Hades Paradox Cup: Difference between revisions

Cerberus Cup rules. You have Forms available to you, and Drive Gauges fill much faster than normal.  You have a ten-minute timer that will make you very thankful for those Forms.  

IMPORTANT NOTE: While in a Form, cast Magnega, and immediately drop out of the Form. Youll find regular Sora will have a full Drive Gauge. This is because the enemies trapped in a Form's Magnega take constant damage adding a great to the Drive Gauge.

'''Round 31''' - Two Samurai, two Creepers, and one Berserker.  The Berserker in this group is thankfully just that, singular.  If you can manage to make it drop its hammer, and are fortunate enough not to get attacked on your way to it, grab it and use it to the best of your ability.  Get rid of that Berserker at any rate, and do it quickly, because if you sustain an entire combo from one of them complete with shock wave finisher, you'll either be dead or clinging to your last hit point.  The two Samurai are nearly as dangerous.  You can only endure a couple of four-swipe sword attacks here before going critical, and either one of them can perform them consecutively.  Don't rely on the Reaction Commands either; Duel Stance is an elegant and beautiful way to kill a Samurai, but the penalty for making a mistake here is much worse than in a normal setting.  Magnega—once more—is perfect for these, as well as any of the more dangerous Nobodies.  Fire off a sphere and catch them when they're falling down with an aerial combo.  They aren't dangerous if you keep them at a distance, but that leaves you with only the option to chip at their HP with magic.  You need to get in close, but be careful when you do, as they'll interrupt your combos with their own.  The Creepers are laughable by comparison, so just kill them with combos before they have a chance to morph into swords and swipe at you.  Try to hold off on Final Form here, just because the earlier you use it, the more chance you have to run out at a moment when you really don't want to later.  Even though the Drive Gauge charges faster, you still have a few moments between one Form change and the next, and Leon and Cloud in the last round will take advantage of that.

'''Round 32''' - Three strange musical notes in water form and three Dancers.  Demyx isn't around, but you get these water forms just like he uses, only they're in the shape of musical notes, and they carry the same Wild Dance Reaction Commands.  The real danger is the Dancers.  If they manage to grab you by the head and swing you around, you'll lose 30 percent of your HP.  Do anything you can think of to prevent this.  In groups, they'll interrupt your combos a lot and do that head grab.  By itself, a single Dancer is easier to attack, so get out your Magnega, strike them until it fades, and single out whichever enemy is the farthest away.  That head grab maneuver is lethal, so use Magnega whenever possible, as it's a lot easier to regenerate MP than HP, regardless of which round it is.  Fighting in Final Form is just as difficult, as it requires more up close and personal fighting.  If you're already in Final Form, however, use Magnega before attacking them unless you have one cornered and no others are around.

'''Round 33''' - Four Samurai. They stick together and attack in sync.  Often, if you think you're far enough away, they'll slide forward with their arms spread and manage to hit you anyway.  If you're not already in Final Form, this is a great place to start.  It might be helpful to get them with Magnega and then attack, Final Form or not.  It can save you some pain.

'''Round 34''' - Two Sorcerers.  As soon as the round starts, they tend to instantly surround you with their floating cubes.  Final Form will make very short work of these two, but lifting them off the floor with Magnet magic beforehand makes even shorter work of them.

'''Round 35''' - Rapid Thrusters.  Lots of them.  This is just like the top of Pride Rock, only you're alone and you have that bloody timer to contend with.  The best thing you can do is to immediately shift into Final Form, toss a couple Magnega spheres skyward, and strike away with the Keyblade.  Expend your MP on Magnega and then wait for your Drive Gauge to deplete.  Now is when that whole "gauges fill faster" caveat is truly great.  You can go from level 2 to a full level 7 in literally three or four seconds if you just keep smacking the enemies about, which isn't difficult because there are so many of them.  Immediately go back into Final Form, which will refill your MP, and start Magnega again. It might not seem to help, but every little dent you can make is a good dent.  This one will feel like it takes forever, and you may start to worry about the timer.  Just attack as fast as you can.  This round, at best, will take about two and a half minutes, making it all the more imperative to use Final Form to the fullest in the other rounds.

'''Round 36''' - Three Berserkers.  Final Form is wonderful here, but even better is being able to grab one of their hammers and kill two or all three of them simultaneously.  I've never done more than two, as that last one always seems to decide to do its hammer tantrum just then.  If you'll notice, they shrink when they jump on the hammer.  The gangly little sods look silly but are harder to hit that way, though you'll probably still hit them in Final Form.  Just watch that last hit with the shock wave, as it will knock a chunk of HP from you.  Try using Magnega, followed by attacks in Final Form, then grabbing the nearest hammer and enjoying that and mopping up the last Berserker with the Keyblades.

'''Round 37''' - Three Assassins and two Snipers, followed by four Dragoons. The initial set is easy enough with Final Form, but it seems like a lot of the Nobodies don't stay in Magnega for very long at all, popping out almost instantly.  The first five enemies is, nonetheless, simple to dispatch, just keep on them and use Warp Snipe if it becomes available.  When the Dragoons teleport in, a few of them will do it via their damaging lance dive move, so watch the center of the arena.  They are just as susceptible to the sustained pressure of Final Form though, so don't waste any time.  If you see them curl into a ball, take those specific ones out before they can lance dive again.

'''Round 38''' - Six Dusks, followed by three Dancers, followed by three Samurai, followed by four Gamblers, followed by one Sorcerer. Dusks are as easy as they come and shouldn't give any trouble, even out of Final Form.  Now, the Dancers, Samurai, and Gamblers overlap with their spawn times.  Once you kill one or two of the Dancers, the Samurai will come, and one or two seem to drop into the arena as you're fighting, so it might be more than three.  One Gambler shows up, and three more in short order, and it's all a steady reason for you to get those Dancers and Samurai out of there so you can combo without being interrupted.  Gamblers are easier to combo than Dancers and Samurai, even in a group.  The Sorcerer is just like before, but easier as there's just one this time, so kill it and move on.

 

'''Round 40''' - Leon and Cloud.  Master Form once again. Start a combo on Leon, then use Firaga or Reflega, and Firaga again if needed to get back, though usually Master Form's attacks will move it towards an enemy. The Firaga is not to hurt Leon, (though it will keep him from interrupting your combos), it's to hurt Cloud and Keep him occupied. Reflega will catch a Cloud sneaking up on you, and even before the after shock the spinning Keyblade will hurt Leon. Using this you'll actually be able to let loose some of your Combo finishers, hope to Get 'Master Strike' instead of Disaster, it's a flurry of Blows that is much faster than anything else youve seen out of Master Form, ending with a giant X. When Leon starts his fireball, lock onto Cloud and block or use Reflega. It will send the fireball at Cloud for some easy damage.