Site Navigation

RPGClassics Main
Contact Maintainer

Shrine Navigation
Home
Characters
Enemies and Boss Strageties
Final Strike
FMG (Force Metal Generator)
Force Metals
Items
Status Problems
Subquests
Sub-Weapons
Thanks
Tips and Tricks
Walkthrough
Weapons

Action Triggers

I spoke about the Action Triggers for each character briefly (or a bit more than that) in the Character section. Now, let's look at which ones are the best and which ones could use a bit more work.

X's Action Triggers:
Charge Shot
This is one of the easiest of the Action Triggers to do. All you have to do is hold down the button to charge up energy and then release to do the attack. It's very useful in the early goings as well as against groups, however, there will be sometimes where the Charge Shot should not be used against Bosses. This is because after the attack (this goes for all Action Triggers, btw), there is a bit of a wait (or lag) period before X can attack again, and against some bosses, this isn't a good idea. Check the individual sections as well as the Optional Bosses and the Tail Clan section for more details.
Charge Collider
The next of X's Action Triggers, it is done the same way as the Charge Shot. This targets only a single enemy. It's also Fire-typed, so it's good against Electrc-typed foes. It also does insane amounts of damage at 100%. While a single enemy is a good target, there are some cautions with this one. Because it is Fire-typed, it should NOT be used against Fire-typed enemies, since this'll actually heal them. It's also limited by how many turns X has in the Hyper Mode, but it's still a good choice for several of the early Bosses as well as Depth Dragoon.
Nova Strike
The only Action Trigger in the Ultimate Armor, this is like having a Final Strike for one character. It's also performed differently than most Action Triggers. In this case, you'll be hitting three buttons as well as using the joystick to switch targets. You can really rack up the combo hits with this one at 100% WE, and it's an excellent choice for later bosses (especially Epslion, Redips, and the Tails Clan). Also, it's a lot of fun looking straight ahead rather than an angle. Because it's not elemental typed, you can use this on any enemy. One of the best Action Triggers of all time.

Zero's Action Triggers:
Command Arts
One of the HARDEST of the Action Triggers to pull off (Marino's is the toughest in my opinion), this is like the old Street Fighter games where you had to joystick and button combinations. This is for both regular and Black Zero. In case you've forgotten what does what, here's the chart again:
Command (GCN/PS2) Attack Effect
Quarter circle from down to towards+A/Circle Zero Slash Standard attack at -20% power
Quarter circle from down to back+A/Circle Zero Breakthrough Attack at -70% power, Ignores target defense
Dragon Punch motion+A/Circle Zero Dragon Slash Attack with 65% accuracy against airborne enemies
Half circle from back to towards+A/Circle Zero Wave Slash Attack randomly between -50% and 100% power
Three-Fourths circle from towards to up+A/Circle Zero Skull Crush Guarenteed Critical attack
Note that you have to complete a certain amount of command imputs to get the latter attacks as well. This is a pretty okay Action Trigger to use especially if you can't use X's right then since Zero bounces back pretty quick. I don't use this one a lot.
Calamitous Arts
Now this is one I like. If you've played DDR, you've noticed how you have to hit combinations of arrows at the right time to keep a combo going. This is the same priniciple. Also, like X's Charge Collider, Zero's Calamitous Arts is also elemental-typed. In this case, it's Ice-typed. This means that you can use this pretty much on every enemy except for Water-types. Of course, like the the Nova Strike, Calamitous Arts does MASSIVE amounts of damage and is good to use against the latter bosses. However, like the Charge Collider and Nova Strike, it's limited to how many turns the Hyper Mode has left. Once again, for those who've forgotten what does what, here's the chart again:
Command (GCN/PS2) Attack Effect
Left +Y/Square
Left Kick
Guaranteed Critical Ice Attack at +25% Power
Right + X/Triangle
Right Kick
Ice attack at +50% Power
Down + Y/Square
Surge Strike
Combat attack randomly between -50% and +100% Power
Up + X/Triangle
Rising Dragon Punch
Ignores Target Armor
Y/Square, X/Triangle
Skull Crush
Guarenteed Critical Strike at +25% Power
A/Circle
Whirlwind Leg
Ice attack at -25% Power, Ignores target Armor

Spider's Action Trigger:
Forturne Card
Unless you're good with Poker (which I'm not), this'll be a hard one to pull off. Basically, Spider draws a hand of five cards and can switch out out any card he wants for a new one once. The final hand he gets determines what attack he'll use. Once again, this isn't the best Action Trigger to use. However, if you do plan to use this one, make sure that the WE is up to 100%, since that'll make Spider even luckier and make it where he'll be able to draw better hands. Here are the effects for each hand:
Hand Effect
Pair
2-Shot attack
Two Pair
2-Shot attack, second shot +50% critical chance
Tri Card
3-Shot Fire, Water, and Thunder attack
Straight
5-Shot attack, final shot guarenteed critical
Flush
1-Shot Blinding attack
Death House
1-Shot attack with chance of instant kill
Four Penality
All enemies -25% Power, Armor, Shield, and Speed
Straight Flush
3-Shot attack against all enemies, final hit guarenteed critical
RSF
+200% shot attack against all enemies, high instant kill rate

Massimo's Action Trigger:
Beserk Charge
Here's another Action Trigger that's not really useful til it gets increased. While it only targets one enemy, it can do some pretty devistating effects as well as hitting multiple times. Also, like Cinnamon, Massimo's Action Trigger can be leveled up. These are the only two so far that I know of that can be done this way. Again, if you forgot what the different bars mean again, here's a chart to help you out:
Name Effect
Attack
Up to +100% Power
Code Red
Add Blind, Virus, Bind, and Beserk Effects
Criticals
Up to 80% chance of a Critical Strike
Multistage
Up to 12 Successive hits

Marino's Action Trigger:
Emotional Reel

He's another one where you have to have a good eye as well as willing to take a chance at the slots. However, unlike Spider's, Marino's has some useful effects, particularly the "I'll Take That!" which will relieve enemies of their hard-to-get items. There's a couple of hard-hitting attacks and a so-so attack if you miss. Recovering LE from damaging enemies or killing them outright are two other possiblities. The greater amount of WE used to activate this, the slower the reels will go. Like Massimo's, Marino will also gain a few more combinations to get even more possiblities. Here is a list of what each combination does:
Picture
Move Effect
Bubbles
Hyper Dive
Combat attack at +100% Power
Treasure Chest
I'll Take That!
1-hit attack, guarenteed item steal
Heart with a Slice
Your Life Please!
3-hit attack at +50% Power, LE gain equal to damage given
Grim Reaper
Scattered Flower
3-shot attack with high chance of instant kill
Marino's Faceshot
Mirage Dive
1-hit Combat attack at +150% Power
Minus Sign
Marino Stamp
Combat attack at +30% Power

Cinnamon's Action Trigger:
Angelic Aide
One of the easiest Action Triggers to do (X's three Action Triggers and Absolute Zero's Calamitous Arts are the other ones), all that is needed to be done is rotating the secondary joystick clockwise. Hearts will grow onscreen and each of these will replace some of the party's Max LE by a certain percentage. Like Massimo's and Marino's, Cinnamon's is another one that can level up. This is an especially useful one when you don't want to use up a Sub Tank to heal up.

Axl's Action Trigger:
DNA Change
This is by far one of the most challenging Action Triggers to execute, so as much WE that can be activated for this should be used, since you'll need a lot of time to finish. It's very easy to make a mistake early on, since all of the slots aren't filled up, but once the final DNA sample is gathered, you can just press buttons randomly and see what you get. However, if you're going against element enemies or bosses, you might not want to do this. If you hit a blank or run outta time, Axl will do the Rolling Axl, a combat attack that's only +30% of his normal attack. It takes practice, but don't give up, since later on, Axl's Action Trigger can be very useful in later battles. Since it differs between systems, I'll put both charts up for you.
For GCN:
Combination Boss Form Activated Attack
AXAABYBA
Wild Jango
Thunder attack up to +100% power
AYXYBAYA
Silver Horn
500-damage Watter attack to all enemies
AXAABYBX
Mad Nautilus
Attack all enemies, random Blind, Virus, Berserk, and Bind effects
AYXYBAYX
Mach Jentler
500-damage Fire attack to all enemies
AXAABYXB
Incentas
2-hit combat attack
AYXYBAXB
Depth Dragoon
3-hit, 250-damage Thunder attack to all enemies
AXAABAYY
Rafflesian
Fires 10 200 damage missiles at every enemy
AYXYBYBA
Ninetails
9-hit 999-damage combat attack
For PS2:
Note: S=Square, O=Circle, T=Triangle, X=X
Combination Boss Form Activated Attack
XOXXTSTX
Wild Jango Thunder attack up to +100% power
XSOSTXSX
Silver Horn 500-damage Watter attack to all enemies
XOXXTSTO
Mad Nautilus Attack all enemies, random Blind, Virus, Berserk, and Bind effects
XSOSTXSO
Mach Jentler 500-damage Fire attack to all enemies
XOXXTSOT
Incentas 2-hit combat attack
XSOSTXOT
Depth Dragoon 3-hit, 250-damage Thunder attack to all enemies
XOXXTXSS
Rafflesian Fires 10 200 damage missiles at every enemy
XSOSTSTX
Ninetails 9-hit 999-damage combat attack