Resident Evil: Deadly Silence __________________________________ Master of Knifing Guide Version: Second NOTE: To use quick reference tags hit CTRL + F and enter the tag Contents --------- 1) Legal Crap [LGAL] 2) Update Version [UPDT] 3) Quick Intro to myself [INME] 4) Quick Intro to the guide [INGD] 5) Basic Game Info [BASE] 5a. Important notes before getting started [NOTE] 6) Individual Enemy Strategies and Info: Jill [JENMY] 6a. Zombie [JZOM] 6b. Level 1 Boss [JLV1] 6c. Crows [JCro] 6d. Level 2 boss [JLV2] 6e. Hunter [JHUN] 6f. Level 3 boss [JLV3] 6g. Feral Mutt [JDOG] 6h. Yawn [JYWN] 7) Level Settings and Max Score Strategies: Jill [JLEVL] 7a. Level 1 [JLE1] 7b. Level 2 [JLE2] 7c. Level 3 [JLE3] 7d. Level 4 [JLE4] 7e. Level 5 [JLE5] 8) Individual Enemy Strategies and Info: Chris [CENMY] 8a. Zombie [CZOM] 8b. Level 1 Boss [CLV1] 8c. Crows [CCRO] 8d. Level 2 Boss [CLV2] 8e. Hunter [CHUN] 8f. Level 3 Boss [CLV3] 8g. Feral Mutt [CDOG] 8h. Yawn [CYWN] 9) Level Settings and Max Score Strategies: Chris [CLEVL] 9a. Level 1 [CLE1] 9b. Level 2 [CLE2] 9c. Level 2 [CLE3] 9d. Level 4 [CLE4] 9e. Level 5 [CLE5] 10) Contact 11) My Thanks __________________________________________ 1) Legal Crap [LGAL] I don't know the legal rules so I'm going to ask nicely: Please don't use this without my permission. I highly doubt you will but if you absolutely have to have guide just send me an email, unless you've given me reason not to like you I wont hesitate to let you use it. With that said currently the only place this is being hosted is on gamefaqs.com. If you see it being used elsewhere please send me an email so that I may contact the website's owner. Currently these sites have my permission to use this guide: Gamefaqs.com Neoseeker.com Supercheats.com 1up.com __________________________________________ 2) Update Version [UPDT] First Version (7/22/06-7/23/06): Wrote sections 1-7, corrected some errors I made, double- checked my monster health sections, Put up notices in sections 8 and 9. Wrote sections 10 and 11, added quick reference tags to each subsection. Fixed the margins and submitted to gamefaqs for approval. NOTE: To use quick reference tags hit CTRL + F and enter the tag Second Version (7/24/06 - 7/25/06) Completed Section 8 and 9. Guide is now complete unless I can find things wrong with the information I've put in and the only updates will be to add reader strategies and change info. I pushed myself to finish this version as fast as possible as the first version was rejected for being incomplete. Changed enemy info on the zombie. Turns out you -can- crit them during their bile preparation. Corrected a few basic spelling errors. Still doubt I have them all. I've added as much as I can think of to the guide. Resubmitted to gamefaqs for approval. Third Version (7/27/06) Not even an update really, just adding neoseeker.com to the permission list. NOTE: I will no longer treat each website added as it's own update. Instead I will simply add them to the growing list as I've recieved a few emails about using my guides. Fourth Version (7/29/06) Thanks to the high alertness of reader Jesus Núñez "Morning Musuko" we now have an effective way of getting those ever important critical hits on Yawn. Check his section and the Final Level section on both characters for the effective way to teach this snake how pain feels. __________________________________________ 3) Quick Intro to myself [INME] First and most importantly thank you for taking the time to read my guide and thank you especially for reading this part. This is my first guide and I figured I would try something small and easy to write about. I also noticed that the RE:DS page on gamefaqs didn't have a Master of Knifing guide so I decided I'd write about that. You may notice that I have a tendency to capitalize a few words that shouldn't be capitalized or put spaces where spaces shouldn't be. It's a bad habit I can't manage to shake and I hope it doesn't bother you too much. Finally reading this you may realize that I have a sort of casual way about my writing. From all the guides I've read I've found that if you try and act like the reader's friend or crack a joke or two the guide is much more enjoyable to read. Once again let me thank you for reading this and I hope it helps you with any problems you may have. __________________________________________ 4) Quick Intro to the guide [INGD] The guide doesn't yet have a system that I plan on using but generally the layout should be pretty self explanatory, with the label of the information coming before the information itself. My goal is for the guide to be easy to read so as such I'm going to write as I go and repeat patterns. When I update this later if I find that a certain way is easier on the reader that's the format I'll switch to. Send me any ideas you have for making this more user friendly. I'll add you to the credits Things I assume in this guide: You've played the main game before and have done a few of the knife battles that take place. You know how to perform a combo (if you don't just practice swiping left then right, or up then down. Never the same way twice in a row) You know how to perform a critical hit on at least zombies (But you'll be much better off if you can do it to hunters too) You can sweep multiple enemies (If you don't, just let two enemies get near you then swipe the stylus across them both) You don't mind the occasional dry joke (I try to make the reading more enjoyable) ___________________________________________ 5) Basic Game Info [INFO] If you're at all familiar with the Resident Evil series this game may very well remind you of the Mercenaries from RE3 and RE4. If you're new to the series, a quick background for you: Since RE2 every RE game has had some sort of special mini game you would unlock for beating the game. In RE2 it was called 4th survivor, in RE3 and RE4 it's the Mercenaries, in RE: Code Veronica it's the battle game. As far as I know the only games to affect the main game by your performance (IE Unlock a special weapon) is RE3 and RE4's Mercenaries. All the others are just for fun and this is no different. The only thing you'll gain by playing this game is time wasted having fun, bragging rights, and a few characters unlockable for multi-card play. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 5a. Important Notes Before Beginning [NOTE] - Most important: If this is your first time playing start with Chris. Now I know that must sound stupid, as starting to play with the hard character will mess you up. However if you learn to play with Jill you will become to used to her attack patterns and thus will have a tougher time adapting to Chris's higher scoring potential game later. - You can perform a slash combo by slashing one way, then another way, then another way. For example: Left, Right, Down. Or Down, right, Up. Pretty much anything as long as its not the same thing twice. - I accidentally noted a few times in this guide that there is no way to critical while a zombie is using it's bile attack. Turns out I was wrong, you can perform a critical hit on it while it's head is cocked left. - It's recommended that you have played a few of the knife fights in the main game. Even though you unlock Master of Knifing by beating the main game, you may have borrowed this from a friend, or it may have been a while since you played. Just get used to getting critical hits on at least the zombies as that'll be necessary for at least a decent score (and it won't hurt your chances of surviving). - There is no way to heal, the only way to get back health is to finish the level and move onto the next (which can make the final fight a serious pain). - Sometimes getting a critical hit on a crow will send it flying into other things (like zombies, slowing them down. Or other crows, killing them.) If this happens you will get another critical hit added to your combo meter and something good will happen for you. - The best way to get a high score in most levels is to go for the critical hit. The only exceptions to this is the final level where critical hits are few and far between, and the first level, where you want to try and get a huge combo meter built up for the end game bonus. ____________________________________________ 6) Individual Enemy Strategies and Info: Jill [JENMY] Here I'm going to list all the enemies (in the order they appear), the number of hits it takes to kill them in each way, and their attacks, and the best way to kill them. The information here is for Jill's version of the game as I've found (right before I was about to finish and submit this too) that the games differ. Zombie: The basic enemy of any RE game [JZOM] Appears in: Level 1,2,3,4 ------------------ Attacks: Spit Bile (Low dmg) Bite (Low/Mid dmg) ------------------ Hits to kill: Stab: 5 Slash: 3 Critical: 1 ------------------ Strategy: If you're just looking for the kill then go slash happy swiping left and right to get combos and when they start to fall get in a few stabs to assure the kill and raise your combo meter. If you're aiming for score then wait until he throws his head back a bit then tap him and your character should perform a quick slash and say something along the lines of "Hyah!". If this happens you've scored a critical hit, your Score Bonus goes up by about .80% and the zombie is dead! (:D) How to crit: When they throw their head back prepare to slash and attack just as he moves his head forward. Update: Turns out that in order to perform a critical during a zombies bile attack, all you need to do is slash them when their head is facing left. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 1 Naked Boss Zombie: The boss of level 1 [JLV1] Appears in: Guess... ----------------- Attacks : Spit Bile (Low/Mid dmg) Bite: (Low dmg) ----------------- Hits to kill: Stab: 38 (Give or take, I accidentally got a slash in and I may have added an extra hit to that) Slash: 28 (Again, give or take...this guy was a serious pain to count the hits on) Critical: 3 (This one I'm sure of) ----------------- Strategy: If you want the kill just go for crits. If you want score then go for a major combo meter. How to crit: Same as zombies |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Crows: You know those annoying sounds you here in the painting room..? [JCRO] Appears in: Level 2,3 ------------------ Attacks: Peck (Low dmg) ------------------ Hits to kill: Stab/Slash: 1 (They're basically the same thing with crows) Critical: 1 Get hit by another crow you sent flying from a crit: 1 (As far as I know this only happens in the start of level 3 if you crit the first crow) ------------------ Strategy: To get the critical on these guys listen for the sound of their caw and the flapping wings. As soon as you hear it just tap them, as the slash takes too long, and they'll be sent flying, slowing down zombies they hit on their way. If you just want a kill just hit them when the get close. How to crit: Attack when you hear cawing and flapping |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 2 Boss Hunter: The boss of level 2 [JLV2] Appears in: You tell me ---------------- Attacks: Slash (Medium dmg) Double slash (Medium dmg/Instant kill if you're in Orange or Red) ---------------- Hits to kill: Stab: Cant kill with just stabs (Stabbing wont stop his attacks and you can only take so much before he gets you) Slash: 12 Critical: 3 ---------------- Strategy: Most important thing to note about this guy: He has 3 ranges he'll use: Far, Medium, and right in front of you. If he's in the middle and he rolls his head and shrieks then leaps, BE READY TO COUNTER (when it looks like he's about to hit you slash up, if done right you won't be hit and he'll get hit by a crit). He's going for the double slash, which is the decapitation move in the main game. Even if you aren't low enough to be decaped it'll still deal a good amount of damage. For the kill just slash at him to prevent his attacks and stab him when he's stunned. For the score go for the crits as usual. How to crit: When the hunter throws its arm back like it's about to pitch a baseball, prepare. When he starts to move his hand forward (the very instant) slash him to send him flying) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Hunter: The name implies they're badass. The name implies right. [JHUN] Appears in: Level 3,4 ----------------- Attacks: Slash (Low/Med) Double Slash (Medium dmg/Instant kill if Orange or below) ----------------- Hits to kill: Stab: 11 Slash: 3 to 6 (Some would die in 3 and some would just back up and take another 3) Critical: 1 ----------------- Strategy: Just about the same as the level 2 boss but easier to kill. Just go for the crit all around as it prevents damage and will add to a decent score. How to crit: Same as level 2 boss. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 3 Boss Forest Speyer Zombie: One Dangerous Zombie (Points if you got the reference) [JLV3] Appears in: Out of jokes...Level 3 ---------------------- Attacks: Spit Bile (Low Dmg) Bite (Low/Med dmg) ---------------------- Hits to Kill Stab: 29 Slash: 23 or 24 Critical: 3 ---------------------- Strategy: For the kill just keep stabbing and slashing alternating and slash when he's about to attack to set him off. For a high score nail him with the 3 possible crits. This is a lot nicer if you have a high crit build up from earlier in the level (especially those two crows that will keep your hit meter alive while you're waiting for Mr. Forest to shamble on over). How to Crit: Same as zombies ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Feral Mutt: I considered making a joke here about people who eat dogs but thought better of it [JDOG] Appears: Level 4 ---------------------- Attacks: Jumping quick bite (Low dmg) Latch on to your arm (Low dmg) ------------------------------- Hits to kill: Stab/Slash/Critical: 1 (They're all the same, if you score a hit it's a guaranteed crit [I'm a poet and I didn't even know it]) ------------------------------- Strategy: Just slash at them as they jump for you. I've had cases where the dog's feet hadn't even left the ground and I still hit. How to crit: Just hit it. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Yawn: The poisonous snake that somehow magically loses his ability to poison you later in the game [JYWN] Appears: Level 5 ---------------------- Attacks: Lunging/Side swiping bite (Med dmg) ---------------------- Hits to kill: Stab: Its possible to only stab this guy. Possible...however hard. VERY VERY hard. And becuase of this I'm not going to sit for hours and repeatedly fight through the levels to solely poke this guy to death and only to accidentally slash or crit him a few times. Just know it takes a lot. Slash: It's highly unlikely you will -only- slash this guy. Even if you aren't trying chances are you'll score at least 2 criticals by mistake. Therefore counting the hits you need to stun him as criticals (because only criticals will stun him) you need to slash him 58 times with 3 criticals. Criticals: Like the slashes, its highly unlikely you will only use crits and like stabs I'm not going to play through for hours just to die because its damn near impossible to crit him every single time. But I managed to get 10 crits and 13 accidental slashes and he still hadn't done his injured little fall so we can assume it takes quite some damage. ---------------------- Strategy: Most important for those trying for a high score: Avoid taking damage here as much as humanly possible. I've found that a HUGE deal of the total damage I take in this game comes from this fight. Also try for crits. As I said above it's very hard to know exactly when to do it but if you can you can end the fight a lot faster giving you a higher score. UPDATE: Adept Player Jesus Núñez "Morning Musuko" wrote me an email with the following strategyon getting critical hits on Yawn. It's very accurate as I tested itand found that it works like a charm. I reccomend following his words on this one as he did what I couldn't. Morning Musuko wrote: "I was playing with Chris the mini game, and when I reached the Snake I thought "oh man here we go again... I don't even know how to pull out the criticals..." right? But then I noted something And I think this is the EXACT way to get all the criticals you want till the snake is gone: When it attacks you, it will attack you from three possible directions which are Left, Center and Right. Now, to do the critical do this: if it attacks you from the left then do a right-to-left slash (of course you have to time it right but it is not that strict) if it attacks you from the right then do a left-to-right slash and if it attacks you from the center, do an uppercut slash (going up slash) With this technique criticals are easier to obtain; I even dare to say this is THE strategy..." For those simply trying to beat it, just slash him as he comes near you and if you get a crit perform as many slash combos as you can on his underbelly. _________________________________________________ 7) Level Settings and Max score strategies: Jill [JLEVL] Here I'm going to outline each level, where it takes place, the things you'll be facing, and best ways to get a good score. As above this information applies to Jill's version of this. Level 1: The Mansion Cradle to Grave puzzle room [JLE1] Enemies: Zombies (7) Boss: Naked Zombie Ways to survive: If you need help making it through here you should go back to the main game and practice a bit more. Anyway just keep slashing at em. They fall. You win. Score Strategy: This is the only level where I've found it to be more beneficial score wise to go stab and slash crazy. The idea behind it is this: At the end of the game it totals up your score giving you bonuses for being fast, getting high max combo meters, good accuracy and minimal damage being taken. Well in the game it's much more beneficial to use crits leaving you with a max combo meter of 25 or 30 at best. This only results in about a 10,000-point bonus in the end. However in this level it's possible to get upwards of 80 hits in a single combo meter by just repeatedly slashing your enemies and stabbing them while they're stunned. I even accidentally scored a crit on the boss and still managed an 82 combo. Two BIG rules for using that strategy: 1) While stabbing enemies, if the zombie throws his head back SLASH HIM QUICKLY. If he bites you, you lose the combo meter and a stab won't stop his attack unless it's the 5th stab to him in succession. 2) On the boss as soon as his back is within stabbing range as he gets up START STABBING. If you manage to stab him enough he will be stunned again by you're stabbing and won't be able to advance quickly enough to interrupt your poking flurry. Also, while I've never seen it happen in this level, Zombies will occasionally spit bile. You'll be able to tell when a zombie's doing this because he delays when throws his head back longer than he usually will and is too far back to bite you. To counter this either quickly pull off a slash combo or (as I prefer to do) blow into the mic (bottom left corner of the old DS, between the 2 screens on the Lite) as he spits the bile and it'll blow back at him damaging him and any zombies in the area! Also for every zombie hit you get one hit added to your current combo meter. UPDATE: Turns out you can infact pull off a critical on zombies spitting bile. All you have to do is slash them while their head is cocked left and it counts for a critical. Sorry for the confusion. By doing this you lose about 5,000 points in overall score but gain QUITE A BIT in the long run. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 2: The Mansion "burst through window" dogs hallway [JLE2] Enemies: Crows (7), Zombies (9) Boss: Hunter with more health Ways to survive: The crow zombie combos may throw you a bit but its not that hard, just perform sweeping slashes that will hit all close foes at once. Score Strategy: I hate this level. Not for it's difficulty..for the fact that a zombie takes forever to shamble his dead ass down a hallway (enough to kill even a critical hit combo) and they throw enemies that have differently timed attacks at you simultaneously. The zombies and the crows must share some sort of friendship as a few times in this level they will both rush you but attack at different times, screwing with your critical combos, because if you hit them both, only one gets a crit and if you only hit one, the other will attack you. To counter this, I've found a formula that takes a little luck and some serious speed. If the zombie is getting ready to attack and the crow is just mindlessly fluttering near him, poke the zombie and then very quickly poke the crow. With a little luck you should have a crit combo still standing. If the game hates you then you got hit. On the opposite end of that, if the crow is attacking but the zombie's sorta reeling, or shambling or staring, then poke the crow and get ready to crit the zombie. However if there isn't enough time to poke them both, perform a slash that will attack the crow first then hit the zombie. The other thing to watch out for is a bile zombie. Occasionally there will be a zombie who decides he's not hungry but instead wishes to ruin your combo and your freshly washed clothes by spitting bile on you. You can counter his bile with a blow into the microphone but it will count as a normal hit and ruin any crit combo you have going. Sucks I know but there's no way around it. UPDATE: The above paragraph is INCORRECT! I discovered (by mistake) that by slashing a zombie who's preparing a bile attack while his head is cocked left, will score you a critical hit and save your breath and combo. For the boss just get crits off and if he leaps strike him just before he gets you. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 3: The Courtyard Area with a stupid amount of Baby Spiders (Facing the way you enter from the mansion) [JLE3] Enemies: Crows (6), Zombies (7), Hunters (2) Boss: Forest "I have grenades strapped to me and can run faster than the other zombies in REmake" Speyer as a zombie Ways to survive: Its very helpful to crit those crows. If you're lucky critting one crow will kill the other and slow an advancing zombie down. When the hunter/zombie combo team comes at you just perform slashing sweep combos to hit them both and keep them both stunned. When Speyer brings his pathetic zombie self in just treat him like a zombie with lots of health. Slashes will keep him at bay while 5 stabs will stun him and leave him open to attacks. You shouldn't have too much trouble but if you do try to go for crits on him. Score Strategy: Keeping up the crit combo is a bit easier than the beginning of level 2 but still should keep you on your toes. Crit the two crows that come at you, hoping that one doesn't kill the other as you can crit them both to score hits on the zombie that's advancing. Crit all the zombies until the Zombie hunter team comes on you. These two are like the crows and zombies from the last level but more annoying. It's not really possible to crit them both without taking a hit so to avoid damage and at least keep the combo up, slash at the one that's attacking first (usually the hunter) and have the sweep hit the other one after hitting the attacker. From there life should be somewhat simple, just keep critting the zombies that show up, nail the lone hunter, get the last two crows to keep the meter up while Forest drags his feet over to you and take him down with 3 crits. After killing him, pause the game and go into your backyard and pretend to spit in his grave because this man is sheer evil (for those of you who have played One Dangerous Zombie in REmake on the 'Cube you know how I feel). ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 4: The courtyard area with the flopping shark (seriously, did that thing fall from the sky?) facing the area you first arrive from [JLE4] Enemies: Zombies (5), Hunters (6), Fine Eastern Cuisine (Feral dogs) (3) Boss: None really...unless you wanna count the 2 naked zombies or the feral mutts Ways to survive: By this time I hope you've gotten used to critting hunters because doing so makes this level VERY easy to get out of. Just crit the hunters that come lone and swipe the hunter/zombie teams that show up. If you can't crit hunters...well....then slash until you cant slash no more and try to avoid being hit by attacks. Score Strategy: Here, the dual attack teams come often...more often than a good combo meter will allow for. Therefore just avoid damage the best you can, and when the two naked zombies pop up, try to just be sure and get crits on them, otherwise your meter will fade away as the mutt sits there and howls at you. Just try and avoid damage here to keep your end game bonus high. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 5: Area 42 (The place where you fight plant 42 and Yawn for the last time in Rebirth mode) [JLE5] Monsters: Yawn (The one and only) Boss: Take a wild guess Ways to survive: There's only way one to make it out of here alive, slash Yawn as he's about to strike you. If you don't get him there, he'll get you, and the only way to damage him other than getting his under belly after a crit is to get a quick slash or stab when his mouth is open...not nearly enough to kill him before he kills you. Score Strategy: The best way to boost your score is to try for a crit, open up with a bunch of slashes and get him when he opens his mouth. This way you kill him fast and get a good score for your time. Also do your best to avoid damage as I find that most of the damage I take comes from this fight and you can benefit greatly from keeping the damage count low. UPDATE: Adept Player Jesus Núñez "Morning Musuko" wrote me an email with a strategy that shouldhelp you nail criticals on Yawn with much more ease than the paragraphI wrote above. I've tested this method and it works like a charm. Props to him for doing what I couldn't Morning Musuko wrote: "I was playing with Chris the mini game, and when I reached the Snake I thought "oh man here we go again... I don't even know how to pull out the criticals..." right? But then I noted something And I think this is the EXACT way to get all the criticals you want till the snake is gone: When it attacks you, it will attack you from three possible directions which are Left, Center and Right. Now, to do the critical do this: if it attacks you from the left then do a right-to-left slash (of course you have to time it right but it is not that strict) if it attacks you from the right then do a left-to-right slash and if it attacks you from the center, do an uppercut slash (going up slash) With this technique criticals are easier to obtain; I even dare to say this is THE strategy..." Conclusion: Didn't get the score you like? Just try again. As you get more used to the pattern and start getting comfortable with the enemy format you'll find you'll be getting better combos and better scores the more you play. _________________________________________________ 8) Individual Enemy info and Strategies: Chris [CENMY] This section will be very much the same as Jill's with adjustments for enemy HP and if I find that a certain strategy works better with Chris I'll use that one instead. Zombie: The main enemy of any RE game [CZOM] Appears in: Level 1,2,3,4 ------------------------------ Attacks: Bite (Low dmg) Spit bile: (Low/Med dmg) -------------------------------- Hits to kill: Stab: 12 Slash: 6 Critical: 1 ----------------------- Strategy: Hack n Slash for basic survival and go for crits if you want a high score. How to crit: Slash him as he moves his head forward after cocking it back Update: Turns out you can crit a zombie while it's doing its bile attack, just slash it while it's head is cocked to the left. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 1 Boss Naked Zombie: The boss of Level 1 [CLV1] Appears in: 3 guesses, first 2 don't count ------------------------ Attacks: Same as zombies ------------------------ Hits to kill: Stab: 40 Slash: 27 Critical: 4 ------------------------ Strategy: Treat him like a zombie with a lot of hp. If you want to just kill him then go for crits. If you want a high score then hack n slash like crazy. As I explained in Jill's section if you slash this guy to death he can net you a very high max combo. How to crit: Same as zombie ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Crow: Annoying and feathery, the perfect hat! [CCRO] Appears in: Level 2,3,5 ----------------- Attacks: Annoying peck think (Low/Med dmg) ----------------- Hits to kill: Stab/Slash/Critical: 1 (All pretty much the same thing, 'cept you have to time the crits so that the attack comes after the flapping and cawing) ----------------- Strategy: Poke it with the stylus. You win. How to crit: Attack it when it caws and flaps its wings. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 2 boss Hunter: The boss of level 2 [CLV2] Appears in: Read the text 3 lines above ----------------- Attacks: Slash (Low/Med dmg) Double Slash (Med dmg/Instant kill if you're in Orange Caution or below) ----------------- Hits to kill: Stab: Cant kill with only stabs. As a matter of fact I recommend not even using the stab. It's just not fast enough and doesn't stop his advance. Slash: 14 Critical: 4 ----------------- Strategy: If you just want to kill it just slash it to stop its attacks and crit if you get the chance. If you're going for a high score wait for the crits. If it goes for the double slash leap attack then swipe up just before it gets you you'll send it flying. How to crit: When its slashing wait until it starts moving towards you then get a shot off on it. If it's doing its leap then swipe at it just before it gets you (stabbing is also possible but I believe its easier to slash...may just be me) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Hunter: The hunter is always dominant to it's prey. Bad news...you're the prey. [CHUN] Appears in: Level 3,4 ------------------ Attacks Same as Level 2 boss ------------------ Hits to kill: Stab: 12 Slash: 6 Critical: 1 ------------------ Strategy: I find that these guys rarely come alone and that critting both enemies will be hard if not impossible. So my advice here is to crit the hunter if it's the first attacker, otherwise just swipe to crit the first attacker and delay the hunters attack. Serious pain and a big disruption to critical combos. How to crit: Same as the Level 2 boss, just slash as he slashes and swipe before he is able to get you when he leaps. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 3 Boss Forest "I cant fight off birds with a damn grenade launcher" Speyer (I hold great contempt for this man) Appears in: Level 8 times 3 plus 3 divided by 9 ------------------ Attacks: Typical zombie, he likes using bile more than the average zombie though ------------------ Hits to kill: Stab: 37 Slash: 25 Critical: 4 ------------------ Strategy: As usual, if you want the kill just hack n slash, if you want the score then go for crits. How to crit: Like a zombie ||||||||||||||||||||||| Feral dog: Eat it before it eats you *rimshot* [CDOG] Appears in: Level 4 ----------------- Attacks: Quick bite (Low dmg) Latch onto your arm (Low/Med0 ----------------- Hits to kill: Stab/Slash/Critical: 1 (They're all the same. You don't even need to time your crits for these guys, just hit em.) ----------------- Strategy: Attack them after they leap. Enjoy their yelp. How to crit: Just hit them ||||||||||||||||||||||| Final Boss Level Yawn: Trying to imitate Barry Bonds, this snake took excessive amounts of steroids! [CLV5] Appears in: If you break your leg in a race what place do you get? Add the word level to your answer. ----------------- Attacks: Lunging bite thing: (Low/Med) Triple Slash Chomp: (Med/High) ----------------- Hits to kill: Stab: Not possible to kill with only slashes. Like the level 2 boss a stab won't stop his attacks and you get very few chances to attack him other than his lunge and opening his mouth unless you get a critical so -only- stabbing is not possible. Slash: Give or take a few, 57 with about 3 crits. It's rather hard not to score a crit or two because attacking him during his triple lunge will sometimes result in a crit (even if by mistake) and the crows will get in the way on occasion which made it hard for me to keep exact counts. But it's close enough to accurate for government work. Critical: As it's HIGHLY unlikely that you will only score criticals I'm not going to bother trying to do crits only with this guy. Even trying to get criticals you will get at least 2 or 3 slashes and if you don't slash while he's stunned from criticals then you are either trying to only get criticals (which would be beyond my reasoning as its not even that challenging until this particular level) or are just lazy. Call me a slacker but it's just not worth it to collect this data. ------------------ Strategy: This is probably the biggest difference in the two character's Versions, next to maybe the dogs in level 4. Aside from having annoying little crows that will come out and assist him, in the time it took Chris to retrace Jill's footsteps, Yawn learned a new trick. The triple slash attack doesn't deal as much damage as it appears to however it will only be interrupted if you score a critical while he's performing it. Otherwise you need to slash quickly to keep up with him to prevent damage. UPDATE: Adept Player Jesus Núñez "Morning Musuko" wrote me an email with the following strategyon getting critical hits on Yawn. It's very accurate as I tested it and found that it works like a charm. I reccomend following his words on this one as he did what I couldn't. Morning Musuko wrote: "I was playing with Chris the mini game, and when I reached the Snake I thought "oh man here we go again... I don't even know how to pull out the criticals..." right? But then I noted something And I think this is the EXACT way to get all the criticals you want till the snake is gone: When it attacks you, it will attack you from three possible directions which are Left, Center and Right. Now, to do the critical do this: if it attacks you from the left then do a right-to-left slash (of course you have to time it right but it is not that strict) if it attacks you from the right then do a left-to-right slash and if it attacks you from the center, do an uppercut slash (going up slash) With this technique criticals are easier to obtain; I even dare to say this is THE strategy..." To stay alive there are a few things to note: - Be careful when attacking crows, as attacking at the wrong timing could cause you to still be recovering from the last swipe when Yawn strikes, making it impossible to prevent damage. - If you score a critical hit on the crows they will be sent flying into Yawn, stunning him for about half a second. - It is very hard to score critical hits on Yawn himself, but not impossible. To score one try attacking a little bit later than you would if you were to try a normal slash. If you get hit, try slashing a bit earlier. If you still get the normal slash, trying going a bit later. It may take some practice but if you score a crit you will be able to really open up on him and get some damage in. - Use Yawn opening his mouth as a good way to develop a rhythm in countering his attacks. For example: When he opens his mouth, do a double slash combo (there isn't enough time for a triple), then after he closes it, be prepared to swipe at him to prevent his lunge. After some practice you'll discover that the timing can be achieved more easily if you've practiced it a bit. - While Yawn is stunned from a critical hit, a good way to kill to birds (or a bird and a snake with a knife in this case) is to perform a sweeping swipe that will hit any crows that come to attack you while you are beating on a defenseless Yawn. -Finally, and probably most importantly, you're first two priorities should be to A) Prevent taking damage as it will effect your end game bonus and B) End the fight as quickly as possible by scoring criticals as frequently as you can so that you may get a decent bonus from the end game time bonus. How to crit: This guy is by far the most annoying monster to get a critical on in this game. To nail one slash at him while he's lunging but do it just a tad later than a normal slash. That's really the only way to explain it without you having played the game yourself. Conclusion: Didn't like the score you got? No shock if this is one of you're first few times playing that's no shock. If you've played as Jill, you're used to less enemies and less damage taken from hits. As a result you are probably still getting used to having to change your attack styles for the different patterns of enemies. Because of this I believe that those of you who became accustomed to her game first will have more trouble than those you of you who went straight to Chris. As a result I'm going to put at the top that I recommend people learn how to play as Chris first so they will be used to being rushed by enemies and the attack patterns, and that if that gives them too much trouble they switch to Jill. In all, the key to getting a better score is to keep your cool, and keep practicing. _________________________________________________ 9) Level Settings and Max Score Strategies: Chris [CLEVL] Again, this section will be pretty much the same except for the differences of Chris's version and Jill's versions. I will put the level settings, the enemy numbers and types, and best strategies for the two ways of playing: For survival, or for score. Level 1: The mansion "cradle to grave" painting puzzle room [CLE1] Enemies: Zombies (8) Boss: Naked Zombie Ways to survive: A bit harder than Jill's version but hardly. Just keep slashing away as it's harder to crit each and every zombie than it is to just repeatedly interrupt the attacks and keep slashing. Score strategy: First rule of this level: NO CRITS! If you want a really good score I strongly advise you refrain from using criticals as much as possible. That being said I also recommend you avoid being hit at all costs. I say this because I've found you cannot only score more than you otherwise using criticals, but you can get a HUGE benefit by getting a large combo from slashing and stabbing every enemy and not breaking the combo once through out the level. I've been able to get 102 and this was even with an accidental critical hit on the boss (if you read the Jill guide, your answer: Yes I do that a lot). The high combo will result in an incredible bonus in the end of the game. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 2: The mansion "burst through the windows" dogs' hallway [CLE2] Enemies: Crows (14) Zombies (14) Boss: Extra Strength Hunter Ways to survive: I think by now if you've played this game a bit you should see a pattern developing. Slash enemies to interrupt their attacks and get a critical in if you can. With the hunter just slash to interrupt his attacks and if he leaps at you, swipe him just before he makes contact. Score strategy: The best way to build up a decent score here is to build up a high critical combo. Its very likely that at one point or another a set of crows will either get a hit in on you or you'll get a non crit hit on them and your crit combo meter will be gone. However after that set of birds is gone you have a few chances to make up for that with easy kills on the zombies. Then just finish off the hunter with nothing but criticals and watch your score jump. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 3: The courtyard with the stupid amount of baby spiders [CLE3] Enemies: Crows (7) Zombies (7) Hunters (3) Boss: Forest Ways to survive: Well looks like Mr. Level 2 boss has some cousins. Lucky for you they aren't nearly as strong. They only take a few slashes and if they're attacking with a group simply (what else) do a sweep. You shouldn't have too much trouble and the boss is a chump. If he spits bile just blow into the mic to send it back at him or slash him when his head is cocked to the left to interrupt and critical him. Score strategy: While there are many dual teams of hunters and zombies or crows and crows in this level, they can thankfully be taken out with an up down slash combo. Up the first attack then down the second. Note that you don't want to use the second slash in the combo right away. I've found that for some reason, you can wait until the second enemy begins attacking before complete the combo and the slash activation time will still be the same as if you had kept the slash combo up. Example: Two enemies come at you at two different times. Enemy one begins to attack, you swipe up to counter with a critical hit. You notice that enemy two hasn't started it's attack yet, so you wait. Then you see it attacking and slash down. The slash takes the same amount of time it would if you had slashed down right after the first slash as opposed to having to wait for the slash to activate as if you had just started a combo. Anyway just crit your way to the final boss and if you see a zombie getting ready to spit bile at you, simple slash him when his head is cocked to the left. The final boss is a joke and you just need to treat him like a normal zombie with more hp. Simple enough. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Level 4: The courtyard area with a randomly flopping shark [CLE4] Enemies: Dogs (3) Zombies (5) Hunters (8) Boss: Pack of 10 dogs Ways to survive: If you're good at getting critical hits here you're golden. Most of the hunters come lone so all you have to do is get them with criticals. The first dog zombie team can be interrupted by slashing at the dog and swiping right to get the zombie at the same time. Just time it so that you'll get the dog and the zombie should be stunned. When the dual naked zombies show up just treat them like any other dual team in the game and when the final pack of dogs comes, simply perform a slash combo on them (that is slash up to hit one dog the down to hit the other). If you're still having trouble send me an email telling me where you're stuck and I'll lend a hand if I can. Score Strategy: This is the critical hit promised land. With the exception of the first two hunters (which can be taken care of by slashing both then critting each one separately) the first few hunters just come sprinting at you thinking you're an easy target (or perhaps you're wearing pig guts on your clothes?) and will make themselves easy targets to critical hits. After some easy hunter killing a team of a dog and a zombie will come to confront you. At first (and second and third) glance it may seem impossible to score the critical on both enemies. However, if you time the attack so you -just- squeeze the hit on the zombie as he's preparing to attack you and you swipe from the dog to the zombie you may get the critical. The timing required is amazing and I've only done it a few times but it is possible. The only other trouble this level should show you as far as ruining a combo goes is the team of naked zombies. With luck one will prepare a bite while the other prepares a bile. If this happens simply slash up at the biter and back down at bile man (or vice versa on the directions, as long as it's a combo and its not side to side). If it doesn't and one backs up while the other attacks (extremely unlikely) then you're in luck and all you need to do is crit both of them. If neither of these happens and they both go for the bite then just swipe them both if they attack at the same time to get 2 crits. If they're biting at different times, well, then...you're screwed. Sorry :\ When the pack of dogs rolls around simply slash combo vertically on them so that you can hit them both without getting hit and at the last two dogs just do a horizontal slash and you'll get them both at the same time. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Final Level: The residence (or guardhouse, call it what you will) Area 42 (where you fight plant 42) [CLE5] Monsters: Crows (oo, they'll keep coming until you kill Yawn) Boss: Yawn Ways to survive: If you haven't played the game too much before, it's very possible that you will die here. With the mix of the crows and yawn's combos coming at you the damage can add up quick. So one of the most important things to keep in mind here is, if you see Yawn preparing an attack, and there is a crow getting ready to attack you, ignore the crow and stop Yawn. The crow is a mere bug bite compared to the damage Yawn can inflict on you. If it's possible nail both at once, but don't over extend yourself. If you can't get them both, just focus on Yawn and get the bird after Yawn's (hopefully failed) attack. Also keep an eye out for Yawn's triple lunge attack. You'll notice that before he does it, he leans back further than he usually does and will wait a second longer than usual before striking. If you can, block it, then swipe at him in the opposite direction, then you wilusually have to follow up with a slash up. Unless you score a critical hit during his combo, he will not be interrupted during it. However, luckily it seems the triple strike is only about as strong as a zombie bite altogether. The last and best piece of advice I can offer for survival is if you get the hang of scoring critical hits on this guy (something I still can't do consistently) use them as often as you can. Scoring a critical will not only stun him but will allow you to open up on his exposed underbelly with about 14 slashes. Major damage and it will speed up the fight considerably giving you less to worry about. Score Strategy: Two big things detrimental to your score in this level: Time, and health loss. To prevent taking too much time, try and get a critical on Yawn every chance you get. To score a critical, simply wait a little longer than you usually would and slash or stab him -right- before he gets you. It will definitely take a few tries and I'm sure that you'll get hit the first few times, but once you get it down you'll be getting them more often than you won't (unless you're like me and the part of your brain related to timing is broken). Getting a critical will allow you to open up on his underbelly (and if you're reading the whole guide you've probably heard that phrase about 2000 times by now) UPDATE: Adept Player Jesus Núñez "Morning Musuko" wrote me an email with the following strategyon getting critical hits on Yawn. It's very accurate as I tested it and found that it works like a charm. I reccomend following his words on this one as he did what I couldn't. Morning Musuko wrote: "I was playing with Chris the mini game, and when I reached the Snake I thought "oh man here we go again... I don't even know how to pull out the criticals..." right? But then I noted something And I think this is the EXACT way to get all the criticals you want till the snake is gone: When it attacks you, it will attack you from three possible directions which are Left, Center and Right. Now, to do the critical do this: if it attacks you from the left then do a right-to-left slash (of course you have to time it right but it is not that strict) if it attacks you from the right then do a left-to-right slash and if it attacks you from the center, do an uppercut slash (going up slash) With this technique criticals are easier to obtain; I even dare to say this is THE strategy..." To prevent taking too much damage simply slash Yawn before he can hit you. If you get him correctly you'll send him back a bit and his attack will fail. If you're lucky or you timed it well you'll also score a critical hit and he'll be stunned. When you see Yawn take a second longer than usual to lunge and you and throw himself back a bit more, he's preparing for a triple attack. To counter it slash at him in the direction he comes from, then follow up with a swipe in the opposite direction, then finish it with a swipe upward. If timed and executed correctly you will interrupt each attack in his combo and with a little luck you'll interrupt it all together with a critical. See Chris's yawn section for a few more ways to take down this behemoth ([CLV5]) Conclusion: Didn't like the score you got? No shock if this is one of you're first few times playing the game or as Christ. If you've played as Jill, you're used to less enemies and less damage taken from hits. As a result you are probably still getting used to having to change your attack styles for the different patterns of enemies. Because of this I believe that those of you who became accustomed to her game first will have more trouble than those you of you who went straight to Chris. As a result I'm going to put at the top that I recommend people learn how to play as Chris first so they will be used to being rushed by enemies and the attack patterns, and that if that gives them too much trouble they switch to Jill. In all, the key to getting a better score is to keep your cool, and keep practicing. _________________________________________________ 11) My thanks I sincerely thank you for taking the time to read my FAQ/Guide on RE:DS's "Master of Knifing". I put a lot of work into this (or at least what I consider work) and this is the first guide I've ever written. As such the fact that someone may come to GameFAQs and read what I write, take it in, and apply it to their gaming is somewhat exciting to me and I feel I must give you my gratitude for giving me such a pleasure. So from the humble author of this guide, as a long time gamer, long time game helper, and first time guide writer, I thank you, and hope you will someday read another guide that I've sit down to write. In the mean time, watch your back for those nasty biohazardous zombies, and take care.