************************************************************** | |\ /| | / /\ |\ /| | | |-- |-- |\ | /\ | | | \/ | |/ / \ ++ | \/ | | | |__ |__ | \ | / \ | | | | |\ / __ \ ++ | | | | | | | \ | / __ \ | | | | | \ / \ | | | |__ |__ |__ | \| / \ | ************************************************************** Guide For Mileena in Mortal Kombat Armageddon: First of all, a little bit about me, the writer of this “fabulous” guide. I love Mileena, and it upset me so much that she didn’t have a guide all to herself on Gamefaqs, I decided to make one myself. This is my first FAQ, so hopefully it doesn’t suck too much. Anyway, I have been a Mileena fan ever since her first appearance in MK2, and I’ve always ALWAYS thought her superior to Kitana, both in character depth and usefulness in Kombat. I am always drawn to fast characters, and Mileena has always been quick, even in MK2, where everyone moved at the same speed. While she has lost a bit of speed in this game, and I can’t argue that she’s the best character in the game (as I could in MK2) she’s still quite good, and fun to play with. Her Tele-kick, which just keeps getting better, has always been a killer move which can absolutely out-do any special Kitana (or most other characters, for that matter) has. Plus, she’s a monster underneath the mask! If that’s not kickass, I don’t know what is. She’s a bitter, jealous, power hungry mutant bitch, and that makes her awesome. What other fighter in this game, or any other fighting game ever made, can claim to be all that? In closing, Mileena is awesome, unique, and a pretty good fighter too. Here’s how we’re going to learn to use her to her fullest potential. I. Biography II. Pros and Cons III. Move Lists IV. Strategies V. Kredits But before we do any of that…let’s get the controls out of the way. Move PS2 XBOX Wii Attack 1 Square X Left D-pad Attack 2 Triangle Y Up D-pad Attack 3 X A Down D-pad Attack 4 O B Right D-pad Block R2 R Z Throw R1 Black A Change Style L1 L C Pick Up Weapon L2 White ? (But ‘Pick Up Weapon’ doesn’t really matter, as I have never used it…) Breaker R2 + Forward R + Forward Z + Forward Duck Forward + Down Forward + Down No idea Alrighty, now that that’s done… I..Biography (taken from Wikipedia, so you KNOW it’s accurate…) Mileena is a clone of Kitana gone wrong, created by Shang Tsung. After Shao Khan conquered Edenia and merged it with Outworld, he decided to keep the dead Edenian king’s daughter Kitana as his own. She was too young to know what had happened, and grew up thinking that Shao Khan was her father. However, Shao Khan feared that she would someday find out the truth, and ordered Shang Tsung, his ‘trustworthy’ sorcerer to make a clone of Kitana, which would be vicious and loyal to him, able to take Kitana’s place if she should ever turn against him. To accomplish this, Shang Tsung decided to combine Kitana’s appearance with a Tarkatan’s essence. During the cloning process, something went wrong, and Mileena was left with pointy Tarkatan teeth. Rather than leaving her in a dumpster to die, Shang Tsung called her Mileena, and decided that she would pose as Kitana’s twin sister, watching her, making sure that she remained loyal to Shao Khan. Mileena and Kitana grew up together (and how Mileena managed to hide her teeth during these childhood years is beyond me…) and acted as Shao Khan’s personal assassins. Mileena began to grow bitter towards her “sister,” whom Shao Khan favored. Somewhere around this time, Mileena met Baraka, and the two plotted to overthrow Shao Khan. This plan never came to fruition, however, the two remained on friendly terms. As the two girls grew older, Shao Khan began to have doubts about Kitana’s loyalty, and ordered Mileena to watch her closer. Mileena did so, and found out that Kitana was conspiring with Earthrealm warriors. Mileena attacked Kitana, but unfortunately, Kitana killed her, and she descended into the Netherrealm, hating her “twin” even more. While in the Netherrealm, Mileena was recruited by the former Elder God, Shinnok. When Shao Khan made an attempt to resurrect Mileena, Shinnok saw this as a great opportunity to have a spy reporting on the events unfolding in Earthrealm, and allowed Mileena to be revived. She was granted the ability to read Kitana’s thoughts. However, Shao Khan was defeated again, and after her short-lived resurrection, Mileena was summoned back to the Netherrealm to prepare for Shinnok’s own attack on Edenia. Mileena saw this as a chance to prove her worth and attacked Kitana yet again, but yet again, Kitana bested her, and this time imprisoned her in an Edenian dungeon after Shinnok’s defeat, perhaps hoping that she would reform. Mileena remained imprisoned for many years, until the Dragon King Onaga returned, and began his own invasion of Edenia. Baraka, a minion of Onaga and old friend of Mileena, freed her, and she was ordered to pose as Kitana in order to mislead the Edenian army while Onaga gathered his strength. While Mileena was more than happy to pose as Kitana, she began to enjoy the power she had a bit too much, and began giving orders on her own, hoping that someday, once the Edenian army was corrupted enough, she would be able to lead them under her own name. Mileena was able to seize Shao Khan’s Outworld fortress, with the Edenian army beneath her, but soon discovered that Shao Khan, Goro, and Shang Tsung had mounted an offensive against her, thinking that she was Kitana. Mileena surrendered to Shao Khan and revealed her true identity. Shao Khan was pleased, and ordered her to capture Shujinko, who would be used as a bargaining chip to gain Onaga as an ally. Mileena did so, but she was no longer content with being a minion. She set her sights on ruling Edenia. Armageddon Ending (One of the better ones in the game, in my humble opinion): The power of Blaze united Mileena and Kitana for a moment. When they had separated, Mileena had become beautiful, but Kitana was horrified to find her mouth filled with elongated, razor sharp teeth. The change in appearance allowed Mileena to pose as Kitana and finally take her rightful place on the throne of Edenia. She imprisoned Kitana, who went mad in the palace dungeon. II..Pros and Cons Pros: First off, Mileena’s fast. Her attacks and combos are hard to block because of her speed (at least, if you are playing a human…) Secondly, she’s got a sweet move, which I call her Tele-kick. It is wicked fast, and works VERY well against big slow boss characters like Blaze. It can also help you escape other teleport attacks, like Scorpion or Smoke’s Tele-punch. Both of her attack styles, Sai and Mian Chuan, are useful and good, and both have plenty of combos and pop-up attacks. She is also one of the most unique characters I’ve ever encountered in a fighting game (she has teeth!)…not that that really makes her a good choice in Kombat…whatever. Cons: She’s one of the weaker characters (her best combo only does 27% damage) and her combos are hard to execute because of her speed. Once you get when to push the buttons to string the combos together, you should be alright, but it takes a little practice. Also, one of her specials, Rolling Thunder, should NOT be used unless you have just uppercutted someone and they’re busy landing. If this special is blocked, the other kombatant can just destroy you. III..Move List We’ll start with special moves. These are moves unique to Mileena… 1. Forward, Forward + 4 = TELE-KICK. Awesome move. Very useful. Only does 9% damage, however, it’s good for both offense and defense. It’s a great move if you just need to avoid something, and it’s also a great finishing move to end a battle. It can be done in the air too (yay!) Don’t whore this move, as it will piss off humans, and computers will eventually catch on and uppercut you. It’s a great move, but don’t let it be your only move. 2. Back, Down + 4 = ROLLING THUNDER. A barrel roll attack on the ground, like Donkey Kong. As I said, do NOT do this move unless you have just uppercutted your opponent and they are soaring through the air. If they aren’t in the air, DON’T USE THIS MOVE. This is Mileena’s only slow attack, and it’s easily blockable. It also only does about 7% damage, even worse than Tele-kick. It’s a shame this move got destroyed so much, it used to be much faster and thus much better, but the game creators probably thought, “Gosh, Mileena has to have SOME move that’s crappy!” 3. Down, Forward + 2 = SOARING SAI. A projectile attack. This is good for boss characters also, as you can stay away from them and still hit them. It’s a good attack. Mileena recovers from it pretty quickly too, so don’t be afraid to do it at a closer distance. Like TELE-KICK, it’s a good finisher. Also, this is one of those “quarter-circle forward” moves, if you have ever played MK on the Super Nintendo. Press down, and then just slide your thumb over to the forward button. That is, if you are playing on PS2 or XBOX. Wii people, just move your arm. 4. R2 = THROW. Yes, this is special to Mileena. No one else has this throw. It does 16% damage and looks cool. Throws are kind of hard to land, so don’t get your heart set on doing it too often. Onto better things…here are all of Mileena’s Mian Chuan moves. 1) 1 = PALM STRIKE. A punch. Actually, it’s more of an elbow to the head. 2) Back + 1 = CRUSHING KNEE. Mileena knees the opponent. This is a pop-up attack. You might want to jump in the air after you do it…I prefer uppercutting. More on stringing moves together later… 3) Forward + 1 = HURTING STRIKE. A knockdown move, Mileena straight- arms the opponent. This move takes some time to recover from if you miss, so be warned. 4) Down + 1 = CROUCHING FANG. A low punch 5) 2 = COTTON PUNCH. A slightly lower punch. 6) Back + 2 = QUICK PALM. A fast punch. This is a good. You can hold back and keep hitting 2 for a fast attack. It is weak, though. 7) Down + 2 = RISING UPPERCUT. The uppercut! Does 13% damage and knocks ‘em up in the air. Surprisingly useful on boss characters. 8) Up + 2 = COLD FIST. A mildly damaging gut punch. It’s a little slow, though. Don’t get this confused with Down + 2…even though it makes more sense that Up + 2 is an UP-percut. 9) 2 + 2 = COLD FISTS. 2 punches. Nothing special. I’d use Back + 2 here. 10) 3 = VEIL SIDEKICK. A plain ol’ kick. 11) Back + 3 = FRONT SIDEKICK. I have no idea why this is called “Front Sidekick.” It’s a sweep. 12) Down + 3 = SIDEWINDER. A low kick. 13) 4 = WILD KICK. A double kick. Mileena first kicks them high in the face, then brings her leg down and smacks them again. This is a great combo starter. 14) Back + 4 = JUKE. A gut kick. Stuns the opponent for a moment. SLOW recovery time though, so I wouldn’t recommend using it. 15) Down + 4 = TOPPLING KICK. An ankle breaker kick. It’s a low one. Good to use if you’re ducking an attack and want to stop your attacker. I never go on the defensive, so I don’t ever use it, but I imagine it could work. Here are all of Mileena’s Aerial Mian Chuan moves. A little note on Aerial Kombat. I have never been able to execute some of these Combos, however, I haven’t ever tried that hard, because honestly, if you just jump up there and push a lot of buttons, something good is going to happen. Attack 4 is the throw, so try to use that when you want to end the Combo. I can’t tell you much more than just practice, and see what kind of Aerial damage you like best. I probably use about the same 2 or 3 Combos every time. Also, Mileena is most damaging in the air at this point, using Mian Chuan style. Just something to think about… 1) 1 = WAR CRY. A punch in the air. 2) 2 = SMASH DOWN. This will slam your opponent to the ground. In theory, they bounce back up to you so you can smack them down again. In practice, they usually stay down…very annoying. 3) 3 = GUT KICK. A kick in the air. 4) 4 = FLIP THROW. An in-air throw. Again, this is supposed to bounce your opponent back up to you. This does not always happen. 5) 1, 1 = DOWNWARD SWAT. Don’t know why it’s called this. It’s just two punches in the air. 6) 2, 2 = AIR SAWS. Two smash downs. If you can get your opponent to cooperate and bounce the first time, you can bounce them again. Naturally, this does great damage. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to guarantee it will work. 7) 1, 1, 1 = DOWNWARD END. Punch, punch, swipe down. Knocks your opponent down to the ground for good. 8) 1, 1, 2 = SWIPE. Does about what 1, 1, 1 does. Plus, you don’t need to switch buttons with that Combo. 9) 1, 1, 3 = HOVERING KICK. Kick, kick, spinny kick. You spin, and the opponent goes flying. 10) 3, 3, 1 = SWAT TEAM. Well…Mileena swats them. 11) 3, 3, 2 = POWER DOWN. Mileena ends with kicking them down. 12) 1, 1, 4 = CLEANSING WIND. Don’t you love the poetic names they give these brutal attacks? 13) 3, 3, 3 = SPINNING WHEELS. Mileena does a flip kick at the end. 14) 3, 3, 4 = END TIMES. Another throw down. 15) 3, 3, 1, 1 = DOWNTIME. Just basic swipe punching the opponent down. 16) 1, 1, 3, 3 = PINWHEEL. Like how this is the reverse of DOWNTIME? 17) 1, 1, 3, 4 = BOUNCEBACK. This one is kind of neat, but hard to excecute. 18) 3, 3, 1, 4 = THIS IS THE END. Of my Aerial Kombat list. Heh, it’s a throw down. This is usually the Combo I use in the air…I think. And here are the Mian Chuan Combos. These are what you’re really looking for…As a note, it seems that this style, when compared to her other style (Sai) is a bit lacking in set Combos, so I have created a few of my own, and you should feel free to do the same. 1. 4, 1 = FLASHY. Don’t know why it’s called that…anyway, Mileena kicks the opponent, then knocks them into the air. You can do jump up and do some nice aerial Kombat from there. If you are a beginner, I would NOT jump up and do Attack 2, as this is hard to land (this goes for all Mian Chuan Pop-up Combos) Also, you will need to push the buttons FAST in order for this to work. 2. 4, Forward + 1 = RUBBERBAND PUNCH. Mileena double kicks the opponent, and then stiff arms them and knocks them over. A knockdown combo, it’s not bad, and does about 16 or 17% damage. It’s actually good if your opponent has been breaking your Aerial Kombat too, as you can string FLASHY along with it…4,1 (opponent in air), 4, Forward + 1 (hits opponent in air, knocks ‘em down, and is just as damaging as an air strike) 3. Hold Back + 2, 2, 2 = COTTON’S RAGE. This is a nice fast attack you can use when the stupid game starts a battle with your opponent an inch away from you. It might be a little unclear, but you should hold Back the whole time. 4. Back + 3, Back + 1, Down + 2 = SWEEP, KNEE, UPPERCUT. You can follow this with a ROLLING THUNDER (Back, Down + 4) if you want. You’re going to have to practice this one. You can knee the opponent (do Back + 1) as soon as they start getting up from your sweep. However, your opponents have a way of moving after you’ve swept them, such as rolling away from you (how annoying!), thus making you miss your knee, so you are going to have to practice. This combo, which I made up, does excellent damage if you can land all of it, (27% in all, with the Rolling Thunder. Does 24% damage without it.) I warn you, though, if you don’t do Rolling Thunder fast enough after the uppercut, it WILL get blocked, and something awful will happen afterwards. Unless you have hit your opponent at the highest point, don’t add on the Rolling Thunder. Also, when you move up to Max difficulty, don’t even bother adding Rolling Thunder. 5. 4, 3, Change Style = OUTWORLD WONDER. Yes, that’s right, I said Change Style. Mileena double kicks the opponent, then single kicks them, then breaks out her Sai and knocks them down. It does 27% damage, which is pretty good. It’s HARD to land. You must push the buttons quickly. While Mileena is only on her second kick (3) you should already have hit Change Style. I would suggest seriously practicing this on Practice Mode, if you are concerned with learning it. It strikes hard and fast and it’s tough to block once it gets going (by humans, anyway, the computer will block it about 40% of the time – depending on your difficulty setting…so annoying), so I recommend it. A nice thing about this combo is that you now have your Sai out. 6. Hold Back, 2, 2, 2, 1, Down + 2 = ADD ON. I made this one up too, as the name implies, it adds on to the COTTON’S RAGE (Hold Back, 2, 2, 2) Combo. Works best against slower characters, and if you are playing on easy and your opponents are crappy blockers. I would shy away from this as you get better. You can keep holding Back until you uppercut the person while they are in the air from your Knee (Back + 1). This is a quick combo, and a good substitute for SWEEP, KNEE, UPPERCUT if someone keeps blocking your sweep or moving far away after you do sweep them. A note on Combos, before I go on to the next style. Combos are great, but if you do the same ones too often, people or the computer will catch on. You have to mix them up, and the only way to get good enough to do that is to practice! Also, don’t be entirely reliant on Combos. They can be blocked, parried, or broken. Get the basic moves down, and you’ll be able to throw one of those in every now and then to keep the opponent from guessing your next move. Also, although my personal favorites are Pop-up moves, because aerial Kombat looks so sweet, it is not very powerful, and gets broken all the time. You should master all of the combos, not just the Pop-ups. Now that my lecture’s over…Onto Sai! 1) 1 = SAI HILT. A quick Sai swipe. A good starter for many combos. 2) Back + 1 = OVERHEAD SMASH. A pop-up attack, this slams the opponent into the ground so hard that they pop back up into the air. It’s nice, but best in a combo, not on its own. 3) Down + 1 = LOW SWIPE. A low stab. Nothing much. 4) 1 + 1 = 2. Ha, but seriously. QUICKNESS. It’s two quick swipes with the Sai. 1 + 1 is a combo all to itself. It’s very fast, and takes little effort on the player’s part. A good beginner combo. 5) 2 = GUT STAB. A poke. Sort of slow by Mileena’s standards. It starts an alright combo though. 6) Forward + 2 = TWIN FANGS. A knockdown attack, Mileena lunges at the opponent with both Sai. It’s fast, but the recovery time is not. Don’t do this attack unless it’s in a combo. 7) Back + 2 = EYE POKE. Go for the eyes, Boo! Anyway, this is an eye poke. It stuns the opponent for a decent amount of time. It, like Forward + 2, has a slow recovery time. Also, I have trouble getting it in a combo. This move is best done in practice or against your younger brother, or other people who suck at MK, because it’s not much good otherwise. 8) Down + 2 = SHIN STAB. Duck and stab. The only reason you will use this is because you’ve gotten used to Down + 2 as an uppercut in Mian Chuan. I do this move accidentally all the time. It’s alright, as it’s pretty quick and has a good recovery. I just disappoint myself… 9) Up + 2 = RISING SAI. This is the uppercut with Sai. It’s quick, the recovery time is…okay. Good in a couple combos though. 10) 2+ 2 = TWO STAB. A slow poke and a slow poke (not the Pokemon). It would do 20% damage if your opponent was a rock, or frozen to the ground. Do not pair 2 and 2 together unless it is in a certain combo, which I will describe to you in detail later. 11) 3 = FOOT SPIKE. A kick. Yes, a kick. No Sai are involved. 12) Forward + 3 = FACE SLASH. A slightly quick slash that spins the opponent. Sounds better on paper than it is in practice. 13) Back + 3 = LOW POKER. A low quick stab. Good to use after a certain Combo (you’ll see) 14) Down + 3 = KNEE POKE. Mileena attacks from above and sticks her Sai into a hopefully fallen player. It’s kind of like a reverse uppercut. It’s really weak though. You’re best to stick with LOW POKER. 15) 4 = SWEEPING SAI. Trips your opponent up. Not bad. Good to throw in after a couple runs doing combos. It will keep your opponent on their toes. If you’re fast, you could switch styles and knee them… 16) Down + 4 = HOOKING STAB. A low stab. And here are all Mileena’s Aerial Kombat moves in the Sai style. The same note I left you for the previous air attacks still applies. However, you can totally start an air Combo with Attack 2 now, and I would, in fact, recommend it. 1) 1 = DOWNFALL. In spite of the name, it’s just a kick. 2) 2 = LUCKY CHANGE. A neat looking backflip kick. 3) 3 = MARKED HUMANOID. With a name like this, you’d expect something a little weirder, like an alien or a UFO or something. But it’s just a kick. 4) 4 = SPINNING FEET GRAB. A throw attack. Don’t push this button to start a Combo. It’s a good ender. 5) 1, 1 = STINKY AIR. Just two kicks. 6) 3, 3 = HYPER GUST. Again, just two kicks. 7) 1, 1, 1 = FRESH AIR. Two kicks, then a flip kick down. 8) 1, 1, 2 = AIR SLINKY. These names…I’m pretty sure nothing resembling a slinky happens here. 9) 1, 1, 3 = AIRWAY. Two kicks, then a spin kick. 10) 1, 1, 4 = SHOVE IT. Two kicks, then the foot grab throw. 11) 3, 3, 3 = BARREL ROLL. Were you hoping to see ROLLING THUNDER in the air? Well, too bad! 12) 3, 3, 4 = DOWNWARD SPIRAL. Another throw down. Decent one. 13) 3, 3, 1, 1 = IT’S ALL OVER. But unless your opponent only has a few HP left, it isn’t all over. 14) 1, 1, 3, 3 = AIR BARREL. This ends with a flip kick, so I guess they were thinking, hey, that flip kick kinda looks like a barrel roll? 15) 3, 3, 1, 2 = BACK IN ACTION. This is a pretty nice one, there’s a lot of the variety in the attack that you don’t see in some other Combos. 16) 1, 1, 3, 4 = BOOT SLAM. Another throw down. It does fine. 17) 3, 3, 1, 4 = ZERO G. Yet another throw down. 18) AIR SLINKY, 2, 2, 3, 3, 1, 4 = MY FAVORITE COMBO. This is the air Combo I usually use. It does great damage, and looks good doing it. And now, everyone’s favorite…Combos! 1. 2, Forward + 2, Back + 3 = SABERTOOTH. This is FAST if you do it right. Hit Attack 2, then immediately start holding down Forward, even before you start hitting 2 again. This is a nice Combo, because you knock down your opponent. Does 19% damage. Pretty basic, but also pretty easy once you get the hang of the button speed. The Back + 3 part is not really part of the Combo, but it is good for defending yourself against the newly fallen opponent, as Mileena will step toward them automatically after knocking the opponent down. It keeps them down for a bit longer and gives you time to get away from them. 2. 1, 1, Back + 1 = ANARCHY, but a better name is POP-UP. Beautiful Combo. A fast attack leading into a Pop-up. Again, like the previous Combo, start holding the back button after you hit 1 for the first time. Yes, the first time. Hit Attack 1 as fast as you want, just be sure to hold back, and it should work. You could jump up in the air and kill them now, or…. 3. 1, 1, Back + 1, Up + 2 = MORE ANARCHY! Hit them again before you go up there to crush them! Once they are in the air, (after the original 1, 1, Back + 1) they’re pretty helpless, and it should take barely any effort on your part to whack them once more. Then jump up there and finish the job. Before you go pushing Up + 2, you might want to wait for them to fall just a little bit, and make sure you are under them. Mileena will end up jumping up there and kicking the shit out of them if you don’t time this right (not that it would be that big of a deal if she did) 4. 1, 1, Up + 2 = RISING DRAGON. Another nice Combo. Another Pop-up Combo too. Mileena has a lot of these, which is fine, because she’s great in the air. You can use this as an almost identical substitute for POP-UP. 5. 4, Change Styles, Back + 1, Down + 2, Forward, Forward + 4 = INSANITY! Naturally, I made this one up. Anyway, you trip them up with your Sai, switch styles to Mian Chuan (takes about a second), knee them, uppercut them, then Tele-kick as they start getting up (Note: START getting up, do not wait for them to actually be up). Does around 26% damage, and can only be broken at the point where you knee or uppercut them. The hardest part is changing the style and kneeing them before they recover from the knockdown, BUT it’s not impossible. Takes practice and fast fingers! However, it’s definitely an impressive Combo, and does great damage (by Mileena standards, anyway). 6. 1, 1, 2 = WHIRLING DEMON. This will knock down the opponent, and get them the heck away from you if they’re too close. Nothing too special, but it is easy to execute. Make sure you hit Attack 2 fast enough. Does about 17% damage, so it’s nothing too powerful. Looks nice though. 7. 1, 1, 1 = LIGHTNING STAB. I would never do this move on purpose, because in attempting to land the other Combos that start with 1, 1, you are going to invariably do this move a few times. It’s a fine move, though, so don’t worry if you do it instead of ANARCHY or something. However, this isn’t a Pop-up, just a really quick attack. One more note on Combos: You might have noticed that a good deal of Mileena’s Sai Combos start with Attack 1. While this is a very fast attack, the fact that you are starting most of your attacks with this button will be spotted quickly, either by a human or a computer. When you have Mileena’s Sai out, don’t think that Combos are the only important things and forget to use her special moves, like SOARING SAI, or TELE-KICK. These will bolster your move roster and keep enemies from predicting your next attack. However…do NOT use ROLLING THUNDER on it’s own EVER!!! IV…Strategies! Here are some basic strategies for certain types of characters. I grouped the characters into 7 categories and you can take it from there. 1. Mileena VS Fast Characters (Reiko, Sareena, Tanya, Kira, Darrius, Smoke, Johnny Cage, Mileena, Stryker, Liu Kang, Sonya) When you’re playing fast characters like yourself, you’re going to run into a little trouble. I especially have problems with characters like Sareena, Tanya, Smoke, and Johnny Cage, who deal a lot of damage as well as being speedy. Reiko, who I hate fighting, has some really tough Combos to defend against, which aren’t that powerful, but he loves stringing a bunch of them together, and they can be hard to break. Like Reiko, Stryker has some really nice Combos, and his aerial Kombat is different from anyone else’s, as he uses a gun, plus, he’s super fast. Liu Kang does great Combos with his Nunchuks up close, so I would stay away from him, watching out for his projectiles/air-kicks. These can be dodged and taken advantage of. Sareena has some really annoying moves that hit multiple times (she throws knives), and her sword is strong. Her voice really bothers me also. Tanya has an annoying move where she slides on the ground that she likes using 2-3 times in a row, and like Sareena, her weapons (and regular style too) do some good damage. Johnny Cage isn’t too hard to deal with, just keep away from him and pound him with SOARING SAI, as his Nunchuks will really hurt up close. Darrius has a spinny kick which is tough to dodge, and some really fast weapon attacks. Smoke has a tele-punch attack, a lot like Mileena’s TELE-KICK, except Mileena’s is better, but it’s still something to watch for. He also has “Stinky Cloud,” which will stun you if you don’t avoid it, and Smoke will just tear you a new one. Sonya is always low on the “Kombat ladder” when I play her, so hopefully this is accurate…Anyway, you’ll be surprised how fast she is. She’s got some decent kicks, and she does decent damage with the Kali Sticks, but her specials are stupid. Avoiding her air attacks is easy (TELE-KICK kombats them really nicely, actually) and the only decent one is “Kiss of Death,” which will stun you for a moment. When you play yourself, don’t get too worried, the computer’s Mileena just won’t be as good as yours. Watch for her Tele-kick, because she likes it. Almost all of these characters are bad against your projectiles, because they are close range attackers, so try to stay mid to long range. As Mileena is probably best as a mid-range fighter (without her Sai), she should be okay. Be ready to block and break, you’ll be doing both a lot. Use your SOARING SAI and keep your distance, if you’re not on the offensive. 2. Mileena VS “High-Quality” characters (Rain, Mavado, Noob, Frost, Ermac, Taven, Daegon, Sektor, Chameleon, Meat, Shinnok) Here are some characters that I occasionally have trouble with, thus, “high quality.” If I haven’t included someone you think is deserving of the “high quality” status…sorry. It’s just my humble opinion. Looking back on it, I probably should have switched Mavado and Tanya…oh well. Anyway, these guys and gal have good specials, good power, and aren’t too slow either. Frost has awesome specials, a tele-punch, and she’s fast with her daggers, though for some reason, she never gives me that much trouble. Mavado’s just a unique character with his springy hookswords, you should be fine if he doesn’t have his weapons out. Rain can be a real pain sometimes, he has good specials and occasionally will go nuts on you with his Storm Sword. I would say that the main theme of all these characters is that they’re strong without their weapons, but with their weapons out, they are really deadly and that’s when they’re going to be the biggest problem. Meat, Sektor, and Daegon all dual-wield, so they have great combos and reach too. Chameleon, Rain, and Shinnok can really mess you up with their sword/staff. Taven and Ermac have great specials, and Noob has a big ol’ hammer that’s really damaging. Here’s how to combat them. First of all, you should keep your distance from certain characters, like Meat, Daegon, Shinnok (if he’s using his Amulet Staff), and Noob (if he’s using his hammer). Attack them with SOARING SAI, and use TELE-KICK to get close and into Combo positioning. Watch for Teleport attacks, as Shinnok has a great one, and Meat will just teleport if you do TELE-KICK too often. Daegon has an annoying charge move, but it takes him awhile to recover from it, so try to avoid it if you can. A note on Shinnok: Do not stand still! He will summon a hand to grab you if you do this. I would group Rain, Sektor, Chameleon, and Mavado in another group, these characters only being really threatening if they have their swords out. You should definitely be ready to block or break if they whip out their weapons. And, like the first group, keep your distance from these as well. Also, Sektor has a REALLY annoying flamethrower attack, and Rain can shock you with a bolt of lightning, so don’t stay in one spot. Ermac, Frost and Taven all have great specials. They are good with or without their weapons, but not particularly threatening at anything. Taven has an annoying ground pound which will hit you anywhere, so watch out for that. Ermac doesn’t have any super annoying move that I can remember, I believe he has a Teleport attack of some sort though, and he’s got a big old axe too. He’s quick. Frost has a nice slide move and, like I said before, she’s really fast with those daggers, so be ready to break her. You will want your Sai for the second group, but you won’t need them for the others. A note: I could have put Kitana in this group, but, personally, I don’t really think she’s high quality in this game. 3. Mileena VS Powerhouse Characters (Jax, Kitana, Kano, Quan Chi, Scorpion, Drahmin, Hsu Hao, Havik) Although these guys and gal are “Powerhouses” that doesn’t mean they are slow, it means their moves are really damaging. While none of these are ‘fast’ characters, they aren’t super slow, so don’t think fighting them will be a cakewalk. Jax, Kano, and Drahmin are probably the slowest. Jax has an annoying ground pound that will hit you anywhere, but most of his other specials are easily dodged, and I think he’s sort of fun to fight because of his humorous dialogue when shooting you. Hsu Hao and Kitana are the fastest, I would say, with the rest falling somewhere in the middle. You are going to want to strike hard and fast on these characters. If you’re fighting Scorpion, Kitana, or Kano, it would be especially unwise to stand still, as they have spears/hellfire, fans, and eye-lasers, respectively. Scorpion also has a neat Tele-punch which does better damage than it should, and a really powerful throw. His “Get Over Here” spear can be broken, which is a good thing. Kitana pisses me off, because she loves to block. She also loves “Fan Lift” and “Ground Fan.” While Fan Lift can be broken easily, it’s ANNOYING! Ground fan is just a fan throw, and does good damage, plus, Kitana will do it a few times in a row until you dodge it. Kano has some relatively quick special attacks – his cannonball is definitely the most annoying, but he’s much more threatening with his weapons out, as is Hsu Hao (his Combos are incredible, and his strikes are FAST!). Havik’s spike club is very powerful, so when he gets that out, put your finger on Block and get ready. Quan Chi, though pretty quick, and equipped with some decent specials, isn’t too horrible to fight unless he has his swords out. Then he’s a real pain. Drahmin is just sort of a pain, as his attacks are very strong and he has a few annoying specials, like his Earthquake stomp and this ‘windmill’ punch in the air, but on the other hand, he has virtually NO reach with his weapon, and his fighting style is just about the same. Also, those stupid flies that buzz around him really annoy me, I hate buzzing. Anyway, If you’re diligent about breaking and blocking, these guys can’t touch you. If you let them hit you, watch out, because they’re all very strong attackers. 4. Mileena VS Reach Characters (Raiden, Sindel, Baraka, Jade, Bo’Rai Cho, Jarek, Nightwolf, Hotaru) I call these ‘Reach Characters’ because they all have staffs, except Baraka and Nightwolf, of course, with incredible reach. Most of their staff/blade combos are very powerful. Jade and Sindel are definitely the fastest (and probably the best in this group) and have some good specials (Sindel’s scream, Jade’s energy kick) to back up their speed. Raiden’s staff Combos are powerful and very annoying, but if you break them, you should do fine, as he’s really crappy in this game (which is a shame). Raiden and Jade have teleports too, so watch for those, as they can really mess you up if they catch you unaware. Jarek’s pretty crappy, as far as I’m concerned, but you should watch out for his whip. He can catch you off guard, and he can get you with it from a good distance. He also had an axe, which also gives him decent reach. Hotaru has a staff, and he’s about the same quality with or without it, not that great. He’s not that slow, but he’s not that fast either. I don’t have much to say on him. Nightwolf has the least reach out of everyone, but his Tomahawks are fast and still have pretty decent range. He can be annoying, and for some reason, I have trouble with him. Baraka’s blades are not as strong as you would think, but, he can definitely hit you from a long distance, which makes it tough to get in there and execute a Combo on him. I don’t have much to say on Bo’Rai Cho, as I’ve never had a bit of trouble with him. He’s actually not as slow as you would think, though, but he’s no threat at all without his staff. ALL of these characters can be absolutely destroyed if they don’t have their weapon out. I would say the ones who will be hardest, even without their staff, are Jade and Sindel, with Nightwolf maybe in third, though his specials are pretty lacking. Even so, they won’t be nearly as difficult as some of the harder characters UNLESS they get out their weapons. 5. Mileena VS Finesse Characters (Reptile, Khameleon, Shujinko, Fujin, Kung Lao, Shang Tsung, Li Mei, Nitara, Ashrah, Sub Zero) None of these characters, with the exception of Shang Tsung and Sub Zero, should give you any trouble unless they are played by a human, hence ‘Finesse Characters.’ Without the proper human finesse behind them, these characters are, well, not very good. Shang Tsung is mildly difficult because he has good speed, great Combos, and a teleport attack which will counteract your TELE-KICK rather nicely. He’s not that powerful though, and he doesn’t have any great moves. Sub Zero, a destroyed character, at least, from what I remember from MK1 and 2, has lost most of his nice specials. He is still pretty fast, but that’s about all he’s got. Watch out for his “Ice Clone” attack, his slide, and his sword, as it does decent damage. I’m not going to waste my time talking about everyone else, because they suck if they’re computer controlled, and this guide isn’t meant to give you a good strategy against humans. I’m not saying that these characters are necessarily bad, and that you should never use them, BUT, they aren’t controlled well by the computer. 6. Mileena VS Boss Characters (Onaga, Goro, Kintaro, Sheeva, Motaro, Moloch, Shao Khan, Blaze) TELE-KICK, TELE-KICK, TELE-KICK. Is it cheap? Of course. So are the big ol’ boss characters. I really hate these guys. Mileena has a lot of pop-up Combos, and these guys make those Combos utterly worthless. You can only pop-up Shao Khan, Motaro and Sheeva (who isn’t REALLY a boss, but she’s big and ugly, so I counted her as such). Anyway, you’re not going to want your Sai unless you’re fighting Shao Khan, Motaro or Sheeva. These three are faster than the others, Motaro has a super annoying charge attack that’s hard to dodge unless you TELE-KICK, and Sheeva’s got some beautiful Combos with her weapons out, so be ready to break when playing her. Motaro also has this weird attack where he sits with his tail like a scorpion, poised to attack…but he never does! Use this time to pound him, just aim low. Sheeva has a jump-tele-kick- attack thingy that does good damage, but you can counteract this easily with your very own TELE-KICK. She can do mean damage with her weapons, so watch it. Shao Khan is the easiest one in my mind. Stay the hell away from him though, unless you’re attacking, as he can really put the smack down on you if you get too close. Do SOARING SAI and wait for him to do some silly attacks that he recovers slowly from before you go to get him. And keep your Sai out. Onto the biggest bosses. You’re best doing TELE-KICKs, jumping and kicking, and uppercutting. You can do a few basic Combos, (FLASHY, OUTWORLD WONDER, LIGHTING STAB) but the thing about those is that you need to be close to your opponent, and you do NOT want to get close to these guys. They can waste you. You’ve absolutely got to be ready to block and break. A little note on Moloch, he has a move that can recover his HP, it’s when he stands still and howls, so give him a good kick or uppercut when he decides to do this. Also, an annoying thing about the bigger guys (Onaga, Blaze, and Moloch) is that SOARING SAI does NO damage. So don’t bother. It’s good against the other bosses though. Onaga is the worst big boss, so if you feel like you’ve absolutely got to do some Combos, do them on him. 7. Mileena VS Why would you play as these characters? (Kobra, Mokap, Kai, Cyrax, Kabal, Dairou) Yes, these are the characters I couldn’t fit in any of the categories. Sure, I could have put them all into “Finesse,” but I really don’t even think Finesse would make them that much better. If you want to see a ‘good version’ of Kobra, play as any of the Ninja characters (Scorpion, Sub-Zero, etc). A good version of Mokap is Stryker. Kai is just a bad version of Darrius. I’ve never even had to fight Dairou, but if you want a bald guy, Quan Chi is your man. If you want a cyber-ninja, play as Sektor, and as for Kabal, Mavado and his hookswords beat him hands down. I have heard from a few sources that Kabal is a great character. This may be true, but he has never shown me, so from the evidence I’ve witnessed, he belongs here. If you play as any of these guys, I don’t mean to insult you. I know that anyone good can play any character and do quite well (and probably kick my ass), however, none of these guys have ever threatened me EVER. I play on Max, so…they have just as much of a chance to be difficult. They just aren’t. Please don’t be offended by my grouping! VI. Kredits First… This guide is Copyright (c) 2007 Ironboots33 This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. A big thank you to Midway, of course, for creating such a sweet game and sweet characters to put in it. Thanks to gamefaqs.com for letting me put this up! And thanks to Wikipedia for having Mileena’s bio. If you’d like to contact me, my email is nvh2pc@mizzou.edu. If you’d like to tell me what a crappy guide this was, please don’t contact me. I will take questions etc. so long as they are relevant. And please try to use decent grammar (doesn’t have to be perfect), no chatspeak. Thanks for taking the time to read all of this, I hope it was helpful!