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ARM

ORED

BEA

STS LISTG

OLD

EN A

XE

™ B

EAS

T RID

ER

Written by Michael Lummis

COVERS MICROSOFT XBOX 360™ AND PLAYSTATION® 3 COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

www.sega.comwww.goldenaxethegame.com

www.secretlevel.com

From the Bogeymen of the Island of Axir to Death Adder’s final embrace,

our COMPREHENSIVE WALKTHROUGH guides Tyris through all manner of perils and pleasures on her path to victory.

Discover the strengths and weakness of all of Tyris’

ARMORED RIDING BEASTS.

From start to finish, use our LEVEL MAPS to make sure nothing is left behind.

With battle-tested tactics, we break down wave after

wave of slaughter in the BATTLE ARENA mode.

An all-inclusive MONSTER COMPENDIUM gets you out of the gate early with strategy and hints that help you excel.

from the blood of her slaughtered

tribe, seeking to destroy an ancient

evil, driven by revenge, Tyris Flare

has become the Beast Rider.

1015-2_Golden_Axe_Cover.indd 1 9/18/08 1:51:42 PM

THE BEASTS APPROACH

AR M O R E D BE A S T S

Some of Death Adder’s best beast riders are given barding for their mounts. This makes it much harder to

kill the beasts, as it takes many blows to knock off the thick plating.

The good news is that riders on armored beasts are just as easy to knock off of their mounts. Turn bad luck

into an easy victory by preferentially stealing these tougher beasts and using them against their masters!

Mastering the various beasts of the land is the only way to defeat Death Adder. So many troops are lined up to fi ght you that it’s too much to ask to kill them without help. Aiding you are Abrax, Mirigores, and other fantastic beasts. Read about them here and learn what they can do for you, or how to avoid their dangers when enemies ride them.

Abrax

Appearance: A long-tailed lizard that breathes fire

Quick Strike: Tail swing with a wide arc

Powerful Strike: Short-range fire breath

Special Attack: Long-range fireball

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DR I F T TU R N I N G W/ BE A S T S

Monstrous beasts don’t have an e-brake, but there are still a few tricks that let you spin them into position

without taking too much time. Picture yourself riding through an enemy group; they’re now at your back

and you want to turn to face them. Pull hard and back on your analog stick and keep the pressure there

until your beast skids to a halt and fl ips around in a 180. This move is useful for all major beasts, and you’ll

fall in love with it.

Abrax can use fi reballs at long range. They aren’t very accurate, but do massive amounts of damage. These balls arc and won’t hit anything that is close to the Abrax. This isn’t an attack that you’ll use very often because enemies spend a lot of time trying to close against you. Fireballs work when you get the jump on a large group at range. They also help when you see Mages ahead. Bogeyman Mages are one of the most annoying enemies to face when you’re mounted because you can’t parry their bolts back at them. Using Fireball on these casters is sometimes the best way to eliminate them before they can cast.

Monstrous beasts don’t have an e-brake, but there are still a few tricks that let you spin them into position Monstrous beasts don’t have an e-brake, but there are still a few tricks that let you spin them into position Monstrous beasts don’t have an e-brake, but there are still a few tricks that let you spin them into position Monstrous beasts don’t have an e-brake, but there are still a few tricks that let you spin them into position

without taking too much time. Picture yourself riding through an enemy group; they’re now at your back without taking too much time. Picture yourself riding through an enemy group; they’re now at your back

and you want to turn to face them. Pull hard and back on your analog stick and keep the pressure there

23

INTRO

STORY

CONTROLS

THE ARENA

CONTROLLABLE BEASTS

EQUIPMENT

ENEMY BESTIARY

SECRETS

ADVANCED GAMEPLAY

WALKTHROUGH

Abrax are bred by the Sisterhood in Axir to defend their people and to transport heavier items. They are fast sprinters and can dish out heavy punishment when something gets in their way. The only major weakness of an Abrax is that they don’t turn quickly. This leaves them vulnerable to enemies who come from several sides.

Defend your Abrax by charging through enemies until you’ve got the entire force at your back. This is heavily in your favor. The group has to approach as you turn around and you can use the Abrax to tail sweep them. Or, if it’s a mean group of foes, hit them with fi re breath. Not only does the fi re do reasonable damage but it also stuns enemies briefl y because they’re in ludicrous pain. As long as health isn’t an issue, breathe fi re again to continuously damage and stun the foes until all are dead. Only extremely tough foes can attack while being fl amed (e.g., Tufurs and Knight Captains).

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Lynth

Appearance: A goat with anger management problems

Quick Strike: Jumping headbutt

Powerful Strike: Turn invisible (w/ rider)

Special Attack: Lightning fan of energy

Lynths are the most maneuverable of all riding beasts in the game. These fast runners can turn and fi ght with fair precision, and they’re no slouches on damage either. The only area where they have a problem is in countering large rushes with many enemies. Their best area-of-effect attack is only moderately powerful. All in all, few people are going to be disappointed. Lynths last longer than almost any other mount, and that by itself sets them apart.

A Lynth’s light attack causes the beast to move forward and slam its horned head into the target in front of it. This knocks enemies down or pushes them out of the way. Lighter enemies won’t even survive a single attack from the headbutt, and the best troops can only take a few such hits. If you sprint toward a group of enemies you can leap into their midst, killing a couple of them, then leap out to avoid taking any hits (and possibly striking even more foes in the process). This style of gutsy fi ghting is what Lynths are all about. Charge forward, attack, clear the group, and do a fast turn to start the attack again. It’s a simple way to beat many different encounters.

Lynths’ heavy “attack” is an oddity; they don’t actually attack anything. Instead, these creatures use their ability to bend light. Tyris and the Lynth disappear in a fl ash! Enemies use this often, so you’ll get used to countering stealth. When Tyris is invisible her enemies won’t come after her. They sometimes attack if she gets too close, so stay at medium or long range and line up a good attack. You should use this in especially tough battles or when the Lynth is already tapped out on health.

For putting substantial damage on high-end targets, clustered enemies, or armored enemies, Lynths stomp and release a charged fan of lightning which sends a series of bolts away in a moderate arc. This is an attack you can use heavily once the Lynth is low on health, but it’s not quite good enough to warrant its use when the Lynth is still hale and hardy.24

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YOUR FOES ARE LEGIONThere is a considerable cast of bad guys to get in your way before Death Adder rears his ugly head. Use this chapter to learn more about these foes and how to defeat each one. Many of the opponents have weaknesses or a few elements of predictability that help to offset their numeric advantages!

Appearance: Hunched over, wearing metal helmsAttacks: Use spiked maces at short rangeTrigger Brutal Counters With: Powerful Strikes

Appearance: Appearance: Appearance: Hunched over, wearing metal helmsHunched over, wearing metal helms

Grubbers

Grubbers are the fodder of Death Adder’s military. They come in large groups and you see them at many points in the campaign. These humanoids sometimes race along on all fours, but they can stand erect for battle purposes. All of their attacks are green (meaning that they can be evaded or parried); this makes it much easier to avoid taking damage when fi ghting Grubbers.

Still, you must stay on your guard. Large groups attack in such a way that you often have enemies on several sides of your character. Beyond that, they stagger their swings, making it essential to dodge multiple times in quick succession if you want to avoid damage. Only counterattack when you’re certain that there aren’t any more attacks about to land.

Berserk Grubbers attack at their normal speed but do far more damage. This makes it imperative that you stay on the defensive and use distance for added protection.

Grubbers aren’t especially fast, nor can they hit you

at range. Run away from berserk groups to keep them from outfl anking you. Then, make hit-

and-run raids on their group and run off before you need to fi ght many at once.

All forms of magic are quite effective against Grubbers. They don’t have any defenses, nor are they particularly tough. It’s usually best to just chop them down with your sword rather than waste precious potions.

Expert players can be more aggressive with large Grubber piles. Instead of moving around to keep the Grubbers offguard, wade in with quick attacks and quick attack counters. Hit Evade/quick counter every time a Grubber attacks and watch the group thin in mere seconds.

It should also be noted that the Grubbers are minions of their Bogeymen masters, and get an increase in their attack damage when the two are near each other. This is

indicated with a glow that is close to the color of berserking enemies. It is often benefi cial to kill the Bogeymen fi rst in these cases.

28

06_Enemy_Bestiary.indd 28 9/24/08 2:28:51 PM

Appearance: Tall, axe wielding, moderately armoredAttacks: Blue swings only hit at close range; orange attacks can cover more groundTrigger Brutal Counters With: Knockback Attacks

Appearance: Appearance: Tall, axe wielding, moderately armoredAppearance: Appearance: Tall, axe wielding, moderately armored

Bogeymen (Soldier)

Bogeymen are tougher than Grubbers, but they still occupy a low place in Death Adder’s forces. These soldiers carry two-handed axes that do a moderate amount of damage if they hit. Like most enemies, they can attack with either blue or orange maneuvers (thus, you must be ready to dodge or parry as the situation warrants).

Quick attacks are effective for interrupting groups of Bogeymen. Because your enemies can’t swing their weapons as quickly as you can, it’s easy to prevent them from making attacks of their own. However, if any of the Bogeymen aren’t taking damage they can disrupt your combo, so watch closely and break off from their group once one or two of them spill onto your fl ank.

A useful pattern is to charge in and use quick attack, quick attack, and kick to wound a group and then throw them back and away from Tyris. This buys her extra time in retreating or pushing the attack without worrying about her targets getting to have any fun.

Berserk Bogeymen make frequent attacks with a shorter swing time. They don’t do extra damage, thankfully, but it’s hard to stay on top of them. If there are two or more berserk Bogeymen working together you should consider using magic to kill them.

As with many enemies, you can choose to take a more aggressive route once you become more experienced. Instead of positioning the enemies to avoid fl anking attacks, stay in their midst. This allows you to hit all of them with your combo attacks. Stop your combo with a defensive cancel and avoid any moves the Bogeymen make, then punish them with a counter attack and resume your combo.

29

INTRO

STORY

CONTROLS

EQUIPMENT

WALKTHROUGH

ENEMY BESTIARY

CONTROLLABLE BEASTS

THE ARENA

SECRETS

ADVANCED GAMEPLAY

06_Enemy_Bestiary.indd 29 9/24/08 2:29:21 PM

Official Strategy Guide

© 2008 DK/BradyGAMES, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. BradyGAMES® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

DK/BradyGames, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.800 East 96th Street, 3rd FloorIndianapolis, IN 46240

© SEGA. SEGA is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offi ce. SEGA, the SEGA logo and GOLDEN AXE BEAST RIDER are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA Corporation. All rights reserved.

SECRET LEVEL is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offi ce. SECRET LEVEL and the SECRET LEVEL logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Secret Level, Inc.

The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

Please be advised that the ESRB ratings icons, “EC”, “E”, “E10+”, “T”, “M”, “AO”, and “RP” are trademarks owned by the Entertainment Software Association, and may only be used with their permission and authority. For information regarding whether a product has been rated by the ESRB, please visit www.esrb.org. For permission to use the ratings icons, please contact the ESA at esrblicenseinfo@theesa.com.

ISBN: 978-0-7440-1015-2

Printing Code: The rightmost double-digit number is the year of the book’s printing; the rightmost single-digit number is the number of the book’s printing. For example, 08-1 shows that the fi rst printing of the book occurred in 2008.

11 10 09 08 4 3 2 1

Printed in the USA.

Credits

PublisherDavid Waybright

Editor-In-ChiefH. Leigh Davis

Licensing DirectorMike Degler

Marketing DirectorDebby Neubauer

International TranslationsBrian Saliba

Development EditorBrian Shotton

Screenshot EditorMichael Owen

Book DesignerBrent Gann

Production DesignerTracy Wehmeyer

BradyGAMES Staff

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