7. The Steeds of Time

Climb the wooden wall to the left of the walkway after stepping off the chain.
Walk up the stairs and open the --GREEN CHEST-- and --BLUE CHEST-- on the side
of the door if needed. The door requires the Horse Keeper's Key in order to
unlock it. Walk over to the back of the area near the blue chest and find the
switch on that side then pull it to make the metal bar lower a rope above the
wall you just climbed. Run back to the other side and quickly slide across the
rope. The metal piece will rise back up after a few seconds. Walk over to the
man standing in front of the door on the other side to trigger a cutscene.

BOSS: THESEUS

Attacks:

Scepter Stab: Theseus stabs forward with his scepter.
How to avoid: Block or roll.

Scepter Combo: Theseus moves forward with two stabs followed by a scepter
uppercut.
How to avoid: Block or roll.

Uppercut: Theseus uppercuts Kratos with his scepter.
How to avoid: Block or roll.

Ice Eruption: Theseus powers his scepter with the element of ice then runs to
the side and plunges his scepter into the ground making ice stalagmites surface
from the floor.
How to avoid: Roll/Stay away from the ice stalagmites.

Counter Grab: Theseus grabs Kratos with his scepter while Kratos attacks and
holds him in place then places him on the ground and stabs him.
How to avoid: Rotate the analog in the direction displayed on the screen.
Kratos will not take any damage if the grab is broken.

To make this battle easier, I suggest that you have Lv. 2 Athena's Blades and
Lv. 2 Typhon's Bane.

The first part of the battle is fairly straightforward. Guard his attacks or
roll away from his attacks then counter him with [] hits from the Athena's
Blades. Keep a watch for his scepter to glow blue and that will signal that he
is about to attack - sometimes it doesn't glow though. Keep in mind that he
will perform a three hit combo sometimes instead of a single hit. Be ready for
his counter grab while attacking him, he will always catch Kratos with this
counter eventually. Once he grabs Kratos, rotate the left analog in the
direction shown on the screen to break free from Theseus' hold.

When he charges his scepter with ice elemental move away from him as he runs to
the side and hits the ground since ice stalagmites will surface around him.
You can hit him as he charges his scepter for some free hits though, just make
sure to stand in between the ice stalagmites as they surface.

Counter Grab Action Sequence

Theseus grabs Kratos with his scepter and holds him in place but Kratos
quickly (GRABS) Theseus' Scepter and throws him to the ground.

Theseus will eventually jump to the top of the entrance to the building. He
will start a whole different set of attacks at this point.

Ice Shots: Theseus fires a single iceball at Kratos.
How to avoid: Roll right before each one hits Kratos and get ready to roll
again.

Ice Shot Barrage: Theseus hurls three iceballs at Kratos.
How to avoid: Roll.

Ice Stalagmites: Theseus pounds the ground and makes ice stalagmites rise from
the ground.
How to avoid: Roll/Stay away from the ice stalagmites.

Once he is on top of the building he will shoot ice shots toward Kratos. Roll
to avoid each shot and shoot him with Typhon's Bane when you get the chance.
Its possible to get a "roll, shoot, roll, shoot" pattern at this point. After
hurling enough ice shots, he will summon two Minotaurs to deal with you. Fight
off the Minotaurs, but keep your eyes on Theseus since he will shoot multiple
ice shots at you and make ice stalagmites surface from the ground while the
Minotaurs are present.

Use Rage of the Titans to quickly weaken the Minotaurs. The good aspect of the
Minotaurs is that they will cough up a bunch of blue orbs once you perform a
finishing move on them allowing you to replenish your magic gauge and fire more
shots at Theseus through Typhon's Bane. Don't stay near the walls of the
building or he will always summon ice stalagmites around the building. A
useful trick that I have found while fighting the Minotaurs without Rage of
Titans is that Theseus' single shot iceballs will miss if Kratos moves to
either of the sides while attacking (constant [] taps), so you can attack a
Minotaur while moving to the side and not have to worry about the ice shots.

Theseus will eventually fall and hang from the top of the entrance and have a O
button icon over his head. Run over to him once he has the icon over his head
and press the O button from the ground to finish him off.

Action Sequence

Kratos throws his blades into Theseus up above then @PULLS@ him downward
and punches him toward the door. Kratos walks toward him and quickly
impales Theseus with his scepter. After taking the key, Kratos places it
in the door to the building and opens it then shoves Theseus' head
between the doors with his foot and >>SLAMS<< the door multiple times
against Theseus' head then kicks him through the door and grabs the key
again.

Fun Fact: One interesting aspect of this kill animation is that you are not
required to tap the button or finish the sequence at all to finish off Theseus.
If you're like me, however, it's hard to pass up multiple door slams to an
enemy's head. After playing Shadow of Rome and this game, I have become a pure
sadist when it comes to mercy.

Titan Mode

Theseus is much harder on Titan Mode, mainly once he gets on the roof of the
building. Make sure to have level 2 Athena Blades for this battle - level 2
Typhon's Bane will not help out at all since it only adds rapid fire and
another useless ability for this battle.

When you are fighting him on the ground, get used to his attacks and block them
(3-hit combo, upward slash, stab). Try to break his counter grab each time -
the counter take minimal damage even on Titan mode, so it's no big deal if you
miss it a few times. Hit him with the combo [], /\ each time that you block
one of his attacks and you have a good chance of knocking him down. Stay on
top of him with [] attacks the entire time that he is grounded and do not let
up until he gets up. His ice stalagmite attacks are nearly instant death on
Titan mode, so you MUST avoid them.

Once he gets on top of the building, fire off your Typhon's Bane arrows and
make sure that the combo gauge on the side of the screen is rising (that means
that you are hitting him). Fire off arrows until the Minotaurs arrive.
Immediately run up and start to attack one of the Minotaurs with Plume of
Prometheus, but back off as it starts to walk. It is really a good idea to use
your Rage of the Titans to remove one from the battlefield immediately through
the use of [] attacks; otherwise, stand at a distance and use constant Plume of
Prometheus attacks to knock them back. Make sure to grab a Minotaur once the O
button icon appears above them and kill them for some extra blue orbs that you
can use once the two of them are dead. Make sure that you pay attention to
what the Minotaur is doing (as well as his companion and Theseus) before you
rush into him blindly with the finishing blow. Just because one of them has an
icon over their head that doesn't mean that they won't still wipe the floor
with you.

The second battle can get very hard since you must watch the Minotaurs' attacks
and Theseus' ice shots and stalagmites. Make sure to roll from Theseus'
attacks. For the Minotaurs, roll away whenever they try to perform any type of
attack except for their ram. When both of them ram, make sure to hold down on
guard until you hear the full two blocking clangs or they might hit you. The
second battle is all about maintaining yourself throughout the course of the
long battle. Stay focused and remember that the battle is very doable - it is
just LONG! Memorize the Minotaurs' attacks and be sure to roll from each one
of Theseus attacks.

Kratos will acquire the **HORSE KEEPER'S KEY** after the battle. Don't go
through the door just yet after the battle. Walk over to the right side of the
current platform and move down the steps then climb down the wooden wall to
find --2 UMARKED CHESTS-- at the bottom. The chest on the right contains a
++GORGON EYE (8/?)++.

Climb back up and use the Horse Keeper's Key to unlock the doors where the
brutal boss kill took place. Walk inside and take note of the --RED CHEST--
and --REPLENISHER CHEST--. Examine the book on the back pedestal if you want
then walk up the corridor on the right side. Climb the ladder and open the
--RED CHEST-- in the back of the walkway. Move toward the middle portion of
the area and jump on top of the high platform to open yet another --RED CHEST--
at the top. Jump and slide across the overhead rope. This will take you back
to the first locked door that you came to.

Use the Horse Keeper's Key to unlock the doors. Walk inside and place the
Horse Keeper Key into the emblem on the middle pedestal in the back of the room
for a cutscene that will result in Kratos gaining **CRONOS' RAGE**. Try out
your new power on the Guardians that attack. This magic places an electric
sphere in the area that will send out electricity to stun nearby enemies.
Cronos' Rage is excellent for crowd control and placing a constant hurt on
enemies. Now that you have two magic attacks, you will need to cycle through
them with D-pad (Directional pad) to select each one.

Walk out of the room through the left exit and climb the ladder outside.
You'll notice a save point up above and to the right. Go up the walkway that
leads to the save point and run to the right side to find an --UNMARKED CHEST--
on the far right walkway containing a ++PHOENIX FEATHER (5/?)++. Walk back
toward the middle and open the --RED CHEST-- on the high platform near the save
point. Walk around the left side and move down that walkway that leads to the
front of the steeds.

Front of the Steeds

A narrow path will lead you to a platform with four colored levers. Take a
moment to survey the area and go ahead and climb the wall to the left. Pull
yourself up then drop down the set of platforms to the right and open the
--UNMARKED CHEST-- containing a ++GORGON EYE (9/?) on the snout of the steed.
Walk back up to the middle head portion of the steed and take note of the
device with glowing green beams powering it. There is also a Harpy on top.
This Harpy will help you to get to the other steeds once activated. Climb back
down the wall and walk back over to the four colored levers.

STEEDS OF TIME PUZZLE

(Note: Even though the on-screen icon will show a rotating analog, you only
need to pull each lever to the left.)

GREEN: Grab the green lever and rotate it to the left to make the circular
portion of the green device open on the closest left steed. Quickly climb up
the wall and run toward the section of the green device that opened. Place the
Horse Keeper's Key into the middle of the open portion to break the beam
holding the Harpy in place. The Harpy will fly over to the steeds on the left
side. That Harpy will serve as a grapple point to help Kratos reach the steed
with the blue device on top.

RED: Grab the red lever and rotate it to the left to make the circular portion
of the red device open on the closest steed to the right. Run over to the
first right steed and quickly climb the wooden wall. A few Harpies will attack
at the bottom but you can outrun them by moving up the wall by tapping X while
climbing. Place the Horse Keeper's Key into the device before it closes. The
Harpy on the device will fly over to the right set of steeds and this will
allow you to reach the steed with the yellow device. Take care of the
remaining Harpies surrounding you if they are not dealt with yet.

BLUE: Grab the blue lever and rotate it to the left to make the blue device on
the far right steed open. You will need to quickly climb up the wooden wall of
the first right steed then jump and grapple to the Harpy and swing across to
the far right steed with the blue device. Quickly climb the platform by
jumping up them and place the Horse Keeper's Key into the blue device.

YELLOW: Grab the yellow lever and rotate it to the left to make the yellow
device on the far left steed open. Quickly climb up the wall on the left then
jump and swing on the Harpy to get across to the steed with the yellow device.
Some Harpies will attack along the way, but just ignore them for now and reap
vengeance later.

Once all four devices are activated, return to the middle platform where the
levers were and press R1 to lift the giant middle switch to make the platform
move. Now walk to the front of the platform and press R1 to make an Action
Sequence occur. Rotate the left analog in the directions displayed on the
screen to make a cutscene play.

Action Sequence

Kratos swings his blades then (WHIPS) the right steed, (WHIPS) the left
steed, (WHIPS) the right steed again, @DOUBLE WHIPS@ the left steed, and
finally uses both blades to @WHIP@ both the right and left steed.

The Steeds of Time

Backtrack all the way to the chain that connects the steeds to the island.
Leap off the top of the building where the save point is located. Guardians
and Minotaurs will attack once you land on the platform. Use a little Rage of
the Titans mixed with Cronos' Rage to subdue them. Gaia will tell Kratos to
get back to the island and that his journey has just begun then a gate will
open that will allow you to leave the area. You don't need to use the
suspended rope above the open gate, so climb down the wall below the rope. A
single Guardian will stand at the bottom and attack but nothing major. Cross
the very long chain once again.