At the end of Track 2 in Hi-Fi RUSH, you’ll finally get the chance to take down the first of six Vandelay heads. Rekka is the head of Human Resources and a boastful angry type whose punches will back up her claims.
This wrestler wannabe has plenty of tricks up her sleeves and is very quick in changing up her tactics throughout your fight. If you want her pass key, you’ll have to know exactly when you have an opening and when to stay as far away as you can.
Phase One
Before you know anything else, there’s a challenge for the Wall of Fame regarding Rekka. You’ll have to finish this fight without taking any damage. You should wait to complete that challenge until you tackle everything available to you in the postgame, as the extra upgrades and familiarity with the combat will make that challenge far more likely. As for phase one, Rekka will attack you head-on, sometimes by jumping high in the air and then slamming her fists into the ground. This will be fairly easy to dodge, just move out of the way, her muscular build makes her a fairly noticeable target, so just look up and figure out the angle of her descent.
A bit harder to dodge is her charge toward you. You’ll get red and green marks in front of her to indicate when she’ll rush, timed to the rhythm. This will come at Chai faster than her ground pound from the air, but you will at least have a visible indicator of her spread, so you’ll be able to figure out where to run or jump to avoid her.
If you can, try to have Rekka charge directly into a wall because regardless of if she hits you or not, slamming into a wall will briefly stun her. Notice Rekka’s health bar in the pictures, that it’s sectioned off into four pieces. Those are the phases, and once you break the first bar, Rekka will move into phase two.
Phase Two
Phase Two starts with a cutscene of Rekka ripping up the grate, hiding power lines under the floor. She’ll grab those wires and charge herself. This creates an electric barrier around her, and if she touches you or if you hit her, Chai will be electrocuted and take damage. You have to stop whaling your guitar and keep your distance, the electricity will eventually dissipate. This doesn’t mean you have to stop damaging her, however. Calling in Peppermint is the strategy here, as her bullets will damage Rekka without electrocuting you. The game will even try to hint this towards you, as Rekka may gain an energy shield, which Peppermint showed you earlier that she can break. This phase is mostly a waiting game, just back and wait for Peppermint to recharge, as even when Rekka’s electricity is gone, Peppermint will still provide solid damage, and you don’t need to worry too much about syncing to the beat. One more thing is that Rekka’s charge toward you will come faster now, and she’ll stop sooner, meaning you don’t have the chance to make her smash into a wall anymore. It was only viable in phase one.
With two health bars down, Rekka will suddenly get a lot tougher.
Phase Three
Rekka will lose what little of her patience she has left and begin to rip pipes from the wall. You are locked into a dodging section at the start of phase three, where you have to move left or right to avoid the pipes Rekka chucks at you. You’ll have red danger lines telling you where the pipes will be thrown. After you’re done dodging, Rekka will return to directly attacking you, and this includes using the electricity again, so continue spamming Peppermint and only use your guitar when it’s safe. After taking some damage, Rekka will return to the wall of pipes, but you never end up doing the dodging section again.
Instead, Rekka will wield the pipes and swing or slam them at you. She’ll be surprisingly fast, faster than she was in phase one, so keep your distance and avoid being in front of her, as the pipes have a decent reach. Eventually, she will spin them, and they’ll aim at you, so be prepared to jump over them and watch the red lines under you for the timing.
Rekka may also grow orange arms over her real arms, and when she goes, it means she’s going to attempt to grab you and force you into a body hold and pile driver. You can’t escape it if she catches you. You have to avoid being grabbed altogether, and the damage will be high if you don’t. Beat this phase, and Rekka will throw almost everything at you.
Phase Four
Rekka will combine her most dangerous attacks; she’ll shield herself with electricity and grab pipes at the same time. This means she will not only directly attack or electrify you but also hit you by the pipes. While it is a deadly combo, it’s also nothing more than a desperate move. This is all Rekka has left, and she’s hoping it’s all she needs. You can wait to attack her after the electricity is gone, or just spam Peppermint as much as you can. With how little Rekka changes up her tactics in this phase, this will likely be the shortest one, and you’ll have her pass key in no time.
