Crossed Swords 2 v 1.5 10-12-01 author: Dimetric Houston e-mail: dhousto6@bellsouth.net CONTENTS: Introduction Updates Story Controls Foreground and Background Special Attacks Blocking Screen Description Character Evaluation The Shop Spells Weapons Enemies Enemy Strategies Boss Strategies Tips, Tricks and Secrets Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION: Hello all. This FAQ covers the awesome game Crossed Swords 2 for the Neo-Geo CD system. It's a fantastic pseudo first-person action game. Crossed Swords 2 is an exclusive title for the Neo-Geo CD. It is the only Neo-Geo game (as far as I know) not to be in the arcades. Unfortunately I don't have the manual for this game, so names will come either from the game or be made up by me. I am not going to bother with the copyright stuff. If you are low enough to try to bank a profit off of this, or you decide to plagiarize it, that's your wretched morality. The newest version of this FAQ can be found at: GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATES: v 0.5 8-28-00 -Preliminary edition. -Some sections done v 0.6 8-29-00 -All sections done v 0.7 8-30-00 -various corrections -added Foreground and Background section -updated Tips, Tricks, and Secrets section -updated Boss Strategies section (added Skeleton Worm) v 1.0 8-31-00 -updated The Shop section -updated Tips, Tricks, and Secrets section -added chart to Enemy section -corrections to Enemy, Enemy Strategies, and Boss Strategies sections v 1.1 9-4-00 -updated Enemy Strategies section -updated Controls section -updated Tips, Tricks, and Secrets section -other corrections v 1.2 9-11-00 -minor corrections -correction in Kaeru Warrior subsection of Enemy Strategies section. v 1.3 7-28-01 -minor corrections -additional info on Knights in Enemy Strategies section. v 1.4 9-22-01 -added Spells and Weapons section -updated some Boss sections in Boss Strategies section -updated Tricks, Tips, and Secrets section v 1.5 10-12-01 -updated Shop and Spells section -corrections in Enemy and Boss Strategies sections -updated Tips, Tricks, and Secrets section -------------------------------------------------------------------------- STORY Since I don't have the manual, I have no idea. However, I can tell you that the boss from the first game (Crossed Swords 1) has returned yet again to cause havoc among the populace. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTROLS D-pad: Moves character. Up and Down cause you to block high and low, respectively. Left and Right move your character in those directions. A: Attack B: Jump C: Magic D: Nothing Additional Moves: Dash: Press B while moving the controller Left or Right Stab: Down + A does a stab attack. (hits low) Side Slash: Left/Right + A does a slash in the respective direction You can attack while jumping. You can also move slightly left or right while jumping. After you jump, move the controller. You can also attack while dashing. Press A while dashing. Crossed Swords 2 has three difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, Hard. Normal is default. As far as I can tell, the difference between the modes is that there are more enemies and the enemies block more often on the higher difficulty levels. This FAQ was written playing Easy and Normal modes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOREGROUND AND BACKGROUND: Gameplay in Crossed Swords 2 occurs in two playing fields: the foreground and background. The foreground is where your characters are. The background is away from your characters. Enemies stay in the background for a while, then hop to the foreground to engage in melee combat. Some foes have special attacks that enable them to attack from the background as well, but ALL foes eventually come to the foreground to fight you, although they may hop back into the background later. Your weapons can only harm foes in the foreground. You can not attack foes in the background unless you use the Spirit Shot (see next section), or certain magic spells (see Spells section). Your normal combo will send an opponent into the background when completed. The change from background to foreground is a vulnerable point for foes, as they are open to attack while doing this. Capitalize on this and attack them while they change planes. WARNING: Some foes immediately appear in the foreground, so be alert! The mages and ninjas do this in the later stages. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL ATTACKS: Like its predecessor, Crossed Swords 2 gives your characters special attacks to help you obliterate the opposition. Wise use of these attacks can help turn the tide of a battle. Names are my own, although I believe the first three are the names given to the Cross Swords 1 specials. IMPORTANT NOTE: The following three attacks drain your life when used. Use them sparingly (or not at all)! Down+A+B: Soul Blast. This is a short range attack. Your character blasts the enemy with the pureness of their soul. This attack only affects enemies in the foreground plane. It can knock an opponent into the background. Up+A+B: Spirit Shot. Long range attack. Your character fires a large blast of energy into the background. A+B (rapidly): Berserker Rage. Slice 'n dice time! This is a great short range attack. Your character swings their weapon wildly for a few seconds, utterly decimating any foe in it's path. Again, this works only for foreground enemies. The two following attacks do NOT drain your life, so you can use them liberally. Up, Down+A: Power Slice. This is a very strong downward slash attack. It will stun most foes that it hits, and thus allow you a small window to open up a combo on the foe. The attack takes a second to execute, so be careful. It has some elemental animation with it (lightning for the knight, fire for the ninja, stars for the warrioress), so you will know when it hits. Down, Up+A: Chi Strike. Similar to the Soul Blast, but it doesn't drain your life. Like the Soul Blast, this attack will knock an opponent into the background. It requires good timing to pull it off safely but is VERY effective. It's a foreground attack. Note: These two attacks can be difficult to pull off in a pinch. The Power Slice will often result in the stab attack. If you can't seem to get them to work, try holding the first direction for a few seconds, then do the second motion (consider them like Street Fighter Flash Kicks). A.x, B: Power Combo Ender. X is some number less than 4. (So A.3, B means A,A,A,B). Hitting B in your combo will end the combo with a powerful strike, so powerful that it will send your enemy into the air plus into the background. It does more damage than your normal combo. Use this often. Note however that enemies tend to block the B hit often, so if this is happening a lot, resort to your normal combo for a while. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- BLOCKING: This is the most vital element of Crossed Swords 2 and so deserves its own section. You absolutely can not play this game without becoming proficient in blocking enemy attacks. It will take much practice (and some deaths) to master this skill, but once you do get better, your gaming experience will be very enjoyable. Enemies attack on two levels, high and low. To block high, press the controller up. To block low, press down. You will hear a "ping" when an enemy attack is blocked, plus see sparks. Crossed Swords 2 implements the "tick damage" feature found in many 2D fighting games. By this, when an attack is blocked, the defender loses a small amount of life. The amount loss is much, MUCH, less than if the defender took the full force the attack. Due to this tick damage, you will find your life dropping even though you are doing well. Don't fret. You can NOT be killed by tick damage. The enemy can tick you all the way to the last pixel of your life, but that's as far as they will get. All subsequent blocked hits will not drain your life further. Oh, the enemies don't suffer from the tick damage feature. They can block your hits for all blessed eternity and not lose one pixel of life. Enemies can block your attacks also. The result of this will be that your character will be in "stun" animation. You will not be able to move until your character recovers. During this time, enemies can attack you. This is a REALLY BAD thing, and is the bane for even master players. The way to lessen the effects of this is to try to be out of enemy range when you go into stun animation. Use the dash to do a hit-and-run attack. If your attack is blocked, hopefully your character is to the side of the foe. This way the foe will miss you when they counterattack. To help this happen, do not attack early in your dash. Wait until your character is past the center of the enemy before attacking. Another feature added to Cross Swords 2 is "tired" animation. Some attacks from the enemy will knock you off your feet, in which case your character will get up slumped over and breathing heavily. Fortunately you can NOT be attacked while in this condition (thank God), but you can't do anything until you recover. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SCREEN DESCRIPTION A description of the items at the bottom of the screen follows. Life--the orange row. As you take and block hits, this drops. When it runs out, you lose. Level--the number at the far left. This is only important when you come to a shop. The higher your level, the more Life you have. Magic--the graphic and number to the right of the Life meter. This shows what magic spell you have and how many uses of it you have left. Exp--my guess is this is "experience." RPG players know that this is what helps your character get stronger. In Crossed Swords 2, this is your "score." It serves no other purpose but to be a point system tracker for your kills. Money--the number right under your Exp. This shows how much money you have. You will need the money to buy items in the shop in each stage. Weapon--the small sword just above your magic indicator. This indicates the level of the weapon you have. A higher number means a stronger weapon. Note: The axes (only usable by the knight) slows his movement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHARACTER EVALUATION Here I am giving an evaluation and description of the three playable characters. Each has advantages and disadvantages which require a somewhat different playing style to use effectively. You will see the character's stats on the character selection screen. Take these into consideration when choosing your character. KNIGHT ====== Your good ol' fashioned heroic knight. Decent for beginners. Advanced players will want to try the other characters. Pros--good strength and defense. --can take more of a pounding than the other characters --has a good magic stat (8 spells max) Cons--terrible recovery from blocked hits (knights and ninjas are the death of this guy) --slow. Use the dash to gain ground and move around. WARRIORESS ========== Female fighter that uses a dagger. Probably best for the most advanced players. Pros--highest speed --best magic stat (can hold 10 spells!) Cons--bad defense (don't get hit too often or it'll be game over real fast) --weak attack. The battles will be long with her as you will need to hit opponents many times to finally kill them. NINJA ===== Middle ground character. Best for intermediates. If you want magic though, don't pick him. Pros--best mix of strength and speed. Cons--terrible magic stat. Can only hold a max of 6 spells. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SHOP: Once in each stage you will go to a shop. Here you can buy new weapons, life and magic recovery, and levels. In the box at the bottom of the shop screen, there will be a description of the magic spell that comes with the weapon your selector is on. On the weapons, there will be a small number to the upper left of the weapon box. That number is the weapon level. Always try to buy the highest level weapon (there is a major exception to this and is mentioned in the Tricks, Tips and Secrets section). I usually go for weapons before levels. However, beginners should definitely get levels before weapons until they get better at the game. There are 8 panels in the shop. The top four contain various weapons. The bottom four always will have Life Recover, Magic Recover, Level Up, and Exit. You will notice some peculiar graphics around the weapons in the shop panels. These graphics are the spells you get when you purchase a particular weapon. See the next section to get a description of the spells. The shop appears at the end of each odd-numbered act (1,3,5,7,9,11). Note: DO NOT buy life recovery before levels! When you purchase a level, your life meter is completely refilled in addition to the extra life points you get. Buying life before this will be a waste of money. Note: Your level can increase to max of 6. After this, you will no longer be able to select the Level Up option in the shop. Aside: Besides being diabolically attractive, how the blazes does that shop owner follow you to each level? She must be pretty darn good in combat herself:) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPELLS This section describes the different spells you get when you purchase weapons in the shop. Spell names are my own, the phrase next to the name is what the text box in the shop says (this way you can know what spell you are getting). There are a total of nine spells in the game. However, some characters will never get some of the spells. SPELLS: ======= Fireball--a ball of fire hits the enemy. Swirl--temporarily paralyzes the enemy. Shield--this is a superpowerful wall of protection. Morph--this turns the enemy into a scarecrow. Thunder--thunder burns the enemy to a crisp. Meteor--the star of paradise destroys the enemy. Firewave--a powerful wall of fire surrounds the enemy. Fist--this calls forth the miracles of super beings. Wave--this confounds the enemy. Descriptions and Comments: ========================== Here I will personally describe each magic spell. I will tell you what the spell does in combat, what the graphic of the spell looks like in the shop, what the graphic of the spell looks like on your status bar, and whether the spell affects the foreground and/or background only. With that said, here are the components of this part: Spell Name--gives the name of the spell. Description--tells what the spell actually does in battle. SG--Shop Graphic. Describes what the spell looks like in the shop (spells sort of overlay the weapons they come with). MG--Magic Graphic. Describes what the spell looks like on the status bar graphic next to your life meter. Affects--Tells whether the spells affects only the foreground, only the background, or both foreground and background. "All" in this category indicates a spell that affects the foreground and background (in short, there is no way to miss with the spell and it hits all enemies). Comments--my opinions on the spells. Fireball -------- Description: Your character throws a ball of fire into the background. SG--looks like an orange ball around the weapon. MG--a swirling orange ball. Affects--foreground or background. (it will hit only one enemy--if the foe is in the foreground, it will hit them. If they are in the background, it will still hit them). Comments: low damage spell. It's only merit is its ability to hit a foe in either the foreground or background. It's a line-of-sight spell, meaning it will hit only what is in front of you. Swirl ----- Description: Your character conjures a small whirling tornado-like form in front of them. SG--a curvy line (think of two S's, one atop the other) MG--a rotating curvy line. Affects--foreground Comments: Good spell as it stuns foes, allowing you to open up a nice combo on them. Use this spell, then use your Berserker Rage to really eat up opponent's life. It can even stop foes in their special attacks. The spell stuns for about 3-5 seconds. Bosses can cancel this spell once they are hit by it. Shield ------ Description: Your character makes a rotating dome appear around them. SG--a large wave around the weapon (an inverted U) MG--an inverted U that rotates vertically (like it's rotating in 3D). Affects--N/A Comments: Great spell! This is a protection spell. It does not attack the enemy. It only protects you. It is a really good spell to have if you want relief from blocking all the time. This spell nullifies all enemy attacks, thus making you invincible for its duration. It lasts for about 5 seconds. When you use the spell, continuously attack your foe(s), as they won't be able to hurt you. Morph ----- Description: Your character throws out a rotating circle of red scarecrows. SG--a bunch of green heads around the weapon. MG--a green and red scarecrow. Affects--all Comments: This spell is great and terrible. It's great in that it can save you a lot of button-pushing and blocking worries. When you use it, your foes turn into harmless hopping scarecrows (good for a laugh ^_^), which die really easy. The scarecrows just hop around, they can't attack you at all. The bad parts about this spell are: 1. It doesn't affect Knights, Red Mages, or Bosses. 2. You will not receive any items except for the occasional food item when you kill a scarecrow. 3. The spell doesn't take effect immediately, so don't use it if you are in a pinch, as it takes about 2-3 seconds for the spell to work. Personally, I suggest you never get this spell--its demerits outweigh it merits. Thunder ------- Description: Your characters summons four lightning bolts which strike the ground. SG--a lightning bolt around the weapon. MG--an animated lightning bolt. Affects: all Comments: One of the better spells. The fact that it attacks all enemies makes it a great spell to work with. Meteor ------ Description: Your character summons a bunch of falling, flaming meteors which hit all the enemies. SG--a bunch of fire around the weapon. It looks like about three different tongues of flame. They are a bright orange color. MG--falling drops. Affects: all Comments: Best spell in the game! The meteors do great damage to foes, and the fact that there are a number of them means that a foe can get hit multiple times. Definitely the spell to get. Firewave -------- Description: Your character summons a wave of flame that criss-crosses in front of your character as it goes from the foreground into the background. SG--a large orange wave that completely surrounds the weapon. MG--an animated wave that starts as an inverted U, then splits with each half going horizontally opposite one another. Affects: all Comments: Second-best spell in the game. If there is a problem with this spell, it's that it takes some time before it reaches the background, which could give some enemies a chance to get to you. However, there is little to worry with concerning this spell. If you can't afford a Meteor spell weapon, this is definitely your next choice. Fist ---- Description: A large green fist smashes the ground, stunning and damaging all foes. SG--a large green first over the weapon. MG--a green fist continously hitting downward. Affects: all Comments: Good spell. Consider it a beefed-up Thunder spell. Nothing like stopping all opposition with a nice bash in the head. While it doesn't do near the damage of Firewave or Meteor, it does more than Thunder. If a foe is in the foreground when this hits, you will have a window of combo opportunity. Gives another meaning to "bring the hammer down." If you want a laugh, use this on a large boss (like the Golem). It makes a true testament to "knocking them flat." ^_^ Wave ---- Description: Two waves expand out from your character, intially growing in size as they move, then shrinking in size the further they head from your character. SG--Two U's on their side, with the opening parts facing each other. MG--A convex image that starts out full, and blackens from the inside out rapidly. Affects: foreground Comments: Not a good spell at all. The description says it "confounds the enemy," but this spell will confound you instead. When it hits, the enemy spins in a circle. You can attack them while they are spinning. The bad part about this spell? Many foes come out of the spin immediately attacking, especially if they were in the first animation of their attack. After spinning, they will finish the attack. The spinning effect doesn't immediately take place either, and some foes can still attack while the wave is still hitting them. The fact that the spell affects only the foreground, and only one foe at that (unless they overlap each other) makes this a rather useless spell. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEAPONS Each warrior uses certain types of weapons. When you are in a shop, only the weapons that your warrior can use will be shown. Below I am putting a chart to show the general flow of weapon choices in a shop as you progress through the game. The weapon level numbers are really small, so this chart (as well as the Spell section above) are to help you see what the weapons are, so you can better see and decide on what you are getting. I am showing the weapon level, weapon type, and the spell that comes with the weapon. I am showing only new weapons that appear in each shop. Many of the weapon choices are from the previous shop, so they are not shown. To clarify, let me use an example. Say you are the Knight and you decide to purchase a lv.2 sword in Act 1. When Act 3's shop appears, you will see a lv.1 sword, lv.3 sword, lv.3 axe, and lv.4 axe. The lv.1 sword is what you intially started with, the lv.4 axe is new, while the lv.3 sword and axe are from Act 1's shop. So I am only showing the lv.4 axe, as it is the new weapon available. Some weapons have different colors, which are indicated next to the weapon in the chart. This has no practical value, I'm just using it to help you in seeing what weapon is what. The first line under each warrior is the weapon and spell they start with, as well as the intial number of uses of that spell. KNIGHT WARRIORESS NINJA ====== ========== ===== lv.1-sword-thunder(4) lv.1-dagger-swirl(6) lv.1-katana-fireball(3) Act 1: ------ lv.2-sword(red)-swirl lv.2-dagger-thunder lv.2-katana-fireball lv.3-sword-swirl lv.3-dagger(red)-shield lv.3-katana-thunder lv.4-axe(white)-shield lv.4-dagger(green)-fist lv.4-katana(blue)-thunder lv.8-sword-morph lv.8-dagger-morph lv.8-katana(blue)-morph Act 3: ------ same as act 1 same as act 1 lv.5-katana-fireball Act 5: ------ lv.7-axe(blue)-meteor lv.7-dagger(blue)-meteor lv.7-katana-meteor Act 7: ------ lv.5-axe(red)-shield lv.6-dagger(blue)-firewave lv.6-katana(green)-fist Act 9: ------ lv.6-sword-firewave same as act 7 same as act 7 Act 11: ------- lv.7-axe(blue)-meteor lv.5-dagger-wave same as act 9 This chart may be confusing. If you are confused, e-mail me and I will personally clarify this better for you. The biggest problem here is that there is no way to make a general list, as everyone's purchasing desires and abilities can be different. You may purchase a weapon in a shop that I usually don't or can't purchase a weapon, or vice versa. I usually go for a lv.2 or 3 weapon at the Act 1 shop. You may decide to wait until later to purchase a weapon (or you don't have the money to buy a better weapon), in which case, the Act 3 weapons will be slightly different. When you purchase a weapon, the weapon you are replacing appears in the shop panels. Thus you will always see your previous weapon in the shop. The lv.8 weapons also appear in the Act 11 shop, but they appear in many other shops too. Don't worry, the best weapons always appear by the time the last shop appears. Note: All the weapons with the Shield spell will slow your character. Note: Weapons that have the Firewave spell appear to glow in battle. I don't believe this has any value. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENEMIES There are few enemies opposing our trio, but some of them that do are quite a task. Below are their descriptions. Names are from the game or made up by me to ease in generalization. Guarders--normal human fighters in cloth and some armor. They carry swords and shields. Your second easiest opposition. They come in three colors (in order of increasing life): Red, Green, Blue Pail--EASIEST foe in the game! Oh, you will LOVE these guys!! Large, fat, armored knights carrying clubs. These guys throw explosive stuff at you (block high). The best thing is that these guys DO NOT BLOCK!!!! Slash and blast away! Man, I need these guys to show up more often. Rat Warrior--walking rats in armor. They carry a sword and shield also. They have some special attacks of their own, but are really not a problem. Consider them a beefed up Guarder. Appears only in the first stage. Kaeru Warrior--Frog Warrior. Nasty opposition. Comes in three colors: Blue Green, and Yellow. These warriors like to do jumping attacks. The green ones are the toughest. Get your blocking down good to battle these foes. Knights--large, thin armored knights carrying axe staffs. These guys are a MAJOR pain, as they block VERY frequently. You should only try for two or three hits at a time here, as these foes have the nasty tendency to hit you even in your combo. They will just take a hit from you and strike you anyway. Block, Block, BLOCK. Normally seen as Green, but appears in boss form in Blue and Yellow. They breath fire as well. Ninja--powerful and annoying. Comes into two colors: Red and Yellow. They have fast ninjitsu attacks like sliding attacks, double jump slice attacks, wall jump and disappearing attacks. The worst thing about them is that they attack continously when they do fight you head on. Kathutashi/Shibatashi--Samurai. Resilient foes. Very fast attacks (fortunately they only strike twice) and can take quite a pounding. Mage--boy, if only RPG mages were this good! Double sickle-carrying foes, these fellows suprisingly don't use any magic. They do, however, do double attacks and other annoying attacks. Comes in three colors: Green, Blue, and Red. Red is the toughest, possessing a nasty life draining special which can take a good half of your life meter. Red Eye--sword fodder. Just appears and moves around for a while. In time, they begin shaking and their eyes shut. Kill them fast or get away at this point, as they will explode in a green explosion that can hurt you. Papillon--sword fodder. Harder to hit than the Red Eyes because they are in the air. If left alone too long, they fly away and leave a trail of stars that you must block (alternating high and low depending on where the star is). This is not a nice thing to run into so try to kill them quickly. Rivver (sic) Jelly--yet more sword fodder. These fly like the papillons but are easier to battle. If left alone too long, they do an electric tentacle strike then leave. The following chart lists the class, names, and colors of the common enemies. Class: Color: Name: =============================== Guarder red Red Guarder Guarder blue Blue Guarder Guarder green Green Guarder Rat Warrior brown Hyper Rat Rat Warrior blue Mobil Rat* Frog Warrior green Kaeru Warrior Frog Warrior blue Kaeru Warrior Frog Warrior yellow Gold Gammer Club Knight black,red Pail Head Club Knight black Pail Lord Ninja red Master Ninja Ninja yellow Gold Ninja Mage green Green Mage Mage blue Blue Mage Mage red Red Mage Axe Knight blue Shadow Knight Axe Knight green High Knight Axe Knight yellow Gold Knight Samurai blue Kathutashi Samurai yellow Shibatashi Butterfly purple Papillon Jellyfish blue Rivver Jelly** Unknown*** red Red Eye * There is a boss also known as Mobil Rat, but the boss is a BIG rat with no sword and shield, plus it isn't blue like this one. ** Yes, "Rivver" is spelled like that in the game. *** "Unknown" isn't a class. It means I don't know what to call the thing ^_^ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENEMY STRATEGIES: This is the bulk and main purpose of the FAQ. Here I will give strategies to face your opposition. Here you will see all the attacks the enemies do and how to cope with them. An explanation of the various sections seen here now follows: The name of the enemy Colors: tells the various color palette swaps of the enemy. The colors are listed in order of increasing life (ex. Guarder. Red is shown for the first color and Blue for the last color. Red Guarders have the least life, Blue Guarders have the most life of the Guarder class of enemies. Combo: tells the consecutive number of attacks the foe will do. These require consecutive blocking and often you can not interrupt these with your own attacks. Attacks: tells the kind of attacks the class of enemy does. Used by: tells which color palette of the enemy uses the attack. "All" indicates all palette swaps of the foe use the attack. Counter: tells how you need to BLOCK in order to avoid getting hit by the attack. Description: this describes each attack of the foe and any other info deemed important. Comments: other information deemed important for this foe. Guarder: ======== Colors: Combo: --Red --2 --Green --Blue Attacks: Used by: Counter: --high slash all high --low slash all low --jumping slash all high --taunt all high or low at end Description: ------------ High Slash--indicated by the sword raised over the Guarder's head. Low Slash--indicated by the sword at the Guarder's side Jumping Slash--Guarder does a small jump then slashes down with the sword. Taunt--raises and drops both hands repeatedly (3 times). They will do a high or low slash at the end, so either attack them while they are doing the taunt or block. Pail: ===== Colors: Combo: --black, red trim --2 --black Attacks: Used by: Counter: --high attack all high --low attack all low --explosion burst all high Description: ------------ High Attack--indicated by club above head. Low Attack--indicated by club at side. Explosion Burst--Pail raises club above head and then thrusts it toward you. The attack is actually the explosive stuff that appears when they thrust the club at you. Comment: Too easy. They will go horizontally across the foreground doing the Explosion Burst for up to 5 times. Block when necessary and attack for an easy win. The Explosion Burst is the standard attack. Hyper/Mobil Rat: =============== Colors: Combo: --brown --2 --blue Attacks: Used by: Counter: --high slash all high --low slash all low --jumping slash all high --spinning slash all* high Description: ------------ High Slash--indicated by sword raised above Rat Warrior's head. Low Slash--indicated by sword at Rat Warrior's side Jumping Slash--Warrior does a small jump then slashes down with sword. Spinning Slash--foe becomes a ball and spins with sword out. *the brown Rat Warrior can use the spinning slash from the background. It will do the attack to come into the foreground. The counter works the same in this case also. The blue warriors only do the spinning attack while in the foreground. They jump high into the air and spin for a few seconds before coming down. Kaeru Warrior: ============== Colors: Combo: --blue --2 to 4 --green --yellow Attacks: Used by: Counter: --high slash all high --low slash all low --projectile green low or high --quick jump strike green high --jumping slash blue, green low, high --rolling slash yellow low --explosion yellow high, low* Description: ----------- High Slash--indicated by sword raised above head Low Slash--indicated by sword behind back (near head but not above it) Projectile--attack done from background. Warrior "burps" reddish goop at you. The height can be determined by how high the warrior jumps before shooting it. If it doesn't jump, it's a low attack. If the goop hits you, you will be stuck in place for a few seconds. Quick Jump Strike--attack done from background. Fast. Does a small jump from the background into the foreground with sword extended. It can also do this in the foreground. It just jumps to the side quickly. Jumping Slash--jump attack. Begins by crouching down, then jumping high into air and coming down with slash attack. This attack has TWO hitting points. It can hit on the way up or on the way down. If you are in front of a crouching Kaeru Warrior, block low to block the first hit, the block high to block the second hit. The attack only hits once, it just requires double blocking. Getting hit by the first hit knocks you off your feet. Rolling Slash--rolls along foreground then comes up with slash (first part of jumping slash). This can be deceiving. Block low when they roll. This attack only hits ONCE. The jumping part does NOT hit on the way down like instinct will tell you. Explosion--does into death animation, then explodes into 6 energy balls which come from high. Block these high. *you normally block this attack high. However, if the ball does not come down on top of you, but instead to your side, it will hit you. Try blocking low if you can't get directly under a ball. Comments: The green kaeru warriors also do "charge up" high and low slashes. In these the warriors shake while in the first part of the attack animation, then proceed to the second part. While shaking, they can take any attack you give them and STILL proceed to the second part. Get an attack or two in and then block. I'm not sure if the attack actually does more damage than normal. During the crouching part of the jumping slash, you can attack the Kaeru warrior, but it will just take the hits and do the attack anyway. To knock them out of the crouch, do a jumping or dash attack. Knight: ======= Colors: Combo: --blue --1 --green --yellow Attacks: Used by: Counter: --high slash all high --low slash all low --firebreath all low or high --barrier blue none --phase blue none --spinning fist blue high --twin discs green low,high Description: ------------ High Slash--indicated by axe held high in air (vertically parallel with body) Low Slash--indicated by axe held behind back. Firebreath--attack done from background or foreground. They can be either high or low and often go from one end of the screen to another. The knights say "Fire" while doing this attack (although it doesn't sound like it). Stay in the knight's center so you can see how you need to block this attack. Barrier--this is not an attack. This is a barrier that protects the knight from your attacks. You can only wait until it goes away, which won't be long. The Knight can still attack you, so be on guard. Phase--this is not an attack. The knight becomes semi-transparent for a second before fully materializing again. This is a method to avoid your attack. More importantly, it is done while you are comboing the knight, thus you miss a strike and leave yourself open to being hit. Start blocking quickly and immediately when you encounter this. Do NOT continue to attack. Knights can take hits and still attack you. Spinning Fist--foreground attack. Knight puts axe into ground then spins across the foreground with fist out. Requires consecutive blocking. Hits three to five times, so keep blocking until the knight finishes the attack. Twin Discs--done only in the foreground. The knight throws two saucer shaped discs in both directions. The disks alternate between low and high while heading to the opposite screen edge (the left disc starts low going to the left then go high while going to the right; vice versa for the right disc). You may can get hit twice by this attack, but I haven't seen it happen. If you do get hit once, block in the other direction to avoid the second hit (if you get hit by the low hit, block high to avoid the second incoming high hit). Comments: Knights have the utterly annoying ability to take hits and still attack you (like most bosses). Only try for two or three hits. Two hits is actually better. Do one A attack, then your B combo ender. That way you can take more life quicker. Block their attack, then do your two attacks. I have seen the Knight do a type of mini-spinning fist. He will do a single spin, which is done immediately after you attack him. I presume this is a type of counterattack, but I have never been hit by it. Ninja: (be SURE you read the comments for these guys!!) ====== Colors: Combo: --Red --continuous --Yellow Attacks: Used by: Counter: --high slash all high --low slash all low --slide slash red low --double-hit jump slash red low, high --wall-jump slash yellow high --disappearing slash yellow high Description: ----------- High Slash--indicated by sword raised above head. Low Slash--indicated by sword at their lower left side. (your right) Note: these two attacks are VERY fast and thus hard to tell where they immediately come from. Slide Slash--halts movement momentarily then glides across foreground doing a low slash. Double-hit jump slash--does a low slash that takes them into the air, then comes down with a high slash. Requires consecutive blocking. Wall-jump slash--foe jumps onto screen edge then jumps toward you with sword extended. Disappearing slash--jumps high into air, becomes transparent, then comes down with slash attack. You can still see them, you just see through them. Listen carefully to the comments. Your life depends on it heavily. Comments: Ninjas have one utterly NASTY ability. Look in the Combo section. What do you see? Yep, CONTINUOUS. These foes attack NON-STOP once they start hitting you. They will keep hitting you until you counter or die. They may alternate between high and low slashes or not. The Ninja and Warrioress are fast enough that if you get hit, you can block the next attack and counterattack. The Knight can NOT do this. If they start hitting the Knight, he's dead as he can't recover in time to block--UNLESS you do the Soul Blast. This is the ONLY hope for the Knight. If they hit you, Soul Blast the wretches. Instinct will tell you to try to block, but you MUST fight it when using the Knight and quickly realize that you are being comboed. Don't have enough energy to Soul Blast? In that case, the ninja would have killed you with one strike anyway, so don't worry about it. Kathutashi/Shibatashi: ===================== Colors: Combo: --Yellow --2 --Blue Attacks: Used by: Counter: --high slash all high --low slash all low --spin slash yellow low, high* --fist strike blue low --glide strike yellow low or high Description: ------------ High Slash--indicated by sword above head. Low Slash--indicated by sword at their lower right side. (your left) Spin Slash--momentarily halts movement, then does spinning motion with sword *this is a one-hit attack, but the blocking changes depending on when you encounter the move. If you are there when the move starts, you must block low. If the move approaches you near the end of its motion, you must block high. In short, if you are more than one body length away from the foe, you will need to block high. If you are closer than one body length, block low. Fist Strike--momentarily halts movement, then glides across foreground with fist glowing. Although this has an uppercut motion (low to high), you only need to block low. IMPORTANT NOTE: This move requires consecutive blocking. It hits 4-5 times! When you block, don't let up until the enemy is completely finished with the move (their hand is all the way into the air) Glide Strike--foreground attack only. Goes into first animation of high or low slash, the QUICKLY slides about 2-3 body lengths over and finishes attack. Mage: ===== Colors: Combo: --Green --2 --Blue --Red Attacks: Used by: Counter: --high slash all high --low slash all low --spin slash all low --hop slash blue high --flying slash red high --life drain red none (avoid!) Description: ----------- High Slash--indicated by sickle above head. Low Slash--indicated by sickle at side. Spin Slash--does spinning motion across foreground with sickle. Hop Slash--3-5 consecutive jumps with sickle. You can interrupt them in this move. Attack while they are in the air. Flying Slash--flies in circles around foreground while spinning. Requires consecutive blocking as this attack hits 5 times. Don't let up until they go past you after you block. They are open to attack after you block as they try to come back down to the ground. Let 'em have it while they come down. Life Drain--AVOID AT ALL COSTS!! They momentarily stop moving, raise both sickles into the air, the thrusts both sickles toward you in an "open arms" motion. Their face glows and a torrent of energy runs between the sickles. If you are caught in this torrent, you character remains stuck in it for a long time, the whole while your life is being drained very quickly. There is nothing you can do about this once you are caught. The best method to avoid the life drain is to not be directly in front of the red mages. Stay far to their sides and try not to get trapped at the screen edges. Use dash attacks, but be very careful to attack so that if they block (which is 99% likely), you will be past them while in stun animation. They really like to do the life drain after blocking an attack. The side slash is useful too. Red Eye: ======== Colors: Combo: --red --1 Attacks: Used by: Counter: --explosion N/A low Description: ----------- Explosion--They start shaking and their one eye closes. They then explode in a blast of green smoke. This blast can hurt you. When they start shaking and that eye closes, either kill them quickly or get away from them (the latter is often better and safer). Papillon: ======== Colors: Combo: --purple --1 to many Attacks: Used by: Counter: --star trail N/A high,low* Description: ----------- Star Trail--tremendously annoying attack. They start flapping their wings very quickly, then rise into the air. The trail of stars comes after they leave the screen. The trail curves as it comes down. You will need to block high and low to handle this attack. *Like the Yellow Kaeru Warrior's Explosion attack, if the star hits the side of your body, you are hit. Try to keep the stars above your shield (or sword in the Ninja's case). You will surely need to eventually block low as the trail is usually long enough to cover the whole foreground. It doesn't do much damage, but it's annoying still the same. Rivver (sic) Jelly: ================== Colors: Combo: --blue --1 Attacks: Used by: Counter: --tentacle strike N/A high Description: ----------- Tentacle Strike--stays slightly still, then whips their tentacle down in an electric flashing motion. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS STRATEGIES The bosses of Cross Swords 2 are rarely a different lot from the normal foes but sometimes they are so they get their own section. I will use the same format as in the Enemy Strategies section. Comments are my own and put in where I think more info needs to be mentioned. Names are from the game. Hyper Rat: ========= This is the brown Rat Warrior. See the Rat Warrior subsection in the enemy strategies section to see how to handle this foe. Mobil Rat (armor): ================= Combo: Attacks: --1 Counter: --High Strike 1 high --High Strike 2 high --Low Strike low --Ball Attack none (avoid) Description: ----------- High Strike 1--Indicated by hand behind back (near head). Also shown by fire coming from elbow. This attack will knock you down if it hits. High Strike 2--indicated by hand at boss' head level (fist facing you). Low Strike--indicated by hand at lower side. Ball Attack--I don't think you can block this. Mobile Rat opens his stomach and draws star energy into it. Then a large black spiked ball emerges and comes straight out toward you. This has an eternity of setup time, so you can avoid it easily. Comment: Besides being humongous, Mobile Rat really isn't hard. Like any boss, he can block anywhere in your combo (usually right before the last hit). High Strike 1 is painful, but easily blocked as it has 1 and 1/2 second setup time. Be careful of one thing however. Like many bosses, Mobile Rat can take a hit and still hit you. Shadow Knight: ============= This is the Blue Knight. See that subsection in the Enemy Strategies section. Kaeru Warrior ============ This is the green Kaeru Warrior (before it becomes normal opposition). See that section in the Enemy Strategies section. Mad Turtle ========== Combo: --1 Attacks: Counter: --High Strike high --Low Strike low --Body Smash none Description: ----------- High Strike--indicated by raising claw above head Low Strike--indicated by claw and arm streched out horizontally. Body Smash--unblockable attack from background. Turns shell toward you and tries to ram you with it. Again it only does this when in the background. Comment: Because of the Body Smash, stay to the side of the Mad Turtle when it goes into the background. Touryou ======= Combo: --continuous Attacks: Counter: --High Slash high --Low Slash low --Bushin Slash high or low --Glide Slash low Description: ----------- High Slash--indicated by sword above head Low Slash--indicated by sword at lower left side (your right). Bushin Slash--splits into three images and does either a high or low slash. He gets into the first animation of the high or low slash while dividing, the completes the animation when all three images appear. You can knock him out of this. Glide Slash--similar to the Red Ninja's Slide Attack, but goes full fore- ground. He will go from one end of the screen to the other with this attack. It also requires consecutive blocking as it hits 4-5 times. Wait until he is completely done with it before attacking. Comment: Touryou is one nasty opponent. Having the ninja's deathly continous attack ability mixed with his large amount of life makes for one heck of a battle. You can still fight him as you would the ninjas. Skeleton Worm ============= Combo: --1 Attacks: Counter: --High Strike high --Low Strike low --Vomit high Description: ------------ High Strike--indicated by claw slightly above head. Low Strike--indicated by claw at lower side (arm slightly lowered). Vomit--raises both arms, opens mouth, and releases multiple red "goops" while going horizontally across the screen. It can do this from the background or foreground. It can hit multiple times so make sure the boss is past you before you stop blocking. Comments: When you hit the Skeleton Worm, it goes into an animation very similar to the first part of the Low Strike, so be careful as it could actually be about to hit you instead of reeling from your attack. Master Samurai ============== Combo: --2 Attacks: Counter: --High Slash high --Low Slash low --Spin Slash low, high --Glide Strike high or low --Magic Wave none Description: ----------- High Slash -- Low Slash -- all these attack are like Kathutashi/Shibatashi. Glide Strike-- Spin Slash --/ Magic Wave--puts sword into ground and wave of flame goes toward both sides of the screen (looks like your firewave spell--lv. 6 and 7 weapons). This is a foreground attack, so he only does it in the foreground. A Shield spell is the only way to block it. Ice Golem ========= Combo: --1 Attacks: Counter: --High Strike high --Low Strike low --Ice Breath high or low --Crush none --Combo high, high, low, low, none Description: ----------- High Strike--indicated by fist at head level Low Strike--indicated by fist at lower side Ice Breath--foreground or background attack. Puts hands to mouth as if trying to whisper, and blows star-shaped ice chunks at you. The chunks are in a stream, so require consecutive blocking. There is no indication of direction initially. A high stream ends at the Golems chest. A low stream has an apparent end below the Golem's waist. Just don't be in the way to avoid this thing. Crush--raises both hands then brings them together in a "clap." This is unblockable, as the attack comes from both sides and the Golem's hands become the same size as your entire body sprite. Just don't be in the center of the Golem to avoid this. Combo--fearsome. Indicated by "taunting" (like the Guarders). Does two high strikes, two low strikes, then ends with the Crush. If you by chance get caught by this, try dashing at the end to avoid the Crush. I've never been hit by this as I'm never in the center of the Golem. Comment: A difficult enough foe to warrant commenting. Due to the uncertainty of the Ice Breath direction and especially because of the Crush, one should fight the Golem by staying to its side. Stay parallel with one of the arms, never, never, NEVER, get in the center of the Golem. Inch toward the center if your attacks are not connecting. Dash across the center if you need to get to the other side. Use the side slash (left/right + A) for this guy. Zhin and Gimell =============== Combo: --2+ Attacks: Counter: --High Strike high --Low Strike low --Teleport none Description: ----------- High Strike--indicated by fist at chest level Low Strike--indicated by fist below chest level (crouches slightly) Teleport--not an attack. Used to move to another foreground location. The attacker sinks into the ground until only their head is visible, then the head moves to some other spot in the foreground. The body then rises out of the ground where the head is. Comment: For appearing so often, these two armored ladies (yes, they are female, check out the chest and their "got hit" cry) are nothing special at all. The difficulty is that the high and low strikes have nearly the same animation so it's very hard to tell where they will attack. When you kill one, the other one dies as well, even though they have separate life meters. Nausizz (FINAL BOSS) ======= *********** * Form 1: * Combo: *********** --2 Attacks: Counter: --High Slash high --Low Slash 1 low --Low Slash 2 low --Magic Blast none Description: ----------- High Slash--indicated by sword high in air (one sword is vertical). Low Slash 1--indicated by pose with swords lowered. This is very hard to see, as Nausizz has very fast animations. The best way to know this attack is coming is to see that if Nausizz does a movement and one sword is not vertical, the low attack will be done. Low Slash 2--indicated by crossing swords in front of self (blades facing up) This deserves mention because it goes full foreground, which means it extends fully across the foreground. If Nausizz is on the left side of the screen, and you are on the right side and he does this attack, you will still get hit. The reason I said that the blades face up is because Nausizz' blocking animation also has him crossing the blades in front of himself, except the blades face down. Magic Blast--charges up magic (obvious when it occurs). He can use this from the background or foreground. If he is in the foreground and does this, you can attack him to knock him out of it. *********** * Form 2: * Combo: *********** --1 Attacks: Counter: --Low Strike low Description: ----------- Low Strike--it's the only attack, so just block low ^_^ Comment: Easiest boss form ever. He only attacks low, so you have only one other worry. He is like the Knights and can attack while you combo, so don't just go all out on him. His attack does massive tick damage though. *********** * Form 3: * Combo: *********** --1 Attacks: Counter: --High Strike high --Low Strike low --Fire Blast none Description: ---------- High Strike--indicated by hand slightly above chest level Low Strike--indicated by hand below chest level. Fire Blast--similar to the Ice Golem's Ice Breath. Puts both hands to mouth and breaths a blast of fire. It only does this attack when in the foreground. Comment: This form is like the Golem. I finally see that you CAN block the high and low attacks. However, because of the Fire Blast, my suggestion is to handle it like the Golem and stay away from its center. Beat this form and you win!! Sit back and enjoy the ending. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- TIPS, TRICKS, AND SECRETS Play the arena mode to gain your own strategies against the bosses. If playing two players, have the players attack the same opponent and use different level attacks (Player 1 uses a normal attack while Players 2 uses the stab attack). Do NOT buy lv.8 weapons. Although the magic spell is cool (turns enemies into scarecrows), it doesn't work on Knights, Red Mages, or bosses. The lv.7 weapons are best. Against Nausizz Form 1, always press the controller down to remain in low block, especially after attacking him. This is pre-emptive guard against two of his attacks. If two foes overlap each other in the foreground, use your B combo ender ( or Soul Blast) to get them away from you because both can attack you. Use the Soul Blast to interrupt enemy combos. The Side Slash is EXTREMELY useful for attacking foes without getting in front of them. The Shield spells will protect you from the unblockable boss attacks, but you will still suffer tick damage. I haven't used this against the Golem, as I have a better weapon by then. I have noticed that the Ninja and Warrioress seem to have unique special attacks. They both seem to have special types of counterattacks. Sometimes after blocking an attack, the Ninja does three quick slashes (two side slashes and an overhead slash) against the foe. This seems to be an uninterruptable 3-hit combo. The Warrioress does a special kind of slash where she moves her hands in a circle (with stars trailing them) and when her hands meet, she does a downward slash which smacks the opponent. This also seems unblockable. I don't know how this occurs, however. If anyone can find the actual method for doing this, please let me know. (You will see the Ninja do this special attack if you watch the demo. He will do it against a Blue Mage, although he manages to do it without blocking any attacks. Also, in the demo, you will notice the Knight doing a kind of spin, which I am assuming is his special counterattack) >From haphazard observations, the special counterattack SEEMS to be done by blocking and immediately pressing the controller in the opposite direction and hitting the attack button (i.e. if you block low, once you block the attack, immediately press up and the attack button). -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CREDITS God--for the strength, life, and intellect to do this FAQ I hope you have enjoyed this FAQ. If there are any corrections, additions, etc. that you see that need to be put here, please e-mail me and let me know. Thanks for reading. dhousto6@bellsouth.net Dimetric Houston The End