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Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Gears of Destiny
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Combo FAQ
Version 1.0
By GenesisGamma6
Started on: Jan 3, 2013
Completed on: Jan 20, 2013

Formal Stuff
------------
This FAQ may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, 
private use. It may not be placed on any website or otherwise distributed 
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
website or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a 
violation of copyright.

Contents
--------
(1) Introduction
(2) Controls/Legend
(3) Match Display
(4) Character Combos & Notes
(5) Credits & Contact Info

Introduction
------------
I've finally gotten around to downloading and trying this game out. For a 
Nanoha fan, this is a pretty good game. The story scenario is well written,
there are a good variety of characters to choose from and the overall game
engine seems more fluid. There are also interesting tidbits like lines the
characters say during the player select screen. They have one if they are
highlighted, a line if they actually get chosen and a line if that selection
gets cancelled. As there are currently no FAQs for this game, I figured I
would toss one together.

Some of the general things where the game falls short:

1) Training Mode limitations.
No customizing training dummy to always do certain actions. Always stuck at
TSAB training stage. No health regen on training dummy and no unlimited
Full Drive Burst stocks.

2) Lack of battle options.
No option to change timer in Single Player modes or starters. Can't even set
matches to best of 5 or even single round wins all. Unable to increase or
decrease speed and damage settings.

3) Character customization is really limited to equipping three skills.

4) Can't adjust AI difficulty for story mode.

5) Can't even select the Dark Piece Colours in other modes.
A little petty but when I see Dark Piece Vivio in her Black Saint's Armour,
I just feel annoyed that I can't use that outfit.

This FAQ will not be covering the story scenario as it is quite extensive
and is essentially a follow up to the game story set by the previous Nanoha
PSP game 'Battle of Aces', which is in turn an alternate scenario from the
second season of the Nanoha anime. Links for this game's story summaries are
below:

Summaries of Sequences 1-10 can be found at:
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=3937252&postcount=1652
Summary of Sequence 11 (in two posts)
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=3938232&postcount=1689
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=3939729&postcount=1717
Summary of Sequence X (Epilogue)
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=3944666&postcount=1817

In addition, this FAQ will not be going over the various skills that can be
unlocked and equipped in battle. 

Controls/Legend
---------------
S - Square
T - Triangle
C - Circle
X - Cross
L - Left Shoulder Button
R - Right Shoulder Button
HS - Press and Hold Square
HT - Press and Hold Triangle
HC - Press and Hold Circle
TT - Tap Triangle Twice to execute EX Attack

1. Close Range Controls

S - Basic Melee Attack. Essentially your combo starter and typically can be
chained multiple times for a basic combo. If two melee attacks hit each other,
it will cause a clash and nothing will happen.

T - Pressing it by itself has the character throw up a small shield in front
and if hit with a physical attack, they will perform a counter attack. They
come in different forms like binds or simple reversals. Only a few fighters
can actually combo after their counter but since landing those can be very
tricky and requires good reads, those counter combos will not be discussed.
The shield itself can be used to keep an opponent juggled in the air to land
the EX Attack. Characters will do different physical moves when this is used
in a combo sequence.

TT - This unleashes the EX Attack which is essentially a slower physical move
but is more damaging than the basic melee attack by itself. It can also be
used to start combos.

C - Pressing it by itself has the character attempt a grab move. Characters
will do different physical moves when this is used in a combo sequence.

X - Used to dash. It used to be a separate meter in Battle of Aces but now
this uses a small amount of your magic meter. Pressing left or right with X
will have you move back or forth while pressing up or down with X will have
you shift position. For example, if you are right in front of the opponent,
Up + X will have you shift to their right side. This is useful for getting
around Counters which the CPU spams frequently. Also, by tapping this button
while in a juggled state, you will perform a tech flip which will prevent
you from being comboed further. In some cases, you will need to use a dash
in a combo to get into position for the next portion of it as you will see
below.

R - Activates a Guard Spell like Round Shield. Each attack blocked by the
guard saps a bit of your magic meter. Be warned that if you block an attack
without enough magic meter, you will be guard crushed and left stunned. The
same stun effect happens if you use Guard while your magic meter is reloading
and not EX Guard. Pressing R at the exact same time as an attack hits causes 
EX Guard. In this case, your magic meter does not deplete and even goes up a
little.

L - Activates a Full Drive Burst stock. Pressing L again while you have 'Full
Drive' showing on your magic meter has your character attempt their super 
move. Activating the stock grants your character brief invincibility and can 
be usedto break an enemy combo or even break out of a stunned state. During 
this time you have unlimited magic meter so feel free to spam spells and other
moves. And this is not like Dissidia's EX Mode where everyone gets a bonus 
when this is active. As far as I know, only Chrono equips Durandal and Nanoha
gets to use Hyperion Smasher as her charged High Projectile spell at long 
range. By default, you start with two stocks but in story mode, you only get
one. You can also equip skills to add one more stock or have the Full Drive
Mode last longer. In a multi round match, each fighter will regain one Full 
Drive Burst stock at the beginning of the next round, regardless of who won or
lost the previous one. 

One more note is that it's advisable to use FDB stocks as a Combo Breaker as
that can quickly turn the tide of battle. FDB hit confirm combos suffer from
enormous damage scaling most of the time. The only time to use those combos
is if you are already in Full Drive Mode since you might as well get what you
can out of it. 

Another thing to note is that FDB stocks can only be used as Combo Breakers
when you are in a grounded state and not juggled in the air.

2. Long Range Controls

S - Basic Projectile Spell for most characters. You can activate an enhanced
version of the spell by holding Square briefly.

T - High Projectile Spell for most characters. You can activate an enhanced
version of the spell by holding Triangle briefly.

C - Basic Bind Spell for most characters. Others have it set as another
projectile spell like Thoma's Silver Cannon. Holding Circle will activate
an enhanced version of the spell (i.e. a stronger projectile or a stronger
bind).

X - Same as Close Range. You can hold this button to have your character fly
straight at the opponent to close distance rapidly.

R - Same as Close Range

L - Same as Close Range

Match Display
-------------
Top green bar is basically your life bar. Typically, any time you get hit with
a projectile spell at long range, you will see some yellow health. Over time,
this health can be regenerated.

The magic meter is beneath the life bar. Managing this is very important as
this is used for dashing, Guarding and attacking at long range. The start of
each round gives you one full orange meter but you can go up to two meters
(a green one and then an orange). You get unlimited magic meter when in Full
Drive Mode but you can only go into that mode a limited number of times 
depending on how many stocks you have. If you run out of orange magic meter,
you have to reload and you are essentially a sitting duck unless you are 
comfortable with EX Guarding or use an FDB stock.

When in close range combat, physical hits will add to the magic meter. A good
multi hitting combo or grab move typically gives you a full magic bar to use.
So if you put the combos here to good use, you should not be reloading your
magic meter very often.

Timer is in the centre and is always at 99 seconds.

Character Combos & Notes
------------------------

And now the main feature! All combos were done against Nanoha who has standard
defense. No attack bonus or defense bonus skills were equipped.

Unless otherwise noted, all combos were done at close range and all Full Drive
Burst hit confirms were done with Full Drive Mode already active.

Nanoha 
1. S,C,T (5 hit, 16.36%)
2. S,T,C,T (6 hit, 17.07%)
3. S,S,S,TT,T (5 hit, 21.3%)
4. S,S,S,TT,HC,HT
(9 hit, 21.94% or 10 hit, 22.25% depending on positioning)

Full Drive Burst: Starlight Breaker (16 hit, 47.5%)
1. S,T,L (18 hit, 33.07%)
2. S,S,T,L (19 hit, 29.81%)

The infamous Ace of Aces, White Devil and main heroine. In gameplay terms, she
will have a good balance of offense and defense at both ranges. Obviously long
range will be her strength but she's no slouch at combos. Combo 2 should be
the main Bread and Butter to master quickly. Combos 3 and 4 depend on having
the enemy hit the shield to connect the EX attack and follow up with the rest.

In Full Drive Mode, Nanoha's grab move becomes Maneuver A.C.S which is around
21% damage. Combo 4 in Full Drive Mode does 20 hit, 26.79% damage since the 
charged spell is Hyperion Smasher and not Divine Buster.

Fate Regular Form
1. S,C,S,S,S (8 hit, 13.54%)
2. S,S,S,S,C,S,S (11 hit, 13.59%)
3. S,C,HS (9 hit, 14.11%)
4. TT,S,C,HS (10 hit, 19.65%)
5. S,C,S,X,Grab (7 hit, 14.97%)
6. TT,S,C,S,X,Grab (8 hit, 20.51%)

Full Drive Burst: Jet Zanber (15 hit, 45%)
1. S,S,L (17 hit, 29.44%)
2. S,C,S,X,S,S,L (23 hit, 34.91%)
3. TT,S,C,S,X,S,S,L (24 hit, 41.05%)

Fate Sonic Form (to activate, hold R and then press L)
1. S,T,T,Grab,S,S,S,S,S (17 hit, 19.03%)
2. TT,Grab,S,S,S,S,S (12 hit, 25.51%)
3. TT,Grab,S,X,S,S,C (12 hit, 25.98%)

Sonic Form FDB Hit Confirm
S,T,L (18 hit, 27.32%)

The other face of the franchise. Her speed oriented style is in full effect
here along with her poor defense. Sonic Form takes that up to eleven with
high damage and speed while reducing defense to the lowest in the game. Her
stronger combos in both forms are dependent on connecting with her EX attack.

Main strength here is supposedly close combat and since Fate has access to the
Level 3 Close Range Attack Bonus, that at least partially makes up for her
lower damage output on some of the combos. Long range strength is average at
best so you need to be agile with this character and land those combos when
there's a chance.

Hayate
1. S,S,S,C,C (8 hit, 17.10%)
2. S,S,Grab,C (4 hit, 18.94%)
3. TT,S,C,C (7 hit, 19.46%)
4. TT,Grab,C (3 hit, 20.87%)

Full Drive Burst: Ragnarok (13 hit, 50%)
S,S,S,S,L (17 hit, 36.81%)

Miss Gropes-A-Lot's leveling up continues. Her basic combos are simple and
damaging. The only tricky part is linking the Claíomh Solais after her grab
for Combos 2 and 4 but the timing will come with practice.

Like Nanoha, she seems pretty balanced in both close and long range game.
Combo 1 is the Bread and Butter to master since it builds up decent magic
meter and does good damage. Then once you are comfortable with the meter
situation, you can go on to using combos 2 and 4 for more damage.

Amitie 
1. S,T,T (6 hit, 12.7%)
2. (S,T)x3,T (10 hit, 13.39%)
3. S,T,C,T (5 hit, 16.56%)
4. S,S,T,C,T (6 hit, 16.21%)
5. TT,C,HT (8 hit, 24.18%)
6. (TT,C,HC)x2,TT,C,T (7 hit, 27.94%)

Full Drive Burst: E.O.D (8 hit, 45%)
1. S,T,L (11 hit, 29.11%)
2. S,T,S,T,L (14 hit, 33.48%)
3. (TT,C,HC)x2,L (12 hit, 40.21%)

One of the original characters in the game. The Guardian of Destiny definitely
has some slick moves but her higher damaging combos are dependent on hitting
with the EX Attack. Combo 4 will be the main Bread and Butter to use but once
in a while, throw out an EX Attack to try and catch the opponent. If it hits,
immediately go for combos 5 or 6. Combo 6 can be a little tricky to master as
using Finest Cannon too early or late will cause the last hit to miss. 

Character wise, she's pretty awesome with her thinking of that Guts and Hot
Blood can overcome any obstacle. And she is one helluva big sister to Kyrie.

Kyrie
1. S,S,S,Grab (6 hit, 18.08%)
2. S,T,T,Grab (8 hit, 18.65%)
3. S,S,S,S,T,C,T (8 hit, 20.78%)
4. S,S,S,TT,HC,T,T (7 hit, 25.12%)
Alt version of above combo: S,S,S,X,TT,HC,T,T

Full Drive Burst: S.R.I. (7 hit, 45%)
1. S,T,L (9 hit, 32.4%)
2. S,S,S,S,T,L (13 hit, 37.5%)
3. S,S,S,TT,HC,S,T,L (14 hit, 42.45%)

Another original character known as the Right Hand of Time. Unlike her sister,
Kyrie's combos are not depending on connecting with the EX Attack first for
solid damage. Combo 3 is a straight forward combo that ends with Finest Cannon
and should be the one to master first. Combo 4 and by extension, FDB Combo 3
are a little more complicated as you have to time the connection of the EX
Attack. Ideally, you should trigger the shield so that the juggled enemy
bounces off of it and is smacked into the actual attack and then you can use
the charged Accelerator spell to close the distance and finish the rest. As
an alternate to waiting for the precise moment to trigger the shield, you can
insert a dash on the first moment you recover from the initial four hits and
be in instant position to connect the rest. In fact, some character hitboxes
like Zafira can only be affected by the alternate version of Combo 4.

Material-S (also known as Stern the Destructor)
1. S,S,T,C,T (5 hit, 17.16%)
2. (S,S,T)x2,C,T (8 hit, 16.83%)
3. (S,S,T)x3,C,T (11 hit, 15.25%)
4. TT,S,T,C,T (7 hit, 19.83%)
5. TT,S,T,C,HC,HT (9 hit, 22.08%)

Full Drive Burst: Shin Luciferion Breaker (4 hit, 47.5%)
1. S,T,L (6 hit, 33.35%)
2. S,S,T,L (7 hit, 30.62%)
3. TT,S,T,L (9 hit, 36.54%)
4. TT,S,S,T,L (10 hit, 37.78%)

The 'Exterminator of Starlight', Material of Wisdom and someone more than a
mere copy of Nanoha. Her versatility in close combat is a plus and while her
damage output is similar to Nanoha's, she can build up plenty of meter as
her Ground chain can be done up to three times (and I bet this was done on
purpose to build up Red Comet vibes). Long range, she is more or less equal
to Nanoha in terms of damage. Blast Fire/Disaster Heat seem to have a shorter
reach compared to Divine Buster. A charged Pyro Shooter will attempt to home
in on the enemy. Main bread and butter combos would be Combos 1, 2 and 3. Be
sure to switch between them depending on the situation (like needing more
meter or doing more overall damage).

Combos 4 & 5 unfortunately require hitting with the EX attack which does
come out a bit slow. In addition, you will also need to carefully time the
follow up attacks so that all the hits connect. This also extends to FDB
combos 3 & 4.

Material-L (also known as Levi the Slasher)
1. S,T,C,Catch (12 hit, 13.87%)
2. S,C,TT,T (9 hit, 18.18%)
3. S,T,C,TT,T (11 hit, 16.61%)
4. S,C,TT,HC (8 hit, 19.18%)

FDB: Thunder Blade Shutout Explosive Extinguish Sword (7 hit, 45%)
1. S,S,T,L (11 hit, 31.91%)
2. S,C,S,L (12 hit, 32.39%)

Material-L Sprite Form (to activate, hold R and then press L)
1. S,S,S (9 hit, 19.16%)
2. S,S,S,C (8 hit, 24.21%)
3. S,T,S,C (9 hit, 23.28%)
4. S,T,T,Grab (15 hit, 21.11%)
5. S,S,X,TT,HC (7 hit, 22.7%)

FDB Hit Confirm 
S,L (9 hit, 33.25%)

What is with the Thunderblade Assailant and long attack names? 

Anyways, the Material of Power is a far more interesting character, both in
personality and gameplay. Her normal form combos are pretty decent and can be
strung off a single basic melee attack. Her FDB strike looks quite odd to me
but at least her basic hit confirm is decent damage.

Defense wise, she's the same as Fate so below average in normal form and just
abysmal in Sprite Form. I would have liked something else instead of a copy
and paste of Sonic Form (they still technically serve the same function even
if the moves are different). So much for being a Lightning Bruiser.

For Sprite Combos 2 and 3, insert a small delay just after the second input
so that she stays in a Grounded state and go through the follow ups for max
damage.

Material-D (also known as Load Dearche)
1. S,S,S,C (9 hit, 11.93%)
2. S,C,C (7 hit, 13.4%)
3. Grab,C (2 hit, 17.96%)

Full Drive Burst: Juggernaut (4 hits, 50%)

Combat wise, the Lord Ruler of Darkness is not as good as Hayate. She can't
combo into her grab and her close combat options are limited. At long range,
she does do a bit better as her charged Arondight spell can drain a lot of
magic meter if the enemy decides to use a normal Guard. But any human player
will opt to dodge instead. The timing for Combo 3 is pretty much the same as
Hayate's.

Heck, even the way her FDB strike works doesn't make it a good counter attack.
At least when done with Hayate, her headbutt can connect quite easily with the
airborne opponent. Material-D on the other hand conjurs up some purple wave
which can easily miss. As far as I know, she really has no hit confirms for
the FDB.

Yuuno
1. (S,S,T)x2,Grab (11 hit, 19.66%)
2. (S,S,T)x2,TT,S,T,Grab (14 hit, 22.33%)
3. S,S,T,S,S,HT,(S,S,T)x2,Grab (21 hit, 24.08%)
4. TT,S,T,S,S,T,S,S,HT,S,S,T,Grab (21 hit, 26.53%)
5. TT,S,T,S,S,HT,(S,S,T)x2,Grab (21 hit, 26.96%)
6. Long Range: HT,S,S,T,S,S,HT,(S,S,T)x2,Grab (26 hit, 26.22%)

Full Drive Burst: Arrester Chain (3 hit, 40%)
1. S,S,L (5 hit, 29.6%)
2. S,S,T,S,S,L (8 hit, 34%)
3. S,S,T,S,S,HT,S,S,T,S,S,L (18 hit, 42.33%)
4. TT,S,T,S,S,T,S,S,HT,S,S,L (18 hit, 44.78% or 19 hit, 43.46%)
5. TT,S,T,S,S,HT,S,S,T,S,S,L (18 hit, 45.2%)
6. Long Range: HT,S,S,T,S,S,HT,S,S,T,S,S,L (23 hit, 44,47%)

Let's see... above average defense, adequate movement speed, non-FDB combos
that are better than Fate's damage wise, plenty of ways to hit confirm into
those combos, plenty of ways to hit confirm into FDB, combos build up plenty
of magic meter... yeah, this guy is officially my favourite character in this
game. A bit higher on the execution curve but it's worth it.

His Full Drive Burst is one of the lowest damaging ones in the game by itself
but there are plenty of ways to hit confirm into it and rack up the damage. He
can also start up a combo if he connects with a raw Charged Protection Smash
at long range. Note that it's not a physical strike so if FDB mode runs dry
just before you initiate your attack, the green magical ring will disappear
and leave you with nothing.

For combos 2, 4 & 5, you have to cancel the EX attack on the first hit to get
the full damage. Letting the EX attack hit twice worsens the damage scaling
and you often won't get to do the full combo as the enemy will be in a non
jugglable state if you keep going with the combo string. You can go either
way in FDB Combo 4 but cancelling on the first hit nets you a little extra
damage. Just over 1% but every bit counts! For FDB Combo 5, you can't do the
full sequence if you let the initial EX attack hit twice. 

For Combos 3, 4 & 5, the timing of the Charged Protection Smash is as follows:
You want to start holding Triangle as soon as the second melee punch connects
and then let go the instant you see Yuuno summon the charged spell. That way,
when he flies at the enemy, you can still catch them and continue the combo.

For combo 4 and FDB combo 4, after the first Protection Smash, you have to
delay the punches slightly so you keep the enemy in a juggled state. 

Vivio
1. S,S,T,C,T,T,S,S,T,T (12 hit, 18.44%)
2. S,S,T,C,T,C,T,T,S,S (12 hit, 21.45%)
3. S,S,T,T,X,TT,C,T,C (10 hit, 16.39%)
4. TT,C,T,C,T,T (6 hit, 25.78% or 7 hit 26.53%)
5. Long Range: HT,S,S,T,T (10 hit, 17.03%)
6. Long Range: HT,Grab (5 hit, 18.32%)

Full Drive Burst: Sacred Blazer (6 hit, 45%)

So here's the star of the plotless, fanservice filled Vivid manga. How does
she do here? For starters, her defense rating is the second best in the game
next to the playable version of the final boss. Her FDB is a decent combo
breaker as well although I haven't been able to find any good hit confirms
into it.

Her downside? Her BNB combos are reliant on landing Accel Smash several times.
The timing to get the Smash is fairly tight and most of the time after her 
initial ground chain and first Accel Smash, the opponent will be out of reach!
You have to judge the distance and make a choice of whether to try for a
longer combo or play it safe. It's this inconsistency that frustrates me and
gives me the impression that she's a low class character. 

Arf
1. S,T,C,HT,C (7 hit, 21.07%)
2. S,S,T,C,HT,C (8 hit, 20.32%)
3. S,S,T,C,S (7 hit, 16.07%)

Full Drive Burst: Lightning Fall (3 hit, 40%)
1. S,T,L (5 hit, 28.57%)
2. S,S,T,L (6 hit, 26.58%)

If this were a regular fighting game, Arf would definitely be the grappler.
Her FDB strike is a drop kick and her actual Full Drive Burst really reminds
me of Tizoc's Big Fall Griffon from Garou.

The timing for the HT to come out for Combos 1 and 2 can be a bit tricky. The
idea is that you want to begin holding Triangle when she is doing the two hit
smash (the first Circle input of the combo) and then release just as she is
done. That way, she cancels right away into her Barrier Break Strike and then
you can tack on one more Circle input afterwards. Also to note that S,S,T,C
makes a good block string and the two hit smash she does at the end depletes
a lot of magic meter if blocked with normal guard.

Einhard
1. S,S,T,T,Grab (8 hit, 23.63%)
2. S,S,T,C,HS,X,Grab (11 hit, 22.72%)
3. S,T,T,T,X,TT,S,S,X,S,X,Grab (12 hit, 24.83%) 
4. TT,S,HS,X,TT,S,X,X,Grab (12 hit, 27.32%) 

Full Drive Burst: Hegemon Sky-Severing Knuckle (2 hit, 45%)
1. S,T,C,L (5 hit, 31.75%)
2. TT,S,HS,X,S,T,C,L (11 hit, 46.95%)

Here's the other star of the Vivid manga who is essentially just another girl
to generate more les yay moments which is sad. At least she is presented as a
good fighter in the manga and that gets brought over here.

Combo 1 is easily escapable with a tech flip. The main bread and butter to 
learn is Combo 2. Like with the Arf combo above, time the charge Square just
as Einhard finishes the two hit blow (Circle input). If done correctly, she
will release a charged Sky-Breaking Sever. You will then have to dash in and
get into position for the grab.

With Combo 3, it comes down to whether or not the enemy tech flips after the
launch sequence at the end of the third Triangle input. If they do nothing, do
the rest of the combo as described. If they tech flip, that means the damage
scaling is reset. After dashing into position, use an EX attack to start one
of the following two sequences:

A) TT,HS,TT,S (8 hit, 20.74%) X,X,Grab
B) (TT,HS)x2 (9 hit, 21.26%)

Sequence A will do about 20% damage but if you think you can time it right,
dash in twice and as soon as the enemy is in a grounded state, go for a grab
move for more unscaled damage. Sequence B is safer but doesn't have as much
damage potential overall.

Combo 4 has the similar situation as described above. After the second EX
attack and Sky-Breaking Sever, the enemy can do a tech flip. Once again, the
timing is there to go in for a grab and get extra unscaled damage but if you
whiff, you only get a total of 9 hits (25.54%). Alternatively, you can do a
second charged Sky-Breaking Sever to make it a 10 hit combo (25.8%) but that
means giving up the mix up option since the enemy will go into a non jugglable
state and get a chance to recover.

Last but not least is the FDB. Good as a combo breaker and she also has two
hit confirms with one being simple and low damage while the other starts with
the EX attack and is more damaging. Keep in mind that when inputting the
Circle button for the combos, you cancel on the first hit into the FDB strike.

Chrono
1. S,T,T,S,C,HS (6 hit, 18.24%)
2. S,S,T,T,S,C,HS (7 hit, 18.34%)
3. S,S,T,T,Grab (5 hit, 16.33%, 10 hit, 20.95% with Durandal)
4. S,S,T,T,S,C - Durandal combo (11 hit, 19.2%)

Full Drive Burst: Eternal Coffin (8 hit, 45%)
1. S,S,T,T,S,L (17 hit, 40.69%)
2. FDB Mode Not Active: S,S,T,T,S,S,T,L,L (15 hit, 37.04%)

Chrono brings a mixed bag to the table. His damage output is average along
with his speed. He actually swaps his Device during FDB mode which is a plus
and is the only character I know who can combo into his FDB without having to
already be in FDB mode. He has above average defense as well.

The downside is his charged bind spell, Hound Sphere, is not very useful. If
it held an opponent for at least more than a second, it might be better but
I often see the AI enemies busting out very shortly after the bind spell is
triggered. 

As far as I can tell, Chrono's game plan is to use the terrain to his
advantage and set up those Hound Spheres all over the place. Using a good mix
of dashing and firing Stinger Rays/Blaze Cannons will force the enemy to move
in a desired direction, get caught by the Hound Sphere (which is invisible
to the enemy shortly after being planted) and then go in for a combo. It
sounds like a good plan in theory but it's too bad the Hound Sphere doesn't
last long enough to make it really work in practice.

Thoma 
1. S,T,S,C,HS (11 hit, 18.54%)
2. S,C,HS (9 hit, 18.97%)
3. S,C,c (5 hit, 16.96%)
4. TT,C,HS (8 hit, 22.49%)

Full Drive Burst: Divide Zero "Eclipse" (4 hit, 55%)
1. S,L (6 hit, 37.16%)
2. S,T,S,L (9 hit, 38.56%)

I have to say that the lead of the Force manga had some good possibilities
going for him and it's just too bad that Tsuzuki can't seem to bring the pay
off. At least the game scenario gives Thoma some interesting personality
quirks and development which I hope makes it to the manga itself.

Gameplay wise, his combos are straight forward and do decent damage. His
movement speed is a bit on the slow side and his moves aren't as nice and
quick like Signum but then again, he was never a truly trained swordsman
before the Eclipse infection. His EX Attack is probably one of the slowest
ones there is so I wouldn't suggest attempting Combo 4 too much. Combo 1 is 
not too practical as the higher level AI will tech flip early out of it.
That leaves Combo 2 which will be the main Bread and Butter. His best position
would be at a close range where the tip of his Divider would hit the enemy
when he does his attacks.

He's got the second strongest FDB in the game which is solid and defense is
above average. Hit confirming into FDB is a bad idea considering the scaling
so save it as a Combo Breaker Counterattack instead.

Signum 
1. S,T,C,HS,T,T (7 hits, 19.11%)
2. TT,S,C,HS,T,T (8 hits, 21.7%)
3. Long Range: HS,C,HS,T,T (6 hits, 20.32%)

Full Drive Burst: Sturmfalken (4 hit, 42%)
1. S,T,L (6 hit, 29.48%)
2. TT,S,T,L (8 hit, 32.7%)

The General of the Raging Fire is the typical Belkan sword master with a good
variety of quick close range strikes. Her basic Bread and Butter is Combo 1
which does good damage. The EX Attack comes out a bit slowly but landing it
will give you increased damage. All in all, a very simple but effective 
fighter in this game.

Her FDB works better as a Combo Breaker Counterattack similar to Thoma above.

Vita
1. S,S,S,S,S,S (6 hit, 16.35%)
2. S,S,S,Grab (7 hit, 16.54%)
3. S,S,S,Grab,HT,C,C (16 hit, 23.04%)
4. Grab,HT,C,C (13 hit, 23.07%)
5. Long Range: HT,Grab,HT,C,C (14 hit, 32.48%)

Full Drive Burst: Gigantschlag (4 hit, 45%)
1. S,S,S,S,S,L (9 hit, 36.27%)
2. Long Range HT,S,S,L (7 hit, 40.55%)

I shouldn't be too surprised at Vita having the highest damaging non-FDB combo
in the game. It should be expected from the Knight of the Iron Hammer. 

While she is an awesome and high damage character, her effectiveness goes down
the drain in a PVP situation. Her S,S,S ground chain can be tech flipped and
her charged Long Range attack, Tödlichschlag, is easily avoidable. That leaves
trying to get a grab and then use Combo 4 as your main source of damage. The
odd thing about her charged Long Range attack is that it can be neutralized by
the enemy using a basic melee attack when Vita is in range and cause a clash.
She is also vulnerable to throws while charging if the enemy times it right.
FDB range is actually quite short even though Graf Eisen itself is pretty
lengthy. Since you'll likely be playing the game by yourself against the AI,
your main combos to master would be Combos 3 & 5.

As for combo notes, what you want to do is hold Triangle long enough for her
device to change shape after the grab animation finishes. Then once the 
charged attack connects, tap Circle a few times to ensure you get the rest of
the combo out.

Shamal 
1. S,T,TT (4 hit, 12.34%) 
2. S,T,S,C (8 hit, 13.19%) 
3. TT,S,C (6 hit, 18.27%)

Full Drive Burst: Linker Core Extraction (3 hit, 60%)
1. S,L (5 hit, 39.55%)
2. S,T,S,L (8 hit, 38.74%)
3. TT,S,L (6 hit, 41.8%)

Aside from the highest damaging Full Drive Burst in the game, Shamal does not
have much else going for her. Her defense is pitiful, her movement isn't so
great and her long range circle attack is a simple teleport that barely gets
her anywhere. I expected Mirror of Travels to at least be similar to how
ExDeath gets around with his teleport in Dissidia but sadly, that's not the
case. Seriously, a tree gets around better than the Knight of the Lake...

Her other long range spells are Wind Shackles and Storms that act as a way
to control space but the fact is that in a wide open map situation, those
moves are not going to be much help at all.

For Combo 1, you might need to move up a little in order to connect the EX
attack afterwards. Combo 2 will depend on your spacing situation so if you
are too far out, just keep tapping Square to get a few extra hits of damage,
even if it's small. Opening with an EX attack can give her a decent amount
of damage but it comes out quite slowly so Combo 3 might be limited in usage.

Zafira
1. S,S,T,T,Grab (6 hit, 17.13%)
2. S,S,T,C,C,Grab (7 hit, 19.57%)
3. S,S,S,TT,S,S,S (7 hit, 22.28%)
4. S,S,S,TT,C,Grab (7 hit, 22.85%)
5. TT,C,C,Catch (5 hit, 24.86%)

Full Drive Burst: Steel Yoke (10 hit, 40%)
1. S,S,L (12 hit, 28.88)
2. S,S,T,L (13 hit, 27.64)

The Shielding Guardian Beast is pretty much the character to use if you want
to keep beating AI opponents. Just keep spamming his grab move and his long 
range Circle move, Running Fang-Beast (aka Char Kick/Rider Kick). It's an easy
way to clear Survival Mode and rack up tons of Lyrical Points.

He has some good damage potential which is to be expected since he is known
as a good trainer in Vivid for Miura. The first combo to master is Combo 1
with the more advanced and damaging combo being Combo 4. His EX attack can
also be followed up with a few basic moves for good solid damage. Combos 3 &
4 will be tech flipped by the AI after the S,S,S Ground Chain. FDB isn't much
to write about but with his abilities, he won't really get into a situation
where he needs to rely on it. Last but not least, his defense is above average
which is pretty much his job description as the Shielding Guardian Beast.

Reinforce
1. S,S,TT,S (6 hit, 15.95%)
2. S,S,TT,T (5 hit, 16.87%)
3. S,S,TT,HC (7 hit, 20.24% or 8 hit, 20.56%)
4. S,S,Grab (4 hit, 14.46%)
5. S,C,HC (6 hit, 16.06%)
6. TT,C,HC (6 hit, 20.08%)
7. S,C,T
A) No Howling Sphere (3 hit, 10.75%)
B) 1 Sphere (4 hit, 16.38%)
C) 2 Spheres (5 hit, 21.21%)
D) 3 Spheres (6 hit, 25.24%)

Full Drive Burst: Thunder of the Night Sky (9 hit, 50%)
FDB Hit Confirm: TT,L (10 hit, 45.74%)

So Reinforce gets a nerf from her BoA version. Movement speed is pretty bad.
Her defense is the same as Hayate's which means it's below average. On the
plus side, she packs a serious punch as her melee string can seriously drain
an enemy's magic meter if they normal Guard her attacks. The same goes with
using her Howling Sphere (charged Triangle spell) to amplify her regular 
Triangle attack, Nightmare.

Howling Sphere works similar to Chrono's Hound Sphere but instead of a bind,
Reinforce's spell can damage the enemy. And it even sends out additional
Nightmare blasts so if you have two Spheres cast on the field for example,
you will shoot out three blasts when you tap the Triangle button for an
attack. Of course, you will have to re-cast the spheres once you use that
attack.

Combos 1-3 require a slight input delay after the EX attack for the last
attack to hit. With the charged Circle attack in Combo 3, the hits/damage
will depend on how long you waited until activating the spell.

Full Drive Burst is pretty solid. At least her strike is with a big, fat punch
instead of thrusting her massive chest in front like in BoA.

Liese Twins
1. S,S,S,S,S,S (6 hit, 14.2%)
2. S,S,S,S,T,T (6 hit, 14.74%)
3. S,S,S,S,S,T,T (7 hit, 15.62%)
4. S,S,S,S,S,T,C (8 hit, 16.08%)
5. S,S,S,S,S,X,S,S,T,T (9 hit, 16.22%)
6. S,S,S,S,S,X,S,S,T,C (10 hit, 16.34%)
7. S,S,S,S,S,X,S,S,T,T,X,Grab (10 hit, 16.8%)
8. S,S,S,S,S,X,S,S,T,T,X,S,C (11 hit, 16.91%)

Full Drive Burst: Mirage Assault (7 hit, 45%)

These girls really have low damage output. When I researched what they can
do, their dash cancels into another ground chain seemed interesting but it
barely does any extra damage at all so what's the point in learning it? It's
quite frustrating and because of that, I'm inclined to think of these catgirls
as a low-tier selection like Vivio.

I can't find any hit confirms into their FDB since the initial strike comes
out slowly.

Linith
1. S,S,T,C,S,S,S (7 hit, 16.1%)
2. S,T,C,S,T,T (Hits vary but maximum is 11 hit, 16.96%)
3. TT,S,S,T,C (7 hit, 14.83%)

Full Drive Burst: Plasma Saber (5 hit, 48%)
1. TT,L (8 hit, 31.76%)
2. S,S,L (7 hit, 33.68%)
3. TT,S,S,L (10 hit, 35.09%)
4. S,S,T,C,S,S,L (11 hit, 38.03%)

The familiar of Precia and someone who got a bigger role in the first movie.
As for how she does here, she's not very interesting to use. Her defense is
even worse than Fate's normal form so she really can't take a lot of damage.
Her offense is pretty lackluster and her only good move is a charged Jet
Smasher as far as I'm concerned. 

Precia
No Thunder Sphere active
1. S,T,TT,C (9 hit, 21.36%)
2. S,T,Grab (8 hit, 20.03%)
3. TT,T (6 hits, 21.76%)

Thunder Sphere active (3 orbs)
1. TT,T (9 hits, 24.43%)
2. S,T,Grab (11 hit, 20.77%)
3. S,T,TT (9 hit, 20.25%)

Full Drive Burst: Crucifixion (5 hits, 60%)
1. Long Range: TT,L (8 hit, 44.13%)
2. Long Range, Thunder Spheres active: S,TT,L (12 hit, 51.58%)

The Big Bad of Season 1 and one super powerful mage. It carries over in the
form of having the highest damage FDB in the game (next to Shamal), having
some solid special moves and having some good high damage close range combat
combos. Her big weakness? Really, bad defense and slow movement speed. The
only characters in the game who probably have a worse defense than her are
Sonic Form Fate and Sprite Form Material-L. Seriously, one clean FDB from
Shamal without scaling is enough to kill Precia from full health. Heck, this
might be true for other characters who have pretty strong FDBs like Thoma and
Reinforce.

Thunder Sphere is essentially one of her best moves. Done with a charged
Square at long range, Precia summons three orbs around her that work similar
to Rose's Soul Satellite Ultra from Super Street Fighter IV or even Benimaru's
Raimei Tou HSDM from KOF2002/NeoWave. The orbs stick around for a while and
can damage/disrupt the enemy if they touch them. This move is a good way to
control the flow of close combat and put pressure on the enemy.

Her FDB is a solid attack but as far as I can tell, the only way to hit
confirm into it is at long range. Like Yuuno, her FDB strike is an actual
magic attack of sorts and not a physical strike. And yes, you do need to tap
Triangle twice so that you get the Variant Sphere attack which is the move
that leads into the actual FDB.

Yuri
1. S,S,S,S (10 hit, 13.26%)
2. S,S,S,T (13 hit, 14.26%)
3. S,S,Grab (13 hit, 14.75%)
4. S,C (6 hit, 15.52%)
5. Long Range (about 18-20 m): HC,HT (7 hit, 20.25%)
6. Long Range (about 18-20 m): HC,HS (5 hit, 20.31%)

From Successful Close Range Counter: 
1. S,S (9 hit, 20.76%)
2. S,T (12 hit, 21.92%)
3. Grab (12 hit, 22.45%)
4. FDB (7 hit, 40.95%)

Full Drive Burst: Ancient Matrix (3 hit, 50%)
FDB Hit Confirm: S,L (5 hit, 34.16%)

Last but not least, the playable version of the final boss. Her defense is top
tier but her damage output is pretty low by itself. She is dependent on using
a long range strategy to get her damage or baiting the enemy into attacking so
she can counter and then tack on a follow up. Her attacks do come out slow but
they cover a decent range. She also gets massive amounts of magic meter when
she connects with her combos but it's too bad that the magic attacks she has
aren't anything great to write about. 

Her FDB strike covers a very long range and is pretty good. This should be
used as a Counterattack.

As for final boss differences, it's mostly enhanced versions of attacks 
(improved range, better close Counter), at least one exclusive attack (the
one with all those orbs firing at you) and super armour that renders her
immune to most knockback on top of her ridiculously high defense. There's
another FAQ which describes how to deal with her boss version in story mode
at the GameFAQs GOD board.

Credits & Contact Info
----------------------

Here are the main resources I used to put this together...

Japanese GOD wiki - http://www22.atwiki.jp/adx992/ 
GameFAQs Boards & Animesuki GOD Thread for additional combos and misc info.

Thanks to Namco-Bandai for publishing and Witch Craft for developing the game.
Thanks to Seven Arcs and staff for all their work on the franchise to date.

My Youtube channel has several Nanoha replays which shows off most of the
above combos described in the FAQ. The channel can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/GenesisGamma6?feature=mhee

AIM: GenesisGamma6
Yahoo: nemesisalpha1@yahoo.ca
MSN/Hotmail: deadalpha@hotmail.com
AnimeSuki Member Name: Yasanagi

Copyright 2013 Isaac Tong