least, try to avoid going beyond the
section of the guide you are at in the game.


Disclaimer: This guide is based off of the 360 version of the game.  If
you have the PS3 version, feel free to send me corrections of any kind,
and I'll put it in the guide and give due credit.

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________


2.) Basic Controls (Taken from instruction manual)

Most of these controls are given during relevant tutorial sections of the
game, one notable exception being how to run.

On Foot:
Left Stick - Move (Click to Run)
Right Stick - Camera/Cycle Lock-on Targets (Click to fly)
Back button - Map
Start button - Pause menu
A button - Axe Attack
B button - Block
X buton - Guitar Attack
Y button - Interact/Double Team/Individual Orders
Right bumper - Recruit menu (Stage battle only)
Left bumper - Place command beacon (Stage battle only)
Right trigger - Solo menu
Left trigger - Target enemy (lock-on)
D pad - Squad Commands
   Up - Charge
   Down - Defend
   Left - Follow
   Right - Move to command beacon


Car:
Left Stick - Steer (Click to boost/nitro)
Right stick - Camera
Back button - Map
Start button - Pause menu
A button - Fire primary weapon
B button - Handbrake
X button - Fire secondary weapon
Y button - Enter/Exit vehicle
Left bumper - Rearview mirror
Right Trigger - Accelerate
Left Trigger - Brake/Reverse
D pad - radio controls
   Up - Customize
   Down - Mute
   Left - Previous Track
   Right - Next Track


Flight (During stage battles only):
Left Stick - Move
Right Stick - Camera (Click to land/fly)
Back button - Map
Start button - Pause menu
Y button - Individual Orders
Right bumper - Recruit menu
Left bumper - Place command beacon
Right Trigger - Ascend
Left Trigger - Descend
D pad - Squad Commands
   Up - Charge
   Down - Defend
   Left - Follow
   Right - Move to command beacon


_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________


3.) Walkthrough

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1: Welcome to the Age of Metal
_________________________________________________________________________


Start a new game, pick your difficulty, and watch the opening cinematics.
You'll get to choose gore and profanity options at points during the
cutscene, and once it's done, you'll have control of Eddie.

Once you have control, the Druids in the area will approach you and
attack.  You're defenseless for the moment, so run down one of the
staircases (the one away from the Druids might be good), and run to the
axe in the center of the room.  Hit the Y button, and Eddie will grab the
axe, giving you the means to fight back.  Use the A button to bring sharp
death to the Druids around you, then run back up the stairs and hit the Y
button to grab the guitar, Clementine.  You now have ranged abilities and
a few more combo possibilities, so try them out on the Druids.

Once the game tells you how, add the Earthshaker attack to your arsenal.
You don't really need to use it on the enemies, but using it will bring
down the temple around you, which leads to the next section, so use it in
between attacks.  After fighting enough, the game will throw a new enemy
at you, the Battlenun.

The Battlenun isn't too hard, just use your ranged lightning attacks to
attack from a distance, and when the guitar overheats, attack her with
your axe. After wailing on her for a bit, she'll go down, and more Druids
will come to attack you.  Ignore them, though, and just run over to the
monster/vehicle the nun arrived on.  Hit the Y button to use it, and
begin walking down the corpse pile.  Along the way, use the right stick
to move the camera around and get a good look at the world of metal you
now find yourself in.

Once at the bottom of the corpse pile, you'll be trapped in a pillar of
energy produced by Druids.  To get out, simply use the Earthshaker to
knock all of the enemies down, save for one.  One Druid will stand and
watch you, although it won't really attack much.  Guitar attacks do
nothing, so just attack with your axe to trigger a cutscene.

Following the cutscene, you'll now have a new ally, Ophelia.  Work your
way through the enemies, which is a mix of Druids and Battlenuns.  In
addition to your normal attacks, you can initiate a double team attack
with Ophelia, where she hops on your shoulders and you can throw her
towards enemies, where she will spin and cut them to pieces.  This is
effective on the Battlenuns, so by all means use it.  In addition, using
Earthshaker will drop giant motors from the ceiling, crushing the enemies
underneath.  Once you wipe out all of the enemies, Ophelia will stand
next to a giant set of doors.  Head over to where she is and hit the Y
button to see a quick cutscene.

Well, this might be a problem.  Trapped with no way out, eh?  Turn around
and run up to the altar in the room.  The game will give you access to
the Relic Raiser solo, so hold the right trigger and select it from the
menu that pops up.  Press the indicated buttons at the right time to
successfully play the solo and create some beauty with your rock.  A
bunch of car parts will rise from the ground, so run to the center of the
parts and hit the Y button to trigger a cutscene.

Following the cutscene, you will now have access to the Deuce, AKA the
Druid Plow.  Hit the accelerator and plow through the door, making your
way through the forces on the road.  You can simply blow through most of
the obstacles, so follow the path and avoid ramming walls.  Also, steer
clear of the Hate Cages, the giant pairs of legs with cages in the
middle.  Ramming the legs will stop you, which can cause problems if you
don't get moving again right away.  As long as you avoid those, the path
is simple enough, so just keep moving.

At the end of the path, you'll get a cutscene and a group of Druids.  Hop
out of the car and take them out, then watch the cutscene and get ready
to face your first boss.

___Boss: Gatekeeper_____________________________________________________

Your first boss is pretty easy.  Drive in one direction or another along
the edge of the arena until the boss raises his head.  When this happens,
you'll get an audio cue from Eddie.  After a moment, the boss will slam
into the ground, which can hurt quite a bit.  Simply hit the nitro when
he raises his head, and you can easily dodge it.

Once he slams into the ground, the boss will get his tongues stuck into
the ground.  As soon as you see him hit the ground, hit the B button to
activate the handbrake, and do a 180 to face back the way you came.  Run
over one of the boss's tongues, and it will rip in half.  Do this three
times and he's toast.

_________________________________________________________________________


Once the boss is down, watch the cutscene.  To proceed, simply run over
to the gate and use Earthshaker to activate another cutscene and be
brought to another race.

Your goal here is to get the hell out of here before the bridge collapses
on you.  Luckily, as far as I can tell, there's no time limit, so you
don't have to panic.  Don't use nitro boost, since the Deuce handles
better without it, and you have more than enough speed without the boost.
Listen for Ophelia's audio cues to avoid falling into the collapsed parts
of the bridges, and you'll be out and safe in no time.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 2: To Bladehenge!

_________________________________________________________________________

Once you're back in control, the game will prompt you to head to
Bladehenge.  You'll also get a map to see where your destination is.
There's no real danger on the field, so just take your time and head
toward the light in the sky to reach Bladehenge.  If you get lost, just
check the map and it will show where you are as well as a recommended
route to get there.

Once you get close enough, a cutscene will trigger and you'll find out
about the situation.  Once that's done, you'll see a tab slab, and get a
quick explanation of what a tab slab is.  Run up to the slab and hit Y to
learn the Summon Deuce solo.  This is one of the most useful solos in the
game, so get ready to use it a lot.  Use it now to summon your car.

Once your car has arrived, drive towards the new destination beacon.  If
you follow the path, you'll see some sort of building sticking out of the
ground, surrounded by red flowers.  Make a stop by it and play the relic
raiser solo to raise up your first Metal Forge.

Hop back in the Deuce and drive into the door, which will only open while
you're driving.  Drive through and watch a cutscene where you will meet
the Guardian of Metal, and get access to the store.  There are multiple
entrances spread out throughout the world map.  In order to purchase
items at the store, you will need Fire Tributes, which you get by
completing Story Missions and Side missions, jumping over large gaps and
running into lightning plug bugs, and finding various collectables on the
field.  Upon your first visit to the store, you will also get access to
the Mouth of Metal, AKA the radio, which will play music while you're
driving.

To start, you will have access to Deuce Upgrades, Mt. Rockmore Effigies,
New Special Attacks, Axe Treatments, and Guitar Strings.  The only
buyable items you can get are some special attacks, neither of which you
particularly need, so just save your Fire Tributes for the moment.

Once you're finished shopping, head out and make your way to the mines to
meet up with Lars.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 3: Exploited in the Bowels of Hell

_________________________________________________________________________

After the cutscene, you'll now have access to the Battle Cry Solo.  Play
it near some of the headbangers, and they'll join your side.  A bouncer
will attack, so just take him down with your new friends.

Follow the tutorial, then command your forces to take down the nearby
barricade.  Move on, playing the Battle Cry solo and recruiting more
headbangers as you go.  Make your way to the central area, recruit the
nearby headbangers, and fight your way through the hostile headbangers.
Once they're down, you'll have to protect the supports of the platform.
Have the headbangers follow you, making your way to each support as it
comes under attack.  If more than one support is being attacked, send the
headbangers to defend one while you run to defend the other.  Use a combo
of lightning, axe, and Earthshaker attacks to take them down, and avoid
getting surrounded.  If you need to link up with the headbangers again,
run a bit closer so your voice will reach, and issue the follow command
so that they head in your direction.

Once the supports are safe, you'll find yourself against a new boss.



____Boss: Mittens________________________________________________________

Pretty simple, lead the boss under the path of the moving cranes and zap
him with your guitar to stun him momentarily.  Once he's in position, use
Earthshaker to cause the cranes to start dropping stuff.  If it falls on
the boss, he'll be wide open.  Give him a whack with your axe, and he'll
come back to his senses.  Rinse and repeat until he goes down.
_________________________________________________________________________

You'll now find yourself in someowhat of a nasty situation.  You have a
few headbangers up against armies of bouncers.  To even the odds, turn
around, run up to the rock with the headset on it, and play the Battle
Cry to broadcast over the speakers, getting a large army of headbangers
on your side.  Once this is done, work with your army and steamroll the
enemy forces.  The mission will end in Brutal Victory.  Once you're back
outside, summon the Deuce and return to the settlement.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 4: Kill Master's Mercy

_________________________________________________________________________

Head back to town to find a slight problem.  You know have a new goal:
Find the Kill Master.

Once you reach the Kill Master's lair, talk to Lars to start your next
mission.  Follow the path, using the headbanger's double team attack
(Mosh Pit) to take out enemies on the ground.  When you start seeing
enemies that you can't reach, use the range on your guitar to take them
out.  If the screen starts to shake and someone yells "Stampede,"
immediately activate a mosh pit and use it to blow through the stampeding
enemies.

Once you make your way to the top, you'll receive a victory message and
meet the Kill Master.  Following the cutscene, you'll get your next
objective: find the Metal Queen and get new bass strings.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 5: Lair of the Metal Queen

_________________________________________________________________________

You'll also have access to new items in the Metal Forge.  There's one
along the way to the nest of the Metal Queen, so by all means stop by.  I
recommend the Grabber special attack and the Razor's Edge axe treatment.
You don't really need any of the other items.  The fire axe treatment,
especially, will be pretty much useless for the next mission, so there is
absolutely no reason to get it.

Once you're finished shopping, continue on to the lair of the Metal
Queen. Keep an eye out along the way for a tab slab, which holds the
Facemelter solo, not much use right now, but incredibly useful for later.

When you reach your destination, talk to the guy in front to start the
next mission.

Your primary enemies in this section are the metal spiders, which like to
attack in groups.  If you picked up the Grabber attack, use it to pull
one away from the group and take it out easily.  If not, just use
Earthshaker and your normal attacks to clear the enemies as they come.
In addition to the bigger spiders, there will be baby spiders.  Wait
until they get close and use the Earthshaker to take them out.  Follow
the path until you get to a cutscene, and a boss will appear.


____Boss: Metal Queen____________________________________________________

Run away from the Metal Queen until it stops and its eyes turn red.  When
this happens, blast it with your guitar to stun it and knock it down.
Run up to its head and wail away.  Continue until the boss retreats and
summons smaller spiders to deal with you.  Fight these enemies until the
boss reappears.  Rinse and repeat until the boss is down.

_________________________________________________________________________

Following the cutscene, you'll be in control of a nice motorcycle, and
you'll have a time limit to get back to the Kill Master.  Use nitros on
long stretches, avoid getting stuck, and you'll have no trouble making it
back in time.  Watch the cutscenes and make your way back to the
settlement.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 6: To the Slaughter

_________________________________________________________________________

Along the way, you now have access to side missions.  Complete them as
you like for more Fire Tributes.  It is highly recommended that you go
accept the Overslaughter missions from the hunter, which task you with
hunting various enemies on the field.  Once you complete the first level,
you'll get access to the Call of the Wild song, which is very handy
later.  To upgrade the song, simply complete more Overslaughter missions.

There will also be some new merchandise in the Metal Forge, although none
of them are necessary.  If you like, grab yourself some new guitar
strings. Otherwise, just save your tributes for better upgrades later.

Once back at the settlement, watch the cutscene and then make your way
over to Razor Fields to meet Opehlia.

Your goal here is to work with the Kill Master and herd the boars to
where
Ophelia is standing.  Chase one until it runs in the direction of
Ophelia, and once its close enough, hit the A button to stun it, allowing
Ophelia to catch it.  Repeat until the mission is complete.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 7: Battle for Bladehenge

_________________________________________________________________________

It is a very good idea to stop by the Metal Forge, as a host of new
upgrades are available, many of them very useful.  The machine guns are a
necessity for the Deuce, and all of the other upgrades for the Deuce will
come in handy, so buy what you like.

Make your way back to the settlement, watch the cutscene, and head to the
Northeast of the area to engage in your first stage battle.

___Stage Battle__________________________________________________________

Go through the tutorials, and the battle will begin.  Once the initial
cutscenes are done, you should have at least one Merch Booth, one squad
of headbangers, one squad of razor girls, and one thunderhog.  Summon
another squad of headbangers and another of razor girls, and get a second
merch booth set up on the other fan geyser near your stage.  This mission
is not terribly hard.  Order your forces towards the enemies as they
attack, and replenish your forces as needed.  Defend the Merch Booths,
and if one goes down, quickly clear the area around it and play the Fan
Tribute solo to bring it back.  If you don't need to do any upkeep, head
into battle with your forces, aiming for bouncers first, then the other
enemies afterward.  Enemy thunderhogs can't hurt you, although they can
heal enemies, so you should take them out when you get a chance.

Also, don't worry about dying, as you'll be brought right back.  Do try
to avoid doing it, though, as dying will net your enemy more resources,
and your forces will be without direction for a few moments while you
revive.  Unfortunately, you can't kill the enemy general, just drive him
off, so don't worry too much about him unless he's directly attacking
you.

Keep up your defense, and eventually the mission will end in your
victory.

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 8: Tour of Destruction

_________________________________________________________________________

Now it's time to take this show on the road.  Before you go, though, go
to a Metal Forge and BUY MACHINE GUNS!!!!!  The next mission will be near
impossible without them, so go buy some.  If you don't have enough fire
tributes, go complete some side quests.  The machine guns are not very
expensive, so just get enough for the machine guns.

Once you have machine guns, and you're ready to go, talk to Mangus to
start your next mission.

Your goal is to defend the tour bus until it reaches its destination.  It
will be attacked by tick choppers along the way, which will launch sticky
explosives onto the bus.  Stay a small distance behind the bus and blast
the tick choppers as they show up.  Do NOT shoot the sticky bombs on the
bus, as you might hit them and damage the bus.  If the tick choppers veer
off, follow them and take them out, as you'll have a minute before they
reach the bus again.  Don't worry about the tick choppers in front of the
bus, either, as there's a good chance Mangus will run them over.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 9: Fists Shall Fall

_________________________________________________________________________

Now you're standing in front of your next mission.  There's a Metal Forge
nearby, and it will have some new upgrades, although you don't really
need any of them.

Talk to Mangus to start the next stage battle.

___Stage Battle__________________________________________________________

Several new elements will be introduced to you, including Demon Eddie.
Follow the tutorial, and once it's done, run over to the newly opened fan
geyser and set up a Merch Booth.  To start, summon 2 headbanger squads, 2
razor girl squads, and a Thunderhog, and have them defend the area near
the stage and the first Merch Booth.  If you can, try and make your way
to the next Fan Geyser and free it from the giant leech.  Upon freeing
the second geyser, set up a Merch Booth and send your forces to the third
geyser.

You, however, need to take flight and fly to the other side of the field,
around the giant mortar.  Land, and take out the bouncer manning the
turret.  Once that's done, fly back and check your progress.  If your
forces are having trouble, regroup at the nearest Merch Booth, and defend
that spot until you can get them some reinforcements.  If it looks as if
your forces are fine, then push forward.  Make sure, as you're
recruiting, that you have a nice mix of the three unit types currently
accessible.  You don't have to, but it doesn't hurt to build up a good
amount of forces before pushing forward.  As long as you have at least 20
load full, you should be in decent shape.  Once again, bouncers are the
biggest threat, so take them out first.

Once you've captured all four of the Fan Geysers on the field, amass a
decent sized force and send it to take out the gate and win the mission.

_________________________________________________________________________


After the battle, you'll get some new allies, including Bouncers and now,
Roadies!

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 10: Pilgrimmage of Screams

_________________________________________________________________________

Before the roadies will fight with you, you'll need to get them some
firepower.  Check the map for your destination (the Screaming Wall), and
make your way there.

Before going too far, though, check out the area around the tour bus for
stuff, including several tab slabs, a Metal Forge, and other goodies.

Once you're ready, find Ophelia and talk with her to start the next
mission.

Make your way through this mission, fighting your way through enemies.
The enemies will occasionally walk into the lava, making your job easier.
Make sure you don't make the same mistake.  When there are lots of
enemies, use the Facemelter solo to take them out in one shot.  Make
sure the roadies don't get killed, or you'll fail the mission.

Once you reach the end, you'll see a cutscene, and the roadies will be
armed with nice new amps.  Use the Y button to double team with one of
the roadies and make your way back to where you started.  Seagulls will
swarm you now, but just use the feedback attack to take them out.  When
normal enemies attack, just spam feedback to stun them and make them easy
pickings for your forces.  Make your way back to the start to complete
the mission.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 11: March to Imapalement

_________________________________________________________________________

Once again, there's new stuff in the Metal Forge.  It might be good to
pick up the Shredder stings and maybe a performance boost for the Deuce,
but don't bother getting new weapons.  The missile launcher is not very
good, and you get something much better soon.

Return to the tour bus, head into the gate, and talk to the roadie to
start the next mission.

Set a command beacon on the turret tower to the left, and send your
roadies to destroy it.  Once that's done, double team with a roadie and
stealth your way past the wall turrets.  Make your way to the wall, stop
by the hole in the fence, hop off and walk through.  Use your guitar to
take out the controllers and take out the wall turrets.

Throw a command beacon on the next tower, walk over to the roadies and
hold the Y button to give them an individual order.  Now send them to the
beacon to take out the tower.  With the tower down, take out the
approaching enemies, and walk ahead to complete the mission.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 12: Sanctuary of Sin

_________________________________________________________________________

There are a few more upgrades in the Metal Forge, but they're merely
cosmetic, so don't bother checking them out.

Talk to Mangus to begin the battle.

___Stage Battle__________________________________________________________

Start out by spending your starting fans on a mix of headbangers, razor
girls, and thunderhogs.  Do NOT upgrade the stage yet.

Send your forces ahead and up the stairs, taking out the central fan
geyser.  Capture it before moving to one of the side geysers.

In terms of what to get, now that your options are open, you want to
eventually have a level 3 stage, but don't buy that until you have
several Merch Booths to provide a steady income of fans.  You will also
need a squad of roadies, but you'll need the level 3 stage first.  For
the moment, just get the initial three units, as that's all you'll need
(and indeed, for the rest of the game, the starting three units will be
all you really need for stage battles, although throwing a small amount
of other units into the mix certainly helps).  If you have a level 3
stage and a full load, use the fans to upgrade headbangers, razor girls,
and thunderhogs, allowing you much more bang for your buck.

Once you've captured all three geysers on the second level, move up to
the third, capping the central geyser.  Now, you'll want to keep sending
your units here, either by placing a command beacon, or using relevant
solos.  Defend this tower, and keep an eye out for units coming down the
stairs.  You will eventually want to destroy the gate up the stairs, but
it's defended by impaler towers, which will annihilate your forces.  What
you want to do is defend the foremost Merch Booth and work on getting
your stage up to level 3 and getting a squad or two of roadies.  Bring
them up, then double team with one and send the roadies to take out the
towers.  Once they're down, send all your forces to take out the gate,
replenishing as needed.

_________________________________________________________________________

Watch the cutscenes.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 13: It's Raining Death

_________________________________________________________________________

___WARNING_______________________________________________________________

Once you start the next mission, you won't be able to go back for awhile,
so make sure you've completed any side missions you want and found any
collectables you need before continuing on.

_________________________________________________________________________

Talk to Mangus to continue further.

After the cutscenes, your goal is to get the hell out of dodge.  The path
is reasonably simple, and the buildings collapse in the exact same way,
so if you have trouble, take a try or two to figure out the course.  Just
drive through the carnage and out to the other end to escape.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 14: Doom's Dawn

_________________________________________________________________________

Follow the path, grabbing collectables as you like, and meet up with the
others.

Cutscenes follow, and you'll find yourself in the middle of a stage
battle.

___Stage Battle__________________________________________________________

The goal for this mission says to meet Mangus at Death's Clutch, but
that's a mistake.  Your goal is to defend the stage.

Start by clearing out the enemies, using the starting forces and the face
melter solo.  The moment the two geysers near the stage are clear, set up
Merch Booths.  Enemies will start coming in, so you'll need to get your
forces set up as fast as possible.

Once you have two Merch Booths, start building units and have them defend
the area.  As soon as you can, fly over to the geyser on the hill and cap
it.  You don't have to worry about the enemy capping it, and if they take
it out, just cap it again.  Keep the majority of your forces near the
stage to keep it safe.

In terms of unit types, the strategy from previous stage battles still
works: focus on headbangers, razor girls, and thunderhogs, and when you
have a chance, go for a level 3 stage so you can upgrade those units.

The enemies attacking you can have some nasty surprises.  You'll
primarily be dealing with grave diggers and brides.  Grave diggers can
take serious punishment, even surviving delimbing.  Use Facemelter to
take them out quickly.  As for the brides, they can debuff you and when
you attack them, you get hit with lightning, so take them out fast so
your forces don't get shocked to death.  There's also frightwigs and
ratguts, but they're not too bad to deal with.

Keep defending until a cutscene triggers.  Things look grim, but some
unexpected help shows up, and the odds are evened.  Move forward with
your new allies to take out the remaining enemies and win the battle.

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 15: The Unhealing Wound

_________________________________________________________________________

Following the end of the battle, more goodies will be available in the
Motor Forge.  I highly recommend getting Heat Seekers, as those will make
certain side missions easier, the protect bus story missions will be far
easier, and you'll even be able to use the Deuce as an effective weapon
in stage battles.

Once the shopping's done, head to your destination, a bridge near where
the last battle against Lionwhyte was.  The bridge is out, but the
destination beacon is in the middle of a field of red flowers.  Hmmm.....

Play the Relic Raiser solo and watch the cutscene.

_________________________________________________________________________


Chapter 16: Deliver the Metal

_________________________________________________________________________


Well...that didn't help much.  Make your way back through the area where
Lionwhyte fell and return to Bladehenge.  Talk to Lita to start the next
mission.

Time to protect the bus again.  This time, however, you have shiny heat
seekers, which wreck the tick choppers.  Strategy is pretty much the same
as the previous protect mission, and with heat seekers, this should be a
lot easier.  If you don't have heat seekers...then follow the same
strategy as before, and just keep on top of the choppers to make sure
they don't overwhelm the bus.

Once the mission ends, you'll be standing next to the Baron.  Talk to him
to set up the next mission.  There is a few new things in the Metal
Forge, but you don't really need any of it.

_________________________________________________________________________


Chapter 17: A Number of the Beasts

_________________________________________________________________________

You now have to ensnare several Metal Beasts and capture them.  This one
is pretty simple.  The first beast is near the spotlight.  Run into it to
wake it up, and it will chase you wherever you go.  Take it into the
spotlight, hold the A button and drive while holding either left or
right.  You'll set up a ring of fire, and Lita will capture the beast,
allowing you to go find the  next one.  The second and third beast are
farther in.  Once you have all three caught, the mission will end.

After the cutscene, run around to the other side of the enclosure and
play the Relic Raiser near the red flowers to trigger a cutscene and get
some new friends.

_________________________________________________________________________


Chapter 18: Regret's Infinite Mire

_________________________________________________________________________

Once again, more upgrades are available in the Metal Forge.  The High
Voltage guitar strings are nice, but you don't desperately need anything
in the Forge.  Actually, at this point, you really have most of the
upgrades you need, so feel free to spend your tributes on what you want.

Return to the bus and speak to Lita to activate the next mission.

In this mission, you have to guide the tour bus through the swamp and
protect it from enemies.  Luckily, your new Metal Beast can do quite a
bit of damage to infantry, which is what you'll mainly be facing.  You'll
primarily be dealing with Grave Diggers and Panthers that shoot lasers
out of their eyes (Yes, you are reading that correctly: Laser Cat!  And
if you know the reference, you deserve a cookie).  There are also
broods, which your attacks are less effective against, but for the most
part, you can ignore, and if you need to kill them, just stand and blast
fire at them for a moment to take them out.

If you get hit, head behind the tour bus and get some help from the
Kill Master.  As for enemies, the Grave Diggers will attack you in
swarms, so hit and run with your fire breath to take them out.  Take out
the panthers when you can, and just stay out of the line of fire for the
ones that are elevated and out of your reach.

Follow the path, taking out enemies, until you reach a dead end.  The bus
will stop here, and you'll have to go down the path to the left in order
to clear the way.  Clear the enemies, and if you get hit a lot, backtrack
to the Kill Master for some heals.  Make your way around until you find
yourself on the opposite side of the obstacle blocking the bus.  There
will be a rope to the side, so light that on fire to clear the way and
continue on.

Once you reach the bridge, you'll hit a checkpoint and the bus will stop.
Take out the two panthers, cross the bridge, and take out the enemies on
the other side to allow the bus to continue.

Continue until you are ambushed.  Clear the enemies, and hit the rope to
clear the path ahead.  There won't be any more enemies, so just enjoy the
rest of the trip.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 19: Dry Ice, Wet Graves


_________________________________________________________________________

Once again, more upgrades available at Metal Forge.

Now that you have access to a new area, you should probably explore it a
bit to see if there's anything nice.

When you're ready to move on, talk to Lita to start the next mission.
Following the cutscenes, you'll be in for another stage battle.

___Stage Battle__________________________________________________________

There are two paths around the central rockface.  Ignore the left.
There's a Fan Geyser, but getting it is more trouble than it's worth.
Instead, use the usual composition of forces and head right, aiming for
the Fan Geyser in that direction.  Cap it, and build your army around it.
Once you've got enough forces, push forward, take out the two Merch
Booths near Ophelia's stage, and then send your forces to take out her
stage and end the battle.

Try to keep a squad or two near the stage, because even though it's not
much of a threat, Ophelia will occasionally send a squad to attack your
stage.  If you manage to keep Lita near the stage, she can keep them busy
long enough for you to get back and take them down.

Watch out about playing solos near Ophelia, she can silence you, making
it impossible to use your guitar for anything.  It's more of a nuisance
than a serious threat, but even so, be careful when she's nearby.

In addition, now that you have Heat Seekers on the Deuce, use it to give
a much needed firepower boost to your forces.  Only get out if you need
to fly or play a solo, as you can do a lot more damage with the guns on
the car.

Once Ophelia's stage is down, the battle is over.

UPDATE: Apparently I got lucky with this tactic, so here's some alternate
strategies from a few readers.

A reader by the name of Tor says, "On Brutal, the Dry Ice, Wet Graves
mission is very tough if you try to fight it outright.  She heals her
base if you try and attack her right away.

So, here is the strategy that made it a piece of cake for me:

You make a made grab for the right geyser with all the headbangers you
can create from the get-go.  Place a flag at this geyser.  You will move
the flag later.  While that attack starts, you go and drop your Call of
the Wild on the geyers on the left and order it to attack that worm.
Meanwhile you create more headbangers. As soon as you can and they will
go to your flag.

Somewhere early on, when you can, summon the Rock Wall to block Ophelia
from creating minions.  You can do that from anywhere on the map.

After you have captured the first two geysers in a hurry, you need to
create merch booths immediately on them.  Timing is key.  The sooner you
get these two created the sooner you can max out your headbanger army.

You keep creating headbangers because they are cheap and a bunch of them
come running.   You move your flag to right in front of Ophelias stage.

Summon your blimp onto one of Ophelias merch booths right by her stage.
Stand next to it and summon that explosion from the sky.

Order your troops and the Call of the Wild beast to destroy the other
merch booth.  The trick here is to get through taking the first two
geysers within a couple of minutes and move onto destroying Ophelias Fan
supply IMMEDIATELY.  Don’t let up.   Use the devastating attacks and by
the time you have taken the middle two geysers you should be getting fans
quickly enough to just keep making more headbangers for now.

Use your car for ground fire support against weak troops in between.
Resummon the beast if you have to.  Resummon the blimp if you can.   Once
you own all the geysers you can have the headbanger army attack the
stage.  Get out of your car near them and give them the war cry for a
boost in attack power.  Once I started attacking the stage, it was over
in a minute or so.  It took me about 5 minutes to get there.

So, on Brutal, I was able to sweep the entire map, own all the geysers,
and once she has no more fans, she can barely do anything to you."

Also, Munkis advises the following: "You need to upgrade your stage until
you can get roadies.  Then bring up a squad or two, hop on one and head
for Ophelia’s stage, using the roadie’s feedback attack once you get
there.  I pulled this off with one squad on Normal."  One squad?  Yikes!
I need to use roadies more.

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 20: Racing the Reaper

_________________________________________________________________________

Talk to Mangus to trigger the next mission.

This mission is another defend the bus, and like the previous, it's not
terribly hard as long as you have heat seekers.  The enemies attacking
you, reapers, are a bit more nasty than Tick Choppers, but other than
that fact, the mission isn't much trouble.

Once you've reached your destination, you'll find yourself at the
entrance to the Sea of Black Tears.  A battle will start, but as long as
you're careful, there are enough allied forces for this fight to be over
fairly quickly.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 21: Sea of Black Tears

_________________________________________________________________________

Move through the tunnel, listen to Ophelia's rather creepy, but really
cool, poem, and talk to Lita to get this battle started.

___Stage Battle__________________________________________________________

All right, this is it.  Ophelia will throw everything she has at you, but
this mission's not too bad.  You need to take out her base on the other
end of the bridge, but two towers kill any units you send over, and you
need to take them out before you can continue.  In the meantime, start by
building up a force, and slowly capturing all of the Fan Geysers on your
side of the bridge.  In total, including the one you start with, there
are five, so get working on it.  My usual advice for force makeup holds.

Once you've captured all of the geysers on this side of the bridge, park
your forces on the edge of the bridge and work on building them up.
Upgrade your stage to level 4, upgrade all the units that can be
upgraded, and maintain your load at 34 or lower.  Why not 40?  Because
you need six load points for your new unit, the Rock Crusher, which
requires a level 4 stage.  Once you have a rock crusher, double team with
it, and make your way to the bridge.  Don't worry about normal enemies.
This monster's got enough pyro mortars to not make them much of a threat,
although you might want to test out the attack while you're double
teaming.  To use it, hit the A button, and a targeting circle will
appear.  Place the circle where you want the attack to land, and watch
the fireworks.  Keep moving closer until you're just barely close enough
to hit the towers, but not close enough to get hit yourself.  One
Bladehenge attack will take out one tower, so fire off two, clear the
towers, and order all of your units to advance.

At this point, a giant tree monster will attack you.  If you charge it
blindly, you'll probably lose a good amount of forces, especially on
Brutal.  If you need to, back off and replenish your forces.  If you have
enough, though, tell them all to focus on the tree.  In addition to
attacking the biggest threat, your forces will give you a distraction.
Stay on the rockcrusher and spam Bladehenge attacks as fast as you can.
Once the tree goes down, there isn't much left in your way to stop you,
so move forward and steamroll over Ophelia's base.

_________________________________________________________________________

Just for the hell of it, here's Ophelia's poem:

Through the woods a girl came sadly,
Something broken in her chest.
She had dared to love another,
Alas, no better than the rest.
Up my path the girl came gladly.
Something opened up my doors.
I longed to stop her bleeding heart,
And so I called her to my shores.
Those you trust will hurt you badly,
Something now I'm sure you see.
So drown your tears in me, my dear,
As you drown, my dear, in me.

_________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 22: Abomination Overdrive

_________________________________________________________________________

___WARNING_______________________________________________________________

This is the end of the game.  If you have anything you want to do before
completing the game, it is highly recommended that you do it now.

_________________________________________________________________________

When you're ready to finish the game, talk to Lita to begin the final
battle.

___Stage Battle__________________________________________________________

If you know what to expect, this one is tough, but certainly doable.  If
you come in unprepared, though, this mission will eat you alive and turn
your eyes into a necklace.

First thing's first, amass a force and clear the other two Fan Geysers
and cap them.

Now, you'll need to simply stay alive and build up fans before
continuing.  Amass your forces near one of the Fan Geysers and wait.  The
enemy will launch dark mortars, which are tricky to avoid, and spawn
spears.  These spears will spawn groups of enemies, so as soon as you see
one, have your forces head over so you can take down the enemies without
getting swarmed.  Whenever Doviculous comes down, focus on attacking him
until he flees.  He can do serious damage to your forces.  You do not
want to let him do anything.

Here's the tricky bit: before going forward, you need to amass as
powerful a force as possible, while saving up spare fans to keep the army
running as it takes losses.  The force can contain whatever units you're
comfortable with.  You need to upgrade to a level 4 stage, and upgrade
all relevant units.  Once that's done, max out your load and get an
ADDITIONAL 1000 fans.  I know this seems like a lot, but once you
actually start attacking, you'll need the safety net to avoid getting
destroyed.

Once you're ready, set a command beacon on your own stage.  You'll see
why in a minute.

If you haven't already, summon the Deuce, it's mandatory in order to pull
this off.

Send your forces to attack one of the side structures.  I generally go
right, then left, but either works.

The problem with focusing on attacking the buildings is that you'll no
longer be able to overwhelm the enemies as they spawn.  In addition,
Doviculous will start sending bigger enemies the further you get, so if
you lose momentum completely after you start attacking, you're screwed.

The moment one of the side buildings goes down, it will show you the
relevant side tunnel, which is where you need to go.  Send your units in
the direction of the other side building, and then hightail it in the
Deuce and drive up the tunnel, jumping into the structure to take it out
for good.  If you're too slow, the building will recover, so move it.

Once you've destroyed one of the buildings, you need to act fast.  Have
your forces bring down the other structure, and drive up its tunnel to
destroy it.  Immediately after landing, send your forces to the beacon
(the stage, in this case), while you head to the center bridge.  If you
have enough forces left, this should give you enough time to drive across
the bridge and into the central building, ending the battle.  If you're
not fast enough, the enemies will not have too much trouble steamrolling
your forces and taking out your stage, making you fail the battle.

Alternatively, I MAKE PUNS recommends the following: upgrade your stage
until you get roadies, make two squads of roadies, and then use
individual commands (hold Y) to send each squad to a different side
tower.  They should take them out fairly quickly.  This is a much quicker
strategy to avoid having to save up the large amount of fans.

_________________________________________________________________________

Watch the cutscenes and get ready for an epic showdown.

___Final Boss: Emperor Doviculous________________________________________

This is it, the final showdown.  Emperor Doviculous packs a punch, so be
ready.  Run him around in circles, using your guitar to shock him, and
Earthshaker to knock him away.  If you can, get a few axe strikes in, but
be careful not to give him an opening.

Once you do enough damage, the Emperor will retreat, hovering over the
room, suspended by a set of chains.  He will summon waves of Druids and
Battlenuns to attack you.  Take them out and in between waves, use your
guitar to attack Doviculous from a distance, destroying the chains.  Once
all the chains are gone, he'll return to the battle.

Attack him like you did before, and the process will repeat.  This time
however, more chains will come from the sky, and when they land, energy
attacks will hit the end of the chains, doing a good deal of damage.
There's a bit of a delay, though, so just avoid the chains as you fight.
Aside from that, the round is the same.

Once Doviculous is down again, attack him until he retreats.  This is the
home stretch of the fight.  In addition to the enemies and the chains,
large arms will come from outside the room, attacking the sides, so you
need to avoid the sides of the room while you fight.  Plus, the interval </pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
between waves is shorter, so as soon as the last enemy goes down, start
attacking Doviculous before the next wave.  Once you knock the chains
down again, even if there are enemies, ignore them, run up to the
Emperor, and attack with your axe to finish the fight.

_________________________________________________________________________

Watch the epic battle cry and the ending cutscenes.  Congratulations,
you've beaten Brutal Legend!

___________________________CONGRATULATIONS_______________________________

Once the credits are done, you are now free to roam the world, searching
for collectables and side missions, for achievements and bonus extras.

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

4.) Exploring the World

Well, so now you've beaten the game, or maybe just want to take a break
from the story.  Why not explore the world, see what it has to offer?
This section will explain all of the things you can find on the main
world, including collectables and side missions, and how to activate
them.

_________________________________________________________________________

Side Missions

_________________________________________________________________________

One of the best ways of getting Fire Tributes is to complete side
missions.  These show up as small markers on your world map, letting you
know which ones are available.  While there are a few one time missions,
most of them are part of a group.  Fortunately, the tactics for each
group are pretty much the same.  This section will explain some basic
advice you should follow if you're having trouble with any one mission
type.

I.) Ambush

Ambush missions are simple enough.  Your goal for these is to defeat a
group of enemies while protecting your own forces.  If at least one of
your units survives, you win.  Otherwise, you fail and have to try again.
Generally, you need to run ahead of your forces and use the lightning
attack to zap the enemy forces for some quick damage.  Next, run up and
use Earthshaker to scatter them.  If they get close to your forces, use
the Facemelter solo to take as many out in what shot as you can.
Generally, once the melee units are down, you'll have to deal with range
units.  Run up to them, as they usually group together, and use a
combination of Earthshaker to stun them, and lightning attacks to finish
them off.  Depending on the makeup of your allies, you can also use
doubleteams to make the mission easier.  Either way, once all the enemy
forces are down, you win.  If you happen to have the Bring it on Home
solo, then these missions are an absolute joke.


II.) Race

This is probably the most challenging of the mission types, depending on
how much you play racing games.  The basic goal is simple, beat Fletus,
the demon driver, to the goal, a giant pillar of green light.  Along the
way, you have to follow a path designated by small blue light pillars.
Fortunately, to hit a checkpoint, you only have to get within a small
distance of it, and not touch it directly, so you have a bit of freedom
in how you drive the course, provided you follow it.  The main difficulty
for these missions is Fletus himself.  His car, the Squealer, is very
fast, so you'll need to use the nitro boost in order to beat him.  My
main recommendation for these is to have all of the Deuce upgrades
possible, especially the performance and nitro boost upgrades.  Use your
boosts on straight stretches of road, and try your best to pass Fletus.
Unless you want to try beating Fletus at the last minute, I would
recommend just running through the course a few times to get a feel for
it, so you don't have to worry about him knowing the course better than
you.  In a few cases, you have to make rather nasty turns.  Do this by
either stopping and nitro boosting out of it to regain lost speed, or
using the handbrake.  Keep these tips in mind, and with a little
practice, you'll be able to beat these missions and leave Fletus in the
dust.  Once you've beaten every race with Fletus, he will give you
Squealer Sauce, a massive upgrade to your nitro.


III.) Overslaughter

These missions are a bit different.  You activate them by talking to the
hunter, who starts out in Bladehenge, and moves elsewhere as the game
progresses.  He challenges you to beat his record for hunting different
kinds of wildlife on the field.  You have no time limit, and can complete
each level at any time to get the Fire Tributes for it.  You only have to
return to the hunter for the next mission in the chain.  In addition,
upon completion of the first Overslaughter mission, you get the Call of
the Wild solo, which allows you to summon wildlife to aid you in battle.
This is especially useful if you need a quick boost of forces during
stage battles.  Everytime you complete an Overslaughter mission, the solo
will upgrade, summoning the most recent wildlife you've hunted.  As for
the missions themselves, they're generally pretty simple.  Just use your
car and weapons to take them down as you run into them.  Once they're
available in the Motor Forge, the Bolt Throwers can rip through pretty
much everything you have to hunt.  Once you've completed every mission,
talk to the hunter in his original position in Bladehenge, and he will
give you the Steel-Quilled Blade.


IV.) Mount the Death Rack

In this group of missions, the Deuce is turned into a stationary turret,
and you have to wipe out all attacking enemies with your weapons.  To
help you, the guy who built the jack will call out where the enemies are
coming from, and there are allied forces at the bottom, who will follow
your orders.  These missions aren't too hard, although you need the
machine gun to even do them.  Once you get heat seekers, though, these
missions just become incredibly easy, as anything you don't blow to
pieces will get taken out by your units.  If you like, hold off on these
until you get heat seekers, and then just rain some death from above.  By
car.


V.) Cannoneer

Available once you get bouncers in your army (around chapter 10 or so),
the goal of this is to help the mortar operator take out attacking
forces.  Essentially, as you drive, hit A, and a beacon will be placed
where you are.  The mortar will fire a shell at that spot, and whatever's
in the blast radius will get an unpleasant surprise.  Fortunately, this
doesn't hurt the allied forces defending the cannon, so all you have to
worry about is taking out the enemies.  The hard part is that once fired,
it takes a couple seconds for the shell to hit.  What you need to do is
set the beacon ahead of the incoming forces (or, if far enough away from
the cannon, in the middle of your troops).  As they run in, they'll get
hit by the shell, which has a fairly large area of effect.  Essentially,
the farther you are from the cannon, the longer each shot will take to
hit, so just practice a bit with leading the enemy, and you'll get the
hang of it quickly enough.  If the enemies get close enough to attack the
cannon, set a beacon as close as possible that the cannoneer can actually
fire.  Whatever isn't killed by the blast will be taken out by the allied
forces defending the cannon.


VI.) Deliver the beer

This is a one-shot side mission near Bladehenge.  The guardian of the
sacred beer tree has tasked you with delivering a few kegs of beer to the
beach before they get warm.  So in other words, drive as fast as you can
for the beach before time runs out.  The catch is that shocks will make
the beer explode (that's some volatile beer), so you need to avoid
running into things.  Drops aren't a problem unless they're really long
falls, so don't worry too much about those.  Just check your map for the
route and make your way there.  To avoid crashing, try and avoid using
nitro unless you really need it to make up for time.  Once you get down
to the beach, there are few obstacles, so as long as you're careful, you
can boost like hell to the finish.


VII.) Defend the couple

A headbanger wants to pick up a razor girl at a party.  There's just one
problem: some of the Kill Master's men want in on the action.  Your goal
is to keep them away from the couple until the headbanger can finish
talking to the girl.  Simple enough, you have a time limit, and you have
to keep approaching guys out of the circle long enough for the timer to
run out.  How do you do it?  Well, there are a lot of headbangers, so
just run into a group and hit Y to activate a mosh pit double team.  Use
this to knock away anyone who tries to get into the circle.  They'll go
the opposite direction for a few seconds once you hit them, so stay near
the circle and hit the biggest threats away, changing your targets as
needed.  Once the timer empties, you win.


VIII.) Cull the tainted herd.

A herd of wildlife has been corrupted by the Tainted Coil, and one of the
razor girls has asked you to cull the herd before it corrupts anything
else.  Use the Deuce to chase after the herd, taking them out with your
primary weapons.  If you have heat seekers, this mission is a joke.  You
have plenty of time to take them all out, so just follow behind and take
them down one by one.


IX.) Save the bat family's Home

Near the Dry Ice Mines, you've run into a family of bats, who are
threatening to bite your head off for even passing near them.  When you
ask about the fact that bats live in caves, the father confirms this, and
then explains that monsters have chased them out.  Your goal: go in and
take out the enemy monsters.  This mission is reasonably easy.  As you
head through the cave, you'll see flying monsters, who hang out by
themselves.  Approach one until it notices you and lead it away from the
others.  Once this is done, use your guitar to shock the monster, which
will fall to the ground for a second.  Now just run up to it and use your
axe to take it out.  If it gets back up, just repeat the process.  Do
this for all of the monsters until you get to the end of the cave, where
a giant beast on four legs and two of the flying monsters will attack
you.  Run away in circles, using the guitar to shock the enemies as you
run.  As long as you're fast enough, the enemies will go down once
they're hit enough, and the mission will be complete.

_________________________________________________________________________

Tab Slabs

_________________________________________________________________________

These are giant rock slabs that are found in various places across the
world map.  While you learn a few songs from the plot, and one from doing
side missions, most of these are learned from finding tab slabs.  To use
one, simply find it and hit the Y button to trigger a brief cutscene and
learn the solo.

_________________________________________________________________________

Motor Forges

_________________________________________________________________________

Motor Forges are large structures in the shape of a motor with a garage
door in the front.  They are pretty easy to spot on the field, especially
since they're surrounded by red flowers, the sign that it is a buried
relic.  To raise it, play the Relic Raiser solo while standing in the
middle of the flowers.  For the door to open, you must be driving the
Deuce for it to open.  Once raised, it will appear on your map.

_________________________________________________________________________

Buried Metal

_________________________________________________________________________

If you see the red flowers but no giant motor, that means that it's
probably Buried Metal.  These are found throughout the world map and once
raised with the Relic Raiser solo, grant you a new song to play with the
Mouth of Metal while driving in the Deuce.

_________________________________________________________________________

Landmark Viewers

_________________________________________________________________________

If you see a small square platform with one of those stationary
binoculars that you can find at the top of tall buildings, then it's a
Landmark Viewer.  If the lights on the platform are green, you haven not
used that particular viewer yet.  If they're red, you've already used it
and can ignore it if you want.  Simply walk up to one of these and hit Y
to get a nice view of nearby scenery.

_________________________________________________________________________

Lightning Plug Jumps

_________________________________________________________________________

If, while driving around, you notice a bunch of blue lights floating in
the air, those are Lightning Plug Bugs.  If you jump through them, they
will follow the Deuce for a brief period of time and you will receive
Fire Tributes for your trouble.  To actually pull off the jump, there is
usually a ramp nearby, although its location may not be readily apparent.
Once you find it, drive up it and hit the nitro at the last moment before
you take off to get a boost of speed and hit the bugs.  If you miss, just
try again.  The jumps are generally pretty simple.

_________________________________________________________________________

Animals

_________________________________________________________________________

These aren't collectables so much as points of interest.  The various
wildlife throughout the world can be used to ride around.  To do this,
find an animal, use your guitar to shock and stun it, then run over and
hit the Y button to ride it.  Generally, there isn't much practical
benefit to doing this over the Deuce, but it can be fun, especially some
of the bigger wildlife.

_________________________________________________________________________

Bound Serpents

_________________________________________________________________________

If you see what looks like a dragon or serpent bound by S&M gear, then
you've found a Bound Serpent.  There are a total of 120 spread out
throughout the world, and in order to free one, walk up to it and hold
the X button to trigger your guitar's pyro attack, which will destroy the
restraints and free the serpent.  Alternatively, you can use the power
slide move to free them, but it is a bit tricky to aim the move right.
For every ten serpents freed, you get an upgrade as a gift from
Ormagoden.  For example, ten serpents nets you a piece of Ormagoden's
flesh, which grants you a small boost to your maximum health.  Every time
you free one, the game will tell you how many you need to get the next
upgrade.  In addition, you get a few Fire Tributes for each serpent for
free, so by all means, go ahead and free one if you see it.  They can
even be freed while you are in the middle of a mission, although if you
die, it will reset, so you'll have to do it again.

Here is an incomplete list of the gifts you receive for freeing Bound
Serpents.  Currently, I have 80 of the serpents (yeah, yeah, I'm lazy
about collecting).  Considering the repetition in the list, the initial
four upgrades probably repeat again for the last four, but if someone
wants to confirm or refute this assumption, feel free.

10 - Ormagoden's Flesh - +10% Max Health
20 - Ormagoden's Blood - +10% Health Regen Rate
30 - Ormagoden's Scream - +5% Regen Bonus for Allied Troops
40 - Ormagoden's Fire - +10% Faster Flight Speed
50 - Ormagoden's Flesh - +10% Max Health (+20% Total)
60 - Ormagoden's Blood - +10% Health Regen Rate (+20% Total)
70 - Ormagoden's Scream - +5% Regen Bonus for Allied Troops (+10% Total)
80 - Ormagoden's Fire - +10% Faster Flight Speed (+20% Total)

_________________________________________________________________________

Artifacts of Legends

_________________________________________________________________________

These are large demonic statues that hold a blue orb at the bottom.
Bound by chains, they can be freed with the use of the Earthshaker attack
(X & A at the same time, if you forgot).  Once freed, you can run up and
hit the Y button to see a cinematic detailing some of the world's
backstory.  One warning, though.  The last few artifacts might give minor
spoilers, so you might want to pass on some of these until you complete
the game.

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

5.) Shop/Upgrades

This is a listing of the categories and upgrades available at the Motor
Forge.  Where appropriate, I'll add my comments on different upgrades or
categories.  I will only do this though if I've actually played around
with the upgrade in question enough to form an opinion.  Otherwise, I'll
just quote the ingame description.  For the purely cosmetic categories,
I'll just give a description of the category and won't even bother with
individual descriptions.  Within each category, the upgrades are listed
in the order they appear in the menu once they're all unlocked, NOT in
the order to get access to them.

_________________________________________________________________________

Deuce Upgrades

_________________________________________________________________________

These are upgrades attached to your car, the Deuce.  Unlike a lot of
other categories, once you have this, it's permanently attached to the
car, so you don't have to come back to change something out.  Also
different, most of the upgrades in this category are in levels, so in
order to unlock Performance Overkill, for example, you need to purchase
the previous Performance Boosts, or it won't even show up as buyable.
For these upgrades, I'll just give a name for the chain as a whole and
make a note that it is a chain.

I.) Nitro (Chain)

This is a chain that grants you improvements to your nitro boosts, such
as lowering the delay between boosts.  Whether or not this is useful
depends entirely on how much you use nitro boosts in the first place.  If
you're just playing through the story, this is not terribly important,
but it is immensely useful for making Lightning Plug jumps or beating
Fletus in a race.  Up to you.

II.) Mouth of Metal

This is automatically awarded for finding the Metal Forge.  It is a radio
that lets you play songs from the soundtrack while you drive.  To get new
songs, play through the game or find Buried Metal spread throughout the
world.

III.) Performance (Chain)

This chain improves the car itself.  You can drive faster, accelerate
quicker, and even get better handling (not completely sure on this one,
seems to handle better after upgrading, though).  This is a must when
racing Fletus, and is definitely recommended throughout the game.

IV.) Armor (Chain)

This chain increases two things.  First, you get more defense, so the car
can take more damage before exploding.  Second, you improve the damage
done by ramming enemies with the Deuce.  Like the Nitro chain, this
depends on how you play.  If you have trouble with defense or like to ram
enemies, then get it, otherwise, it's not mandatory to beating the game.

_________________________________________________________________________

Mt. Rockmore Effigies

_________________________________________________________________________

These should be the last thing you buy.  Mt. Rockmore is a structure near
Bladehenge that has four faces on it.  Using these effigies, you can put
whoever you want up on Mt. Rockmore.  That being said, they serve no
practical benefit, and after a certain point, you rarely return to
Bladehenge, so you won't even see it that much.  The effigies are pretty
cheap, but even so, don't bother unless you've already bought everything
else.

I.) Emperor Doviculous

II.) Eddie Riggs

III.) The Baron

IV.) Guardian of Metal

V.) General Lionwhyte

VI.) Lita Halford

VII.) Mangus

VIII.) Kill Master

IX.) Lars Halford

X.) Ophelia

XI.) Drowned Ophelia

_________________________________________________________________________

Special Attacks

_________________________________________________________________________

These add new combat options while you're on foot, but I found that I
didn't really use them that much.  Your mileage may vary, however.

I.) Grabber

"Pull back while targeting an enemy and press X to yank them towards
you."  Useful when fighting metal spiders.  Otherwise, I barely used it.

II.) Rock Kick

"Use A, A, A, X to Rock Kick enemies in the mouth."

III.) Shock Bomb

"Use X to charge an enemy in midair, causing them to explode when hitting
the ground."

IV.) Fire Cord

"Use A, A, X to light dudes on fire."

V.) Power Slide

"Use X while running to deliver a fiery guitar-shredding power slide."
In case you don't know, this has to be done while sprinting, which is
done by clicking the left stick.  It won't trigger if you're just
normally moving.

VI.) Roman Candle

"Use A, X, X to ignite a sparkling pyrotechnic display to hold enemies
aloft."

_________________________________________________________________________

Axe Treatments

_________________________________________________________________________

These are bonus effects add to your axe attacks.  You can only have one
on at a time.  To switch, return to the Metal Forge and select the effect
you want equipped.  If you've already bought a given upgrade, you don't
have to buy it again.

I.) Eternal Fire

Lights enemies on fire.  While this can be useful, not all enemies are
flammable, such as metal spiders.  As such, this is a situational
upgrade, and so I don't recommend it.

II.) Razor's Edge

Increases melee damage.  It doesn't boost your damage by a huge amount,
but every little bit counts, and this upgrade is useful in any
circumstance.  This is what I recommend.

III.) Soul Sucking

Grants some health-steal.  Haven't played much with this, but according
to reader emails, the amount of health you get is only slightly less
than, if not equal to, the amount of damage you do.  That being said, you
get this late in the game, so I'd stick with Razor's Edge.  Up to you,
though.

IV.) Bloodlust

Increases damage the longer you attack, decreases damage over time.  If
you wade into battle with your axe a lot, this is useful, otherwise, not
so much.  Depends on your play-style.

V.) Black Tear

Reduces the damage done by enemy attackers.  I prefer to kill an enemy
before they hit me, but this can come in handy in large groups and for
stage battles.

VI.) No Treatment

No bonuses.

VII.) Chain Lightning

Sends a bolt of electricity out when you hit, which jumps from enemy to
enemy.  Good for groups, and since one on ones don't happen much,
certainly not a bad weapon.  I still prefer Razor's Edge, though.

_________________________________________________________________________

Guitar Strings

_________________________________________________________________________

Like the Axe Treatments, these give bonus effects to your guitar attacks
or solos.  Can only equip one at a time.

I.) High Voltage

Major increase in damage to your basic ranged X attack.  Depending on how
much you use range, can be very handy.

II.) Shredders

Reduces heat generated by solos, may also reduce heat generated by normal
guitar attacks.  A very useful upgrade, especially during stage battles.
I recommend this one.

III.) Brawlers

Boosts damage when using guitar in melee combos.  I don't do it that
much, but if you vary your combos a lot, could come in handy.

IV.) Destroyers

Major damage increase to guitar attacks within melee combos.  Once again,
your mileage may vary.

V.) Original Strings

No bonus.

VI.) Pyromaniacs

Major boost to damage from Pyro.  I don't use Pyro much, but if you do,
this could be useful.

VII.) Super Shakers

Boosts knockback radius and damage of Earthshaker.  Once again, your
mileage may vary.  I find it very useful, though.

_________________________________________________________________________

Paint Jobs

_________________________________________________________________________

Each of these gives a new look to the Deuce.  While these are just as
useless as the Mt. Rockmore Effigies, you do see the Deuce a great deal
more, so getting a paint job or two couldn't hurt.

I.) The Valkyrie

II.) Chrome Vengeance

III.) Stock

IV.) Ace of Hades

V.) Man Eater

VI.) Wagon of Bones

VII.) Laser Panther

_________________________________________________________________________

Secondary Weapons

_________________________________________________________________________

These are weapons attached to the side or back of the Deuce, which are
fired with the X button.  They are useful, but not necessary.  You can go
through the game without them and not have much trouble.

I.) Mine Dropper

Lays out mines behind you.  Haven't used it much, but it's not too bad.

II.) Side Burners

Jets of fire shoot out from the side of the Deuce, lighting enemies on
fire.  It's the first secondary you have access to, and it's decent, but
you have to be right next to the enemy for it to work, and it doesn't do
much damage.  So unless you have a bumper car habit, you don't really
need these.

III.) Sub Woofer

Side-mounted weapon that can knock back small infantry.  Haven't used
them enough to form an opinion.

_________________________________________________________________________

Primary Weapons

_________________________________________________________________________

These are weapons attached to the front of the Deuce, and fire in front.
These are extremely useful, and are a must for the protect the Tour Bus
missions.

I.) Heat Seeker

Launches a single homing rocket with good damage and high splash.
Probably the slowest of the weapons, but it's damage, homing, and splash
all make it incredibly useful.  If a unit gets in really close, it might
be hard for the missiles to hit it, but there are ways around this.  The
Heat Seeker makes the protect missions a joke and allows you to use the
vehicle as a mobile command platform during stage battles that can
provide extra firepower for your troops.  Highly recommended.

II.) Machine Gun

Two front-mounted miniguns.  Low damage, good accuracy, high rate of
fire.  These are the first primary weapons you have access to, and they
are an absolute requirement for the protect missions.  Definitely pick
these up.

III.) Missile Launcher

Fast firing, low accuracy missile launchers.  The damage on these are
good, but the horrible accuracy is not worth it.  Stick with the Machine
Gun until you can get the Heat Seeker or the Bolt Thrower.

IV.) Bolt Thrower

Launches bolts of electricity.  Good damage, fast rate of fire, limited
homing capabilities.  A good weapon, but I prefer the Heat Seeker for the
splash characteristic.  If you don't care about splash, though, go with
these.  Also, these are rather handy for hunting missions.

_________________________________________________________________________

Unlockable Upgrades

_________________________________________________________________________

This is not a separate category within the Metal Forge; rather, these are
upgrades that you can get automatically for meeting certain conditions.
Once unlocked, they will appear in the Motor Forge under their respective
category.  This section will list the unlockable upgrades as I find them,
as well as their effects and the conditions needed to unlock them.  This
section also includes downloadable axes, although since I haven't gotten
any of those, I'm relying on reader info for them.

I.) Squealer Sauce

Category: Deuce Upgrades
How to Get: Beat all of the race missions against Fletus
This upgrade is achieved once you beat Fletus enough.  He gives you this
item, which appears in the shop as "Triple Nitro."  Considering that the
main use for nitro is in races, you really have no need for this upgrade
by the time you unlock it.  That being said, your nitro boosts last much
longer, and you can use them with very little cooldown (about 3 seconds
or so between boosts).  Even though you don't need it, you can move
around drastically faster with this upgrade.

II.) Steel-Quilled Blade

Category: Axe Treatments
How to Get: Complete all hunting missions, then talk to the hunter again
Multiple readers emailed me about this upgrade, which beforehand I didn't
even know about.  Your axe is surrounded by quills, which embed
themselves in infantry.  Upon death, the target explodes.  I haven't
noticed a huge splash radius or damage boost to nearby enemies, but like
I've said, every little bit helps.  In addition, judging by the Guardian
of Metal's comments, reader information, and my own testing, this does
around the same amount of damage as the Razor's Edge upgrade, making this
one of the best upgrades in the game.  Contrary to what I thought, this
is available during the campaign, albeit very late in the game.  Thanks
to King Forsaker for this info.  Also, since this is an
Axe Treatment, you can not have any other treatments equipped at the same
time as this.

III.) Love Giver Guitar
Category: Guitar Strings
How to get: preorder bonus DLC
This guitar was a gift for people who preordered the game at GameStop.  I
didn't have enough spare cash until after the game came out, so I never
got this.  According to King Forsaker, though, the only real difference
over Clementine is that adds new dialogue when used, the reasoning being
that since it's available in multiplayer, it would likely be unbalanced
to give it some new properties.  Certainly a reasonable stance to take.

IV.) Blade of Ormagoden
Category: Axe Treatments
How to Get: Tears of Hextadon DLC
This axe is received as part of the Tears of Hextadon DLC, in addition to
the multiplayer maps.  I haven't downloaded it, and since I'm not
interested in the multiplayer, I probably won't any time soon.  According
to reader King Forsaker, though, the damage on this is extremely high.
Apparently, it makes on foot sections of the campaign extremely easy,
even on Brutal.  He theorizes that it does as much damage as a fully
charged Bloodlust axe.  If that's true, then that is simply OBSCENE.
Honestly, unless you're going through the game a second time for the sake
of completion or just for the hell of it, I wouldn't recommend this axe,
to be honest.  Why?  I found the game was not that hard, even on brutal.
The main times I had trouble was when I wasn't sure what to do.  That
being said, if you've already beaten the game or you don't care about
challenge, by all means, go with this rediculously powerful weapon.  At
least it's not as bad as the Crissaegrim from Castlevania: Symphony of
the Night.

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

6.) Solo List

This is a list of the guitar solos available during the SINGLE-PLAYER
Campaign.  There are additional songs exclusive to the Tainted Coil and
Drowning Doom in multiplayer, but considering this guide is focused on
the campaign, I'll leave those out, especially as I haven't touched the
multiplayer much yet.  If I've used a solo on this list, I'll give some
comments.  Otherwise, I'll give a basic description from the manual.

I.) Fan Tribute

Playing this near a green Fan Geyser will capture it for your side,
setting up a Merch Booth on top of it and earning you a boost to your fan
income.  Only used in stage battles, and a necessity for them.  Other
than that, not much to say.

II.) Relic Raiser

Use this when standing amongst red flowers to raise a buried object, such
as a Metal Forge.  Only used a handful of times during the story, its
main purpose is unearthing collectables.

III.) Summon Deuce

Summons the Deuce to your current location.  Considering the size of the
world map, you'll be needing this song often.  You can also use the Deuce
as a mobile command base during stage battles, especially if it's armed
with good weapons.

IV.) Rally Army

Places a green beacon at your location, and summons all friendly units to
that beacon.  Useful if you need to regroup or quickly get all of your
units to one place.

V.) Summon Flag.

Places a flag on the field.  Any new units will automatically head to
this spot.  Useful so that you don't have to constantly go back to your
stage to give orders to your new units, and very useful in keeping
reinforcements heading to where you want them to go.

VI.) Battle Cry

"Inspire troops to ignore fatigue and unleash the hand of doom on your
foes."  Haven't used it enough to form an opinion.

VII.) Facemelter

Amazing solo, this instantly kills nearby infantry by melting their faces
off.  This is immensely useful against large groups of enemies,
especially certain units of the Drowning Doom like Grave Diggers.
Unfortunately, for best effect you need to be standing in the middle of
the enemy forces, which is a risky move.  The best use is during large
battles where you can use your allied troops as cover while you play the
solo.

VIII.) Anvil of Burden

"Attach a mighty anvil of the Titans to a hostile Avatar's lef, slowing
them and removing their ability."  Sounds useful, but haven't really used
it enough to form an opinion.

IX.) Rock Block

Stops the enemy stage from producing new units for a brief period of
time.  Doesn't last very long, but in certain circumstances, can come in
very handy.

X.) Call of the Wild

Earned from completing the first Overslaughter mission, this solo summons
various wildlife to aid you in battle.  In the field, you summon
whatever's around, and in stage battles, you summon the most powerful
creature that you've completed the hunting mission for.  This is a method
of getting quick reinforcements, and thus is very useful for stage
battles.

XI.) Light of Dawn

Prevents the enemy from debuffing you or buffing themselves.  Also looks
damn cool.  Doesn't last very long, but for certain generals who like
debuffs, this can save you a lot of trouble.

XII.) Bring It On Home

"Summon a burning zeppelin of lead and crash it on all who oppose you!
Always a crowd-pleaser."  Found late in the game, this solo rains
destruction on all enemies within a large radius of you.  It also does
significant damage to buildings.  This combined with efficient Facemelter
use makes the Ambush missions an absolute joke.  This is also a good solo
to use if you get into trouble during stage battles.  Highly recommended.

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

7.) Combo List

Shocker: X, X, X, X, X

Pyro: Hold X

Earthshaker: A + X

Flash Pot: A, X

Fire Chord: A, A, X

Rock Kick: A, A, A, X

Power Slide: X while sprinting (click left stick to sprint)

Roman Candle: A, X, X

Grabber: Pull back on left stick while targeting an enemy and press X

Shock Bomb: X when the enemy is in midair


_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

8.) Credits/Contacting the Author

If you wish to drop me a line, feel free.  Send me an email at
[email protected].  That is not my primary email (I use my primary for
more  work related stuff), so I can't guarantee a prompt response, but I
will try to check my email at least once a day and respond as needed.
Some notes:

-If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I'll try and send a
response with the answer, and if I get enough questions, I'll add a faq
to the end of the guide.
-If there's something you think I should put in the guide, like another
section or something, feel free to suggest it.  I can't promise I'll
actually add it, but I'll certainly consider it.
-If you feel a section is not detailed enough, let me know.  I'll go back
through that section and try to add some more detail.  Do try and specify
what you mean, though.  Just saying that a section is not detailed enough
is absolutely no help.
-If you wish to submit info for the purposes of this guide, feel free.  I
will most certainly credit anyone who sends me advice.  This can be
alternate strategies for a given section, second opinions on different
upgrades, or info about the locations of collectables.  That last one is
especially important, as while I will add a section on side stuff, I am
not really good at describing locations or making maps, so I do not have
much intention of creating a list of detailed locations.  If you wish to,
though, I will gladly add it to the guide and give due credit.  On that
same note, if I add something to the guide and it is not correctly
credited, let me know and I will fix it.
-Similarly, info about unlockable upgrades that aren't in the guide yet
would be appreciated.
-I do not have much intention of creating a very detailed multiplayer
section, as I am not terribly good at multiplayer rts games, which is
what the multiplayer for Brutal Legend is.
-If you notice mistakes, let me know.  I will fix them and give you
credit.
-Also, if you wish to be credited, please include the name you would like
to be credited under in your email.

Thanks to I MAKE PUNS for contributing an alternate strategy for the
final stage battle.
Thanks to Les for information regarding the Steel-Quilled Blade.
Thanks to King Forsaker for further information about the Steel-Quilled
Blade, as well as some extra info on axe treatments.  And special thanks
for even more information about the Blade of Ormagoden, Love Giver
guitar, and Bring it on Home.
Thanks to Tor and Munkis for alternate strategies for the Dry Ice, Wet
Graves stage battle.

You are viewing proxied material from tilde.pink. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.