Dissidia Final Fantasy The Guide to Cloud Strife Version 1.0 By Rouenne =============== Version History =============== Version: 1.1 - Initial release of guide to GameFAQs Version 1.2 - Fixed most typos - Expanded Proper Use Section - Added a couple of combos ================== Table of Contents: ================== I. Introduction II. About Cloud II-1. Background II-2. Story in Dissidia Final Fantasy III. Cloud in Dissidia III-1. General Stats III-2. Overall View III-3. Proper Use III-4. Ex-Mode IV. Moveset IV-1. BRV Attacks IV-2. HP Attacks IV-3. Ex-Burst V. Combos VI. Items Section VI-1. Equipment Exclusives VI-2. Allure of Honey VI-3. Recommended Gear Elements VI-4. Special Builds VII. Abilities VII-1. Basic Abilities VII-2. Support VII-3. Extra VIII. Vs. The other Dissidia Warriors VIII-1. Battle Quotes VIII-2. Final Fantasy VII Themes in Battle VIII-3. Facing Other Warriors IX.Frequently Asked Questions X. Closing Comments XI. Sources, Thanks, Legal Info and Contact ================ I. Introduction: ================ Hello there, welcome to my FAQ about my personal favorite Final Fantasy character: Cloud Strife. This is my first guide on Gamefaqs, but I hope you find it useful. This was made for the porpuse that nobody has to swarm the boards to find help and of course this wasn’t made just by me, but with the help of many other boards members. Well I hope you can find what you seek here. Take in count I am not a Cloud pro at all so many matchups may be a bit off, but it’s how I face them against CPU and some in real life. ================ II. About Cloud: ================ -Name: Cloud Strife -Age: 21 (Final Fantasy VII and presumably in Dissidia) -Height: 1,73 mts. -Hair Color: Blonde -Eye Color: Green Glowing Blue -Weapons: Buster Sword (Final Fantasy VII and Dissidia), Fusion Swords (Advent Children and Dissida Alternate Costume) Cloud is perhaps the most well known Final Fantasy character, not only for starring Final Fantasy VII one of the games that made explode the RPGs over the seas, but also for his unique traits: his blonde spiky hair, his massive sword and his Limit Breaks (which were introduced in Final Fantasy VI though.) Cloud’s development in his game and the success of it gave him an important place among gamers and has been well received as a character, becoming very popular as well, however like all good things he has developed a notable hatebase (but that aside). Cloud is the main character in Final Fantasy VII and since then he has appeared in other Final Fantasy VII compilation media in different roles, such as the star in the sequel Final Fantasy VII Advent Children or a supporting role in the prequel Crisis Core. --------------------------- II-1. Background –SPOILERS— --------------------------- Cloud was born in the village of Nibelheim, and was neighbors with Tifa Lockhart. His father died when he was young and was raised by his mother. He grew up isolated from the rest of the village children, which leaded him to despise them and think that he was more mature than them, but the truth is that this was only an attemp to negate his true desires of being friends with them. He eventually befriended Tifa and started to like her, but didn’t get along with her friends. When Cloud was nine, Tifa's mother died, Tifa didn’t want to accept that and insisted that she could meet her mother again by crossing Mt. Nibel. Cloud followed her, but in an accident both of them fell off a cliff. When Tifa was injured, the townsfolk believed the whole expedition up the mountain was Cloud's idea, and Tifa's father forbade Cloud to come near Tifa. Cloud blamed himself for what happened to Tifa, thinking that it was because of his own weakness that he couldn’t save her. After this Cloud became an agressive boy, getting into fights, but remained as a quiet kid who rarely got involved with others in the town. At the age of thirteen, Cloud learned of Sephiroth and his about his accomplishments as a SOLDIER. Resolving to become a hero like him, Cloud decided to set out and join SOLDIER. He called Tifa out to the water tower of the town to tell her about his decision, hoping to impress her. Tifa asked him if he would come to save her if she ever found herself in trouble, to what Cloud agreeded. After this he departed to Midgard to become a SOLDIER. During the SOLDIER exam, Cloud managed to do very well at physical tests, however all the hardships and loneliness in Nebelheim caused him to be very weak minded and filled him with self doubt. For this matter he failed the exam and became a simple Shinra infantryman. In this role he meets a first-class SOLDIER named Zack Fair in a mission in whom Cloud was assigned to assist Zack in the town of Modeoheim, and the two become friends. After some time, Cloud later returns to Nibelheim, along with Zack and Sephiroth to investigate a damaged reactor in Mt. Nibel, and Tifa turns to be their guide. Ashamed of his failure to join SOLDIER, Cloud hides his identity from the townspeople, and especially Tifa. The only exception was his mother. He never knew that Tifa never gave her hopes in him, always checked news to know about Cloud and waited for him (She even sent Zack a message telling that she will be always waiting for her blonde knight in shinning armor). When the expedition reaches the reactor, Sephiroth discovers Professor Hojo's failed experiments with Mako soldiers as well as where ShinRa had interred Jenova, which Sephiroth mistakenly believed, was his mother. Falling into madness, Sephiroth immerses himself in the writings of Professor Gast discovering his own dark past. He comes out from the basement of the Shinra Mansion and sets about destroying the village. Cloud witnessed his mother's death in the ensuing fire and rushed to the reactor to confront Sephiroth. There he found both Tifa unconscious from an attack from Sephiroth and Zack defeated after trying to defeat Sephiroth. Cloud blinded by rage picked up Zack's Buster Sword, and impaled Sephiroth who was off guard watching Jenova, in the ractors core. Sephiroth was left ther wounded and Cloud rushed to Tifa who was happy to see him and how he came for her when she was in trouble, to what Cloud agred. Sephiroth managed to emerge from the reactor core, wounded but still strong. Cloud for Zack and Tifa tried to finish him off, but Sephiroth still was strong and countered knocking Cloud down and stabbing him with the Masamune, lifting him to mock him. Cloud in his anger summoned beastly strength, and used the katana as a lever to throw Sephiroth against a wall and fall into the Mako reactor below. The injury caused Cloud to collapse immediately thereafter. Cloud and Zack become test subjects of Professor Hojo when they are found afterward. Injecting them with Jenova's cells and exposing them to Mako, Hojo attempts to test his Jenova Reunion Theory and turns them into Sephiroth Clones. Four years later, Zack broke out of his confinement and helped Cloud escape, giving him a SOLDIER uniform that was in Shinra manor to wear because his old clothes were soaked with mako. Due to the experiment, Cloud was in a weak and delirious state as he had reacted more strongly to the experiments than Zack. Cloud couldn’t move, speak and barely hear. Zack since had already been exposed to Mako when he became a SOLDIER was immune to the experiments. However as they escaped, Zack speaks continuously to the unresponsive Cloud about his life and his plans for both of them to become mercenaries in Midgar after finding out that four years had passed since Hojo took them. After almost a year of running, they finally arrive outside of Midgar; however, the Shinra forces that have been searching for them finally catch up. Zack fights back to defend both Cloud and himself against overwhelming numbers. In the end, after single-handedly and heroically massacring the majority of the thousands of Shinra soldiers present, Zack is gunned down by the last few remaining soldiers and Cloud is left for dead after being seen in his vegetative state. However, having witnessed the whole chaos, Cloud manages to crawl over to where Zack is mortally wounded. In his last few seconds, Zack tells Cloud he is glad to see he is okay and also that now Cloud is his legacy, the proof that he existed. By giving him the Buster Sword as a departing gift, Zack tells Cloud that both his honors and dreams are Cloud’s now. Cloud barely manages to repeat the message in a signal that he accepts the duty. Zack gives a last smile before closing his eyes and dying. Cloud remembers all the good moments along his good friend and screams in sadness, but finally accepts his fate and gathers enough strength to walk again and by saying his last words to Zack: “Thanks...Good night, Zack.” He picks the Buster Sword and heads to Midgard. Shortly thereafter, in the Sector Seven Train Station, Cloud's shattered mind undergoes a radical transformation. Hojo's experimentations, combined with his own weakened psyche, Jenova's mimicry abilities and the trauma of the events he has experienced, cause Cloud to impress Zack's memories, his ideal image of himself as well as Tifa's memories of him together to create an entirely new persona believing to be Zack. What emerges in Cloud's mind is a reality in which he successfully joined SOLDIER and was Sephiroth's partner and Zack did not even exist. Taking up Zack's plans, Cloud presents himself as a mercenary, believing himself a former First Class SOLDIER. Since the official SOLDIER process is similar to the experiments Hojo performed on him, Cloud possesses the same abilities as a SOLDIER does and his claim is accepted as true. In Midgar, Cloud is found by Tifa, who is now a member of the anti-ShinRa terrorist group AVALANCHE, along with Barret Wallace. Tifa, perplexed by oddities she notices in Cloud, requests for his help in AVALANCHE in their struggle. Cloud joins AVALANCHE to attack the Sector 1 and the mission goes successfully. After blowing up the Sector 5 Reactor, Cloud becomes separated from the others by falling into the slum church where Aerith Gainsborough grows flowers, then both quickly grow very attached to each other. While Cloud is absent, Tifa allows herself to be captured by a Shinra informant, Don Corneo in an attempt to get information out of him. Cloud and Aeris, after disguising Cloud as a woman, attempt to rescue her, after which the Don admits that Shinra has found out AVALANCHE's base of operations is in Sector 7. To crush AVALANCHE, Shinra drops the plate over Sector 7 of Midgar, crushing the entire area; the members Biggs, Wedge and Jessie are killed trying to stop them, and Aerith is captured taking Barret's daughter Marlene to safety. Cloud then leads an attack on Shinra Headquarters to rescue her. There the group meets Red XIII, and see the headless remains of Jenova. However, the group is captured and imprisoned. During the night, Cloud awakens to find the doors of the prison open and the guards slaughtered. He, Aeris, Barret, Tifa and Red XIII follow a trail of blood to the top floor, only to find President Shinra impaled on Sephiroth's sword. Cloud fights briefly with the new head of Shinra, Rufus Shinra, and then escapes from Midgar on a motorcycle, the other members riding alongside in a pickup. The group stays at an inn located outside Midgar in Kalm. There Cloud tells what he thinks are his own memories of what happened on the day Nibelheim was burnt, with himself in Zack's place and Zack no longer present. His grudge with Sephiroth explained, the next day the group sets out to track Sephiroth down, going through the Mythril Mines where the Turks reveal Sephiroth is headed to Junon. Cloud and the group sneak into the Shinra controlled Junon and onto an oil tanker bound for Costa Del Sol, meeting Yuffie Kisaragi on the way. The journey to find Sephiroth leads them through North Corel and the Gold Saucer, where the manager Dio gives Cloud and his friends a buggy to assist them in their travels and the robot Cait Sith joins their cause. The buggy eventually breaks down, forcing the group to stay at Red XIII's home Cosmo Canyon, where the Elder Bugenhagen reveals critical information about the planet and the Lifestream and the negative effects Shinra's drilling for Mako is having on them. When the group reaches Nibelheim, they find no trace of what happened. Although Cloud and Tifa are confused, the group explores the rebuilt town and find that no one remembers the town ever being burnt down. In the ruins of the Shinra Mansion, they find Vincent Valentine, who agrees to accompany them when they mention Sephiroth. In the mansion library, Sephiroth appears and alludes to a "reunion" that he feels Cloud should attend. Cloud and the group traverse Mt. Nibel and go to Rocket Town, where they attempt to steal Cid Highwind's plane and have it shot down by Shinra. Adding Cid to their roster of allies, the group returns to the Gold Saucer and claims the Keystone from Dio. Believing the Keystone to be pivotal to finding out what Sephiroth is planning; Cloud and the group are forced to stay the night when the trolley to the park breaks down. During that night Cloud and Aerith go and have fun at Gold Saucer, both exposing how they feel about everything (altough not openly). At this time, Cait Sith is revealed to be a Shinra spy, and steals the Keystone and turns it over to Tseng of the Turks. Traveling to the Temple of the Ancients, Tseng is found wounded by Sephiroth, and he returns the Keystone. In the heart of the temple, Cloud finds Sephiroth, who reveals his plan to call the ultimate black magic, Meteor, which will deal a critical wound to the planet. The Lifestream will emerge to heal this wound, and Sephiroth will absorb its energy, becoming a God. Sephiroth leaves as Cloud discovers the temple itself is the Black Materia Sephiroth needs to call Meteor. Cait Sith sacrifices himself to get it, but Sephiroth returns, and because Cloud had been injected with Jenova cells, Sephiroth has control over Cloud, and he hands him the Black Materia. He faints, and Aerith appears to him in a dream claiming only she can stop Sephiroth. When Cloud regains consciousness, Barret and Tifa tell him Aerith has left, and Cloud resolves to follow her to find out the truth behind her words. Cloud and company pursue Aerith through the Sleeping Forest to the Forgotten Capital. He finds her praying on an altar in the center of the city's underground complex, but suddenly takes up the Buster Sword and attempts to attack her, his mind under Sephiroth's control. Stopping himself in the nick of time when his allies shout at him to stop, Cloud watches as Sephiroth descends from above the altar and impales Aerith, killing her. Her death enrages Cloud, and the rest of the party mourns her passing. Cloud puts Aerith to rest and reveals to the party he has been under Sephiroth's control, and may become controlled again, asking his allies to stay with him despite this. Finally arriving at the Northern Crater, Cloud momentarily regains the Black Materia and gives it to a party member of the player's choosing, not trusting himself. They then find the center of the crater, where Sephiroth appears and shows Cloud a partial vision of what really happened at Nibelheim, revealing Zack's presence instead of him but not Cloud's true part in the events. Shinra arrives afterwards, and Professor Hojo reveals his Jenova Reunion Theory that Cloud is a part of. Cloud comes to believe he was entirely created by Hojo and that even his name and memories of being Tifa's childhood friend belong to someone else. The shock of his past being fake, combined with Hojo's revelations and accusations, shatters Cloud's mind. He takes back the Black Materia and hands it to Sephiroth, who activates it. After Cloud apologizes to Tifa for being a fake, the crater begins to shake violently. AVALANCHE escapes, save for Barret and Tifa, and Cloud is left behind to fall into the Lifestream. This incident awakens the Weapons, ancient defenders of the planet. Surfacing at Mideel approximately a week later, Cloud has been subjected to intense Mako poisoning within the Lifestream, leaving him babbling and incoherent. Tifa stays to care for him while the rest of the party fights Shinra, who is risking a dangerous attempt to stop the Meteor that is now coming to the planet. Ultimate Weapon attacks Mideel, and Tifa and Cloud fall into the Lifestream and into Cloud's subconscious. There, Tifa helps Cloud piece back together his true memories of his childhood by comparing their memories to find out which are true, while Tifa encourages Cloud to believe in his own existence, and Tifa learns also how much she meant to Cloud. Restored to his true self, Cloud resumes command of the party again. With Bugenhagen's guidance, they discover Aerith had managed to summon Holy just before Sephiroth killed her; the ultimate white magic, it could stop Meteor, but Sephiroth is holding it back. After taking their revenge upon the Shinra for all the wrongs the company has wrought to each member of the party, the group lands in the Northern Crater and descends into the depths of the planet to confront Sephiroth. After the party defeats Sephiroth's new god-like form, his mind is sent back into the Lifestream. Cloud, sensing Sephiroth is not dead follows him mentally into the Lifestream and defeats Sephiroth at last in one final duel of will, using his ultimate move the Omnislash. Returned to his body by Aerith just in time, Cloud and the party escape the crater on the Highwind moments before Holy emerges to fight Meteor. The nearness of Meteor, however, causes Holy to hold back its full power, until Aerith commands the Lifestream to emerge and push it back so that it may unleash its full power to destroy Meteor and save the planet. Cloud and the party witness how the planet itself destroys the meteor and how all life is saved. Two years later, Cloud starts living with Tifa, Marlene (Barret’s daughter) and an orphaned boy named Denzel in a new town called Edge in the outskirts of Midgard, where people are rebuilding their lives after the damages of the meteor. However, a disease called Geostigma has arisen, this disease is caused by lifestream fragments corrupted by Jenova’s cells, Sephiroth can act through this polluted lifestream from the lifestream itself. Cloud leaves his family to look for a cure for Denzel's Geostigma. Unfortunately he fails to do anything more than get himself infected, though with a much less serious case than Denzel. Thanks to his failure, Cloud falls into a state of guilt and is also shown that the deaths of both Aerith and Zack still are open wounds in him. Cloud receives a call from Tifa that Reno has a job for him, and he is attacked by a mysterious trio of young men, three manifestations of Sephiroth's consciousness. Having reached Healin Lodge, Cloud is surprised to find Rufus still alive but suffering from Geostigma. The president offers Cloud to join them to fight off the trio, led by Kadaj. Cloud thinks about this, but rejects after Reno brings up the idea of rebuilding Shinra. The three remnants begin luring and kidnapping children that possessed Geostigma, intending to have the children lead them to Jenova's lost head. Although reluctant to fight for fear of failure, Cloud goes to the Forgotten Capital after encouragement from Tifa and the Turks. On the way, he is visited by an apparition of Aerith, in which he declares that he is searching for forgiveness as well. Upon seeing Denzel and the other children under Kadaj's control, he confronts the trio for a second time but finds himself outmatched and is rescued by Vincent Valentine, who tells him about the true nature of Geostigma - a plague caused by Jenova's cells. Suddenly, Marlene runs into Cloud's arms worried about what had happened to Denzel but refusing to go home when Cloud asks Vincent to take her. Giving much thought about the conversations he previously had with his friends, he finally resolves to take Marlene home himself and confront Kadaj. Back in Edge, Kadaj threatens Rufus and summons Bahamut SIN to attack the city. After Cloud drops Marlene off at the bar, where she tells him not to give up, he finds the strength to take up arms again and defeats Bahamut SIN using with help from his old allies. He eventually takes on Loz and Yazoo, Kadaj companions, one more time while chasing Kadaj through the highway, and manages to slice their weapons (and Loz's bike) in half. Loz and Yazoo are seemingly killed in the explosion set by Reno and Rude during the chase. Confronting Kadaj once more, the battle eventually takes him back to Aerith's church, where the Lifestream-influenced water cures him of his Geostigma. Cloud battles Kadaj once more and prevails, but the remnant absorbs Jenova's cells at the last moment and Sephiroth is reborn. The ensuing battle at the ruins of the Shinra Building proves to be fierce and nearly ends Cloud's life. He almost seems to be on the verge of defeat when Sephiroth stabs him through the shoulder, then makes the mistake of asking what is most important to Cloud and how he can take that away from him. Inspired by thoughts of his friends, living and dead, Cloud regains his strength and overwhelms Sephiroth with "Omnislash Version 5". Defeated again, Sephiroth dissipates, leaving a dying Kadaj in his place. Seeing Aerith and hearing her voice, and believing her to be the "mother" he has been longing for, Kadaj reaches for her hand as he is diffused into pyrefly-like lifestream particles. At this point, Loz and Yazoo appear and set off a kamikaze explosion that apparently kills all three of them. However, Cloud is not dead, merely in critical condition, and he is healed by the intervention of Aerith, reawakening in the pool that now occupies the church. After helping Denzel into the Lifestream-infused water in the old church to cure his Geostigma, Cloud sees Aerith and Zack near the doorway. Before they leave, Aerith's final words try to make sure that Cloud will be all right. He replies that he will, because he knows he's not alone anymore. In the credits of the movie, Cloud is seen driving down a long highway. He passes a series of flower fields of varying sizes and flowers, and other shots of forests, mountains, and coasts are shown. The song that plays Safe and Sound, the thrust of which is of protecting's one's hopes and dreams, and never giving up, no matter how painful the struggle becomes. Aerith is seen standing in a field of yellow flowers and she turns towards the camera. The credits end with a shot of Cloud's desk, showing a picture of AVALANCHE taken after Cloud's awakening has joined the picture of his family, with two flowers in front of it. In Advent Children Complete, the climax of Cloud's battle with Sephiroth is much more brutal. After being thrown through a wall, Cloud attacks Sephiroth with renewed strength using Omnislash. However, Sephiroth repels the attack and impales Cloud through the chest, and then flings him into the air, continuing his assault with a flurry of thrusts, stabbing Cloud multiple times before flinging him back to the ground. At this time Zack appears to Cloud and speaks to him, giving him the strength to climb to his feet and keep fighting, finishing off Sephiroth with the new "Omnislash Version 6." In the credits, after the shot of Cloud's desk, a shot of the hill Zack died on can be seen, now devoid of the Buster Sword, but with a grove of yellow flowers in its place. The voice of Denzel can be heard to ask if this place is a grave, to which the voice of Cloud responds that it is not, but rather the place where a hero began his journey. The camera then fades to the Sector Five Church, Aerith’s garden, where the Buster Sword, now shined and free of rust, now rests beside the waters. --------------------------------- II-2 --In Dissidia Final Fantasy— --------------------------------- Cloud is a warrior summoned by Cosmos who opposes Sephiroth. His crystal resembles the white materia that Aerith used to cast Holy. He initially travels with Cecil, Tidus and Firion, but after needing to find answers he decides to travel alone for a while and later he joins Terra and Onion Knight before all the ten warriors of Cosmos are reunited again. Cloud’s personality is mostly based on his Advent Children persona, where he still has many doubts about himself and his path, but is wanting to find an answer. He has a friendly match with Firion who wants to demostrate Cloud the strength of his own motivation, his dream. After leaving the group, Cloud comes across Sephiroth who provokes Cloud by showing Cloud Firion’s rose, the symbol of his dream. Cloud finally decides to stop wavering and fight. In their confrontation, Sephiroth tries to control Cloud again and tells how he is a puppet of his will, but Cloud replies that he and his decisions are own to take and he will find his motivations himself. After Sephiroth is defeated he departs insisting how Cloud is a puppet, but Cloud decides to go on after his crystal is found. Later he comes across Terra who is losing control of her Esper powers and forces her to fight him to calm her down, succeding. He then decides to accompany her. After the crystals are gathered, it is revealed that they were the last of Cosmos strength to avoid the warriors from fading back to their worlds so they can stay and defeat Chaos, since the whole war is an eternal cycle where one of the gods dies and then the other is revived by the divine dragon Shinryu to start the proccess again. Chaos seems to have the upper hand, he and all the other warriors of light decide to fight Chaos. Cloud encounters Sephiroth once again and this time he proves his will and newfound strength. Sephiroth defeated asks what is what drives him, to what Cloud responds with decision, but Sephiroth doesn’t get convinced and says that his heart is still weak and they will meet again. Cloud refuses ironically and states that if there was one person he would like to see again it would be Aerith. After this, the warriors of light defeat Chaos and each of them finally can return to their world in peace, Squall states that he would like to be with everybody on a mission again, to what Cloud replies with his trademark quote: “Not interested” but giving a smile before fading away in a field of the same flowers that Aerith used to grow, implying that he doesn’t want to be with the other warriors in a struggle but rather in a peaceful situation. --SPOILERS END HERE— ======================= III. Cloud in Dissidia: ======================= -------------------- III-1. General Stats -------------------- HP= Hit Points - You need this to survive. If your hit points are reduced to 0, then you will lose the battle. CP= Capacity Points- This is a very important stat that allows you to equip abilities for your character to use. For example, if you have 400 CP, and 380 CP of that 400 CP are being used by the skills you have equipped, and you just learn a new HP attack skill that requires 40 CP, then you will need to somehow get 20 more CP to equip the HP attack ability to use it in battle. This can be done by either removing a skill you have on, mastering some of your abilities, which cuts the CP cost in half, or to get the accessory which increases your CP by 20. BRV= Bravery Points- This stat is what determines how much damage an HP attack will do, as well as how much damage you will start off the battle with. ATK= Attack Power- This stat is what determines the damage dealt to an opponent with Bravery attacks. DEF= Defense Power- This stat is what helps lower the damage you will receive from the enemy’s bravery attacks. LUK= Luck- This stat is what increases the drop rate of items and Battlegen items. This also is what determines who EX Cores appear near to. -------------------- III-2. Overall View: -------------------- Cloud in Dissidia has almost the same look as in Final Fantasy VII. His alternate costume consists in his Advent Children outfit and instead of the Buster Sword he carries the core of the Fusion Swords the First Tsurugi. Cloud is defined as “Buster Basher: Can send the enemies flying with a single swipe of his massive sword”. This defines an important detail about Cloud that will be covered later. I personally think that his charm resides in he is a simple character to get used to and also very fun to play with, without the need of complex attacks or strategies. He doesn’t have eternal combos or strange strategies, just pick up and fight. One thing that grinds my gears though is that many people claim that since Cloud is easy to use, he has no strategy, or that he is trash in the tiers and only stupid fanboys use him. That’s not true at all, seriously, do they even try before they attack with their own liking for other games? I personally love using Cloud, his game is not comlplicated and fun to play since his style can punish big time. He is severly underrated though, because his attacks are very readable, but I think if they put imagination in using Cloud as much as they put effort in mastering complex techniques with characters with a million of attacks, Cloud can be deadly. He has potential but is not recognized, most people just rant that since he is predictable and slow, he sucks because all you need is to block his attacks. Those guys have either played only with CPUs or Cloud rookies, because Cloud with the proper use can pretty much destroy any opponent in the game. ------------------ III-3. Proper use: ------------------ Cloud is a slow and rather predictable character, reason why he shouldn’t be used to go on the offensive carelessly, but rather defend and counter, because even if his attacks are slow they hurt, and a lot. The biggest trait that he has is his wall rush possibilities that allow him to deal insane damage with a few blows (taking in count that the regular wall rush damage is around half of the damage that slammed the opponent against the wall). Cloud has a couple of ranged attacks, but they aren’t that good so close combat is always the choice, especially ground close combat, since Cloud’s aerial moves are rather sluggish and hard to land, putting him at disadvantage against better comboers like Cecil, Squall and not to mention Zidane, but regardless of all this, Cloud’s massive damage while attacking weak points is what balances out his game. It’s important to mention that Cloud’s Ex Mode is arguably one of the best in the game. The situation however is reversed when facing spellcasters of the game; since Cloud’s projectiles are really inferior to their’s, being at distance will only make them comfortable to target you with their spells. In this case you’ll have to charge in and chase the opponent (such as Terra), but don’t attack blindly or you will be countered. Wait for an opening when the opponent tries to make you back off, otherwise you will be just pushed back. In the defensive part the ideal is to play with distance between close and mid range, that way you can safely see the attacks coming to block or dodge and prepare your counterattack. Mid range is for fast attackers such as Onion Knight and Squall and close is for guys with slower blows like Sephiroth or Jecht. The rest is to time blocking, because if you mess the time you are open. Dodging is good to get used to the rythm of your opponent, but you can’t do it the whole battle because Cloud’s doesn’t have auto counters like ExDeath, you will need to switch to attack in some moment. Cloud reach is very good with most moves, so you can take advantage of mid range. The projectiles work more as traps or distractors, but you can take advantage for ranged attack when the time comes. Just remember to try to stay on the ground. Cloud is at his best there, if not, Omni Air Dash is good to move safely (sacrificing offensive). -------------- III-4. Ex-Mode -------------- ...................... ................... Equipped Ultima Weapon or The Power of Mako ...................... ................... (Cloud: Give me strength!) His Ex-Modes, respectively, in his regular outfit the Buster Sword will change to Cloud’s best sword of Final Fantasy VII. In the other Ex-Mode Cloud will assemble the complete Fusion Sword and a greenish Aura will surround him. The Ex-Modes have different names and appearances, but both work the same way, both give Cloud three extra abilities. ...... Regen ...... Like all Ex Modes a small portion of HP is restored during it, so no big deal here, but it’s always nice to have more HP, especially counting the second ability of the Ex-Mode. .................... Ultima Weapon Attack .................... Cloud’s attack increases depending on how much HP of his total he has. If it is too low then Cloud will deal regular damage, but the more HP he has his power will increase up to twice the regular amount. This is a really nice trait, especially counting that in Ex Mode the Critical Hit ratio is increased, and with Critical Hit enhancing abilities, such as Riposte and Counterattack, Cloud can deal crazy damage. Combining this with abilities like EXP to HP is a nice idea to ensure the power. ......................... Ultima Weapon Guard Crush ......................... Now this is the true sweetness of Cloud’s Ex Mode. All his attacks become completely unblockable and gain the priority of a powerful HP move. Meaning this he will break through regular attacks, spells and even most counters, like Scintilla or Firion’s Shield Bash (Although Exdeath’s Omniguard will stop this skill). Also if clashes using a simple regular brave attack with a foe’s HP attack both will cancel out, and HP attack’s will have amazing priority. Cloud’s predictability will almost be no matter, because the foe won’t be able to counter so easily and being hit by Cloud is like being hit by a truck filled with tanks. =========== IV. Moveset =========== When it comes to moves, Cloud has a decent amount at his disposal, most of them are based on his Limit Breaks in the Final Fantasy VII media. His Brave attacks are slow but powerful, but his HP attacks are easy to dodge and counter so it’s better to time them well or use them wisely instead than spamming them. However Cloud’s main HP drainers are his Brave to HP attacks, which are very solid and both Wall Rush most of the time (they don’t only when the arena has pits) for extra damage. But let’s go in detail: Name of the attack and Aerial or Ground move/Cost points when not mastered (which are cut to half when mastered)/AP needed to master/Level in which is obtained. ------------------- IV-1. Brave Attacks ------------------- Double Cut (Cloud: Hunh!) Ground/ 30CP/ 120AP/ Initial A very fast cut (for Cloud) that follows with a second swing that initiates a chase sequence. Giving Cloud’s sluggish attacks this one may come in handy for interrupting or surprise, however it requires precision since the reach is short. Climhazzard (Cloud: There! Haah! Over here!) Ground/ 30CP/ 120AP/ Initial Cloud dashes to the opponent for a good distance and stabs them, lifts them in the air and then thrusts them to the ground. This was Cloud’s fourth Limit Break in Final Fantasy VII, but here they added the last blow. This is a good move to drain Brave in basic uses, especially for the coverage, however it has a slow start so is better to counter with this rather initiate attacks. It has ridiculously high priority, however. You can break through weak projectiles for damage! Fire (Cloud: Burn!) Ground/ 20CP/ 90AP/ Initial The regular ol’ fire spell. Cloud’s version shoots a single fireball to the opponent, very slow and weak, but at least has a good homing and range (the thing stays on the screen forever). Personally I don’t recommend this spell on later stages, while it’s true that it can be used as a distraction or trap it hardly connects and even if you cast many the foes can bounce them back to you by blocking them. One nice trait though (thanks to Keng Ho Lim for letting me know) is that it can go through weaker proyectiles, like Sephiroth shockwaves, so it can be a good mind game tool. Fira (Cloud: Burn!) Ground/ 20CP/ 90AP/ Lv 8 Shoots an exploding fireball to the foe, decent range. Not much to say I personally don’t like this one either, but since it can be a little homing it gets its use. Firaga (Cloud: Burn!) Ground/ 30CP/ 120AP/ Lv 23 Shoots three fireballs, short range but good power, especially if closer to the opponent. This is the reason why Fire and Fira never appealed to me much, this one is pretty powerful and Cloud’s game is infighting anyways, so you might trade range for power. Blade Beam (Cloud: You’re gone!) Ground/ 30CP/ 120AP/ Lv 30 Cloud charges energy on his sword and launches an energy wave through the ground. Third Limit Break from Final Fantasy VII and my personal favorite of Cloud’s projectiles has a little more range than Firaga, hits a little weaker but is faster and more spammable. It can initiate chase sequences as an additional effect and the constant use may force the opponent to move or counter in a way you may predict. The drawback is that depends on terrain and unlike the Fires it can be stopped by ground hazards. Sonic Break (Cloud: He-eh! Hmmrrt!) Ground/ 30CP/ 180AP/ Lv 3 Cloud deals a three hit combo. It’s slower than Double Cut, but more powerful and better reach, though some smart guy at Square Enix decided to make it a horizontal slash so it won’t connect to opponents who are little above ground. However this move is almost a staple because it can lead to Finishing Touch. Slashing Blow (Cloud: Weak.) and if knocking upwards (Cloud: Go!) Aerial/ 30CP/ 300AP/ Initial Three sword combo, the third swing slams the opponent to the ground, but if you tilt the thuimbstick it knock them backwards. Most of the time use this to slam people against the ground for BRV damage, that until you get Omnislash V5. This move has a lot of power, nice range, but is very slow so you may want to try it on staggering opponents. Now this one is a staple in Cloud’s moveset because it links to Omnislash V5. Aerial Fang (Cloud: Haaah!) Ground/ 30CP/ 140AP/ Lv 10 Cloud does a turn and knocks away the opponent with a chase effect. If used correctly it can strike quickly opponents below you, it has good homing to below you, especially good if mixed with Ultima Weapon. It compensates Cloud’s slowness with a fast and surprising Blow to a foe under you, with grat power and chase effect. Rising Fang (Cloud: Shishi! Shyoh!) Ground/ 30CP/ 140AP/ Lv 17 Cloud launches himself upwards and if catches the opponent he will circle around him or her dealing quick strikes and finishing by knocking them upwards. This move is kind of tricky and hard to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, it can be very useful; the initial jump works as a mid air dash due to it’s speed so you can dodge attacks midair or feint with it, also it quickly strikes from below (faster than one would expect from Cloud) and since it comes from a weird angle it can be kind of unpredictable. ---------------- IV-2. HP Attacks ---------------- Cross Slash (Cloud: Hum! Heh! Haah!) Ground/ 40CP/ 180AP/ Initial Cloud slashes the foe three times, marking a kanji like symbol, with a wall rush effect. Cloud’s second Limit Break in Final Fantasy VII and it looks exactly the same, this one is the beginners move in Cloud’s set. It does have better reach than his regular attacks and good power, but the startup is huge and it’s extremely hard to connect. My advice: don’t use it alone; try to combo it with other moves. How to do it will be explained in the combo section. Meteorain (Cloud: Stars, rain down!) Ground/ 40CP/ 300AP/ Lv38 Cloud creates a barrage of meteors that fall on the opponent. Coming from his fifth Limit Break in the original game (only that here he doesn’t jump to throw the meteors), this one might seem not that good considering it startup and poor homing, but it does have a distance that gives its use, for example it can interrupt Sephirtoth’s Heartless Angel, Ultimecia’s Time Crush or Golbez’s Black Fang. Also it can quickly hit Terra in her Tornado attack if timed correctly. Also if the opponent messes up and dodges in a closed space or bumps on a stage hazard it will get hit. Give it a chance and try it, it can be useful if timed correctly. Braver (Cloud: Shuu! Hoh!) Aerial/ 40CP/ 180AP/ Initial Cloud will charge at the opponent and if he catches him or her he will proceed to do a powerful downward slash. Cloud’s first Limit Break in Final Fantasy VII only with the charge added here, since in his original game Cloud only used a powerful jump slash. Well, pretty much like Meteorain this one is about timing, but it cannot be spammed or you will be countered big time. The covered distance is good but is not very fast in moving speed, unlike Rough Divide for example, but it has not that much startup and decent homing. Timing is the option; also it has a good reflecting asset that will bounce back some spells, like those pesky Flares that the Emperor uses and can go through some attacks, even the powerful ones like Terra’s Meltdown. Don’t use it carelessly; try to plan your time to use it. Brave to HP Attacks (Now this is Cloud’s big guns, baby.) Finishing Touch (Cloud: This...is it!) Ground/ 40CP/ 300AP/ Master Sonic Break Cloud will start spinning trapping the opponent as he rises with him or her upwards in the air and proceed to slam them against the ground. Wall rush effect. Based on Cloud’s sixth Limit Break of Final Fantasy VII (where he actually used a tornado instead of hitting). This is the reason why keeping Sonic Break is a good choice, Brave to HP attacks are a blessing in this game for easy damage and taking in count Cloud’s wall rush advantages that means even more extra damage. Basically use the first two blows of Sonic Break and press Square for this wonder, but to land Sonic Break you have to be careful. Also you might want to rack some brave before using this dude. Omnislash Version 5 (Cloud: This ends here!! No hard feelings.) Aerial/ 40CP/ 300AP/ Master Slashing Blow Cloud spins his sword to then slashes through the opponent five times, finally moving above them to slash through them landing on the ground and catching his sword, creating an explosion that shoots the foe against the floor. This is certainly Cloud’s strongest move, coming from the Advent Children movie, where he used this as his triumph card in one of the fights (I know most people know which, but I am trying to be respectful with the ones that don’t). This is the reason why Slashing Blow is a must go, since most of Cloud’s combos end up with this beauty dealing the fatal blow, also it has wall rush so it is a guaranteed 1.5 damage in HP, being able to leave opponents with very little HP and in Ex-Mode it can even leave them in 1 HP ready to be finished with the Ex-Burst. Master Slashing Blow as soon as possible just to add this to the arsenal. ------------- IV-3. Ex-Bust ------------- Omnislash (Cloud: Breaking my limits! This is it!) Repeatedly tap the circle button to fill the energy bar that appears as Cloud holds his sword in a guard, with clouds and lights passing by him. If you succed a flaming aura will sorround him as he rises his sword and the message “LIMIT BREAK” will appear. Cloud will proceed to do a massive assault of slashes (14 hits) with green energy bursts and finish by holding his sword over his head charging energy, to finally give the final blow with the biggest blast (other 5 hits). If you fail to fill the bar Cloud will do up to three slashes, depending how much you manged to fill, each of them stronger than the succesful Ex-Burst ones, but since they are less they accumulate less damage. Finally Cloud will hold his sword behind his back sideways and proceed to slash the foe in a batting manner, homerunning him or her (It’s actually pretty hilarious). The Ex-Burst is pretty cool looking in my opinion, not as espectacular as it looked in FFVII, where each slash had echoing sound and changed the screen color, but looks really good. Unlike I usually thought before, Omnislash is one of the, if not the, strongest Ex Burst in the game, the great combo can rack up some solid damage, the final blow does great damage with the five hits and especially the dimension cuts that start the Ex Burst deal heavy damage. This was proven by testing without equipment on opponents without equipment as well for a beautiful 2300 of damage, average. ====== COMBOS ====== Unfortunately with the pass from the JPN version to the USA and EUR versions of the game Cloud lost many combos while his gameplay was balanced out. For example Double Cut gor shorter range and most combos with it were gone. The startup for Aerial Fang also made him lose some good aerial BRV combos. But at the least Meteorain was sped up so it has some use now and Fire can be used as bother traps to manipulate your opponent a bit; however if it hits during an Omnislash V5 it will cancel it so watch it. Well here is the list of combos that have been found in Dissidia for Cloud, these ones aren’t mine and I got them from other users. Thanks to GenesisRemix for the combos. ------------------ Brave to HP Combo: ------------------ Climhazzard -> Dodge Cancel -> Slashing Blow -> Omnislash V5 This is Cloud’s staple combo, not hard to perform with some practice and really powerful. Ideal to counter, when you perform Climhazzard don’t use the final blow, just before Cloud thrusts the opponent to the ground dodge in place and you will be free to perform Slashing Blow and then Omnislash V5. ------------- Anti Cloud 1: ------------- Sonic Break -> Dodge Cancel -> Blade Beam A very easy combo, but since it only works against an enemy Cloud, I wouldn’t try to master this one. Basically just do the first two blows of Sonic Break, step backwards and Blade Beam for some BRV damage and a Chase Sequence chance. ------------- Anti Cloud 2: ------------- Sonic Break -> Dodge Cancel -> Climhazzard -> Dodge Cancel -> Slashing Blow -> Omnislash V5 This one also works only against Cloud. Pretty much don’t finish any attack before Omnislash V5 and Dodge Cancel right away to connect the next blow. But since is Cloud only I wouldn’t bother with this one either. -------------------- Slashing Blow Combo: -------------------- Slashing Blow -> Dodge Cancel -> Rising Fang/Aerial Fang This one is good to sap BRV. The Rising Fang will knock away the opponent, but if it is near a wall or a narrow stage such as Pandemonium or Edge of Madness they will Crash to the wall for Wall Rush damage and a chance to use Aerial Fang for more damage (Only if they DO crash) ----------------- Triple Omnislash: ----------------- Slashing Blow -> Omnislash V5 -> Slashing Blow -> Omnislash V5 -> Omnislash First of all you need to be in Ex Burst not only to use the Omnislash Ex-Burst, but to make sure the second Slashing Blow can’t be guarded. Second, the first omnislash V5 must be performed high enough in air to be able to perform the second Slashing Blow in time and lead to the rest of the combo. This one is hard to master but, boy it sure hits hard. ------------------ Cross Slash Combo: ------------------ Double Cut -> Cross Slash The opponent must be above ground, so the ideal is that is an staggering opponent. Just do the first blow of Double cut and then Cross Salsh. ------------------- Quick Omnislash V5: ------------------- Double Cut -> Slashing Blow -> Omnislash V5 This one needs the opponent above ground as well to start. First hit of double cut, jump and do the rest. ----------- Quick Chase ---------- (Thanks to Wilson Leong for reminding me this) Climhazzard -> Aerial Fang Needs good timing. Solid damage and a chance for wall rush. ----------- Ground Slam ----------- Climhazzard -> Braver Needs excellent timing, otherwise you will be easily dodged. It gives a quick HP damage but is rather easy to dodge. ================ V. Items Section ================ -------------------------- V-1. Equipment Exclusives: -------------------------- In Dissidia Cloud has access to Swords, Greatswords, Shields, Bangles, Hats, Helms, Clothing, and Light Armor. Among the greatswords you will find the exclusive weapons for Cloud: ............ Buster Sword ............ Needed Level: 1 Boosts: Atk +5 Effects: None How to get: Found in a treasure chest in the first map of Cloud’s Destiny Odyssey. ............. Force Stealer ............. Needed Level: 50 Boosts: Atk +37 Effects: Wall Rush HP Damage +20% How to get: Trade at the shop for 16280 Gil, the Buster Sword, 3 Gigas Bones and 2 Gale Shards. Note: The Gigas Bones are obtainable at the Falcon Course of the coliseum or can be traded at the shop for three Dusty Elixirs that can be obtained in the Airship Cruise. The Gale Shards are obtainable by landing HP attacks on an enemy Cloud of level 23 or higher via Battlegen. .............. Butterfly Edge .............. Needed Level: 92 Boosts: Atk +64 Effects: Wall Rush HP Damage +20% How to get: Trade at the shop for 30390 Gil, the Force Stealer, 5 Blood Darkened Bones and 3 Gale Crystals. Note: The Blood Darkened Bones are obtainable at the Invincible Course of the coliseum or can be traded at the shop for three Hi-Elixirs that can be obtained in the Invincible Cruise as well. The Gale Crystals are obtainable by landing HP attacks on an enemy Cloud of level 44 or higher via Battlegen. ...... Fenrir ...... Needed Level: 100 Boosts: Atk +69 Effects: Wall Rush HP Damage +30% How to get: Trade at the shop for 32750 Gil, the Butterfly Edge, 5 True Pasts and 5 Gale Orbs. Note: The True Pasts are obtainable at the Lunar Whale Course of the coliseum or can be traded at the shop for four Megalixiers that can be obtained in the same Cruise. The Gale Orbs are obtained by inflicting break on an enemy level 100 or higher Cloud via Battlegen. -------------------- V-2. Allure of Honey -------------------- Cloud, Kefka (for Clown makeup I guess) and the girls have also access to the “Allure of Honey” set, which is inspired in the very same accesories he had to wear in Final Fantasy VII when he was forced to cross dress to enter in the house of some sort of rich gangster called Don Corneo, in Midgard to obtain information. The parts are the following: ............. Sexy Cologne: ............. Needed Level: 43 Boosts: Atk +31 Effects: One of the four parts of “Allure of Honey” How to get: Trade at the shop for 13100 Gil, 5 Spirit Stones and 2 Gale Shards. Note: The Spirit Stones can be traded at the shop for three Dusty Elixirs that can be obtained in the Airship Cruise. The Gale Shards are obtainable by landing HP attacks on an enemy Cloud of level 23 or higher via Battlegen. .............. Member’s Card: .............. Needed Level: 43 Boosts: Def +32 Effects: One of the four parts of “Allure of Honey” How to get: Trade at the shop for 13100 Gil, 5 Great Serpent Fangs and 2 Amplification Shards. Note: The Great Serpent Fangs can be traded at the shop for three Dusty Elixirs that can be obtained in the Airship Cruise. The Amplification Shards are obtainable by landing HP attacks on an enemy Terra of level 37 or higher via Battlegen. ........... Blonde Wig: ........... Needed Level: 43 Boosts: Def +168 Effects: One of the four parts of “Allure of Honey” How to get: Trade at the shop for 6550 Gil, 5 Rubies and 2 Allure Shards. Note: The Reubies can be traded at the shop for three Dusty Elixirs that can be obtained in the Airship Cruise. The Allure Shards are obtainable by landing HP attacks on an enemy Kefka of level 30 or higher via Battlegen. ........... Silk Dress: ........... Needed Level: 43 Boosts: Def +1519 Effects: One of the four parts of “Allure of Honey” How to get: Trade at the shop for 9830 Gil, 5 Giant Feathers and 2 Quickstrike Shards. Note: The Giant Feathers can be traded at the shop for three Dusty Elixirs that can be obtained in the Airship Cruise. The Quickstrike Shards are obtainable by landing HP attacks on an enemy Shannoto of level 37 or higher via Battlegen. .............................. The effect of Allure of Honey: .............................. 1.5 increase in BattleGen and Item Drops. While this effect is really good and with other accesories it can be really good for farming, in the long run the poor boost of the equipment will make it too difficult to win fights. After level 50 the level 9 opponents that carry the good stuff will be too strong to defeat with this, so if you plan to get the Genji Set or the Excalibur II or another rare pieces, you are better with the Thief Build (Which will be covered in the builds section) ------------------------------ V-2. Recommended Gear Elements ------------------------------ This part enlists items of each section that will come in handy for set ups, how to use them properly will be explained in detail in the Build up section. ........................ Getting Ingredients: .................... Battlegen First of all to get powder, shards, crystals and orbs of certain kind you must respectively inflict Break or land HP damage. The Crystals and Orbs are obtained by the same way respectively, but have a lesser chance to happen. You can Battlegen once each part in battle so, for example; you get a Powder by Breaking your opponent, you can continue to inflict Break on him until you get the Orb. Getting Orbs and Crystals are hard at lower levels so you better face high level opponents to get the better battlegen chances. Each character also gives different pieces of Orbs and such. The list is as it follows: -Warrior of Light: Protect -Garland: Strength -Firion: Magnet -The Emperor: Healing -Onion Knight: Recovery -Cloud of Darkness: Mana -Cecil: Titan -Golbez: Destruction -Bartz: Luck -Exdeath: Reflex -Terra: Amplification -Kefka: Allure -Cloud: Gale -Sephiroth: Oath -Squall: Bless -Ultimecia: Lithe -Zidane: Power -Kuja: Resilience -Tidus: Guts -Jecht: Crimson -Shanntoto: Quickstrike -Gabranth: Time -Chaos: Chaos Elixiers: Many items at the Shop such as Horns, Fangs, Wings, the Tomes and exclusive ones (Such as True Past for Cloud or Fayth’s Dream for Tidas to get their best weapons) must be traded for Elixirs and their kind. The elixirs are found in the coliseum courses: -Airship Course: Dusty Elixir -Falcon Course: Elixir -Invincible Course: Hi-Elixir -Lunar Whale Course: Megalixir Note that the items you can trade for Elixiers can also be obtained in the coliseum runs, but the chances of finding them are rather slim, so it’s better to get as many Elixiers as you can since you don’t know what items you will need in the future. ........ Weapons ........ Heaven’s Cloud Type: Katana Bonus: ATK +68 Effect: Ex-Force Intake +6m How to Get: Kazekiri x1 and Behemot Horn x5 Ultima Weapon Type: Sword Bonus: ATK +69 Effect: +2 Attack if HP is full How to Get: Item Drop (Still unavailable at shop for me) Excalibur II Type: Sword Bonus: ATK +68 Effect: EXP +100% How to Get: Item Drop (Still unavailable at shop for me) Note: This is ideal for EXP to something builds *More to come* ...... Hands ...... Adamant Shield Type: Shield Bonus: DEF +73 Effect: Part of the Adamant Chains Set How to Get: Crystal x1 and Adamantite x1 Genji Shield Type: Shield Bonus: DEF +73 Effect: Part of the Soul of Yamato set How to Get: Item Drop (Face LV 100 CPUs on max level), Buyable in PP catalog to appear in the shop after Inward Chaos. Thief Gloves Type: Gauntlet Bonus: BRV +32 DEF +51 Effect: Item Drop x1.2 How to get: 1x Demon Gloves, 3x Giant Turtleshell and 4x Titan Powder *More to come* ..... Head ..... Super Ribbon Type: Ribbon Bonus: HP -307 BRV +370 Effect: Accesory Breakability -30% How to Get: 1x Ribbon, 5x Bahamut Wing, 99x Transmigrodust Thief Cap Type: Hat Bonus: BRV +290 Effect: Item Drop x1.2 How to get: 1x Headband, 4x Sacred Beast Wing, 1x Strength Shard Adamant Helm Type: Helmet Bonus: BRV +249 DEF+1 Effect: Part of the Adamant Chains set How to get: 1x Crystal Helm, 1x Adamantite Genji Helm Type: Helmet Bonus: BRV +249 DEF +1 Effect: Part of the Soul of Yamato set How to Get: Item Drop (Face LV 100 CPUs on max level), Buyable in PP catalog to appear in the shop after Inward Chaos. *More to come* ....... Armors ....... Adamant Vest Type: Light Armor Bonus: HP +2717 Effect: Part of Adamant Chains How to Get: 1x Crystal Armor, 1x Adamantite Genji Armor Type: Heavy Armor Bonus: HP+2973 Effect: Part of the Soul of Yamato set How to get: Item Drop (Face LV 100 CPUs on max level), Buyable in PP catalog to appear in the shop after Inward Chaos. *More to come* ............ Accessories ............ Useful Items: Most of these are traded at the Shop, if you have to get it other way, it will be specified. Smiting Soul Effect: 2% of Iai Strike (Immediately inflicts break on opponent) How to Get: 3 Entrophy’s Birth, 3 Chaos Crystals and 1 Crystal Orbs. Gaia Ring: Effect: +15% to overall Damage. How to get: 3 Strength Shards, 2 Crimson Crystals and 2 Strength Crystals. Champion Belt: Effect: +25% to Physical Damage How to get: 3 Crimson Shards, 2 Crimson Crystals and 5 Tomes of the Orator. Dragonfly Orb Effect: +30% Ex Core absorption. How to get: 3 Amplification Shards, 2 Amplification Crystals and 5 Tomes of Silence. Or you can battlegen it by battling the ghost of the FuSoYa Friend Card. Pearl Necklace Effect: +30% to Ex Force Absorption How to get: Trade at the shop for 3 Bless Shards, 2 Bless Crystals and 5 Tome of Men. Sunrise: Effect: Battlegen chance x1.2. How to Get: Trade at Shop for 1 Allure Powder, 1 Luck Powder and 1 Power Powder. Moonrise: Effect: Battlegen chance x1.5 How to get: Trade at the Shop for 2 Allure Shards, 2 Power Shards and 1 Luck Crystal. Sniper Soul: Effect: Wall Rush HP damage +20% How to get: Trade at the Shop for 3 Destruction Shards, 2 Destruction Crystals and 5 Tomes of Mysteries. Sturm and Drang Effect: Physical Damage +20%, Wall Rush BRV Damage and Chase BRV Damage +10% How to get: 1 Champion Belt, 1 Hyperstar and 5 Tomes of Lies. Berserker Ring: Effect: Wall Rush HP and BRV damage + 20% How to get: 1 Sniper Soul, 1 Hyperstar and 5 Tomes of Mysteries. Rabbit’s Foot: Effect: LUK +8 and Summon Recharge +2 How to get: 2 Yellow Gems, 2 Luck Shards and 1 Luck Crystal. Destroyer: Effect: Disables Chance in opponents (So Phoenix Down and such won’t work and the pesky 1 HP survival will end up in KO) How to get: 3 Star’s Cores and 3 Phoenix Pinions Great Gospel: Effect: Regen +20%, BRV Recovery +50% and BRV Boost on Quickmove +1%. How to get: 1 Bravery Elemental, 1 Battle Boots and 3 Tomes of Love Center of the World Effect: EX Force Intake +2m, Ex Force and Core Absorption +15% How to Get: 1 Pearl Necklace, 1 Dragonfly Orb and 3 Tomes of Souls. Mog’s Amulet Effect: Item Drop chance x1.5 How to get: Received via Mognet at random. Superslick: Effect: Battlegen chances x1.5 How to get: Receive via Mognet at random Beckoning Cat: Effect: Gil +20%, AP +100% and PP + 20% How to get: 1 Rabbit’s Foot, 1 Mog’s Amulet and 3 Tome of Kings. Dangerously Lucky: Effect: Last Chance, Item Drop Chances x1.75. Breaks if Last Chance is activated (if it happens retry battle) How to get: 1 Gemini Recipe, 1 Automaton Part and 1 Gnomish Bread. The last 2 ingredients must be obtained via battlegen by battling password friend card Ghosts of Ahirman and Shantotto. ------------------- V-3. Special Builds ------------------- Given the exclusives doesn’t mean you have to stick to those, there is the rest of the equipment, the abilities and the accessories. Depending of what kind of focus you want to have with Cloud the possibilities change. For example, you can equip him to get an easy Ex-Mode and abuse your power, use the Iai Strike easily or get advantage of his easy wall rushes. Here you will find some set ups, with their explanations and how to get the items and the effects of both items and abilities used. ................ Treasure Hunter: ................ Equipment: -Weapon: Excalibur II -Arms: Thief Gloves -Head: Super Ribbon -Body: *The best you have* Accesories: - Mog’s Amulet - Dangerously Lucky - Moonrise - Superslick - After Summon Opponent Booster - Rabbit’s Foot - HP 100% Booster - After Summon Booster - Gaia Ring - Champion’s Belt Abilities that must go: - Equip Ribbons - Equip Gauntlets - EXP to HP Summons: PuPu and Bahamut This set is meant to Battlegen and get item drops, at least this is how I got my Genji Gear and most weapons like the Heaven’s Cloud or the very same Excalibur II. Thief Gloves have poor defense but they give a x1.2 to Item drops. Mog’s Amulet rises the chances x1.5 but it has a chance of 30% of breaking after battle, same goes to Superslick (only this one rises battelgen chances). Here is where Super Ribbon enters, it not only is a good Gear itself but also reduces by 30% the breakability chances, assuring a safe use of Mog’s amulet and Superslick. Dangerously Lucky rises x1.75 chances of Item Drop (But breaks like a phoenix down so if it happens retry the battle). Moonrise is like the Superslick but unbreakable and is affected by boosters, the rest is to make sure you actually deal damage to opponents. Rabbit’s Foot maxes out Luck for item drop at 68 for a 5% chance, also it let’s you recycle two summons if you set in reserves. I personally use PuPu and Bahamut to activate the summon booster, high level opponents always use summons so the second works and the Excalibur II along EXP to HP assure that you always have a 100% to keep active the third booster. ........ Ex-Build ........ Equipment: -Weapon: Heaven’s Cloud/Excalibur II -Arms: Genji Shield -Head: Genji Helmet -Body: Genji Armor Accesories: - Pearl Necklace - Dragonfly Orb - Gold Hourglass - Center of the World - Fake Mustache - After Summon (Player) - After Summon (Opponent) - HP 100% - Level 100 - Gravity Orb Abilities that must go: - Equip Heavy Armors - Equip Katanas - EXP to Ex Force Summons: Any is fine This one is a really simple build, just Ex power increase in the first 2 accesories, Gold Hourglas will make last the Ex Mode. Fake Mustache increases cores and the boosters help. The Genji armor is just to help with defense and the Gravity Orb can make wonders with Heaven’s Cloud or do its work if you use Excalibur II. ................. My Personal Build ................. Equipment: -Weapon: Fenrir -Arms: Genji Shield -Head: Genji Helmet -Body: Genji Armor Accesories: - Pearl Necklace - Grabvitorb - Sniper Soul - Sniper Soul - After Summon (Player) - After Summon (Opponent) - Blazing Totema - Miracle Shoes - Red Gem - Hero’s Essence Abilities that must go: Aside the default ones... -Evasion Time Boost -Free Air Dash -Midair Evasion Boost -Controlled Recovery -Jump Times Boost ++ -Speed Boost ++ -Jump Boost ++ - Counterattack - Riposte - EXP to BRV - Equip Heavy Armor - Heavy Armor Adept - Shield Adept - Helm Adept - EXP to HP Summons: Deathgaze and Bahamut (Cycle each other in reserves with Blazing Totema) Rather simple build made to make use of Cloud’s Wall Rush properties and Ex Mode. The Blazing Totema is for the summon recycling, the Fenrir is for Wall Rush Boost. The Red gems are for extra damage. Not the best but it works for me. ............................................... The following 2 are Builds made by Pinkanemone: ............................................... Accessories: -Red Gem -Red Drop -Red Drop -Red Drop -Miracle Shoes -Strength Shard -Strength Shard -Strength Crystal -Strength Crystal -Strength Crystal It hits like a truck with this power increase. .......................................... Wall Rush Hp Damage and Ex Guage Depletion .......................................... Equipment: -Weapon: Fenrir -Arms: Chainsaw -Helmet: (any lvl 99/100 helmet) -Armor: (any lvl 99/100 armor) Accessories: -Sniper Eye -Sniper Eye -Sniper Soul -Despair Shock -Large Gap in Hp -Near Beak -Large Gap in Brv -Brv=0 -Summon Unused/After Summon(you) -Summon Unused/After Summon(opponent) His/Her notes: “If you want to try this setup for blackjack course you could equip Large Level Gap instead of Summon Unused/After Summon. The boosters I use should work in most conditions.” Not only hits hard but it empties the Ex Bar of the opponent. ...................... Mad_Cartoonist’s Build ...................... Equipment: -Weapon: Fenrir -Arms: Lufenian Shield -Helmet: Lufenian Helmet -Armor: Lufenian Armor Accesories: -Gravitorb -Pearl Necklace -Gold Hourglass -Sniper Soul -Berserker Ring -Close to You -After 30 secs -LV=100 -LV divisible by 4 & 5 With this set up, you'll get into ex-mode in no time, where your attacks are much more menancing. But you can swap something here and there because this is probably far from being the best set. Any suggestions or ideas are more than welcome. ============= VI. Abilities ============= ------------- VI-1. Actions ------------- - Ground Evasion - On the ground, push [R] + [X] to return opponent’s attacks. AP needed to master: 60 CP: 10 (5 when mastered) - Midair Evasion - In the air, push [R] + [X] to return opponent’s attacks. AP needed to master: 60 CP: 10 (5 when mastered) - Ground Block - On the ground, push [R] to guard against foe’s attack. AP needed to master: 40 CP: 10 (5 when mastered) - Midair Block - In the air, push [R] to guard against foe’s attack. AP needed to master: 40 CP 10 (5 when mastered) - Aerial Recovery - When tumbling through the air, press [X] to break fall. AP needed to master: 80 CP: 10 (5 when mastered) - Free Air Dash - Press [R] + [ /\ ] to dash toward opponent. Hold button to extend range. AP needed to master: 200 CP: 30 (15 when mastered) - Air Dash - While Quickmoving, press [ /\ ] to dash toward opponent. Hold button to extend range. AP needed to master: 100 CP: 10 (5 when mastered) Learned on level: 4 - Speed Boost - Slight movement speed boost. AP needed to master: 150 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned on level: 7 - Speed Boost+ - Movement speed boost. AP needed to master: 150 CP: 40 (20 when mastered) Learned: When {Speed Boost} is mastered - Speed Boost++ - Large Movement speed boost. AP needed to master: 150 CP: 70 (35 when mastered) Learned: When {Speed Boost+} is mastered - Reverse Air Dash - While Quickmoving, press [ /\ ] to dash away from opponent. Hold button to extend range. AP needed to master: 100 CP: 10 (5 when mastered) Learned on level: 18 - Jump Boost - Slight jump strength boost. AP needed to master: 150 CP: 10 (5 when mastered) Learned on level: 21 - Jump Boost+ - Jump strength boost. AP needed to master: 150 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned: When {Jump Boost} is mastered - Jump Boost++ - Large jump strength boost. AP needed to master: 150 CP:40 (20 when mastered) Learned: When {Jump Boost+} is mastered - Reverse Free Air Dash - Press [R] + [ /\ ] to dash away from opponent. Hold button to extend range. AP needed to master: 200 CP: 30 (15 when mastered) Learned on level: 29 - Recovery Attack - Press [O] or [ [] ] to attack while flying through air. Must enable Aerial Recovery. AP needed to master: 120 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned on level: 32 - Controlled Recovery - Can move while breaking fall. Aerial Recovery must be enabled. AP needed to master: 120 CP: 10 (5 when mastered) Learned on level: 32 - Jump Times Boost - Jump times increase by 1 AP needed to master: 150 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned on level: 39 - Jump Times Boost+ - Jump times increased by 2 AP needed to master: 150 CP: 40 (20 when mastered) Learned: When {Jump Times Boost} is mastered - Jump Times Boost++ - Jump times increased by 3 AP needed to master: 150 CP: 60 (30 when mastered) Learned: When {Jump Times Boost+} is mastered - Omni Air Dash - Press [R] + [ /\ ] to dash in any direction. Hold button to extend range. AP needed to master: 300 CP: 40 (20 when mastered) Learned on level: 40 - Multi Air Slide - Press [X] to dash in any direction. Hold button to extend range. AP needed to master: 250 CP: 10 (5 when mastered) Learned on level: 53 - Midair Evasion Boost - Increases movement distance for midair evasion. AP needed to master: 150 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned on level: 57 ------------- VI-2. Support ------------- - Always Target Indicator - Target indicator showing opponent’s position will always be displayed. AP needed to master: 30 CP: 10 (5 when mastered) - EX Core Lock On - When EX Core is present, push [L] while locked on to lock onto the EX Core AP needed to master: 50 CP: 10 (5 when mastered) - Auto Chase - Automatically chase foes AP needed to master: 250 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned on level: 11 - Auto Recovery - Automatically break fall. AP needed to master: 250 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned on level: 11 - Auto EX Burst - Automatically use EX Burst. AP needed to master: 150 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned on level: 15 - Auto EX Command - Automatically input EX Burst Commands. AP needed to master: 300 CP: 30 (15 when mastered) Learned on level: 15 - Auto EX Defense - Automatically defend against EX Bursts AP needed to master: 300 CP: 30 (15 when mastered) Learned on level: 26 - Evasion Time Boost - Increase duration of invincibility after evasion AP needed to master: 220 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned on level: 64 ----------- VI-3. Extra ----------- - EX Critical Boost - Further boosts critical hit rate during EX Mode. AP needed to master: 300 CP: 45 (40 when mastered) Learned on level: 25 - Disable EX Critical Boost - EX Critical Boost ability effect disabled. AP needed to master: 300 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned: When {EX Critical Boost} is mastered. - Riposte - Boosts critical hit rate when attacking staggering opponent. AP needed to master: 300 CP: 45 (23 when mastered) Learned on level: 35 - Sneak Attack - Critical hit rate rises when attacking from behind. AP needed to master: 360 CP: 50 (45 when mastered) Learned on level: 43 Notes: This ability greatly complements Beat Fang. I strongly recommend equipping the ability. - Disable Sneak Attack - Sneak Attack ability effect disabled AP needed to master: 360 CP: 30 (15 when mastered) Learned: When {Sneak Attack} is mastered - Physical Shield - When near death, physical damage cut by 20% AP needed to master: 280 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned at level: 47 - Magic Shield - When near death, magic damage cut by 20% AP needed to master: 280 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned at level: 50 - Bravery Regen - In EX Mode, gain bravery instead of regenerating HP. AP needed to master: 280 CP: 20 (10 when mastered) Learned on level: 60 - First Strike - When landing the first BRV attack, critical hit rate of the first combo rises. AP needed to master: 360 CP: 40 (20 when mastered) Learned on level: 67 - EXP to HP - Instead of gaining EXP, recover an equivalent amount of HP AP needed to master: 500 CP: 20 (0 when mastered) Learned on lv: 100 - EXP to Bravery - Instead of gaining EXP, gain an equivalent amount of bravery AP needed to master: 500 CP: 20 (0 when mastered) Learned on lv: 100 - EXP to EX Force - Instead of gaining EXP, the EX Gauge rises by an equivalent amount. AP needed to master: 500 CP: 20 (0 when mastered) Learned on level: 100 ===================================== VII. Vs. The other Dissidia Warriors: ===================================== --------------------- VII-1. Cloud’s Quotes --------------------- ........... Encounter: ........... “Do what you want?” “Do I feel sorry for you.” “Come with may I am ready.” “Let’s just get this over with.” “I...don’t have time for you.” “I’m gonna do whatever I can.” “I’m gonna win, don’t you care?” “What do you want with me?” “Guess I have to...” “Not interested” .... Win .... “My reality is mine alone” “Let’s go” “You should have seen that one coming” “That was a joke” “I’ve still got a lot to learn” “I’ll live your life for you” “It always ends the same way” “I earned this victory” “Can’t smile about this one” “I won’t sleep well tonight” ..... Loss ..... “That was bad...” “Just get outta here.” “This can’t be it...” “This isn’t the place to stop!” “A loss...is a loss” “Gotta...start over” “I guess this is it” “I...don’t care anymore” “How did this happen?” “I just...” --------------------------------------- VII-2. Final Fantasy 7 Themes in Battle --------------------------------------- “Fight On!” – The Boss Battle theme of Final Fantasy VII remixed a bit. “One-Winged Angel” – The infamous final boss theme against SE-PHI-ROTH!! Orchestrated. “Opening theme – Bombing Mission” – An unaltered addition of the music that plays in the opening sequence of Final Fantasy VII along with the music of the first stage. ----------------------------- VII-3. Facing other Warriors: ----------------------------- This section lists what you will be facing against the other fighters in general, also how can you deal with them and what strategies to use. Cloud’s fighting style must be used wisely since he is not all powerful and his slow attacks can be problematic. But if used properly, Cloud can pretty much own any opponent in game. This section describes mostly what kind of offensives the opponent have, not their AI behaviour or what attacks you must use (there are recomendations, but Cloud is set up to your liking after all.) ................ Warrior of Light ................ “Warrior of Light: Hesitation will dull your blade.” “Cloud: Show me the power of light.” Warrior of Light, the action hero and star of this game, as a good retro character uses a classic style of well balanced attack and magic, with decent speed, attack and defense. It may not sound much of a deal but he is quite strong and has two solid BRV to HP attacks: “Rune Saber” and “Bitter End”, so being comboed can be bad, fortunately his power isn’t that deadly. In general his moves are pretty straightforward, quick sword slashes and shield bashes. The strategy is just block and counter, with Cloud’s power it shouldn’t be more than that. His shield is kind of tricky, because it may look like he will just hit with it, but instead he throws it getting extra range also by dashing to you if used mid-air, upwards or downwards depending on his position, so it’s better to block than just dodge. The only BRV move that you must avoid is when he spins, shouting “Get ready!” around before throwing the shield while he is on ground, since that move will leave you open for the rest of the combo. He has Red Fang, Blue Fang and White Fang, all of them are pretty straightforward and blockable but with different timings; the first is a fast projectile, white fang has better reach and coverage but is slower and Blue Fang falls slowly messing you up if you block too early. As for his HP attacks, Shield of Light is tricky, he may counter with this, but as a stand alone attack is easy to see come and dodge (also you can crush it with Ultima Weapon), but a human player will stop your swings to attack since Cloud’s attacks are set for this, Shining Wave has poor homing so dodging sideways would be enough, Radiant Sword may seem that will get you, but the blades also have poor homing, however they cover a wide area so you better jump over them. Block and Counter is the wonder here, just don’t let him combo you and he’s yours. ....... Garland ....... “Garland: I shall break you and your sword!” “Cloud: No chain is ubreakable.” Hah! Nice one there! Our fellow oversized sword wielder is similar in terms of attacks, but the difference is that when his “sword” glows red it means that attack will stagger you when blocked leaving you open for a combo. Here you can go on the offensive a bit, just to push Garland but you have to be careful with you blocking, since Garland also has heavy hits. When he dashes to you dodge, that attack will stagger you, when he forms a hammer with his weapon do the same. Sometimes he will release the blade of his weapon to use it like a chain mace, that attacks is easily avoided by dashing forward and since is a midair one you can punish with Omnislash V5. Garland HP attacks aren’t really deadly, Blaze can be dodged by jumping over them (dodging forward), Earthquake just needs a backstep, Cyclone too and you can Braver through it and Tsunami just requires you to stay away from ground. In the offensive just block his non glowing sword attacks and counter or dodge and counter the heavy ones, since they have some ending lag. Once you reach Ex Mode, the fight will be a lot easier, since Garland is not that fast nor agile. In the end you can win without much trouble. ...... Firion ...... “Firion: Give me all you’ve got, Cloud!.” “Cloud: You look like... a friend of mine.” Remember who? Aerith? Oh boy... Oh wait! Zack! Yeah, that must be it! Lame jokes aside, Firion is a tricky fighter, he has two moves that are ublockable, they will crush your guard and combo you, his attacks drain a lot of BRV and also has “Double Trouble” a solid BRV to HP attack with wall rush effect First he will throw his knife at a little distance, to dodge this jump, if you dodge sideways he will follow you with some sort of psychic power. The other unblockable attack is his Axe Throw, it is a linear attack with long range but it is easy to predict and dodge. His spinning lance combo will draw you to him but this one can be block and punished and so his single sword slashes. Firion has near to no aerial game (yeah, even worse than Cloud’s) and he will use Fire, Thunder and Blizzard here, but all of them are blockable and slow, he also does a quick sword swing, but has short range and just needs good timing. Now his HP attacks aren’t that bad, Straightarrow is easy to dodge (it’s straight, duh) but his Shield Bash can be a problem, it blocks an attack at any distance and at any distance will counter with a flurry that not only does good BRV damage but also is a HP attack, meaning “D’oh!”, so this is the primary reason why you better wait to counter since Cloud’s attack slowness pays here, however it can be Ultima Crushed. Weaponmaster is his other solid move, it’s midair so it’s kinda unexpected, however jump over Firion and done. His Ex-Mode isn’t that bad except for the blood drain; each time he inflicts HP damage he will recover the same amount, so be careful in that. Firion is not an easy opponent, but by being careful you should be okay. ....... Emperor ....... “Emperor: Can you win with shadows in your heart?” “Cloud: I am not anyone’s tool.” Four words for the narcicist Matheus: “Pain wherever hurts more”, he is not that hard, but he’s pretty damn annoying with his trap style. He puts mine like energy balls that explode when touched and deal crazy BRV damage. He spams lasers that bounce on the walls with certain homing (you might get how annoying it must be in closed places), and a magic symbol that traps you, paralyzes you, drains BRV and leaves you open for HP attacks. Fourtunately, the first are avoidable since they stand still, the second can be dashed through or dodged sideways (but in closed stages like Kefka’s tower is very hard) and the floor trap jumped, but do not try to attack or block because it will get you anyways. Another is a magical shot, he says “Prepare!”, the shot is charged and easily doged anyways, howerver unlike the other mines this one stays and drags you slowly so careful there too. His main HP attack are Flare, a blue one with good homing and an orange one with less. These slowly chase you and never disappear, but the orange can be destroyed with a HP attack (Braver and Cross Slash are good choices) and the blue one will be bounced back and start chasing the Emperor (the irony is that the damage inflicted will be based on HIS BRV so if it connects then HIS BRV will drop to 0). If you take distance for too long he will use Starfall, it has long casting time but if it is performed a meteor will crush you wherever you are and no matter what, so be sure to interrupt this casting. His Ex-Mode like Firion’s allows him to recover the same HP that he deals as damage so careful there as well. This fight isn’t hard really, just plain annoying, just keep chasing him and catch him in the air, with braver or Slashing Blow for Omnislash V5, his counterattacking is not good and he won’t straightforward attack you for you to counter so you will have to catch him sooner or later. Meteorain helps here a lot. Not a hard fight just pretty annoying. ............ Onion Knight ............ “Cloud: You’re a knight, show me what you’ve got.” “Onion Knight: I think you think too much.” The squirrel is right, Cloud, but now let’s explain the fight. Onion is one thing: fast, his retro slash flurries (they have the same animation that regular attacks used up to Final Fantasy IV) and almost all his BRV attacks chain to a HP one. Blizzard to Quake, the regular attack in air to Guiding Swipe, in the ground to Sword Shower, Thunder to Flare. The good thing is that his all his attacks have lame reach and power, so even if they are chained, unless they break you they won’t deal much damage. Same goes to his HP alone attacks, they hit several times but aren’t very dangerous and have huge startup time, so they can be easily avoided. Wind Shear drags you but wait for the moment he stops spinning and use Braver for a free blow. Firaga is like a grenade all you have to do is jump over it. Comet is like a machine gun and lasts a lot, don’t avoid to the sides, jump over because he can change the direction he is shooting a little. His Blizzard BRV attack is pretty straightforward and has limited range, block it, Thunder is a three way projectile with homing, not hard to dodge but it’s better to dash through it. Aside that stick to the Block and Counter, Onion Knight is fast, so you won’t be landing blows by simply attacking, also for this same reason you will need a good timing to block, because sometimes you won’t be able to react in time. Once again, good thing Onion has next to no attack power. Not a hard fight at all, but be careful anyways. ................. Cloud of Darkness ................. “Cloud of Darkness: You dare face me with a Clouded heart?” “Cloud: I can rip through your darkness.” Haha! Clouded heart! Cloud of Darkness! Cloud! Get it? ... Okay, I’ll shut up. Cloud of Darkness was changed froma huge female looking poisonous ghost monster into a smexy and cool lady. And she did one nice thing to her Particle Beam: made a whole style of variations for it, now that’s a well developed technique. Onto the fight: she divides her attacks between her tentacles and Particle Beams, for close and ranged respectively. Her tentacles can combo a lot, blockeable but they need some timing. Her combos are usually one where he swings them rapidly around her in a sphere pattern. As you may guess it hits hard, many times and if it was with a critical rising skill such Riposte, it may break you in one combo. The other one is to knock you away, which is more than anything, just annoying. Her HP attacks aren’t bad; among the Particle Beam variations she has O-Form, which is a cilinder like beam that has mid range, however this stays in that shape for a while and she can move it anywhere around her, so avoid it by backing off. The she has Fusillade, which she spreads beams over the arena, but if you dash to her you can strike her wide open and cancel the whole move. Then we have wide angle, that is like a wall of energy but has small distance so taking distance should be enough. Feint is her counter move and is pretty much like Firion’s Shield Bash, but you can break through it with a HP attack. Wrath Particle Beam works in a similar way, can be cancelled with a HP move but a brave attack will make her teleport to a next location and counter with a vertical particle beam (Meaning Ultima Crushing it is out of question). Anti Air makes a group of pillars around her and another that is just like Warrior of Light’s Shining Wave, but with much better homing. She also casts black thunders at you or throw small energy balls, but these are no problem. Now to attack her just charge in, but only to stay close, her tentacle attacks can be blocked for punishment, in distance she can annoy a lot but close in you just have to be careful of O-Form or anti air, the counters need good timing so they won’t be working all the time. As always, be careful with your timing, Cloud of Darkness can be deadly from afar and hurt a lot in close, but overall your chances are there. Braver also can break through most her attacks and foil her counters. ............ Cecil Harvey ............ “Cecil: Let’s seek our answers together!” “Cloud: Don’t think, just fight.” Well, that was mean on Cloud’s side. I mean Cecil is one of the nicest guys in the game. Anyways, Cecil is a powerful opponent and hard to predict as well. He rotates between his Dark Knight class for ground game and Paladin for air. As we know Cloud’s air game is limited so Cecil will have advantage there, with extremely quick BRV blows and two deadly HP attacks, Paladin Force where he throws a little beam of light that if connects it unleashes a whole combo, even if dodged Cloud doesn’t have enough attack speed to counter it, so just make distance. The other is Saint Fall, he will charge at you but the movement can be controlled, so expect that thing a perfect homing effect, however you can dodge it by backing off or getting under Cecil, being able to counter with Rising Blow. Braver is your best offensive choice here. But anyways, Cecil air advantage is huge so take the fight to the ground, here you’ll most likely face him as a dark knight. His attacks are very powerful but readable so you can counter. He can throw his lance at you, that has huge knockback and range for a non projectile. His HP attacks are Soul Eater, which is kid of fast but easy to dodge and Dark Flame, this one is like Shining Wave, but with better homing and slower, but you dodge by jumper over it. The other three Brave attacks are a dark sphere that can be easily bounced back at Cecil, an aerial quick fall that screams for a counter and smaller dark spheres that strike from behind, so dodge them. The routine is the answer, take the fight to the dark knight to a guard and counter. This can be messed up a bit though in his Ex Mode, where he freely changes between Paladin and Dark Knight without attacks and has higher power, but stick to it. ....... Golbez ....... “Cloud: Who do you fight for?” “Golbez: The faint hearted have no place here.” Don’t act though, Golbez...or you just wnat Cloud to be strong? Well, Golbez is pretty strong just like his little brother. His BRV attacks have all good range and many of them connect to his Cosmoc Ray HP attack. When he summons a laser above or conjures a pillar of black fire, be careful, even if you make him stagger by blocking the hand swing the laser or flame will remain and you’ll get hit and open for Cosmic Ray, so block, DODGE and then attack. The also applies for an Ex Block. His HP attacks aren’t really a problem, Nightglow is predictable as he takes a long time to cast it, he will scream “Endure this!” and a ring will appear at your feet, just dodge or run outside it, however don’t touch Golbez while he does it or you will get hurt and will get hit by the move, which always slams you against the ceiling for extra Wall Rush damage. The other is Genesis Rock, four giant stones will come from the ground and rotate around him a moment before he shoots them in four different directions. At first it might seem like an imprenetable barrier, but you can just braver your way in. During Ex Mode, he will have a long charged spell called Black Fang that instantly Breaks you. When it begins rush to him to interrupt him or use Metorain to interrupt or force him to dodge. The effect is lethal but it takes time. Golbez is a strong opponent, just be careful of the extra effect of his attacks and timing and you should be fine. ............. Bartz Klauser ............. “Bartz: Just act before you have time to worry!” “Cloud: Don’t rush me, I’m getting ready.” Not everybody is always ready for action I guess. Well, Bartz is a hard to predict and tricky opponent, with all the attack mixes and such. However his HP arsenal is just a mix of moves from other characters. Two of his Brave attacks are counter bait, his Climbarrell which will start exactly like Cloud’s Climhazzard, in other words slow, and his aerial slide imitating Tidus which is even slower than Climhazzard. While midair, if he doesn’t use his slide, he will most likely spam Holy (one of Terra’s spells) which he can connect to Onion Knight’s Flare if it lands. Holy has masaive homing and good speed so be careful and block it. The other chance is a spinning move (one of Zidane moves) that is much faster than the slide but still can be prevented, since it covers less distance. In the ground he can start attacks like Warrior of Light, by throwing a shield and connecting from mid range, blockable but tricky. And also summon the Gunblade to use one of Squall’s attacks, this one is very quick but has short range. Keep in mind as well that most (if not all) his BRV attacks have an extra effect, such as “Minor Sneak Attack” or “Minor Counterattack”, meaning his weird combos can deal surprise criticals. Now his HP attacks aren’t new, just uses the same as other characters. He has Onion Knight’s Wind Shear, Cecil’s Paladin Force and Soul Eater, and Terra’s Flood. Deal with these the same way you dealt with them when facing their original users. As for Terra’s Flood, just dodge or move from the place where you see water at your feet, it strikes three times so dodge those three. The range is limited so no big problem. Now it’s important to mention Goblin Punch. During his Ex Mode he has this move and aside a decent range it’s the fastest HP attack in the game. Dodge and be careful when Bartz is in Ex Mode. ....... ExDeath ....... “Cloud: You don’t know true despair” “ExDeath: Brooding gains you nothing” Well coming from a tree that came to live due to negative emotions I gotta say he knows the despair as well as his Void and is right about things. ExDeath difficulty depends on his user. A CPU is a joke, will try to attack with his slow offensive game and just jump around to dodge. But another person can use his full potential and be a master of countering. ExDeath own offensive is predictable, slow and weak. His sword swing is so slow that I often get hit because I dodge too early and the invincibility period ends before the attack is performed (not joking). He has a black hole that sucks in, but works more like a trap than an attack so watch it there. He throws an energy ball at you, but it can be easily blocked (however hits hard) also, his most spammable attack is his teleportation, he disappears in a ring that bounces around and if he appears where you are you get hit, also if you block it your guard is pushed so you can’t counter right away. His HP attacks are Delta Attack that works pretty much like Warrior of Light Shield of Light, but has better range. But a HP attack or Ultima Weapon can Break through. Almageist will create a black sphere around him and quickly follow you to explode, but can be easily interrupted with any attack. Now, where is the danger you may ask? Omni Guard; his ultimate counter. A red shield will appear in front of him, and depending of which kind of attack it blocked you will be countered with the same kind of move but with a LOT more power behind. Ultima Weapon can’t break through this one, either. As you can see a human ExDeath is deadly, play carefully with distance and don’t charge in. Use Meteorain or the fires to force the counter and have chances of make it miss to attack yourself. If you face a CPU ExDeath, have fun with your punching bag. .............. Terra Branford .............. “Terra: He must move forward, even if it’s to fight” “Cloud: Let’s do what we can” Call me fanboy, but I seriously think that things would work out between these two. Remember the wait and counter strategy we’ve using so far? To the hell with it! Charge in, otherwise Terra will be comfortably spamming ranged attacks at you. She only has one close ranged attack, a quick three hit blizzard combo that is weak but knocks you away to her comfortable range. Most likely she will spam Blizzara if you get too close, it can deal good BRV damage if lands a critical. However she has many other annoying spells, Meteor will make things rain on you, but in a certain area, so dash out of it. She has Holy in the same fashion as Bartz that she will connect to Ultima if she lands it for a powerful HP attack. She has Gravija a black sphere that will appear above you and crush you unless you dodge it or interrupt Terra. Firaga a small fireball in ground with powerful damage and chase effect. Her HP attacks are Flood, deal just like with Bartz. Tornado, which she will suck you but if you keep distance and time right you can land a free Braver when she finishes and is during ending lag. Also she has Meltdown a straight fireball, that depending on how charged it is it will explode quickly, chase you or even worse bounce around the stage at high speed. You can Braver through it and smack Terra, but if you don’t have time to Braver dodge and be careful of the bouncing or homing. She will most likely stay in midair, to attack with magic, so projectiles like Fire or Fira can be good distractors. Meteorain and Blade Beam are weak with her since she can interrupt them easily with much faster projectiles. And in her Ex Mode she has Double Cast, which means an immediate attack after the first. The best you can do is chase her and try to connect, guarding is useless with distance since you won’t gain any time. Braver is a key to approach her while breaking through her projectiles safely. ............. Kefka Palazzo ............. “Kefka: Aaah...the smell of inexperience!” “Cloud: There’s no getting through to you.” Inexperience? True, there’s no way to talk with Kefka, but I don’t get that one. Anyhow, Kefka is pretty much like Terra in terms of distance. As a magic user, Kefka is better at distance to hurt you, but he does have couple of close range moves. The annoying part though is the erractic pattern in all of his spells, they are not easy to repel, but one mistake and they hurt a lot. His BRV attacks are crazed moves, all of them have names like “wiggly-fagla-bonga-donga” so you may expect something as exentric as it sounds. He has two variations of Blizzard; that turns into a ball and roll on the floor (avoid just by staying on air) and another that shatters after hitting you, this last one can be bounced back if you hit or guard the ice block before it breaks the pieces will go to Kefka instead, but it’s kind of tricky since it is always used at short distances to hit you with the big block to make you stagger before the pieces drain BRV. Moving along we have his fire spells, a fireball that moves erratically around and tif catches you it hurts repeatedly, but if you block it it will target Kefka (dude, he sure likes two edged techniques). The other is a triple projectile with chase effect, fast but rather straightforward. And then the lighting attack, just a straight line of bolts: block. He has his variation of Terra’s Meteor, but these bounce upwards so careful and then he has his fireworks. He throws a small blue energy ball, with slow speed but actually breaks guard and then explodes in many blue blasts. His HP attacks fortunately are more straightforward. He has Trine, which can be avoided by jumping over or using Meteorain. Hyperdrive which is a pretty fast explosion, but the range needs Kefka to charge it and it can be dodged to the sides. Then we get Foresaken Null, where a weird circle made of apparently TV static drops bombs of the same material, this is controled by the player, and the speed is slow, but if it catches you in a corner of a closed space you are in trouble. Then we have his staple, Havoc Wing, he does several backflips and the wings of his ExMode forme strike forward like blades, this attack will adjust height to strike at any so to avoid it back off, and don’t get close until the wings disappear or you will receive the HP damage. His Ex Mode is similar to Terra’s but instead of double cast it makes even more chaotic his spells, so be careful. Kefka may be considered weak, but he can pretty much take you down if you get careless. ............ Cloud Strife ............ “Cloud: If I win...are my sins forgiven?” Facing yourself, your own sins and pain, your guilt and all the sadness that has burdened in his life, seeking for a way out. That’s what I think Cloud means. The mirror match is quite simple, a CPU Cloud will start to attack, so knowing Cloud already is easy to counter and win easily. However a human player will likely use the guard and counter as well, so the best thing is to put pressure and force the opponent. To do this use safe moves like Blade Beam or Meteorain to force the foe Cloud to move or Braver to approach. With Cloud’s attack speed you will have enough time to dodge. Not much to say, only it’s up to your skill since all the details about Cloud’s moves have been exposed already, just remember that Cloud hits really hard, so timing, as always, is the key. ......... Sephiroth ......... Here it is, your arch nemesis, the Vegeta to Goku, the Lex Luthor to Superman, the Joker to Batman, the Kaneda to Tetsuo the Racer X to Speed Racer, I could go on, but I won’t. As you may guess for the huge size of his Masamune, his attack have ridiculously high range. The have slow startup but still are faster than Cloud’s the swings hit many times so you may guess the result is fatal if he hits with a skill such as Riposte or Counterattack. Still, they can be read with a bit of practice, however don’t attack recklessly or you’ll be open for a smack, almost as strong as Cloud’s but quite faster. He also tends to use Shadow Flare a lot, four energy stars surround you and strike you, this can be distracting and annoying, perfect for him to attack, so jump over them or dash. He also uses a several shockwave attack, with quite a distance for a BRV move, but this can be stopped by blocking repeatedly. His HP moves are Octaslash, a simpler version of Omnislash where he repeatedly swings at you, get hit once and you’re trapped for the rest of the move, so jump backwards or over him, since the range is huge and also it follows you. Next is Scintilla, a counter move that works in the same fashion as Shield of Light, only the reach is better and the attack lasts longer, so better keep distance until he does two swings (that ends the attack) or Ultima Crush it. His trickiest moves are Heaven’s Light where he does a Sho-Ryu-Ken slash from below you, is quite fast and usually you won’t see him preparing it so when the message of “Heaven’s Light” appears, immediately air dodge two times. The other is Hell’s Gate (Aerith....noooo!) where he falls to the ground and thrusts it with crater digging power (literally), if you get caught midair with this it will hit you several times until Sephiroth reaches the ground, and is also very difficult to dodge, but can be done; as soon as you hear a metallic sound after Sephiroth says “To the promise land” dodge backwards. His last HP move is Black Materia (yeah, the smart guy took it to this game) that will cast the trademark meteor of Final Fantasy VII to you. But the power depends on how much the attack is charged. If he releases it right away it will throw a slow and small meteor to you easy to dodge. Mid charged it will be slightly bigger and faster. Fully charged it summons a gargantuan space stone right above you. However you can dodge it dashing forward. In his Ex Mode, he has access to his infamous “Heartless Angel” which leaves you with only 1 BRV point regardless of how high it was. The good thing is that this moves requires a lot of charging time, so you have a chance to force him to stop it to defend himself or use Meteorain as well. Just avoid this one at all costs. With Sephiroth the winner is who counters the better, both Cloud and him have an excellent guard and counter game, so avoid his swings or you’ll be in break in no time. BTW, does anyone else feels some weird coincidences between Sephiroth and Marth from Super Smash Bros? I mean: -Both pretty boys -Both elegant swordsmen that attack with one hand sword moves -Octaslash -> Dancing Blade -Heaven’s Light -> Dolphin Slash -Scintilla -> Counter -Hell’s Gate -> Shield Breaker (Both are powerful thrusts) ............... Squall Leonhart ............... “Squall: What are you afraid of losing?” “Cloud: Fight with pride.” Cloud’s unofficial rival, both cool guys challenging each other. Wonder why they never interacted outside Kingdom Hearts II though. Well, Squall’s BRV game is perhaps the best in the game, fast and strong it easily overpower Cloud here. His aerials and ground moves all lead to powerful and fast combos, also armed with good multiprojectile attacks. Make him stagger is really hard, but at least his range is kind of poor (Until he uses his Ex Mode where his range is greatily increased). The best you can do around Squall’s Braves is dodge and keep distance. Now as deadly as Squall may seem he has one critical flaw, he doesn’t have a solid finishing blow. Even if he breaks you and racks up to 9999 BRV he will have problems landing a HP move, since most of them have slow startup or predictable trajectories. Fated Circle and Aerial Circle are kinda fast rings of explosions, but are easily dodgeable, also if you dodge with the right timing you can counter right away. Blasting Zone is predictable, by the startup and lack of any homing, however don’t dodge by trying to jump over it, since it will hit you (it’s a giant energy sword, duh, obviously has its properties at attacking). Rough Divide is extremely fast dash and covers a huge distance, but its startup is slow so you can see it coming and dodge in time, however a wrong maneuver and “WHAM!!”. Then we have Revolver Drive, a rather counter move that can last long, it’s easy to dodge since it stays on ground and you can stay midair, however it’s likely this move will be used to counter or as a combo, it saps a LOT of BRV and damage. This + Lionheart + Renzokuken is a bad thing. His Ex Mode is very deadly, his short range is increased with the Lion Heart size and each of his blows strike twice. That plus the critical boost of all Ex Modes and the multi hits of Squall mean instant Break. Squall requires the best of timings for an infight to counter, you can be safe even if he can kill you with one HP blow. And remember, Cloud’s insane power can turn the tables if you can land your own BRV moves. Just stick to a guard and counter. But remember, a good player can strike you unexpectedly with a HP move. ......... Ultimecia ......... “Ultimecia: No use trying to erase the past.” “Cloud: You won’t touch my memories” So Cloud does treasure what has happened to him after all, Ultimecia missed the mark then. Okay, Ultimecia is not a hard opponent really. She has the power over time...but not in battle. His BRV attacks aren’t deadly and most his HP attacks are easy to dodge. His BRV arsenal are a knife raid that can be blocked with repeated guard or be Bravered through. The other is a stronger version with slower startup (strike in that moment if you are close enough) that can’t be blocked but still Bravered through or dodged by jumping over. Other includes a scattering of purple knives over the arena that vanish if you strike her. Three axes that chase you with chase effect and a big one with no homing but unblockable, still easy to dodge. Her HP attacks are simple, Apocalypse a magical symbols that appears below her and places below you for a blast. Just dodge it once it reaches your feet. Shocwave pulsar is an exploding energy ball chargeable, but jumping or dodging makes it hit air. Great Atratctor may sound menacing, but man it takes forever to charge and can be interrupted (I seriously doubt a human player uses this.) In her Ex Mode he has the “Time Crush” spell that stops you in your tracks for a certain period of time. It has charging time like Black Fang and Heartless Angel, but is faster charged, be careful there. Man, I may be missing something about her, but still, the almigthy sorceress of time really got the short end of the stick for this game. ............. Zidane Tribal ............. “Zidane: You should try smiling more, you know?” “Cloud: Yap while you can.” Haha, Zidane just touched Cloud in his shy part of personality. Well, Zidane is fast and has good combos and solid BRV to HP attacks. But the most important thing of all is to avoid aerial combat by all means. Zidane as his description says has an insane aerial game not only for his fast combos but his HP attacks. Free Energy is the fastest HP attack in the game after Goblin Punch and Grand Lethal has insane homing and durations (you better dodge this one by jumping over). His fast aerial combos link to Meo Twister a powerful BRV to HP attack. You are safer in the ground, there at least you can counter better even if Zidane attacks from midair. His moves in ground are slower, and his HP attacks more defendable. Tidal Flame just needs a jump over it and Stellar Circle, drags you but just keep distance for a free combo when he finishes and is in ending lag. But be careful, his ground combos will take you midair so block properly. A dangerous fight, his aerials are defendable in ground but Cloud’s inferior air game is what makes possible for Zidane just dance around you beating you up. Force him to go for you at ground or strike from afar, but never chase him to midair. .... Kuja .... “Kuja: Your struggles are about to end!” “Cloud: We just met, but I won’t miss you.” Kinda bad, I would love to see Cloud and Kuja interact, but well that is not possible it seems. Even though he can kill Cloud if you aren’t careful. Anyways, Kuja is one deadly fighter. He dominates basically every range of combat, all his BRV moves adapt to how far or close you are and since they are all projectiles, you can’t stagger him. All of them are pretty unpredictable in many ways and strike from any direction, so force Kuja to defend with your own projectiles while you approach. No questions here, if he is good at all ranges then force the match to an in fight where Cloud’s at his best. Flare Star is the HP threat in close range, it has good homing and is fairly quick. Seraphic Star may seem easy to dodge, but to do so keep distance from its explosion, because it sucks you in. Ultima is easy to dodge, energy balls rain upon you, but they have little homing and Kuja can’t stop the attack until he finishes it, this is the chance to strike. The strategy is the same as always and try hard to get close. His Ex Mode grants side effecst not only to his moves but also to his very movement. Unpredictable and tricky, Kuja is a great problem, you’ll need patience and precision. ..... Tidus ..... “Tidus: Enough moping, let’s go!” “Cloud: Why are you always so happy?” Pretty self explanatory given Tidus outgoing persona. Well, Tidus is not a very hard opponent. He is very quick at moving and jumping, but his attacks have very slow startup and his “auto dodge counter moves” are easy to avoid, just dodge as soon as he jumps backwards if he is countering you or wait he finishes doing acrobacy and block to counter. His other BRV attacks are readable because they show him taking impulse before striking, this regards his aerials and his ground moves. Remember Bartz aerial slide? Well it’s the same here, after all it is Tidus’s move. However you have to be careful, his blows hurt and because most of his dodge counter moves connect to “Quick Hit” a solid BRV to HP attack. His HP attacks aren’t much trouble either, first is Spiral Cut where he will do several acrobacies before a powerful slash, but just by staying away is okay, being close is dangerous because he follows you and if you guard he will break through. The he has Energy Rain, here he starts by jumping and trying to connect a flying kick before the beams, but if he misses, he won’t shoot anything and will be open for countering. Next is Slice and Dice, similar to the aerial slide, but slower and better range, just dodge or make distance when you hear “Go take a nap!” from him. His final HP move is the infamous Jecht Shot, a Blitzball is thrown at you at high speed for a three hit combo, but it has very slow startup and the sphere can be dodged with good timing. Overall he is not a very hard opponent, as I said before, but you need to be careful anyways, because he hits hard. Don’t try to initiate an infight just stick to counters. ..... Jecht ..... “Cloud: No one is too special.” “Jecht: You should sharpen that sword once in a while.” The old Jecht really doesn’t think about things too much, he skips straight to action. Okay, Jecht lacks completely of projectiles, so there is a slight advantage there. However his close combat is top notch, with powerful BRV attacks that cause stagger or even break guard and very strong HP moves. Guarding here is tricky, for the sole reason that it’s hard to know which of Jecht’s attack can actually be blocked and which will break through, that depends of how much the attack is charged; if it’s thrown right away block, if it was charged, dodge or you will be open. Also being comboed by Jecht can be terrible, his attack last a lot, drain a lot of BRV and he can connect them to his HP attacks such as Jecth’s Blade without them being BRV to HP attacks. He usually charges the physical moves so if he does that then dodge, but if not block. Usually the first blow breaks through, the second can be stopped. His HP attacks aren’t that bad by themselves, Jecht Blade has huge priority and chases you, but the speed isn’t bad, so jumping over or running away should keep you safe. Triumphant Grasp always dashes to the ground and slides there, so just stay mid air. Ultimate Jecht Shot is easy avoidable and can be Bravered when it’s finished, don’t try to do a BRV attack or you’re most likely to get sucked in when he catches the meteor and get hit when he throws it. Perhaps his most annoying trait is his arm guard, the Jecht Block, a move that can block any kind of attack making you stagger even if it was an Ultima Weapon blow or a HP attack. He uses this a lot, so don’t expect to guard break by just exchanging blows. The good thing is that Jecht is also staggered if the blocked attack had the power of a HP move. This fight needs more than any other the wait and counter, since Jecht overpowers Cloud completely at infighting. Take advantage of your few projectiles for distractions or even some hits and be careful when getting close. ......... Shantotto ......... “Cloud: Who are you?” “Shantotto: Your hair is a distraction.” Not quite an answer, but I agree with Shantotto. As for the fight, Shantotto is quite fast for a magician, but unusually easy to catch with your attacks, mostly because her game revolves around HP attack combos (Not BRV to HP attacks). Her only BRV attacks are a three hit combo with her staff with chase effect, that doesn’t hit hard, seems that is mostly to make distance. In the other she throws her staff like a boomerang, if you block it in front of you Shantotto will stagger, but if it connects from behind it will hurt you anyways. This also has chase effect. She has also a paralyzing move (which I wouldn’t call attack since it doesn’t do damage) that stops you in your tracks for a moment, but nothing terrible. A Stop like spell that has some charging time, but if connects it will leave you unable to move in a point, however still able to attack. You will be open, and if you are caught midair there’s not much you can do, at least in the ground you can spam Meteorain or Fire to do something. Also she uses a poison ability which slowly follows you and if hits it will slowly sap your BRV for a period of time (If you connect a HP attack it will break you the moment your BRV goes back to Zero.) Her HP attacks are the main part of her game, connecting spells for good BRV damage before finishing with the HP strike. However most of her spells like Water, Waterga or Aero appear right where you are, but take a moment to strike, so you can easily read and escape, with Shantotto trapped finishing her spell open for an attack. She has others like Fire or Blizzard which are fast projectiles, so be ready to dodge once you hear her chant or see the name of the move in the screen. Remember that since these are HP attacks, they can’t be blocked. ........ Gabranth ........ “Gabranth: You fancy yourself a warrior?!” “Cloud: Cut the chains to your past.” And I thought Cloud was a tormented guy. Well, Gabranth is much like the bad pun says; an Executioner. He must be in Ex Mode to be a real threat. Outside it he can’t do much, just he annoyingly runs away trying to use Ex Charge and dodging while taking use of the good knockback of his moves to make distance. Now, once in Ex Mode is where the fun really begins, he gets much faster and gets a whole arsenal of attacks. He can dish out long combos with his blades that drain most of your BRV if they don’t Break you. Dash at you three times; create circles of wind, etc. His HP attacks are Innocence which consists of him unleashing shockwaves from his blades with a total of four, to dodge jump over and backwards. Guilt where he strikes with the blades and behind you creates a horizontal explosion, so my advice is to jump over. Finally he has Hatred where he sucks you in while he surrounds himself in a sphere of wind or something, to this just stay away. Gabranth obviously will follow Ex Builds to use his massive Ex Burst, I recommend you to stay away until is over, but if you really want to fight the monster then make an eye for an eye, wait until you can go in your own Ex Mode and face his Mist powers with the Almighty Ultima Weapon. Also if you get hit by his HP attacks and he uses his Ex Burst you will be hurt...a lot, don’t know how it works yet, but it deals crazy damage and often kills you. Prevent the coming of the beast or face it, your choice. And remember, guard and counter. ...... Chaos ...... “Chaos: I can see the weakness in your heart!” “Cloud: I won’t waver anymore.” Goliath...I mean Chaos against Cloud is a pushover, yup you heard me right, a pushover. He really has mighty attacks, but once you get the timing to counter, you can pretty much destroy him with Cloud’s massive damage. His arsenal consists in spinning around creating circles of fire (Wasn’t that a song?), if you get caught it will drain most of your BRV if it doesn’t BREAK you, but you can prevent that by blocking like crazy. He will strike with his claws and tail, block and punish. He will fire several fireballs, in the first to rounds they can be blocked and bounced back, but in the third they will break your guard. He will also do a diving attack from the air, this pushes your guard but if you block it it won’t damage you and the attack lag will let you have time to recover before he strikes again. He will do a backflip that will send a big wave of fire, just dodge to the sides. And from the second round onwards he will dig into the ground and strike from below, easily dodgeable. His HP attackes consists in Soul of Oblivion, a Kamehameha kind of fire beam that cannot be dodged but it takes time to charge and you can pound him while he does it to cancel the attack. Also he has Condemned where flames gather at his feet and drags you to him, don’t try to interrupt him here, it can be done but most times it will hit you unless you dodge it, which isn’t hard. His trickest and most spammed attack is Divine Punishment, where he conjures several pillars of fire and then flame swords stab you, traping you for a final blow. This one is not hard to dodge but is tricky; when the pillars appear stay still, they will just surround you, if you try to dodge out you will be trapped for the rest of the attack. Wait a little, when the pillars disappear immediately dodge and the swords will miss making Chaos attack air. In the second round he will use Demons Dance, where he will teleport wher you are and perform a multi hit combo several times, each of these are HP attacks so be on your guard, when he disappears dodge immediately and keep doing it until he stops. In the third round he changes this for Scarlet Rain (nice name BTW), where he creates many explosions on the ground (dodge by staying in the air) as he levitates charging a big fireball. After the explosions, the big fireball will shot many smaller fireballs which must be blocked with rapid “R” button pressing, finally he will throw the big one at you, which can be easily dodged (This if you have evaded the attack until now, otherwise you will just watch as you get hit) Finally his “Ex-Burst” Utter Chaos will make him jump out of the arena and become giant (With the color pallete of the original FF), he is invulnerable in this state so don’t attack; he will grab one of the giant swords of the Chaotic World and strike you several times with it, dodge the huge swings, since they are slow, but keep the distance from the blades since they spread fire around. He will end this Ex-Mode with his “Ex-Burst” Brink of Dellusion, he will grab other three swords with his other arms and throw them at the sides of the arena, explosions will occur, but before that, glowing circles will appear on the ground indicating where they will be happening, so stay out of those circles. Our final dude will then appear sitting in his throne in a stylish way. Okay, with defenses ready just focus on block and counter, Riposte does wonders here, just use Slashing Blow or Sonic Break and the HP links. Chaos dodges much less than other characters, his blocking is no deal for Ultima Weapon, also since the Arena is rather small, doing good Wall Rush damage is easy. One last thing to remember is his conveniently fitting summon Shinryu: he will use it from the second round onwards, in the second round it will freeze his brave if it’s high enough (so can deal constant BRV damage), multiply his BRV for 1.5 or give him a constant BRV regain of 99 for a time. In the third round it will constantly halve your BRV for a period of time (yeah, that cheap, but spam HP link attack to stay safe), charge for a little time to instantly break you (well it’s not that bad, it takes a good while to happen) or double his current BRV, howerver it will decrease by 99 with the pass of time for a while, so if you can sap his BRV even better since there is a nice bonus helping you. Also Chaos can use the summon several times in the battle and remain as “unused” so an “Opponent Summon Unused” booster would work as well. It’s not as bad as it sounds believe me, Cloud can punish Chaos with good ol’ guard and counter. ============================== IX. Frequently Asked Questions ============================== Q. Why a Cloud FAQ? He needs no strategy. A. Because he is easy to use doesn’t mean you can’t develop strategies. Is for that reasoning that Cloud is only power that most players easily beat him and he is considered trash in tier lists. Q. So you are a FF7 fanboy? A. Indeed I am a huge fan of Final Fantasy VII. Something wrong? Why is so hard to understand people just like a game a lot. It’s guys like you who whine over the pleasure of others the ones who ruin the fan communities of games. Q. Cloud sucks in this game, his attacks are slow and has chances. A. Read the intro, dude. A character is bad mostly because the players doesn’t use him/her properly. Of course there are better characters than Cloud, making a completely balanced rooster is impossible. Q. Who is the worst Matchup for Cloud? A. Mostly spellcasters in my opinion, Cloud’s projectiles aren’t very good and the always run away to keep the distance for their game, making them hard to catch with Cloud’s slow attacks. Q. Hey you were wrong here and there. A. Really? Well, everybody makes mistakes. Please contact me and let me know what was wrong and how to correct it. =================== X. Closing Comments =================== This is my very first guide on gamefaqs, I hope it’s being useful, I just picked the game and researched the most I could to get the information, also received help from many other members from GameFaqs and other sites. ======================================================== XI. Sources, Thanks, Legal Information and Contact Info. ======================================================== This guide is fan made, with no profit intentions, only to help viewers and made exclusively for GameFaqs.com and Neoseeker.com. No other sites should have this guide, if you wish to use it or post it somewhere else contact me first. Also suggestions and additional info, as well as corrections are welcome. ----------------------------- To Contact Me: dirojas1@uc.cl ----------------------------- ------- Credits ------- -Thanks to Gamefaqs for the help to video gamers and accepint the guide. -Info from Dissidia Final Fantasy Directly. -Cloud’s Biography thanks to the Final Fantasy Wikia. -Thanks to Mad_Cartoonist and his FAQ to teach me to fight Chaos and how to fix the format of the FAQ and a Build. -Thanks to GenesisRemix for the combos in that section. -Thanks to Pinkanemone for his Builds. -Thanks to Keng Ho Lim for the Fire detail.