Thanks for the tips Addam....I got to a point where all I had to do was get one hit in to activate the second QTE but those ugly baby b@stards nailed me before I could do it.....the fact that the camera panned out and distracted me didn't help matters one little bit.

#@$%!! I just realised something else! On Chaos settings, all it takes is 2 jabs from a baby scorpion's tail to kill Kratos! That's right all it takes is ONE BABY SCORPION!

This time, I was counting on my Nemean Roar to bail me out of a tail slam situation, didn't have it guess what happened next..... 

Okay. This Boss HAS to be the WORST GoW boss I have EVER faced!! At this point, I'm sorely frustrated....Mind you, I'm not a bad GoW player at all. For those who do not remember me (and that wouldn't be too surprising since I took a long break from TUGOWU after beating GoW2 on Titan Mode), I have beaten both GoW and GoW2 on their highest difficulties. I've also beaten the CotG in GoW. After beating GoW3 on Normal mode, I decided to do what what I did to the other 2 games in the franchise and set out to beat GoW3 on Chaos mode. Please bear in mind that I am a bit of a sucker for challenging games. I've beaten Shadow of Rome on Exreme difficulty with a gold rank in every arena, 007: EoN on '00 Agent' mode with a platinum rank on EVERY single stage. Hitman: Blood Money on the highest difficulty with a 'Silent Assassin' rank in every mission, RE4 on 'Professional' mode in just 4 hrs 25 mins with ZERO deaths. I also beat RE4 mercenaries with a 5 star rank on all stages with all characters,  MGS3 - Subsistence on EXTREME mode with ZERO KILLS and ZERO alerts. More recently, I have beaten MGS4 on its second highest difficulty with a FOXHOUND ranking, RE5 on Professional with an S rank on every stage, RE5 mercenaries with an SS on every stage with every character in both solo AND duo mode, Uncharted 2 on Crushing mode, CoD4 and MW2 on the highest difficulty settings. So much for a re-introduction (Phew).

The point is that I've played some REALLY 'hard' games and I'm proud to say that I've beaten most of them. GoW3 started off pretty well too......I tamed the Leviathan, then Poseidon and beat Hades after an excruciatingly long battle. Beat the Chimera, followed by Helios, then Herakles, Aphrodite (heh heh) and Kronos (all with relative ease). At this point, I must say that the battle with Herakles has become one of my favourite boss fights ever. But now, I'm at the point where I feel that I'm about ready to give up. It's pretty sad really....I could've ended my long running hobby for games on a high note (yeah, I'm planning on quitting games for good....they're too bloody addictive. Lol) but it seems unlikely now. Which is why I've returned to good ol' trusty TUGOWU. I mean, half of the best GoW gamers are probably TUGOWU members.

This particular boss fight is tougher than even the Endurance Run in GoW2 Titan Mode as well as the Clone Fight from GoW. In fact it makes the fights against Theseus and the Barbarian King from GoW2 (Titan Mode) seem easy (I kid you not).

Basically, this particular fight against the 'Scorpion Queen' has been poorly designed by Santa Monica Studios. I doubt that they've play tested it even once!! The big mama scorpion would've been easy had she been the only thing to worry abou. Instead, SM Studios had to go and put an infinite number of Baby Scorpions in it too!!!

So, I've probably died about 50 times here.....it's pretty much the same thing always: I'm pounding away at the Scorpion Queen's onyx legs with my Cestus when this group of babies surround me, jab me with their tails (simultaneously, at that) and I'm down to 1 little bar of health. Oh and at about the same time, the Queen decides to flex her tail muscles before I can unleash a dash to safety (or at least a Nemean Roar) 'cause I was doing a stupid recovery animation on screen and the very next momet, I'm staring at the 'You Are Dead' screen. GoW3 Chaos Mode vets will know what I', talking about.

So basically, I'm appealing to these vets to help me. Mr. CycleCancel (among others I don't recollect) was very helpful the last time I asked for advice on these boards (when I was having trouble with the 'Endurance Run'). I've seen videos on Youtube in which guys make this fight seem ridiculously easy (Shinobier's vid for e.g.). What I need is real tips, hints (preferably exploits) to beat this b!tch and get it out of my system.

Guys, please help me.  

NUR+ As above but no Phoenix Feathers or Gorgon Eyes are to be collected i.e. No extensions to the health/magic bars.MrCycleCancel

:shock: Is that even possible?! I mean, seriously! How can one get past the Translator battle? Or the Endurance Run!

I have a question:

What does NUR/ NUR+ mean?

I'll start CotT tomorrow. I'll post my progress here on a regular basis. My primary goal is to unlock all costumes.

I kind of like the Dark Odyssey costume. I wish Kratos looked that way all the time :)

Athena's costume was a bit of a disappointment. I'd have loved it if the costume looked like the Athena statue from GoW1 instead of the Athena from GoW2.

Crippler: Crushing Defeat is the spinning move L1+square. Methinks you have it confused with Might of the King L1+triangle, which is the move with the shockwave.MarquisdeInsain

My bad. These names tend to confuse me sometimes. At any rate, would you agree that MotK is a good move for the Endurance Run?

@Alucard: Thanks for the bit on I-frames. Very very interesting. So does that mean gorgons can't freeze you while you're in the Ascension animation? Also, does using RotT cause collision damage?

@Marquis:hmm...cycle cancelling can be useful. And that also explains a certain gentleman's username.

Wow....there are so many tricks. It's just incredible. I suppose thats one of the great things about this game. It gives you a lot of freedom of approach. So many different ways to despatch enemies. Kind of like the Free Form Fighting system from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, but maybe a bit more fleshed out?

And it's done! I've beaten one of the toughest games ever made on it's most difficult settings....feels good. Zeus was more about patience and reversals than a ton of skill. But I guess patience can be a useful skill...something I need to work on :)

Wave 3: What you want to do in this wave is try and grab theGorgons, it won't work, this is termed a FALSE GRAB, doing so provokes their floaty orb freeze attack. Fleece reverse this then shatter. Shatter Sirens first as the energy well attack will mess you up in a hurry. Keeping at least one Gorgon alive to the end makes everyone else easier to kill.MarquisdeInsain

I try to use the Gorgons to freeze nearby enemies. However, most of the time, instead of grabbibg Gorgons, I wait till they try to petrify me first before reversing their beams. I find this method a bit safer, at least at this point in time.

Wave 5: To me this is the most difficult wave. The other guys here are probably sick of hearing me go on about this but THIS wave is the reason you should MAX both TB and EH before the Endurance Run. This expensive but worthwhile magic combo excels against groups of strong statues e.g HM and Satyrs. MarquisdeInsain

I've not really experimented withg TB. I should probably start soon.

Wave 7: Generally correct but I must utter a cry of disbelief at Crushing Defeat?! SRSLY, DUDE? DUDE, SRSLY? the spinning move? and soul summon to wear enemies down? are you aware of how little damage those souls do? I can think of only two uses for those souls, this isn't one of them.MarquisdeInsain

Crushing Defeat isn't the spinning move. It's the move where Kratos smacks his hammer into the ground and unleashes a wave of energy at his enemies. I think this wave tends to bounce lesser enemies. Also, the only time I use Soul Summon is when I don't want to get close to enemies. I figure any damage is better than no damage.

Can I ask how many AQ it took to wore the Cyclopii, I could work it out but doing so ain't my style?MarquisdeInsain

I think it took me 4-5 blasts of AQ. But I guess you're right, it would probably have made a whole lot more sense to just freeze the Cyclopes. I didn't try this for just one reason: I wasn't sure if Cyclopes were freeze resistant or slow to freeze or whatever. I mean, given their size, I suppose it's logical to think of them as one of the stronger minions in this game. Plus, it took me countless tries to get to the point where I was fighting the Cyclopes. So I decided to play it safe and stick to a tried and tested spell like AQ.

I don't think I made full use of RotT. I tend to get caught up in all the action and somehow, usually forget to use this. Plus, I try to play safe wherever possible and RotT seems more like an "all guns blazing" approach to me.

You mentioned some interesting techniques like abusing the I-frames. What's an I-frame? And what does cycle cancel and collision damage mean?

And you're right, I have plenty to learn. My next target is CotT. Do you know where I can find the remaining Cyclops eyes to unlock the GK costume?

Congrats, Mr Crippler, no doubt Zeus will have fallen to your hands by the time I have finished composing this tl:dr MarquisdeInsain

Thanks :)

Alright, here's how I did it:

Wave 1: Legionnaires and Juggernauts

After failing to beat the Endurance Run for the umpteenth time, I realised that I was probably spending far too much magic in the early battles and didn't have enough for the crucial later battles. So I decided to be really patient right at the beginning.

So instead of petrifying and Atlas Quaking the first two Juggernauts, which is what I used to do, I decided to stay away from them until I had dealt with most of the Legionnaires. So I took out Legionnaires, a pretty easy task considering that I was wielding a MAXED Hammer. I also tried something else here: I was pretty used to rolling out of tight spots when I used to employ just the Blades. This was before I developed a liking for The Hammer. Once I did, I guess I just stopped employing the roll. I suppose it was just too much of a bother to switch between weapons all the time. But let me tell you, this is exactly what one needs to master in order to be successful in this battle. Another useful trick to master in the continuous use of The Hammer's Crushing Defeat move in tandem with Soul Summon. This should be employed whenever enemies are trapped behind the force field and sometimes even otherwise. Also, it is very important to isolate enemies wherever and whenever possible.

Using these methods, I was able to clear the first wave with just 10% damage incurred and 0% magic used.

Second Wave: Blade Fodder

This wave is a piece of cake as long as you're good at reversing attacks. It's pretty easy to get surrounded by enemies here. It's also a good idea to grab/throw enemies wherever possible during the Endurance Run and that applies here as well. I finished this wave without taking any further damage.

Third Wave: Gorgon Queens and Siren

This can be very tricky if you're not sure of what you're doing. Here's what worked best for me. Right at the start, I let loose with a spell of Cronos' Rage. I did this because I was guaranteed to get enough magic from both the Sirens and Gorgons.

I then scored a few hits with the Hammer while the opposition was being electrified. Now, this is what really helped in this battle. I stood in a spot and just held down BLOCK. Thats all I did. The only time I released block was when a Siren unleashed an energy well beneath Kratos' feet. Eventually, a Gorgon tried to petrify me and this gave me an opportunity to reverse her beam and freeze everyone in the vicinity. My Hammer did the rest. All I did was repeat this method till I took out all the enemies in this wave.

Fourth Wave: Legionnaire

I made a mistake while fleecing their attacks when I was surrounded by a bunch of them and ended up losing a third of my health here. This shows how crucial timing is when attempting to reverse enemy attacks. The slightest mistake can prove to be costly

Despite losing health here, I didn't take the chest I left in the previous battle. I headed towards the Satyrs and Minotaurs.

Fifth Wave: Satyrs and Hades Minotaurs

There may be other strategies but this one makes life a lot simpler. Using Euryale's Head, I petrified two Minotaurs and a Satyrs right at the beginning and then crushed them with the Hammer. I repeated this with the second set of Minotaurs and Satyrs. I took a bit of damage when I wasn't able to freeze the final to Satyrs in time so I improvised with a blast of Atlas Quake. I then tore into the Satyrs with my Hammer. When there was only one Satyr left, I used the grapple attack and the Hammer to deal with it.

I then rushed back to collect Magic from the unopened chests.

Sixth Wave:Blade Fodder and Cyclops

I used the weaker enemies here by hurling them into the Cyclopes. When they got too close, I used Atlas Quake repeatedly until I got the circle prompt to finish them. I also used techniques like weapon switch/ rolling, Crushing Defeat/ Soul Summon to wear down enemies. Eventually, I was able to defeat all the Cyclopes and the rest proved no match for me, especially as I still had about a quarter of health left at the time.

But make no mistake, that was seriously tough