Musashi: Samurai Legend
Technique Guide
Email: [email protected]

Table Of Contents
1) Legalities (LAW)
2) Introduction (INT)
3) Technique Tutorial (TET)
4) Fundamental Techniques (FUN)
5) Secret Techniques (SET)
6) Defensive Techniques (DET)
7) Ascetic Techniques (AST)
8) Last Words (LWO)

-=Legalities=- (LAW)
This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
web site or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright.

Currently, this guide may ONLY be posted at gamefaqs.com as well as
neoseeker.com. Please email me if you wish to post this guide on your
site and I may consider it.

Copyright 2005 Michael Ayala

-=Introduction=- (INT)
Salutations! First I would like to thank you for accessing my first FAQ. I
found that writing a guide based on the techniques of Musashi: Samurai Legend
would be a realtively easy venture, yet one that would be of aid to the
Musashi community. Secondly I encourage you to use the FIND FUNCTION (ctrl+f)
and type in the abbreviations I provided in the Table of Contents to make
your browsing experience easier. Although this is a relatively short FAQ,
doing this will make things a bit easier.

Please bear in mind that although I did list the location of the enemies in
this guide, I only listed the location that you encounter them in FIRST. This
is because as the game goes on you'll end up encountering most, if not all,
the enemies in the game in a single area. However, if you feel that providing
every location would be more helpful, please email me and I will consider
doing so. Also, if you found that any part of this FAQ was too vague, then
please email me and I will atempt not only to help you, but to revise the
guide as well. But enough talk, on to the FAQ!

-=Technique Tutorial=- (TET)

Before we dive into the meat of the guide, I'll briefly describe what
techniques are and how you go about learning them. Techniques
are enemy abilities that Musashi can learn by closely monitoring his
opponent. To focus on an enemy, press and hold R1 to lock onto the closest
enemy. Once you do this, a gauge will appear on the left hand side of the
screen. This is called the Focus Gauge. As you continue to lock onto your
opponent, the gauge will steadily increase. Once the gauge is completely
filled, Musashi will be able to learn the enemy's technique. Usually,
in order to learn the enemy's skill Musashi will have to be attacked with
the skill while the gauge is full. Once that happens, you will need to
press the appropriate on-screen instructions to add the new attack to
your repertoire. There are rare cases in which Musashi only needs to witness
the technique in order to learn it, but those are few are far in between.
In addition, you must be very careful while focusing on your opponent.
If you wander too far from the enemy, you will go out of the "Focus Range"
and the lock on will be broken. When this happens, you will be forced to
re-lock onto the opponent and fill the focus gauge back up from scratch.
Also, if you block at all while you are focusing, the gauge will be reduced
to zero and you will have to refill it. In short, if you need to evade the
enemy's attack, you will have to dodge out of the way by pressing the D-pad
in the direction you want to dodge and press "X." When you do this,
Musashi will do a quick jump to the side of your opponent and safely out of
harms way. You can also attack the enemy to cancel its attack, but this should
be done sparingly as you might accidentally kill it.

The speed of this gauge is affected by Musashi's "Focus" stat.
The higher the stat, the faster the gauge will increase. Also bear in
mind that each technique has its own level of difficulty to learn.
In some cases if your Focus stat is too low, then the gauge will stop
completely and turn red. If this happens, you'll either need to use an item
that increases Focus like the "Squint Julep," wear an accessory like the
"Tiger Eye," or just run around and kill things until you level up and
increase your Focus stat a few times.

It's also worth noting that you can't learn a technique from every enemy
you encounter. So then, how can you discern which enemy has a learnable
technique? The answer is simple, really. When you lock onto an enemy,
if you can learn a technique from it the center its HP Gauge will be
Blue. Likewise, if an enemy doesn't have an ability, or if you already learned
the enemy skill, the center of the gauge will be clear. Finally, in order
to learn the enemy's ability you must be attacked in a certain fashion. Take
the Voltrabot for example. You can learn the skill "Paralyzing Palm" from it,
but there is a catch. The Voltrabot has three main forms of attack. First,
it can squat down and spin its arms in a circle, knocking you clear across
the battlefield. Second, if you are far away it can utilize a potent lightning
attack. Lastly, if you are out of range of both attacks, it will briefly
charge it's arms and jab at you. Only the jab attack teaches you the
"Paralyzing Palm" technique. The other attacks, though interesting, can't
be learned. But don't worry; this guide tells you exactly which attack
teaches you what ability.

-=Fundamentals=- (FUNT)

-Chain Attack-
MP Cost: 0
Description: A Five hit combo. Repeatedly press square to perform.
Enemy: Ninjaroid
Enemy Description: A grey, ninja-like creature with exceptionally long claws
     and glowing red eyes. Its function is akin to the Puties of Power Rangers
     fame.
Location: Wellspring Woods
Method: Press square when the Ninjaroid attacks you.

-Three Sixty-
MP Cost: 0
Description: A whirling slash with the katana. Rotate the left analog stick
            and press square to perform.
Enemy: Galvabot
Enemy Description: A large grey robot with two very long arms and short,
                  stubby legs. Little more than cannon fodder to Musashi
Location: Wellspring Woods
Method: Press square when it hits you with it's whirling arm attack.

-Sonic Thrust-
MP Cost: 0
Description: A quick thrust. Push the left analog stick forward and press
            square to perform.
Enemy: Ripper Bat
Enemy Description: ...A bat with a spear-like tail. Come on, its the only bat
                  in the entire game!
Location: Wellspring Woods
Method: Press square when the bat charges into you with its tail.

-Counter Attack-
MP Cost: 0
Description: Duplicate an enemy's attack to unleash a critical hit. Charge
            focus gauge and press square to perform.
Enemy: Master Mew teaches you this skill near the beginning of the game.
Enemy Description: He's a small, old catguy with an eyepatch over his
                  left eye. Tends to speak in broken English.
Location: Dojo
Method: Simply focus on Mew and wait until the "!" appears over Musashi's
       head.

-=Secret Techniques=- (SET)

-Angry Hornet-
MP Cost: 10
Description: Stab foes in a flurry of thrusts. Only the final stab inflicts
            damage.
Enemy: Ninja Driller
Enemy Description: A Ninja-like creature armed with a large drill. Also wears
                  a yellow construction hat and outfit. The hat has a light
                  that actually functions while the creature is in the mine.
Location: Roguefort Mine
Method: Press square when the Driller stabs wildly at you with its drill.

-Banishing Blade-
MP Cost: 20
Description: Slash enemies into four even chunks. Can strike twice.
Enemy: White Ninjaroid
Enemy Description: A white, ninja-like creature with exceptionally long claws
     and glowing red eyes. No real threat.
Location: Wellspring Woods (2nd visit), Roguefort Mine (2nd visit)
Method: Just have the Roid' attack you. It's the only ability it has.

-Celestial Strike-
MP Cost: 20
Description: Split enemies vertically.
Enemy: Axe Vault Guardian
Enemy Description: The "powered" version of the zombies found shambling around
                  in the pre-revived Mouna Temple. This behemoth towers over
                  Musashi with an enormous axe and an annoying retractable
                  shield.
Location: Mouna Temple
Method: Press square when the Guardian hits you with an overhead slash with
       its axe.

-Diving Falcon-
MP Cost: 10
Description: A jump and a downward thrust.
Enemy: Green Ninjaroid
Enemy Description: A green, ninja-like creature with exceptionally long claws
                  and glowing red eyes. A bit more dangerous than it's
                  younger brothers, but not by much.
Location: Wellspring Woods-Nebulium Tower
Method: Press square when the Ninjaroid dives on top of you. You need to be
       a fair distance away to entice the Roid' into attacking you, but on
       that same token if you're too far away it will break your focus.

-Double Cross-
MP Cost: 15
Description: Carve a tic-tac-toe into enemies.
Enemy: Yellow Ninjaroid
Enemy Description: A yellow, ninja-like creature with exceptionally long claws
     and glowing red eyes. Not much of a threat as they can be easily knocked
     into nearby pools of magma.
Location: Mount Terrior
Method: This skill is the Yellow Ninjaroid's primary form of attack,
       so all you need to do is get hit with it with a full focus
       guage and press square.

-Fish Fillet-
MP cost: 5
Description: Fillet enemies into three succulent slices.
Enemy: Pepper teaches you this skill to you during the fourth chapter.
Enemy Description: Your stereotypical belle from the south. She wears
                  an apron and a bandana that covers the top of her head.
                  Also has a constant, maniacal grin suggesting she loves
                  her job.
Location: Pepper's Grill.
Method: Simply focus on Pepper and press square when the "!" appears over
       Musashi's head.

-Infernal Strike-
MP Cost: 10
Description: Blast enemies with an explosion of cosmic power.
Enemy: Sumoroid
Enemy Description: The older, larger, and far more obese cousin of the
                  Ninjaroid. This tub of lard eclipses Musashi with its
                  sheer girth and attempts to punch him with its flabby
                  arms. For some bizzare reason it appears by traveling
                  through pipes and errupting from them, bouncing around
                  the room like an oversized beach ball.
Location: Roguefort Mine
Method: Press square when the Sumoroid punches you.

-Karmic Circle-
MP Cost: 15
Description: Throw sword to smite foes from afar. Can only hit the same enemy
            once.
Enemy: Ninja Trooper
Enemy Description: The much stronger and vicious version of the Ninjaroid
                  series. It wears a moss green uniform and wields an
                  imposing half-moon blade. Oddly enough this Ninjaroid
                  hardly moves around at all.
Location: Picodon Jungle
Method: Press square when the Trooper hits you with its thrown blade. You'll
       need to be a little far away to tempt it to attack you in this fashion.

-Leaping Tiger-
MP Cost: 25
Description: Spin and slice twice. Nice.
Enemy: Vapor Knight
Enemy Description: A glorious golden robot that hovers just a few feet off
                  the air. It wields two propeller-like blades that it uses
                  with deadly efficiency. As its name implies, this creature
                  constantly emits a thin veil of vapor.
Location: Mouna Temple
Method: Press square when the Knight slashes you with both its blades,
       not when it spins in a circle. You may need to weaken it first,
       however. Also, this is a difficult technique to learn, so use a Squint
       Julip and equip a Tiger Eye to make things easier.

-Paralyzing Palm-
MP Cost: 5
Description: Stun Opponents. To pick them up, press "X." You can then toss
            them in the air and slash them.
Enemy: Voltra Bot
Enemy Description: A large, bulky robot with lanky arms. Nearly impossible
                  to miss as it constantly uses electrical attacks.
Location: Roguefort Mine
Method: Press square when the Bot jabs you with its charged arm. If you are
       too close then it may opt to hit you with a whirling attack. In
       addition, if you are too far then it will use a lightning attack.

-Slice and Dice-
MP Cost: 15
Description: Chop foes into itty bitty pieces.
Enemy: This technique is taught to you by Trixie after you save the Maiden
      of the Void during chapter five.
Location: Pepper's Grill.
Method: Like Mew and Pepper, focus on Trixie and press square when the "!"
       appears over Musashi's head.

-Shooting Star-
MP Cost: 15
Description: A magnifient lunge through enemies. Musashi is invincible during
            this attack, making it an excellent evasion technique as well.
Enemy: Shadowbean
Enemy Description: Small plant-like creatures that barely reach Musashi's
                  knee. It is dark gray in color and wears a leafy cloak
                  and a pointy cap made of foliage.
Location: Picodon Jungle
Method: Press square when the Shadowbean hits you with its tackle attack.
       You'll need to be quick on your feet to prevent getting hit
       prematurely.

-Whirling Dervish-
MP Cost: 20
Description: Two circular strikes with both swords.
Enemy: Red Galvabot
Enemy Description: Exactly like the other Galvabots, only red.
Location: Mount Terrior
Method: Press square when the Galvabot begins to swing its arms wildly. You'll
       need to be realitvely close to tempt the Galvbot into using this
       attack.

-X-Stream-
MP Cost: 15
Description: Neatly quarter foes with two diagonal cuts.
Enemy: Red Ninjaroid
Enemy Description: It's a ninja. It's red. It's annoying.
                  It's a ninjaroid.
Location: Roguefort Mine (Mug quest), Mouna Temple
Method: All you need to do is charge up your focus gauge and press square
       when you are struck with this Roid's attack

-=Defensive Techniques=- (DET)

-Decoy-
MP Cost: 15
Description: Disappear when attacked and reappear behind your opponent.
Enemy: Master Mew teaches you this technique near the end of the game.
Location: Dojo
Method: Focus on Mew and press square when the "!" appears.

-Twin Turbine-
MP Cost: Gradually consumes MP while used.
Description: Rotate both swords to fend off attacks.
Enemy: Ninja Miner
Enemy Description: The "slave" units of the Ninjaroid series. They wear a
                  yellow construction outfit along with a functioning miner's
                  helmet and wield a large mining drill. Typically can be
                  found drilling in the earth and at times will be so
                  engrossed in their work that they will completely ignore you.
Location: Roguefort Mine
Method: "Threaten" the Ninja by swinging your sword at it without actually
        hitting it. When it begins to twirl its hammer, press square and then
        L1.

-=Ascetic Techniques=- (AST)

-Kiai-
MP Cost: Gradually consumes MP while used.
Description: Gradually expend MP to enhance attack.
Enemy: Ninjaroid 2.0
Enemy Description: The strongest of the Ninjaroids. It appears out
                                of thin air and begins zipping around the area
                                with relative ease.
Location: Rampart Island
Method: Weaken the Ninjaroid until its HPs are in the red zone, back off,
       and then wait until it goes "HEYAH!!" and glows red. All you'll
       need to do then is get hit with one of its attacks while you have
       a full focus gauge.

-Juggle-
MP Cost: 20
Description: Impress others with your skill and finesse.
Enemy: Juggleranuim
Enemy Description: A leafy green plant that, once it emerges,
                  begins juggling. An enemy like this is hard
                  to miss.
Location: Picodan Jungle
Method: Back away from the monster until it comes out of hiding and begins
       to juggle. Once it does this, press square. This is a difficult
       technique to master, so be sure to use a Squint Julep and equip
       a Tiger Eye beforehand. YOU MUST HAVE 150 FOCUS TO LEARN.

-Inner Refuge-
MP Cost: Gradually consumes MP while used.
Description: Assume a meditative position to become invulnerable. Musashi
            cannot move or attack while this skill is in use.
Enemy: Blorb
Enemy Description: Blorbs look little more than amorphous piles of blue
                  goo with small nuclei. They tend to slurm around
                  the ceilings of Mouna Temple and drop in front of hapless
                  prey with a mighty splat.
Location: Mouna Temple
Method: Back away from the Blorb and focus on it like any other monster. YOUR
       FOCUS GUAGE MUST BE AT MAX WHEN IT TRANSFORMS INTO A CUBE. Otherwise,
       Musashi will not be able to learn the skill.

-Zanshin-
MP Cost: Gradually consumes MP while used.
Description: Gradually expend MP to enhance defense.
Enemy: Magma Drone
Enemy Description: At first it appears to be a simple rock with an
                  imbedded jewel. Once you approach this enemy
                  it then springs to life and looks much like
                  a robotic hermit crab.
Location: Mount Terrior
Method: All you need to do is perform a quick four hit combo on this enemy.
       When you don't follow through with the fifth hit, it will then hide
       in it's shell. After that just focus on it and occasionally whack it
       to keep it in its shell. Once Musashi focuses on it while it is
       hiding, the "!" will appear.

-=Last Words=- (LWO)
Well, this marks the end of the FAQ. I have to admit that this did require
quite a bit of effort, but in the end I really did enjoy the experience. It
also gave me a little insight as to how difficult writing a full blown FAQ
can be. Again, I would like to encourage you to email me if you had any
difficulties navigating this guide or understanding it. I'll make every
effort to reply in a timely manner as well as revise the guide for future
viewers. I hope you enjoyed this FAQ as well as the game, and until next
time!

*version 1.0*
Completed the bulk of the FAQ.

*version 1.1*
Cleaned up the Kiai strategy. Realized that you actually have
to get hit with the attack instead of witnessing it.

*version 1.2*
Corrected a few grammar issues as well as gave permission
to neoseeker.com to post this guide on its site.

*version 1.3*
My friend Chilledlikeice decided to do a quick review of the guide and pointed
out a few more grammar mistakes. He also sugessted that I write a brief
tutorial on the techniques, which I plainly did. Also added enemy descriptions
and fixed even more misspellings.

*version 1.4*
Found that a majority of people were having trouble learning Juggle and
Inner Refuge. Added focus requirement for Juggle and revised the Inner
Refuge strategy. Hopefully this will put the problems to rest.

*version 1.5*
Tweaked the Leaping Tiger technique a bit to clear some confusion. Never
thought I would be updating as much as I have. Also updated my gmail address
since I was forced to change it.

*version 1.6*
Made an addition to the 360 technique since some people were having trouble
learning it.
Copyright 2005 Michael Ayala

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