============================================================================== ------------- | The Emperor | ------------- ================== Table of Contents ================== I) Legal Infos / Disclaimers [EmF-01] II) Introduction [EmF-02] III) Brief Background [EmF-03] IV) Character Overview [EmF-04] V) His Attacks [EmF-05] VI) Recommended Abilities [EmF-06] VII) Recommended Builds [EmF-07] VIII) Custom Combos and Strategies [EmF-08] IX) CPU Match Ups [EmF-09] X) Human Match Ups [EmF-10] XI) Things Worth Mentioning [EmF-11] XII) The Videos [EmF-12] XIII) Contact me [EmF-13] XIV) Version History [EmF-14] XV) Credits [EmF-15] ===================================== I) Legal Infos / Disclaimers [EmF-01] ===================================== Copyright (C) 2010 Jittinan W. / Mad_Cartoonist This guide is dedicated to help Dissidia: Final Fantasy players have a better view and understanding of how to use the character; "The Emperor". It may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. ========================= II) Introduction [EmF-02] ========================= Greetings to everyone. I am the Mad_Cartoonist. I have been lurking around the Dissidia: Final Fantasy Message Board of GameFAQs for a long time, and has been playing Dissidia: Final Fantasy since the first Japanese release. I must say I absolutely love this game as I am a hardcore fan of final fantasy, who've been playing FF from 4th to the 12th installment, except 11th. Seeing those characters united in this game is one of the reasons I like this game so much. When I started this game, there are eight characters that I was not familiar with and they were the last ones I tested out. Those eight are Warrior of Light, Garland, Firion, Emperor Mateus, Onion Knight, Cloud of Darkness, Shantotto, and Gabranth. (Back when I started this, I haven't played 12 yet). After I tried out the other 14 characters, I finally decided to try these eight out in order to increase this game's playability value. I must say that the first time I read Emperor Mateus's job name - Trap Master - I thought right away that he would never get to be one of my mains, because I am not really a mage lover. And to battle just by setting traps and waiting for my enemy to fall for it just isn't my style. However, I was wrong. Emperor Mateus's battle style is more than just a schemer. Though many of his tactics involves with laughing behind his shield while casting Starfall, there are many ways to make him outstanding in the frontline and make the god of dischord SHIVER at the power of the Trap Master. In this FAQ, I will give you an overview of this interesting character, and how to use him effectively in battles. ============================== III) Brief Background [EmF-03] ============================== As I've said above, I never played FF 1, 2, 3, and 11. Hence, I know absolutely nothing of Emperor Mateus's background. (Well, besides his real name since I've saw people calling him this in the boards.) His background written below is taken directly from Emperor Mateus's profile in Dissidia: Final Fantasy Museum's Character Files. [A ruthless, single-minded man with an insatiable lust for power. In the original game, he led the militar empire of Palamecia, bringing country after country under his heel. With his incredible sorcery, he was even able to command demons and the Cyclone. He will do anything for power - including selling his soul. His pride is almost fearsome in its intensity.] =============================== IV) Character Overview [EmF-04] =============================== The Emperor [Trap Master] Ensnares foes, then batters them with HP attacks. Taken from his job name, it is as clear as water that The Emperor's battle style involves around laying traps in battle field to defeat his enemy. If this were to be an action RPG or a co-op fighting game with another character to protect you, The Emperor would have been a pretty interesting character for anyone who wants a support character in their party. But laying traps hoping your enemy to get caught in them and get killed by it is not an easy task to do alone. Not to mentioned that you also have to try not to get your own butt whipped while at it as well. What I said above is exactly what I had in mind when I first tried out The Emperor. I had absolutely no idea how a back line type character would be able to handle well in a frontline one-on-one battle. And again, like I said above, I was wrong. If you can't get your opponent to hit your trap, why not slam those bombs into their faces? Guard/Stagger them and Mine/Landmine their face with fully critical bombs. "The bombs are too slow!! And to do that effectively, I'll have for my opponent to stagger first!! If he/she won't attack, the match could go on forever!!" ^ Oh yeah? How about this? If your opponent won't attack, why not force them to do so by Snooze and Lose, or better yet, charging up Starfall? "But he/she realized that what I'm doing and head straight for me!!" ^ THAT is when your trap comes in. His Ex-Mode ----------- [The Power of Hellfire] "My reign is absolute!" In his ex-mode, The Emperor gains the regeneration effect 'Regen' just like other characters. But at the same time, he also gains 'Blood Magic', a regeneration ability that recovers his HP equally to the amount of HP damage dealt to his enemy, similar to Firion's Blood Weapon. His Ex-Burst ------------ [Absolute Dominion] => Entice/Hurricane "Suffer!! All - in my - command!! ... hehehehe ... Lowly Worm!!" The Emperor burst the screen to ex-burst stage with one of his mine bombs. After that, he charges his power up inside a hurricane by pressing the corresponding commands displayed on the screen. Upon success, he entices his opponent with some kind of thunder magic, and burst them away, dealing HP damage AND sucking their life force to recover his. Upon failure, he releases the hurricane onto his enemy for minor damage before dealing HP damage. The amount of hits corresponds to the number of commands you pressed correctly. Conclusion of The Emperor in Pros and Cons format: Pros: ----- - Nearly impenetratable defense - Can constantly pressure your opponent - Can net huge amount of BRV at once if you know what you are doing - Fight well in air combat, but reigns more on ground combat - Has somewhat cool and catchy battle quotes. "SUFFA!!" / "HEAVUNS!!!" - Has one of the most epic-looking HP attack in the game. *cough*Starfall*cough* Cons: ----- - Low natural defense as a mage. - Sucky Chase Battle. (All of his attack frames in Chase Battle are slow.) - 'Can be better' ex-mode. - Has no 100% control over your HP attacks in some situation, unless you Flare your opponent in the face. (You have no idea when your opponent will be stupid to run into your Flare.) - Can always be backstabbed by your own Flare. ======================= V) His Attacks [EmF-05] ======================= These information for his attacks below are from the US release of Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Some of the information might be different from Universal Tuning or the first Japanese release. Key: Level Acquired: AP to Master: CP Required: / Description: Rating: -------------------- | Ground BRV Attacks | -------------------- Landmine -------- Level Acquired: Initial Skill AP to Master: 90 CP Required: 20/10 Description: The Emperor thrust his stick into the ground and two land bombs pop up onto the surface. The bomb will remains there for a while before exploding. If it touches the opponent, it explodes and deals a huge amount of BRV damage at him/her. I'm not entirely sure what is the maximum number of Landmines you can lay, but when I tried laying down many of them at once, the first set of bombs explodes after I laid the fifth set. Rating: 3.5/5 This will be your main melee BRV attack against your opponent on ground. Though it is hard to actually land it on your opponent, it hits VERY hard. (I'm talking about 600 something fully critical damage *per* bomb with decent magic attack build against LV105 MAX AI). Thunder Crest ------------- Level Acquired: Initial Skill AP to Master: 120 CP Required: 30/15 Description: The Emperor draws a magic crest on the ground and sends it a little distance forward. Anything moving near the crest will be dragged into the trap, where he/she will be electrocuted for a short while, draining his/her bravery. While being electrocuted, the opponent is TOTALLY opened for ANY attack. Use that to your advantage. You can lay down only one crest at a time. And after the crest is gone, the opponent will fly off the direction where he/she got dragged in. Use this knowledge to lay some traps in advance if you want. As another side note, the crest will disappear if you are attacked. So watch out. Rating: 5/5 The Emperor's best BRV attack, and the reason why you would likely want to stick to the ground. NEVER EVER go into a battle as The Emperor w/o this skill. Most, if not all, of his custom combos branched out from this very attack. Bombard ------- Level Acquired: 3 AP to Master: 120 CP Required: 30/15 Description: The Emperor swings his staff forward, hitting the target in front with the lower tip of his staff. Anyone who got it by it will be send into a small explosion and launched into the air, where The Emperor player can initiate chase battle. This attack also can strike any Flares that are reflected back to you and return its course back to your opponent once again. If that is not enough, this attack is practically Emperor's Jecht Block attack that can guard crush your opponent. Rating: 4.5/5 Never ever underestimate this attack. Even though the range and power are pathetic, it has one of the highest attack priorities and can crash with many HP attacks like Rough Divide and Braver. Of course the timing is very strict and it differs from Jecht Block. The other thing to keep in mind is that this attack has the ability to knock back the Flares that are reflected back at you. Think of this as your back- stabbing prevention tool. (Trust me, it's not very fun to run from your own weapon.) Dynamite -------- Level Acquired: 8 AP to Master: 120 CP Required: 30/15 Description: The Emperor charges energy ball at the tip of his staff. You can aim the energy ball with your analog nub / D-Pad while charging while charging. The energy ball is shot once the O button is released. The ball will remain there for a while before exploding. The energy ball has magnetic effect and will drag your opponent towards it. The power of magnetic effect depends on the level of charge. There are up to three level of charges. At maximum charge, the time out explosion can also wall rush your opponent. Once it hits, the opponent will be bounced away. But if he/she is sucked into the ball after it stopped moving, he/she will be electrocuted by the energy ball and guarantee a hit from the final explosion when the energy ball timed out. Rating: 3/5 A VERY useful attack which I have yet found a full potential use for it. It can be use coupling with Thunder Crest combos. But for personal sadistic taste, I prefer stuffing Landmines at my enemies. On the other hand, it works pretty well as a pressuring tool because of its attraction property. Light Crest ----------- Level Acquired: 14 AP to Master: 120 CP Required: 30/15 Description: The Emperor draws a sigil in the air and fires five small energy balls with high tracking capability from it. The energy ball will riccochiet against any 'physical' wall. So in stages like Edge of Madness, the balls won't bounce off the 'invisible' walls. They will bounce off only against Chaos's throne. Works best in closed stages like Pandemonium or Kefka's Tower, as it will bounce around chaotically, giving your opponent a hard time. The sigil will likely fires when your opponent performs a dodge or come with in its range. But most likely, you will find situations where it won't fire the energy balls at will. Rating: 2/5 Not really worth equipping it on ground, as there are more useful attacks to use. If you want this attack, use the aerial version. ----------------- | Air BRV Attacks | ----------------- Mine ---- Level Acquired: Initial Skill AP to Master: 90 CP Required: 20/10 Description: The Emperor points his stick forward, and two small aerial mines pops out from his stick. The bomb will remains there for a while before exploding. If it touches the opponent, it explodes and deals a huge amount of BRV at him/her. I'm not entirely sure what is the maximum number of Mines you can lay, but when I tried laying down many of them at once, the first set of bombs explodes after I laid the fifth set. Rating: 3.5/5 This will be your main melee BRV attack against your opponent in mid-air. Just like its ground counterpart, it hits VERY hard, but is very hard to actually land it w/o guard staggering your opponent first. Light Crest ----------- Level Acquired: Initial Skill AP to Master: 90 CP Required: 30/15 Description: The Emperor draws a sigil in the air and fires five small energy balls with high tracking capability from it. The energy ball will riccochiet against any 'physical' wall. So in stages like Edge of Madness, the balls won't bounce off the 'invisible' walls. They will bounce off only against Chaos's throne. Works best in closed stages like Pandemonium or Kefka's Tower, as it will bounce around chaotically, giving your opponent a hard time. The sigil will likely fires when your opponent performs a dodge or come with in its range. But most likely, you will find situations where it won't fire the energy balls at will. Rating: 3.5/5 This will be your main long range BRV attack. However, this attack pales out in stages like Order's Sanc, as there is nothing for the energy balls to bounce around. But in stages like Pandemonium and Kefka's Tower, as I said above, you will be able to see your opponent face palm as the ball bounce off madly. Watch out if they deflect the balls back w/ their guard! Dynamite -------- Level Acquired: 28 AP to Master: 180 CP Required: 30/15 Description: The Emperor charges energy ball at the tip of his staff. You can aim the energy ball with your analog nub / D-Pad while charging. The energy ball is shot once the O button is released. The ball will remain there for a while before exploding. The energy ball has magnetic effect and will drag your opponent towards it. The power of magnetic effect depends on the level of charge. There are up to three level of charges. At maximum charge, the time out explosion can also wall rush your opponent. Once it hits, the opponent will be bounced away. But if he/she is sucked into the ball after it stopped moving, he/she will be electrocuted by the energy ball and guarantee a hit from the final explosion when the energy ball timed out. Rating: 4/5 Better than its ground version, as you have better attacks you will want there. It works as a pressuring tool as usual, but look out for the delay after shooting and while charging. ------------------- | Ground HP Attacks | ------------------- Flare ----- Level Acquired: Initial Skill AP to Master: 180 CP Required: 40/20 Description: The Emperor releases a blue globe of energy flare that slowly homes into your enemy. This is your secondary shield and distraction bait (in cases of AI battles). Also, this will likely be one of your most frequently used HP attacks. However, be aware that certain attacks like Cloud's Braver, Squall's Rough Divide, and Ex-Death's Delta Attack can bounce the Flare and readjust its course back at you. If you are hit by your own Flare, you will be damaged equally to YOUR OWN BRV points, and your precious BRV will be reset to zero. Whenever you saw this big blue ball of doom heading towards you, slap it back immediately with Bombard. Since this attack will be mentioned many times in this FAQ, I might abbreviate it as GF (as in "Ground Flare", not "Guardian Force" for FF8 players out there. ^_^''). Rating: 4.5/5 Just like Thunder Crest, NEVER EVER go into battle w/o this attack. The reason it did not get full score is because it can be reflect back and backstab you. Otherwise, there is no disadvantage to this attack. Starfall -------- Level Acquired: 20 AP to Master: 300 CP Required: 40/20 Description: The Emperor charges maximum magical energy for a relatively long interval and summons a huge meteor down upon your foe, 'floor' rushing them in process. It is nearly impossible to dodge this attack. Rating: 2/5 You are more likely to prefer the aerial version. Personally, I equip this because I want to be able to charge it up any where I want. But otherwise, equip it only if you have free CP left. ---------------- | Air HP Attacks | ---------------- Flare ----- Level Acquired: Initial Skill AP to Master: 180 CP Required: 40/20 Description: The Emperor releases a red globe of energy flare that travels a little distance at your enemy direction. After that, it will stop moving and remain still until it timed out. The main objective of this so called attack is not to deal damage. Rather, it is your primary shield that will protect you from most projectile attacks and give you more opportunity to cast Starfall. Also, because this Aerial Flare do not move, it will disappear upon being hit by attacks like Braver, Rough Divide, or Delta Attack. Hence, this attack can never back stab you, unlike the ground version. Since this attack will be mentioned many times in this FAQ, I will abbreviate it as AF (as in "Aerial Flare"). Rating: 5/5 Like I said, this is your primary shield which will protect you from most of the projectile attacks aiming at you. Just like Thunder Crest and its ground counter part, NEVER EVER go into a fight w/o it. Starfall -------- Level Acquired: 38 AP to Master: 300 CP Required: 40/20 Description: The Emperor charges maximum magical energy for a relatively long interval and summons a huge meteor down upon your foe, 'floor' rushing them in process. It is nearly impossible to dodge this attack. Rating: 4/5 Most of the time, this is more of a pressure tool against human players. But against AI mages, it is a great attack, provided you have an Aerial Flare up as a shield in advance. The only thing that prevents it from getting full score is the charge time, which is probably has the longest charge time among all charging attacks in the game (Not counting stuffs like Jecht's attacks because you can charge it up as long as you want). ================================== VI) Recommended Abilities [EmF-06] ================================== Basic Action Abilities ---------------------- - The guards, dodges, and aerial recovery is a given. There is really no reason to remove it. Besides, guarding is one of the most essential tool to land ANY attacks in this game. - *Controlled Recovery* is another given. There is little reason to not equip it. - *Midair Evasion Boost* is your choice. Dodge distance does not really effect your combos much anyway. - Since you are sticking to the ground most of the time, Jump Time Boosts are not recommended. And since you don't need high jumps, Jump Boosts are not recommended as well. While at it, kick in *Speed Boost* to your preference. You are likely to find yourself trying to gain some distance in many situations. - As for one of the most controversial ability - 'Air Dashes' - I gave The Emperor *Free Air Dash* along with *Multi-Air Slide+*. Here are my reasons: 1) There will be times when you want to dash into your opponent and slap a bomb into their faces (*cough*SoulofOblivion*cough*)or runs in to lay a Thunder Crest below your opponent after successfully casting Starfall. [This will be further explained in the strategies section.] 2) If you ever need to retreat or fetch an EX-Core, Multi-Air Slide+ is the best way to go. And since you are likely to stick to the ground and stay away from JTBs, you will only need two jumps from the ground to perform a dash. If you are a fan of Omni Air Dash or have other reasons to not use my setup, by all means, feel free to use something else. Basic Support Abilities ----------------------- I'm not really sure what Target Indicator is for, so mostly I removed it from all of my chars. - *Ex-Core Lock On* is another given. There is totally no reason to not equip it, even if you are using a Force Begets Strength builds. - Just like what I said in my Chaos FAQ, *Evasion Time Boost* is a must in ANY situation. It increases your invincibility frame after dodges. There is absolutely no reason to not equip it AT ALL. - For my own personal preference, I have "Auto EX Defense Omega" turned on almost always. You never know when this ability can save your life. It saved my ass and my O button a lot of times already. =P Basic Extra/Critical Abilities ------------------------------ - *Snooze and Lose* will provoke your opponent to attack, be it human or AI. - I usually had Concentration equipped before, but later I recognize that it is better to pressure your opponent with Starfall and Snooze and Lose combo than to just stand still and do nothing. - *Sneak Attack* is a great critical ability. Thunder Crest hits from below and Starfall's meteor dusts hits from above, all of which triggers Sneak Attack criticals. - *Riposte* is another great critical ability that I had on almost all of my characters. Nothing is more satisfying than blocking and throwing fully critical bombs right at your opponent's face. - Counterattack is great, but since only a few of Emperor's attack are fast enough to take full advantage of this ability, you'll find it rarely activating. - I also give him EXP->ExForce for normal battles, as I want to speed up getting ExBar for ex-guarding. - His ex-mode does the job of recovering your HP anyway, so EXP->HP is not recommended (unless you are using Force Begets Courage build). - EXP->BRV is probably the best of all the converters for The Emperor, given a good EXP->BRV setup. The Emperor has no 100% control over when he wants his HP attacks to hit, so this build will always ensure that he has a decent amount of BRV given back to him after his HP attacks connects. Personally, I do not use EXP->BRV for ANY of my characters, unless they are tackling the monsters in BJCs, since it ends the match too fast. ^_^'' ================================ VII) Recommended Builds [EmF-07] ================================ These are what I normally have on The Emperor. I will not list how to get these items. Please check other FAQs for how to acquire them. Mad_Cartoonist's default build for Emperor: Mateus's Malice (+6m ex intake range) Seyditz Lufenian Cap Artifact (with Overheat bonus) (Along with Hat Adept) Rainbow Robes (Along with Robe Adept) Pearl Necklace Star Earring Large Gap in HP Full EX Gauge Summon Unused (me) LV=100 LV=Multiple of 4 LV=Multiple of 5 After Summon (foe) Summon Unused (foe) ^ For me, the build above is the most balance build to be used against any thing that is not from BJC. It builds up the ex-bar for ex-guarding fairly quick and provides a nice boost in attack power. I don't really use his ex-mode much so that is where 'Full EX Gauge' comes in. The above is just my personal preference, and I don't expect anyone to agree with me that this is a decent build. There are better builds for The Emperor out there, but like I said, this is just my personal preferences. Mad_Cartoonist's Alternate Setup for BJC: Mateus's Malice (+6m ex intake range) Seyditz Lufenian Cap Artifact (with Overheat bonus) (Along with Hat Adept) Rainbow Robes (Along with Robe Adept) Pearl Necklace Star Earring HP=100% Large Gap in HP Large Gap in BRV Full EX Gauge Large Gap in Level LV=100 LV=Multiple of 4 LV=Multiple of 5 The above setup is an alternate build I used against BJC enemies. While it does not totally overkill your enemy like EXP->BRV build, it provides decent boost for anyone who, with whatever reason, is not a fan of EXP->BRV like me. Most of BJC monsters will kill you in a hit, so HP reduction isn't really a big factor. You are likely to only have 100% HP or a zero HP. Those guys will come with high BRV rating, giving big gaps between their BRV values and yours. It is going to take a long time to deplete their HP, so Large Gap in HP kicks in for that. I probably won't have to tell you that you are facing guys at level of 130+ in BJC, so Large Gap in Level will give you a guaranteed x1.5 multiplier. EXP->BRV Build -------------- Excalibur II Super Ribbon (or any other artifact that prevents accessory break) Gravit Orb Pearl Necklace Dragonfly Orb Growth Egg x2 Close to You Center of the World Chocobo Down Chocobo Wing Chocobo Feather With the above setup, you are likely to net tons of BRV back after a successful HP attacks, especially against BJC enemies. And with the super ribbon (or a random -30% accessory break artifact), you won't have to be afraid of any of your precious accessories breaking. Also, other accessories are just there to help you build up the ex bar fast enough for ex-guarding. Force Begets Courage -------------------- HP> Mateus's Malice (+6m ex intake range) Seyditz Lufenian Cap Artifact (with Overheat bonus) (Along with Hat Adept) Rainbow Robes (Along with Robe Adept) Gravit Orb Pearl Necklace Large Gap in HP Large Gap in BRV Empty EX Gauge After Summon (me) Summon Unused (me) LV=100 Force Begets Courage Center of the World This setup completely ignores your ex mode, meaning no ex-guarding or ex- bursting. You might have to rely on summons like Magus Sister to save yourself, so you can use what I gave above, or use the Before/After Summon for Opponent as well. (look out for cases where opponent starts battle w/o summons.) This build purely depends on building up your BRV via absorbing the ex-forces released from impact. Because the ex-bar is never going to build up, Empty EX Bar comes in handy. The rest of the accessories are just there to help increase your in-take range. Imp Blessing is not really recommended as its stats is relatively low, and the above set up can give you more than 24m intake range anyway. =========================================== VIII) Custom Combos and Strategies [EmF-08] =========================================== --------------------- Landing Thunder Crest --------------------- As I said, this is Emperor's most useful attack, and you should never go into battle as Emperor w/o it. Since this is a ground-only attack, you might want to spend most of your time on ground. But the real problem now comes with actually landing this attack on enemy. Trust me; there are many ways to get this done more than waiting for the opponent to walk right into it. Also, as a side note, Sneak Attack critical ability is strongly recommend, as Thunder Crest hits from below and is always guarantee to be activated. 1.) Block -> Thunder Crest Yes, the most traditional and basic method of landing an attack in this game. Basically, block your opponent's attack and follow this attack right up into any custom combos you want. 2.) Dodge -> Thunder Crest Attacks like Jecht Blade, Rough Divide, Slice & Dice/Charge & Assault, Braver, and etc travels a distance after it is activated. What you have to do is dodge, or even simply walk back a bit, then lay down the crest. Thunder Crest has one of the highest priorities in this game and it is likely that your opponent will be stuck inside the crest before actually touching you. 3.) Set up in advance Works best when coupling with Starfall strategies. See the Starfall strategies down below for further details. One last thing I'd like to say about Thunder Crest. DO NOT HESITATE TO STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING AND RUSH INTO SLAP YOUR OPPONENT SOME MORE. Unless you are really far away from your foe, he/she is 100% open while stuck in Thunder Crest, and EX-Guarding won't even help them. ------------- Custom Combos ------------- This section will cover many of The Emperor's custom combos, as well as strategies on when exactly to use it. 1.) Thunder Crest -> Land Mine The Emperor's bread and butter. It deals tremenduous BRV damage to your opponent, especially with the help of Riposte criticals. With my Emperor's default setting given above, I did about 600 BRV *per* Landmine against my LV 105 MAX AI enemy given that it criticals (it will deal about 100-200 BRV damage per bomb w/o crits). Besides it big damage output, it is very easy to pull this as well. 2.) Thunder Crest -> Bombard This combo leads to a chase battle. However, the timing is a little tricky. You must strike Bombard about the time when Thunder Crest almost timed out. Otherwise, your opponent will be dragged back into the Thunder Crest, voiding your chase battle chance. 3.) Thunder Crest -> Ground Flare Emperor's second bread and butter. Most of the time, you will find yourself resorting to this combo. So how do you choose between combo 1 and 3? My method is like this. My Emperor has a default BRV of about 1200. If my current BRV is lower or equal to my initial BRV, or my opponent is about to break, I will slap in Landmine. But if I have over 3000 BRV, I would slap in Ground Flare. 4.) Thunder Crest -> Dynamite -> Bombard Requires a little practice in timing. First, lay down the crest. After that, fires the Dynamite to the ground right where your opponent is. The Dynamite's absorb property should be able to drag them back. Once the dynamite timed out, your opponent should be pushed towards you. At this point, slap your pimpstick at the opponent and follow up for chase battle. As I said before, Emperor's chase battle isn't the best, and IMO, the damage output is not even on par with Thunder Crest -> Landmines. Do this only if you feel like doing long fancy combo. 5.) Starfall -> Mine This combo is also a bit tricky. It is best to be use when you and your opponent are up in the air when Starfall is already activated. What you have to do is to rush in and slap in the air mines. If you do this fast enough, the mines will crash your opponent, draining their BRV to yours and powering up the Starfall's damage output in process. 6.) Starfall -> Thunder Crest This combo doesn't only deals huge BRV damage, but it is also a 'BRV Recovery period' eraser. This is easily my most favorite combo. To do this, I would suggest you and your opponent being relatively near the ground. After successfully casting Starfall, quickly dash into a little distance from where you opponent will 'floor' rush. Once the Starfall's explosion flashed, quickly release the Thunder Crest. This is where it gets tricky. Your crest might get too far from your opponent and your efforts will be lost. But if done correctly, your opponent will be stuck in the fully critical Thunder Crest. How so? [Dissidia: Final Fantasy 101]. Recall the game's tutorial on critical attack topics. Natural conditions that sets off critical attacks: EX-Mode, Successful Block, and *while Recovering Bravery*. Yes, Emperor will be in the process of recovering BRV since your Starfall just hit. The game even said itself: "While recovering bravery, you will always score a critical hit. Don't hestitate - go for it!" Next, since your attacks are criticals, it is very likely that you will recover your BRV back to its default rating faster than letting the game recover by itself. (This is especially true when you just activate Starfall with very high amount of BRV.) Practice makes perfect. Try it out and estimate the distance yourself. -------- Starfall -------- "Heheheh ... Heavens ... Huarrrrrrgh!!! ... Harrrh!!! ... Hah!!!!!" This simply epic-looking attack deserves its own section. It is a challenge to actually get this attack casted because it has the longest charge time in the game. (About 8 to 10 seconds, iirc.) But worry not, I will give you ways to get this spell casted in the heat of the battle. First of all, I have to tell you first that this epic-looking attack's main objective is not to directly deal damage. Rather, it serves more as a presurring tool. So when you managed to guard stagger your opponent, don't try to cast Starfall. You will NEVER make it. Instead, in cases like that, slap in Thunder Crest -> Ground Flare or just simply slap in Mines if you are airborne. Now, back to business. In order to get Starfall to work, you must not let go of your [] (Square) button while charging it. You must also not be interrupted by any means, be it damage or from Shantotto's stuns and binds. You must be PERFECTLY untouched until the spell is casted. In stages with many blind spots and obstacles like Lunar Subterran or Pandemonium, you don't need much preparation against your opponent. Just hide behind a pillar far from your foe and begin casting. Even with maximum AI, it will take them forever to reach you. But in a much more complicated match (against human players or ANY mages) or open stages (Order's Sanctuary), you will need some planning ahead if you want to get it casted. The first thing to keep in mind is that Flares (both air and ground versions) are your best friends, especially the Aerial Flare, which acts as your primary shield. The most basic method would be: 1.) Cast the two flares -> Jumps up to hide 'inside' the AF -> Charge Starfall Make sure the AF covers the majority of The Emperor's body. If done this correctly, most AI mages will not be able to harm you AT ALL. The AF has the ability to bounce off any projectile attack that are thrown at you. And while at it, the AI foe will stupidly run away from the GF that is homing towards them. Now what about melee characters? Some of them, like Zidane, will do try to do pathetic attempts of using attacks like Scoop Art, which will of course bounce the bullets away. However, some of them are so stupid that they will still attempt to do melee attacks at you! This is especially try for Cloud's AI. Even when you are hiding behind AF, there will be chances where he tries to Aerial Fang or Slash Blow you. In these kinds of case, your foe will be blasted away from touching the AF. Something to bear in mind. There will be times when you are hit before the opponent touches the AF. When that happens, your opponent will suffer the damage, but you will go into BREAK status. Keep this in mind. 2.) Ground Flare -> Thunder Crest -> Aerial Flare -> Starfall Now that you are hiding in the flares, what will happen next? That's right, characters like Cloud or Squall will start to spam Braver/Rough Divide, penetrating your primary shield, AND occasionally reflecting the blue flare back at you. In this case, this is where Thunder Crest comes into play. This is a little tricky. The result that you want is right after they perform Braver or Rough Divide, they will land on the crest. Estimate and experiment this is the best way to get it to work. Test out the distance Thunder Crest will travel as well as watch the direction where Rough Divide or Braver will come in. I recommend training this on Squall, since Rough Divide is more linear, and it is likely you'll him, while Braver on the other hand, has some homing capability, making it possible for Cloud to when over the crest. Bear in mind that there are several attacks that can go right through Flare, namely the thunder based attacks. Once you see those attacks coming at you, don't hesitate to dodge out of it. Otherwise, you'll risk running into opponent's Counterattack critical ability. 3.) Set up A LOT of mines, and then use any Starfall tactics from above A split second difference is enough to get Starfall casted. Lay some more Mines and Landmines (possibly 2 pairs of each) to buy more time for yourself. ------------------------------------ Bombard (AKA The Almighty Pimpstick) ------------------------------------ Welcome to Mad_Cartoonist's 'Art of Pimpsticking for Dummies' Class. This short ranged attack is not useless as it appears. It is buffed up a lot from the Japanese release (at least that's what I've heard). Here is a list of what this attack can do: 1) Chase This attack is The Emperor's only attack that leads him into a chase battle. However, Emperor's chase attack battle frame is pretty slow; hence you will have a little hard time in such battles. However, as a scheming master, sometimes it is necessary to initiate a chase battle for a mind game battle. Find a balance between normal and chase battles. Don't always rely on one too much. 2) Guard Crush Pathetic as this attack looks, it guard crush your opponent. Meaning it goes through Shield of Light, Shield Bash, any of ExDeath's guards below High Guard and Wrath Particle Beam. I am not entirely sure if Omni Guard and Jecht Block can block this as the CPU has yet done any of those guards for me to test. Whatever the case, it is VERY UNLIKELY that you are going to get EX-guarded, or even guard staggered like AT ALL. 3) High Priority Remember how I said this is The Emperor's version of Jecht Block? The pimpstick can slap many of the attacks in this game as its priority is very high. It clashes with attacks like Braver, Rough Divide, and Jecht Blade, and it stops attacks like Sword Thrust, Rope Knife, and Lance Charge. If you find yourself in tight spot, do not be afraid to take out your stick and swing it. 4) Betrayal Prevention Remember how Ground Flare can be deflected back at you? Yeouch. This stick is your only hope of making deflecting back the deflected flare. Even if you are not going to do chase battles, use it as a Jecht Block, or as an attacking tool, I suggest you at least have this set up as one of your attacks. Running from your own flares is not very fun. So, now that we've seen what this attack can do, let's get into the basics of this course. Basically, this attack can be used as a defensive tool against several attacks in this game. Not that it is necessary a must to master this, but it is pretty cool to be slapping stuffs w/ your stick. ------------------ | Warrior of Light | ------------------ HP Attacks that can slapped: - Shield of Light - Radiant Sword Strict timing is required if you want to slap Radiant Sword. That attacks comes out w/ five swords, so even if you slap one, there's a chance that the rest can still hit you. Don't even try your luck with Shining Wave -------- | Firion | -------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - ALL Strict timing is required again if you want to slap Straight Arrow. This slow and silly looking attack is pretty hard to get your timing right, so do it only if you want a cool replay. Weapon Master on the other hand is pretty easy. Take back a small step and slap it right off. -------------- | Onion Knight | -------------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Firaga - Wind Shear - Blade Torrent Slapping Firaga disperse it, and slapping Wind Shear crashes both of you out. The interesting attack here is Blade Torrent. If your stick hit OK the moment he is leaping at you, you WILL crash and cancels off your attack. At the same time, the mines will stick on to OK and blow him sky high. However, if you for some reason hit your stick a little after he whiffed, he would be blew away. Basically, the time frame to crash is very small, so you are likely going to hit him after he whiffed. But whatever the case, he'd STILL get blow off to the sky. ------- | Cecil | ------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Soul Eater - Paladin Force - Saint Fall Soul Eater is pretty straight forward, so does Saint Fall. However, Paladin Force is a little tricky. You need strict timing to hit the initial blast. Personally, this attack is too meddlesome to try slapping it. Besides, if you are using any of the Starfall tactics, Cecil won't even be using PF anyway. ------- | Bartz | ------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - ALL but Flood His HP attacks are taken from Terra, OK, and Cecil. Only Flood cannot be slapped. ------- | Terra | ------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Meltdown - Tornado Tornado cancels both of your attacks out. Meltdown on the other hand is interesting. You can slap it off very easily, given a small distance to anticipate it. However, don't be a hero and try to slap Meltdown Lv1. If you are able to slap it away in a small stage, chances are Terra would have to run away from her own big fiery ball. ------- | Cloud | ------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Braver - Cross Slash I never tried Meteor Rain, but seeing as many of them rains down at once, I don't think all of them could be managed. Like his BRVs, his HP attacks can be seen from miles away. As for Cross Slash, I recommend traveling back a little ways and Thunder Crest him. Works a lot better. -------- | Squall | -------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - ALL Nope, no kidding. All of his HP attacks can be slapped. Revolver Drive is obvious. Rough Divide needs a little timing, so does Blasting Zone. Fated and Aerial Circle is however a little tricky. The explosive balls themselves can be slapped, and if they are slapped, they will do no damage to you. However, chances are you will find yourself slapping Squall himself not the balls since the game automatically pushes Squall a little towards you where you stick would hit him before the balls blow up. -------- | Zidane | -------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Stellar Circle 5 - Grand Lethal - Tidal Flame Grand Lethal and Tidal Flame are easy. However, their delays can make your timing a little off, so be careful. Stellar Circle 5 can be slapped, but you need a little distance to position yourself away from being sucked into the circle. ------- | Tidus | ------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - ALL Slice & Dice is straight forward. Jecht Shot requires little timing. You are likely going to find yourself slapping Tidus instead of crashing with Spiral Cut and Energy Rain since their hit time frame is pretty short. ----------- | Shantotto | ----------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Fire - Firaga - Blizzard - Blizzaga Basically, you can deflect only her low-level projectile attacks. But don't worry, she takes her time to cast, so you have more than enough time to prepare yourself. Just be careful and take a look at her BRV value first. --------- | Garland | --------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - ALL Chances are, your stick would hit Garland even before he land his Earthquake on you. Cyclone can be slap away, and Tsunami is no different, given a little distance. Blaze on the other hand is a little tricky since it comes in many shots. On the bright side, slapping it will deflect the flames back to Garland (though it's unlikely to reach him). Personally, I suggest you pull out your Flare out to hide behind it, rather than attempting to slap it. -------------------- | The Emperor Mateus | -------------------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Ground Flare - Aerial Flare In this mirror match, who ever lets out their ground flare first gains the disadvantage. Yes, if your stick can slap your deflected Flare, there is absolutely no reason why you can slap your opponent's Flare, AND unleashing your own Flare out, giving your opponent some more hard time. Technically, I believe Starfall can also be slapped (and crashed). But since the star dusts rains down, dealing the BRV hit, I doubt it's possible to do it. ------------------- | Cloud of Darkness | ------------------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Fusillade - O-Form - Wide-Angle - Long-Range Being a HP attacker by nature, her HP attacks are still pretty slow. The only tricky one is Fusillade since it comes from all directions. I suggest you just run instead of being a hero. Slapping Long-Range Particle Beam removes its hit frame, making it looks as if it hits you, but it does no damage. -------- | Golbez | -------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Night Glow According to the notes Hail_Flandre gave me, you can slap Genesis Rock when it's heading at you. The stones would just pass through you and do no damage. However, don't try this at close range. You are fighting four stones with one stick. --------- | ExDeath | --------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Delta Attack - Almagest Slapping these attacks early on will give you advantage. For Delta Attack, ExDeath's guard would be crushed. Hitting Almagest early will directly send ExDeath flying. Otherwise, doing it a little later on will crash both of you. ------- | Kefka | ------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Havoc Wing - Forsaken Null - Trine Trine technically can be slapped, however since it comes from three sides, you are unlikely to slap all of them w/ just one stick. I never tried out against Hyperdrive, but seeing how it runs along the ground like Shining Wave, I say don't try it. Forsaken Null on the other hand can be slap back to Kefka. It is pretty satisfying when that happens, however, you will need VERY accurate position and timing to slap it. And chances are, if you are far away from him, you will get hit with a second blast before the first blast reached Kefka. ----------- | Sephiroth | ----------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - ALL All of his HP attacks are pretty straight forward. Hitting Scintilla while it's in its guard stance will break the guard, and hitting the actual slash will crash out both of you. Hell Gate is a little tricky. I believe the tremor can be slapped, but the thrusting part is a little tricky. The most fun part is Black Materia. Dispersing the big meteor with the pimpstick is just plain epic. Timing is required. ----------- | Ultimecia | ----------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - ALL All of her HP attacks are pretty straight forward, yet it is very tricky since you can't be sure when she is going to release them. Great Attractor is straight forward, though it's pretty fast. Even w/ hax reflex, chances are you are not likely going to be able to slap it off unless you are VERY far away. Shockwave Pulsar is even more tricky. Apocalypse is downright hard to slap and doesn't even worth the try. Basically, don't try slapping her HP attacks. You're only making yourself more frustrated. ------ | Kuja | ------ HP Attacks that can slapped: - Flare Star - Seraphic Star Flare Star is too risky to play with. According to Hail_Flandre, flapping Seraphic Star would make it blow up right off the bat, yet it would do you no damage. As for Ultima, like many other several projectile attacks, you can slap only on of them and get hit by the rest. ------- | Jecht | ------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - ALL His sole HP attacks are just pathetic and you can see it from miles away. ---------- | Gabranth | ---------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Guilt - Hatred Guilt is straight forward. Hatred is tricky since you don't know when your he's gonna release it. RUN away from Innocence. Even if you slap it off, you cannot stop the other three waves heading at you. ------- | Chaos | ------- HP Attacks that can slapped: - Demondance I believe that is the only attack you can slap. (Yet again, strict timing required) I mean, how are you even gonna slap the rest? >_> ========================== IX) CPU Match Ups [EmF-09] ========================== Now that we've seen most of his custom combos and basic strategies, it's time to put it to use. Originally, I planned to make a video to go along with this FAQ. But after fighting WoL, Firion, and OK, all of them died by jumping into my Flare -_-". So I gave up on the vids, cuz that probably won't do any good. Also, I should say, that all of the CPU I fought had the following set up (beside Chaos obviously): - In quick battle - Order's Sanctuary Omega - No Judge - Maximum AI - Auto Level (105 from MAX AI) - Behavior: Tactician I would normally do random behavior, but most of the time it ended up in a behavior that made the CPU runs away like a chicken and fall prey to my Starfall. -_-" Also, I use Order's Sanc Omega for two reasons: 1) There is no terrain that can be use to aid you. This is so you can practice using Flares as your shield. 2) This stage has the most balance BRV pool. Therefore, the match wouldn't end too quickly, unless you had high BRV when you BREAK your opponent to begin with. ------------------ | Warrior of Light | ------------------ Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Shield of Light - Shining Wave - White Fang Since he has only three attacks that pierce Flare, it is perfectly fine to lol behind your Flare and cast Starfall. Lay a few mines and Thunder Crest just for safety. Don't worry about his other attacks, cuz even if it hits you, he'll bump right into the Aerial Flare. His aerial attacks are not too fast, so try to block and blast his face if you must. Being on ground is a little risky for two of his attacks: 1) Ascension is very fast, and it links to Rune Sabre. Unless you trust yourself that you have uber hax reflex or some how believe that you can recover away from Rune Sabre before it hits, be all means do it. 2) You can easily lose a mind game. WoL has really fast BRV attacks on the ground, and that is Dayflash. Don't underestimate its simple look. This attack packs a punch. Also, if you made a wrong prediction and hit block, you might fall to a victim to his Riposte Sword Thrust. And in case you wonder, yes, Flare can bounce off Radiant Sword. However, since the swords are pretty long, there's a possibility that that hit frame can go through the Flare a bit before being bounced off. In such case, I'd recommend you backing off from the Flare a bit instead of staying right where the Flare is. -------- | Firion | -------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Thunder - Weapon Mastery - Reel Axe - Rope Knife Firion is not a very tough opponent, but he can be annoying. First of all, Light Crest and Dynamite are out of the question because of Shield Bash. Using those attacks are just asking yourself to be bash. Now if you try to pull out Starfall, while hiding behind Flare, Firion will try to stop you. If he uses Fire, Blizzard, or Straight Arrow, then that is okay. Your Aerial Flare will protect you from it. But however, if somehow he became smart and uses one of those four attacks, be sure to dodge out of it right away. Don't be afraid to engage him in a ground combat, even if it's his turf. His attacks can be predicted very easily. If you are far from him, he'll try to Reel Axe you. Obviously, dodge away. If you are close, but not right next to him, don't try to guard because he will use Rope Knife. Instead, slap your pimpstick. There's a high chance that you will ended up slapping his knife and stagger him. The risk is pretty high so it's your call. Now, if you are just next to him, tap guard right away. There's a high chance that he'll either use Brush Lance/Sword Slash on you and be staggered by your guard. If that happens, you know what to do. Thunder Crest and Land Mine his face away. -------------- | Onion Knight | -------------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Firaga - Wind Shear - Comet (I think it can block the small ones, but can't block the big HP one.) Reading from the list above, all of his attacks that can go through Flare are HP attacks. It shouldn't be so hard to get away from it. CPU OK has the tendency to spam Thunder/Blizzard on you instead of using HP attacks if you begin charging Starfall. That would just go right into your hands because your Flare can deflect those pathetic magics away. If you don't feel like doing some epic magic casting, feel free to do the classic Thunder Crest -> Landmine/GF. OK's melee BRV attacks seem to be fast, but with little practice (and some distance for you to react); his attacks can be easily blocked. ------- | Cecil | ------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Night Fall - Soul Eater - Dark Flame - Saint Fall First, let's talk about Paladin Force. This attack can techincally reach you even if you are in Aerial Flare. However, what happens is, the initial flash does not disperse your Flare. So even if Paladin Force hits you, Cecil will dash right into your Flare. So it's basically eye for an eye. His HP attacks are obviously dangerous but can be easily dodge as well. As for Nightfall, don't worry about it too much. Dark Knight Cecil will stick to the ground, so chances of him solely using it to stop you are low. (Unless he is really high above you) Overall, he's not a hard match up. Block Valiant Blow and Thunder Crest him if you must. ------- | Bartz | ------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - All of his HP attacks - Reel Impulse Yup, only his HP attacks can go through your Flare, and his Paladin Force functions like a suicide tool just like Cecil's. If you are far from him, you can probably guess what he's going to do. That's right. Holy Spam. So what do you do? Of course, throw out your Flare and laugh his face off. ------- | Terra | ------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - All of her HP attacks - Thundara - Graviga* I'm not entirely sure if Graviga can go through Flare. I never really test it out much because the AI rarely uses this attack. CPU Terra is one of the easiest match ups. Cast the two Flares and Starfall right off the bat. She will spend most of her time trying to tell you to get away, and will end up having to get away instead. Tornado can also deflect Flare, but most of the time I only saw her using Meltdown if I'm hiding behind my Flare. Just a side note, your pimpstick can slap Terra's Meltdown. Take this fact and aim for a home run! ------- | Cloud | ------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Braver - Meteor Rain - Cross Slash Like what I mentioned above, Cloud's AI can be stupid and try to Slash Blow/Air Fang you even while you are inside the Flare. Hence, you can rely on doing Starfall. However, in Cloud's case, I highly recommend you fight him head on with block -> Thunder Crest combos. With Snooze and Lose, he will have no choice but attack you, making him a target to blocking. The AI is not very smart and tends to spam Slash Blow, one of the easiest attacks to block, a lot. The only real threat for you now is Double Cut, his fastest BRV slash attack. For Cross Slash, there's a neat trick in tackling with this attack. Once you see it coming, flip back a bit and lays your crest. Cloud will helplessly 'walk' right into your trap. -------- | Squall | -------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - All of His HP attacks - Thunder Barret - Last hit of Fullisade - Mystic Flurry IMO, unless you have OMFGHAX reflex that can block Beat Fang at will, Squall will be a formidable opponent, even under AI control. Simple Starfall behind Flare no longer work effectively because Squall WILL spam Rough Divide. You'll have to practice on making him land on Thunder Crest after Rough Divide. Whenever he uses Revolver Drive, keep your cool and draw Thunder Crest when he is near you. The crest will take priority over the Revolver Drive and make him open for a combo. Also if you are feeling lucky, pimpstick his Rough Divide for the lulz. -------- | Zidane | -------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Stellar Circle 5 - Grand Lethal - Free Energy Zidane shouldn't be a very tough opponent under AI control, since the AI couldn't handle his awesome attacks well. I'm not entirely sure about the priority between Tidal Flame and Flare since the AI never really uses it on me. But nevertheless, be on your guard. Your real threat against Zidane is his constant HP attack spam. Even as CPU, he tends to pull Free Energy out quite often. Otherwise, anticipate his sneaky Swift Attack and block -> Thunder Crest like usual. ------- | Tidus | ------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - His HP attacks (including Jecht Shot) - Stick and Move Just like Cloud, Tidus's attacks beside Hop Step can be easily block and punish with Thunder Crest. So personally, I wouldn't really go too deep with Flare and Starfalls. CPU doesn't really use Hop Step with me much, so Tidus is a pretty easy foe. ----------- | Shantotto | ----------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Basically, ALL of her attacks beside Bio and Couple of Attacks Another harder formidable match up. Don't ever let her build up her BRV. Block and punish Retribution at all times. A small note on her Spirit Magics. Spells like Water and Aero crashes with Aerial Flare, but even so, you will still take the first BRV damage from the magic, canceling out Starfall if you are casting it. Against Shantotto, I'll give you a much more unique strategy. Many of the AI Shantotto tend to use Spirit Magic on you if you are charging up Starfall. Even if it prevents you from actually casting it, be reminded that Shantotto CANNOT move while she is casting. Additionally, she has a HUGE delay time between each Spirit Magic cast. So if you do the simple Flare -> Starfall strategy on her, you might not be able to cast Starfall, but she will become a sitting duck for the Ground Flare that was let loose in the beginning. Watch out for your BRV value though. There are many times her BRV hit actually broke me when I was recovering from high BRV. --------- | Garland | --------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Chain Cast - Twist Drill - His HP attacks beside Blaze His BRV game is much better than yours, so even if you can chip his BRV away, he can easily regain it back too. Garland has a high chance of using Blaze on you if you are casting Starfall. The Aerial Flare should take care of this, but be on guard nevertheless. There were many times when the flames made it through my Flare. On ground, if he is not in EX-Mode, Thunder Crest him if he is near you. There'll be a chance of him using either Round Edge or Earthquake, all of which can be stopped by Thunder Crest. Watch out for fast attacks like high/deathbringers. Also, as an interesting side note, Lance Charge technically cannot destroy Flares. However, if it hits you, there's a high chance that Garland's follow up attack will get him flared from your Aerial Flare. -------------------- | The Emperor Mateus | -------------------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Um...Starfall I guess. As for this mirror match, don't even worry about getting hurt. The Emperor's AI is stupid and has no way of defending itself against your Starfall measures. Your Flares will deflect his pathetic Light Crest balls as well as Dynamites. So start shooting Starfalls right at battle start. Another fun thing to do is to knock his Flare back and watch him run away from his own balls while running away from our own too. I don't see many CPU Empy using the pimpstick, and I doubt that they are even smart enough to deflect a Flare. The real threat for this match up is running into his traps thinking that they are yours. My friend once ran into my Thunder Crest in a mirror match thinking that it was his crest. Look out for this. ------------------- | Cloud of Darkness | ------------------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Basically, all of her Particle Beam Attacks - Third BRV follow up of Tentacle of Pain (Dark Thunder) Just like Firion, Light Crest and Dynamites are out of the question unless you wanna be slap by Wrath PB. CoD has a high chance of using O-Form particle beam on you. Not only does it disperse your Aerial Flare, it can deflect the Ground Flare back at you too. Just like Cloud and Tidus with a little tweak, turtle around to block -> Thunder Crest. CoD has a habit of using TRASH ABOUT tentacle attacks, which is pathetically easy to block once you see it. However, there's a chance that s/he will use the black lightning or dark thunder ball you from afar. Your Flares can deflect the balls just fine, but look out for the lightning pillars as it can go through your Flares. -------- | Golbez | -------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Glare Hand - The laser of CPU bits from Gravity/Float System - Nightglow - Genesis Rock Having high attack power, several attack hits, and ranged ground game, this monster can be a very formidable foe if you try to fight him from afar. In Golbez's case, I'd suggest you do like Cloud and Tidus cases, that is turtle and block his attacks. Ocassionally throw the Flares out to make him run amuck if you want. Golbez's attacks are fast, but not TOO fast like Squall's. Beside, when he uses Rise Wave, he'll make a quote before attacking ("Let us start", if memory serves me right). The trick to blocking his attacks is to 'anticipate' it in advance. Practice it on Quick Battle mode, and you should be fine. --------- | ExDeath | --------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Delta Attack - Almagest* - Grand Cross* - Possibly Omni Guard I'm not entirely sure about Almagest and Grand Cross, but Delta Attack WILL definitely deflects your Flares. Even as a guard-counter master, he shouldn't be a threat towards you, since his long range BRV attacks can be easily deflected with Flares or simply avoided while charging Starfall. Honestly, you don't even need the Ground Flare. Just cast Aerial Flare and Starfall away. The CPU is not smart enough to rush into you and do Delta Attack. ------- | Kefka | ------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - All his thunder based attacks - All of his HP attacks As a mage, he shouldn't be a problem, but he is still a tad slimier than Terra. His chaotic magic, while can be deflected with Flares, has unpredictable hit frames, and in many cases, it can still hit you through your Flares. In any case, he will jump around a lot, so laying Thunder Crest might be a problem. One way to tackle against this joker is to stick close to him and lay your Aerial Flare nearby. If he attacks, there's a high chance that his magics will be deflected. Also, if he happens to use Havoc Wing, take your breath and use your pimpstick. That's right; your stick has a very high priority and will crash with his wing of doom. ----------- | Sephiroth | ----------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Black Materia - All of his HP attacks - His 'faster than eye can see' slashes (technically) As I said above, our mama's boy's slash attacks can techincally go through our Flares. But fortunately after each step of his slashes, he will move a little bit forward. So even if you are hit by the slashes, he'll definitely run into your Flare. (Which can be a good thing or bad thing cuz he will take the HP damage, while you have a chance of suffering BREAK.) But most of all don't worry about his sword wave attacks, they cannot go through Flares, and it will even be deflected back at him. Block and Thunder Crest is still a viable method against Sephy because his attacks can be easily block/anticipated or punish. Now, let's take a look at Octaslash. Though it can break through your Flares, you can counter it just like how you deal with Cross Slash. That's right. Dodge back a bit and lay the crest. Sephy will then be helplessly stuck inside the crest. ----------- | Ultimecia | ----------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - Her HP attacks - Possibly charged Knight Axe Our Time Sorceress kompresses ... ahem ... I mean, attacks with several projectile attacks, all of which can be easily deflected with your Flare. So by all means, Starfall her to death. She can't really do anything to you, and her CPU isn't even smart enough to pull her HP attacks on you properly. ------ | Kuja | ------ Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - His HP attacks - Snatch Blow Against CPU Kuja, some times he's smart and use Ultima against your Starfall and some times he is stupid and try to hit you with Holy Rings. Thunder Crest will not do you much good in this battle since Kuja has a tendency of sticking in the air, and a projectile fight isn't really what The Emperor should be doing. Since Kuja's fighting style varies with his range, I have two separate strategies for dealing with this guy. The first one is against long range Kuja. In cases like this, we're talking about attacks like Snatch Blow, Snatch Shot, and Ultima. Our main strategy is to stick close to Kuja as possible and let loose your Flares. Now, charge up your Starfall. This should hopefully provoke him to use Ultima, where he can fall an easy prey to your ground flare. Even if your flares cannot hit him, do not let him gain distance. If for some reason, he throws Seraphic Star at you, dodge and dash into Mine / Aerial Flare him. At the distance he starts using this at you; you should be able to easily dash at him before he regains control. Now, against the short range Kujas. Things are much easier, since you can block and punish him. As always, stick to the ground. Being short range, he will eventually have to come to you. Watch out for Flare Stars though. Not only they guard crush you, the final explosion can deflect your flares as well. All in all, short range Kuja is nothing to fear. Fear only the long range ones. ------- | Jecht | ------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - His HP attacks - Possibly Jecht Block Despite being the manliest guy in this game, he is actually one of the easiest match ups. Jecht fights only at close range, so whatever he does it's a complete suicide to him. His uncharged Jecht Stream/Jecht Rush can be easily block and Thunder Crest. And even if he charges it, all you have to do is backstep and lay Thunder Crest. If he ever tries to use Jecht Blade or Triumphant Grasp, do the usual dodge -> Thunder Crest. Your only real threat now is probably his Ultimate Jecht Shot, the only attack he has that is closest to long range. It deflects flares and comes out pretty fast. Dodge away and Light Crest him. If you want to try your luck, dash in and Mine his face for the lulz. ---------- | Gabranth | ---------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - His HP attacks (in EX-Mode of course) Against Gabby, he has two choices. Stop his EX-Charge to stop your Starfall, or keep on charging and perish. Against AI, he can't really put a dent on you because even if he manages to go EX, it'll only take a while before he reverts back. Just throw out your Flares and Starfall away. ------- | Chaos | ------- Attacks that can pierce/deflect/go through Flare: - You know what, it doesn't matter. He's gonna be murdered in a few mins anyway. "You're unfit to rule anything!!!" - The Emperor Mateus Indeed, The Emperor is right. Let's talk about our god of dischord for a bit. He maybe a push over and his BRV attacks are OMFGHAX cheating that can easily breaks you. But in all honesty, he's stupidity is absolute. Start the battle by laying a Thunder Crest. Unless he's using long range attacks like Fire Balls or Rolling Fire Wheel, he'll come right into your crest. (In case he uses basic triple combo, guard stagger him first then lay the crest for criticals.) Now, unleash your Flares and lay a few Land and Air mines and watch in awe as the god of dischord runs away from the big blue ball of doom and run into our mines. Honestly, since the stage is small, he is unlikely to run away from your traps for too long. But then again, mistakes can happen. For example, in form three, when a flare hits him, he'll teleport and fire spins your face, hence instantly breaking you. In such case, you might refrain from laying Flares too frequently and rely on Thunder Crest combos more. For more strategy, I suggest you check out my Chaos FAQ, hosted here on GameFAQs too. =========================== X) Human Match Ups [EmF-10] =========================== Had enough practice? Here's a bad news. What you had been reading/training from the strategies above will nearly mean NOTHING against human players. Yes, I'm not kidding. Why? One of the reasons is, your opponent might actually be reading this FAQ and say "Oh right. So all I have to do is x (or don't do x ) and those strategies will mean nothing!!" Second, people are not stupid like AI. They can adapt, and do several adjustments to their strategies to be able to go through your traps. So what do we do? First, I strongly suggest you master fighting ALL the 22 characters with The Emperor until you know how to handle their attacks. Next, make sure you are really proficient with this character as well as the game's mechanics (guarding/dodging), because I am going to assume the following rules: - 6999 (no equips, no accessories, no summons) - ALL abilities allow - EX-Guarding / EX-Countering / EX-Canceling / EX-Bursting *ALLOWED* - NO CHEATS - NO INFINITES - Random Stages I'm assuming these rules since these are the rules I play w/ my friends, as well as in my locals. Adjust it to your local's rules if you want. So from those rules above, no builds are going to save you. You are 100% on your own. ------------------ | Warrior of Light | ------------------ I haven't fought WoL players, but one thing for sure, they are not going to Crossover into your Flares. If you start with laying out two Flares and start casting Starfall (which you should be doing), your opponent will have to resort to Shining Wave and Shield of Light. Shining Wave might be a little hard to handle, so it'd be best to just dodge it. As for Shield of Light, pay attention to when he uses it and pimpstick him or lay a Thunder Crest. If you are fast enough, you SHOULD be able to stop Shield of Light before it actually hits you. -------- | Firion | -------- Against Human Firion Players, you are going to have a problem. First of all, just like CPUs, Light Crest and Dynamites are out of the question because of Shield Bash. So what about our basic Starfall tactic? Of course, IT'S NOT GOING TO WORK!!! Our Flares can deflect Firion's Fire magic, which Firion players will use it to trigger Shield Bash. If that is not enough, Firion players are less likely to equip Brush Lance since it's short and blockable. You will now fall prey to Reel Axe and Rope Knife. At this point, you should resort to your pimpstick. YES!! The pimpstick Bombard. Slapping his Rope Knife will cause Firion himself to stagger. Now, you know what to do. Thunder Crest and Flare him to death. -------------- | Onion Knight | -------------- This little brat is really annoying, especially in hands of good mind gamers. For this battle, I'd suggest you stay away from the ground. Although your Flares can protect you from ground melee and Blizzard, it is not going to help you against Blade Torrent and Firaga. Start the battle by going into the air cast Aerial Flare, followed by Starfall. Now, the only choices OK Players left are Comet and Wind Shear. Stay away from comet, but if he ever uses Wind Shear. Time your dash in and mine him away. ------- | Cecil | ------- Cecil is good on both ground and aerial combats, depending on which for he is in. If your opponent tends to not be smart and uses Paladin a lot, then good for you since you can easily block -> Thunder Crest. However, I found that many Cecil players tend to stick with Dark Knight, a form not agile as Paladin, but more powerful especially in ground combat. This is not going to be an easy fight. First of all, lay a Thunder Crest then stick next to it. Now you can start using Ground Flares, Starfall tactics, or throw out a dynamite. Thunder Crest will prevent Cecil from coming too close to you and dynamite will try to force him to come near you. Since Flares block Shadow Lance, it is also out of the question as well as Valiant Blow. Your threat now is Dark Cannon. Dodge away from it and never EVER let it connect as it will leads to other combos. ------- | Bartz | ------- From what I've notice, Bartz players will use Slidehazzard A LOT. And if it connects, they will follow up with Holy. In such case, block their Slidehazzard and Thunder Crest all the way. Otherwise, lay down Flares and begin laughing as usual. Unlike OK since he does not have comet, Bartz using Wind Shear near the ground is a suicide. If you see it coming, stop your Starfall charge and drop down to the ground to lay Thunder Crest. Your only threat now is Flood, which is not THAT hard to dodge and can't go up too high. ------- | Terra | ------- Terra is a scary girl. She's stupid under AI control, but under Human Control (slave crown anyone? =D) she will no longer be an easy opponent. Terra players are likely to want distance between you and them. Don't worry, give them what they want. But cast Flare and go right up into the air for Aerial Flare -> Starfall. In Terra case, it is a bit better if you stay a little lower than your Aerial Flare so it can roof Terra's puny meteor. Now, other tactics Terra players will do is use Meltdown or Holy Combo from afar. Holy Combo is a breeze if it comes alone as Aerial Flare can knock all of them away. But there'll be cases where the players will trick you out of your Flare with Meltdown, then follow directly with Holy Combo. Throw out a Ground Flare to shield yourself if you must. Finally, don't expect Ground Flare to hit her. Terra players are unlikely dash into you and spam Tornado. Instead, they will use it from afar when your Ground Flare is about to reach her and bounce it back at you. Release another Ground Flare before deflecting the deflected Flare to give her double trouble. If the match goes on for too long, you will probably encounter a new problem: Her EX-Mode. Though she can't ex-guard you, her magics will be a lot more dangerous. Double Meltdown is something you should look out, as well as flood. Meteor and Holy Combos cannot deal much trouble with you just yet unless they are coupled with a cast of Meltdown. In any case, if she ever gets into EX-Mode, look out for her attacks as getting hit by one can mean the match. ------- | Cloud | ------- In human matches w/o equipments, expect to see Cloud using Braver a lot. He can't really do anything besides that if he doesn't want to get Starfall- ed. A less smart player will try to use Meteor Rain from afar. Dodge in and slap in a Flare. Your real threat in this fight is your own Flare. There will be many instances where Braver will hit your Ground Flare and deflect it. Release a new one before deflected the first one to give him double trouble as usual. Now just like Terra, look out for his EX-Mode. Again, one OmniV5 from EX-Mode Cloud can cost you the match. -------- | Squall | -------- This should probably be one of the hardest match up. Squall is fast (I mean gosh freakin' fast), and his Rough Divide can destroy your Flares. Against human Squall matches, you will have to rely a lot on reflex and block him. Can't block Beat Fang? Well, that's too bad. =( Starfall no longer have any use in this battle beside presurring him to stop you. If you are really good at laying traps now, trick him into your Thunder Crest. Lay your traps. Mines, Landmines, Dynamites, all of them. This will make manueverability more difficult for Squall. This is probably the best solution against Squall players. Fight hard and don't let him get into EX-Mode. Good luck! You'll need it!! -------- | Zidane | -------- Though I don't expect many Zidane players to do this, one of the tactics Zidane players might use is to Stellar Circle 5 your Ground Flare when he is in safe range. Take this as an opportunity to send out another Flare as usual. With your usual Starfall pressuring, Zidane will now likely have to rely on his HP attacks. All of his aerial HP attacks goes through your defense and will spell trouble for you. Free Energy is instant HP reduction. Grand Lethal's homing will destroy you if you time your dodge wrong. Shift Break's lightning will kill you if you dodge into them. And with him spamming attacks like this, Snooze and Lose can't probably save your life. My suggestion against Zidane will be to lay down lots of traps like Squall's fight and stick near your Thunder Crest. He is some what a lot less dangerous than Squall since his BRV attacks are not too fast like Squall's. ------- | Tidus | ------- Tidus is another trouble if he is controlled under human players. If you are not attacking, he is likely to use Hop Step to slowly chip your BRV away little by little. Starting any Starfall tactics will provoke him to use Stick and Move, which can go through your Flares unfortunately. If not, then he'll probably be using his HP attacks. Look out for delays in his Charge and Assault then Thunder Crest him. Solely using Sonic Buster and Full Slide is a suicide for any Tidus players, so do not expect to see it around much. Since he is a counter attacker, he will unlikely start up any attacks before you. Rely on mind games and trick him to attacks then Thunder Crest him away. ----------- | Shantotto | ----------- She's a dead meat if she cannot rack her BRV up to above 6000 (which is when her attacks are much more devastating and faster) Just like computer match ups, keep on presurring her with Starfall tactics. If she tries to bind or use any Spirit Magic to you, she'll fall prey to Ground Flare during her delay. I can't say much on Shantotto actually, because I haven't tackle with any real good Shantotto players. But judging from all of the spells she has in her arsenal, the only scary one that can destroy you off guard is Retribution. The damage output of that attack is surprisingly high and, with counterattack critical ability, it is highly possible that you will be inflicted with a BREAK. --------- | Garland | --------- This guy is another dangerous opponent as his weapon is pressure. Any Garland players will constantly pressure their opponent on ground with his ridiculuously strong attacks. Lay your Thunder Crest, followed by Ground Flare (and Aerial Flare to prevent you from Blaze). Then start firing Dynamite or Light Crest. Constantly put him under pressure as it is likely that he will eventually got caught up in one of the flares. -------------------- | The Emperor Mateus | -------------------- Now in this mirror match, it can come down to a battle of who actually managed to successfully cast Starfall first. He/she has your weapons and so do you. Mind games and pressuring is important in this battle. But whatever you do, NEVER EVER let your opponent cast Starfall, or it can cost you your match. ------------------- | Cloud of Darkness | ------------------- O-Form is pretty straight forward to dodge, but in small stages, this is going to be a problem. Never let CoD corners you. Once you do, you are basically dead, as you are unlikely to make any counters. Other than blocking CoD's BRV attacks, I also find it smart sometimes to let CoD hit you with a HP attacks then counter right away with a Light Crest. With Recovery Attack, you are likely to get the bullets to hit him/her during the BRV cooldown, giving yourself another pressuring tool. -------- | Golbez | -------- Watch out for Glare Hands at long range. It is a starter for most of Golbez's combos, which will lead you into a string of combos where you will probably ended up getting Cosmic Ray in the end. At close range, it is possible that he will throw in Nightglow when you expect him to do normal melee attack. Look out for this as Nightglow WILL ceiling rush you, and it hurts. Throw out your Flares as usual and pressure him with Dynamite. If you ever happen to block him, you know what to do. --------- | ExDeath | --------- Go up high in the air and start your Starfall tactics like always. ExDeath will have to rely on his teleport and Delta Attack to hit you, all of which is pretty slow and you shouldn't have any trouble against it. Keep your distance and go crazy with Starfall. You still need your shield because he has Vacuum Wave which can interrupts you. And to prevent him from even putting a dent on you, refrain from Dynamites and Light Crest, and possibly Ground Flare as well since those attacks can trigger his counterattacks. ------- | Kefka | ------- This is another scary match up. Kefka's magics are insane and they have unpredictable hit box. Be ready to see many projectiles bouncing around in the stage. Keep up your shield while constantly pressuring him with Light Crests, Dynamites, and Ground Flares. Like other Thunder-based spells, his crazy lightning attacks goes through your Flare. So it can be pretty hard to pull Starfall on him. In this battle, your Flares probably should work only as a shield from his magics. This is basically another battle of mind games. Look out for the combo starter, Waggly-Wobbly Firaga. Though it doesn't hit so hard, it makes you open for other attacks. Kefka would unlikely pull out Forsaken Null unless he is far away and has Killing Value BRV. It would still be a pressure for you if he happens to pull it out. But if you have your Ground Flare out, he wouldn't be able to stay still for too long. Just like Terra, DON'T EVER let him go EX, or that'll basically mean your doom. ----------- | Sephiroth | ----------- In a battle of meteor-like spells being casted, The Emperor will lose to ALL of the characters in this game, even Sephy's Black Materia. If you are a Sephy player and thought Black Materia has long charge time, Starfall takes EVEN longer to do so. Don't even think about fighting Sephy's Black Materia with Starfall. (Unless your Starfall is about to cast and he just started charging Black Materia, then that's a better move.) Sephy players should resort to their HP attacks because his BRV attacks will only get himself screwed. Pimpstick Octaslash and Heaven's Blade if you want, and keep pressuring him with ground flares. Beware of your own deflected flares like always. Possibly, I would recommend sticking to the ground and go a little defensive. I tend to see many Sephy players swooping down with Sudden Cruelty from above, where the camera is at your disadvantage. Don't ever let him get too high above you. ----------- | Ultimecia | ----------- Her BRV attacks will not be able to touch you as usual, but then she will likely resort to charged Knight Axe and HP attacks. Shockwave Pulsar has weird aiming range, but in the hands of good Ulty players, it WILL hit you. Apocalypse is a pretty easy move to use, and is rather one of the suicide tool as she will fall prey to our Ground Flare. As for Great Attractor, even this attack charges up faster than Starfall, so don't even think about it. Dodge away or shoot her with Dynamite. The scary thing about Ulty is when she gets into EX-Mode. Her Time Crush charges faster than Starfall, and she is happy if you are not attacking her while she is charging. If you see her charging Time Crush, stop your Starfall charge and shoot her with a Dynamite or Light Crest to stop her right away. You wouldn't want to sit still while she lulz at you. ------ | Kuja | ------ Annoying just like the CPU. Your Flare should shield you against Snatch Shots, but not Snatch Blow and his (yes, 'his') HP attacks. If it is possible, try as hard as you can to block Snatch Blow and have him eat Mines or Aerial Flares. By the time he is in range to use those attacks, you should be able to air dash at him and slap his face easily. Point Blank Kuja has pretty deadly mind games of a swap between Strike Energy and Flare Star, while dashing at you. It is highly dangerous to tank, but if you trust in your own reflex, by all means go ahead. One thing you can also try is to hit pimpstick when Kuja is trying to air dash at you. Failed to hit his break, he will be sent flying away. Stay strong and firm on the ground as Kuja's air game is a lot better than you. ------- | Jecht | ------- If you already think Jecht under AI is easy, under human control it shouldn't be that much different. Plus the online lags, someone must be pretty stupid to pick Jecht against The Emperor. Use the AI tactics provided above, and all you have to fear is your own Flare. ---------- | Gabranth | ---------- Pressure him the same way you do to AIs; Stop the EX-Charge to stop you or perish. Most of the time, Gabby players are probably willing to get a hit from Starfall or Ground Flare just to get their EX-Gauge filled. When he gets EX and goes aggressive with many BRV attacks, block then punish him. Or if you want to play safe, go a little on defensive is okay as one hit from EX Gabby can easily get you broken. If in some case you are fighting a noob Gabby player, he will only spam HP attacks, all of which are stupidly easy to Air Slide / Omni Air Dash away. Don't worry about being labeled as a coward, as these people are also likely to run like a chicken if you go after them when they are not in EX-Mode. ==================================== XI) Things Worth Mentioning [EmF-11] ==================================== These are some of the 'did you know' and other misc tips that do not belong in any other sections. 1) Emperor's Flares' time out. By charging Starfall right after casting Aerial Flare, the Aerial Flare will disperse nearly at the same moment when Starfall finished casting. Lesson of the day, cast Aerial Flare in the last order when laying traps as you will want it to stay as long as possible until your Starfall is fully casted. Hence, when laying down traps, your order should be like this: Thunder Crest -> Mines -> Ground Flare -> Aerial Flare -> Starfall 2) Ground Flares can be sent out only one at a time. But you can increase the amount of balls of doom floating in the field!! >D This requires your opponent to deflect your first flare. Whenever a flare is deflected at you, calm down and don't rush in to pimp stick it. Instead, release another globe of Ground Flare, THEN you can go ahead and deflect that first flare. This way, you can have up to TWO Ground Flares chasing after your enemy! I swear I used to have like three Ground Flares chasing after an enemy as he/she deflected both of my flares about the same time. But no matter the case, your opponent deflecting you flare will only cause more trouble for themselves. 3) HP can also be use as a pressuring tool Having more HP than your opponent is always a good thing. Occasionally, if I'm low on HP and my opponent does not have his BRV near a 'Killing Value', I'd give away my EX-Bar for a free kick in HP recovery. This might not be allowed as some of the tourneys banned EX-mode and EX-Burst -ing. 4) Snooze and Lose Snooze and Lose is one of the best pressure tool and a must for Emperor, period. It forces your opponent to attack, and in some cases, make them restless. The more restless they are, the more likely they're going to screw themselves up. Also, Snooze and Lose is a great way to bring down your opponent's BRV as in some battle you cannot directly hit your foe. 5) Snooze and Starfall Starfall is a pressuring tool as I told you. But because you can just tap and let it go, this will also serve as a 'Snooze and Lose Deactivation' tool. Though it is unlikely that you are going to get Snooze and Lose on you as you'll be busy laying down traps, keep in mind that there is always a convenient method. Also, charging Starfall is considered as an attack though you are not actively doing anything. So don't worry about getting caught in Coward's Punishment, or activating your foes' Snooze and Lose. 6) Concentration? You have to concentrate, but is the 'Concentration' ability necessary for you? One could say it is a great way for The Emperor to earn lots of BRV. But I'd say don't equip it. One, you have to constantly be pressuring your opponent. There is very little reason for you to stay still. Two, Starfall works better as a pressuring tool because instead of just staying still to gain BRV, you have a chance of doing something epic. 7) STARFALL CAN MISS!!! Yup, no kidding. One of the most popular case would be your enemy was hit by one of the flares or mines while Starfall is raining on them. What happened is getting hit by those flares triggered your foe's invicible recovery frame, making your Starfall 'misses' its target (when visually there is no way something like that can miss). If this case happens, don't worry about it, as they probably already took damage from the flare. Epic hit? No. Does it hurt your opponent? Definitely. Another probably confirmed case is characters 'directly' running away from Starfall. There are many people confirming speedy characters like EX Tidus, Zidane, and OK running in straight line and managed to barely escaped from Starfall. This really sucks (for use Emperor users that is). But keep in mind that they need to run in a straight line. Fight in small stage, or make some wrong turn, they will still be doomed 8) Situational Chase Battles A fun thing to do with Chase Battles as The Emperor is to hit your opponent with any attack, and watch him/her flew away to hit Flare or whatever trap that happens to be behind him/her. It is VERY situational, and the only attack that you can probably couple with is Ground Flare (as it will still constantly move towards your opponent even in Chase Battles). This works very well when you have a Killing Value, since the AI will go frenzy on HP dodging. Push him/her away w/ a BRV attack and watch him/her flew right into the Flare behind him/her. ======================== XII) The Videos [EmF-12] ======================== [The Art of Pimpsticking - Cosmos Characters] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSKh8rRYtpU This is a video showing a compilation of Emperor, slapping Cosmos Characters' HP attacks and a number of BRV attacks with Bombard. Sorry for the poor editting. I'm not sure if I'm going to be doing Chaos Characters or not. Two reasons: 1) It's pretty hard to do get an enemy to do an attack while keeping yourself alive. Srsly, I died a lot of stupid death doing that video. -_-" 2) My video editting skill sux. I have no resource what so ever to practice it. This video is seriously my very first attempt at editting a video. ========================= XIII) Contact me [EmF-13] ========================= If you want to talk to me, or ask me any question personally, here is my email: the_holy_mirror@hotmail.com I do MSN chatting, so you can add me to your contact list if you want ^_^. Btw, I live in Thailand, so our time period might not meet at all if you are from US (unless you stay really late at night). Also, please refrain from sending trashes and flame emails. I already have enough people flaming me for no apparent and insane reasons at my school ^_^. By the way, sometimes I find it awkward to open up a mail and see the strategy bam into my face right away w/o any introduction. Don't worry, I don't bite and I like to chat. Just a 'Hi, I want to contribute something to your FAQ' is enough for an intro. ^_^'' ============================= XIV) Version History [EmF-14] ============================= v0.7 - May 24, 2010 - Completed a major part of the FAQ. v0.8 - May 25, 2010 - Filled up all other misc infos. One more check and tomorrow the FAQ will be submitted. v1.0 - May 26, 2010 - Submit date v1.2 - May 27, 2010 - The last time I made some update, I was really sleepy and missed out the whole part on Kefka's Human Match Ups >_>. It is now updated, along with the Search Tag. v1.5 - October 4, 2010 - Added the [Art of Pimpsticking] under the Bombard Strategy section. Correction on several minor mistakes here and there. ==================== XV) Credits [EmF-15] ==================== Thank You: GameFAQs for hosting this FAQ and the disclaimer speech. Square-Enix for creating this awesome game. Blueset's Walkthrough FAQ for exact level you learned a skill. I went straight up four or five levels often because of the bonus day so I missed the exact level mark. Zerus Zephuros for helping me with the Art of Pimpsticking Video Hail_Flandre for the list of Chaos Characters' 'Bombardable' attacks Anime_Kamisama, Clactor, and other fellow Emperor mainers who cheered me on making this FAQ. It might not be the best, but I promise I'll keep it up to date.