You’re No Keyblade Master. Not Without Melding!
Just because you defeated the final boss doesn’t make you a master of the keyblade! Have you used Megaflare? No? Windcutter? No? Okay, you’ve probably gotten Curaga, but how about Triple Firaga?
Nope, you ain’t no master of anything yet.
So, I want to preface this Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Melding Guide with a few important points. The first is to explain what is the command melding function in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, and what makes it different from the traditional item synthesis system.
Using the Meld Command menu, you’ll be able to use your leveled Commands to create a lot of new ones. The second is that command melding is one of the most useful and essential game mechanics, so understanding what it is and how it works will make your play-through of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep a lot more fun and easier for you, the player.
To really know what is going on in this guide, let’s take some definitions that will be important to understand.
Command Melding – It is a unique mechanic in Birth by Sleep. With melding, you can take two different Deck Commands and merge them to create a new command.
Deck Commands – A system of organizing and executing attacks, magic, items, and abilities in KH: Birth by Sleep.
Recipes – An essential in using melded commands, the guide which shows you what commands are needed to create a new command.
Crystals – A material consumed to meld commands.
How Do You Command Meld?
To meld Deck Commands, you must first navigate to the Command Decks menu.
Next, you must select your first highlighted command, then add the second command to the second slot.
Thirdly, you will need to select one of the different types of crystals to add a unique ability.
And once you press the button to meld the commands, you will have a new Deck Command with one of several unique abilities.
One of the major issues with melding commands is understanding which one of the unique melded commands you will get. An essential part of creating melded commands is to find recipes which are located throughout the game. When you receive a new recipe from a defeated enemy (amongst other ways of obtaining them), you will gain the ability to see what kind of command you will be manufacturing.
Example of a Command Meld
By melding commands together, you can create more powerful attacks and spells that can give you an edge over your opponent, which can mean all the difference in the heat of battle. In Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, there are three keyblade masters (the main protaganists) which all have their own strengths and weaknesses in using deck commands.
The first of these protagonists you will use is Terra, a fighter that is physically gifted and not magic-oriented. Below is the three best melded commands and their recipes, as a gift from myself to you.
TERRA: Guide & Best Commands
Meteor Crash
Meteor Crash is a devastating attack which uses Terra’s physical attack ability. It is an attack in which the character jumps up into the air and brings her keyblade down with a bunch of fiery Meteor(ites?) right on top of your opponent. Devastating, no?
Most successful recipe: Fire Strike + Brutal Blast
Ars Solum
This attack uses a multi-hit combo which can be activated by timing your presses on the triangle button with the on-screen prompts. Snag this one in a skull chest located in Neverlands. But be weary: it can be a challenge to get to!
Most successful recipe: Sonic Blade + Dark Haze
Windcutter
Create a flurry of wind that can send your opponents flying into another dimension! A difficult task to bring this one in with melding, but very worth the time.
Most successful recipe: Aeroga + Confusion Strike
Like I said earlier, Terra’s fighting style is very heavy on physical attacks and your command melds will be focused mostly on dealing damage.
Moving on to one of the other protagonists, one that is a little more magic-oriented!
Ventus is a character that is a little more well-rounded in terms of how his attacks are used to navigate the battlefield.
VENTUS: Guide & Best Commands
Ventus is, like I said earlier, more well-rounded, but has strengths in both agility and speed. And playing as Ventus feels quite familiar to those of us who have played other entries in the series, as Ventus very much feels like Sora, a very balanced character who uses both physical and magical-based attacks.
Sonic Blade
A mainstay in the Kingdom Hearts series, Sonic Blade is one of the easiest to obtain and one of the simplest commands to use in the game. This attack command will send you and your keyblade directly at the enemy.
Most successful recipe: Air Slide + Blitz
Curaga
Rather than consuming HP potions over and over again and depleting your precious stock of curatives, I suggest you learn this magic command. In fact, obtaining this command isn’t merely a suggestion – it’s pretty much crucial to journeying throughout the game!
Most successful recipe: Cura + Cure
Magnega
Conjure a magnetic whirlwind that will drag your enemies in, which makes attacking all of them much easier and deals some damage to them as well.
Most successful recipe: Magnera + Magnet
AQUA: Guide & Best Commands
When you progress past Terra’s and Ventus’ chapters in the story, you play as Aqua, the one who is considered to be the big sister type and is tasked to look after both of her friends. Aqua finds herself on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to physical/magic compared to Terra. Of the three player characters, Aqua is very skilled with magic commands, so much so that she is arguably the strongest of the three. This makes her, in my opinion, the most fun to play with; because who doesn’t love beating up baddies with an over-powered character?
Barrier Surge
Aqua is unique when it comes to defensive magic because she uses Barrier instead of Block, allowing Aqua to be fully encapsulated in magic protection. But within this defensive magic is a whole lot of offense. You can use Barrier to smash into enemies full speed causing them damage and potentially knocking them off balance.
Most successful recipe: Fire Dash + Barrier
Triple Firaga
The only thing better than a fireball thrown into an enemy’s face is… three fireballs! Triple Firaga uses three fireballs to set your opponents ablaze. How much more firepower do you need than this?
Most successful recipe: Fira + Firaga
Mega Flare
Similar to Triple Firaga but possibly more devastating is Mega Flare. Instead of smashing fireballs into faces, Aqua blinds enemies with burning white explosion and deals fire damage to every enemy in combat.
Most successful recipe: Fission Firaga + Crawling Fire
To finish up the best commands section of this guide, I want to tell you two things. First, know that while I believe these to be the best commands in the game, you may find that other commands suit your play style. And while I would love for you to take my advice, what I really want is for you to enjoy the game and better understand how to use this incredibly important game mechanic. Second, while there are other ways of obtaining the commands, I believe that melding is much more worth your time. This is because one of my favourite aspects of games like Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep is exploring the world and discovering new ways of playing. And melding is only one of the many ways to enjoy this game!
Crystals and Recipe Tips
While I will not make a list of all the recipes and commands in this particular guide, I will help you out a little bit more for the player that wishes to play the game without doing as much exploring. Below is a list of locations for crystals, essential for melding commands. I have made three columns, the left showing the type of crystal, the middle showing the world in which it is located and the right showing the creature which drops the crystal.
| CRYSTAL | WORLDS | UNVERSED |
| Abounding | Olympus Coliseum | Axe Flapper |
| Abounding | Radiant Garden | Mandrake |
| Chaos | Radiant Garden | Archraven |
| Fleeting | Castle of Dreams | Shoegazer |
| Fleeting | Deep Space | Sonic Blaster |
| Fleeting | Enchanted Dominion | Thornbite |
| Fleeting | Radiant Garden | Chrono Twister |
| Hungry | Castle of Dreams | Hareraiser |
| Hungry | Deep Space | Vile Phail |
| Hungry | Dwarf Woodlands | Monotrucker |
| Hungry | Enchanted Dominion | Bruiser |
| Pulsing | Enchanted Dominion | Bruiser |
| Pulsing | Never Land | Wild Bruiser |
| Pulsing | Olympus Coliseum | Buckle Bruiser |
| Pulsing | Radiant Garden | Tank Toppler |
| Shimmering | Deep Space | Blobmob |
| Shimmering | Dwarf Woodlands | Spiderchest |
| Shimmering | Enchanted Dominion | Red Hot Chili |
| Shimmering | Never Land | Yellow Mustard |
| Shimmering | Radiant Garden | Sea Salt |
| Soothing | Castle of Dreams | Flood |
| Soothing | Deep Space | Jellyshade |
| Wellspring | Enchanted Dominion | Scrapper |
| Wellspring | Never Land | Triple Wrecker |
Have you decided on what are your best Deck Commands? Share them with us, we’d love to hear all the different ways of playing in KH: Birth by Sleep!
If you’ve already played the latest installation of the KH series, you might want to see more guides to maximize your experiences in Kingdom Hearts 3!
Kingdom Hearts 3: Ultima Weapon Ultimate Guide
It won’t be easy to get all this slick weapon, but we’ll make it easier for you!
Kingdom Hearts 3: Lucky Emblems – Gotta Grab ‘Em All!
While the Command Melding guide is for optimizationists (as in, only the best matters!), our Lucky Emblems guide is for completionists.
Kingdom Hearts 3’s Secret Boss? No Problem!
This is a walk in the depths of Hades! Try to beat the heat with this guide!
I Heard You Want the Kingdom Hearts 3 Soundtrack
After all the crashing and smashing Heartlesses, Nobodies, Unverses and such, take time for a breather with the KH3 soundtrack.
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