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Usernamehere's Potara Effects Guide
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[email protected]
Hello and welcome to my Potara Effects guide for Dragonball Z: Budokai
Tenkaichi 3.
I'll be providing information on the different Potara as well as my personal
thoughts on their effects and some suggestions for using them.
Table of contents:
1. Version History
2. Info on Potaras
3. Potara List
-Ability Type
-Skill Type
4. Notes
===================
1. Version history
===================
1.0 - December 12, 2007
-Newly created.
1.1 - December 15, 2007
-Corrected the information for the Satisfying Blow potara. Thanks Joe Lang!
-Cleaned up some grammatical errors.
1.2 - December 27, 2007
-Corrected some more information for different potaras.
-Corrected a couple of grammatical errors.
1.3 - January 3, 2008
-added some info to the Quick Charge potara.
-fixed a few more errors.
1.31 - January 9, 2008
-fixed a few things
1.4 - March 11, 2008
-corrected the information for Emperor's Aura (finally). Thanks Shippo!
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2. Info on Potaras
===================
Potaras are items you equip on a characters to improve their capabilities.
These effects can range from increasing their brute strength to giving them
unique abilities.
Each item takes a certain amount of ability spaces. The stronger items will
naturally require more spaces. There are also items that provide strong
increases or abilities at a low cost. However, they will generally come with
a penalty of some kind.
Still, there are many to choose so there's bound to be an item that's adapted
to your fighting style.
Note: I will not do the strategy-type Potaras. The game gives good enough
descriptions. The way they work is that the AI will be SLIGHTLY altered. They
won't obviously favor anything but they WILL fight a bit differently.
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3. Potara List
===============
I will display every Potara in the following format:
-Item Name (and allegiance if applicable)
(how many ability spaces they take)
(general description and personal comment)
with that said, here is the list.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Ability Type
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
--------------
Neutral Items
--------------
-Attack Up
the space cost is proportional to the stat boost.
This increases your melee damage and that of your small Ki attacks. More
damage is always good and while the higher levels take more space, you
don't get any penalties.
Here is testing damage with Early Goku's primary melee chain on
Early Piccolo:
base damage : 1890
Level 1 : 2150
Level 2 : 2390
Level 3 : 2630
-Defense Up
the space cost is proportional to the stat boost.
Obviously enough, you take less damage. However, high defense doesn't
really help you all that much. Depending on your character, you would be
better off getting more life bars instead. At least these Potaras don't
have any actual penalties.
Here is testing damage with Early Goku's primary melee chain on
Early Piccolo:
base defense : 1890
Level 1 : 1820
Level 2 : 1750
Level 3 : 1640
-Ki Power Up
the space cost is proportional to the stat boost.
This is very useful. On characters with slow charging, this will turn
the tide real quick-like. If you can fit these, You're definitely getting
a big advantage without any penalties.
The speed benefits were tested with SSJ3 Goku.
base charging : 7 seconds
Level 1 : 5 seconds
Level 2 : 4 seconds
Level 3 : 3 seconds
Note: After testing with Early Goku, I stopped getting benefits after
level 2. This means you are wasting spaces on characters with good natural
charging.
-Super Up
the space cost is proportional to the stat boost.
Not quite as useful as better Ki charging but you still get noticeable
benefits from stronger B2 attacks. Characters that already have a good
charging speed can really benefit from this. You don't get any penalties
with these, either.
The damage bonuses were tested with Early Goku's Kaioken attack.
base damage : 8000
Level 1 : 9000
Level 2 : 10000
Level 3 : 11000
-Attack +2 & Defense -1
Costs 1 space
Nice for what it costs. You'll get a good payoff if you're good at combos.
The defense penalty is practically negligible if you're any good at timing
your counters.
-Defense +2 & Attack -1
Costs 1 space
Meh. Sure, you take less damage but, in my opinion, attacks in this game are
already relatively weak compared to the previous game so you're not getting
much of a benefit.
-Ki Power +2 & Super -1
Costs 1 space
You get a small drop in B2 power but you can throw out more of them. It's
a nice trade-off if you use a chargeable B2 because they have high natural
power but a fixed-damage B2 with weak damage may suffer a bit.
-Super +2 & Ki Power -1
Costs 1 space
Good if your character already has a good charging speed. End Piccolo
could benefit form this because he already charges fast and his Special
Beam Cannon deals great damage on its own. Dr.Gero and Android 19 could
also take advantage of this since they get most of their Ki from grabbing.
----------
Good Only
----------
-Attack +3 & Super -1
Costs 2 spaces
If you like melee combat, you'll like this one. You lose a bit of B2 power
but you max out your melee damage while saving one space for another item.
That extra space could be used to either compensate the loss of B2 power or
to make your melee even more dangerous.
-Defense +3 & Attack -2
Costs 1 space
I think the penalty almost cancels out the advantage. Sure, you take less
damage but your melee damage takes a drop. You should only use this if you
plan on fighting with B2 attacks a lot. The low cost will guarantee a good
selection for B2 usage.
-Ki Power +3 & Defense -1
Costs 2 spaces
Pretty good. You get a lot of extra charging speed with a small defense
drop as your only penalty. If you don't care for the penalty, get this over
Ki Power +3. The free space can only help.
-Super +3 & Ki Power -2
Costs 1 space
The damage increase is nice but the drop in Ki charging speed is nothing to
ignore. If you're good at managing your Ki however, give it a try. It's still
a major increase in B2 damage for only 1 space.
----------
Evil Only
----------
-Attack +3 & Defense -2
Costs 1 space
Whoa, you get a big increase in melee damage but you take more damage too?!
Who thought that one up? I only see this working on natural brickwall
fighters. At least they don't get stunned from melee hits and they tend to
have high natural health.
-Defense +3 & Ki Power -1
Costs 2 spaces
I suppose if you want to focus more on melee, you could try this so you have
extra Potara space for a good melee item but besides that, you're not getting
much of an advantage. Though you could take this over just Defense +3 if
KI management is your forte.
-Ki Power +3 & Super -2
Costs 1 space
Basically, you're getting penalized for the only reason you would ever
increase your Ki charging speed. Unless you like to use the Dragon Dash a
lot, I don't see how you could benefit from this. I guess Cell's first form
could use it since he has the powerful Special Beam Cannon and atrocious
Ki charging.
-Super +3 & Attack -1
Costs 2 spaces
Great if you don't care much for melee combat. Users of evil characters
might prefer this over Super +3 for extra space. You're getting great B2
attacks with a potentially negligible penalty depending on your combat
preferences.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Skill Type
-=-=-=-=-=-
-Flight
Costs 1 space
Useful on characters without natural flight, obviously. It fixes their
weird floating when you try to rise or drop in the air and it helps them
fight on maps like Kami's lookout or Ruined Earth. Personally, I think they
should've thought of this back in the prequel.
-Unleash Latent Power 1-3
Costs 2, 3 and 4 spaces respectively
Your base Ki goes up by one bar per level. The penalty says your Ki charging
speed drops. This may sound bad but keep in mind that your base Ki will
recharge on its own. You basically become an android that can charge KI.
Potentially useful, especially if your character has a high enough base KI
so you don't need to use the highest level.
-Ki Control
Costs 2 spaces
If you like to fly around a lot, this could be useful. You're basically
getting double Ki available for Dragon Dashing all over the place. Just
make sure the defense penalty doesn't bite you in the ass.
-Dragon Dash Mastery
Costs 4 spaces
On one hand, you can Dragon Dash to your heart's content. On the other hand,
you become worse in clashes. Considering there's a small defense penalty,
this could put you in difficult situations. Unless your fighting style
focuses on defensive fighting, ignore this. Not really suited for offense.
-High spot, Essence of Sight
Costs 1 and 2 spaces respectively
This makes it easier to manually teleport during melee attacks. There's a
damage penalty with regular combo hits to compensate the increased ease of
getting behind the opponent. If manually teleporting are part of your,
tactics, this item may be worth considering. Just make sure you have the
damage penalty in check.
Essence of Sight is an improved version of High Spot. For an extra space,
you can spam the manual teleport to your heart's content. Just make sure to
vary your timing because if the opponent picks up on it, he'll counter your
teleports and YOU'LL get back attacked.
-Warrior Lineage
Costs 2 spaces
This reduces the Ki consumption for the teleport during a melee rush or when
you activate the automatic melee counter (/\+O or O during a melee combo).
The bonus for the teleports is nice but the other one isn't really that
useful because no one is stupid enough to hit you after you're in the counter
stance for 5 seconds...
-Halo/Demon Seal (one is good-only, the other is evil-only)
Costs 4 spaces
If you like to spam B2 attacks, this makes it much easier. However, you get a
noticeable penalty to your health. You lose an entire life bar. It's not a
bad item for characters with high natural life but even the average character
will find the loss of life a bit of a strain. You also get a small loss in
Attack. If you don't mind losing more Potara spaces, you can compensate with
Master Roshi's training. You'll need to be creative with your one space
though.
-Satisfying Blow
Costs 1 space
This item makes your B2 attacks deal their normal damage even if the opponent
increases his brute defense with items. For example, Defense +3 would be
nullified if you equip this item. On the other hand, your Ki charging speed
takes a dive. It might be good for optimal B2 damage but besides that, just
use Super Up or something else that helps your B2 attacks.
-Active Heart, Indomitable Fighting spirit (good-only)
Costs 1 and 2 spaces respectively
This makes your Ki recover faster when you do melee combos. The next one will
recover even more. However, keep in mind that you'll only notice a difference
if you get your groove going. Short combos won't make a difference in your KI
recovery in the long run.
-Mind Breaker, Gigantic Power (evil-only)
Costs 1 and 2 spaces respectively
If you're good at guard breaking, use this. You'll take off a bigger chunk of
KI from the opponent. Gigantic Power will take off even more. I recommend you
use Gigatic Power because you're much more likely to knock them into forced
KI recovery mode where they can't do anything at all.
-Rising Fighting Spirit
Costs 1 space
This gives you your full Ki capacity right off the bat. With this, you can
use any B2 right off the bat. Great to get an early advantage. Not much else
you can do with that much Ki early on.
-Secret Measures
Costs 3 spaces
your B1 capacity is maxed out from the start so you can either transform or
use B1 abilities form the beginning. However, your B1 gauge will take longer
to fill up so don't spend it all in one place. Good for characters like
Mid Goku so you can build up the mother of all Spirit Bombs very quickly.
-Prood of Friendship
Costs 1 space
With this, you can tag out at any time from the start. The only use I see
from this is to pair it up with Savior so your partner starts in Max Power.
Besides this, there's no real tactical value I can notice. Make sure that
it's the partner you're tagging to that has Savior or else you won't be in
Max Power when they come in.
-Dende's Healing Ability, Eternal Life
Costs 2 and 4 spaces respectively
This item gradually recovers life during the battle. However, even
Eternal Life doesn't recover very fast. Couple this with defense enhancing
items so your at least GET the chance to recover something.
-Tension Up, High Tension
Costs 2 and 3 spaces respectively
These are different versions of the earlier "Unleash Latent Power" items.
They don't penalize your Ki charging speed but they recharge slower. It
depends on your preferences. Do you prefer faster active of passive KI
recovery?
-Water Blessing (evil only)
Costs 1 space
If you go for a swim, your health and Ki will slowly recover on their own.
While the game doesn't give any penalties for the item itself, remember the
penalties of actually BEING underwater. That is, slower Ki charging and
slower movement. Some maps obviously don't have water but when there is,
it's a good idea to try this since it costs so little.
-Spiritual Control
Costs 3 spaces
This is pretty nice for characters like Mid Goku so you can power up the
Spirit Bomb that much faster. Or for characters who have useful B1 abilities
so you can use them even more. It's a bit pricey at 3 spaces however. Still,
there are no penalties to it.
-Lover of Justice, Evil Ambitions (one is good-only, the other is evil-only)
Costs 2 spaces
This is a cheaper version of the above item. Except you lose a bit of
charging speed. Also, Devilman's UB will do different damage depending on
your character's allegiance. Still, it's not a bad item to try for the cost.
-Dragon Heart, Dragon Beat
Costs 2 and 3 spaces respectively
If you can dodge a B2 or UB by timing the O button, you'll get a B1 stock for
free. However, your B1 gauge will fill up a bit slower. Dragon Beat, for one
more space, doesn't have this weakness. A useful item if you're good at
dodging attacks.
-Dragon Spirit, Confidence (evil-only)
Costs 2 spaces and 1 space respectively
These items will make your B1 gauge recover a bit faster. Not all THAT useful
but it's there. If you're not good at deflecting little Ki blasts, this can
help compensate for the B1 gauge lead the opponent might have. Confidence
takes one less space to equip but it'll take longer before you can tag.
Not recommended in team battles.
-Battle Control
Costs 1 space
In team battles, this is useful. You can tag faster so if you have a big guy
you'd like to bring in, this is the item you need. Potentially useful if you
also equip Savior.
-Kibito's Secret Art
Costs 2 spaces
Whoever you equip this on will recover EVERYTHING while on stand-by. This is
obviously a team item so don't use it on duels. The B1 gauge recovery can be
especially useful.
-Persistent Threat (good-only), Miracle Master
Costs 1 and 2 spaces respectively
A life-saver in case you're knocked down and a B2 is hurling towards you.
You will automatically dodge it as if you had Afterimage activated.
The good-only item takes less space but your B1 gauge will fill up slower.
Miracle Master takes more space but it has no penalty AND everyone can
use it.
-Exquisite Skill
Costs 1 space
This makes abilities like Piccolo's Kaikosen last much longer. This is
especially useful on characters who have a chargeable move. Fat Buu for
example will benefit from this since it gives you a chance to unleash a
Kamehameha at full power. Also, as a nice bonus, you GAIN resistance against
paralysing B1 abilities! Pretty nice for B1 users and appropriate characters.
-Quick Return (good-only)
Costs 1 space
A handy item for the good guys. This makes it easier to recover from being
stunned by a guard break. Your Ki will regenerate noticeably faster which
will help reduce oppotunity damage. If you can't afford Guard Master, this is
a good alternative.
-Unleash KI, Power of Rage, Dragon Power
Costs 1, 2 and 3 spaces respectively
These will ease the burden when engaging in B2 struggles of melee clashes out
of Dragon Dashes or melee B2 attacks. Dragon Power especially will make you
a beast in such situations. It's a bit pricey at 3 spaces but you can almost
defend by attacking when you use those. Couple with B2 damage boosting items
so your opponents (the human ones at least) will fear even RISKING engaging
in clashes of any kind.
-Latent Energy!
Costs 1 space
Raises your defense by +1 everytime you lose a life bar. It's not really that
useful because the damage isn't reduced by anything worthwhile. Still, it may
be useful on characters with a lot of health to spare.
-Fighting Spirit!
Costs 1 space
This increases your Ki charging rate by +1 for every life bar you lose. This
can help you turn the tide with B2 spamming if you're getting beaten and it
only takes one space.
-Indignation!
Costs 1 space
Your B2 and UB attacks will increase by +1 everytime you lose a life bar.
If you want a painful counter-attack, this is the item you need. You can
easily add a few thousands of damage to your B2s after receiving an
ass-kicking.
-Serious!
Costs 1 space
Your melee attacks rise by +1 for every life bar you lose. It's good if
you're a melee nut but even after losing a lot of life, your melee won't deal
that much damage.
-Hatred of Saiyans (evil-only)
Costs 1 space
Ugh...it doesn't cost much to equip but the Ki regeneration this grant is so
minor you might as well not even bother. The only redeeming feature is that
you can stack it on top of High Tension or something similar.
-Blast Attack 1-3
Costs 1, 2 and 3 spaces respectively
The first one slightly increases the speed of your little Ki blasts. The
second one increases their damage. This is more useful if you ask me...The
third one however, increases their speed some more, increases their damage
AND makes them cheaper to use. Use the third one if possible. Stick with the
second one if you can't. Best used on characters like Vegeta who fire a lot
of blasts before needing recovery.
-Guard Master
Costs 2 spaces
You are immune to guard crushes. You'll still take some damage, mind you, but
you don't even NEED to bother with aiming your guard anymore. However, it
won't prevent guard breaks from B2 rushes slamming into you so be careful.
Assist this item with Quick Return if you want to protect yourself against an
unforeseen forced recovery.
-Mirage
Costs 1 space
If you're facing a character who uses energy volley B2 attacks and you're
good at timing your teleports, this will make it a little easier. If you
avoid the first blast, you avoid the whole volley.
-Warrior's Will/Evil Pride (one is good-only, the other is evil-only)
Costs 1 space
when you block, you will take even less damage than you already do. However,
blocking in this game already absorbs a crapload of damage compared to the
prequel so the usefulness of this item is questionable. Use it if your
opponent likes to use UB attacks a lot since this will reduce the damage that
gets through a bit further.
-Perfect Guard
Costs 2 spaces
Absolutely no attack will hurt you as long as your guard button is held down.
However, this doesn't prevent guard breaks so be careful on that front.
Couple it with Guard Master so that you become even more of a defensive tank.
-Sparking Plus
Costs 3 spaces
Your Max Power mode lasts longer. This is pretty good if you would rather use
the Max Power-exclusive combos and extra chasing and vanishing smashes
instead of using your UB right away.
-Style of the Strong/Emperor's Aura (one is good-only, the other is
evil-only)
Costs 4 spaces
The good guys' version is sort of a combo between Sparking Plus and Super +2.
That's right, You get the efficiency of a 5 spaces item with a 20% rebate.
Just keep in mind that the Bonus damage only applies to your UB attack.
The evil version is a bit weird. It basically enhances your ability to stun
brickwalls when you're in Max Power. This way, even brickwalls that get
"reinforced" during Max Power can be stunned if you use this item. The best
way to benefit would be to either use it on characters who can already stun
brickwalls or to combo the item with Draconic Aura.
-Miracle Sparking
Costs 3 spaces
With this, you'll automatically get the Aftermiage B1 effect while you're in
Max Power. However, your B2 and UB attacks will weaken somewhat and Max Power
doesn't last as long. At least you're that much harder to touch during your
Max Power so be as agressive as you can.
-Savior
Costs 1 space
Give this to the person you're switching with so they start in Max Power.
From there, do whatever it is you do in Max Power. It's a nice item for the
cost.
-Light Body
Costs 1 space
The opponent's small Ki blasts can't stun you as easily. For those alone, you
become a brickwall. For one space, this is pretty useful because opponents
can't interrupt your melee attacks with little Ki blasts. You can even keep
charging without getting stunned so you can reach Max Power more easily.
It's a good item for 1 space.
-Power Body
Costs 4 spaces
Basically, you become a brickwall except for little Ki blasts. Personally, I
think this item is kinda crap. Opponents will simply try to stay away from
you and spam ranged attacks. You won't be fighting, you'll be chasing. Also,
there's a small penalty to your defense so attacks will hurt a bit more. I
just don't think this is worth taking considering the space cost...
-Ultimate Body
Costs 5 spaces
You straight-out become a brickwall. Small Ki blasts and melee attacks won't
stun you as easily. You take a little more damage but you'll be able to
strike back more easily. Much better than Power Body. Use this if you can.
-Draconic Aura
Costs 3 spaces
This makes you able to stun brickwalls. It will be as if you were fighting a
normal character. I prefer this over the previous items because while they
make you a brickwall, they don't let you stun them. This item does so it
forces both of you on equal footing. Also, it costs 3 spaces which is much
better than the others.
-Master Strike
Costs 1 space
This will give a smallish increase to all your melee attacks. However, you
lose a chunk of damage with your B2 and UB attacks. It also weakens your
throws too so only use this if you're great at doing combos.
-Master Blast
Costs 1 space
This is like Blast Attack 3 except it only costs 1 space and your melee
attacks become weaker. If you prefer using Ki attacks over melee combat, give
this a try. The penalty isn't THAT bad but it might be annoying if you're
forced into melee combat so use caution.
-Master Throw
Costs 1 space
Your throws will do double damage. Sounds nice, doesn't it? The thing is,
your small Ki blasts do less damage, take more energy AND you can't shoot as
many. Still, it's a nice item to use on physically strong characters who
already do good damage with their throw. Such as the brickwalls. Also, your
small Ki blasts still hold tactical value to stun the opponent and create an
opening.
-Charged Attack
Costs 1 space
Your combos do a little less but you'll be doing more damage by smacking them
across the level. This is purely a preference issue. Take it if you like
smash attacks.
-Quick Fast Attack
Costs 1 space
The opposite of the previous item. Your combos will do more damage at the
cost of smacking them as hard. Take it if you like combos.
-Dragon Break, Dragon Crush
Costs 2 and 4 spaces respectively
These will let you chase the opponent either one or two more times after you
smash them. However, keep in mind that chasing them uses Ki so don't dry
yourself up too quick.
-Vanishing Break, Vanishing Rush
Costs 2 and 4 spaces respectively
These give you either one or two more vanishing attacks. I prefer this over
the previous items because vanishing attacks don't use KI. Take these if you
like to smack them around repeatedly.
-Combo Master
Costs 1 space
This makes your combos stronger. There are no penalties either. However, you
must really be a combo master to get full benefits from this because the
increase only really happens after a lot of hits. I do mean a lot of hits.
-Quick Charge
Costs 1 space
This is a must-have for characters with chargeable B2 attacks. Your charging
time is cut in half so setting up your attack becomes that much easier.
However, it also becomes easier to overcharge so just keep an eye out for
that chime. Overcharging means you won't do optimal damage.
-Super Senses
Costs 1 space
Your lock-on will return faster if you somehow lose it. However, you
shouldn't need this because your opponent will usually be chasing you down
after you lose your lock so you'll regain it on close proximity even from
back attacks. It's kind of pointless.
-Broly's Ring
Costs 1 space
This prevents your character from transforming. You're probably wondering
what the heck anyone would do with this. You can use it to restrict only one
character instead of the whole team. It's an alternative to turning off
transformations, basically.
-Namek Power, Earth Power, Universal Power
Costs 1, 3 and 2 spaces respectively
Your abilities will all increase if you're on the correct map. Namek and
Earth and obvious enough. Universal is most likely the rest of the maps in
the roster.
-Aura Charge (color)
Costs 1 space
This changes the color of your passive aura. If you charge, it'll be the
character's natural color. As a bonus, you start the battle with an extra bar
of KI. Besides that, it's purely for fun.
-Master Roshi's/King Kai's Training
Costs 2 and 4 spaces respectively.
One gives you an extra bar of life and the other gives you two. I prefer this
over defense increases. However, characters with high natural health could
benefit more from defense but it's generally hard to go wrong with more
health.
-#18's Kiss
Costs 7 spaces
This insanely pricey item lets you chase the opponent AND vanish attack them
two more times EACH after you smash them. Of course, only take this if you
actually LIKE to do those attacks. You better like them a lot because that's
all you'll get.
-#17's Scarf (PS2 Disc Fusion unique)
Costs 7 spaces
This is Ultimate Body and Draconic Aura packed into one package. You also get
a minor defense loss. Only use this if you like close combat because that's
all this item is good for. At least you'll be able to fight any character on
even grounds.
-Medicinal Machine (PS2 Disc Fusion unique)
Costs 7 spaces
This is Eternal Life, High Tension and a restricted Kibito's Secret Art all
rolled into one package. While fighting, your character will recover life and
Ki. When you tag him/her/it out, those recovery effects will remain.
Personally, I would rather not recover anything during the fight but get back
my B1 gauge during stand-by.
-Launch's Support (Aquired at 100% potara completion except disc fusion ones)
costs 2 spaces
This item's only unique effect is that just unlocking it lets you earn more
Z points than usual. In-game, this will increase your KI charging speed.
That's pretty much it.
=========
4. Notes
=========
Everything related to Dragonball belongs to their respective owners.
This guide belongs to me. If you copy it, make sure you say where you got
your information from. You shouldn't see this guide anywhere else but
GameFAQS and Gamespot.
I'm not making money at all on this guide.
With that said, thank you very much for reading this guide.
