Edward Nigma is a narcissist. That’s not a secret, but in Batman: Arkham City, his ego takes a turn for the homicidal. You’ve likely spent hours gliding over the snowy, ruinous streets of North Gotham, hearing that distorted green frequency buzzing in Batman’s ear. Most players think the Arkham City Riddler hostage missions are just a series of tedious map-clearing exercises. They aren't. They are actually the emotional backbone of the game's side content. They represent the only time in the game where the stakes feel personal for the "little guys" trapped in Hugo Strange’s open-air prison.
You start with a medic. Poor Enigma has strapped a bomb to a doctor in the church. It’s a classic setup. But as you progress through the five primary hostages, the puzzles stop being about basic logic and start being about Batman’s physical limitations.
The Enigma Conundrum: How the Hostage Loop Actually Works
Most people get stuck early. You can't just stumble upon an Arkham City Riddler hostage by accident. You have to earn them. This is where the "Riddler Informants" come in—those glowing green thugs that make you rethink your entire "punch everyone until they stop moving" strategy.
Honestly, the rhythm of finding these guys is the most stressful part of the game. You're in the middle of a 40x combo, feeling like a god, and then you see him. The green guy. You have to purposefully avoid hitting him while taking out his ten buddies. If you accidentally knock him out? Tough luck. You're waiting for a respawn. Once you interrogate enough of these snitches, Riddler gives you a frequency. You sync your Cryptographic Sequencer, solve a word puzzle, and the location of the next victim appears on your map.
Why the Church is Just the Beginning
The first hostage is almost a tutorial. You go to the Cathedral, you find the secret panel, and you save the medic. Easy. But it sets a false sense of security. Rocksteady Games designed these rooms to be increasingly lethal. By the time you reach the third or fourth hostage, you're dealing with floor tiles that electrify on a timer and spinning blades that will end a "Permadeath" run in seconds.
The locations are scattered across the map, usually hidden behind breakable walls or underneath floorboards.
- Hostage 1: The Cathedral (The Medic)
- Hostage 2: Near the Museum (The Guard)
- Hostage 3: Industrial District (The Victim in the Water)
- Hostage 4: Near the Bowery
- Hostage 5: The Final Test
If you're looking for a specific count, you need 400 trophies/riddles to finish the entire questline and face Nigma face-to-face. That's a lot. It’s actually 440 if you include the Catwoman DLC trophies, but only 400 are required for the "final" confrontation.
The Secret Mechanics of the Riddler Rooms
Let’s talk about the puzzles themselves. They aren't just about "using the Batarang." Each Arkham City Riddler hostage room is a test of a specific gadget you’ve unlocked.
The Water Pressure Trap
One of the most frustrating rooms involves a hostage suspended over a vat of electrified water or a crushing mechanism. You have to use the Line Launcher. But not just the basic "point A to point B" move. You have to use the Line Launcher flip—hitting the 'RB' or 'R1' button mid-glide to change direction 90 degrees. If you haven't mastered the timing, you're going to watch that hostage die a lot.
The game doesn't explicitly tell you that the timing for these gadgets changes based on the difficulty setting. On "Hard" or "New Game Plus," the windows for the Remote Electrical Charge (REC) are significantly tighter. You have to hit the generators at the exact millisecond the spinning blades pass. It’s brutal.
The "Final" Hostage and the Blind Run
The fifth hostage room is a masterpiece of level design. It’s essentially a giant shell game. You have to track which box the hostage is in while they move at high speeds. Pro tip: Use Detective Mode. A lot of players try to follow the boxes with their naked eyes and get dizzy. Turn on the cowl, track the heat signature, and it’s a cakewalk.
But there's a catch. Riddler cheats.
In the final rooms, Nigma will often disable your Detective Mode or jam your signal. You have to rely on the "Reverse Batarang" or the "Freeze Blast" to create platforms where none exist. It’s a literal test of everything you’ve learned over the 20-hour campaign.
Is it Really Worth Saving All 400?
This is where the community is split. Some people think the Arkham City Riddler hostage rewards are underwhelming. You get a trophy (the digital kind), some XP, and the satisfaction of seeing Nigma walk around in a circle with a bomb collar on his neck.
But from a narrative perspective? It’s the only way to get the "true" ending for the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD). Throughout the game, Aaron Cash is freaking out at the precinct because his men are missing. Saving the hostages isn't just about the puzzles; it’s about Batman's failure to protect the city during the "Protocol 10" chaos.
The Math of the Hunt
You need to hit these milestones to unlock the locations:
- First Hostage: 0 Riddles (Automatic)
- Second Hostage: 80 Riddles
- Third Hostage: 160 Riddles
- Fourth Hostage: 240 Riddles
- Fifth Hostage: 320 Riddles
- Riddler’s Hideout: 400 Riddles
If you’re sitting at 319 trophies, you’re stuck. You won't get that next radio frequency. It feels like a grind because it is a grind. But the level design in the actual hostage rooms is some of the best in the entire Arkham trilogy, arguably better than the stuff in Arkham Knight because it relies on Batman's brains rather than the Batmobile's cannons.
Common Misconceptions and Technical Glitches
I've seen so many forum posts about "glitched" hostages. Usually, it's not a glitch.
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People often think they’ve hit the 400 mark, but they're counting Catwoman’s red trophies. Those do not count toward the 400 needed to unlock the final Arkham City Riddler hostage location—the hideout where Nigma is actually hiding. You need 400 green ones.
Another common issue: The "Interrogation" prompt not appearing. If you're in combat and the last guy is a green informant, but you accidentally use a "Special Combo Takedown," he’s out. He won't talk. You have to leave the area, fly a few blocks away, and come back to reset the spawns.
Also, the "Physical Challenges" in the Riddler menu? They count as "riddles." If you're struggling to find that one last trophy hidden in the subway, go do some combat challenges. Catching a Batarang mid-air or performing a 50x combo counts toward your total. It’s way faster than hunting for a tiny green question mark behind a random crate in the Industrial District.
Taking Down Edward Nigma: The Final Step
Once you save the final Arkham City Riddler hostage, you get the coordinates to his hideout. It’s located near the Museum, hidden behind a wall you have to blow up with Explosive Gel.
The final encounter isn't a boss fight in the traditional sense. It’s a stealth mission. You have to navigate a floor covered in sensors while Nigma rants on a giant screen. If you move while the floor is red, you die. If you move too slowly, the hostages die.
The trick here is to stay directly underneath the floorboards. Follow the path of the hostages as they walk. Nigma has forced them to walk in a specific pattern to avoid the traps; you just have to be their shadow. When you finally get behind him, don't rush the takedown. Wait for him to finish his sentence. It makes the "Silent Takedown" much more satisfying.
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Your Actionable Checklist for Completion
If you’re currently staring at a map full of green icons and feeling overwhelmed, here is how you actually finish this questline without losing your mind:
- Prioritize the "Informants" first. Don't even look for trophies until you've cleared the streets of green glowing thugs. It’s much easier to find a trophy when it’s highlighted on your map than it is to stumble around in the dark.
- Upgrade the Cryptographic Sequencer early. You’ll need the "Power Loss" and "Range" upgrades to access at least 30% of the trophies required for the later hostages.
- Don't ignore the "Physical Challenges." Check the Riddler tab in your menu. Often, you’ve already completed 10-15 of these just by playing the game. They are "free" points toward your 400-mark goal.
- Use the Freeze Blast as a raft. A lot of the hostage rooms involve water. If you don't have the Freeze Blast (which you get after the Mr. Freeze boss fight), don't even bother attempting the later rooms. You’ll just get frustrated.
- The "Dive Bomb" is your friend. Some trophies are high up on chimneys. Use the Grapnel Boost (completed through AR training) to get the height you need, then dive and pull up to reach those awkward ledges.
Solving the mystery of the Arkham City Riddler hostage locations is a test of patience. It’s a love letter to the character of Batman—the world's greatest detective who also happens to be able to bench press a small car. Take your time, use Detective Mode constantly, and remember that Edward Nigma is just a lonely guy who wants your attention. Don't give him the satisfaction of failing.