Strategy Guide - Guide for Zone of the Enders

                                  -INRODUCTION
                                  -TACTICS
                                  -ENEMIES
                                  -WEAPONS
                                  -WALKTHROUGH


INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Zone of the Enders guide, the ultimate tool to help you navigate the 
fast-paced action mech game from Konami. Use this guide to blaze through the game as 
quickly as possible. As nice as the game looks, the tactics are very basic, so you 
can figure out a lot as the game progresses. This guide packages the information you 
need if you want to add a little finessse to your gameplay, or just be a badass in 
your Jehuty. 

Inside you'll find a full walkthrough, basic tactics and advanced techniques, full 
unit information and weapons descriptions.


TACTICS

General Tips: 

1. Upon entering an area, take out the lower level squads first. However, save 
anybody who has a Metatron (marked with an "M" on the map) for later, after you've 
been damaged and need a quick repair. 

2. Likewise, don't use Metatron boxes unless you have to. You can't store them, so 
once they're gone, they're gone. 

3. In area change mode, always check your map. If you see a question mark next to an 
area name, there's a "MUMMY" item located there, and you do want them if you're not 
the most graceful Jehuty pilot. 

4. Remember, your right analog stick is used for fine aiming. Comes in handy when 
attacking porters or using the sniper gun. 

5. Levels are usually consistent. That means that the number of squads and items 
don't usually change. So if you need a metatron or more ammo, then head into the 
area you got them from in the first place. 

6. The more frames you destroy, the more experience. While you do not have to 
destroy all frames in any area, you usually want to do so to gain experience. 

Combat Tips: 

1. Always dash attack. There's no reason for you to be standing still or using basic 
weapons unless you're finishing up a slash combo. When you're always locked onto an 
enemy, there's no reason to even worry about aiming. In general, this always works 
with Raptors and Cyclops. It'll work with Mummyheads up to Level 3. 

2. Always dash. This is a fast-paced game. Dashing provides you with the fastest way 
to close distance, but always allows you to use your more powerful attacks. 

3. Don't bother with blocking. If you're constantly dashing or in motion, most 
attacks are going to miss you. The only time you should even consider blocking is 
against the boss frames. 


 

Advanced Tactics 
General Tips: 

1. Environmental Damage is CUMULATIVE. That means if you re-enter an area, buildings 
that are destroyed remain destroyed. If you want to get the best grade possible, 
then you have to do little or no damage, which means you may have to forgo some 
weapons and ammo. 

2. You have to finish the rescue missions in order to receive the second ending 
theme. Once rescue missions have opened up, you have a limited amount of time to 
finish them, so enter them as soon as possible. 

3. As soon as range numbers begin to appear on screen on the large map, enter the 
area. Saves you time and damage. 

Combat Tips: 

1. To minimize the potential for collateral damage, always use melee attacks. When 
going against enemies with ranged attacks, see if you can lure squads to river and 
bridge-based locations. Those areas (and mountains) are indestructible. 

2. Cyclops units can't damage buildings, so if you're going for good grades, destroy 
Raptor and Mummyhead units first, then break off Cyclops attacks until later. If you 
don't need that Metatron or Javelin right away, save your Cyclops' for last. 

3. The sniper weapon is really the only weapon that can cause damage to units when 
you're not in combat. It's not too powerful, but you can pick away at powerful units 
(except for S-class units) to damage them before they can even hit you. 

4. Only use the grab and throw if you're in an indestructible area. While it causes 
great amounts of damage, it'll also destroy buildings. 

5. Mummyhead tactics: Past level 3, the Mummyheads are the toughest units to 
destroy, because they've got deadly beam weapons that damage both you and the 
environment. That means you've got to take care of them fast and smart.

    a) Level 3 and up Mummyheads have a forcefield that's almost always in use. The 
only time they're really vulnerable is when they're firing the beam or ball cannon. 
Use a dash attack to shut off the force field or powerup and close in if you have to.

    b) With the exception of S-class frames, the Mummyheads are very vulnerable to 
distance attacks. A good tactic in any situation is to get out of range of the beam 
cannon and use your burst attack until they explode. Works great, but as usual, the 
higher the level, the more hits it takes to destroy one.

    c) If you're in close with a Mummyhead, try attacking from below instead of 
above. That way, if you miss, you won't take out a building. 

6. Advanced Damage Control: Engage multiple squads at a time. Attract a squad, stay 
within detection range but out of weapons range. Then move to the next squads' 
location. They'll follow you across the map, and won't attack the environment. 
Lead'em to an unpopulated, indestructible area, and then melee attack'em to death. 
You may want to escape and re-engage. 


ENEMIES

In the single player game, you will only run across three basic mech frames (aside 
from the bosses, of course): the Raptor, the Cyclops, and the Mummyhead. They will 
essentially have the same tactics and AI for the most part, but there are several 
variables which affect their performance. These factors are as follows: 

LEVEL: The enemy level affects how tough they are to kill and what weapons they use. 
As you might suspect, the higher the level, the more powerful the enemy. Generally, 
there are three discreet levels of weapon use. 

1. Level 1-2: Basic Weapons. Enemies use only the minimal melee and ranged weapons.
2. Level 3-4: Medium Weapons. More powerful/advanced attacks.
3. Level 5+: Advanced Weapons. Most powerful/advanced attacks. They also tend to use 
them very often. However, all enemies seem to have a limited number of these 
attacks. 

SPECIAL CLASS (S): Any enemy marked with the "S" shouldn't be taken lightly, at any 
level. They tend to be extra aggressive, and they like to gang up on you. Gangs of S-
class mummyheads are devastating. They always have an advanced weapon for their 
level, and they're generally too fast or immune to distance weapons. 

TEAM LEADER (*): This is a nice touch. Any squad with an "*" means that there's one 
master unit and a few slave units. That means that no matter how high the squad's 
levels are, if you destroy the team leader (marked with the "*"), the rest will drop 
down to Level 1 capabilities. So, of course, you generally want to take out the 
leader first, especially later in the game. 


 

Unit Descriptions: 
RAPTOR: 
The most basic frame of all. It's also the only one with melee and ranged attacks. 
Generally, these are easy to take out, except that they get really good at blocking 
at higher levels. 

 

Basic Attack: Single-sword slash, Javelin
Medium Attack: Double-sword slash, Geyser
Advanced Attack: Bounder 


CYCLOPS: 
A melee-only frame. Sorta tough. Looks and attacks like a bare-knuckles brawler. 
Easiest to attack, but devastating in numbers, especially when advanced, because a 
good punch will knock you back a loop. 

 

Basic Attack: Punch
Medium Attack: Uppercut, Dashing Punch
Advanced Attack: Haymaker 


MUMMYHEAD: 
A ranged attack-only frame. Slow, but so hard to kill at higher levels. Durable but 
nearly useless at the basic level, the advanced versions of these are incredibly 
tought to defeat, since they use shields a lot, and it's very hard to close with 
them. 

 

Basic Attack: Phalanx
Medium Attack: Beam Cannon
Advanced Attack: Ball Cannon 



WEAPONS

Once again, the game itself is basic enough you won't need really need any of the 
sub-weapons except in plot-required circumstances. In fact, with the exception of 
one or two weapons, they're superfluous collectors' items. Here's a listing: 

1. Javelin (Driver Location: TOWN.1)

NOTE: A short range energy weapon. Does some damage, but since it flies in a short 
arc and takes too long to fire, it's essentially impossible to use. 

 

2. Geyser (Driver Location: CITY.1)
NOTE: Energy mines. You throw a bunch onto a surface, and they emit energy spikes. 
Very useful in tight spaces or close to the ground. 

 

3. Bounder (Driver Location: MOUNTAIN.1)
NOTE: A ricochet energy ball. This thing bounces off surfaces for a period of time 
until it contacts an enemy. Lots of damage, small accuracy. 

 

 

4. Phalanx (Driver Location: TOWN.2)
NOTE: Rapid fire energy shots. Highly inaccurate, but it fires fast. 

 

5. Halberd (Driver Location: EPS.1)
NOTE: An energy sword. Looks cool, but you can't move well when it's activated, and 
it doesn't target enemies. 

 

6. Comet (Driver Location: CITY.2)
NOTE: Homing energy ball. Kind of slow and has a fairly short range. Takes too long 
to fire, too. 

 

 

7. Gauntlet (Driver Location: EPS.2)
NOTE: Fast, powerful energy shot. Useful for long-range attacks and bosses. 

 

8. Sniper (Driver Location: TOWN.2)
NOTE: Weak, super long range weapon. Necessary to finish the game. 

 

9. Decoy (Driver Location: FACTORY.2)
NOTE: Defensive weapon. Enemies lose track of you when used. Necessary to defeat the 
second orbital frame. 

 

10. Mummy (Driver Location: Installs upon discovering ammo)
NOTE: Heals Jehuty when activated. Only storable repair system. 



WALKTHROUGH

Standard Missions 

NOTE: If you don't know where you should go next, check your map. Required areas are 
usually colored blue/purple. Also, if you destroy all the porters in any area, 
you'll get a driver or an item. 


1. INTRODUCTION - HANGAR/FACTORY.1 

COMMENTS: You face a Level 1 Raptor. Destroy it, go through the tutorial. Pick up 
the Metatron, then follow the marker out of the building to FACTORY.1. Fight a pair 
of Raptors, then a pair of Mummyheads. Then face Neith, a quick boss. Just dash 
attack her a couple of times, and she'll leave after about a minute. Follow the 
pointer to the local server and pick up "monitor.fcmd," which gives you access to 
your maps and menus. Then it's time for training again. 

You're now in FACTORY.1 proper. You can destroy all squads if you want to, but you 
don't need to. Destroy the squad with the passcode, then go to the server to 
receive "global.fcmd." This will allow to to change areas, which you should. 

 

2. TEMPEST - TOWN.1 


 

COMMENTS: You face Tempest, your first real boss. He's got a real basic pattern. 
Just keep shooting at him until he's about halfway down his health meter. Block or 
dodge his fireballs. If you're going for a high grade, though, you need to get in 
close to protect the buildings. 

After than, Tempest changes tactics. He'll jump straight up, fire off a series of 
random small shots, then come crashing down on the city. Once he lands, charge up 
for a long range burst attack. His head will pop up from his body, then you've got 
about five seconds to whack him an energy ball. Block or dodge the fireball attacks, 
and then repeat. A couple more times, and you're done. Stick around and destroy the 
squads for experience, or leave. 

NOTE: Once you leave the area, the first rescue mission (TOWN.2) becomes available. 

 

3. ANTILIA - FACTORY.1 

COMMENTS: Kill the squad with the passcode, then hit the local server to pick 
up "antilia.info," which contains the information for your next mission. 

 

4. EPS ACCESS - VARIOUS LOCATIONS 

COMMENTS: Visit CITY.1. Then head to TOWN.2. Shoot the porters (those little purple 
floating things), then grab the "sniper.drvr." 

Now head back to CITY.1. See those dots on the central rotating tower? Shoot those 
with the Sniper. There are eight of them, so try not to waste shots. 

NOTE: The second rescue mission (TOWN.1) opens up at the beginning of this chapter. 

 

5. EPS DESTRUCTION - VARIOUS LOCATIONS 

COMMENTS: This is fairly involved, so pay attention. Go to EPS.1. Check your map. 
See those white arrows at the edge of the map? That's a tunnel entrance. Go into the 
tunnel, then follow the yellow arrows. Each room is a trap, where you'll have to 
fight an enemy. Don't take the fork until later. At the end of the tunnel, you'll 
see the EPS generator. Find the area with the big wheelie turbine, then keep 
shooting at it until it blows up. That's part 1. 

Now, go to EPS.2. Go into the tunnel (the white arrows on the map), then encounter 
the forcefield. You'll come out and face a squad of S-Class Cyclops. They're fast 
and powerful, so keep moving. DO NOT STAY STILL. Once you've taken them out, you'll 
the the first control password. 

Now go to TOWN.1, and take out the S-Class Mummyheads with the second control 
password. This is probably the hardest fight you're ever going to run across, 
because three powerful beam cannons make a punishing crossfire. You'll just have to 
endure. Get in close, focus on one, and try to dash around to the back. Pound away 
until he's dead, then move on to the next. 

Now back to EPS.1. Go back down the tunnel. Take the fork. At the end of the tunnel, 
you'll access the server to receive the Raptor control program. Now to find a downed 
Raptor. 

Go to TOWN.2. Near the middle of the area, you'll find two downed frames. One's a 
Raptor. Approach it, and the Raptor control program will activate. The Raptor will 
activate, and now you're playing a Lv. 4 Raptor. You'll be automatically sent to 
EPS.2. 

At EPS.2, you'll go down the tunnel, and once again, every room is a battle. Take 
the first fork, and get a Detector at the server, which will let you see invisible 
porters in the area. Go back to the junction, and go straight. At the dead end, then 
shoot at the little rectangular area until it breaks up. Then destroy the EPS 
generator. 

 

6. ADA IN DANGER - VARIOUS LOCATIONS 


 

COMMENTS: Head towards MOUNTAIN.1. You'll get shot down. 

NOTE: Before hitting MOUNTAIN.1, the rescue mission in TOWN.3 opens up. 

You'll arrive in PARK.1, and you'll face another huge frame - Tyrant. You can't win 
here, since ADA's been infected with a virus and one shot will kill you. Leave. 

NOTE: After you leave PARK.1, the rescue mission at CITY.2 opens up. 

Go to FACTORY.2. Don't fight unless you've been shooting womprats since you were 
five. Go down the tunnel, you'll fight a Level 1 Rator, then access the server on 
the left for the vaccine. Now you're back to normal. The server on the right 
requires more stuff. Leave the tunnel and the area. 

 

7. DOWN WITH THE TYRANT - VARIOUS LOCATIONS 

NOTE: The last rescue mission at CITY.1 opens up. 


 

COMMENTS: Go to CITY.2, take out the squad with "pass_decoy1." You can also destroy 
the porters to get the Comet passcode. 

Go to TOWN.3. Everybody's cloaked and you can't target them. Go to EPS.2, go down 
the tunnel. Fight the Raptor you controlled back when you were destroying the EPS 
generator. Once he's gone, you'll get his detector. Destroy the porters for the 
Gauntlet passcode, get the driver from the server. 

Go back to TOWN.3. Get the second passcode. 

Go to FACTORY.2 Go back down the tunnel, and access the server on the right. You now 
have the Decoy. Leave the tunnel, shoot the porters to get Decoy ammo. 

Go to PARK.1. Fight Tyrant. The key to killing him is to be patient. In his first 
form, he's pretty useless. Just use a long-distance burst attack (unless you want 
the high grades) until you get targeted (a big red circle covers you). Then launch a 
decoy and Tyrant'll lose the lock. Keep doing this until he transforms to this 
rocket ram thing. Avoid his charges, but once he stops, either burst attack him, or 
use the Gauntlet. And that's it. 

 

7. THE MOUNTAIN - MOUNTAIN.1 


 

COMMENTS: Take the left fork first if you want to pick up the bounder. This is 
basically a level-building training area. All squads are high-level squads, meaning 
that there are a couple S-class and team leader squads running about. 

Basically, if you're anywhere near a Metatron, then you're about to get ambushed, so 
be prepared. It's all essentially one way down the river, so just keep moving until 
you reach the last tunnel. 

Beyond the tunnel, you end up fighting Nebula, your next boss character. Just dash 
attack him until he changes form. Watch out for the attack satellites that spew from 
his nether orifice. Once he changes forms, he tends to lunge into the ground, which 
is pretty lethal, and then attacks with various nasty attacks, including energy-
draining spheres, satellites, and an incredibly-powerful energy burst. Basically, 
keep attacking him until his tail gets targeted. Then you've got the chance to give 
him a couple good burst attacks. And then that's it. 

 

8. FINAL BATTLES - WAREHOUSE.1 



COMMENTS: At WAREHOUSE.1, you'll fight Neith again, who's a lot faster and a lot 
more powerful. But to be honest, you don't need to worry if you don't care about 
damage. Just keep tossing Gauntlets at her until she's dead. Otherwise, you're going 
to have to dodge a lot and wait until she stops before you can even consider 
whacking her. Save.


 

9. FINAL BATTLES - HUB.1 

COMMENTS: You'll need to defuse four bombs. There will a brief period while ADA 
scans for each bomb, at which time you can take out high level frame squads. Once 
you locate the bombs, though, you have only a minute to defuse or destroy each bomb. 
You can either shoot it, which will cause you massive amounts of damage, or you can 
grab it for a few seconds. A "defuse" time bar will appear on screen. When the bar 
reaches zero, the bomb is defused, and the scanning process begins again. 

Unfortunately, if anybody attacks you, the defusing process has to start all over 
again. If the bomb gets hit, it explodes, most likely taking you out with it. The 
best way to prevent this is to attack all melee units during the scanning process, 
then attack the Mummyheads with the time remaining. As soon as the bomb's detected, 
though, break off the attack, and defuse the bomb. The Mummyheads won't move fast 
enough to interfere. You should have enough time to destroy the Mummyheads and the 
next set of melee squads during the next scanning period. 

Once this is done, you'll fight Neith in her final form. Fight close range. She'll 
be fast, but she fires six Comets at once, and that really hurts. In close, she's 
just fast. Dash slash her until she's gone. 


Now for the final final battle. This is the weird part. You can't beat Anubis. He 
teleports and has a forcefield. Just attack him as best you can, and once your 
health is gone, the game goes on automatic and finishes up. And you're done! 
 

RESCUE MISSIONS 

Rescue missions don't need to be done to finish the game, but they're critical to 
your final score. 

There are five possible grades: 

A - 100% population saved, less than 10% property damage
B - 100% population saved, more than 10% property damage
C - Less than 100% population saved
D - Less than 50% population saved
E - Nobody survives. 

General damage control tactics apply. Use melee attacks only. In a mixed squad, 
attack Mummyheads first, Raptors second, and Cyclops last. If you need to, leave the 
Cyclops units alone until you've destroyed everything else, since they can't damage 
buildings. Finally, remember that all rescue missions are limited times. If you go 
someplace else, you are guaranteed to lose survivors. 

1. TOWN.2
Draw off all units to an unpopulated area and destroy. 

2. TOWN.1
Damage is cumulative here, so remember to draw Tempest (the first boss) towards the 
river, and engage him at close range only. Do the same for other squads. 

3. TOWN.3
Destroy the moving group first. The rest remain stationary until you move within 
detection range. So, plant yourself in the river, use the sniper to activate each 
squad, who will come towards you. Snipe the extra groups that pop up so they come 
towards you. The last squad, hit the main street, snipe them, and draw them back 
towards the river. 

4. CITY.2
You'll be infected with the virus, but everybody's a level one unit. You should be 
able to take everybody out with simple melee attacks. Stay above the Raptors so they 
won't use the Javelins. 

5. CITY.1
Attack the Raptor squads first, since they want to attack the tower before they 
attack you. Take out all the Raptors first, Mummyheads second. 




                                 THE END