Black and White by The Masked Moogle Contents: I. Introduction A. Version History B. Disclaimer C. Introduction D. What is Black and White? II. The Creatures A. The Creatures B. Creature Combat Tips III. Concluding notes A. Conclusion B. Credits I. Introduction A. VERSION HISTORY: -4/17/01 Well, Easter was fun, but now back to the grind. This time around I updated a few of the Creatures' and added the Rhino's Special. I got a huge tip about how the Creatures also have variations in their dodging abiltiy, so most of the Creatures are revamped. I've also added a Creature Appearance section to each Creature so people can geta rough idea of what they look like. Alternatively you can look around for screenshots, though due to legal constraints I can't give any web pages. I'm also looking into a tip I got about how a Creature's intelligence is separated into Miracle learning ability and common sense. If I figure anything out I'll put it in (any help is appreciated). -4/14/01 AHHHHHHH!! This time I received at least 30 e-mails about how I was wrong with the Tiger. It's fixed already! Leave me alone, it's Easter:) Now that that's out of the way, in this release, I've added the Creature Combat tips section, added info on the Ogre and Rhino, and updated a few of the Creatures. Also fixed more of the spacing and tweaked the format a bit. I never knew people who write FAQ's get this much e-mail! Thanks for the feedback, anyway. Getting pretty close to a full version! -4/13/01 Ahhh!! I received at least 6 e-mails about how I was wrong on the Tiger, so I’ve updated that section. Also added the Cow’s real dance. Working on the Ogre and Rhino, expect those tomorrow. Prepped the rest of the FAQ for this. It takes a while to get accurate stats on most of the Creatures (but for some it’s obvious). And added the Chimp's Proficiency out of Battle. Changed it to a .txt format to fix the spacing problems. Lots of work to do; thank goodness (or evilness, it is a Black and White FAQ) it's a weekend. -4/10/01 Decided to cheat a little bit and unlock the Wolf via a cheat (the file hacking one). So I added the info on him. Also updated the Tiger, Leopard, and Ape’s combat ability. I’m considering adding the Ogre and Rhino, but I don’t like cheating... -4/9/01 Added Battle info on the Brown Bear and Polar Bear, and the dance for the Gorilla. -4/8/01 Added info on the Gorilla, updated the Mandrill and the Ape, and added the Creature dances. -4/6/01 The first release! Basically outlined the skeleton, and added some base info. Expect more soon (like tomorrow..?) B. DISCLAIMER: You know the drill. You are not permitted to make copies of this without the author’s permission, sell it without written consent from the author, blah blah blah... So don’t do anything funny and no one gets hurt. I have a lawyer in the family! C. INTRODUCTION: Well, this is my first attempt at an FAQ and I know it’s doomed to fade into obscurity, but what the heck, I might help a few people. This isn’t a walkthrough or tips on micromanagement or anything, it’s meant to give an overview of the Creatures, their abilities in battle, abilities as a town-manager, etc. If you need a walkthrough or general tips, RHagenström has written an excellent one, or buy the guide. Well, enough of that! D. WHAT IS BLACK AND WHITE: This is another popular topic on the Message Boards. Black and White is basically a completely new kind of game. Some people call it a strategy, but then again some people call Shen Mue an RPG. Black and White is kind of a cross between a Sim- game, a Theme- game, Pokémon, Dungeon Keeper, and a bunch of other games. (Of course, the thought comes to mind that you probably already know what the game is if you’re reading an “In-Depth FAQ”, but I’ll quit rambling now.) Put simply it’s a god simulation. You are a god. You can either manipulate and subvert your followers or be a benevolent, kind god and feed and clothe them. Either way they worship you, that gives you power to create Miracles (like spells), you use your Miracles to get new worshippers, until you get to the enemy god’s Citadel and destroy him. However, you can’t operate unless people “Believe” in you, which you can make them do either by being kind or killing the odd Villager in the middle of a festival. To top it all off you get a Creature, which is where Pokémon ties in. Your Creature can do basically everything you do, but you have to train him to do it. He can change his appearance to match his Alignment (evil-good and everything in between), which doesn’t necessarily match yours (and often doesn‘t, as will be discussed later). He will also grow over time. When he first starts out he’ll only be a few times bigger than a Villager. But eventually he’ll be accidentally stepping on houses :~) There are 16 Creatures, each with moderately different traits and very different appearances. Some are better at watching after your villages, some are better at burning them to the ground (along with all the Villagers), but just guide these guys into an enemy village... Well, you probably get the point. Overall it’s an extremely fun and addicting game, albeit with a few stability issues. But Lionhead is *supposedly* releasing a patch soon which should fix some of that. As they say, “Onward and outward!” II. The Creatures A. The Creatures This is the real fun of the game. There are 16 different Creatures. These are: Ape Tortoise Cow Zebra Tiger Brown Bear Leopard Polar Bear Wolf Sheep Lion Chimp Horse Mandrill Rhino Ogre Another Creature that many people thought was in the game is the Crocodile. This was nixed in the early stages of development. It might be back, but as for now you can't get it. The Creatures are arranged below in alphabetical order. The basic format is this: Creature Name How to Unlock Natural Alignment Appearance as Neutral: Appearance as Good: Appearance as Evil: Dance Relative Strength Relative Out-Of-Battle Speed Relative Intelligence Proficiency in Battle Proficiency out of Battle Overall Notes The Creature Name and How to Unlock are self-explanatory. The next point is somewhat controversial, but in my experiences it is pretty reliable. Natural Alignment is basically what your Creature is inclined to become, good or evil. So, basically, if you left it alone overnight with 0 training what alignment it would be in the morning. A lot of people say it’s random, but from what I’ve seen it stays constant for each creature. I believe this is related to whether it’s meant as an attacker or a defender. (By the way, this is just my opinion, but the perfect combination is a good Creature and an evil player. This way you can skip all the tedious micromanagement and concentrate on the fun stuff (killing!!) while your Creature can watch the towns without you having to worry. Of course, that’s just my opinion, and some of the evil Creatures look awesome.) The Appearances are self-explanatory. The Dance is self-explanatory. The next points are relatively self-explanatory, and are based on a scale of 0-10. They are just my (and helpers’) speculation,not based on the numbers from the website or strategy guide. Note that these can change dramatically based on your training (besides intelligence, and some creatures’ limits are lower than others’). Strength, for instance, can be supplemented by carrying rocks around. Speed is increased by running laps around the island. This doesn’t directly raise the creature’s speed, but lowers his fatness, which in turn raises the speed (but lowers his battling ability). Proficiency in Battle is based upon a number of factors. One, how strong he is and how easily he gains strength. Two, how quickly and how powerful his actual attacks come off, and ease of use in battle. These can be tough to judge, but I’ll do my best and any help is welcome. My e-mail’s at the end of the FAQ. Proficiency out of battle is based on how quickly he learns, how much he cares for the Villagers, how likely he is to wander off (partly based on training, but Creature has a factor in that too), etc. These won’t be numerical values, but detailed (as detailed as I can, anyway) descriptions. Finally, an overall view at the Creature. Whew, finally, you’re saying, the good stuff! 1. Creature Name: Ape How to Unlock: Chosen at beginning of game Natural Alignment: Evil Appearance as Neutral: An orange monkey. Looks pretty neat when it's fat. Appearance as Good: A happier orange monkey. Appearance as Evil: A red and blue monkey. Dance: A macarena looking thing Relative Strength: 3/10 Relative Speed: 6.5/10 Relative Intelligence: 9/10 Proficiency in Battle: Not bad. The delay time on his moves is average but the Special Move is excellent (almost an instant hit). His Range is OK but he just isn’t strong enough for it to be much use. Proficiency out of Battle: May not be so good, as the Ape supposedly has a tendency to wander off or be distracted and not feed himself properly. However, he does learn pretty quickly, so it might be a worthwhile trade-off. Overall: The Ape is probably the best Creature to start off with if you’re playing good. It learns miracles (and how to use them) really quickly, which basically balances out any of its personality problems. 2. Creature Name: Brown Bear How to Unlock: Completion of “Pollution Clean-up” Challenge in Land5 Natural Alignment: Evil Appearance as Neutral: A brown bear. Appearance as Good: Coming Soon Appearance as Evil: Coming Soon Dance: Disco Inferno! See the Winamp plug-in. Relative Strength: 7/10 Relative Speed: 5.5/10 Relative Intelligence: 6.5/10 Proficiency in Battle: One of the best battlers. His moves look surprisingly reminiscent of martial arts for a bear; I’d have expected wrestling moves. I haven’t seen the Special Move, but the rest seem pretty good. Proficiency out of Battle: Slightly above average. He learns Miracles at a moderate rate and if you train him a little he will watch after your Villages. Really there aren't any glaring deficiencies here. Overall: An excellent all-around Creature. Pretty smart, very strong, and great in battle. No real problems here. 3. Creature Name: Chimp How to Unlock: Bring the witch in Land 3 a child Natural Alignment: Neutral Appearance as Neutral: Um.. A chimpanzee. Appearance as Good: Coming Soon Appearance as Evil: Looks like a little gremlin. I imagine some of the more mischievous gods would like this. Dance: A macarena looking thing Relative Strength: 3.5/10 Relative Speed: 7/10 Relative Intelligence: 10/10 Proficiency in Battle: Put bluntly: terrible. He has a very short reach, the moves have quite a bit of delay, and it's nearly impossible to get him up to full strength. Probably THE worst. Proficiency out of Battle: Probably THE best. He learns Miracles the fastest of any Creature. He can pick up Water in 2 showings; Water Increase in 4. He learns MegaBlast at 1% each time! If you equip the Learning Leash while doing something, he'll always pick it up after one try! What more do you want?! Overall: Coming Soon 4. Creature Name: Cow How to Unlock: Chosen at beginning of game Natural Alignment: Good Appearance as Neutral: A brown cow. Appearance as Good: A black and white spotted cow. Appearance as Evil: A red, bony, bull-looking animal. Dance: A River Dance! Relative Strength: 2.5/10 Relative Speed: 4/10 Relative Intelligence: 6/10 Proficiency in Battle: Coming Soon Proficiency out of Battle: Pretty good. He's naturally nice to Villagers and learns Miracles pretty decently. Plus the good form looks a lot better than the evil. Overall: Don’t be fooled by the low stats. Though the cow starts off with low stats, he has the potential to increase rather rapidly. This coupled with an above-average intelligence (and inherent lovability) makes him a pretty good all-around creature. 5. Creature Name: Gorilla How to Unlock: Downloadable, then see Creature breeder in Land 1/4 Natural Alignment: Evil Appearance as Neutral: Hmm... I dunno, this is a stumper. A gorilla, maybe? Appearance as Good: Eww, it looks like a flower. Appearance as Evil: A silverback! Looks pretty cool. Dance: Disco Fevah! Relative Strength: 8/10 Relative Speed: 6/10 Relative Intelligence: 3/10 Proficiency in Battle: The Gorilla’s a pretty good fighter. Besides the inherent strength, its attacks are pretty good. They have some delay but are powerful, long reaching, and will stun the enemy, either knocking them to the side (aim for the legs, it’s great for disorienting a human opponent), away, or stunning them in place. Not to mention the very fast Special Move. An excellent choice as a fighter. Proficiency out of Battle: Below average. He learns miracles slowly, won’t be very happy moping around the house, and has a knack for over-eating; when the sheep runs out, bye-bye Villagers. Keep him on the offense. Besides, the good incarnation looks stupid. Overall: One of the best fighters and attackers. Not too good as a town-watcher though. A pretty good Creature overall. 6. Creature Name: Horse How to Unlock: Downloadable, then see Creature breeder in Land 1/4 Natural Alignment: Good Appearance as Neutral: A blue and grey horse.. Sorry, I'm not up to date on my horse breeds. Appearance as Good: A unicorn with the same color scheme as the neutral horse. Appearance as Evil: An ugly, filthy, smelly donkey. Dance: An Irish tap dance Relative Strength: 4.5/10 Relative Speed: 9.5/10 Relative Intelligence: 7/10 Proficiency in Battle: The Horse isn’t really that good of a fighter. His strength needs to be worked on pretty often to keep it high, and his attacks aren’t very powerful. The Special Move is a double kick with the hind legs, but the first kick does no damage, so it’s much too slow to be of any use in a fight. His other attacks come at a pretty average rate of speed, but nothing special. Note he has a good sweep (target legs at medium range) that can pretty easily be followed up with a step forward and a few close-up attacks. He may be able to hold his own against some of the Creatures, but it’ll take work. Proficiency out of Battle: This is where the Horse really shines. After a little bit of training, you can let him off his leash and he will wander about healing Villagers, supplying the Village Store, all the while managing to keep himself in good health. It’s perfect for leaving on overnight, if you have no qualms about missing 10 years of your Creature’s life and/or being a cheater. Overall: The Horse is an excellent all-around Creature. It’s best if used defensively, as its VERY high speed allows it to get from Village to Village quickly, and he will automatically have a caring and compassionate nature. Mediocre in a fight, it’s probably best to teach him some good offensive miracles and have him keep his distance from the enemy’s Creature. A great choice overall, though, I don’t understand why it’s not more popular. 7. Creature Name: Leopard How to Unlock: Downloadable, then see Creature Breeder in Land 1/4 Natural Alignment: Evil Appearance as Neutral: I need help on this one! Appearance as Good: Coming Soon (I really do need help on this one.. seriously guys) Appearance as Evil: Somewhat like a puma, but more evil looking. Dance: A break-dance! Relative Strength: 7.5/10 Relative Speed: 8/10 Relative Intelligence: 2/10 Proficiency in Battle: An excellent fighter. He has a pretty nice reach on most of his moves (shoot for the back-flip, it’s great). The Special Move, which is sort of like a jumping slash, doesn’t go forward very far but can be used to jump over sweeps if you know they’re coming (like if you’re fighting a cheapo who does one move over and over). Proficiency out of Battle: Avoid putting him in this role. He's not as dumb as the Tiger (please don't e-mail me with insults over this comment!), but still pretty dumb. He'll pick up Miracles very slowly and won't take training very well. If you really want a good Leopard it'll take quite a bit of work. Overall: The strength and speed are enticing, but it simply isn’t worth the lack on intelligence. But you could get around this by training an earlier Creature and switching to him. Besides the lack of Intelligence, a very effective Creature. 8. Creature Name: Lion How to Unlock: Complete the Land 5 Lion Puzzle, where you must guide a blind lion to its meal of mutton. Natural Alignment: Evil Appearance as Neutral: Beats me... a male lion, perhaps? Appearance as Good: A happy male lion. Appearance as Evil: An angry looking, evil male lion. (I say male because of the mane.) Dance: Coming Soon Relative Strength: 8.5/10 Relative Speed: 7/10 Relative Intelligence: 6.5/10 Proficiency in Battle: Coming Soon Proficiency out of Battle: Coming Soon Overall: The lion is arguably the most powerful Creature. He learns relatively fast, has an excellent Strength stat, and is pretty fast. However, good luck getting him... 9. Creature Name: Mandrill How to Unlock: Downloadable, then see Creature Breeder in Land 1/4 Natural Alignment: Neutral Appearance as Neutral: A baboon! Well, actually, there's a difference between a mandrill and a baboon, but to keep it in layman's terms, I'll say baboon. Appearance as Good: Coming Soon Appearance as Evil: Coming Soon Dance: A macarena looking thing Relative Strength: 5/10 Relative Speed: 6/10 Relative Intelligence: 5/10 Proficiency in Battle: Another average score. His attacks have a delay, and don’t do too much damage, but they don’t do too little damage either. The Special Move comes off very quickly but is short range. Proficiency out of Battle: Yet another average score. It'll take him a little while to pick up Miracles but he trains rather well. An all-around Creature. Overall: Purely average. With work, though, he can become very powerful (also looks pretty nice). 10. Creature Name: Ogre How to Unlock: Hack him Natural Alignment: Evil... very Evil Appearance as Neutral: A one-eyed green bearded caveman. Appearance as Good: A slightly taller one-eyed green bearded caveman. Appearance as Evil: A slightly shorter one-eyed green bearded caveman (lazy Lionhead). Dance: From what I can tell, it's none. Apparently we aren't supposed to use the Ogre. When I had him dance for a crowd he just started shaking (stage fright :). My guess is that since the AI Ogres will never dance Lionhead felt no need to program a dance. If anyone else has had different results please tell me. Relative Strength: 6/10 Relative Speed: 5.5/10 Relative Intelligence: 4/10 Proficiency in Battle: Pretty good. You can usually guess what he's going to do because most of the moves are natural human moves, which makes him pretty easy to control. I haven't tried the Special Move yet but some other useful ones are his sweep (aim for legs at medium range) and sidekick (aim for torso at medium range). Also, I dunno if this is just from lack of training, but when I took him into battle and gave him a command to attack he just shuffled back and forth for a few steps before attacking. Any more info would be appreciated (e-mail me and I'll send you a map to switch to him). Proficiency out of Battle: Not so good. Mine would never be good. I'd leash him to the Town Center with the Compassion Leash and he'd just sit down ("Your Creature has nothing to do so he is sitting down.") Keep him on the offense. I imagine he'd be much happier kicking things in (like me :). Overall: I'm still in the preliminary testing phase with this one. From what I can tell he's a pure offense Creature with average stats. Any assistance would be much appreciated. 10. Creature Name: Polar Bear How to Unlock: Complete the boat Challenge in Land 1 and they’ll get marooned on Land 5 complete with the Polar Bear. Natural Alignment: Evil (not too sure) Appearance as Neutral: A polar bear (for those who lost their memory since buying Black and White, it's a white brown bear) Appearance as Good: Coming Soon Appearance as Evil: Coming Soon Dance: Disco Inferno! Relative Strength: 6.5/10 Relative Speed: 7/10 Relative Intelligence: 4/10 Proficiency in Battle: See Brown Bear Proficiency out of Battle: See Brown Bear Overall: Should be pretty much like the Brown Bear. I’ve only tested him once, so any help would be appreciated. 11. Creature Name: Rhino How to Unlock: Hack him until Lionhead releases a patch Appearance as Neutral: A rinosirus! (Me smart.. ME WANT FOOD!!!) Appearance as Good: It's light blue, it's happy... it's stupid! Appearance as Evil: It's dark red, it's spiky... it's awesome! Dance: Coming Soon Natural Alignment: Coming Soon Relative Strength: 7/10 Relative Speed: 6/10 Relative Intelligence: 1.5/10 Proficiency in Battle: He's basically a slower, more powerful Horse. Expect the same average moves but with MUCH more strength. Just never use the Special Move; it's useless. Proficiency out of Battle: Coming Soon Overall: These are preliminary estimations on my part. I've only used him once and haven't had time to do extensive testing. Any help would be much appreciated (e-mail me and I'll send you a map so you can switch to him). 12. Creature Name: Sheep How to Unlock: Complete the Sheep Challenge in Land 1 Natural Alignment: Good Appearance as Neutral: A sheep/goat (depending on the fatness). Appearance as Good: A golden lamb. Appearance as Evil: THE MOST AWESOME CREATURE IN THE GAME!!!!! Picture Resident Evil.. now picture that Lambchops puppet show! YES!!! YOU GOTTA SEE THIS!! Dance: Coming Soon Relative Strength: 3.5/10 Relative Speed: 6.5/10 Relative Intelligence: 7/10 Proficiency in Battle: Don’t be fooled by the low strength! The sheep can bring it up fast, so don’t worry about that. As for his moves, the Sheep rivals the big cats and the Turtle. His Special Move comes off very quickly and is very powerful, leaving the enemy stunned and wide open to a long-range low kick. At close range he has a very effective jab which comes off almost instantaneously. Just be careful not to click to low and do the uppercut! Really, the sheep can stand up to just about anything they can throw at you. Proficiency out of Battle: Another strong point for the Sheep. A pretty good intelligence stat means that this Creature will learn miracles rather quickly, and learn to use them well too. He’s naturally good and will watch after your Villagers without you having to tell him. The Villagers love him, too! What’s not to like? Oh, yeah, if you can, you should avoid letting him go good. Put bluntly, THE EVIL SHEEP IS AWESOME!!! Overall: The Sheep is an excellent Creature. It looks cool, learns fast, fights well... He’s the perfect Creature! Well, he does have a minor problem with not eating right, but that can be fixed by a good bout of training or even hand feeding if you have the time. Pick the Sheep! It’s the best! (In case you haven’t noticed, the Sheep is my favorite Creature) 13. Creature Name: Tiger How to Unlock: Chosen at start of game Natural Alignment: Evil Appearance as Neutral: A tiger. Looks REALLY dumb when it's fat. Appearance as Good: A lighter colored, shiny Tiger. Appearance as Evil: A hunched over, vermilion tiger with big claws. Dance: A break-dance! Relative Strength: 7.5/10 Relative Speed: 8/10 Relative Intelligence: 0/10 (yes, 0/10) Proficiency in Battle: He’s probably pretty good but I don’t like the style. His moves have a pretty short delay but not enough reach to be safely used. He does do quite a bit of damage, though. Proficiency out of Battle: OK, due to popular demand, I am updating this. Apparently the Tiger isn’t so bad as I once thought. I’ve received 40+ e-mails about why the Tiger is good (some helpful and constructive, some not...) so I’ll say this. A lot of people don’t like the Tiger because he’s too dumb. Apparently, though, many say that he learns just as well as the Ape. Though I must disagree with that, I admit he’s not as bad as I said. He’ll only eat 1 or 2 Villagers before getting the hint and if raised correctly will watch after your towns. Well, tell that to my old Tiger! Overall: I’m upgrading the Tiger to average. He’s pretty good in battle and will usually listen if you want him to be good. I guess it varies pretty badly, though, ‘cuz mine doesn’t do anything I tell him. Best I can say if you want the Tiger is good luck. 14. Creature Name: Tortoise How to Unlock: Helping boy guide fish into net on Land 4 Natural Alignment: Good Appearance as Neutral: An ordinary turtle. Appearance as Good: A rainbow turtle. Appearance as Evil: A spiky, dark red turtle. Yes, I know the difference between a turtle and a tortoise. Dance: Another break dance (from what I've heard) Relative Strength: 4/10 Relative Speed: 5/10 Relative Intelligence: 8/10 Proficiency in Battle: The Tortoise is one of the best fighters. His attacks, though lacking brute strength, come out lightning quick. Against smaller Creatures he has an overhead kick which, if you want to be cheap, can be used over and over in an infinite-hit combo. Against larger Creatures, he has a sweep which is almost an infinite hit combo. The only real problem is the slow dodging speed. You pretty much CAN'T dodge, though this can be circumvented by quick blocking. If you wanna win and don’t really care much about your own personal likes and dislikes (or fun, for that matter), go with the Turtle. Proficiency out of Battle: This is where the Turtle is SUPPOSED to be good, but Lionhead gave him REALLY unbalanced moves so basically he's great in both areas. The Turtle naturally watches after Villages, impressing them, dancing, etc. He picks up Miracles very quickly and trains pretty well. Only possible problem is a low speed. Another *sigh* great point for the Turtle. Overall: The Turtle, despite its weaknesses, is still pretty cheap. A lot of people like it (and for good reason, the evil form looks pretty cool) and it's THE best battler. I recommend against it though. There's no real reason, I'm just tired of seeing Tortoises in multiplayer! 15. Creature Name: Wolf How to Unlock: Hack him... lol Natural Alignment: Evil Appearance as Neutral: The best of the 3.. Looks like an omnipotent timber wolf. Appearance as Good: Eww... A purple chihuahua. Appearance as Evil: A black doberman pinscer. Dance: Break dance! Relative Strength: 8.5/10 Relative Speed: 8/10 Relative Intelligence: 6/10 Proficiency in Battle: After working with my Wolf a bit more, it appears he's actually a pretty good fighter. He has an excellent strength stat and dodges with more agility than most Creatures (besides the Horse). Avoid getting too close as it's dangerous. Instead stay at medium range and use his sidekick move (aim for torso) or backflip (aim for head). Also the Special Move is very useful for jumping over sweeps and countering enemy Special Moves. He also has a swipe move which only works up close but is useful for pummeling a blocking opponent. Proficiency out of Battle: Average here. He learns miracles pretty quickly and won’t eat villagers (unless you tell him to, but that’s up to you...), but has a natural tendency to.. um.. kick things. Plus the good form looks terrible. Overall: An above-average Creature overall. He’s still probably my second-favorite, though. Now how about a normal Dog Creature? C’mon, Lionhead, get it together! How could you leave out a plain Dog when you have a Wolf? 16. Creature Name: Zebra How to Unlock: Solve the Indian lady’s riddle in Land 2 Natural Alignment: Neutral (not too sure) Appearance as Neutral: A zebra. Appearance as Good: Coming Soon Appearance as Evil: Coming Soon Dance: Irish tap dance Relative Strength: 4.5/10 Relative Speed: 9.5/10 Relative Intelligence: 7.5/10 Proficiency in Battle: I think it’s just like the horse. Proficiency out of Battle: Ditto. Overall: It’s basically a horse clone. Whichever skin you like best... B. Creature Combat Tips Always get stuck being hit over and over? Have a superior Creature but just can't seem to win any battles (like me :)? Well, fear no more Grasshopper! Here are a few tips on how to do better straight from the skull of The Masked Moogle. -Always start the Battle off with a Fireball or Lightning Miracle. I usually use Fireball since the gesture is easier. There's really no defence against this for the opponent if you make sure to pull it off at the beginning stage where the camera is swinging around. Expect the opponent to do the same, though. If you get knocked out of your motion, don't worry, he'll catch fire later in the battle from being too close to you. -Don't queue up a huge sequence of moves. This is for 2 reasons: 1)If you're facing an inexperienced opponent, it's EXTREMELY annoying and will take all the fun out of the game for both of you. 2)If you're facing an experienced opponent they can just time a block/counterattack and knock you out of it. I usually keep my queues to a max of 3. Also, when you're making a queue if you want to add a sweep be careful not to accidentally click on the ground. With the camera constantly swinging around in a Battle this can be pretty difficult. -Know your Creature's moves. If he has terrible range but attacks fast, stay in close! If he does a lot of damage but has a big delay on his attacks, then time your hits until you know you'll get it in. If your Creature's great at dodging, utilize every opportunity to sidestep and counterattack. -Against human opponents and later Lands in the story mode it becomes very important to dodge. You can often get caught in a really annoying flurry of hits when you block and a well-timed dodge also allows a counterattack. -NEVER FORGET TO HEAL! This can completely save you in a battle. If you're getting your face pounded in, try to get one lucky hit. When he's stunned take a couple steps back and do the Heal gesture. A lot of people have trouble pulling it off quickly; just remember this. Do one half of the heart, pause a second, and go up the other half. It doesn't even have to be very accurate. That's about all I can think of at the moment. If anyone else can think of another one, don't hesitate to e-mail me! I love feedback! (well... all things in moderation) III. Concluding Notes A. CONCLUSION: Well, that’s about it. It’s going to be updated as often as I can get it, so check back often. If there’s any other info you want added here, anything I don’t know that you do, any feedback, basically anything you have to say send it to me at: vinedrai@hotmail.com As I said earlier, this is my first FAQ, so any tips will be much appreciated. I’ll be sure to put you in the credits section. Thanks! B. CREDITS: Many thanks to: Whatnoaaa for help with the Ape and its downsides. Qualos for help with the Leopard and its downsides. The Bear for telling me to add the dances, as well as info on the Horse’s, Leopard’s, Bears', and Tiger’s dances. Ryan Romaine for telling me the Cow’s dance. Haveacigar for help with the Tiger’s good points. Fallen Angel for help with the Tiger’s good points. Ruel Flores for help with the Tiger’s good points. Tim Morcus for “help” (if you’d call it that) with the Tiger’s good points. From now on please, only CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Skeezik for help with the Tortoise's dance. Darkwater40k for a tip to add the Appearances section. fini