Hello everyone, and welcome back to our video
tutorial series for Kingdom Hearts 1. In this video, we cover the fight against
the Unknown in Hollow Bastion. This optional boss becomes available after
arriving in the End of the World and triggering the first cutscene there. Before we dive into the fight, let’s review
how we can best prepare for this mysterious adversary. If you haven’t done so already, travel to
the Hollow Bastion library and speak with Aerith three times to receive Curaga magic. This will let you recover the greatest amount
of HP every time you cast Cure. It’s recommended to have the party be at
least level 70 for this fight, though you may find it more manageable at level 75 or
80. We’ll keep Goofy in the party so he can
use his MP Gift ability. As for the other party member, you can add
Beast for his high HP and attack power, or you can keep Donald for his Aero magic and
extra healing support in a pinch. When it comes to keychains for this fight,
there are two general options. You can prioritize your strength and magic,
or equip one with a high deflection rating. In either case, the best option is Ultima
Weapon, which you can obtain through item synthesis. We’ve placed a link in the video description
to our guide on how to find the materials needed to craft it. If Ultima Weapon isn’t an option, you can
equip Oathkeeper for its strength and magic boosts, or Oblivion for an even greater strength
boost at the expense of your MP. For keychains with a higher deflection rating,
your best option is Divine Rose - you can receive it from Belle on the second floor
of the Hollow Bastion library. Most of the Unknown’s attacks have a Thunder
attribute, so equip accessories that boost the party’s HP, defense, and Thunder resistance. Thundaga Rings and Thundagun Bands are perfect
for this - you can purchase both from the Accessory Shop in Traverse Town. For abilities, be sure to equip Guard, Counterattack,
Dodge Roll, MP Haste, MP Rage, Second Chance, and Leaf Bracer if you have them. Other abilities that are great to have equipped
to Sora for this fight are Critical Plus, Hurricane Blast, Slapshot, Combo Master, Cheer,
and Strike Raid. You can obtain Strike Raid by winning the
Pegasus Cup with the entire party. We don’t want to equip Combo Plus or Air
Combo Plus, and we’ll explain why later in the video. Be sure to equip Goofy’s MP Gift ability;
he can use it to expend two of his MP and restore three MP for another party member. If available, equip Goofy’s Second Chance,
Cheer, MP Haste, and MP Rage abilities as well. If you choose to keep Donald in your party,
equip the same abilities to him as you did Goofy, and equip Leaf Bracer too. If you swapped Donald out for Beast, unequip
his Furious Bellow attack and equip Second Wind instead. You can also equip Critical Plus but you’ll
need to use two AP Ups from the Items menu or equip an accessory to Beast that increases
his AP. Enter the Customize menu and add Gravity,
Aero, and Cure magic to your shortcuts. And finally, enter the Items menu and equip
as many Elixirs and Megalixirs to Sora as you can. You should also equip your other party members
with Mega-Potions; these will come in handy during a crucial moment during the fight. When you’re ready, enter the dark portal
in the back of the Castle Chapel. This will be a long in-depth analysis of this
fight, so feel free to jump around using the video chapters to find the info that you’re
looking for. Now we’re gonna walk through each phase,
reviewing how to avoid each of the Unknown’s attacks and finding where and when he’s
open to damage. When the fight begins, you can summon Tinkerbell
to grant the party HP regen and give Sora a one-time save from KO. In phase one, you’ll see three attacks:
a two-hit combo with his ethereal blades, a square front-facing barrier, and a set of
two large energy orbs. The two-hit combo can be avoided by staying
just outside his strike zone, but if you want to deal damage in his opening, you’ll need
to be close to him after his second strike. You can use Guard at the right time to deflect
both strikes, but if you’re using a Keyblade with a low deflection rating, the knockback
will prevent you from attacking before he makes his next move. If you’re using a high-deflection Keyblade,
you can counterattack to stagger him after guarding against that second strike; this
is a great method for dealing counterattack damage with a keychain like Divine Rose, but
keep in mind that your ground combo finisher is typically too slow to keep him staggered. You can also get a stagger by jumping behind
him during his second strike and dealing a complete air combo. This is my preferred method, because Sora’s
three-hit air combo is faster than his three-hit ground combo. The Unknown can recover from a stag ger very
quickly, so each hit of your combo needs to be dealt as quickly as possible. The Unknown will usually cast his front-facing
barrier while Sora or another party member is in close range. If you or a party member touch the barrier
while it’s active, the Unknown will counterattack through it with his two-hit combo. But if you circle around the barrier while
it’s still intact, you can strike to stagger him. This is where your party members can be problematic,
as they’ll often touch the barrier and cause the Unknown to counterattack, so you may want
to keep an eye on where they are in relation to the barrier. You can also summon Simba, Genie, or Bambi
to temporarily take your party members out of the fight so that you can focus on maneuvering
around the barrier to deal damage. If you’re struck by the barrier, the Unknown’s
first blade swing will usually pass through Sora, giving you an opportunity to guard against
or jump over his second swing. When the Unknown sends out two large energy
orbs, he’ll typically aim them to detonate near Sora, but they’ll detonate early if
they hit a party member closer by. You can avoid them by dodge rolling to either
side, but the detonations are pretty large, so you might still get caught near the outer
edge. You can also high jump in between the two
orbs, before or while they detonate. We’ll be using this maneuver for an exploit
later in the video. If you’re stuck inside the detonation, it’s
sometimes hard to get out of range without taking more damage, but you can cast Cure
with the Leaf Bracer ability equipped to restore your HP and save some in the process. One of the best opportunities to stagger the
Unknown and deal damage is by casting Gravity magic on him. If you manage to cast Gravity just as he starts
to teleport, or in between his attacks at the right time, he’ll stagger long enough
for you to close in and deal a complete air combo. One of the most consistent times to stagger
him this way comes right after he sends out the two large energy orbs. Dodge roll or jump
to avoid the orbs, then cast Gravity. You’ll know when he’s staggered when you
gain 100 technique points from the Gravity spell instead of just ten. Close in with Dodge Roll or Superglide, then
deal a complete air combo. I choose to deal an air combo here because
its combo finisher is much faster than a ground combo. Equipping Hurricane Blast as your air combo
finisher is a great option; it’s a really fast move that always results in a critical
hit when it makes contact. Keep in mind that he won’t stagger to every
cast though; if your party members are too close to him, he’ll start his next attack
more quickly. There are also times where he’ll send out
another two orbs after the first pair, though he may still stagger when struck with Gravity;
just keep dodge rolling in a wide circle to avoid the orbs, then close in and deal an
air combo. If you want to increase your casting speed,
do a short jump before you cast Gravity magic from your shortcuts. The airborne casting animation is shorter
and gives you more time to close in and deal damage. We’ll show you a way to stagger the Unknown
in a loop using Gravity magic later in the video. The Unknown doesn’t really have a discernible
attack pattern in phase one, but you can often predict his next move based on the distance
between him and his target. When he’s close to Sora or another party
member, he likes to use his 2-hit combo and front-facing barrier; and when he is farther
away, he often sends out the two large orbs or teleports to get closer to you. Whenever the Unknown is walking towards you,
approach him in a wide circle and gradually get closer to him. This gives you the right amount of space to
dodge roll and the right amount of time to react to any of his phase one attacks. When he teleports closer to you, it’s best
to dodge roll in the direction that he teleported from just as he appears again. This will help you avoid his next attack with
enough time to find his next opening. Whenever you stagger the Unknown during one
of his openings, he will always retaliate immediately after taking four consecutive
hits. This is why we chose not to equip the Combo
Plus and Air Combo Plus abilities. We only want to deal three hits to the Unknown
when staggered, with the third hit being that air combo finisher. The Unknown will also retaliate after taking
eight hits if the four-hit counter is never reached in a single stagger. This eight-hit counter also gets reset if
the Unknown is staggered with Gravity magic. It’s pretty difficult to keep count of your
hits during this fight with your party members in play, so just keep in mind that the Unknown
might use one of his phase one attacks immediately during your three-hit combo. If the incoming attacks are overwhelming you,
you can use Strike Raid and its follow-up commands to deal consistent damage to the
Unknown and remain invincible while the ability is active; just be sure to keep an eye on
your MP so that you have enough to cast Cure if needed. When half of the pink HP bar is depleted,
the fight will enter phase two, and the Unknown will introduce three new attacks: a ring of
blue homing lasers, a long sequence of spinning blade strikes, and a command-scrambling attack
that saps your party’s HP. He’ll often summon a ring of blue lasers
after teleporting away from you. You can’t guard against these lasers, but
they can be avoided by running to either side. There’s no need to Dodge Roll or Superglide
as long as there’s enough distance between you and the ring. If you’re struck by the ring or the incoming
lasers, Dodge Roll to the sides or cast Cure with the Leaf Bracer ability equipped to avoid
further damage. His long flurry of spinning blade strikes
can be handled in several ways. You can constantly Dodge Roll away from him
or use Superglide to avoid the attack, or Guard against it with a high-deflection Keyblade. But there’s an opening you can take advantage
of if you’re close by at the end of the attack. Here’s how to pull it off: When his attack begins, Dodge Roll until you
see him close in on Sora and place his blades together - that’s your queue to high jump
and glide until the end of his attack; keep in mind that this is a standard glide and
not a Superglide. You’ll want to start your jump after dodge
rolling about four or five times. At this point, you have two options to stagger
him. Your first option is to drop from your glide
just as he makes his last strike and deal an air combo before you reach the ground. It’ll take some practice to get the timing
right, and you’ll want to drop from your glide so that you’re behind him after his
last spinning strike. Your second option is to cast Gravity as you
drop from your Glide. You’ll get the full stagger here if Gravity
makes contact as he starts to teleport; the only exception is when he uses this move twice
in a row, which should only happen once during phase two and once during phase three after
his desperation move. Starting in phase two, the Unknown can hit
Sora with Invitation to Nothingness: this attack scrambles the command menu and prevents
Sora from using any attacks, magic, items, or summons until you select the Release option. It also saps the entire party’s HP until
you hit Release, so it can be truly devastating if you’re struck by this when you have little
HP to start with. Here are a few things you can do to mitigate
damage and avoid the attack altogether: The Unknown uses this attack randomly after
teleporting and in between his other moves, so it’s hard to know when it’s coming
next. If you Dodge Roll with just the right timing,
you can avoid it and move in for an air combo. If he teleports towards you, jumping at the
right time can help you avoid it too, and it’ll put you in a perfect position to deal
an air combo if he misses. You can also cast Cure with the Leaf Bracer
ability equipped or use Strike Raid just as he attacks for the same effect. And just so you know, you’ll never see this
attack while the Simba, Genie, or Bambi summon is active; he only uses it when your party
members are in play. If you’re hit by this attack, there are
still ways to survive it. If you summoned Tinkerbell earlier in the
fight and she’s still active, her regen ability will slow down your HP slip, and she’ll
save you one time if your HP reaches zero. While Sora can’t use items during this time,
your party members can; if you equipped them with Mega-Potions, they’ll use these to
restore your HP while the curse is active. The Unknown will usually follow up with his
sequence of blade strikes, so keep moving around with Dodge Roll while you search for
the Release command. The command scramble will slow down the longer
it’s active, giving you a better chance to find the Release option if you started
with high HP. If you accidentally hit the Shock option,
it’ll reduce Sora’s HP even more, so be careful. You can make things easier by repeatedly pressing
the pause button to find the Release command. You can pause-buffer like this until the Release
command is where your cursor is, then unpause and quickly select it to remove the curse. I usually try to avoid selecting Release on
the green command option because pressing that button will always send your party members
to attack first, and when you press it the third time for Release, the option will have
already reverted back to Shock. When half of the yellow HP bar is depleted,
the fight will enter phase three, and the Unknown will use his desperation move: All-Vanity. He’ll surround himself in a force field
and send out an array of lasers that randomly move around. You can’t damage him while this move is
active, so you’ll need to focus on dodging to avoid damage. I recommend staying in one place instead of
running around, as it makes it easier to dodge the lasers. If a laser approaches you at ground level,
you can jump and strike the barrier to extend your airtime and let the laser pass under
you. If you’re having trouble keeping track of
incoming lasers, you can pause-buffer during this move to better gauge when to jump or
dodge roll. The Unknown starts to use Invitation to Nothingness
more often during this phase, and especially right after his force field fades, so be ready
to Dodge Roll or Cure to avoid it. The only other new attack in phase three is
an upgrade to his homing lasers. The Unknown will create a wide arc of red
lasers, followed by the usual ring. Run in the opposite direction that the Unknown
travels to avoid the barrage. If you’re struck by a laser, keep dodge
rolling or cast Cure with the Leaf Bracer ability equipped to avoid further damage. There’s an opportunity to constantly stagger
the Unknown and keep him stuck in a loop using summons and Gravity magic. Summon Simba, Genie, or Bambi to remove your
other party members - I prefer using Bambi because the MP restoration orbs that he drops
will allow us to cast more magic. The next time you stagger the Unknown with
Gravity, deal an air combo finisher, then quickly jump away from him and cast Gravity
magic again. If done correctly, the Unknown will send another
two orbs that you can jump over and then deal another air combo. This loop only works if you put enough distance
between Sora and the Unknown after your combo finisher. If you can get the pattern down, you can deal
up to five hits during each stagger by striking twice, dropping to the ground, then jumping
again for a full air combo. This loop will always break at the start phase
two and three, when the Unknown uses his flurry of blade strikes and All-Vanity; but you can
start the loop again the next time you stagger him. If Bambi runs out of MP and your party members
return, you can summon Simba or Genie to keep the loop going as long as you have the MP
to spare; use an Elixir in between the Unknown’s attacks if you’re running low on MP. That was a lot of info, so let’s recap with
the key takeaways. In phase one, approach the Unknown in a wide
circle as you get closer to him. Run around his barrier and strike with an
air combo during his opening. Cast Gravity magic to stagger him after he
sends out the large orbs. And don’t be afraid to use the Strike Raid
ability if the Unknown’s attacks get overwhelming. For phase two: dodge roll or run to the sides
to avoid his ring of lasers; use dodge roll, or high jump and glide to avoid his flurry
of blade strikes; and keep your HP high for Invitation to Nothingness - use pause-buffering
to find the Release command if you’re hit with this attack. And for phase three: stand in front of his
force field and use your jump to avoid the lasers during All-Vanity; run in the opposite
direction of the Unknown to avoid his barrage of lasers; and use an Elixir whenever your
MP gets low. This can be a difficult and chaotic fight,
but knowing when to evade and when to strike will give you a major advantage. Follow these tips and tricks to make defeating
the Unknown an absolute certainty. And that’s the end of this tutorial! If you have advice or tips of your own, share
them with us in the comments section! If you found this video helpful, give it a
like and subscribe to our channel for more content. And as always, you can find the best online
walkthrough and guides to the Kingdom Hearts series at KHGuides.com. Thanks for watching, see ya next time!
