Honing Your Combat Skills

• God of War 2 requires you to be a skilled combatant. In order to efficiently navigate the game world and survive, familiarity with the game's controls is a necessity. However, skilled players will also recognize the fact that different types of enemies will require different sets of strategies. Advanced players will also understand the importance of defensive maneuvers.
  
  Early in the game, you'll face weak minions, and defensive skills won't really be necessary. Simple ground combos can be used to effectively decimate undead soldiers. Plume of Prometheus is a very effective ground combo against waves of weak enemies, and can be executed by pressing Square, Square, Triangle on the Playstation 2 control pad. The final hit will cause splash damage, temporarily incapacitating your foes. If you become overwhelmed, try using the Cyclone of Chaos combo, executed by pressing L1 and Square together. This will hit all of the enemies around you, and is the perfect counter to enemies approaching from behind.
  
  More powerful enemies will require more advanced strategies. Stronger foes tend to be resistant to ground attacks, and must be launched into the air. Many of Kratos's stronger attacks will execute a launch, which can be followed up with aerial attacks. Try the Square, Square, Triangle combo again, but this time hold the Triangle button to charge up before releasing the combo.
  
  Some enemies can be attacked in the air, while others will drop too quickly. For the latter type of enemy, try grappling them with the Circle button immediately after launching.
  
  

Defensive Maneuvers

• The most powerful enemies, including bosses, will be have to fought very defensively. Reckless strategies will often result in Kratos' death. A short combo such as Square, Square, followed by a roll maneuver, will chip away at your opponent's health while keeping you safe from harm.
  
  Larger opponents can't be launched, but you can execute aerial attacks while avoiding ground-targeted damage by double jumping and performing a simple combo such as Rampage of the Furies--press L1 and Circle simultaneously.