For the past week, I've been stuck in a way that only a gamer can understand. That one boss battle - where every time you've had to restart from a save point, you notch your controller by flinging it against the wall in frustration.
Many of us trying to max out that gamerscore have discovered that Gears of War 3 has rolled out one of the toughest boss battles of all time. If you don't want the game ending spoiled for you, then I would suggest not reading further until you've beaten the game at least once.
Now, with that warning taken care of . . .
By now, everyone knows that the new Arcade Mode on Gears 3 has few perks as well as an added difficulty. To differentiate arcade mode vs. normal Campaign mode: Arcade allows players to respawn after 25 seconds as long as the other teammates stay alive. On campaign - if one player dies, Game Over and restart from last checkpoint. HOWEVER - Campaign mode lets players choose their own difficulty. Host can play on Insane and other players can be on Casual all in the same session. On Arcade, everyone plays on the difficulty chosen by the host.
So, for those who want an easy "That's Just Crazy" achievement on Gears 3, you can use a second controller or get a friend to play it on casual while you set your difficulty on Insane and cower in a corner while your friend mops up. But if you want to unlock your Onyx Warmonger Medal - you need to beat all acts on Insane in Arcade.
Thus, the final battle with Myrrah on Arcade/insane difficulty has become a controller throwing nightmare complete with fans ripping into Epic on Youtube for such an awful boss battle.
Well, fortunately, thanks to the combined efforts of my clanmate EM Wicked, we have discovered the secret to trashing this boss battle and making all those frustrated whiners look impotent. I'm am going to share this first with all my CoOptimus Gears buddies!
For those fighting her for the 1st time:
It's a 3 stage battle. 1st stage - you down her the 1st time by shooting Tempest in the mouth. Take cover from its heat blasts behind the columns. 2nd stage - two Hammers of Dawn rise from columns in the ground. When you down Tempest, HAMMER IT with everything you've got. Palace Guards will throw hooks on the rails and start climbing up near the end of this stage. Stage 3 (Optional if you don't do enough damage - ) Tempest attacks the center tower. You must shoot it off the tower quickly, or the game will end. Palace Guards will start to overrun you. Then everything from the 2nd stage repeats itself until you finally kill Tempest.
Here's how we did it.
Have only 2 players. This will keep the Palace Guards from spawning at overwhelming amounts. The more players - the more Palace Guards will spawn.
Instead of taking cover behind the Hammer of Dawn columns, or along the outer rim of the rotunda as other websites and cheat sites suggest - Find the elevator you used at the beginning of the chapter! It's perfect for hiding behind! You can hit Tempest in the mouth at will - sometimes even when he is firing! This also gives you great cover from the waves of Palace Guards, and you can shoot Tempest off the tower without leaving. When Myrrah flies around - simply stay in cover and crabwalk around to the opposite side.
No Mutators needed - unless you just want to make this quick.
The Key to making this work - One player MUST stay behind the elevator barrier at all times. As long as one player lives - the game will not reset to the checkpoint. Only one player can leave to get more ammo. If both players run dry - TAKE TURNS or USE THE SHARE OPTION! Or just use the Infinite Ammo mutator. Note - the mutator does not work on the Hammer of Dawn.
IF you need more Hammer of Dawn - down Tempest first - THEN run for a new Hammer.
After 3 tries - we took her down just after she attacked the tower the 1st time!