The Caverns II
It's this room again, and a few things have changed. Glide over to the platform in front of Kratos. Barriers immediately preclude any chance of escape, and armored Cyclops spawn from the ground. Looks easy enough--except after killing one you discover--to your horror--that they keep respawning. However, sticking out like a sore thumb is an enemy that appears bigger and badder than the rest of the armored Cyclops. This Berserker should become the focus of Kratos' fury. It goes down surprisingly fast, so finish the QTE to take control of the brute and start bashing away at the Cyclops. Unfortunately, it can take only so much of a pounding before Kratos is forced to eliminate it. Terminate the remaining Cyclops, if any, and reap the rewards from the chests: a Gorgon Eye and a Minotaur Horn.
Head to the indicated save point. Some familiar gold speckles pervade the air here--you know what to do! Bust out Helios' Head and paint the wall here to expose the hidden path to a hydraulics chamber. Drop to the water below and clean out the chest in the right-hand alcove before fiddling with the lever here. Once pulled, the water level rises and allows Kratos to swim to the upper right area, where he can climb up. When things darken, Helios' Head will be your guiding light. Eventually, a couple of Medusas come out to play. The kill tactic here is the same as that for a Gorgon, or any enemy for that matter: kill it, don't die.
Don't be tempted to rush up the golden footprints, and instead slowly make your way across the wooden floorboards to the right. There are chests to be plundered, and you will get a Minotaur Horn from one. Now take the golden footprint up and follow the pathway to another platform. Upon landing, dozens of the skittering insects climb up to meet Kratos. Just when things start to get a little too icky, a giant Onyx-laden scorpion crashes the party.
Boss Battle: Onyx Scorpion
This giant scorpion is now the main course of this three-part dinner. Notice that its legs are crystallized in the hard Onyx material, and that means only one thing: Nemean Cestus! In the meantime, the smaller scorpions spawn infinitely and swarm the Spartan, but they can be beneficial at times when they relinquish a Health Orb here and there. We recommend, if necessary, to switch to the Blades of Exile to perform the Cyclones of Chaos in order to quickly clear out the annoying scorpions, then switch back to the Cestus. The Onyx scorpion performs only a few attacks: a claw swipe and a tail slam. The tail slam actually does quite a bit of damage, so be ready to roll out of the way when the tail is raised in the air. The claw swipe can be negated completely if Kratos works on the legs, anyway.
Start thrashing away at the Onyx-coated legs. As the leg receives damage, the color changes until it reaches a fiery red, at which point the Onyx material will shatter with only a few more punches. Break the Onyx coverings on three of its legs to severely cripple the scorpion. When the scorpion slumps, this is your cue to have Kratos unload massive combos in its face until the finisher prompt comes up. Watch out for its saliva breath, but if significant damage is dealt it wouldn't have a chance to spew anything but blood.
Moving on to the next phase--the scorpion now retreats and leaves its numerous progeny behind to deal with Kratos. As the number of small scorpions thin out, the mother scorpion returns and belches out a nasty breath. As long as Kratos is far enough away this should cause little harm. The strategy remains largely the same: aim for the Onyx legs and bust them up; smash its face when weakened.
During a QTE sequence, Kratos finds himself flung from the back of the scorpion and into the abyss below, but with a mighty spread of his Icarus' Wings he starts flying back up. All the meanwhile, the scorpion hanging overhead begins to shed chunks of Onyx onto Kratos as he flies up. Dodge these as best as you can, as each falling chunk steals a huge portion of Kratos' health. Finish out the rest of the QTE sequence until the scorpion freezes over. Smash the frozen scorpion and its smaller chunk of ice to acquire the Boreas Icestorm.
