--------------------------------- Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories Advanced Deck Building Guide --------------------------------- Written by: 9°Kirsdarke! Table of Contents Part A: In the beginning... A.0 Version History A.1 About this Guide Part B: Advanced Building Basics B.0 Leveling Up B.1 The Keyblades B.2 Magic and Summons B.3 Item Cards B.4 Enemy Cards B.5 Premium Cards B.6 Sleights Part C: Building your Deck C.0 Deck Styles C.1 What 0 can do for you C.2 Making the right choices C.3 The Boss Deck Part D: The Conclusion D.0 Contact Info D.1 Credits D.2 Legal Stuff +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part A: In the beginning... +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Well you know what happened next. -------------------- A.0 Version History -------------------- 9/26/06 Version 1.0 Original Gamefaqs submission. --------------------- A.1 About this Guide --------------------- Welcome to my second guide! This guide goes out to all the tired, frustrated and downright murderous people the Chain of Memories tends to create. I am here to (hopefully) save the day and save you from yourself. Also please this is my first crack at writing a guide to help people play a game better. I've worked very hard to ensure that this guide is as good as possible. If however you have played this game and disagree with my tactics, I would like you to let me know. Preferably in the nicest way possible. I like to listen to all opinions concerning my tactics. PLEASE note this is NOT a deck list! All of the tactics below are to HELP you build the ultimate deck by providing all of the info you need to make good card choices, and also some strategies to help you build with what cards you've got. Now that I've said my piece here's where you start the copy/paste. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part B: Advanced Building Basics +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Advanced basics? I believe that's an oxymoron... ---------------- B.0 Leveling Up ---------------- Since Chain of Memories revolves around your deck, leveling up does not play as huge a role as it normally does in other RPG's. However leveling up should neither be neglected nor ignored. The choices you make early in the game will have a huge impact on the way you will battle the later bosses. Every time you level up, you are given the choice between one of three options: Level up HP, Level up CP, or learn new sleight. As I said the decisions you make will affect you greatly in the end. Leveling up HP increases your Hit Points by 15. Obviously this is good because it means that Sora can take more damage than he could before. Leveling up CP increases your Card Points by 25. This allows you to have either more cards or better ones. Sleight allows you to learn a new combo that can then be used in battle. It's worth noting that even if you know a certain sleight combo, it cannot be used in battle until you learn it in the game. So now that you know what each option does, what do you do now? Well first every time you are given the option of learning a new sleight, do it. Sleights are more powerful that basic attacks and thusly increase your battle strength immediately. If for some reason you miss a sleight don't panic. The game keeps the sleight there for you to learn until you want to. All other sleights you could have learned in that time are then stacked up so you can learn them all in a row. If for some reason you find a sleight you don't want and try to avoid it for later and better sleights you can forget that right now. The game does not pick and choose the order that you learn new sleights so trying to skip Slide Dash until you want to learn Ragnarok simply won't work. Sorry :) So how does do I decide between HP and CP? Well many people think that the best way to go is a 1:1 HP to CP ratio is best because it's the most balanced. Although this technique works fine early on, it's inherent weaknesses become very obvious way to late. I very strongly recommend at least a 1:3 HP to CP ratio. Well hear me out. As I've said, the main theme of the game is cards. CP controls the number and power of cards you can have in your deck. If you have more CP then you can have more cards. The lack of HP that you have late in the game is easily surpassed by the strength of your deck. The problem with a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio is that late in the game you'll be acquiring some great cards. However your lack of CP severely limits the number of cards you can have and even the strength. A deck full of Ultima Weapons costs a significant amount of CP more than a deck full of say Olympia. If you've been religious about staying 1:1 you are not going to have anywhere near the CP required to have a high level, high strength and or a high number of cards. You're pretty much going to have to pick between one of those three as to what kind of deck you want. But wait... I don't have any HP! So back to this point. While many see lack of HP as a game killer, a good player sees a great advantage in it. It's true: less HP means you can take less damage from enemies and requires a much faster response time to danger. If you haven't trained up your own game skills you might have a very tough time with this. I wouldn't recommend you try this on your first playthru of the game. If you're on your second or third you're probably good. Other than quickly responding to dangerous health problems the other skill you need is the skill to avoid the damage in the first place. Read up on tough boss battles before you fight them to get an idea of the attacks a boss uses and how to dodge them. Avoiding damage is the best way to heal it! But if you've got the skills then this route should make this game much easier. With the lack of HP comes a huge surplus of CP. As I'm about to explain later in this guide that CP is going to make you invincible. ------------------ B.1 The Keyblades ------------------ Since Sora does not have a strength stat his actual physical strength is instead determined by his cards. Each Keyblade in the game has it's own strengths and weaknesses that should be carefully weighed and evaluated before you add it to your deck. For example: The Ultima Keyblade is the most physically powerful card in the game. A deck full of these would cut down any enemy in a matter of seconds. However Ultima costs a huge amount of CP so you may be severely limited as to the number of cards you have. Conversely the Kingdom Key costs hardly any CP. So you could have deck with very little CP that has a lot of cards. However the Kingdom Key is the weakest card in the game and makes battles very long and potentially frustrating. Here's a list of all of the Keyblades in the game with all of their stats: ------------ ------------ Kingdom Key Spellbinder ------------ ------------ Location: Default Keyblade Location: Hundred Acre Wood, Owl Strike: D+ Strike: D+ Thrust: D+ Thrust: A Combo Finish: D+ Combo Finish: D+ Swing Speed: B Swing Speed: C Element: Psychical Element: Lightning Break Recovery: B Break Recovery: A CP: S Required CP: B ------------- -------------- Three Wishes Metal Chocobo ------------ -------------- Location: Agrabah Location: Olympus Coliseium Strike: C+ Strike: C+ Thrust: D+ Thrust: C+ Combo Finish: B Combo Finish: B+ Swing Speed: A Swing Speed: C Element: Physical Element: Neutral Break Recovery: B Break Recovery: B Required CP: A Required CP: B --------- -------- Crabclaw Olympia --------- -------- Location: Atlantica Location: Olympus Colesium Strike: C Strike: C+ Thrust: C Thrust: D+ Combo Finish: B+ Combo Finish: B Swing Speed: B Swing Speed: C Element: Physical Element: Physical Break Recovery: S Break Recovery: A Required CP: B Required CP: A ------------ ---------- Pumpkinhead Lionheart ------------ ---------- Location: Halloween Town Location: Traverse Town Strike: C+ Strike: B Thrust: C+ Thrust: B Combo Finish: D+ Combo Finish: B Swing Speed: B Swing Speed: D Element: Physical Element: Fire Break Recovery: A Break Recovery: A Required CP: A Required CP: B ----------- ---------- Fairy Harp Lady Luck ----------- ---------- Location: Neverland Location: Wonderland Strike: C+ Strike: C+ Thrust: C+ Thrust: C+ Combo Finish: C Combo Finish: D+ Swing Speed: S Swing Speed: A Element: Physical Element: Physical Break Recovery: B Break Recovery: B Required CP: B Required CP: A ------------- ------------ Wishing Star Divine Rose ------------- ------------ Location: Monstro Location: Hollow Bastion Strike: C Strike: A Thrust: C Thrust: D+ Combo Finish: D+ Combo Finish: C Swing Speed: A Swing Speed: A Element: Physical Element: Physical Break Recovery: A Break Recovery: C Required CP: A Required CP: B ----------- ----------------- Oathkeeper One-Winged Angel ----------- ----------------- Location: Destiny Islands Boss Location: Twilight Town after Sora game Strike: B Strike: C Thrust: S Thrust: C Combo Finish: B+ Combo Finish: S Swing Speed: B Swing Speed: A Element: Physical Element: Fire Break Recovery: B Break Recovery: C Required CP: C Required CP: C --------- -------------- Oblivion Ultima Weapon --------- -------------- Location: H between 12th and 13th Location: Castle Oblivion after Riku game Strike: A Strike: S Thrust: A Thrust: S Combo Finish: D Combo Finish: A Swing Speed: C Swing Speed: B Element: Neutral Element: Physical Break Recovery: A Break Recovery: B Required CP: C Required CP: D ------------- Diamond Dust ------------- Location: Castle Oblivion after Sora game Strike: B+ Thrust: B+ Combo Finish: B Swing Speed: S Element: Ice Break Recovery: S Required CP: C Other than CP requirements, There are three other important factors to consider when adding a card: Level, Swing Speed and Card Order. Many new players get caught up in only having high level cards in your deck. The theory being a deck of all level 9s is practically unbeatable because there is almost no chance of card breaks. But this is very untrue. A well placed low level attack card can reek some serious havoc on an enemy and give your deck a great strength boost. In the beginning of the game when you are limited to only 2 or 3 Keyblades, the best method is to have a deck filled with the highest level cards you have. As you get some new attack cards with greater strength add them in spaced out in your deck. Eventually you should have all of your weak cards completely gone; replaced by high level strong cards. Another very important factor to consider in a card is swing speed. Cards like Lionheart and Olympia possess strong attack, but both are fairly slow. This leaves you wide open for a card break or for the enemy to get away. These cards are the exception to the low level/high strength rule because of their ease to be broken and you'll be defenseless. Fast cards are strong cards. The final important consideration is the card order. Each card has a strength for thrust, strike and combo finish. This is convenient because all of Sora's combos are three hit combos. So se this knowledge to your advantage! Don't put an Oblivion at the end of a combo because it's not going to do anywhere near the damage it should. Put it either at the beginning or middle of a combo where it's going to do the most good. If in battle your three card combos get thrown off just do a one or two hit combo to get your balance back. ---------------------- B.2 Magic and Summons ---------------------- I'll bottom line this: Magic and Summons are the worst cards in Chain or Memories. Sorry if you love them; this guide is about to get alot less fun for you. Unlike Keyblades, magic power does not change depending on your level, the cards level, what day of the week it is, ect. The ONLY thing that makes a magic card more powerful is stacking 2 or 3 of them in a sleight. Already that puts these cards at a huge disadvantage because you already need 3 cards to equal the power of 1 attack. This eventually hogs up a lot of your CP. Also all of these cards make shuffling through to the magic cards you do need a huge pain in the a.. (ahem) The other huge factor is that later bosses are all resistant to almost all of the magic cards. So having a deck full of Firaga and Blizzagas isn't going to do you much good against a boss that is totally resistant to them. So do you like any magic cards at all? I'm glad I rhetorically asked! As a matter of fact there are a few magics I can't get enough of! First is Cure. Obvious. If you're taking the CP route you're going to need a lot of these. I say for every 2 worlds you visit add at least one Cure card. That way you always have enough Cure's to perform Curaga. My second favorite magic is Cloud. Cloud is about to become the most important card in your deck. I love Cloud for his sleight, Omnislash. In this sleight he flies around the ring and deals three massive blows to enemies in front of Sora. A few Omnislashes can very quickly cut a full health boss down in no time. Put as many in your deck as possible: you'll be glad you did! The other two optional magics are Tinkerbell and Simba. When you summon Tinkerbell she automatically stays with Sora and heals his HP at set intervals. This can be a huge help if you're facing a very fast boss and you don't normally react in time to heal yourself. Simba is the other magic card I'd use. When summoned he stuns/damages all enemies in front of Sora. While this isn't much good against bosses it can make regular enemy battles far quicker and less annoying. --------------- B.3 Item Cards --------------- Like Premium cards, Item cards are one time use only cards. All of the item cards have effects designed to quickly get your cards back. Potions reload attack cards, Ethers reload magics and Elixirs reload all of your cards. These cards can be a huge advantage in your deck because they a) save you the trouble of reloading, b) can reload cards marked as un-reloadable and c) reset your reload counter. If you have the CP its best to have at least one of these in your deck. ---------------- B.4 Enemy Cards ---------------- Enemy cards are cards dropped randomly at the end of regular battles or after many boss battles. Each enemy card reflects the strengths of that particular Heartless. How long they last generally changes depending on the cards. Some last for a certain amount of reloads, others for a certain number of card uses. And even others affect sleights. I think these cards are the most overlooked cards in the game. Many of these cards have amazing effects that can instantly turn the tide of battle in your favor. My favorite is Vexen which bestows Auto-Life, which does exactly what it's name suggests. Other than Vexen it's best to use cards that reflect your own personal strengths/weaknesses. One of my most common uses is Card Soldiers which increases the swing speed for your cards. The choice is basically yours. ------------------ B.5 Premium Cards ------------------ Premium Cards are one time use only cards. Basically after you use a Premium once in battle it will not come back the next time you reload. The only way to recover Premiums is to use an item card that reloads all of your cards. So if it's one time use only why bother? Hmm good point. Well there are several advantages to using Premium cards. First Premium cards cost significantly less CP so obviously they take up less room in your deck. The second reason they are so great are for sleights. Remember that in a sleight the first card used in that sleight is marked as un-reloadable? Well, why not use a Premium card? Premium cards do great as sleight starters because they cost less and save your other non-premium cards for later. Also if you use a premium card later in a sleight it is NOT marked as un-reloadable. So even a sleight with 3 Premiums will only lose one card. So how does this apply to my deck? The greatest use of Premium cards is in magic sleights. Think; you normally use 3 magic cards in combination automatically to make your magics cards more powerful. So by using Premium cards you can have a huge number of Cure and Cloud cards and hardly use any CP. Doesn't that just make you warm and tingly inside :) ------------- B.6 Sleights ------------- So as I've said, sleights are more powerful versions of your attacks. Since they are more powerful attacks in theory they should be very powerful additions to your deck. For the most part this is true. However... Sleights can be hard to use. First because most of the powerful sleights require very small total values. Ragnarok uses a value of 7-9. So in a high level deck this requires 2 0s and 1 high level card. This gets even more tricky when you try to do Ars Arcanum, which requires a 1-6. Also sleights use up your attack cards. If you use too many sleights in one boss battle, you are going to be in a massive amount of trouble. And since later bosses all have a large number of 0s and use sleights of their own many of your sleights end up being broken and your cards wasted. Other than magic sleights, I cannot come up with any good tactics for sleights. Consider this one a personal call as to whether you use these or not. ------------------- B.7 Aquiring Cards ------------------- Now that you know what kinds of cards there are, where/how do you get them? Well thats not the real question; the real one is how much time are you ready to waste on this game. There's 3 basic ways to get cards. 1 is through certain events in the story. 2 is randomly found in Treasure Spots in each of the worlds. What cards you find change depending on which world you're in. #3 is a real doozy: Moogle Shops. Depending on what type of person you are, you may spend hours and hours on end saving for Moogle Shops. In order to purchase cards from a Moogle Shop you need both a Moogle Room card and Moogle Points. While the Room cards can only be found at the end of a battle, Moogle Points are truly what you are gonna hate. Moogle Points appear randomly at Treasure Spots like cards do. The best thing I can say about this is that every time you leave and re-enter a room the Treasure Spots all reset, making it possible to keep collecting points. The best rooms for Points are large rooms: Teeming Darkness, Looming Darkness and Almighty Darkness being the best of the best. You get to fight alot of Heartless and get alot of Moogle Points. So once you've got your points, you gotta spend em. Thats where a Moogle Room comes in handy. Every new shop you open up nets you one free pack of cards, and gives you the chance to purchase 16 new packs. Red are attack cards, Blue magic, Green items and Multi are assorted. But you probably knew all this already. So why bother mentioning? Well getting Points and spending them are easy; picking what to spend it on can be very hard. Do you save up for very long periods of time and splurge at the end or buy every chance you get? The answer surprisingly is both. Saving up Moogle Points for late in the game is essential for later game play. You gotta have the cards to beat the bosses. But it is also very difficult to NOT spend any Moogle Points at all. How can you possibly beat bosses without any cards? Well the trick is WHAT you buy, not how much. Late in the game you will be given four possible options for what card packs to buy based on their rarity: Low, Medium, High and Supreme. What packs are available changes as you progess through the game. At first you will only be able to buy Low rare packs, but as you progess you will unlock medium, high and supreme. This is where decision making is critical. What to buy depends on +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part C: Building your Deck +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ So now that you've learned the advanced basics now you get to actually build a deck! Huzah! ---------------- C.0 Deck Styles ---------------- One of my personal favorite features of Chain of Memories is the ability to have more than one deck. This gives you the chance to have one deck dedicated to say enemies and another dedicated for boss battles. This gives you plenty of flexibility to experimenent with new deck ideas because if it fails to erase it and start over. Basically there are two deck styles: Enemy and Boss. Enemy decks can be whatever you want (for all you magic users) You use your enemy deck to battle just regular enemies. Seriously whatever you want. Boss decks, however, require much more thought. To save you the trouble I have listed below some strategies to follow that will make any boss deck a boss killer. -------------------------- C.1 What 0 can do for you -------------------------- 0 cards are the most important cards in your deck. The reason for such a bold statement becomes very apparent late in the game. In the end of the game bosses LOVE sleights. Unless you plan on countering every sleights with a sleight you are going to need some method of deflecting these attacks. Enter 0. 0s can counter anything as long as they're played second. If you see a boss about to perform a sleight, just scroll back and play a 0. By the end of the game you are looking for at least 4 0s with 6 being preferable. The 0 is a lifesaver. It can knock off any and every sleight in the game. And as I said bosses LOVE sleights. Riku IV is one of the most frustrating bosses in the game due to his Dark Aura sleight. But now if you had a 0, and it just happened to be at the front of your deck, you will have a unbelievably easier time. At the beginning of any battle merely scroll past all of the 0's until you hit your attack cards. When a boss gets ready to use a sleight, scroll back one card onto a 0. Viola! Card Break! ----------------------------- C.2 Making the right choices ----------------------------- So now that you've read all the strengths and weaknesses of all of the cards, you may be wondering where's the list of the ultimate deck? Well sorry to say there is no such thing. The reasons are very simple. 1) Not everybody has the same cards. While I may be lucky and have a deck of all level 9 Ultimas, not everybody has those kind of cards. 2) Everybodys CP is different. Even if you follow my ratio of CP:HP you still might end up with far less CP then I have. I usually take my ratio all the way to a 6:1 or higher, so I typically have far more CP then I actually need. 3) Where you are in the game is very relevant to what kinds of cards you have in your deck. You can't possibly have more than a few Cloud cards if you're only on Wonderland and haven't even VISITED the Colesium. How could I possibly expect everyone to have those cards? 4) I am a total lunatic. When I game, I get very into it. So while to me a few hours of hunting down Moogle Points or a few hours leveling up seems like nothing. I don't expect anyone to game even half as much as me, and if you do thats great but I need to help everybody; not just the crazy. 5) Premium cards. I mentioned them, but people still don't understand the importance of them in your deck. Premium magic cards will make you totally invincable and will drastically cut back on your CP. So if there's no ultimate deck list, how do you know what kind of cards to put in your deck? Well the answer is one that you have already read! Every single section above explains the different cards, their strengths and weaknesses, and what kind you should have in your deck. Use your brain! I don't know what level you're at or what kind of cards you have. You need to make your own choices based on the information I've given. I have below a great outline for an amazing boss deck, but again I do not expect you to have half the cards you need for such a deck. So reader, it really is up to you what to make of your deck. I've given some great strategies and information to help you make the best choices. If you follow my CP:HP plan then you fill find everything said here to be very informative and helpful. Its up to you what you want your deck to be. ------------------ C.3 The Boss Deck ------------------ This is a basic checklist of what you should have in your deck. Again this deck does NOT depend on your CP. It's give and take: if you have the CP, throw in a few extra Clouds. If you're lacking, take out a 0 or a few low level keyblades. So here you go; your deck checklist. The 0s First you start off your deck with the 0 cards. That way all you have to do is at the start of the battle scroll past them. Then whenever you need them simply scroll back one and horray your 0 is there. Getting 0s fast is essential very late in the game. The Keyblades Next have all of your Keyblade cards. Have all of them arranged to reflect their own individual strengths/weaknesses. Magics These come next. Put all of your Cloud and non Cure cards in order here. I recommend as many of Cloud as you can get in your deck. Items Next are items. Save these for when you really need them. Cures The last cards in your deck should be Cures. That way you can scroll all the way to the reload counter and there are your Cures. Enemy cards Last pick an enemy card that most reflects your personal strengths. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part D: In Conclusion +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I would like to thank the academy... ----------------- D.0 Contact Info ----------------- If for any reason you would like to contact me please email me at keyblade_ master_02 (at) yahoo.com or AIM me at skye0052. Unfortunately I don't check my email enough so if I take a while to get back at you sorry. ------------ D.1 Credits ------------ Other than the academy I would like to thank Square Enix and Disney for having the balls to do something nobody ever thought possible. Also a lot of credit goes to myself because hey I wrote this thing. I think I've earned it. --------------- D.2 Legal Info --------------- This guide is to only be posted on Gamefaqs.com Neoseeker.com SuperCheat.com If you wish to put this guide on your site contact and I'll let you know. I'd say you've got a good chance though; any publicitity is good for me. This guide is not to be reproduced for profit; only personal use. But you wouldn't even think of doing something like that, would you. :) Copyright Cody Trombley 2006