Holy shit KH2's combo animations are pure AWESOME.

3:26 thats because kingdom key is too short for slapshot to work the best looking back on this, most keyblades are about the length of kingdom key so its a good criticism of slapshot, but thats only an issue really if you dont have combo master which you get shortly after slapshot in FM

Retaliating Slash carried me through Sephiroth's fight whenever i failed to read his weird knockup attack

You know what? I play this game pretty often and I would not call myself casual by any means, but I actually learned a few things from this. Thank Biz

Sometimes I really wonder what they were going for with Dodge Slash. It's super slow, whiffs constantly, and hell even the animation looks pretty silly.

Aerial Dodge is superior to Retaliating Slash anyway. The immunity to taking a hit if you time your usage of Aerial Dodge properly allows you to regain defensive control of the battle. Which, is much more important in difficult battles and boss fights, especially if you miss proper timing on a dodge roll. But, then again, I always choose the shield in the beginning because I favor earlier access to defensive abilities to offensive ones.

Berserk charge is kinda just one of those cute party tricks. You know, "HEY GUYS CHECK THIS OUT, INFINITE COMBO!"

Aerial dive looks so odd though lmao

i remember how i just wanted to equipped every ability just to feel like a badass, now i use abilities that can actually help me but i wish there was an ability to get donald to heal me faster

Retaliating Slash has always been useful to me. Especially for something like the Sephiroth fight; when he slashes Sora in the air then teleports up to slash again, you can easily counter this and do an air-combo with Retaliating Slash. I've never had any problems with it regarding poorly timed presses. I HAVE encountered poorly timed presses when trying to guard, though; I end up dodge rolling or quick running when I don't want to.

Doge slash is just silly

That was really informative! I've slowly learned these things over the years of playing the KH series and it's good to reaffirm my belief!

I remember berserk charge being useful against Lingering Will, joined with the 3 slash air attack ability, since he cant break out of the combo for a long time. I may be remembering wrong, tho. Edit: watched your LW cheap tactics video. Its there. I didnt know it was considered "cheap". It was just my natural reaction to such a bossfight, because horizontal slash abusing was part of my regular combo.

I basically already did what you said, but I had a hard time understanding slapshot, so naturally I equipped it. Thanks for the explanation!

your frame data and knowledge of this game is above & beyond prestine. much much much respect and thanks for all the help

Awesome video Biz. Question : will you be covering the "good abilities" next ? I've always wondered how Flash Step actually works during boss battles.

I remember when I played vanilla KH2 years ago, and I was around level 45, but could never beat Sephiroth. Obviously because I was really underleveled, but I was persistent. Then I got the Berserk Charge ability from the Berserk Keyblade, and won on my first try with it.

the moment you mentioned auto forms/summons I knew what you were talking about on those. I never ever equip those just cause from experience... I didn't like it at all. The other abilities are good points too, never thought of retaliate slash to be bad in certain fights... I will keep most of these in mind. thanks.

I actually use Auto Limit with Duck Flare on super bosses, usually to just avoid the first attack. In my experience, Auto Limit is only really good with Donald's limits for a cheap escape from an attack.

Drive converter is also awesome when fighting the mushroom in agrabah with limit form to grind tranquility items. Other abilities I had no trouble with

I love how many abilities have specific use cases or can be outright negative and how you can customize down to the nitty gritty and turn them off entirely. For that reason I can't understand why there isn't any apparent way to disable attraction flow in khiii

Thank you for these videos! Learning from a pro really helps me out with playing KH2. Keep making more!

Can you do a video on the "best equipment" nobody has done it before and id love to hear your opinion!

Thanks for the tips biz, I've been playing kh2 for a long time and I never knew any of this stuff or that any of the moves could really whiff. I just wish I knew this stuff sooner when I was fighting sephiroth and almost lost my mind from how hard it was when in reality all I had to do was get rid of abilities that I didn't need.

I'm interested as to what the other hidden abilities are for equipping exp zero in the other KH games. Great video. Really informative.

I have only ever had one good use of Retaliating Slash, and that was against a Roxas boss hack when he knocked me at the edge of the stage with the end of his grounded multi-keyblade slash where I was at 1 HP, no Elixirs, no drive, no MP, and he had only a little bit of one bar left. Aerial Recovery would have killed me, but Retaliating Slash just barely managed to set up the final combo I needed, since you can combo the critical stagger into things before the weak hit comes out. Retaliating Slash has its extremely niche uses, but that's it. Aerial Recovery is definitely the better move under almost every circumstance.

I really like your voice! And you also make it really easy to understand, like in the Terra farming video. ^-^

Would you say that dodge slash would whiff less if slapshot wasn't equipped? I noticed that Terra combo at 1:15, but does combo boost always factor in each individual hit from dodge slash, or is it only vs. Terra?

What are the three balls around Sora sometimes? Is that shield Reflega?

hey biz do u think vicinity break and magnet burst are good abilities to equip?

I've only had ONE instance where Berserk Charge was useful to the point that it saved me from dying. It was my first play-through on KH2 for PS2 during the Xaldin fight in Beast's Castle. I was getting owned by the laser sweep on the bridge and used Cura only to have my HP almost erased soon afterwards. Out of desperation I used Master Form IIRC, only for it to go Anti-Form to my dismay and my heart sank. Since I couldn't heal, even if I did have MP, I went all in only or find out that while in Anti-Form using Berserk Charge I could stun lock Xaldin infinitely, and without retaliation, all the way until I both got my MP back and the form reverted. The Anti-Form / Berserk Charge combo literally saved me from dying, while also doing a nice amount of damage to Xaldin if I remember correctly. I was able to heal afterwards and finish the fight. Although that ability did save me, you are right, that ability is trash. I NEVER used it again after that fight, despite the fact it's pretty much the reason I didn't lose. The fact that it requires such a specific set-up makes it both hard to use and harder to justify equipping as a result. Never played KH2:FM though, so I don't know if it's easier to force something like Anit-Form to make it useful when you actually WANT to use it.

Just because an ability is bad in some situations doesn’t mean it’s an overall bad ability. A lot of these have their uses and are meant to be situational to help with certain bosses/situations. But I do agree with a few like the auto limit and summon.

Please make more of these videos. I learn so much

This video is really helpful in explaining what these abilities actually do, the description for the abilities in game are somewhat vague and can be misleading

what's that move after dodge slash when you finish your combo? those orbs that spin around you

Ive seen people beat sephiroth on proud mode with dodge slash. Wondering if i should give it a try. I tried beating him even though i forgot to set my items up and got him 3 or 4 bars down before he killed me

Can you do another video like this for kh3?

i always tried to use retaliating slash but could never react to press square instead of circle so i just used recover.

I know this is a old video but I don't mind equipping retaliating slash or combo modifiers because they seem fun at times

I find some of those abilities to be useful at some specific points, for example Berserk Charge is VERY useful in Sephiroth boss fight since he gets many hits from such an ability without resisting much. Every ability has its usefulness at some point and after alll, it’s an RPG game and such exclusions and inclusions are vital for a strategic continuity of different boss fights. But at the end, I do agree that these abilities you’ve mentioned are important to exclude in some challenging boss fights especially the ones that were added within the Final Mix version

This may be an odd question, but is there any good way to use Reflect more often? I've been playing the game and have been barely using it, but I want to be able to use it to a point that it just comes naturally to me. I feel it may save my life in the data battles. Thanks.

Can you use berserker charge with peter pan on the Saix boss battle to loop?

another great vid, u should do these more often keep it up man:]

What's the big open area at 1:55? I've beaten the game and it looks kinda like Pride Lands, but Sora isn't a lion and it's not green. As for the moves, Auto Limit has done me well a few times but the Auto Drive moves are just useless. I genuinely have no idea why Negative Combo even exists.

I don't find "Auto Summon" or "Auto Limit" useful but I do find the Auto forums extermly useful in a pinch.

Thanks Biz! This really helped a lot!

Hey, I'm wondering if Magnet Splash and Aerial Finish are good abilities to equip, I mean, they probably are, but I don't really see them being used that often. So should you equip/unequip them for some situations?

Is there really no situation where aerial sweep is useful? Does aerial dive always trigger on airborne enemies? I kinda thought that dive was something that only triggered from a distance. I guess I will test it out and see what triggers when.

Retaliating slash is great if you know what battles to use it in

I did not know that KH2s combat was this complex. this is awesome!

aerial recovery does the same as retaliation. because it counts as the combo against you ending. so it negates once more and second chance

How did you change the language?

Having to learn hiragana even after playing through the US version, I'm finding it difficult to figure out why I can't reach my explosion sooner

Auto Limit can be handy during the Roxas and Axel data battles because of my strategies. For Axel, I guarded his opening and did a combo on him to trigger his Clear Light command and then I spammed blizzaga at him. After Clear Light I cast blizzard 4 times before jumping to dodge, and then I would continue to dodge like this until he started walking towards me, then I cast another blizzard. If I needed to heal, instead of using Cure, I would instead use the Trinity limit. I was using Oathkeeper so I could get off 3 Breaks before the limit wore out. When the limit did end I'd pop a Hi-Potion and start enough combo, allowing me to deal a lot of damage and heal instead of just healing. If I ever needed to heal while in MP recharge, I'd change into Limit form and spam Sonic Blade when I got to 1 HP. Because of the fire wall I'd end up getting caught in a loop of constantly Sonic Blading but MP Rage usually allows me to get away with this until the Drive runs out. When I fought Roxas, my strategy was mostly the same. Auto-Limit was useful in these fights because there was rarely if ever Reaction commands to exploit. Instead of constantly swapping between the two command menus, I could just stay on the one with Trinity Limit instead. Since I use Trinity Limit first it's more important I be able to reliably trigger it, then I play more cautiously while MP recharge is up.

Like a previous comment said, During normal gameplay, I don’t care about abilities or what they do but when it comes to Boss battles(especially Org battles) I steer clear of any Drive forms and I did not know about the retaliating slash it might help against Xaldin.

5:20 What is that ability that makes an explosion on the ground and knocks them up?

but how can i make my keyblade stronger ! im tired to sreach >

If you want Aerial Dive equipped rather than Aerial Sweep, what is the comparison of Aerial Dive to Aerial Spiral? Both equipped or just one of them based on preference?

Let me take a guess no EXP, that keyblade that's just endless combos with no Ender and auto summon and Auto Drive you also don't need both Dodge Dash and Dodge roll

Realy needed this. Thank you ! :D

Slide Dash doesn't whiff if your Keyblade is long enough. Tested it on Sephiroth, Oblivion was a bit too short so I used the Guardian Soul for it's equally good Strength stat, but much longer reach.

Can u please make this video about KH3 too?

I do use berserk charge with ultima weapon though; you can easily delete one of sephiroth's health bars repeatedly, in most of his phases. After he hits you into the air, aerial dodge, then spam horizontal slash. Watch as sora carries Sephiroth across the map until you get your mp back, then trinity limit/cure. Repeat. Win.

One thing I like about the randomizer is that it makes the auto drives more useful

because of the parry frames finishers have i usually combine negative combo with as many finishing plus as possible. final form with fenrir, 3 finishing plus and 1 negative combo is almost invincible.

This video is really informative and well done! I'd love something similar for KH III!

Lingering Will doesn't have any reaction commands, so auto abilities don't really have any drawbacks.

What happens if you use berserk chaege fenrir with negative combo?

The first five I use a lot in my play through. It just depends on how you play. Some of the others like Berserk Charge could be useful in certain situations.

Does Retaliating Slash still have the same invincibility frames that a normal retaliation gives you?

Aerial dive, aerial sweep, and aerial spiral, which i though was a finisher, but it isnt. So which to and not to equip?

Informative video, although it was difficult to hear you talk at times Biz; game volume too high. The only time I personally had trouble with Retaliating Slash was vs Terra's surprise whip. First and only time that ability got unequipped. Another issue with the 2x Negative Combo setup is losing access to Slide Dash, and (I think?) Aerial Sweep/Dive. That destroys Sora's mobility. You know what, I wonder how would a difficult fight like Terra be with 2x Negative Combo? Did you ever try it?

Hot take: Arial Finish is a contender for one of my least favorite. It does great damage but leaves you pretty open to attack. I had to turn it off when I fought Sephiroth because the stock finishers were better for me and got me on the ground sooner to dodge his other attacks.

I feel slightly embarrassed. I've been playing this game for something like 7 years and I never knew how bad dodge slash was. I never made the connection with wiffing and the combo modifiers.

Good video as always Biz. BEAST! "GET OUT!"

Thank you for Dodge Slash, Sephie deals me a lot damage because of that sh**, and I couldn't tell which ability corresponded to the move !

you just have to know when it is the right time to use retaliating slash.... after the bosses' combo. it isnt a bad ability if you use it right. sometimes you use it, sometimes you shouldnt

You put berserk charge into the situational section. Could someone maybe explain why it would be good?

i've been playing this game on level 1 recently and i've just arrived at the Roxas fight. after a few attempts i quickly realized Dodge Slash was very bad for this fight, but as it turns out, it's just bad in general. I guess now i should turn off Aerial Sweep, too.

I've never heard Sora's anguished scream so much.

You gonna do a bad abilities for kh3? Now that they added all the new abilities.

Why would you just, use retaliating slash? You dont have to press square if you want to ride out the hits

Very interesting. I still love Berserk Charge simply for the epicness ensued and the amount of damage it can deal when mashing horizontal slash, but it's true that many bosses are just unbeatable due to the revenge value, and that it puts you in risky situations. Still, it got me through half the game in record time. I probably wouldn't use it in critical though. Thumbs up for the hate Retaliating Slash, I figure out it sucked during my last playthrough. And finally, I didn't know about Dodge Slash, I'll try to remember it.

This was great, because I won't lie I definitely equipped everything most of the time. I would love to see this for Kingdom Hearts 3.bow that the dlc is out.

Why use Retaliating Slash when you can just use Aerial Recover? You get an invincibility frame why doing it.

Pretty old vid, but I'll say, Berserk is pretty okay for me. Though you can't use finishers in boss battles, I found that any Square button attack that you do can actually substitute for a finisher, and you can access those faster.

..did he got dodge slash and slapshot mixed up?

Good video biz, keep it up!

Also u know where the weird thing where you have to finish a boss with a finisher otherwise they just stay on 1hp - berserk doesn't count I have had too many boss attempts where they were stuck at 1hp cause I was using beserk

i just want to say that even after all these years, berserk charge and horizontal slash still carries me through lingering will

Hey bizkit I've always wondered if its out for ps3 why are you still playing the Japanese version?

What about negative combo? Why wasn't it included?

The only Auto ability I equipped, Auto Limit (Form). Helps a lot on Critical but annoying sometimes because of Anti Form.

so what would be the best abilities to equip?

Dodge Slash is only a problem if you're using a mid- or short-range keychain. If you're using a long-range keychain, like Decisive Pumpkin or Ultima Weapon, it won't fail.

been playing this to death, good to know this stuff actually. I didn't know a few of these were holding me back. :)

What do you mean there aren't things with exp zero? Isn't part of it that like even without second chance and stuff you won't get killed by a single hit. And like you get scaled damage which you wouldn't have like at say lvl2 or is that a common misconception or myth.

Could you do a KH3 version of this video please?

***** can you tell me what that move is called 5:23?

Great video, really helpful :) Keep up