Dust: An Elysian Tail

Dust: An Elysian Tail

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No Mercy! How to use your combos correctly.
By HomelessSkittle
Having your head handed to you on a silver platter by the enemy? Can't get a decent combo going? If you answered "Yes." to either of these questions, pay attention! I'm going to make a Sen-Mithrarin out of you!
   
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Intro
Having your head handed to you on a silver platter by the enemy? Can't get a decent combo going? If you answered "Yes." to either of these questions, pay attention! By the end of this guide, the enemy will be speaking your name in hushed tones. I'm going to make a Sen-Mithrarin out of you!
Your Arsenal
Dust has several combos at your disposal. Here they are, with fancy names included!

From Whence It Came: This first combo has you clicking the left mouse button four times. While this deals respectable damage, it leaves you open to a counter attack at the very end when you take a small pause before you can start another attack.

Ash Bound: Your second combo has you hit the left mouse button twice, then the right mouse button twice. This attack is considered your "ground throw" and will give you a bit of breathing room because the second part of your attack involves grabbing an unfortunate baddie, and smashing his face into the ground, damaging both him, and those close to him.(Not you obviously!)

Rising Phoenix: A short combo, you hit the left mouse button once, then the right mouse button once. Now this may sound useless, however, this attack will throw your target (many times multiple targets) into the air. This makes it crucial for dealing damage since I believe you deal much more pain with the airborne combos.

The Undoing: This is where you will be doing the most damage, if you follow this guide. To be able to use it, you must be in the air. Convenient we just learned about a combo that puts you and your victim in the air, huh? Once in the air, left click three times, and right click once. Dust will slash three times, grab his unfortunate opponent, and bring him down head first to the ground. What happens last is crucial. After introducing the enemy with the dirt/stone you both will pop back up into the air. Not very high, mind you, but high enough to be able to combo further. I will explain my favorite combo later on that uses this last little thing so you can deal massive amounts of damage.

The Fallen: The last piece to Dust's abilities has you hold down "S" and press the right mouse button. This will force Dust to the ground with Ahrah in front of him, cleaving anyone foolish enough to stand there. This attack has the same ability as the Dust Storm, and will activate Fidget's projectiles!
Fidget's Abilities
Your little Nimbat friend can be quite useful in a fight, increasing your hit combo, and adding a good bit of damage to your attacks. Here I will explain her attacks, and where I find them useful in a fight.

Fidget's first ability shoots out white balls, that when coupled with the Dust Storm, multiply into a storm of white energy. These will seek out enemies, even if they are off screen, and will deal quite a bit of damage if you put skill gems towards Fidget's attack. The great mobility and respectable damage make this attack my favorite, even in the end game.

The second ability you obtain after defeating Fuse. It starts out much as the same as the first one, but instead of shooting white balls, they are firey, orange ones. After using the Dust Storm, pilliars of fire rain down to give your enemies a taste of Hell. I find this a good stand-alone attack, espically when enemies huddle together. However, the pillars of flame are not very mobile, and anything out of thier immedieate range is usually safe. Also, enemies that block, like Gaius's solders, *usually* somehow block the attack. You will get the occasional hit against them, but don't bet your life on it. Stick with enemies that don't block. The Sorrowing Meadows is a good example. The zombies don't block, move very slowly, and attack in groups. Also in the Meadows, you find Necromancers that can only be hit with Fidget's projectiles. They will tend to hover close to you, making them a prime target for this ability. The Bufflo Giants and Wolves are pretty good targets for the Pillar of Flame, too.

The third and last ability is aquired after defeating Lady Teithis. This attack is different than the rest, becuase instead of starting out as a ball, it will shoot a bolt of lightning at your foes. With the Dust Storm, it is not changed. Out of the three, this attack is probably my least favorite, because if an enemy dies while being hit by this attack, then the lightning will not move on to another one, like the first projectile.
My Personal Favorite
Now that you have learned what combos you can use, I will let you in on the way I go about carving up the enemy.

I start off using the "Rising Phoenix" (M1, M2) combo, which will launch the enemy into the air. Next, I use "The Undoing" (M1, M1, M1, M2) deal some hefty damage while keeping the combo alive. While you have both Dust and the enemy heading towards the ground, you should use Fidget's projectiles. After you have slammed the enemy's head in the ground. you should have both Dust and the enemy in the air slightly above the ground. Here is where you can either repeat "The Undoing" (M1, M1, M1, M2) as many times as you like, doing damage while staying out of the reach of enemies. Only a little bit of timing is required when one opponent dies, and you must hit another into the air, while staying in the air yourself. Should you choose this however, you should not use Fidget's projectiles, as they will not be activated into thier stronger (and actually useful) form. The second option you have is to use "The Fallen" (M1 + S) to hit both the enemy you have been smacking around, and possibly several others. This should also activate Fidget's projectiles, if you used them. Follow up with "From Whence It Came" (M1, M1, M1, M1) or restart the combo and clear out an area before you can even say "Dust to dust."
Conclusion
I have given you all the combos that Dust can use. I wish to say here that this does not have to be followed to the letter. This is mearly what I have found works well, and wished to share it. If you can find something you like more, does more damage, or something else, then by all means use it.

Whether or not you chose to use my method of destruction, go forth, and save Falana!
Bonus Section! 1000+ Hit Combo
Well, here's my two cents on the subject.

Location: The Sorrowing Meadow. More specifically here:



Equipment: Ugly Pendant. Remove everything else to ensure you get the combo.

Strategy: Use Fidget's Lightning Ability while standing in the autosave area. This will give you an infinate source of energy so the Nest won't be able to spawn Bees, and any that do come out will be shocked and retreat.
*Note: If you spam Fidget's 'Ability Button' too much then you can run out of energy. No worries. Just wait about one second and you'll be back at full.

Result:


Enjoy!
28 Comments
aaroc 5 Apr, 2020 @ 7:17pm 
Using Fidget's abilities is so much easier using a controller. I just run around jumping and spinning like a mad man while fidget shoots lightning everywhere and enemies drop like flies
HomelessSkittle  [author] 17 May, 2017 @ 4:15pm 
@KruhlSentru Yeah, Fidget's abilities all need to be "activated" in a sense - including the lightning. I just felt that the lightning damage was lackluster when comparied to the original "orb" ability. Her powers are also extremely useful late in the game when Gaius' Soldiers parry all of your attacks. You can also remap Fidget's ability button to something else to make it a little bit easier to use if you wanna try her powers out.
KruhlSentru 15 May, 2017 @ 7:31pm 
I could be mistaken, but I think the catch with the lightning is that you need to use the dust storm on the enemy hit by lightning, not the lightning orbs. Of course, personally, I prefer the blade over fidget's moves. I use the pillars of fire for those ghosts that summon zombies, and that's the majority of my usage of fidget. I just kinda forget to use her powers, and the middle mouse button just feels like an awkward button to use as well. *shrug*
Shieldbearer 11 Jul, 2015 @ 8:03am 
The lightning shorts out the invisibility cloaks, if I remember correctly. Great guide, thanks for the info on projectiles and The Fallen.
lucille_lieu 27 Mar, 2015 @ 3:15am 
Thanks for telling me that "The Fallen" activates projectiles :D that will be really useful!
evil clown dinner 17 Nov, 2014 @ 5:29pm 
I tried the personal favorite, and when I cleared out the enemies, instead of saying 'Dust to Dust', I said 'Shut up, Fidget!'

It was the first thing with three words that popped into my head, and I felt like quoting Dust at the moment :D
HomelessSkittle  [author] 7 Nov, 2014 @ 12:22pm 
I think the button to swap abilities is "F" by default. I may be wrong though.
Zecknel 6 Nov, 2014 @ 7:38pm 
How I even use the lightning or Fireball abilites?
Mayo 23 Feb, 2014 @ 9:34pm 
My favorite combos are the Undoing and Ash Bound
I mean, who doesn't lilke smashing enemies facefirst to the ground with a sword?
HomelessSkittle  [author] 2 Feb, 2014 @ 11:25am 
Updated to include how I get 1000+ hit combos!