God of War III Advanced combat guide -------------------------- By Eldie (GameFaqs Eldie01) Email fiujiu@gmail.com Copyright 2013 Eldad Eshel Please do not copy or post under your own name (or nickname). Version 1.00 26/3/2013 Prologue --------- GoWIII is a highly advanced action game, the amount of features in it can easily be missed. With GoW Ascension out and still no GoWIII combat guide on Gamefaqs, I decided to make one myself. GoWIII is the most feature rich game out of all the GoW games, and it is much more than just a cool single player campaign. It's comboing possibilities are near endless, the attention to combat details in it is great, and it is definitely up there as one of the most advanced action games ever made. If you don't believe me, then go over this guide and maybe you will agree. Contents --------- - Prologue 1. General moves 2. Weapons - Blades of Exile - Nemesis whip - Claws of Hades - Nemean Cestus 3. Items - Bow of Apollo - Boots of Hermes - Head of Helios 4. Weapon switching 5. Combat Arena and enemies 6. "Secret ending" or "Ending secret" - Conclusion --------- *Note I won't list all the basic moves through out this faq, as they can be seen ingame, be sure you are acquainted with the ingame list of moves before trying the more advanced moves. General moves -------------- -Grab Press circle. When both Kratos and the enemy are grounded press circle for a traditional grab. Once you grabbed an enemy you have four options as your next move. pressing each of the four shape buttons will give a different result. Triangle for splitting the enemy in two, which will kill him. Holding triangle will give a slow motion version of the regular triangle move. Circle for punching the enemy, press it repeatedly for more punches, and a killing move at the end. X for throwing the enemy, you can target other enemies to throw at, you can change target with the right stick. Square for using the enemy as a battering ram, you can run into other enemies and damage them, slam the held enemy into a wall, or press X to throw him. Grabbing some enemies will result in a special move. Not all enemies can be grabbed right away. Some you need to hit first until they show a circle over their head, for some enemies you will be able to do a normal grab, and others will begin a mini game, or some special move. When Kratos is airborne and an enemy is next to him in the air, grabbing will yield a special move, where he hooks on to the enemy, then slams him into the ground, while raising himself (Kratos) a little in the air. Some enemies will also bounce back up in the air. This works on some enemies that are not always grabbable on the ground. This is very useful for aerial combos, especially when you are close to the ground and want to gain some extra height. Should be noted that this works even if the enemy is a bit far away from Kratos, the enemy will be sort of "pulled" to you. If Kratos is on the ground and an enemy is airborne, pressing circle will make Kratos send his blade into the enemy, then slam him into the ground. Some enemies will bounce back up in the air, making you be able to repeat this move over and over. (This doesn't seem to work with the Nemean Cestus.) -Hook Hold L1 and press circle. One of the coolest moves in the game, and key for advanced combat. Blades of exile and Nemesis whip have the basic version, while the two other weapons have each a version of their own (which will be discussed later). For the Basic version, Kratos will shoot his blades, hooking onto an enemy, then pull himself towards him, and ram him with his shoulder. This ram can hit several enemies. This move can be used on airborne enemies, Kratos will pull himself upwards, ramming the enemy even higher up. The reach of this move is surprisingly very far, and is actually quite further than the normal hook. It is usable on enemies that are very high up in the air. Another nice use for this is when Kratos is in the air and an enemy is also in the air but higher up, use this move to gain extra height and continue your aerial combo. The hook is very useful in keeping combos in motion, especially when Kratos knocks enemies away from him, just use this move to get right back to them. -Evade Move the right stick in any direction. Each weapon has a different type of evade, that also behave differently. Try them out to get the feel of this. If you press triangle during an evade, Kratos will perform a special attack, that is quite useful in tight situations. Each weapon also has a different evade attack. The annoying part about this attack is that you can't use the regular triangle attack right after an evade. A good way to get a triangle combo going after an evade is to block (L1) during the evade, then right when you see the blocking animation let go of L1 and hit triangle. Kratos can perform an aerial evade, that works the same way, just in the air. (You need Hermes' boots for this.) This is very useful for evading tight situations, as joined with a double jump it carries quite a distance. The normal evade can be blocked if enemies are in your way, making the aerial evade a bit more handy because of this. It is also useful for the fluidity of some combat moves. To combine a glide (Hold X in the air) with the aerial evade you need to let go of X and then evade, you can't evade while holding X. There is an evade trick, that is also tricky to perform. Hold the right stick in a direction, keep holding it, then press square repeatedly. Kratos will keep evading at a high speed uninterrupted. -Blocking Press and hold L1 to block. Kratos can block most enemy attacks this way. Evading can be dangerous as you are left vulnerable at the end of it, so be smart about using block and evade at the right times. If you press L1 right before an attack hits you, you will perform a special block, repelling your enemies, and giving you two new attacks. Press square for a ram attack, knocking close by enemies, or press triangle for an uppercut, sending close enemies in the air. Quite a handy maneuver. -Attack directioning In GoWIII Kratos can redirect his special moves, as in after facing a certain direction and executing a special move, you can redirect it to a different direction as desired. This is especially useful with strong attacks that are directed forward (like L1+Triangle with the Blades of Exile). This can also be done in the air, with both regular and special moves, and looks especially stylish. Try doing this to airborne enemies, or to enemies on the ground while you are in the air. If it is not working for you, try to jump and then press triangle with the Nemesis whip, and then move the left stick around. This seems to "unlock" this feature. Weapons -------- Blades of Exile ---------------- (The Blades of Athena pale in comparison to the exiles, so I won't discuss them here.) Kratos' main weapon, that he uses throughout all games in the series (In different versions). One of the two weapons with highly advanced technique, this weapon has extreme potential in all types of fighting and comboing. It is both a good crowd control weapon and a good one on one weapon. -Square, square, triangle. A very basic yet strong attack, that can be easily forgotten with access to the newer and stronger combos. Knocks enemies into the air. It's both fast and strong, making it quite handy. It also works with 3xSquare, triangle and 4xSquare, triangle. -5xSquare, triangle. A very strong attack, that leaves you quite vulnerable since it takes a while to pull off. -Triangle, triangle, triangle. An extremely strong attack , and maybe the strongest basic combo. The finishing move is the same as the last combo, only the entire combo is faster to pull off. Again leaves you quite vulnerable, but somewhat less than the last one. -Triangle, triangle, square. The finishing move here is the same as 6xSquare. A strong attack that doesn't leave you as vulnerable as the last one. An easy to forget move, nice to use for combo variety. -Hold L1 and press square. One of the best crowd control moves in the game. keep pressing square for some extra moves. This is also a good move in the air for juggling multiple enemies around you. This move can't be canceled, so watch out. -Press and hold square. Kratos will perform a series of hits with a strong finisher. Press triangle during the combo for a jumping uppercut. -Hold L1 and press triangle. A strong and decent attack on the ground. Hold triangle for some extra spinning and damage. Redirecting this move is pretty useful, as the basic version is composed of two hits, you can hit one enemy with the first hit, and another enemy with the second big attack. In the air this is an extremely versatile move, that also happens to be my favorite move in the game. Press triangle once for the basic move, where Kratos spins and then slams his blades on the ground. Press and hold triangle for an extended version, where he spins many times in a flurry before hitting the ground. you need to be hitting an enemy to do this. Tap triangle twice for the short version of this move, where Kratos will just spin without slamming the ground. Also needs an enemy to perform. This move is good for extended aerial combos, where you don't want to be back on the ground at the end of the move. If you do a normal launcher and do this move (the short version), Kratos will end up really close to the ground with the enemy a little above him, use the hook to get back up to the enemy. You can then also use grab (circle) for some additional height, if the enemy is bouncable you can continue the aerial combo. You should also try Attack directioning (moving the left stick, as mentioned above) with the aerial version for quite a stylish result. -In the air press triangle. This move knocks down enemies and makes them bounce. Nice to couple with the air grab. -"Super launcher" There are several launchers in the game that send enemies way way up in the air, you can reach them with the hook (Hold L1 and press circle). Triangle, wait a little bit, press and hold triangle. Kratos will perform the two 2xTriangle attacks, after which he will launch the enemy way up in the air. This works because the enemy is in the air when the launcher hits him. Keep holding triangle so Kratos will jump up, the enemy will still be quite high above you, so use the hook. you can now perform an extended aerial combo. The hook can actually reach the airborne enemy even without jumping, but I've seen it miss so it's better to jump. Nemesis whip ------------- The second advanced weapon, holds countless combo possibilities. Is good both at crowd control and one on one. -Square comboing It's funny how much can be done with this weapon using only one button. Pressing and holding square will make Kratos extend the whip and hold it in front of him, in different variations. While holding the whips their blades spin, creating a sort of electric sphere, damaging enemies that come in contact with it. For each attack (1xSquare, 2xSquare, etc) Kratos will hold the whips in a different way. For 4xSquare (press square 3 times, then press and hold it), Kratos will send the whips back and forth, instead of holding them in front of him, this is the coolest looking from all these in my opinion. At full level whips, he holds them for quite a long time. You can make all sorts of combo variations with this, like square, press and hold square, square, press and hold square. -Triangle, triangle. Pressing triangle once will launch the enemy in the air, holding triangle will make Kratos hold the whip in the air juggling the enemy. Pressing triangle again will make Kratos launch himself into the air with a series of attacks, also launching the enemy higher. This is nice as a quick launch, very easy to execute, and can leave you alone with the enemy (or enemies) in a crowded situation. -Hold L1 and press square. Kratos jumps into the air spinning his whips, launching all enemies around him. This is the main multiple enemy launcher in GowIII, as the Icarus wings launcher was taken out. An incredibly useful attack for crowd control and for comboing multiple enemies. Since other weapons don't have a multiple enemy launcher of this kind, so if you are focusing on a different weapon you can use this move by quickly switching to the whips and back. All weapons have multiple enemy hitting air attacks, so after performing this move the combo possibilities are numerous. It's funny but the whips actually don't excel at juggling surrounding enemies in the air, so after this move you mostly want to switch weapon. This is a nice situation of combining weapons. -Hold L1 and press triangle. A pretty basic move, where on the ground Kratos lunges forward with the whips. In the air he will slam into the ground with an attack and then perform a following attack. With the air version you can hold triangle and Kratos will hold the whips to both his sides, an extremely useful crowd control move. -Super launcher Press triangle, press circle right after initial launch, press triangle again, hold L1 and press circle. Kratos will launch an enemy and then grapple him making him bounce back up, then launch him way up high in the air, then hook on to him. Practice this to get the exact timing of pressing the first circle. You can also juggle the enemy first with holding the first triangle, and pressing circle afterwards, though this doesn't always work, sometimes making Kratos try to grab the enemy with his hands. You can also launch yourself in the air by pressing triangle again after the second triangle, you will still need to use the hook at the end. This works only on bouncable enemies, since the grapple part is a bounce, there is a way to super launch even unbouncable enemies, though it is way less stylish. All you do is press triangle, wait a bit for the move to reset (not to launch yourself), and then press triangle again. -In the air Hold L1 and press square. A unique air attack that causes Kratos to left himself and his enemy upwards, a little. Something particularly cool about this attack is that it can be used as a launcher. Use it on a grounded enemy and it will launch him, and also raise Kratos a bit. It is enough to jump once and the move will work, no double jump necessary. If you repeat the move Kratos will actually rise higher and higher for quite an extended air time. Basically while hitting an enemy with this move Kratos will not fall down. -Triangle in the air. Simple move, yet it's one of my favorites. Can hit multiple enemies that are close by, and looks very stylish. Try Attack directioning this also for an even more stylish result. -Triangle, square. The square attack will be like a 3xSquare, and it will actually miss the airborne enemy, so I recommend holding square until he comes down and then continue. -Spreading the fire (or electricity). Probably the only thing I'll mention about magic attacks, once you have an enemy electrified (R2), you can grab him, press square, and run around with him towards other enemies to spread the electricity. Kind of cool to watch. Claws of Hades --------------- Not much to say about this, it's mainly a good crowd control weapon. -It has a special hook (L1+circle) where it sends ghostly souls that do damage to the enemy and surrounding enemies, instead of pulling towards him. -If you press triangle after two squares he will do the big 3xTriangle hit. -holding square will give a quick version of the square combo, both these end the same way, if an enemy is close Kratos will yank him upwards and slam him on the ground, if not he will do a big finishing hit. -Pressing triangle in the air gives quite a nice move, very handy for crowd control. It gives Kratos extended air time, he sort of glides on the enemies with this move. Practice this together with the aerial grab for gliding extendedly in the air. Nemean Cestus -------------- Also not much to say here, it's good for control since it's basic attacks are cancelable (with block or evade), and is quite strong. It also has a sort of Area of Effect in crowded situations, and can break enemy attacks. It's L1+Square is an excellent crowd control move, it sends your enemies flying away from you, it can't be canceled though so watch out, neither can the L1+Triangle attack. It's best move is probably holding square, Kratos will deliver a series of fast punches, strong move and cancelable. Another good crowd control move is L1+Triangle in the air. Kratos will slam down sending all enemies in a certain radius straight up in the air. It's hook is also special, Kratos will pull the enemy towards himself (instead of himself towards the enemy) and punch him sending him far away. Triangle in the air will make enemies bounce, and can be repeated several times. It's evade attack is quite nice, it's fast, has nice range, and sends enemies flying. Items ------ Items are especially cool in GoWIII, since they have their own energy bar, that fills up on it's own, and are also quite useful for advanced combat. All 3 items have a charge move (hold their respective button), and it should be noted that charging doesn't take very long, so it is quite accessible, not to mention that they are all very useful moves. Bow of Apollo -------------- Hold L2 and press square. Finally, a ranged weapon that you can use without thinking twice. Very useful for damaging enemies from a distance, and killing small enemies like archers and harpies. When you have L2 held you can target enemies, use the right stick to switch target. Hold square for a stronger fire attack, that burns the enemy, and other enemies if they are close. The coolest part about this item is that it launches airborne enemies higher up, even if the enemy is just a little above ground and you are far away, he will still be launched straight up, should be noted that to do this you need to press square very fast. You can launch him so far up that he will no longer be visible on the screen, and the hook will not reach him. This is a nice feature to add to combos. Boots of Hermes ---------------- Hold L2 and press X. Kratos will perform a dash, that sends enemies flying in the air, and in addition also makes them fly in the air towards you. At the end of the dash press X to launch yourself upwards. You can target different enemies with the right stick while holding L2. If you hold X (with L2 held) Kratos will charge the boots and on release will perform a more powerful dash, that sends enemies flying in the same manner, only here it leaves a fire trail that after a moment will explode (The trail will damage enemies that are still on the ground) and sends the enemies even higher up. This is also a super launcher. A nice maneuver to do with this is charge the boots, dash at an enemy, launch yourself, then evade towards the enemy that is in the air, then do an aerial combo. You can also use the hook to reach the enemy, you can ground evade after the dash, or use the hook after launching yourself after the dash. This last move has the possibility of sending the enemy and Kratos tremendously high in the air, this is a "Super Duper Launcher" if you will. Just to be clear, the way it works is hold L2 and then hold X, release, press X after the dash, Hold L1 and press circle. Note that the enemy needs to be in the hook range to do this. You can also use the boots when airborne, Kratos will launch himself at the ground and dash. The boots are the second main multiple enemy launcher, and can be used to juggle many enemies in a multiple enemy aerial combo. The use of the boots in comboing is very wide and the possibilities are quite numerous. Head of Helios --------------- Hold L2 and press triangle. Kratos will send a flash of light at an enemy (and ones close by), stunning smaller enemies for a short while. The first flash will not do much to bigger enemies, and it can also be blocked by some smaller ones or not have a stun effect when they are attacking, so it's not too great. The second flash however (tap triangle twice) is quite powerful and useful, and will send enemies flying, even breaking their attacks. This works on enemies big and small (not all), and also works in a wide arc in front of Kratos, hitting several enemies. These moves can also be targeted (Like all items) by holding L2 and moving the right stick, though it has a big Area of Effect (an arc), so you just need to direct it in the general direction you want, and not necessarily at the particular enemy, as it can be difficult to do that. Should be noted that these flashes also cause damage. Holding triangle (with L2 held) and releasing will send an immense flash in a huge radius, stunning smaller enemies for a long time. This doesn't have much of an effect on bigger enemies. A move that looks really cool, and is extremely effective against the smaller enemies, so even when facing bigger ones you can use it to stun these smaller ones and get them out of the way. AS already mentioned it doesn't take long at all to charge, so you can try to use it even in hectic situations. Switching weapons ------------------ Switching weapons effectively and stylishly is an advanced technique, that really brings the comboing possibilities to near infinite. To switch weapon press one of the arrow buttons respectively for the desired weapon, or hold L1 and press X, which will switch to the next weapon in the clockwise cycle, and perform a specific move. Once you remember the arrow button for each weapon you can quickly switch to perform specific moves at the desired timing. holding L1 doesn't effect the arrow buttons, so you can have it held while switching weapons. You can press L1+X repeatedly to quickly switch weapons while attacking, and alternating between other attacks you can go on a rampage of button mashing madness. Though you can also use it in a more advanced way. You can use it instead of the arrow buttons, by pressing it until you reach your desired weapon. You can also use it for it's attack moves. L1+X basically gives each weapon 2 new moves, one on the ground and one in the air. If you just want to use these moves without switching weapon what you do is press the arrow button that is one weapon before the one you are using in the cycle, then press L1+X. For example if you are using the Blades of Exile, you press the left arrow button then L1+X. You can do this repeatedly to use this move several times. These moves are pretty nice, especially in the air, where it is a bit more stylish to use them repeatedly. They can also add to combo variety. Combat Arena and enemies ------------- The Combat Arena is the best way to practice, and unleash your comboing skills. It is unlocked by completing the game on any difficulty and then completing the challenges. I recommend having all the energy bars on level 4, not infinite, and not using godly possessions, as this will give the most complete experience. The higher the difficulty you choose the higher the damage enemies can take before dying, that's why I also recommend the Chaos mode, even for practice, as you will be able to do longer combos on a single enemy. The best enemy to practice on is the "Cursed Remains", he is bouncable and can take some extended damage. You can choose 1 of those for some one on one training. Every enemy has different characteristics, like bouncable, stunnable, launchable, and when exactly and in what situation are these possible, some enemies can block, parry, dodge and so on. I would love to list all of these for each enemy, but I won't at this time, you can go through each enemy, practice and see yourself. Maybe I will list these in the future, or maybe someone else is up to this task. "Secret ending" or "Ending secret" ----------------------------------- Do not read this next part if you haven't beaten the game yet and plan to do so. *SPOILER ALERT**SPOILER ALERT**SPOILER ALERT**SPOILER ALERT**SPOILER ALERT* At the end of the game after the credits there is a "secret scene" that also contains a "secret" within it. You will see Kratos' pool of blood, and a trail of blood leading from it to the cliff. Referring I guess to Kratos not really being dead. If you look very closely at the bottom right island at near the end of the scene you will see Kratos swim out of the water and walk onto the island, and then it will cut off. Conclusion ----------- Well that's it, hope you learned something new. If you have anything to add or found some mistake please contact me at fiujiu@gmail.com I really hope this series will be continued, but the question is can there be a better GoW than GoWIII ? Developers consider yourselves challenged. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------