The Surge 2 Boss Guide - Captain Cervantes

The hardest fights in The Surge 2 are found with bosses, all standing in your way of the eventual truth that haunts Jericho City. For this guide, we’re taking a look at the first boss of Gideon’s Rock: a rogue Hunter by the name of Captain Cervantes. As a Hunter, he shares many of his moves with the others you’ll find wandering in the park, although his have a little more power behind them. He can be deeply frustrating to no end if you miss your openings, but at the same time he’s easier to predict than many of the other bosses due to how many times you fight other Hunters before you meet him.

Location and preface

Captain Cervantes can be found at the end of the Boar Wilds Trailhead, one of the three routes towards three repellers you’ll need to activate in order to weaken the Delver, a nanite monster prowling Gideon’s Park. Cervantes is integral to the Hunter storyline, as the breakdown within the Hunter group was caused by his craftiness and sinister plans. You will ultimately need to eliminate him in order to progress forward, as he guards a repeller that you’ll need for the Delver fight later on.

Cervantes is quite similar to the Brother Eli fight as it’s heavily reliant on you deflecting his attacks properly in order to be as effective as possible. He is a bit harder though, as his powerful wrist gun will be a source of endless consternation throughout the fight. The only way to come out on top is to properly go toe-to-toe with him, which sees him relying more on melee attacks rather than whipping out the annoying gun. The space you fight him in is also incredibly cramped, which surprisingly can also work out to your advantage.

Preparation

With so many viable set-ups, most of the weapon and armor sets at this stage depends on what benefits your play style the most. Gideon’s Rock is filled with Hunters wearing the Jaguar set, which is amazing armor to have if you’re constantly using your drone to harass enemies from afar. It also makes a lot of sense for Cervantes as he himself pulls out his high-powered wrist pistol to shoot you. You can also check out some good armor recommendations here.

As for the weapons, anything you’re comfortable with can work. The fight against Cervantes hinges on how well you can anticipate his attacks rather than your own damage output, as there’s very few openings with him other than the ones you make through proper directional blocking. If you really want an edge, however, go with Spears or Staffs. Here are some good weapon recommendations to use against him, as well as where you can find said weapons.

• GAIA Lancer – my personal weapon of choice in Gideon’s Rock against all its enemies. It deals phenomenal damage and impact against enemies, not to mention the quick cross combos you can do with it. The only real drawback to this weapon is the lack of elemental damage, but it’s pretty negligible if you can do cross combos fast enough. This weapon can be looted from the statues; just perform a finisher on their bladed arm in order to get the weapon.
• Brother Truman’s Faith – one of the best weapons in the entire game, as detailed in my guide here. This Spear deals amazing electrical damage which is the absolute bane of Hunters, as it stuns and staggers them constantly. You can get this by killing Brother Truman at the top of the JCPD, which I recommend you do after you kill Brother Eli. The only reason that it’s ranked below the GAIA Lancer is that you only have one chance to get this weapon, as for some reason Brother Truman disappears from his position at the balcony of the JCPD if he manages to kill you. Otherwise, it’s the best one to bring against Cervantes and most other bosses in the game.
• SERU Biomaster – a very powerful fire-endowed staff that works wonders against human enemies. It also boasts a pretty high impact rate for a Staff, giving it tons of potential against Cervantes. The only drawback to this Staff is that it’s a quest reward, and that quest requires that you finish the two other trailheads first. Check out a guide on how to get the SERU Biomaster here.
• MG Negotiator – this powerful Staff makes a return from The Surge, and it hasn’t lost its edge. This Staff deals electricity damage and is relatively easy to attain, making it great as a safe fallback weapon that works well against almost all enemies. That said, it does not offer much in terms of raw damage output, instead relying on applying the shock status in order to be really effective. Combine this with the Starfish against Cervantes to lock him down and stop him from scurrying about the level. This weapon can be looted from the unarmored Staff-wielding enemies in Port Nixon.
• Darkened Dragoon – another one of Athena’s gift weapons, found in her vision in the courtyard after the AID checkpoint. You will most certainly not miss where this is, since you have to take the AID checkpoint route to make it to Babylon Gardens and into Gideon’s Rock. This Spear is pretty strong due to its nanite damage, but it lacks the raw damage the GAIA Lancer has. If you can constantly apply nanite buildup to Cervantes then this may be a good weapon to use. I’d rank it below the Negotiator though, as stuns are always better than nanite explosions if you’re playing it safe.
• Superheated Firestarter – good choice if you like using Single-rigged weapons due to how much fire damage it brings to the table. Cervantes is human, and all human enemies are very susceptible to fire damage. Of course, since it’s Single-rigged, there are even less openings for you to do cross combos due to the weapon’s nature, so using this one is reliant on good blocks for massive damage on counter-attacks. This weapon can be found in the alley on the left of Babylon Gardens, near the location of two URBN enemies.

You can also use other weapons from Athena like the Talons or the Quickscythe, since those do good nanite damage. I can’t stress how beneficial good impact is for this fight though, and you really want to make sure that you’re staggering Cervantes for most of the fight; otherwise, he will be a major pain to deal with.

As for shortcuts, you want to unlock the magnetic lift going down to Metea Forest from Central Crossing. The path is hidden next to the first statue you face, concealed by some tall bushes and between two huge stones. If you ever die, you can just run here and sprint back to the end of the Boar Wilds Trailhead.

Bullying Cervantes

The most important thing to remember about this fight is if you don’t harass Cervantes first, he will endlessly harass you. You want to make sure that you are constantly setting up the pace, stopping only to counter his attacks whenever possible. His move set is very limited, and since you’ve fought other Hunters at Gideon’s Rock before, all of it will be very familiar to you.

Cervantes has a penchant for using some flair with his weapon first before slashing, much like the other Hunters, so be sure to note when exactly the slash will occur. If he’s not doing flair, he will most likely do one of those sick anime poses before slashing, usually from afar. What’s good about his attacks are they’re usually not a flurry, with Cervantes opting for confusing slashes with delayed timings rather than constant attacks.

That said, he uses his wrist gun very liberally throughout the fight, which deals a good chunk of damage in addition to stunning you briefly. While your first instinct may be to dodge it, it’s way better to block the gun instead. You can block gunfire in The Surge 2 as long as you keep your block up. To time it perfectly, start pressing once you hear the click rather than the shot itself. Remember to keep your hands off the right joystick as well, so as not to register a directional block – only regular blocks work on gunfire.

Sometimes, Cervantes will do an overhead jumping attack, which is incredibly easy to time. This is actually a very good opener for a cross combo, as after his landing there’s a brief moment where he does not prepare his next attack. That said, be sure to catch his incoming slash, as that is what he will most likely throw next after that jump.

Invisible? No problem

Throughout the fight, Cervantes will sometimes turn invisible, much like other Hunters. If you’re not aware, this can be easily countered or cancelled, as there is a very brief moment where you will stay locked on to him as he evaporates into thin air. If you’re using a Spear, all the better, as the running attack for that is a long-reaching thrust. If you can manage to damage him before you lose the lock-on, the invisibility will be cancelled outright and you can continue the fight.

If he manages to turn invisible, make sure to try and stand in the middle of the boss area, tilting your camera so that it turns slightly downward, giving you a perspective of the whole room. Once he reappears, he will do a side slash from afar, which can be easily blocked or dodged, depending on your preference. Running around is a little less safe, due to the fact that he can spawn behind you to hit you before you get the chance to lock on him.

Once you get him down low enough, you can deliver a finisher to finally eliminate him, clearing the way to the repeller.

Other helpful tips to remember

• Cervantes doing flairs with his weapon is his tell that he’s about to attack. This makes him somewhat easy to anticipate, although don’t be discouraged if you mess up the timing on the block the first few times. If he has one true power, it’s in his delayed attack patterns.
• With the Jaguar armor equipped and the rifle or sniper attachment for your drone, he becomes easier. That said, you do need to keep up the pressure through melee attacks, as the armor set only works best if you can constantly fill battery charges for omni-cells.
• Very rarely, he will backflip to throw out a few landmines. They don’t explode outright, and you can easily dodge towards him in order to catch him off guard.

Aftermath

Depending on the limb you dismember, you will receive a piece of Wraith armor after you beat Cervantes. If you managed to cut off his weapon-wielding arm, you also get his unique One-handed sword, the Jag-27 ‘Rainfall’. You will also receive his final audio log, which details how he manipulated the Hunters into fighting each other in order to hopefully keep the monster hunt reward for himself. If you’ve found all three audio logs, you can bring this evidence back to Roach in the Overlook and Jordan Black back in the Cloud 9 Bar, hopefully to patch things up between her and Hawke’s group.

If you haven’t finished setting up the repellers, you can now head back to Crossing to figure out which trailhead you’re going after next. Otherwise, if Cervantes’ repeller was the last, you can return to the Crossing to see the trap sprung, with the Delver now inside the hole. Travel back to Hawke in the Overlook to speak with him one last time, then prepare for the monster hunt of your life.

Stay tuned for more guides on The Surge 2. The game is now available for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Check out my review for The Surge 2 here. You can also check out other The Surge 2 guides below:

• Beginner’s Guide
• Warden Garcia Boss Guide
• Best Starting Weapons and Armor
• URBN Gear Set and URBN Judgement Axe Location
• Little Johnny Boss Guide
• Brother Eli Boss Guide