OMFG WHERE IS THE EXCITEMENT? *SPOILERS*

[razorrozar7]

I'm 14-15 hours into Ventus' story and just reached (SPOILER)Neverland. I would be farther along but work and my convention got in the way. Though I did do a bit of co-op at my convention so I have a few extra D-Links and was able to unlock a level 2 Command style for Ven in the Mirage Arena. I'm about level 30 now and sadly, addicted to the monopoly board game.

you must been in mirage arena a long time it only took me 13 hours to play through aqua's whole storyline.

[Wolf Kanno]

I've finished Ventus and Terra's story and currently 2/3rds of the way into Aqua's storyline. Ventus' plot was a little... weird but makes much more sense as you play through the rest of the characters stories. My favorite Command styles so far are Diamond Dust, Critical Impact, Sky Climber, Blademaster (Aqua) and Wing Blade... oh good god Wing Blade is awesome.

Ventus is my favorite to play as but sadly I like Terra and Aqua better as characters. Ventus is like a whiny version of Roxas who doesn't have as much of a chip on his shoulder as Roxas did. Granted that changes after his story but oh well, I still find the other two characters more interesting, even if Terra is incredibly gullible and trusting.

Also, smurfing Leonard Nimoy and Mark Hamil do outstanding jobs in their roles. Its a shame Leonard retired after doing this role cause if (SPOILER)Old Man Master Xehanort ever returned I can't imagine anyone else doing as good of a job.

The combat continues to impress me and I love the D-Link system as it has proven invaluable in Aqua's storyline cause several of them offer enough buffing abilities to let Aqua fight like Ven or Terra if need be which is great in the beginning of the game when you have access only to the low level magic. Aqua's story has been the hardest but mostly cause this is the first time the series has forced you to play a mage heavy character in KH. She's frighteningly powerful but the beginning of the game is much harder for her cause she's more combat skill reliant than Terra and Ven who can easily button mash their way through battles. Thank god most of the keyblades give crit bonuses.

So far the game has just been incredibly awesome and I'm looking forward to the Final Episode.

[Del Murder]

The battles in this game are more fun than any KH game yet. I love the command styles and melding commands to make new stuff. Don't miss MP at all.

[Rostum]

At the moment I'm a little 'meh' about the game. One of the mistakes was that I am playing Ventus first, which apparently isn't a good idea in terms of story (no idea why they let you choose) - at least I'm told. I haven't experimented with melding commands much yet and I am playing on Proud mode which is proving more difficult that other KH Proud modes.

If anyone can, I'd really appreciate some advice on what kind of build for each character I should be aiming at (like what to meld and use for Ventus).

[Wolf Kanno]

Ventus is the speedy character and he has rather low defense so you need to balance him with fast moves and long range. Unlike Terra and Aqua, Ventus is the most balanced in terms of proficiency with physical and magical skills so its better to keep that up and give him a mix of magic and physical abilities.

Ventus' unique skills include:

Wind Raid ***
Spark Raid ***
Treasure Raid *
Ars Arcanum *****
Tornado ****
Salvation ****
Faith *****

I also highly recommend getting a move called Time Splicer as it is one of the best physical skills for Ven and Aqua (Terra can't learn it) its made by melding Blitz (you'll pick it up from a chest eventually if you don't make one by accident) and Stopga. Wind and Spark Raid are great for medium range combat cause Wind hits an enemy multiple times while spark can hit groups. Treasure Raid is useless cause you can get Finish Commands that do the same thing. Tornado may not seem all that great but it does fairly good damage and is essential for beating one of the games optional super bosses (This move actually makes Ven have the easiest time of the three). Salvation and Faith are similar, they both do major Holy damage in an area around Ven and actually heal him at the same time. I prefer Faith cause Salvation has a bit of charge up time which allows him to be knocked out of the ability. Ars Arcanum is an incredibly good melee option for Ven and is made by melding high level abilites with Sonic Blade.

Ven also gets one of his nastier Command Styles in the Mirage Arena. You have to do the battle with the Iron Imprisoner II to get it (its like the third or fourth battle available but its before the rematch round with the Trinity Armor) this gives you Sky Climber which is Ven's second best command style. He learns his best style, Wing Blade, at the start of the Deep Space world. I don't really care for Cyclone but its better than nothing I guess.

Overall, you should mostly be using Ven's Dodge Roll, Reversal, and their Payback moves to cause extra damage. Ven gets terrible unique shotlocks except his Ultimate one which is pretty insanely broken but that requires you complete Master of Arenas match which is no easy feat. I recommend trying to get the Lightning Ray shotlock for now which can be gained by a rare medling of Thunder and Thundara (just keep melding until it does a rare meld and gives you the skill instead of Thundaga) or you can get from one of the game boards, which was either Deep Space or Skull Map I forget which I'm afraid.

Ven actually has the easiest time of the three cause later on Terra's lackluster movement abilites along with his rather low defense cause him trouble and Aqua's strength becomes her weakness cause a lot of her final bosses can dodge magic rather easily. Ven is surprisingly more adapt than they are even if he has issue dealing damage. I recommend you keep him with Keyblades that boast high crit rates cause Ven's strength is low so trying to supplement it with a physically stronger Keyblade doesn't help him as much as giving him one that makes a majority of his strikes critical hits. His final Keyblade is great but if you can, I would suggest tracking down all the Ice Cream recipes so you can unlock the Sweet Stack Keyblade cause it has great stats and makes most of your attacks into crtitical hits. Its Ven's best weapon before you get the harder to achieve Void Gear, No Name, and Ultima Weapon.

[Del Murder]

Wow, that's a nice little guide. Thanks WK! I'm still only on Disney Town in Ven's story (I chose Ven first like Rustam did). I thought I was close to the end of it but it sounds like I've got a ways to go! This game is pretty big. :o

I haven't bothered with the Mirage Arena but maybe I should to get that command style, since I love the command styles.

[Depression Moon]

Anyone knows why that dude looks like Roxas/Sora yet?

[Del Murder]

I'm sure if you beat the game you find out. Don't spoil us who haven't please.

[Rostum]

Thanks WK! I'm actually up to the last save point for Ventus, so now would be a perfect time to get in to all of that.

[qwertysaur]

I'm sure if you beat the game you find out. Don't spoil us who haven't please.

You find out at the end of the game.

[Wolf Kanno]

Wow, that's a nice little guide. Thanks WK! I'm still only on Disney Town in Ven's story (I chose Ven first like Rustam did). I thought I was close to the end of it but it sounds like I've got a ways to go! This game is pretty big. :o

I haven't bothered with the Mirage Arena but maybe I should to get that command style, since I love the command styles.

The game is pretty big. I'm still trying to beat the Unknown to complete Ven's story and then I need to finish up completing Terra and Aqua's reports as well as taking on the optional bosses for them.

My main advice is to experiment and have fun with Melding commands. Most skills become available in shops once they are created or found and later on it becomes really easy to level those skills so there is really nothing lost with playing around with them.

If you feel you may need levels for Ven and Aqua, use the D-Link with Mickey. Once he gets to his level 2 form (he is wearing his wizard outfit from Fantasia) he unlocks a skill that doubles all XP and CP so then it becomes ridiculously easy to power level. Terra... doesn't get Mickey I'm afraid. Instead you need to unlock an ability called Exp. Chance which double Exp. when the character is under 25% health. He has a move called Sacrifice which works a bit like Soul Eater in the FF series. It does a huge amount of damage but sacrifices his HP to do it. Knock him into critical status and then use Magenega to keep enemies from ganging up and killing him. If you have Meteor (Quake melded with Geo Impact if memory serves me correct), you can use Magenega to get all enemies into one spot and then kill them all at once with Meteor or even Mega Flare (Fission Firaga merged with Crawling Firaga) and that will lower the amount of time you need to use Sacrifice to knock him back down to low health.

Anyone knows why that dude looks like Roxas/Sora yet?

(SPOILER)I think the opening of the game hints pretty strongly, not to mention Ventus' ending but the games true ending pretty much spells it out for the player.

Thanks WK! I'm actually up to the last save point for Ventus, so now would be a perfect time to get in to all of that.

Time Splicer and Faith are must for Ventus. They will make going through the Mirage Arena and the last parts of the game much easier. Neverland is a really good place to level in Ven and Aqua's story. Just play with the melding and experiment with different command set ups. Also, make sure to check out the Mirage arena cause you can buy two different Shotlocks for characters (three in Aqua's storyline) that can only be gained through rare melding if you don't purchase them there. Its also a pretty good place to level and you get each characters ultimate Shotlock and the Ultima Keyblade for completing the Arena.

[qwertysaur]

If you feel you may need levels for Ven and Aqua, use the D-Link with Mickey. Once he gets to his level 2 form (he is wearing his wizard outfit from Fantasia) he unlocks a skill that doubles all XP and CP so then it becomes ridiculously easy to power level.

Micky only doubles XP. Experiment 626 (Stitch) doubles CP.

[Wolf Kanno]

My bad, I don't use Stitch too much.

[Depression Moon]

(SPOILER)I think the opening of the game hints pretty strongly, not to mention Ventus' ending but the games true ending pretty much spells it out for the player.

Can't you just tell me? I won't ever get the game.

[Fynn]

(SPOILER)I think the opening of the game hints pretty strongly, not to mention Ventus' ending but the games true ending pretty much spells it out for the player.

Can't you just tell me? I won't ever get the game.

Why not? It is a very good game.