********************************** * * * WARRIORS OROCHI 2 - Orochi FAQ * * Version 1.01 * * Created by Mythril Wyrm * * * ********************************** Table of Contents I. Update History II. Legal Notice/Disclaimer III. About Orochi A. In History B. In Warriors Orochi 2 IV. Unlocking Orochi V. Using Orochi A. Orochi's Moveset 1. Regular Attacks 2. Charge Attacks 3. Mounted Attacks 4. Special & Musou Attacks B. Maximizing Orochi's Effectiveness VI. Orochi's Collectibles & Strategy A. Weapons 1. Sickle 2. Life Drainer 3. Spirit Reaper 4. Eternal Agony B. Abilities 1. Boost 2. Acclaim 3. Refill 4. Potence C. Strategy VII. Tier List Placement VIII. Questions & Answers IX. Special Thanks X. Contacting Me To skip to a specific section, press Ctrl + F, type in a section name, and press Enter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Update History v1.00 - Completed all sections. There probably won't be any further updates unless someone sends me corrections. v1.01 - Made some small corrections to the About Orochi and Tier List Placement sections and an update to the Special Thanks section. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. Legal Notice/Disclaimer This FAQ is copyright 2008 by Devin McCain. Presently, only the following websites have permission to host this FAQ: GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) IGN (http://www.ign.com) Neoseeker (http://www.neoseeker.com) Super Cheats (http://www.supercheats.com) Please notify me as soon as possible if you find it posted anywhere else. If you want to post this FAQ on your own website, you may do so only if you obtain my permission in writing and agree to leave the FAQ completely unchanged. If you post it without my permission or change it and try to pass it off as your own, there will be unpleasant consequences when I find out. Feel free to print a copy of this FAQ for personal use, but do not publish or distribute it with intent to turn profit on it. I'm sharing it free of charge, so please respect that. All other copyrights and trademarks mentioned in this FAQ are the property of their respective owners. I do not claim to own any of them. This FAQ may contain spoilers. Continue reading at your own risk. I take no responsibility for any embarrassment, injuries, or deaths that result from the use of this FAQ or any of the information contained herein. If you're that stupid, it's your own damn fault. Got that? Good. Now, let's move on to the fun stuff... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. About Orochi A. In History The following information about Orochi is taken from Wikipedia: "Yamata no Orochi ("big snake of eight branches"; often called Orochi or the Eight-Forked Serpent in English) is a dragon- or serpent-like creature in Japanese mythology. In the ancient Japanese scripture, the Kojiki, after Susa-no-O is expelled from Heaven, he encounters two Kuni-tsu-Kami ("earthly deities") near the head of the Hi-i-gawa ("Hi'i river") in Izumo Province. They are weeping because they have had to give the Orochi one of their daughters once every year, and now they must sacrifice their eighth and last, whose name is Kushi-inada-hime. The monster is described as having eight heads and eight tails and eyes as red as winter-cherries. It is so long its body extends over eight valleys and eight hills, its belly is always bloody and inflamed, and its back is covered with hikage (clubmoss), hinoki (Japanese cypress), and sugi (Japanese cedar). Susa-no-O asks for Kushi-inada-hime's hand in marriage, and then transforms her into a comb (kushi) which he places in his hair. He then asks her parents to brew some sake that has been refined eight times, and then build a round enclosure with eight gates, each with a platform and a sake vat. They fill the sake vats and wait, and sure enough the Orochi appears. It dips a head into each vat, and is soon intoxicated, allowing Susa-no-O to cut it into pieces. When he cuts the middle tail, his sword is chipped, and there he finds the legendary sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi." B. In Warriors Orochi 2 After the events of the first game, the short-lived peace achieved by The Coa- lition is disturbed by Da Ji's plan to resurrect Orochi. She begins by bringing back the evil Kiyomori Taira from the netherworld, who in turn enlists the aid of the various Orochi army officers as well as Sun Wukong, his new right hand "man," to use the powers of the mysterious little girl Himiko to bring Orochi back from the dead and grant him even more power. The plan eventually succeeds, and Shin Orochi is born to challenge humanity in putting an end to him once more. Warriors Orochi 2 also contains one extra story mode: Orochi. Unlike the other four stories, this mode serves as a prequel to the first game that tells the tale of Orochi's rise to power - how he was freed from his prison in the Mystic Realm by Da Ji, how he merged time and space, and how he convinced or forced warriors such as Keiji Maeda, Masamune Date, Zhuge Liang, the Sun family, and many others into joining his army and granting him even more might through their support. This was a very nice contribution to the series by KOEI, except that the game never explains how Lu Bu joined the Serpent King. After all of Lu Bu's "so it seemz zer'z some1 bsides teh oroci hoo can match my mad skillz lol!" crap from the first game, one would expect to see him get his ass handed to him in an epic battle with Orochi. Maybe we'll see it happen in Warriors Orochi 3... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. Unlocking Orochi To unlock Orochi, you must complete the following steps: -Insert Warriors Orochi 2 in your PlayStation 2. -Turn the power on. In other words, he's one of the initial characters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. Using Orochi A. Orochi's Moveset These are the attacks that will be available to Orochi once his full combo has been unlocked. Some attacks will vary if his full combo has not yet been unlocked. 1. Regular Attacks S | A right-to-left downward slash. Orochi becomes invincible while | performing this attack. SS | Orochi strikes the ground with the head of his scythe, producing | a shockwave that damages all surrounding enemies. SSS | A spinning slash. Hits 270 degrees. SSSS | A left-to-right upward slash. SSSSS | A right-to-left slash. SSSSSS | A spinning slash. Hits 270 degrees. SSSSSSS | A left-to-right upward slash. SSSSSSSS | A right-to-left slash. SSSSSSSSS | Orochi fires a ball of dark energy straight ahead, launching all | enemies in his path into the air. X + S | Orochi hurls a fireball at the ground, launching all enemies he | strikes into the air. Has an innate Flame effect. Dash attack | A right-to-left downward slash. 2. Charge Attacks C1 / T | Orochi strikes the ground with the head of his scythe, producing | a shockwave that knocks away all surrounding enemies. C1 / TT | Orochi hurls a fireball along the ground. Has an innate Flame | effect. C1 / TTT | Orochi waves his hand from left to right, firing purple lightning | from his palm. Knocks the enemy down. C2 / ST | Orochi crouches down and concentrates, producing an energy wave | that launches all surrounding enemies into the air. C2 / STT | Orochi does a left-to-right downward slash with his scythe. C2 / STTT | Orochi does a right-to-left slash with his scythe, knocking away | all surrounding enemies. C3 / SST | Orochi fires a spread of ice crystals in front of him. Has an in- | nate Ice effect. C3 / SSTT | Orochi stomps the ground, producing a small shockwave that | launches all enemies in front of him into the air. C3 / SSTTT | Orochi flies forward and does a spinning attack with his scythe, | launching all enemies he strikes into the air. C4 / SSST | Orochi lunges forward and does a right-to-left slash with his | scythe. C4 / SSSTT | Orochi lunges forward and does a left-to-right upward slash with | his scythe. C4 / SSSTTT | Orochi hovers in the air and surrounds himself with an aura of | dark energy, knocking away all surrounding enemies. X + T | Orochi does a spinning buzzsaw attack into the ground, producing | a shockwave that knocks away all surrounding enemies. 4. Mounted Attacks SSSS(SSSS) | A series of slashes off the right side of the horse. T | Orochi's horse leaps into the air, knocking away all enemies | around it when it lands. ST | An upward slash. Launches the enemy into the air. SST | An upward slash. Stuns the enemy. SSST | An upward slash. Launches the enemy into the air. Musou | Orochi's horse charges forward at high speed, knocking away anyone | in its path. 5. Special & Musou Attacks R1 | Orochi calls forth two phantoms that perform overhead strikes with | their scythes in unison with him. Unblockable. Musou | Orochi crouches down and concentrates, producing energy waves that | launch all nearby enemies into the air. Ends with a shockwave that | knocks away all surrounding enemies and a slash that makes Orochi | temporarily invincible. True musou | Same as regular musou, but adds three quick slashes before the | final shockwave and slash. B. Maximizing Orochi's Effectiveness Orochi's most noticeable weakness is his speed. His heavy armor makes him a slow runner, so he's not the best choice for clearing great distances quickly. He's also a rather poor juggler. Apart from these minor weaknesses, Orochi is fiendishly powerful. He's a Power type with iron-hard defense, and he excels at both dueling and crowd control, but it's important to take the time to familiarize yourself with his moveset. His regular combo is fast and provides excellent coverage, and it's easy enough to blaze through a battle using nothing but regular attacks. The delay before the final blow, however, makes it dangerous to use in the middle of a crowd, so be careful when spamming S on higher difficulty settings. C2 works fairly well against enemy generals and small groups of peons, but it pales in comparison to Orochi's other charge attacks. Unless you're skilled at hitting enemies with it after setting them on fire with TT or your air attack, there's little reason to use it frequently. C3 is invaluable in duels; the ice crystals do great damage at point-blank range, and frozen foes will be much easier to tear apart with a special or musou attack. SSTT and SSTTT work better as escape moves when you're surrounded by peons. C4, due to the lunges and area attack at the end, is a great way to escape from large crowds. Use it freely when surrounded. Your air charge works very well against Base Captains, since it can usually break their shields with one hit. If you want to use Orochi to his full potential, however, C1 should be your staple move. The initial shockwave executes slowly, but it hits in a large area, does massive damage, and puts a lot of space between you and your enemies. TT and TTT are best used to rip through enemy generals after pinning them against a wall. All told, your best bet is to use C1, C4, and regular attacks to cleave through peon hordes and C1, C3, and your musou to dispatch generals. Don't waste too much time with your special; as wicked as it looks, it's far less useful than your musou. I recommend adding the following special effects to Orochi's weapon: Absorb - Stealing musou means you get to use your musou more often. Woo-hoo! Agility - Allows you to execute charge attacks more quickly, making C1 even more deadly. Brave - Doing more damage to generals is good for anyone. Drain - Good for increasing your lasting power. Flash - Unblockable charge attacks. Need I say more? Might - Doing more damage to everyone is good for anyone. Range - Allows you to hit more enemies at once and increases the margin of error on your attacks. Slay - Invaluable for toppling your fellow juggernauts. You'll understand once you see it in action. If the suggestions above don't suit your playing style, try these instead: Air - Increases the power of C2 and the last two hits of C3. Consider it as a replacement for Drain or Range. Ice - Very useful if C3 doesn't have enough freezing power for your tastes. Consider it as a replacement for Drain or Range. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. Orochi's Collectibles & Strategy A. Weapons 1. Sickle Base Attack: 12 Attack bonus, effects, and number of slots will vary. 2. Life Drainer Base Attack: 24 Attack bonus, effects, and number of slots will vary. 3. Spirit Reaper Base Attack: 48 Attack bonus, effects, and number of slots will vary. 4. Eternal Agony Base Attack: 97 Attack bonus, effects, and number of slots will vary. B. Abilities 1. Boost Requirements: Defeat 60 enemies. 2. Acclaim Requirements: Defeat 3 officers, while maintaining 30% Life Gauge status. 3. Refill Requirements: Defeat 3 officers, within 10 minutes of the start of the battle, without performing any attack using the Musou Gauge. Tips: Abuse C1 and C3. 4. Potence Requirements: Defeat 160 enemies, including 6 officers. Tips: Go all-out. C. Strategy Name: Face Off Effect: Reduces the damage inflicted upon all allied forces. Requirements: Defeat 300 enemies. It raises the defense of all officers in your army, which can buy you some time to turn the tables during a tight battle. Defeating 300 enemies should be easy work for the Serpent King, so go for it whenever you have a chance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. Tier List Placement Personally, I dislike tier lists. I'll agree that some characters are easier to use effectively than others, but I firmly believe that any character can be used effectively with enough practice and a solid strategy. Furthermore, since some players are more naturally skillful than others and everyone's playing style is different, tier lists often become little more than a collection of opinions about which characters are easiest to use to their full potential. I think some players could benefit from spending less time debating about which characters are top tier, bottom tier, or somewhere in between and more time finding out which character and what strategy best fit their playing style. I also realize that some people consider tier lists to be much more useful than I do. This section is for those people. Orochi is widely considered to be a top tier character because of his fast and consistent offense and excellent defense. C1, with its power and range, gives him superior crowd control, and X + S followed by C1 can tear enemy of- ficers apart with ease as long as he has enough room to hurl his fireball. Be- cause of this limitation, he can have difficulty fighting stronger officers on Hard or Chaos mode if they're in a small or heavily crowded area. This leads some to argue that he should be considered a 2nd tier character, and even those who consider him top tier usually place several other characters above him on the list. If anyone disagrees with or has something to add to this analysis, feel free to send me an e-mail. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII. Questions & Answers Q: Why an Orochi FAQ? A: It hadn't been done yet, and I think he's a fun character to use. Q: Orochi sucks! His attacks are too hard to aim! A: That's not a question, and it's not even true. It takes some time to adjust to his style, but he's extremely powerful once you learn it. Q: Orochi is broken. A: That's still not a question...and really, did you expect anything less from the main villain? Q: If he's so overpowered, why do you use him? Don't you like a challenge? A: Yes, but using Orochi's a good way to relieve stress. Q: Why can't I get a 4th weapon for Orochi? A: Because you're a pansy. Q: Seriously, what do I need to do to get one? A: Play any battle on Chaos mode, or any battle with a difficulty rating of three stars or more on Hard mode. They'll randomly appear in weapon boxes. Q: Your FAQ sucks! I've crapped out better FAQs than this! A: As soon as you find a way to upload excrement, you should post your wondrous creation for all to see. Q: I posted my FAQ, and everyone I know thinks it's better than yours! Your FAQ really DOES suck! A: Congratulations! I am in awe of your superior FAQ-writing skills! Now go away. Q: This is the best FAQ I've ever read! You're a genius and a god among men, and I want to know more about you so that I can immortalize you! A: Yeah, I get that a lot. My contact info's listed below. Q: <insert some question that has nothing to do with Orochi or the FAQ here> A: See the second sentence of my previous answer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IX. Special Thanks I would like to thank... ...KOEI and Omega Force, for creating Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, and Warriors Orochi. ...Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orochi), for providing information about the mythological Orochi. ...Shadow Phoenix of GameFAQs, for helping me compile the FAQ, offering many encouraging words and unwavering moral support, and being an all-around awesome guy. ...Rydain of GameFAQs, for skillfully and respectfully convincing me that some tier lists are more than just lists of opinions. ...GameFAQs, for posting this FAQ. ...Neoseeker, for posting this FAQ. ...Super Cheats, for posting this FAQ. ...the folks at IGN, for posting this FAQ. ...you, for reading this FAQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X. Contacting Me If you want to get in touch with me, send an e-mail to mythrilwyrm@gmail.com. Be sure to put the word "FAQ" in the subject line of your e-mail, or I'm likely to mistake it for spam and delete it. I check my e-mail every day, so you should receive a reply quickly in most cases. I accept praise, corrections, and constructive criticism, and will give you credit for any information you share with me that I decide to add to the FAQ. Rude, crass, or incomprehensible e-mails will be ignored or shamelessly ridiculed as my mood dictates, so keep your e-mails clear and polite if you want me to respond in kind. I also use AIM occasionally. If you want my Screen Name, ask for it via e-mail. Happy gaming!