_______ _______ ______ _______ _ ______ ( ____ \( ___ )( __ \ |\ /|( ___ )( ( /|( __ \ | ( \/| ( ) || ( \ ) | ) ( || ( ) || \ ( || ( \ ) | | | | | || | ) | | (___) || (___) || \ | || | ) | | | ____ | | | || | | | | ___ || ___ || (\ \) || | | | | | \_ )| | | || | ) | | ( ) || ( ) || | \ || | ) | | (___) || (___) || (__/ ) | ) ( || ) ( || ) \ || (__/ ) (_______)(_______)(______/ |/ \||/ \||/ )_)(______/ God Hand Techniques In-Depth FAQ Version 1.0 Copyright 2007 Michael Q. Larson michaelqlarson at gmail dot com 15 May 2007 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789 *INTRODUCTION* God Hand is a 3D beat-em-up saga from Clover Studios via Capcom. It is unique in its quirky humor, precise gameplay and self-adjusting difficulty. I managed to put about 40 hours into this game. I plan on beating it on hard mode one of these days. It's worth picking up. The goal of this FAQ is to answer questions that troubled me during my first trip through the game. It will break down individual moves in terms of power, speed and cost. *LEGAL* This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. *CREDITS* Thanks to Clover for creating this engrossing teeth-gnashing experience. I shouted and squeezed my controller in frustration, but I never felt like giving up. I'm glad there are still developers who know how to make a game difficult without letting it get too frustrating. Thanks to gamefaqs.com posters sephirosuy, Animerox and mikeburnfire for taking the initiative and filling the vacuum with useful FAQs for this game. Thanks to Rikiya, my Japanese friend hailing from Tianjin, China, for introducing me to this game. Rikiya crashed on my couch in Guangzhou for three weeks and alternated with me on our trip through the English version. I promise I'll get around to explaining the silly-ass story line to you later on, Rikiya! *METHODOLOGY* I gathered information from this guide by beating the game, going to practice mode and timing all the different moves available. I timed ten iterations of each move, then divided the final time by 10 to limit the impact of my very human reaction time. I rounded to the tenths-of-seconds. To calculate the damage-to-time ratio, I divided the damage of each move by its duration. The dividend is the theoretical amount of damage the move deals per second. Since special attributes of moves are unquantifiable, I've left those as side notes. *LEGEND* GB - Guard Break (stuns enemy long enough to land a free hit) LNCH - Launch (sends enemy flying backward, taking with him others in his path) CHRG - Charge (holding down the button increases the length and strength of this attack, possibly rendering it unblockable) JUG - Juggle (sends enemy into the air, where you can air combo him) UNBLK - Unblockable EH - Evades High Attacks (this attack ducks under high attacks, thus is safer) STUN - Stuns enemy (provides a longer interval during which you can land free hits) HEAT UP - Boosts your God Hand bar, allowing you to go into God Hand Mode sooner RANGE - Longer range attack () - Values in parenthesis indicate the attributes of a move that is cancelled after it connects but before it finishes. This is accomplished by flicking the right analog stick to the left or right after impact. *THE LIST* # MOVE DAMAGE TIME (C) D/S (C) PRICE SPECIAL 001 Left Jab 1 3 0.6 5 NA 002 Left Jab 2 6 0.6 10 6000 003 Left Jab 3 10 0.6 17 10000 004 Left Hook 1 4 0.8 5 NA 005 Left Hook 2 9 0.8 11 6000 006 Left Hook 3 15 0.8 19 10000 007 Uppercut 1 6 0.7 9 NA 008 Uppercut 2 12 0.7 17 8000 009 Uppercut 3 20 0.7 29 12000 010 Pimp Hand 9 0.8 11 5000 011 Pimp Smack 18 0.8 23 9000 012 Straight 1 4 0.5 8 NA 013 Straight 2 8 0.5 16 5000 014 Straight 3 15 0.5 30 9000 015 Long Straight 1 8 1.3 6 2000 016 Long Straight 2 16 1.3 12 8000 017 Long Straight 3 24 1.3 18 12000 018 Right Hook 1 5 1.0 5 2000 019 Right Hook 2 9 1.0 9 5000 020 Right Hook 3 14 1.0 14 8000 021 Short Uppercut 1 8 1.0 8 2000 022 Short Uppercut 2 10 1.0 10 5000 023 Short Uppercut 3 15 1.0 15 8000 024 Chop 1 10 0.8 8 6000 025 Chop 2 20 0.8 16 10000 026 Elbow 10 4000 027 Elbow Spin 1 4-4 1.8 4 5000 028 Elbow Spin 2 8-8 1.8 8 8000 029 Elbow Spin 3 12-12 1.8 12 11000 030 Spinning Back-Fist 4 1.5 3 8000 GB 031 Back-Fist Strike 1 8 1.1 7 4000 032 Back-Fist Strike 2 16 1.1 15 7000 033 Chin Music 4-3 0.7 10 5000 034 Punch Rush 4-4-6 1.0 14 8000 035 Gene Rush 5-5-7 1.0 17 10000 036 Float Rush 6-6-10 1.0 22 14000 037 Sting Rush 8-8-10 1.0 26 18000 038 Fist of Justice 16 1.7 9 14000 CHRG 039 Mach Jab 1 3-3-3-3-3 1.0 15 15000 040 Mach Jab 2 6-6-6-6-6 1.0 30 22000 041 Haymaker 1 18 1.8 10 11000 GB 042 Haymaker 2 35 1.8 20 14000 LNCH 043 Forearm Smash 25 2.2 11 10000 LNCH 044 Forearm Smash 2 50 2.2 22 22000 LNCH 045 1-2 Punch 16-24 2.6 12 20000 JUG 046 Elbow Vortex 6-6-10 1.9 12 13000 LNCH 047 Palm Smash 60 3.2 (1.3)19 (46)32000 LNCH, UNBLK 048 Low Kick 1 6 1.0 6 NA 049 Low Kick 2 12 1.0 12 6000 050 Right Roundhouse 1 12 1.5 (0.4) 8 (30) NA 051 Right Roundhouse 2 20 1.5 (0.4)13 (50)10000 052 Right Roundhouse 3 28 1.5 (0.4)19 (70)15000 053 ? ? ? ? ? 054 Left Side Kick 1 10 1.2 (0.6) 8 (16) NA 055 Left Side Kick 2 20 1.2 (0.6)17 (34)10000 056 Left Side Kick 3 30 1.2 (0.6)25 (50)15000 057 Right Side Kick 16 1.3 12 6000 058 Knee Strike 9 0.7 13 5000 059 Right High-Knee 10 1.4 7 11000 GB 060 Flying Knee 28 1.5 19 13000 JUG 061 Reverse Sweep 6 1.0 6 9000 EH 062 Back Roundhouse 36 1.4 26 13000 063 Reverse Hell Kick 30 1.2 25 12000 LNCH 064 Expert Sobat 12 1.5 8 8000 GB 065 Dashing Sobat 20 2.4 8 12000 LNCH 066 High Cross Kick 28 1.7 16 10000 067 Spinning Sobat 18 1.2 15 9000 GB 068 Rolling Sobat 26 1.6 16 10000 LNCH 069 Drunk Fist 1 9 1.3 7 6500 070 Drunk Fist 2 18 1.3 14 10000 071 Chin Rocker 8 1.1 7 8000 EH 072 Side Swipe 8 1.2 7 10000 GB 073 Drunken Twist 18 2.1 (0.5) 9 (20) 6500 EH 074 Overhead Blow 22 1.0 22 10000 075 Stomping Fist 19 1.4 (0.6)14 (32)11000 JUG 076 Rocket Uppercut 23 1.2 19 20000 JUG 077 Right Twister 15 1.1 14 15000 EH 078 Left Twister 12 1.6 8 12000 EH 079 Drunken Sweep 10-10-10 1.0 30 7500 EH 080 Drunken Fall 25 1.9 13 7500 EH, LNCH 081 Hand Plant Kick 20 1.3 15 11000 LNCH 082 Double Snap Kick 5-10 1.4 11 9500 JUG 083 Toe Touch Kick 35 1.7 21 10000 LNCH 084 Heel Drop Kick 25 1.4 18 10000 JUG 085 Half Moon Kick 10-15 1.7 15 90000 JUG, EH 086 Somersault 14 2.5 6 8500 JUG 087 Triple Snap Kick 5-5-5 1.3 12 8000 088 Triple Side Kick 6-6-6 1.2 15 10000 089 Flying Triple Kick 8-8-8 1.2 20 18000 JUG 090 Step Back Kick 25 1.6 16 9000 LNCH 091 Mule Kick 15 1.2 13 9000 JUG 092 Double Spin Kick 20-20 3.1 13 12000 GB, LNCH 093 Barrel Roll Kick 25 3.5 7 NA LNCH 094 Guard Break 2 1.4 1 NA GB 095 Guard Break 2 5 1.4 4 8000 GB 096 Charge Punch 1 6 1.5 4 NA JUG, CHRG 097 Charge Punch 2 8 1.5 6 8000 JUG, CHRG 098 Charge Punch 3 12 1.5 8 12000 JUG, CHRG 099 Charge Punch 4 16 1.5 12 20000 JUG, CHRG 100 Granny Smacker 10 3.3 (1.4) 3 (7) NA STUN 101 President Punch 10 4.0 (1.5) 3 (7) NA HEAT UP 102 God Jab 20 0.6 33 35000 103 God Straight 25 0.5 50 40000 104 God Hook 30 0.8 38 45000 105 God Upper 35 0.7 50 50000 106 Godly Smack 28 1.0 28 45000 GB 107 Pay Up NOW! 30 0.9 33 50000 LNCH 108 Godly Chop 20 0.8 25 55000 GB 109 God Low Kick 20 1.0 20 35000 110 Haymaker of God 50 1.8 28 50000 LNCH, UNBLK 111 God Break 25 1.4 18 35000 GB 112 Charge God 30 1.5 20 100000 JUG, CHRG 113 Fist of God 40 1.7 24 600000 CHRG, RANGE 114 Invincible Fist 100 2.9 34 400000 CHRG, UNBLK *ANALYSIS* For building an optimal chain combo, it's best to look at the D/S column. The best moves in the game in this respect are God Straight and God Upper, with God Hook and God Jab taking 3rd and 4th place. This means, assuming you've beaten the game and unlocked the Godly Moves, and have the money available, the optimal 4-string combo is: God Straight -> God Upper -> God Hook -> God Jab This combo will deal 50+50+38+33 = 171 damage in 0.5+0.7+0.8+0.6 = 2.6 seconds It's important to note that when not in God Hand mode, a lag of roughly one second exists between combos. So really it's more like 3.6 seconds. As I said before, the special properties of moves and the general quirks surrounding enemy blocking behavior should weigh in on your ultimate decision. In some of the videos I've seen on line of people playing Hard mode (the Kick Me Challenge videos are amazing) they use moves which according to the chart above should be pretty mediocre. Who's to argue with success? It all comes down to finding combo strings and individual moves that work for you. Hopefully this data can help toward that end. *INTERESTING FINDINGS* - Although jabs seem like they should be faster, straights are actually faster. They deal more damage, too. - Right Roundhouse 3, if cancelled with a side dash, is the most powerful move in the game. If not cancelled, the move is rather mediocre. Thus, it probably wouldn't make for a good inclusion in your combo. I always assign this as a stand-alone command in case I'm really in a tough spot. It hits enemies while they're down, stunning them and allowing you to do it again indefinitely. It's simply so powerful it's cheap. - The Sushi item that expands your combo one or two moves is a double-edged sword. It's good if you're wanting to postpone the inter-combo 1-second stall. It's bad if you're in God Hand mode because it means your strongest move will hit only once in five or six moves, lowering your overall damage/second ratio. Once a move is assigned to a sushi-expanded slot, you can't unassign it. Your God Hand mode combo will always be slightly weaker than it would have been. So I recommend against buying the sushi. - I couldn't find any difference in move duration in situations where I alternated between left-handed and right-handed moves. The frames for these moves seem to be static, so linking several right-handed shouldn't affect the overall execution time. - Mach Jabs and other multi-strike moves are often quite powerful. Unfortunately, enemies tend to only eat one or two hits before they start blocking, and only block one or two hits before they start parrying. These are best used in combos while in God Hand mode. I often change my combos back and forth during play. - The presidential bunch (101) has only modest damage stats, but I have yet to see a serious player play without it. After obtaining it during the first Elvis boss fight, I kept it assigned throughout the game. The heat-up property is invaluable. - I didn't break down the monetary cost/benefit of each move, but if I did, you'd clearly see that the Fist of God and Invincible fist are hardly worth the time you'd put in at the blackjack tables. *SUGGESTIONS?* If you have any comments or suggestions about this FAQ, please email me: michaelqlarson at gmail dot com. Thanks for reading!