Kingdom Hearts: World's Strongest A Tactical Guide By GreenRunner Version 0.3b 22/9/02 Recent Updates: Version 0.3b -Checked and added to contributions from my first round of contributor emails. Thanks everybody! oh and if I ever get your name wrong in any way be sure and let me know. -Added the Leon Section -Dropped in my tips for fighting mobs -Added a section on Guard Armor Table of Contents 1. Introduction -Stuffs you should know about this FAQ. Contains definitions of my personal jargon. 2. General Tactics -Tactics for maximizing Sora, Goofy and Donald's potential 3. Heartless Tactics -Tactics for defeating the hordes of Heartless 4. Boss Tactics -Tactics for Taking on the Bosses Darkside Alpha Darkside Beta Darkside Gamma Leon Guard Armor 5. Optional Boss Tactics -Tactics for fighting optional enemies Tidus Selphie Wakka FF Trio Riku 6. Administratia -Version History, credits, etc. 1. Introduction This guide is designed to make you a better fighter in Kingdom Heart's, maybe even the World's Strongest. Its designed as a guide to show every weakness of every opponent's every attack. Admittedly this project is a tad ambitious but I feel up to it. This Guide is designed to be used with Kingdom Hearts American Release on Expert Mode. To find enemies in this FAQ refer to the table of contents. If you do not know the name of the enemy, use the find command to search for the location. I will list the location of every Boss and Alternate enemies by world in their general description. Regular Heartless will not be listed in this manner. The names of the Heartless are listed in your journal along with a picture so there is no excuse not to have the name; plus many of the enemies appear in more then one spot making finding them by locale difficult. This guide will not contain any information regarding how to get equipment, solve puzzles, find secret areas etc. I will make recommendations of what equipment you should have but the are other better FAQs for this, CJayC's has my personal endorsement of the FAQs posted so far. I am working on the assumption that you have already beaten the game and know the basic mechanics, controls, and storyline of the game. On a similar note I will be giving no notice about spoilers so if you are paranoid about them stop reading now. I will not be covering the Mushrooms because Mecasim has already covered them superbly in his Mushrooming Hunting Guide. I do not have any access to exact HP numbers, MP Numbers etc of Bosses. It doesn't really matter in any case because you never get exact numbers in combat and the numbers are therefore useless. This is a work in progress so please feel free to email me with any information I missed variants on strategy etc. I'll be sure to test them out and then add and credit them if they merit my doing so. Check Administratia for email address etc. Some user notes. Whenever I talk about right hand or left hand I mean the actual character's perspective. So Tidus' right is the right if you were Tidus looking out. Always from the perspective of the subject. Counter and sidestep are my terms. There is no sidestep command in the game when I say sidestep I mean move or right or left far enough to avoid the attack. Counter does not necessarily refer to the ability Counter. It means use an opening right after an enemy attack to attack with whatever method you deem or that I tell you to use. Use context to differentiate. I refuse to answer questions about timing. I'll try and give you a general idea but frankly it is to hard to explain to someone without actually being right there. I will give you a guideline; it is up to you to work out the exact timing that works for you. So don't email me about it. A caveat to that is if there is some glaring signal then I will tell you but don't expect great detail. Do not email me asking about timing I will mostly likely print them out then burn them capeche? If you have tried and tried and a tactic and it absolutely does not work you may email me saying it doesn't work. I will do two things, first check the battle to make sure that I am right. Then I'll check the wording in the FAQ to make sure that my point is absolutely clear. Please disregard any jokes I make that are vague references to other things such as the title of this FAQ being a reference to the Dragonball Movie of the same name. It's annoying I know but you'll get over it and it keeps me sane. 2. General Tactics I. Sora Sora's biggest asset is the Keyblade. There is really no reason to rely on anything else. The magic is almost useless for anything except healing which Donald will do for you if configured correctly. Oh and the Summons have yet to help me in any meaningful way. So the best Keyblades are the ones with reach and high attack powers. The loss of one or two MP isn't a big deal,especially considering that later in the game your MP is practically limitless in small quantities due to the abilities MP Haste and MP Rage. With these two abilities you should almost always have the one MP necessary for Cure, making you nearly immortal. Concentrate on long combos and special abilities. Now I'll take a second to rate the abilities I have gained so far for Sora. Abilities (*s indicate strong abilities, -s represent poor abilities) Vortex Strike Does better damage then the thrust although it's a tad slower also will hit multiple enemies Aerial Sweep Nice ability that does good damage and is more accurate then trying to jump and hit the enemy yourself. Also has a nice radius of attack. Combo Plus More damage is good. Blitz* More Damage is...yeah...good Air Combo Plus Ditto Guard- Similar to Dodge Roll but crappier. Dodge Roll* Some enemy attacks are nearly impossible to avoid without this ability Counter* This ability is very nice since many strategies rely heavily on parrying enemy attacks. Berserk- Why would you ever let yourself be in a position to use this? Critical Plus A nice ability if you've got the AP for it but you can win without it. Scan Nice if you've got the AP but not really critical Second Chance* Second Chance means that if you take any damage while above 1 HP that would normally kill you you will be set to 1 hp instead. Making this ability great! Extra note, When Combined with Tinkerbell this makes you nearly invincible for as long as she is around! Thanks to CrzyKyle280 for both the ability clarification and the Tinkerbell tip. MP Haste* When combined with MP Rage you should have nearly infinite healing MP Rage* Ditto, except where it says MP rage, then think MP Haste Ars Arcanum Does nice damage but costs valuable MP. Also save MP for healing so use sparingly Ragnarok Better then Ars in my opinion. It's cheaper and still does fair damage. Some problem with the MP Drain Sonic Blade* It gets an * mostly because it is the best of the MP combos. The range allows you to pull off this move away from danger and it is cheaper the Ars. It does still cost MP though which is a nuisance. Trinity Limit- Only an idiot would sacrifice all that MP. Strike Raid Alright, thanks to heyxavier for prompting me to take another look at this.ability and maybe I was a little hard on it when I said that Fire was better but it still is not the best ability. HeyXavier, it is true that it is very useful for fighting groups of Heartless when they are mixed Flying and Land Based but its damage is still weak and against a mobile boss it will nearly always miss. Still not a great ability. Any Ability Regarding Treasure Sure you might as well if you've got the AP. But they won't help you win any fight really. II. Goofy Goofy is very useful later in the game for his MP Gift ability, which makes him a walking Mana Battery. Early on in the game he is useful to have tossing potions and ethers where they are needed. Since he is most useful as a healer he should be equipped with defensive shields and accessories. Set his AI to Conservative then up Support Actions to constantly and Shield Techniques to occasionally. Set his item use to reflect your economic situation. If you've got the money for 99 potions might as well have him using them. Abilities Rocket- Nope. He shouldn't be wasting MP using special attacks. Charge- Ditto Tornado- Ditto MP Gift* This ability is great. All that free Mana translates into MP Combos for Sora. Second Wind* Now if he dies you can run away till he revives, then he has even more mana to give you, yay! Second Chance A dead Goofy is no good to anyone MP Rage* and MP Haste* His MP is your MP. Berserk- Sora is much more useful for killing things. Cheer- Screw the Summons. Treasure Abilities Again they are nice if you're looking for goods. Scrap 'em if you need the AP for battle abilities. III. Donald Since Donald is weak and can't exactly "casts the spells that makes the peoples fall down" (Black Mage, 8-Bit Theater). Donald is useless as anything but bait until you get Cure. Then he is nice to have around for healing. Also his tendency to cast Stop constantly toward the end of the game was very nice. Other then that he will always be out of MP. Yeah a duck with a stick, reeaalll useful. I put Donald in manual and set him up like this. Regular Attacks: Frequently (Helps him keep up his mana) Offensive Magic: Occasionally Defensive Magic: Frequently Advanced Magic: Frequently Advanced magic Frequently HP Items: Emergency MP Items: Emergency With this setup he can be a real asset later on in the game. He can heal you freeing up mana for Sora's Magic Combos and Stop can keep you from getting swarmed by the Heartless. Abilities Berserk- Donald is weak and it sucks to be half-dead. MP Haste* and MP Rage* Infinite MP good. Second Chance Living good. Second Wind* All that extra HP and MP is really nice to have. Cheer- Summons are pretty, but not much else Treasure Abilities I've said it before and I'll say it again: Shinys are good! But they won't beat bosses bar Gil Toss. IV. Guest Characters I personally found them to be a useless set of slackers with the exception of Tarzan. He is useful for replacing Donald in the beginning. His attack power is way more useful then Donald's Offensive Spells. Maybe later on I will update this to give a rundown of the guest characters but don't bank on it. Just stick to the duck and the.... well, uh dog? 3. Heartless Tactics Alright, if you have been watching this FAQ as I update it you will realize that I am a huge liar. I claimed I would not work on this section until I had finished the boss section. That is now half true. I was fighting some heartless after overcoming Squall and I realized that I had a few quick group fighting tips to pass on. So I'm going to give those but I'm not going to go in depth about particular enemies until I finish the boss section. The camera is your greatest weakness, recognize it. The camera in this game is terrible. Learn a few tricks to make managing masses of enemies easier. Relax your eyes and do not focus intently on one enemy. This allows you to track more enemies at once and you will be less likely to be taken unawares. Keep an eye out for enemies preparing attacks and be ready to get out of the way. Anyone can wail away the trick is to not get pounded while you're doing it. On the same note watch enemies as they go off the screen. You won't be able to track their exact location but knowing that the annoying shadow is off to your left will allow you to reoreint and attack him that much faster if when you are ready to switch targets. Switch targets often. The heartless are a fairly mobile bunch and tend to come in droves. Don't focus on one enemy, chasing that one annoying Bandit across the screen through eight other enemies is not doing you any good. The same goes for unloading a combo on a shadow that is underground. You are much better off switching to a closer enemy and waiting for that annoying monkey to come back. Control your combos. Mashing the button will not make your combo execute any faster if you practice the timing of your combos. The extra control you get will allow you to more easily pull out of a combo to evade attacks. 4. Boss Tactics This is the Format that will be used for describing the bosses. Name Description of General strategy and any other useful info such as elemental weaknesses. Also prep notes on what you should have done or own before the battle to make things easier. Attack Attack 1-Type- Description and Phase it appears in Attack 2-Type- Description and Phase it appears in Phases Phase 1- Description and Strategy Phase 2- Description, Strategy and trigger Key Points- Brief overview of the important points A note on Phase and trigger: Phase is used to indicate when a Boss changes tactics. For instance after you do a certain amount of damage to Trickmaster he will start setting his torches on fire. That is a shift from Phase 1 to Phase 2 that is TRIGGERed by damage. See? A note on Attacks: The names of these attacks I've made up. They are in no way licensed or endorsed by Disney or Squaresoft. The names of the bosses have been taken from the journal within the game and are Disney and Squaresoft licensed. I created the attack names as a tool for describing strategies more easily. A note on Type: There are Four types and they all have to do with deflectability. Weak: This attack can be deflected and will stun the enemy. You will also awarded tech points. Strong: This attack can be deflected to prevent you from taking damage, but it will not stun the opponent. Strong* means that you get tech points but no stun, mostly ballistic abilities. Quick: This attack will happen faster then Sora can attack. This means the attack is very difficult to deflect. Whether quick is strong or weak is unlisted because they are so hard to pull off that I will need more time to research. Break: Even deflection cannot save you now. The enemies' attack will strike through Sora's attack. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Darkside This Boss you will have to fight three times. Since I am playing through the game while writing this FAQ I'll update his later forms when I get a chance to analyze them. Alpha Darkside This is the Darkside encountered in the dream world at the end of the stain glass path. He's a jobber. Plus you can die without penalty except a wounded pride and less experience. Since your equipment is predetermined I've got no prep tips for you. Attacks Vacuum Punch-Break- Darkside will rear back for just about ever then strike down hitting the ground and creating a dark spot. He's not really aiming at you but it doesn't hurt to be moving away from him while he's charging up. The pool of darkness will not hurt you but does spawn Shadows. Heart of Darkness-Weak*- Darkside will get on his knees. Then his heart crevice will begin pulsing purple light. He'll then shoot out an energy ball. He will do this twice more, then he will fire three balls at once. He will then stand back up. The second time he does Heart of Darkness he will shoot out three sets of three a set of five. Any subsequent attacks will follow the three triples then a five set pattern. Jeremy Ross, an email contributor, has pointed out that by simply standing behind Darkside directly between his feet none of the energy balls will ever hit you. This is much simpler, and easier then my previous method. If you are up for a little more danger you can try going for the tech points. You can deflect up to three of the fireballs via proper timing. That is by far the most dangerous option but it does deal extra damage to Darkside. If you stay directly in front of Darkside while doing it you will also get 3 tech points a shot, 1 for the deflection and two for striking darkside in the face. Take your pick. Phases Phase 1- Darkside's one and only phase is fairly easy. Dodge Vacuum Punch's initial strike then kill the shadows that pop up. Make sure you get all of them or they will be trouble when he uses Heart of Darkness. Also if you want to toss in some extra damage, hop on his charging hand while he is charging the Vacuum Punch. You can then wail away till he strikes the ground. You should have enough time while the hand is down to get in some strikes on the hand while dispatching the shadows. Just make sure you get all of the shadows before he begins Heart of Darkness. Darkside will alternate between Vacuum Punch and Heart of Darkness for the entire battle. Key Points- + Kill the Shadows as soon as they appear + Avoid the Heart of Darkness + Strike while he is charging up the Vacuum Punch and after he executes the Vacuum Punch Beta Darkside This is the Darkside that you fight on the beach of Destiny Islands. He is almost exactly the same as Alpha Darkside with one more attack. Just make sure you stock up on potions by beating up Riku (Riku is covered in the Optional Enemy section). You shouldn't really need them but they are free and it can't hurt. Attacks Vacuum Punch- See above Heart of Darkness- See above Purple Rain-Weak and Break- Darkside will plunge his left arm deep into the ground causing a shockwave which will radiate out across the ground. Make sure you jump up as the shockwave nears you because it covers a lot of ground so you can't run from it.. Darkside will stay down for about 3 seconds before he pulls a giant evil ball out of the ground. He will then toss this ball into the air. Then Energy balls will rain down slowly through Darkside's next couple of attack phases. These balls will always be trying to land on your head so make sure you are moving nearly constantly. Note that the giant ball he first pulls out of the ground will damage you. You can take some shots at his head while his arm is in the ground but be sure to get out of the way before he pulls it out. The purple "raindrops" are Weak, the giant ball of Evil is Break. Phases Phase 1- Same as Alpha Darkside simply avoid the Purple Rain during the latter half of the battle. Key Points- + Kill the Shadows as soon as they appear + Avoid the energy blasts + Strike while he is charging up the Vacuum Punch and after he executes the Vacuum Punch + Strike while he is preparing Purple rain, but get out before he starts to stand Gamma Darkside Not there yet, sorry. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Squall, aka Leon blech, appears outside of the Accessory shop in Traverse Town. If you want to know the truth this battle was responsible for huge delay between updates. He was giving me all sorts of headaches but I finally found a truly nice and easy trick for taking him to town. Try and get some Fire Rings if you can. The bonus defense and fire damage shielding is useful, protect rings make a fine substitute. Attacks Fireblast-Weak- This attack is easy to see coming and to deflect. Squall will stand and extend his hand. Simultaneously little red bits will swirl into his hand. Then he fire a fireball at you. This attack has some weird physics. It has a mild arc and will actually hit the ground very near you if you run away from Squall. This attack is very easy to dodge just be moving perpendicular until he fires then bam you are good to go. You can also move into attack by spiraling in toward him. That way when he fires the blast will still miss you and you should be close enough to unload a combo. You can also deflect this attack to stun him. Be warned the fireball is very fast, in fact I often swung while he was charging to get the timing right. Strikethrough-Weak- This is actually two attacks but he uses them together so often that they are practically a combo. The stroke is a simple over head attack. You can either deflect or jump aside. This attack executes very quickly making it tough to avoid. Jump diagonally when you hear him grunt or strike immediately. The other slash is a sweeping backhand. This attack takes much longer to execute. Squall will put his sword up and back, toward his left ear then make a U-shaped slash that ends up near his left ear. The real nuisance in this attack is that the U shape means you can be hit in the air by this strike if you jump toward his right arm. Always jump vertically or toward his left shoulder. Deflecting this attack is difficult, if you are standing too close to Squall you will hit him but not the strike which will then hit you. Squall uses these attacks together, in any order and also independently. Phases Phase 1- Squall very difficult for one reason, and one reason alone, he is a rock. Squall's attacks leave a fair number of openings. You can dart in after his Fireblast, you ca deflect his Strikethrough or you can jump over his strikethrough. The problem with any head on form of attack is that Squall does not stun and can counter through your combo. Squalls Strikethrough carries quite a wallop and unless you are a couple levels head with a really high defense you will not live through more then 4 of those. So how do you predict and evade this counter? The problem is that you don't. Squall is too fast and unpredictable (He can start with either overhead or straight across style attacks) to reliably attack head on. Sometimes he would hit me in the second strike of my combo, sometimes he would wait till the end. There was no reliable way to unload a combo after an evasion. Theoretically you could evade counter, hit once and run but this method leaves no margin for error and is ludicrously slow. Now for the trick. It's all about that mailbox. Remember how Fireblast moves in that strange arc? Well that means that Squall cannot fire it in a direct line in any direction but directly in front of him. Now Squalls preferred mode of movement is to jump very high and land near you and attack with Strikethrough or to walk right at you then use his Strikethrough. So here's what you do to prevent him from ever being able to attack through your combo. Jump on the mailbox and wait there. His Fireblast will be unable to hit you and Squall can't walk at you. This means he is forced to jump at you so wait for him to jump time it up right and hit him in the air. You should both land off of the mailbox by the time your combo is finished. You should then easily have enough time to run away before Squall can regroup for an attack. Simply repeat this strategy and Squall should never be capable of launching an attack that can harm you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guard Armor You'll find this guy in Traverse Town. He's pretty weak, weaker then Squall in my opinion. In terms of Prep I'd recommend you grab some Protect Chains from the Heartless or the Accessory Shop. Attacks Clatter Drop-Break- This ability is a simple attack to evade. All that happens is Guard Armor will charge up by squatting, rotating his helmet then leaping straight into the air. He will sort of fall to pieces in the air then land with a mild explosion. This attack is aimed at you in that if you are away from him he will jump in an arc and land on your head. The radius of this attack is limited to the area almost directly beneath Guard Armor. To avoid this attack simply jump before Guard Armor lands. Simply time up your jump to be leaping away from Guard Armor when he lands. Then rush back in to take advantage of his down time. Satellite Claws-Weak- This attack is Guard Armor's biggest weakness as far as I am concerned. Guard Armor will put his right arm back and up and his left arm almost directly in front of his torso. He stays that way for almost a full 2 seconds. Then he will start spinning his arms around his torso. He does this for just shy of 4 seconds, starting high and circling lower. This attack is easy to deflect. Simply get away from Guard Armor when he gets into his stance. Then when he starts spinning charge back toward him jump and strike. Guard Armor should be stunned and you get two tech points and an opening. As a quick note if you are directly under Guard Armor he will not be able to hit you with Satellite Claws but you will not be able to deflect it. This attack differs slightly when used by the hands alone and when Guard Armor has sent his feet off. In both of these situations the Rotating Claws will act exactly the same except that instead of standing still Guard Armor will come at you. The only thing you have to is adjust your timing accordingly. Wind Up One Two-Quick- This is an attack used by the claws when they are loose from the body. The arms will loop around twice, much like they were chasing each other then they will execute a one two punch combo where you were standing. This is because all you have to do is circle around the hands as they are winding up and this attack won't hit you. After they strike the grounds the hands will loop back up and circle one more time. This is not the beginning of another Wind Up One Two. If you've got some skills you can deflect this attack by attacking right as the pause after their second loop before they punch. It's really much simpler to get away though. Power March-Weak- This is an attack that is used by the feet when they are detached from the body. This attack is very simple to deflect and give yourself a great opportunity for some cheap shots on the feet. The feet will do a little back flip then start marching at you with high exxagerated steps. This attack has a vertical strike, the foot itself, and a ground shockwave, a little bluish circle that radiates outward when the foot comes down, both of which will do damage. Simply jump straight up and attack the lifted foot and you will deflect this attack. Then just rush up and lay the damage on thick. Blue Funk-Weak- This attack is just plain silly. When you've destroyed all his appendages the Guard Armor will do this attack. First he spins once clockwise, then once counter clockwise then he will spin around while rotating around an imaginary point. This attack is silly because it doesn't really come after you, spending most of its time wailing on Donald and Goofy. Simply let him spin himself out then attack. Repeat victory. When he gets the blue stuff around him you can attack him carefully without taking any damage. Simply attack but do not combo or else you will crash into him. Phases I'm going to throw a quick note in here about Guard Armor's phases. They have a pattern that is difficult to make clear by simply talking about triggers so I am going to discuss it here. this is how Guard Armor's phases go: Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 1, Phase 3, Phase1, Phase 4, Phase 1, Phase 2, etc. In short, he will first shoot out his arms that pull himself together, then shoot out his legs, then pull himself together, then he will shoot out both, then together again. He continues this phase pattern until you destroy either both his arms or both his legs. Then he will act as if he goes Phase 1, Phase 4, Phase 1, Phase 4. Only the Phase 4 will only have one set of appendages out. When all his appendages are destroyed he goes into Phased 5. Phew. Phase 1-All together- This is the Phase that Guard Armor will start in. Guard Armor will have all of his parts and will execute either Clatter Drop or Satellite Claws. Both of these attacks are easy to avoid and there are no real tricks. Simply keep your distance and react to either attack he tries. Both leave wide openings that you can use to load on some damage. You want to be concentrating on the appendages. The legs are easier to hit when he is stunned but I prefer to aim for the arms. The arms and legs are about equally as dangerous but I prefer to concentrate on the arms because they give me more trouble during the Floater Phase. That's a personal choice though, it is much quicker to hit the legs when Guard Armor is stunned because they are less mobile. Phase 2-No hands- This phase is just triggered by time. After Guard Armor has executed two or three attacks he will flip both his hands then they will pop off. Now this phase is much more tricky then Phase 1. Now Guard Armor will continue to stomp around doing the occasional Clatter Drop. While at the same time the hands will float around doing either Wind Up One Two or Satellite Claws. You should try and keep the arms between you and Guard Armor so that you can see him prepare his Clatter Drop. The Satellite Claws attack will have the same give away, right arm back left arm forward, except the body won't be there. Continue concentrating on the arms. The reason is that because it is easy to avoid Clatter Drop by jumping and executing a combo on the arms when Guard Armor takes to the air. The other advantage is that by destroying the arms you a.)eliminate his ability to execute Satellite Claws, and to send them out after you, you must break both arms to prevent either of these attacks. b.) Every appendage shoots out health balls when it is destroyed which is a huge help since you are devoid of curing spells and potions are expensive. When both hands do little backflips it means that Guard Armor is just about to return to Phase 1. Phase 3-Floater- This phase is also triggered by time. After Guard armor has executed Phase3 and then Phase 1 again he will go into Phase 3 Guard Armor will do two short little hops then his legs will pop off. In this phase it is imperative that you keep the legs between you and Guard Armor this will allow you to see when Guard Armor is charging up for Satellite Claws, as I've mentioned about 8000 times already Satellite Claws will home in on you which can be a real headache if you don't see it coming. He'll also execute Clatter Drop just so you know, watch out and be in the air.. As long as you are keeping that in mind all you have to do is keep deflecting Power March and attacking the feet while they are immobile. I highly recommend deflecting Power March instead of running away from it has otherwise when Guard Armor does Satellite Claws it will be difficult to escape. Aside from that its same old strategy. Deflect the legs, attack the legs, swerve and deflect Satellite claws then attack whatever suits your fancy. Phase4- Self Locomotion- That's a Bed Knobs and Broomsticks reference for all of you who grew up with that movie. So anyway in this Phase Guard Armor will send out all his available appendages. He'll shake all his appendages right before he sends them out. I recommend just keeping some distance between you and every part of Guard Armor because between the three of them they will be executing all of his attacks except Blue Funk almost simultaneously. The easiest way is to take off your camera lock and run around the outside of the area. Then whenever an attack is coming your way lock on and deflect it then continue running away. The exception is obviously Clatter Drop which you should simply jump to avoid and Wind Up One Two which just requires you to keep running. Guard armor will retract the arms and legs eventually then return to his easier phases. He'll shake the arms and legs right before they retract. Phase5- It's Just A Flesh Wound- Monty Python reference. So this phase is really silly it happens right after you destroy all of his appendages. Just refer to the Blue Funk section under attacks. Victory is yours. Blue Funk is the only attack that Guard Armor will use in this phase. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Non-Essential Boss Tactics This is the Format that will be used for describing the bosses. Name Description of General strategy and any other useful info such as elemental weaknesses. Also prep notes on what you should have done or own before the battle to make things easier. Attack Attack 1-Type- Description and Phase it appears in Attack 2-Type- Description and Phase it appears in Phases Phase 1- Description and Strategy Phase 2- Description, Strategy and trigger Key Points- Brief overview of the important points A note on Phase and trigger: Phase is used to indicate when a Boss changes tactics. For instance after you do a certain amount of damage to Trickmaster he will start setting his torches on fire. That is a shift from Phase 1 to Phase 2 that is TRIGGERed by damage. See? A note on attacks: The names of these attacks I've made up. They are in no way licensed by Disney or Squaresoft. The names of the bosses have been taken from the journal within the game and are Disney and Squaresoft licensed. I created the attack names as a tool for describing strategies more easily. A note on Type: There are Four types and they all have to do with deflectability. Weak: This attack can be deflected and will stun the enemy. Strong: This attack can be deflected to prevent you from taking damage, but it will not stun the opponent. Quick: This attack will happen faster then Sora can attack. This means the attack is difficult to deflect. Like if an enemy uses it while you are comboing something else. Whether quick is strong or weak is unlisted because they are so hard to pull off that I will need more time to research. Break: Even deflection cannot save you now. The enemies' attack will strike through Sora's attack. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Tidus He's floating around on the Destiny Islands and is pretty damn easy. He's only got three attacks and no phases. Attacks Slash-Weak-He swings his stick ooh scary. This attack is easily recognized because it his only horizontal strike. He'll put his sword to the right and then bring it across his chest in a forehand sweep. As soon as he puts back his hand attack and you'll deflect his blow. Use this opportunity to unload a combo. Rising Strike-Strong- Tidus will occasional use this move that is backflip uppercut slash. If you attempt a leaping attack on Tidus when he is not prone he will use this uppercut style move and it will deflect your attack. He will also use it occasionally in close quarters. You can either sidestep or deflect this attack. Sidestepping is infinitely better as it allows you to unload a combo on him. You can recognize this move because Tidus will drop his sword back and low right before attacking. Falling Strike-Strong- This attack is the inverse of Rising strike. Tidus will do a front flip with an overhead vertical strike. This attack appears in two places; first it will some times follow his Rising Strike. Secondly it will appear after he cartwheels away from you. When it follows the Rising strike it is simply executed where he stands. When it follows the backward cartwheel he will lung toward you then execute the strike. If it follows the Rising Strike you should have already side stepped and be hitting him. To avoid it when it follows the cartwheel simply circle him when he cartwheels backward. The strike is not quick enough to hit you if you are moving perpendicular to Tidus as he lunges. Then quickly about face after the strike to unload a combo. Phases Phase 1- Basically Tidus' attacks are random. Simply pay close attention to the beginning of his attacks so you can see predict them, then respond with the appropriate counter. Rising Strike and Slash will both be used at close quarters while Falling Strike is used when you are at a distance or when it follows Rising Strike. You should have no trouble beating this poor incarnation of Tidus. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Selphie Found on Destiny Islands Selphie is a weak opponent. No prep. Attacks Sweeping Leaves-Quick- This is Selphie's basic close quarters attack. She'll draw her Nun-chucks back away from her body, toward her left ear, then swing across her body in a downward sweeping motion to strike low in the front. This attack has a 180-degree radius of attack directly in front of her. The easiest way to avoid this attack is to jump over it then attack. Then unload your combo, either from the air or the ground. You'll have the time to land and then execute a combo which is better because you are more likely to finish the combo. Snapper-Weak- In this attack Selphie will lung forward and strike in an overhand whipping motion. If you want you can simply sidestep and then attack. The best option however is to deflect this attack. When she first lunges, before the purple streak appears, strike. You should deflect her attack but don't immediately combo. Instead wait for her Nun-chunk to swing back and bonk her on the head, you'll get an extra tech point. Then strike her down with righteous fury. I mean, unload your combo. Get Ready! Twirl-Weak- This is a ridiculously easy attack to avoid. Selphie will yell Get Ready! then start swinging her Nun-chucks around her body 7 times while charging after you. Avoid the temptation to run, jump or get out of the way. Instead use your offense as your defense. Use your lunging stab and you will deflect this attack or hit Selphie, either way you will not take damage and can unload a combo. Phase Phase 1- Much like Tidus she simply uses her attacks depending on what distance she is at. When you are far away she will either use Snapper or Get Ready! Twirl. When she is close she will mostly likely run away or use Sweeping Leaves. Watch carefully, evade, then attack. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Wakka Wakka is also found on Destiny Islands and is probably the weakest of the FF trio. No prep. Attacks Striker-Weak- Wakka rears back then throws his ball at you. You have two options. The first is to simply curve around toward him. As he is rearing back angle as if you were going about and inch or two toward his right or left. Then almost right after the ball is thrown cut straight in and attack Wakka. Alternatively you can strike the ball in air. It will then fly back and hit Wakka if you are close enough. Wakka will then be stunned and execute Derp Ball! two times in a row. This is your chance, strike him down with all of your anger (Emperor Palipatane, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi). Derp Ball!-Weak- Not exactly an attack per se. If you deflect Blitz Wakka will stumble around tossing the ball in huge rainbow arcs at you. You should never be hit by this attack. Just rush in and attack. Aerial Power Striker-Strong- Wakka will leap into the air and hurl the ball at you complete with neat blue fire trail. Simply avoid this attack by jumping sidestepping or whatever makes you comfortable. You can hit it back at him much like Striker however it rarely, if ever hits him for a stun. The reason is because when you strike the ball it heads directly for Wakka, since he is in the air he is a moving target and the ball will sail harmlessly past him. Occasionally if you are at the right distance you will hit it as he is landing. That pause during the landing will give the ball time to hit him. If you simply evade chances are you will not be able to retaliate because Wakka does this attack from far away and it is the ball is faster then Striker. Tidal Spin-Break- This attack is executed very quickly and hits in a full 360-degree circle. It cannot be deflected. Wakka will use this attack if you get in close to him. He rears back right before he spins. Run away you'll be fine, do not jump often times you will be hit by the trailing end of the attack. Phases Phase 1- Wakka differs from the other FF Trio in that only one of his attacks easily counterable. That attack is Striker, if he uses either of his other attacks you are best off simply dodging and waiting for him to use Striker which he does 2 out of three times. Striker and Aerial Power Striker are executed from a distance while Tidal Spin is only activated when you get in close. Note, Wakka will not use tidal spin if you charge in quickly after Striker or when he is stunned from having Striker deflected. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Final Fantasy Trio After defeating all of the FF Trio individually you can talk to Tidus and fight all three at once. The battle is very tough it will take a couple of tries. One of the more difficult battles in the game in my opinion. Especially since you can't just level your way out of the problem. Well you can but it's not very easy. In any case here's the breakdown. I might even recommend waiting till day two on the islands so that you can get the Protect Chain. Attacks No one has any new attacks. They all use the same attacks as before only now they will do it all together. Phases Phase 1- Immediately run between Selphie and Wakka slightly closer to Wakka. Your lock on should put you to Wakka, keep running till Wakka winds up to use Striker then turn and deflect with a bit of luck you'll stun Selphie as well. Now you have a good five or six second opening where it's only Tidus and Selphie against you. Focus on Selphie first because her attacks have a lot of range and sweep. She'll hit you often from off screen which is a nuisance and if you hear Get Ready! you have to knock her out of it or she WILL hit you. Tidus on the other hand will use mostly Rising and Falling Strike which are easier to avoid while focusing on Selphie. As a general rule you want to be constantly moving since this prevents crowding. This will also help you avoid being hit by Tidus or Wakka while you are hitting Selphie. Make sure Tidus is to the side of you when you let Selphie have a combo. That way his Rising and Falling Strikes will be useless against you. If he is in front of or behind you during a combo he will hit you with them knocking you out of your combo. You want to be moving perpendicular to Tidus. Depending on what stats you made for your character you should be able take Selphie down before Wakka recovers. Selphie seems to have lost all counter ability in this battle so just keep wailing away once you've knocked her down once. The stride in your combo should keep you away from most damage while you are beating Selphie. If you didn't make Sora strong then take breaks to runaway and stun Wakka anytime you hear him start throwing again, he makes a hah sound. Carry on till Selphie goes down. Then stun Wakka again and it is practically the same as fighting Tidus alone. Once Wakka is all that is left use the same strategy from before. If you are having trouble stunning Wakka in the beginning simply circle around him until Tidus and Selphie execute an attack at nearly the same time. Then they should be far enough from you for you to have an opening to stun Wakka. This is not nearly as effective because Tidus and Selphie will most likely hit you a lot while you are running in circles. Enjoy your potion. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Riku You can fight Riku up on the circular island in Destiny Islands. He's really tough if you aren't paying attention and effectively countering his attacks. Lilting Slash-Strong- In this attack Riku pivots on his leading foot and spins to attack from his left in a horizontal sweep. This attack has a 270 radius hitting every but his back right. This attack has a verbal cue in that he yell hah as he begins the actual slash. His sword moves slightly more in front of his chest as he winds up. Then as the move begins his the move but he yells hah which is a dead give away. Either deflect then attack or evade by moving to his right then attack. He uses this move both independently and as a third strike after Tousai. He likes to use it right after he jumps and sometimes when he's just walking around. Tousai-Weak- This is Riku's basic combo. He pulls his sword back toward his right ear then strikes across his body toward his foot. Then he will pause for a fraction of a second and swing across his body back toward his right ear. Just deflect this as he is pulling back for the first strike then attack. You should never see the second slash. If he executes it from far away, and you can't deflect in time, know that he will almost always follow up with Lilting Slash. Kip Up Kick-Strong- This is Riku's most deadly move and it gets almost everyone killed. When Riku gets knocked down he curls up then vaults in the direction his feet are facing. This attack does incredible damage and is hard to avoid because unless you are at a dead stop when he goes over you won't be able to evade. You can deal damage to him while he is down but it is hardly a fair trade. Just get out of the way. If you are looking for a true challenge try synching up your combo to deflect his Kip Up Kick it's tough but not wholly impossible. Not for the dexteritially challenged. He rocks slightly before attacking. Do Re Mi Counterstrike-Quick\Weak- In this attack Riku stands still and taunts you while holding his sword across his body. If you attack you will be deflected. Usually Riku lets you attack three times then he yells "My Turn!" and attacks with an overhead vertical strike. Sometimes he will counter on the first or second strike but that is rare. It's caused by not hitting him three times during a previous Do Re Mi, because it is a cumulative three. For instance if you hit him once while he was guarding then ran away till he came out of guard stance then the next time he goes into Do Re Mi he will attack on the second strike of that round. Just hit and pause then repeat until he counters it's just safer. Now this move is listed as Quick\Weak because you can counter the overhead slash but it is VERY hard to time. Sidestepping is much more reliable and still allows you to unload your combo. Thrust-Weak- A basic thrust attack that is deflectable. First he'll reset his feet; it looks like a little shuffle. As he's doing that he'll pull his sword back away from his body then he lunges forward very much like Sora's lunge. Sidestep this attack because unless you are very far away this attack acts like as if it were Quick. He rarely uses this move but just be aware. Phases Phase 1- Riku fights much like the other children on the island only with more variety and deadly kick counter. Here's how the battle should go. Hold still when the battle starts and Riku should jump and land directly behind you. He'll then execute a Lilting Slash. Counter however you see fit and count how many times you hit him. This means you here the solid thunk sound and get the orange misty looking stuff that indicates a landed blow. It is very important that you keep count. Now he will jump or walk around for bit. Just keep tracking him and be ready to counter whatever attack he uses. Now when you counter his next attack after your fourth blow,counting the blows from the last combo, that is successfully landed get the hell out of the way. After every fourth hit Riku will fall down then execute his Kip Up Kick which is super deadly. When he jumps up on the tree and taunts you do not attack him. He block or counter but it messes up the Kip Up Kick count somehow. Just wait him out. Almost all of his attacks also have huge pauses after they are executed so if he executes while far away charge in and land a few good shots. Now simply continue countering being careful not to get hit by the Kip Up Kick. Riku is vulnerable after all of his attacks so just be patient and you can easily defeat him without being touched. Key Points +Keep close count of your attacks +Stick with him and counter +Don't hit him while he is on the tree ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.Administratia Credits Thanks to Jun for a.) Loaning me the money to buy my PS2 and b.) for helping me with the Japanese. Without him this FAQ would never have been at all. Hmmm Squaresoft maybe? I can also credit my roommates who are a constant source of criticism nagging and annoyance. But who are also the source of a lot of useful info like how to use this "com-pu-tar" thing. Extra kudos to Rob for posting this in his webspace. Email Info You can contact me with questions ideas etc. at Greenrunner@saintly.com Version history Version 0.1b -Put in all the information for Destiny Islands then had to sleep and go to class. -Riku, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, FF Trio added -Darkside Alpha and Beta Added -Came to realization that this level of detail will require time. Bear with me. Version 0.2b -Fixed the formatting (I hope) thanks to a new text editor -Cleaned up my writing to make it more clear yay Proofreading. an this was unclear before. -Added some info about Darkside Beta -Added to Table of Contents Copyright Information This Document is copyright GreenRunner 2002. No one may alter, reproduce or post this in anyway without direct consent from me the author. Instead of distributing it simply let people know about GameFAQs much easier and more useful for your friends. Do not forget to get permission from GameFAQs first. Feel free to email me with "Copyright" in the subject if you do really want to reproduce or distribute this FAQ. I will check your email then respond within 3 business days.