Battle Guide for Paper Mario: The Origami King

Back again for our second and final round of Paper Mario: The Origami King tips and tricks guide. The first part of my guide can be found here. Let’s check out some more tips in this battle guide! 

Battles in The Origami King

During battles in Paper Mario: The Origami King, Mario is placed in the middle of 12 rotating circles which need to be rotated and slid around to arrange the enemies in either a single file line or a group of 2×2.

To reach this goal, you can either rotate the circle around or slide a row in and out of the circle. Think of it as a puzzle to solve before the actual battle starts.

However the Boss Battles play out a little differently to a normal enemy battle. In a Boss Battle it is the Boss who is placed in the middle of field of 12 movable circles. It’s Mario’s job to move around the circles to reach the Boss in the middle to allow Mario to perform an attack. The tips and tricks below are centered around the the normal battles and boss battles. 

Tips and Tricks

50% Boost to Attack

A major part of the battles is figuring out how to shuffle the board, to line up your opponents so you can take them out of the battle without too many turns. If you manage to successfully line up your opponents Mario receives a 50% boost to his attack, its a bonus you don’t want to miss if possible.

The Clock in the Corner

The countdown clock in the top right corner of the screen can be the bane of many a gamer’s life. However, you can extend the time by pressing and holding the plus button, extending the time at a rate of 10 coins a second. You don’t need to spend more than around 200 coins to get a decent amount of extra time added to the timer this way.

Change Perspective in Battles

This might seem obvious to some folk as it is mentioned in the game, but it can be easily overlooked. If you click the right thumb stick you can move the camera to an overhead perspective. This gives a better view for lining up your opponents than the side perspective during battle.

Use Accessories

You can use accessories during battle too, but you can only equip accessories outside of battles, so it’s worth having  a look before a battle to see what you can equip. Accessories such as the Guard Plus which decreases damage received during battles. Or the Silver Heart Plus which raises your HP a lot during battles. So check out the shops you come across to buy the accessories.

More Tips and Tricks

Equip Weapons During Battles

If your weapon breaks in the heat of battle you can equip a new one by pressing the + button and even better: replacing equipment during a battle does not count as a move.

Use Items to Heal During Battle

Again it may seem obvious but you can use items to heal, like a Mushroom, this does act as a turn.

Battle Brain Training

You can use the Ring Training machine at the Battle Lab to play several ring puzzle challenges without getting hurt by enemy attacks. Completing all of the challenges earns you a trophy!

When To Press A

During battles knowing pressing the A button at the moment right before the attack is key to helping clear the battle wheel quicker.

For the Boots press A as Mario is jumping off of an enemy, just like you would if playing a platform game. Landing a perfect hit will give you an Excellent notification on the screen, which increases the damage you have dealt.

For the Hammer, you have to wait until the bright center appears and then press A to get an Excellent hit. Use the Battle Lab in Toad Town to help you prefect your timing, its pretty helpful for that.

Boss Battle Tips and Tricks

Boss Battles

Boss battles are different from the normal enemy battles in Paper Mario: The Origami King. In a Boss battle, instead of Mario being in the middle circle, it is the Boss you are battling that takes that spot. Mario is placed on the outer rings and you must chart a path to move Mario around the rings from the outside towards the boss to land on an Attack Action icon.

It’s important to know the icons that are placed around a boss battle spinning wheel as knowing what the icons mean is half the battle (pun intended). In most of the boss battles you are required to use the 1000-Fold Arms either to attack or remove something.

Battle Icons

What Does Each Icon Mean? (see the image above!)

Envelope

During a boss battle you will find an Envelope, this will contain little hints on how to damage a boss. If you’re stuck it’s always a good idea to pick up the envelope to get the hints needed to guide you to defeat the boss.

Green Arrows

Theses are direction indicators and point in the direct Mario will move once he steps on “on”, he will walk in the direction the arrow is pointing until he comes to a stop or walks on another icon.

Action Icon ( Fist)

Landing on an Action Icon allows Mario to choice a weapon of your choice to attack, either the Boots or the Hammer.

Of course the choice of weapon should be taken into account too, as using the right weapons at the right time will help in the battle immensely. You should note that if you don’t end your move on an Action icon you won’t be able to perform an attack on that particular turn.

Heart

Hearts show up during a boss battle and theses will restore some of Mario’s HP, they are very handy for getting out of a tricky situation.

Magic Circle Icon (Gold Circle With Hand)

Landing on a Magic Circle allows you to use the 1000-Fold Arms during a battle to grab a boss or whatever action is needed to do damage to that particular boss.

ON Icon (Green)

In some battles you won’t be able to use a Magic Circle icon until you have passed over a On icon.

X2 Icon (Red)

Picking up a X2 icon allows you to do double the attack damage Mario would normally do during a move. Of course it not as simple as that as you need to reach an Action Icon to be able to preform the move.

Extra Action Icon (Blue)

As the name implies this icon allows Mario to preform an extra Attack for each Action Icon Mario lands on. This enables you to strike twice with either the Boots or Hammer for each Action Icon Mario lands on.

Treasure Chest

Walk past a Treasure Chest and these will spread coins and hearts all over the battle map.

Press A To Block

During battles if you press A just at the right time before an enemy hits you, Mario will perform a block move and take less damage from the attacks. Time your attack to hit just as the expanding circle around Mario’s weapon expands to its fullest. 

Use Toads

During Boss Battles remember to use the Toads to cheer you on by pressing the Y button and spending coins. They can help by recovering Mario’s HP or the path Mario should take around the rings to the boss become visible making the progress somewhat easier.

But do remember that this will only last for that particular turn, so try and memorise the path if you do use the Toad’s help.

Collect Max Up Hearts

As you play through Paper Mario: The Origami King you will find Max Up Hearts in various places, some are given to you automatically on the course of Mario’s journey.

As you don’t earn experience during battles, finding Max Up Hearts are the way Mario increases his HP and also his attack power.

Paper Mario: The Origami King is packed full of secrets and things to find, not just the Toads. Keep your eye out in your surroundings for anything unusual and investigate it as you never know what you might find.

Learn the controls well and you shouldn’t have any problems with playing the game and if you do find yourself really stuck you can press the X button and speak to Olivia. She doesn’t always offer a great deal of help but little hints can be helpful too.

I hope you all enjoy the game. 😄