yea ok, so nozo ito did an ok job to make a boss guide, but as some may have found out, the combat in the normal levels arent all so easy later on, so i have come here to give you some advise.
first off, look at the encyclopedia for controls, i wont do a preaching on them, its quite easy: PIGs IN SPAAAAACCCEEEEBAAAAR!!!!!
so, lets learn about fast and strong attacks. when you arent in the situation for a stylish humiliation, you are using fast or strong attacks. as you may have noticed, some enemies are able to block or parry your attacks. well the good thing about fast moves, is that the counterpart is unlikely to have a chance at giving you back. the backside of the coin, is that it will be blocked about 70% of the time(depending of enemy type) Strong attacks, however, are much slower(duuh!), and of course stronger(duuuh!) but one important thing to know: THEY CANT BE BLOCKED WHATSOEVER!!!!!!, which is good, whenever you face someone who blocks your attacks too much. fast attacks work better with crowds. strong attacks can also be delivered in a running state, which is quite efficient, so you dont have to be facing you enemy before you swing. this brings me to another way of attacking, the air attack. the air attack is good if you are surrounded and need a quick way out.
next on, ill teach you about the knockout states, and relate them to the strong and fast attacks. and ofcourse the airattack. whenever you attack an enemy with the different types of attack, you may have them end up in the 3 different states.
Stagger, where the enemy will walk backwards for a while. NOTE: he cannot block in this period, and it cannot be interupted. stagger is often caused by a combo of fast attacks, or a strong attack(sometimes)
Stun: where the enemy stands still for a while. stun can be seen on an enemy, when 3 stars circle over his head(go looneytoons) happens at the same circumstances at the stagger, but is much more rare.
Knockdown: enemy tumbles to the ground. often happens from an airstrike, or a series of strong attacks. if an airbourne enemy is hit, he WILL be knocked down.
in all these states, enemies are vulerable for a Finishing moves, which kills them INSTANTLY... that really covers finishing moves too i suppose...
Next up: Contests
contests are, where you hit a guy with a Strong attack, and he hits you simultaniously. just smash your space bar to a pond to win. if you win, you get 100% rage(more on that later) and your foe is staggered... loose and you get stunned.
Then theres the barrels.
barrels are a good tool on holding the hordes away. there are two types: barrel and BOOMBarrel. The Barrel is well... just some random barrel(may contain skeleton). then BOOMBarrel... goes boom... and there is no way to tell ´em appart! when a Barrel is thrown onto an enemy, he will be stunned. if a BOOMBarrel is thrown, he will die, along with his nearest friends. note that the exact same things will happen to you if you are hit by one. well you wont die from one BOOMBarrel, but youll loose about 15-25% health. one more thing, when an enemy throws a barrel, he hits it. a barrel can take 3 hits, from you or your enemies, and throwing it on the ground doesnt hurt it. hitting it 2 times, and then throwing it will be a perfect trap. whenever he tries to toss one, he may be a tiny surprise. a BOOMBarrel will glow red when you are enraged.
then we have RAGE. the yellow bar next to your health is the rage-o-meter. whenever you deal or take damage, it goes up. it slowly depletes. when you reach 100%, you will be enraged, which means you will glow red. you DO NOT do more damage or anything like that. it means that BOOMBarrels glow red, and you will get a free takedown, without the need to stun, stagger or knockdown.
thats about all you need to know that isnt in the encyclopedia, some of i were i know. but heres a tip.
an attack hurts in a small area in front of you, so garthering a group of foes in front of you will have you attack ALL at the same time... you also gather rage quickly with this lil move.
