As promised, Character Selection in Combat AR Challenges has been added in the latest Batman: Arkham Knight update, 1.09, available today on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Detailed by Rocksteady on the WB Forums, the Character Selection update allows you to play existing combat AR Challenges from the main game and DLC with up to seven new characters.
Rocksteady explained that the available characters will depend on the DLC you’ve purchased:
Everyone can play as Robin, Catwoman, Nightwing and Azrael, even if your story save file hasn’t reached the point where these characters have been introduced. Red Hood, Harley Quinn and Batgirl are exclusive to their respective DLC packs. Season Pass Holders automatically get access to everyone, as long as they have the respective packs installed.
To switch characters, go to the AR Challenge you’d like to play in the AR Challenge menu, and press left or right on the d-pad. The characters you have available will be shown in portraits, and the name of the character in the selection box will turn yellow. Simply hit X on PS4 or A on XB1 after that to start the challenge.
Here’s what’s different about the new characters:
The new characters have all of their abilities from the main game or their respective Arkham Episodes. Some players will probably find that completing the more advanced challenges as other characters is a little more difficult than playing as Batman. That’s intentional: Batman is a legendary hand-to-hand fighter, and a great deal more powerful than his allies, but you’ll find that the other characters’ abilities and animations reflect their respective skills as well.
While the new characters don’t have dedicated leaderboards, there’s an extra three stars to earn for each character on each challenge, and they contribute to your overall Gotham’s Greatest rating.
Additionally, you’ll notice that today’s update reduces the blue in AR Challenges.
Rocksteady also notes that this month’s update is for FreeFlow Combat AR Challenges. An update scheduled for November will include the ability to use these characters on the Invisible Predator AR Challenges.