Kingdom Hearts beginner guide: sword, shield or staff and battle basics
Start Kingdom Hearts well: what the sword, shield and staff choice does, how abilities and AP work, and how to set up Donald and Goofy.
Original 2002 PlayStation 2 release (North America and Europe). Kingdom Hearts Final Mix and the HD 1.5 ReMIX collection add content and are outside this guide; world screenshots that appear to come from the HD release are labelled.
Sword, shield or staff
The sword (Power) favours strength, the shield (Guardian) defence and the staff (Mystic) magic. Your chosen item and the one you give up also set how early or late Sora learns abilities and how his stats grow.
Abilities and AP
Sora and his partners learn abilities on level-up. Equip them with AP from the Abilities menu; abilities such as Dodge Roll, Scan and Guard are worth equipping early.
Partner settings
In the Customize menu, set how often Donald and Goofy use magic and items. Lowering Donald's use of MP-heavy spells keeps Cure available when you need it.
Save points and moogles
Save points also restore HP and MP, and green save points let you board the Gummi Ship. Moogles in Traverse Town synthesise items and Keyblades from materials.
Equip Scan early: seeing boss health bars makes it much easier to judge when to heal.
Picture details
Game artwork belongs to its respective rights holders.