Fire Pro Wrestling Audience Mode FAQ by G-Bomber -------------- Version 1.0 Last Updated: July 1st, 2002 -------------- Contact Info: g-bomber1@cox.net (E-Mail) thegbomber (AIM) -------------- Note: -------------- Though I love getting e-mail about my work, please write "FAQ" in the subject line somewhere...thanks! Doing this also assures that I will read it, as I have learned(many times over) that on a bad day, there's a slim chance I just *COULD* be wrong... and the readers always point out errors.. ^_- -------------- Table of Contents ----------------- 1) Update History 2) General Information 3) Universal Audience Mode Truths 4) Specific Audience Mode Tactics 5) Thanks'n'Greets 6) Copyright Info -------------- 1) Update History -------------- 01Jul02, 1:16PM: FAQ started. 01Jul02, 9:06PM: V1.0 done. Submitted shortly thereafter. -------------- 2) General Information -------------- So, we're at a year after the release of the game, and there's STILL the questions about audience mode popping up on messageboards. Like, who to use for this style, or how to beat that style, or just how this style is impossible. It's not. I'm going to tell you how to dominate the Audience Styles. To quote the great Scott Adams, I'm opening my kimono to you while doing jumping jacks. Basically, you'll know how to beat all the styles, and walk away knowing more then you ever wanted to know about them. You may even walk away with some real ring psychology. And since this game is so realistic, that's not a bad thing... that's a great thing. First, we're going to learn about things that severely your rating in ALL audience styles. Bad, good, you'll learn it. After we learn the general stuff, we'll get down and get specific, with a tour de force through the styles, in the order you should go through them, in my order of difficulty. My way builds you up to increasingly more difficult styles, the ones that are hard to perform in. Remember though, I'm telling you how I got the best ratings. If it doesn't work for you, take some of my strategies, and twist them to your playing style. No problem there. Hell, send it in, and I'll probably add it... And this is NOT a good playing guide, as in, for winning a lot. This guide solely is for getting high ratings. You can lose and get 100%, you know. Of course, there's the people who prefer to put in the cheat for all the characters and moves. I'm usually one of them, but I've stuck by the honest way, and I feel very satisfied. I suggest you do the same, it's very rewarding. But hey, if cheating yourself out of this wonderful mode is your thing, go right ahead. Now, onto the show! -------------- 3) Universal Audience Mode Truths -------------- Note: These apply to all styles EXCEPT Stoic, in which everything is different. I'll throw a note on the end of each point, and give some insight into Stoic. +General -It's PERFECTLY FINE to lose a match that you get a high rating on, unless you're on the tier where you can't lose. Dropping a few matches doesn't hurt at all. -Similarly, it's perfectly fine to get a low rating. For example, on Lucha, I was matched against a non-lucha. I couldn't get anything above a 75%, and I needed 80%. So, I gave up, but since my average for all the matches before were about 83%, it just averaged me down to 81%. I did have a few close calls, like getting 80% exact on the third tier of Lucha. I find it helps to have a calculator handy. Then, you can figure what you can afford to lose, and what you need to make it. -------------- +Edits -I prefer to just use my own edits. Except for my edit of The Rock, all my Audience Mode winners are custom edits. -Edits are better for the sole reason that you COMPLETELY know the moveset and abilities of the character(at least you should =). Nothing worse then trying to remember what the button combo was to pin, but going for a submission and winning, destroying your rating. -------------- +Pinning *Near Falls -If you don't know what a Near Fall is, it's when the ref is counting, and the pinned wrestler kicks out RIGHT before the 3 is counted. The ref barely stops his hand from hitting the mat, and puts his 2 fingers up, signifying that it was only a two count. Most main events, in Puro and American wrestling have a few of these. -The reason Near Falls are so effective is because it shows great resilience in the pinned wrestler. But ONLY after a high spot or finisher! Or at least a signature move. What's more nerve-racking: -------------- 1) Random Guy takes a Chokeslam from Random Dude off the turnbuckle! After a bit of rest, Random Dude drags Random Guy to the center, and covers. 1......2......thre-NO! BY GAWD, HE GOT THE SHOULDER UP![/JR Voice] or 2) Random Guy hits Random Dude with a Snap Mare, and covers... 1......2......thre-NO! BY GAWD, HE GOT THE SHOULDER UP![/JR Voice] -------------- If you know anything about wrestling, it's 1. It has a high spot(anything off the turnbuckle is a high spot, springboard/running out moves are high spots, AB moves are strong, so they CAN be high spots, things like the cage exploding is a high spot), and we're calling the Chokeslam a signature move, so it's gravy. A near fall after that really gets the crowd behind a match. If you watched WWF in the Invasion days, Kurt Angle was the Near Fall MACHINE! 3Ds, Stunners and Chairs, Oh My! NOTHING COULD KEEP HIM DOWN! And remember what happened? The crowd LOVED him. Love *your* Near Falls. They are your god. -Perform a near fall by letting go of/escaping a pin by tapping B right before the 3 is counted. Each ref counts a little different, so try out some pins BEFORE trying a near fall. Get into the pin rhythm. I nod my head to the counting 'beat', and that helps a lot. Remember, if you're REALLY trying to escape a pin, hold B. You needn't do anything else. Button mashing gets you MORE 'pinned', and you have a lessened chance to escape. -Near Falls can single handedly raise your rating for most styles by as little as 2%, but in some matches, by changing how I got the near falls, I've had a 7% difference! That's PER Near Fall! That's a pretty good chunk of rating. -Don't overdo Near Falls. In a 25 minute match, I aim for 5-6. And they're usually in the last few minutes. *Stoic: Don't pin. Don't near fall. Just DON'T PIN. -------------- +Submissions -Simple. Don't use them to finish a match unless it's your finisher. If you've had a GREAT match, then it can be a signature move. It's an easy way to win, and the crowd knows it. In short, use them for weardown and if they're signature moves. This is the NOT COOL part of submissions: Rock hits the Spinebuster on Taker, and sets up for the People's Elbow! He throws the elbow pad.... and then locks on a sleeper! Taker taps! Rating goes from 90%+ to ~75%. This is the OK part of submissions: Benoit hits his German Suplexes on Jericho, who comes running... Crippler Crossface! Jericho taps! See, that's OK because the Crossface is his finisher, and the Suplexes beforehand were signature moves. *Stoic: Submissions are a good way to win. That's about it. -------------- +Taunts *When? -In Showman style, before/after a signature move/finisher, and within 3-4 moves of the finisher. IE, Austin's Middle Fingers right before the Stunner. -In all other styles(barring Stoic, of course), just use taunts to signal for the finisher, as above, within 3-4 moves of the Finisher. If the win comes after calling for the end and hitting the finisher, that's a large ratings boost. *Why? -Because you can. Seriously though, correct taunting can get the crowd behind you or booing you, if you're a heel. Either way, that's a good crowd reaction. -Not to mention the strength bonus taunting gets you when you have the Stardom special skill. More strength means a higher chance of a Critical. *Stoic: Don't even think about it. -------------- +Criticals Note: Some styles, like Stoic, love Criticals, some don't. I've shown them below. The ones that do give you around 10-15% for a Critical, the ones that don't take that much away. -Honestly, I'd have to say that you should AVOID THESE LIKE THE PLAGUE. Getting a Critical win in Lucha, Strong and King's Road styles dropped my rating to ~70%. -Conversely, winning with a Critical in Stoic, Showman and Hardcore is usually good. -Don't just GO for the Critical. Usually, you just end up hitting the same move OVER AND OVER, and the crowd hates that. If it doesn't Critical once, and you _REALLY_ want a Critical, then try twice more. Make sure to mix moves in between the two attempts. After that, just suck it up, take the win, and try next fight. *Stoic: Criticals are your gods. Ignore the above, and keep going for it. -------------- 4) Specific Audience Style Tactics -------------- -Stoic Style Easily the easiest style. All you have to do is win. Beat the other guy into submission. There's two ways to go about this style. There's the hard way. And, there's the easy way. Here's what the game says about Stoic Style: "This style requires that you beat your opponent as quickly and efficiently as possible." That, my dear readers, is the HARD way. The easy way? G-Bomber says: "This style requires that you get a Critical." Once I learned this, I breezed through Stoic without trying. First of all, use someone with a Striking Critical type and lots of Striking moves. I used an edit. If you would like to do that as well, use the Critical Move list on GameFAQs. Load the edit up with moves that have are a Strike Critical. I got great results with my grab AB moves being Open Hand Jab Combo, Dynamite Punch Rush, Upper Open Hand Jab and Standing High Kick. Now, here's the match strategy. We all know that when you beat someone badly enough, they are knocked out. They look like they've been Critical'd, and the ref will call the match. Pick them up before he calls the match. Keep beating the living hell out of them. When the word "Critical!" appears on the screen, you let the ref call the match. You just got 85%+. Rinse and repeat. Remember, just a constant beatdown, don't let them get ANY hits in. Well, they can, but you should knock them out. And don't let them fall out of the ring after they've been KO'd, as you can't go out and rescue them. After knocking all those people senseless, you get to do it again while making them bleed in... -Hardcore Style Also quite an easy style. On paper, at least. It IS easy, but the difficulty is all dependant on who you're fighting. You do fight some guys that aren't all that hardcore, so you're going to have to take care of business. Basically, choke, sickle, fork, headbutt and piledrive your way to the top. Illegal weapon use and head dropping moves are the way to go. I, of course, used an edit, but you oughtta do fine with Master Tohgoh, he's in the Free section. Making hardcore edits is easy stuff. If it drops them on their head or involves something illegal, it's fair game. This style has a much wider variety of things to do then Stoic, but it's still pretty simple. Basically, be evil. Make 'em bleed, then drop them on their face some more, and use more sharp foreign objects! Take 'em outside, and compress their neck a bit on the concrete. Should be a cakewalk. Just use the outside for a lot of the match, making sure to slam their head into the railing every so often, dropping them near the protective padding with a piledriver. See if you can go around the outside of the ring at least once while putting the hurt on your opponent. Bleeding is almost a must. Try to get hurt yourself, the crowd enjoys your pain. What a bunch o' freaks. And don't worry about Criticals. If you get 'em, that's good, if not, that's cool too. Ouchies. After causing much blood to be spilt, hang up the sickle, and pick up a pair of sunglasses, it's time to strut your stuff in... -Showman Style It's time to entertain the millions(AND MILLIONS!) of the fans out there. This style is the entryway to the to the others. Unlike the past two styles, you actually need to be beaten a bit in this style, and that gets you ready for the next two styles. In short, get out there and shake that moneymaker. Use mostly anyone from the APW or AWG stables. I used a Rock edit. When making your own edit for this style, use a nice array of special moves. That means, keep them spaced out. It's sure tempting to throw them all on your AB moves, but you should have a flying attack specialty, a submission specialty, a back grapple specialty, and a turnbuckle specialty. This insures that in nearly ANY situation, you still have a move the crowd loves. Your finisher can be anything, though I recommend front AB moves, as the crowd seems to like those finishers the most. Use as much as your moves as you can, try to use at least one move from every situation. Most of all, at least for this style, make and STICK to a character for your edit. Does he hit a signature clothesline as much as he can? Does he hit his finisher from nowhere? All these nuances actually matter to the fans, and having a great character can raise your rating quite a bit. Taunt a fair amount. Before -OR- after a special move, and ALWAYS signal for your finisher by taunting within a few moves of it. Try to finish the match with your finisher. Use all your signature moves throughout the match, but not more then a few times. Finisher should be used twice, maximum. Throw in a Near Fall after one of your finishers, and then REALLY finish it. Dominate the beginning of the match, let yourself get the dickens beat out of you, and make a comeback. The crowd loves that. Oh, and a lot of people have trouble with Andre the Giant. Since you're most likely going through this style with an edit that has the 'Stardom' special skill, simply taunt when you're at low health and you get a strength boost, so it's like a second wind against Andre. And DON'T let him hit you more then a few times. He WILL own you if you let him get a quarter of a chance. Just stick to a lot of B moves, and when he FINALLY starts staying down, hit your A moves, and then AB moves aren't far off. You can also just wear him down with standing strikes, or make him run by whipping him off the ropes...again and again. He'll tire soon, and you can just start using strikes as he attempts to catch his breath. Just don't try many lift moves, and you'll do fine. Also, Vince McMahon spends most of the match running from you. Just get him in a corner, and he'll pay for making the fans wait for his blood. After entertaining the World, nay... the UNIVERSE, hang up the title, relax the eyebrow and grab a water bottle, you'll need it in... -Strong Style Here's where the difficulty ramps up. Have a nice long match(20-30 minutes in game) and the fight will be even the entire way through. Very simple. The only problem is staying up that long, as the computer is good at pissing you off by pinning you or slapping on some rest hold and making you tap. The only advice I can give is to make your hits better then their hits. Breathe, all that good stuff. Use someone with good defense and awareness. I find Kenta Kobashi to be pretty good in this style. The way I do it is to beat up on him for a minute, he beats me for a minute, I beat him up for two minutes, he beats me for two minutes, I beat him for three minutes, he beats me for three, etc. until he gets a near fall on me. Then, I beat up on him for the win. Usually works. Just have it real close, and pull out a 'barely' victory. After showing all those 'Strong' people how you're so much better, throw the water to the side, and grab some Gatorade, it's time for.... -King's Road Style This is VERY similar to Strong Style. Tremendously so. In fact, Kobashi is still one of the best choices, and the timed attacking I described above works as good as it did in Strong Style. You beat him until 1:00, he beats you until 2:00, you until 4:00, him until 6:00, you until 9:00, him until 12:00, and you just take over and beat him for awhile, winning at 15:00. The only difference is that King's Road is a little more action packed then Strong Style, and the last few minutes should have the eventual winner really beating the other guy down, as King's Road likes a clear winner. After walking down the Road, wipe the sweat off, lose a few pounds, and grab a mask, it's time for... -Lucha Style This is inevitably the Style people need help on when they need help. I myself just beat it, and I found the secret. Don't stop moving. I'm serious, that is just so important. It's not so much of "Don't Stop" as, "Make sure you're doing SOMETHING". Your character should be fast, be able to run-up and all that. Have the best breathing, and don't really worry about bloody stats, most Luchas don't have any bloodying moves. You know how I start my matches? Lots of B moves, if one lands near the turnbuckle, I run up it and hit a Mad Splash. That usually meant by 1 minute in, I had already hit a top rope move, and that's very fast. Just use all your top rope moves, your slingshot in/out moves, your running out move(I usually tried the running out move twice, and the slingshot twice.) Do standing turnbuckle moves to the outside, that's damn lucha like. Nothing like jumping 5 feet down and landing in a Swing DDT. Basically, use lots of fast moves, and end with your finisher(if it's a turnbuckle or flying attack), or a Rana of some type. You don't even need to let your opponent get any moves in. I did the last two tiers of Lucha without getting more then a few moves done on me. My AB moves were Sole Butt Rush, Ultra Rana, Jumping Neckbreaker, and the High-Jump Facebuster. Finisher was the Shooting Star Press. -------------- After all that, shrug out of the Azteca Suit..... you're done! =) -------------- -------------- 5) Thanks'n'Greets -------------- -Thanks- Spike - We all know why. Nintendo - For this GBA thing. GameFAQs - For hosting this. Some post at the No Mercy boards - For saying FPW rocked and sparking my interest. The Endless Hordes of Newbs - For bringing freshness to the scene, oh, and asking too many damn questions.... =) Summer - For giving me time to write this. My Teachers - For not failing me, so I HAD a Summer. ;) Hewlett Packard - For the CD Burner that's letting me listen to so much music right now. Hulk Hogan - For we all need someone to laugh at... =) -Greets- C-CWA and M-DWF(yes, M-DWF) - Y'all rock. Kingpin's your god, eh? =) Gamelans FPW Board - The peeps that got me into the game, after hearing about it. Nice stop in my day. -------------- 6) Copyright Info -------------- Fire Pro Wrestling Audience Mode Guide (c) 2002 G-Bomber -EOF-