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||| KINGDOM HEARTS 2 FINAL MIX |||
||| LEVEL 1 IN-DEPTH GUIDE |||
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||| version 1.1 |||
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| TABLE OF CONTENTS: |
| |
| 0. About this guide |
| 1. Tips on the game mechanics |
| 1.1. Guard and Counterguard |
| 1.2. Magics |
| 1.3. Summons |
| 1.4. Drive Forms |
| 1.5. Sora's abilities |
| 2. The Guide |
| 3. To Be Included |
| 4. Version Control |
| 5. Credits, Contact, etc |
+=========================================+
===================
0. ABOUT THIS GUIDE
===================
Welcome to my Guide! Although not my first attempt, this is the first time I
actually finish and submit a Guide, ever.
Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix is a release with many extras over the original
Kingdom Hearts 2 (hereafter referred as KH2), available only in Japan. In order
to play this, you need a Japanese PS2, Japanese PS3 or use certain tools on
your Playstation 2, like Swap Magic, or even modding it. I won't discuss any of
these methods: please refer to other Guides or the boards to obtain all the
info you need. Don't bother emailing me with questions regarding this, either.
Due to its origins, many people hesitate on obtaining this, not only to the
importing trouble and cost, but also due to the language barrier: everything
except for the Voice Acting is in Japanese (the VA being English). Even though
it looks scary at first, you'll handle with few menus and items, as KH2 is much
more action than RPG oriented: if you still have difficulties to memorize some
of them, you can always refer to the amazing Translation FAQ by starrk.
This Guide will help you out to get through a new challenge available in KH2FM:
the Level 1 run. The new difficult level Critical Mode gives you extra initial
abilities, EXP Zero among them. So, as soon as you can equip abilities on Day 3
you can use it and avoid any EXP whatsoever, keeping your characters at Level 1
for the whole game. The game mechanics are such that you'll still do damage
enough to beat everything, but also makes you die way easily, as you'll lack
the main survival abilities, Once More and Second Chance.
Due to this, a Level 1 run is suggested to be tried after playing the game at
least once on Critical Mode. Thus, I won't discuss basic aspects of the game:
this is an oriented Guide. So, I assume you know how to cast magic, use the
shorcuts, and has beaten the game before and knows where to go. Please don't
ask me on how to progress with the story, as my point is to cover what this
challenge is about: the battles. Sure, I will add some info on the mechanics,
but you should know what I mean already.
Well, enjoy! Contact me with suggestions, errors you spot, anything that's not
spam, at rflmag /at gmail \dot com.
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||| 1. TIPS ON THE GAME MECHANICS |||
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===========================
1.1. GUARD AND COUNTERGUARD
===========================
If you never used them on your original KH2 runs, you'll learn to love them
now, more than ever before.
Guard is used by pressing Square while standing still (if none of Dodge Roll or
Quick Run is equipped, moving Sora won't affect this). It's not part of a combo
so you must use it with Sora not attacking. This will cause Sora to hold the
Keyblade diagonally in front of him, as a shield. Limit Form allows you to use
Guard even in mid-combo.
Compared to the original KH2, Guard's area of effect is improved now, meaning
that side or even attacks from above might connect to any part of the Keyblade
and count as a successfull Guard.
Usually only physical and projectiles attacks can be Guarded. When you succeed
on it, Sora may or may not go into a Guarding Stance, where he holds the
Keyblade horizontally in front of him with both hands. If he goes into this
stance or not, usually depend on the attack nature, too: most projectiles won't
force the Guard Stance, but some will. Most, if not all, physical attacks, when
Guarded, will cause the Guarding Stance.
It's possible, actually, to go into a Guarding Stance by attacking: there are
few enemies attacks that allow this, as most of the time the Keyblade will
connect to the enemies body and count as a hit, instead of a colision of
attacks. However, if the Keyblade connect to an attack that doesn't count as
the enemy's body, it's possible to get into the Guarding Stance. This can be
achieved with any physical and regular ground attack with the Keyblade.
What's so good about it, you ask? Simple, the Guarding Stance offers i-frames,
meaning you won't get hit. Also, the invincible frames will last around one
more second, so even as Sora recovers back to his Fighting Stance, you still
will avoid incoming attacks and have the time to add in another Guard. This is
VERY useful for some bosses, and even some regular enemies.
Which leaves us Counterguard: Counterguard is used only when Sora is on a
Guarding Stance, by attacking. This is a skill that Sora opens his arms wide,
causing the Keyblade to form an energy wave arond him. Although rather weak as
a damaging source, Counterguard has a very strong stun property: it acts like
a regular attack on how it stuns the enemy, but it bypasses almost everything:
seems like only if the enemy/boss is invincible during whatever it is using, or
else it'll forcibly stop and stun him. This gives you a free combo chance.
Do take note that Counterguard counts as a hit of a combo, like a regular
attack would. If you have Fenrir and Combo Minus, you can still use it even
though Sora would normally throw only finishers.
===========
1.2. MAGICS
===========
KH2 has few magics compared to the first game, yet they do the job quite well.
Cure now uses up all your MP, forcing a MP Charge (with cheats, you can have
255 MP, which is the actual in-game cost of this spell, allowing you to cast it
twice.... just a random curiosity). As it improves, it will heal more HP and
also cover a larger area. When used from the shortcut, it'll always
automatically target Sora, but if chosen from the menu, it'll prompt you to
choose someone. I can't tell for sure if the amount healed for those in the
surroundings is lower or equal than the original target.
Fire is a "hit the ones around me" kind of attack, rather effective against
small enemies (like Shadows :p), as it hits multiple times and keep them
stunned. The finisher Fire will send enemies away on its last hit. This spell
was powered up compared to the original game quite significantly. It has a very
short reach, though, even as Firaga. Under Wisdom, it'll keep Sora on the move,
making it perfect to clear crowds. In Master is forces Sora in a straight line
and quite far, losing its effectiveness, I think. And under Final... now, THAT
is some fire pillar protection: the range and damage increases A LOT, but also
eats up your Drive Gauge as fast as you kill enemies. Casting it on the air
takes way too long, and you'll probably miss most of its hits.
Blizzard is similar to what Fire was in KH1, with some differences though. In
this game, Blizzard shoots a block of ice that travels straight forward,
damaging enemies on the way. It's a good choice if you can line up enemies so
it can hit them all, has great reach, can finish bosses like other magics...
but it goes straight forward only. It takes forever to cast in the air, too.
Under forms in general, is regains somewhat its "shotgun" property from KH1,
but it loses power quite significantly, too, not to mention it is awkward to
use under Master and Final due to Sora being moved a lot by casting it.
Thunder is your overall saving grace: hits enemy wherever it is as long as you
locked on it, it hits nearby enemies (area increases as you improve it), and it
also launches your enemies up, leaving them unable to do a thing for a while.
Not only it's powerful, but it's also useful to halt bosses movements, but it's
MP costy, more than never. Wisdom makes the casting much faster, Master will
drop multiple bolts in a small circular area, and Final makes extra bolts
around the target. Everyone uses Thunder. :p
Reflect is one weird magic. If any attack touches its bubble, it'll explode in
damage. You can cast it multiple times, however it'll explode into damage only
under certain conditions (read "Reflect chain" as the as many Reflects you cast
before stopping, and "connected" as if an attack touched the bubble):
- the Reflect chain of regular Reflects stops and any of them connected
- the Reflect Finisher connected, or if it's the first Reflect finisher, any of
the Reflect chain prior to it connected.
So, if your chain was the following: (* meaning an attack touched the bubble)
R - R* - R - RF - RF* - RF
Once you use the first Reflect Finisher, it'll explode regardless if it
connected or not, because the second Reflect on the chain prior to itconnected.
The second RF will explode, because it connected, and the last RF will not
explode, because the second RF "reseted" the "connection counter" when it
exploded.
Confusing? Yeah I know. Also, a Reflect spell can only be followed by another
magic (regardless of "connection"), unless you equip the Combo Master ability,
which'll allow you to add regular attacks after casting Reflect, also
regardless of "connection".
Once you think you had enough, we reach the Magnet spell: it creates a force
field that deals damage and sucks enemies into it. It was weakened in the
damage sector, compared to the original game, but it still is a very useful
ability. The cool thing about it is that Magnet is always considered a finisher
in a combo chain, which can be used to your advantage, too, like casting
Thunder right after it: after a Magnet, which's a finisher, only other finisher
attack may proceed, so if you have Finishing Plus, you can cast a Finisher
Thunder spell in a helpless group of enemies.
Every magic, when cast in the air, will end the aerial combo chain, meaning
you cannot cast them more than once in a row. Also, their aerial animation and
effects are always the same, so there is no Finisher (and thus stronger)
version for them, even if you use them in the place of a finisher.
============
1.3. SUMMONS
============
That feature you always denied when you first played KH2.
Summons can be nice things, you know. You don't need two active party members
to use them, but they must be in battle, KO'd or not. So it can be a life saver
as it also will get your partners brought back to life once you dismiss the
summon. And they also only cost 3 Drive Gauges.
Chicken Little looks bland, but later on the game it just gets better as you'll
have more abilities: he's almost a walking Magnet spell with his whistle. With
enemies stunned and grouped together, imagine the mess you won't do to them.
He also throws sparkling eggs that damages and stuns enemies. And while you
has him on the field, every hit with the Keyblade will heal Sora, not to
mention that he'll use a Potion on you if you get on Critical HP. The Little's
Limit isn't all that good, as it ends fast and deals not much damage.
Genie just stays there for you to use his Limits, and use Potions on you if
your HP goes below 25%. He varies his Form based on the Drive Forms you have
(it would have been cool if they added Limit Genie, hehe). Valor Genie was way
underpowered compared to the original, so due to the few hits it's not too good
anymore. Wisdom Genie is a good choice, as it uses only one Summon Gauge, hit
multiple times hacking up good damage, and you can spam another one before the
i-frames are over. Master Genie is a mix, so is Final Genie: both are powerful
on their own way, but they use more Gauges.
Stitch is the defensive summon: Stitch will just stay away from the battle,
shooting anything that tries to hit you. He's not perfect and not everything
is stopped by his lasers, but he can still be of great help. He might also
randomly lick your MP Gauge and restore it completely (the lower the MP, the
higher are the chances, it seems), and play his Ohana: it seems he'll forcibly
play it if you get below 50% health, or so I heard. Ohana will makes enemies
on the screen get stunned and drop HP Orbs. The Limit allows a mix of this and
shots to damage the enemies on the screen.
Finally, Peter Pan, a partner in KH1 now as summon, opposite to Simba. Peter
brings Tinker Bell with him: Peter will attack along with you, making enemies
drop MP Orbs, while Tink will heal you in fixed intervals. If you die, Tink can
revive you once, but then she'll be gone. The Limit costs a lot (good for
training purposes), but although isn't all that damaging, it gives a rather
large i-frame window, and every attack drops either HP or MP Orbs (depending on
which input you use). I usually use him for fun, as you won't very often need
the MP Orbs he drops, and he has trouble causing damage.
You still think they aren't all that good? You'll see.
================
1.4. DRIVE FORMS
================
One addition in KH2 that pleased many players is the Drive Forms: with the new
Drive Gauge, costing up from 3 to 5 bars from it, you will "sacrifice" one or
two live party members (or none, with the new Limit Form) to give Sora a new
list of Action Abilities and overall new behaviour. The Forms can be leveled
up (regardless of the EXP Zero ability, as they have their own set of EXP), and
offer new movement abilities to be used under normal Sora as you train them,
along with other Support Abilities to equip at anytime.
Valor Form is the first one you will obtain, just as Sora obtain his new
clothes from the Fairies. With the aid of Goofy, Sora now focus in physical
attacks only: magic is not accessable under this form. Valor also moves very
fast, and gives the High Jump Growth Ability: as the name implies, your jump'll
get higher and higher as you train it. Sora will also move faster under Valor,
and gains Combo Pluses as the alternate Support Abilities to use, affecting
his regular "form" or any other he Drives into.
Valor has a nice feature of allowing you to perform a finisher at anytime
during a combo chain (after the initial attack) by pressing the Square button:
this is very helpful with you need to stun enemies or finish bosses. As it
comes with built-in one Combo and Air Combo Pluses abilities, this is an even
greater bonus so you won't be downsided for your longer combo chain. Over The
Horizon is the Square attack you can use to start a combo, working like a
substitute to Slide Dash in a way, as it covers a distance.
Valor obtains EXP by hitting enemies: as simple as that. This makes it an
easy Form to train, as simply using and fighting will work (as you cannot use
magic, anyway). After your first visit in Agrabah, you may use Mushroom V as a
training ground for this, as you probably won't be able to kill it with only
regular hits from it.
Wisdom Form is next, obtained after you finish Disney's Castle. Opposite to
Valor Form, you use Donald to become a magic expert. Magic is now stronger
(although I believe Blizzard gets terribly downgraded), cast them faster and
may also move while doing any action. However, you no longer attack with the
Keyblade, but instead use it to send magic bullets with the Shoot command that
replaces Attack: this is usually weak but the finisher adds many hits in and
deals good damage. Aerial Shoot works like casting magic in the air with normal
Sora: it will always end a chain and cannot be repeated right away, nor has a
finisher form to be used in the air.
Thanks to Wisdom mobility and long range characteristics, it is a very useful
Form to deal with dangerous bosses when up close, and also helps a lot to clear
some of the Mushrooms, as Shoot hits from far and keeps you on the move. Magics
change their behaviour here somewhat, but the most important mention would be
Fire, which now covers a way larger area thanks to the movement, and the balls
are also bigger increasing it even more. As a mobility focused Form, it gives
Quick Run as Growth Ability, which makes Sora dash toward the direction pressed
on the Analog Stick, with some i-frames in the middle of it. And from the magic
focus of it, it gives MP Rage and MP Haste as alternate abilities for Sora.
Wisdom obtains 1 EXP by each Heartless killed by Sora under it. This makes it
a little annoying to train, as Shoot itself isn't all that good, as it hits
only one target at a time, and if you rely solely on Magic you'll be on MP
Charge soon and will have to rely on Shoot or spend Ethers. The trick is to
train it against the weakest Heartless you can find.
Limit Form, a new addition to Final Mix, gives Sora his movelist from KH1: this
is usually cool, and quite the fan service. Some of them is also present in KH2
so they are re-used, namely Slide Dash, SlapShot and Aerial Sweep. Limit has
its own finishers, all from the KH1 Final Mix version: Zantetsuken and Stun
Impact for ground finishers, and Hurricane Period in the air. Zantetsuken is
simply the strongest single hit in the game. Dodge Roll is its Growth Ability,
making a very nice return from KH1, and it offers even more i-frames as you
level it up, and it also offers an extra Draw and Lucky Lucky abilities as
the alternate bonuses as you level it.
Limit Form is also magic-less, but it has a nice substitute: the KH1 Limits!
They will be replaced in the Magic menu, and also they will be on the shortcuts
if there is a magic there instead: Sonic Rave (Circle), Strike Raid (Square),
Ars Arcanum (Triangle) and Ragnarok (X). To perform successful hits for the
Limits, you use RCs with the Triangle button: REMEMBER TO LET GO OF L1 if you
activated the Limit from the shortcut, as just like any other RC on the game,
you cannot use while holding the shortcut button.
The nice thing about using Limits, although they are very costy in the MP
department, is that every hit that connects while using them will heal some HP,
just like it'll eat up more of the Drive Gauge as they connect. This makes it
easier to train if you're levelling up normally: Limit Form gains 1 EXP each
time you perform a Limit successfully, this means using Finisher, Judgement,
The End or GigaImpact RCs respectively. As they use MP, hitting with them heals
HP, and getting hit with MP Rages on will restore MP (and Limit has one extra
built-in MP Rage), you can somewhat use Limits infinitively.
Before you wonder, those RCs are pretty much the last RC for each Limit, so
by mashing Triangle you should have no problem when using Sonic Rave, Strike
Raid and Ars Arcanum. Ragnarok, however, requires some timing: the RCs it shows
are, in order, Shoot, Impact, GigaImpact and Shoot again. The Impact RCs show
very rapidly, and I can succeed 95% of the time when I react my finger to press
the Triangle button when the Impact (first change on RC) comes, so by the time
I input the command, it changed to GigaImpact.
Master Form, obtained before you effectively visit Space Paranoids for the
first time, and as a gift from King Mickey, uses 4 Drive Gauges and need both
party members alive: world-specific characters are no different, there is no
specific need for Goofy nor Donald. It is totally aerial oriented (just like
Your Majesty), so even if you start a combo in the ground, Sora will jump into
the air. Overall movement speed is also increased.
Being able to use both physical and magical attacks, Master Form changes the
way you use magic as they have finishers no more, and you can cast them non
stop as much as you want, pretty much extending your combo chain infinitively,
or better yet as long as your MP lasts. Thunder spamming here is a nice way to
concentrate damage, as it is cast many times and Sora will spin around the
locked target while doing so. Its Keyblade attacks all have great reach, so
unless you're facing enemies that resist stun too much, it should be great to
clear crowds of enemies with whatever you use.
Master, as aerial as it can get, offers the Aerial Dodge Growth Ability,
which's usually used as a double jump, but it also offers i-frames and the way
Sora spins and holds the Keyblade when using it can actually hit enemies, too.
It's annoying to level up as it gains EXP by grabbing Drive Orbs (1 EXP for the
small Orbs, and 3 EXP for the larger Orbs). Although enemies overall drop less
Drive Orbs, Final Mix now has the Drive Converter ability, which'll turn 50% of
the Munny drops from enemies into Drive Orbs: by equipping two of them (one
obtaining via regular levelling, another from the Sweet Memories keychain...
funny how Lucky Lucky was replaced by it in both level and keychain abilities),
you'll have 100% of Munny turned into Drive Orbs. This makes is so using the
Gambler's RC a cheap way to obtain many of them. And guess what? The aerial
Form gives Air Combo Pluses as the alternate levelling abilities.
Final Form to wrap things up: also using two party members, but now 5 Gauges,
this Form can be awakened after the Roxas battle when you reach The World That
Never Was: everytime the game would turn you into Anti Form will trigger a
chance to become Final, as long as you meet the Anti criteria AND has at least
5 Drive Gauges when you do so. The more you turn Anti, the greater chances you
will have to become Final the next time you try. The kaychain obtained against
Roxas will force Anti Form, and it also increases the Final chances, making it
perfect to obtain it quickly.
Final is just strong, and allows movement while attacking, which is actually
awkward when you fighting, as it moves a lot and doesn't always has the best
reach for so much movement. Its aerial play seems easier to control, but it
also jumps very high so hold yourself. Its finishers are very destructive and
offer i-frames, so watch things turning to ashes as you use them. Magic is also
absurdly powerful, mainly Thunder and Fire. Magnet changes its behaviour a
little bit as Sora focus during its casting, and the force field disappears
once Sora regains control for other actions.
Glide is the Growth Ability for this Form, and Auto-Assault will make Gliding
under Final a fun thing to do. Great for movement and reaching many Puzzle
Pieces for the last puzzles, it'll be troublesome to obtain as Final will gain
1 EXP per Nobody killed under it, and Nobodies are high-HP enemies: due to its
powerful attacks, Drive Gauge will get drained very fast. Things will get
easier as you train it as it offers Form Boosts as the alternate abilities as
it levels up.
=====================
1.5. SORA'S ABILITIES
=====================
It's not like there is much you don't already know, but it's nice to remember.
Guard and Counterguard are abilities you want to always have equipped. Some
bosses you might not need Counterguard, so consider removing it to have more
AP for other abilities, but try to keep it equipped as much as you can.
Certain two Action Abilities you'll want to keep equipped forever once you
equip them are Slide Dash and Flash Step: they are the ones that'll bring you
up closer to the enemy you are targeting. Flash Step is a new addition to FM,
and it acts like a shorter Slide Dash, but its hit also bypass defenses. This
isn't usually good for combos, as the next attack you use will hit the armor
it bypassed before, but this is good as Sora won't get stunned as he gets
closer, if coming near was your sole purpose.
Slapshot and Dodge Slash are somewhat opposite: Slapshot is a very fast upward
hit with short range, with the purpose of helping reaching finishers faster
than usual. Dodge Slash is a long and slow 3-hits spinning combo that cannot
be interrupted, but due to its hit, it'll make Combo Boost make the finisher
stronger than usual.
Upper Slash and Finishing Leap are the launching skills, used with the Square
button: Upper Slash is used midcombo (but it makes Sora to remain on ground),
and Finishing Leap is used as a finisher (also putting Sora in the air along
with the enemy). This is helpful to extend your combo on a helpless enemy.
Upper Slash gets overshadowed by the Leap, as the Leap uses only one extra AP
compared to it, it puts Sora in the air and gives nice i-frames, while Upper
Slash doesn't have i-frames and is also quite slow to perform, not to mention
the absurd range that the Leap has.
Aerial Recovery and Retaliating Slash are the "recovery from being hit and
sent in the air" abilities: the beginning of their animation are i-frames, so
timing them well will help escaping incoming attacks. Aerial Recovery simply
makes Sora regains balance, while Retaliating Slash adds a counter with the
Keyblade: watch out as the counter moves Sora significantly forward, so plan
beforehand or else you will go past the enemy and not hit it at all, depending
on the distance between you (or maybe not even reach it, ha!).
In the Aerial department we have the Spiral (works like a Slide Dash as it is
meant to cover distances, but it also used by Sora even at shorter distances),
Sweep and Dive (both bring Sora from the ground into the air, with the new
Dive being used to reach enemies in the air not close to Sora), and Finisher
and Magnet Splash to end your combos: Finisher is multihit and powerful, but
takes a while and leaves Sora vulnerable, while Magnet Splash is commonly used
if the enemy is distant or many enemies are around. Horizontal Slash is the
Square attack option, performing 4 slashes and hacking up good damage.
The Square attacks (Upper Slash, Finishing Leap and Horizontal Slash) are also
considered "boss killer" attacks, unlike regular comboing attacks. Upper Slash
(during Finishing Leap's abscense) and Horizontal Slash can be used in the
place of a finisher if no other finisher was performed before, yet they won't
reduce the number of finishers you can perform: so if you have no Combo Pluses
and one Finishing Plus equipped, you can perform two normal attacks, a Square
attack, then two finishers. This is a good way to extend your combo and deal
more damage per chain. Take note that this only works for the first finisher:
Sora won't perform another Square attack after it replaces the finisher, nor
use them if you already used a finisher.
Trinity Limit is a Limit that can be used with Donald and Goofy, or solo: Solo
Trinity can only be used, though, if Sora is fighting alone or if the third
party member is absent (the final battles are a good example of this). If
Goofy or Donald are on the team, you can only perform the trio version, and
the Limit will not be accessable if either is KO'd. The Solo Trinity is just
a sequence of attacks with a finisher. The actual Trinity Limit requires three
inputs, focusing on each of the SDG trio speciality: each input will not deal
damage, but the end of the combo will add all the hits that connected during
them all, and perform a finisher that gets stronger as more hits are sum'd up.
============
2. THE GUIDE
============
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - DAY 1 =====
There's nothing of much importance to do at Day 1. If you plan on going for
100% Journal Completition, though, choose the Staff before fighting Seifer:
you'll need some Magic boost to deal with some of the Mushroooms later on.
It's the Struggle weapon by the left, with a star on it.
If you're going for No Damage, Seifer is simple enough: just combo him once,
then wait for him to attack, and use the opening. The "romantic" move is
best avoided by walking in a spiral (to the side and toward Seifer). For the
Dusk by the mansion, don't do a finisher until you get the Keyblade. After
that, you can just do two attacks - Reversal till you kill it.
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - DAY 2 =====
Time to work your.... off, if you wanna go to the beach!
I rather do the first job, the letter delivery one. You can complete it just by
going straight forward, mashing Triangle, then doing a jump using the ledge for
the pigeon, and moving back to the last person before the Sandlot exitb. I
personally do it until I get 1200 Munny, for the max bonus (+2AP). Seriously,
you can never have enough. In less than 10 minutes you're done with it.
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - DAY 3 =====
Wakey wakey!
Deal with the Dusk just like before: two hits, evade.
In the Station of Awakening, it doesn't matter what you choose, as these would
only determine the order of abilities obtained through Leveling Up, which you
won't be doing anyway. Unless you're using this Guide for a regular run, then
feel free to choose whatever you want: some people go for the Shield because it
gives the Once More and Second Chance abilities sooner.
For the 3 Dusks, avoid finishers until you kill at least one: sometimes
Reversal won't stun all of them, and Roxas takes a while to recover. Once you
are done with them, you can equip ablities: just go to the menu and equip all
of them. Unless you have some strong reason to not equip some of them. 0_o
You may fight some Dusks for some Munny and Potions, if you want.
+++ Boss: TWILIGHT THORN +++
Bonus Level: (Roxas) Guard, HP +2
Your first boss fight. And it can be a toughie to get No Damage on if this is
your first attempt. Also, who's the guy in the black coat that appears before
the boss?
Reaction Commands to start the fight. After the long sequence, you can combo
the boss some. Remember you have two finishers. Air combos are faster, but it
is difficult to perform two aerial finishers on it, as Roxas reaches the ground
way too quickly. Just do whatever you prefer. NOTE: I recall being able to use
2 ground combos with 2 finishers on it in time, so just go for that.
Once Thorn recovers from the RCs, it'll do a sweep around: jump to evade it.
Right after it, he will fix itself on the ground and send twilight waves: get
away from them, and deal with the Creepers instead. Even if you do the RC non
stop, you might still get hit. After Thorn stops this attacks, it'll curl all
around, sending more waves: use the RC to reach its face, but attack only after
it stops sending them. A ball will form on its neck each time it sends a wave.
From here on it might become a little random. It might, eventually, curl in the
middle of the arena: it'll take a long time till it attacks, and you should be
able to combo it to death by then. It usually does it after the second wave of
RCs (like the ones that started the fight). If you still can't kill it in time
(or backed off because you chose not to risk comboing more), your best bet is
to back off and dodge its attacks, until it does another curling + twilight
waves, so you can use the RC to reach it, and eventually another full RC
sequence from the beginning
You get Guard from this battle, don't forget to equip it later!
+++ +++
===== TWILIGHT TOWN DAY 4 =====
Let's Struggle! Oh, did you equip Guard?
Hayner is a pushover. Run around him, let him do the 2 hits combo, and strike
back. You can perform two finishers without much worry.
Vivi is about the same. Run around, let him attack, strike back. Avoid a
second finisher, even if you get him against the wall (or else you wouldn't hit
him anyway). When he uses his mega combo, you should be somewhat far away, so
just Guard it after he starts it. Guard's after effect will protect you from
the last thrust.
Dusks. Yawn. One or two hits, Reversal. Repeat. And tell Roxas I want the
Keyblade if he doesn't want it. u_u
+++++ BOSS: Axel 1 +++++
Bonus Level: (Roxas) Scan
Axel is simple. You can attack him after he hops to the sides, or when he
lays down. He does either after doing the double swing attack. You may do the
second finisher without much worries, if the wall holds him close. It's rare,
but he might use the "Burn!" attack after you combo him, so watch out for that.
You can avoid it by Guarding: Roxas never seems to run fast enough to evade it
normally with me. The Desperate Move is best evaded by simply running away.
+++ +++
Setzer can be annoying to get a No Damage on, as you must reset the PS2
manually if you fail, as you can't really "die" on it. Only do regular combos,
Guard when he comes at you, and watch out after he gets less than 50 balls:
he'll almost always counter with a Vortex move. Guard it, but TIME your Guard!
Sometimes he'll be swift, others he'll take a while. The Million Stab move
(DMC, anyone?) can be Guarded as well. He is overall easy, just annoying.
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - DAY 5 =====
Boring day. There are 2 Potions, 1 Hi Potion and an Ability Ring in the
Sunset Terrace. Shouldn't be too hard to find them out. They don't count
toward journal completition, so there's no need to worry much about them.
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - Day 6 =====
Some powerful wood stick. Day starts with 2 Dusks and an Assassin. No big deal.
When the Assassin appears, Guard its initial attack. After that, don't do 2
finishers on it, unless it's against a wall. Don't give it time to recover or
it'll do the suicide attack, and that can be a OHKO at this level.
On your way to the mansion, you can avoid every battle if you want: all you'll
get from them is some Munny and possibly a Potion or Hi Potion. You can use
some training, though, specially against the Assassins: learn to Guard them as
they appear, and as they prepare to attack, after lifting both "wings" out of
the ground. And how to not let them recover. This will be useful soon. If it
gets completely out of the ground, it'll either suicide or do a swift slash:
a quick air combo should intercept it (you won't do a finisher in time with
a ground combo).
More on the Assassins, you might consider attacking their wings as they
prepare to attack while underground: I find it tougher to connect than to time
a Guard, some find it easier. As I said, make use of this time to train some.
Oh, and to avoid the suicide attack (it uses after getting out of the ground
on its own will), run away and jump to the side as it gets near: it'll try to
jump and grab you, so jumping toward/over it might be dangerous.
In the Mansion, get the Elven Bandanna on the Dining Room. Nothing else of
much importance around. Creepers are a good source of HP Balls if you get hit
a lot.
For the Nobodies fight before Axel, never lock on the Dusks. Keep them all in
sight, and avoid finishers. If one of them escapes the Reversal stun, it'll
come for an attack: just Reversal when it comes near, and you should be okay.
Once only one Dusk is left, two Assassins will come. It's wise to spread your
damage, so you can kill the remaning Dusk in a blink. Try to keep the Assassins
apart from each other, letting you deal with one at a time without having to
stop to evade the other attacks: this will likely tempt the one you were
attacking to go for a suicide. Well, as long as you can escape it, it's fine!
Remember that they might go for the suicide anytime as long as it is not at
full health.
+++++ BOSS: AXEL 2 +++++
Bonus Level: (Roxas) HP +2
Axel next, a big pushover. Don't go closer as the battle starts. Evade his
first attack, which should be a double swing, then go for a combo. RC him when
he gets launched, do another full combo (aerial included). He'll withdraw, and
you should be able to do another RC on him, which will leave him near death.
Finish him off, and you just killed a boss after evading two attacks only. :p
Was this supposed to be a joke? Because you're not laughing, are you? 0_o
If, say, you miss a chance to combo Axel: you'll have to do a "provoke and run"
strategy. Well, you can wait for Axel to attack, too, evade his attack, and
counterattack back: but getting near him might help on get this done faster. I
admit I need to review his behaviour and add more info here, but this battle
is SO simple... >_>
+++ +++
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - VISIT 1 =====
You can search for the treasure chests yourself, right? :p There are 7 on the
Tram Common, 3 in the forest, 2 by the Mansion entrance, and 3 on the Station.
You can buy new weapons for Goofy and Donald even before they get to fight
any enemy. There's also a +1 Def + 20% Dark accessory to buy (dunno its name).
The forced Nobody fight doesn't need to be won. Sora's still feeling sleepy
so he can't Reversal to handle the Dusks, either. However, Donald will do
such a great job on cleaning the enemies. Play carefully if you wanna get no
damage, and that should be it, but don't bother resetting if you get hit.
The Heartless around Yen Sid's tower are simple enough. Use Cyclone on the
Soldiers when possible. Get the chests. Bla bla bla. Tell me where the second
Keyblade on Valor comes from. Press Z to do a Barrel Roll, and reach your first
world: Hollow Bastion!
===== HOLLOW BASTION - VISIT 1 =====
Welcome to the completely remodeled Hollow Bastion. Right after you come, there
is 1 Puzzle Piece to obtain easily. You can't reach the one above the Moogle
yet, but fear not. A Nobody fight awaits you, but you can lose it, too. Then
again, I wouldn't bother resetting to get No Damage on it. Just watch out for
the Samurai once it joins in.
You can obtain another Puzzle Piece by walking the wall by the stairs in the
screen with the houses. Get into Merlin's House and tell the guys how comfy
your sleeping chamber was. Don't forget another Puzzle Piece, and set Blizzard
to your preferred shortcut (I use X).
On your way to the Bailey, you might consider driving into Valor after climbing
the stairs to get some EXP for it. However, keep in mind that if you reach the
Bailey while in Valor, you'll get a free recharge. However, if you're doing
No Damage, you want to head straight up, because you'll be retrying some...
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Protect the city gate! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Fire Element
This battle can be tough, as Sora's still pretty limited. You start with a wave
of 4 Dusks. After that, 4 (or was it 5?) Creepers along with 2 Samurais. Finish
either kind of Nobody, and two more Samurais come, and finally 4 (or 5? :p)
Dusks to finish it off.
The Dusks are easy to deal, however they seem to escape Reversal's stun easier.
Watch out, as even though they aim for the gate, they might hit you.
Once the Creepers and Samurai comes, start using Blizzard: it deals way more
damage than the Keyblade right now. Leon should keep the Samurais busy, so
kill some Creepers first, but not all of them! They like to stay together, so
aim some nice Blizzards. Careful when approaching them with the Keyblade, as
once they start attacking in the sword form, you can't interrupt, and you will
likely get hit.
After leaving one or two Creepers alive, go help Leon. If you still have MP,
Blizzard them. It's likely that while Leon's busy with one, the other Samurai
is "sleeping", standing there doing nothing. Get near and it'll come for ya:
Guard it to trigger the RC, which deals absurd damage. Avoid comboing them
as much as possible, as it deals little damage and they resist the Keyblade
quite a lot, go for Blizzard and RCs as possible.
More Samurais will now appear. Let Leon go first, and play defensive with
magic and Guards. Soon, more Dusks will come, and you should be on your way
home by now.
Leon uses fire balls. You learn the fire spell here. W00t, it matches!
+++ +++
*** Revisiting Hollow Bastion ***
You should come back and head again to the Bailey: there's a Puzzle Piece down
the stairs.
You can train Valor if you wish. Consider putting Donald into Sora Attack, so
you can dish damage yourself and get more EXP this way. Use the Drive trick
(go back to the World Map while in Drive) to help you out, but restoring 3
Gauges shouldn't be much of a hassle.
If you train Valor, you can use its High Jump Lvl2 to reach the Puzzle Piece
over the house (use an aerial attack to increase your reach), and the one above
the shop, near the Moogle. Update: I'll remember you of them in the right time.
Farm 'em!
- Dark Shard (Shadows, Soldiers)
- Bright Shard (Soldiers)
===== THE LAND OF DRAGONS - VISIT 1 =====
Goofy is actually the thinking head of the group. Now please, stop fighting! :p
4 new armors to buy, and that's some 700 munny going.
The first heartless battle is easy. You might consider going Valor once the
Nightwalkers come in if they prove difficult. Remember that, if they ever get
hit, they'll counter with the spinning attack once they recover, so either
avoid stopping your combo, or prepare to jump over it or Guard it. You can wait
for them to come and Guard them, or reach them in the air before they have a
chance: do what fits best the situation.
Now, we have 3 missions for the Captain.
Mission 1: you start with 2 Nightwalkers. Bring Donald in: his Thunder attack
deals good damage, and might keep one of them busy: you don't want to handle
2 of them at the same time. Remember, they counter whoever attacked them. They
are immune to Blizzard, and you might not have good opportunities to Fire them,
so use the Keyblade and aerial combos. More of them will come: once again focus
on one at a time, and hope that your friends will keep the other busy. For the
Shadows, use Fire, run around and let your friends do some damage, as they
always target Sora anyway.
Mission 2: keep Goofy for this one. Start by Firing the Shadows. After the
first wave, 2 Nightwalkers to annoy you. Go Valor and kill them ASAP, as a
third one will join the party really soon. You might use the Drive Explosion
as a way to stun ONE of them: if you get both, they'll stay on your feet. A
Rider will join right after: Guard, counter with an aerial combo. Repeat.
If it jumps, you can try to catch it in the air for another combo. Just move
away if it charges the explosion (when it rises on two feet, spinning the
lance). At lower health, it'll keep on charging at you: just Guard it, then do
a combo as it stops. It's pretty easy when it's lonely. Finally, 2 Walkers and
a Rider: catch one of the Walkers quickly, moving away from the Rider. Finish
the other one with patience, then go after the lonely Rider.
Mission 3: I hate this hide-and-seek game. Donald helps a lot more here. Go in
a counterclock-wise sweep around the place. As most enemies come lonely, should
be easy to handle.
Feeling better yet? There's much more to come! Let's go for some hiking.
Mountain Trial: boy I hate this. You're going for No Damage? You have guts.
First wave has a Walker and 2 Soldiers. Stay put, Guard the Walker first move,
then go hack away at it. Watch for the Soldiers' Cyclone RC: use it! Keep your
eye on the Walker after using it, as you might hit it along and it WILL counter
if anything scratches it. I like having Goofy, as he can render one enemy
helpless for a while with his attack.
Second wave brings two Walkers, and a third appears as you kill one. Lady Luck
at your side? Go between them and use Fire. I dislike using the finisher Fire
here, so I stop and use it again. Hopefully they won't escape, your partners
will help out, and you'll have one dead and another near death when the third
one joins in: leave the weakened one for your partners and hack the new guy
to death. I like keeping Donald here now, as his Thunder does great damage,
and you need it fast.
Now you can either climb the stairs to the right or follow the path. I prefer
the path. Hug the right wall, so you won't trigger 2 Walkers. After the second
turn, you'll trigger a Walker and 2 Soldiers. Focus on the Walker, you now
have more space. After this, just go for the final rock, where you'll trigger
one Assault Rider (and unluckily a second one, after you kill the first). Just
Guard his lance swipes/thrusts, then go for an air combo. After 40% or so
health, it'll start doing the charges: just Guard and combo back. They're easy
when lonely, remember? As long as you do only one aerial combo on it each time,
you probably won't get caught offguard.
Before entering the Cave, there are 2 Puzzle Pieces by the Village: one behind
the houses to the right, and one above the houses, to the left. You can't
reach the one above the.... Moogle, yet.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Heartless at the cave +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Slide Dash
(Ping) HP +15, Hyper Healing
So many Shadows. Just keep running so they won't reach you. Go for the Rider
first. Get near it to Guard an attack: watch out not to aim at a Shadow behind
you and miss the Guard! Then kill it the normal way. Now you got plenty of
Shadows to deal with. It's usually no big deal, but if you're doing No Damage,
you'll need to be careful with your Fires (yes!): just do a Finisher Fire if
you can't see a Shadow coming out of the ground below you. It happened to me
that he got an attack in while Sora was spinning around.
Once your MP runs out... you run around. It's NOT safe to deal with this many
with the Keyblade if you're doing No Damage. Once you get rid of them, 2 Riders
will say hello. Since they are slow, take your time: focus on one, Guarding
BOTH as needed. Use Blizzard to weaken your first prey. Once you weaken if
enough, by comboing when you are FAR from the other, and occasional magic, it
will start doing the charges: Guard and Counter 'em as possible. Once you kill
one... you're home free. Oh, yeah, there's another one to kill before that. :p
+++ +++
After this, you have to survive the Heartless for a minute. A Bolt Tower will
be around. I run in circles around it, using the Thrusters' RC to damage it.
You can use the Keyblade, but it's not very accurate against them. 30 secs
left, and many Bolt Towers join in. If you're going No Damage, I say just run
around in a big circle, and watch for their "stomp": jump if they're too close.
Now you can use Mulan's Limit, and she'll do decent attacks now. Enjoy your
killing down the mountain, and get the treasure chests you probably left behind
while climbing it up. :p
At the Courtyard, start up with Mulan's Limit. Auto Limit will help preventing
you from getting hit from the Walkers surrounding you, but you can play safe
and simply Guard as soon as the battle begins: really. It should kill all but
the 2 Bolt Towers, which are now weakened. You can let Mulan and Goofy kill
them, or try to provoke a RC and use it to kill the other one and stun your
attacker. If you're not using Limits AND wanna do it No Damage... let me know.
Seriously, I wanna see how masochist people can be. :p
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Shan Yu +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2, Aerial Sweep
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Goofy Turbo
(Mulan) HP +20
This can be easy, but doing No Damage is tough. The Nightwalkers will go for
the door, and you likely shouldn't worry about it, as your partners should kill
them for you. You may start with Mulan's Limit to clean the first wave, as they
may bother your fight with Shan Yu. Collect the Orbs, though! Try to make a
quick trip to the door for the Orbs (and to somewhat have your friends killing
the Walkers) every time you finish comboing Shan Yu. You might consider setting
your friends to attack enemies other than Sora's. I like keeping Donald as his
Thunder will deal great damage to the Walkers, and I also rather remove his
Cure: he might use it on himself, and he won't last much anyway, so might as
well use his MP for Thunders.
Your method of damage should be Guarding a slash from Yu, triggering the RC. I
like using the combo "2 hits + 1 finisher" twice (don't you love Slide Dash),
adding a Blizzard finisher after the second one: this way, Shan Yu will counter
with his upward Vortex. You can easily provoke him into attacking by getting
near, just watch his arm as he lifts his sword. Or you simply wait for him.
Watch out after comboing Shan Yu: his bird might glow purple, which means it'll
try to grab Sora. I don't recall the grab doing damage, but it leaves you open.
I have bad luck evading it, so I just Guard it, but you can also simply jump
over it. It may also randomly dive, so try not to stay still.
When he almost reaches one bar left of HP, he'll go berserk: watch out and stay
away if you don't wanna get damaged. After this, he's more likely to do a
Stinger like move on you (DMC anyone? :p): he'll prepare and charge quickly for
a hit. It's easy to spot, and thus you should easily Guard it for the RC and
combo him.
Don't forget to keep an eye on his bird! If the damned thing starts flying
directly over Sora, get ready to Guard! It seems to try that at least once,
when you get Shan Yu to the ammount of HP that triggers his berserk. Also,
everytime you force Shan Yu to counter, it'll move where Shan Yu is and do the
grab charge on you.
I noticed that the RC will always somewhat force Sora and Shan Yu in a position
depending on where Sora is when you Guard. I like staying near the right pillar
(but closer to the door instead of past it, toward the stairs): Sora will send
Shan Yu to the corner in this spot, and if you align Sora to Slide Dash in the
right direction, it'll get Shan Yu stuck and you can add a second finisher in
the first combo. Just be sure to not have Shan Yu stuck after using the magic
finisher, or else he'll counter right on your face.
By the way, it makes much more sense now why Sora gets Aerial Sweep in this
battle: Shan Yu's counter is the exactly same movement. :p
And Goofy Turbo here also makes sense: the bird charges toward you to drop you
defenseless for Shan Yu: just like Goofy slides toward enemies and bump them
toward Sora. I can't believe I never noticed this. :p
+++ +++
*** Revisiting The Land of Dragons ***
Remember that Puzzle Piece above a rock in the Mountain Trail? It is actually
possible to reach it under Valor with High Jump Lvl2, and attacking in midair
to move Sora towards it. It's very annoying, and not worth your time, if you
ask me. So far you could collect one Piece in the Camp, 2 by the Village, and
2 in the Ridge.
Mushroom IV is now by the Palace front, but you can barely do a thing now.
Farm 'em!
- Dark Stone (Nightwalker, Assault Rider)
- Lightning Shard (Bolt Tower, Rapid Thruster)
- Energy Shard (Bolt Tower)
- Serenity Shard (Assault Rider)
Due to the Treasure Chests new items in FM, you should now be able to synth a
Drive Recovery (the Recipe is on the Mountail Trail): it requires 3 Mythril
Shards, 3 Dark Shard, and 1 of each Frost and Lightning Shard. It's up to you.
===== BEAST'S CASTLE - VISIT 1 =====
Why do they complain about fighting Shadows? The Moogle is right there to
help you out, there's nothing to fear. Talking about Moogles, this one has
new accessories to buy.
Nothing much interesting to do until you reach the boss. You can reach the
Puzzle Piece in the West Hall Corridor using Valor's High Jump Lvl2 and using
an attack in midair: use the stairs to get some extra height.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Thresholder +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Upper Slash
(Donald) Donald Fire
(Goofy) HP +2
I say it's much safer to get rid of all the Heartless, mainly if you're going
No Damage.
Start by backing away or Guarding his first smash. Get a little closer to
trigger two statues. It might be better if you kill them by using the RC: just
Guard any of the swipes for the sword one, and Guard the spin for the axe one.
After that, a wave of Hook Bats will come. STAND BACK. They will follow you,
but the boss is stuck to the wall, but still got a great reach. Goofy's Bash
can deal great damage to them, as they stay grouped and all. I like waiting for
a chance to use the RC once, then I go Keyblade on them. I also switched to the
Star Seeker for the Air Combo Plus. After that you got a second wave to handle.
Once you're finished with the Heartless, go for the boss. It'll counter faster
after a 4th finisher, so make your second combo with only one. Then back away,
as it's gonna counter with the wind blow, which damages you. Repeat until you
can use the RC to expose the true boss.
Now, for the second part, it can be rather annoying. You'll now handle the Dark
Orbs. They can be Guarded, and it's tricky. You must back away from the boss,
but not too much. Some might go behind Sora, but keep your eyes on all of them
and Guard as soon as they get close, as Sora won't hold his Keyblade with both
hands as he does when normally Guarding something, and thus won't gain the
After-Guard invencibility. I couldn't find a secure way nor timing to define
how to handle these Orbs, so go trial and error. However, my eyes say that a
good distance would be the minimum necessary to escape his ground smash move.
You know, the one it started the battle with.
If you're doing a true No Damage run, good luck: I hate these Dark Orbs.
+++ +++
Now get those Puzzle Piece, chests in the room with the dishes, yada yada.
C'mon, you've played this before, you know what to do. :p
More Puzzle Pieces on the way. You can't miss them. If you do, go get some
cool new glasses. :p
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Recover Beast's senses! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Armor Slot Up
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Defender
Oh c'mon. This made it here just because it gives Bonus Levels. >_>
RC with the clock guy of the difficult-to-spell name (Cogs...worth? Cogsworth!
It's worth... cogs... what's a cog, anyway?). Do a combo. Do the RC. Do a
combo. Do the RC. Do a combo. Tell me to shut up. Oh wait! Do the Upper Slash
as your finisher: it's cool to watch a beast like... Beast, go flying up after
a hit from a weakling like Sora! :p
+++ +++
Beast now joins, and I use him instead of Donald, as Donald's spells cannot
damage the Gargoyles. Here you also find the last Puzzle Piece of the first
image. You get a super AP Up for your efforts! ... Okay, go find Belle now. Oh
wait, I forgot she decided to wander around with bad guys in the castle. -_-"
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Shadow Stalker / Dark Thorn +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2, Retaliating Slash
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Item Slot Up
(Beast) HP +25
Not too bad of a battle. Shadow Stalker (what a bad name...) follows a rather
easy to learn pattern. It goes to the windows, then to the chandelier. After
you combo him in that, he goes under the floor, then to the pillars.
To evade the waves from the windows, I prefer to move to the sides, behind the
pillars. To evade the chandelier, move toward the windows, and wait for it to
spin: if it goes to the right, move Sora to the left and approach after the
second beam passes by. Move to the right if it spins to the left. Combo it to
release it, and make sure your partners help out so you can Release it before
it spins the chandelier again.
To evade his underground attack, just jump. If you think you jumped too early,
just to an aerial attack to buy time. It then moves to the pillars: just stay a
safe distance, then go for a single combo, and move back: if your partners like
you, they'll do enough damage: shoot Bliizard to trigger the RC, as it'll
scratch the carpet again if you get close or take too long, so I rather play
safe and cast Blizzard to trigger the Release RC instead of a Keyblade hit.
Sometimes it may change the pre-Release kind of attack, but it always alternate
between the chandelier and pillars. Once it got out of the chandelier as soon
as it touched the ground 0_o But it went for another attack straight away:
maybe it was a bug, as it happened just once with me, randomly.
Now for Dark Thorn, the one that's actually fun to fight. It starts by casting
the Dark Orbs: they are annoying and difficult to efficiently avoid, so using
Beast's Limit is your best bet, if you wanna get it No Damage. They can be
easily evaded, actually, by running somewhat in circles... but the Thorn may
not leave you running happily over the Ball Room.
After you deal some damage to it (No Damage runners should do enough with the
Limit), the Thorn will squat down, and you'll be able to do the RC with the
chandelier, revealing it (even though you could Lock On it before anyway).
This is when you can start looping it. Run toward it, Slide Dash in, do a combo
with a single finisher, repeat. After 3 combos, it'll counter with the spinning
attack that sends Sora to the pillar. Use the RC, run toward it... repeat.
However, it's much easier said than done. If you attack too early, Sora will be
too far and won't bother Slide Dashing. Do it too late, and Dark Thorn may
prepare another attack (usually howling beforehand). I couldn't identify if
there's a way to know what's coming, but it can do the following, if it goes
mommy-can-you-see-me?! or not when howling:
- Punch the ground and summon more Dark Orbs. Got MP? Use a Limit. You don't?
Prepare to circle around evading them, and cross your fingers that the Thorn
won't do much of a havoc meanwhile.
- Jump for the chandelier. Keep some distance or jump for the stun wave when
it hits the ground, then Guard as it spins, dropping it off and allowing you
to try and resume the loop without much complaints.
- Go for a series of spinning slashes. It's possible to Guard them, but you may
consider doing a Limit if it didn't jump for the chandelier, as the other
alternative also considers a Limit as the best evade manuever. If you're not a
fan of Limits, get your Guarding skills sharp!
Notice that, after the 3rd combo that'll force it to do the spin RC, it might
MISS Sora. It happened to me on quite the number of occasions, so if that's the
case, back away and prepare to evade whatever's coming next.
After whatever the Thorn does, it tends to run around. Whenever it does so,
hits from the Keyblade shall stun it and allow you to resume the loop. So, it
should be overall easy to beat, and don't take too long to do No Damage, as
evading its attacks isn't all that difficult, as long as you stop attacking
as soon as you notice that it didn't react to your attacks and evade it.
+++ +++
*** REVISITING BEAST'S CASTLE ***
No, I don't consider the trip to Hollow Bastion for Pooh's book and the battle
with Heartless you can get hit to end it and still act like you won something
worth mentioning on a Level 1 Guide. Oh wait... you get Chicken Little, that's
something to consider! You'll learn to love Summons, I'm telling ya.
You could pretty much get everything in Beast's Castle for now. Only one Puzzle
Piece in the Main Hall will stay there till very late in the game.
The only annoying enemy here is the Lance Soldier. It's a problem when more
than one shows up. They tend to rush at you and do a thrust as soon as they
come into play: just Guard it. Keep an eye on them and prepare to Guard anytime
one runs at you. Use Upper Slash as your finisher to send them in the air and
combo them to oblivion. If for some reason it escapes you, it goes berserk and
allows the RC at low health, so consider staying away on purpose to use it.
Also, the Upper Slash strategy is a good way to keep the Gargoyles under
control, as it's tough to use the Guard + RC strategy when you're ganged up.
Oh, and due to the new treasure chests prizes, you should be able to synth up
a Mega Potion, from the recipe you found in the castle. It requires Shards: 3
Mythril, 1 Power, 1 Blazing and 1 Lucid.
Farm 'em!
- Dark Gem (Gargoyle Warrior/Knight)
- Frost Shard (Hook Bat, Lance Soldier)
- Power Shard (Large Body)
- Energy Shard (Gargoyle Warrior/Knight)
- Energy Stone (Lance Soldier)
- Serenity Shard (Large Body)
*** ***
===== OLYMPUS COLISEUM - VISIT 1 =====
Bad dogs! Buy new weapons for Goofy and Donald with the Moogle. Nothing of much
importance until you get to Hades' Chamber. And indeed, no wonder no one wants
to die. Don't forget to remove Auron's Auto Limit, it might be annoying for the
escape scene if you trigger it instead of a desired RC.
To escape from Hades, you have 3 sets of battles. Set 1 has Hook Bats and
Shadows: I had no problem dealing with them by just running in circles, using
the Hook Bats RC to clear the area.
Set 2 has 2 Lance Soldiers and Shadows. Seriously, those Lancers are a pain,
so don't bother and start with Auron's Limit. This will clear the Shadows and
leave the Lance Soldiers at around 30% HP, which you should kill in one combo.
The second one will probably recover by now and soon fly around like an idiot,
so grab it with the RC by mashing the Triangle button. If you don't wanna use
Limits, Guard them as soon as you get to them, and focus on one at a time, but
don't stop until you're done: you really don't wanna 2 of them dancing around.
Get your MP back full for the next wave.
Set 3 has a mix of the others: Shadows, Hook Bats and Lancer. Seriously, use
the Limit. This will help out, like, a lot. This should clear out almost every
enemy, and once you finish the Lance Soldiers with the might hithitUpperSlash-
goaerial combo, you'll trigger a new set... with more Lancers, Hook Bar and a
Large Body. You once again should use the Limit to clear the area ASAP, as the
place is quite crowded. An alternative would be clearing the first wave by
Guarding the Lancers and using the Hook Bats RC to dish out damage, saving your
MP for later, OR you can use an Ether or two to speed things up. Or just stay
there doing nothing waiting for your MP to recharge before killing 'em all.
I really don't know of a reliable way to kill the last wave without the help of
Auron's Limit.
Remember that you can go back and forth at will as you progress: this means
that the previous areas will be free of enemies, and you can move back to
recover your MP and KO'd allies if you're having problems.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Cerberus +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Counterguard
(Auron) HP +40
I find this to be an annoying battle. Those rocks ALWAYS hit me, and since it's
random, I personally wouldn't count them as damage if you're doing a No Damage
run, as there's nothing you can do about them. It's up to you.
Cerberus has one weird pattern. Or should I say, I can't see a pattern to it.
It will walk around, do bites that you can't reliably evade unless you are not
near it from the beginning, and spin and jump. They are overall easy to avoid,
but take your precious time and don't go comboing like crazy: you never know
when it might go for a bite, and it won't growl before it sometimes.
A way I found to know if Cerberus will growl after spinning around, allowing
you to go for a combo, is watch its right paw: if it lifts it, it's gonna
growl. If it does any other movement, it'll go for other attacks, so back away
and evade whatever's coming. Remember that his body also hits you when it goes
for the jump, so move to the side as well.
After slowly chipping away its health, it'll eventually start shooting some
smoke balls: you can Guard 'em (and Sora goes into a defending stance now), or
you can use Auron's Limit to approach it (and it forces Cerberus to stop the
attack, as you'll be then close to it) and also add some damage to the list.
At the same time, it'll start using its RC move: the side heads will open wide,
the middle head will move up, and they'll close together. Be in the middle of
them (no need to attack or anything), and it'll trigger the RC sequence. A nice
choice is getting near Cerberus after it jumps and spins, and if the heads open
wide, you jump, if they move anyway differently, move away.
+++ +++
Now go hack away at the Urns and get the cool Aerial Dive. See how those 50 AP
didn't last long?
The Power Up you'll find in the Y section area (with the Moogle and Save Point)
can be used on whatever you want. Wanna use it on Sora? Use it. Goofy? Use it.
No one? Let it get rotten in your menu, then. Seriously, it's your Level 1 run,
you make your rules. No one's watching. :p
Those ghosts enemies (what is their name again?) are a PAIN. Those... purple...
THINGS they spit at you, deal absurd damage. It's normally okay to handle one
at a time (remember that the purple... THING, initially comes fast, then loses
its traveling speed. Remember that when Guarding it back at them), but when
you have THREE spitting at you, it's annoying, as Sora won't go into the Guard
stance when Guarding the purple thing. Feel free to run away.
It's the broken record guy time! I love these scenes with Demyx.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Destroy Demyx's water clones! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2
(Donald) MP Rage
(Goofy) HP +2
Use Fire to kill and Slide Dashes to turn them into notes and wave them around
with the RC. Give Donald only Fire to help out. Yes, you can get damaged if you
take too long to grab the happily bouncy notes. 0_O
+++ +++
Why do we need to collect maps after we went through the whole dungeon already?
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Pete and the Heartless +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Trinity Limit
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Hyper Healing
This battle is divided in two. Initially, you must protect Meg. This isn't a
problem, as she can take quite the damage. Just Guard Pete's Bomb Ball, and
use the Hook Bats RC to clear the area. Then go for comboing Pete, which's
pretty simple. Also, why did they make Hercules an emo in this game? Geez. Oh,
and remember that the Hook Bats go for Meg only in here.
Second part, the most annoying one, because of those DAMNED TRICK GHOSTS. The
name surely fits them, tricky little bastards. Anyway, start using Herc's RC
to protect yourself from the first wave of attacks. Now seriously, you're going
No Damage? Good luck. Your goal is to kill the Trick Ghosts ASAP. It's hard to
describe how to deal with them here, as it's quite a messy battle, with many
things to keep track off. But if you manage to lock into one and combo it to
death, Sora should stay on the move enough to evade the other attacks. It
SHOULD, mind you.
I just found something very useful for the second part. Chicken Little. Yes!
The little fella acts like a Magnet (although it does not capture the Ghosts,
it'll render Pete and the Hook Bats useless). Also, his eggs deal quite some
good damage for these enemies, AND it also stuns them. Using him was the only
way that *I* managed to get through Pete No Damage.
I'd accept alternate strategies, if anyone wanna share. >_>
+++ +++
Equip your new Trinity Limit. NOW. Save your game, and move on. Oh, and you
should be able to synth the Midnight Ankle, or something like that: it's the
armor that boosts Dark Resistance. You got the Lucid Stone needed for it in
one of the chests around the place, and you should have enough Lucid Shards
and Mythril Shards for it, as well.
The reason to save your game is that if you have to use a Continue on the next
battle, it'll load the previous state once you got there, which is without the
Trinity Limit equipped, so you Load your game instead. You can move one screen
away and it'll record the new state with Trinity Limit equipped, but the exits
here are SO far from the Olimpus exit... And I'm lazy. 0_o
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Hydra +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2, Thunder Element
(Donald) Armor Slot Up
(Goofy) HP +2
You can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Use your new Trinity Limit. If
you don't want to, it's gonna be quite the endurance fight. If you die once,
load your game (I told you to save :p), so every Continue from then on will
have Trinity equipped, saving you the trouble of entering the menu all the
time.
Hydra has 3 phases: Phase 1, it got one head, and its attacks are simple. Phase
2 has its main head stuck on the ground, and 3 others popping out, and the last
Phase has many heads. You finish each Phase by dealing enough damage then using
the RC to cut off the heads.
During Phase 1 and 3, the Hydra has pretty much the same attacks (does anyone
ever seen the heads attack in Phase 2? >_>): biting around, doing lightning
bolts in a fixed interval, and summoning the infamous dark/ghost balls from the
ground that follow you. The Phase 3 also likes to slam all those heads on the
ground, for some stupid and insane reason. (PS: my curiosity made me check, and
Phase 2 can bite around, as if trying to catch a butterfly. It's cute). Oh, and
it can also use its tail and sweep back and forth the field.
To evade the bolts, just keep on the move: it'll aim for your most recent
position. Unfortunately, the interval between the bolts is such that it becomes
difficult to pull off a whole combo on its head. The tail sweep is avoided by
staying far away, or jumping it. The problem on jumping is that Donald dies and
you need him for the Trinity. The bites is only safely avoided by staying away,
and the ghost balls requires some running-around skills from you. They can also
be Guarded.
So, Phase 1 starts using the Tail Sweep, Seriously, rush and use Trinity. You
don't need to deal much damage to end this first Phase, and the Keyblade deals
very little damage to it. Remember, Trinity deals more damage as more hits
connect in during the 3 combos, so use them wisely! Once I didn't deal enough
damage on the first Trinity, and had an Hydra loading bolts on my head.
After dealing enough damage on the simple Phase 1, cut off the head and enter
Phase 2. If you quote Phil I'll shoot you. So, use the Urninator RC (why did
they give such a bad name to it?) to stun the 3 heads, go combo and cut them
off. You should be able to finish two of them before having to use the RC
again.
Simple so far, right? Now we have Phase 3, and it's fun. The bolts attack will
become faster and faster. Maybe more ghost balls appear, and the Hydra may now
use more than one of the attacks at its disposal at once. Due to the mess it
becomes, you should avoid using the Keyblade even more. So you have 2 choices
to deal good and safe damage: Trinity Limit, and Pegasus Run. Pegasus RC is
triggered when the heads go for the bites. However, it won't stun the Hydra for
the finishing RC.
Your best bet is to stay away, on either corner. Stay there and wait, evading
the attacks: run around the corner (and possibly Guarding) for the ghost balls,
run to the other corner for the bolts (but go juping over the stairs! You may
get hit if you get closer and run to the other side by the field), and just
stand there for the tail sweep. If the Hydra goes biting, move near and use the
Pegasus RC. if your MP gets full while waiting for the RC, use Trinity Limit.
If you use Trinity as soon as Phase 3 starts, you need one Pegasus Run and one
more Trinity to finish the Hydra, hopefully. If you're not using Limits, you'll
need many Pegasus Runs, as it's the only safe and good source of damage for the
last part of the fight.
Overall, I love this fight, very interactive. And you gain Thunder... and the
Hydra uses thunder-based attacks, too. The game actually makes sense! 0_O
+++ +++
*** Revisiting the Olympus Colesium ***
Nothing much of interest here. You can reach a Puzzle Piece in the Cavern
Entrance by using Valor's High Jump Lvl2 (from the Lost Road), now that you can
Drive here. The other 2 Puzzle Pieces in the Lost Road can't be accessed in
normal ways for now, but depending on how lucky you get while fighting enemies,
you may end up those rocks, but it's not worth it. Nothing cool to farm, too.
Mushroom VI is now available where you fought Demyx, but you can't do much.
Although you can now fight Zexion, thanks to the Olympus Stone getting you rid
of the Underworld curse, it's still not wise
Update: the Puzzle Piece in the Passage can actually be reached using the skate
to jump from the higher platforms, and using some tricks to retain some height.
Cool, I would normally wait for Glide to get that one.
Farm 'em!
- Lucid Shard (Rabid Dog, Trick Ghost)
*** ***
===== DISNEY CASTLE / TIMELESS RIVER =====
We're home! You can use Valor's High Jump Lvl2 from the stairs and an aerial
attack to reach the Puzzle Piece at the Gummi Hangar. Regular High Jump Lvl1
should suffice for you to reach everything in the Courtyard, but you still
cannot reach the Puzzle Piece above the door in the Collonade (lemonade?).
This is also a great place to level up your Summon.
Due to the new treasures, you should also be able to now synth the Firaga
Bangle armor. Don't forget to buy the new armors from the Moogle, as well.
***** EVENT BATTLES: Escort Queen Minnie! *****
Bonus Level: (Sora) Accessory Slot Up, Auto-Summon
This is rather easy. If Sora is near Minnie, Holy RC is available: it deals
good damage and sends Heartless far away. If you get far, you can call her
with another RC. So, stun Heartless, call her, stun, call... Very simple.
For the second set of battles, you might consider actually killing all the Bolt
Towers to make some munny.
*** ***
Remember that, even though you are forced to Hollow Bastion and back to Disney
Castle, you may consider going to Hollow Bastion and use Pooh's first page.
Get new accessories from the Timeless Moogle. There's a chest with the map and
another with a Frost Shard in this first screen. By the Pier, you can reach the
Puzzle Piece above the tree using Valor's High Jump Lvl 2 and an aerial attack.
I'm not including the Timeless Pete battle, because you can just stay there,
doing nothing, and he won't ever attack: he's a good guy. You can let Goofy
and Donald dish out damage until you just do the finishing blow. :p
Now, the infamous Timeless Windows battles:
Construction Site: 4 Hammer Frames? Seriously, start with Trinity Limit. They
hit hard, can resist your hits, and may gang up on you. They should all be dead
after the Limit. I see no other reliable way of dealing with them at Level 1
here. After that, you get 4 Minute Bombs, and everyone being thrown in the air:
love it, as it enables the RC that deals stupid damage. Another wave of Hammers
and you're going home. Your MP is probably still charging, so evade them for a
little while: soon they'll shake the platform and everyone will fly high again,
so get your RC on the way to clean them. One or two might survive, but then
you just deal normally with them: remember that Upper Slash sends them in the
air, which's usually a safe way to combo and escape other enemies.
Lilliput: the toy city can be very, very simple. You see the toy cannons? Get
near them, and you can use its RC. It'll shoot the enemies, stunning them for
a LONG time. It deals no damage, but it'll render every enemy hopeless. Just
abuse it. You can fight the enemies the "normal" way, as the place is wide and
they are overall simple to deal with, but the Crisis gauge might fill up too
fast if you let them keep on attacking.
Fire Scene: everyone once hated this battle. But it can be made simple, if you
Learn2Limit and, OMG, Learn2Summon. The flames can be attacked and destroyed to
hold the Crisis Gauge. Chicken Little does an amazing great job here, holding
the enemies still: and you really don't want the Hot Rods running around. You
first deal with a wave of Shadows, then Shadows with 1 Hot Rod, then 2 Hot
Rods. For the last 2 Hot Rods, just use Trinity Limit: they can be launched in
the air and be rendered helpless, but first they should be in a stunned state,
and for that you need to score a finisher. Chicken Little gets them stunned
when he draws them. If you're not using either Summon or Limit... abuse Magic.
Those guys can be very tricky to combo. And remember, when they go berserk,
they always do 3 dashes, then stop. I heard aerial combos are also good to deal
with them, but I didn't have much luck when I tried. Consider that, too.
Room: the last one is simple, thank God. The Black Hole will shrink if you hit
it with a finisher (magic doesn't count, apparently). The only real threat for
a No Damage run is the Rapid Thrusters, who might use that drill attack. It's
hard to spot and it might hit you without you noticing. Just stop the Black
Hole as soon as it appears, always take a look around, and you should be fine.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Halt Pete's Escape! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Dodge Slash
(Donald) Fantasia, Auto-Limit
(Goofy) HP +2
This is a simple battle. Use the RCs to send the... trash, back at Pete. Once
you deal enough damage, Pete gets stunned and you must grab the hook to damage
the wood crate. Now there's a trick: you'll always perform a 3 hit combo on it.
As always, the finisher takes longer: so, calmly press Circle to add your hits
in, and as soon as you see a green flash, hit Triangle to use the RC and not
get dropped off the hook. If you do, you'll have to deal with 3 Minute Bombs,
and won't get a chance to climb again until they are all done for.
Pretty simple. It's possible to destroy the crate in only one trip. Just take
your time, and you'll be fine.
+++ +++
With the treasure chests in the Waterway, you should be able to now synth a
Blizzaga Bangle.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Pete +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2, Reflect Element
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Goofy Tornado
A battle divided in 5 scenarios becomes somewhat tiring, don't you think? After
dealing enough damage, Pete will change to a new place. So... here we go:
Phase 1: Simple. After you combo him and he uses the shield and recovers HP,
stay away and wait for whatever he'll do next: Guard his bomb ball, jump
after him in the air, stay away from the... little bombs. Nothing special here.
If you attack Pete through ground combos only, watch out for Pete's counter,
the "Get out of my way!" punches and stomps. They hit hard.
Phase 2: he'll now say "Go!" and the flames will come at you. Just jump over
them. Timeless Pete will run around if he gets hit by the flames, so use the RC
to send him toward Present Pete, which'll stun him. Be sure to take your time
and combo him only when you're safe, as the flames also deal big damage if they
hit you.
Phase 3: this one is cool, but you can get hit easily. Anytime Timeless Pete
touches the sucking Black Hole, he'll run around again. And since you are also
drawn to it, and Present Pete will keep on throwing the bomb balls, it is safer
to stay away, using the Timeless Pete RC, some magic here and there, and using
Guard for the balls, till you get a clear chance to combo Present Pete.
Phase 4: stay away from the middle. The toy cannons shoot without much warning
and without Reflect, you're not in good shape to avoid them. This one might
take a longer time, as you'll have to be careful with the cannons.
Phase 5: the easiest one. Present Pete will slam the ground right away, and
everyone goes flying. Thanks to the RC, you'll deal high damage quickly. Just
finish him off if the platform stops shaking and you're not done yet.
Not too difficult, but many things can go wrong if you're doing No Damage.
Also, remember that Pete's counter as you add hits in depend on his location:
stomp when on the ground, HP Orb in the air. As you can see, launching and
comboing in the air him is safer, but will take a little longer. Pete will
counter after the 2nd finisher normally, and after the 3rd if you used
Timeless Pete to stun him. Upper Slash counts like a finisher, usually.
And you know, it now makes sense that we obtain Reflect here. That's what Pete
does, just without the counter... but nothing hits him... Pete's invincible! xD
+++ +++
*** Revisiting Timeless River ***
Treaure chests hunting wise, you could clear this right on your first visit.
Mushroom XI is now available in the Waterway. It is possible, although very
hard, to complete it now. You must use Wisdom Form, and both finishers must go
all in, and since it loves to jump around, you gotta guess where to and Shoot
from its back. Do not equip Combo Pluses, you want those finishers!
Speaking of Wisdom Form, you can now train it, and get Valor to Lvl4, too. As
you're still weak, I like killing the Heartless in the snow area of Land of the
Dragons: only Shadows and Rapid Thrusters (using Fire and Thunder). Timeless
River is usually good as you can repeat the windows, but at Level 1 this isn't
a good idea for now. Valor can be trained anywhere you'd like.
Pain and Panic Cup is now available in the Coliseum, but you're still weak on
the Abilities and Limits department. I would leave it for later.
If you train Wisdom and Valor to Level 4, you might consider using a trick
suggested by Bizkit047, as you'll likely use Wisdom in some required fights
soon: save, go to where there's enemies, Drive. If you get Anti Form, cool, get
out and move on. If you Drive normally, get killed and repeat. The point is to
get Anti to reduce the Anti Points, so you won't get it when you actually need
to Drive normally. If after several tries you still don't get Anti, then you're
probably safe.
Farm 'em!
- Blazing Shard (Hammer Frame, Minute Bomb)
- Frost Stone (Aeroplane, Hot Rod)
- Bright Shard (Minute Bomb)
- Bright Stone (Aeroplane)
- Energy Stone (Hammer Frame)
- Serenity Shard (Hot Rod)
With Reflect, Hammer Frames are simpler to deal with. Hot Rods are still
annoying, and a Trinity Limit won't kill them at full health, so be careful.
The others enemies should be simple enough to deal with.
I won't make a section for Atlantica, but you can visit it now. After being
sent back to the world map, reenter Atlantica and reach Triton's Throne and
get two Puzzle Pieces, along with the one by the right on the first room,
beneath the rock.
*** ***
===== PORT ROYAL : VISIT 1 =====
Did you Learn2Magic yet? Before going down the stairs, go back and get chests
and whatnots. You like them, don't you?
Thunder stuns the pirates for a very long time, and Blizzard freezes them. I
feel like finisher Blizzards deal HIGH damage on them, way more than Thunder,
but use them to your advantage as you see fit. Just take off Donald's Fire
and you're set (those pirates running around don't really help much). Always
keep your eyes on as many pirates as possible: if the ones with guns lift
their weapon, get ready to use the RC to defend it, or cast Reflect.
The Heartless battle that follows is just a warm up. You should be able to get
everything from it here for now. When you board the Interceptor, visit the
Moogle and buy new weapons for Goofy and Donald. The ambush is mandatory, but
doesn't count as an event fight, as they're pretty simple. Remember that you
can always go back to the Cabin and end the fight. Only the first time you move
between locations will force an ambush, after that they happen randomly.
For the "hold one minute" battle, stay away, using the gunners RC, casting
Blizzard and Thunder to hold the pirates back. The bald ones have a RC combo
that damages them, but watch out as Sora recovers from it. You can also use
Donald's Comet Limit to buy some time (if he's not KO'd, that is). This is just
too annoying to do No Damage, because the place is rather tight, and there are
many shadows which'll make the pirates invincible.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Protect the ship and the medallion! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Aerial Spiral
(Donald) Draw
(Goofy) HP +2
Have you ever fought a very annoying battle? Every time you lose, you must
trigger an ambush, then select Port Royal AGAIN to trigger it. ARGH!
Magic is the key to win this fight. The cannon's RC, although they stop the
shooting from the other ship, leaves Sora defenseless for TOO LONG. Think
thrice before using it.
The beginning is the most difficult part, actually. You might move back first,
but your main point is to stun the first Pirates with either Thunder or
Blizzard, so you can move around a little. Try to reach the higher part of the
ship, with the wheel, as soon as possible: it has no shadows, and you can use
the platforming of that place to escape the pirates easier, as they are slow to
jump over there.
From the left side (looking as someone who's driving the ship), you can stand
on the box and cast your magic safely from there. Once your MP runs out, it's a
great thing to go Wisdom: you can burn your MP with Thunders (its Blizzard is
sucky, for some reason), or use it only as finishers. Shoot is magical, so it
chips damage quickly on the Pirates, and you can hit them from a distance.
Keep an eye if any Pirate won't climb the ship on where you are. If needed be,
just Shoot and move around, Quick Running down to where the others are, and
making your back to the higher part slowly. Remember, stay away from these
cursed fools. >_>
And yes, my English knowledge when it comes to boats and ships parts and other
things is pretty limited. :p
There are many Pirates to kill, but after the beginning, they come slowly so it
should be easy to keep it under control after you survive the first seconds.
Chicken Little can also be of use, but it didn't last long enough on my tries.
Also, as your MP will end and you'll be left with only Keyblade hits, which the
Pirates resist pretty well, you'll end up having a tough time. But try it if
Wisdom doesn't work much with you.
+++ +++
So Will really does point the gun to his head, after all. Don't forget to
requip Sparrow's abilities back.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Get rid of the explosives! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Item Slot Up
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Second Chance
(Sparrow) HP +10
Simple. The Heartless all go for the barrels, and they never stop spamming, nor
do they drop items. So just go and RC away, just making sure the Heartless are
busy with your partners so they won't hit you while going for the barrels.
+++ +++
Time to make your way inside the cave. Nothing special till you get there. Oh,
and remember to use magic on the Pirates on the way. :p And don't you dare
trigger the Larxene fight yet. Unless you're a masochist into sadistic women.
You don't stand a chance against her yet.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Barbossa +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Drive Gauge Up, Aerial Finish
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Teamwork, Auto-Limit
(Sparrow) HP +15
Why do we lose if Sparrow dies? He CAN'T DIE, he's cursed! 0_O
Barbossa is a cool boss with cool RC sequences: too bad it's usually dangerous
to use them at Level 1 / No Damage runs.
The Illuminator is easy to deal with. Thanks to Critical extra damage, you can
probably kill it with a single combo, even without your partners' help.
Barbossa's gun is a OHKO most of the time, so cast Reflect as soon as you
notice he preparing to shoot. He counters with very fast sword combos, and
they'll kill you fast, too. Yet, he's weak to magic like the other Pirates.
Do you realize how to deal with him yet?
Thunder sends Barbossa in the air, and stuns him in there. So, as you can see
in Bizkit's vid, you can start by using Thunder, go for an aerial combo, and
use another Thunder as the second finisher. Repeat this till you'll enter MP
Charge, then you might as well just use a Limit instead of finishing your MP
with one more Thunder.
What do you do when you're out of MP against Pirates? You drive Wisdom. You
can then Shoot from far away, cast Thunder, and... that's about it, really.
This should weaken Barbossa a lot. So by then you shouldn't have trouble
finishing him off, if you didn't do it under Wisdom already.
If Barbossa escapes, I had the feeling that Barbossa likes doing his dashing
sword combo twice, and then do a gunshot. He'll counter faster depending on
how much you combo'd him (as he can't counter in the air, he'll do the sword
dash as soon as he lands). You can kinda loop him this way, but it may also
be dangerous, as it's easy to mistime here and there, and Jack gets in the way
just too often.
Whenever Jack and Barbossa stay still, staring at each other, you have the
chance to use the "moon RC". It cannot kill Barbossa, though, and you are
unlikely to see it as you can't really run around much, waiting for a chance
to use it. When Barbossa goes for sword combos, you may get to use the other
(cool) RC, but I couldn't realize what triggers it. Both only seem to happen
after Barbossa loses a certain ammount of HP, though (the sword combo one
seems to be possible on his last HP bar, while the moon one in the last two
bars).
The RCs are easy to spot, at least, although if you're too close, you might
not be able to Guard his sword combo in time: but you do have two chances to
trigger it, as he does two waves of attacks. His quote for the sword RC is
"How about a taste of this" or something like that, so keep eyes and ears open
all the time.
Overall, the safest way to kill Barbossa is to use the Thunder aerial combo to
weaken him out (Thunder once, he goes in the air, 3 hits + Thunder, repeat),
adding in the Limit of your choice for extra damage, then crippling him down
with Wisdom from far. I like Sparrow's Limit, because it'll leave Barbossa with
a burn, giving you tive to Drive in safety. Just keep an eye on Barbossa, as he
becomes resistant in later phases, and might go for Jack, or even yourself. If
he's still alive after you use up Wisdom, try going for the RCs and cast some
magic.
Oh, and when trying the Thunder aerial chain, keep an eye for the shadows! If
you send Barbossa in a shadow, he'll be immune to your attacks. Sending him to
the corner of the entrance is a good bet, as it's the clearest area.
Note to self: I couldn't finish Barbossa off while in Wisdom, however, often
he'd be left with short health. I would let Barbossa come for Jack, and since
I was on the way, he'd first go for a shot: Reflect maybe would finish him,
but it may also not. After that, I would just Guard his sword combo, and get
a RC kill. SO SWEET.
+++ +++
*** Revisiting Port Royal ***
No, you don't stand a chance against Larxene yet.
If you had trouble with Barbossa you probably didn't pick the chests at the
Moonlight Nook: there's quite the set of enemies here, as well.
Visit the Black Pearl for a Puzzle Piece in the Stateroom and another behind
Sparrow, by the deck.
Thanks to the Power Stone you found in the chests here, you can now synth up
one out of the Power Band, Elixir, Garnet Ring or Mythril Ring. Fear not, you
will soon get many more of these Power Stones.
The enemies here are overall easy, just be ready to Reflect the Hammer Frames
and keep the aerial game (with constant Triangle presses when the Air Pirates
are around), and you shouldn't have problems.
Farm 'em!
- Blazing Shard (Hammer Frame)
- Blazing Stone (Tornado Step, Cannon Gun)
- Dark Crystal (Air Pirate)
- Bright Stone (Tornado Step)
- Bright Crystal (Air Pirate)
- Energy Stone (Hammer Frame)
Oh, and on a random note, I managed to beat the Pain and Panic Cup at this
point. Goofy's Tornado, Comet, Trinity Limit and Aerial Finish help a lot
here. It's tough giving tips for each battle, but here's how I got my
Protect Belt and Serenity Gem:
- Use regular attacks for the Hook Bats and Shadows;
- Trinity your way through the Minute Bombs and the Large Body, one cast
should suffice;
- I use another Trinity for the Rabid Dogs and Soldiers;
- Hot Rods? Trinity. They will survive, but you might leave them with a
silver of health. Use another Trinity if necessary;
- Normal attacks for the first Rapid Thrusters, then Trinity the Bats with the
Bolt Towers. You now enter MP Charge (if you used 2 Trinities on the Hot Rods);
- 3 Gargoyles; use an Ether if you want, run around Guarding their spin and try
to use the RC. With some luck, Goofy will use his Tornado and help holding them
defenseless. Go for some combo. Or else, just run around. Minute Bombs come.
When you get the chance, use ANY Limit (the Gargoyles may keep your partners
KO'd, so don't waste your time). Lance Soldiers join the last fun. Use ANY
Limit ASAP: even if they survive, they are weak and you can spam the RC;
- The Aeroplanes don't like me, so I used two Trinities here. The two Assault
Riders are easy to deal with, you should be able to finish them without Limits
(but with the help of Goofy's Tornado :p). Once there's only one left, cast
Cure, you'll see;
- Run around in a big circle, while pressing Triangle to be safe. You'll have
your MP recharged from the previous round. Sweet eh?;
- Trinity them, FAST. If you get unlucky, it'll turn out weak, due to the
Creeper Plants not being cooperative to Trinity. Still, you may consider using
it again, or deal with the two Gargoyles mano-a-mano;
- I would alternate Trinities and Comets. They can't be launched, so Comet can
hack up some good damage along with Sora's attacks. Your call. you should be
able to use at least 4 Limits, 5 if you didn't use two Trinities before. Just
be sure to Quick Run away before casting a new Limit, because you'll be exposed
while the menu is accessable for the Limits again.
Beat that Wall O' Text. And Zexion is still not a good choice over there yet,
too. You may come back for this Cup later, if you're aiming for higher scores.
Also, did I miss something, or we're still one Puzzle Piece left for the second
puzzle? (Update: I was missing the one in Hollow Bastion, above the Moogle,
using Valor's High Jump 2 -_-") Which means, now you can finish the second
puzzle and get a Serenity Crystal. Hooray. u_u
*** ***
===== AGRABAH - VISIT 1 =====
Agrabah we made it!
So, nothing of importance for the first battle, you'll skip to the cutscene
even if you almost get killed. Just use some Thunder, Comet, Goofy's Tornado...
Get shopping! New Armors from the Moogle. No enemies around town, so go chests
hunting now if you want. I personally would move on, get Aladdin, then go after
them. :p Remember, to destroy the tents, cast magic or use Aerial Finish. And
you always run by in a rush and just say Hi! to friends you haven't see over an
year.
I like Aladdin. His special attacks drop MP Orbs and deal good damage. His
Limit isn't all that weak, and also drop many Orbs, of all kinds. And his
Limit is cool, so is his sword. Nice guy, I tell ya. :p
In the Bazaar screen, it's possible to reach the Puzzle Piece above the gate if
you get above a tent, use Valor's High Jump 2 and use an aerial attack to help
out.
Make your way inside the Cave of Wonders, which has the wonderful power to
completely change shape from the previous game. Seriously, what in the world...
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Guide Abu! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Summon Boost
(Donald) Donald Blizzard
(Goofy) HP +2
(Aladdin) HP +15
Keep on pressing Triangle. Stay near Abu. Move to the sides when blizzard
forms on your head. Jump the water waves. Once again, it's here only because
of the Bonus Levels. :p And cool, you have blocks of ice falling on your head
here, and this is where Donald learns Blizzard. Amazing! Even the devil boy is
no matc... *gets shot*
+++ +++
So, into the Trials!
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Succeed on the Cave Trials! +++++
No Bonus Level, but it's one complicated part and I felt like adding a section
to this battle, so what? :p
First floor has 4 Ice Cubes. Just beat them up.
Second floor has a Puzzle Piece. More Ice Cubes and Fiery Globes. No big deal
yet again.
Third floor has a Fat Bandit. If you can be swift and do 3 hit combo + RC on
it, it's okay, but be ready to cast Reflect as it likes contering faster the
more you hit it.
Fourth floor has the Fat Bandit and the elemental enemies. Also a Puzzle Piece
on the corner. Time's a factor, so magic your way into the Bandit, using a
Limit if you want. Wisdom can help, but Drive after using up your MP. Remember
that Reflect is one amazing magic. :p But if you corner the Bandit, you might
just not need anything at all.
Stay in the VERY MIDDLE when falling toward the fifth floor, to obtain a Puzzle
Piece: you either get it by falling down, or with a very higher jump much later
on the game. Now only two Silver Rocks, which I killed with Aladdin's Limit,
but anything's fine if you take care with their attacks. Goofy can be helpful
against them, too. Aladdin's Limit killed them on the finisher so it was cool.
+++ +++
Get your prizes. Geez, again? This ALWAYS happens.... =/
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Defeat the Heartless in deep darkness! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Auto Healing
(Aladdin) HP +15
Yay! Some Bonus Levels! Any partner here will be of great help, but you might
consider leaving Donald in reserve till you reach the very end. Your call.
The battle starts with many Silver Rocks. Just mash Triangle nearby the glowing
lights. Then, MANY Ice Cubes and Fiery Globes will join in. If you're going for
No Damage, you'd really rather run around this tight place and let your friends
do the dirty job. If you'll add Sora in, try keeping an aerial fight, and use
Reflect.
The Fiery Globes are VERY dumb. I once just stood in the very middle, and no
one hit me. NO ONE. Only the Ice Cubes posed a threat for the No Damage run.
Also, you may consider using Aladdin's Limit once the elementals come: they
are very weak and you should finish many of them with it.
Once you finish all the elemental enemies, 3 Fat Bandits will join. Yup, they
actually fit inside this tiny arena. This is when things get crazy. The only
reliabe way I found is using Wisdom, and pray while you Reflect and shoot your
way to Sunday.
I admit I went to check Bizkit's vids. He used Trinity to weaken the Fat
Bandits. And I must say, it does WONDERS on crippling most of their HP. Due to
the MP loss, you might consider going wisdom and use Shoot, Thunder and Reflect
to finish them off. Just switch Aladdin out when the Fiery Globes are almost
done for: remember that when the counter reaches 3, the Fat Bandits will come.
+++ +++
Oh my God, battles come and go no stop here!
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Volcanic Lord and Blizzard Lord +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Finishing Leap
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Armor Slot Up
(Aldadin) HP +15
I like this fight. Dunno why, though. They can be somewhat looped in the
beginning of the fight: everytime you explode one of them, the other goes for
the RC attack: bouncing for the Volcanic, and ice breath for the Blizzard Lord.
After you take away half their HP, the loop will likely break, as they won't
explode at all anymore. But this seems to be somewhat random, as I could get
them to explode for a very long time
The fight starts with the Volcanic Lord bouncing, so RC it, combo him. With me,
even after the full aerial combo (with two finishers), he wouldn't explode:
just cast Thunder to complete the job if needed be. Sometimes this wouldn't
work, either. I have no clue why. If that's so, go for another combo.
When a Lord explode, the respective elemental Cube/Globe will appear (around 4
of them, as far as I could notice). Only once they are all killed, the Lord
will reappear. That should be simple to accomplish, as they'll be around as you
use Aerial Finish, or your partners will finish them, or even the RC of the
other Lord will hit them. So don't mind it.
Weird how once I could loop them from beginning to victory. Dunno why.
Both Lords may also swing their lances around, which'll likely hit you unless
you are in the middle of an Aerial Finish. Play safe and don't go for extra
combos after the second one: stand by and prepare to defend yourself.
They also have a ultimate move: Volcanic will line up fireballs, and then shoot
them at you. Easily stay somewhat far away and Guard them, and watch as they
all pass through Guard's i-frames. Blizzard will summon blocks of ice around
you, which'll close up one after the other. This is safely avoided by casting
Reflect twice (I had no luck Guarding them, and seeing how you can't really
tell where the first one comes from, anyway...)
It's annoying to get No Damage, due to their lance swings that may come just
as you go for a combo, but they are overall easy. You can play really safe and
move back after only one aerial combo, let them do either their swing or
ultimate attack, then go for another combo which'll explode them.
+++ +++
*** Revisiting Agrabah ***
Go back to the Cave of Wonders last room. Mushroom V will be your training
ground for Valor and possibly Limit Form as well in the future. Get the chests
and Puzzle Pieces here (don't be masochistic, and Drive in Valor to use High
Jump Lvl2 to reach the one above the gold coins mountain).
Enemies here are overall easy if you use your friends, but also deal good
damage so be somewhat careful, specially with the Fortunetellers, the enemies
in flying balls that shoot ice. Weird thing, the Luna Bandits are gone for now.
Farm 'em!
- Blazing Gem (Fiery Globe, Fat Bandit)
- Frost Gem (Icy Cube, Fortuneteller)
- Power Stone (Silver Rock)
- Bright Stone (Silver Rock)
- Energy Gem (Fortuneteller)
*** ***
===== HALLOWEEN TOWN - VISIT 1 =====
Jack has Lucky Lucky, and since he's magic oriented, I like using him over
Donald, although the two of them can cause quite the damage adding up their
magics.
The first Heartless battle is no big thing. Just a regular fight. Have fun!
In this area, you can actually obtain the Puzzle Piece: just use the sewer trap
that sends you in the air (and doesn't cause damage), and Aerial Recovery into
it, using an aerial attack to give some support if needed be.
The Driller Moles drop Lightning Stones, which allow you to synth the Thundaga
Bangle. Even if you don't get their drop, you can get one in the chest in the
screen with the entrance to Christmas Town. Behind such entrance is the last
Puzzle Piece for your 3rd puzzle! Now you have the recipe for the Draw Ring,
which makes a Lucky Ring when adding a Serenity Crystal. But you still can't
make them. :p Oh, and the Acrisius is also possible to synth now, due to the
Lightning Stones
I love the scene where they fall into Christmas Town: it's the only scene where
Goofy does his "yaa hoo hooo hoooo!" quote. And the new outfits are amazing.
Love 'em.
More treasures, more Puzzle Pieces, more Accessories to buy from the Moogle,
more Heartless. You should be used to it by now! You probably aren't used,
though, to the Toy Soldiers. These guys can't be stunned in the ground by
normal attacks: only finishers, or hitting them in the air will. And getting
close will prompt them to attack (either by the shots or blades). So, in order
to beat them, stay away and wait for an opening, usually getting them in the
air as they try to jump behind you, or your partners hit them in the air during
a normal jump: good thing is that they won't aim for your friend unless they
get stunned first.
If, after an aerial combo, the Toy Soldier manages to land before Sora reaches
it up with Aerial Sweep/Dive, either run away or quickly go for a Finishing
Leap. Remember that you can also stun them in the air with a Thunder, and
hopefully a partner will juggle it while you get closer. Once you get used to
them, they stop being a threat. Just play safe! But if you are still having
problems to time up attacks to stun them, use Limits: Jack's great, and Trinity
is always a good chocie for regular enemies.
Thieves! After them!
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Prison Keeper +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Flash Step
(Donald) Hyper Healing
(Goofy) HP +2
(Jack) HP +15
Aerial battle ahoy! This guy can be annoying if you don't Lrn2Guard. 0_o
I don't know the name of the little guys and which effect each one gives to the
Keeper, but we have:
Blue/Green: goes for bites. Guard him and it stuns him pretty well
Pink: goes up for spinning shooting. Not much to do but try to jump and reach
it with Aerial Spiral. Can be dangerous for No Damage, though. Stay below it.
Red: backs away and shoot fireballs. Guard them to send them back and stun it.
So, it's a battle of Guarding skills. Always back off after a second combo you
deal to it, as it's when it likes to counter. Usually, it counter by spinning
its claws, then eating a new kid: everytime it does it for the first time, you
can get close and use the RC, to prevent it from changing shape and stunning it
for a new combo chain. The next time, though, the RC isn't available, and it
also spins high up in the air, out of reach.
It may also do the spinning claws attack randomly during the battle, so watch
out. As long as you back away a little after the combo chains (I use two aerial
combos with single finishers, but adding the second combo can be tricky, so you
might consider using a single combo with two finishers instead).
I found out that when it spins high in the air in the Pink Form, a Thunder
Finisher will send it down to the ground, and you'll have the chance to combo
it. Since it can be annoying to jump and hit it with the Keyblade in the air
as it spins around shooting, consider doing that. you can also climb the hill,
but I have a terrible time doing that, even if I remove the Lock On. But it's
whatever floats your boat.
Note: Actually climbing the hill is a good thing. As he goes for the shape
change, go and climb it meanwhile. If he does the spinning shooting attack,
then you're set. Go for an aerial combo, which brings it down. Let it recover
and start moving, then do another combo (with 2 finishers). Now, leave him and
climb it again, as he'll do a spin to move up then shoot again. By then, you're
already up the hill again. Nice.
After a while, it'll swallow all the kids, and will now use every attack it has
at will. Note: I found out that he'll forcibly counter and enter the last Phase
when he reaches 2 health bars + 25%, so WATCH OUT.
Now you must pay attention to its movements:
- hands up while possibly moving away: fire ball coming
- hands on head: bite coming
- hands to the side: spinning attack coming
When it goes for the spinning shooting, you'll usually be safe anyway.
You might consider using Reflect when you're not sure what's coming up, for
safety purposes. Also, you can keep a long distance, deflecting fireballs, and
usually staying safe from the weird bites (anyone else have problems Guarding
them sometimes?).
In his Last Form, you might also consider using Jack's Limit, to speed things
up, as it's annoying and long fight to handle, and his Limit is damn powerful.
Remember that letting the Limit Gauge going down before inputting a new command
will have Sora spinning AND dealing damage for a while, so use that in your
advantage to deal even more damage. I also think that Jack's input for it deals
higher damage, but unlike other Limits the RCs change (instead of Triangle
always being Jack, it'll switch being Jack's and Sora's attacks each round).
WTF Note: once he started the fight glowing flamish red, so I prepared to block
a fireballs... and he span up and did the spinning shooting. What in the...
Not stupidly difficult, just annoying. As its attacks are powerful you may die
easily, but it shouldn't be too hard, as long as you don't rush things (like
just about everyone does :p).
+++ +++
Talk about memory loss, Oogie!
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Oogie Boogie +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Item Slot Up
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Once More
(Jack) HP +15
Not a complicated battle, just long and annoying to get No Damage on.
In order to damage Oogie, you must use the RC at the present boxes and throw
12 of them up in his platform, making the weight break it and bring Oogie down.
After you damage Oogie a certain amount, he'll become immune to attacks, and
retreat. This will happen twice, dividing the battle in 3 phases.
Phase 1: this is how the battle starts. You can know what Oogie will do by
listening to his quotes. Check them out:
"Now this is where you'll go!" - 3 present boxes will be dropped for you to
throw back at him with the RC in front of it. I have some trouble understanding
what he says exactly, but it should suffice to tell his quotes apart. :p
"Oh..!" - if you aim the camera to Oogie, you'll see that he spins before
throwing a explosive dice on you. Funny thing is, it aims at Sora's current
position... so if you just stand there and let the floor take you, it will miss
you most of the time. You can also run back, cast Reflect, or what I prefer,
wait a split of second and use the RC on the present box just as it's about to
land: the RC animation will keep Sora immune to attacks.
"Now I'll squash you flat!" - a punching glove will do 4 or so punches, from
right below Oogie till the end of your current corridor. Stay somewhat near the
opening below Oogie, let it hit down once, then Quick Run below it, and now it
will only hit behind you.
This is all that there is for the first part, and it's rather simple. Oogie'll
retreat soon, not much damage needed. I don't need to tell you to jump and use
Quick Run to not be taken back to the spikes, right? Then we get to...
Phase 2: he's got a new attack.
"Hope you like the Oogie gifts I got for ya!" - purple bags will drop down, and
Heartless will come out of it. For now, I believe that only Wight Knights will
come out of those. Either way, if you're going for No Damage, PLAY SAFE: hug
the opening, and mash Triangle, and get teleported anywhere. This will make the
Heartless disappear. Do help out and move the camera away from them. Then, hug
the opening again and move the camera, and see when the place Oogie is turns
blue, then move back in there. If you don't miss your first opportunity, you'll
escape whatever Oogie uses to try and get you in whatever corridor you are.
So, in fewer words, for Phase 2 you'll be some walking around other corridors,
as soon as Oogie sends Heartless. Watch out, as sometimes their purple bags
will come in between the present boxes: if that happens, quickly Quick Run to
the opening and move somewhere else.
Phase 3: now two new attacks.
"Now you can try and dodge this" - lightning bolts will form below Oogie and
move across the corridor. The good thing is, they ALWAYS go through either left
or right. So, as long as you keep Sora in the middle, and throw the presents
when no bolt is coming in the same alignment as the box is, you'll be safe.
"Oh baby!" - purple bags will be sent among the present boxes. RUN TO THE
OPENING AND GET OUT! Emerald Blues will come and KILL you. Stop EVERYTHING and
just get out of there. I can't give more emphasis to this. MOVE!
So, now he can use EVERYTHING. Things get messy. More than ever, PAY attention
on his quotes and look out for the purple bags: Emerald Blues now come out of
them, ALWAYS doing their spinning windmill attack, and that you don't wanna
handle with with other things coming your way.
Whenever you need to move to another corridor, hug the opening and mash
Triangle to be sent to ANY OTHER opening. Oogie would almost always use the
punching glove attack, and it wasn't exactly very common to have the time to
choose where to get sent to, not to mention the purple bags coming along pretty
much everywhere you go. Every now and then, you'll get a tranquil moment to
simply dodge the lightnigs and send the boxes up to him. Drop him the third
time, and he's done for.
+++ +++
*** Revisiting Halloween Town ***
Yeah, I know you loved the new outfits and can't resist going back to Christmas
Town.
The place you fought Oogie has 2 Puzzle Pieces to collect. Yummy! You can also
use the skateboard to reach them if it's annoying to time your jumps.
Apart from that, nothing new. No treasure chests or other pieces to collect,
you must have gotten everything during the first visit. Only the Puzzle Piece
where you fought the Prison Keeper is left, but that'll have to wait.
Farm 'em!
- Lightining Stone (Driller Mole, Emerald Blue)
- Lucid Stone (Toy Soldier, Wight Knight)
- Bright Stone (Wight Knight)
- Energy Gem (Emerald Blue)
The Thundaga Trinket and Midnight Ankle can be made with the Moogle now.
The enemies aren't all that bad. As long as you focus on the Emerald Blues till
you kill them (as their counter is deadly, unless you notice it beforehand and
use a Limit or spam Reflect), and the Toy Soldier get juggled all the time, you
should be safe.
Also, go for some S&S: swimming and singing. Magnet unlocked a new chapter in
Atlantica.
*** ***
===== PRIDE LANDS - VISIT 1 =====
Don't ask me why, but I started building Gummi Ships. It can be fun, actually.
I'm amazed on how they get used so fast to their new forms. Anyway, you have
to kill two Living Bones. They. Are. A. Pain. In. The. Paw. The most reliable
way I found is to let them attack with their spinning move, cast Reflect some
times, then use the RC. Once they lose their heads, you can spam the aerial
Square move (what's it called, I wonder?). But your partners LOVE to get on
the way and juggle them when you're about to use the Rodeo RC. Oh well. You
can also use Magnet to stun the Living Bones.
Once you managed to kill one, handling the lonely other shouldn't be so
troublesome, as long as you have MP to cast Reflect. Abuse it, Rodeo and the
spinning aerial attack with Square, and you should get through.
Just like Sora, learn your new abilities in Lion Form. The Square finisher is
POWERFUL, but you might miss it as you move way lots more as a Lion. Remember
Lion Form has two built-it Air/Combo Pluses, so you gotta hit Circle four times
before going for Square, or else Sora will perform the Upper Slash like attack.
Donald also has improved, in a way: anytime he casts magic, he shoots them
THREE times instead of one. They are apparently weakened, but at Level 1 it
can't get any worse so it's bonus to you. Goofy does a great job in juggling,
too. Remember your action abilities mean nothing here, and that Sora has no
magic finisher and can cast magic while running.
Collect the items over the Graveyard and move to the Savannah, just fighting
with enemies, as there's nothing to collect here. Soon you're on the Pride Rock
with more treasures to collect (3 chests and 1 Puzzle Piece). Now move back to
the Gnu Valley. More enemies and tresure. Same for the Wastelands. There are
Living Bones on the way, but remember to use aerial spinning attack, Reflect
and RC to keep them always stunned. Just the Jungle left and you'll get Simba.
It's the Moogle! Buy new weapons for your partners. Thanks to the treasures
you got here you should now be able to synth up the Soldier Earring, too.
Shamans are around the place, now. I hate these guys. I just can't seem to find
a reliable way to fight them when many of them gather together. You can try
Magnet (the last groups of enemies when moving back the Wastelands are FOUR of
these Shamans). It might help keeping them busy. Keep ears and eyes open for
clues of their magic, and Reflect right away: you really can't afford getting
hit by them, it's way too dangerous. If all else fails, abuse Simba's powerful
Limit. Now get back to the Pride Rock.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Protect Timon and Pumba from the Hyenas! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Lucky Lucky
This battle is actually very simple, once you learn how to deal with the
Hyenas. They rarely come at you out of the blue, usually they just counter. So,
they go for Pumba. After some time running around him, they will stop and
prepare to charge: that's when you can trigger the RC! Even if Pumba runs just
a little bit, he'll get out of the way, and the Hyenas will collide with each
other! Go for a combo in one of them. Repeat.
Sounds simple, right? And it is. It's just a matter of getting the feel of the
battle. Remember, the combo should be 4 hits, then two Square Finishers: if you
use a second one straight away, the last hit will be cancelled, keeping the
enemy in place. After the second finisher, the Hyena will do an "Aerial
Recovery" and escape. Run around and prepare to help Pumba again.
You can also cast some magic here and there to add up more damage. I prefer
Blizzard, because Thunder will juggle them and they might try and come for you
because of the hit. Keep an eye on them all the time, because they might try to
counter you even after the combo sometimes, and it's OHKO. From my observation,
they'll either do the straight charge, just like on Pumba, or chase you for a
claw swipe: if that's so, jump over them, or cast Reflect.
+++ +++
Get the Puzzle Piece and equip the Circle of Life before going up to fight...
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Scar +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) MP +5
(Donald) Fire Boost
(Goofy) HP +2
(Simba) HP +30
One TOUGH battle at Level 1. The song matches it so much. Love it.
Scar is one difficult boss, because his attacks are so strong and fast. Also,
he resists most of your first hits, so you have small openings. I also tell you
to consider setting BOTH of your partners to Sora Attack, so they won't do a
thing: if they attack, they might move Scar away from your attacks. Also, this
avoids them being Scar's targets when he counters their attacks, which might
throw your rhythm off.
So, his attacks:
- A swipe roll: he jumps toward you, doing a swipe, and roll for another swipe.
It has good reach and hits many times, resulting in death at Level 1. He won't
get stunned right after it, so although staying away and running does the
evading part, it won't allow you to counter back, as he also likes to jump back
and away, to dodge your attacks, then he attacks again.
This is his main attack, used on the beginning. I really can't seem to find a
more reliable way but to Reflect just when he's about to jump, then go for a
combo as the bubbles explode. Sometimes even simply jumping might suffice, but
you'll be on an awkward position to counter back. Also, he sometimes delays his
attack, so keep Reflecting till he attacks ot be sure to not get caught off
guard.
- Stupidly fast charge forward: this attack is usually performed when you stay
away for too long. If you get close before he uses it, the first part seems to
do damage, but if it doesn't catch you quickly, it'll provoke the RC sequence
(which is pretty simple). Even after Countering him, do NOT go for a combo:
he'll be ready to attack after you two separate.
So, the battle starts such that you can enter a combo in. Whichever finisher
you use (regular or square), use only one, and Scar will jump away. He'll now
come for the swipe roll. If you evade it, he'll jump back, and try again. But
he also might randomly go for the grab. I like letting him attack once, then
get slightly closer and Reflect his second attempt, and add a combo in.
After some combos, he'll enter a new phase. He'll cast elements to aid him:
- Lightning: bolts will protect him by striking just around him. This just
reduces drastically your chances to find an opening: as if it isn't hard enough
as it is. His movements get VERY limited, and he can only perform the swipe
roll, so if you stay away, you'll be safe.
- Fire: He'll now contantly jump around. Each time he jumps and spins, fire
will circle him. But his jump covers such distance that, if you're just far
enough for the fire barely touch you, he'll land behind you about the same
distance, and thus keep on jumping and jumping... and never hit you. Don't let
the graphics fool you: the last frames of the fire cannot damage you, even
though you think they will. You'll see.
As you can see, openings for attacks in safety just disappeared. What do you do
now? Use Simba's Limit! It's very powerful. Don't rush yourself and mash the
buttons like crazy, instead, press them calmly to add the most hits in: it
makes quite the difference, you know. The Triangle input makes Sora spin like
his aerial square attack, while the Circle input will make him spin around
himself like Simba (and like the Dash Tackle you'll learn in the next visit).
This Circle input deals the most damage and keeps you in control of your
positioning, so abuse that.
After you finish the Limit, even though he got his elemental shield, you can go
for a combo, but be careful: he'll jump away after you use the finisher, and
that is likely to trigger something that might hit you.
Once enough damage is done, he'll start using his new element, also like a
Desperate Move:
- Dark: his uses one looong quote before summoning Dark Balls around him. He
will then run around the arena (seems like always counterclock wise), and
charge at you 3 times. You can either stay in a corner and cast Reflect each
time he charges at you, or keep your distance, running around in the same way,
and activate the Dash when he charges at you. I also like jumping after he
passes by me. You recover from the Dash, resume regular running, repeat. After
he finishes it, he'll stay still for quite a long time, and if you used Reflect
you may make use of being near him and go for a combo, but he WON'T get
stunned, and will counter and probably kill you. Run away ASAP.
After everytime he uses an element, he'll do some attacks in his normal form,
then cast an element again. He'll always use the Dark one once he reaches a
certain HP cap, though. Because of that, you'll either have to evade its first
use by using Ethers (as you probably just used a Limit), or by running. It's
not that hard to run from it, really, little practice should suffice.
See? You'll have to spam Limits (that's why I suggested the Circle Of Life, so
your MP will recover faster). Or else your oportunities to attack just got SO
few that this battle will take forever. If anyone has any good strategy, please
let me know.
+++ +++
*** Revisiting Pride Lands ***
First off, go to Hollow Bastion and use the Torn Page on Pooh's book. It has a
Draw Ring!
Olympus Colesium has now the Cerberus Cup, but you don't stand a chance for a
LONG time, I'm afraid.
Now into Pride Lands itself. Enemies here are tough. Bright side is, your
friends are tough too. And Simba's Limit is awesome. Don't forget that Goofy
now has Lucky Lucky.
For the Shamans, you may just let your friends do the dirty job at first, so
weaken and stun them. If you're still having troubles, don't hesitate and use
Simba's Limit for each group of enemies that has them. Seriously. They deserve
to die. u_u
The Living Bones with Shamans are even more dangerous, but they have the Dispel
RC, which can be good to you. But never give them a chance. Spam Reflect if you
need to, till you get an opening to spam the aerial attack and keep them
stunned. And ALWAYS aim for them first.
Farm 'em!
- Power Gem (Shaman, Aerial Knocker)
- Frost Crystal (Living Bone)
- Bright Gem (Aerial Knocker)
- Energy Crystal (Shaman)
- Serenity Stone (Living Bone)
- Shaman's Relic (Shaman)
It's difficult, but I'd say worth the time, try to get Relic for Donald. It has
Blizzard Boost built in.
*** ***
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - VISIT 2 =====
Seriously, this VA made me always see Vivi as a KH Vivi, not as the FF9 Vivi.
Puzzle Pieces are now around the place: get 2 by the Tram Common and 1 by the
Station. Now into the Sandlot.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Protect Seifer and his gang from the Nobodies! +++++
Bonus Level: none! I thought we had one here :(
This battle is somewhat simple, but can also be a pain in the end.
You start with many Dusks. You can Reversal your way while you watch Goofy and
Donald killing them. Just kidding, they deal good damage but you'd better help.
So, abuse Finishing Leap, to keep them helpless.
Next wave has 3 Dusks and a Berserker. This guy is what you should aim for. If
you don't remember how they work, watch for their hammer: it's one good shield
that'll block your attacks, so attack from behind and sides. Whenever you score
a finisher, they drop their hammer, which you can grab and use. Their hammers
act like a magnet, so before triggering the RCs, run around and get near as
many enemies as possible. The last hit of the RC makes them drop a new hammer,
so you can repeat that.
HOWEVER, after some health lost, the Berserkers will ALWAYS attack with their
ultimate attack, and they can't be stunned during it at all. If that happens,
get away, and watch for the last hit, that'll follow you around. Every hit
can be Guarded, but you might consider using Reflect on the last one.
Also remember, when they jump, they are attacking as they drop down. Cast
Reflect for safety measures. And while they walk around, they can spin around
their hammers to attack you.
In the last wave you face 3 Berserkers. This is a pain, because after a RC
combo, their health will get down so that they'll always do the MultiCombo, and
that's trouble. Use Limits as possible. Magnet is also a way to keep them busy.
Try focusing at one first, so you'll have more room to breathe and deal with
the other remaining two.
If a Berserker comes using the MultiCombo while you're using the RC on the
others, be ready to cast Reflect in midair: keep a close eye on it to see when
it's gonna drop. You have plenty of room so if you see you can't draw all of
them to the hammer, just move far away with the ones you caught and hit them
from there, while the other tries to reach you.
+++ +++
We got Limit Form and Oathkeeper! HOORAY! Now some heavy training and battles
before we move on.
*** Revisiting everywhere! ***
Okay, so we have quite a number of things to do before visiting Hollow Bastion
again. First thing, train your Forms. Equip the Oathkeeper, and give Valor the
Star Seeker. First stop, Agrabah, Treasure Room!
- Valor: wake up Mushroom V, and do 4 aerial attacks. Each input deals two
hits, and with Star Seeker and Valor's built in Air Combo Plus, you can deal 4
attacks (8 hits) before doing a finisher, which you should avoid. When your
Drive Gauge gets low, go back to the Save Point and exit. Repeat. Oh, and why
aerial attacks? Because they are faster. 3 visits should suffice.
- Limit: you can also use Mushroom V to use Limits like no other. Problem is,
you'll have to come back to the Save Point after every two Limits to recharge
your MP, or use lots of Ethers. If you rather, you can also use the Timeless
River windows: there's the Save Point nearby for MP recharge and the door back
to Disney Castle to restore the Drive Gauge. If not Level 1, you can use a
Limit, let yourself get hit with MP Rage to restore MP, and repeat: the Limits
attacks heal your HP, so you can do this forever. Kinda. Just complete the
Limits successfully by reaching the last RC input for them. Check it out:
- Sonic Rave: just mash triangle, and you're set to reach the last RC.
- Strike Raid: again, mashing triangle should suffice.
- Ars Arcanum: this one is tough, as the window input is very short. Put all
your strength into mashing Triangle.
- Ragnarok: it has 4 RCs: it starts with Shoot, goes into Impact, then the
one we want GigaImpact, and Shoot again. It requires timing, but
I always get it by going for Triangle as the RC changes to the
second one, Impact: that way, by the time I react to it, the RC
changed to GigaImpact.
Remember to let go of L1 after choosing the Limit, so the Triangle will be free
for the RCs! If you fail to reach the SavePoint before the Drive Gauge empties
out, you can just smash the Mushroom to recover it manually, too.
- Wisdom: either Timeless River (my personal choice, due to the new magic we
can now beat the Heartless better now... also easy MP recharge and the door to
Disney Castle to recover the Drive Gauge), or anywhere you can kill Heartless.
Land of Dragons and Beast Castle are the ones that come to mind as other good
choices, in the number-of-Heartless requirement. Set Goofy to Sora Attack so
he won't steal your kills.
With your three Forms trained up, we can do some cool things:
- Twilight Town: got the Puzzle Pieces yet? Mushroom XII by the mansion can be
fought, and it's possible to complete. Drive Wisdom, equip Oathkeeper and a
Combo Plus. You must hit the clones before they disappear, and there's always
3 around. So, Shoot, and as soon as it connects, press R1 so Sora aims at the
next one nearby. Try to keep the camera running around so you can possibly see
new Mushrooms appearing nearby. Avoid the finishers, as they take too long and
you won't likely hit many 'Shrooms with it anyway. Your goal is to hit 40 of
them: and I managed to make it just that, no more no less. Leave Lexaeus in
there for a little more time.
- The Land of Dragons: Mushroom IV just turned much easier to beat. Drive into
Wisdom, trigger it, and keep moving back, in a big circle, Shooting the clones.
*I* prefer to avoid finishers, as they will make Sora lose his movements after
he performs them. So instead, I equip a Combo Plus, Shoot 3 times, stop and
only Shoot again once Sora starts changing the direction he's facing: this way
I garantee I won't perform a finisher. They will get stronger and stronger, but
you should reach the goal of 85 clones killed without problems. Rank B is the
best you can get, so don't bother trying to get a better shield. Also, you now
should have no problems reaching the Puzzle Piece above the rock in the Trail:
use Valor's High Jump Level 3 and an aerial attack.
- Olympus Coliseum: remember those 2 Puzzle Pieces above those rocks you
couldn't reach before? You can now reach them with Valor's High Jump Level 3,
and might possibly need the aid of an aerial attack. We can't handle the
Cerberus Cup, and we'll be back for Zexion soon.
- Timeless River: Did you get Mushroom XI before? Now, with a higher level Form
and Oathkeeper, you're in better shape. Remove Combo Plus. The key is to make
Wisdom's finishers connect, every possible hit. And for that, it's better that
you Shoot on it's back, so when it jumps, it'll still be in front of you. I
can't seem to find a pattern on his behaviour, though. Can you? Hit it 99 times
in less than 20 seconds to win.
Phew! That should be it for now, in the Puzzle and Mushroom departments. Now we
have 3 veeeery interesting battles: Zexion, Larxene and Lexaeus. They are
possible to be won by now, but some might be OH SO painful. I'll list them now
anyway.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Zexion +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Item Slot Up
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Crisis Half
I thought on making a "must have equip/abilities" part but it's pointless, I
guess.
So, Zexion. A battle that occurs in two dimensions: destroyed Destiny Islands
and the Book World. You can only damage him in Destiny Islands, and you will
only get damaged in the Book World. Sounds like one cool concept, eh? So let's
get them down one at a time:
- Destiny Islands: here, all Zexy does is back away, and use his spell to trap
a character in a book. Initially, he'll trap Sora only after both Donald and
Goofy are down (either on a book or KO'd), and he'll trap them one at a time.
As his health gets low, he'll trap more than one at a time, making usually
Sora always a victim. He'll cast his spell after some time, or as a counter.
So, what do you do? Free your partners who yell for help? Not a good idea for
now, as you can't do enough damage that fast to the books. So, let one friend
get caught, approach Zexy, and once he's done, try to attack him. This is why
you need both Slide Dash and Flash Step, Zexy is one sneaky bastard. After you
deal enough damage, he'll back away with a counter that only stuns you, and
cast his spell again.
It's up to you which combo string to use. My choice is a ground combo with a
Finishing Leap, then a single aerial combo with Aerial Finisher. I'll still
have the chance to go for another ground combo, and as he evades in midair, I
add a Thunder in before he casts his spell. Later in the battle, when he
counters sooner, I do a second aerial finisher instead. I do not use any Combo
Plus ability here.
If your partners are in the middle of a special attack as Zexy tries to trap
them, the i-frames will make it fail, and you get another opening to attack
him. However, after some time he will go after Sora anyway, and when he does
he won't give up until you're trapped, so don't bother casting Reflect or
using anything with i-frames/animation to try and escape it. Oh, and if Zexion
gets too happy feet, you can use Thunder to halt his movements.
Got caught? You will eventually. Pray, you're now in the..
- Book World: Zexy hides behind one flying book, and you can find him by
looking for the one that shines as he casts spells here. Only after you take
his life bar away with a finisher, you can approach it to use the Dispel RC,
and get away from this place. This is where Aerial Finisher shines, as every
hit of its several attacks count as a finisher, so you can use the RC in the
middle of it, with Sora near Zexion to connect and escape.
Much easier said than done. Everytime you enter, Zexion will use a spell. So,
be ready for the following:
- Book Menu: he'll approach you, spin the book, and flip the pages like crazy.
If it connects, your menu gets mixed up with options, some you can choose and
get "bonuses", others will free you from it. You cannot use any ability or
action in this state, making you too vulnerable. Unless you get lucky, getting
hit by this means death in Level 1.
He usually uses this when you first enter the Book World. To escape it, you can
only count on Reflect (casting it twice helps making it so the bubbles will
damage him back, as he pushes you away during the move), or Dodge Rolling with
precise timing. Unless you're looking for a challenge, use Reflect: it's easier
to use, and the extra damage is good.
- Dark Bomb: some smoke will form near you and explode into a X like shape,
dealing high damage. Reflect or Dodge Roll, again, to the rescue. The bad side
of this is that those flying books will eventually come for you, and might just
come at the wrong time. Zexion also seems to stay spell casting happy for a
while when he uses this. The two auxiliary attacks he uses are with his books:
they'll either group in a wall form and rush at you, or surround you and close
up together. The wall one is faster, the circle takes a while longer. You can
Guard, Dodge Roll or Reflect them. In the beginning of the fight it seems he
also likes to throw them one at a time at you: if that happens, buh bye. If
you can dodge that without a Limit, let me know, please.
It seems to me that if you let him use two auxiliary attacks (which he picks
up randomly), he'll follow with either the Dark Bomb or the Book Menu, so keep
yours eyes open for his movements! Don't rush for the combos, better be
careful and let him attack and counter back.
Everytime you get into the Book World, rotate the camera and FIND him, then
don't lose sight of him. If you take a while to reach him, just wait for him to
attack before you go for a combo, as his books are sneaky. Also, keep an eye on
him, as he USUALLY glows red before casting a spell, but if his book is
spining them another Dark Bomb or the Book Menu is coming. Or maybe even a
random ******* book.
After you deal good damage, he'll start using his Desperate Move whenever you
enter the book world. I call this victory. Anyway, his DM consists of 3
spotlights, one always blue, others red. After it moves for the 13th time, it
will stop and you must reach the chosen light before meteors come down: that
place will turn into a shelter. As meteors fall, you can start hitting him.
Your goal is to use Dispel quickly, before he can use another attack after the
DM. My choice at this point of the game is two simple aerial combos with the
Aerial Finisher.
Oh wait, I forgot to say how to evade his DM. The spotlights form a triangle,
so you just stay between two of them, but slighty above the very middle height,
which'll allow you to Quick Run up, into the other spotlight, in case the 13th
one isn't right by your side, which you can easily Dodge Roll into.
It also seems to me that he obtains a new move only when he reaches low health
for the DM: the Torture Book. He'll use a spell identical to the one he uses
in Destiny Islands, to trap you in the Book World. But this time, you'll get
inside a book and get hit by each page that flips. You must mash the RC to free
yourself, but at Level 1 there's no chance you'll survive that. Once again,
evasive measures are Reflect, Dodge Roll, Limits and possibly Quick Run.
When you reach the point he uses his DM as soon as you enter the Book World,
unless you mess up to evade it and deal damage fast enough to use Dispel before
he attacks again, you can easily loop him to victory, The toughest part, in my
opinion, is the middle part where he uses the Dark Bomb, and barely gives you
a safe opening to deal damage. If you're going for No Damage, this can be VERY
troublesome. If you come back later, with Horizontal Slash, you should be able
to deal more damage faster, helping your attempts to Dispel him before he tries
to attack you.
I noticed, during my countless attempts to beat him damageless before going to
Hollow Bastion a second time, that he'll always trap you into the Book World
in certain HP caps, namely when he has 2 bars and 10% left, and 1 bar and 10%
left.
The key, in fewer words, is to make the best you can to escape the Book World
after his opening attack, and not let him do a thing. But it's very hard, as
you can see. Just learn his attacks and play calm, and you should make it soon.
Might rather come back later with Horizontal Slash if you're going No Damage.
+++ +++
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Larxene +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) MP +5
(Donald) Item Slot Up
(Goofy) HP +2
The only female in the Organization, and she lives up to it. Oh wait, she's
dead. 0_o
This is one tough battle to explain. She has the Single and Clone Forms. And
they behaviour differently as her life gets down. Well, only the Clone Form
changes in a very significative manner. Well, let's try to explain them.
- SINGLE FORM: She works lonely. This is where her lightning attacks are the
most frequent, with little teleportation. Her attacks are:
- Charge Up: the screen goes dark, she charges up, and clones herself. She
will move to the opposite side of the arena from where you are, and charge at
you from the other side. Evade it by Guarding (facing the center) or Dodge Roll
to the side. And remember to stay away as she charges up, as the lightining can
and will hit you, if you try to touch her. As you can see, this forces her into
Clone Form.
- Bolt Bang: she jumps straight up and a huge lightning strikes where she is,
causing a somewhat big area of effect attack. She can't be stopped when she
starts using it. However, a single timed Dodge Roll is enough to evade it. You
can also use Reflect, but remember that the Reflect damage will count and
reduce the number of hits she can take before countering. She seems to use this
only if you are close to her.
- Bolt Shower: she again jumps up, but this time she'll do a small jump again
and move her arm horizontally, sending 3 bolts straight at where you are. You
can Reflect twice or deeply Quick Run somwhere with space to pass through. This
is a very annoying attack, and she loves to use it many times in a row, which
can juggle you to death. Good thing is, she can be interrupted. As the attack
starts just like the Bolt Bang, just watch if she jumps again as she touches
the ground or not. If not, attack her and you stopped the attack. Bad thing is,
she usually uses this when you are far away from her. So, evade it and try to
approach her, as she likes to flip around after using this.
This about sums up for now. If you attack her too much, she seems to always
counter with a Bolt Bang when in Single Form, even if she counters in the air.
So, how do you deal with her in this form? You have two options: forcing a
counter, or not.
- Forcing a counter: plan how you'll do so. Late game can be done with 2 hits
and 2 finishers (Guard Break + Explosion), and then Dodge Rolling her counter.
Then repeat. Sounds easy, but if you attack her right after she counter, she
will counter sooner the next time. Early game can be done with a Finishing Leap
and Aerial Finisher (no Combo Pluses at all), followed by a grounded Blizzard.
If you use the early game method, if she uses Bvolt Bang instead of Charge,
then use a regular ground combo instead of the Aerial Finisher for the second
half of the chain. Remember, she counters sooner, and a regular ground combo is
weaker.
- Not forcing a counter: stand near her as she recover from whichever combo
chain you chose to use on her: not too close, so the Charge won't hit you, nor
too far so she can use Bolt Shower. If she attacks she'll likely use the Bolt
Bang, from which you Dodge Roll, and go for another combo chain. If she Charges
Up, then you move away and prepare for the next part.
Sounds simple, eh? Wrong. Now for the...
CLONE FORM: Two Larxenes at once. More targets for you, more enemies to gang up
on you. Her Reaction Command becomes available as you hit either clone with a
finisher, AND the other clone is idle: that is, standing still or flipping
around. The RC forces her into Single Form, without damaging her. Her attacks,
which are always preceeded by the respective clone opening up one arm and
disappering:
- Swipes: she appears near you and slashes you some. If you notice, the lock
appears shortly before she reaches you, so having your back to a wall, and some
timing, will make Sora always face her and Guard at the right direction. After
attacking you, the shadows will disappear and the real clone will flip away.
Let it flip once before trying to reach it with attacks, or you'll hit thin
air and the other clone will come for you. (note: she might not flip away after
using it in later stages, when she's on different attack patterns than the
single one, which I call "One at a Time").
- Roll Slash: she appears near you, as if she jumped toward you and rolling in
the air, and two Larxenes drops down from it to hit you. This usually will only
hit you on the way down, unless you are moving and happen to move toward it.
You can Guard it (in the same way as the Swipes, the lock will come just as she
appears, so with some timing you'll always face the right direction) or Quick
Run to the other side. At early game Quick Run Lvl2 might not suffice.
- Dropxene: her counter in the Clone Form, which might also be used later on,
she drops down at you many times. If you're in the air, a single Reflect might
suffice, or else you should Quick Run away.
- Ambush: two clones appear right by you and close up. Guard or Dodge Roll.
Thing is, with so many things going on, this might get you offguard.
- Teleport: her joint attack, both Larxene open her arms together before using
it. If you're damaging one clone and the other goes for the Teleport, she'll
disappear and not come back at all, instead of using the other attacks. She'll
then come for a X-formation, where 5 Larxenes will come from around the arena,
or a wall formation, where 5 Larxenes come from the other side at once. The X
Formation comes right after her laugh, while the Wall Formation takes a while.
I prefer Dodge Rolling toward the center for the X one, and Guarding the Wall,
as timing can be too spotty to Dodge Roll.
- Desperate Move: screen goes black again. Several Larxene come for multiple
swipes, then they circle around, close up on you, then drop down. Sounds tough
but it's easy to evade: Guard as soon as the first Larxene appears, which'll
make you Guard every hit of the first part. Then, as the circle closes on you,
Guard again: they come at the same time so whichever direction you are facing
will trigger the Guard. Then, just stand still for the last drop, as the After
Effect from Guard will protect you. It's possible to Guard it as well, I think.
Okay, so we know her attacks, but her behaviour is a pain. This is how she will
usually act when in Clone Form:
- One at a time: both clones stay away, alternating turns on who attack each
time. You can see by her arms opening. She goes mostly for Swipes here. If you
attack one and it recovers, it'll usually attack right away (with the Roll
Slash usually, on that note), even if the other clone is still not finished, so
watch out for that, and try to always use the RC or finish the combo at the
right time. The most used tactic is to go for a Finishing Leap just as one
clone flips away, so you're going to the air as the other comes for you. This
will keep you safe, and also allow you to use the RC usually.
- Surround: one clone will keep on running around you, while the other comes
closer and goes for the Roll Slash all the time. The running clone seemed to
come for an attack only if I attack the Roll Slash clone. And when they do,
they alternate Roll Swipes and Ambushes.
- Together: the clones will always go for Teleport attacks. I like going closer
to the middle, Dodge Roll when it goes in the X Teleport, Lock On right as she
ends it, and go for a combo. The other clone will go for the teleport, but the
one you attacked is busy getting beaten. If you want, you can use a normal
finisher and see if the RC pops up (if the other clone is idle for too long).
This is a good opportunity to hack up some damage. Take note that she can
still use Ambushes during the Together pattern!
- Full strength: the clones will move their arms almost together. Used only
near the end of the fight, they'll do around 3 attacks each, in succession. The
good side, it's only Swipes and Roll Slashes. After Guarding 3 times, both
clones are standing just in front of you, so beat them up. However, if they
take too long to open their arms, it's because BOTH are coming for many
Dropxenes. To evade that, Glide around, but at early game you have to simply
Guard and hope (as she bypass Guard with this rather easily, this *****).
You know what's worse? The Clones will change their pattern at ANY time. They
are using Surround, then they'll simply change to Together. The only warning
you have is their arms and time to take to disapper and reappear. So you have
the dilemma, Clone Form has more opportunities for damage but is also way more
dangerous. And keep your eyes open for the Desperate Move, which can be used
anytime (but usually after a series of Teleports under the Together pattern).
After she's low on health, Single Form gains a Desperate Move, too!
- Desperate Move (Single Form): Larxene stands in the middle, eventually opens
her arms wide, with bolts coming out of them, making her the center of a
barrier, and spins around in a clockwise motion. To help things out, bolts will
strike down at you on fixed intervals. And she finishes it using a X Teleport
from the center to the borders. As you can see, this forces her in Clone Form.
Evading this at late game is simple: just Aerial Dodge and Glide around, also
in clockwise motion, to evade everything. On early game, however, you can't
spam Reflect: as you have no Combo Pluses (which's wise to, when fighting her),
spamming Reflect won't last enough. So you gotta use Quick Run and Dodge Roll
through the electric walls! This I learned from Bizkit and apul. Check it out:
- As she prepares to attack, Lock on, and move a little to the right. When she
is about to attack, start running counterclock wise. Before you can barely do,
like, 2 steps, Quick Run through the wall.
- Don't let the Quick Run last too much! The next wall comes and you must Dodge
Roll it.
- Now, you need another Quick Run: the next wall is not that close, and you
have bolts coming on your head, so no time to simply run.
- For the last part, either Dodge Roll or Quick Run through it again.
MUCH easier said than done. I strongly suggest you watch their vids to get a
better view on how to proceed through it.
Important note: ALWAYS keep your eyes on the other clone. Say, she's on One At
A Time pattern. You Guarded one attack, and you're going for a combo, but the
other clone decided to flip around. Use a regular finisher and add the RC right
away, because if you go for Finishing Leap, you're be done with her in the air
before the clone completes the attack, which means you either attack more and
get countered, or you fall in the attack. In Together pattern, you evade a
Teleport and locks on a clone: if, during the attack, the other one runs at
you, STOP comboing because she changed to Surround formation. She's, indeed, a
*****.
So, that is all. How the battle will proceed, it's always improvisation. You
will alternate between the Forms, so be prepared for everything. As she always
starts with a Charge up and One at a Time pattern, the beginning will be the
same, but after that, cross your fingers.
Myself. I like doing the no-counter treatment for the Single Form, at least
when fighting her as Silhouette. In Clone Form, I try to play safe, but I
always get rushed up and get caught because she changes pattern while I'm
combing the other clone.
If there's any interesting detail on how to handle this battle that I missed,
let me know. It's a very complicated, detailed and unpredictable battle.
+++ +++
Now go back to the Sandlot in Twilight Town. If you managed to beat Larxene
before the 1000 Heartless Battle, you can beat the whole game Level 1. Promise.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Lexaeus +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Accessory Slot Up
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Item Slot Up
A rather simple fight, however with no room for mistakes at Level 1.
The Power Gauge indicates how Lexaeus will act, how powerful his attacks are,
and how much damage you'll deal with the RC, Mega Impact. Unluckily, your RC is
the one with the least effect on it.
Lexaeus can be under Aura or Stunned. With his Aura, you cannot stun him at
all. During his Stunned state he won't do a thing for a long time, and
depending on how much damage you inflicted to him, he'll recover and attack
again, or counter with one of his attacks. He'll leave Aura state into Stunned
only by using the RC or dealing a lot of damage to him (probably through many
Reflects). Counterguard after Guarding the attack that triggers the RC also
leaves him in the Stunned state, if you wanna do a no-Rc challenge.
These are Lexaeus attacks on his initial, Weak Phase:
- Charge Up: increases the Power Gauge and pushes you away. Believe me, you
want to fight him up close, so Quick Run back to him.
- Earth Wave: Lexaeus will slowly move his tomahawk through the ground, then
send a wave toward you. At higher Power Levels, more rocks will appear from it,
the longer it'll travel and the stronger it gets, of course. This is easily
Guarded, opening a chance for the RC most of the time. This is easy to spot,
and if you're near him to begin with, it's free damage. If he's planning on
using this and you are far away, he'll stand there doing nothing: get close and
embrace your chance to damage him through the RC. If you take too long to
approach him, though, he might use it even with you far away, so be ready to
Quick Run or Reflect the rocks that come for you. If you wanna be mean, you can
use Reflect even when close up, to add up even more damage.
- Smash Down: he'll jump up and smash the ground where you are. This is usually
easily Guarded, yet you can use Reflect to hack up some easy damage. More rocks
come out of the ground with higher Power. This is his counter if he is in the
air.
- Rock Punch: he'll throw this tomahawk up, punch the ground twice, making
rocks come up wherever you are, and finish my using his falling tomahawk for a
last punch (funny how the last rock attack is way weaker than the others).
Reflect spamming is dangerous and this cannot be Guarded. You HAVE to use Dodge
Roll. The timing isn't all that bad to get down. Dodge Roll around, and after
the last hit, Slide Dash back near him, or simply cast Reflect for the last hit
and add in some damage. Remember that if you combo him straight away (as the
Reflect damage will break his Aura) he'll counter sooner than usual. This is
his counter if he's on ground.
You'll have to find a combo chain that fits you. Late game, the most used one
is have a Combo Plus, and use 3 hits + Guard Break twice, and follow the second
Guard Break with Explosion, using the i-frames to avoid the Smash Down counter
and also add more damage. In early game, my choice was a 3 hits + Finishing
Leap, followed by 3 hits + regular finisher + Blizzard finisher, optional: if I
didn't use Blizzard, it would be enough for him to recover, if I did it would
force a Rock Punch, which's easily avoided. Just make your own.
After some damage, he'll forcibly Charge Up and go past 30000 Power. This means
Strong Phase is now up, with 2 new attacks, both RC-like:
- Chase: Usually used when you are far from him, Lexaeus will charge toward you
and try to grab you. If it connects, he punches Sora against the ground, with
a strength that'll launch you up, then he follows by smashing Sora on his back,
sending him down. Looks painful. But you avoid it by simple means: jump and
Aerial Dodge; Dodge Roll and watch him run in circles trying to grab you; or
simply use Reflect as he approaches (the Reflect damage might break his Aura if
it hits him on the last frames). If you get hit, though, you'll get a free
opening to combo him after it.
- Grab: used when you are near Lexaeus, he'll do a single spin toward you and
try to grab you by the neck, sending you toward a pillar, followed by an energy
wave form his tomahawk. Also looks painful. Just Dodge Roll away when you see
Lexaeus moving toward you and spinning. Remember, if you get hit by this, he
will ALWAYS follow up with either Rock Punch or Smash Down, so be careful as
you fall down back to ground.
Due to their nature of animation, these attacks cannot kill you.
His behaviour hasn't changed much. You still want to evade his attacks, and
wait for Earth Waves (to Guard and use the RC) or Rock Punches (to use Reflect)
so you can bring his Aura down and combo him. After more damage is done, he'll
Charge Up, go past 60000 power, and enter Monstrous Phase, or Super Sayajin.
For the first time he enter this, he'll forcibly use once his...
- Desperate Move: Lexaeus will fly away from the arena, and after a while will
charge at full strength at you, impaling his tomahawk on the ground. As he
pulls it back, rocks will rise ALL over the arena. You will die if you get hit
by this at Lvl1. For the initial charge, it's possible to just Guard it: timing
isn't too strict. For the rocks, you can time up a Dodge Roll or use Reflect.
If you don't feel too secure, you can simply cast Reflect 3 times before he
gets back to the arena.
After he enters Monstruous Phase, he will take longer to recover when Stunned,
so you can add in some more combo, but BE CAREFUL. Adapt your combo chain
accordingly. Early game, the 2 regular combos + Blizzard finisher will still
provoke him into a counter, for example, but you can use an aerial combo (using
Finishing Leap for the first) instead. Just plan beforehand.
CONTROLLING LEXAEUS' POWER: I finally discovered how, and completely by
accident. After he reaches the HP Cap to power up forcibly, he will do it only
if you hit him while under Aura. That counts ANYTHING, even Goofy's shield
while he's moving. So, in order to control his power, you must either let him
recover or make it so he counters and you're not using something that will hit
him straight away: stuff like Explosion (after the Guard Break) or Reflect or
Slide Dashing near him after his Rock Punch, stuff we do most of the time. If
you let him counter and only use the RC to attack him, he'll never power up.
Cool thing. For early game this can be done with 2 regular ground combos (and
with one Combo Plus): this will make him recover, and a possible Blizzard after
it will force the counter, but won't hit him as he gets his Aura back.
Remember you can only kill Lexaeus if he's without his Aura, or with the RC.
+++ +++
Phew! Quite an ordeal. Once you had enough of farming and battling dead Org
members, move to Hollow Bastion!
*** ***
===== HOLLOW BASTION - VISIT 2 =====
As you get to Merlin's House, go into Pooh's book and use the new page you got
in Pride Lands. Now move to the Bailey, all the way to the castle. Oh, the book
like enemies, Bookmaster, can drop a weapon for Goofy: keep an eye out for them
also due to the fact that they deal very high damage. Abuse Magnet and Goofy's
Tornado to keep them busy.
On a random note, am I the only one who had fun playing FFX-2?
Morning Stars, the spike ball like enemy, also poses great danger. Only attack
them with swift attacks and apply a finisher ASAP. Goofy juggles them nicely,
and the town's defense mechanism will also help out to keep them busy. If they
get low on health and escape, just stand still and use the RC.
By the Postern, collect 3 treasure chests and use Valor's High Jump Lvl3 to
reach one of the Puzzle Pieces and now complete the EDGE Puzzle, obtaining a
very rare synth item, Found Illusion!
By the Corridors, make use now that you are under Valor and run through, and
hug the right wall, to reach one other Puzzle Piece you can obtain with its
High Jump Lvl3. Some nice chests around. Remember that Donald's Thunder IS
powerful, and Goofy's Tornado will keep enemies busy. Your partners actually
rock, you know. :p
C'mon, Tifa, Sora is a better spiked hair character than Cloud. Oh wait... yes
Ma'am, no bother! 0_O But where did Leon come from? Anyway, computers aren't
our heroes preferred high technology equipment. Now into the blueish...
===== SPACE PARANOIDS - VISIT 1 =====
This place is kinda cool. It could be bigger. Attack the door, use RC, keep an
eye for the correct cube and hit it... you know the deal, right? We'll be back
here soon, but check the Moogle first: you can buy High Potions, and if you
got one Thunder Gem from the enemies on the way, it's possible to synth the
Magician Earring, too. Also, in theory you could obtain Power Crystals from the
Morning Stars and make an AP Up, but I don't think you got that much yet. Also,
you can use the 3 Mythril Crystals you got so far and make an Expert's Ring.
Back to Ansem's Study, you now obtain Master Form and Stitch. PERSONAL CHOICE
here, I would leave the place and train the first 3 Forms to Level 6. So go to
Agrabah and use Mushroom V to train Valor and Limit, and anywhere you like to
train Wisdom, while the enemies are still weak (I like Land of Dragons, using
Magnet + Thunder on the Rapid Thrusters there). Master Form is still tough to
train currently, but very soon we'll use a nice trick. I like training them now
because Limit offers an extra Lucky Lucky, MP Haste from Wisdom and, well, why
not train Valor while we're at it. :p
Now Space Paranoids truly begins. But first we'll play some games! The bike
game is rather simple: O attacks, X blocks, [ ] does a dash. Enemies use one of
these actions, and it's like Rock-Paper-Scissor: Attack wins Dash, Dash wins
over Block, and Block defeats Attacks. Blue enemies use Attack, Green ones use
Block, and Yellow use Dash, while White use all of those. Simply Dash into
every enemy EXCEPT the Yellow ones: attack those. Really.
The first part you need to kill 5 Heartless, and the second one is a long trip
till you reach the escape hole. Use R1 and L1 to turn right or left when
prompted. Eventually you must pick one path, and I find both equally hard, so
just pick randomly. The pillars on the way don't damage you. When in the final
straight run to the hole, use Block to not take damage from the Heartless in
there, which'll send electric balls at you.
Take Tron away from your team for now. :p
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Stop the System from derazzing you! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2
(Donald) Thunder Boost
(Goofy) HP +2
(Tron) HP +10
Simple, simple. Kill enemies, collect Orbs they drop, fill Gauge, use the RC on
a panel, repeat till you finish them all.
+++ +++
Now move to the I/O Tower, and prepare for a new boss battle!
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Program +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Round Break, Drive Gauge Up
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Jackpot
(Tron) HP +15
This guy wouldn't be so bad if it didn't move so much. Good thing our RC here
FREEZES it. :p
As for its attacks:
- Chasers: some... flying... things, are shot out of its hand, and will keep on
flashing, chasing toward you every other flash. As the battle goes, more and
more of those... things, are sent toward you.
- MachineGun: the Program will cross its "arms" and shoot many energy balls in
front it him, waving around. Easy to avoid, but seems to use it randomly. Funny
how once I Quick Ran into it, and they didn't deal a single HP of damage on me,
even though Sora was clearly getting hit.
More to come, but wait. Everytime you hit the Program, it drops some balls that
will fill up your Freeze Gauge. When full, it allows the use of the Freeze RC,
which will, literally, freeze the Program and you can hit it freely. After it
breaks free, it will back away from you with:
- Escape: with its propellers or whatever on its arms, it'll back away from you
and deal damage: move AWAY from it once it breaks free, that thing hits hard,
amazingly. It may also use it while you're comboing it, and boy doesn't it use
it just after some hits. Avoid doing more than one combo at it at a time.
As it health gets lower (noticed your main source of damage on it is the time
you Freeze it?), it'll use new attacks. First, it'll be able to speedly fly
round and round the arena. Weaken it a little more and it'll gain...
- Lasers: it can do quite the things. It'll show it'll start using it by
sending a single laser beam up, which restores its health: nothing you can do
about it. It has many laser attacks so it's difficult to explain them one by
one, but overall it waves them around, move them horizontally, or spin around
the center. The horizontal movement is slow and takes a while, a good chance
to attack and collect Energy Orbs. The central spin one is another great shot
to attack it. Keep an eye on the lasers below as you fall from the air combo.
Due to its quick counter nature, constant movement and projectiles chasing you,
you'll have to rely heavily into either of these two things: Tron's Limit, or
your partners attacks. I like having Tron and Goofy, as Goofy has Tornado and
Tron's disk can hit multiple times, too. Those really help on obtaining the
Orbs to Freeze the Program (and Tron's Limit also deals GREAT damage).
If you choose the Limit route, equip your MP Hastes, the Circle of Life, and
also equip some Ethers for backup. Tron's Limit will hit it way too many times
that you'll be able to Freeze it right away. Either use one Ether or evade some
extra time till your MP is restores, and repeat.
For the non Limit route, prepare for a long battle. Try to stay near the
Program as often as possible so your friends will use their attacks. You will
rarely use your own attacks as you have those projectiles chasing you that you
gotta evade, but cast Thunder here and there when possible, which also might
help provoking your partners into attacking it instead of following you. Grab
the Orbs with the help of your Draws, Draw Ring and Follow the Wind keychain,
Freeze it and combo it. This will make the battle longer and turns into quite
a challenge.
Level 1, No Damage? Limit is the safest choice, no doubt. Trying to do this
without it is a nice challenge, though. But No Damage and No Limit? Geez you
are a masochist (like me :p).
+++ +++
And this ends your first trip to Space Paranoids.
=== ===
Back to Hollow Bastion, laugh at Sora's lack of computer knowledge and how
Goofy is once again the head of group. The data is corrupted. If you are tired
of all the fighting, teleport to Atlantica and sing some, now that your Drive
Gauge is at 5.
You'll have a forced fight against some Heartless and Nobodies. Not too hard,
as long as you use Finishing Leap to keep enemies busy, and also add in Magnet
to keep others floating helplessly. Consider using your Summons to help you and
train them at the same time. The Armored Knights RC is very powerful so keep an
eye out for it, too.
After you leave the castle, you'll have access to the Cave of Remembrance. This
is where you'll train your Master Form, but I'll write about it later, but you
REALLY should skip forward and read how to train Master Form in there. Let's
finish the events here now.
Another forced fight with many Dancers. Magnet and Chicken Little are the
saving grace here. Abuse aerial combos as well. They are deadly, and when their
hands glow, they WILL kill you if they grab you, and they can't be stunned by
regular hits when going for the grab. Either keep your distance, or use Magnet,
aerial combo, Limit, something. But be careful. If you have too much trouble
with this fight, you can try staying away all the time, casting Thunders, if
all else fails. But Chicken Little should suffice, really.
Good luck with the next one!
+++++ BOSS FIGHT: Demyx +++++
Bonus Fight: (Sora) Armor Slot Up, Blizzard Element
(Donald) Blizzard Boost
(Goofy) HP +2
Your first Org fight, if you don't count the Silhouettes. Demyx could be very
troublesome for first timers, but if you got here, you will survive, somehow.
Demyx is one hard fight to explain. His first attack, which you'll see often:
- Clone Summon: a timer comes and he summons water clones, those that after hit
will turn into notes you can grab, spin and kill many others. If you fail to
defeat the set number of clones within the time given, it's game over. 0_o Once
you kill all the clones, Demyx will be open for a combo.
No secret for this one. In FM, the 10 clones in 10 seconds is now in 15 secs,
so no need to freak out. Other attacks Demyx will use randomly:
- Water Line: he jumps forward in a straight line and water pillars form
through where he passes, and after he lands pillars will form around him. This
is also his counter if you hit him too much, and he can also use it in the air.
- Bubble Jet: he sends forward several bubbles in a very straight line. This is
easily evaded by Dodge Rolling or running to the sides, as they go VERY
straight forward.
- Bubble Rain: he walks forward, yells "Water!", and several bubbles fall down
around you. You can only escape this with Reflect or Quick Running to the side.
Regular running won't suffice, and I don't like using Reflect because it'll
leave me open to whatever's coming next.
- Blast Up!: Demyx will run toward you backwalking, saying "Need a blast?",
triggering a RC. If you don't use the RC, nothing happens. I can't seem to find
how to change the RC, as you might get hit on it instead of hitting Demyx. Any
clue, reader? I've heard of even a third version of this. Weird.
- Clones and Bubbles: Demyx might randomly summon a couple or 3 clones or
bubbles around. You can use the clones to use the RC and deal some damage. For
the bubbles, stay away till they are gone on their own. He might also create
some bubbles and slash with his sitar straight away, sending them down: for
this one staying away should be enough, but if you happen to be near him you'll
probably get hit anyway as it's a very swift attack.
- Water Wall: Demyx slowly walks toward you, raising up a water wall in front
of him in fixed intervals. Not much you can do but cast Thunder to stun and
stop him, or just keep your distance and run around and wait.
- Water Chase: in a similar movement of the Bubble Jet, Demyx will now send
water pillars that will chase you, and the last pillar will turn into several,
hitting a larger area instead. Quick Run in a diagonal direction toward Demyx,
or casting Reflect, are your bets to evade it. You can also Quick Run right
INTO it and toward Demyx, I just discovered.
- Beat Up!: Demyx yells "C'mon, into the beat!", as water walls form behind him
and way ahead, locking you, as he comes waving his sitar. When he stops, many
water pillars form right in front of him. The best way to evade this is to
either spam Reflect on the end of it, or keep your distance such that Demyx
will reach you at his last sitar swing, which you Guard and use the After
Effect to escape the last pillars.
Many attacks in there. You should keep on running in circles around Demyx, and
evading whatever comes at you, and use openings from attacks like the Bubble
Jet, Blast Up, Water Wall and Beat Up to attack him. Even if you go for aerial
combos, his counter takes a little while and has short reach to the sides, so
you might be able to move Sora to the side as he falls and evade the water
pillars. Constant side movement is the key to evade most of his attacks.
Nothing much to say, really, except from describing how to evade his attacks
and use most of the openings.
+++ +++
Now some forced battles with lone Sora and FF characters. No Event Battle so
no special section. :p
First battle has Yuffie helping against... Shadows. But then a group of
Armored Knights join in, and finally a group of Soldiers. Simple fight, no
secret, abuse Finishing Leap, that's all.
Second battle has Leon, and Armored Knights with Soldiers. It starts simple,
then many many Shadows join, along with one Morning Star and more Soldiers.
Many enemies so watch out, but overall simple again. Getting No Damage on THIS
fight is a problem, because of the high number of enemies.
Tifa comes for the third battle, with Shadows, some Armored Knights and one
Morning Star. More Armored Knights and Morning Stars will join, making this one
HELL of a battle to beat, let alone No Damage. Abuse Reflect, consider using
Limit Form limits and also Trinity Limit: you can't afford to stay vulnerable
for too long.
Last fight has em... Cloud, helping out. A group of Shadows will be near death
after his dramatic entrance, then many Morning Stars join. Once again, watch
out for them, keep on Reflecting and using Limits as possible, and let Cloud
deal the most damage to them: their attacks are powerful and has great reach,
and won't be stunned by regular attacks. A Surveillance Robot is also in, so
use its RC for great damage around the place. More S-Robots, Morning Starts and
Armored Knights join in later, so abuse your RCs and Reflects if you wanna
avoid damage.
If you wanna go No Damage and are having too much trouble, keep on Aerial
Dodging around (told ya to train Master Form :p), and letting the FF bunch deal
with the enemies. Little girl way around, but hey, having to do 5 fights in a
row is really annoying, I can't blame you if you choose that route.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Defeat a thousand Heartless! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Guard Break
The infamous 1000 Heartless battle. Unlike in the original KH2, we do not have
Explosion, so you REALLY will have to rely on Reaction Commands to defeat that
many enemies.
Simply beating them is not that much of a problem: every enemey drops HP Balls,
so even if you get hit you shouldn't die easily. Doing this No Damage, on the
other hand, IS difficult, simply because after whatever RC you use, you are
open. Watch out for these:
- Sparkle Ray: You might fail to grab the Surveillence Robot, which will leave
Sora open. Also, you don't spin 360�, so watch out for the angle not covered,
as enemies might attack from that side, or even an enemy might approach from
the initial area of attack of the RC. If another Robot prepares his attack
while you are using the RC, you might get hit as Sora throws the Robot away,
so try to not overuse it.
- Rising Sun: You are in the air once it finishes, and can't do much on your
way down. You leveled up Master Form some, right? Aerial Dodge away, to avoid
the other enemies attacking below you.
As you might have noticed, even though you will defeat 1000 enemies, only some
are on the arena, only certain groups nearby you attack, and some might even
disappear or appear right in front of you, due to the hardware limitations. So,
the key is to keep on the move, fooling the game to get away from attacks and
use the RCs on the others that just got by. After each RC, run to another area:
never stay around the same place for too long.
Nice tip: when you move into a group of enemies and you see weird movements,
cast Reflect: the Rising Sun RC doesn't usually pop up till after they start
attacking. That will help protecting you before you use the RCs, too. As you
might have guessed, Guard is no good here, with attacks coming all around you.
I noticed that each Heartless has two attacks: The Robot will either move like
a idiot around before sending blue rays in a straight line at you, or spin a
big circle, and prepare the red rays (these are dangerous): both allow the RC,
BUT the movement of the red rays make it so that you may get hit beforehand or
simply fail to grab the Robot. So, if you see the red rays, Quick Run away.
The Knight will either do a low spin (do a jump like movement, then roll on the
ground toward you), or lift its sword then spin in place, eventually coming for
you. Both also allow the RC, BUT the low spin one must be Guarded first: which
is easier to just Reflect against. So, if you see a sword lifted, easy RC once
it starts spining. If they jump, cast Reflect and prepare to use the RC that
will pop up once one of them connect to it.
+++ +++
*** Revisiting Hollow Bastion, Space Paranoids and Cave of Remembrance ***
Hollow Bastion now has interesting things to do. First, use another page on
Pooh's book. You can now also reach the Puzzle Piece by Pooh's House with the
aid of Aerial Dodge. Oh, did you go to Atlantica yet?
Interesting enemies around Hollow Bastion: the Bookmasters drop Akashic Record
for Goofy, worth farming, I'd say. Watch out for the annoying Crimson Jazzes:
use Donald's Comet Limit if there is more than one of them, as you can't keep
them stunned for too long. Morning Stars must be handled with care with their
strong attacks, so use short combos for them, too.
By the Bailey, there is one Puzzle Piece you can reach with well timed and
aimed Quick Run + Aerial Dodge. If it's too hard, you can consider Driving to
Master Form and use its Aerial Dodge Lvl3.
The Mushroom IX by the Castle Gate, where you fought Demyx, can't be completed
yet. The only reliable way I know of is spamming Horizontal Slash under Berserk
Charge, something you can do only once you obtain the Fatal Crest keychain.
There's also a new path in the Restoration Site, where you can get two chests,
one of them with the Moon Recipe.
In the Postern, you can get the Gullwing keychain with the YRP Charlie Angels.
Back to Space Paranoids, there's only item farming you can do. The Devastators
are annoying, so if you cannot follow another combo before it recovers, stay
away and let it do its electrical counter. Play safe with them.
Now, for the infamous Cave of Remembrance. This is one special and nice place,
which we can't get much further yet anyway. Here you'll find floating colored
balls, that drop Drive Orbs when hit, and eventually Drive Recoveries as well.
Their color refer to a Drive Form which's Growth Ability is needed to advance
further. Right on you'll find a Red Ball, meaning you need High Jump. With it
at Level 2, your regular Sora can advance to reach the first room, Depths:
The first room is a big area: the bottom area is filled with enemies, stronger
versions of Heartless you'd rather avoid for now. Let's explore more first. If
you go to the left, you can climb the rocks that make a path in the shape of an
S around the area. Once you reach one of the highest corners, there is another
bottom part with more enemies, which you can avoid. In the end of the S-path,
you reach a door to the next area, with a Puzzle Piece below it. Into the door!
In the next area, the Mineshaft, there are two Blue Balls, meaning you'll need
Quick Run to advance. But STOP! This is the Master Form trick. Drive into
Master, hit both Balls for Drive Orbs, return to the Depths area, fall down and
let Sora get killed. Use a Continue. This will send you up to the door again,
from where you go back to the Blue Balls in the Mineshaft again, now restored
due to the Continue you used. Go get killed again and repeat. It takes just
some minutes to Level Master up to Level 6 here.
Going further with the aid of Quick Run (and possibly Aerial Dodge, as QR Lvl2
won't do it on its own), will lead to a forced fight you can barely survive by
now, and even if you pass it, you'll need to do a little puzzle you cannot
complete at Level 1 with your current arsenal. So, no rush. I'll cover this
whole dungeon way later, once you actually stand a chance.
Also, enemies in here will pose too much of a challenge to be worth fighting
them now. You may try, but I'll leave this for later. You can only get some
Remembrance synth materials from them (and maybe the Shaman Relic+ for Donald,
but I wouldn't mind yet (NOTE: I got stupidly lucky on my most recent run and
got the Shaman Relic+ on the FIRST Necromancer I defeated)), so we'll leave
this for later. Just use the trick to restore the Blue Balls and train Master
Form, then leave this place.
Farm 'em!
- Blazing Crystal (Crimson Jazz (HB));
- Lightning Stone (Emerald Blue (SP));
- Lightning Gem (Surveillance Robot, Armored Knight (HB));
- Lightning Crystal (Devastator, Strafer (SP));
- Lucid Gem (Bookmaster (HB), Magnum Loader (SP));
- Lucid Crystal (Neoshadow (HB));
- Power Crystal (Morning Star (HB));
- Bright Gem (Magnum Loader (SP), Surveillance Robot (HB));
- Bright Crystal (Neoshadow (HB), Strafer (SP));
- Energy Gem (Emerald Blue (SP));
- Energy Crystal (Bookmaster (HB));
- Serenity Stone (Crimson Jazz (HB), Devastator (SP));
Many interesting objects. You might consider spening some time around here. Oh,
and if you're doing a Level 1 run, I strongly suggest going to Beast's Castle
before Land of the Dragons, MAINLY if you're trying No Damage: the Reflect
enhancement is good. :p
*** ***
===== BEAST'S CASTLE - VISIT 2 =====
The nice thing about revisits is that they are way shorter.
You start with a forced fight against Dragoons and Dusks. Those Dragoons are
some powerful enemies: their "jump" attack is OHKO, and other attacks can kill
you easily, too. Abuse Magnet, Reflect and Comet to avoid getting hit. It's
hard but try to keep an eye on their movements to know what's coming and avoid
accordingly: teleports come with swipes, waving around comes a vertical spin,
and rolling up comes before a jump, usually.
Make your way to the West Hall into the Beast's Room. We can now fight Marluxia
but I'll leave the strategy for the revisit.
Now you make your way back to the main hall and fight more Dragoons and Dusks.
Just like before, Magnet, Reflect and Comets are life savers. After you kill
the first wave, more Dragoons join in using Jump, so be careful not to get hit,
as that attack is OHKO at Level 1. Now for one of the most famous KH2 fights.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Xaldin +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2, Reflect Element
(Donald) Auto Healing
(Goofy) HP +2
(Beast) HP +25
Xaldin, the first boss you couldn't beat my button mashing in the game, causing
much trouble to first timers. Now you're facing it at Level 1. But fear not.
Xaldin actually has few attacks. Check them out:
- Wind Shield: his spears will spin around him and he'll create a wind shield,
so if you try to touch him, you get damaged. This is why first timers suffer,
as they try to button mash on him and just get hit. This seem to be what he
always use as a counter.
- Spear Thrust: Xaldin will push all his spears straight forward at you. This
is easy to spot due to his positioning and of his spears. If you Guard it, you
will throw him off balance. You can use the Learn RC just before he attacks and
while he is stunned. He'll then recover, collecting his spears and doing a
simple counter, so don't stay in front of him: use your Jumps instead! =D But
seriously, even though the attack itself is fast you should have enough time
to react and press Square for the Guard and throw Xaldin off balance.
- Spear Fan: he'll slowly spin around then do a horizontal swipe with his
spears, as if they formed a fan. You can jump over it, or use the Learn RC to
get a couple or so Jumps and use it instead.
- Wind Ball: Xaldin will back away, and form a wind ball and launch at you. It
comes at a very slow speed, and can be easily Guarded. This is a very rare
sight in the normal battle, most people never see it. I saw it, like, once or
twice while slowly fighting him to practice and write this.
- Spear Rain: Xaldin will fly high up and disappear of sight, then launch his
spears down at you. Firts only one, then 2, then 3, 4, 5... and when he goes
for the 6th attack, every spear will circle around you, go up with him, and
after some noise he makes, he'll fall down with all of them at a single spot.
You must keep on the move and jumping to avoid them, as they create an energy
wave when they hit the ground. Remember that as more and more fall down, the
timing between each wave varies. You can also use Learn as the spears hit the
ground. For the last hit, you can Dodge Roll/Quick Run away, or cast Reflect
for extra damage and use your Learned Jumps right away.
- Desperate Move: a huge combo with his spears. It's possible to Guard it all,
but not recomended, as sometimes the spears will pass over your head and you
miss the Guard. The best choice is to Quick Run away. After that, he uses the
Wind of Despair: a large wind blow that covers most of the arena. You can avoid
this by Quick Running all your way to the other side, or cast Reflect, or Quick
Run through it, which I believe to be the best choice anyway.
- Teleport: he'll teleport around, confusing you. This is bad when his wind
shield is up, as that hits you. You can either spam Reflect or High Jump +
Aerial Dodge to stay above him. Magnet also stop him on his tracks, although I
haven't personally found much use to Magnet on him anyway.
Sounds like a lot, I know. For the fight itself, he also begins by using his
Wind Shield. You should stay near him as possible. Why? If you get too far, he
will either do nothing, or move stupidly fast toward you and use his thrust.
Later in the battle he`ll use his Teleport to get near you, and you don't want
that, either, as he might attack you offguard.
So, as he gets near, he'll use his Thrust or Fan: Guard the first or jump over
the latter, and use Learns. He'll never counter the Jumps, and you might even
be able to pull a combo after them, but I rather not risk myself, even more as
his health gets lower. He might, however, go for a Spear Rain anytime. That is
a good thing, as it's usually easy to avoid, and get you easy free damage from
the Reflect and Jumps.
Also, seems like only Jumps, Guarding his Thrust and possibly Reflect will
remove his Wind Shield. And Jumps will not hit if you don't Lock On Xaldin, or
else Sora will use on his current position instead of Xaldin's. Some of his
moves, mainly the Rain, will force the shield to be gone.
The first part of the battle should be easy: just use Learns by Guarding the
Thrust and jumping over the Fan and using Jumps on him, adding one or two
regular hits after using them. As Xaldin gets near half health, start moving
away from him after using your Jumps: he'll eventually enter his second phase
and use the Desperate Move, which has no previous clue whatsoever, so you want
to be far from him when he uses it.
After the first Desperate Move, he'll also gain his Teleport. And boy doesn't
he seem to use it all the time instad of walking around now. Using High Jump +
Aerial Dodge to stay above him is a good choice usually, unless he plays around
with you too much and does something unexpected. You can also spam Reflect to
protect yourself from whatever he's going to use. He can either just teleport
around yelling "Sora!", or he might use one of his previous attacks. ANY of
them, so keep a safe distance in case he goes for the Desperate Move.
I also noticed that, in this regular battle, his Teleport will also remove the
Wind Shield, unlike in the future Data Version. This makes the last phase kinda
different here. You can keep your safe distance (in case he does the DM), and
jump twice as he teleports around, ready to use Learn in case he uses any of
his attacks, or go for an aerial combo as he stops and yells "Sora!".
On my experience, though, if he teleports around too much while you are in the
air, start mashing both Circle and Triangle, as he might to for his attacks and
catch you in the air: this way you should use Learn and Jump on him in time,
avoiding getting hit. This doesn't always work as he might use his Wind Shield
instead, but I couldn't find a pattern so far.
Great news! I actually found a pattern... kinda. The Wind Shield is only undone
when the Teleport finishes. So, stay away, and use a High Jump as high as you
can. If Xaldin doesn't stop with the first movement, he'll keep moving more and
use something else: that's when you do an Aerial Dodge. More Sora slightly to
the side, so even if Xaldin uses the Wind Shield, you can escape it, and if he
goes for something else you can use Learn + Jump to evade.
+++ +++
*** Revisiting Beast's Castle ***
Mushroom III can be found where you fought Xaldin. This is done by equipping as
many Draws as you can: Abilities, Draw Rings and Follow The Wind are your bets.
Currently, you can grab those Orbs and complete the challenge with very well
timed Quick Runs (driving into Wisdom might help). Altough possible, you might
consider coming here later in the game, with Glide and more Draws.
There are some new enemies around the castle. Only ones worth mentioning for
special care are the Crimsom Jazzes (annoying bastards... abuse Reflect and
Magnet on them), the Morning Stars (they hit hard, remember?), and the Dragoons
that Xaldin left behind, that will OHKO you with their entrance drop attack if
you're not careful. Things will be easier later with new abilities, though.
Farm 'em!
- Blazing Crystal (Crimson Jazz);
- Power Crystal (Morning Star);
- Dark Gem (Gargoyle Warrior/Knight);
- Blazing Shard (Hammer Frame);
- Power Shard (Large Body);
- Lightning Gem (Armored Knight);
- Lucid Crystal (Neoshadow);
- Dense Shard (Dragoon);
- Bright Crystal (Neoshadow);
- Energy Shard (Gargoyle Knight/Warrior);
- Serenity Shard (Large Body);
- Serenity Stone (Crimson Jazz);
- Nobody Lance (Dragoon);
You still cannot reach the Puzzle Piece at the Main Hall. But you can reach
Marluxia in the Beast's Room.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Marluxia +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Drive Gauge Up
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) HP +2
This battle seems to be love or hate. I love it, Marluxia is cool.
The battle starts with Marluxia using Doom on you. Most of his attacks with the
scythe will decrease the counter. Thing is, the counter max value is your
current Level, so at Level 1... you'll literally get killed with one hit. You
also has his Scythe Combo for an opening, so Guard right away if you don't
wanna die without knowing what hit you.
Let's talk about the attacks he'll use at first:
- Teleport Swipe: Marluxia disappears, then come near you for a single swipe.
This is also his counter during the battle. You can avoid it with Dodge Roll,
Quick Run, Reflect, or even Guard, although that last choice is not exactly a
good bet. If you get hit, Marluxia will keep on repeating it for some time,
until you evade it with Aerial Recovery or Retaliating Slash, or he just gets
tired. At Level 1 this won't happen, as you'll die from the Doom damage.
- Petal Draw: Marluxia draws everything around him closer, then does a long
spinning combo with the swipe. The combo sends you far away (not that it
matters at Level 1), and after it Marluxia is open for two RCs: RC on its
scythe, Rob Counter, which restores the Doom Counter by 13 at most, and the RC
on its body, Air Trample, which deals GREAT damage. Guard a single hit of the
combo and the After Effect will protect you until you can use the RCs. You can
also jump + Aerial Dodge over him, or even abuse Reflect, if you can't get the
timing for Guard down or you're in a pinch or something. (I noticed that the
lower his health, the least the Rob Counter would restore... that only means a
thing if you're not at Level 1, though)
- Scythe Combo: he'll use horizontal swipes in a sequence. If the last hit is
blocked, Marluxia will lose balance and be open for a combo. The lower his
health, the more hits he'll do before finishing the combo. Spamming Guard is
not always a good thing: in fact, the Combo used to open the fight is best
Guarded with a little delay between the Guards.
He looks easy at first, eh? These attacks are. He seems to like using the Petal
Draw after he does a Counter Swipe in the beginning of the battle. As the Draw
will allow you to use the RC (dealing a whole bar of damage) and another combo
in, you'll get a lot of his life down quickly. After 4 or so bars of damage,
he'll change behaviour and gain new attacks:
- Death Holes: Marluxia will move to the center of the arena, rotate his scythe
and summon 3 giant holes on the ground. You can only stay safe by going far
away, near the invisible walls, and stay between two of them. As you cannot
tell for sure where they'll come (even though it's fixed, the arena makes it
confusing), jump before he hits the ground and makes them appear, and if one
forms right below you, Aerial Dodge to safety. This deals direct damage. Also,
you can actually hit him before he starts this attack: he has very few frames
when he appears in the middle where he can be hit. You can use great timing
and attack directly, or cast Fira before he comes and catch him as he appears.
- Scythe Spin: Marluxia will throw his scythe up, then come with it in a
vertical spin, getting into the ground, toward you. As he gets surrounded by
flowers before using it, you might confuse with a teleport sometimes and get
caught offguard. Marluxia also "disappears" so you'll lose the Lock On, so be
careful if you're going to Guard it (which is usually the best choice, but you
can also use Reflect or even jump over it, or Dodge Roll to the sides). This
deals Doom Counter damage.
- Flower Strangle: Marluxia moves the palm of his hand toward you and petals
will stay around you and your partners. After a fixed time, they will close up
on your character, dealing direct damage. Fast movement like Quick Run and
Glide will help you escape. Very wll timed Dodge Rolls also work. You can also
use Reflect or make use of Guard's After Effect if you just Guarded something.
For the Second Phase, he'll use the Death Holes a lot. I mean, a LOT. He just
doesn't seem to use anything else after the Counter Swipe. Also, very often,
after using the Death Holes, he'll use the Flower Strangle. But fear not, right
after it he WILL do something: either the Scythe Spin (which you can easily
Guard, as he comes from the center, and use the After Effect to escape the
Strangle), or jump near you and go for a Scythe Combo. Even if the Combo you're
Guarding moves you toward the Holes, its After Effect will protect you to move
and attack Marly.
Eventually, after using the Death Holes, Marly might use the Petal Draw: run
toward the "walls", jump twice, and use an aerial attack or magic to gain some
time, so you'll reach ground after the attack is over and you can go for an RC.
It is possible to hit him before he starts the Death Holes, but you have a very
small opening after he appars in the center. So small, I can only get it with
Explosion (very late game) or casting Fira(ga) in there. You can loop him (as
he always starts his combos with the Holes during the second Phase), it seems.
After many Death Holes followed by Flower Strangles, you should deal damage to
the point he'll enter the last phase: the Desperate Moves Phase. He got two!
- DM #1, Eternal Spin: screen goes dark and Marluxia will spin his scythe above
his head, and go for a Scythe Spin. Thing is, this one will last a LONG time.
However, after escaping his first charge at you (with Guard, jump, Dodge Roll),
he'll have a hard time to turn around, so you can Lock On and move so you'll
always be at his side, and he'll never hit you again. He'll be open for a combo
once he finally stops spinning. This deals Doom damage.
- DM #2, Death Scent: I know, I can't come up with decent names. Marluxia will
float slightly, petals flying around the screen. Many small Dark Holes will
form around and explode, dealing direct damage. To avoid them, I usually hold
down (or up) to keep Sora on the move, and to either side on the right analog,
making the camera spin: this should throw their homing off. After 15 holes,
the floating Marluxia behind you will send his scythe spinning after you, and
after some spins he'll drop down directly at your current position. These hits
from the scythe deal Doom damage, and to avoid them you can either spam 4
Reflects, or time greatly 2 Quick Runs to avoid the spinning portion, then do
whatever for his drop (Dodge Roll, Quick Run, Guard or Reflect)
I also tried, for his Death Scent DM, the Guard method: just as the 14th hole
explode, turn Sora to face Marly behind him, and Guard: it should connect with
the scythe, so you just kep on Guarding: it will protect you from the drop,
too! The problem with this is that it's very strict to pull off: both in timing
and to press Square very quickly after letting go of the analog stick.
Nice news! I also practiced the Attack Deflect method. As you might know, if
the Keyblade connects with the enemies while using regular attacks, it might
deflect like if you were using Guard. As Marluxia is not "aim-able" during this
DM, the first attack of a combo Sora will use is the vertical slash, which
should be good to protect his front and connect to the scythe, throwing Sora
into the Guard Stance. In order to deflect the scythe, I kept holding down on
the left analog, while either sides on the right analog, and the moment Marly
moves his hand, I move he left analog stick up and press Circle: this would
deflect successfully almost all the time with me. The timing is strict, but
I consider this easier than Guard because you don't have the error of doing a
Dodge Roll instead in case you press the button before letting go of the stick.
It seems that, if you attack Marly after the DMs and let him counter, he'll
always follow up with another DM after the Counter Swipe. This way you avoid a
new attack he gains during the last Phase:
- Constant Swipes: Marly will teleport on the ground and do a swipe, teleport
again and another swipe... for a somewhat random ammount of times. Unlike the
original Teleport Swipe, which has Marly in the air, this one stucks him to the
ground, so you can tell them apart. The sound he makes before starting this is
also different, so it's possible to avoid being caught offguard. To evade this,
you need either Glide and fly around fast enough, or Dodge Roll each attack
back and forth. You can also Guard every other swipe (using the After Effect to
evade the following ones).
After writing all this, I noticed that Marluxia can be "looped" in a sense: he
will always use certain attacks after the Teleport Swipe when as a counter: you
see, you combo him till he disappears, does a Swipe, then he'll always use the
Petal Draw for the First Phase, Death Holes for Second Phase, and either DM for
Third and Last Phase.
+++ +++
Just a random note: Marluxia gives you the recipe for the Full Bloom accessory,
which, apparently, you can synth one now, if you opened some chests around the
Cave of Remembrance for one Found Illusion: other needed items are 1 Lost
Illusion (you get one from beating Marly anyway), 1 Tranquil Crystal (if you
completed a Mushroom with Rank B or above you can have that) and 3 Serenity
Gems (obtained through chests and others around the game). I noticed this when
I visited the Moogle a couple of worlds after this one.
It's also actually possible to synth a Draw Ring, which also requires a Found
Illusion, 3 Remembrance Shards, and many Bright items (3 Gems, 5 Stones and
9 Shards), but you probably avoided fighting in CoR so you might not have the
Remembrance Shards yet.
Another random note, I'm adding all this when I visited the Coliseum again.
And I just can't figure out WHERE I got this Found Illusion item: I only
opened two chests in CoR according to my Journal, and none is such item. The
only thing that comes to my mind is if I won it from Marly along with the other
Illusion item and recipe, and didn't notice it.
UPDATE with v.1.1: xfyrenx reminded me where I got this one Found Illusion: one
of the Puzzles, the third, named EDGE. Silly me. :p
===== LAND OF THE DRAGONS - VISIT 2 =====
Don't they get tired of Rapid Thrusters swarms?
For Rikunort, he won't get stunned by your attacks, ever. And you need to deal
enough damage to end the fight. Tactic 1, use Reflects and RCs from the enemies
flying around. Tactic 2, stay away and do a single combo after each of his
attack, using RCs when you can, as the Keyblade deals little damage to him. The
annoying thing is that you must be close to Rikunort to hit him with the RCs,
and if you start them while he's idle, chances are that the RC will end with
you in the middle of one of his attacks, so watch out and time it wisely.
As the RCs are the best source of damage, you can also Guard his attacks and
wait for chances. The only special attacks that can't be Guarded are used after
the slashes with the Soul Eater, so you should be safe to Dodge Roll them.
If you still didn't get the Puzzle Piece in the Mountain Trail, do it now.
By the Camp, you can drive into Master and use its Aerial Dodge Level 3 to
reach the Puzzle Piece, after climbing into one of the wood... things.
Get to the Imperial Square for a forced fight. Bolt Towers and Assault Riders.
At this point of the game they should be pretty crucial. Beat them down. :p
Okay, I admit, maybe not that much as they are in high number, and their reach
is very high. Abuse Reflect, Magnet, Mulan's Limit, Chicken Little... choices
are plenty, compared to your first visit to this place, so enjoy.
For the Nobodies fight, Magnet doesn't help as much, due to the Snipers
constant movements. Use the RCs, Reflect, and Limits. Try to stay on the move,
too, as the Snipers can use teleport attacks by moving near you. I find it
easier if I attract them near the door leading outside: gives me a better view
and more space. Chicken Little is great here, too. Stitch should be useful to
protect you from all the projectiles flying around. There is a second wave of
Snipers, and I like staying in the middle of them and cast Reflect, as they ALL
send lasers as they come: you don't wanna handle all that much.
Many treasure chests in the Throne Room, yummy! The Puzzle Piece to the right
of the Emperor can be gotten with the aid of Master Form's Aerial Dodge Lvl 3.
Don't forget the chests! Recipes and the Ogre Shield among them, good stuff.
You're doing a No Damage run? Good luck with the next boss...
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Storm Rider +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Thunder Element
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Tornado Fusion
(Mulan) HP +25
Storm Rider starts the battle by trying to drop you off his back. Simply use
the RC and Sora will hold to one of its spikes. The two main horns of its head
is where you must target to deal damage to it. You can "destroy" those spikes
on each wing and drop him down, but I don't think it's worth it at Level 1. If
you do, though, they will stun him like the RC sequence as I describe below.
After flipping around with Sora holding tight, the Rider might go for extra
spins: keep an eye out if a lightining is about to form at you, if so press
Triangle to let go and escape the hit. If nothing appears, wait and let it spin
again while still holding on it: I've never seen it spin for a third time, so
let go of it after you see the electricity ready to strike a bolt at you.
Okay, now that you know how to behave when riding the Rider (wut?), be aware of
its vast list of attacks while you are riding it:
- Lightning Bolts: you'll see some sparks around where the bolts will strike.
Just like that. Eventually, it'll curl itself a little, and bigger bolts will
strike on its spikes: this is easy to spot, but they are faster and cover a
larger area. Use the bolts as a chance to use Reflect and damage the boss.
As you can see, riding the Rider is a good opportunity to deal easy damage to
it through Reflect. I would personally avoid using Keyblade hits on it for two
main reasons: first that when hit, the boss horns will sparkle exactly the same
as if a bolt is to strike, which makes difficult to spot when a true lightning
bolt will come, making you get hit as you won't cast Reflect in time. Second,
you wouldn't get to combo him much either way. Keep Ethers handy.
Eventually, the boss will fly up and forcibly drop you down to ground, usually
also casting more lightning bolts, which are easy to spot and evade. Now it can
do a couple of new things:
- Bomb Drop: the Rider will fly mid-height, dropping many bombs (at least they
look and act like bombs). To evade this, use one of the air tornados around to
move faster, or Quick Run to the side. This is an opportunity to fly high with
the winds around and ride the Rider (okay I'll stop that) again.
- Low Flight: the boss will spin and come down, flying almost touching the
ground. This would seem very hard to evade normally, but this trigger a very
cool RC sequence, which also damages the boss. Watch how powerful Sora can be
by launching a boss this big so high in the air. The RC also stuns the boss,
but watch out as it recovers as it can damage you: you should be able to add
in two aerial combos if you have 0 or 1 Air Combo Pluses and still have time
to back away. Be careful as its counter has a very large reach, and it'll
always recover after trying to lift itself up a second time.
- Wing Arrows: the wings are spread open, and two waves of arrow like
projectiles are sent toward you. They can be Guarded (and sent back, although
I've never seen them connect and do damage), Dodge Roll and Quick Run through,
or cast Reflect if you don't feel comfortable with the other choices. Watch out
for lightning bolts between the waves! Move yourself a little after dealing
with the first one just to be safe.
- Lightning Beam: The Rider will drop on the exit toward the Palace, and
electric walls will close up to him. He'll charge slowly a huge lightning beam
and shoot it: you have some little space between the bolt and the walls to
evade it. Notice that he'll charge it a second time, and shortly after he lifts
his left wing and slams it on the ground, lightning will form around his
hornets and that can damage you, so back away once it lifts its wing. Also take
note that as it charges the second beam, bolts will form between the walls,
exactly where you are, and crossing the path, so standing still will get you
hit. The lower the health, the faster the boss will perform this attack, making
comboing its horns difficult. You can use Limits during it, if you want.
These are pretty much it. Bolts may also be used randomly while you are on the
ground, regardless of what the boss is doing, so keep your eyes around you.
Overall, the fight isn't much complicated, but you have few chances to attack:
Reflect on the horns while riding it, the RC sequence and the opening that
follows, and the Lightning Beam. A nice strategy I saw on Bizkit's video was to
use Donald's Comet during its Lightning Beam, so you can attack its horns non
stop, even though it is charging and attacking: this is very helpful to add up
nice damage to it, just watch out if the Limit is over before the Rider's done
with both Beams it uses.
Always keep your eyes out for bolts, as they strike anytime unless during the
infamous beam. They are what makes this fight annoying, as it stops you from
doing more combos and may also get you offguard easily if you're going No
Damage against him.
And amazing! The STORM Rider uses LIGHTNING based attacks and give you an
upgrade to the THUNDER spell. How come I never noticed.
+++ +++
*** Revisiting The Land of Dragons ***
Don't forget the Mushroom IV in front of the Palace if you didn't do it before:
you can beat it easily with Wisdom Form Shoots, just avoid finishers to not
lose movement and get caught. And also go back to Hollow Bastion and use the
new Torn Page on Pooh's book: you now obtain the Sweet Memories keychain.
Enemies here aren't much of a trouble now that you have Guard Break, Finishing
Leap and Aerial Finisher. Just watch out not to get ganged by NightWalkers and
special care with the Emerald Blues, as their counter (if you hit them and
leave them alone) can be deadly: spam Reflect for that.
Remember to collect the Puzzle Piece in the Encampment using Master Form and
its Aerial Dodge Level 3. You can also now collect the one in the Village above
the Moogle by climbing the rebuilt houses and using Aerial Dodge with regular
Sora. If you didn't collect the one in the Mountain Trail, you can easily reach
it now with Aerial Dodge, too.
Farm 'em!
- Dark Stone (Nightwalker, Assault Rider)
- Dark Crystal (Air Pirate)
- Lucid Crystal (Neoshadow)
- Lightning Shard (Rapid Thruster, Bolt Tower)
- Lightning Stone (Emerald Blue)
- Frost Shard (Hook Bat)
- Blazing Stone (Cannon Gun)
- Twilight Shard (Dusk)
- Bright Shard (Hook Bat)
- Bright Stone (Cannon Gun)
- Bright Crystal (Air Pirate, Neoshadow)
- Energy Shard (Bolt Tower, Nightwalker)
*** ***
===== OLYMPUS COLISEUM - VISIT 2 =====
Seriously, Hercules' "hey" almost made me want to turn the game off.
This visit is pretty quick. You first have to win two regular battles for the
Cup. Which reminds me we have the Cerberus Cup we still cannot win. Come on now
really, did anyone managed to beat it without the help of Shock Charm+'s?
First battle has Driller Moles, Tornado Steps and a Morning Star. As long as
you keep an eye out for the Morning Star spin attack, you should be safe to
deal with them normally.
Second battle goes with Minute Bombs, a Crescendo and a Crimson Jazz. Your only
real threat is the Crimsom Jazz: keep that one busy and you should have no
problems. You can lock-on and cast Magnet right away to halt its movements.
Apart from that, use Limits, Magic, Summons... have fun!
We are all sinners, or is it just because Auron is an und... *gets shot*
If you didn't do this before, get the Puzzle Piece on the long corridor down
using the skateboard. Oh, and now with Aerial Dodge you can get the two other
pieces to the other side of the Underworld... you know, above those rocks in
the middle of the room?
In Hades Chamber you'll have a forced fight against Dusks. You CAN handle a
group of Dusks without taking damage by now with Magnet and Finishing Leap...
right? And Limits? And more magic? And summons? And... Reversal? ...Right?! But
I still wonder why the Heartless attacked the Nobodies.
Hooray! Finally!
+++++ BOSS FIGHT: Hades +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2, Magnet Splash
(Donald) Accessory Slot Up
(Goofy) HP +2
(Auron) HP +15
The fight starts with the usual invincible Hades, just hit him enough times to
trigger the actual fight. You can do the safe way by casting Blizzard/Thunder
from a distance, or using Slide Dashes after he attacks and you Dodge Roll away
from the attack.
So, for the actual fight, let's make some things clear:
- Hercules: standing near him allows you to use Aura Guard, which protects you
from most attacks. Every now and then, he`ll cast two spheres, allowing you to
throw them at Hades with the Aura Sphere RC. Aura Spheres are the ONLY way to
remove Hades out of his invincible state (while he's flaming red). It's easy to
know when Hercules casts them because he yells "You can't stop a true hero!"
as he summons them. They also deal good damage, remember that.
So, as you can see, you need Hercules' help. Still, Sora is NOT invincible as
he throws the Spheres toward Hades, and it takes a while, so be careful when
using them: let them disappear and wait for others if needed be!
Hades can attack you, you know:
- Punches: two regular punches. Dodge Roll away, Guard them, cast Reflect.
Take your pick here. :p He might, however, extend his combo. It seemed to
happen rather randomly to me, as long as you're somewhat near him.
- Fire Ball: a regular fireball. He yells "You ready?" before using it. It is
rather slow and easy to evade, but eventually there'll be too much going on and
even these can be annoying. You can Guard them back at Hades, too. He seems to
always use them in set of 3.
- Fire Pillar: Hades will shoot fire from both hands, forming a ring around him
which'll then form a hige fire pillar, and turn him red, going invincible once
again. Annoying attack you cannot do a thing but avoid. Good thing, he yells
"That's it!" when he's going to use it, so watch out for his audio cues, as if
you get caught by it, you'll suffer multiple hits and die at Level 1.
- Fire Orb: this is his most annoying attack, that he'll use once his health
goes down a little. The audio cue is "You want some more?". A huge orb will
form in the middle of the field, floating above everyone's head, spitting small
fire bombs, that when hit the ground will form an area of flaming ground: this
is uber annoying, because even though the flame pools don't last long, the Orb
in the middle will, and this will keep half of the arena dangerous. This seems
like to be when Aura Guard is useful, but although it seemed to block the fire
bombs, Aura Guard doesn't last long enough.
- Teleport: ha! *snaps* And he's gone. He uses this every now and then, and
also as a "counter". Later in the battle, he will "counter" very quickly,
making this battle a good one to use your Combo Pluses and extend your combo,
as by the end of the battle you will only land one finisher at a time anyway.
As you can see, Hades is pretty limited, but also hard to hit (in a sense of
opportunities). Try to always attack him after throwing an Aura Sphere at him,
as that will stun him for quite some time. Also, Hercules AI seems to be such
that he'll cast new Aura Spheres and there is none around after using one
attack, so you can use them as your main source of damage, too.
Remember that Hades loves to teleport near you before using the Fire Pillar, so
always run away and watch out for his movements beforehand.
Whenever the Fire Orb is used, stay away and focus on dodging them and the
flaming ground. You don't want to have one fall at you while you try to throw
an Aura Sphere.
Avoid attacking him before stunning him somehow, even when he's just floating
around, as he might go for an attack anytime and not get stunned. Aura Spheres
are good because they add good damage, but you can also use Thundara.
You might, during the Fire Orb attack, use a Limit, too, to help escaping the
damage from the flaming ground AND have a chance to combo Hades. Donald's Comet
would be the best bet as it lasts long and keeps Sora on the move.
Remember that the Aura Spheres can be thrown with a regular attack, BUT they
will follow a straight line that way, instead of aiming at Hades as they
normally would if you hit them with the RC instead.
Hercules attacks deal great damage, too! They are great help not only in the
damage factor, but also because they even stun red-invincible Hades! This is
great to use your Aura Spheres without having Hades running around like crazy
and throwing your attempts to waste.
Remember that getting near Hercules will provoke him into summoning the Spheres
faster, but he can still summon them even if you're far away from him. Use this
to your advantage, mainly during the end of the battle, when the Fire Orbs
become a constant and you'll have fewer openings: keep Aerial Dodging around,
watching the flaming ground and when Hercules stuns Hades and there are Aura
Spheres around.
Not a difficult fight overall, just easy to get hit if you're too impatient.
+++ +++
***** Revisiting Olympus Colesium *****
Equip the awesome Magnet Splash you got! NOW! =D
Not much to do around but farming. You still not in good shape for Mushroom VI.
Every Puzzle Piece and treasure chest could be obtained. The Puzzle Piece by
the Passage can be gotten with the skateboard aid and the ones in the Lost Road
can be gotten with the aid of Aerial Dodge.
The Titan Cup is also available now but I rather wait a little longer for it.
Have you beaten Zexion yet? If not, refer to his section at XXX. You know have
some extra abilities, so it should be even easier now
Farm 'em!
- Blazing Shard (Minute Bomb)
- Blazing Stone (Tornado Step)
- Blazing Crystal (Crescendo, Crimson Jazz)
- Lightning Stone (Driller Mole)
- Power Crystal (Morning Star)
- Lucid Crystal (Neoshadow)
- Bright Shard (Minute Bomb)
- Bright Stone (Driller Mole, Tornado Step)
- Bright Crystal (Crescendo, Neoshadow)
- Serenity Stone (Crimson Jazz, Morning Star)
*** ***
===== PORT ROYAL - VISIT 2 =====
Zola! Some assistance! Even though the VA sucks, Sparrow is always a funny guy.
You just need to beat 3 pirates as you arrive. Heck, I lined them up and
spammed Blizzard. It was beautiful. Donald's Blizzard also helped a lot.
And wow. You can actually stand just in front of the driving wheel (the heck I
just said?!), and use High Jump + Aerial Dodge to reach the Puzzle Piece
protected by the ropes on the Black Pearl. This way you will be higher and
nearer before going for the jumps. I discovered this just NOW. I'd normally
wait till late game to have both of these abilities at Level 3 to reach it.
Remember you can avoid the ambush by simply entering the Captain's Cabin. The
first time you move somewhere will have a forced fight, but after that it seems
rather random.
Seriously, if not for the Bonus Levels...
+++++ BOSS FIGHT: Grim Reaper +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Horizontal Slash
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Draw
(Sparrow) HP +10
This is just a warm up for the battle we'll have later.
Like the pirates, Grim's weakness is magic. Blizzard freezes it, Thunder deals
short stun, and Fire burns it and have it running around, jumping like a bunny.
I would remove Jack's bomb throw ability (it's the third one on the list, just
above the Limit ability of his), as that causes Fire damage, and I don't like
having the boss (nor the pirates) running around. Do the same for Donald, by
leaving him with only Blizzard and Thunder (or whatever you want... it's your
game after all :p).
Grim Reaper is a fast counterer, so I suggest air combos without Air Combo
Pluses, but add in a second finisher. This will cause it to spin its weapon
around, and possibly teleport somewhere else, giving you enough time to back
away a little bit and avoid the counter.
The only attack the Reaper can use in this battle is spin its weapon around
(what is the name of that thing? An axe? Alright, axe will be, it's short to
type! ...But I typed all this instead). It'll either so a single spin with its
axe, which can be Guarded and stun the boss, or spin it with both hands and
teleport away.
So, in few words, do a single combo with two finishers and back away. Repeat.
If you end up using a ground combo, remember to use Finishing Leap as your
second finisher so you can Aerial Dodge away after using it.
During my "training" against this boss (to find out that he can barely swing
its axe around), I found out that you can be saved by Mickey in this battle,
if you by any miracle die here. 0_o
+++ +++
In the Ship Graveyard, nothing of importance but the Feather Charm that gives
you Peter Pan as a summon. Move on getting chests and Puzzle Pieces till you
meet with a Gambler. I personally like opening all the chests around before
going for it: there's AP Up, Meteor Staff and Orichalcum, along with two Puzzle
Pieces.
Now we must go medallion hunting. If you return to the Graveyard, you can get
two more medallions. In Isla De Muerta, you will find one in every screen, but
the first screen has a 10 seconds limit, which should be too troublesome to
achieve at Level 1. The corridor with crates is easy to obtain. The room before
Barbossa has many pirates for you to kill before triggering the Gambler. In the
last room you'll have to fight the Gambler in the dark: big deal. :p
Now, back to Port Royal we'll have the last fight. Keep Sparrow and all his
Draw abilities, along with Donald with only Thunder and Draw equipped (if you
gave him good accessories, add in the Thunder Boost, Hyper Healing and MP Rage
abilities as well, and also give him the new Meteor Staff). Equip your Draws,
too, and possibly the Draw Ring (the Follow The Wind keychain might be
overkill, and since we'll rely on aerial combos, Hero's Crest will be a more
suited keychain for the boss, anyway). Save and move on.
+++++ BOSS FIGHT: Grim Reaper +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Magnet Element
(Donald) Flare Force
(Goofy) HP +2
(Sparrow) HP +15
Now for the real fight with it. Too bad this fight (and music) sucks.
You can only damage the Reaper if all the 882 medallions are on the chest. If
not, it is invincible, and the only way to drop medallions is hitting it with
magic: the effects continue, but Blizzard, while good on effect, only drops
20 medallions, while Thunder drops 50: this is when Donald will help out.
Fire isn't really a good choice, in my opinion, mostly because of its short
range, but it may also drop MANY medallions, for some reason: up to 140 from
what I counted! Fire should be easier to trigger with Sparrow's bomb throw
ability: the same one I suggested you to remove some other times :p ...
Magnet doesn't work, beats me why.
But what if you run low on MP?! No worries, hitting the boss while the curse
is on effect will drop MP Balls. This isn't very reliable, though, if you're
going for No Damage, but it's an alternative when you're desperate. Take
note that Limit Form's Limits will drop MP Balls, too.
Oh yeah, its attacks! Let's start with the Curse Form:
- Axe Spinthrow: yeah. Remember when it would wave its axe with one hand and
you could block to send it off balance? You can still Guard it, but it won't
stun the boss anymore, as it throws the Cursed Axe forward. Dodge Roll/Quick
Run to the side is also a way to avoid it.
- Axe Tornado: It'll lift up its right hand and spin its axe around it,
forming a tornado-like shield/armor. It's impossible to interrupt this attack
but it also doesn't last long. You can either Guard it (although if you have
time for this, you were just watching Donald Thundering up and didn't notice
his MP just ran out :p) or Quick Run away. The starting animation is similar
to the Spinthrow one, so be careful.
These are its basic attacks in the beginning of the battle. As it begins with
not many medallions, and some are already dropped to the right, it should be
rather easy to collect them all and put them back in the chest with the RC.
Once it is in Normal Form, it'll act just like in the first battle:
- Axe Spin: when spinning it with one hand, it's a single spin you can Guard
and stun the Reaper. A spin with both hands is often used as a counter, and
although Guard-able, it'll always teleport the boss away and not stun it. It
may also use the teleport version in its Cursed Form, but it's a rare sight.
You can freeze it before going for a combo, if you want. You can also use your
new Horizontal Slash ability to do an even greater damage to it on each combo.
After you deal enough damage and it reaches 2 bars and 80%-ish of the third,
it'll force a counter and do a new move. Remember that it'll trigger this only
it the attack that reached this HP cap is a magic or finisher coming from Sora,
so cast anything if you're staying away and nothing happens:
- Medallion Suck: I know, this name sucks. But hey, it's what it does: it'll
hit the chest, dropping some medallions, and start sucking them non-stop. Also,
its 3 cursed heads will spin around it, trying to protect it. They will always
spin in the same distance, speed and way, so it's rather easy to avoid them if
you're just careful enough. Approach the boss and use the Reaction Command
sequence to halt its attacks and drop many medallions from it. If you don't
complete the RC sequence, the 3 Cursed Heads will damage you! Don't play hero
and just use it. :p
Note: it does actually will stop sucking the medallions after a while. I
couldn't figure the exact amount, but it does. :p After sucking a little more
than 100, it seemed to me.
After this first forced use of such attack, the battle will resume its course
with a Cursed Reaper and medallions to collect. It may also use the Medallion
Suck attack at anytime, too. It seems to be somewhat more aggressive as well,
at least right after the RC sequence. Just don't try to attack it too much, as
it likes to use attacks without much warning. Take your time to collect those
(literally) cursed medallions.
Once it reaches 1 bar + 20%-ish of health left, it'll steal EVERY SINGLE
medallion. Whoever came up with this will earn a free beating. Along with that,
it'll perform its Desperate Move:
- Head Smash: you see those crates near the exit to board the Black Pearl? Good
thing you can see it... climb them. This is an attack with massive range, and
I didn't bother to find out if it's possible to Guard it, simply because it's
not worth the hassle. Those heads will grow absurdly, and keep on smashing the
ground, causing energy waves to spread around at each smash, going for a final
big smash all together in the end. I don't care if there's a pattern to it,
just stand on those crates until it's over.
After this Desperate Move, the boss will use the Axe Tornado WAY more often,
which sucks big pirate balls, as you cannot connect magic while it's using it.
My suggestion is to stand back, trying until you managed to freeze it, even if
that means using a Thunder beforehand to gain some time (as Thunder will hit it
faster than Blizzard from the moment you cast it). Once frozen, hit it up with
the Keyblade sometimes and recast Blizzard eventually, just to restore your MP
a little bit, then cast Fire on it while it's frozen: it'll drop so many
medallions, it's even funny. I couldn't spot what causes the boss to stop
burning and running around while dropping medallions, but this might stop quite
soon or maybe almost cause it to drop every single one.
Remember to put some medallions back to the chest, so it might use the Sucker
attack and allow you to use the RC sequence for an easy 180-ish medallion drop.
Once you get enough openings and restore every medallion back, you should be
able to damage it until you defeat it. I haven't seen it re-use the DM, so you
should be safe and having to deal only with the Tornado, Spinthrow and Sucker
attacks. Due to its aggressiveness, PLAY SAFE if you're going for No Damage.
It's ironic but I recommend removing Donald for this last phase, so you can
keep it frozen and not having Donald unfreezing him with his Thunder and
provoking an unwanted attack while you're retrieving the medallions back.
Goofy and Sparrow can use attacks that help on dropping MP Orbs: Tornado and
the knife throwing one. Use this in your favor if you're really nitpicking when
it comes to using Ethers. However, this will force you to rely solely on your
magics to drop the medallions. Just see what team fits best your style, but I
must repeat to play safe when retrieving them in the last phase, as Grim Reaper
can deal quite a lot of damage and kill you easily.
If you're having problems getting the medallions back because everytime you
cast a magic, the Reaper uses the Tornado attack, keep your distance and just
wait, until he comes running at you on a zig-zag motion: he'll usually follow
that with a Axe Spinthrow attack, but is also open during it, so cast Blizzard:
that way you should have time to use Fire, spam Thunder, or use Potion and
Ether on Donald to have him cast non-stop Thunder on the boss. Heck, I once got
every single one of the 882 medallions back with Donald's help. Took a while to
put them back on the chest. :p
By the way, you might consider using your new summon, Peter Pan here: remember
that when you attack, he attacks along, and his hits will drop MP Balls, a lil'
thing you might be needing during this battle.
+++ +++
***** Revisiting Port Royal *****
Magnera means there's more singing in Atlantica, and you get the Mysterious
Abyss keychain.
How about fighting Larxene? I don't personally think much changed compared to
before the 1000 Heartless battle, apart from Guard Break. Check her strategy
here: XXX.
Mushroom X is available, but not possible to complete without boosts.
Enemies over here are overall easy. With Magnet Splash and other abilities, you
should have no sweat to handle them.
Farm 'em!
- Frost Shard (Lance Soldier)
- Lightning Shard (Rapid Thruster)
- Lightning Gem (Surveillance Robot, Armored Knight)
- Lucid Shard (Rabid Dog)
- Lucid Crystal (Neoshadow)
- Power Crystal (Morning Star)
- Twilight Shard (Dusk, Gambler)
- Bright Shard (Rabid Dog)
- Bright Gem (Surveillance Robot)
- Bright Crystal (Neoshadow)
- Energy Stone (Lance Soldier)
- Nobody Guard (Gambler)
I'm so lucky, I got the Nobody Guard for Goofy on the first RC-minigame I had
on the first Gamblers. Two, actually, but I stupidly died and lost both, LOL.
*** ***
===== AGRABAH - VISIT 2 =====
I hate Carpet Riding.
Note, although Vexen is available now, I strongly suggest you to finish the
world first, or maybe even Halloween Town for the Combo Boost ability, really.
Then we'll come for him. But I just changed my mind, as I could effectively
defeat him as soon as I landed in Agrabah, but I'll write his strategy in the
revisit.
So, many enemies around here. Those Fat Bandits piss me off. Head to the
Palace Walls, and get ready for one of the most annoying sections of the game.
Can you handle the Heartless battles, right? Abuse Magnet and Magnet Splash
here. Equip the Hero's Crest for extra damage. First battle has a group of
Rapid Thrusters, then Hook Bats and finally Fortunetellers.
As you chase the Jafar ghost, you can obatin some (actually, 3) Puzzle Pieces.
The second forced Heartless fight starts with Rapid Thrusters, then
Fortunetellers, then an annoying Crimson Jazz. Abuse Magnet and Reflect against
them, as your actions on the Carpet are limited.
When triggering the... devices, I suggest leaving the Fire one, just below this
tower, for last, so you'll be near the exit once you're done. If you failed to
get one of the Puzzle Pieces before, you can search for them now. Oh, and I
ALWAYS get lost while searching for these devices, so don't ask me.
I suggest you equipping yourself with as many Air Combo Pluses are you can, and
also with the Rumbling Rose keychain before moving on: it'll also help for the
Carpet Escape, as finishers only can send the Fortunetellers away. During the
Escape you'll have to evade falling towers and blowing sand, so if you wanna
do No Damage evade them by staying, in order:
- right
- left
- low right
- low left
- center (somewhat zigzag'd, though)
It's actually possible to die here, so watch out! Now head for the Palace.
+++++ BOSS FIGHT: Jafar +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Fire Element
This is one of those Level 1 fights you'll not be able to change your strategy
much, I'm afraid.
Jafar as a Genie is pretty dumb, actually. Yet, it's not exactly predicable,
either, unless you "force" your way to victory.
Jafar can only be damaged on the head, but you can stun him in two manners:
by damaging his abdomen, or by using the Roll Up + Spin RC after stunning him
with the first manner. He lasts stunned long enough for you to jump and start
an aerial combo, use 4 Horizontal Slashes, then 3 finishers. As a result, you
can use this combo twice: after hurting his belly, then after rolling him up.
His attacks, in a sense, are few:
- Punch Spin: he hold both hands together in front of him and spin twice around
himself. Most of his body can damage you if it connects, even his belly you so
are aiming for. This is somewhat easy to evade, just stay low and not so close.
- Tower Missile: those two broken tower tops that float around will every now
and then come for you. Due to their speed and unhelful camera, you WILL get hit
unless you evade it once and quickly stun him. This is what makes this battle
hell to begin with. if they are distant enough, moving up/down should make you
move enough to evade them. If you can see it coming, Reflect is also a choice.
When he initially summons them, he uses a quote that begins with "all shall
bend to my will".
- Thunderbolts: several Thunders will be cast at Sora's current position. This
can be a OHKO, you see. To evade this you must keep on the move horizontally.
- Fireballs: in a similar way those Crimson Jazz, Jafar summons constant
fireballs flyting at your location. This seems to be used more when he's low
on health.
- Prison: with a "you'll never escape" quote, he blinks and traps Sora. It does
no damage but leaves you standing there for a while. Funny how you usually are
missed by the many things around while standing there. You can cast Reflect to
evade it.
- Building Party: quoted now with "this is the end", Jafar will summon many
broken buildings at once and throw them rapidly at you. Take note that his
opening arms can damage you if you're close. Best way to evade is spamming
Reflect, sadly.
- Building World: at lower health, after trapping you with Prison, Jafar will
make everything dark with buildings everywhere. Every now and then some broken
parts fly at you. The most reliable way you can evade this is standing as far
and high as possible: this way you'll have a good sight of everything and can
either Guard or Reflect the incoming buildings. You'll be sent back to the real
world after a while.
- Mega Spell: at least when you first return from the Building World, Jafar
will just use fireballs, thunderbolts and buildings at the freaking same time.
Enjoy the party with your constant Reflects.
As you can see, due to his attacks and bad camera, this fight is HELLA ANNOYING
AND ANNOYING AND ANNOYING. Sorry for the caps, but I hate this battle. Oh, his
hands can also be damaged, but I never managed to "defeat" both to see what
happens. Probably nothing worth your time as he won't stop moving, anyway.
Thanks to the stupid camera, you'll have to play crystal ball and cast Reflect
or move when you think things are coming your way, as you can never see them,
and when you do, there's more than what you can see.
So, sorry big time, but you'll have to follow steps if you wanna beat this
battle, no improvising. Unless someone knows something that I don't.
Jafar begins with his spin, after summoning two towers. Move down and toward
him, to be near his stomach and evade the spin. Right as he is about to stop,
the two towers will come for you. If you were as low as possible, a move up
then down should suffice, but this is just about luck: I usually espace this
better if I move up till his chest height. I hate this closeup on his body.
Now, you'll have to stupidly quickly damage his stomach. Jump, do a single
aerial attack, then spam the 4 Horizontal Slashes you can, followed by Aerial
Finish. You'll have just enough time, so hurry.
With a stunned Jafar, you can now use the 4 H-Slashes + 3 finishers combo we
mentioned earlier. Yes, you will want the Rumbling Rose for this battle, for
safety measures later on. Then, do the Roll Up + Spin Burst RC combo, and do
a second combo.
As Jafar recovers, he'll try to use Prison: cast Reflera to evade it and
immediately resume attacking his stomach. Most of the time he'll summon new
towers, giving you enough time to stun him again. Repeat the combo, RC and
one more combo.
Now the even more annoying part: let your self get caught by Prison anyway, and
say hi to the Bulding World. Staying far and high (or low) is a good way to
keep an eye on everything. Guard the incoming or Reflect if you're not safe.
After a while, it'd be good to start approaching Jafar: you don't wanna be
stupidly far once he releases this world. Also, try to let go of the analog
stick when he's about to cancel it, as it might get the camera messy when it
reverts back. Your goal now, as he'll use Mega Spell, is to approach the
stomach and spam Reflect, so the finishers will kick in and do damage. Easier
said than done, check it out:
- If you go past him, you'll end up too far and miss your spells
- If you don't get near enough, the bubbles won't reach his stomach.
- Something might hit you before you even reach close enough to Reflect out
This all might hit (kill) you if you fail on this attempt. Sure sure, it's
possible to escape all this without dying then resume fighting him, but why
bother with something even ore difficult? Two Reflect Finishers will stun him
(ie take off the stomach health), but you need the Rumbling Rose to cast a
third Reflect and garantee you will escape the so many hits. Sure, you might
get lucky and evade it without a new finisher, but using the Hero's Crest won't
help as you'll have to deal with as many attacks as if you use the Rose, so...
After you stun him again with the Reflects on the stomach, you can combo him
to victory.
I kept trying to find alternatives, and for the beginning of the battle, the
towers only seem active right after the Punch Spin: so you can stay right where
you are, move high up, move down as he finishes spinning, then coming closer
for the stomach: this seems way easier to handle then moving up and down right
near him, as you'll have more space between you and the towers.
Another good tip: after the first series of combo, which you'll evade the
Prison with Reflect, instead of using 4 Horizontal Slashes followed by the
Aerial Finish, use only 3, as the Aerial Finish should finish it anyway AND
using the 4th Slash might expose you to his bending as he summons the towers,
and his hands and body might hit you with energy and damage you: this is a good
thing to consider for No Damage runners.
Anyone has any better tips? Please share!
+++ +++
*** Revisiting Agrabah ***
With the last Torn Page you can now complete Pooh's Book. Take note that it's
possible to reach every Puzzle Piece in there by now, even though the last one
is trick without Glide. You get an Orichalcon+ and Curaga for your efforts.
Enemies in Agrabah aren't too annoying, except for two: Fat Bandits and the
Crimson Jazzes. For the Fat Bandits, just go slow on them and let them attack
first, so you can Reflect their attacks and thus deal damage and stun them at
the same time. The Crimson Jazzes can also be better handled with the aid of
Reflect for their initial stomp attack: after that, use Goofy's Tornado and
Magnet spells and Splashes to keep them busy. If they start using the firebombs
all around, spam Reflect: even if you get hit once, it should not be deadly as
their stomp attack. The problem is when both of them appear together.
Don't forget to equip Magnet Splash when visiting the Cave of Wonders!
Farm 'em!
- Blazing Gem (Fat Bandit, Fiery Globe);
- Blazing Crystal (Crimson Jazz);
- Lightning Stone (Emerald Blue);
- Frost Gem (Fortuneteller, Icy Cube);
- Power Stone (Luna Bandit, Silver Rock);
- Lucid Crystal (Neoshadow);
- Bright Stone (Luna Bandit, Silver Rock);
- Bright Crystal (Neoshadow);
- Energy Gem (Emerald Blues, Fortuneteller)
- Serenity Stone (Crimson Jazz);
We also have the last Silhouette battle available now!
+++++ BOSS FIGHT: Vexen +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Armor Slot Up
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) HP +2
Vexen is one, if not the, most hated Silhouette battle around. You'll see why.
Vexen got an ice shield you must destroy in order to damage him. Once you
destroy it, Vexen will stand there, defenseless, just waiting to get beaten up
badly. Once you start attacking him, though, if you let him recover, or after
damaging him enough to the point of forcing a counter, he'll create his shield
back. I hate shielded bosses. Oh, and if he counters you, besides forcing his
shield to be created back, he will also form an icicle below Sora.
As if his shield isn't annoyance enough, there is a bullseye like thing walking
around the floor, trying constantly to reach you. When it does, it starts
obtaining Data, filling up the Gauge by the corner. Once full, it'll raise by
one Level, and create an Anti-Sora enemy. Just like in KH1, but it acts like
the Anti-Sora you can Drive into. So, it is fast and deadly, but it also dies
quickly. The higher the Level, the more HP and stronger Anti-Sora becomes. Once
the bullseye find Sora, it won't let go unless you move very fast (read Slide
Dash, Flash Step, Dodge Rolls, Quick Runs, Glide...). Take note that Vexen will
summon the Anti-Sora as soon as he has a chance, after the Data Gauge raises up
a Level.
Why not cover Anti-Sora attacks? Because if you get caught, you're dead at
Level 1. Besides, he acts just like your Anti-Sora, so you should know. :p
While Vexen got his shield, he'll just move around and away from you, and use
some attacks:
- Ice Storm: his initial move in the Silhouette battle. The screen will get
all covered in ice, and eventually flash in white. Once the flash goes away,
you'll be trapped in a huge ice cube (having to mash the RC to break free) and
have the bullseye right below you: this deals no damage, but the sole purpose
is to obtain data. To evade this, Reflect, or very well timed Dodge Rolls, or
preferably Quick Runs (so the movement of the Run will also aid you in escaping
the bullseye as soon as possible). The best moment to Quick Run is when the
screen is almost totally white due to the flash.
- Ice Shuriken: Vexen will form a single shuriken-like object in ice and send
it toward you, spinning. It travels slowly, and if Guarded will vanish in thin
air. Goofy's shield or attacks like his Tornado can deflect it for you, too.
- Shuriken Guard: two of them will be formed now, and spin up and down around
Vexen, protecing him. He seems to use it only when you're very up close, as a
defense mechanism. If you notice he's going to attack with you near him and you
have no chance to back away in time, cast Reflect.
- Shuriken Throw: 3 of them comes in a very low height in a V-shape like motion
and seem to stop only if it hits you, a wall, or travels way too long. As you
can see, this is a long range attack, and unlike the regular one, it moves very
fast. I've only seen Vexen use this later in the battle (be it due to his lower
health, or creation of an Anti-Sora, beats me).
Every Shuriken deals damage on the firts hit only: the hits that follow from
its spinning will just cause you to stay still, giving him a chance to extract
more data.
So, the concept is easy: stay away, block one attack (most commonly the Ice
Shuriken), do a single combo, and back away. Repeat till shield is broken, then
go for a combo on him. But we have the following difficulties:
Annoyance 1, Bullseye: you cannot do more than a single combo, that this thing
shall reach you. So keep moving all the time.
Annoyance 2, Shield: breaking it is so annoying, as only finishers will shatter
it. As you can see, it's higely recommended that you don't equip any Combo Plus
ability, so you can use a finisher as your third attacks (you want the other
two normal attacks, so you can Slide Dash/Flash Step closer up). Try to avoid
using Explosin to shatter it, because its multi hits might start hitting Vexen
after you break the shield, messing up your combo chain. Also, magic seems to
not affect the shield.
Annoyance 3, Anti-Sora: you will end up having to deal with it, there's no
viable way of killing Vexen at Level 1 without facing it (unless it's that late
game and you spam Final Form and Firaga, but still). Anti-Sora is too agile,
and if you get hit by a combo, you'll die at Level 1. Period. Due to this, you
wanna kill it fast and safely. I know that Level 1 and 2 of data will create
Anti-Soras I could kill with two Thundaras + 1 finisher Thundara (and a second
one for Level 2). If you go to combo it as it rushes at you, you should be able
to get it offguard. It may also counter, but just back away after a while, and
wait for another opening. Overall, Thunder-magic spamming is the safest choice.
Annoyance 4, damaging Vexen: alright you broke his shield and he's there to
learn the meaning of pain. Once you start your combo, you cannot let Vexen
recover until you're happy. Depending on your combo chain, you will provoke a
counter from Vexen, causing a icicle to form below you. I hate timing evasive
manuever, let alone do them every time I have a chance to combo him. So you
must prepare yourself beforehand. I'll suggest here two combo chains that...
- forcing a counter: from Bizkit's vid, his combo choice was:
2 hits - Guard Break - Explosion - 2 hits - GB - 2 hits - GB - E
With this chain, after the 3rd Guard Break, Vexen would counter with the
icicle, but the Explosion in the end would protect you with i-frames, and
additionally deal some damage to the just-created shield.
My personal choice for the Silhouette battle, which can be used as soon as
you reach Agrabah:
2 hits - Finishing Leap - Aerial Spiral - Horizontal Slash x5 - 2 hits
- Finishing Leap
This combo also forces a counter, with Sora standing on the air... then I
simply let Sora fall a little bit, then Aerial Dodge away: this wait time will
help out so we'll use the i-frames from the Aerial Dodge to escape the icicle
from the counter. This combo requires the Star Seeker and both Air Combo Pluses
abilities. The good side of this is that it keeps Sora on the move, so you will
not have the Bullseye extracting Data from you while you attack Vexen.
You can alternatively not force a counter, which can save you some time risky
manuevers sometimes. As you can see, if you're going to force a counter, you
must have a dodging plan set for the icicle. Try your combo chains and pick the
one you get comfortable with.
Vexen is weak to Fire (unlike in CoM, where he is weak to Thunder (!)), so you
might consider the use of Fira(gas) in your combo chains. Take note that the
finisher will send him away, and that you stay still while doing it, so you may
have Data extracted during such time.
Try not to face more than two Anti-Soras in the battle: a Level 3 Anti-Sora has
way too much HP for your efforts to handle.
I have never seen Vexen use two attacks that make his Data version a pain, them
being the Icicle Chase and his Desperate Move. As Data versions behave
differently and they'll have their own section later on, I won't include those
here as I haven't seen him use them. But if you did, let me know.
After some annoying endurance fest, you should finish Vexen off: the Silhouette
version is really dumbed down and should be easy to handle once you learn the
hang of breaking the shield (one combo at a time after he uses a Shuriken) and
choose a good combo chain of your liking that deals good damage and you evade
(or avoid) his icicle counter.
Vexen gives you the recipe for his weapon, Freeze Pride, for Goofy. It's very
possible to synth it up now, if you want, as it requires Tranquil Materials,
from the Mushrooms you should have defeated by now. It's not a good weapon, but
it does look very cool.
+++ +++
===== HALLOWEEN TOWN - VISIT 2 =====
Short visits and nice prizes FTW.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Capture Lock, Shock and Barrel! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Item Slot Up
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Auto Change
(Jack) HP +5
These little kids can do some serious damage. Luckily, though, they seem to
only have one attack each: the skinny red one throws different objects, the
other boy runs like hell around, and the girl spins around. Yeah I don't know
them by their names. :p
As you can see, they use mostly short range attacks AND cannot attack you in
the air, except maybe for the throwing one. Your goal is to damage them down to
1HP, so you can throw the boxes at them with the RC. As Sora throws the boxes
at the direction he is facing, it'd be wise to keep Locked On your target when
tossing them to capture the kids.
Although it sounds easy, they move fast. VERY fast. This makes it a tough job
to capture them, and as they are very small and hard to keep track of. It also
seems they can somewhat counter, but I've only seem something like it once.
So, in order to weak them out, you can abuse Magnera: after using it, you can
cast some Fira(ga)s to damage them all together. Watch out if one of the kids
is not caught by the Magnet, as it WILL attack you while you are busy with the
others. Once your MP is low, you might as well consider using Jack's Limit, or
even Donald's, for some nice i-frames and damage. If you're MP-less, use aerial
combos and abuse Magnet Splash.
Remember, though, that they will recover health fully if you don't capture them
in time. However, time should be plenty.
+++ +++
Now to get the presents back, remember that you must kill the Heartless that
holds it for it to drop, and any hit you take will drop a present from you. A
strategy I like is using Jack's Limit accordingly and grabbing them while you
move around. Donald's or even a nice Trinity Limit can also handle it. If you
still fail to obtain them all in one Limit, abuse aerial attacks with the aid
of Magnet Splash to keep all the enemies busy: you don't really wanna get hit,
even more with the Graveyards around.
After shooting presents around like cannon balls, get going for the last battle
around this place.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Experiment +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2
(Donald) Jackpot
(Goofy) HP +2
(Jack) HP +10
Most people just hate this battle, period. Me too. :p
The Experiment hits hard. Like, HARD, which makes this one or two hits KO at
Level 1, regardless of what you have equipped. Add that some of his attacks
are that difficult to avoid, get ready for many continues before beating him,
let alone do it No Damage.
Among the Experiments attacks, we have:
- Claw Stomp: it'll slam its claw on the ground and cause an energy wave to
spread, hitting you if you are on the ground nearby it. Jumping is your best
bet, which also allows you to combo it, but sometimes you might not want to.
Watch out as the arm can also hit you while it moves.
- Laser: a laser beam will come from its head, aiming down near it then coming
up till it reaches you, on a vertical motion. This is fast, and the bad news
are, the head may move horizontally so you won't escape this easily. Dodge Roll
to the side would be your first idea but this isn't usually enough. And since
it likes using around 3 in a row, you will get hit to death, as Aerial Recovery
will help you escape only once, if you time it perfectly. Dodge Rolling toward
the Experiment might end up a better choice. Sometimes it uses it only once and
follow right away with another attack.
- Arm Vacuum: it uses one of its hand to suck you nearer it. He likes using
this followed by the Laser, which makes it a tough combination to dodge as your
best bet includes moving toward him. Reflect spam, maybe? Actually I learned
that Dodge Rolling toward the Experiment, then Dodge Rolling back again, will
help you keeping your distance and get you through the Lasers. Take note that
the third and last Laser will come a little faster, so you'll be Dodge Rolling
non-stop. If you wanna see a way to dodge this, check my video on my YouTube
channel.
- Slide Dash: the Experiment will dash toward you with its claw in front of it
to damage you. It's a fast attack but possible to notice and Guard or Reflect
in time, allowing you to combo it once
One very neat detail is that everytime you hit it with a finisher, a body part
will deattach from the main body. The part that will deattach is responsable
for one of those attacks, and its chosen at random. And when they deattach,
they attack on their own. Scary thing. Only one part can be removed, even if
you use more finishers.
Phase 1 consists of these attacks, always starting the battle with the Claw
Stomp. You can only damage it until a certain point, where you are forced to
hit with it a finisher to continue, breaking it in pieces. Using Jack's Limit
or Donald's along with combos should suffice to reach that point, if you wanna
do it the easy way.
The hard way consists of dodging its attacks and using the opening after each.
If you use finishers, you'll have loose body parts to watch out for, but this
means the main body cannot use them anymore. The Stomp will keep hopping around
doing energy waves on the ground; the head will slowly move shooting laser down
and try to follow you; the slide dashing arm will stay still waving around self
trying to hit you; and the vacuum arm... I've never seen it deattach.
You can avoid this by using only Horizontal Slashes, but a loose head will sure
prove useful, actually. Take your pick. Remember that a loose part will not
allow the main body to use it, but the actual move might still be used, so you
will see the Claw Stomp without the claw, but the other arm can still hit you.
If you go for a combo while it uses the Claw Stomp, watch out as the arms can
hit you while you're comboing it: try to jump as hig has possible to hit the
head and thus escape their movement and possible hit.
Once it reaches the HP Cap, it will initially restore its parts back (which
may also happen at random if you take some time after deattaching any part
before), and only then you can use a finisher to move to the next phase.
Only after reaching the HP cap in Full Form and hitting it with a finisher, its
parts will scatter around, with a remaining Reversed Torso left. The Torso will
spin around itself and move toward you every now and then: Guard or Reflect it,
and use its recovery time from a charge at you to grab it with the RC: Sora
will throw it at a random body part, making it get damaged by its own attacks.
As you can come closer before it recovers for another attack, you can repeat
the RC as many times as you need.
Take note that the fixed body parts will use their attacks on the Torso, BUT
they can also use it on you if you're nearby. Also watch out that while they
damage the Torso they can also hit you. This is specially important to remember
when the Torso is thrown against the head, as the Laser used by it may hit you,
so get ready to use Aerial Dodge toward it (to reach the Torso again) and
slightly to the side, to avoid the central beam.
After you damage the Torso enough against its own parts, the Experiment will
attach itself back again, but now on an Inversed Form, which can float around
magically. This Form seems to have only the Claw Stomp attack, which doesn't
hit the ground now, but acts just like before, as both arms are used and can
damage you upon contact. The Claw Attack can and will be used as a counter,
depending on the combo chain you use.
It's rare, but Inversed Form may also reach for the Head and use the Laser: it
is way easier to dodge now, thanks to the time it takes to use it (allowing you
to notice it in time) and how it fires 3 beams at once only one time. In vids
out there I've seen it use the Head for a constant, single Laser, trying to
follow you, but that should be even easier to escape and gives you a free
opening to combo it: either attack it uses, be running to the sides and
possibly use Dodge Roll/Quick Run to aid on escaping the Laser, although going
around the Experiment will do the job as best as it can.
While on a Inversed Form, the Experiment might deattach itself completely at
will, resuming the RC Phase where you have to damage it against itself.
When it reaches around 85% of its last HP bar, it'll reach another HP cap, at
which you'll hit its Inversed Form with a finisher to break it all apart,
leaving only the Inversed Torso left. Now it can only use its Body Spin attack
to damage you, but by know it'll be way less aggressive so you're pretty much
done with the battle by now.
+++ +++
***** Revisiting Halloween Town *****
Mushroom II is now accessable in the same place you fought the Experiment. It's
simple: by each shot you send back, you gain 2 points, and each shot that hits
the 'Shroom, you get 1 point. He'll fire 33 shots in total, in many different
speed and formations. You could consider Guard, but it's not worth the trouble.
People like using Final Form's Glide Lvl 2 (or was it 3?) along with Auto
Assault, but I always mess myself up when I need to reposition. My strategy:
summon Stitch and spam Reflect: Stitch should handle your MP needs. This is a
good way to obtain Goofy's best shield, the Limited Mushroom.
Only one Puzzle Piece missing until you have Glide, in the place you fought the
Prison Keeper.
For enemies, the Toy Soldiers and Graveyards are your biggest worry. They act
the same, and can only be truly stunned by finishers and when they are in the
air, but the Graveyard is even more dangerous, as it has ghosts moving around
it and its attacks are even faster: or so it seemed as I died to them. Abuse
Limits, Magnet Splash, Reflect, WHATEVER. They are always a pain, even more in
Level 1. Or you can just leave them alone as Wight Knights also provide the
same synth item, Lucid Stone.
Farm 'em!
- Lightning Stone (Driller Mole, Emerald Blue);
- Lightning Gem (Armored Knight);
- Lucid Shard (Trick Ghost);
- Lucid Stone (Graveyard, Toy Soldier, Wight Knight);
- Lucid Crystal (Neoshadow);
- Power Shard (Creeper Plant);
- Bright Shard (Creeper Plant);
- Bright Stone (Driller Mole, Wight Knight);
- Bright Crystal (Neoshadow);
- Energy Stone (Trick Ghost);
- Energy Gem (Emerald Blue);
*** ***
===== PRIDE LANDS - VISIT 2 =====
Boring visit. =/
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Corner the Hyenas down! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Accessory Slot Up
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) MP Rage
(Simba) HP +5
I've never seen them attack here. Give chase, use Running Tackle to hurt and
stun them, and combo. What a waste.
+++ +++
After some running around and annoying battles with Heartless...
++++ BOSS BATTLE: Groundshaker +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2, Thunder Element
(Simba) HP +5
I hate this battle.
Well, the battle starts with the Jump RC sequence. Just mash Triangle till the
end to have a stunned boss in front of you. You can damage it on the eyes of
the rhino head in the front, so go for your combos and aim for the eye that's
laying on the ground: two full combos with 2 "Square finishers" should be good.
Okay, and I will find out the name of this finisher. Note: if you use only one
finisher, you can add in 3 combo chains. Sweet!
After that, you can climb on the Shaker using the RCs, and reach the Monkey
Mask in the top, which is what actually control this beast. It uses some
lightning attacks, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn't find a way to
dodge them that's not Reflect spamming. If it goes spinning around and using
the bolts, you can evade it by Dash Sliding in a circle, as I'll describe
later below. For single Bolt Balls above your head, you're better off with
Reflect or running for the hell of it.
The Monkey head, if hit enough, will fall apart and stay stunned for a while
for you to damage it. If you don't take too long to jump on it and combo the
head quickly, you should destroy it with your second regular finisher. Avoid
using Finishing Blast (the Square finisher, ha!) here, as it's slow and might
leave you open too much until the last hit kicks in, and some thunderbolt will
hit you and throw your attempt to waste. If you notice something's on the way,
cast Reflect and move out immediately. It may also punch around and move its
body forward: although you can physically evade it, use Reflect. Really. And
also move away while casting Reflect. Play safe. :p
As I updated this I ended up describing the attacks below. Bear with my
laziness to reorganize this. :p
Note: I figured that the Finishing Blast is actually good on breaking the
Monkey Mask. *shrugs* So is Aerial Pulse spamming.
After dealing enough damage to the Monkey Mask, the Groundshaker will go wild
some: it starts docile sending Fire Waves, which go straight forward, but after
some time it will send fast and tracking waves: running won't always suffice so
get ready to Reflect if you wanna escape harmlessly.
While it is walking calming and sending Straight Fire Waves, you can try go and
combo the eyes: you should, actually. But take note that the Fire Waves will
become more constant, almost as if a new one is sent each time you hit it. Use
this to your advantage and cast Reflect to evade them and damage the eye of the
Rhino Head at the same time. It's nice when he gets stuck against one end of
the battlefield and you can just stay still casting Reflect and comboing.
What bugs me is how sometimes Fire Waves pop up right next to you, if you are
far from the Shaker: and it also seems random on how they move. And Tracking
Waves it sends also likes to split. I haven't noticed a pattern to this.
After dealing more damage to it, it'll become angrier and move faster: you
probably won't manage to keep up. Random Chaser Fire Waves (some big name :p)
will annoy you, until the Shaker reaches the other end and jumps up once again.
From my attempts, every time he would move faster, the next time he would jump
would always be followed by another Jump RC sequence, and always added by
random Chasing Fire Waves. I hate those.
Once it goes for the final part, after the second RC sequence and low health,
it won't run around anymore: you'll have to jump on it. But now openings are
very few, as it'll use among the following attacks:
- Bolt Punch: the Monkey guy will go transparent, move nearby you, perform a
sequence of punches, followed by a ghostly dash/charge/you name it. Either you
spam Reflect, use a Limit... or simply move out of the way quickly. Best way to
move out would be jumpping off the Shaker or climbing it, depending on where
you are
- Monkey Combo: just like before, I suck at coming up with names. And this is
one of the attacks it could use before, where it does a few punches right in
front of itself, and then does a body slam forward. Staying to the sides or
Reflect spamming are the best choices to avoid this.
- Bolt Spinroll: you know when the masks roll around and spin above the Shaker,
letting go many bolt beams, chasing you. It can use it here now, too. It seems
to sometimes perform two complete spins, but it usually does only one. To avoid
them, you can spam Reflect... use Limit... oh look! This one allows another
choice, actually. Start Dashing and let Sora slide in a circle around: you'll
lose some speed, but the turning movement will keep the beams off you.
- Eternal Beam: a single ball of electricity is formed in front of it, and two
bolt beams will come out of it, and keep on navigating around, as if the boss
is drawing something on this "ground". This is a good opportunity to combo the
boss, but the beams eventually reach right near the mask and can damage you. I
like spamming Aerial Impulse a small number of times, let the beams move some,
then go for some more: this, along with the Impulse's moving properties, helps
evading those beams. Or you can stay near the Mask and cast Reflect when a
beam comes close and try to connect.
It's still possible to break the masks down, but openings are much fewer now.
The bad thing, now, is that the Monkey Mask Boss will use attacks non-stop,
even when you are NOT above the Shaker. So, either you keep climbing it up and
down, evading the Bolt Punches and waiting for an opening after the other
attacks, or you just use a Limit to finish the battle, as its HP should be at
the last bar by now. Remember to try and not spam the Limit's attacks
mindlessly, try to get the most of each input. There is nothing more you can do
in the end but wait for openings or use a Limit.
Notice how the actual boss, which is the Monkey Head that control the giant
beast, uses electrical attacks? And we get Thundaga here. OMGZ SENSE!!!
+++ +++
***** Revisiting Pride Lands *****
Last S&S, go to Atlantica and obtain Blizzaga and an Orichalcum+.
Once you learn to spam Aerial Impulse, the Living Bones won't pose much of a
threat. If you can't do it as soon as you spot them, spam Reflect as they try
to use either the spinning or biting attacks, giving you a chance to use the
Rodeo RC. Magnet is a last resource, too, stunning them. If it has a Shaman on
it, it may also allow you to use the Dispel RC, which deals good damage on the
enemies around you. The bad side is that they will pretty much kill you for
sure if you get caught by most of their attacks, so wait and Reflect off if you
cannot go Aerial Impulsing.
The other enemies are, in general, weak, except for the strong ANNOYANCE of the
Shamans: although weak in the HP department, their spells and mask travelling
attacks will annoy (and kill) the hell out of you. KEEP THEM BUSY somehow. I
like using Magnet as soon as I spot them. Even if I attack other enemies, there
are chances your partners will kill them, or keep them busy, too. If you don't
mind wasting MP way too fast, cast Thundaga on them till they are finished.
Farm 'em!
- Lightning Shard (Rapid Thruster, Bolt Tower);
- Lightning Gem (Armored Knight);
- Frost Crystal (Living Bone);
- Lucid Crystal (Neoshadow);
- Power Gem (Aerial Knocker, Shaman);
- Bright Gem (Aerial Knocker);
- Bright Crystal (Neoshadow);
- Energy Shard (Bolt Tower);
- Energy Crystal (Shaman);
- Serenity Stone (Living Bone);
Random notes include that at some point in Pooh's book we obtained the Recipe
for the Guard Up, which could have been synth'd up for quite a while, actually.
Also, the Titan Cup provides the Genji Shield and the Skillful Ring, and that's
easy to obtain by abusing Chicken Little's Magnet properties, and Stitch with
the MP Recovery for infinite Reflects against Hercules' punches. A more
detailed strategy shall be provided later, for all Cups, once we finish the
game.
*** ***
===== HOLLOW BASTION - VISIT 3 =====
Also known as Space Paranoids, Visit 2. :p
Thanks to the messy Defense Mechanism, I would avoid fighting in town. Just
move on until you get back to Space Paranoids. You cannot die in the Heartless
fight in front of Merlin's House, nor it makes a difference if you beat them.
Oh, and before you get back in Space Paranoids, go to the now open door to the
right of the terminal, and obtain two Puzzle Pieces and the Cosmic Chain.
===== SPACE PARANOIDS - VISIT 2 =====
This begins with a forced fight, cool! ... Maybe not. Go to the Game Grid.
It all starts with 2 Magnum Loaders and 2 Devastators: start with Reflect as
the Devastators will come to punch you. They have that annoying electric
counter, so move out of the way or use Comet or something as Reflect spamming.
Bad news are, it's annoying to handle two of them at the same time, as they may
behave differently. Cheap way is using Comet and spamming attacks. Honest way?
More Reflect, LOL. Just kidding. Remove all your Combo Pluses for early
finishers, abuse Dodge Roll, Reflect on their counters, and Magnet to stun.
Three more Magnum Loaders will join after you deal with the first wave. Magnet
them and you're good to go. During the whole battle, keep your eyes sharp for
their RCs: they will kill you if you miss the chance and get hit by them.
On your way to the I/O Tower, you'll have another forced Heartless battle. It
begins simple with 3 Strafers, but things get messier as a Devastator joins
with 2 Strafers after the first wave, then last wave comes with 3 Devastators,
but with 2 at a time. Abuse Limits or anything if you don't wanna go through
the trouble of fighting these annoying enemies the honest way.
One annoying thing about the Devastators is that they will not always counter
in the same recovery period: sometimes they will barely reposition one of their
floating multi-purpose devices and charge at you for the electrical counter;
other times, they will recover almost completely before coming. Either way, it
is good practice to try and keep on the move, as even running normally might
suffice to move Sora away from their reach with the counter. You can also cast
Reflect 3 times, or if they don't do a very fast counter, you can try and hit
them with a finisher before they recover.
Now into the Solar Sailor.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Protect the Solar Sailor from the ambush! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Explosion
(Donald) MP Hastera
(Goofy) HP +2
(Tron) HP +5
You have a time limit in this battle. It's like, the longer the enemies stay,
the more weight they make and make the Sailor unstable. So, be quick.
Battle begins with 2 Devastators and 1 Magnum Loader. As always the Devastators
will come for a punch right away, so Reflect them. You might get to use the
Magnum Loader RC while you're at it. Remember to keep your eyes on the little
Devastators all the time: your partners may keep them busy and counter on them
instead, but they might come and try to punch you every now and then. This is
actually a good opening to use Reflect. I recommend the Hero's Crest along with
aerial attacks. If you can't handle them through Aerial Finish, Magnet Splash
and Reflects, use Tron's Limit. If they are near death and got far from you,
remember you can always use Thundaga. In my early days of KH2 I recall spamming
Thundaga under Master Form on these guys.
Second wave is about many many Strafers and Magnum Loaders. This should be easy
if you make use of your partners, Magnet Splash, Magnera and whatever else you
wanna do to them. Make use of this time to recover the possibly lost MP from
the first wave.
Last wave is where hell is set free: 3 Devastators, TOGETHER, in this tight
place. Choice one, use Tron's Limit, NOW. Choice two, use Master Form and spam
Thundaga. Although it's not a good choice at Level 1. Choice 3, summon Stitch
and spam Reflect. You can use Magnet to provoke them into the counter, too.
But this isn't too reliable, either, as Stitch will get busy trying to shoot
their incoming attacks that might forget to restore your gone MP. Choice 4,
summon Genie and spam his Wisdom Limit. But you're better off with Tron's if
you're going to use Limit anyway. Seriously, I hate this part and wouldn't dare
do it without some sort of Limits if I'm going for No Damage. Sure, it might
just be possible. But why bother? Just use Tron's Limit. Even *I* didn't act
masochist here. >_>
If anyone has any great ideas for this fight, please share.
+++ +++
Equip the Holy/Decivise Pumpkin. Remove your Combo Pluses if you still have any
equipped. Open the chests with a Orichalcum+, AP Up, the Map and Cosmic Art.
Equip your new Explosion ability, keep Guard Break, too. I also strongly
suggest you give Tron and Goofy the Auto-Change ability (it's the last one of
Tron's list). Keep Tron's Limit just in case. Save. Go.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Sark and the MPC +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2, Reflect Element
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Accessory Slot Up
(Tron) HP +5
The battle starts with a weak Sark and a team of Strafers aiding him. This is
so simple, it's not even funny. Everytime you hit Sark to much, he'll teleport
away as a counter, and always throw his disk at you: which you can block and
throw back with the RC, stunning Sark. A stunned Sark can be combo'd till he
teleports away and throws his disk. See a loop? Just watch out not to get into
the air if Goofy uses his Tornado on the Strafers, as you cannot use the RC for
the Disk if you are in the air. I don't recall seeing Sark using anything else,
making this part so simple I won't go into further detail.
Now the real battle begins. You can only damage the MCP by destroying the walls
that protect it and using the RC along with Tron on your team, conscious. You
will have a oversized Sark around to bother you: in order to stun Sark, you
must damage both his legs to no health, which will bring him on his knees so
you can hit his head. You will probably have to do it twice in order to take
away all of his health and stun him for sure, to have time to damage the MCP.
Sark is rather simple, and I've only seen him use two attacks:
- Disk Swipe: he'll throw his Disk very close to the ground, running around all
the field. He seems to use this if you try to move away from him. You can jump
over it, or even Guard it (!).
- Mega Bolt: used when you are near him, around 4 thunderbolts will strike down
at your location. This can be Dodge Roll'd to evade, but it's even better to
just cast Reflect, as the bubbles will explode and damage Sark's legs. This
attack is easy to spot coming as Sark will stretch up then kneel down as the
bolts strike, not to mention the screen going dark.
You damage his legs, then his head. Repeat (as at Level 1 you are unlikely to
damage him enough in one go), then make use of this time to hit the blocks that
protect the MCP. The MCP can do nothing but take damage from your RC with Tron.
Wait, it actually can:
- Spinning Blocks: the blocks that form the protective wall will spin around,
and the speed is such that it can damage you if you come close. The main point
of this attack is to change the position of the opening you have to use the RC.
- Wall Laser: this is used as a counter after sometime using the RC on it, as
the MCP will shake the blocks around and move them down in a way that you'll
have a block in your face, firing a laser. As you can see, you must stop using
the RC so regain control of Sora and move him out of the way. Another use of
this attack comes with a slow spinning of the blocks, firing the lasers from
random blocks in fixed intervals: keep your eyes on the flashing walls to know
if a laser is coming your way. Use Dodge Roll to help escaping the incoming
lasers while the wall is moving, as running alone won't help much.
See? It's rather simple. After stunning Sark, you break the block wall (or move
to an opening nearby), use the RC on the MCP, stop as the blocks spin wild and
come down for a Laser, avoid the upcoming spinning Wall Laser, probably stun
Sark again... and repeat, until victory.
One cool thing is that after some damage is dealt to the MCP, Sark will gain
one new "move", which actually does nothing and helps you out: he'll create a
huge wall on the circular field you are, blocking you as you try to move too
far from him. His goal is to make you an easy target for his Disk Swipe, but if
you get near the wall, you can use the Needle Dive RC, which will totally stun
Sark. This is cool and makes the battle easier to handle, as everytime Sark
recovers his sense, all you need to do is move far from him to stun him again
with this cool RC.
Your main headache will be, surprisingly, the Wall Lasers. They have a large
area of effect, and the blocks can still move until they move down a little, so
the timing to dodge them safely without Reflect is rather strict. Even if you
use Reflect, this won't safe Tron, who is needed for the RC against the MCP:
this is when the Auto-Changes come in handy. If you keep Donald always on the
team, say you have Tron: as Tron gets KO'd, he is switched by Goofy, and as
Tron goes reserve his HP is restored. If Goofy gets KO'd, a live Tron comes in
the game and a HP-restored Goofy is on reserve. This way you will ALWAYS have
Tron available, even if that means switching Goofy out because Tron is on
reserve.
An easy way to avoid the Lasers as they come down after you use the Delete RC
is to just use Reflect twice, but I enjoyed using a diagonal Dodge Roll to any
side: if you do it horizontally, you might just fall into another Laser, LOL.
You can't afford such pwnage. Remember to use the camera in your favor by
moving it to show the Lasers above you.
Take note that the Spinning Blocks may happen even while you deal with King
Size Sark, and get you offguard. Also, the Mega Bolt may come while you are
comboing Sark's legs, so watch out for the sudden Reflect you'll have to cast.
Overall easy, just annoying to get No Damage on. I really like this battle,
though, for some reason. Its concept appeals to me.
+++ +++
***** Revisiting Space Paranoids (and Hollow Bastion) *****
In the Area you fought the MCP there is one Puzzle Piece. You can get here
through the Terminal in Ansem's Study, if you wanna avoid going through the
Solar Sailor. There's still one you cannot get until we have Glide.
There's only one thing for you to worry about here, and that's known as the
Devastator. These guys are a pain with their counters and long range attacks.
Thing is, by now you should be used to them, and they don't gang up on you too
much in the regular battles here (except for the Solar Sailor, you will at most
fight two at the same time, without other enemies).
So, for Space Paranoids, get the Puzzle Piece mentioned above and farm items:
Farm 'em!
- Blazing Stone (Cannon Gun);
- Lightning Gem (Surveillance Robot);
- Lightning Crystal (Devastator, Strafer);
- Lucid Gem (Bookmaster, Magnum Loader);
- Bright Gem (Magnum Loader, Surveillance Robot);
- Bright Crystal (Strafer);
- Energy Crystal (Bookmaster);
- Serenity Stone (Devastator);
There is one optional boss you can fight now, Sephiroth. I would love to write
a strategy for him now, but it'll have to wait a little, until we are done with
the main game. Future updates will have his battle included here.
*** ***
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - VISIT 3 =====
Geez, seriously why Sora and Donald act so dumb in this game? 0_o
Before moving on, consider going to the through the Underground Tunnels: not
only you'll have familiar Nobodies to fight, but you can now also access new
treasure chests and Puzzle Pieces, with a Orichalcum+ in the Sunset Terrace.
Also in the Terrace, you can reach the Puzzle Piece above the small waterfall
where a Shadow Roxas came from in the beginning of the game with the aid of
High Jump, Aerial Dodge and an aerial attack.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Protect the Twilight Gang with the help of Mickey! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2
(Donald) Lucky Lucky (finally!)
(Goofy) HP +2
Hooray! King Mickey to the rescue! Wait, he doesn't help that much. But at
least it'll keep some enemies busy. Deflect the Samurais attacks somehow and
get an opening for the Duel Stance RC: I love this thing.
Apart from the Samurais, nothing offers much danger here. Well, the group of
Creepers may use its lance attack and get you offguard, if you don't see it
coming. Attack the Samurais from a distance or properly Guard/Reflect their
attacks to avoid getting combo'd to death
A nice slack-off battle, I would say, and it's the only non-Disney boss
occurance of The Encounter: this song is so cool.
+++ +++
In the Mansion Foyer, you can get that Puzzle Piece high up by Driving into
Master and using its Aerial Dodge Lvl3 and an aerial attack. Visit the other
rooms for more Puzzle Pieces and treasure chests. Use the second option to
move on (not that getting it wrong does anything). But before moving forward,
I would suggest moving to there the Sleeping Chamber was and obtain the Ultima
Recipe and one more Puzzle Piece.
In theory, you can fight Nobodies in Twilight Town's Underground Tunnels all
the time now, but I wouldn't bother: most of their synth items you will be
able to obtain them soon enough along with many others.
Moving on and you'll meet with... Dusks.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Make your way past the Nobodies with Axel's help! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Slap Shot
Initially you'll have to beat some Dusks with Goofy and Donald helping out. So
easy I wonder why I bothered writing this. Axel's feelins a little regret and
wants to help you. He won't be of much help as he's exhauested (dunno why), but
he's cool to watch fighting.
This battle just have groups of Dusks and Assassins that will join as you kill
the other Nobodies. As you can see, your only worry is the Assassins, that may
get you offguard easily. Prepare your Reflects, as Guarding them can be tricky.
They all go for Axel, though, so it shouldn't cause you much headache. Watch
out and use their RCs when possible: if you fail, try Reflecting ASAP.
It's simple to get through this battle. If you wanna do No Damage, just stay
away and watch carefully before doing anything.
And all he wanted was to meet once again with Roxas... =/
+++ +++
But Bond of Flame is awesome looking, at least.
===== THE WORLD THAT NEVER WAS =====
We are finally here. Ignore the chests for now, as you'll be passing by them
for quite the number of time. And now with the most awesome battle...
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Roxas +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2, Combo Master
Everyone loves fighting Roxas. It is difficult, but so rewarding.
Our fella doesn't have the widest selection of attacks, but they all offer
great danger. In Level 1, getting caught by almost anything is garanteed death.
- Combo: Roxas swiftly prepare his Keyblades, and comes for a big combo on you.
If you pay attention his motions are the same of the Samurais when they use
their own combo. Well, at least similar. In the end, Roxas jumps back and comes
with a very strong charge, doing an X-Cross slash. This Combo shall be Guarded
to avoid, but you can also spam Reflect: good luck getting MP back for the
whole battle full of Combos. Guarding the X-Cross slash will briefly stun
Roxas, making him lose his balance and giving you an opening to attack. Take
note that, if you were Dodge Rolling or Quick Running away from him for any
reason and he started using this, it is also possible to continuously Quick
Run away to avoid this attack, and wait for the X-Cross finisher to Guard and
counter back. If you let Roxas recover he will use a Retaliating Slash like
move, so watch out!
- OO Wave: also his opening attack in battle, Roxas will hold the Keyblades on
his sides, then open them quickly, forming and sending circular waves of energy
with quite the reach. There are actually multiple waves causing multiple hits,
so this is deadly, too. As Roxas stands still and has quite the visual cue,
this is something you can easily Guard against. Desperate, alternative actions
would be casting Reflect or even Dodge Rolling INTO it, but be careful with the
Dodge Roll method as you'll get hit by the last waves if you Dodge Roll too
soon and your i-frames are gone. You can also jump to evade this, but I wonder
what you can do after it. Roxas is briefly open to be combo'd after he uses
this, so plain Guarding (without Counterguard, as Sora gets pulled back
significantly when Guarding this attack, and the Counterguard might not reach
Roxas sometimes (!!)) is your best bet to use this opening.
- Key Spin: Roxas will jump, spin vertically and move down and toward you. This
is one of his choices to close down the distance between you two, as he'll
reach you wherever you are on the field. This can be Guarded, or Dodge Rolled
to the side to avoid. Roxas is barely open after using this, if at all: seems
like he would only get stunned and get combo'd because he would be walking
after this, instead of having a true opening. I would avoid comboing him after
this attack. This is also one of his counters if you combo him too much: due
to the nature of this attack, you don't want him nearby (or have Sora in the
air) when he counters you.
- Light Dash: Roxas will dash around, with light surrounding him. This is what
he uses to come closer to you, but it's also an option to throw you off balance
and lose sight of him, making you perform actions to the wrong side and leaving
yourself open. You will know when he uses this, due to the clear audio and
visual cues. Roxas cannot be hit while he's Dashing around.
This alone makes it seem simple, but even in the beginning of the battle you
can (and will) be easily killed. You must use the openings from the Combos and
OO Waves to attack Roxas. The most used combo chain here is 3 standard hits and
Guard Break, repeated. It's not usually good to have a Roxas countering on you,
unless you're looping him.
Talking about loop, it's quite possible here, too. For normal Roxas, you want
to equip the Rumbling Rose and both Combo Pluses, along with Finishing Plus.
After your second Guard Break (with 4 hits before each), Roxas will counter,
which when you use a Reflect, followed by another Guard Break. The second Guard
Break will count for the new "chain", so a new string will have Roxas
countering after the new Guard Break. See the loop?
hit - hit - hit - hit - Guard Break
hit - hit - hit - hit - Guard Break* - Reflect - Guard Break
hit - hit - hit - hit - Guard Break* - Reflect - Guard Break
hit - hit - hit - hit - Guard Break* - Reflect - Guard Break...
The * means when Roxas will counter with the Key Spin. In the Data version the
concept is the same, but as Roxas counters sooner, you will remove your Combo
Pluses, having only 2 hits before each Guard Break.
Note that in his regular battle, Roxas might break out of the loop and go for
a Combo without much previous warning: he'll just simply start comboing. I
couldn't find any pattern to this, unlike in his Data version that only breaks
out the loop through different finishers. Use Trinity Limit to help you escape
the unexpected Combo.
If you choose a no-counter/loop strategy, just do whatever combo chain you like
and knows that won't have Roxas countering. Remember that if Roxas get hit by
Reflect before, for any reason, you might have him countering as the damage
from the bubbles will count as part of the chain, so adapt it in case you stun
him with Reflect before.
For the no-counter/loop strategy, waiting for Roxas' next move is where the
risk is: you'll have to quickly recognize his pose for the Combo and Guard it
in time. If he goes for an OO Wave, you should have the time to Guard again
when he's about to use it, so no need to worry ig you Guarded, thinking a Combo
would come. Take note, though, that Roxas might use the Key Spin or Dash around
to reach you if you are too far: to prevent this, be sure to stay somewhat
close to him. See those segments around the very border of this circular battle
field? Keeping the distance of about one segment should be safe enough to make
sure Roxas will attack with Combo or OO Wave after he recovers.
After you deal some damage, Roxas will gain three new bonuses:
- Desperate Move: Roxas will Dash to the center, float up, and after some cool
visual effects, several Light Balls will come at you, one at a time. Stay as
far as you can and run to either side (most people seem to prefer running to
the right... beats me why. Must be because of the game's camera). In this
battle pure running, as long as you smoothly move the camera so Sora won't run
against the invisible wall, should suffice for you to evade this. You can add
some Dodge Roll, or preferably Quick Run to help you escape them.
- Final Arcana: Usually used right after Dashing, Roxas will send both his
Keyblades spinning like saws on you, and repeat it a second time as if that
doesn't hurt enough. This is deadly at Level 1. I tried many times and couldn't
find a way to safely avoid this: it's too quick for the human eye to notice,
and even though it can be Guarded, you must time it perfectly as Roxas will
send them from another side after the first throw. This is also used as a
counter from now on: if you're using the loop strategy, casting Reflect twice
should suffice FOR NOw.
- Light Pillars: pillars of light will he used as Roxas does any of his moves,
except for the new ones. Meaning a curtain of light pillars with the Key Spin,
a pillar barrier for the OO Wave, and continuous pillars on his Combo, and even
when he dashes around (!!). For the Key Spin, most of your previous evasive
manuevers should still work, unless if you were Dodge Rolling to the sides
instead of forward. For the Combo, they rarely hit you, and if you Guard it
from the beginning, the pillars surely won't hit you. For the OO Wave, just
now start keeping a one-and-a-half segment distance from Roxas before Guarding
it, as the pillars will be sent along with the wave, and if you are too close
the pillars will hit you before you Guard the wave, getting you killed.
Finally, for the Dash, just Dodge Roll or run a little to the side, as he'll
hopefully only Dash before and after the DM.
These Light Pillars are annoying, but their true danger lies in the OO Wave
(mainly when Roxas Dashes toward you after his DM and uses it straight away, so
you are too close to him and the Light Pillars) and as he Dashes around. Stay
on the move as he Dashes around, but be also ready to stop, letting go of the
analog stick and press Square for the Guard, in case he goes for a Combo
instead of the OO Wave. As you can see, stay Lock On him ALL THE TIME.
If you are having trouble when Roxas recovers from his DM and Dashes toward
you, and you can't react swiftly enough, or those Light Pillars always hit you,
you can spam Reflect as he comes and wait for whatever he's gonna do to end,
and thus you have Reflect's bubbles stunning him, and you can resume whichever
strategy you have beforehand. Also, if you feel like you are staying too far
from him for the no-counter strategy, because he's using the Key Spin attack
sometimes, you can keep the 1-segment distance, and move a little further away
in case he uses the OO Wave.
With even lower health, Roxas will extend his Final Arcana attack: he'll throw
the spinning Keyblades a third time, and also perform a Dark Aura like attack
around himself. This should be a very rare sight, as you won't live long enough
to see the extention of this attack if you get hit anyway. This should happen
if you are using a loop strategy, requiring Roxas to forcibly counter: as he
may counter with either Key Spin or Final Arcana, you eventually will get one
of these. As the two remaining Reflect Finishers won't last enough to save you,
you'll have to use Trinity Limit to obtain enough invencibility to escape this
attack. It should be easy to spot when he's using the extended version of Final
Arcana, as the first spins will last slightly more, and should be easy to
notice even at a naked eye. Just move fast on the menu.
Another annoying thing is when instead of using OO Wave or Combo, Roxas fools
a Guarding player and Dashes to the center for the DM, sending a Light Pillar
that will hit you. If you have enough control over your nerves, you can hold
till the very last milisecond and watch Roxas' movements, to either Guard the
combo, move away from the Light Pillar or do a step back to position for the
OO Wave Guard. Another nerves of steel strategy would be running in circle
around Roxas, so if he Dashes you'll escape the Light Pillar, but then you'll
have to promptly stop and Guard any of his other attacks. This single Light
Pillar from his Dash won't kill you, but No Damage runners will tear their hair
off because of them.
After Roxas get low on health to the point of using the extended Final Arcana,
he may also start an RC sequence at you: I usually see this when he Dashes
toward a distant Sora. Like the Samurai's RC, you must choose The End in time,
or else you'll get hit. Succeeding on this will cause Sora to steal both of
Roxas Keyblades (!!!!), and every time you attack, the OO duo will add some of
their own hits in, not to mention finishers, too. Problem is, Roxas go Light
Pillar insane when he loses his Keyblades, using several and annoying forms
of Pillars to attack you. Although extremely powerful, the OO duo won't see
many chances to be used, due to the constant Light Pillars forcing you to dodge
non-stop.
A safe alternative, in case you choose this route (by staying far from Roxas
when he's low on health, to prompt the RC sequence), is to Dodge Roll around
and Drive into Limit Form (try to make the Drive Explosion hit Roxas to stun
him a little bit for safety purposes), and use the Limit of your choice. Do
take note on how Ragnarok leaves you exposed for too long, though. If after two
Limits and OO duo help, you still fail to finish Roxas off, enjoy the Dodge
Rolling around. eventually, Roxas will succeed on retrieving his Keyblades and
you'll have to do a RC quickly not to get hit as he does so.
Update: I defeated Roxas No Damage easily with a little change on the basic
strategy of 3 hits + Guard Break done twice, then wait for Roxas to move: I
would cast a Blizzaga finisher after the second Guard Break, and Quick Run
closer to him again. He NEVER Dashed away for the DM if I would cast Blizzaga.
Seriously, I'm not sure why, if it was pure luck, or what. I finished him
without even seeing his DM.
100 times is a good guess on how many deaths I had while facing Roxas to write
this strategy. And I still think I'm missing a lot.
+++ +++
Get all the treasure chests around. Move to the castle entrance, then stop.
Now that Roxas awoke inside Sora, you can obtain Final Form. Using the Keychain
you obtained after his fight, Sora will always turn Anti-Form... which is a
requirement to trigger Final Form. Equip it, go back and Drive. Remember you
need both party members alive, be in battle mode and have 5 Drive Gauges when
Driving to possibly trigger Final. If you turn Anti, just move back to the
castle entrance and your Drive Gauge is restored. Repeat to the max of 5 tries
and Sora will turn Final Form.
With your new Final Form, you can now train every Drive Form up to Level 7. But
Final Form itself gives Form Boost, which's good for Form training. I would
normally suggest to level Final up first, but at Level 1 this is very difficult
to do, unless you wait till the very very end of the game. You may go back and
train the other Forms: Valor and Limit with the Mushroom V in Agrabah, Master
Form with either the CoR trick or the Gamblers room in Yen Sid's tower (which
became accessable once you reached TWTNW, if I recall correctly: there is also
two Puzzle Pieces in there, and the annoying Mushroom VIII I will leave for
later), and the city portion of TWTNW for Wisdom. I would still suggest you at
least train Final up to Level 3 to get regular Sora the Glide growth ability.
Use Yen Sid's Tower for that. Firaga spamming is a good choice to use your new
Bond of Flame keychain to help out. Equipping Oathkeeper for its Form Boost
will help Final lasting a couple of extra seconds. >_>
Note: I realized I could synth the Moon Amulet. Thanks to the Twilight Stones
I got with some Dancers in Twilight Town. In fact, let's review missing Puzzle
Pieces in other worlds:
Twilight Town: 2 Puzzle Pieces by the now accessable Yen Sid's Tower. The one
in the Market Street: Station Heights requires Glide Level 2: you can Drive
into Final to get it, too. There are one by the Mushroom in front of the
mansion should be easier to obtain now, so is the one inside the mansion, with
the Level 3 Growth Abilities and Glide Level 1. The Mushroom in the Tunnels
is doable with Final Form, but you need Stat Boosts and other stuff. Leave it
for later.
Radiant Garden: actually, we go to Space Paranoids. If you didn't get the one
by the Computer Core, where you fought the MCP, get it now. In the Canyon, you
can get that Puzzle Piece that was provoking you since your first visit with
the aid of Glide Level 1.
Land of Dragons: go to the Throne Room and Drive into Final, and reach the one
here with the help of Glide Level 2.
Beast's Castle: in the Main Hall, another provoking one. Climb the stairs, and
use High Jump + Aerial Dodge Lvl3, and Glide Lvl1 to reach it.
Olimpus Colesium: you obtained that one by the corridor using the skate, right?
The Mushroom here is doable now with Final Form and Thundaga, but I'll cover
the remaning Mushrooms later.
Disney Castle: this one by the Collonade could probably be obtained long ago,
with the help of High Jump and Aerial Dodge only. Maybe back then you would
need to actually Drive into Master, but well, we still need one more Puzzle
Piece for the before-last Puzzle!
Port Royal: it should be easy to reach the one in the Black Pearl now, if you
haven't before. In the Harbor, climb the crates and use High Jump + Aerial
Dodge Lvl 3 along with Glide Lvl 1 to reach the last Puzzle Piece here. You
need boosts for the Mushroom here.
Halloween Town: ah, the Curly Hill. I hate the fight in this place. Anyway,
climb the said curly hill and use the usual combo of Growth Abilities to reach
the Puzzle Piece.
Moving inside the castle, you'll have to battle some Nobodies and get some
chests and all. You know the drill. Nothing really important until you reach
the Twilight View: save, equip your Air Combo Pluses, Horizontal Slash, and
whatever you consider important for an aerial battle. Get ready for Xigbar. Oh,
and you can get the Puzzle Piece here in Twlight View with High Jump and Aerial
Dodge at Level 3, and Glide at Level 1. Just time them carefully.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Xigbar +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) MP +2
(Donald) Item Slot Up
(Goofy) HP +2
Most people struggled so much with this battle. Level 1 will be no different.
Xigbar starts the battle with his Super Sniper move: he moves away, the camera
focus on his POV, and you'll have to dodge some of his shots before you can use
the RCs to counter back. Just run to the sides and you'll be safe. Don't forget
to keep on mashing Triangle.
Xigbar will stay floating above, upside down, shooting at you. The only thing
that really changes is how he shoots:
- Normal Shots: Xigbar shoots 3 times with a small interval between each shot.
These shots always aim to the side, so if you are near and below Xibgar, the
shots will pass over you. Xigbar doesn't always shoot straight away, unless he
was already shooting, so you should have time to Lock On and Quick Run toward
him to evade the shots. If you are unsecure, spam Reflect.
- Rainstorm: like Dante, Xigbar shoots rapidly right below him. If you are on
the move, you should have no problem evading this. A swift Dodge Roll might
help, if you want. Reflect is also a choice.
- Spiner Shot: both of Xibgar's guns will appear near you and shoot. There is
this small window for you to evade it, but Quick Running away may leave you way
too open for something that might follow. Dodge Roll or Reflect might be a
better choice, but if this is his last attack you should be safe. Unlike the
other shots, he says something when using this, but I can't make it out: the
closest I could make out is "Hands up!". >_>
What I mean by last attack? You see, after shooting 3 times with a combination
of any of the shots above, Xibgar will have to reload his guns. This leaves
him wide open for you to attack. He also has a nice quote when he does so, so
when you listen "Alright, Reload!" or "R for Reload!" or whatever you can make
up for that, get near him and go for a combo.
Personally, I like abusing Horizontal Slashes to the max, and not use ANY of
the aerial fiisher abilities: due to Sora's movement, the Aerial Finish might
miss Xigbar, and this leaves Sora wide open. Not to mention the following...
Xigbar might change the field shape. He'll still attack normally under which
ever new field he designes, and in order to change things back to normal, you
must hit him with a finisher. Magic doesn't count, and only the last hit of
Aerial Finish will count to end this. As a result, regular aerial finishers are
faster and more accurate, so consider using them instead for this battle.
When Xigbar changes the field, I prefer Reflect spamming to deflect his shots,
as it becomes way more awkward to deal with him. In the long corridor field,
you can also Guard his shots (all of them are Guardable and puts Sora into a
Guarding stance, but timing is awkward and most of his shots come from an angle
that might be difficult to Guard anyway), as they come from far away, but watch
out for his reloads so you can approach him in time.
Remember that when Xigbar changes the field, his reload counter will NOT reset,
so if he shot once before changing the field, he'll do a reload after two more
shots. Also, he seems to never use 2 shots one right after the other: he'll
have a fixed position on the changed field, teleport near you for the Rainstorm
if that's his choice, teleport back to his fixed place, and possibly use Normal
Shots from there. Never seen him use Sniper Shot in a change field. If you take
too long to hit him with a finisher the field will change back on its own after
a while. NOTE: he will shoot twice or thrice in a row if you take too long to
undo the field. :p
For the first phase of the battle, as you see, it's wise to keep running in
circles to evade the Rainstorms that might pop up randomly. Always keep on
pressing R1 to Lock On on Xigbar as he teleports around the place, so when he
appears far from you, Quick run near to him to evade his Normal Shots. A Dodge
Roll is a better choice for smaller distances. Everytime he reloads, go for a
combo of your choice. If he changes the field, watch out and make use of your
first chance, because these fields are annoying.
Overall tips include using Donald's Limits to gain some i-frames to deal with
a tight situation, and have Goofy using his Tornado to help on protecting you
from some shots every now and then. Remember to give him a good defensive
shield. Quick Running INTO the shots that come toward you is also a way to
avoid them.
After some health is lost, Xigbar gains a new attack:
- Super Shot: Xigbar charges and fire a blue laser that will keep on travelling
around the field. This is very dangerous as it deals absurd damage. You can
use the RC on it like you would with the Sniper's regular shots in the game,
but this will leave Sora rather open after you finish the RCs. As you don't
want a laser running around here, I like casting Reflect: it will deflect the
laser beam and make it disappear.
You really wanna get rid of this ASAP, as Xigbar won't stop using his other
attacks when the Super Shot is wide loose. Either move away so you'll have the
chance to trigger the RC, or cast Reflect. Keep on moving as Xigbar will resume
his attacks. IMPORTANT NOTE! You have to keep on moving because Xigbar gets
a free reload when he uses the Super Shot. So start counting 3 of his attacks
again!
Once Xigbar reaches 2 and a half bars of health left, he'll say "now we're
talking!". From here on he can use his...
- Desperate Move: divided in 3 parts, it begins with Xigbar by the center,
shooting around him in a counterclock wise motion. After that, Xigbar teleports
to the borders and shoot in a straight line each time, still moving in a
counterclock wise motion. Finally, he floats up in the center, and hundreds of
shots will follow you. In order to evade this, let's talk about each part:
- Circular Sweep: the first part is best avoided by jumping. Move Sora so he
will be in the opposite side, left corner, so you'll be ready to evade...
- Straight Shooting: xigbar moves counterclock wise. His first line of shots
will always come fro mthe same spot, so if you moved Sora to the opposite side
and left him on the left corner, you'll just evade the first line, then just
move counterclock wise along with Xigbar.
- Thousand Shots: run around in a big circle. Don't make a closed turn, or
else a shot will hit you, and after the first, everyone after it hits and you
are finished. Keep on tapping the right analog stick as you move Sora forward
to make him circle around. Watch out not to run into one of your (possibly
KO'd) partner, which might hold you back and get you hit.
After the DM, keep on moving, as Xigbar will attack as soon as he regains
control (and vulnerable frames).
Seems like it's possible to avoid the DM altogether: if you don't hit Xigbar
when he uses the quote at 2,5 health bars, and only resume attacking while he
is reloading, he might never trigger his DM. Not that the DM is hard to avoid
once you get the rhytym down, but he gets somewhat looped and easier to handle
overall, as he gets way more aggressive after the DM, giving you less openings
to counter back (as he starts using Super Shot more often). NOTE: seems like
you avoid the DM if the damage that triggers him to the 2.5 health cap is one
of his own deflected shots, and you never combo him too much to force a counter
so he'll always resume with regular shooting instead of 3 Rainstorms prior to
the DM.
Remember that if you deflect Xigbar's shots back at him, he'll get stunned
after some hits, giving you an opening. However, as he gets an opening for
reload after every 3 shots he makes, you will probably not need to rely on this
to attack him.
After the DM, Xigbar might do another Super Sniper move, and not necessarily
under the normal field! He might do it even in a changed field (although this
is more likely to be seen only in the Data version).
It seems to me that Xigbar won't reload anymore after he uses the DM for the
first time, and instead will always use the Super Shot. As a result, you'll
have to go for a combo while he is "walking" around between his shots: try not
to wait too much when you notice him just walking, or you might end up hitting
thin air as he teleports just as you go for an attack, leaving you open. This
is a good time to use something like Donald's Limits so you can go for a combo
without fear of getting hit.
Overall, keep moving, Locking On, Dodge Rolling/Quick Running under Xigbar,
casting Reflect when you can't spot him right on or when he uses the Super
Shot, and pray a little bit. Not too difficult once you learn how to deal with
his moves, just annoying as hell to get a No Damage on as he can easily get
cheap hits in.
+++ +++
As you move up in this corridor, take note that right above the door you just
came from there is a Puzzle Piece, the last piece to complete the 5th Puzzle!
With that you gain the Executioner Ring, giving a whooping 30 AP boost. From
the "stairs" you can use High Jump + Aerial Dodge at Level 3 and Glide Level 1
to reach it.
Look it's Rik..! *gets shot*
On the Proof of Existance, more Puzzle Piece to collect. Get ready for an easy
and rather fun fight (at least for me)
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Luxord +++++
Bonus Level: HP +2, Magnet Element (Sora)
Combo Pluses and Combo Boost recommended for this battle in general.
Luxord doesn't have an HP Gauge, but instead a Time Gauge. Comboing Luxord does
reduces his Time Gauge, but winning his games via Reaction Commands do it way
faster, as they reduce his Time Gauge AND give you an opening to combo him for
extra Time Gauge deplement. Losing his games turns Sora into a Dice or Card.
Talking about Dices, you begin the battle turned as one. Just move away and
wait for the Form Gauge to run dry. And as for Cards, you see that this is what
Luxord uses to attack. He likes keeping two cards moving with him, and they can
hit you, too. It's possible to use the Flip RC to make them disappear, but
remember that Flipping cards will cause their effect on you: luckily most of
his cards are blank,and thus no effect. They can be bombs or reduce your Time
Gauge.
Luxord has only one simple card combo to attack you with, so just stay away
from him, and get closer when he says "A challenge, isn't it?", so you can
trigger his game. I win easily by putting the cursor on the last position of
the menu, so I can see when the O arrives for me to choose it.
After some health is lost, Luxord will start using the Card Shuffle: he turns
himself into a card and shuffles among others: you must flip his card for him
to appear. He shuffles with 3, then 5 then 10 cards, but just move the camera
up and rotate it in the opposite direction as the cards circle you to find him
easily.
Remember that if you combo him to the point of forcing a counter, he'll create
those two blank cards that stay around him as he jumps over you, so be ready
to Quick Run away and avoid their rotating attack (or have Sora use Explosion
if he hasn't already). Staying out of the ground is also a good way to avoid
the rotating attack from the cards.
After some good health lost (flip his cards, stay away, play his games, combo
him, avoid his cards... seriously, this battle is rather simple), he'll use his
DM. Screen goes dark, you Aerial Dodge and/or glide around the field in a big
circle to avoid most of his attacks. No special dodging skills here. In the end
of the DM you'll have to play one last game:
Winning Luxord's Ultimate Game: you must choose the O option on each and every
slot of the menu. After successfully choosing it, the cursor moves itself to
the first slot. After each successful O you score, the others start changing
from O to X faster. Still, even when only one slot is left, it's not stupidly
fast to keep eyes on it and choose the O.
After you win Luxord's DM game, he'll be left at 1 HP. Just cast a Magic and
you win. Unless you wanna bother getting an opening to combo him and score
a finisher. According to KilledHeart, if you fail at his DM, you can just stay
there that Luxord will jump back and forth above you. I couldn't try this, but
just do nothing if you fail and see what happens. :p
I just can't think of much else to write about this fight. Other than a No
Damage runner should rather jump to avoid the cards rotating attack as they can
reach you quite far. And winning any of Luxord's game will always deal the same
"damage" to him, regardless on how long it took you to do it. Oh, you can also
use Reflect when Luxord is near you and does a combo. It's not oh-so-great, but
any "time gauge damage" input is valid.
And the Keyblade sure is sharp to cut through those cards. And Sora played the
game quite well. *is proud*
+++ +++
So now you wanna remove your Combo Pluses.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Saix +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Item Slot Up
Saix is a rather fun boss fight. Everyone seems to enjoy him somehow.
Saix doesn't have many attacks, actually. He can be in Normal Mode or Berserk
Mode, and his attacks varies. Although he starts the battle in Berserk Mode,
let's check his Normal Mode attacks:
- Claymore Combo: this is a rather slow combo, with not so good reach, with
Saix swinging his Claymore. He uses this randomly, and always seems to be what
he uses after you take him out of Berserk. Guarding this will cause Saix to
drop his Claymore (which you can grab and use with the RC), or simply use this
opening and combo him while he is stunned.
- Claymore Spin: a long reach attack, Saix does a Slide Dash like attack,
followed with a spinning finisher as he loses his dashing speed. Guardable,
but Saix won't stun from it like he would with the Combo. You can, however,
stun him with Counterguard as he does the spinning finisher. If you don't, he's
likely to follow this with a Combo. This is what he uses as a counter if you
attack him too much.
Simple, eh? Both allow him to combo him, by Guarding or Counterguaring him. As
you can see, it's actually a good idea to force him into a counter, so you'll
know he'll use the Spin, while if you don't, he can use either attacks. The
most used chain to force Saix to counter is 2 hits + 2 finishers (Guard Break
and Explosion), performed twice. As soon as Saix touches the ground after the
second Explosion, he'll perform a Claymore Spin. Be sure to be near a wall, so
he won't get too far from you and you can stun him with Counterguard.
All the time, Saix is charging his Berserk Gauge, and will do it faster if you
leave him alone. Once he gets a full Berserk Gauge, he will.... guess what?
Enter Berserk Mode! :o
Before going into his attacks in Berserk, be aware that his Gauge will slowly
drop. He'll receive very reduced damage (so little you won't even notice), and
he can't be defeated in this Mode. Leaving him alone will make the Gauge empty
out even slower. What can you do? Simple, using the Claymore's RC will force
Saix out of Berserk. And how you get a Claymore? He drops one out of pretty
much every one of his Berserk attacks. Check them out:
- Be Gone!: two pound-like attacks, which sends energy waves to the sides,
followed by a Claymore throw that sends some medium booms. This Claymore will
stay there for you to grab. Every attack is Guardable, but as it has not too
long of a reach, staying far away is also safe enough to avoid this.
- Move Aside!: Saix will go sweeping around. This battle field is dusty and
Saix got a handy broom. Each sweep also sends a circular energy wave on the
ground, forcing you to stay very far away or in the air. After some sweeping,
Saix will throw his Claymore like a Shuriken... and it'll be there for you.
You can safely Guard his Claymore throw, as you should be far from him all the
time for this attack. Although his sweeps are Guardable, the energy waves will
not allow this to happen to easily. You can also jump and glide around to
evade this, but it may be awkward to retrieve the Claymore that way.
- Kaboom!: Saix jumps up and sends the Claymore down, causing a large energy
wave explosion right below him. The Claymore will be there, but so will Saix.
I suggest you just stay away as he jumps up and goes "RRWAHHHH!".
As you can see, Guard will be very very useful. On his very first Berserk, he
seems to always use the Be Gone attack, so you can just Guard away. In the
following phases, he seems to use them randomly, but of course the long or
short distance between you two shall be of influence.
The problem is, he uses them one after the other, and in Final Mix the energy
waves of his attacks will damage Sora even while he's holding the Claymore! So
our strategy is a little different: after evading any of his attacks, wait by
the Claymore and only grab it as Saix finishes recovering and is about to use
another attack (or grab it and move close to him to provoke and attack and
promptly move away). You grab it, move away to evade his next attack, then
approach up and the RC for the attacks should come up.
The real problem is evading his attacks while holding the Claymore, and not
panic and try to go and hit him, or else you'll get easily killed by the energy
waves. This is why you must wait a little while before grabbing the Claymore
(so the RC won't pop up too soon and you'll try to reach him).
So, let's review on how the battle goes:
- Saix begins in Berserk Mode and goes for a Be Gone attack. Just Guard it out.
Wait up, get the Claymore, move away, evade his next attack, use the RC.
- As Saix is thrown away, it's some good advice to use Aerial Dodge and get
near him. As he recovers, he'll go for a Claymore Combo: Guard it to throw him
off-balance, and combo him out.
- Most players like forcing him into a counter, so Guard his Claymore Spin. Be
sure to position Sora in a way that Saix will hit the wall so you can stun him
with Counterguard and go for another combo. Repeat until he goes Berserk.
- Move away, dodging his attacks, get a Claymore, dodge, hit him.
Sounds rather simple, and it is, once you get used with his attacks. As he can
be easily looped in Normal Mode, so your only worry is the Berserk Mode. If you
are having trouble looping him, or is doing a non-counter strategy, remember
that you can use Blizzaga to provoke him, or just wait for him to drool at the
moon after doing a Claymore Combo.
Awesome! It'd be easy too easy if not for one little detail: at low health,
Saix will gain his Desperate Move, used when he goes Berserk.
- Desperate Move, AKA All Shall Be Lost To You: why does everyone loves Saix's
quotes? Anyway, Saix will perform a sequence of Move Aside like attack, but
always moving forward (and in a circular pattern), and adding a Kaboom or Slide
Dash like attack after each sequence. The bad thing is that, not only the
sweeps still have the circular energy waves, but each Slide Dash or Kaboom
attack adds even more waves. He'll perform less and less sweeps before each
attack, so remember this.
To avoid this attack... well, it's hard to explain. As he moves in a circular
pattern (usually counterclock wise), do the same. Keep your eyes open for the
attacks, and when he does them, Quick Run TOWARD Saix: it'll be almost like
the Roxas RC sequence, that way you'll be on the other side and away from his
sweeps that follow. The problem is that eventually he'll attack faster and
faster, so you must reduce your Quick Runs. Very annoying, I'd say. >_>
If you have Glide at a high level (like, 3), you can also Glide around. This
isn't too safe, either, as you might not Glide fast enough to evade the last,
swift hits. Long High Jumps with the aid of Aerial Dodge might be a good choice
if you're having problems Quick Running through them, just remember to stay on
a counterclock wise pattern as well.
For the High Jump + Aerial Dodge strategy, you may remember that he attacks
faster in the end and use a move for each attack: in the first attacks you'll
be High Jumping + Aerial Dodging for each of his Dashes or Kabooms, while in
the end you'll be using a High Jump to evade one, and an Aerial Dodge to evade
the next. Moving Sora in that counterclock pattern will help making him land
in places there is no energy wave to hurt you.
I swear I tried many times, but I just couldn't find a totally reliable way to
deal with his DM. You should face it only once, though. Any ideas is the most
welcome, but Gliding, Quick Running or High Jumping + Aerial Dodging seems to
be the only real decent choices.
Oh, and once he stops his DM, he'll STILL be in Berserk and resume his other
attacks: you must get his Claymore and put him back in Normal Mode to finish
him off!
+++ +++
Why, Kingdom Hearts? Where... is... my heart?
Move forward and Riku joins the team. His Limit is good in Level 1 runs, so
keep that in mind. The cutscene here is long but Ansem's and Xemnas' VAs are
so cool, together on the same scene? Such awesomeness. I do wonder how Riku
also took off his gloves and boots when throwing the Org coat away. What a
waste! :p
Just move through the Naught's Approach and the Long-Name Passage. The Puzzle
Piece at the Passage (right above where you came from) is tough to reach: like
the one in the before-last "island", you need to use High Jump + Aerial Dodge
followed by Glide to reach it. The one near the exit can be gotten with normal
Sora and Lvl3 jumps and Lvl 1 Glide, but the one above the entrance to this
Passage requires Glide Lvl3 (either in Final Form or normal Sora).
Now, for the last boss battle before the final sequence.
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Xemnas +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2, MP +5
This battle is simple yet I love it.
Xemnas only got two attacks, really:
- Combo 1-2: two hits. They send you far away.
- Long Combo: many hits. Long reach, and Xemnas will move toward you even if
you try to stay far away from him.
Along with those, he can teleport around (usually near you) and do two other
moves:
- Guard!: he creates a energy barrier in front of him. This barrier can damage
Sora and can also be Guarded against (!!). He seems to always use the 1-2 after
this, so prepare to Guard. If he doesn't, just remember that the energy barrier
only damages you for half a second after it's created, so you can Slide Dash
through it after it goes transparent a little bit.
- Come Closer!: Xemnas creates an unavoidable energy field around Sora, which
will slowly absorb his HP. he'll move up the building, and you must approach
the building front to use an RC and free Sora, initiating then a cool sequence
for more RCs: hit the 3rd RC for the best outcome (damage + stun on Xemnas).
So, hum. Iunno. All this battle is about is Guard. You Guard his combos (one
Guard suffice for the 1-2, and 6 in a row or 5 with small breaks between them
will do for the Long Combo), then use Counterguard to stun and combo him. Using
a combo that forces a counter will have Xemnas teleporting and going for one
of his attacks, which you Guard against... and repeat.
In this battle, even if you Guard a little too soon, Xemnas isn't too fast and
even if he does a Guard! or prepares a Long Combo, you should have time to
perform another Guard and escape the hit of what's coming with a Dodge Roll.
At low health, Xemnas will perform another Come Closer! attack. Unless you
totally miss it, Xemnas will be pretty much almost dead so you can finish him
off. He uses this in the beginning of the battle as well.
Oh! And once again, I forgot about Reflect. You can use it to evade his 1-2
Combo safely and also add up some good damage. If you start using it but he
goes for a Long Combo, and you (probably) don't have enough Reflects to evade
the whole thing, add in a Trinity Limit for the i-frames.
+++ +++
The point of no return. If I recall correctly the Fate of Godness Cup is now
available in the Colesium: it gives the useful Fatal Crest keychain, which
gives you Berserk Charge. You can use it to spam Horizontal Slashes on the
Mushroom VIII, where Demyx was, and easily gain synth materials and Donald's
best 'Shroom weapon.
Save your game. Moving on, and we start the COUNTLESS final battles. Get ready,
and move on. Oh, suggestions? Every Growth ability (no rush in training Final
Form if you still haven't done it, mind you). Holy Pumpkin for the Combo Boost
is a must. I choose to equip one Combo Plus, and that's it. Just get whatever
you like, really. :p
Other random notes include Synthesis! With all the Nobodies around the castle
now, you can obtain every Twilight and Dense synth item. This grants you new
possible items to synth up:
- Save the Queen (1 Orichalcum, 3 Dense Crystal / 5 Gems / 7 Stones / 9 Shards)
- Save the King (1 Orichalcum, 3 Twilight Crystals /5 Gems/7 Stones 9 Shards)
- Petit Ribbon (3 Mythril Crystal, 1 Orichalcum, 1 Dense Stone, 1 Dense Shard)
- Moon Amulet (3 Orichalcum, 1 Mythril Crystal, 1 Twilight Stone and 1 Shard)
The Shock Charm, Draw Ring, Shade Archive, Full Bloom, Centurion and Freeze
Pride all require new synth materials (Tranquil/Remembrance items, Lost/Found
Illusions), so we'll leave them for later. The Ultima Weapon shall also be left
for later, as one of the Orichalcum+'s requires you to obtain a copy of every
synth item... including the new ones. The Remembrance Crystal is to blame,
really, the rest you pretty much must have gotten one yourself. Anyway...
Let's finish the game!
+++++ FINAL BOSS BATTLE: Xemnas +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Drive Gauge Up
(Riku) HP +25
This battle is divided in quite the sections:
** Part 1: Reach Xemnas! **
Just go slicing buildings. RC spammage. After some time you must hit the mini
flying bombs once to send them into the... units. Seriously, nothing much to
add here. >_>
After this you must destroy the "power generator". ...Yeah. But the Nobodies
that join in after a while are a pain. Abuse Magnet, Thunder, and Limits.
You don't wanna play around with Berserkers, do you? A wave of Nobodies appear
after a set ammount of damage is made to the core, so watch out as Assassins
and Berserkers try to attack you as they appear.
There are also annoying "claws" that invade the battle field: I couldn't find
a pattern to it, but they always hit near the Energy Core, so move back to
fight the Nobodies in safety in the last wave.
** Part 2: Fight Armored Xemnas! **
This is actually a fight. He is rather simple when it comes to his attacks:
- Horizotal Sweep: a multihit sweep with his sword. Easy to see coming, but it
is fast enough to the point of not being able to cast Reflect if you are
already attacking/middle combo. You can also jump to avoid it, if you feel
like it. It's his counter if you attack him too much. Also, he loves to use it
after the attack described next. This is not Guardable!
- Cursed Fools!: his most used attack. Actually, this just provokes a random
Org weapon to attack you. Xaldin's lances will do the Spear Rain attack, which
can be surprisingly evaded by mere running (or you can cast Reflect for easy
damage to Xemnas :p) Remember it'll drop a second time, so Dodge Roll or Guard
or Reflect it (it seems to miss you randomly, too).
Axel's chakrams will spin round and round, closing up in the center: I
avoided it with a double jump + Gliding/Hovering. Xigbar's guns will shoot
(don't you say) in the center, so unless you're really far from Xemnas they
should not offer danger (it's possible to Guard and send them at Xemnas!). You
may also see Saix's claymores hitting the ground and causing energy waves, but
they only aim at the center/back, so there's naught to be worried about.
It's rare but Demyx's water clones can be summoned. Luxord's cards usually
spin around while any other attack is being used, without the "cursed fools"
summoning, but they'll drop before they can move too far away, so it should
cause you no trouble unless you are near them to begin with.
- Barrier: same as Xemnas 1. Probably shouldn't bother you. If he uses it while
you are comboing him, you get thrown back and damaged, but you can also Reflect
it. As long as you don't go combo mad, you shouldn't get hit by it, but it has
a very short time window for you to react to it.
As you can see, this battle is very interesting and also very easy once you
learn how it works. Whenever he says "Cursed Fools!", watch out if the lances
will move, and if not, jump or move away in case the chakrams spin: they are
pretty much your only worries. The Water Clones might come instead, though.
Combo him once, back away or cast Reflect for the Horizontal Sweep, and repeat.
It's just that he may use Guard! or use his Sweep without you being ready, as
they are very fast attacks and you won't have the time to react. Play safe,
wait as much as you need, and rely on Reflega for a while if you have to: his
attacks are very damaging so don't try to be a hero.
A nice thing to do is wait for Xemnas to cool off and perform a simple Slide
Dash, and WATCH his body: if he stuns from it, continue your combo. If not,
BACK AWAY right now, as he's gonna do something dangerous and might kill you.
As his health gets lower, he'll start using two Org weapons at the same time
for his Cursed Fools attack, so watch out more carefully. Remember to abuse
Reflect when he uses Xaldin's lances.
** Part 3: Play Star Wars! **
Seriously, I hate this minigame. My strategy is "move in a big circle mashing
Square. Try hitting the minibombs with Square as well when they come, and
mash X whenever projectiles come your way". I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.
If anyone has anything interesting to add regarding this one, please let me
know. You'll get fullest credit. :p
** Part 4: Fight Armored Xemnas with Riku! **
Like the battle just a while ago. With some changes, though:
- You get infinite Aerial Dodge and Glide, regardless of your abilities.
- Aerial Dodge sends you HIIIIIIIGH up. The battlefield will make you regret
using it by mistake when you are on the ground.
- No more Org weapons. Instead, Xemnas get some new laser attacks
- There is also a "fly like a Sayajin" mandatory part.
Okay, so let's cut to the point. The battle will be easy at first, without the
Org weapons and still no new attacks. Reflect out his sword attacks, stay away
a little in case he Guards, provoke with Slide Dash/Flash Step to see if he
stuns from your attacks. After a set amount of damage done, Xemnas will do an
air explosion and send you away. Funny how the black hole won't suck you back.
For this flying part, remember you have Glide and Aerial Dodge at will. Your
goal is to break the dragon's defense. In order to do that, you must approach
any "idle" building to trigger an RC sequence with Riku, so you can reach
Xemnas again and beat him up a little more. Problem is, some spinning buildings
are around, and Xemnas will also send a wave of lasers every now and then: my
personal choice to avoid them is to let Sora fall without moving: the speed he
falls will make you dodge them. Some people are daring and Glide at max speed,
maybe you can even Aerial Dodge all the way up as they come close. Whatever you
do, just reach an idle building quickly (as they can start spinning and hit
you instead if you take too long!).
After you deal more damage and leave him with 1.5 bars left, he'll send you
into the space again. This time he's likely to use one of his new laser attacks
at his disposal, the "Embrace!" one: 3 laser beams will focus at your current
(nearby, actually) location. They are DEADLY. And you are better off letting
Sora fall down to garantee they won't hit you. They can slowly track you down,
so watch you whenever you think of Aerial Dodging! I really suggest you wait
until they are gone to Aerial Dodge again. He's likely to use this when you
break his defense, as well.
As you try to break the dragon's defense for the second time, idle buildings
will turn scarce, and spinning ones, along with lasers of both sorts, numerous.
Take your time, be patient: you're almost done with the battle.
At 1.5 health bars left, Xemnas will have 4 laser beams aiming at the center
and closing down near his throne. Damaging. Annoying. Rather constant. I
strongly suggest you stay near Xemnas and do nothing but cast Reflect: the
lasers have no audio cue, they just come. Although they are slow and you should
have time to safely avoid them with Reflect or whatever, but you also have
Xemnas to deal with. Play safe, as you've gotten this far already!
** Part 5: Defeat Twilight Xemnas! **
The very final battle. Cow Xemnas dares you to show your radiant light. It's
time to finish this once and for all!
Xemnas starts the battle with one of his attacks... that I'll describe shortly.
Take note that some of his attacks send twilight waves, just like Twilight
Thorn did in the very first boss battle (when you played as Roxas), and they
still trigger the Reversal RC: this is VERY important to evade Xemnas attacks,
and also a way to approach him safely and combo him sometimes.
Now, for his attacks:
- We Shall Go Together: his opening move in the battle, he grabs Sora and goes
for a series of attacks. Reversal your way to safety. The very first hit is
very annoying to evade, as you have miliseconds to trigger the RC, and many
people prefer to just use Riku's Limit to escape this attack altogether.
Although Reflect for the first hit is also an option, I had worse luck with it
than with the RC itself. If you miss the Reversals and get hit by a certain hit
of Xemnas' combo, you may enter an RC sequence where Sora drops his Keyblade
but Riku recovers it: if you fail this RC sequence, Sora will get badly damaged
in the process. Whichever route you choose (Limit or Reversal), just try to
survive please. Oh, Xemnas can use this later in the battle and although
possible to evade, he'll enter the combo sequence anyway, and you WILL get hit
(and maybe killed) by the first hit if you are not sent in the air.
On the "ground", Xemnas loves to spend some time in "teleporting + attacking"
mode. Only one Xemnas is the true one and can be damaged, but he can't be
stunned when/after using most of them, so openings are scarce:
- Low Round Kick: Xemnas spins and tries to hit you with a round kick, in low
height. I believe this one is possible to Guard, actually. Not that it matters.
- Vertical Saber Spin: Xemnas spins vertically with both of his sabers in
front of him. Not Guardable.
- Short Saber Combo: he spins with his sabers a little. Dance, Xemnas, dance!
As Clone and Real Xemnas keeps alternating, you're better off just running and
Quick Running around to evade his attacks, until he decided to do something
different and gives you a REAL opening.
I tried casting Reflect twice for these attacks and try to get an opening, but
Xemnas love to use a certain "Bind!" attack you'll see below, and this would
always get me. As I cannot spam Reflect all the time as MP will run short, I
say don't rely on it. Unless you're going to spam Ethers all day long.
When he decides not to teleport, he may use these attacks:
- Disappear: Xemnas turns into several twilight waves and is poof gone. You
must Reversal to evade them, and you have no opening after this. Awww. Commonly
used after he's tired of the teleports mentioned above. Or plain randomly. =/
- Be Gone!: Xemnas sends two "bombs" that explode into some... weird things.
In fewer words these balls grow bigger and can damage you. One comes from above
while the second comes from below, but running to the sides (Quick Run might
do wonders you know) should be enough to avoid this. Quick Running towards
Xemnas when he uses this can be dangerous, but he might use it even with you
very near him: if he does so, cats Reflect to avoid their explosion and
proceed on beating him up.
- Bind!: this attack of him is a very fast twilight wave send toward you, and
while dangerous and damaging, if you hear his cue and Reversal it, you're left
right near Xemnas for a free combo. You'll learn to hate and love this attack
of his. The closer you are, the more dangerous and tough to evade it gets.
Annoying. You'll barely have true openings. They are when he uses Bind and you
suceed to Reversal it, or when he uses Be Gone, but the actual attack may
prevent you from coming close. In order to help you out, try to come closer to
him after any of the teleport attacks, then Dodge Roll/Quick Run further away,
as your goal is to provoke him into using Bind, and you don't wanna be close
to him when he does so, unless you cast Reflect. Don't forget to mash Triangle
in case he actually uses it.
That was Tip #1: be close to provoke him into attacks that give you a true
opening. Tip#2 is a good use of Riku's Limit, in case you're failing to get
openings and are tired of not causing him damage: first group of inputs allow
you to use the Triangle input twice (Dark Fireball shooting, very strong) and
one Circle input (the multistab, used once automatically). The last sequence
is the opposite: 1 Triangle input and 2 Circle input, before we go to the next
sequence. The final sequence (All Over) is VERY damaging, and actually finishes
the Limit, but in order to make the most out of it, BE SURE that Xemnas'
health bar is on the screen, so keep pressing R1 before you trigger it. If he
teleports around too much, simply let the Time Gauge empty out and be patient.
Watch out if you finish the Limit as Xemnas will keep on attacking, and the
camera won't help you much.
After dealing some good damage on Xemnas, he'll start spamming Laser Shots. You
will hate them, don't you worry. Guard to the rescue. They come in different
flavors: All Round You, Lined Up, From Above, you name it. Just stand still and
Guard them. If they circle you, they'll keep a fixed distance from you even if
you move. After tired of teleporting and tossing Laser Shots all around, Xemnas
will call his clone and fire constantly at you with his clone: after two Guards
(or Reflect spam, although Guard will allow you to move much faster), the clone
will be gone and you get an opening to combo him. He may also use this multiple
shooting alone, saying "Why Don't You Vanish?" beforehand: the only true
problem here is getting the timing down. Find your own method and abuse it,
there is no magic receipt for me to give you on this one.
Finally, Xemnas has one last trick on his sleeve:
- Can You Spare a Heart? - Xemnas will trap Sora in an energy field, slowly
draining his health, like in the first battle. However, it's too strong for
Sora to move, so Riku must rescue him and stop Xemnas' attack. A Clone Xemnas
will keep on charging at Riku and loves to use the Guard! attack to send you
back all the time. Just spam Dark Aura with Square anytime the clone gets
near you (remeber to Lock On it, for Kairi's sake!), and slowly approach the
real Xemnas. Jump up and trigger the RC to release Sora. This attack can be
avoided by using Dodge Roll, Reflect or anything that i-frames you when Xemnas
actually shoots the beam that traps Sora: just do any of those as soon as he
finishes his quote. If you don't count the draining damage as damage, though,
you can make use of this as it leaves Xemnas open for a combo after Riku
releases Sora from the trap. You might still want to let it hit you once, as
Xemnas seems to not give up on the constant laser shooting until he suceeds on
this attack once.
Xemnas gets a little wilder as his health gets low, is likely to catch you in
another Shall Go Together attack, or go into a Laser Shot rampage. Good luck on
getting to hit Riku's Limit hits if you can't handle the countless attacks (I
for one have trouble with it no matter what, Limit or not)
When very near death, Xemnas will use his Thousand Lasers move: just mash BOTH
Triangle and Circle to deflect the lasers, and the battle is over. You can
mash them softly, though, there is not much rush in pressing them fast.
Overall, you want to use Riku's Limit for every "Shall Go Together" attack for
safety measures. For his teleport attacks, stay away but approach him as he
finishes whatever move he's using then Dodge Roll away while mashing Triangle:
you wanna provoke the Bind attack and Dodge Roll has i-frames and can be
cancelled into RCs. Most of his Be Gones will have you just evading them. His
lasers require timing practice, no other way around. The Spare a Heart attack
must happen at least once, so spam Dark Aura (shouldn't it be Firaga?) with
Riku to reach Sora.
And that's "about it". Many things can go wrong, that Bind attack will get you
eventually no matter how much you mash Triangle, those lasers will get you
tense and miss the timing, he'll do a Go Together when you don't have MP to
spare, yada yada.
Other tips on this battle are the most welcome.
+++ +++
=================
3. To Be Included
=================
This Guide is still fresh and got plenty of stuff to fix and add. I needed to
finish at least the storyline to consider it "finished" as a v1.0.
So far, I have in mind the following:
- A freakin' disclaimer;
- A *better* version control of the updates;
- A better review on the game mechanics (magic, summons, drives);
- A nice search engine to drop you to any boss battle you wish;
- Many additions to the Guide itself, among them:
- Cave of Remembrance forced battles;
- Cave of Remembrance item farming;
- Mushroom XIII as a whole;
- Terra;
- Organization XIII Data Rematches;
- Synthesis tips;
- Countless proofreads. I'm the typo master, I'm sure you found many, as much
as I tried to re-read the whole Guide.
==================
4. Version Control
==================
- Version 1.0 (submitted at Septemer 28th 2008)
* First release of the Guide!
- Version 1.1 (submitted ar October 5th 2008)
* Added this section!
* New people in the credits! (Bizkit, apul, KilledHeart, thekeylessdoor,
TwistedRyu, xfyrenx, DaDood)
* Fixed one typo I found by chance ("Oggie" and not "Oogie")
========================
5. Credits, Contact, etc
========================
So you made your way here. Congrats!
Wanna contact me? Please do it at rflmag at gmail ddot com. That double D in
"dot" was intentional.
Also, please make your email subject clear, and be cooperative: don't simply
thrown a "your strategy sucks, I can't beat boss XXX". Add in suggestions,
help out fixing typos, submit your own strategy. And don't spam my inbox. :p
I must also credit and thank the following:
- Square Enix and Buena Vista Games, for making this game;
- GameFAQs, Supercheats and Neoseeker for hosting my Guide;
- Bizkit047 and apulapul2000: their Level 1 runs on YouTube inspired me to do
this (check out their channels!);
- starrk, from the GameFAQs boards, for helping out a lot while making this
Guide, with suggestions and reviews (and typos fixes!). Let's not forget his
awesome and useful Translation FAQ available at GameFAQs: I use it a lot, even
after playing this so much;
- KilledHeart, thekeylessdoor, TwistedRyu, xfyrenx: GameFAQs buddies that
helped out with tips here and there;
- DaDood: great friend I made at GameFAQs;
- my niisan: it's always nice when you can count on someone with closed eyes;
- me, for writing this! It was way tougher and time consuming than I thought;
- you, for reading my Guide!
*******************************************************************************
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