ASURA'S WRATH

If you are working on obtaining all S Ranks on Hard I assume you have completed the game multiple times now, including obtaining the gauge trophies etc. I recommend doing this first and using the Obliterator Gauge throughout this process.

What I will be doing is listing my scores for each episode to try and give you a rough idea of what you should be aiming for. If anyone currently has S Ranks that are close to any of these scores, please comment or pm me and I will try update it so that the margin for error will be more distinguishable.

Your rank is decided by three factors. Time, Battle Points an Synchronic Rate %. Time is measured by how quickly you complete an episode, Battle Points are an overall score of your battle performance, here is a list of specific actions and their corresponding point value:

Burst - 1000 points
Attacks - 2 points
Dash Attacks - 10 points
Dive Attacks - 10 points
Heavy Attacks - 20 points
Successful Shots - 1 point
Successful Lock-On Shots - 5 points
Counters - 30 points
Special Attacks - 50 points
Recoveries - No specific value to calculate
Unlimited Bonus - No specific value to calculate

Finally Synchronic Rate % is your overall performance in relation to the Quick Time Events used in the game, you must be sure to hit these spot on each time as missing one in a series will mean losing the rest, for example the QTE sequence may go something like this:

LS Left
LS Right
LS Down
LS Clockwise
B mash
Y

If you make it to LS Down but fail to correctly continue the sequence then the QTE will end and you will not be able to perform the remaining inputs for the sequence.

Here are my current scores for each episode, please note that at this time I do not have the trophy an therefore, if I have not obtained an S rank in an episode I will instead leave my scores for whatever rank I have to give you an idea of the scores you must surpass, secondly for the episodes I have not finished on Hard I will say so an will post my scores from Normal, looking at the comparison of my scores from Easy to Normal it seems the scores needed to obtain an S Rank do not increase with the difficulty. Lets get to it.

Episode One

Time: 00:02:51 S
Battle Points: 7007 S
Synchronic Rate: 93% S

Pretty simple level, during the rail shooter sections just be sure to constantly move the reticle around the screen and fire off the lock-on shots. At the end there are 3 Y QTE inputs in quick succession though I got Excellent on the first, and only Good on the other two and still did fine.


Episode Two

Time: 00:00:32 S
Battle Points: 1190 S
Synchronic Rate: 100% S

Simple level, just remember to lock on so you are always hitting your targets and use Y whenever you have a downed enemy. There is only one QTE so be sure to hit it an you will get 100%, very quick level an shouldn't give you any trouble.

Episode Three

Time: 00:05:34 S
Battle Points: 4978 S
Synchronic Rate: 100% S

DO NOT SKIP TUTORIAL. If you skip the tutorial you will miss out on 3 QTE inputs and will not be able to build up enough BP. Yes it is boring but it must be done. To get more BP during the tutorial section, in between orders use your dash/dive and Y attacks.

Episode Four

Time: 00:02:17 S
Battle Points: 5972 S
Synchronic Rate: 93% S

No real strategy to this one, just keep the lock-on going and go nuts. If you are using the Obliterator Gauge (an you should be) be sure to activate Ultimate Mode often and lay into them. There are 4 QTE's in this stage, one against the Rasho (taller silver guy) and 3 against Wyzen all shouldn't be difficult to miss.


Episode Five

Time: 00:02:43 S
Battle Points: 7410 S
Synchronic Rate: 95% S

Same tactic during the rail shooter sections as level 1, just wave that reticle all over the place while holding down X and hitting Y every few seconds to fire off the lock-on shots. Quite a few QTE's in this one so be on the look out, be careful if you're skipping cutscenes as one of the Y inputs will pop up straight after you cut out from one. During the rail shooter sections (both against the warship and Wyzen) be on the lookout for missiles that come your way and counter them to boost your Burst bar quicker.

Episode Six

Time: 00:02:23 S
Battle Points: 4121 A
Synchronic Rate: 94% S

This one can be annoying, it is a nuisance to get all three S's there is not much of a gap between levels though, you will get S for time if you go anywhere under 00:02:30 and the BP scores gap is pretty tight as well, 3800ish will get you a B, whereas 4000-4100 will get an A and 4400+ will get you the S Rank. A few QTE's though nothing you should miss. Best strategy (using Obliterator) constantly be in Ultimate Mode and just unleash everything on him, my combo I used over and over was dive attack into dash attack -this would normally knock him down- then a few normal attacks in the middle and ending in a Y special when he is down, just repeat this and you should be fine. To be sure to at least get an A rank in BP be on the lookout for counter opportunities as there will be a few (one is straight away after the interlude bit) another tip is even after you fill the gauge and achieve Burst, hold onto it an do one or two more combo sets before unleashing it. The aim here is to get S Ranks in both Time and Synch and get minimum A in BP.

Episode Seven

Time: 00:03:26 S
Battle Points: 5277 S
Synchronic Rate: 100% S

Not too tough of a level, with Obliterator you are pretty much invincible, in the beginning just use the usual tactics on the monkey things. Once you encounter the elephant your main source of BP is hopping around like mad locked on to one of its feet and holding down X while in midair each shot you land may only be worth 1BP but it adds up, I ended up with just over 900BP just from the shots, whenever he sticks his foot out, run up and if you think you have time, land a couple of attacks an follow up with a special, as usual keep an eye out for counter moments, though they will be quite obvious against this enemy. During the second phase not much changes, instead of his feet you now attack his trunk and other then that you are employing the same strategy. As with level 6, the aim here is to get two S Ranks and one A minimum for a passing score. I have yet to get an S Rank for my Time, if anyone viewing this can give me a time that got the S for them, please comment or pm.


Episode Eight

Time: 00:04:01 S
Battle Points: 6058 S
Synchronic Rate: 93% S

Easy level, you should get the BP score naturally, using Obliterator speeds up the tortoise fight massively so there should be no problems. A few QTE's but none should give any trouble. There's 2 after the rail shooter section, 3 during the tortoise burst, and I believe 2 during the scenes following, 2 more after a Burst and a final one right at the end. All easy to land.

Episode Nine

Time: 00:06:59 S
Battle Points: 15865 S
Synchronic Rate: 96%

One of the longer levels that you will play through, may have been annoying on Hard but the Obliterator takes care of that, no special tactics needed here, just do a goo job and you should get a clean sweep


Episode Ten

Time: 00:06:26 S
Battle Points: 7023 S
Synchronic Rate: 100%

Nothing new here, rhinos are easy to take down and the tortoise is no match for you and you're Obliterator Gauge, may help to hold off on using Burst in the second clearing with the monkeys for a few more seconds for some extra BP points if you want to make sure.


Episode Eleven

Time: 00:02:32 S
Battle Points: 5394 S
Synchronic Rate: 98% S

Short sweet an simple, just use Ultimate Mode and lay into him, using Y attacks when he is down and keep an eye open for counter opportunities, a few QTE sequences but nothing difficult.


Episode Twelve

Time: 00:03:06 S
Battle Points: 4487 S
Synchronic Rate: 92% S

This level isn't too bad, it is fairly short and majority of it is the rail shooter perspective. Battle Points haven't been a trouble for me so during the first section just beat the hell out of the Taison unit, try to have a group of smaller enemies surround you when you use your Y attack on the downed Taison to maximize points. During the shooter section just go nuts, try to keep an eye out for missiles the enemy ships will fire at you, just aim in their direction while holing down X to take them out. There are only 5 QTE inputs on this level, 3 Y inputs and 2 B mashes. To get an S Rank for Synch Rate you must get Excellent on 2 of the Y inputs, minimum of Great on the 3rd and complete the B mashes before they time out.

Episode Thirteen

Time: 00:06:02 S
Battle Points: 17526 S
Synchronic Rate: 97% S

Easy level, lots of rail shooter sections on this one, just try to take down as many enemies as possible, it isn't all that difficult, no need to prolong fights before using Burst for extra BP. A few QTE's though nothing too tough, in one of the tunnel sections while being attacked by enemies on the cycle-like vehicles you will see a QTE prompt for the A button, be sure to hit this as it leads to a 5+ long sequence an I dont believe you can get an S Rank if it is missed.

Episode Fourteen

Time: 00:02:18 S
Battle Points: 4910 S
Synchronic Rate: 94% S

Very quick level, using Yasha you should know the drill by now with the shooter sections so I wont worry about the details. Once you encounter the elephant simply lock on to it and use rapid fire on it, using Obliterator and Ultimate Mode, every time the elephant hits you and knocks you flying you will auto-recover and keep firing, just take a break every time he is open to a Y special attack. Ignore the rhino Ghoma. they will not be a problem at all. A few QTE's in this one but you have a good amount of time for each input so you should be ok.


Episode Fifteen

Time: 00:02:45 S
Battle Points: 6762 A
Synchronic Rate: 98% S

This is one of the more annoying levels, even with Obliterator and Ultimate Mode going the whole time Black Asura can still defeat you, if that happens you must return to the main menu and restart the level as you will not get an S Rank. Asura is not as much of a challenge as he seems as he has a very specific attack pattern. Initially he will charge at you and use an attack that ends with him shattering the earth making a crater, once this happens instantly dash/dive attack an knock him down so you can use your Y special attack. When you send Asura flying DO NOT FOLLOW, simply wait, the second he gets up he will begin an attack that you can counter an once again send him flying across the field, follow him this time and try get a couple of hits in and use another Y special while he is still down when he goes flying this time do not follow him. Once he gets up he will unleash a flurry of fireballs just do your best to avoid them and be sure to recover if you get hit to minimize damage, once the fireballs end he is open for attack once again, repeat the process of dodge, attack, counter, attack until you can use Burst, there will be a few QTE sequences here, the one to watch out for is an LS UP input that comes very quickly and your reaction time must be perfect to hit it, an LS Down follows straight after it. The second phase of Asura is much quicker to deal with, his attacks are pretty much the same just the way he uses them is slightly different, using the same strategy as the first phase, once you can use Burst again, another series of QTE inputs will come up, there are a few Y inputs one after the other so be sure to keep up with them and you will get you the win and the S Rank.

Note: For BP S Rank your score must be over 7000, if you want to try for this the best thing to do is try get one or two more specials in before using Burst, though that will slow your time own considerably, I think it is best to just aim for the two S's and one A personally.

Episode Sixteen

Time: 00:06:02 S
Battle Points: 10495 S
Synchronic Rate: 95% S

This one isn't too bad, start off in 3rd person beat em up, by now it should be coming naturally, take care of all the goons until you reach Deus. This guy himself is a piece of cake, easy to take out with Ultimate Mode always going, the only thing Deus will do that I would guess throws some off is after your Y attack he will deliver his own attack that you can counter, however this attack requires 3 inputs rather then the usual 1, though as far as I can tell you only have to hit Y or B for this. After defeating Deus we go into the shooter section, same thing as usual, just blast the hell out of everything, a few QTE's thrown in here and there to keep you on your toes. All in all a good level.

Episode Seventeen

Time: 00:07:08 S
Battle Points: 12726 A
Synchronic Rate: 92% S

This can be quite an annoying level if you go in head on, at first you have your shooter sections, which really aren't bad at all just the usual stuff with some laser dodging thrown in with it the fight with Deus is where it can be annoying. As Asura, you have nothing to worry about, just keep using Ultimate Mode and you will be invincible against all of Deus's attacks, when you take control of Yasha however he can do some damage even when in Ultimate Mode and you must be careful, if he manages to defeat you then you will have to start the level over as it is impossible to get an S Rank if you have to reload a checkpoint. The best opening you will have against Deus is either when he leaps into the air, slamming into the ground and sends a wave of lightning at you, now for some reason when you are in Ultimate Mode this lightning attack will not damage you, once you see him leap into the air, jump up and use a dive attack into a dash attack to knock him down, use a flurry of attacks for a small combo and hit Y to send him flying, and just rinse and repeat this method. The other chance you will have to do some damage is when you get a chance to counter him, this usually comes up without warning or some small animation like other bosses so you must be quick to hit the right button.After that ordeal you become Asura again and are again invincible so just finish him off. Other then this the rest of the level is easy, both Time and Synch scores should come easily, there is a few QTE's but nothing challenging, from what I have seen in my Easy/Normal plays the bar for S in BP is 13000+ so if you want to, feel free to beat him up a little more after you reach Burst, but dont waste too much time (I highly advise not to do this as Yasha).

Episode Eighteen

Time: 00:05:40 S
Battle Points: 12901 S
Synchronic Rate: 93% S

Really easy level, majority of your score will come from the shooter section an your Bursts, there are 6 Bursts in this level totalling up 6000BP on their own and if you constantly use your lock on shot in the shooter section like I do you will get big scores, I got 4995 BP from the lock ons alone. The rest of the level is simple, Vlitra's core is not like Black Asura, he cannot damage you if you are in Ultimate Mode, so be sure to keep that going, just lay into him and be sure to keep up with the QTE's and you will be able to S Rank this one with no problems

Episode Eighteen: True Ending

Time: 00:06:10 S
Battle Points: 13790 S
Synchronic Rate: 91%

Exact same strategy as the previous mission, nothing differs, so just repeat the same methods you did the first time and you will fly through it.

Well that's the lot, hope it helped out. I do want to try and update this with the lowest possible scores to get an S Rank in each category, so if you finish a level and manage to get an S Rank with a slower time or lower score then me, please pm me or comment so I can update it. If people know the minimum they need I believe it will be more helpful.

Cheers!!