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There is no doubt you will have trouble with this duo. It took me about 5 tries to finally take them down. Anyway, your primary target when you begin the battle is Yuffie. Do not worry about Leon for he normally walks to you. You've got plenty of time to smack Yuffie around a bit before Squall gets to you. When he does, just run or roll out of the way. You HAVE to focus on just Yuffie for now. The standard strategy for Yuffie is just move in and attack mercilessly (sp?). She'll stard flipping backwards and away from you in time to throw a shuriken at you. When this happens, you have 3 options: Dodge it, Deflect it by attacking it, Deflect it by blocking.
If you successfully deflect 3 shurikens back at her, she'll be knocked out for a little bit, allowing you to beat on her for a little bit.
So, when Yuffie gets close to dying, she'll power up and unleash a homing shuriken. This shuriken hunts you down for about 5 or so turns. It comes to you and if it hits you or misses you, it'll come back in a few seconds. Keep moving to dodge it. Just make sure not to accidentally run into Leon or you'll be sorry. Smack around Yuffie some more when the homing shuriken dissappears and she'll be down for the count in no time. Keep in mind that you cannot deflect THIS shuriken back at Yuffie.
Okay, 1 down... 1 to go. Leon's a total badass. He'll kick your ass in a second if you mess up. Make sure not to mess up. ;) Anyway, deflect Leon's standard attacks with either a block or an attack (preferrably a block, but I'm not sure if you've acquired it yet). If you successfully deflect an attack, you'll see a message in mid-air stating "Tech: #p" (you've gained a few experience for deflecting an attack) and you'll also notice Leon stagger a bit. This is your que to kick his ass around until you finish your combo. Continue doing so until his health is low.
When this happens, Leon also powers up. For Leon, however, his sword grows into a magical Lionhart which, at this point of the game, deals quite a bit of damage. Make sure your health is full before running at Leon. This time, you cannot deflect even his standard attacks. Just jump up and down and smack him upside the head until he's dead. It's easier said than done, however. Good luck.
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As if he wasn't hard enough the first time, the beefed up Cloud once again takes you on. Boh. Cloud's attacks (at first) consist of standard attacks (short-range melee attacks) and an "impaling" attack (before he does this move, he jumps away from you and proceeds to yell before he does it). When it comes to the standard attacks, use the same strategy as Leon. Just deflect it and proceed to beat him up. When it comes to the impaling attack, however.... there's nothing you can do at this point of the game. You're more than likely not strong enough to deflect it yet, so just keep dodging it. But if you feel you are, go for it.
Anyway, when Cloud's health gets low he usually unleashes his super attack where he flies around on his one wing hacking at you. This move is VERY hard to dodge, so just try to BLOCK it (un-deflectable). Before he unleashes the attack he states "Farewell", so watch out for that. Once he's done with the One-Winged Angel, he'll be the same 'ol Cloud. Kick his ass.
Ask me and I'll tell you Nomura should have made Cloud the final boss for this Cup and named it the Cloud Cup. :p Yes, Hercules is THAT easy. Anyway, when Hercules is glowing yellow: he's invulnerable. If you're locked on (you should be), press L2 until you're locked onto one of the barrels that materialize before your eyes. run up to it and choose to lift it. Lock on once again to Herc and wait for him to show off (he always says "Give up yet?"). This is your que to throw the barrel at him. His yellow aura will be gone, which gives you time to smack him around. He usually fights back but it's usually not enough to take you at in one hit.
When he spins around just glide around. He won't be able to hit you. Also, when he runs low on energy he unleashes a sort of super attack every once in a while where he creates a shell around him that hurts you. It don't hurt you that much, so don't worry. In time, he'll be down for the count. A pushover, at most.
Hades Cup Note:
This Cup consist of 49 Seeds. This is cake at first, but gets harder after each Seed... you'll see.
After progressing through 10 Seeds, you are allowed to continue from that point if you lose. Rather, If you
get up to the 39th Seed and lose, you can continue from the 40th seed.
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Same Yuffie as before. Only this time she usually throws 3 standard shuriken at once. Other than that and the fact that she's a bit stronger: same strategy as above applies.
Ouch. This is one hard battle. It took me about 8 tries to finally take these guys down. Yes, they're THAT tough when together. Okay, this time around: attack and finish off Leon first. But before you do that, lure Donald and Goofy to Cloud so they can keep him occupied while you deal with Leon. The same exact strategy applies for Leon as stated above. Nothing new in his arsenal, despite the fact that he's much stronger. Cloud is also the same as he was the last time you fought except, as everyone else, is much stronger than last time. The same strategy applies. Just be conservative and run away when you're in trouble.
So now you know where Hades was all this time. :) Waiting to get his ass kicked by you!!! :p Anyway, this battle is surprisingly tough. It'll more than likely take you a few tries to take him down (3 for me). Trial and Error, people. At first, you CAN attack Hades as much as you want but it won't hurt him. That doesn't mean it won't affect him. :) He has a sort of invisible "shield" where, if enough damage is applied, it'll "break" and he'll start to take damage. There really is no indication of this, but I just know from experience. Hades starts by floating around and spewing flames out of his hands. He's very slow so just run away from him. In time, he'll run out of juice so just kick it to him until he starts his next wave of that attack.
In time, he'll turn red and go to the middle of the arena. This part is very tough. First, make sure you're not as his SIDES but either in front or behind him (try to be close to him, too). He'll raise his arms and shoot powerful flames from his arms. This attack lasts about 10 seconds. Think that's nothing? Think again. This attack is the SOLE reason I lost to him 3 times. The reason for being close to him is to dodge roll in the direction he's going (he turns, btw). If you're farther away, the flames will eventually catch up to you. If you're closer, you'll be going just as fast as the flames, really. Just makes sure to mash on Square like there's no tomorrow. Eventually he'll turn blue again, so just smack him around. Just repeat and he'll be down for the count in no time.
This battle is very easy. Just hack at his feet for a while until he falls. Climb up on his body and hack at the head of your choice. Eventually, damage will start being taken out (another invisible shield scenario). The only thing to be afraid of in this battle is an extremely lethal foot stomp that happens every once in a while. It never happened to me the first time I fought him, but I can't seem to remember if there's any indication that it's coming. Other than that, this battle is so easy. Continue hacking at his feet until he falls, and hack at his head. They might as well just give you the damned trophy.
This match may seem extremely hard at first. Impossible, even. But it's actually very easy, and happens to be the very best place to level up later in the game (more on that in a sec). The general premise of this match is to reflect the icicles the Titan SHOOTS at you (not the ones that come out of the ground). I suggest you stay around a corner in the Coliseum for this match. In time, the screen will flash and you are given a chance to hack at his head to inflict critical damage. He WILL get up in time, however. It is then when he starts to use new moves onyou. One is when giant snowballs appear over your head and fall down above you, 3 at a time. Just keep moving to dodge this move. After another flash, he'll acquire another move: an Ice Storm (sorta). If you're in the corner like I told you to be, it won't hit. If it does somehow hit you, you're too close so go to another corner. Continue with the standard strategy (moving around a little, deflecting every chance you get) and he'll be down for the count in no time. You are now 5000p+ richer.
Note: This is THE greatest place to level up in the game. Each icicle blocked gives you 27p, and the average player deflects 100 or more icicles a match. If you want even more xp a match, try killing him using only his icicles. This will more than likely give you about 4000p in icicles alone, and when you kill him you get 5000p. That's 9000p from one battle. Good deal or what?
Make sure all your item slots are "occupied" by Elixirs. Yes, all of them. Also, make sure to have the Ability "Second Chance" equipped. This is the original "???" option at the Cup selection menu (before you complete the Hades Cup and unlock the Gold Match). This match is the toughest battle in the game. According to PSM, when they called up Square for help, the man responded with "Well, are you level 100 yet?". Is that crazy or what? Well, truth is: if you took all the Strength/Defense/AP Ups for yourself you should be ready for this boss at about level 85. If I can do it, you can, too.
No spoilers here, btw. You'll be pleasantly surprised to see who it is. Anyway, this boss has very long reach and is relatively quick to boot. It's a tough battle, I tell you. Always approach the boss by jumping/gliding. Never walk up to him and attack. It's suicide. At first, the boss doesn't take any damage (yet another invisible shield scenario) but eventually will. The boss also unleashes a fire pillar attack if you stay close to him too much. Once the boss's energy is taken downto the orange level, he comes out with a new move called "Sin Harvest" (it's actually a one hit kill, but since you have second chance equipped, that won't be happening any time soon :p). If you see the boss at a corner casting a spell, and also see a halo appear over your head: USE AN ELIXIR, QUICK!!!! He'll come running to you very fast. If you don't work fast enough, you're a goner. Anyway, continue using this strategy until about the green level of his health.
When this happens, he'll power up and be surrounded by a blue aura. Don't go around looking for barrels, though. Unlike Herc, this does not mean he's invulnurable.This just means he's stronger than before, and now has even more magical abilites. He'll cast Meteor and the like, so be very careful. I haven't had any success dodging meteors, so Good Luck to you. But, that didn't stop me from winning in the end. When you get a chance, smack him around. In time, he'll go down.. again. This time, for good..
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