God of War 2 and 3 tech and observations

Since there is a similar discussion for GoW1, I thought I'd make this thread to gather all tech and observations for these games that weren't already covered by Zesty's guide (this one, for those who don't know) in one place.

I'll start with a few things myself.

GoW2:

- You can only cancel the running animation of the Hyperion Rush with a jump;
- If you press X during certain grabs (namely, against the High Priests and Wraiths), you will execute a super jump;
- The same applies if you perform a launcher with the Spear of Destiny;

GoW3:

- You can buffer Rage of Sparta's activation (including the animation) during two of the magic attacks (the ones with the Cestus and the Blades), or (IIRC) during a grab;
- The ability to cancel otherwise uncancellable animations (like special moves) via RoS also applies to the Boots of Hermes;
- Don't know if this really counts as buffering, but you can weapon switch during a grab. This only applies to the directional input variant, though;

One thing to note about GoW II knockbacks is that enemies fly towards where their back is facing.

Yes, if you knock them back from behind they will unexpectedly fly toward you (as their back is facing toward you).

This should help targetting knockback collisions.

Very interesting topic glad it was made

Kira wrote:One thing to note about GoW II knockbacks is that enemies fly towards where their back is facing.

Yes, if you knock them back from behind they will unexpectedly fly toward you (as their back is facing toward you).

This should help targetting knockback collisions.

Don't really get what is the utility of this, though.

Anyway, there's also this technique for Gow 2 that allows you to cancel sub weapons (i.e Hammer and Spear) specials.

Use a sub special, open the weapon/spell menu, cycle to another subweapon, exit the menu.

Credit to Phoenix Wright

>the utility of this


Skip to 4:16.

Hard to pull off and it's very situational, but maybe we should also look it from another perspective. This helps people understand that enemies don't get knocked back to the direction Kratos is facing, so positioning matters (depending on the context).

>MrWright
Its good you brought up this showcase. One of the more advanced uses of that property. Generally, its good for aiming knockback collisions (from light string ender: s6, projectile parry, piercing shards, etc)

Other observations that came to mind for GoW II.

When using rage of the titans, Translator also takes less damage.

You can max yourself out early in the game at Hades Hands and after getting Typhon's Bane. Just takes time and patience.

what's the trick with maxing after getting typhon's bane? the campfire section maybe?
also same deal with euryale's head tutorial, but that's not so early i guess

Not sure. I'm nowhere near as well-versed in GoWII compared to GoW1 (least of all an optimal way to farm red orbs, vanilla isn't really my focus). Perhaps @GodModeGOD knows something.

Ermikeng:

Its the campfire, yes. After getting the Typhon's Bane, clear the enemies. Do not cross to the right with the swinging. Instead go to the campfire. You'll notice that your Mp regen is still active. And you can basically farm orbs there.

MrWright:

GMG said it would be wise for me to MAX myself for the debilitation run. For the sake of testing, I would not get extreme amounts of orbs in early game.