In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of the Patriots players will face off against Dead Cell, a former Special Forces Unit gone rogue, while exploring the Big Shell. After early encounters with Vamp and Fortune, and weathering an assault from Solidus Snake, players will make their way into Shell-2 Core. It is here that players will eventually face off with Vamp, Dead Cell's Knife Expert who is seemingly immortal.

In Shell-2's Purification Chamber Raiden faces off against Vamp, who attacks with knives while taking advantage of the pool beneath the arena and his incredible speed to ambush Raiden from all directions. Vamp's fighting style make him one of Metal Gear Solid 2's trickier enemies, though there are a number of methods that can be used to make this fight easier. This includes manipulating the environment to the player's advantage.

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How to Beat Vamp

When starting the fight Vamp will be in the middle of the room and players can immediately hit him with a shot from the pistol to deal some damage. After a moment or two, he'll dive under the water and reposition. From here Vamp can do one of two things. If Vamp launches himself up onto the balconies overlooking the area, players should aim at him and wait for him to throw a knife. Shoot twice, once to deflect the knife and once to hit Vamp and deal some damage. Either the pistol or the AK will work well here, as will the M4 if players picked it up earlier. Vamp will jump between several locations, allowing players to repeat this trick to damage him a couple more times. He can also walk along the upper area while throwing several knives. Shoot any knife that is headed towards Raiden and shoot him when his orange aura vanishes after the final knife is thrown.

If Vamp lands on the same floor as Raiden after surfacing from the water, players should aim and fire to deal some damage before he stands up. Once he starts approaching Raiden, players should keep their distance and roll/vault away once he jumps closer to perform a knife attack. Players feeling daring can also try to shoot him right as he lands from his jump, though this requires perfect timing and quick reactions. Successfully shooting him after his jump will deal some damage and cause him to dive back underwater.

Raiden can't swim in the water here due to how highly oxygenated the water is, which has rendered it functionally non-buoyant. Vamp, being an immortal cheater, can swim in it just fine and should be watched carefully when he's down there. Keeping an eye on him when possible can help players work out where he'll surface next.

After Dropping to Half Health Vamp will start using a different attack when he lands on the same floor as Raiden. He'll sprint towards Raiden before performing a lunging slash. Players can avoid this by moving away from him quickly and rolling/vaulting away as he begins his slash after jumping. He will also begin throwing more knives each time he throws knives, making it a little trickier to deflect them and hit him. When he jumps and begins a slash attack he is vulnerable to attack, so once again it is possible for confident and fast players to shoot him and stop his attack.

Once Vamp's health is even lower he'll start throwing flurries of 5-6 knives which are best avoided by moving out of the way, since they are focused on a small area. To help him land this attack he'll also use a knife to pin Raiden's shadow to the ground and freeze him in place. To stop this from happening, players should take a moment to shoot out the floodlights on the upper level of the room so that Raiden's shadow isn't visible. Players can also stick to the shadowy parts of the arena in the short term, since this will also stop him from pinning Raiden's shadow.

Keep chipping away at Vamp with shots whenever his aura vanishes until he goes down, ending the fight and allowing Raiden to head deeper into Shell-2. Vamp's dead for good now, right? It's not like he's immortal and could just turn up again later because we didn't actually see him die, after all.