The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass/Battle mode

The battle mode for phantom hourglass can be played online or with friends. The object of the game is to collect force gems as link or to slash link as the phantoms. Each player is coloured either red or blue, the red player starts as link and the blue player starts as the phantoms. Both the red and blue player has their own base which they must throw force gems into to collect points. The bigger the force gems, the more points it gives you. However, bigger force gems slow you down making it easier for the phantoms to catch you. Once link is caught or the time is up players swap roles. There is a maximum of six rounds - three are played as link and three are played as the phantoms. However, if the blue player is already winning by the end of round five, the sixth round is skipped. There is a 120 second time limit for each round, but this time can be lengthened or shortened if the correct power-ups are used.

Power-ups

There are various power ups to obtain in each stage, The chance of certain power-ups appearing differs depending on the stage and the current situation in a battle. (e.g if a red link was winning there would be more blue power-ups than red ones). The various types for link include:

• +30 seconds — adds 30 seconds to the time limit.
• Speed up — makes link run faster for a short period of time.
• Clone — makes another link appear on screen to confuse the phantoms.
• One-hit immunity — makes link immune to the phantom's sword once.
• Shuffle force gems — force gems are taken from their current position and dropped in various locations. They only appear when there are many force gems together.
• Strength up - enables link to temporarily carry force gems more easily, with less if a speed impediment.

The phantom's power-ups are:

• -30 seconds — take away 30 seconds from the time limit.
• Speed up — makes all the phantoms run faster for a short period of time.
• Clone — makes another phantom appear on screen to confuse link. Player cannot control this phantom.
• Attack up — the range of attack for the phantoms increases.
• Shuffle force gems — force gems are taken from their current positions and dropped in various locations. They only appear when there are many force gems together.
• Wind Jets - Various jets scattered around the arena start gusting wind which link cannot pass through but phantoms can.

General strategies

Link

• Collect and break as many power-up's as possible, this gets you big plays and aids you mid-battle.
• With big and medium-sized force gems link moves slower than phantoms, it's much faster to throw and then pick up force gems than to carry them around.
• Phantoms are much slower than link, carrying the smallest force gems makes link as slow as the phantoms are, so don't be afraid of carrying these force gems around.
• Don't leave force gems in your base because your phantoms can't enter your base to defend them. Throw them outside the base, preferably in a corner, this allows you to position a phantom in your next turn to defend these force gems, preventing your opponent from stealing your points.
• Even if your opponent has safeguarded your base completely, throw force gems near your base so that you can throw them in on your next turn as link.
• Pile up non-coloured force gems as you would your own force gems, preventing the opponent from scoring points gets you a big play and increases the likelihood of winning.
• If you can't reach your base very easily, you can throw force gems next to them and then pick up and place them in your base. If you do this you never leave the safety of your base or safe zone and get hit by the phantoms.
• If your losing because the opponent is guarding all the force gems very carefully, the one-hit immunity is a life saver. You can go collect the force gems and throw them in a nearby safe zone without the worry your going to lose the rest of the turn. If you choose to do this, be wary of the fact that you flinch once you get slashed, meaning you'll have to pick up and carry the force gem once gain. Never use this technique if a safe zone is not in the near vicinity.
• If you desperately don't want your force gems shuffled you can run near a phantom before they collect the power-up and get slashed. This makes the turn end and stops the enemy from collecting the power-up at the price of a big play.
• Carrying a small force gem leaves you with enough speed to easily keep from getting hit and also shows where each of your opponent's phantoms are located. This is useful in keeping yourself from being tricked into getting slashed among other things.

Phantoms

• Collect and break as many power-up's as possible, this gets you big plays and aids you mid-battle.
• Place one or two phantoms to guard a pile of force gems - about one phantom for every 5 force gems or so.
• Don't over-estimate the attack range of a phantom and don't gamble with it. Play is safe to prevent your force gems being stolen.
• Phantoms are slow and easy to trick, by drawing a line and not lifting the stylus from the DS touch screen the phantom will wait but can move in the desired direction by lifting the stylus away from the screen.
• By tapping a phantom while it's moving will stop it moving use this mid-path to make a quick stop and slightly confuse your opponent.
• Don't make all 3 phantoms crowd round the same safe zone, especially if it's a big one. Players can easily maneuver around them and if they do, your force gems are exposed.
• Sometimes you can't get to certain power-up's because they appear in safe zones. A skilled link would immediately travel to such a power-up to collect it. Use your phantom to intercept and surprise link, this could lead to a successful slash.
• Trapping your opponent is a clever and easy way to defeat them. In a corridor which has two ends, position a phantom on each end while link's in it to win. If an opponent likes to collect items you can trap them in this way if an item appears in one such corridor. Be careful, though, never do this if the power-up is a shuffle force gems or a one-hit immunity power-up.
• Sometimes, if their losing, link collects the shuffle force gems power-up. This can be fatal for you, especially if the force gems you own appear next to a safe zone or a base.
• If link does this, use your phantoms to defend your bigger force gems and the big force gems that aren't in possession of either player.
• Although link is invisible while in safe zones you can see the force gem that he's carrying, use this to help find where link is in a safe zone and ambush him once he leaves.

Stage strategies

Stage 1

Stage 1 called the standard medium stage. it consists of 2 large, 5 medium and 2 small force gems, totalling to a maximum of 57 points per game on this level. These are split up into 4 different safe zones. There is a medium force gem in the top safe zone; a large, medium and small force gem in both the central safe zones and 2 medium force gems in the lower safe zone. To get a definite victory you must collect both large force gems which add up to 30 points. This way the opponent can only collect 27 points from the remaining force gems.

This, however, is very hard to do when faced with a skilled opponent. If you start as link, you should run to the top or bottom safe zones; once there, you should pile up the medium sized force gems from both the top and bottom safe zones (using the stairs) in the corner found near the bottom central safe zone. By this point you should have an idea of how the opponent is defending the central safe zones. Use this to your advantage and get past this defence, pile the large and medium force gems into a pile as near to your base you can without coming out of the safe zones. Once this is done, the opponent may be overly cautious of these force gem piles which could leave a gap for you to carry the smaller force gems back to your base and score a valuable point. If you struggled to pile the bigger and medium-sized force gems into one pile it is necessary for you to bring the force gem and add it to one of these piles, do the same with the other small force gem but without scoring a point with it. This way you could earn the miracle big play easily.

If you started as link and executed this plan perfectly than it would only take one phantom per force gem pile each turn for an easy victory. However, if you are phantoms first or the plan failed you should move all three phantoms straight across until they are just past the safe zones. Move the bottom phantom up and down according to the corridor the enemy link is going down. If Link gets past your defense use two phantoms to defend the central safe zones while another defends any piles of force gems you or your opponent piles up. This stage is a good stage to trap the enemy in as you can use the top upside-down u shaped corridors or the bottom two corridors which lead to the bottom safe zone.

Stage 2

This stage is known as the standard large stage. It has a maximum of 87 points spread out between 4 large force gems, 5 medium gems and 2 small gems. To get a definite win you need 45 of those point which is three large force gems or 2 two and 3 medium force gems. The latter is easier to accomplish.

Version 1. If you start as link, go to the closest large force gem (the one just to the north) and take it to your base, then throw it outside, away from your base. By now your opponent should have set up his phantoms, so use this knowledge to escape past them. If you feel you cannot and if they have left your medium closest force gem unguarded, throw that force gem into your base as well and then throw it next to your other force gem. Now, even if, you feel you can't, get past the phantoms defense. It's easiest to get past the lower phantom by tricking him but be careful not to get trapped. If you get past, enter the central safe zone and throw all the large force gems in the direction of your base. Escape the safe zone and then throw all the medium force gems in a pile towards your base. Now, if you have time, pick up and take both the small force gems to your base. and pile them up near the other force gems, then just run around breaking the item capsules. Then, as the phantoms, guard all three of these piles.

Version 2. Anyone who plays this game will trap you if you go after the top 15 point gem. Instead, go to the center safe zone. Make a dash for it because if you're hesitant, the phantoms will already be in place. Throw the two 15 point gems towards your home base, followed by the smaller two 1 point gems. (It doesn't really matter about the 1 point gems, but why not keep them out of the opponents grasp?) Depending on the opponent, the phantoms will be guarding different gems/ areas. Try to get the two 5 point safe spotted gems, but they're not essential. Just keep moving and be careful. Play around with the opponents 15 point gem (the one north of his home base) but you probably won't be able to move it very far because a phantom or two will be on you in a few seconds. Just move it as far out of reach as possible (and not into the middle since that is the easiest play for Link to go, and the hardest place for your phantom to guard initially.)

If you start as Blue, move your three phantoms west. Move one to take up the gap which allows the enemy to access the top safe zone and to go east (past the entrance), the central one should be positioned in front of the western entrance of the central safe zone. Neither the central nor the northern phantom should move about too much, the southern one, however, will need to move up and down to block off the two corridors at the bottom of the stage. If you get the opportunity, move the middle phantom to block off the entrance to the corridors. This will trap Link and lead to an ascertained slash. Once this is done, use the above strategy for starting off as Link and then use your phantoms to guard your force gems so Link can't get them.

During your next few turns as Link, do your best to throw the force gems as close to your base as possible, without getting slashed. If that's not possible, go around breaking and collecting item capsules for the big play's take and break. Unless you leave a gap in your defenses, a victory should be ascertained. Careful, though as the scatter force gems power-up can be fatal for this defensive maneuver, so break as many of them as you can as soon as they appear. If the opponent gets one, defend your force gems and the other force gems as best as you can.