Dissidia: Final Fantasy
~*~Terra Branford Character Guide~*~
by Shadow Flare13
-------------------------------------
Table of Contents
_____________________________________
Use the codes in the square brackets and Ctrl+F to jump to a section.
I. Introduction............................[INT1]
II. The Lovely Terra Branford
A. Terra in FFVI.............[FF62]
B. Terra in Dissidia.........[DIS2]
III. Her Magical Arsenal
A. Brave Attacks.............[BRV3]
B. HP Attacks................[HPA3]
C. Recommended Set-Ups.......[RSU3]
IV. Recommended Abilities
A. Action Abilities..........[AAB4]
B. Support Abilities.........[SAB4]
C. Extra Abilities...........[EAB4]
V. Using the Beautiful Maiden of Magic
A. How to Play...............[HTP5]
B. General Tips..............[GTS5]
C. Esper Terra...............[ESP5]
D. Combos....................[COM5]
VI. Equipment and Accessorizing *under construction*
A. Weapons and Armour........[WAA6]
B. Accessory Set-Ups.........[ACC6]
C. Summons...................[SUM6]
VII. The Competition *incomplete*
A. Warrior of Light..........[WOL7]
B. Garland...................[GAR7]
C. Firion....................[FIR7]
D. Emperor...................[EMP7]
E. Onion Knight..............[OKE7]
F. Cloud of Darkness.........[COD7]
G. Cecil.....................[CEC7]
H. Golbez....................[GOL7]
I. Bartz.....................[BAR7]
J. Exdeath...................[EXD7]
K. Terra.....................[TER7]
L. Kefka.....................[KEF7]
M. Cloud.....................[CLO7]
N. Sephiroth.................[SEP7]
O. Squall....................[SQU7]
P. Ultimecia.................[ULT7]
Q. Zidane....................[ZID7]
R. Kuja......................[KUJ7]
S. Tidus.....................[TID7]
T. Jecht.....................[JEC7]
U. Shantotto.................[SHA7]
V. Gabranth..................[GAB7]
W. Chaos.....................[CHA7]
VIII. The Way of the Land *under construction*
A. Chaos Shrine..............[CHA8]
B. Pandemonium...............[PAN8]
C. World of Darkness.........[WOD8]
D. Valley of the Moon........[VOM8]
E. Dimension Castle..........[DIM8]
F. Tower Ruins...............[TOW8]
G. Planet's Core.............[PLA8]
H. Ultimecia's Castle........[ULT8]
I. Crystal World.............[CRY8]
J. Dream's End...............[DRE8]
H. Sanctuary of Order........[SOO8]
J. End of Chaos..............[EOC8]
IX. Terra in Story Mode (aka Destiny Odyessey VI) *under construction*
A. Walkthrough...............[WLK9]
i) Chapter 1........[CH19]
ii) Chapter 2.......[CH29]
iii) Chapter 3......[CH39]
iv) Chapter 4.......[CH49]
v) Chapter 5........[CH49]
B. Getting 100%..............[PER9]
C. Other Story Modes.........[OSM9]
D. Terra Related Scripts.....[TRS9]
X. Battle Quotes
A. Attacks & Actions.........[AAA0]
B. Start & End...............[SAE0]
C. Characters vs Terra.......[CVT0]
XI. FAQs...................................[QS11]
XII. Trivia................................[TR12]
XIII. Version History......................[VH13]
XIV. Contacting Moi........................[CM14]
XV. Credits/Thanks.........................[CT15]
=====================================
I: Introduction [INT1]
=====================================
Well, I guess I should start by saying a little about myself. My real name is
Mike. That is all. But seriously, nothing much to say. I do enjoy
writing in my spare time, but this is actually my first FAQ ever. I'm a huge
Final Fantasy fan so it's no wonder that I love this game. I own and have
played through every single numbered Final Fantasy and several of the
spin-offs. The Final Fantasy series really got me into RPGs and remains my
favourite video game series of all time.
But now on to stuff you actually (might) care about: Why write a FAQ about the
very lovely Terra Branford? To be honest, she wasn't my favourite FF character
or even my favourite character in FFVI, although the more I played it, the
more I started to like her. It wasn't until I saw Terra's artwork and design
that things began to change. When I bought and played the Japanese version of
Dissidia, I tried some battles with a bunch of characters, but Terra was the
first one that really clicked.
Every since then, Terra has become one of my favourite Final Fantasy
characters, my most used character in Dissidia, and the character I have the
most fun playing as. Therefore, it's safe to say that I developed a great
mastery and understanding of her playstyle and I knew as soon as Dissidia came
out in English that I would write my first FAQ about her.
As well, I have extenstively used several other members of the cast and with
that understanding of their playstyles, I can better give advice on how Terra
should be used against them. For those characters I have not played as myself
(namely Shantotto and all of the Chaos characters except for Jecht and Kuja),
I have fought against A LOT and have experimented and developed appropriate
strategies for them to share with you as well.
But enough blabbering about that, let's get on with the gal who this FAQ is
about: Terra Branford.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
II: The Lovely Terra Branford
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
I suppose the first thing to do is to tell you just who Terra Branford is for
those of you who have not played FFVI (shame on you, go play it!) or may have
forgotten. Before I get into the specifics, I'll just start off with some
general information. She is about 18 years old, born October 18th, is 5'3
(161 cm) in height and weighs 105 lbs.
Her birthplace, well, I'll get to that later. But the thing she treasures the
most is the Maduin magicite, you'll understand why soon. She loves animals and
hates crowded places. Her hobby is apparantly playing with Moogles (who are
awesome).
Oh jeez, this is starting to look like an online dating profile. But if you're
wondering, I got all this information off of the Final Fantasy Wiki (check it
out some time) which I believe, in turn, got the information off of the manual
or guide or Ultimania or something official and FFVI related. They do like to
include weird things about their characters. They list the blood types of the
characters in the FFVII game manual, for example.
But anyways, let me give you a bit of a synopsis of Terra in her original game
appearance. Just be warned that there IS massive spoilers for Final Fantasy VI
in the following section, read at your own discretion.
=====================================
A. Terra in FFVI [FF62]
=====================================
Terra is a young beautiful girl with the mysterious ability to use magic
naturally. While it's a mystery how she can do this at the begining of the
game, we eventually learn that Terra is a one-of-a-kind; the daughter of a
male Esper (the "summons" of FFVI) and a female human! This was even more so
peculiar because of the Espers' wariness for humans because of the War of the
Magi, a war long ago where humans used the Espers and drained them of their
magical abilities.
Born in the Land of Espers to father Maduin and mother Madeline, she spent
only a few years living in peace. When she was about two, the Gestalian Empire
managed to find their way into the sealed land of the Espers and began
capturing the Espers for their sick and twisted experiments. Her father was
one of the Espers to be captured while her mother tried to escape with her.
Madeline, however, was mortally wounded. With her last breath, she tried to
keep the Emperor Gesthal from getting baby Terra, but she was unable to.
Over her sixteen years or so of captivity, she was under the complete control
of the Empire due to the Slave Crown placed on her head by Kefka. The demented
clown then used this control to turn Terra into a weapon, being boasted that
she was able to nuke a whole battalion of the Empire's finest soldiers in a
matter of minutes (which is rather counter-productive, but Kefka isn't exactly
high up on the morality OR sanity scale).
However, on a mission to retrieve a frozen Esper discovered in the Narshe
Mines, Terra has an odd interaction with the Esper and blacksout. The two
soldiers accompanying her are zapped away to god-knows-where by Mr Icy Esper
and never to be heard of again.
After waking up, now free of the Slave Crown, she has no recollection of her
past life. On the run from both the Narshe police and Kefka's forces who wish
to recapture her, she is helped by a kind thi- err... treasure hunter by the
name of Locke and a horny king of Figaro (who is a ladies man... minus the
success) named Edgar.
Once the two become aware of Terra's amazing ability and potential, they
attempt to recruit her to the Returners, a small rebel force attempting to
fight against the Empire. After some hesitation of Terra's part, she agrees,
and the group, now including Edgar's muscular and considerably less horny
brother Sabin, splits up before meeting back in Narshe to attempt to gain
their support.
Once the group meets up, they fight off Kefka's forces with new recruits Celes
(a former Imperial general turned traitor), Cyan (swordsman with a weird
face), and Gau (a kid who was raised by animals... yeah...). However, Terra
interacts with Mr Icy Esper again and goes beserk, transforming into her
Esper form for ths first time and flying off to the sketchiest place she could
possibly go (aside from anywhere near Edgar), Zozo.
After finding her unconscious and being looked after by Ramuh (who lends the
party his power), the party raids in the Magitek Factory at the Imperial City
with the help of Setzer (a more successful ladies man than Edgar only because
he resorts to kidnapping) and his airship. After returning with Maduin's
magicite, Terra learns about her past and regains control of her powers.
Using Terra's heritage, they attempt to enter the Land of the Espers to ask
them to help against the Empire, but when Kefka arrives, feces hits the fan
and the Espers go beserk and stomp all over the faces of the Empire.
Gesthal, pretending to be sympathetic, gets Terra and Locke to journey with
Celes, Imperial General Leo, and sword-for-hire Shadow to apologize to the
Espers (gee, sorry we killed and tortured and sapped your friends of their
power, hope we can still be friends?). Terra and Leo talk a bit heart-to-heart
and Terra expresses how she's never felt love and she worries if her origins
will prevent her from finding it. Leo reassures her though, what a good guy!
When they find the Espers, Kefka turns em all to magicite and eventually is a
total prick and moves the three goddess statues (they are the origin of magic)
which causes the entire world to shift. He also absorbs their power and
becomes a god as well as kicking the lesser of two evils, Gesthal, off a
floating continent. Oh yeah, he also killed Leo. End the World of Balance.
Over the next year, the party is completely seperated while the world is
repeatedly punched in the face (figuratively) by Kefka in his giant tower of
garbage (I'm not kidding). Terra finds herself in the ruined village of Mobliz
where all the adults are dead and it's just a whole bunch of orphans and a
young couple living in an underground hideout.
Terra grows attached to the little runts and begins wishes to protect them,
but loses her will to fight. Because of this, when Celes (and possibly Sabin)
come around to try and rerecruit her, she refuses as she isn't even strong
enough to fend off Humbaba, a fat oaf of a troll that likes to stop by and
tear the place up.
However, if the party returns later, Terra realizes that her feelings for the
orphans she is "mothering" is love and because of this, she wishes to fight to
bring them a new bright world to grow up in. when the fat oaf comes around and
messes up the party, Esper Terra pops in all-powered up and ready to fight and
with her help, the party hands tubs' fat behind to him, except he's to busy
being dead to accept the gift.
Regardless if you recruit Terra into the party or not during the World of
Ruin, she will show up during the final confrontation with Kefka the help out
the party. After Kefka is defeated, magic starts fading from the world and the
party fears what fate awaits their half-Esper friend. With the last of her
power, she is determined in guiding the party safely out of Kefka's junkyard.
With his last words to his daughter, Maduin tells Terra that if she is
attached to this world, she may not fade away, and lo and behold, because of
her love for the Mobliz children, she lives on and the party rejoices as they
find Terra lieing on the deck of the airship with them.
As the final act of the game, Terra releases her ponytail and lets her hair
fly freely in the wind.
In battle, Terra is easily one of the better characters of the game. She is
able to equip every sword (aside from exclusive equips) as well as a couple of
other weapons (like flails and daggers). She can wear heavy armour and use
every shield as well as female specific items and a few low level mage equips.
Her stats are fairly well balanced and she can learn various spells through
levelling up, with Meltdown and Ultima being the last two.
And finally, once she gains control of her powers, she can use the Trance
command (which duration depends on the amount of AP gathered) which transforms
her into her Esper form and doubles all of her stats! Yowza! When you
rerecruit her in the World of Ruin, her Trance command gets an upgrade which
increases it's duration. She is a very deadly character and can easily solo
bosses, especially in Esper form, whether it be via dual-wielding X-attacks
or quintiple casting Ultima for 1 mp each.
Her unique weapon in the GBA version is the Apocalypse sword, acquired by
defeating the Red Dragon. It's one of the strongest swords in the game and
uses MP to deal critical hits. Her magic element is fire, being able to learn
fire spells naturally.
=====================================
B. Terra in Dissidia [DIS2]
=====================================
To people who have played the original FFVI, Terra might look a bit different
than you remembered her. Because Nomura designed the characters with elements
of Amano's artwork in mind, Terra's appearance is based heavily on Amano's
depiction of her (which actually happens to be one of the few Amano artworks
that I REALLY love). Her clothing is identical to what she wears in the
artwork but what most players will probably notice is that she is blonde as
opposed to having mint green hair!
Don't fret though, minty fresh Terra is still there, it's just her alternative
costume (she loses her leggings too). This might confuse some people, but
Terra's sprite and in-game face shot were both given green hair apparantly to
differentiate her from Celes and she remains blonde in the Amano artwork as
well as Anthology FFVI release FMVs, and now Dissidia too. Personally, I think
Terra looks way better as a blonde, but that's just me.
Anyways, just thought I'd mention that first for those curious... moving on.
Terra represents the Cosmos character for Final Fantasy VI, opposing Kefka
Palazzo and is the only inital female playable character AND Cosmos character,
though Shantotto can be unlocked later on.
Story-wise, she awakens (after Onion Knight's story mode) to find that she
can't remember what had happened before (as in, OK's story) while Kefka
appears to constantly taunt her about her lost memories and her destructive
power and attempt to gain her power for the side of Chaos. I'm not gonna say
anymore, though, as I don't want to spoil it before you play it. Besides, I'll
talk more about it in section [WLK9] and [TRS9], though I'll be sure not to
spoil anything without appropriate warning.
However, I'll mention what happens with her in Onion Knight's story, seeing as
some of you might not have played it through yet or don't really care, so:
***SPOILER WARNING FOR ONION KNIGHT'S STORY MODE***
Terra is travelling with Onion Knight who swears to protect a worried Terra,
however when they are confronted by Exdeath, Onion Knight pleads that he not
waste his time on a little kid and a girl. Exdeath just laughs and says that
cowardice won't get the crystal before he leaves. Terra approaches Onion
Knight on his actions, but he defends himself by saying that he did not want
to fight a losing battle.
They carry on, but as they do so, Terra begins getting stronger feelings of a
strange presence until eventually Terra goes beserk, losing control of her
powers and attacking Onion Knight. He fights her to defend himself and then
Cloud of Darkness appears to taunt him for attacking her but refusing to fight
Exdeath. It appears that Cloud of Darkness had done something to control Terra
or cause her to lose control of her powers.
Onion Knight eventually confronts Cloud of Darkness who stands over an
unconcious Terra. After the battle, Terra wakes up, not remembering what had
happened involving her losing control of her powers. This is where Terra's
story line picks off from.
***END SPOILERS***
That's the jist of it, though I will eventually try and get the scripts
involving Terra in Onion Knight's story one day, but probably not until the
rest of the FAQ is finished.
But anyways, onto the the gameplay aspect! In the Japanese version she was
referred to as a "Magic Master" and in the English release she's called an
"Esperkin"... whatever that means. Anyways, the former is a much more...
explanatory title for her, though master is more of a male title. I suppose
"Magic Mistress" would sound a little... ummm... odd.
Terra relies soley on magic attacks, but that doesn't limit her to just long
range, she has extremely good close range options, especially for a mage
character, but that doesn't mean she should be used close range. I'll talk
about this much more later on, but the general purpose of these attacks is to
deter the melee characters from just rushing in headlong like they can do
with other mages (namely Kefka).
Terra is more of a generic caster, using all the fundamental spells like Fire,
Blizzard, Meteor, and Ultima, rather than using weird variations of spells, or
attacks that aren't really spells at all *points to Ultimecia*. This isn't
really a bad thing because it means she doesn't have some weird gimic to her
playstyle but don't think it means she is a simple character. Most find her
the hardest of the inital characters to use, and it takes a master to use her
to her fullest potential.
It's worth mentioning that a common complaint with ranged magic attacks and
therefore ranged mage characters is that the moves are hard to hit with and
easy to block or dodge. Luckily, Terra has the perfect solution to this
problem, and that's Meteor. It can literally chain into every single one of
her moves, making it VERY difficult for the enemy to dodge the combo, but
that's all I'm saying for now, read more about it in section [BRV3].
Finally, it should be mentioned, even though it's fairly obvious, that all of
Terra's attacks are magical in nature (aside from her chase brave attack) and
thus they are affected by any equipment, accessory, ability, etc that effects
magic damage.
PS, I thought it was kinda weird that Terra is such an offensive beast in
FFVI, both physically and magically, yet she is pure mage in this game. I
guess Cosmos' side needed one, and she fits the bill very well.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
III: Her Magical Arsenal
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
=====================================
A. Brave Attacks [BRV3]
=====================================
Terra has a nice selection of brave attacks, both air and ground, so she can
fare well in either type of combat which is always nice. As well, she has
seven *different* moves, meaning she can equip all but one. Keep in mind,
though, that two of her attacks (Blizzara and Blizzard Combo) have both a
ground and aerial version and one attack has two versions (Holy and Holy
Combo), one being VASTLY superior to the other. So in reality she has ten
different brave moves, though you probably won't be using both versions.
Alright, with that out of the way, it's time to get down to business and
look at what she's got in terms of bravery attacks... PSYCHE. Hah! I still
need to describe just HOW I'm gonna to be breaking down each move. Oh yeah,
more blabbering.
*****************
Attack Name Here
*****************
[CP]: This is the amount of CP needed to equip the move normally. The number
in parenthesis (<-these dudes->) is the amount of CP needed to equip the move
after mastering it...
[AP]: ...by gaining this amount of AP.
[Learned At]: This obviously states the level that you learn the skill at.
Shocking, I know. In the case of an ability that is learned on both the ground
set and the aerial set, I'll signify which level for each one.
[Range]: This is the range the move *can* be used at, not what range is BEST
to use it at as I will mention that in greater detail in the paragraph about
it. For simplicity sake, there is short, mid, and long ranges only.
[Notes]: Basically any brief notes about the move like if it leads to chase,
can cause crash damage, or combos into another move (not custom combos, mind
you).
[Review]: Here is where I get to ramble on some more and bore you with trival
details about every. single. move. If you're lucky, you might find a tidbit of
useful knowledge in this jumble, there's always hope.
[Rating]: A score out of 10 for that move. The higher the better. This will be
based on a variety of factors (but is basically about how good and useful the
move is) and may differ between ground and aerial versions.
Well then, let's get started.
*****************
Fire
*****************
[CP]: 20 (10)
[AP]: 120
[Learned At]: Start (Ground)
[Range]: Short, Mid, Long
[Notes]: Leads to chase, can be reflected.
[Review]: Terra shots forward a small spark of fire that heads towards the
opponent, exploding on impact. It's fast moving and sometimes can be hard to
spot before it's too late. It's got a slight start-up so it's uses close range
are a little limited. Works best at mid range. It's got decent tracking but
sticks to the ground so it can simply be jumped over. It will also explode if
it hits a wall or other solid obstacle or even goes to far up a slope.
However, it does deal a single hit of very high damage and even though it can
be reflected, it heads back to Terra on a wide arc so you only have to watch
out when using it on large open spaces. It's main purpose is to lead into
chase which is usually a bad option for Terra, but can have it's uses if you
know what you're doing. Chase is one of the best ways to build your Exbar for
Terra, but I'll talk about that in greater detail later.
[Rating]: 5/10. Great for mid (and sometimes long) range harassment and has
decent power behind it.
*****************
Blizzard Combo
*****************
[CP]: 30 (15)
[AP]: 140 (Midair) 180 (Ground)
[Learned At]: Level 6 (Midair) Start (Ground)
[Range]: Short
[Notes]: Can knock away projectiles, can alter direction of last hit, can
cause crash damage.
[Review]: Terra spins around twice with a block of ice on either side before
spinning around a final time and blasting the target away. This is Terra's
best option for close range combat, but being as it's just about the ONLY
option (at least for brave attacks), that's not saying much. Luckily, it's
actually an amazing move. It comes out fast, has great tracking, deals great
damage, and the best part is that it actually knocks the foe away from her.
Basically, it's everything Terra wants in a close range move. If you hold up
after the first hit, Terra's final hit will knock the opponent much more
vertically, although most of the time you're going to want to stick with
shooting them straight back. It can also deflect some projectiles, but not all
of them, but it's really only a nice bonus. This move is great for keeping the
opponent from pressuring Terra and knocks them back to mid to long range;
exactly where Terra wants em. The only problem is that it's a bit predictable
as it's the most likely thing for Terra to use in close range situations which
is why you must learn to pick your fights and mix in other attacks that can
work in close range, especially the Tornado and Meltdown HP attacks. Oh yeah,
it's great for guard countering and punishing whiffs and charges. I tend to
just stick with the aerial version, but you can use both if you wish.
[Rating]: 9/10. Amazing close range option that balances out Terra's moveset
of ranged attacks. Only (small) downfall is it's predictability which can be
solved by not abusing/spamming it.
*****************
Blizzara
*****************
[CP]: 30 (15)
[AP]: 140 (Midair) 180 (Ground)
[Learned At]: Start (Midair) Level 3 (Ground)
[Range]: Short, Mid, Long
[Notes]: Can block attacks during start-up, can cause crash damage, can be
reflected.
[Review]: A swirl of ice appears in front of Terra as she shoots a big chunk
of ice straight ahead. Apparantly the swirl of ice at the begining can serve
as a guard against other projectiles (and maybe some melee attacks...?) but I
haven't really tested this extensively so I'll have to update this when I
figure it out. Anyways, it has limited tracking, but fires off fairly quickly.
It's best to be used as a ranged interrupting move or for punishing whiffs and
such at range. It won't home in on the enemy, it'll just shoot in the inital
direction she is pointed in, so it really can't be used offensively unless
against a slower enemy and even then it might get smacked back in your face. I
find a good use for it is to shoot it, then dodge as soon as you can, then
shoot another one. This is mostly useful to create space and distract the
enemy while you get a good distance between you and them, but be careful when
using this against character's with ranged counters (namely Firion, Cloud of
Darkness, and Exdeath). Both the ground and aerial version are good as
Thundara is pretty interchangable with Blizzara in terms of general function
so you can use that in the air and Blizzara on the ground if you wish. It also
hits up to two times (excluding crash) for decent damage and knocks the enemy
a good distance away.
[Rating]: 6.5/10. Fast, has some power and is great for creating space, but at
longer ranges it starts becoming to easy to block.
*****************
Thundara
*****************
[CP]: 20 (10)
[AP]: 90
[Learned At]: Start (Midair)
[Range]: Short, Mid, Long
[Notes]: None.
[Review]: Terra summons four rows of lightning that surround the target in at
four corners and slowly move in towards them. It does not track after the
first bolts appear and it seems like it's a bad move as I didn't list anything
under notes, but don't be decieved, it's very useful. First off, it can't be
reflected. As well, some people have trouble with the timing or direction of
the dodge needed to escape it. It can also catch someone who is trying to
start a dash and like Blizzara, it's a great move for ranged interruptions as
well as whiff and charge punishing. Most of the time it will also force the
enemy to dodge which gives you some time to set-up or make space and such.
When hit, an enemy is shot straight up a short distance so it can combo nicely
with Tornado or Blizzard Combo if you are above them when you use Thundara.
However, it's a very weak attack even though it can hit multiples, so don't
bother using it for pure offense, it's damage output is not it's strong point,
though if all four bolts hit, that's a nice little brave bonus.
[Rating]: 7/10. An overall great utility move, but lacks power for it to be a
major threat.
*****************
Holy
*****************
[CP]: 20 (10)
[AP]: 140
[Learned At]: Level 10 (Midair)
[Range]: Mid, Long
[Notes]: Can lead to chase, can be reflected.
[Review]: Terra creates a row of five orbs of Holy and then fires them off at
the opponent. With the upgrade they got in the English release, the orbs now
have WAY better tracking (I've had them do a wide loop and hit the opponent
from behind after they dodged) and the orbs even travel at different speeds
making it even harder to dodge or block them all and more likely for you to
score more hits. However, this attack sucks. Why? One simple reason, it's
completely outclassed in every single way by Holy Combo, which Terra learns
later on. Holy Combo is Holy plus more, so there is never a reason why you'd
want to use Holy instead of Holy Combo and Holy is just repetitive and a waste
of a spot if you have Holy Combo equipped. Not only that, but you only learn
Meteor (which will make Holy/Holy Combo much easier to hit with) after you
already get Holy Combo, though with the new upgrade, Holy can still hit on
it's own and has quite some power, however chase isn't that useful most of the
time.
[Rating]: 2/10. It serves some use up until Level 18 so that's why it doesn't
get a 1.
*****************
Holy Combo
*****************
[CP]: 30 (15)
[AP]: 200
[Learned At]: Level 18 (Midair)
[Ranges]: *Short, Mid, Long
[Notes]: Can lead to chase, can be reflected, can start firing off flares if
you hit with the Holy part (or with Meteor while firing Holy Combo), chains
into Ultima HP attack.
[Review]: Terra creates a row of five orbs of Holy and then fires them off at
the opponent. With the upgrade they got in the English release, the orbs now
have WAY better tracking (I've had them do a wide loop and hit the opponent
from behind after they dodged) and the orbs even travel at different speeds
making it even harder to dodge or block them all and more likely for you to
score more hits. However, this attack makes me feel like Deja Vu. Sounds
pretty similar to Holy right? But this is where it gets better. After hitting
with the Holy part (or by casting Meteor then Holy Combo, but I'll get into
that in the combo section [COM5]), you can start firing off up to four flares
at the enemy instead of chase (which, again, is a bad choice with Terra most
of the time anyways) but continuing to press O. This really racks up the
damage and is a big part of one of Terra's best combos which is even more
brutal in Exmode. Sometimes Terra will stop firing flares after the third
one, and with some testing, I believe I figured out that it has to do with
speed. The faster you fire off the flares, the more you'll get (max is four
outside of Exmode though) so if you are finding you only get three flares,
trying mashing the O button more. This doesn't really work well close range as
you might find it'll arc over the opponent some of the times. I starred close
range up above though because technically the flares can work in close
quarters but it's so ridiculously situational that I don't even know why I
mentioned it, but I did, so there.
[Rating]: 8/10. It's reliance on Meteor is what keeps it from getting better,
but it's now somewhat viable on its own.
*****************
Graviga
*****************
[CP]: 30 (15)
[AP]: 180
[Learned At]: Level 23 (Ground)
[Ranges]: Short, Mid, Long
[Notes]: Can cause floor crash damage, can absorb Exforce.
[Review]: Terra raises her hands, causing a dark ball of gravity to float
above the target's head. She then pulls her hands down and the ball drops on
the enemy, pulling them down to the ground (stopping at a certain distance if
they are very high up, however). Terra can move around while in the casting
pose, albeit much slower than normal. This attack is pretty bad as it's easy
to dodge providing the opponent has seen this attack before. Not only that,
but it leaves Terra extremely vulnerable for someone to dash into her and
attack which will cancel the attack. If you've got a lot of space, it might
work, but if the opponent dodges, then the only thing you've accomplished is
effectively closing the space between you and the enemy, something Terra
doesn't like. It's possible for the orb to fall right away if the opponent is
outside of Graviga's range, but it requires the opponent to actually be on
that line for it to hit, so don't count on that happening. It does have a use,
however, as a part of one of (if not THE) deadliest combo in the game, but
it requires you to be able to go into Exmode and can be hard to pull off.
Also, despite it working in close range, I suggest you don't unless you want
you opponent to laugh in your face and then beat the crap out of you (you
masochist you).
[Rating]: 2/10. It's saved from a 1 because of it's use in the aforementioned
combo. It's fun to use against CPU, but good humans will dodge it every time.
*****************
Meteor
*****************
[CP]: 30 (15)
[AP]: 180
[Learned At]: Level 29 (Ground)
[Ranges]: Short, Mid, Long
[Notes]: It's awesome...? Does that work?
[Review]: Beautiful rays of light shine down as angel's sing a beautiful
chorus. Yes, this move is THAT good. Terra spins up into the air, hand
reaching to the heavens, as several tiny meteors fall and harass the enemy.
This move is EASILY Terra's BEST move, I can't stress this enough. It can
combo into EVERY. SINGLE. one of her moves (except Graviga, because it sucks)
so using a Terra without Meteor is like playing Exdeath offensively (okay,
she's not that bad without it, but still). Though a good player may be able to
block or dodge the meteors, that is hardly an issue because Terra should
already be preparing another attack to launch at them while they are
distracted. This is the beauty of Meteor! If you get a hit, great! You have a
good chance of also hitting with the follow-up attack. If they block or dodge,
no worries, they will be too distracted to be able to dodge your follow-up,
and even if they do dodge it, they didn't really make any advance towards you
so you can start the process all over! The meteors fall down fairly randomly
so it can also be hard for an opponent to predict where they will land. This
attack also does very good damage which is always wanted. This attack starts
up pretty quick for a move this good, so it can work even at mid (and
sometimes close) range. You can also dodge out at the end in case the opponent
is getting too close. While the meteors do fall straight down, the individual
meteors will continue to fall around the area above the enemy should they move
from their inital spot so it *kinda* tracks. I should mention that this move
*can* be reflected, but it's hard to do and usually gets reflected at weird
angles or won't even reach Terra, so it's hardly worth worrying about. Also,
Terra ends up in the air after this attack, so you can launch an aerial move
right away, namely Holy Combo.
[Rating]: 10/10. Equip this move as soon as you get it, enough said.
=====================================
B. HP Attacks [HPA3]
=====================================
Now that we've gotten through the Brave attacks, let's get onto the HP moves.
Like most characters, Terra only has a few options for HP attacks. Luckily,
Terra has a fairly strong HP game meaning that she really doesn't have any bad
options and therefore shouldn't have trouble landing an HP attack. She's also
very varied range-wise and her attacks generally work against both grounded as
well as airborne opponents. But before we get to the moves, let me just cook
you up a nice plate of copy pasta from the Brave attack section:
(Would you like some freshly ground pepper?)
*****************
Attack Name Here
*****************
[CP]: This is the amount of CP needed to equip the move normally. The number
in parenthesis (<-these dudes->) is the amount of CP needed to equip the move
after mastering it...
[AP]: ...by gaining this amount of AP.
[Learned At]: This obviously states the level that you learn the skill at.
Shocking, I know. In the case of an ability that is learned on both the ground
set and the aerial set, I'll signify which level for each one.
[Range]: This is the range the move *can* be used at, not what range is BEST
to use it at as I will mention that in greater detail in the paragraph about
it. For simplicity sake, there is short, mid, and long ranges only.
[Notes]: Basically any brief notes about the move like if it leads to chase,
can cause crash damage, or combos into another move (not custom combos, mind
you).
[Review]: Here is where I get to ramble on some more and bore you with trival
details about every. single. move. If you're lucky, you might find a tidbit of
useful knowledge in this jumble, there's always hope.
[Rating]: A score out of 10 for that move. The higher the better. This will be
based on a variety of factors (but is basically about how good and useful the
move is) and may differ between ground and aerial versions.
Mmmm... yummy, now to get started.
*****************
Flood
*****************
[CP]: 40 (20)
[AP]: 180
[Learned At]: Start (Ground)
[Range]: Short, Mid, Long
[Notes]: Can get through Exdeath's All Guard =).
[Review]: Terra places her hands on the ground as water swirls on the ground
below her. She then does a backflip as three geysers of water blast up from
beneath the opponent in quick succession. This move is hard to dodge for those
not used to it and it comes out quick enough to interrupt moves or catch
players off guard. The time between the second and third blasts is shorter
than the time between the first and second which tends to really screw some
people up with their dodges, too. It's a quick move with great range (although
somewhat restricted vertical range) that is hard to punish not only because of
it's decent recovery time, but also because most opponents will be too busy
dodging to get in an attack of their own making it good for pressure and for
getting some breathing room (for recovering brave after a big HP attack, for
example) and making space. You can also dodge out of it early if the opponent
gets a chance to rush. It's also great for harassing other mages who think
they can safely float about at mid to long range.
[Rating]: 8.5/10. A very simple HP attack, no brave damage, but reliable and
doesn't leave you vulnearable.
*****************
Tornado
*****************
[CP]: 40 (20)
[AP]: 180
[Learned At]: Start (Midair) Level 13 (Ground)
[Range]: Short
[Notes]: Pulls in target, can cause ceiling crash damage, can reflect
projectiles.
[Review]: Terra spins around as three tornadoes about and begin circling her
before pulling in towards Terra and converging into one big tornado. Terra
then pushes up as the opponent is hit and launched to the sky. A nice close
range option for guard counter and for scaring away those who think they can
get up all in Terra's pretty little face. It causes constant brave damage
during the attack and Terra can move around slowly until the tornadoes
combine. It can also reflect projectiles and even stop other HP attacks during
the three tornadoes stage. Terra newbs love spamming this, but it has a slight
start-up and a long cool down in which Terra is very vulnerable, so if you're
opponent sees it coming, you're in trouble. It's best to mix it up with your
other close range options (Blizzard Combo and Meltdown) as they work very well
together as they have different speeds and so someone trying to block or dodge
one of the three is vulnerable to the other two. With this, you'll keep those
melee characters at bay (and reflect Emperor's Flare, mwah ha ha!) giving you
a chance to create some space (man I feel like I'm saying that a lot). Just
remember that this move should be used sparingly!
[Rating]: 7/10. Good close range option with great priority, but causes Terra
trouble on a whiff.
*****************
Meltdown
*****************
[CP]: 40 (20)
[AP]: 300
[Learned At]: Level 38 (Midair)
[Range]: Short, Mid, Long
[Notes]: Can be charged for three levels causing different attacks, can cause
crash damage.
[Review]: Terra charges firey energy between her palms as she floats in the
air. She then releases the energy as either a short range burst (stage 1), a
medium sized fireball (stage 2), or a large firey pinball of death (stage 3)
depending on how long you charge it (by holding down [] of course). This baby
is one deadly attack and easily one of the best charge HP attacks in the
entire game. Most players are gonna a hard time approaching Terra when she
starts up this attack and even though it has a long cooldown, Terra is fairly
safe as most opponents will try and run for cover. It's especially hard to
approach her between the first and second stage because it's harder to tell
what stage she is on and the first stage is very deadly in close range. Also,
before I go on to talk about the individual stages I'll mention that during
the charging stage Terra will adjust which way she is facing, her angle, and
even her height to correspond with the foe's position, awesome. I decided to
break this review into sections so it's easier on the eyes as it's long. Wall
of texts FTL!
Anyways, the first stage is a VERY fast short range attack with heavy
knockback, likely getting you crash HP damage. It does not come out instantly,
however, so keep that in mind. It's mostly for keeping the enemy from rushing
you while using the move, but it's possibly to trick an enemy if they try and
guard or dodge as if you were using Blizzard Combo or Tornado, so if you're
good with mind games, you can try that too. The first stage is extremely hard
to dodge because of it's speed, so don't hesitate to use it if the opponent
rushes you when you're charging.
The second stage starts when Terra begins talking again. It's hard to explain
the exact timing, but just practice using this move with Terra over and over
until you get it down, that's the best way to go about it. Anyways, for the
most part, this is the charge level you're going to want to aim for unless you
are in a level with a lot of tight spaces (Pandemonium, lower level of Chaos
Shrine, etc, I'll let you know which ones in the map section, starting at
[CHA8]). Terra will release a medium size fireball which slowly floats for a
moment before speeding up and tracking the enemy down, although it does have a
limit to it's range. This (and sometimes the 3rd stage) is what causes some
players to try and run and hide which actually works very well for you, as now
you have lots of time and space even if you don't hit with Meltdown. When this
stage starts off after firing it, it floats directly infront of Terra as well,
so again you are protected from a frontal assault be it melee or projectiles.
It's slow speed, however, makes it inferior to the first stage in close
combat, but is still a viable option, especially if they are expecting the
first stage and dodge early, so if you can figure out the timing between the
first and second stage down to an art, you can really frustrate some players.
EDIT: I've been told that if you watch Terra's hands (which can be hard to do
at certain camera angles), you'll notice her hands start glowing blue and
white. This means you can now use stage 2. It starts around the time Terra
begins speaking so once you get used to the exact time, you can actually fire
off Meltdown level 2 right before her hands glow.
Whew! Alright, now for the final stage. In this one, Terra lets loose a huge
fireball that bounces around the stage, off walls, ceilings, and obstacles,
like an ADHD kid who had 10 pixie sticks and is dressed up as a firey pinball.
Yup. Anyways, the fireball moves VERY fast and ricochets off all surfaces for
a good amount of time before disappearing. While this does launch straight
from Terra initally, it doesn't have much merit in close quarters because by
the time this gets fully charged, the opponent pretty much knows what's coming
and both the second and third stage can easily be avoided by hiding,
especially on big maps (like Dimension Castle), which isn't such a problem for
you anyways. The third stage, however, wrecks havoc on maps like Pandemonium
and unless the enemy can interrupt you before the first stage is finished
charging, they are pretty screwed.
Alright alright, enough about Meltdown eh? Oh you'd like that, but just in
spite, I'm throwing in another paragraph to sum it up. Meltdown stands to be
one of the, if not the most diverse moves in the game and while it is
powerful, it takes a real pro to use it to it's full potential so I for sure
suggest experimenting and practicing with this move A LOT. I think it's the
best charging HP attack in the game as the Emperor's takes way too long and
makes the enemy rush you while Sephiroth's is easy to dodge the final stage
and the first two stages are close range so if you give him space you're safe.
Sephiroth, being a melee character, doesn't want to create space as much as
Terra, and it's even worse if he's against a mage like Terra.
[Rating]: Finally! Erm... 9.5/10. Only thing stopping it from getting better
is that it loses some of it's charm on larger maps.
*****************
Ultima
*****************
[CP]: 40 (20)
[AP]: 300
[Learned By]: Mastering Holy Combo
[Range]: Short, Mid, Long (see Holy Combo)
[Notes]: Chained from Holy Combo, can cause crash damage.
[Review]: After blasting the foe with Holy and Flare, a small purple orb
appears and grows swiftly before Terra detonates it causing a massive
explosion that has powerful knockback. You initate this attack by pressing
square after hitting with at least *one* of the flares from the Holy Combo.
It causes constant damage while the orb grows. Although it does relatively
weak damage per hit, it adds up considering that you already hit with at least
Holy Combo beforehand. Extra brave is always nice, especially in Exmode when
you get a lot of criticals. Keep in mind that you only need to launch one
flare to start up Ultima, but it *does* need to hit. Make sure you hit square
as soon as possible or else it *may* miss, but it's mostly the CPUs with their
hax reflexes that you need to worry about doing that. If you're finding you
keep missing with Ultima or you miss on the last one or two flare, try just
detonating Ultima on the first hit you get, otherwise, if you're fast, you can
launch the 3rd flare, then quickly press circle again and then square to set
off Ultima and hit with the last flare. There's really not much else to say
about this move seeing as it's part of a chain, so it really relies on Holy
Combo hitting. I should point out, though, that it's the finishing touch on
two of Terra's strongest combos.
[Rating]: 8/10. I can't really give it anything better than what Holy Combo
got, so I gave it the same score. You should be using Ultima every time you
hit with Holy Combo anyways.
=====================================
C. Recommended Set-Ups [RSU3]
=====================================
Alright, so now to decide what to use. Luckily the choice isn't too difficult
for the most part. Keep in mind, however, that this is only my suggestion and
obviously suits my playstyle, so if you find other set-ups that work, you
don't like a certain moves, or that your equipment, summon, and accessory
build work with a different set, by all means go with what you want.
Basically this is just showing you how I use Terra and can help those who are
new to using her or unsure of what to equip her with, especially those wanting
to get a feel of how to play as her. Think of this as a sort of base set for
you to build your own playstyle out of. Without further delay, here we go:
Land Brave:
Towards: Fire
Neutral: Meteor
Away: Graviga
Midair Brave:
Up: Blizzard Combo
Neutral: Holy Combo -> Ultima
Down: Thundara
Land HP:
Neutral: Flood
Midair HP
Neutral: Tornado
Down: Meltdown
However, there are a couple of things I change around, thus I usually have two
sets with Terra. Make sure you know about those Sets A, B, and C, they are
amazingly useful for having different builds to try out, or having different
sets for different types of opponents. Anyways, you can swap out Graviga for
Blizzara if you don't want to use the awesome (but hard to use) Graviga combo
I mention in the combo [COM5] section or if you're facing someone who'll just
LOL @ your attempts (aka another mage or anyone with decent long range
options). You can also swap out Fire for Blizzard Combo or Blizzara on the
ground as well, especially if you're fighting air-heavy characters (Zidane and
Kuja, for example).
In the air, there isn't much else you can equip. Blizzara can replace Thundara
as they are fairly interchangable, so it comes down to preference, style, and
sometimes the opponent (Thundara works wonders against CoD).
For HP attacks, not much to say. You can equip Tornado on the ground if you
*insist* on spending the CP, but it's really not needed and I'm sure you can
find something better to equip.
That's about it, not to much choice aside from where you want to equip that
attack (aka ground or Midair for Blizzard Combo and Blizzara and up/towards,
neutral, or away/down). The big thing to think about with her is equipment and
accessories, so don't spend too much time on attacks. It should only take a
little bit of testing to find out what works for you.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
IV: Recomended Abilities
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Alright, just a little preamble. I'm not gonna get into the specifics with
each ability or make big fancy charts and reviews as that'll take FOREVER and
you guys are probably bored enough already. They in-game descriptions should
be fine but if you have any questions I'm sure the folks on the board can help
and maybe one of the main FAQs (or if there is one dedictaed to abilities).
You can always e-mail me, to, if you wish, but I might not be able to get back
to you right away, I'll try my best. My contact info is at the bottom of the
FAQ.
So basically, at the end of each section, I'll give a quick run down on which
abilities I suggest or how the choices should be made rather than talking
about each ability on it's own.
Again I'll say it, however, that this is just my opinion, and if you have a
certain playstyle or build in mind and you need to tweak around with
abilities, go ahead, I won't be offended... much. Okay, kidding, I won't cry
myself to sleep every night, no really. I don't care, it's fine. *sniff*
=====================================
A. Action Abilities [AAB4]
=====================================
NOTE: Anything marked with a symbol (*%&$@#) can't be equipped at the same
time as any other Action Ability with the same symbol.
(Also, please bare with me as I sort out and retranslate the ability names, I
have a lot of them done, but don't be surprised if you find the names are a
bit different. By the next update for sure everything will be normal).
[Ground Evasion] CP: 10 (5) AP: 60 Learned: Start
[Midair Evasion] CP: 10 (5) AP: 60 Learned: Start
[Ground Block] CP: 10 (5) AP: 40 Learned: Start
[Midair Block] CP: 10 (5) AP: 40 Learned: Start
[Aerial Recovery] CP: 10 (5) AP: 80 Learned: Start
[Recovery Attack] CP: 20 (10) AP: 120 Learned: Level 32
*[Air Dash] CP: 10 (5) AP: 100 Learned: Level 4
*[Air Dash Reverse] CP: 10 (5) AP: 100 Learned: Level 18
%[Omni Air Dash] CP: 40 (20) AP: 300 Learned: Level 40
%[Free Air Dash] CP: 30 (15) AP: 200 Learned: Start
%[Reverse Free Air Dash] CP: 30 (15) AP: 200 Learned: Level 2
&[Multi-Air Slide] CP: 10 (5) AP: 250 Learned: Level 52
&[Multi-Air Slide+] CP: 30 (15) AP: 300 Learned: Master [Multi-Air Slide]
$[Speed Boost] CP: 20 (10) AP: 150 Learned: Level 21
$[Speed Boost+] CP: 40 (20) AP: 150 Learned: Master [Speed Boost]
$[Speed Boost++] CP: 70 (35) AP: 150 Learned: Master [Speed Boost+]
@[Jump Boost] CP: 10 (5) AP: 150 Learned: Level 7
@[Jump Boost+] CP: 20 (10) AP: 150 Learned: Master [Jump Boost]
@[Jump Boost++] CP: 40 (20) AP: 150 Learned: Master [Jump Boost+]
#[Jump Times Boost] CP: 20 (10) AP: 150 Learned: Level 39
#[Jump Times Boost+] CP: 40 (20) AP: 150 Learned: Master [Jump Times Boost]
#[Jump Times Boost++] CP: 70 (30) AP: 150 Learned: Master [Jump Times Boost+]
[Controlled Recovery] CP: 10 (5) AP: 120 Learned: Level 32
[Midair Evasion Boost] CP: 20 (10) AP: 150 Learned: Level 57
Okay then, the 2 guard and dodge abilities should be no-brainers, if you don't
equip them, you might as well just forfeit. The three Parry abilities are nice
to have, but if you need CP for other things, at least have the basic Parry.
The normal two Air Dash abilities aren't really need, especially once you get
Free Air Dash, so you can lose those if you want.
A big choice is between Free Air Dash, Omni Air Dash, and Free Air Dash
Reverse. The latter is nice because it really helps in creating space and
getting away from the target. Keep in mind you still will dash towards
Excores, so don't worry about that. The normal dash is okay, but you'll rarely
want to dash towards your opponent to use a close range attack, but that
depends on who you're facing. Omni Air Dash is the best of both worlds, but
it costs a bit more CP and can be a little tough to control sometimes, so if
you can get the hang of it, use it, otherwise stick with Reverse in most
situations.
Multi Air Slide is useless when you can just dash manually, don't waste CP on
it unless you have some to spare (which you shouldn't). As for the next three
sets of abilities, I like having all three equipped at max which seems like a
lot of CP but it's not too bad once they are all mastered. Worse come to
worse, you can always drop down a level for Speed Up as it's not as important.
Double Jump is probably better than Jump Boost so if you can only have one at
++, make it Double Jump.
As for Air Evasion Movement, it's a very good ability, but Evasion Efficiency
(Support Ability) is superior, so if you can't have both, go with the latter.
Oh yeah, just so you know, you can't equip Auto Recovery at the same time as
Aerial Recovery and thus Recovery Attack and Controlled Recovery which is a
bit of a downer as they are fairly useful abilities. It's up to you, but Auto
Recovery isn't so great; ot's not worth equipping over the other three.
Moving on.
=====================================
B. Support Abilities [SAB4]
=====================================
[Always Target Indicator] CP: 10 (5) AP: 30 Learned: Start
[Ex Core Lock-on] CP: 10 (5) AP: 50 Learned: Start
[Auto Chase] CP: 20 (5) AP: 250 Learned: Level 11
[Auto Recovery] CP: 20 (5) AP: 250 Learned: Level 11 (Can't be equipped with
Aerial Recovery)
[Auto EX Burst] CP: 20 (5) AP: 150 Learned: Level 15
[Auto EX Command] CP: 30 (10) AP: 300 Learned: Level 15
[Auto EX Command Omega] CP: 40 (20) AP: 600 Learned: Master [Auto EX Command]
[Auto EX Defense] CP: 30 (10) AP: 300 Learned: Level 26
[Auto EX Defense Omega] CP: 40 (20) AP: 600 Learned: Master [Auto EX Defense]
[Evasion Time Boost] CP: 20 (10) AP: 220 Learned: Level 64
[Command Battle Enhancement] CP: 20 (10) AP: 220 Learned: Buy from Shop
[Command Battle Enhancement+] CP: 40 (20) AP: 220 Learned: Master [Command
Battle Enhancement]
[Command Battle Enhancement++] CP: 60 (30) AP: 220 Learned: Master [Command
Battle Enhancement+]
This group is easy to sort through seeing as almost every single one of these
is a lazy man's ability. I mean, why would you need an ability just to press
the square button for you to intiate an Ex Burst? Like, really...? Not to
mention you might not want to go straight into an Ex Burst with her anyways
because of her awesome Ex Mode.
Also, the Ex Command ability is pretty useless because her mini-game is very
easy, though not as easy as just mashing circle like Cloud and such, you
shouldn't be having problems with it. I could understand using this for Jecht
or even Tidus, but not Terra. Auto Ex Defense might be useful if you have
trouble with it, but it's really not worth it unless you are completely
terrible.
Command Battle is only valid if you actually use it. If you do, well then this
FAQ is kinda useless to you as you really don't control the character that
much. You should never be using this.
Oh yeah, and whatever you do, DO NOT EVER equip Auto Chase as she'll activate
it after hitting with Holy thus ending the whole combo, VERY BAD.
Evasion Time Boost is a must, it's very good. Ex Core Lock-on is also
pretty useful and it and Constant Target Marker are both cheap anyways, so
might as well. You can use Auto Parry if you want, that's about the only Auto
ability you should even consider, and it's not even that great.
Oh yeah, just so you know, you can't equip Auto Recovery at the same time as
Aerial Recovery and thus Recovery Attack and Controlled Recovery which is a
bit of a downer as they are fairly useful abilities. It's up to you, but Auto
Recovery isn't so great; ot's not worth equipping over the other three.
=====================================
C. Extra Abilities [EAB4]
=====================================
This section is a work in progress. There's a lot of Extra Abilities to list
and so it's kind of a pain, not to mention I need to get the real translations
before I start, so bare with me, I'll get this done as soon as possible. Also,
I'm not sure if the Master abilities can be equipped with the base ability
(ex euqipping Equip Swords and Sword Master at the same time) so I'll have to
find that out as well.
I will, however, give a quick summary of what you should be equipping, it's
pretty simple.
Just Jump is a decent choice, but not needed, it's cheap though. Concentrate
and it's brethern are a no-no. Terra shouldn't be letting up on her attacks at
all. In Pain is only useful if you have abilities or accessories that
capitalize on you being in critical hp, but there are easier ways to get those
boosts. The two barriers are decent, but 20% isn't as much as you'd think and
seeing as it requires you to be in critical hp, it's even less desirable.
Finally, the BRV Regen ability isn't too bad in general, but Terra has no
problem whatsoever racking up brave (especially with EX Critial Up) in Exmode
so stick with the HP regen.
Now, onto the critical up abilities. I won't go through them individually as
there are only 3 worth equipping anyways. Guard Counter-Attack,
counter-Attack, and EX Critical Up. The first one increases critical hit rate
after blocking an enemies attack and hitting them while they stagger, the
second one increases critical hit rate if you hit the enemy DURING one of
their attacks, and the last one increases critical hit rate in Ex Mode.
The Ex Mode one is obvious, you're gonna be spending a lot of time in Ex Mode.
Terra's criticals are also VERY deadly and couple in the fact that she also
has dualcast, this ability is absolutely devasting. This is a must. As for the
other two, Counter-Attack is better choice. Guard-Counter requires that you
be in close quarters 99.9% of the time and Terra only really has two options
that can take advantage of this ability: Tornado and Blizzard Combo. You can
try and use other attacks after guarding, but some of them might miss.
However, with Guard-Counter, you get criticals when you interrupt the enemy's
attack which is what long range moves do best. Blizzara, Thundara, Graviga
(unlikely that you'll actually interrupt anything with it though), Meteor,
Fire, and even Tornado as well can all benefit easily from this, though Meteor
is the big one and seeing as it'll be your most used move, there's no reason
not to equip this ability. Heck, even Blizzard Combo can reap the benefits
occasionally and it's not like you can't get any criticals after a successful
guard.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
V: Using the Beautiful Maiden of Magic
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
=====================================
A. How to Play [HTP5]
=====================================
If you've read other parts of my FAQ already (namely the attack section), you
should be getting any idea of just how Terra should be used. When it comes
down to it, however, it all depends on the player. Feel free to tweak the
general strategy around a bit to your liking as I am by no means the
undisputed Terra Master, though she told me she loves me the most so she's
MINE.
*ahem*
Anyways, the great thing about being a long ranged specialist is that you can
use her moves without fear of being blocked and vulnearable during the stagger
phase unlike most other characters. This means there's really no penalty for
constantly using (it's not spamming if you use it right!) her moves all the
time, over and over. If you tried this with someone like, say, Cloud, you'd be
dead in under a minute, having to eat strings of criticals after ever attack
blocked.
So what does this mean for Terra? It means she has the capability to keep the
opponent on their toes the entire match and the more time they spend guarding,
dodging, and getting smacked in the face with spells, the less time they have
to set-up, launch an offensive strike against you, or make any significant
gains in distance towards you.
Therefore, the most important thing you can do in a match is control it. When
Terra has control of the match, it means SHE is launching the moves, and the
opponent is forced to deal with them rather than getting a chance to fight
back. The more control and the longer you control the match, the greater
advantage you have.
Of course, this all sounds easy, but it really depends on the character she is
playing against and sometimes the opposing player's fighting style. Heck, even
things like where the match starts has a huge effect. Sometimes the characters
spawn really close to each other which means you need to create space before
you can safely start tossing spells. Other times, you'll be given a huge
amount of space and can start controlling the game right from the begining.
However, maintaining the control is a whole different story. All it takes is
one simple mistake, a whiffed move or a reflected attack, and the enemy is
right in your face. The thing is, it's inevitable too, at least against
players around your skill level (or higher). Terra would be a little broken if
she could control the entire battle.
So, let me start talking about just how exactly she should be played. Because
almost all of her attacks work better at mid to long range, she should always
be trying to maintain such distance between her and her opponent. However,
when facing other mages (or Sephiroth), things might be different, so prepare
for that. I'll get into specifics in the The Competition section, however.
There are many ways to accomplish this. You can just use Free Air Dash Reverse
or Omni Air Dash (Terra walks too slow otherwise) or if you're in Exmode,
glide away. You can even use the map jumps to move around quickly. However,
doing that alone won't accomplish much, which is why in most situations you'll
either need to knock the opponent away (like Blizzara), distract them (like
Meteor), or force the opponent to actually give you space (Meltdown ftw!).
And as mentioned before, Terra can fairly safely use most of her attacks at
will, so unless you are out of range or in a situation where attacking
recklessly might not be a good idea (namely against characters with counters),
Terra should be spending most of the time attacking. It's obviously the best
way to gain and maintain control, and it pretty much stops any attacks that
need to be charged or have a long start-up. Heck, certain projectiles also
disappear when the user is hit, so you can stop long range attacks too.
In case you didn't know, Terra is also a combo master. Again, I will discuss
this in greater detail in section [COM5], but it's worth mentioning here that
you should be constantly assaulting the opponent with spells, and Meteor is
your best friend forever (and ever and ever1!!1) when it comes to this.
The best thing you can do is learn the enemies as well. I'll help you with
this later on, but by constantly fighting (or even USING) other characters,
you can learn just how you need to edit your style and set-up to overtake
them. Knowing what kind of attacks you are gonna face can help you greatly, as
well as such things as range or speed, so you can adjust your distance
accordingly.
Remember, you want to control the match. The pace, the area, the distance, you
need to keep these all in mind and don't be afraid to run and hide, Terra
isn't meant for an in-your-face assault. She is certainly capable of fending
enemies off close range, but only has limited options there which are better
used defensively.
Oh yeah, and utilize her Exmode! It's brutal! It also makes the match way
easier to control (especially double Meteor, oh man!) and the higher chance of
criticals just sweetens the deal. You don't need to have any Exmode build, but
you should make an effort to gather Excores and Exforce and even dedicate
equipment or accessories to helping out in this. You'll want to stay in Exmode
as long as possible, so don't Exburst unless you know you can finish off the
opponent with it or the bar is running down.
I could say more, but a lot of the stuff can be found throughout the various
sections. The sections [BRV3], [HPA3], as well as all the "The Competition"
and "The Way of the Land" get into certain specifics that would take way too
long to cover here again, so be sure to check those out. As well, the
remaining parts of this section ([GTS5], [ESP5], and [COM5]) are also useful,
so keep reading if your eyes aren't bleeding from all this text yet.
=====================================
B. General Tips [GTS5]
=====================================
Oh jeez, that last section was an eye full, eh? Sorry about that folks, but
this one is gonna be... well... lighter. Pretty much just jotting down short
hints and tips to keep in mind when using her. If you don't have the attention
span (like moi) to read the above section, this one is for you!
-Always maintain an appropriate distance from the opponent. It'll generally be
about the length of one dash, a bit longer for those with long attacking range
like Sephiroth. Mage characters will most likely be giving you space anyways.
-Start the match by attacking and never let up. Set the pace for the battle
this way, and you can control how the battle goes and give less openings to be
attacked.
-When in doubt, use Meteor. It's really Terra's best attack and can set-up
countless amounts of combos.
-When all else fails, use Meteor. Having trouble hitting with attacks?
Distract the opponent or even stun them with Meteor, then lead into another
attack.
-Lonely at night? Use Meteor. Are you getting it yet? USE METEOR DAMNIT!
-Capitalize on whiffs and mistakes. When Terra controls the match, it's very
frustrating for the opposition. When someone is frustrated, they get desperate
and will take any chance they get to make an attack. This means they are more
likely to mess up, whiff, or be blocked/dodged. Punish them!
-Terra's Exmode is one of the best, don't be afraid to do anything you can to
extend it's duration. Don't end it prematuraly by using an Exburst. Worse come
to worse and it runs out before you can use Riot Blade, no worries, she'll
have a ton of brave and she really doesn't have trouble landing HP attacks
anyways.
-Use different set-ups. Certain moves aren't as effective against certain
opponents. Likewise, a move you don't really use often or has some weird
niches can be a lot more effective against a certain opponent. This game gives
you three sets for a reason, use them.
-DON'T SPAM! Terra's attacks can be reflected right back at you if you aren't
careful. Also, a lot of people like to Tornado spam, but it leaves her very
vulnerable on a whiff, so use it wisely. Keep in mind, constantly casting
Meteor over and over is not spamming if you're using it right!
-Did I mention that you should use Meteor? I can't remember.
-If you ever go on the offense in close range, switch up between Blizzard
Combo, Tornado, and Meltdown stage one. Their properties and charge times
compliment each other very well, just make sure not to spend too much time in
close range.
That's all I can think of for now, I'll add some more when they come to mind.
If you have suggestions, feel free to send them to me (see [CM14] for contact
info) and I will credit you.
=====================================
C. Esper Terra [ESP5]
=====================================
Alright, you've seen me mention it several times, now let's finally talk about
it: Terra's Exmode! Terra undergoes a complete transformation when in her
Exmode. Using the Trance command, she turns into her Esper form from the game.
Once a gentle figure, she now transforms into a fierce purple Esper with wild
hair, sharp claws, and determination in her eyes!
Like every other Exmode, she gains an hp Regen effect that is always nice to
have, especially if you intend to stay in Exmode for a long time with her. In
addition, she gains the ability to glide freely through the air at decent
speeds. Probably slower than an air dash it's but WAY easier to control. Oh
yeah, forgot the best part; dualcast!!!
Yup, Esper Terra is very much a beast, being able to cast spells twice in a
row with extremely low lag inbetween. The spells, though, do act differently
than each other in just how the double cast works, so I'll do a quick run down
of them:
NOTE: Dualcast isn't automatic (aside from Holy, Holy Combo, and I think
Blizzard Combo), so you need to press the circle button (for brave magic) or
the square button (for HP magic) during the inital cast to get the full
effect. Likewise, you can cancel or delay the second cast if you wish.
Blizzara: Shoots two blocks one after the other. If you hit with the first
one, the second one will probably miss because of the knock back, but it's
still harder to dodge two than just one.
Blizzard Combo: Pretty much just extends the combo, so you're guranteed to
benefit from all the hits. The spinning combo has a couple more hits and the
final hit shoots two blocks out for even further knockback.
Thundara: Shoots one round of Thundaras then another once the first round
finishes, if you hit with the first one, it's a lot easier for the second one
to hit. Even if the first one is dodged, the opponent still has to dodge two
of them.
Fire: Shoots two flames, one behind the other. It's impossible to hit with
both because of the explosion, so it's not significantly better, just harder
to dodge or block both.
Holy: Shoots three Holy orbs followed instantly by another three, so it's not
double the amount of Holy orbs, but the orbs move A LOT faster and are A LOT
harder to dodge.
Holy Combo: Same as Holy, except with the addition of the follow-up Flares.
And by follow-up Flares I mean a horribly painful stream of fast moving
Flares. Seriously, this move gets so much better. I assume it's about eight
Flares shot, but it's kinda hard to count, I just mash the circle button to
shoot them all out as fast as possible xD.
Graviga: Oh man, you know Terra's Exmode is amazing when it can make a crappy
move like this INSANELY GOOD... except it's only INSANELY GOOD if you can pull
it off properly, so it still has a small niche. Anyways, after the first cast,
another Graviga ball will appear and float above the enemy. I think it falls
sooner but that's not the important part (though it does throw off dodge
timing for the enemy). The thing is, Terra doesn't go into casting pose during
the second one (which also removes the giveaway of when it drops). Know what
that means? Yup, you can cast any other spell in the meantime. Combined with
Meteor, you've got a brutal combination on your hands that is almost sure to
hit. It gives you (probably) the most dangerous combo in the game, which I'll
get to in [COM5].
Meteor: Just when you thought this move couldn't getter better... Yup, you
cast Meteor twice in a row, with a slight overlap in the castings meaning at
one point, the enemy is gonna have to dodge two seperate Meteor castings. Not
to mention that it's a LONG time to be dodging Meteors and I find that Terra
is free to cast another spell sooner. Plus, she's WAY higher in the air so you
can use Holy Combo right away without landing on the ground (which you'll find
happens sometimes with inproper timing outside of Exmode). Unfortunately this
means you can't combine dual Meteor with any ground attacks which is fine
since the only thing worth it that's not also in the air is Flood which is
pretty damn amazing itself in Exmode. With dual Meteor, you should be suprised
if anyone manages to dodge all of the hits and the follow up spell. This spell
alone makes controlling the battle a breeze in Exmode.
Flood: This thing is just a pain to dodge. You'll cast the second set of water
blasts also immediately after the first set so it throws off the normal
dodging pattern an opponent would be used to. The two Floods kinda blend
together too, so this throws off dodging as well. It's hard to explain just
how this move works in Exmode, so see for yourself, it's very good.
Tornado: Like Blizzard Combo, this just extends the amount of hits. When the
tornadoes begin to merge together, three more tornadoes appear and the combo
thus starts over effectively doubling the duration and thus the amount of
brave damage you'll do before the HP hit.
Meltdown: Honestly, I don't know exactly how this works because I don't use it
that often in Exmode. I do know that there is a slight lag between the casts.
Basically, from what I've seen, after casting the first Meltdown, you'll
follow up with a Meltdown one stage higher from what you just used. So if you
cast the first stage, the second hit will be the second stage. This basically
just makes it harder to dodge both, much like Flood, and doesn't add any
additional damage or anything. The stage of the second cast might depend on
how long you wait between the first cast and second cast, too. As I said, I'm
not exactly sure, so if anyone can help me out, it'd be appreciated and
credited. Contact info is in [CM14]. Otherwise, I'll get around to testing it
out.
EDIT: Turns out I was wrong. Fearnall writes:
"Through my observations, the second cast in exmode isn't dependant on the
first, it's dependant on the direction you're holding the analog stick, the
way I have my meldown set up (analog stick down+square), for the second cast,
if you hold the stick down it'll be stage 2, neutral stage 3, and up stage 1."
I have Meltdown set on the same button and have found this to be correct!
Thanks again to Fearnall for finding this out, it's a huge help and a great
thing to know.
Ultima: Like Blizzard Combo and Tornado before it, Ultima expands out, then
just before detonating, a new Ultima expands out causing additional brave
damage. Like the other two, this effectively doubles the duration and amount
of hits. It's a nice extra little "OMFG THIS HURTS" at the end of a long
combo.
Well, that's all for attacks. It's good to practise a bit in Exmode to get a
feel for how the attacks work when dualcasted as they can be a bit different
if you aren't used to them. Once your comfortable with the moves, you'll be
wrecking havoc with Esper Terra all over the place. Again, she has one of THE
best Exmodes in the game, so don't let it go to waste.
But before we move on, I should also mention her Exburst, Riot Blade. When
activated, Terra flies in front of the opponent and shoots a blast of ice that
shatters the screen. We then get a close up of Terra as she charges her arms
with energy and releases several magical blades that shoot out and slash
through the enemy from all angles for several hits of high brave damage ending
with an explosion for HP damage as Terra spins and poses.
To charge it up, you must mash both the circle button and left directional
pad. While this is more difficult than the bursts that simply require you to
mash circle, it is by no means hard to do. I don't think I've ever messed it
up, so you shouldn't be having any serious problems filling it up. If you are,
however, finding it awkward or hard to do, I find it's much easier to place
your PSP on the ground or any firm surface rather than holding it in your
hands when you mash seeing as you need to use both hands. When using both
hands you should probably be using your thumbs. If you place it on a surface,
then it works much better when you use your index finger.
And that, as they say, is that (said in the voice of the annoying old man from
FFX).
=====================================
D. Combos [COM5]
=====================================
Okay, I've linked to this section a whole bunch, so I'm sure y'all are just
waiting to read what I have to say. Here I shall list all the discovered
combos for Terra. If I'm missing any that you have found, let me know ([CM14]
for my contact info), perferably with a video link so I can confirm and test
as well as post it here for the readers. You will, of course, be credited.
I will offer explanations for combos that are either tricky to pull off, or
require more than just simply casting the spells. If several people are having
trouble with a specific combo not explained here and they let me know, I'm
willing to add an explanation. Once I get time, I will upload videos I will be
making showcasing all of the combos listed here. Combos submitted by other
people will hopefully be accompanied by a video, but if not, I will make more.
Alright, so let's go!
Meteor->Blizzara
Meteor->Blizzard Combo (close range only)
Meteor->Thundara
Meteor->Fire
Meteor->Flood
Meteor->Tornado (close range only)
Meteor->Meltdown (stage 1) (close range only). You can charge Meltdown to the
other two stages while the enemy deals with Meteor, but I wouldn't really
consider it a combo.
Meteor->Holy/Holy Combo->Chase
Meteor->Holy Combo->Ultima
Meltdown (stage 2)->Holy Combo->Ultima (credits to Demitel for this one).
Basically Meltdown stage 2 works as a distraction while you launch Holy Combo.
It'll cause the player (especially the AI) some trouble as if they dodge
Meltdown, Holy Combo is likely to hit and if they get hit by Meltdown, it'll
actually activate Flare from the combo, allowing you to hit with another HP
attack and also score some crits while your brave regens. It's especially
deadly when you have a lot of brave and don't want to risk getting broken
while you wait for your brave to regenerate. This is a great way to still land
Holy Combo if you're in the air and thus unable to use Meteor.
Dualcast Meltdown (stage 1 then stage 2)->Double Holy Combo->Double Ultima
(credits for _BTT_ for this one).
This is essentially the big brother of the previous combo above. It works the
same except that you have Meltdown stage 1 as a close range deterent. Again,
the Meltdowns are for creating pressure and making it easier for you to land
Holy Combo. Just make sure that if you hit with a Meltdown that you don't hit
square and activate Riot Blade... unless you want to, that is.
Fearnall also suggested a variation of this where you basically just use two
Meltdowns stage 2 instead. This is likely the better choice if the enemy is at
a distance while the Meltdown stage 1 one would work better in closer range or
if the enemy is trying to rush you. However, if after the first Meltdown the
opponent still tries to rush, stage 1 or stage 3 (since they have the same
charge time on the second cast) can be used instead. Fearnall also suggests
using Blizzard Combo instead of Holy Combo in the rare case that the enemy
still rushes you after the two Meltdowns.
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
Double Graviga->Double Meteor->Double Holy Combo->Double Ultima->Riot Blade
(optional).
This is the big daddy of all combos that I've talked about. If you can pull
this sucker off, the opponent is gonna be hurting. It's very possible to OHKO
the opponent with this. Basically, you utilize the no casting animation of the
second Graviga to simultaneously hit with Graviga and Meteor. The stun from
Graviga will gurantee Meteor will hit which in turn makes the second Meteor
extremely likely to hit which in turn makes double Holy Combo likely to hit
and also likely to allow you to fire off the follow-up Flares early. Then end
it with double Ultima for more brave damage and Riot Blade if you can finish
the opponent off.
The trick with this is to save the full Exbar. With the threat of Terra
Excancelling out of any close range attempts to interrupt her, most opponents
will hesitate and won't risk it seeing as they consider Graviga not much of a
threat because it's easy-to-dodge nature. Once you are sure you can pull off
the combo without getting interrupted (aka just before the first Graviga
drops), activate her Exmode and continue the combo, that way if you do get
interrupted (probably by long range or other non-Excancellable moves), you
wouldn't have wasted your Exmode. This can be done while already in Exmode,
but it's not recommended as it requires A LOT of space.
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
This ones are ones I've thought up of, but I'm currently testing to see if
they are really viable and worth calling "combos":
Thundara->Tornado. The idea is to be above the opponent seeing as Thundara
knocks them straight up so in this case, they'll be launched straight into
you so you can catch them with Tornado. This also works if there is a roof so
you don't need all that height.
Thundara->Blizzard Combo. Works like the above combo.
Thundara->Meltdown (stage 1). Works the same as the Tornado combo, though
Meltdown doesn't really work as well. I'll probably take this out.
Blizzard Combo->dodge cancel before last hit->Blizzara.
Blizzard Combo->dodge cancel before last hit->Tornado.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
VI: Equipment and Accessorizing
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Coming soon! Sorry for the inconvience, I'm working on getting uncompleted
sections done ASAP!
For now, I'll just have a rough kinda filled summary of what to be equipping.
It's not as in-depth as it will be, but it should be enough to give you an
idea until I can really sort things out.
In terms of equipment, the Snowpetal, Adamant Chains, and even Soul of Yamato
combos aren't too shabby. If you don't mind the weaker (mid level 80s) Imp
set, you can get an INSANE 15m absorption range thus negating the need for
accessories that increase that (opening the room for more multipliers or a
different basic accessory).
For weapons, daggers give you up to 30% inital EX force, katanas give you up
to 6m absorption range, rods increase your magic damage up to 25%, staves can
increase Exmode duration up to 40%, and thrown weapons give you up to +30% ex
force absorption which is better than the intruments +30% ex core absorption
as it only works for Ex cores though if you have accessories that increase
their appearance it might be worth it.
Which you choose really depends on what accessories you have already as you
can get most of these effects via them. Maduin's Horn (Terra's ultimate
weapon) isn't too shabby with it's 50% magic defence, but that's only useful
against other mages, so only use it then.
As for accessories, Close to You is a must. You can use Center of the World,
but you're better off with Pearl Necklace and Gravitorb which absorb more Ex
force and increases intake range, respectively, than Center of the World does
albeit takes up to slots. Center of the World also doesn't get affected by
booster accessories, so it's even worse there.
You can use Dragonfly Orb and Victory Pendant (works well combined) as well as
Gold Hourglass, though it's your choice whether you would want that space for
more boosters or not. Gold Hourglass is the better option, though.
As for boosters, it really depends on you and your avaliable selection. It
shouldn't be too difficult to figure out good combos, however.
I'll list the effects and the ways to make the accessories I've when I get the
chance. Sorry for the wait, but if you check out the Dissipedia you can
get an idea for now. Sorry again!
For now I'll show you my current Exbuild. Feel free to switch around the
boosters because relying on having 100% hp can be troublesome against certain
opponents.
Gravitorb (+3m Exforce absorption range)
Pearl Necklace (+30% EX Force absorption)
Gold Hourglass (+20% EX Mode duration)
Close to You (absorb EX Force during attacks, when getting hit, and after
summoning)
(You)Hp=100% (1.5 booster)
(You)Pre-HP Damage (1.5 booster)
(Enemy)Break (1.5 booster)
(You)Summon Unused (1.5 booster)
(You)Exmode (1.3 booster)
(You)Exmode (1.3 booster)
The Summon one can be changed to Summon Used if you wish. I suggest picking
either a summon that would only be used in emergencies (Odin, Omega, etc) for
Summon Unused, and summons that you'd use at the start of a match (maybe Pupu
or Bahamut?) for Summon Used. Some people use (Enemy)Summon Used AND Summon
Unused so you'd always have the 1.5 boost (unless they don't have a summon at
all), but I found that the two (You)Exmodes provide a bigger boost than having
those two.
Anyways, when all those requirements are met, you get an 8.5x total boost
which is really more than enough. You get a massive +25.5m absorption range,
you gain +255% EX from EX Force, and your Exmode lasts +170% longer (almost
three times!). Once you get into Exmode, you pretty much stay there unless the
enemy has EX Bar reducing effects via accessories or the Luefenian set or you
use an EX Burst.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
VII: The Competition
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
***THIS SECTION IS BEING WORKED ON AT THE MOMENT***
*oops, there's my caps lock key!*
Anyways, I'm working on this section, so right now it's not completely
finished so unfortunately you'll have to make do with what I have now. I do
promise that this section will be 100% completed by the next update (which
would technically be the *first* update). This is the last of the REALLY
important sections, so I'm putting it as top priority over everything else
left over. Thanks for your patience!
Alrighty, so just a quick intro. I've already discussed general tips on how to
play as Terra so you have a good base to build your stragety from. Now we're
gonna take a look at each and every character that you can go up against and
see just how Terra matches up.
I will be mentioning certain moves to look out for, and make suggestions on
how to adjust your style or moveset to better prepare for the match-up. I'll
also state whether it's an advantageous match-up for Terra or not so you know
what to expect.
Keep in mind however, that a lot of it comes down to the players, so even if
Terra has a disadvantage, if you concentrate and prepare counter-strategies,
you can easily overcome it and win. Likewise, if you underestimate an opponent
who you have an advantage over, you can pay for it. The best thing to do is
become really familiar with what the opponent is capable of.
I, myself, have extensively used 11 other characters aside from Terra, though
I still use her the most, so I have a strong understanding of what I'm up
against when I face them, so it's good to play as some other characters some
times, especially if you find you have trouble against them. Playing as them
might give you a new understanding. Even if you find you can't play as some
characters, fighting against them a lot can be just as good too. I hardly ever
play as any of the Chaos characters aside from Kuja and Jecht, but I fight
them A TON.
Alright, let's go already!
=====================================
A. Warrior of Light [WOL7]
=====================================
This guy is pretty simple with his fairly straight forward close range melee
attacks, but he does have some long range options that you need to watch out
for. Let's start with the brave moves.
The only melee brave move you need to look out for (assuming you keep your
distance) is Sword Thrust. He throws his shield forward and then follows up
with a couple stabs. Note that you can block the sword strikes, but blocking
the shield throw will cause you to stagger and get hit by the rest of the
combo. This move covers quite some distance on the ground, so look out for it.
A simple back flip dodge should put you out of harms way, then you can follow
up with a Fire in the face, or something else, if you want.
Aside from that, he has his magic attacks, Red Fang (fire), Blue Fang
(blizzard), and White Fang (lightning). White Fang travels very slowly from
WoL's position so it extremely simple to dodge or interrupt with your own
magic (hit him and the move stops) before it gets close. Red Fang is faster,
but has inferior tracking and is easily reflected. It's got poor vertical
tracking as well, so if you change your height, you'll be safe. It can also be
interrupted, though it's a lot harder to do. Finally, Blue Fang is probably
the biggest threat as it drops several ice blocks from above, so distance away
doesn't affect how long it'll take to hit you. It is slow, however, so you
should be able to block/dodge it or hit WoL in time. All three of the fangs
have a small start-up too, so they shouldn't ever surprise you. Most WoL sets
will only use one fang attack, so once you find out which one it is, you can
adjust and prepare yourself accordingly.
Just a quick note before moving onto HP attacks, all of his ranged brave moves
are GROUND ONLY. Keep this in mind, it's very important. As for HP attacks,
one is aerial (Radiant Sword), and the other is ground (Shining Wave).
Now, onto his two long range HP attacks: Shining Wave and Radiant Sword.
These two would be a lot deadlier for you if they didn't take so long to start
up and weren't so easy to interrupt. Radiant Sword has got a major upgrade in
the English release so it has much better tracking. It still, however, has a
VERY long start-up, so you can easily Meteor or Thundara him before the move
launches. Shining Wave is faster though, but can be avoid easily with a side
step or by dropping down below WoL's level as the move travels at a constant
height. It's harder to interrupt on reaction, but if you are keeping control
of the match, he shouldn't get a chance to pull off this move anyways. Just
look out for it.
This is a pretty straight-forward match up. His close range attacks are quick
and deadly as a lot of them chain into HP attacks, so it's important to keep
your distance. The Graviga combo won't really work well unless you have
something to hide behind and he doesn't have Blue Fang (or you're far enough
away).
Overall this is an advantageous match-up for Terra. Just stick to the general
stragety and try and control the match, shouldn't be too difficult.
=====================================
B. Garland [GAR7]
=====================================
Like WoL before him, Garland isn't too hard to handle. In fact, he actually
has *less* long range moves to threaten you, so this should be an even easier
battle. Factor in that he is as slow as a Tonberry (though not as scary or
deadly!), and he is gonna have a hard time reaching you.
In terms of long range moves, he only has three in total. Let's start with the
two brave attacks. First off is Lance Bullet. It has a bit of a start-up, then
Garland shoots forward a pretty large distance, but at an angle. If you aren't
in the air, this will probably go right over you. It's somewhat easy to see
coming, but can really surprise you if you don't see the signs. Watch out for
it when using Meteor as you end up in the air. I don't think you can really
interrupt him when he starts charging so be ready to dodge. If he whiffs or is
blocked, it leaves him open for a Tornado or Blizzard Combo.
As well, he has Chain Bump which has surprising range and moves Garland quite
a distance both vertically and horizontally to close in on the opponent. He
swings his sword twice, up once and down once. As long as you aren't in the
middle of an attack, you should easily be able to block this as dodging the
first hit might leave you open for the second one. Remember, this move is
slower and easier to see coming than Lance Bullet, so it shouldn't be a
problem for you to block if you know what to look for.
Note that Lance Bullet is ground only and Chain Bump is air only.
As for HP attacks, the only one you really need to look out for is Blaze. It
has quite a start-up, so it can be VERY easily interrupted, but it's long
range and has aerial and ground variations, not that it matters too much. It
can actually be blocked, but requires precise timing and seeing as the
multiple flame bursts spread out slightly over range, you might end up getting
hit by another flame. If he ever gets this attack off (which he shouldn't),
dodge towards Garland when the flames get close to you. Oh yes, and I've been
informed by a "gregory" that in Garland's Exmode, you can't interrupt his
Blaze, so remember that.
I should mention Tornado and Tsunami, though. Garland's Tornado is close
range just like Terra's, but it forms a shield in front of him which deflects
magic attacks, so watch out when you're using Blizzara and Meltdown (though I
don't know if it'll reflect Meltdown or not). Meteor still works so I doubt
you'll be seeing this much as it leaves him pretty open for Meteor which will
make the Tornados disappear when it hits. As well, Tsunami has decent range,
but it's slow, predictable, and takes a jump or a back dodge to avoid, but
Garland is very vulnerable when using it, so your ranged attacks should stop
this move dead.
So that's about it. Garland can really put the hurt on you if he manages to
get in your space but, because of his slow speed, that shouldn't be happening
too much especially if you can keep him on his toes. On the ground, his High
Bringer attack (that spinning combo thing) ignores guard, so don't try and
block it except with your own Tornado.
Garland is a lot less of a threat than WoL because of his weaker ranged
options, especially when it comes to HP attacks. None of his HP attacks are a
real threat to you if you know what you're doing, so don't let up and you
won't have to worry about his brave attacks either!
Overall, if you couldn't tell, this is a very advantageous match-up for Terra.
=====================================
C. Firion [FIR7]
=====================================
Alrighty, now Firion is one of the three characters in the entire game that
Terra really needs to be careful against. Namely, don't just toss around magic
whenever you please because, unlike most of the other characters, Firion has a
counter and that counter has two counterattacks, one for close range and one
for long range. The good news is that because you won't stagger from the
block, you won't be taking critical hits from the fire blast and the blizzard
blast, which do fairly negligible brave damage anyways. The lightning blast
only causes HP damage and it IS possible to avoid, though I haven't found any
reliable way to do that. As well, I believe it is possible to interrupt him
during the attack as I've had Ultimecia do it to me as Firion, but I think
it's because her rapid firing attacks hit him before he becomes invulnerable
(which I believe he becomes during the counter, but don't quote me on it).
Well, that's a nice opening, huh? But don't worry, it's not as easy as the CPU
make it seem to counter. Meteor is pretty unpredictable as to where it lands,
and because Thundara hits from four sides, it might be able to bypass the
counter, or at least interrupt him because of it's multiple hits. Also, he the
counter is *GROUND ONLY* meaning that you should feel free to harass him when
he is airborne. In fact, it's highly recommended because of his HORRENDOUS air
game, but I'll get to that in a second.
Aside from Shield Bash, you should watch out for Reel Axe. It's got VERY good
range and, like his other two weapon combo brave moves, it pulls you towards
him, something you don't want AT ALL. It travels in a straight line so it only
tracks until it's thrown (it will fly at vertical angles). Luckily, if you are
a good distance away, it should be fairly easy to dodge (don't block, it guard
breaks) and you can interrupt him if he is using the move as you use Meteor or
Thundara, but not if you use them after. The axe is fairly quick, but you
should have plenty of time to dodge.
He also has Straight Arrow, a long range HP attack on the air and ground, but
it's one of the WORST HP attacks in the game so I doubt any Firion players
will have it equipped. Reel Axe is superior seeing as it can't be blocked.
That's right, you can actually block and even REFLECT Straight Arrow. Not to
mention it has quite a start-up, even if it's fired ASAP, so you can easily
interrupt it. It also only flies in a straight line like Reel Axe.
He does have magic attacks that are aerial only, but they are pretty weak.
Fire travels really slow, but be sure not to reflect it (block early) or else
Firion can use his counter on the reflected Fire. Blizzard is faster, but has
poor tracking, it just bounces around a bit. Thunder is probably the biggest
problem because it appears over you. However, it does have a start up and you
should be harassing the crap out of Firion in the air anyways, so the move
should be getting interrupted. Worse come to worse, you only need to move a
little bit to avoid it.
The thing to look out for is his three main melee attacks: Reel Axe, Spear
Combo, and Rope Knife. They all draw you in towards him and all of them chain
into an HP attack. That said, they are limited to the ground and the other two
have poor range. If you do find yourself in close quarters, Rope Knife has
almost no vertical reach and Spear Combo, while it does draw you in, has
pretty bad range (though it does have some vertical range, unlike Rope Knife)
so it shouldn't be bothering you too much.
I should also mention Weaponmaster, his other HP attack. It has surprising
range and tracking and can reflect projectiles, but it's got HUGE start-up and
cooldown. It's also extremely easy to see (more like HEAR) coming as Firion
lets out a huge roar as he's one of those guys at the gym that like to put WAY
more weights on the bar than they should.
Really, the trick to beating Firion is to play smart. Meteor and Thundara are
fairly safe to use (as are all her HP attacks as Shield Bash doesn't block
em), but if you are finding those attacks get countered a lot, then start
feinting and being more careful with how you cast. Try and spend as much time
as you can in the air as you only have to look out for Reel Axe there, and try
to force him into the air as well, or at least take advantage of situations
where he is in the air.
The greatest thing going for you is his horrible speed and his reliance on the
ground. There are slower characters, but the fact that he has to dash to you
and then land before he can be a real threat (seeing as attacking out of a
dash would be an aerial attack) makes it a lot easier to avoid getting into
any close quarter combat with him. What really helps is that Firion is
completely immobile during every. single. one. of his attacks except for
Weaponmaster, so adding that into the mix only makes it even better for you.
Overall, however, I'd say it's an even match-up. Though it really depends on
how well the player is at using Shield Bash, otherwise Terra would just walk
all over Firion.
=====================================
D. Emperor [EMP7]
=====================================
Hah, now this is a nice little match-up for Terra. The Emperor relies on
setting traps to catch or damage the opponent as they try to reach Emperor, or
at least distract them while Flares float about and he tries to cast Starfall.
Thing is, Terra has no reason to approach Emperor. Not only can she just sit
back and harass him from afar, but she can actually destroy quite a few of his
traps either by hitting him and thus cancelling the attack, or by hitting the
traps with her magic.
But that's not all, in terms of HP attacks, a good Terra player shouldn't ever
be threatened by ANY of them AT ALL unless you foolishly fall into a
Lighting Crest or just aren't paying attention. The blue Flare that follows
you around can be reflected by Tornado, making it head back to track him
(which works so amazingly in your favor, it's another thing to dodge when
fighting Terra!).
The stationary red Flare shouldn't be a problem easier so you really shouldn't
be dashing to him anyways or moving around too much that you'll accidently hit
it. Not to mention hitting it with Tornado causes it to disappear and it
disappears after a while too.
Finally, Starfall is just a joke. Because Terra is a ranged character, she has
a MUCH easier time interrupting this than most other characters as she doesn't
have to bother making her way through the mess of traps. Seeing as these are
his only options for HP attacks (aside from chases), you shouldn't expect to
be taking any HP damage.
Emperor relies on controlling the matches. The more time and space he has, the
more traps he can put down. Terra is the same, except Terra can easily trump
his traps and then go straight into running the match. In short, you should be
beating the Emperor senseless. This is probably one of your best possible
match-ups, but I've seen some amazing Emperor players that will try their best
to make it difficult for you, so don't get cocky.
I should note that Light Crest, that aerial attack that shoots pink/purple
blobs at you can get quite annoying and interupt your attacks, but it deals
very minimal brave damage and can be blocked and dashed through.
Speaking of dashing, I suggest you equip Free Air Dash or Omni Air Dash
(assuming you're good with it) in case the Emperor runs away and tries to use
Starfall on bigger maps. You don't have infinite range, so you'll need to move
closer to hit with your magic and Reverse Free Air Dash isn't gonna help you
to do that at all. I doubt Emperor is gonna be pressuring you much, so you
don't really need the reverse movement, although Omni Air Dash is nice to
have (again, if you can use it well) just in case.
So if you didn't get it by now, you've got a major advantage over the Emperor.
=====================================
E. Onion Knight [OKE7]
=====================================
When it comes to the Onion Knight, there's good news and bad news. The good
news is that he's got pretty short range (makes sense, he's tiny) which means
he can't really hurt Terra when she's at her optimum range. The bad news,
however, is that Onion Knight is a speedy little bugger, boasting the fastest
running (and therefore dashing) speed in the game (aside from Exmode Tidus).
What this means is that even though he needs to be close to actually hit you,
it's not hard for him to get in your face, especially since Terra isn't
exactly a nimble mover (cept in her dodges =P). Therefore, it's gonna be a bit
tougher for you to get your space, so don't be picky, take what you can get!
When it comes to attacks, though, Onion Knight is pretty predictable. He only
has four brave attacks total (two ground, two air), though each one of them
can chain into a brave attack or an HP attack. It basically comes down to one
magic attack and one physical attack on the ground, and likewise in the air.
His HP moves follow the same pattern, but I'll get to those later.
His physical moves are basically identical. They come out pretty fast, but
they don't have very good range. If you stay out of his immediate range, you
should be pretty safe, or at least have a chance of blocking or dodging on
reaction. Both attacks leave him pretty open.
As for magic attacks, his kinda suck. Unlike most other character's magic,
these moves have pitiful range Thunder, the air one, has a very VERY long
start-up so if you somehow don't interrupt it with Meteor or something, you
can easily just block or dodge it, simple as that. It does have very good
tracking, but, again, it's lacking in range. Blizzard, his ground magic
attack, is faster, but still not super fast. It also only travels straight and
has pretty basic tracking. It'll shoot in the direction you are at when it
launches, so you can just keep moving and be safe. It shouldn't be hard to
block or dodge it though. It's got almost no vertical reach either and has
less range than Thunder.
As for HP attacks, there's only two noteworthy ones. Wind Shear (air)
shouldn't really scare you in terms of hitting you, but he can deflect and
reflect magic attacks with it. Flood still works wonders and I'm pretty sure
Tornado trumps it (or at least they both cancel out). Like Terra's Tornado, it
does draw you in, so beware of that.
Firaga is an interesting move because of it's odd range. Most close range
characters will just laugh at it as it arcs up and explodes a good distance
away. Unfortunately for Terra, this distance just so happens to be around the
distance you'll be launching spells from. It's blast radius is pretty large so
even if you dodge it you might get hit after the dodge, depending on the
timing. Dodging forward might work if you do it at the right time, otherwise
it'll just explode early. In his Exmode he launches THREE Firagas which is
just cruel, so watch out for that. The best way to deal with it is to stay in
the air if you see it coming (like if he's got a ton of brave or is spamming
it). A nicely timed forward ground dodge could work, or dodging out of the end
of Meteor and launching a Holy Combo works nicely too. You could also try to
increase your range a bit, going farther than you usually do, but seeing as
it's kinda hard to get any space in the first place, it'll be hard to do.
His Comet DOES have somewhat decent range, but it's got a huge start-up and
fairly slow tracking. Keep in mind, however, the final hit (the HP hit) can
still hit you even if you've avoided the rest of the attack and it does have
longer range the the bravery part of the attack, so don't get lazy on the
dodging!
When it comes down to it, as long as you can adapt to the closer range, you
should be able to handle the vegetable warrior. In fact practicing against
an Onion Knight player or, should the former not be an option, the CPU, is a
great opportunity for you to work on your close range game. Despite that you
should not be spending much time in close-quarters, sometimes it's inevitable
or not worth the trouble (mainly against fast characters). Not to mention it's
always good to cover a weakness and works great to intimidate or surprise the
enemy. No one expects Terra to rush in and fight in your face, but she is
certainly capable of it, and against this speedy runt it might be your best
option.
Of the speedy trio (Tidus, Zidane, and OK), OK is by far the best match-up for
Terra, so it's not bad, though it's not really the best. I'd say she has an
advantage, though it's not the biggest, it's still there and it's good
preperation for the other two of the trio. Just remember that OK has very
limited options and range and is pretty predictable so take advantage of it.
If it wasn't for his insane speedy, this would be a joke.
=====================================
F. Cloud of Darkness [COD7]
=====================================
Oh joy, we now get to the 2nd character who has a long range counter attack.
Unfortunately, Cloud of Darkness' counter is much harder to deal with. First
of all, I don't think I've ever been able to escape [Wrath] Partical Beam
once it's been activated, though I think I interrupt it once (Meteor, of
course) but that was back in the Japanese version and it could just be my
imagination, so don't count on it.
In addition to it being a quick upward beam appearing under you to deal a
little bit of brave damage then finishing with HP damage, this attack is
avaliable in the air and on the ground so there is no safe place to fight CoD.
However, CoD does have a ton of HP attacks on both the air and ground, so in
most cases, the [Wrath] HP attack will only be on one of those, but there is
no gurantee. I personally equipped it on the air when I used her, but if you
try and feint to see where she has it equipped, it can really help you for the
rest of the battle.
So that's the bad news, she can really put a damper on your magic slingling
fest, so you need to be careful... a LOT more careful than with Firion because
she has the possibility of using it both air and ground. Meteor's random
nature should still work nicely for you. The good thing is that CoD is pretty
poor at dealing brave damage, she relies on her various types of HP attacks to
fight, so she won't be hitting you for too much, hopefully.
However, aside from that, you're pretty safe. As said earlier, she relies on
her wide array of HP attacks, none of which really threaten you (aside from
[Wrath] at your long range. She *DOES* have long range attacks, but they do
have quite a start-up so you should be able to interrupt them, even on
reaction, before they reach you. [Fusillade] Particle Beam (aerial move) is
where she launches out several dark orbs that spread out then home in towards
you. This move comes out a lot slower than in the Japanese version,
thankfully, so this one isn't a problem. [Long-Range] Particle Beam (ground
move) does come out faster and it does travel pretty fast, so it might be
harder for you to interrupt on reaction. Keep in mind that if you do dodge it
early on, it can loop around and hit you from behind because it can make turns
very well. It does cover quite a bit of height above CoD, but it won't hit
ANYTHING below CoD's level when she casts it so you can basically just drop
down (if possible) a little bit, then hit her while she deals with the
cooldown.
Aside from those two, there isn't much else to really bother you. You might
want to watch out for [Feint] Particle Beam. CoD sinks into the ground, then
reappears a distance away, and detonates a large ball of darkness a bit in
front of her. It does have a start-up during the disappearence part, but she
launches the ball surprisingly quickly and the total distance travelled during
the warp and the distance the ball is from CoD adds up, so she can move in a
lot faster than you think. It's a lot like Tidus' dodge & attack moves, albeit
slower.
The rest of her HP attacks are limited to close range or are extremely easy to
see coming if she attempts to hit you with it at long range (*cough* Aura Ball
*cough*).
As for brave attacks, there isn't much to worry you at long range. Just keep
in mind, though she only has one aerial and one ground brave attack, they each
have three variations depending on the length of time between the first button
press and the second. Her aerial long range attack has her launch two purple
orbs that travel pretty slowly, have poor track, and deal pathetic damage if
they manage to hit. You should be able to interrupt this easily. Her ground
long range move is a bit better. It's pretty much the same as Firion's Thunder
magic, but it's dark lightning. You can dodge it by just moving a bit as small
erm... dark spots appear above you before they shoot the lightning. It's also
kinda obvious to what attack CoD may be using when you're at long range as she
doesn't have any other options that can hit you once she starts the tentacle
swinging.
If she starts a bravery attack when she's in close range, just block so you
can score a free hit when she's stunned. On the off chance she tries to fake
you out and uses one of the long range variations (which don't come out as
fast), you might be able to dodge or block again in time if you blocked
quickly when she started the tentacle swinging. The lightning does have a
longer start-up, so that should be easier to deal with. Worst come to worse,
she deals fairly pathetic bravery damage to you.I'll mention though that on
the ground, the second stage of her bravery attack has surprisingly long range
and shoots out super fast. It's better to try and block at mid range in this
case, especially since the lightning does have a start-up so you do have a
chance to dodge on a guard whiff.
So, when it comes down to it, you need to ease up on the magic casting and
kinda play a bit of hit and run, block and counter if she tries to use brave
attacks, and use Meteor and HP attacks if she's tossing out [Wrath] Particle
Beam a lot. The best thing to remember is that she relies HEAVILY on HP
attacks and even though she does have a huge variety of them, her attacks
still do suffer from start-up and/or cooldown, so take advantage of that as
well as there will be lots of opportunities for it throughout the match.
However, in Exmode, she can spam the crap out of her HP attacks so keep your
distance and beware because it'll be harder to get an opening.
Overall, I'd say it's a fairly reasonable match-up, though it does tip in
CoD's favour, so don't slack and be prepared!
=====================================
G. Cecil [CEC7]
=====================================
Now comes Cecil. Playing against him is a bit different than most other
characters because of his ability to switch between two seperate forms, each
with their own set of bravery attacks (HP attacks are shared). Thus, he does
have more attacks to deal with as well as two forms that play fairly
differently. His Dark Knight form is slower and depends on ground combat. He
also deals some pretty heavy damage in this form. His Paladin form is a lot
faster and does really well in the air but is limited on the ground.
So it's not as tricky as it seems at first, since each form is clearly meant
for a different situation, you likely won't be fighting Paladin Cecil on the
ground and such. It does make him a bit adaptable, but it's not to much of a
problem for Terra. Note he switches forms by using HP attacks (air HP attacks
turn him into Paladin, ground into Dark Knight) and one move in each form so
he does need to use an attack to swap except in Exmode when he can do it
freely.
Anyways, out of the two, his Dark Knight form is surprisingly hard to deal
with because of its ranged options. Dark Cannon is the main one to look out
for as it has a far reach and is somewhat wide as well. It pulls you towards
Cecil which leaves you open for Valiant Blow or Shadow Lance for some serious
hurting in the brave department, or Souleater for some decent brave damage
ending with an HP attack. It deflects magic at the start-up, so it's a bit
tricky to interrupt. It does travel in a straight line, though, and is pretty
slow and obvious. As long as he doesn't catch you in the middle of an attack,
you should be able to avoid it. You still need to keep an eye out for it as it
leads into other attacks and can hit you at your range. However, if you are
just at the peak of it's range, you'll take damage but won't always get pulled
in.
Aside from that, Shadow Lance hits to about mid range, but is significantly
weaker when you get hit at mid range with it rather than at short range. His
Gravity Ball and Paladin Arts attacks (they both look the game) cover about
mid range as well and can combo, but they are so incredibly slow and obvious
as well as extremely easy to reflect that it shouldn't even bother you. Aside
from that, he also has Dark Flame, an HP attack that hits about mid-long
range. Pillars of dark flames slowly burst up towards you, tracking you both
vertically and horizontally. However, they move slowly and so you can
interrupt it before it reaches you. I also find that it won't always reach
Terra if she's a good distance away. It really only takes one backflip dodge
to get out of range from Terra's normal distance anyways.
As for Paladin Cecil, the only long range attack with noting is Searchlight.
He sends out some weird thing that will track you then go pew pew pew. It's
got great range and tracking but is incredibly slow so you can interrupt him
no problem... or just dodge or block it, it's not that hard. Do note that if
he does hit you with it, he can follow up with Paladin Force (HP attack) right
away regardless of range and it's unavoidable! However, it requires that he
actually hits with Searchlight and he must use Paladin Force right away while
you are hit by the lasers (it won't combo after the lasers end).
His Saints Fall HP attack does cover a bit of range too, but it's got a long
start-up and really weird tracjectory that makes it a royal pain to hit with.
It's pretty much the opposite of OK's Firaga in how, by the time the charge
reaches you, he'll arc up into the air, right above you, and whiff. It's
quite comical if it ever happens to you, really.
However, despite Paladin Cecil having poor ranged options, he is very nimble
and is good at closing the distance with his strong aerial movement. His
Radiant Wings bravery attack is the main threat. It's probably his strongest
brave attack in Paladin form in terms of damage and covers a surprising
distance as he spins towards you. His spin also deflects some of your attacks,
so watch out for this move especially. When he moves in, this move can cover
the rest of the distance fairly easily, and brush off some of your attempts
at smacking him away (like Blizzara). It comes out fast too, so this is where
you might want to practice deterring such rushes with Tornado, Meltdown, and
Blizzard Combo.
When it comes down to it, fighting Cecil's two forms isn't that complicated.
Because he can't easily switch on the go, you pretty much know what to expect
at any time during the battle just by looking at what form he is in. Having an
appropriate strategy ready for either form is the best way to handle him and
allows you to keep one step ahead of him. Despite having two forms that play
differently, he isn't twice as versitile as other characters because his
attacks are fairly limited on their own in each form so he would actually be
pretty weak if he were stuck to a single form. His style relies on switching
between his forms, so as long as you know how to deal with each one and you
are prepared for it, you shouldn't be overwhelmed.
Overall, I'd say this match-up favours Terra a bit. Though it isn't as big of
an advantage as other melee characters, it's still there, so just play smart
and learn to deal with his form changing and you'll do well.
=====================================
H. Golbez [GOL7]
=====================================
Ugh, Golbez is a real pain regardless of what character you use against him.
Overall he is an extremely strong character and he can be a bit frustrating to
fight sometimes so you really need to be on the top of your game for this one.
Golbez specializes in attacks that hit both close range and mid range, thus
his attacks have two parts and most of them come out incredibly fast. Four out
of six of his brave attacks also chain into the Cosmic Ray HP attack which
only adds to the annoyance. Ambush System (where he sends three orbs to fire
their lasers at you) and Gravity Force (you should never see a human player
use this, it's absolutely horrendous because it's easy to see coming) are the
two brave attacks that don't chain.
Aside from his chain attacks, he only has TWO other normal HP attacks, but
they are fairly good. His ground one is Night Glow. It's more of a pain for
melee characters as if he starts it as you try to attack him close range,
you'll be stunned, take brave damage, then eat the HP attack. For Terra, it
has slow start-up so it's easy to interrupt and it's not even that hard to
dodge. It does work at long ranges though, but it's pretty bad in those cases.
It does almost always cause ceiling crash damage when it hits, however, so it
can really hurt.
His other HP attack, Genesis Rock is a real pain because of it's absolutely
messed up hitbox. When he summons the rocks, even if I'm not anywhere near
him, I have been hit by the rock and dragged towards him for the rest of the
attack. It does happen rarely, but it's really annoying when it does happen
because you're like "wtf, how did it hit me when I'm not even close!" It's a
shame SE didn't change that from the Japanese version, but alas, what's done
is done. Anyways, assuming you don't randomly get stuck in this attack, it's
not to hard for Terra to deal with it. It's a close range attack mostly,
though at the end Golbez does launch the rocks outwards, but the farther you
are, the more spread out they are and thus less likely to hit you. That's
irrelevent though, as you can just smack him with Flood or Thundara while the
rocks spin around. He is also vulnearable to Meteor at the begining, so if
you're keeping up the pressure, he won't get to pull the move off. Also, I
think Tornado stomps the crap out of this attack, or at least protects you
from the rocks when they shoot out. If you hit him with Tornado while the
rocks are spinning, I think both moves get cancelled, but I'll have to test
that out and get back to you.
Anyways, now onto his brave attacks. In the air, he has pretty pathetic range,
so you're pretty safe when he is there. Remember that when you use Air Dash,
you need to land before you can just a ground move, even if you used Air Dash
when you were standing on the ground. Keeping this in mind, you now know he
only has close range options directly after rushing, so a block can stop him
dead if he gets close as well as Blizzard Comboing him in the face (but use it
early because his two usable aerial attacks are quick). Tornado is a very good
option as well, because if he tries to use Genesis Rock instead of a bravery
attack, you'll get him. You just need to be careful though, because his brave
attacks in the air can hit you during your Tornado start up, so don't spam and
become predictable!
On the ground is where he has his ranged attacks. Ambush System (the three
lasers) will hunt you down and pew pew pew at you. However, a simple side
dodge once they stop moving actually puts you in a spot where all three will
miss. They can also be dashed through, so if you see it coming, dash at Golbez
(if you have Omni Air Dash or Free Air Dash) and attack during the lag.
Glare Hand hits more around the short-mid range, so it's not gonna hit you if
you keep your normal distance and he can't dash and hit you with it because it
is ground only, so this one isn't too much of a worry. Rise Wave is more of a
problem, however, because it DOES create a pillar of dark flames at mid-long
range which is right around the area Terra will be. The pillar does linger for
a couple of seconds, too, so make sure not to run into it or else Golbez can
(but won't always) continue the combo. The pillar appears only a certain
distance away from Golbez, so if you are before it's range or beyond it,
you're safe (assuming you aren't close enough to Golbez that he backhands you
into it). Therefore, the best way to deal with this attack is by fighting
closer to Golbez (which puts you in range of Glare Hand) or by moving farther
away from him which is easier said than done. The latter is obviously the
better choice, so try and use Meltdown or the stage to create some space.
Rise Wave is really your biggest enemy in this fight, so you really need to do
all you can to prevent Golbez from connecting with it. Remember that it's a
ground only move, so spending more time in the air is a good option in this
fight, especially since your air game is superior to his. Rise Wave does cover
quite a bit of vertical distance, though, so don't just float a bit above the
ground. Make a lot of use of Meltdown, not only to create that extra space,
but also as a formidable offensive attack in the air. If you try to make the
fight air heavy, Meltdown is a staple; it's pretty much your aerial "Meteor."
Using Meltdown as a distraction to launch Holy Combo is a good way to go, so
if you're having trouble dealing with Rise Wave on the ground, go to the
skies.
Golbez can be a tough and annoying opponent and your strategy depends soley on
how well you can deal with Rise Wave. Don't be afraid to stray away from the
ground and Meteor if you're finding that Rise Wave isn't giving you a chance
to attack. Worse come to worse, you may have to stick to a mostly aerial
assault. I suggest you do practice dealing with Rise Wave though, otherwise if
you rely on air combat all the time, you are a bit limited, even if you are
better in the air than Golbez. That's not to say you can't spend a lot of the
time in the air, but if Golbez has got you so you can't do anything on the
ground, you're not in a good spot.
The stage can really make or break you in this match. Stages where there are
small footholds on lots of different altitudes (such as Planets Core and
Ultimecia's Castle) are your friend because Rise Wave isn't as effective there
so you can use your ground attacks a lot easier. If you find a nice small
perch, you can Meteor away without risk of Rise Wave interrupting you because
of the lack of solid ground for Golbez to launch it from (and still hit you).
Overall, this match is not gonna be easy and it favours Golbez in most cases.
As said before, though, if you can deal with Rise Wave or at least play on a
favourable stage like the ones I mentioned, you can weaken or even nullify
the advantage.
=====================================
I. Bartz [BAR7]
=====================================
Bartz is unique in that his attacks involve elements of the nine other Cosmos
heroes so you're gonna see parts of attacks from various types of characters,
not to mention two of Terra's very own attacks. Because of this, Bartz
preforms well at close range but also has some long range options thanks to
Terra.
The two moves he gets are Holy (NOT Holy Combo, though it does chain) and
Flood. Phew! I bet you were crossing your fingers that it wasn't Meteor,
right? In fact, the lack of Meteor and Dualcast really hurts Bartz's use of
both these attacks, but he can still attack and interrupt you at your range,
so keep that in mind. Seeing as they are your attacks, you should be pretty
adapt at handling them, so I shouldn't have to say too much. His Holy does
chain into Flare, though it's not Terra's Flare, but Onion Knight's, which
means it's an HP attack with a little bit of brave damage before. Of course,
it's kinda difficult for him to actually land a hit with Holy, but do watch
out; if you're too haphazard with your attcking, you can get burned by your
own attacks.
Aside from that, he also has Reel Impulse which starts with Firion's axe throw
from Reel Axe and finishes, once the axe brings you to Firion, with a couple
of hits from Zidane's daggers before launching you away rather than the normal
spear combo at the end. You deal with this the same as Firion's move, pretty
much, seeing as it's range and such are the same. It still guard breaks and
travels a good distance but only in a straight line and only tracks before he
throws the axe. Good news is that it doesn't chain directly into an HP attack,
so that's always nice.
He also has Climbarrel which starts with Cloud's charge from Climhazzard and
finishes with the last three stabs from Squall's Solid Barrel rather than
hitting you up into the air. It covers a pretty decent distance, like Cloud's
Climhazzard, but has a slight start-up and even though the actual charge is
fast, at your range, you should be able to see it coming and act accordingly.
Also, though he's not as swift in the air as Zidane is, he's got Storm Shot
which has the same begining as Zidane's Storm Impulse which moves fast, has
good tracking, and covers quite some distance (and deflects some of your
projectiles). It ends with a single hard kick, Tidus style. Good thing is,
Storm Impulse (and thus Storm Shot) has become a bit tamer since the Japanese
version. It now doesn't follow you after you dodge but rather stays at the
spot you dodged from. This means it's easier to actually get away from it,
rather than dodging and STILL getting hit by it cuz of it's long duration and
crazy tracking. It will still track you if you DON'T dodge, though. Look out
for this one as it's fast and can really close the space between you and him
faster than you think.
Finally, the last brave move you need to look out for is Slidehazzard. It
beings with the swooping strike from Tidus' Full Slide, follows up with the
second hit, then ends with the last two hits of Cloud's Climhazzard, smashing
you into the ground. The main thing to worry about is the big swoop he takes
at the begining of the attack. He travels a good distance, though it does have
a start-up so like with Climbarrel, by the time it actually reaches you
(assuming he uses it at mid range) you should have time to react. The swoop
also has an odd trajectory and can hit away your projectiles.
As for HP attacks, aside from Flood, he's got poor options for ranged attacks.
He has Cecil's Souleater and Paladin Force, but without Dark Cannon and
Searchlight, respectively, he's gonna have a lot more trouble landing a hit
with those compared to Cecil. While these three HP attacks are worse on him as
on the original characters due to lack of certain moves, Wind Shear doesn't
suffer from this and is just as effective as OK's. If you remember from OK's
section, Wind Shear can reflect your projectiles right back at you, so watch
out for it.
Also, in Exmode he gains a special HP attack, Goblin Punch. It has short range
but comes out INSANELY fast and can really hurt if you and him are at equal
levels (which is likely). You need to watch out for Bartz in Exmode, as he can
rush you and pull out this move very quickly.
Bartz is a complicated guy to fight because of his mix of attacking styles.
He's also got a lot of options for ranged attacks and he is one of the faster
characters in the game. That said, his HP attack game is pretty weak so you
can relax a bit there (still watch out for Holy->Flare). You'll be dealing
with his ranged attacks the same way you'd deal with Full Slide, Climhazzard,
Storm Impulse, and Reel Axe depending on the move, so if you are familiar with
these moves then things should be a lot easier. The tricky thing is that
Bartz is capable of using any of these, while some of the characters, like
Firion, only have you worrying about that one particular attack.
Those brave attacks can really close the distance between you and him, too, so
you'll need to do whatever you can to these approaches. The attacks are all
fairly punishable on a whiff and possible to block on reaction (cept for Reel
Impulse which breaks guard). Basically, the key to thise match is to watch
Bartz closely. If he gets a chance to pull off an attack, since most of these
attacks will deflect your projectiles, you'll need to stop casting and be
prepared to dodge and/or counter once things start looking dangerous.
Overall, Bartz is one of the tougher melee characters to deal with because of
his sheer diversity in attack styles. However, he suffers from a poor HP
attack game which you can easily take advantage of if he attempts to go on the
offense with HP attacks. Use these openings as chances to gain control of the
match and thus prevent his bravery attacks from getting pulled off. This is a
fairly even match up, though it probably tips a bit in Terra's favour.
=====================================
J. Exdeath [EXD7]
=====================================
Oh joy, Exdeath. Remember Firion and Cloud of Darkness being able to counter
your brave attacks, causing you a bit of distress? Well here comes the final
character capable of these types of counters, and, following the pattern of
getting progressively harder to deal with, his the worst of em all! The evil
tree is capable of countering even your HP attacks and can counter with either
brave attacks or an HP attack of his own. Luckily, however, Terra doesn't
suffer the higher rate of criticals when stagged because guarding won't
stagger her attacks (aside from Blizzard Combo and I suppose Tornado).
I will note, however, that Terra is lucky enough to have an attack that not
even Exdeath can block completely, and that's Flood, but I'll get more into
that in a second.
There really is no point going over any of his normal attacks. They are deadly
and much better when used after a successful block, but if he tries using them
offensively... they are absolutely terrible. They are VERY slow and are VERY
easy to guard, dodge, block, and/or counter. You can try to force Exdeath to
make a move first and then punish it but that makes for a long boring stall
match as most Exdeath players won't even bother as Exdeath really can't do
much outside of countering.
He does have Black Hole which you can't dash through anymore. It sucks you in
and deals constant brave damage, leaving you open for an attack. His teleport
is easy to see coming, though sorta hard to predict as, while the move itself
travels slowly, the actually teleportation once he finds a spot is very fast.
You also can't block it anymore as it will cause you to stagger. He also has
Delta Attack which is much like WoL's Shield of Light. It's pretty much the
same, really. He blocks any incoming attacks (cept most HP attacks) and then
deals HP damage. These three moves are his only hope of offensive and they all
don't bother Terra at all if she's at mid-long range. Thus, it is possible to
simply spam Flood or just punish Exdeath when he tries to use those three
moves or if the player gives in and uses his crappy attacks. This isn't a fun
way to play, though.
So, Exdeath is gonna be using two guards. There's red shield one which covers
his front and can be held up forever (though cooldown time greatly increases
the longer you hold it) which blocks pretty much every brave attack and some
HP attacks (does it block Meltdown or Tornado? I'm not sure >_>). He also has
one that blocks every single attack you have (except Flood) but it's only up
for a split second (way shorter than a normal block) which makes it insanely
difficult to pull off unless your attack is predictable. He can "charge" it as
long as he wants, but when he releases the guard, it'll be the exact same, so
it's really only to use when waiting for a projectile or slow attack or
something. If you see him charging it, don't use anything other than Flood.
Okay, so the trick to this battle is feinting. If you can trick Exdeath into
throwing up the red guard, you've got him in a tricky spot. He can either let
go of the guard right away so he doesn't suffer a long cooldown, or he can
keep it up expecting you to expect him to drop the guard after a whiff. Now
it's up to you to decide when you should attack. Or... you could just use
Flood. Mixing Flood up with an attack like Meteor can really screw with the
players head, which is your best bet for this match. In the end, it all comes
down to mind games and feints. Using Flood a lot when he whiffs the High Block
is gonna make him take down High Block right away next time, so next time use
Meteor and get a combo off. That's just an example, though.
Meltdown's usage really depends on if his High Block stops it. I'll have to
look into it. If it doesn't, then Meltdown is deadly as it'll take insane
reflexes for an Exdeath player to use Omni Block against stage 1, and if he
expects stage 1 and you use stage 2 (and likewise with stage 2 and 3), the
cooldown from Omni Block will screw him over.
Also, using Meteor and Holy Combo as fast as possible (Holy Combo in Exmode
applies too) can mess up Exdeath players as well. If they initiate the counter
prematurely, they can still get hit by any stray Holys or Meteors if they
don't time it right. Not to mention the Holy orbs travel at different speeds,
so that can also mess them up.
It's really hard to write a guide against Exdeath, though. It really depends
on the player. Exdeath is hard to use and takes great reflexes and
understanding so you might be able to get away with some attacks, though an
amazing Exdeath player can wreck you if he knows what he is doing. The battle,
as I said before, really just comes down to mind games and feints. You need to
be patient and think things through. Flood is a great weapon, even though it's
predictable and doesn't have the greatest range, it only takes one screw up
for it to hit. Not to mention it also gives you an opportunity to attack if
Exdeath takes too long to dodge and also is the key to your mind games.
Exmode might also help just because of the sheer pressure Terra can exert with
those insane amounts of attacks. Because of this pressure, it's more likely an
Exdeath player might mess up and use the wrong guard, whiff a guard, or
initiate a counter to early and get hit by a spell before they can hit you.
Flood is also very deadly in Exmode. The Graviga->Meteor->Holy Combo->Ultima
combo (see [COM5] for details) can also work quite well to those who don't
expect it or know about it. The overlapping Meteor and Graviga can be
extremely difficult for an Exdeath player to deal with and once you land that,
you can pull off the rest of the combo with ease and if that doesn't end the
match, it'll certainly put you very close to victory.
I would say this match-up favours Exdeath, but in reality, this match really
depends on the players more than anything. If you are great with mindgames and
feints and really know what you're doing, you can surely beat an Exdeath
player. This is one of the more trying battles, so be at your best for this!
=====================================
K. Terra [TER7]
=====================================
Erm... it's kinda hard to put much here. Mirror matches are a pain, usually.
You should be familiar with every single one of the moves that you'll be
facing, so I really shouldn't have to say much about how to avoid or counter
them (unless you're not a very good Terra player... =P).
Seeing as you and your opponent are identical, the battle comes down to things
like equipment, accessories, summons, and of course, the players skill and
strategy. All I can really say is that it comes down to whichever player is
better or at least has a better strategy to handle the battle. Try playing
Terra a bit differently like playing up close with Blizzard Combo (which can
knock projectiles away if you remember) and things like that.
You need to do what you can to outplay the other person but also take the
oppourtunity to watch how they play as well. You might be able to learn
something like new combos or different playstyles and techniques you might
want to incorporate.
Other than that, there isn't much more I can say unfortunately. Besides, if I
said anything here, it could always be used against you too, so it's best for
you to figure things out for yourself and just outplay the other Terra. Terra
is very good at interrupting herself and oh man are there gonna be a lot of
Meteors dropping in this match...
Overall, I'd say the advantage goes to Terra. However, you shouldn't under
estimate Terra as she can certainly gain the upper hand against Terra if you
don't watch out. Not funny? I didn't think so.
=====================================
L. Kefka [KEF7]
=====================================
Ah, your nemesis, Kefka. Despite that, though, Terra completely outclasses
Kefka. While his magic does move more erratically than Terra's, he has
horrible lag on most of his attacks and lacks anything like Terra's Meteor to
help him land attacks. Also, every. single. one. of his brave attacks can be
dashed through, so you might actually want to equip Free Air Dash instead of
Reverse.
Kefka is still a mage though, therefore he does have attacks that can hit you
at range. He only has TWO brave attacks, however, that don't originate from
him, so with factoring in the lag, he's not as good at interrupting you as you
are to him. It's also nice that you don't have to try as hard to create space
as Kefka likes making space as well, though he might think twice before he
does so against Terra.
His Ultima and his rolling Blizzaga attack are jokes. The former is only close
range, but you can dash through the explosions (however not the small ball,
oddly enough). The latter only moves on the ground and has incredibly long
start up so I don't see how you can't interrupt it in time, but if you somehow
don't, just jumping into the air is good enough to avoid it.
His two Firaga attacks are slightly tougher to deal with. The one that shoots
out three can be dashed through easily, but has quite some start-up so you
could always interrupt it before it even reaches you. His second one has
insane start-up, but if you get hit by it, it stuns you and deals damage for
quite a while leaving you open to other attacks. It tracks you pretty
erradically and changes size. You can dash through it win it's small but not
when it's big. It always starts off small, so if you rush him during the long
start-up, you can actually reflect it with your dash and really screw Kefka
over as it starts chasing after him. Otherwise, it takes little effort to
interrupt this super slow attack.
The two brave attacks that don't originate from Kefka is one of the Thundagas
and his Meteor. Both all suffer from a long start-up and are easily dashed
through. The Thundaga will follow you as you move, but dashing to Kefka and
hitting him during his lag will end the attack. It's hard to interrupt it
otherwise when it starts up, but the attack leaves him really open for a dash
and a Blizzard Combo or Tornado. Meteor won't follow you once it appears.
Basically five orbs drop down then bounce up towards you. Because of this, the
attack takes a moment to actually HIT you once it appears. Dash through it or
just... move away.
His other Thundaga is actually something you need to look out for. He shoots a
very fast row of small lightning bolts in a straight line towards you. Unlike
his other attacks, this move is faster, but the lightning bolts are short and
thus have pretty poor vertical range. Dodging to the sides works because, like
other straight line attacks like Reel Axe, the move doesn't track you once
it's released. He has some cooldown after this and the move can be dashed
through anytime. Also, Kefka can only really be a threat with this if he's on
the same vertical plane as you, so if you're higher or lower than him, you
don't have to worry.
His other Blizzaga shouldn't be too much of a problem. He shoots a big block
of ice a few spaces in front of him, then after a moment, it shatters and the
shards fly after you. If you dash through or guard the big block, the move
will be reflected and fly towards him. The block comes out pretty fast which
can cause problems for close range combat, but shouldn't bother Terra at all.
It shouldn't be a problem to interrupt in that case because it takes a moment
to shatter and you shouldn't be close enough to get stunned by the big block.
As for HP attacks, there isn't much to worry about there. Havoc Wing is close
range and has noticeable start-up. His wings have surprising range however,
and linger for a moment, so be careful if you try and close in when he misses.
To be safe, just don't. It's not like you don't have long range options
anyways. Hyperdrive is also a joke. It has a long start-up and travels in a
straight line on the ground. Deal with it the same way you would his rolling
ball Blizzaga, it's slower on the start-up but faster travelling. Keep in mind
that it can chase you into the air if he charges the move for a while. If you
actually LET him charge it that long, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Seriously.
Forsaken Null is terrible as well. It has a long start-up and really shouldn't
cause you any problems. He starts dropping giant exploding balls of staticy
doom, but they orb dropping thing starts from him and moves slowly. If you're
close enough that the first orb or two actually threatens you, you should've
already Blizzard Combo'd or Tornado his face into the closest wall or ceiling.
If you're at long range, you can probably go beat FFVI Advance then come back
and interrupt him, or just time a dash between the drops.
Trine is the only HP attack that might be a threat. It has incredibly long
range, but has a bit of a start-up and can be dodged just by jumping or
dodging up. It can really get you if you are dashing or something and don't
notice that he casted it (despite the darker screen, the "ting" noise, the
attack name showing up, and his quote). Three triangles surround you and move
in towards you. However, the triangles won't follow you that far. This can
really only pose a problem if you're charging Meltdown as Meteor would
interrupt the attack before Trine hits you and I don't know why you'd use
Meteor on reaction to him using Trine. I say Meteor because every other attack
ends quicker and you can probably still dodge Trine if you cast Meteor at the
same time as you can just dodge out of Meteor.
So the main attacks to look out for is his straight line Thundaga and Trine.
Everything else is really just to slow or easy to deal with to actually pose a
threat. Despite him being a mage as well, it's actually pretty easy to control
the match against him not only because you'll likely get the space you need,
but because all of his attacks are a lot slower than yours and if he tries to
rush you, your close range game is ALSO superior to his.
Honestly, Kefka is pretty much just a worse version of Terra, in gameplay and
looks (infinitely worse, in that department, really). That said, his Exmode
does improve him quite a bit. His moves get a lot harder to handle once they
come out, but his Exmode does nothing to actually speed up his attacks, so he
needs to get his moves out to actually cause you problems. In a battle of
Exmodes, Terra will for sure win. She can control tha match insanely well in
Exmode which means Kefka is gonna have trouble getting out a single attack.
However, that's not to say you don't need to watch out, if he gets a chance,
he can really hustle you with his attacks in Exmode, so don't give him the
chance.
Overall, Terra's got the advantage, a good one at that. She's the better mage.
Just learn how to deal with the few attacks that can actually be useful and
you'll do well. Terra is the natural mage while Kefka is synthetically capable
of magic, so it makes sense why she's so much better ;).
=====================================
M. Cloud [CLO7]
=====================================
Ah, here comes Cloud, the poster boy for Final Fantasy. He gets a lot of love
and recently, a lot of hate, but that's neither here nor there. That said, I
quite like him, but I like Tidus and Terra more. Erm... anyways...
Cloud is pretty simple as far as melee characters go. He lacks in the ranged
attack deparment and has some slow and predictable attacks as well as a subpar
air game. That said, his attacks hit like a truck filled with more trucks and
not to mention most of his attacks cause crash damage meaning you'll suffer
1.5x as much damage as normal for that hit which isn't as bad for brave
attacks as it is for HP attacks. He might have a good deal of trouble landing
a hit, but he certainly doesn't have to land that many to beat you down, so
beware. His Exmode is also very deadly, but I'll get to that soon.
On the ground, he has the three levels of Fire magic. Fire has great homing
and range, but moves painstakingly slow so it's not gonna bother you. Fira
moves faster and hits more times, but has shorter range. It might bother you a
bit, but it's really not super fast. Firaga moves quicker, but has very short
range so it shouldn't bother you most of the time. It shoots three fireballs,
however, that spread out and can hit multiple times, though it's deadlier if
you get hit right in front of him. This one shouldn't bother you much either,
so Fira is the main one to look out for. It's easily reflected and all of them
end if he gets hit and since controlling the match against him isn't
difficult, you can really prevent this attacks from getting to you as they
have a slight start-up.
He also has Climhazzard which is a straight line charge that then hits you
into the air once it reaches you, then smacks you back down. However, most
people will dodge out of it at the peak of the attack and go into Slashing
Blow which chains into Omnislash ver 5. This combo can REALLY hurt, it's
Cloud's version of your Meteor->Holy Combo->Ultima, pretty much. It has a lot
of brave hits before the final HP attack (which also can cause crash damage
very easily) and this can really hurt Terra since she's not exactly a tank.
Climhazzard does cover some distance, but, like most of Cloud's attacks, is
pretty slow, moreso if you're a good distance away (thus you should see it
coming before it hits). It IS one of his faster attacks, though. Look out for
it because it's one of his better and deadlier options.
As well, he has Blade Beam, though it's range isn't that much better than
Firaga. It moves much faster, but only travels in a straight line. So like
Firion's Reel Axe (and other such moveS), Cloud only aims the beam before he
launches it, so it's tracking isn't that good. It can be blocked, but it's a
lot faster than his other ranged options, so do beware. It's got better
vertical range than Climhazzard, too, and leads into chase. A simple side
dodge should be enough to avoid it, leaving you ready to punish Cloud.
Finally, last move on the ground to worry about is Meteorain, an HP attack. It
comes out faster than it did before, but it's still not that hard to see
coming. Seeing as the meteors launch down at a downward angle from Cloud, the
meteors will miss you if you just go straight into the air. Dodging forward,
however, will put you in the path of the meteors, so don't do that. Really,
just a back dodge or jump in the air to avoid the attack, then punish the
cooldown lag that this move has. If you're maintaing control, Cloud likely
won't get to use this.
In the air, Cloud's got pretty poor options for range. He has no bravery
attacks that can threaten you at range, though Slashing Blow does chain into
Omnislash ver 5, so watch for that out of a dash. He only has one HP attack in
the air, but it's a good one. Braver has great priority and will cut right
through your attacks (though it does have a bit of a start-up, so you can hit
him then). It covers a good distance as well, though it doesn't travel as fast
as Climhazzard. It has fairly good tracking, too. However, I believe it
doesn't break through Tornado anymore, so you can put that up if you see this
attack. If you're in range, you can also back dodge to move out of range, then
charge up Meltdown to smack him as he recovers from the whiff.
That's about it. Though it seems like Cloud does have some ranged options,
most players will only use one of Fire/Fira/Firaga/Blade Beam in most cases.
Climhazzard will always be there, though. Meteorain isn't used that much,
either, but Braver will for sure be equipped. However, Cloud is slow, both in
attack speed and movement speed, so Terra has a pretty easy time smacking him
around and controlling the flow of the battle. You really shouldn't have too
much trouble stopping him from getting near, but if he does, a block or a
dodge can let you escape or punish and knock him away from the lag.
There isn't much to this match. His attacks can really take a chunk out of
your HP and brave, so don't underestimate him even if you've got quite a
cushion in the match. It takes about one Climhazzard->Slashing Blow->Omnislash
ver 5 to cut away at your brave and HP and even things up. Just don't let up
with the magic, and Cloud really has no good way to approach you aside from
Braver if he gets it off, but you can easily punish it.
HOWEVER, I will mention his Exmode. In it, all of his attacks become
UNBLOCKABLE. Yes, they will smash through your guards and outprioritize your
brave attacks (namely Blizzard Combo). Tornado still works, though. Just
remember to stick to dodging when he is in Exmode, don't make the mistake of
blocking on reflex because not only will he break your guard, but his attacks
get powered up depending on how much HP he has. His attacks already hurt, so
the higher power and crit rate will REALLY wreck you. Be very careful when he
is in Exmode. If you play a bit more defensively and be prepared to dodge when
he starts getting close, you can avoid unneccessary skewerings.
Aside from that, Terra's got a nice big advantage here, so make use of it and
just sling spells like no tomorrow. You can control this match easy as long as
you know what to look out for. Remember, Cloud might have trouble reaching
you, but if you slip up at any point, Cloud can really deal a lot of damage
with just one combo, so don't try anything stupid.
=====================================
N. Sephiroth [SEP7]
=====================================
While Sephiroth is mainly a melee character, he's a bit different than the
rest. One look at his oversized sword kinda gives it away though. That is,
he's got a lot longer range with his melee attacks than what you're used to
thus I will state right away that it's important you give him more space than
you usually do against melee characters. If you can keep this distance
throughout the match, you'll do fine. Just remember, about 1.5 dash length
rather than just 1 should be fine. It's a bit harder to get that much space,
so that's why this match is one of the more challenging melee matches.
However, Sephiroth's attacks tend to suffer from a serious case of Lagitus
(during the cooldown) so you can use those opportunities to make some space.
Now, onto his attacks. He has one magic attack, Shadow Flare (heh) that he
uses both on the ground and in the air. It's got great range, but it does take
a moment to hit. Four dark shiny things surround you, then after a moment,
close in on you. They follow you when they are still, but once they start
moving in, they don't anymore. It shouldn't cause you to many problems as it's
not fast enough for him to interrupt many of your attacks (aside from causing
a problem for Meltdown charging). It's easy to see coming, so you shouldn't
have a problem avoiding it, just keep an eye on Sephiroth, though, as he will
use this to distract you while he closes in.
Godspeed and Fervant Blow are essentially the same move. One is on the ground
while one is in the air. Sephiroth sends out several beams of energy and if
they hit, he'll charge at you and slash you. It's range is just a bit longer
than his melee range but it comes out slower than his normal melee hits. It
can be blocked and dashed through, however, when you're blocking, you'll have
to block more than once as, depending on the timing of your block, the beams
will outlast your block duration and the last few will hit you. I find
pressing R multiple times works as you can move and block again right away
after a successful block. If you press it really quickly, you can even reflect
a beam or two back at Sephiroth, stunning him and giving you a good chance.
However, make sure not to just wildly mash R, as if you block and there are no
beams left, you're stuck in that animation so you can't take advantage of his
stun (if you reflected a beam) or his cooldown.
The rest of his brave attacks are close range, though remember that close
range for Sephiroth is different than other characters.
As for HP attacks, Scintilla is nothing to worry about. It is a counter move,
but unlike Firion, CoD, and Exdeath, it's close range only and will ALWAYS use
the follow-up attack which is VERY slow and, while he can move quite a
distance during it, should be easy to see coming and thus very punishable. It
can be used in the air and on the ground.
Octaslash can be a bit of trouble as Sephiroth moves forward a good distance
and can deal quite a bit of brave damage beforehand. However, if you're
keeping your distance, you should this this one coming. Just dodge forward so
you go right over him, and he'll be very vulnerable as he goes off slashing
in the wrong direction. You can punish him like that, or if you have good
timing you can smack him between his slashes (if you're feeling dangerous). I
should think Tornado would eat up this attack, too. This move can also be used
in both the air and ground.
Hell's Gate really shouldn't bother you. It's not got that great of a range
and it's far too slow for him to dash up to you and use it. He if does try it,
you can easily avoid it, just be careful as he can set off the HP hit early,
but it's only after a bit of a descent so keep above him (or just dash away)
to avoid it. Terra's a lot more tougher than Aerith, Sephy =P.
Finally, Black Materia. It's a lot like your Meltdown in that it has three
stages. However, it's not even as close to as good as Meltdown, especially
against Terra. The first two stages drop a meteor downward from Sephiroth a
small distance in front of him. This only causes problems for melee characters
who try to rush in and interrupt him. Terra, however, can just set back and
enjoy the free chance to use a combo. If any Sephiroth is stupid enough to use
this on you, feel free to test out the Graviga combo, heheh. The final stage
slowly drops a large meteor above you, though it's actually not that hard to
avoid if you just keeping moving. However, you should never see it ever
because it takes an incredibly long time to fully charge and is very easy to
interrupt. Take it as a free hit.
That's all for attacks. The main thing you need to keep in mind when dealing
with Sephiroth is that you need to give him more space. He can hit you from
farther away than any other melee character so you need to remember that and
make sure you don't treat him like any other melee character (which can be
tough if it's become like second nature to you). If you can manage that, you
only really need to worry about Shadow Flare and possibly Octaslash. Sephiroth
doesn't exactly move slow either, though he's still not as fast as most Cosmos
characters. Take advantage of his laggy whiffs for either attacking
opportunities or distancing chances.
Overall, the match-up doesn't favour either side heavily, but it does lean in
your favour. Sephiroth is, however, one of the TOUGHEST melee characters for
Terra to face (aside from Firion and his Shield Bash) so don't treat him as
just another sword user and you won't find yourself in a lake in the Forgotten
City.
=====================================
O. Squall [SQU7]
=====================================
Now we've got Squall. His melee attacks are extremelly fast but suffer in the
range department (and variety, he only has 4, but some builds only have Solid
Barrel OR Upper Blues). He does have some magic attacks, but, aside from
Blizzard Barret, they only reach about mid range and shouldn't bother you too
much. He does have a fairly quick movement speed and has a couple of attacks
you really need to look out for.
First, the aforementioned Blizzard Barret. Squall shoots a single ice chunk
towards you. It hits only once for minor damage but has fairly strong
tracking. It moves at a medium speed as well, nowhere near as fast as your
Blizzara, though. Squall mainly uses it for pokes, pressure, and distractions,
though it doesn't work as well if you're at your normal range. He can just it
to interrupt your attacks, though, so you do need to watch out for it.
Especially watch out if he tries to follow it with Rough Divide.
Fullisade has Squall shoot a chunk of ice, fire, ice, fire, then finishes with
an attack similar to his Thunder Barret. While it looks cool, it's a pretty
bad move with fairly linear tracking (the fire and ice shots don't track as
well as individual Blizzard Barrets). Even if you get hit by the fire and ice,
the finally thunder attack is the same range as Thunder Barret, so you
shouldn't be hit by that, giving you a chance to recover. As well, Thunder
Barret draws you in towards Squall, leading right into his melee attacks. The
thunder in Fullisade, however, leads into chase. You won't see this attack
often and it really doesn't bother you much unless you somehow get caught in
close range and somehow can't escape this fairly slow attack.
Those moves are both ground only. As for the air, you should be careful with
Heel Crash. It can blast right through your magic and will stagger you if you
try to block it. As well, he can cancel out of it any time to fake you out.
However, it doesn't cover that great of a range. As well, though it comes out
fast, by the time it'll reach you, you'll have enough time to react. The main
threat is that it can block your spells as he closes distance on you, but
either he has to dodge out of it which slows him down a bit, or he follows
through with the attack, which you can avoid, slowing him down as well. If he
tries to fake you out, you can respond with Blizzard Combo, Tornado, or
Meltdown provided you have enough space.
He also has a magic combo attack in the air, Mystic Flurry. It's very slow and
covers mid range at best. He shoots out slow moving chunks of ice which move
out in all directions. You can dash through the attack if you want, though
Squall can fire up to 5 shots, so make sure your dash won't end you right into
one as it stuns you and leaves you pretty open to his attacks. Though I said
the move does have mid range, it takes a while for the blasts to actually
reach max range, so this attack isn't much to worry about. You can easily
smack him with Meteor during this.
As for HP attacks, Rough Divide can be a killer, but before that, I'll mention
Blasting Zone. Though it has fairly short range and is a little slow, it can
scoop you right out of the air if you are too close. On the ground you have
ample time to dodge it, but if you have less time to react in the air. This
only applies if you're relatively close to Squall, so just watch it when you
are charging Meltdown at close range.
Rough Divide is a real killer though. It does have a significant start-up, but
after that, Squall shoots across the stage VERY quickly and a VERY large
distance. The main problem is the huge distance it covers as it makes it hard
to consistently maintain your space. The good thing is the start-up time and
the cooldown lag on a whiff which makes it easy to see coming and punish or
try to recreate space. The CPU is a real pain with this because it tends to
use RD as soon as you try to use Meteor which makes it extremely hard to dodge
in time. Against a human, though, you only need to worry about the off chance
you use Meteor at the same time as them using RD as no human has the reflexes
of the CPU.
Squall can use Rough Divide in both the air and on the ground, but there are
key differences between them. First off, Squall shouts loudly, announcing the
attack, on the ground while he is silent in the air so you need to watch for
the telltale sudden rise in height for the air one. As well, the air version
has better tracking. While the ground one only shoots at the same downward
angle everytime (meaning you can also just jump to avoid it), the air version
can shoot at a variety of angles, even upwards. It can't do super sharp angles
though. Anything less than about 40 or so degrees is safe, so if you're close
to him, you can watch him just fly by (as long as you aren't IN FRONT of him,
of course xD). Finally, the air version covers a shorter distance, probably
two thirds of the ground one. This might seem like a good thing, but when the
ground one whiffs, Squall flies a good distance past you most times which
actually gives you some space. The aerial version, however, doesn't shoot as
far and thus even on a whiff, Squall will end up closer to you.
Rough Divide doesn't work very well when you're close, so you only need to
watch for it when you're a ways a way. His other HP attacks are very slow,
though, so they don't really threaten you that much aside from Blasting Zone
if you're in the air. Squall, unlike Sephiroth, can be treated more like a
normal melee character. However, his melee attacks do come out fast (you're
extremely unlikely to block one) so if he gets in close he can be dangerous.
Keep your distance as usual, and you only need to worry about Rough Divide.
Also, if you find the opponent is spamming RD, then don't be afraid to move in
close so then if he shoots past you, it's a HUGE opportunity to really put a
hurt on him since he gives you quite a bit of space and is stuck with the lag
from RD.
Just remember you can dodge out of Meteor early if you see a Rough Divide
coming. You can then follow up with Holy Combo out of the dodge and quickly
punish his downtime. Overall, the match-up favours Terra and as long as you
carefully watch his movements, you should do fine. Squall WILL destroy you in
close-quarters, though, so whatever you do, don't try to take him on there.
Oh yeah, and Rough Divide, while it is able to cut through a lot of attacks,
can NOT cut through Terra's Tornado ^^.
=====================================
P. Ultimecia [ULT7]
=====================================
Ahh, the rival female mage, Ultimecia. Her powers are no much for Terra's,
though *cough*. Anyways, like Kefka before, Ultimecia is gonna like making a
little space which makes things easier for you. However, her Knight's Sword
attacks are deadly in closer ranges, so she might not give you as much space
as you'd like. Ultimecia is very slow though, movement speed and attack
speed-wise, so it shouldn't be tough for you to get that extra space.
Ultimecia only has three brave attacks and three HP attacks, though they all
can be charged. This gives each of her brave attacks two different versions; a
charged and uncharged version. Seeing as she's also a mage, all her attacks
have fairly decent range and so I'll be mentioning all of them.
First of is Knight's Sword. The uncharged version comes out quick, but can be
blocked or dashed through and is not to damaging. It does have better tracking
than the charged version, though. You can also cut through the swords with
Blizzard Combo, so rushing in and using that is a viable option (so consider
Free Air Dash). The charged version has a more significant start-up and has
worse tracking and movement, but it can't be blocked or dashed through.
Blizzard Combo won't work either, but Tornado will (as long as you don't get
hit during the start-up). If you get hit by this close to Ultimecia, in can
REALLY REALLY hurt, so watch out. It's not exactly fast though. Both attacks
can be stopped and cancelled, so you need to be quick to take advantage of a
whiff. Once you find the maximum range of the attack, it can be quite easy to
predict and interrupt. It's about one dash length, your normal "safe"
distance, so stick around there for this move.
Next up is Knight's Axe. The uncharged version moves pretty fast and can
interrupt you pretty well. It's got better range and tracking than Knight's
Sword, so you really need to look out for this. She shoots out three small
blue axes which come together as they home in on you. They can be blocked or
dashed through. However, don't do a back dodge otherwise they might still hit
you. This is the main move to look out for as it will cause you the most
trouble. It's not super fast, however, so it's very managable. Just note that
because of the moves odd flying pattern, in can get around walls or other
obstacles, something that stops every single one of Ultimecia's other attacks.
The charged version has Ultimecia shoot out a single huge blue axe that slowly
spins towards you. It will guard crush, so don't try blocking. Just dodge
anywhere but backwards and you should be fine. Beware that it does bounce off
obstacles, though. However, it moves very slow as you shouldn't have trouble
interrupting Ultimecia and thus ending the attack. Quite opposite to it's
uncharged version, the charged version is probably her least effective attack
vs you.
Finally, wrapping up brave attacks is Knight's Arrow. The uncharged version
has her spam a bunch of purple arrows. They fly up in an arc then home in on
you. In levels with low ceilings (or if Ulty is near the roof), this attack is
useless. While this attack can really trap and hurt you, it's got a start up
time before the arrows actually hit you, and they can be blocked or dashed
through. Rushing her and Blizzard Comboing her works very well here as well.
While Meteor can end this attack, the arrows she has already let loose may
still hit you for a lose-lose situation, but it could be worse. The
move can actually be pretty easily avoided by just moving constantly, whether
it be by just jumping or running (with speed++). As for the charged version,
Ultimecia starts creating sets of two arrows, one on either side of her, that
stay motionless in the air. She will continue making these sets of arrows
until the attack ends or is interrupted. Interrupting the attack, however,
won't destroy the arrows. They stay dormant until a period of time passes,
then they start flying off at you. It's kinda like the Emperor's traps and
like the Emperor's traps, your magic can destroy them pretty easiler. Even
when they are unleashed, they can be easily blocked or dodged if you see them
coming. The real problem they create is that they can distract you or stun you
while Ultimecia uses some other attack. If you're worried about them, you can
use Tornado, Meltdown, Blizzard Combo, Blizzara, or Meteor (only if Ultimecia
is still in the area) to destroy them, but try not to waste too much effort or
else you'll be just as distracted as if the arrows were flying at you.
Overall, though, Ultimecia shouldn't be getting that many arrows made as Terra
is very capable of interrupting her. Also, to finish off this massive
paragraph, Ultimecia can also cancel these attacks, so to counterattack you
need to be quick.
As for HP attacks, Terra really doesn't fear anything that Ultimecia can throw
at her. The trend you'll notice with Ultimecia's HP attacks is that they need
to be held to be more efficient at long range, giving you plenty of time to
interrupt. For up is Shockwave Pulsar. It has a pretty long start-up and
shoots at an arc. It's kinda similar to OK's Firaga except that the explosion
is bigger (covers more vertical space) and the range can be adjusted. This
also means that it will completely skip over you if she over shoots and since
she needs to charge it for it to fly farther, you're pretty safe to interrupt
her from your optimal position. It's a hard move to target with, especially if
you keep moving and it needs to be charged VERY long for it to reach high into
the air. As a final note, though, I'll mention that if it hits an obstacle, it
will explode, so beware of any such things near you (especially ceilings) if
you try to rush her. An example is that if she is right under the roof, the
attack will explode right in front of her, so look out for it.
Apocalypse is a VERY deadly anti-air move, probably the best in the entire
game. Thing is, Terra isn't in the air much (well, at least she doesn't need
to against Ultimecia) except for Holy Combo, which is usually used after
Meteor so one or the other will hit her first and end the attack, or Meltdown.
So just be careful when charging Meltdown. You should be able to smack her
with stage 1 before Apocalypse reaches you, though stage 2 could take too
long, depending on when you start charging. You shouldn't risk getting to
stage 3 unless there are obstacles in the way of Apocalypse (I'll explain
soon). As well, the attack leaves from Ultimecia, so it'll take some time to
reach you and unlike her other two HP attacks, Ultimecia is completely
immobile during this so she's super easy to interrupt. Apocalypse does have
HUGE vertical range though, so if the circle appears under you, in most cases,
you'll be hit. You really shouldn't ever be caught in that situation though as
you'll hardly ever need to fight from above. Finally, as hinted at before,
Apocalypse bounces off surfaces. It tracks you, but it only rises or drops at
fairly low speeds so on levels with uneven ground, this attack can bounce off
a jut in the ground and head off in a completely different direction. Learn to
take advantage of the terrain and you can get a free hit here.
Finally, there is Great Attractor. This move is terrible, especially against
Terra. It takes about as long, if not longer, to charge up as your Meltdown
stage 3. Thing is though, it can only be used when it is fully charged. Once
the orb in front of her starts forming, it can stop frontal assaults and
deflect magic. However, it only starts getting big ever quite a time and so
the small orb is less likely to block anything. Even when fully charged, this
attack is extremely easy to avoid. If by any chance an Ultimecia user attempts
to use this on you AND you somehow can't interrupt it on time, just jump up
above Ultimecia as the move can't fly at sharp angles. You can then attack her
during the cooldown. This also can't fly through obstacles, so you can hide
behind something too.
When it comes down to it, you've got the upper hand. Ultimecia's HP attack
game is pretty poor against you, so that's a pretty big relief for you. Then
it just comes down to managing her brave attacks. The uncharged versions of
all three of her moves are the ones to look out for, the axe one in
particular. However, they can all be dashed through and Blizzard Combo comes
out very fast. Ultimecia pretty much has no answer for it. Even though she can
dodge out of a lot of her brave attacks, she's still vulnerable before and
after. Knight's Sword uncharged comes out fast so you should watch out for
that out of the dodge. If you block it, you can reflect it back at her and
stun her.
This is one of the fights where applying some close range pressure now and
then can actually be a good and viable strategy (unlike against her
counter-part, Squall). However, sticking to your normal range means you won't
have to worry about HP attacks and the only brave attack that will bother you
is Knight's Axe. Knight's Sword does have reach though, so make sure you
remain just out of it's range. At worst though, it'll poke you once or twice
for some minor damage then knock you out of it's range.
Bascially, just gain control of the match and Ultimecia will be pretty
helpless. She is slower than you in movement as well, so you can easily
maintain your distance just outside of her Knight's Sword range which means
you only need to watch out for Knight's Axe. If she tries to rush you,
Blizzard Combo is fast and Tornado eats all of her brave attacks for dinner.
This match-up favours you pretty well and taking HP damage is of little
concern to you against her. Just keep the right distance and make it hard for
her to move any closer. Your Exmode will destroy her while hers is pretty bad.
=====================================
Q. Zidane [ZID7]
=====================================
Here comes the lovable monkey-boy. Now, Zidane is much like OK in that he's
very quick. However, unlike OK, Zidane has a lot in his arsenal to back that
speed up. While he lacks any noteworthy ranged moves (to be honest, they
pretty much suck), he is very quick and nimble, not just in movement speed,
but in the air as well. He's the aerial master, afterall, so he can cover a
lot of ground with his jumps and dodges and close in on you very quickly while
being a bit of a pain to hit.
However, like OK, he does fairly pitiful bravery damage with his attacks. He
does have a ton of HP attacks though. Rumble Rush (ground only), Tempest (air
only) and Swift Attack (air and ground) all chain into the Meo Twister HP
attack while he has two normal ground HP attacks and three normal air HP
attacks. So while he lacks in the bravery damage department, he can slowly
chip away at your HP with ease while his bravery attacks can be used to close
in on you and such.
As for his ranged attacks, he's only got Scoop Art and Solution 9 in the brave
department. The former can be used on both land and in the air, though it's
highly unlikely anyone will waste a precious air slot for Scoop Art and most
people won't even bother equipping it on the ground because it's incredibly
slow, predictable, and easy to block, dodge, or dash through and it's weak.
Even though Zidane only has three ground brave attack options, most players
would rather save the 10 CP for Zidane's HP attacks.
Solution 9, on the other hand, is air only. Again, the player equipping this
requires that they give up a precious air slot for the move, so you won't
always see it unless the foe specifically knows you're using a ranged
character. Zidane launches a huge bunch of glowing symbols which fly off
randomly in every direction. It's fairly weak and takes a moment to come out,
but it's got VERY long range and has a long duration, so be careful if you try
to dash through it as you might get hit out of the dash. If the opponent has
this move, you'll need to watch out for it because it may interrupt you when
you use Meteor. Seeing as both moves are pretty random, it can vary, though.
You can just block constantly if you see it coming, or go into the air; the
move has pretty bad vertical tracking.
As for HP attacks, Shift Break is the only ranged one and it's actually not
that much of a problem for you as long as you don't move horizontally. Seeing
as Terra doesn't do that for many of her attacks (aisde from Tornado which you
shouldn't be using at long range and Zidane wouldn't use Shift Break at short
range), you can easily interrupt the attack. Don't touch the lightning,
though, as it will knock you back in and stun you, leaving you open for the HP
hit. I believe it also can deflect projectiles. However, Meteor is an amazing
option here as you only move upwards. Zidane is very open during the casting
of this move, so you can EASILY interrupt him and end his attack with Meteor.
This way, Shift Break is actually good for you because you get a free hit.
Just don't let him catch you with it while you charge Meltdown. As well, once
the move starts, it won't track you, so just jump into the air and over the
lightning and you're safe. It does have a slight suction effect though.
As for the rest of his attacks, they are all very quick and cover a variety of
situations. Impulse Storm attacks in front and covers a bit of distance and
can deflect magic. Vortex has shoot up and attack above, though you'll likely
never be in that position. Tempest attacks below him and can drop Zidane quite
a distance. As mentioned above, it also chains into an HP attack. Rumble Rush
isn't too special and it's ground only, so you won't see it much. Swift
Attack, however, is EXTREMELLY fast (duh) AND chains into Meo Twister, so
really watch out for this. It does have pitiful range, though.
As for other HP attacks, Tidal Flame is horrendous and has extremelly slow
start-up, can be jumped over or BLOCKED. No Zidane player should have this
move equipped. Stellar Circle 5 can suck you in and deflect spells, but it has
a start-up, small range, and is ground only. Grand Lethal covers quite a bit
of distance, but it's not very fast so you should see it coming. It's hard to
dodge at close range, but again, easy to see coming from where you are.
Finally, there is Free Energy. It's very quick for an HP attack. It's like
Bartz's Goblin Punch cept Zidane can use it whenever. It doesn't cause brave
damage however and has fairly fickle range. It will hit a small area in front
of him, not any closer, not any farther. That's right, even if you are right
in Zidane's face, this move will miss. It is very quick though, so look out.
Aside from Solution 9, you'll need to be extra careful to make space against
Zidane. Again, he is very quick and can travel huge distances in the air very
quickly. His attacks come out fast (especially Swift Attack and Free Energy)
so if he closes in on you, it is very easy for him to land a hit before you
know it if you aren't paying enough attention.
However, his attacks are weak so if you can chip some brave off of him, you'll
ease your pain if he manages to hit you with one of his many HP attacks. It's
important to try and get control earlier on because once Zidane gets in your
face, it's very hard to get away from him. Take advantage of your powerful
criticals and hits in general as if you can get a critical hit, you can take a
chunk of brave off which is hard for him to get back especially if you can
maintain some sort of control in the match. While he isn't as fast as OK, he's
a lot more threatening and a lot less predictable so while it's easier to
create space, you're going to have to work harder to maintain it. You can't
play at medium range like you can with try OK and close range combat will go
over as well as it would against Squall (READ: horribly).
Overall, Zidane is one of the worst melee match-ups for Terra. while the fight
can go either way and there is no clear advantage, Zidane can really pose as a
very strong and difficult opponent and can cause lots of trouble for Terra if
she can't make space. His brave attacks have very little lag, though his
normal HP attacks do have quite a bit of start-up (aside from Free Energy) and
cooldown, so take advantage of those opportunities should they arise which
will likely happen if you can keep the opponent from getting off any of
Zidane's brave to HP chains.
Finally, also make full use of Terra's powerful hits and criticals to cut away
Zidane's brave. Remember, he is fast and good at getting off HP attacks, but
his attack power is abyssmal so if you can knock his brave down, it should be
easy to keep down and thus give you room to breath. With an EXbuild you can
quickly recover any HP lost, so that helps too.
=====================================
R. Kuja [KUJ7]
=====================================
Oh boy, the FFIX boys sure do cause problems for Terra. Kuja is probably
Terra's worst possible match-up, so you really need to prepare for this fight.
Kuja is a mage, but unlike most of them, he can be utilized in short, mid, and
long range and is strong in all of them. Not to mention he is also very
mobile because of his ability to glide even outside of Exmode and during a lot
of his attacks. This is a nightmare for you because not only does his constant
movement make it difficult to land a hit on him, but he can easily play up
close where you lack the options and can still really mess you up at long
range as well.
Right, now his two close range attacks, Strike Energy and Burst Energy, are
very fast and have slight verticle tracking. Burst Energy has very short range
though, while Strike Energy has a bit longer range. As well, he's also got the
Flare Star HP attack which is very deadly. It's fairly quick and has somewhat
good tracking, though it got nerfed from the INSANE tracking it used to have
in the Japanese version. These moves basically mean it's a bad idea to try and
beat Kuja in close range. Though you can swoop in sometimes for a Tornado or
Blizzard Combo, I'd suggest you not do it often unless you know Kuja doesn't
have his close range brave moves equipped (he should always have Flare Star,
though).
As for ranged moves, that's pretty much the rest of them. Ring Holy shoots
three incredibly slow and weak rings of Holy that have pretty average range
and are easy to block or dash through. I wouldn't worry about seeing this
attack much. Snatch Shots has Kuja fire off two flare balls which draw you in
towards him for a follow-up combo. They are quick, but only reach mid range
and have fickle tracking. They really only hit if you are at the same
elevation as Kuja except at the end of the range where they curve down more to
track. They can be blocked or dashed through and if you manage to reflect one
and hit Kuja, he will be drawn towards you. Thus, if you reflect a shot with
Tornado, he will be drawn right into it.
Remote Flare creates a bunch of flares around your current position which
cause no damage until Kuja detonates them a moment later. It's good for
interrupting attacks with long animations or charge times, so
watch out when using Meltdown. Snatch Blow shoots a bunch of orbs straight out
and draws you back in towards Kuja for a follow-up hit. It's fairly quick and
will move Kuja up or down a bit depending on your height. It reaches about mid
to long range, but only travels in a straight line. If you block it, it will
stagger Kuja, so you can actually counterattack with Holy Combo if you're at
mid range or farther.
For his other two HP attacks, he's got Seraphic Star and Ultima. The former
comes out surprisingly fast, but has very fickle range. It will stop at around
mid range, then suck you in and cause a bit of brave damage before exploding.
It's a bit hard for Kuja to aim this properly (a bit like OK's Firaga), but it
comes out fast and draws you in, so watch out for this if you're playing it
around mid range.
Ultima is a huge pain now. Before, Kuja would stay still right as the orbs
start falling. Now he can move around freely (can't adjust his height though)
so it's hard to interrupt this move. Kuja creates a cloud thingy above you
which follows you for a moment, then purple blobs start dropping down causing
a whole lot of brave damage and following with HP damage. It's got very long
range and, as said before, even if you dodge this attack (it's really not to
hard unless you're in the middle of an attack), it's very hard to interrupt
because he will keep moving around. This pretty much stops you from being able
to pull off Meltdown (at least past stage 1) and can really cause problems for
you during Meteor. Just remember you can dodge out of Meteor early and then
use Holy Combo out of the dodge. Though this isn't as fast as going from
Meteor straight to Holy Combo, it's better than getting hit by Ultima and he
can't block Holy Combo anyways while using Ultima. This actually works out
pretty well for you, even if you can't hit with Meteor. Kuja leaves himself
open to Holy Combo during Ultima, so take advantage of this as much as
possible as it's your best way to get a hit against him.
Also, all of his brave and HP attacks can be used on both the ground and the
air, so that's a big pain as well. His Exmode also can be a bit annoying as
he can deflect some of your magic while he is jumping. It's also even harder
to approach him in close range, but you really shouldn't be doing that much
anyways.
Kuja's got pretty poor defence and his attacks aren't as powerful as yours.
Even if you can't land as many hits as him, you can still come out on top
because of your powerful attacks. I also recommend you strongly consider using
Terra's ultimate exlusive weapon, Maduin's Horn for this fight. It gives her
an extra 50% magic defence, effectively halving the brave damage on EVERY
SINGLE ONE of Kuja's attacks. Top that off with the fact that his attacks are
not super strong to begin with, and you can really even the playing field.
Other than that, you really need to get in control of this match. Basically,
you want to have it so he is trying to counter your attacks rather than the
other way around. It's difficult for you to counter his attacks, especially
with his constant gliding, so it's important to get on the offence right at
the start of the match as once you lose control, it's very hard to get it back
again, so enjoy as much time as you get in control and take off as much HP as
you can so you can outlast him once you lose control, especially with Maduin's
Horn equipped.
Also, as a second to last note, some Kuja players prefer to stick to a certain
style, like concentrating on close range only or long range only and such. I
personally prefer having a mix and having all of his HP attacks avaliable, but
some players like concentrating on one type of style. Keep this in mind as it
makes it a lot easier for you to counter him if you know how he is gonna be
fighting and which moves you don't need to worry about. A Kuja lacking close
range options allows you to play a little bit closer and overtake him with
your own close range attacks, for example.
But, as I said before, this match-up favours Kuja and is likely gonna be the
hardest fight for you. With that said, it's not impossible for you to turn the
tables with the right set-ups and if you can get control. As well, it comes
down to just how that Kuja player is set-up as well as the difference between
a long range Kuja and a short range Kuja is pretty big in terms of fighting
style. While it certainly makes him very diverse, once you figure out just how
the enemy is fighting, it makes things a lot easier for you. Keep on your toes
and watch out for Ultima!
=====================================
S. Tidus [TID7]
=====================================
Well... when it comes to Tidus... there is good news and bad news. The good
news is that his dodge and attack techniques don't work so well against you
namely because they are fairly close range aside from the ground-only Cut &
Run. On the other hand, not only is Tidus VERY speedy (about even with zidane
when Tidus isn't in Exmode), but his Exmode absolutely MURDERS mages. Like,
seriously, you're pretty much screwed against Tidus in Exmode aside from just
trying to counterattack his moves. I'll get to exactly why his Exmode wrecks
you after we go over his attacks.
He has Full Slide and Sonic Buster which are very similar attacks, just one is
ground only and one is in the air. Tidus charges forward quite a distance and
can smack away your magic attacks. The aerial version has a sort of weird arc
to it, so it can be a little tricky to deal with. It's the same start as
Bartz's Slide Hazzard, FYI. However, these two attacks have a slight start-up
and can be pretty predictable and easy to block. They also leave him a little
open at the end during a whiff. This is about his only form of offense against
you without getting up close (which isn't hard, mind you, with his great speed
even outside of Exmode). However, remember that they aren't that difficult to
see coming, especially if he tries to use this at mid range. You'll have more
than enough time to react. Your best bet is to smack him with one of your
close range options as the attack finishes.
Tidus also has some blitzball attacks. Sphere Shot has a bit of wind up and
suffers from some surprisingly pitiful range. It travels fast though but it is
ground only. Wither Shot can be used on the ground and in the air. It doesn't
really come out faster and it travels pretty slow, but it has better range and
bounces off objects. Neither are really too much of a worry as Tidus stops
moving to pull these off and they aren't particularly fast. Most Tidus' will
only have one of these 3 moves equipped at most anyways.
Dart & Weave has pretty short range, so it shouldn't bother you much. Stick &
Move can cover a pretty good distance, but Terra really doesn't have many
attacks that Tidus can use this dodge and attack move against very well.
Meteor can still hit him after the dodge and before he throws his sword, and
these moves are pretty easy for you to see coming so you should be able to
dodge out of Meteor in time, for example. This move is deadly for melee
characters, but not so much for Terra.
Cut & Run, however, can be a bit of a problem. Tidus does a back dodge then
charges forward a long distance. His charge is very fast and there is no audio
cue anymore (unlike the loud scream in the Japanese version) and it's hard to
tell from a normal back dodge (meaning he can fake you out, too). However, he
only charges in a straight line and does reach to far into the air, so if you
find he is doing this a lot during Meteor (as it can be pretty effective
seeing as he'll deflect the meteors during the charge), just get used to
dodging out of Meteor and then follow-up with Meltdown stage 1 or Blizzara
Combo (Tornado doesn't really work well if Tidus is below you). This move can
close in space pretty well, but Tidus has some bad lag on a whiff and if you
can see this coming, you can easily block or counter it. It, like the other
dodge attacks, links into the Quick Hit HP attack, so keep that in mind.
Step Hop has incredibly short range, but is usable in both the air and ground
and is VERY fast and VERY powerful with his Exmode bonus (if he has a lot of
HP left, that is). It's Tidus' equivalent to Zidane's Swift Attack, minus the
HP chain, luckily. Though it's range is short, you need to watch out for Tidus
rushing you and using it right away.
As for HP attacks, Tidus doesn't have as easy a time landing them on you as he
did when Sonic Buster and Full Slide linked to Slice & Dice in the Japanese
version. Spiral Cut on the ground can cover some distance, but it only reaches
long ranges near the end of the attack and it's pretty slow and easy to see
coming and is ground only. Energy Rain got it's horizontal range pretty badly
nerfed, so it shouldn't be a threat unless you are under him (for whatever
reason). Slice & Dice can actually cover a very long distance during the
start-up, but the start-up is VERY long and you should be able to either
interrupt him or dodge as you can see this attack coming from miles away. It
can be a fairly good dodge and HP attack move when used right, but it doesn't
work quite so well at long ranges.
Jecht Shot is Tidus' only real "long range" attack, and it's range actually
isn't that great. It also has a huge start-up making it super easy to
interrupt. Otherwise a backdodge should put you out of range for this attack.
Now... onto his Exmode. You thought his speed was already bad enough, but in
Exmode his speed becomes INSANE. Like... faster than OK insane, and he is a
lot more deadlier than OK, to boot. This makes it extremelly difficult to
space yourself and makes it very hard for you to hit him. If that wasn't bad
enough, Tidus gets the same kind of power boost Cloud gets in his Exmode.
Essentially, the more HP he has relative to his max HP, the more his attack
power gets multiplied. While he's not as much of a heavy hitter as Cloud is
and he doesn't get the auto-guard crush, his attacks do gain a significant
boost in power and it really adds up considering his speed and that his
attacks can hit quite a few times.
Oh yeah, and if that wasn't bad enough, here comes the back-breaking straw; he
auto-deflects projectiles while he is dashing. Yes, that's right, he'll smack
away almost all of your magic bravery attacks while he is running, and the
ones he can't smack away (like Graviga and Thundara), he can outrun with ease
making him a very hard target to hit. Thus, Tidus is considered the ultimate
magic killer in the game in his Exmode. Keep in mind he can't deflect any of
your HP attacks and the effect is ONLY when he is running. During attacks and
dodges and such, it doesn't work, so in Exmode, those opens are really your
only chance.
The good news is that Tidus has a real tough time landing an HP hit on you.
His normal HP attacks really aren't as good as they used to be in the Japanese
version, and his deadly dodge and attack brave to HP links aren't very
effective against you. Unfortunately, you have a hard time hitting him as
well. This match-up is tough and really depends on what build Tidus has as
well. If he's got an Exbuild, you're in trouble, though levels with very
little stretches of running space can be very advantegous to you, like
Planet's Core, the "far darkness" stage of World of Darkness Omega,
Ultimecia's Castle and even the back parts of Dream's End.
Regardless, when he is in Exmode, you're gonna have to play very defensively
which isn't all that bad because his attacks are kinda predictable on the
offense (just wtach out for Step Hop, it HURTS in Exmode) and so you can
either counterattack him, or stall long enough for his Exmode to end. Outside
of his Exmode, things aren't too bad. He is still fast and a very hard target
to hit because he is very swift and agile like Zidane. However, his attacks
as stated before, are generally slow on the offense (you can seem em coming
and act accordingly) so you really only need to be careful while you're
attacking and watch for him rushing and stepping on your face with Step Hop.
Cut & Run is another one to always look out for, especially since Tidus'
players should always follow up with the Quick Hit link (as the alternative, a
chase battle, is an inferior option).
This is probably a bit repetitve for you now, but getting control of the match
is very important. His attacks generally have a bit of start-up, so if you can
keep on bombarding him with spells, he won't be able to get an attack off.
This all changes, obviously, when he goes into Exmode, so be prepared for
that. If you can effectively play on the defence when he does this, you can
easily make the best of this match-up. It really helps, in this case, to know
Tidus' attacks. It's easy for me to say that since Tidus is my second most
used Dissidia character, but don't be afraid to try playing as him or playing
against a human. The CPU isn't that bad of an option, they it can be pretty
stupid as they attempt to use his dodge attacks on the offense (>_>). Incase
you didn't realize, they are extremely easy to block and are meant to be used
as a quick counterattack as they are faster than manually dodging then
attacking.
Overall, Tidus is probably the deadliest melee character you can face, unless
he is not spending much time in Exmode. In which case, he becomes a lot more
managable, being less of a challenge than Zidane and possibly Sephiroth. This
match-up does favour Tidus soley because of his Exmode so the key to
countering this bad match-up is to learn exactly how to deal with his Exmode
(HINT: It's not by spamming magic). That's all there is to it. Tidus is fast,
but a lot of his attacks are kinda slow, especially his HP attacks, and his
signature dodge moves aren't great against you. I can't stress this enough:
this is the one match-up where the opponent's Exmode heavily effects how the
match-up goes, so you really need to know just how to deal with it. Get to
know his moves and either block and counter or dodge and counter and take
advantage of the slow start-ups and cooldowns on some of his attacks and the
fact that he can't auto-deflect your magic without dashing.
=====================================
T. Jecht [JEC7]
=====================================
Ah, Jecht. The epitome of Final Fantasy manliness is actually a lot easier to
deal with than his son. His ranged game is fairly limited (READ: it's not
existant) so he needs to get in close to do any real damage. He's not exactly
slow, but he is not speedy either. His speed is pretty average, probably
somewhere just under Squall's level. However, assuming you're playing against
someone who can consistently pull of Jecht's combos, they hurt like hell and
can be linked straight into HP attacks making every hit from him a possible
long chain of powerful brave hits ending in an HP hit, so he's a bit like
Cloud in that he doesn't need to land many hits for him to really put a dent
in you.
As well, he's also got Jecht Block which is capable of blocking pretty much
any attack (yes, HP attacks as well). It does have pretty tricky timing and
doesn't automatically counter (though it can reflect) on a successful block
like Exdeath can. As well, he sometimes staggers after blocking certain HP
attacks (as do you when he blocks yours), so it's not likely he can
effectively stop everything you throw at him then counter. However, it can
really put a halt to your assaults of magic and HP attacks if he gets a block
in as it comes out very fast (though it doesn't act as a very fast close range
attack with huge knockback like in the Japanese version). This move isn't as
godly as the CPU makes it out to be because humans aren't as hax at pulling
off a successful block as the CPU. Plus, I find it's a lot easier to use
against the predictable CPU rather than a human player.
There really isn't much else to this. He only has 4 brave attacks. Jecht Rush
(which is his ground combo starter), Jecht Stream (the air combo starter), and
Jecht Block on both the ground and air. He can charge his brave attacks,
though, and make the resulting combos hit more often and break guard as well
as increase range a bit, however he really shouldn't ever get a chance to get
to charge them as it takes a while and is really only viable in his Exmode,
after a block, or right after dodging an attack in close range. Seeing as he
really can't get a chance to do the latter to against a mage like Terra, he
only has the former choice and it's still possible to interrupt him anyways.
For HP attacks, they kinda suck and I really only used them by linking them
from his brave combos. They also can be charged, but like his brave attacks,
can be easily interrupted and they are very hard to hit with without linking
them. Ultimate Jecht Shot has a huge start-up and can really only catch you
if you are right above him when he starts it and is ground only. Triumphant
Grasp is air only and shoots him at a downward angle at the begining and then
travels a bit of distance (more if it's charged). This only really is a
problem if you are just a bit below him. If you are at equal height (as long
as you aren't right in front of him) or above him, this will completely miss.
Jecht Blade is the only HP attack that really threatens you outside of links.
It's a bit like Sephiroth's Octaslash as Jecht will slice his way towards you.
It has a slightly longer start-up though (even if uncharged) and is easier to
dodge. All you have to do is get past him (forward dodge works) and he'll just
continue off slashing in the same completely wrong direction and leave himself
super open. It covers some decent range though, but it needs to be charged
(leaving him open for Meteor interruption) to cover more significant spaces.
However, during his slashes, he completely smacks away all your attacks, so he
can cut right through your Meteor and close in on you, so watch out. However,
this requires that he starts the attack before or right around the time you
use Meteor to actually be able to hit you before you have a chance to dodge
out of Meteor. It's still something to look out for as it can surprise you if
you aren't careful. It doesn't nearly hurt as much as if he had used it at the
end of a combo, but it's very good at causing crash HP damage (as are all
three of Jecht's HP attacks, for that matter). As a final note, Jecht can use
it both on the ground and in the air, but I don't know how many Jecht players
will equip the ground version as you don't need it for any of his chains. I
personally don't use the ground version, but some people might use it which
really isn't that important as it's not a huge threat anyways.
Jecht is a rather simple character to deal with in that he only has a handful
of possible attacks he can use against you. However, he only really needs his
two brave attacks anyways as they are incredibly powerful and link to HP
attacks if pulled off properly. They also come out very fast (if not charged).
However, he lacks any range completely, so he needs to be able to get to you
to actual pose a threat. With Jecht Block and above average speed it's not
like it is super hard for him to do this, but that's all the Jecht player can
really do to you at range, so if you can play a great keep away game, make
lots of space, and get control of the match when you can, Jecht won't be able
to touch you.
I should note that in Exmode, Jecht can continue his brave combos without
having to hit with them (though he can't link to HP attacks unless he hits).
In this way, Jecht can cover quite a lot of distance and can catch you in his
attack. It's also a little hard to interrupt him during his combos with any of
your brave attacks, but if you see him approaching, Tornado should stop him
dead.
Overall, Terra's get a huge advantage in this match. Probably one of her best
match-ups. Just keep him at bay and he won't be able to do a thing. Just watch
out for players that are good with Jecht Block. In fact, Jecht is one of those
characters where there is a HUGE difference between a good player and a great
player. Even if Jecht does hit you, if the player can't consistently pull of
his combos, they won't be able to make the most of the chances they get. As
well, someone who is great with utilizing Jecht Block can really make a huge
difference as well. However, it doesn't change the fact that Terra has an
advantage, it just effects how much of an advantage she has. A good Terra
player will wipe the floor with a good Jecht player, but a great Terra player
will have more of a challenge from a great Jecht player, if that makes sense.
Regardless, the way you play should stay the same. Once you get control of the
game, it's pretty hard to lose it against Jecht.
=====================================
U. Shantotto [SHA7]
=====================================
=In the works=
=====================================
V. Gabranth [GAB7]
=====================================
=In the works=
=====================================
W. Chaos [CHA7]
=====================================
Alright, I'm gonna do things a little different for the big guy because this
fight is a little different than the rest. First off, Chaos is a CPU-only
character and only has one difficulty. As well, he can only be battled on Edge
of Madness and Edge of Madness Omega. As well, he has three stages and a super
cheap summon with multiple effects that can be used multiple times. Finally,
his attacks are incredibly broken compared to what is avaliable to the cast,
but this by no means makes him impossible as he still has the weakness of
being controlled by the CPU.
So basically, I'll go through his attacks and tell you how to deal with them.
His forms don't really change that much about the battle flow except which
attacks he uses, how often he attacks, his intelligence, and some properties
of his attacks. You should be fighting the same way in every stage, anyways,
so there's no need for me to take it form by form. I will note which attacks
change by form and, when I figure it out, which attacks become avaliable in
each form.
I'll start off by going over his attacks, then I'll mention his summon,
Shinryu, and some tips on how to use the stage as well as what moves to use
and the like.
Alrighty, first up will be his brave attacks.
First up are his two claw/tail combos. He has one in the air and one on the
ground, though they are both pretty similar. He kinda just slashes you a
bunch then smacks you into a wall. It comes out very quick, so it can be hard
to avoid if he is really close. However, he sometimes starts the match with
the ground version and in that case, it's incredibly easy to block and gives
you a great chance to counterattack and deal a lot of damage. I suggest using
Blizzara Combo here as Holy Combo might miss and waste your chance while
Terra's HP attacks don't cause enough bravery damage to really take advantage
of the critical rate boost. There are tons of chances to use Meteor->Holy
Combo anyways. Also, if Chaos starts the first battle with this, he is
extremely likely to start the other two battles with this, I've noticed.
Finally, in the second form he has a slight aura during these attacks that
increase the range a bit. In his final form, he shoots giant walls of flames
with each attack, but they go off to his sides so you're safe right in front
of him. This move is blockable in every form, though. If you keep your space,
this move is a joke.
Then there is his flame wheel attack. He does a flip a shoots a wave of fire
at you as he shouts "eradication." It's fairly easy to see coming, but it will
stagger you if you block it. However, he rarely, if ever, takes advantage of
the stagger, so don't worry if you block by mistake. A simple side dodge
should do the trick. Like the ground claw combo, if Chaos starts the first
match with this, he likes to start the other two matches with this as well. In
his final form, he will always shoot three in a row, so just keep side dodging
in succession (though if you do it too fast you might get hit by the last
one). Also, since he shoots three, you don't want to try and block as you will
get hit by the rest. Best bet is to use Meteor right after the dodge (or the
3rd dodge in his final form). If you dodged fast enough, you'll almost always
hit with Meteor and activate Counterattack (if you have it equipped) and
you'll also be able to go to Holy Combo and Ultima, so this move gives you a
nice oppourtunity. It's probably one of his easiest moves to deal with, so
take advantage.
He also has that attack where he pops out of the ground under you three times.
He announces it with "breathe your last..." so it's also another move that is
very easy to see coming. Just dodge each time the little portal thing appears
below you. After the third jump, he leaves himself open, so Blizzard Combo or
Tornado work really well after your dodge. Also, keep in mind that this move
always attacks from the ground and has a limited vertical range so if you are
high enough in the air, you don't even need to dodge. After the second jump,
just use Holy Combo and you should be able to hit him right as the attack
ends. This attack is always the same in all forms. I don't think it's
blockable, but it's really easy to see coming anyways.
Then there is his "falcon kick" move. It's pretty fast, but he announces it
with a "vanish!" (or is it "perish!"?) and all it takes is a back dodge to
avoid when you hear that. If you're in the air, it'll probably miss unless you
are below him. You can block it, though it will cause you to stagger. However,
like the flame wheel move (in the first two forms, anyway), I've rarely seen
him actually take advantage of this stagger time, so don't worry about it if
you're in a tight spot. Otherwise you'll probably wanna counter with Blizzard
Combo, though Tornado, Meltdown, or Meteor work. Holy Combo works if you're
higher up in the air. As well, the CPU is very bad when it comes to
forecasting the move. If you see Chaos jump into the air suddenly when he is
across the stage, he is usually gonna use this move, though on in the later
matches he might trick you and use his spinning wing attack of pain instead,
but it's generally one of the two. He'll also use it if he's a fair distance
above you. This move isn't too dangerous, though it's fast and has good
priority, so he can interrupt your attacks if you try to just use them, so
stick to just reacting to his attacks in the later 2 stages (stage 1 is pretty
chill). This attack never changes.
Ah, the aforementioned spinny wing attack of pain. This move is really
annoying as it is fairly quick and hard to block and causes quite a bit of
damage. Not to mention Chaos teleports right by you before using this and also
likes to interrupt your moves with it, so again, stick to defence. Dodging
this move doesn't work unless you dodge out of the range as the attack has a
long duration. Dropping down or jumping up can get you out of range and give
you a huge opportunity to attack him during this long attack. If you block,
keep in mind you'll need to block multiple times because of this moves
duration. If you time the distance between your blocks well, you can get a
chance for a counterattack right at the end of the move. Usually 2-3 well
timed blocks should cover it, just don't spam block otherwise you might end up
stuck in the blocking animation during his cooldown. This attack is one of
Chaos' more annoying moves and can really hurt if he spams it as it takes some
practice and timing to be able to deal with it properly. This is like... the
number one move to look out for, so really watch for this or he can break you.
It's got impressive range too, which is really deadly on such a small stage.
Also, he announces the move with "take this!" but it doesn't exactly leave you
a lot of reaction time. This move never changes between forms.
For the final brave attack, we have his fireball attack. It basically looks as
if Chaos just barfed out a bunch of fireballs (I'm serious). Anyways, this is
blockable (and easily so) in his first two forms, but the third form will
stagger you and you might get hit by one of the other fireballs (though
otherwise he won't take advantage of the stagger). I find Chaos hardly ever
uses this attack, but it's pretty easy to deal with anyways. It's fairly slow
coming out, so you can easily block it. In his last form, just side dodge. The
fireballs spread, but generally won't hit you if you side dodge. Not much else
to say about this move. Again, it's fairly rare and fairly tame. It's really
not that powerful, but if you get hit, it can be hard to get away from Chaos'
next attack, so if that happens, be prepared for another attack.
Now, onto HP attacks. His HP attacks are insane. They tend to have fairly
large areas of effect, come out very quickly, cause a lot of brave damage
beforehand, and other such properties. However, once you learn them, they are
all fairly easy to deal with. Luckily, Terra has an answer to the one attack
that tends to cause people the most trouble.
So might as well start with that attack. Divine Punishment is the one HP
attack you will probably see the most. He announces it with a "you are weak"
but it should be obvious as the text appears above and flashes of light
surround you. Now, for every other character, they have to stand still as if
they don't, they'll get caught in the flames and be unable to escape the rest
of the attack. After the flames subside, they have a very short moment to
dodge out of the way lest they be sworded and speared for major brave damage
and guranteed crash HP damage. For Terra, however, all you need to do is use
Tornado. It will make her completely invincible to the ENTIRE attack and lasts
for the entire duration of this attack, so use it when you see it starting.
The best part of this is is that Chaos will actually get hit by Tornado right
before the spear throw, so he'll take the remaining brave hits of the attack
and then the HP hit, so it's basically a free HP attack. Essentially, Terra
turns one of Chaos' biggest threats into an absolute joke.
Then there is Soul of Oblivion. This attack is undodgeable. However, it's got
a very long start-up time where Chaos is completely vulnerable to any attack.
He doesn't move around either, so he's an easy target. All you need to do is
hit him and you'll stop the attack. Just Blizzard Combo, Holy Combo, or
Tornado him. Don't get to fancy otherwise you might mess up. Anyways, he
announces this attack with "know despair!" and starts forming a fireball in
front of him (it can't hurt you, don't worry). Just watch out, if he's really
high above or below you, you might not have enough time, so don't leave him
chilling at the top of the map.
Condemn is a huge pain, however. It's VERY fast attack that has INSANE
suction. It doesn't cause any brave damage and has limited vertical range, but
Chaos is completely invincible during it. You do have a bit of time to react,
so just back dodge away from him (once should be enough). However, if you're
in the middle of an attack, you might still hit him and deal brave damage, but
it won't stun him and he will hit you with the attack. Because of this, you
really need to be careful when he starts getting large amounts of brave. It's
better to play on the defensive soley because this attack can really hurt you
if you try and attack him first rather than countering. I believe he can use
this in every form, but he doesn't use it that often, until he gets a lot of
brave. I've had him try it three times IN A ROW against me.
Scarlet Rain is also a little bit tough. He announces it with "face... the
ultimate...!" but it does has a long start up. However, he is, again,
invincible during this attack, so you just have to learn to deal with it.
You'll need to quickly get into the air as he covers the floor in flames.
After a moment, he'll start tossing fireballs at you which you'll want to
block (don't bother trying to dodge, there is a TON of them). If you get hit
by even one, you'll be stunned and get hit by the rest for brave damage and
you'll be completely helpless for the final giant fireball which causes the HP
damage. Basically, just keep on blocking. Mashing block actually works in this
case because even if you block after the last small fireball, you'll still
have enough time to dodge out of the whiffed block before the giant fireball
comes. Stay close to the walls at the start of this one because blocking will
move you forward and sometimes one of the smaller fireballs can hit you from
behind thus ignoring your block and leaving you open for the rest of the
attack. Slower blocks (not mashing, but don't wait too long) should negate the
chance of this. Once you get the hang of this attack, it shouldn't be a
problem. Worse come to worse, you can go into Exmode right as the giant
fireball is about to hit to block the attack if you're stunned. Excancel is
very useful in this fight, so save your Ex mode for emergencies.
Demon Dance is a beast of an HP attack. It's actually a combo of FIVE seperate
HP attacks, and he still causes bravery damage before each HP attack as well.
However, just because you are hit by one of them, doesn't mean the rest will
hit, but it sure makes it harder to get away. At first, this attack seems very
intimidating and can ruin you if you get hit by the entire thing. However, it
is actually EXTREMELLY easy to dodge, I find, and the final attack leaves him
VERY VERY open to Holy Combo (as you'll probably be in the air anyways). If
you've got Counterattack equipped, you'll deal massive damage with Holy Combo
to Flare to Ultima. The key to dodging this attack is to watch the screen
carefully. He announces this move initially by shouting "watch in awe!" as the
attack name appears (like all of his HP moves) as he disappears. He will then
reappear near you and start the first hit, causing brave and HP damage, before
teleporting and reappearing for the second hit, and so one. Soon as you see
the little flash of fire meaning he is reappearing, jump AND dodge away. I say
dodge away not only for extra distance just in case, but to also reset your
jumps so you don't end up running out before the end of the attack. Also, keep
away from the sides of the stage as if you get cornered there, it's very tough
to get out. The same can be said about the top of the stage as well, so if you
start getting to high up, dodge first then drop down a bit when he teleports
instead of jump and dodge. During the fifth attack, after you dodge, use Holy
Combo (as long as you are sure you're a safe distance away) and you'll get him
as this move has huge cooldown for him. This attack can be scary at first, but
once you get the dodging down right, it's actually kinda fun avoiding this
move xD. Anyways, just look out for the ceiling and the walls and you'll be
fine. Dodge in different directions everytime and you shouldn't have that
problem. If you ever get in a tight spot, Excancel right as he hits you and
you'll end the entire attack early.
Now comes his final two HP attacks, Utter Chaos and Brink of Delusion. Despite
that it's name appears like it's an HP attack, Utter Chaos doesn't actually
cause any HP damage, just brave damage. However, it's a lot like an Exburst in
the way that Utter Chaos is the bravery salvo and Brink of Delusion is the
final HP hit so the naming of Utter Chaos is more like the naming of
Renzokuken in Squall's Ex burst followed by Lionheart for the HP hit. However,
this move isn't an Exburst. First off, Chaos does not have an Exbar and can
use this move as many times as he likes, even several times in a row (which is
extremely annoying as the move just wastes time and you can't damage him). As
well, you have free movement, so you don't need the little defence booster
meter thing.
Basically, Chaos gets supersized as he says "shiver... at the power of a god!"
and starts slashing at you with a giant sword that will also create flames in
it's aftermath for bravery damage. The sword strikes themselves are painfully
easy to avoid. Jump over the low lateral sword swipes, and dodge to the side
for the overhead slash and the stab at the middle of the stage. The flames,
however, are a lot harder to avoid. I just spam dodge as I haven't really
found a surefire way except for in Exmode. In Exmode, I just jump high into
the air and glided circles around the outside of the stage and took NO bravery
damage at all, so try that if you happen to be in Exmode. And, oh yeah, this
move will drain your Exbar because of the amount of time this takes up unless
you have accessories that increase Exmode duration. Also, if he's activated
one of the auto-break Shinyru summons, this move really sucks because time
will still pass and you can't do anything about it.
Moving on, however, we get the final part of this combo. Chaos, finding that
one sword bigger than the entire stage isn't good enough, pulls out another
three, and throws them at the bottom of the platform of the stage (which is
kinda weird how it hits all sides seeing as Chaos throws them from the same
direction... but whatever). During this time, you just sit there and watch.
Finally, the screen will turn to an overhead view of the stage where you will
automatically be on the ground. Then, four giant glowing circles appear
randomly on the stage (and can overlap). You'll have a short moment to get to
a part of the stage not in one of the circles before everything explodes and
you take HP damage. In all of the hundreds of times I've seen this move, I've
got hit by it *twice* (and luckily for very little damage), so it's really not
that bad. Just quickly find a spot and dodge over that way (as Terra's walking
speed is slow). I usually always go right away to the bottom part with a back
dodge soon as I can move, then try and find the closest spot. If you can't
find a spot close enough, you can try to jump really high really fast (which
isn't too bad seeing as Terra's got some pretty great jump height). If this
attack is really bothering you, you can just pause the game right as you get
to the overhead view and have as much time as you want to find a spot =P.
After the move, he'll tell you that you "resist in vain" as he steps off his
throne looking like a BAMF. There is no start-up and no cooldown for this
move, so you can't punish it in any way, so just hope you only see this move
ONCE, if at all. Finally, as far as I know, he only uses this move in his last
form.
Aaaaand that's about it for attacks. If you're still having trouble with
Chaos, once you beat Shade Impulse chapter 4, you can unlock him as a Quick
Play opponent so you can practice against a level 1 Chaos if you want (also
great for AP grinding).
Anyways, I'll give a quick overview of his completely broken summon, Shinyru,
and it's various affects. Basically, it is some of the best summons in one
package. He can use Shinyru multiple times PER FIGHT and the effects tend to
depend on the situation. I'll list all of the ones I've seen and when they'll
usually occur.
Bravery Freeze (Alexander). Stops bravery lose and gain, including bravery
reset from HP attacks. He'll only use this after he breaks you, really. This
can be dangerous as you can't use something like Iron Giant to lower his
bravery, so just try and end this fight ASAP and save an Excancel if you can.
Break after a set amount of time (Ultima Weapon). This one will automatically
break you after a set amount of time. He doesn't seem to have a pattern with
this move, but he uses it often. It takes quite a while for this effect to
happen, so you should hopefully be able to finish the match before this
activates. However, Utter Chaos spam can be really annoying combined with this
summon, but there's not much you can do about it =/.
Bravery halved, but increases quickly (Pupu). He loves using this when he is
near broken or broken. However, unlike Pupu, his bravery increases by 99 per
second, not 60. He uses this one quite a bit too, but it's not as bad as it
seems. Really, there is much worse. If you just keep countering his moves and
get lots of criticals, he shouldn't really get huge amounts of bravery before
you deal a good chunk of HP damage.
Bravery doubled, but decreases (Behemoth). This is the other one he likes to
use when he breaks you, but it's actually pretty rare. It is very dangerous
though, especially since he starts spamming HP attacks after this. Just keep
dodging and countering and, combined with the constant decrease of bravery,
you should hopefully be able to get his brave down to managable levels,
especially with Iron Giant. The good thing about this is that he loves to spam
Divine Punishment when he's got a lot of brave, so it kinda works out for you.
[[I actually can't remember if he uses Ifrit (just 1.5x increase, no decrease)
or this or both as they are fairly rare. They are more or less the same,
though]]
Bravery Null (Lich). This is pretty much the same as Ultima Weapon. After 60
seconds, your bravery is reduce to 0. Only difference is you don't
automatically get broken, but you're at very high risk, so watch out for his
wing attack. If this activates, use an HP attack ASAP, or try and get some
bravery damage. Anyways, like Ultima Weapon, he doesn't have a set pattern to
using this move and it does take a while to take affect, plus it's not as bad
as getting broken. Again, this+Utter Chaos is annoying, too.
Halves bravery on successful HP attacks (Iron Giant). He likes using this one
a lot as well and I haven't noticed a specific pattern with it. However, it's
really not *that* deadly because Terra can handle his HP attacks fairly well
and if you happen to get hit during this summon's duration, halving your
bravery really isn't the end of the world, especially since there are worse
effects that Shinyru can invoke.
Halving bravery every second (Omega). Now THIS one is a complete *****.
Unlike the Omega you get, this summon lasts quite a bit longer and is a lot
more dangerous considering the size of the stage (and Chaos) and his hard to
deal with attacks. He doesn't use this often and doesn't have a pattern with
it, but when he uses it, it's a pain. Your bravery will drop to nothing in a
second and you are VERY VERY vulnerable to getting broken. This is easily the
worst effect for you and it pretty much makes any attempts at dealing efficent
amounts of HP damage impossible (unless you get a break DURING the bravery
damage part of your HP attack). I've had this used against me TWICE during the
same part of a fight X_X. There is really nothing you can do except play it
EXTREMELY safe. If you have Phoenix or Demon Wall as your summon, USE THEM
NOW! Otherwise, pray you never see this, at least not at a crucial moment >_>.
Alrighty, so with Shinyru out of the way, let me wrap up this section by going
off some random things. First off, a lot of your moves work a lot better
against Chaos because of his size. For example, Meteor is essentially twice as
effective before Chaos covers such a wide space. He is more likely to get hit
by a Meteor, and tends to get hit by several of them in a row. Meteor wrecks
him if you use it after one of his moves as he doesn't have time to dodge or
block and makes it a lot easier to follow up with a successful Holy Combo to
Ultima. As well, Meltdown stage 1 actually has a bit of a longer range because
of Chaos' height. You can be a pretty large distance above him and still hit
because of his taller hitbox. As well, stage 3 wrecks havoc if you can get it
to bounce around the walls (not the floor) because this stage is tiny and
Chaos is large. As well, Chaos tends to just twiddle his thumbs while you
charge, though he may launch an attack near the end, so just release Meltdown
then and it should hit him, just watch out during his third form as he is more
likely to interrupt you then. Finally, Tornado is an absolute BEAST. Chaos has
very little space to run in this stage and is a big target, so it's easy to
draw him in and hit him as well as corner him with it. Not to mention Tornado
has godly priority and will cancel out a majority of his attacks. This is the
one fight where Tornado spam actually works very well, so use this to your
advantage.
As well, Terra's Exmode is always useful, this fight is no exception. Dualcast
Tornado is pretty much a guranteed hit and might even be able to outlast
Scarlet Rain, though I've never really had the chance to try. However, I
suggest you save your full Exbar for emergencies so you can Excancel out of
his attacks incase you are in trouble. It can be a very important safety net
for you. As well, your Exmode won't carry on to the next stage, but your Exbar
will (as long as you aren't in Exmode at the end of the previous fight), so
don't use it just to end a fight quickly as you'll need it for the three
fight, especially when an Exburst can be used to finish a weakened Chaos who
activated Omega or has a huge amount of brave. Plus you can really chip away
his brave if you need to. However, if you have an Exbuild, you can get a full
Exbar in every fight pretty easily as his attacks tend to leave a TON of
Exforce.
As for summons, the aformentioned Phoenix and Demon Wall are great in cases of
emergency. Shiva can work quite nicely as well, especially if you are at risk
for a break, though Phoenix and Demon Wall last longer, but Shiva makes a
break a lot easier. Iron Giant is a very good choice too. When Chaos gets a
ton of brave, he spams HP attacks, Divine Punishment being the most used.
Seeing as this means a free Tornado hit for you, every time he tries to use it
on you, you half his bravery and can quickly stop the threat. Alexander is
great if you can manage to break him, and Odin, Deathgaze, and Omega are good
as last resorts. Ultima Weapon and Lich also work against him if he spams
Utter Chaos. Rubicante is just brutal as it will triple your bravery when he
summons (which is pretty much a gurantee) and if he doesn't summon, that's
still pretty good. Ramuh and Asura can give you a break from his summons as
well, though Asura can backfire. Really, there are a ton of options for you,
so use whichever you like the most or whatever helps cover your problem areas
or weaknesses. Personally, I like Iron Giant, especially against Inward Chaos
seeing as it's hard to reduce his bravery otherwise, so you're gonna be
relying on constant HP attacks which in turn makes a break that much more
achieveable for you.
Finally, to wrap up this insanely section, I should state the obvious: you
should not fight Chaos like you would any other character. First off, he is
CPU controlled and thus can button read if you try and go pure offence. As
well, Edge of Madness is a tiny stage, so it's not like you can give yourself
much distance, not to mention Chaos is a big guy, he can teleport around,
close distances quickly, and his attacks tend to have large areas of effect.
His main weakness is his predictability. As long as you keep calm and know his
attacks, he can't really hurt you. With practise you should be able to avoid
every one of his HP attacks, and having a good summon and a full Exbar for
safety nets can really save you. Finally, remember that there are THREE stages
to this fight in which your status carries over. That means you can only use
your summon ONCE, so save it until you need it, perferably against the last
form. As well, your HP carries over, so don't be reckless (though an Exbuild
and Fire Book as your weapon can help recover HP quickly). Don't be afraid to
use your summon or Exbar if you have too, though, you might not end up needing
it in the last fight.
Also (yes yes, I'm almost done), I should note that one-use items work for
all the forms of the fight, so they reset at the start of each form. That
means you can use Resins to boost inital bravery, stats, or start every match
with a full Exbar. Use these only if you have to or if you really are having a
lot of trouble, otherwise it kinda ruins the fun of the fight. Just remember,
you can practice avoiding attacks against a level 1 Chaos and he can be fairly
predictable.
There, done.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
VIII: The Way of the Land
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Coming soon! Sorry for the inconvience, I'm working on getting uncompleted
sections done ASAP!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
IX: Terra in Story Mode
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Coming soon! Sorry for the inconvience, I'm working on getting uncompleted
sections done ASAP!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
X: Battle Quotes
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This section is dedicated to all the quotes related to Terra during battles.
It's more of a "just for fun" section kinda thing and I added it just to make
this FAQ more Terra-packed. Since this is a kinda fun extra section, I might
be adding comments every so often on certain quotes hehe. Finally, unless it
is part of the quote (namely the quotes with subtitles), I'm not going to put
down any grunts, sighs, and such as they aren't really quotes and also how
would you express Terra's getting hit cry or her launching meteors after Holy
Combo noise? Anyways...
PS: If you think any of these quotes are wrong or I'm missing something etc
feel free to let me know and I'll credit your find in the FAQ. My contact info
can be found be jumping to section [CM14].
=====================================
A. Attacks & Actions [AAA0]
=====================================
Blizzara: Get away!
Dualcast Blizzara: [No words, just exclamations]
Thundara: Don't! (that's what I hear, originally I thought it was 'Jump!',
though I've heard people say it's 'Jolt!')
Holy/Holy Combo: Here...!
Dualcast Holy/Holy Combo: [No words, just exclamations]
Graviga: Darkness of gravity!
Meteor: Heaven's lament!
Dualcast Meteor: Heaven's lament! [Exclamations on second cast]
Flood: Sorrowful waters!
Dualcast Flood: Please...!
Tornado: Malevolent wind.
Dualcast Tornado: Malevolent wind... protect me now!
Ultima: Oh perfect light... I want to end this!
Dualcast Ultima: [Exclamations, she will sometimes start saying her
normal line, but it will get interrupted when the second Ultima is cast]
Meltdown (stage 1): Maybe this!
Meltdown (stage 2 and 3): With this power...!
Dualcast Meltdown: Let it end! (during second cast regardless of stage)
Entering Ex Mode: If I have to fight...
Entering Ex Burst: No more running. (I *love* the way she says this)
Charging Riot Blade: I can protect everything!
Riot Blade: I won't be defeated...!
NOTE: Her attack quotes are sometimes different in Ex Mode than in her normal
form. I will note the differences once I test and listen carefully, some of
them are hard to hear, namely during the second casting of Tornado. In other
words, I'll update this section later on.
=====================================
B. Start & End [SAE0]
=====================================
[Vs Anyone Quotes]:
"I hope I can do this..."
"I'll do my best."
"I guess there's no avoiding this."
"If this is the path I've chosen, then..."
"I don't want it to end here!"
"I have no choice..."
"I've never seen such strength..."
"Could I win this one?"
"No time to be careless."
"Forgive me, I'm in a hurry."
[Vs Warrior of Light]: "I wish I had your conviction."
[Vs Garland]: "Aren't you afraid of fighting?"
[Vs Firion]: "Indecision will save nothing."
[Vs Emperor]: "What do you think life is?"
[Vs Onion Knight]: "Do I really have to fight you?"
[Vs Cloud of Darkness]: "Nothing comes form hurting others!"
[Vs Cecil]: "Change yourself, and the world changes with you."
[Vs Golbez]: "What is it you really want?"
[Vs Bartz]: "Can't we just have fun?"
[Vs Exdeath]: "There are things that will always remain!"
[Vs Terra]: "Who... who are you?"
[Vs Kefka]: "I'll protect the future, no matter what you do!"
[Vs Cloud]: "We must move forward, even if it's to fight."
[Vs Sephiroth]: "You can't regain the past by force..."
[Vs Squall]: "If fighting can provide a reason, then..."
[Vs Ultimecia]: "Time will never stop for you."
[Vs Zidane]: "What do you intend to steal from me?"
[Vs Kuja]: "Why can't you be more honest?"
[Vs Tidus]: "You're so cheerful... I'm a little jealous."
[Vs Jecht]: "Isn't there someone you want to protect?"
[Vs Shantotto]: "I've never felt such mystic power..."
[Vs Gabranth]: "You've taken on a terrible burden..."
[Vs Chaos]: "I won't sit back and do nothing!"
[Victory Quotes]:
"Thank goodness..."
"I'm just glad it's over..."
"There is still something I must do."
"I was so... frightened..."
"I have to be more careful..."
"If victory can make things clearer, then..."
"Everyone lusts for power, it seems."
"For all of our sakes, I won't lose!"
"Thank you for the match."
"That wasn't as bad as I'd feared."
[Loss Quotes]:
"Everyone's futures..."
"I was powerless..."
"But I'd finally begun to understand..."
"...This is the end?"
"I need more power..."
"No..."
"It can't end like this!"
"I'll vanish, won't I..."
"I don't understand this at all."
"I... I need to rest for a bit..."
=====================================
C. Characters vs Terra [CVT0]
=====================================
[Warrior of Light vs Terra]: "Forgive me, but I must halt you here."
[Garland vs Terra]: "Expect no chivalry here, woman."
[Firion vs Terra]: "I won't hold back!"
[Emperor vs Terra]: "Why don't you let me control you?"
[Onion Knight vs Terra]: "Can't lose this one!"
[Cloud of Darkness vs Terra]: "Do not fear. The Void welcomes you."
[Cecil vs Terra]: "You needn't fear battle."
[Golbez vs Terra]: "No future for the fearful."
[Bartz vs Terra]: "You've got to have courage to act."
[Exdeath vs Terra]: "Release your true form!"
[Terra vs Terra]: "Who... who are you?"
[Kefka vs Terra]: "Time to come home to papa." (This one is just creepy)
[Cloud vs Terra]: "Let's do what we can."
[Sephiroth vs Terra]: "Don't fear the power to destroy."
[Squall vs Terra]: "All it takes is a step forward."
[Ultimecia vs Terra]: "Perhaps your gears are stuck..."
[Zidane vs Terra]: "Fight a girl? This'll be tricky..."
[Kuja vs Terra]: "A poor bird without wings..."
[Tidus vs Terra]: "Always give it everything you got!"
[Jecht vs Terra]: "Stay out of this, little lady."
[Shantotto vs Terra]: "You should run away while you can!"
[Gabranth vs Terra]: "Power without control is worthless."
[Chaos vs Terra]: "Destruction is what you truly long for."
=====================================
XI: F.A.Q.s [QS11]
=====================================
Q: "Why not use brave regen over HP regen since her Exmode isn't HP dependant
like Cloud and Tidus? Wouldn't the extra brave be good for a keep away
character?"
A: You do have a point, however, Terra in Exmode (and especially with Ex
Critical up) doesn't have any trouble causing brave damage. Her attacks are
deadly on a critical, dealing sometimes around 1K damage per hit. Thus, the
brave regen might seem a little bit negligible.
However, since Terra plays a keepaway game, it's gonna be hard to get to her
and land an HP attack. This is even more true in Exmode, so you can watch the
other player cry as you regen your HP, even if it's fairly slowly. I suppose
you could have EXP->HP ability with Brave Regen to cover your HP recovery, but
with an Exbuild, I think HP regen is way better. Anything to stall the battle
generally works in Terra's favour.
However, if you prefer BRV regen, it's your choice.
Q: "I like maining terra as well, but im having a hard time beating inward
chaos' chaos boss without spamming Holy Combo to Ultima. Do you have any good
suggestions for beating high level cpu opponents the honest way? They always
seem to dodge Meteor and spam combos on me regardless of my distance."
A: I've actually been told of a combo that works wonders on the CPUs and I'm
going to put it up in the next update, but I'll let you know in advance. It's
Meltdown level 2->Holy Combo->Ultima. Apparantly it gives the CPU a lot of
trouble because if they dodge Meltdown, Holy hits them, and if they don't,
well, you just hit them with Meltdown and possibly Holy.
But the CPU is pretty crazy with the blocking and dodging, but it's bound to
happen, you'll just have to keep using Meteor and other attacks until you get
em. As long as they aren't getting reflected back at you, you should be okay.
As for Chaos, try using Tornado if you are having trouble with some of his
attacks. It's got amazing priority so it can brush off a lot of his attacks if
you're ever caught in a corner. Otherwise, try and assault him from the air,
you've got more room and better mobility there.
The thing with the CPU is that they read your button inputs, so you can always
try and play defensive against them and just block or attack them during their
lag after attacks. Also, when you can, try messing with their difficulty and
behaviour so you can get a more realistic opponent. Of course this doesn't
help in the Story Modes, but it's great for practising and getting better.
Hope this helps!
EDIT: Also, Fearnall writes:
"A good idea for duel colliseum is to equip a dagger that gives you initial ex
force+ that coupled with exp to ex force should guarantee you start every
fight with ex guage fully charged and end in exmode with a substantial amount
of exguage filled"
Q: "Is there any way to speed up mastering Holy Combo?"
A: Aside from equipping equipment and accessories that boost AP gain (such as
the Diamond Set and Diamond Ring) as well as playing on your Bonus Day (or any
day with an AP bonus) with maxed out AP bonus icon, you can also try double or
even triple equipping Holy Combo. This way it'll earn twice or thrice the
amount of AP. If you're still gonna be doing normal battles, I suggest only
double equipping it and keeping Blizzard Combo on so you have that close range
option.
=====================================
XII: Trivia [TR12]
=====================================
Under construction! I'll probably have a little something here by next update.
From then I'll start adding a lot more once I get the vs other characters
section done.
=====================================
XIII: Version History [VH13]
=====================================
=Version 0.6= 08/29/09 12:20pm
First version!
Completed 'Introduction' section.
Completed 'The Lovely Terra Branford' section.
Completed 'Her Magical Arsenal' section.
Completed 'Using the Beautiful Maiden of Magic' section.
Completed 'Battle Quotes' section.
Partially completed 'Recommended Abilities' section.
Started 'The Challengers' section.
=Version 0.68= 09/12/09 2:39pm
First update!
Added more to 'The Challengers' section. About halfway done now.
Added combos submitted by readers.
Corrected various mistakes and typos throughout the completed sections.
Added new information regarding Meltdown.
Added questions to the FAQ section.
Added a short temporary little bit to the Equipment section.
=Version 0.74= 10/13/09 10:38pm
Second update.
Finished all but Gabranth and Shantotto for the vs characters section due to
lack of experience fighting them
Finished the giant vs Chaos part as well >_>.
Changed some random stuff here and there in various sections.
***Sorry for the delayed and short update, been a little busy, I'll try to
speed things along!***
=====================================
XIV: Contacting Moi [CM14]
=====================================
If you wish to ask me anything regarding the content of the guide (aka
clarification, etc.), have any questions about Terra or anything in my guide,
would like to suggest, correct, add, or help with something, or notice any
grammatical and spelling erororors (I write some of this late at night, it's
bound to happen... a lot), or just have any feedback regarding this, please
feel free to spam me with your worthless ju- erm... I value your input and
hope you have a good day?
No seriously, I will try and read every e-mail and get a reply out as soon as
possible, but please be patient. Also, try to make your e-mails as clear as
you can. I know not everyone speaks English as a first language so I'm not
gonna spellcheck your messages and send em back, but it does make things
easier for me which means faster replies to you.
Also, if you have criticism, please say it in a intelligent way. Saying "UR
GUID SUX LOL1!111" really doesn't help me, except to pad my garbage bin. If
you want to send hate mail, at least make it creative and give me a good laugh
=P.
Anyways, you can contact me at this e-mail address:
[email protected]
Thanks in advance for your input!
=====================================
XV: Credits/Thanks [CT15]
=====================================
Not much here yet til I get things organized. I will make this nicer when I
get the chance.
Obviously I would like to take the chance to thank the readers for taking the
time to sort through my ramblings. Hope you enjoy and take something from what
I've got here.
Also GameFAQs, for hosting this guide (and they are the only ones I give
premission to do so at the moment, unless someone sends a request) and being
an amazing site for all types of gamers looking to help or just chat with
other gamers.
Also, Square-Enix for making an absolutely outstanding game! Seriously, this
game is friggin amazing! Although I'm a huge FF fan anyways, so it's not like
it'd take much to impress me, but it's eating a ton of my time, so it must be
good!
The Dissipedia and FFwiki for various bits of information about Dissidia,
Terra, and FFVI. I suggest you check them out, especially the FFwiki if you're
a big FF fan like me.
teffy for getting the vs quotes before the game was released!
_BTT_ for pointing out my huge mistake in saying Straight Arrow was the best
HP attack in the game (xD) and also suggesting a combo.
MeepleLardicle for informing me of Terra's real height.
Demitel for telling me about a combo.
ScylentAssassin and Uberwolf X for pointing out typos.
Brenden, James B and James K for noting how to tell what stage Meltdown is at.
InfinityZERO, ALTON603, and twilight for questions that I've added to the FAQ.
Alex for also pointing out how Terra's hands during Meltdown as well as
translations for the extra abilities (though I've yet to get em up >_>).
Gregory for noting that in his Exmode you can't interrupt Garland's Blaze.
Fearnall for telling me how Meltdown works in Exmode as well as a combo and
some advice for Duel Colliseum for troublesome AI.
And finally, Ms Branford herself for being just so darn cute ;)
Thanks y'all!
Mike out.
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