Kingdom Hearts II > Walkthroughs: Land of Dragons I

Event: Defeat all the Heartless

Note: Don’t let the Party’s Morale drop!

While fighting for the army in the Land of Dragons, you may have noticed the Party Morale Gauge in the top left-hand corner of the screen. This Gauge must be kept from depleting while you fight. Taking damage or going too long without defeating an enemy will deplete the Party Morale Gauge, so defeat enemies quickly and try to avoid being hit. Collect the orbs that enemies drop to replenish the Party Morale Gauge when it starts to get low.

Event: The Surprise Attack

Note: Don’t let the Party’s Morale drop!

The Shadows shouldn’t be a problem, but the new Nightwalker Heartless can be a real pain. They can attack with close-range claw swipes or attack from far away with powerful spinning rush attacks. Either way, your Party Morale Gauge will truly suffer if you get hit too many times by these pesky Heartless. Bash them with aerial combo after aerial combo and don’t let them budge!

Event: The Ambush

Note: Don’t let the Party’s Morale drop!

The new Assault Rider Heartless featured in this fight are about as bad as they come! Their attacks have a much longer range than you might think, so keep your distance. If you get too close, they’ll trap you in a vicious spinning lance attack that will not only drop your Party Morale Gauge in a matter of seconds, but Sora’s HP as well! The best way to deal with these Heartless is to get very far away from them. Eventually, the Assault Rider will perform a massive leap in to the air to close the gap between it and you. When it does, jump toward it and meet it halfway through its leap to let out a few aerial combos. It can’t fight back in the air, so if you can manage to keep it airborne for a while, you should be able to beat it with minimal effort.

Event: The Search

Note: Don’t let the Party’s Morale drop!

The final mission involves hunting down hidden Heartless in the “Encampment” area. After completing The Ambush mission however, this shouldn’t be a very difficult task at all. The worst enemies this mission has to offer are the Nightwalker Heartless, which you should be able to handle, especially after beating the Assault Riders from before!

Event: Hurry to the Mountain Summit

Note: Don’t let the Party’s Morale drop!

The “Mountain Trail” is full of Heartless, and you’ll need to take them out in order to press onward. The enormous rock walls can be destroyed by approaching them and using the Rockshatter Reaction Command. Continue up the “Mountain Trail”, defeating Heartless and breaking through rock walls until you reach the top.

Event: Defeat all the Heartless

Ping and Sora are trapped in the deepest room in the cave, forced to fight off wave after wave of Heartless all by themselves. Ping is not much help in this fight, so it’s mostly all up to you. Unfortunately, you don’t have Donald or Goofy in this fight, which means you also don’t have access to Valor Form. At first, the battle starts off with a large swarm of Shadows. Eventually, the more difficult enemies come out to play, finishing the battle with a wave of three Assault Riders all at once! Keep your distance and focus on one at a time to defeat them.

Victory in this battle earns you the Slide Dash Ability and an HP +5 Get Bonus for Sora, and the Hyper Healing Ability and an HP +15 Get Bonus for Ping.

Event: Survive the Heartless Assault

When you arrive at the “Summit”, Shan-Yu is waiting with an absolutely massive swarm of Rapid Thruster Heartless. These enemies are not overly threatening, but when they attack in such a large swarm, they can be very annoying. When surrounded by them, you can trigger the Speed Trap Reaction Command to suck them all close, then follow up with the Aero Blade Reaction Command to knock them all away.

The Bolt Tower Heartless that also infest the mountain top are a bit more threatening, but they move so slowly that it’s extremely easy to avoid the shockwave attacks they emit. If you get caught in one of their laser beams, counter with the Bolt Reversal Reaction Command by rapidly pressing the Triangle Button. If you can do it fast enough, you’ll redirect their own attack back at them, usually destroying them upon impact.

This battle ends when the timer in the upper left-hand corner of the screen reaches 0. Defeat as many Heartless as you can before time runs out!

Event: Defeat all the Heartless

More Heartless ambush you when you arrive at the “Imperial Square”. They’re all Heartless you’ve fought before in one capacity or another, so they shouldn’t be too difficult to defeat. Try using the Red Rocket Limit Command with Mulan in your Party to make quick work of the Heartless that appear. Alternate pressing the Triangle Button and X Button to unleash the full force of this powerful Limit Command!

Boss: Shan-Yu & Hayabusa

HP: 442 (Shan-Yu), 102 (Hayabusa)
STR: 12 (Shan-Yu & Hayabusa)
DEF: 6 (Shan-Yu & Hayabusa)

There are two parts to this battle. The first, obviously, is defeating Shan-Yu. The second is to prevent the Heartless he summons from causing too much damage to the Palace Gates. The Gauge in the top left-hand corner of the screen will tell you the current defense of the Gates. Do not let this Gauge deplete, or the battle will end and you will lose.

Shan-Yu is a powerful swordsman, but that can also be his downfall. If at any time he and Sora lock blades, press the Triangle Button when prompted to perform the Press Reaction Command. Follow up at the end with the Takedown Reaction Command to push him back and deal some decent damage. Don’t forget that you also have Valor Form at your disposal for when the battle gets a little out of hand.

Hayabusa is Shan-Yu’s hawk that flies around and deals minor damage. It’s not crucial to completing the battle, but if you defeat Hayabusa before Shan-Yu, it’ll just be one more thing that will make the battle a little more manageable.

When the battle starts to reach its end, Shan-Yu will exploit the powers of darkness, surrounding himself in a dark purple aura. His attacks are now more powerful and more ferocious than before. His mad sword rushes can really pack a punch, so be prepared to back off until his calms down a little bit. Also, use Mulan’s Red Rocket Limit Command when you need to really deal some damage without taking any of your own!

Victory against Shan-Yu & Hayabusa earns you the Aerial Sweep Ability for Sora, an HP +4 Get Bonus for Donald, the Goofy Turbo Ability for Goofy, and an HP +20 Get Bonus for Mulan.