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*                                *
* WARRIORS OROCHI 2 - Orochi FAQ *
*          Version 1.00          *
*     Created by Mythril Wyrm    *
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Table of Contents

I. Update History
II. Legal Notice/Disclaimer
III. About Orochi
     A. In History
     B. In Warriors Orochi 2
IV. Unlocking Orochi
V. Using Orochi
     A. Orochi's Moveset
          1. Regular Attacks
          2. Charge Attacks
          3. Mounted Attacks
          4. Special & Musou Attacks
     B. Maximizing Orochi's Effectiveness
VI. Orochi's Collectibles & Strategy
     A. Weapons
          1. Sickle
          2. Life Drainer
          3. Spirit Reaper
          4. Eternal Agony
     B. Abilities
          1. Boost
          2. Acclaim
          3. Refill
          4. Potence
     C. Strategy
VII. Tier List Placement
VIII. Questions & Answers
IX. Special Thanks
X. Contacting Me

To skip to a specific section, press Ctrl + F, type in a section name, and
press Enter.
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I. Update History
v1.00 - Completed all sections. There probably won't be any further updates
unless someone sends me corrections.
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II. Legal Notice/Disclaimer
This FAQ is copyright 2008 by Devin McCain. Presently, only the following
websites have permission to host this FAQ:

GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com)
IGN (http://www.ign.com)
Neoseeker (http://www.neoseeker.com)
Super Cheats (http://www.supercheats.com)

Please notify me as soon as possible if you find it posted anywhere else. If
you want to post this FAQ on your own website, you may do so only if you obtain
my permission in writing and agree to leave the FAQ completely unchanged. If
you post it without my permission or change it and try to pass it off as your
own, there will be unpleasant consequences when I find out. Feel free to print
a copy of this FAQ for personal use, but do not publish or distribute it with
intent to turn profit on it. I'm sharing it free of charge, so please respect
that.

All other copyrights and trademarks mentioned in this FAQ are the property of
their respective owners. I do not claim to own any of them.

This FAQ may contain spoilers. Continue reading at your own risk.

I take no responsibility for any embarrassment, injuries, or deaths that result
from the use of this FAQ or any of the information contained herein. If you're
that stupid, it's your own damn fault.

Got that? Good. Now, let's move on to the fun stuff...
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III. About Orochi
A. In History
The following information about Orochi is taken from Wikipedia:

"Yamata no Orochi ("big snake of eight branches"; often called Orochi or the
Eight-Forked Serpent in English) is a dragon- or serpent-like creature in
Japanese mythology. In the ancient Japanese scripture, the Kojiki, after
Susa-no-O is expelled from Heaven, he encounters two Kuni-tsu-Kami ("earthly
deities") near the head of the Hi-i-gawa ("Hi'i river") in Izumo Province. They
are weeping because they have had to give the Orochi one of their daughters
once every year, and now they must sacrifice their eighth and last, whose name
is Kushi-inada-hime.

The monster is described as having eight heads and eight tails and eyes as red
as winter-cherries. It is so long its body extends over eight valleys and eight
hills, its belly is always bloody and inflamed, and its back is covered with
hikage (clubmoss), hinoki (Japanese cypress), and sugi (Japanese cedar).

Susa-no-O asks for Kushi-inada-hime's hand in marriage, and then transforms her
into a comb (kushi) which he places in his hair. He then asks her parents to
brew some sake that has been refined eight times, and then build a round
enclosure with eight gates, each with a platform and a sake vat. They fill the
sake vats and wait, and sure enough the Orochi appears. It dips a head into
each vat, and is soon intoxicated, allowing Susa-no-O to cut it into pieces.
When he cuts the middle tail, his sword is chipped, and there he finds the
legendary sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi."

B. In Warriors Orochi 2
After the events of the first game, the short-lived peace achieved by The Coa-
lition is disturbed by Da Ji's plan to resurrect Orochi. She begins by bringing
back the evil Kiyomori Taira from the netherworld, who in turn enlists the aid
of the various Orochi army officers as well as Sun Wukong, his new right hand
"man," to use the powers of the mysterious little girl Himiko to bring Orochi
back from the dead and grant him even more power. The plan eventually succeeds,
and Shin Orochi is born to challenge humanity in putting an end to him once
more.

Warriors Orochi 2 also contains one extra story mode: Orochi. Unlike the other
four stories, this mode serves as a prequel to the first game that tells the
tale of Orochi's rise to power - how he was freed from his prison in the Mystic
realm by Da Ji, how he merged time and space, and how he convinced or forced
warriors such as Keiji Maeda, Masamune Date, Zhuge Liang, the Sun family, and
many others into joining his army and granting him even more might through
their support. This was a very nice contribution to the series by KOEI, except
that the game never explains how Lu Bu joined the Serpent King. After all of Lu
Bu's "so it seemz zer'z some1 bsides teh oroci hoo can match my mad skillz
lol!" crap from the first game, one would expect to see him get his ass handed
to him in an epic battle with Orochi. Maybe we'll see it happen in Warriors
Orochi 3...
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IV. Unlocking Orochi
To unlock Orochi, you must complete the following steps:

-Insert Warriors Orochi 2 in your PlayStation 2.
-Turn the power on.

In other words, he's one of the initial characters.
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V. Using Orochi
A. Orochi's Moveset
These are the attacks that will be available to Orochi once his full combo has
been unlocked. Some attacks will vary if his full combo has not yet been
unlocked.

1. Regular Attacks
S           | A right-to-left downward slash. Orochi becomes invincible while
            | performing this attack.
SS          | Orochi strikes the ground with the head of his scythe, producing
            | a shockwave that damages all surrounding enemies.
SSS         | A spinning slash. Hits 270 degrees.
SSSS        | A left-to-right upward slash.
SSSSS       | A right-to-left slash.
SSSSSS      | A spinning slash. Hits 270 degrees.
SSSSSSS     | A left-to-right upward slash.
SSSSSSSS    | A right-to-left slash.
SSSSSSSSS   | Orochi fires a ball of dark energy straight ahead, launching all
            | enemies in his path into the air.
X + S       | Orochi hurls a fireball at the ground, launching all enemies he
            | strikes into the air. Has an innate Flame effect.
Dash attack | A right-to-left downward slash.

2. Charge Attacks
C1 / T      | Orochi strikes the ground with the head of his scythe, producing
            | a shockwave that knocks away all surrounding enemies.
C1 / TT     | Orochi hurls a fireball along the ground. Has an innate Flame
            | effect.
C1 / TTT    | Orochi waves his hand from left to right, firing purple lightning
            | from his palm. Knocks the enemy down.
C2 / ST     | Orochi crouches down and concentrates, producing an energy wave
            | that launches all surrounding enemies into the air.
C2 / STT    | Orochi does a left-to-right downward slash with his scythe.
C2 / STTT   | Orochi does a right-to-left slash with his scythe, knocking away
            | all surrounding enemies.
C3 / SST    | Orochi fires a spread of ice crystals in front of him. Has an in-
            | nate Ice effect.
C3 / SSTT   | Orochi stomps the ground, producing a small shockwave that
            | launches all enemies in front of him into the air.
C3 / SSTTT  | Orochi flies forward and does a spinning attack with his scythe,
            | launching all enemies he strikes into the air.
C4 / SSST   | Orochi lunges forward and does a right-to-left slash with his
            | scythe.
C4 / SSSTT  | Orochi lunges forward and does a left-to-right upward slash with
            | his scythe.
C4 / SSSTTT | Orochi hovers in the air and surrounds himself with an aura of
            | dark energy, knocking away all surrounding enemies.
X + T       | Orochi does a spinning buzzsaw attack into the ground, producing
            | a shockwave that knocks away all surrounding enemies.

4. Mounted Attacks
SSSS(SSSS) | A series of slashes off the right side of the horse.
T          | Orochi's horse leaps into the air, knocking away all enemies
           | around it when it lands.
ST         | An upward slash. Launches the enemy into the air.
SST        | An upward slash. Stuns the enemy.
SSST       | An upward slash. Launches the enemy into the air.
Musou      | Orochi's horse charges forward at high speed, knocking away anyone
           | in its path.

5. Special & Musou Attacks
R1         | Orochi calls forth two phantoms that perform overhead strikes with
           | their scythes in unison with him. Unblockable.
Musou      | Orochi crouches down and concentrates, producing energy waves that
           | launch all nearby enemies into the air. Ends with a shockwave that
           | knocks away all surrounding enemies and a slash that makes Orochi
           | temporarily invincible.
True musou | Same as regular musou, but adds three quick slashes before the
           | final shockwave and slash.

B. Maximizing Orochi's Effectiveness
Orochi's most noticeable weakness is his speed. His heavy armor makes him a
slow runner, so he's not the best choice for clearing great distances quickly.
He's also a rather poor juggler.

Apart from these minor weaknesses, Orochi is fiendishly powerful. He's a Power
type with iron-hard defense, and he excels at both dueling and crowd control,
but it's important to take the time to familiarize yourself with his moveset.
His regular combo is fast and provides excellent coverage, and it's easy enough
to blaze through a battle using nothing but regular attacks. The delay before
the final blow, however, makes it dangerous to use in the middle of a crowd, so
be careful when spamming S on higher difficulty settings. C2 works fairly well
against enemy generals and small groups of peons, but it pales in comparison to
Orochi's other charge attacks. Unless you're skilled at hitting enemies with it
after setting them on fire with TT or your air attack, there's little reason to
use it frequently. C3 is invaluable in duels; the ice crystals do great damage
at point-blank range, and frozen foes will be much easier to tear apart with a
special or musou attack. SSTT and SSTTT work better as escape moves when you're
surrounded by peons. C4, due to the lunges and area attack at the end, is a
great way to escape from large crowds. Use it freely when surrounded. Your air
charge works very well against Base Captains, since it can usually break their
shields with one hit. If you want to use Orochi to his full potential, however,
C1 should be your staple move. The initial shockwave executes slowly, but it
hits in a large area, does massive damage, and puts a lot of space between you
and your enemies. TT and TTT are best used to rip through enemy generals after
pinning them against a wall. All told, your best bet is to use C1, C4, and
regular attacks to cleave through peon hordes and C1, C3, and your musou to
dispatch generals. Don't waste too much time with your special; as wicked as it
looks, it's far less useful than your musou.

I recommend adding the following special effects to Orochi's weapon:

Absorb - Stealing musou means you get to use your musou more often. Woo-hoo!
Agility - Allows you to execute charge attacks more quickly, making C1 even
more deadly.
Brave - Doing more damage to generals is good for anyone.
Drain - Good for increasing your lasting power.
Flash - Unblockable charge attacks. Need I say more?
Might - Doing more damage to everyone is good for anyone.
Range - Allows you to hit more enemies at once and increases the margin of
error on your attacks.
Slay - Invaluable for toppling your fellow juggernauts. You'll understand once
you see it in action.

If the suggestions above don't suit your playing style, try these instead:

Air - Increases the power of C2 and the last two hits of C3. Consider it as a
replacement for Drain or Range.
Ice - Very useful if C3 doesn't have enough freezing power for your tastes.
Consider it as a replacement for Drain or Range.
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VI. Orochi's Collectibles & Strategy
A. Weapons
1. Sickle
Base Attack: 12
Attack bonus, effects, and number of slots will vary.

2. Life Drainer
Base Attack: 24
Attack bonus, effects, and number of slots will vary.

3. Spirit Reaper
Base Attack: 48
Attack bonus, effects, and number of slots will vary.

4. Eternal Agony
Base Attack: 97
Attack bonus, effects, and number of slots will vary.

B. Abilities
1. Boost
Requirements: Defeat 60 enemies.

2. Acclaim
Requirements: Defeat 3 officers, while maintaining 30% Life Gauge status.

3. Refill
Requirements: Defeat 3 officers, within 10 minutes of the start of the battle,
without performing any attack using the Musou Gauge.
Tips: Abuse C1 and C3.

4. Potence
Requirements: Defeat 160 enemies, including 6 officers.
Tips: Go all-out.

C. Strategy
Name: Face Off
Effect: Reduces the damage inflicted upon all allied forces.
Requirements: Defeat 300 enemies.

It raises the defense of all officers in your army, which can buy you some time
to turn the tables during a tight battle. Defeating 300 enemies should be easy
work for the Serpent King, so go for it whenever you have a chance.
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VII. Tier List Placement
Personally, I dislike tier lists. I'll agree that some characters are easier to
use effectively than others, but I firmly believe that any character can be
used effectively with enough practice and a good strategy. Furthermore, since
some players are more naturally skillful than others and everyone's playing
style is different, tier lists are little more than a collection of opinions
about which characters are easiest to use to their full potential. I'd like to
see people spend less time debating about which characters are top tier, bottom
tier, or somewhere in between and more time finding out which character and
what strategy best fit their playing style.

I also realize that some people consider tier lists to be much more useful than
I do. This section is for those people.

Orochi is widely considered to be a top tier character because of his fast
and consistent offense and excellent defense. C1, with its power and range,
gives him superior crowd control, and X + S followed by C1 can tear enemy of-
ficers apart with ease as long as he has enough room to hurl his fireball. Be-
cause of this limitation, he can have difficulty fighting stronger officers on
Hard or Chaos mode if they're in a small or heavily crowded area. This leads
some to argue that he should be considered a 2nd tier character, and even those
who consider him top tier usually place several other characters above him on
the list.

If anyone disagrees with or has something to add to this analysis, feel free to
send me an e-mail.
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VIII. Questions & Answers
Q: Why an Orochi FAQ?
A: It hadn't been done yet, and I think he's a fun character to use.

Q: Orochi sucks! His attacks are too hard to aim!
A: That's not a question, and it's not even true. It takes some time to adjust
to his style, but he's extremely powerful once you learn it.

Q: Orochi is broken.
A: That's still not a question...and really, did you expect anything less from
the main villain?

Q: If he's so overpowered, why do you use him? Don't you like a challenge?
A: Yes, but using Orochi's a good way to relieve stress.

Q: Why can't I get a 4th weapon for Orochi?
A: Because you're a pansy.

Q: Seriously, what do I need to do to get one?
A: Play any battle on Chaos mode, or any battle with a difficulty rating of
three stars or more on Hard mode. They'll randomly appear in weapon boxes.

Q: Your FAQ sucks! I've crapped out better FAQs than this!
A: As soon as you find a way to upload excrement, you should post your wondrous
creation for all to see.

Q: I posted my FAQ, and everyone I know thinks it's better than yours! Your FAQ
really DOES suck!
A: Congratulations! I am in awe of your superior FAQ-writing skills! Now go
away.

Q: This is the best FAQ I've ever read! You're a genius and a god among men,
and I want to know more about you so that I can immortalize you!
A: Yeah, I get that a lot. My contact info's listed below.

Q: <insert some question that has nothing to do with Orochi or the FAQ here>
A: See the second sentence of my previous answer.
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IX. Special Thanks
I would like to thank...

...KOEI and Omega Force, for creating Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, and
Warriors Orochi.
...Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orochi), for providing information
about the mythological Orochi.
...Kristoph Gavin ([email protected]), for helping me compile the FAQ,
offering many encouraging words and unwavering moral support, and being an all-
around awesome guy.
...GameFAQs, for posting this FAQ.
...Neoseeker, for posting this FAQ.
...Super Cheats, for posting this FAQ.
...the folks at IGN, for posting this FAQ.
...you, for reading this FAQ.
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X. Contacting Me
If you want to get in touch with me, send an e-mail to [email protected].
Be sure to put the word "FAQ" in the subject line of your e-mail, or I'm likely
to mistake it for spam and delete it. I check my e-mail every day, so you
should receive a reply quickly in most cases. I accept praise, corrections, and
constructive criticism, and will give you credit for any information you share
with me that I decide to add to the FAQ. Rude, crass, or incomprehensible
e-mails will be ignored or shamelessly ridiculed as my mood dictates, so keep
your e-mails clear and polite if you want me to respond in kind.

I also use AIM occasionally. If you want my Screen Name, ask for it via e-mail.

Happy gaming!