||| KID ICARUS: OF MYTHS AND MONSTERS - ENEMY STRATEGY GUIDE |||

||| CONTENTS OF THIS FAQ |||

* Introduction
* All-round enemies
* Level 1 - The Under World Tower
* Level 2 - The Over World
* Level 3 - The Sky World Tower
* Fortress enemies
* Level 4 - The Sky Palace
* Guardians
* Administrative stuff

||| INTRODUCTION |||

Let me start by saying that this game is very easy. Unless you're rushing
through the game and not getting any power-increasing arrows, you'll kill the
toughest enemies in one or two shots by the time they appear. The highest
difficulty rating I could think of is "Pesky".

HP means the number of times you would have to hit the enemy with the basic
arrow (or the hammer). Anytime Zeus gives you a power arrow, your arrows will
do +1 damage. So a Merc, who has 8 HP, will have to take 8 hits with 1 power
arrow, 4 hits with 2 power arrows, 3 hits with 3 power arrows, 2 hits with 4 to
7 power arrows and 1 hit with 8 power arrows.

Difficulty ratings:
1 - Pushover
2 - Easy
3 - Not that hard
4 - Might be a problem
5 - Pesky

Reward means the amount of Hearts you gain for killing the enemy. 1 is a small
Heart, 5 a half Heart (or sometimes a goblet, to refill a bit of your life) and
10 is a large Heart. The Shadow Mask (level 4) gains you 2 small hearts, one
for each half of it.

||| ALL-ROUND ENEMIES |||

- SNAKE - HP: 1 - Difficulty: 2 - Reward: 1
Description: Four at a time pop out of the snake pot when you walk under
it.
Strategy: They don't chase Pit but act like lemmings, walking along
blindly. This and the HP makes them very weak, but there's no limit to how much
a snake pot can spawn and compared with other enemies in an area, they can be
an annoyance. Avoid walking under the pot as much as you can and if you do,
make sure to kill them quickly so they won't surprise you later on.

- BAT - HP: 1 - Difficulty: 1 - Reward: 5
Description: Only found in Bat Chambers (and in the final battle, but
different). They fly around in V's (diagonally up and down).
Strategy: Just get on the floor and shoot upwards, killing four of them, then
hop on the nearest platform and kill the other four shooting upwards again.

- SPITBALL BLOB - HP: 1 - Difficulty: 3 - Reward: 5
Description: Suddenly come out of the ground and spit balls.
Strategy: As soon as one pops up, jump on the nearest platform and ignore them.
Don't bother killing them as more and more will start showing up.

- THE GRIM REAPER - HP: 6 - Difficulty: 3 - Reward: 10
Description: Numbly walks back and forth until it sees you, then it speeds up
and summons four Reapettes that start chasing you. If you kill the Reapettes
before killing the Reaper, four new ones appear.
Strategy: Usually you can just shoot it from a lower platform and it won't
notice anything. If there's a harp nearby though, it pays off to have it summon
the reapettes, otherwise this is not hard to avoid.

- REAPETTES - HP: 1 - Difficulty: 2 - Reward: 1
Description: Summoned by the Grim Reaper, the four of them fly around randomly,
but always forming a line.
Strategy: You can kill them, but if the Reaper is still alive he'll summon new
ones. It's best to kill the Reaper before he notices you unless there's a harp
nearby.

- TOTEM - HP: 3 - Difficulty: 4 - Reward: 5
Description: Four blocks that pile up and individually spit balls at Pit. They
re-spawn once all four of them are killed and their rewards collected.
Strategy: Be quick, because they can get you trapped between their balls (no
pun intended). Kill them as soon as they get in sight, grab the hearts and get
the hell away because they might pile up on you. This goes mainly for the ones
that appear in level 4. The totems that are next to a hot spring are easily
avoided and even when you take damage, you replenish health and dispatch them
at the same time. Note though that they don't give you any rewards so they
re-spawn sooner.

||| Level 1: THE UNDER WORLD TOWER |||

- CYCLOPS SKULL - HP: 1 - Difficulty: 2 - Reward: 5
Description: Flying skulls with one eye-hole that dramatically fail to make a
fearsome impression... they're in groups of four.
Strategy: They are not very fast and their grouping makes it easy to calculate
where they are going. Test your accuracy on them.

- WORMSER - HP: 2 - Difficulty: 3 - Reward: 5
Description: A worm that moves fast and tends to ambush you on narrow platforms.
Strategy: It can only be hit with arrows while moving, so you should keep as
much distance as possible so you can react to its movement as soon as possible.
Or just avoid them and move on.

- KING KRAB - HP: 2 - Difficulty: 4 - Reward: 5
Description: This agile creature suddenly floats up, seems to find some grip in
the sky and jumps at you from there.
Strategy: Get rid of it as soon as possible because it tends to stalk you. Try
to kill it while it is still floating into the screen, or pauses between jumps.
The jumps might prove tricky to avoid.

||| Level 2: THE OVER WORLD |||

- CYCLOPS HOPPER - HP: 2 - Difficulty: 5 - Reward: 5
Description: An improved King Krab, it attacks you from out of nowhere, is
faster and pauses less between jumps. Plus, they attack in groups.
Strategy: Take your time to get rid of them. If you try to avoid them, they
will stalk you and you'll find yourself fighting lots of enemies at the same
time. Try to avoid the jumps and shoot them while they're pausing. You may get
them in mid-jump, but sometimes it turns out that there are more of them
jumping form the exact same spot at the exact same time and you'll get hit
anyway.

- BIG TOE - HP: 1 - Difficulty: 1 - Reward: 10
Description: Big feet that fall from the sky, then linger in the ground with
the toes stuck out. They appear in groups of four and re-spawn three times.
Strategy: They are slow and weak. You can easily shoot them in mid-air and also
while they're in the ground and the toes still stick out. Use them to gain
currency for the Black Market which is introduced in these levels. One load of
Big Toes can gain you 160 Hearts.

- STICKY TALON - HP: 6 or so - Difficulty: 4 - Reward: 5
Description: A crow wearing sunglasses. Flies in seemingly random patterns and
doesn't do damage, but steals your special weapons (Fire Arrow, Long Bow,
Protective Crystals) and sells them to the Black Market.
Strategy: Dodge it and kill it. It's annoying to have to buy your stuff back,
although you'll be pulling Hearts out of your ass thanks to the Big Toes.

- GRUFF - HP: 6 - Difficulty: 2 - Reward: 10
Description: Walks back and forth and throws snowballs at Pit.
Strategy: The snowballs move slow and it can't throw new ones until the other
one has left the screen or hit Pit. His horizontal movement and being stuck to
just one platform makes him easy. For safety, have him throw one (I believe he
does that on sight), it's easy to dodge, and then pump your arrows in him.

- GLOBE - HP: 2 - Difficulty: 2 - Reward: 5
Description: A piece of goo that floats up and down. Comes in groups of four.
Strategy: Somewhat faster, sturdier and more intelligent than the Big Toe, but
still the vertical line it follows vastly limits its toughness. I never bother
killing them as I get plenty of Hearts from the Big Toes. If you want to kill
it, just wait till it's next to you.

||| Level 3: THE SKY WORLD TOWER |||

- KOMAYTO - HP: 4 - Difficulty: 2 - Reward: 5
Description: Tomato-shaped comets, probably. Float around like the Cyclops
Skulls, but apparently have a slightly broader AI.
Strategy: Again, a good way to get re-used to the accuracy you need for the
vertical levels. Not much else to say. They're easy to dodge, but they may
follow you around for a while.

- OCTUS - HP: 6 - Difficulty: 3 - Reward: 5
Description: Black octopusses that fly around (this place is truly messed up,
elementally speaking) in groups of, yes, four.
Strategy: Faster than the Komayto and, apparently, more focused on you. Get rid
of them by staying in one place while shooting at them (you should be accurate
enough by now) and if necessary, dodging them.

- LUNUS - HP: 8 - Difficulty: 5 - Reward: 10
Description: An evil moon that bounces up and down innocently in crescent form
until it catches sight of Pit, where it becomes full and frantically shoots
him, still bouncing up and down.
Strategy: This will also attack you while it's off-screen sometimes, so be
wary. Locate it, and try shooting it while dodging its attacks. The shots are
hard to predict though and the bouncing adds an extra difficulty to hit it,
plus it has quite some HP.

- MERC - HP: 8 - Difficulty: 2 - Reward: 10
Description: A guy in a shower curtain that walks back and forth and throws
daggers.
Strategy: Apart from his appearance (most notably, being taller) and HP, I have
yet to find any differences from Gruff. Dispose of him the same way.

||| FORTRESS ENEMIES |||

- GUBBLE - HP: 3 - Difficulty: 1 - Reward: 1
Description: Gooey monster with sharp teeth that numbly walks back and forth.
Strategy: By the time you reach the first fortress, you should already be able
to kill it in one shot. Do so. As long as you don't touch it, you're fine.

- SLIME - HP: 3 - Difficulty: 3 - Reward: 5
Description: More goo! It slithers back and forth but can leap up and down
between floors and ceilings.
Strategy: Usually their stuck in narrow spaces, which makes them an easy
target. If they're not, watch them carefully because they can come down on you
very fast.

- SPUNKY - HP: 3 - Difficulty: 3 - Reward: 5
Description: Spidery creatures not unlike the King Krab and Cyclops Hopper,
they jump at you from time to time. Quite rare.
Strategy: See King Krab and Cyclops Hopper.

- FUZZ BALL - HP: 2 - Difficulty: 3 - Reward: 5
Description: Furry balls with one eye, that behave like the bats.
Strategy: The scenery is different than the Bat Chambers, so it's down to
perception. Stand on the low floor, time your movements and you'll be fine.

- EGGPLANT WIZARD - HP: 6 - Difficulty: 5 - Reward: 10
Description: Another cyclops, with a mage outfit. He throws seeds at you that
turn you into an eggplant.
Strategy: As soon as you enter a room with one or more of these in it, seeds
will be thrown at you, so be careful. The seeds move fast. As an eggplant, you
will be very vulnerable since the only way to hit enemies will be equipping a
hammer, that only does 1 damage. If you have just started exploring a fortress,
you might have a hard time before you find a nurse to transform you back. The
wizard itself moves back and forth on one platform, thus making an easy target.
There's some time between his throws, use it wisely.

- STONE GOLEM - HP: 6 - Difficulty: 1 - Reward: 5
Description: A statue that comes to life and walks up to you holding out a
spear.
Strategy: It doesn't move very fast so you have plenty of time to shoot it
before it reaches you. It can't leave a platform it's on.

- FIREBALL - HP: 3 - Difficulty: 2 - Reward: 5
Description: Fireballs, four of them. Slowly move towards Pit. Rare.
Strategy: As per the description, they are slow, so plenty of time to just kill
them from a safe distance. If they reach you it's hard to get rid of them
without taking damage.

||| Level 4: THE SKY PALACE |||

- PYTHAGORAS - HP: 8 - Difficulty: 4 - Reward: 5
Description: Math geek ("The" math geek) that repeatedly throws triangles in a
curve (centriputal force, anyone?).
Strategy: If it's on a platform below you, try to float between two triangles.
They're a bit hard to see though. Once you're on his level, the fight's pretty
much over.

- BUSY BEE - HP: 3 - Difficulty: 5 - Reward: 5
Description: Bees that fly in groups of four, gaining speed until they start
swarming you.
Strategy: Since they seem to appear in places where there's a lot of walls
and/or other enemies, they have a good chance of getting to swarm you, which
will almost always mean you will take damage. The protective crystals do
wonders, though they sometimes manage to get through anyway. Anyhow, make an
effort to kill them as quickly as possible.

- SHADOW MASK - HP: 3 - Difficulty: 1 - Reward: 2
Description: Yin-Yang shaped mask that's supposed to split on your first hit,
after which the two halves start flying towards you.
Strategy: I'm not sure how this works exactly, but I usually kill it in one hit
any way. If not, there still isn't much to it. You are experienced enough by
now to easily avoid them and kill them.

- PUTT - HP: 4 - Difficulty: 2 - Reward: 5
Description: This guy looks a lot like you. Four of them come flying at you and
shoot arrows.
Strategy: His pathetic shooting range puts you in a large advantage. You'll
probably kill them all before they even reach you. If not, they may cause a
little bit of damage (there's always the protective crystals although they
don't help with the arrows), but then it will just fly right past.

||| GUARDIANS |||

- MINOTAUR -
Description: Half bull, half man. He stands on some fixed spots, throwing
chains of fire. Moves from spot to spot in an invulnerable fireball form.
Guards the Under World Tower Treasure.
Strategy: Stay on the ground all the time. When he's on the ground as well,
pump him full of arrows until he throws the two chains. There's a gap between
them, through which you can dodge them. Shoot again while the second chain
still passes by. Make sure he doesn't hit you when he turns to his fireball
form. If he's on one of the two lowest platforms, shoot three arrows in him,
then go stand underneath him until he has thrown his second chain. Shoot him
again a few times and watch the fireball form again.
If you have the fire arrow enabled, you can also hit him when he's standing on
that platform in the middle: jump, press up and shoot the platform from
underneath as much as possible, and the fire will damage him a few times.
Repeat till he shatters. It might need some practice.

- SKULL WING -
Description: A skull that, contrary to the Cyclops Skull, needs gigantic bat
wings to be able to fly. It has a split tail and drops fire bombs that create
fire walls several tiles wide. Guards the Over World Treasure.
Strategy: The fire walls are usually five tiles wide, two tiles on each side of
the tile that he hit. So get out of the range when he drops the bombs. Also the
fire wall may screw up the graphics a bit, which can cause the creature to
become partly invisible. Apart from that, it's easy. It flies around in
moderate speed and quite limited patterns, and if you're perceptive enough (and
have 6 power arrows) you can kill it before it freezes for a moment and becomes
quicker (during this freeze he's invulnerable by the way). Even while he's
quick, he's not that hard to dodge. Stay in the center as much as possible so
you don't get stuck between dungeon wall and fire wall.

- FIRE SERPENT -
Description: A snake made of fire, slithering through the room spitting
fireballs. Guards the Sky World Tower Treasure.
Strategy: Standing in the lower right corner should suffice to be able to dodge
most of the fireballs he breathes (he breathes 3 at a time in a sort of a cone)
and normally he doesn't reach that place so whenever he comes past, you pump
some arrows into his head. He'll be done for quite soon. However, in some rare
cases, he DOES reach that place, and his moving pattern is more difficult to
calculate since he's pretty fast. In this instance, still stick to the floor,
be extra careful for the fireballs and time your shots so you don't for example
land on him after making a jump to hit him. You'll still have enough HP to
endure the battle.

- ORCOS -
Description: First form of the final guardian. A flying demon that shoots ninja
stars at you.
Strategy: Prepare for a fun mid-air battle! Fly around, avoiding his shots and
his body, and never cease fire. Be extra careful when he charges at you because
he will gain speed quickly, so move away from the area he is aiming at. He'll
be dead quite soon but you'll need to have some reasonable HP left for:

- GIANT ORCOS -
Description: An enormous monster that has some special attacks ready.
Strategy: He's actually very easy. First, you see a leg coming into view. Fly
up and you'll see his nasty face. Pump it full of arrows and watch the fireball
that appears carefully, it will split into several fireballs that fly into
various directions. Find a gap between them and get back to the floor, stay
lefty. Now his tail comes into view and it will shoot some of those ninja
stars. Way over your head. Now his hand comes into view and it lets loose a
bunch of bats. Shoot as many as possible, and fly up again (dodging any bats
you may have missed). His head will appear and you're back at the start of the
strategy. Repeat until he shatters.

||| ADMINISTRATIVE STUFF |||

Here ends this FAQ on beating the enemies in Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters.
This is version 1.0. Suggestions for updates, additions and corrections may be
sent at [email protected]. You will be fully credited and I will
not include your e-mail unless you specifically ask me to.

Thanks go to AstroBlue's FAQ, mainly for the HP stats, which is found here:
http://db.gamefaqs.com/portable/gameboy/file/kid_icarus_a.txt

Copyright 2005 by HeWhoMatesWithDuck

--FIN--

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