Game:Ansem, Seeker of Darkness

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness is a boss in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. He is the Heartless of Terra-Xehanort, and leader of the Heartless. In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, Ansem serves as the game's antepenultimate boss.

First Battle
In the first battle, Ansem fights Sora, Donald, and Goofy in the End of the World, alongside his Guardian. He takes it easy on the party at first, so fight ferociously but cautiously. Use aerial combos, since Ansem floats and attack magic isn't very effective.
 * Attacks
 * Ansem attacks with energy disks resembling Strike Raid.
 * Ansem's Guardian physically attacks.
 * The Guardian attaches itself to Sora while creating an energy shield around himself and the Attack command will occasionally change to Freeze. Selecting it will cause the Guardian to hold Sora in place while Ansem does damage to him.
 * Ansem yells,"Come, Guardian," and the guardian blocks all frontal attacks.

At the beginning of the battle, Ansem will attempt few attacks, which should make depleting his HP meter relatively easy. Although it is wise to conserve MP, cast Curaga and Aeroga as needed. Ansem attacks with energy disks resembling Strike Raid, or uses his Guardian to attack physically. He also sends his Guardian to attach itself to Sora while creating an energy shield around himself. Ansem yells "Submit!" before doing this, so Superglide out of harm's way.

However, in the event the Guardian does manage to attach itself to Sora, a "?" will appear over Sora's head, and the Attack command will occasionally change to Freeze. Selecting it will cause the Guardian to hold Sora in place while Ansem does damage to him. It is best to physically attack Ansem while within reach, and heal with Curaga periodically, because the Guardian will gradually reduce Sora's HP.

Alternatively, stay out of Ansem's reach and then hit the Freeze command—Sora will just be held in place while Ansem will be too far away to deal any damage to him. This prevents Sora from losing any HP. Be sure to attack Ansem while the Guardian is attached to Sora, as this makes the attachment shorter; it's also a good idea to use special attacks such as Ragnarok and Ars Arcanum to end the attachment and battle sooner while also avoiding damage.

Once the battle is over, approach the crater Ansem created. However, be sure that Sora has plenty of healing items equipped.

Second Battle

 * Attacks
 * Ansem shoots back and forth across the arena with a shield over his front side.
 * The Guardian dives into the ground, creating dark pools underneath Sora which shoot out of the ground. The attack ends with the Guardian striking the ground, creating a shockwave.
 * The Guardian attaches itself to Sora while creating an energy shield around himself and the Attack command will occasionally change to Freeze. Selecting it will cause the Guardian to hold Sora in place while Ansem does damage to him.
 * Ansem yells, "Come, Guardian," and the Guardian blocks all frontal attacks.

In the second battle against Ansem, Sora fights solo, so remember to heal with Curaga. Ansem debuts two new attacks to eliminate Sora: one resembles Riku's Dark Aura attack, in which he shoots back and forth across the arena with a shield over his front side. This inflicts heavy damage if it connects, so try to High Jump or cast Aeroga.

When Ansem says "My strength returns!" his Guardian will dive into the ground, creating dark pools underneath Sora which shoot out of the ground. During this time, Ansem is invincible and the attack must be avoided, either by dodging or guarding. Failing to evade this attack can be highly damaging or even fatal, depending on the amount of HP Sora has at the time. The attack ends with the Guardian striking the ground, creating a shockwave. Like in the last battle, Ansem has his Guardian attach itself to Sora. However, he will do this much more frequently than in the first battle.

Ansem is especially vulnerable when he calls his Guardian to return to him, so unleash combos at this time for massive damage. The third fight with Ansem involves the World of Chaos.

First Battle
The first time Riku faces Ansem, Ansem shoots out a bolt of lightning that travels horizontally. This can avoided by jumping or dodging. Ansem's only other attack during this first fight is a weak physical attack using the Guardian.
 * Attacks
 * Ansem shoots out a bolt of lightning that travels horizontally.
 * Ansem's preforms a weak physical attack using the Guardian.

Second Battle
The second time Ansem is fought is during the final battle of Riku's Story. This time around, Ansem brings into play some of his attacks from the first game, such as the sleights Rockshatter (where he zooms back and forth across the arena) and Dark Shadow (when he sends his guardian into the floor, creating pools of darkness that the guardian rises out of, fist raised). It's best to use 0 cards to break Dark Rush, although it can be jumped over with perfect timing, but Dark Shadow can be avoided easily by dodging.
 * Attacks
 * Rockshatter - Ansem empowers the Guardian with dark energy and the two rush at Riku multiple times.
 * Dark Shadow - The Guardian detaches itself from Ansem to attack Riku from below several times, the attack ending with a blast of dark energy.

There is one unorthodox strategy that involves losing all of Riku's cards (from sleights) except one 0 card. If he gets left with one 0 card, immediately reload after (because Riku has instant reload, unlike Sora) and continue a combo. This works because the zero will always break Ansem's next card and if he breaks Riku's, reloading will give Riku a zero card.

First Battle
In all battles with Ansem in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, note that Ansem still uses his Shock Slash attack. Riku can either break this attack or dodge it.
 * Attacks
 * Shock Slash - Ansem attacks with energy disks resembling Strike Raid.

The first fight with Ansem in the game is an event battle and is meant to act as a tutorial on how to use the new mechanics.

Second Battle
In the second fight, start with the Maleficent Dragon Enemy Card and attack Ansem with combos. Make a Card Break every time to gain Dark Points and after Riku transform into Dark Mode, use the Jafar-Genie enemy card and use Sleights like Dark Break, Dark Firaga and Dark Aura to inflict heavy damage.
 * Attacks
 * Dark Rush - Ansem empowers the Guardian with dark energy and the two rush at Riku multiple times.
 * Dark Shadow - The Guardian detaches itself from Ansem to attack Riku from below several times, the attack ending with a blast of dark energy.
 * Shock Slash - The Guardian shoots several discs of dark energy in Riku's direction.

After taking three (or more) King Mickey Friend Cards, use the MM Miracle Lv. 2 or MM Miracle Lv. 3 sleights to recover HP, reload cards, and damage Ansem. Break Ansem's sleights every time and continue the attacks. If Riku transforms into his normal form again, keep attacking and use the Item Card Hi-Potion to reload his Attack Cards. Win the Card Duels for heavy damage to Ansem.

Never attack Ansem with his Guardian in its front, only use that time to reload Riku's cards or use MM Miracle Lv. 3 to recover cards and HP. Use the Oogie Boogie Enemy Card to help keep up Riku's HP in the battle. Watch out for certain sleights used by Ansem, some can deal heavy damage to Riku. With a high level, deft dodging, and good use of the enemy cards, Ansem should fall eventually.

In all battles with Ansem in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, note that Ansem still uses his Shock Slash during the final battle. Riku can either break this attack or dodge it.

First Form
The battle starts with both parties in midair, where Ansem has an advantage. His Shock Slash has been upgraded and now homes in on Riku, and he has a habit of chaining them together for combos. His Dark Rush has been slightly altered and cannot be blocked. In order to evade it, Riku can either just fly in a circle when Ansem is about to charge at him or Air Slide out of the way at each charge.

Simply slide around him and use Sliding Crescent in conjunction with the aforementioned attacks and possibly Balloonga. Ansem can't see Riku when he uses Vanish, so this can be used so Ansem can't attack him. If Riku does enough damage, the Reality Shift marker will appear and he can use Mirage Split to stun Ansem and make a platform appear. Luckily, Reality Shift can reappear a second time after the first one. Now the battle is on the ground of Darkness's Call and Ansem has another couple of tricks. His Guardian can now protect him and with it deployed all damage is diverted to its own HP Bar, which cannot be depleted, as the Guardian is invincible. When the latter happens, use Flowmotion on the Guardian and attack Ansem with it.

The Guardian can also attack with swipes and a new, vicious double overhand that can hit Riku even if he is airborne. As soon as the platform begins to fade away, he uses his old lightning bolt ability which is now slower, but more powerful and cannot be blocked. The fight itself is relatively straightforward and the same strategies from before can defeat the Heartless once more.

Second Form
Ansem merges with his Guardian as he transports both himself and Riku to the Darkest End area. Ansem is now sealed inside a massive organic sphere with his Guardian attached to the top. The creature will try to smash Riku or throw dark magical crests at him. It will also shoot a massive number of Dark Firaga orbs that can possibly home in on Riku and send waves of Shock Slash-like attacks towards him that can make dealing solid blows on Ansem difficult. After a while, Ansem launches Riku across the arena's pathway, forcing Riku to run back to him. After that, press LR to return the spirits back to Riku's side (two times if LR unlocks the target) so they will be able to help.

Ansem won't make it any easier for Riku—he forms two balls of darkness which can shoot incredibly quick lasers at Riku which have to be dodged and can't be blocked. He also unleashes a rain of blasts that can afflict Poison on Riku and waves of darkness that, if it catches him, drags Riku into the balls of darkness, which are merged into one and detonated for non-lethal massive damage. If Riku has Dark Splicer, Dark Aura or Zantetsuken equipped or access to the Ghost Drive Dual Style, use it the moment Riku reaches the end of the pathway to warp right up to Ansem and deal damage. This is a risky tactic, as Riku can easily be sucked into the balls of darkness, or Ansem's Guardian will attack with no chance to escape.

Riku can also use Ice Barrage to damage Ansem even at the end of the pathway, but he must be locked-on. It is, however, possible to predict what move he's going to use as Riku are running towards him: if he begins forming the light purple blasts of darkness in front of himself, he is about to shoot the lasers. The moment this happens, wait until they submerge into one spot before dodging to evade the attack; if he begins forming the Dark Firaga orbs, if he sends them upward, he is going release a rain of energy blasts that can poison Riku—but they are not that easy to dodge/block and as Riku is blocking them, Ansem can follow easily with the lasers as Riku can't dodge while blocking, or if he sends the Dark Firagas straightforward, he is going to release a multitude of purple and white orbs that can inflict Poison, Blind, Slow, or Confuse—but are easy to evade by simply guarding or dodge rolling straightforward. As the latter can inflict Confuse, which if inflicted on Riku's own spirits, can cause them to attack him because of this status ailment. If Ansem releases the energy crests, he's going to summon the waves of darkness that suck Riku in.

Use Flowmotion to evade this by staying airborne, as they last for quite a while; or use Firaga Burst with Double Jump to stay in the air so he won't be able to suck Riku and deal damage. Then use Flowmotion with Sonic Impact, if possible, by going backwards to the walls. If Riku does a lot of damage in a short time, the Mirage Split Reality Shift icon can appear (but it can't during the beginning of the second phase of the battle) and after using it, Ansem will be unable to do anything for a moment. If Riku attacks him right away with, Ansem will keep flinching while Riku does combos and can attack permanently until his defeat (even if he retains HP at the end). After some time, while hitting him again and again, the Reality Shift can reappear, so Riku will be able to finish him off with it.

As soon as he has at least four bars of health, the next phase starts. Ansem turns the surrounding area black and starts summoning torrents of darkness from the floor drawing Riku to him, which Riku must evade and block. Once he finishes this, he sends Riku flying across the pathway again, but this time he summons rows of large '8-ball bombs' which can easily defeat Riku if he touches even one of them. Riku must carefully dodge these, they can also be blocked. Riku can't use Flowmotion at this point—Ansem prevents the walls from being used here, so rapid dodging and blocking are Riku's only tactics. Fortunately, Riku can dodge roll near the walls and return back to Ansem without the Flowmotion, so can avoid the balls easily. Whenever Riku returns to Ansem, press LR to make the spirits come back to him. After this, just repeat the cycle of pounding Ansem and running back to him and he'll go down.