Gun Valkyrie FAQ by Kevin Reems Version 1.1 03/30/2002 This is my first FAQ. I'm doing this merely because this game has been out too long not to have one. So by default I'm writing this until someone else comes along and writes a better one. If anyone has anything they would like to add please feel free to e-mail me at lbt1st@cyberdude.com I would like to thank the community at the GameFAQ's Gun Valkyrie board for their posts and support. Ok on with it: Intro & Credits Terms Controls Weapons Characters The Map Stage Walkthroughs Combos Technique Core Locations The Orbs ----------------------------------------------------------------------------|+ Terms --- ... Just some terms you should know while reading this: Kelly-1 Kelly's Gearskin can be upgraded two times throughout the Kelly-2 game, in which case she'll become Kelly Level 2 then Kelly-3 Kelly Level 3. For simplicity these terms are used both here and various messageboards. Kelly becomes Level 2 once you defeat Nidhogg and Level 3 once you obtain all of the Cores. Saburouta This is the second character in the game that you can play. a.k.a. Sab He does not level up like Kelly does and can not be used on Boss Stages while in Story Mode. Challenge Mode Once you've completed the game Challenge Mode becomes available on the main menu. Sab can be used in all Stages while in Challenge Mode. If you've managed to get Kelly-2 or Kelly-3 while in Story Mode you'll be able to use those characters here as well. Story Mode Refers to the normal game. Sab can not be used in all Stages while in Story Mode. Gearskin This is the suit Kelly is Sab wear in battle. Stage Each level in the game is referred to as a Stage. The stages are broken up in a tier like fashion. You'll typically have three Stages to pick from per tier. Once you complete them all you advance to the next tier. Tier (See Above) Bosses After each Tier you fight a Boss. Some Stages also have Bosses that you'll have to beat before completing the Stage. See also, Stage Walkthrough section. Zone: Most of the stages are broken up into sections. For lack of a better word I'll refer to these as Zones. On the map screen you can only see the Zone you are in. Click-Up Refers to pressing a direction on either of the sticks and Click-Down while doing so clicking the stick in. Click-Left See the Controls section for more info on this. Click-Right Hovering Refers to when your in the air but not falling at full speed and not boosting. Your jets will be on but not blasting causing you to fall slowly. Firing the Drive Gun while in the air is considered Hovering. Hovering cancels Boost Combos. See the controls section for more info. Targeting The game has a way of auto aiming. Your character will aim at whatever enemy is closest to the center of the screen and in your weapon's range. Your weapon's reticule will turn red once it has a Target. Note that you Can shoot things without Targeting. i.e. the Drive Gun can't Target stuff our of a certain range but it can hit things a bit farther. Target Lock Kelly's and Sab's primary weapons are able to Lock On to Lock-On targets. Firing on a Locked Target causes the shot to follow the Target until it is hit. Boost Gauge (Bottom/Left corner of the screen) This is a count of your Boost Combo. See the Combos section for more info on how this is raised. Tricking Refers to the act of doing a bunch of Boosting for no reason other then to raise your Boost Gauge. This is sometimes done to go Mobius. Mobius State Once your Boost Gauge hits 25 you'll enter the Mobius state. This normally happens as your kicking ass in true GV style. However most peoples first Mobius experiences are done by Tricking. While Mobius, you get all the benefits of having a high Boost Gauge as well as being invulnerable for about 10 seconds. While Mobius Kelly also gets unlimited use of her Napalm/Meteor Crash. Crash State While doing a Meteor Crash you are said to be in the "Crash State". This typically refers to Kelly-3 because after her Meteor Crash she remains in the Crash State. See Characters section for more info. Boost Combos See the Combos section. Box Strafing I don't care what anyone tells you, there's no circle strafing in this game. However you can come close by "Box Strafing". This is done by doing a combination of Side Boosts and Quick Turns. This a covered in more detail in the Techniques section. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------|+ Controls --- ... I'll begin with the controls for the people out there renting the game or otherwise don't have the book. I'll get into technique and comboing later. By now you've heard all about the control of this game. This FAQ assumes you've heard all the hype already. Let's put the hype aside and get to playing the game. These controls take some time getting used to. Some people take minutes, others take hours. What really matters is that you master these controls before you fight Ivaldi. He'll be the judge if you've really mastered anything. If you haven't been told this already, watch the demos that the game plays when you leave the title screen sit a couple minutes to see how the game is played. If you try to play this game like Halo, Tomb Raider or any other 3rd Person game your going to be in a world of frustration. Take your time, experiment and improve your game. None of these controls can be changed. Unfortunately you can't even un-invert the direction controls. This is fine for me but I feel sorry for those who don't play this way. Perhaps in the sequel.. Note on Click-Directions: The book tells you to point the stick in a direction then click. However I've found it's easier for me to click first, Then point the direction while keeping the stick pressed. As long as the stick is pressed while in a direction it will work so try out each method and see how you like it. To me, clicking first makes the motion continuous where as moving the stick, then clicking seems like two steps. Running Forward/Back Press the Left stick up/down. (ground) Jump Briefly pull the Left Trigger. (ground) Air Control Press the Left stick up/down while falling or Hovering (air) to direct how you fall. Rotate Unlike other games rotation is done using (ground or air) the Left stick. You may hate it at first but trust me it's better this way in the end. Twist The Right stick allows you to twist your upper body so (ground or air) that you can look side to side, up and down. The best way to understand this is to think like MechWarrior games where you have one control to rotate the mech and another to rotate the torso. You can only Twist about 120 degree left/right and 180 degrees up/down. See Target and Target Lock below. Quick Turn Using the Right stick, Click the direction you want (ground or air) to face, either left, right or down. This allows you to quickly turn 90 or 180 degrees, It is necessary to master this on the ground and air. Boost Jump Pull and Hold the Left Trigger. (ground or air) Boost Dash Click the Left stick Up or Down and Hold to (ground or air) dash forward/backward at high speed. (You can't Dash left/right). Side/Back Boost Click the Left stick in any direction to briefly (ground or air) boost in that direction. Hovering To Hover you "cancel" a Boost Dash. (air) This is done by pressing (not clicking) the opposite direction you are currently Dashing. i.e.Click-Up to Dash forward then press Down to Hover. See the Technique section for common uses of this. Note: Firing the Drive Gun while in the air also causes Kelly to Hover. Hovering cancels Boost Combos (see Combos section). GV Napalm Press both sticks in at the same time to nuke (ground) everything around you. You must have enough GV Fuel to do this. GV Fuel is obtained by collecting the blue orbs left by enemies or by comboing. GV Meteor Crash Press both sticks in at the same time while in the (air) air to boost in the direction you are looking. Unlike other attacks, your Twist Does effect this. i.e. If your Boosting one way and looking in another direction you'll now be moving in the direction your looking. Meteor Crash deals heavy damage to anything in your path. Note: Kelly-1 can not do this move. Target Whatever enemy is closest to the center of the (ground or air) screen will become your weapon's Target (if it's in range. Your weapon's reticule will turn red once it has a Target. By using the Right stick you can select what enemy you wish to target. Remember that the Right stick does not actually rotate your character, thus you will continue to travel in the direction you were going as you Target. Note that you Can shoot things without Targeting. i.e. the Drive Gun can't Target stuff out of a certain range but it can hit things a bit farther. Target Lock The Heat Blaster and Matchlock Cannon are able to Lock (ground or air,Kelly) to Targets. This is done by pulling and Holding (ground or hovering,Sab)the Right trigger while Targeting. Depending on Character/Level/Weapon you can Lock On to one or more enemies at a time. Kelly-1 without upgrades can only Lock On to 1 Target. Fire To simple fire your weapon briefly pull the Right (ground or air) trigger. If you have Target's Locked the weapon will fire once you release the Right trigger. Select Primary Weapon Press the Y-Button. Kelly's Primary is (ground or air) the Heat Blaster. Sab's is the Matchlock Gun. Select Secondary Press the X-Button while playing as Kelly to (ground or air) switch to the Drive Gun. This is obtained at the end of Vally-1 (the first level) in Story Mode. Note: Sab does not have a Secondary Weapon. His sword is only used during his Napalm and Meteor Crash -Why?! Select Plasma Hook Press the B-Button. The Plasma Hook only hooks (ground or air) onto the Purple glowing objects in the Indoor Stages. Targeting these and pulling the Right trigger causes you to fly to the object. The book states that the hook can also be used as a weapon against some enemies. Do Nothing Press the A-Button. (ground or air) That's right, the A-Button doesn't do a damn thing. View Map Press the White-Button to view the map. (ground or air) This is extremely useful during seek and destroy missions. See The Map section for more info. View Time Press the Black-Button to bring the timer (ground or air) on the screen. When time is important (due to time limits or your trying to improve your score) this can be handy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------|+ Weapons --- ... I remember all this hype about "eight upgradable weapons!!!" Well I'm going to let everyone down and say there's only three guns in this game. However they are somewhat different and get the job done. Note the damage done by the Heat Blaster and MatchLock Gun is effected by the Boost Gauge. Meaning you deal more pain while Comboing, however you also take double damage while comboing. Heat Blaster Kelly's Primary Weapon. This can be fired quickly but does little damage. This gun can Lock On to targets. The Heat Blaster can be fired at any time including during Boost Combos. Drive Gun Kelly's Secondary Weapon. This is Kelly's crowd control. The Drive Gun can chew through a mob of enemies in seconds. It can only be fired while standing still or hovering. The Drive Gun has two modes that are toggled the X-Button. The modes are PinPoint (Default) and Wide Spread. The Wide Spread is good for when your shooting down at a group from the air. Matchlock Gun Sab's Primary Weapon. This huge mofo has a slow rate of fire but kills most enemies with one or two shots. It can only be fired while standing or hovering. This gun can also Lock On to targets. Plasma Hook I've yet to see this used as an effective weapon. Apparently it *can* be used against some enemies. Sword: Unfortunately Sab can not run around hacking up monsters with his sword. :( He only uses it during his Napalm and Meteor Crash. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------|+ Characters --- ... Gun Valkyrie offers the typical Fast/Low Damage, Slow/High Damage combination of characters. That's not to say its a bad thing. In fact it works quite well. The characters are different enough to make them play differently. Sab doesn't really upgrade much. In general he's more powerful then Kelly-1 and weaker (overall) then Kelly-3. The book says he's "Advanced". I wouldn't say that, he's just different. I do recommend new players start with Kelly because the controls are best learned with her. Here's the basic differences between the two. This compares Kelly-1. Eventually Kelly with here levels and upgrades will match and surpass Sab. That doesn't make Sab any less Fun, because he does play differently. Action: Advantage: Dash Distance Sab's Dashes seem to use less GV Fuel allowing him to go farther. Speed seems the same. Boost Distance Kelly can boost farther. This also means she has more time to recharge between boosts thus allowing her more hangtime. Meteor Crash Distance Sab's Meteor Crash seems to go farther then Kelly-2's. Kelly-3's is obviously better. Napalm/Crash Damage Draw. As far as I can tell they deal the same damage. Firepower Draw. Sab's Matchlock deals huge damage but it has no mobility. The Drive Gun packs a punch as well and Kelly has more freedom with two guns. Damage Sab can also take more beatings. This may look like Sab is better. However Kelly's mobility is a huge advantage. She can stay in the air for very long periods of time without depending on Meteor Crashes. Kelly-3 can practically fly. In fact I'm a bit disappointed in this feature because it kind of takes the fun out of the game. When she does her Meteor Crash she remains in the Crash State after the initial Boost. She remains this way until she touches the ground, hovers, freefalls awhile or runs out of GV Fuel. While in this state she Boosts in the direction your facing. i.e. If you look up and Boost forward you'll go higher into the air. By tapping forward Boosts you can do this infinitely. Also, anything in the way takes massive damage. The only downfall of this is her Boost Gauge can not increase while like this, thus her GV Fuel does not increase by Boosting. See Technique section about "Tapping Out". ----------------------------------------------------------------------------|+ The Map --- ... The in-game Map is so important in this game I felt it deserves it's own section. Most of the people having problems completing a stage are usually having trouble because they overlook the importance of the Map. It's a good idea to check the map before leaving any area to make sure you didn't leave anything behind (assuming you don't want to leave anything behind) or when you can't figure out why a door won't open etc. Here's what each of the little blips mean. Red Arrow This would be you and the direction your facing. Yellow Dot Enemy. Need I say more? Magenta (pink) Dot Frekiheims (The big bugs that spawn enemies) Green or Light Blue Circle Various Platforms, i.e. on Naglfar's Pit the floating platforms are green, the tall thin structures are blue Blue Square Passageway. These are doors or openings leading to other Zones. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------|+ Stage Walkthroughs --- ... These are pretty brief. I'm not going to hold your hand every step pf the way. But I do try to point out anything that may cause you extra trouble. If you don't want anything spoiled don't ready this entire section, just use it as a reference if you get stuck. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - VALLEY 1: Mission: Get the Drive Gun and return with it. Time Limit: None This Stage is basically a tutorial. There's not much to say about it. It's a straight path, only one Zone. Make your way to one end. Get the gun and come back. Near the beginning of the stage there's a small dead end. Clearing all enemies: This seemingly easy Stage becomes a beast if your trying to get a perfect "Enemies Defeated" score. If your trying to wipe this Stage clean be prepared for reinforcements to show up when your on your way back with the gun. Take out as many monsters on the way to the gun but don't hang around too long, since you will be coming back again you can clean up the leftovers later. I say this because your probably trying to clear in good time as well. Make sure you visit the dead end before leaving as this becomes a major hot-spot. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - VALLEY 2: Mission: Defeat All Enemies Time Limit: None Nothing like a mindless slaughter! This is when you find out how really important the map is. Like with any seek and destroy type mission, take on the stage in small chunks. Clear anything in the immediate area. Once you think it's clear check the map and remove anything you missed. Then move on a bit, rinse and repeat. This method insures you don't miss anything. The last thing you want is to be at the end of the Stage and have to backtrack looking for one critter in a corner somewhere. This Stage is a huge circle. At the beginning of the Stage you will have a cliff to your back which you can't get over (With Kelly-1 at least), so anything beyond that cliff you will have to leave for the end when you circle around the Stage. Also near the beginning of the stage there will be a few swarms of small bugs. These swarms can not be targeted, so you'll have to get somewhat close and shoot them 'off the hip. Make sure you get all of these before getting too far or you'll have to circle completely around the Stage again later on. They show up yellow on the map and can easily be heard when they're close. One of the areas of this Stage consist of a huge pit. There's jets up air raising from it that will push you upward if you get in them. By using these and your Boosting ability you can navigate around this pit. Use the Heat Blaster or Matchlock Cannon's Lock On ability to takeout the flying stuff. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - VALLEY 3: Mission: Defeat All the Frekiheims Time Limit: 30 Minutes This Stage is for those who still neglect to use the map. Frekiheim are the big bugs that are typically found clinging to walls and stuff. These things spawn other bugs, so leaving them alone too long ends you up with an army of enemies. That's the bad news, the good news is they show up pink on the map, so by using the map you can find them easy. There's a time limit on this mission, so remember to stick with the mission. Unless your going for score take out the Frekiheims and leave anything else unless it's in your way. If your on the ground at any time at least be Dashing to save time. Since you'll be leaving a lot of enemies behind try to stay in the air as much as possible so you don't end up being food. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - CIVILIAN BASE 1: Mission: Defeat All Enemies Time Limit: None This Stage introduces you to doors. These doors will not open until you clear the area you are in. You'll also be making use of the Plasma Hook. This is the first indoor Stage you'll play. You'll find that small enemies can be found in tight spaces and corners where they'll be overlooked. Even with the map they can be hard to locate since there's multiple platforms which they can be under or over. Also keep in mind they could be clinging to the bottom of such platforms. About halfway through this Stage it's common to find that you can't seem to progress any farther. You'll be searching a hallway full of dead ends and locked doors. If this is you, go back to the room with the bridge and Plasma Hook thing over it. Jump off the bridge and under it is a door that will now open. Fight your way to the end where you'll find a room Full off enemies. In this room there's a bunch of annoying mechalike enemies that cling to surfaces with electric beams. You've fought these before but it's here that you see them in action while in numbers. They have a laser sight that will lock onto you. Once locked they will rapidly fire. Due to the numbers in this room your best bet is to stay in the hallway and take out anything in view while slowly advancing into the room. If things get hairy retreat back to the hallway and take a moment to regroup. Clear this room and your done. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - CIVILIAN BASE 2: Mission: Defeat All Enemies Time Limit: 30 Minutes This mission isn't too hard as long as you don't waste time. Most of the stage consists of long vertical tunnels that you'll be dropping down. Along the way are bounce pads that will shoot you back up if you need to go back for something. On this stage you'll need to be able to halt your freefall at a moments notice. There are spider like creatures on the walls that will spew webs out under you. You need to Boost or Hover before you fall into them while firing on the enemy. You'll also be up against large flying monsters that fade in and out of existence. You can see them somewhat as they pass through walls and move about. Because this is a timed mission your best bet is to Meteor Crash them as soon as you can target it. Along the shafts there's a few doors. You will have to enter each of these and clear the rooms inside. Make use of your map here to spot survivors. Other then that this Stage is pretty straight forward. If you make it to the bottom before the stage ends jump on the bounce pad to shoot upward. Listen for the caution alarm and kill whatever is causing it. If you don't see anything but you have a caution, check in any doors that are around. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - CIVILIAN BASE 3: Mission: Obtain the Documents Time Limit: 25 Minutes This mission gives you 25 Minutes. Unless your trying to defeat every enemy for a clear bonus this is way more then enough time. This stage can be completed in 5 minutes. The Stage is very much like Base 2 in that you'll be freefalling down tunnels. There's other tunnels as well that run parallel to the main one. These can be ignored if your just trying to beat the stage. Freefall the whole way. Kill what you can but don't stop. If something shoots a web under you just Boost around it. You may also want to Trick up to Mobius which will allow you to fall through the webs unharmed. Any health or GV orbs that come out of enemies should be left if you don't need them. They will continue to fall and will be usable once you reach the bottom. What's at the bottom you ask? A tougher version of Daihellm is down there. Use the same methods to kill the first one. Make use of any health orbs that may fall from the tunnel. If time is running low Trick up your Boost Gauge to make your shots more damaging. Once he's down you can enter the next room which contains the documents. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - NAGLFAR'S PIT 1: Mission: Defeat the Creature at the Top Time Limit: None Most people agree it's a good idea to bring an extra shield along for this mission. Not that the Stage is hard (damaging that is) but there's a Boss at the top and he'll waste your health quickly. Getting to the top can be frustrating for those that haven't mastered the controls. Believe me, by the end of this Stage you'll know them quite well. Make use of Hovering and Air Control while making your platform jumps. There's multiple ways to get about half way to the top. Once there you'll be circling around the stage clockwise, then counter clockwise. Without making a video there's not really an easy way to explain which platforms you have to jump on. Just keep looking for one slightly higher then where you are. Also know that you'll have to make use of the walls and the pillar like formations as well as the floating platforms. Once your at the top, kill anything in the area to replenish your health. Boost Dash over the hole in the top and you'll see your new threat. On your way down you may want to go Mobius. You can't hit this boss from the air so you'll have to be grounded to hurt him. He has several melee and projectile attacks so keep away from him and Boost around.The Drive Gun works well if you can take the hit's hell deliver while your standing there. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - NAGLFAR'S PIT 2: Mission: Defeat All Enemies Time Limit: None This time around your started at the top and work your way down. You also have the Meteor Crash now so Pit-2 is less of a platformer and more of a killing spree. Make your way downward and wipe out everything. Due to the size of this Stage the map is broken up into Zones which are stacked over each other. The map is a birds eye view as normal. What this means is as you move upward or downward the map will show the Zone your in and not the ones above or below it. So if the map shows nothing and you know there's enemies nearby, they may be in the Zone above or below the one you are in. Go up or down and check your map again. There's not much else to it. You'll already be failure with this Stage from before. Make sure you take a look in the tunnel at the bottom and kill anything in the muck as well. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - YGGDRASILL 1: Mission: Defeat All Enemies & Obtain the Docs Time Limit: 10 Minutes There's not much to this Stage. Kill everything as fast as possible as you make your way down. The first thing you want to do is make your way up to the very top (you start just a bit below the ceiling). Kill what's there and make your way down. Use the map constantly to check your progress. Also note there's swarms on this stage that may be hard to spot. Once everything's dead the door at the bottom will open. If it doesn't, check your map! ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - YGGDRASILL 2: Mission: Escape! Time Limit: None? You are now at the bottom of Yggdrasill and have to work your way up. There's a number of ways to get up. There's a spiraling root like surface around the edges of the Stage that you can run/Dash up. There's things to Plasma Hook onto. And you've got your Meteor Crash that can be used to jet you upwards. On top of that, if you get the core on this stage with Kelly and you have all the other cores Kelly will go Level 3 and you can simply fly to the top. Tons of enemies fill this Stage. Just take out the ones that are shooting at you and get to the top. To make things a bit more interesting there's a "void" flooding into the Stage. If you make contact with it you'll have to fight a Boss. This really should not be a problem as it fills very slowly. Note: Once you get to this stage there are no more save points. If you must exit the game you'll have to start from here. Luckily this is a pretty short stage so it's not really frustrating to play it again if you must. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - VS DAIHELLM: This boss is pretty easy once you know how to crack him. He has some simple patterns. Get under him and wait for his underside to open (it'll look yellow). Once this happens unload on him. I prefer the Drive Gun for this. If you are directly under him he will drop down and attempt to crush you. If he tries this Boost out of the way. If he doesn't try to stomp your ass he will release a bunch of blue objects which will follow you. When one gets over you it will strike you with lightning. To avoid these just Dash from one end of the room to the other a couple times. Make sure you keep an eye on Daihellm while doing this. You don't want to miss your chance to attack. After he tries to crush you or releases the blue things he'll sit in place a few seconds, then dart off to a random location. When he does this get under him fast! He'll open his belly again once he's there so you want to be there when it happens. Eventually he get's under 50% health. He'll fall from the sky like a brick and has a new method of attack. While standing face him directly as he begins to spin toward you. It's up to you but I'd put away the Drive Gun for this. Boost Jump toward him, then Dash Over him entirely. As your Dashing, when your directly over him, aim straight down and fire a single shot. If you make the shot he'll hurt a lot and stop spinning. Do a 180, get lined again up and do the same thing until he's dead. If for any reason you get too close your either going to get caught up in his spin cycle or he'll stab you with retracting spikes. In any case it's bad news so don't get near him without being in the air. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - VS NIDHOGG: The low ceiling in this ice cave doesn't allow for much hangtime. This Boss isn't too hard as long as you don't let your guard down. Boost from side to side to avoid the ice formations he casts at you. Don't get too close or he'll melee you. If you can stay in the air while fighting him (there's a very low ceiling) do so, but you don't have to. Don't use the Drive Gun as you'll need all the maneuverability you can get. Use QuickTurns to keep him in sight. If he gets you backed into a wall, Dash past him to the other side of the Stage and 180. Once you beat this boss Kelly becomes Level 2. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - VS MIMIR: You are faced with several ground digging monsters that can't even be shot most of the time. On this Boss you want to stay in the air at all times. These things have a Dash attack that deals a lot of damage and you want nothing to do with it. Once in awhile one of these will open theirselves for attack (you'll be able to Target when this happens). It's for a small amount of time so weapons would take all day. You need something bigger. The Meteor Crash is your answer. Since you'll be in the air most of the time GV Fuel won't be a problem so Meteor Crash these things every chance you get. Each one of these monsters goes through a few stages of attack. At first they'll just dig around. Popping up once in awhile. Then they'll start shooting these small projectiles that fly around. These can be ignored unless there's a ton of them flying around, in which case Lock On to a number of them and take em out. Eventually the beasts will jump completely out of the ground. When they do this they are Wide open for attack. You should be able to get in two Meteor Crashes before one get's back under ground. Once you knock one out of the sky it will scream and begin flopping around on the ground. Keep your sights on em when this happens. Once it recovers it will enter it's final state. In this state it will fire a massive beam of sorts. You do Not want anything to do with this. The second you can Target it Meteor Crash once more to finish it off. Once you kill all of the monsters the last one will have a Core for you. Get that and your mission's complete. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - VS SVART: Svart itself is the sphere with the long barb like things sticking out. He (it?) isn't too much concern quite yet. The real threat comes from the many somewhat disturbing babies trying to kill you. Stay in the air and keep moving. If at all possible fly over the void, not over the ground where the baby monsters can get at you easier. If you happen to fall in the void it's not the end of the world but do avoid it because you'll be placed back on the ground and who knows what will be standing there waiting. Like I said, the main threat is the babies. If your on the ground around them they'll try to cleave you with their bladed arms. Otherwise they cast projectile rock formations at you much like those from Hidhogg. These can be dodged easily if you keep your distance and remain in the air. The babies come in waves. Once you kill one it will begin warping out of existence. It's harmless once this happens so as soon as you can't target one anymore, move on to the next. When they're all dead/dying Svart's shield will fade out for a few moments. This is your chance to attack. Once the shield comes back up you'll have to face another wave of babies. Each time there will be more. At some point Svart will begin rotating. Keep an eye out on the barbs as they pass around you and Boost out of their way. Or better yet, fly over the void and avoid them altogether. Just remember that you'll have to get closer to be in range when the shield comes down. ----------------------------------- --------------------- ---- --- -- - VS IVALDI: Perhaps one of the coolest End Bosses in gaming history. Your going to need all your skills to take him down. Kelly-3's got some ways to beat him, but if your reading this you probably don't have Kelly-3. Anyway, I'm assuming your using Kelly-2. The basic way to beat this Boss is you have to Meteor Crash him three times, he will then be open for attack for some time. Then you have to Meteor Crash him more. There's a mist like cloud around his head. Each time you Meteor Crash him it changes color from white, yellow, to red. He'll also make a sound once he's open for attack. The Drive Gun is pretty useless on this boss. You will need to stay in the air as much as possible. Use the Box Strafe technique to keep him in your sights. Oddly your best off staying Close to Ivaldi. He has no melee attack to worry about, although you don't want to be too close while he's spinning his weapon. He has several attacks that you'll need to be able to avoid. Most deadly his his trap move. You'll see white particles forming above his head then they'll arc out to your location and create a trap. If you touch this trap you'll fall to the ground unable to move. To break free do your Napalm attack. The second your free dash out of there as he'll have another on the way already! To avoid this attack, once you see the particles forming over his head, Dash towards him. Preferably get behind him where he can't shoot it. He likes to continue casting these for awhile so try to interrupt this or you'll end up with these traps all over the place. He's got some fireballs he'll spew out by spinning his weapon. It's pretty easy to see this coming. Once he starts firing off he won't change the directing he's aiming, so simply Boost out of the way. He'll be open from all other angles so this is a good time to Meteor Crash him. He tends to do this twice in a row also, so look out for the second attack. Another attack he does is he'll throw his weapon at you like a boomerang. It comes fast and can be hard to dodge. Remember it's going to come back to him so don't get caught by it's return. There's a less common move he does where he creates a blue or yellow sphere around himself. The blue one get's very large causing you to have to back off unless your Mobius. The yellow one's smaller but he'll charge at you. If he's charging you try to get behind him using Box Strafing. Finally he's got a spinning move where he holds his weapon on end and rotates at high speed. This causes a blue disk to form which also shoots projectiles along it's axis. Obviously you don't want to get hit by the disk itself but the projectiles seem to be what end up hitting you. He can create this disk as sever different angles (vertically, horizontally and anywhere in between) so once he starts spinning figure out how it's going to be angled and get to either side of the disk. To do this you may just need to Boost to the side (if it's vertical) or you may have to get over or under it (if it's more horizontal). Once your in a safe spot you'll have a good chance to strike. Also when he stops the attack he takes some time to slow down from spinning so he'll be wide open. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------|+ Combos --- ... This game does not center around getting high Combos. I mean the goal is not to combo up to kill stuff. It's more like the other way around. Like when your in "the Zone" while playing a game or sport. This game captures that moment through the use of combos. If your playing this game and you get in the zone you'll find that your character is as well. ..as least I think that's how Smilebit intended. My point is, you should just play the game. Focus on your mission and blasting past the enemies. If your doing things right your going to reach Mobius all the time and the GV Fuel will be flowing like water. I say all this because I think people worry too much about comboing and not playing the game. Early screenshots of the game show that the Boost Gauge was not even onscreen in early versions (there was a radar there). I personally wish they had left it that way. Ok, so here's how it all works. The number in the bottom/left corner of the screen is the Boost Gauge a.k.a. Combo Gauge. To raise this you need to be near one or more enemies and Boost while in the air. Boosting in the same direction twice does not increase the Gauge though. The Gauge resets to zero if any of the following events happen: You touch the ground. Your attacked in any way (including hit by projectile). You Hover (So make sure you Click-Direction while attempting to Dash) You reach Mobius (Gauge hits 25). As the Gauge goes up the Heat Blaster and MatchLock Gun will deal more damage. While comboing you take double damage. Once you reach Mobius you'll be invincible for a sort amount of time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------|+ Technique --- ... I'm going to attempt to explain a few all purpose techniques that may help you. The best advice I can really give though is to just play your heart out and get the controls down. The great thing about the Stages in this game is each one is designed to teach you something. So by the time you play through the whole game your going to be pretty good with the controls. Timing your maneuvers: This is really something that just takes practice. Keep an eye on how much Boost you have at all times. Over time you'll learn how far you can take your Boosts and Jumps. Generally, getting into the air requires you to Boost Jump until your Boost Meter is down to 1 or 2 bars. Once your up there begin Boosting around as you see fit. Hovering: To Hover, or not to Hover, that is the question. In general you won't be doing much Hovering. In fact, while your still learning the controls you'll probably find yourself Hovering a lot by mistake. This is another one of those things that beginners will curse. Accept the controls of this, it's better in the end. There's mainly two times when you want to use Hover. When mowing things down with the Drive Gun. Or while trying to land on platforms. Naglfar's Pit will be your training ground for learning this. The idea is to Boost Jump up, Dash forward, begin Hovering as soon as your over what your trying to land on. Then as you descend, look down and use Air Control to pin-point your landing. This may sound complicated but it's not too hard once you've done it a few times. Dash Jumping: This is something I do just because I like the feeling of speed this game has. While on the ground dash forward, then Boost Jump. When you jump this way you keep all the speed you had from the dash so you can jump pretty far. You don't have to Dash or Boost jump very long to cover some good distance. Takeout the Frekiheims: Vally-3 gives you a taste of what these things are. Basically they're fat, unmoving "queen" bugs. These are normally found in groups and spawn enemies. If left alone for too long they'll create a mess of enemies you'll have to deal with. So anytime you see a group of enemies take these things out first. Then deal with the rest. Also, if you notice enemies in an area you thought you had cleared already, take a look around and see if any Frekihims are around. Odds are there's one up in the air or something dropping your new friends. Box Strafing: You can't circle strafe in this game. What you can do is what I call the Box Strafe. Basically you do a combination of 90degree Quick Turns while Boosting around something. So if you wanted to get behind something while your facing each other you'd (try to visualize this) do a Side Boost, Forward Boost, 90Quick Turn, Side Boost, Forward Boost, 90Quick Turn.. You'd now be behind the enemy and facing it's back. Obviously if the enemy is moving or you Boost too far/short you'll have to change things up. The point is to get used to boosting around stuff while keeping your gun facing it. This technique is extremely useful against bosses. The Meteor Crash 180: This may sound like a no brainer but I'm going to point it out anyway. When you do a Meteor Crash you normally end up on the other side of your victim. Assuming it's alive and there's nothing else that needs your attention it's a good idea to immediately do a 180 so your facing the enemy again. Never leave your back to something for too long. Tap out of Kelly-3's Here's a simple technique that took me awhile to Crash State: figure out. Once you have Kelly-3 you'll become familiar with her insanely powerful Meteor Crash which leaves her in it's state until you land, run out of Fuel, fall for awhile etc.. There's time though when you want to exit this state quickly without dropping from the sky. To do this simply tap the Left Trigger. She'll boost up for a second then revert back to her normal state. Reasons you may want to "tap out" are to get back to the normal flying style (looking down and Dashing forward would cause you to fly toward the ground, not always desirable). You may also be low on GV or wish to Combo your weapon up a bit (which you can't do while in Crash State). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------|+ Core Locations --- ... To get Kelly-3 you must find and obtain every Halley Core. Once you get the one on Yggdrasill (unless you missed any) Kelly will level to 3. The following Locations were posted by "greatxcape" on the GameFAQ's GV board: VALLEY 1: At the second set of mushroom platforms, on the highest thin platform. VALLEY 2: In the floating platform area with the strong drafts. Slightly right of the north exit, on a higher level. VALLEY 3: At the very end of the stage. The section resembles the one in Valley 1 where you picked up the Drive Gun. Be sure to leave a Frekiheim alive before you grab the core or the stage will end. CIVILIAN BASE 1: In the third large room. About 2/3rds the way up on the NE portion you'll find a nook. Drop down. CIVILIAN BASE 2: In the narrow, 4-sided elevator-like shaft. Boost up one level, then fall off to the side. Go to any corner and drop down one more level. CIVILIAN BASE 3: Keep falling (about 5/6th the way down) until you see the 5 SVN drones that form a star pattern. You should see a door on the same level. The core's below the platform on the other side of that door. NAGLFAR'S PIT 1: Right below the platform where you start. NAGLFAR'S PIT 2: Very bottom, center of the pit. YGGDRASILL 1: Alongside the wall 2/3rds the way down. Should be visible as you descend. YGGDRASILL 2: Alongside the wall 2/3rds the way up (you start the stage at the bottom). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------|+ The Orbs --- ... On the Save/Load Game screen there's a number of Orbs at the top. Obtaining these is just adds a bit of reply value to the game. There are two sets of Orbs. I have not seen them named anywhere so I'll call them, the "Big Three" and the "Stage Orbs". ------------------------------- The Big Three: First Orb: The first one lights once you've completed Story Mode at least once. Under it is also a counter showing how many times Story Mode has been completed. Second Orb: You must clear every Stage including Bosses using Sab. You'll need to use Challenge mode to be able to play the Bosses. Thanks chocotaco and Graff for figuring this out! Third Orb: Lights once Kelly reaches Level 3. ------------------------------- Stage Orbs: Each of these represent a Stage. To light an Orb you must complete it's stage and rank in the top three. Once lit it will be one of three colors depending on what you ranked; 3rd Place = Green 2nd Place = Yellow 1st Place = Blue ----------------------------------------------------------------------------|+ --- Kevin Reems (LBt1st) ...