So I rented the first game (I like to go in chronological order) but I couldn't get the hang of it. I'm used to action games where you fend off a horde of enemies using melee and special attacks. I keep getting caught and overrun. So can someone give me some tips for the Batman: Arkham games and maybe some general stealth gaming tips too?

Don't play it like a button-mashy game. Dodge and block a lot and use counters frequently.

Don't play it like a button-mashy game. Dodge and block a lot and use counters frequently.

Be patient when you are stalking guards and make sure you crouch as you're creeping around after them. But most of all, be patient.

Lots of the game outside the areas where there's a ton of people to fight is just being patient & trying to take out the people one-on-one. Later in the game when there's more guns, you can't just dive into a fight easily. Play the game & have fun but if you can't get the hang of the stealth then you will have a tough time with the game as it's not like Deus Ex Human Revolution where you can play stealthy or breeze through the game gunning everyone down like other action games.

Hide on a gargoyle or something for ten minutes and beat the crap out of the first guy that goes into a secluded spot. Rinse and repeat.

For guys that have melee weapons, just glide into them and then break their skulls.

As above: PATIENCE is key. That is my favorite part of stealth games, the waiting and studying enemy patterns so I can start picking them off one by one.

The recent Batman games are really a hybrid of stealth games and action beat 'em up games. Whenever I play I try to keep that in mind, so I know how best to approach a situation.

If there are gargoyles, its a stealth portion, if there is a flat room with a bunch of dudes, its a fighting section. There is definitely situations in between these examples, but it might help to think of it like that.

The early Splintercell and Metal Gear Solid games are great for teaching patience in these sort of games.

Lure people away from the group and take them out.

Yeah, the main thing to remember is that you aren't invincible.  You WILL die if you try to take guys with guns head on.  You WILL die if you get surrounded by groups and don't dodge/counter.  Your best bet is to use your surroundings to your advantage, especially when you have the option of attacking from above.

• Survey the area.
• Pre-plan your moves.
• Take the time to learn their walking routes and their vision cone positioning.
• Use your available gadgets to the maximum you can, don't be afraid to experiment.
• Don't panic if or when you fuck up.
• Most of all patience.

If you find yourself having a difficult time with the melee try some of the challenges. They actually help you in developing your combat flow.

How far are you?

Here's a tip: Don't try to punch people with guns. If they see you at all, you're doing it wrong.

One thing I abused the hell out of in the first game was the inverted takedown. First, wait for a guard to walk under a gargoyle, then take him out. Jump to the next gargoyle when everyone goes to check out the guy hanging from the first gargoyle. Throw a batarang to cut down the first guy, immediately swing somewhere else while they turn to your new position, and from there jump to the original gargoyle. At this point they all have their backs turned, so you can grab and tie up another guy. Rinse and repeat.

It's not the most fun way to do it, but it's effective. So effective that there will be a point later in the game where the gargoyles won't be an option to force you to do other things.

Don't let them see you.

@onan said:

How far are you?

Here's a tip: Don't try to punch people with guns. If they see you at all, you're doing it wrong.

One thing I abused the hell out of in the first game was the inverted takedown. First, wait for a guard to walk under a gargoyle, then take him out. Jump to the next gargoyle when everyone goes to check out the guy hanging from the first gargoyle. Throw a batarang to cut down the first guy, immediately swing somewhere else while they turn to your new position, and from there jump to the original gargoyle. At this point they all have their backs turned, so you can grab and tie up another guy. Rinse and repeat.

It's not the most fun way to do it, but it's effective. So effective that there will be a point later in the game where the gargoyles won't be an option to force you to do other things.

I'm very close to the beginning but thank you and everyone else for replying. I think I can do this now. :)

@manicraider: On top of the other useful tips you've been given, the main thing to remember is that the enemies have a really short sight range, and for the first 90% of the game, the rooms where you have to use stealth are HUGE, so if you ever get in trouble and they see you, grapple up to a gargoyle, then spam the grapple button until you're several gargoyles away, and they will have already lost track of you. Once they've lost sight of you, you can grapple all you want around the various gargoyles, and they will never notice you, even if it looks like they really should. The gargoyles are a safe zone.

As for actually taking guards out, the tips that others have given should be enough to help you out.

I actually didn't like the Stealth portions of Arkham at all until I started doing the challenge rooms, then something clicked and I really started to enjoy them.

All the above tips are great, but I'll echo that having patience and taking the time to plan is the best thing you can do. There's no need to rush.

For an actual tip, I'll say to make sure you buy the Inverted Takedown as soon as you can, the move is fantastic for taking out the guys walking around on their own. After that, just watch and learn. The goons are pretty predictable in what they do, and as you watch them go about their patrols, you should start getting ideas of how to take them out.

If you've started to unlock the Challenge Rooms through the Riddler stuff, those are a great way to learn about all kinds of different ways of taking dudes out. It basically sets you in one of the story mission rooms then gives you three objectives to do. It forces you to plan how to go about things.

As above: PATIENCE is key. That is my favorite part of stealth games, the waiting and studying enemy patterns so I can start picking them off one by one.

The recent Batman games are really a hybrid of stealth games and action beat 'em up games. Whenever I play I try to keep that in mind, so I know how best to approach a situation.

If there are gargoyles, its a stealth portion, if there is a flat room with a bunch of dudes, its a fighting section. There is definitely situations in between these examples, but it might help to think of it like that.

The early Splintercell and Metal Gear Solid games are great for teaching patience in these sort of games.

1. Where am I?
2. Who can see the target?
3. Where will I go?

Try to focus on one guard at a time, don't rush and study there patterns.

@HistoryInRust said:

@MrSlapHappy said:

As above: PATIENCE is key. That is my favorite part of stealth games, the waiting and studying enemy patterns so I can start picking them off one by one.

The recent Batman games are really a hybrid of stealth games and action beat 'em up games. Whenever I play I try to keep that in mind, so I know how best to approach a situation.

If there are gargoyles, its a stealth portion, if there is a flat room with a bunch of dudes, its a fighting section. There is definitely situations in between these examples, but it might help to think of it like that.

The early Splintercell and Metal Gear Solid games are great for teaching patience in these sort of games.

Good advice.

To add: you need to be able to prioritize targets in the stealth portions. Batman can't survive being shot, for instance, so enemies with guns are the ones you'll want to give your special brand of attention first. Don't be afraid to use gadgets to distract, disarm, or potentially immobilize enemies.

With stealth stuff, especially as it pertains to the Arkham games, you want to know what your plan is before you go gung-ho into the fray. Doing takedowns through glass or over ledges or whilst hanging upside-down from a stone grotesque might be the flashy way to do things, but those are also the exact moves that will draw notoriety to your position most quickly. If you don't want to give yourself away, stick to the gargoyles by means of your grappling hook until you can effectively isolate and eliminate one enemy at a time. Ideally, you'll want to know three things before moving in on a target:

1. Where am I?
2. Who can see the target?
3. Where will I go?

Where am I?

You want to be able to orient yourself with the room so that you know relative directions for things like gargoyles, vents and ducts, and floor grates you might be able to slither into. It makes it easier to improvise later when you know more or less where your potential escape routes are and where alternate pathways lead.

Who can see the target?
Very important. Obviously, you don't want to be seen at all. There are times when it can't be helped, however, and you'll need to heave yourself in the line of sight of a willing gunman. Detective vision serves a number of purposes, including the identification of an enemy's current weapon (if they're armed at all). If there are two guys in a tight alleyway and they both have shotguns, you might be better off trying to use an alternative to rudimentary stealth (that is, going into the fray directly). If you're in a larger room and your position would be compromised if you engaged a target, but you know the guy who'd spot you has only a shotgun from long range, then you have a much better chance of getting in, concussing your immediate subject, and getting out.

On this note, watch for red lasers. They signify that the enemies in the area have sniper rifles. Snipers can see you when other enemies can't, so be aware of that. And be doubly mindful of the fact that Batman cannot withstand sustained direct fire.

Where will I go?
Perhaps the best of the three questions involves your escape plan. And you'll want to have one lined up. Even if things get hairy--which they will, at some point--and your initial escape plan is buggered, it is essential to have one. Obviously, this validates the emphasis on knowing your surroundings. You don't need to memorize every room, but you do need to think of your environment as a part of the stealth puzzle, part of the stealth chess game. To win, you'll need to know how to play the pieces. Know how to get out of rooms, or how to get away from parts of the city quickly and quietly, if possible. Remember, you're Batman, not Superman. It's better to leave and come back with a more sound strategy than to force the issue. If you know you're going to take down an enemy, then know exactly what way you plan to take as your way out. The whole process of downing a single enemy can take minutes or seconds, depending on your comfort level with the environment you're in. You want to be like a lightning strike. There and gone. And if you're lucky, or just plain good, then the other bystanders won't hear the thunder until the bolt has long since passed.

Very well said. The only thing I would like to add is that while all that information looks a bit daunting its all little things that you internalize very quickly and you end up doing all this analysis in a quick visual scan of a situation. Happy stealth murder! Or in the case of Batman, happy brutal maiming!

the riddler revenge are much punishing if you mess up, but in the story, I'd say be patient, study the paterns, Pick out high priority thugs, which is something I believe everyone has said already on this thread.

But I'd recommend use Gadgets often. Don't resort too many knock downs, you might just walk into another thug's line of sight. The Disruptor is the most useful item, can set off mines off a thug's feet while still maintaining comfortable atop of a gargoyle. The Sonic Batarang is also great to knock out a thug, and grapple thugs off of railing is easy knock down without leaving your cover.safe spot. Smoke Bombs work best when it's a small crowd of thugs and you want to drop in and knock them down.

I find it better to just use gadgets to torment enemies and hope they screw up.