Hercule Guide --------------------------------- Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 --------------------------------- Copyright 2007, Jason Hochstatter, a.k.a. zenGOSM Do not use this guide without my permission. If you want to post my guide somewhere, I can be reached at [email protected] This guide is authorized to be posted by GameFAQs, Super Cheats, and Neoseeker. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respected trademark and copyright holders. If you need to find something specific, just search the document (usually control-F, or command-F if you're on OSX like me) then type in the number next to it. Table of Contents: -------------------------------- 1.42 Introduction -------------------------------- 2.42 Notes on Combat -------------------------------- 3.42 Blast 1 Techniques -------------------------------- 4.42 Blast 2 Techniques -------------------------------- 5.42 Ultimate Blast Techniques -------------------------------- 7.42 Z-Item (Potarra) Strategy -------------------------------- 6.42 Hercule Specific Strategies ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.42 Introduction ---------------------------------- Hi all! I've noticed a number of threads on the boards about people having trouble winning some of those fights with Hercule in the story mode. Well, those fights are definitely possible. Hercule is quite possible one of the most aggravating characters to play against if the person knows how to use him right. In fact, I am pretty sure that Hercule is nearly unbeatable if the player knows how to use him correctly. Unless you're fighting a giant. I hope you enjoy! I also don't recommend using this against people that you like. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.42 Notes on Combat -------------------- The combat system in this game is very complex. It's easy to learn, but hard to master. In fact, the core fighting system is far more important to master than an individual character's Blast Techniques. Fishbulbhead has an absolutely fantastic guide on this subject on GameFAQs and Neoseeker. On GameFAQs, you can find it underthe in-Depth FAQs as "Combat Guide." It's pretty much exhaustive, and I really recommend checking it out, but in order to win as Hercule, you have to break all the rules and become a spammer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3.42 Blast 1 Techniques ---------------------------------- False Courage (Z + Defend) Cost: 1 Blast Gauges Effect: This technique gives Hercule a defense boost and makes it so that he will not flinch if you hit him, as if you were fighting a giant. This effect does not last very long though. Comments: As Hercule, you should definitely keep this up as often as possible. As good as your spamming skills may be, you might slip up and let your opponent actually get close to you. In this case a nice Present Bomb is in order, but it's sometimes tricky to get off if they're punching you in the face. False Courage makes using Present Bomb like this much easier. Good Combos: King of Dreamers -> False Courage Defensive Strategy: If your opponent is using it properly, you won't get a chance to stop it. King of Dreamers and Present Bomb both launch you in the air in such a way that you can't stop yourself. If your opponent is a fool and uses it somewhere else, punch him or launch some ki shots. On the positive side, it doesn't last very long. ------------------------------------ Howl (Z + Defend + Joystick Forward) Cost: 2 Blast Gauges Effect: Hercule gets a bunch of bonuses and goes into Max Power Mode Comments: Don't do it. Max Power Mode is useless for Hercule. If you try to use it, there's a good chance you'll screw up your combo. Good Combos: None Defensive Strategy: Don't worry. Hercule's Max Power is pathetic. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.42 Blast 2 Techniques ----------------------------------- King of Dreamers (Z + B, Curser out to Right, then bring it back) Cost: 2 Ki Bars Effect: This is a rush Blast 2. Hercule charges his opponent, then uses a series of moves that don't even budge his opponent, followed by a toss into the air. His opponent can not recover from the toss until they hit the ground. Comments: You should be using this one every chance you get. This Blast 2 is the only way you're going to reliably win as Hercule. The idea is to hit them with it, then charge or use False Courage while they're flying, then wait and time your use so that it will hit just as they're standing up, then repeat ad nauseam. Good Combos: King of Dreamers -> King of Dreamers -> King of Dreams -> King of Dreamers -> King of Dreamers -> King of Dreamers -> King of Dreamers... -> Win Defensive Strategy: If your opponent is spamming King of Dreamers, punch him/her in the face. No, just kidding (sorta). You can sort of beat it by dodging the first one, and you could just not stand up until your opponent gets too impatient to keep it up. The computer never spams it, so you don't have to worry about that. ---------------------------------------------- Present Bomb (Z + B, Cursor out Down, then bring it back) Cost: 2 Ki Bars Effect: Hercule holds out a bomb in the form of a gift and if your opponent is anywhere near you they'll take it and blow up. This will cause them to fly through the air in a similar, but not quite as effective, manner as King of Dreamers. Comments: This is a fantastic defensive maneuver. Use it in conjunction with False Courage to knock anyone away from you if they manage to break your King of Dreamers chain. This is also very effective if someone decides to launch a rush Blast 2 at you, because they will stop dead in their tracks to take your gift. Good Combos: Defensive Strategy: Be careful while fighting Hercule. Don't charge headlong at him without thinking, because there's a good chance you'll wind up with a Present Bomb coming your way. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.42 Ultimate Blast ----------------------------------- Dynamic Mess 'Em Up Punch (Z + B, Curser Out Up and Return) Cost: Max Power mode (1 Blast Gauge), 4 Ki Bars Effect: Hercule goes into a punching frenzy that does absolutely nothing, then finishes with a punch that may actually do some decent damage, though it could also do one point of damage. As far as I can tell, it's completely random. Comments: Don't use it. It's not worth the enormous risk. It'll break your King of Dreamers spam combo that you really need to win. It could do more damage than King of Dreamers, but this attack does not toss your opponent up in the air like King of Dreamers. If you're going to try to use it, get your max power from Howl, then try to get a King of Dreamers in ASAP to keep your opponent off his or her feet. Seriously though. It could do one damage. It's Not worth the risk at all. Defensive Strategy: If they hit you with it, try to recover quickly and use the lack of downtime to break a King of Dreamers spam if there is one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6.42 Z-Item Strategy (Potarra) ------------------------- Now it's time to rig your Goku with all the stuff that he'll need to be a spam maniac. I'm going to list my personal Hercule as an example, then list off possibly useful Ability and Support items and explain the reasons they're useful. Oh yeah, you can also make a "perfect" character at level 160 by giving him five "Kiss of 18"s or five "Title: Tenkaichi"s. That's not a very good idea to use with Hercule. My Hercule ---------------- Equipment Slot +4 - To get a full complement of Slots. Blast 1 +19 - So I can have False Courage on as often as possible. Health +19 - So if I screw up I'll have an opportunity to recover. Blast 2 +19 - Hercule wins by spamming Blast 2's. If you want to win fast... Defense +19 - So if I screw up I'll have an opportunity to recover. The Turtle Stone - This makes it so you can use Blast 2's without as much time between them. If you're going to spam anything, this is useful. Halo - This way you'll only need to use 1 Ki Bar to use both of Hercule's Blast 2 attacks, saving you a lot of time. ------------- Ability Items ------------- Health: Health gives you more life. This one is extremely important. Unless you have support items that kick it up quite a bit, you will want Health for obvious reasons. The more health you have, the longer you'll last. Ki: Ki affects how fast you charge your ki bar. Hercule's ki charges pretty fast, and if you're using a Halo you won't really need a lot. Attack: Increases your attack power. You shouldn't be fighting at close range with Hercule, you should be spamming King of Dreamers. Don't bother with this. Defense: Lessens the damage that you take. I recommend this just so if you mess up you won't immediately die. Speed: This increases the speed of your attacks. Hercule's already pretty fast and you shouldn't need speed anyway. Equipment Slots: The goal with these is to max out the number of Z items you can equip while giving yourself the biggest bonuses that you can. Unfortunately there aren't any +4 Support items that give any bonuses, so you should just use the +4. Blast 1: These increase the rate at which you get blast stocks. False Courage is pretty important. I really recommend False Courage, and this really makes it easier to use a lot. Blast 2: This increases the damage that your Blast 2 techniques do. You are relying on Blast 2's to win, so this is pretty crucial. Ultimate Blast: This increases the damage that your Ultimate Blast does. Hercule's Ultimate Blast is useless. Don't bother using this item. ------------- Support Items ------------- There are a lot of these. Most of them are useless for Hercule. I list the ones that I recommend, and why I recommend them. Perfect Guard - Your guard completely prevents damage. This is always useful, but Hercule's inability to fly (and thus inability to defend in mid-air) sort of reduces it's usefulness. There are better things to use. Raging Hurricane Strike - This one lets you hit your opponent with a rush Blast 2 once per fight while they're lying on the ground. If you ever accidently start that Rush Blast 2 while your opponent is on the ground, you'll get one freebie. Master's Protection - This is useful for the same reason Perfect Guard is useful,plus dizzy time is halved and your Defense gets a boost. Hopefully you won't be dizzy, because if you are you're probably in serious trouble. But it's better than Perfect Guard. Halo - Blast 2's and Ultimate Blasts cost half the Ki Bars. This is very useful to Hercule because King of Dreamers and Present Bomb will cost only 1 Ki Bar. This item is a must for Hercule. Chichi's Support - You create afterimages when you're low on health or dizzy. It's useful, but not nearly as useful as some of the other ones here. Microband - Useful for the same reason Chichi's Support is, except with this one if you get taken out your life goes back to 1. This is actually useful because it gives you another opportunity to reinstitute your endless King of Dreamers combo. The Turtle Stone - This one will reduce the time in between Blast 2's. This one is fantastic for all characters that you want to be a spammer with. Perfect Stance - This is like Perfect Guard, but it also creates afterimages when you are weak or dizzy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hercule Specific Strategies ---------------------- I will now list a general strategy for using Hercule, then a special strategy for fighting giant characters and other things. ---------------- General Strategy ---------------- The only real strategy to win with Hercule on a consistent basis is to spam King of Dreamers. Use it right away, charge while they're flying through the air, and then use it again as you hear them begin to get up. You'll hit them again. Repeat until you win. Also, when you get a Blast Charge, you should take a break from charging in between (you should really use a Halo so you'll get plenty of Ki quickly)to use False Courage. That way if you screw up, you will be easily able to recover by using a Present Bomb, even if they're right up close to you. -------------- Giant Opponent -------------- First use King of Dreamers. Notice how you bounce right off. Now try to use Present Bomb. Notice how it doesn't work. Now cry as you you're mercilessly pounded into the ground by your friend who has had enough of you spamming King of Dreamers. -------------------------------------- My Opponent is Spamming Rush Blast 2's -------------------------------------- Well, Hercule is the king of spamming Rush Blast 2's. So run right into them with King of dreamers, and get ready to rotate that joystick! Another way is to teleport out of the way at the last second, but clashes are easier to win. ---------------------------------------------- My Opponent is Spamming Blast Volley Blast 2's ---------------------------------------------- You might be in trouble. Wait until they're in between these, and then use King of Dreamers. This is going to be tough to win. -------------------------------------------- My Opponent is Spamming Super Explosive Wave -------------------------------------------- You're screwed. Seriously. The computer never does this, so I'd say it serves you right for spamming King of Dreamers on your friends. :P THE END!!! :D Hope this helps!