| |
-+---------------------+-
| |
| Jade Empire |
| |
| Fighting Guide |
| |
-+---------------------+-
| |
By: UnSub [evilasahobby {at} graffiti {dot} net]
Version: 1.03
Date: 12 August 2005
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
1.0 Introduction
.1 Email Policy
.2 Reproduction of this Guide
.3 Difficulty Level
2.0 Know Yourself
.1 Body Movement
.2 Focus Mode
.3 Chi Heal and Chi Mode
.4 Martial Styles
.5 Weapon Styles
.6 Support Styles
.7 Magic Styles
.8 Transformation Styles
.9 Spirit Thief
3.0 Know Your Enemy
.1 Humans
.2 Ghosts
.3 Ogres
.4 Demons & Spirits
.5 Cannibals
.6 Golems
.7 Key Enemies / Fights
4.0 Know Your Army
.1 Dawn Star
.2 Sagacious Zu
.3 Sky
.4 Silk Fox
.5 Black Whirlwind
.6 Henpecked Hou
.7 Wild Flower - Chai Ka
.8 Wild Flower - Za Yhen
.9 Death's Hand
.10 Kang the Mad
.11 Zin Bu
.12 Abbott Seng
.13 Follower Tactics
5.0 Battle Tactics
.1 General Tips
.2 Harmonic Combos
.3 Super Cheap Storm Dragon Kill Factory Technique
6.0 Advancement / Other Things
.1 Spending Your Skill Points
.2 What Styles Should I Buy?
.3 Leveling Up
.4 The Best...
7.0 Final Notes
.1 Thanks and Contributors
.2 Version History
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
1.0 INTRODUCTION
________________
I've thought that "Jade Empire" was a must-have game from the second I heard
about it. A martial arts rpg from Bioware? Fantastic!
At the core of "Jade Empire" is its fighting. Regardless of whether you
choose to be Open Palm or Closed Fist, you will still spend a lot of time
physically pounding on your opponents. I'm not going to claim that I am an
expert at combat in this game, but thought I had learned enough to pass it
through in this guide.
Given Eastern theme of this game, I've based the guide structure on the
following quote from Sun Tzu's _The Art of War_:
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a
hundred battles.
If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will
also suffer a defeat.
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every
battle."
So, without further ado...
1.1 EMAIL POLICY
----------------
If I've made a mistake in this guide or you need some help, you can email me.
HOWEVER... please include "Jade Empire" in the email subject line
and or you run the risk of me mistaking if for spam. I can't always promise
that I will be able to help you, since once I finish a guide for a game I
usually put it away and forget about it. Asking me the exact steps to
finishing a level I last played 5 months ago isn't going to be successful.
Also, please don't email me about something that is already stated in the
guide (I HATE THAT!) unless I've been unclear or am incorrect. Finally,
if you need help, please be clear about what you help you need in the
email - the more detail I have, the better the chance I can do something
for you.
1.2 REPRODUCTION OF THIS GUIDE
------------------------------
You have my permission to reproduce this guide so long as 1) it is unaltered
and 2) the reproduction will be free to those who want it. So no slapping
your name on this and then charging people to read it, okay?
If you want to alter this guide for reproduction, please email me.
1.3 DIFFICULTY LEVEL
--------------------
This guide was mainly written from playing the combat set at "Grand Master".
Early on, this means things can be quite hard, since the enemies can really
chop away your life quickly. However, once you've gotten used to it, it is
definitely more interesting to play at this difficulty than at easier
"Master" or "Student" settings.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2.0 KNOW YOURSELF
_________________
If you want to survive in "Jade Empire", you have to know what your character
can do and utilise it to achieve success.
2.1 BODY MOVEMENT
-----------------
Key to surviving ever battle is not how hard or how fast you hit, but how
well you avoid the damage that comes your way. There are plenty of enemies
that you can't stand toe-to-toe with, so knowing your way out of difficult
situations in combat is very important.
Fortunately, blocking and dodging is easy. To block, hold down the B button.
This will block everything but strong attacks (ie those attacks where your
enemy glows white before striking). Learning to block will make taking on
enemies with ranged / magic attacks much easier.
To dodge, hold down the B button and move the left joystick around in the
direction you want to go. If you have an enemy selected, you will dodge
around using them as an anchor to the direction you want to go. If you are
in free mode (ie no enemy targeted) you will dodge in the direction you
are holding. Using free mode can make it easier to get a better view over
the area you are fighting (since you control the camera) but, in most
situations, it is better to have an enemy selected for dodging purposes.
One advantage of dodge is that you can use it to leap over an enemy or
dive into them to disrupt their attack. A great strategy is to jump over
and enemy and attack them - it takes a little while for enemies to turn
around, meaning you can get in several hits for free. Also jumping over
a blocking enemy means you have a bit more time to execute a strong attack
against them.
In learning to dodge and block, it is practise that makes perfect. You
will also need to be able to do both, since a few enemies you will face
have homing ranged attacks that you won't be able to dodge away from.
2.2 FOCUS MODE
--------------
Focus mode sees you enter 'bullet time', where everyone around you is
slowed down. To use Focus mode in combat, simply hit the Y button.
This mode lasts for as long as you have Focus (the yellow bar) left,
or until you hit the Y button again. Going into Focus mode gives you
a massive advantage in attacking enemies since you will be able to land
multiple blows and eliminate enemies much quicker than in real time.
If a battle is going badly for you, do not be afraid to enter Focus mode
and do some damage against your enemies. It's much better to use Focus
mode and win that it is to not use it and lose!
You can also enter focus mode outside of combat to make your character
run faster to make travel quicker. This will drain focus slowly.
2.3 CHI HEAL AND CHI MODE
-------------------------
Chi can be used for three things - to power your Magic Styles (see Section
2.6 below), to heal yourself and to add damage to your attacks.
To heal yourself using chi, simply hold down the White button. You will gain
back health in return for sacrificing chi at about a 1 health point for 1 chi
point conversion rate. To use chi to add damage to your attacks (which I've
dubbed "chi mode"), press the Black button. A blue glow will appear around your
hands. Each attack you do will do a bit more damage, but will also drain your
chi. The amount of damage you do is determined by the number of skill points
you have put into Chi Damage for that style. To turn your chi mode off, simply
press the Black button again.
2.4 MARTIAL STYLES
------------------
There are a range of different martial art styles you can learn in "Jade
Empire". They are:
THOUSAND CUTS -
The fast but low-damaging style. Although it means you have to hit an enemy
more times to knock them over permanently, it has the advantage of being fast
enough that you will generally land the first blow, interrupting your enemy
mid-strike. Being able to do this will save you a lot of pain. It should
also be noted that the Thousand Cut style has pretty poor range even for a
martial style - you have to be right up close to use it.
The animations of this style show lots of quick attacks with your fists.
Available from: the start of the game, Zin Bu, Sweet Poison Lynn
LEGENDARY STRIKE -
The balanced style, offering an equal mixture of power and speed. The range
on this martial style is also quite reasonable. This is a good all-purpose
style to use.
The animations for this style are based on kick attacks - the strong attack
is a jump kick that can send enemies flying!
Available from: the start of the game, Zin Bu
LEAPING TIGER -
This is a fast, low-damaging style, slower but more powerful than Thousand
Cuts Style; weaker but faster than Legendary Strike Style. Users of this
style see three prongs ('claws') grow out of the backs of their hands. The
range of this style is pretty good - you seem to move forward quite a bit
when using this style.
The animations for this style are based around the attacks with those
claws. A strong attack in this style sees a character leap into the air to
deliver a downward blow.
Available from: the start of the game, Zin Bu, the trainer in the Lotus
Assassin's fortress
*UPDATE: Woodlander says:
"Leaping Tiger has one quite solid advantage. During it's Power Attack, for
about 40% of the time, you are in the air, making it hard for some opponents
(Spirits and Humans mostly) to knock you out of it. Obviously it makes it a
good contender for finishing Combos."
WHITE DEMON - This is the slow and strong style. Attacks with this style
will do more damage, but your timing has to be good in order to avoid being
hit by opponents. Its range is okay, but not great.
The animations for this style are based around swinging fist attacks.
Available from: the start of the game, Zin Bu
DRUNKEN MASTER -
You can obtain the Drunken Master Style when you get Henpecked Hou as a
follower. By collecting the wine he throws to you in battle situations,
you will automatically start fighting in the Drunken Master style.
Although fun for a change, the Drunken Master martial style doesn't
seem to be that powerful - it's a moderate mix of power and speed. One
downside is that it has a timer - once the Wine timer (in the bottom left
of the screen) hits zero, you'll drop out of Drunken Master and into your
normal style.
The animations are the fun bit - you fight by punching, kicking and even
falling over! But once the novelty wears off, you probably won't use
Drunken Master that much.
Drunken Master style also overrides all your other style options, so
you can't switch from Drunken Master to (say) Dire Flame magic style
until Drunken Master wears off.
Available from: when you get Henpecked Hou as a follower in Chapter 2.
He's at the Inn in the forest.
NOTES ON UPGRADING MARTIAL STYLES -
All martial styles (except for Drunken Master) can have skill points added
to them to increase damage, increase speed or increase chi damage. I
recommend focusing on increasing speed, then damage, then chi damage as
the points become available. Also please see section 5.3 below about
suggested ways of upgrading your styles.
MARTIAL STYLES YOU CAN'T LEARN -
There are a few martial styles used in "Jade Empire" that you can't
learn. I'm making up the names for these styles, but in short they are:
- a sloppy kicking style that is used by the untrained, eg peasants
and the magic-using cannibals. For sake of simplicity, I may refer to
enemies with this style as having Legendary Strike martial style, but
in reality, it is a much weaker version.
- Poison Snake martial style as used by the Lotus Assassins and people
trained by the Lotus Assassins. It does small amounts of immediate damage
but also poisons who it hits. The range and speed on this style is pretty
good.
- Monkey martial style as used by one of the Sung Brothers. It's a very
quick style that can do a lot of damage if you take all of the hits from
it's normal attack. Fortunately, it's range isn't that good, so use that
to your advantage.
2.5 WEAPON STYLES
-----------------
Weapons use up your focus every time you attack with them (which isn't
the same as every time you hit an enemy with them - if you swing and
miss, you will still lose focus!).
FORTUNE'S FAVOURITE -
The longsword. Out of your two starting selections it does more damage, but
it has a shorter reach and seems a bit slow (well, compared to Golden Star
anyway). It also seems to eat up more focus than Golden Star. Fortune's
Favourite is better than Golden Star for fighting groups, since it attacks
in a circular style and will keep you moving forward (which stops enemies
from sneaking up behind you).
Available from: Weapon Master Goujin - you get to choose either this or
Golden Star / Tien's Justice
GOLDEN STAR -
The staff. Has a longer reach than the alternative, but doesn't do that
much damage. Appears to require less focus than Fortune's Favourite.
This is the weapon I have had the most experience in (and it's successor,
Flawless). Although somewhat useful at first, you'll find that it doesn't
do enough damage to keep using frequently. You'll need a weapon to beat on
Golems, but having to just keep poke poke poking away at them with staffs
can get a bit boring, despite being a bit safer. As such, I recommend you
go with the longsword when you get the choice.
You can also play around with the two weapons by exchanging them at Weapon
Master Goujin's place and using Smiling Mountain's sparring practice
sessions. See which one suits you more.
Available from: Weapon Master Goujin - you get to choose either this or
Fortune's Favourite
TIEN'S JUSTICE -
The monk spade (which, honestly, just sounds dumb. Can you actually
imagine intimidating anyone by going, "I am a master of the monk spade!"?
Didn't think so. Makes you sound like a master of zen digging).
Haven't tried it out yet.
Available from: Weapon Master Goujin - you get to choose either this or
Fortune's Favourite *YOU MUST HAVE THE LIMITED EDITION OF "JADE
EMPIRE" TO GET THIS WEAPON - IT REPLACES GOLDEN STAR*
FLAWLESS -
The upgraded staff (25% increase over Golden Star). It has a longer
apparent reach, but all the flaws of the staff apply (ie less damage).
It also eats up focus more quickly than Golden Star, but by the time
you get it, you'll probably have enough focus that this isn't such a
big concern.
Available from: Merchant Shipeng in Tien's Landing once you've completed
the dam section or the Blacksmith in the Imperial City
DRAGON SWORD -
The upgraded longsword (25% increase over Fortune's Favourite). It does
more damage than Fortune's Favourite while also eating up a bit more
focus, but comes in very handy overall as a basic weapon style.
Available from: the Blacksmith in the Imperial City
EYES OF THE DRAGON -
The basic twin sabre style. It is more damaging than the first set
of weapons you have access to while also consuming more focus (but this
is less of a factor by the time you get it). Overall, it seems that
this weapon style is good versus single targets but poor versus groups,
given that it attacks in a very linear fashion. Also, you are pretty
much fixed to the spot when you attack with Eyes of the Dragon - you
don't move forward, which makes it easy from opponents to move around
behind you and land some attacks.
Available from: Crimson Khanna in the Arena. Just before you fight
her, you will be called in to talk to Lucky Cho and Sweet Poison Lynn.
They will offer to poison Khanna to make your fight easier. If you
decline their offer AND DO NOT tell Khanna about the plot, once you
beat her she will teach you this style.
CRIMSON TEARS -
The upgraded twin sabre style (25% damage increase over basic double
sabres style). Does more damage than the one-handed weapon styles
while also eating up a bit more focus. The speed on it seems pretty
good too - much faster than the one-handed styles. However, it's range
is pretty bad compared to other weapon styles - you don't move forward
much when attacking with Crimon Tears. It is good in attacking a
single target, but is a poor choice for taking on groups.
Available from: Crimson Khanna in the Arena. Just before you fight
her, you will be called in to talk to Lucky Cho and Sweet Poison Lynn.
They will offer to poison Khanna to make your fight easier. If you
decline their offer AND tell Khanna about the plot, once you beat her
she will teach you this style. You'll get Open Palm points for doing
this though, so all you Closed Fist people beware!
TANG'S VENGANCE -
The twin axe style, ala the Black Whirlwind. This style does a stack
of damage, but is slower than Crimson Tears weapon style. If you want
damage over speed, this is the style to go for as far as weapons are
concerned. However, it's range is pretty good - you move forward when
using this weapon style as you attack.
Available from: after defeating the Ravager in the Gold Arena Round.
once you get back in front of Qui the Promoter, you'll be awarded
this style. (Note - this can be before or after your decision to
fight Kai Lan the Serpent. If you choose to fight as the Black
Whirlwind, it will be after the battle.)
MIRABELLE -
The rifle (what the-?) style. The most damaging weapon style as well
as the slowest. It has no area attack and you can't dodge when it is
equipped, so the best idea in using this weapon style is to make sure
you are a good distance away from any enemies before you equip it and
switch to another style to dodge away from any attacks.
Attacking with this weapon makes you a stationary target which can
cause some problems. Also, it really, really eats into your focus.
Overall, I don't believe this weapon style is worth getting - have
Fontlebottom give you a technique that improves your stats instead.
Available from: Lord blah blah blah Fontlebottom in the Scholar's
Garden within the Imperial City. You'll get a quest to stop the
Outlander. If you beat him in a debate then a fight, you can
elect for him to give you his rifle (dubbed Mirabelle).
NOTES ON UPGRADING WEAPON STYLES -
For each weapon style, you have the option of spending skill points
on increasing its speed, increasing its damage or reducing its focus cost.
I recommend spending skill points on reducing the focus cost first, then
increasing the weapon's speed and worry about damage last. Also please see
section 5.3 below about suggested ways of upgrading your styles.
IMPROVISED WEAPONS -
By destroying certain items in a battle zone by dodging into them or
attacking them, you can reveal improvised weapon orbs. They don't appear
to be that common, but sometimes it can be worthwhile to get these orbs.
Improvised weapons can be quite powerful, but they only last for a short-ish
period. The improvised weapon styles are:
Leg of Ham - You pick up two legs of ham and hit enemies with them. Strong,
but slow and with limited range. Fighting with this weapon is like fighting
with Dual Sabres (ala Crimson Tears).
Leg of Table - You pick up some table legs. Faster than Leg of Ham and with
more range, fighting with this improvised weapon style is like fighting with
Dual Axes (ala Tang's Vengence).
Improvised weapon styles override your other style options, so you can't
switch from (say) Leg of Table to (say) Heavenly Wave until Leg of Table
wears off.
2.6 SUPPORT STYLES
------------------
The support styles do no direct damage (well, not until you've
upgraded them to allow chi attacks and then have Chi Mode on during a
fight) but alter the condition of an enemy, making the fight easier for
you. They can also be used to execute Harmonic Combos, which will leave
you with particular type of orb if you defeat an enemy by hitting them
with an applicable support style attack, then finishing them with a
martial style strong attack.
HEAVENLY WAVE -
The support style you start with. It slows enemies for a short while,
making your job in fighting them easier. As "Jade Empire" progresses,
you'll probably find other Support Styles are better than Heavenly Wave,
but it's fast enough and generally useful enough that you could probably
use it all the way through. The speed of Heavenly Wave is pretty good,
meaning you'll probably beat your opponent to the punch.
However, when it comes to using it for a harmonic combo, this is the worst
support style since enemies can still attack you during the crucial 'green
circle' period.
Strong Attack - you send out an beam of energy that hits enemies from quite
a reasonable distance.
Area Attack - you send out a bubble of energy that slows all enemies around
you that get hit.
Harmonic Combo - hit an enemy with the Heavenly Wave strong attack and then
finish them with a martial style strong attack to make the enemy leave behind
a health orb.
Available from: you start with it.
STORM DRAGON -
My preferred support style. An enemy hit with a Storm Dragon attack is
shocked, spending some time convulsing uncomtrollably. During this time,
there is a great opportunity to cause some pain with a martial style.
Strong Attack - you do a slow double-handed punch.
Area Attack - enemies a short distance away from you are struck by
lightning bolts, which shocks them.
Harmonic Combo - hit an enemy with the Storm Dragon area attack and then
hit them with a martial style strong attack to make them leave behind a
focus orb.
Available from: Spear Catches Leaf at the temple in the Sickened Forest or
Merchant Cheung in Tien's Landing. It's cheaper from the Merchant once you've
retrieved his statue from Tong, but you can only get it from the Merchant
Cheung once you've closed the dam.
PARALYSING PALM -
Enemies hit by this attack are paralysed (well, obviously). This gives
you some time to hit them with other damaging styles.
Strong Attack - You do a two-handed hit, paralysing the enemy.
Area Attack - You send out a circular wave of energy out with a decent
range, paralysing those around you.
Harmonic Combo - hit an enemy with the Paralysing Palm strong attack, then
a martial style strong attack.
Available from: Master Radiant of the Black Leopard School after you defeat
Master Smiling Hawk.
HIDDEN FIST -
Enemies hit by this support style are disorientated, meaning they can't
dodge, attack or block. This is pretty useful as a support style,
particularly since it is the area attack that causes a harmonic combo,
which makes it easier to land.
Strong Attack - You throw out a cloud of dust that covers a medium range.
Area Attack - Beams of energy come up from the ground and disorient
enemies for a reasonable distance around you.
Harmonic Combo - hit an enemy with the Hidden Fist area attack, then a
martial style strong attack to make them leave behind a chi orb.
Available from: Master Smiling Hawk of the Black Leopard School after you
defeat Master Radiant.
NOTES ON UPGRADING SUPPORT STYLES -
Spending skill points on support styles gives you the opportunity to
increase their speed, increase the duration of their effects and to
increase the amount of chi damage they can do. I recommend spending skill
points on speed, duration and then chi damage in that order.
Also please see section 5.3 below about suggested ways of upgrading your
styles.
2.7 MAGIC STYLES
----------------
Magic styles allow you to perform ranged and area attacks at the cost of some
chi. Although less damaging that martial styles, the fact that you can hit
enemies at range can make them very handy to use. Also, since some enemies are
immune to martial styles and you might run out of focus, you can always use
magic styles (combined with Spirit Thief) to win the fight from this state.
ICE SHARD -
One of the two magic styles you can choose from the Blue Spirit. It sends
bolts of ice towards the enemy, doing moderate damage. Of more use can be
the strong (which freezes an enemy motionless) and area attacks (which slows
enemies in a snow storm, then drops a large chunk on ice on one of them) that
this style possesses. It's chi consumption is okay.
Strong Attack - Freezes an enemy for a short-ish time in a large ice crystal.
Area Attack - Slows all enemies around you in a snow storm, then drops a large
ice block on one of them.
Available from: the Blue Spirit after you get the amulet, Zin Bu, the trainer
in the Lotus Assassin's fortress
DIRE FLAME -
One of the two magic styles you can choose from the Blue Spirit. It sends
bolts of flame towards your enemy, doing moderate damage. The big weakness
of Dire Flame is its area attack - it is too slow to be effective and is
likely to see you have the snot kicked out of you while it goes into effect.
Strong Attack - A large bolt of flame flies at an opponent that explodes on
contact, doing damage to surrounding enemies
Area Attack - A dragon is summoned that breathes fire on enemies in front of
you, immolating (which does damage over time) them. Note: it's s-l-o-w
Available from: the Blue Spirit after you get the amulet, Zin Bu, the trainer
in the Lotus Assassin's fortress
TEMPEST -
One for the Closed Fist path. You use currents of air to attack your enemies.
It's fast and pretty damaging, but can eat up the chi pretty quickly. Most
useful is the area attack, which sees enemies hit by it raise into the air,
helpless as a pinata, ready for you to go in swinging. According to the in-
game information, the more Closed Fist you are, the better this style becomes.
Strong Attack - sends a concentrated missile that raises the target into the
air, leaving them helpless
Area Attack - surrounding enemies will be raised into the air, helpless to
stop your attacks
Harmonic Combo - hit an enemy with the Tempest strong attack, then a martial
style strong attack to make them leave behind a focus orb.
Available from: Jian the Iron Fist in Tien's Landing. Once you are about 75%
Closed Fist, talk to him about training. Once you've beaten him down to about
25% health, he'll give you this style. You can't get this style and Stone
Immortal.
STONE IMMORTAL
One for the Open Palm Path. With this style, you hit enemies with rocks, which
is better than it sounds. It is quite damaging, but also eats up the chi. The
strong attack in this style is very useful (it petrifies enemies) , but it
is questionable how useful the area attack is. According to the in-game
information, the more Open Palm you are, the better this style becomes.
Strong Attack - sends a bolt of stone that petrifies enemies for a short time
Area Attack - the ground surrounding you pulsates, knocking enemies to the
ground. I also assume that this does some damage, but if it does, it isn't
a lot.
Harmonic Combo - hit an enemy with the Stone Immortal strong attack, then
the martial strong attack to make them leave behind a .
Available from: Mistress Vo in Tien's Landing. Once you are about 75% Open
Palm, talk to her about training. Beat her down to about 25% health and
she'll give you this style. You can't get this style and Tempest.
NOTES ON UPGRADING MAGIC STYLES -
You can upgrade a magic style by reducing its chi cost, increasing its damage
or increasing its speed. I recommend spending your skill points on reducing
its chi cost first, increasing its speed second and then finally increaing
its damage.
2.8 TRANSFORMATION STYLES
-------------------------
Transformation styles tranform you into a powerful creature within the "Jade
Empire" world. Being in a transformed state drains chi, with the transformation
style lasting as long as you have chi to support it.
TOAD DEMON -
The first transformation style you get. Toad Demons are slow but powerful and
able to poison (some damage over time) the enemies it attacks. You will be
immune to magic and support styles while a Toad Demon. Also, you will be able
to shrug off some enemy attacks when you are attacking.
Strong Attack - You leap forward and lead with your belly. This poisons enemies.
Area Attack - A tongue lash attack that only hits enemies in front of you.
Available from: the caves when you go to rescue Dawn Star from Gao the
Lesser. You'll face a Toad Demon there - defeat it to get this style.
HORSE DEMON -
Horse Demons are quicker than Toad Demons, so that's a plus. Also, they have
a ranged attack as a strong attack that immolates enemies. You'll get the
demon bonuses of being immune to magic and support styles when a Horse Demon.
A neat touch they have is that any enemy who attacks them in melee will take
damage from their fires.
Strong Attack - Sends a fireball that damages and immolates its target.
Area Attack - You stomp the ground, from which a number of spikes emerge.
Available from: When in the Fox Spirit's heaven, when you defeat the Horse
Demons on the way up you'll get this style.
JADE GOLEM -
Big, powerful and slow. It eats up your chi quickly, but is immune to martial,
magic and support styles. As a Jade Golem, you won't get knocked out of
attacks when hit. This transformation style is one you want when you've got
a lot of enemies to clear out, especially if they don't have weapons.
Strong Attack - A big swing of your axe.
Area Attack - More swinging of the axes.
Available from: once you have created a Jade Golem in the Lotus Assassins's
fortress, you will have to fight some. Once they are defeated, you'll get
this tranformation style.
RED MINISTER -
A powerful ghost, the Red Minister is relatively quick and able to suck the
life out of its target from a distance. As a Red Minister, you will be immune
to weapon styles.
What makes Red Minister so powerful is that its normal attacks drain both life
and chi back to your character. This means, with a bit of care, you can
remain in Red Minister style indefinitely, provided you can keep the hits up.
Strong Attack - Sucks a homing ribbon of life energy from the target that
automatically comes to you. You don't need to aim to use this attack.
Area Attack - You spin and purple energy throws enemies away from you.
Available from: in Dirge, you will come across a Red Minister attempting
to get a powerful jewel. Kill him to get this style.
NOTES ON UPGRADING TRANSFORMATION STYLES -
Tranformation styles can have their chi cost reduced, their damage increased
and their chi damage increased. You should spend your points on 1) chi cost,
2) damage and 3) chi damage, in that order, if you choose to have a
transformation style you can rely on.
2.9 SPIRIT THIEF
----------------
This is a unique style. It's fast, it's range is pretty good (for a
non-weapon style) and although it deals no damage, it recharges your chi with
every successful hit. Since chi is essential to winning pretty much any fight
(through chi healing) this style almost always comes in useful. Although both
the strong and area attacks of Spirit Thief are useful, the best way to gain
chi is to use its normal attack.
If you use chi mode on Spirit Thief, it will do damage, but it won't recharge
your chi.
***UPDATE: Christian Proctor wrote in to say:
"I was recently reading your Fighting Guide for Jade Empire, and it seems
that you made a mistake, or at least I think so. You said that Spirit Thief
doesn't absorb chi when fighting with chi-mode on, when it does, but not as
much as you originally would get for not having it on."
Strong Attack - You send out a missile that temporarily paralyses its target
and returns a homing ribbon of chi to you. The paralysis doesn't last that
long, however.
Area Attack - All enemies caught in the flash of this attack are thrown back
and release ribbons of chi energy that fly to you.
Available from: Hui the Brave in Tien's Landing. You'll get it once you've
beaten off the sailors that are attacking her.
NOTES ON UPGRADING SPIRIT THIEF -
Please see the NOTES ON UPGRADING SUPPORT STYLES above in section 2.6.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
3.0 KNOW YOUR ENEMY
___________________
You'll do a lot of fighting in "Jade Empire". Below is a look at the
different enemy types you'll come across and what to expect from them.
* The below information is written based on experiences with "Grand Master"
combat difficulty.
3.1 HUMANS
----------
The most common enemy as well as the most versatile. They can use martial,
support, weapon and magic styles, often swapping between them. They can also
range from being very easy to fight to pretty bloody hard. However, they
won't have the range of attacks that your character will and can often be
quite stupid.
More often than not, you'll be fighting large groups of humans at once.
Fighting off groups will be covered in the GENERAL TIPS section below.
Immunities - None. Use whatever you like.
3.2 GHOSTS
----------
The spirits of the departed are up and walking around, causing no end of
problems in "Jade Empire". You'll face four types of ghosts.
HUMAN GHOSTS -
They look like humans, but more transparent. They can range in difficulty
from easy to hard, but for the most part fighting these guys is like
fighting ordinary humans. They seem to favour Ice Shard as a magic style
(if they have one).
Immunities - Weapon styles.
LOST SPIRITS -
The "insane" version of ghosts. They are black figures with white faces
and attack using projectiles that drain both life and chi. Their normal
attack are homing projectiles, so get used to blocking these when they
come at you.
The best way to fight these guys is to get in close and just keep hitting
them with a martial style. You should be fast enough to knock them out
of their attacks. If you want to be sure, jump over them - if they start
an attack animation in the wrong direction to you, hold down block, so
their homing projectiles just run into your shields. Once they've
finished their attacks, start up the pain.
Immunities - Weapon styles, Support Styles, Harmonic Combos.
MUMMIES -
Corpses without the sense to lie down. Fortunately, they are slow (they
use White Demon martial style) so more than likely you'll be faster than
they are. If they hit you, you'll get diseased, which drains your health
for a bit.
These guys aren't hard. Just use your agility and speed to outflank
them. They can take a bit of a beating (compared to other ghosts) before
going down.
Immunities - None.
RED MINISTERS -
You'll only see a few of these guys, which is good. Their attacks
drain both chi and health and leech it back to the Red Minister, which
is bad. What's worse is they have a strong attack that automatically
hits you from anywhere on the fight zone! However, they aren't too
hard to take down - just get in there and use your martial / magic
styles to take them out.
*UPDATE: Woodlander says:
"Red Ministers are handled easily with Chi Strike mastered in your
favourite Martial Style"
Immunites - Weapon styles, Support Styles, Harmonic Combos.
3.3 OGRES
---------
Big and strong, but s-o s-l-o-w. You should be able to leap around
on any ogres you come across, dodging their attacks and then hitting
them before they have time to recover. If you can get them in a corner,
you and your follower should have no problem attacking these guys until
they fall over.
Immunities - Support styles, Magic Styles - Tempest and Stone Immortal.
3.4 DEMONS & SPIRITS
--------------------
You'll face a number of different types of these guys, all quite
different from each other. I've ordered them from weakest to strongest.
RAT DEMON -
Fast but weak. These demons usually attack in numbers, but should fall
down after only a few blows.
Immunities - Support styles, Magic styles.
TOAD DEMON -
Big demons who are actually pretty fast as well as being strong. You
can't knock them out of attacks that easily, so the best option is to
leap over them and attack from behind. If you get hit by a Toad Demon,
you will be poisoned, which will drain your life for a bit.
Immunities - Support styles, Magic styles, Spirit Thief.
HORSE DEMON -
Large flaming horse-headed things that are relatively fast and have a
strong attack that sends out a flaming missile that can hurt you quite
a bit. Their area attack (spikes rise up from the ground) does a little
damage, but gets annoying due to the frequency that these demons use it.
Also, horse demons have the charming habit of 1) doing small amounts of
damage to you when you touch them (including hitting them with martial
or weapon styles, and 2) exploding when they die. As such, make sure
you have enough health to fight them without dying - if you don't,
select a follower who can give you health / chi with their support
ability before combat commences.
Immunities - Support styles, Magic styles, Spirit Thief.
FOX SPIRITS -
Should you choose to fight Forest Shadow, you'll have to take out
a number of Fox Spirits. Although called spirits, they are more
closely related to demons.
Fox Spirits are fast. They have a strong attack that has fantastic
range (it's a charging attack) that should be avoided at all costs. If
you see a Fox Spirit powering up, launch an area attack or hit them out
of it. The easiest way to kill Fox Spirits is with a weapon style - the
long sword is faster than they are and will be able to hit more than
one if they get too close together.
Immunites - Support Styles.
ELEPHANT DEMON -
Big and strong, but slow. Has a big stomp that acts as an area attack
(and gets quite annoying) and does lots of damage if it hits you, but
elephant demons are slow enough that you should be able to dodge
around them, landing blows at will. These guys can take quite a bit
of punishment, so killing them can take a while.
Immunities - Support styles, Magic styles, Spirit Thief.
BULL DEMON -
Allegedly the baddest of the demons, these guys use electrical attacks
to shock you. They can also send out electrical projectiles out at you.
However, they aren't that fast, making fighting them a matter of getting
in close, dodging behind them and landing your attacks.
Immunities - Support styles, Magic styles.
3.5 CANNIBALS
-------------
CANNIBALS -
Tiny and misshapen, cannibals are pretty weak one-on-one, but their
advantage comes from the large numbers that you fight. They are also
relatively quick. Focus on them one-at-a-time and you should be okay.
Also see the GENERAL TACTICS section below for information on fighting
groups.
My preferred tactic was a Storm Dragon harmonic combo - you'll end up
with a lof of focus orbs, but it's the quickest way of getting rid of
these guys.
Immunities - Spirit Thief, Magic styles.
KEEPER / BUTCHER / HANDLER -
The magic-using cannibal. He will attack with Ice Shard magic style and a
martial style, but overall he's a pushover. Just keep moving to avoid the
other cannibals (if there are any) dodge around until you are next to him
and launch your martial style attacks. He's tougher than the other
cannibals, but he'll still fall under the weight of your repeated attacks.
Immunities - Harmonic combos.
3.6 GOLEMS
----------
Golems that you can fight come in three flavours:
SENTRY STATUES -
If you don't remember (or choose to forget) the password before the
dam in Tien's Landing, you'll have to fight these guys. Given you'll
have just fought Chai Ka, make sure you use the spirit font before
tackling them and maybe have Sky in support mode set as your follower.
This will give you the best chance of taking them out.
You can only kill the Sentry Statues with weapon styles. Make sure
you have the focus left to do the job.
Also, golems can't be knocked out of attacks, so dodge around them
when they attack
Immunities - Support styles, Magic Styles, Martial Styles.
CLAY GOLEMS -
Slow but powerful. They can only be damaged by weapon styles, so make
sure you've got enough focus left to beat them. If you do, however, it
just becomes a matter of dodging their slow attacks and hitting them
from behind. If you don't, have enough focus, prior to combat select
a follower who recharges your focus with their support ability.
Also, golems can't be knocked out of attacks, so dodge around them
when they attack.
Immunities - Support styles, Magic Styles, Martial Styles.
JADE GOLEMS -
Slow and even more powerful. Big too.
Since these opponents can only be killed with weapons, make sure you
have enough focus to do the job. If you don't, prior to combat select
a follower who recharges your focus with their support ability.
Also, golems can't be knocked out of attacks, so dodge around them
when they attack.
Immunities - Support styles, Magic Styles, Martial Styles.
*UPDATE: Woodlander says:
"Golems easily dealt with when Damage is maxed on Crimson Tears"
3.7 KEY ENEMIES / FIGHTS
------------------------
Below are certain enemies / fights that stand out as important in "Jade
Empire". In all cases, these enemies are immune to harmonic combos, so
you can't one-hit kill a key plot character!
FIGHTING OTHER STUDENTS -
You'll have to opportunity to fight some of the other students at the
Two Rivers School. Use them for practise and for the experience they provide
you with.
GAO THE LESSER (PART ONE) -
This guy is only difficult if you are still learning the game. He has one
or two tricks new players won't have seen (like using the area attack of
Heavenly Wave) but once you've seen him in action a few times or gotten
some combat experience, beating Gao the Lesser down becomes very easy.
Immunities - None.
OLD MASTER OF TWO RIVERS -
You'll fight him down in the caves. He will use Ice Shard magic style
against you primarily, occasionally mixing in a martial attack. He's also
got a few other ghosts as helpers.
Take out his helpers first, then concentrate on him. He's not that hard
overall, with the only surprises coming from his use of a magic style that
you may not have seen before.
Immunities - Weapon styles.
GAO THE LESSER (PART TWO) -
More of the same from this guy. Only this time, he will use magic - Dire
Flame magic style. He still isn't that hard to beat though. If he starts to
summon up a dragon (the Dire Flame area attack), stand behind him and just
beat on him for some easy hits.
Immunities - None.
MISTRESS VO -
If you are Open Palm and want to get hold of the Stone Immortal magic style,
you'll have to fight Vo. She'll use Stone Immortal against you, which can
be surprising the first few times you see it in action, while her martial
attacks can be pretty strong too. All you have to do is beat her down to
about 25% health, so use everything at your disposal to achieve this. If you
are close but badly wounded, try to have enough focus left to go into focus
mode to land those final attacks.
Immunities - None.
JIAN THE IRON FIST -
If you are Closed Fist and want to get hold of the Tempest magic style,
you'll have to fight Jian. He'll use Tempest against you, which will
frustrate you to tears when he uses the area attack (that paralyses you)
then beats on you with White Demon martial style, doing heaps of damage.
Learn to avoid / block the area attack and then get in close to beat on
him.
All you have to do is beat him down to about 25% health, so use everything
at your disposal to achieve this. If you are close but badly wounded, try
to have enough focus left to go into focus mode to land those final attacks.
Immunities - None.
TONG -
This sailor has stolen a small statue from Merchant Cheung. If you fight him,
he's got two friends with him, but once you've beaten him down to no
health he'll give up. This fight isn't that hard, but it can be used to
complete the quest.
Immunities - None.
GAO THE GREATER -
Head of the pirates that are terrorising Tien's Landing. He's just learnt
that you've killed Gao the Lesser too, so he's a bit angry. Gao is guarded
by a couple of men - take those out first and then concentrate on him. He'll
fight using the Thousand Cuts martial style and Dire Flame magic style. Make
sure you stay out of the way of the Dire Flame area attack. Overall though,
Gao the Greater isn't that hard once you've taken out the pirates who guard
him.
Immunities - None.
BLADED THESIS -
If you are doing the Zither of Discord Quest, when you have given the case
and strings to Scholar Six Heavens he'll send you off to find the zither's
bridge. Bladed Thesis will be waiting with it in the sickened forest - you'll
find him if you head east at the first clearing after you've spoken to Lord
Yun.
I'm not sure if you can fight him, but the speech options certainly make
it look like you can. Bladed Thesis is a Red Minister. Red Ministers are
great at leeching health and chi from you, but once you've gotten used to
their tricks they aren't so bad. Their strong attack - an automatic hit from
anywhere on the battle field - is pretty inconvenient for you, so make sure
you stick close to him.
Immunities - Weapon styles, Support styles.
BLACK WHIRLWIND -
Bodyguard to Spear Catches Leaf, he attacks you for the fun of it. This will
end up being a two-on-one fight as your follower will also be in the battle.
He's up in the temple (you'll start passing switches when you are close) so
prior to combat starting make sure you are relatively healthy or have a
follower who can heal you / give you chi in support mode. Once combat starts,
heal / chi yourself up by using your follower's support ability and Spirit
Thief, then switch to your weapon style. With your follower attacking and
you using your weapon (there's a focus shrine nearby, so don't hold back)
it won't take long for the Black Whirlwind to have the sense beaten back
into him.
Immunities - None.
SHINING TUSK -
The Forest Shadow's bodyguard. He's an elephant demon who also has three fox
spirits fighting along side him. To beat him, the best thing to do is attack
him first. This breaks one of my combat tips below - to kill the weaker
targets first - but Shining Tusk can hit too hard to just let him wander
around while you take out his support.
I recommend having the Black Whirlwind as your follower here as he has the
best chance of surviving the Fox Spirit attacks while you take care of
Shining Tusk. Use a martial style and just dodge around to his back, hit him
a few times and then dodge behind him again as he starts to turn around. If
you start getting hemmed in by Fox Spirits, launch an area attack to send
them away.
With him dead, use a weapon style to take out the remaining Fox Spirits. You
can also use Spirit Thief on them to get back some chi.
Immunities - Support styles, Magic styles.
FOREST SHADOW -
A tougher version of the Fox Spirits you've been fighting. Try to come into
this battle with as much health and chi as possible - you'll be able to
pass a focus shrine on your way to this battle.
First off you'll have to fight three Fox Spirits - try to come out of this
fight with full health and a reasonable amount of focus left. Next, Forest
Shadow appears. She's quicker than the other Fox Spirits and her attacks
take off health and chi. She also has an area attack that does damage and
drops chi, so if you see her rise into the air, hold down block.
The best tactic is to use a weapon style against her and have your follower
also keep hitting her. The Black Whirlwind has the best chance of surviving.
If you can do it, hit her with the Spirit Thief strong attack - it will
freeze her for a moment, allowing your follower to get in a few hits. Use
normal Spirit Thief attacks to get back chi for healing purposes. With a bit
of luck she will concentrate on you and leave your follower to keep hitting
her from behind.
Immunities - Support styles.
THE MOTHER -
A big ugly frog-like thing that is creating the cannibals in the Sickened
Forest. Mother has a fast and damaging attack style, but isn't too fast
around the floor. At all times she is surrounded by about 8 cannibals.
She is immune to every attack you have, so just follow the in-game
example and concentrate on knocking down the pillars. Don't worry
about attacking the cannibals - as soon as you kill one, another one
spawns. Now, you might think this is a great way of getting unlimited
experience, but there's a risk - Mother is strong and can kill you very
quickly. You may find her teleporting in behind you or you will
accidently run into her while focusing on a cannibal - either way, it's a
quick death. Better to just finish this bit as soon as possible.
Also, the pillars can be taken down by any hard contact from you - diving
into them or using support style attacks does damage.
Immunities - Martial styles, weapon styles, magic styles, support styles.
STABBER YUXI -
A slightly more powerful ghost than normal that can be found when you blow up
the wall in the Ruins. In this new area, you'll face Yuxi and a few other
convicts. He'll attack with Ice Shard magic style and a Staff weapon style
as well as White Demon martial style (I think!), but he's not that tough.
Immunities - Weapon styles.
STRANGLER JIZU -
A strong ghost, he attacks with Dire Flame magic style, White Demon and
Legendary Strike martial styles. He also has the annoying ability to
absorb other ghosts into him to replenish his health. As such, ignore him
for the first part until you take out the other convict ghosts who attack
you. Once they are finished, take out Jizu - he's strong, but fairly slow.
Immunities - Weapon styles.
CHAI KA AKA THE GUARDIAN -
Another of your followers who you have to fight first. He can't get knocked
out of an attack, so you'll want to attack him from the back, using either
a weapon or martial style. His area attack does a reasonable amount of
damage, so get used to blocking it. You only have to beat him down to about
25% health, so focus on that. Use your follower to help you with the attack.
Immunities - Magic styles, Support styles.
INQUISITOR LIM -
A Lotus Assassin you'll fight once you've completed the three main areas of
Tien's Landing. Although he's got more health than the other Lotus Assassins
who attack you, he's not that hard to beat. Use harmonic combos to quickly
kill off the other Lotus Assassins who are supporting Lim then just focus
on taking him out. If your follower is still up and around, having the two
of you beat on Lim will just make things go more quickly.
Immunities - None.
LORD FONTLEBOTTOM -
After beating the Outlander in a debate, you get to take him on in combat.
You start a distance away from him, so the secret his to close the distance
as soon as possible while dodging the bullets from his gun. When you are in
close, using a fast weapon style or martial style makes things easy since he
doesn't block. Just be sure to jump over him if it looks like he's going to
shoot - his weapon can do a lot of damage if it hits you.
Immunities - None.
MINISTER SHENG -
You can choose to kill Minister Sheng as part of the quest to get into the
Lotus Assassins. He doesn't actually fight back, but he's protected by two
guards who aren't that hard to beat. Once you defeat the guards, you'll
get a cutscene of your character killing him.
Immunities - None.
JUDGE FANG -
You can choose to kill Judge Fang as part of the quest to get into the Lotus
Assassins. Once you've talked to Gentle Breezes and convinced her to help
you kill Judge Fang, she'll take him down to the animal pits. When the fight
starts, Fang will be assisted by two guards, both using Staff weapon style,
but they should be easy to defeat.
Fang uses Legendary Strike martial style to attack, but shouldn't be hard
for you and your follower to kill.
Immunities - None.
THE BROTHERS OF THE BLACK LEOPARD SCHOOL -
In order to complete the Black Leopard School quests, you have to fight a
number of the school's Brothers - elite fighters of the allegedly best
martial arts school in the Jade Empire (I say allegedly because they are all
pretty easy to beat). Rather than go over them one by one, I've just listed
them as a group below because they are all fairly typical of a one-on-one
fight.
- Sixth Brother - White Demon martial style
- Fifth Brother - Staff weapon style
- Fourth Brother - Shocking Dragon support style and Legendary Strike martial
style
- Third Brother - Leaping Tiger martial style and Hidden Fist support style
- Second Brother - *missing from the school*
- First Brother - Heavenly Wave support style and Staff weapon style
For most of these fights, you'll get back all your health, chi and focus once
you beat the Brother, so don't hold back.
Immunities - None.
MASTER RADIANT -
The Open Palm master of the Black Leopard School, Master Radiant is also a
ghost. You'll fight him if you agree with Master Smiling Hawk that you should
kill First Brother and Master Radiant. You won't have to fight Third Brother,
and on beating First Brother you will see Master Radiant appear on the
steps of the school. (You can choose to ignore his plan at first, take on and
beat Third Brother, then agree to his plan when you go on to fight him as
an alternate route of fighting Master Radiant.)
You'll then have to fight Fourth Brother and a Novice (the Novice uses White
Demon martial style) followed by Master Radiant. Across these fights you
won't get back your health, chi or focus, so do what you need to do in order
to keep yourself healthy ie Spirit Thief.
Master Radiant uses Shocking Dragon support style and Thousand Cuts martial
style, but besides having a lot of health and chi (used for chi healing),
he's not that hard to defeat. Just keep moving and land the attacks when you
can.
Once you beat Master Radiant, you get the Hidden Fist support style but also
(once you leave the Black Leopard Gates) get shut out of the school forever.
Immunities - Weapon styles.
MASTER SMILING HAWK -
The Closed Fist master of the Black Leopard School. You fight him if you
reject his plan to kill Master Radiant, then accept Master Radiant's plan to
take on Smiling Hawk. You'll fight Third Brother, then get sent to take on
Master Smiling Hawk. Reject his offer and the fight begins (with him kicking
you through a wall!).
Master Smiling Hawk attacks with Ice Shard magic style, Hidden Fist support
style and uses White Demon and Legendary Strike martial styles. Although
he has a lot of hit points, he isn't too hard to beat.
Once you get him down to about half health, you'll see a cutscene where
Master Smiling Hawk absorbs Third Brother's life force. This takes him back
to full health, but even so, it shouldn't be too hard to defeat him.
Immunities - None.
HAPLESS HAN -
The first arena division "champion" you'll fight. He uses Legendary Strike
and should be an absolute push-over.
Immunities - None.
CRIMSON KHANNA -
Champion of the Bronze Division in the Arena. She's armed with twin sabres,
which are both fast and damaging. Fortunately, they don't have good range,
so you can use a magic style to take her on fairly comfortably.
Alternatively, try to goad her into an attack, leap over her and hit her from
behind.
Watch your health in the fight - if Khanna starts landing hits, it can drop
very quickly. Overall, Khanna offers a moderate level of difficulty as an
opponent. One good thing is that when you beat her (provided she isn't killed
by poison) you get a new weapon style.
Immunities - None.
LUCKY CHO -
You'll have the Black Whirlwind to help you in this fight, but even so, Lucky
Cho isn't that tough. He uses Thousand Cuts martial style to attack, which
will probably mean he's faster than your character, but that's about his
only advantage. Aim to get him backed up in a corner or against a wall and
have both the Black Whirlwind and yourself pound on him until he falls over.
Immunities - None.
IRON SOLDIER -
Champion of the Silver Division in the Arena. He fights using the Leaping
Tiger martial style and is pretty fast. Even so, he is easy to beat. Use
a magic style to hit him at a distance or a weapon style that has better
range than his attacks. Doing this takes away his speed advantage, which
gives you the upper hand. It shouldn't take you long to take out Iron
Soldier.
Immunites - None.
PHOENIX ASSASSIN -
Although not an arena champion, the Phoenix Assassin does offer something
different due to her Phoenix Unity style. She attacks with a combination of
Poison Snake martial style and Twin Sabre weapon style, which gives her a bit
of speed in her attacks, but she isn't that hard to beat down to zero
health. When she hits zero health, her Phoenix Unity style sees the assassin
split into six copies of herself. This makes things a bit harder, so make
sure you have enough chi and focus left from the first part of the battle to
hold out after the split. Use a weapon style to hit multiple assassins at
once and try to focus on killing one assassin at a time. Provided you don't
end up surrounded by Phoenix Assassins, this isn't that hard a fight to win.
Immunites - None.
SUNG BROTHERS -
You'll fight three opponents at once, each with their onwn specialty. One
Brother uses Twin Sabre weapon style, one uses Monkey martial style (a fast
and acrobatic martial style) and one uses Dire Flame magic style and Staff
weapon style.
To beat them is pretty easy. My tactic was to switch to a weapon style and
focus on taking out the magic style-using brother. The other Sung brothers
tended to stick close, meaning I'd hit them with my attacks on the way
through. With the magic style-using brother defeated, you should focus on
the most weakened other Sung brother that remains. Defeat him, then use
your martial style (if you are running out of focus) to finish off the
last brother.
Immunities - None.
IMPERIAL ENGAGEMENT -
Before fighting the Ravager, you'll have to take on a number of your previous
arena opponents all at once. They'll come into the Arena every ten seconds,
giving you a little bit of time to take out one before the next arrives.
However, you'll probably end up fighting several enemies at once.
You'll face (in rough order):
- An ogre
- Hapless Han
- A Toad Demon
- Iron Soldier
- An Elephant Demon
- The Sung Brothers (who enter one at a time, with the magic-using one
entering last)
You'll want to have taken out both the ogre and Hapless Han prior to the
Toad Demon arriving. It is unlikely that you'll be able to finish off the
Toad Demon before Iron Soldier arrives, but you certainly want that demon
gone before the Elephant Demon arrives or else you'll be facing a pretty
hard fight.
Use Spirit Thief to collect chi from your human opponents to help heal
yourself. If you are up against more than four opponents, use your most
favoured magic style to attack them from range (human's only, since demons
are immune to magic styles) to reduce their numbers. As a tip, focus on
the magic-using Sung brother when he appears - his range, due to both
magic style and weapon style, can make it quite difficult to attack
some of the other opponents.
When you are down to only two human opponents and the Elephant Demon,
focus on taking down the demon. With that gone, use Spirit Thief to
grab chi for healing (if needed) and just take care in eliminating
your remaining opponents.
Overall, take your time and don't get surrounded. If you are patient
and attack where your enemy is vulnerable, you'll win this fight. Try
to rush in and you'll end up with opponents on all sides - the fight
will be over in seconds.
Immunities - Depends on the opponent.
THE RAVAGER -
The champion of the Gold Division of the Arena. He fights with Tang's
Vengence weapon style and while not especially quick, he has good range on
his attacks and can do a lot of damage to your character if you aren't
careful. Also, the Ravager isn't always knocked out of his attacks if you
hit him, so it's best to be careful.
The best way to take on the Ravager is through the use of your favourite
support style and martial style. Also, be cheap. Hold down block until you
see the Ravager glow before his power attack, then leap over him and hit
him with the support style. With the Ravager unable to attack as normal, hit
him with your martial style. Learn how long you have until the support style
wears off (be it three hits or six hits each time) because as soon as it
does the Ravager is likely to start swinging at you again. Either dodge
away or hit him with the support style again. Repeat for as long as it
takes (and it can take a while since the Ravager can chi heal himself
for quite a bit of extra health). Chi heal yourself as neccessary and
use focus mode at the end of the fight to land those extra blows to finish
him.
Immunites - Magic styles, Spirit Thief.
KAI LAN THE SERPENT -
Kai Lan is a fast fighter who will use Poison Snake martial style, Ice Shard
magic style and Longsword weapon style against you. What you'll need to do
is get used to beating him to the attack, either by diving into him or by
hitting him first.
You can fight this battle as either the Black Whirlwind or as your main
character. For the Black Whirlwind, all you have is your axes, but that makes
things simple in attacking Kai Lan and you can use your longer range to your
advantage. Also, the Black Whirlwind has reasonable amount of health. If you
fight as your main character, you'll have more attack options.
Once you've gotten Kai Lan down to below half health (he can chi heal too)
he'll start "channeling" and summon two Horse Demons. Fortunately, while
he's channelling he can't attack, but you'll have to take on the Horse Demons
instead. This means you will need a lot of health (since every hit you land
on a Horse Demon drains some of your health) so make sure you have full
chi stores prior to doing this much damage to Lai Kan.
You may find that, despite your best efforts, you don't have enough health
and chi to defeat the Horse Demons - that the damage they do is too much
for you to survive. If this is the case, don't fight Kai Lan just yet - go
off and do other quests. Level yourself up, maybe spend more skill points
in a martial or weapon style and then try again.
With the Horse Demons defeated, go back to Kai Lan and finish him off. Use
Spirit Thief to get chi back off him for healing purposes as required.
Immunities - None.
NECROPOLIS ENEMIES -
You'll come across a number of ghosts in the Necropolis who have names and
quest specifically attached to them. In pretty much all cases you can fight
them, with generally the best way of defeating them just going for the
harmonic combo. Since you can win with a harmonic combo, I won't go into
details for those enemies (eg Miss Chan, Si Ran, Si Tsu, Ren Ming, etc).
INSANE EMPEROR SPIRIT -
A Red Minister, supported by four Lost Spirits, awaits at the end of the
temple in Jinlin's quest. Have a follower who can attack with you and focus
on taking out the Lost Spirits first. With them gone, concentrate on the
Insane Emperor. Red Ministers can be quite fast and strong and heal
themselves with every attack they land, so try to avoid being hit. One tactic
is to switch to a support style and use it to keep the Red Minister occupied
while your follower finishes it off.
Immunities - Weapon styles.
JI XIN -
A vain man has arisen to find himself now a mummy. He knows Tempest magic
style and the standard mummy martial style, but really is very easy to beat.
Immunities - None.
FADING MOON -
Hiding out in the Necropolis, Fading Moon has a bounty on her head. If you
go to collect this bounty, she'll attack you with Dire Flame magic style and
Legendary Strike martial style. She also has access to a damage shield - for
a short period of time, you'll be able to see flaming armour around her body
(arms and legs especially) that means every time you hit her with a martial
or weapon style attack, you take damage. When you see this shield go up, jump
back and switch to a magic style until the damage shield fades. Despite this
one slight twist, it shouldn't take you long to finish off Fading Moon.
Immunities - None.
LOTUS ASSASSIN'S FORTRESS -
You'll fight a number of enemies in the Lotus Assassin's Fortress that have
names and are part of a larger quest, but you can generally harmonic combo
them into oblivion. As such, I won't comment on these enemies other than to
say you probably won't have much trouble in defeating them.
ACOLYTE TRAINER GUANG -
Master Gang will send you to fight the Acolyte Trainer shortly after you join
him. Guang fights using White Demon martial style.
Immunities - None.
ZENG SAI -
The ghost of a Horselord who attacked the Jade Empire, Zeng Sai attacks using
Twin Mace weapon style (like Twin Axes) and Ice Shard magic style. He's
reasonably strong and has plenty of hit points, but the combined might of you
and your follower should mean that he won't be too much of a problem.
Immunities - Weapon styles.
MASTER SHIN -
Master Gang's rival who you've been instructed to kill. He will attack you
using Tempest magic style, Shocking Dragon support style and Legendary Strike
martial style. Once you knock him down to about 1/3 of his health, two clay
golems will come to life and attack you as well.
Master Shin isn't too hard to defeat - just make sure he doesn't immobilise
you with the Tempest strong attack / Shocking Dragon and then pound your
health down to zero (which is possible, especially if he has golem help).
Immunities - None.
MASTER GANG -
Your "boss" in the Lotus Blossom Fortress. You can kill him by dropping a
clay golem on his head or by fighting him. If you don't manage to drop a
clay golem on his head (just get it ready earlier before fighting Master
Shin) you'll have to fight Master Gang alongside the two Jade Golems. He
is armed with Twin Axe weapon style and Poison Snake martial style and isn't
that hard to beat. However, he may distract you when fighting the Jade
Golems, so it's best to have a weapon style that is circular and will hit
other targets as you fight him (or hit Gang as you fight the Golems).
Immunities - None.
GRAND INQUISITOR JIA -
This is a tough fight. Jia attacks with Long sword Weapon style, Tempest
magic style, Paralyse Palm support style and also has a Sabre Weapon style
that gives her a damage shield. Jia is fast and strong and more than able to
cut you down quickly.
Use the Black Whirlwind as your follower. I'd start out the fight by
using your support style to keep her from being able to attack, while letting
the Black Whirlwind attack Jia. Unless you are lucky, you probably won't be
able to keep her disabled indefinitely (the Black Whirlwind will probably
knock her out of your reach at some point), so if she does look likely to
start attacking, be ready.
If you do end up fighting her, try to keep her between you and your follower.
There's a chance she'll end up killing your follower, but that's okay - by
that point she's hopefully very damaged. Switch to your preferred attack
style and go for it. If you are having difficulty landing your final blows,
go into focus mode and deal as much damage as possible.
Finally, be sure to watch out for her Sabre and damage shield (lots of
particles spinning around her). If she has her damage shield up, dodge
away from her and switch to your preferred magic style to do damage from
a distance.
*UPDATE: Woodlander says:
"Probably the hardest battle I fought was Inquisitor
Jia because of that damned shield. Switch to Storm Dragon, and give
her a few - she'll stand there VEERRRRY sloowly losing health, but
most importantly she sits there erratically jolting about. If you feel
like it, give her the Strong Attack, then whip out your Weapons. If
you use a Staff then you're probably better off using a Martial Style.
Pound on her for a bit, and then keep her juice topped up by switching
to Storm Dragon. Switch back and continue the pain. You have to watch
her health though, at about Half and very low health she switches on
the shield regardless of Storm Dragon. This tactic works against many
of the important 1vs1 fights.
Best of all, this consumes no Chi - and you can have your follower in
Attack mode helping you deal damage whilst they're Shocked by Storm
Dragon."
CHAI KA or ZA YHEN -
At the start of chapter 4, if you have both of these characters as followers
they will seek to duke it out. Pick your preferred side. You'll then go to a
two-on-one fight in another dimension. Just let your demon of choice start
attacking, then head around behind your target and attack them until they
fall over. Simple!
Immunities - Magic styles, Support styles.
EMPEROR SUN HAI -
At first, Sun Hai seems like a challenge, but once you notice his pattern,
you'll have no problems in kicking this "god" where it hurts.
He attacks with Tempest magic style, Monk Spade weapon style and Poison Snake
martial style. The trick is that he is immune to whatever style he is
currently using, so he's immune to your magic style(s) if he is using
Tempest, for example. As such, just switch to another style and attack him
as per normal. You can make things a little easier by using a support style
to keep him from attacking, but this won't stop him from swapping attack
styles and getting access to the immunity.
What you will have to get used to is landing less than your full number of
hits, since he will often switch to whatever you are attacking him with at
the time. This will see him become immune to your attacks, thus giving him
time to recover and counter attack. Just land a couple of hits, then dodge
away and change attack styles to something he isn't immune to.
Once you get him down to about a third of his original health, you'll get
a cutscene, but this means nothing, so keep on your guard.
Immunities - whatever style type he is currently using.
XIAN WU -
One of the betrayers of Dirge, she is supported by two other Betrayers. This
is a hard fight, since all opponents have magic styles and are strong
fighters. Xian Wu uses Ice Shard magic style and Thousand Cuts martial style,
while the Betrayers use Tempest magic style / Thousand Cuts martial style or
Dire Flame magic style / Legendary Strike martial style.
To win this fight, take out Xian Wu first - her Ice Shard area attack makes
things very difficult for you. Also, keep moving, since at any moment you
could have magic style projectiles heading your way. Use Spirit Thief to
collect chi for health if you need it and switch your follower (Abbot Seng)
between support and attack modes as you need it.
Immunities - Weapon styles.
MINION OF SUFFERING -
A bull demon. Switch to your most damaging weapon or martial style and start
attacking him. Dodgd around behind him and land a few blows, then dodge
around him as he starts to turn to face you. With your follower helping you,
this fight shouldn't take very long at all.
Immunities - Magic styles, Support styles.
THE ABOMINATION IN THE TEMPLE -
... turns out to be three versions of your main character. The Aspect of Rage
attacks with Ice Shard magic style and White Demon martial style, the Aspect
of Sorrow attacks with Dire Flame magic style and White Demon martial style
and the Aspect of Despair attacks with a Twin Sabre weapon style and White
Demon martial style.
The best way to fight them is to take out the Aspect of Rage first - it's
Ice Shard magic style area attack helps make you a sitting duck for the other
Aspects. Use your preferred attack style to do this - circular weapon styles,
that see you hit the other Aspects on your way to the target, are probably
the best bet. With one Aspect down, take out the other magic-using Aspect
and finally the one with the weapon style.
Overall, this isn't too hard a fight, provided you can avoid getting trapped
between the Aspects or getting hit by their magic attacks.
Immunities - None.
DREAM FIGHT -
Sun Li will put you in a nightmare that sees you fighting the charred corpses
of Jing Woo, Student Wen and Student Lin from the Two Rivers School. Jing Woo
attacks with White Dragon martial style, Student Wen attacks with Thousand
Cuts martial style and Student Lin attacks with Staff weapon style.
This is a pretty standard fight. Take out Student Lin first, then just attack
Jing Woo and Student Wen as the opportunity presents itself.
Immunities - None.
BRIDGE FIGHT -
You can do this bit as either Silk Fox or Dawn Star. Either way, you have to
protect Kang from Imperial Army soldiers and Lotus Assassins. Before you
start this fight, run down and around the fountain to find the Hidden Urn
that contains the better weapon. Once you have this item, run over to the
bridge and get ready to protect Kang.
This bit is fairly simple. Just keep attacking all the enemies who come over
the bridge and stop them from getting to Kang. If they do slip past you,
dodge back so that you can see Kang and then attack any enemies that are near
him. If it does look like Kang is going to get hit, you can always do an area
attack to knock all enemies to the ground, which will buy you a bit more
time. The new weapon you picked up will make this fight much easier.
Immunities - N/A.
COURTYARD FIGHT -
As the Black Whirlwind, you'll face an unlimited number of Lotus Assassins
and one Jade Golem. Henpecked Hou helps you by throwing out wine bottles that
completely refill your health and chi meters.
First off, go into free target mode and run around the outside walls of the
courtyard - you'll find the Hidden Urn. Attack it to get the better
weapon. Head back and fight the Jade Golem. Once you've defeated the Jade
Golem, the Lotus Assassins will stop coming (although you'll have to clear
out a few before the fight ends). You can, if you wish, just kill Lotus
Assassins - for every 20 that are killed up to a total of 100, you'll get
a message.
Immunities - N/A.
DEATH'S HAND -
Death's Hand is fast and strong, but he's not that difficult to beat.
Provided you can avoid getting hit, it won't take you too long to beat him.
Watch out for his strong attack though - it has a reasonable range on it and
will really eat up the life points if it hits. He uses two swords to attack
you.
Just switch to your preferred attack style, dodge over him so you can attack
his back and maybe use a magic style to do some extra damage. Death's Hand
can chi heal himself, which means you aren't as close to victory as you
might think.
Immunites - None.
DEATH'S HAND vs PRINCE KIN
You'll fight as Prince Kin. He's got a better reach and is faster than
Death's Hand. The best place for Kin to fight Death's Hand is on the stairs -
your longer reachwill mean you hit his feet, while his attacks sail over
your character's head.
Prince Kin attacks using a Longsword-esque weapon style.
Immunites - N/A.
STONE CONSTRUCTS -
Sun Li summons up some stone contructs for you to fight - two Elephant Demon
constructs and two Bull Demom constructs. This fight can be hard since there
are four of them, so it's not always easy to nip in behind one and land a few
hits.
One way of avoiding this is to go into focus mode - you'll have limited time,
but depending how much damage you can do, you should be able to take down at
least two prior to your focus running out.
It is probably better to take out the Bull constructs first - since they have
projectile attacks, they can get annoying in that they'll knock you out of
your own attack patterns. With them gone, just concentrate on getting around
behind the Elephant constructs and landing your hits until they fall over.
Immunities - Magic styles, Support styles, Spirit Thief.
DOUBT -
Sun Li will teleport you to another realm so that you can face your doubts.
The Doubts are grey duplicates of Death's Hand and Sun Li (I think). Overall,
this fight isn't anything special. Each of the duplicates has a slightly
different attack style they use, but you've already won a large number of
fights to get here, so you won't have any surprises here.
Immunites - The pale grey / green glowing Doubt is immune to weapon styles.
SUN LI -
The final showdown. He uses Ice Shard magic style (with homing normal
attacks, so if you see him send these your way, get used to blocking), Dual
Sabre weapon style, Leaping Tiger martial style, Spirit Thief, Tempest magic
style, Paralysing Palm support style and a damage shield.
The best way to defeat Sun Li is to use a combination of different attacks.
Use support styles to stop him from attacking you, use your preferred
martial / weapon style to do damage to him, use your preferred magic style to
do some damage when Sun Li puts up his damage shield (glowing, flaming
armour) and use Spirit Thief to get chi for healing purposes. Sun Li may seem
a tough opponent at first - especially due to 1) his homing Ice Shard normal
attacks and 2) his damage shield - but he's not that bad once you get
familiar with his capabilities.
Sun Li can also go into focus mode, but you can cancel that by hitting your
focus button (although it will cost you a chunk of focus). You should do this
if it looks like he's going to land some big attacks on you, but sometimes Sun
Li will go into focus mode for no particular reason, so wait and see what he's
up to before deciding to waste focus on stopping him.
One key to beating him is seeing when he's got his damage shield up - you can
easily do yourself a lot of damage on it if you aren't paying attention. If
you see that's it's on, dodge back and switch to a magic style to hit him at
long range.
Immunities - None.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
4.0 KNOW YOUR ARMY
__________________
I won't go deeply into any plot related items about your followers - there
are other guides that cover that. The information below just relates to their
abilities in battle.
Also, depending on how you play "Jade Empire", some followers will join you
at different points - however, these points usually aren't too far apart.
4.1 DAWN STAR
-------------
Comes armed with a long sword but not a lot of hit points. Dawn Star comes in
more useful for her support ability to recharge your chi - in areas where you
can go a long way without finding spirit fonts, this ability can save your
skin through chi healing. Since you can chi heal, you will also heal her, so
don't be afraid to bring her back into the fight if you need her.
Support - Her meditations give you chi.
Available from: when the pirates attack Two Rivers.
4.2 SAGAGIOUS ZU
----------------
This dark, secretive loner attacks with a staff and is pretty good in a
fight. He is definitely better than Dawn Star in a fight, but his support
ability, though useful, is weaker overall.
Support - His meditations increase your weapon damage.
Available from: the swamps when Dawn Star is kidnapped.
4.3 SKY
-------
He's fast and has double sabers, but overall he's really kind of middling
in terms of being a follower. Also, his support ability is pretty weak when
compared to (say) Dawn Star's - sure focus is useful, but it is less
adaptable than chi.
Support - His meditations give you focus.
Available from: the pirate lair outside Tien's Landing once you've killed
Gao the Greater.
4.4 SILK FOX
------------
She's fast and armed with a long sword, but isn't that great in an extended
fight due to her low-ish hitpoints. Still, she's probably more useful than
Sky.
Support - Her meditations increase your martial style damage.
Available from: when you meet her in the Scholar's Garden in the Imperial
City.
4.5 BLACK WHIRLWIND
-------------------
The Black Whirlwind is the best melee fighter out of your followers, but
has no support mode. If you are going to be fighting numerous enemies, he
can come in pretty handy, but fighting is all he does.
Support - He has no support mode.
Available from: the temple in the Sickened Forest outside Tien's Landing.
You have to beat him up first and then return with the temple crystal
that is at the Pilgrim's Rest Inn.
4.6 HENPECKED HOU
-----------------
Support mode is all Henpecked Hou has - he throws bottles to you that let
you switch into Drunken Master martial style. Given that, apart from
amusement value, Drunken Master style isn't really that great, you'll find
Hou amongst your least used followers.
Support - He throws out bottle orbs that can be collected to activate
Drunken Master style.
Available from: the Pilgrim's Rest Inn in the Sickened Forest outside
Tien's Landing. You have to beat the cannibals inside the Inn first.
4.7 WILD FLOWER - CHAI KA
-------------------------
She transforms (in a bolt of lightning) to the Guardian aka Chai Ka. The
Guardian looks impressive, but I've found he's got a tendency not to
last that long in large battles when lots of people beat on him. He is
probably your third best melee fighter and his support ability can
keep you alive, which always comes in useful.
Support - His meditations give you health.
Available from: at the other end of the Ruins outside Tien's Landing.
You have to beat him up first.
4.8 WILD FLOWER - ZA YHEN
-------------------------
She transforms (in a bolt of lightning) into the Other aka Za Yhen. Za
Yhen is a more powerful than average toad demon, but like Chai Ka he
doesn't seem to be able to stand up to large numbers of attackers. Also
like Chai Ka, he gives you health with his support ability. I found him
a bit less useful than Chai Ka overall in a fight, especially since he
is stingy with the health he provides back to you in support mode.
Support - His meditations give you health (but as much as Chai Ka does).
Available from: when you enter the Imperial City. Talk to Wild Flower
and you'll get the first impression of Za Yhen. Talk to Wild Flower again
about spirits and Za Yhen should pop back up, offering his servitude in
exchange for his freedom. Accept his offer.
4.9 DEATH'S HAND
----------------
Once you've beaten Death's Hand (twice!) you get the option to bind him
to your will. If you do so, you'll have one of the most feared people in
the Empire at your side. Although Death's Hand is a good fighter, you'll
only get to experience a handful of fights with him, so he's not going to
make that much of a difference to your enjoyment of "Jade Empire". Overall,
he doesn't appear as good as the Black Whirlwind as a fighting follower, but
he's certainly one of your stronger fighters.
Support - He has no support mode.
Available from: after the Imperial Army invades Dirge, you'll face Death's
Hand in a physical battle. When you defeat him this way, you'll then have
to beat Death's Hand again, but this time you will control Prince Jin's
spirit. With this done, you can choose to keep Death's Head around.
Finally, you'll have to 'convince' your followers this is a good thing and
that Death's Hand should stick around.
4.10 KANG THE MAD
-----------------
Kang isn't selectable as a "combat" follower.
Available from: the pirate's lair outside of Tien's Landing.
4.11 ZEN BU
------------
Zen Bu isn't selectable as a "combat" follower.
Available from: the Fox Spirit heaven you enter at the Temple in the
Sickened Forest.
4.12 ABBOT SENG
---------------
He's probably your best all-round follower and it's a bit of a pity that
you don't get him for that long. Although his fighting skills are a little
bit weak, his support abilities more than make up for it.
Support - His meditations give you health, chi and focus at a pretty fast
rate.
Available from: shortly after you enter Dirge.
4.13 FOLLOWER TACTICS
---------------------
You get the same experience from kills made by your followers as you do from
kills you make yourself, so it doesn't make sense not to use them in battle.
Followers can also be very handy to splitting the enemies that are attacking
you into smaller groups since they attract some attention. If you are
attacking a big enemy, your follower's blows can distract and disrupt their
attacks as well, making taking down large enemies much quicker and safer.
Finally, having a follower fight means you can take some time to heal
yourself or Spirit Thief back chi with a lower risk than if you were fighting
alone.
However, followers in support mode won't be attacked by enemies and give you
particular bonuses during combat. These bonuses can make some fights much
easier, or at least survivable. You'll also find quickly that attacks from
followers are less effective overall than your attacks, so you won't be
able to rely on them to do the hard jobs in combat.
As such, I recommend starting your followers in attack mode and switching
them across to support mode when they get down to minimal health. This gives
you the best of both worlds. You will have to get used to watching the
health of your follower during battle for this - if they "die" you won't be
able you use their support abilities.
Also, followers are healed when you heal yourself, so if you can switch them
to support mode and then collect a couple of health orbs / use chi healing,
you can elect to bring them back into the fight.
As for which follower you should use... well, it depends on the situation.
The Black Whirlwind is your best fighter, but sometimes you need someone who
heal you or replenish your chi. Pick your follower by what you need to happen
in the next fight.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
5.0 BATTLE TACTICS
__________________
5.1 GENERAL TIPS
----------------
Below are some general tips for winning battles in "Jade Empire".
OVERALL -
- Control the distance over which a fight occurs. If your enemy has a longer
weapon than you, use a magic style. If they excel at magic styles, get in
close for martial style attacks.
- Watch your health and the health of your follower. Chi heal as needed.
- Switch your follower from attack to support modes if they get low on
health.
- If you are low on health and there are no shrines around, select Dawn
Star as a follower and set her to support mode. Assuming you can dance
around your enemies in the next battle for a bit, you'll be able to recover
chi and heal yourself with it. This is better than using Chai Ka since he
_only_ gives health - once you've got full health, Chai Ka's usefulness
ends (unless you want to bring him into the fight), whereas Dawn Star can
supply you with chi for use in magic styles, transformation styles or chi
strikes.
- Area attacks for martial and weapon styles do no damage, but are great
at giving you a bit of breathing room.
- Area attacks for magic styles do some damage, but not a lot.
- Don't get surrounded during group battles. If you do, you will be
killed very quickly (especially at Grand Master difficulty).
- If you are fighting a boss and his underlings, concentrate on taking out
the weaker targets first. The boss is usually quite a bit harder than the
bodyguards he has, so by clearing these opponents out first will give you
the room to move and a better chance at overall victory.
There are exceptions to this guideline above - for instance, it is easier
to kill Shining Tusk first, then the Fox Spirits than the other way around.
- In general, weapons are better for fighting off groups of opponents than
martial styles. This is because most weapons keep you moving forward and
attack in a 'circular' path, while martial styles don't move you foward as
far and are much more linear in terms of where they deal the damage.
Fighting circular makes it capable to land hits on enemies that are
nearby or on the way to your target. This saves you time in fighting and
can protect you from those enemies attacking.
ONE-ON-ONE -
This type of fight is a regular occurance in "Jade Empire", where you and a
single opponent face off. If you have a follower with you at the time, this
type of fight is even easier since it's two-on-one, but this doesn't seem
to happen that often.
Since you only have one target to focus on, you can concentrate on just
dealing damage to them and dodging / blocking their attacks. Since you will
generally be quicker and more versatile than your enemies, one-on-one battles
are usually pretty easy to win. The difficulty will often come from being
hit by a paralysing blow which will see you left helpless. Learn to avoid /
block these attacks at all costs.
One tactic for beating tough one-on-one opponents is to hold down block.
When they power up to hit you with a strong attack, dodge around them
and hit them with an attack. This might seem cheap, but the more
intelligent enemies will do it to you!
On this, if you find an enemy regularly drops their block the second you
start a strong attack (which some of the tougher enemies will do), the
best thing to do is move back a distance and switch to a magic style or
support style, then do a strong attack. The enemy might still drop their
block, but hopefully you've put enough distance between you and them
that you have time to execute your attack and hit them. You can also
jump over them and start the strong attack from behind - hopefully the
time it takes for them to drop their guard, turn around and attack you
is less than the time it takes you to execute your strong attack, but don't
bet on it for some of the faster enemies.
FIGHTING GROUPS -
This is much harder. You'll have multiple attackers all wanting your blood,
so you are going to have to keep moving and attacking targets as they are
convenient to you. You will have to get used to switching targets quickly
and even going into free target mode if you need to escape from a large
group.
The key thing is not to be surrounded by attackers. If you are surrounded,
try to use an area attack to clear some space. At the very least, try to
dodge out or block - it doesn't take long to die when you get hit from
multiple sides at once.
All in all, weapon styles (generally) are best for fighting off groups.
Since most of them (staff and twin sabres aside) attack in a 'circular'
fashion, you'll find that you hit enemies on the way past, or if they
are standing close together. This maximises the damage you do and makes
fighting off numerous enemies easier. By comparison, martial styles are
'linear' - they move in a straight line, meaning the chance of hitting more
than one target in the one damaging attack is minimal (the martial style
area attack will hit multiple targets, but won't do any damage).
Finally, if you beat off numerous enemies until there is only one left,
don't get cocky and try to do something fancy. Although perfectly
acceptable to finish them with a harmonic combo (as applicable) be aware
that they can still kill you, which will mean you'll have to reload and
fight all those enemies you've just killed again. Sometimes it's just
better to kill them with a martial style and go back to the nearest shrine
to recharge yourself.
5.2 HARMONIC COMBOS
-------------------
Harmonic combos occur when you hit an opponent with a specified support or
magic style attack (listed in the style information) and then again with a
strong martial style attack. If the enemy can be effected by harmonic combos
(not all can), a green circle will appear around them. This green circle
counts down the time you have until to hit them with the follow-up martial
strong attack for the harmonic combo to still be effective.
Hitting an opponent with a harmonic combo is a ONE HIT KILL. If you pull it
off, human enemies explode in a geyser of blood ("FINISH HIM!!!" style), /
shatter / fade out while ghosts just disappear. Opponents taken out this
way also leave orbs for you to collect that heal you / increase your chi
/ increase your focus as determined by the magic / support style used.
I'm not 100% sure if some opponents are only vulnerable to harmonic combos
after you've beaten them down a bit to a certain health level, but it
sometimes seems that way.
Harmonic combos can make some fights much, much easier, especially if you
drop into focus mode at the same time, meaning you can deliver the two
attacks much quicker and increase the chance of pulling them off.
However, harmonic combos aren't something you can rely on all the time.
Firstly, some enemies are immune to them. Secondly, because they won't
always land - you'll get hit during your strong martial attack, dropping
your health while your enemy recovers. This is especially true during
group fights, where opponents are just lining up to carve chunks off you.
Thirdly, you might mis-hit your D-pad to switch styles, meaning you don't
hit your enemy with the correct style. This can also cause you much
frustration and pain.
And finally, sometimes it's just better to hit an opponent with one blow
to finish them off rather than to try to hit them with two in succession.
It's easier to do and if you don't need the orb the harmonic combo will
drop, it's just showing off.
As far as the support styles for harmonic combos go, Heavenly Wave is the
most irritaing to pull off (yet ironically, it's the first one you can do,
meaning you'll probably be biased against harmonic combos for the rest of
the game!). It's the most irritating because enemies hit by the strong
Heavenly Wave attack can still hit you out of your strong martial attack.
Other support styles that actually paralyse / freeze the target enemy make
pulling off harmonic combos much easier.
*NOTE - You can take out more than one opponent at a time with a harmonic
combo, but you have to be lucky. You'll need to hit more than one enemy with
the support / magic style to set up the combo, then hit both of them with
the same martial style strong attack. It's fun when it comes off, but don't
expect to see it happen often, if at all.
*UPDATE: Woodlander says:
"I'm not sure if you noticed this, but it's far faster to
switch styles DURING an attack. If you want to hit someone with
say...Heavenly Wave's Strong Attack just after finishing a Harmonic
Combo on your first victim, change your style just after you initiate
the attack. Obviously if you miss, you're in a bit of trouble but a
hit or two before you jump away doesn't end a fight. I find timing
easiest with Legendary Strike. So it'd be something like this. I'm
just using these two styles as an example. (I agree that Heavenly Wave
is a terrible Support Style.)
Heavenly Wave
Begin Power Attack
Switch to Legendary Strike
The Attack is loosed (and hopefully hits)
Press X virtually as soon as the attack finishes
Don't waste time, as soon as you leap into the air to finish the
attack, switch back to Heavenly Wave in preparation for the next
enemy."
5.3 SUPER CHEAP STORM DRAGON KILL FACTORY TECHNIQUE
---------------------------------------------------
Woodlander also wrote in about this, which I had used to fight the cannibals
and then discarded because it makes things pretty dull. However, it is
worth mentioning as a cheap fighting method that will make combat in "Jade
Empire" easier (but less fun).
Woodlander says:
"It truly is devastating, and I found it made fights so easy to the
point where it was cheap and boring, so I ended up not using it.
The main point behind this, is that Storm Dragon has three main
attributes that set it apart as a destructive Style.
1) Considering Immunities, I find that enemies that are hard to fight
don't seem to have immunity to Storm Dragon, much like many enemies
Immune to Support Styles aren't often immune to Spirit Thief.
2) Storm Dragon's combo is initiated with an Area Attack: Much faster
than a power attack as you pointed out. It also comes with the benefit
of making closer enemies Shocked so it's harder for them to interefere
with your combo - but when you consider...
3) Storm Dragon drops Focus Orbs - nobody will be interefering with
your combos anyway.
Against enemies that can be comboed, no matter how large the group,
Storm Dragon really shines. You can finish the fight with full bars
(Though often your Focus won't be full) and with minimal effort.
Simply enter Focus mode. Switch to Storm Dragon and set up your first
victim. Swap to your preferred Martial style and handily turn them
into a fountain of gore. They'll drop a focus orb, so grab it and the
amount of focus it took to kill the enemy is usually restored - I
usually find that I restore more focus than I use. Of course with
everything moving so slowly, swapping to Storm Dragon, setting up the
combo, Swapping to martial, finishing, getting the orb and repeating
takes very little time in relation to the enemies around you. You can
often blaze away four-five enemies before the rest of the group has
even turned to face you. Not only does this mean you can get through
every fight virtually unscathed (assuming they can be comboed), but it
also looks incredibly cool. Especially when you drop focus mode and
all you can see around you is a mass of blood. Or when your finishing
off your third opponent and the first Storm Dragon is still falling
from the sky."
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
6.0 ADVANCEMENT / OTHER THINGS
______________________________
6.1 SPENDING YOUR SKILL POINTS
------------------------------
When you level up, you receive a number of skill points equal to your level
to be spent on upgrading styles. So what should you spend them on?
As a rough calculation, assuming to get to lvl 23 by the end of "Jade
Empire", you will have spent 276 skill points on your styles. Given that it
takes 23 skill points to max out a 'line' within a style (ie damage increase,
speed increase, chi damage, etc), you only have (at lvl 23) enough skill
points to max out 12 lines. This means you can master four styles at most.
Of course, you don't have to master any style - you get no apparent extra
bonus for doing so - and can spend the points across a wide range of styles.
However, it is probably best (given you can only switch between four styles
quickly) that you focus on just a couple of styles for the vast majority
of your skill points.
So what to spend them on? My recommendations are:
- Max out the damage and speed of your main martial style as a first
priority. You can ignore putting anything into chi damage if you wish to.
- Master a magic style. I recommend doing it for either Tempest or Stone
Immortal (depending on what you can get) since these are the "best" magic
styles.
- Max out the duration and speed bars for a good support style (ie one that
isn't Heavenly Wave). You don't need to worry about chi damage for a support
style.
- Master a weapon style. I'd recommend against doing it for the first
weapon style you get, since the weapons you get in the later half of "Jade
Empire" are a heck of a lot better than Fortune's Favourite or Golden Star /
Tien's Justice. That said, your first weapon will be replaced by an upgrade
at some point in the game, with any skill points you invested in it being
carried across. So it's up to you to choose. However, I'd avoid trying to
upgrade two weapon styles since this makes things a little redundant.
- Max out the speed and duration for Spirit Thief. You want to be able to
hit the enemies first and if you stun them, you want them to stay stunned.
Since this style will literally save your life, it is important to spend
some points in order to make it better at restoring your chi.
Of course, this leaves no room for investment in transformation styles. If
you are more magically inclined, pick one transformation style to upgrade
(preferably Jade Golem or Red Minister, but these come late in "Jade Empire")
perhaps instead of completely mastering a weapon style.
In my opinion, the thing to avoid is dropping a few points in everything.
While being jack-of-all-trades has some advantages, for the most part "Jade
Empire" won't reward you for using skill points in this way. It is better to
pick a few styles you will use for most of the game and then make them the
best they can be.
Overall, I've found that:
- it is better to land the hit than do more damage with each hit, so speed
is more important than damage
- if it is important enough for you to use, you want it to last, so duration
needs to be at its longest for transformation / magic styles
- if it is important enough for you to use, you want it to last, so chi /
focus drain needs to be as small as possible for weapon / magic styles
6.2 WHAT STYLES SHOULD I BUY?
-----------------------------
In "Jade Empire" you will have the opportunity to buy various combat
styles from merchants such as Zin Bu or the Blacksmith in the Imperial
City. They tend to cost a bit, so which ones should you buy?
The answer is: only those you plan to upgrade. While it's fun
experimenting with new styles, they can only reduce your silver and the focus
of your skill points. If you want to see what a style can do, save your game,
buy it, play with it for a bit, then reload. If the style you are buying is
a weapon style, make sure it is the upgrade for your first weapon style and
the weapon that you wish to specialise in.
As such, I'd recommend against buying any magic or martial styles that are
available to you (you'll get given enough to keep yourself occupied anyway)
and maybe only buy a weapon style if you are upgrading / planning to make
it your main weapon style. (My exception to this rule is the Storm Dragon
Support style, but that's because it's a personal favourite.)
In turn, this will save you a lot of silver, which comes in handy at the end
of "Jade Empire" when Zin Bu has some great techniques that cost 50 000
silver each.
6.3 LEVELING UP
---------------
Each time you level up, you'll have three points to spend on your Body, Mind
and Spirit. I recommend spending one point in each of these items each level.
All of these aspects are important and you can always supplement your
character with gems placed in the Dragon Amulet if you want to see some areas
improved above your level's capability.
6.4 THE BEST...
---------------
Below are just my opinions regarding the best styles in "Jade Empire".
MARTIAL STYLE: Thousand Cuts (the fastest) or Legendary Strike (speed with
range)
***UPDATE: I should add that Legendary Strike has the best strong attack - a
jump kick that sends the enemies flying. If you manage to take an enemy out
of the air with it, it is one of the more impressive-looking things you can do.
MAGIC STYLE: Tempest or Stone Immortal (particularly once you are at the full
end of the Closed Fist / Open Palm scale)
SUPPORT STYLE: Storm Dragon or Hidden Fist (because their harmonic combos
are based off an area attack, which makes them quick to pull off and safer
for you since they've also effected all the surrounding enemies)
WEAPON STYLE: Tang's Vengence (it has good speed, good range and is pretty
damaging)
TRANSFORMATION STYLE: Red Minister (since it leeches health and chi with
each attack, meaning you can stay in it indefinitely provided you can keep
landing the attacks)
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
7.0 FINAL NOTES
_______________
OVerall, I enjoyed "Jade Empire". It wasn't quite as deep as I'd hoped - the
Open Palm / Closed Fist options are all pretty obvious and it really was a
light side / dark side choice - which was disappointing after the allegedly
'philosophical' bent the two paths were given in the opening section of the
game. However, "Jade Empire" was fun enough and the narrative was interesting
and something a bit different.
Unfortunately, it can be said that the combat is a bit repetitive and not
really that involving. The different styles are nice, but you tend to end
up with a stack of them you don't use at all. While the rock / paper /
scissors approach to combat was interesting (ie block defeats normal attack
but is beaten by strong attack, normal attack beats strong attack due to
its speed, etc) in reality you mostly hit the A button until your opponents
fell down.
Despite these flaws, I think "Jade Empire" was worth purchasing and look
forward to any potential sequel.
7.1 THANKS AND CONTRIBUTORS
---------------------------
THANKS TO -
LinkOmega, for his "Jade Empire - Style Guide" which I used as a point of
comparision for this guide
My wife, who found "Jade Empire" more bearable to watch than, say "Silent
Hill II"
7.2 Version History
-------------------
0.80 - Guide is released at this mostly finished stage because waiting to
fill in all the gaps would take too long. As I move through "Jade Empire",
I'll fill in the Key Enemy and Support Style information as I come across
them.
1.00 - Guide completed to what I believe is a good standard, with all key
enemies, styles and followers discussed.
1.01 - Realised I hadn't finished Master Gang's write-up, so I've now added
him.
1.02 - Christian Proctor wrote in to correct something about Spirit Thief.
Also fixed a few typing mistakes I saw.
1.03 - Woodlander sent me an extensive email about some of his views on
combat, which I've added in various parts of the guide.
+--------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
vERSION 1.00 COMPLETED 12 JULY 2005
+--------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
© Web Media Network Limited, 1999 - 2024 This site is not affiliated in any way with Microsoft, Sony, Sega, Nintendo or any video game publishers.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.
Super Cheats is an unofficial resource with submissions provided by members of the public. These are not usually tested by us (because there are so many), so please use them at your own risk.
