Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories FAQ
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By Stephen Hsu (stephen_y_hsu@yahoo.com)
a.k.a. ________
CMK TacTican ___________(________)___________
/ | | \
| __________|____|__________ |
| / |____| \ |
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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| | |\/| | |
Legal Disclaimer \ \ |\/| / / (code: legaldisc)
| | |\/| | |
Introduction | | |\/| | | (code: tehintro)
| | |\/| | |
Revision History | | |\/| | | (code: revhist)
| | |\/| | |
Game Mechanics | | |__| | | (code: engineabuse)
Controls | \_________|____|_________/ |
Menus \ | | /
\___________|____|___________/
(______)
| :|
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Sora's Epic (code: handinhand)
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Introduction | :| (code: knowingsora)
Battling with Sora | :|
Leveling Sora | :|
Room Synthesis | :|
| :|
Map Cards | :| (code: ineedacompass)
| :|
Sora's Walkthrough | :|
| :|
1. Traverse Town | :| (code: oldfriends)
2-6. WORLD CARD SET I | :|
Floors 2-6 | :|
Agrabah | :| (code: trioofwishes)
Halloween Town | :| (code: trickortreat)
Monstro | :| (code: bellyofthebeast)
Olympus Coliseum | :| (code: herosummit)
Wonderland | :| (code: offwithyourhead)
7-10.WORLD CARD SET II | :|
Floors 7-10 | :|
100 Acre Wood | :| (code: breakfrombattle)
Atlantica | :| (code: underwaterphun)
Hollow Bastion | :| (code: spookycastle)
Never Land | :| (code: walktheplank)
11. Twilight Town | :| (code: wherearewe)
12. Destiny Islands | :| (code: homeofthefree)
13. Castle Oblivion | :| (code: oblivionawaits)
| :|
Journal | :| (code: cricketsthename)
| :|
Sora's Card Mechanics | :| (code: deckconstruction)
Moogle Shops | :|
Shop and Card Statistics | :|
Card Types | :|
Attack Cards | :|
Magic Cards | :|
Item Cards | :|
Ally Cards | :|
Enemy Cards | :|
Sleights | :|
Attack Sleights | :|
Magic Sleights | :|
Friend Sleights | :|
Premium Cards | :|
| :|
Renowned Decks (8 total) | :| (code: deckdestruction)
Diamond Crackdown | :|
Bio Warfare | :|
Stop Storm | :|
Luminaire | :|
B Economizer | :|
C Economizer | :|
Fatal Rush | :|
Zero Gambit | :|
| :|
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Riku's Saga (code: reverserebirth)
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Introduction | :| (code: learningriku)
Battling with Riku | :|
Leveling Riku | :|
| :|
Riku's Card Mechanics | :| (code: powerofdarkness)
Riku's cards | :|
Sleights | :|
| :|
Riku's Walkthrough | :|
| :|
B12. Hollow Bastion | :| (code: spookycastle)
B11-8. WORLD CARD SET I | :|
Floors B11-B8 | :|
Agrabah | :|_______________ (code: trioofwishes)
Monstro | :| (code: bellyofthebeast)
Never Land | :| __________| (code: walktheplank)
Traverse Town | :| \ (code: oldfriends)
B7-4. WORLD CARD SET II | :| \__
Floors B7-B4 | :| __)
Atlantica | :| / (code: underwaterphun)
Halloween Town | :| / (code: trickortreat)
Olympus Coliseum | :| \ (code: herosummit)
Wonderland | :| \__ (code: offwithyourhead)
B3. Destiny Islands | :| __) (code: homeofthefree)
B2. Twilight Town | :| / (code: wherearewe)
B1. Castle Oblivion | :| /_________(code: oblivionawaits)
| :| |
D Report | :|________________|(code: pwnagerecord)
|____|
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Glossary of Terms (code: miniwebsters)
Frequently Asked Questions (code: tehfaq)
Credits (code: honorroll)
Contact Information (code: talk2me)
Codes are provided for your convenience. Hit Ctrl+F to bring up the Find
menu, type in the appropriate code, and jump directly to the section you want.
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LEGAL DISCLAIMER code: legaldisc
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Kingdom Hearts and all related objects are property of SquareEnix, Inc. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This document is
strictly unofficial and should not be construed as to be endorsed by
SquareEnix, Inc., in any way, shape, or form.
This document is Copyright (c) 2005 Stephen Hsu.
This document is protected by the United States Copyright Act of 1976 and the
Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988. By using this document, the user
agrees to be bound by the terms of this notice. This document may not be
reproduced in whole or in part, electronically or in print, without the prior
obtained express written consent of the author except for personal, private
use. If in case such consent is granted, this document may not be altered from
its original form by the user or any third party. This document may not be
commercially exploited. Use of this document is solely at the discretion of the
user. Reproduction of this document on any web site except
The Wanderer's Lair (www.prism.gatech.edu/~gtg039i)
GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com)
Digital Breakdown (http://www.digital-breakdown.com/index.php)
Square Alliance (http://square-alliance.com)
is a violation of copyright law and is strictly prohibited. This agreement is
effective until terminated by the user. The user may terminate this legal
agreement by completely destroying all copies of this document that the
aforementioned user possesses. By using this document, the user agrees to hold
the author free of any responsibility for loss or damage of any kind from the
use of this guide.
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INTRODUCTION code: tehintro
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Hello and welcome to the Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories FAQ. I wrote
this guide because I wanted to have a single file that could serve as a
comprehensive reference for anything in the game. It is also much more than a
mere reference, as I have tried my best to include detailed strategies and
tactics to help gamers complete the single-player modes. I hope that in the
course of reading you will find this document as beneficial to you as it has
been for me. Of course, no person is a team by himself and this FAQ also
represents the work of many others without whom it would not have much of its
quality.
Story spoilers are avoided where possible. However, the Journal and D
Report sections contain in-game entries on most of the game itself, so skip
these parts of the document if you want to find out on your own. Chain of
Memories occurs immediately after the events of the original Kingdom Hearts,
but it is not necessary to have played the original game to understand the
events which occur in Chain of Memories. Chain of Memories has two main
stories, the first of which focuses on the key master Sora and the second of
which revolves around the warrior of dawn, Riku.
About myself: My name is Stephen Hsu and I study physics in college. My
GameFAQs alias is CMK TacTican and my Neoseeker alias is Phantelle. It's a
wonder this document was produced at all when you consider the Fundamental
Theorem of Physics: physics major = no free time.
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REVISION HISTORY code: revhist
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Version 1.20 -
Added a whole truckload of statistical information and a few miscellaneous
notes, including Echo Charlie's observations about the elemental Keyblades.
Also made good on my threat of learning the Moogle point selling prices of
all the cards. Added an identifier for each Renowned Deck listing what it
should be used for, so hopefully no more of this Bio deck against Marluxia
II business. Corrected a mistake concerning Diamond Dust and One-Winged
Angel (you do NOT have to possess Ultima Weapon to pick up those two). Put
in a few notes on Riku's normal attacks. I'm probably forgetting to list a
few updates that I implemented.
Allowed Square-Alliance to use this guide.
Version 1.10 - August 26, 2005
Fixed a number of errors where information listed in one section wasn't
included in another when appropriate. Added a note to e-mail policy. Put
in a few entries in the Frequently Asked Questions section. Also, finally
got around to manually proofreading the blasted document, which ate up time
like you wouldn't believe but at least fixed nearly all the errors in the
first draft.
Added Luminaire, Stop Storm, B Economizer, C Economizer, Fatal Rush, and
Zero Gambit to the Renowned Deck section.
To do list: Find out how many Moogle points you can get selling cards. Add
miscellaneous tidbits of information, and do something about the
Renowned Deck section.
Version 1.00 - July 16, 2005
After four or five months of work, all the main sections have been written
out. Introduction and both Sora's and Riku's walkthroughs have been added.
Game Mechanics are included for both characters and lists compiled and
commented for cards and enemies. Journal and D Report entries are fully
written out. The document now includes a Glossary and a FAQ section. As
of this version, the guide is 677 Kb in size ... and to think that I was
certain it would never grow larger than 350. This FAQ is submitted and
going public for the first time!
Added Diamond Crackdown and Bio Warfare to the Renowned Deck section.
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GAME MECHANICS code: engineabuse
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We've all had this adage shoved down our throats, so let's hear it one more
time: Knowledge is the key to victory. The most basic knowledge of all is
understanding how to interface with the game.
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Controls
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DIRECTION PAD - Movement
Move Sora or Riku around, easy as that. Sora and Riku both run at the same
speed outside of battle. Tapping left or right twice in battle triggers the
dodge/roll, one of the most useful abilities that you have. Your character
will roll or jump in that direction, safely passing through any attack for the
duration of the evasion. (Dark-mode Riku's dodge takes him across nearly the
whole screen in battle.) You can also dodge upwards or downwards by tapping the
appropriate keys (Dark-mode Riku only).
A button - Action
Swing your Keyblade or Soul Eater outside of battle. Striking certain room
objects will trigger a reaction; chests, for example, are opened by striking,
and certain room features will also yield bounties when struck. Striking a
room door will open the menu for room synthesis. Striking an enemy on the room
map will give you a distinct edge in battle, as enemies start off stunned and
also take a bit of damage. Depending on the properties of the room, you may
also gain other advantages.
During story events, pressing the A button will scroll down the text. Just
don't keep it depressed, as the text will very occasionally skip out entirely
if you do.
In battle, the A button uses the selected card. The card that occupies the
action bracket will be used if the A button is pressed.
B button - Cancel
Jump. The B button causes Sora and Riku to jump, which can yield benefits
in a room if you jump upon certain objects. There is no penalty for falling
from any height, no matter how great it is. The B button also cancels out of
most menus.
In battle, the B button again triggers a jump. Hold down the D-pad before
you press the B button to jump in a direction, and note that jumps can still be
maneuvered in midair. In Dark Mode, Riku can double jump upon a second press
of the B key while he is still airborne.
L button - Shift Left
In battle, pressing L shifts your deck one card to the right, or clockwise.
If it is held, it will cause a continuous shift after a moment of delay, which
can be useful for grabbing that one card you need from the other side of your
deck. Continuous shift stops at the reload space.
R button - Shift Right
In battle, pressing R shifts your deck one card to the left, or counter-
clockwise. Holding the R button causes a continuous shift after a brief delay,
a shift which stops at the reload space. See the section on sleights for
information on how to kick butt by holding down R and L simultaneously.
START button - Pause
Outside battle, the Start button accesses the menu, where you interact with
Sora or Riku. In battle, the Start button pauses the game. Cheap players can
abuse the fact that the screen does not fade out to assess a situation before
making a move. Note that when a battle is paused, all menus vanish from the
screen - in other words, you can't see your HP, deck, stocked cards, card
effects, DP (Riku only), or any of the above for your enemy.
You can also skip story sequences by holding down the Start button for a
few seconds. The skip won't engage immediately, but after a few moments the
screen will fade to black and leave you at the next major scene.
SELECT button - Miscellaneous
On the field, the Select button displays the World map for easy reference.
In battle, the Select button switches between the normal deck and the enemy
cards stocked in your deck. The game tells you about this quite early in the
game before you have any enemy cards. Consequently, most people (including
myself) forget about the use of the Select button until well into their first
run of the game.
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Menus
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REVIEW DECK
Here, you deal with the core essence of your ability to fight your way
through the game. The Review Deck command allows you to view your deck of
cards as well as all the cards currently in your possession. You are limited
to a maximum of 99 cards in your deck. Riku is stuck looking at how the castle
has decided to screw him over, while Sora can build and customize his own decks
and the cards in them. Riku can also only use a single deck at any given time,
while Sora can store up to three separate decks (but Sora can only have one
equipped at a time).
In Sora's mode, pressing L will enter remove mode, where you may remove
cards from your deck. Pressing R enters add move, where you may decide upon
the cards to place in your deck. The neutral menu is used to rearrange your
current deck. Sora can rename any of his decks and he can build whatever he
wants, so long as he has the necessary capacity points to support his cards.
(More on CP later.) It is vitally important to keep your deck organized at all
times.
WORLD MAP
This command brings up a picture of the current world which you are in.
The lower left hand corner shows the current floor of the castle, the lower
right hand corner displays the name of that floor, and the upper right hand
corner tells you which card you used to synthesize the room you are in. You
may press the A button to bring up a detailed assessment of the cost of making
that room.
MAP CARDS
Map cards are used to synthesize rooms in the floors of Castle Oblivion.
The Map Cards menu brings up a list of the map cards you hold, as well as a
breakdown of each one. Note that you are limited to holding 99 map cards at
any given time; if you are at this capacity, then you will receive no more map
cards from battle. You may press the A button to choose to discard a map card,
and press A again to confirm the selection.
The headers at the top of the map card menu separate your cards by type.
WORLD CARDS
This menu displays a chart of the worlds which you've visited, as well as
giving you an idea of how much further you have to go. Sora's story covers
thirteen worlds; Riku's covers twelve. The floor you are currently on is
highlighted in a different color.
STATUS
All the information you could ever want, and packaged in an easily legible
form. Here, you can check on your current level, your HP, your CP (Sora only),
your Moogle points (Sora only), your currently equipped deck (still Sora only),
your attack rating (Riku only), your dark points (again, Riku only), your
current levels of experience, and the experience needed to reach the next
level. You can also check your sleights, which are sorted by type, for details
on how to use them and what they do. Finally, your friends (if you have any)
are displayed in a small box. Sora can have up to three friends and Riku up to
one.
JOURNAL (Sora only)
Jiminy Cricket appears to help you keep track of the story, your cards, and
the characters you've met so far. The journal fills up as you encounter more
objects of interest and unfilled entries are denoted by question marks. Being
the nice guy that he is, Jiminy highlights each new entry with a "New" banner.
When an entire category is filled, he'll stamp the Mickey Mouse emblem next to
that category as a token of your achievement. See the Journal section further
down the document for the full lists.
D REPORT (Riku only)
Riku's progress is cataloged by the D Report, which takes note of much of
what he does and meets. Basically, it's Riku's equivalent of Sora's Journal,
only he doesn't get a handy cricket to keep track of it for him.
QUICK SAVE
This option makes an instant save into the memory in case you need to turn
off your Gameboy Advance (or emulator ...) and can't make it to a save point in
time. Which, by the way, can happen quite often. When you load the save, it
vanishes from the game - so no, you can't use it to abuse the game.
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SORA'S EPIC code: handinhand
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Sora's tale begins immediately after the events of Kingdom Hearts. If you
never played Kingdom Hearts, don't panic - you should be able to understand why
he's doing what he's doing within the first half hour. All of Sora's story
happens inside the thirteen above ground floors of Castle Oblivion.
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SORA'S EPIC - Introduction code: knowingsora
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First off, if you're going to challenge a friend in link games, then you
have an interest in building up the best possible Sora that you can. Only Sora
can participate in link battles (Riku is stuck with fixed decks - and fixed can
be used in both senses of the word - and as a result would probably be murdered
in link battles against Sora).
Sora relies on the power of his cards, spells, and friends to see him
through a battle. Thus, his potential is directly affected by how well you
build your deck. Sora's deck is his single biggest advantage in the game; if
made properly, he can run over just about anything that has the misfortune to
meet him.
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INTRODUCTION - Battling with Sora
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At the beginning of the game, you will be led through a tutorial of how to
fight. Battles start in the classic Final Fantasy style - the screen shifts
into an in-battle display. Sora's deck is shown in the lower left hand corner;
the currently highlighted card is the one that he will use when the A button is
pressed. Pressing the L and R buttons cycles through the available cards.
Battles are initiated as either plot events or as random encounters on the
room map. In the room map, running into an enemy starts a battle. Striking an
enemy with the Keyblade also initiates a battle, but with the advantage that
the enemy begins stunned and with a little HP knocked off. Thus, it is to your
advantage to start off battles with a Keyblade strike whenever possible. Story
battles cannot use this advantage.
Card types used in battle are broadly separated into three categories:
attack, magic, and item. See the card section for more information on these
cards and how to use them.
Early in the game, Sora will also be taught how to use sleights. A sleight
is simply a set of more than one card. Instead of using a card immediately in
battle, pressing L and R simultaneously allows you to stock up to three cards,
where they are displayed underneath Sora's HP bar. The bar then indicates the
total value of the sleight and the type of sleight (if applicable). Once the
sleight has been filled, pressing L and R together one final time triggers the
sleight. More on using sleights in the sleight battle section.
Sora's HP is displayed in the upper left corner along with a picture of
himself. As Sora takes damage, his HP will decrease. When he is down to about
fifteen percent of his maximum HP, the bar will begin to flash red, his status
box will change to display a fatigued picture of himself, and the game emits a
VERY annoying continuous beep. Being at critical health has its own benefits,
but in general you'll want to heal yourself up as fast as you can.
In battle, Sora will automatically acquire targets. A target will have a
bracket centered over its body and its HP displayed in the upper right corner.
Some cards and sleights will track their targets, but all sleights and cards
can be used without first designating a target.
Just as Sora uses cards, so too do his enemies. Only one set of cards can
be in action at any given time. Enemies will attack Sora using their cards,
which are displayed in the center of the screen. Each enemy card will have the
portrait of the enemy using it along with a number in the card denoting that
card's value. This, of course, leads us to the concept of card breaking. If
Sora and an enemy both play a card simultaneously, the card with the higher
number wins. The loser's card is broken, which is shown on screen by the text
message "card break," and the loser reels back for a moment. The winner's card
and attack go through. Consider the following examples:
Sora vs. Shadow
Sora plays a 4 Kingdom Key and the Shadow plays a 1 attack.
Sora wins the attack.
Sora vs. Fat Bandit
Sora plays a 7 Oblivion and the Fat Bandit plays a 5 attack.
Sora wins the attack.
Sora vs. Blue Rhapsody
Sora plays a 2 Fire and the Rhapsody plays a 5 attack.
The Rhapsody wins the attack, hitting Sora while he is reeling.
Sora vs. Soldier
The Soldier first plays a 5 attack. Midway through, Sora breaks it with an
18 Omnislash sleight. Sora wins the attack and his sleight executes.
Sora vs. Defender
The Defender first plays a 9 attack. Sora attempts to trigger a 6 Ars
Arcanum but his attack fails to go through and the Defender's attack
continues without interruption.
Note that breaking a card will cause an opponent to reel backward. Having
a card broken does the same to you. However, if your opponent already has a
card in play and you fail to break it, nothing happens except that your cards
are used up. You do not suffer from card break effects; in the last example,
Sora loses his cards but does not reel back.
The sole exception to the normal "higher numbers beat lower numbers" rule
is the very special 0 card. Broadly speaking, the progression is this:
0 > 10+ > 9 > 8 > 7 > 6 > 5 > 4 > 3 > 2 > 1 > 0
where a card breaks anything to the right of it. 0 breaks everything, but
is also broken by everything. In other words, you can use a 0 card to break
any attack that is coming at you; however, as long as the 0 card is in play,
the next attack that comes along will break it. If Sora and an opponent both
play cards of the same value simultaneously, both cards will break and both of
them will reel.
Pressing the Select button switches from the normal battle deck to the
enemy card deck. Enemy cards grant Sora a special advantage of some sort. The
bottom left corner next to the card list displays this advantage along with an
indicator of how long it lasts. The enemy card section has much more detailed
information about effects and usage.
So what happens if you use up all your cards? Without cards, you can't do
anything. However, you can always reload your deck at any time by going to the
black card square and holding down the A button until your gauge is full. The
number on the card gauge determines how many times you must refill it until the
cards return to you. The gauge starts off at 1, but each reload increases the
meter by 1 to a maximum of 3 consecutive reloads. Sora has to stand still as
he reloads (unless he uses a certain card to lift this restriction), making him
very vulnerable to enemy attack while he calls back his deck. There are some
item cards which will quick-reload a deck and even reset the counter.
When Sora defeats an enemy, that enemy will drop experience balls and very
rarely a Premium bonus (more on Premium bonuses in the Journal). Defeating an
opponent alone is not enough to earn experience - you must also run around and
collect the experience balls that a defeated opponent drops before you can earn
any experience. In most battles, the enemies do not all appear at once; when
Sora defeats a certain number of opponents, more will appear until he has
beaten them all. When all opponents are defeated, a map card or enemy card is
dropped (unless you have 99 map cards already) and the battle ends once all
items are collected. Do note that experience balls disappear if you haven't
collected them within a certain amount of time.
Sora can also end battles by fleeing. To run from battle, run to the edge
of the battlefield and keep pressing the D-pad in that direction. An escape
gauge will then appear and when it fills up (typically in about 1.25 seconds)
Sora escapes from the battle. Escape can be interrupted by enemy attacks or if
you let go of the D-pad; once interrupted, the gauge resets back to 0.
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INTRODUCTION - Leveling Sora
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As with virtually all RPGs, Sora increases his abilities by level gains. A
level gain allows Sora to increase one of his fighting capacities. You may
choose to raise one of the following:
HP Boost: Sora gains +15 hit points. Maxed at 560 HP.
CP Boost: Sora gains +25 capacity points. Maxed at 1900 CP.
Sleight: Sora learns a new sleight (not always available). 11 total.
Sora can go up to level 99, but he can only maximize two of the three bonus
categories. Of the bonuses, the Sleight bonus is not always available but can
only be accessed once Sora has reached a certain level. More information is
available in the Sleights section. Personally, I recommend that you learn a
Sleight when you can and gain just enough HP to survive a long battle (around
200 HP should be enough). Then concentrate on taking your CP up as high as it
can go.
Maximizing HP and CP gives you one sleight at level 99.
Maximizing HP and sleights gives you 1650 CP at level 99.
Maximizing CP and sleights gives you 410 HP at level 99.
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INTRODUCTION - Room Synthesis
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Everything in Castle Oblivion is governed by cards. Naturally, you'll need
cards to be able to go anywhere. When you enter a floor, the first room of
that floor is automatically created for you. To go any further, you'll have to
bang on a door with your Keyblade and then synthesize the room beyond with a
map card. The rules for synthesis are simple: the cost of the card needed to
synthesize the next room is the cost of the card used to synthesize the room
you are in, plus 1. For example, if Sora is currently in a 4 Teeming Darkness
room, to go to the next room he has to use a card of at least 5 or greater. 0
cards are again special since they can be used to synth any room. (Note that
these rules apply only to normal rooms. Storyline rooms and Reward rooms have
their own unique requirements.) Additionally, the 0 card resets the counter -
if Sora synthed the next room with a zero card, the value of that room is 0,
not 4. (In the first version of this guide I wrote that room values carry over
through 0 cards, but I've since learned that I was mistaken.) You can also
recreate rooms that you've already been in by resynthing them from the other
side. Rooms have a limited number of enemies, so if you need to level then
you'll find yourself resynthing rooms quite often.
Rooms vary in size and shape. When Sora enters a new room, you'll see an
animation of him walking while the room loads. The longer this animation lasts
the bigger the room into which you are walking.
Floor layouts in Castle Oblivion are fixed. The first floor always has the
same layout regardless of which world card you used to synthesize it and so
forth with all floors. For this reason, I can't tell you which world has what
kind of layout, all I can tell you is which floor has what kind of layout.
Once you leave a floor, it is reset. This means that if you wish to return
to that floor, you must resynthesize all rooms anew. (This has its advantages,
as you will probably find out if you return to previous floors.) Each floor
also has a Save Station and a Warp Point before you enter the world of that
floor.
Storyline and Key to Rewards rooms have their own requirements which are
listed along with the door in question. The game may ask for a card lower than
such a number, or higher than, or exactly equal to. Sometimes it'll ask just
for a card of a certain color. Sometimes it'll give you a number and you'll
have to feed cards to reduce that number down to zero before the door will open
for you. (One memorable Key to Rewards door required blue cards of at least 33
combined value, red cards of at least 33 combined value, and green cards of at
least 33 combined value PLUS the Key to Rewards card before it would open, but
man was that Megalixir worth it.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAP CARDS code: ineedacompass
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is an index of all map cards in the game, as taken directly
from their Journal entries in the order which they appear in-game. Sora can
only hold a maximum of 99 map cards. The total number of map cards that you
have is listed in the map card menu in the top right corner - if you've hit
that limit, you cannot win any more map cards in battle without first trashing
map cards that you already have. The number of Heartless in each type of room
is predetermined and can't be altered; also, each room can only have so many
Heartless on the screen at a time. Each card has its Journal entry copied over
as well as my own commentary on the card. Do note that map cards fall into one
of four categories:
Red - affects enemies while in the room
Green - affects Sora while in the room
Blue - affects the room itself
Yellow - Storyline or Reward card
------------------------------Red Cards (9 total)------------------------------
Red cards can have either good or bad effects on the Heartless in the room.
In the early parts of the story mode, you'll usually pick up cards that allow
you to debilitate the Heartless, but as the story progresses you'll find more
and more map cards which give the Heartless an edge. You are advised to hold
at least one red card of every value for the sake of opening doors, though it's
likely you'll find yourself burning through the lower-numbered cards more
quickly than the higher numbers.
_______________________________________________________________________________
TRANQUIL DARKNESS 1/26
"A room where only a few Heartless appear."
5 Heartless total, 1 Heartless onscreen maximum
Exactly as the card says, only a few Heartless will pop up to interfere
with you in these rooms. These rooms also tend to be small and cramped; use
them at important junctions if you don't feel like walking. When you first
synthesize a new world, the first room defaults to Tranquil Darkness. However,
note that these particular cards seem to become rarer as you ascend the castle.
_______________________________________________________________________________
TEEMING DARKNESS 2/26
"A room where many Heartless appear. Enemies are more likely to drop enemy
cards."
8 Heartless total, 3 Heartless onscreen maximum.
Teeming Darkness rooms tend to be large and filled with objects. Lots of
Heartless present and the room structure is usually simple. Simply put, this
is one of the best map cards if you want to power level or just grab a lot of
Moogle points/health balls/cards - synth two of these rooms next to each other,
clear them out, and you're set. Note that most rooms have only two enemies on
the screen at one time. Teeming Darkness rooms, however, can have up to three.
The flip side is that this is one of the rooms which give you a 2.5 times
greater chance of winning an enemy card at the end of the battle.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FEEBLE DARKNESS 3/26
"A room where Heartless with weak cards appear."
5 Heartless total, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
When you enter this room, think about it this way: someone just declared
open season on the Heartless. Feeble Darkness rooms aren't too large or small,
but they do give you an important advantage - all enemy Heartless cards are
reduced by a value of 2. (They aren't reduced below 1, however, which is quite
important since it prevents them from getting the "break everything" 0 cards.)
_______________________________________________________________________________
ALMIGHTY DARKNESS 4/26
"A room where Heartless with strong cards appear. Enemies are more likely
to drop enemy cards."
8 Heartless total, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
Big rooms full of Heartless with +2 modifiers to all their attacks (though
they won't go higher than 9). If you want a challenge, go ahead and synth this
room. Otherwise, the only real reason to carry one of these is for storyline
room synthesis. If you're desperate for enemy cards and out of Looming or
Teeming Darkness cards, then go ahead and use Almighty Darkness since it gives
you the useful 2.5 times increased chance of getting an enemy card. Otherwise,
don't bother.
_______________________________________________________________________________
SLEEPING DARKNESS 5/26
"A room where Heartless are drowsy and easy to ambush."
3 Heartless total, 3 Heartless onscreen maximum
Understatement of the century. The description ought to read "A room where
Heartless can't move, period." Sleeping darkness rooms are tiny - the whole
room fits comfortably on your screen - and all the Heartless are present in the
room and immobile, though it's not like there's a lot of them to begin with.
Feel free to abuse the situation as you see fit.
_______________________________________________________________________________
LOOMING DARKNESS 6/26
"A room where Heartless attack relentlessly. Enemies are more likely to
drop enemy cards."
8 Heartless total, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
Another big room card. Here, Heartless will chase you like monsters out of
a bad B-movie. The upside is that they have no other advantage, so the upshot
of the Looming Darkness room is that it's a pain to cross in a hurry but not
hard at all to clear. Again, there's a 2.5 times greater chance of winning an
enemy card from a battle; useful for assembling that Bio deck.
_______________________________________________________________________________
PREMIUM ROOM 7/26
"A room where victory often leads to Premium Bonuses."
3 Heartless total, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
Remember all those rare Premium bonuses that you could never seem to lay a
finger on? Fret no more, this is what the Premium room is good for. In this
room, the majority of battles that you fight will give you a Premium bonus. I
personally suggest that you save as many of these cards as you can until you've
assembled the deck that you want to use for link battle. Then use these cards
and turn as many of your cards Premium as you can.
_______________________________________________________________________________
WHITE ROOM 8/26
"A room where only White Mushrooms appear. But what happens when you help
them out?"
Number of Heartless depends on how many you can catch.
White rooms are typically medium to large in size, but sparsely occupied by
White 'Shrooms. In brief, completing a White Mushroom battle gives you a high
probability of getting a Premium bonus room. You'll probably need a special
deck made exclusively for fighting White 'Shrooms, though.
_______________________________________________________________________________
BLACK ROOM 9/26
"A room where only Black Funguses appear. But what happens when you defeat
one?"
Number of Heartless depends on how many you can catch.
Arrgh, it's funGI, not funGUSES! Anyway, grammar whoring aside, the Black
Room is about the same size as the White Room and similar in structure, plus
it's filled with Black Funguses instead of White Mushrooms. Black Room battles
drop lots of blue map cards, especially the useful Calm Bounty.
-----------------------------Green Cards (7 total)-----------------------------
Whereas red map cards affect the Heartless, green map cards affect Sora's
deck instead (with one exception). There are no green cards that impose a
disadvantage on Sora's deck; most of them boost Sora's card statistics in some
way or form, or alternatively confer a field advantage. This makes green map
cards really handy if you're outmatched and need some sort of way to level up
before moving onward.
_______________________________________________________________________________
MARTIAL WAKING 10/26
"A room where attack cards are more effective."
6 Heartless total, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
In other words, a room where all your attack cards get a +2 bonus to their
values. This is great for pure power decks since you can run over anything in
this room, but it plays havoc with sleight decks since all your sleights get
messed up. What's especially annoying is that all 0 cards turn into 2 cards,
so you're left without a break everything card. Card values max out at 9. If
you're into beatdown decks, use Martial Waking when you can. If you're into
tactical or sleight decks, avoid this room.
_______________________________________________________________________________
SORCEROUS WAKING 11/26
"A room where magic cards are more effective."
6 Heartless total, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
+ 2 to all magic! Whee! If you want to abuse magic and summon cards, then
this is definitely the room for you. And unlike Martial Waking, Sorcerous
Waking inflicts no penalty to sleight-based magic decks since magic sleights do
not depend at all upon their values. In a world with many enemies who use
physical attacks, this is definitely one of the best cards to have.
_______________________________________________________________________________
ALCHEMIC WAKING 12/26
"A room where item cards are more effective."
6 Heartless total, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
Think Sorcerous Waking, only applied to Item cards. Now you can use that
Holy sleight without worrying over whether its low value will allow it to be
broken. Alchemic waking is a great card if you use a deck that depends heavily
on sleights, as it helps you get all your attack and magic cards back.
_______________________________________________________________________________
MEETING GROUND 13/26
"A room where a friend card appears at the beginning of all battles (if
your friends are with you)."
6 Heartless total, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
Basically what the card says, a friend card appears at the beginning of all
battles. This is an especially useful card on the top floor of Castle Oblivion
in Sora's story, as Trinity Limit kills nearly everything with a single blow.
There are a few places in both Sora's and Riku's stories where you have no ally
support in battle, so don't bother using this card in these places.
_______________________________________________________________________________
STAGNANT SPACE 14/26
"A room where the Heartless move slowly."
5 Heartless total, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
Half speed, to be exact. A great map card if you just want to run through
a room without fighting anything along the way. On the other hand, this room
tends to be created as an overly long corridor, which restricts your movement.
And whereas the first four Green cards give you medium-sized room, you'll find
the Stagnant Space quite large.
_______________________________________________________________________________
STRONG INITIATIVE 15/26
"A room where striking first in the field does additional damage to
Heartless."
5 Heartless total, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
Ever notice how striking a Heartless on the field deals a bit of damage to
your first opponents? Well, in Strong Initiative you don't deal just a bit of
damage, you deal a whole whopping load of damage. Save these cards for the
last few floors of Castle Oblivion where enemies have the most HP.
_______________________________________________________________________________
LASTING DAZE 16/26
"A room where striking first in the field stuns all Heartless that join the
battle."
5 Heartless total, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
It's nice to start out battles with your opponents stunned and helpless as
you stock up cards to unleash that Ragnarok or Mega Flare on them. Lasting
Daze carries that advantage throughout the whole battle, as each reinforcement
arrives dazed and unable to attack. As with Strong Initiative, save these
cards for the last few floors of Castle Oblivion unless you desperately need
them.
------------------------------Blue Cards (6 total)-----------------------------
Blue rooms are ... well, the blue map cards affect the room itself, turning
it into something. Notably, you can synth blue map cards if you're hunting for
cards or simply need some breathing space. The only save room in the game is
also contained in this category.
_______________________________________________________________________________
CALM BOUNTY 17/26
"A room containing treasure."
0 Heartless total
And more than just that, here you can relax and take a breather. This card
is exactly what it sounds like: a small room with a single treasure chest that
always yields a card. You can only acquire certain cards from Bounty rooms,
but it's more likely that you'll pick up a card you already have.
_______________________________________________________________________________
GUARDED TROVE 18/26
"A room where treasure is guarded by Heartless."
5 Heartless total + 2 n00b campers, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
Or, a small room where a big Heartless camps at the base of the only ladder
leading to the treasure chest. Plus, another Heartless camps at the top of the
platform waiting to ambush from above. Plus, a room where it's hard to begin a
battle with a Keyblade strike. Use this card if you're out of False Bounty
cards and saving Calm Bounty cards.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FALSE BOUNTY 19/26
"A room where only one treasure chest is real. Opening the wrong chest
triggers a battle."
5 Heartless total + 2 Jack-in-the-boxes, 2 Heartless onscreen maximum
You have three chests and therefore a one-in-three chance of picking the
right chest in your first guess. Guess wrong and you enter a battle without
the chance to stun your opponent. Also, this room does have other Heartless
lurking about, so be warned. I prefer this room above Guarded Trove, but it's
just a personal preference.
_______________________________________________________________________________
MOMENT'S REPRIEVE 20/26
"A room where you can save your progress."
0 Heartless total
Easy. There's a save point in this small room, as well as an object or two
that you can hit for Moogle points/health/cards. A good place to use these
would be right before a boss battle. The game automatically creates a Moment's
Reprieve room for you after clearing the final storyline room of a floor (Sora
only), and this Moment's Reprieve room is always found directly in front of the
floor exit.
_______________________________________________________________________________
MINGLING WORLDS 21/26
"A room where anything could happen."
Number of Heartless total and onscreen varies.
This card randomly produces a room with the properties of another card, to
my knowledge. As the picture implies, it's a big question mark. And don't
bother consulting the floor map to figure out what kind of room you're in; it
will simply say "Mingling Worlds" and leave it at that.
_______________________________________________________________________________
MOOGLE ROOM 22/26
"A room where cards can be traded with Moogles at the Moogle Shop."
0 Heartless total
As the description implies, you can trade Moogle points for cards in this
room. Each Moogle Room has a single Moogle you can talk to; also, the first
time that you talk to the Moogle, you'll get a set of five cards for free. Do
note that Riku can't pick up this particular type of map card since he can't
modify his deck and thus can't run into Moogles. The cards you receive are
randomly selected every time you enter and leave the room if you're into save
state abuse ...
-----------------------------Yellow Cards (4 total)----------------------------
Yellow cards are one-of-a-kind cards that involve either the story directly
or else hold unique rewards for Sora. Unlike the other cards, they have no
associated number values and can only be used at specific room designations.
Using a yellow map card will either advance the story for a particular world or
else open a room which contains a unique sleight or card.
_______________________________________________________________________________
KEY OF BEGINNINGS 23/26
"A room where untold stories unfold."
0 Heartless total, except for certain story scenes
This key is required to synth the first of the story rooms on a floor. You
may only have one of these cards any at given time, and they are automatically
acquired along the course of the story.
_______________________________________________________________________________
KEY OF GUIDANCE 24/26
"A room where untold stories unfold."
0 Heartless total, except for certain story scenes
This key is required to synth the second of the story rooms on a floor.
Not all worlds have a second story room. You may only have one of these cards
any at given time, and they are automatically acquired along the course of the
story after using up the Key of Beginnings card.
_______________________________________________________________________________
KEY TO TRUTH 25/26
"A room where untold stories unfold."
0 Heartless total, except for certain story scenes
This key is required to synth the third of the story rooms on a floor. It
more often than not triggers a boss battle if there is a third story room in
that particular world. You may only have one of these cards any at given time,
and they are automatically acquired along the course of the story after using
up the Key of Guidance card.
_______________________________________________________________________________
KEY TO REWARDS 26/26
"A room containing special treasure."
0 Heartless total
This is it, the Key to Rewards which unlocks the Reward room. Only Sora's
story contains Reward rooms, so this doesn't apply to Riku. The Reward room
contains a single treasure chest which holds cards or sleights that you'll find
nowhere else. You can only have one of these cards at any time; the further
into Castle Oblivion that you go, the higher your chance of obtaining one, plus
they won't appear AT ALL before World Card Set 2. And since you can only carry
one at a time, it's in your best interest to use it as soon as possible. The
best place to poach enemies for the Key to Rewards card is on the top floor,
where you have a better than 90% chance of getting the card within three
battles. Note that Reward room contents are associated with worlds, not
floors.
===============================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SORA'S WALKTHROUGH
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
===============================================================================
For much of Sora's story, you will enjoy the assistance of many friends who
travel with you. This walkthrough is divided by floors. Each floor includes a
floor plan as well as a set of detailed information about the worlds on that
floor. Note that worlds can be synthed in any order - I've simply listed them
alphabetically. Because floor plans are associated with floors and not worlds,
I've separated them in the sections. Note that the game automatically puts you
back in a preset room when you've completed a storyline room; these are also
marked on the map.
As you progress through Castle Oblivion, the enemies that you meet will
become increasingly more difficult. Their HP pools will rise with each floor
that you ascend; on the other hand, they'll also drop more experience. You'll
also meet new enemies on each floor, as well as a few which appear exclusively
on a single floor. Each room in the floor also has objects on the map which
can be struck or jumped on; doing this releases a stream of green (health)
balls, red (Moogle point) balls, a card, or nothing at all. Each world also
has a Keyblade associated with it besides the ubiquitous Kingdom Key, so keep
your eyes peeled. For more information, consult the Journal section of this
document.
Most floors have a boss and a select few will have more than one boss. As
with normal enemies, bosses also level up the further that you go. Since any
boss associated with a world card can be taken in any order that you like, boss
HP values are not fixed. Just keep in mind that the higher you climb in the
castle, the more HP the boss will have and the harder that boss will hit.
Bosses can also be classified into two types. One type of boss is much
like Sora - a character-sized person who uses attack cards and items the way
Sora does. This type of boss can stack cards to form sleights, packs 0 cards,
and may even have to reload his or her deck. The other type of boss fights
more like a glorified Heartless - using cards one at a time. These bosses do
not use sleights or 0 cards but typically have high-valued cards and other ways
to make up for this shortcoming. Also, in battles against these bosses, you
can pick up a 0 Trinity card by fulfilling certain conditions. The 0 Trinity
card gives you some sort of advantage (usually a big one) in battle.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLOOR 1: Traverse Town code: oldfriends
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLOOR 1
^Exit 1: Key of Beginnings + >1 card
[3]-[ ]-[!] 2: Key of Guidance + >3 card
| | 3: Key to Truth + Green card
[2]-[%] [ ]
| | R: Key to Rewards
[1]-[*] [ ]
| | *: Reappear at this room when finished with 1.
[ ]-[ ] [R] %: Reappear at this room when finished with 2.
^Start !: Reappear at this room when finished with 3. Cannot be
accessed until 3 is completed.
_______________________________________________________________________________
TRAVERSE TOWN
"A haven for those whose homes fell to darkness."
Objects: Crate, lamppost, shingled block in the floor
Cards: Kingdom Key, Simba summon (Beginnings room)
Reward Room: Lionheart Keyblade
Friends: Donald Duck, Goofy
Enemies: Shadow, Soldier, Red Nocturne, Blue Rhapsody
Bosses: Guard Armor (Truth room)
Traverse Town is pretty much the tutorial section of the game. Here, the
battle system and synthesis systems are explained. You'll also get to meet a
few old and beloved Final Fantasy characters before fighting an easy boss
battle in the Key to Truth room. If you wish, take the time to clear out all
the rooms and level a bit, then go back through them and stock up on Kingdom
Keys before proceeding. And enjoy the FF character cameo while you can, since
you'll be seeing precious few of those in Chain of Memories.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GUARD ARMOR
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: None
Absorbs: None
Nullifies: None
Threat: Low
Attacks: Stomp - The Guard Armor's feet will attempt to kick Sora. This attack
has range issues and thus isn't very dangerous if you stay out of
its way. Does slight damage.
Swipe - The Guard Armor's gauntlets swipe at Sora. You'll see this
move coming long before it hits, and it isn't hard at all to dodge
or break. Does slight damage.
Impact - The Guard Armor jumps, shaking the floor. This attack is
more of an annoyance than anything else, and it can be avoided if
you're in the air when the armor hits. Does slight damage.
Disco Swipe - Now this is more like it. The Guard Armor's gauntlets
start to whirl around it. It has limited range, but don't try to
squeeze an attack through; instead, run back until the attack ends
and then you may counterattack.
Shatter Spin - The Guard Armor spins itself rapidly. Break the attack
or dodge it, your call. This attack is used only after you've
stripped the boss of its arms and legs.
Pogo Impact - The Guard Armor's body bounces up and down, shaking the
floor. Think of a more annoying version of the Impact attack, and
break this one if you can. If not, jump up and pray that you
don't land when it does.
Drop: Guard Armor enemy card
The Guard Armor comes in six parts, five of which are targetable: two legs,
two arms, and a body. Each section has its own set of HP and your job is to
reduce all of them to 0 (although you can't target the body until the arms and
legs have been defeated). This battle is a straight out brawlfest. If you
want, strip away any card below a 7 prior to this battle, because this battle
is all about using cards with higher values. Try not to use sleights as you
will not be getting any extra damage out of them, plus at this time you might
not be able to afford using up your deck for sleighting.
While your attack cards shouldn't be used for sleight construction, you'll
be able to pick up the occasional Donald and Goofy cards around the stage. Be
sure to save them until you have three. If you sleight Donald and Goofy cards,
not only will you be able to deal massive damage to several components at once,
you should also be relatively safe from a sleight break. The Guard Armor's
cards are limited to a maximum value of around 8 or 7; anything above that, it
can't break.
The 0 Trinity card causes the Guard Armor to collapse senseless on the
ground and spill all of its parts, so take the opportunity to smack it while
it's down. You can safely use your lower-valued cards here without risk of
losing card breaks. Retreat to the other side of the battleground when you
need to heal, as you'll provoke less attacks and less chance of a Cure break if
you do so. Once you use up the Cure, reload your deck so that the Cure card is
always available.
Overall, this is a fairly straightforward battle which shouldn't prove too
difficult or take up too much time.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Save in the Moment's Reprieve room when you're done, because there's a boss
battle waiting for you on the next floor.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORLD CARD SET I Floors 2-6
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first world card set includes Agrabah, Wonderland, Monstro, Halloween
Town, and Olympus Coliseum. In each of these, you'll pick up a fragment of
what happened in the original Kingdom Hearts. You'll also get to pick up a
nice assortment of Enemy cards and various Keyblades to augment your deck. Be
sure to level Sora somewhat in each world before moving on to the next.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AXEL I
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: Ice
Absorbs: Fire
Nullifies: Gravity, not that you have it by this point
Threat: Medium-Low
Attacks: Slash - Axel swipes at the air in front of him with one of those fancy
pinwheels. He moves forward a little and this gives him an extra
bit of range. Not too dangerous.
Blade Blink - This time, Axel throws his pinwheel, teleports to his
destination, and catches it. Very chic and stylish. It has more
range and about as much damage as his Slash, but is still easily
dodged. If you find yourself being hit repeatedly by this attack,
try to move vertically as much as possible.
Fire Wall (sleight) - Axel creates a wall of fire directly in front of
himself that stretches from the top of the battlefield to the
bottom. It then starts to creep forward at a snail's pace. You
can either card break it or jump through it with a dodge-roll,
both of which will end the attack.
Drop: Fire card
Axel isn't really that hard. Of course, seeing as how this is the start of
the game and you're facing off against a human-like opponent for the first
time, you might find him a bit challenging. He has less overall HP than the
Guard Armor, plus he isn't trying his hardest to defeat you. Mostly he'll go
for close combat. Do note that he can sleight cards as Sora can, so make sure
that your 0 card is handy.
Slash and Blade Blink don't do much damage alone, but over time they can
add up. If you need to, use your Cure card(s) and then immediately reload your
deck so that you have Cure cards at all times. Blizzard hurts him bad, but it
and Simba are both difficult to aim effectively. Axel has a tendency to run
through his cards like water instead of taking his time to aim, which can be
used to your advantage. Once he starts reloading, drop in and hurt him. Do
note, however, that he is faster than Sora and will not hesitate to take
advantage of this unpleasant fact. Outlast him and you'll win your first Fire
card.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Once you've defeated Axel, you're given your choice of worlds from the card
set. Go with whatever looks interesting to you, noting that floor layouts are
independent of world choices. Do note, however, that bosses will become more
difficult as you progress through the worlds. I prefer the order of Olympus
Coliseum, Monstro, Halloween Town, Agrabah, and finally Wonderland (sometimes
switching the town for Agrabah), but the order that you take the worlds doesn't
make much of a difference. Also note that every time you step into a different
world, all worlds behind it will be reset and must be resynthesized with map
cards before you can proceed through them again.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FLOOR 2
1: Key of Beginnings
[R] 2: Key of Guidance + 15 card total
| ^Exit 3: Key to Truth
[2] [%]-[!]
| | R: Key to Rewards + Blue card
[ ]-[ ]
| *: Reappear at this room when finished with 1.
[1]-[*]-[3] %: Reappear at this room when finished with 2.
^Start !: Reappear at this room when finished with 3. Cannot be
accessed until 3 is completed.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FLOOR 3
^Exit 1: Key of Beginnings + >5 card
[!] + >7 card
| 2: Key of Guidance + Green card
[3]-[ ]-[ ] 3: Key to Truth + <3 card
| |
[R]-[*] [1] R: Key to Rewards + =0 card
|
[ ]-[%]-[2] *: Reappear at this room when finished with 1.
^Start %: Reappear at this room when finished with 2.
!: Reappear at this room when finished with 3. Cannot be
accessed until 3 is completed.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FLOOR 4
^Exit 1: Key of Beginnings + >8 card
[R] [3]-[ ]-[!] 2: Key of Guidance + >1 card
| | 3: Key to Truth + Red card
[ ]-[ ]-[%]-[2] + Green card
| |
[1] [*]-[ ] R: Key to Rewards + =9 Red card
^Start + =9 Green card
*: Reappear at this room when finished with 1.
%: Reappear at this room when finished with 2.
!: Reappear at this room when finished with 3. Cannot
be access until 3 is completed.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FLOOR 5
^Exit 1: Key of Beginnings + 20 card total
[!]-[3] 2: Key of Guidance + Red card
| + <5 card
[ ]-[ ] [R] 3: Key to Truth + =0 card
| |
[ ]-[ ]-[*]-[1] R: Key to Rewards + 15 Green card total
| |
[%]-[ ] *: Reappear at this room when finished with 1.
^ | %: Reappear at this room when finished with 2.
Start [2] !: Reappear at this room when finished with 3. Cannot be
accessed until 3 is completed.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FLOOR 6
[ ]-[ ] 1: Key of Beginnings + =3 card
| | ^Exit + =4 card
[1]-[%] [2] [ ] 2: Key of Guidance + =6 card
| | + =7 card
[*]-[ ]-[ ]-[ ]-[!] 3: Key to Truth + <3 Red card
^ | | + 30 Green card total
Start [ ] [3]
R: Key to Rewards + 20 Red card total
*: Reappear at this room when finished with 1.
%: Reappear at this room when finished with 2.
!: Reappear at this room when finished with 3.
Cannot be accessed until 3 is completed.
_______________________________________________________________________________
AGRABAH code: trioofwishes
"A bustling desert city with a grand palace."
Objects: Vendor shops, barrels, roof projections, wooden towers
Cards: Three Wishes, Ether (Guidance room), Genie (Truth room)
Reward Room: Blazing Donald
Friends: Donald Duck, Goofy, Aladdin
Enemies: Yellow Opera, Green Requiem, Air Soldier, Bandit, Fat Bandit,
Barrel Spider
Bosses: Genie Jafar (Truth room)
Not too hard, not too easy. Agrabah is a bustling city apparently home to
a lot of Heartless, which you'll be fighting the moment you walk into this
world. Fortunately, you'll gain Aladdin as a friend so long as you stay in
Agrabah. The Key of Guidance room has another fight against another mob of
Heartless, while the Key to Truth room features (what else?) a boss. The
enemies that you'll run into aren't that tough except for the occasionally
annoying pair of Fat Bandits. Also, conspicuously absent from Agrabah are Abu,
the magic carpet, Razoul, and all the other minor characters from the Aladdin
movies. You'll get an Ether card for clearing the Key of Guidance room. Go
into the Key to Truth room and you'll run into ...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GENIE JAFAR
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: None
Absorbs: None
Nullifies: Everything. I'm not kidding.
Threat: Low
Attacks: Magma Drop - Jafar pulls up a huge rock and chucks it at Sora. You
have several options here: dodge-roll, break the attack, or just
hide behind a platform. It's easy to counter since it doesn't
move fast and can be seen coming a mile away. You deserve the hit
that your HP will take if it connects.
The People's Elbow - Jafar punches the nearest platform. Okay, fine,
so it's not an elbow, but the analogy is apt. Break this attack
or simply move out of range.
Optic Blast - Jafar fixes his gaze on Sora and lets loose with a steady
stream of energy. This attack hits hard but still has a sizable
windup delay, so hide behind a tall platform or just break the
blasted thing.
Drop: Genie Jafar enemy card
Before you start asking how you're supposed to defeat Jafar if he nullifies
EVERYTHING (which he does), do note that he's a genie. And all genies come
with a convenient Achilles' heel, which is their lamp. For some reason Iago
carries the lamp around the room and this lamp should be your target. Dispense
with magic, this fight is all physical. Note that since Iago is a flying enemy
who's more often out of range than in, you also cannot rely on your sleights -
unless you managed to pick up, say, Omnislash.
The fight occurs in a room full of lava and Sora stands on three platforms
that will rise and fall in a random pattern. Jafar attacks from the sides and
will sometimes switch sides. You can only hit Iago off a jump from a tall
platform and you canNOT reach a tall platform if you're standing on one that's
as low as it will go. Jafar also has a fairly high health bar, but he does
have a glaring weakness - he's blasted slow. You can easily find any 0 card
left in your inventory by the time he finishes launching an attack. This makes
the battle long but not hard.
It's recommended that you stay on the middle platform if you aren't hitting
Iago or dodging an attack. This avoids The People's Elbow as well as gives you
a bit more leeway from being trapped on one side on a low platform. If you use
a 0 Trinity card, all three platforms will rise to the highest level for some
time, which means open season on Iago. Bring your strongest Keyblades and a
few Cure cards and you shouldn't have a problem with this battle.
_______________________________________________________________________________
With that unpleasant business resolved, you'll pick up the Genie Jafar
enemy card and the Genie summon card.
_______________________________________________________________________________
HALLOWEEN TOWN code: trickortreat
"A terrifying town of tricks and treats."
Objects: Fir trees, pumpkins, small buildings
Cards: Pumpkinhead
Reward Room: Gravity Raid
Friends: Donald Duck, Goofy, Jack
Enemies: Shadow, Search Ghost, Creeper Plant, Wight Knight, Gargoyle
Bosses: Oogie Boogie (Truth room)
Slightly easier than Agrabah since the enemies are easier to kill, plus
there isn't an annoying battle in the Guidance room. Like Agrabah, however,
you'll immediately be thrown into a Heartless battle when you appear in the
town. Winning this battle nets Jack Skellington as a friend as well as the
Terror sleight. Jack will stick with you for the entire sojourn in Halloween
Town. Conspicuously absent are any of the small fry from the original Kingdom
Hearts game. Open the Key to Truth room and you'll confront the boss of this
world.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OOGIE BOOGIE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: None
Absorbs: None
Nullifies: Gravity
Threat: Low
Attacks: Doom Dice - Oogie Boogie doesn't directly attack. Instead, he chucks
dice at you and one of four things happen depending on how the
dice turn up. Either he'll summon a pair of Gargoyles, heal
himself, drop blades from the ceiling, or send a razor slicing
through your half of the battleground. Break the attack before
this happens - if his dice explode on their own, you're too late.
Drop: Oogie Boogie enemy card
Oogie Boogie is limited to one attack, but he has an advantage of sorts -
you can't attack him until the gate between the two of you is lowered. Every
time you break his dice attack, that gate lowers by a third and one of the
slots under Oogie's platform stops spinning. When all the slots have stopped,
the gate lowers all the way and you can jump onto Oogie's section of the
platform. From there it's just a matter of beating up on him with your best
attacks or sleights. Hint: The Card Soldier enemy card, if you have it, will
greatly speed up the attack.
Oogie has a significant health bar, so you'll want to hold back on sleights
for the first half of the battle. Note that his dice ALWAYS have a value of 7.
If you can break the attack and destroy a die, you might find a 0 Trinity card.
In this battle, the 0 Trinity card instantly breaks any of Oogie's actions and
lowers the gate all the way down, leaving him helpless against your Keyblade.
After a small amount of time, the gate rises again and kicks you off Oogie's
platform and so the cycle repeats. Overall this battle isn't as long as the
ones against Jafar or the Parasite Cage, but you'll want to bring plenty of
high-valued cards as well as multiple potions (or hi-potions, if you want them)
for the fight.
_______________________________________________________________________________
You win the useful Oogie Boogie card for your efforts, a good enemy effect
for last-ditch healing.
_______________________________________________________________________________
MONSTRO code: bellyofthebeast
"Inside the belly of the giant whale."
Objects: Flesh stalagmites, barrels
Cards: Wishing Star, Dumbo (Truth room)
Reward Room: Aqua Splash
Friends: Donald Duck, Goofy
Enemies: Shadow, Large Body, Yellow Rhapsody, Green Requiem, Barrel Spider,
Air Soldier, Search Ghost, Tornado Step
Bosses: Parasite Cage (Guidance room)
So, you're inside this whale ... yeah. Monstro has a nice variety of
enemies for your sampling pleasure, but it's mostly a slugfest with little to
find. On the one hand, Monstro can be a very convenient stop for leveling
purposes, but on the other it can also be annoying. When you're ready, going
through the Key of Guidance room brings you face to face with something you've
never seen in a Disney movie.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PARASITE CAGE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: Fire (stuns it)
Absorbs: None
Nullifies: Gravity
Threat: Medium
Attacks: Hammer Fist - The Parasite Cage joins both of its arms together and
slams them into the ground, which shrinks down the platforms that
you stand on. Fairly fast and damaging, so be sure to try and
break the attack. If all else fails, dodge-roll out of the way
and regain a platform as quickly as possible.
Power Bomb - The Parasite Cage braces itself on its arms and then
throws its body forward at Sora. Fast, powerful, and covering the
whole screen, Power Bomb is definitely this boss' most annoying
attack. It's only used when a significant amount of the Parasite
Cage's HP is depleted.
Acid Ball - A glob of green ... stuff ... comes at you, courtesy of
the Parasite Cage. Jump over it if you can or break it, or just
run and grab another platform.
Drop: Parasite Cage enemy card
This fight is massively annoying since it takes place in Monstro's stomach.
And that means - yep, if Sora drops into the vile green pool that covers much
of the battlefield and stays there for 1.5 seconds, he takes damage. This also
interrupts any card or sleight that you were using, which is worse than losing
a bit of HP. To avoid this, you're given four platforms that constantly move
clockwise, bringing you close enough to get in a solid whack at the Parasite
Cage. Seeing as how they keep moving, one combo is probably all that you'll
get. Oh yeah, staying on a platform too long causes it to sink for a brief
moment. And a single Hammer Fist causes the platforms to shrink. Did I
mention how annoying this battle is?
To start with, patience is your biggest asset. Let the platform carry you
to the Parasite Cage, give it a good beating, and then move around on the
platforms. Fast, powerful sleights such as Blitz or any of the third-level
elementals work well. You'll also want to bring lots and lots of Cure cards
along for the ride. Don't ever use a card while standing in the acid since
more likely than not it'll end up broken. When the Parasite Cage yawns and its
mouth opens, quickly go strike its mouth. Doing this causes a 0 Trinity card
to appear. The 0 Trinity card eliminates all platforms but causes a special
blue platform to appear under Sora which will always stay underneath him. This
basically gives you a bit of free time to go do whatever you want; once the
time expires, the four platforms reappear at default size.
The key to winning against the Parasite Cage is to play conservatively.
Keep a careful eye on your health and don't attack if you can't do it without
landing in acid. And if you have any summon cards (Simba, Genie, Cloud), take
them with you. They help out a lot since Sora jumps offscreen while your
summoned ally does the fighting for you. Be sure to always have a Cure card
handy if it's needed. The battle might take a while, but at least you'll be
safe and steady.
_______________________________________________________________________________
With your shiny new Parasite Cage enemy card, farther down in the Key to
Truth room you'll run into another event battle. This one's a bit different.
There's no boss here; instead, you'll fight Shadow Heartless until that meter
in the upper right-hand corner of the screen fills. Every Shadow that you kill
raises the meter by a bit, while the meter starts to drop if you go too long
without killing a Shadow. Once the meter is full, mop up any remaining Shadows
and the battle ends. You do not receive any experience for this fight but you
do get a Dumbo summon card. Powerful sleights like Sonic Blade or Thundaga
make the battle end a lot faster. And note that you can always run away to try
again if the battle goes against you.
_______________________________________________________________________________
OLYMPUS COLISEUM code: herosummit
"A legendary arena where heroes test their might."
Objects: Barrels, columns, stone blocks, starred barrels
Cards: Olympia, Hi-Potion (Guidance room), Cloud (Truth room)
Reward Room: Metal Chocobo Keyblade
Friends: Donald Duck, Goofy
Enemies: Large Body, Red Nocturne, Blue Rhapsody, Powerwild, Bouncywild,
Barrel Spider
Bosses: Cloud (Guidance room), Hades (Truth room)
You can pick up some useful items here, but you'll have to fight for them.
Besides the ubiquitous Barrel Spiders lurking in ambush, you'll also have to
fight a fairly tough duo of bosses. Just as in the original Kingdom Hearts,
you will not have the benefit of Hercules as a friend. I suggest that you take
extra time to level up in Olympus Coliseum. Go ahead and enter the Key to
Guidance room if you feel confident, or synthesize a Moment's Reprieve room if
you don't.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLOUD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: None
Absorbs: None
Nullifies: Gravity, as usual
Threat: Medium
Attacks: Attack - The basic strike command is just called "Attack" in Final
Fantasy, so ... yeah. Cloud swipes his bandage-swathed Buster
Sword at you. Decent range and speed and best compared to a C-
level Keyblade hit.
Cross-Slash (sleight) - Cloud jumps and lands next to Sora, proceeding
to launch three separate slashes. You can break it, but note that
it's a sleight. On the other hand, if you do break it with a
sleight of your own, you'll leave Cloud reeling right next to you.
Omnislash (sleight) - FEAR CLOUD FOR HE WILL KICK YOUR ASS! Cloud
swoops down from the skies and homes in on Sora; upon reaching the
luckless Keyblade master, Cloud will then proceed to deliver a
slash with each dive. This sleight hurts bad, so break it whenever
you see him stocking up for it.
Drop: Hi-Potion
If you learned how to handle character-type battles while fighting Axel,
you'll be fine. If not, you're in for a rough ride. Cloud is aggressive and
fast even though he lacks something in the HP and defense department. And he
doesn't carry that Buster Sword just for show - if you wind up on the wrong
side of either Cross-Slash or Omnislash, you can kiss your HP goodbye. Of the
two, Omnislash has at least enough of a delay between attacks that you can find
a card to break it, while if Cross-Slash hits, you're screwed. However, Cross-
Slash can be evaded once while Omnislash can be evaded with continuous dodge
rolls.
You can win against Cloud in a flat-out brawlfest, but since Cloud uses up
his cards so quickly you're better waiting for him to exhaust his deck before
you go on the offensive. 0 cards for breaking his powerful sleights are a must
in this battle. Speaking of which, you can expect to see your own cards broken
fairly often in this fight. Hang in there and don't forget to take a few Cures
with you.
An interesting note: Cloud's Omnislash is the revamped version from Kingdom
Hearts where he swoops out of the sky for a trio of strikes, not the original
from Final Fantasy VII where he sliced the opposition into ribbons with strikes
faster than most people could follow.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Defeating Cloud nets you the Hi-Potion, one of the best cards in this game.
As you might imagine, Cloud doesn't go down all that easily and you'll meet him
again in the Key to Truth room. You'll also want to synth a Moment's Reprieve
before heading in.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HADES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: Ice
Absorbs: Fire
Nullifies: Gravity
Threat: Medium-High
Attacks: Fire Poke - Hades jabs a burning finger at Sora. Short-range and not
very powerful, but horrifically fast. If Hades uses it to card
break any Keyblade that doesn't have a recovery of *, you'll get
hit.
Fire Bash - A two-handed overhead swipe, stronger and slower than the
Fire Poke. It also has a pixel's worth of extra range.
Flamethrower - Hades' hands light on fire and he shoots flames from
them. Get caught and you're in for a dose of continuous damage
with no chance to card break the attack. Hades can only use this
attack when he gets steamed, but when he does, watch out for it.
It's easily his deadliest attack.
Firaga Ball (sleight) - Hades' sole long-range attack. He chucks a
burning rock at Sora, the rock in question able to home on Sora
within limits. Either that or Hades is a really good thrower
since it'll hit surprisingly often. The best way to avoid the
attack short of card breaking it is to stay at medium-close
distance. His aim tends to fall short somewhat the closer you get
to him.
Temper Flare (sleight) - Hades gets really, really angry. When this
happens, watch out: his normal attacks change into the annoying
Flamethrower. He only has a limited number of uses before he
changes back into his lovable blue self, but any time you see this
sleight in the corner, you'll want to find a 0 card immediately.
Drop: Hades enemy card
Hades may well be the most difficult boss of the first world card set, at
least on the first playthrough. Hopefully you had practice earlier with Cloud.
What makes Hades more dangerous than Cloud is that Hades generally uses faster
attacks and has a larger fighting deck. Unlike Cloud, however, he does have a
weakness to Ice. Hades absorbs Fire, so calling out Donald can either produce
big dividends or else totally screw you over.
If you're going to use sleights in this battle, make sure that you save up
a number of high valued cards. If you don't kill Hades quickly, the battle
devolves into a fight of attrition, which is usually good for you - but not if
you've used up all of your high-valued cards. Bring along that spiffy new Hi-
Potion you won from Cloud just in case. Genie Jafar's Attack Bracer (if you
have it) is also a good card to have since Hades likes breaking your attacks.
You'll also want to have more than one Cure card handy. If you have ice-based
cards, use them while Hades is reloading his deck. Lastly, you'll want to stay
just short of melee range in this battle. The key to hit hard and fade fast
since Hades uses mostly short-range attacks while watching out for his single
long-range attack.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Defeating Hades nets you the double-edged Hades enemy card as well as the
Cloud summon card. Sheesh, where was Cloud when you needed him during the
fight itself?
_______________________________________________________________________________
WONDERLAND code: offwithyourhead
"A magical land full of eccentric residents."
Objects: Flowers, lilypads, mushrooms
Cards: Lady Luck
Reward Room: Stop Raid sleight
Friends: Donald Duck, Goofy
Enemies: Shadow, Soldier, Large Body, Red Nocturne, Crescendo, Creeper
Plant
Bosses: Trickmaster (Truth room)
Just like the original Kingdom Hearts game, Wonderland is a (comparatively)
easy starting point for players who feel that they still need more practice
after completing Traverse Town. The enemies here are a step up from Traverse
Town but remain fairly easy nonetheless. Neither of the two event battles in
Wonderland are of above-average difficulty. Novice players will want to synth
this world first and develop their skills, levels, and confidence in this area,
while experienced players should save Wonderland for last.
Heading into the Key of Guidance room runs you into a battle against a pack
of Card Soldiers. (Hmm, in the book Alice could handle them all by herself.
Why in the name of reason does Sora need to intervene?) This isn't a true boss
battle but rather an enhanced version of a random encounter. Card Soldiers
will try to gang up on you, so keep on your feet and keep moving. Just about
any sleight that you could reasonably have at this time works well and this
isn't a long battle anyways. Winning it gives you the Card Soldier enemy card,
which can be useful in many boss battles.
When you're done exploring Wonderland, head to the Key to Truth room for a
showdown against a certain memory thief.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRICKMASTER
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: Unconfirmed
Absorbs: None
Nullifies: Unconfirmed, but probably Gravity
Threat: Medium-Low
Attacks: Fire - Yawn. In the Heartless version of Sora's Fire spell, the
Trickmaster ... shoots a ball of Fire at you. It behaves almost
exactly the same as Sora's but with slightly extended range, so
react accordingly. You'll know it's coming when the boss crosses
its two torches.
Hell March - The Trickmaster stomps across the room. See those axes
that it has for shoes? If you get hit by one, expect to take a
bit of damage. This attack is fairly easily to dodge-roll and
gives you plenty of time to card break.
Slam Dunk - The Trickmaster slams both arms into the floor, shaking it
and injuring Sora if he isn't airborne. Jump to evade this attack
and be forewarned that it can happen when you're least expecting
it.
Orbit Sweep - The Trickmaster sweeps its pair of torches around itself
and clipping an airborne attacker. This attack is more of a
nuisance than anything else since it'll sometimes trigger right as
you're about to deliver a solid whack.
Power Up - Leaning back and leaving its vulnerable midsection exposed,
the Trickmaster stores up power for a two arm swipe. It takes a
few seconds to build power during which you should definitely
attack, since striking it while it's charging will release a 0
Trinity card.
Drop: Trickmaster enemy card
The Trickmaster apparently has been playing tricks on FAQ authors. Each
FAQ differs on which elements do what to the Trickmaster - one says that it
absorbs Fire and is weak against Ice, one says that it's weak against Fire, one
says that it resists all elements. When I test this and find out for myself, I
WILL have the correct data here.
The Trickmaster has a high HP pool. Unfortunately, that's about all that
it has going for itself. Its attacks are fairly weak and slow but you'll have
to jump to reach the only area you can damage it, its midsection. (Watch for
the target cursor.) If you have Blitz, which you should have only if Wonderland
is one of your later-synthed worlds, use it - it does great damage and doesn't
miss. Most other sleights are fairly useless unless by some chance you managed
to get ahold of enough Cloud cards for Omnislash.
The 0 Trinity card raises a table in the middle of the room. If you jump
onto it, you can attack the Trickmaster without having to jump up every time.
This also makes spell use a lot easier. Note that the table stays up until the
Trickmaster hits it with the Slam Dunk attack. Overall this battle isn't hard
at all so long as you don't become careless or complacent.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Defeating the Trickmaster yields the Trickmaster enemy card. And for those
of you who played the original Kingdom Hearts, isn't it so nice that Alice
doesn't end up kidnapped in Chain of Memories?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORLD CARD SET II Floors 7-10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The second world card set consists of Never Land, Atlantica, 100 Acre Wood,
and Hollow Bastion. The opposition stiffens up considerably in the second
world card set unless you've been majorly power-leveling earlier (say, you're
at around level 40 or so). You can expect to pick up your first Key to Rewards
card somewhere in this card set as well as your strongest sleights, plus you
may find yourself amassing a considerable amount of Moogle points. Whatever
world you came out from, be sure to save at the Moment's Reprieve. When you
enter Floor 7, you'll run into ...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LARXENE I
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: Special attacks
Absorbs: None
Nullifies: Gravity, Thunder
Threat: Medium-Low
Attacks: Feral Slash - Larxene swipes at you with her Wolverine-ish claws. Low
range and laughable damage, but it comes out fast. You'll always
win if you trade hits but if not then Feral Slash can rapidly
build up.
Flick - Larxene throws off her claws into the air in front of her.
The move's a little hard to describe, but you'll know it when you
see it. Slight damage, much better range than the Feral Slash,
not quite as fast.
Thunder - Larxene's version of Sora's spell. It hits a good deal of
the screen. You can dodge-roll to avoid the attack right as it
strikes, but if you're close you'll want to card break instead.
Lightning Bolt (sleight) - Lightning streams out of Larxene's fingers
and latch onto Sora. If this attack hits, Sora will be dragged
over to Larxene and electrocuted for continuous damage. It can't
be broken once it hits, plus it leaves Sora stunned. Luckily it
doesn't do significant damage, but it's definitely an annoying
move to contend with since it's so fast and has such great range.
You can evade it by dodge-rolling behind her right as it starts,
but it's much more effective to card break the sleight if you see
it in the corner.
Drop: Thunder card
Swift and fast, Larxene attacks with the speed of the lightning elemental
that she is associated with. She has a glaring weakness, however; all of her
attacks (ALL of them) do perhaps a pixel of damage, so she has to get in five
hits for every one of yours in order for her to keep up with your damage output
levels. Even at two full HP bars, that's a tall order. Bring along a deck of
high-level Keyblades and some Fires if you have them, as well as a few Cures.
You'll want 0 cards for breaking her items and her sleight. Larxene is weak
against sleights, but unless you have absolute crowds of them you should ration
them carefully for the fight.
The best distance to stay from Larxene is medium, out of range of normal
attacks but close enough to start a chain when you win a card break. Her only
technique that demands a measure of caution is Lightning Bolt, which you should
always be prepared to break. Larxene uses up cards quickly but also carries
card-restoring items. Since items don't come back regardless of how they're
broken, it's in your best interest to shatter them even if you have to build a
sleight to do it. You can win the battle in a contest of sheer physical power,
but if it devolves into a fight of attrition then you'll want to hold back on
using sleights until Larxene runs low on cards. All in all not a difficult
fight.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Beating Larxene finally nets you the third of the basic elemental spells.
You're now free to pick your next world. A word of advice: 100 Acre Wood has
no floor associated with it, but each floor from 7 to 10 is distinct. You'll
skip a different map depending upon which floor you synthesize 100 Acre Wood.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FLOOR 7
^Exit
[!]-[ ] [R] [ ]-[2] 1: Key of Beginnings + Red card
| | | 2: Key of Guidance + Green card
[ ]-[ ]-[*]-[ ]-[%] 3: Key to Truth + Blue card
| | | ^Start
[3] [ ] [1]-[ ] R: Key to Rewards + 30 card total
*: Reappear at this room when finished with 1.
%: Reappear at this room when finished with 2.
!: Reappear at this room when finished with 3.
Cannot be accessed until 3 is completed.
Save at the Moment's Reprieve room at the end of this floor as you'll be
running straight into a boss fight.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RIKU I
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: None
Absorbs: None
Nullifies: Gravity. Resists every element.
Threat: Low
Attacks: Hop Bash - Riku jumps up and brings the Soul Eater crashing down, much
like Cloud did earlier. It has a fractional second windup delay,
so you can card break the attack if you're fast enough to see it
coming. Does slight damage.
Slash - Riku spins around and then slashes with the Soul Eater. Much
like the Hop Bash in terms of windup delay and range, only that it
hits from the side instead of above. Again, easily card broken if
you see it coming.
X-Slash - Riku runs into Sora with a one-two strike. This move will
stun Sora and has better range than any of his other physical
attacks. Try not to get hit by it, otherwise you're left as a
sitting duck for one of his attacks or worse yet a sleight.
Shadow - Incrementor enemy effect.
Drop: Aero card
Sora has spent half this game searching for Riku and now they have to fight
just like that? Surprisingly, Riku isn't as hard as Larxene. His attacks come
out more slowly and he doesn't use any sleights (yet. This will change in the
future.) If your Keyblade cards are of high enough values, you can run over him
in a straight brawl in spite of his Shadow enemy card.
To fight Riku, bring along your high-level Keyblade cards. If you have Ars
Arcanum at this point, by all means use it as his deck is reloading. You may
also want to use the Parasite Cage to break Incrementor since Ars Arcanum is a
very vulnerable sleight. Heal as necessary, which shouldn't be often. Riku is
faster than you are and can move farther so you may have to chase him down
while he's reloading. All told, not a difficult fight by any stretch of the
imagination. Pick up the Aero card from him when you finish.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FLOOR 8
^Exit
[!]-[ ]-[3] 1: Key of Beginnings + =5 card
| 2: Key of Guidance + =6 card
[ ]-[ ]-[ ] 3: Key to Truth + 30 card total
| |
[R] [*]-[1] R: Key to Rewards + 15 Blue card
|
[ ]-[ ]-[ ] *: Reappear at this room when finished with 1.
^ | | %: Reappear at this room when finished with 2.
Start [%] [2] !: Reappear at this room when finished with 3. Cannot be
accessed until 3 is completed.
As you come out of this floor, you'll run into another boss. Note that a
glitch in the game allows you to harvest him for experience - see the FAQ
section of this document for more details.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RIKU II
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: None
Absorbs: None
Nullifies: Gravity. Resists every element.
Threat: Medium-Low
Attacks: Hop Bash - Riku jumps up and brings the Soul Eater crashing down, much
like Cloud did earlier. It has a fractional second windup delay,
so you can card break the attack if you're fast enough to see it
coming. Does slight damage.
Slash - Riku spins around and then slashes with the Soul Eater. Much
like the Hop Bash in terms of windup delay and range, only that it
hits from the side instead of above. Again, easily card broken if
you see it coming.
X-Slash - Riku runs into Sora with a one-two strike. This move will
stun Sora and has better range than any of his other physical
attacks. Try not to get hit by it, otherwise you're left as a
sitting duck for one of his attacks or worse yet a sleight.
Dark Firaga (sleight) - Riku launches a mass of dark blue fire at you.
It hurts moderately but is hard for him to aim since it only has
limited homing ability. You'll see it coming a mile away. Dodge-
roll the sucker, card break it, or just step out of the way.
Shadow - Incrementor enemy effect.
Drop: Warpinator sleight
Riku has advanced in the world - slightly. He gets a new sleight, his old
enemy card (which should break nicely under the weight of a Parasite Cage), and
a bit of an HP boost. And that's about it. Almost anything that worked in the
first battle will also work here. High-level Keyblades do the job the most
efficiently since Riku takes only half damage from elemental attacks. Again,
Ars Arcanum still works wonders, as does Sonic Blade. He'll break more of your
cards than he did last time, but otherwise the same tried and true formula
should work well against him.
This time you can win more easily in a war of attrition. Since Riku has a
new sleight (but no new cards for his deck), he'll burn through his deck a lot
faster sleighting cards. Once his items are either used or broken, he'll
rapidly fall into that area where he's left with only a few usable cards while
reloading all the time. This is your big chance to pound him for a Warpinator
sleight.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FLOOR 9
[1]-[*] [ ]-[R] 1: Key of Beginnings + Red card
| | 2: Key of Guidance + =9 card
[ ] [ ] 3: Key to Truth + =1 card
| | ^Exit
[3]-[ ]-[ ]-[!] R: Key to Rewards + =2 Blue card
| |
[ ] [ ] *: Reappear at this room when finished with 1.
| | %: Reappear at this room when finished with 2.
[ ] [%]-[2] !: Reappear at this room when finished with 3. Cannot
Start^ be accessed until 3 is completed.
_______________________________________________________________________________
FLOOR 10
^Exit 1: Key of Beginnings + Blue card
[!] + <3 card
| 2: Key of Guidance + Green card
[ ]-[ ]-[ ] + >7 card
| | 3: Key to Truth + Red card
[R] [3] [ ]-[2] [%] + =0 card
| | |
[*]-[ ]-[ ]-[ ]-[ ] R: Key to Rewards + =3 Green card
| | ^ + =7 Red card
[1]-[ ] [ ] Start
*: Reappear in this room when finished with 1.
%: Reappear in this room when finished with 2.
!: Reappear in this room when finished with 3.
Cannot be accessed until 3 is completed.
_______________________________________________________________________________
100 ACRE WOOD code: breakfrombattle
"A quiet wood resided by friendly fellows."
As the world code implies, there's no fighting to be done in 100 Acre Wood.
So you can kick back and relax, right? Well ... you can kick your Gameboy unit
as you try to get that lazy bear Winnie the Pooh to follow you around. Sora
offers to help guide Pooh around the wood. Pressing the R button causes Sora
to wave to Pooh, thus enticing Pooh toward your position (in theory). In
practice, you'll find that Pooh is easily distracted by just about anything
that wanders by. On the plus side, if you actually put up with accomplishing
everything in 100 Acre Wood instead of just running blindly through it, you can
pick up a hefty amount of useful sleights and items.
For starters, Pooh needs honey to keep moving. Think of Pooh as a car that
gets .015 kilometers for every gallon of honey. There are jars of honey
strategically scattered around 100 Acre Wood and you should allow Pooh to fuel
up at one of these jars if his honey reserves drop too low. (They'll continue
to drop while he's idling, so it's in your best interest not to let him idle.)
Also, while you're running through 100 Acre Wood, some of the places that you
run through will release Moogle points.
Follow these instructions carefully.
The first inhabitant of the wood that you'll meet is Rabbit. Sora can talk
to him, but Pooh can't - at least for now. You can, however, call Pooh over to
Rabbit's vegetable cart, upon which he will climb onto it. Pooh's ponderous
weight causes a wheel to break off and go rolling away - you'll see why this is
important later. If the wheel doesn't break off, jump onto the cart yourself
and together it'll give under your weights.
Our next destination is further down somewhat. Here, Sora can speak to
Piglet, but the idea is to get Pooh to talk to Piglet. You learn the Confuse
sleight from this exchange.
Further down you'll encounter a field full of balloons. Whether they're
filled with hot air or helium we'll never know, but whatever it is they'll
cause Pooh to float up if he grabs a set. The only cluster that will support
Pooh's weight is the big one with half a dozen balloons. Draw Pooh there and
trigger a cutscene which gives you the Spellbinder Keyblade. (I believe that I
already had a Spellbinder when I did this, but I can't remember what happens if
you trigger this scene with a Spellbinder already in your possession. Most
likely you just pick up another one. Of course, it's equally likely that my
memory isn't what it used to be.)
Down the trail, you'll notice a hole with a set of footprints leading in -
but not out. One of Pooh's friends, possibly? Well, there's only one way to
find out ... lead Pooh into the hole and you'll get an Elixir for your efforts.
Wow, that was easy.
Get some honey if you need - excuse me, Pooh needs - it. Have Pooh talk to
Eeyore (the glum donkey). Right now you can't do anything about Eeyore's
predicament, so head down to find four tree stumps arranged in a square fashion
and have Sora jump onto one. Call Pooh and brace yourself, this might take a
couple of tries and an extra jar of honey. Have Pooh jump counterclockwise on
all four tree stumps. Doing this will give you the Idyll Romp sleight.
Going further into 100 Acre Wood, you'll see ... hey, is that a ...? Yep,
it's a beehive, which is full of honey and thus a bear magnet. It's also full
of bees. If you lure Pooh into the beehive, you earn the Bind sleight for his
troubles.
As you progress, you'll find a bunch of pillars set into the ground. Time
for a little Keyblade action - knock each pillar until it sinks into the ground
and move on. More pillars; rinse, lather, repeat. As you move past these
sunken pillars (and if you made Rabbit's cart lose its wheel earlier), cabbages
will start rolling down the path. Hit fourteen of them with your Keyblade to
earn the Synchro sleight.
The end of the path in 100 Acre Wood is this stump of a tree trunk. Here,
Sora and Pooh will part ways, but not before Pooh gives you the Bambi summon.
Note that you will be given an opportunity to save your game after you complete
100 Acre Wood, which spares you the hassle of getting your prizes again if by
some chance you end up pwned in a boss battle.
_______________________________________________________________________________
ATLANTICA code: underwaterphun
"Undersea kingdom protected by King Triton."
Objects: Seashells, sponge columns, rocks
Cards: Crabclaw
Reward Room: Quake
Friends: Donald Duck, Goofy, Ariel
Enemies: Sea Neon, Search Ghost, Screwdiver, Aqua Tank, Darkball, Tornado
Step
Bosses: Ursula (Truth room)
Atlantica's a fun world, made more so by the bouncy soundtrack. Sea Neons
and Aquatanks often appear together in this world. If you're looking for a
rehash of the story from Kingdom Hearts, though, prepare to be disappointed as
few of the characters from that game made it over to Chain of Memories. At any
rate, note that you will not start off with Ariel as a friend - she only joins
you after you enter the Key of Guidance room. Also, you may want to get rid of
any lightning-based attacks in your deck since so many enemies in Atlantica
absorb lightning damage. Heading over to the Key of Truth room unmasks some
fishy business and throws you right into a boss battle.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
URSULA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: None
Absorbs: None
Nullifies: Gravity, resists all elements
Threat: Medium-Low
Attacks: Thunder - Ursula's version of Sora's basic Thunder spell. It's a
straight zap from above and shouldn't be difficult to dodge.
Tentacle Smack - Ursula's tentacles will regenerate after they've been
knocked down. If you're in the way as they do so, your attack
might be interrupted and you'll take a hit.
Bubble Bath - Ursula releases a swarm of bubbles that home in on Sora.
This attack takes some time to start up but lasts a fairly long
time. Though it doesn't do much damage, if Sora's hit you'll fall
into Confused status and get all of your controls reversed. Break
the attack or dodge-roll through it to put a halt to it.
Zappy Breath - I dunno what Ursula's been snacking on, but it sure had
an effect on her breath. After she's lost a significant chuck of
her HP, Ursula starts using this attack. She opens her mouth and
a huge stream of electricity shoots out that runs from the top of
the battlefield to the bottom. She then slowly moves toward Sora
and tries to hit him. This attack does nasty amounts of damage,
but you should be able to either break it or dodge-roll through it
without any problems. Think of it as an electric version of
Axel's Fire Wall.
Drop: Ursula enemy card
If you don't know what you're doing, you'll get schooled by Ursula. Lucky
for us that it isn't difficult to figure out how to fry this big fish. (Okay,
enough fish jokes.) Ursula is the easiest boss of the second world card set and
it shows since she attacks infrequently. Her most annoying attacks, Bubble
Bath and Zappy Breath, both have a long windup delay and can be seen (or heard)
coming a mile away. She also has this tendency to flee off-screen at times
during which you basically get a free opportunity to heal yourself or reload
your deck.
To defeat Ursula, first note that her face is completely defended by her
tentacles. So you'll have to knock down a tentacle in order to lay the pain on
her face. (Sometimes knocking down a tentacle will yield a 0 Trinity card.)
Once you've knocked down a tentacle, you can jump up and start hitting her in
the face. You have a limited time before the tentacle rises again and you have
to repeat the process. Ursula usually have a significant amount of HP so
you'll want to conserve cards until she's lost half of her life bar. At this
point she'll start using Zappy Breath, which is in your best interest to break
as soon as it starts.
The 0 Trinity card removes all tentacles and drags Ursula's face down to
your level, so no more jumping up to hit her. This is your golden opportunity
to unleash your strongest sleights - if you have them, Ars Arcanum and Sonic
Blade or even Blitz all work well. Cloud sleights such as Cross-Slash+ or
Omnislash can also work wonders. Note that Ursula resists all elements. If
you're consistent about damage and attacks, this battle shouldn't take too long
to complete.
_______________________________________________________________________________
As your reward for beating Ursula, you'll earn the Ursula enemy card which
grants you the same privileges that the oversized octopus herself enjoyed:
resistance to all elements.
_______________________________________________________________________________
HOLLOW BASTION code: spookycastle
"A once peaceful castle ruined by Maleficent."
Objects: Pillars, steam outlets, fancy columns
Cards: Divine Rose
Reward Room: Mushu
Friends: Donald Duck, Goofy, The Beast
Enemies: Defender, Wizard, Wyvern, Darkball, Tornado Step
Bosses: Dragon Maleficent (Truth room)
Hollow Bastion is a foretaste of the final floor of Sora's story. Many of
the enemies that you encounter here will also reappear on the thirteenth floor,
though Hollow Bastion's versions are comparatively easier. I personally think
that Hollow Bastion is the most difficult of the second world card set levels
to complete, but that's just me. Be sure to level thoroughly and pick up a set
of Divine Rose Keyblades while you're here. Also note that The Beast will only
join your party in the Key to Guidance room. When you're ready, save and head
into the Key to Truth room for a battle against a classic Disney villain.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DRAGON MALEFICENT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: None
Absorbs: None
Nullifies: Gravity
Threat: High
Attacks: Snap - Maleficent lowers her head and snaps at Sora. Those teeth hurt
quite a lot (she's a dragon, after all). This attack is fast and
has relatively good range. The best way to fight it is to load
Attack Bracer and pummel Maleficent with a steady stream of cards,
giving her no room for counterattack.
Dragon Claw - Maleficent makes a claw swipe at Sora. Much like the
Snap, it's fast, decently strong, and features superior range.
You can dodge-roll through it but it's easier just to stuff the
attack and make sure that it never comes out.
Evil Flare - Maleficent breathes out a stream of sentient flames. I'm
serious, these little flames move on their own. They'll do quite
a bit of damage to Sora and have this annoying habit of moving
right as you least expect them to. You can, however, break apart
a flame. Doing this sometimes releases a 0 Trinity card.
Mega Stomp - Maleficent raises a paw and brings it down into the floor
with lots of force. Be in the air when it comes out to avoid it.
This is definitely her most annoying move; while it does only
moderate damage, it's fast and hard to see, plus she has a habit
of repeatedly spamming the attack when you're too far away for the
other attacks.
Drop: Dragon Maleficent enemy card
If you aren't prepared, Maleficent can easily overwhelm you right from the
start. She's fast and deadly and her attacks add up in terms of damage very
quickly. Also, you can only target her head in order to damage her, placing a
severe limit on which attacks you can use. Genie Jafar and Oogie Boogie both
work well, and be sure to bring lots of Cure cards along for the ride since
Maleficent likes breaking them. If you're going to use Ragnarok (and you
should), make sure that it's a 9 Ragnarok to minimize chances of card break.
And if you have a Wight Knight enemy card, USE IT! A Potion or two should fill
up your deck nicely; don't bother with Ethers.
Although your ground-based attacks can't hit Maleficent, they can hit her
flames. This is what saves Goofy and The Beast from being almost useless in
this fight. Snuff a flame and there's a chance that you'll release a 0 Trinity
card. What the 0 Trinity card does is bring a trio of blocks down from the
ceiling into the middle of the room, which allows you to reach Maleficent's
head without having to use the Wight Knight enemy card. This also safeguards
Sora from the Mega Stomp and Evil Flare attacks. Each time Maleficent uses the
Mega Stomp, however, the blocks will collapse one level until they all vanish.
At this point it's in your best interest to load Genie Jafar and pound on
Maleficent to stuff her attacks. Alternatively, breaking Maleficent's attacks
will briefly lower her head to ground level, where you can proceed to unleash a
barrage of attacks.
It may take more than one try to defeat Maleficent and you'll need a strong
deck for the battle. If you lose, don't give up.
_______________________________________________________________________________
For winning this difficult battle you'll earn the Dragon Maleficent enemy
card, one of the most useful in the game.
_______________________________________________________________________________
NEVER LAND code: walktheplank
"Inside Captain Hook's pirate ship."
Objects: Treasure chest, barrels, boxes
Cards: Fairy Harp, Tinker Bell (Truth room)
Reward Room: Thunder Raid
Friends: Donald Duck, Goofy, Peter Pan
Enemies: Shadow, Pirate, Air Pirate, Barrel Spider, Darkball, Crescendo
Bosses: Hook (Truth room)
Never Land is a hard but fun world. While you'll quickly become wary of
fighting swarms of pirates and watchful of Barrel Spiders, you can also level
up quickly with the proper sleights of mass destruction. Peter Pan joins your
party in the Key of Beginnings room, but he'll leave after you arrive in the
Key of Guidance room. It is therefore in your best interest to do your level
gaining while Peter is still hovering around. Note that Peter will rejoin you
in the Key to Truth room just in time to fight an old codfish.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOOK
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness: None
Absorbs: None
Nullifies: Gravity, Thunder
Threat: High
Attacks: Slash - Hook aims a swipe with his rapier. It's decently fast and has
about as much range as one of Sora's attacks. Naturally you'd
think that it does only slight damage, right? WRONG. This move
hurts more than any rapier deserves to. Even a few of these will
send you running as you search for a Cure card.
Ticking Gift - Hook chucks a gift-wrapped box around the deck. This
box explodes after a short time interval; when it does, you do not
want to be in the blast radius. Hook ends up unbalanced after
using this move, so if you can break the attack you'll get a free
hit on him.
Rush & Present (sleight) - Hook slashes the living daylights out of
Sora before sending him explosive parting gifts. If you see this
sleight forming in the upper right hand corner, reach for that 0
card as you do not want to be caught in it. Once it hits Sora you
can't stop it. The good news is that Hook has to be pretty close
to you for the sleight to have any effect, so keep your distance
if he's about to trigger it.
Combo & Present (sleight) - Hook t