KHFMHD Any% (Beginner) Guide/Darkside I

Darkside I is a fairly simple boss and considered one of the easiest bosses in the run. It is, however, the first introduction of spamming multiple air combos for new runners. Therefore, proper air combo mechanics will also be covered on this page.

Air combos
Air combos are a fairly simple concept, but take an immense amount of practice to master. They are used throughout the entire run and therefore well worth the investment. Not only are the individual swings from air combos faster (or the same speed) than their ground counterparts, but the standard ground finisher has a fairly long animation that is impossible to cut short without getting hit. Once Sora lands from an air combo, all animations in progress immediately stop, so air finishers can have the portion of the animation after the damage is dealt cut off.

The trick to pulling off smooth air combos is minimizing 4 factors: Every runner has their own method of performing air combos, but there are two basic camps: mashing combos and timing them. Most runners prefer to mash their combos using their right or left thumb. Some runners, such as spikevegeta, prefer to time the combos, using only three (or more, once you've equipped Air Combo Pluses) presses of the attack button. Try both out and see what works best for you in order to minimize the time between swings.
 * 1) Rising time (time between jumping and the first swing of the Keyblade).
 * 2) Time between swings (a.k.a. the aggregate time of the full combo).
 * 3) Falling time (time between the finisher damage and landing).
 * 4) Ground time (time on the ground between combos).

In order to minimize rising and falling time, practice short hopping by lightly pressing the jump button. The PS3 buttons are pressure-sensitive and Sora jumps higher the longer you hold the button. As Sora lands on the ground, there are a few frames during which he cannot take any action. Learning the timing for this inactive window is crucial to having smooth air combos. Attempting to jump during this window will give the impression that your input was eaten by the game as Sora will not respond. One trick to learning this window is to hold a direction as Sora is landing and waiting for him to take a step. As soon as Sora budges, the immobile window is over and you can jump again. Eventually, you'll learn the timing and not have to wait for Sora to move to know when to press the jump button.

Darkside I
Darkside will only last for four 3-hit combos, so it'll go down pretty quickly to some fast air combos. Additionally, Darkside always opens with the punch attack, so the only RNG factor of this fight is the attack patterns of the Shadows that spawn. You could, therefore, simply sidestep the punch attack at the beginning and kill Darkside with 4 simple combos. However, in order to hit level 7 before the Guard Armor fight later in the game, we're going to need some additional experience points (xp). Landing a finisher on Darkside's head yields two tech points. Darkside will die on the fourth finisher, so that's an additional 8xp that can be gained during this fight. This turns out to be worth it in the long run, so practice climbing Darkside's arm. Hold at the start of the fight, dodge the punch by jumping (or tank the hit), and then climb the arm with a couple quick forward jumps. Mash out four air combos and you're good to go.