Gargant FAQ

Who is Gargant?
The strongest Genma, and the mightiest demon warrior alive. He was in command
of the massive Genma tank that was going to Honnouji Temple to help Nobunaga.
He is extremely fast and powerful, and he has fought Samanosuke twice. The
second time, after a ferocious fight (shown in the CG of Onimusha 3),
Samanosuke turned into an Onimusha and destroyed Gargant.

How to Unlock: Begin Blade Warriors with a saved game from Onimusha 3. Then
defeat Gargant in Normal VS. Mode to unlock him.

Pros
- The only very powerful character to also be very fast
- An excellent fire orb which can be executed from a safe distance, it’s the
best in the game
- Great lightning attack, temporarily invincible while carrying it out, also
one of the best in the game
- He has powerful alternatives to simple moves, like his Double Uppercut
instead of Shoryuken
- In other characters, charged slashes are usually more powerful than Hadoken,
but limited to the range of their weapon. Gargant’s charged slash has equal
range to the Hadoken, so you can do more damage from afar.
- Gargant specializes in kicks. His basic kick is probably the best in the
game, it comes out fast and is relatively strong, and it also has excellent
recovery time. His Demon Kick Combo is the best and only kick combo in the game.
- His Hadoken floats so it’s hard to dodge, even though it’s pretty useless
(see above)
- Quite fast attacks and combos
- His finisher is fast, accurate and very small lag if you miss
- The largest number of moves in the game, having three special moves with
different effects- Demon Kick, Charged Stab Combo, and Double Uppercut, all of
which are very, very useful.
- He can get any item which can be bought at the end of the game for half the
number of Victory Souls. For example, the Suzaku Scroll normally costs 200
souls but Gargant can get it for 100. The same applies for Talismans (normally
costs 15 but Gargant can get it for 8) and Power Jewels (15 instead of 30).

Cons
- Not as good range as other demon swordsmen such as Nobunaga or Gogandantess
- No other weapons except his default Garblade (but that’s good enough, really)
- His wind attack is just average, nothing special
- His Hadoken floats so it can’t detonate bombs, time bombs

NOTE: I think that Gargant can get other player’s weapons using a cheat device
like Gameshark. I haven’t been able to confirm it, but it would be awesome to
get him a Red Saber, Paladin Sword, Muramasa Blade, or a Bishamon Sword, which
are the four best weapons in the game. Think how much more powerful his fire
attacks would be with the ‘Large Boost for All Orbs’ ability of the Bishamon
Sword. He would also have better power, defensive strength, stats, and reach
with the other weapons. I will soon make sure, and update this part of the FAQ.


Gargant is very fast and powerful, above average in all areas (The average MAX
stats are 11, 11, and 10). In my opinion, he is the best character in the whole
game. Always do the Demon Kick combo for a setup before doing any orb attack,
especially lightning orb attack. Remember to disarm anyone who has any tactical
orb. Try to use Critical attacks, it’s very damaging and also drops several
life and experience souls. Make use of his more powerful combos if you are in a
good position. If you have been cornered or surrounded, do his four hit combo
or Demon Kick combo to knock the foe away and make him fall to the ground.

REMEMBER TO MAX OUT GARGANT’S STATS AND GIVE HIM FOUR POWER JEWELS TOO TO GET
READY TO DESTROY THE ENEMY IN CUSTOM VS. MODE. THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT
WHEN FIGHTING AGAINST STRONG HUMAN ENEMIES. WHEN YOU HAVE DONE ALL OF THIS, YOU
SHOULD BE ABLE TO COMFORTABLY DEFEAT NOBUNAGA (IF YOU’VE GOT HIM), SPEED
MARCELLUS, MAGOICHI SAIGA (IF YOU’VE GOT HIM), GOGANDANTESS, SAMANOSUKE,
KOJIRO, AND ANOTHER GARGANT AT HARD IN NORMAL VS. MODE, WHERE YOUR POWER JEWELS
WON’T COUNT. THEN YOU’LL BE READY FOR FACING STRONGER OFFENSIVE PLAYERS.
DEFENSIVE PLAYERS SHOULD BE NO PROBLEM AS GARGANT HAS A POWERFUL KICK COMBO TO
BREAK ENEMY BLOCKS AND ALSO HAS OTHER STRONG ATTACKS THAT ARE UNBLOCKABLE, SUCH
AS HIS POWERFUL FIRE ORB ATTACK. YOU CAN CONTINUE TO ATTACK THE ENEMY WHILE
IT’S TAKING PLACE, ADDING IN A SUPER COMBO (SHOWN BELOW) AFTER THE ORB HITS THE
PLAYER ONCE. IT USUALLY FLOATS AROUND HITTING EVERYONE TWICE OR THRICE.

IN VS. OR CUSTOM VS. TRY TO CARRY OUT ORB ATTACKS AND POWERFUL COMBOS AFTER YOU
HAVE ABSORBED POWER YANG SOUL. DEPENDING ON YOUR STYLE, (AGGRESSIVE, DEFENSIVE,
MAINLY CRITICALS, OR EVASIVE), YOU CAN USE DIFFERENT ITEMS AVAILABLE IN CUSTOM
VS. TO MAKE USE OF EACH STRATEGY TO THE FULLEST.

Default and Only Weapon- Garblade
MAX Stats- Attack: 15, Defense: 13, Magic: 14

Gargant’s Combos

Four Hit Combo- Hit square four times rythmetically
Two slashes, a kick, and a punch which does good damage and knocks away the
enemy making him fall down. This isn’t Gargant’s best attack, but it is useful
for getting some space when cornered or surrounded.

Shoryuken- Press up and square together
An average Shoryuken. Useless when you could have done the more damaging Double
Uppercut move.

Leg Chopper- Press down and square together
An average Leg Chopper. No need to use when there are much better attacks for
Gargant.

Disarm- Press R1 and triangle if not in possession of a tactical orb.
Useful if the opponent has an in-battle weapon you want or if they have a
weapon which you don’t want them to have. Especially useful with Ekei, as
unlike all other characters, you can even disarm his basic weapon, his normal
spear, making it a short stick without a blade. All basic weapons can be
disarmed, but others only lowers stats, it doesn’t bring any physical changes
to the weapon. It can also knock the tactical orbs out of players who have one,
and sometimes drop small life souls. Doesn’t do much damage. However, it lowers
the stats of the enemy until they pick the image of their disarmed weapon, even
if it’s a disarmed default weapon, up. Disarming the player twice is a great
way to start a Custom VS. Match. The first move knock out their additional
weapon, e.g.: Samanosuke’s Bishamon Sword can be disarmed. The second disarm
removes their normal weapon, lowering their stats. Follow up with Demon Kick or
Four Hit Combo to knock the enemy away from their weapon.

Finisher- Press X then down and square when over a fallen enemy.
A very good finisher. Fast, and only a short lag if you miss. Do after any
attack that makes opponent fall down.

Damage When Downed- A Leg Chopper then a Finisher over a fallen enemy.
Useful to attack downed enemies. Can also be done on standing enemies, but
isn’t so useful that way.

Dash Attack- Tap the directional button toward the enemy twice then press
square.
Identical to the charged slash, only much faster and slightly less damaging.
Use to move very quickly and suddenly from one place to another.

Demon Kick- Press square thrice, then tap triangle.
Three slashes and a series of kicks which knock away the enemy and do moderate
damage (about as much as four or five normal kicks). Good setup for a lightning
attack or a powerful combo. The first three slashes can be blocked but the rest
of the combo is unblockable and comes out very fast.

Double Uppercut- Shoryuken, then tap square again when the enemy is in the air.
Gargant will strike again in the air. Does good damage, and a nice add-on to
the Shoryuken.

Charged Slash- Hold square without pressing the left or right buttons or R1. As
you hold it, the color will change to three different colors- light purple, a
slightly darker purple, then a very bright purple. These are the three
different charge levels and the higher the level the more the damage. When the
color is as you want it, release square without holding R1. Some characters
like Gargant can charge while holding block for safety. This is a good option,
as it allows for a chance to do a Charged Guard Issen, an extremely powerful
move.
A rolling slash which does great damage and has great range. Use over Hadoken.
Level 1 charge slash can be a fast way to move up next to the enemy and damage
him quite well too. It’s a great surprise maneuver. Can hit enemies more than
halfway across the screen. The level 3 charge slash is especially damaging.

Jump Attack- Press cross then square at the height of the jump.
Pretty much useless, use only to hit enemies that run too much, or enemies on a
higher plane. Can be a good surprise for enemies at least one plane above you
who keep charging and perform a Hadoken when you come to their plane, then run
to another plane again.  Hit them from directly below, then run up and start
attacking.

Charged Stab- Charge and release square while holding R1.
Gargant plunges his sword into the enemy and takes it out, causing great
damage. This time too, level 3 attacks do the most damage. At close range this
is more powerful than charged slash.

Hadoken- Charge, tap the directional button toward the enemy twice then release
square.
An average Hadoken. Deals good damage from a distance. Difficult to dodge but
easy to block. In my opinion, this move is useless when charged slashes are
possible. Again, level 3 does most damage.

Issen- Tap square just before an enemy attack. If you charge it causes much
more damage.
Very powerful attack, but quite difficult to perform. Risky too, as it makes
you a sitting duck till the time comes for the Issen. The Guard Issen is much
safer.

Guard Issen- Press block just before enemy attacks hit you, if you did it
correctly a white ring of light will appear, then press square immediately. If
you charge it causes much more damage.
Identical effect to the Issen.

Charged Stab Combo- Do the charged stab, then press R1 and square when the
enemy stumbles and add a Damage When Downed.
An excellent move which causes tremendous damage. Once again, level 3 charge at
the start is the best way. Once you have charged, you can do one quick kick if
the enemy is blocking then carry it out. Don’t try the Demon Kick here- if you
release charge for more than one or two seconds, the charge will go out. If you
press square when the enemy is blocking, the attack will be carried out into
the air, and cause no damage to the enemy. If carried out properly, it seems to
drop Power Yang Souls (increase power) and small life souls when carried out.
This is the move I use most commonly with Gargant.

Super Combo- Do a Level 3 charged stab, then do a Double Uppercut while the
enemy is stumbling. When the enemy falls down, do a Damage When Downed.
Even more damaging than the Charged Stab Combo, could take away massive amounts
of Vitality. There are two ways to do this move. The first way can be done only
if the enemy isn’t blocking, and that is to do exactly as shown above. The
second way is a little bit more damaging, and it’s unblockable too, but it’s
quite tricky. First you have to charge the sword to level 3, then quickly do
one single kick while pressing forward. The charge won’t wear off for a little
while, so very quickly press R1+Square, and then do the Double Uppercut
followed by a Damage When Downed. For maximum power, do it with a Power Yang
Soul in possession. You’ll want to master this move- it has turned several
seemingly inevitable defeats into a sure victory, even for me.

Styles
Here I will write what items to use, what other members to choose if you are
playing as a team, and how you should play depending on your style.

Aggressive:
Item- Yin Soul 2 (+2 Attack, -1 Defense).
Good Team Members- Gogandantess, Samanosuke.
MAX Stats with Current Item- Attack: 17, Defense: 12, Magic: 14
How to Play- This style is a bit difficult for some, as you have to be quick
with the controls and have fast reactions. You also will never have to touch
the block button once you master the aggressive style. You will also probably
never get to use any tactical orbs/in-battle items. Don’t let the enemy run
away from you. Force him to stay near you. If possible, keep him stuck in a
corner with your team member directly above you. For your very first move, get
right up close to the enemy with a dash attack or a run, followed by a normal
kick and two Disarms, then start attacking, basing your play heavily on strong,
fast combos (Double Uppercut, Four Hit Combo, or a Level 1 charged slash or
stab at close range- remember here that charging fully will take too much time
and when being aggressive, you need fast, vicious combos) and instantly kicking
if the enemy blocks. If the enemy runs, quickly jump to his plane and dash
attack him or her, then follow up with a strong uncharged combo (Once again,
Double Uppercut or Four Hit Combo). Give importance to doing a Damage When
Downed whenever the opponent falls, and also do these sometimes to standing
enemies as it can be venomous if used sparingly and aggressively. Choose a
solid character with average speed, good power and good moves for a team
partner- I recommend Gogandantess and the Red Saber, or Samanosuke and the
Bishamon Sword. Gogandantess with his Red Saber is my favorite team member. He
has heavy but slow combos with long reach, which Gargant lacks, and he has
excellent orb attacks especially his fire and wind. His wind orb has much, much
better range and power than Gargant’s relatively weak wind attack and is one of
the best in the game. He isn’t slow either. Keep it in mind, however, to always
attack enemies with a strong, fast ground combo while your partner is shooting
a fire orb at him. You can also do an uncharged normal three hit combo (press
square thrice. It performs two slashes and a kick, excluding the punch of his
four hit combo as it may knock them away). However, never mess with the enemy
if your team member is attacking him with a lightning orb. They might be
knocked out of the area into safety. Make each team member focus on one other
team member, interchange between team members randomly. When there is only one
left, try to juggle him (You shoryuken him to your partner, who shoryukens him
towards you before he hits the ground, then you Shoryuken him again while he’s
in the air, then your partner does, and so on). It’s powerful, and could be
said to be an infinite combo, and it looks really cool, but it’s difficult to
carry out, and you have to estimate the distances correctly. Remember to mix in
your attacks, add at least one Level 3 Charged Stab Combo to get a Power Yang
Soul to increase your strength for a while. Use these opportunities to follow
up with a heavy set of powerful combos- Super Combo to Demon Kick to Double
Uppercut followed by a Damage When Downed can get rid of enemies very quickly.


Defensive:
Item- Yang Soul 2 (+2 Defense).
Good Team Members- Gogandantess, Nobunaga, Speed Marcellus, Samanosuke.
MAX Stats with Current Item- Attack: 15, Defense: 15, Magic: 14
How to Play- You should be quick with the controls. You have to either tap
block or hold block according to the situation. If you are facing against an
aggressive player who likes to kick you to break your blocks, you should
rapidly tap block, this will minimize your staggering and greatly increase
recovery time for all unblockable attacks except orb attacks. It will also make
the enemy stagger a bit, giving you a chance to counterattack with a Double
Uppercut followed by a Damage When Downed. When the enemy makes his distance,
hold block and square together and wait till he comes near you. If he tries to
kick you or slash at you, quickly do a Charged Stab, followed by a Double
Uppercut, then a Damage When Downed (in short, the Super Combo). Following
that, you can wait till he stands up, then instantly kick and Shoryuken (not
Double Uppercut here), run over to the opponent, and do the Damage When Downed
again. You can continue this, but soon stop and dash (tap a directional button
twice without pressing square at the end) away from the enemy and run around
whacking open boxes and looking for useful orbs and items. Remember that you
can absorb souls and orbs faster and with more power if you tap circle than if
you hold it. Immediately carry out all orb attacks except wind in four-player,
and carry out all orb attacks in two-player matches. If you have a Speed
Marcellus for a partner, you absorb all orbs, he has poor orb attacks. If one
of the others I have suggested are your partners, let them absorb and carry out
wind attacks, but always do the other two orbs yourself. Use the fire orb right
up next to the enemy to cause maximum damage. Whenever an orb hits a player
it’ll make them fall down so you can quickly do a Damage When Downed on them.
In four-player let your partner fight on of the enemies while you fight the
other.

Mainly Critical:
Item- Byakko Scroll (Critical timing doubled, Critical attacks do 2 times more
damage).
Good Team Members- Gogandantess, Magoichi Saiga, Samanosuke.
MAX Stats with Current Item- Attack: 15, Defense: 13, Magic: 14
How to Play- There’s not much to say here. Use this style only if you’re good
at Critical attacks. Even with the timing doubled, you have to be quite good at
Issens and especially Guard Issen. Keep charging, and when the enemy comes
nearby he’ll almost always slash at you if you weren’t guarding (kicks are much
weaker than slashes, and are usually only used to break enemy guards or make
distance with troublesome enemies). Quickly Issen him, or tap Guard correctly
and then Guard Issen him. That’s over half of his life gone in one super move
(The Byakko Scroll helped). As he stumbles, Double Uppercut and do a Damage
When Downed. Now he’ll have only a measly bit of Vitality left. When he stands
up, do a Demon Kick if he guards and a Double Uppercut otherwise, and then do a
Damage When Downed again. By now he should be dead, if he isn’t slash a few
more times. This style is much tougher in four-player even though it’s quite
simple in two-player. Make do and adapt to the situation in a way that you’re
comfortable with.


Charging- Evasive:
Item- Yin Soul 2 (+2 Attack, -1 Defense).
Good Team Members- Gogandantess, Samanosuke.
MAX Stats with Current Item- Attack: 17, Defense: 12, Magic: 14
How to Play- Charge and move from plane to plane, doing a charged slash
followed by Four Hit Combo or Double Uppercut followed by a Damage When Downed,
whenever the enemy moves to your plane. This style too, is difficult in
four-player but is a cheap, easy-win method in two-player. Players who like
this style can be a headache, but it’s easy for the opponent to turn the tables
on you- just block to temporarily stun you, and follow up with a big combo. To
prevent this, you can replace the Charged Slash with a Hadoken, but that means
none of the big combos afterwards that can be done with a charged slash. So you
just have to run while charging and shoot Hadoken, and repeat this. Move away
if the enemy goes directly below you- he might mean to jump attack you. This is
usually a boring style that we see too often, running and charging then
shooting a Hadoken when the other player goes to his plane. If you do the
Charged Slash version, it is a bit easier and stronger, and it doesn’t seem as
cowardly as the Hadoken version.

Thanks to Jia Baoyu on info about Gargant's Demon Kick and Double Uppercut, and
info on getting the items and the stat changes by the items. Thanks to GameFAQs
for publishing this FAQ. And thanks to Capcom for making this game.

Copyright 2005 Kopymarket.

PS: I can't do any more work on this FAQ so will someone please continuously
update it for me? I'll be most grateful (hahaha!) I wonder if I'm too formal so
please change.