XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX ___ ___ _______ ___ _
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX | \ / | | ______| | \ | |
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | |\ \ / /| | | |_____ | |\ \ | |
XXXXXXXXXXXXX ____ | | \ \ / / | | | _____| | | \ \ | |
XXXXXXXXXXX |____|| | \ \ / / | | | |_____ | | \ \| |
XXXXXXXXX |_| \___/ |_| |_______| |_| \___|
XXXXXXXXXXX __ _ __ _ _
XXXXXXXXXXXXX | | / \ | |\ | | \ ( \
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | |-- ( __ |-- | \ | | ) \
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX |__ |__ \_/ |__ | \| |_/ \_)
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
X-MEN LEGENDS (Gamecube version) FAQ/WALKTRHOUGH
v1.30 2005-01-14
(c)2004 Barry Scott Will <pyric@cavecreations.net>
<http://www.pyric.com/>
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
or send a letter to
Creative Commons
559 Nathan Abbott Way
Stanford, California 94305, USA.
X-Men (tm)Marvel Comics
X-Men Legends (c)2004 Activision
This FAQ/walkthrough is not endorsed by, nor is the author associated with,
either Activision or Marvel Comics.
ASCII art by Barry Scott Will
/
\ /--MEN---------------------------------------------------------------
\/ Table of Contents
/\---LEGENDS-----------------------------------------------------------
/ \
/
[1] Overview
[1.1] Game Review
[1.2] Glossary
[1.3] Frequently Asked Questions
[2] Controls
[3] Gameplay
[3.1] Basic Play
[3.2] Combat & Mutant Powers
[3.2.1] Power Combo Names
[3.3] Using the Map
[3.4] Leveling the X-Men
[3.5] Items
[3.6] Hints
[4] X-Men
[4.1] X-Men Stats
[4.2] Power Leveling
[4.3] Beast
[4.4] Colossus
[4.5] Cyclops
[4.6] Emma Frost
[4.7] Gambit
[4.8] Iceman
[4.9] Jean Grey
[4.10] Jubilee
[4.11] Magma
[4.12] Nightcrawler
[4.13] Professor X
[4.14] Psylocke
[4.15] Rogue
[4.16] Storm
[4.17] Wolverine
[4.18] Optional Builds
[5] Enemies
[6] Walkthrough
[6.1] Overview
[6.2] Escape From New York
[6.3] Interlude #1 - X-Mansion
[6.4] HAARPo March
[6.5] Interlude #2 - X-Mansion
[6.5.1] Sentinel Flashback
[6.5.2] Juggernaut Flashback
[6.6] That's Morlock It!
[6.7] An Arbiter-y Assignment
[6.8] Interlude #3 - X-Mansion
[6.8.1] Magma Qualification Exam
[6.8.2] Weapon X Flashback
[6.9] Nuclear Family
[6.10] Interlude #4 - Muir Island
[6.11] Interlude #5 - X-Mansion
[6.12] Illyana on the Astral Plane
[6.13] Weapon X Part Deux
[6.14] Interlude #6 - X-Mansion
[6.15] Morlock, More Power
[6.16] Interlude #7 - X-Mansion
[6.17] Juggernaut Jig
[6.18] 48 Sentinels on Parade
[6.19] Got Morlock?
[6.20] Interlude #8 - X-Mansion
[6.21] I Fall To Pieces...
[6.22] Sentinels 'R Us
[6.23] Three Strikes and You're Out, Shadow King
[6.24] Interlude #9 - X-Mansion
[6.25] Magneto's Hunk-a, Hunk-a, Burnin' Rock
[7] Item List
[8] Trivia Game Q&A
[9] Danger Room Scenarios
[10] Version History
[11] Credits
To jump to a specific topic, open the Edit menu and choose Find in this
Page (or just press Control-F) and enter the bracketed number, including
the brackets. For example, enter [4.17] as the search text to jump straight
to the information on Wolverine.
/
\ /--MEN---------------------------------------------------------------
\/ [1] Overview
/\---LEGENDS-----------------------------------------------------------
/ \
/
=================
[1.1] Game Review
=================
X-Men Legends is an action role-playing game in the mold of Diablo, Dungeon
Siege or Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. The primary "role-playing" aspect of
the game is controlling your characters' increase in power--a process
called "leveling"--and the occasional non-action stage, where your main
purpose is to hunt down other characters and chat with them.
Primarily, your task is to kill people and break things; and, since your
characters are fifteen of the uncanny X-Men, you can do this very well. For
fans of the action/RPG genre, this is a good game. For fans of the X-Men,
this is a good game. For fans of both the action/RPG genre and the X-Men,
this is...well, your geek dreams have come true.
The gameplay is smooth, combat controls are mostly intuitive, and the game
is very linear, so you don't really have to put much thought into it beyond
"X-Men Smash!" The story involves an ongoing fight between the X-Men and
two opposing groups: The Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto; and the
Genetic Research and Security Organization (GRSO), led by General Kincaid.
Throw in some of the supreme anti-mutant robots known as Sentinels and you
have the recipe for rock-'em, sock-'em fun.
Some people have been put off by the fact the characters in the game are
somewhat clumsily rendered using a cel-shaded technique, rather than being
full, 3-dimensional polygonal figures. You will get used to it, and it does
help the characters pop off the screen. Considering how chaotic many of the
fights become, this is a good thing.
Controlling the X-Men's leveling is also a nice feature; but, a lot less
useful than one would think. Each X-Man has a strength, and, for the most
part, trying to make the X-Man anything else ranges from hard to
impossible. For example, Wolverine, Beast and Rogue will never be anything
other than hand-to-hand fighters and you can't make them into ranged
fighters. Cyclops can be a hand-to-hand fighter if you level him that way;
however, he will be an incredibly bad melee fighter, so why bother?
In the end, most of the X-Men end up being basically the same regardless
how many times you play through. This does limit the replay value of the
game; but, it is so much fun the first time (or two) through, it is
definitely a worthwhile purchase.
==============
[1.2] Glossary
==============
A few terms used in this guide with which you may not be familiar...
Boss
----
"Boss" enemies are the super-powerful opponents you face at different
stages of the game. Typically you will see references to a "mini-boss",
this is a slightly weaker foe you fight midway through a mission. A "boss"
is the foe you meet at the end of a mission. The "end boss" is the wickedly
powerful bad guy you have to defeat to end the game.
Buff, buffing, insta-buff
-------------------------
A "buff" in game lingo is an increase in a character's powers. For the X-
Men, this may be an increase in ability scores or damage from attacks. An
"insta-buff" is an increase in the team's powers that can be easily and
immediately applied. For example, Cyclops' Command power increases the
Strike and Agility scores of the entire team as soon as it is used, thus is
can be described as an "insta-buff".
Critical hit
------------
A critical hit (or, sometimes just "critical" or "crit") is an attack that
strikes a "sensitive" area and does more damage. In X-Men Legends,
criticals do three times as much damage as a normal attack. E.g. if your
normal attack averages 30 points damage, a crit will do 90 points damage.
Mob
---
While this term originally referred to groups of enemies, it has evolved to
refer to any enemy--even singular foes.
Spam
----
In this context, "spam" refers to repetitive action. For example, to "spam
the L button" means repeatedly press the L (Call Team) button. Or, "spam
Lightning" means use Storm's Lightning power over and over and over and
over...You get the point.
Tank
----
A hand-to-hand fighter that can take a lot of damage and dish out even more
damage. Colossus, Rogue, Beast and Wolverine are all examples of "tanks".
================================
[1.3] Frequently Asked Questions
================================
The following questions are the ones most frequently asked via email or on
the GameFAQs X-Men Legends message board. Look here first, if you're having
a specific problem.
Q1) How many X-Men are playable?
A1) Count 'em from the ToC above. There are 15 playable X-Men; although,
one, Prof X, is only playable in one mission.
Q2) I'm having trouble rescuing the crewmen from the Arbiter!
A2) First, don't save at the Galley Xtraction point if you don't have much
time left! Second, be sure to seal up all the leaks; they're marked for you
on your auto-map.
Q3) How do I beat the Sentinels?
A3) Nightcrawler + Teleport Frenzy + Hammer of Nimrod = dead Sentinel. If
you're not high enough level to use HoN yet, Wolverine's Brutal Slash is
remarkably effective.
Q4) I'm out of health packs and don't have enough money to buy more.
A4) Play a Danger Room scenario that you have not completed. You can use
this same method to earn money, collect energy packs and equipment, etc.
Q5) What's the maximum level for the X-Men?
A5) Forty-five (45).
Q6) My team is constantly being beaten. What's the best team for (insert
mission here)?
A6) The best team is usually Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey and a tank
(Wolverine early, Colossus later). However, unless your team is composed of
just Emma, Jubilee and Beast, you've got a fighting chance in any mission.
If you keep dying, try these combat tips:
- Don't charge ahead. Advance slowly, and, if you get mobbed, retreat the
way you came, drawing a few enemies after you. Keep AI-controlled X-Men
near by using the L button (Call Team) frequently. Don't let them charge
ahead and trigger more mobs. Consider using Jubilee (Photo Flash) or
Emma Frost (Confuse or Fear) for controlling large crowds.
- Always be aware of rejuvenation units and take them out first (i.e.
Morlock Goths, Acolyte Adepts)
- Learn to hit power combos and always have Cyclops or Storm or both
on your team (with leveled up Leadership skill) to increase the
damage done by combos
- Learn to read the enemies' resistances and concentrate on hitting them
with other types of damage. I.e. don't expect Jean's Psychic Shout to
have much effect on Sentinels.
Q7) I'm stuck! Something's blocking my way and I can't go around.
A7) Yes, you can go around. You can always go around. Just search a little
harder. Try hitting a few nearby walls to see if they're breakable.
Q8) Can you play as (insert enemy mutant here)?
A8) Only in Skirmish or Sparring mode. In Story Mode, you are limited to
the 15 X-Men listed in the ToC above.
Q9) I beat the game; how do I change costumes?
A9) Press X (Skin) in any team select character screen (at beginning of a
mission or when using Change Team at an Xtraction point). In other words,
you can't change costumes until you get most of the way through the first
mission.
Q10) Do I keep my comics, sketch books and X-Men levels when I start a new
game?
A10) No. Every game plays exactly the same way. You can use the Review
option from the main menu to view all previously unlocked load screens,
cinematics, concept art and comics. In the game itself, you still have to
start at level one with all X-Men, unlock the X-Men in the same order, find
all the comics, DR discs and sketch books, etc.
Q11) I missed a Danger Room disc. Now what do I do?
A11) If it was one of the standard (i.e. not the Challenge or Nightmare
discs) scenarios, it will eventually show up in Healer's shop and you can
buy it. You may also get any DR disc from Healer's Grab Bag, but trying
over and over again to get one can be frustratingly tedious.
Q12) I've unlocked all 15 characters, and there's still an empty slot in my
team selection screen. Who is the missing X-Man?
A12) Prof X. That's his slot for when he's playable during the first Astral
Plane mission.
Q13) What's the best way to use (insert X-Man here)?
A13) General leveling and tactics tips are covered in this guide. For more
exhaustive information on using each mutant, refer to the GameFAQs FAQ page
for X-Men Legends. As of this writing, every X-Man has an individual guide
with the exception of Rogue, Jubilee and Prof X (who doesn't really need
his own guide).
/
\ /--MEN---------------------------------------------------------------
\/ [2] Controls
/\---LEGENDS-----------------------------------------------------------
/ \
/
Key:
- A comma between two buttons means press the first button and release,
then press the second button. Example: A, A, B means press-and-release A,
press-and-release A again, then press B.
- An addition symbol between two buttons means press-and-hold the first
button, then press the second button. Example: R+A means press and hold the
R (right shoulder) button and then press A.
- A, B, X, Y, Z are the buttons on the controller that are labeled with
those same letters
- L and R are the Left and Right shoulder buttons
Just another reminder, this refers to the control layout for the Nintendo
Gamecube. If you're trying to use this FAQ for the PS2 or X-Box version,
none of this is going to make sense (or even work). The controls for the
menus are covered where appropriate in Section 3, Gameplay below. This
section covers the in-game controls.
===========================
[2.1] In-game control chart
===========================
BUTTON...........ACTION
A................Standard attack, basic mutant power
B................Knockback attack, Strong jump, Alternate mutant power
X................Use, Down while flying, Defensive/Buffing mutant power
Y................Jump, Flight, Up while flying, Xtreme mutant power
Z................Use health pack
X+Z..............Use energy pack
R................Activate mutant power menu: hold, then press A, B, X or Y
L................Call teammates to you
Control stick....Move
D-pad............Switch player control to a different X-Man
C-stick..........Move camera
Start............Bring up game menu
===========================
[2.2] Detailed descriptions
===========================
[2.2.1] Standard Attack (A button)
----------------------------------
This is your basic melee attack (punch, kick, some X-Men use a weapon) and
does the least amount of damage.
[2.2.2] Knockback attack (B button)
-----------------------------------
This is a stronger, slower melee attack that has the ability to knock your
opponent backwards. Use A and B in different sequences to deliver special
attacks. For example: A, A, B is a popup; A, B, A is a trip; etc. You can
learn and practice special attacks in the Danger Room.
[2.2.3] Use (X button)
----------------------
This is the button you press to open doors and pick up items. You also
press X to talk to other characters, activate Xtraction points or to use
certain control panels. You will get a notice on screen if you can press X
to use anything. X can also be used to pick up people or other objects and
throw them; and is the button fliers use to pick up and carry people.
Fliers can also use X to fly lower.
[2.2.4] Jump/Double jump/Flight (Y button)
-------------------------------------------
A single press of the Y button will cause your character to jump. Pressing
Y again in mid-jump will cause the character to use his or her special
mutant ability, assuming you have purchased points in that ability. For
example: Iceman creates ice slides; Magma creates lava slides; some X-Men
can fly; some X-men can double-jump; etc. Fliers use Y to fly higher. Any
X-Man can perform a high jump when you press Y, B. The high jump ends with
a powerful attack, which is very useful against tall enemies, such as
Sentinels. You can also use it to clear large gaps or tall obstacles.
[2.2.5] Use health (Z button) or energy (X+Z buttons) packs
-----------------------------------------------------------
To use a health pack for your current character, press Z. To use an energy
pack for your current character, press-and-hold X and then press Z.
[2.2.6] Activate mutant power menu (R button)
---------------------------------------------
Press-and-hold the R button to open the mutant power menu, which will show
in the upper-left portion of the screen. All currently available mutant
powers will appear mapped to the appropriate button. Press the
corresponding button to activate the mutant power. The buttons for the
mutant powers are:
A - Basic offensive power, all X-Men have this power from the beginning
of the game. All other mutant powers must be purchased with level-up
points. The A-power icon is the bottom icon on the menu.
B - This is an alternate offensive power. It may be a variation of the
A-Power, or a different ability altogether. The B-power icon is the
left icon on the menu.
X - Defensive/buffing mutant power. Some X-Men's defensive powers cover the
entire team, others only protect the individual X-Man. Some X-Men have
a buffing (stat-increasing) power rather than a pure defensive power.
The X-power icon is the right icon on the menu.
Y - Xtreme mutant power. This is a super-powerful mutant power that can
only be purchased once an X-Man has reached 15th level. The Xtreme
power icon is the top icon on the menu.
[2.2.7] Call team {L button)
----------------------------
Press L to call your teammates to you. If you are currently engaged in
combat, your teammates will target your opponent with their mutant power as
defined in their character sheet (see section 3.4 below for more
information on character sheets). Use this button, in combination with one
of your own mutant powers, to score combos (see section 3.2 below).
[2.2.8] Move (Control stick)
----------------------------
Use the left control stick to move your character around the screen.
[2.2.9] Switch X-Man (D-pad)
----------------------------
Use the directional pad on the left side of the controller to switch to an
"open" X-Man. Any X-Man that is not controlled by a human is available for
switching. Look at your team icons in the lower left of the screen to see
which direction to press the D-pad to switch to a character. For example,
your team icons look like this:
Cyclops
/\
||
Storm <--------> Rogue
||
\/
Wolverine
You would press up to take control of Cyclops, right to take control of
Rogue, down to control Wolverine and left to control Storm.
When playing with more than one player, each X-Man on the team appears in
one of the four corners of the screen, with a diagram of the D-pad next to
the X-Man's portrait that shows which direction on the D-pad you should
press to take control of that X-Man.
[2.2.10] Move camera (C-stick)
------------------------------
You have some limited control over the camera using the yellow C-stick on
the right of the controller. Left/right rotates the camera, up/down zooms
in and out. There's no way to change the camera angle except through the
options menu.
[2.2.11] Game menu (Start button)
---------------------------------
Press Start to bring up a menu that allows you to view your current
objectives, access your current teams' character sheets, load a game, turn
the map on or off, etc.
/
\ /--MEN---------------------------------------------------------------
\/ [3] Gameplay
/\---LEGENDS-----------------------------------------------------------
/ \
/
=============================
[3.1] Basic Play (Story Mode)
=============================
The following information is for playing through the main story. There are
some special game modes that can be accessed through the Danger Room
selection at the main menu (the one you get when you first start the game).
Those game modes--Sparring and Skirmish--are not covered in this guide.
Gameplay in X-Men Legends consists of action-oriented missions interspersed
with interludes where all you do is talk to other characters. During the
interludes, you are limited to playing as Alison Crestmere (AKA Magma).
During the missions, you will have up to fourteen X-Men from which to
choose. (The fifteenth character, Prof X, is playable only in two specific
situations.)
You progress through each mission with a team of up to four X-Men. There
are a few missions where the number of available X-Men is less than four.
Anywhere from one to four players may control the X-Men on the current
team. Any X-Man not controlled by a player will be controlled by the game's
artificial intelligence (AI).
NOTE: A player can take control of an X-Man simply by plugging in a
controller and hitting Start. If a player has to leave, you have to bring
up the game menu (Start button) and select the Players option to render
their controller inactive. If there are fewer players than there are X-Men,
any player can switch control to any "open" X-Man on the team.
In addition to finding and eliminating resistance, each mission will have a
variety of objectives you must complete. You might need to destroy a
certain number of machines, or find a specific character or rescue other
people. You can review your current mission objectives by bringing up the
game menu and selecting the Objectives option.
During missions, you can bring up an auto-map (see section 3.3 below) that
shows you where you've been. The map shows objectives (a yellow X inside a
circle) and Xtraction points (a blue X inside a circle). You should always
use the map to help you find your way around the different stages.
Xtraction points are marked by a glowing, blue X in a circle on the ground.
At an Xtraction point, you can do a variety of things:
Change Team
-----------
Allows you to change the members of your current team. Choosing this option
brings up the team select characters screen. Highlight any character and
press A to switch to a different character. While in this mode, you can
revive fallen X-Men using tech bits (see section 3.5 below) and re-add them
to your team. If your current roster is not subject to change, this option
will not be available. NOTE: all fallen X-Men are revived at the end of a
mission, so only pay to revive an X-Man if you absolutely must do so.
Save Game
---------
Allows you to save your current progress. Saved games require 25 blocks on
a GCN memory card. You should use a memory card with enough free space to
store at least two saved games, preferably more. You will also need 1 block
for game configuration options, so your memory card must have at least 26
blocks and should have 51 or 76 blocks free for playing X-Men Legends.
Load Game
---------
Allows you to load a saved game. You can also do this from the game menu
(i.e. you don't need an Xtraction point to load a game).
Visit the Danger Room
---------------------
Some Xtraction points allow you to jump straight to the Danger Room in X-
Mansion and play scenarios there. If you are finding a stage difficult, use
this option to level your characters some more so you have more power to
get through the stage.
Visit Healer
------------
Healer is a Morlock friendly to the X-Men. Once you have talked to him
during the third mission, you will be able to use Xtraction points to visit
his shop. He sells health and energy packs and certain Danger Room discs
you may have missed along the way. He also has a very expensive Grab Bag
that produces a random item. Sometimes this can be a very good item; most
of the time it will be worth far less than what you paid to reach into the
bag. Healer will also buy any of your surplus items.
Visit Forge
-----------
Once you have unlocked Forge during the first interlude, you may use an
Xtraction point to visit his shop and either buy or sell equipment. Forge
will buy anything you carry; however, he sells only armor, backpacks and
belts. If you are in desperate need of protection, you can buy some things
from him. Mostly, you will use Forge to reduce your inventory so you can
pick up more loot.
Not all stages have Xtraction points and not all Xtraction points allow the
full range of options listed above. (Save Game and Load Game are available
at all Xtraction points; the other options vary.) Whether or not a stage
has an Xtraction point is noted in the walkthrough below.
As you play through each mission, you should try to pick up as much stuff
as you can. This means breaking things. At least half, if not more, of all
the placeable objects in the game are breakable, and some produce
equipment, health or energy packs or tech bits. The most likely candidates
for useful items are the container objects: barrels, trash cans, crates,
etc. Beds, chairs, computer consoles and other such items rarely produce
anything; but, they're fun to break anyway. (Or, pick them up and throw
them at the bad guys...)
============================
[3.2] Combat & Mutant Powers
============================
Combat, and lots of it, is the name of the game in X-Men Legends. Each X-
Man has two primary melee attacks: standard and strong/knockback. Standard
attacks are made with the A button, strong attacks with B. By hitting an
opponent with different sequences, you can perform a special attack that
does more damage. Some of the special attacks are:
- Triple Hit: A, A, A
- Knockback: B, B
- Popup: A, A, B
- Trip: A, B, A
- Stun: B, A, B, B
- Power sequence: A, B, B, A, A, A
While some X-Men can be effective just unloading melee attacks on the bad
guys, the best way to win fights is to use your X-Men's mutant powers. Even
better, you should learn how to hit "power combos"--two mutant powers used
on one opponent at the same time.
Hitting combos in multiplayer requires communication between the players
and a good sense of the timing of each mutant power being used. Wolverine's
Brutal Slash, for example, is much faster than Storm's Lightning Strike. If
a player controlling Wolverine wants to hit a combo with a player
controlling Storm, the Wolverine player must watch the timing of the LS and
initiate the Brutal Slash immediately before the lightning hits.
In single player, hitting combos is part luck and part skill. In combat,
you press L repeatedly to call your teammates to you and have them attack
your opponent with their mutant powers. Again, timing is an issue, but you
don't have much control over when the computer AI will actually unleash its
power(s).
The primary method of hitting combos in single player is to hold down the R
button and repeatedly press both the L and either the A or B button.
Experiment to find different teams that work well for hitting combos.
(Note: Emma Frost's Confuse and Jubilee's Photo Flash powers do not appear
to cause power combos.)
Make sure you always have either Cyclops or Storm (or both) on the team for
the bonuses they provide to power combos. The Leadership skill possessed by
both X-Men adds bonus damage to power combos and bonus experience points
earned from an enemy on whom you used a combo. You do not have to actually
defeat the enemy with the combo. As long as you used a combo on that enemy
at some point, you get the bonus XP. Also, you only need Storm or Cyclops
on the team for the bonus, other X-Men can actually hit the combo.
The damage bonuses from the Leadership skills "stack"; i.e. if both Cyclops
and Storm are on your team and both have Leadership 5, you'll get 300%
bonus damage to your combos! The XP bonuses, alas, do not stack. Still, the
primary purpose for Leadership is the damage bonus, so having both X-Men
leaders on your team is a good thing.
You can also score combos even if you are just fighting hand-to-hand; just
keep pressing L while you're punching to keep your teammates blasting away
with their powers. There's even a "Batter Up!" combo that is scored when
one X-Man hits with a strike sequence at the same time another X-Man hits
with another strike sequence.
Examination of gameplay videos shows the powers do not have to hit exactly
simultaneously. There is a small window of opportunity surrounding each
power when you can cause a combo. Powers that temporarily stun your
opponents are especially good for combos as you can hit with the second
power any time while the foe is stunned. Area-of-effect powers also give
good chances for hitting combos as multiple enemies are affected.
Once you get to level 15 and purchase Xtreme powers for your X-Men, you can
use these powers by pressing R + Y. You can hit super power combos by
hitting a combo with one or two Xtreme powers. Xtreme powers require Xtreme
icons, which will display at the bottom center of the screen. In order to
fill these icons, you need to collect Xtreme tokens the same way you
collect health packs, etc. Each token fills one-quarter of an icon, so you
must collect four tokens to get one full icon and use an Xtreme power once.
The Xtreme power icons are shared by all X-Men. Thus, if you have one icon
filled, and Gambit uses 52 Pick Up, Storm cannot then immediately follow
with Cyclone Fury until you pick up more tokens. At level 15, you can have
one filled Xtreme icon. At level 20, you can have two filled icons. At
level 25, you can have three; at level 30, you can have four; and, at level
35 and after, you can have five filled icons.
Xtreme powers are most useful for crowd control. The best Xtreme powers are
those that launch enemies away from you, such as Colossus' Seismic Smash.
Try to avoid using Xtreme powers against bosses, as most Xtreme powers are
large area-of-effect powers that are intended to damage multiple enemies.
Against a single enemy, they're a lot less powerful. Use focused, single-
opponent powers and combos against bosses.
Another method of dealing with your enemies is to throw things at them. A
character with the Might skill can pick up and throw cars, trucks and other
really heavy things--or Wolverine for a Fastball Special (see section 4.17
below). Any character can throw barrels or crates; the exploding barrels
are especially nice. Gambit and Jubilee can both charge objects and throw
them before they explode--sort of homemade grenades.
As you attack enemies, keep an eye on the enemy status bar in the top
center of the screen. This shows your opponent's health status and any
damage resistances possessed by the enemy. For example, some enemies are
physical resistant. This means attacks causing physical damage are less
effective. Team up on the foe with energy and mental attacks. The same goes
for opponents listed as mental resistant, etc.
Keep an eye out for rejuvenators. Various mobs have a special unit that can
revive fallen comrades. If you don't take out the rejuvenator, the bad guys
will keep coming and coming and coming and coming. See section 5, Enemies,
below for a list of rejuvenator units.
Finally, if you can, avoid combat on bridges (especially bridges built by
an X-Man) or near ledges. The computer AI is just stupid enough to
occasionally send your teammates jumping into the abyss after enemies that
have fallen over the edge. That's a bad thing.
Combat in X-Men Legends is fast, furious and goes on forever; so, you'll
get plenty of practice in taking care of the bad guys. If, for some strange
reason, you can't get enough combat, try the Danger Room.
[3.2.1] Power Combo Names
-------------------------
Every power combo or super power combo has a name composed of an adjective
and a noun; e.g. Atomic Blades or Electric Quake. The two words are taken
from the X-Men powers that were used. The first power that hits determines
the adjective; the second power determines the noun. To determine the name
of a combo, just look up the adjective and noun for each power. Thus:
Cyclops Optic Beam + Wolverine Brutal Slash = Optic Claw
Wolverine Brutal Slash + Cyclops Optic Beam = Adamantium Beam
Here is a list of adjectives and nouns for most of the offensive mutant
powers. Emma Frost's Confuse power and Jubilee's Photo Flash power do not
appear to cause combos, perhaps because they do not harm your foes.
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Character | Power | Adjective | Noun |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Beast | Pinball | Rolling | Strike |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Propeller Kick | Simian | Kick |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Orbital Bombardment | | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Colossus | Power Smash | Charging | Smash |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Concussion Slam | Catastrophic | Slam |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Seismic Smash | Diving | Quake |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Cyclops | Optic Beam | Optic | Beam |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Optic Sweep | Immobilizing | Shockwave |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Optic Rage | | Rage |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Emma Frost | Confuse | n/a | n/a |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Fear | Spectral | Terror |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Psychic Bedlam | | Shellshock |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Gambit | Charged Card | Atomic | Cards |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Staff Slam | Charged | Slam |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | 52 Pick Up | | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Iceman | Freeze Blast | Icy | Chill |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Ice Shards | Piercing | Blades |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Freeze Frame | | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Jean Grey | Telekinesis | Lifting | Kinetics |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Psychic Shout | Shrieking | Scream |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Phoenix Force | | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Jubilee | Energy Burst | Dazzling | Sparklers |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Photo Flash | n/a | n/a |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Independence Day | | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Magma | Fiery Blast | Burning | Blast |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Lava Fissure | Molten | Eruption |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Volcano | | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Nightcrawler | Teleport Leap | Quantum | Leap |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Teleport Flurry | Leaping | Flurry |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Blindside Blitz | | Chaos |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Professor X | Hammer Legend | Astral | Flash |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Blast Legend | Cerebral | Nova |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Psychic Maelstrom | | Maelstrom |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Psylocke | Psychic Slash | Crushing | Slash |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Psychic Bolts | Slicing | Bolt |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Psychic Onslaught | | Devastation |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Rogue | Southern Strike | Vampiric | Strike |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Ability Drain | Devitalizing | Diffusion |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Energy Drain | | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Storm | Lightning | Electric | Surge |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Whirlwind | Tempestuous | Twister |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Cyclone Fury | | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Wolverine | Brutal Slash | Adamantium | Claw |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Claw Flurry | Bestial | Assault |
|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|
| | Savage Rampage | | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
===================
[3.3] Using the Map
===================
The large auto-map is an essential part of success in X-Men Legends.
Without the map, stages can become confusing and impossible to navigate.
With the map, you can always see in which direction your next objective
lies. The stages are very linear, but some of them can twist around enough
to leave you confused unless you can see where you are and where you are
going on your map.
The map contains a number of useful markers to help you find your way
through each stage:
A blue X marks an Xtraction point. See section 3.1 above for more
information about Xtraction points.
A yellow X marks a stage objective. It might be a control panel that needs
to be operated, a person who needs to be rescued or a device that needs to
be destroyed. Your primary goal in each stage is to go to each yellow X and
do whatever needs to be done. Then you head for the exit and the next
stage.
A red arrow marks the exit from the stage. Once all objectives have been
cleared, find and use the exit.
By default, the map is hidden when you start the game. To turn on the map,
bring up the game menu using the Start button. Scroll down to the Map
option, which defaults to Map Hidden for story missions and Small Map for
DR scenarios, and press A to switch maps. The order is Map Hidden - Small
Map - Large Map. The small map overlays the right center portion of the
screen, and is the best option for DR scenarios as they take place in very
small areas.. The large map overlays the center of the screen and can show
nearly an entire area in story missions.
The large map overlay can be daunting when first used; however, it is an
invaluable tool and you should quickly grow accustomed to its presence. In
no time at all, you will be able to look right past the map whenever you
are in combat and then refocus on it when you are ready to move on.
========================
[3.4] Leveling the X-Men
========================
[3.4.1] Introduction
--------------------
Each X-Man has a "level" that indicates how much experience and how much
power the X-Man has. This level can be seen on the character screens, the
character sheet of each X-Man and next to the X-Man's health and energy
meters during game play. As you play the game, the X-Men earn experience
points (XP). At specific totals of XP, each X-Man increases in level and
can "level up".
Here is the list of total experience points required to reach each level:
Level Total XP Required
----- -----------------
1 0
2 100
3 265
4 505
5 830
6 1,320
7 2,070
8 3,190
9 4,720
10 6.880
11 10,015
12 14,415
13 20,610
14 29,190
15 41,265
16 58,065
17 81,440
18 113,810
19 158.630
20 220,650
21 306,345
22 424.545
23 587,450
24 811,610
25 1,119,830
26 1,543,300
27 2,124,650
28 2,921,870
29 4,014,295
30 5,510,355
31 7,557,660
32 10,357,460
33 14,183,785
34 19,410,055
35 26,544,400
36 36,278,080
37 49,551,280
38 67,642,160
39 92,287,785
40 125,847,705
41 171,526,730
42 233,674,980
43 318,196,770
44 433,102,210
45 589,255,845
Each time you defeat an enemy or fulfill your objectives in a mission, you
earn experience. Each active X-Man on your current team receives the full
amount of XP; inactive X-Men ("dead", not on the team or not unlocked)
receive a percentage of the XP. The percentage received by inactive X-Men
is sufficient to keep them about three to four levels behind active X-Men
even if you never use them on any team.
For example, if you defeat an enemy worth 499 XP, each active X-Man on your
team will receive 499 XP. All inactive X-Men will receive a percentage of
499 XP. The percentage varies based on level, type of XP earned, etc. If
you use Cyclops on every team and never use Beast at all, by the end of the
game, Cyclops will be about 38th level and Beast will be about 34th level--
even though Beast was never an active X-Man.
Whenever an X-Man on your team has increased in level, you will get a
notice on screen (it's kind of hard to miss). You may also see a smaller
notice on screen if you start using an X-Man who has increased in level,
but has not yet been leveled up. This notice shows bottom center and says
"Level Up" with a small gray circle to the left of it. The small gray
circle represents the Start button. Additionally, any X-Man that needs to
level up will have a gold double-helix rotating around his or her feet.
Every time an X-Man increases in level, he or she receives one point to add
to stats (stat point) and one point to add to powers/skills (skill point).
At every fifth level (5, 10, 15, 20, etc.), the X-Man receives two stat
points and two skill points. If you play the game normally--i.e. without
power leveling--the X-Men will end the game around 38th level, which means
you will be able to spend a total of 44 stat points and 44 skill points.
If you power-level using the Danger Room, you can get your X-Men to level
45, which is the maximum. At 45th level, you will have earned 53 stat
points and 53 skill points. Purchasing all levels of all powers and skills
for each X-Man varies, but is usually around 65 or 66 points. It is
impossible, no matter how much power-leveling you do, to max out all powers
and skills. The descriptions of each X-Man in section 4 will list those
powers and skills you can most easily do without.
You are not required to level up the X-Men every time they increase in
level. You can wait as long as you wish, saving the skill points in order
to buy more expensive powers or skills; i.e. those costing 2 points rather
than 1.
[3.4.2] Character Screen
------------------------
To level up an X-Man, you must bring them up on the character screen. You
can get to the character screen through the game menu (Start button) and
choosing the option Characters. At the beginning of each mission and when
you select Change Team at an Xtraction point, you get the team select
character screen. The team select character screen allows access to all
available X-Men. The character screen accessed from the game menu only
allows access to the members of the current team (including "dead" X-Men).
The character screen shows four X-pads, typically with a mutant on each
pad. The pads are in the same configuration as the X-Men on the D-pad icon
on your game screen. To the right are each X-Man's vital statistics, in
order from top to bottom of top, right, left and bottom X-pad. The stats
show each X-Man's level and current and maximum health and energy. If the
X-Man needs to be leveled up, a gold double-helix will be rotating next to
his or her name. To select an X-Man on the screen, use the control stick or
D-pad to highlight an X-pad.
Below the character stats are your current number of tech bits, health
packs and energy packs. Along the bottom of the screen is the menu.
B - Back: cancels everything you've done and returns to the game; do not
press this unless you want to go back and start over from the point
where you first opened the character screen. At the team select
character screen, this button also selects the team that appeared when
you first opened the screen.
X - Skin: changes the current X-Man's costume (not all X-Men have alternate
costumes); available only after you have beat the game and unlocked
extra costumes and only useable on the team select character screen.
A - Replace: changes the X-Man at the currently selected X-pad; only
available on the team select character screen.
Y - Details: opens the currently selected X-Man's character sheet
Start - Accept: commits all changes to memory and returns to the game; once
you accept changes made to the X-Men's stats, powers and skills you
cannot undo them. On the team select screen, this selects the
current team with changes made since you opened the screen.
If you are at the team select character screen and you press A to change an
X-Man, a filmstrip of available X-Men portraits opens on the bottom of the
screen. You can scroll left and right on this filmstrip with the control
stick. Fallen X-Men's portraits are darkened with "Revive" overlaid and the
cost (in tech bits) to revive him or her. The cost increases as the X-Men
increase in level.
From this filmstrip, highlight an X-Man and press A to revive (if the X-Man
has fallen and you have enough tech bits). Press A to place that X-Man at
the currently selected X-pad. Press Y to access that X-Man's character
sheet.
[3.4.3] Character Sheet
-----------------------
You level up the X-Men, change their equipment, change the AI that governs
them and view all their information from the character sheet. At the top
left of the character sheet is the character's portrait. To the left of the
portrait, you can see the L and R button icons; press L or R to switch to
the character sheets of the other X-Men on your current team. If you are
accessing the character sheet from the team select filmstrip, you can
switch to any unlocked X-Man.
To the right of the portrait are three icons representing three pages that
you can access. Underneath these page icons is the character's current
level and the number of points (stat or skill) available for the selected
page. The three pages are:
Stats/AI
--------
Shows the character's Strike, Agility, Body and Focus scores; the AI level;
the AI heal rule and the character's AI mutant power.
Powers/Skills
-------------
Shows the character's mutant powers and skills and current level in each.
Equipment
---------
Shows the character's equipped backpack, belt and armor and the available
inventory for each slot.
To the right of the main window are the character's statistics including
current attack and defense ratings, current and maximum health and energy,
current experience points and points needed to reach the next level.
Underneath the editable region of the window is an information window
showing details about the selected stat, power, skill or piece of
equipment. At the bottom is the menu:
B - Back: returns you to the character screen; changes you have made are
kept, but have not yet been committed to memory, you can still come
back to the character sheet and re-do the level up.
X - Subtract/Unequip: reduces the currently selected stat, power or skill
by one point; this is only available if you have, in this session,
added points to the score. On the equipment screen, X unequips the
currently selected item.
A - Add/Equip: increases the currently selected stat, power or skill by one
step or allows you to change the currently selected piece of equipment.
Y - Auto: automatically levels up the X-Man. Auto-leveling tends to spread
stat and skill points evenly and produces mediocre X-Men. It is not
recommended that you auto-level the X-Men.
Z - Drop: on the equipment screen, drops the currently selected item from
the team's inventory.
Start - Accept: commits changes to memory and returns to the game; all
changes are committed to memory and cannot be undone.
[3.4.4] Stats/AI
----------------
Each X-Man has four ability statistics (stats): Strike, Agility, Body and
Focus. Strike adjusts attack rating, Agility adjusts defense rating, Body
adjusts your health and Focus adjusts both the amount of mutant energy you
have and the rate at which it regenerates. The stats shown on this screen
represent your "modified" stats; i.e. any bonuses from skills, equipment or
other items are included.
In general, each X-Man needs lots of Focus because generous use of mutant
powers is the way to win this game. Putting all your level-up points into
Strike, Agility and Body and just punching and kicking your opponents is a
recipe for disaster. Mutants need their mutant powers; thus, they need lots
of mutant energy. Melee characters need at from one-third to one-half of
all level up points placed in Focus. Ranged characters should have from
one-half to two-thirds of all points in Focus.
Of the other three stats, Body is the most important as it determines the
X-Man's health. Early in the game, Agility can be important as it keeps
your X-Men from being hit so often; however, late in the game, you should
have party-wide shields that absorb most damage so Agility becomes almost
irrelevant. Strike is important for melee-oriented characters, especially
those who do not have any type of mutant damage bonus to melee attacks--
e.g. Iceman's Cold Crush or Emma Frost's Psionic Strike.
In general, you can be very successful putting almost all stat points into
Focus for all X-Men. Put a few points into Body, for health, and add some
Strike points for melee-oriented characters. Once you get about half-way
through the game, you will be relying almost totally on mutant attacks and
will want lots of Focus.
Below the Focus score is the character's AI level. The AI level controls
how the X-Man should react in combat, especially when you call for help.
There are three levels of AI for each X-Man.
Aggressive: the X-Man responds immediately to attack
Normal: the X-Man waits for an opportunity before attacking
Defensive: the X-Man only attacks if he or she is attacked
There's little use in this game for Defensive AI. Melee characters should
be set to Aggressive, the remaining X-Men can be set to Normal.
Next on the list is the AI heal rule that governs how the AI uses health
packs. A change on any one character's sheet affects all X-Men, not just
the individual character. There are four rules:
Never: the AI never uses health packs
< 20%: the AI uses a health pack if the character's health falls below
20 per cent of maximum and there are more than two health packs
in inventory
< 40%: the AI uses a health pack when the character's health falls below
40 per cent of maximum and there are more than two health packs
in inventory
< 80%: the AI uses a health pack when the character's health falls below
80 per cent of maximum and there are more than two health packs
in inventory
The recommended settings are 40% and 80%. Never is not a good idea unless
you intend to rapidly switch X-Men while in combat in order to use health
packs. Less than 20% can cause an X-Man to die from massive damage before
getting low enough to use a health pack. Less than 40% is a good all-around
rule that will keep your teammates alive while saving on your store of
health packs. Less than 80% will cause the AI to use health packs far too
rapidly in the early game; but, you can switch to it once you are able to
hold 15 or more health packs.
Last on the list is the AI power. This is the mutant power the AI will use
when you call for an attack using the L button. Recommended settings for AI
power are listed in the description of each X-Man in Section 4.
To increase a stat or change an AI rule, use the control stick to highlight
the item and press A. If you have added points to a stat in this session,
highlight the stat and press X to subtract a point. You cannot subtract
points added to stats previously and committed to memory.
[3.4.5] Powers/Skills
---------------------
Each X-Man has three standard mutant powers, one Xtreme power and several
skills as outlined in Section 4. The first power on the list is the A-
button power and all X-Men start with one level of this power. Next on the
list is the B-power, then the X-power and then the Xtreme (Y-button) power
followed by the skills.
Each of the first three powers is a "tree" with three "branches". You must
fill up each level of an upper branch before you can fill up levels in the
next branch. The A and B powers have two branches of five levels each,
followed by a "Legend" branch with just one level. Initially, you will not
see the Legend branch, it does not show on the character sheet until your
X-Men have reached 25th level. The X power has three branches of three
levels each. All three branches are visible from the start, though it will
take you a while to fill them. The Xtreme power is a single level.
The powers, the cost to buy a level, the character level requirement for
each level and the energy cost to use each power are standard for all
characters. Here's the basic chart:
Char Level
Power & Level Point cost Requirement Energy Used
A-1.1 - - 10
A-1.2 1 3 15
A-1.3 1 5 20
A-1.4 1 7 25
A-1.5 1 9 30
A-2.1 2 15 40
A-2.2 1 17 45
A-2.3 1 19 50
A-2.4 1 21 55
A-2.5 1 23 60
A-3.1 2 30 70
B-1.1 2 5 25
B-1.2 1 7 30
B-1.3 1 9 35
B-1.4 1 11 40
B-1.5 1 13 45
B-2.1 2 20 55
B-2.2 1 22 60
B-2.3 1 24 65
B-2.4 1 26 70
B-2.5 1 28 75
B-3.1 2 30 85
X-1.1 2 5 60
X-1.2 1 7 70
X-1.3 1 9 80
X-2.1 2 14 100
X-2.2 1 16 110
X-2.3 1 18 120
X-3.1 2 23 140
X-3.2 1 25 150
X-3.3 1 27 160
Y-1.1 2 15 1 Xtreme icon
There are two exceptions to this standard progression. Nightcrawler's B
power (Teleport Flurry) uses almost double the energy of other X-Men's B
powers. Jean Grey's TK (A power) requires an additional expenditure of
energy each second it is in use; this is over the initial cost of using the
power.
Listed underneath the powers are the skills. All skill levels cost one
point to fill. Most skills have either three or five levels. A few skills
have six levels and are shown as two three-level branches. Some skills also
have level requirements; for example, Level 1 Toughness cannot be purchased
until the X-Man is 10th level. Some of the skills, such as Flying, are
additional mutant powers requiring an expenditure of mutant energy.
The complete layout looks something like this (using Wolverine as an
example); X is a filled level, . is an empty level:
Brutal Slash X X X X X
Eviscerate X X X X X
Legend Slash X
Claw Flurry . . . . .
Claw Frenzy . . . . .
Legend Frenzy .
Feral Rage X X X
Berserker Rage X X .
Unstoppable Rage . . .
SAVAGE RAMPAGE X
Health Factor X X X X X
Sharpness X X X X X
Toughness . . .
Mutant Mastery X . .
Critical Strike X X X . .
Expertise X X X X X
Powers and skills that can be leveled up display in white. Powers and
skills you cannot currently level up show in gray. Using the control stick,
highlight the power or skill you want to level up and press A to add a
level. Press X to subtract any levels you have added in this session.
Levels added in a previous session and committed to memory cannot be
subtracted.
[3.4.6] Equipment
-----------------
The third screen shows the character's current equipment in, from top to
bottom, the backpack slot, the belt slot and the armor slot. Highlight a
slot and a list of equipment for that slot that is in inventory will show
below. Press A to access the inventory list, highlight the equipment you
want to place in the slot and press A again to equip it. Press B while in
the inventory list to keep the currently equipped item. Press Z while in
the inventory list to drop an item out of the team's inventory and leave it
on the ground. If you want to empty the character's equipment slot, press X
while the slot is highlighted.
Information about each piece of equipment will show in the information
window at the bottom of the screen when that piece of equipment is
highlighted. You can also get an overview of all the equipment in sections
7.6, 7.7 and 7.8 below.
===========
[3.5] Items
===========
Your primary task in X-Men Legends is defeating the bad guys. Your
secondary task is scrounging for loot...that is, collecting valuable
equipment. You get most of your swag from drops by your enemies; however,
you can also get a lot of loot from destroying the scenery.
Most of the items you will collect are health packs and energy packs. Since
these resources get used up frequently (especially in the early game), it's
a good thing the game drops a lot. Later in the game, as your energy
regeneration improves, you can start selling off some of the energy packs
you pick up, since you don't need them as much and so many of them drop
anyway. Keep the health packs, they don't show up quite as often.
You also need to look out for tech bits, the X-Men Legends equivalent of
money. You use tech bits to buy equipment from Forge and Healer and revive
fallen mutants-in-arms. Once you hit 15th level and can use Xtreme powers,
you'll start picking up the Xtreme tokens you need to fill your Xtreme
power icons.
There are also many bonus items that are hidden throughout the game: comic
books to upgrade your X-Men; discs for playing in the Danger Room; sketch
books that unlock concept art so you can say "kewwwl"; bonus skill points,
stat points and experience points. All lying around where just anybody can
get to it. Well, all right, anybody that can fly or teleport or pick up
tractor-trailers...
All X-Men share the inventory, so any X-Man can equip anything that's been
picked up, unless another X-Man is already wearing the item. There is a
limit to the number of items that can be held in inventory. If you try to
pick something up and get the message "Inventory is full", you have three
options: ignore the item on the ground because it is underpowered for your
current level; go to a nearby Xtraction point and sell unused items to
Forge or Healer; or, drop some of your current inventory on the ground. In
order to keep your inventory from filling up, re-evaluate your equipment
and sell unneeded items at least every second Xtraction point.
A more complete list of items available is in section 7. Items that always
show up in a specific location (such as comics, Danger Room discs, sketch
books and bonus points) are listed in section 6, Walkthrough. The locations
of comics are also listed in section 7.3. Danger Room disc locations are
also listed in section 9.
===========
[3.6] Hints
===========
Learn to use the large map. It's a bit annoying and hard to use at first;
however, once you become accustomed to it, you will not be able to play
with it off.
Learn to hit combos and always have at least Cyclops or Storm on your team
to increase the damage and XP bonus of combos. For really insane damage
bonuses, have both leaders on your team. (This is assuming you are building
up their Leadership skill, which you should.) To score more combos in
single player, control an X-Man with a slow-developing power or a power
that affects multiple enemies (Storm is a good choice as her Lightning does
both). By the time your character's power hits, your teammates will have
responded to your call and hit with their own powers.
Use the Danger Room to level your X-Men and collect items. Deliberately
"fail" the course, and you can re-play it and continue collecting items.
Once you've cleared a DR mission, it will no longer drop items when
replayed. Any DR scenario which requires you to execute certain commands
(such as the Teamwork courses) or protect objects is a good candidate for
collecting items. It's very easy to fail the course.
Concentrate on maximizing a few key mutant powers and skills rather than
having lots of half-powered abilities. Consider each X-Man's core strengths
and pick corresponding powers and skills. Cyclops, for example, doesn't
really need any levels in Critical Strike.
With a few exceptions, powers that damage a single opponent are stronger
and more useful than wide area powers. Keep your team and their powers
focused on a single enemy and take your opponents out one-by-one rather
than trying to blast them all at once. The main exceptions are Colossus'
Concussion Slam, Psylocke's Psychic Bolts and Jean Grey's Psychic Shout.
These are also great powers for hitting combos.
Make sure each X-Man that has a special jumping/flying ability gets it
built up. The exceptions may be Iceman and Magma. Their slides are not
quite as useful as flying or double-jumping. They are, however, really cool
to play with, so you may want to level up one of them at least the first
time you play the game.
As much as possible, use equipment that aids regeneration of health or
energy, aids in defense or increases damage. Always use nanofiber armor
rather than other types of armor. Late in the game (at 30th level and
above), the best backpack item for every X-Man is the Super Power Enhancer:
+80 to +100 damage to each mutant attack. This damage is also added to
mutant-enhances melee attacks; e.g. Emma's Psionic Strike. At 40th level,
you can obtain Ultra Power Enhancers: +125 to +150 damage to mutant
attacks. Dishing out that much damage makes your X-Men nearly invulnerable.
Lure enemies to you using a ranged fighter to prevent being mobbed.
Consistently use the L button to keep all X-Men focused on a single enemy
and increase the chances of scoring a combo.
Always take out the strongest enemy first, then deal with the peons. The
only exception is when there is some method where the enemy is
regenerating; in that case, take out the regeneration unit first. Examples:
Morlock Goths resurrecting their comrades; launchers that keep spitting out
Sentinels, etc. The exception may be if you want a bit of extra XP, you can
let the bad guys keep coming and keep taking them down. However, if power-
leveling is your thing, DR scenarios are a better choice.
Always save when you reach an Xtraction point. Use a large memory card and
rotate between two or three saves. If you find you're in bad trouble in a
stage, you can always go back one or two stages and try something
different.
/
\ /--MEN---------------------------------------------------------------
\/ [4] X-Men
/\---LEGENDS-----------------------------------------------------------
/ \
/
=================
[4.1] X-Men Stats
=================
Each X-Man has four ability statistics (stats):
- Strike: Attack rating is 1 per level + 1 per Strike rank
Your attack rating affects how often you hit when fighting hand-to-hand; it
also affects how much base damage your character does when he or she hits.
- Agility: Defense rating is 1 per level + 1 per Agility rank
Your defense rating affects how often you are hit by melee attacks or
ranged, non-mutant attacks (i.e. guns).
- Body: Health is 25 + 5 per level + 10 per Body rank
The more health you have, the more damage you can absorb before needing to
use up health packs. Since some attacks, especially mutant powers directed
against you, cannot be avoided with Agility, you need a decent Body stat,
even if your Agility is high.
- Focus: Mutant energy is 30 + 4 per level + 7 per Focus rank
Mutant energy regeneration is +1% per Focus rank
The more mutant energy you have and the faster it regenerates, the more you
can use your mutant powers; this is an important stat for all X-Men.
In general, you should concentrate on Focus for each X-Man as your mutant
attacks are your most powerful, so you want to be able to use them as much
as possible. You should spend at least one of every three stat increases on
Focus. Over the course of the game, this should add about 14 or 15 points
of Focus to your starting stat. Characters that heavily rely on mutant
powers (e.g. Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey) should get one of every two points
or two of every three points placed in Focus.
Spread the remaining points out however you wish. There's no real formula
for how these scores should relate to each other. Melee characters will
want to concentrate on Strike and Body; ranged characters on Body and
Agility. You'll find that, for characters that need high scores in these
three stats, you'll get bonus skills and items that greatly improve them.
This makes it even easier to concentrate on Focus.
Each X-Man also receives bonus stat points to a specific stat each time he
or she levels up. This varies by X-Man, though it is usually related to
that X-Man's primary need. E.g. Cyclops, Storm and Jean Grey receive bonus
Focus points; Nightcrawler receives bonus Agility points; Wolverine
receives bonus Strike points; etc. Since the characters that are more
reliant on Strike, Agility or Body receive these bonus points, you can
afford to spend more on Focus to increase their ability to use mutant
powers.
There are also three other stats that can be affected by powers, skills and
equipment.
- Knockback: governs how far you are thrown back when hit by a knockback
attack, or how far you throw enemies with knockback attacks.
There are a lot of attacks in the game that cause "knockback"--you or your
enemy is literally flung through the air. There are a number of powers
(Cyclops' Optic Sweep, Colossus' Concussion Slam, etc.) that cause a lot of
knockback. These powers are useful for separating yourself from a mob of
enemies. Similarly, there are powers, skills and equipment that reduce the
chance your X-Man will be flung backwards if hit by such an attack.
- Pain: pain appears to affect whether your X-Man is stunned by a
sufficiently severe attack
Without being able to examine the game engine, it seems pain is used
whenever an X-Man is hit by an attack that causes a large amount of damage.
In such cases, your X-Man may appear "stunned", even though he or she has
not been hit by a stunning mutant power. There are defensive powers and
equipment that reduce pain.
- Destruction: a lot of the scenery in X-Men Legends is destructible;
this stat shows how effective a power is at destroying the scenery
The higher the destruction rating of a power or skill, the easier it is to
blow up the scenery.
====================
[4.2] Power Leveling
====================
If you play through the game normally, you will end with most of your X-Men
in the upper 30's in level; the maximum level that you can achieve with any
X-Man is 45. It will take a bit of work to get your X-Men to that level.
The game is quite beatable without power leveling; getting your X-Men to
maximum level will just make the game a cakewalk. Still, you'll end up with
about 10 more stat and skill points to spend, allowing you to more fully
realize each X-Man's potential.
The key to power leveling is judicious use of Danger Room scenarios. To
power level, repeatedly play a scenario that earns the maximum XP in as
little time as possible. You should always have Storm or Cyclops on the
team for the Leadership bonus to power combo XP. For courses that allow
unlimited foes (e.g. Survival courses), use both Cyclops and Storm for the
stacked Leadership damage bonus to enable you to defeat more enemies.
Freshman Courses
----------------
There's not much here that provides power leveling. At the time you first
gain access to the Danger Room, you can earn more experience just taking
the Trivia test on the second floor of X-Mansion. In any case, power
leveling this early in the game is kind of meaningless, as you will level
very quickly just playing the game.
Sophomore Courses
-----------------
There aren't any really good power leveling classes in this set. All the
classes have a short time limit, and can end quite early through failure or
success. The best classes to use for level gains are Focus 201 and Focus
202. While you will easily end the class successfully by killing the
Morlock Goths, the Morlocks you confront are worth good XP for your X-Men
up to about tenth level.
Junior Courses
--------------
Survival 302 gives you no objective other than staying alive for three
minutes. A good source of experience for X-Men through the teen levels.
Senior Courses
--------------
The best power leveling class in this year is Graduation Exam 400. You can
get a full two minutes on the Astral Plane defeating hordes of high-XP
enemies. Protect Prof X and ignore the statues to ensure you "fail" the
course, allowing you to keep playing it with item drops. You should earn
over four million XP each attempt, which will quickly power-level
characters from the mid-20's to the low-30's in level.
X-Man Courses/Legends Courses
-----------------------------
There are no good power-leveling courses at the X-Man level. At the Legends
level, Focus 601 is a quick XP-earner: between one-and-one-half and two
million XP in about 15 seconds. Averaged over time, it's a faster leveler
than GE400 and good for pushing characters from the low-30's to 40th level.
Challenge Legends provides an average of 37 million XP in the five-minute
time limit; however, by the time you obtain the disc, the game is all but
over, so power-leveling at that point isn't worth much. Still, if you get
your characters to 40th level with Focus 601, you can finish the job in
approximately one hour of dedicated play in Challenge Legends. It won't
make the final battle significantly easier, but it's the best way to get
that sense of "completion" to the game.
The best way to power level your characters is to play the game through
normally until you have obtained Graduation Exam 400. Your primary X-Men
should be about 23rd or 24th level. Play through GE400 with as many
different teams as you like until you have pushed your favorite X-Men to
level 35. Make sure you have either Cyclops or Storm on every team for the
XP bonus to power combos. Also, don't finish it until you're ready to move
on to the X-Man and Legends courses--you don't want to lose the items that
drop each time you play.
Once your characters are 35th level, continue playing through the story.
After you finish the mission to the Sentinel Factory, you will have the
Focus 601 disc. Now is the time to power level your preferred teams to 40th
level using Focus 601. Once you get at least one X-Man to 40th level, you
will be able to buy Ultra equipment from Forge. (E.g. Ultra Power
Enhancers, Ultra Nanofiber Armor, Ultra Focus Enhancers, etc.)
Equip your X-Men with Ultra equipment and continue playing through to the
next-to-last stage of Asteroid M. You should now have the Challenge Legends
disc and, if you desire that last little bit of power for the final battle,
use it to level your team to 45th level. Make sure you avoid destroying all
the generators until you are ready to complete the course; you'll need the
item drops during each attempt.
================================
[4.3] Beast (Henry "Hank" McCoy)
================================
A-power: PinBall/Cannon Ball/Legend Ball--Beast rolls into a ball and
careens through the area at incredible speed, dishing out lots of physical
damage
B-power: Propeller Kick/Propeller Lash/Legend Propeller--Beast spins
around, kicking any enemies in range and causing physical damage
X-power: Beastial Feats/Beastial Instinct/Beastial Soul--Beast mentally
focuses his mind and body to react to anything; this delivers increasing
physical damage resistance, Agility boosts and increased jumping range at
higher levels
Y-power: Orbital Bombardment--calls a powerful laser down from an orbiting
satellite to smite enemies
Skills:
- Acrobatics: Increases Agility and allows a double-jump
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Grappling: Increases Strike and reflects damage from punches and kicks
- Might: Increases lifting strength and damage of melee attacks.
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: You meet Beast during your first interlude in X-Mansion.
Recommended AI level: Aggressive
Recommended AI power: Propeller Kick
Beast is, probably, the purest melee fighter among the X-Men. As such, he
needs the least amount of Focus of any mutant; you can get away with just
one-fourth of your stat points placed into Focus. Put half your stat points
into Strike and the remaining fourth split between Body and Agility--
Beastial Feats and Acrobatics will take care of Agility and damage
reduction for you.
Pinball is pretty useless, as it is very difficult to control and often
does more damage to the scenery than to your enemies. Propeller Kick is
very good, but is most effective only when Beast is being mobbed. You'll
need enough mutant energy to keep Beastial Feats up and running with the
occasional Propeller Kick thrown in for good measure.
Otherwise, you'll mostly fight hand-to-hand with Beast. Level up Might,
Critical Strike, Grappling, Acrobatics and Toughness to their maximum as
soon as you can. You can ignore Pinball and Mutant Mastery. Orbital
Bombardment is a useful Xtreme power. Max out his X-power to Beastial Soul
3 and buy his B-power up to at least Propeller Lash 3 or 4. When coupled
with a higher-level Cyclops and his Tactics power, Beast can really put the
hurt on your foes.
============================================
[4.4] Colossus (Piotr Nikolievitch Rasputin)
============================================
A-power: Power Smash/Titanic Smash/Titanic Legend--Colossus lays one on an
opponent; a very destructive power
B-power: Concussion Slam/Concussion Blast/Concussion Legend--Colossus claps
his hands, causing an arcing shockwave that damages and knocks back
opponents in range
X-power: Steel Skin/Titanium Skin/Osmium Skin--Colossus' personal shield;
metal armor forms around his body giving him physical damage resistance,
resistance to beam attacks and resistance to pain; higher levels have a
chance of deflecting physical damage back on the attacker
Y-power: Seismic Smash--Colossus slams the ground and really shakes things
up
Skills:
- Colossus Charge: A heavy charge attack that can be performed from a jump
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Knockback: Adds additional knockback to all knockback skills/powers
- Might: Increases lifting strength and damage of melee attacks
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: You rescue Colossus from a Russian nuclear plant; he's first
available during the GRSO attack on X-Mansion during Interlude #5.
Recommended AI level: Aggressive
Recommended AI power: Concussion Slam
Colossus is the strongest X-Man with the most devastating mutant attack
(Power Smash). He is also the slowest X-Man, which makes it very hard to
actually land his signature punch. Thus, Colossus is most useful for crowd
control. Both Power Smash and Concussion Slam cause a lot of knockback,
which can be increased with the Knockback skill. Add in a good defensive
power, and Peter is a one-man riot squad.
For his main offensive power, Concussion Slam is more useful as it affects
all enemies in front of Colossus and has a large amount of knockback. Power
Smash is more destructive on an individual; but, can be difficult to land
because Colossus is so slow. Even equipped with a muscle accelerator, it
will only be slightly easier to use his destructive blow.
Colossus Charge is sort of a "fifth power attack". In mid-jump, push the Y
button again and, when Peter lands, he'll lumber forward and bash into
whatever is in front of him. This will do a fair amount of damage and
knockback and requires mutant energy to execute. This power is about as
useful as Iceman's Ice Tracks, but less fun to play with and can be
ignored.
To make Colossus most effective, max out Concussion Slam and Steel Skin.
You also want to max out Knockback and Might; and a level or two of Mutant
Mastery is also a help. At Concussion Legend level, Colossus' clap can
clear out the *next* room--just stand near the door and execute the B-power
and then walk into a room full of falling bodies. It is also very easy to
hit combos with Concussion Slam. Equip him with a Power Enhancer to
increase the damage from his attack.
=============================
[4.5] Cyclops (Scott Summers)
=============================
Mutant Powers
-------------
A-power: Optic Beam/Optic Blast/Legend Blast: ranged attack that does
energy damage; can weld metal; higher levels have Piercing capability,
allowing Cyclops to shoot multiple enemies in a line or shoot through walls
B-power: Optic Sweep/Optic Slam/Legend Slam: ranged attack that does energy
damage to multiple targets in an arc in front of Cyclops, also knocks
enemies back and causes a fair amount of Destruction
X-power: Tactics/Strategy/Command: Cyclops' leadership abilities add to his
or the team's Strike and Agility scores
Y-power: Optic Rage--an extremely powerful version of Optic Sweep
Skills
------
- Accuracy: Increases chance of a critical hit for a ranged attack
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Leadership: Increases damage of and experience received from combos
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Point Blank Shot: Increases damage of ranged attack within 10 feet
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: You pick up Cyclops just after fighting Mystique during the
first mission.
Recommended AI level: Normal
Recommended AI power: Optic Beam
Cyclops isn't really built for melee fighting. He has no melee skills
except Critical Strike. His Tactics power can't even be purchased until
level five, and isn't hugely useful until level 9, when you can get Tactics
3 and receive +6 to Strike and Agility.
Since he is so weak at melee, you'll want to concentrate on powering up his
ranged attacks. He's dependant on mutant energy, so pour stat points into
Focus until you've gotten that stat into the 20s; you can then spare a few
stat points to beef up his health (Body).
Max out Optic Beam to Legend Blast and Tactics to Command 3 for an insta-
buff to all X-Men. You'll also need levels in Tactics for the Weapon X Part
Deux mission. A few levels of Optic Sweep can be effective for crowd
control and for taking out energy saps.
Level up Cyclops' Leadership, Accuracy and Point Blank Shot skills as soon
as possible. You may also want a point or two in Mutant Mastery. Ignore
Critical Strike and Toughness. Optic Rage is nice, but not as useful as
those Xtreme powers that have 360-degree radial effect (Optic Rage only
works in a 90-degree arc in front of Cyclops).
With his weak melee skills and the limited usefulness of his ranged attack
early (before he has enough Focus to keep up the blasting), Cyclops is not
a good choice for your team until the early teen levels. Afterwards, he
will probably become a mainstay as his Optic Beam has the longest range of
any mutant attack in X-Men Legends and Leadership will have a significant
effect on your team.
================
[4.6] Emma Frost
================
A-power: Confuse/Command/Legend Command--confuses enemies so they are no
longer able to fight; Command and Legend Command convert enemies to allies
and add to their stats; the confusion/conversion effect is time-limited
B-power: Fear/Terror/Legend Terror--causes enemies to flee in terror and
reduces their stats; Terror and Legend Terror also cause mental damage; the
fear effect is time-limited
X-power: Psychic Shell/Diamond Shell/Impervious Shell--encases Emma in a
diamond-hard substance that reduces physical damage, beam damage and pain
Y-power: Psychic Bedlam--causes psychic (mental) damage to all enemies
within 50 feet and paralyzes nearby enemies with fear
Skills:
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Hardness: Reflects physical damage back at foes
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Psionic Strike/Fury: Adds mental damage to melee attacks
- Shell Might: Increases lifting strength and damage of melee attacks
when in Shell Form
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: Emma comes to help free Illyana from the Astral Plane, and
is first available during the GRSO attack on X-Mansion in Interlude #5.
Recommended AI level: Normal
Recommended AI power: Fear
Emma Frost can be a very good character, but only under human control. The
key to getting the most from the White Queen's powers is to maximize her
melee ability using her Shell form in conjunction with Hardness, Psionic
Strike and Shell Might. Her offensive powers are OK for crowd control, but
they are not as much use to you when leaving Emma under AI control.
Psychic Shell is as powerful a defense as Colossus' Steel Skin. Maximize it
and also max out Hardness, Shell Might, Psionic Strike/Fury and Critical
Strike. Split Emma's stat points up equally between Focus and Strike with
the occasional point put into Agility or Body (her Shell will protect her
from a lot of damage) and she becomes a great melee fighter. In order to
get the most out of her attacks, you have to keep her Shell form in use at
all times; and that requires human control. You don't want Emma using her
Confuse or Fear powers on your opponents while you're trying to hit combos.
The only effect is you will hit a lot fewer combos since all your enemies
are either running away or fighting on your side.
Level up either one of Emma's offensive powers. Fear is good because it
eventually begins causing damage along with the fear effects. Buy her
Xtreme power. Don't worry about Toughness or Mutant Mastery unless you just
have some spare points. Play as Emma and keep her Shell up and just hammer
away at your opponents. If you get mobbed, use Confuse or Fear to break up
the crowd and take them down one-by-one.
==========================
[4.7] Gambit (Remy LeBeau)
==========================
A-power: Charged Card/Charged Shuffle/Card Legend--throws kinetically
charged cards that cause energy damage and knockback; can also destroy
objects with a touch (stand next to an object and press R+A)
B-power: Staff Slam/Staff Detonation/Staff Legend--Gambit slams his staff
on the ground, causing a concussive shockwave that knocks down and damages
nearby enemies (energy damage)
X-power: Kinetic Boost/Kinetic Amplification/Kinetic Mastery--boosts damage
of Gambit's physical attacks and his movement speed; at high levels, adds
energy damage to teammates' melee attacks
Y-power: 52 Pick Up--Gambit fires off a full deck of kinetically charged
cards, damaging enemies in a wide area
Skills:
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Kinetic Strike/Fury: Adds kinetic damage to non-staff melee attacks
- Overload: Adds energy to charged objects
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Staff Master: Adds kinetic energy to non-power staff attacks
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: Gambit is held hostage by the Morlocks; you'll free him at
the end of your first mission into their sewers.
Recommended AI level: Normal
Recommended AI power: Charged Card
Gambit is another great character for players, who is less useful under AI
control. By leveling his melee abilities, you can turn him into a very good
fighter, but his powers are not used by the game as well as they could be.
Still, if you do want to play with Gambit on your team, but not under your
control, you can hit some pretty effective combos with either of his
offensive powers.
The other good thing about using Gambit as your character is the ability to
charge objects (using his A-power) and hurl them at enemies, where they
explode. Simply stand next to an object and press R+A, then quickly throw
it at your opponents. You can also use this to destroy items; just charge
them up and then step back.
For an AI-controlled Gambit, Charged Card ends up being a better choice
than Staff Slam. Because CC is a power that affects multiple enemies, you
have a better chance of scoring a combo. For a player-controlled Gambit,
Staff Slam is the better offensive power, though you won't hit as many
combos.
In both cases, you'll want to emphasize Gambit's Strike and Focus stats and
level up Kinetic Boost, which also provides a bonus to his teammates at
Amplification and Mastery levels. Level up Critical Strike, Staff Master
and Toughness. Only level up Overload if you're going to use Gambit's
ability to charge objects. You should level up Kinetic Strike/Fury if you
will be using Gambit a lot for hand-to-hand fighting.
Use Staff Slam as a crowd-control measure, and then use lots of strong
attacks hand-to-hand. Strong (B) attacks are more likely to cause Gambit to
use his Staff; thus, you get the bonuses from the Staff Master skill. Keep
Kinetic Boost up and use lots of melee attack sequences.
==========================
[4.8] Iceman (Bobby Drake)
==========================
A-power: Freeze Blast/Deep Freeze/Legend Freeze--slows or freezes enemies,
builds ice bridges, puts out fires
B-power: Ice Shards/Ice Spikes/Legend Spikes--throws ice projectiles
(energy damage)
X-power: Ice Armor/Ice Equipment/Ice Forge--reduces damage (all types),
causes touch damage to attackers; higher levels add energy damage to
teammates' punches
Y-power: Freeze Frame--freezes enemies within 12 feet, slows enemies within
33 feet
Skills:
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Cold Smash/Cold Crush: Adds cold damage to melee attacks
- Ice Tracks: Iceman can glide through the air on sheets of ice
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Point Blank Shot: Increases damage of ranged attacks within 10 feet
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: Bobby Drake will try to charm Alison during the first
interlude in X-Mansion.
Recommended AI level: Normal
Recommended AI power: Freeze Blast
Iceman is one of the more versatile X-Men. He's a good support character
and he's a good fighter. As a bridge-builder, he's very useful--especially
in some early missions when neither Jean nor Magma are available. Freeze
Blast slows (or completely freezes) your opponents, making them easier
targets. Note, it does no actual damage of its own. This is an especially
important power for some of the tougher mutant bosses, as freezing them
keeps them from using their most devastating attacks.
Ice Shards is fairly weak unless boosted with the extra damage from Point
Blank Shot. Considering the overall usefulness of his other two main
powers, you probably don't want to waste points in this power and have to
spend points on PBS as well. Ice Tracks is another pretty useless skill.
The ice slides are hard to control, have incredibly short range until level
5, and are not nearly as useful as the Flying skill (since you can't carry
teammates on your slide).
Ice Armor is a great defensive power. It gives Bobby good protection,
including a small touch attack damage bonus--i.e. any opponent that touches
him is automatically damaged. He can also give his teammates an energy
bonus to their melee attacks. Of course, you don't see the full benefit of
this until you get to Ice Forge level, about midway through the game.
The best build for Iceman is to max out Freeze Blast and Ice Armor and keep
his Focus high and level up Mutant Mastery so he can keep up his shields
and keep blasting away. Split remaining stat points between Agility and
Body and don't worry much about his Strike. You can give him some levels in
Cold Smash to increase his Melee ability and a point in Toughness will help
him stay alive.
You can also make Bobby more of a tank by maxing Cold Smash and Critical
Strike and spending more points on his Strike stat; however, that will
reduce his effectiveness at providing support for the rest of the team.
===============
[4.9] Jean Grey
===============
A-power: Telekinesis/Telekinetic Mastery/Telekinetic Legend--uses TK to
throw enemies and objects about (mental damage), build bridges and pull
distant switches
B-power: Psychic Shout/Psychic Scream/Psychic Legend--radial attack that
causes mental damage to opponents and reduces their Strike and Agility
X-power: Telekinetic Shield/Telekinetic Shell/Telekinetic Armor--reduces
damage (all types); Shell and Armor protect teammates
Y-power: Phoenix Force--Jean Grey transforms into Phoenix, lifts all nearby
enemies up and smashes them into the ground
Skills:
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Flight: Allows flying and flight pickup (at level 3 and above)
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Psionic Strike/Psionic Fury: Adds mental damage to melee attacks
- Telekinetic Combat: Increases damage of all mental attacks
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: Jean gives you the tour of the upper two floors of X-Mansion
during your first visit.
Recommended AI level: Normal
Recommended AI power: Psychic Shout
Jean comes in a very close second to Storm as the most indispensable mutant
in the game. Both have the best party-wide shields in the game (reducing
all types of damage for all members of the team), both can fly, move
distant objects, add bonus damage to melee attacks and have devastating
mutant attacks. Storm's ability to weld metal and her Leadership skill put
her just slightly ahead of Jean for overall usefulness.
While Jean's TK power can be fun to play with, by far her most useful
attack is Psychic Shout. You will also want to maximize TK Shield in order
to provide party-wide damage reduction. Having both TK Armor and Blizzard
Shield available means you can either mix-and-match X-Men better, or use
them both and have 100 points of all-purpose damage reduction. With both
shields in place, your X-Men will never take any damage.
Telekinetic Combat is necessary to increase the effectiveness of Psychic
Shout. You will want at least three levels of Flight for the ability to
pick up allies. Early in the game you may want one or two levels of Psionic
Strike, but you can ignore it the rest of the way. At least one level of
Mutant Mastery wouldn't hurt. Ignore Critical Strike and Toughness.
Maximize Psychic Shout and TK Shield. Buy Phoenix Force when it becomes
available. Maximize the TK Combat skill and buy at least five levels of
Telekinesis. Next to Storm, Jean will be the most effective X-Man on any
team.
===============================
[4.10] Jubilee (Jubilation Lee)
===============================
A-power: Energy Burst/Energy Blast/Legend Blast--throws charged energy
globes causing energy damage and knockback
B-power: Photo Flash/Strobe Flash/Legend Flash--radial light attack
confuses enemies; Strobe and Legend Flash convert enemies to allies
X-power: Bait/Taunt/Pep Rally--reduces enemies' damage; Taunt and Pep Rally
increase teammates' Strike and Agility
Y-power: Independence Day--sets off a bunch of fireworks
Skills:
- Accuracy: Increases the chance of a critical hit with a ranged attack
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Detonate: Adds energy to charged objects
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Point Blank Shot: Increases damage of ranged attacks within 10 feet
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: You find Jubilee hanging out on the grounds of X-Mansion
during the second interlude.
Recommended AI level: Normal
Recommended AI power: Energy Burst
Many people compare Jubilee to Gambit, usually in a manner unfavorable to
Jubilee; however, Jubilee is much closer to Cyclops than to Gambit. The
resemblance to Everyone's Favorite Cajun(tm) is superficial in that their
ranged attacks are somewhat similar and both can charge and throw objects;
however, Jubilee gets Accuracy and Point Blank Shot, which means her ranged
attack is actually far more effective.
Also, Jubilee's buffing power raises teammates' Strike and Agility, just
like Cyclops, with the added bonus of decreasing the damage done by your
opponents. The only problem--and the reason Jubilee doesn't make it on a
lot of teams--is she offers nothing else. She has no other supporting
powers or skills: she can't build bridges, or fly, or weld metal or add a
Leadership bonus to combos. The result...you usually end up using Cyclops
or Storm rather than Jubilee.
Which is a shame, really. With a few levels of Photo Flash, Jubilee can be
very effective at crowd control. You can buff your teammates, confuse your
enemies and then sit back and throw energy bursts while your accompanying
tanks cut them to pieces. OK, this won't be that effective against boss
characters; but, for most of the game your primary concern is being mobbed
by too many bad guys and Jubilee is a great help here.
Max out Energy Burst and Bait, buy her Xtreme Power and level up Accuracy
and Point Blank Shot. Keep Focus high; and a point or two of Mutant Mastery
wouldn't hurt. Don't worry with Critical Strike, and only buy a level of
Toughness if you're having a hard time keeping her alive. Level up Photo
Flash, but don't buy any levels of Strobe Flash--your goal is to confuse
mobs, not convert them. If you have some points left over, level up
Detonate for some grenade-throwing fun.
===============================
[4.11] Magma (Alison Crestmere)
===============================
A-power: Fiery Blast/Magma Blast/Magma Legend--fires balls of fire (energy
damage) in an arc in front of Magma causing energy damage; is capable of
welding metal
B-power: Lava Fissure/Lava Rift/Legend Rift--molten rock erupts from the
ground causing energy damage and throwing opponents in the air; can also
build molten rock bridges
X-power: Fiery Form/Magma Form/Atlas Form--gives Magma protection from
damage, damages attackers and adds Might and energy damage to her own melee
attacks
Y-power: Volcano--Vesuvius erupts under your opponents' feet
Skills:
- Burning Rage/Erupting Rage: Adds fire damage to melee attacks
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Lava Tracks: Allows Magma to glide through the air on streams of lava
- Magma Might: Increases lifting strength and damage of melee attacks
when in Fiery Form
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: You play as Alison during all the interludes; however, you
can't use her as Magma until you've completed your X-Men Qualification Exam
after the mission to save the Arbiter.
Recommended AI level: Normal
Recommended AI power: Lava Fissure
Magma is, primarily, a tank. Her ranged power, Fiery Blast, is very weak--
it has no knockback and no bonuses from other skills (such as Point Blank
Shot). Lava Fissure is a great offensive power, but has limited range.
However, the combination of Fiery Form, Burning Rage and Magma Might makes
Alison one tough little cookie. And her Xtreme power, Volcano, isn't too
bad either.
You really do not need to put any additional points into Fiery Blast. The
one point you start with is sufficient if you really need to back up
Cyclops or Storm and weld metal. Lava Fissure is a great offensive power,
and allows Magma to build bridges. Your main goal with Magma is, like Emma
Frost, keep up your defensive power and lay into your enemies with your
fists and feet.
You'll need to max out Fiery Form, Burning Rage, Critical Strike and Magma
Might. You also want to take Lava Fissure up to at least the Lava Rift 3 or
4 level; all the way to Legend Rift if you have the points. Since defensive
powers are so expensive, you might want to consider a point or two of
Mutant Mastery. Lava Tracks, like Iceman's Ice Tracks, is fun to play with
for about ten minutes and then will never be used again; don't waste points
on it. Since you will be operating within a shield most of the time, don't
worry about Toughness. Definitely buy Magma's Xtreme power.
Keep Magma's Focus and Strike scores high and don't worry as much with
Agility and Body. Perhaps 1 of 3 points to Focus, 1 of 3 to Strike and 1 of
3 split to Agility and Body. Keep Fiery Form up at all times, use Lava
Fissure if you get mobbed and just pound away with your fists.
=================================
[4.12] Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner)
=================================
A-power: Teleport Leap/Teleport Strike/Legend Strike--teleport ahead for a
distance; if an enemy is ahead, teleport behind him and strike
B-power: Teleport Flurry/Teleport Frenzy/Legend Frenzy--teleport around an
area, hitting multiple enemies (or one or two enemies multiple times) and
end back at start position
X-power: Shadow Blend/Shadow Arts/Shadow Mastery--reduces damage (all
types) and increases Agility
Y-power: Blindside Blitz--Unrelenting teleport attack frenzy
Skills:
- Acrobatics: Increases Nightcrawler's Agility and allows a double jump
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack,
also increases critical chance when using teleport attacks
- Leap of Faith: Gives a chance that Nightcrawler will use his Teleport
Leap to rescue teammates from death if they are about to die; this only
works if the computer AI is controlling Nightcrawler
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Sucker Punch: Adds to the chance of scoring a critical hit when making
a teleport attack
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: You'll meet Kurt during the second interlude at X-Mansion.
Recommended AI level: Normal
Recommended AI power: Teleport Flurry
Nightcrawler is the one X-Man who almost has to be controlled by the game's
artificial intelligence. His most useful skill is Leap of Faith, which
doesn't work when Kurt is controlled by a player. It's OK to just let the
AI control Nightcrawler, with Teleport Flurry set as his AI power; just let
him jump around the room attacking your opponents. You will also want a few
levels of Teleport Leap, as this ability comes in handy in a few instances.
Shadow Blend has the highest damage reduction of any personal shield in the
game (-80 damage, all types, at Shadow Mastery 3). It also raises
Nightcrawler's Agility. However, if you use Teleport Leap or Flurry often,
which you should, Kurt isn't going to be hit anyway. Save the points from
this and buy some Toughness instead.
Kurt's Flurry/Frenzy power should be maxed out and take Teleport Leap to
level 4 or 5 so you can teleport other X-Men; don't bother buying the
Teleport Strike levels. Max level Sucker Punch and Critical Strike as they
stack; this will allow Nightcrawler to hit lots of criticals (triple
damage) when using Flurry (or Leap as an attack).
Because Flurry is so expensive, you want to have a high Focus stat and
probably max out Mutant Mastery. Buy levels of Acrobatics instead of
spending stat points on Agility. Don't put too many points into Strike, as
it doesn't affect his teleport attacks. Keep his Body score up to help
maintain health. Definitely buy Leap of Faith to maximum level.
Keep Flurry as Nightcrawler's AI power, let the AI control him and just
spam the L button in combat. Kurt will be teleporting in-and-out all over
the battlefield, doing a lot of damage while taking almost nothing in
return.
===================================
[4.13] Professor X (Charles Xavier)
===================================
A-power: Hammer Legend--super strong psychic punch
B-power: Blast Legend--radial blast of psychic energy
X-power: Psychic Defense--reduces physical damage, knockback and pain
Y-power: Psychic Maelstrom--large blast of psychic energy and lightning
Skills:
- Astral Knockback: adds knockback to mental attacks
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Leadership: Increases damage of and experience received from combos
- Might: Increases lifting strength and damage of melee attacks
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: Prof X is only available as a playable character during the
mission to free Illyana's mind from the Astral Plane, and again (as Astral
Gladiator) for the boss battle against Shadow King. You cannot otherwise
play as Xavier.
Recommended AI level: Normal
Recommended AI power: Blast Legend
Prof X is a set character. There's no leveling involved. He's a powerful
melee fighter and has devastating mental attacks. There's not much to say
about him, as you only use him twice and you can't adjust his powers and
skills. As Astral Gladiator, you can "level up" his stats; information
about recommended settings is covered in the Walkthrough, section 6.23.
================================
[4.14] Psylocke (Betsy Braddock)
================================
A-power: Psychic Slash/Psychic Hammer/Hammer Legend--powerful psychic blade
attack (mental damage)
B-power: Psychic Bolts/Psychic Spikes/Legend Bolts--throws psychic bolts
(mental damage); higher levels stun enemies
X-power: Psychic Defense/Psychic Armor/Psychic Wall--reduces damage from
mental attacks; Armor and Wall cover teammates as well; Wall increases
teammates' Focus score
Y-power: Psychic Onslaught--psychic blades strike down your enemies
Skills:
- Blade Master: Increases damage and range of psychic blade attacks
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Psionic Strike/Psionic Fury: Adds mental damage to melee attacks
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: You'll help her fight Sentinels during the NYC riots; she'll
be available after that series of missions.
Recommended AI level: Normal
Recommended AI power: Psychic Bolts
Psylocke doesn't show up until the game is about 75% finished. You can only
use her during the last four missions; however, she's a very useful X-Man
to have around. Psychic Slash in conjunction with Blade Master is an attack
on par with Wolverine's Brutal Slash. Blade Master also affects Psychic
Bolts, which makes that easily the most powerful "scattershot" ranged
attack in the game.
Betsy's best power is Psychic Bolts; with maximized Blade Master, each bolt
dishes out serious damage and, at Spikes and Legend levels, stuns the
enemy--making for easy combos. Psychic Defense looks attractive, but
protection from mental damage only is not as good as the all-purpose
protection of Storm or Jean. The Focus bonus is nice, but not especially
useful when your teammates already have Focus scores of 50+ and energy
packs are lying around like candy at Halloween.
You'll want to maximize Psychic Bolts and Blade Master and buy Psychic
Onslaught. Since Blade Master is the only must-have skill, you should be
able to buy several levels of both Psychic Slash and Psychic Defense. You
may want a level of Mutant Mastery, but you can ignore the other skills.
=========================
[4.15] Rogue (Anna Marie)
=========================
A-power: Southern Strike/Southern Smash/Southern Legend--powerful punch
attack
B-power: Ability Drain/Ability Sap/Consume Ability--stun attack that steals
powers from the victim; while the victim is stunned, Rogue can use the
stolen power by pressing R+B
X-power: Bullet Proof/Iron Maiden/Invulnerability--reduces damage and pain
Y-power: Energy Drain--saps energy from all enemies, stuns them and
prevents them from using their powers for a short time
Skills:
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Flight: Allows flying and flight pickup (at level 3 and above)
- Grappling: Increases Strike and reflects punches and kicks
- Might: Increases lifting strength and damage of melee attacks
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: Rogue is hanging out in the sitting room of the X-Mansion
during your first interlude there.
Recommended AI level: Aggressive
Recommended AI power: Ability Drain
Rogue might be one of the most difficult characters to get a handle on in
X-Men Legends. Her two offensive powers are radically different; and, when
you use Ability Drain, you actually end up with a different power mapped to
your B button.
Rogue is set up as a tank. Southern Strike is second only to Colossus'
Power Smash in terms of raw, physical damage--and is also a very slow
attack. Her personal shield is not quite as powerful as Colossus', but will
still shield her from a lot of damage. Grappling not only increases her
Strike rating, it also adds to her defense by deflecting melee damage.
Finally, she gets both Might and Flying, making her the only X-Man that
could fly tanks over a ravine. Too bad there's really no opportunity to do
so...
Ability Drain is most useful against boss mutants (Mystique, Pyro,
Avalance, etc.); and is a good power to use as Rogue's AI power for scoring
combos. Southern Strike is less useful as it is easy to dodge; but, coupled
with a Muscle Accelerator or under the influence of Gambit's Kinetic
Mastery, it can do a lot of damage. Because Grappling aids in defense, you
probably don't need Rogue's personal shield--especially if you have a
party-wide shield (Jean, Storm) available.
Max out Rogue's Critical Strike, Grappling and Might skills. You should
also max out one of Southern Strike or Ability Drain and buy the other up
to at least level four or five of the second branch (i.e. Southern Smash 4
or 5; Ability Sap 4 or 5). Take three levels of Flight to pick up allies.
Concentrate Rogue's stat points on Focus, Strike and Body.
===========================
[4.16] Storm (Ororo Munroe)
===========================
A-power: Lightning Strike/Chain Lightning/Legend Lightning--a slow-
developing, ranged energy attack; Chain and Legend Lightning affect
multiple opponents; can weld metal
B-power: Whirlwind/Tornado/Legend Vortex--creates a whirlwind that picks up
and throws enemies, doing physical damage in the process; can also put out
fires and move distant objects
X-power: Storm Shield/Hail Shield/Blizzard Shield--reduces damage (all
types); Hail And Blizzard Shield protect teammates as well
Y-power: Cyclone Fury--a powerful, area-wide lightning and wind attack
Skills:
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Lightning Fury/Lightning Rage: Adds lightning damage to melee attacks
- Flight: Allows flying and flight pickup (at level 3 and above)
- Leadership: Increases damage of and experience received from combos
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: You can meet Storm during your first tour of X-Mansion.
Recommended AI level: Normal
Recommended AI power: Lightning Strike
Like Jean Grey, it is very difficult to pick-and-choose from among Storm's
powers and skills. It would be nice if you could just maximize all of them.
Unfortunately, this just doesn't work, so sacrifices have to be made.
By far, Storm's best offensive power is Lightning; you want this leveled up
to Legend status. Whirlwind, while incredibly useful and effective, can be
sacrificed. Buy a few levels for putting out fires and moving objects--just
in case you don't have Iceman or Jean nearby.
You can sacrifice Storm Shield if you will be using Jean Grey and her TK
Shield; however, it's far better to have both shields available so maximize
this to Blizzard Shield 3. The easiest skills to give up are the melee-
oriented ones; Ororo won't beat many people with her fists. A level or two
of Lightning Fury early in the game is a big help; but don't bother maxing
that skill tree.
You can also ignore Critical Strike and Toughness. Storm is dependant on
mutant energy, so at least one level of Mutant Mastery is a plus. You also
don't need more than three levels of Flight (for teammate pickup). That
leaves Leadership as the only skill tree that must be maxed out, and that
will give you plenty more points for increasing Storm's mutant powers.
Because Storm can weld metal (with Lightning), cross gaps (by flying the
team members across), move objects and put out fires (with Whirlwind) and
adds Leadership bonuses to combos, she is the ultimate Swiss Army Knife of
the X-Men. Unless you have some personal vendetta against Storm, you should
always have her on your team.
In the early missions, Storm is a better leader than Cyclops. With a level
or two of Lightning Fury, she can hold her own hand-to-hand when her energy
runs out; and your energy will run out a lot until you get into the low
teens in level. Once you have leveled up a bit, you won't be running out of
power and you can focus on mutant attacks. You'll also be able to bring
Cyclops into the mix and double your Leadership bonuses.
Chain Lightning/Legend Lightning is great for hitting combos and Whirlwind
is very useful for crowd control. Equip Storm with a DNA Generator--or,
better, the mask of Xorn--and let her keep the party shield up and just
spam her mutant attacks.
========================
[4.17] Wolverine (Logan)
========================
A-power: Brutal Slash/Eviscerate/Legend Slash--Wolverine's staple power, a
powerful strike with his extended claws
B-power: Claw Flurry/Claw Frenzy/Legend Frenzy--multiple slashing attacks
against all enemies in a line in front of Wolverine
X-power: Feral Rage/Berserker Rage/Unstoppable Rage--adds +5 to Wolverine's
Agility and increases movement speed by 30%, Berserker Rage also increases
Strike by +5 and Unstoppable Rage also increases Body by +5
Y-power: Savage Rampage--huge slashing attacks against all nearby enemies
Skills:
- Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack
- Expertise: Increases Strike and Agility stats
- Healing Factor: Regenerates health and reduces the effect of pain
- Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy
- Sharpness: Adds damage and destruction to all claw attacks
- Toughness: Increases maximum health
When acquired: You start the game with Everyone's Favorite X-Man(tm).
Recommended AI level: Aggressive
Recommended AI power: Brutal Slash
Wolverine is very popular, and is your starting character. In the early
going, you will find him to be very useful because of his Healing Factor--
he can regenerate health. As the game progresses, you may find yourself
using Wolverine less and less. Once you have the ability to carry a lot of
health packs and you have Tissue Generators in your inventory, Logan is
just not as appealing.
Wolverine's primary mutant attack should be the Brutal Slash tree. It's a
powerful attack, especially combined with Sharpness, and is much faster
than the major attacks of Rogue, Psylocke and Colossus. Claw Flurry allows
Wolverine to make multiple, fast slashing attacks. It is great for getting
out of a crowd, and can also hit combos well. While not, overall, as good
as Brutal Slash, it may be worth investing a few points to see if it gives
you more combos than Slash. If so, you would want to max Flurry rather than
Slash.
It's questionable whether the Rage buffing power is useful. You can, at
high levels, get +5 to three of your stats; but, you can also get +5 to two
of those stats by buying levels of Expertise. The difference is Expertise
is permanent. Rage only lasts, at most, 36 seconds and uses a huge amount
of energy.
Since Wolverine probably won't have a lot of energy, you should concentrate
on maxing out the Brutal Slash power, Critical Strike, Expertise, Healing
Factor and Sharpness. Then, just use Wolverine in a very up-close and
personal way. Split your stat points fairly evenly between all four stats
until you decide how much you want to use Brutal Slash. If you like to use
if frequently, concentrate more points on Focus, followed by Strike. If you
would rather just use Queensbury Rules, let Focus lag and put more points
into Strike, then Agility and Body.
Wolverine is also the central figure is what is known as the "Fastball
Special". Any character with at least one level of Might (Beast, Colossus
or Rogue) can pick Wolverine up and throw him, like a dart, at an enemy.
This is a quite useless feature of the game, but can be fun to play with
once in a while. Note: despite rumors to the contrary, only Wolverine can
be thrown as a Fastball Special and only the three X-Men with normal Might
can throw him. Emma's Shell Might and Alison's Magma Might do not work.
======================
[4.18] Optional Builds
======================
As in any role-playing game, there is no one correct way to build your
characters. Here are some thoughts on other ways you might want to level up
your X-Men...
[4.18.1] Batter Up!
-------------------
With the exception of Cyclops, Jubilee and Nightcrawler, any X-Man can be
built into a good melee fighter; i.e. a character that just uses punches
and kicks. Emma, Gambit, Iceman, Jean, Magma, Psylocke and Storm can all
add different damage types to their melee attacks, making them more
effective against physical resistant foes. All X-Men get Critical Strike as
a skill, which increases the chance of scoring triple damage with each
strike.
(Cyclops, Jubilee and Nightcrawler aren't good melee fighters because they
get no bonus such as energy damage or Might to their melee attacks.
Nightcrawler could be considered good at melee through the use of his
teleporting powers; but, he's no better at just stepping in and trading
punches than Cyclops or Jubilee.)
If you want a real, "hands-on" experience, level up your favorite X-Men
with concentrations on their melee skills, Strike and Body, and one
offensive or defensive power. You won't use powers as much, so Focus is not
much of a concern and a team-shielding power, such as Jean's TK Shield, can
substitute for high Agility. Mix up damage types on your team; for example,
Rogue for physical damage, Storm for energy (lightning) damage and Emma
Frost for mental damage. You can also max out Cyclops' Tactics buffing
power and keep him on the team as ranged support and insta-buffer; or, use
Jubilee for the same purpose, using Bait, with the added ability to control
crowds, using Photo Flash.
The benefit of this method is a greater ability to continue fighting even
if powers are exhausted. The downside is lower experience earned from fewer
combos performed, and a weak ranged fighting ability.
[4.18.2] The Best Defense...
----------------------------
...Is a good offense. Perhaps you think shields are for girlie-men. Or,
perhaps, you have realized when playing X-Men Legends by yourself, most of
the defensive powers are unused. The AI doesn't use defensive powers that
much, so getting full use from all the various shields and buffs requires a
single player to rapidly switch among X-Men and turn on their X-power.
Of course, you're not going to do that; not many people will. When playing
exclusively single-player, only level up the defensive power of those X-Men
whom you will play (i.e. control) frequently and whose X-power covers the
whole team (Cyclops, Storm, Jean, Iceman, etc.). You can switch on the
defensive power at the beginning of combat and then just use offensive
powers or melee attacks.
On the plus side, you'll have more points to put into offensive powers and
skills. On the down side, if you get into a really tough fight and are
taking lots of damage, you won't have as much protection to layer on each
X-Man.
/
\ /--MEN---------------------------------------------------------------
\/ [5] Enemies
/\---LEGENDS-----------------------------------------------------------
/ \
/
The statistics for the enemies below are estimates based on examining
gameplay video. They should give you a rough idea of the strength of each
enemy. Experience point (XP) awards may vary. Boss stats are given in
Section 6, Walkthrough.
========================
[5.1] Anti-Mutant Troops
========================
Health: 40
Resistances: None
Powers: None
XP: 7
These are the basic troops you encounter during the first mission (and
again when you have to replay that mission as Magma). They are not terribly
strong; use them as punching bags and get the hang of using your mutant
powers.
=========================
[5.2] Brotherhood Mutants
=========================
The Brotherhood is Magneto's anti-human gang of mutants. You'll meet a
variety of Brotherhood members during your battles.
[5.2.1] Brotherhood Thug
------------------------
Health: 75
Resistances: None
Powers: None
XP: 7
The basic foot troop of the Brotherhood, you'll first meet them in Central
Park, helping Mystique. Three Brutal Slashes will finish them, or you can
toy with them a bit with A and B attacks. They don't pose much threat,
especially since you should have leveled up once by now and put a point
into Wolverine's Healing ability.
[5.2.2] Brotherhood Insurgent
-----------------------------
Health: 40
Resistances: None
Powers: Energy ray that can stun
XP: 11
These mutants are slightly more dangerous than the thugs; you encounter
them on the rooftops of NYC during the first mission. While they can stun
you with their energy ray, their health is low enough they go down to a
single Brutal Slash from Wolverine's claws.
[5.2.3] Brotherhood Marauder
----------------------------
Health: 120
Resistances: Energy
Powers: Powerful punching attack
XP: 31
A stronger version of the thug with resistance to energy attacks, but not
physical attacks. Beat him down with your tanks, but beware of his power
smash attack. Marauders first appear in the HAARP facility.
[5.2.4] Brotherhood Revolutionary
---------------------------------
Health: 100
Resistances: Physical
Powers: Energy ray that can stun
XP: 67
A stronger version of the Insurgent that makes his first appearance in the
Ice Tunnels of the HAARP facility. He's resistant to physical damage, so
your tanks are going to be less useful against him. Use something that will
slow him down or hold him up to keep him from unleashing his stun ray and
then beat him down.
[5.2.5] Acolyte
---------------
Health: 200
Resistances: Energy
Powers: Stunning beam
XP: 499
These guys are mostly dangerous for their ability to stun the X-Men;
allowing you to get beat up by the Warriors that usually accompany them.
You run into Acolytes first at the Boshnoy Nuclear Plant.
[5.2.6] Acolyte Warrior
-----------------------
Health: 300
Resistances: Physical
Powers: Super strong melee attack, concussion slam
XP: 667
Strong melee fighters that are resistant to melee attacks; but, they go
down like flies to strong energy attacks, especially combos. Watch out for
their concussion slam, which can knock your entire team off their feet.
[5.2.7] Acolyte Adept
---------------------
Health: 250
Resistances: Mental
Powers: Stunning beam, revives fallen acolytes
XP: 887
These slightly tougher acolytes are distinguished by their bright green
outfits--the other acolytes wear black. In addition to being able to stun
you, they can revive their fallen comrades. Like Morlock Goths, always hunt
these mutants down first and take them out; otherwise, you're in for a
long, long battle.
==================
[5.3] HAARP Guards
==================
These humans are a little tougher than the anti-mutant troops in NYC. They
are frequently equipped with machine guns or flamethrowers, which means
they can hit from range. You'll need at least a couple of ranged X-Men to
take them on.
[5.3.1] HAARP Security
----------------------
Health: 100
Resistances: None
Powers: None
XP: 11
The basic foot troops at the HAARP facility. They are melee fighters, using
clubs and are not much of a threat.
[5.3.2] HAARP Soldier
---------------------
Health: 100
Resistances: None
Powers: None
XP: 11
These troops are equipped with machine guns and hand grenades and can
damage you from range.
[5.3.3] HAARP Flamethrower
--------------------------
Health: 100
Resistances: None
Powers: None
XP: 11
A flamethrower-wielding version of the Soldier.
[5.3.4] HAARP Officer
---------------------
Health: 150
Resistances: Physical
Powers: Has a weapon that can stun
XP: 23
A stronger version of the soldier with a weapon that can stun, flash
grenades and physical damage resistance. Concentrate energy powers on him
and try to hit combos to increase damage.
===============
[5.4] Sentinels
===============
The ultimate mutant-killing machines, Sentinels of various types pop up
throughout X-Men Legends. However, rather than inspiring fear and
trepidation, they are more like an obstacle that needs to be brushed out of
the way. For all the terror they are supposed to induce, they are really
rather easy opponents.
[5.4.1] Sentinel Alpha
----------------------
Health: 100
Resistances: Mental
Powers: Energy beams, missiles, strong melee attacks
XP: 67
These are the Sentinels you fight in the Sentinel Flashback scenario. They
don't have much in the way of health and aren't resistant to physical
attacks. Wolverine's Brutal Slash or Nightcrawler's Teleport Flurry is the
way to take them down, especially if you can combo it with Cyclops' ranged
attack.
[5.4.2] Sentinel
----------------
Health: 500
Resistances: Mental
Powers: Energy beams, missiles, strong melee attacks
XP: 283
A stronger Sentinel you first encounter on board the Arbiter. Taking it
down is the same as any tough foe--lots of combos. Storm and Cyclops, with
their energy ranged attacks, are good against these behemoths, as is Rogue
with her mutant-powered smash and Nightcrawler, since he is hard to target.
By this time, you should be able to buy and use the Hammer of Nimrod, which
will make disposing of these robots eve