Kingdom Hearts II/The Land of Dragons

Bamboo Grove

 * Hi-Potion = To the left of the triangle-shaped rock
 * Ether = To the left of the Save Point
 * Mythril Shard = In the North, between the two treasures

Checkpoint

 * Hi-Potion = In the North-east corner, between the fence and the barrier
 * Mythril Shard = Near the entrance to the "Imperial Square"

Mountain Trail

 * Hi-Potion = On the apex of the curve on the left, as you enter from the "Checkpoint"
 * Recovery Recipe = On a ledge to the right as you enter from the "Village"
 * Ether = Same place as the last chest
 * Mythril Shard = On a ledge to the upper-left as you enter the area from the "Village"

Village Cave

 * AP Boost = In a corner of the second bend as you enter
 * Hi-Potion = In a corner of the first bend as you enter

Ridge

 * Hi-Potion = Next to the first set of explosives on the right
 * AP Boost = In the North-east corner as you enter from the "Village"

The Land Of Dragons


Once you have landed, a cutscene will show Mushu and 'Ping' trying to fit in. Once it's finished, you have to decide who has to go between Donald and Goofy ('Ping' is a compulsory character). On the one hand, Donald has magic, on the other, Goofy is required to use Valar form. The choice is yours.

Now that you've decided your party, look around the "Bamboo Grove", pick up the treasures, and speak to Kupo for some new accessories that you might be interested in. Once finished, head to the "Encampment".

After the cutscene, you have to fight some shadow Heartless. This fight is unusual in that there is a Moral Bar to have to worry about. It can be replenished by defeating enemies and picking up the Moral orbs that spill out. The battle completed, you'll receive the Encampment Map. Now speak to the Captain to start the first of three tasks.

The Surprise Attack
The first of these is to beat all of the heartless (consisting of Shadows and Nightwalkers) before the Moral Bar runs out. Unlike the previous battle, this one drains every second, compared to every hit. Above this is a counter showing how many enemies have yet to be defeated, starting at 15. This time, the fireworks can also release some if you hit them enough to explode.

Once the mission is finished, you can start the next one. Alternatively, you can head to the "Checkpoint" area by heading to the North exit, and grab the chests there without fear of enemies.

The Ambush
In this next test, the Moral bar only decreases when you sustain hits, rather than how much time has passed. This allows you to take your time in destroying the two Assault Riders when they appear. They only appear after defeating some Shadows and Nightwalkers. To deal with the Rider's effectively, use Blizzard (which is a long-range spell) to attack from a distance. If they get close and personal, then use Guard to block their attacks before jumping away from them.

Another decent strategy to use is to use the Valar Form, assuming that you have full Drive Bars. By hitting them quickly with the form's attacks, you don't allow them to attack back. Once finished, talk to the Captain for the penultimate mission.

The Search
The penultimate mission involves you running around the Encampment looking for and eliminating 8 Heartless in total (five Shadows and three Nightwalkers). This really shouldn't be a hard mission, except for the fact that the Moral bar drops much more rapidly this time around (every second this time), and the replenishing orbs are much less effective. An easy way to complete the mission is to use psx: R1 to lock onto the Heartless as soon as possible. As in the first mission, destroying the tents will yield Moral bar orbs.

Afterwards, you get a free AP Boost. If you want, you can save your game now and/or get the treasures in the Checkpoint if you couldn't be bothered to do so before. When ready, talk to the Captain to activate the final mission.

Getting to the Summit
Head back to the checkpoint, then head to the Northern exit. Once there, you will notice that the Moral bar has made a return, forcing you to get to the top of the path before the bar runs out. Along the way, you will have to fight enemies, as well as destroy rocks blocking the way. Of note is that you have to use the reaction command (Rockshatter) twice before the rocks will be busted.

As you go up the path, you will probably notice that there are some treasure chests to be collected. Ignore them for now, and get them when you don't have a time limit. On the last set of rocks, two annoying Assault Riders will appear next to you. The best way to deal with the situation is just to use the reaction command as soon as possible, and get the task over and done with. Alternatively, you can use the same tactics as before and use Blizzard from a distance. Once the task is over, you receive the Village Area map. Of note is that you will never have to deal with the Moral bar ever again!

Once the cutscenes have finished, go to the Cave area.

Assaults on Shang-Yu
Once in the cave, collect the two chests and destroy the firecracker carts, if you want to. They contain HP and Drive Orbs. At the end, the cave appears empty, but a battle soon starts, with no help from Donald or Goofy! There are two waves of enemies. The first wave contains loads of Shadows and an Assault Rider. Deal with the Assault Rider first, as it can cause the most damage to you at the moment. Use Blizzard to attack from a distance. If you do manage to get hit, use the Aerial Recovery ability to try and get in a free hit. The Shadows can easily be dealt with by using Fire.

The next wave consists of two Assault Riders. This can be very tricky, so take your time, and continue to use Blizzard on them, because you can't use your Drive Form without Goofy being present. If you run out of MP, then either use an ether, or run around for a bit whilst the MP Gauge replenishes. Overall, not difficult, just tricky.

Bonus gained:
 * Slide Dash ability (Sora)
 * Hyper Healing ability ("Ping")
 * HP +15 ("Ping")

When you're ready, head back towards the Village, and then receive orders to go to the Summit. Along the way, you'll be on a Ridge, where you can grab two treasure chests, and begin to get use to fighting a new enemy called Rapid Thruster. You may also notice some pockets of air around the area. Use the reaction command "Ride the Air" to get inside them, then use the command "Soar" to get thrown high into the air. When ready, move onto the Summit.

Once you arrive, you'll discover that you have to defeat all of the enemies! That's what the game would like you to think. Instead, all you have to do is survive for 1 minute against the constant swarm of enemies. As well as the Rapid Thrusters, you'll be pitted against yet another new enemy called Bolt Towers. These Heartless can be very annoying. They can lean backwards, and then slam forwards to create a massive shockwave. Also, their only weak point is their tiny heads which constantly move around. Therefore, your best bet at defeating them is to lock onto the heads, and hope for the best. If it manages to get you caught in its laser, then press the psx: t rapidly to deflect it back into the Heartless.

After the battle has finished, "Ping" will be revealed to be Mulan, and will also reveal some new abilities she has, such as Dragon's Blaze, which allows her to perform her limit, Red Rocket. Sora will also gain Auto Limit, which means that whether you are in a battle, that reaction command will randomly pop up to be used. This can be annoying if you wish to use the psx: t button for other things.

Proceed when you are ready, after possibly training to get a couple of levels before the boss battle; you may also wish to fill the Drive Gauge to 3. Head back to the Checkpoint, then head east towards the Imperial Square. When you enter, you will be forced to fight seven Heartless in total - four Nightwalkers and three Bolt Towers. Focus on the Bolt Towers first, as their shockwave can be annoying when you're fighting other Heartless. When they are defeated, you now have to fight Shan-Yu himself.

Shan-Yu

 * HP = 442
 * Strength = 12
 * Defence = 4

This battle has two aims to it. The obvious one is to defeat Shan. The second one is to ensure that the Gates don't break (the health of the gates is indicated in the top-left corner). The gates will take damage from the Heartless attacking it, so kill them. As they attack the gate, orbs will drop out, so pick them up to restore the gate's health.

On to defeating Shan-Yu himself. One effective manner is to use the Red Rocket limit. This covers a wide area, so making it unlikely to not hit him, and the Heartless, if there a bunch of them surrounding the gate. However, potential damage is reduced, because Shan takes 50% less damage from elemental attacks. Another effective method is to use the Valar Form, which means you attack quicker, and so can deal more damage to him.

From Shan-Yu's perspective, he has some basic sword attacks, all of which can easily be dodged or blocked - providing a perfect opportunity to use the Press/Takedown combination to deal massive damage to him. If they manage to hit you, they'll fling you into the air, where his stupid pet bird can damage you even more. He also has a ramming attack, when his body is surrounded by a purple aura, which can be damaging if you're not careful.

You may think that you can kill the bird to be rid of this nuisance. But even if you manage to deplete its HP (102), it will return shortly afterwards, so don't bother with it.

Bonuses gained:


 * Aerial Sweep ability (Sora)
 * HP +5 (Sora)
 * HP +4 (Donald)
 * Goofy Turbo ability (Goofy)
 * HP +20 (Mulan)

Once the battle has finished, you will receive the Hidden Dragon Keyblade, as well as the ability to travel to new places. If you wish, you can now equip the Star Seeker Keyblade by swapping it with Hidden Dragon.

This walkthrough will assume that you head to Beast's Castle next, as it has a lower Battle Level then Olympus Coliseum (13 compared to 16).