If you think that you have mastered the combat mechanics of Batman: Arkham City, try achieving the highest scores in any of the Combat Challenges. We, though, recommend waiting until you have beat the main story campaign. These combat challenge maps will keep you busy for hours and count as additional bonus content in the game.
How to complete all Combat Challenges in Batman: Arkham City
Every combat challenge plays out in almost the same way. You have to beat all the enemies in the room through a series of rounds and rack up as many points as you can. The only difference between certain combat challenges is the number and difficulty of the enemies present and how many points are needed for all three medals.
Blind Justice
This challenge takes place inside the Solomon Wayne Courthouse where you first rescued Catwoman. You should not have any trouble completing the first combat challenge of Batman: Arkham City. All you have to do is beat basic-level thugs in four rounds. The difficulty does spike a bit by throwing armored and knife thugs at you in extreme mode, but it is still an easy challenge to overcome.
| Normal Mode | Extreme Mode | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Medal | 6,000 | 8,000 |
| 2nd Medal | 12,000 | 16,000 |
| 3rd Medal | 24,000 | 32,000 |
Survival of the Fittest
From the second round onwards, there will be a few enemies with knives and broken bottles. Use Blade Dodge Takedowns on as many of them as possible to get the maximum score. There are no armored enemies in the normal mode, making it easier for a Freeflow combat.
Use Special Takedowns as soon as your combo hits x8 (x5 if you have the Special Takedown Boost upgrade). Armored enemies will show up in extreme mode, an effective strategy would be to leave them for last and use a Cape Stun followed by a beatdown to finish them off.
In the last round of the extreme mode, a Titan will be among 20 regular enemies. Focus on the titan and use Ultra Stun followed by a beatdown to climb up on his back and steer him into hitting the other enemies. Do this three times to knock out the titan.
| Normal Mode | Extreme Mode | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Medal | 8,000 | 15,000 |
| 2nd Medal | 16,000 | 30,000 |
| 3rd Medal | 32,000 | 60,000 |
Rooftop Rumble
Take in the dark and gritty landscape of Arkham City while you kick some serious ass on a rooftop near Solomon Wayne Courthouse. In addition to blades, there will now be a few armored thugs as well. Leave the armored enemies for the last and use Cape Stun to perform a beatdown.
If you attempt this challenge in extreme mode, the second round will have 3 assassins in addition to the regular enemies and thugs with shields. Use Blade Dodge Takedowns to swiftly take them out of the bout first and for each round use Ground Takedown on the last enemy to rack up the most points.
| Normal Mode | Extreme Mode | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Medal | 8,000 | 10,000 |
| 2nd Medal | 16,000 | 20,000 |
| 3rd Medal | 32,000 | 40,000 |
Hell’s Gate
Hell’s Gate combat challenge takes place on the streets of Wonder City, where you have to fight a myriad of enemies from almost every faction in Arkham City.
This combat Challenge map will throw League of Shadows Assassins at you mixed with some regular and armored thugs. Isolate enemies and make use of as many gadgets as possible to get the maximum score out of this challenge. You can attempt this in either the normal mode or the extreme mode but the basic strategy to maximize your points will remain the same.
In extreme mode, the Freeze Cluster will come in handy to slow down a large number of enemies to get yourself some breathing room. Use Blade Dodge Takedowns to deal with the assassins and Beatdowns for the stunned armored enemies. Try not to get hit by evading and countering as much as possible because the key to maximum score is keeping up a massive combo and Special Takedowns.
| Normal Mode | Extreme Mode | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Medal | 8,000 | 12,000 |
| 2nd Medal | 16,000 | 24,000 |
| 3rd Medal | 32,000 | 48,000 |
Funhouse Brawl
Take on an overwhelming number of henchmen of the Joker, Penguin, and Two-Face in Joker’s Funhouse. The points requirements for the medals are the same in both normal and extreme modes, but the extreme mode throws more enemies at you.
We recommend you complete this challenge in the normal mode and only try the extreme mode if you want a seriously tough challenge.
Try to take down the regular enemies first and pump up your combo meter then use Special Takedowns on armored enemies and use Special Combo Disarm and Destroy on the enemies with shields and stun batons. You can also use Batclaw Disarm at enemies with melee weapons to get some bonus points.
If you are doing this challenge in extreme mode, be ready for a few titans mixed in with the thugs. Use Ultra Stun and beatdowns on the Titans while countering the attacks from the regular enemies to make the fight a bit easier.
This map will also feature a lot of enemies with shields, you can also use Freeze Grenades on enemies with Stun Batons to slow them down and use Aerial Attacks on the shield enemies while making sure to evade the other attacks.
| Normal Mode | Extreme Mode | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Medal | 15000 | 15000 |
| 2nd Medal | 30000 | 30000 |
| 3rd Medal | 60000 | 60000 |
Prison Riot
Your next combat challenge will take you to the base of Wonder City where you saved the prisoners during the latter story missions. Prison Riot, as the name suggests, will throw both enemies and guards at you in all four rounds. That will be in addition to the League of Assassins and some Titans along the way.
Use Blade Dodge Takedowns on the knife-wielding enemies and Ultra Stuns on the armored enemies for bonus points. There will also be two Titans if you are playing Prison Riot on extreme mode. Beatdowns are always a valuable opportunity to increase your score, we will recommend ditching the normal mode for this challenge map.
Even if you are playing Prison Riot on the default mode, the third and fourth rounds will throw a lot of thugs your way. Make sure to quick-fire gadgets such as Batarangs and Freeze Cluster Grenade to rack up bonus points. Keep evading because not getting hit is how you get all three medals.
| Normal Mode | Extreme Mode | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Medal | 8,000 | 12,000 |
| 2nd Medal | 16,000 | 24,000 |
| 3rd Medal | 32,000 | 48,000 |
The Joker’s Carnival (DLC)
The Joker’s Carnival is a unique Challenge Map that is only available upon purchase of the DLC. The challenge starts with a 3-minute timer, but the timer can be extended by defeating enemies.
After a certain Combo, your level will increase, meaning newer and harder enemies will join the fight. Each level up comes with a timer extension of a few seconds and at level 5, 1 minute will be added to your total time. The levels will be reset upon reaching Level 7 or x220 combo, adding 150 seconds to the remaining time.
The points requirement for 3 medals in this challenge is a whopping 1,000,000 points, but this can be achieved by completing the challenge in Flawless Freeflow. Just make sure not to get hit and use Special Takedown on as many enemies as possible. The game will also throw knife-wielding enemies, you can use Blade-Dodge Takedowns on them but we recommend going for Special Combo Disarm and Destroy instead to stay on the safe side and not risk breaking your combo.
| Default Mode | |
|---|---|
| 1st Medal | 100,000 |
| 2nd Medal | 500,000 |
| 3rd Medal | 1,000,000 |
Iceberg Lounge VIP Room (DLC)
Face off against unending waves of the Penguin’s thugs until you die in this DLC challenge map. The goal is to rack up as many points as you can for as long as possible, as this challenge only has one round with regular and armored thugs, you just need to pace yourself and perform as many different combos as you can.
Try to use Cape Stun and Beatdown to finish off one enemy at a time while countering the others who attack. Do not use Ground Takedowns in this challenge as you are likely to get hit during the animation. Once you reach the 100,000 points you can let the enemies finish you off to complete the challenge.
| Default Mode | |
|---|---|
| 1st Medal | 10,000 |
| 2nd Medal | 50,000 |
| 3rd Medal | 100,000 |
Freight Train (DLC)
Freight Train takes an odd spin on the standard Arkham City Combat challenges by putting you on a semi-2-D map. Fight through 3 rounds of regular thugs and face off against Black Mask and Mr. Hammer accompanied by 4 regular thugs in the 4th round and destroy the Control box of the train to complete the challenge. This unique challenge is a DLC Challenge map in Batman Arkham City and has similar requirements for the medals as regular maps.
| Default Mode | |
|---|---|
| 1st Medal | 8,000 |
| 2nd Medal | 16,000 |
| 3rd Medal | 32,000 |
Wayne Manor Armory (DLC)
The TYGER guards have broken into the Wayne Manor Armory and you have to fight them while they have unlimited access to all sorts of melee weapons. This DLC challenge map plays out like any other challenge map with an increasing number of enemies with each of the 4 rounds.
Use Special Takedowns as much as possible and try to avoid using the Disarm and Destroy special combo as it will not be as useful as the rest. Focus on varying your moves by including the Quickfire Gadgets and Special Combo Bat Swarm to stun multiple enemies at once. This will greatly increase your points provided you manage to not get hit and keep up your combo.
| Default Mode | |
|---|---|
| 1st Medal | 15,000 |
| 2nd Medal | 30,000 |
| 3rd Medal | 60,000 |
Tips to get the best score in Combat Challenges
Now, just attacking and evading mindlessly will not get you nearly enough points for all three medals in these challenges. You need to be precise, ferocious and the Vengeance itself, to get the maximum score out of every challenge. Here are a few tips to keep in mind while attempting the combat challenges in Batman: Arkham City.
Don’t Get Hit
It is crucial to keep your combos as high as possible for as long as possible. Evade and Counter are your best friends in combat. Make sure to counter and evade every attack to keep your combo from getting interrupted.
Quick-fire Gadgets
Use at least one or two Quickfire gadgets like Batarang, Batclaw, Freeze Grenades, etc. to get +250 points for gadgets. This also adds to the variation bonus.
Perform Blade Dodge Takedowns
There are bound to be a few enemies with blades in some of the challenges, but no need to fret as these are a blessing in disguise. Perform a Blade Dodge Takedown successfully to earn an x100 multiplier instantly. This means an x10 combo with a Blade Dodge Takedown will give you +1000 points.
Perform Special Takedowns
Use the Special Combo takedown whenever it is prompted on as many enemies as possible. This will keep your combo from getting broken and each takedown gives x50 multiplier so a Takedown at x20 will give you a hefty +1000 points.
Use Special Combos
All the Special Combos are more useful in combat than anything in your Utility Belt. Bat Swarm will give you breathing room when things get a bit too dicey. For the enemies that bring guns to a fistfight, use Disarm and Destroy to permanently take out any weapons or shields.
Critical Strikes
Button mashing works but is not nearly as effective as perfectly timed strikes that will dislocate some jaws and boost your combo. Again, the higher the combo, the higher the multiplier to your score will be.
Ultra Stun
Use Ultra Stun on the bigger enemies and follow up with a beatdown to increase your combo.
Reach x40 Combo
If you have followed everything we said above, it shouldn’t be too hard to rack up some nasty high combos. You should try to reach at least x40 in each round. Upon reaching x50 combo, performing a Combo Takedown will dramatically increase your final score by +2500 points
Ground Takedown
Lastly, the Ground Takedowns provide a whopping x75 multiplier. We recommend only doing this when only 1 or 2 enemies are remaining as there is a high chance of getting interrupted by other enemies while being locked in animation and losing your combo. A successful Ground Takedown at a high enough combo will give you the greatest number of points in Combat Challenges in Arkham City.
