Mission 72: Collect hearts

Mission 72 in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days sends Roxas and Luxord to Halloween Town to collect hearts.

Summary
Team up with Luxord, eliminate Heartless in Halloween Town, and collect hearts.

Objectives

 * Defeat Heartless and collect hearts!

Story summary
Roxas and Luxord are sent to Halloween Town to collect hearts.

Mission walkthrough
The Dual Blades waiting in Halloween Town Square fight the same as those previously encountered, only now there are two of them. Remember tactics such as blocking their thrusts with the right timing or casting Thundaga to stun them for longer periods, during which Roxas can tear them up with his Limit Breaks. Also keep in mind that this is a quest to collect hearts, not to eliminate a target. That means breaking away to wipe out Creepworms that periodically run through the area. Score roughly 110 Heart Points to complete the mission, and eliminate all Creepworms and Dual Blades to fill the Mission Gauge 100%.

In the Japanese version, there is only one Dual Blade, but eliminating it will not fill the Mission Gauge as much as defeating one in the English version. To completely fill the Mission Gauge, the player also needs to eliminate all the Creepworms and the Dual Blade.

Challenge Mission
While the challenge looks complex at first with two Dual Blades who have higher HP, and that you can't use attack magic, it is actually easier than it seems. You can easily shortcut to RTC quicker by only needing to defeat one of the Dual Blades and all nearby Creepworms until the goal line of the Mission Gauge is reached, to whom can be easily defeated. When dealing with the Dual Blades remember to block their charged attack to knock them down to increase the amount of damage they take while down. Also have partner support on as Luxord can still use his magic and any successful magic attacks he manages to make can help, especially against the Dual Blade you are trying to bring down.

In the Japanese version, since defeating the Dual Blade fills not much of the Mission Gauge, and a considerable amount of time is needed to defeat it, don't bother fighting it. Instead, go for all the Creepworms. Once all are defeated, the goal line should be reached. Use a Keyblade that can do a long, far reach in an aerial combo, such as the Two Become One, as this makes reaching the running Creepworms easier.