CoO Tactics/Tips Thread

NOTE: For lack of the guide giving the info readily, I had to do the testing on my own.  Some of it I finished.  Some of it I was left less than certain about.  Some of it I simply didn't get to.  Generally HP and MP are the same on a given difficulty setting.  So it is a safe bet if HP is one thing, MP is the same.  Easy tends to be vanilla 200 with Normal at default (all 100).  Power being at 100% is part for the course with Hard and VH taking it to 75% would be the norm, yet CoO seems to have done its own thing.  Armor % dropping to 40% is normal for Hard and yet it didn't seem to be so (or I'm not good at testing it) and 20% for VH, yet these are not the percentiles I came up with.  Perhaps I blew it.  Perhaps the former is just 2.5x damage and the latter  5x damage.  GoW1 had 50% Power and 20% Armor on VH.  HP and MP dropping to 75% is standard and again to 25% for VH.  The units of orbs available in chests was half the norm though.  EXP is meant to drop to 75% on VH, but perhaps CoO didn't do this.  Don't know for sure if I tested this.  Again, GoW1 didn't meddle beyond Armor and Power, GoWII set a new trend and CoO may have done its own thing.  GoWIII and GoS fell in line with GoWII.

NOTE2: It is possible that Easy also makes spell cost 25% cheaper as all GoW games do at least this much.  GoWII set the precedent for altering foe aggression/recovery notably and CoO seems to follow in that regard.

Easy/Mortal

Power: 200%

Armor: 200%

HP: 200% *chest worth: 400?*

MP: 200 *?*

EXP: 200%

NOTE: doubles "CS" kill EXP worth?

Recovery: 7 seconds? *approx*

Normal/Hero

Power: 100%

Armor: 100%

HP: 100% *chest worth: 200?*

MP: 100%

EXP: 100%

Recovery: 5 seconds? *approx*

Hard/Spartan

Power: 100%

Armor: 62.5%???

HP: 75%? *chest worth: 150?*

MP: 75?*?*

EXP: 100%?

Recovery: 3 seconds? *approx*

Very Hard/God

Power: 62.5%?

Armor: 31.25%???

HP: 25%? *chest worth: 50?*

MP: 25? *?*

EXP: 100%?

Recovery: 1 second? *approx*

[/spoiler]

Costumes

[spoiler] Kratos

Power: 100%

Armor: 100%

HP: 100%

MP: 100%

EXP: 100%

Spud of War

Power: 100%

Armor: 400%

HP: 200%?

MP: Infinite

EXP: 100%

GMG NOTE: SRSLY...WTF..why is this costume so powerful?

McKratos

Power: 400%

Armor: 50%?

HP: 50%?

MP: ?

EXP: 100%

Mime of War

Power: 100%

Armor: 100%

HP: 200%?

MP: ?

EXP: 400%

Bonus - Invisible weapons

NOTE: My guess is that whatever percentile gets use for a setting, gets used across the board. So Easy will likely be all 200% stats. Turns out this isn't correct.

NOTE2: I'm quite sure spells are effected by difficulties and perhaps costumes whereas they are not in GoW1/GoWII. Whether the cost is ever effected or not is not known. Indeed this is true.

Ex: On Easy with "McKratos", you have neither 400 nor 200% Attack power. Instead you have 600%. Your spells are 6 times stronger then usual like this. So a lvl3 Light of Dawn 'bolt' that (on Normal with "Kratos) would do 20 damage for 10MP, instead does 120 damage. On God, it would do about 6.25 for that cost...super weak sauce. [/spoiler]

Weapons

Blades of Chaos [spoiler]

NOTE: I've yet to test multi-hit specials like CoC as they are frustrating.  I've onl tested lvl1, lvl2 and lvl5 thus far.  The modifiers are educated guesses.

lvl1 - 1.0 lvl2 - 1.5? lvl3 - 2.0? lvl4 - 2.5? lvl5 - 3.0 (6?)

s1 = 2,3,4,5,6

s2 = 2,3,4,5,6

s3 = 4,6,8,10,12

s4 = 2/2,3/3,4/4,5/5,6/6

s5 = 2/2,3/3,4/4,5/5,6/6

t1 = 3/3,4.5/4.5,6/6,7.5/7.5,9/9

Valor = 8,12,16,20,24

Plume = 6,9,12,15,18

Spirit = 2/12,4/18,6/24,8/30,10/36

Ascension = 2,3,4,5,6

(air) s1 = 2,3,4,5,6

(air)s2 = 2,3,4,5,6

(air)s3 = 4,6,8,10,12

-Stronger than usual

(air) t1 = 2/2,3/3,4/4,5/5,6/6

-Quick t1 should apply after s1, but I forget if it worked after an evade.

Orion's Harpoon = variable

Air grab = variable

NOTE: quick t1 to T is now just X to T (Ex: s,t,T = s,T Ex2: roll to t,T = roll to T)

*lvl2* L1+s (10 hits?) Cyclone of Chaos each -,?,?,?,?

(air) (9 hits?) Cyclone of Chaos each -,?,?,?,?

*lvl3* t2 -/-,-/-,5/5.5,7.5/7.5,10/10

*lvl3* S Hyperion Might -,-,8,10,12

-Not worth a damn for lack of power, helpful hit property (even a stun), etc.  Demo version was better.

*lvl4* L1+o (13 hits?) Rampage of the Furies each -,-,-,?,?

*lvl4* (air) (10 hits?) Rampage of the Furies each -,-,-,?,?

*lvl4* (evading) S Hermes Rush -,-,-,10,12

*lvl4* (evading) T Hermes Rise -/-,-/-,-/-,2.25/2.25,3/3

*lvl5* L1+t ( hits?) Tartarus Rage -/-/-,-/-/-,-/-/-,-/-/-,6/6/18

*lvl5* (air) ( hits?) Tartarus Rage ......

-Both versions are pretty damn good this time.  The ground version especially thanks to stuns being brokenly good in CoO.

[/spoiler]

Guantlet of Zeus [spoiler]

NOTE: As of right now, I've only tested lvl3 and can't be sure about the modifier, but I believe it will be 2.0 at lvl3.

NOTE2: All charged hits break armor where the Blades need to land t0/t3 if anything works in this outing *I don't remember*.

lvl1 - 1.0 lvl2 - 1.5? lvl3 - 2.0?

s1 = ?,?,20 charge *multiply by 1.5* = ?,?,30

s2 = ?,?,30 charge = ?,?,45

s3 = ?,?,50 charge = ?,?,75

-Knockback

(launcher) t = ?,?,40 charge = ?,?,60

(air) s = ?,?,20 charge ?,?,30

-Air knockback?

(air) t = ?,?,20 charge ?,?,30

-Bounce?

*lvl2* L1+s Olympic Strike -,?,40 overcharge *multiply by 2.5* -,?,100

NOTE: It's possible that lvl2 only gets a 1.5 multiplier

*lvl2* (air) Olympic Strike -/-,?/?,10/60 charge -/-,?/?,15/90

NOTE: One hit while falling, another upon impact

*lvl2* (evading) S Hermes Cross -,?,20

*lvl2* (evading) T Hermes Revenge -,?,12

*lvl3* L1+o Lightning Run

*lvl3* (Running) s (5 hits) Lightning Thrash -/-/-/-/-,-/-/-/-/-,?/?/?/?/?

*lvl3* (Running) t Lightning Surge -,-,30

*lvl3* (air) L1+o (5 hits) Lightning Thrash -/-/-/-/-,-/-/-/-/-,?/?/?/?/?

*lvl3* L1+t Olympic Thunder -,-,50 charge -,-,75

*lvl3* (air) Olympic Thunder -,-,50 charge -,-,75

Spells

NOTE: All spells in CoO are subject to Power %.

lvl1

Cost: 20

Damage: 20

lvl2

Cost: 30

Damage: 45/20

lvl3

Cost: 40

Damage: 50/30/55

NOTE: The first value is the intial hit, the second value might be multiple (possilby all) hits land *but they push targets away* and the third value it the blast.  Simple AoE spell gaining mashing.  Pity it sends foes away, the mash stinks and the magic system is tied to Power %.

lvl1

Cost: 10

Damage: 10

lvl2

Cost: 10

Damage: 15

lvl3

Cost: 10 (20 if charged)

Damage: 20 (50 is charged)

NOTE: The blast from lvl2 and lvl3 can hit multiple targets to extend the value, but it rarely seemed likely to happen.  There are no i-frames on the draw, but it grants super armor and freezes the combo meter.  A decent cancel if I recall right.  lvl3's charged case can be used for as low as 10MP to get a better value out of it as with CWB for TB in GoWII and charged bolts with Zf in GoW1.  I don't believe foes block (nevermind deflect) these.  Again, Power % rules the day so they suffer considerably where they could have been decent.  Charged hits might gain knockback, but without ring-outs or knockback collisions, it doesn't matter much.  I don't believe the regular hits fully stun (can't recall).

lvl1

Cost: 33

Damage: 45

lvl2

Cost: 33

Damage: 75

lvl3

Cost: 33

Damage: 110

NOTE: At lvl1 you cannot 'stack' the effect on a single target (which is to say you cannot cast the effect on it again as it is already burning whereas at lvl2 you can do it twice and at lvl3 it can be done thrice).

NOTE2: If 'false casted' (done too far away) it doesn't cost anything...very forgiving in that respect

NOTE3: Foes that come into contact with the primary target (focus/source *10 hits*) catch fire as well so long as the fire is still active (eve while it is doing its dying animation). In such a case the 'secondary targets' take 3 hits each. It's possible that their fire can spread back to the primary for an extra 3 hits (13 total)...not sure. OBVIOUSLY this helps its already superior cost/damage ratio.

NOTE4: It auto-breaks the armor of a primary target. Not sure about secondary.

Relics

Sun Shield [spoiler]

NOTE: I haven't yet tested this extensively.

*lvl1* (parry) Helios Reverse

NOTE: Leech EXP orbs, stun on all nearby foes and each stun counts as a hit

*lvl1 w/ Primordial Fire* (parry) Helios Reflect ?/?/?/?/25+

NOTE: Does stats effect this? What about weapon level? Sun Shield level?

NOTE2: It has splash like Light of Dawn

*lvl2* (Blade Parry) s Helios Flash ?/?/?/?/30?

*lvl2* (Blade Parry) t Helios Offensive ?/?/?/?/18-20?

*lvl2* (After Blade Flash/Offensive) S 'Helios Might' ?/?/?/?/10-12?

*lvl2* (Gauntlet Parry) s Helios Flash ?/?/?/?/20?

*lvl2* (Gauntlet Parry) t Helios Offensive ?/?/?/?/10?

Replacement for Poseidon's Trident.  Merely for swimming.  No underwater grabs post-GoW1.  No known swim glitch in this outing from what I recall.

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[/spoiler]

1. Same ranged attack as unarmored.  Altered close-up attack.  Either leap over while flanking the first strike or evade through it/round the Cyclops going counter-clockwise.

2. Treat 'armor' like shileds.  t0/t3 or charged GoZ attacks to shatter. 

3. Leading his attacks then using t0/t3 is easy enough (for chip).  You can do the same with some GoZ strikes.  Perhaps charged S1 (or s,s,s).  Maybe L1+s.  If you get the timing for his 'woman slapping', you can just evade i-frame through it (or leap over) and take advantage of that.

4. Pretty similar in handling to the regular sort.

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[/spoiler]

1. t0 for their armor while evading rams (or charged GoZ shots). Whenever armor is off, remember they will ram.

2.  Rather than the sweeping melee, they have an overheat that is pretty easy to evade or exploit for time to plume (same for ram).

3. It's touch to leave them off-screen as you don't always know the ram is coming.

4. Similar handling to the regular one.

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[/spoiler]

1. They can't hit you and aren't trying to.  Just there to distract Persians, be killed for orbs (HP or EXP), etc.  Casualities.

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[/spoiler]

1. Banshee act like Gorgons for the most part. Rather than Stare though, they prefer to scream for a stun you won't likely get out of in time to avoid a hit

2. Evasion i-frames (and other cases) trump the scream.  I don't believe getting it off-screen is enough (nor other defensive measures).  Interuption means are limited (little comes to mind outside magic and charged GoZ hits).

3. They don't do well against paced 's,t,s,t'. Air OS and OH antics aren't so great at locking them sadly.

4. Grab damage is decent as well if you set-up her OH/air OS. (R) into t1,T or s,t,T are fair set-ups.

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[/spoiler]

1. You can block their only move.

2. OS whoring will suffice.  "s1" into OS if you like.

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[/spoiler]

1."s1" into OS covers them easily.

2. Their attack can be parried, but not blocked if I recall right.  Their dive seems to miss if you simply walk to where they start it or6 jump. It is hard to parry though (for me).

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[/spoiler]

1. Use 's,t' then evade around the Cyclops as needed.

2. Keep at point blank (when it is alone at least) for 2x 's,t' (or s,t,s,t as an alternate *another still being 's,t,s,s,s') before I evade at the Cyclops to exploit evasion i-frames (on the close range pound).

3. The "O" can be off-screen at times because of their height (watch for this).

4. You can outrange it or bait and counterattack in similiar fashion as noted with the Armored version.

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1. Dizzy grab condition version.

2. Parry into 's,t' (or T) then OH whore.

3. Air t1 into air OS into OH is an alternative.

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[/spoiler]

1. Dizzy grab condition version.

2. Air t1 into air OS into OH as needed if you can't simply catch them with 's,t' into OH infinite.

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[/spoiler]

1. Shatter shield first.

2. Parry then 's,t,s,s...' lock them.  Maybe lay into them with charged GoZ shots.  That works on lots of foes.

3. Use t0/t3 from range.

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[/spoiler]

1. Leap over then air t1 to OH infinite or flank and T/t1 into OH infinite.

2. You need to parry their flip attack to make an opening of it.  Leaping over it works fine as well.  The parry is best to open them up aside from t0 into OH infinite.

3. Avoid grab kill unless you're sure of yourself (comes up fast and hurts with each failure).  Gives light HP orb drop.

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[/spoiler]

1. Use a projectile you can return.

2. Return or grab whore (the latter is better).

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[/spoiler]

1. Their Stare only affects you (trap versions ignore i-frames it would seem).

2. Banshee handling applies.

3. You can interrupt stare with Plume, but when off-screen it never times out.

4. To get good damage in you will need to use (R) into t,T to OH or air OS. So long as you keep at this you have a good chance of locking them.

5. In the PSP version, you can try for the Medusa lock (quick T out of an OH *for an infinite*), but it tends to crash the game.

6. Another, of many, good times to abuse stuns (GoZ charged hits).  Too good.

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[/spoiler]

1. As with the Gorgon.

2. Has a grab that doesn't do much (easily broken out of).  You can leap over it or parry it (if I remember right).  Probably have to evade clear though.

3. Use parry to open them up (off of melee) then s,t,T into OH and repeat as much as you can.  GoZ stun locking ruins them.  You can also easily use charged T into OH over and over if I'm not mistaken.

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1. OS or air OS.

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[/spoiler]

1. "s1" into OS.

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1. Basically the same as a 'Shade'.  Rush attack and close range cross-slash.

2. Leap over into air t1 to air OS or OH infinite.

3. Use to/t3 or T into OH infinite.

4. OS whore.

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[/spoiler]

1. Triangle when far and square when medium.

2. Don't let them get close. If they do, hope for a grab to reverse.

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[/spoiler]

1. Same as Shade Archer.  OS to death.  No explosive arrows.

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[/spoiler]

1. Same as Death Knight, but less HP.

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[/spoiler]

1. NPCs.  OS whore as needed for HP (or just to progress).

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[/spoiler]

1. 's,t,s' at point blank then evade at the Minotaur to trick the headbutt (until at "O").  Alternatively uncharged square whoring with GoZ until needing to evade into the headbutt (keeping near the target while ignoring the attack).

2. Their "O" is a decent HP return (still small).

3. Their charge is very dangerous in this outing.  You can evade into it to stop it (as Taz uses for the Armored version during each break or after charged hits) though.  Expect about 80 damage if you get hit on VH.

4. Ranged antics with t0/t3 can work or even L1+s with GoZ.

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[/spoiler]

1. Parry and slap around.

2. If hit, it will use the unblockable 'breath'.

3. If too far away, it will use the grab (leap) *might be open to a parry, but is hard to evade*

4. GoZ charged square whoring locks it down.

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1. Open to pretty much everything.  Just OS whore.

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1. As with the Archer.

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1. Like the 'Dark' version, but open to OS whoring.

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1. Like the 'Dark' version, but open to OS whoring.

2. Beware the 'grenade' as it bounces off walls and lingers where it lands with hits to foes not really hurting them (sucks).

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[/spoiler]

1. Same as Hoplites.

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[/spoiler]

1. Same as other Archer.

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1. Shatter shield as you would armor then treat like all other Hoplites/Shades.

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[/spoiler]

1. Same as Morpheus Beast (just more HP).

Bosses

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[/spoiler]

Encounter 1

1. 's,t' with movement cancels. Evade to the side of the fireball and block bites.

2. Get HP orbs during roars along with EXP (if I remember right).

Encounter 2

S1P1

1. 's,t' whoring. After each 'push', leap over the flame or evade through it.

2. He will use a guard breaking (not crushing) paw move you can evade through when at extreme left/right.

3. When at center, he will sometimes use a grab (just reverse it).

4. Sticking to the left (his right) allows evasion tricking of the stomp and bite while preventing grabs.

S1P2

1. Lead his shots while quick rolling.

S2P1

1. As before (he starts with flames).

S2P2

1. As before.  Zig-zags and such.

S3

1. More 's,t' for "O".

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[/spoiler]

1. (Wulf) ust grab soldiers to reset the King and negate attacks then 's,t' a bit and repeat.

2. 's,t' until forced to evade away by Efreet, carefully evade 'overhead' or simply block the 2x strike then lay into him some more.

3. Perhaps just t0/t3 whore.

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[/spoiler]

Encounter 1

1. Lose.

Encounter 2

S1

1. When he brings up his orbs, just flank and jump around at medium range. Keep in his face and 's,t,s,s,s,s,s' a bunch (repeated 's,t' is fine too).  Square hits with GoZ as well

2. Return of projectiles does decent damage.

3. Being up against the wall helps with not getting pushed away by his melee as would parrying the first and blocking the rest.

4. If you parry the first hit, you can just barely fit in an 's,t' before needing to parry again

5. GoZ pillars when he retreats.

S2

1. When he is using 'Wrath', be sure to circle around him while usint 's,t' then jump cancel out of it and keep circle. It is safest to let him fire as you flank then 's,t', (or GoZ charged square or 's,s') jump cancel out, let him fire again and repeat the process without attacking during each.

2. After he takes enough, he'll try for melee as in S1 before going back to Wrath whoring.

3. GoZ pillars again.

S3

1. When he starts teleporting into shockwaves just keep close and try to land a to/t3 just after his shockwave lands (or slap him as he comes out of the teleport). This opens him up to a series of full combo strings. You don't need to block it, just be in his face and in no way at medium or long range (leaping over it can be deceptive as with Zeus S1 in GoWII).  GoZ strikes work too.

2. GoZ final pillar.

S4

1. You can air block his shots, but not block them (guard break).  Parry works great (for returns).

2. LoD back at him.

3. Evade or air block while trying to keep close for a single ground t1 (stronger than air t1) to chip at him *air t1 with GoZ perhaps*.

4. DO NOT go for circle until his shots are out of the air as they will keep hitting you during the mini-game.

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[/spoiler]

S1

1. Basically parry charge, she backs into rock kick (flank and 's,t,s,s,s' her), parry the the punch, slap, parry and repeat.

2. GoZ makes things go by faster (better damage).

3. Watch for her to jump back after any hit as this means she wants to toss another rock. It's easy to mess up the punch parry, so get used to the timing for that. 

4. She drops orbs after a good amount of damage about three times prior to the QTE (checkpoint).

S2

1. Stick close during fireballs then air t1 (enough damage to eventually down her) or just return them.  LoD and CW work nicely.

2. She'll switch pillars when hurt enough (dropping orbs).

3. With each phase, she gains more aggression (and more move variants).  'Pillars' need to be led on and evaded.  The beam can be outrun (timed out) or evaded into *carefully* to i-frame trick it (turning it off).  The last bit has her spamming pillars and such a good deal.  You might try saving magic for this or just waiting it out for a chance to return a 'bolt' and tear her up.

4. Get in position and do the mini-game.

Tough Fights

NOTE: What comes to mind?  Got to scan pictures and re-organize a bit and this will be all done.

Challenge of Hades

NOTE: I believe challenges recall the last difficulty you cleared.  Might have been just GoS.  To get NUR/NUR+ conditions in NG+ or here, there is a process to go through that I never really learned (too troublesome).  Bonus conditions cease after GoWII.

[spoiler] Challenge 1: Title: Fiery Fate. Requirement:"Burn 50 Soldiers with the Efreet. They all must die by Fire!" They're Persian Soldiers, and occasionally a cyclops will spawn. There are Magic Chests in the room. Soldiers(and maybe Cyclops) drop blue orbs after death(at least by fire).

1.  Let the Soldiers group up, use Efreet, GoZ pound the Cyclops and repeat.

Challenge 2: Title: Perfection. Requirement:"Kill 20 Fire Guards without being hit." These are the guys that have a charge attack that is "unblockable"(you can still parry it). I suggest Guantlet of Zeus, because a charged hit will stun them, even out of a charging attack. You get no magic.

1. Charged square whoring with GoZ and the occassional parry is fine.

2. Spam t0/t3 from range (Blades).

3. Air L(1)+T spam with GoZ.

Challenge 3: Title: Life is Short. Requirement:"You are losing health rapidly. Kill all your enemies to survive." First a Minotaur. Then Hyperion Guards and Harplings. There are 6 humans chained to the wall that you can kill for green orbs.

1. Uncharged square whoring with GoZ, evade tricking into the Minotaur headbutt, etc. until it dies.  Charged square for each Harpling (or maybe Blades s1 to OS or just OS).  Kill humans as needed for HP.  Charged square (GoZ) the Hyperion Guards.

Challenge 4: Title: Crunch Time. Requirement:"Break all of the objects before time runs out." Automatically start with Guantlet of Zeus. Efreet magic will break objects. Includes a large, hard to break Hades statue, and about 8-10 Gorgon head wall statues that can fire freeze lazer(slow continuous, not instant stone).

1. Get each Gorgon trap and statue at once with air L1+S (charged), get the center with Efreet, work your way around the outer area, destroy the center-top statue with air L1+S into square whoring, etc.

Challenge 5: Title: Epic Brawl. Requirement:"Kill all your enemies." A number of waves, usually either fire guards, harpies, or gorgons(likely a mixture), an occasional Big Guard(don't know what it is called, but it's an armored body of flame with a shield and a mace.), and occasional cyclops(can appear in twos). There is a health chest and a magic chest.

1. Harpies, so s1 into OS over and over.  OS whore on Hoplites.  Charged square whore on Gorgons using the GoZ.  Cyclops can be to/t3 spammed with Blades from range.  With GoZ, maybe air L1+S after baiting their attacks if not square whoring and evading away.  Challenge repeats itself. [/spoiler]

Glitches/Exploits

Time delay - during a roll or attack, cancel into a weapon switch. This can be canceled with a roll.

Fast weapon switches - With guard up or during Quick Rolling, switch weapons.

Rapid oddities - Guard up weapon switch and time delay whoring

Momentum Jump - cancel out of certain hits with a jump for more forward momentum Ex: (Gauntlet) s1

---

FALSE GRAB TESTING

CoO false grabs/High Jump/airgrabOH
NOTE: ?Death? are physical hits, OH, air grabs and environmental.  ?CS? are grabs.  ?ALT? include Efreet,?.

[spoiler] Armored Cyclopos ? nothing
Armored Minotaur ? nothing
Athenian Soldier ? nothing
NOTE: one-hit kill
Banshee ? repel to attack - ?/?
NOTE: Shriek only avoidable with Efreet, rolls and off-screen
NOTE2: Shriek breakable with heavy attacks
NOTE3: Basically a Gorgon
Cursed Harpling ? grab ? kill/kill
Cursed Harpy ? grab ? kill/kill
Cyclops ? nothing
Dark Satyr ? nothing - ?/?
Dark Satyr Grenadier ? nothing - ?/?
Death Knight ? nothing/nothing
Fire Guard ? nothing - ?/?
Fire Sentinel ? grab - ?/?
Gorgon ? repel to attack - ?/?

NOTE: Launch to OH to Launch works well but it makes the game partial to freezing.  PS3 version doesn't seem to allow this lock, so the crash can't be tested.

Gorgon Queen ? repel to attack - ?/?
Harpling ? grab ? kill/kill
Harpy ? grab ? kill/kill
Hoplite ? grab - ?/?
Hoplite (wall) ? nothing
Hoplite Archer ? grab - ?/?
Hyperion Guard ? nothing/nothing
Innocent Souls ? grab
Minotaur ? nothing
Morpheus Beast ? nothing
Persian Archer ?  grab ? yes ? 10/10
Persian Warrior ? grab ? yes ? 10/10
Satyr ? grab - ?/?
Satyr Grenadier ? grab - ?/?
Shade ? grab ? yes ? 8/8
Shade Archer ? grab - ?/?
Shielded Hoplite ? ?/grab - ?/?
Sphinx ? nothing
Basilisk (tower) ? nothing
NOTE: Attacks during ?roar? net HP and 5 EXP every time!
Basilisk (bridge 1) ? nothing
Basilisk (bridge 2) ? nothing
Basilisk (final breath) ? nothing
NOTE: This form lacks the ability to pursue
Persian King ? nothing
Charon (deck) ? nothing
Charon (3x pyre) ? nothing
Charon (half body) ? nothing
Persephone (ground) ? nothing
Persephone (pillars) ? nothing [/spoiler]

Grabs (OS, air OS and OH)

[spoiler] I don't have my damgae values for this.  Not for when "O" appears, how much damage various grabs do or names for the types.  CoO didn't inspire much work ethic in me or many other vets. [/spoiler]

To cover various bases, I'll refer to the evaluations thread.  Check the CoO section.

For Glitch FAQ coverage, refer to AKheon's offering here.

Well, since this is a tactics thread, I thought I'd share one of my favorite tactics using the Guantlet of Zeus. Hold (S), hold (S), hold (T)(you'll be launched), hold (T), L+hold(S). two square hits of strength of Zeus, then a triangle hit to launch the enemy, a charged air hit of triangle which knocks them down, and then an Olympic Strike will kill any grunt enemy(even on God mode).

Edit: I've also found two sweet spots so far. The first was in Hades where you fight three cylops' and some fire guards. In that area is a little platform with a broken statue, behind which is a chest. If you stand on the platform, you can easily hit the cyclops' and fire guards without fear of being hit(as long as you are careful not to fall off). The second is in Tartarus, right before the save point called Temple of the Gods. A platform off to the right has a health/magic chest and a single fire archer spawns. If you go onto that platform you can just keep wailing on the fire guards on the ground without any fear of taking a hit whatsoever, since there is no chance of "falling" off(as long as you don't try to jump off.).

Damn, 9 fillers, you're expecting to write that much GMG?

Either way, I look foward to seeing this thread progress.

Damn, 9 fillers, you're expecting to write that much GMG?

Either way, I look foward to seeing this thread progress.

Snake4eva_92

Last time I didn't leave nearly enough room for updates. This will take LESS space then GoWII, but still more then I gave that title. 10 is playing it safe. I should have started at 15 for GoWII. I just don't want to come up short again. It sucked that I had to be so vague with details here and there due to space limitation.

~Formatting issues are going to result in a less pretty version of the last Tactics/Tips thread..

EDIT

QUESTION: I was reviewing the Guide when I noticed a few things. Light of Dawn appears to be a far less efficient version of Zeus' Fury (for starters). Charon's Wrath is stupidly efficient. The guide mentions "maximum casts" for this spell alone despite only costing 33MP. It mentions that the damage on the TARGET is spread across 10 hits while those that get too close (to a target while on fire) will take 3 hits of their own. lvl1 does 45, so spread across 10 hits that would be 4.5 per hit. It doesn't list a MAX cast at that level so I'd suppose you could retarget the same foe over and over so long as you had enough magic. As it levels, it gains a limiter while being super efficient. lvl3 does 110 (11 per hit) for the same 33MP, but lists its MAX cast as 3. Can someone tell me if it really can only target a single foe 3 times (and if there are exceptions like boss stages)? lvl2 has a MAXcast of 2.

EDIT2

I feel the need to voice a concern. The guide does NOT list a few percentages that speed damage value testing along:

-Difficulty percentages (still safe to say that normal is 100% all around)

-Costume percentages (safe to say that "Kratos" is 100% all around)

-Weapon level percentages (...)

I'll have to be systematic about figuring out these things

QUESTION: In Bonus Play (new game+..whatever), can we (unlike NP) skip cutscenes?

~If only I had the game..I'd be cruising along....

I'll try to answer some of your questions. Charon's Wrath: I believe the max cast is an at one time kind of thing. Meaning that while the "fire" is doing damage on lvl 1 you cannot cast Charon's Wrath again until it is finished. I am unsure of percentages, but it seems that for McKratos he has at least 200% damage, but maybe 50% defence. Also, even with on a normal play on God mode, orb recovery is a joke. Also, I'm pretty sure that either once you have played through the game once, or played a certain difficulty once, you can skip cutscenes. I remember being unable to skip the Persephone cutscene on Normal, but being able to on all subsequent playthroughs. This is all I can really answer with any degree of certainty.

I'll try to answer some of your questions. Charon's Wrath: I believe the max cast is an at one time kind of thing. Meaning that while the "fire" is doing damage on lvl 1 you cannot cast Charon's Wrath again until it is finished. I am unsure of percentages, but it seems that for McKratos he has at least 200% damage, but maybe 50% defence. Also, even with on a normal play on God mode, orb recovery is a joke. Also, I'm pretty sure that either once you have played through the game once, or played a certain difficulty once, you can skip cutscenes. I remember being unable to skip the Persephone cutscene on Normal, but being able to on all subsequent playthroughs. This is all I can really answer with any degree of certainty.

Alucard_rules

I intend to figure out the various missing info (percentages) on my own so no worries.

[QUOTE="Alucard_rules"]

I'll try to answer some of your questions. Charon's Wrath: I believe the max cast is an at one time kind of thing. Meaning that while the "fire" is doing damage on lvl 1 you cannot cast Charon's Wrath again until it is finished. I am unsure of percentages, but it seems that for McKratos he has at least 200% damage, but maybe 50% defence. Also, even with on a normal play on God mode, orb recovery is a joke. Also, I'm pretty sure that either once you have played through the game once, or played a certain difficulty once, you can skip cutscenes. I remember being unable to skip the Persephone cutscene on Normal, but being able to on all subsequent playthroughs. This is all I can really answer with any degree of certainty.

fightmastermax

I intend to figure out the various missing info (percentages) on my own so no worries.

So at lvl3 you could use 3 on 3 different targets, but you couldn't tell me whether or not you could actually stack casts on a single target..so long as it depends just on that rather how many can be used on a unique foe..6 casts (individual) of 110 damage (660 of 1200/1000HP for Persephone) will do quite well. It apparently does great at destroying armor even at lvl1. Can you verify this? Have you done any real work with that spell just yet? I'd think that it would be VERY good even in a NUR...have you tried Bonus Play yet? Does it force bar upgrades? Does it force upgrades of spells/magic? This sort of info interests me.

Edit: Redid Persephone fight and filmed it, currently working on uploading the videos. Also, right after beating it again I tried once again to do a bonus play on God mode with Mime of War, but again, I started with fully upgraded weapons. It is annoying me.

So it will stack then? Does it stack perfectly *it should* I wonder...like 3 casts = 30 hits for instance.

If you can, try casting it at lvl1 on armored creatures of all sorts. If it fails, try lvl3. If not...niiiiccceeee.

have you tried starting after a NUR+ with "Kratos" rather then an alternate costume in Bonus Play? It seems like a retarded thing to have high EXP % when you start with MAX..perhaps THAT is his ability..MAX everything at the start despite whatever you had >_>

~Sounds...aggrivating..there is just so much I wish to test. For the first run (Normal), I'll be sticking with Efreet and Blades. For run two (God), I'll try out Charon's Wrath and GoZ. That's the basic plan for now.

So it will stack then? Does it stack perfectly *it should* I wonder...like 3 casts = 30 hits for instance.

If you can, try casting it at lvl1 on armored creatures of all sorts. If it fails, try lvl3. If not...niiiiccceeee.

have you tried starting after a NUR+ with "Kratos" rather then an alternate costume in Bonus Play? It seems like a retarded thing to have high EXP % when you start with MAX..perhaps THAT is his ability..MAX everything at the start despite whatever you had >_>

~Sounds...aggrivating..there is just so much I wish to test. For the first run (Normal), I'll be sticking with Efreet and Blades. For run two (God), I'll try out Charon's Wrath and GoZ. That's the basic plan for now.

fightmastermax

Then I'll have to wait until you test it for that answer.

I still suggest doing BP without using a bonus costume as a test in of itself.

LoD is just a FAR less efficient Zeus' Fury from what I can tell. I still don't have a lot of love for that spell as it is >_>

I don't really care for AQ often enough..I don't like its $tyle..but it can be useful. Efreet is like a cross of lvl1 PR with lvl2 AQ (Destructive Earth) and ending with a pillar of damage *unique to it*. It will do just fine as a spell but I won't likely be big on it past the fiery death thing. (screaming as they burn FTW)

Charon's Wrath is an odd take on CR to be certain. It can spread without an extra cast but to what extent, I do not know. I'd likely do a good deal of testing for this spell concerning range, getting MORE out of its already efficient casts, armor pwning, etc.

GoZ is getting lots of praise. I'd like to test it for myself reasonably soon.. It is certainly nice that having it out doesn't cause issues with Orion's Harpoon..I'd like to find ways to "trick" like we have in the past..using just Efreet for i-frames (or rolls) isn't something I'll accept easily. In the past there were basically 1 useful special per sub and one other aspect of it was useful.

Ex: SoD for launch and Piercing Shards (SoD leaping too)

Ex: BoO for Divine Retribution/Anger of the Gods and heavy hits (BoO leaping too)

Ex: BH for super heavy hits and MotK (Infinite Jump also)

Ex: Artemis for tricking, Homeruns (usage of launch), R1 abuse and heavy hits (Artemis Lifts also)

And may the Force be with you Alucard.addaminsain

[QUOTE="addaminsain"]And may the Force be with you Alucard.Alucard_rules

I guess they aren't "acting" when pretending to be stuck in an invisible box . It is actually a variation of the Vader Choke.

I have tried everything I can think of, and I still get completely upgraded spells and weapons when I do bonus play. I've tried each difficulty, tried loading my NUR+ save then quitting and trying bonus play. Every time I get completely upgraded stats. Anyway, I'll be making a point to test Charon's wrath a bit in my God mode Mime of War bonus play run. As well as watching with comedic joy at enemies being slaughtered by seemingly nothing(The Force be with you!).Alucard_rules

That SUCKS..WTF

~What point is there to a costume with EXP bonuses if everything is auto-MAX'd in Bonus Play? That's bad design.

NOTE: So you have tried Bonus Play with even REGULAR Kratos and got these results? Well...at least we are going to be getting interesting results out of CW lvl3 thanks to this little Mime run you are doing.

The guide actually had good info about a few creatures behavior and I can note that Dissension and Tartarus Rage (especially air TR) RAEP. Few beasts have any idea what you are doing when you use Dissension to set-up air grab infinites. All. Too. Easy. I couldn't believe how often ashfire06 could get away with just using air Tartarus Rage against Minotaurs and Cyclops. Just about every creature falls victim to TR whoring on Normal apparently.

Probably the biggest deal to test with Charon's Wrath right now, is how well it works against Armor..testing the word of the guide that it just pwns it off in one cast. *they've been wrong before* Also, testing it on a single foe who is touching a group of other creatures would be great...just to see the target take 10 hits and everything tough the guy take 3...I wonder if a creature that touches a creature that took 3 hits will also take 3 hits or not...they didn't say to what extent it could spread...

I have the official names for creatures...I guess I should edit the thread (UPDATE) and add those so we don't use made up names. Sounds good? Good.

Charon's Wrath does break armor, but only on the main target. It doesn't break armor of the enemies touching the enemy you originally cast it on. So far the greatest amount of enemies I have had under the effect of Charon's Wrath was four. Also, let's say you have three enemies standing next to each other, if you have level 3 Charon's Wrath, you can cast it on each of the three enemies, and I'm pretty sure the touch damage will be dealt to each enemy for each cast. I'm not sure though, it is hard to keep track of damage when I don't have a Guide to tell me how much health each enemy has. You'll be much better at seeing exactly how it works when you get your copy, GMG.Alucard_rules

Just the main target?..Still good if it also does damage. (even at lvl1)

Well if it was 3 enemies ignited (targets) and touching each other (triangle) and that WORKED...the hits could range from 10 (ignoring the touch if a primary) to 16 for each (two counts of 'touch'). The best I could hope for is 13 each (39 total).

Such testing will have to wait I guess. I have to scan the guide (since a .pdf of even GoWII isn't up yet >_>) before I can fill in those SPOILER tags, but at least you have official names now. I'll fill in MOAR details later..based on what I've learned here and there in the short time I had in Hero (Normal).

If you have the time, care to list off tactics/tips of your own concerning the various beasts/bosses listed?

~You've done quite a lot here already, very nice work.

As always, happy to oblige. Yes, even if Charon's Wrath indirectly hits a character with a shield, therefore not breaking it, that enemy will still take damage.

Edit:

Armored Cyclops/Cyclops: In my opinion, not that hard. They hit hard, and if you get too close and don't roll away they have a hand sweep that ban hit even if you roll(sideways). But it has no running attack, so staying away from it isn't too hard if you aren't fighting two or you aren't in a confined space. Guanltet of Zeus(Olympian Strike and to a lesser extent Strength of Zeus), does a large amount of damage to it, and under the right conditions will knock the cyclops back. The only difference between the two is that you have to knock the armor off the armored cyclops. Any damage will do. They're minigame has four button presses, usually yields a few green orbs.

Armored Minotaur/Minotaur: These can be hard at first, but the axe swing isn't too hard to dodge, and the charging gore attack can be exploited if you roll out of the way once it starts charging, then start hitting it with Strength of Zues(or Valor of Hercules if you don't have the Guanltet yet.). It gets kind of stunned from the first few hits, then usually sets up for another gore charge. Actually easier than Cyclops to deal with once you get used to them. They're mini-game has three button presses, might yield some green orbs.

Banshee: A nuisance until you get the Guantlet of Zeus. They are somewhat stun resistant, and if you're too close when they do they're scream attack, you can't break free from it fast enough to avoid a hit, but if you're far enough away rapidly tap L/R to break free. However, if you roll as they are setting up for a shriek, it won't affect you. They're mini-game takes two button presses, and usually yields a few blue orbs. Cannot be infinite airgrabbed.

cursed harpling/harpling: Has a charge attack, but you can just do a grab kill. If they're anywhere close to you and you press (O) you'll grab them and kill them. Also, on harplings/harpies Orion's Harpoon is an instant kill.

Cursed harpie/harpie: A stronger version of the harpling. It has a dive bomb attack that can't be blocked(parryable). Also, very hard to grab, but if you just hit them with a blade attack then immediately hit (O), you'll grab them.

Dark Satyr/Satyr: Annoying bastards. Hard to stun, a decent amount of health, and they are quite nimble. They can be grabbed at any time, but eventually they get to low enough health you get have to do an analog turn to kill it. Usually drops blue orbs if killed by grab.

Dark Satyr Grenadier/Satyr Grenadier: Also quite annoying. While they have less health than the Satyr, they are also quite nimble, and they're grenades don't seem to have a range limit(within reason), and can sometimes be hard to dodge/get around. Also, a straight hit to you won't cause a pool of fire, but will do a good bit of damage. Can be blocked/parried. Same grab conditions as Satyr, and will usually yield blue orbs if killed that way.

Death Knight/Fire Sentinel. Fire Sentinels mostly appear alone(might be accompanied by grunts). Death Knights usually appear in twos(usually with harplings). Both have shields that can be knocked off with plume/spirit or charged Guantlet attack, Efreet, Radiant Sun, or direct Charon's Wrath. Mini-game is continuous twisting of analog. Might drop green orbs.

Gorgon/Gorgon Queen: Much like Banshee, except for the freeze beams. Mini-game involves one button press then (O) mashing. Drops a few blue orbs when grab-killed. Cannot be infinite airgrabbed.

Fire Guard: Has a flipping "plume" attack that is unblockable(can be parried.). Mini-game is one button press, yields green orbs. Decent health, hard to stun.

Hoplite/Shade: Has a running swipe. Usually appears in threes, and they will all attack you at once(in succesion). Can be grabbed at any time. Once health is low enough it is an auto kill. Might yield green orbs.

Hoplite Archer/Shade Archer: Can be grabbed at any time, instant kill.

Shielded Hoplite: Has a shield that can't be broken except by plume/valor, charged Guantlet attack, Efreet, Radiant Sun, or direct Charon's Wrath. Once shield is gone, just like Hoplite.

Morpheus Beast: Quite annoying until you get the Guantlet. Takes a lot of damage, can hit hard, has a "fire" breath attack that once it hits is kind of inescapable, and has a knockdown attack that you must hit L/R repeatedly to get out of. Mini-game requires two half analog turns, then a full one. Usually yields blue orbs.

Persains:Not worth commenting on.

The other enemies you listed I couldn't figure out what they were/were just green/red orb holders.

As always, happy to oblige. Yes, even if Charon's Wrath indirectly hits a character with a shield, therefore not breaking it, that enemy will still take damage. Alucard_rules

I wonder if a creature can be killed with their Armor still present..that would be interesting.

~I find the new skeleton of the topic to be adequate..whenever I feel myself up for filling it in...I'll drop by for the task..formatting these topis with back-to-back SPOILER tags is a pain...SRSLY

Am I missing something or is this the same situation as with GoW2 where you need to finish a normal play NUR to begin a bonus costume (e.g.General Kratos) NUR ?

So even if you don't MAX everything and complete a normal run ,then start Bonus play everything is MAXed?

Good work with the testing BTW, as soon as I get paid I must buy this game.

So even if you don't MAX everything and complete a normal run ,then start Bonus play everything is MAXed?

Good work with the testing BTW, as soon as I get paid I must buy this game.

addaminsain

Sucks doesn't it?

[QUOTE="addaminsain"]

So even if you don't MAX everything and complete a normal run ,then start Bonus play everything is MAXed?

Good work with the testing BTW, as soon as I get paid I must buy this game.

fightmastermax

Sucks doesn't it?

It doesn't sound a very good arrangement to me.

Luckily that issue was resolved recently so true NUR/NUR+ in BP can be done.

I'll need to list things for myself to test in the future:

-label air grab types

-test false grab reactions

-new alt.OH testing (timed press of circle during contact of BoC hits)

NOTE: When done on a "O" targets, they are instant killed. But does it register as a CS kill or damage? *orbs* Against Harpies/Harplings, it brings them to Kratos like alt.OH. How does this work on other creatures?

NOTE: I have a theory about these possibly allowing hit+grab damage on targets like Shades. This would be great for NUR/NUR+

-List infinites (air grabs/OH)

-note cheap victory means

-list good ways to launch/bounce

-list all instances of 'phasing' (not getting 'hit' while taking the damage) Ex: Spirit

-list all instances of 'invincibility frames'

-Perhaps list how effective Dissension, Ascension, Plume/Spirit, Valor, etc. are on a target

-create a cla$$ification system for stun/interuption effectiveness

-list foe attacks and foils?

-test for skips and LIST

-High Jump testing. Look for other ways to do it.

-Icarus Lift deals damage equal to the air grab done before it? Test it. Also causes Homeruns?

-Find alternate way to cause Homeruns

-Find/List sweet spots

-note checkpoint/restart oddities

~When I think of other things, I'll EDIT this

NOTE: It's suprising how good they made both versions of Tartarus Rage in this one.

Use this for true NUR/NUR+ in "Bonus Play+" conditions:

"this is for all NUR(NUR+) ppls.
i am pretty sure you have save file right b4 final boss battle if you attempted this run.
first you need to access memory card and get rid of gow system file. now all you need to do is play the game and load up your save file right b4 final boss. once you beat her, your system file will be created again and all your weapons, magics will be lv.1. and same goes for health and mana if you haven't upgraded them. =)
make sure you save this system file to your computer cuz if you load up any of your other save file with upgrades, they will overwrite this non-upgraded one, thus, no more NUR+ fresh game." - Shinobier

I said this in another thread. I'd like players who can test it, to try and do so (Ex: Alucard *feel like you've been the go-to-guy lately...sorry about that >_>*).

I've used this on foes with a "O" on their head (Ex: Cyclops, Minotaurs, etc. but not bosses) and if done right, it will treat the slash/grab (new OH variation?) as an instant kill. I've yet to test if these count as "death", "CS" (this would be odd) or "ALT Kill" (the guide doesn't explain what the hell these are exactly) concerning orb drops.

I also didn't take time to test it on pre-"O" foes let alone foes that can be grabbed at any point (instant kill only when HP is low but no "O") or the ones that are instant killed upon being grabbed other then Harpies/Harplings.

I refer to square swing animations by order. "s1" being the one I'd typically use for this. I believe "s2" also works. I haven't tested a whole lot because though I was able to spend over 6 hours with the game, I was just beating/unlocking things while casually noting things. (like launch to OH whoring on Gorgon Queens 'upsets' the game apparently)

I bring this up just as an interesting tid bit if you hadn't been exploring it beyond the use on flying pests. I'd like to think that like the Icarus Lift (colliding with a foe) after an air grab, that these 'alt.OH' (false grabs) hits deal damage of a single hit plus and a grab being used...that would be a neat NUR/NUR+ trick. Hoplites/Shades take 4 grabs (kicks to the chest) before the 5th grab finishes them. *if I recall right* I have hopes that you could (like DMC4 revving to an extent) press circle upon contact (lots of testing to do in this regard) of each hit to add-on grab damage to the ever so weak lvl1 BoC.

NOTE2: Clearly this is theoritical talk..if interested..investigate for yourself...when I have the title..I intend to go in-depth on this matter *among others*. Just thought I'd run it by you" - myself concerning alt.OH

~It appears the next visit with Eternal will have to be about the ***ing Leadership issue as its been far too long without a follow-up....

Don't worry. I did the same thing except we didn't play those games. We spent Easter dining on delicious food, playing MAGIC (triple threat set-up), watching movies,vids,clips,etc., playing on his MAME *freaking sweet but it hurts my wrists after a while..Arcade controls don't suit me* and visiting briefly with family.

My eldest brother failed to have the PSP ready (for our exchange) on Easter and the next day I couldn't get a hold of him to my great displeasure.

~An interesting bit of info to know. (sad too) I'll be sure to add that later in an EDIT.

NOTE: Have you been giving this new 'alt.OH' any testing in CoO? Outside usage against Harpies/Harplings of course >_>

There is a lot of testing to do for that exploit...

Parries count as hits? I had read in GI that having the Light of Dawn drawn pauses the combo meter but not heard of that.

~Concerning the testing of alt.OH, it would have to be extensive...each creature tested for results. Creatures with "O" would all likely just die upon being hit with it. We'eve seen how it pulls Harpies/Harplings to us..I've seen how it kills Minotaurs and Cyclops. There is still a lot of test though..if it only mimics a successful grab's effects..then doing it on the Fire Guards should do nothing unless "O" is present. Doing it on Shades/Hoplites should deal grab damage per usage on them. Archers should get instant killed by it. That's all in theory though. It would be slightly easier to test with damage values already known

DOUBLE POST for updates.

I've done a little testing here and there with CoO despite not having a memory stick.

All on Hero (Normal) NP of course:

-It's bizzare but I may have been totally mistaken about alt.OH. Perhaps it really does only work against Harplings/Harpies. Don't know how I could have 'observed' the effect so often only for it to not work any longer

-Still no success with finding skips (unnatural) using High Jumps. It can be done after most air grabs. It appears that after using an air grab on a Banshee/Gorgon/Queen you are forced to grab at air after it resolves. It can also be done if you leap over a foe and grab at air then do an Icarus Lift against them.

-The Launch to OH to Launch (using quick Ascensions) upsets the game period. This is used on Banshees/Gorgons/Queens for an easy victory but with the risk of freezing..it's sort of lame in CoO. It could be better to just handle it as Shinobier does so as not to risk such a terrible glitch. *if you haven't saved shortly before* It doesn't always happen, but it's often enough that it will aggrivate you. (perhaps 1 out of 3 uses will cause the glitch)

-"Death" kills (concerning EXP given) include: physical hits, OH, air grabs and environmental kills (life reduced to zero)

-"CS" kills are: grabs (only option for bosses)

-"ALT" kills include: I need to look into this further as I only know of Efreet granting this. Perhaps it includes the other spells as welll. Perhaps charged Guantlet hits. Perhaps other things I haven't thought of yet.

Persian Warrior (20HP) - The air grab and OH do 10 damage.

Persian Archer (10HP) - They can shoot each other but do not deal any damage with it. (stun) Their air grab and OH are instant kills. (10 damage)

Athenian Soldier (6HP) - I've only seen these guys instant killed with a single hit despite knowing I didn't deal killing damage. They don't grant EXP but drop '10' health orbs upon being killed in any way. *they can be killed by other creatures*

Basilisk *tower* (150HP) - During its roars *slightly before, during or after* a single hit will always drop health orbs and 5 EXP.

-Cyclops (200HP) - This is where I tried to do alt.OH for a long while with no success. I recall the 'observation' (possibly screwed up by lvl5 power) being with Armored Cyclops after being stripped but I'd have thought it would work here too..perhaps I was just seeing what wasn't there as with SoD's PS "auto-breaking" which turned out to be an easy mistake to make given the circumstances.

-Nothing to say about the other Basilisk encounters aside from that the "Final Breath" (last) stage doesn't have the ability to pursue Kratos if he retreats.

Shade (40HP) - Their throws, air grab and OH all deal 8 damage per usage.

Shade Archer (25HP) - I forgot to test their air grab and OH values. I'll get back to that

Banshee (85HP) - Basically a gorgon who uses a shriek rather then 'Stare'. If the Banshee is mostly off-screen, her shriek won't work. Just leaping up won't avoid it. Rolling (to negate) and Efreet can evade it. Heavy attacks and enders can interupt her before she can use Shriek. A false grab when it isn't attacking will cause a "repel to random attack". The game froze while I was using the quick Ascension exploit *I shouldn't have done it without a way to save* so I didn't get to test for OH and air grab values.

-I'll need to test ways to break Gorgon Stare, Queen coils, etc. I have a lot I want to test concernig the Guantlet. It's nice that you don't need to switch to the Blades (I'll test to see if any exploits can be done becuase of it) to use OH. It would be great to use the GoZ's Ascension (charaged or regular) to get a Gorgon airborne then OH it..while clearly not using quick Ascension as that would again lead to freezing.

I dabbled in testing for damage values with these results:

lvl1 BoC - 1.0

s1 = 2

s2 = 2

s3 = 4 *like GoWII and unlike GoW1, this hit is twice as strong as either hit 1 or hit 2*

s4 = 2/2

s5 = 2/2

t1 = 3/3

Valor = 8

Plume = 6

Spirt = 2/12

Hyperion Ascension = 2 (Like GoWII, it's only as strong as a basic square hit rather then being 4x that as in GoW1)

(air) s1 = 2

(air) s2 = 2

(air) s3 = 2

(air) t (Dissension) = 2/2

Orion's Harpoon = variable

NOTE: It's possible that OH and air grabs will be equal in power throughout CoO (unlike in GoWII)

I'm not 100% sure but I think the Blades' path of power (percentile) will follow the pattern seen in GoWII.

lvl1 = 1.0, lvl2 = 1.5, lvl3 = 2.0, lvl4 = 2.5, lvl5 = 3.0. It could also go like in GoW1 though: lvl4 = 3.0 lvl5 = 4.0

I can't say anything for certain concerning the Guantlet as I haven't done a lot with it. I NEED to find a way to reduce the power of Kratos to 50% so 2 damage strikes do just 1 damage. I have high hopes that God Mode will allow this. Using what I know of Normal, I'll try to test for percentile changes throughout the difficulties. Later I will try testing the costumes for their percentiles. I can't believe the guide didn't ****ing cover that info...

~That's all I've got for now. Perhaps I'll EDIT this later upon venturing further.