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Dragon Ball: Sparking Zerofeatures countless character episodes, and depending on how you perform in these episodes, you may unlock alternate story routes. However, some of the opponents that you encounter in these episodes may be quite challenging to deal with and the only way to progress further is by defeating them fair and square.
The first opponent that you encounter in Goku’s character episode is Raditz, and staying true to the lore, Raditz is a mountain of a challenge for Goku from back then. Fortunately, you don’t have to defeat Raditz immediately and can focus on your survival, as he’ll kidnap Gohan and retreat after a short battle.
How To Begin The Fight Against Raditz
After Raditz retreats, Goku is faced with a choice. You can either partner up with Piccolo or choose to work alone from here and out. If you choose to work alone, it willmark the beginning of the alternate Side-by-Side route, and you will face Raditz with the help of Krillin at the Raditz vs. The Turtle School node.
Here, you must not only defeat Raditz, but you have to do soin a limited timeto progress further into the Side by Side route. If you fail to defeat Raditz within the time limit, thestory route will shift back to the main story, and you will resume at the point where Goku will sacrifice himself in order to defeat Raditz.
However, if you choose to work with Piccolo, you will also have todefeat Raditz in a limited time in the Rematch and Result node. A victory here will transition you toGoku’s Sparking Episodesin the Pushing The Limit route.
Regardless of your choice against Piccolo’s proposal, if you want to transition to the alternate routes, you will have to defeat Raditz as quickly as possible.
How To Beat Raditz
Raditz is far stronger than Goku, and you’ll quickly notice that just surviving against him is a tremendous task, let alone actually defeating him, and that, too, in a limited time.
Part of the reason this is such a difficult fight is that it happens right at the beginning of the character episode, and many players mightnot be used to the combat mechanics yet.
To defeat Raditz, you shouldimmediately try to charge your Ki and switch to Sparking Mode.Regular melee attack combosareno match against Raditz, and he’llquickly launch hard-hitting counterattacks at you. But, if you’re in Sparking Mode, you might be able to get a full combo onto him and then unleash a Super Kamehameha as he’s knocked away.
Raditzplays a bit passively and focuses more on counterattacks and Beam Ki Blasts, which gives you enough opportunity to repeatedly charge your Ki and shift to Sparking Mode whenever you’re out of it. Furthermore, after a short duration, you will be able toswitch out with Krillin or Piccolo, depending on the node, which can also help out a lot in this fight if Goku loses a lot of HP.
The time limit of the battle is unclear, but you have to try to be as fast as possible and not waste a single second if you want to come out victorious. Otherwise, the battle will end in Raditz’s favor, shifting you back to the Saiyan Arc.
If you’re unable to switch to Sparking Mode because you don’t have any Skill Points left,try to defend instead of approaching the opponentwith melee attacks, as Raditz will immediately counter most of your attacks.
Even in Sparking Mode, it’s recommended to cut your melee combos short and knock him away before Raditz has time to break free bypressing the Ki Blast buttonto knock him away and then throwing your ultimate blast.
If you don’t want to play defensively, you can try using grab. Grab Raditz and throw him onto the terrain, and then launcha Beam Ki Blast as he’s knocked down to deal significant damage. Raditz will rarely break the grab, but you have to be careful because you might miss with this move as grabbing requires you to be in extremely close range of the target.
Using Kamehameha at close range is also a good option because Raditz might not avoid it, giving you free damage. It can be good to dowhile waiting for the first Skill Point to chargebefore you’re able to shift to the Sparking Mode.
After you’ve switched to Sparking Mode, you have to take every opportunity you may get to start your offense on the target. You can tryusing Super Perception to counter Raditz’s melee attacks, which will knock him away, and you can then initiate a follow-up attack or justthrow the Super Kamehameha on his wayto deal a massive chunk of damage.
You don’t have to completely defeat Raditz to progress on the alternate routes. You only have to wear him down until only a little of his HP is left in his last health bar by the time the invisible timer runs out. If you’ve been doing well as intended, you will hear Raditz yell something about Goku’s power level being too high before the fight ends.
Repeatedly switching to the Sparking Mode andspamming Super Kamehamehaafter every combowill be your bread and butter in this fight. If you see Raditz cast any special attacks that begin with a cutscene, you can simplypress RB/R1/E right after the cutscene ends to perform a High-Speed Evasionand avoid all damage.
Raditz’s counterattacks can be fairly annoying, but you’re able to avoid thoseby pressing RB/R1/E just as he teleports behind you to counter his counterattackby teleporting behind him. Doing so will consume your Ki, but it is still better than getting launched away and taking massive damage.
The fight becomes a lot easier if you’vegrasped the basic combat mechanics, so feel free to head to thetraining modeto practice a few tricks before you attempt to defeat Raditz. You can also continue on the Main Story until you feel comfortable with your skills before returning to the node and then trying to defeat him.
What Happens After Defeating Raditz
Working Alone
After you’ve defeated Raditz by choosing to work alone in the earlier node, Goku and his allies at the Turtle School will work together to defeat Raditz, allowing Goku to survive the battle.
Shortly after their victory against Raditz,Goku and his friends start training together on the Sidy by Side routeas they prepare for the arrival of the two Saiyans,who are far stronger than Raditz.
Working With Piccolo
If you decide to work with Piccolo and then defeat Raditz, at the end of the battle, Piccolo will be able to shoot his Special Beam Cannon at the weakened Raditz,allowing Goku to survive on the Pushing the Limit route, in hisSparking Episodes.
After everything is done and dusted, Piccolo and Goku will start training together alongside Gohan. However, their training is cut short as theSaiyans arrive earlier than expected.
