Guide to Beating the Octopus boss in Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots
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How to Kill Octopus in Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots:
Laughing Octopus
You have to bear in mind that when fighting Octopus, you will not defeat her with a straight up gunfight. She has a very tough armor and she will beat you even before you can get a clear shot through her armor. Also, she has her tentacles to deflect your bullets. To beat her, you must use quickness and use attacks that will take her by surprise when she's trying to hide.
At the start of this level, Snake is about a foot away from Octopus, who is getting ready to take out her machine gun and fire at Snake. To prevent her from knocking you out so easily, you must make a mad dash out of the room using the west door and cover from the wall. As she keep shooting, switch to a shotgun or machine gun, then activate your Solid Eye. When she quits firing, peak out and start firing your own rounds. If you hit her, Octopus will crawl into a ball, release her ink cloud and vanish. However, she will leave behind a few tracking bombs, so make sure to leave the area before they explode.
After that, Octopus will have either one of two strategies. For her more aggressive move, she will crash through the windows of the research lab, thus catching Snake off guard. Therefore, make sure not to enter the outer hallway, not unless you're sure that Octopus is not hiding from them and then preparing to make a surprise attack.
Her more defensive move is to look for a place to hide then make use of her own version of the OctoCamo in order to blend in. however, you will still be able to see her outline and that's made possible by the use of Solid Eye's night vision. But you can track her by merely waiting for her to call you out, and locate her icon on the radar. This will give you an idea of her general position and eventually, where she could possibly be hiding. But if you're having difficulties, Otacon will clue you in when you get close to her. He will also helping you out in varying degrees. So make sure you thoroughly sweep off the area because she could be hiding in the walls, ceilings, on the paintings, in boxes, or just about anywhere imaginable.
And although you are now aware of her basic strategies, you still cannot put your guard down as Octopus has a lot of tricks under her sleeve. Aside from her P90 machine gun and tracking bombs, her tentacles are deadly. And if you do happen to get caught by Octopus' tentacles, it could be damaging to your life gauge. When she rolls up in a ball, she might charge in on you instead of simply vanishing. This attack also causes a lot of damage to your life. Therefore, it is best to keep a safe distance away from Laughing Octopus, preferably with a wall standing in between the both of you. And during her rolling attack, you might consider standing on either tables or boxes, especially when you're not aware where she is, or if you believe she is about to use this form of attack.
For her last trick, it is something that isn't as complicated as her other attacks and is one that you would probably hope she would use more often over her other attacks. Octopus will try to confuse you by disguising herself as Naomi, or either one of the Haven Troopers, or even an MK.II to draw you closer to her (the MK.II trick would especially trick you into following her down the hallway and into a claymore). However, do not be fooled by this trick but instead take advantage of this to blast at her when her defenses are down.
Just remember to always make defensive moves and attack only when Octopus is vulnerable and open. By doing this, it will easily decrease her life to zero. All you need here is patience and determining when is the perfect time to attack. As soon as you've killed Laughing Octopus, she will turn into Laughing Beauty.
Laughing Beauty
Like with the other Beauties, Octopus will fall down and then try to grab you along. When she does this, her bear hug will result in more damage, dropping down your life gauge until you are able to set yourself free. So, make sure she is not able to do this by keeping away from her. While trying to shoot her, Octopus and the other Beauties are very good at dodging your shots. However, you must keep trying and always aim for the chest area and you will get your hits eventually.
If you happened to defeat Laughing Beauty without employing any lethal means, you will get Laughing Beauty's face camo. You will also get the Laughing Octopus doll when you defeat Octopus without employing any lethal means, and you can get this on the bed where you fight Beauty. Remember that you will not get the doll any other time in the game but only during this fight, so make sure to grab it before your second battle with her.
If you have a found a better way of killing Octopus in MGS4, please let us know below.
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