The first truly menacing boss battle in The Surge is fairly far into the campaign. On your way to the Executive Forum, you’ll have to fight through the deadly security division — that’s where you’ll encounter Black Cerberus and his endless army of P.A.X. mechs.

Black Cerberus is just a single man. Not that impressive — until you realize, he likes to run away and summon fully-functional P.A.X. robots as backup. You’ll have to fight two, three, even four P.A.X. robots if you’re not fast enough. That makes this a grueling battle, especially if you haven’t figured out the trick to taking down the two-legged mechs.

Check out the full strategy guide below with all our tips for defeating one of the tougher boss battles in The Surge.

More The Surge guides on The Escapist:

• The Surge: 8 Tips To Help You Survive | Beginner’s Guide
• The Surge: How to Use Energy To Restore Health | Unlimited Healing Items Guide
• The Surge: How to Beat P.A.X. | Boss Strategy Guide
• The Surge: How to Beat Firebug | Boss Strategy Guide
• The Surge: How to Beat Big Sister 1/3 | Boss Strategy Guide
• The Surge: How to Beat Rogue Process | Boss Strategy Guide

How to Beat Black Cerberus | Boss Strategy Guide

Before entering this battle deep in the Security (Towering Eye) section of the Executive Forum exterior, you’ll need to beef up your defenses. This is the first true roadblock battle. This is a good place to farm tech scrap, bank, and unlock more core power. The more upgrades you can unlock for your current gear, the higher your defense — even upgrading just a few parts will help you sustain three-four hits, instead of dying in one-two.

Phase #1: Black Cerberus

The human-sized opponent, Black Cerberus, wields an incredibly deadly energy-axe. If you’re not properly equipped, this difficult enemy can kill in a single hit. He strikes with multiple powerful attacks and combos that can stun – including a wave attack that launches multiple electricity-infused projectiles in a wide arc.

Your best strategy is to rush him with a dodge-attack or a sprint-attack. Wait for his combo to finish, or stay in close-range and wait for a ground-pound AOE. Retreat then jump-attack for quick (relatively safe) damage.

Stay out of his melee range, and continue to circle-strafe him left. Dodge when he uses his stunning projectiles, and wait for his overhead jump. When he does, you’ll have a moment to hit with a jump-attack.

When he attempts to spin his giant weapon, he’ll be left very vulnerable when he’s in a post-spin dizzy state. That’s a great time to strike.

After a short amount of time has passed, Black Cerberus will summon a fully-functional P.A.X. Before retreating, he launches a stun blast that will harmlessly keep you stunned while he hides in a control room and heals.

Phase #2: P.A.X.

During the second phase, you’ll have to battle a P.A.X. It fights just like the first boss, using stomps and forward lunges to make life difficult. When it springs forward, dodge forward-left/right to avoid the attack. Most of its weapon attacks, you can safely avoid by dodging straight through – forward-left/right.

When it stomps, you’ll need to watch out. It is a relatively slow stomp, and there is no AOE, but if you’re anywhere near the animation you’ll take damage. Wait for the leg to stop moving, then resume attacking. It’s easy to stay slightly behind the mech and continue to circle to avoid most of its attacks.

To actually damage the mech, you’ll need to attack the legs until the armor breaks off. When it attempts to stomp, attack an unarmed leg on the ground while the other one is raised — that will knock it off kilter, dropping it on the ground and forcing the opponent into a stunned state.

With the right weapons equipped, it’s possible to defeat the mech in a single stun. Even if you can’t, try to shoot for weapons strong enough to kill the mech in two stun states.

Phase #3: Black Cerberus + P.A.X.

When the mech is destroyed, Black Cerberus will return. He’ll start using enhanced combos – many of his attacks now include an AOE energy after-effect.

Just like the first phase, Black Cerberus retreats after a short amount of time has passed. This is the central gimmick of the fight — you’ll need to fight aggressively, damage Black Cerberus as much as you can — because he runs and hides once a few minutes have passed. While hiding in the control room, he slowly heals. The faster you can destroy the intruding P.A.X. the less health he’ll have time to recover.

The boss is a speed-game. You have to be aggressive, and he you to quickly and efficiently destroy the P.A.X. mechs so you can focus on Black Cerberus himself. Bring plenty of healing, because this is a long and grueling fight, and be prepared to destroy at least 3 P.A.X. mechs if you’re not aggressive.

Black Cerberus himself is fairly predictable, even if he is fast. It’s dealing with the multiple P.A.X. mechs — that’s what makes things difficult. The trick is learning to bait out the leg-stomps so you can attack the standing (unarmored) leg and stun it quickly. If you can do that, this fight is much, much easier.

Got your own strategies to help deal with Black Cerberus? Let us know in the comments!