u/XGamin1

Custom Cyborgs are among the toughest enemies in all of Metal Gear Rising thanks to their extreme resilience, aggression, and chasing speed (unsurprising for enemies that are actually taller than Sundowner if you line up all the character models). Very specific tactics often have to be deployed against them in order to mitigate the threat they pose on the battlefield in groups—whether in variety or the lack thereof.

While it is very satisfying to engage and win in a Parry war with these towering menaces (especially when there is only one of them left on the field), it is often not advised to engage in such Parry wars when you’re trying your best to survive hordes of enemies as well as be efficient. Alongside the Heavily Armed Cyborgs, these guys provide a relatively strong counter to your Parry mechanic when compared to many other enemies. As such, there are better methods by which to hold your ground against these enemies, who unfortunately appear in abundance.

AS RAIDEN: Raiden has a few moves that he can use to exploit the weaknesses of the Custom Cyborg, with some being better than others. While other moves and tools can also be quite useful, none counter the Custom Cyborgs as strongly as the Sliding Tackle–Blade Mode synergy, the Ankle Slicer, and the Throat Slicer.

• By far the best method against the Custom Cyborgs is the Sliding Tackle–Blade Mode synergy. In order to utilize this, perform a Sliding Tackle against a Custom Cyborg. He will respond by putting on a parrying stance. Then, enable Blade Mode and cut at his parrying stance a couple of times. This will stun him, leaving him open for an Execution, but only if you have enough FC meter. If you do not have enough FC meter, use the Tornado Slash to quickly gain FC meter back and Execute the Custom Cyborg.
  • u/LaggyLefty (also known quite well as LaggySnake on YouTube) has a great video demonstration of how to use this tactic: How to easily kill Armored Cyborgs - Metal Gear Rising
• If you find that your current situation makes it difficult to farm FC meter with a follow-up Tornado Slash, the Custom Cyborgs are also extremely weak against the Ankle Slicer. Because the Sky High, Sweep Kick, and Thunder Strike unfortunately get easily negated by the Custom Cyborgs, the next best option is to use the Ankle Slicer—which they can almost never block—to trip them. After tripping them, you can either put them through an Ankle Slicer torture loop or use the Throat Slicer, explained below.
• The Throat Slicer is a very powerful combo that can be used against Custom Cyborgs that have been tripped or launched horizontally or vertically. To reduce the cooldown of the combo’s finisher, aim the Defensive Offense forward and repeat the Throat Slicer so long as it is safe to do so.
• Many players also find that some of the Unique Weapons are also very handy for dealing with the Custom Cyborgs. The L’Étranger Pole-Arm, in particular, is good for handling them in crowds. The Bloodlust Pincer Blades, on the other hand, can be charged ahead of time to shut down Custom Cyborg aggression.

AS SAM: Jetstream Sam is arguably a harder counter to the Custom Cyborgs than Raiden is due to the fact that many of his major attacks don’t get negated nearly as easily as Raiden’s. These attacks in question include the Assault Rush, the Jaw Breaker, and his various Charging Slashes.

• The Assault Rush is by far the most convenient way to shut them down when they’re rushing at you since they cannot block this attack. It also does insane amounts of damage if you’ve Taunted them, but be careful about Taunting them when it is unsafe to do so.
• While it is possible for them to block the Jaw Breaker, they seriously struggle to do so. The Jaw Breaker also does more total damage than the Assault Rush with its two outputs. The Jaw Breaker can also be used to style on them by starting your air combo. However, be careful about ending the air combo with an Avalanche, as there is a very high chance that the Custom Cyborg will instantly rise from the floor to perform a riposte against the Avalanche, even if you’ve cut off their limbs and disarmed them. This is a very annoying bug.
• Only truly useful when there is only one Custom Cyborg advancing towards you, and you’re not already running from them, Sam’s Charging Slashes are a convenient way to instantly kill them. There may be cases where there are two Custom Cyborgs chasing you down, and the Blender would be the best move to use.

u/N0_Horny said the following, recommending a solution to the Parry wars that you may engage in with the Custom Cyborgs: “By the way, if you do get caught in the ‘endless parry exchange’ and want to get out of it—or if you sense someone approaching you from behind—you can do so by canceling the animation with Blade Mode and immediately using Defensive Offense afterward (you'll have about 0.3–0.5 seconds). It's advisable to do two of these, as someone could very well approach you from behind. A second dodge, just in case, will most likely get you back from this potential threat.”

I'll have to discuss this with some other people, but I seem to have figured out a strategy on how to kill the first three Raptors. Mind you, I had to record this multiple times in different trials, so it's not the easiest thing in the world.

Edit: In hindsight, it's not the biggest cheese in the world, but it's a winning strategy for those who aren't seeking to do anything crazy and for those who are trying to get through the game while rejecting the boons of New Game+, an often torturous endeavor for the uninitiated.

Taken directly from: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tAiL_3fg_afQjW9Pzmi1Ua1nZ4Z_xVe0nz_UMBktOMM/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.wfizehgehhp6

The input for Raiden's Sweep Kick and Thunder Strike and Sam's Jaw Breaker—particularly on keyboard and mouse, where I see a lot of these complaints—is extremely easy if you use the right technique, which can be relied upon about 95% of the time. The timing is also seemingly more forgiving than DMC’s, considering how I’ve actually found it easier to input these attacks despite DMC’s fantastic Lock-On mechanic helping the player out.

With the keyboard: You have to jab the backward and forward button with ONLY your left middle finger. If you’re facing sideways, don’t hold down the left and right buttons—jab them by lifting the first button before pushing the second button. If you play the piano, hit the keys staccato and really quickly; DO NOT hit the keys legato. Lastly, push the attack button at the same time as the second movement key.

With the joystick/controller: You also have to essentially “jab” the inputs by flicking the backward input and the forward input separately. Lastly, push the attack button at the same time as the second movement input.

Note: Especially in the case of Sam, not jabbing the directional keys to perform the Jaw Breaker will likely result in Sam not being able to output the attack since he seemingly turns around quicker than Raiden.

For the tryhards out there, no-damaging the Senator Armstrong final boss fight is going to require that you do not take damage during the first two phases, both of which will be very difficult to survive if you do not understand the very formulaic solutions to these encounters.

There are two things that you need to remember before we go further: you need to outlast Armstrong instead of worrying about his superficial health bar, and attacking him in Phase 2 is NOT necessary.

Citing from Piggyback’s guide to Metal Gear Rising, u/Extension_Problem_77 has words about the time requirements needed to enter the next phases if you do not want to take damage:

Phase 1:
Easy: 50 seconds
Normal: 60 seconds
Hard: 75 seconds
Very Hard: 90 seconds
Revengeance: 90 seconds

Phase 2:
Easy: 90 seconds
Normal: 100 seconds
Hard: 120 seconds
Very Hard: 140 seconds
Revengeance: 160 seconds

u/Extension_Problem_77: “Also, heavily damaging Armstrong in Phase 1 WILL send you to the 2nd phase faster—but heavily damaging Armstrong in Phase 2 will only make you unable to die (it just sends you to the punching QTE) AFTER getting hit (on difficulties below Very Hard, you can't even die to Armstrong in this phase); so it's better to just keep running away in the opposite direction, and dodge his attacks.”

As far as “running away in the opposite direction” and “[dodging] his attacks,” I happen to have a very good solution to that problem: playing Leap Frog with Armstrong. Jumping around accurately and cleanly is by far one of the best methods of evading Armstrong in Phase 2, and this video is a good demonstration of that: https://www.reddit.com/r/metalgearrising/comments/1pxje1v/playing_jump_rope_with_senator_armstrong/

Stay patient, understand the time requirements, use the methods of evasion with which you are most comfortable, and getting to the final phase of the Senator Armstrong fight will not be as difficult as you once thought it was—just sort-of tedious.