The Surge has been dubbed a sci-fi Dark Souls by gamers and the press, for its punishing difficulty and similar progression systems. If you're interested in learning more about the game, check out Windows Central reviewer Lauren Relph's comprehensive review.
In this quick guide, we look at how to kill the first boss in The Surge.
How to beat the P.A.X. robot
After traversing the dark sewers of the power station to reactivate the train, you'll also inadvertently reactivate a giant security mech, which, like the other robots and cyborgs of the CREO construction yards, has gone a little insane. It thinks you're an intruder, and it wants to stomp on you.
I did this with a power core level of 25, using a one-handed blade for rapid slashes. In theory, you could do this with any weapon, but I found the speed of a faster weapon to be a little less punishing on your stamina levels, since you need to dodge, a lot.
Here's what you need to know.
- The boss is called the P.A.X. (Pacification Automaton X), and if you have the implant for seeing enemy health bars, you'll notice that he has two.
- At the start of the fight, you can only attack his legs. It doesn't matter which one you attack, because both will build up the boss's yellow energy bar. Hitting the boss's legs does zero damage.
- When the P.A.X.'s yellow bar hits maximum, it will jump away from you and start spamming homing rockets that will kill you extremely quickly.
- To avoid this, sprint directly beneath the boss. The rockets will hit the P.A.X., stunning it, exposing its underside to the ground, and knocking you back.
- Target its body during these moments, because this is where the P.A.X. is at its weakest. Try and string together your best combos, rushing in using sprint and slide if possible.
- The body can be a little tricky to target, but you can easily shred a third of its health or more during this phase.
- Eventually, the boss will get back up and start attacking as normal.
- Repeat this action until it dies. At low health, it will just collapse without even needing to do another rocket phase.
Combat tips for the P.A.X. boss fight
Those are the steps to kill the boss, but knowing when to attack, what to avoid, and when to dodge is key to victory in this first boss fight.
- The P.A.X. jumps around the battlefield, slashing in a wide cone in front of it. You can dodge this by going to a rather extreme range, or by hovering around its feet.
- When it detects that you're in range, the P.A.X. often stamps on the ground. During these sequences, there is a recovery period which is good for jumping in for quick hits.
- Sometimes he will do a downward slash near its feet as well, which can be dodged sideways. But it's quite hard to predict.
- You can make this fight easier by making sure you take implants that boost your health. You don't need implants that help you get finishers, as you can't perform a finisher on the boss, for example.
- The Medi-Voltaic Injection healing implant really helped in this fight, which dropped for me from an enemy in the basement section of the Assembly line. It allows you to trade finisher energy for health.
- If you're finding it too hard, you can always grind a few trash mobs scattered around the factory, or upgrade your weapons at the operations med bay.
The Surge is a great action RPG with an edge of dystopic post-apocalypse in a grim, cybernetic future. If you're looking to scratch that Dark-Souls itch, or perhaps just want something a little less punishing, The Surge might be perfect for you.
