++==================================++
+++==================================+++
|||                                  |||
|||    KINGDOM HEARTS 2 FINAL MIX    |||
|||      LEVEL 1 IN-DEPTH GUIDE      |||
|||                                  |||
|||           version 1.1            |||
+++==================================+++
++==================================++
+=========================================+
| TABLE OF CONTENTS:                      |
|                                         |
| 0. About this guide                     |
| 1. Tips on the game mechanics           |
|  1.1. Guard and Counterguard            |
|  1.2. Magics                            |
|  1.3. Summons                           |
|  1.4. Drive Forms                       |
|  1.5. Sora's abilities                  |
| 2. The Guide                            |
| 3. To Be Included                       |
| 4. Version Control                      |
| 5. Credits, Contact, etc                |
+=========================================+
===================
0. ABOUT THIS GUIDE
===================
Welcome to my Guide! Although not my first attempt, this is the first time I
actually finish and submit a Guide, ever.
Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix is a release with many extras over the original
Kingdom Hearts 2 (hereafter referred as KH2), available only in Japan. In order
to play this, you need a Japanese PS2, Japanese PS3 or use certain tools on
your Playstation 2, like Swap Magic, or even modding it. I won't discuss any of
these methods: please refer to other Guides or the boards to obtain all the
info you need. Don't bother emailing me with questions regarding this, either.
Due to its origins, many people hesitate on obtaining this, not only to the
importing trouble and cost, but also due to the language barrier: everything
except for the Voice Acting is in Japanese (the VA being English). Even though
it looks scary at first, you'll handle with few menus and items, as KH2 is much
more action than RPG oriented: if you still have difficulties to memorize some
of them, you can always refer to the amazing Translation FAQ by starrk.
This Guide will help you out to get through a new challenge available in KH2FM:
the Level 1 run. The new difficult level Critical Mode gives you extra initial
abilities, EXP Zero among them. So, as soon as you can equip abilities on Day 3
you can use it and avoid any EXP whatsoever, keeping your characters at Level 1
for the whole game. The game mechanics are such that you'll still do damage
enough to beat everything, but also makes you die way easily, as you'll lack
the main survival abilities, Once More and Second Chance.
Due to this, a Level 1 run is suggested to be tried after playing the game at
least once on Critical Mode. Thus, I won't discuss basic aspects of the game:
this is an oriented Guide. So, I assume you know how to cast magic, use the
shorcuts, and has beaten the game before and knows where to go. Please don't
ask me on how to progress with the story, as my point is to cover what this
challenge is about: the battles. Sure, I will add some info on the mechanics,
but you should know what I mean already.
Well, enjoy! Contact me with suggestions, errors you spot, anything that's not
spam, at rflmag /at gmail \dot com.
++=================================++
+++=================================+++
|||                                 |||
|||  1. TIPS ON THE GAME MECHANICS  |||
|||                                 |||
+++=================================+++
++=================================++
===========================
1.1. GUARD AND COUNTERGUARD
===========================
If you never used them on your original KH2 runs, you'll learn to love them
now, more than ever before.
Guard is used by pressing Square while standing still (if none of Dodge Roll or
Quick Run is equipped, moving Sora won't affect this). It's not part of a combo
so you must use it with Sora not attacking. This will cause Sora to hold the
Keyblade diagonally in front of him, as a shield. Limit Form allows you to use
Guard even in mid-combo.
Compared to the original KH2, Guard's area of effect is improved now, meaning
that side or even attacks from above might connect to any part of the Keyblade
and count as a successfull Guard.
Usually only physical and projectiles attacks can be Guarded. When you succeed
on it, Sora may or may not go into a Guarding Stance, where he holds the
Keyblade horizontally in front of him with both hands. If he goes into this
stance or not, usually depend on the attack nature, too: most projectiles won't
force the Guard Stance, but some will. Most, if not all, physical attacks, when
Guarded, will cause the Guarding Stance.
It's possible, actually, to go into a Guarding Stance by attacking: there are
few enemies attacks that allow this, as most of the time the Keyblade will
connect to the enemies body and count as a hit, instead of a colision of
attacks. However, if the Keyblade connect to an attack that doesn't count as
the enemy's body, it's possible to get into the Guarding Stance. This can be
achieved with any physical and regular ground attack with the Keyblade.
What's so good about it, you ask? Simple, the Guarding Stance offers i-frames,
meaning you won't get hit. Also, the invincible frames will last around one
more second, so even as Sora recovers back to his Fighting Stance, you still
will avoid incoming attacks and have the time to add in another Guard. This is
VERY useful for some bosses, and even some regular enemies.
Which leaves us Counterguard: Counterguard is used only when Sora is on a
Guarding Stance, by attacking. This is a skill that Sora opens his arms wide,
causing the Keyblade to form an energy wave arond him. Although rather weak as
a damaging source, Counterguard has a very strong stun property: it acts like
a regular attack on how it stuns the enemy, but it bypasses almost everything:
seems like only if the enemy/boss is invincible during whatever it is using, or
else it'll forcibly stop and stun him. This gives you a free combo chance.
Do take note that Counterguard counts as a hit of a combo, like a regular
attack would. If you have Fenrir and Combo Minus, you can still use it even
though Sora would normally throw only finishers.
===========
1.2. MAGICS
===========
KH2 has few magics compared to the first game, yet they do the job quite well.
Cure now uses up all your MP, forcing a MP Charge (with cheats, you can have
255 MP, which is the actual in-game cost of this spell, allowing you to cast it
twice.... just a random curiosity). As it improves, it will heal more HP and
also cover a larger area. When used from the shortcut, it'll always
automatically target Sora, but if chosen from the menu, it'll prompt you to
choose someone. I can't tell for sure if the amount healed for those in the
surroundings is lower or equal than the original target.
Fire is a "hit the ones around me" kind of attack, rather effective against
small enemies (like Shadows :p), as it hits multiple times and keep them
stunned. The finisher Fire will send enemies away on its last hit. This spell
was powered up compared to the original game quite significantly. It has a very
short reach, though, even as Firaga. Under Wisdom, it'll keep Sora on the move,
making it perfect to clear crowds. In Master is forces Sora in a straight line
and quite far, losing its effectiveness, I think. And under Final... now, THAT
is some fire pillar protection: the range and damage increases A LOT, but also
eats up your Drive Gauge as fast as you kill enemies. Casting it on the air
takes way too long, and you'll probably miss most of its hits.
Blizzard is similar to what Fire was in KH1, with some differences though. In
this game, Blizzard shoots a block of ice that travels straight forward,
damaging enemies on the way. It's a good choice if you can line up enemies so
it can hit them all, has great reach, can finish bosses like other magics...
but it goes straight forward only. It takes forever to cast in the air, too.
Under forms in general, is regains somewhat its "shotgun" property from KH1,
but it loses power quite significantly, too, not to mention it is awkward to
use under Master and Final due to Sora being moved a lot by casting it.
Thunder is your overall saving grace: hits enemy wherever it is as long as you
locked on it, it hits nearby enemies (area increases as you improve it), and it
also launches your enemies up, leaving them unable to do a thing for a while.
Not only it's powerful, but it's also useful to halt bosses movements, but it's
MP costy, more than never. Wisdom makes the casting much faster, Master will
drop multiple bolts in a small circular area, and Final makes extra bolts
around the target. Everyone uses Thunder. :p
Reflect is one weird magic. If any attack touches its bubble, it'll explode in
damage. You can cast it multiple times, however it'll explode into damage only
under certain conditions (read "Reflect chain" as the as many Reflects you cast
before stopping, and "connected" as if an attack touched the bubble):
- the Reflect chain of regular Reflects stops and any of them connected
- the Reflect Finisher connected, or if it's the first Reflect finisher, any of
the Reflect chain prior to it connected.
So, if your chain was the following: (* meaning an attack touched the bubble)
R - R* - R - RF - RF* - RF
Once you use the first Reflect Finisher, it'll explode regardless if it
connected or not, because the second Reflect on the chain prior to itconnected.
The second RF will explode, because it connected, and the last RF will not
explode, because the second RF "reseted" the "connection counter" when it
exploded.
Confusing? Yeah I know. Also, a Reflect spell can only be followed by another
magic (regardless of "connection"), unless you equip the Combo Master ability,
which'll allow you to add regular attacks after casting Reflect, also
regardless of "connection".
Once you think you had enough, we reach the Magnet spell: it creates a force
field that deals damage and sucks enemies into it. It was weakened in the
damage sector, compared to the original game, but it still is a very useful
ability. The cool thing about it is that Magnet is always considered a finisher
in a combo chain, which can be used to your advantage, too, like casting
Thunder right after it: after a Magnet, which's a finisher, only other finisher
attack may proceed, so if you have Finishing Plus, you can cast a Finisher
Thunder spell in a helpless group of enemies.
Every magic, when cast in the air, will end the aerial combo chain, meaning
you cannot cast them more than once in a row. Also, their aerial animation and
effects are always the same, so there is no Finisher (and thus stronger)
version for them, even if you use them in the place of a finisher.
============
1.3. SUMMONS
============
That feature you always denied when you first played KH2.
Summons can be nice things, you know. You don't need two active party members
to use them, but they must be in battle, KO'd or not. So it can be a life saver
as it also will get your partners brought back to life once you dismiss the
summon. And they also only cost 3 Drive Gauges.
Chicken Little looks bland, but later on the game it just gets better as you'll
have more abilities: he's almost a walking Magnet spell with his whistle. With
enemies stunned and grouped together, imagine the mess you won't do to them.
He also throws sparkling eggs that damages and stuns enemies. And while you
has him on the field, every hit with the Keyblade will heal Sora, not to
mention that he'll use a Potion on you if you get on Critical HP. The Little's
Limit isn't all that good, as it ends fast and deals not much damage.
Genie just stays there for you to use his Limits, and use Potions on you if
your HP goes below 25%. He varies his Form based on the Drive Forms you have
(it would have been cool if they added Limit Genie, hehe). Valor Genie was way
underpowered compared to the original, so due to the few hits it's not too good
anymore. Wisdom Genie is a good choice, as it uses only one Summon Gauge, hit
multiple times hacking up good damage, and you can spam another one before the
i-frames are over. Master Genie is a mix, so is Final Genie: both are powerful
on their own way, but they use more Gauges.
Stitch is the defensive summon: Stitch will just stay away from the battle,
shooting anything that tries to hit you. He's not perfect and not everything
is stopped by his lasers, but he can still be of great help. He might also
randomly lick your MP Gauge and restore it completely (the lower the MP, the
higher are the chances, it seems), and play his Ohana: it seems he'll forcibly
play it if you get below 50% health, or so I heard. Ohana will makes enemies
on the screen get stunned and drop HP Orbs. The Limit allows a mix of this and
shots to damage the enemies on the screen.
Finally, Peter Pan, a partner in KH1 now as summon, opposite to Simba. Peter
brings Tinker Bell with him: Peter will attack along with you, making enemies
drop MP Orbs, while Tink will heal you in fixed intervals. If you die, Tink can
revive you once, but then she'll be gone. The Limit costs a lot (good for
training purposes), but although isn't all that damaging, it gives a rather
large i-frame window, and every attack drops either HP or MP Orbs (depending on
which input you use). I usually use him for fun, as you won't very often need
the MP Orbs he drops, and he has trouble causing damage.
You still think they aren't all that good? You'll see.
================
1.4. DRIVE FORMS
================
One addition in KH2 that pleased many players is the Drive Forms: with the new
Drive Gauge, costing up from 3 to 5 bars from it, you will "sacrifice" one or
two live party members (or none, with the new Limit Form) to give Sora a new
list of Action Abilities and overall new behaviour. The Forms can be leveled
up (regardless of the EXP Zero ability, as they have their own set of EXP), and
offer new movement abilities to be used under normal Sora as you train them,
along with other Support Abilities to equip at anytime.
Valor Form is the first one you will obtain, just as Sora obtain his new
clothes from the Fairies. With the aid of Goofy, Sora now focus in physical
attacks only: magic is not accessable under this form. Valor also moves very
fast, and gives the High Jump Growth Ability: as the name implies, your jump'll
get higher and higher as you train it. Sora will also move faster under Valor,
and gains Combo Pluses as the alternate Support Abilities to use, affecting
his regular "form" or any other he Drives into.
Valor has a nice feature of allowing you to perform a finisher at anytime
during a combo chain (after the initial attack) by pressing the Square button:
this is very helpful with you need to stun enemies or finish bosses. As it
comes with built-in one Combo and Air Combo Pluses abilities, this is an even
greater bonus so you won't be downsided for your longer combo chain. Over The
Horizon is the Square attack you can use to start a combo, working like a
substitute to Slide Dash in a way, as it covers a distance.
Valor obtains EXP by hitting enemies: as simple as that. This makes it an
easy Form to train, as simply using and fighting will work (as you cannot use
magic, anyway). After your first visit in Agrabah, you may use Mushroom V as a
training ground for this, as you probably won't be able to kill it with only
regular hits from it.
Wisdom Form is next, obtained after you finish Disney's Castle. Opposite to
Valor Form, you use Donald to become a magic expert. Magic is now stronger
(although I believe Blizzard gets terribly downgraded), cast them faster and
may also move while doing any action. However, you no longer attack with the
Keyblade, but instead use it to send magic bullets with the Shoot command that
replaces Attack: this is usually weak but the finisher adds many hits in and
deals good damage. Aerial Shoot works like casting magic in the air with normal
Sora: it will always end a chain and cannot be repeated right away, nor has a
finisher form to be used in the air.
Thanks to Wisdom mobility and long range characteristics, it is a very useful
Form to deal with dangerous bosses when up close, and also helps a lot to clear
some of the Mushrooms, as Shoot hits from far and keeps you on the move. Magics
change their behaviour here somewhat, but the most important mention would be
Fire, which now covers a way larger area thanks to the movement, and the balls
are also bigger increasing it even more. As a mobility focused Form, it gives
Quick Run as Growth Ability, which makes Sora dash toward the direction pressed
on the Analog Stick, with some i-frames in the middle of it. And from the magic
focus of it, it gives MP Rage and MP Haste as alternate abilities for Sora.
Wisdom obtains 1 EXP by each Heartless killed by Sora under it. This makes it
a little annoying to train, as Shoot itself isn't all that good, as it hits
only one target at a time, and if you rely solely on Magic you'll be on MP
Charge soon and will have to rely on Shoot or spend Ethers. The trick is to
train it against the weakest Heartless you can find.
Limit Form, a new addition to Final Mix, gives Sora his movelist from KH1: this
is usually cool, and quite the fan service. Some of them is also present in KH2
so they are re-used, namely Slide Dash, SlapShot and Aerial Sweep. Limit has
its own finishers, all from the KH1 Final Mix version: Zantetsuken and Stun
Impact for ground finishers, and Hurricane Period in the air. Zantetsuken is
simply the strongest single hit in the game. Dodge Roll is its Growth Ability,
making a very nice return from KH1, and it offers even more i-frames as you
level it up, and it also offers an extra Draw and Lucky Lucky abilities as
the alternate bonuses as you level it.
Limit Form is also magic-less, but it has a nice substitute: the KH1 Limits!
They will be replaced in the Magic menu, and also they will be on the shortcuts
if there is a magic there instead: Sonic Rave (Circle), Strike Raid (Square),
Ars Arcanum (Triangle) and Ragnarok (X). To perform successful hits for the
Limits, you use RCs with the Triangle button: REMEMBER TO LET GO OF L1 if you
activated the Limit from the shortcut, as just like any other RC on the game,
you cannot use while holding the shortcut button.
The nice thing about using Limits, although they are very costy in the MP
department, is that every hit that connects while using them will heal some HP,
just like it'll eat up more of the Drive Gauge as they connect. This makes it
easier to train if you're levelling up normally: Limit Form gains 1 EXP each
time you perform a Limit successfully, this means using Finisher, Judgement,
The End or GigaImpact RCs respectively. As they use MP, hitting with them heals
HP, and getting hit with MP Rages on will restore MP (and Limit has one extra
built-in MP Rage), you can somewhat use Limits infinitively.
Before you wonder, those RCs are pretty much the last RC for each Limit, so
by mashing Triangle you should have no problem when using Sonic Rave, Strike
Raid and Ars Arcanum. Ragnarok, however, requires some timing: the RCs it shows
are, in order, Shoot, Impact, GigaImpact and Shoot again. The Impact RCs show
very rapidly, and I can succeed 95% of the time when I react my finger to press
the Triangle button when the Impact (first change on RC) comes, so by the time
I input the command, it changed to GigaImpact.
Master Form, obtained before you effectively visit Space Paranoids for the
first time, and as a gift from King Mickey, uses 4 Drive Gauges and need both
party members alive: world-specific characters are no different, there is no
specific need for Goofy nor Donald. It is totally aerial oriented (just like
Your Majesty), so even if you start a combo in the ground, Sora will jump into
the air. Overall movement speed is also increased.
Being able to use both physical and magical attacks, Master Form changes the
way you use magic as they have finishers no more, and you can cast them non
stop as much as you want, pretty much extending your combo chain infinitively,
or better yet as long as your MP lasts. Thunder spamming here is a nice way to
concentrate damage, as it is cast many times and Sora will spin around the
locked target while doing so. Its Keyblade attacks all have great reach, so
unless you're facing enemies that resist stun too much, it should be great to
clear crowds of enemies with whatever you use.
Master, as aerial as it can get, offers the Aerial Dodge Growth Ability,
which's usually used as a double jump, but it also offers i-frames and the way
Sora spins and holds the Keyblade when using it can actually hit enemies, too.
It's annoying to level up as it gains EXP by grabbing Drive Orbs (1 EXP for the
small Orbs, and 3 EXP for the larger Orbs). Although enemies overall drop less
Drive Orbs, Final Mix now has the Drive Converter ability, which'll turn 50% of
the Munny drops from enemies into Drive Orbs: by equipping two of them (one
obtaining via regular levelling, another from the Sweet Memories keychain...
funny how Lucky Lucky was replaced by it in both level and keychain abilities),
you'll have 100% of Munny turned into Drive Orbs. This makes is so using the
Gambler's RC a cheap way to obtain many of them. And guess what? The aerial
Form gives Air Combo Pluses as the alternate levelling abilities.
Final Form to wrap things up: also using two party members, but now 5 Gauges,
this Form can be awakened after the Roxas battle when you reach The World That
Never Was: everytime the game would turn you into Anti Form will trigger a
chance to become Final, as long as you meet the Anti criteria AND has at least
5 Drive Gauges when you do so. The more you turn Anti, the greater chances you
will have to become Final the next time you try. The kaychain obtained against
Roxas will force Anti Form, and it also increases the Final chances, making it
perfect to obtain it quickly.
Final is just strong, and allows movement while attacking, which is actually
awkward when you fighting, as it moves a lot and doesn't always has the best
reach for so much movement. Its aerial play seems easier to control, but it
also jumps very high so hold yourself. Its finishers are very destructive and
offer i-frames, so watch things turning to ashes as you use them. Magic is also
absurdly powerful, mainly Thunder and Fire. Magnet changes its behaviour a
little bit as Sora focus during its casting, and the force field disappears
once Sora regains control for other actions.
Glide is the Growth Ability for this Form, and Auto-Assault will make Gliding
under Final a fun thing to do. Great for movement and reaching many Puzzle
Pieces for the last puzzles, it'll be troublesome to obtain as Final will gain
1 EXP per Nobody killed under it, and Nobodies are high-HP enemies: due to its
powerful attacks, Drive Gauge will get drained very fast. Things will get
easier as you train it as it offers Form Boosts as the alternate abilities as
it levels up.
=====================
1.5. SORA'S ABILITIES
=====================
It's not like there is much you don't already know, but it's nice to remember.
Guard and Counterguard are abilities you want to always have equipped. Some
bosses you might not need Counterguard, so consider removing it to have more
AP for other abilities, but try to keep it equipped as much as you can.
Certain two Action Abilities you'll want to keep equipped forever once you
equip them are Slide Dash and Flash Step: they are the ones that'll bring you
up closer to the enemy you are targeting. Flash Step is a new addition to FM,
and it acts like a shorter Slide Dash, but its hit also bypass defenses. This
isn't usually good for combos, as the next attack you use will hit the armor
it bypassed before, but this is good as Sora won't get stunned as he gets
closer, if coming near was your sole purpose.
Slapshot and Dodge Slash are somewhat opposite: Slapshot is a very fast upward
hit with short range, with the purpose of helping reaching finishers faster
than usual. Dodge Slash is a long and slow 3-hits spinning combo that cannot
be interrupted, but due to its hit, it'll make Combo Boost make the finisher
stronger than usual.
Upper Slash and Finishing Leap are the launching skills, used with the Square
button: Upper Slash is used midcombo (but it makes Sora to remain on ground),
and Finishing Leap is used as a finisher (also putting Sora in the air along
with the enemy). This is helpful to extend your combo on a helpless enemy.
Upper Slash gets overshadowed by the Leap, as the Leap uses only one extra AP
compared to it, it puts Sora in the air and gives nice i-frames, while Upper
Slash doesn't have i-frames and is also quite slow to perform, not to mention
the absurd range that the Leap has.
Aerial Recovery and Retaliating Slash are the "recovery from being hit and
sent in the air" abilities: the beginning of their animation are i-frames, so
timing them well will help escaping incoming attacks. Aerial Recovery simply
makes Sora regains balance, while Retaliating Slash adds a counter with the
Keyblade: watch out as the counter moves Sora significantly forward, so plan
beforehand or else you will go past the enemy and not hit it at all, depending
on the distance between you (or maybe not even reach it, ha!).
In the Aerial department we have the Spiral (works like a Slide Dash as it is
meant to cover distances, but it also used by Sora even at shorter distances),
Sweep and Dive (both bring Sora from the ground into the air, with the new
Dive being used to reach enemies in the air not close to Sora), and Finisher
and Magnet Splash to end your combos: Finisher is multihit and powerful, but
takes a while and leaves Sora vulnerable, while Magnet Splash is commonly used
if the enemy is distant or many enemies are around. Horizontal Slash is the
Square attack option, performing 4 slashes and hacking up good damage.
The Square attacks (Upper Slash, Finishing Leap and Horizontal Slash) are also
considered "boss killer" attacks, unlike regular comboing attacks. Upper Slash
(during Finishing Leap's abscense) and Horizontal Slash can be used in the
place of a finisher if no other finisher was performed before, yet they won't
reduce the number of finishers you can perform: so if you have no Combo Pluses
and one Finishing Plus equipped, you can perform two normal attacks, a Square
attack, then two finishers. This is a good way to extend your combo and deal
more damage per chain. Take note that this only works for the first finisher:
Sora won't perform another Square attack after it replaces the finisher, nor
use them if you already used a finisher.
Trinity Limit is a Limit that can be used with Donald and Goofy, or solo: Solo
Trinity can only be used, though, if Sora is fighting alone or if the third
party member is absent (the final battles are a good example of this). If
Goofy or Donald are on the team, you can only perform the trio version, and
the Limit will not be accessable if either is KO'd. The Solo Trinity is just
a sequence of attacks with a finisher. The actual Trinity Limit requires three
inputs, focusing on each of the SDG trio speciality: each input will not deal
damage, but the end of the combo will add all the hits that connected during
them all, and perform a finisher that gets stronger as more hits are sum'd up.
============
2. THE GUIDE
============
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - DAY 1 =====
There's nothing of much importance to do at Day 1. If you plan on going for
100% Journal Completition, though, choose the Staff before fighting Seifer:
you'll need some Magic boost to deal with some of the Mushroooms later on.
It's the Struggle weapon by the left, with a star on it.
If you're going for No Damage, Seifer is simple enough: just combo him once,
then wait for him to attack, and use the opening. The "romantic" move is
best avoided by walking in a spiral (to the side and toward Seifer). For the
Dusk by the mansion, don't do a finisher until you get the Keyblade. After
that, you can just do two attacks - Reversal till you kill it.
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - DAY 2 =====
Time to work your.... off, if you wanna go to the beach!
I rather do the first job, the letter delivery one. You can complete it just by
going straight forward, mashing Triangle, then doing a jump using the ledge for
the pigeon, and moving back to the last person before the Sandlot exitb. I
personally do it until I get 1200 Munny, for the max bonus (+2AP). Seriously,
you can never have enough. In less than 10 minutes you're done with it.
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - DAY 3 =====
Wakey wakey!
Deal with the Dusk just like before: two hits, evade.
In the Station of Awakening, it doesn't matter what you choose, as these would
only determine the order of abilities obtained through Leveling Up, which you
won't be doing anyway. Unless you're using this Guide for a regular run, then
feel free to choose whatever you want: some people go for the Shield because it
gives the Once More and Second Chance abilities sooner.
For the 3 Dusks, avoid finishers until you kill at least one: sometimes
Reversal won't stun all of them, and Roxas takes a while to recover. Once you
are done with them, you can equip ablities: just go to the menu and equip all
of them. Unless you have some strong reason to not equip some of them. 0_o
You may fight some Dusks for some Munny and Potions, if you want.
+++ Boss: TWILIGHT THORN +++
Bonus Level: (Roxas) Guard, HP +2
Your first boss fight. And it can be a toughie to get No Damage on if this is
your first attempt. Also, who's the guy in the black coat that appears before
the boss?
Reaction Commands to start the fight. After the long sequence, you can combo
the boss some. Remember you have two finishers. Air combos are faster, but it
is difficult to perform two aerial finishers on it, as Roxas reaches the ground
way too quickly. Just do whatever you prefer. NOTE: I recall being able to use
2 ground combos with 2 finishers on it in time, so just go for that.
Once Thorn recovers from the RCs, it'll do a sweep around: jump to evade it.
Right after it, he will fix itself on the ground and send twilight waves: get
away from them, and deal with the Creepers instead. Even if you do the RC non
stop, you might still get hit. After Thorn stops this attacks, it'll curl all
around, sending more waves: use the RC to reach its face, but attack only after
it stops sending them. A ball will form on its neck each time it sends a wave.
From here on it might become a little random. It might, eventually, curl in the
middle of the arena: it'll take a long time till it attacks, and you should be
able to combo it to death by then. It usually does it after the second wave of
RCs (like the ones that started the fight). If you still can't kill it in time
(or backed off because you chose not to risk comboing more), your best bet is
to back off and dodge its attacks, until it does another curling + twilight
waves, so you can use the RC to reach it, and eventually another full RC
sequence from the beginning
You get Guard from this battle, don't forget to equip it later!
+++ +++
===== TWILIGHT TOWN DAY 4 =====
Let's Struggle! Oh, did you equip Guard?
Hayner is a pushover. Run around him, let him do the 2 hits combo, and strike
back. You can perform two finishers without much worry.
Vivi is about the same. Run around, let him attack, strike back. Avoid a
second finisher, even if you get him against the wall (or else you wouldn't hit
him anyway). When he uses his mega combo, you should be somewhat far away, so
just Guard it after he starts it. Guard's after effect will protect you from
the last thrust.
Dusks. Yawn. One or two hits, Reversal. Repeat. And tell Roxas I want the
Keyblade if he doesn't want it. u_u
+++++ BOSS: Axel 1 +++++
Bonus Level: (Roxas) Scan
Axel is simple. You can attack him after he hops to the sides, or when he
lays down. He does either after doing the double swing attack. You may do the
second finisher without much worries, if the wall holds him close. It's rare,
but he might use the "Burn!" attack after you combo him, so watch out for that.
You can avoid it by Guarding: Roxas never seems to run fast enough to evade it
normally with me. The Desperate Move is best evaded by simply running away.
+++ +++
Setzer can be annoying to get a No Damage on, as you must reset the PS2
manually if you fail, as you can't really "die" on it. Only do regular combos,
Guard when he comes at you, and watch out after he gets less than 50 balls:
he'll almost always counter with a Vortex move. Guard it, but TIME your Guard!
Sometimes he'll be swift, others he'll take a while. The Million Stab move
(DMC, anyone?) can be Guarded as well. He is overall easy, just annoying.
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - DAY 5 =====
Boring day. There are 2 Potions, 1 Hi Potion and an Ability Ring in the
Sunset Terrace. Shouldn't be too hard to find them out. They don't count
toward journal completition, so there's no need to worry much about them.
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - Day 6 =====
Some powerful wood stick. Day starts with 2 Dusks and an Assassin. No big deal.
When the Assassin appears, Guard its initial attack. After that, don't do 2
finishers on it, unless it's against a wall. Don't give it time to recover or
it'll do the suicide attack, and that can be a OHKO at this level.
On your way to the mansion, you can avoid every battle if you want: all you'll
get from them is some Munny and possibly a Potion or Hi Potion. You can use
some training, though, specially against the Assassins: learn to Guard them as
they appear, and as they prepare to attack, after lifting both "wings" out of
the ground. And how to not let them recover. This will be useful soon. If it
gets completely out of the ground, it'll either suicide or do a swift slash:
a quick air combo should intercept it (you won't do a finisher in time with
a ground combo).
More on the Assassins, you might consider attacking their wings as they
prepare to attack while underground: I find it tougher to connect than to time
a Guard, some find it easier. As I said, make use of this time to train some.
Oh, and to avoid the suicide attack (it uses after getting out of the ground
on its own will), run away and jump to the side as it gets near: it'll try to
jump and grab you, so jumping toward/over it might be dangerous.
In the Mansion, get the Elven Bandanna on the Dining Room. Nothing else of
much importance around. Creepers are a good source of HP Balls if you get hit
a lot.
For the Nobodies fight before Axel, never lock on the Dusks. Keep them all in
sight, and avoid finishers. If one of them escapes the Reversal stun, it'll
come for an attack: just Reversal when it comes near, and you should be okay.
Once only one Dusk is left, two Assassins will come. It's wise to spread your
damage, so you can kill the remaning Dusk in a blink. Try to keep the Assassins
apart from each other, letting you deal with one at a time without having to
stop to evade the other attacks: this will likely tempt the one you were
attacking to go for a suicide. Well, as long as you can escape it, it's fine!
Remember that they might go for the suicide anytime as long as it is not at
full health.
+++++ BOSS: AXEL 2 +++++
Bonus Level: (Roxas) HP +2
Axel next, a big pushover. Don't go closer as the battle starts. Evade his
first attack, which should be a double swing, then go for a combo. RC him when
he gets launched, do another full combo (aerial included). He'll withdraw, and
you should be able to do another RC on him, which will leave him near death.
Finish him off, and you just killed a boss after evading two attacks only. :p
Was this supposed to be a joke? Because you're not laughing, are you? 0_o
If, say, you miss a chance to combo Axel: you'll have to do a "provoke and run"
strategy. Well, you can wait for Axel to attack, too, evade his attack, and
counterattack back: but getting near him might help on get this done faster. I
admit I need to review his behaviour and add more info here, but this battle
is SO simple... >_>
+++ +++
===== TWILIGHT TOWN - VISIT 1 =====
You can search for the treasure chests yourself, right? :p There are 7 on the
Tram Common, 3 in the forest, 2 by the Mansion entrance, and 3 on the Station.
You can buy new weapons for Goofy and Donald even before they get to fight
any enemy. There's also a +1 Def + 20% Dark accessory to buy (dunno its name).
The forced Nobody fight doesn't need to be won. Sora's still feeling sleepy
so he can't Reversal to handle the Dusks, either. However, Donald will do
such a great job on cleaning the enemies. Play carefully if you wanna get no
damage, and that should be it, but don't bother resetting if you get hit.
The Heartless around Yen Sid's tower are simple enough. Use Cyclone on the
Soldiers when possible. Get the chests. Bla bla bla. Tell me where the second
Keyblade on Valor comes from. Press Z to do a Barrel Roll, and reach your first
world: Hollow Bastion!
===== HOLLOW BASTION - VISIT 1 =====
Welcome to the completely remodeled Hollow Bastion. Right after you come, there
is 1 Puzzle Piece to obtain easily. You can't reach the one above the Moogle
yet, but fear not. A Nobody fight awaits you, but you can lose it, too. Then
again, I wouldn't bother resetting to get No Damage on it. Just watch out for
the Samurai once it joins in.
You can obtain another Puzzle Piece by walking the wall by the stairs in the
screen with the houses. Get into Merlin's House and tell the guys how comfy
your sleeping chamber was. Don't forget another Puzzle Piece, and set Blizzard
to your preferred shortcut (I use X).
On your way to the Bailey, you might consider driving into Valor after climbing
the stairs to get some EXP for it. However, keep in mind that if you reach the
Bailey while in Valor, you'll get a free recharge. However, if you're doing
No Damage, you want to head straight up, because you'll be retrying some...
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Protect the city gate! +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Fire Element
This battle can be tough, as Sora's still pretty limited. You start with a wave
of 4 Dusks. After that, 4 (or was it 5?) Creepers along with 2 Samurais. Finish
either kind of Nobody, and two more Samurais come, and finally 4 (or 5? :p)
Dusks to finish it off.
The Dusks are easy to deal, however they seem to escape Reversal's stun easier.
Watch out, as even though they aim for the gate, they might hit you.
Once the Creepers and Samurai comes, start using Blizzard: it deals way more
damage than the Keyblade right now. Leon should keep the Samurais busy, so
kill some Creepers first, but not all of them! They like to stay together, so
aim some nice Blizzards. Careful when approaching them with the Keyblade, as
once they start attacking in the sword form, you can't interrupt, and you will
likely get hit.
After leaving one or two Creepers alive, go help Leon. If you still have MP,
Blizzard them. It's likely that while Leon's busy with one, the other Samurai
is "sleeping", standing there doing nothing. Get near and it'll come for ya:
Guard it to trigger the RC, which deals absurd damage. Avoid comboing them
as much as possible, as it deals little damage and they resist the Keyblade
quite a lot, go for Blizzard and RCs as possible.
More Samurais will now appear. Let Leon go first, and play defensive with
magic and Guards. Soon, more Dusks will come, and you should be on your way
home by now.
Leon uses fire balls. You learn the fire spell here. W00t, it matches!
+++ +++
*** Revisiting Hollow Bastion ***
You should come back and head again to the Bailey: there's a Puzzle Piece down
the stairs.
You can train Valor if you wish. Consider putting Donald into Sora Attack, so
you can dish damage yourself and get more EXP this way. Use the Drive trick
(go back to the World Map while in Drive) to help you out, but restoring 3
Gauges shouldn't be much of a hassle.
If you train Valor, you can use its High Jump Lvl2 to reach the Puzzle Piece
over the house (use an aerial attack to increase your reach), and the one above
the shop, near the Moogle. Update: I'll remember you of them in the right time.
Farm 'em!
- Dark Shard (Shadows, Soldiers)
- Bright Shard (Soldiers)
===== THE LAND OF DRAGONS - VISIT 1 =====
Goofy is actually the thinking head of the group. Now please, stop fighting! :p
4 new armors to buy, and that's some 700 munny going.
The first heartless battle is easy. You might consider going Valor once the
Nightwalkers come in if they prove difficult. Remember that, if they ever get
hit, they'll counter with the spinning attack once they recover, so either
avoid stopping your combo, or prepare to jump over it or Guard it. You can wait
for them to come and Guard them, or reach them in the air before they have a
chance: do what fits best the situation.
Now, we have 3 missions for the Captain.
Mission 1: you start with 2 Nightwalkers. Bring Donald in: his Thunder attack
deals good damage, and might keep one of them busy: you don't want to handle
2 of them at the same time. Remember, they counter whoever attacked them. They
are immune to Blizzard, and you might not have good opportunities to Fire them,
so use the Keyblade and aerial combos. More of them will come: once again focus
on one at a time, and hope that your friends will keep the other busy. For the
Shadows, use Fire, run around and let your friends do some damage, as they
always target Sora anyway.
Mission 2: keep Goofy for this one. Start by Firing the Shadows. After the
first wave, 2 Nightwalkers to annoy you. Go Valor and kill them ASAP, as a
third one will join the party really soon. You might use the Drive Explosion
as a way to stun ONE of them: if you get both, they'll stay on your feet. A
Rider will join right after: Guard, counter with an aerial combo. Repeat.
If it jumps, you can try to catch it in the air for another combo. Just move
away if it charges the explosion (when it rises on two feet, spinning the
lance). At lower health, it'll keep on charging at you: just Guard it, then do
a combo as it stops. It's pretty easy when it's lonely. Finally, 2 Walkers and
a Rider: catch one of the Walkers quickly, moving away from the Rider. Finish
the other one with patience, then go after the lonely Rider.
Mission 3: I hate this hide-and-seek game. Donald helps a lot more here. Go in
a counterclock-wise sweep around the place. As most enemies come lonely, should
be easy to handle.
Feeling better yet? There's much more to come! Let's go for some hiking.
Mountain Trial: boy I hate this. You're going for No Damage? You have guts.
First wave has a Walker and 2 Soldiers. Stay put, Guard the Walker first move,
then go hack away at it. Watch for the Soldiers' Cyclone RC: use it! Keep your
eye on the Walker after using it, as you might hit it along and it WILL counter
if anything scratches it. I like having Goofy, as he can render one enemy
helpless for a while with his attack.
Second wave brings two Walkers, and a third appears as you kill one. Lady Luck
at your side? Go between them and use Fire. I dislike using the finisher Fire
here, so I stop and use it again. Hopefully they won't escape, your partners
will help out, and you'll have one dead and another near death when the third
one joins in: leave the weakened one for your partners and hack the new guy
to death. I like keeping Donald here now, as his Thunder does great damage,
and you need it fast.
Now you can either climb the stairs to the right or follow the path. I prefer
the path. Hug the right wall, so you won't trigger 2 Walkers. After the second
turn, you'll trigger a Walker and 2 Soldiers. Focus on the Walker, you now
have more space. After this, just go for the final rock, where you'll trigger
one Assault Rider (and unluckily a second one, after you kill the first). Just
Guard his lance swipes/thrusts, then go for an air combo. After 40% or so
health, it'll start doing the charges: just Guard and combo back. They're easy
when lonely, remember? As long as you do only one aerial combo on it each time,
you probably won't get caught offguard.
Before entering the Cave, there are 2 Puzzle Pieces by the Village: one behind
the houses to the right, and one above the houses, to the left. You can't
reach the one above the.... Moogle, yet.
+++++ EVENT BATTLE: Heartless at the cave +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) Slide Dash
(Ping) HP +15, Hyper Healing
So many Shadows. Just keep running so they won't reach you. Go for the Rider
first. Get near it to Guard an attack: watch out not to aim at a Shadow behind
you and miss the Guard! Then kill it the normal way. Now you got plenty of
Shadows to deal with. It's usually no big deal, but if you're doing No Damage,
you'll need to be careful with your Fires (yes!): just do a Finisher Fire if
you can't see a Shadow coming out of the ground below you. It happened to me
that he got an attack in while Sora was spinning around.
Once your MP runs out... you run around. It's NOT safe to deal with this many
with the Keyblade if you're doing No Damage. Once you get rid of them, 2 Riders
will say hello. Since they are slow, take your time: focus on one, Guarding
BOTH as needed. Use Blizzard to weaken your first prey. Once you weaken if
enough, by comboing when you are FAR from the other, and occasional magic, it
will start doing the charges: Guard and Counter 'em as possible. Once you kill
one... you're home free. Oh, yeah, there's another one to kill before that. :p
+++ +++
After this, you have to survive the Heartless for a minute. A Bolt Tower will
be around. I run in circles around it, using the Thrusters' RC to damage it.
You can use the Keyblade, but it's not very accurate against them. 30 secs
left, and many Bolt Towers join in. If you're going No Damage, I say just run
around in a big circle, and watch for their "stomp": jump if they're too close.
Now you can use Mulan's Limit, and she'll do decent attacks now. Enjoy your
killing down the mountain, and get the treasure chests you probably left behind
while climbing it up. :p
At the Courtyard, start up with Mulan's Limit. Auto Limit will help preventing
you from getting hit from the Walkers surrounding you, but you can play safe
and simply Guard as soon as the battle begins: really. It should kill all but
the 2 Bolt Towers, which are now weakened. You can let Mulan and Goofy kill
them, or try to provoke a RC and use it to kill the other one and stun your
attacker. If you're not using Limits AND wanna do it No Damage... let me know.
Seriously, I wanna see how masochist people can be. :p
+++++ BOSS BATTLE: Shan Yu +++++
Bonus Level: (Sora) HP +2, Aerial Sweep
(Donald) HP +1
(Goofy) Goofy Turbo
(Mulan) HP +20
This can be easy, but doing No Damage is tough. The Nightwalkers will go for
the door, and you likely shouldn't worry about it, as your partners should kill
them for you. You may start with Mulan's Limit to clean the first wave, as they
may bother your fight with Shan Yu. Collect the Orbs, though! Try to make a
quick trip to the door for the Orbs (and to somewhat have your friends killing
the Walkers) every time you finish comboing Shan Yu. You might consider setting
your friends to attack enemies other than Sora's. I like keeping Donald as his
Thunder will deal great damage to the Walkers, and I also rather remove his
Cure: he might use it on himself, and he won't last much anyway, so might as
well use his MP for Thunders.
Your method of damage should be Guarding a slash from Yu, triggering the RC. I
like using the combo "2 hits + 1 finisher" twice (don't you love Slide Dash),
adding a Blizzard finisher after the second one: this way, Shan Yu will counter
with his upward Vortex. You can easily provoke him into attacking by getting
near, just watch his arm as he lifts his sword. Or you simply wait for him.
Watch out after comboing Shan Yu: his bird might glow purple, which means it'll
try to grab Sora. I don't recall the grab doing damage, but it leaves you open.
I have bad luck evading it, so I just Guard it, but you can also simply jump
over it. It may also randomly dive, so try not to stay still.
When he almost reaches one bar left of HP, he'll go berserk: watch out and stay
away if you don't wanna get damaged. After this, he's more likely to do a