XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX ___ ___ _______ ___ _ XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX | \ / | | ______| | \ | | XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | |\ \ / /| | | |_____ | |\ \ | | XXXXXXXXXXXXX ____ | | \ \ / / | | | _____| | | \ \ | | XXXXXXXXXXX |____|| | \ \ / / | | | |_____ | | \ \| | XXXXXXXXX |_| \___/ |_| |_______| |_| \___| XXXXXXXXXXX __ _ __ _ _ XXXXXXXXXXXXX | | / \ | |\ | | \ ( \ XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | |-- ( __ |-- | \ | | ) \ XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX |__ |__ \_/ |__ | \| |_/ \_) XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX X-MEN LEGENDS (Gamecube version) FAQ/WALKTRHOUGH v1.21 2004-12-29 (c)2004 Barry Scott Will This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons 559 Nathan Abbott Way Stanford, California 94305, USA. X-Men (tm)Marvel Comics X-Men Legends (c)2004 Activision This FAQ/walkthrough is not endorsed by, nor is the author associated with, either Activision or Marvel Comics. ASCII art by Barry Scott Will / \ /--MEN--------------------------------------------------------------- \/ Table of Contents /\---LEGENDS----------------------------------------------------------- / \ / [1] Overview [1.1] Game Review [1.2] Glossary [1.3] Frequently Asked Questions [2] Controls [3] Gameplay [3.1] Basic Play [3.2] Combat & Mutant Powers [3.2.1] Power Combo Names [3.3] Using the Map [3.4] Leveling the X-Men [3.5] Items [3.6] Hints [4] X-Men [4.1] X-Men Stats [4.2] Power Leveling [4.3] Beast [4.4] Colossus [4.5] Cyclops [4.6] Emma Frost [4.7] Gambit [4.8] Iceman [4.9] Jean Grey [4.10] Jubilee [4.11] Magma [4.12] Nightcrawler [4.13] Professor X [4.14] Psylocke [4.15] Rogue [4.16] Storm [4.17] Wolverine [4.18] Optional Builds [5] Enemies [6] Walkthrough [6.1] Overview [6.2] Escape From New York [6.3] Interlude #1 - X-Mansion [6.4] HAARPo March [6.5] Interlude #2 - X-Mansion [6.5.1] Sentinel Flashback [6.5.2] Juggernaut Flashback [6.6] That's Morlock It! [6.7] An Arbiter-y Assignment [6.8] Interlude #3 - X-Mansion [6.8.1] Magma Qualification Exam [6.8.2] Weapon X Flashback [6.9] Nuclear Family [6.10] Interlude #4 - Muir Island [6.11] Interlude #5 - X-Mansion [6.12] Illyana on the Astral Plane [6.13] Weapon X Part Deux [6.14] Interlude #6 - X-Mansion [6.15] Morlock, More Power [6.16] Interlude #7 - X-Mansion [6.17] Juggernaut Jig [6.18] 48 Sentinels on Parade [6.19] Got Morlock? [6.20] Interlude #8 - X-Mansion [6.21] I Fall To Pieces... [6.22] Sentinels 'R Us [6.23] Three Strikes and You're Out, Shadow King [6.24] Interlude #9 - X-Mansion [6.25] Magneto's Hunk-a, Hunk-a, Burnin' Rock [7] Item List [8] Trivia Game Q&A [9] Danger Room Scenarios [10] Version History [11] Credits To jump to a specific topic, open the Edit menu and choose Find in this Page (or just press Control-F) and enter the bracketed number, including the brackets. For example, enter [4.17] as the search text to jump straight to the information on Wolverine. / \ /--MEN--------------------------------------------------------------- \/ [1] Overview /\---LEGENDS----------------------------------------------------------- / \ / ================= [1.1] Game Review ================= X-Men Legends is an action role-playing game in the mold of Diablo, Dungeon Siege or Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. The primary "role-playing" aspect of the game is controlling your characters' increase in power--a process called "leveling"--and the occasional non-action stage, where your main purpose is to hunt down other characters and chat with them. Primarily, your task is to kill people and break things; and, since your characters are fifteen of the uncanny X-Men, you can do this very well. For fans of the action/RPG genre, this is a good game. For fans of the X-Men, this is a good game. For fans of both the action/RPG genre and the X-Men, this is...well, your geek dreams have come true. The gameplay is smooth, combat controls are mostly intuitive, and the game is very linear, so you don't really have to put much thought into it beyond "X-Men Smash!" The story involves an ongoing fight between the X-Men and two opposing groups: The Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto; and the Genetic Research and Security Organization (GRSO), led by General Kincaid. Throw in some of the supreme anti-mutant robots known as Sentinels and you have the recipe for rock-'em, sock-'em fun. Some people have been put off by the fact the characters in the game are somewhat clumsily rendered using a cel-shaded technique, rather than being full, 3-dimensional polygonal figures. You will get used to it, and it does help the characters pop off the screen. Considering how chaotic many of the fights become, this is a good thing. Controlling the X-Men's leveling is also a nice feature; but, a lot less useful than one would think. Each X-Man has a strength, and, for the most part, trying to make the X-Man anything else ranges from hard to impossible. For example, Wolverine, Beast and Rogue will never be anything other than hand-to-hand fighters and you can't make them into ranged fighters. Cyclops can be a hand-to-hand fighter if you level him that way; however, he will be an incredibly bad melee fighter, so why bother? In the end, most of the X-Men end up being basically the same regardless how many times you play through. This does limit the replay value of the game; but, it is so much fun the first time (or two) through, it is definitely a worthwhile purchase. ============== [1.2] Glossary ============== A few terms used in this guide with which you may not be familiar... Boss ---- "Boss" enemies are the super-powerful opponents you face at different stages of the game. Typically you will see references to a "mini-boss", this is a slightly weaker foe you fight midway through a mission. A "boss" is the foe you meet at the end of a mission. The "end boss" is the wickedly powerful bad guy you have to defeat to end the game. Buff, buffing, insta-buff ------------------------- A "buff" in game lingo is an increase in a character's powers. For the X- Men, this may be an increase in ability scores or damage from attacks. An "insta-buff" is an increase in the team's powers that can be easily and immediately applied. For example, Cyclops' Command power increases the Strike and Agility scores of the entire team as soon as it is used, thus is can be described as an "insta-buff". Critical hit ------------ A critical hit (or, sometimes just "critical" or "crit") is an attack that strikes a "sensitive" area and does more damage. In X-Men Legends, criticals do three times as much damage as a normal attack. E.g. if your normal attack averages 30 points damage, a crit will do 90 points damage. Mob --- While this term originally referred to groups of enemies, it has evolved to refer to any enemy--even singular foes. Spam ---- In this context, "spam" refers to repetitive action. For example, to "spam the L button" means repeatedly press the L (Call Team) button. Or, "spam Lightning" means use Storm's Lightning power over and over and over and over...You get the point. Tank ---- A hand-to-hand fighter that can take a lot of damage and dish out even more damage. Colossus, Rogue, Beast and Wolverine are all examples of "tanks". ================================ [1.3] Frequently Asked Questions ================================ The following questions are the ones most frequently asked via email. Look here first, if you're having a specific problem. Q1) How many X-Men are playable? A1) Count 'em from the ToC above. There are 15 playable X-Men; although, one, Prof X, is only playable in one mission. Q2) I'm having trouble rescuing the crewmen from the Arbiter! A2) First, don't save at the Galley Xtraction point if you don't have much time left! Second, be sure to seal up all the leaks; they're marked for you on your automap. Q3) How do I beat the Sentinels? A3) Nightcrawler + Teleport Frenzy + Hammer of Nimrod = dead Sentinel. If you're not high enough level to use HoN yet, Wolverine's Brutal Slash is remarkably effective. Q4) I'm out of health packs and don't have enough money to buy more. A4) Play a Danger Room scenario that you have not completed. You can use this same method to earn money, collect energy packs and equipment, etc. Q5) What's the maximum level for the X-Men? A5) Forty-five (45). Q6) My team is constantly being beaten. What's the best team for (insert mission here)? A6) The best team is usually Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey and a tank (Wolverine early, Colossus later). However, unless your team is composed of just Emma, Jubilee and Beast, you've got a fighting chance in any mission. If you keep dying, try these combat tips: - Don't charge ahead. Advance slowly, and, if you get mobbed, retreat the way you came, drawing a few enemies after you. Keep AI-controlled X-Men near by using the L button (Call Team) frequently. Don't let them charge ahead and trigger more mobs. - Always be aware of rejuvenation units and take them out first (i.e. Morlock Goths) - Learn to hit power combos and always have Cyclops or Storm or both on your team (with leveled up Leadership skill) to increase the damage done by combos - Learn to read the enemies' resistances and concentrate on hitting them with other types of damage. I.e. don't expect Jean's Psychic Shout to have much effect on Sentinels. Q7) I'm stuck! Something's blocking my way and I can't go around. A7) Yes, you can go around. You can always go around. Just search a little harder. Try hitting a few nearby walls to see if they're breakable. Q8) Can you play as (insert enemy mutant here)? A8) Only in Skirmish or Sparring mode. In Story Mode, you are limited to the 15 X-Men listed in the ToC above. Q9) I beat the game; how do I change costumes? A9) Press X (Skin) in any team select character screen (at beginning of a mission or when using Change Team at an Xtraction point). In other words, you can't change costumes until you get most of the way through the first mission. Q10) Do I keep my comics, sketch books and X-Men levels when I start a new game? A10) No. Every game plays exactly the same way. You can use the Review option from the main menu to view all previously unlocked load screens, cinematics, concept art and comics. Q11) I missed a Danger Room disc. Now what do I do? A11) If it was one of the standard (i.e. not the Challenge or Nightmare discs) scenarios, it will eventually show up in Healer's shop and you can buy it. You may also get any DR disc from Healer's Grab Bag, but trying over and over again to get one can be frustratingly tedious. / \ /--MEN--------------------------------------------------------------- \/ [2] Controls /\---LEGENDS----------------------------------------------------------- / \ / Key: - A comma between two buttons means press the first button and release, then press the second button. Example: A, A, B means press-and-release A, press-and-release A again, then press B. - An addition symbol between two buttons means press-and-hold the first button, then press the second button. Example: R+A means press and hold the R (right shoulder) button and then press A. - A, B, X, Y, Z are the buttons on the controller that are labeled with those same letters - L and R are the Left and Right shoulder buttons Just another reminder, this refers to the control layout for the Nintendo Gamecube. If you're trying to use this FAQ for the PS2 or X-Box version, none of this is going to make sense (or even work). The controls for the menus are covered where appropriate in Section 3, Gameplay below. This section covers the in-game controls. =========================== [2.1] In-game control chart =========================== BUTTON...........ACTION A................Standard attack, basic mutant power B................Knockback attack, Strong jump, Alternate mutant power X................Use, Down while flying, Defensive/Buffing mutant power Y................Jump, Flight, Up while flying, Xtreme mutant power Z................Use health pack X+Z..............Use energy pack R................Activate mutant power menu: hold, then press A, B, X or Y L................Call teammates to you Control stick....Move D-pad............Switch player control to a different X-Man C-stick..........Move camera Start............Bring up game menu =========================== [2.2] Detailed descriptions =========================== [2.2.1] Standard Attack (A button) ---------------------------------- This is your basic melee attack (punch, kick, some X-Men use a weapon) and does the least amount of damage. [2.2.2] Knockback attack (B button) ----------------------------------- This is a stronger, slower melee attack that has the ability to knock your opponent backwards. Use A and B in different sequences to deliver special attacks. For example: A, A, B is a popup; A, B, A is a trip; etc. You can learn and practice special attacks in the Danger Room. [2.2.3] Use (X button) ---------------------- This is the button you press to open doors and pick up items. You also press X to talk to other characters, activate Xtraction points or to use certain control panels. You will get a notice on screen if you can press X to use anything. X can also be used to pick up people or other objects and throw them; and is the button fliers use to pick up and carry people. Fliers can also use X to fly lower. [2.2.4] Jump/Double jump/Flight (Y button) ------------------------------------------- A single press of the Y button will cause your character to jump. Pressing Y again in mid-jump will cause the character to use his or her special mutant ability, assuming you have purchased points in that ability. For example: Iceman creates ice slides; Magma creates lava slides; some X-Men can fly; some X-men can double-jump; etc. Fliers use Y to fly higher. Any X-Man can perform a high jump when you press Y, B. The high jump ends with a powerful attack, which is very useful against tall enemies, such as sentinels. You can also use it to clear large gaps or tall obstacles. [2.2.5] Use health (Z button) or energy (X+Z buttons) packs ----------------------------------------------------------- To use a health pack for your current character, press Z. To use an energy pack for your current character, press-and-hold X and then press Z. [2.2.6] Activate mutant power menu (R button) --------------------------------------------- Press-and-hold the R button to open the mutant power menu, which will show in the upper-left portion of the screen. All currently available mutant powers will appear mapped to the appropriate button. Press the corresponding button to activate the mutant power. The buttons for the mutant powers are: A - Basic offensive power, all X-Men have this power from the beginning of the game. All other mutant powers must be purchased with level-up points. The A-power icon is the bottom icon on the menu. B - This is an alternate offensive power. It may be a variation of the A-Power, or a different ability altogether. The B-power icon is the left icon on the menu. X - Defensive/buffing mutant power. Some X-Men's defensive powers cover the entire team, others only protect the individual X-Man. Some X-Men have a buffing (stat-increasing) power rather than a pure defensive power. The X-power icon is the right icon on the menu. Y - Xtreme mutant power. This is a super-powerful mutant power that can only be purchased once an X-Man has reached 15th level. The Xtreme power icon is the top icon on the menu. [2.2.7] Call team {L button) ---------------------------- Press L to call your teammates to you. If you are currently engaged in combat, your teammates will target your opponent with their mutant power as defined in their character sheet (see section 3.4 below for more information on character sheets). Use this button, in combination with one of your own mutant powers, to score combos (see section 3.2 below). [2.2.8] Move (Control stick) ---------------------------- Use the left control stick to move your character around the screen. [2.2.9] Switch X-Man (D-pad) ---------------------------- Use the directional pad on the left side of the controller to switch to an "open" X-Man. Any X-Man that is not controlled by a human is available for switching. Look at your team icons in the lower left of the screen to see which direction to press the D-pad to switch to a character. For example, your team icons look like this: Cyclops /\ || Storm <--------> Rogue || \/ Wolverine You would press up to take control of Cyclops, right to take control of Rogue, down to control Wolverine and left to control Storm. When playing with more than one player, each X-Man on the team appears in one of the four corners of the screen, with a diagram of the D-pad next to the X-Man's portrait that shows which direction on the D-pad you should press to take control of that X-Man. [2.2.10] Move camera (C-stick) ------------------------------ You have some limited control over the camera using the yellow C-stick on the right of the controller. Left/right rotates the camera, up/down zooms in and out. There's no way to change the camera angle except through the options menu. [2.2.11] Game menu (Start button) --------------------------------- Press Start to bring up a menu that allows you to view your current objectives, access your current teams' character sheets, load a game, turn the map on or off, etc. / \ /--MEN--------------------------------------------------------------- \/ [3] Gameplay /\---LEGENDS----------------------------------------------------------- / \ / ============================= [3.1] Basic Play (Story Mode) ============================= The following information is for playing through the main story. There are some special game modes that can be accessed through the Danger Room selection at the main menu (the one you get when you first start the game). Those game modes--Sparring and Skirmish--are not covered in this guide. Gameplay in X-Men Legends consists of action-oriented missions interspersed with interludes where all you do is talk to other characters. During the interludes, you are limited to playing as Alison Crestmere (AKA Magma). During the missions, you will have up to fourteen X-Men from which to choose. (The fifteenth character, Prof X, is playable only in two specific situations.) You progress through each mission with a team of four X-Men. (There are a few missions where the number of available X-Men is less than four.) Anywhere from one to four players may control the X-Men on the current team. Any X-Man not controlled by a player will be controlled by the game's artificial intelligence (AI). NOTE: A player can take control of an X-Man simply by plugging in a controller and hitting Start. If a player has to leave, you have to bring up the game menu (Start button) and select the Players option to render their controller inactive. If there are fewer players than there are X-Men, any player can switch control to any "open" X-Man on the team. In addition to finding and eliminating resistance, each mission will have a variety of objectives you must complete. You might need to destroy a certain number of machines, or find a specific character or rescue other people. You can review your current mission objectives by bringing up the game menu and selecting the Objectives option. During missions, you can bring up an auto-map (see section 3.3 below) that shows you where you've been. The map shows objectives (a yellow X inside a circle) and Xtraction points (a blue X inside a circle). You should always use the large map to help you find your way around the different stages. Xtraction points are marked by a glowing, blue X in a circle on the ground. At an Xtraction point, you can do a variety of things: Change Team ----------- Allows you to change the members of your current team. Choosing this option brings up the team select characters screen. Highlight any character and press A to switch to a different character. While in this mode, you can revive fallen X-Men using tech bits (see section 3.5 below) and re-add them to your team. If your current roster is not subject to change, this option will not be available. NOTE: all fallen X-Men are revived at the end of a mission, so only pay to revive an X-Man if you absolutely must do so. Save Game --------- Allows you to save your current progress. Saved games require 25 blocks on a GCN memory card. You should use a memory card with enough free space to store at least two saved games, preferably more. You will also need 1 block for game options, so your memory card must have at least 26 blocks and should have 51 or 76 blocks free for playing X-Men Legends. Load Game --------- Allows you to load a saved game. You can also do this from the game menu (i.e. you don't need an Xtraction point to load a game). Visit the Danger Room --------------------- Some Xtraction points allow you to jump straight to the Danger Room in the X-Mansion and play scenarios there. If you are finding a stage difficult, use this option to level your characters some more so you have more power to get through the stage. Visit Forge ----------- Once you have unlocked Forge during the first interlude, you may use an Xtraction point to visit his shop and either buy or sell equipment. Forge will buy anything you carry; however, he sells only armor, backpacks and belts. If you are in desperate need of protection, you can buy some things from him. Mostly, you will use Forge to reduce your inventory so you can pick up more loot. Visit Healer ------------ Healer is a Morlock friendly to the X-Men. Once you have talked to him during the third mission, you will be able to use Xtraction points to visit his shop. Like Forge, he buys anything. All he sells are health and energy packs and certain Danger Room discs you may have missed along the way. He also has a very expensive Grab Bag that produces a random item. Sometimes this can be a very good item; most of the time it will be worth far less than what you paid to reach into the bag. Not all stages have Xtraction points and not all Xtraction points allow the full range of options listed above. (Save Game and Load Game are available at all Xtraction points; the other options vary.) Whether or not a stage has an Xtraction point is noted in the walkthrough below. As you play through each mission, you should try to pick up as much stuff as you can. This means breaking things. At least half, if not more, of all the placeable objects in the game are breakable, and some produce equipment, health or energy packs or tech bits. The most likely candidates for useful items are the container objects: barrels, trash cans, crates, etc. Beds, chairs, computer consoles and other such items rarely produce anything; but, they're fun to break anyway. (Or, pick them up and throw them at the bad guys...) ============================ [3.2] Combat & Mutant Powers ============================ Combat, and lots of it, is the name of the game in X-Men Legends. Each X- Man has two primary melee attacks: standard and strong/knockback. Standard attacks are made with the A button, strong attacks with B. By hitting an opponent with different sequences, you can perform a special attack that does more damage. Some of the special attacks are: - Triple Hit: A, A, A - Knockback: B, B - Popup: A, A, B - Trip: A, B, A - Stun: B, A, B, B - Power sequence: A, B, B, A, A, A While some X-Men can be effective just unloading melee attacks on the bad guys, the best way to win fights is to use your X-Men's mutant powers. Even better, you should learn how to hit "power combos"--two mutant powers used on one opponent at the same time. Hitting combos in multiplayer requires communication between the players and a good sense of the timing of each mutant power being used. Wolverine's Brutal Slash, for example, is much faster than Storm's Lightning Strike. If a player controlling Wolverine wants to hit a combo with a player controlling Storm, the Wolverine player must watch the timing of the LS and initiate the Brutal Slash immediately before the lightning hits. In single player, hitting combos is part luck and part skill. In combat, you press L repeatedly to call your teammates to you and have them attack your opponent with their mutant powers. Again, timing is an issue, but you don't have much control over when the computer AI will actually unleash its power(s). The primary method of hitting combos in single player is to hold down the R button and repeatedly press both the L and either the A or B button. Experiment to find different teams that work well for hitting combos. (Note that Emma Frost's Confuse and Jubilee's Photo Flash powers do not appear to cause power combos.) Make sure you always have either Cyclops or Storm (or both) on the team for the bonuses they provide to power combos. You can also score combos even if you are just fighting hand-to-hand; just keep pressing L while you're punching to keep your teammates blasting away with their powers. There's even a "Batter Up!" combo that is scored when one X-Man hits with a strike sequence at the same time another X-Man hits with another strike sequence. Examination of gameplay videos shows the powers do not have to hit exactly simultaneously. There is a small window of opportunity surrounding each power when you can cause a combo. Powers that temporarily stun your opponents are especially good for combos as you can hit with the second power any time while the foe is stunned. Area-of-effect powers also give good chances for hitting combos as multiple enemies are affected. You can hit super combos by hitting a combo with one or two Xtreme powers. During combat, get used to mashing the L key repeatedly to keep your teammates firing away. Once you get to level 15 and purchase Xtreme powers for your X-Men, you can use these powers by pressing R + Y. Xtreme powers require Xtreme icons, which will display at the bottom center of the screen. In order to fill these icons, you need to collect Xtreme tokens the same way you collect health packs, etc. Each token fills one-quarter of an icon, so you must collect four tokens to get one full icon and use an Xtreme power once. The Xtreme power icons are shared by all X-Men. Thus, if you have one icon filled, and Gambit uses 52 Pick Up, Storm cannot then immediately follow with Cyclone Fury until you pick up more tokens. At level 15, you can have one filled Xtreme icon. At level 20, you can have two filled icons. At level 25, you can have three; at level 30, you can have four; and, at level 35 and after, you can have five filled icons. Xtreme powers are most useful for crowd control. The best Xtreme powers are those that launch enemies away from you, such as Colossus' Seismic Smash. Try to avoid using Xtreme powers against bosses, as most Xtreme powers are large area-of-effect powers that are intended to damage multiple enemies. Against a single enemy, they're a lot less powerful. Use focused, single- opponent powers and combos against bosses. Another method of dealing with your enemies is to throw things at them. A character with the Might skill can pick up and throw cars, trucks and other really heavy things--or Wolverine for a Fastball Special (see section 4.17 below). Any character can throw barrels or crates; the exploding barrels are especially nice. Gambit and Jubilee can both charge objects and throw them before they explode--sort of homemade grenades. As you attack enemies, keep an eye on the enemy status bar in the top center of the screen. This shows your opponent's health status and any damage resistances possessed by the enemy. For example, some enemies are physical resistant. This means attacks causing physical damage are less effective. Team up on the foe with energy and mental attacks. The same goes for opponents listed as mental resistant, etc. Keep an eye out for rejuvenators. Various mobs have a special unit that can revive fallen comrades. If you don't take out the rejuvenator, the bad guys will keep coming and coming and coming and coming. See section 5, Enemies, below for a list of rejuvenator units. Finally, if you can, avoid combat on bridges (especially bridges built by an X-Man) or near ledges. The computer AI is just stupid enough to occasionally send your teammates jumping into the abyss after enemies that have fallen over the edge. That's a bad thing. Combat in X-Men Legends is fast, furious and goes on forever; so, you'll get plenty of practice in taking care of the bad guys. If, for some strange reason, you can't get enough combat, try the Danger Room. [3.2.1] Power Combo Names ------------------------- Every power combo or super power combo has a name composed of an adjective and a noun; e.g. Atomic Blades or Dazzling Leap. The two words are taken from the X-Men powers that were used. The first power that hits determines the adjective; the second power determines the noun. To determine the name of a combo, just look up the adjective and noun for each power. Thus: Cyclops Optic Beam + Wolverine Brutal Slash = Optic Claw Wolverine Brutal Slash + Cyclops Optic Beam = Adamantium Beam. Here is a list of adjectives and nouns for most of the offensive mutant powers. Emma Frost's Confuse power and Jubilee's Photo Flash power do not appear to cause combos, perhaps because they do not harm your foes. |---------------------------------------------------------------| | Character | Power | Adjective | Noun | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Beast | Pinball | Rolling | Strike | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Propeller Kick | Simian | Kick | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Colossus | Power Smash | Charging | Smash | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Concussion Slam | Catastrophic | Slam | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Seismic Smash | | Quake | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Cyclops | Optic Beam | Optic | Beam | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Optic Sweep | Immobilizing | Shockwave | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Emma Frost | Confuse | n/a | n/a | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Fear | Spectral | Terror | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Gambit | Charged Card | Atomic | Cards | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Staff Slam | Charged | Slam | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Iceman | Freeze Blast | Icy | Chill | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Ice Shards | Piercing | Blades | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Jean Grey | Telekinesis | Lifting | Kinetics | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Psychic Shout | Shrieking | Scream | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Jubilee | Energy Burst | Dazzling | Sparklers | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Photo Flash | n/a | n/a | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Magma | Fiery Blast | Burning | Blast | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Lava Fissure | Molten | Eruption | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Nightcrawler | Teleport Leap | Quantum | Leap | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Teleport Flurry | Leaping | Flurry | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Professor X | Hammer Legend | Astral | Flash | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Blast Legend | Cerebral | Nova | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Psychic Maelstrom| | Maelstrom | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Psylocke | Psychic Slash | Crushing | Slash | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Psychic Bolts | Slicing | Bolt | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Psychic Onslaught| | Devastations | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Rogue | Southern Strike | Vampiric | Strike | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Ability Drain | Devitalizing | Diffusion | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Storm | Lightning | Electric | Surge | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Whirlwind | Tempestuous | Twister | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | Wolverine | Brutal Slash | Adamantium | Claw | |--------------|------------------|--------------|--------------| | | Claw Flurry | Bestial | Assault | |---------------------------------------------------------------| =================== [3.3] Using the Map =================== The large auto-map is an essential part of success in X-Men Legends. Without the map, stages can become confusing and impossible to navigate. With the map, you can always see in which direction your next objective lies. The stages are very linear, but some of them can twist around enough to leave you confused unless you can see where you are and where you are going on your map. The map contains a number of useful markers to help you find your way through each stage: A blue X marks an Xtraction point. See section 3.1 above for more information about Xtraction points. A yellow X marks a stage objective. It might be a control panel that needs to be operated, a person who needs to be rescued or a device that needs to be destroyed. Your primary goal in each stage is to go to each yellow X and do whatever needs to be done. Then you head for the exit and the next stage. A red arrow marks the exit from the stage. Once all objectives have been cleared (all yellow X's are gone), find and use the exit. By default, the map is hidden when you start the game. To turn on the map, bring up the game menu using the Start button. Scroll down to the Map Hidden button and press A to switch to the Small Map. The small map might be more to your taste; however, it only shows your immediate surroundings and will not show distant objectives. The small map overlays the right center portion of the screen. Press A again to switch to the Large Map. The large map overlays the center of the screen and can show nearly an entire stage. Pressing A again will switch back to Map Hidden. The large map overlay can be daunting when first used; however, it is an invaluable tool and you should quickly grow accustomed to its presence. In no time at all, you will be able to look right past the map whenever you are in combat and then refocus on it when you are ready to move on. ======================== [3.4] Leveling the X-Men ======================== [3.4.1] Introduction -------------------- Each X-Man has a "level" that indicates how much experience and how much power the X-Man has. This level can be seen on the character screens, the character sheet of each X-Man and next to the X-Man's health and energy meters during game play. As you play the game, the X-Men earn experience points (XP). At specific totals of XP, each X-Man increases in level and can "level up". NOTE: As you earn XP, *every* X-Man receives some points, including those who are not participating in the mission, and even those who have yet to be unlocked. The X-Men actually participating in the mission receive a slightly higher amount. This way, all X-Men stay at about the same level; however, if you use a specific team almost exclusively, they will eventually outpace the rest of the X-Men. It is a good idea to change your team once-in-a-while to keep everyone's level equivalent. Whenever an X-Man on your team has increased in level, you will get a notice on screen (it's kind of hard to miss). You may also see a smaller notice on screen if you start using an X-Man who has increased in level, but has not yet been leveled up. This notice shows bottom center and says "Level Up" with a small gray circle to the left of it. The small gray circle represents the Start button. Every time an X-Man increases in level, he or she receives one point to add to stats and one point to add to powers/skills. At every fifth level (5, 10, 15, 20, etc.), the X-Man receives two points for stats and two points for powers/skills. If you do a moderate amount of Danger Room play, the X- Men will probably end the game around 37th level, which means you will be able to spend a total of 43 points for stats and 43 points for powers/skills. If you power-level using the Danger Room, you can get your X-Men to level 45, which is the maximum. At 45th level, you will have earned 53 total points to spend on stats and 53 points to spend on powers and skills. It requires 40 points to "max out" an X-Man's mutant powers (buy all levels of all four powers). The number of points required to max out an X-Man's skills vary by X-Man, but is usually around 25 or 26 points. So it is impossible, no matter how much power-leveling you do, to max out all of an X-Man's powers and skills. The descriptions of each X-Man in section 4 will list those powers and skills you can most easily do without. [3.4.2] Character Screen ------------------------ To level up an X-Man, you must bring them up on the character screen. You can get to the character screen through the game menu (Start button) and choosing the option Characters. At the beginning of each mission and when you select Change Team at an Xtraction point, you get the team select character screen. The team select character screen allows access to all available X-Men. The character screen accessed from the game menu only allows access to the members of the current team. The character screen shows four X-pads, typically with a mutant on each pad. The pads are in the same configuration as the X-Men on the D-pad icon on your game screen. To the right are each X-Man's vital statistics, in order from top to bottom of top, right, left and bottom X-pad. The stats show each X-Man's level and current and maximum health and energy. If the X-Man needs to be leveled up, a gold double-helix will be rotating next to his or her name. To select an X-Man on the screen, use the control stick or D-pad to highlight an X-pad. Below the character stats are your current number of tech bits, health packs and energy packs. Along the bottom of the screen is the menu. B - Back: cancels everything you've done and returns to the game; do not press this unless you want to go back and start over from the point where you first opened the character screen. At the team select character screen, this button also selects the team that appeared when you first opened the screen. X - Skin: changes the current X-Man's costume (not all X-Men have alternate costumes); available only after you have beat the game and unlocked extra costumes and only useable on the team select character screen. A - Replace: changes the X-Man at the currently selected X-pad; only available on the team select character screen. Y - Details: opens the currently selected X-Man's character sheet Start - Accept: commits all changes to memory and returns to the game; once you accept changes made to the X-Men's stats, powers and skills you can't undo them. On the team select screen, this selects the current team with changes made since you opened the screen. If you are at the team select character screen and you press A to change an X-Man, a filmstrip of available X-Men portraits opens on the bottom of the screen. You can scroll left and right on this filmstrip with the control stick. Fallen X-Men's portraits are darkened with "Revive" overlaid and the cost (in tech bits) to revive him or her. The cost increases as the X-Men increase in level. From this filmstrip, highlight an X-Man and press A to revive (if the X-Man has fallen and you have enough tech bits). Press A to place that X-Man at the currently selected X-pad. Press Y to access that X-Man's character sheet. [3.4.3] Character Sheet ----------------------- You level up the X-Men, change their equipment, change the AI that governs them and view all their information from the character sheet. At the top left of the character sheet is the character's portrait. To the left of the portrait, you can see the L and R button icons; press L or R to switch to the character sheets of the other X-Men on your current team. If you are accessing the character sheet from the team select filmstrip, you can switch to any unlocked X-Man. To the right of the portrait are three icons representing three pages that you can access. Underneath these page icons is the character's current level and the number of points available for the currently selected page. The three pages are: Stats/AI -------- Shows the character's Strike, Agility, Body and Focus scores; the AI level; the AI heal rule and the character's AI mutant power Powers/Skills ------------- Shows the character's mutant powers and skills and current level in each Equipment --------- Shows the character's equipped backpack, belt and armor and the available inventory for each slot To the right of the main window are the character's statistics including current attack and defense ratings, current and maximum health and energy, current experience points and points needed to reach the next level. Underneath the editable region of the window is an information window showing details about the currently selected stat, power, skill or piece of equipment. At the bottom is the menu: B - Back: returns you to the character screen; changes you have made are kept, but have not yet been committed to memory, you can still come back to the character sheet and re-do the level up. X - Subtract/Unequip: reduces the currently selected stat, power or skill by one point; this is only available if you have, in this session, added points to the score. On the equipment screen, X unequips the currently selected item. A - Add/Equip: increases the currently selected stat, power or skill by one step or allows you to change the currently selected piece of equipment. Y - Auto: automatically levels up the X-Man. This is not recommended. Z - Drop: on the equipment screen, drops the currently selected item from the team's inventory. Start - Accept: commits changes to memory and returns to the game; all changes are committed to memory and cannot be undone. [3.4.4] Stats/AI ---------------- Each X-Man has four ability statistics (stats): Strike, Agility, Body and Focus. Strike adjusts attack rating, Agility adjusts defense rating, Body adjusts your health and Focus adjusts both the amount of mutant energy you have and the rate at which it regenerates. The stats shown on this screen represent your "modified" stats; i.e. any bonuses from skills, equipment or other items are included. In general, each X-Man needs lots of Focus because generous use of mutant powers is the way to win this game. Putting all your level-up points into Strike, Agility and Body and just punching and kicking your opponents is a recipe for disaster. Mutants need their mutant powers; thus, they need lots of mutant energy. Melee characters need at least one-third of all level up points placed in Focus. Ranged characters need about one-half of all points in Focus. Of the other three stats, Body is the most important as it determines the X-Man's health. Melee characters will want a high Strike score so they can dish out more damage. Ranged characters will want a higher Agility so they don't get hit so often. Spread your level up points between these stats as you desire; there's no real formula for the relationship between them. Below the Focus score is the character's AI level. The AI level controls how the X-Man should react in combat, especially when you call for help. There are three levels of AI for each X-Man. Aggressive: the X-Man responds immediately to attack Normal: the X-Man waits for an opportunity before attacking Defensive: the X-Man only attacks if he or she is attacked There's little use in this game for Defensive AI. Melee characters should be set to Aggressive, the remaining X-Men can be set to Normal. Next on the list is the AI heal rule that governs how the AI uses health packs. A change on any one character's sheet affects all X-Men, not just the individual character. There are four rules: Never: the AI never uses health packs < 20%: the AI uses a health pack if the character's health falls below 20 per cent of maximum and there are more than two health packs in inventory < 40%: the AI uses a health pack when the character's health falls below 40 per cent of maximum and there are more than two health packs in inventory < 80%: the AI uses a health pack when the character's health falls below 80 per cent of maximum and there are more than two health packs in inventory The recommended settings are 40% and 80%. Never is not a good idea unless you intend to rapidly switch X-Men while in combat in order to use health packs. Less than 20% can cause an X-Man to die from massive damage before getting low enough to use a health pack. Less than 40% is a good all-around rule that will keep your teammates alive while saving on your store of health packs. Less than 80% will cause the AI to use health packs far too rapidly in the early game; but, you can switch to it once you are able to hold 20 or more health packs. Last on the list is the AI power. This is the mutant power the AI will use when you call for an attack using the L button. Recommended settings for AI power are listed in the description of each X-Man in Section 4. To increase a stat or change an AI rule, use the control stick to highlight the item and press A. If you have added points to a stat in this session, highlight the stat and press X to subtract a point. You cannot subtract points added to stats previously and committed to memory. [3.4.5] Powers/Skills --------------------- Each X-Man has three standard mutant powers, one Xtreme power and several skills as outlined in Section 4. The first power on the list is the A- button power and all X-Men start with one level of this power. Next on the list is the B-power, then the X-power and then the Xtreme (Y-button) power followed by the skills. Each of the first three powers is a "tree" with three "branches". You must fill up each level of an upper branch before you can fill up levels in the next branch. The A and B powers have two branches of five levels each, followed by a "Legend" branch with just one level. Initially, you will not see the Legend branch, it does not show on the character sheet until your X-Men have reached 25th level. The X power has three branches of three levels each. All three branches are visible from the start, though it will take you a while to fill them. The Xtreme power is a single level. The powers, the cost to buy a level, the character level requirement for each level and the energy cost to use each power are standard for all characters. Here's the basic chart: Char Level Power & Level Point cost Requirement Energy Used A-1.1 - - 10 A-1.2 1 3 15 A-1.3 1 5 20 A-1.4 1 7 25 A-1.5 1 9 30 A-2.1 2 15 40 A-2.2 1 17 45 A-2.3 1 19 50 A-2.4 1 21 55 A-2.5 1 23 60 A-3.1 2 30 70 B-1.1 2 5 25 B-1.2 1 7 30 B-1.3 1 9 35 B-1.4 1 11 40 B-1.5 1 13 45 B-2.1 2 20 55 B-2.2 1 22 60 B-2.3 1 24 65 B-2.4 1 26 70 B-2.5 1 28 75 B-3.1 2 30 85 X-1.1 2 5 60 X-1.2 1 7 70 X-1.3 1 9 80 X-2.1 2 14 100 X-2.2 1 16 110 X-2.3 1 18 120 X-3.1 2 23 140 X-3.2 1 25 150 X-3.3 1 27 160 Y-1.1 2 15 1 Xtreme icon There are two exceptions to this standard progression. Nightcrawler's B power (Teleport Flurry) uses almost double the energy of other X-Men's B powers. Jean Grey's TK (A power) requires an additional expenditure of energy each second it is in use; this is over the initial cost of using the power. Listed underneath the powers are the skills. All skill levels cost one point to fill. Most skills have either three or five levels. A few skills have six levels and are shown as two three-level branches. Some skills also have level requirements; for example, Level 1 Toughness cannot be purchased until the X-Man is 10th level. Some of the skills, such as Flying, are additional mutant powers requiring an expenditure of mutant energy. The complete layout looks something like this (using Wolverine as an example); X is a filled level, . is an empty level: Brutal Slash X X X X X Eviscerate X X X X X Legend Slash X Claw Flurry . . . . . Claw Frenzy . . . . . Legend Frenzy . Feral Rage X X X Berserker Rage X X . Unstoppable Rage . . . SAVAGE RAMPAGE X Health Factor X X X X X Sharpness X X X X X Toughness X X X Mutant Mastery X . . Critical Strike X X X . . Expertise X X . . . Powers and skills that can be leveled up display in white. Powers and skills you cannot currently level up show in gray. Using the control stick, highlight the power or skill you want to level up and press A to add a level. Press X to subtract any levels you have added in this session. Levels added in a previous session and committed to memory cannot be subtracted. [3.4.6] Equipment ----------------- The third screen shows the character's current equipment in, from top to bottom, the backpack slot, the belt slot and the armor slot. Highlight a slot and a list of equipment for that slot that is in inventory will show below. Press A to access the inventory list, highlight the equipment you want to place in the slot and press A again to equip it. Press B while in the inventory list to keep the currently equipped item. Press Z while in the inventory list to drop an item out of the team's inventory and leave it on the ground. If you want to empty the character's equipment slot, press X while the slot is highlighted. Information about each piece of equipment will show in the information window at the bottom of the screen when that piece of equipment is highlighted. You can also get an overview of all the equipment in sections 7.6, 7.7 and 7.8 below. =========== [3.5] Items =========== Your primary task in X-Men Legends is defeating the bad guys. Your secondary task is scrounging for loot...that is, collecting valuable equipment. You get most of your swag from drops by your enemies; however, you can also get a lot of loot from destroying the scenery. Most of the items you will collect are health packs and energy packs. Since these resources get used up frequently (especially in the early game), it's a good thing the game drops a lot. Later in the game, as your energy regeneration improves, you can start selling off some of the energy packs you pick up, since you don't need them as much and so many of them drop anyway. Keep the health packs, they don't show up quite as often. You also need to look out for tech bits, the X-Men Legends equivalent of money. You use tech bits to buy equipment from Forge and Healer and revive fallen mutants-in-arms. Once you hit 15th level and can use Xtreme powers, you'll start picking up the Xtreme tokens you need to fill your Xtreme power icons. There are also many bonus items that are hidden throughout the game: comic books to upgrade your X-Men; discs for playing in the Danger Room; sketch books that unlock concept art so you can say "kewwwl"; bonus skill points, stat points and experience points. All lying around where just anybody can get to it. Well, all right, anybody that can fly or teleport or pick up tractor-trailers... All X-Men share the inventory, so any X-Man can equip anything that's been picked up, unless another X-Man is already wearing the item. There is a limit to the number of items that can be held in inventory. If you try to pick something up and get the message "Inventory is full", you have three options: ignore the item on the ground because it is underpowered for your current level; go to a nearby Xtraction point and sell unused items to Forge or Healer; drop some of your current inventory on the ground. In order to keep your inventory from filling up, re-evaluate your equipment and sell unneeded items at least every second Xtraction point. A more complete list of items available is in section 7. Items that always show up in a specific location (such as comics, Danger Room discs, sketch books and bonus points) are listed in section 6, Walkthrough. The locations of comics are also listed in section 7.3. Danger Room disc locations are also listed in section 9. =========== [3.6] Hints =========== Learn to use the large map. It's a bit annoying and hard to use at first; however, once you become accustomed to it, you will not be able to play with it off. Learn to hit combos and always have at least Cyclops or Storm on your team to increase the damage and XP bonus of combos. For really insane bonuses, have both leaders on your team. (This is assuming you are building up their Leadership skill, which you should.) To score more combos in single player, control an X-Man with a slow-developing power or a power that affects multiple enemies (Storm is a good choice as her Lightning does both). By the time your character's power hits, your teammates will have responded to your call and hit with their own powers. Use the Danger Room to level your X-Men and collect items. Deliberately "fail" the course, and you can re-play it and continue collecting items. Once you've cleared a DR mission, it will no longer drop items when replayed. Any DR scenario which requires you to execute certain commands (such as the Teamwork courses) or protect objects is a good candidate for collecting items and power-leveling. It's very easy to fail the course. Concentrate on maximizing a few key mutant powers and skills rather than having lots of half-powered abilities. Consider each X-Man's core strengths and pick corresponding powers and skills. Cyclops, for example, doesn't really need any levels in Critical Strike. With a few exceptions, powers that damage a single opponent are stronger and more useful than wide area powers. Keep your team and their powers focused on a single enemy and take your opponents out one-by-one rather than trying to blast them all at once. Make sure each X-Man that has a special jumping/flying ability gets it built up. The exceptions may be Iceman and Magma. Their slides are not quite as useful as flying or double-jumping. They are, however, really cool to play with, so you may want to level up one of them at least the first time you play the game. As much as possible, use equipment that aids regeneration of health or energy, aids in defense or increases damage. Always use nanofiber armor rather than other types of armor. Lure enemies to you using a ranged fighter to prevent being mobbed. Consistently use the L button to keep all X-Men focused on a single enemy and increase the chances of scoring a combo. Always take out the strongest enemy first, then deal with the peons. The only exception is when there is some method where the enemy is regenerating; in that case, take out the regeneration unit first. Examples: Morlock Goths resurrecting their comrades; launchers that keep spitting out sentinels, etc. Always save when you reach an Xtraction point. Use a large memory card and rotate between two or three saves. If you find you're in bad trouble in a stage, you can always go back one or two stages and try something different. / \ /--MEN--------------------------------------------------------------- \/ [4] X-Men /\---LEGENDS----------------------------------------------------------- / \ / ================= [4.1] X-Men Stats ================= Each X-Man has four ability statistics (stats): - Strike: Attack rating is 1 per level + 1 per Strike rank Your attack rating affects how often you hit when fighting hand-to-hand; it also affects how much base damage your character does when he or she hits - Agility: Defense rating is 1 per level + 1 per Agility rank Your defense rating affects how often you are hit by melee attacks or ranged, non-mutant attacks (i.e. guns) - Body: Health is 25 + 5 per level + 10 per Body rank The more health you have, the more damage you can absorb before needing to use up health packs. Since some attacks, especially mutant powers directed against you, cannot be avoided with Agility, you need a decent Body stat, even if your Agility is high. - Focus: Mutant energy is 30 + 4 per level + 7 per Focus rank Mutant energy regeneration is +1% per Focus rank The more mutant energy you have and the faster it regenerates, the more you can use your mutant powers; this is an important stat for all X-Men In general, you should concentrate on Focus for each X-Man as your mutant attacks are your most powerful, so you want to be able to use them as much as possible. You should spend at least one of every three stat increases on Focus. Over the course of the game, this should add about 14 or 15 points of Focus to your starting stat. Characters that heavily rely on mutant powers (e.g. Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey) should get one of every two points placed in Focus. Spread the remaining points out however you wish. There's no real formula for how these scores should relate to each other. Melee characters will want to concentrate on Strike and Body; ranged characters on Body and Agility. You'll find that, for characters that need high scores in these three stats, you'll get bonus skills and items that greatly improve them. This makes it even easier to concentrate on Focus. Each X-Man also receives bonus stat points to a specific stat each time he or she levels up. This varies by X-Man, though it is usually related to that X-Man's primary need. E.g. Cyclops, Storm and Jean Grey receive bonus Focus points; Nightcrawler receives bonus Agility points; Wolverine receives bonus Strike points; etc. Since the characters that are more reliant on Strike, Agility or Body receive these bonus points, you can afford to spend more on Focus to increase their ability to use mutant powers. There are also three other stats that can be affected by powers, skills and equipment. - Knockback: governs how far you are thrown back when hit by a knockback attack, or how far you throw enemies with knockback attacks. There are a lot of attacks in the game that cause "knockback"--you or your enemy is literally flung through the air. There are a number of powers (Cyclops' Optic Sweep, Colossus' Concussion Slam, etc.) that cause a lot of knockback. These powers are useful for separating yourself from a mob of enemies. Similarly, there are powers, skills and equipment that reduce the chance your X-Man will be flung backwards if hit by such an attack. - Pain: pain appears to affect whether your X-Man is stunned by a sufficiently severe attack Without being able to examine the game engine, it seems that pain is used whenever an X-Man is hit by an attack that causes a large amount of damage. In such cases, your X-Man may appear "stunned", even though he or she has not been hit by a stunning mutant power. There are defensive powers and equipment that reduce pain. - Destruction: a lot of the scenery in X-Men Legends is destructible; this stat shows how effective a power is at destroying the scenery The higher the destruction rating of a power, the easier it is to blow things up. At high levels, you can blow up a lot of things at once. Note that raw power (e.g. high Strike, the Might skill, etc.) also increases the destructive ability of individual X-Men. ==================== [4.2] Power Leveling ==================== If you play through the game normally, you will end with most of your X-Men in the upper 30's in level; however, the maximum level that you can achieve with any X-Man is 45. It will take a bit of work to get your X-Men to that level. The game is quite beatable without power leveling; getting your X- Men to maximum level will just make the game a cakewalk. Still, you'll end up with about 10 more stat and skill points to spend, allowing you to more fully realize each X-Man's potential. The key to power leveling is judicious use of Danger Room scenarios. The experience gained from defeating opponents is a constant and does not change as you increase in level. What you want to do is repeatedly play a scenario that allows maximum time in the Danger Room and has foes that give high XP. Freshman Courses ---------------- Combined Powers 101 and 102 both give you four minutes in the danger room with low-level Brotherhood mutants and anti-mutant troops. All you have to do to get your full four minutes time is avoid using the L button so you don't hit any combos. The enemies here aren't worth a lot once you get past 7th or 8th level; by then you should have some sophomore classes to use. Sophomore Courses ----------------- There aren't any really good power leveling classes in this set. All the classes have a short time limit, and can end quite early through failure or success. The best classes to use for level gains are Focus 201 and Focus 202. While you will easily end the class successfully by killing the Morlock Goths, the Morlocks you confront are worth good XP for your X-Men up to the early teen levels. Junior Courses -------------- Survival 302 gives you no objective other than staying alive for three minutes. A good source of experience for X-Men through the teen levels. Senior Courses -------------- Any class that takes place on the Astral Plane is your best bet for gaining experience. The shadow creatures give a lot of XP--in the tens or even low hundreds of thousands. The senior-level Protect and Focus courses are on the Astral Plane; but, the premier power leveling class is Graduation Exam 400. You can get a full two minutes on the Astral Plane defeating hordes of enemies, simply by protecting Prof X and ignoring the statues. Using both Storm and Cyclops for double Leadership bonuses, you can easily earn well over four million experience points each time you play. X-Man Courses/Legends Courses ----------------------------- Focus 601 (Legends) is a quick XP-earner: about two million in about 30 seconds. Averaged over time, it's a faster leveler than GE400. Challenge Legends can easily earn you up to 20 million XP; however, by the time you obtain the disc, the game is all but over, so power-leveling at that point isn't worth much. ================================ [4.3] Beast (Henry "Hank" McCoy) ================================ A-power: PinBall/Cannon Ball/Legend Ball--Beast rolls into a ball and careens through the area at incredible speed, dishing out lots of physical damage B-power: Propeller Kick/Propeller Lash/Legend Propeller--Beast spins around, kicking any enemies in range and causing physical damage X-power: Beastial Feats/Beastial Instinct/Beastial Soul--Beast mentally focuses his mind and body to react to anything; this delivers increasing physical damage resistance, Agility boosts and increased jumping range at higher levels Y-power: Orbital Bombardment--calls a powerful laser down from an orbiting satellite to smite enemies Skills: - Acrobatics: Increases Agility and allows a double-jump - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Grappling: Increases Strike and reflects damage from punches and kicks - Might: Increases lifting strength and damage of melee attacks. - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: You meet Beast during your first interlude in X-Mansion. Recommended AI level: Aggressive Recommended AI power: Propeller Kick Beast is, probably, the purest melee fighter among the X-Men. As such, he needs the least amount of Focus of any mutant; you can get away with just one-fourth of your stat points placed into Focus. Put half your stat points into Strike and the remaining fourth split between Body and Agility. With Beastial Feats, Acrobatics and Grappling, you will get huge bonuses to Strike and be able to dish out incredible damage. Pinball is pretty useless, as it is very difficult to control and often does more damage to the scenery than to your enemies. Propeller Kick is very good, but is most effective only when Beast is being mobbed. You'll need enough mutant energy to keep Beastial Feats up and running with the occasional Propeller Kick thrown in for good measure. Otherwise, you'll mostly fight hand-to-hand with Beast. Level up Might, Critical Strike, Grappling, Acrobatics and Toughness to their maximum as soon as you can. You can ignore Pinball and Mutant Mastery. Orbital Bombardment is a useful Xtreme power. Max out his X-power to Beastial Soul 3 and buy his B-power up to at least Propeller Lash 3 or 4. When coupled with a higher-level Cyclops and his Tactics power, Beast can really put the hurt on your foes. ============================================ [4.4] Colossus (Piotr Nikolievitch Rasputin) ============================================ A-power: Power Smash/Titanic Smash/Titanic Legend--Colossus lays one on an opponent; a very destructive power B-power: Concussion Slam/Concussion Blast/Concussion Legend--Colossus claps his hands, causing an arcing shockwave that damages and knocks back opponents in range X-power: Steel Skin/Titanium Skin/Osmium Skin--Colossus' personal shield; metal armor forms around his body giving him physical damage resistance, resistance to beam attacks and resistance to pain; higher levels have a chance of deflecting physical damage back on the attacker Y-power: Seismic Smash--Colossus slams the ground and really shakes things up Skills: - Colossus Charge: A heavy charge attack that can be performed from a jump - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Knockback: Adds additional knockback to all knockback skills/powers - Might: Increases lifting strength and damage of melee attacks - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: You rescue Colossus from a Russian nuclear plant; he's first available during the GRSO attack on X-Mansion during Interlude #5. Recommended AI level: Aggressive Recommended AI power: Power Smash or Concussion Slam Colossus is the strongest X-Man with the most devastating mutant attack (Power Smash); however, he is also the slowest X-Man, which makes it very hard to actually land his signature punch. Thus, Colossus is most useful for crowd control. Both Power Smash and Concussion Slam cause a lot of knockback, which can be increased with the Knockback skill. Add in a good defensive power, and Peter is a one-man riot squad. For his main offensive power, Concussion Slam is more useful as it affects all enemies in front of Colossus and has a large amount of knockback. Power Smash is more destructive on an individual, but, as mentioned, can be difficult to land because Colossus is so slow. If you equip him with a muscle accelerator, it will be much easier to use his destructive blow. Colossus Charge is sort of a "fifth power attack". In mid-jump, push the Y button again and, when Peter lands, he'll lumber forward and bash into whatever is in front of him. This will do a fair amount of damage and knockback and requires mutant energy to execute. This power is about as useful as Iceman's Ice Tracks, but less fun to play with and can be ignored. To make Colossus most effective, max out Concussion Slam and Steel Skin. You also want to max out Knockback and Might; and a level or two of Mutant Mastery is also a help. At Concussion Legend level, Colossus' clap can clear out the *next* room--just stand near the door and execute the B-power and then walk into a room full of falling bodies. It is also very easy to hit combos with Concussion Slam. Equip him with a Power Enhancer to increase the damage from his attack. ============================= [4.5] Cyclops (Scott Summers) ============================= Mutant Powers ------------- A-power: Optic Beam/Optic Blast/Legend Blast: ranged attack that does energy damage to one opponent; can weld metal B-power: Optic Sweep/Optic Slam/Legend Slam: ranged attack that does energy damage to multiple targets in an arc in front of Cyclops, also knocks enemies back X-power: Tactics/Strategy/Command: Cyclops' leadership abilities add to his or the team's Strike and Agility scores Y-power: Optic Rage--an extremely powerful version of Optic Sweep Skills ------ - Accuracy: Increases chance of a critical hit for a ranged attack - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Leadership: Increases damage of and experience received from combos - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Point Blank Shot: Increases damage of ranged attack within 10 feet - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: You pick up Cyclops just after fighting Mystique during the first mission. Recommended AI level: Normal Recommended AI power: Optic Beam Cyclops isn't really built for melee fighting. He has no melee skills except Critical Strike. His Tactics power can't even be purchased until level five, and isn't hugely useful until level 9, when you can get Tactics 3 and receive +6 to Strike and Agility. Since he is so weak at melee, you'll want to concentrate on powering up his ranged attacks. He's dependant on mutant energy, so pour stat points into Focus until you've gotten that stat into the 20s; you can then spare a few stat points to beef up his defense and health (Agility and Body). Max out Optic Beam to Legend Blast and Tactics to Command 3 for an insta- buff to all X-Men. (You'll also need levels in Tactics for the Weapon X Part Deux mission.) A few levels of Optic Sweep can be effective for crowd control and for taking out energy saps. Level up Cyclops' Leadership, Accuracy and Point Blank Shot skills as soon as possible. You will also want to put points into Mutant Mastery and, possibly, Toughness. Ignore Critical Strike. Optic Rage is nice, but not as useful as those Xtreme powers that have 360-degree radial effect (Optic Rage only works in a 90-degree arc in front of Cyclops). With his weak melee skills and the limited usefulness of his ranged attack early (before he has enough Focus to keep up the blasting), Cyclops is not a good choice for your team until the early teen levels. Afterwards, he will probably become a mainstay as his Optic Beam has the longest range of any mutant attack in X-Men Legends and Leadership will have a significant effect on your team. ================ [4.6] Emma Frost ================ A-power: Confuse/Command/Legend Command--confuses enemies so they are no longer able to fight; Command and Legend Command convert enemies to allies and add to their stats; the confusion/conversion effect is time-limited B-power: Fear/Terror/Legend Terror--causes enemies to flee in terror and reduces their stats; Terror and Legend Terror also cause mental damage; the fear effect is time-limited X-power: Psychic Shell/Diamond Shell/Impervious Shell--encases Emma in a diamond-hard substance that reduces physical damage, beam damage and pain Y-power: Psychic Bedlam--causes psychic (mental) damage to all enemies within 50 feet and paralyzes nearby enemies with fear Skills: - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Hardness: Reflects physical damage back at foes - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Psionic Strike/Fury: Adds mental damage to melee attacks - Shell Might: Increases lifting strength and damage of melee attacks when in Shell Form - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: Emma comes to help free Illyana from the Astral Plane, and is first available during the GRSO attack on X-Mansion in Interlude #5. Recommended AI level: Normal Recommended AI power: Fear Emma Frost can be a very good character, but only under human control. The key to getting the most from the White Queen's powers is to maximize her melee ability using her Shell form in conjunction with Hardness, Psionic Strike and Shell Might. Her offensive powers are OK for crowd control, but they are not as much use to you when leaving Emma under AI control. Psychic Shell is as powerful a defense as Colossus' Steel Skin. Maximize it and also max out Hardness, Shell Might, Psionic Strike/Fury and Critical Strike. Split Emma's stat points up equally between Focus and Strike with the occasional point put into Agility or Body (her Shell will protect her from a lot of damage) and she becomes a great melee fighter. In order to get the most out of her attacks, you have to keep her Shell form in use at all times; and that requires human control. You don't want Emma using her Confuse or Fear powers on your opponents while you're trying to hit combos. The only effect is you will hit a lot fewer combos since all your enemies are either running away or fighting on your side. Level up either one of Emma's offensive powers. Fear is good because it eventually begins causing damage along with the fear effects. Buy her Xtreme power. Don't worry about Toughness or Mutant Mastery unless you just have some spare points. Play as Emma and keep her Shell up and just hammer away at your opponents. If you get mobbed, use Confuse or Fear to break up the crowd and take them down one-by-one. ========================== [4.7] Gambit (Remy LeBeau) ========================== A-power: Charged Card/Charged Shuffle/Card Legend--throws kinetically charged cards that cause energy damage and knockback; can also destroy objects with a touch (stand next to an object and press R+A) B-power: Staff Slam/Staff Detonation/Staff Legend--Gambit slams his staff on the ground, causing a concussive shockwave that knocks down and damages nearby enemies (energy damage) X-power: Kinetic Boost/Kinetic Amplification/Kinetic Mastery--boosts damage of Gambit's physical attacks and his movement speed; at high levels, adds energy damage to teammates' melee attacks Y-power: 52 Pick Up--Gambit fires off a full deck of kinetically charged cards, damaging enemies in a wide area Skills: - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Kinetic Strike/Fury: Adds kinetic damage to non-staff melee attacks - Overload: Adds energy to charged objects - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Staff Master: Adds kinetic energy to non-power staff attacks - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: Gambit is held hostage by the Morlocks; you'll free him at the end of your first mission into their sewers. Recommended AI level: Normal Recommended AI power: Charged Card Gambit is another great character for players, who is less useful under AI control. By leveling his melee abilities, you can turn him into a very good fighter, but his powers are not used by the game as well as they could be. Still, if you do want to play with Gambit on your team, but not under your control, you can hit some pretty effective combos with either of his offensive powers. The other good thing about using Gambit as your character is the ability to charge objects (using his A-power) and hurl them at enemies, where they explode. Simply stand next to an object and press R+A, then quickly throw it at your opponents. You can also use this to destroy items; just charge them up and then step back. For an AI-controlled Gambit, Charged Card ends up being a better choice than Staff Slam. Because CC is a power that affects multiple enemies, you have a better chance of scoring a combo. For a player-controlled Gambit, Staff Slam is the better offensive power, though you won't hit as many combos. In both cases, you'll want to emphasize Gambit's Strike and Focus stats and level up Kinetic Boost, which also provides a bonus to his teammates at Amplification and Mastery levels. Level up Critical Strike, Staff Master and Toughness. Only level up Overload if you're going to use Gambit's ability to charge objects. You should level up Kinetic Strike/Fury if you will be using Gambit a lot for hand-to-hand fighting. Use Staff Slam as a crowd-control measure, and then use lots of strong attacks hand-to-hand. Strong (B) attacks are more likely to cause Gambit to use his Staff; thus, you get the bonuses from the Staff Master skill. Keep Kinetic Boost up and use lots of melee attack sequences. ========================== [4.8] Iceman (Bobby Drake) ========================== A-power: Freeze Blast/Deep Freeze/Legend Freeze--slows or freezes enemies, builds ice bridges, puts out fires B-power: Ice Shards/Ice Spikes/Legend Spikes--throws ice projectiles (energy damage) X-power: Ice Armor/Ice Equipment/Ice Forge--reduces damage (all types), causes touch damage to attackers; higher levels add energy damage to teammates' punches Y-power: Freeze Frame--freezes enemies within 12 feet, slows enemies within 33 feet Skills: - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Cold Smash/Cold Crush: Adds cold damage to melee attacks - Ice Tracks: Iceman can glide through the air on sheets of ice - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Point Blank Shot: Increases damage of ranged attacks within 10 feet - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: Bobby Drake will try to charm Alison during the first interlude in X-Mansion. Recommended AI level: Normal Recommended AI power: Freeze Blast Iceman is one of the more versatile X-Men. He's a good support character and he's a good fighter. As a bridge-builder, he's very useful--especially in some early missions when neither Jean nor Magma are available. Freeze Blast slows (or completely freezes) your opponents, making them easier targets. Note, it does no actual damage of its own. This is an especially important power for some of the tougher mutant bosses, as freezing them keeps them from using their most devastating attacks. Ice Shards is fairly weak unless boosted with the extra damage from Point Blank Shot. Considering the overall usefulness of his other two main powers, you probably don't want to waste points in this power and have to spend points on PBS as well. Ice Tracks is another pretty useless skill. The ice slides are hard to control, have incredibly short range until level 5, and are not nearly as useful as the Flying skill (since you can't carry teammates on your slide). Ice Armor is a great defensive power. It gives Bobby good protection, including a small touch attack damage bonus--i.e. any opponent that touches him is automatically damaged. He can also give his teammates an energy bonus to their melee attacks. Of course, you don't see the full benefit of this until you get to Ice Forge level, about midway through the game. The best build for Iceman is to max out Freeze Blast and Ice Armor and keep his Focus high and level up Mutant Mastery so he can keep up his shields and keep blasting away. Split remaining stat points between Agility and Body and don't worry much about his Strike. You can give him some levels in Cold Smash to increase his Melee ability and a point in Toughness will help him stay alive. You can also make Bobby more of a tank by maxing Cold Smash and Critical Strike and spending more points on his Strike stat; however, that will reduce his effectiveness at providing support for the rest of the team. =============== [4.9] Jean Grey =============== A-power: Telekinesis/Telekinetic Mastery/Telekinetic Legend--uses TK to throw enemies and objects about (mental damage), build bridges and pull distant switches B-power: Psychic Shout/Psychic Scream/Psychic Legend--radial attack that causes mental damage to opponents and reduces their Strike and Agility X-power: Telekinetic Shield/Telekinetic Shell/Telekinetic Armor--reduces damage (all types); Shell and Armor protect teammates Y-power: Phoenix Force--Jean Grey transforms into Phoenix, lifts all nearby enemies up and smashes them into the ground Skills: - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Flight: Allows flying and flight pickup (at level 3 and above) - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Psionic Strike/Psionic Fury: Adds mental damage to melee attacks - Telekinetic Combat: Increases damage of all mental attacks - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: Jean gives you the tour of the upper two floors of X-Mansion during your first visit. Recommended AI level: Normal Recommended AI power: Psychic Shout Jean comes in a very close second to Storm as the most indispensable mutant in the game. Both have the best party-wide shields in the game (reducing all types of damage for all members of the team), both can fly, move distant objects, add bonus damage to melee attacks and have devastating mutant attacks. Storm's ability to weld metal and her Leadership skill put her just slightly ahead of Jean for overall usefulness. There's almost no way to go wrong leveling Jean. The only mistake you can make is trying to "have it all". You can't max out all her powers and all her skills, so you're going to have to sacrifice something. You can start with Mutant Mastery and Toughness. Jean's Focus should be high enough that MM is not needed, while her shield can protect against taking too much damage. You also don't need to spend points in Critical Strike or Psionic Strike, as hand-to-hand combat is not Jean's forte; and you really only need three levels of Flight (to get teammate pickup)--unless you really intend to fly all the way through every stage. So far that's 19 skill points saved; if you level her all the way to 45th level, you *can* max out her mutant powers and her Telekinetic Combat skill. But, what if you aren't going to power level? And what if you want Jean to be a bit tougher mano-a-mano? Well, then, there are other ways to spread the skill points around. Consider you will almost always have Storm on your team (she is the most useful character), so her shield can substitute for Jean's. There's 12 skill points you don't need to spend. You don't need to max out Telekinesis. Even though it causes damage, it's not as good an offensive power as Psychic Shout. So all you really need is a few levels of TK to build bridges and move objects. That's another eight or nine skill points you don't need to spend. Now you have some freedom to build up Jean's melee combat using Psionic Strike. You can fortify her health with a level of Toughness and give her more power with a level of Mutant Mastery. Like I said, it's hard to go wrong building up Jean Grey. Just don't try to spread points over *all* her powers and skills; rather, build up to the max those skills that best complement each other and Jean will be devastatingly effective no matter what you do. =============================== [4.10] Jubilee (Jubilation Lee) =============================== A-power: Energy Burst/Energy Blast/Legend Blast--throws charged energy globes causing energy damage and knockback B-power: Photo Flash/Strobe Flash/Legend Flash--radial light attack confuses enemies; Strobe and Legend Flash convert enemies to allies X-power: Bait/Taunt/Pep Rally--reduces enemies' damage; Taunt and Pep Rally increase teammates' Strike and Agility Y-power: Independence Day--sets off a bunch of fireworks Skills: - Accuracy: Increases the chance of a critical hit with a ranged attack - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Detonate: Adds energy to charged objects - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Point Blank Shot: Increases damage of ranged attacks within 10 feet - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: You find Jubilee hanging out on the grounds of X-Mansion during the second interlude. Recommended AI level: Normal Recommended AI power: Energy Burst Many people compare Jubilee to Gambit, usually in a manner unfavorable to Jubilee; however, Jubilee is much closer to Cyclops than to Gambit. The resemblance to Everyone's Favorite Cajun(tm) is superficial in that their ranged attacks are somewhat similar; however, Jubilee gets Accuracy and Point Blank Shot, which means her ranged attack is actually far more effective. Also, Jubilee's buffing power raises teammates' Strike and Agility, just like Cyclops, with the added bonus of decreasing the damage done by your opponents. The only problem--and the reason Jubilee doesn't make it on a lot of teams--is she offers nothing else. She has no other supporting powers or skills: she can't build bridges, or fly, or weld metal or add a Leadership bonus to combos. The result...you usually end up using Cyclops or Storm rather than Jubilee. Which is a shame, really. With a few levels of Photo Flash, Jubilee can be very effective at crowd control. You can buff your teammates, confuse your enemies and then sit back and throw energy bursts while your accompanying tanks cut them to pieces. OK, this won't be that effective against boss characters; but, for most of the game your primary concern is being mobbed by too many bad guys and Jubilee is a great help here. Max out Energy Burst and Bait, buy her Xtreme Power and level up Accuracy and Point Blank Shot. Keep Focus high; and a point or two of Mutant Mastery wouldn't hurt. Don't worry with Critical Strike, and only buy a level of Toughness if you're having a hard time keeping her alive. Level up Photo Flash, but don't buy any levels of Strobe Flash--your object is to confuse mobs, not convert them. If you have some points left over, level up Detonate for some grenade-throwing fun. =============================== [4.11] Magma (Alison Crestmere) =============================== A-power: Fiery Blast/Magma Blast/Magma Legend--fires balls of fire (energy damage) in an arc in front of Magma causing energy damage; is capable of welding metal B-power: Lava Fissure/Lava Rift/Legend Rift--molten rock erupts from the ground causing energy damage and throwing opponents in the air; can also build molten rock bridges X-power: Fiery Form/Magma Form/Atlas Form--gives Magma protection from damage, damages attackers and adds Might and energy damage to her own melee attacks Y-power: Volcano--Vesuvius erupts under your opponents' feet Skills: - Burning Rage/Erupting Rage: Adds fire damage to melee attacks - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Lava Tracks: Allows Magma to glide through the air on streams of lava - Magma Might: Increases lifting strength and damage of melee attacks when in Fiery Form - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: You play as Alison during all the interludes; however, you can't use her as Magma until you've completed your X-Men Qualification Exam after the mission to save the Arbiter. Recommended AI level: Normal Recommended AI power: Lava Fissure Magma is, primarily, a tank. Her ranged power, Fiery Blast, is very weak-- it has no knockback and no bonuses from other skills (such as Point Blank Shot). Lava Fissure is a great offensive power, but has limited range. However, the combination of Fiery Form, Burning Rage and Magma Might makes Alison one tough little cookie. And her Xtreme power, Volcano, isn't too bad either. You really do not need to put any additional points into Fiery Blast. The one point you start with is sufficient if you really need to back up Cyclops or Storm and weld metal. Lava Fissure is a great offensive power, and allows Magma to build bridges. Your main goal with Magma is, like Emma Frost, keep up your defensive power and lay into your enemies with your fists and feet. You'll need to max out Fiery Form, Burning Rage, Critical Strike and Magma Might. You also want to take Lava Fissure up to at least the Lava Rift 3 or 4 level; all the way to Legend Rift if you have the points. Since defensive powers are so expensive, you might want to consider a point or two of Mutant Mastery. Lava Tracks, like Iceman's Ice Tracks, is fun to play with for about ten minutes and then will never be used again; don't waste points on it. Since you will be operating within a shield most of the time, don't worry about Toughness. Definitely buy Magma's Xtreme power. Keep Magma's Focus and Strike scores high and don't worry as much with Agility and Body. Perhaps 1 of 3 points to Focus, 1 of 3 to Strike and 1 of 3 split to Agility and Body. Keep Fiery Form up at all times, use Lava Fissure if you get mobbed and just pound away with your fists. ================================= [4.12] Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) ================================= A-power: Teleport Leap/Teleport Strike/Legend Strike--teleport ahead for a distance; if an enemy is ahead, teleport behind him and strike B-power: Teleport Flurry/Teleport Frenzy/Legend Frenzy--teleport around an area, hitting multiple enemies (or one or two enemies multiple times) and end back at start position X-power: Shadow Blend/Shadow Arts/Shadow Mastery--reduces damage (all types) and increases Agility Y-power: Blindside Blitz--Unrelenting teleport attack frenzy Skills: - Acrobatics: Increases Nightcrawler's Agility and allows a double jump - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack, also increases critical chance when using teleport attacks - Leap of Faith: Gives a chance that Nightcrawler will use his Teleport Leap to rescue teammates from death if they are about to die; this only works if the computer AI is controlling Nightcrawler - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Sucker Punch: Adds to the chance of scoring a critical hit when making a teleport attack - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: You'll meet Kurt during the second interlude at X-Mansion. Recommended AI level: Normal Recommended AI power: Teleport Flurry Nightcrawler is the one X-Man who almost has to be controlled by the game's artificial intelligence. His most useful skill is Leap of Faith, which doesn't work when Kurt is controlled by a player. It's OK to just let the AI control Nightcrawler, with Teleport Flurry set as his AI power; just let him jump around the room attacking your opponents. You will also want a few levels of Teleport Leap, as this ability comes in handy in a few instances. Shadow Blend has the highest damage reduction of any personal shield in the game (-80 damage, all types, at Shadow Mastery 3). It also raises Nightcrawler's Agility. However, if you use Teleport Leap or Flurry often, which you should, Kurt isn't going to be hit anyway. Save the points from this and buy some Toughness instead. Kurt's Flurry/Frenzy power should be maxed out and take Teleport Leap to level 4 or 5 so you can teleport other X-Men; don't bother buying the Teleport Strike levels. Max level Sucker Punch and Critical Strike as they stack; this will allow Nightcrawler to hit lots of criticals (triple damage) when using Flurry (or Leap as an attack). Because Flurry is so expensive, you want to have a high Focus stat and probably max out Mutant Mastery. Buy levels of Acrobatics instead of spending stat points on Agility. Don't put too many points into Strike, as it doesn't affect his teleport attacks. Keep his Body score up to help maintain health. Definitely buy Leap of Faith to maximum level. Keep Flurry as Nightcrawler's AI power, let the AI control him and just spam the L button in combat. Kurt will be teleporting in-and-out all over the battlefield, doing a lot of damage while taking almost nothing in return. =================================== [4.13] Professor X (Charles Xavier) =================================== A-power: Hammer Legend--super strong psychic punch B-power: Blast Legend--radial blast of psychic energy X-power: Psychic Defense--reduces physical damage, knockback and pain Y-power: Psychic Maelstrom--large blast of psychic energy and lightning Skills: - Astral Knockback: adds knockback to mental attacks - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Leadership: Increases damage of and experience received from combos - Might: Increases lifting strength and damage of melee attacks - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: Prof X is only available as a playable character during the mission to free Illyana's mind from the Astral Plane, and again for the boss battle against Shadow King (as Astral Gladiator). You cannot otherwise play as Xavier. Recommended AI level: Normal Recommended AI power: Blast Legend Prof X is a set character. There's no leveling involved. He's a powerful melee fighter and has devastating mental attacks. There's not much to say about him, as you only use him twice and you can't adjust his powers and skills. As Astral Gladiator, you can "level up" his stats; information about recommended settings is covered in the Walkthrough, section 6.23. ================================ [4.14] Psylocke (Betsy Braddock) ================================ A-power: Psychic Slash/Psychic Hammer/Hammer Legend--powerful psychic blade attack (mental damage) B-power: Psychic Bolts/Psychic Spikes/Legend Bolts--throws psychic bolts (mental damage) X-power: Psychic Defense/Psychic Armor/Psychic Wall--reduces damage from mental attacks; Armor and Wall cover teammates as well Y-power: Psychic Onslaught--psychic blades strike down your enemies Skills: - Blade Master: Increases damage and range of psychic blade attacks - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Psionic Strike/Psionic Fury: Adds mental damage to melee attacks - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: You'll help her fight Sentinels during the NYC riots; she'll be available after that series of missions. Recommended AI level: Normal Recommended AI power: Psychic Bolts Psylocke doesn't show up until the game is about 75% finished. You can only use her during the last four missions; however, she's a very useful X-Man to have around. Psychic Slash in conjunction with Blade Master is an attack on par with Wolverine's Brutal Slash. Blade Master also affects Psychic Bolts, which makes that easily the most powerful "scattershot" ranged attack in the game. Betsy has the fewest skill trees of any X-Man. Also, her Psychic Defense only protects against mental damage and is nowhere near as useful as the shields of Jean or Storm. Thus, you have the option of maximizing both her A and B powers and most of her skills--even if you don't power level. This gives Psylocke the option to fight from range or hand-to-hand at equal effectiveness. She may be the only true "combination" fighter in the game. Go ahead and buy her A and B powers up to Legend level. Also max out Blade Master, Psionic Strike and Critical Strike. If you have some points left over, buy her Xtreme power and a point or two of Mutant Mastery or Toughness. Keep her Focus high and put the occasional point into Body or Agility; you can ignore her Strike stat. In combat, you can either sit back and sling bolts at your enemies, or close in and slash them with your psychic blade. The only thing Betsy really lacks is a decent crowd control ability; if she gets mobbed, you're in trouble, so keep Colossus, Emma or Jubilee on the team to break up the gangs. ========================= [4.15] Rogue (Anna Marie) ========================= A-power: Southern Strike/Southern Smash/Southern Legend--powerful punch attack B-power: Ability Drain/Ability Sap/Consume Ability--stun attack that steals powers from the victim; while the victim is stunned, Rogue can use the stolen power by pressing R+B X-power: Bullet Proof/Iron Maiden/Invulnerability--reduces damage and pain Y-power: Energy Drain--saps energy from all enemies, stuns them and prevents them from using their powers for a short time Skills: - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Flight: Allows flying and flight pickup (at level 3 and above) - Grappling: Increases Strike and reflects punches and kicks - Might: Increases lifting strength and damage of melee attacks - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: Rogue is hanging out in the sitting room of the X-Mansion during your first interlude there. Recommended AI level: Aggressive Recommended AI power: Ability Drain Rogue might be one of the most difficult characters to get a handle on in X-Men Legends. Her two offensive powers are radically different; and, when you use Ability Drain, you actually end up with a different power mapped to your B button. Rogue is set up as a tank. Southern Strike is second only to Colossus' Power Smash in terms of raw, physical damage--and is also a very slow attack. Her personal shield is not quite as powerful as Colossus', but will still shield her from a lot of damage. Grappling not only increases her Strike rating, it also adds to her defense by deflecting melee damage. Finally, she gets both Might and Flying, making her the only X-Man that could fly tanks over a ravine. Too bad there's really no opportunity to do so... Ability Drain is most useful against boss mutants (Mystique, Pyro, Avalance, etc.); and is a good power to use as Rogue's AI power for scoring combos. Southern Strike is less useful as it is easy to dodge; but, coupled with a Muscle Accelerator or under the influence of Gambit's Kinetic Mastery, it can do a lot of damage. Because Grappling aids in defense, you probably don't need Rogue's personal shield--especially if you have a party-wide shield (Jean, Storm) available. Max out Rogue's Critical Strike, Grappling and Might skills. You should also max out one of Southern Strike or Ability Drain and buy the other up to at least level four or five of the second branch (i.e. Southern Smash 4 or 5; Ability Sap 4 or 5). Take three levels of Flight to pick up objects, and a level each of Toughness and Mutant Mastery. Concentrate Rogue's stat points on Focus, Strike and Body. =========================== [4.16] Storm (Ororo Munroe) =========================== A-power: Lightning Strike/Chain Lightning/Legend Lightning--a slow- developing, ranged energy attack; Chain and Legend Lightning affect multiple opponents; can weld metal B-power: Whirlwind/Tornado/Legend Vortex--creates a whirlwind that picks up and throws enemies, doing physical damage in the process; can also put out fires and move distant objects X-power: Storm Shield/Hail Shield/Blizzard Shield--reduces damage (all types); Hail And Blizzard Shield protect teammates as well Y-power: Cyclone Fury--a powerful, area-wide lightning and wind attack Skills: - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Lightning Fury/Lightning Rage: Adds lightning damage to melee attacks - Flight: Allows flying and flight pickup (at level 3 and above) - Leadership: Increases damage of and experience received from combos - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: You can meet Storm during your first tour of X-Mansion. Recommended AI level: Normal Recommended AI power: Lightning Strike Like Jean Grey, it is very difficult to pick-and-choose from among Storm's powers and skills. It would be nice if you could just maximize all of them. Unfortunately, this just doesn't work, so sacrifices have to be made. By far, Storm's best offensive power is Lightning; you want this leveled up to Legend status. Whirlwind, while incredibly useful and effective, can be sacrificed. Buy a few levels for putting out fires and moving objects--just in case you don't have Iceman or Jean nearby. You can sacrifice Storm Shield if you will be using Jean Grey and her TK Shield; however, it's more likely you will sacrifice Jean's TK Shield in favor of Storm Shield so maximize this to Blizzard Shield 3. The easiest skills to give up are the melee-oriented ones; Ororo won't beat many people with her fists. A level or two of Lightning Fury early in the game is a big help; but don't bother maxing that skill tree. You can also ignore Critical Strike and Toughness. Storm is dependant on mutant energy, so at least one level of Mutant Mastery is a plus. You also don't need more than three levels of Flight (for teammate pickup). That leaves Leadership as the only skill tree that must be maxed out, and that will give you plenty more points for increasing Storm's mutant powers. Because Storm can weld metal (with Lightning), cross gaps (by flying the team members across), move objects and put out fires (with Whirlwind) and adds Leadership bonuses to combos, she is the ultimate Swiss Army Knife of the X-Men. Unless you have some personal vendetta against Storm, you should always have her on your team. In the early missions, Storm is a better leader than Cyclops. With a level or two of Lightning Fury, she can hold her own hand-to-hand when her energy runs out; and your energy will run out a lot until you get into the low teens in level. Once you have leveled up a bit, you won't be running out of power and you can focus on mutant attacks. You'll also be able to bring Cyclops into the mix and double your Leadership bonuses. Chain Lightning/Legend Lightning is great for hitting combos and Whirlwind is very useful for crowd control. Equip Storm with a DNA Regenerator--or, better, the mask of Xorn--and let her keep the party shield up and just spam her mutant attacks. ======================== [4.17] Wolverine (Logan) ======================== A-power: Brutal Slash/Eviscerate/Legend Slash--Wolverines staple power, a powerful strike with his extended claws B-power: Claw Flurry/Claw Frenzy/Legend Frenzy--multiple slashing attacks against all enemies in the area X-power: Feral Rage/Berserker Rage/Unstoppable Rage--adds +5 to Wolverine's Agility and increases movement speed by 30%, Berserker Rage also increases Strike by +5 and Unstoppable Rage also increases Body by +5 Y-power: Savage Rampage--huge slashing attacks against all nearby enemies Skills: - Critical Strike: Increases chance of a critical hit for a melee attack - Expertise: Increases Strike and Agility stats - Healing Factor: Regenerates health and reduces the effect of pain - Mutant Mastery: Increases maximum mutant energy - Sharpness: Adds damage and destruction to all claw attacks - Toughness: Increases maximum health When acquired: You start the game with Everyone's Favorite X-Man(tm). Recommended AI level: Aggressive Recommended AI power: Brutal Slash Wolverine is very popular, and is your starting character. In the early going, you will find him to be very useful because of his Healing Factor-- he can regenerate health. As the game progresses, you may find yourself using Wolverine less and less. Once you have the ability to carry a lot of health packs and you have Tissue Generators in your inventory, Logan is just not as appealing. Wolverine's primary mutant attack should be the Brutal Slash tree. It's a powerful attack, especially combined with Sharpness, and is much faster than the major attacks of Rogue, Psylocke and Colossus. Claw Flurry allows Wolverine to make multiple, fast slashing attacks. It is great for getting out of a crowd, and can also hit combos well. While not, overall, as good as Brutal Slash, it may be worth investing a few points to see if it gives you more combos than Slash. If so, you would want to max Flurry rather than Slash. It's questionable whether the Rage buffing power is useful. You can, at high levels, get +5 to three of your stats; but, you can also get +5 to two of those stats by buying levels of Expertise. The difference is Expertise is permanent. Rage only lasts, at most, 36 seconds *and* uses a huge amount of energy. Since Wolverine probably won't have a lot of energy, you should concentrate on maxing out the Brutal Slash power, Critical Strike, Expertise, Healing Factor, Sharpness and Toughness. Then, just use Wolverine in a very up- close and personal way. Split your stat points fairly evenly between all four stats until you decide how much you want to use Brutal Slash. If you like to use if frequently, concentrate more points on Focus, followed by Strike. If you would rather just use Queensbury Rules, let Focus lag and put more points into Strike, then Agility and Body. Wolverine is also the central figure is what is known as the "Fastball Special". Any character with at least one level of Might (Beast, Colossus or Rogue) can pick Wolverine up and throw him, like a dart, at an enemy. This is a quite useless feature of the game, but can be fun to play with once in a while. ====================== [4.18] Optional Builds ====================== As in any role-playing game, there is no one correct way to build your characters. Here are some thoughts on other ways you might want to level up your X-Men... [4.18.1] Batter Up! ------------------- With the exception of Cyclops, Jubilee and Nightcrawler, any X-Man can be built into a good melee fighter; i.e. a character that just uses punches and kicks. Emma, Gambit, Iceman, Jean, Magma, Psylocke and Storm can all add different damage types to their melee attacks, making them more effective against physical resistant foes. All X-Men get Critical Strike as a skill, which increases the chance of scoring triple damage with each strike. (Cyclops, Jubilee and Nightcrawler aren't good melee fighters because they get no bonus such as energy damage or Might to their melee attacks. Nightcrawler could be considered good at melee through the use of his teleporting powers; but, he's no better at just stepping in and trading punches than Cyclops or Jubilee.) If you want a real, "hands-on" experience, level up your favorite X-Men with concentrations on their melee skills, Strike and Body, and one offensive or defensive power. You won't use powers as much, so Focus is not much of a concern and a team-shielding power, such as Jean's TK Shield, can substitute for high Agility. Mix up damage types on your team; for example, Rogue for physical damage, Storm for energy (lightning) damage and Emma Frost for mental damage. You can also max out Cyclops' Tactics buffing power and keep him on the team as ranged support and insta-buffer. The benefit of this method is a greater ability to continue fighting even if powers are exhausted. The downside is lower experience earned from fewer combos performed, and a weak ranged fighting ability. [4.18.2] The Best Defense... ---------------------------- ...Is a good offense. Perhaps you think that shields are for girlie-men. Or, perhaps, you have realized that, when playing X-Men Legends by yourself, most of the defensive powers are unused. The AI doesn't use defensive powers that much, so getting full use from all the various shields and buffs requires a single player to rapidly switch among X-Men and turn on their X-power. Of course, you're not going to do that; not many people will. When playing exclusively single-player, only level up the defensive power of those X-Men whom you will play (i.e. control) frequently and whose X-power covers the whole team (Cyclops, Storm, Jean, Iceman, etc.). You can switch on the defensive power at the beginning of combat and then just use offensive powers or melee attacks. On the plus side, you'll have more points to put into offensive powers and skills. On the down side, if you get into a really tough fight and are taking lots of damage, you won't have as much protection to layer on each X-Man. / \ /--MEN--------------------------------------------------------------- \/ [5] Enemies /\---LEGENDS----------------------------------------------------------- / \ / The statistics for the enemies below are estimates based on examining gameplay video. They should give you a rough idea of the strength of each enemy. Experience point (XP) awards may vary. Boss stats are given in Section 6, Walkthrough. ======================== [5.1] Anti-Mutant Troops ======================== Health: 40 Resistances: None Powers: None XP: 7 These are the basic troops you encounter during the first mission (and again when you have to replay that mission as Magma). They are not terribly strong; use them as punching bags and get the hang of using your mutant powers. ========================= [5.2] Brotherhood Mutants ========================= The Brotherhood is Magneto's anti-human gang of mutants. You'll meet a variety of Brotherhood members during your battles. [5.2.1] Brotherhood Thug ------------------------ Health: 75 Resistances: None Powers: None XP: 7 The basic foot troop of the Brotherhood, you'll first meet them in Central Park, helping Mystique. Three Brutal Slashes will finish them, or you can toy with them a bit with A and B attacks. They don't pose much threat, especially since you should have leveled up once by now and put a point into Wolverine's Healing ability. [5.2.2] Brotherhood Insurgent ----------------------------- Health: 40 Resistances: None Powers: Energy ray that can stun XP: 11 These mutants are slightly more dangerous than the thugs; you encounter them on the rooftops of NYC during the first mission. While they can stun you with their energy ray, their health is low enough they go down to a single Brutal Slash from Wolverine's claws. [5.2.3] Brotherhood Marauder ---------------------------- Health: 120 Resistances: Energy Powers: Powerful punching attack XP: 31 A stronger version of the thug with resistance to energy attacks, but not physical attacks. Beat him down with your tanks, but beware of his power smash attack. Marauders first appear in the HAARP facility. [5.2.4] Brotherhood Revolutionary --------------------------------- Health: 100 Resistances: Physical Powers: Energy ray that can stun XP: 67 A stronger version of the Insurgent that makes his first appearance in the Ice Tunnels of the HAARP facility. He's resistant to physical damage, so your tanks are going to be less useful against him. Use something that will slow him down or hold him up to keep him from unleashing his stun ray and then beat him down. [5.2.5] Acolyte --------------- Health: 200 Resistances: Energy Powers: Stunning beam XP: 499 These guys are mostly dangerous for their ability to stun the X-Men; allowing you to get beat up by the Warriors that usually accompany them. You run into Acolytes first at the Boshnoy Nuclear Plant. [5.2.6] Acolyte Warrior ----------------------- Health: 300 Resistances: Physical Powers: Super strong melee attack, concussion slam XP: 667 Strong melee fighters that are resistant to melee attacks; but, they go down like flies to strong energy attacks, especially combos. Watch out for their concussion slam, which can knock your entire team off their feet. [5.2.7] Acolyte Adept --------------------- Health: 250 Resistances: Mental Powers: Stunning beam, revives fallen acolytes XP: 887 These slightly tougher acolytes are distinguished by their bright green outfits--the other acolytes wear black. In addition to being able to stun you, they can revive their fallen comrades. Like Morlock Goths, always hunt these mutants down first and take them out; otherwise, you're in for a long, long battle. ================== [5.3] HAARP Guards ================== These humans are a little tougher than the anti-mutant troops in NYC. They are frequently equipped with machine guns or flamethrowers, which means they can hit from range. You'll need at least a couple of ranged X-Men to take them on. [5.3.1] HAARP Security ---------------------- Health: 100 Resistances: None Powers: None XP: 11 The basic foot troops at the HAARP facility. They are melee fighters, using clubs and are not much of a threat. [5.3.2] HAARP Soldier --------------------- Health: 100 Resistances: None Powers: None XP: 11 These troops are equipped with machine guns and hand grenades and can damage you from range. [5.3.3] HAARP Flamethrower -------------------------- Health: 100 Resistances: None Powers: None XP: 11 A flamethrower-wielding version of the Soldier. [5.3.4] HAARP Officer --------------------- Health: 150 Resistances: Physical Powers: Has a weapon that can stun XP: 23 A stronger version of the soldier with a weapon that can stun, flash grenades and physical damage resistance. Concentrate energy powers on him and try to hit combos to increase damage. =============== [5.4] Sentinels =============== The ultimate mutant-killing machines, sentinels of various types pop up throughout X-Men Legends. However, rather than inspiring fear and trepidation, they are more like an obstacle that needs to be brushed out of the way. For all the terror they are supposed to induce, they are really rather easy opponents. [5.4.1] Sentinel Alpha ---------------------- Health: 100 Resistances: Mental Powers: Energy beams, missiles, strong melee attacks XP: 67 These are the sentinels you fight in the Sentinel Flashback scenario. They don't have much in the way of health and aren't resistant to physical attacks. Wolverine's Brutal Slash or Nightcrawler's Teleport Flurry is the way to take them down, especially if you can combo it with Cyclops' ranged attack. [5.4.2] Sentinel ---------------- Health: 500 Resistances: Mental Powers: Energy beams, missiles, strong melee attacks XP: 283 A stronger sentinel you first encounter on board the Arbiter. Taking it down is the same as any tough foe--lots of combos. Storm and Cyclops, with their energy ranged attacks, are good against these behemoths, as is Rogue with her mutant-powered smash and Nightcrawler, since he is hard to target. [5.4.3] Sentinel Controller --------------------------- Health: 600 Resistances: Mental Powers: Energy beams, missiles, strong melee attacks XP: 2071 An even bigger, badder sentinel that uses a lot more energy beam attacks. [5.4.4] Sentinel Mark II ------------------------ Health: 1500 Resistances: Mental Powers: Energy beams, missiles, grenades XP: 6647 These more advanced sentinels first show up in the sentinel factory. The Hammer of Nimrod equipped on an X-Man with a powerful ranged attack will take them down quickly. [5.4.5] Sentinel Platform Mark II --------------------------------- Health: 5000 Resistances: Mental Powers: Lots of weapons XP: 117987 Also known as "spider sentinels", these are the toughest anti-mutant robots in the game. The Hammer of Nimrod gives you an advantage, and you need every advantage you can get. [5.4.6] Sentinel Advanced ------------------------- Health: 800 Resistances: Mental Powers: Various ranged attacks: energy, freezing, fire, etc. XP: 37331 These cyborgs first show up in the sentinel factory. They're actually not as hard to deal with as the larger sentinels. [5.4.7] Sentinel Advanced Mark II --------------------------------- Health: 1200 Resistances: Mental Powers: Various ranged attacks: energy, freezing, fire, etc. XP: 88491 These are the sentinels that attack Asteroid M during the final mission. They should not present you with much of a problem. ============== [5.5] Morlocks ============== Morlocks are mutants who feel shunned by society and have taken up residence in the sewers of New York City. They derive their name from the race of underground dwellers in H. G. Wells' novel, "The Time Machine". [5.5.1] Morlock Brute --------------------- Health: 150 Resistances: Phsyical Powers: Concussion slam XP: 67 Brutes, along with Claws, are the basic troops of the Morlocks. Brutes are strong and can take a beating. Ranged energy attacks, especially in combos, are the best way to dispose of them. [5.5.2] Morlock Claw -------------------- Health: 150 Resistances: Energy Powers: Throws projectiles, can stun XP: 51 Claws are quite agile, and jump around a lot. They won't close with you too often, preferring to stay at a distance and hit you with their projectile attack. Your best bet is some type of holding/slowing power to keep them immobile while you beat up on them. [5.5.3] Morlock Goth -------------------- Health: 100 Resistances: Mental Powers: Revives fallen Morlocks, teleportation XP: 91 Goths are very nasty, not so much because they are hard to take down, they're actually quite easy. Rather, it's their ability to revive their fallen comrades that makes them such a threat. They lurk in the corners and out of the way, and you usually won't know they are there until the guy you just took down starts glowing green and gets back up. That's when you go Goth hunting. Any time you are fighting Morlocks, try and locate the Goth. You'll be happy you did. [5.5.4] Morlock Blade --------------------- Health: 250 Resistances: Energy Powers: Throws spikes, can stun XP: 159 The Blade is a stronger version of the Claw first encountered halfway through the second mission in the Morlock sewers. By the time you run into them, you can frequently take them out with a single combo attack. [5.5.5] Morlock Giant --------------------- Health: 300 Resistances: Physical Powers: Stunning fist attack XP: 211 A stronger melee fighter than the Brute, you won't notice much difference in how easily they go down as you'll be much stronger by the time you encounter them. [5.5.6] Morlock Outsider ------------------------ Health: 250 Resistances: Mental Powers: Revives fallen Morlocks, teleportation XP: 283 This is the improved version of the Goth. The Outsider is distinguished by her white hair, so pick her out of the crowd and take her down. [5.5.7] Morlock Leviathan ------------------------- Health: 600 Resistances: Physical Powers: Power smash XP: 4983 These brutes are Marrow's henchmen in your second fight with her. By this time they're not much of a challenge to your team; but, if you spend too much time with them, Marrow can hurt you. Take them out with an Xtreme power or some wide area-of-effect attacks. [5.5.8] Marrow's Lieutenant --------------------------- Health: 500 Resistances: Mental Powers: Revives fallen Morlocks, teleports XP: 8859 These are the Morlocks who, during the second battle with Marrow, teleport in, heal Marrow and her Leviathans and teleport out. You have only a few seconds to take them out, else they will prolong your fight. Fortunately, one good combo can take them down. Having Iceman to Freeze them will give you time for one or two more shots. ======================================================= [5.6] Genetic Research and Security Organization (GRSO) ======================================================= These are the soldiers working for General Kincaid, an anti-mutant zealot who is, along with Magneto, one of your primary opponents. You first run into GRSO soldiers on the U.S.S. Arbiter during the fourth mission. [5.6.1] GRSO Soldier -------------------- Health: 200 Resistances: None Powers: None XP: 119 These foot troops are armed with machine guns and grenades; but, aren't much tougher for you than the HAARP soldiers were in the second mission. [5.6.2] GRSO Assault -------------------- Health: 200 Resistances: None Powers: None XP: 119 A GRSO soldier that uses a melee weapon--a type of sword that does additional energy damage--instead of a rifle. [5.6.3] GRSO Officer -------------------- Health: 300 Resistances: Mental Powers: None XP: 283 Slightly tougher version of the GRSO soldier that uses a ranged energy weapon. [5.6.4] GRSO Infiltrator ------------------------ Health: 400 Resistances: None Powers: None XP: 667 These are the GRSO troops that attack X-Mansion during Interlude #5. They are tough only in numbers, since each appears with a drone. If two or three spawn in at once, you've got a fight on your hands. One-by-one they're cake. [5.6.5] Infiltration Drone -------------------------- Health: 200 Resistances: Mental Powers: None XP: 667 These drones are small robots that accompany the GRSO Infiltrators. They're resistant to psychic attacks, as all robots are, but aren't quite as dangerous as the troops. The main threat comes when you destroy them, as they explode a second or two afterwards. [5.6.6] Patrol Drone -------------------- Health: 300 Resistances: Mental Powers: Electric shock, can freeze opponent in place for a few seconds XP: 1579 You encounter these robots in the ruins of Weapon X. By this point in time, two shots from Cyclops' Optic Beam should take care of them. Watch out, they explode when you destroy them. [5.6.7] GRSO Skirmisher ----------------------- Health: 300 Resistances: None Powers: Energy melee attack XP: 2103 These are the front line troops located in the ruins of the Weapon X facility. [5.6.8] GRSO Expert Sniper -------------------------- Health: 500 Resistances: Energy Powers: Rapid fire, highly accurate machine gun XP: 2103 These guys can really pepper you full of holes. Take them down quickly. [5.6.9] GRSO Captain --------------------- Health: 600 Resistances: Physical Powers: Energy gun XP: 1003 These units are usually accompanied by Expert Snipers, and it's the snipers you've got to watch out for. The Captains aren't much trouble. [5.6.10] GRSO Line Officer ------------------------- Health: 600 Resistances: Physical Powers: Rifle drains mutant energy XP: 2103 Perhaps the most dangerous enemy in the Weapon X ruins, these officers can drain your mutant energy and prevent you from using your powers. Since they are resistant to physical damage, you don't want to be left without Scott's eye blasts. [5.6.11] GRSO Commander ---------------------- Health: 600 Resistances: Energy Powers: High-powered energy gun XP: 4983 The commanders go down pretty easily to Wolverine's Brutal Slash. [5.6.12] GRSO Major ------------------- Health: 1000 Resistances: Mental Powers: None XP: 1003 By the time you encounter these troops, one combo will usually take them out. [5.6.13] GRSO Black Guard ------------------------- Health: 500 Resistances: Energy Powers: Multiple projectile attack, high Agility XP: 27999 These troops can be fairly nasty, since they attack from range and are resistant to most of your ranged attacks. Hit a combo with a tank or a psychic X-Man and they'll go down quickly. [5.6.14] GRSO Elite Skirmisher/Flamer ------------------------------------- Health: 500 Resistances: - Powers: Energy melee weapons or flamethrower XP: 15751 These are the primary troops in the sentinel factory. Skirmishers use energy melee attacks; while Flamers use a flamethrower. ======================= [5.7] Weapon X Soldiers ======================= The guards of the Weapon X facility are your only opponents during Wolverine's flashback. They're fairly weak, which is a good thing since Wolverine has to go it alone agains