Battle mechanics guide. (RF2) (Boss attack patterns UC)

[Lccorp2]

Version history:

20/2/09: Topic created.
21/2/09: Section on Longsword skill seals added.
21/2/09: Spear skill seals added.
22/2/09: Axe/hammer section added.
23/2/09: Shortsword section added.
24/2/09: Revision underway for mechanics of various skill seals. Thanks to Wertville for sharing on Rush Attack, Flash Strike and Hundred Cracker.
24/2/09: My apologies. Mechanisms of skill seals have been updated with plenty of new information.
26/2/09: Magic section added. Guide is currently complete, unless someone makes suggestions for additional sections. Thanks to Wertville for sharing on cure and medication.
15/3/09: Started on boss attack patterns section. If a mod could move the edited post up to join the others, that'd be great.

Hello there. I've noticed on the boards that a good number of folks playing RF2 prefer to use the shortsword throughout most of their game, usually because it's a) extremely easy to use and b) you can get two weapons of this type through quests (windsword and smash blade). Since I've played through the game repeatedly using only weapons of each type, I thought I'd write down my thoughts on the different playstyles using weapons other than the shortsword. Guess "The Colour of War" isn't the only book you'll ever need on fighting!

Any thoughts and comments are welcome.



*A quick background:

In RF2, the differences between weapons has been made even more distinct than in RF--max weapon combos and swing speeds don't depend on your weapons now, but rather, the type of weapon you're using. The attack style also depends on the weapon type, and that's not going into skill seals.



*Terminology used in this guide:

Flinch: When you hit a monster or get hit under most circumstances, the target taking damage will display a "pain" animation for about half a second, and be unable to move or attack. Both you and monster can be immune to flinching under certain circumstances, for example, the hunter wolf is vulnerable to flinching during normal movement, but becomes immune as it prepares its tackle attack. Bosses, naturally, are immune to flinching.

Stun: A stun occurs when you or an enemy get hit by certain attacks, usually those with significant knockback. When this happens, the target will display a "stunned" animation, complete with stars above their heads, and will be unable to move or attack for about 3 seconds. If the target is knocked back into a wall and stunned at the same time, there'll be a sound effect akin to rock crumbling, and the stun duration is extended by one or two seconds. Again, bosses are immune to stunning.

Knockback: When you hit monsters with certain weapons or are hit under some circumstances, the target may be pushed back some distance. When using knockback against monsters, different monsters may be knocked back different amounts; as a general rule of thumb, "large" monsters such as mini-dragons, trolls and minotaurs will take slightly less knockback than "small" monsters. A monster's size can be judged by its shadow, and may also determine how fast you can push by it. Bosses are immune to knockback.

Critical: Sometimes, you may land a critical strike if you have a weapon that has an inherent critical strike rate, or are wearing an accessory which boosts this rate. Monsters can also land critical strikes; some special attacks such as the wolf's tackle or orc's charge attack have a 100% critical strike rate. When a critical strike occurs, the damage displayed will be in red, a special sound effect will play and the damage of your blow is doubled.

Damage arc: This is the shape of your attack, which is identifiable by the motion blur of your weapon as you attack; the colour of your damage arc also follows the elemental attribute of your weapon. Monsters also have damage arcs, unfortunately, those are harder to identify.



*Longswords:

The basic mechanics for the longsword are as such: a simple tap of the B button makes your character swing his/her sword in an approximately 180-degree arc centered around him/her with an approximate one-second delay between pushing the button and the damage arc appearing on-screen; another tap makes him/her swing it another time while taking a step forward for a total of a 2-combo. You can control the time between the first and second strike of the combo by how fast you press the B button again after the first tap; the delay can be anywhere from 1-2 seconds. This allows you to time your normal swings as necessary. Any enemies who can flinch when the strike lands will do so and get knocked back a moderate amount.

The main bread and butter of combat with the longsword, though, is the charged attack. After about 1 second of holding down the B button, a blue orb will appear about your character's hands. Releasing the B button will cause your character to take a step forward and swing the sword as in the second part of the normal swing combo, but this happens much faster, even moreso than a normal shortsword strike. All enemies caught within the arc will take damage equal to slightly less than the full two-combo, and get knocked back even more than compared to a single normal strike. This charged attack appears to take the same amount of RP as a normal sword strike (I may be wrong here, please correct if I am wrong) and thus is far more efficient than attacking normally.

Note that while charging, you can only walk, as if you were paralysed, so knowing how to make the most of your movements is important.

So, why should you use a longsword? The longsword offers various benefits over the shortsword:

-The longsword has an inherent critical strike chance, something the shortsword does not have. This means that even without any accessories to boost your critical strike chance, you will still score a critical strike every now and then (for double damage). Similarly, the longsword's knockback has an inherent stun chance, rendering an enemy helpless for about 4 seconds which gives you an opening for another attack.

-The longsword has a higher innate attack power (for comparison, a level 10 rune blade has 72 attack, while a level 10 omni-elemental has 93 attack). This, combined with the inherent critical strike chance and the mechanics of the charged attack, mean that the longsword is very VERY efficient at dishing out damage for minimal RP consumption--perfect if you're farming crafting materials in Palermo Shrine, for example. Besides, it's nice to see big numbers (My personal record was a 550+ critical on Crystal Mammoth).

-The longsword does not require you to "commit" yourself to an attack as the shortsword does, leaving you vulnerable to attack by enemies other than the one you're focusing on and at the end of your attack pattern. The shortsword does--combo attacks three and four of the attack pattern should make that clear enough. For example, fighting against a mini-dragon in Palermo Shrine makes this clear enough--if you don't kill it by the end of the 4th shortsword strike, its bite attack is quick enough to hit you as you're trying to recover from the charge. The longsword, though, can do all its damage in a single charged swing, giving you enough time to get away.

-The longsword allows you to easily hit multiple enemies with its swing arc. By comparison, the shortsword can only hit multiple opponents with combos 1 and 2 of its attacks, and the swing arc is pitiful (Unlike RF1, where shortswords could do this reasonably well).

-The longsword has a longer reach than the shortsword, making some monsters easier to handle (ignis-type monsters, for example) than with the shortsword. Plenty of new players have trouble defeating ignis-type monsters. You can also attack some enemies from outside their normal melee range (though usually not their special ability range)

-The longsword's damage arc stays on-screen longer than that of the shortsword, making it easier for you to anticipate charging enemies such as the orc viking, silver wolf and ignis and let them charge into your damage arc.

It is important to note that the longsword has some disadvantages compared to the shortsword, though:

-The longsword's normal attacks have a slow warm-up time as explained in the mechanics section, which means if you're caught by surprise while farming or mining, or don't have room to maneuver, you're going to be at a disadvantage. This also means that hit-and-run tactics which are preferred for some bosses like Bane Dragon and Crystal Mammoth don't work, requiring you to plan ahead and understand their attack patterns much better than a shortsword user would (I.E, estimating where the boss' charge will stop and placing yourself there ahead of time, ready to smack them with a charged attack. By contrast, a shortsword user can run alongside them till they stop, smack them once or twice, and then retreat safely). Proper use of charged attacks will shift the warm-up time to before you're in danger of being attacked, which is another reason why they're so important.

-You cannot use a shield while using a longsword, which means you give up the defense and other beneficial stats a shield might provide.

-You are at an disadvantage when fighting enemies who retreat or teleport and use ranged attacks, such as leafballs, bees and faries. Often it'll be necessary to understand their attacks well (understanding how sonic wind missiles move is important, especially where the safe spot is), trigger their attacks and then move in for the kill.

It is important to note that these disadvantages can be minimised or altogether done away with if you have sufficient understanding of enemies' attack patterns in order to a) not be caught unawares and b) not get hit in the first place. Effective use of a longsword requires deeper strategy other than "run up and smack it till it's dead", but the payoff is worth it, IMO.

I'll now address common mistakes made by players new to the longsword, obtained by forum posts and youtube videos I've seen:

-Running up, attempting to smack the monster in the face, getting hit and flinching and wasting the strike. This is the most common problem, because it's the exact playstyle of the shortsword--run up and whack it till it's dead. The problem is that the uncharged attack leaves you open, and the monster has time to prepare, since you're the one running into its danger zone. The shortsword is an aggressive weapon, while the longsword is a defensive one--wait for the monster to come to you, and you're the one with time to prepare.

-Getting too close to the monster. This is self-explanatory. You have range. Use it. Besides, if you're too close, the knockback won't put enough distance between you and the monster. It's important to note that the defensive capabilities of the shortsword and longsword are different--hitting an enemy with the shortsword protects you by repeatedly making the enemy flinch, while doing the same with a longsword protects you by knocking the monster back. Get too close, and you put yourself at a disadvantage.

-Forgetting charged attacks exist. Reasonable, since the shortsword's charged attack is a liability at best. However, as I've explained, the longsword depends on them to be used effectively.

-Running all around the place needlessly. Your mobility is severely limited when charging an attack. Understand how your enemies attack, then move just enough to avoid the incoming attack. The less you move, the closer you are for your attack to land--and the less time other enemies have to interrupt.

In conclusion, I'd like to say again that the longsword is an excellent weapon in its own right. It requires a deeper understanding of not just the game mechanics, but also monster attack patterns, when they are vulnerable, being aware of your surroundings and taking pre-emptive action rather than reactive action. The utter devastation one can cause in bursts and RP efficiency (again, I'd like to say 550+ crits) is really worth it.

Longsword skill seals:

I won't be going into how the skill seals are obtained, how they're used or any of that stuff, since those can be found in other guides. Instead, I'll be going into the in-game mechanics and what exactly each skill seal does, since the descriptions are very lacking.

If any of the skill seals in this guide provide damage mitigation, I may not notice it, since my Aria is superpowered enough that only Crystal Mammoth-rematch can hit her for anything more than 1 damage. XP

Note that for most, if not all, skill seals, you are immune to flinching during the course of the attack, unlike most normal or charged attacks. This is an important benefit of using skill seals, considering the relatively large amount of RP you're spending. Of course, you'll still take damage, and if a boss is charging at you, you'll still be pushed out of the way.

Heck, in fact, I don't recommend using longsword skill seals against bosses, since most of them are designed for use against multiple enemies. Naive blade might be of some use, but bosses have combo/ranged abilities anyways that still end up with you taking damage (see naive blade below).

Also, for certain skill seals such as Flash Strike (spear) and Rush Attack (shortsword), the effect changes depending on the weapon you use. I'm not sure if the other skill seals also have the same effect, so I'm going to post the weapon(s) and monsters used during testing.

For the purposes of the longsword testing, I've used a steel slicer. Monsters faced were: Crystal Mammoth, mini-dragon, dark slime, orc viking.

Green skill seal: triple strike

When this skill seal is used, your character will instantly take a half-step forward and jab his/her longsword in front of him/her, then swing it 180 degrees clockwise until it reaches his/her back (the damage arc is the equivalent of a normal attack to the side). This is a combo attack, but you can only hit your initial enemy a second time if you were right in their face when the rune ability was used (often meaning you get hit in the process; the enemy to the side will only get hit once. Each hit of the combo does 1.5 times the damage of an uncharged longsword swing, although there's not much knockback, so you ought to be prepared to run once the attack animation is over.

Using the skill seal a second time while the attack animation is still underway will cause your character to do a follow-up swing above his/her head from behind him/her to the direction s/he was originally facing, dealing another 1.5 times damage to your initial target.

When to use this seal? When the positioning of your enemies is such that there's one directly in front of you, and another 90 degrees clockwise. A maximum of three hits is possible for a total of 6 times the damage of a normal swing, but remember that the main defensive tactic of the longsword is not getting hit in the first place--so if you don't have HP to spare, it may be more prudent to be satisfied with two hits.

Red skill seal: gale blade

When this skill seal is used, your character takes a half-second to charge up an attack, then spins 360 degrees to create a damage arc all around him/her, followed up by an additional 180 degrees swing centered about the direction he/she was facing when the attack was activated. All flinchable enemies caught in the damage arcs will take damage equivalent to two-thirds of a normal strike and be knocked back a good amount, equivalent to that of a charged strike. You can hit an enemy twice when it's pressed against a wall.

Repeatedly using the skill seal while the initial swing is underway will cause your character to repeatedly revolve in place like a tornado, performing the first strike. You can do this up to ten times, and when you stop using the skill or reach the swing limit, the additional finisher swing will trigger. You are immune to flinching during this attack.

A note of warning, though: performing more than five revolutions WILL STUN YOU, leaving you vulnerable. The more revolutions you perform, the longer you'll be stunned, from about 1-2 seconds for five swings, to a good five seconds or so for 10 swings. Be prudent.

When to use this seal? When you're surrounded by multiple enemies, cornered or otherwise don't have room to maneuver. This skill seal is less about damage, and more about pushing enemies away so you can run for a better position or escape, or holding off enemies which are trying to surround you. If you really feel like using this for damage, you can press an enemy against a wall and repeatedly swing to render it helpless.

Blue skill seal: naive blade

This one's interesting. When this skill seal is used, your character will take a half-second to assume a guard position, during which s/he can still be damaged. Once in your guard position, you'll be immobile, but defending against all incoming attacks (the direction you're facing does NOT matter). If a monster moves in with a melee attack and you successfully counter it, you'll hear a "ting" sound effect, take no damage from that particular ONE attack, and automatically counter-attack with a thin, narrow damage arc (like the spear) for a guaranteed critical strike with the base damage of a charged attack (essentially, 4x damage of a normal attack). Note that if the monster is doing a combo attack, like Crystal Mammoth's charge attack; it's likely that you'll be hit by the subsequent attacks in the combo anyways. The same goes for a persistent damage arc like the slime's charge-and-spread out attack or Crystal Mammoth's stomp attack; you can deflect the first hit, but since you're still in the arc, you'll still be taking some damage. The good thing is that you won't start flinching until your attack animation is over.

It should also be noted that some monsters with long melee attacks, such as the devil and ghost families of monsters, can sometimes hit you physically and still not trigger the counterattack, yet on other times the counterattack activates perfectly. I'm not sure why this happens.

Ranged attacks will have much the same effect, forcing the counterattack animation to proceed, but of course you probably won't hit the monster in question, plus you'll take damage from the ranged attack.

You can drop the guard position by using the skill seal again, which will have your character execute the counterattack but with no guarantee of a critical strike, hence ending up with 2x damage of a normal strike.

When to use this seal? When you're facing a single enemy and are cornered, or simply want to be safe and let the monster come to you. Unless you're woefully underpowered, a single critical strike should take out a normal monster (excluding tanks like the mini golem and mini dragon).

Any questions? Next up: spears.



*Spear:

The spear is actually a pretty nifty weapon, and was the second weapon I tried out for a whole game after the shortsword. For those bored of the shortsword but intimidated by the vastly different mechanics of the longsword, axe or hammer, I'd recommend they give the spear a try. It's the jack of all trades weapon, with some increasing your defense to make up for not having a shield, knockback, range and speed. It's a primarily offensive and reactionary weapon, and should be played as such.

The spear's mechanics are as follows: it's a three-hit-combo weapon, with the first two hits of the combo being quick (about shortsword speed) spear thrusts in a direction, causing damage along a line. The third hit of the combo makes your character take a second or two to charge an attack, followed by a stronger lunge attack that moves your character forward quite a bit; this lunge attack does 1.5 times normal thrust damage. Any enemies who get hit by the spear thrusts when they can flinch get knocked back a little, not as much as the longsword but enough to put some distance between you and your enemy. The idea is for you to hit them once at the very end of your weapon range and attack again immediately after, letting the monster impale itself on the tip of your weapon arc as it recovers and starts moving towards you again.

The spear's charge attack is similar to that of the shortsword; upon releasing your charged attack, you lunge forward (although damage will make you flinch) in a manner similar in action and damage to the third combo hit, only in this case the charge time is eliminated.

My suggestion is that you use the first two combo hits as your main attacks, and only use the third, more damaging combo hit when you're sure you won't be interrupted by another enemy.

So, why should you use the spear?

-As I've mentioned before, it's a very well-balanced weapon in terms of damage, defense, weapon speed and knockback. While it excels at none of these situations, it's still a weapon you can use in a lot of situations. You can choose to commit yourself to an attack or not, the knockback is great for keeping enemies at arm's length, and so forth.

-The main benefit of a spear, though, is its range. The spear has the longest reach of any weapon type in the game, and anticipatory attacks can often hit monsters even before they prepare to perform their attacks. That means you can ignore monster attack patterns to a larger extent than say, with the short or longsword. It also makes hit-and-run attack tactics a lot more effective.

However, the spear has numerous drawbacks, most of which actually have to do with the attack mechanics of the spear and not the stats associated with it.

-Only the spear tip counts as the damage arc. Unlike shortswords or longswords, which allow you to strike first and hit enemies as they wander into your damage arc, if monsters wander anywhere in the arc but the tip of your spear as it moves out from you, they won't get hurt.

-It is very, very easy to miss when monsters aren't moving directly towards you; examples of such monsters would be bees, woollies, devils, goblins when they're trying to circle you, or any monster that runs away from you. So long as the monster isn't a) standing still or b) moving towards you along the line your spear is going to take, there's a high chance you will miss. Since your damage arc is a narrow line connecting you and the monster, so long as the monster takes a step to the side when you're thrusting your spear, it's gonna miss--and now you're stuck in the attack animation while the monster isn't. This is the main drawback of the spear.

-Of course, it's arguable that despite some spears having defense on them, they still don't match up to the defense a shield provides--especially against status effects.

-Spears are pitifully weak against multiple enemies. Again, consider the mechanics of the spear's attack; for multiple targets to be hit, they must both be in a straight line and within range of your spear's damage arc. That means that one of the monsters is going to be close to you in order for you to hit both of them at once, negating the main benefit of the spear: the ability to attack from a distance.

-The spear can also knock back certain non-moving enemies such as flower buds and their ilk out of its range, rendering the second combo hit useless. If you get closer so the second hit lands--well, again, you've given up the main benefit of the spear.

-The spear has no inherent stun or critical strike chance, so you won't be getting any big red numbers or spinning stars when using the spear, unless you have accessories equipped which provide these chances.

I don't think I need to cover common mistakes made by players new to the spear, since the playstyle is somewhat similar to that of the shortsword. In conclusion, I'd like to say that while the spear can be a situational weapon in terms of mechanics, for example, when you are facing problematic or multiple enemies, there's nothing that can't be overcome with a little thought (for example, triggering one enemy to attack while the other follows you to separate them) and planning. It can make your life a lot easier when you're facing enemies who have only melee attacks.

Spear skill seals: For testing purposes, all testing of skill seals was done with the following: gungnir, lance, flare lance, iseberk, brionac, meteus, monk staff; monsters involved were a mini-dragon and Crystal Mammoth.

Green skill seal: thrust strike

Upon using this seal, your character will immediately dash forward at running speed with spear lowered for distance equal to about 2/3 the length of your screen (measured from the leftmost to the rightmost edge of your vision, when the camera's centered on you). This is a four-hit combo, with three initial strikes followed by a final strike denoted by your spear's damage arc becoming wider at the tip as your character thrusts his/her spear. The first three hits do slightly more damage equal than a uncharged spear thrust, about 1.2 times; the final and fourth hit does 2x damage.

However, in order to get the most use of this attack, you have to be right next to the enemy when you use it, plus the fact that while you dash, either the enemy moves or you push it away--in any case, you end up not getting all four hits on the same enemy, and the mechanics of the attack are such that if you start off right next to the monster at the start of the dash, the damage arc of your spear at the final thrust will be beyond the enemy and not hit it. In my spear playthrough, I usually ended up getting two or three hits on one use.

Repeatedly using the seal while the first three hits are underway will make the first three steps of the combo loop over and over again until you stop pressing the button or faint; there is no limit as to how many repeated uses you can have.

Note that while you are immune to flinching while you dash, you are NOT immune to being stunned--so the seal's description of "nothing can stop you" isn't actually the case! Also, remember that you will still take damage, and since you lose control of your character for a good amount of time, it's likely that you'll take quite a bit of it.

When to use this seal? Intuitively, it'd be to break out from enemies which have cornered you, but if you really need to do that, you're probably low on hp and don't have any to spare--and you'll almost definitely get hit while breaking out. You could use it to deal a lot of damage to a single enemy, but then again, you're giving up the spear's range if you want to maximise its damage potential. I'll be honest; I never used this seal much in my spear playthrough, and the loss of control of your character for so long a time isn't something I like to have happen.

Red skill seal: flash strike

This is a reasonably useful skill seal; as far as skill seals go. When activated, your character will spin in place for a second, and then thrust forward two character lengths with his or her spear extended, dealing 1.5 times the damage of a normal uncharged strike. Repeatedly using the skill before the animation is up will result in a four-hit combo; after the thrust; your character will cast one of the following spells up to three times, depending on the elemental attribute of your spear:

None: Shoots a small power wave which goes across the screen and deals a small amount of damage.
Light: Casts level 1 shine.
Fire: Casts level 1 fireball.
Dark: Casts level 1 life drain.
Wind: Casts level 1 sonic wind.
Earth: Casts level 1 stone spike.
Water: Casts level 1 water laser.

While it doesn't sound very useful, the great thing about this skill seal is that while you're spinning (for one second or so), you become invulnerable to ALL damage. Enemy melee attacks won't even register; fireballs and sonic wind missiles will pass straight through you; it's as if you've become immaterial. However, enemies who charge at you will still push you away, even though you're invulnerable to damage. The important thing when using this skill is proper timing to maximise the usefulness of your invulnerability time.

When to use this seal? It'd be a good idea to activate this if you have, say, four sonic wind missiles from a grey fairy (I forget the name; they're found in Palermo Shrine) launched at you. Similarly, monsters with a very high damaging, long-ranged and yet non-persisting single blow, such as the mini-dragon's bite attack, can be played safe with by using this skill seal. You can use this skill seal to dodge missiles, and then counter them with your own!

Blue skill seal: hundred cracker

This is an excellent and exceedingly useful skill seal. When activated, your character will stand in place and thrust his/her spear forward dealing the damage of an uncharged normal attack, but this is followed up by a backflip that takes you back about two character lengths--essentially, it's the reverse of the flash strike, which was defend followed by attack, whereas this is attack followed by defend. However, unlike the flash strike, you are not invulnerable during any part of the animation.

Repeatedly using the skill seal over and over again will move your character forward slowly, but will also allow you to hit your target up to a whopping NINE times (I may be off by one. The numbers kept flashing on-screen) before the backflip automatically kicks in, FOR NO ADDITIONAL RP COST! Damage-wise on a single target, this is the single most useful skill seal in the game!

When to use this seal? It's pretty obvious that this should be used as part of a hit-and-run attack, and thus can work pretty well on bosses, since the defensive mechanism is built into the attack animation, and not to mention massive single target damage, if you're willing to commit yourself to the attack and tank some damage. If you aren't, you can always pull out at any point in the combo. This skill seal is undoubtedly one of the best all-rounded seals in the game, possessing immense attack and defense capabilities.



*The Axe/Hammer:

The axe and hammer are the slowest weapons in-game, and thus players tend to avoid using them. I'll admit that if I hadn't been doing one-weapon challenges, I'd have never touched the axe or hammer family of weapons at all. Proper axe and hammer usage require plenty of space to move around and set up your attacks and plenty of knowledge of each enemy's quirks, and if you don't know these you're not going to do very well with either of these weapons.

One interesting thing to note is that the axe's RP consumption runs off logging (note that logging skill goes up when you use it as a weapon) and hammers, mining. If you think your weapons skill is good enough and you're lacking in these other skills, try these weapons for a change. I know, because finding enough branches/stumps to level logging to 99 is a pain. -_- Skill seals for the axe/hammer also work when you've the farming axe/hammer equipped.

The axe and hammer share the exact same mechanics: When the B button is pressed, your character will heave your weapon up for about 1 second, then send it smashing down in a straight line towards the enemy, causing damage. The axe and hammer have no combo, so it's a one-shot thing.

The charged attack works differently from what you'd expect from watching the farming axe and hammer in action; once you've charged your attack, releasing the B button will send your character dashing forward about two character lengths and pause for half a second before bringing the weapon down for double the damage of an uncharged attack if you're using an axe; about 2.5 times the damage if you're using a hammer (but the attack speed is noticeably slower than that of the axe). Note that during the course of a charged attack, you are immune to flinching. This, like the longsword, is going to be your main course of attack.

Note that in both the normal and charged attacks, after the damage is applied, there's still an approximately one-second delay before you can move again as you pick up your weapon.

The main difference between the axe and hammer is that the axe has a very high chance of critical strikes, even moreso than the longsword, but does not stun. The hammer has no inherent critical strike chance, but has a high chance to stun your enemy. Hence the slightly different playstyles can be seen; axes expect you to kill an enemy in one powerful strike, while hammers disable them so you can get in another strike.

So, why should you use the hammer or axe?

-The axe/hammer generally have the highest attack power in the game. I started a new game over my file with the executioner, so I don't have any numbers on me right now, but I'm quite sure the attack rating on it was higher than even my omni-elemental.

-Again, the high critical hit chance on the axe means you don't need that many blows to kill something, leading to greater RP efficiency, and the hammer's stun chance helps with the problem of the weapon being slow.

-The charged attack provides immunity to flinching, which no other weapon's basic attacks can do for you. Even a longsword's charged attack, if timed improperly, can be spoiled. With the axe and hammer, so long as you release the B button, you're getting the attack.

That said, the axe and hammer have a lot of drawbacks which I feel make them not worth using:

-Very slow attack speed. The normal attack still leaves you vulnerable to flinching, which means that in a brawl, you're probably not going to be doing any damage if you decide to hold your ground. The loss of control of your character and the requirement that you commit yourself to an attack for relatively long periods of time as compared to other weapons means you're going to be taking a lot of hits.

-Very narrow damage arc. The axe/hammer's damage arc is in a straight line like the spear's, and coupled with the weapons' attack speed means that you're going to get the same problem the spear does with randomly moving, teleporting or fleeing enemies, only that it's much, much worse this time. You'll be missing a lot against insect enemies, and you might as well not bother fighting monsters in the ghost family--they'll have disappeared by the time you can react.

-Similarly, the slow speed and narrow damage arc means that attacking multiple enemies at once is a massive pain. By the time you've recovered from your attack animation, the other guy's buddy is going to be wailing on you soon, if it already isn't.

-The axe/hammer's charged attack can be a pain to aim, since the effective range is outside the "autoaim" range of weapons.

-You need a LOT of space to maneuver, because you need to be far away for the normal and charged attacks to work properly. Too close and a normal attack will probably be spoiled, and a charged attack isn't going to do much good, either--you'll charge at the enemy, push it out of the way and watch happily as your damage arc falls onto empty space. Fighting in narrow hallways, small rooms and corners is a massive pain.

-And finally, if you didn't think this list was long enough, the prime method of mitigating the above problems is to let the enemy attack first and smack it while it's not noticing you. If you don't know enemy attack patterns very well (I still have problems dodging four sonic wind missiles if I can't get to the safe spot in time), you're probably going to be taking a lot of hits while you try figuring it out (and given you can't equip a shield, each hit is going to hurt, assuming you aren't overlevelled), and since the enemy's going to go first, there's always the off-chance it'll hit you somehow anyways.

The main mistakes players make with the axe and hammer are essentially those which are made with the longsword--only with these two weapons, there is virtually no room for error. At least with a longsword, you can still do SOMETHING by hacking around wildly--with an axe or hammer, you won't be getting a single hit off.

In conclusion, I'd like to say that you shouldn't even bother using the axe or hammer, unless you're doing a deliberate challenge like I was. Big numbers are nice and all, but it's not worth the effort that goes into using these weapons without taking so many hits into the bargain.

Axe/hammer skill seals:

All testing of skill seals was done with a pole axe/war hammer. Testing was done on a mini-dragon.

Green skill seal: hammer fall

When this skill seal is activated, your character will move his/ her hammer/axe out while standing still, raise it up and slam it down (there's about 2 seconds between pressing the botton and the damage being applied) on the enemy. If you're using an axe, you'll deal 2x the damage of a normal attack; if you're using a hammer, you'll only deal normal damage, but stun your target in the process.

Note that this skill seal causes no knockback, and if your target is immune to flinching at the moment the damage is applied, the hammer's stun will NOT occur.

When to use this seal? If you're using an axe, it's possible to use this skill seal for close quarters combat, since when using a skill seal you're generally immune to flinching, and the damage is going to go through. With a hammer, though, the intent is to stun the enemy, whether it because you need the time to effect an escape, or render an enemy helpless till it's dead. This skill seal somewhat mitigates the axe/hammer's slow weapon speed (in different manners, of course!) and is handy enough to justify the slot it takes in your backpack.

Red skill seal: giant swing

This one's rather simple. When this skill seal is activated, your character will spin around in place, similar to the longsword's gale blade. All enemies caught in the damage arc will take damage equal to an uncharged swing; your initial target can be hit up to twice. Note that while performing this attack, you can still take damage, although you will not flinch.

Like the longsword's gale blade, repeatedly using the skill seal while the initial swing is underway will cause your character to repeatedly revolve in place like a tornado, performing the first strike. You can do this up to ten times, and when you stop using the skill or reach the swing limit, you'll perform one final swing of your axe/hammer and automatically stop. You are immune to flinching while spinning.

Again, performing more than five revolutions WILL STUN YOU, leaving you vulnerable. The more revolutions you perform, the longer you'll be stunned, from about 1-2 seconds for five swings, to a good five seconds or so for 10 swings. Be prudent.

Enemies hit by this seal with the axe will be knocked back by a negligible amount, so if you're using the axe, you can probably expect to get hit once or twice if the enemy survives the attack--which it shouldn't, since if you were right next to it when you used the seal, you should be able to land at least five hits before it's pushed out of range. The hammer's effect knocks back enemies more, but if you push them far enough to be safe, you're probably not going to land any combo on your initial target.

When to use this seal? This skill seal helps to mitigate the axe's/hammer's narrow damage arc to some extent, and should probably used in close quarters combat, when you're being surrounded, or when that damn bee or spider just won't stay still and die. With the axe, you can use this skill for damage, but with the hammer's knockback, you should use this skill seal like the longsword's gale blade--to put some distance between you an enemies trying to surround you, so you can escape.

Blue skill seal: strong shot

When this skill seal is activated, your character will swing back his/her weapon, then attack in front of him/her with a step forwards (about 2 seconds between the B button being pressed and the damage being applied) for normal damage. However, this skill seal's strength lies within its utility; when used in conjunction with a hammer, the damaging strike will knock back the target a great deal (the mini-dragon I was testing it on got knocked back about four character lengths). However, when used in conjunction with an axe, the knockback is negligible.

When to use this skill seal? When you're using a hammer, definitely. Using this skill seal with an axe is possibly worse than useless--not only do you commit yourself to an attack for longer than a normal attack for the same damage, you're also consuming a hefty amount of RP. When using this skill seal with a hammer, though, it can be somewhat useful if you need to separate enemies so you can deal with them one at a time, or knock them away so you can escape.

Next up: Shortswords, for the sake of completeness, then maybe I'll move on to magic.

[Lccorp2]

*Shortswords:

The fastest weapon in the game, as well as being the easiest to use (the game itself acknowledges this fact), the shortsword is the beginner's choice of weapon for three main reasons:

a) It has the simplest playstyle, and does not require much knowledge and practice to become effective with it,

b) There are weapons awarded from quests for this weapon type, for those who for some reason or the other don't want to do item crafting, and

c) The ability to use a shield at the same time means the player can care less about getting hit.

It's little wonder, then, that the shortsword is often used. The learning curve is low and easy, but its effectiveness plateaus out at quite a low level, so my personal recommendation is that once you're familiar with enemies and the mechanics of the game, you ditch it for either the spear or the longsword, whichever is your choice. Of course, you're free to disagree.

The mechanics of the shortsword are as follows: the normal attacks follow a four-hit combo pattern; after the B button is pressed, the damage arc appears almost instantly as an approximately 135 degrees arc centered about the direction your character's facing, and at the same time, your character takes a half-step forward. The second hit of the combo is the same move repeated, only your character moves a little further than s/he did in the first hit. This is followed by the third hit, in which your character slams the flat of his/her blade forward in a narrow damage arc (like a shorter version of the spear) and takes a step for the same distance; this hit deals about 1.25 times the damage of a normal swing. Finally, the last hit of the combo sends your character charging forward with sword extended for two character lengths, dealing 1.5 times the damage of a normal attack, plus a small chance of a critical hit. All four of these attacks can be performed immediately after the other.

Note the following about the four-hit combo:

-This is going to be your bread and butter of your damage. Learn to use it well.

-There is no knockback to your enemy; you'll probably push them with your body if you execute the full four hits, but you'll end up close to the enemy at the end of it all.

-Taking damage during any point in time will cause you to flinch and the combo be dropped.

-It's clear, as I stated in the longsword guide, that the main method of not getting hit during while you execute the combo is to keep the target flinching and unable to react, hence the in-game guide: "Overwhelm your enemy with a series of rapid attacks."

-At the end of the last hit of your combo, there'll be about one second after the damage is applied before you regain control of your character. Your character is vulnerable during that period of time. Knowing when to pull out of an attack is vital if you don't want to be hit at the end of your combo.

The charged attack is simple: upon releasing the B button, your character will execute the fourth attack of the four-hit combo (the dash). I'd only use this when you're sure the enemy can be killed in one hit and has no persistent damage arc (like the ignis-family), so you don't leave yourself vulnerable or end up charging into a trap.

The shortsword offers numerous benefits, some of which I've mentioned above:

-It has a simple playstyle, which is "run up to the monster before it can attack and smack it till it dies". You won't need to change your strategy for a lot of monsters, so there's a one-size-fits-all benefit to it.

-You can equip a shield while wielding a shortsword, granting you not only bonus defense but also various status effects and other bonuses.

-You are at your most mobile when using a shortsword, since you won't be using the charged attack very much. This not only allows you to use hit-and-run attacks on bosses and close the range between enemies with ranged attacks as well as dodge projectiles, but also lets you chase down fleeing, teleporting or moving enemies and smack them before they can escape. This is the one of the main draws of the shortsword.

-Assuming you can commit yourself to an attack, the shortsword's four-hit combo allows you to deal the most damage in one seized opportunity, before you have to retreat and look for another chance to strike.

-The shortsword has a fast weapon speed, which means you're more likely to get a strike off before some enemy spoil your attack.

-The shape of the damage arc means you have a reasonable chance of hitting a moving monster, even if they're a little off to the side.

However, the shortsword has numerous disadvantages:

-Pitiful range. In order to hit anything with a shortsword, you'll need to be right up in their face. This should not be a problem most of the time with the shortsword's weapon speed and mobility, but there are certain enemies such as the ignis family which are specifically designed to ruin this playstyle. A lot of new players have trouble with the ignis family of monsters, because they can't time their attacks right so the monster runs into the damage arc.

-Which brings us to the next point. The shortsword's damage arc stays on-screen for slightly less than a second, so if you're trying to lure monsters into a trap (which you shouldn't be doing anyways, considering the pitiful range of the shortsword) you're going to be having a tough time with it.

-The shortsword has the lowest damage to RP consumed efficiency in the game (well, I'm not counting rods since they're not weapons per se). Each strike hits for comparatively low damage, considering the shortsword's low attack power. Furthermore, the shortsword has no inherent critical hit (save for the last hit), stun chance or useful knockback, which renders it not very useful in terms of anything but raw damage.

-The shortsword is weak against multiple enemies, thanks to its small damage arc and nature of the attacks. While it is possible to hit two enemies at once with hits one and two of the uncharged combo, it still requires that the enemies be practically next to each other for this to occur.

-Since the shortsword relies on the enemy flinching in order to protect yourself, enemies immune to flinching can become a problem. Also, during boss battles, it's important to know when you can safely attack, since they don't flinch.

-And finally, the shortsword requires you to commit yourself to an attack in order to get the best damage and efficiency out of it, leaving you open to interruption by other enemies, and a chance of being hit if your four-combo doesn't kill the enemy. As I've mentioned above, knowing when to pull out of an attack is important, but you sacrifice the more damaging third and fourth blows in the combo.

Conclusion? The shortsword is a friendly beginner's weapon, and by all means use it if you're not that confident in your abilities. However, once you feel comfortable with the game mechanics and enemy attack patterns, my suggestion is for you to move on to the spear or longsword, depending on your preference of weapon speed.

Shortsword skill seals:

Shortsword skill seals are possibly some of the more useful skill seals in-game, and number amongst the few (along with some of the spear's seals) that I'd actually recommend using during boss fights. The shortsword's seals reflect the mobile and fast nature of the weapon, and should be used with that goal in mind.

The following weapons were tested: rune blade, steel sword, chaos blade, grantale, icifier, sunspot, aerial blade. Monsters tested against were mini-dragons and crystal mammoth.

Green skill seal: power wave

When this seal is activated, your character will raise his or her sword and slam it down on the ground, creating a thin, narrow wave of energy that travels rapidly in the direction you were facing when the seal was activated. There's a one second delay between seal activation and the power wave appearing, followed by another second before you regain control of your character. The power wave is non-penetrating; walls, mining rocks, and the like will stop it dead in its tracks, but it WILL pass through enemies and strike multiple targets, unlike most other non-penetrating missiles like fireballs, which are consumed as soon as they hit a target.

Enemies hit by the power wave will take a very small amount of damage (for a heads up, my Aria with 215 attack did 10 damage from the front against a mini-dragon) and be stunned for four-five seconds. Note that as with the hammer's hammer fall, if your target is immune to flinching at the moment of contact with the power wave, the stun will NOT be applied.

When to use this seal? This skill seal is obviously not supposed to be used for attack, but a ranged stun is very useful in a wide variety of situations. Use it either to create an opportunity for you to close the distance between you or an enemy, take an enemy out of action for a while so you can focus on its buddy, disable an enemy so you can run past it for the other end of the hallway, or spoil a ranged attacker's attack. I'm sure you can think of many other useful applications.

Red skill seal: dash slash

When this skill seal is activated, your character will steady him/herself for a half-second, then very quickly dash four character lengths ahead of him/her, dealing 1.5 times normal swing damage to anything in the way, followed by another half-second to recover. Note that this dash can take you THROUGH enemies (although not bosses), although you won't become immaterial like in the spear's flash strike, so projectiles and enemy damage arcs will still hit you. It's fun to zip back and forth through an enemy, though, if you want to use it for amusement purposes.

Note that this seal, naturally, causes no knockback. It also appears to cost a hefty amount of RP to use (5 with a rune sword at weapons level 99), compared to other skill seals.

When should you use this seal? This seal is best used for closing the distance between you and a ranged attacker, or as part of a hit and run attack. You can also use it to retreat quickly, although I'd rather take advantage of the bonus damage and use it to attack, then retreat normally. You can also use it to barge through a line of enemies for the exit from the map, if you please.

Blue skill seal: rush attack

When this skill seal is activated, your character immediately executes two very fast attacks with a narrow damage arc similar to hit three of the combo, each dealing normal damage (The whole thing's over in about a second), after which you'll immediately regain control of your character. You'll be standing still for the first attack, but the second one has you take a step forward. It's a short, simple attack. However, this attack can be comboed for a maximum of a whopping FIVE times, ending up with a maximum of seven hits, not counting the special effect. The first three parts of the combo are identical to the first, dealing two hits of normal weapon damage each time; the fourth part of the combo sends your character dashing forward and dealing half weapon damage, followed by the fifth part of the combo, a special effect depending on the elemental attribute of your weapon:

None: Shoots a small power wave which goes across the screen and deals a small amount of damage.
Light: Casts level 1 shine.
Fire: Casts level 1 fireball.
Dark: Casts level 1 life drain.
Wind: Casts level 1 sonic wind.
Earth: Casts level 1 stone spike.
Water: Casts level 1 water laser.

During the time of the rush attack, you are immune to flinching, and note that so long as the combo is not broken, additional hits will NOT consume extra RP.

When to use this seal? When you need to deal a lot of damage in a short period of time, which helps mitigate the shortsword's lack of burst damage. This is an excellent skill to use against bosses, since their high HP warrants the full five hits of the combo. You'll almost certainly be taking damage when executing the full attack, so use it when you have hp to spare.



*Magic

Magic in RF2 has been greatly improved over the magic system in RF. Although the main difference is the addition of a magic skill that lowers the RP cost of magic spells, making them a more viable alternative, magic in RF tended to be repetitive, with many of the spells overlapping with each other, with the only real difference in their elemental attributes (inferno and earthquake, for example). In RF2, each of magic spells have their own unique playstyle to be used in different circumstances, so if you're a budding wizard, you should carry all of the books at once in order to deal with various situations you might find yourself in. According to the in-game description, magic skill also grant you the ability to use the higher level books, but I'm not sure what the cut-off skill levels are, since I usually overlevel magic in first gen. XP If anyone has information on this, I'd appreciate it.

Also notable in RF2 is the addition of magic "levels", which improve the strength of your spell in different ways. Books come in three levels, green -> red -> blue, which require different missing pages to complete.

Different spells have different mechanics, so they'll be covered under the spell itself.

So why should you use magic?

-The main obvious benefit of magic is that it has range and versatility. Depending on the spell you use, you can stay far away from the enemy and blast them from a distance, create a damage shield, choose to be mobile or stick yourself in a casting animation, so on and so forth. Of course, no matter what playstyle you have, you should always have cure, medication and escape on you at all times, but I'll still cover their effects for the sake of completeness.

However, magic has a number of drawbacks:

-Magic does not "autoaim" like weapons do. In other words, you won't automatically face an enemy when casting a spell; you'll have to aim manually. While the design of most spells makes this moot, some spells like life drain and water laser require good aim.

-Magic has a low RP/damage ratio compared to melee weapons. This is most noticeable when you're not overlevelled for the enemies you're facing; even with 99 base intelligence and a level 10 rune staff, my Aria does only 30+ damage per fireball to crystal mammoth rematch. If you're going to use magic exclusively, you'll really need to be growing crops in the dungeons, although it's not as vital as in RF.

-Magic requires you to remember well the elemental affinity of each type of monster, which can only be figured out for sure by taming one of its kind (although some are pretty intuitive). Of course, if you don't mind the damage penalty (I'm not sure of the damage modifier for weak/strong against. If you have any information, again, please post.), you can go ahead and use the spell anyways.

-And this should be obvious, but if you're sealed, you're effectively worthless. Even if you're paralysed or sealed with a sword, you can still defend yourself to some extent. With magic, you're stuck with swinging your rod around, and that's next to worthless.

Cure:

Does what it says on the label--recovers HP. Exactly how much is recovered depends on the book's level and has nothing to do with your intelligence. This spell will also heal your monster, and is the only way to recover your accompanying monster's HP in the field.

Level 1: 80 hp restored. This level of the spell does not affect your monster.
Level 2: 150 hp restored.
Level 3: 300 hp restored.

You'll be standing still for about half a second before the healing is applied, and if you're hit during that time the RP will be consumed but you won't get healed. Be careful.

Medication:

Does what it says on the label--recovers HP and purges status effects. What it does is again dependent on the book's level. This spell also affects your monster, and is the only way to cure status effects on it.

Level 1: 20 hp restored, cures poison. This level of the spell does not affect your monster.
Level 2: 50 hp restored, cures poison and paralysis.
Level 3: 100 hp restored, cures poison and paralysis. (I'm not sure if it cures cold/fatigue. Can someone test this out for me?)

Life drain (dark):

When this spell is used, you will fire in the direction you're facing a single blob of darkness, much like the level 1 fireball you're so used to in first gen. When the blob hits a target, 66-80% of the damage you deal (I'm not sure what exactly affects the percentages) is returned to you. Pretty simple, pretty direct.

Level 1: A small blob
Level 2: Increased damage and blob radius, leading to a higher chance to hit an enemy.
Level 3: Damage and blob radius increased again.

This spell should be used when you're low on HP, yet want to deal damage at the same time. Naturally, it's best to use this spell when you're facing an enemy weak against magic, since the healing is a factor of damage--if you do one damage, you're not getting any healing. Good aim is going to be required for this spell, and the blob is non-penetrating.

Shine (light):

When this spell is used, your character will stand still and perform the cure-casting animation, and bullets of light will appear around you, creating a damage shield. How effective this shield is depends on the level of your spell:

Level 1: 2 bullets at 180 degrees to each other.
Level 2: 4 bullets at 90 degrees to each other.
Level 3: 6 bullets at 60 degrees to each other.

These bullets will stay on-screen for about five seconds before fading away, and you can run around during that period of time. Any enemy that comes into contact with a bullet will take damage, and the bullet will be consumed--however, projectiles such as fireballs and flower bud missiles will NOT be stopped. Also, note that the bullets are penetrating--walls will not destroy them.

This is one of the better spells that have both offensive and defensive capabilities, although you give up the benefit of attacking at range in order to use this spell most effectively. You can use shine while you're being surrounded and watch enemies hurl themselves into your damage shield, or take a hint from the little wizard family of monsters and charge into the fray while your shield's still active. If you're going to be doing the latter, though, it's always a good idea to keep an eye on how many bullets you have left.

You can also use shine as part of a hit-and-run attack, since you're in control of your character when the bullets are active (unless you get hit, of course). Naturally, shine isn't so great when you're facing ranged attackers, though.

Fireball (fire):

The first spell you get, fireball, is a pretty simple spell in first gen--your character simply charges for a half-second and hurls a fireball in front of him, which travels for about 2/3rds of a screen before disappearing. The number of fireballs created depend on your spell's level:

Level 1: 1 fireball, in the direction you're facing.
Level 2: 3 fireballs, in an approximately 90 degrees cone centered about the direction you're facing.
Level 3: 5 fireballs in a wave, centered around the direction you're facing. Note that unlike the level 2 spell, the wave is not symmetrical--the fireballs to your character's right will travel further outwards and less to the side, while those on your character's left will be doing the exact opposite. You'll need to adjust your aim to account for this. The fireballs are consumed when they hit an enemy, and are non-penetrating.

This spell is a great "catcher" for enemies which move randomly like bees and spiders, especially since many insect enemies have low hp. If you don't have very good aim, you can also try using this spell. However, damage output is going to be low, since unless you're very close to your enemy, not all of the fireballs are going to hit your target.

Water laser (water):

This is a bit of an oddity, considering that numerous levels of the spell do not increase water laser's damage, but rather, increase the spell's area of effect. The details are below:

Level 1: Creates a single, narrow water laser in the direction you're facing that reaches as far as the screen extends, even if you move.
Level 2: Creates two water lasers, centered about your direction.
Level 3: Creates three water lasers, centered about your direction.

Water laser's single-target damage potential is a bit lackluster compared to spells such as fireball and sonic wind, since the maximum combo you can hit an enemy for is two--an enemy will only take damage from one water laser at a time, and the two combo appears only if it remains in the beam(s) for the maximum duration. However, I'd recommend that you use this spell as your primary damage spell, since it combines attack, defense, and range into one spell.

Note that the water lasers are penetrative (they'll pass through walls, mining rocks, the landscape, enemies, anything) and will not be consumed when they hit a target; this makes it useful for hiding behind cover and attacking groups of enemies.

Furthermore, the range of a water laser is as far as your screen extends--which means you can fire a water laser, run in the same direction and watch it extend to hit any enemies lurking out of sight. If you have a level 3 water laser, A common tactic I like to use is to fire the laser to create a "road" of sorts through enemies, then running along the central laser as I'm protected from attack from both sides.

Stone spike (earth):

Stone spike is an odd spell. Like water laser, it's rather lacking in damage, since the maximum combo's a one-combo, but it's uniqueness lies in its ability to hit an enemy from anywhere on the same screen. When this spell is cast, a number of stone spikes will erupt from under your enemies' feet, hitting them for damage. If there are two or more enemies, the spell will target the monster closest to you. The effects are as follows:

Level 1: One small spike.
Level 2: Spike radius and damage increased.
Level 3: Spike radius and damage increased again, number of spikes increased to two.

While the spikes are active (for about two seconds), any monsters which were not the spikes' initial target but still wander onto them will take damage. In the case of a level one and two spell, you'll always get the full damage, but in the level three spell, the second spike will sometimes miss. I'm not sure exactly why sometimes the second spike erupts on-spot and why it sometimes pops up in a seemingly random location, but during my testing I seem to have had better accuracy with the second spike when I was standing within three character lengths from the second target.

This spell is useful when you're at an odd angle from your enemy, or when you have two separated enemies which you can't catch with a single spell (for example, they're on opposite sides from you, yet not close enough for shine to work). It's also a good spell for newer players, since whenever you use it, so long as there's a target you'll get damage. It's also useful for hitting bird-type monsters, which can fly into the scenery where getting at them with other spells can be tricky.

Sonic wind (wind):

This spell is the hardest for one to master, yet offers the most damage potential if one can get all six sonic wind missiles to hit. When this spell is used, your character will launch sonic wind missiles, the number and behaviour depending on the spell's level:

Level 1: Two missiles, each at about 15 degrees off-center from the direction you were facing.
Level 2: An additional two missiles, each at 45 degrees off-center from the direction you were facing, for a total of 4.
Level 3: Another additional two missiles, each at 60 degrees off-center from the direction you were facing, for a total of 6.

The behaviour of sonic wind missiles is a little tricky to describe. Once launched, they will curve outwards and exhibit their homing behaviour if a target is present; priority seems to be given to the target closest to you, even if you're facing directly away from it.

However, note that this homing behaviour is also a problem--for all levels of the spell, there is a "safe spot" about one character length away from you. In other words, if a monster stands somewhere very near the first two missiles' point of origin, all of the sonic wind missiles will curve around it and miss completely! The reverse can be employed against monsters such as leafballs and faries which cast this spell; you can stand close to them and watch happily as the missiles curve around you (which is why Tanya advises you in the leafball trial to take it to close range). A simple way to get around this behaviour and hit something that's right next to you is to put your back to your target--effectively putting yourself in the "safe spot". The missiles will circle around you and hit whatever's at your back; of course, I don't think I need to point out why this is a risky thing to do.

It's important to note that the further the missiles travel, the more the missiles' homing ability drops. Freshly launched sonic wind missiles can curve behind you to strike at an enemy there; by the end of the screen, they simply move in a straight line.

After the initial target is killed, the remaining missiles will home in to the best of their ability on any remaining targets (usually those nearly or already in their way) until they leave the screen.

Note that the missiles are non-penetrative and are consumed when they hit an enemy.

Sonic wind is a great spell for ranged damage, if you can manage to pull it off well. The best kind of enemy to use it against would be a large, stationary one at mid-range (eg. terror tree, flower bud family of monsters). Too close and the missiles will curve around your target, too far and they'll lose their homing ability. You'll also need a wide, open area for all the missiles to pass through; narrow corridors run the risk of having the level 3 or even 2 missiles hit a wall before they can home in on a target. There's not much in the way of utility, though.

Here's a summary of what spells should be used in what situations:

Life drain: Single-target damage, restoring HP.
Shine: Protecting yourself, hit-and-run attack.
Fireball: Hitting weak, fast-moving enemies.
Water laser: Hitting large groups of closely-packed enemies, or those in a straight line.
Stone spike: Hitting awkwardly-placed enemies.
Sonic wind: Mid-ranged combat.

*Well, that's that. If you find any errors in this guide or have suggestions for improvement, please post in this topic, or PM me.

[Midnite Lace]

Everything you write is so well thought out.
I think that this will be very helpful for newcomers who don't have the slightest idea about anything.

It would be very nice of you to work on all of them, that is, if you have the time for it all.

[Kupo]

Wow, this is actually really great and very well written^^ Awesome job.

Personally I'd like to see the other weapons up... already I'm thinking of ditching my Smash Blade for a longsword or some kind. It'd be interesting to see the advantages of the other weapons, since I (and I'm sure many other players) am, like you mentioned, very close-minded when it comes to weapons and prefer to use short swords. Of course skill seals would be a wonderful addition to; but I think the other weapons would be awesome^^ If you have time of course =)

[Lccorp2]

Boss attack patterns:

I've seen a number of topics on the boards as to "how do I beat so-and-so boss?", and so I think a new part of this guide would be beneficial for people who can't beat X boss. (Frankly, I think none of them are hard and it's easy to outlevel bosses if you've been doing all of Tanya's requests, but then again, I'm not everyone.)

Note that I'm still unsure of which bosses' attacks inflict status effects, so do send me that information if you'd like, and you'll be credited.

With the exception of Fiersome, all bosses can be rebattled, either by accepting Tanya's requests after you've completed the game, or by visiting the shrines again.

General suggestions:

-Learn a boss' attack patterns. This is number one, especially if you aren't overlevelled to the point that you just take one damage from each hit. You can be pitifully underlevelled, and still defeat a boss by chipping away at its health if you don't get hit in the first place.

-Learn not to overrely on your monster to do your fighting for you, since you won't have the luxury of a companion in a boss battle.

-Bosses generally have very high magic resistance values, so unless you're willing to bring along a boatload of RP-restoring foods or overlevel, you're not going to be bringing down a boss with one RP bar.

-All bosses have two phases, and they switch over when they're low on health. The second phase is generally more dangerous than the first. The animation when they're changing phases, though, is a good time to get a few extra hits in, since it can't attack you during that period.

-Understand your weapon's strength's and weaknesses. If you've been paying attention above, you should already know what your weapon type is capable of, and adjust your strategies accordingly.

-Level your pharmacy and cooking. By all rights, it's very possible to defeat a boss without needing to use any items, but if you're having trouble, try crafting some useful items. IMO, honey is better off going into mystery potions instead of being eaten to restore RP; many types of sashimi, which is easy to obtain, restore RP.

-Level your forging and decoration. The benefits of having better weapons and armour should be obvious. Protection against status effects can be useful on some bosses.

-And finally, if you're really desperate, you can try taking advantage of the boss' elemental attribute. I haven't had time to test out the attributes for the shrine bosses yet, so if anyone has that information, I'd appreciate it.

Normal game bosses:

Terror tree (earth):

Terror tree is the first and by far easiest boss of the game. Heck, if you've done Jake's request, he even gives you a windsword you can use against it. Once you've figured out its attack patterns, it shouldn't be a problem to defeat.

Phase 1:

Terror tree has various attack patterns, which it puts out in seemingly random order. Note that for the whole of phase 1, Terror tree is rooted to the ground, so you'll have to come to it if you want to whack it with your weapon. There is a small pause between each of its attacks when you can get one or two hits in before retreating, so don't be afraid to go up.

-Terror tree will push its roots up through the soil. This is identical to in everything but animation to the stone spike spell; simply keep on moving and the roots will miss you. On the off-chance you do get hit, you'll be stunned for the normal period of time (3 seconds or so). This is a good opening for you to attack, since the attack won't end until the roots recede completely.

-Terror tree creates a wave of apples, followed by another wave which covers the gaps in between the first wave. This is easy to avoid; simply determine whether the first wave is going to hit you, move accordingly, then move a little to the left or right so the second wave misses you.

-Terror tree creates a spinning shield of apples, similar to your shine spell, and launches the apples two at a time in a straight line directly at you. This can be annoying--you can react to this attack in two ways. If you're hitting Terror tree while it initiates this attack, you'll be stuck inside the shield and are pretty much going to take damage anyways, so you might as well hit it as much as you can. If you're already outside the shield, stay at mid-to far range from the shield and keep moving; that should make the apples miss.

-If you are within melee range, Terror tree will raise its arms and swing them in a 180-degree arc in front of it. This causes considerably more damage than its other attacks, and will knock you away from it.

-Terror tree hugs itself and casts level 1 cure on itself. This is an excellent opening for you to attack; if you aren't using a lousy weapon or are underlevelled, there's no reason you shouldn't be doing more than 80 damage in that relatively long animation.

Phase 2:

-Terror tree has only one attack in phase 2: after uprooting itself from the ground, it chases you mindlessly in spurts (each one lasting about 40% of the length of the arena) and attempts to mow you down. This sounds pretty simple, but there're a few things to note:

*While it's chasing you, Terror tree moves faster than you can run.

*For the first second or so after it starts moving in each spurt, it can still turn in a limited cone.

This makes predicting where it'll eventually end up a bit of a pain, so it's not unusual for you to take a little damage in this phase, even with a fast weapon. Alternatively, if you have a fast weapon you can choose to tank the hits and go toe-to-toe with it. Just keep at it, and eventually you should be able to beat Terror tree.

Octopirate:

While Octopirate might seem intimidating at first, its movement and attack patterns are very, very easily predicted, making defeating it a breeze. While it partly makes up for this in the fact that all attacks to Octopirate's back do no damage due to its shell, there still shouldn't be too much of a problem, since you can place yourself by its path and whack away.

Phase 1:

-Octopirate will start from the northwest corner, and move in a triangular fashion from there to the southwest corner, then to southeast and diagonally back up to northwest again. At each of the points, it will stop and perform the attack it's currently cycling on. When it reaches the northwest corner again, it'll begin a new attack cycle in the order below; also, note that like all bosses, if it manages to run you over, you'll be taking damage.

*Octopirate throws three mines at you one at a time. Simply walk out of the line of fire.

*Octopirate jabs at the center of the ship deck with its spear. This is a very good time to sneak up to its side and attack, since it isn't even aiming for you. It's possible to pull off two whole shortsword four-combos at each use of this attack.

*Octopirate rolls three explosive barrels in a 60-degree arc, the center barrel being aimed directly at you. Since the barrels don't have very good range, you can simply stay far away and the barrels will explode before they reach you. After this attack cycle, it rinses and repeats the whole cycle over until you lower its health enough, upon which phase two begins.

Phase two:

-Octopirate will now drop its movement pattern and start chasing you directly. It'll move about two to three character lengths, pause for a second to charge and release an area of effect ink cloud, which causes direct damage to you. Simply keep as close to Octopirate as possible without actually being run over; since the ink cloud is thinnest when you're right next to it (about one character length), it should be easy to sidestep the cloud, whack it once (or twice, if you're using a fast weapon) and escape before it recovers and starts chasing you again. Rinse and repeat until Octopirate is defeated.

Bane Dragon (wind):

Something obviously got lost in the translation here, because "Bane Dragon" is clearly a chameleon. The name aside, though, this boss is a step up from what you've faced so far in that 1) it has a clear strategy in trying to beat you up instead of just following preset patterns blindly, 2) you'll need a viable strategy to beat it up, instead of blindly hacking away and 3) this is the first boss which has a good chance of inflicting status effects.

You should have medication level 2 or 3 by now, and if you aren't feeling confident in being able to dodge enemy attacks, bring along a stack of roundoffs and para-gones if you don't have any resistance equipment.

Bane Dragon might seem hard at first, but it's a test of your ability to recognise attack patterns and adjust accordingly. Your mobility will also be tested, and a fast weapon such as a spear or even shortsword will make this battle much easier with a hit-and-run attack.

Unlike other boss arenas, the arena is one long bridge, and you start off at one end while Bane Dragon's on the other. Move forward to meet it, and the battle proceeds as such:

Phase 1:

-If you're too far from Bane Dragon, it will charge down the bridge at you a set distance in spurts; you can tell if it's going to do this, as it backs up a little before charging straight down. If you can learn or even estimate the distance of each spurt, you've already gained one advantage--you get to be active instead of reactive, and you won't need so much time to carry out an attack. It moves as fast as you can run, but you if you need time to eat food or drink a potion, you can gain distance on it while it pauses in between spurts.

Note that if you get run over, you'll take a good amount of damage (assuming you aren't overlevelled). If you get run over, survive and end up behind it, Bane Dragon will turn around and start heading towards you again.

-If you're close enough to Bane Dragon, it will shake its head and attempt to catch you with its tongue, which moves in an arc of about two and a half character lengths. You should have enough time to run out, unless you're caught in an animation of some sort (attacking, drinking a potion, casting a spell, eating, etc, etc.) This attack has a 100% chance paralysing you, regardless of any resistance equipment you have.

-Bane Dragon's eyes glow blue, and it spits out two orbs of lightning one at a time--one to the left, one to the right, or vice versa. The orbs move along the length of the bridge in a sinusoidal fashion, and have a chance of sealing you if you get hit by them. You can either try to outrun the orbs if you've got enough distance on them (they move faster than you do, but fade away after a while), or hug one side of the bridge (it doesn't matter which) and dodge them as they pass. There's no reason to remain in the middle of the bridge, since the orbs will be there twice the time they do on the sides.

-If Bane Dragon manages to chase you to the end of the bridge, it will vanish, appear to one side, and use a conal area of effect breath attack that again, has a chance of sealing you. Simply move out of the way when it appears to the side, and after the attack is finished, it lands on the end of the bridge you were at (creating a damaging shockwave) and starts chasing you down the length again.

From these tactics, it's obvious what it's trying to do is first seal you so you can't use medication to heal yourself, then paralyse you, rending you unable to escape before trampling you to death. Mobility is key--if you end up paralysed and have no way to cure yourself of the status effect, you're as good as dead.

Optimally, you should be judging where Bane Dragon will stop in its efforts to chase you down and place yourself there with a charged attack ready, but since most people don't want to put that much thought into it (heck, this is a video game, after all), a reactive strategy with a spear (best) or shortsword (will do) will work, but not with slower weapons such as a hammer or longsword. Wait for Bane Dragon to stop, smack it in the face once from as far away as you can, then run away before its attack can hit you, rinse, repeat.

It's also possible to use magic against Bane Dragon, although it has higher magic resistance than most other bosses. If you can pull off a stone spike spell while it's charging (hard, though, to keep it on the same screen as you are, go through the long casting animation and still not get hit), it's possible to hit Bane Dragon with the spike multiple times. Whatever the strategy you use, lower Bane Dragon's health enough to start phase two:

Phase two:

-In phase two, Bane Dragon has only one main attack if you're close enough to it: its eyes glow red, it leaps up and forward in the air and lands, creating a shockwave that causes comparatively hefty damage. Going in to attack before it jumps isn't recommended, since it moves forward as well and more likely than not you'll get caught in the shockwave. My recommended reactive strategy is to go forward, trigger the attack, run away and then move in for a swipe as the shockwave fades. Rinse and repeat until dead.

Crystal Mammoth

This boss is easy, not just because it's predictable (although not as much as Octopirate is) but also because it's really, really, slow compared to the other bosses, and it has a pathetically limited number of attacks. There should be plenty of time in between phase 1 attacks for you to do some damage with a fast weapon and then retreat, and even in phase 2 it's possible to trigger an attack run out, wait for the damage arc to fade before running in for a swipe. What Crystal Mammoth lacks in strategy it tries to make up for in brute numbers, but that usually isn't enough to save it from being toast.

Phase 1:

-If you're too far away from Crystal Mammoth, it charges at you in spurts (about 50% of the arena length) and attempts to mow you down. It's possible to stun crystal mammoth by luring it to crash into a wall; this can buy you a good 5 seconds or so to attack.

-If you're close enough to Crystal Mammoth, it will attempt to smash you with its tusks. This attack has a very long delay between the animation beginning and the damage actually being applied, so there's no reason to be hit. If you do get hit for some reason, you'll take quite a bit of damage and go flying backwards.

-After 2 iterations of its attacks, the crystals on Crystal Mammoth's back will start flashing yellow. After the third attack, Crystal Mammoth will trumpet and create a wall of ice about itself with a radius of about eight characters lengths. With such a long warning period, it's only fair that this attack is a possible OHKO, even for overlevelled characters. By the time Crystal Mammoth trumpets, that's a good time to hightail it out of there.

The attacks continue repeating themselves in this fashion, and it's a simple thing to trigger its melee attack in one direction, run to its side, and whack it before running away from the ice wall and then repeating the whole cycle over and over again. Dish out enough damage, and you'll bring Crystal Mammoth into phase 2.

Phase 2:

-This one's slightly trickier, since now Crystal Mammoth will use a much faster more powerful stomp attack that has an 180-degree damage arc. If you're using a fast weapon like a shortsword or spear, it *is* still possible to trigger a stomp attack, run out, wait till the damage arc fades and smack it once before the next stomp attack hits you. If my any chance you do get hit by a stomp attack, you'll be instantly stunned, giving Crystal Mammoth another free hit on you (so always make sure you can survive two hits).

-Crystal Mammoth will still use its charge attack if you're out of melee range, although it's faster this time. If you're using a slow weapon, your only course of attack without damaging yourself in the process is to wait at the end of its charge, or lure it into a wall and smack it there.

-While Crystal Mammoth doesn't use its ice wall attack in phase 2, it will trumpet every now and then and start sucking you in like a vacuum. There's no way to escape from this attack (you can't outrun it, and running just delays the inevitable), so just stand still and let yourself get sucked right up to it, and run away before it can stomp you.

This part of the fight can get rather annoying if you don't have a fast weapon on you and don't have good defense, so you'll have to compensate by luring Crystal Mammoth into a wall and whacking it while it's stunned. You can also use magic against Crystal Mammoth, if you've got plenty of RP to burn (as nobodynat suggested and is in the article, sonic wind does allow for good damage on a single target while keeping your distance). In any case, beat the stuffing out of it, and get your ice tablet fragment.

Fiersome (fire. What did you expect?):

The last boss of the main storyline, Fiersome generally isn't too hard, but some players may find both iterations of the fireball spam attack intimidating. The thing is not to panic, keep a calm head and don't go charging about the arena.

Do remember to bring along dragon break, and cast it first thing in the fight, or else all attacks against Fiersome will do a grand total of one damage. Considering Fiersome has a few thousand HP, you're not going to be getting anywhere. Note that the dragon break animation will blank out your screen for a few moments, so don't let Fiersome sneak up on you then.

A good time to attack Fiersome is after the flaming whirlwind attacks in both phases 1 and 2; since Fiersome has no melee attack and many of its attacks require that it be positioned in the center of the arena, more often than not its attack pattern's going to reset after flaming whirlwind, rather than continue attack you from there. Of course, it could always go another flaming whirlwind attack, but there should be ample warning for you to run.

Phase 1:

-Fiersome flies up into the air and attempts to crush you; the extent of the damage arc is indicated by its shadow and the ring of fire about its feet while it lands. Simply keep moving, and you shouldn't have a problem.

-Fiersome growls, and forms a flaming whirlwind that moves towards you. Simply listen for the growl, and start running away when you do hear it--you can outrun it, but make sure you don't get cornered, since the whirlwind is enormous. On the off-chance you do get hit by this attack, you'll be knocked back and more likely than not stunned, forcing you to take at least another hit. Get cornered or pushed against a wall, and you'll be taking hefty damage from the full combo of this attack.

-Both iterations of the fireball spam attack in phases 1 and 2 require Fiersome to be in the middle of the arena. If Fiersome is not in the middle of the arena, it will reposition itself accordingly with a flying crush attack. Fireballs then appear randomly on the edges of the arena and are drawn inward to Fiersome in straight lines. Don't panic. Stay mid-arena; too close to the edges and you won't have time to react to a fireball appearing, too close to Fiersome and you won't have space to maneuver to dodge the fireballs. Move only when necessary, and unless you're willing to trade a little health, don't attack Fiersome now.

-The above attack is immediately followed by Fiersome spitting three fireballs at you along the cardinal axis closest to you, which then turn at right angles when they cross your row/column. Simply stay far enough from Fiersome and run across the line of fire as the fireballs approach.

Hit Fiersome enough to begin phase two.

Phase two:

-The flying crush attack is essentially the same as in phase one, except that now in addition to the damage arc, six flames spaced out at 60 degrees to each other (starting from north) will spread out from the time of landing. It shouldn't be too hard to wait for the flames to spread a little, then move in for a few hits if you're feeling so inclined.

-The flaming whirlwind attack is identical to the attack used in phase one, although now the whirlwind moves slightly faster and you have a little less time to react. Still, the previously-outlined tactic should work.

-The fireball spam attack in this phase works differently, with the fireballs moving outwards from Fiersome in a spiral pattern instead of inwards. This attack is partly psychological--the sheer number of fireballs on-screen at once can be intimidating. Again, don't panic. Move to the edges of the arena where the fireballs are most spread out, quickly identify which fireballs are heading towards you, trace their movements, and act accordingly. You won't need to move very much in order to dodge properly.

-The above attack is followed up by a stream of fireballs that has a slightly homing effect. It shouldn't be too much of a problem to avoid this; just don't get hit head-on by the lead fireball.

And that's it. Take advantage of the lulls in between flaming whirlwind attacks to counter with your own attacks, and you should bring Fiersome down without too much trouble.

Shrine Bosses:

Ah, good old memories from RF1! Seems like Marvelous decided to let us test out our spanking-new battle mechanics on some of the old bosses from the previous RF; those who've played the previous game will find these guys familiar and different at the same time, since they've been tweaked a little to take advantage of the changes to the gameplay.

Greater Demon (dark):

You'll probably remember this old friend from the first RF, and it's been a little while. Greater Demon's gained a new ability or two, and lost the same number (I notice it doesn't do its chest-beating anymore to give you a break in the action). Greater Demon has a pretty basic set of attacks:

Phase 1:

-If you're within melee range, Greater Demon will attempt to crush you with its arms. Just run away.

-If you're outside melee range, Greater Demon will beat its chest and charge at you faster than you can run; the charge distance can take it across the whole arena and it moves faster than you can run. Also note that while it's charging, Greater Demon has some control over its direction, especially near the end of its charge. Try to cross transversely near the beginning of its movement.

-If you're out of melee range but within the same screen as Greater Demon, it may decide to slam its fist into the ground. This attack creates three equally spaced power waves (identical to the skill seal) in an arc with the center one aimed towards you. If you're not good at dodging ranged attacks, you might be in a bit of trouble here--the power waves don't fade until they hit a wall and travel very fast. Fortunately, they don't do much damage (compared to Greater Demon's other attacks), but the stun lets Greater Demon set up for a charge attack.

Phase 2:

-In phase 2, Greater Demon still uses its charge and crush attacks identical to those it uses in phase 1, although there's less of a pause in between attacks. Also, being in melee range does not necessarily trigger the crush attack; it may choose to use the charge attack instead.

-Now Greater Demon's power wave attack has been replaced with a chain-casting of five stone spikes. Its animation is exactly the same (it slams its fist into the ground) and the triggering criteria are the same (you must be out of melee range but still within the same screen), but now five stone spike spells are rapidly cast in succession to each other. If you've played snake before, you'll know how to deal with this--keep running, and don't cross your recent path, because the stone spikes will be trailing behind you. If by some chance you end up being hit by one of the spikes; the time you spend flinching will be enough for the rest of the spikes in the combo to get a lock on you and hit you in succession.

The strategy here is simple. Since Greater Demon is at its most vulnerable after executing its crush attack, keep running in and out of melee range to trigger it and run back in to whack it once or twice before running out again to avoid the incoming attack. This works even with a slower weapon.

Chimera

Golem

Grimoire

[Lccorp2]

Axe/hammer section has been moved up under spears.

[Kupo]

The new parts are looking great =)

PS: what's the procedure for requesting a sticky? =P

Well... for the Mini Guide, I PMed the mods and they told me to contact Cher. So I did, and after a few days the topic was stickied (Cher didn't send me any PMs though about it - I just looked and it was stickied). So I'd PM Cher with the request.

[OverChasm]

Great job, you must have spent a lot of time writing all this~

[Misti Rose]

XP That was a fast sticky. Your guide is awesome tho. Would like to see a section on axes/hammers.. i find those fun.

[Lccorp2]

Axes/hammers is already up. If you have any suggestions, feel free to post or PM me.

And it does help if you already have one sticky from long ago (on the FoMT boards.) XP

[Wertville]

Just a few notes about two of the skill seals

Both the hundred cracker and Rush attack can be tapped repeatedly to initiate a combo, (And I don't think it uses extra RP, but i'll check ) although it is the same attack over and over again. At the end of the rush attack combo you launch a blast of some sort, and (as mentioned) with the hundred cracker you jump back. Both of these can kill bossess very quickly

Anyway, good job with the FAQ (If I can call it that) here
Honestly I prefer spears to longswords (and shortswords to both )

[Misti Rose]

Axes/hammers is already up. If you have any suggestions, feel free to post or PM me.

And it does help if you already have one sticky from long ago (on the FoMT boards.) XP

Haha, no wonder your username looked familiar XP

[Lccorp2]

Ah-HA. So that's what it means by "effect changes with weapon". I just tried out rush attack with a rune blade, steel sword and burnin' blade, and the following results were obtained for the final strike of the four-hit combo:

Rune blade: casts level 1 shine

Steel sword: casts a sort of power wave

Burnin' blade: casts a level 1 fireball

Hm. I'm going to have to do some forging and testing now, just to make sure...it'd be easy to extrapolate the behaviour to the other weapons, but we'll see.

If your quiz is still going on, Wertville, I might have some prizes on hand soon. Shame to waste good swords.

Edit: Skill seals have received a massive update. I have shortswords of all kinds of elements to give away; all of them are at the top of their upgrade tree. PM me if you want one over wifi.

[Wertville]

No, sorry my quiz is down D:
Actually, this is the first time ive been on two days in a row for about 2 weeks
Infact, I learn't something from teaching you something :D

If you need any more help with anything, I'm level 73 with good stats and tons of cash, so just ask. Sadly, I don't have wi-fi. My second file has 99 forging too (Ya... cheats...)

[Wertville]

Sorry for the double post, but I should point out that level 2 (And I'm geussing level 3) cure also heals your monster.

Anyway, once again, this is a great guide which is very useful for me and many others who are stubborn about short swords (I'm still using them, however)