Black Widow is barely introduced near the halfway point in Marvel's Avengers before facing off against Monica Rappaccini, M.O.D.O.K.s right-hand woman. Monica fights from within a massive mech suit while the room fills with gas, making this first real boss fight in the game. There are 3 stages to the fight and Monica will change up her tactics between each stage. With very few chances to heal and threats coming from every direction, you'll need to make full use of Black Widow's abilities in order to defeat Monica. Here's a boss guide to defeating Monica Rappaccini.
Preparing For The Fight
You may only be level 3 or 4 by the time you have to fight Monica, so there's only a couple of opportunities to choose upgrades. If you haven't spent your points already, it's highly reccomended that you unlock Bullet Storm in the Ranged Attack tree because it will allow you to quickly dispose of some annoying drones early in the fight. If you have an additional point, Back Alley Gambit in the Heavy Attack tree is a great tool for applying some extra damage to Monica's mech, as you'll be dꦑodging almost constantly.
Additionally, make sure you equip any gear you've collected throughout that mission. That power advantage may just save your life by giving you one extra hit before you die or adding a tiny bit more power to your punches. If you've managed to collect anything with Cryo resist congrats: you hit the jackpot. Make sure you put that gear on and upgrade it if an upgrade is required to unlock the cryo perk. Don't forget that the Major Artifact Kamala 💞got at the beginning of the last mission can be equipped to all of your heroes, so equip it on Black Widow 🦄as well.
Phase 1: Ground Slams And Jabs
The first phase of the fight is pretty straightforward: punch Monica and dodge her attacks. She will jump on you if you try to create space so it's best to just stay in her face and keep smashing your attack buttons. When she attacks, you'll need to dodge out of the way most of the time. She has one ground slam attack that creates a big red AOE circle on the floor before she attacks. THIS attack can be parried with♌ your grapple, but it's best to just dodge o༒ut of the way of it and start a new combo or hit her with a Back Alley Gambit (heavy attack after dodging) if you unlocked it.
Once her health bar drops about 1/4 sཧhe'll disappear in an electric explosion. Get away quick and get ready to shoot down some drones. If you unlocked Bullet Storm, one charged shot will take out each one. If you're using a controller it's best to turn your camera to each drone before you ADS so that Widow locks on instantly. Once cleared, Monica comes back for Phase 2.
Phase 2: Cryo Shennanigans
This is the longest and hardest phase of the fight. Monica will leap around and do ground slam attacks,ಌ but each time she will create a Cryo AOE that will drain your life and freeze you. Stay out of the ice at all costs and continue doinജg damage to her from range.
When she charges at you she will leave a Cryo trail behind her so make sure you dodge wide to the right or the left instead of towards her. If you get frozen she will likely have time to punch you to death. Damage her at range and only go in for a combo when she moves out of the ice. It may take a while to whittle her down to about 1/2 health but the most important thing is to stay out of the Cryo. If she ✤ever stops moving and starts shooting Cryo bullets at you, that's a great time to use your Widow's Bite ability to stun her and go in for big damage.
Once she leaves you'll be faced with a small army of robots with overshields. This is the best time to use your Power Surge ultimate ability. Clear them out quickl🌼y and remember that you can do a finisher on a weak enemy to refill a bit of health. Do your best not to knock any enemies off the platform because they will climb back up with full health.
Phase 3: Bring The Heat
Monica will come back for a 3rd and final phase this time covered in flames. This part of the fight is easier than Cryo because you can't get stuck in the fire, but it's also very difficult to see the red circl♐e that indicates an incoming attack because they're the same color as the flames. You'll need to pay close attention to the Monica when she winds up for an attack and dodge out of the way. The red circle is small and right in the middle of her chest, so you may not be able to see it.
The AOE attack will put flames on the ground, ⛎but as long as you aren't standing in the initial blast it's fine to run back into the flames to continue fighting. Occasionally Monica will do a series of long fire blasts in a column in front of her, rotating slightly after each one. All you need to do is dodge behind her before each blast and continue your combo. Use Back Alley Gambit after each dodge if you've unlocked it.
You'll likely have Widow's Bite charged back up during this phase so don't forget to use it again. This phase of the fight requires the most damage🤡 but it should go by fairly quickly as there's not😼hing to stop you from continuously wailing on her until she's defeated.