KINGDOM HEARTS 2 FINAL MIX: Defeating The Lingering Spirit (Mission: Ibento Kuesuto) Version 1.20 atm VERSION HISTORY (1.00) 05/08/07 - Original FAQ is complete. Farming details are missing, basic Offense Defense and Overall strategy against the LS. I think it might be a bit scattered/unclear in some spots however, and some points in the strategy may be flawed or too presumptuous to be called fact. I'll be continuing to revise and fine-tune this to be a bit more informative, but for now I'm confident that people should be capable of at least forming their own personal strategies with this guide and knocking LS into Desperation, at the very least. (1.10) 05/10/07 - Added missing header to Synthesis section as well as another Synthesis material. Revised "Equipment" and "Ability" section. Moved the Version History to the beginning of the FAQ instead of the end because it's smarter that way. And most importantly, added a much-needed second Overall Strategy to the guide, which preys upon the faults of the first strategy by describing an effective skill-based way to defeat the boss rather than blind luck. (1.12) 05/11/07 - Forgot what was in Version update 1.11...I think corrections to the "Thanks" section. At any rate, for this update I've added a few more On The Defense strategies, including a means to survive the Key to Heart attack with relatively consistant success. Also made corrections to a few terms. (1.20) 06/09/07 - Filled in the Synthesis section, expanded slightly on Seal Attack and Seal Magic strategies. FOREWARD: So you've beaten Xemnas, saved clear data, whallopped Organization XIII's data copies, and have Jiminy's journal completed except for one itty-bitty mission: destroying the Lingering Spirit that exists through a portal in Disney Castle. On Critical mode. I'm assuming you're on critical mode. I haven't played any of the other difficulties in KH2FM but I'm willing to bet a guide isn't really all that necessary. Maybe it is. But maybe you're not worthy of a guide unless you're on Critical mode. I don't know! First off, this is NO simple task, and even with the right strategy may take a few dozen tries. To start, I'd like to mention that having high stats is really handy if you're new to this guy. It's not necessary at all once you "get used to" him but he's the most fearsome task in the franchise to date, so...whatever. When I first defeated this nigh-unstoppable tyrant, my Strength stat was 110 and my Defense was 115. There are two ways to raise either of these stats and they will be discussed in the prep section. (This is actually not all that necessary, however, if you're skilled enough, and use some of the strategies or advice found within this guide). The reward for completing this task is not only the benefit of completing the most difficult task in the entire Kingdom Hearts series, but a gold crown (assuming this is your final task) adorned atop Sora's head, and the "Birth By Sleep" cutscene earned upon completing the game again. Anyway, on to the meat of the FAQ... TABLE OF CONTENTS Preparations ... ... ... ... ... XPREPX Farming ... ... ... ... XFARMX Power up, farming ... ... XFSTRX Power up, Xemnas ... ... XOSTRX Guard up, farming ... ... XFDEFX Guard up, OrgXIIIs... ... XODEFX Megalixer Synthesis ... ... XMEGAX Equipment needed ... ... ... XEQUPX Ability Set ... ... ... ... XABILX Shortcuts... ... ... ... ... XSHRTX Lingering Spirit ... ... ... ... XLINGX On the Defense ... ... ... XLDEFX On the Offense ... ... ... XLOFFX Overall strategy One ... ... XSTRTX Overall strategy Two ... ... XSTR2X Last Notes.. ... ... ... ... ... XLASTX ================================== Preparations XPREPX ================================== As I mentioned in the foreward, I had 110 Strength and 115 Defense when I took this bad boy on for the first successful time. While this may seem like an exorbent amount, on Critical I felt it was necessary for my level of skill and patience. The reason for this is that at 110 Offense, your attacks begin to penetrate his substantial defense, and start doing more than one damage a hit (excluding finishers) when his guard is up. As for the defense, it is necessary for the Final Form strategy I employ as tanking hits makes the battle somewhat easier. If you feel your stats are high enough, you can skip the levelling up part and go to equipment needed. Also, it's common sense that you have your character level, and every Form level, at max. This isn't a walk in the park. You need everything you can get. =================================== Farming XFARMX =================================== A FOOTNOTE ON FARMING: If you choose to farm, you may want to invest in Lucky Ring accessories. They are the ONLY thing in the game that increase your drop rate, and are made via synthesis only. I am uncertain as to whether the effect stacks only for the character with the ring(s) equipped, or if it stacks for a collective "drop rate". So bear that in mind. I prefer to play it safe and give Sora all of my Lucky Rings. Lucky Rings are crafted via: 1 Nobody Crystal (Note: This isn't the actual name of the material. I'm not sure what it is called. But it drops from various Organization XIII Data copies.) 2 Teal-goo Shards (Cavern of Remembrance has plenty of these, so just slaughter everything that moves.) 5 Bright Shards (Dropped from Soldiers, Creeper Plants and Rabid Dogs). The Coliseum (Underworld) is good for these. 3 Bright Stones (Dropped from Wight Knights, Luna Bandits, Silver Rocks and Cannon Guns). Try Agrabah for these. 2 Bright Gems (Dropped from Tornado Steps, Aerial Knockers and Surveillance Robots). Another Underworld favourite. 1 Serenity Crystal (crafted, See Strength Up recipe for instructions). =================================== Strength up, farming XFSTRX =================================== It took me am embarassing amount of time to realise that the Serenity Crystals needed to create Power ups at the Synthesis shop can be made IN the synthesis shop. Insofar (70 hours of gameplay) I still firmly believe that Serenity Crystals DO NOT drop from Nobodies in this game. In order to make a Strength up, you need the following: Mythrill Crystal, made from synthesis (Two A-grade dense/twilights, and one S- grade of each material plus a Serenity Stone.) Lightning, Fire, and Dark Crystals (two of each). Lightning Crystals are best found in Space Paranoids, dropped from Eraizas (Erasers) and Taminatas (Terminators) -Erasers are yellow bipeds and Terminators are large purple tanks. The largest quantity of these are found nearest the Pit Cell, but thanks to the three-screen rule, you'll have to do some repetitive travelling. Fire Crystals, dropped from Crimson Jazz: -Red mage heartless found throughout Hollow Bastion and other locales. Fire crystals are ALSO dropped from Furea Gurobu (Fire Globes) if that floats your boat too. Dark Crystals, dropped from Neoshadows. -Neoshadows used to be abundant in TWTNW: Memory's Skyscraper. Now you need to check around Agrabah or The Land of Dragons for 'em. Serenity Crystal, made from synthesis (Mushroom Crystal, teal-goo thingy crystal, and five Bright Crystals). Mushroom Crystals are earned by scoring an S rank objective against one of the many XII mushrooms (S rank means fireworks upon Mushroom completion). I'd recommend going to Agrabah's treasure room for this. With sufficient strength, you can earn one approximately every 15 seconds. Not bad at all, right? Teal-goo Crystals are farmed from Rekuresu (Recklesses) which are the red and yellow upgraded form of the Terminator, found in Cavern of Remembrance: Mine Shaft. They spawn in three locations: along the wall ledges just after the upper-level conveyor belts, the cliff-side edge of the upper-level conveyor belts, and by falling off of the upper-layer conveyor belts. Bright Crystals are dropped by Neoshadows, Strafers and Air Pirates. This one's up to you. For the Mythrill Crystals: 1 Dense Crystal dropped by Berserkers in TWTNW and Castle Oblivion (Transport to Remembrance). 2 Dense Gems, dropped by Samuri in TWTNW and Castle Oblivion (Transport to Remembrance). 1 Twilight Crystal, dropped by Sorcerers in TWTNW and Castle Oblivion (Transport to Remembrance). (Note: These are a real pain to get in KH2FM. I would recommend sticking with TWTNW, from the two in Naught's Approach, just north of Proof of Existance. You can respawn them easily by returning to Proof of Existance, and entering both the tombstone areas where you fought Saix and Luxord.) 1 Serenity Stone, dropped by Living Bones, Terminators and Crimzon Jazz. Once again, Crimzon Jazz are littered throughout Hollow Bastion, so why not try that? =================================== Power up, Xemnas XOSTRX =================================== Defeating the data copy of Xemnas (both phases) will net you a complimentary Power Up, and I prefer this method of powering up because it's faster once you get the hang of it. XXXNOTE: I will be adding my personal strategy to this later on. Skipping it; there's a good guide on GameFAQS on how to do this anyway titled "Organization XIII Final Cut FAQ" so go find that if you need help, written by Raganook. =================================== Guard up, farming XFDEFX =================================== Same method as Strength up farming, but guess what? You don't need Serenity Crystals! That will save a bit of time. =================================== Guard up, OrgXIIIs XODEFX =================================== Both Xigbar and Saix are fairly quick to take down and drop Guard Ups to increase your defense, so whoever you choose to fight is based on your own preference. Once again, see Raganook's guide on this on GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/935702/48100 is the link if you're lazy. =================================== Megalixer Synthesis XMEGAX =================================== If you find yourself lacking in the Megalixer department, you'll want to make some. They're actually quite easy, as you can buy most of the materials needed. Everything but the Mythrill Stone, which is easy to make. Because you can just buy all the ingredients less one. (Sidenote: Megalixers are actually called "Last Elixer"s in KH2FM =O!) You will need the following: 2 Mythrill Stones, crafted. 1 Power Stone (Dropped by Luna Bandits and Silver Rocks in Agrabah; purchaseable after 25 drops) 1 Dark Stone (Dropped from Nightwalkers and Assault Riders. Land of Dragons. Again, purchaseable after 25 drops.) 1 Serenity Gem, dropped from Gamblers, Dancers and Snipers in TWTNW. Mythrill Stones are crafted via: 1 Dense Stone (Snipers, purchase after 25 drops.) 2 Dense shards (Dragoons and creepers, purchase after 30 drops.) 1 Twilight Stone (Dancers, purchase atfer 25 drops.) 2 Twilight Shards (Dusks, Gamblers, purchase after 30 drops.) 1 Serenity Shard, dropped from Creepers, Toy Soldiers, Graveyards, Assault Riders. If you want lots of these, I'd recommend paying a visit to Naught's Skyway in The World That Never Was, at the three ramps. Lots of Creepers there. All of the Twilight and Dense materials can be found throughout The World That Never Was. =================================== Equipment needed XEQUPX =================================== As far as gear goes, I would recommend the two Marluxia accessories you have presumably made through synthesis to boost your Strength by six, and the two charms that raise your STR and MAG by two each. Basically, all the STR you can muster from your accessories. Armour, go for the most DEF-boosting. Simple enough. (This is usually 5,4,4,4). Keyblades. Well, you really have two choices: Fenrir and Ultima. Which one you choose should be dependant on your own abilities. LS gives you very little time to move in on him and start a combo once he's vulnerable, and if you are hesitant to assume he's vulnerable, go with Fenrir to make all your attacks finishing moves. (See the abilities section for more on this point.) If you love to just go in there and hope for the best, or are able to charge him with split -second reactions and finesse, go with the Ultima keyblade for its MP Hasega ability. Items: When I first did this, I was stocked with elixers. However, Megalixers will be in your best interest because you will find that, since you need both Donald and Goofy alive at certain points in this fight, odds are, DONALD WILL ALWAYS BE DEAD. I'm not joking. I revive him, and within seconds, he's dead again. So, Megalixers. You can give Donald and Goofy Megalixers/Megapotions as well, if you want. They never have items when I play, but it will give you an extra edge if you can spare them. =================================== Ability Set XABILX =================================== First off, you want all your buff abilities. MP Rages, Last Breaths (Once More), Item boosters, everything that makes you stronger and doesn't change your gameplay. As for combos and finishers, I strongly recommend removing ALL finishing moves except for Magunesupurashiyu (Costs 3 AP, should be listed in blue right above all your O-to abilities...if you can read Katakana, your Auto-something abilities that cost 1 ap...but the top most one costs 4 AP). This is the "Magnet Burst" aerial finish that draws enemies in and then explodes. This is really handy for starting a combo against LS, as he is suceptable to being drawn in, so even if you are not close enough to hit him, this finisher will boost your attack range. All combo up abilities should be off, as well as equipping your combo minus ability. It should be blatantly obvious that your Last Breath abilities are a necessity. Also, Aerial Recovery is extremely useful. All Growth abilities should be equipped and at max level (3). Goofy should have whatever skills will prolong his life the most. Donald should have the "Auto Limit" ability, and "Flare Force". Make sure he doesn't have Fantasia equipped, since you won't be using it. Note that to perform the Auto-Limit, Donald must be close to you. (Not side by side, but relatively close.) =================================== Shortcuts XSHRTX =================================== I never used Triangle shortcuts for this the first time. It's based on preference, but you only actually need two slots for this fight, maybe three, and four if you have bad luck. Curaga and your item of choice must be shortcutted to your choice (just make sure your item slot is not O, as this is needed for using Sonic Dash in Limit form should an emergency arise). Reflega doesn't hurt to have shortcutted, either. You may end up using it. Near the end of this guide I realised the importance of shortcutting a fourth spell in case LS seals you when he has one combo of life left. I recommend Blizzaga. =================================== Lingering Spirit XLINGX =================================== Where did this man come from? What is his purpose? Why does he want Sora dead? Who cares. That's not what this guide is about. This guide is about defeating him, so let's get on to that. As mentioned before, this is to date the hardest thing you will ever do in a Kingdom Hearts game. Xemnas in KH1 was a joke compared to this guy. Even on level 99, some of his attacks will one-hit you to 1 HP. Other attacks can instantly kill you if you're unlucky. Anyway, I'm going to break it down to being on the defense, and being on the offense. Keep in mind that it's HIGHLY likely you will need to fight him several times to turn out the victor, as there is a large amount of luck involved based on how he acts. Just keep trying. With 110 STR and 115 DEF, I beat him on my fourth attempt. It might take fourteen, but if you beat him, you beat him! You've come this far, so why give up now? And besides, it's so much nicer to watch Birth By Sleep on your TV as opposed to on youtube anyway. =================================== On The Defense XLDEFX =================================== You will find yourself on the Defense (ie LS is invulnerable to attacks) for the majority of the fight if you choose not to use Overall Strategy Two. But don't worry, and never forget... Most of his attacks are fairly easily avoided. Some of them give you excellent opportunities, others will completely obliterate your chances of survival. So, here are the attacks, how to avoid them (if possible), and what you can do during them or after them. Attacks are listed in the order that he used them on me when writing this guide. Sort of. NOTE: The defense strategies are written for when you are in Normal Form, and have access to Block and Double Jump. When in Final Form, MANY of LS's attacks, such as Dash n Slash and Key Rider can be "blocked" simply by 'hopping' at the right time. Or flying straight into them via Glide. ===Seal Attack=== Description: LS jumps at you and strikes the ground near you, creating crystal pillars around you and a glowing orange glyph appears on the ground. Damage: Minimal. About 18 damage to me (And 115 DEF). If you're hit, an orange orb floats above your head, orange crystals follow LS, and you can't use attacks. Severity: I'd say second worst attack, because you're not screwed, but it will cost you Drive points to recover from it. Well. This is certainly bad luck. The seal attacks are, in my personal opinion, the worst. However, you can save yourself once being Seal Attack'd. Transform into Limit Form and begin Sonic Dashing LS (L1 + O). I'd recommend waiting for an opening; in Limit form all you have is dodge roll, which doesn't always make the Evasion Grade once you're hit, but many attacks can be avoided with it if you're on the ground. This tactic is rather effective but only if LS has not used his Desperation Move at least once yet. If you're getting HIT after LS's DM, you're doing something wrong, and I'd recommend reading Overall Strategy Two to avoid this scenario entirely. ===Seal Magic=== Description: LS jumps at you and strikes the ground near you, creating crystal pillars around you and a glowing blue glyph appears on the ground. Damage: Minimal. About 18 damage to me (And 115 DEF). If you're hit, a blue orb floats above your head, blue crystals follow LS, and you can't use magic/items. Severity: I would rank this as the worst attack because it's needlessly difficult to free yourself from it...unless you're in Final Form. If either Donald or Goofy are dead, this one can be nasty because it forces you to use Normal Form dodging and countering. It's ESPECIALLY nasty if he's already used his Desperation Move at least once. If LS has used his DM already and Donald and/or Goofy are dead, you have to just hope that they are both alive at the same time at some point in the near future, otherwise you're screwed. If you're in Final Form, it's not too bad. A number of standard melee attacks will render Sora invulnerable to non-AOE damage, so stay on the defense until LS opens himself, and dive in. If LS has used his DM, I'd personally just stay on his case and swing like a maniac. It MIGHT work. But if you're getting HIT after LS's DM, you're doing something wrong, and I'd recommend reading Overall Strategy Two to avoid this scenario entirely. ===Key Cannon=== Description: LS turns his keyblade imitation into a giant cannon and fires an enormous ball of energy at you. If you're too close to him when he initiates this attack, you will be blown back really far and take like 8 damage. Damage: I am not sure but it's in the ballpark of one hundred and forty billion. Even at 115 DEF, this brings me from 100% to 1 HP. Severity: As it turns out, this is not a severe attack at all, so long as you're paying attention. If you're close to him when he starts charging this attack, jump for joy (well, double jump maybe) because if you deflect this attack into him, he will be thrown into the air, paralyzed, and his guard will be down, which means you will do full damage to him when he lands and you start wailing on him, as opposed to the usual 4 damage finishing moves that you get to do in regular form. NOTE that occasionally, he tanks the hit, meaning, runs out of the explosion and tries to do you harm. Nothing you can really do about it. If you're far away from him, or even SORT OF far away, well, shoot. You can deflect this attack all you want, and it will head toward the LS's instantaneous position, but only goes for about a second and a half before turning around and heading back for you. You can reflect it at him as many times as you like, but keep one thing in mind: he's not a patient fellow. He'll keep coming for you, and odds are he will smack you into it or something. The best bet here is to Dodge Roll directly into it, because the attack will explode and you will be unharmed. ===Key Rider=== Description: Oh, this is just cool. LS turns his wannabe keyblade into a jet-ski hovercraft thingy and drives around on it, trying to run into you. He normally makes about eight passes at you before reverting it. Damage: About 20 to 25 damage. Not severe by one hit, but with three hits you'll be singing the critical HP siren blues. Severity: Eh, not really. This is like Dash n Slash, just slightly more annoying. You can dodge this move by using Glide Level 3, however I would only recommend Glide if you're in Final Form. Another method is to always face him, and just block him as he goes by, because it'll be a few seconds before he's back around. If you're not a Blocking sort of person, I would recommend Dodge rolling into the attack every time he swings by. You're invulnerable to attacks while performing Dodge Roll, and there's enough of a pause between each of his passes to prepare for another dodge roll. If you are struck during this attack and have a considerable amount of HP left that you do not want to go to waste, you can recover from this and continue dodging. Just takes timing. Wait until LS turns around and comes to hit you again, and press Aerial Recovery right before he hits you. You're invincible for a second when doing this, and when performing a glide right after an aerial recovery, you jump to full speed immediately, so Glide right after recovering and start circling again. Due to the unpredictability of where LS ends up after attacking you, this attack generally does not leave a good opener via Glide. If you're a fan of the block method, keep an eye on him, and you should have a good chance to dive in for a strike. ===Gatling Punch=== Description: LS will punch you a couple times, doing negligeable damage, and then take a step forward and punch furiously, turning his keyblade into what looks like clockwork gears or something. Damage: It's actually quite small. Like, 6 or 7 damage a hit. However, it hits around ten times, so if you take the full of it, you're probably going to be in critical. With 115 DEF I survived with about 6 HP, but it still packs a whallop. Severity: This attack isn't all that severe. If it hits you, you'll likely need to heal. But if you're able to avoid it, get behind him and keep a couple feet of distance. It may seem silly, but touching his back while he's attacking will still suck you into a painful combo, so wait until he reverts his keyblade before you make your move. ===Dash n Slash=== Description: LS flies through the air toward you, pausing when he's close to dash at you and slash you in multiples of three. Damage: Moderate. About 18 to 22 damage per hit, and it often combos unless you break. Severity: Low. This attack is really easy to dodge via Gliding, and there's a sufficient pause before he starts hitting you. Should you find yourself struck by this, it's quite easy to escape the combo. Wait until he's about to strike you again, and aerial recovery into it, making some satisfying deflection sounds, and proceed to glide. Once again, you are gliding in circles to avoid this. Blocking and Dodge Rolling are also effective means to dodge this attack. Ground-dodging is better for this if the option is available because it is much easier to open a combo on him if you're already on the ground. He attacks in multiples of three, which means on his third strike of each multiple, Dodge Roll WITH him, not INTO him. He moves fast enough to pass right through you, and he should land directly in front of you unless he's starting another round of attacks. This attack is probably one of the best for opening a combo on him. However, it can be tricky, and you often get hit in the process. While he does his attacks in multiples of three, it's almost impossible to tell whether he is striking 3, 6, or 9 times. However, if he is striking nine times, it is almost always followed up by a Whip Key attack, and there's your opportunity to strike him (unless he gets you with the Whip Key =( ) ===Whip Key=== Description: LS is floating in the air and whips his key around in circles and a chain whip extends from it, flashing occasionally to sort of draw a sphere of light around him. Damage: Each hit does a moderate amount of damage (around 18) and this move often juggles. If you're pretty far away from it and wondering how he is even hitting you, aerial dodging away from it can often free you from his torment and counter attack when he's done. Severity: Medium, depending. If you have MP, you'll be fine, even if you ARE hit with it. If you don't and need to use an item, it's a bit of a problem because you're thrown pretty high into the air when it's done. If you manage to avoid this attack like a good little keyblade master, just wait a fair distance away and watch him swing it. As he's swinging away, jump and hover on the spot, as close to the ground as possible. He swings for about four seconds. You'll know when to move in, because his whip key combo ends with him rising into the sky about ten feet. ===Key to Heart=== Description: After pulling out a compound bow, LS paralyzes you and your commands become dashes. After a moment, your health will begin to drain and your command menu will change to three options of "Die" and one option of "Break free". The Break Free option will randomly jump all over the place, but the rate at which it jumps all over the place will get slower with each jump. You have about three to five seconds before LS decides to stop gawking at you and start trying to kill you again. Sometimes, he just goes right for you. Dead. Damage: KO. This move will either kill you, or do a very negligeable amount of damage. Still, the fact that it can kill you in an instant... Severity: I'd formerly ranked this as the worst because you have about a 25% chance of sometimes turning the tables and getting some easy hits on LS. But, you have a 75% chance of dying instantly. Thats kind of annoying. I'd like to thank Brincamian specifically for mentioning that during this attack, YOU CAN MOVE. I don't know why I didn't think of that, but this tidbit of information makes this attack VERY easy to avoid, so long as you have more than 10 HP. Once hit with this attack, watch for Sora to hit the ground. When he does, double-jump and then begin flying around aimlessly, watching your command menu. The rate at which the "Break free" option jumps around slows with each jump, and eventually it will jump into the top slot with enough reaction time for you to break the attack. Of course if you're critically low on HP when he starts this move on you, you're boned. ===Sentry=== Description: Sometimes, three to six tripod-type laser things begin floating around you, shooting at you occasionally. Damage: Not really. The damage per hit is only like 6 or something, and they don't hit you repetitively. Severity: I did not find this too severe, but it's pretty bad. The lasers themselves are just a nuisance, but one little nick from a laser can pause your movements for a moment, giving LS a good opportunity to nail you. These usually go away after a while, but double jumping into them is a good way to destroy them one at a time (Note: This is useless since they respawn instantly). Shortly after they appear, LS will disappear for several seconds (unless he uses Key Rider), letting you take the lasers on mono-a-mono briefly, and when he reappears, they are likely to disappear. Suggestion submitted by Brincamian: Another means to destroy this is to glide in tight circles around the rock formations. When the Sentry laser cannons fly into the rocks, they explode, which is a cheap and lazy way to deal with them. Since they respawn, I often don't bother with this, but if you want to keep your HP as high as possible, this may come in handy. However, this usually means he's onto his next attack... ===I can attack you endlessly and there's nothing you can do about it=== Description: Ah, LS's Desperation Move. This won't catch you off guard, but he can do this move as early as 6 and a half life bars left, (and possibly more). LS will stand, raise his keyblade to the sky, and all sorts of flashy stuff surrounds him, and lightning starts to strike around him. The screen also darkens. This is really just him powering up. Damage: If you get hit, you're going to 1HP. Severity: Well, it's not really all THAT severe. It's pretty tough to dodge (unless you're in Final Form) but on the plus side, if you get hit, he's just gonna keep on hittin' you. You will likely at one point touch the ground and be able to move, so cure. If magic isn't available, throw an item up and double jump asap, then start gliding. If you want to dodge this move, split-second reaction timing is key. For the first combo of this attack, just fly straight. Make sure you have a good distance ahead of you and that LS is behind you. He'll zip up to you, and start swinging. If you keep Gliding at level 3 or MAX, he'll miss you. There's combo one. Now for combo two. He teleports behind you for another attack. There are two ways to dodge this. If you're already flying at top speed and have plenty of room ahead, keep doing so. If you have the room, he will fall behind like he did the first time. The other method just requires a bit of timing. When you see that distortion from his teleporting behind you, you've got about a second to make your next move and dodge it. Double jump away from it as fast as you can, and glide for a little bit until you're far enough away from the attack. For his last combo, Glide aimlessly if you're in Final Form. If you're not in Final Form, you can still completely defend this attack, but if you screw up even once, it is going to hurt. To defend this in Normal Form, wait until he appears (usually in front of you, but press R1 until you lock onto him just in case) and block with Square. If your first block is successful, mash that Square button like crazy and you should block the rest of his attacks. If, however, the rascal gets you from behind, let him have his fun and dice you up. Just cure when he's done. This attack does not last too long (three combos) however, after it is complete, you have a decent chance to strike him (if you're not too high up). It can be risky if you have no HP. Note: You can tell when this attack ends, because the dark shadow over the screen goes away, as it does with pretty much all other bosses. =================================== On The Offense XLOFFX =================================== Well, you're RARELY on the offense (in Normal Form), because while LS is attacking you, he is invulnerable. Completely invulnerable. No damage, no flinching, invulnerable. (Though, during some split second instances during LS's attacks, you CAN damage him. But that's just asking for trouble.) Anyway, after many of his attacks, he will slowly land on the ground and stand still for a second or two. That is most often your chance to strike. However, bear in mind one thing: if you're in your regular form, you will do very little damage. That is to say, at 110 STR, you can open a combo on him with Magunesupurashiyu (Magnet Burst Aerial finish) and then perform two sets of three finishing moves, but it will only do about one life bar. Why two combos of three? Well, you can find out the hard way, or you can just read on that, after about six finishers, you can hit him a seventh, but he will counter with Whip Key. This can actually be used to your advantage. If you just give him a poke to entice him to use this move, you can quickly dash away and let him Whip Key in retaliation. If you're not getting whipped (lol pun?), then you can wait for him to finish the attack, dive in, and do it again. I wouldn't recommend this, however, because it's just not worth it. You can easily slip up and die when doing this, and the cost isn't worth the reward. Note that when opening a combo on him in Normal Form, if his guard is up you will be doing one or two damage a hit. Avoid finishers for a little while, because the more you hit him, the lower his guard becomes. After a few ground attacks, you'll start doing large chunks of damage, which means it's time to cash in. If you (or most of the time, Goofy) reflect his Key Cannon energy ball back into him and pop him in the air, now it's REALLY time to give him everything you've got. A full seven finisher combo (it goes against what I was saying, but is kind of worth it IN THIS CASE) can knock about four of his lifebars off. If you're able to pull this miracle off twice during the battle against him, two combos in regular form can encourage him to start his Desperation Move and send you an invitation for potential victory. The third Offensive tactic is my favourite (and also the most reckless/ dangerous tactic) which is to abuse your Final Form. If you're able to open a combo against LS while in Final Form, relentlessly attacking him without regard to consequense can do a healthy five or six life bars of damage to him, WITH his guard up. Having Blizzaga shortcutted is essential if you take this approach, because you can move toward LS while shooting it, and not only does it do a nice little slice of damage, it works as a good combo opener/preserver if you are far away from him after he opens himself up to attack. The fourth Offensive tactic is to abuse Limits and just constantly attack LS, even when he's invulnerable, since when you are doing a Combination attack, you are ALSO invulnerable. This is, of course, explained in greater detail in Overall Strategy Two. =================================== Overall Strategy One XSTRTX =================================== This is the first strategy I devised when defeating LS. I wouldn't personally recommend using it religiously, as the tail end of the battle is very luck- oriented. So here it is: Immediately, dash away from him. While writing this guide, my brother was screwing around at LS, and 4 out of 5 times, LS opened with a Seal attack. I just hate those. Dashing out of the way immediately provides several benefits; if he's performing a Seal attack, you sometimes get away unharmed. If he's using his Key Rider attack, you'll see it coming before it hits you (Donald's a goner though). If he's using Gatling Punch, you either make it off scot free, or will take about 10 damage, which is nothing, and if your timing is good enough, you can open a combo right off the bat. And if he opens with a Key Cannon, which he DOES tend to do pretty often, then you can charge right back at him via dodge rolling (dashing is suicide) and then double jumping into the energy charge to send it right back at him immediately. Of course, should you be so lucky, hammer away at him. There are generally two strategies that you can employ to get him down to Desperation. ===Method one, Patience=== The safer, patient method is to remain in your regular form, constantly taking evasive action, and waiting patiently for an opportunity to dive in at him, and hammer a life bar away, over and over, until he summons those laser tripod things and goes into Desperation. Personally, I prefer the more reckless, suicidal, faster method of throwing Final Form on immediately after his first couple attacks, and chewing away his life with dual-keyblade action. In Final Form, you only need to combo him as much as you can twice. Generally, as much as you can involves getting smucked around by his whip (if you're as reckless as I am), but you've always got a cure handy, right? The length of time you're hammering him is enough to recover your MP in general anyhow. The real trick is being fast enough to pull off two full combos on him, because as you're wailing on him, your form gauge depletes rapidly. Mine's sitting at 3.5 after clobbering him something fierce just now. The advantage of using Final Form to hammer the life out of him is that he will perform less attacks before his Desperation Move...and that means less chance of him using something dreadful like Key to Heart. I hate that move. Regardless of the path you chose, his desperation move is the deciding moment of the battle. If you chose to be patient and have your drive gauge 5 or more, you have a very real chance of beating him. If you're still in Final Form, I'm willing to bet you've got about a second of it left. Revert if this is the case. You need him to hammer you during his Desperation Move to recover your drive gauge back up to five. Mid way into the combo, you get a bit of a break. Take this opportunity to aerial recovery out of stun, and cure. It seems like a stupid idea, but you only recover Drive Gauge when you have health to lose. (Note that if you have plenty of Drive Gauge already, enough for a Final Form transformation, then don't bother.) After the combo is over, I'd recommend hitting the ground as fast as you can and throwing a potion. After he performs his Desperation Move, which involves flying around really fast and hitting you really hard (it is avoidable, but quite difficult to do so), his patterns will change. This includes altering the length or succession of some of his attacks. Let him power down and start another combo on you. In fact, go ahead and let it hit you. Just make sure Donald and Goofy are alive. It's better to get hit, assuming D and G are still kicking around. When the combo LS is performing on you is almost done, go into Final Form. You're invulnerable during this transformation, and his combo should end in the middle of it. Drop in on him, and HAMMER AWAY. One full-out Final Form combo rarely kills him after his Desperation Move. If you have rotten luck (like I did five minutes ago) he'll have a few hits left. Pray his next move isn't to seal your attack (as it did to me). If your attack is sealed, you better have a good spell slotted somewhere to spam on him when you get the chance. Note that sometimes LS is just not co-operative, and will attack endlessly without an opportunity for you to counter attack until he has performed a second Desperation Move. There is an immense amount of luck involved in the final third/quarter of the fight, but you should have no problem getting him to this phase. Try, try again. Eventually, you'll get lucky and that delightful little "Drive up" message will appear in the corner of your screen. Because you stomped him. =================================== Overall Strategy Two XSTR2X =================================== While the above strategy is quite formidable for bringing LS into his Desperation Move, the final breaths of the battle are based primarily on luck. There is something I overlooked that is, in fact, quite critical. You're completely invulnerable when using limits. First off, I'd like to thank one of our readers for a link to a video on Youtube by a "TheGoldCrow", pointing this out to me, capitalizing on where my strategy was weakest. The finish. This strategy focuses more on what to do AFTER LS uses his Desperation Move. So, if you can get him to use his Desperation Move regularly with items to spare, you're in good shape. But just for the sake of it, I'll cover the Overall Strategy from the get-go, since it's in the header. At the start of the battle, mash triangle immediately. Not only is it an easier way to dodge (you're invincible), it will keep Donald alive. You need Donald alive (and preferably nearby) at all times. While Flare Force-ing him you're completely invulnerable, which means walk into his attacks to prevent him from going all over the place. The first time you use Flare Force, make sure Donald is attacking him via Triangle and throw a megalixer to replenish your MP. The plan is this: when LS becomes vulnerable, Donald's fireworks may not be able to hit him immediately, so open a combo on him and pop him in the air. Keep him in the air. When the finishing attack of Flare Force hits LS, it will shatter his guard as if you sent a Key Cannon energy ball into him, thanks to the number of times it hits. When Flare Force is finished, LS will be really high in the air (assuming you actually hit him with it). Let him land, then perform your combos for full damage. I would recommend sending him into the air while you combo him, because the number of times you can hit him will be unpredictable thanks to Flare Force, and if he strikes you while in the air it's easier to slip away. For those of you with a fancy-pants graphical browser, here is a youtube video that demonstrates Flare Force-ing LS (though, with the "Berserk" abilitiy equipped...I personally wouldn't recommend Berserk for this, but to each his own). http://youtube.com/watch?v=EgrpdDa2zxI (No, I didn't make this video. I trust the guy who submitted it was the one who made it.) (At this point in time I suspect that Fantasia may be an alternative to Flare Force, and a potentially BETTER one at that, but it is untested at this time.) The first time you finish your combo and he counterattacks, Flare Force again IMMEDIATELY. Every second you waste is another chance for Donald to die. Don't let Donald die =( While Flare Force-ing him the second time, keep a close eye on it. You DON'T need to use one of your precious Megalixers if both Donald and Goofy are alive (which they should be) and the final attack of Flare Force is hitting LS. If the final attack of Flare Force is NOT hitting him, (as in, he's invincible) then it's time to replenish that MP with a Megalixer. When the second Flare Force combo runs out, get Final Form ready. Once in Final Form, defend his attacks as necessary and get another combo in on him, attacking relentlessly. By the time you manage to spaz out on him in Final Form, he should vanish and use Sentry on you. It's good news. You'll want to start gliding to your heart's content everywhere. The Sentry lasers will eventually go away and he'll start his Desperation Move. Keep gliding. From personal experience, if you keep gliding in every which direction you'll be invincible for the whole thing. He CAN hit you, but it's pretty rare. Should you get hit and have the HP to spare, Aerial Recovery and Glide again. When you see the darkness from his Desperation Move go away, revert out of Final Form and start mashing Triangle to auto-limit with Donald. Throw a megalixer to replenish your MP, and stay on LS. You'll be using the basic strategy you used from the opening of the battle, but you'll notice some of his moves are a bit more deadly this time around. It's okay, you're invincible. Make sure you're always invincible, from here to the end of the fight (Unless you're performing the second last combo). Stay on LS as closely as possible. There is a good chance there is at least ONE opener for a combo before he uses his Desperation Move again. You know what to do. Your MP should always be full while performing Flare Force. If the final attack of Flare Force hits LS, wait for him to fall, then perform a few combos on him. If he falls within two lifebars remaining, use Flare Force again. He'll break free of damage via Whip Key and then, he will probably do his Desperation Move again. Keep Flare Force going via triangle mashing and Megalixering, and eventually, once the attack is over, you should get another opporunity. It might not come until he attacks with something else. In order to defeat LS, you will need to do two combos on him after he uses his Desperation Move for the first time. However, if you're constantly on his tail, you should have enough Megalixers to stay invulnerable (apart from Keyblade comboing him) until he is defeated. Note that when you've opened the final combo on him, you must finish him off with a finishing attack. That usually means you don't have to wait for Flare Force to finish hitting him, because you should be able to give him the coup de gras before Flare Force finishes. It doesn't really matter at this point though. He'll have been defeated. And, if you're lucky, you'll have a couple Megalixers left over. At any rate, with a couple rounds of practice, stomping him should come naturally with this method. =================================== Last Notes XLASTX =================================== Submitting it before it's perfectly polished for two reasons: This way, anyone has the opportunity to revise this FAQ. The second, and more important reason, is I haven't seen one on GameFAQs yet, and I couldn't have been the only one frustrated with LS and sought a guide on him. (Once I triumphed, this want was of course alleviated, but for the masses.) Thanks: At this point in time, the only person to thank (Apart from Squenix and Mr. Tetsuya Nomura for KH in general) would be "Kouli", who wrote the FAQ / Walkthrough on KH2FM+Re:CoM. I didn't actually read it/use it, but it was from there that I took the term "Lingering Spirit". I'd formerly been calling him "Akuazen" because that's the name he mentions before rambling on and on about XEHANORT in the opening scene. I don't know if it's his name, or the name of the Seeker, or whatever. Nobody would recognize it anyway. Additional Thanks goes out to Youtube user "TheGoldCrow" for inadvertantly reminding me that you're invulnerable during Limit Combination attacks. Round Three of thanks goes to Brincamian for various additional evasion strategies via Dodge Roll as well as providing a way to handle the Key to Heart attack. I found his advise on destroying Key Cannon energy balls also particularly useful. I guess since this guide is getting some exposure, I should seize the opportunity to plug my overlooked 17-minute Kingdom Hearts movie on youtube. Note that it IS vulgar at times...but everybody who has seen it seems to have really enjoyed it. So here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeE74CTvr8Y (Note that it's in two parts.) Other FAQs: I've only written one other guide, found at http://www.twinkfish.com/misc/KH2ajj.txt It's a Journal Completion guide for the original KH2. Naturally, outdated. I have used some portions of this guide when writing the Synthesis material farming location section. But don't worry; I got permission from myself to use the guide beforehand. Contact: I can be emailed at lordgarvar [at] twinkfish.com, but if you want to email questions and comments, please start the subject title with "Kingdom Hearts" so I don't just immediately delete it. I'm open to questions and comments, and anyone with useful information will be credited appropriately. Also I don't know if this part is actually needed but yeah... Replicating this FAQ without permission: wtf gtfo (Ask me before copying any portion of this guide for any reason ever.) Which means this guide is copyright Garrett Varrin, which is me. I'd like to thank everyone who has sent in their comments and advice. I hope this FAQ helps all of you as much as it has helped me; by Version 1.12 I was able to begin toying with Lingering Spirit as if he were another Sephiroth. Never give up. Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that.