Dawn of Dreams - NG Normal Speedrun Notes & FAQ

-- Shin Onimusha: Dawn Of Dreams --
-- NG Normal Notes 普通--
-- These are my notes and FAQs about the run and are subject to change at any time --
-- Can apply same route as Oni difficulty. Though, strategies will vary because it require more passive approaches. i.e H.Splitter loop against Tenkai is not reliable. It's better to opt for Magic Crit > H.Splitter instead --
-- 5/6/2024 update: Twitch recently deleted many of the the twitch clips blasting off the amount of hard work that I made to this resource. The clips/videos are now migrated to my own YouTube channel. These are also much easier to access.
-----
Notes will be updated here from now on:
https://www.notion.so/Dawn-of-Dreams-NG-Normal-Speedrun-Notes-FAQ-a6eaae652417402ebdbd36b81e2dfbbc
----

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To be Updated - Changes since learning Oni Mode with Hinge:
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- If done right, Ohatsu's OD cancel 3x times followed by shoot spam gets more DPS mileage over just pure OD cancels against Mitsunari and Ophelia I. This also saves more resource if you have more meter.
- No need to use horns of susano excessively at the End of Disc 1 chapter anymore
- No need to upgrade Oni Cutter anymore. You get Lv3 Sky Sword instead during Jubei's switch for the box cutscene exploit (This should help killing golems  blue dorido and Sakon faster. Not sure how much it will save though.). The price to pay though is  much harder gargant which you need to true crit 3x times before loop 🙂
- Vaccum Lv1 seems very helpful in general and worth to invest before Luis fight. This is from my personal testing and Hinge doesn't apply this in a run.
- Fudo and Raph Gauntlet no longer needs the upgrade. We invest it on Muramusa Lv4 > Anguish Lv3 instead (Lv4 is a nice bonus)
- Muramusa + Low King Ring + Max Attack SP  will boost final Munenori fight by signficant amount (This will take 3 good crits)
- Tenkai OD Caludis is very fast (2-Cycles) Drive Med Lv3 / Ultra Med Lv3 is def recommended.
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To be Updated - Changes since Hinge came back:
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<Summary>
- The concept of getting Critical damage bonus is eliminated (Jubei's Muramusa weapon, Low King Ring..etc.)
- Better OverDrive management
- Ultra med pick up skip except the last chapter during tree climb
- Better Shopping Menu
- Avoids extra pick ups
- Avoids excessive menu at some situations especially Disc 2
- The puzzle boxes are skipped altogether however Low Ring King is still subjective. Because you will earn slower Space Fortinbras and one shot against Mecha Hediyoshi (This can be made up with Lv4 Anguish). Yorisiro and Hinge verified that the time lost to obtain the low king ring and the time lost in the fortinbras battle without obtaining it are almost the same and when obtaining the low king ring, there is a possibility of failing to slip past the enemy. Therefore, him and hinge employ a less risky method.
- Munenori new cycle for Solo Jubei and new critical point on the third point
<Chapter 3>
- 2 Cycle Carb walker can be achieved if you get gold medal weapon jubei or Lv4 attack upgrade.
- Ideally you'd want to skip menu before chapter 4 hideout (one crit and one chain for jubei only) with Lv2 attack
<Chapter 4>
- New test of Valor Cycle https://x.com/yorisiroyoriko/status/1849296913163816977
- This is useful to save Soki pure magic crit cycle against Ohatsu if you want to go safe to avoid hitting the tree with Helm Splitter
<Chapter 5>
- Before hideout exit hideout buy Light Sword
- Get the extra soul cache so you can upgrade Light Sword Lv5
<Chapter 6>
- Skip buying Dark Ring. Use the save point on the second room to unlock tenkai's hell jab and Soki Lv4
- Upgrading Lv5 crit and Lv1 chain is better saved when you summon jubei at the start of chapter 7
- Sakon Helm Splitter cycle with Tenkai's prayer https://x.com/yorisiroyoriko/status/1849623340354502852
- Hecuba non-stop helm Splitter with Roberto's berserk command. Sometimes she uses the roar push back if you don't kill her fast enough at low HP. This can be negated with your Light sword full magic charge.
<Chapter 7>
- Before hideout exit buy dark ring and 5 Oni Magic Lv2 (This is for Gargant safety cycle)
- Soki Lv5 Crit and Lv2 Chain
<Chapter 8>
- Ultra med pick up skip
- Gargant Magic Oni Spam. Optimally you want to get 2 full good crits like this https://x.com/yorisiroyoriko/status/1837171330845982961  if you press the button again on the 1st frame when the time stop during the performance is lifted, in other words, the 2nd frame during which a critical hit is possible.
<Chapter 9>
- Movement optimization. On the first shell break Ohatsu can stand and shoot it at the same time. Command Soki to go all out, he will end up standing at the plate. Saves time from the character switch pause.
<Chapter 10>
- Use all of your current Souls to upgrade Meteor Shower. Lv7 is optimal Lv6 also works
- New Luis perma stun. Saves time from cutscene https://x.com/yorisiroyoriko/status/1839142030858981442
<Chapter 11>
- 3 small overdrive pot
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Bosses Critical/Quick kill notes
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**The current standard for Jubei and Ohatsu fights are basically Oni Magic crit loop. Which is self-explanatory. This is the same for Ohatsu's Overdrive kills against Genma Bug, Mitsunari, Claudius I, Ophelia, ChaCha and Fortinbras II. Although, some of them requires do little bit of their mechanics before transforming into Overdrive.

For example Ophelia I: https://clips.twitch.tv/SpotlessArbitraryEelPunchTrees-Ej-qjPUAeUhtJOCR
Claudius I: https://clips.twitch.tv/GleamingPoliteKumquatRuleFive-cGngWyxAnC7jtBP7
---
Playlist for boss strats: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5iFYeD1oFELcNEaXE1IDQaO9bBcSVKpV&si=L1IsR0Op__tvd6Ms
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<Other Notes>
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- Juebi's True Critical faster, but harder to apply since it depends on whether she likes to do the guard break with kick or not. Usually she starts with a taunt or 360 stab loop.
- Crab Walker does give another chance to deflect the ball during the second and third cycle. This is only possible if you maintain the HP threshold correctly.
- Tenkai True Critical is hard because he can mix you up with thrust and normal combo attack which 80% of the time messes the timing of the crit. This is why he is looped with H.Splitter after Magic crit.
- Sakon I is risky if you go for team critical. This fight can be done the same way as Sakon II instead you don't magic crit at the start because you want soki to attack him. The second time you hell jab Sakon.
- Hideyoshi 1 has too many approaches and adaptation. It's recommended to learn safe methods before the sub-optimal/optimal method. The key of the phase skip is keeping track of his HP and the moves that you hit him per loop.
- Gargant is pass or fail. There is a very rare chance where you'd get another critical for free. You need to do this 3 times before start looping. If you fail once then just combo loop him till death. This is done by cancelling your ender with a kick.
- With Luis fight, make sure that Soki doesn't attack him until he is near death.
- Rosencrantz cycle is consistent but the pattern on where it throws the zombie soldiers and lightning pillars are RNG
- Final Claudius quick stun depends on Tenkai's position for Fudo's hitbox to be connected fully. Do Old strat if you can't afford to waste a Lv3 Drive Med/Lv3 ultra Potion for Ohatsu or Soki's backup for Hideyoshi 2 memes.
- Hideyoshi 2 is actually not free fight because he can be super passive, which is why I keep getting spare Drive Med and Ultra Pot. Don't forget to break one of his legs and don't forget to stay close to him before he does his horizontal slash.
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Test of Valor List
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<DISC 1>
- Test of Valor 1: 1x Axe Zombie
- Test of Valor 2: 3x Axe Zombie 1xArcher
- Test of Valor 3: 1x Gorr
- *Test of Valor 4 Loner's Method: 10x Genmas
- *Test of Valor 4 Hinge's Method: 10x Genmas
- Test of Valor 5: 5x Critical
- Test of Valor 6: 1x Yellow Danemon
- Test of Valor 7: 1x Purple Gorr
- *Test of Valor 8: 1x Crab Walker
- Test of Valor 9: 5x Finisher
- *Test of Valor 10: Get 2,000 souls
- Test of Valor 11: x2 Dark Puppet
- Test of Valor 12: x1 Green Danemon
- *Test of Valor 13: x10 Chain Critical
<DISC 2>
- Test of Valor 14: x6 Genma General
- Test of Valor 15: x4 Hell Spider (RNG Spawn)
- Test of Valor 16: x5 Chain Critical
- Test of Valor 17: x1 Menteith
- *Test of Valor 18: 1x Blue Danemon
- Test of Valor 19: x3 Dark Crow
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<* Means this is important to Gold>
- 4: Rewards you Black Sword - 黒斬刀
- 7: Rewards you Gleam which is very helpful in Test of Valor 13 and 16.
- 10: Most important reward for Horns of Susano
- 13: Rewards you Sky Sword that helps Soki to maintain the required DPS.
- 18: Rewards you Roberto's ideal weapon for the boss rush section in Chapter 17
>> Playlist for each segments: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5iFYeD1oFEJHtPcStDwC3SYma6ek8b4C&si=gUfR9UzB1UjlCR9v
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Other Important Notes
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- Whenever you switch equipment during the menu always press START for quick exit.
- On any movement section, camera changing = changes stick direction
- Most of your time saves comes from optimizing character switch.
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Route Notes
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= <DISC 1> - Ideal goal for end of disc 1 is 1:10:00 - 1:15:00 =
============
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Chapter  1-2 \____________________________________________________________________

- Mecha Genma: To get the 2 cycle, dash through the hand slam to the left and spam heavy attack there. This grants you double hits.
- Red Danemon: Magic-Stab loop after critical.
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Chapter  3 \____________________________________________________________________

- Oni Magic Lv1 before 3rd door
- Killing spear zombies with crit restores you enough Magic for ToV 2
<Save point - Point Upgrades>
- Soki: Finisher(追い討ち) > 4th row to unlock head splitter (究割け)
---
- ToV 2 raw crit > Oni Magic crit twice
- ToV 3 Oni Magic crit if possible. If this are a mess go ham with helm splitter.
- after key upgrade helm splitter 究割け
<Crab Walker>
- Do 4x helm splitter loop on the first deflect to prepare for the second one.
- Make Jubei aggressive the moment you deflect the second time. Same with third cycle when it switches position.
- If you happen to miss deflect once then you will fail to skip phase that costs a lot of time.
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Chapter  4 \____________________________________________________________________

<Hideout - Skill Points>
- Jubei: Chain Lv1 連鎮 and Lv3 Critical 一閃
- Soki: Chain  Lv1 連鎮
---
- Oni Magic crit to get past through enemies before picking up Oni Magic Lv1
- ToV 4 : Chain Crit from the right zombie then chain crit ninjas followed by helm split. Finally chain crit spiders from the right.
- Jubei sneak switch then soki switch and equip new sword.
- Ladder switch
- Post Ohatsu: Go until the edge map camera then go down to the ladder and the one in front.
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Chapter  5 \____________________________________________________________________

**Self note: Might be useful to have split for each Orb pickup
- Get Red dot Orb then switch to Jubei.
- Orb-1: Right door > go to the next room to switch blue orb after the red orb pick up.
- Orb-2: Left door after you go past red door for red orb switch.
- Orb-3: Right door after you go past 2 blue doors.
- Tov 5: Roll jubei before chain time. If Soki's first chain is the left zombie then you got the one cycle.
- Orb-4: Left door where the archer is standing.
- Orb-5: Left door after you go past 2 blue doors.
- Final-Orb: Last door to the right
- crit the spear charges
<Save Point - Skill Points>
- Dupe everything to helm splitter 究割け
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<Tenkai>
- The crit setup is hard because its huge luck based only do it if you are really feeling it.
- You can salvage helm splitter loop with another oni magic crit if Tenkai memes.
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<Genma Bug>
- During Triple Shock-wave blast, first one always has a chance to hit you so block them. Get to the right side as soon as possible.
- Once it finishes the blast command Tenkai for the weapon buff and start spamming helm splitter > stab loop.
- Max hit you can get should be 5. When it recovers use helm splitter so you can hit and get behind it at the same time.
- Chase it with Helm Splitter back dash loop.
- Genma Bug will then will stick his sphere in the ground Helm Splitter x2 then side switch to keep spamming the same move for the kill
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Chapter  6 \____________________________________________________________________

<Hideout>
- Buy Light Sword 光斬刀 1500 gold
- Buy Dark Ring 開殺の指輪 300 gold
---
- Key pick
<Save Point - Skill Upgrades>
- Tenkai: Lv3 Thrust (突き) to Unlock Hell Jab (地獄突き) Lv3. Dupe the rest to crit 一閃
- Soki: Dupe to  一閃
---
- Equip new Staff Yama (始摩天杖) pick the key item then switch to soki
<Roberto>
- 2x true crit > Oni magic crit > helm splitter
<Sakon I>
- Switch to Tenkai to get behind sakon then do Hell Jab.
- iframe his grounded flame barrier with oni magic million stab again. Make Soki aggressive the moment sakon is stunned.
- You can setup for crit kill but it costs massive amount of time loss if you fail it.
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- Make sure to Open red chest that is next to the save point to get 兵法書(Warrior's Code).
- If you fail true crit setup switch to Ohatsu and do chain crit with Oni Magic.
- Main door: Get broken Lever
- Left door into ladder: to get the key
- Lever switch right door into ladder.
- Ohatsu break bridge to downstairs to pick key
- Main door to C4 for the broken lever.
- Get Souls and keys after lever
- C4 before you switch into new sword.
<Save Point>
- Weapon Upgrade: Light Sword (光斬刀) Lv5
- Soki - Skill points: Dupe it all in 一閃.
<Munenori I>
- Crit > Helm splitter > Stab> Backdash > Helm splitter > upper slash.
- Make sure that you are behind him and too close. He will throw sands to stun you otherwise.
- Kick him if he just stays idle.
<Hecuba - Old>
- Helm Splitter backdash loop. The position you should be hitting is on the right eye line.
- Command defense on Roberto when Hebuca screams. Strafe on the left corner to avoid getting hit before looping again.
- Second swipe requires you to release lock-on camera manip with basic attack to avoid getting knocked back.
<Hecuba - Optimal>
- Helm Splitter backdash loop. The position you should be hitting is on the right eye line.
- Command defense on Roberto when Hebuca screams. Strafe on the left corner to avoid getting hit.
- Command Berserk on Roberto and go full with Helm Splitter > Stab loop.
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Chapter  7 \____________________________________________________________________

**Self Note: At Hideout - Consider buying Oni Magic Lv2 for Gargant.
<Save Point>
- Skill Point Soki Lv2 Chain
- Summon Jubei
---
- Command distract
- ToV 6: Very tricky. Make Jubei follow you then use Magic Crit to chain from right zombie spear > Yellow Danemon > spear > archer. Then set up raw chain crit with Jubei against spear zombie to Danemon.
- Soki Solo: red chest before save point to pick Warrior's Ring 武偏者の指輪.
- Try to Magic crit archer to go through balls
- ToV 7: Magic crit to knock down then raw twice. Extremely annoying ToV.
<Sakon II>
- Equip Warrior's Ring 武偏者の指輪 then get behind Sakon to do magic crit
- The rest of the fight is same as his first encounter.
---
**One of the most difficult fight in the game to do optimally. Mistiming the stun after critical will likely make phase skip fail immediately.
<Heidyoshi 1 - Safe>
- equip Dark Ring 開殺の指輪
- Hit him with heavy attack twice none double hit version.
- Stop him with Helm Splitter then wait for him to move a bit to stop him again for heavy attack.
- Helm Splitter > Stab > Backdash > Helm Splitter > Heavy attack.
<Hideyoshi  1 - Optimal>
- Heavy attack into crit then equip Warrior's Ring 武偏者の指輪
- Repeat the process. You have at least 2 chances for this.
- Helm Splitter > Stab > Upper Slash.
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Chapter  8 \____________________________________________________________________

- Puzzle to get Oni-Cutter
- Red chest to get Guardian
<Maze Trial - This is RNG>
- First room: It's better to follow to the candle but, if you are feeling lucky then left > straight
- Make sure have Warrior's Ring 武偏者の指輪 equipped
- Second room: spam straight > right
- Third room: straight x2 > right x2 > red key go back > straight > right > straight > Ultra potion > go back left > straight > left > left > follow the candle
- Forth room: spam left > left
<Save Point>
- Equip Oni-Cutter if you are going for optimal strat
- Upgrade Oni-Cutter to Lv5
- fifth room: spam straight > right > right
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<Gargant - Optimal>
- helm splitter to interrupt
- Deflect crit to break the sword otherwise helm splitter again
- You have 2 chances to crit. Each crit also has a chance that you can do double hit
- Do combo loop by cancelling the ender with kick.
<Gargant - Alternative>
- Break the sword
- Magic crit loop then use Oni Magic Lv2 restore and equip Oni-Cutter
- Do combo loop
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<Ohatsu>
- Equip Light Sword
- Magic Crit loop then R2 once her HP is 0
- You might going to use Oni Magic Lv1 if you have done Alternative strat against Gargant.
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Chapter  9 \____________________________________________________________________

<Hideout>
- Skill points Soki: Max Helm Splitter, R2 Lv1 then Max Crit
- Skill points Ohatsu: Max basic attack and Crit Lv8
- Soki Unequip: Warrior's Ring 武偏者の指輪
- Ohatsu equip: Guardian 護法 and Warrior's Ring 武偏者の指輪
---
- Crit setup the cannon
- ToV8: Before you Rapid Fire deflect the ball for big stun-lock. Make Soki Aggressive if Crab lands next to him.
- ToV9: unequip warrior's ring from Ohatsu and use starter weapons for both characters.
- Green button: kill zombies > lever to open the door
- C4 > red button: Lever to open the door
- Ladder > equip previous weapons > lever to open the door
- blue button: get the key
- Last lever door to activate the elevator
<Munenori II>
- If you have Oni-Cutter upgraded then you can kill him in 2 chain crit otherwise you will rapid shoot him.
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Chapter  10 \____________________________________________________________________

<Revisit Munenori II spot with jubei>
- ToV10: Must get gold for Horn of Susano
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<Actual Chapter>
- Pick Ohatsu for this chapter
- Pick Ultra potion
- ToV11: Lure them to soki to do magic crit setup x2
<Save point - Skill Points>
- Soki: spend it on his R2 move
- Ohatsu: max out crit
- Equip new weapon if you gold it and Horn of Susano
---
<Luis>
- Phase 1 Rapid shots.
- Phase 2 Make sure Ohatsu is positioned in a spot where she can hit luis anywhere and make sure that Soki is doing nothing.
- When you deflect his knife with Soki switch to ohatsu and spam regular shot for permanent stun lock.
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Chapter 11 \____________________________________________________________________

<Hideout>
- Skill points - Jubei: Spend attack into Lv3 to unlock and max her special combo square + cross then max her crit
- Skill points - Roberto: Max crit and chain Lv3
- Shop: buy 空整甲 Sky Gloves 3000 gold
- Unequip horn of susan from ohatsu
- equip new weapon on roberto
---
- red chest lever then water
- Equip Horn of Susano on roberto then setup chain crit on Dordo
- Climb ladder to get the key for the red door
- get potion and overdrive med
- ToV11: Equip Horn of Susano on Soki before entering the room and do Spear zombie setup
- ToV12: Equip gleam then spam magic crit. Chain once.
- Puzzle for Masamune: Bottom Right then Upper Left
- switch to jubei after box push 5
- Don't forget overdrive jewel and switch to new weapons for both Soki (If you golded ToV12) and Jubei.
- Before the boss room summon Ohatsu. Use Overdrive jewel and overdrive med on her and equip Horn of Susano.
<Genma Bug>
- Ohatsu: "Never tire, Never recoil, Never Reload, Open fire overdrive cancels."
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= <DISC 2> =
============
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Chapter 12 \____________________________________________________________________

** You should always have notes up because its very easy to get mixed up with this map. It's definitely worth to put each color dots Mechanic break as a subsplits for a reminder.
<Break the Mechanics>
- Lever switch: Take Green Plate.
- Next switch: Downstairs to pick dark pink plate then break the mechanic (Green dots)
- Next switch x2: Downstairs to use dark pink plate for the key then break the mechanic (Red dots)
- Ground floor to Green dots door: go the iron door to unlock the door (Light blue dots) and break it's mechanic.
- Go to yellow dots room and break it's mechanic.
----
- Main hall then switch Ohatsu. Make sure she is equipped with Horn of Susano.
- ToV13: Chain Crit setup. Very important to have overdrive gauge ready for both characters. If you don't have Sky Sword then it will be rough because Soki won't be able to kill Yellow Danemon.
- Don't forget overdrive jewel on the second test subjects room.
<Mitsunari I>
- Ohatsu: "Never tire, Never recoil, Never Reload, Open fire overdrive cancels."
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Chapter 13 \____________________________________________________________________

** If you failed to get Sky Sword which is the gold prize in Test of Valor 12 then buy Raizan and make it Lv3 if possible. He desperately needs the damage boost from that point.
** You can try your luck to guess the first puzzle but its always better to find at least 2 painting for the consistency. You absolutely do not want to do that for the second one though.
** Paint Puzzle notes: Butterflies = 6 | Birds = 5 | Wolves = 4 | Bears = 3 | Elephants = 2 | Whale = 1
- Take Jubei
- Take Ultra potion
- Tov14: Body them  with stab and helm splitter. Magic crit for 3rd or 2nd kill
- Switch to roberto and get the oil
- First puzzle: From Largest to Smallest number
- Second puzzle: Order is Whale > Elephants > Bears  = to their respective warehouse number
- Switch to Ohatsu unequip Horn of Susano then go back with Roberto
<Sakon III>
- Equip Horn of Susano. Transform then helm splitter > stab > upper loop
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Chapter 14 \____________________________________________________________________

- Take Ohatsu
- Equip gleam and unequip horn before ToV 15 for magic crit loop. Similar to ToV 12 but less
- Before ToV 16 equip Sky sword and give Ohatsu Horn of Susano.
<Ophelia>
- Minion Phase: Start chain magic from the left to kill the whole wave in one go.
- Boss Phase: Use large Ultra potion and roll forward once before using overdrive.
- Rapid shoot until she is stunned then start using overdrive cancels.
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Chapter 15 \____________________________________________________________________

** You are back to Chapter 12 map but extended. This is defiantly a must have notes up to stay on track without getting lost. It's definitely worth to put each color dots Mechanic break as a subsplits for a reminder.
<Hideout>
- Equip Horn of Susano to Soki
<Shop>
- Buy one large overdrive med
---
- Take jubei
- Get the HP/Magic recovery potion
- ToV17: Very tricky, Switch jubei roll forward 3 times. Make Soki stand between Zombie spear ground then crit chain. The timing is based on Jubei's block sound cue.
- Menteith room: Command Jubei to distract. Magic crit Menteith before spamming helm splitter. Unequip the Horn afterwards.
<Break the Mechanics>
- Light blue room: Pick red plate and the electric switch.
- Activate the electric: Switch to Tenkai and get the blue plate then switch back to Roberto.
- Use lever once: Switch to Tenkai destroy red dots mechanic and go downstairs to use blue plates get the key. Switch back to Roberto.
- Use lever once: downstairs to get electric key and destroy yellow dot mechanic before going back.
- Use lever x2: Activate electric and destroy green dot mechanic.
- Ground floor to Green dots door: Switch to Jubei. Unlock door and go upstairs to break the last mechanic light blue dots.
----
- Go back to the main hall
- Red chest for Jubei's Shishio. Important for the last ToV.
- Switch to Ohatsu before boss room then equip Horn of Susano and use your remaining Ultra potions.
<Mitsunari and Claudius>
- Phase 1: Same as first encounter.
- Phase 2: Use over drive med then wait for 5 seconds before you transform.
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Chapter 16 \____________________________________________________________________

<Hideout>
- Unequip Horn of Susano from Ohatsu
---
- Take Jubei
- First door: Equip Horn of Susano to helm splitter door seal till death. unequip and heal if necessary afterwards.
- Second door: Push Dordio between archers then make Jubei to follow you during R2 animation. Crit chain twice then helm splitter spam.
- Take overdrive jewel
- Third door: Try to true crit chain. If failed, equip Horn of Susano then Magic crit then helm splitter spam. Unequip it afterwards.
- Equip shishio before ToV and get gold Phantom shell after you complete ToV
- Puzzle to get low king ring complete purple > red
- Puzzle to get class zero upper right row to downward left
<Munenori III>
- Equip Low King Ring and use Oni magic pot Lv1.
- The usual except he can summon his Doppleganger more often.
- Oni Magic crit if things get out of hand.
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Chapter 17 \____________________________________________________________________

<Hideout>
- Talk to Jubei and craft Muramasa using Rare Shell and Warrior's Code
<Shop>
- Buy Anguish and Fudo
- Buy 2x overdrive med 2xoverdrive jewel then buy as much Oni magic lv2 as possible (preferable 10)
- Sell weapons if needed for extra back up items
<Skill points - Tenkai>
- Max Attack > Thrust and Hell Jab
<Weapon Upgrade priority>
- Equip weapons before upgrading
- Ohatsu: Class zero lv7
- Roberto: Rapheal’s Gauntlets Lv3. If you didn't get this from ToV then Sky Gloves Lv3
- Tenkai: Fudo Lv4
- If you us Sky Gloves on roberto and still have extra resource then dupe them on Sky Gloves.
----
- Take jubei. This because she has total of +80% critical damage thanks to Muramasa and Low King ring.
- Take HP/Magic restore potion on the right table.
- Giga Menteith setup: Approach it with Jubei and be careful with it's ground slam. Oni Magic crit then switch to Soki for chain crit setup
- Black Crab Walker: Command Jubei distract. Equip horn of susano before getting behind it for helm splitter spam. When it jumps backdash. If you have enough Overdrive bar or extra Ultra potion it's better to use it to kill the Crab faster.
- Pick Ultra potion during tree dialogue climb
<Boss rush>
- Roberto - Rosencrantz: Clear basic enemies then equip horn of susano and use large ultra med. Magic lv2 > overdrive heavy attack > Magic Lv2
- Tenaki - Claudius: horn of susan and million stab. basic attack whenever it dives. Do upper million stab when it stuns vertically.
- Jubei - Munenori: Same as Chapter 15. Use Oni Magic if he memes or close to die.
- Ohatsu - Ophelia: Equip Horn of susan. Use overdrive med and all overdrive jewels. Roll forward 3 times before you start killing Ophelia
- Soki - Hideyoshi: Equip Low Ring King. Helm splitter to break the leg then don't choke. If failed to one shot then helm splitter > stab loop. The failure of critical is usually due to not begin in range.
- ChaCha: Soki dash twice. Switch to ohatsu Overdrive med make soki aggressive and profit.
----
<Fortinbras>
- Phase 1: Don't choke and make sure that Soki is facing him directly. Use Ultimate crit when he attacks.
- Phase 2: Take Ohatsu and use Ultimate med on. Transform and make Soki aggressive when it starts descending.
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Frequently Asked Questions:
--------------------------------

Is the run that long ?
- Yes, not only due to the loads but also due to the disc switch we had to do in the mid-run.

How do you move fast ?
- Flick left stick to the direction that you want while tapping guard button at the same time. Soki is the most controlled character because of his recovery from it and travel distance.
- Reberto is the second best but the way his wave dash works is different you hold guard and press X for him to dash. To cancel his recover you flick left at any direction before pressing X again.
- The rest of the characters works the same way as Soki but Ohatsu and Tenkai animation is too long which is why we use stance movement instead by flicking the left stick repeatedly while holding the Lock-On.

Why do you press then d-pad up before doing partner critical/issen ?
- Because for some reason it gives you extra damage.

Why did my or partner critical/issen failed even after I got the timing right ?
- There are many factors:
・Pressed to fast. This affects partner chain the most
・Not within the range
・Recovering from Guard Block
・Recovering from Guard Animation
・Some enemies critical only works if you got hit. For Example, Heidyoshi 2

Why do you play JP release ?
- Because enemies has higher defense in the US and EU release. Meaning, you will have to pick Fudo Horn in chapter 15 and before the final chapter, you need to upgrade Ohatsu's armor to lv10 so she can equip 2 Horn of Susano. This will make it possible to one-turn kill the final boss. At the moment, the speed difference between West and JP seems to be by 10m (NA/EU is yet to be optimized). This isn't really bad considering some PS2 game release can go waaay too much with the changes. Such as Chaos Legion with ridiculous upgrade costs or Devil May Cry 3 Vanilla lack of checkpoints. Luckily, Dawn of Dreams is more focused on character vs enemy scaling with each difficulties.
- Another reason is because shipping from the west is simply too expensive for me so, I can only afford to buy Asian products from where I live.
- Fortunately, this game has system language change to English. Although, I will still have JP text in case if I find texts in JP is simply faster.

Can I still use these notes to incorporate with my NA/PAL version ?
- You can but, you will have to work around a lot with some alternatives like extra items and possibly weapons. The best place to look for this while polishing this note for the west is by watching latest EquinsuOcha's Oni Mode run https://www.twitch.tv/videos/460818384

What's the difficulties in this game ?
There are 6 difficulty levels in Japan
・超易 Beginner
・易しい Easy
・普通 Normal
・難しい Hard
・鬼難 Oni
・超鬼難 Ultra Oni

When applied to difficulty levels other than Japan

・普通 Normal
・鬼難 Hard
・超鬼難 Oni

Ohatsu is that busted ?
- Yes, her shooting cancel is what makes her broken with overdrive or rapid fire. You can hold absorb soul then mash basic attack. In overdrive you can cancel her special attack with basic attack.

Why pick Jubei more often?
1- Her Special Order lures and distracts enemy away.
2- Her weapons such as Muramasa and Masamune provides huge boost on Critical Damage (+40%).

How is chapter 13's painting puzzle being RNG ?
- image reference https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jYRsjlupQZqZuaIkPrpyNKMkaIOkUbUD/view?usp=drive_link -
- The first puzzle the paintings are either going to be in the even or odd buildings. To solve this as fast as possible, check building 1 first then if its not there you know it will be in 2 and 4. Therefore you can look for 2 then guess the 3rd number.
- The Second puzzle you are just looking for the whale elephants or bear paintings corresponding to the building number. For example, if whale is in building 6 then the first number is 6. As a result, you can find 2 and guess the 3rd.

Difference between each critical/issen ?
- Attack before an enemy attack: This is the true critical/issen and will reward you with the most souls and damage out of all methods. Naturally, the timing varies depending on the enemy. Sometimes you can initiate right before the enemy attack connects, and sometimes you have to attack a bit early and so on.

- Guard break: The Kick will break the enemy's guard, allowing you to perform a critical/issen while they stagger.

- Deflect Attack right after deflecting an attack: While the enemy is staggering from the deflect (L1 right before an attack) press the attack button to perform a critical/issen.

- Oni Magic (Use Oni Magic (/\) then attack ([]) while the enemy staggers): The Oni Magic will stun the enemy and allow you to perform a critical/issen. Keep in mind that the enemy must survive the Oni Magic hit in order to hit them with a critical/issen. Although, this can't be done with ice elemental magic.