Survival Guide version 1.0
Guilty Gear X for the Dreamcast and Playstation 2 Consoles
By: Pope Stewart
Date: 09.03.2002
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[S . U . R . V. I . V . A . L ]
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Why do you want to complete Survival Mode? It's because you want the Gold
Costumes and the Shadow ones as well...that and why not be that good? This FAQ
will give you some tips on how to take on this seemingly daunting task. Be
aware, if you are looking to beat Survival Mode in not a "cheap" way, then this
may not be the FAQ for you, because a lot of my advice is abusing weak spots in
the AI; however, if you don't care and just wish to get the costumes then do
this!
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[B u t t o n . A b b r e v i a t i o n s]
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u/b u u/f
\ | /
b - o - f <--- Control Directions
/ | \
d/b d d/f
P = Punch
K = Kick
S = Slash
HS = High Slash
c.X = Coutching and do the X button
s.X = Standing and do the X button
j.X = Jumping and do the X button
cb = Charge Back (hold b, or hold d/b)
dp = Dragon Punch (f, d, d/f)
hcf = Half Circle Forward (b, d/b, d, d/f, f)
hcb = Half Circle Back (f, d/f, d, d/b, b)
qcf = Quater Circle Forward (d, d/f, f)
qcb = Quater Circle Back (d, d/b, b)
xx = Buffer = while the move is being done, do the next move
Dash = f, f
Backdash Dash = b, b
OTG = Off the ground = When you knock someone down, immediatly do this to hit
them again.
FD = Fautless Defense = By pressing b + P + K you can cut-down the
chipping damage of special moves. A green ring will be around you, but
note that this uses up your tension gauge.
DAA = Dead Angle Attack = When gaurding an attack w/ FD, you can counter
attack by pressing forward and interupt the attacker's combo string. Note
that this uses up 50% of your tension bar.
Recovery = when you are knocked around, especially in the air, after the
opponent finishes a combo or experiences some lag in the combo, you can
get out of it and essentially recover by pressing a direction and P + K.
Dust = S + HS = Launches the opponent in the air for you to pummle
/\ = in the air
\/ = land
Sweep = d + S + HS = um....sweeps them...
Counter Hit = when both parties throw out a move and one connects before
the other, you have a Counter Hit, which does more damage and allows for
more combo potential. You can also get Counter Hits by raising the
opponent's guard meter and have it flash. You raise the opponent's Gaurd
Meter when the opponent blocks and you hit them, subsequently it lowers
when they attack you or when you connect and start beating them in a combo
or just after some time.
RC = Roman Cancel = Certain Moves can eliminate lag time by pressing
three attack buttons simultaneously (K + S + HS). Note that this uses up
50% of your tension bar.
JC = Jump Cancel = Certain moves can eliminate lag time by pressing
jump after the move is completed. For Potemkin, you will most likely
use this after a Dust Attack
FDC = Fautless Defense Cancel = You can eliminate lag time be FDing
quickly after a sweep. This is a glitch, it is used in most competitions
but the AI will never use it. Using this depends on you're view of
using bugs to you're advantage. The easy way of doing this is to hold
d/b and then do S + SH > P + K pretty quickly...you will know all is good
if you don't do the sweep and a green ring comes from you...
FCD = Fautless Cancel Dash = You can create infinites by using the FDC and a
little adjustment and understanding that you can dash by quickly pressing
f, b, f. You do a move that can combo into a Sweep and then d/f + S + HS
and then hold P + K and (f, b, f) and then do another move and repeat.
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[ S e c r e t s ]
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Well, this is usually the goal of most people playing Survival so, I'd thought
I'd go into this first.
To Get the Gold Costumes: Just beat Survival Mode
To Get the Shadow Costumes and all the rest: Beat Survival Mode in under 10
mins.
Endless Survival: hold L1 + R1 (L + R for the Dreamcast) after defeating Gold
Zato to play on. NOTE: If you just beat Survival, it will be an endless series
of character. Now if you beat Survival in under 10 mins., everytime you go
into Endless Survival (even if it's over 10 mins.) then you will face Shadow
Characters. The Shadow Characters have infinite tension and are ready to beat
you down. Also after the Shadow Character, you are introduced to Gold Johnny
at level 120 and Gold Sol at level 140!
You can also unlock Guilty Gear Mode by beating Survival, but there is a lot
easier way that doing this to get it.
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[H o w . t o . G e t . L v l s]
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So how do you gain levels? What's the secret?
I for one am not 100% sure, but I do have some theories. It's basically a
combination of doing long combos and bringing the damage. So whenever you get a
chance to use long combos, like Chipp and Millia can do, use them. And always
use OTG hits as those increase your combo number and damage. Next I believe
that there is a damage factor. So if you do so much damage, you get a level. I
think getting Perfects have something to do w/ that scale. When you get
Perfects in the opening rounds, you gain a level. But when you get higher in
the battles, you can get a Perfect but not get an extra level at the end of the
round, but if you connect w/ a hit or two in the next round then you get
another level. Speaking of higher levels, those too have a weight in how you
gain levels. When you start off, you can get 10 levels pretty easily in the
first round, but the higher it goes, the harder it gets! Also, when you fight
Gold Characters, you have an easier time gaining levels by facing them...so
don't use IKs to kill the Gold Characters (except for maybe Gold Zato) as the
follow matches will be much harder.
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[S u r v i v i n g . I t . A l l]
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For you to beat the higher level characters, you need to be good at beating
characters in Arcade Mode set on Very High or Mania Mode...so practice there!
But a lot of people can beat that and have issues w/ the life bars. Sure when
you beat an opponent you gain some health back, but it's not that much. So I
find that you have to apply the pressure and not give the AI room to move,
which is hard! Look to my strats section for some tips on that. Knowing when
to block and how to block and using FC to reduce the damage of a lot of moves.
Also, knowing what moves that give BACK health is useful. Certain moves will
give you back slivers of health, the amount of a blocked special move, useful
for getting and keeping Perfects! Another thing to take note of is that when
you start matches w/ Gold Characters w/ and after Gold Chipp starts you off w/
full health and after beating a Gold Character, you gain TONS of health...so
collecting lots of levels against them is important for this fact!
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[S p e c i a l . E n e m i e s]
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This is a list of the Dare Devils for you to face and how to prepare for them.
Gold Testament:
Level 20:
Okay, the first one I'm going to start off as saying there's nothing for me to
say. If you cannot defeat him, then you are not ready! Do beware of the Exe
Beasts and always block low! The hardest part of Testament actually lies in how
much health you have starting this match. If you farted around w/ the character
before this, then it might be a bit of a challange.
Gold Dizzy:
Level 30:
This is pretty much the same as above, this is just one of those things that
you have to do without much advice. She's not as hard as Arcade Dizzy w/ her
Fast Rising Tension. If your character that you are using has a projectile,
then use that because AI Dizzy seems to be a little stupid against this.
Gold Chipp:
Level 40:
Nothing much going on here either. He is a little quicker, but nothing much.
Use high priority attacks and block when he does the Alpha Blade...when it's
blocked, beat him down!
Gold Potemkin:
Level 50:
This to me is a joke! The Potemkins you face after this match will be harder
than this joker. Just beware of doing laggy moves up close as Potemkin will
Buter your ass. Also beware of his Falling Hammer as it will eat one of your
hits...and watch out for the f+HS as it can dizzy you.
Gold Baiken:
Level 60:
This isn't too bad. She likes to block and come at you w/ Suzuran and block all
of your attacks and then counter, or will throw you while you block. Do watch
out for her OverDrive as it is wicked strong!
Gold Faust:
Level 70:
This is where the trouble begins for most people! He has Full Tension ALL the
time and always throws out meteors! It's nothing to fear, but you must be
repect it. Faust has 2 basic flaws, one of which is when you are far away, he
will throw out his Meteors...the second is when you are upclose, he will try to
poke you in the butt. The easiest way is to stay close and block low! BLOCK
LOW! He will enevitably come after you...when you block it, Faust will have
this animation that you can abuse by dashing in and doing your fiercest combo.
This is the easiest way to abuse him. Also, you might want to try some quick
pokes if Faust gets too close to you so that he doesn't throw you, and do watch
out for his overhead hit, but it's not too bad...not like a knife up your butt
so. If you do happen to get away from him and he throws out the Meteors, dash
in and combo then block low the meteors.
Gold Venom:
Level 80:
This guy is a punk! His tension rises quickly, he has lots of defense, and
likes to block. DON'T dash in...you will get his balls in your face! He will
throw those out like it's nothing and poke you to death. What you can do is
jump back and when he throws out a ball, IAD in and attack. From there keep the
pressure on and don't let him breathe, so if you're good at using FDC and FCD,
then use it here!...and god forbid, don't get hit by his Big Ball OD...
Gold Millia:
Level 90:
She is UBER fast! Let her come to you rather than you to her...you will never
catch her! Watch for her Iron Saber...block that low and pressure. If she
dashes in at you, try to throw her or use a high priority attack. When she has
50% tension, watch out for her ODs...once there is a lag in your attack, she
will bust that out.
Gold Zato:
Level 99:
You are soooo close! The only way to gain a level here is to totally beat him.
He has tons of defense and when he makes Eddie into a land mine, he can call
out more Eddies. He's not to much to handle...destroy the eddies and apply the
pressure. Do watch out for Amorphous as it will change the tide of the battle
in no time!
<<Remember...you get these guys once you unlock the Shadow Characters!>>
Gold Johnny:
Level 120:
How's this for cheap!!!...if he hits you w/ a Mist Finer, it takes off like all
of your life...and if it didn't, then it will dizzy you and then Johnny will
beat you then. Don't think that you can just sit back and turtle against him
either, this Johnny can dash all the way across the screen!
Gold Sol:
Level 140:
He has Dragon Install mode on throughout the WHOLE match. Have fun.
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[ S t r a t e g y ]
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Now that you know what lies ahead of you, this section is about abusing the AI
into submission.
The first thing to note is that when the AI blocks low, it won't block an
overhead that follows, as long as it's done rather quickly. So if you attack
in a series of low attacks (and not ending in a Sweep) and the AI blocks...then
use a Dust and follow up in the air. Dust attacks are great for racking up
points.
Another thing the AI sometimes gets weirded out about is double jumping. So if
you jump in, and then jump up again, the AI will not attack you or miss you
allowing you to get in.
Also, when you do it your first time around, don't worry about the time. That
will come later when all of the strats that got you to beat survival are
perfected. Now some characters are better for beating survival in under 10
mins...and my choice is Dizzy!
Now here are some strats for specific characters:
D I Z Z Y:
-this is the top choice for beating survival in under 10 mins! The AI will go
from blocking genius to retarded when you start off w/ the Ice Fish Beam
(qcb+HS). So jump back and throw out that joker. Once you do that, Dash in and
do K > S > S xx c.HS > qcf+HS > Dash in just within range and OTG c.K > c.HS xx
qcb+HS and repeat!. Since the AI will not block the Fish (like 95% of the
time), it will leave you with enough time to combo the K. A more powerful
combo would be qcb+HS > Dash in > K > S > c.HS > FDC > c.HS > qcf+HS > Dash in
OTG c.K > c.HS xx qcb+HS...pretty much the same except that it uses an FDC and
a little harder to do. That and a little adjustment and you will have Survival
in no time!
S O L:
-Sol isn't a bad choice either since he too is a power-house. Sol works best
off of the Gun Flame (qcf+P)...so start off w/ it and Dash in. If it is
blocked, then you can do a K > S > HS > Gun Flame and try again (don't get
discouraged if it's blocked because now we are building up the gaurd meter
which equal more power in the hits when the combo does come out)...If it's NOT
blocked then do a K > c.HS > JC > j.S > JC > j.S > j.HS > HS Volcanic Viper
(dp+S), -Addition (qcb+K) > OTG c.S > c.HS and then Gun Flame all over again.
Now against some character, they may abuse you during the lag time for setting
up the Gun Flame...that's why I also suggest Dashing in and Sweep > Charged
Bandit Revolver (qcf+hold K). The AI get's suckered into this joker like it was
nothing, so use it...and if you happen to use GG Mode, the charged Bandit
Revolver will give you a couple of extra hits.
K Y:
-Ky too has moves that the AI just goes retarded over as well. The AI gets
kinda dumb off of the Crecent Slash (qcb+K) which hits overhead leaving you
open to JC > j.S > JC > j.S > j.HS > HS Vapor Thrust (dp+HS). Another move
that you can really abuse early on is the Stun Dipper (qcf+K). Now Ky does have
a pretty good wake up game w/ his Charged Stun Edge (qcf+HS). When the opponent
is knocked down, throw this joker out and follow suit...it the AI is blocking
high, use the Stun Dipper, if the AI is blocking low then use the Crescent
Slash.
C H I P P:
-Even though he has low defense...and I mean LOW...he is really easy to use to
abuse the AI's lacking in block low and attack overhead. Because he's so quick,
you can pretty much just dash in and start w/ a c.K > c.HS...if it's blocked,
then Dust the motha sucker! and if it connects, then teleport and do an aerial
assault, or use FDC and jump up after the AI. You could also dash in and do a
s.K > K > S > S > HS > Ressho (qcf+S), Rokusai (qcf+S), Senshu(qcf+K)...If the
opening string is blocked, then the last hit, Senshu will hit overhead because
the AI has to block low for the Rokusai...when will the AI learn. Also look to
connect his Benki Messai (qcf, qcf+K) as it often times can get you 2 levels of
survival points. Now if you're not one to complain about using GG Mode, then I
would suggest this w/ him. He gains a bit more "guts" which allows him to take
more hits when his health is low. Also he can JC out of the c.HS thus allowing
you to do some nice damage w/ a follow-up of JC > j.HS > j.HS > j.HS > Beta
Blade (dp+S) Note that this combo is ineffective against some chars, like Faust
and some higher level AIs will recover out of it, so you will need to adjust.
M I L L I A:
-The best thing to do here is to use her Disk Trap. After a knockdown, Do a HS
Tandem Top (qcf+HS) near the opponent. When the AI wakes up, it will have to
block (don't be too close to the AI otherwise it wont have to block and will
just throw you). Now dash in and do a c.K > c.HS...if it is blocked, then do an
Instant Bad Moon (qcf, u/f+P) and then f+P > c.HS and juggle, it it connected,
then do a JC > j.K > j.S > j.HS xx Bad Moon (qcf+P) \/ f+P and juggle a bit
more...there are stronger air combos, I just chose the easiest one to do.
J O H N N Y:
-Use the Mist Trap. For this to work right, you need to get a Level 2 Mist
Finer ready. So get in the coin hit and use the Bacchus Sigh (qcb+P). Now all
you have to do is hit the opponent w/ the Middle or Low Mist Finer (qcf+K or S
respectively). When you connect w/ the Level 2 Mist Finer, the opponent cannot
recover from the hit, so this is where you take charge. Just as the AI is
about to hit the ground, throw outa Glistering Gold (qcf+HS) and buffer in a
Dash. When the coin hits, you should be right next to the AI and do a OTG c.K
xx Bacchus Sigh (qcb+P). Now when the AI awakes, do a K > S > HS > Middle Mist
Finer (qcf+K). The AI might be able to block the K > S > HS, but since the
Mist is surrounding it, the Mist Finer will hit. Since you also snuck in the
coin in the OTG hit, the AI is again unable to recover, waiting for you to
repeat the process.
J A M:
-I will include her into this list seeing she too has moves that can abuse the
AI's flaws. When you get a chance to, make sure you use the Breath of Asanagi,
preferably the one that charges her Gekirin (qcb+K). Now when ever you do a
series of moves that is blocked low ending in a Sweep, you can buffer in the
Gekirin to come out after it and have that hit overhead. But if you have the
control and don't use Sweep, then use Dust and follow up w/ some wicked combos
involving her Charged Kicks. You could also use Jam's infamous FCD infinite,
which is just dash in S > c.HS > FCD > repeat.
<<more to come...but basically use Overheads to beat on the low blocking AI>>
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That's basically all the tips on getting by in Survival that I have come up w/.
These tips are the basic structure for you to follow, so it will take time for
you to add to them. And do remember, you still will have to practice doing
these moves in survival and you will get better.
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[ C r e d i t s ]
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Thanks to GameFAQS (www.gamefaqs.com) for hosting this FAQ
and to the people on the message board!
Thanks to the GCC (www.gamecombos.com) forum.
I guess I should thank Sammy and Arc Systems for making this game.
GUILTY GEAR X (C)2000 Sammy / 1998,2000 ARC SYSTEM WORKS CO.,LTD. All
rights reserved.
