HOG-7 Hedgie is the first proper boss you’ll encounter inAtomic Heart, and this fight can be a real doozy if you go in unprepared. Fighting this boss is part of the main story and there’s no way to avoid it, however, you can clear the nearbyTesting Ground 1orTesting Ground 6and use the mods found inside to gain an advantage.
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HOG-7 Hedgie can be found in the Arena that leads to the Exhibition Hall. Once you activate the Terminal that summons the boss there’s no way to leave the Arena until the robot is destroyed, so make sure you’re ready before you press the button. Follow the tips below to increase your chances of beating HOG-7 Hedgie.
HOG-7 Hedgie Strengths And Weaknesses
HOG-7 Hedgie is a beetle-like enemy encased in a hard outer shell that’s almost impervious to most types of damage. The boss isresistant to both ballistic and melee weapons, as well as Energy, Fire, and Frost damage. However, the boss isvulnerable to Rockets and Trap Mines, both of which can be launched using theFat Boy. That said, the Trap Mine mod blueprint can only be found inTesting Ground 10, and we wouldn’t recommend going all the way there at this stage in the game.
Even though HOG-7 Hedgie is resistant to Frost damage,you can still slow it down or even completely stop it in its tracksusing either Frostbite or a weapon equipped with an Ice Cartridge. You can even combine those with Polymeric Jet to enhance the effect and negate some of the Hedgie’s speed, which happens to be its main strength. In addition to being fast, the boss also deals a ton of damage with both melee and ranged attacks. Consider replacing Polymeric Jet with Polymeric Shield if you’re struggling to dodge its attacks.
HOG-7 Hedgie Attack Patterns
HOG-7 Hedgie is a very aggressive boss with a lot of tricks up its sleeve. When it’s not spinning around the Arena trying to disorient the player,the bot will try to ram P-3 at high speedor use its metallic legs to slap the protagonist around. These melee attacks can be very dangerous, but the ranged ones are arguably even worse. The Hedgie has a couple of attacks whereit slams the floor and releases shockwaves that travel across the entire Arena. In addition,the bot also fires homing missileswhenever you try to keep it at range.
Once the boss is low on health, it will become even more aggressive than before while gaininga powerful new attack that pulls the player toward it. Make sure to keep your distance because you’ll take a massive amount of damage if you get hit by this attack. On the bright side, the attack only lasts a few seconds and is well-telegraphed.
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HOG-7 Hedgie Fight Tactics
Winning the fight against HOG-7 Hedgie is all about patience. The boss moves a lot but gets tired quickly andtemporarily shuts down every minute or so, leaving its energy cores exposed in the process. This is the best time to attack sincehitting these cores is the only reliable way to inflict a good chunk of damage at once. If you don’t want to play the waiting game, you can hit the boss with theFat Boyor theRailgunduring its active phase to slowly whittle down its health pool. Every other weapon will do an insignificant amount of damage during this phase.
If you don’t have the aforementioned weapons just yet, it’s best to focus on defense rather than offense during the active phase.Dodge is essentialhere, so you’ll want to grab theSecond Windperk and combine it with theSleazeballperk for maximum efficiency. Perks that increase your maximum health, such asWild Boar,Juggler,orAthleteare also highly recommended. If you don’t have enough Neuropolymer to get extra perks before the fight, you can increase your survivability with consumables likeVodkaandAdrenaline Capsules.
As a final tip,you can use the pillar in the center of the Arena to your advantageduring the fight. This may take a bit of practice but if you can get the boss to crash into the pillar instead of you, it will immediately go into its inactive phase. There are even more pillars scattered around the Arena and you can summon anytime them using the Shok ability.
