Armored Trooper VOTOMs- Woodo and Kummen FAQ version 0.1 By Scopedog(redshoulder@juno.com) In short, I love this game, and since I'm the star of it, I figured I might as well write a guide to it. Everything that appears here is stuff I figured out through playing. I don't know any Japanese and therefore can't read the instruction manual(the few translations herein come from my sister). Many thanks go to Neil Nadelman for making it possible for myself and others similarly impaired to clearly understand the TV series(if only he could make it possible for me to likewise understand the OVAs ^_^.) Important note: I use a regular controller to play and prefer Control Type B. Part 1: The Mission Disk Bottom line- until you get auto-aim, keep the levels at 1, 10, 10, 5. What this means is that you walk very slowly, turn very quickly, recover PR quickly, and have the heaviest armor, respectively. In game terms, it means you can walk and shoot forever without running out of PR and roller dash for a very long time. You still have to adjust the rates quite often during play but I've found these levels to be the most sensible, over-all. The default layout of the Mission Disk screen is as follows: Leg muscle cylinder (1-10): 5 Upper arm muscle cylinder(1-10): 5 Heart-lung generator (1-10): 5 Armor class (Light0-5Heavy): 3 Special ability : Kick Weight (kg) : 7626 Turning effeciency (%): 70 Speed efficiencies(km/h Acceleration effeciency(%): 67 Walking speed : 16 Accuracy (%): 79 RD time speed : 41 PR Fluid Recover power : 5 RD time top speed: 82 In game terms, Leg muscle cylinder affects inertia and walking speed, Upper arm muscle cylinder affects turning speed, Heart-Lung generator affects PR recovery, and Armor level is self-explanatory. Weight and Walking speed are self-explanatory but RD(Roller Dash) time speed is the speed at which you idle and top speed is the highest speed you can accelerate to. Turning effeciency is the rate at which you spend SPR while turning, acceleration effeciency is the rate at which you spend SPR while accelerating, and accuracy is the the rate at which you spend PR while looking up and down. PR fluid recovery power is self-explanatory. Part 2: The Levels I've got no idea what the mission screens say or what the mission requirements for each level really are, but my basic strategy is to kill everything except the truck in Mission 3. Mission 1 Special ability: Kick There are 2 really good strategies for defeating Conin. The first and most obvious is to hide behind the closest obstruction and wait for him to appear in front of you, then just shoot at him with your back to the wall. If you can sustain long bursts of succesive hits, he'll keep moving around and miss you because of it. The benefit of this strategy is that, as long as you're close to the wall, he can't get behind you. It's also good to run to a corner, because then it's even easier to keep him in your sights. The second strategy is to roller dash towards him as soon as the battle starts. It's a good idea to strafe to the left a little, but when you see him fire, aim where the fire is coming from, wait several moments, then roller dash backwards. As you dash backwards, keep track of where the fire is coming from and keep shooting there; you'll kill him before he gets near enough to pull off any fancy footwork. It's important to wait before you roller dash backwards because if you don't wait long enough, he'll go behind the obstruction in front of him instead of coming straight towards you. Mission 2 Special ability: Loop Turn, Kick It's possible to just roller dash through this level. You ought to set your mission disk to 1, 10, 10, 0 for this. When the level starts, set your SPR rate to at least equal to your PR then just roller dash. You don't even need to accelerate. When you get to the 3 emplacements in your way, Armored Punch one of them twice and roller dash on through. It's also possible to kill everything. To kill the emplacements, walk close enough to them to be fired upon, then step back and shoot where the fire came from. To kill the ATs and the 2 ATs in the Armored Flying Vehicles, just shoot them while strafing. Keep in mind throughout the game that your range is longer than everything but other ATs. On some TVs you can see the emplacements before they can fire. 'Nuff said. Mission 3 Special ability: Allround Burst, Loop Turn, Kick Start out by roller dashing until you're fired upon by the police tank, then quickly step just out of range and stay there. Kill the 2 helicopters and the 2 cops with bazookas. Roller dash to the right of the gunfire and go right up to the tank and stand to the right of it's gun. Armored Punch it 4 times then do the same to the other tank. Roller Dash straight to where the "o" is: I I I I Io I xI I _________I I______ ____ / \ c I I \____/ _________ ______ I I I I I I All the copters come from the "x", so as long as you cover that spot, the truck will be fine. You don't need to kill anything else but it's fun to shoot and run over cops at "c" before you head to "o", just make sure no copters get to the truck. Mission 4 Special Ability: Allround Burst, Loop Turn, Kick There's no real strategy to this level, but one loose pattern I've formed is to turn left and roller dash towards the bazooka cop on the left wall and run him over(with SPR at twice PR). Then I turn around and kill the tanks and cops in the middle of the battlefield. Then, sticking to the walls, I work my way, counter-clockwise, from west to north, destroying tanks and running over bazooka cops(the best way to kill them). To kill the Brutishdog, just stay behind either of the northern obstructions until she gets in front of you then fight her the same way as Conin. You can also charge and retreat while firing, like Conin, first, and then hide behind an obstruction; you'll do alot more damage that way. It also works to just shoot her as she runs towards you, but not if you've taken too much damage. Mission 5 Special ability: Weapon Selector I always go left here. The best way to kill the first 2 tanks is to strafe and fire at them, back and forth between cover until they die; they'll rarely hit you. You might want to kill the next 3 copters with Solid Shooter to conserve missiles, but if you're a bad shot, use missiles. Either way, just stand your ground until they're dead; your roller dash is too slow to evade the missiles they fire. If you've got any Solid Shooter left, use that on the next 2 copters, otherrwise use Vulcan(or missiles if you're a bad shot). Next, standing on the right wall of the 3 tank, 2 cop barricade, roller dash sideways and missile the 2 cops, then kill the tanks with machine gun by strafing left and right in front of them until they're dead. Now turn on your missiles and put your SPR at twice PR and roller dash at top speed over the 2 cops that appear in front of you then turn left and missile the copter behind them. Roller dash until you're out of the range of bazookas then change to machine gun and kill the tank behind the wall. The are 2 more tanks past it that you can kill without them attacking. Turn right and vulcan the 2 copters there, but stick to the north wall. From the right of the barricade, roller dash left and missile the 2 bazooka cops then kill the 2 tanks by standing on the left of the barricade and shooting from cover. Next missile the last 2 cops and if you've got any left, missile or SMM the last 2 tanks, then roller dash to victory. Mission 6 Special Ability: Allrange Burst, Loop Turn, Double Arm Punch, Kick Choose Double Arm Punch as your special ability and charge the Brutishdog. The only way to win is to Double Arm Punch her at least once and then fight her like Conin with your back to the north wall. You can Double Arm Punch her to death, too. Mission 7 Special Ability: Allrange Burst, Loop Turn, Double Arm Punch, Kick All the same old rules apply here. Run over cops and stand under bazooka cops to avoid there fire, then step back and shoot them. Mission 8 Special Ability: Allround Burst, Loop Turn, Double Arm Punch, Kick, Allrange Burst Same old rules. Step cautiously towards multiple ATs so you only fight one at a time. Some ATs charge you, fight these like Conin; the best tactic is to charge and retreat while firing. Mission 9 Special Ability: Allround Burst, Loop Turn, Double Arm Punch, Kick, Auto Tracking, Allrange Burst Use Auto Tracking and set your mission disk to 1, 1, 10, 5. Run over guerillas and just stand your ground to kill Turtles. Strafe around tanks. Just shoot the missile trucks. Mission 10 Special Ability: Allround Burst, Loop Turn, Double Arm Punch, Kick, Auto Tracking, Allrange Burst Use Auto Tracking and set your mission disk to 1, 1, 10, 5. Immediately Roller dash backwards and keep shooting straight ahead. When the Turtle gets close adjust your aim until it dies(with your back to the wall). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ All comments, criticisisms, clarifications, corrections, complaints, and compliments to redshoulder@juno.com.