Fenix’s Definitive Guide to Everything Melee

[FenixStryk 1]

I saw you playing as the Necromancer, Fenix. You will probably end up disappointed in his magic (though it may look cool).

His magic is great for Arena, but for Insane Mode he's just average (slightly better than Skeleton)

[R34P3R 1]

Fenix, eh? Haven't I played you berfore? I haven't played for a while, but I've heard your name before. Remind me if I won or lost

[ninjaadventures 1]

Fenix, eh? Haven't I played you berfore? I haven't played for a while, but I've heard your name before. Remind me if I won or lost

Lolz, because about a month ago, on this same page of the thread, you posted:

... Fenix, haven't I played you again. If you remember, tell me who one

Looking for gratification?

[Guest Zage]

You can infinite people too if you can get the X+Y combo down.

[Guest Clouds]

:impressedface: that was very long and satisfying.

That, is what she said.

[FenixStryk 1]

I noticed a few minor errors in the guide, so I corrected them. Additionally, I moved and renamed a section because I wasn't satisfied with the name I originally gave it.

Reaper, I don't remember ever fighting you in Ranked Arena. The last time I played it actively was in February.

[FEL 184]

500 posts. Congratz.

[AwNNeR 5 0]

I just wanted to post that that this has been linked to in one of my YouTube videos (in signature). Thanks!

[R34P3R 1]

I noticed a few minor errors in the guide, so I corrected them. Additionally, I moved and renamed a section because I wasn't satisfied with the name I originally gave it.

Reaper, I don't remember ever fighting you in Ranked Arena. The last time I played it actively was in February.

I haven't played for quite some a couple months, maybe I just saw your name in the leaderboards

[Xavi 0]

This really helped, thanks a lot!

[AwNNeR 5 0]

I may have time to squeeze in a tutorial video on juggling and comboing in the next 2 weeks. I'm not the best with headings and text-boxes with Pinnacle editing software, but I will certainly try. If I do make a video, I'll be sure to tell you Fenix via this forum.

[Guest TBUFAILSRSLY]

Fenix ur a poser. I'd like to see you go up against any top arena player. you'd get your balloon handed to you boi.

[The Mad Fiddler 20]

Fenix ur a poser. I'd like to see you go up against any top arena player. you'd get your balloon handed to you boi.

? Have you seen this Fenix fight before?

[AwNNeR 5 0]

Fenix ur a poser. I'd like to see you go up against any top arena player. you'd get your balloon handed to you boi.

Fenix isn't trying to brag about anything. He made this guide for the purpose of helping people learn how to juggle. He doesn't even play arena a lot, much less Castle Crashers anymore. Also, welcome to the Behemoth forums. I'm not sure what forums you come from, but we have standards here. Please don't badmouth people and at least make an effort to structure your posts with more than a few seconds of thought.

[Guest kitfighter]

I really appreciated this guide about weapons, now I know different techniques.

[drunken feedle 21]

bump

[The Forgotten Knight 86]

Aww man. I miss a lot of these old guys.

[drunken feedle 21]

Aww man. I miss a lot of these old guys.

i wish awner would get back into the game since he still has a gold account

[otto 4]

This guide will cover basic attacks, enemy weight types, the anatomy of juggles, juggle rotations, key ground combos and other miscellaneous tactics. Its goal is to explain the execution and usage of such abilities and to improve your knowledge of the various melee aspects of Castle Crashers.

Table of Contents:

A+X

Magic Jump A+X

A+Y

X and XX; Y and YY

Green Knight’s YY

Lightweight Enemies

XXY

XXYY

Middleweight Enemies

XYY

XYY vs. Beefies

XYY Hovering and Spellweaving

Heavyweight Enemies

XXXY

XXXYY

XXXYY Pre-Lv50

Miscellaneous Combos

Sprint XYX

Beefy X

XY Pre-Lv8

A+X

A+X is the most fundamental of combos in Castle Crashers. It is used offensively to start juggles, defensively to stun nearby attackers, or evasively to stay airborne without slowing movement upon landing.

Unlike normal jumps, A+X jumps remove the half-second movement delay that occurs after landing. A+X is also visually different from normal jumps as they cause your crasher to roll in mid-air.

When paired with constant diagonal movement, A+X greatly increases your chance to dodge all incoming attacks.

Magic Jump A+X

Requires: 20 into Magic

Magic Jump A+X is an improved form of A+X used primarily for evasive maneuvers such as escaping a swarm or recovering from a knockdown. I can with 99.9% assurance tell you that Magic Jump A+X will save you from just about any situation you otherwise can’t handle.

A+Y

A+Y is an alternate opener combo used to start juggles instead of A+X. Execution is similar, although it is important to press Y at the apex of the jump instead of immediately after jumping.

Using A+Y is double-edged sword. While A+Y results in a few extra hits and a more fluid initial startup of your juggles, missing with one will leave you vulnerable to a counterattack. Don’t use it in Ranked Arena; it will get you killed.

X and XX; Y and YY

Generally speaking, all combos in Castle Crashers start with an X and end with a Y. In terms of juggles specifically, juggle rotations are comprised of either X or XX, and Y or YY. The juggles covered in this guide include XXY, XXYY, and XYY.

X and XX are quick attacks that push enemies away from you. When using X attacks, you must move forward to stay in melee range of your juggle. The amount of times you hit X will determine whether your first Y is a slam or an uppercut.

Y attacks are heavy attacks that lift enemies up and increase your altitude. Since Y attacks do not push enemies away from you, it is good to use them whenever you need to turn your juggle around.

Hitting X an even amount of times (including zero) will cause the next Y attack to be a slam.

Hitting X an odd amount of times will cause the next Y attack to be an uppercut, assuming you are Level 8 or above.

Although the first Y in YY varies due to the above, the second Y is always a sword-spin.

Controlling your juggle’s movement is possible by adding in any amount of extra XXs between your Ys. For instance, if you want to quickly move across the room to catch another enemy in your current XXYY juggle, you can add two more XXs to it.

The result, XX-XXXX-YY, allows you to move more quickly across the room, but still executes the YY’s slam-spin necessary to maintain the juggle.

Bear in mind, adding extra XXs to your juggles is limited by your Agility and your altitude. If your Agility is too low, extra XXs may push enemies too far to continue juggling. If you don’t have enough altitude, extra XXs may cause you to land before you can use Y again.

Knowing how to turn your juggle around during a YY, as well as continuing in a single direction with extra XXs, is the biggest step towards becoming an expert juggler. After learning the basic rotations that will be discussed below, it would be wise to perfect these two tactics.

Green Knight’s YY

Unlike other characters, Green Knight’s YY is slower and gives you less lift. While this timing issue can be mostly compensated for with practice, it does prevent use of the XXYY juggle (mentioned later).

Lightweight Enemies

Includes: Barbarians, Thieves, Trolls, Bears, Killer Bees, Killer Beekeepers, Skeletons, Ninjas, Aliens, Saracens, Iceskimos, most early-game Coneheads

Lightweight enemies are enemies that can be juggled indefinitely. In other words, they can be dispatched in a single well-executed juggle. The most effective juggles against lightweight enemies are XXY and XXYY.

XXY

The XXY rotation is the simplest juggle in Castle Crashers. It is comprised of a double slash followed by a slam and a short pause. A short pause is added between each XXY rotation to maximize the lift gained from said Y.

XXY is often referred to by others as XXXXY, but the two are one and the same.

XXYY

The XXYY rotation is an improved version of XXY that replaces the short pause with a sword-spin. Although XXYY gets slightly less altitude per rotation, it is able to deliver five hits in the same amount of time XXY does three.

Sadly, Green Knight is unable to execute this combo without losing altitude. He is forced to rely on the slower, simpler XXY.

Middleweight Enemies

Includes: Fire Demons, Snakeys, Wizard Minions, most Beefies, Ranked Arena players

Middleweight enemies are enemies that can be juggled, but only for a short time; they are too heavy to be killed in a single juggle. The most effective juggle against middleweight enemies is XYY.

XYY

Requires: Level 8

XYY is the middleweight juggle, consisting of a single slash followed by an uppercut and a sword-spin. Unlike the lightweight juggles, XYY focuses on lifting enemies as high as possible while delivering as many hits as possible. As such, it is not recommended for use against lightweights.

XYY vs. Beefies

Beefies have two unique attributes:

One, they won’t flinch if you melee them in the torso. If you’re going to melee them, you have to hit them in the head.

Two, a Beefy won’t be knocked down until you hit them four times. On the fourth hit, they will bounce (and land if you don’t start the juggle immediately after said bounce).

Fortunately, these two attributes aren’t enough to stop you from juggling middleweight Beefies. Simply hit them twice (either with two ranged attacks or two melee swings to the head) and then go to your XYY rotation.

Keep in mind, however, that not all Beefies are middleweights. The Royal Guard Beefies, Stoveface Beefies and the Brute Beefy in Necro Wave 2 are all heavyweights.

XYY Hovering and Spellweaving

The XYY juggle possesses a unique property: it is self-sustaining. That is to say, it will function even if you’re not hitting anything. This property can be used to stay permanently airborne, and with practice even allow casting of Air RTYs while permanently airborne.

To spellweave Air RTYs, you’ll first want to reach an appreciable height with XYY. Once you do, start casting a few Air RTYs and go back to your XYY before you land. Repeat as needed.

For maximum height between XYYs, you want to shoot your Air RTYs after the uppercut (the first Y in XYY).

If the above seems confusing, here is an example of what the button input looks like:

A+XYY XYY XY AirRTY AirRTY AirRTY AirRTY XYY XYY…

Heavyweight Enemies

Includes: Royal Guards, Stovefaces, some Beefies, most end-game Coneheads

Heavyweight enemies are enemies that cannot be juggled for any duration of time. Once hit with a ranged attack or a heavy melee attack, they will fall straight to the ground. Since you can’t juggle them, you’ll have to go with the strongest melee combo: XXXYY.

XXXY

Requires: 15 into Magic

XXXY is where the root strength of the XXXYY combo comes from. It relies on the elemental damage from the Y hit to boost overall damage. The Y’s damage is dependent on which character you are using.

If you are using the original Gray Knight, it does moderate non-elemental damage.

If you are using Red Knight, it does moderate lightning damage.

If you are using Orange Knight, it does moderate fire damage and inflicts a 1x Fire DoT.

If you are using Green knight, it does moderate poison damage and inflicts a 3x Poison DoT.

If you are using Blue Knight, it does moderate ice damage and freezes the opponent in place. This specific XXXY is very useful for controlling normal heavyweight enemies, enough to warrant using just XXXY instead of XXXYY (described below).

If you are using any other character, it does heavy non-elemental damage. With the proper setup (Level 99, Snakey's Mace, Beholder), this specific XXXY can hit for 220 damage. This is the best XXXY type for pure damage.

XXXYY

Requires: 15 into Magic, Level 50

Once you reach Level 50, you get access to the full big damage boss-killing melee combo, XXXYY. It is comprised of three slashes, a magic fourth hit and a drill attack that does massive damage. The drill attack is particularly useful against bosses and stationary targets (and Cave Slimes, assuming you meet the below requirements).

Keep in mind, the XXXYY drill attack will not go off unless you make contact with the second and third X (you can miss with the first X). Also, you can switch the direction of the drill attack if you turn around before the drill activates.

XXXYY Pre-Lv50

Requires: 15 into Magic, Level 49 or lower

If you’re below Level 50, your XXXYY behaves a little differently. Instead of ending with a drill attack, it adds a sword-spin, which makes the combo easily repeatable. Against normal enemies, this variation is stronger, but against bosses it is somewhat lacking.

You can expect to get off two rotations of the Pre-50 XXXYY before the enemy you’re hitting fights back. Knock them down after the second XXXYY.

Miscellaneous Combos

Sprint XYX

Requires: Level 4

Sprint XYX is a bit of a niche combo. It consists of a sprint, a lunge, a sword-spin and a single slash. It delivers about six hits in a half-second, but since it takes two to start sprinting, Sprint XYX is mainly for hit-and-run tactics against Cave Slimes, the Ice King and Wizard Shield Form.

Beefy X

The Beefy X juggle has relatively little use to the seasoned juggler, but it’s worth mentioning for completeness. Simply eat a sandwich, jump and tap X (or Y) like mad. If done properly, you’ll be spinning your arms and slowly rising up and off the screen while juggling an enemy.

XY Pre-Lv8

The XY Pre-Lv8 ground combo is a barrage of slashes and sword-spins. You’ll never get much of a chance to use it beyond the Ram Boss on a low level character, but it hits hard and is pleasing to the ears.

Alternate between X and Y to execute. (i.e XY XY XY XY XY XY...)

At a much later date I may make a video guide to complement this guide, but at the moment I simply don’t have the video editing software to do so.

Enjoy the guide!

Beefies are actually light middleweights and can be juggled infinately.

[xDarkAnsem 1]

I believe that AI arena enemies are too.

[otto 4]

I believe that AI arena enemies are too.

the Snakeys in Peasant arena are heavy middleweights.

[xDarkAnsem 1]

Yeah, my mistake.

[ZzNarwhalianzZ 0]

Thanks definitely helped with my play style especially juggling

[Castle crashers 2 plz 0]

So quick question I’m trying to figure out this juggling thing and finding it very hard. I’ve kinda got the hang of the A+X together to get me up then 2 Y’S  XYY XYY etc. But what I don’t get is when I’m up from the A+X the YY into XYY XYY XYY etc the YY portion of the combo sometimes the second Y is a slam and sometimes it’s a twirl. If it’s a twirl I can keep going but sometimes it’s a slam? Can’t seem to consistently make it the twirl? Really struggling to juggle at all. Thanks for any help