They have their various motivations and allegiances, but the standard-issue thug fighter is a ubiquitous feature of the landscape in evacuated Gotham City. They’re tough, but not against Batman, who can dispatch them dozens at a time with his FreeFlow Combos. Standard unarmed thugs can be easily beaten into submission with Strikes, repelled with Counters, and dispatched when floored with Ground Takedowns. Unarmed toughs can be Countered up to three at a time, in fact, so even in large numbers they can barely make Batman break asweat.
These guys sometimes bring something along to help them, which complicates things for Batman. Note that when you K.O. a tool-using enemy, he drops his weapon and another foe can pick it up. You have to plan for other foes retrieving their fallen allies’ weapons unless you destroy enemy weapons with the Special Combo, Disarm and Destroy (which is not initially unlocked).
Melee Weapons: Foes lug bats and pipes into battle, which helps them hit harder but still allows their bludgeoning swings to be easily Countered. You can even pick up their dropped melee weapons and use them to enhance Batman’s strikes!
Projectiles: When hefty objects litter the combat area, enemies may pick some of them up and hurl them at Batman. You can Counter these just as against melee attacks. Press the Counter button right before an incoming projectile hits Batman. Batman catches the object and returns it to sender. The projectile can also be directed at an enemy other than the one who threw it. Otherwise, if you’re not going to intercept the enemy’s tossed objects, at least Evade to get out of the way.
Shields: Other foes sport riot shields, which guard against Strikes from the front. Inadvertently attacking a shield user head-on breaks your Combo and often gets Batman hit in return. Shield users are vulnerable to Cape Stun into Aerial Attack, which floors them and knocks the shield from their hands. Up close, these fighters bash with their shields, an uncounterable assault. Evade away or Redirect over them before they hit Batman. Like with other weapons, if you disarm or K.O. a shielded foe, their shield may be recovered by another foe.
Blades: Thugs who show up carrying knives are much more threatening than standard combatants. Knives can’t be Countered directly by tapping the button; instead, you must hold away from the incoming attack while also holding down the Counter button for the duration of the attack. This merely evades the sharp swipes, and doesn’t injure or stun the knife-wielder. It just resets the situation without Batman taking damage, and without breaking your FreeFlow Combo. (Attack again immediately after recovering from a blade dodge to keep the Combo going.) In order to punish blade users for engaging Batman, unlock the Blade Dodge Takedown, which allows you to K.O. them outright when they attack. To pull this off, you need to hold away from the incoming attack as during a normal blade dodge, but only tap and briefly hold the Counter button when the enemy is actively swiping. During gaps in the blade user’s three-hit knife combo, you must release the Counter button.
Stun Rods: Some well financed fighters enter the fray with electrified stun rods, shock sticks that are a great deterrent against frontal assault. If you attempt to Strike a stun rod user from the front, Batman gets shocked and your Combo is broken. Their electrified pokes are also uncounterable. As against Brutes and shielded enemies, Batman’s cape provides the solution, since it allows you to open a head-on assault without getting punished for it. Try Cape Stun into Aerial Attack for a quick flooring hit, or Cape Stun into Beat Down when you have time to land a series of knockout blows on one stun rod user without getting interrupted. Also like Brutes, since you have to be so specific attacking these adversaries, you can just save your Special Combo Takedowns for them and spare yourself the effort.
Guns: Gun-toting criminals are a significant threat, of course. You’ll want to take them out silently whenever possible, but that’s not an option when they show up during a melee brawl. It’s important to keep scanning the fringes of a fistfight for all sorts of threats, like thugs starting an uncounterable tackle rush or tossing an object at Batman, but this is probably the most important. Melee fighters may rush off to a nearby weapon crate to arm themselves, or occasionally an armed patrol may happen upon your melee in progress. Once you acquire the Disruptor and the appropriate WayneTech Upgrade for it, you can sabotage weapon crates, so a foe trying to cowboy up will be in for a shocking surprise.
When a gunfighter is present, they become the top priority by default. While Evading helps a little bit against their gunfire, this is not a sustainable approach. Either Evade/Redirect toward a gunfighter so you can initiate Strikes on him immediately, or plan to keep him busy somehow. Nailing a gunfighter with a Quickfire Gadget like the Batarang or REC can knock him off balance for a few seconds and briefly prevent his fire. This is useful when you face more than one armed opponent at once; unbalance one while you work on knocking out the other. You can also Quickfire the Batclaw to disarm gunfighters. When you do K.O. or disarm these guys, keep in mind that other thugs might pick up their guns. To avoid this, permanently break their guns by targeting armed enemies with Special Combo Disarm and Destroy if you have a Combo going.
Optic deflection: The Arkham Knight’s militia is absurdly well equipped, with advanced body armor and camouflage technology. Some of the Knight’s guard don a sparking blue-white suit capable of rendering them invisible to Detective Mode scans. This should quickly grab your attention when stalking assault rifle toting patrols. Single out optic deflection units to reduce your surprises later, or use the Disruptor Gadget (once acquired) to sabotage their deflection suits.