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Hades Paradox Cup Guide

by Harwin

======================================================================

Title:    Hades Paradox Cup Guide
Game:     Kingdom Hearts II
Version:  2.00
Platform: Sony PlayStation 2
Author:   Harwin
E-mail:   ardente_climhazzard[at]yahoo.com

======================================================================
FIRST BOX : NOTES                                                [NTT]
======================================================================

Hello there and welcome to the world of Kingdom Hearts II.
This guide is meant to help you beat the Hades Paradox Cup.
Feel free to send your comments and/or suggestions, at:
ardente_climhazzard[at]yahoo.com

[UPDATE]
Wow, it's been almost two years since I wrote this guide. I want to
thank all the people who sent in their support and positive comments
towards my guide. It is most appreciated and the reason for this
second version. For more information on the updates that were made
please check the Second Box.

======================================================================
SECOND BOX : HISTORY                                             [HST]
======================================================================

Version 1.00     June 12th 2006
---
Everything so far.

Version 2.00     April 3rd 2008
---
Headers format modified.
New format for subheaders.
Information added/mended at the beginning of the guide.
Notes added in the First Box.
History information added/mended in the Second Box.
Information mended in the Third Box.
Format errors fixed and information added in the Fourth Box.
Information on how to unlock the Hades Paradox Cup stands corrected
in the Fifth Box, along with format errors.
Stars replaced for numbers in the Abilities subbox.
New box created.
Typos and format errors corrected in the now Seventh Box.
New emphasis on Important (!) note above Rounds 11-20.
Strategy boxes created above Rounds 31-40 and 41-50.
Information mended in the now Eighth Box.

The latest version of this FAQ can be found at the following sites:
http://www.ign.com/
(and thus)
http://videogames.yahoo.com/

======================================================================
THIRD BOX : LEGAL STUFF                                          [LGL]
======================================================================

This FAQ is intended for personal use only.
It cannot be re-written, reproduced, altered, updated or used for
profitable purposes.
It may only be posted on a website with permission of the author.
Give credit where it is due.
This document is Copyright 2006-2008, Harwin.
Kingdom Hearts II is Copyright Square-Enix, Disney.

======================================================================
FOURTH BOX : CONTENTS                                            [CNT]
======================================================================

                                                      SEARCH KEYS

1. First Box     -     Notes                                [NTT]
2. Second Box    -     History                              [HST]
3. Third Box     -     Legal Stuff                          [LGL]
4. Fourth Box    -     Contents                             [CNT]
5. Fifth Box     -     Warm-up Stuff                        [WRM]

                       abilities                            [ABT]
                       items                                [ITM]
                       customize                            [CST]
                       config                               [CNF]

6. Sixth Box     -     Strategy Points                      [STG]
7. Seventh Box   -     Walkthrough                          [WLK]

                       Volcanic Lord                        [VCL]
                       Tifa, Yuffie                         [TEF]
                       Blizzard Lord                        [BZZ]
                       Pete                                 [PTT]
                       Cloud, Tifa                          [CET]
                       Hades                                [HDS]
                       Cloud, Leon                          [CEL]
                       Cerberus                             [CBS]
                       Cloud, Leon, Tifa, Yuffie            [CLT]
                       Hades                                [HDX]

8. Eighth Box    -     Final Stuff                          [FNL]

Type Round + number, e.g. Round 40, in your browser's search box to
locate a particular round.

======================================================================
FIFTH BOX : WARM-UP STUFF                                        [WRM]
======================================================================

First of all, for unlocking the Hades Paradox Cup, you need to level
up all four Drive Forms and all Summons to maximum level, which is
seven; also, you need to have cleared all previous cups and have
cleared Space Paranoids for the second time. This will grant you
access to the ultimate tournament cup.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|ABILITIES                                                      [ABT]|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

The abilities I recommend equipping for your characters are as
follows:

====
SORA
====

ACTION ABILITIES        GROWTH ABILITIES        SUPPORT ABILITIES

Retaliating Slash       High Jump LV3(3)        Scan
Slapshot                Quick Run LV3(1)        Combo Boost
Dodge Slash             Aerial Dodge LV3(1)     Air Combo Boost
Slide Dash              Glide LV3(3)            Negative Combo(2)
Guard Break(3)                                  Berserk Charge
Explosion                                       Drive Boost(1)
Aerial Sweep                                    Form Boost(3)
Aerial Spiral                                   Form Boost(3)
Aerial Finish                                   Summon Boost(3)
Trinity Limit(3)                                Combination Boost
                                                Leaf Bracer(3)
                                                Magic Lock-On(3)
                                                Thunder Boost(3)
                                                MP Rage(1)
                                                MP Rage(1)
                                                Defender
                                                Second Chance(3)
                                                Once More(3)

And of course, you'll have MP Hastega for having the Ultima Weapon
equipped. You'll need 95 Ability Points if you decide to equip all of
these.

(1)   You may opt out of these. I equipped them, but they might not
      prove that useful.
(2)   Personally, I never liked increasing combos. That's why I'm
      suggesting you equip Negative Combo instead of Combo Plus and
      Air Combo Plus. This way, you can land finishing moves like
      Guard Break faster, but I may be wrong.
(3)   These are the abilities I consider essential, so be sure to
      include them.

================
DONALD AND GOOFY
================

The only recommendation I have for these two is to equip Donald's
limit command Fantasia, which unleashes his spell Comet. I feel this
limit command deals more damage than the others and it makes it easier
for you to stop your enemies and attack them. This is especially
useful in boss fights. Don't equip Flare Force, Tornado Fusion and
Teamwork, so that if you equip Auto Limit on Donald, only his Comet
spell will be prompted.
Other than that, feel free to equip them whatever you feel like.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|ITEMS                                                          [ITM]|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

As for item equipping, I only recommend Ultima Weapon for Sora, and
Save the Queen+ and Save the King+ for Donald and Goofy, respectively.
Feel free to equip them any armor, accessories and items you want.

If you want to know, my setup was as follows:

SORA:       Ultima Weapon, Oblivion (Final Form), Cosmic Belt, Petit
            Ribbon, Power Band, Cosmic Arts, Cosmic Ring, Master's
            Ring, Hi-Potion (with Auto-Reload) and one Elixir.

Donald:     Save the Queen+, Cosmic Chain, Midnight Anklet, Expert's
            Ring, Mage Earring and Skillful Ring.

Goofy:      Save the King+, Acrisius, Gaia Belt, Protect Belt, Soldier
            Earring and Garnet Ring.

If you haven't done so already, use all status-enhancing items on
Sora. For me, those included: 4 Power Boosts, 4 Magic Boosts and 4
Defense Boosts. You can always pay a moogle a visit and make some
more.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|CUSTOMIZE                                                      [CST]|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

In the Customize screen do the following for Sora:

Assign Firaga or Reflega to the Circle button.
Assign Thundaga to the Triangle button.
Assign Magnega to the Square button.
Assign Curaga to the X button.

You can always change the button arrangement, but be sure to include
the Curaga, Magnega and Thundaga spells.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|CONFIG                                                         [CNF]|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Finally, you might want to go to the Config menu and change the
setting for Summon Effects from Auto to Full.
This will cause your summons to have a full animation every single
time you call them. For this guide, you'll only be calling either
Stitch or Peter Pan or both, and for Peter you'll want to have his
Never Land attack ready before the enemy can jump in on you. I'll
elaborate on this in the guide.

======================================================================
SIXTH BOX : STRATEGY POINTS                                      [STG]
======================================================================

This box includes a collection of strategy points I mention throughout
the guide, gathered here for your convenience.

STP 1.     Using Comet spell (or Trinity) allows you to walk through
           the scalding hot spots Volcanic Lord (Round 5) or Hades
           (Round 50) create on the ground, as well as Blizzard Lord's
           (Round 15) ice.

STP 2.     Using Comet spell briefly confounds the enemy, which allows
           you to attack them physically without bar or retaliation.
           When fighting with an enemy, especially in boss fights, you
           should keep a strategy of using the spell (pressing the
           Triangle button a few times), then quickly slashing them
           with your sword, then continuing with the spell, and so on
           till the spell runs out.

STP 3.     Bosses have this annoying feature in which they'll cling to
           one last barely noticeable fraction of their life bar and
           they won't let go unless you perform a finishing move on
           them such as Guard Break, magic such as Thunder, or a limit
           command such as Comet or Trinity.

STP 4.     For Rounds 11-20 read the Important (!) message before
           Round 11. It basically says to keep on summoning Peter Pan
           and using his Never Land attack.

STP 5.     Throughout Rounds 11-20, rocks will be falling on the 
           battleground's center. If you keep on summoning Peter Pan,
           though, this won't be an issue. For Round 20, Pete, make
           it a point to stick to the battleground's perimeter to
           avoid unnecessary damage.

STP 6.     The Berserk Charge ability prevents you from performing
           finishing moves such as Guard Break if you've run out of
           MP. This means that, when attacking, you'll engage in a
           never-ending chain of attacks. Some bosses won't allow
           this, and they'll smack you out of their way when caused
           sufficient damage. Halt the attack before that happens.

STP 7.     The trick to using Trinity is to keep pressing Triangle all
           the way through, so you'll be able to get in three chains
           of attacks. When Trinity is over, your enemy will be
           briefly confounded, allowing you to strike a fourth chain
           of regular attacks.

STP 8.     For Rounds 31-33 and 36-39, I recommend using Thundaga
           while on Final Form. Do not use the spell if you're not in
           Final Form, as it won't cause much damage. Also, when
           casting, try to move about the battleground, locking and
           unlocking randomly onto enemies if you didn't equip the
           Magic Lock-On ability.

STP 9.     My healing strategy for Rounds 31-40 is to always use the
           last fraction of your MP bar to cast Curaga, so you can
           keep yourself healed without sacrificing MP for casting
           Thundaga spells.

STP 10.    Always keep in mind that going into Final Form restores
           your HP and MP completely.

STP 11.    You only need to raise 5 Drive Gauges to morph into Final
           Form.

STP 12.    Casting Magnega occasionally before Thundaga is always a
           good idea.

STP 13.    For Rounds 41-50 heal when needed and keep yourself
           airborne along the arena's perimeter. Attack only when
           in a safe position.

======================================================================
SEVENTH BOX : WALKTHROUGH                                        [WLK]
======================================================================

Go talk to Hades in his chamber and select The Hades Paradox Cup.
Select yes.
The fun begins!

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|ROUNDS 1-10                                                         |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|The first ten rounds have no specific rules. Just defeat your       |
|enemies any way you want. This might be a good time to summon Stitch|
|and use his Ohana! attack to get lots of points. When the attack    |
|begins, just use Blast or Ukulele.                                  |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

=======
ROUND 1
=======

Three Shadows and three Soldiers. No biggie.

=======
ROUND 2
=======

Four Driller Moles and two Hook Bats. No biggie.

=======
ROUND 3
=======

Four Rapid Thrusters and two Surveillance Robots. We're barely getting
started here.

=======
ROUND 4
=======

Five Rabid Dogs and two Creeper Plants. We haven't broken a sweat yet.
Use the Creeper Plants' Reaction Command, Root Ravager, to get more
points out of them.

======================================================================
ROUND 5 : BOSS FIGHT : VOLCANIC LORD                             [VCL]
======================================================================

Our first boss, Volcanic Lord, plus two Soldiers. The game says to
concentrate on the boss. The Soldiers won't leave you points, so don't
bother.

The boss has basically two attacks.
1. He'll smack you with his fiery staff.
2. He'll start jumping up and down leaving scalding hot spots on the
ground. You can't cross these, unless you are using Donald's Comet
spell.

If he jumps over you, a reaction command will become available:
Firagun. Use this to stab him in the belly and use it again to send
him flying, deflating him. Use Glide to chase after him.
If you want to cause massive quick damage, change to Final Form and
bash him. If you want to save your Drive Gauge for calling your
Summons on upcoming battles, just attack him senseless anyway.

Please note the following:
1. Bosses have this annoying feature in which they'll cling to one
last barely noticeable fraction of their life bar and they won't let
go unless you perform a finishing move on them such as Guard Break,
magic such as Thunder, or a limit command such as Comet or Trinity.
2. Bosses won't leave you any points.

=====================
ROUND 6 : IN THE DARK
=====================

Three Cannon Guns and three Silver Rocks. Use the latter's Reaction
Command, Shift Shot, to your advantage.

=======
ROUND 7
=======

Four Shadows and three Icy Cubes. After you defeat them, eight Minute
Bombs will show up. Nice warm-up.

=======
ROUND 8
=======

Three Soldiers and two Silver Rocks. Use both their Reaction Commands,
Cyclone and Shift Shot respectively, to your advantage.
After you defeat them, five Armored Knights will show up. Use their
Reaction Command, Rising Sun, if prompted.
Finally, a Large Body will pop out. Use Comet on him, or attack him
from the rear and use Full Swing if prompted. If he starts sliding on
his belly, use Guard, Kickback and then Full Swing when prompted. Use
Final Form to be able to break through his front barrier.
Things are getting interesting.

=======
ROUND 9
=======

Nobodies!
Four Creepers and one Samurai. Don't bother with the latter's Reaction
Command, Duel Stance.

======================================================================
ROUND 10 : BOSS FIGHT : TIFA, YUFFIE                             [TEF]
======================================================================

Our second boss fight, Tifa and Yuffie.

I recommend using Comet on the girls. You should start with Tifa, as
Yuffie will annoyingly puff in and out around you, making her a
difficult target for the spell. Comet will briefly confound the girls,
who will be unable to attack you, and make them vulnerable.
When using the spell, you should perform a Triangle, attack, attack,
attack, Triangle, attack... combination.
You can also use Final Form here, as the next ten rounds will be all
about the Summons, so you'll start Round 11 with a full Drive Gauge.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|ROUNDS 11-20                                                        |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Ten rounds with Titan Cup rules! That is, you're alone and you can't|
|use Drive Forms, only Summons. Even more terrifying, you get those  |
|terrible 500 points you gradually lose when taking damage. You need |
|to take care of those points all the way through to the end of Round|
|20. It's all over when all points are gone.                         |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

IMPORTANT (!) IMPORTANT (!) IMPORTANT (!) IMPORTANT (!) IMPORTANT (!)

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<


For the next ten rounds, except maybe the boss fights, your new best
friend is Peter Pan. This is what you are going to have to do:
1. As soon as the round starts, immediately select Summon. Press up
once and select Peter Pan.
2. During the animation, press up on the D-pad and have "Limit" ready.
3. When the animation is about to end, quickly start pressing X, so
that you'll select Never Land, where Limit used to read.
4. Start flying in circles and wherever you see enemies, pressing the
X button nonstop. This will grant you lots and lots of points.
5. When Journey's End is activated, you'll see Peter flipping upward
and he'll start yelling "Go! Go!" instead of "Yah! Yah!". This means
the end of the attack. Quickly press up on the D-pad and select Never
Land again.
6. You should be able to perform Never Land about three or four times.
7. When the last Never Land is done with, Peter will go away. Quickly
press down on the D-pad once and select Summon again, then Peter Pan
and repeat the whole process. You should be able to call Peter twice
per round, but that's more than enough.

Please note the following:

1. If you didn't change the setting for Summon Effects from Auto to
Full in the Config menu as suggested in the Warm-Up Stuff section,
just press up on the D-pad right after selecting Peter Pan and start
pressing X to activate Never Land.
2. Each time you start a new round, your Drive Gauge will be fully
restored, so don't worry about it!
3. You can get in a few normal attacks between the Never Land ones.
Just be sure to be wise about it. One or two should suffice, then
go to Never Land again. If you see that you're only dealing with one
enemy when Never Land ends, or you're sure you won't get attacked,
finish the enemy with normal attacks, then get back to Never Land if
there're more enemies.
4. If there's only one enemy left standing, don't go blindly after it
with normal attacks, unless it's a Creeper Plant or some other dumb
Heartless. Use Never Land, which will send it flying and confound it,
giving you the opportunity to attack him relentlessly with a combo and
finish it off.
5. If Peter Pan goes away and you're surrounded, try gliding away a
bit and then call Peter again. Don't worry if you lose a few points,
just don't panic about it.
6. You can lock onto enemies during Never Land. This is helpful if you
need to find the last remaining ones.
7. This is the only strategy I'm giving you for all ten rounds, except
the ones that include a boss, being Rounds 15 and 20. The reason is
simple, Peter Pan's Never Land should breeze you through with minimum
damage, translating into minimum points loss and giving you lots of
the other kind of points, which count towards your 15,000 points 
quota.

On to the fighting!

>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

END OF IMPORTANT NOTE (!) END OF IMPORTANT NOTE (!) END OF IMPORTANT N

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<

========
ROUND 11
========

Five Rapid Thrusters and three Aeroplanes.
Call Peter Pan!
Read the IMPORTANT (!) message above for an explanation.

========
ROUND 12
========

Four Minute Bombs, two Air Pirates and one Magnum Loader.
Call Peter Pan!
Read the IMPORTANT (!) message above Round 11 for an explanation.

========
ROUND 13
========

Three Luna Bandits and two Driller Moles.
Call Peter Pan!
Read the IMPORTANT (!) message above Round 11 for an explanation.
Aren't you loving Peter?

========
ROUND 14
========

Two Armored Knights, two Lance Soldiers and two Tornado Steps.
Call Peter Pan!
Read the IMPORTANT (!) message above Round 11 for an explanation.
The Lance Soldiers should be the last ones to go. Never Land may not
be enough to finish them off, but it should separate them so you can
go after them with normal attacks. Be careful doing so.

======================================================================
ROUND 15 : BOSS FIGHT : BLIZZARD LORD                            [BZZ]
======================================================================

Our third boss fight, Blizzard Lord.

This boss has three attacks:
1. He'll try to smack you with his icy staff.
2. He'll start to inhale and blow an icy breath which will freeze the
floor. If you touch the ice he creates on the floor, you'll get hurt
and lose points. You can avoid this attack most of the time by quickly
standing in front of him and using the Reaction Command, Blizzagun.
Sora will plug his mouth and then, using the Reaction Command again,
he'll send him flying, deflating him. Use Glide to chase after him.
You can also avoid this attack by standing as close to him as possible
when he's exhaling.
3. He'll call forth ice crystals around you and send them flying
towards you, which will cause some damage. Avoid this situation by
quickly casting Firaga. The fire should burn off all the crystals or
most of them and, if you're close to the boss, hurt him as well.

As soon as the round begins, run towards the boss and activate the
Reaction Command, Blizzagun. Activate it again to send it flying and
then glide after him. Lock onto him and start attacking him. When Sora
yells "This is it!" or "Back off!" indicating the end of his midair
combo, stop the attack and fall to the ground. If you equipped the
Berserk Charge ability and run out of MP, Sora will just go into a
never-ending chain of attacks. When this happens, interrupt the chain
after you've dealt about 10-12 blows. Otherwise, the boss will send
you flying with a sway of his staff. You'll be able to dodge his smack
out of luck more often than not, if you're below him or if you
inevitably fell to the ground, but don't risk it.
Continue attacking him by periods as suggested, disabling or avoiding
his icy breath and using Firaga to burn away the crystals. He'll fall
eventually and you should have suffered minimum points loss.

You can also cast Firaga to deal damage and/or, if you're feeling
insecure, don't hesitate to call Peter Pan to aid you. He'll cause
consistent gradual damage, and the boss shouldn't hurt you. Just be
sure to glue yourself to him and press X nonstop.

========
ROUND 16
========

Four Soldiers and two Wight Knights.
Call Peter Pan!
Read the IMPORTANT (!) message above Round 11 for an explanation.
Sora: "Light!"

========
ROUND 17
========

Four Neoshadows and four Strafers. After you defeat five of them, four
Aerial Knockers will show up.
Call Peter Pan!
Read the IMPORTANT (!) message above Round 11 for an explanation.
We're almost there!

========
ROUND 18
========

Two Air Pirates and two Luna Bandits. After you defeat half of them,
three Creeper Plants will show up.
After that, when you defeat three more Heartless, three Wight Knights
will show up.
Call Peter Pan!
Read the IMPORTANT (!) message above Round 11 for an explanation.
Peter Pan: "Our turn?"

========
ROUND 19
========

Nobodies!
Two Assassins, two Dusks and one Dragoon.
Call Peter Pan!
Read the IMPORTANT (!) message above Round 11 for an explanation.
Try to go for the Dragoon first. Then, try to aim for the Assassins.
Finally, deal with the Dusks.
One more to go!

======================================================================
ROUND 20 : BOSS FIGHT : PETE                                     [PTT]
======================================================================

Our fourth boss fight, Pete. Don't panic! This fight is easy.

Pete has four attacks:
1. He'll start rolling pink marble bombs towards you, which will chase
you around. To avoid these, you'll have to Quick Run away from them,
or glide above and away from them. The bombs will eventually stop and
explode if they didn't make contact with you.
2. He'll call out "Look, kids! Pete's invincible!" and he will cast a
pink shell around him. This will make him, well, invincible. Hits
landed on him during this time will result in no damage. Also, he'll
recover a little HP during this time. But don't worry, his bubble
lasts less than five seconds. You'll know when it's over because he'll
hit his fists together twice.
3. He'll yell "Get out of my way!" and he'll strike a few punches in
front of him. Then he'll jump and land a blow on the ground, creating
a circular shockwave. This will happen when you're too close to him
and not causing damage, or after you've caused him enough damage. To
avoid this, simply glide away from him when he yells "Get out of my
way!"
4. He'll run backwards and drop several colored little marble bombs,
saying along "I'll show you!". The marbles won't chase you, and they
will explode eventually. This happens when you're too close to him
and not causing damage.

Please note the following:
1. Pete won't chase you around. In fact, he'll run away from you!
2. Always stay in the perimeter of the arena. As with the previous
nine rounds, rocks will be falling down on the battleground's center.
We don't want those rocks messing up your game.

As soon as the round starts, jump and glide to the perimeter. During
your flight, or when you land in a bomb-safe spot, select Limit and
have Trinity ready. Glide towards Pete and when you're close enough to
him, press X to select Trinity and start the attack.
Sora will start mashing his sword away at Pete and when you see Sora
glide back a little and thrust onwards Pete, that's when you need to
begin pressing Triangle as fast as you can. This will cause the yellow
limit bar to halt, so you can perform at least three chains of
attacks. When the limit is done, Pete will still be on the ground
confounded, quickly continue your assault till you've finished
draining a life bar out of him. Don't get excited, as Pete will
recover and punch you, performing his "Get out of my way!" attack.
When you feel you've caused enough damage after Trinity, glide away
and let Pete have his fit.
Continue gliding on the battleground's perimeter until your MP bar is
refilled. Have Trinity ready and glide towards Pete again to begin.
Repeat this process until Pete falls.
To play it safe during Trinity, you can always start smashing the
Triangle button right from the start, so it won't catch you off guard.
The trick resides in pressing Triangle all the way through, so you'll
be able to get in three chains of attacks.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|ROUNDS 21-30                                                        |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Ten rounds with Pain and Panic Cup rules. That is, you can't use    |
|Drive Forms nor Summons, but Limits consume less MP than usual.     |
|Continue to dispose of enemies with Comet and solid attacks         |
|throughout the next ten rounds. Donald and Goofy offer their last   |
|help here.                                                          |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

========
ROUND 21
========

Four Armored Knights and three Gargoyle Knights.
You can start to relax now.

========
ROUND 22
========

Two Fortunetellers, two Trick Ghosts and one Aeroplane.
Easy-peasy.

========
ROUND 23
========

Two Creeper Plants, two Shamans and two Soldiers.
With no criterion to meet, we sure are a killing machine, huh?

========
ROUND 24
========

Three Bulky Vendors.
These guys have four levels:
1. Capsule Prize. This Reaction Command appears right from the start
and lasts two life bars. They're worth eight points during this time.
2. Rare Capsule. This Reaction Command appears during their third life
bar and lasts two life bars. They're worth sixteen points during this
time.
3. Limited Capsule. This Reaction Command appears during their fifth
life bar and lasts two life bars. They're worth twenty-four points
during this time.
4. Prime Capsule. This Reaction Command appears during their seventh
life bar and lasts three life bars. They're worth seventy-two points
during this time.

The mathematics on these guys is rather easy, if you are at all
interested. If you defeat one Bulky Vendor, you get the number of
points that it's worth, depending on the level it was when you used
the Reaction Command. If you defeat a second Bulky Vendor, you get
the number of points it's worth, depending on the level it was when
you used the Reaction Command, plus ten. If you defeat a third Bulky
Vendor, you get the number of points it's worth plus twenty.
For example, if you defeat two Bulky Vendors on Limited Capsule level
and a third one on Prime Capsule level, you get:

Limited     Capsule     24
Limited     Capsule     24+10
Prime       Capsule     72+20
--------------------------------
Total                   150 pts.

======================================================================
ROUND 25 : BOSS FIGHT : CLOUD, TIFA                              [CET]
======================================================================

Our fifth boss fight, Cloud and Tifa.

Tifa's attacks are pretty much an array (about three different moves)
of punches and kicks, plus her Final Heaven attack, in which she'll
detonate several blue explosions in front of her. This attack is
forewarned by some kind of dialogue such as "Here it goes!" or "Don't
say I didn't warn you!", among others. In any case, whenever you hear
her say something, just get out of her way.
Cloud will basically hack at you with his Buster Sword if you're
close to him, and if not, he'll continue to thrust himself at you,
which is what he does most of the time.

I suggest dealing with Tifa first. The strategy should be the same as
when you fought Tifa and Yuffie: use Donald's Comet spell to briefly
confound them, slash away at them, proceed with the spell, and so on.
Trinity should always work well too.

========
ROUND 26
========

Two Hammer Frames, two Bolt Towers and one Neoshadow.
We are building back up our confidence here!

========
ROUND 27
========

Four Rabid Dogs and two Gargoyle Warriors. After you defeat them, four
Nightwalkers will show up.
Fireworks!

========
ROUND 28
========

Two Bookmasters and two Emerald Blues. After you defeat them, four
Shamans will show up. Finally, three Silver Rocks and another two
Emerald Blues will show up.
They are getting persistent, aren't they?

========
ROUND 29
========

Nobodies! There seems to be a pattern here.
Two Gamblers and two Snipers.
Don't get nervous yet.

======================================================================
ROUND 30 : BOSS FIGHT IN THE DARK : HADES                        [HDS]
======================================================================

Our sixth boss fight, Hades.

Hades has two basic attacks, besides puffing in and out around you.
1. He'll say "Feel the heat!" and throw a fireball at you, which you
can smack back, but it won't hit him. You can easily avoid this
attack.
2. If you're close to him, he'll flail his fists at you.
That's it.

As with previous boss fights, use your trusty Comet spell. But unlike
previous boss fights, I have found it more delightful to let the spell
run out and attack Hades once or right after Donald has unleashed his
Comet Rain. Soon, Hades will call "Is that all you've got?" and puff
away. Lock onto Hades and start casting Comet again. Let yourself get
hit by one of Hades' fireballs or punches once in a while to replenish
your MP bar, if you equipped MP Rage abilities that is. Since Limits
cost about a sixth of your MP bar, you can continue repeating this
strategy till he falls. Don't be shy to use Trinity if you want to,
but Comet should cause more damage.

Take a deep breath, hold your controller firmly and continue on to the
next ten time-based rounds.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|ROUNDS 31-40                                                        |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Ten rounds with Cerberus Cup rules. That is, you're alone and you   |
|can't use Summons, only Drive Forms. Plus, you have to get to the   |
|end of Round 40 within ten minutes.                                 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
 ____________________________________________________________________
( WOW : STRATEGY BOX!                                                )
(____________________________________________________________________)
|For the next ten rounds, consider the following strategy points     |
|covered in the Sixth Box:                                           |
|                                                                    |
|STP 8.   For Rounds 31-33 and 36-39, I recommend using Thundaga     |
|         while on Final Form. Do not use the spell if you're not in |
|         Final Form, as it won't cause much damage. Also, when      |
|         casting, try to move about the battleground, locking and   |
|         unlocking randomly onto enemies if you didn't equip the    |
|         Magic Lock-On ability.                                     |
|                                                                    |
|STP 9.   My healing strategy for Rounds 31-40 is to always use the  |
|         last fraction of your MP bar to cast Curaga, so you can    |
|         keep yourself healed without sacrificing MP for casting    |
|         Thundaga spells.                                           |
|                                                                    |
|STP 10.  Always keep in mind that going into Final Form restores    |
|         your HP and MP completely.                                 |
|                                                                    |
|STP 11.  You only need to raise 5 Drive Gauges to morph into Final  |
|         Form.                                                      |
|                                                                    |
|STP 12.  Casting Magnega occasionally before Thundaga is always a   |
|         good idea.                                                 |
|                                                                    |
|To add some relief, bear in mind that each new round will add about |
|15 seconds to the timer.                                            |
|The time I've marked at the end of each round should be your maximum|
|time spent for that particular round. I was generous about it,      |
|giving you a margin of safety of little more than 15 seconds.       |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

========
ROUND 31
========

Two Creepers, two Samurai and one Berserker.
Immediately change to Final Form and start casting Thundaga over and
over, trying to lock onto the Berserker. Try also not to just stand in
one place. Move about the battleground, locking and unlocking randomly
onto enemies if you didn't equip the Magic Lock-On ability. Finish off
the last enemy standing with Final Form attacks, since you'll have run
out of MP.
You should have taken 30 seconds for this round.

========
ROUND 32
========

Four water musical notes and three Dancers.
Approach the musical notes and quickly press Triangle to dispose of
them.
Wait until your MP bar is full again to deal with the Dancers. You
don't want to get among them, since all that will happen is that one
of them is going to grab and swing you around, causing major damage
and a waste of time.
Once your MP bar is full, cast Magnega followed by several Thundaga
spells to dispose of the pink nuisances.
You should have taken 30 seconds for this round.

This might be a good time to advise you on how to deal with your
health. Given that you're going to be using Thunder magic for most of
the upcoming rounds, you might want to save the last fraction of your
MP bar to heal yourself, even if you're not in immediate danger. This
way, you'll only be sacrificing one Thundaga spell over full HP
restoration, and not lots of Thundaga spells for healing up when you
do eventually run out of HP and the MP bar hasn't been used all that
much yet.

========
ROUND 33
========

Four Samurai.
You probably didn't spend all your MP in the last round, so start
casting Thundaga until you run out. Finish off the remaining Samurai
with Final Form attacks.
You should have taken 30 seconds for this round.

========
ROUND 34
========

Two Sorcerers.
These Nobodies are immune to magic, so you have to get up there and
beat them senseless. Concentrate on one at a time, moving about it
till it's down, then continuing to the second one. They should fall in
no time.
You should have taken 30 seconds for this round.

========
ROUND 35
========

A swarm of Rapid Thrusters!
Don't despair! Forget about Thunder magic for this round and start
attacking those insects to a fault, casting Magnega about every five
seconds. If it hadn't before, your Final Form will end in this round.
Don't worry, keep the onslaught going and within five seconds you
should be able to go back to Final Form. If you have some MP available
when you run out of it, cast Magnega to refill your Drive Gauge even
faster. Keep this up till the very last Rapid Thruster is down.
You should have taken about 2 and a half minutes for this round.

========
ROUND 36
========

Three Berserkers.
If you began this round with some MP, start casting Magnega followed
by several Thundaga spells. If not, go after one of the Berserkers and
try to make it drop its weapon, so you can give it, or them if another
one is close enough, a taste of its own medicine with the Reaction
Command, Berserk followed by Eclipse and Magna Storm.
Remember that you can grab the Berserker weapon indefinitely, as long
as you quickly recover it each time you finish performing Magna Storm.
This round is very unpredictable, as these Nobodies tend to make
things very difficult. If you run out of your Drive Form, continue
attacking them till you get at least five Drive Gauges, so you can
morph back to Final Form. If this happens, try to do so near one of
them because the blast you give off when transforming knocks them away
from their weapons. With your MP bar refilled, continue casting
Thundaga and they should go down. Don't cast Thunder magic, however,
when you're not in Final Form as it's pretty useless.
You should have taken forty-five seconds for this round.

There's a possibility that while fighting to bring your Drive Gauge
back up, your health will danger. If this happens, don't worry about
wasting a whole MP bar, as it will be fully restored when you
transform back to Final Form.

========
ROUND 37
========

Three Assassins and two Snipers. After you defeat them, four Dragoons
will show up.
Proceed with the strategy I've given you so far: Cast Thundaga
nonstop, leaving the last fraction of your MP bar to heal yourself.
Continue with Final Form attacks till your MP bar is replenished or
you shift out of Final Form, in which case you need to raise back up
five Drive Gauges to morph back.
To deal with the Assassins, you need to go to them and hit them so
they'll come out. Fall them with Final Form attacks or cast them away
with Thundaga. If you see their Reaction Command, Fail-Safe, don't
hesitate to use it, as it's a one-hit death blow.
You should have taken one minute for this round.

========
ROUND 38
========

Six Dusks, followed by four Dancers, followed by four Samurai,
followed by four Gamblers, followed by one Sorcerer.

You get six Dusks at the beginning of this round. For each one you
defeat, a Dancer will come and replace it until there're four Dancers.
Samurai will then start replacing each Nobody you defeat till there're
four of them. Then the Gamblers and finally the Sorcerer. You don't
have to defeat them in order, though. If you defeat one Dusk to get a
Dancer, you can then defeat that Dancer to get another one, till you
start getting the Samurai and so forth.
Remember that the Sorcerer is immune to magic. Finish it off with
Final Form attacks.
You should have taken one minute and a half for this round.

You'll know when the Dancers are ready to swing you off the floor, for
they'll bend forward while sliding towards you, giving off a yellowish
mist, with little pink lights revolving around their glowing dagger-
like hands. It's preferable to avoid them altogether during this time,
but you may attack them by facing them while moving backwards so they
won't reach you.

========
ROUND 39
========

Four Dragoons.
Proceed with the strategy I've given you so far.
You should have taken 15 seconds for this round.

======================================================================
ROUND 40 : BOSS FIGHT : CLOUD, LEON                              [CEL]
======================================================================

You should have around five minutes remaining for this round.

Our seventh boss fight, Cloud and Leon.

Besides hacking at you with their swords, Leon will say "Here it
goes!" and shoot a fireball towards you, which will try to semichase
you; and Cloud will now have a deadly new move, which consists in
charging himself up, throwing off an electrical shockwave, and
speeding all over the battleground, making two pauses to hack at you
before proceeding, and finally saying "Farewell" before diving upon
you from above with an electrical discharge. All of this is easily
avoided. Leon will also announce "It's over!" and charge his Gunblade,
which causes more damage and seems to stay that way for the remainder
of the battle.

The strategy for Leon is to go berserk on him while on Final Form.
When you run out of it, continue attacking him till you're able to go
back. Remember that you only need to raise five Drive Gauges.
When Leon is out of the way, the strategy for Cloud is as follows:

1.   If you have a full MP bar, revert from Final Form. That is, go
     back to your normal self.
2.   Use Sora's limit command Trinity on Cloud. Remember to keep
     pressing Triangle all the way through so you can get in three
     chains of attacks.
3.   Continue attacking Cloud after Trinity is over, as Cloud will be
     briefly confounded. This will grant you, hopefully, a fourth
     chain of attacks. It will also immediately charge your Drive
     Gauge up to its fullest, allowing you to go back to Final Form.
4.   Go back to Final Form. Your MP bar is now fully restored.
5.   Revert again from Final Form.
6.   Perform Trinity on Cloud and so forth.

Repeat this process till Cloud falls. This strategy is the same one
you should use on Cloud for his last act on Round 49.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|ROUNDS 41-50                                                        |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|The last ten rounds. Sora's on his own. That is, you're alone and   |
|you can't use Drive Forms nor Summons.                              |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
 ____________________________________________________________________
( WOW : STRATEGY BOX!                                                )
(____________________________________________________________________)
|                                                                    |
|For all upcoming rounds, except Rounds 45 and 50, I strongly advise |
|you against blindly attacking the enemy. Instead, maintain a        |
|strategy of gliding around the arena's perimeter, away from the     |
|enemy, and landing on safe spots here and there to cast Magnega and |
|Thundaga. You can dismiss my previous healing strategy as well. For |
|the remainder of the tournament, heal when needed and glide around  |
|while you wait for the MP bar to refill. You've come a long way now,|
|and it'd be foolish to lose for not being overly cautious.          |
|                                                                    |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

========
ROUND 41
========

Two Graveyards and two Toy Soldiers.
Start by gliding away from the Graveyards and their annoying ghouls.
They are immune to Magnega when out of their boxes, so wait for them
to hide back in. When they do so, cast Magnega to hopefully suck in
all four enemies, followed by several Thundaga spells.
Continue this strategy till you defeat all of the enemies.

========
ROUND 42
========

Two Fortunetellers and one Shamanless Living Bone.
Begin by jumping and gliding away from the Living Bone and circling
the perimeter. When you are out of harm's way, land to cast Magnega to
halt the Living Bone and then cast Thundaga till it starts coming
after you again. Remember to heal when needed and to let yourself hit
the ground and quickly bounce back into gliding air when you feel
you're starting to glide too close to the ground.
Defeat the Fortunetellers in the same fashion if you didn't already
while dealing with the Living Bone.

========
ROUND 43
========

Two Large Bodies and two Morning Stars.
Your top priority for this round is to stay as far away as possible
from the Morning Stars' crushing path. Cast Magnega when the time is
right, followed by Thundaga till they start coming after you again.
Luckily, you'll have caused them enough damage to make them start
jumping up and down towards you. At this point, you can either follow
the Magnega-Thundaga path, or you can carefully approach one of them
and use its Reaction Command, Bump followed by several well-timed
Meteor Spikes to finish them off quickly.
The two Large Bodies should represent no immediate threat. Dispose of
them as you normally would.

========
ROUND 44
========

Two headless Living Bones and one Shamanless Living Bone.
You need to do some major gliding in this round. Wait for them to take
a brief rest from their insane prancing to land and quickly cast
Magnega followed by several Thundaga spells.
Remember to only glide along the battleground's perimeter, touching
the invisible barrier, falling down to immediately jump back up to
continue gliding as high as you can. I've found this to be safer than
gliding all over the place.

========
ROUND 45
========

A battalion of Armored Knights and Surveillance Robots.
You need only to survive this round. That is, you just have to let the
timer run out.
If you want to fight it out and earn some points, attack at will,
using the Armored Knights' Reaction Command, Rising Sun; and Snag,
followed by Sparkle Ray for the Surveillance Robots.

========
ROUND 46
========

Two Hot Rods and one Devastator.
The Hot Rods represent the most imminent threat here. Your only
salvation is to glide above their bumping frenzy and cast Magnega and
Thundaga to take them all out, Devastator included.

========
ROUND 47
========

One Bulky Vendor. 
The worth of each of its levels has been reduced dramatically:
1. Capsule Prize        Four points
2. Rare Capsule         Eight points
3. Limited Capsule      Twelve points
4. Prime Capsule        Thirty-six points

After you defeat it, two Lance Soldiers and one Living Bone will show
up.
The Living Bone will quickly represent the most dangerous threat, as
it'll be the first one in the tournament to be ridden by a Shaman.
The Shaman will be constantly attacking you with its hard-to-avoid
blue-fire magic. The first spell, in which a row of several
high-raising Sora-tracking blades of fire will spurt out of the
ground, can be avoided by running or gilding away from it. The second
spell, a group of surrounding six flames, can be semiavoided by
casting Reflega when the flames have almost closed in on you. Try not
to cast Reflega at the last possible second, for you'll miss casting
the spell entirely. Reflega will consume most of the flames, reducing
the damage inflicted considerably. After reducing some of the Living
Bone's HP, the Living Bone itself will start utilizing its own regular
biting and whirling attacks, but it won't last long, continuing to
run away from you.
As obnoxious as it may be, don't try to run up to it and attack it,
for the Shaman most likely won't allow you to do so with its spells.
Instead, cast Magnega followed by Thundaga to get rid of it.

If you're lacking points to this point, you might want to bully the
Lance Soldiers around, without defeating them, to slowly build up the
points you lack. Bear in mind that the tournament is almost over and
after defeating the Lance Soldiers, you'll earn around 200 more points
and that's it. The first time I won the tournament, I got to this
point with 13, 900 points. I patiently bullied the Lance Soldiers and
they slowly raised my score to 15, 000. I didn't take more than half
an hour to do so. If not, defeat the Lance Soldiers any way you want,
for they shouldn't pose any real threat to you.

After you defeat them, two Assault Riders and two Emerald Blues will
show up.
The Assault Riders may be intimidating, but if you don't approach
them, they won't do anything of importance.
Swat the pesky Emerald Blues first. Then, cast Magnega followed by
Thundaga to confound the Assault Riders and give you a chance to
assault them. It's important you conserve enough MP to cast Magnega
and at least two Thundaga spells for the next batch of monsters.
You could spend all your MP on the Assault Riders without defeating
the both of them, so you can have a full regenerated MP bar before
landing the finishing blow.

Finally, five Crescendos and three Morning Stars will show up.
If you have enough MP, quickly cast Magnega on the Morning Stars,
followed by several Thundaga spells, so they'll replace their deadly
whirling for jumping up and down. When the three of them begin to do
so, dispose of the five harmless Crescendos, as they will play music
to heal their friends. When sufficiently healed, the Morning Stars
will resume their whirling craze, and we don't want this.
Use the Morning Stars' Reaction Command, Bump followed by several
well-timed Meteor Spikes till they fall. The other Morning Stars won't
interrupt you while you dribble one of their friends.

======================================================================
ROUND 48 : BOSS FIGHT : CERBERUS                                 [CBS]
======================================================================

Our eighth boss fight, Cerberus. Don't be afraid of this puppy, for
the only real threat he presents is the shockwave he generates when
landing after he leaps.
Cerberus has three attacks:
1. He'll jump up and down, creating a shockwave that'll knock you off
your feet. To avoid this, jump when he's about to land.
2. He'll start sending several energy-filled bubbles towards you,
especially when staying away from him for too long, which you can
glide away from.
3. He'll bite you!
He'll also be constantly turning around, which will only hurt you
if you're standing in the way.

Given that we don't have that dreadful timer on our heads this time
around, you can take your time to defeat him. Approach his heads and
start hacking your Ultima Weapon away. Cast your MP away with Thundaga
spells also, healing when needed.
If at some point, near Cerberus, you see his two side heads leaning
away from the middle one, like two giant arms expecting a big hug,
position yourself in front of the middle head, so that when the two
side heads snap back, you'll commence a Reaction Command attack,
starting with Evade, followed by Jump! and ending with Dog Paddle.
This attack will knock him out momentarily, allowing you to
comfortably give him what was coming to him anyway.
The window of opportunity for you to put yourself in the right spot is
rather small, but you'll get several shots.

======================================================================
ROUND 49 : BOSS FIGHT : CLOUD, LEON, TIFA, YUFFIE                [CLT]
======================================================================

Our ninth boss fight, Cloud, Leon, Tifa and Yuffie.

Don't faint just yet! Quickly jump and glide as far away from them as
you can.

Yuffie has two attacks:
1. She'll swing her shuriken at you.
2. She'll levitate and spin her shuriken around her with wider range,
causing more damage. She'll announce this attack by saying "This one's
gonna hurt!" or "Come and get it!".
The guys don't have any new moves, with the exception of Leon who will
charge up his Gunblade right from the start.

The trick to this battle is to always keep yourself away from them at
all times, gliding around the arena's perimeter. The only one who'll
be able to hurt you this way is Cloud, when he repairs into his
maniacal sprint all over the place. Don't ever try to jump in among
them, for they will massacre you. Attack from a distance, glide,
keep yourself healed, continue gliding, attack.

As usual, we'll start off with Tifa. Lock onto her and glide a wee
away from the guys, who'll always remain in a group. She'll come
running ahead of the rest and when she's near you, cast Reflega. The
spell will break into energy air ripples which will hurt Tifa greatly.
Cast three times this spell and Tifa will be out. You might cast
Reflega three times in a row, or separately, as long as you don't
endanger yourself.

Leon is next. The strategy is to lock onto him and glide to the
opposite of where Leon is, so you'll have time to cast Thundaga on him
at least once. Leon will quickly catch up and start slashing his
Gunblade down your head. Glide away as far from him as you can and
proceed with another Thundaga spell. Keep this up till Leon is out.

Cloud and Yuffie are next. In my experience, Yuffie always falls
alongside Cloud while dealing with him, as she's always close by when
delivering major blows to Cloud, getting most of the damage as well.
The strategy for Cloud is the same one as in Round 40, with the rather
big difference that there are no Drive Forms here to quickly replenish
your MP bar. You'll just have to wait it out.
When your MP bar is full, select Limit and have Trinity ready.
Approach Cloud and press X to select Trinity and start the attack. As
usual, press Triangle all the way through, so you can get in three
chains of attacks, followed by a fourth one with normal attacks once
the limit is over. Glide away from him and keep at it till your MP bar
has regenerated. Go back to Cloud and perform another Trinity attack.
Keep this up till Cloud is out. Yuffie should have fallen along with
him, but if she didn't, move on to take her out of commission any way
you want. Yuffie doesn't present any real threat by herself.

======================================================================
ROUND 50 : FINAL ROUND: BOSS FIGHT : HADES                       [HDX]
======================================================================

Our tenth and final boss, Hades.
This guy came back from the Underworld to be a total pushover. You can
start loosening the grip on your controller and relax. Hercules is
here to help you too!

Hades has acquired three new moves:
1. He'll create a fire circle around him, which will burst into a
large burning pillar, after which he'll have this red aura of
invincibility, just like when you fought him in the Hades Cup. To
counter this, you'll have to approach one of the energy bubbles
Hercules summons to his sides and use the Reaction Command, Aura
Sphere, to pitch it towards Hades.
2. He'll conjure up a hovering fire globe on the middle of the
battleground, from which meteor-like spurts of fire will come out
and crash onto the ground, creating those scalding hot spots you can't
touch nor cross.
3. He'll create a small stormy cloud that will float towards you.

After he's summoned both spheres, Hercules will rush after Hades and
punch him, or he'll land a blow on the ground creating a shockwave.
Both of these, plus each time you send an Aura Sphere towards Hades,
will cause him damage. A Reaction Command called Aura Guard will often
appear on Hercules, which will create a haven around the two of you.
But you won't need this at all, as it's kind of useless.
Unleash all of your fury on Hades for making you be a participant of
this strenuous tournament and embrace your hard-earned victory trophy.

You won't stop a true hero!

======================================================================
EIGHTH BOX : FINAL STUFF                                         [FNL]
======================================================================

My ultimate recommendation for this tournament is to never get
irritated. If you haven't noticed, the game saves progress of every
ten successfully finished rounds. If you lose at round 18, you may
start again from Round 11. To do this, select Quit instead of Retry
and talk to Hades again. Finally, move to the right the little
Keyblade resting at the beginning of the colored bar to select the
round you want to start from.
This way, you can get to know all the rounds in the tournament before
attempting to do it from the beginning.

I hope this guide helped you in your quest to receive the Hades
Cup Trophy. Certainly, it isn't the law on how to go about things. If
you found it utterly helpless, you can always check out Tom Davison's
wonderful guide in GameFaqs.

If you desire to send any suggestions, compliments, corrections or
complaints, please do so to the following address:
ardente_climhazzard[at]yahoo.com

======================================================================