KINGDOM HEARTS HD 2.5 REMIX
PS3 TROPHY GUIDE
By Thundaka (thundaka@yahoo.com)
Copyright 2015 Thundaka.
This guide is solely for private use. If you wish to host this guide on your
website, contact me for permission before doing so. Any profitable use is
strictly prohibited.
=============================================================================
VERSION HISTORY
=============================================================================
v1.00: Initial version. Feel free to email me with any questions or
corrections.
v1.10: Fixed some typos and other small errors.
v1.20: Updated quite a few Birth by Sleep strategies (particularly relating
to the usefulness of Zero EXP), and corrected a few more lingering typos.
=============================================================================
TABLE OF CONTENTS
=============================================================================
I. Introduction
II. Trophy Guide: Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
a. Automatic
b. Basic
c. Combat
d. Journal
e. Gummi
III. Trophy Guide: Birth by Sleep Final Mix
a. Automatic
b. Basic
c. Combat
d. Reports
IV. Trophy Guide: Re:Coded
V. Acknowledgments
=============================================================================
INTRODUCTION
=============================================================================
Much like the 1.5 collection which came before it, the 2.5 HD ReMIX
Collection brings together two great Kingdom Hearts games into a beautiful,
polished package. The Final Mix versions of Kingdom Hearts II and Birth by
Sleep have been brought to the West for the first time, adding new gameplay
options and many hours of new content to two already-superb games. Also like
the 1.5 collection, the DS-exclusive Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded has been
retooled as a cutscene movie, with two brand-new scenes hinting at future
installments.
The purpose of this guide is to help the ambitious players who wish to earn
all 102 Trophies in this collection, including the Platinums for Kingdom
Hearts II Final Mix and Birth by Sleep Final Mix. Fortunately, Squaresoft
has learned from the 1.5 collection and greatly streamlined their Trophies.
All Trophies can now be earned in a single playthrough of each story, and
hardly any require the monotonous grinding that made Re:Chain of Memories’s
Level 99 Trophies such a bore. They are no less challenging this time
around--the Mushroom XIII and Mysterious Figure rival anything in the 1.5
collection for raw difficulty, and you can still expect to devote well over
100 hours to this collection--but every new Trophy earned feels like a real
accomplishment.
It should go without saying, but by their nature many of these Trophies will
involve plot spoilers. THERE ARE UNMARKED SPOILERS AHEAD, so if you haven’t
played these games before I strongly advise you to wait until after your
first playthrough to consult this guide.
--CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED.--
***Trophy Format***
To improve navigation over the mostly random default order, the Trophies
within each game are grouped into a few wider categories. Trophies based
around sections of Jiminy’s Journal form one category, for example, while
those involving the Gummi missions are another category. Since they
automatically unlock once you have received every other Trophy, the two
Platinum Trophies (Kingdom Hearts II Master and Birth by Sleep Master) and
Re:Coded’s Gold-ranked Re:Coded Master will not be listed.
The name, Grade, and official description of each Trophy will be included in
its writeup, along with a Difficulty ranking to reflect the skill and/or luck
required to earn it. (Trophies in the Automatic category are unavoidable, so
no Difficulty is assigned to them.) When a Trophy requires a lot of
relatively easy but monotonous grinding to complete, I will also assign a
Tedium Factor reflecting how much additional work it demands from you.
=============================================================================
TROPHY GUIDE: KINGDOM HEARTS II FINAL MIX
=============================================================================
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix is the selling point of the collection, as it is
arguably the greatest game in the franchise. The main story plays very
similarly to the original, though with many new options added to your
roster. There are several new Abilities to power up Sora’s arsenal, an
entirely new Drive Form that allows for a completely new playstyle in most
battles, over a dozen new keyblades, armors, and accessories to increase
Sora’s capabilities, and even an entirely new difficulty mode. Where the
game truly shines, though, is in the new optional content. There is a new
optional dungeon filled with tough platforming and tougher enemies, 20 new
boss battles, expanded synthesis options, and two original sidequests in the
puzzle pieces and the Mushroom XIII. With all these options at your
disposal, earning the Platinum will be no small task.
*****************************************************************************
---AUTOMATIC---
These Trophies are automatically earned by completing the main story.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summer’s End
-Description: Complete Roxas’ episode
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Timeless World
-Description: Complete the Timeless River episode
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Budding Romance
-Description: Complete the Beast’s Castle episodes
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: All of the episode completion Trophies below are earned by revisiting
and completing the second episode in each world, after the 1000 Heartless
battle in the middle of the game.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Above Honor
-Description: Complete the Land of Dragons episodes
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lifting the Curse
-Description: Complete the Port Royal episodes
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
What Friends Are For
-Description: Complete the Agrabah episodes
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Gift of Love
-Description: Complete the Halloween Town episodes
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Taste of the Past
-Description: Complete the Twilight Town episodes
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reunion
-Description: Reunite with Riku and Kairi
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambitious Adventurer
-Description: Clear the game and watch the ending sequence
-Grade: Silver
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Searcher
-Description: Collect all Ansem Reports in Jiminy’s Journal
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: Every Ansem Report is tied to a mandatory storyline fight or event.
When you defeat Xemnas for the first time and gain access to the final save
point, this Trophy will unlock as well.
*****************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************
---BASIC---
While not automatic, the miscellaneous Trophies below can be earned during a
normal playthrough without much additional work.
Note that the game’s two secret endings (“Gathering” from the original
Kingdom Hearts II, and the new “Birth by Sleep” ending) are not tied to a
specific Trophy. The first is unlocked by completing all story episodes,
including Space Paranoids, the 100 Acre Wood, and Atlantica, regardless of
difficulty.
The second is more difficult, and is harder to unlock the lower your
difficulty is. On Critical this ending only requires the Gold Crown, earned
by obtaining the three Proof items from three of the toughest sidequests in
the game (see Lingering Will, To Rule Them All, and Mushroom Master). Proud
Mode requires 100% Journal completion, on Standard you must complete the
Journal AND earn 100% of all Gummi ship prizes--something not even the
Platinum requires--and on Beginner it cannot be obtained at all. For this
reason I strongly suggest doing your 100% completion run on Critical, or at
the very least on Proud.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proud Player
-Description: Clear game on Proud
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: Earning Critical Competitor will unlock this Trophy at the same
time. You will have to endure more relative damage on Critical, but it
offers so many advantages--50 AP and several powerful Abilities at the start
of the game, higher base damage, AND easier access to the secret endings--
that in many ways it’s easier than Proud Mode. For combat advice, see
Critical Competitor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Critical Competitor
-Description: Clear game on Critical
-Grade: Gold
-Difficulty: 4/10
-Notes: Critical Mode Sora is what you’d call a “glass cannon.” If you’re
careless he will die easily, but if you’re skilled he will cut through your
enemies’ HP like a chainsaw through butter. Succeeding on Critical is all
about avoiding damage, which can be done in several ways: you can disable
enemies with Magnet and similar attacks, block attacks with Guard, evade
them with Dodge Roll and other Growth Abilities, ignore them with Reflect or
Limit abuse, or abuse enemy AI to prevent their strongest attacks altogether.
That said, there are some easy ways to keep Sora alive even when he is hit.
To begin with, ALWAYS choose the Shield on Critical. Once More and Second
Chance are crucial to your survival, especially when facing the optional
bosses in the endgame, and they come much earlier with the Shield than with
any other choice. Equipment is also very important, moreso than anywhere
else in the series. A few extra points of Defense can make a huge
difference, to the point that equipping the best armor available can cut
enemy damage in half for most of the game, and stacking a few +2 Strength or
Magic accessories will nearly double your damage output. Synthesize early
and often: you can get your first +3 Defense armor before Disney Castle,
your first Buster Band before Space Paranoids, and your first Ribbon before
The World That Never Was, and by stacking these powerful armors Sora is
amazingly hard to kill.
Finally, make sure to level up your Drive Forms and Summons early on. These
are some of your most powerful techniques, and the Drive Forms in particular
provide superb support Abilities that make combat so much easier.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hail the Hero
-Description: Complete the Olympus Coliseum episodes
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 1/10
-Notes: The optional second episode unlocks after you revisit Beast’s Castle
and the Land of Dragons. The combat is pretty easy and completion earns you
the powerful Magnet Burst finisher, one of the strongest crowd-control moves
in the game.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return of the King
-Description: Complete the Pride Lands episodes
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10
-Notes: Unlocked after you revisit Agrabah and Halloween Town. It ends with
a challenging boss fight, and awards you the Thundaga spell.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Electric Spark
-Description: Complete the Space Paranoids episodes
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: This episode only becomes available after you have completed both
Olympus and the Pride Lands for the second time. The combat is pretty
challenging, due in no small part to the relentless Devastators, but you are
richly rewarded for it: you earn the powerful Explosion finisher and Reflega
spell for completing this episode, as well as unlocking the Sephiroth fight
(see One-Winged Angel).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Always Together
-Description: Complete the 100 Acre Wood episode
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10
-Notes: As in the first Kingdom Hearts, to complete the 100 Acre Wood you
must collect all five Torn Pages and complete the associated minigames. The
Torn Pages are in the following locations:
1) Disney Castle: Library.
2) Pride Lands: Oasis.
3) Hollow Bastion: Crystal Fissure.
4) Land of Dragons: Throne Room.
5) Agrabah: Ruins, by the save point inside the tower.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kindred Spirits
-Description: Complete the Atlantica episodes
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10
-Notes: You can first reach Atlantica after completing Timeless River. Each
chapter in the story involves some sort of musical challenge, and every one
after the first requires you to earn certain powers by progressing to a
later point in the story. The final chapter unlocks after completing the
second Pride Lands episode and earning the Thundaga spell.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Hero
-Description: Get rescued by the King
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 1/10
-Notes: In a handful of story battles, King Mickey will appear to rescue Sora
when he is killed. Just select “I won’t give up” when the screen turns
white, and Mickey will arrive to fight in his place for a while. Your first
opportunity to do this is against the Thresholders in Beast’s Castle or
Shan-Yu in the Land of Dragons, though you can always earn this at the end of
the game by dying in the first match against the armored Xemnas.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corroded by Darkness
-Description: Activate Antiform 13 times
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10
-Notes: Antiform is the shadowy Heartless-like “form” that Sora will
sometimes take on when you active a Drive Form in battle. For most of the
game, Antiform appears randomly. It becomes more likely the more times you
activate a Drive Form, but it is always a matter of chance. However, after
reaching The World That Never Was and defeating Roxas you earn the Two
Become One keyblade. Its unique Light & Darkness Ability guarantees that any
Form activation will turn Sora into Antiform, so long as he is in battle and
both allies are alive. Since Antiform consumes the entire Drive Gauge, it’s
best to do this next to a “Sora-only” screen--an area where Donald and Goofy
walk around like NPCs--as entering one with a Drive Form active will restore
your Drive Gauge to full. The Brink of Despair is an excellent place to do
this (when you first arrive), as is the final save point at the Altar of
Naught.
Note that this is an excellent way to earn Final Form, which you will badly
need for much of the endgame content. So long as you have at least 5 points
of Drive left, there is a good chance that Two Become One will give you Final
(typically after the third Antiform). Continue to activate Antiform
afterwards via a choice other than Final, and you’ll have this Trophy in
short order.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Struggle Champion
-Description: Win by obtaining all of the opponent’s orbs
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10
-Notes: This one can be earned before you finish Roxas’ prologue, and is
required to complete Seifer’s mission entry in the journal. With even one
Draw this is a trivial task, so long as you avoid getting hit while landing
your own attacks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pro Skater
-Description: Obtain 5000 points with skateboarding tricks
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 4/10
-Notes: This one is easiest to complete in Scrooge’s high score challenge at
the Hollow Bastion marketplace, as it is the only skateboard minigame without
a time or attempt limit. The basic idea is to travel in a continuous
counterclockwise loop along the top of the two stairwell walls. You will
continuously gain points by grinding along the top, and by leaping,
performing a midair trick, and landing with Triangle before you reach the
end you will continue to earn points without breaking the chain. I prefer
Method Grab (Square) for the midair trick, as it lasts longest and gives you
just as much maneuverability, but repeated 360 Spins (X) also work. It will
take a few error-free minutes, and probably more than a few attempts, but
once you understand the trick it’s not difficult to continue abusing it all
the way to 5000 points.
*****************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************
---COMBAT---
Every Trophy concerned with defeating specific enemies, or the benefits of
doing so, belongs here.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level Master
-Description: Get Sora to level 99
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 2/10 [Tedium Factor: 2/10]
-Notes: Surprisingly, reaching Level 99 is not much of an obstacle this time
around. The key to this Trophy is the Experience Boost Ability, which is
available both as an early learned Ability for Sora and as an innate Ability
from the Gullwing keyblade (earned by talking to Yuna, Rikku, and Paine in
Hollow Bastion’s Postern). With both Abilities equipped, Sora will earn
triple experience as long as his HP is below 50% of maximum. It’s a good
idea to finish your synthesis and Drive Form training before you go for this
Trophy, as doing so will carry you to level 75+ on its own and speed up the
process. Make sure you unequip your allies’ healing Abilities and Item
Boosts, and carry plenty of Potions; if reduced to 1 HP, a non-boosted
Potion will bring you back to safety without deactivating Experience Boost.
The best enemies for this trick are Nobodies, as their base experience is
high and they never drop HP orbs. My personal favorite spot is the Transport
to Remembrance, the final hallway in the Cavern of Remembrance, for two
reasons: the Nobodies are packed tightly, so you can easily destroy them with
a few Reflega spells (and keep your MP full with the orbs they drop), and
they will instantly respawn as soon as you leave and reenter the room. Their
damage is a bit high, but even on Critical you will survive with HP to spare
if you have at least 55 Defense. With 600 experience from each Dusk and
Creeper, and 1800 from the stronger Nobodies, you will be earning at least
one level per trip even at level 90+.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rookie
-Description: Win the Pain and Panic Cup
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10
-Notes: The Pain and Panic Cup becomes available after completing the
Timeless River episode. Although you cannot use Drive Forms or Summons, it
is still an easy tournament thanks to your cheap access to Limits. Just
abuse Donald’s Comet to stun enemy mobs and pile on the damage to Leon and
Yuffie, and it will be a cakewalk.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Novice Hero
-Description: Win the Cerberus Cup
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: This tournament appears after completing the first Pride Lands
mission. You can activate Drive Forms solo, but have to complete your
battles within a tight time limit. It’s pretty easy later in the game, when
you can abuse Master or Final Form’s Thundaga for absurd damage, but if
attempted early in the story it can be very difficult to eliminate Cerberus
in time. At that point your best offense will come from Limit Form. The
Infinity Limit does absolutely devastating damage to Cerberus if you can
consistently hit Giga Impact (the third of four reaction commands), and
Magnet plus Limit Form will tear through the Heartless waves pretty quickly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Artisan Hero
-Description: Win the Titan Cup
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: The Titan Cup unlocks after completing the final Olympus mission.
This time Sora can access Summons alone and regains full Drive at the start
of every round, but automatically loses after he takes a certain amount of
damage. Thus, you need to use your Summons to avoid taking damage. One of
the easiest ways to do this is by summoning Stitch, as he constantly restores
your MP and allows effectively unlimited Magnet and Reflect abuse. Hercules
can be dangerous, as one punch can take away a lot of points (or even kill
you outright on Critical), so keep your distance. Genie’s Wisdom Limit is
a great way to wear down his HP without getting too close, so abuse it until
you run out of Drive and then cast Thundara to wear him down at long range.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
True Hero
-Description: Win the Goddess of Fate Cup
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 4/10
-Notes: To unlock the Goddess of Fate Cup, you must reach the final save
point at the Altar of Naught and win the previous three cups. This
tournament’s rules change from round to round: most enemies can be fought
normally with the full party, though some rounds take on a time limit or a
damage-point restriction. Fortunately, a smart combination of Magnet spells,
Limits (especially for the timed segments), and Reflect should carry you
through this tournament pretty easily.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coliseum Competitor
-Description: Win the Pain and Panic Paradox Cup
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 4/10
-Notes: The Paradox Cups are upgraded versions of the original tournaments,
and are unlocked by talking to Hades in his throne room. The Pain and Panic
Paradox Cup merely requires that you complete the Goddess of Fate Cup first.
Your opponents now do much more damage and have greatly increased HP, but
with good levels and equipment it should not be much different from the
original.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coliseum Star
-Description: Win the Cerberus Paradox Cup
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 6/10
-Notes: In addition to completing the Goddess of Fate Cup, all of Sora’s
Drive Forms (including Final Form) must be upgraded to Level 5. You’ll need
them too, because Cerberus’ HP is so high that it will take high Magic and a
concentrated barrage of Thundagas or Giga Impacts to take him out.
Otherwise, the rest of the Cup is much the same as before.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hero of the Coliseum
-Description: Win the Titan Paradox Cup
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 5/10
-Notes: You need to complete the Goddess of Fate Cup, plus upgrade your
summons to Level 5. The main danger is the enemies’ increased damage, which
makes it even easier to lose points quickly. Even more than before, focus on
avoiding damage as much as possible.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coliseum Champion
-Description: Win the Hades Paradox Cup
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 6/10
-Notes: Unlike the other Paradox tournaments, the Hades Paradox Cup is a
completely new challenge. It is only unlocked after you have won the other
three Paradox cups, raised all Drive Forms and Summons to their maximum
level, and completed the final Space Paranoids mission.
Much like the Hades Cup in the first Kingdom Hearts, it consists of 50 rounds
divided into five tiers. Each tier operates according to different rules:
rounds 1-10 play normally, rounds 11-20 operate by Titan Cup rules, rounds
21-30 work like the Pain and Panic Cup, rounds 31-40 are similar to the
Cerberus Cup, and in the final ten rounds Sora fights solo with no extra
powers. Your progress is saved, thankfully, so if Sora dies he only has to
restart from the beginning of the current tier.
The Heartless are stronger than ever now, so high levels and powerful
equipment are recommended. A few words of advice on the tougher battles:
-Rounds 11-20: These rounds are pretty easy to cheese by either abusing
Magnega with Stitch or by abusing Peter Pan’s Limits to wear down the mobs
while staying invincible. (If you’re pursuing the high score for Journal
completion, you’ll need to use one of the two.) If your timing is good, you
can pretty much shut down Pete’s offense by juggling him with Thundaga as
soon as he leaves the bubble.
-Rounds 21-30: Make sure you have full MP going into round 28, as you’ll need
to hit the Shamans relentlessly to keep their fire spells from obliterating
you. Otherwise, straightforward Limit abuse makes these matches easy.
-Rounds 31-40: These battles follow a simple pattern: destroy your enemies
with Magnega+Thundaga or Magnega+Trinity Limit (the latter will quickly kill
the Sorcerors), briefly enter Final Form to restore your HP and MP, then
revert back to continue the assault. Note that your Form transformation
will cause any Berserkers to release their hammers immediately, which can
often end the round in 2-3 cycles. The major exception is the swarm of
Rapid Thrusters, who can be quickly eliminated by combining Master Form’s
Magnega with its Disaster finisher. Equipping Master with the Fenrir is a
good idea.
-Rounds 41-50: For the common Heartless, Magnega is the way to go. You can
cast it three times and still finish with a Trinity Limit before your MP
runs out, giving you plenty of opportunity to finish them while they are
immobilized. This is especially important against the Living Bones and the
Morning Star+Crescendo wave, as their spin attacks will quickly overwhelm
you otherwise. The toughest wave is Round 49, when you face all four Final
Fantasy characters at once. Do not try to physically attack, or you will get
destroyed in seconds. Instead, lock on to Leon and wear him down with
Thundaga spells, then focus on taking out Cloud with Reflega and Trinity
Limit. Cloud’s Omnislash is pretty scary, so be ready to dodge it: after
rocketing around three times he will home in to slash at you, requiring a
quick High Jump+Aerial Dodge maneuver or a Reflega combo, then repeat twice
more. Once Leon and Cloud are dead, the girls can be quickly destroyed with
Reflega.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
One-Winged Angel
-Description: Defeat Sephiroth
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 7/10
-Notes: He’s a bit easier than he was in the first Kingdom Hearts, since you
can reliably hit him and dodge his attacks this time, but Sephiroth is still
a scary boss. Make sure that High Jump, Quick Run, Aerial Dodge, and Glide
are all at level 3, and that you have plenty of Elixirs and your strongest
armors equipped.
The first phase is easy with Counterguard: hit him with a combo, block his
slash combo, interrupt him with Counterguard, and repeat. In the second
phase you should cast Reflega to get rid of the dark orbs, Quick Run away
from his fire pillars, and use a quick High Jump+Aerial Dodge+Glide maneuver
to knock him out of the air before he can cast Heartless Angel. If you can’t
interrupt Heartless Angel in time, toss an Elixir to heal before his next
attack. When knocked into the air by his uppercut, you can use Retaliating
Slash to stop his air combos and start one of your own. The best openings
for your attacks are when he leaps toward you, uses the screen-darkening
Flash attack, or uses one of his midair moves. During the third phase I
would keep my distance and wait until he uses Flash or Heartless Angel. His
arena-covering slash attack is best avoided with High Jump+Aerial Dodge,
while his new Meteor attack can be easily dodged with a combination of
Aerial Dodge and Glide.
After the battle, make sure to talk to Cloud in the Marketplace. You can
return for an extra cutscene, after which you will receive the devastating
Fenrir keyblade.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lingering Will
-Description: Defeat the Lingering Will
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 8/10
-Notes: The Lingering Will appears through a portal in Disney Castle’s Hall
of the Cornerstone, after completing all episodes and beating the game to see
the “Gathering” secret ending. He may well be the toughest boss in the game,
though by taking advantage of his AI he can still be defeated without too
much difficulty. There are two reliable ways to defeat Lingering Will, one
cheap and one legitimate. The cheap way is to equip the Fenrir keyblade and
Sora’s learned Negative Combo, and perform the following loop: basic air
finisher, jump, finisher, jump, repeat ad nauseum. He will never be able to
counterattack or break free if you keep up the offensive.
The legitimate way requires quick reflexes and an attentive eye, but works
consistently time after time. Make sure you have Combo Boost, both Combo
Pluses, and Explosion equipped, in addition to a maxed-out Dodge Roll,
Aerial Dodge, and Glide, and that you remove Guard Break. It should go
without saying, but Second Chance, Once More, and Leaf Bracer are critical
here. For most of the battle the Lingering Will will stick to one of three
“phases”: the seal phase (where he seals your Attack command with a leap
attack and uses his flying slash and keywhip a lot), the crossbow phase
(where he attempts to shoot you with a bolt that replaces your menu with a
cycling series of commands that either kill or release you), and the glider
phase (where his keyblade transforms into a glider and he releases a cluster
of lights that follow you around and shoot lasers at you). He randomly
enters one phase at the start of battle, then transitions to another phase
after losing about 5 bars of health. As soon as you are able to attack, hit
him with a combo ending with one Explosion. Repeat this three times, and you
will trigger his counterattack. He always starts by slashing at you three
times, then either performs his keywhip attack or another three slashes. Hit
him with three more Explosion combos when he lands, and you can ensure he
uses nothing but his predictable counterattacks for the majority of the
battle. Note that he will automatically counterattack at the two phase
transitions, around 5 bars lost and 6-1/2 bars remaining, even if you are in
mid-combo at the time. The Comet and Knocksmash Limits are an excellent way
to shave off the last few HP without risking damage, should the need arise.
Unfortunately this loop doesn’t work during the glider phase, since (a) he
often teleports away before counterattacking, and (b) he will summon the
lights to shoot lasers at you, immobilizing you even if you managed to block
them. The only viable strategy at that point is to abuse the pseudo-
invulnerability of Limit Form’s Limits, particularly Sonic Rave, and that is
by no means a reliable way to survive. The good news is that the glider
phase is pretty uncommon, so it’s entire possible you won’t see those attacks
at all.
The final phase works similarly, though instead of counterattacks you want to
constantly trigger his desperation attack. The reason is that after he
counterattacks he will teleport away and use a random normal attack, and
toward the end his normal attacks are absurdly dangerous. To trigger it, use
two Explosion combos and then stop just shy of your third finisher. The
attack itself is divided into three parts. The first part can be easily
blocked with three Guards, after which you should fly away with Aerial Dodge+
Glide to escape the unblockable second half. The third bit is tricky: though
it is blockable, he can sometimes screw you up by teleporting in from behind.
To prevent this, fly toward the edge of the arena overlooking a cliff, place
your back against the cliff, and turn the camera toward him. Guard three
times, Dodge Roll to avoid his final surge, and you will be in perfect
position to attack.
Victory earns you the Proof of Connection, one of the required key items for
the Birth by Sleep ending. If you like you may challenge him again at any
time, and every victory after the first grants you a rare Manifest Illusion.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Rule Them All
-Description: Defeat all Organization XIII Replica Data
-Grade: Gold
-Difficulty: 8/10
-Notes: The Organization XIII Data battles are found in the Garden of
Assemblage, the very last room in the Cavern of Remembrance. (For advice on
traversing the Cavern and winning the battles along the way, see Navigator.)
To unlock the five Organization members from Chain of Memories, you must
first win their Absent Silhouette battles. To unlock the remaining story
bosses, you need to beat the game first. Each Data battle is a highly
upgraded versions of the original: all do double damage and have vastly
increased HP, and most have gained deadly new attacks or huge increases in
attack speed as well.
When defeated, each Data boss grants you either a Lost Illusion or a stat
boost item. A brief strategy for each is listed below:
-Roxas (Magic Boost): By hitting him with a one-finisher Guard Break combo,
then sliding in for one more hit, you can goad Roxas into either (a)
performing a long physical combo, or (b) charging for a clear-cutting area
attack. By triggering and Guarding these moves, you can prevent him from
using his desperation attack or many of his other deadly attacks.
-Larxene (Lost Illusion): Well-timed Reflega chains will block Larxene’s
spells and combos and deal a ton of damage to her clones. Stay in the clone
phase as much as possible, and summon Stitch to keep the MP coming.
-Marluxia (Lost Illusion): Make sure to Dodge Roll when he teleports away and
counterattacks, or you will lose a ton of hits to his midair attacks. The
flower pools can be prevented by casting Firaga when he teleports to the
center, while his “Angel of Death” desperation attack is easy to outrun with
a high-level Glide.
-Luxord (AP Boost): His minigames are far more difficult now, but are still
manageable if you pause the game rhythmically to slow them down. I suggest
winning as many minigames as possible early on, so you have multiple
opportunities to win the very difficult desperation attack at the end.
-Demyx (AP Boost): He starts and ends the battle with four huge waves of
clones, who must be eliminated with nonstop Firaga spells. You will need
Wisdom or Final Form to kill them fast enough, especially the wave of 99
at the end.
-Axel (Magic Boost): Your HP rapidly drains while the floor is on fire, so
knock him out with two finishers and use Clear Light to extinguish the
flames. Limit Form is an excellent way to keep your HP up and pile on the
damage while fighting him.
-Saix (Defense Boost): You want to launch him with Finishing Leap and deal
lots of damage with Horizontal Slash, as this will minimize the time he
spends in Berserk Mode. He now has a refilling Berserk gauge and performs
the desperation attack every time it refills, so make a point of moving
close after the attack so you can goad him into throwing the hammer.
-Zexion (Lost Illusion): Every time he enters the book phase, he will either
trap you with a devastating page-tearing attack or seal your battle menu.
Both are deadly, so block them with Reflega. Hit him with single Firaga
spells to pile on the damage outside the book, and at low HP make sure you
enter the light on the 13th move to dodge his desperation attack.
-Lexaeus (Lost Illusion): Set your allies to Sora Attack, make a point of
Guarding his uppercut early, and he will not get the chance to power up
at all.
-Vexen (Lost Illusion): The Data Gauge fills very fast, so make a point to
stay out of the circle to prevent the terrifying Anti-Sora from spawning.
He cannot be staggered while the shield is up, but once it breaks you can
deal an amazing amount of damage with Final Form’s basic Firaga hits.
-Xaldin (Defense Boost): You need to rely on Jump for damage, so equip the
Guardian Soul keyblade. To deal with the teleport attack, Aerial Dodge over
him and cast Magnega as he stops; this will eventually goad him into
repeating the Dive barrage and letting you collect more Jumps.
-Xigbar (Defense Boost): His reflected shots will stun him after two salvos,
so block them with Guard or Reflega and quickly move in while he is stunned.
You will need long Reflega chains for some attacks, especially when he
releases the missile, so carry lots of Ethers or Elixirs so you can keep
casting.
-Xemnas (Power Boost): You must win both phases in a row to win the battle.
The first phase is a simple matter of blocking and Counterguarding, and is
made even easier with Limit Form. In the second phase you should rely on
Riku’s Session to escape “We shall go together,” and otherwise Reversal
toward him to start a combo whenever you can. “Can you spare a heart?” is
avoidable and absurdly deadly now, so ALWAYS escape it with Reflega or Dodge
Roll.
After winning all 13 battles and earning the Trophy, open the chest that
appears in the center of the room for the Proof of Nonexistence.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mushroom Master
-Description: Satisfy every member of Mushroom XIII
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 10/10
-Notes: The Mushroom XIII are a group of special Heartless who appear in
various worlds after completing the story episodes. Several can be found
early in the story, though the last only spawns after completing the game.
Each Mushroom challenges you to a unique minigame battle, which vary from
somewhat tough to hair-rippingly frustrating. Almost all require a very
specific equipment setup, and some can only be passed with high Strength or
Magic.
-Mushroom I (The World That Never Was, Memory’s Skyscraper): Hit it at least
70 times before time runs out. In order to succeed, you must take advantage
of the Quick Slide reaction command. It appears slightly after Reversal and
comes with a larger Triangle icon, though it only lasts for a fraction of a
second. Quick Slide will confuse the Mushroom long enough to get in up to
9 hits: use Wisdom Form and Fenrir (plus Negative Combo if you have it) to
attack quickly.
-Mushroom II (Halloween Town, Christmas Tree Plaza): Deflect at least 80
projectiles. This may well be the easiest of the Mushrooms, since Reflect
allows you to reliably block every projectile regardless of direction or
speed. Summon Stitch to ensure your MP never runs out.
-Mushroom III (Beast’s Castle, Bridge): Collect at least 450 orbs before
they disappear. The Draw Ability is essential for collecting distant orbs,
and can stack for truly impressive range. Sora can easily get up to four
Draws--one from leveling up, one from leveling Limit Form, one from the
Follow the Wind keyblade, and one from the 100 Acre Wood’s Draw Ring--plus
a fifth if you are on Critical, which should be more than enough to
succeed. (You can fill up to three more slots by synthesizing Draw Rings,
though you should only do this as a last resort.) I try to stay in the air
at all times and Glide after the Mushroom, as it makes it easier to collect
the orbs before they hit the ground, though Quick Run is also a viable
strategy.
-Mushroom IV (Land of Dragons, Palace Gate): Defeat at least 85 clones.
This one is surprisingly simple: activate Wisdom Form, and just continuously
shoot at the enemies while strafing in a wide circle. Berserk Charge is
useful, but not necessary to complete the challenge.
-Mushroom V (Agrabah, Cave of Wonders: Treasure Room): Take out his HP in
less than 10 seconds. With a Bond of Flame-wielding Final Form, Fire Boost,
one or two Finishing Pluses, and lots of Magic-boosting equipment you can do
this via Firaga spam at a surprisingly low level.
-Mushroom VI (Olympus Coliseum, Underworld Caverns: Atrium): Defeat all the
Mushrooms with magic within 45 seconds. This time is easiest to achieve
with Final Form, thanks to its wide-range spells, but it is not too bad with
normal spells and Stitch (which is the only way you’ll get through without
using an Ether). Hit the initial cluster with Firaga, wipe out the line
that follows with Blizzaga, and use rapid Thundaga combos to take out the
rest.
-Mushroom VII (Twilight Town, Tunnelway): Take out his HP in less than
10 seconds. Like Mushroom V, he is easy with the right equipment setup:
Equip Finishing Plus and the strongest Magic-boosting equipment available,
activate Final Form, and chain together a full Reflega combo ending with two
finishers. If you can handle Mushroom V, you can handle him just as easily.
-Mushroom VIII (Twilight Town, The Tower): Land 85 hits before he touches the
ground. This Mushroom does everything in his power to screw up your combos:
sometimes he pops high into the air, sometimes he is magnetically drawn to
the ground, and at around 70 hits he shoots far sideways to escape your
reach. The Fatal Crest’s Berserk Charge ability will mostly deal with his
up-and-down movement, as it allows you to string together endless Horizontal
Slashes while your MP is recharging, but when he shoots sideways you cannot
catch him through combos alone.
The easiest strategy I have found involves a combination of Donald’s
Comet and careful MP management. (You could simply unequip all MP Hastes
and wait until your MP is about 1/2 to 2/3 recharged, if you think this
method is too much trouble, but the setup below ensures precision.) You
need the equivalent of seven MP Haste Abilities, so that your MP recharges at
2.75x normal speed. On Critical you can equip Sora’s innate MP Hastera, the
MP Haste learned from Wisdom Form, and four Full Bloom+ accessories. (If
Sora has learned Berserk Charge from leveling up, you can replace the Fatal
Crest with the Ultima Weapon and equip just one Full Bloom+.) Cast Curaga
directly before you pull him out of the ground, then hit him with nonstop
Horizontal Slashes and use Aerial Spiral to connect when he pops into the
air. Your MP will regenerate just as he shoots to the side, at which point
you can activate Donald’s Comet to juggle him long enough to use Horizontal
Slash again. Keep up the offensive, and it shouldn’t be too hard to take
him all the way to 85 hits.
Alternatively, you could rely on Wisdom Form’s long-range shots to
keep juggling him at a distance. This works best with multiple Finishing
Pluses and/or Negative Combo, as Wisdom’s finishers are best at keeping
the mushroom suspended. It’s a difficult strategy due to the need to
manage your distance: you can lose the lock-on if he moves too far away,
while he won’t stay suspended if you’re too close. Still, if done
properly it’s entirely possible to reach the maximum 99 hits with this
method.
-Mushroom IX (Hollow Bastion, Castle Gate): Land 75 hits before he stops
spinning. With the Fatal Crest, this is surprisingly easy. Just remove
your MP Haste abilities, cast Curaga, then lock on and continuously abuse
Horizontal Slash until the end. He won’t stop spinning unless there is a
pause in your attacks, so if you’re aggressive enough you can easily take
him all the way to 99 hits.
-Mushroom X (Port Royal, Isla De Muerta: Moonlit Nook): Defeat the Mushroom
within 55 seconds. Much like the Black Ballade from the 1.5 collection,
this is a shell game: the real Mushroom will identify itself, then rapidly
zigzag across the screen to make you lose sight of it before settling in a
new spot. Rapidly pausing the game is a good way to keep from losing track
of her, though you still need a keen eye. You will likely not succeed if
you miss more than twice, so precision is key. Equip the Fenrir and
Finishing Plus and unequip Aerial Finish, as basic air finishers deal the
fastest damage.
-Mushroom XI (Timeless River, Waterway): Reduce the counter to 0 within 19
seconds. Wisdom Form’s finishers are by far the most effective offense, so
equip as many Finishing Pluses as you can get (plus Negative Combo, if Sora
has learned it). The main challenge is maintaining the proper distance: you
want to be far enough that Wisdom Shot can curve to hit him, but not so far
that you lose the lock-on and can’t hit him at all.
-Mushroom XII (Twilight Town, The Old Mansion): Defeat at least 40 clones.
For me this was the most difficult minigame in the entire collection, as
there aren’t many ways to make it easier via equipment like you can with
other Mushrooms. My one suggestion is to equip the Fatal Crest, remove all
MP Haste abilities, and stay in MP charge as long as you can; Wisdom’s
finisher delays you a lot, and in this minigame every fraction of a second
is precious. Drive into Wisdom and heal before you start, and otherwise do
your best to rapidly lock on to and shoot every clone as soon as you see it.
Very often the pillars will block your shots, so get used to making small
adjustments so you can quickly kill each clone and then continue. Towards
the end clones will start appearing over the high pillars, so back away from
the door and jump to help you reach them more easily.
-Mushroom XIII (Hollow Bastion, The Great Maw): This one only appears after
you have satisfied the first 12 Mushrooms. See below.
Each Mushroom drops Tranquility items for synthesis, as well as unique
weapons for Donald (if odd-numbered) or Goofy (if even-numbered). After
passing the minigames of the first 12, return to The Great Maw to meet number
XIII and receive the Proof of Peace, as well as this Trophy.
Note that Donald’s and Goofy’s best weapons come from winning a Mushroom
minigame with an S rank, earned by achieving a literally perfect score or
finishing with an absurdly low time. If you want to collect them, I suggest
earning the Premium Mushroom (+9 Magic and MP Hastega) from Mushroom IX and
the Ultimate Mushroom (+9 Strength and 40% damage reduction) from Mushroom
II, who drop them after 99 hits and 99 projectiles respectively.
*****************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************
---JOURNAL---
These Trophies are obtained by completing Jiminy’s Journal, the in-game
record of everything Sora does in his travels. Note that unlike the 1.5
collection there is no Trophy for total journal completion, just for the
individual sections.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Professor
-Description: Collect all Character entries in Jiminy’s Journal
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 8/10
-Notes: Most entries will unlock automatically after completing every episode
and defeating every optional boss. The major exception is Setzer, whom you
will not encounter during normal play. To unlock his entry Sora must face
him in a Struggle battle, which becomes available after defeating Hayner 10
times. You also need to collect the Ukelele Charm and Feather Charm from
chests, as Stitch’s and Peter Pan’s entries only appear when you collect
their summons. Most of the difficulty comes from the optional bosses,
particularly the Lingering Will.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heartless Highbrow
-Description: Collect all Heartless entries in Jiminy’s Journal
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 10/10
-Notes: The majority of your entries will be filled out during the story
episodes, either through story battles or as bosses (Groundshaker in the
Pride Lands being the final Heartless boss). The Bulky Vendor is rare in
normal combat, but is a guaranteed encounter in the Hades Paradox Cup (see
Coliseum Champion). The Cavern of Remembrance’s Engine Room also contains
some unique Heartless, and can only be reached via a combination of
High Jump, Aerial Dodge, and a Level 3 Glide.
The vast majority of the difficulty comes from the Mushroom XIII. While the
first twelve appear as soon as you’ve tried their minigame, number XIII only
appears after you’ve bested each Mushroom’s Journal requirement. Thus, you
will most likely earn this Trophy at the same time that you earn
Mushroom Master.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nobody Know-It-All
-Description: Collect all Nobody entries in Jiminy’s Journal
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10
-Notes: Since every other Nobody must be defeated in a story battle, all you
need to do is defeat a Sorceror upon reaching the Castle That Never Was.
Vanquish one, and you get the Trophy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Treasure Hunter
-Description: Collect all Treasures in Jiminy’s Journal
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 8/10
-Notes: The majority of these can be collected on the way as you complete the
story episodes. (Note that this includes the 100 Acre Wood.) The only
difficult treasures are in the Cavern of Remembrance. You need High Jump,
Aerial Dodge, and a maxed-out Glide to get all the way to the end, so much
Drive Form training is required. A complete list of Treasure chests and
their locations can be found in noz3ro’s 2.5 ReMix walkthrough at
http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/735143-kingdom-hearts-hd-25-remix/faqs/70271.
By far the most difficult treasure is the final one in the Garden of
Assemblage, the Proof of Nonexistence. It only appears after winning all
of the Organization XIII Data battles, who rank among the toughest enemies
in the game. For strategy notes, see To Rule Them All.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Puzzler
-Description: Complete all Puzzles in Jiminy’s Journal
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 4/10
-Notes: To complete the Puzzles section of the Journal, you must collect all
Puzzle Pieces and put them together to earn the prizes. This requires
maxed-out High Jump, Aerial Dodge, and Glide Abilities, as well as completing
nearly the entire story and most of the Cavern of Remembrance. For more
information, please consult my Puzzle Piece guide at
http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/735143-kingdom-hearts-hd-25-remix/faqs/55322.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Navigator
-Description: Collect all Maps in Jiminy’s Journal
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 5/10
-Notes: Most of the maps are in large, conveniently located treasure chests,
with a few being automatically handed to you. The only remotely difficult
one is located in the Garden of Assemblage, the final room of the Cavern of
Remembrance in Hollow Bastion.
The Cavern features three barriers at various levels, preventing you from
going any higher until you have the required movement Abilities. Glide
Level 3 and a well-timed Aerial Dodge will get you past the first two
barriers, which will be immediately followed by two forced battles against
the Cavern’s Heartless. A combination of Magnega and Reflega abuse will
clear them out in short order. The final barrier is trickier, but if you
stick to the right side and jump carefully you can Glide through the first
gate and Aerial Dodge over the second. (Or you could simplify the process by
transforming into Final Form for its Glide LvMAX.) The final hallway
features three tough battles against powered-up Nobodies. Stitch is
fantastic for all three battles: Magnega+Thundaga will devastate every enemy
besides the Sorceror, and a combination of Reflega spamming and the Dragoon’s
Jump command will take care of him. Once they are cleared you can walk into
the Garden of Assemblage for the map, then check the monitor to unlock the
Data battles and the Cavern exit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conqueror
-Description: Collect all Mission entries in Jiminy’s Journal
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 10/10 [Tedium Factor: 4/10]
-Notes: The Missions are basically just minigames with required high scores,
many of which were created specifically for this purpose. The good news is
that the Mushroom XIII account for most of the difficulty. The only other
really difficult Missions are the 100 Acre Wood high scores, which rate
perhaps a 7/10. Most of the Missions are fairly easy, once you learn the
trick and have the right equipment. sweet_peach’s Quest Guide is a fantastic
source of advice on completing each Mission, and I highly suggest checking it
out if you get stuck:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/735143-kingdom-hearts-hd-25-remix/faqs/41021
Finally, some advice on the Olympus Cups:
*Cerberus Cup (regular and Paradox): Magnega is the best, and possibly
only, way to run up the score in this cup. Master Form’s Magnega especially
will cause your enemies to hemorraghe orbs. (It may also help to equip the
Wishing Lamp keyblade, as Jackpot directly increases your prize orbs.) You
can use the same trick in the Pain and Panic Cup, but its score requirement
is low enough that you’re likely to get it on the first try.
*Titan Cup/Goddess of Fate Cup/Titan Paradox Cup: In all four
tournaments, Summon abuse is by far the easiest way to meet the score
requirement. There are two ways to do so. The simpler way is to summon
Peter Pan and abuse his Neverland Limit, releasing plenty of orbs with
every hit while allowing you to destroy the enemies from a position of
invincibility. Unfortunately this method becomes less effective as your
stats increase, since your enemies will die too quickly. In that case,
you should allow them to reduce you to critical HP and then summon Stitch.
At critical HP he will use the ukelele attack constantly, milking every
enemy for orbs without inflicting damage.
*Hades Paradox Cup: You can easily use the Summon tricks above to reach
the score quota in the first 20 rounds. The real trick is surviving all 50
rounds in a row, as the final tier can be quite dangerous. Make sure you
have a reliable strategy for every round, especially for the Living Bones,
Morning Stars, and Final Fantasy bosses in the last 10 rounds.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minigame Maniac
-Description: Collect all Minigame entries in Jiminy’s Journal
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 6/10
-Notes: Just attempt every minigame under the Mission list once, and this
Trophy will be yours.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Limit Master
-Description: Collect all Limit entries in Jiminy’s Journal
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10
-Notes: You can easily earn this during the story, as long as you use every
available Limit at least once. In addition to the Ability-based ones, this
includes the Summon Limits. Note that Genie has four separate Limits based
on his “form,” the last of which only unlocks after Sora has learned Final
Form (see Corroded by Darkness).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Craftsman
-Description: Collect all Synthesis Note entries in Jiminy’s Journal
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 6/10 [Tedium Factor: 4/10]
-Notes: The synthesis sidequest has been greatly streamlined since the first
Kingdom Hearts, though it will still take many hours of hunting before you
have the materials to complete the list. Two of the four sections are easy:
you need every material just to forge the Ultima Weapon, and by the time you
finish the Creations you are guaranteed to reach Moogle Level 9. It is
completing the Creations, and to a lesser extent finishing the lists, that
is the main objective.
First, some general notes. The Lucky Lucky Ability is your greatest asset,
as just a few will increase your enemies’ drop rate several times over and
cut your time to a fraction of what it would otherwise be. Sora gets two for
free in Critical Mode (one of several reasons I suggest doing your 100%
playthrough on Critical), Donald and Goofy each earn one from certain story
battles, and you can earn another by leveling up Limit Form. When stacked
they will multiply your drop rate by 3.5, vastly speeding up the process.
And if that’s not good enough, after solving the Duality puzzle you have the
option to create Lucky Rings, boosting the drop rate even higher.
Lucky Lucky aside, make sure you use Bright materials whenever possible. A
high Moogle Level translates to lots of materials saved on your Creations,
as well as earlier access to the high-level Free Development recipes.
Finally, to complete the list you will need to collect the Recipes for the
following Creations:
-Ultima Weapon: Twilight Town, Mansion: Basement Corridor
-Save the Queen: Land of Dragons, Throne Room
-Save the King: Port Royal, Ship Graveyard: Seadrift Row
-Petit Ribbon/Ribbon: 100 Acre Wood, Starry Hill
-Moon Amulet/Star Charm: Hollow Bastion, Restoration Site
-Defense Boost/Power Boost: 100 Acre Wood, during the Expotition
minigame.
-AP Boost/Magic Boost: Hollow Bastion, Ansem’s Study
-Elixir/Megalixir: Disney Castle, Courtyard
-Mega-Potion/Mega-Ether: Beast’s Castle, Beast’s Room
-Drive Recovery/High Drive Recovery: Land of Dragons, Mountain Trail
-Draw Ring/Lucky Ring: Complete the Duality puzzle (see Puzzler).
-Full Bloom/Shade Archive/Shock Charm/Frozen Pride/Centurion: Defeat
each of the Absent Silhouettes. You will find Marluxia in Beast’s Castle,
Zexion in Olympus Coliseum, Larxene in Port Royal, Vexen in Agrabah, and
Lexaeus in Twilight Town. See To Rule Them All for strategies.
The synthesis materials can be divided into three categories. First are the
“common” materials, dropped by respawning enemies commonly encountered in
the worlds:
*Dark Shard: Shadow, Soldier
*Dark Stone: Assault Rider, Nightwalker
*Dark Gem: Gargoyle Knight, Gargoyle Warrior
*Dark Crystal: Air Pirate
*Lucid Shard: Rabid Dog, Trick Ghost
*Lucid Stone: Wight Knight, Toy Soldier, Graveyard
*Lucid Gem: Bookmaster, Magnum Loader
*Lucid Crystal: Neoshadow
*Power Shard: Creeper Plant, Large Body
*Power Stone: Luna Bandit, Silver Rock
*Power Gem: Aerial Knocker, Shaman
*Power Crystal: Morning Star
*Blazing Shard: Hammer Frame, Minute Bomb
*Blazing Stone: Cannon Gun, Tornado Step
*Blazing Gem: Fiery Globe, Fat Bandit
*Blazing Crystal: Crescendo, Crimson Jazz
*Frost Shard: Hook Bat, Lance Soldier
*Frost Stone: Aeroplane, Hot Rod
*Frost Gem: Icy Cube, Fortuneteller
*Frost Crystal: Living Bone
*Lightning Shard: Rapid Thruster, Bolt Tower
*Lightning Stone: Driller Mole, Emerald Blues
*Lightning Gem: Armored Knight, Surveillance Robot
*Lightning Crystal: Strafer, Devastator
*Twilight Shard: Dusk, Gambler
*Twilight Stone: Dancer
*Twilight Gem: Assassin
*Twilight Crystal: Sorceror
*Dense Shard: Creeper, Dragoon
*Dense Stone: Sniper
*Dense Gem: Samurai
*Dense Crystal: Berserker
*Rememberance Shard: Befuddler, Camo Cannon, Iron Hammer
*Remembrance Stone: Magic Phantom, Necromancer, Lance Warrior,
Air Viking
*Remembrance Gem: Mad Ride, Spring Metal, Rune Master
*Remembrance Crystal: Reckless. [You must have Aerial Dodge and
Glide to obtain this.]
Next are the “upgrade” materials, which for the most part are collected from
those same Heartless and Nobodies. These three types are mostly used to
improve the synthesis of other recipes, though a few recipes use them
directly.
*Bright Shard: Soldier, Hook Bat, Creeper Plant, Rabid Dog, Minute Bomb
*Bright Stone: Aeroplane, Cannon Gun, Luna Bandit, Silver Rock, Driller
Mole, Wight Knight, Tornado Step
*Bright Gem: Aerial Knocker, Surveillance Robot, Magnum Loader
*Bright Crystal: Neoshadow, Crescendo, Air Pirate, Strafer
*Energy Shard: Gargoyle Knight, Gargoyle Warrior, Nightwalker,
Bolt Tower
*Energy Stone: Lance Soldier, Trick Ghost, Hammer Frame
*Energy Gem: Fortuneteller, Emerald Blues
*Energy Crystal: Shaman, Bookmaster
*Serenity Shard: Large Body, Assault Rider, Hot Rod, Fat Bandit,
Toy Soldier, Graveyard, Creeper, Bulky Vendor
*Serenity Stone: Living Bone, Morning Star, Crimson Jazz, Devastator,
Dusk, Bulky Vendor
*Serenity Gem: Gambler, Dragoon, Sniper, Dancer, Mad Ride, Runemaster,
Reckless, Bulky Vendor
*Serenity Crystal: Only dropped by Bulky Vendors (see below). Can also
be synthesized at Moogle Level 8 or 9.
Finally, we have the “rare” materials. These materials cannot be acquired
through normal combat at all, but must be acquired through some other means--
be that synthesis, boss fights, or in treasure chests.
*Mythril Shard/Stone: Synthesized from Twilight and Dense Shards/
Stones, through Free Development. Mythril Stones require a Serenity Shard.
*Mythril Gem/Crystal: Synthesized from Twilight and Dense Gems/
Crystals, through advanced Free Development at Moogle Level 8+. Mythril
Crystals require a Serenity Stone. Since Twilight Crystals are by far the
rarest of its ingredients, I suggest hunting for Sorcerors in the Cavern of
Remembrance’s final hallway. You can kill half a dozen Sorcerors per trip
through the hallway, and respawn them instantly by exiting and returning
through the door.
*Tranquility Shard/Stone/Gem/Crystal: Dropped by the Mushroom XIII
after completing their minigames. Tranquility Crystals are only dropped if
you meet their journal requirements, but even on relatively poor attempts
you’ll usually earn a Shard and maybe a Stone. I prefer to use Mushroom V
for this, as the strategy for him is easy to execute and 100% reliable with
high enough stats.
*Lost Illusion: You are rewarded with one after defeating each of the
Absent Silhouette bosses, and can obtain more by defeating their Data forms
in the Cavern of Remembrance (see To Rule Them All). You will have exactly
the number you need once all Data bosses are conquered, though if you wish
you can collect more pretty easily by defeating Data Lexaeus a few times.
*Manifest Illusion: You must either defeat the Lingering Will at least
twice (see Lingering Will), or synthesize it from the Serenity Crystal recipe
at Moogle Level 8+.
*Orichalcum: Dropped by Bulky Vendor. This Heartless can be a bit
difficult: he only appears in a specific room in each world, after which he
will not reappear for a long while. When he does appear, you must break the
scenery, clear out the other Heartless, and then chase after him. He has
four distinct phases, and with each phase transformation he gives better
prizes but also becomes harder to catch. He always drop a Serenity item when
caught--a Crystal during the final phase--and the chances of an Orichalcum
increase closer to the end. Your best bet to keep up with him is to Dodge
Roll toward him, though you need to watch him closely and get a little bit
lucky. If there are two Bulky Vendors, get rid of the first early so you
can focus on the Serenity Crystal and Orichalcum from the second.
*Orichalcum+: There are exactly seven in the game, and you will need
them all to create the Ultima Weapon. Three can be found in chests, at the
Central Computer Mesa (Space Paranoids), Sunset Terrace (Twilight Town), and
the Brink of Despair (World That Never Was). The other four are acquired by
clearing the 100 Acre Wood and Atlantica episodes (see Always Together and
Kindred Spirits), winning the Goddess of Fate Cup (see True Hero), and
acquiring all 60 synthesis materials. Note that if the synthesis reward was
your final Orichalcum+, you must exit the synthesis menu and reenter it
before the Moogle adds it to your inventory.
When you’ve finally made the basic and upgraded version of every Creation
(other than the Ultima Weapon, which cannot be upgraded), there is only one
step left: Farm until you have 20-30 of each remaining material on the Lists
page, so it shows up for sale in the Moogle shop. Only the Shards, Stones,
and Gems from the “common” materials (excluding Remembrance materials) appear
in the shop this way. With all your Lucky Lucky’s equipped, it shouldn’t
take long for you to round off the Lists page and finally earn this well-
deserved Trophy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seeker
-Description: Collect all Character Link entries in Jiminy’s Journal
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 8/10
-Notes: The only optional Character Link entry is the Lingering Will. Defeat
him to receive this Trophy (see Lingering Will).
*****************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************
---GUMMI---
The Gummi Ship minigame has been greatly streamlined since its introduction
in the original Kingdom Hearts. Your mobility and offensive options have
greatly increased, and the repetitive space corridors of the original are
replaced with a wide variety of environments packed with wave after wave of
aggressive enemies. The complexity of the new Gummi Garage can admittedly
make these Trophies difficult to start, but once you gain a handle on how to
construct your own ship they are much easier and all-around more fun to earn
this time around.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Veteran Pilot
-Description: Obtain an S rank on a Gummi ship mission
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10
-Notes: The first two missions for each Gummi route become available after
completing the mandatory story run. The third unlocks after clearing both of
the first two missions with a decent rank. In every route Mission 1 is the
easiest, since if you’re good at avoiding damage (easy with a well-designed
donut ship) and collecting Medals you can usually hit the max Medal level
inside of a minute. Be aware that each route has different enemies who drop
different prizes when defeated, some of which may be vital to surviving or
earning an S rank in a later mission, so in many cases you will still want to
clear all three missions for those prizes. It should go without saying, but
make sure your guns are set to Auto-Fire in the pause menu.
Make sure you view the Gummi Ship tutorials, which should make the new Gummi
Garage a bit less intimidating. For specific advice on ship design, see
Ace Pilot.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ace Pilot
-Description: Obtain an S rank on a Gummi ship mission for all routes
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: You only have to S rank one mission on each route. Clearing each
Mission 1 is a quick and easy way to earn this Trophy. (Note that to earn
Gummi Ship Collector, you must also clear every Mission 2.) That said, it’s
important to understand how to design your ship for maximum deadliness, both
to collect upgrades efficiently and to pass certain difficult EX missions.
The most basic element of a successful Gummi ship is the donut design. Place
all your gummi pieces in a thin ring at the borders of the screen, leaving
the center completely empty. The vast majority of enemies will aim their
fire at the dead center of the ship, so by leaving an empty space there you
are invincible to everything but the occasional explosion/grab/impact-type
attack. As for your weapons, I suggest two Gravity-type guns on the left
and right sides and two Blizzard-type guns on the top and bottom. (The –ga
versions are obviously best, though even the basic versions are pretty
impressive.) Lasers only activate when you stop firing and give your ship
a few seconds to lock on, making them less than ideal for the large mobs
you will usually face, and the Slash and Impact Gummis aren’t efficient
enough to justify their Cost.
Your most important stat by far is Power, which multiplies the damage of your
guns and will finish your enemies that much faster. The cockpit Gummis offer
a huge Power increase for relatively low Cost, though their bulk can make the
ship an easier target. Make sure you put them on the left and right sides to
minimize their profiles. The Neon Orbs and Bars are a more compact
alternative, though they add Power less efficiently. While HP is less
crucial, you should add enough material blocks for about 40-50 HP, which will
be enough to survive almost everything your enemies throw at you. Note that
your Speed will be pretty abysmal with this setup: it’s assumed that you will
be spending most of your time firing from the center of the screen, relying
on your ship’s inherent defensiveness instead of actively dodging.
As for Abilities, the four most valuable are the two Medal Converters and the
two Draws. The former transform a large fraction of the HP orbs you would
receive into Medals, allowing you to enter Berserk Mode and rack up the
score much sooner, while the latter allow you to automatically collect them
without the need to maneuver your ship. I suggest spending your remaining AP
on Auto-Regen (which provides an easy way to recover from the hits you do
take), Active Formation, and possibly Formation Change. The last two require
Teeny Ships: Active Formation allows each ship to act independently,
assisting the main ship by homing in on enemies, while Formation Change lets
you pull your ships inward to guard the main ship and then spread them out
again into a more aggressive position.
Speaking of Teeny Ships, they are an excellent way to rack up additional
damage. While your Cost is somewhat limited, you can still afford to put a
strong Blizzard-type gun or multiple Fire-type guns and have some Cost left
over for Neon Bars and Orbs. However, be conscious of the available
materials. Your Teeny Ships cannot share individual parts with each other or
with the main ship: you can only carry one total Blizzaga if there is just
one in your inventory, for example, and attempting to equip Blizzaga on both
your main ship and your Teenies will prevent you from using that Teeny Ship
design. A good way to get around this is to make sure that the parts on the
Teeny are different from the ones on the main ship (if your main ship has
Blizzaga, put Blizzara on the Teeny instead), and to use no more than half
of the copies of a given piece in the Teeny’s design. That way you can
carry two of that Teeny Ship into battle.
I suggest you start collecting components as early as possible, particularly
the Upgrade items (which permanently improve your ships’ capabilities). A
comprehensive list of all available components and their locations (excluding
the mostly irrelevant EX Mission rewards) can be found in Daburke’s Gummi
Ship FAQ at
http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/735143-kingdom-hearts-hd-25-remix/faqs/42268.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Top Gun
-Description: Obtain an S rank on a Gummi ship EX mission for all routes
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 4/10
-Notes: The EX Missions are a feature unique to the Final Mix version, and
are unlocked by passing the original mission with an S rank. The score
requirements for S rank are the same as the original; the only difference is
that to enter the mission, your Gummi Ship must meet certain specific
requirements. In many cases these requirements are lenient--your ship must
have a certain Power stat, or must carry a certain number of Abilities--but
just as often these requirements can interfere with your ability to score or
even put your life in danger.
As with Ace Pilot, you only need to unlock and S Rank one EX Mission in each
route. Seven out of the nine routes can be easily passed on EX Mission 1, as
you can simply tweak your donut ship to meet their requirements. However,
both Phantom Storm and Floating Island require a pre-made model (all of which
are far weaker than your donut ship), so you’ll have an easier time on their
second EX missions. To survive with less than 50 HP in Phantom Storm, make
sure that you take out the cannons on the deck as quickly as possible. You
can recover from most other attacks quickly enough with Auto-Regen, but two
or three cannon blasts in quick succession will end your run.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gummi Ship Collector
-Description: Obtain all blueprints
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 6/10
-Notes: As in the first Kingdom Hearts, a large number of pre-built
blueprints can be acquired by completing various objectives within the Gummi
missions. The three classes of Sample blueprints--Highwind, Invincible, and
Falcon--are acquired by completing the story missions. You will earn most
of the Special blueprints by S-ranking every Mission 2 plus Assault of the
Dreadnought’s Mission 1, an easy task with a well-built donut ship.
Once you have completed all relevant missions, you still have two more
blueprints to collect from enemies. The Kingdom Model is gained after
defeating the gold-colored Spider in Asteroid Sweep’s Mission 2, an easy
enemy who appears after you have taken out several normal Spiders and one
red Spider. The Secret Model, on the other hand, must be obtained from
Hunter-X, the Gummi Missions’ one superboss. He is found at the end of
Assault of the Dreadnought’s Mission 3, and has an absurdly deadly arsenal of
attacks. Like his Hunter brethren, he can fire homing lasers at you and
carpet-bomb the edge of the screen with cannons, albeit in ridiculously
lethal amounts, as well as grab you. He also has a unique cross-attack
where he fires two wide blasts of energy (one + shaped, one X shaped) in a
row, either of which is an instant kill if they connect.
The basic donut design works surprisingly well here. His lasers will pass
straight through the center of your ship, and if you stay toward the center
of the screen the explosions cannot touch you. The cross-attack can still
kill you, though, so be ready to roll out of the way and move back toward
the center when it has passed. One particularly effective strategy is to
equip the Drain weapon and start charging it when the Hunter-X begins to
fire its lasers. Your attack will fully charge in a matter of a seconds,
at which point you can fire it to take a huge chunk out of his HP.
*****************************************************************************
=============================================================================
TROPHY GUIDE: BIRTH BY SLEEP FINAL MIX
=============================================================================
Birth by Sleep is a very different beast from its console brethren. Where
Kingdom Hearts II focuses on carefully crafted combos and MP management,
Birth by Sleep centers around the Command Deck. Your spells and attacks are
no longer constrained by a finite MP bar, only by their individual recharge
times, and so you can unleash your most powerful moves basically all the
time. Likewise, every damage-enhancing and defensive Ability is acquired
through command melding, the same mechanic used to forge more powerful spells
and attack commands, by using the Crystals acquired as you progress through
the story. The original PSP controls have been modified for the PS3,
allowing greater flexibility and control in combat.
Birth by Sleep Final Mix is basically identical to the original during the
main story. Its main additions come in the form of side content: There is
an entirely new Secret Episode that adds an epilogue to the main story,
several minigame-based Unversed missions that reward you with unique
commands, a new Command Style from the Sticker Album, and a redesigned Mirage
Arena featuring three brand new events and retooled to accommodate its new
single-player focus.
*****************************************************************************
---AUTOMATIC---
The following are earned automatically by completing the three individual
stories. Trophies related to the Final and Secret Episodes are under the
“Basic” category.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Journey Begins
-Description: Clear the prologue, “The Land of Departure”
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pursuit of Truth
-Description: Clear the Mysterious Tower episode of Terra’s story
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Defying Darkness
-Description: Clear the Disney Town episode of Terra’s story
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entrusting Power
-Description: Clear the Destiny Islands episode of Terra’s story
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Vessel
-Description: Clear Terra’s story mode
-Grade: Silver
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Encounters
-Description: Clear the Badlands episode of Ventus’s story
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Moment of Rest
-Description: Clear the Disney Town episode of Ventus’s story
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Friend in Need
-Description: Clear the Mysterious Tower episode of Ventus’s story
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Dormant
-Description: Clear Ventus’s story mode
-Grade: Silver
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drifting Apart
-Description: Clear the Radiant Garden episode of Aqua’s story
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hopeful Hearts
-Description: Clear the Destiny Islands episode of Aqua’s story
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Seeker
-Description: Clear Aqua’s story mode
-Grade: Silver
-Notes: None
*****************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************
--BASIC--
The Trophies relating to difficulty, completing the final episodes, or other
miscellaneous achievements belong here.
It is worth noting that the eight “Trophies” and Completion percentage in the
Trinity Archives are entirely separate from the PS3 Trophies listed here, and
so some additional effort is required to complete these even after the
Platinum is earned. Most of the “Trophies” will be earned along the way,
fortunately. “One Down” is automatic, you will earn the “Trinity Trophy”
while pursuing Critical Competitor, and “Arena Sweeper” is earned
simultaneously with Darkness’s Will. “Keyslinger,” “In the Munny,” and
“Power Walker” can take longer, but by the time you’ve cleared the Reports
in all three stories you should earn them all naturally.
The two “Trophies” you will probably miss are “Dairy Devotee” and
“Clockwork.” The former requires you to learn the Frozen Fortune command
style from Ice Cream Beat (required for the Report Trophies) and randomly
activate it with Ice Cream items. You can speed up the process by entering
the menu after every other style change, as that will cancel your current
command style. This Trophy is cumulative across all three characters, so you
can use it 10 times per save file rather than doing all 30 at once. As for
“Clockwork,” it is as simple as leaving the PS3 running for a while. If you
have earned the Platinum and otherwise achieved 100% completion, your three
characters should have 75+ hours of playtime between them. Just beat each of
their final bosses once to create a new Final Episode and then Secret Episode
save, and you should be within a few hours of that time.
When the Platinum is earned, your Completion percentage should be sitting at
99%. At that point the only items you are potentially missing are the
Victory Line keyblade (from the Castle Circuit race in Disney Town) for two
characters, and the Giga Attack/Giga Magic Recipes, Secret Gem, and Ticket
items from the Mirage Arena shop. This will require quite a bit of Medal
grinding in the Mirage Arena, so expect to face off with Monstro several
times (see King of the Arena). Just beat each character’s final boss once
you have all those items, and you should earn the full 100%.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Critical Competitor
-Description: Clear game on Critical
-Grade: Gold
-Difficulty: 5/10
-Notes: Critical Mode is a formidable challenge, as it requires both sharp
reflexes and a deep understanding of Birth by Sleep’s combat mechanics.
Still, with a little preparation even the toughest story bosses should fall
without too much frustration.
On Critical especially, you will live or die by the command melding system.
Besides powering up your commands, this is the only way you can learn new
Abilities. In particular I suggest you learn Leaf Bracer, Second Chance,
and Once More as soon as possible, as all three are essential defensive
tools when facing the later bosses. Leaf Bracer can easily be earned in
the second world [via Blizzard+Blizzard or Aero+Aero], while I typically
learn Second Chance [Cura+Cura] and Once More [Fira+Fira or Thundara+
Thundara] in Radiant Garden. Damage Syphon [Blizzara+Blizzara or Fira+Fira]
is also a fantastic Ability, allowing near-infinite abuse of your
powerful shotlocks, though it is a lower priority. Make sure that you use a
Crystal every time you meld a command, as there are plenty to go around and
there is no downside to learning a new Ability. For more information, check
out lil_lamb’s comprehensive Synthesis Guide at
http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/735143-kingdom-hearts-hd-25-remix/faqs/61076.
The Magnet spells will absolutely dominate 95% of the random battles. They
immobilize and gather together all nearby Unversed, allowing you to deal lots
of damage and quickly activate command styles with attacks like Fission
Firaga and Thundaga, and they deal small continual damage of their own.
Upgrading to Magnera and Magnega will greatly increase their range, duration,
and damage, and is recommended ASAP. (There is one later Unversed who is
entirely immune to Magnet, however, so you would be wise to invest in Stop
spells as well.) And while it takes some planning, by the final two worlds
each of your characters can gain a powerful screen-clearing attack that can
wipe out hordes of enemies. Mega Flare [Fission Firaga+Crawling Fire]
absolutely dominates for Ven and Aqua, especially with Fire Boost and a
high-Magic keyblade, while the Strength-focused Terra is strongest with
Meteor Crash [Fire Strike+Brutal Blast]. It’s a good idea to focus on
raising damage via Fire/Thunder Boost, Combo F Boost, and Finish Boost
early on, as by default you do noticeably less damage on Critical.
Note that your options will be limited in the first two worlds, as you have
few good commands and almost no Abilities. D-Links are an excellent way to
get around this. With one Emblem, each of your party member D-Links gains a
powerful crowd-control move and more offensive commands. With two Emblems
the deck gets even stronger (including Cure for Ven and Terra), and the
D-Link’s Finish command is powered up to the point that it can take out the
first boss in 2-3 uses. You cannot use them in every battle, of course, but
especially in Terra’s and Aqua’s first world they are a lifesaver when you
are taking a beating. They become less important after you gain access to
Cure in the second world and Magnet in the third, but D-Links remain a decent
option throughout the entire game.
Shotlocks are generally the best source of damage in boss battles, and in
most cases Fire Surge and Thunder Surge are very effective as well. Both
moves provide temporary invincibility, especially shotlocks, and thus an
easy way to power through the bosses’ more dangerous attacks. When
playing as the more Magic-oriented Aqua, Seeker Mine [Mine Square+Mine
Shield] and Triple Firaga [Firaga+Fira] are also very good for piling on the
damage. It should be noted that multiple copies of a command can be
equipped at the same time: you can equip 2 or 3 Curagas at once, for
example, so that you can instantly recover whenever reduced to 1 HP by a
boss’s assault.
There are two big advantages to playing in Critical Mode, in that (a) the
Secret Episode and associated movies are easier to unlock than in any other
difficulty, and (b) you get two extra command slots at the start, allowing
you to gain CP and thus create new Abilities and more powerful commands much
sooner than you otherwise could. Note that this Trophy unlocks at the end of
the Secret Episode, and so you must complete the entire story on Critical to
earn it. For advice on clearing the Final and Secret Episodes, see Connected
Hearts and The Lost Chapter.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Profiler
-Description: Collect all Secret Reports
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: The 12 Xehanort Reports are required to unlock the Final Episode that
completes the story, regardless of difficulty. Eight are acquired by
clearing specific story events, while three must be acquired from chests.
Ven can find one at the Launch Deck in Deep Space and a second at the Seat
of War in the Keyblade Graveyard, while Aqua finds one in Merlin’s House
while visiting Radiant Garden.
The only difficult one is Report 5, which Terra wins as a prize from the
Sinister Sentinel event in the Mirage Arena. The match only becomes
available at Arena Level 3, so Terra must win two other events or clear
some of the Rumble Racing or Command Board milestones before he can enter.
Iron Imprisoner II can be dangerous, so equip the Thunderbolt or Ragnarok
shotlock to interrupt his charge and pile on the damage.
As soon as you have collected the final Report and saved, you will
immediately be given the option to create a Final Episode save. Note that
the Final Episode data is based on your most recent cleared save file from
each character. If you wish to update the Final Episode after that--so you
can give Aqua a more powerful keyblade or update your completion percentage
in the Trinity Archives, for example--you will need to win each character’s
final battles one more time and create a new Final Episode save.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Connected Hearts
-Description: Complete the final episode
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: The Final Episode is a short playable chapter that provides a
conclusion to all three stories. You play as Aqua, and must win a difficult
two-stage battle against a vicious boss in Radiant Garden. This boss will
constantly block or dodge your long-range attacks, while dishing out both
barrages of dark projectiles and some ruthlessly aggressive combo attacks,
and only gets more aggressive as his health drops.
Because he continuously dodges your long-range attacks and blocks your
Surges, the best offense is a rush-style shotlock like Absolute Zero or
Lightning Ray. You can sometimes hit him with Fission Firaga or Triple
Firaga while he is in the middle of an attack, but more often than not he
will dodge and strike you back before you get the chance. Much of the battle
will consist of you dodging his relentless combos, then waiting for a quiet
moment to charge up for a maxed-out shotlock. Equip Renewal Barrier
[Barrier+Esuna] and multiple Curagas, as they should give you a lot more
breathing room and reduce the risk of getting killed by an unfortunately
timed attack.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lost Chapter
-Description: Complete the secret episode
-Grade: Gold
-Difficulty: 4/10
-Notes: The Secret Episode becomes available after you have cleared the Final
Episode, though its exact prerequisites vary depending on difficulty. On
Critical it unlocks automatically. Proud Mode requires you to complete all
three characters’ Sticker Albums, while Standard also requires a total of
9999 Unversed defeated. Finally, on Beginner it only unlocks after
completely clearing all three character Reports. Since you can only get
Critical Competitor by playing through it on Critical, I suggest sticking
with the highest difficulty to save time.
You once again play as Aqua, this time exploring the Realm of Darkness. You
no longer have access to Moogle Shops, so if you want to buy a specific
command you’ll need to take care of it in the Final Episode or earlier.
These areas feature a lot of platforming, so you will get much use out of
Doubleflight and Air Slide. Your battles will mostly be against the
fledgling Heartless, who are difficult to stagger and hit very hard.
Fortunately they are all immobilized by Magnega, and they are still highly
vulnerable to powerful spells like Thundaga and Mega Flare. They are only
really deadly in the final mob before the last save point, as they come in
such huge numbers that they may prevent you from getting off a Magnega
spell. Renewal Barrier is extremely valuable there, as it gives you a safe
and easy way to heal and allows you to keep inflicting damage via
Counter Blast and your Finish attacks.
The most difficult part is the absolute final boss, a giant Heartless who
likes to leap around the arena and hit you with vicious charging combos.
Fire Screen and Dark Screen are both very good investments, though to stay
on the safe side you should still keep multiple Curagas in your deck. Seeker
Mine and Ignite both do great damage, though you do need to wait for a
relatively quiet moment so he doesn’t hit you while casting it. The boss
goes crazy with multi-hitting attacks in the final phase, so focus on dodging
him (and attacking only during the quiet moments) until you can finally wipe
him out.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Musclehead
-Description: Unleash Break Time with Terra
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10
-Notes: The Break Time command is located in a hidden chest in Disney Town.
Just getting to the room requires a bit of exploration. First you must enter
the underground via the manhole in the Main Plaza, where you will have to
activate the generator that powers the room’s machinery. Just hit it with
Thunder-based attacks for a while, and all the lifts will start moving. Use
the lifts together with Air Slide to reach the upper exit, which will take
you to Pete’s Rec Room. Break Time is sealed behind a barrier in the pinball
area, at the center of the three rotating bumpers. To open the seal, hit each
of the four Crown bumpers at least once. With a maxed-out Air Slide, Terra
should have an easy time maneuvering around.
Slip into the alcove to open the chest, then add Break Time to your deck.
After performing the attack once, regardless of accuracy, you will earn the
Trophy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
B-Boy
-Description: Unleash Break Time with Ventus
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10
-Notes: As with Terra, go to Pete’s Rec Room to collect the command. While
you can wait until you get Air Slide from Olympus, it is even easier if you
collect Superglide from the rooftops. Go out through the upper exit, and you
will be on a rooftop overlooking the raceway. Clear out the Unversed that
appear here, then equip two maxed-out Sliding Dash or Fire Dash commands.
By leaping high in the air and using both back-to-back, they will carry you
to the opposite rooftop that holds the phenomenal Superglide command. Equip
it after taking care of the Unversed, glide back the way you came, and you
will be able to maneuver your way around the bumpers with ease.
Be aware that to complete his Reports, Ven must sacrifice Break Time to
create the Faith command. Break Time is never sold in shops and can only
rarely be created through melding, so be sure to activate it at least once
before you meld it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majorette
-Description: Unleash Break Time with Aqua
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10
-Notes: Once again, you will find Break Time in Pete’s Rec Room. It is
difficult to obtain before she earns Air Slide in Deep Space, though not
impossible: the Surge and Dash commands are good tools to control her fall
and help her maneuver in midair.
*****************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************
--COMBAT--
If it’s earned by fighting Unversed or bosses, it belongs here. There is no
need to reach Level 99 with any character, thankfully, so you don’t have to
worry about the extreme grinding that would entail.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Warrior: Terra
-Description: Learn all of Terra’s Finish Commands
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10 [Tedium Factor: 4/10]
-Notes: Earning all of the character Finish commands is a very slow process,
since they level up in a number of different ways and you can generally only
work on one Finish attack at a time. For Terra especially, the step-based
ones tend to be the most tedious: you can definitely get them out of the way
if you’re willing to run in circles for 20+ minutes, but it’s not the most
fun way to go about it. A better approach is to train the step-based
Finishers while you clear the Mirage Arena, and especially while facing the
optional bosses, as there are fast ways to earn all of the other Finishers.
You can earn a ton of CP by killing Unversed in Neverland, especially with
a maxed-out Experiment 626 D-Link (which carries the Double CP ability).
The munny-based ones are a bit slower, but by entering the Risky Riches or
Treasure Tussle events over and over in the Mirage Arena you can train your
Limits and earn Arena Medals at the same time. Treasure Tussle is better for
both munny and Medals, though it is a bit slower due to the two-level setup.
(You can sometimes teleport to the upper level via Chaos Blade, though it’s
not fully reliable.) I also recommend those matches for your kill-based
Finishers, as they are the only Arena matches which don’t slow you down with
a long boss fight.
By far the easiest to learn are the Finishers based on elemental command
styles. There are two quick ways to learn them: you can either attack
strikable scenery with Fire Surge/Thunder Surge to quickly activate the style
(Disney Town is a great place for this), or you can use lots of ice cream
items to activate them. If you plan to earn “Dairy Devotee” in the Trinity
Archives, the second method is a great way to kill two birds with one stone.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Warrior: Ventus
-Description: Learn all of Ventus’s Finish Commands
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10 [Tedium Factor: 4/10]
-Notes: See above. Ventus’ strategy is much the same, though he does have
quite a few more munny-based Finishers than Terra. If farming for munny in
the Treasure Tussle event, use Time Splicer to quickly reach the top.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Warrior: Aqua
-Description: Learn all of Aqua’s Finish Commands
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 2/10 [Tedium Factor: 3/10]
-Notes: See above. Aqua’s Trophy is quite a bit quicker overall, as her side
Finishers tend to focus more on elemental command styles and thus can be
quickly earned via ice cream.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perfect Shot
-Description: Use Shotlock 50 times
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 1/10
-Notes: This Trophy should come very early as you fight through the story.
Shotlocks provide arguably the best damage in the game when leveled up, and
so you should be using them often.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Justice & Dark
-Description: Use the Pete D-Link 10 times
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: To earn the Pete D-Link, you must play a Command Board game outside
the Mirage Arena after clearing Disney Town. Every time you or the AI
players land on a Special Panel, there is a chance that the world-specific
bonus will be replaced with either Captain Justice (who showers the target
with GP every turn) or Captain Dark (who steals GP from the target every
turn). Note that passing the targeted player will cause Captain Dark/Justice
to transfer, providing you an easy way to steal your rival’s Captain Justice
or saddle them with Captain Dark. So long as you finish the match after he
appears, you will earn the Pete D-Link at its end. You should definitely
have it by the time you have Command Board Conqueror.
Once that is done, all that is left is to activate the D-Link 10 times. If
you make good use of his attacks and your shotlocks, this should be more than
enough time to earn two Emblems and see both of his Finishers in action.
At that point you can simply activate the D-Link, dismiss it a second later,
activate it again when you pick up a D-Link prize from an enemy, and repeat
until the Trophy pops up.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
D.J.
-Description: Use the Rhythm Mixer Command Style 20 times
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: Rhythm Mixer is obtained by collecting every sticker in your
character’s story (see Collector), then placing every sticker for the maximum
140 points. Each sticker will give you 7 points if in the proper position
(the game is pretty generous about this) and 5 points otherwise. Move each
sticker around until you find the sweet spot. If done right, your new
score will be a multiple of 7. Note that if you lose track of which stickers
are properly placed you can remove them by hitting X, then O, and start
again from scratch.
Once earned, Rhythm Mixer will activate frequently in any battle where you
use Thunder Surge or Mine spells. Since these tend to be the best offense
for most boss battles, particularly Monstro (see King of the Arena), this
Trophy should come naturally as you fight your way through the Mirage Arena.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pawn of the Arena
-Description: Complete all one-star missions in the Mirage Arena
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: First obtainable at Arena Level 8, when Risky Riches unlocks. These
first three missions should be fairly easy (though I still recommend Once
More and Leaf Bracer to deal with the Iron Imprisoner’s charge), and can be
made even easier with strong keyblades and commands. Magnega, Mega Flare,
Meteor Crash (for Terra), and a strong shotlock like Ragnarok are all solid
choices.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Knight of the Arena
-Description: Complete all two-star missions in the Mirage Arena
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: The last is Dead Ringer, available as early as Level 5. Do your best
to defeat the Mimic Master before he can summon the clones--shotlocks work
well for this--as they can quickly overwhelm you and tend to drag out the
battle. The Sinister Sentinel event grants Terra his final Xehanort Report
(see Profiler) and Ventus the Sky Climber command style.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Queen of the Arena
-Description: Complete all three-star missions in the Mirage Arena
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: Available at Arena Level 15, when Treasure Tussle becomes available.
Aqua gains the Sky Climber style after clearing Combined Threat.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
King of the Arena
-Description: Complete all four-star missions in the Mirage Arena
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 4/10
-Notes: Available at Arena Level 17 with Copycat Crisis. The Magnega-immune
Wild Bruisers start showing up in these missions, so it’s a good idea for
Ventus and Aqua to equip Time Splicer for them.
While the missions up to this point can be unlocked simply by clearing all
the currently available ones, the last few missions will likely require you
to complete some of the other Arena Level milestones as well. You can
acquire four Levels easily by winning 7 Command Board games in the Arena, and
another four by clearing each of the Rumble Racing courses below the target
time listed in your Reports. Multiple games on the same board still count,
and you don’t have to win the race to meet the time goal for Rumble Racing.
Note that to unlock the Castle Circuit, you must win the first three courses
in Disney Town. For advice on winning these minigames, see Command Board
Conqueror and Rapid Racer.
With that out of the way, all you have left are the Medal goals. These are
based on total Medals earned, not your current total, so don’t be afraid to
upgrade your arsenal at the Medal Shop as you go. The easiest source of
Medals is the Monster of the Deep mission, which grants you 675 Medals if
you finish within its very generous time limit. For the greatest speed you
should equip Mega Flare and as many max-level Mine spells as you can carry,
plus a high-Magic keyblade like the Pixie Petal or Ultima Weapon. Mega Flare
will instantly finish the Unversed in Monstro’s belly, and the Mine spells
will take off multiple HP bars every time he gets near. If you are quick it
is possible to stun him right away by launching the nearby barrel, at which
point you can Air Slide or Superglide over to him and take off most of his
health with Mine abuse.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keepers of the Arena
-Description: Win the Keepers of the Arena battle in the Mirage Arena
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 5/10
-Notes: This mission unlocks at Level 20. While there are several rounds of
Unversed, including plenty of Wild Bruisers, the real danger comes from Iron
Imprisoner III and especially IV. Their slam combos and charge attacks can
take you down to 1 HP in no time, and so Second Chance, Once More, Leaf
Bracer, and maybe Fire Screen are all recommended. Their one major weakness
is that impact-type attacks will cause them to stagger, interrupting them and
creating an easy opening for you to attack. These attacks include Firaga,
Triple Firaga, Sonic Blade, and the Ragnarok and Thunderbolt shotlocks. Make
sure that you equip them, along with at least 2 Curaga spells. Winning this
battle earns you each character’s ultimate shotlock: Ultima Cannon for Terra,
Multivortex for Ventus, and Lightbloom for Aqua.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Villain’s Vendetta
-Description: Win the Villain’s Vendetta battle in the Mirage Arena
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 5/10
-Notes: This mission unlocks at Level 25, and consists entirely of tough boss
battles. Iron Imprisoner III and IV are still the toughest, so set up your
command deck with them in mind. The Ultima Weapon is your reward for victory.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light’s Will
-Description: Defeat Armor of Eraqus
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 7/10
-Notes: The Armor of Eraqus is found in the Light’s Lessons event, which
unlocks at Level 28. The key to surviving this battle is to stay out of
range of his seal attack. This move allows him to unleash several very
deadly new attacks, most notably a midair combo that will bypass Once More to
kill you dead. Thus long-range shotlocks like Ragnarok and Meteor Shower are
your best offense. Unfortunately, his sky-high Defense tends to reduce your
attacks to pitiful damage when he doesn’t block them outright. One of the
best solutions to this is to wait for his light orb or spinning light beam
attacks, as his Defense is drastically lowered while they last. (You can
also equip Zero EXP and lay down lots of Mine spells, if you’re playing on
Critical. Zero EXP greatly increases minimum damage for your Mines,
ensuring consistently high damage throughout the entire battle.)
The other major hurdle is his desperation attack, which changes depending on
the player character. Terra’s version is a single heavy hit, easily
survivable with Second Chance even if you don’t break free in time. Ventus’s
consists of three tornados which will constantly home in on him for massive
combo damage. So long as you have Once More and Leaf Bracer, you should be
able to recover just fine via Curaga spam. Aqua’s consists of several waves
of energy bursts, each of which inflicts a status effect. They aren’t hard
to dodge, but she must do so consistently: one of the possible status effects
is Freeze, and if she is frozen early on she will be unable to move and will
likely get killed by the next several bursts.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Darkness’s Will
-Description: Defeat No Heart
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 7/10
-Notes: Peering Into Darkness is the final Mirage Arena event, unlocking at
Level 30 after you have gained every Arena Level bonus. No Heart opens by
creating a barrier centered on his emblem, which you must destroy to begin
the battle proper. Thankfully the emblem attacks slowly, and at a high
enough level it can easily be taken out with a few strong shotlocks.
No Heart himself is an extremely aggressive foe: He will constantly zip
around you using Sonic Impact- and Reversal-style maneuvers, will grapple and
use keyblades combos on you, and attack from a distance with dark projectiles
(which everyone can block) and phantasmal keyblades (which only Aqua can
block).
However, for all his aggression there are still two relatively easy and safe
ways to take him out. My preferred approach is to gain some distance, then
hit him with a full shotlock. His first maneuver will typically be to shoot
some keyblades or dark projectiles at you, which should give you just enough
time to charge without taking damage, and if successful you will take out
a crapload of health in one shot. The alternative is to constantly guard
his attacks, then abuse your counterattack as often as you can. It is much
slower than the shotlock method, but it does consistent damage with fairly
little skill required. (You can also deal a ton of damage by laying down
lots of Mine spells, which he will quickly detonate as he moves around,
but this approach leaves you much more exposed to his attacks.)
Never try to attack him while he is flying, though. Aside from attacking
more aggressively, his two deadliest attacks are only used while in midair.
The former is a single heavy attack which will leave you stunned at 1 HP if
it hits, and will most likely cost you the battle. The latter is a massive
explosion which blasts the entire arena and utterly devastates you: it
reduces your HP to 1, empties your Focus gauge, and forces all your commands
to recharge. (At that point, your only option is to either toss a Potion or
just avoid taking damage until Curaga can recharge.) The good news is that
both moves have a conspicuous charge animation, and are thus pretty easy to
dodge.
Victory earns you Royal Radiance, the strongest keyblade in the game by far
(with the possible exception of Terra’s Chaos Ripper), as well as a massive
2000 Medals if you win in less than 20 minutes.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Mere Shell
-Description: Defeat the Vanitas Remnant
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 8/10 (9/10 for Terra)
-Notes: The Vanitas Remnant appears in the Badlands area of the Keyblade
Graveyard, an area that first becomes accessible after the Final Episode is
cleared. This guy is a nightmare for several reasons: he is absurdly fast,
uses a variety of very deadly attacks, can screw up the controls with Blind
or Confusion, has very high Defense and high resistance to almost every
attack, teleports away constantly, and will recover most of his HP if you
ever cast a Cure spell. Your only healing will come from Potions, and
without Leaf Bracer for protection you may need to dodge for a while until
you find a safe moment to toss one. (His shotlock attack and the screen-
darkening energy blast are both good opportunities.)
Ventus has the easiest time, as he can take down the Remnant with two uses of
Tornado. Set down a Mine Shield, and if he is knocked into the air lock onto
him and immediately press Triangle. The Remnant has a chance of breaking
free when you start the attack, in which case you will definitely die, but
you only have to get lucky twice to win the battle. When facing him as Aqua
and Terra, Mine spells (especially Seeker Mine) are the way to go: they do
decent non-elemental damage, and you have time to dodge out of the way when
he counterattacks. The Zero EXP Ability will greatly increase the damage of
your attacks, so definitely equip it if you’re playing on Critical.
For the most part, Ven and Aqua can almost completely avoid taking damage by
continuously Dodge Rolling during his attacks. Terra has a tougher time,
since he is vulnerable in the brief pauses between Slides. Most of his
attacks can be consistently dodged if you’re paying attention, though I
suggest using a shotlock to bypass his clone barrage every time he hides
inside the dark sphere.
Note that if you don’t care about a legitimate victory, there is an easy way
to abuse his AI. If you can hide behind a pillar and get the Remnant to
chase after you, you can slowly chip away at his HP by striking him through
the rock with Strike Raid. Not exactly a glorious victory, but it’s an
option if you just want him out of the way for the Platinum.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time’s Teller
-Description: Defeat the Unknown
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 9/10 [10/10 for Terra]
-Notes: Don’t try this one unless you’re prepared to see the Continue screen
many, many times. The Unknown, a.k.a. the Mysterious Figure, appears in the
Land of Departure after you have defeated the Vanitas Remnant. While he
doesn’t mimic your healing like the Remnant did, the Mysterious Figure has
his own arsenal of nasty tricks that are specifically designed to break your
character. His deadliest attacks include a Sonic Blade-style aerial rush
(which will often bypass Once More and kill you if you are hit by the first
two passes), an uppercutting lunge (which can do the same thing if you are at
the arena’s edge), a Tornado attack that scatters your commands across the
arena, dozens of laser orbs that will blast you down to 1 HP several times,
and a clone-summoning move which will keep you perpetually immobilized with
combo attacks. And that’s just the first half of the battle, before he
gets really nasty. He also can heal with Renewal Barrier if you attack too
aggressively, and under certain circumstances he can even rewind time a few
seconds to undo the damage from your combos. He is an extremely cheap boss
with no real loops or easy bypasses to speak of, who will take you down to
1 HP (or instantly kill you) with every hit, so your reflexes and strategy
must be flawless if you are to have any hope of beating him and earning the
Platinum.
I suggest equipping 4 Thunder Surges and 4 Curagas. Thunder Surge is by far
the best offense, as it is a quick attack which does great damage and renders
you briefly invincible during the animation. The best opening is during the
basic X-attack, though there are also good opportunities at the start and end
of Raging Storm (dodge three times between uses, or he may guard and catch
you in the flames) and at the very end of his extended physical combo (right
as he performs the twirling sword flourish). ALWAYS eliminate the clones
with Thunder Surge, even if you are at 1 HP, because getting caught in their
chain combos nearly always leads to a Game Over. Never try to attack while
he is casting Tornado; he will counter by casting it again, which will kill
you more often than not. For the most part, Ven and Aqua can avoid all his
other attacks if you mash Dodge Roll quickly and consistently enough.
Things get exponentially nastier when he is below half health. While he
loses his clone attack, he gains the power to turn invisible along with three
new spells. Meteor and Mega Flare will blast the entire arena, though
thankfully they only last for an instant. The real killer is Doom, which is
Game Over after three hits: the timer shortens from 5 to 4 to 3 seconds, at
which point it is physically impossible to mash X quickly enough. (Hit Pause
the instant you are trapped, as you will probably need a second to move your
fingers so you can properly perform the button-mashing). While Ven and Aqua
can avoid damage via continuous dodge rolling, and should still do so for his
extended attacks, you are more likely to survive if you abuse Thunder Surge
in between dodge rolls. Aim toward him if he slows down for the X-attack or
pendulum grab, of course, but even if he doesn’t you should still Surge
randomly. You need to inflict damage to end the battle, which won’t happen
if you do nothing but evade him, and you would be surprised how much random
damage you will deal as he pursues you around the arena.
Because he cannot continuously dodge like his friends, an aggressive offense
is even more important to Terra. During the first half he can mostly Slide
out of range in time, though the aerial rush and laser orbs are a huge
problem. He can avoid most of the rush and prevent it from bypassing Once
More with Slide+Thunder Surge (though he will likely still get hit), but he
cannot reliably dodge the lasers: you have no choice but to heal and rely on
Leaf Bracer, which will require all 4 of your Curagas. Once the Mysterious
Figure turns invisible all hell breaks loose, and Terra should do nothing
but Slide+Thunder Surge all the time. This extends his invulnerability
frames, and thus minimizes his exposure between slides, as he wears down the
boss. His one great asset is the Chaos Ripper, which greatly increases Surge
damage and is key to ending the battle before he can destroy you.
*****************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************
--REPORTS--
The character Reports are the Birth by Sleep equivalents to Jiminy’s Journal,
documenting each character’s adventures and sidequests. Trophies relating to
those sidequests belong here. Every Trophy besides Collector will unlock
after completing the task in one character’s story, though to earn the
Platinum you need to at least partially complete each Trophy’s requirements
in all three stories.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Adventurer: Terra
-Description: Complete Reports with Terra
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 10/10 [Tedium Factor: 5/10 for all three characters]
-Notes: Completing the Reports is an all-encompassing task that requires you
to complete basically everything that the game has to offer. Each character
must complete the requirements for Profiler, Collector, Patissier, and
Fantasista, and must at least partially satisfy every other Trophy listed
below. (See the individual entries for details.) You must also earn every
Finish command, a process detailed under the “The Warrior” Trophies.
Finally, you must defeat every optional boss for their Character entries,
which for Terra especially will be the most difficult part by a wide margin.
(See Darkness’s Will and Time’s Teller.)
Assuming those are finished, the only sections left to be filled are
Treasures, Game Records (the Mini-game and Hit Count sections), and Command
Collection. The missing treasure chests are easy enough to locate with a
good FAQ. (Again, I would recommend noz3ro’s FAQ.) The urn-breaking contest
in Olympus will be the final minigame entry, and will also give you Sonic
Blade for the command collection.
To complete Hit Counts, you need to use every D-Link Finish command and every
shotlock at least once. The only optional D-Link is Pete, whom you earn via
the Command Board (see Justice & Dark). Note that in addition to fully
upgrading every D-Link for the second Finish attack, you must also use the
basic Finish attack once. If you forget to do so before the D-Link is maxed
out, you will need to switch Finish attacks via the menu. As for shotlocks,
all of the ones you are missing can either be bought as panels on the Command
Board or purchased for Medals in the Mirage Arena: Ragnarok is on the
Keyblade Board, Meteor Shower on the Royal Board, Lightning Ray on the
Spaceship Board, Bio Barrage in the Arena Shop, and Photon Charge can be
gained from the Skull Board OR purchased in the Arena. You will gain the
shotlock even if you lose the game, so long as you finish it with the command
in your possession. (Make sure to pick up Focus Block/Focus Barrier while
you play for Meteor Shower, as it is also unique to that command board.)
Finally, you have to complete the Command Collection. While many of the
basic commands can be bought from the Moogle Shop, most of the strongest can
only be obtained by melding. Use noz3ro’s FAQ to identify which commands you
are missing, and lil_lamb’s Synthesis Guide to help you create them. Make
sure that while you are melding, you create every Ability for their entries
as well. You’re only required to create each Ability once, though since they
are so easy to learn it would be prudent to max them all out while you finish
the collection. Once your melding is done, the only commands left will be
Aerial Recovery (the final Reprisal command) and the Friendship commands from
the Medal Shop in the Mirage Arena. Don’t bother buying Confetti, Fireworks,
or Voltage Stack, as you can get them for free from the mailbox in Disney
Town’s Main Plaza, the Sticker Album, and the Unversed Missions respectively.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Adventurer: Ventus
-Description: Complete Reports with Ventus
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 9/10
-Notes: Ventus’ Reports are much the same as Terra’s, and so the same advice
applies. Once again, make sure you have opened every treasure chest and
completed all required mini-games before you worry about finishing the
Command Collection. The optional bosses are once again the most difficult
part, though Ventus’ superior evasion makes them a bit easier.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Adventurer: Aqua
-Description: Complete Reports with Aqua
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 9/10
-Notes: See above. Aside from the Fireworks command (which Aqua can only
obtain through the Arena shop), all of the previous advice applies here.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Savage Slayer
-Description: Complete all Unversed battle missions with the highest rank
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 5/10
-Notes: The Unversed Missions appear as emblems in various worlds, which
become available after completing that world’s story episode. Each mission
is a minigame that requires you to complete certain conditions, and rates you
based on your performance. A three-star ranking earns you a rare command,
including a handful which cannot be acquired anywhere else. Most of these
are trivial to three-star with the right command setup, with only two or
three posing a real challenge.
-Flaming Box (Enchanted Dominion, Waterside): Take out 30 meteors without
letting any touch the ground. With two Magnegas in your deck, you can
automatically take out every meteor he shoots at you. Gives you Firaga.
-Lost Runner (Castle of Dreams, Ballroom/Wardrobe Room): Defeat 30 Lost
Runners before time runs out. Extremely easy with two Mega Flares (or Mega
Flare and Meteor for Terra). While waiting for Mega Flare to recharge, use
long-distance attacks like Triple Firaga and Sonic Blade to home in on them.
Gives you Illusion-L.
-Vitality Vial (Dwarf Woodlands, Underground Waterway/The Mine): Survive for
two minutes or longer. While striking the Vial helps, all you really need
is the Leaf Bracer Ability and a deck with multiple Cure spells. With
maximum Magic Hastes, three Curagas will keep you alive indefinitely.
Gives you Illusion-V.
-Belly Balloon (Radiant Garden, Outer Gardens/Central Plaza): Empty the gas
gauge in one minute or less. You must hit the Balloon in the back to do
this, as hitting it in front will cause it to refill and eventually explode.
Fortunately, once its back is turned you can empty the gauge very quickly by
hitting it with Thunder Surge. Gives you Illusion-B.
-Ringer (Disney Town, Raceway): Defeat at least 40 Unversed before time runs
out. This is the toughest of the bunch, and takes keen perception to get
right. Every time you approach it, the Ringer will summon a group of clones
and attempt to hide among them. Hit the original, and you take them all out
at once. Hit a clone, and you take a costly time penalty in addition to
delaying the next wave. He spawns more and more clones with each wave,
making it harder to spot the original. Rapid pausing is a good way to keep
track of the original and keep him from getting lost in the crowd, though in
the later stages moving in to lock on to the right one can be a challenge in
its own right. Gives you Illusion-R.
-Jellyshade (Olympus Coliseum, Town Near Thebes): Defeat all 300 Unversed in
31 seconds or less. This one is trivial with Magnega, which instantly
annihilates them at an amazing rate. Gives you Stopga.
-Gluttonous Goo (Deep Space, Launch Deck): Finish with 90+ orbs in your
possession. This can be tricky, because when struck the Goo will sometimes
counter by sticking its spikes out and knocking away several dozens orbs.
The most consistent approach I have found is to rely on a combination of
counterattack commands and Finish attacks, and use Treasure Magnet to pick up
the orbs he scatters. Once you meet the quota, do your best to stay out of
his reach until time expires. Gives Stun Block to Terra and Ventus, and Stop
Barrier to Aqua.
-Element Cluster (Neverland, Indian Camp): Hit him with the indicated
elemental attack 70+ times. Throughout the battle the Cluster will switch
to a different elemental phase, as indicated by the color of his middle
section, and you will need to hit it with attacks corresponding to that
element: Fire when red, Blizzard when blue, and Thunder when yellow. The
easiest approach is to equip a deck filled with Fire Surge and Thunder Surge
commands, along with the maxed-out Absolute Zero shotlock. You can deal 2-3
hits per Surge, but your best offense comes from the shotlock: hit him with a
full shotlock, press the wrong button to end the attack, and then use a full
shotlock again to inflict 24 hits in a single phase. Gives you Voltage Stack.
-Floating Flora (Keyblade Graveyard, Seat of War): Collect 350+ orbs by
striking the Flora in the air. My preferred approach is to quickly trigger
Rhythm Mixer (see D.J.) via Thunder Surge abuse, then unleash its multi-
hitting Finisher while all three are in the air. Doing so will release 150+
orbs in a matter of seconds. Gives you Illusion-F.
On your second and third playthroughs you are only required to three-star the
Missions which grant the Illusion commands, though since the remaining ones
are relatively easy there is no reason not to conquer them all.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Collector
-Description: Collect all stickers
-Grade: Silver
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: This one becomes available after reaching the Keyblade Graveyard with
all three characters. While most stickers can be acquired during the story,
a few mandate backtracking either because they require advanced movement
commands (Sonic Impact for Terra, Glide for Ventus, Doubleflight for Aqua,
High Jump for all three) or because they are in areas that can only be
reached after the story mission is completed. See noz3ro’s FAQ for the
complete list of stickers and their locations.
While not required for this Trophy, you must earn the maximum 140 points in
the Sticker Album to unlock Rhythm Mixer and complete your Reports. See D.J.
for details.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Command Board Conqueror
-Description: Win each playable Command Board
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: You can earn this Trophy by winning regular games, winning in the
Mirage Arena, or some combination of the two. You will end up doing plenty
of both for the Reports: a few unique shotlocks, Focus Block/Barrier, and the
Pete D-Link can only be acquired in a regular game, while you must win 7
games in the Mirage Arena to reach Arena Level 30. The fact that you can
limit yourself to one opponent makes the Mirage Arena an attractive choice
for the more difficult boards, particularly the Skull Board.
The Command Board is a pretty easy minigame if you have a good grasp of its
mechanics. Your main advantage over the AI players is that very few use
Hands (aside from the occasional Joker’s Fortune). By constantly spending
your magic cards on the Two Dice hand, you will be able to lap them around
the board while refilling your cards twice as fast. Most of the time Two
Dice is the only Hand you want to use: your attack and miscellaneous commands
are more effective when placed on the board, as the Panel Bonus they provide
really adds up after a few laps. The major exception to this is if one of
you gains Captain Dark or Captain Justice from a Special Panel. Those two
effects can easily win or lose the game for their recipient, and are
transferred when one player passes the other. Thus, making sure that you
steal their Captain Justice or pass off your Captain Dark is a high priority,
as is avoiding them in the reverse situation, and Stun (one attack card) is a
good way to control their movements. I would also suggest burning through
the most powerful Hand available just before you start a new lap, to take
advantage of the full refill when you pass the Start Panel.
The Secret Board only unlocks after you have won every other board, including
the Hunny Pot Board (unlocked by reading Merlin’s book in Radiant Garden).
Since you need it to complete the Mini-games section of the Reports, in
practice you will be earning this Trophy three times over.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maestro
-Description: Obtain a Fantastic rating for each song in Ice Cream Beat
Master Mode
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 8/10
-Notes: Ice Cream Beat’s Master Mode is by far the most difficult minigame in
Birth by Sleep. The best advice that I can give is to keep the sound on, tap
in time with the rhythm, and PRACTICE. Your success depends heavily on
memorization, particularly of the direction for each note, and so it’s not
unusual to take over a dozen attempts to pass an especially difficult song.
On your second and third playthroughs you are only required to get Fantastic
on Dessert Paradise’s Master Mode, which grants you Frozen Fortune and its
Finish command. You must pass the first four Master Mode songs and Hand in
Hand’s Beginner Mode, so you can attempt its Master Mode and fill out all
your mini-game scores, but you can do so by earning a much more attainable
Cool ranking.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patissier
-Description: Create all flavors of ice cream
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 3/10
-Notes: This Trophy is earned after one character completes their Ice Cream
Guide, though to complete the Reports you need to do so with all three. I
suggest you complete Ven’s and especially Aqua’s Ice Cream Guide at the
earliest opportunity. Doing so awards you the Sweetstack, a mighty keyblade
with huge Strength, a 100% critical hit rate, and good Magic on top of it.
Until you get the Ultima Weapon, the Sweetstack is the strongest keyblade
either of them has access to.
To create new ice cream flavors you must first gather ingredients from the
various Prize Pot Unversed that appear throughout the worlds. They always
appear in specific locations within each world, though they won’t necessarily
appear 100% of the time. Use Magnega mercileesly to earn as many ingredients
as possible: it will pull them together and cause they to hemorraghe items,
and you can strike them while they are gathered for even more items. The
collection can only be completed after reaching Neverland in the story, as
well as Arena Level 15 in the Mirage Arena. After you have collected
enough ingredients, give them to Huey to receive lots of the corresponding
Ice Cream item and put that item up for sale in his shop.
Listed below are all available ice cream flavors, along with required
ingredients and the worlds that contain them. For details on exactly where
each Prize Pot appears and how to tell whether they will spawn, see nunuu’s
Ice Cream Guide at
http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/735143-kingdom-hearts-hd-25-remix/faqs/59033.
-Bueno Volcano [everyone]: Prickle Pepper, Toonbasco (Disney Town)
-Snow Bear [everyone]: Soy Milk (Radiant Garden), Open Sesame (Mirage
Arena – Risky Riches or Treasure Tussle)
-Spark Lemon [everyone]: Thundercracker (Olympus), Rocket Soda (Radiant
Garden), Dancin’ Lemon (Neverland)
-Daisy Sorbet [everyone]: Starry Sky Drop (Mirage Arena – Treasure
Tussle), Luxury Marshmallow (Castle of Dreams), Humming Mint (Dwarf
Woodlands), Melody Grape (Disney Town)
-Royalberry [Terra and Aqua]: Gaspberry (Dwarf Woodlands), Nebula
Nector (Radiant Garden), Birthday Cake (Castle of Dreams), Rose Honey
(Enchanted Dominion)
-Milky Way [Ventus and Aqua]: Cream Fluff (Deep Space), Rainbow Syrup
(Neverland), Cotton Cloudcandy (Olympus)
-Vanilla Glitz [Terra]: Golden Jam (Neverland), Bijou Bean (Enchanted
Dominion), Crystal Sugar (Castle of Dreams)
-Rockin’ Crunch [Terra]: Galactic Caramel (Deep Space), Nutty Nut
(Dwarf Woodlands)
-Big Bad Pete [Terra]: Bizzaro Bean (Deep Space), Whipped Dream
(Neverland)
-Honeybunny [Ventus]: Honeybunch (Neverland), Apple Pie (Dwarf
Woodlands)
-Goofy Parfait [Ventus]: Moogle Coffee (Radiant Garden), Jumbo Almond
(Enchanted Dominion), Chocolate Valentine (Castle of Dreams), Forest Muffin
(Enchanted Dominion)
-Double Crunch [Ventus]: Cherryberry (Enchanted Dominion), Merry Dairy
(Dwarf Woodlands), Wedding Cake (Castle of Dreams), Star Syrup (Deep Space)
-Fabracadabra [Aqua]: Balloon Melon (Deep Space), Heroic Orange
(Olympus), Peach Fantasy (Dwarf Woodlands)
-Donald Fizz [Aqua]: Crystal Soda (Castle of Dreams), Mermaid Salt
(Neverland), Fizzy Tizzy (Deep Space), Sky Blue Mousse (Enchanted Dominion)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rapid Racer
-Description: Finish first in all Rumble Racing courses
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 4/10
-Notes: To win at Rumble Racing, you have to be intimately familiar with each
course. Every course has at least one hidden shortcut that is reachable
via ramp, which you can use to build a lead over the other racers. Be aware
that for the first four laps, the AI will constantly be overtaking you or be
one step behind. Only in the final lap do you have the chance to build a
sizeable lead.
-Country Chase: On this short course, taking the ramp at the second bend
every time should be enough to ensure victory. To maintain your lead, try
to hug the right wall at the first turn and when dodging the tornados. Note
that you can gain a burst of speed by pressing and holding X as the race
starts, rocketing you into the lead.
-Disney Drive: There is one ramp in the same spot as Country Chase, and a
second after the first tornado in the town (which requires a little braking
and a hard right turn). The speed-boosting gates become a lot more common,
so try to pass through them whenever you can.
-Grand Spree: Do not miss the first ramp (after three right turns when you
reach the town), as it holds a defensive shield that will allow you to speed
through the next three ramps without worrying about the tornado. The second
ramp is right in front of the exit to the second tunnel.
-Castle Circuit: In order to reliably win this race, you need to turn left at
the first fork in the road. The ramp on the left side leads to a shortcut to
the underground, but you will miss it if you barrel through at full speed.
Ease off on the throttle when you land, so that you can line up with the ramp
and then accelerate to clear the barrier. Just as importantly, DO NOT fall
down to the lower level; you will lose a lot of time navigating the longer
route, which will cost you the race every time.
Every character must win the first three courses and attempt the fourth in
Disney Town, both for their minigame entries and to unlock the four time
trial goals in the Mirage Arena. Winning all four grants you the Victory
Line keyblade.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasista
-Description: Beat all opponents in Fruitball
-Grade: Bronze
-Difficulty: 4/10
-Notes: Since the final round gives you the Chaos Snake shotlock, every
character must complete this. The first two rounds are pretty easy, as you
can run up the score pretty quickly by tossing the fruit in the air and
shooting it at the goal. The only difficult opponent is Pete, who is
absurdly good at blocking your shots and can sometimes stun you with his
serves. If Pete is currently toward the front, you can usually score by
quickly shooting with Triangle+X before he can move back. Otherwise, try to
overwhelm him by throwing lots of fruit back to his side as quickly as you
can. The curving trick shots (Triangle+Square) help, but they’re far from
reliable. When the goals rise into the air scoring becomes difficult, so
focus on blocking his shots until it comes back down.
*****************************************************************************
=============================================================================
TROPHY GUIDE: RE:CODED
=============================================================================
Like 358/2 Days before it, Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded has been rendered as an HD
movie for this collection. In most ways it’s a considerable improvement over
the Days movie: there are multiple action scenes to represent the big fights,
there is a great variety of locations, and there are even two brand-new
cutscenes exclusive to this collection. That said, Re:Coded doesn’t have the
strongest story or dialogue in the series (it was basically a filler game),
and the sheer amount of talking can wear on you after a while. Still, if you
can’t afford to play this on the DS it’s a fun bit of story that provides a
nice link to Kingdom Hearts 3D.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
40% Debugged
-Description: Complete up to and including Olympus Coliseum
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: If you don’t feel like sitting through the entire 3-hour movie, you
can do this quickly using the Chapters menu. Select the first chapter, and
when the scene starts pause it to select “Go to next chapter.” Keep on
skipping scenes this way, and you will get all the way to the first secret
ending within 4 minutes.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
80% Debugged
-Description: Complete up to and including Hollow Bastion II
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: See above.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
100% Debugged
-Description: Complete all chapters
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: To earn this Trophy you must unlock the Destiny secret ending by
viewing all previous chapters, then returning to the menu and watch it to
complete the set.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Professor
-Description: View all Character entries
-Grade: Bronze
-Notes: The Character entries unlock after watching every scene besides the
second secret ending. Simply select the first entry, scroll through them
quickly by tapping R1, and you will have this Trophy inside of a minute.
=============================================================================
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
=============================================================================
-noz3ro, lil_lamb, sweet_peach: Their FAQs were essentially to my successful
Platinum runs, and are great resources all-around.
-starkk and Hotel Security: For their valuable advice on Gummi Ship design.
-Bizkit047: For demonstrating the easy way to earn Pro Skater in his YouTube
videos.
-Square Enix: For bringing two superb collections to America, and (we hope)
delivering an equally fantastic Kingdom Hearts III in the near future.