This is a character guide for using Nightcrawler in the game X-Men: Legends. It is designed to give you a better understanding of who he is, what he can do, and how you can best use him in the game. X-Men Legends is Copyrighted by Marvel, Activision, and Raven Software. No infringement is intended. This guide was not written for profit. I got no money for writing this. This guide is intended to enhance your experience with the game. This is not an official guide, and I am not associated with any of the above companies in any way (except as a customer). This guide is being published on GameFAQs.com only. Please do not redistribute, publish, copy, or upload any portion of this guide without my permission (though if you ask nicely and give proper credit, there's a good chance I'll say yes). It is illegal to sell this guide. You may, of course, download it for personal use. (c) Copyright 2004 Paul-Gabriel Wiener If you have any comments, ideas, suggestions, or corrections, please contact me. My contact information is listed towards the end of this file. ****************************************************************************** Note: This FAQ is based on the Gamecube version of the game. I don't think there are too many differences between platforms, but the controls will, of course, be different. For the Gamecube, the following controls apply: A - Main attack B - Knockback attack X - Pick up/Use/Throw Y - Jump R - Use Mutant Power L - Call allies Z - Use Health Pack Z + X - Use Energy Pack Start - Pauses the game ****************************************************************************** CONTENTS This section lists the contents of the rest of the guide. If you want to see something specific, do a text search for the appropriate letter-number combination (such as Q1 or B1a). Do not include spaces in your search. A GENERAL QUESTIONS Q1. What are comic books and what do they do? Q2. What are challenge disks and what do they do? Q3. What kinds of equipment are available and what do they do? Q4. What is levelling up and how do I level up my character? Q5. What are Stats? Q6. What are skills and powers? Q7. What are combos? Q8. What is the best way to level up my character? B NIGHTCRAWLER B1. BASIC INFO B1a. BIOGRAPHY B1b. COMIC BOOK B1c. CHALLENGE B1d. AVAILABLE MISSIONS B1e. COSTUMES B2. IN-GAME ROLES (possible general builds) B2a. **TRANSPORTATION** B2b. **SUPPORT** B2c. **MELEE** B3. STATS B3a. STRIKE B3b. AGILITY B3c. BODY B3d. FOCUS B4. POWERS AND SKILLS B4a. TELEPORT LEAP/TELEPORT STRIKE/LEGEND STRIKE B4b. TELEPORT FLURRY/TELEPORT FRENZY/LEGEND FRENZY B4c. SHADOW BLEND/SHADOW ARTS/SHADOW MASTERY B4d. BLINDSIDE BLITZ B4e. LEAP OF FAITH B4f. SUCKER PUNCH B4g. TOUGHNESS B4h. MUTANT MASTERY B4i. ACROBATICS B4j. CRITICAL STRIKE B5. EQUIPMENT B6. STRATEGIES C OTHER C1. CONTACT C2. VERSION HISTORY C3. CREDITS AND THANKS ****************************************************************************** A GENERAL QUESTIONS Q1. What are comic books and what do they do? Comic books are items found in various places in the game. Each of the 14 regularly playable characters has one comic book. You can review the comic books you have in the Library of the X-mansion, but "viewing" them will only allow you to look at the covers. When you collect a character's comic book, that character will get 4 permanent Stat points, which will be given in a specific way determined by the game designers. Some characters get +4 to one specific stat, but most get +2 to two different stats. Q2. What are challenge disks and what do they do? Challenge disks, like comic books, are items found in various places in the game. Again, each character as his or her own challenge disk. When you collect the challenge disk, you'll be able to access the challenge in the Danger Room. You'll play as the character in question, and be asked to complete one or more tasks. Usually, you'll have to defeat a bunch of enemies. Sometimes, you'll have to protect or destroy one or more specific targets. You'll generally get relatively few experience points for playing the challenge, but the first time you beat it, you'll get a character-specific item. Each character-specific item is a backpack which can only be used by that character, and only if that character is at level 20 or higher. It will give the character a +5 bonus to one stat and give a 20% bonus to damage (and sometimes other offensive effects) to the character's mutant powers. Character-specific items take up one inventory slot (you can only carry a limited number), and you will not get any money if you decide to sell one. This means that you should probably avoid playing the challenges until the character in question has reached level 20. You may also wish to avoid playing the challenge if you do not intend to use the character very often (or, more properly, if you do not intend to use the character's item). Some people find these items to be very useful, others prefer to use different equipment. If the character-specific items had been belts instead of backpacks, there'd be no question that they were worth using. The purpose of a belt is, after all, to increase one stat. Unfortunately, the most useful items in the game are almost all backpacks. In many cases, you'd be better off using some other item, such as a DNA Generator, a Tissue Generator, or a Power Enhancer. Q3. What kinds of equipment are available and what do they do? Equipment comes in three basic types -- Belts, Armor, and Backpacks. Belts add a bonus of one or more points to one specific stat. Armor reduces damage from various types of attacks. Anything which is not a belt or armor is a backpack. As you progress through the game, more powerful equipment of all types will become available. Each character can only use one item of each type at a time. Belts come in four types, one for each stat. Strike enhancers give a bonus to Strike, Agility enhancers give a bonus to Agility, etc. Pretty simple. Armor comes in more varieties. Nanofiber armor will give you limited protection from any attack, absorbing a few points of damage per attack. Deflectors will give you a chance to reflect a greater amount of damage, but only damage from specific types of attacks (mental, physical, elemental, beam, knockback, or electrical). Dampeners will absorb damage rather than reflecting it, and will also only work against one type of attack. Backpacks can do almost anything else. DNA generators increase the rate at which your character regenerates energy (Energy is required to use Mutant Powers). Tissue generators will slowly increase your health, but only if you haven't taken any damage for a few seconds and only up to a certain point. Power enhancers increase damage done by your character's Mutant Power attacks. Weakness analyzers increase the chances of scoring a critical hit on a melee attack (critical hits do triple damage). Targeting implants increase the chances of scoring a critical hit on a ranged attack. Other unique items (including but not limited to the character-specific items mentioned above) offer various advantages, as given in the item's description. Q4. What is levelling up and how do I level up my character? Characters earn Experience Points (XP) for various things -- usually destroying enemies, but sometimes for completing tasks or finding difficult areas. When you earn enough XP, you will "level up." The game will tell you when a character levels up, and that character will have a double helix band around his or her feet (the band will also show up on the character select screen). Levelling up will give you a bonus to your attack, defense, health, and energy. You will also get points to spend. You'll usually get one Stat point and one Skill point, but every five levels, you'll get two of each. You can spend these points by going to your character sheet (pause the game, choose "characters", select the character you want to level up, and press Y). Highlight the place where you want to use the point, and press A to put the point there. You can press X to take that point back, but points become set whenever you include the character in question on your team (on a mission or in the Danger Room). Q5. What are Stats? Stats determine your character's abilities. There are four stats. STRIKE -- Increases attack rating. (Attack = Strike + Level) This increases the odds that a melee attack will hit. It may also increase damage done by melee attacks It does not seem to affect mutant power attacks. There is a possible game glitch which may cause powered melee attacks (Iceman's Cold Crush, Gambit's Kinetic Strike, Magma's Burning Rage, etc) to be treated as mutant power attacks, thus allowing them to hit even with relatively low strike ratings. Strike is critical for characters like Rogue, Wolverine, Beast, and Colossus, who are primarily melee fighters but who don't have mutant powered melee attacks. For everyone else, it's a relatively low priority. Since your attack rating increases by one every level, you basically get one Strike point free every time you level up. AGILITY -- Increases defense rating. (Defense = Agility + Level) Agility increases the odds that your character will be able to dodge a melee attack. It does not seem to come into play when facing mutant power attacks, grenades, or ray gun beams. Even so, it's useful for everyone. It helps melee characters keep from taking damage when on the front lines and keeps ranged fighters from getting into trouble when someone sneaks past the front lines. Since your defense rating increases by one every level, you basically get one Agility point free every time you level up. BODY -- Increases maximum health. (Hit Points increase by 7 per body and 4 per level) Body is most important for Melee fighters, who are likely to take the brunt of most attacks. You automatically get 5 hit points every time you level up, but you get 10 for each point you put into Body. Since each point gets you 7 HP, and you get 4 HP for every level, you basically get half a point of Body free every time you level up. FOCUS -- Increases maximum energy and energy regeneration rate. (Energy Points increase by 7 per Focus and 4 per Level. Every point of Focus increases regeneration rate by 1%.) Focus is what allows you to use your mutant powers. For every point of Focus, you get 7 Energy Points added to your maximum, and a 1% increase in regeneration rate. Unless you're dealing with a pure melee fighter (Wolverine, for example), you'll want to make Focus your top priority. For most characters, you simply can't put too many points into Focus. Focus and DNA generator backpacks are the only known ways to increase energy regeneration rate. Energy packs, which replace 25% of your energy, are fairly common, but AI-controlled characters will not use them. As with Body, you get about 1/2 the Energy Points for levelling up as you do for a point of Focus. Focus, however, also increases energy regeneration rate. Q6. What are skills and powers? Skills and powers allow your character to do various things. Every character playable in story mode has four primary powers. The first two are generally attack powers. Using them will damage or sometimes stun one or more enemies. Some of these attacks work at close (melee) range, others at a distance. Each has a unique effect. The third is an enhancement power. Using it will temporarily improve your character in some way. It can decrease the damage your character takes, improve the damage your character does, increase one or more of your character's stats, or some combination of the above. At higher levels, some enhancement powers will extend to affect teammates. The fourth is an Xtreme power. These damage multiple enemies, often an entire screen's worth. Most do a high amount of damage, but some will only stun or weaken enemies. An Xtreme power requires 2 points to unlock, and cannot be levelled up further once it is unlocked. You must reach level 15 before you can unlock your Xtreme attack. Using an Xtreme attack requires one Xtreme token. Tokens or parts of tokens are sometimes dropped by defeated enemies. Your team can only hold a limited number of Xtreme tokens. Your team can hold one token at level 15, and one more for every 5 levels after that, up to a total of 5 at level 35. Besides these four powers, each character also has a variety of skills. Many of these skills are unique, but some are common to most or all characters. Toughness increases maximum health. Mutant Mastery increases maximum energy. Critical Strike increases the odds of scoring a critical hit on a melee attack. Accuracy (available to characters with ranged attacks) increases the odds of scoring a critical hit on raged attacks. Point Blank Shot (available to most characters with ranged attacks other than area effect powers) increases the damage done by ranged attacks to enemies within a few feet of your character. Q7. What are combos? A combo occurs when two mutants attack the same enemy with their respective mutant powers at close to the same time. In other words, if one team member hits an enemy with a mutant power and then, within a few seconds, another team member hits the same enemy with his or her own power, you will score a combo. Combos do significantly more damage than the two powers would do separately. You also get a little extra experience for using combos to defeat an enemy. Two characters -- Cyclops and Storm -- have the Leadership skill, which increases both the damage and experience for any combos done while the character is alive and on the team. If you have both Cyclops and Storm on your team, you will get the combined bonus from both their Leadership skills. Q8. What is the best way to level up my character? There is no one right way to level up a character, but some ways are better than others. Spreading your points around too much will give you a lot of powers, none of which is really effective. Focusing too much on one thing will give you one really good power, but will limit your versatility. In general, it's a good idea to pick one primary power and one secondary power. Your primary power should be the one you plan to use most often. Make sure to set it as your character's AI power. (The AI power is the one the computer will use first if the computer is controlling the character and you use the "call allies" command during a fight.) Your secondary power should be a good compliment to your primary power. It should either make your primary power more effective or be useful in situations where the primary power won't help as much. Every 5 levels, you get 6 skill points. You should, on average, spend 2 or 3 of those points on your primary power, 1 or 2 of those points on your secondary power, and spread the rest among various skills (and, perhaps, the third power). The exact ratio will depend on how you want to use your character and on your playing style. Note that this leaves room for your primary and secondary powers to be given basically equal priorities. That's useful (for example) for melee characters who need to protect or enhance themselves as much as they need to do heavy damage. You should decide early on how you want to use your character. Look through his or her powers and abilities and consider possible roles for the character. Ask yourself what the character can do, what you most want the character to do, and what powers and skills are most important for doing those things. A good character FAQ will help you with these questions by examining the potential of each power and reviewing possible builds for the characteras a whole. (A "build" is a way to allocate points, with an eye towards developing one or more specific uses for the character.) *BAMF*%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ~N~I~G~H~T~C~R~A~W~L~E~R~ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%*BAMF* B NIGHTCRAWLER B1. BASIC INFO B1a. BIOGRAPHY (Since the game is roughly based on early 1990's main universe comic book continuity, I'm using my memories of that for this section. Thanks to http://www.uncannyxmen.net for helping refresh my memories.) Real name: Kurt Wagner (pronounced VAHG-ner) Known relatives: Mystique (mother), Rogue (adopted half-sister - after running away from home, she was raised by Mystique), Graydon Creed (half-brother - this high-profile anti-mutant leader is the son of Mystique and Sabertooth), the Szardos circus family (adoptive parents and siblings). Powers: Teleportation - Kurt has the ability to teleport across short distances by transporting himself into another dimension and then instantly returning to his home dimension in a different place. Doing so leaves behind a dark smoke which smells of brimstone, and also, due to the displaced air, makes a sound usually denoted "BAMF". Wall-crawling - Like Spider-man, Kurt has the ability to cling to most surfaces, allowing him to crawl along walls and ceilings. This ability is not seen in the game. Shadow-blending - Kurt can use something akin to his teleportation ability to transport light away from him, allowing him to hide himself in shadow and to blend in to shadowy backgrounds. Agility - Kurt is superhumanly flexible and agile, and possesses heightened reflexes. His toes are capable of supporting his weight while clinging to branches, pipes, rods, and similar objects. He can even hold himself by his tail for short periods. History: Kurt is the son of Count Wagner, a minor German nobleman, and his wife, a woman who was secretly the shapeshifting mutant Mystique. The pain of childbirth forced Mystique to temporarily revert to her natural form, and this, combined with the devilish appearance of her newborn son, forced her to flee the village. Running from an angry mob, she threw the baby into a river, shapeshifted, and escaped. The baby was found and adopted by a circus family. There, the young mutant flourished, his natural agility and his teleportation powers allowing him to preform amazing tricks. He used the stage name "The Amazing Nightcrawler," which apparently was a cool name in Germany (even though it means "earthworm" in various parts of the US). Audiences assumed his appearance was a result of clever costuming. As he grew, Kurt found that, despite his appearance, he had a strong faith, and he became a devout Catholic. Unfortunately, Kurt's adopted brother, Stephan, was prone to fits of madness (caused by magic inherited from his mother). Stephan, knowing the dangers, made Kurt promise to kill him if he ever endangered another's life. Kurt, despite his gentle nature, reluctantly agreed. One day, while attempting to restrain Stephan (hoping to avoid killing him, despite the promise), Kurt accidentally snapped Stephan's neck. Villagers found him standing over the body, and assumed him to be a demon. He was chased by an angry and fearful mob, but was saved by the intervention of Charles Xavier. Kurt took Xavier up on his offer to join the X-men, and was later given a holographic image inducer which allowed him to appear human. Since then, he has, for the most part, remained with the team (or with the UK-based team known as Excalibur), his love of adventure (in the swashbuckling style of Erol Flynn) has often conflicted with his gentle and somewhat pacifistic religious soul. This conflict has, at least once, caused him to leave the team in order to pursue life as a priest. B1b. COMIC BOOK Nightcrawler's comic book is found in the Sentinel Flashback. The flashback is optional, and can be played when you (as Allison/Magma) talk to Nightcrawler during the second X-mansion interlude. You can only play the flashback once. In the last area of the flashback (10th Avenue), have Jean fly up to the roof of the building near the Xtraction point. Try to do this before exploring the area past the Xtraction point, as the fighting can get heavy further on. Once on the roof, make your way along the connecting rooftops (jump over the railings between them) until you get to the last one. The comic book is waiting for you there. Collecting the comic book will permanently give Nightcrawler a +2 bonus to Agility and Focus. IMPORTANT NOTE: Reportedly, Nightcrawler's comic book was accidentally left out of the Xbox version of the game. I cannot confirm this myself, since I don't have an Xbox, but it has been mentioned in more than one place. Thanks to Skip Dogg for taking the time to let me know about this. Thanks to PapaGamer for the location of Nightcrawler's comic in the GC (and presumably PS2) versions. Without his FAQ, I would have missed it. B1c. CHALLENGE Nightcrawler's challenge disk is found on your second trip to Weapon X (where you start off with Cyclops). It's in Cell Block C, in the room where you open the exit to Cell Block D. Nightcrawler's challenge is a Senior level class, so you must complete Qualification Exam 300 before you can play it. The challenge is to defeat Toad within 2 minutes. You'll have to defeat two Acolytes and an Acolyte Warrior before Toad appears. The best and easiest way to beat the challenge is with Teleport Frenzy. If you've been focusing on Frenzy when levelling up, the whole thing should be no problem. Just keep using it until everyone falls down. Otherwise, activate Shadow Blend (if you have it), and use your melee attacks. You can also use Teleport Strike to wear enemies down with a series of hit-and-run attacks. Focus on the Acolytes first. They have ranged attacks which stun as well as damage. The Acolyte Warrior is more of a melee fighter. He has a couple of close-to-medium range attacks and is resistant to physical damage. If you don't have Teleport Frenzy, try to keep moving. It'll take a lot of punches and kicks to wear him down, and his slam attack affects anyone in the area, regardless of Agility. Once all three Acolytes are defeated, Toad appears. He's resistant to energy attacks, but has no defense against physical attacks (including Frenzy). The one thing you have to watch out for is his tongue, which affects an area and does knockback as well as regular damage. When you beat the challenge, you get Agility of the Acrobat. This is a Backpack, and it will take up one inventory slot. If you earn it, it will be added to your inventory, whether or not you have any available inventory spaces open. If it puts you over the limit, you will have to sell off one or more items (or equip characters with open slots) before you will be able to pick up or buy any new items. Agility of the Acrobat gives Kurt +5 Agility and a 20% damage bonus to all Teleport attacks. Like all character-specific items, it can only be used by one character (in this case, Nightcrawler), and the character must be at least level 20 to use it. (Thanks to PapaGamer's FAQ for refreshing my memory on the exact location of the disk.) B1d. AVAILABLE MISSIONS Nightcrawler becomes available after the second X-mansion interlude (the one after the HAARP mission). You must use him during the Sentinel Flashback (available after talking to Kurt during that interlude), if you choose to play it. Once he becomes available, you can use him in any mission except the Weapon X mission and the first visit to the Astral Plane. B1e. COSTUMES Once you beat the game, you will have the ability to change some characters' costumes. About half the characters have at least one alternate costume. Nightcrawler has two alternate costumes. The first is his circus costume, which is very similar to his default. It has the same colors in the same patterns, but no belt and his gloves and boots are white. Just about all of Nightcrawler's costumes have been based on his circus costume. The second is his Xtreme costume (which, as far as I can tell, has nothing to do with the comic book entitled "Xtreme X-men," or any other X-men comic book.). This one is blue with orange-brown stripes (or orange-brown with a lot of blue stripes, depending on how you look at it). To change Nightcrawler's costume, you must be at a Change Team screen. You get this screen at the beginning of most missions and Danger Room classes, and can also get it by selecting "Change Team" at most Xtraction points. Once at the screen, select Nightcrawler and use the X button (labeled "Skin" on the screen when it's available) to rotate through his costumes. *BAMF*%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ~N~I~G~H~T~C~R~A~W~L~E~R~ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%*BAMF* B2. IN-GAME ROLES (possible general builds) Kurt can be used in one of three basic builds, each based on one of his main powers. B2a. **TRANSPORTATION** This build focuses mainly on his Teleport Leap power. Put most of your points into Leap, but make sure to also put points into Acrobatics and Critical Strike along the way. If you're going to let the computer control him, be sure to put points into Leap of Faith. You'll probably also want to spare a few points for Shadow Blend. Stat-wise, you'll probably want about 25% in Strike, 25% in Agility, 15% in Body, and 35% in Focus. With this build, as the name suggests, he'll be mainly used for transportation. That means he won't be much of a fighter. You'll want to keep him moving during fights. Leap over to an enemy, get a few punches in, leap away. Take a kind of hit-and-run approach to fights. Use Shadow Blend if things get tough (assuming you chose it as your secondary power). PROS: He'll be able to... *clear large distances faster than anyone else on the team. *get to areas which would otherwise be difficult or impossible to reach. *jump past force fields and turn them off. *take a passenger with him. (Requires 4 points -- the one you get free plus three more. Once you unlock this capability, you can simply stand next to the teammate of your choice, point Kurt in the right direction, and activate the power.) *Ferry people across gaps which would otherwise require a bridge builder or a flyer to cross. This can be useful, but building bridges is generally the easiest way. It gets everyone across and keeps the team together. Of course, with bridges, there is a risk of teammates falling off, especially during a fight. Teleporting is faster than flying, but Kurt will always attack if there's someone in range. That means you won't always be able to get him back across the gap to pick up the rest of your team. CONS: He won't be able to... *be a very effective fighter. Leap is not really a good attack power, and it doesn't do much for defense, either. He'll be relying on Agility to keep from getting hit and ordinary punches to do damage. That'll be good enough for a few thugs, but won't really help against tougher foes. *go wherever you want. As mentioned above, Kurt will always attack at the end of his leap if there's an enemy within range. That means that if your team is fighting a bunch of thugs nearby, you probably won't be able to get him to leave them and port into another room. It also means, as mentioned above, that you may not be able to get him to go back across a gap to pick up the rest of the team. *leave a difficult area. The other side of the attack issue is that if you jump past a wall and find a mob of enemies, it'll be almost impossible to get him back to the team. They won't be able to get through the wall, so Kurt will be left to deal with the mob by himself (or, if he took a passenger, with one other teammate). The best thing to do in this situation is to activate Shadow Blend, move the rest of the team away from the wall, call him over, and hope he comes before he takes too much damage. B2b. **SUPPORT** This is, in my opinion, his best build. You'll do a lot of damage, won't get hit very often, and will still be able to 'port through force fields and walls if the need arises. It's also the only build which will make Nightcrawler's challenge easy to beat. Here, you'll put most of your points into Teleport Flurry, which is his best attack power. Again, if you're going to have the computer control him a reasonable amount, put points into Leap of Faith whenever you can. Also put a point into Sucker Punch whenever the game lets you. Spare a point for Acrobatics every now and again. If you have points left over, choose either Shadow Blend or Teleport Leap as your secondary power, as suits your style. Shadow Blend will give you another melee option, Teleport Leap will get you to hard-to-reach areas. Stat-wise, you'll want about 50% in Focus, with Agility as your second priority. Strike isn't as important, since you'll be using a mutant power as your primary attack. Put points there only if you choose Shadow Blend as your secondary power. Body is always good to have, but you shouldn't need more than a few there, either. PROS: He'll be able to... *Do a good amount of damage to one or two opponents at a time. Flurry concentrates on one enemy at a time, moving on to the next only when the current one has been finished off. As you level it up, you'll get more and more attacks, each doing more damage. If you put points into Sucker Punch, he'll even start scoring criticals on one or more attacks per Flurry. Criticals do triple the normal damage. *Score a lot of combos. It's easy to make combos with Flurry, since it has multiple attacks. *Get past force fields and walls. You get the first point of Leap free, no matter what you do. That gives you a 15 foot range, which is more than enough to 'port through even a thick wall. *Keep himself moving fast enough that he won't take much damage. Flurry has multiple attacks, and he 'ports between each one. He rarely, if ever, gets hit during a Flurry. CONS: He won't be able to... *Take passengers. (Unless you decide to spare the points along the way.) *Teleport across gaps or large distances. Flurry always lands you back where you started, so you can't use it for transportation. At least, that's what it's supposed to do. Sometimes, if there isn't an enemy around and he still has one or more attacks left, he'll teleport to a new place. This is, however, not reliable and not easily controllable. It is good to keep in mind, though, if you get stuck in a closed room. *Be a good melee fighter between Flurry attacks. If you keep his Agility up, he won't take too many hits, but, since you'll be focusing on Flurry, you're not going to want to waste the energy on Shadow Blend. You also aren't going to want to waste points on Critical Strike, so he won't do much regular melee damage. That's why Focus is going to be so important here. You want him to be able to activate Flurry as often as possible during a fight. B2c. **MELEE** With this build, you'll be able to take on mobs of thugs without breaking a sweat, but won't be able to do much more than hide when a tougher foe shows up. Put most of your points into Shadow Blend. Make sure to select it as his AI power. Even though it doesn't do any damage (and thus can't combo), if you're using the "call allies" button, it's probably because you're in the middle of a tough fight. You'll want him to protect himself so he can fight more effectively. Critical Strike and Acrobatics are tied for second priority. You'll want both, quickly. As always, if you're going to let the AI control him, put a point into Leap of Faith whenever you can. Choose either Leap or Flurry as a secondary power, depending on your style, and ignore the other one. If you want, you can spare a point now and again for Toughness and Mutant Mastery. Stat-wise, you're going to want everything. He'll need Strike to make sure his punches hit, Agility to help his defense, Body in case he does get hit, and Focus to allow you to keep activating his Shadow Blend power. Luckily, Shadow Blend will help a lot with defense, and you'll have the points to upgrade Acrobatics quickly. So, you'll probably want about 30% in Strike, 20% in Agility, 15% in Body, and 35% in Focus. PROS: He'll be able to... *Become almost invulnerable. Shadow Blend makes him much harder to hit, and absorbs damage better than nanofiber armor (assuming you're levelling it up quickly). *Teleport past walls and force fields. As mentioned above, you get the first point of Leap free. It's enough to get you through basic obstacles. CONS: He won't be able to... *Do much damage. Even with Critical Strike, he'll only be doing basic punch damage. It's enough to hurt low-level thugs, but it will only chip slowly away at tougher foes. *Teleport across gaps and large distances. *Avoid area affect powers (grenades, some boss attacks) and some beam attacks. Agility primarily defends against melee attacks. It doesn't seem to do much against powered attacks. Shadow Blend's ability to absorb damage will help, but it won't do much against more powerful attacks like Sentinel eye beams and boss powers. *BAMF*%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ~N~I~G~H~T~C~R~A~W~L~E~R~ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%*BAMF* B3. STATS (See question Q5 at the beginning of this file for a description and general analysis of each stat.) B3a. STRIKE Increases attack rating. (Attack = Strike + Level) For Nightcrawler, Strike is primarily useful if you're going to use the Melee build described above. Otherwise, it's useful to put a few points in from time to time, but not really critical. B3b. AGILITY Increases defense rating. (Defense = Agility + Level) For Nightcrawler, Agility is a medium priority. If you're going with the Melee build, you'll be using Shadow Blend a lot, which increases his Agility anyway. If you're going with his Support build, Teleport Flurry should keep him moving fast enough that he won't get hit too often. It's good to be ready, though, in case someone finds him between attacks (while his energy is recharging). If you're going with his Transportation build, he'll need a lot of Agility, since he won't be able to rely on the other powers to defend himself. Remember, though, that you can increase his Agility rating with his Acrobatics skill. B3c. BODY Increases maximum health. (Hit Points increase by 7 per body and 4 per level) For Nightcrawler, Body is actually a lower priority than Agility. If you keep his Agility up, he won't really get hit very often. It's good to put some points in to Body, just in case, but he'll be fine even with a Body score that's only half his Agility rating. B3d. FOCUS Increases maximum energy and energy regeneration rate. (Energy Points increase by 7 per Focus and 4 per Level. Every point of Focus increases regeneration rate by 1%.) For Nightcrawler, Focus isn't quite as much of a priority as it would be for someone like Cyclops, who depends on repeatedly and rapidly using his powers. Still, you should put at least 1/3 to 1/2 of your points into Focus. Teleport Flurry takes a fair amount of energy, and if you're going to be using him in his Support build, you're going to want to have him jumping around a lot. For his Melee build, Shadow Blend takes just as much energy, and you're going to want to be able to keep that going whenever you're faced with more than a couple of thugs. The one time you can ease off at least a little on Focus is when you're going with the Transportation build, since Teleport Leap takes relatively little energy and since you'll often have time between leaps to recharge. *BAMF*%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ~N~I~G~H~T~C~R~A~W~L~E~R~ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%*BAMF* B4. POWERS AND SKILLS Like all X-men, Nightcrawler has three primary powers, one Xtreme power, and a set of skills. B4a. TELEPORT LEAP/TELEPORT STRIKE/LEGEND STRIKE is his A power (R+A to use). Although it does include an attack, it's primarily used for transportation. Upgrading it will increase the range of his leaps, the damage done by his attack, and the energy required for each leap. If you put three points into this power (for a total of 4, since you get the first one free), he'll be able to take a passenger with him on his leap. (To take a passenger, simply stand next to a teammate when you leap.) When you use this power, he'll teleport in the direction he's facing. If there's an enemy within range, he will attack. The attack, however, is relatively weak. It will get him to the enemy (where he can start using melee attacks), or, more usefully, it will get him past certain obstacles, such as walls, force fields, or broken bridges. One problem with this power is that he will always attack if there's an enemy within range. This means that if the rest of the team is tied up with a mob of thugs, you will have a lot of difficulty getting him to jump to the next room. You can have him walk right up to the wall, face the wall, and teleport, and, if there is an enemy in range behind him (and no one on the other side of the wall), he'll attack that enemy rather than teleporting past the wall. Unless you're planning to use him mainly for transportation, don't bother putting too many points into Leap. The one point you get free is enough to take him up to 15 feet, which is plenty for getting past walls and force fields. If you think it'll be useful for him to take a passenger, put the three points in for that, but otherwise, don't bother. B4b. TELEPORT FLURRY/TELEPORT FRENZY/LEGEND FRENZY is his B power (R+B to use). This is his primary attack power. It includes multiple attacks and does more damage per attack than Leap. It cannot be used for transportation, however, since he always ends by teleporting back to where he started. Upgrading it will increase the range of the attack (how far he'll go from one jump to the next), the number of attacks, the damage done per attack, and the energy required for the initial leap (each attack uses 5 energy). It is, in my opinion, his best power, and the one you should put the most points into. It does the most damage (even more if you put points into Sucker Punch, which increases the odds of doing criticals during teleport attacks), and keeps him moving so he's almost impossible to hit. When you use it, he'll teleport to the nearest enemy in the direction he's facing and keep attacking that enemy until he either runs out of attacks or the enemy dies. If the enemy dies, Nightcrawler will teleport to the nearest enemy from wherever he is and begin attacking again. He will continue doing this until he runs out of attacks. Teleport Flurry allows up to 4 attacks (each doing up to 63 points of damage), Teleport Frenzy allows up to 7 (each doing up to 125 points of damage), and Legend Frenzy (available only after you reach level 30) allows 8 attacks (each doing up to 135 points of damage). It is very easy to combo with this attack. The game allows a couple of seconds' leeway between the times when the first and second powers hit, and the multiple attacks mean that he's almost constantly hitting his opponent. This attack works well with items like Power Enhancers, which increase damage for each attack. A few unique items, like the Hammer of Nimrod, have a similar effect. Also note that each attack in the series has its own chance to make a critical hit, which does three times normal damage. If you put points into Sucker Punch (discussed below), you can get up to a 15% bonus to your chance of scoring a critical on each individual attack in the series. It has not been established for certain whether or not Critical Strike, which increases your chances of scoring a critical on a melee attack, stacks with Sucker Punch. I don't think it does, but others say it seems to work. I am also not sure whether the game counts teleport attacks as melee or ranged (which is important in determining whether you use a Weakness Analyzer or a Targeting Implant to further increase your chances of a critical). B4c. SHADOW BLEND/SHADOW ARTS/SHADOW MASTERY is his enhancement power (R+X to use) Like most X powers, this one is defensive in nature. It works for a time to absorb damage and increase agility. Upgrading this power increases the duration of the effect, the damage absorbed, the agility bonus, and the energy required. With this power, Kurt can make himself almost invulnerable to melee attacks. As you upgrade it, he'll become harder and harder to hit, and will absorb more and more damage per hit. Shadow Blend can absorb as much damage as a set of Nanofiber Armor, Shadow Arts twice as much, and Shadow Mastery even more. If you want to use Kurt as a pure melee fighter, this is the power to focus on first. Otherwise, put points here only when you have them to spare. It takes a lot of energy to maintain, and is only defensive. It doesn't increase his melee damage at all, and he has no powers or skills which can (except for Critical Strike). So, while it is a useful secondary power, it's not one you really need to focus on. B4d. BLINDSIDE BLITZ is his Xtreme power (R+Y to use) Like all Xtreme powers, this hits multiple enemies (everyone on the screen, in this case), requires no energy to use (just an Xtreme token), costs 2 points to unlock, and requires level 15. When you activate this power, Kurt will disappear and presumably teleport around, hitting every enemy on the screen. You don't really see too much, but it does a good amount of damage (about 250 points to each enemy). Xtreme attacks combine with other mutant attacks to create Super Combos, which can do over 1000 points of damage (even more if you have one or both Leaders in your party). To use an Xtreme attack, you need an Xtreme token. Tokens are found in the same way health or energy packs. Every once in a while, when you kill an enemy, he'll drop part of a token (usually 1/4, sometimes 1/2 or more). Your team can carry 1 token at level 15, 2 at level 20, 3 at level 25, 4 at level 30, and 5 at level 35. Tokens are shared, so if Nightcrawler uses one, the whole team will have one less. Buy this power whenever you feel like it. You may use it a lot, or hardly at all, depending on your style. Since most Xtreme attacks do similar amounts of damage in a similar range, you really only need one team member at a time to have it. B4e. LEAP OF FAITH This is arguably Kurt's most useful power, but it only works when the AI is controlling him. If a teammate is about to be hit with a fatal attack (one that will finish off his or her remaining hit points), Nightcrawler has a chance to notice. If he does notice, he will teleport in, grab the endangered teammate, and teleport to safety. Note that he can do this whether or not you upgrade Teleport Leap. For example, let's say your team is facing a bunch of Sentinels. One of the giant purple robots targets one of your team (Cyclops, perhaps) with its eye beam attack, which fires rapidly, with little warning, and can do up to 250 points of damage. Cyclops has no time to dodge, maybe doesn't even see it coming. He's only got 200 hit points. If he's hit, he'll be killed in one shot. With Leap of Faith, if the computer is controlling Kurt, he has a chance to notice this. If he does, and if he's close enough to Cyclops, he will teleport in an instant before the deadly beam connects, grab Cyclops, teleport him out of the way, and then jump back into the fray. It also works if you're taking slow but constant damage. Wolverine once fell into a pit of something toxic while I was playing. It was too deep for him to jump back out, and his healing factor only kicks in if he hasn't taken damage in several seconds. Just as he was about to die, though, Kurt teleported in, grabbed him, and jumped them both back out of the pit. This power is literally a lifesaver. He can only do it once per minute, and only within a limited range. Upgrading this power will increase the chance that he will notice and the range at which he can notice, up to a 100% chance within 60 feet. The game will only allow you to put points here at set intervals. I recommend doing so whenever possible. B4f. SUCKER PUNCH This increases the chances of scoring a critical hit during a teleport attack. A critical hit does three times the damage of a regular hit. If you're going with the Support build, you should put points here whenever you can (like Leap of Faith, you're only allowed to upgrade it at set intervals). Otherwise, it's probably a waste. It won't help Shadow Blend, and Teleport Leap only does one attack. With this skill maxed out, you can increase the chance of scoring a critical with any given teleport attack by 15%. With Legend Frenzy, you'll have about a 73% chance of scoring a critical on at least one of your 8 attacks (more if the base chance is better than zero). B4g. TOUGHNESS This increases your maximum health. You can put points here whenever you like. One point will increase max health by 10%, two will give you 15%, and three will give you 20%. Each point here is more effective than one point of Body, but, for the most part, you'd be better off spending that point somewhere else. B4h. MUTANT MASTERY This does for energy what Toughness does for health. You can put up to 3 points into this skill, increasing your maximum energy by 10, 15, or 20 percent. It does not, however, affect recharge rate. That makes this skill relatively useless. Let's say you're at a relatively high level and you have a maximum of 500 points of energy. One point here will give you a 50 point bonus. Teleport Flurry or Shadow Blend require 80 points to use, and Teleport Frenzy and Shadow Arts (which you should have by that point) take even more. That means that you get less energy than you need for a single use of your power. With no recharge bonus, that's all you get. Put the point in if you have it to spare, but, for the most part, it's probably not worth it. B4i. ACROBATICS The first point unlocks Nightcrawler's acrobatic moves, which includes his ability to double jump, to push off walls as an attack, and to wall jump. Each point also gives him an additional 2 points of agility, up to a total of 10. It's a good idea to put a point or two here as you progress, no matter what build you're using. Maybe once every 7 levels or so. More if you're planning on a more melee-heavy build. B4j. CRITICAL STRIKE This does for melee attacks what Sucker Punch does for teleport attacks. Each point you put here increases the odds of scoring a melee critical by 2%, up to a total of 10%. If you're going to use Nightcrawler as a melee fighter, it's definitely worth it. In a Transportation build, it certainly couldn't hurt. In the support build, however, it's probably a waste of points. I don't think it affects teleport attacks (although some disagree), and if you're putting your points into Teleport Flurry, those are the attacks that are going to count the most. *BAMF*%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ~N~I~G~H~T~C~R~A~W~L~E~R~ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%*BAMF* B5. EQUIPMENT Belt - This depends on your style and what build you're using. Use a belt to beef up whatever stat you think he needs most. You can't really go wrong. Armor - This will vary depending on the mission. Nanofiber armor is the most general, but if you find yourself in an area where most of the damage you're taking is of a specific type, then go with something that defends against that. The best example is probably the Astral Plane, where you'll face a lot of creatures who do Mental damage. Backpack - This will, of course, depend on build. With a Support build (Frenzy as your primary power), you'll probably want a DNA Generator, Agility of the Acrobat, or a Power Enhancer. DNA Generator will allow you to use Frenzy more often. Agility of the Acrobat will give +5 Agility and increase the damage of each teleport attack by 20%. A Power Enhancer will add damage to every attack, which is especially useful in conjunction with Frenzy's multiple attacks. When facing Sentinels, Kurt is a good candidate for the Hammer of Nimrod, which will allow him to do 100-125 extra points of damage with each of Frenzy's multiple attacks. With a Melee build (Shadow Blend as your primary power), you'll do best with a DNA Generator, Muscle Accelerator, or Tissue Generator. Power Enhancer and Agility of the Acrobat won't work with Shadow Blend, since you'll still be doing basic melee damage. Weakness analyzer is also a possibility, but probably not as useful. Sabertooth's Tags (a unique item you may find later in the game) is another good possibility, since it both heals and adds damage to punches. With a Transportation build (Teleport Leap as your primary power), your needs will be similar to Melee build (increase Melee damage and/or survivability), except that a DNA Generator probably won't be quite as useful. *BAMF*%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ~N~I~G~H~T~C~R~A~W~L~E~R~ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%*BAMF* B6. STRATEGIES ** Think Ninja. With a high Agility and the ability to move from Point A to Point B faster than anyone else in the game, Kurt can be extremely difficult to hit. That's one of his best assets. Keep him moving, and use your primary power (whatever it is) often. Jump all over the place with Frenzy or Leap or stay hidden with Shadow Blend. The idea of your primary power is to use it almost constantly. ** Take Kurt on Sentinel-heavy missions, as his Leap of Faith is especially useful when your team faces their powerful attacks. Frenzy also makes him a powerful Sentinel-buster. Equipped with a Power Enhancer or the Hammer of Nimrod, Kurt can take down even some of the more powerful Sentinels with a single Frenzy. ** Remember to let the computer control him if you want him to be able to use Leap of Faith. ** Be careful about jumping through force fields. While you can use Kurt to jump past a force field and turn it off, there are dangers. If he can't get to the control panel in time, he could get stuck facing a mob of enemies by himself. There are also places where it's better *not* to turn off a force field early. You may end up, for example, facing the wrong side of a gap (most bridges can only be built from one side), forcing you to backtrack. That can be a big problem on a timed level. *BAMF*%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ~N~I~G~H~T~C~R~A~W~L~E~R~ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%*BAMF* C OTHER C1. CONTACT You can contact me on the GameFAQs boards as pgw or you can send mail to pgw78@go.com (Note: go.com can be slow to deliver mail, so it may be a while before I get back to you.) C2. VERSION HISTORY 11/30/2004 - Version 1.0 - First full version. 04/17/2005 - Version 1.01 - Added info about Xbox comic book glitch. C3. CREDITS AND THANKS I'd like to offer my thanks to: Marvel Comics for giving us the X-men. Raven Software for developing the best X-men game yet. Activision for helping them do it. http://www.uncannyxmen.net for general Nightcrawler information. PapaGamer for his excellent walkthrough, which improved my game and served as a valuable reference for a variety of details. Cablepuff and Freeac for giving me good examples to work from. Angelo Heartilly for encouraging me to finish this guide even though his went up before I was done with mine. Skip Dogg for taking the time to let me know about the missing comic book in the Xbox version. GameFAQs for hosting this and other FAQs and for bringing fans of the game together. The members of the GameFAQs XML boards for sharing their wisdom and insights. You, for reading this guide, and thereby making the work I put into it worthwhile.