KINGDOM HEARTS II: FINAL MIX + LEVEL 1 INITIAL EQUIPMENT/NO ITEM FAQ By Thundaka (thundaka@yahoo.com) Copyright 2012 Thundaka. This guide is solely for private use. If you wish to host this guide on your website, contact me for permission before doing so. Any profitable use is strictly prohibited. ============================================================================= VERSION HISTORY ============================================================================= v1.00: Completed walkthrough of the main game. Sections for the optional missions and additional bosses will be added in a later update. As always, please e-mail me with any suggestions or corrections. v2.00: Added the optional story missions, and notes on training Forms and Summons. Also refined my strategies for several storyline bosses. v3.00: Added complete strategies for the Cavern of Remembrance and all optional bosses. Barring factual or grammatical errors, the guide is done. v3.10: Updated the guide with English names for the new Final Mix Abilities/ Heartless/etc. (as featured in the 2.5 ReMIX collection), in addition to a few minor tweaks. ============================================================================= INTRODUCTION ============================================================================= The Final Mix version of KH2 has always held a special place in my heart. The original game was fantastic, certainly, but once you had mastered the main game there wasn’t much to maintain your interest. You could unlock the secret ending, you could defeat Sephiroth, you could clear out the Paradox Cups... and that was about it. The most interesting thing about the game was its storyline bosses, and you had to fight your way through hundreds of lesser enemies every time you wanted to experience them again. The Final Mix version took an already-great game, and elevated it to one of the best action games to grace the PS2. The combat became even better, with no fewer than nine new Abilities (including the much-missed Dodge Roll) and a new Drive Form to spice up the battles. The game itself became substantially bigger, with 20 new boss battles, 13 puzzle "bosses" who tested your mastery of the game mechanics and your own sanity, a massive sidequest featuring 144 puzzle pieces scattered across the worlds, and a sprawling new optional dungeon filled with tricky platforming and insanely powerful enemies. But most importantly, it raised the potential challenge to unbelievably high levels. While you could still breeze through the game on Beginner or Normal if you were so inclined, you were also offered Critical Mode, a new difficulty setting in which the enemies did insanely high damage. Despite being very difficult, however, Critical Mode also offered several unusual advantages: Sora does noticeably more damage per hit, and you begin the game with 50 AP and a slew of powerful Abilities. The casual observer might be confused by all the gifts lavished on the player in the "hardest" setting, until they noticed the last one: the Zero Experience Ability. The game was encouraging the player to set out against the toughest enemies in the game with a Level 1 Sora, by giving them precisely the tools needed to do so. It was if the creators were telling us, "We know you'll go out of your way to make a challenge for yourself, so go nuts!" And are we glad that they did. The Level 1 challenge is certainly a nasty one, due to all the massive attacks that will cut you to shreds without Second Chance or Once More. It's also a very rewarding one, when you sit back and consider all the bosses you've beaten who should have torn apart your puny starting character like a paper bag. Yet it features some annoying elements. For example, the fact that you can't raise your stats through leveling means that you must rely on equipment to increase your damage or raise your Defense. Which is all well and good, except that it means you must spend a lot of time farming for synthesis ingredients so you can obtain all the Star Charms and Acrisiuses needed for Sora, Donald, and Goofy to deal and take a reasonable amount of damage. A great many Level 1 strategies are also heavily dependent on items, particularly against the nastier optional bosses, relying on the party's Ethers and Megalixirs to keep the MP gauges filled so Sora can maintain his invulnerability and keep dishing out damage via Reflect and Limit attacks. Even with his massive statistical disadvantage, any victory achieved via item-spamming tends to feel like a cowardly one, an admission that you won't face the enemy head-on because you lack the ability to survive them. To curb these annoyances, and ramp up the challenge even further, one can simplify the experience by adding two further restrictions: don't use any of that fancy equipment, and don't use items. That is the Level 1 Initial Equipment/No Items Challenge in a nutshell. Its rules are as follows: 1. Sora/Roxas must equip the Zero Experience Ability as soon as it becomes available, and may never unequip it. 2. Every character must use the weapon initially provided to them. Sora fights with the Kingdom Key, Donald the Mage's Staff, and Goofy the Knight's Shield. (The same rule applies to Forms with two keyblades: Valor Form is paired with the Star Seeker, Master with the Oathkeeper, and Final with the Hidden Dragon.) 3. No character may ever equip an armor. 4. No character may ever equip an accessory. 5. Sora/Roxas may never use an item, either during battle or in the menu. This includes stat-increasing items like AP Ups, as well as items which restore HP, MP, or the Drive gauge. 6. Supporting characters may never be equipped with items during battle. All their item slots must be emptied when the character first joins the team. These rules make for a purer Level 1 experience, without any Reflect/Limit spamming or stat-boosting equipment. Of course, that fact also adds a new layer of nastiness: many later enemies can kill Sora in only one or two hits (and a lot of optional bosses can kill him with any hit), so to survive you must be very good at evading their attacks. Still, I don't really see these as disadvantages, as the greater difficulty adds to the satisfaction of beating the game. What is the game like under these rules? For starters, you can't rely too heavily on Donald or Goofy. AP is not a crippling problem for Sora (who starts with 50) or the world-specific partners (whose AP and available Abilities do not depend on level), but Donald's and Goofy's abysmally low AP means that they can usually only equip one Ability at a time. Their offensive power is pathetic, so Limits are the way to go. Your per-hit damage is low, so long combos are most effective: Horizontal Slash is essential for the later airborne enemies, and Dodge Slash and Combo Plus are a great (if highly situational) way to boost damage on the ground. Despite these restrictions, every boss in the game can be defeated within the rules of this challenge. In fact, the only challenge that is possible within a normal Level 1 game but not here is the Olympus Coliseum tournaments, due to the harsh time limits. For those who find even this challenge insufficient, it is possible to raise the difficulty higher still by forbidding use of the Drive Gauge. Besides removing the powerful attacks and emergency healing of your Drives and Summons, this also eliminates the Growth Abilities like Dodge Roll which are central to many defensive strategies. (The No Drive Gauge strategies will be listed seperately within each battle strategy, when they differ from the standard strategies.) I do not recommend the No Drive Gauge version in your first run through the challenge, just as I do not recommend this challenge to anyone who has yet to master the regular Level 1 challenge. This is a special challenge for those exceptional players who have tried everything the game has to offer, and want to nudge the difficulty one step higher. NOTE: The walkthrough below is FILLED WITH SPOILERS. Only an experienced player has any real chance of beating this challenge, so you should already be well aware of the game’s plot twists. Consider yourself warned. ============================================================================= WALKTHROUGH ============================================================================= I. Twilight Town – Roxas’ Story *Day One* After a gorgeous title sequence, you find yourself playing as Roxas. This first part of the game plays a little slow, chock-full of tutorials as it is. After the first few tutorials, you will face Seifer in your first battle. While the battle itself doesn't matter, your choice of weapons does. Each of the three clubs provides a permanent +1 bonus to one of your stats: the star-shaped one on the left increases your Magic, the one with the wide handle in the middle increases your Defense, and the long straight one on the right increases your Strength. This is your only chance to increase those stats, so choose well. Strength is the most immediately useful, since you won't have access to spells for quite some time, though the Magic boost is more effective in the endgame. I don’t recommend the Defense bonus: it might allow you to survive an extra attack early on, but the boost is insignificant in the long run. The Seifer battle is ridiculously easy: attack to break his guard, strike with a three-hit combo, step to the side to avoid his airborne charge, rinse and repeat. Even if you somehow lose, the game will continue on. Chase a Dusk to the gates of the Twilight Mansion, try and fail to fight it with your club, and then defeat it with the Keyblade. The easiest strategy is to strike twice, use Reversal to immobilize it, hit it twice again, and repeat until the Dusk dies. (You cannot die here, but it’s good practice for future Dusk battles.) Roxas and friends get their pictures back, we see a montage of Sora's memories from the previous game, and we cut to the next day. *Day Two* You are asked to raise 800 munny to pay for the gang's trip to the beach. There are three munny-raising minigames accessible from the billboard right in front of you, and another three at the billboard in the center of Tram Common (down the hill to the south). If you prefer to end this day as quickly as possible, you only need to play one minigame. However, raising 1200 munny will earn you an additional +2 AP. (You still get +1 AP for 800 munny, but why stop halfway?) The fastest source of income is the poster-hanging minigame in Tram Common (the first one on the list), which gives you 100 munny if you can beat it in less than 1:30. My preferred route is north across the bridge, over the awnings to the east, across the roofs in the southeast corner, and west until you reach the two clusters of posters near the central pillar, at which point you should have reached your quota of 20. If you prefer something quick and easy, or just want to add a little variety between poster runs, I suggest one of the three minigames in Station Heights; the bee-swatting and trash-smashing games in Tram Common are more trouble than they're worth. Either way, once you are finished you can ride the skateboard up to Station Plaza, talk to Hayner, and move on to the third day. *Day Three* What started as a normal day gets weird very quickly, with a surprise visit from a time-freezing little girl and a sudden onslaught of Dusks. You will be thrown into an unwinnable Dusk battle, very similar to your first encounter. The next thing you know, Roxas is... somewhere, in an area similar to the tutorial area from the first game. You are asked to choose the sword, shield, or staff as your favored weapon. This only affects the Abilities you learn as you level up, so your choice does not matter. Afterwards, you enter into a forced battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Dusk x3 -Reward: Aerial Recovery -Difficulty: 1/10 You cannot die here. Practice using Reversal to keep the Dusks stunned, using the pattern described earlier (two hits, Reversal, two hits, Reversal, etc.) to damage one and prevent the others from attacking. This simple attack pattern will serve you well for a long time to come. Sometimes the Dusks will start moving anyway, and you will have to dodge their attacks. The ground-hugging slap can be dodged with a well-timed jump, and you can sidestep the diving head flip. When you see them roll into a ball in midair, stay away until the attack is finished; the jab attack they will use is hard to dodge and does significant damage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Open the chest with a Potion to create a save point and open the way forward. Before heading on, you need to open the menu. After skipping through six pages of tutorials, you can finally open the Abilities menu. In addition to Aerial Recovery, you will find Reaction Boost, Finishing Plus, Draw, Lucky Lucky (x2), MP Hastera, and Zero Experience in that order, with 50 AP--52 AP if you got the Day Two bonus--to equip them all. Obviously you must equip Zero Experience, or the Level 1 part of the challenge will be over almost immediately. I suggest equipping everything except Lucky Lucky (which has no use in this challenge). Roxas can be killed from here on out, so be well prepared. Beyond the door are a great number of Dusks. There is no real incentive to fight random enemies, so you are free to run from them. Enter the door at the top for the first true boss battle in the game. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Twilight Thorn -Reward: HP +2, Guard -Difficulty: 2/10 As soon as the battle begins, the screen flashes white and you are caught in shackles of glowing energy. Veteran players will recognize this tutorial: press Triangle during each of the three minigames to make the boss collapse on the ground, temporarily vulnerable to your attacks. The Twilight Thorn will quickly resume the offensive. He opens with a wide sweep across the battlefield, which can only be avoided with a well-timed jump. Fortunately he only uses this once, and his per-hit damage is still pretty low. After that he shoots pulses of black-and-white energy from his head, which you can dodge with Reversal. Hurry toward him, because soon after that he will start sweeping his arms across the ground (striking you unless you’re standing by his feet). He follows up by slamming his head into the ground, sending out endless pulses of energy and summoning several Creepers. Keep to the far end of the arena and eliminate the little guys. You can kill each of them in a single combo, if you use two finishers in a row, but you still must work quickly. If you leave a Creeper alone for too long, it will either shape itself into a sword to slash you or disappear to dive-bomb you. Either way, start moving to escape its attack. They drop a lot of health orbs, which should heal any damage you’ve taken so far. For the rest of the battle the Twilight Thorn will shoot lots of energy pulses from its head, which you can dodge with Reversal. This is the only way you can get within striking distance of the head, so use the opportunity to attack him. He will repeat the head slam once (without Creepers this time), and eventually signal a new phase by repeating the three reaction commands. The next phase is kind of scary, featuring endless waves of energy pulses and a painful arena-covering energy attack. However, if you ground him with the final reaction command you will have plenty of time to finish him, and will almost certainly win the battle before he starts attacking. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Day Four* The Struggle is here, and it is time for Roxas to prove himself in the arena. After equipping your shiny new Guard Ability and speaking with the man by the blackboard, talk to the Struggle manager to begin the tournament. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Hayner -Reward: None -Difficulty: 1/10 Just surviving with 101 orbs is enough to win, though with Draw it is easy to get all 200. Step out of range of Hayner’s two-hit attack, then move in for a combo and walk around to collect the orbs he drops. Limit yourself to one finisher per combo, or Hayner’s counterattack will knock away lots of orbs. Towards the end he starts using a sliding charge, but this is easy to Guard or sidestep. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Save if you wish, then square off against Vivi. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Vivi -Reward: None -Difficulty: 1/10 Much like Hayner, though his moves are a little trickier: Vivi’s normal attack has surprising range, and his vertical spin can knock away a lot of orbs. Since they only hit in front, just circle him and strike after he does. As with Hayner, double finishers hurt more than they help. His only serious attack is when he randomly jumps across the arena, then performs a powerful three-hit swing. You can escape most of it by running, but you will need Guard to block the final hit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time stops, and a trio of Dusks arrive in the arena. Keep them immobilized with Reversal, and you should have no trouble keeping your health up for the boss that follows. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Axel, Part I -Reward: Scan -Difficulty: 3/10 Axel is a pretty nasty customer. His twin chakrams can hit you at range and do high damage, and the window to attack between his combos is pretty small. You can create an opening by continuously circling and striking just after his attack, though only if you’re quick. Your finishers can easily knock him out of range, so only use one at a time. Make a habit of moving away after each ground combo, so you don’t trigger his counterattack and are prepared for his desperation attack. Besides his normal attack, Axel will often dash up to you and deliver a faceful of fiery chakram. This is basically undodgeable, so Guard as the dash ends to block it. He also has a desperation attack, a long combo of painful lunges, but by running out of range you can avoid the whole thing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You win! Equip your new Scan Ability and clear the final battle against Setzer. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Setzer -Reward: None -Difficulty: 2/10 You don’t have to win, but there’s no point in throwing the battle to a jerk like him. Setzer likes to counter your finishers with a flying sweep that knocks away a ton of orbs. Guard works best, though you have to be quick. He will sometimes assume a guard stance and attempt to counterattack, but if you attack quickly he cannot strike back fast enough. He may also start charging club-first across the arena, which you can just Guard. Chances are good that you will beat him long before the 60 seconds are up. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Day Five* Today Roxas and friends are setting out to investigate the Seven Wonders of Twilight Town. Head up to the Station to visit Sunset Lingering Willce, then check out the four “wonders” in that area. Two of them--the “Friend in the Wall” and the “Moving Bag”--are simple minigames that test your timing. The other two are actual battles, though neither is at all challenging. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Vivi Clones -Reward: None -Difficulty: 1/10 Each clone has 1 HP, so they will fall quickly. The trouble is their numbers, at least one or two dozen, which can lead to a lot of unexpected hits. Still, their attacks do only minimal damage. An aggressive offense will finish this quickly, though be sure to move away if too many gather in one spot. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Shadow Roxas -Reward: None -Difficulty: 1/10 Wait for the shadow to lunge forward, then respond with a combo. It may perform a three-hit combo of its own, but if you stay just out of range and wait for it to finish the shadow poses no risk whatsoever. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you’ve completed all four you will return to Sunset Hill for a cutscene, then cross town for another scene at the Old Mansion. The relatively boring introduction is over, and the interesting part begins. *Day Six* Some weird stuff is happening to Roxas. Step outside the clubhouse to meet up with an old “friend” and fight your first elite Nobody, the Assassin. It will stab you just after teleporting in, so Guard before you start attacking. Leap toward the Assassin and hit it with air combos; ground combos give it more time to recover and slip underground. Use only one finisher per combo and keep it stunned at all costs, or it is liable to unleash its powerful suicide attack. Its multi-hitting slash combo is dangerous, but it is pretty easy to deflect if you move back a step and attack. (You can’t die in this battle, but practice your tactics anyway.) When the battle ends, you will make your way to the Old Mansion. Head up the stairs to grab Namine’s drawing, and head into the computer room. A tough pair of battles await behind the next door, so be ready. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Dusks and Assassins -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 Reversal makes the first group of Dusks easy. Things only get tricky when the third Dusk dies and a pair of Assassins spawn. The Assassins will slaughter you unless you keep moving, so stick with full combos instead of Reversal for the last Dusk. If you are interrupted while attacking an Assassin, RUN AWAY. Its suicide attack is very hard to outrun, and does way too much damage. Stay on the defensive, so you have as much health as possible for the next battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Axel, Part II -Reward: HP +2 -Difficulty: 3/10 The good news is that Roxas has two keyblades, together with some very strong multi-hitting combos. The bad news is that he can no longer Guard, rendering Axel’s attacks extra-deadly. (Pressing Square triggers a leaping attack instead. It can deflect the normal attack sometimes, but it’s useless against the chakram rush and desperation attack.) Axel opens the battle by igniting the floor, slowly draining Roxas’ health. As before, keep your distance and move in for a combo as he ends his attack. The second finisher will launch him into the air, triggering the Overtaker and Clear Light commands to stun him and put out the flames, and together the two combos can remove half his health. Critical Mode’s innate damage bonus is really powerful here. Follow up with another ground and air combo assault, and you can probably finish him before he recovers at all. If that doesn’t do it, the Burst Edge command and your followup combos certainly will. You have no real defense in this confined space, especially against the desperation attack, so a strong offense is essential. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- And with that, Roxas’ story is over. Head down the hall to discover Donald, Goofy, and finally Sora waiting for you. Our hero has returned. II. Twilight Town After a long cutscene, the menu opens and you regain control of Sora. Empty Goofy and Donald’s item slots right away. I would change both of their battle settings to Party Attack for now, so they can keep other enemies busy while Sora attacks his chosen target. When you’re ready you can exit the menu, leave the Mansion to visit the gang at the Usual Spot, and head up to the station. Once there, you get forced into a battle with an unlimited number of Dusks and Creepers. You cannot win this battle, though you also cannot lose it: it ends automatically after a certain amount of time has passed or you’ve taken a certain amount of damage (and thus ends quickly if you provoke the Nobodies to attack you). Anyway, you’ll eventually enter the station, at which point you will take the train to Yen Sid’s Tower. There you will meet Pete, who will call out the first batch of Heartless for you to destroy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Shadows -Reward: None -Difficulty: 1/10 Unsurprisingly, the weakest Heartless are not difficult opponents. You may take some damage, but not nearly enough to kill you before Sora and his allies have wiped them all out. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Then it’s inside the tower and up the stairs with you. The first room is filled with more Shadows, which are just as easy to dispatch. The second room introduces you to a few Soldiers. At low health, they will leap into the air and rush at you for heavy damage. Guard the aerial rush, and use the Cyclone command to neutralize the ground rush and do heavy damage in response. At the top, you will meet Yen Sid and be able to progress the plot. Sora earns the invaluable Valor Form from the fairies, and boards the Gummi Ship to a very familiar world. III. Hollow Bastion Looks a little different, doesn’t it? Head into the Borough to meet an old friend and make some new enemies. You cannot lose, and it’s an ideal place to train Valor Form a bit. Continue to Merlin’s to learn the Blizzard spell and save your game. Run up the stairs to meet up with Leon. Unfortunately, your reunion is crashed by a bunch of unfriendly men in black coats, and you’re suddenly forced to defend the gate. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Defending the Gate -Reward: Fire spell (Sora) -Difficulty: 5/10 Sora is alone (so no Valor Form), you have to protect the gate from damage, and it is being attacked by elite Nobodies who can cut you to ribbons. It’s difficult to express how much I hate this battle. At the start you will face a pair of Dusks. Reversal still works, but in this case full combos are much more effective. Focus on dodging the Dusks and performing combos until the first wave of Creepers arrive, at which point you will attack them full-time. Reversal is occasionally useful for interrupting large groups, but don’t rely too heavily on it. The hard part begins when the Samurai arrive. Wear one down with Blizzard until you run out of MP, then hurry to the opposite side of the arena. Though it’s a risk to leave the gate unguarded, you can’t chance a Dusk or Creeper interrupting you while facing down a Samurai. (Besides, Leon and his huge sword can still defend the gate.) Guard against the lethal sword charge, then attack. Do not use the reaction command unless you are VERY quick; failure can easily kill you. Once both Samurai are gone, it’s time to mop up the surviving Nobodies. Your MP gauge should have refilled by now, so blast the horde with Blizzard before moving in. It’s important to watch out for enemy attacks--the Dusks and Creepers do considerable damage by themselves--but keeping them occupied is even more important. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- And that’s that. Seal the first keyhole, and Sora and company will leave Hollow Bastion to move on to the next world. Your next stop is Beast’s Castle, to earn the most important spell in the game. IV. Beast’s Castle Before you can open the menu, Sora will be swarmed by Shadows. Spam Fire for a while and the battle will end automatically. Head toward the East Wing to advance the plot. You will meet quite a few Heartless on the way to the West Wing, though none except the Large Bodies are a real danger. (The Large Bodies’ charge is an instant kill, so avoid it at all costs.) After entering the West Wing and moving the dresser out of the way, you’ll walk into a truly nasty boss battle. I suggest you unequip Donald Thunder prior to the minigame, as the Heartless that spawn in this battle are immune to it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Thresholders and Possessor -Reward: Upper Slash (Sora), Donald Fire (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy) -Difficulty: 5/10 (3/10 with Mickey) The Thresholder will lash out the moment you gain control. Back up a few steps, then cast Blizzard until you run out of MP. Move a little closer to make the Gargoyles spawn, then run back. The two of them together would slaughter you, so you must stay out of the Warrior’s way (he’s the one with the axe) until you finish the Knight. Climb the piled furniture to reach the ledge over the entrance, and wait. It will take a while, but eventually the Knight will hop onto the ledge. Back up to trigger the charge, and you can Guard to kill him with Release. All that’s left is to wait for the Warrior to use his clear-cutting spin, then hop down and finish him the same way. By now your MP has refilled. Another full round of Blizzards will finish the Thresholder’s HP and open the Release command. The Possessor is forced out, and you are free to damage him without opposition. Some Hook Bats will spawn, but as long as you watch for their reaction command they are no threat. What is a threat is the Thresholders’ new form, activated when the Possessor is at half health. Their dark orbs cannot be Guarded or dodged, and two hits will kill you--which is a serious problem, since it takes several combos to wear them down. The only reliable defense is the Bat Cry command, which is also your best offense: besides granting you invulnerability, it does a lot of damage and lets you pile on even more damage with a ground combo. Triggering the attack can be tricky (it usually follows a direct attack on the bats, which can be difficult while you are locked on to the boss), but if used often enough you can beat him without any danger. Thankfully this form is the end of it: the Release command reappears, and this time you can finish the Possessor for good. If you cannot avoid the orbs, there are still two ways to survive. The first is Valor Form. The activation heals you and stuns the boss (though only if the orbs are already released), and your dual-keyblade combos should quickly slice through the rest of his HP. Then again, if Goofy is dead you won’t have that option. The second is King Mickey, who first appears in this battle. Many players don’t approve of this option, seeing it as an “extra life” in a battle you’ve already lost, but if you’re having a lot of trouble he may well be worth it. He will always appear the first time you die, but his odds of appearing decrease every time you use him (and carry over to the next battle, if you used him on your winning attempt). Mickey probably won’t live to fully heal Sora, so wear down the boss with Pearl (his homing magic spell) and do your best to dodge the orbs by jumping. Even at half health, Sora can easily finish him if you are are aggressive enough as Mickey. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (8/10; 3/10 with Mickey): Essentially the same as above, except that you cannot heal with Valor Form. It’s no worse if you let Mickey revive you, but if you don’t your only option is to completely avoid the dark orbs. You must be very good at triggering Bat Cry if you hope to survive this nightmare. **NOTE ON DRIVE FORMS (2.5 REMIX ONLY): The first time a Drive Form is activated on the PS3 version, there is a long delay while the game loads the Form. This delay can allow your enemies time to recover and start retaliating, which can seriously endanger you once combat resumes. (Sora is entirely invulnerable during this transformation, potentially allowing you to survive otherwise lethal attacks, but in general the delay will hurt you more than it helps.) To bypass the delay, pause the game for 5-10 seconds after activation. This will allow you to start attacking almost immediately, which can be essential in frantic battles where you need to stay on the offensive. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You now have Upper Slash, the first really valuable offensive Ability. Equip it right away, then walk through the door to save your game. (If Valor Form is still active, you can fully restore your Drive Gauge by warping to the Gummi Ship.) Return to the room, then follow Cogsworth into the secret passage. After a brief minigame, you can head forward to the Beast’s room. Continue west, killing or running away from the Gargoyles as you go. Upper Slash allows you to immediately follow your ground combos with an air combo, effectively doubling your damage. (They are immune to magic, so don’t bother.) As soon as you enter the Beast’s Room, you will be drawn into another battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: The Beast -Reward: HP +1 (Donald), Defender (Goofy) -Difficulty: 2/10 The Beast does high damage, but he’ll never get to attack with the right strategy. Stun him with the Wake Up! command when he gets close, then hit him with a full combo. When your attacks no longer stagger him, he has returned to attack mode and must be stunned again. You can easily wear his health down to zero this way, at which point a quick button-mashing minigame will bring the Beast back to his senses. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Beast joins the team as your first new ally. His special attacks can easily eliminate the weaker Heartless, and his Twin Howl Limit can clear crowds of them in one go. Empty his item slots, remove Item Boost and Auto-Limit, equip Hyper Healing, and head back across the castle to Belle’s room. I suggest running from the rest of the random battles, or the Lance Soldiers will make your life hell. Go to Belle’s room, talk to the dresser, and save your game. Return to the foyer for a cutscene. Run straight to the ballroom (the Heartless are not remotely worth it), and the nastiest battle up to this point will commence. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Possessor -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 This is the start of a grueling endurance test, so do your best to avoid damage. The Possessor opens by burying himself in the far wall and blasting shockwaves across the arena. Run to one side, then wait until he possesses the chandelier and drops down. A full four-hit Blizzard combo should remove its HP. Release him, and activate the Twin Howl Limit as your feet touch the ground. By mashing X and Triangle simultaneously, you can take off nearly half his health in a few seconds. When he recovers the Possessor will bury himself in the ground. Leap when the glowing spot appears to avoid being swallowed. Finally, he will enter one of the columns to rake the outside of the arena. Keep your distance, then move in for a full air combo. Move in toward the wall, turn around to Guard his next strike, and you can Release him with another air combo. Your MP will still be recharging, so just use physical attacks in the meantime. The rest of the battle is much the same, with the Possessor cycling through all four attacks in order. He isn’t too dangerous once you have mastered the pattern, but ending the battle can still be tricky. As tempting as it is, finishing him with the Limit will hurt you in the next battle. You can still wear down most of his health with Twin Howl, but you must stop well before his HP reaches zero. After that you should back off and wait for your MP to recharge, then win the battle with a combo or two. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Dark Thorn -Reward: Cure spell, HP +2, Retaliating Slash (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), HP +25 (Beast) -Difficulty: 7/10 (4/10 with Mickey) Before you can move, the boss will turn invisible and summon dozens of dark ghosts to attack you. If you have no MP, you will have to do your best to dodge the ghosts until you can use Twin Howl. If you still have MP, though, you can lock on and go to town. Mash both buttons quickly enough, and one use will end the opening phase. Hit him with a ground combo and follow up with Step Vault to remove his invisibility. The Dark Thorn gains a lot of new moves when his HP falls, but the one you need to concentrate on is his grab-and-spin attack. He signals this by leaping toward you, then spins you around and hurls you at the nearest column. Let him grab you whenever possible: the Slingshot reaction command turns the throw back on him, and the few seconds of invulnerability are a great defense against the ghosts. Probably his favorite attack, and easily his deadliest, is the ghost- summoning spell. Two hits will kill you, and with ghosts homing in from all directions they can be difficult to avoid. To make it worse, he will often perform another attack while you try to dodge the ghosts. You can ignore the entire attack if you unleash Twin Howl as he casts it, but you won’t always have MP to use the Limit. Your best bet is to run around in wide circles and hope like hell that his other attacks don’t kill you before the ghosts disappear. He also performs an exceptionally vicious five-hit combo. This is a little unpredictable, as he randomly switches between leaping and spinning in place, but if you’ve mastered the Guard timing you will still block the whole thing. Avoid Aerial Recovery if you are hit, as your time in the air will protect you from the next hit or two. Finally, from time to time he will turn invisible and leap out of sight. Get to the outside of the ballroom, because he is about to drop the chandelier and spin it around the arena. Most of your offense will come from Twin Howl, though Slingshot also does nice damage. Never use physical attacks unless he is invisible; they do little damage, and he is prone to retaliate with a combo attack. Dodging all the ghosts and flying tackles is very difficult, so you should count on getting hit more than once. Valor Form is great for healing, but unless you are standing right next to him (in which case you can perform a single combo) you should revert right away. He is just too dangerous without Guard. King Mickey once again comes to revive you, if you let him. Keep casting Pearl and dodging with his jump as before (the ghost attack makes full recovery unlikely), and with any luck you will wear him down to the point that the next Twin Howl can finish him. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (9/10; 4/10 with Mickey): Without Valor Form, you have absolutely no way to heal. You have to be incredibly good at dodging all of the Dark Thorn’s attacks, essentially perfect if you go without Mickey. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- With Cure in his arsenal, Sora now stands a fighting chance in the next few worlds. You may visit either Olympus Coliseum or the Land of Dragons next. This guide assumes you start at the Coliseum: you will get far more use out of its rewards (and your first Summon) in the Land of Dragons than the other way around. V. Olympus Coliseum Your Drive Gauge is locked from the moment you enter this world, cutting your access to Valor Form. Talk to Megara, then head down the path to Hades’ throne room. Fight or flee from the Heartless on the path, use the save point, then run up to Hades’ throne room. After a short unwinnable encounter with Hades, Auron will join your party. Remove his items, equip MP Haste and Hyper Healing, set him to Party Attack, and pick Goofy as the third party member. You need every advantage to survive the gauntlet that follows. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Escaping from Hades -Reward: None -Difficulty: 7/10 Hades is an absolute nightmare: he cannot be stunned or damaged, he constantly teleports to confuse you, and two of his fireballs will kill you. To survive you must ensure Hades is constantly in view, and move out of the way when he releases a fireball. He signals them by calling “Feel the heat” (up to three times in a row), but even with that warning it takes quick reflexes to Guard or sidestep them. The Heartless in the first round are pretty weak, though Hades himself is still a huge threat. I suggest you perform one air combo at a time, wait until Hades’ fireball barrage ends, then repeat. (Bat Cry is a big help here.) If you suffered any damage, cast Cure and wait for your MP to recharge once the barrier falls. To beat the Lance Soldiers in the second round you must weaken them with the Bushido Limit. This will mostly prevent their aggravating lunge, and will open up the Lance Tug command for major damage to everyone nearby. Once again, cast Cure and wait for your MP to recharge if you lose any health in this round. The final round comes in two waves. Each has a pair of Lance Soldiers and some Hook Bats, with a Large Body added to the second. Backtrack up the path as each wave spawns, and you should avoid getting mobbed or murdered by the Large Body’s charge. As before, weaken the Lance Soldiers with Bushido before you attack directly. To finish the Large Body, you should sidestep its belly charge, hit its back with a ground combo, and slam it with Full Swing. (Only do one combo at a time, or you will be vulnerable to Hades’ fireballs.) Block him and finish him with reaction commands once he starts glowing, and you can make your escape. And DON’T FORGET ABOUT HADES. Getting killed by a fireball just short of the exit is aggravating beyond belief. **NOTE ON CURE**: Be aware that the Cure spell is a lot less effective at critical HP. In addition to halving damage, the Kingdom Key’s Damage Control ability also halves the power of your healing spells. You can never go directly from critical health to full health, but instead will have to survive at half health while your MP recharges. Since Sora cannot change keyblades or raise his Magic stat, this problem persists through the rest of the game--even after he upgrades to Cura and Curaga. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Save once the cutscene ends. The Heartless are just as nasty on the way back up, though Auron’s healing helps. Defeat or run from the Heartless as best you are able, then face another boss at the gates of the Underworld. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Cerberus -Reward: Counterguard (Sora), HP +40 (Auron) -Difficulty: 4/10 Cerberus’ bite attacks can be very dangerous, but with a good strategy he will hardly get to use them. Jump over the shockwave from Cerberus’ opening leap, then stay to one side for a few seconds. The heads will randomly lash out at first, but eventually he will whip his body around to face you again. Leap over this attack, and you will have time to hit the heads with a full combo and back away. Keep this strategy up, and you should see nothing but the tail whip and the occasional leap attack for a full health bar. Eventually Cerberus will leap away, then start spitting endless orbs of dark energy that home in on Sora. You can Guard these, but doing so continuously pushes you back and makes it impossible to close range. To end this barrage you will need to get as close as possible, lock on to him, and unleash Bushido. The damage isn’t much, but by staying close during the attack you will trick him into ending the assault and reverting to his short-range attacks. He follows the orb barrage by trying to grab you with all three heads, triggering a series of reaction commands which leave him stunned on the ground. He will perform two or three of these moves in a row, allowing you to pile on the damage, but eventually he will resume snapping at you with his heads. If you get seperated he may resume the orb-spitting attack, in which case you will need another Limit. By this point he should have very little HP remaining, allowing you to finish him with a final Bushido. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You gain the useful Counterguard, but lose Auron. Oh well. Head up to the Coliseum and complete both of Phil’s pot-smashing games. You gain Aerial Dive, a superior version of Aerial Sweep with greatly improved range. Equip it, have a chat with Hercules, and head down to the Underworld Caverns. Here you’ll meet the Trick Ghost, a nasty Heartless with a fondness for hard-to-escape magic attacks. Defeat them or run away, and catch up with the thief who stole the Olympus Stone. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Demyx’s Water Clones -Reward: HP +2 (Sora), MP Rage (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy) -Difficulty: 1/10 Thankfully, Demyx isn’t really trying yet. Smack a water clone to turn it into a note, whip it around to take out dozens at a time, and repeat until victory. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, you can use Valor Form again. Open the lock, then walk into the light to rescue Megara. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Pete and the Heartless, Round 1 -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 Start by hitting a Hook Bat with an air combo, and you can clear out most of them with a Bat Cry command or two. You will need to block Pete's flaming bowling ball, but otherwise you can ignore him until the Heartless are gone. Close range with Pete while avoiding the marbles and bowling ball, and wait for him to perform the ground pound. If you leap over the shockwave and immediately start attacking, you can start an Upper Slash+air combo barrage that will trigger his protective shell. This prevents him from using any other attacks (including summoning more Heartless), and if you hit him just as his feet touch the ground you can start a new Upper Slash combo without giving him a chance to retaliate. You cannot defeat him yet, but the battle should end pretty quickly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Pete and Heartless, Round 2 -Reward: Trinity Limit (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), Hyper Healing (Goofy) -Difficulty: 4/10 The pair of Trick Ghosts are the main danger. Use Hercules’ Aura Guard to absorb their fireballs, then leap forward and start attacking one nonstop. The instant you are hit, activate Valor Form. You can skip to the combo finishers with its Omega Finale power, wiping them out in seconds and preventing them from retaliating. Once they are gone it’s just a repeat of the first battle, with one twist: you can now break Pete’s shell via the Pinball command, which briefly stops the clock. Abuse this to kingdom come to win the battle quickly. -NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (6/10): The same as above, except that you cannot use Valor Form to kill the ghosts. A little luck is required, since you are in serious danger if the second ghost interrupts your attack. Bat Cry is indispensable, as it is one of the few ways to inflict damage without leaving yourself exposed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your reward is the incredibly powerful Trinity Limit. Equip it when you regain control, save, and head up the stairs to the Coliseum. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Hydra -Reward: Thunder spell, HP +2 (Sora), HP +2 (Goofy) -Difficulty: 3/10 Trinity Limit makes this pain of a boss vastly easier. Activate it right away to beat the first phase instantly. (If you delay his tail sweep will kill Donald, rendering Trinity Limit unavailable for a while.) Remember to use all three attacks so the Limit can inflict maximum damage. After you remove his head, he will grow three new ones and stick them into the ground. Jump onto his back, use the reaction command, and attack the stunned heads. You should have time to kill the first head and heavily damage the second before they recover, and one more Vanquish command will let you destroy the last two. Finally, he sprouts dozens of heads and becomes much more aggressive. You can perform another Trinity Limit to take off a full bar of health, but while your MP is recharging you will have to rely on physical attacks. You can avoid the head slam by standing near his feet, though you still have to worry about his magic attacks. The ghost summoning spell is still very dangerous, though if you spend a lot of time in the air (or better yet, standing on top of a head) few of them will reach you. The lightning spell is also dangerous if you stay in one place, though you can dodge it by constantly running. Finally, when he steps forward and starts lashing out with his teeth you should move forward as well. This triggers the Pegasus Run reaction command, which does quite a bit of damage and makes you invulnerable for a long while. Don’t forget to hurry back once it ends, or you may get pulverized by the head slam. Never cast Cure unless you are desperate. You need to save your MP until both Donald and Goofy are revived, at which point you can win the battle with a final Trinity Limit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. Hollow Bastion and the 100 Acre Wood Upon clearing two worlds, the Gummi Ship will drag Sora and the team back to Hollow Bastion. After entering the book, you’ll have to fight a few Soldiers in the streets. You’re not required to win this battle, though with all the offensive Abilities you’ve acquired it should be easy to take them out. Once the battle is over, you’ll have another brief conversation with Merlin. The 100 Acre Wood is now open, though you won’t be able to do anything there for a while. You also gain the Chicken Little summon, probably your most powerful tool in the next few worlds. VII. The Land of Dragons As soon as you enter this world you will team up with Mulan. Unfortunately she is disguised as Ping, a pathetic wisp of a man with few fighting skills. Remove her items and head down to the camp. There you will face down a squad of Heartless. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Defending the Camp -Reward: None -Difficulty: 2/10 A few Fire spells should clear out the initial Shadows very quickly. The two Nightwalkers can be dangerous, but only if you give them time to act. Continuously attack one without giving it a chance to recover, then move to the next. Upper Slash is ideal for staggering them and piling on the damage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- As a reward for saving the camp, the captain... lets you fight more Heartless. Thanks a lot, man. Make Goofy your third party member, and set both of them to Party Attack. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: The Surprise Attack -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 The Nightwalkers’ counterattacks make them much more dangerous in groups. To stand a chance of winning, you must separate them. (Trinity Limit can eliminate one or two in an emergency, but use it sparingly in case you need to heal.) With Party Attack, you can focus on killing one while your teammates keep the other Nightwalkers busy. Use Guard to block the spin counter (or Retaliating Slash to recover), and keep up the offensive at all costs: the dive bomb they use at low HP is absurdly deadly. The Shadows are pretty aggressive, but if you abuse Upper Slash they will rarely hit. Don’t forget to collect Morale orbs, since your teammates will lose them very quickly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: The Ambush -Reward: None -Difficulty: 5/10 This starts the same as the previous battle, with a group of Nightwalkers and Shadows, so the same strategy applies at first. However, when they die an Assault Rider will teleport in. Hang back for a few seconds to avoid its spinning lance, then leap and start an air combo when it sweeps the weapon at you. The second finisher will leave it collapsed on the ground, giving you time to get away and cast a few Blizzards while you wait for another sweep attack. If it is staggered by Goofy Bash, you could use the opportunity to start an Upper Slash combo for greater damage. Soon the Assault Rider will get more aggressive, leaping toward you and slamming the ground for heavy damage. Catch him in mid-air to make him an easy target. Finally, at very low HP he will start charging straight toward you. Block his charge with Guard, and you can easily launch him with Upper Slash. Another Assault Rider and two Nightwalkers arrive after it dies. Get as far from the Assault Rider as possible, then kill the Nightwalkers one by one. Once they are dead you can finish the Assault Rider as before. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: The Search -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 Much like the initial battle, except this time the Heartless are hiding around the camp. You’ll have to keep your eyes open to catch the Shadows, who like to hide underground and only briefly pop up. Tap R1 until you lock on to one, then cast Fire to stun it as it emerges from the ground. Once the Shadows are gone you will fight three Nightwalkers, though since they spawn in different parts of the camp it should be pretty easy to finish them one at a time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once all three missions are cleared you are free to leave the camp and head up toward the mountains. Once there, you’ll find--surprise!--yet another vicious battle. This just isn’t Sora’s day. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Reaching the Mountain Village -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 There are three rockslides blocking the way to the village, each guarded by a group of Heartless. First are a Nightwalker and two Soldiers. The Soldiers only attack from the ground at first, so you can safely kill the Nightwalker with single-finisher air combos. One or both Soldiers will probably be in the Cyclone phase by then, so circle around them and use the reaction command to finish them both. The second group is the big danger, featuring two Nightwalkers and a Soldier in very confined quarters. Use Trinity Limit to eliminate one Nightwalker and weaken the second. A third Nightwalker will spawn soon after, but by then the first two should be dead. Take the left path toward the summit. Two more Nightwalkers arrive, though this time you have plenty of room to maneuver. Lock on to one and back up: Goofy and Mulan will keep the second one occupied, allowing you to kill the first without interruption. Two Soldiers and a Nightwalker spawn farther ahead. Wear down the Soldiers by shooting Blizzard from a distance, then go to town on the Nightwalker. Finally, an Assault Rider arrives to guard the final barrier. If you like you can end the battle right here: hit the Heartless with a two-finisher air combo, quickly break the barrier while it is stunned, and you can reach the village without killing it. Finishing it isn’t that hard, though a second Rider will arrive in its place and have to be eliminated as well. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Save your game in the village, then head into the cave to the north. One more tough struggle awaits, and this time Donald and Goofy will stay on the sidelines. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Heartless in the Cave -Reward: Slide Dash (Sora), HP +15, Hyper Healing (Mulan) -Difficulty: 5/10 You start by facing an Assault Rider and a small horde of Shadows. For once the Shadows are the bigger threat. Circle the Assault Rider until it sweeps at you, then stun it with an air combo. Another air combo plus Blizzard will trigger the leaping phase, allowing you to safely attack him in the air. Make a point to jump out of the way after each air combo: you will likely be surrounded by Shadows, who will interrupt and damage you if you stay on the ground too long. The charging phase can be a problem, since you have to be on the ground to Guard, but by following Guard with a quick Upper Slash and air combo you can mostly stay out of the Shadows’ reach. When the Assault Rider dies, start eliminating the Shadows. Only the Fire spell provides the 360-degree damage you need to stay safe, so abuse it mercilessly. Leap out of the way between Fire combos to keep them from mobbing you. At full MP, you can perform two four-hit Fire combos and still heal with Cure (or deal extra damage with Trinity Limit). While your MP recharges you must run around the room, jumping out of the way when the Shadows surround you. Keep abusing Fire this way, and you should be able to finish them with little to no damage. Finally, you face two Assault Riders at once. With enough MP you can safely trigger the leaping phase with Blizzard, or (if your HP is full) stun them with Trinity Limit. Otherwise, circle at a safe distance until one sweeps at you, then leap and perform an air combo. Make a point of staying far away from the second Assault Rider while you kill the first. Once he’s gone, you can finish the final Rider and bring this annoying endurance test to a close. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You emerge from the cave with Slide Dash, one of the best offensive Abilities in the game. Equip it, and continue north to the mountain ridge. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Holding Off the Horde -Reward: None -Difficulty: 2/10 Easy-peasy. Just survive for 60 seconds, and you win. So long as you use Speed Trap and Bolt Reversal in a timely manner, and jump to avoid the Bolt Towers’ shockwaves, there’s a good chance you won’t even take damage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mulan is finally herself again. Her powerful attacks will cut a swathe through the Heartless, and in most cases her Red Rocket Limit is an instant win. Remove Auto-Limit and Draw, equip Fire Boost, and hurry toward the Imperial City. Make sure you have immediate access to the Limit command before you pass the gates. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Heartless in the Imperial Square -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 Red Rocket will wipe out the Nightwalkers in one shot, making this otherwise nasty battle a breeze. The Bolt Towers will survive, and their shockwaves are still very much a threat, but if you wait for one to grab you and respond with Bolt Reversal you can mop them up with no difficulty. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Double-check that Goofy and Mulan are set to Party Attack. Then climb the stairs up to the palace doors. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Shan-Yu -Reward: HP +2, Aerial Sweep (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), Goofy Turbo (Goofy), HP +20 (Mulan) -Difficulty: 4/10 You will have to protect both the palace gates and yourself to win this battle. For the most part your allies can handle the Heartless, but be prepared to stop and grab a few orbs if the gate’s health falls too low. Lock onto Shan-Yu immediately, then attack with Slide Dash. If Shan-Yu is standing still he will block, triggering a button-mashing contest that ends with the powerful Takedown reaction command. If he does not block, start backing away: he will quickly recover and strike back, but Guarding the hit will trigger the reaction command. Try to spend as much time performing this command as possible, because it is your best defense against Shan-Yu’s hawk Hayabusa. Throughout the battle Hayabusa will randomly dive-bomb you, which is nearly impossible to block or dodge and takes off half your health. Cure is good enough if he only strikes occasionally, but if he is more aggressive (or Shan-Yu is also damaging you), you will need to summon Chicken Little. His attack-based healing is very powerful, and his whistle attack will often interrupt both of them. Shan-Yu stops summoning Heartless halfway through, and his attacks become more dangerous. So long as you stay far enough from the gate, protecting it is no longer an issue. Slide Dash is still effective, though you must keep your distance to avoid his powerful spin attack. Fortunately he is fond of charging at a distance, which you can easily block to trigger Takedown. Do your best to survive until he is down to the last third of a health bar, and you can finish him with Red Rocket. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (5/10, 4/10 with Mickey): Same as the above, except that Chicken Little is unavailable. The reaction command is even more critical to your defense here. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII. Disney Castle Hurry to the library to meet Queen Minnie, fighting or fleeing from Heartless as you go. Remember that the Minute Bombs’ explosion is instant death unless you escape it with the Dodge Roll command. Collect the first Torn Page, then introduce yourself to the queen. She and Sora will be fighting two short battles on their own. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLES: Reaching the Cornerstone -Reward: Auto-Summon (Sora) -Difficulty: 1/10 These battles are easy thanks to Minnie’s Faith command, which blows away the Heartless for considerable damage and makes you briefly invulnerable. As a rule of thumb, you should alternate between calling Minnie forward and activating Faith. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Use the save point to teleport to the world map, then visit Hollow Bastion to collect Merlin and return. He will open the way to a very different, very monochrome world. IX. Timeless River Pratfall through the door to see Pete run off to the Pier. Follow him there, then talk to start a little brawl. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Pete from the Past -Reward: None -Difficulty: 1/10 Pete’s direct attacks cannot hurt you. However, after each finishing hit he will flip through the air, generating a shockwave on landing and slamming into you with a panicked dash attack. You can mostly avoid both attacks by leaping over the shockwave, then hitting him with an air combo before he has time to recover. If he does start running around, you will need to stop him with About-Face. This easy battle should end very quickly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- To track down the real Pete, you must enter the four windows in the main square and eliminate the Heartless inside. You might want to level up Chicken Little a bit first, as he will be crucial here. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Mickey’s House -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 Keep one eye on the black hole at all times. You need to periodically quiet it with an air combo, or the Crisis gauge will fill at an alarming rate. While it is quiet you can eliminate the first wave of Rapid Thrusters, Guarding as needed to stop their propeller attacks. When the second wave spawns, wait for the black hole to act up again. Suppress it with a combo (so it doesn’t build the Crisis gauge during the next Limit), then win the battle with Trinity Limit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Scene of the Fire -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 Summon Chicken Little at the start of the battle. He will block all of the Shadows’ attacks, keeping you safe while you eliminate them. He does not block the Hot Rods’ attacks, but the whistle can take care of them. This pulls them in like a Magnet spell, giving you ample time to start an Upper Slash assault. (You can also block its attacks and stun it with Counterguard, but the timing for that is tricky.) When its health is low the Hot Rod will charge back and forth across the arena, dealing high damage with every hit, and you will have to leap over it to survive. Fortunately the whistle will still stun it, and even if that doesn’t happen you can stagger it with regular attacks after the sixth charge. Two more Hot Rods will spawn when the first dies, but they can be easily dealt with in the same way. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (5/10): Without Chicken Little, the Shadows are a threat by themselves. Launch them with Upper Slash to minimize your time on the ground, and make a point of avoiding large clusters of them. Unless you are extremely good at blocking and Counterguarding the Hot Rod’s moves, stay at a distance and wear it down with Blizzard. It will enter the charging phase just before you run out of MP. Leap over its charges, and after the sixth it will be vulnerable to an Upper Slash offensive. It should only take two sets of attacks to finish the Heartless. The final two Hot Rods can be eliminated via a fully-powered Trinity Limit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Lilliput -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 Start by eliminating the Aeroplanes with air combos, one at a time if possible. (If you are hit, resume the offensive with Retaliating Slash.) When they die a group of Hammer Frames will spawn. Eliminate them with Trinity Limit. Summon Chicken Little, then finish the last few Aeroplanes. You may get hit by their fast flyby attacks, but the summon’s healing abilities should largely nullify the damage. -NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (5/10): As above, save that you can’t heal with Chicken Little. End the battle with a second Trinity Limit at the earliest opportunity, or the damage will quickly overwhelm you. Stay near the center of town, so you can use the cannons to neutralize the flyby counterattack. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Construction Site -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 You must open the battle with Trinity Limit, or the Hammer Frames’ multiple shockwaves will obliterate you. When you finish the platform will be quaking, allowing you to abuse the Air Blade command for massive damage. By the time you finish the only Heartless will be Minute Bombs. The usual Upper Slash strategy is fine most of the time, though you must stay on the ground while their fuses are lit so you can dodge the explosion. When the platform starts shaking again, you can end the battle with a few more Air Blades. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- With all four battles completed, the real Pete shows his face. Follow him to the Waterway. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Freeing the Cornerstone of Light -Reward: Dodge Slash (Sora), Fantasia, Auto-Limit (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy) -Difficulty: 2/10 Toss back each piece of junk, and Pete will collapse in a matter of seconds. Grab the hook to start smashing the cage that holds the Cornerstone. The trick is to time your finishing hits so they do not interfere with the Hold On reaction command. The delay from the final hit can prevent you from using the command, throwing you off the boat until you have defeated several Minute Bombs. (If this happens, light them with Fire and dodge when they explode.) Unless you’ve just hopped on the boat or performed the command, you must perform two hits at a time, pause, then start a new combo. You will need two trips up the river, but if you don’t get thrown off it is still a quick battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You are rewarded with Donald’s Comet. This Limit is generally superior to Trinity Limit (dealing immediate damage and drawing from Donald’s AP instead of Sora’s), though you must sacrifice Donald Cure to use it. Equip the Limit, then head to the dock to finish this fight for good. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Pete -Reward: Reflect spell, HP +2 (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), Goofy Tornado (Goofy) -Difficulty: 3/10 Initially this battle is the same as the encounter at Olympus. Find an opening to launch him, and you can pretty much shut down his offense. You will have to keep an eye on Past Pete (who may stampede you if he takes too many hits from his future self), but once you start the offensive he is rarely a danger. Unfortunately, before long Pete will switch to a different battlefield, breaking your pattern and forcing you to find a new opening. The second stage is especially dangerous, as he starts by sending the flame balls at you for huge damage. Comet will protect you and create an opening for you to resume pummeling Pete. (Trinity Limit might work, but it has a longer recovery time and may give Pete a chance to resume attacking.) When the third stage starts you should run toward the edge of the room, as the black hole will try to draw you in for heavy damage. Fortunately you can use a reaction command to send Past Pete colliding into him, quelling the black hole and opening him to another Upper Slash offensive. The last two stages are much safer. The cannons in the fourth can send both you and Pete flying, but don't inflict damage. (Retaliating Slash is a great way to catch him off guard when you are both hit.) In the final stage you can just wait until he slams the ground, then tear him apart with Air Blade. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This victory earns you the Reflect spell, which completely transforms your defensive strategy. You also gain Wisdom Form, a defensive powerhouse which boosts Sora’s mobility and magic power. Once you are ready, head to Port Royal to continue the story. X. Port Royal Add Reflect to the shortcut menu (I suggest swapping Fire out), make sure Donald Thunder and Goofy Tornado are equipped, and move forward to fight a two-stage tutorial battle against Barbossa’s pirates. They are invulnerable at first, so just block their attacks with Guard and reaction commands as best you are able. Once the moon comes out they can be damaged, and become highly vulnerable to magic. Blizzard in particular is godly, as it can freeze small groups of them for several seconds at a time. Head into town to fight another battle, this time against the Heartless. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Heartless in the Streets -Reward: None -Difficulty: 2/10 Goofy Tornado proves its value as a crowd-control tool here, interrupting the Soldiers and Cannon Guns and pulling them together for easy damage. The standard Upper Slash assault works well between Tornados, but you must be careful of the Cannon Guns. They are slow and easily interrupted, but their attacks are highly damaging and hard to dodge. If you cannot prevent them, block their attacks with Reflect and resume the offensive at the next opportunity. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take the streets back to the pier, and Jack Sparrow will force his way into your party. You have to remove his items, but otherwise I would leave him alone. Set sail for the Isla de Muerta, fighting or running from the Pirates as you go, and Jack will promptly leave the party. If you suffer any damage from the Heartless, run back to the save point to refill your HP and MP before the next battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Holding Off the Pirates -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 At first, concentrate on freezing the axe pirates with Blizzard. (Don’t forget to keep them in the light, or your magic will be wasted.) If Donald is still alive, use Comet to buy as much time as you can; otherwise, top off your health with Cure and try to wait them out. Summon Chicken Little; his whistle and healing powers can save your life many times over during those final seconds. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (6/10): Chicken Little’s absence is surprisingly painful during the last few seconds. Counterguard and Upper Slash help a bit, but if the pirates are too aggressive it can be very difficult to survive. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sora and company flee the island and make their escape back to Port Royal. Save your game if you wish, then talk to Orlando Bloom to make the journey. I strongly recommend fleeing the battle you have in transit, since you’ll want full health and magic for the nasty story battle that follows. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Defending the Medallion -Reward: Aerial Spiral (Sora), Draw (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy) -Difficulty: 4/10 Sprint across the deck and hop onto the upper level ASAP, as your starting position is horribly exposed. From the upper deck you can cast Thunder at the pirates from a position of perfect safety. Cast the spell five times, wait for them to walk back from the shadows, and end with Comet to pile on the damage. Eventually a few axe pirates will arrive on the upper deck. Abuse Blizzard and Fantasia when possible, and otherwise use Upper Slash to stay in the air. Keep to the edges to avoid the cannon blasts, stop their axe charges at all costs (it is very hard to recover when you drop the medallion), and after a while they will fall. Remember to release the lock-on every now and then; the dodgy camera angles could easily let a pirate sneak up behind you, which can screw you over pretty badly. The final wave consists of a few bomb Pirates on the upper deck. Their bombs make it really hard to maneuver, and their stabs can be pretty painful too. Abuse Blizzard and then Comet while you have MP, and summon Chicken Little if you need to heal. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (6/10): Once again, taking away Chicken Little exposes you to horrifying amounts of damage. If you are hit at all, cast Cure instead of the Limit and hope that you can fend off the pirates on the upper deck until your MP regenerates. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack rejoins the party, though all his Abilities have been unequipped. Reequip everything except Item Boost, Lucky Lucky, and Auto-Limit. More importantly, set Jack and Donald to Huddle Attack (the third setting) for the upcoming boss battle. Step onto the deck to clear out the Heartless. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Tossing the Barrels -Reward: HP +1 (Donald), Second Chance (Goofy), HP +10 (Jack) -Difficulty: 3/10 An easy battle, as long as you’re fast. The Air Pirates do heavy damage, but if you quickly knock away each barrel and run to the next they should never land a hit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Put Donald back in the party and sail to the Isla de Muerta. Between you and Barbossa are several screens infested with Pirates, with lots of shadows where they can hide. Running from battle is far safer, especially right outside the boss’s lair. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Barbossa -Reward: Drive Gauge +1, Aerial Finish (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), Teamwork, Auto-Limit (Goofy), HP +15 (Jack) -Difficulty: 2/10 Barbossa immediately jumps into the shadows, staying untouchable while the Illuminator sucks the light from the room. You have plenty of time to recover your HP and MP (if necessary) before you kill the Heartless and start the battle proper. Lock on to Barbossa and start running. Use the gold pile in the center to stay at a safe distance, and eventually he will leap onto the pile and toward your position. With the right offense, he just lost the battle. Use a ground finisher+Blizzard combo to freeze him in place, then repeat to pile on the damage and re-freeze him just as the effect wears off. Keep in mind that each hit knocks him back a little, so an overenthusiastic offense could push Barbossa back into the shadows and screw up the whole strategy. Don’t be afraid to stop and circle around when necessary. As usual, use the last bit of MP to pile on the damage with Comet. The next bit is critical. Activate Wisdom Form the instant that Comet ends. If done right, the transformation will stun him long enough to freeze him with another Blizzard. The attack pattern is basically the same as before, though Blizzard needs to be the first finisher rather than the second. Quick Run toward Barbossa after each combo, as the recoil from Sora’s shots can push him out of range very quickly. Thankfully the battle stays entirely under your control, and with Wisdom Form’s powered-up attacks it should end very quickly. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (7/10): Things get hairy right after Comet, when you have to survive 30 seconds with no MP to protect you. Start running as the combo ends to put plenty of ground between you and Barbossa, and your teammates should follow. His normal attacks are no threat if you keep running, but the Illuminator is incredibly dangerous. This time it flits across the room, and Barbossa leaps at you from the shadows while remaining invulnerable. There is no real defense against this; just keep moving and pray that you can kill the Illuminator before you or Jack get slaughtered. Thankfully this is an uncommon move, and Barbossa will return to his normal attacks afterwards. Once your MP recovers the battle is essentially won, and you can continue freezing him until he finally dies. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You earn Aerial Finish and Goofy's Knocksmash Limit, and suddenly the game becomes a lot more fun. I suggest just equipping Aerial Finish for now. Two new worlds open up, each adding a powerful tool to Sora’s arsenal. Agrabah’s reward is a bit better, but in any case you need both before returning to Hollow Bastion. XI. Agrabah Upon landing you enter a tutorial battle against some Luna Bandits. Upper Slash is very effective, though if you are ever hit they will quickly combo you into oblivion. Exit the shop after the battle, say hi to Jasmine, and reunite with Aladdin. Clear out his items, then unequip Item Boost and MP Haste and replace them with Auto-Change. (Also equip Aerial Finish, if you haven’t already.) His Speedster Limit fully heals you, rendering Cure irrelevant, and thanks to Auto-Change it is nearly always available. Reach the Cave of Wonders, fighting or fleeing from the Heartless. All of them can kill you in one shot, though the Fat Bandits and their flame attacks are the worst by far. (See the Chasm of Challenges section below for combat advice. If you’re just running through, abuse Reflect like mad.) Continue down into the cave, and eventually you will reach the hallway that hosts the first mandatory battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: The Stone Guardians -Reward: Summon Boost (Sora), Donald Blizzard (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy), HP +15 (Aladdin) -Difficulty: 2/10 Guide Abu forward with Reaction Commands, then set the jewel with a final command. As long as you don’t stand still there is little danger of dying here. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next battle is a bit easier if you unequip Aerial Finish. (It slows your combos when fighting the Fat Bandits, which could allow them to kill you before you can stun them.) Make sure Aladdin is in your party, then examine the inscription to begin your descent. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: The Chasm of Challenges -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 The first two platforms are a piece of cake with Upper Slash. The same can’t be said for the Fat Bandits, who have a habit of murdering anything in front of them. Run to their backsides, either by Quick Running around their flame breath or by returning the fireballs to launch them toward you, and quickly hit them with a complete combo. Air combos are preferable (they are noticeably quicker), though either way the finisher will trigger the powerful Full Swing command. If you are quick you can follow it with another ground combo and continue to abuse the reaction command until he dies. However, if he does recover you must defend with Reflect; his recovery move is an unblockable one-hit kill, and you probably won’t have time to get out of range. At low HP he uses nothing but this move. You can still stun him with an air combo to the back, but the window to do so is very small. A second Fat Bandit arrives on the next platform. Hopefully the first one is dead or close to it. If he has only a little health, you can finish him with Blizzard. If not, you’ll need to abuse Reflect while very carefully attacking it in the usual manner. Upon reaching the final platform you can unleash Speedster, eliminating the Fat Bandit and killing or weakening the two Fortunetellers. A single combo should be enough to finish each of them and finally reach the treasure room. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Put Aladdin and Donald in your party, and examine the plaque to open the treasure room. Quick combos are even more important here, so keep Aerial Finish off. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Trapped in the Treasure Room -Reward: HP +2 (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), Auto-Healing (Goofy), HP +15 (Aladdin) -Difficulty: 5/10 The Silver Rocks’ reaction command kills them instantly, though if they do recover their dive can do the same to you. The Firey Globes and Icy Cubes aren’t much harder, remaining highly vulnerable to Upper Slash. Make a point of staying in the air as much as possible, and you should avoid most of their attacks. Activate Speedster as the Fat Bandits spawn. This will eliminate one of them, and stun the other two long enough to trigger Wisdom Form. With your MP restored you can defend yourself with Reflect, or you can damage them at a distance with Blizzard. (Physical attacks are only practical against the final Bandit, as Wisdom Form’s combos are quite lengthy.) Keep your defense up and you should have no trouble finishing them. -NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (7/10): Powerful as it is, one Speedster Limit won’t weaken the Fat Bandits enough to stop their flame breath. To survive in such a confined space you must first weaken them with 3-5 Reflect blasts. Aladdin will probably die and be changed out at some point, so remember to switch him in again during a quiet moment. Once you’ve worn down their HP you can finally use Speedster. Two will likely remain, but their HP is low enough that they will only use the fire slam attack. To survive you must constantly circle around the arena and leap into the air to ensure you stay out of range. You cannot safely attack until your MP regenerates, though once it does a second Limit will make short work of them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You will end up back in the city, just outside the peddler’s shop. Run back into the shop, reequip Aerial Finish, and save. Return to the palace, staying on the defensive to survive the Heartless you meet on the way. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Volcanic Lord and Blizzard Lord -Reward: Finishing Leap (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), HP +15 (Aladdin) -Difficulty: 4/10 The Volcanic Lord opens the battle by bouncing across the arena, creating deadly pools of fire as he goes. Stop him and launch him into the wall with Firagun, then run up to start attacking. The best offense is two air combos, each ending with a single finisher. This triggers a counterattack which strikes the air above you, followed by either another bounce attack or a pause (in which you can start another air combo). Eventually he will disappear, and the Blizzard Lord will take his place. Like before, interrupt him with Blizzagun and whack him with air combos. There should be no need to heal if you can keep up this pattern, save for the occasional scepter strike if you don’t reach them fast enough. The battle only turns dangerous near the end, when each boss uses his desperation attack. The Volcanic Lord summons a row of fireballs to home in on you from a distance. Your allies are usually frozen by the Blizzard Lord during this attack, so you will have to rely on a well-timed Guard to block it. The Blizzard Lord is far worse, conjuring blocks of ice which hang in the air before slamming into you from all angles. Reflect combos don’t last long enough and Guard isn’t an option, so you will need Speedster to survive this. The good news is that they only use these moves after a long pause, which will never happen if you are aggressive enough with your offense. When the Blizzard Lord has less than half a bar of health remaining, a final Speedster will bring this battle to a satisfying close. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- With Finishing Leap in his arsenal Sora turns into an offensive juggernaut, able to damage whole crowds at once. Unequip Upper Slash, as Finishing Leap renders it redundant. XII. Halloween Town After changing your Abilities, follow Zero to the square to put Jack back in your party. Remove his items, then replace Lucky Lucky with Thunder Boost. Once you leave the lab you will enter a tutorial battle against lots of Wight Knights. Finishing Leap does wonders against them, but just one of their attacks can tear you to ribbons. Enter through the door in the woods and the entire cast gets a costume change. Continue into Christmas Town. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Toy Soldiers in Christmas Town -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 Start by eliminating the Driller Moles while keeping your distance from the Toy Soldier. (It will wait for you to get close, then kill you with two shots from its musket.) Finishing Leap will mostly take care of them, though if one dives into the ground you will have to spam Reflect to stop its sneak attack. When the moles are gone you can pile on the damage with a Finishing Leap + Aerial Finish offensive. The Toy Solider mainly relies on a leaping attack that ends in a painful charge (block this with Reflect), though he will perform a knife combo after recovering from your attacks. You must block this move or get out of range, or it WILL kill you. At low HP, however, he relies exclusively on the wait-and-shoot tactic with which he opened. Physical attacks are no longer practical, so rely on Thunder and Jack’s Dance Call to finish him off. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head into Santa’s Workshop to meet the trouble triplets. Follow them back to Halloween Town, through the woods and into the graveyard. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Prison Keeper -Reward: Flash Step (Sora), Hyper Healing (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy), HP +15 (Jack) -Difficulty: 5/10 This boss switches between three different attack modes, one for each of the triplets. Probably most dangerous is the Barrel phase, based around a variety of quick bite attacks. They’re easy to block with a little practice (and Reflect makes the timing even easier), but if you allow them to hit then you will die very quickly. The Shock phase is also annoying: the boss ascends high into the air and shoots out energy projectiles on all sides. You can ground him for a combo or two with Aerial Finish, but reaching him in the first place is difficult. If you know High Jump Lv2 you can simply leap from the ground and start an air combo. Otherwise you should run up the curly hill when he rises into the air, then leap when he gets near to reach him and ground him with an air combo. Finally, in the Lock phase the boss launches slow-moving fireballs at you. This is the easiest phase to deal with: you can return the fireballs with Guard, then start a combo while he is stunned. In all three cases Finishing Leap and Aerial Finish are your best modes of offense. Be careful not to attack too aggressively, which may trigger a wide spinning counterattack. Reflect is the best defense: the Guard timing is difficult, and if you get hit it will nearly always kill you. Remember that if you block while he is switching between phases, you can interrupt his transformation and perform an extra combo or two before the next phase starts. Toward the end of the battle the boss switches rapidly between forms. He uses the spin attack as a normal move, and his bites remain as deadly as ever. (On the bright side, the Shock phase will automatically end after a certain amount of time.) Stay on the defensive, using only one combo at a time and ready to defend at a moment’s notice, and you will make it through. Don’t be afraid to spend MP here: Reflect can deal some nice damage while it protects you, and Dance Call is an easy way to win the battle when he has a half bar or less of health. -NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (6/10): The only major difference is the Shock phase, when your lack of access to Growth Abilities makes it very difficult to reach the boss. You MUST hurry to the top of the curly hill when he rises; otherwise you will either get annihilated by his projectiles or forced to follow underneath the boss, unable to touch him. You can wear him down with Thunder eventually, but because it takes forever I suggest just making a run for the hill and trying again if you get killed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hurry back to Santa’s Workshop now. If you fight the Emerald Blues that spawn on the way, Reflect spamming is key; their tornado attack will kill you in a second otherwise. Quick Run is strongly recommended for the last boss. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Oogie Boogie -Reward: Magnet spell (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), Once More (Goofy), HP +15 (Jack) -Difficulty: 6/10 Your goal is to break Oogie’s cage so that you can attack him directly. To do this you must launch the presents that come down the assembly line while avoiding his attacks. At first this is a pretty easy task. He begins by sending more presents onto the assembly line (er... thanks?), tossing an exploding die at your current position (he will shout “Hrph!” just before doing this), and crushing you by pounding the assembly line with an instant- kill boxing glove. Always drop what you’re doing and dash forward when he signals the boxing glove. Eventually the glass will crack, Oogie will fall onto the assembly line, and you can attack with impunity until he loses a third of his health and moves to a new cage. The second phase is largely identical, with the exception of one attack: Oogie will release a bunch of trick presents onto the line, which will transform into Heartless who will quickly annihilate you. The only escape is the very front of the assembly line, where you will need to switch to a different line. Repeat twice to return to your original line. Continue launching presents as before, and eventually Oogie will fall again and let you take off another third of his health. The final phase is when things turns nasty. Oogie will start moving his cage to different assembly lines, forcing you to follow, and you will have to spend a lot of time switching to avoid the Heartless he calls. Every time you return to his assembly line he uses the desperation attack, summoning lightning bolts that run along either the left or right side of the line. Since he mostly only releases presents during this attack, you’ll need to balance defense with offense here. Stay pretty far down the line, moving Sora to the left and right as needed to dodge each lightning bolt, and dash to the front as it ends. He releases a few more presents for you to toss back afterwards. This phase is a whole lot slower, but if you are to survive and ground him for good you need to be patient and stay on the defensive. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- As soon as you reach the next world, I suggest replacing Blizzard with your new Magnet spell. Despite its high cost, it is the best crowd-control move available. XIII. Twilight Town After completing Agrabah or Halloween Town you will regain access to Twilight Town. Run back to Station Heights, equip Goofy’s Knocksmash Limit and Finishing Leap/Magnet (depending on which worlds you have completed), and ride the skateboard to the Struggle arena. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Berserkers in the Arena -Reward: None -Difficulty: 5/10 The battle begins with a gang of Dusks. Despite their high damage, they are much easier than before. Finishing Leap will keep them constantly stunned, and in a pinch you can still confuse them with Reversal. Do not cast any spells during this phase. When the final Dusk falls you are formally introduced to the Berserker, probably the scariest class of Nobody in the game. Get away from him or cast Reflect when he arrives, or his hammer grab will send you flying. Take care not to get hit by any of his attacks, since even one hit can take off most of your health. If you know Magnet, a quick Magnet+Thunder combo will instantly release the hammer. Otherwise you will need to block one of his attacks with Reflect. He will hang in the air for a second, where you can knock him down with Aerial Finish. In either case, pick up the hammer and rush back to the Berserker before he can recover. The hammer draws in and paralyzes all nearby enemies, and even at Level 1 the Eclipse command does heavy damage. Recover the hammer to repeat the cycle, and the Berserker will die easily. Mop up the remaining Dusks as before. The final phase consists of three Berserkers. Cast Reflect to block the opening hammer grabs. If you’re lucky the damage might stagger one of them, allowing you to launch him with Finishing Leap and quickly steal his hammer. If not you’ll need to rely on Magnet or the Guard/Reflect tactic used in the previous phase. So long as you can keep pulling in the Berserkers, you can continuously juggle them without giving them a chance to recover. Unfortunately at some point a Berserker will be thrown out of range and recover, triggering a terrifying desperation attack. You can run at first, but to survive the final hit you must have some kind of invulnerability: either Reflect, a Limit, or the Berserk command. Watch out for their midair charge, used as a follow-up after the desperation attack, which can easily kill you in one or two swipes. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once the battle is complete, head up to the train station to gain Limit Form. This Final Mix-exclusive Form is one of my favorite techniques: Sora can use it alone, retaining access to Guard and Dodge Roll, and thanks to MP Rage his Limit attacks provide effectively unlimited healing. Train Limit Form to at least Level 3 and the invaluable Dodge Roll is yours to keep. (High Jump and Quick Run can now be upgraded to their Level 2 forms, so consider training their Forms as well.) With that out of the way the story returns to Hollow Bastion. Be aware that you will lose access to the Pride Lands after the next mission, and will not regain it until you clear both Agrabah and Halloween Town a second time. If you want the bonuses from the battles there, head there right away. Don’t even think of continuing without both Magnet and Finishing Leap, both of which are critical in the battles to come. XIV. Hollow Bastion and Space Paranoids Your immediate goal is to reach Ansem’s room inside the castle. There are lots of random Heartless on the path, including the new Morning Stars and Bookmasters, but you can run from all of them. (Reflect is mandatory against the Morning Stars, as their spin attack cannot be outrun.) Talk to Leon once you get there, then approach the computer to get sucked in. After lots of cutscenes, you will have to free Tron from his prison by unlocking the door. In the canyon is another minigame, this time to find and strike the one colored block in the circle. Keep the camera on the block as it turns to win on your first try. Return to the cell and use the monitor to escape to the outside world. Before you check the drawing, backtrack toward the computer room. Along the way you will find a chest containing Stitch, the third and by far most valuable summon. Once you check the painting, Mickey will arrive and you will learn Master Form. The only thing left to do is log in to the computer to return to Tron’s world. Unfortunately, as soon as you arrive Sark and the MCP will draw you into an incredibly frustrating trap. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: The Light Cycle Race -Reward: None -Difficulty: 8/10 With no armor and no ability to heal, it only takes two hits during the entire event to kill you. If you want to continue playing past this point, you will need very good reflexes. *Part 1* Before you can start your escape, you have to kill five of the Heartless on the track. You begin stuck between two enemies: immediately press Square and push left or right to kill one and move out of range before the other can strike. Almost all of your offense will come from the quick attack. The slow Square tackle is only useful for escaping when you’re surrounded, and the shield is basically irrelevant. Stick as close to the walls as possible to minimize the chances of being surrounded. *Part 2* All the advice above applies to the escape itself, and sticking close to the walls becomes even more important. Turn left at the split point, quickly killing your enemies and escaping from ambushes as soon as possible, and pray you’re not hit more than once before you reach the exit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Winning returns you to Tron’s cell, where he rejoins your party. You must cross the Strafer-infested canyon to proceed. Make sure that Tron and Donald are in your party, and that Tron has Jackpot equipped, before the next battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: A Fun Heartless Game -Reward: HP +2 (Sora), Thunder Boost (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy), HP +10 (Tron) -Difficulty: 3/10 The only real danger is the sheer number of Strafers, who recover too quickly to simply spam Finishing Leap. Instead, alternate between Reflect and Finishing Leap; the former will block their spin counterattack and stun them long enough to launch them again. (Do not bother with air combos.) You will need some additional Reflects when they shoot their homing ring, so rotate the camera constantly to ensure you see them coming. With Tron’s Jackpot in play, it should not take long to power up the first two monitors. Switch in Goofy before unlocking the second monitor. This unleashes a flood of Strafers, just in time to mow through them with Knocksmash. If this hasn’t already filled the gauge, a few seconds running around the arena will. Charge the final monitor to win the “game.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tron earns a new set of Abilities, including the very powerful Setup Limit. Equip Pulsing Thunder, Jackpot, and Complete Compilement, then run to the I/O Tower. This area contains lots of Strafers and Emerald Blues as well as a Devastator, probably the scariest Heartless in the game. Make sure Tron is in your party before you return from the I/O Tower. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Hostile Program -Reward: Drive Gauge +1, Vicinity Break (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), Jackpot (Goofy), HP +15 (Tron) -Difficulty: 5/10 Begin by locking on to the boss and casting a complete Thunder combo. Its massive projectile swarms are difficult to outrun, but with Dodge Roll you can quickly escape the lethal lights and close in on the Hostile Program. Once you are reasonably close, unleash Setup. Its constant strafing may cause the first several hits to miss, so just focus on the finisher. The final barrage inflicts huge damage, especially if you’re right next to the boss at the time. At this point the Hostile Program will be hemorrhaging data orbs. Collect them with Dodge Roll to fill the gauge and freeze the boss, granting several seconds to attack without fear of retaliation. This is the ONLY time physical attacks are viable (before the final stage), since normally it performs an instant-kill counterattack. The extra time provided by Freeze is just enough for your MP gauge to refill, allowing you to repeat the Thunder+Limit offensive indefinitely. Besides firing energy projectiles, the boss will also rocket around the arena’s edge, which is instant death if you do not Dodge Roll out of the way. This becomes its recovery attack after Freeze later in the battle, so always keep your distance when the time runs out. It can also call a beam of energy for some small healing, though not enough to cancel your offense. At two bars and below it switches tactics. Its main attack is a massive three-part laser combo, seperated by lots of movement around the arena. Follow the boss closely during the first two parts and you can avoid the lasers entirely, while dealing good damage with Aerial Finish. Once the third part starts, though, only Setup will protect you. The Limit will nullify the rest of the attack, after which he will pause for a few seconds and start it again. If he is still alive by the third part you can Freeze him to cancel the attack, allowing enough time to kill him for sure. -NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (6/10): Without Dodge Roll, constant running is the only defense against the projectile swarms. Safe openings are infrequent, so you won’t be able to cast full Thunder combos too often. The rest of the strategy is identical. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- XV. The Invasion of Hollow Bastion With Tron’s world under control, you will return to Hollow Bastion to access the computer. Equip Vicinity Break and check the terminal. After a barrage of cutscenes, Sora finds that the Heartless and the Nobodies have both descended on the town. Step into the hall to trigger the first battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Brawl in the Corridors -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 This is your first demonstration of the godly power that is Stitch. Summon him when you gain control of Sora, then gather the assembled enemies with Magnet. Stitch randomly refills your MP, allowing endless abuse of the Magnet+Aerial Finish tactic. The only potential danger is the Crimson Jazz, whose fire pulse will murder you if Magnet does not catch him right away. Block it with Reflect if necessary, then continue the assault. -NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (5/10): Quite a bit harder with limited MP. The Dancer and the Crimson Jazz (who arrives later) are the two biggest threats. Start by locking on to the Dancer ASAP. Launch her with Finishing Leap, then cast Magnet to delay her grab attack and hit her with another combo. Concentrate on the Armored Knights after she dies. They attack slowly, but one bad sweep attack can kill you. Immobilize the nearest ones with Finishing Leap, and eventually you can use their Rising Sun command to start scything through them. Somewhere along the way the Crimson Jazz will arrive. Block the opening fire pulse with Reflect, then cast Magnet and begin a Knocksmash assault. (You will probably take damage if he opened with the fire mine spell, but it is survivable.) If he survives that, one Aerial Finish will eliminate him. With him gone only a few Dusks remain to mop up. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- After a bizarre run-in with Sephiroth, you will find yourself outside the Cavern of Remembrance. Level up Master Form to learn Aerial Dodge. You’re about to begin a gauntlet of nasty battles, so save and take a break if you need it. Head forward when you are ready. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Dancers and Creepers -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 Stitch is a lifesaver once again. Cast Magnet, blast the gathered Nobodies with Finishing Leap, Aerial Dodge away from them, and repeat until victory. Some caution is required due to Magnet’s limited range, but with good use of your spells you are effectively untouchable. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (7/10): This one is a beast. Open with Finishing Leap, then get as much distance as possible between Sora and the Dancers. Lock on to the nearest Dancer when they start to pursue, then cast Magnet. Repeat the cycle twice more. After the third Magnet activate Knocksmash to obliterate the first wave. The second wave has just one Dancer. A full Finishing Leap combo (three normal hits plus Finishing Leap) followed by a full Aerial Finish combo will cut through most of her health, though you will have to keep running for a while after she recovers. Finish her off and wait for your MP to recharge (while you continue circling the arena), then eliminate the remaining Creepers. A final round of Dancers await. Repeat the strategy from the first round and you should be able to end it. Precision is critical, because if any Dancers remain after the Limit you will almost certainly die. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A lengthy cutscene follows. Just ahead lies your first battle with the infamous Nobodies of Organization XIII. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Demyx -Reward: Blizzara spell (Sora), Blizzard Boost (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy) -Difficulty: 5/10 A busy round of clone-killing opens the battle. When they disappear, hit Demyx with a full Finishing Leap combo and use the Ohana! Limit to dismiss Stitch and deal extra damage. The summon will not last the whole battle, so you must recharge before Demyx gets really dangerous. The main challenge is closing range with him. Circle at a distance to dodge his bubble blast, then slide in to perform a combo and run away again. Sometimes he will summon the water clones to act as bodyguards. Destroy them with Wild Dance first, or their whip attack will kill you. He may also summon a rain of bubbles, leap across the arena on a line of geysers, or march toward you for a grab. Keep Dodge Rolling to escape the first two, and use the Show Stealer command to stop the grab and stun him right back. The grab provides an easy opening for a combo, so the more he uses it the better. Demyx turns aggressive below the second health bar. One of his first moves is another, shorter minigame. Summon Stitch to ensure you don’t run out of MP. He uses his desperation attack A LOT, so get used to dodging it. Hang back while he flails the sitar, then get close to him and absorb the final blast with Reflect. If you are at the right distance (he should be just outside the Reflect sphere) the blast will launch him into the air, creating an easy combo opening. He often repeats the desperation attack several times in a row, though he may also summon an impassable wall of water, launch a homing geyser, or repeat his grab attack. Cast Thunder to eliminate the wall, and block the geyser with Reflect. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (8/10): It starts off easy enough. You will need Reflect to survive the rain of bubbles, but you can dodge his other attacks just by running around. Once the second phase begins it gets truly nasty. Most of his attacks--especially the godawful geyser attack--are only blockable with Reflect, and his wall of water can only be stopped by Thunder. Try to catch him in a loop (see above) to make the best use of your limited MP. Keep casting Reflect until only a little MP remains, then use Knocksmash (or Comet if Goofy is dead) to deal as much damage as possible. If both your allies are dead, just cast Cure during a safe moment. Whether you survive the next 30 seconds depends entirely on how aggressive Demyx chooses to be. The geyser and the bubble rain are both unblockable and inescapable (as is the final blast of the desperation attack), so hope that he uses the grab a lot. You can bait him into using a short-range blast by staying close to the wall, largely avoiding the geyser, but only if you’re extremely precise: that move is an instant kill, and this close to him it’s easy to stumble into the wall instead of sidestepping it. Fortunately, once your MP recharges he is no more dangerous than normal. You cannot afford to heal, but if you block all of his moves a final Limit will certainly kill him. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don’t relax, because you’re not done yet. Sora foolishly charges through the Heartless invaders by himself, and if he dies you will have to beat Demyx again. Proceed carefully. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Sora’s Heartless Rampage -Reward: Cura spell (Sora) -Difficulty: 6/10 You must rely heavily on your allies here. During the first two sections Sora should use the Rising Sun and Cyclone Reaction Commands as they become available and otherwise Dodge Roll out of the way. (In the No Drive Gauge version, run around the edges and leap when a smaller enemy attacks.) Finishing Leap is risky, as you can only perform reaction commands on the ground, though it may still be worth it for clearing the swarm of Shadows in the second battle. The Morning Stars in the third battle can be scary, but a little Reflect spamming (and the occasional Rising Sun barrage) will neutralize their attacks and soften them up. Cast Cure and wait for your MP to recharge between battles. You cannot take any chances here. The really terrifying part is the final area with Cloud. In addition to the previous Heartless they also release a Surveillance Robot, whose laser barrage is an instant kill. Your best bet is to circle the edges, cast Reflect as often as needed, and generally focus on surviving until Cloud uses Omnislash to slaughter the nearby enemies. So long as your defense is strong, Cloud’s attacks are more than sufficient. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- And finally you can save. Pick up another Torn Page next to the save point. Equip any Draw Abilities, then head forward to face the nastiest mandatory fight in the game. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: The 1000 Heartless Battle -Reward: Guard Break (Sora) -Difficulty: 7/10 Without Once More every Heartless on the field can kill Sora with one attack. There are ways for Sora to avoid them, but if you let your guard down you will be murdered in a second. The Surveillance Robot’s Sparkle Ray vaporizes every Heartless within a wide radius, and so it will be your main form of attack. Most of the time you will be Dodge Rolling away from the Armored Knights until you see the Snag command appear. Even then you need to be careful: sometimes the Triangle icon will pop up while it is charging for the laser attack, causing you to miss the grab and get killed, and sometimes the camera angle will prevent you from noticing a robot that is charging off-screen. Make a point of rotating the camera constantly, and only grab a robot when it shows no signs of preparing to attack. Dodge Roll will prevent most of the lasers, but occasionally Reflect may be necessary. Rising Sun provides the safest escape for the Knight’s airborne charge (which even Dodge Roll can’t consistently escape), but the Knights will try to ambush you when you land. Aerial Dodge toward safe ground and resume Dodge Rolling. Remain vigilant, and you can mow through them pretty quickly. Even at the end, don’t let your guard down: a single Heartless can still kill you, so stay on the defensive until they all die. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (10/10): With no Dodge Roll or Aerial Dodge, Sora is in a world of trouble. Your best bet is to keep constantly moving, grab a Robot when Sparkle Ray becomes available, and resume moving. This will mostly prevent the Robots’ laser attack, and since the Knights tend to attack in groups you can usually escape damage with a well-timed leap. As for Rising Sun (should you find it necessary to use it), if the Knights are attacking below you can swing your keyblade to the delay the fall a bit. This will often prevent them from touching you, though safety is never guaranteed. Only use Cura in an emergency; Reflect is still needed for the laser attack, and the HP orbs they drop should take care of most of your healing needs. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- With that victory the invasion has ended, and the latter half of the game begins. A new mission is available in every world, though at first you can only reach Beast’s Castle, the Land of Dragons, and Port Royal. I suggest you start with Port Royal, as Horizontal Slash and Magnera are powerful tools that should be added to your arsenal ASAP. XVI. Port Royal Replace Magnet with Blizzara on the shortcut menu and equip Guard Break before you head out. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Pirates at the Dock -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 The pirates are still very strong, but your power has increased a lot more than theirs. Blizzara still freezes them and does heavy damage, but even without it they are easy to juggle with Finishing Leap. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Board the ship and have Jack head to Isla de Muerta. Once the scene is over, go upstairs to meet Luxord and fight his minion. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Grim Reaper, Round 1 -Reward: Horizontal Slash (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), Draw (Goofy), HP +10 (Jack) -Difficulty: 2/10 Like the Pirates, he is highly vulnerable to magic. Blizzara will freeze him, and your Fire and Thunder attacks also delay him. Even without magic, he is a pushover as long as you Guard his attacks. After every second air combo he will spin his weapon to teleport to a different part of the deck, but keep following him around the deck and he will fall quickly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dirty cheater that he is, Luxord knocks you off the ship and steals four medallions from the chest. When you regain control, equip Horizontal Slash and open a chest for Peter Pan, the fourth and final Summon. The path forward is filled with Lance Soldiers and crossbow Pirates, and due to the sparse light the Pirates are often untouchable. Running away is a smart idea, though if you do fight Reflect and Blizzara are indispensible. At the second screen you will have to fight a Gambler, one of Luxord’s Nobody servants. By itself the Gambler is extremely easy. So long as you keep attacking, it will not be able to recover at all. You regain one of the medallions and get rescued by the Black Pearl. The next mission is to recover the other three coins, so you can return them to the chest and lift the curse. There are six coin-holding Gamblers in all, each with a time limit and a unique gimmick. Some are in a hidden or hard-to-reach location, while others do not appear until you’ve defeated the Pirates in the area. To minimize frustration this guide will focus on the three easiest ones. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLES: Collecting the Cursed Coins -Reward: None -Difficulty: 2/10 **Gambler 1: Back in the Ship Graveyard, in the same area as the first Gambler. Jump down, catch it in midair with Aerial Spiral, and assault it with Horizontal Slash until you’ve sliced through its entire health bar. Collect the medallion and return to the ship. **Gambler 2: Sail to the Isla de Muerta. The first screen has a Gambler in plain sight, but the ten second time limit is far too short. Continue to the screen with the exploding boxes, and hit the second set of boxes on the right with a combo. This will stun the Gambler and give you an easy opportunity to juggle it to death. Collect the medallion and continue forward. **Gambler 3: Hurry past the next room, which holds dozens of Pirates who are fond of shooting at you from the shadows. The final Gambler is in the treasure room where you fought Barbossa, attempting to hide in the shadows. Fortunately a white monster with a white icon over its head kind of stands out, allowing you to find and kill the thing quickly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once the medallions are collected, you only need to return to Port Royal and lift the curse. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Grim Reaper, Round 2 -Reward: Magnera spell (Sora), Flare Force (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy), HP +15 (Jack) -Difficulty: 5/10 In its cursed form, the Grim Reaper is invulnerable and its attacks are powered up. Its normal swing attack generates a Blizzard-style blast of energy (which is blockable), and it gains a nasty whirlwind move that draws in coins and does lethal damage to anyone too close. To end this phase you must release the coins by blasting him with magic. Thundara releases the most coins, especially if cast as a combo, while Blizzara will buy you time to deposit them in the chest. When all the coins are returned, the Grim Reaper loses its invulnerability and reverts to normal. The battle remains easy until you take off the first bar of health. At that point it will teleport back to the chest and steal a large number of coins, returning to its cursed form. Before long it will settle next to the chest, send the skulls spinning around it, and begin stealing coins from the chest. To end this you must move in to grab the scythe, a task made difficult by the orbiting skulls. Dodge Roll’s invulnerability should get you past them, at which point the Hinder and Loot Launch commands will release 100+ coins and knock him out long enough for you to collect them. He repeats this move frequently, so it shouldn’t take long to take back all the coins and revert him to normal. The third and final phase triggers at just over a bar of health. The Grim Reaper steals every coin from the chest, then performs a terrifying desperation attack. Dash to the crates in the northwest corner (next to the dock) or the shockwaves will kill you. Once it’s over you must spend a while freeing the coins with your spells. After 100 coins or so have been returned, the boss will resume abusing the coin-stealing attack and greatly speed up the process. From that point it is just a matter of time until you can reverse the curse one last time and he can finally be killed. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY(6/10): Without Dodge Roll, interrupting the coin-stealing attack without damage can be difficult. Observe the skulls’ movements and time your approach to pass through just after the skulls do. The damage is not too great, fortunately, so you can take two or three hits and cast Cura afterwards. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Put your new Magnera on the shortcut menu, and replace Donald’s Comet with the more powerful Duck Flare. Then head to Beast’s Castle. XVII. Beast’s Castle As soon as you land, enter the Parlor to your right. Then head back out and talk to the Beast. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Dragoons in the Ballroom -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 Most of the Dragoons’ attacks are one hit kills, particularly their dive bomb move. You can block their teleporting slash and vertical spin with Guard and good timing, but Reflect is needed for the dive bomb or if several strike you at once. Each blocked attack triggers the Learn command, which you can collect (up to 9 at a time) to perform the impressive Jump attack. Physical combos are a liability unless only one Dragoon survives, though at that point you can destroy it and the Dusks pretty quickly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Beast will leave the party for a bit, forcing Sora and friends to follow him into the west wing. There are a whole lot of powerful random enemies here, so running isn’t a bad idea. (You need to kill the first two Morning Stars in the West Wing, who will follow you with their nasty spin attack if you try to run, but you can safely flee from every other enemy.) The battles outside Beast’s Room are exceptionally dangerous, so much so that Stitch and Magnera abuse are the only practical way to win if you stay and fight. After a brief cutscene, return from the hallway to talk with the Beast and make him rejoin the party. (The Marluxia Silhouette battle is now available, if you’re interested in boosting your Drive Gauge up to 6.) Warp from the save point to the gummi ship and back to the Parlor, and you will bypass some of the nastiest random battles in the game. Exit into the hallway. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Dragoons in the Foyer -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 Basically the same battle as in the ballroom, save for the second wave of Dragoons who dive-bomb into the center. Make liberal use of Jump and Reflect. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now all that is left is to catch up with Xaldin. Head out through the big doors to confront him. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Xaldin -Reward: Reflera spell, HP +2 (Sora), Auto-Healing (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy), HP +25 (Beast) -Difficulty: 5/10 Undoubtably my favorite battle in the game. Xaldin is pretty predictable at first, using a fast stab attack and a slower sweep attack that are both instant kills. You must have good timing to Guard them, though when you do you can collect plenty of Jump commands (up to 5 per stab) in the time he remains stunned. Once you have collected 9 you can unleash a barrage of Jump attacks that will do huge damage. He has a nasty habit of summoning a wind shield in mid-combo, so never use physical attacks. The second phase starts with a leaping attack, in which he stabs the ground with his lances six times. High Jump and Aerial Dodge provide an easy escape, and each strike can give you multiple Jumps. After this he fires two slow-moving balls of air, which you must Guard before closing range. He abuses the stab mercilessly, performing it quickly and at long range, so always be vigilant. Sometimes he will perform an extended multi-hit sweep attack, though he can still be interrupted with Jump. The final phase starts around two bars of health. Keep your distance to avoid getting surprised by his first attack. He may open with the teleport move or another leap attack, but most often he goes straight into the desperation attack. The spinning combo alone can easily kill you, so Dodge Roll or Aerial Dodge away or block the whole thing with a few Guards. (If he backs you into a corner, you must Guard it.) You can avoid the wind blast entirely by rushing to the opposite end of the bridge, or by huddling in the corner near the woods and casting Reflect as it passes. In a pinch you can break free of his lances with consecutive Jump attacks, provided you have at least 3 to spare. His new favorite move is a teleport attack that turns his wind shield into a deadly weapon. Fortunately, Reflect will protect you and wear down his HP. He may use it several times in a row, but if you keep it up long enough Xaldin will start a leaping attack, allowing you to refill your Jump commands and do heavy damage when it ends. The desperation attack always follows your Jump barrages, but the high damage is well worth it. When your MP runs low, keep 4-5 Jump commands stocked at all times. Jump allows you to survive his teleport attacks when Reflect is unavailable, and if used one at a time it will not trigger the desperation attack. Mickey may arrive if Sora is killed, though if your timing is decent you shouldn’t need him. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (6/10): The only important change is the dive-bomb attack. Without High Jump or Aerial Dodge you will need to time your jumps carefully to avoid the shockwave from each strike. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- XVIII. Land of Dragons This mission doesn’t waste any time. Follow the hooded figure north to the mountaintop. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Riku -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 While Riku is powerful, the Rapid Thrusters which surround you both are more dangerous. In fact, Riku spends as much time attacking them as he does you. You shouldn’t attack them directly, but simply stay alert for the Speed Trap command to stop their group rush. Remember that this is a two-part attack: the follow-up Aero Blade attack will protect you if Riku just started an attack of his own, but otherwise may prevent you from Guarding his next move. Riku himself is a slow but formidable opponent. He cannot be stunned by any means, so time your attacks to allow Guarding at a moment’s notice. At close range he prefers a longer three-slash combo, while at long range he uses either a quick blast of energy (unblockable but easily sidestepped) or a barrage of dark projectiles (which home in on you but are easily blocked). He also moves in and out of range with a quick dash, which is blockable. If you can survive the Heartless, Riku should not be much trouble. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return down the mountain, and the Storm Rider will break free and fly toward the Forbidden City. On the way down you will meet lots of airborne Heartless, including the hated Nightwalkers. They are a whole lot easier this time around, but if you are careless they can definitely still kill you. A formidable squad of Heartless await in the Forbidden City. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Heartless in the Imperial Square (Round Two) -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 The Bolt Towers’ shockwave is the big threat, making every step on the ground a risky proposition. They are defenseless against Magnera, though its range is somewhat limited. To be safe, Aerial Dodge away after each air combo. Three Magneras plus Red Rocket will kill a Bolt Tower or two and weaken the Riders enough to trigger their aggressive phase. Get out of range of the Towers and wait for the Riders to leap toward you. Interrupt them with Aerial Finish, then juggle them with Finishing Leap combos until death. Once they are dead the Bolt Towers should be easy pickings. Do not use any summons or Drive Forms in this battle, as you will badly need your Drive Gauge for what comes next. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head up the stairs into the palace. Catch up with Xigbar to trigger a Nobody ambush. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Snipers in the Hallway -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 Stitch once again turns a nasty battle into a cakewalk. The Snipers’ shots are instant kills, but Stitch will let you spam Reflera to your heart’s content while blocking all their physical attacks. When possible, cast Magnera to cut down on their attacks. --NO DRIVE GAUGE VERSION (5/10): Watch your MP carefully. Magnera is too expensive, so rely on Reflera to block their shots and swipe attacks. Kill them one at a time during the quiet moments, and hopefully your MP will last into the second wave of Snipers. Red Rocket can’t kill them by itself, but it’s great for ending the battle once you’ve worn them down. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just beyond the door is a save point, along with the next Torn Page. Head back the way you came to slay the dragon. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Storm Rider -Reward: Thundara spell (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), Tornado Fusion (Goofy), HP +25 (Mulan) -Difficulty: 5/10 Grab the spike at the start, release to avoid electrocution, and start whacking the horns. You will need many Refleras to survive the random bolts around his head, draining your MP quickly but doing a lot of damage in the process. If you get through the MP bar without being hit, use Red Rocket. Otherwise, leap off his head and cast Cure. On the ground the Storm Rider uses a few new attacks. He loves to leap high into the air and summon lightning bolts around you, requiring Dodge Roll or very good reflexes. He may also fire several bolts to home in on you, though you can dodge this by running at a diagonal. Throughout the battle you will find tornados on the ground, which can be used to leap onto his back and continue attacking (after your MP has recovered, of course). His deadliest move is the ground-hugging charge, which directly follows the leap. Interrupt him with a two-part reaction command that leaves him stunned on the ground. Hit him with two air combos, then block the shockwave with Reflera. He follows the first charge with a desperation attack, signaling a shift to the second phase. To make the battle far easier, activate Red Rocket just as he starts charging. Besides nullifying his energy blasts, the long pause at the end minimizes your exposure to the electric sparks from the walls. The Storm Rider will mostly repeat his earlier attacks, including the occasional charge, but also gains a carpet-bombing attack that covers the arena. Run to the nearest whirlwind and launch yourself to escape it. There will be little opportunity for physical attacks, as he will start a new desperation attack every time your MP recovers, so get used to Limit-spamming. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- XIX. Olympus Coliseum While technically optional, the reward for completing this mission is so important that you’d be a fool not to do so right away. Sora and Hercules begin by facing two simple squads of Heartless. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: “Hades Cup,” Round 1 -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 The Crimson Jazz is as big a pain as ever, but the battle is short enough that MP is not an issue. Cast Magnera ASAP and slice through his health with air combos, blocking the fire mines with Reflera if necessary. Keep casting Magnera and finish it with Knocksmash, and chances are the battle is already over. Mop up any survivors, staying alert for the Tornado Step’s reaction command. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: “Hades Cup,” Round 2 -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 You must block the Morning Star’s opening spin, but after that you can abuse Magnera to your heart’s content. Do not let the Driller Moles recover after you’ve attacked, as their sneak attack is much more painful now. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A long series of cutscenes follow, Auron arrives and gives you the cold shoulder, and the team has a new mission. Your goal is Hades’ throne room, clear on the other side of this world. The Morning Star and Neoshadows you meet on the way are a pain, though you can bypass a lot of them with the skateboard in the second area. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Dusks in the Throne Room -Reward: None -Difficulty: 2/10 Their health and damage are pretty high, but the Dusks’ weaknesses haven’t changed. They remain vulnerable to Reversal, and a few Guard Break+Finishing Leap combos will cut through their health in no time. Avoid air combos (which give them time to recover and possibly mob underneath you) and you are all but untouchable. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Speak to Pain to reach Auron’s match. After the cutscene Auron will rejoin the party, but without any Abilities equipped. Reequip everything but Item Boost and his two attack Abilities. You must fight a still-invincible Hades for a while. Fortunately, a newly powered Hercules will join the fray and you can defeat Hades for real. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Hades -Reward: Magnet Burst, HP +2 (Sora), HP +2 (Goofy), HP +15 (Auron) -Difficulty: 5/10 At first the battle is easy: dodge Hades’ fireballs until you can break his invulnerability with Aura Sphere, then launch him with Finishing Leap. It’s important to keep your distance, since the flame pillar combo will kill you if it catches you off guard. If you are caught, escape via a Limit and wait for Auron to heal you. The real danger starts when he summons a ball of flame, which rains down puddles of fire across the arena. Any contact with these puddles is instant death, and Hades will continue to attack the whole time. Be careful about when you block and dodge his moves, and always watch your step. Knocksmash is one of the best offenses here (once his invulnerability is down), as he cannot teleport away until the Limit is over. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Equip Magnet Burst right away. This simple finisher is possibly the best free attack in the game, providing a powerful form of crowd control with no MP required. XX. Halloween Town As soon as you arrive you’ll need to investigate the noise upstairs. Make sure that both Magnera and Magnet Burst are equipped. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Lock, Shock, and Barrel -Reward: HP +1 (Donald), HP +5 (Jack) -Difficulty: 3/10 Summon Stitch and it becomes a cakewalk. Collect them with Magnera, pile on the damage with Horizontal Slash and Magnet Burst, and re-cast Magnera to repeat the cycle. Lock on before you trap them in the boxes. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (6/10): You can cast Magnera three times, which should be enough to take down one of the triplets. Focus on Barrel first (the one with the hockey mask) to neutralize his charges. After the third Magnet Burst, let loose with a Limit on Barrel and then Shock (the witch) to finish them both. You must trap them in boxes while Lock is still alive, though if you keep moving his projectiles should miss. Once they are taken care of, pummel Lock until he collapses and can be put in the final box. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your next destination is the Halloween Town square. The graveyard outside town is a nightmare, infested with ridiculously deadly Trick Ghosts and Graveyards. Reflera spamming is almost mandatory, and I strongly suggest a detour toward the Curly Hill (to shorten your trip on repeat attempts) before entering the square. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Heartless in the Square -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 Summon Stitch. This will deflect the Wight Knights and let you clear through them much faster, but mostly it is to survive the Graveyards. Spam Reflera to survive the flying tombstone attack, then move out of stabbing range. When both Heartless have returned to normal, capture them with Magnera and start an air combo. Recast Magnera as the second finisher and they will be immobilized until you finally kill them. Pick up the presents scattered around the square to end the battle. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (6/10): The Wight Knights can annihilate you with a single lunge, so if you value your life you will avoid groups and focus on killing one at a time. Take advantage of the hazards placed around the square, especially the vents at the edges. Rely on Finishing Leap and Magnet Burst, saving your MP for the Graveyards. As above, use a three-Reflera combo to block their tombstone attack and stun them with Magnera. You can only afford to cast Magnera twice, however, so you need to follow the second casting with a Limit. Dance Call is preferable, but in a pinch Knocksmash will do. If one of them somehow survives that barrage, lure them over the vents at the edge or stun them with Counterguard to allow you to start a Finishing Leap combo. (NEVER attack directly.) In a pinch the vents can also work as a defense against the tombstone attack, providing valuable invulnerability when Sora is thrown in the air. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The party heads back to Santa’s house, where they have to make presents (by shooting at them?) as part of Jack’s harebrained scheme. Finish the minigame, and make sure to save before facing off with the boss. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: The Experiment -Reward: HP +2 (Sora), Jackpot (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy), HP +10 (Jack) -Difficulty: 6/10 This thing is the stuff of nightmares. He opens by slamming the ground in front of him, creating a wide shockwave. Jump toward him to clear the shockwave and start an air combo. In his second attack he detaches his head and points a laser at the ground, homing in while the rest of his body forces you to stay back with a damaging blast of air. The third attack is his deadliest: he blasts you with a multi-hitting laser three times, any of which will kill you. High Jump plus Aerial Dodge will lift you above each beam, though to escape all three you must be VERY quick with the O button. Finally, he can charge claw-first across the arena, often after detaching his head or firing a single laser. This move is an instant kill, so block with Reflera. (Stitch is useful, but not mandatory.) After losing two bars of health, the boss transforms and completely changes tactics. Guard when you land to block his spinning charge and start mashing Triangle. The long desperation attack isn’t dangerous if you can keep tossing him, though a miss can kill you pretty quickly. At first the Experiment will mostly float around the arena, periodically lunging toward you with a lethal two-hit slash. You can Guard this, but Reflera is safer and adds great damage on top. (Keep your distance during MP recharge to stay out of range.) Either way, follow this with an air combo. Only use one finisher, as the second will trigger an immediate counterattack. After a while he will start another desperation attack, which you can handle as before. Later on he may pull out the head to fire lasers at you, either three quick beams (in a wide spread attack) or a continuous slow-moving beam. You can sidestep the spread attack if you’re close enough (or Aerial Dodge out of the way), but stay away from the continuous beam until he’s done using it. Fortunately the battle gets easier as it goes on. At some point during the final bar the Experiment will lose everything but the body, taking away all its attacks (except for a rarely used spinning charge) and leaving it wide open to yours. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (8/10): The main challenge is clearing the first phase. To survive the lasers you must block each blast with an individual Reflera spell. This can be tricky, so try to take a single step between each casting. (Very rarely he will follow a single beam with a claw charge, killing you if you followed this pattern. To avoid this take a look at his arm: if there is no wind blast he is about to charge, and a two-Reflera chain is needed.) You are as good as dead without MP, so take full advantage of Horizontal Slash and be conservative with Reflera. If your MP is about to run out, use Dance Call to hopefully push him into the second phase. Aside from the laser spread attack (which you must block with Reflera if you’re too far to sidestep it), the rest of the battle is no more difficult than usual. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- XXI. Agrabah This is one of the hardest and least rewarding missions in the game, so I usually save it for last. After a few random battles in the town, you find a new exit leading to a ruined palace in the desert. Save before you enter. It will be a while before you have the chance to open the menu again. You will fight the next several battles while riding on the magic carpet, severely limiting your combat capabilities. With no allies you lose all access to Summons, Drives, and Limits (even Trinity Limit and Limit Form, for some reason). Move the carpet toward Jafar’s shadow double to start the first battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Entering the Valley -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 Slide Dash is the easiest way to close range with the Heartless, so rely on ground combos. Keep an eye out for their reaction commands (and the Rapid Thrusters’ slow propeller attack) to avoid suffering damage. The Fortunetellers require a bit more care. They mostly fire ice bolts from a distance, but when stunned they will move in to smack you. Guard works against both, though Reflera is preferable when possible. If one of them places a countdown timer over your head, lock on to the other one and hang back. The Clear Shot command at the end of the countdown will kill the caster and do heavy damage to the enemy you target. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- After that you spend a while chasing Jafar’s shadow across the ruins. At three points he will stop to charge up energy for a magic spell. Hit him before he finishes, or you will get killed by his thunderbolts. Eventually he will fly over the tower, triggering a much more annoying battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Heartless Over the Tower -Reward: None -Difficulty: 5/10 It starts the same way, with a swarm of weak Heartless followed by some Fortunetellers. However, once one Fortuneteller dies a Crimson Jazz will appear. This guy is still bad news: its fire mine spell will follow you across the battlefield, and when you get close he can obliterate you with the fire pulse. Thankfully he is still vulnerable to Magnera. Cast the spell at the first safe opportunity, follow it up with a full air combo, cast it again, and repeat. Feel free to use up all your MP on Magnera, and NEVER cast Cura. When the Crimson Jazz finally falls the Fortunetellers will be greatly weakened, and can be finished in short order. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- To open the door you must activate three spell-based triggers. The Fire trigger is directly below you, hiding under the broken bridge in front of the door. To reach the Blizzard trigger, take the carpet straight up to the top, then pass through the canyon and turn right. (If the entrance is considered north and the tower south, the trigger is in the southeast corner of the main area.) This will prevent a Crimson Jazz from spawning, though you will have to eliminate a Fortuneteller and many weaker Heartless. The final Thunder trigger is in the opposite (northwest) corner of the main area, on top of a spire. Once all three are activated, hurry back to the door. Inside you will find a save point, as well as a Torn Page. Head deeper into the tower for a plot twist, followed by an annoying escape sequence. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Escaping the Valley -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 Your objective is to swat the Heartless off the screen with well-aimed keyblade strikes. A single hit is sufficient for the Rapid Thrusters and Hook Bats, while the Fortunetellers and Crimson Jazz require a combo finisher. Fortunately they attack slowly, so you can usually get rid of them before they become a threat. The more pressing danger is the falling towers, any of which will take off most of your health. There are four such towers, which you must avoid by veering right, left, right again, and left again. Watch out for the sand bursts at the very end (which just require quick reflexes), and you should make it through this alive. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- At long last you’ve escaped that infernal valley and can fight normally again. Yeah, you wish. Only one carpet battle remains, but it is one of the nastiest boss battles in the game. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Jafar -Reward: Fira/Firaga spell (Sora) -Difficulty: 7/10 He opens by picking up several buildings, which will randomly spin around the arena before flying at you. They do not trigger Reflera, so you must rely on short Guard Break combos on the stomach and hope for the best. Once the stomach’s HP is gone do the following: perform two Guard Break combos on the head, spin him around, and use three more Guard Breaks. Don’t cast Cure yet; save your MP for when he recovers, then dive down and block his paralyzing glare with Reflera. His spin attack is a one-hit kill, and the glare pulls you right into its path. After that you can heal and resume attacking the stomach. He uses nothing but the spin for a while, making your life easier, though you still need to back off during the spin attack. After two quiet attack cycles Jafar turns aggressive, repeating the flying debris attack from the beginning. You can attack while he charges for it, though, so there’s a good chance you can knock him out before he lands a hit. After recovering he will start his spell attack (signaled by the phrase “Jabba jabba ja!”), an endless barrage of fireballs which will kill you in two hits. The only reliable defense is Reflera combos: move in toward the stomach with Slide Dash, then cast three Refleras for a two-finisher combo. This alone will take out the stomach, and if you had already worn it down you will not take damage. Unfortunately, with the stomach at full health you will be hit by a fireball, forcing use of Cura and cutting off access to Reflera for a while. He is even scarier during the third phase, when he teleports away and creates a whirlwind of junk as a desperation attack. Keep soaring at maximum speed in wide, sweeping vertical arcs. It is easy to take a lot of hits and lose a big chunk of health, screwing you over afterwards. Afterwards you will have to hurry back to Jafar while he summons an enhanced spell attack, which adds lightning bolts. Move in a curving, downward spiral, and with lots of luck you can bypass both the fireballs and the bolts long enough to slide in and spam Reflera again. If your MP is still recharging, stay at the edges; you will need to alternate between a slow descent and a fast rise to escape the lightning bolts, which are incredibly hard to dodge. You will be Curing (and thus in MP recharge) a lot near the end, so near-perfect dodging is required to survive. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- XXII. Twilight Town It was a tough road getting here, but you can finally continue with the main story. If you like, you can start the optional side missions in the Pride Lands and Hollow Bastion. Completing these earns you the incredibly valuable Reflega and Explosion, though the battles along the way are every bit as tough as the final bosses. Make your way from the train station to the mansion, progressing through four screens of powerful Nobodies. The Dragoons, Samurai, and Snipers aren’t too bad, but for the sake of your sanity I would run from the Dancers. Head to the front gates to meet and battle an exceptionally large squad of Nobodies. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Nobodies at the Gate -Reward: HP +2 (Sora), HP +2 (Goofy) -Difficulty: 3/10 The first two waves are very easy, especially with Mickey on your side. Finishing Leap and Magnet Burst combine to produce the most effective crowd control tactic in the game. The only real danger are the Samurai in the final wave, who have a bad habit of whipping out their swords and slashing you before you can launch them. You can easily block them with Guard or Reflera, though. Make a point to approach them cautiously and you can win this battle without taking a hit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You will meet more Nobodies in the library, but you are free to run from them. From there it’s just a matter of guessing the password to reach Roxas’ world, entering the wormhole, and clearing out the last few enemies between you and the Organization’s stronghold. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Betwixt and Between -Reward: Slapshot (Sora) -Difficulty: 4/10 The first half is an easy fight against a few Dusks. The second half is you and Axel against a larger group of Dusks and Assassins. (What happened to Donald and Goofy? Who knows.) When you or Axel kill a Nobody, an Assassin will teleport in and stab you about a second later. Block or sidestep this move, then hit them with Slide Dash to start a Finishing Leap+air combo assault. You can catch the Assassin again once it touches the ground, but if you fail to do so you must run to escape the suicide attack. Also keep an eye out for their combo slash attack, which can easily kill you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- XXIII. The World That Never Was The first save point in this world lies ahead, followed by a long alleyway filled with thick swarms of Heartless. Unequip Counterguard (this is very important) and hurry to the exit. Just ahead lies one of the most unique, and dangerous, battles in the game. Equip Combo Plus and Dodge Slash to make it a lot shorter. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Roxas -Reward: HP +2, Combo Master (Sora) -Difficulty: 6/10 He opens with a wide-range air slice, so Guard immediately. He may repeat this attack, or he may perform a jumping spin (if you’re too far away), but most often he will unleash a long combo that requires three Guards to survive. All three moves will kill you, so great timing is mandatory. The good news is that you can lock him into a predictable pattern: after the air slice or combo, hit him with a full combo of your own. One more hit will guarantee another air slice or combo, allowing you to repeat the cycle indefinitely. This pattern will prevent his ultra-deadly fourth attack (a quick-draw minigame followed by an insane number of lasers) and is absolutely mandatory in the next phase. The battle takes a flashy turn in the second phase, when Roxas powers up every attack with fast-moving beams of light. To survive you must stay at a precise distance: far enough to escape the air slice’s wall of beams, but close enough to block the combo before the beam hits you. You may need many attempts to find the “sweet spot” that ensures Guard will work, so be patient. Keep up this pattern, and most of the time you will see nothing else until you win the battle. **NOTE: If you stand near the edge of the arena it’s possible for the opening beams from a combo to hit, even if your Guard timing is flawless. You will be a bit safer if you take a second to move slightly away from the edge, ensuring that said beams have some space to move past you. By far the greatest danger is breaking the attack pattern. Roxas has two chances to do this himself, by opening the second phase (four health bars) or the third phase (two and a half bars) with the desperation attack. In the third phase he will shoot a beam as he teleports away, which requires Dodge Roll or Reflera if you see it coming. Dodge Roll nonstop around the arena’s edge to survive it. Surviving long enough to land a hit is hard enough during the second phase: unless he is kind enough to teleport next to you and start a combo right away, I would rely on Trinity Limit to create an opening and resume the attack pattern. (DO NOT use a second finisher afterwards, as this will trigger his leap counterattack.) During the third phase he generates a beam with every teleport, making Reflera spamming all but mandatory. -NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (7/10): The only difference occurs if you screw up the pattern, or if he breaks the pattern with a desperation attack. It is possible to outrun the projectiles by circling the arena’s edge, but only if you do it just right. Remove the lock-on from Roxas and point the camera straight ahead. Stay close to the edge without actually touching it: any slowdown will result in you getting hit and promptly killed. Remember to renew the lock-on once the attack is over, after the twelfth projectile is released, and use Trinity Limit to resume the offensive. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- With Sora and Roxas reunited you can at last unlock Final Form. Unequip Combo Plus and Dodge Slash, then head forward to the Brink of Despair and save your game. On the way to the elevator you will meet the Sorceror, arguably the most powerful regular Nobody. They are completely immune to elemental magic and love to do huge combo damage with their magic cubes. If you do fight them, rely on Reflera and/or Horizontal Slash. Combo finishers trigger the whip attack, which can easily wipe you out. Make your way past the elevator filled with Dragoons, equip your strongest air combo Abilities, set the party to Huddle Attack, and save your game. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Xigbar -Reward: MP +5 (Sora), HP +2 (Goofy) -Difficulty: 6/10 Defeating Xigbar is all about minimizing your mistakes. He is a piece of cake once you’ve mastered the pattern, but if you break the pattern by taking damage he will rain hell upon you. (If you have faced off with Data Xigbar recently, you may need to slow your reaction time in order to block his shots.) He opens the battle by entering sniper mode, firing a rapid salvo of projectiles before launching a homing missile. Keep running in a straight line, then use three Warp Snipes to stop the missile and break his scope. Xigbar will fire a volley at you the moment he returns, then begin teleporting around. Initially you will chase him around the arena, pausing to Guard when he fires, until he stops to reload and provides an opening for a long air combo. Occasionally he will get cocky and mosey across the ceiling for several seconds, which makes for an even easier opening. During the first two phases Xigbar may randomly warp the party to a different room in order to impede your movement. Though the rooms can take different shapes, your strategy is always the same: close the distance with Xigbar, Guarding his shots as you go, and hit him with a complete air combo to return to the main arena. The second phase starts after two bars of damage, and grants Xigbar a few dangerous new moves. He can suddenly teleport over Sora’s head and fire (often twice in a row), a move that can only be avoided via continuous movement. Far more dangerous is his missile attack, which bounces around the arena for a long time and is an instant kill. Jump and cast Reflera, and you will destroy the missile and deal some good damage. And he can follow either move with a teleport-and-shoot salvo, immediately firing with no pause. This is a simple test of reflexes: quickly lock on to him, then Guard before the bullets reach you. His earlier moves remain in use, so take advantage of any easy openings. He enters the third phase below two and a half bars, and his attack pattern completely transforms. The desperation attack will come early in this phase, and it is a complete nightmare. Run to the upper-left corner, leaping over his opening spray as you go, and run counterclockwise to dodge the next several salvos. His final salvo will kill you if a single bullet hits during the next several seconds, so you must run perfectly. Wide circles are the way to go, though you need to step around your allies’ bodies when they are KO’d. (Huddle Attack will keep them right behind you, giving you the maximum time to avoid them.) You aren’t much safer when it ends, as his bullet and missile attacks are both powered up. He fires three salvos in a row, either quick overhead blasts or teleport-and-shoot salvos. He does signal the teleport-and-shoot barrage (by teleporting and standing still for a moment), but only constant movement will protect you from the overhead shots. This is immediately followed by two missiles in quick succession. Jump and cast Reflera for the first, then recast on the ground to stop the second missile. The one bright side is that Xigbar now follows a fixed pattern: desperation attack, triple salvo, missiles, triple salvo, repeat. The second time he will replace the desperation attack with the sniper move from the beginning, but otherwise this pattern repeats through the rest of the battle. He no longer reloads, so Reflera will account for most of your damage. (He still occasionally strolls on the ceiling, so watch for this move and deal as much damage as you can when he uses it.) So long as you consistently block his shots and evade the desperation move, your MP should easily last you to the end of the battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head back to the save point, then up the walkway outside. Lots of strong Nobodies are in your way, but Finishing Leap and effective use of Reflera can make mincemeat out of all of them. Your Drive will be restored on the next screen, so feel free to summon Stitch. After reuniting with old friends you will enter a room with three doors: the blocked path to Xemnas, and two rooms that hold the surviving members of the Organization. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Luxord -Reward: Magnega spell, HP +2 (Sora) -Difficulty: 3/10 As the battle opens, Luxord imprisons you in a die. Hop toward the screen to dodge his card attack, and keep hopping away from him until the gauge empties to free yourself. Once you are free you can start wearing down his Time meter with minigames. To easily win the card minigame, wait a few seconds for the moving “O” to slow to a crawl. (Just don’t wait too long, or he’ll drain your Time and turn you into a card.) Success restores your HP and Time, and leaves him wide open to a combo. Keep your distance in between minigames, or you may get hit and killed by his quick combo attack. Luxord has two additional moves which he only uses once. The first is a card-picking game, which is easy if you are patient. The second is his desperation attack. The physical component is pretty easy to outrun (and trivial to Aerial Dodge from), but the minigame can be tricky. To make the last two slots easier you can quickly pause and unpause the screen, slowing down the pattern and eliminating reflexes from the equation. The cathartic victory move leaves him with a bare sliver of health, which any finisher or spell will eliminate. Failure makes victory very difficult, though not impossible; he drains a big chunk of Time into his gauge and turns you into a die, giving you very little chance to empty his Time gauge before your own runs out. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Saix -Reward: HP +2 (Sora), HP +1 (Donald) -Difficulty: 4/10 Saix opens by entering “berserk mode.” It can only be ended with the hammers he throws, though to do so you must dodge the shockwaves created by his attacks. Survive his first combo with Dodge Roll or Reflera, pick up the hammer, and rush away from him at top speed. It takes a few seconds for the Eclipse command to appear (during which you still take damage), so you need to wait until the last second to rush in, start the attack, and beat him back to normal. In his normal form, Saix takes far more damage and his attacks are much tamer. He mostly uses a three-hit combo, which you can block to release the hammer and create an opening for a combo. He will not be stunned until you perform a finisher (so keep your combos short), though he will stay stunned long enough for a second combo. He can perform a quick charge as well, especially after your combos, though it is easy to Guard if you see it coming. The second time he enters berserk mode is not too dangerous, though you should definitely keep your distance. Besides the combo, Saix gains two new moves: an explosive overhead smash, and a charging combo move. The former is a one-shot kill, but he gives enough warning for you to dodge and grab the hammer after the explosion fades. The charge is the real killer: each step creates a wide shockwave, and the speed at which he moves makes avoiding damage nearly impossible unless he started at the opposite end of the arena. If you can survive it (and block the hammer toss) the same strategy applies: grab the hammer, keep your distance until Eclipse shows up, and rush in to pummel him. After that you MUST stick to the following pattern: deflect his combo attack, perform two ground combos (with single finishers), block the charge, deflect his combo attack, perform two ground combos, and grab the hammer. He will enter berserk mode when he recovers, but as soon as he touches the ground you can pummel him back to normal. This is the only way to prevent his desperation attack, which is extremely difficult to dodge and does so much damage for so long that you have little chance of survival. It doesn’t take much practice to get the pattern down and keep him out of berserk mode until the end, but if you ever screw up you will probably lose. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You get a little time to breathe after that. Riku, easily the strongest ally in the game, joins you after a cutscene. Remove all of his items, unequip Dark Aura and Dark Shield, and equip Hyper Healing. Riku’s healing is a valuable asset in the battles ahead, and his mighty Session Limit provides massive damage as well as an easy escape from the Nobodies’ scarier attacks. We are very near the end now. Only one boss battle seperates you from the final save point. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Xemnas at the Tower -Reward: HP +2, MP +5 (Sora) -Difficulty: 4/10 Xemnas opens by slowly draining your health, then warping on top of the tower. Follow him to initiate a flashy action sequence ending with three reaction commands of increasing power. The final Finish attack does massive damage, but precision is critical: reacting too soon will trigger a weaker attack or none at all, and if you are too slow he will kill you with a combo attack. If done properly he will be open to your attacks. Maximize your damage by performing a combo with one finisher, then another with two finishers. He will counter by teleporting toward you and performing a two-hit slash, which will kill you if both hits connect. You can easily Dodge Roll out of the way, then move in with Slide Dash and continue the offensive. (Guard+Counterguard also works well, but the timing is more difficult.) If you can keep up the offensive the battle will go very quickly. Things will get tricky if you get seperated, since he likes to surprise you with the slash when you close range, but a well-timed Dodge Roll or Reflera will protect you long enough to create a new opening. He may precede the slash attack by summoning a barrier, and from time to time he will perform a long combo attack. It is more than capable of killing you, but it is slow enough that you can Dodge Roll or even outrun it long before it can hit you. Finally, when his health is low enough he will repeat the action sequence from the beginning. One last Finish command will leave him with 1 HP, providing an easy finish to this battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- XXIV. The Final Fight The final save point rests at the top of the tower, just before the door leading to the final battles. If you wish to earn the secret ending (and unlock the superboss Lingering Will) now is your last chance to complete the remaining side missions. Once your affairs are in order, open the door to kick off the long series of battles between you and the end of the game. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Climbing the Dragon -Reward: None -Difficulty: 1/10 Before you can get to the real combat, you have to reach the top of the dragon fortress that Xemnas is riding. Most of the gameplay here is reaction commands, though you do have to kill a few self-destructing Nobodies near the end. About the only advice you need is to stay on the ground at the beginning (lest you miss the reaction commands and die), use Magnet Burst to take out several Nobodies at a time, and be ready to step out of the way when the Nobodies attack. This section should be very, very easy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Breaking Through the Door -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 A bit tougher, but nothing that Sora can’t handle. Keep bashing the door until the Assassins and Creepers show up. The Assassins’ suicide attack is still bad news, though this time you can interrupt it with a reaction command. As always, Finishing Leap and Magnet Burst are great for thinning the crowd. At around two bars remaining, a second wave of Nobodies that includes a Berserker will arrive. Magnet Burst is an ideal way to stun him and release the hammer, at which point you can bludgeon him to death with Eclipse. Even more Assassins will spawn now, so keep your eyes open for both the suicide attacks and the start of their slashing combo. The dragon will start jabbing its fingers into the arena about now, killing you if you stand too close to the door. Try to keep the fight toward the back of the arena, and make sure to stop attacking and back up the instant you see the warning message. Once the door’s HP is gone, proceed forward to finally face Xemnas. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Armored Xemnas, Round 1 -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 Now here’s a proper battle. Xemnas will borrow attacks from the rest of the Organization, though his favorite attack is a wide sweep which is unblockable and (naturally) an instant kill. It is best to defend with Reflera, as the additional damage will make this battle a whole lot shorter. You can safely perform a combo in the pause that follows, but when he recovers he will perform another sweep and summon an energy barrier that knocks you across the arena. He uses a variety of copied attacks, though only three are a real threat. He opens with Xaldin’s spear attack. Reflera the initial dive, wait until the spears are done circling, and do the same for the follow-up strike. Axel’s spinning chakrams can be dangerous if you’re standing in their path, though it’s pretty easy to hop over them and continue the offensive. Finally, at one point he will summon Demyx’s water clones. They will whip you to death if you stand around, so turn one into a note and eliminate the others with Wild Dance. After using each member’s attacks in turn, Xemnas will begin to combine them. He will attack with the spears or chakrams to damage you at close range while the long-range attacks limit your movement. You won’t survive long without Reflera, but if you use the spell conservatively it will certainly last long enough for Session to win the battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The struggle appears to be over at last. We know better, though, and before you know it you will find yourself chasing after Xemnas once again. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Grounding the Dragon -Reward: None -Difficulty: 3/10 You have no way to heal here, so don’t get hit. In brief, your strategy is to absorb the Nobodies’ lasers with your shield (while blasting them to keep them at a distance), then activate the Megalaser attack to neutralize the damage from the dragon’s missile barrage. He uses this attack at three points, near the end of the first phase and immediately after the third and fourth phases end. A single hit from the Nobodies or missile from the dragon can take off a quarter of your health, so good reflexes are key. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Armored Xemnas, Round 2 -Reward: None -Difficulty: 4/10 At first this plays like a simplified version of the first battle. He relies exclusively on the sweep and barrier attacks, opening with the former as soon as you gain control. Block it with Reflera, then start attacking. Never cast Cura, as Riku can heal you a lot more efficiently. Things turn interesting after a few bars of damage, when he slams you off the dragon and into the space beyond. Fortunately Sora is given maxed-out Growth Abilities for this battle, including Glide and a supercharged Aerial Dodge that can be repeated to rapidly climb through the air. To get back to Xemnas, fly up to one of the stationary buildings in midair and use the reaction commands. Xemnas will throw other buildings toward you to kill you, and will also fire barrages of homing lasers at your location, but if you keep moving neither attack will touch you. Once his shield is broken, Xemnas will summon three of the chain lasers from the dragon battle. Allow yourself to fall for a few seconds to escape this move entirely. Drop in at the edge of the arena to resume the offensive for a while. Xemnas will toss you off the dragon twice more, and the next time you land he will summon lots of lasers to blast the edge of the arena. Still, his attack pattern is simple enough that the rest of this battle should be a breeze. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS BATTLE: Xemnas -Reward: Drive Gauge +1 (Sora), HP +25 (Riku) -Difficulty: 5/10 It all ends here. As befits the leader of the Organization, all of Xemnas’ attacks are incredibly powerful. He has no single-hit kills like his subordinates, but plenty of scary combos which can tear you apart in less than a second. He opens with a long midair assault, which starts with a nearly unavoidable grab-and-throw. Activate Riku’s Session Limit to neutralize the whole thing. (You could also cast Reflera for the opening grab and continuously Reversal through the attack, though if you screw up it’s very easy to get killed.) Once you land you must find an opening to attack. Xemnas constantly zips around the arena, and when he does approach he will greet you with a deadly spinning combo. Make a point of locking on and running ASAP, and you can easily escape this. He will then either shoot a pulse of energy at you or summon two deadly spheres of energy. You can escape the pulse with Dodge Roll, and use the Reversal command to start a combo against him. (Don’t perform more than two in a row, or his counterattack will probably kill you.) Stay away if he summons the energy spheres and wait for a safer opening. As before, rely on Riku for your healing and save your MP. The battle stays pretty simple for the first few bars, but eventually he will repeat the midair assault from the beginning. Afterwards Xemnas will go berserk, flying around at top speed while shooting laser bolts from all directions. At first he will fire a few bolts at a time, either in quick bursts of three or by encircling you in a ring of lasers, but eventually he will start firing in a continuous and very deadly stream. He initially signals this with the phrase “Why don’t you vanish?” Start Guarding at the word “vanish,” and you should have no trouble blocking the whole thing. The second time he stays silent (though the timing is the same) and a clone joins him to add even more firepower. It is easiest to Glide at a distance until the attack ends, though repeated use of High Jump and Aerial Dodge is also pretty effective. You can survive getting hit by quickly activating Session or Limit Form, though this will stop being an option if you screw up repeatedly. The laser bombardment ends with an exceptionally vicious grab. Do not try to avoid this move, or he will just repeat the laser assault until he finally captures you. (A quick Cura will make it easier for both guys to survive, though.) Xemnas traps Sora in a paralyzing grip, and will eventually drain the life out of him if Riku does not intervene. Meanwhile, Xemnas’ clone will try to kill Riku by rushing toward him and knocking him back with energy barriers--which is a problem, since Riku can no longer heal. To close range with Xemnas, abuse Riku’s Dark Firaga against the clone. If you fire a blast, move forward a few steps, and quickly fire again, it will have no chance to strike back. Wait until Sora’s health is critical to free him; this guarantees that Riku will heal him when Sora regains control. Xemnas is stunned at the attack’s end, providing just enough time for a full air combo. He performs another midair assault right afterward, so unleash Session as before. The rest of the battle is similar to the beginning, though quite a bit easier: Xemnas uses the energy pulse immediately after he teleports, allowing you to Reversal toward him and start a combo with no risk to yourself. (He teleports away after his spinning combos, so avoid them entirely.) Only perform one combo at a time: he will counter the second with a midair assault or laser barrage, either of which could easily end the battle. Even at his last bar of health, victory is not assured. Xemnas will end the battle with yet another desperation attack, forcing the boys to deflect an endless stream of lasers. (Try to cast Cura before it starts, to ensure both Sora and Riku have sufficient health.) To survive you must mash both X and Triangle, quickly and continuously, until the attack ends. It only takes a handful to cut through your health and force you to restart the battle, and very often a single bolt to Riku could kill him. Thankfully after this move Xemnas will be stunned at 1 HP, providing a satisfying ending to the game. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (7/10): Without Dodge Roll, it is a lot harder to perform Reversal before the energy pulse interrupts and damages you. The key is to continuously circle at a moderate distance. This will delay the pulse from hitting just long enough to allow a successful Reversal. Thankfully this is a nonissue near the end, when he attacks from a distance and the window of opportunity is much wider. The other difference is the laser barrage, when Xemnas and his clones team up to fire a continuous stream. You can’t outrun them, so you have to time your Guard just right to block the first few bolts. I find it helps to repeat Xemnas’ earlier phrase (“Why don’t you vanish?”), Guarding on “vanish” as before. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- And that’s the game. A long series of cutscenes follow, possibly including the first secret ending, and you are given the opportunity to save your progress. If you were playing the No Drive Gauge version of the challenge, your game is well and truly over. If not, there is still plenty of gameplay left to complete. Lingering Will and many of the Organization Data bosses first appear in the post-game, and it is also the best time to defeat the rest of the optional bosses. ============================================================================= SIDEQUESTS AND OPTIONAL BOSSES ============================================================================= I. Leveling Up Summons and Forms With so few resources at your disposal, well-trained Summons and Drive Forms are all but required to complete the game. However, there are some serious logistic obstacles to overcome. Since Sora cannot level up, boost his stats with equipment, or access Abilities like Fire Boost, he does little damage and can take a while to kill enemies. Wisdom and Final Forms’ magic- boosting Abilities help, but it can still take two or three combos to kill the tougher enemies. His lack of Defense and defensive Abilities makes him easy to kill, leading to a lot of lost progress if you aren’t careful how you attack. And without the Oathkeeper, every Form besides Master Form will wear off very quickly. First, some general notes. Whenever possible, base your training from a “Sora-only” screen. In these areas Sora will be the only party member, while Donald and Goofy walk around on their own and can be talked to like NPCs. The final save point is such an area, and similar spots pop up throughout the story missions. So long as your current Drive Form or Summon is active the Drive Gauge will be fully restored when you reenter the screen, permitting effectively unlimited use. Also, if you are training near or after the story’s end I strongly recommend starting with Final Form. Its Form Boost Abilities dramatically reduce your Drive consumption, allowing you to level up the other Forms far faster. Activate your Forms outside of battle unless you’re using or trying to unlock Final Form, as Anti-Form can lead to a lot of wasted attempts. Finally, after Timeless River you can fully restore your Drive Gauge by entering and quitting the Pain and Panic Cup in Olympus Coliseum, should the need arise. --TRAINING SUMMONS: Summons function very differently from Drive Forms, sharing a single level-up gauge that increases as you consume points of the Drive Gauge. The fastest way to train them is through the Summon’s Limit commands, which consume up to 5 points per use. I prefer Chicken Little for this, though Peter Pan also works well. The Limits can only be activated in combat, and your Summon will disappear less than a second after they end, so make a point of activating the Limit as soon as the enemies arrive and then pushing toward the exit. Any Sora-only screen is fine so long as the enemies are close enough to the entrance. The maximum level increases as you acquire new Summons through the story: Chicken Little and Genie are acquired automatically, while Stitch and Peter Pan must be acquired from chests. Training Summons is less essential than training Drive Forms, since you can recover a lot of Drive through your attacks (and don’t have to worry about Growth Abilities), but it is still recommended to ensure they last through the longer boss battles. --TRAINING VALOR FORM: This one is tricky for several reasons. You have no way to heal in this Form, and the only way to level up is with extended combos that leave you highly exposed for a long time. Thankfully there is an enemy that will stand still and absorb your attacks without ever striking back. That enemy is Mushroom V, found at the bottom of the Cave of Wonders after you have completed Agrabah. For the fastest training you should equip two Air Combo Pluses, launch yourself with Over the Horizon, and keep hitting until the second finisher, giving you seven attacks and over a dozen hits per combo. (The Star Seeker keyblade adds an extra hit to your air combos.) You cannot restore your Drive Gauge within Agrabah, so when your Drive is low you’ll need to run back to the save point, warp to the Gummi Ship, and return to recharge. Valor Form requires little training during the early game: it is entirely possible to learn High Jump through its necessary uses prior to Disney Castle, and once in the castle you can quickly max it out by slaughtering Shadows in the hallway. If you absolutely must train Valor Form before Agrabah, the weak Heartless in Hollow Bastion (and later Timeless River) are best. --TRAINING WISDOM FORM: While your upgraded magic helps, late in the game most Heartless have too much health to kill quickly. Only one area has weak enough enemies in large enough numbers to provide any decent leveling: Timeless River. The best training area depends on your progress in the game (the Dock initially, in Mickey’s House after the 1000 Heartless Battle), but your plan of attack is always the same. Attack twice, then unleash two powered-up magic finishers (Fire for the Shadows and Soldiers, Thunder for the Rapid Thrusters, Minute Bombs, and Hammer Frames) to get the most use out of your MP. Make a beeline for the door to Disney Castle to refill your Drive Gauge and restart the process. Just don’t forget that you are vulnerable: even the Shadows do formidable damage, and the Bombs’ suicide leap is still instant death. Upgrading to Firaga and Thundaga greatly accelerates the process and is highly recommended. There is another great training spot, but it is only available right after beating Roxas. After reaching the Brink of Despair, you can double back and fight huge numbers of Shadows and Neoshadows in front of the skyscraper. They are tougher than the ones in Timeless River, but with a Sora-only screen just steps away you can fight them as many times as you need. Since this is also the best spot to earn Final Form (see below), it’s a good idea to stop here for some training. The Heartless disappear not long after you enter the Organization’s stronghold, forcing you to return to Timeless River. --TRAINING LIMIT FORM: I love this Form partly because it is so easy to level up. Just enter from any Sora-only screen, use two Limits on nearby enemies, and exit again. The Limits automatically deflect blockable attacks, and if your enemies are tough enough to survive multiple Limits there is nothing to interrupt your training. Only completed Limits count, so don’t use Ragnarok or Ars Arcanum unless you are confident in your reflexes. --TRAINING MASTER FORM: This one would be completely miserable if not for a trick pointed out by Ryan_86 (thanks!). First you must gain access to the Cavern of Remembrance. You need High Jump to clear the first ledge and enter the cavern, but after that only a few leaps stand between you and the next area. Activate Master Form, then hit both orbs to soak up 54 points of Drive and gain your first level. Once they are exhausted you can head back the way you came, land on the floor, and let the terrifyingly strong Heartless kill you. The orbs will recharge when you continue, allowing you to repeat the cycle indefinitely. It won’t take long to max out the Form at Level 6, and later Level 7, and it barely affects your Antiform chances (since you only activate the Form once during the whole exercise). --UNLOCKING FINAL FORM: Final Form improves the game on so many fronts: its Growth Ability is a great defensive and movement tool, it allows the other Forms to reach their maximum power (and makes training much faster), it eliminates the scourge of Antiform from your Drive use, and as a combat mode it is incredibly powerful. So the fact that it is very difficult to obtain can be a major headache during or after the endgame, when you will really want those benefits. The key to Final Form is Antiform, the shadowy Heartless/Sora hybrid that makes your life miserable if you use Drive Forms too often. Any activation of the normal four Forms raises your Antiform chances by 1% (from a base of zero), making it more likely to take over the next time you activate a Form in combat. However, near the end of the game there is a chance that an Antiform conversion will instead give him shiny new silver clothes. For that to happen four conditions must be met: 1) Sora must have already defeated Roxas in the story; 2) he must currently be in combat; 3) both party members must be alive; and 4) he must have five or more points of Drive Gauge remaining. He can earn Final Form by selecting any Form in any world, so long as those conditions are met. There are two good places to earn it, both in the World That Never Was. The first is Memory’s Skyscraper, just after defeating Roxas but before entering the Organization’s stronghold. Keep on using Forms against the seemingly endless Heartless and eventually you’ll start to see a lot of Antiforms. The odds of Final Form increase dramatically after surviving a few Antiform activations: your initial odds are a mere 3%, but after three uses they jump to 75%. The second is Ruin and Creation’s Passage, just before the final save point. It is the only suitable spot after clearing the game, though it is less convenient: it is easy for Donald or Goofy to get killed by the powerful Nobodies, and only Limit Form has any opportunity to level up. I suggest you put Riku and Goofy in your party and equip Goofy’s Second Chance to keep him alive. Keep activating Drive Forms and running back when Antiform isn’t triggered, and eventually you will get lucky. There is no flash of light or onscreen message when Final Form is unlocked. In fact, there’s a decent chance you won’t notice the difference until one of your attacks turns into an unexpected flash of whirling keyblades. Hurry back to save your progress. The Antiform chance is reset to zero, and from now on you can lower the chance by up to 10% every time you activate Final Form. Now all that’s left is to actually train the thing. --TRAINING FINAL FORM: For various reasons, Final Form is the hardest Form to train. Only killing Nobodies will unlock its superior Abilities, and Nobodies are the strongest and most aggressive foes in the game. Ruin and Creation’s Passage is the only viable training spot for Final, as it is adjacent to the only permanent Sora-only screen. (You could try killing the Gamblers inside the Twilight Town mansion, but you would be lucky to kill 2 or 3 of them before you have to warp out again.) I suggest that you keep the party setup listed above, and that you keep Firaga, Magnega, and Reflega in the shortcut menu. The problems start with the first enemies near the entrance, Berserkers and Assassins who slam you for huge damage as they arrive. The Drive Form transformation will stun them and free the first Berserker’s hammer, but even then things aren’t so simple. The Eclipse reaction command is a great defense and damage-dealer against the Nobodies (and pretty gentle on the Drive Gauge), but reaction commands do not count as kills for training purposes. Only spells or keyblade attacks count toward your total, and trying to kill multiple Berserkers that way mostly leads to a messy death by desperation attack. I would still use the hammer, mostly to get past these deathtrap battles to access the easier ones up ahead. After you’ve cleared the three rounds of Berserkers, there is a group of Assassins down the path. Reflega+Firaga spamming is pretty good at keeping them stunned, though you must be watchful in case one of them kills you with the suicide charge (which would respawn the Berserkers and nullify your kills for that section). Down on the next platform is the first great training area, though to really exploit it you must first eliminate another Berserker. Thankfully it’s just one, which makes it easier to concentrate your damage. That just leaves the Creepers, who spawn in large numbers and have the least health of any Nobody. Still, you shouldn’t underestimate them: their dive attack and sword slash still hurt, so you must take advantage of Final Form’s movement powers to stay mobile while you sling spells and keyblades. The next two platforms are lousy with Creepers, and more than likely you will earn most of your kills there. There are no more Creepers beyond that point--just Berserkers and other elite Nobodies--so I would glide down two screens to exit the world and respawn the Nobodies. Almost all your offense will come from Firaga: every hit has magnified range and damage, and the finishers have great stunning power over a huge range. Unfortunately, even Final Form will take most of your MP to kill the stronger Nobodies, and those mighty combos drain a lot of your Drive Gauge with each use. Until Final reaches Level 4 you will not have the Drive to continue once your MP is dry, let alone the offensive power. Make a policy of doubling back before you hit 1 point left near the start, or 2 points left in the Creeper areas (you lose a lot of time returning to the exit), because it is easy to exhaust your Drive if you are careless. Things get a lot easier when you unlock Form Boost to supplement your increasingly durable Form, but only at level 6 do you have the staying power to complete multiple sections of this training regimen in one go. (On those runs, during MP recharge you should rely on the Final Arts area-attack finisher for the Creepers and the Final Strike air finisher for the Berserkers and Assassins. Don’t use a second finisher if your first is Final Strike, as doing so would shorten Final Strike and lower your overall damage.) You’ll be glad once you have both Form Boosts and a maxed-out Glide, but getting there is a very long haul. II. Pride Lands - First Mission This is a tough one, more due to Lion Sora’s altered powers than the battles (which are comparable to the first Agrabah and Halloween Town missions). Your normal Action and Growth Abilities do not work here, and many of the reaction commands you’ve come to rely on are absent. All Support Abilities still work, so I would unequip the other Abilities (and your partners’ Limits) to free up AP for them. While some of Lion Sora’s powers are quite strong--a chain of Aerial Impulses can do great damage, and Finishing Blast is almost as good as Explosion against groups--they are a little awkward to use, and the automatic Combo/Air Combo Pluses force longer combos that leave you more vulnerable. Worst of all, you cannot use Summons, Drive Forms, or the main party’s Limits, leaving magic as your only defense for much of the mission. Your vulnerabilities become all too clear the moment you leave the save point and square off with two incredibly strong Heartless. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BATTLE: Living Bones -Difficulty: 4/10 -Reward: None Next to the Devastators in Space Paranoids, these guys are probably the scariest Heartless in the game. At first they will snap at you with a horribly painful lunging bite. If you manage to stun them they retaliate with a highly lethal tailspin, three times in a row. And naturally they have loads of health, so it’s not easy to prevent them from doing this. To survive, you have to stun them with Magnet and keep them from ever striking back. Aerial Impulse is the best way to do this: hit one after he is pulled into the air, tap Square four times to rack up the damage and keep him suspended, and top it off with two normal attacks as finishers. The air combo should keep you out of the second Living Bone’s reach, but you must recast Magnet as soon as possible to prevent either from retaliating. If you get the Rodeo reaction command (immediately after the third tailspin), USE IT. You can deal a fair bit of damage to both of them, and the final hit makes the Heartless less dangerous and much easier to stun. It will probably take all your MP to kill the first Living Bone, so do your best to keep the second stunned with Aerial Impulse until it dies. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is followed by a long, long progression of random battles. Running is strongly recommended. The Elephant Graveyard isn’t too dangerous, but the countless Silver Rocks on the plains will murder you repeatedly. Following a pointless detour to Pride Rock, you can access the Wildebeest Valley, where you learn the Dash move. After two more long screens you will finally meet Simba. Collect the Torn Page here, then strike up a conversation to make Simba join the party. Remove his items, as well as Auto-Limit and Defender, then equip Hyper Healing. (Though his attack Abilities are powerful, unequip them and reequip Defender before reaching the savannah. You really want Simba to concentrate on healing you in the coming boss battle.) Go back the way you came. Along the way you will meet the hateful Shamans. Keep moving at all times, and remember to Dispel their homing fireballs if the reaction command appears. When you reach the savannah Simba will briefly split from the party. I would replace Magnet with Blizzard as a shortcut before closing the menu and entering the cave. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: The Three Hyenas -Difficulty: 5/10 -Reward: HP +2 (Sora), HP +1 (Donald) There are two objectives here: to protect Timon and Pumba, and to kill the hyenas one by one. The first goal is easy. They wait a long time between charges, and when they do attack a simple reaction command will protect your friends and cause the hyenas to collide. The second is slightly harder. The hyenas only attack you when provoked, but their charge and claw swipe are instant kills if they connect. Your plan of attack is simple: cast Thunder (or use Combo Upper) to launch a hyena, hit it in midair and follow up with Aerial Impulses until it breaks free, then sidestep the charge that follows or block it with Reflect. Focusing on a single hyena is fastest, but in the confusion of the battle you’ll probably have to settle for wearing down all three. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exit the back of the cave to have Simba rejoin your party. Blizzard is strongly recommended. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Scar -Difficulty: 6/10 -Reward: Fira/Firaga spell, MP +5 (Sora), Fire Boost (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy), HP +30 (Simba) In the beginning Scar uses nothing but physical attacks. His leaping pounces deal heavy damage and have an uncomfortably long range, and this combined with his resistance to stunning makes physical attacks impractical. Open by casting Thunder until your MP is nearly exhausted, then unleash a Wildcat Limit for heavy damage. After Wildcat Scar should enter the second phase, in which he powers himself up via one of two elemental attacks. (If not, a second Wildcat will do the trick.) In the first he surrounds himself in pillars of lightning, blasting you back if you approach and rendering physical attacks impossible. While he can’t be effectively damaged in this mode (except by Wildcat, which would be tactical suicide), you can end it a lot faster with the Blizzard spell. Hitting him with Blizzard will goad him to leap toward your general direction. After three Blizzards the lightning bolts will disappear, and he will perform a few more physical strikes before returning to elemental attacks. In the second he randomly pounces across the arena, leaving bursts of flame where he lands, before ending with a claw spin that is absolutely lethal if you stand too close to him. Thankfully the flame bursts are easy to dodge, and after the spin Scar will remain vulnerable for a few seconds. Use that opportunity to leap toward him and start an air combo, ending with four Aerial Impulses and a solid finisher. He will recover with a burst of flame as the combo ends, but the finisher will carry you up and out of harm’s way. This phase will likely account for most of your damage, as it is the only time when physical attacks are practical. His final attack, and by far the deadliest, is a desperation attack in which he summons several dark orbs to surround him and goes on a rampage across the arena. Wildcat is the best defense against this: it eliminates the precise timing that Reflect would require, and ensures that Simba is alive to heal you afterwards. (Be careful NOT to continue the Limit once the attack is over, though. Often this will trigger another desperation attack, and without MP you are as good as dead.) Unfortunately, much of the time Simba will be dead or you will need to heal--Simba and Donald almost never heal you when you aren’t in critical health--in which case you need to block each of the three charges with Reflect. Try to stay at the opposite end of the arena, then move toward Scar when he approaches and cast Reflect just before he runs past. This battle is mainly about MP management. You must have more than 20 MP (or a Limit) ready for each desperation attack, and because of this you must be very conservative with Cure and cannot attack with Limits at all. You must rely on Simba and Donald for nearly all your healing, so evasion and good timing are absolutely mandatory. Do as much damage as you can during the fire phase and eventually you will wear him down. Don’t forget that you can finish him with Wildcat at half a bar or less. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. Pride Lands - Second Mission This mission starts out much easier than the first one, though it has a hideous difficulty spike at the end. Run into Simba’s den to collect him and earn Running Tackle, a spectacular upgrade to Dash that is ideal for starting combos against aggressive ground enemies. After a pointless detour by the save point Sora and company will visit the Elephant Graveyard, then beat the stuffing out of some hyenas. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Hyenas in the Elephant Graveyard -Difficulty: 1/10 -Rewards: HP +1 (Donald), MP Rage (Goofy), HP +5 (Simba) They will never attack, so the only question is how you will catch up with them and knock them out. My preferred strategy is to herd them toward a ledge, then catch them with an air combo as they leap off it. You could also launch them with Thundara (or Running Tackle, if they’re close enough) and start an air combo that way. Either way, Aerial Impulse is great for racking up damage. Don’t forget about Wildcat, which is an excellent way to empty your MP gauge after casting lots of Thundaras. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Simba gets moody and decides to run away. It’s your job to return to the oasis and talk some sense into him, another long journey with no mandatory battles but a whole lot of powerful Heartless. The upgraded, Shaman-carrying Living Bones always open with a homing fire spell, so be sure to remove it with Dispel. Once you reach the Oasis you will automatically collect Simba and return to Pride Rock. If you haven’t already, remove his attack Abilities and equip Defender before you face the terrifying boss on the savannah. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Groundshaker -Difficulty: 8/10 -Rewards: Thundaga spell, HP +2 (Sora), HP +5 (Simba) The battle opens with an extended chase sequence. Continuous button-mashing can carry you through the whole thing, though if you screw up you will die instantly. Afterwards the Groundshaker will lie on the ground for a while, giving you plenty of time to hit its eye. Eventually it will recover and leap high into the sky, signaling a change to the “shaman” phase. This form likes to hit you with an utterly vicious chain lightning attack, though you can easily dodge it by leaping onto the beast’s back. Once there, hit the mask to incapacitate the Heartless for a while, giving you some time to rack up the damage with Aerial Impulse. Make sure to leap off once it recovers, though, or its melee combo and the chain lightning that follows will blast you into dust. It should not take long to rack up enough damage to trigger another transformation. DO NOT SPEND ANY MP UP TO THIS POINT, as you need every bit of it to survive the next phase. Upon landing it shifts to the “beast” phase. For the most part it will casually wander the plains, though at regular intervals it sends bursts of fire racing in front of it. To damage it you must stay alongside the eyes, blocking the fire with Reflera for both defense and offense. Keep pointing the camera back toward the feet, as it tends to swivel around and a single flame burst can take you directly to critical health. Occasionally it lets out a roar and leaps, signaling that it is about to gallop in the opposite direction. It ends this move with an extremely fast flame burst, which leaves you nowhere to run and can only be escaped with a well-timed Reflera chain. You can never cast Cura or use a Limit, and your defense must be essentially perfect, if you are to survive what is coming. At around two health bars the Groundshaker turns highly aggressive. It will leap randomly around the field, all the while scorching the field with undodgeable flame bursts. Reflera combos are the most reliable defense, though if your MP is low you may need Wildcat to survive long enough. This gauntlet of death will only end when the boss starts galloping and the Fend command appears near his front feet, allowing you to repeat the chase sequence that opened the battle. (If using Wildcat, wait for the Limit to wear off before you approach him.) Once again he collapses, and you have some more time to pile on the damage. The hardest part is behind you, though the battle is certainly still dangerous. The Groundshaker returns to the shaman phase once more. Its new favorite move is to summon an invisible doppelganger who teleports to beat the snot out of you. Fortunately, this move is easily dodged via the Leap reaction command. If the shaman starts spinning around, jump off its back to dodge the chain lightning that follows. Leap onto its back once more and wait for it to stand still. Eventually it will settle on firing two lightning bolts in front of its face, and you can finally attack again. These deal heavy combo damage, but so long as you don’t move in front of its face you should be perfectly safe. You can damage him very quickly now, so it shouldn’t take long to finish this ordeal. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. Hollow Bastion and Space Paranoids - Final Mission The very last side mission is unlocked after you have completed every other world twice (except for Atlantica and the 100 Acre Wood, which have no combat to speak of). If you just came from the Pride Lands, remember to reequip your Action and Growth Abilities. Right after leaving the Marketplace you are forced into a battle with a Devastator and some Strafers, all while the Hollow Bastion security system blasts at you from the ground. You don’t have to win this battle, and in fact you rarely will: only Reflera spamming is reliable enough to protect you, and with attacks pouring in from so many directions even that is likely to not be enough. After that your mission is clarified: return to Ansem’s Study, enter Tron’s world, and help him erase the MCP and take back control of Hollow Bastion. Even if you have never run from a battle, you’ll want to do so now. The path is filled with the toughest Heartless from the real and digital worlds, and combined with the security system their difficulty borders on suicidal. (You MIGHT be able to beat them with Stitch and Magnera/Reflera spamming, but since you don’t need money or EXP there isn’t much point.) There are skateboards on every screen now, which you can use to outrun the Morning Stars and Crimson Jazzes that would pound you to dust otherwise. This is especially recommended in the Corridors, where the ultra-tough Devastators and Crimson Jazzes are tightly clustered in groups that can annihilate you in seconds. Once you reach Ansem’s Study you are safe, and will no longer have to deal with the meddling security system. Login to the computer to enter Tron’s world, then save before using the cell terminal to rescue Tron. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -EVENT BATTLE: Rumble on the Game Grid -Difficulty: 5/10 -Reward: None The toughest part is the very beginning, when two Devastators try to smack you at short range (which is fatal if both hits connect). Stop their melee with Reflera, then block their ultra-deadly electrocution grab with a Reflera combo. Keep on repeating and they will die well before your MP runs out. If one of them enters cannon form and charges up a barrage, block it with another Reflera combo. Once one of them is dead you can juggle the other by abusing Finishing Leap (while it is in cannon form), though before that you cannot afford to focus on just one. After the Devastators are gone only Magnum Loaders will remain. They don’t have much health, but tend to move around a lot: they like to spin around to smack you from behind, or prepare for a lightning-fast charge (which is an instant kill). Dodge Roll is great for the former, while the Quick Blade reaction command will stop the latter. Watch out, though: Sometimes one of them will dash behind you immediately after Quick Blade, which can really hurt if you aren’t able to dodge in time. Stay on the defensive, stick to ground combos as much as possible, and with luck you will get to the end without a scratch. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tron rejoins the party. Before you can face the MCP, Tron needs to learn a new power in the I/O Tower. Since this screen leads directly to the next battle and is littered with Devastators, I suggest making a detour to the Dataspace (on the right) to make the journey easier on repeat attempts. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -EVENT BATTLE: The Devastator Guards -Difficulty: 5/10 -Reward: None The battle starts off pretty easily with three Strafers. Summon Stitch to make yourself untouchable, and attack away. When they are gone a Devastator and two more Strafers will arrive. Though the Devastator’s electrocution grab is still fatal, it and the charged shot (see below) are the only moves that can touch you now: Stitch automatically deflects their melee attacks and normal projectiles, rendering them harmless for most of their attack pattern. Once it enters cannon form, launch it with Guard Break+Finishing Leap. Follow up with an air combo, and if you are quick you can launch it again, allowing you to keep juggling the Heartless until it dies. The Strafers are still harmless, so kill them at your leisure. After they are gone two more Devastators will spawn. Both begin in cannon form. Run toward one and start a Finishing Leap combo, laughing as its projectiles bounce back to stun itself. The other Devastator will eventually slide toward you with the electrocution grab (which it uses to transition between forms), but if your offense is aggressive enough the first one should die long before that happens. Even so, it’s a good idea to angle the camera so the other one stays in view. The only other attack worth noting is the charged shot it sometimes releases at the end of a barrage. This projectile will slowly but relentlessly home in until it blasts you for lethal damage, and so must be stopped with Reflera. A third Devastator spawns when the first dies, though things aren’t any more difficult. Eliminate the second Devastator, survive the third’s electrocution grabs until it enters cannon form, and you can easily juggle it to death. Enter the tower to finish the battle. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (7/10): You will need a lot of MP to survive their salvos, which can be a problem given the length of the battle. For starters, be careful around the Strafers: you don’t have Stitch to block their homing rings, so move the camera around and be ready with Reflera if you see one of them heading toward you. On the plus side, since your teammates are also attacking most of their aggression will be focused toward them. The first Devastator shouldn’t be too bad, though you need to be careful about the grab and its opening salvo in cannon form. Both are blockable, though the timing is difficult enough that you’ll want to rely on Reflera. Two more Devastators spawn once this wave is gone, which is big trouble for you. Both begin in cannon form, and their default method of attack is to fire a salvo of projectiles at you. These projectiles have very long range and very high damage, so unless you are at the exact opposite end of the arena it is easy to get interrupted while you are fighting the first Devastator. I suggest that you juggle the first Devastator until the second damages you, then unleash Tron’s Setup. This Limit is extremely powerful, especially if both Devastators are nearby at the beginning, so it will definitely take out the first two Devastators and possibly even the final one. A third Devastator will spawn when the first one dies. Close range with the second ASAP, blocking its salvos as necessary, and repeat the process. The last Devastator is a lot easier, thankfully: just survive until you can launch it in cannon form, and nothing will stop you from juggling it to death. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inside the tower Tron gains the deletion program, and with it the Thunder Boost and MP Haste Abilities. Replace Jackpot with Thunder Boost to power up Tron’s attacks. Another nasty battle waits as you recross the arena toward the Solar Sailer (this time with Bookmasters as well as a Devastator), so make your way back across while blocking their attacks with Reflera. Make sure that your HP and MP are full before you activate the solar sailer. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -EVENT BATTLE: The Solar Sailer Simulator -Difficulty: 7/10 -Reward: Explosion (Sora), MP Hastera (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy), HP +5 (Tron) Apart from the mass of Heartless who mob you, this battle also comes with a built-in time limit: fail to kill all the Heartless before their weight crashes the simulator, and you die. Summon Stitch at the first opportunity, and abuse Reflera to eliminate the two Devastators who first arrive. (There is a Magnum Loader as well, but aside from the odd Quick Blade it should not affect your strategy.) Once they are gone a mob of Strafers and Magnum Loaders will start teleporting in. Due to the time limit, you need to kill them as quickly as possible. I’ve found that constant abuse of Magnera+Thundaga works best. Try to dismiss Stitch just before the last of them die, so you’re ready to face the Devastators. Several Devastators arrive en masse at the end, and their massed projectiles and electrocution attacks will make your life hell. There is no time to use Reflera, normal attacks, or even Stitch’s Limit, so just activate Tron’s Setup ASAP. This mighty attack is likely to eliminate all of them in one use, and even if one survives you can probably kill it with one or two more combos. --NO DRIVE GAUGE STRATEGY (9/10): While marginally better than the 1000 Heartless battle, this is still a grueling endurance test that requires you to reach the end essentially untouched. You must still defeat the Devastators with Reflera, but after that you need to cut through the mob of Strafers and Magnum Loaders without losing too much HP or MP. As you can imagine, this is no easy task: both Heartless love to retaliate with rapid spin attacks, and you will sometimes need Reflera to block the rings they fire at you. (Magnet Burst’s invulnerability can protect you from the rings, though not if they hit immediately before or immediately after the attack.) Magnet Burst remains excellent for damaging them in large groups, though afterwards you need to run in order to avoid their counterattacks. Make sure that Tron is in the party before you finish them. As for the Devastators, Setup is as damaging as ever. It shouldn’t take more than a combo or two to finish off any survivors. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You arrive at the Central Computer Mesa, ready to take on the MCP. Backtrack to the Solar Sailer, equip the awesome Explosion Ability (you can remove Finishing Leap to free up some AP), and return to save your game. Only two battles stand between you and completion of the final mission, and compared to the deathmatches you just completed they are both pretty easy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Sark -Difficulty: 2/10 -Reward: None Open with Knocksmash to eliminate the Strafers and deal heavy damage to Sark. I don’t recommend Setup because it does too much damage: it is entirely possible that you would kill Sark before the Limit ended, leaving you with no MP (and thus in danger) at the start of the next battle. Block Sark’s discs with Zone Guard, and you can return them with the Disc Strike command to stun him and pile on the damage via Guard Break+Explosion combos. Make sure that your MP has refilled before you finish him. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Sark and the MCP -Difficulty: 5/10 -Reward: Reflega spell, HP +2 (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), HP +5 (Tron) Sark is now a giant with greatly amplified powers. He typically opens by throwing a large disc, which is a one-hit-kill: leap over it with High Jump or just block it with Reflera. He attacks slowly after that, giving you plenty of time to kill the legs with Explosion, though he does regularly use a thunder pulse attack for massive damage. Explosion’s invulnerability can protect you, but if he uses it between combos you will need Reflera. Before long the legs’ HP will be exhausted and he will collapse so you can attack the head. You will have time to take out half his health with Horizontal Slash before he recovers and you need to eliminate the legs again. Stay away from the wall, as sometimes the MCP will send it spinning to damage you. When Sark is incapacitated, you can start breaking down the barriers that protect the MCP. Make sure that Tron is in the party before you start. You cannot lock on to the walls, so just face forward and keep attacking. (Don’t let up, or he may repeat the spinning-wall attack to damage you and pull away the weakened sections.) Pretty soon you will break through the wall, and you can team up with Tron to start deleting the tyrant. Unfortunately you can’t blindly mash Triangle: after spinning around for a while the MCP will shoot some lasers from the barriers, damaging you if you are unprepared. As a rule of thumb, stop button-mashing after taking off two-thirds of a health bar. Reflera is the easiest defense, though if your timing and aim are superb you can escape the beam with a diagonal Dodge Roll. The MCP will then send the barriers spinning and revive Sark, forcing you to take out his legs and head once again. After three cycles of this the MCP changes tactics, making the battle both easier and harder. It becomes harder due to his desperation attack: after the initial laser blast the wall will rotate slowly, and additional lasers will randomly blast from the panels. Stay in between two panels as it rotates and you should avoid all the lasers. On the other hand, it is easier to take out Sark: wait for him to summon a high wall, then leap onto it and instantly eliminate him with the Needle Dive command. From here it’s just a matter of breaking the walls, switching Tron back in (he tends to die a lot), and keeping yourself alive until you can fully delete the MCP. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- With this final mission complete, Hollow Bastion regains its old name and Sephiroth appears in the Dark Depths. Now that the combat requirements are out of the way, you can finish the easy missions in Atlantica and the 100 Acre Wood to unlock the secret ending, giving you access to Lingering Will as well. All that’s left after that is to finish the game, a process made much easier by your mighty Reflega and Explosion powers. IV. Organization XIII Silhouettes The five Organization members defeated during the events of Chain of Memories make their return as optional boss fights. From this point forward Drive Forms and Summons are mandatory: most optional bosses require Dodge Roll or Glide to defeat, and due to their length many require Stitch to keep the spells coming. Most can kill Sora instantly with almost any attack, so if you’re unwilling to spend many attempts perfecting your defenses you should stop here. While some of them appear pretty early in the story, you have little chance of victory until you obtain Limit Form and Stitch at the start of the second Hollow Bastion mission. I recommend ignoring everyone except Marluxia until the endgame (his Drive Gauge bonus is quite valuable in the meantime), though all of them are defeatable from that point forward. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Marluxia Silhouette (Beast’s Castle) -Difficulty: 7/10 -Reward: Drive Gauge +1 (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy) -Required Abilities: Guard, Dodge Roll, Slide Dash, Finishing Plus -Recommended Abilities: Guard Break, Explosion, Combo Plus x2, Dodge Slash, Aerial Dodge, Glide Lv2+ All of Marluxia’s attacks are instant death, so your defense must be perfect. A scythe combo immediately follows the opening Doom animation, requiring two Guards as soon as you regain control. The second Guard will stun him and leave him open to a combo. Use a double finisher, then evade his teleporting counterattack with Dodge Roll. Afterwards he will unleash a spinning whirlwind attack on Sora, which opens up Restore Count (if you are close to the scythe) or Aerial Strike (when you are next to Marluxia). Aerial Strike is preferable, as it does a full health bar of damage, but either will send him flying and let you follow up with a new combo. He will counterattack and then perform another whirlwind attack, allowing you to continue damaging him with little danger at first. After 4-1/2 health bars he changes tactics, summoning three deadly pools of flower energy that cover most of the arena. They always appear in the same place, so by staying in the gaps you can ensure that you are safe. He follows up with one of three attacks: he can burrow into the ground and charge you with a scythe spin, leap toward you and perform a combo, or draw you toward him and perform a whirlwind attack. He precedes the first two moves by surrounding Sora with an aura that explodes after a few seconds, which you can neutralize with Reflect or by Guarding his scythe strikes. Be careful of the pools: Guard will largely protect you, but it is possible for Marluxia’s combo or your own to push you into the danger zone. If so, Dodge Roll to safety and wait. Marluxia will immediately follow with another scythe spin, which you can block to create a safer opening. As for the whirlwind attack, make sure to push toward the edge at first. It is possible for its suction effect to pull you into the pools and kill you, so keep moving until just before you need to Guard. Marluxia stops summoning the pools and starts performing desperation attacks around 5-1/2 bars remaining. He has two such moves, which he randomly performs after each counterattack. The easier of the two is just a long- lasting scythe spin. You will need to Guard the opening strike, but thanks to his wide turning radius you can avoid further strikes by staying close to him. Hit him with a combo when he emerges from the ground to go directly to the next desperation attack, bypassing the utterly deadly teleporting slashes he normally uses. The second attack is far deadlier. At first he hovers over Sora’s head, summoning bursts of energy from the ground beneath and in front of Sora, before sending his scythe spinning for several seconds and slamming down on Sora’s head. My preferred strategy is to run in a tight circle, carefully sidestepping the bursts in front of Sora, then start spamming Reflect just before he sends the scythe after you. A four-Reflect chain will block the scythe and final drop, and will stun Marluxia long enough to allow a combo. Only use ONE finisher: the Reflect blast counts as a finisher itself, causing him to teleport early and hit you in the middle of the second finisher. (You could instead circle the arena with a high-level Glide, outpacing both the bursts and the scythe, but you would still need to stop and perform a precisely timed Dodge Roll or Reflect to escape the final drop.) You will likely suffer a lot of deaths figuring out your defensive strategy, but once your defense is perfected it will carry you to the end of the battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Larxene Silhouette (Port Royal) -Difficulty: 7/10 -Reward: MP +5 (Sora), HP +2 (Goofy) -Required Abilities: Dodge Roll, Combo Plus -Recommended Abilities: Guard, Slide Dash, Dodge Slash, Guard Break, Aerial Dodge, Glide Lv 2+, Summon Boost Larxene has two modes of attack: either she spams arena-filling lightning spells at you, or she summons clones to slash and dive at you. You must keep her in the clone phase as much as possible, as her spells are extremely deadly and difficult to escape even with Reflect spamming. Reflect is the only reliable defense against her (and a great offense thanks to the multiple targets), so you will need Stitch to keep the spells coming. Block her opening rush, then summon Stitch at your first opportunity. She opens the clone phase by sending one clone at a time, a quick attack which is easy to block. Keep your eye on the other clone: if both teleport away at the same time (after losing a bar of health or more), she is about to get more aggressive. At that point she either starts a series of brief rushes or starts using longer slashing combos. Most of her rush attacks can be blocked with one Reflect, though occasionally she pauses (her clones line up on the opposite side during this) and forces you to use a two-Reflect chain. The slashing combos typically require a two-Reflect chain, though if a Reflect stuns only one of the clones you should prepare for a longer combo. (She will counterattack with a close-range rush when that clone recovers, which can easily kill you if you’re not watching for it.) Never use the Merge command, which will prematurely force her back to the spell phase. Eventually the screen will turn dark and both clones will disappear, signaling a vicious combo that marks her transition to the spell phase. I suggest a two-Reflect chain for the slashing attacks, Dodge Roll when her clones leap, and one last Reflect to absorb the lightning drop. Hit Larxene with a one-finisher combo and she should immediately transition back to the clone phase. (Note that her charge-up for the attack can kill you if you stand too close.) If she manages to cast a thunder spell, it will take a two-Reflect chain to survive it. While he is very much necessary, Stitch’s random ukelele attack can be dangerous at times. It’s not too bad during the clone phase (as long as you don’t try to attack them), but if it stuns her during the spell phase she often retaliates with an unexpected spell as it ends. Start a Reflect combo after 3-4 seconds, and with any luck you will be shielded when she does unleash the spell. The really dangerous part starts around two bars left. If in the clone phase, she switches without warning to much longer slashing combos with four clones at a time (requiring 4 Reflects in a row), as well as the occasional lightning-fast dive attack (3 in a row). This is a real test of your timing: it is very easy to be a little slow with the shortcut button and break the chain, a mistake that will kill you in half a second. Thankfully her transition attack is unchanged, though it remains deadly. If she was in the spell phase, things get a little crazier. She will typically go straight to a new desperation attack, though she may unleash another spell beforehand. She teleports to the center of the arena, raises her arms above her head, and summons lightning bolts from the sky as an electrified wall rapidly spins around the arena. There are two ways to survive this attack. If you have Glide you can jump into the air, Aerial Dodge away as the attack starts, and Glide to outpace both the wall and the homing lightning strikes. Be aware that she ends the attack with another rush attack, less than a second after the wall disappears, so you will need to land in time to block it. If you don’t have Glide, or you find the timing too difficult, you could instead block the entire thing with a 5-Reflect combo. The catch is that you must equip Combo Plus to create a chain this long, and your timing must be precise: breaking the chain will kill you in an instant, and a sixth Reflect would leave you completely exposed to the final rush attack. The end of the battle boils down to precise reflexes. If you can consistently complete your Reflect chains, the multiple targets will end the battle very quickly. If you can’t, expect a lot of deaths on the way there. Either way, upgrading the Reflect spell is an ideal way to boost your damage and end the battle quickly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Lexaeus Silhouette (Twilight Town) -Difficulty: 5/10 -Reward: HP +1 (Donald) -Required Abilities: Guard, Dodge Roll, Finishing Plus -Recommended Abilities: Slide Dash, Combo Plus x2, Dodge Slash, Guard Break, Explosion Lexaeus is the classic example of a power-up boss. He starts out easily enough, with fairly tame attacks that take off no more than a quarter of your health, but as the battle progresses the range and damage of his attacks rapidly increase until he is constantly using one-hit kills that fill most of the arena. While Guard plays a major part, the real secret to beating him is the Sora Attack team setting. Lexaeus’ power-ups do not occur automatically, but are triggered over time by (a) the slow uppercut attack and (b) Goofy’s and Donald’s attacks. Blocking the uppercut triggers the Mega Impact command, which borrows Lexaeus’ power to deal heavy damage and stun him. In the meantime Sora Attack prevents your teammates from attacking, ensuring that their weak moves do not accidentally boost his power. The general pattern is this: Wait until he performs the uppercut, block it to trigger Mega Impact, then perform a two-finisher combo while he is stunned. This will trigger an easily blocked leaping slam. He may perform another leaping slam, or create unblockable tremors under Sora’s feet (evade these with three well-timed Dodge Rolls), but eventually he will repeat the uppercut and give you time to block it. Speed is the real issue here: blocking the uppercut in the first half-second or so (when he has just started growling) will always prevent him from powering up, whereas he may still gain some power if you wait for him to dig in his weapon. If you’re too slow at blocking the uppercut it may happen that Lexaeus powers up anyway, making your life a lot harder. The battle is not automatically lost if this happens, but it will become a lot harder. He likes to open by grabbing Sora and throwing him at the wall or floor, a dangerous move that requires a carefully timed Dodge Roll. (You will want to stay close, as it becomes harder to evade if Lexaeus runs before grabbing you.) Otherwise his attacks are the same as before, though each generates a huge tremor and does far more damage. You will really need Guard for the leaping slam and uppercut, as the tremors cover too much area to reliably dodge. Things only get unmanageable when he powers up to 60,000 and starts using his desperation attack, a simple but utterly deadly two-part earthquake attack. I recommend that you block this with Reflect (should it come to that) and otherwise focus on finishing him as quickly as possible. Limits are still effective on him, so if you get him down to the final health bar I highly recommend finishing him with Knocksmash. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Zexion Silhouette (Olympus Coliseum) -Difficulty: 6/10 -Reward: HP +1 (Donald) -Required Abilities: Dodge Roll, Aerial Recovery -Recommended Abilities: Aerial Dive, Horizontal Slash, Air Combo Plus x2, Aerial Finish, Summon Boost, Finishing Plus Zexion makes up for his low health and nonexistent attack power by hiding behind his books and casting powerful spells at you for most of the battle. If you simply wish to wipe him out as quickly as possible, the Data Zexion strategy (listed in Section VII) will quickly annihilate him. If you want a proper challenge, though, or wish to defeat him before the endgame, read on. The stronger your Fire and Reflect spells, the faster he will fall. (I also find that it helps to put Reflect on the O shortcut.) Summon Stitch at the first opportunity. Until he pulls you into the book world you are unlikely to do significant damage, since he is constantly sliding away. He likes to open with his “menu attack,” dealing moderate damage and sealing Sora’s battle menu. Block this with Reflect straight away, or you will unable to attack or cast spells until you find the Retrieve/Liberate command that restores you to normal. (During the energy blast stage, this is as good as a death sentence.) If you are hit by one of his books during a combo, MASH O to quickly use Aerial Recovery and then Reflect; invariably he will use the opening to recover and repeat the menu attack, or later in the battle one-shot you with an energy blast. The Dispel command opens when you deplete his book avatar’s HP and hit him with a finisher (or Horizontal Slash), so use it to knock him back into the real world. To maximize your damage, use Stitch’s unlimited MP to hit him with a barrage of Fire spells. So long as you avoid using finishers (a brief pause after every second spell will do the trick), you can take off as much as a full health bar before he recovers and pulls you back in. At moderate HP Zexion starts abusing his energy blast spells, utterly deadly X-shaped bursts that often come in quick succession. They come too fast to dodge effectively and he can’t be stunned while spell-casting (which he will often do several times in a row), so all you can do is spam Reflect combos and do your best to survive until he takes a break. He isn’t always slinging energy blasts--sometimes he just summons a wall of books to strike you for small damage--but it is in your best interest to finish him in a single combo and use the reaction command before he resumes the spell-slinging. Do as much damage as possible once he recovers, and with luck you’ll only have to survive this once. When his HP is low he starts using the desperation attack, and the battle becomes a lot easier. Upon entering the book world the screen will go dark, and three spotlights will appear. The blue spotlight will change positions 11 times, and on the 12th change Zexion’s book will appear inside it. You will need to promptly Dodge Roll into the spotlight to escape the rain of meteors that follow, but once inside you will have plenty of time to take out the book’s HP. Dispel should appear by the time the attack ends, allowing you to escape the book world and get right back to Fire-spamming with minimal danger. It might take a few cycles of this to finish him off, but with decent reflexes this battle is in the bag. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Vexen Silhouette (Agrabah) -Difficulty: 6/10 -Reward: HP +1 (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy) -Required Abilities: Slide Dash, Dodge Roll -Recommended Abilities: Guard, Slapshot, Guard Break, Explosion, Finishing Plus While Vexen is pretty deadly by himself, the main danger comes from the data circle he summons under Sora’s feet. It constantly homes in on Sora’s position in order to analyze him, filling the Data gauge that Vexen uses to summon an Anti-Sora. Anti-Sora’s rapid combos can kill you at a ridiculous range, and to eliminate him you have to cast spells while dodging both his and Vexen’s attacks. Worse, every time the gauge reaches a new level he will regenerate with greater health, leaving you exposed to Vexen’s increasingly deadly attacks for much longer. Your life will be far easier if you go out of your way to dodge the data circle, though it takes real skill to entirely prevent Anti-Sora from spawning. He opens with a freeze attack, which will trap Sora in a block of ice. I suggest blocking it with Reflect, though a well-timed Dodge Roll can also do the trick. (Failure will leave you stuck for several seconds, during which the Data gauge could easily fill.) Once free you should Dodge Roll out of the data circle, then wait for Vexen to provide an opening. His normal attacks all revolve around ice shurikens: he sends them flying along the ground at long range, sends a slow but relentless homing shuriken at medium range, and at close range he likes to surprise you by spinning them around his body. Try to stay in medium range: after summoning the shuriken he will slide around and pause just long enough for you to perform a quick Guard Break combo. “Quick” is the key word: he cannot be stunned until the shield is broken, so you need to quickly reach him with Slide Dash and then roll to safety before his next attack. Three combos will break his shield, allowing you to stun and damage him with your attacks. Hit him with three single- finisher Guard break combos, and finish with Guard Break+Explosion (if you have it) or Guard Break+Reflect. He counters the fourth finisher by summoning a lethal icicle and regenerating his shield, so Explosion/Reflect will provide you a moment of invulnerability and deal some additional damage to the shield. The data circle will catch up to you at some point during this, so you need to maintain a balance between dodging away from the circle and maintaining an aggressive offense. Slide Dash and Guard Break will both pull you out of the circle, so briefly stepping into the circle before you attack should minimize the buildup of the Data gauge. About halfway through the battle he changes tactics, countering with another freeze attack and then summoning lots of icicles from the ground. You can still slide in for a quick combo after the shuriken attack, but make sure to quickly dodge out of the way: the icicles are still deadly, and this time he summons a series of them to gradually creep toward your position. If you haven’t already, summon Stitch now: the only way you can damage him and remain safe during the icicle attack is via Reflect combos, and those chew through your MP very quickly. In the event that the gauge fills and Anti-Sora does spawn (which will usually happen once even if you’re dodging the circle well), you’ll need to back up to the far end of the arena and kill him with Thunder spells. Though he doesn’t have a lot of HP (three Thundagas will do the trick), his combos are so deadly and have such long range that you must stay as far away as possible. Vexen will continue attacking while you do this (mostly launching shurikens along the ground), so only cast one spell at a time and be ready to jump at a moment’s notice. The later Anti-Soras have much more health, forcing you to halt the offensive and leaving you exposed for far longer, which is why it is so essential to constantly dodge the data circle and remain on the move until the moment Vexen falls. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. Lingering Will and Sephiroth Now we’re entering true superboss territory. Defeating Lingering Will is such a feat that it earns you the coveted Bronze Crown (the same prize you get for beating all the Organization Data battles or all the XIII Mushrooms), while Sephiroth reprises his superboss status from the original Kingdom Hearts with a vengeance. I suggest defeating both to max out the Drive Gauge before you tackle the Cavern of Remembrance. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Lingering Will (Disney Castle) -Difficulty: 9/10 -Reward: Drive Gauge +1 (Sora), HP +1 (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy) -Required Abilities: Guard, Dodge Roll, Aerial Dodge, Glide Lv3, Slide Dash -Recommended Abilities: Combo Plus x2, Dodge Slash, Explosion, Teamwork (Goofy), Fantasia (Donald) The Lingering Will is so formidable in large part because of the terrifying array of attacks he is able to unleash, all of which are instant kills. While he tends to rely on the same two or three attacks within a given phase, you have no way to predict which phase he will enter until he starts attacking. He also unleashes a barrage of counterattacks after every third finisher, and at both phase transitions (possibly while you are in mid- combo), so you need to time your attacks very carefully. And as a final touch he is completely invincible except for about a second between attacks, forcing you to react quickly if you are to inflict any damage at all. I will tell you up front that if he opens with a melee attack, or ever enters the keyblade glider phase, you are as good as dead. The former will kill you before you are able to move, while the latter is near-impossible to survive even in a normal game: the combination of surprise teleportation counterattacks and invasive lasers are insanely difficult to evade, and make it near-impossible to damage him even when you can. Assuming this does not happen, he will either enter the crossbow phase--see below--or the seal phase. The latter is where he uses most of his attacks, and is what he most often opens with. The seal phase takes its name from his seal attack, a flashy leap attack which cuts off Sora’s access to either magic or physical attacks (or would if he wasn’t already dead). Probably his favorite attack in this phase is a series of three flying slashes, which Dodge Roll can easily neutralize. He also can use a lightning-fast melee combo--there is no warning for this, so keep a fair distance and be ready to Guard if you see him dashing toward you--and a nightmare-inspiring keywhip attack that lashes out at everyone in a wide radius. One of the greatest dangers of this phase is if he follows the flying slashes by immediately rushing to your position and unleashing the keywhip: neither Guard nor Dodge Roll is a reliable defense for this, and it comes so fast that you may not be able to react at all. (This is one of the reasons controlling his attack pattern is so crucial to your survival.) Finally, he will sometimes turn his keyblade into a cannon and use it to launch a giant orb of energy. If you are close enough, you can block the orb to bounce it back and immediately stun him; otherwise you will need to destroy it by Dodge Rolling into it, as it will constantly home in on you otherwise. The crossbow phase is much simpler. The Lingering Will will pause a bit to turn his keyblade into a crossbow, then teleport around and fire a rapid crossbow bolt three times. Dodging them isn’t too difficult once you’ve mastered the timing, and after the third bolt he remains open to attack for a second or two. Aside from counterattacks he relies exclusively on this move, so even if you miss your opening it’s not too difficult to dodge his next attack and try again. To ensure you can damage him and keep his attacks predictable, you will need to take maximum advantage of his counterattacks. For maximum damage I recommend three long ground combos each ending in Explosion: the Lingering Will’s thick armor will weaken after a certain number of strikes, so the more hits the better. (Bouncing the orb back immediately breaks the armor and inflicts full damage, but you can only perform two finishers before he counterattacks.) After the third Explosion you should be ready to dodge away, as he will strike back with a lengthy counterattack. This has two parts: he will typically use three flying slashes and then the keywhip, though occasionally he will perform two sets of flying slashes. Late in the battle he may add a second keywhip to the very end, so stay alert. The direction that you Dodge Roll is very important: dodge toward him after the third flying slash (so you are well clear of the keywhip), and if he uses six in a row you should dodge away from him at the end (so you are near him when he lands). If done right you will be in position to start attacking as soon as he lands, allowing you to take off nearly a full health bar per cycle while preventing his more dangerous attacks altogether. Once you’ve tricked him into this counterattack cycle, the only remaining danger is the phase changes. When his health falls below certain thresholds--at just below 5 bars lost and again at 6-1/2 bars remaining--he will immediately counterattack prior to changing phases, even if you are in mid-combo. If he is just a bit above that threshold, you will need to very carefully whittle down the last of his health from a distance. Knocksmash or Comet would be ideal, but if both Donald and Goofy are dead you can stick with single Thundaga spells and be ready to dodge at a moment’s notice. After the second phase change he will disappear for a while, and a cluster of laser nodes will start pursuing you around the area. Just keep Gliding across the field to avoid these completely. And then we enter the final phase, where a new battle strategy is necessary. Constant use of the desperation attack is key to your survival, and so your defense must be absolutely airtight. The first part can be easily blocked with three Guards, after which you should jump, Aerial Dodge, and immediately start Gliding away. (Aerial Dodge allows Glide to reach its maximum speed right away, so it’s pretty vital.) Glide will allow you to outpace the unblockable second part of the attack, though while you do so you should attempt to reach the cliff’s edge that looks out on the valley below. Place Sora’s back against the wall, quickly turn the camera to face the Lingering Will, and start Guarding the moment he teleports. 3 Guards will block all his rapid sword attacks (and placing your back against the cliff prevents him from attacking from behind), so all it takes is one more Dodge Roll to survive his final rush and start attacking again. Make sure you move in the same direction, because you are basically dead if he starts using his normal attacks. You do not want to trigger a counterattack this time: he does not land after performing one, but transitions directly to a quadruple melee attack, a powered-up glider assault, or any of a dozen more utterly fatal moves which he gains in this phase. Instead, you want to stop just shy of your third finisher. Two Explosion combos plus four extra hits will trigger another desperation attack, which you can survive with the strategy above and then resume attacking. It won’t be easy--that really should go without saying-- but with enough persistence and good enough reflexes even this nightmare of a boss is perfectly possible. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Sephiroth (Radiant Garden) -Difficulty: 8/10 -Reward: Drive Gauge +1 (Sora) -Required Abilities: Guard, High Jump Lv3, Quick Run Lv3, Aerial Dodge, Glide Lv3, Aerial Spiral, Slide Dash -Recommended Abilities: Counterguard, Guard Break, Explosion, Horizontal Slash, Aerial Finish, Retaliating Slash, Finishing Plus While not quite as difficult as his KH1 incarnation, Sephiroth is still a real beast of a boss. He opens with a screen-darkening flash attack, which the Block command will handily deflect. Slide Dash toward him and hit him with a Guard Break+Explosion combo. This will trigger his slash combo attack, which you can interrupt with Guard+Counterguard to perform another combo and trap him in a loop. While he does have another scary attack at his disposal (the uppercutting air combo), you are unlikely to see it until the second phase starts. After losing 4-1/2 health bars he enters the second phase, and gains several scary attacks. He opens by summoning a cloud of dark orbs around Sora, which home in on him after a second or two. He often uses them in conjunction with his other attacks: he may use another flash attack, leap toward you to start a slashing combo, start one immediately (if you are standing too close), or simply cast the spell twice in a row. A single Reflega will suffice for all except the third combination, which requires a full Reflega combo. You can only block this so long as you have MP, so hopefully he doesn’t use it too often. Aside from the orb spell, the flash slice, and the slash combo, Sephiroth has three extra moves. He signals the uppercut slice with three quick teleports, though you still need good reflexes to Quick Run out of the way. The slice itself does moderate damage, but the midair combos that follow will kill you in a second: use Retaliating Slash to recover if you are hit, and hopefully you can interrupt him before they start. His fire pillar attack is used primarily at close range, and sucks you in for massive continual damage. Escape this ASAP with repeated Quick Runs, and otherwise stick to the arena’s edge until it disappears. Finally, and most infamously, is Heartless Angel, which takes you down to 1 HP and obliterates your MP. As soon as you hear the word “Descend” you should leap into the air, Aerial Dodge for greater height and speed, and Glide to Sephiroth to smack him out of the sky. It is not a total death sentence if he finishes the spell--activating Limit Form will restore your HP and MP--but it is dangerous enough that you should avoid it at all costs. The best openings in this phase are right after his flash attack and the leap that precedes his combo. (You could try to reuse the Guard+ Counterguard strategy against his combos, but if you are not careful about your Guard timing it is easy for you to get killed.) From here on I recommend using two combos in a row, one with a single finisher and another with two finishers: you can no longer predict which attack he will recover with, so you might as well deal as much damage as possible and live with his teleporting counter. You can also start an air combo right after Heartless Angel or recovering from his uppercut, though in that case the pattern is a little different: use a four-hit air combo (two Horizontal Slashes and one finisher), then follow it with another one-finisher combo on the ground. Sephiroth’s attack pattern cannot be controlled and is very hard to predict, so you will need very sharp reflexes to survive this phase. The final phase starts at 4-1/2 bars remaining, signalled by a fancy light show and three consecutive orb spells (requiring two Reflegas). While he does gain several new and deadly moves, by and large his attacks are a bit slower and easier to predict. He often precedes the slash combo by dashing toward you and performing a quick instant-kill sword sweep (which can be Counterguarded if you’re careful). The combo itself now sweeps around the entire arena, so Counterguard is no longer effective: use High Jump+Aerial Dodge to escape it. He still uses Heartless Angel, the fire pillar, and the slash attack, but he also gains a new desperation attack that rains down meteors from the far end of the arena. Thankfully he gives you plenty of warning, and there is a simple pattern to survive the attack untouched: High Jump+Aerial Dodge, Glide to the opposite side of the arena, repeat. If you were vigilant enough to survive the second phase, you should be alright here: attack after the flash attack and Heartless Angel, blast away the orbs with Reflega, dodge as necessary, and with luck you will make it to the end. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. The Cavern of Remembrance This Final Mix-exclusive dungeon is the ultimate test for a Level 1 run. It holds some serious platforming challenges, very powerful random enemies, and arguably the hardest bosses in the game at its end. You would be wise to take care of everything else, and in particular to max out your Drive Gauge, before you enter here. The Cavern first opens after you clear the mandatory Space Paranoids battle and meet Sephiroth in Hollow Bastion. While you can clear the first mandatory battle then and there (you would need High Jump, Quick Run Lv2, and Aerial Dodge to reach it), there’s not much point in doing so until you have the maxed-out Glide you will need to clear the rest of the Cavern. In either case, make sure to summon Stitch before you enter the next battle. You will be relying on him pretty heavily to get you through this place, so Summon Boost may come in handy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -EVENT BATTLE: Guardians of the Cavern, Part 1 -Difficulty: 5/10 -Reward: None Thanks to Stitch, this battle is a lot easier than you might expect. Every Heartless except the Mad Rides and Magic Phantoms is paralyzed by Magnega, so by constantly abusing Magnet Burst+Magnega combos--or Magnega+Thundaga, as the situation warrants--you can kill them without ever letting them strike back. The battle comes in several waves: first you will face some Befuddlers, then a group of Magic Phantoms, then some Necromancers (Shamans who can turn invisible) plus Iron Hammers, two Mad Rides, and one last Magic Phantom. The Phantoms are immune to physical attacks in their starting form, but all enemies are vulnerable to Reflega. Use Magnega to keep the other enemies out of the way while you wear them down with Reflega, then resume the offensive when they are gone. This is even more true for the Mad Rides, who cannot be knocked back and constantly use their charge attack (though thankfully they only do one or two charges at a time). These enemies have no instantly lethal attacks, so if worst comes to worst you can heal yourself and Guard for a few seconds until Stitch restores your MP. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exit the door to your left to enter a small engine room. To clear the path ahead you will need to activate all three steam pumps, by taking out their HP in turn without allowing any to fully regenerate. Your physical attacks are not strong enough, but focused Firaga spamming (plus some MP recovery from Stitch) will do the trick. Make sure to position yourself between two of them so that both pumps activate at the same time (they will release some MP orbs), then quickly activate the third. You can now proceed into the next chamber, a winding collection of walkways, moving pistons, and conveniently placed whirlwinds. With Glide it is very easy to ride the piston to the top and fly across to the exit. From the next barrier on, you will need Glide Lv3 to reach the rest of the Cavern. It may take a few attempts to Aerial Dodge onto the ledge, but eventually you will pass it and reach the next battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -EVENT BATTLE: Guardians of the Cavern, Part 2 -Difficulty: 5/10 -Reward: None The strategy for this is pretty simple: Immobilize everyone with Magnega, use Magnet Burst+Magnega combos to prevent them from recovering (with Horizontal Slash to pile on the damage), and rely on Stitch to keep the MP coming. Everyone is vulnerable to Magnega this time, though several Heartless have one hit kills. The Spring Metal’s tornado and the Aerial Viking’s punch are especially quick and deadly, so never give them the chance to use them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Continue into the Engine Room. This place is packed with deadly Heartless, so keep Stitch handy and kill them via Magnega spamming as before. (You can ignore the later ones, but the ones on the lower level need to die so they don’t attack while you climb.) You will need High Jump, Aerial Dodge, and careful timing to ascend the pair of alternating platforms to the upper level. A Runemaster spawns near the top, so don’t be surprised if you have to climb it twice. Once on the conveyor belt, the greatest threat is the Devastator clone known as the Reckless: it is immune to Magnega, constantly zooms toward you, and will unleash its ultra-deadly grab at the slightest provocation. Glide to the end of the belt, righting yourself with Aerial Recovery and continuing when you hit a wall of steam, then make a sharp left turn and continue Gliding down the other path. Climb onto the uppermost set of platforms, then Glide straight to the exit. If you left the other Heartless alone you will only meet a Reckless near the end, at which point you can easily escape him. The final barrier can only be cleared with Glide LvMAX, so a Final Form activation is needed to pass it. If you got through with a single use of Stitch you can activate it immediately (assuming you already have a maxed-out Drive Gauge, which you absolutely should). Stick to the right side, avoid the pit below at all costs--it is possible to fall all the way to the lowermost barrier, cancelling most of your progress through the dungeon--and with care you will make it to the door. Three difficult battles stand between you and the Cavern’s exit. Proceed forward. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -EVENT BATTLE: Hall of Nobodies, Part 1 -Difficulty: 5/10 -Reward: None The battle opens with a wave of Dusks. Final Form should still be active from earlier, so use it to tear through their health. It should last through the first wave, even without Form Boost, and the Form’s whirling keyblade attacks will prevent the Dusks from getting a hit in. The Samurai and Assassins that spawn next are a bit of a problem, since at this point you will only have one point of Drive left. Thankfully the Magnega+Magnet Burst strategy refills your Drive Gauge very quickly, allowing you to reactivate Stitch and recover your MP without ever leaving yourself exposed. So long as you don’t let up the offensive, not one enemy can touch you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You receive a checkpoint at the end of the battle, so you can safely continue forward. Stitch should last you through all three battles. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -EVENT BATTLE: Hall of Nobodies, Part 2 -Difficulty: 6/10 -Reward: None This time you face some Berserkers, Snipers, and Gamblers. Stitch will automatically deflect most of their attacks, though you still need Reflega for the Sniper’s bullets, the Berserker’s opening hammer grab, and the Berserker’s desperation attack (if it comes to that). While the Magnega+ Magnet Burst tactic is still effective, especially when no Berserkers are around, make sure to grab the Berserker’s hammer whenever it is dropped. The Eclipse command does insanely high damage and draws in enemies just like Magnega. The only downside is that it may give some enemies time to recover and get in an attack, which is bad news if you aren’t prepared for them. Make sure to target any Berserkers first, use Reflega to defend if your opponents recover, and otherwise resume the Magnega offensive. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This final fight is the nastiest non-boss battle in the game, so don’t be surprised if it takes many attempts to beat. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -EVENT BATTLE: Hall of Nobodies, Part 3 -Difficulty: 10/10 -Reward: HP +1 (Donald), HP +2 (Goofy) The battle starts off deadly, with a barrage of Dragoon dives, and only gets harder from there. Leap over their opening shockwave, then wait for them to strike. Stitch will automatically block their teleporting slash and spin combo, stunning the Dragoons and releasing valuable Jump commands for you to use later. You should stock up 9 Jumps before leaving this phase. If they charge for another dive attack, interrupt them with Magnega: that attack is unblockable and releases no Jump commands, and Magnega will recharge Stitch’s summon gauge without killing them. When your Jump stock is full, you can start eliminating them with Magnega+Thundaga magic combos. You cannot attack them physically without losing your Jumps, but as long as Stitch keeps restoring your MP dealing damage will not be a problem. (A new Dragoon may dive bomb in after you kill its brothers, so make sure that Magnega is constantly active.) Next up is a wave of Dancers and Creepers. The Dancers’ grab and Creepers’ dive bomb are not deflected, but neither is a threat so long as you keep them stunned with Magnega. What is a threat is the Sorceror, which initially appears by itself. The cubes it attacks with are not vulnerable to Magnega, and in fact will start using the ultra-deadly whip attack in retaliation (or if you otherwise attack too aggressively). The best plan of attack is to stay at a close but careful distance, blocking its quick combos and dealing damage with Reflega. Three will be enough to kill it. Should the Sorceror start using the whip attack, do your best to Aerial Dodge+Glide out of there and just keep circling the arena until it ends. If you are hit, start unleashing Jump attacks immediately to break free and cut through the rest of its HP. (If it has already endured two Reflegas, you could also finish it off with a Reflega combo.) Some more Dragoons will dive in at the start of the next wave, along with more Dancers, so leap out of the way before you start attacking. Restock on Jumps if you need to, and otherwise kill them with magic combos. Then another Sorceror arrives, this time accompanied by several Dancers and Creepers. You can’t use Magnega, but the Dancers and Creepers are harmless before they take damage. Wait for the Sorceror to attack, damage it with Reflega as before, then start Gliding away to escape the grab and dive bomb attacks. When they have settled down again, move back in and blast the Sorceror with another Reflega. After the third cycle of this he will be dead, and you can mop up any survivors with magic combos. A Sorceror and some Dragoons arrive together, and things really start to get intense. I suggest one Reflega blast followed by a Jump barrage on the Sorceror. Use the Dragoons to restock your Jump commands, then take them out with more magic combos. Two Sorcerors then arrive to attack simultaneously. This is the hardest phase due to the timing of their attacks: it is easy for one Sorceror’s attack to hit and kill you just after you’ve blocked the other, so you must watch them both carefully and be ready to use either single Reflegas or chains as their attacks require. (You can damage both with the same Reflega blast, so try to position yourself so you are a moderate distance from each.) There is also twice as much risk of a whip attack at any given moment, so the odds of being hit by it--and having to rely on Jump to escape-- are pretty high. A full barrage will kill one of them, but it is still possible for the survivor to unleash another whip attack. Stitch’s Ohana! Limit can still save you, though only as a last resort: it consumes 5 points of Drive, which could easily exhaust the summon (you tend to lose a lot during the Sorceror phases), and you must still block the rest with a Reflega chain when the Limit ends. While this is the last new formation, there are still three more waves before this marathon ends. The next phase is Dragoons, Dancers, and Creepers again (don’t forget to leap away!), which you should absolutely use to restock on Jump. Then it is a Sorceror plus more Dragoons: leap away, take out the Sorceror with Reflega plus another Jump barrage, and make ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that your Jumps are fully restocked before the Dragoons die. Our final wave is a pair of Sorcerors, though a third one spawns in after the first is defeated. This is a nasty endurance test: you will need precise timing and pretty good dodging to make it through, and may need 9 Jumps and Ohana! as well. If Stitch does disappear, activate Donald Flare (or Knocksmash) and hope that you are able to eliminate the final Sorceror before it ends. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you conquer that monster of a battle, the Cavern is practically complete. Enter the door to the Garden of Assemblage and check the console. This opens the Cavern’s secret exit, and also releases the doors leading to the Organization XIII Data battles. Go out the back door and up the hill to save your progress at the Postern. VII. Organization XIII Data Battles The Data versions of the Organization XIII bosses are the hardest battles in the game, bar none. Besides possessing much greater health and dealing double damage, most have been re-programmed to increase their threat: they tend to attack much faster, use their deadliest attacks sooner, and in some cases gain entirely new moves beyond anything the originals possessed. Defeating them will require extensive use of your Drive Forms, Summons, and Limits, and even then you will need great skill and even greater perseverance to get through your many attempts. To avoid repetition, refer back to the main walkthrough (or Section IV above) when the Data version uses the same strategy as the original. You must win the five Silhouette battles to unlock their Data versions, while the remaining storyline battles are unlocked by completing the game. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Roxas -Difficulty: 6/10 -Reward: None -Required Abilities: Guard, Slide Dash, Dodge Roll, Aerial Dodge, Glide -Recommended Abilities: Dodge Slash, Guard Break, Combo Plus x2, Trinity Limit, MP Hastera The same strategy applies, except that (a) you can only use one finisher per combo, (b) any hit will kill you, and (c) the beams move much faster. His desperation attack is too fast for Dodge Roll now, so make sure to Glide around the edge instead. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Larxene -Difficulty: 8/10 -Reward: None -Required Abilities: Dodge Roll, Combo Plus x2 -Recommended Abilities: Guard, Slide Dash, Dodge Slash, Guard Break, Aerial Dodge, Glide, Summon Boost, Finishing Plus While the strategies are basically identical, her vastly increased health and eagerness to use lightning combos make this iteration much harder. Use a two-Reflega chain immediately, as soon as you gain control of Sora, because she will try to ambush you with a lightning spell at the very start of the battle. To coax her into the clone phase, perform a 4-hit combo without a finisher (to avoid her counterattack). You will need to survive another lightning spell or two, but soon she will bring out the clones and your life will be easier. Summon Stitch, wear her down with Reflegas, and dodge her desperation attack as before. Another 4-hit combo without finishers should trigger a new clone phase right away, at least in the beginning. Note that if Reflega stuns one clone but not the other she will counter with a point- blank rush; this may come directly after her leaping attack, so be prepared for up to three Reflegas in a row. The problems start around 5-1/2 bars of health. As before the switch to extra-long combo attacks happens with no warning, but in the spell phase she switches to extra-long chain lightning spells which require 4-Reflega chains to block. (She may still cast the regular two-Reflega version while you’re blocking that move, so if you see her casting before it ends be ready to tack on an extra spell or two to the chain.) She always precedes the desperation attack with this, so try not to be standing in the center of the arena when it starts. The desperation attack is no worse, thankfully, so if you can handle the chain lightning spell and the clone attacks you should be able to survive to the end. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Marluxia -Difficulty: 7/10 -Reward: None -Required Abilities: Guard, Dodge Roll, Aerial Dodge, Glide, Slide Dash -Recommended Abilities: Combo Plus x2, Dodge Slash, Guard Break, Explosion, Finishing Plus The only major difference is the very beginning. He starts by summoning the explosive aura around Sora, then teleports to the center and creates three whirlpools. Gliding around the edge will protect you from the aura, but Data Marluxia will immediately summon another one. To start attacking you will need to fly near him, close enough to trigger a combo but far enough so that it doesn’t actually hit you. After that he uses the whirlwind attack, opening the Aerial Impulse and Restore Count commands, and from there the strategy is completely identical to the original. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Luxord -Difficulty: 6/10 -Reward: None -Recommended Abilities: Guard, Dodge Roll, Aerial Dodge, Glide, Slide Dash, Combo Plus x2, Dodge Slash, Finishing Leap Data Luxord’s attacks are no different, but the minigames become ridiculously hard. While it’s tempting to just attack and completely avoid them, doing so will hurt you at the end: the desperation attack is the most difficult of all, so you want your Time Gauge to be as full as possible when he starts using it. At least this time he doesn’t open by transforming you, which is a small blessing. To reliably win the card minigame, you will need to cheat a little by quickly pausing, unpausing, and re-pausing the game. It will definitely take practice, but if you can get the “O” slot to move one space per pause (typically on its third or fourth cycle through the deck) you can trap it at the top of the deck and quickly hit it as you un-pause. This drains a lot more Time than before, so if you use this strategy effectively you can keep your gauge close to full through minigames alone. If you do choose to attack, I suggest Finishing Leap combos; he counters the very first finisher you perform, so you want to be in the air and able to Aerial Dodge away when that happens. The physical part of his desperation attack is largely identical, though he does add an easily dodged ground attack to the very end. However, the minigame part is extremely nasty: you might be able to catch the first “O” without help, but the remaining three will absolutely require the pause trick. Keep in mind that you automatically lose if you take too long matching them, so don’t be too hesitant. If you lose, Data Luxord will drain a huge chunk of Time out of your gauge and turn you into a die as before. Worse, when you escape the die he will immediately start another desperation attack, so normal attacks can’t save you. With a mostly full Time gauge you will have up to three chances to win the desperation attack, but it’s difficult enough that you may well lose all three without sufficiently careful timing. The good news is that victory still takes him down to 1 HP, so once you’ve won the desperation attack you have nothing to worry about. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Demyx -Difficulty: 8/10 -Reward: None -Required Abilities: Slide Dash, Dodge Roll, Aerial Dodge, Glide, Finishing Plus -Recommended Abilities: Guard Break, Explosion, Draw x2, MP Hastera, Jackpot (Goofy), Hyper Healing (Donald) While Data Demyx is pretty deadly in his own right, the new version of the clone minigame will likely cause far more Game Overs. The reaction command is no longer available, and if you try physical attacks they will kill you with the whip counter. Worse yet, they come in such great numbers that Sora cannot hope to defeat them with his regular spells. Make sure to max out your Drive Gauge before facing him, as you will need Wisdom Form and its powered-up Firaga finishers to emerge triumphant. (Also, consider using Final Form a few times beforehand. You really do not want to risk Antiform popping up during one of your Form activations.) Before the battle even starts you will need to defeat four waves of clones. You are given 30 seconds for each, though the number of clones varies wildly: you begin with 13, followed by waves of 25, 50, and 75 in random order. You can and should eliminate the smaller sets with normal Firaga spells, but the waves of 50 and 75 require Wisdom Form’s Firaga finishers. Sora will run out of MP before he uses up Wisdom Form, unfortunately, so count on spending at least 6 points of Drive here. Make sure to dismiss Wisdom Form and cast Curaga when the minigame ends, so you can recover your MP and Drive as soon as possible. Data Demyx’s attack pattern is largely identical to the original, with one major exception. His clone guardians appear much more often, pretty much any time he is left untouched for more than one attack. While Wild Dance is available here, grabbing one clone can provoke the others into a prolonged whip attack that delivers a cheap, basically unavoidable death. The only sure way to prevent this is by using the command close to Demyx, as stunning him prevents his clones from striking back. Otherwise just use Dodge Roll as normal to escape the bubble rain and geyser attacks, and when possible strike him with a quick two-finisher combo to pile on the damage. He will counter the second finisher with a geyser attack, but with Dodge Roll it is not a serious threat. Remember to keep an eye on your MP and Drive gauges. An even nastier clone barrage waits at the end of the battle, so your Drive Gauge must be completely refilled before then. That means no quick MP recovery via Stitch or Form activations, making MP recharge a very dangerous time indeed. As if that wasn’t enough, at around half health there is a brief but dangerous wave of 13 clones. You can handle them with normal Firagas, but if your MP is gone or nearly gone at that point you are in deep trouble. (If that happens you will need to recover it with Wisdom Form and hope that you can recover the 3 points of Drive before the end.) After the mid-battle wave he starts using the desperation attack, homing geysers, and all the other lethal attacks you know and loathe. Reflega will wear down his health very quickly, especially if you can trap him in a loop, but once your MP runs out your life becomes difficult. The end of the desperation attack and the bubble rain can be dodged easily enough, but the timing for the homing geyser is more difficult. My preferred defense is to outrun the geyser with Glide; it will take several seconds, but eventually the geyser will disappear. Just stay clear of Demyx’s water wall, and be ready to keep moving if he summons a second geyser while you run from the first. You will run out of MP at least once during the latter half of the battle, and it might be wise to do so again before the final health bar (so you can use a few Firagas before you start using Wisdom Form at the end). Data Demyx will force one more minigame after you’ve exhausted his HP, and this one is the worst of all. Once again there are four waves: the first has 13 clones, and the last has an unbelievable 99. (You will still need at least one Wisdom Form for the first three waves, but the final wave is the greatest danger by far.) Clearing the final wave is a close thing: you must start casting Firaga immediately, continue until your MP is gone, then dismiss and re-activate Wisdom Form with as little delay as possible. Two uses are absolutely required, so you must either (a) dismiss Wisdom Form beforehand, if you have 6 points of Drive remaining, or (b) enter with Wisdom Form and your MP gauge at least half full. You will probably finish with less than half a second to spare, but after you do Data Demyx will go down in a single hit. --NOTE: It is possible that Donald might be dead when a clone minigame begins, preventing you from activating Wisdom Form. To activate it and fully recover your MP you will first need to heal Donald manually. Go to the Magic menu, choose Cure, and pick Donald as your target. This only works while you still have MP, unfortunately, so if both your MP and Donald are gone you are screwed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Axel -Difficulty: 8/10 -Reward: None -Required Abilities: Guard, Dodge Roll, Slide Dash -Recommended Abilities: Combo Plus x2, Dodge Slash, Guard Break, Explosion, Finishing Plus In this battle the camera will be your worst enemy. Data Axel is a hell of a lot faster and more deadly than the original (though to be fair, so are you), and his constant dashing will cause the camera to flip around nonstop. This is made worse by the firewall surrounding the arena, which is always ready to kill you if you accidentally roll into the edge. To survive, you must become a master of last-minute dodging and always keep an eye on your surroundings. He opens by igniting the floor, rapidly draining you down to 1 HP. (This is not a real threat, since Axel’s attacks are fatal at full health.) At this point he only performs two attacks. His favorite move is an upgraded chakram rush: he does not pause before using it, and he flips around even more so he can hit you from an unexpected angle. Escape it with a precisely timed Dodge Roll, then wait for his next attack. He also reuses the combo attack, which he signals with a very brief pause. Dodge Roll out of his way, and as it ends Slide Dash toward him for a two-finisher combo. He will leap through the firewall and return with one of his two Burst Edge-triggering attacks (Dodge Roll is a big help here), which you can use to stun him and put out the burning floor. Hit him with another two-finisher combo when it ends. He will try to retaliate with a faceful of chakram, but that counter is easily dodged. For the next several health bars he will only use the chakram rush and combo attack, mostly the former, and you should continue to damage him after the combo attack. Eventually Data Axel will leap out of the firewall, and things get interesting. He will continue to use his Burst Edge-triggering attacks, but very often he will instead leap out, circle around, and hit you with the chakram rush. He often does three or four of these attacks in a row, so keep a close eye on him and be careful not to dodge early if no reaction command appears. This is probably the most dangerous part of the battle; if you can survive this, you can survive everything else he throws at you. (On the plus side, Burst Edge does give you many more chances to damage him.) At around half HP he begins using the desperation attack. It’s not too bad, as these moves go: Guard twice, Dodge Roll through his forward lunge, and dodge the final burst. He then ignites the floor again, and you will repeat the dodge/combo/Burst Edge cycle from the beginning. (He may repeat the desperation attack if you take too long, but otherwise his moves are exactly the same.) From this point on his pattern remains unchanged until the end of the battle, with the desperation attack and re-ignition repeated every minute or so. Note that you cannot finish the battle while the floor is on fire, but must first extinguish the floor with Clear Light and then end the battle with a combo. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Saix -Difficulty: 9/10 -Reward: None -Required Abilities: Finishing Leap, Dodge Roll, Aerial Dodge, Glide -Recommended Abilities: Guard, High Jump, Slide Dash, Slapshot, Horizontal Slash, Aerial Finish Data Saix’s increased health and damage are bad enough, but his reworked Berserk gauge makes him truly terrifying. It fills up much faster, especially if you allow him to focus his energy, and once activated it will regenerate rather than wearing off. Worse, at low health he uses the desperation attack whenever the gauge fills, so you could face wave after wave of deadly slams and shockwaves if you get unlucky. Your only salvation is the Berserk command, and with its short duration catching it can be difficult. (The one bright spot is that the hammer now provides total invincibility, which will come in handy.) He begins by focusing his energy in the moonlight, rapidly filling the Berserk gauge until you stun him with a finisher. Since the gauge doesn’t fill in the air yet, you should focus on keeping him there. A Slide Dash/ Slapshot/Finishing Leap combo will launch him in under a second, after which you should strike him with a four-hit Horizontal Slash combo. (Don’t bother using more than that, as he automatically falls to the ground after the fourth hit.) He will retaliate with a charge as usual, then either swing his claymore--deflect it with Guard as normal--or perform the focus move again. You can easily take off three health bars, possibly even four, before he first enters Berserk mode. Remember this pattern, because you need to abuse the hell out of it if you are to do any decent damage between Berserk phases. His initial Berserk attacks are essentially the same, though he does like to leap toward you a lot if you start too far away. Because the hammer fades so quickly, you need to charge straight at him and hope he stays in range. The slam combo is safest, though if you are confident you can roll straight into the smash shockwave and grab the hammer then. (Be absolutely certain you can grab it, or you will die afterwards.) You need to keep your distance during the charging combo, so hang back and wait for a safer opening. After one or two more cycles of this Data Saix will start using the desperation attack, and the battle becomes pure hell. The only way to outpace his slams is with Glide. This will keep you safe if you are both turning the same way (both clockwise or both counterclockwise), but if he starts going the opposite way there is a strong risk of being hit and killed by a shockwave from his rush. The best defense I have found is to land, then immediately take off again with Aerial Dodge+Glide, once he changes directions. You have very little time before his next rush, so speed is critical. The attack ends after five or six rushes, draining a decent chunk of the gauge and giving you a few seconds of peace to move in. Stay at a moderately close distance, as you want to trigger the slam combo (or failing that, the smash attack) rather than the charging combo. Scoop up the hammer with Dodge Roll, and do your best to beat him back to normal before the gauge refills and he uses another desperation attack. That is your strategy for the rest of the battle. It takes VERY good reflexes to successfully dodge all of the desperation attacks he throws your way, but if you make good use of Finishing Leap and are skilled at scooping up the hammer you can cut through his HP very quickly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Zexion -Difficulty: 9/10 -Reward: None -Required Abilities: Dodge Roll, Flare Force (Donald) -Recommended Abilities: Aerial Recovery, Air Combo Plus x2, Aerial Dive, Horizontal Slash, Aerial Finish, Magnet Burst, Combo Plus x2, Summon Boost, Finishing Plus Between his vastly increased health and a more aggressive attack pattern, this battle is an order of magnitude harder than the original. Your Limits, Drive Forms, and Summons will all be needed to defeat this monster, and even then you will still need superb timing to reach the final phase. Data Zexion will immediately trap Goofy and Donald in books. Fortunately he doesn’t bother to slide away, so you can spam Firaga spells to damage him and free your friends. Avoid using finishers, and you can delay the first book phase until just before you run out of MP. At that point he will leap away and trap the party inside the book world. Be ready to immediately activate Donald Flare, as his book form opens with a new page-tearing attack that is certain death. While you should aim for a complete Limit, do your best to alternate between Donald’s rockets and Sora’s Horizontal Slash combos; if given time to recover he will strike back with a ridiculously long string of book strikes, which is likely to be fatal if it continues after your invulnerability wears off. If done right, Data Zexion will be at 1 HP and ready to boot back into the real world. Activate Final Form to restore your MP, then continue Firaga spamming as before. Your powered-up Firaga spells can tear through most of his remaining health, but the hardest part is still to come. You must deactivate Final Form and summon Stitch before he enters the next book phase. From now on he will always open the book phase with his menu attack (which is now fatal), so block it with Reflega. You will have to survive at least one phase of energy blasts, and because of his increased health and tendency to endlessly chain together the spells it is much harder to get through. Your best bet is to keep spamming Reflega until the blasts stop coming, then get close and attack after he performs the “wall of books” attack. Once back in the real world, use Stitch to keep the Firaga spells coming and hope that he doesn’t break out the ukelele attack. The tension will finally let up when he starts using the desperation attack. He still opens the book phase with a menu attack, and this time the safe zone appears after the 13th shift, but otherwise it plays out exactly the same as before. You will have more than enough time to take the avatar’s HP down to zero with a full air combo, and so long as you keep Stitch active and maintain the pattern the battle is as good as won. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Lexaeus -Difficulty: 5/10 -Reward: None -Required Abilities: Guard, Dodge Roll, Finishing Plus -Recommended Abilities: Slide Dash, Combo Plus x2, Dodge Slash, Guard Break, Explosion Data Lexaeus’ attack pattern is exactly the same as the original, making him by far the easiest of the Data bosses. If you could keep the original from powering up, you should have no difficulty handling the new version. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Vexen -Difficulty: 9/10 -Reward: None -Required Abilities: Slide Dash, Slapshot, Guard Break, High Jump, Quick Run Lv3, Aerial Dodge, Glide, Flare Force (Donald) -Recommended Abilities: Summon Boost, Second Chance (Goofy) Though not necessarily the hardest, for me Data Vexen is by far the scariest optional boss. His ice attacks are bad enough, but when combined with the moves of his powered-up Anti-Sora (the final form of which has FOUR health bars) he borders on impossible. And because the data circle pursues you and fills the gauge twice as fast, simply dodging it is not an option. To win you must follow a tightly choreographed battle plan, and even then you will need a lot of luck at a few key points. If done properly, you will only have to face Data Vexen’s shield form once. His first three moves will all be homing ice shurikens (or the spinning shurikens, if you are too close) followed by a quick slide to one side. Quick Run after each move, and you should have just enough time to perform a short Guard Break combo and move away again. You should be able to break the shield right after his third attack; if you don’t he will perform three icicle attacks in quick succession, a move that is very difficult (though still possible) to dodge successfully. Unfortunately, you need all three party members alive for the next part. If Donald was killed by a shuriken you will need to try again. Once his shield is gone you must damage him as quickly as possible. Your approach is similar to Data Zexion: spam Firaga until only a sliver of MP remains, then activate Final Form for even more powerful Firaga spamming, taking care to avoid finishers. The Data gauge will completely fill during this barrage, but that is the price to be paid: either you will defeat him before he returns to the shield phase, or he will summon the fully-powered Anti-Sora and almost certainly kill you. He should not retaliate until the desperation attack, though he does recover easily if you pause too long between spells. Data Vexen will always perform a desperation attack just after entering 5 health bars remaining--which is unfortunate, because this move is the deadliest and most difficult-to-dodge attack in the entire game. It goes like this: he opens by summoning several huge blocks of ice that spin around him, sends them all crashing into Sora in two separate salvos (each of which is essentially undodgeable), pulls them back around him and rushes Sora three times while the blocks spin like a buzzsaw, and if Sora is still alive he will freeze you in a chunk of ice and murder you with a final ice blast before you have a chance to break free. To begin with, make sure you are ready to pull away the instant his health drops to 5 bars. If not, there is a good chance of his ice blocks killing you before you even realize the attack has started. Once it starts you will need to rapidly deactivate Final Form, switch to the Limit menu, and activate Donald Flare. Mash both X and Triangle as fast as possible, and you will remain invulnerable until the second homing salvo has passed while reducing the shield to 1 HP. Go to the summon menu before it ends, and be ready to call on Stitch immediately. After that you will need to dodge the three rushes with a well-timed High Jump+Aerial Dodge+ Glide maneuver. The next bit is the moment of truth. Stitch needs to recover your MP as soon as possible, so you can use Reflega to escape the freeze attack and survive the ice blast. (You could escape the former with a carefully timed Quick Run, but it’s still mandatory for the latter.) To break his shield in the narrow window between the end of the attack and Anti-Sora being summoned, you will need to block the blast with a two-Reflega chain. If you have successfully broken his shield, the battle is almost won. Continue abusing Firaga without finishers and it is likely that you will defeat him before he can recover. Even if he does recover, you can still win as long as he is on his last health bar or so. Use two Ohana! Limits to get rid of Stitch (and deal some extra damage to the shield), then activate Donald Flare one more time. While you’re not going to survive beyond that, the combination of the Limit and your Guard Break combos should quickly break his shield and cut through all of his remaining health. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Xaldin -Difficulty: 6/10 -Reward: None -Required Abilities: Guard, Aerial Dodge, Glide -Recommended Abilities: Reaction Boost, High Jump, Dodge Roll, MP Hastera Data Xaldin is yet another example of how much a simple attack pattern change can completely alter a battle. In this case, the main difference is his wind shield: it can only be removed by Jump attacks now (and not by Guarding attacks or by Reflect blasts as in the original battle), forcing a major change in strategy toward the end. I recommend that you put Magnega in the shortcut menu before entering battle. Fortunately the beginning isn’t too different, aside from three rapid wind blasts at the very start. Guard these, then move in close enough to block his attacks and start collecting Jumps. The only major difference is the dive-bomb attack (starting around 4 bars of health lost, or roughly 3 full Jump barrages), which comes far too fast to leap over. Use Aerial Dodge+ Glide to immediately get up to speed, and collect as many Jumps as possible while you fly away from the lances. (Remember to quickly turn as the final dive lands, or you may get hit and killed by the ray of energy that shoots from the blast zone.) The problems start with the final phase (at 6 bars remaining, around the 8th Jump barrage). Reflega no longer works against his teleport attack, and without Jump you will have no way to stop him from repeating the attack indefinitely. To break the cycle you will need Magnega, which staggers him and has a decent chance of triggering another dive-bomb attack. Use High Jump and Aerial Dodge before casting the spell, and you should stay out of his reach. (You can only cast 4 Magnegas before your MP runs out, so if Data Xaldin is uncooperative you will need to keep Aerial Dodging over him until your MP refills.) Once the dive-bomb is triggered, you can max out your Jumps as you Glide away from him. I suggest recharging your MP with Curaga (if it isn’t already empty), using one Jump at a time to interrupt his teleports, and unleashing the rest of your Jumps when it is full again. The desperation attack is no harder than before, so if you can successfully repeat this pattern after each Jump barrage it will see you through the end of the battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Xigbar -Difficulty: 10/10 -Reward: None -Required Abilities: Guard, Dodge Roll -Recommended Abilities: Aerial Dodge, Glide, Combo Plus x2, Air Combo Plus x2, Aerial Dive, Aerial Spiral, Horizontal Slash, Aerial Finish For a long time I thought that Data Xigbar was impossible in this challenge. Absurdly fast bullets aside, his missile attacks (and sometimes his overhead shots) require long Reflega chains that will chew through your MP very quickly. Your magic will run out long before the battle ends, and because Summons are not available you cannot take the easy route and restore your MP with Stitch. The key to your survival is your Drive Forms, which instantly restore your HP and MP upon activation. Data Xigbar is probably the hardest boss in the game in terms of raw skill and reflexes, so if you are unsure about the other Data bosses he is a good place to start. The biggest difference is the bullets, which fly twice as fast and thus are twice as hard to block. To conserve MP you will need to block his standard attacks with Guard, which can be difficult given his tendency to rapidly teleport. The one positive is that his deflected bullets will now hit him before he can teleport away, stunning him after two salvos and leaving him open to an air combo. This is the only practical way to damage him in the wide-open battlefield (apart from his now-rare reloads and the even rarer stroll move), though you must be prepared: after the finisher he will teleport and strike back with a sudden salvo that can easily kill you, so you will need split-second Guard timing. Because precise Guarding is difficult when his bullets come streaming from so many directions, you will want to avoid the default battlefield as much as possible. Data Xigbar’s very first move is to warp you to one of the three small rooms. If you start in the long narrow hall, you are in business. However, if you start in one of the square rooms you will need to escape (with a finisher) and wait for him to warp you again. The room with the single C-shaped hole is most dangerous, as he has a habit of stun- locking you to death with continuous shots. Make sure to start Guarding immediately, quickly Glide to one of the opposite corners while he is stunned, then put your back against the corner and Guard until he is stunned again. (You MIGHT be able to Glide to him in one trip, but frankly it’s not worth the risk.) The room with four holes is less dangerous, though because he switches unpredictably between the overhead and normal salvos you should use Reflega instead of Guard until he is stunned. I would rely solely on Guard while in the default arena, both to limit his teleportation and to limit your damage so you don’t trigger the next phase prematurely. Once in the long hall you should block his salvos and Glide to the far end. You cannot use combo finishers lest you boot yourself out of the room, but with four Horizontal Slashes per combo you can still do a lot of damage. More importantly, however, his attack pattern suddenly becomes predictable: after you attack he will perform an overhead shot and stand still for a moment, so a quick Dodge Roll is all you need to stay safe as you pile on attack after attack. He enters a new phase after losing 4 bars of health, but aside from performing two overhead shots in a row his pattern is mostly the same. “Mostly” is a big qualifier, however: occasionally he will release a missile in place of the overhead shot, messing with the pattern. To survive the missile (which also flies twice as fast) and the stream of bullets that follow, keep casting Reflega until he is stunned. If left alone too long, he may also use his sniper attack. The attack itself is easy to avoid--just run toward the opposite end of the hall--but once it ends you will need a Reflega chain to avoid being caught off-guard by his bullets. He typically warps back to his original position at the beginning of this move, so if he was pushed away by your attacks you may have some Gliding to do afterwards. Things shouldn’t get difficult until he enters the final phase at 5-1/2 bars remaining, though rest assured that they will get VERY difficult. Data Xigbar’s first move will typically be the desperation attack, which is no worse than before. Once it is complete, however, you will return to the wide-open arena. His basic pattern is the same--three attacks, two missiles in a row, three more attacks--but his increased damage and speed make blocking all of them hellishly difficult. You will have to balance Reflega spamming (which is all-around safer but burns through your limited MP) with Guarding (which is free but requires much faster reflexes and only works in one direction), though when in doubt you should choose a reliable defense over MP conservation. My usual approach is to Guard his ranged attacks and to spam Reflega against his overhead shots and missiles. As a rule of thumb, a 4-Reflega chain will usually be just enough to stun him. The one bright side is that his bullets will stun him pretty often, giving you plenty of opportunities to pummel him with air combos (though be careful to only use one finisher at a time). As a final unfortunate complication, Data Xigbar will often warp back to one of the three small rooms right before his desperation attack. I suggest just relying on Reflega for this, as he is much more prone to overhead shots, and hitting him with an air combo when he is stunned. If left alone too long he will perform the sniper attack, which is hell to dodge in the small square rooms, so it’s important to be quick. You will usually run out of MP early in the final phase, at which point a Drive Form transformation is needed. The best time to do so is right after the desperation attack ends, though with lightning-fast fingers you could activate and deactivate the Form right after Data Xigbar’s bullets stun him. (Note that you must deactivate it right afterwards. Guard, Dodge Roll, and Reflega are all needed to survive, and Horizontal Slash combos do more damage than anything your Forms can offer.) Stick with Limit Form, as your allies will likely be dead for most of the battle. Two Form transformations should be enough to maintain your MP to the end of the battle, though you will be able to use a third if the need arises. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BOSS BATTLE: Data Xemnas -Difficulty: 10/10 -Reward: None Unsurprisingly, the Organization’s leader makes for the toughest of all the Data bosses. Data Xemnas has two separate forms, each with a massive health gauge, and dying against either will send you back to the beginning. Both forms are incredibly fast and aggressive, so expect to spend lots of time and many deaths perfecting your strategy before you finally succeed. =Part 1= -Required Abilities: Guard, Trinity Limit, Finishing Plus -Recommended Abilities: Counterguard, Dodge Roll, Slide Dash, Combo Plus x2, Dodge Slash, Guard Break, Explosion, Form Boost x2 First you will reenact the solo battle in front of Memory’s Skyscraper. Data Xemnas opens with the long combo. Six Guards will neutralize the attack, after which you can start a ground combo of your own. The second finisher will trigger a blinding-fast counterattack, rushing toward you to ambush you with the two-hit slash. There are two ways to deal with this, both requiring hair-trigger reflexes and a sharp eye. First, you can Guard just as he stops moving, blocking the first strike and allowing you to segue directly into a Counterguard combo. (Do not Guard prematurely, as he often rushes past to strike you in the back.) Second, you can Dodge Roll out of striking range and move in with Slide Dash after the second hit. While the Dodge Roll timing is easier, I prefer the Guard strategy: later in the battle it will protect you from the long combos as well, while Dodge Roll almost guarantees that you will get hit. You should see nothing but the slash attack until 4-1/2 bars lost. While the slash remains his main attack, every now and then Data Xemnas will repeat his long combo. If you are precise with your Guarding, you will block the first hit and can Guard five more times to block the rest of the combo. You will be hit if you Guard a little early, though it is better to be too early than too late: the slash is an instant kill, while the combo attack can be survived. To do so you must quickly activate Trinity Limit, buying yourself invulnerability until the move ends, then recover your HP and MP with a Limit Form transformation. Limit Form is very powerful here: it has all the defensive Abilities you need to survive, and your healing Limit moves plus the automatic MP Rage provide effectively unlimited HP recovery while the Form stays active. The only major drawback is Zantetsu Counter, which chews through a lot of Drive without allowing you to start a combo or even to knock him back. Fortunately Limit Form’s Guard is quick, so it is possible to block the first strike, Dodge Roll from the second, and move in with Slide Dash to start a new combo. If followed well this strategy will keep you alive to the end, or at least until 4 bars remaining. At that point you can trigger the action sequence on the skyscraper, and take him down to 1 HP with Finish. If you already used up Limit Form once, activate it again before finishing him off. The menu will open between battles, allowing you to adjust your Abilities. Do so, then brace yourself for the real challenge. =Part 2= -Required Abilities: Guard, Dodge Roll, Aerial Dodge, Glide -Recommended Abilities: Slide Dash, Combo Plus x2, Dodge Slash, Guard Break, Aerial Dive, Aerial Spiral, Horizontal Slash, Aerial Finish, MP Hastera The second form is a highly upgraded repeat of the final battle, and is every bit as terrifying as you would expect. Data Xemnas opens by summoning an endless series of light orbs, which will fly across the battlefield to explode in your face. Glide will outrun them easily enough, but while he keeps throwing orbs you cannot touch him. The good news is that eventually (after 15-25 orbs) he will get tired of tossing orbs and will perform the grab-and-throw attack. Activate the Session Limit as soon as possible, and you can stay untouchable for the entire attack. Be careful to stop JUST SHORT of the final hit. After you survive the midair assault (which typically ends with two more homing orbs) you are in the clear for a while. He is likely to start slinging orbs again, but this time you can safely damage him with Session once your MP recharges. As a rule, the only time you should ever complete the Limit in this battle is if he releases another orb directly beforehand. Keeping an eye on Data Xemnas and countering his attacks takes priority over the final hit’s (admittedly impressive) damage. After that he should rely primarily on his sweep and energy pulse attacks, which you should easily dodge to move in for a combo. Take care to only use single finishers; the second finisher is liable to trigger another light-orb barrage, which will severely slow you down. Try to rely on Riku for your healing, as you need to save your own MP for Limits. Beware of Data Xemnas’ capture move, which he will occasionally attempt throughout the battle. You can and must escape every attempt with Dodge Roll or Reflega, because if you are caught it’s as good as Game Over--which, remember, means beating his first form again. Make sure that your MP is full before he loses 6-1/2 health bars and enters the next phase of battle. He will first attempt the capture attack, then begin the laser barrage. He still opens with the phrase “Why don’t you vanish?”, but this time you should Guard on the word “don’t.” The rest of his attacks should come quickly enough that Guard timing is not much of an issue, but if you are hit you still have two ways to save your skin. If you have MP then activate Session, resume Guarding while your invulnerability is still active, and wait for Riku to heal you. If not, activate Limit Form to refill your HP/MP, resume Guarding immediately, and deactivate it during a quiet moment. Note that every so often Data Xemnas will stand still for a few seconds. Use those breaks to hit him with a four-hit Horizontal Slash combo. He will end the barrage with a pulse attack, so be ready to back up and Dodge Roll after you attack. From here on he relies on long-range pulse attacks, which allow for safer combos, though he will continue to repeat the light orb, laser barrage, grab- and-throw and capture attacks every so often. I recommend saving your MP for Session, as the grab-and-throw is almost certain death without it. The “almost” is thanks to Limit Form, as the transformation will block the first hit and allow you to Reversal your way through the rest of it, though even then it is very easy to miss a Reversal and get killed. Absolutely never use a double finisher: they now trigger the laser barrage and grab-and-throw attacks, which slow you down as well as putting you in greater danger. If you can get down to the final health bar, you are nearly home free. His closing sphere-of-lasers attack isn’t much more dangerous than the original, so long as both Sora and Riku have a reasonable amount of health. Keep on consistently blocking their lasers (Sora can survive up to three hits), don’t stop until the animation stops, and you win. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon conquering all 13 Data bosses a new chest will appear next to the data console. Open it to obtain the Proof of Nonexistence and earn the Silver Crown, the ultimate mark of skill in this challenge. And with that, your sidequesting is complete. Return to the save point, replay the final battles if you wish (they make for a nice victory cooldown), and otherwise just savor the thrill of completing one of the greatest challenges this game has to offer. Well done, my friend. ============================================================================= ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ============================================================================= -ElectroSpectre: His Kingdom Hearts II FAQ remains one of the best I have ever read, and was my reference for all aspects of the game carried over from the original version. -starkk: I used his Translation FAQ as my initial guide for all the changes added to the Final Mix version, most notably the Ability names and specific rewards from each battle. -Ryan_86: I never would have completed this challenge without his excellent Level 1 Challenge FAQ. His idea for training Master Form was especially clever. -Glavewurm: For clarifying the exact mechanics behind triggering Final Form on the GameFAQs message boards. -Bizkit047 and pacey8444: Many of the strategies I used to conquer the tougher optional bosses (I’m looking at you, Data Vexen) were based on the ones demonstrated in their challenge videos on YouTube. These guys rock.