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Achievement Guide and Road Map


Taiyz
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Hey! There's a companion thread for this achievement guide! Look for links underlined in blue! Links in the guide itself go straight to the relevant post in the thread.

 

Under Construction:

My guides are not yet complete, but I will finish them someday. Please don't send me any PMs; I'll be paying attention to the threads posted in this sub-forum.

Notably, I have a few assumptions at the moment, but you can view my ponderings and things that I'll be testing in the coming days over in the companion thread.

 

COPYRIGHT/RIGHTS OF USE:

This guide may not be used without written permission by either the author or website admins. This guide has been put together for x360a and should not be used without permission.

 

Feel free to ask questions about the game in this thread, and I'll do my best to answer them. For anything that you think is worth discussing, however, you should make your own thread.

 

RvCuKAl.jpg

Moon Diver marks the return of famed designer Kouichi Yotsui, revisiting the formula that set the gaming world ablaze with Strider. Prepare yourself and up to three friends for some hardcore side-scrolling, ceiling-climbing, hack-and-slash action, because in the man's own words, "It's a good game to die!!!"

 

Overview:

-Estimated achievement difficulty: 4/10

-Single Player Possible: 8 (160 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png)

-Co-Op Required: 4 (40 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png)

-Approximate amount of time to 200: 10 hours minimum.

-Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1+ (grinding for experience after first playthrough will be necessary for one achievement.)

-Number of missable achievements: None.

-Do cheat codes disable achievements: No cheat codes are available.

-Does difficulty affect achievements: No.

-Glitchy achievements: None.

-Unobtainable achievements: None.

-Extra equipment needed: Three extra controllers will be necessary if you do not have an Xbox Live Gold subscription.

-Important: only the host will unlock achievements in online co-op.

 

Introduction:

Moon Diver is the spiritual successor to the Strider franchise, a game to fill the void left after Strider 2 since ol' Hiryu seems more concerned with fighting games at the moment. The series was always about side-scrolling action gameplay and very little focus on platforming, where you chop up tons of robots with rapid sword strikes. It differs from the previous games in three key areas, Moonsault Combinations which are essentially magic spells that you can mix and match with varying effects, RPG elements that allow you to level up and bolster your HP, MP and strength, and 4-player co-op which is a real asset due to a steep increase in difficulty half-way through the game. Think of Strider mixed with Castle Crashers, and you've got a pretty accurate summary.

 

Step 1: Main Playthrough

There are no missable achievements, or anything based on specific stages. Simply beating the game will unlock three achievements tied to the completion of levels. Like I said earlier, if playing solo, grinding will be inevitable as enemies begin to deal more damage. There are no general strategies for this, the game is intended to be very arcade-y and there are plenty of achievement-relevant reasons to revisit stages (see the following step.) Multiplayer decreases MP use with multiple-player Moonsault Combinations, makes enemy projectiles focus on different targets, you have more people defeating enemies and making boss battles quicker, and you have the ability to rescue one another when killed in battle. The game was very much intended to be played in co-op.

 

Step 2: Clean-up

After unlocking all the stages, you will have to replay most of them and access all of the secret areas, many containing hidden Moonsault Combinations which you will require 50 of. You'll need to get a 100 kill combo at one point, of which there are multiple locations to do so (Score Attack is not eligible,) kill 10000 enemies across your career, and level up your characters enough so that when you average their levels out, the number is 50. The remaining achievements all involve co-op interactions; reviving other players 10 times in the same lobby, and perform 10 multiplayer Moonsault Combinations with every possible number of players.

 

Conclusion:

Moon Diver is not a long game by itself, nor are the achievements particularly difficult, but they are fairly grind-heavy due to the average level 50 achievement and the late-game difficulty level for solo play. As a game, if you're looking for an arcade throwback with a lot of button mashing, amazing synth music and four-player co-op, this is an excellent and very underrated pick.

Edited by Taiyz
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http://www.xbox360achievements.org/images/achievements/1495/-i+TOg==.jpg Act. 1 CLEAR - 5 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png

Clear Stages 1–4.

 

This achievement will unlock when you complete Stage 4. Here are some notes about Act 1:

-Avoid Stage 3's Secret Room until your chosen character is at least level 20. Expect to deal with Faust's magic, the exploding purple hornets, three red and six crystalline enemies. The enemies that essentially turn into big bullets of energy may also pose a threat if your HP stat is low.

-Stage 4's boss, early on, will kill you instantly unless you jump on top of one of the walls. Sure it seems logical that standing behind the wall furthest from the cannon would shield you, but you can easily see that it melts through all of the walls, and you, without much issue.

 

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/achievements/1495/-89rqQ==.jpg Act. 2 CLEAR - 10 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png

Clear Stages 5–8.

 

This achievement will unlock when you complete Stage 8. Here are some notes about Act 2:

-From Stage 6 and onward, while playing solo, freezing enemies with Niltor's MCs is almost a necessity to deal with the sheer number of laser cannons. Note that as long as you use the MC before getting hit, the lasers will instantly be canceled and you can move around the cannons without issue. Pay attention to the direction that the lasers first fire from, because when the MC ends, the cannons will immediately start from the beginning of their animation and will be able to damage you from frame one. Use Ceno's MCs for healing if you find that the enemies are a bit too stingy with HP Recovery Items.

-The boss of this act deals the most damage physically. Learn the pattern of its bouncing fireball attack, and try to avoid jumping horizontally when you're attacking, as the floaty physics will likely send you into the boss' face. Waiting for level three charge attacks before striking is probably the best idea here, and avoid using MP un-necessarily; if you're playing solo, you will almost definitely need one of Ceno's MCs to heal yourself, and possibly one of Frezos's MCs to increase your attack power if you can't outlast the boss' health bar.

 

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/achievements/1495/+414ww==.jpg Act. 3 CLEAR - 15 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png

Clear Stages 9–12.

 

This achievement will unlock when you complete Stage 12. Here are some notes about Act 3:

-Remember the Planet Blaster Cannon, Act 1's boss? Well in Stages 9 and 10 it's a standard enemy! You can increase your health enough so that a single blast will not kill you, but quite frankly that's only useful if you keep your HP at its maximum consistently. If you're fighting one solo and you aren't going to be able to avoid its attack, quickly slide into it and take the physical damage; comparatively, it does so little damage that it barely matters.

-On the same note as the above, sub-stage 9-3 does have a fight against two PBCs with no platforms to stand on. As far as I'm aware, ramming into them to take physical damage is the only way to avoid their lasers in single player.

-Plasma cannons are more common in this act and deal hefty damage (twice as much as a hit from a laser cannon) if you let them cover the screen in bullets. Remember that they have to rotate to follow you, so keep their locations in mind, run below or behind them and strike at their blind spot, opposite their muzzle. Note that unlike laser cannons, plasma bullets will persist after using one of Niltor's MCs.

-In Stages 11 and 12, the game gets an annoying new trick; spawning laser cannons. If you're playing solo, always keep the Niltor/Ceno combo handy, because you'll frequently be minding your own business and suddenly find yourself up against a few turrets out of nowhere!

-Faust the * has three phases, each adding a new attack to his arsenal. He will spend half of the fight floating toward you with a shield of orbs, then throw it at you in a tight line of three orbs. Then he will either summon enemies (phase one,) target you with explosions (phase two,) or perform a large AoE attack that covers up most of the screen, easily avoided by running to a corner (phase three.) In phase three he will perform two of these attacks one after another. When he changes phases he will lower his shields and fall to the ground, his phase change animation cannot hurt you even though it's pretty extravagant. It doesn't actually hurt you to touch Faust or the green barrier that follows him, only the attacks and projectiles mentioned above.

 

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/achievements/1495/+m2AUA==.jpg Moon Traveller - 25 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png

Visit all areas in all stages.

 

Within each of the game's stages there are several of what I like to call "sub-stages." There's no rhyme or reason for how many sub-stages a single stage may contain, or when the path will start branching off. This achievement unlocks after you've visited every sub-stage in the game, which will require you to play some stages multiple times in order to take different routes.

 

Check out the area list in the companion thread to find all the sub-stages, Secret Rooms, and maps of stages that have multiple branching paths, too.

Edited by Taiyz
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http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/achievements/1495/+EyJ5Q==.jpg Chain Kill Master - 15 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png

Achieve a Chain Kill of 100 or more.

 

Every time you kill an enemy, a counter above your chosen character's head will increase. This is the Chain Kill counter. It will keep increasing until you are unable to kill an enemy within 3 seconds of your last. While it has little influence on any in-game mechanics, only restoring your HP and MP fully every 50 kills (it doesn't even act as a score multiplier!) it's still satisfying to see it rise, isn't it? To unlock this achievement, you'll have to reach a Chain Kill count of 100.

 

There are only a few places to attain this feat, and it's worth noting that Score Attack is not one of them. You can actually get this as your first achievement because there are two areas in Stage 4 where it is possible, as well as in Chain Kill Mode, but the easiest place in the game to unlock this is obviously the end of Stage 5-5 - Rudderless Voyage. Just over 175 exploding hornets will attack you, and with one of Nive's MoonSault Combinations, getting a 100 Chain Kill is an absolute joke.

 

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/achievements/1495/+NVwKg==.jpg Overprotective - 10 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png

Save your companions 10 times in a single game.

 

When a player dies in a co-op game, they float around above where they died, ensnared by chains. Attack them a few times with :xbut: to Rescue them. Perform the action 10 times in a single stage to unlock this achievement. If you fail to save somebody, they can rejoin after ten seconds, assuming that the other players have not timed out in the chains as well.

 

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/images/achievements/1495/+2ud6w==.jpg Level Maniac - 50 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png

Raise the average level of all characters to level 50.

 

This achievement requires some simple math and a lot of grinding. To figure out your current average level, add the levels of all four characters together, and divide by the number of characters.

 

To make it even easier, skip the math: you'll unlock this achievement when you've acquired 200 levels total, across all four characters.

 

When grinding, avoid using charge attacks as you are awarded EXP for each hit on an enemy. Note that some MCs may not give you EXP despite dealing damage to enemies, so avoid using those. In general it is a better idea to avoid using MCs because they are often more powerful than your default attacks. Nive's MCs are typically a great idea though, as they are quite weak and also help you catch an extra enemy before it teleports away once in a while.

 

Stage 12 and Chain Kill Mode provide the highest concentrations of enemies in the game, and Stage 9 contains many Planet Blaster Cannons.

 

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/images/achievements/1495/+otleA==.jpg MC Collector - 20 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png

Collect 50 MC techniques.

 

MC is shorthand for MoonSault Combination. Essentially the game's take on the typical magic spell or "special attack," MCs are collected from yellow crystals stashed throughout the game's stages in specific locations. Multiple MCs may be hidden in a single sub-stage, and even though every character starts out with a different MC (Silence starts with two!) each character can obtain every MC. Locations and MCs acquired do not change between characters. To unlock this achievement, you will need to find 50 of the game's 60 MCs.

 

Check out this post in the companion thread for the locations of all the MoonSault Combinations.

Edited by Taiyz
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http://www.xbox360achievements.org/images/achievements/1495/+vR5nw==.jpg 2P MC Drill - 10 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png

Use 10 different 2P MC techniques.

 

Multiplayer MC techniques are a very useful ability, in that they allow other players to use the caster's magic for free. Co-op MoonSault Combinations are performed by holding down :bbut: while you have a 2-star or higher MC selected, and waiting for other players to press :bbut: to answer your call to arms. Once any number of players have answered, the caster releases the button, spends the required MP, and the players that joined you will come along for the ride at no cost to any of them.

 

A MoonSault Combination's star level corresponds to the maximum number of players that may take part in its co-op casting, and the general rule is that, in the MC list, each row is dedicated to a single spell that increases in star level from 1-4. The final two rows however, consist of one-off MCs that aren't ordered by star level, and also have exact requirements for their casting, instead of the typical "up to # players" structure.

 

This achievement will unlock when you execute 10 unique MoonSault Combinations with one other person.

 

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/achievements/1495/+axxdg==.jpg 3P MC Practise - 10 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png

Use 10 different 3P MC techniques.

 

For a description of multiplayer MC techniques, see "2P MC Drill." This achievement will unlock when you execute 10 unique MoonSault Combinations with two other people.

 

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/achievements/1495/-e5iHA==.jpg 4P MC Training - 10 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png

Use 10 different 4P MC techniques.

 

For a description of multiplayer MC techniques, see "2P MC Drill." This achievement will unlock when you execute 10 unique MoonSault Combinations with three other people.

 

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/images/achievements/1495/+xSBDA==.jpg Battle Master - 20 http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/../images/site/gp-g.png

Defeat 10,000 enemies.

 

This achievement will unlock when you've killed ten thousand enemies. You will likely meet this requirement during your first playthrough, but if you don't, you're guaranteed to have it by the time you complete Level Maniac.

Edited by Taiyz
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  • 7 months later...

Good to see you again, cra!

 

I used almost the same setup; I switched out Thor's Arc for...Motaht's Amity? The stealth MC. (I need to get onto describing the MCs...)

 

But TA is my second choice.

 

I felt that of the four, only Niltor's Resonance and Nive's Anger were worth using the 2-star variant of the spell. You only need small bursts of Stealth, and I prefer not wasting MP on a high level Ceno MC.

 

We should play together sometime, if you've got Gold. Some HC:U, too, if you still play that.

 

Edit: Corrected the name of the Nive MC I referenced.

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  • 1 year later...

Congratulations!

 

This Achievement Guide and Roadmap has been reviewed by Guide Team Staff member THE DEADLY DOG and has been published as the Official x360a.org Achievement Guide and Roadmap! The link to the Official Guide is here:

 

Official x360a.org Moon Diver Achievement Guide and Roadmap

 

Please post any updates within the Update: Guides & Roadmaps thread.

Also, please check the Award Tracking: Guides & Roadmaps forum to make sure we are up to date.

You may request for those to be edited/updated within that forum as well.

 

We look forward to your future submissions!

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