-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ____ _ ___ __ __ __ / ___| ___ __| | / _ \ / _| \ \ / /_ _ _ __ | | _ / _ \ / _` | | | | | |_ \ \ /\ / / _` | '__| | |_| | (_) | (_| | | |_| | _| \ V V / (_| | | \____|\___/ \__,_| \___/|_| \_/\_/ \__,_|_| |No Upgrade Walkthrough| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- !!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!! THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE WALKTHROUGH! Table of Contents: (use Ctrl+F and type in 00XX. to skip to the desired section) 0000. Version History 0001. Introduction 0002. The Game and The Story 0003. Your Mission 0004. Tips/Tricks 004A. Combos 004B. Blocking/Evasion 004C. Minigames 0005. Walkthrough 0005A. Rules -------The Aegean Sea -------The Docks of Athens/The Gates of Athens -------The Road to Athens -------Athens Town Square -------The Rooftops of Athens -------The Temple of the Oracle -------The Sewers of Athens -------The Desert of Lost Souls -------The Entrance to Pandoras Temple -------The Rings of Pandora -------The Challenge of Atlas -------The Inner Rings of Pandora -------The Challenge of Poseidon -------The Inner Rings of Pandora Revisited -------The Challenge of Hades -------The Rings of Pandora Revisited -------The Crystal Chamber -------The Cliffs of Madness -------The Bluffs of Madness -------The Traps of Madness -------The Architect's Tomb -------Zeus Mountain -------Pandoras Box -------The Path Over the River Styx -------The Temple of the Oracle Revisited -------The Final Battle 0006. FAQ's 0007. Credits and Contact Info 0008. Legal ================================================================================ 0000. Version History ================================================================================ Version 1.0- March 12-24, 2006: First version. Includes all sections with a basic walkthrough. More will be added as content arrives in my inbox. Version 1.1- March 29, 2006: Added a few sites to the legal section and fixed a lot of spelling/grammer mistakes. Version 1.11- March 31, 2006: Added one more site to the Legal section Version 1.25- April 1, 2006: Added a few Questions to the FAQ area and New combos to the combo list. Also added a little bit more to the contact section to clarify some things. Version 1.5- May 13, 2006: Added quite a bit of content. This includes: A new strategy section to start and execute in air death-bounces, More in depth battle strategies, and a new "Rules section". Many of these have been added, by request, from multiple users on the GameFAQS God of War message Board. I also went through and revamped the section markers. Apparently it was hard to tell where one sub section ended and another began. I also got rid of the "Extras" section. ================================================================================ 0001. Introduction ================================================================================ Hi. XWingMitch0 here. This is indeed my first FAQ. And what a one to start with. This guide is meant to help you with the monumentous task of beating the Game. But not in a normal fasion. For this walkthrough we will be doing it a unique way. NO UPGRADES. That's right you may not upgrade any of your Weapons or Magics at any time. However, Gorgon Eyes and Pheonix feathers are not forbidden. That is a little too much as of now. This guide is also recommended for ONLY THE MOST EXPERIENCED PLAYERS! It is recommended you learn all of the moves your opponents may make and how to counter or evade them. This guide will offer some of the tips needed but I assume you are not just the "Average player". Be warned...This is no easy task. ================================================================================ 0002. The Game and The Story ================================================================================ God of war is an action/adventure game developed by Sony. It's Director, David Jaffe, had always wanted to make a game like this and finally succeded. Now it our turn to make something of his Game. Story: ****(Major Spoilers)**** Kratos is an Ex-spartan warrior who is now a servant of Ares, the God of War. Before his "enslavement," Kratos lead the Spartans on multiple battles, winning all of them. He then faces the Barbarians, a ruthless battle ensues and Kratos' Army begins to fall. As Kratos lies before his enemy about to be struck down, he calls to the God of War, "Ares, Help me defeat my enemies, and my life is yours." Ares then destroys the barbarians and "gifts" his new servant with the Blades of Chaos. After the battle Kratos begins to follow Ares with blinding rage. One night he is ordered by Ares to destroy a village that had built a temple in prayer to Athena. In the wake of battle Kratos kills his own wife and child. He then and there vows to kill the God of War. Kratos sets off in service to the Gods of Olympus and for ten years searches for a way to defeat Ares. One night sailing in the Aegean sea he happens across a wrecked vessel and discovers that it was a hydra attack. Following the orders of Poseidon, Kratos destroys the Hydra. After he leaves the wreckage his nightmares of the night he killed his kin come back in a wave, as they had for past ten years. He calls for Athena and is told that his sins will be forgiven if he saves Athens and kills the God of War. He is told to seek out the Oracle of Athens when he arrives and does so. The Oracle is attacked by Ares' Minions and was nearly killed had Kratos not intervened in the matter. The Oracles tells Kratos of Pandoras Box and how it is the only weapon that will allow him to defeat Ares. Kratos then leaves Athens in search of Pandoras Box. He is directed toward the Desert of Lost Souls where Kronos, the last of the mighty titans, is located, with Pandoras Temple Chained to his back. Kratos locates Kronos and enters Pandoras Temple. He is then faced with the task of besting the traps and monsters of the Temple. As well as three challenges posed by the gods. Kratos through much exploration and battle, finds Pandoras Box. He is the first mortal ever to do so. However, before he can use the Box's power to defeat Ares, he is killed by the very god he has set out to destroy. As Kratos falls toward the River Styx, he catches a ledge and begins to traverse the expanse of Hades. He Then finds a way to escape Hades and return to the Mortal world. In doing so he is able to finally face the God of War. The battle, although long sought after by Kratos, is not an easy one. Kratos defeats Ares and is then pulled into a vortex created by the God. This vortex transports Kratos to the site of the Temple where he slayed his own family. Ares then summons Clones of Kratos to the battle to kill his family. Kratos however destroys the clones and saves his family. Ares then tells Kratos that he gave them up long ago. Kratos can not bear that thought. Ares then Strips Kratos of the Blades of Chaos and all of his magic. In the final battle Kratos destroys Ares with the Blade of the Gods, a sword that was gifted to the mortal world for use by the one who unlocked Pandoras Box. As Ares dies Kratos begins to try and heal the pain of his past. He asks the Gods to rid him of his nightmares but is denied because of the horridness of the acts. They say that "No man, No God can forget the terrible things you have done." With nothing left to live for, nothing left to believe in, Kratos casts himself from the Suicide Bluff outside of Athens. However, as he hits the water he is brought back to the top of the mountain. Athena is there and informs him that there is now an empty thrown in Oplympus. One that Kratos must occupy. Kratos is Gifted the Blades of Athena, and Climbs to the Summit of Olympus. There he takes his thrown as the God of War. That is the Game: God of War ================================================================================ 0003. Your Mission ================================================================================ In this challenge you must beat the game WITHOUT upgrading any of your equipment Keep in mind that you can obtain all Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers in this challenge. It is in fact encouraged. The less health and magic you have the more difficult the game becomes. And it is an exponential increase in difficulty because of enemy strengthening. Simple, right. WRONG. this become extremely challenging very quickly on almost any difficulty. The developers meant for you to upgrade. This is why later versions of Legionnaires, Minotaurs, and Gorgons all have different colors. It indicates their strength. There are many tricks that will aid you however. ================================================================================ 0004. Tips/Tricks ================================================================================ Because of the weakness of all of your equips and Magic nearing even the Desert of Lost souls, you must exploit many of the games mechanics in your favor. Here is what helped me get through: Light attacks: Very seldomly should you use a light attack. unless it is a starter or required for a combo, ignore this attack. It does far to little damage. Heavy Attacks: These will be the focus of your battle plan. They do a decent amount of damage and have the chance of starting a juggle. More on this later. Dash Attack: The only way you can do this is with the Blade of Artemis. This should be the last attack you should ever use. Except in Boss Battles. This Attack allows you to chain up to 8 moves together (hit R1 then []) and still be able to block mid combo. Rage of the Gods: You don't have it. If you do, you upgraded. Try again. Grapple/Grab: This is the real deal. You will do the most damage possible with this puppy. Whenever possible do a Grapple/Grab. Especially when it will finish an opponent. Why? When the Grab animation starts you become invincible. No Damage = Happy Player. More on this Later. Block: This is the most used action in the game. You want to prevent as much damage as possible from getting to you and this is the way to do it. More on this later. Evasion: Not as useful as the block button but needed versus some larger enemies. More on this later. Medusas Gaze: Learn it, Love it, and always have it as the active magic. This spell is by far the most useful in this challenge. All enemies, minus bosses, can be turned to stone and destroyed. More on this later. Poseidons Rage: Another very usefull magic. It can interupt any enemy attack and does 13 hits of decent damage to the enemy. It's a little costly in the mana department however and can be a little unweildy. Still a very good magic. More on this later. Army of Hades: If not for the high mana, this would be one of the best magics. Try to stay away from this one unless absolutely necessary. Zues' Fury: There are 1.5 uses for this magic. 1: Taking out Cyclops'. Theres nothing better. It kills them in about 25 hits. .5: Archers you can't get to otherwise. If you can get close enough to them to grab them, then don't use this magic. could be better, could be worse. Jumping: You can double jump. This is a very tough skill to master because of the parameters of some jumps. Timing and practice is key. Minigames: Play all minigames! It ends a battle A LOT faster. More on this later.(a list!) ================================================================================ 004A. Combos ================================================================================ Combos, although powerful, are limited by a level 1 Blades of Chaos. That's where this list comes in! But first. A review of the controls. Because well it really is an essential. Controls: Left analog: Movement Right analog: Evasion D-Pad: Magic Selection X Button: Jump [] button: Light attack /\ Button: Heavy attack ( ) Button: Grapple/Grab L1 trigger: Block/ Combo move L2 trigger: Activate Magic R1 trigger: Dash attack R2 trigger: Interact Select: pause menu Start: Powerup info If you don't know these controls by heart or have trouble with them, practice before you go any further. This game is broken up into multiple battles that are very similar to each other but pose different tasks, enemies, and battle issues. If you do not know controls inside and out you will fail. Not to nay-say but it's fact. Also be sure you know all of the available combo strings. you will need them all. Keep in mind that these are not all of the combos but are recommended ones. And now the combos. _________________________________ ~~~~~BLADES OF CHAOS COMBOS:~~~~~ Light Combo: Use this against low Rank enemies (ie. harpies, Legionnaires) [],[],[],[],[],[]- low damage increases to moderate damage and takes out a large group of enemies at the end yeah...just one...without an upgrade all moves will be limited. Medium Combos: Generally good for almost all enemies. Possible juggle starter. [],/\,[],[],[],[],[]- low damage then high damage then increasing makes a good hitter against all enemies [],[],/\- Plume of Prometheus. This will be your main attack for heavier opponents. It does a fair amount of damage and will knock enemies back or up in the air slightly. [],/\,[],/\- Heavy Plume. Does two more heavy hits then the Plume of Promethes. and boy are they helpful. This combos is fairly slow to execute however. Heavy Combos: For use against Large enemies and large groups of enemies [],/\,[],[],[],[],/\- This is the heaviest hitting combo for a Blades of Chaos Level 1. I call it the Super Plume because of what it is. It's a low damage fast attack that leads to a heavy juggle starter, to four continuing juggles, to a Plume of Prometheus. It does a sick amount of damage if every hit connects and it appears from my playthroughs that this Plume of Prometheus does more damage thena regualar Plume. Maybe it's because he jumps. I don't know. But it's a sick combo. [],/\,[],[],[],[],/\=>/\Hold- One step higher then the last because you get in not one but 2 hits more (both blades hit) then the Super Plume. This one I call the Plume Ascension. __________________________________ ~~~~~BLADE OF ARTEMIS COMBOS:~~~~~ All combos do Heavy amounts of Damage. [],[],[],[]- A heavy six hit attack thats good for crowd control. you can only block mid combo on this before Kratos starts the spinning portion. /\,hold/\,/\- An o.k. combo but the trick with this is the timing of the second hit. When your in the air press /\ again and you come crashing down. This final blow although very concentrated will send multiple enemies flying. It can also 1 hit Kill some enemies. ( ),( ),( )- Avoid this at all costs. It's too slow and concentrated to be any good. L1+X- Great for Crowd Control but you give up the ability to block L1+[]- Same as above L1+/\- Choose this over the /\ combo for it's speed. very good for launching and starting a death bounce if you can switch out the Blade of Artemis for the Blades of Chaos Fast enough. L1+( )- No good...why do the ( ) button moves SUCK! R1- A good 5 hit combo that still gives you a block and can lead into a combo with either the [], /\ or, ( ) buttons. Go with the [] follow up. [],[],/\,( ),[]- This combo is the mother of all. Not because of the hits you get in and the damage it does bubt because the /\,( ) portion can be repeated INDEFINATELY. _____________________________________________________ ~~~~~BLADES OF CHAOS TO BLADE OF ARTEMIS COMBOS:~~~~~ These require a weapon switch mid combo so they can be tough to execute but devestating to your enemies. BoC=Blades of Chaos starts this combo (always) L/R1=Summoning/sheathing the Blade of Artemis. BoC[],/\,L/R1,L1+hold/\,/\-This can take a lot of practice to get right but is so heavy hitting that it can take out an undead Legionnaire in two uses. BoC[],[],[],[],[],L/R1,[],[],[],[]- This combo is fairly seamless and fast and is outstanding for crowd control. As the Blades of Chaos are flailing your moving into the range for Blade of Artemis so this allows you to follow up. That's it for the Combos but theres one thing more that must be detailed. The most powerful moveset in the game: GRABS _______________________ ~~~~~Ground Grabs:~~~~~ Just press ( ) to start a grab. Only some enemies can be grabbed outright. These include: Harpies, Wraiths, Legionnaires(Basic), Cerebus', Satyrs and all Archers All other enemies must be weakened first. Unless you Juggle them... ___________________ ~~~~~Juggling:~~~~~ Here's a list of the enemies that can be juggled to death: Legionnaires Legionnaire Archers Undead Legionnaires Legionnaire Captains Gorgons Minotaurs* Cerberus Cerberus Seeds Wraiths Satyrs Sirens Centaurs I believe that's all of them. The Minotaurs will be discussed momentarilly To start a juggle you must hit any of these opponents into the air. Any way works but, a simple [],/\ or Hold/\ works best. Now while on the ground face the airborne opponent and press ( ). Kratos should reach up with a Blade and pluck the enemy from the air. This can be repaeted until the enemy dies because they bounce back up. Rinse and repeat. Some of the timings are wierd (Gorgons) but it is possible. Minotaurs are an exception. you must use this method instead: _______________________ ~~~~~Air Juggling:~~~~~ After you have launched an opponent into the air you can jump up after them and grab them in midair! This is the most powerful move in the game! This can also be done indefinately except with the minotaurs. Unlike other monsters that appear to be made out of rubber when doing this, the minotaurs bounce back up only half of the way. Timing is crucial but you can kill a minotaur before they are grounded most of the time. The preferable method of doing this is [],Hold/\. it is near instintaneous and if /\ is held long enough, Kratos will Jump up after the enemy. This puts you at the perfect grab height. There are however different ways to get the enemy in the air and initiate the Death-Bounce. _________________________ ~~~~~DEATH BOUNCING:~~~~~ Legionnaires: For all legionaires the recommended launch is the [],hold/\. This will launch them and allow for a perfect death bounce. However, the Captains will fall to the Ground and nt bounce back up when they minigame. Legionnaire Archers: Same as the Regular Legionnaires if they don't die on the first hit. Gorgons: These can be hard to launch because they are ALWAYS moving. Stick with the hold/\ attack and you may just catch it in the hit. If it doesn't fly up, when you jump up, hit the in air /\ and it will most likely hit and launch them up to your level. Now grab them and wait to grab again when they come right back up to you. This takes timing...not ( ) button mashing. Minotaurs: As stated before the minotaurs don't bounce well. They also tend to block the heavier hits ikn the [],hold/\ launch. So stick to just the regular hold/\ to launch them. then just do a ( ) mash. This tends to work about 90% of the time. It won't work when there are other enemies that are in the area if you mash too quickly. Kratos will turn toward them instead of grabbing the minotaur again. All minotaurs take 3 bounces to kill. Cerberus Seeds: launch with the [], hold/\. this will always get them up because of how light they are and they can't block. Now just jump up (or hold /\ long enough to jump up with it) and mash the ( ). Cerberus: More info on this when I can try it myself. Setho_O says it can be done but did not say how.WExperiment and see...I think they may be too heavy but I have seen them bounce. Try thr L1+/\ with the Blade of Artemis. Wraith: See Leggionnaire Satyr: This is extremely conditional and very hard to pull off. It also really only works with 1 vs 1 situations. This can only be done with the Blade of Artemis. Launch the Satyr with the L1+/\ and DO NOT follow it up. Instead wait for it to fall far enough so you can hit it with another launch attack. This time follow it up. now wait for it to fall a bit below you and hit /\ in mid air. This will slam the satyr down without sending it flying forward. now repeat. This will work a lot better if there is a ceiling that stops the satyrs ascent. Sirens: Good luck getting them up in the air. try everything you can but when they do fly grab them and it acts just like the undead legionnaire Captains death bounce. They will fall and then stop bouncing back when they minigame. Centaur: The best way to launch them is with the L1+/\, but it takes a lot of practice to switch back to the Blades of Chaos, jump up, and grab them. So stick to the Bloades of Chaos and use the hold/\ to get them up. Now grab them and just mash on the ( ) button. Contrary to poular belief Centaurs can be death-bounced. I'll try and get a link to a video showing such a thing. Although difficult, grabs and juggling will be your main form of combat for this endeavor. ================================================================================ 004B. Blocking/Evasion ================================================================================ Blocking and Evasion are necessities in this game. Not only will blocking at the correct moment stop an enemy attack, it will stun the opponent and allow you to attack! But how to do it... ___________________ ~~~~~Blocking:~~~~~ This is the most challenging but beneficial mechanic of the game. David Jaffe and his team gave us a means of near immortalness with Kratos' blocking ability. To do this just press the L1 shoulder button. It's that easy. If easy is your thing for this playthrough, then stick with this and move to the next section. If your looking for an edge in the battle then read on. For this to be effective, you MUST learn every attack of every enemy in every area of every part of this game. If you don't, as I said earlier, you will fail. So go practice and when you think your ready we can move one. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... DONE!!! Good. Now to truly get the most out of a block you must block an enemy attack at least a half a second before it hits. You can do it later but you risk getting hit. If done correctly, the frames will slow (intentional) and the enemy will falter in most cases. Now attack them while you can. The only basic enemy that can't be blocked is the Cyclops and Medusas Gaze. For those, you must... __________________ ~~~~~Evasion:~~~~~ This should really only be used when blocking isn't effective. As mentioned above. Cyclops' present the most danger and 3 evades will allow you to survive a stoning from a medusa. it's very basic, just move the right analog stick and you will evade in that direction. Evasion can also be used as a faster mode of transportation. But that isn't something we want. more time for travel will allow us to cool down between fights. ================================================================================ 004C. Minigames ================================================================================ Minigames are another heart of this run. Without them, you would be dead, much more often. Here's a list of all the enemies and what, if any, minigames can be implemented. These do not include the bosses. they're minigames are based off of the basic enemies. ________________________ ~~~~~Light Enemies:~~~~~ Legionnaires -No minigame because they can be grabbed at anytime. Undead Legionnaires: -When they take enough damage they will minigame. It's just a regular grab but it is initiated as if it were a mingame. -If you knock them down after dealing approxamitely 25% of their health they will stand stunned and minigame! Mystic Legionnaires: -Knock off their shields and they become undead legionnaires. Minigames and all. Legionnaire Archers: -No minigame because they can be grabbed at anytime. Legionnaire Captains: -Minigame one happens after you have taken 50% of their health. It does a decent amount of damage and it's animation is fairly long. This means you damage while taking none. -Minigame two kills them and can and can't be worth it. It looks cool and gives a "Ruthless kill" bonus if your mid >10 combo, but you don't need that. So it really depends on if your low on health or not. If you are, Minigame them for the invincibility during the game. If you have health to spare then you can kill them normally. Their that close to death anyway. Harpies: -No minigame because they can be grabbed at anytime. Gorgon: -Like minotaurs, get a gorgon down 80% and they minigame. This minigame is much harder then the minotaurs however. You really should get as good at it as you can though. To finish the minigame you must match the onscreen commands. These are rotations of the left anolog stick. Either two or three rotations. One half rotation and a full rotation, or two half rotations followed by a full rotation. This will yield mana orbs. A necessity sometimes but not always. It's up to you whether to minigame or not. Cerberus Seeds: -No minigame because they can be grabbed at anytime. Wraiths: -No minigame because they can be grabbed at anytime. Sirens: -They minigame twice. The first time you slam their head into the ground and throw them. They release Magic or Health depending on what you need. The second time you stab both blades into them and slam them into the ground, killing them. It really shortens an already hard fight. _____________________________ ~~~~~Mid-Weight Enemies:~~~~~ Minotaurs: -All minotaurs get a minigame when their approxamitely 80% dead. Do it EVERYTIME! You always need more health. And Invincibility. Even with full health you can use this game as a break from the rigors of battling minotaurs. To win this minigame mash the ( ) button until the minotaur dies. You must press the ( ) button VERY quickly to win this. Just put the controller on your thigh and use your index or middle finger to tap the button fast enough. Cerberus': -These minigame just for the heck of it. It does a regular amount of damage and offers the invincibility of the animation. Whether or not it will kill the enemy is a toss up. This should always be played however. Centaurs: -These minigame twice. The first time you throw the centaur. The second time you chop them and kill them. These minigames are somewhat necessary. The first will yeild a minimal but helpful amount of health or magic orbs. The second just kills them. Plain and simple. Just do it. Satyrs: -No minigame because they can be grabbed at anytime. However to win this grapple you must abuse the ( ) button to win. Keep mashing and you throw them. Not really the best form of action against them. ________________________ ~~~~~Heavy Enemies:~~~~~ Spikeball Cyclopses: -These Cyclopses minigame once and you should take the opportunity. It kills them very quickly and looks cool to boot. This minigame encompasses following on screen button combinations that must be pressed very quickly to yeild a full kill. Curved Mallet Cyclopses: -These will minigame anywhere from two to three times. The first one or two just involve pressing ( ) button when the prompt appears. Kratos slams the cyclops' head into the ground. Be sure to roll back after this because they do a shockwave stomp directly after. After the one or two of these you get the same prompt but it kills it outright. Spiked Mallet Cyclopses: -Very similar to the Spikeball Cyclops. It's minigame will start at about 70% and you should take it. The Minigame is the same as the Spikeball Cyclopses minus one hit. Very quick but the prompts need to be followed very quickly. ================================================================================ 0005. Walkthrough ================================================================================ NOTICE:!!This Guide assumes that you have played through the game at least once and know where to go when and how. I will only detail the fights and strategies of each individual area. This is because of many things already stated: THE NO UPGRADE RUN IS STRICTLY FOR THE EXPERIENCED GOD OF WAR PLAYER. I will however detail the boss battles. NOTICE2:!!AS OF NOW IT HAS BEEN FOUND THAT THERE IS NO WAY TO PROGRESS PAST THE CLONE BATTLE. YOU ARE TOO WEAK, THEY COME ON TOO STRONG, AND DAMAGE YOUR FAMILY TOO MUCH TO BE BEATEN. EXCEPT ON EASY. Sorry to ruin it now but just getting to that part is the point of this run. NOTICE3:!!Just make sure you pick up all of the Gorgons Eye and Phoenix Feather upgrades. This really is for your own good. I WILL NOT BE GIVING THEIR LOCATIONS! If you want to know all of the locations, then look at the FAQ on Gamefaqs.com. It is very comprehensive. NOTICE4:!!If you have played through the game on God mode at least once then play this challenge on at least Noraml difficulty. Easy is more along the lines of Spartan later on in the game. Before you attempt a No upgrade God mode run however, Play through the No upgrade run on Spartan. ================================================================================ 0005A. Rules ================================================================================ I have been asked by many people to fill in some blanks on the run by adding a rules section. ________________ ~~~~~RULES:~~~~~ 1. You must NOT upgrade your Blades, Chaos or Artemis, or Magics. 2. Enemies can be skipped over. 3. You are NOT required to collect all Phoenix Feathers/Gorgon Eyes. But it is not forbidden to collect them. 4. Getting to the "Final Battle" save is the finale of the run. You DO NOT have to get to the olympus save. _________________________ ~~~~~Now lets begin:~~~~~ _________________________ ~~~~~The Aegean Sea:~~~~~ The game starts out the same. Just fight through as you normally would. If you want to avoid damage then grab the legionnaires and use a [] finisher. This kills the enemy you grabbed and the one you hit. Very useful. **SUB-BOSS** Hydra Head: This is an easy fight compared to the rest of this run. The Hydra head has two basic attacks: A double lunge and a single lunge. Both are blockable but the double lunge does a considerate amount of damage compared to the single. For this fight stick close to the Hydra Head and whail on it with a basic combo. Plume of Prometheus is good. Just do a Plume of Prometheus and then block until you get hit by the attack. If you want to finish this battle faster you can squeeze in a [],/\ combo. Eventually you will get it to start it's minigame. Press ( ) to start the minigame and then press /\ each time after until the head is all sorts of Dead. **END SUB-BOSS BATTLE** Continue through the level to the second Hydra Head battle: **SUB-BOSS** Hydra Head: This battle is a little different from the last. You can block all of the attacks except one. When the Hydra Head begins to hit it's head on the deck dodge to left and then dodge back to the fight after the third hit. If it scoops you into it's mouth mash the ( ) button to escape and deal a sick amount of damage to the head. It's final two attacks are blockable. These are a simple bite and a whirling attack. very easy to block both when you can read the attack. Also unlike the last battle, you fight this one to the "death." when the Hydra Heads health depletes to zero, you've won. **END SUB-BOSS BATLLE** Now continue to the room where you get Poseidons Rage. You can either skip this room after you get the attack or you can take out the legionnaires as you did throughout the past parts of the level. Now for the final Hydra Battle **SUB-BOSS 3/4** Hydra Head Left/Right You can use the same tactics as in the Hydra Head 2 battle. Just realize after about eight hits the other hydra will suck you toward it. Once you have exhuasted a hydras health, climb the boxes to the side and jump onto the platform at the top. This will finish the corresponding head. Once both mini Hydras are finished I suggest climbing back down to the save point and saving... ... ... ... ... ...ok. Now that that's done, we can move to the big battle. **END SUB-BOSS BATTLE** ***MAIN BOSS*** Hydra This Battle can be fought quickly and dangerously or Slowly but very safe. I am only going to outline the quick and dangerous one because if you can't beat the hydra this way, then there is little chance that you will get much further. In this battle you will be right up front going toe to toe with the Hydra. First just start attacking, and attacking, and attacking, until the hydra goes to bite down on you. When it does this, right before it does bite you, use Poseidons Rage to do damage while not taking any. After the Rage is done do a full light attack combo. This is one of the few times it is useful against a boss. After all of this it should begin to repeat this process. Rinse and repeat until it's Minigame appears. Now there is much controvery over this minigame. Once it starts you must lay on the ( ) button as fast as possible. When done right the Hydra will be pulled into the mast by Kratos and the mast will crack. If done incorrectly the Hydra will hit the mast but the mast will not break. Repeat the mast hit 3 times to make a point on the mast. After this, the next minigame will impale the Hydra on the mast and end the battle. ***END BOSS BATTLE*** __________________________________________________ ~~~~~The Docks Of Athens/The Gates of Athens:~~~~~ As Much as you want to play it, ignore the sex minigame. It's pointless. Save here and get ready to face harder and harder challenges. The first battles can be avoided by swimming around your boat. Just don't forget the Phoenix Feather. After this ride the elevator to the Minotaurs and begin the battle. *Minotaur Battle* 3 Minotaurs. Two to start one spawns when one is killed. This should be Very easy. just use a [],hold/\ to launch a minotaur and follow it up. Then grab it mid-air and follow up with another mid-air grab after it bounces back up. Rinse and repeat with the remaining Minotaurs. *End Minotaur Battle* See easy. Now Ride the elevator to the next battle. 3 cyclopses. *Cyclops Battle* 3 Spikeball Cyclopses. One then two at a time. Not as easy. Plume of Prometheus is your main attack here. If ever you see any of the cyclopses getting ready to attack, use the right analogue stick to dodge to te left or right. continue to Plume them until they minigame. Finish the battle with minigames and you should be no worse for the wear. *End Cyclopse Battle* Now continue through the door to the medusa room. As you know, this is where you get medusas gaze. And this is a VERY easy battle because of the parameters. **SUB-BOSS** Medusa Ok just start the battle with a block, if she attacks then use a [],/\ and death bounce her to get her to a minigame state. You must then do her minigame to end the battle. Use the minigame strat for this and get your new magic. If she does her gaze first then evade once and use a [],[],/\ Plume of Prometheus and death bounce her. Then minigame her and get your new magic. **END SUB-BOSS BATTLE** Now you must stone and kill 9 minotaurs. Just stone them and break them up and move one. Bypass the next group of undead legionnaires by climbing the ladder. Follow the game to wall climbing. For this just use you light attack or if the undead legionnaires get to close a grab. Now push over the statue and head to the THIRD floor of the building you just got access to. You should be skipping the gorgon and minotaur battles and going straight to the undead legionnaire battle. After the legionnaire battle is the rope crossing *ROPE CROSS* for this light attack once to stop a legionnaires attack then grab them to get them off. It's slow but more effecient. Just keep moving until more come and battle as is said. It's one of the safer methods too. If you get swamped stick to one attack left, one attack right, one attack left, one attack right...etc. *END ROPE CROSS* Now open the gate and use the balissta to destroy the reinforced door and minotaurs. That's the end of this level! Now on to: _____________________________ ~~~~~The Road To Athens:~~~~~ First Save. The next room is tricky because of the weakness of medusas gaze. *PUZZLE* Minotaur Switch Luckily they give you an infinite magic chest. First kill both minotaurs then prepare for a multi-try solution. Draw a single minotaur toward the switch by standing at the south end of the room. When the minotaur closes in on the switch go stand right next to the minotaur with the switch between you and it. back up a little and allow the minotaur to step onto the switch. right when you here the switch start to move you must begin to freeze the minotaur. it will try and attack you but don't turn off medusas gaze. If all goes well you will have frozen the minotaur right as it was about to hit you and opened the door at the same time. Now move quickly through the door. Viola! *END PUZZLE* No continue down the path. You should have collected the 6th gorgon eye and expanded your health meter by one at the end of this stretch of road. the next area is: _____________________________ ~~~~~Athens Town Square:~~~~~ You start off by immediatey going into a cyclops battle *Cyclops Battle* 3 Curved mallet Cyclopses. One then two at a time Plume of Prometheus these until their minigames come up. This is a straight on battle royale. The minigames won't kill it faster...they just look cool. If you need health kill the Athenians. Each one will yeild anywhere from 1-3 small health orbs. *End Cyclops Battle* Now continue up and obtain the key. The next battle introduces a new legionnaire The Mystic Legionnaire. *Miscelleneous Battle* Mystic Legionnaires, Gorgons, Legionnaire Archers Just Plume the mystic legionnaires in any way to get rid of the shields then take care of them like any other undead legionnaire. another strategy is to get behind them (no easy task) and grab them. Just plume and kill works better though. For the Gorgons we introduce a new concept. Arena effect. this means an enemy cannot leave a set area but Kratos can still hit the enemy. This means the enemy takes the hurt and you take the prize. If you have full magic, 2 Poseidons Rages should get them to minigame or very close. As for the archers, do as always, grab and throw ([]). *End Misc. Battle* Now unlock the door and work your way to... _________________________________ ~~~~~The Rooftops of Athens:~~~~~ Climb the ivy, refill on health and magic and get ready for the second easiest enemies in the game. Wriaths. *Miscelleneous Battle* Wraiths, Undead legionnaires, Legionnaire archers and Spikeball Cyclopses. First off...Wraiths can be grabbed outright. So we're going to use a unified method to kill them. Do this combo. ( ) => X => ( ) => L1 The ( ) will throw them up, the X will make Kratos rise up to their height and the ( ) will throw them back down. The L1 is there because after the throw a wraith will go underground and attack you. Now just rinse and repeat to dispatch with them quickly. As for the undead legionnaires, dispatch them in your favorite matter and then go after the archers. Now go up to the second floor and stay on the right side of the debris. Use Plume of Prometheus to hit the enemies on the other side and avoid all damage to yourself. The cyclopses can be minigamed and I suggest you doing it. Now that all of yor enemies are gone, the path will open up. *End Misc. Battle* Continue on your path and jump to the pillar covered in ivy, if you want to try, you can skip killing the legionnaire archers but it's easier to take them out. You'll have to face two wraiths before the legionnaire archers but you should know what to do by now. Now press on and take the balissta to the "rotator" room. Before you can rotate the contraption you must take out 4 waves of undead legionnaires. *Undead Legionnair Battle* 4 waves of 5 undead legionnaires it's actually better to stay in the confines of the lever room where the undead legionnaires spawn. You get better weapon hits per swing. But you must know how and when to block. A fairly easy battle made easier by being able to bring them into the larger area. Just kill the 20 or so legionnaires just about any way and you can progress further. *End Undead Legionnaire Battle* Now go get Zeus' Fury. Now go to the rooftops and skip all of these battles or fight them to get more experienced. It's a total of 4 minotaurs and ... ... ... well a lot of harpies. next kill the man holding the bridge and fight through the 7 wriaths. If you like to death bounce then wraiths can be good targets for this since the initial grab sends them flying! ^_^ Now just finish out this part of the level by taking the elevator down. After the cutscene progress through some undead legionnaires to get to... ___________________________________ ~~~~~The Temple of the Oracle:~~~~~ The first battle here is fairly easy. just stick to light attacks for now and evade when necessary. if you see a harpy going for a fireball attack, just evade before it plunges. If the gorgon tries to stone you go for a quick [],[],/\ to stop the gaze. Be careful and relentless and you should come out of this just fine. Progress to the inner part of the temple and just block off the harpies. If you heal or replenish lost magic use the chests behind the statues. the others come in handy later. Now finish the last of the harpies collect the Gorgon Eye, cross the rafters and SAVE! The next legionnaire groups can be grabbed outright so just grab and /\ them or have fun launching and death bouncing them. either way works. Now to save the oracle...but first we need to get a Gorgon Eye. To save you the hastle of opening red orb chests just go to the left cracked wall, smash it and claim your new Gorgon eye. Save the oracle as usual but be sure to grab the phoenix feather during or after just to get it out of the way. Now progress to... _______________________________ ~~~~~The Sewers Of Athens:~~~~~ This is your mantra in here: **ARCHERS FIRST** That's right. Ignore all others until the archers are gone. they use exploding arrows which interrupt combos. Something we do not want. Now continue on until you get to the Minotaurs. Use their "arena complex" by bringing them to the ledge jumping down and doing your basic /\ attack. only if you need to. If you have Minotaur combat down...then do it regular. By the way...Death bounces are great here because the minotaurs tend to cooperate with the tight confines. Now move on to the Cyclopses. Just keep spamming the Plume of Prometheus and they'll go down allright. But immediately following the Cyclopses are Minotaurs Undead Legionnaires and Archers. Just deal with them as normal(archers>the rest) and continue to... ___________________________________ ~~~~~The Desert of Lost Souls:~~~~~ Now here's where things start to get tricky. You will now start to feel the weakness of the Blades of Chaos. The sirens are also very quick so light attacks are really the only attacks that are usefull. Sometimes a [],/\ will connect completely so spam that. The first siren is the easy one so keep cool, attack when you can, and block. ALL THE TIME. When the minigame appears, do it. it's the only way to kill the siren and progress. Now for the other two. Just find them and whip on them. Try to get some distance between yourself and the Minotaurs for safety, or keep them in the fray and stay even more cautious. It still takes a while to wear down the siren. If you want to, use a Poseidons Rage to draw in the siren and wail on it with some heavy attacks. sometimes this will get it to minigame the first time. Be frugal however. Once the door is open press forward to the conveyer belt. To make this part easier, hit the spiked wheel on the right with Plume of Prometheus until it breaks. Now pull out the Box and push it to the left. Take care of the undead legionnaires as necessary. Now for more Sirens!!! but this time its just sirens...thanks god. Ok just stick to a basic [],[]=>dodge=>[],[] if you have trouble with this fight. It's easy, safe, takes a while but it's a near gaurantee that you'll get through relatively unscathed. If you wanted to do it the fun way, then get them into the air and death bounce them. This is also very effective. Just be sure to minigame them! No summon Kronos and Climb your way to... __________________________________________ ~~~~~The Entrance to Pandoras Temple:~~~~~ *Cyclopse Battle* 3 Spiked Club Cyclopses Two cyclopses start this battle and one more spawns after one of the two is killed. Plume of Prometheus your way through these bad boys. When they rear back dodge to the left or the right so you don't get shoulder rammed. when their minigame comes up, play it. follow the prompts and finish it off. rinse and repeat! *End Cyclopse Battle* Now climb your way up to the foyer and take out the Archers and Wraiths as you did back on the rooftops. Just remember to block when the Wraith goes into the floor. Now go get the Blade of Artemis...I'll wait here for you in... _______________________________ ~~~~~The Rings of Pandora:~~~~~ this is easy so we're going to go directly to... _________________________________ ~~~~~The Challenge of Atlas:~~~~~ The Blade of Artemis will be your friend in some areas now. It kills three times faster then the Blades of Chaos and has better close range crowd control. Learn How to best use this weapon...it comes in quite handy. This first room choose whichever weapon you feel comfortable with. For the Legionnaires I suggest either but for the Gorgons go with the blades. It opens the Gorgons up to death bounces. The Blade of Artemis does kill them in five hits though so it a 50-50. I suggest the Shield of Hades first because then you don't have to backtrack. So head downstairs and get ready for the wave after wave of Legionnaires and Undead Legionnaires. *Legionnaire Battle* ?? Legionnaires and Undead Legionnaires For easy and normal I'd just stick with the Blade of Artemis and Poseidons Rage. Just keep spamming the [],[],[] attack with the Blade of Artemis and a few Poseidons Rages should get you through. For Spartan and God. Go with Medusas Gaze and the Blades of Chaos. Line up the Legionnaires and freeze them. Then Smash away. When you run out of magic grab the regular legionnairs and use the [] finisher. In the tight confines you'll take out quite a few legionnaires at once. *End Legionnaire battle* Now for the Shield of Zeus. Skip over these undead Legionnaires and just grab the shield. Now move on to the save spot and SAVE!!!! The upcoming room is a "toughy..." But first a wall climb. If your faced with one or two enemies, stick to a grab attack. If it's three or more enemies against you, corale them together and hit away with light attacks. It takes a few hits but they fall like nice little undead should. *Misc. Battle* 5 mystic Legionnaires, 4 Sirens For Easy and Normal this battle is a pain. Plume of Prometheus the Mystic Legionnaires and then pull out the Blade of Artemis. Whatever you do DO NOT death bounce any of the enemies. It takes far too long. when your down to just the Sirens, use a Poseidons Rage to draw them in close and then hack away with the Blade of Artemis. For Spartan and God this battle is going to take at least fifty tries. Stick to the same battle plan but this time get closer and more personal with the Mystic Legionnaires. That way you get them dead more quickly and have the time to go after the Sirens. This is no easy room. *End Misc. battle* Now grab the Handle of Atlas and backtrack to the saw-blade room. Open the "door" and move into the Hallway of Atlas. take out the Undead Archers first and then the Minotaurs. remember that with the Archers you can grab them outright and use a [] finisher to damage the Minotaurs. Now insert the handle, ready the statue, collect your muse key and move your way up to the trigger. Take care with these Undead Legionnaires. If one is going to attack, then at least one more will as well. Just try to keep them in front of you and slam away with the heaviest combo ([],/\,[],[],[],[],/\). Now finish the last of the Archers and claim your Architect's Son's Head. Now we go to... _____________________________________ ~~~~~The Inner Rings of Pandora:~~~~~ Thankfully no enemies here. just be carefull with that roller and everything should work out fine. Lets get going to... ____________________________________ ~~~~~The Challenge of Poseidon:~~~~~ **CERBERUS BATTLE** 1 Cerberus Breeder, ?? Cerberus Seeds Start the battle with Medusas Gaze turned on the breeder. Stone it, Smash it and get ready to get your butt kicked. Keep freezing the Cerberus seeds and smashing them. its a quick freeze and smash and works well. when you run out of magic pull out the Blade of Artemis and Smash away or roll over to the chest and refill your magic. Either way works but be warned; !!!IF ANY OF THE SEEDS MATURE, YOU CAN NOT WIN!!! so get ready to get some quick kills. On easy the Blade of Artemis kills the seeds in 3 hits so this works VERY WELL on any dificulty. **END CERBERUS BATTLE** Directly after this battle are two Spiked Mallet Cyclopses. Just stick to Plume of Prometheus and you'll do fine. BE SURE TO MINIGAME! 
Now roll up to the archers and do grab/[] finisher to take them out quickly and
easily. Not to much of a problem. Continue on until you get to the Legionnaire
Captains.


*Legionnaire Captain Battle* 6 Legionnaire Captains

I suggest fighting here if you'r not the best against the Captains. It gives a
good chance to learn all of their moves and how to kill them quickly.

Experiment here and remember: If you want to skip it, go ahead. Just climb the
ledge.

*End Legionnaire Captain battle*


When you do climb though, don't forget the muse key!

After your cliff hugging your faced with a few minotaurs. Pretty standard by now
so go after them however you like.

Now for the Ramp...

Grab the handle as normal and lower the sacrifice. Now here's the fun part.
Start pulling him up the incline. When the Undead Captains get close, freeze
them and move on. If you want to smash them go ahead but it takes a bit and
after they turn to stone they slide down anyway. Diligence is Key here. Also,
the Blade of Artemis is Just strong enough to be VERY useful here. it takes out
the Captains reletively quickly and allows for a longer time to pull the
sacrifice then the Stoning Method. Either way works.

Now lets go for a swim!


**Cerberus Room**  ?? Cerberus Seeds (do not mature)

Thankfully these cerberus pups don't grow up. Just go after them with the Blade
of Artemis if your on Easy or Normal. It takes between 3 and six hits to take
them out.

For Spartan and God Mode, Stick to the Water, Jump out and hit them a few times
with a heavy /\ attack. It takes a while but you take little or no damage.

Again, Take your time and stay focused and it'll work out.

**End Cerberus Room**


Now Backtrack to the room where you got the Trident and climb up, AFTER you SAVE

Keep swimming and I'll wait for you up ahead

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

You here? ok


*Legionnaire and Harpy Battle* ?? Undead Legionnaires, ?? Harpies

These harpies fireball so watch out.

Just use air death bounces and you should be fine. The animation renders you
invincible so don't worry too much. The Blades of Chaos are the prefered method
here for the Harpies. Once the Harpies are dead it's a toss up between the
Blades of Chaos and the Blade of Artemis. Personally I go with the Blade of
Artemis. It has the stopping power and if your cautious, can be just as
effective as the Blades of Chaos for Blocking.

Just keep calm, and collected and if you need to try it a few times then do so.

Also, the water at the front of the room gives you a good "hiding" place that
you can pop out of to strike the Legionnaires. Just like in the Cerberus Room.

*End Legionnaire and Harpy Battle*


Now onto Amphitrite's Room...Same deal here with the Minotaurs. Death Bounce or
Minigame them but it's not required. You can pull the switch before they attack
so it's up to you. it is good pactice though.

Now Back to...


____________________________________
~~~~~The Inner Rings Revisited:~~~~~


First go to the Muse Key room and get your final Health and Magic increases.

Then head back to the center and jump into the inner pool. Now follow the
tunnel to...


_________________________________
~~~~~The Challenge Of Hades:~~~~~


This Challenge will make and break everyone who plays this game. This is where
the toughest versions of all enemies are introduced. And they make it tough!

I will detail as we move along.

First up, the Centaurs.


**Centaur Sacrifice**  Infinite Centaurs until 8 are sacrificed

This is tough until you know the trick. The trick? see that pool of water? Use
it. You can hit them, they can't hit you. Just keep wailing away until they
minigame. Here's another tricky part. Their death sends them to the left a
little. so time it right or be directly in the center of the sacrifice circle to
finish this quickly.

A more advanced strategy involves their deathbounce. Get them in the air and
death bounce them for a fast, but VERY dangerous sacrifice. At least one of the
centaurs will block and start their reversal attack. so you have to be in the
air and grabbing the airborne centaur before this reversal happens. Just take
it slow and cautious and this is the most effective way of finishing the
sacrifice. It is however, as stated before, the most dangerous method.

Get eight of them dead and you'll be moving on.

**End Centaur Sacrifice**


Now onto the Maze. This is especially easy. Even though you don't have access to
the Apollo's Asencion move, you can still get the same effect to glitch through
the "blood gate" at the end of the maze. Just use a hold/\ facing the middle of
the gate, land on the top and do a double jump through. See easy! and so many
enemies left behind!


Now the Pathway of Hades...

Raise the statue and activate the "Burning Hall" Move forward and get to a room
where you are attacked by the new Minotaur threat. These Minotaurs carry just
one huge spikey axe and have basic armor. These Minotaurs are not fun...


*Minotaur Battle* 3 Minotaurs, 12 Undead Archers

These Minotaurs have a few new abilities that can be really annoying. First is
their Charge attack. They buckle down and charge at you. This is the only attack
that will end a grab animation. The weak combo breaker they use is now not
followed by a heavy strike but 2 weaker faster attacks. The first is unblockable
after the breaker and the second is usually a hit as well. So be careful. For
these I stick with the Blade of Artemis and a L1+/\ it ALWAYS knocks them up and
and the /\ after sends them flying.

After one minotaur is killed the Archers come into play. Just grab them and use
them as ammo against the Minotaurs. eventually they stop spawning and you can
worry about those minotaurs.

*End Minotaur Battle*


Now Cross the rope as you did in Athens and during the Shield of Hades fights
and get ready for an onslaught of tough enemies.


*Onslaught Battle* ?? Undead Legionnaires, ??Minotaurs, ?? Centaurs,
??Undead Archers

First are the standard Undead Legionnaires. Use either of your weapons but the
Blade of Artemis excells here.

And now Minotaurs and Centaurs at the same time! and it's fun! Pull out the
Blade of Artemis and Hack and Slash your way through. When the Archers begin to
spawn use them as ammo. Once the archers are gone pull out the Blade of Artemis
again and keep hacking. The hold/\ attack works extremely well. just keep at it.

*End Onslaught Battle*


Now make your way across the Blades of Hades. Remember, you can jump over them.
take your time here and get your patience up to par because the next battle is
a doosey.


***BOSS BATTLE*** Pandoras Guardian

OK. so this can be done two ways.

The Quick and Easy way with lots o' Risks;

Take out the Blade of Artemis and Hack away. unfortunately the really effective
combos for this battle cancel out all hope for a block so you need to be really
careful. But this goes A LOT faster then the next way.

The Slower Safer Way;

Use your blades and stick to the Super Plume ([],/\,[],[],[],[],/\) It's slower
but you can block at any time during the combo.

Use these throughout the battle and both, eventually, will win it for you.

Either way stay on the back platform as it is the safest area for you. You need
to bust open the "pressure valves" twice and then take off the armor before you
can do any actual damage to it.

Perserverence is the real key here.

***END BOSS BATTLE***


Claim the other Architcect's Son's Head and the Army of Hades and get ready for
yet another Undead Legionnaire fight.

For this fight use the Army of Hades. It takes out the undead very quickly and
leaves you time to get a full Super Plume ([],/\,[],[],[],[],/\) out. Just like
all the other undead battles so far.

Now backtrack to the...


_____________________________________
~~~~~Rings of Pandora Revisited:~~~~~


Line up all three rings and go to...


______________________________
~~~~~The Crystal Chamber:~~~~~


Push the Crystal together and proceed to


________________________________
~~~~~The Cliffs Of Madness:~~~~~


Ah Satyrs. Quite the welcoming party huh. these bad boys are the worst enemies
to date. They will give you all of the problems and more from previous enemies.
And whats worse is you can't death bounce them.


**Satyr Battle** 3 Satyrs

The blades are a good choice for the one vs one. just keep grabbing the Satyr
and eventually you'll kill it. When the two Satyrs spawn switch over to the
Blade of Artemis. Keep blocking and when you get a quick lapse in their attacks
hit them with a [],[],[]. No more. just keep blockikng and eventually they'll be
split in half like good little satyrs.

**End Satyr Battle**


The Blade of Artemis is going to be your primary weapon from here on out. The
only time you should really be using you Blades of Chaos now are for death
bounces, grappling and against Cyclopses. The Blade of Artemis is really the
your best chance of survival. learn to use it's faster double hit attacks that
you can cancel for a block.

Move forward and engage the Undead Legionnaires while out of range of the
Archers. These legionnaires will give you a little practice with the Blade of
Artemis. keep moving and take out the Archers as you see fit. I recommend using
Zeus' Fury here because these Archers use exploding arrows. These arrows stop
you mid-stride, Jump, or attack. so using Zeus' Fury will allow you to avoid
falling while jumping from platform to platform.

Now rise the elevator up to...


________________________________
~~~~~The Bluffs of Madness:~~~~~


Unless you have a deathwish stay out of the cave on the right. if you want to
fight your way through then heres some tips.


*Satyr and Legionnaire Battle* ??Satyrs, ??Undead Legionnaires

This can be very tough. Even on normal this can be suicide. but heres how I did
it. Cast a single Army of Hades. the souls will home in on the Satyr so you can
worry about taking out the Undead Legionnaires with the blade of Artemis. Watch
for the attacks and block when necessary. When the army of hades runs out go
after whats left of the satyr. It'll die soon. once the first satyr is down cast
another Army of Hades and repeat. After the bottom area is clear move up the the
higher ground and take out the Undead legionnaires there as well. You may now
move on.

*End Satyr and Legionnaire Battle*


For those of you that are sane, climb the ladder by the save point right when
you get to the Bluffs. Move forward and take out the Individual Satyrs with
the Blade of Artemis. These battles are easy because it is one on one.

Now use Zeus' fury to take out the archers and prgress to another one on one
Satyr Battle.

If you want to see something funny, use a L1+/\ on a Satyr that is standing on
it's staff. This bypasses the auto reverse that the Satyr does and makes the
Satyr Flip out.

There is also an endless juggle for the Satyrs that uses the Blade of Artemis.
Use a L1+(hold)/\ and then a /\ to bring it down. because the Satyrs don't
bounce it will stay in front of you and you can repeat until it dies.

Now continue to the Puddle room taking out the Minotaurs Satyrs and Archers as
necessary. 


*Puddle Room Battle* 3 Minotaurs, ??Undead Legionnaires, ?? Undead Archers

First come into the battle with the Blades of Chaos. Use the Grapple and []
finisher on all of the archers and then switch over to the Blade of Artemis. Now
Go After the Undead Legionnaires using the [],[],[],[] combo and finally take
out the Minotaurs with L1+(hold)/\,/\ combos.

*End Puddle Room Battle*


Finish the Puzzle and claim the Necklace of Hera. Now it's time for some rock
climbing!

For this use nothing but light attacks. Especially on higher difficulties. The
chance of death is too high otherwise. Just be sure to activate the switch at
the end before dropping down. this will allow you to skip over the suicide trip
mentioned above.

The only thing you need to worry about is 5 Undead Legionnaires and 4 Archers.
Not bad considering the alternative.

After all this is...


_______________________________
~~~~~The Traps of Madness:~~~~~


Simple really. There are no enemies until later in this section. Just complete
the puzzles, finish a little bit of platforming, grab the Necklace of Aphrodite
Backtrack to the upper Bluffs and move on to a quick Minotaur and Undead
Legionnaire battle.

After the Minotaur battle and a few Rope Swings is...


______________________________
~~~~~The Architects Tomb:~~~~~


All but three Cyclopses can be skipped as for combat. So just focus on the
puzzles here. As for the battle it's pretty much the same thing as always.


*Cyclops Battle* 3 Spiked Mallet Cyclopses

Just keep using Plume of Prometheus ([],[],/\) until they minigame. When they do
I suggest playing it. Practice up for the final battles.

*End Cyclopse Battle*


After the puzzles have been solved proceed to...


________________________
~~~~~Zeus Mountain:~~~~~


Pretty simple. SAVE and move onto the conveyer belt room. this is tough but
definately doable.


**Conveyer Belt Room** ??Undead Archers, ??Harpies

These harpies fireball but that's not to big of a problem. The real problem is
there's no sure footing or a decent place to stand. So constant movement is
needed. start off by jumping your way to the archers and grabbing them. then use
a [] finisher to take out some harpies an maybe another Archer. Continue this
untill all the archers are gone. now go stand inbetween one of the none moving
platforms. Not on it but beside it. Now wait for a harpy to get close and grab
it. Or when they swarm, use a Poseidons Rage to take them out. Army of Hades is
also useful. When and if you run out of magic stick with the Blades of Chaos for
their Range. This will allow you to keep moving and not get pummeled by the
Harpies or the spinning walls.

**End Conveyer Belt Room**

Now to get...


_______________________
~~~~~Pandoras Box:~~~~~


Pull the lever and reveal Pandoras Box.

Wow, we're finally done!! not quite. I'll see you on...


_______________________________________
~~~~~The Path Over the River Styx:~~~~~


Time to whoop major "dead" Undead Butt. Well more like Flaming...Oh never mind.

This Area is Really all about platforming. Except for two small areas.

A Minotaur battle area and the Satyrs right before the end.


*Minotaur Battle* ??Undead Archers, ??Minotaurs

these are really the same minotaurs with different skins. Just wail away with
the Blade of Artemis or use the Death bounces of the Blades of Chaos. Either way
use the Archers as Ammo first. This is easy compared to the next part

*End Minotaur Battle*


**Satyr Platforms** 10 Satyrs (two at a time each one killed raises a platform
to get to the end of this level)

This can get tough because of the tight space and limited power. But the Blade
of Artemis is a good friend here. As is the Army of Hades. Just keep blocking
until they ease up and get in a hit. It's takes a while but it can be done.
continue killing until the pathway is made.

**End Satyr Platforms**


Now jump over to the end and climb back up to...


_____________________________________________
~~~~~The Temple of the Oracle Revisited:~~~~~


Unfortunately this time the temple is destroyed, It's infested with a lot more
then harpies this time, and the Oracles dead. Bang up Job Kratos. Now for the
long battle ridden hallway to Ares.


***FINAL MONSTER BATTLES*** 3 Spike Ball Cyclopses, 4 Minotaurs, ?? Gorgons,
?? Undead Legionnaires, ?? Undead Archers

This is basically the culmination. All of the tips and tricks are put to use
here. Start off against the Cyclopses with Plume of Prometheus ([],[],/\) and
minigame them when it happens. just remember to dodge because their attacks
can't be blocked. Next up are the Minotaurs. pretty simple but these go back to
the ground wave version so watch out for that. Be sure to keep moving or
juggling and make sure that not one of the Minotaurs starts a heavy attack.

Now Move on to the hallway. In here are the Gorgons and Archers. Use the Blade
of Artemis to finish this reletively quickly and move on to the Undead
Legionnaires.

Again, stick with the Blade of Artemis, or a Death bouncing Strategy for the
Blades of Chaos. Both work well in the confines but the Blade of Artemis shines.

Keep smacking and eventually you get to the final save point.

***END FINAL MONSTER BATTLES***


So here it is. The moment of Truth. Here you are at...


___________________________
~~~~~The Final Battle:~~~~~


****ARES BATTLE 1**** Ares

This part is easy. Pull out the Blade of Artemis and use just ONE Attack. The R1
Dash Attack. You can also throw in a few Army of Hades. Just be sure to dodge
when he summons the hammer for an overhead swing. On any difficulty this is too
damaging to let hit. This Battle takes a while but it's worth it. All of Ares'
other attacks can be blocked. So do so. When Ares minigames you have to play it.

Just Mash the ( ) button and then follow the two on screen button inputs to win
this last battle.

****END ARES BATTLE 1****


****CLONE BATTLE****

!!!This is for easy only!!!

Pull out the Blade of Artemis and equip The Army of Hades as your main magic.

Just keep hacking away with the [] attack putting in an army of hades whenever
you can. Be sure to heal your family when they need it. it takes a while but it
can be done.

****END CLONE BATTLE****


****ARES BATTLE 2****

This is the same as in a normal game. a new weapon with the same attacks. So
play it as you would otherwise.

****END ARES BATTLE 2****


Unfortunately as of now, no one has been able to defeat the clones battle on any
difficulty higher then Easy so this is the end. Until someone can come up with a
winning strategy we'll all have to settle with this.

But for now Relish in This!!

!!!YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE NO UPGRADE RUN!!!

Congratulations.



================================================================================
0006. FAQ's
================================================================================

Q: What gave you the idea for this?

A: Plain and simple answer is I just forgot to level up my BoC and liked the
challenge so I played through the rest of the game without upgrading anything.


Q: Can the game be completed? (believe it or not a few people did ask)

A: Only on Easy difficulty. On the other difficulties the clones do far too much
damage to your family. On Easy you do double damage and your enemies do half
damage thereby making it possible.


Q: What are the difficulty equivalants?

A: N.U.R   to   Regular run

   Mortal       Hero
   Hero         Spartan
   Spartan      God
   God          Chaos(yep)


Q: Why isn't this more detailed?

A: This guide technicaly is still "in production." although it is complete it is
not "finished." I will be working on it for a long time to come so just be a
little patient. If you want to submit anything, that will help to move the guide
toward completion as well.


Q: My friend did this before you!

A: Good for them but as far as I am concerned I was the one that brought the run
public. I do not consider it my idea because it stemmed from my forgetfullness.
Besides, this is for fun, not glory.


Q: Then why did you write this FAQ/Walkthrough?

A: To help people who may be struggling through the run because let's face it...
it's not easy.


Q: Pie?

A: Yep ^_^


Q: How long did it take you to write the guide?

A: Well I started on the 12th of March and completed it on the 24th (v1.0). I
got very sidetracked that's why the days seem so bad. but as for hourage spent
on the guide I have racked up about 12 hours as of now.


Q: Any tips for first time FAQ Writers?

A: well this is my first and I'm still learning bubt here are some basic ones.

1. Make sure to read over the whole guide after you finish it. It may seem like
a daunting task, and even for this FAQ it was but it pays off in the end because
you spot previously missed mistakes.

2. Make a list of what yo want to include and what you need to include and do
all of it. Just try not to repeat your work. it becomes a chore to clean up.

3. FOCUS!! Never let a FAQ become 2nd burner. Put aside a weekend to write a FAQ
and start and finish it then an there. or plan out a schedule like you would a
book or even a school report. It pays off.

4. Ask around the forums for people who have written FAQ's and let them review
yours. They'll give you more feedback then anyone.

Besides that it's pretty much the same as playing a game. Just more labour
intensive.

================================================================================
0007. Credits and Contact Info
================================================================================

Guide Written solely by XWingMitch0 (Mitchell Brooks)
Thanks to www.network-science.de/ascii for the title ascii art.
Thanks to Sony for another Great game!
And Thanks to David Jaffe and his Team. It wouldn't have been done without all
of You!!!

If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me at:

Xwinger992@yahoo.com

or

AIM: FdUaCwKoIrSd

Please state in the subject that it is in relation to this Guide or I will not
acknowledge the email or IM.

Although I am rarely on AIM I do check my email at least twice a day so I will
try and get back to you as soon as is humanly possible.



================================================================================
0008. Legal
================================================================================

This Guide is the sole property and Copyright 2006 of Mitchell Brooks
The only parties outside of the author allowed to display this Guide ae as
follows unless permission is granted otherwise.

www.gamefaqs.com
www.gamespot.com
www.neoseeker.com
www.stuckgamer.com