XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX       XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX     XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX   XXXXXXXX      ___         ___   _______   ___     _
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX      |   \       /   | | ______| |   \   | |
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX       | |\ \     / /| | | |_____  | |\ \  | |
XXXXXXXXXXXXX   ____ | | \ \   / / | | |  _____| | | \ \ | |
XXXXXXXXXXX   |____|| |  \ \ / /  | | | |_____  | |  \ \| |
XXXXXXXXX          |_|   \___/   |_| |_______| |_|   \___|
XXXXXXXXXXX               __   _   __        _    _   _______
XXXXXXXXXXXXX         |   |    / \ |   |\  | | \  ( \   // //
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX        |   |-- ( __ |-- | \ | |  )  \   // //
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX       |__ |__  \_/ |__ |  \| |_/  \_) // //
XXXXXXXX   XXXXXXXX                                     // //
XXXXXXXX      R I S E   O F   A P O C A L Y P S E      _//_//_
XXXXXXXX
X-MEN LEGENDS II: RISE OF APOCALYPSE (PC Version)
FAQ/WALKTHROUGH
v0.85 2005-10-14
Copyright 2005 Barry Scott Will
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/
or send a letter to
Creative Commons
559 Nathan Abbott Way
Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Marvel, X-Men and all Marvel characters and the distinctive likenesses
thereof are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc. Copyright 2005 Marvel
Characters, Inc. Game copyright 2005 Activision Publishing, Inc.
This guide is not endorsed by, nor is the author associated with, Marvel
Comics, Activision or Raven Software.
If you would like to start a new game with all characters and costumes
unlocked, there is a complete savegame (PC only) available at:
http://www.pyric.com/
The latest version of this guide is always guaranteed to be on:
My site:  http://www.pyric.com/
GameFAQs: http://www.gamefaqs.com/
IGN FAQs: http://faqs.ign.com/
/
\  /--MEN LEGENDS II-----------------------------------------------------
\/
/\---CONTACT INFORMATION------------------------------------------------
/  \
/
To contact me about the guide, send email to:
pyric@cavecreations.net
Please include "XML2 FAQ" in your subject line so I don't auto-discard the
message. Also, please read the FAQ carefully prior to asking for help on
any part of the game. If you send me additional suggestions or hints for
the game and I find them useful, you will be acknowledged in the Credits.
**IMPORTANT** This walkthrough is not yet complete because I have not yet
completed the game. Asking me about something that happens in a stage not
covered in this guide is fruitless as, chances are, I haven't gotten that
far yet. Please wait until the walkthrough is finished; then, if you still
have questions, feel free to shoot me an email. Thanks.
If you found this guide useful and would like to contribute a small token
for my efforts, you may send money through PayPal to:
paypal@cavecreations.net
Or use the Donate link found on my Web site:
http://www.pyric.com/
Thank you, and enjoy the guide!
/
\  /--MEN LEGENDS II-----------------------------------------------------
\/
/\---TABLE OF CONTENTS--------------------------------------------------
/  \
/
Title Matter
Contact Information
Table of Contents
Section A. Overview
A.01 Review
A.02 FAQ
A.03 Glossary
Section B. Gameplay
B.01 Controls
B.02 Team Management Screens
B.03 Combat
B.04 Item Collecting
B.05 Using the Map
B.06 Hints, Tips & Tricks
Section C. Walkthrough
C.01 Overview
C.02 Special Conversations
*****ACT 1*****
C.03 Prologue
C.04 In the Blink of an Eye
C.05 Hacker's Delight
C.06 Infiltration
C.07 Under Pressure
C.08 Jailbreak
C.09 Into the Void
*****ACT 2*****
C.10 Certain Destiny
C.11 The New Ice Age
C.12 No Way In, No Way Out
C.13 Beyond the Threshold
C.14 Tomb Raiders
C.15 Beyond the Threshold, Part II
C.16 The Beast Within
*****ACT 3*****
C.17 Rotten to the Core
C.18 Infinite Possibilities
C.19 Sinister Intentions
C.20 'Altar'ed Reality
C.21 Of Gods and Heroes
*****ACT 4*****
C.22 Sentinel Invasion
C.23 Hellfire to Pay
C.24 Prison of Misery
C.25 Where Angels Fear to Tread
C.26 Hail to the Queen
C.27 Evil Revealed
Section D. Allies
D.01 Bishop
D.02 Colossus
D.03 Cyclops
D.04 Deadpool*
D.05 Gambit
D.06 Iceman
D.07 Iron Man*
D.08 Jean Grey
D.09 Juggernaut
D.10 Magneto
D.11 Nightcrawler
D.12 Professor X*
D.13 Pyro+
D.14 Rogue
D.15 Sabretooth+
D.16 Scarlet Witch
D.17 Storm
D.18 Sunfire
D.19 Toad
D.20 Wolverine
D.21 Bonus Teams
D.22 Categories
* Denotes an ally that must be unlocked
+ Denotes an ally only available in the PC version of the game
Section E. Enemies
E.01 Abyss
E.02 Apocalypse
E.03 Archangel
E.04 Bastion
E.05 Deadpool
E.06 Grizzly
E.07 Holocaust
E.08 Lady Deathstrike
E.09 Living Monolith
E.10 Mikhail
E.11 Mr. Sinister
E.12 Omega Red
E.13 Sauron
E.14 Stryfe
E.15 Sugarman
E.16 Zealot
Section F. Item Lists
F.01 Danger Room Discs
F.02 Tech Stations
F.03 Homing Beacons
F.04 Data Discs
F.05 Weapon Caches
F.06 Comic Books
F.07 Sketch Books
Section G. Danger Room Courses
G.01 Freshman Courses
G.02 Sophomore Courses
G.03 Junior Courses
G.04 Senior Courses
Section H. Trivia Games
H.01 Act 1 Questions
H.02 Act 2 Questions
H.03 Act 3 Questions
H.04 Act 4 Questions
Version History & Credits
To quickly find a section, open your browser's Find function (typically
CTRL-F on a Windows PC) and type the section number, e.g. F.04, into the
search box.
/
\  /--MEN LEGENDS II-----------------------------------------------------
\/
/\---Section A. OVERVIEW-------------------------------------------------
/  \
/
==============
A.01:  Review
==============
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse is proof of the old adage, bigger is
not always better. Compared to XML1, XML2 has more mutants with more powers
fighting through bigger areas against bigger bosses. About the only thing
that's really an improvement; however, are the bigger bosses.
Raven Software tweaked the graphics--at least you can count the fingers on
the hands of the characters during cutscenes--but the locales tend to be
annoyingly similar. And, the more you play, the more you realize a lot of
the "extras" added to the game are just filler. More collecting X number of
items. More long, meandering hallways built by Frank Lloyd Wright's insane
twin filled with cannon fodder that must be disposed of using the even
greater number of powers at your disposal, which leads to lots and lots of
reading and experimenting and calculating...and other complexity.
Admittedly, there are some nice touches. There's a bit more variety in the
powers now, especially with Xtremes. The bosses are even more fearsome and
even some of the early bosses can lay waste your entire team a few times
before you figure them out. The story is pretty good and will hold your
interest, though it will be tried many times as you slink your way through
yet more mindless filler.
Overall, this game rates about the same as the first. For every
improvement, there's a disappointment. Still, in the end, this is one of
the best superhero titles as well as one of the best action RPGs to come
down the pike this year.
===========
A.02:  FAQ
===========
Q. How do I unlock Deadpool/Iron Man/Professor X/Pyro/Sabretooth?
A. If you have the PC version of XML2, Pyro and Sabretooth will be
available to you at the first Xtraction point in the Genosha Sanctuary. If
you don't have the PC version of XML2, you're out of luck.
Deadpool is unlocked when you beat the game for the first time. You can
unlock Professor X by collecting all Danger Room discs and beating all the
Danger Room scenarios.
Iron Man is a bit more complicated. In each of the five Acts, you can find
up to six homing beacons. Find four of them and a secret Blink Portal will
open back at your base. Go through the portal and defeat the enemies. In
Acts 1 through 4, you recover a piece of Iron Man's armor. In Act 5, you
rescue Iron Man himself and can then use him in the current and future
games.
Q. Should I get this for PC or one of the consoles?
A. It's up to you. XML2 is not that demanding on PC hardware, so even mid-
range systems from two or three years ago can probably run it. If you can
play newer games such as Dungeon Siege II or Ultimate Spider-Man, XML2 will
run like butter. The PC offers two more playable characters (albeit ones
very like Sunfire and Wolverine), much shorter load times and better
graphics. The downside is a complicated control scheme unless you have a
decent dual-analog gamepad and possible bugs or conflicts with your
hardware. Oh, yeah, the PC version is $10 (US) cheaper.
Still, it's your call.
Q. Can I play as ?
A. In the Skirmish mode, you can choose various enemy mutants. You can put
enemy mutants and some non-playable mutants on your team in Story mode, but
it involves hex editing your savegame, so you'll need to look elsewhere for
that info.
Q. What's the correct answer to ?
A. See Section H of this guide.
Q. What's the best setup for my gamepad?
A. A complete overview of the controls is in Section B.01, including how to
set up your gamepad to mimic the control layout of the consoles.
Q. How do I hit combos?
A. Section B.03 covers combat in all its permutations.
Q. How should I level up ?
A. Section D of this guide covers all 20 playable characters, with complete
lists of skills and recommended leveling procedures.
Q. What's the highest level for the X-Men?
A. 99, and, even if you get that high, you still won't be able to buy every
rank in every skill.
Q. Is this just like XML1?
A. There are a lot of similarities; however, it is different enough--
especially in the heroes and their skills, that you'll need some time to
get used to it. Still, it plays close enough to the original that you can
jump in and start killing bad guys right away.
Q. How many savegames can I have?
A. The PC version of XML2 allows 10 savegames. They are stored in
My Documents\Activision\X-Men Legends 2\Save
You should rotate at least three or four saves in case you mess
up real bad.
===============
A.03: Glossary
===============
ATK: Attack rating; measures how easy it is for a character to successfully
land a melee attack on another character
Boost: Skills that are buffs
Buff: Any enhancement to a character's offensive or defensive stats or
abilities
Debuff: Any penalty to a character's offensive or defensive stats or
abilities
DEF: Defense rating; measures how hard it is for a character to be
successfully hit by a melee attack
EP: Energy points
HP: Hit points or health
Mob: Any hostile character or characters
Skills: The variable abilities of all X-Men. Skills come in several types:
* Ability: adds an ability to the character's repertoire (such as flying)
* Beam: an instantaneous, straight-line projection of energy
* Blast: an explosion of energy
* Boost: enhances offensive/defensive capabilities
* Charge: a special melee attack that covers a large distance
* Debuff: penalizes enemies' abilities
* Melee: an enhanced hand-to-hand attack
* Passive: a skill that provides a continuous effect
* Projectile: fires a "bullet" that moves at variable speeds, may also
track the target, various damage types
* Radial: creates an effect in a circle around the character
* Special: Any skill that does not fall into one of the other categories
* Trap: Creates an effect that damages enemies for a limited time without
supervision from the character (e.g. Storm's Whirlwind or
Iron Man's Auto Turret)
* Xtreme: Skills that can only be used with Xtreme tokens
XP: Experience points
/
\  /--MEN LEGENDS II-----------------------------------------------------
\/
/\---Section B. GAMEPLAY-------------------------------------------------
/  \
/
================
B.01:  Controls
================
B.01.a) Control Layout
----------------------
The following table lists the default keyboard controls as well as
recommended gamepad controls. XML2 recognizes most gamepads, but does not
automatically set up the controls. You will have to do that through the
game's Options>Advanced menu.
+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Action             | Key                | Gamepad            |
|--------------------+--------------------+--------------------|
| Move Forward       | W                  | Left Analog Up     |
| Move Backward      | S                  | Left Analog Down   |
| Move Left          | A                  | Left Analog Left   |
| Move Right         | D                  | Left Analog Right  |
| Attack/Power 1     | Keypad 4           | Button 1           |
| Smash/Power 2      | Keypad 6           | Button 2           |
| Jump/Xtreme        | Spacebar           | Button 4           |
| Use/Boost          | E                  | Button 3           |
| Use Powers         | Keypad 5           | Right Shoulder     |
| Energy Pack        | O                  | Right Trigger      |
| Health Pack        | P                  | Left Trigger       |
| Call Allies        | C                  | Left Shoulder      |
| Character Up       | Up Arrow           | D-Pad Up           |
| Character Down     | Down Arrow         | D-Pad Down         |
| Character Left     | Left Arrow         | D-Pad Left         |
| Character Right    | Right Arrow        | D-Pad Right        |
| Map Toggle         | M                  |                    |
| Start/Pause        | ESC                | Button 9           |
| Stats Menu         | F1                 | Button 10          |
| Camera Up          | I                  | Right Analog Up    |
| Camera Down        | K                  | Right Analog Down  |
| Camera Left        | J                  | Right Analog Left  |
| Camera Right       | L                  | Right Analog Right |
| Screenshot         | F11                |                    |
| Talk               | T                  |                    |
| Walk               | Left Shift         |                    |
| Switch Character   | Q                  |                    |
| Attack Object      | Left CTRL          |                    |
| Rotate Camera      | V                  |                    |
| Bind Power         | B                  |                    |
| Quick Power        | ` (backtick)       |                    |
| Power 1 through 11 | 1 through - (dash) |                    |
+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
Here's an (admittedly crude) representation of a generic, 10-button, dual-
analog stick controller:
____________               ____________
/ LS______   \             /   ______RS \
__|__/__LT__\__|_____________|__/__RT__\__|__
/    _                                        \
/   _| |_                                (4)    \
/   [_ D _]                            (3)   (2)  \
/      |_|           (9)    (10)           (1)      \
/                 _                 _                 \
(               ,~' '~,           ,~' '~,               )
\             (  LA   )_________(   RA  )             /
\            |'~,_,~'           '~,_.~'|            /
\           |                         |           /
\          |                         |          /
\         |                         |         /
\        |                         |        /
\       |                         |       /
\      |                         |      /
\     |                         |     /
\____|                         |____/
D     = D-pad
LA/RA = Left and Right analog thumbsticks
LT/RT = Left and Right triggers (small shoulder buttons)
LS/RS = Left and Right (large) shoulder buttons
The game may refer to the triggers as buttons 5 and 6; and it may refer to
the shoulder buttons as buttons 7 and 8.
Your gamepad may have additional buttons, or it may have six thumb-placed
buttons on the right face and only two shoulder buttons. The thumbsticks
may also be buttons. Etc. The variations aren't endless, but there are more
than can be reasonably accounted for here.
However, if your controller is roughly like the one pictured here and you
bind controls as suggested in the above table, it will handle pretty much
just like XML and XML2 on the consoles.
**CONTROLLER QUICK-TIP**
Bind your keyboard controls to the secondary slots and bind your gamepad
controls to the primary slots. Then the game hints will refer to your
gamepad rather than keyboard. For example, instead of being told to press E
to activate an Xtraction point, you'll be told to press Btn 3. Not having
to carry a translation table in your head makes gameplay much smoother.
B.01.b) Using the Controls
--------------------------
ATTACK & SMASH
These are your two different melee attack buttons; Smash is a more powerful
attack. You can string them together in different ways to create attack
combos (not the same thing as Power Combos). E.g. Attack - Attack - Smash
is a heavy uppercut. You can learn different combos in the Freshman level
Danger Room courses.
Attack and Smash also execute offensive powers when you press and hold Use
Powers. You can choose which two powers to assign the two buttons from the
team management screens.
USE/BOOST
This is the generic "use" key for all kinds of game situations: open doors,
talk to NPCs, use computer consoles, pick up & throw items or enemies. Etc.
This is also the key to which you bind Boost and Debuff powers.
JUMP/XTREME
Pressing Jump once causes your character to jump. Press Jump + Smash to
execute a power jump (slightly longer, higher jump with an attack at the
end).
Some characters can fly, if ranks are purchased in the Flight skill. To
fly, press Jump, then press Jump again while in the air. While flying,
press Use to fly lower and Jump to fly higher. You can also press Smash to
execute a dive-bombing attack. **NOTE** In XML2, fliers cannot carry other
characters.
Teleporters (Nightcrawler and Deadpool) will teleport in the direction you
push the control pad if you press Jump while the character is in the air.
Iceman will use his Ice Slide if you press Jump in mid-air (if you have
purchased ranks of the Ice Slide skill).
Toad can double-jump by pressing Jump while he is in mid-air (no special
skills required).
Xtreme powers are bound to the Jump button.
USE ENERGY/HEALTH PACK
Press one of these buttons to cause your currently selected character to
use an energy or health pack, restoring some (or all) energy or health.
Characters controlled by the AI can be set to use health packs under
certain conditions (see Team Management Screens below). AI-controlled
characters will never use energy packs. All characters regenerate energy.
Some character skills (and some equipment) regenerate health. All
characters have a chance of getting double the normal amount of health or
energy from a pack. See the Team Management Screens - Stats section below.
You begin the game with the ability to carry 10 of each type of pack. You
gain +5 carrying capacity with each 10 levels (i.e. as soon as any one
character reaches the next 10-level mark: 10, 20, 30, etc.) to a maximum of
55 of each pack at level 90. You can gain 12 additional units carrying
capacity by finding all data discs in the game.
Each pack restores 33% of the character's maximum energy or health. There
is a chance (based on the character's Body score for health packs and Focus
score for energy packs) the character will receive 66% of energy or health
from the pack.
CALL ALLIES
Issues a command to your AI-controlled teammates to come attack your
current target (or reform around you if no targets are nearby). The AI-
controlled characters will attack with the power specified on their AI
screen. (Or, in some cases, the AI may choose a different offensive power,
based on the range to the target.) Spamming the Call button is the only way
to hit Power Combos in single-player.
Pressing Call Allies also gives a verbal cue so other player-controlled
characters (when playing multiplayer) can come to your aid.
USE POWERS
Pressing Use Powers brings up the Powers menu, which shows your bound
powers in this arrangement:
Jump
Use        Smash
Attack
Press and hold this key, then press the appropriate key (Attack, Smash,
Use, Jump) to execute a mutant power. Attack and Smash are offensive
powers, Use is a Boost power and Jump is an Xtreme power.
If you set up your gamepad as specified above, this configuration will
match the face buttons on the right of your controller:
4
3     2
1
You can bind powers to keys through the Skills page in the character stats
(see below). If you have more powers than can be bound to keys (e.g. you
have two Boost/Debuff powers and there is only one Boost key), you can
change bound powers on the fly:
Press and hold Use Powers, then press a character selection key in the
direction of the key to which you want to bind a different power. The game
will cycle through the available powers for that button. For example:
You have both Absorption and Energy Fury for Bishop. Currently, Absorption
is bound to the Use key.
* Press and hold Use Powers (e.g. Right Shoulder button)
* Press Left Character Select (e.g. Left D-pad)
* The Energy Fury icon will replace Absorption on the powers menu
* Release Use Powers
* Energy Fury is now bound to the Use key
START/PAUSE
Brings up the game menu.
MAP TOGGLE
Switches the overhead map between small, large and hidden. On the PC, the
small overhead map works quite well.
SCREENSHOT
Saves a .bmp screenshot to:
My Documents\Activision\X-Men Legends 2\Screenshots
The game will only save 256 screenshots (XMenLegends0000.bmp to
XMenLegends0255.bmp) and then will start over at 0000, even if it means
overwriting earlier images.
TALK
Opens chat window for online multiplayer chatting.
WALK
Slows down the movement of your characters.
BIND POWER
Allows you to bind two additional "quick powers" to your mouse buttons.
Press and hold 'B', select the power and then press either the left or
right mouse button. To use the power, press and hold backtick (`) and press
the left or right mouse button. (The backtick key is immediately left of
the number '1' key on US English keyboards.) If you're using a gamepad, you
probably won't use this feature.
POWER KEYS 1 THROUGH 11
You can immediately execute any power by pressing the numbers 1 through 0
and the - (dash) key (directly right of the '0' key). Keys 1 through 6 are
bound to offensive powers in ascending order of power. Keys 7 and 8 are the
Xtreme powers. Keys 9 to - are Boosts in ascending order of power. You
cannot change the binding of these keys. Some heroes will not have 11
powers. If you're using a gamepad, you probably won't use this feature.
B.01.c) The Game Menu
---------------------
The following options are available on the game menu (press Start/Pause
while playing):
OBJECTIVES
See all active and finished tasks received in the current or previous Acts.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
Brings up the team management menu, same as pushing the Stats Menu key.
BLINK PORTAL
Opens a portal from your current location to the home base in the current
Act. This option is only available after you rescue Blink at the beginning
of Act 1. Blink Portals persist through reloads, so you can, effectively,
save and quit any time. Blink must rest for five minutes after creating a
portal, so you can't use them completely indiscriminately.
MAP [SMALL/LARGE/HIDDEN]
Toggles through the different overhead map sizes (or turns it off).
AUTOMAP
Leaves the game paused and turns on the large overhead map. You can move
and rotate the map so you can get an idea of the current area's layout,
look for rooms you might have missed, etc.
OPTIONS
Opens the game options menu.
PLAYERS
Opens the player management menu, where you can add or remove players for
co-operative play.
LOAD GAME
Loads a savegame.
QUIT GAME
Quits to the main menu.
B.01.d) Xtraction Points
------------------------
Xtraction points must be activated by walking over them. Once activated,
Xtraction points allow you to do three things:
1) Xtract--instantly teleport to any other Xtraction point you have
activated.
2) Change Team--bring up the Change Team menu to replace/revive members of
your current team.
3) Save Game--save your game to one of the ten save slots available.
Note that options like visiting the danger room or shopping have been
removed since all you have to do is Xtract back to base to do those things.
(You can even Blink Portal back to base at any time, without using an
Xtraction point.)
=============================
B.02: Team Management Screens
=============================
**CONTROLS NOTE**
Messing around in the team management screens is easier with the keyboard--
especially since, for some reason, menu commands are displayed with
keyboard controls, regardless of your primary button configuration. Default
keyboard controls are listed here. Put your gamepad down for a minute or
two and use the keyboard.
Press the Stats Menu button or choose Change Team at an Xtraction point or
press ESC and choose the Team Management option to bring up the main team
management menu. The main menu shows your current four-man team (or less if
one or more has died). Select a character using the movement or character
controls, then:
* Press Space to open that character's stat screens.
* Press E to remove that character (Change Team screen only)
* Press J to replace that character (Change Team screen only)
* Press O to apply a different costume (skin) (Change Team screen only -
not available for all characters)
* Press ESC or ENTER to end the session, accept all changes and return
to the game (or game menu if you used the Team Management menu option)
If you choose to Replace a character, a menu of available heroes appears.
Scroll through the menu using up/down movement keys to highlight the hero
you want. If that hero previously fell in battle, there is a cost to revive
him or her. This cost varies based on your character level and is shown
next to the character's portrait. Press J to revive the character.
Press J to place a character in the current position on the team. Press ESC
to quit the replacement menu. Note: you can also bring up stat screens
(press Space) of characters on the replacement menu. Thus, from the Change
Team menu, you can manage the stats, skills and equipment for all playable
characters.
There are four stat screens: Stats, Skills, Gear and AI. To switch screens,
press left or right movement buttons or character select buttons or click a
tab. Underneath the tabs, on all screens, is the current character's name,
XP progress through the current level (displayed as a simple bar graph, no
XP numbers are actually shown) and current level.
B.02.a) Stats
-------------
At the top of the stats screens are listed your four abilities as well as
stats based on those abilities. Underneath is detail information about the
currently selected stat. All information displayed on this screen includes
bonuses from skills and equipped items. Your four ability scores are:
BODY
Increases your health points (HP) and chance for double health from
potions. Next to your current Body score are your current and max HP. To
add a point to Body, select it and press J. To remove a point from Body
that has been added during this session, select it and press E.
Health is calculated as: 25 + 5 per level + 3 per Body
Body also affects your natural resistances. Your resistances are listed on
the right side of the screen. In order they are:
Energy resistance
Mental resistance
Radiation resistance
Elemental resistance
FOCUS
Increases your energy points (EP), energy regeneration, melee mental
damage, and chance for double energy from potions. Next to your Focus score
are your current and max EP. To add a point to Focus, select it and press
J. To remove a point from Focus that has been added during this session,
select it and press E.
Energy is calculated as: 30 + 4 per level + 2 per Focus
STRIKE
Increases the damage you do with melee attacks. Next to your Strike score
is shown your melee damage. The range before the slash is standard Attack
damage. The range after the slash is Smash attack damage. You get a damage
bonus of +2% per Strike. To add a point to Strike, select it and press J.
To remove a point from Strike that has been added during this session,
select it and press E.
SPEED
Increases your attack rating (ATK) and defense rating (DEF). Next to your
Speed score are your ATK and DEF.
ATK: Increases the chance to hit with melee attacks (5 per Speed - 35)
DEF: Increases your ability to dodge incoming melee attacks (3 per Speed)
To add a point to Speed, select it and press J. To remove a point from
Speed that has been added during this session, select it and press E.
B.02.b) Skills
--------------
If you played XML1, this will be the biggest change as characters have a
greater selection of powers. At first, the selection seems overwhelming,
but some powers are just stronger versions of other powers. For example,
Storm gets Lightning Strike and Chain Lightning. While they are separate
powers--you can continue leveling and using Strike even after leveling
Chain--they're still basically the same effect.
One big change is two Xtreme powers per character (most characters, anyway)
rather than one. Also, the Xtreme powers have ranks just like all the other
powers. There's also been some shuffling of roles (Storm no longer has
Leadership), and more reasonable allocation of skills (only melee-focused
characters get Critical Strike).
Unlocked skills show a series of boxes representing the ranks available.
Like so:
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
Ranks you have bought are colored in, ranks available to be bought are
highlighted in white. All powers show 20 ranks; however, some powers don't
allow 20 ranks. These powers show "locked" boxes on the left:
[/][/][/][/][/][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
Why did the developer team do this? Especially when some skills with fewer
than 20 ranks simply show fewer than 20 boxes? The world may never know.
Anyway, select a skill and press 'J' to buy a rank. Available points are
shown at the bottom of the skills page. All ranks cost one skill point.
To subtract a rank bought in this session, press 'E'. Once you Accept the
changes (by exiting the team management screens), you can't subtract the
points. There doesn't appear to be any kind of Cancel command, so if you
want to delete your changes, you'll have to do it manually before pressing
ESC or ENTER.
To assign a power to a power key (Attack, Smash, Use or Jump) select the
power, press 'P', then press the appropriate button. Remember, only non-
Xtreme offensive powers on Attack and Smash; only non-Xtreme Boost or
Debuff powers on Use and only Xtreme powers on Jump.
B.02.c) Gear
------------
At the top of the Gear screen are your ability scores and related stats (as
shown on the Stats screen). This allows you to examine the effects of
equipping and unequipping items. Below your stats are your three equipment
slots and whatever items you currently have in those slots: belts, gloves
and armor. Below that is the current inventory of unequipped items.
To remove an equipped item, select it and press E.
To equip an item to a slot, select the slot, press J to move to the
inventory list, select the item you want to equip and press J. If you
already had an item equipped in that slot, it will be swapped with the new
item.
To drop an item on the ground either from your gear slot or from the
inventory list, press P.
B.02.d) AI
----------
The AI screen shows the current settings for this character when controlled
by the computer.
AI HEAL WHEN FULL
If set to Yes, when walking over a health pack and any current team member
needs health (no matter how small) and you have a full complement of health
packs, your characters will use health packs and pick up the new one. Set
this to Yes.
AI HEAL
Governs how the AI uses health packs. A change on any one character's sheet
affects all characters, not just the individual. There are four rules:
Never: the AI never uses health packs
< 20%: the AI uses a health pack if the character's health falls below
20 per cent of maximum and there are more than two health packs
in inventory
< 40%: the AI uses a health pack when the character's health falls below
40 per cent of maximum and there are more than two health packs
in inventory
< 80%: the AI uses a health pack when the character's health falls below
80 per cent of maximum and there are more than two health packs
in inventory
The recommended settings are 40% and 80%. Never is not a good idea unless
you intend to rapidly switch characters while in combat in order to use
health packs. Less than 20% can cause a character to die from massive
damage before getting low enough to use a health pack. Less than 40% is a
good all-around rule that will keep your teammates alive while saving on
your store of health packs. Less than 80% will cause the AI to use health
packs far too rapidly in the early game; but, you can switch to it once you
are able to hold 20 or more health packs (at level 20).
AI MODE
Sets how the character should react in combat, especially when you call for
help. There are three levels of AI for each character.
Aggressive: the character responds immediately to attack
Normal:     the character waits for an opportunity before attacking
Defensive:  the X-character only attacks if he or she is attacked
There's little use in this game for Defensive AI. Melee characters should
be set to Aggressive, the remaining characters can be set to Normal.
AI SKILL
This is the mutant power the AI will use when you call for an attack using
the Call Allies button. See the individual character listings in Section C
for recommendations.
AI AUTO-TRAIT, AI AUTO-SKILL, AI AUTO-EQUIP
Controls whether the AI will automatically level up stats or skills and
automatically equip characters with new equipment.
While micro-managing equipment is not fun, the Auto-Equip function has one
very nasty habit: it seems to operate only on item level (i.e. minimum
character level required to use the equipment). This becomes a problem when
you start getting the character-specific items from the Challenge Danger
Room courses. The Auto-Equip function routinely removes the no-minimum-
level uber unique item and replaces it with a much less powerful minimum-
level-required item.
Still, Auto-Equip removes a lot of the tedium involved in character
management. You're best off leaving it on and keeping an eye on active
characters that have their unique Challenge course reward. Just re-equip it
every time you find the game has taken it off. Fortunately, Auto-Equip only
considers active characters, so your work is minimal.
Stats (traits) in XML2 are a bit less important than in XML1. Because of
the number of bonuses you can get (from tech stations, Danger Room awards
and equipment), there's no need to micromanage your stats. Turn Auto-Trait
on during the tutorial stage and forget about them.
Auto-Skill is good for giving you a flavor for each character. On your
first run-through, you may wish to turn it on, at least until you get to
level 20 or 25. Auto-Skill tends to spread skill points around, but, this
will give you a good idea of what works and what doesn't and what is just
plain annoying. Once you've got a feel for each character, go to Forge or
Beast and purchase the option to redistribute skill points, then turn Auto-
Skill off.
==============
B.03: Combat
==============
Combat, and lots of it, is the name of the game in X-Men Legends II. Each
character has two primary melee attacks: Attack and Smash. By hitting an
opponent with different sequences, you can perform a special attack that
does more damage. Some of the special attacks are:
- Triple Hit: Attack, Attack, Attack
- Knockback: Attack, Smash, Smash, Smash
- Stun: Smash, Attack, Smash, Smash
While some characters can be effective just unloading melee attacks on the
bad guys, the best way to win fights is to use your mutant powers. Even
better, you should learn how to hit Power Combos--two mutant powers used on
one opponent at the same time.
Hitting combos in multiplayer requires communication between the players
and a good sense of the timing of each mutant power being used. Wolverine's
Feral Slash, for example, is much faster than Storm's Lightning Strike. If
a player controlling Wolverine wants to hit a combo with a player
controlling Storm, the Wolverine player must watch the timing of the LS and
initiate the Slash immediately before the lightning hits.
In single player, hitting combos is part luck and part skill. In combat,
you spam the Call Allies button to have them attack your opponent with
their mutant powers. Again, timing is an issue, but you don't have much
control over when the computer AI will actually unleash its power(s).
Experiment to find different teams that work well for hitting combos.
Make sure you always have either a character with Leadership on the team.
This skill adds bonus experience points earned from an enemy on whom you
used a combo, and it increases the critical strike chance for the entire
team. You do not have to actually defeat the enemy with the combo. As long
as you used a combo on that enemy at some point, you get the bonus XP.
You can also score combos even if you are just fighting hand-to-hand; just
keep pressing Call Allies while you're punching to keep your teammates
blasting away with their powers. There's even a "Batter Up!" combo that is
scored when one character hits with a strike sequence at the same time
another character hits with another strike sequence. You can also score
Batter Up! combos by picking an enemy up (by hand or with powers) and
flinging the foe into the rest of the team.
There is a small window of opportunity surrounding each power when you can
cause a combo. Powers that temporarily stun your opponents are especially
good for combos as you can hit with the second power any time while the foe
is stunned. Area-of-effect powers also give good chances for hitting combos
as multiple enemies are affected.
Once you get to level 15 and purchase Xtreme powers for your X-Men, you can
use these powers by pressing Use Powers + Jump. You can hit super power
combos by hitting a combo with one or two Xtreme powers. Xtreme powers
require Xtreme icons, which will display at the bottom center of the
screen. In order to fill these icons, you need to collect Xtreme tokens the
same way you collect health packs, etc. Each token fills one-quarter of an
icon, so you must collect four tokens to get one full icon and use an
Xtreme power once.
The Xtreme power icons are shared by all X-Men. Thus, if you have one icon
filled, and Bishop uses Big Bang, Deadpool cannot then immediately follow
with Nitrogen Blast until you pick up more tokens. At level 15, you can
have one filled Xtreme icon. At level 20, you can have two filled icons. At
level 25, you can have three; at level 30, you can have four; and, at level
35 and after, you can have five filled icons.
Xtreme powers are most useful for crowd control. Try to avoid using Xtreme
powers against bosses, as most Xtreme powers are large area-of-effect
powers that are intended to damage multiple enemies. Against a single
enemy, they're a lot less powerful. Use focused, single-opponent powers and
combos against bosses.
Another method of dealing with your enemies is to throw things at them. A
character with the Might skill can pick up and throw cars, trucks and other
really heavy things. Any character can throw barrels or crates; the
exploding barrels are especially nice.
As you attack enemies, keep an eye on the enemy status bar in the top
center of the screen. This shows your opponent's health status and any
damage resistances possessed by the enemy. For example, some enemies are
physical resistant. This means attacks causing physical damage are less
effective. Team up on the foe with energy and mental attacks. The same goes
for opponents listed as mental resistant, etc.
Finally, if you can, avoid combat on bridges (especially bridges built by
an X-Man) or near ledges. The computer AI is just stupid enough to
occasionally send your teammates jumping into the abyss after enemies that
have fallen over the edge. That's a bad thing.
Combat in XML2 is fast, furious and goes on forever; so, you'll get plenty
of practice in taking care of the bad guys. If, for some strange reason,
you can't get enough combat, try the Danger Room.
=====================
B.04: Item Collecting
=====================
Your primary task in X-Men Legends is defeating the bad guys. Your
secondary task is scrounging for loot...that is, collecting valuable
equipment. You get most of your swag from drops by your enemies; however,
you can also get a lot of loot from destroying the scenery.
Most of the items you will collect are health packs and energy packs. Since
these resources get used up frequently (especially in the early game), it's
a good thing the game drops a lot. Later in the game, as your energy
regeneration improves, you can start selling off some of the energy packs
you pick up, since you don't need them as much and so many of them drop
anyway. Keep the health packs, they don't show up quite as often.
You also need to look out for tech bits, the X-Men Legends 2 equivalent of
money. You use tech bits to buy equipment from Forge and Beast and revive
fallen mutants-in-arms. Once you hit 15th level and can use Xtreme powers,
you'll start picking up the Xtreme tokens you need to fill your Xtreme
power icons.
You'll also pick up a lot of gear that improve stats. In order to avoid
slowing the game down to a crawl, it is recommended you turn Auto-Equip on;
however, if you like to micromanage...
All allies share the inventory, so any hero can equip anything that's been
picked up, unless another character is already wearing the item. There is a
limit of 20 unequipped items that can be held in inventory. If you try to
pick something up and get the message "Inventory is full", you have three
options:
1) Ignore the item on the ground because it is underpowered for your
current level;
2) Return to base and sell unused items to Forge or Beast or put them
in the hero stash; or,
3) Drop some of your current inventory on the ground.
In order to keep your inventory from filling up, re-evaluate your equipment
and sell unneeded items at least every other mission.
**NOTE** There's a game-stopping bug in the game related to memory dumps
and the number of items in your hero stash. Keep your hero stash at 30
items or less!
There are also many bonus items that are hidden throughout the game. If you
thought there were lots of hidden items in XML, wait until you get a load
of XML2. Here's the quick hit list:
Comic books: there are 15 of them. They don't confer any stat bonuses,
alas, but they are still cool to look at.
Sketch books: there are 16 sketch books, each unlocks 3 pieces of concept
art.
Tech stations: like the skill/stat point bonuses from XML, although there
are more of them. Each tech station gives a bonus to the one character that
uses the station. They provide permanent stat boosts, health and energy
increases, etc. There are 30 tech stations scattered throughout the game.
Weapon cache: XML2's version of the uber-loot-producing treasure chest.
Each weapon cache contains tech bits, health and energy packs and rare or
unique equipment.
Danger Room Discs: as in XML1, you have to find these in order to play the
scenarios. Find them all (and beat all the scenarios) and Professor X is
yours to manipulate to your will...
Data discs: Collect four data discs and you get a bonus to your health or
energy pack carrying capacity. There are twenty discs in all.
* +2 energy packs for the first set of four data discs
* +2 health packs for the second set of four data discs
* +4 energy packs for the third set of four data discs
* +4 health packs for the fourth set of four data discs
* +6 health and +6 energy packs for the fifth set of four data discs
Section F of this guide will fill you in on all the locations of these
goodies. You can also find the location of all the Danger Room Discs in
Section G.
And, there are load screens and cinematics that can be unlocked through
normal gameplay.
Finally, beating the game once entitles you to start a new game+, which
gives you all characters (including unlocked characters) at their endgame
level. If you beat the game on Normal difficulty, you can play at the Hard
difficulty.
===================
B.05: Using the Map
===================
The map is an essential part of success in XML2. Without the map, stages
can become confusing and impossible to navigate. With the map, you can
always see in which direction your next objective lies. The stages are very
linear, but some of them can twist around enough to leave you confused
unless you can see where you are and where you are going on your map.
The map contains a number of useful markers to help you find your way
through each stage:
A blue X in a circle marks an Xtraction point.
A red X marks a stage objective. It might be a control panel that needs to
be operated, a person who needs to be rescued or a device that needs to be
destroyed. Your primary goal in each stage is to go to each red X and do