MK Armageddon: Dairou FAQ Version 1.00 Completed on Friday 3rd November, 2006. Written by Minty Fresh Death ************************************************* TABLE OF CONTENTS ************************************************* I Table of Contents II Introduction A Version Updates B Preface and Legalities III Dairou A Why Dairou? B About Dairou C Dairou's Costume Descriptions III Playing as Dairou A Controls and Basics B Mi Zong C Autumn Dao D Special Moves E Fatalities IV Kombos A Mi Zong B Autumn Dao V Strategy A Basic Strategy VI Frequently Asked Questions VII The Final Word (Thanks Section) ************************************************* INTRODUCTION ************************************************* --------------- VERSION UPDATES --------------- 1.00 - The very first version. Updates to come. Maybe. :D ---------------------- PREFACE AND LEGALITIES ---------------------- Yo there. After feeling bored one Tuesday night, I decided to write the lowdown on one of my favourite characters on the awesome computer game Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (hearafter referred to as MK: Armageddon or MK:A) - Dairou. He was one of my favourite characters in MK: Deception and because I'd already written an FAQ for him for that game, I decided to rewrite an updated version of it for Dairou's return in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. This version of the MK: Armageddon - Dairou FAQ (Version 1.00) is exclusive to GameFAQs. You are NOT allowed to post any version of this FAQ on any other websites WITHOUT my given permission. My e-mail is under "The Final Word" section if you wish to contact me. You also may NOT copy any of the things you see in any version of this FAQ and stick it into your own. You are also not allowed to plaguerise any versions of this FAQ (don't steal the information and type it up in your own way) and you are NOT allowed to use it in any way to gain profit. If I catch anyone who has violated these rules, legal action will ensue. You have been warned. This FAQ / Walkthrough is not property of Midway and is not written or supported by them. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Copyright 2006 by Dan Gallagher, AKA Minty Fresh Death. ************************************************* DAIROU ************************************************* ----------- WHY DAIROU? ----------- Put quite simply, Dairou is an awesome character to play as and is often overlooked for more familiar fighters, most likely because his style and special moves can be quite tricky to learn and master. However, those who stick with it are well rewarded, for Dairou is an incredibly powerful kombatant when used correctly. The purpose of this guide is to help those who read it become Dairou masters by detailing his moves, specials, combos and strategies you can use when playing as him. ------------ ABOUT DAIROU ------------ WARNING: Spoilers are going to be unveiled in this section. If you don't want to spoil Dairou's story for yourself, I suggest you skip past this section of the FAQ. Origin: Realm of Order (Seido) Alignment: Good / Neutral Allies: Darrius, Damashi Foes: Hotaru Fighting Styles: Mi Zong, Autumn Dao Dairou is a resident of Seido, also known as the Realm of Order. He once worked as a member of the Seidan Guard, protecting it's civilans from anything that would disrupt the order of the realm. One day, Dairou's family were killed by a hired assassin. Dairou tracked the assassin down and slew him in a fit of rage. In the Realm of Seido though, assaulting a perpetrator without consent of a superior officer is considered a serious offence. The law itself turned on Dairou, ignoring all the good he had done in his service to the Seidan government and defining him through that one moment of rage. He was sentenced to a lifetime of imprisonment. Some time later, a riot led by the Seidan Resistance allowed Dairou to escape prison, but his experience left him jaded and cynical. He vowed to never work for the Seidan Guard again, but could not completely turn to the path of Chaos. Instead, he chose a middle ground and decided to work as a mercenary, lending his services to the highest bidder. One of these bidders was Damashi, or a representive of him (seeing as Damashi was nothing more than a projected image of Onaga's conscience), who hired Dairou to break Shujinko out of prison in order for him to complete his task of finding the six Kamidogu during the events of MK: Deception's Konquest. Dairou located Shujinko being kept in a holding cell awaiting trial and easily killed the two guards keeping watch over him with a surprise attack. After commentating on how easy they were to take care of and also about the overzealousness of his former employers, Dairou left Shujinko to complete his task. Some time after that, Dairou was recruited by Darrius, leader of the Resistance, and paid many koins to do his bidding. What Dairou does not realise, however, is that the man who hired the assassin to kill Dairou's family was Darrius himself. At the time MK:D begins, Dairou has two contracts to furfill. The first is to steal the Declaration of Order, the most prized possession of the Seidan government and deliver it to Darrius. The second, and more important one, is to find and kill his former commander, Hotaru. Canon would seemingly dictate that Dairou has either failed or has yet to complete the contract on Hotaru's life, as Hotaru is alive and well in MK: Armageddon. There is no mention given in the game regarding the Declaration of Order, or even on the current state of Seido for that matter. Thanks in large to a lack of an official biography, it is unclear why Dairou would even be in Edenia for the events of Armageddon. Once you complete Arcade Mode as Dairou, you are granted the following ending, narrated by Argus (father of Taven and Daegon) while Dairou does a kata on top of the pyramid. "The fire of Blaze enveloped Dairou and formed around him a golden suit of armor. Enraged, Shao Kahn attacked, but the armor scorched his body with every blow. Dairou defeated the Emperor and claimed Outworld for himself. Under his rule Outworld once again became the majestic realm it has been in ages past. Convinced of his good nature, Edenia and Earthrealm forged an alliance with Dairou that would ensure peace and stability for the realms." My opinions on this ending? Wow. The developers must like Dairou as much as I do. Sadly I don't see this becoming canon, as Outworld at peace would leave little options open for a sequel. But you never know... TRIVIA NOTE: Dairou was originally going to be in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, as a hired bodyguard of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. His story for that game was that he was a samurai who was too bloodthirsty to abide by their code of honour. The time factor in releasing MK:DA meant that he had to be omitted from the game, but he can still be seen in the production art that can be bought in MK:DA's Krypt. ---------------------------- DAIROU'S COSTUME DESCRPTIONS ---------------------------- Dairou's primary costume resembles a monk of sorts. The front half and top of his head are completely bald, and on his forehead are red markings. The back half of his head is a very long black ponytail. He wears a brown costume made mostly of cloth. Dairou's alternate costume is also brown, but consists of a more metallic armour plating than the cloth of his primary costume. His arms are now bare as well. Essentially, Dairou's look has not changed from MK: Deception. ************************************************* PLAYING AS DAIROU ************************************************* ------------------- CONTROLS AND BASICS ------------------- From this point onwards in this FAQ, I will be using a lot of abbreviations, symbols and numbers to help describe Dairou's moveset. I will define all of these in this section. Note that, as my only game console is a Playstation 2, these basics only refer to the buttons on the PS2 control pad. If enough people holler at me I may consider making this part of the FAQ X-Box 360 and Wii compatible, but until then... NOTE: These are the default keys when you start up MK:D. All directional references refer to the D-Pad of the PS2 controller, not the analog stick. |-------------------------------------------| | DEFINITION | ABB | BUTTON | SYMBOL | |-------------------------------------------| | Followed By | - | - | , | | At Same Time | - | - | + | | Forward | F | -* | - | | Backward | B | -* | - | | Up | U | Up | - | | Down | D | Down | - | | Attack 1 | 1 | Square | - | | Attack 2 | 2 | Triangle | - | | Attack 3 | 3 | X | - | | Attack 4 | 4 | Circle | - | | Throw | TH | R1 | - | | Block | BL | R2 | - | | Change Stance | CS | L1 | - | |-------------------------------------------| * = The buttons used for Forward and Back depend on which side of the screen your character is on. If they are on the left, Forward is Right and Back is left, and vice versa if your character is on the right. Now I'll go into the basic moves of every stance that Dairou has to offer, along with some brief comments on the stances themselves and how much damage each basic attack does. If you see a star (*) next to the damage percentage of a move, this means that move can knock opponents into Death Traps. The kombos for each style are written furthur down in the FAQ. NOTE: All attacks were performed on Dairou. This is important as different characters take different amounts of damage from moves. NOTE 2: The Mi Zong air attack damage ratings were taken after the opponent was knocked into the air with the Lefit Kick. The Autumn Dao air damage ratings were taken after the opponent was hit with the Tombstone Drop. As a result of their nature (only able to be used when juggling an opponent, or on the off chance both players jump into the air at the same time), they are not a 100% accurate reflection of the damage the move does. -------- MI ZONG -------- Mi Zong is the secondary fighting style for Bo Rai Cho in MK: Deadly Alliance and also for Li Mei in MK: Deception. It remains a decent enough style that benefits greatly from the aerial kombat upgrade given to the game engine, due to it being plentiful with popup attacks. While in this style, make liberal use of Slap Down, Lefit Kick and Smashing Kick and follow up in the air. The main con of this stance is that it's one sweep move is slower than most. Hook Fist: 1 (5%) Off Balance Push: B + 1 (8%) Slap Down: F + 1 (4%) Slide Strike: D + 1 (4%) Straight Up: 2 (7%) Pelvis Strike: B + 2 (10%)* Uppercut: D + 2 (13%)* High Kick: 3 (9%) Sweeping Trip: B + 3 (7%) Crab Kick: D + 3 (4%) Side Kick: 4 (9%) Lefit Kick: B + 4 (6%)* Smashing Kick: U + 4 (10%)* Step Kick: D + 4 (4%) Onslaught (Air): 1 (2%) Spin Cycle (Air): 2 (3%) Big Blast Combo (Air): 3 (2%) Rain Drop (Air): 4 (3 + 4%) ---------- AUTUMN DAO ---------- The Autumn Dao returns and is as solid as it was in MK: Deception. Easily the better of Dairou's stances, this weapon does loads of damage and has a great mix low and high attacks, which compensates it's lack of decent popups. Do remember that you take 25% more damage if you're hit while in this stance, so watch out. Gut Slash: 1 (10%) Wushu Spin: F + 1 (9 + 7%) Thigh Slash: D + 1 (5%) Upward Wind: 2 (10%) Upward Launcher: B + 2 (9%)* Double Handed Slash: D + 2 (15%)* Melon Cutter: 3 (11%) Crouching Cyclone: F + 3 (11 + 8%)* Tornado Spin: B + 3 (9%) Low Ranged Stab: D + 3 (3%) Chest Stab: 4 (7%)* Blender Slice: F + 4 (6 + 4 + 3%) Foot Chopper: D + 4 (4%) Thrash Out (Air): 1 (2%) Bogie (Air): 2 (3%) Long Legs (Air): 3 (2%) Spinning Feet Grab (Air): 4 (3 + 4%) ------------- SPECIAL MOVES ------------- Now I'll go into a description of Dairou's specials. In this section, I'll give a quick explanation of the move, give it a rating and then add some personal comments on it. ARM SNAPPER - TH (5 + 5% damage) Description: Dairou grabs his opponent by the arm, snaps it by the elbow in a direction it shouldn't go in, and then throws the opponent to the floor some distance from him. Sadly, the opponent's arm relocates itself by the time they get up. Rating: 3/5 A fairly weak throw, not nearly as heavy hitting as some of the best damagers in the game nor with any potential for setting up juggles. It's good for getting distance between you and your opponent and can be used to set up the Tombstone Drop, but unless your opponent is a block frenzy maniac or constantly in close range proximity, you're usually better off using Stealthy Shadows. TOMBSTONE DROP - F, B, D, 1 (8% damage) Description: Dairou spreads his arms out and slams himself backwards into the ground as hard as he can. The impact from this propells the opponent high into the air and they almost cut a flip in the process. Dairou bounces back up instantly after hitting the floor while the opponent falls towards him. Note: This move will always do damage and propell the opponent into the air as long as they are touching the floor. Rating: 5/5 Master this move. Don't be put off by the low damage and complex button sequence, MASTER THIS MOVE. This is Dairou's best and most dangerous move, because not only is it the perfect juggle starter, not only is it so fast it's practically instantaneous, but it is also unblockable. The only way to avoid taking damage is to jump in the air. Human players will almost ALWAYS get caught in this regardless of their skill because it's impossible to telegraph and even the higher difficuly CPU has trouble avoiding it. If you wanna become a great Dairou player, you will need to execute this move at will from either side of your opponent. Combining this move with the Autumn Dao combos is a great way to take your opponents health down quickly. One Tombstone Drop plus the Blood Letter combo does 33% damage. That's a third of the opponent's health gone in an unblockable 5 hit combo, people. Now do you see why I love this move so much? :) The Tombstone Drop is also a great counterattack move. Missed projectile? Tombstone Drop. Out of range special? Tombstone Drop. Whiffed combo? Tombstone Drop. And even better, thanks to the air kombat upgrade given to the game engine, this is pretty much THE move to use when starting aerial attack combos. The only con of using the Tombstone Drop is that if you do it too close to your opponent, they'll fly over your head and this may ruin your chance to hit a big juggle. Not that you'd be that close to your opponent in the first place though. :) STEALTHY SHADOWS - U, D, 3 (N/A) Description: A puff of yellow smoke surrounds Dairou as another surrounds his opponent, then the two exchange their current positions on the screen. As the smoke clears, the opponent is confused for a second and looks around to get their bearings, leaving them open for an attack. Rating: 4/5 Another great move in Dairou's arsenal. While Stealthy Shadows does no damage, the split second it gives you will allows you to deliver either a quick Tombstone Drop if your opponent is mid to long range from you, or allow you to start a vicious dial-a-combo from close range. It's also very useful as a counter to projectile attacks. However, this move CAN be blocked, and if it is, your opponent will exchange places with you, but will be in block mode and will not be temporarily confused. This is the only serious con of the move and the only thing preventing me from giving it a higher score. Don't overuse it, and it'll work wonders. IRON LEG - D, B, 2 (9% damage) Description: Dairou extends his leg towards his opponent as if going for a kick. An orange star-shaped projectile then shoots from his foot, leaving trails of orange energy behind it. Upon impact, the projectile dissipates. Rating: 2/5 To be fair, this is better than most projectiles in the game, but not by much. The Iron Leg travels fairly fast and has a good recovery time, but cannot be used to knock opponents into Death Traps and doesn't do a great deal of damage. Even though the recovery time is fairly quick compared to most specials, you're still left wide open for teleport attacks or sidestep counters. At long range, you have much better options than this. ---------- FATALITIES ---------- As most of you will no doubt be aware by now, the Mortal Kombat series is notourious for allowing you, once you've defeated your opponent, a few seconds to finish them off in a particularly gruesome fashion. MK: Armageddon changes the formula however; rather than pressing in a 5 button combination and sitting back to watch the fun, you now have a limited time to dismember your opponent with a frantic amount of button bashing. The more moves you get in, the bigger bonus you receive in koins and viewing pleasure. Provided you don't botch the final finisher at the last moment, that is. :) As the list of all possible fatality options is already in FAQs across the Internet, I suggest you check out one of the those for the list, because I'm not about to waste space typing them up here. But if you really can't be bothered to press the "back" button on your Internet browser, here's a quick copy-and-paste link to the list for you: http://www.myspace.com/mka_subzero (No, that's not a joke. It really is there.) ************************************************* KOMBOS ************************************************* And now, we get to the meaty section. In this bit, I'm going to show the button combinations needed to pull off Dairou's combos and also show you how much damage they do. Before I go into detail on this, I'll also briefly talk about the combos themselves and how to use them effectively. --------- MI ZONG --------- Just about all of Dairou's combos here are easy to execute and do good damage, however they lack a variety of hit areas. While decent for starting aerial combos, I wouldn't advise combining these combos with a Tombstone Drop started juggle - they're too weak for it to be worth it. NOTE: All Mi Zong Combos that can knock opponents into Death Traps do so on the final hit only. Good Old 1-2: 1, 1 (5 + 4%) Zong Gong: 1, 2 (5 + 5%) Stem Of Death: 2, 2 (5 + 7%) Triplets: 1, 1, 1 (5 + 4 + 3%)* Angry Ape: 1, 1, F + 1 (5 + 4 + 3%) Frying Hands: 1, 2, 2 (5 + 5 + 4%) Zong Rage: 1, 1, 4 (5 + 4 + 5%) Iron Broom: 2, 2, (5 + 5 + 6%) Zong Tongs: 2, 2, U + 4 (5 + 5 + 7%)* Medium Hit (Air): 1, 1 (2 + 2%) The Twist (Air): 3, 3 (2 + 2%) Take Off (Air): 1, 1, 1 (2 + 2 + 1%) Power Spin (Air): 1, 1, 2 (2 + 2 + 2%) Twister (Air): 1, 1, 3 (2 + 2 + 1%) Drop Down (Air): 1, 1, 4 (2 + 2 + 3 + 4%) Fierce Power (Air): 3, 3, 2 (2 + 2 + 2%) Kickback (Air): 3, 3, 3 (2 + 2 + 1%) Bird Toss (Air): 3, 3, 4 (2 + 2 + 3 + 4%) Hurricane (Air): 1, 1, 3, 2 (2 + 2 + 1 + 2%) Gravity Strikes (Air): 1, 1, 3, 3 (2 + 2 + 1 + 1%) Over Head Air Toss (Air): 1, 1, 3, 4 (2 + 2 + 1 + 3 + 4%) Fierce Power: 1, 2, 2, CS (5 + 5 + 4 + 4%) ---------- AUTUMN DAO ---------- The Autumn Dao is the weaker of Dairou's stances combo wise, but that's ok as you'll only ever need to perform one combo when you select this weapon, and that's Blood Letter. As I said earlier in the FAQ, when combined with a Tombstone Drop, 3 Blood Letter combos equals a match victory. Use and abuse. :) Tiger Slashes: 1, 1 (10 + 7%)* Beast Power: 1, 1, 2 (10 + 7 + 3%)* Blood Letter: 1, 1, F + 3 (10 + 7 + 6 + 4%)* Rebel (Air): 1, 1 (2 + 2%) Airborne Kick (Air): 3, 3 (2 + 2%) Fresh Air (Air): 1, 1, 1 (2 + 2 + 1%) Spinning Attack (Air): 1, 1, 2 (2 + 2 + 2%) Lucky Wind (Air): 1, 1, 3 (2 + 2 + 1%) Flip Down (Air): 1, 1, 4 (2 + 2 + 3 + 4%) Somersault (Air): 3, 3, 2 (2 + 2 + 2%) Boot To The Face (Air): 3, 3, 3 (2 + 2 + 1%) Pincer Throw (Air): 3, 3, 4 (2 + 2 + 3 + 4%) Guiding Light (Air): 1, 1, 3, 3 (2 + 2 + 1 + 1%) Zero Gravity (Air): 1, 1, 3, 4 (2 + 2 + 1 + 3 + 4%) ************************************************* STRATEGY ************************************************* Please note, before you start reading this section, that even though I have access to the Internet, I have never, and nor to I intend to, play MK: Armageddon online. The reason for this is because my personal computer is situated in a different room than my PS2, and I'm not about to move either into the same room and try and find space to have both of them fit in order to have them feed off the one connection to the Internet I have in my house. This means that any strategies you can think of online to defeat human players will have to be thought up yourselves. Sorry. The strategies I am outlining here are basic tactics on how to top the Arcade CPU. You may very well be able to apply them online as well, although human opponents have the innate act to eventually telegraph something as basic as this strategy, so abusing it won't do you much good in the long run. -------------- BASIC STRATEGY -------------- 1) Throw your opponent. 2) Switch to Autumn Dao stance as they fall to the floor. 3) Perform the Tombstone Drop as they get up. 4) Time the Blood Letter combo so that you nail your foe with all four hits as they're falling down. 5) Rinse and repeat. This is great as a starting combo against the CPU on whatever difficulty, as they never see it coming. I will be emphasising this repeatedly throughout this section, but you should always bust out the Tombstone Drop and follow it with the Blood Letter combo when you can. I've tried and tested it, and it remains the best and most effecient way to get your opponents health down AND to make them waste their breakers. Once they've done that, they're dead. Against poking opponents, you might have some trouble though. If that's the case, you're gonna have to mixup a combination of low attacks, or if they're the blocking type, mid attacks in your combos. Again, this is the main strength of the Autumn Dao, so use your Tornado Spins, Foot Cutters and Blender attacks well. When Tombstone Dropping the CPU on "Hard" difficulty, I've noticed three things can happen. 1) They get hit by the move. 2) They jump forwards. 3) They jump backwards. In the case of 1), you don't need to worry. If 2) occurs, that's a problem thanks to the advances made in the jump kicks for MK:A. Your best bet is to try and hit a popup attack as soon as you recover from the Tombstone Drop. Nothing can be done about 3), but seeing as the opponent is unable to attack you, that's ok too. Just regroup, rinse and repeat. While boss creatures (Moloch, Goro, Kintaro, Onaga and Blaze) are not propelled into the air by the Tombstone Drop, it does stun them for a moment and cancel out any attacks they may try against you. Also, thanks to them lacking a decent jump kick, if they jump towards you to counter the Tombstone Drop, you can often swat them out of the sky with the Blood Letter combo anyway. Ermac is a dangerous opponent for Dairou to fight, because his Mystic Float completely bypasses the effects of the Tombstone Drop. You will have to employ Stealthy Shadows against him if he tries this move. Similarly, I have not been able to test if the Tombstone Drop cancels out teleport attacks and ground pounds, so be wary against fighters who have those too. ************************************************* FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ************************************************* Koming whenever people decide to ask me questions. :) ************************************************* THE FINAL WORD ************************************************* Well, writing this FAQ took a lot longer than I thought it would, thanks in large to my crappy old computer deleting my first try at it for no apparent reason. Ass-backward technology sucks. :) Feedback is welcome provided you can write in good English. My e-mail address is keepinitfresh@hotmail.com, but be warned: my Hotmail account can get quite filled with junk as well, so PLEASE ensure that any mail you wish to send me has the words "MK: Armageddon - Dairou FAQ" clearly printed in the subject title somewhere, otherwise I might mistake it for spam mail and delete it! Thanks go out to the following people: Me (no one reads this bit, so why not) for taking what spare time I have in this world to constantly update this FAQ. :) Midway for producing this great game! GameFAQs for allowing me to put the initial version of this FAQ on their site. And finally I give thanks to YOU, the adoring fan / Mortal Kombat fanatic who decided to read all the way through this FAQ of mine. You guys are the reason I do and will continue to update this FAQ until literally nothing more can be said about the man known as Dairou. So then, all that's left to say is "Laterz, Dudez." Minty Fresh Death