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These are challenges available to the contestants of DreadZone in the Dark Cathedral on Kronos in Deadlocked. This planet and its challenges come directly after the Sarathos challenges, and will provide the necessary Dread Points and green medal for the Avenger Tournament, as well as the Charge Boots gadget. The DreadZone vendor will have the Fusion Rifle weapon and Freeze Mod available as well. The former is a long-range sniper rifle, whereas the latter slows down enemies, or freezes them entirely.

Challenges[]

Infiltrate the Cathedral[]

Out of the two new purchases available at the vendor you can likely only acquire just one; the Fusion Rifle. Although the Freeze Mod is useful for crowd control, for now another weapon will be more helpful. The Fusion Rifle is quite powerful, but with the limited draw distance it does not serve very well for taking out enemies from afar. It does serve well for punching through weak enemies up front all at once, or for taking potshots at tougher targets while strafing.

The first challenge is a simple one that only requires you to follow the linear path and reach the end area. There will be many numbers of DZ Strikers and Tri-Spike Swarmers, as well as several Tremors and dropships. At the second platform you reach is a stationary turret which can be ignored, unlike the new Cycloid enemies; flying robots that fire laserbeams. They are not very sturdy however, but somewhat agile so a weapon like the Dual Vipers with the Shock Mod or the Magma Cannon is recommended. Both of these do well in these challenges due to the large numbers of relatively weak enemies.

Up ahead a dropship will stick around and try to deter you with missiles, a good target for the Fusion Rifle. Past it is the Dark Cathedral entrance, but it is locked and you can only find a jackpot crate. You can find another in the structure on the left, past which is a large arena in which an Executioner appears. Executioners are large robots that use their axe to shoot blasts at targets. Their armor and size makes them a good target for the Fusion Rifle, as well as the Freeze Mod as they quickly become too slow to be a genuine threat. If you don't have the mod the Holoshield Launcher is still an excellent defensive weapon.

After the arena you will have to order the combat bots to use the new Grind Cable, and after that the Hacker Ray to hack the orbs while you hold off the final few enemies.

Introducing Shellshock[]

Use the Grind Cable to get across the gap, back into the arena. Shellshock is a massive robot capable of either launching missile swarms and using his pistol to take potshots at you. Both attacks can be avoided almost indefinitely by simply strafing in circles around him while retaliating with your own weapons. Focus on heavy damage first and foremost, as most mods are ineffective. After he retreats you only have to contend with a few dropships dropping some low-end troops like Swarmers, Strikers, and Tremors.

Enemies are Such a Grind[]

Destroy the three Cycloids up ahead upon starting the challenge and then take the elevator to the upper area. Follow Clank's recommendation to use the Holoshield Launcher, then destroy the four Strikers with laser-aimed rifles before the shield vanishes. The rest of the challenge entirely takes place on grind rails. Jump on and stay on your current rail to return to the start, grabbing a jackpot crate on the way. Jump back on and then onto a second rail, followed by a third.

Here several pairs of hovering DZ Strikers will spawn and fly in front of you, with the Dual Vipers being your only viable way to take them down. Use either the Shock or Freeze Mod and destroy them, while jumping to attempt to dodge any attacks yourself. The Strikers on platforms are largely harmless. There should be plenty of ammo crates on the rails, but you should not waste yours regardless, especially on Hero difficulty. The challenge ends after the gap at the end, where you must use the Swingshot to get across safely.

Infiltrate the Cathedral, Part 2[]

Smash the jackpot crate nearby before continuing down the path. Destroy the Swarmers that jump onto the bridge, after which the elevator comes down. Strikers will ambush you at the top, but they should be easily dispatched, as would be those on the pillar up ahead with the Fusion Rifle. You can also use it to destroy the enemies on our left, including an Executioner. On the way there two dropships will try and block your path, and more will fly in afterwards as you make your way into the second arena. Take down a pair of Executioners here and head for the target, destroying a swarm of Tremors and Cycloids on the way. Many more Cycloids, Tremors, and Swarmers will show up when you order your bots to hack the orbs, so throw down enough Holoshields and defensive fire until they succeed.

Shellshock Returns![]

This challenge is largely a repeat of the first fight against Shellshock in "Introducing Shellshock". He will have two new attacks, one where he launches a small swarm of explosive bouncing bombs, akin to the Heavy Bouncer's secondary bomblets. His second attack is him jumping into the air and landing onto the ground, causing a shockwave. Avoid the former by dodging the bombs, and the latter by simply jumping. After he retreats a group of Cycloids appear, after which the challenge ends.

Fight to the Cathedral[]

This challenge is more or less akin to the others so far. Follow the linear path, destroying the DZ Strikers and a 70 millimeter Stalker Turret on the way through. Eventually you must use a grind rail and jump onto another, although if you stay you can hit another jackpot crate. Continue along this series of separate bridges and platforms connected by grind rails until the longest one at the end drops you off in front of the cathedral.

Showdown with Shellshock[]

Enter the room on the right and wait for Shellshock to show up. He will not have any new attacks and once again retreat once he takes too much damage. Order a bot to rotate the bolt crank after he retreats again, which will cause a group of Tremors and Spawners to spawn (the latter from the two bins in the alcoves). Repeat this in the second room, although this time Cycloids show up afterwards. Repeat this once more for a third time, and then finally finish him off in the fourth fight.

Completion of "Showdown with Shellshock" rewards the player character with the Charge Boots and a green medal, with which they can attempt the Avenger Tournament, after collecting enough Dread Points by completing Dread Challenges.

Dread Challenges[]

Night Flight[]

This will be the first challenge involving the hovership. It has both a standard blaster and a chargeable swarm missile launcher, similar to the Landstalker. Make sure to wait before the lock-on reticule has changed to yellow, as this indicates it is done charging. The skies of Kronos will be occupied by Pincer Rays, small ships that operate in swarms, forming laser grids and then attempting to ram through you. Take them out beforehand or dodge their charges while looking for the five Stalker Turret targets.

The turrets will be defended by Beam and Missile Turrets. As they are not the target they should be ignored while picking off the Stalker Turrets one by one. The Beam Turrets cannot hit your hovership properly, leaving only the Missile Turrets as something to be careful of alongside the enemy Landstalker.

Inverted Action[]

This time you will have to fight in a small arena inside of the Dark Cathedral of Kronos. In this challenge, you will see its force fields continuously shrink unless you order your bots to hack the nearby orbs, pushing the fields away. Although you can ignore the orbs if you are able to maneuver safely within the limited space the walls will eventually leave you. Hunter Mines and Holoshields are a good way to block off the corridors when enemies and dropships show up, while the B6-Obliterator and the Napalm Mod are a good way to lock down enemies attempting a melee approach. The small size of the area also works in your favor if you rely on the Magma Cannon's spread and limited range.

Dark City Arenas[]

The final Dread Challenge is another arena fight that gives you more room to move in but also drastically scales up the number of enemies and the rate at which they appear. All enemies seen so far show up, including new Beam Turrets, sturdy machines that pose a small target with a directed single laserbeam, akin to the Cycloids. Especially around round four the enemy concentration reaches immense levels, and the best way to clear them out is a single Beta Ravager attack from one of your combat bots. Alternatively the Hunter Mine Launcher and other area of effect weapons are the most effective. Afterwards the last two rounds are relatively simple and no longer pose that much of a challenge.

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