This is the guide on Lair of the Metal Queen. Most useful information you can find here is manipulating the Queen into performing that one attack you can counter and do damage afterwards. But I described all I know anyways. The mission is not only the Metal Queen herself but also her minions, getting through her lair on foot and making escape on wheels.

PART 1 - THE RUN

There is not much to it. You just run forward and not stop. It is possible to completely dodge all the little spiders and make it to the end without stopping. But dodging first swarm of little spiders is tricky and most likely you'll get grabbed. In this case, obviously, stop and play Earthshaker. I prefer to quickly tap Solo button to immediately transition from running to standing still without the need to slow down so I can do the Earthshaker right off.

PART 2 - THE FIGHT

In this part there will be a lot of talking about magic spots. Observe distinctive bumps in the ground to memorize them.

The Metal Queen. It is possible to make her do desired pattern every time. I suspect that it has to do something with vertical position difference between you and her. Here is consistent setup for the opening of the fight:

• After skipping cutscene, when the real fight starts, don't move. Wait for the Queen to start moving and then start moving yourself. You don't have to start exactly when she does. You can even start a little later.
• While you stand still, aim for that magic spot so that you start running in the right direction.
• Don't sprint. Run at default speed. Pacing is important.
• Just run until she does her thing.
• If you are practicing and reloading that fight's checkpoint, camera resets so that it is aimed at the exact direction you are supposed to move towards. But only then. When you first arrive, camera is left in the state from before cutscene (?). You can keep reloading checkpoints to learn the angle and practice the pacing.
• Hi-Fi simulator is ON. I assume you have it ON anyways because it lets you skip cutscenes faster, but as far as I remember, the setup doesn't work if this setting is OFF.
• Sometimes after skipping cutscene the queen walks towards you right off and sometimes she stands still. It's random (?). Be ready for both options.

She does her thing. Shocker. Axe swings. This brings us to first wave of lesser spiders. The idea here is to hit all 4 of them with one Earthshaker and then finish them off with single Shocker for each. Position yourself so that they surround you as they land. You should be able to find a spot where part of them lands within range of an Earthshaker while the other part lands so far that their first action is to walk towards you and not around you. When you find your spot, work on the Earthshaker timing. I prefer to hit the buttons as the spiders touch the ground, or fraction of second later. When the Earthshaker connects, one Shocker is enough to finish a spider off. While electrocution damage over time kills spiders, you should start working on the magic spot for Metal Queen round 2

Metal Queen round 2. My strategy is to stand in a magic spot and do nothing afterwards as the events unfold - Queen jumps in, spits as she lands, knocking you back, and does the attack we want. As in the beginning, I suspect that it has to do something with vertical position difference. This is how I would describe the magic spot:

• It is close to the queen's landing spot
• It is around her 10 o clock
• You should notice a bump on the ground. Specifically the plane tilted towards the queen's landing spot. This plane is your magic spot. The more to the right the better. Apparently there are other magic spots that correctly manipulate the queen in this phase. I descriibed one that worked for me.

Lesser spiders wave 2. Initially 4 of them appear and as you kiil 2, another ones appear. I use Facemelter here. The plan here is similar as in wave 1, but this time we want Earthshaker to hit only 2 spiders. Same goes for the Shockers afterwards. While electrocution damages the spiders, start playing Facemelter. If done right, two spiders should die, more spiders would come for backup and all of them would surround you perfectly as your Facemelter is about to go off. If you do Facemelter too early, you will miss the later spiders. If you do it too late, you die. Timing is not strict. You can delay Facemelter by a second or two.

Metal Queen round 3. Exact same thing as round two. Make sure you hit her 19 times with an axe or else you will go through an extra cycle. Remember that after the Shocker connects, all hits count, even when queen doesn't appear to be knocked down.

PART 3 - THE DRIVE

You just drive like if someone's life depended on it. In this part keep in mind couple things.

• Your vehicle's turbo lasts for 3 seconds (unless interrupted) and has no cooldown. Just like any other Thunderhog in the game. You are able to fire at will.
• When jumping out of the lair and landing on concrete road you will most likely be under influence of Turbo and hold Forward. This pretty often leads your Thunderhog to derail violently. If you face this issue, make a landing while NOT holing Forward and accelerating only after you make sure you are safe. If that doesn't work, try landing while holding handbrake. Remember about the turbo after you land.
• When driving up the mountain remember that the road is uneven and driving at full speed will make you lose traction and crash into a wall just as you are supposed to make a sharp turn. Learn those places and remember to slow down.

That would be all. Keep rockin now.