FreeJack Item Mode Guide

FreeJack Item Mode Guide by AceRetriever

NOTE: This guide uses the default keyboard scheme.

What is Item Race?
Simply put, it’s a race where players collect and use items. Unlike Speed Mode, you are only able to dash and strike via items. Item race requires skill, reflexes, strategy, and a good bit of luck!

SP and Its Uses
Your SP gauge is the purplish circle on your speedometer. Once it feels up, you collect an item; they’ll appear in one of the two grey circles on your speedometer.

You can gain SP in quite a few ways: you gain it by running, performing air tricks, or collecting Booster Juice (the purple bottles) scattered on the tracks.

You’ll also need SP in order to dodge incoming attacks.

Attacking, Defending, and Getting Hurt.
The item in the larger grey circle is your active item. You use your item with the A key. A hit cam will appear when you successfully launch an attack, or your trap is triggered; you can see the fate of your victim there.

The smaller circle holds your inactive item. You can switch freely between the two with the TAB button, as long as you have Slot Switchers. You can buy them in the Item Mall, or create them in the Collector’s Room.

Most incoming attacks are signaled by a warning sound and an exclamation mark. These can either be dodged (by double tapping left or right) at the cost of SP, or blocked with a Shield. A skull will appear by the name of the player that attacked you.

Dodging requires a quick reflex! When you hear the warning sound (oh, you’ll know it), get ready! An exclamation mark will appear above and slightly to the right of your character. It’ll quickly flash between three signals: small red -> bigger red -> biggest yellow. You want to try to dodge at the second red signal, and be quick about it; the time frame is extremely small!

Also know that you cannot dodge while in mid-air or going over an obstacle. Use a shield when you can’t dodge!

Items and Their Effects!
My favorite part! ♥

Jack Missile
Icon: A trash can.
Purpose: Direct Attack
Friendly Fire: No
Normal: Drops a trash can on the target and sends them rolling.
Critical: Slams a burning trashcan on the target ahead of you and sends them to the floor.

Jack Missiles are pretty basic and straightforward. Fire, and watch the victim roll. But, you can be quite evil with these things… Use them when your target is mid-air and you’ll send them straight to the ground! If they’re hit while on an obstacle, they’ll take damage right after they finish.

Jack Mine
Icon: A red landmine.
Purpose: Road Obstacle
Friendly Fire: Yes
Normal: Leaves one landmine behind you. Explodes when touched, causing the victim to fall on the spot.
Critical: Leaves three side-by-side landmines behind you.

A personal favorite of mine! Though easily avoidable, they can pack quite a punch if you use them right. Leave them in narrow areas, or paths that are heavily traveled. Place them in right after obstacles and large jumps for a near sure-fire hit. Oh, and dash pads! Place them along the path of a dash pad! But my favorite use would have to be dropping them right in front of the guy tailing you; they never see it coming! BOOM!!!
But be careful, as mines don’t play favorites, no matter who places it, everyone’s a target.

Kiss&Cry(Thanks Chamillion!)
Icon: A pair of plump lips.
Purpose: Distraction
Friendly Fire: No
Normal: Big Gurl blows a few kisses, obstructing the view of the target.
Critical: Big Gurl’s feeling feisty and blows even more kisses their way.
CAUTION: THIS ITEM IS UNAVOIDABLE. PERIOD.

The bane of my existence. No item causes me more strife than she does. Not only does she block your view, but you’ll barely be able to see any incoming attacks. When covered with kisses, be careful!

Penguin Breath (Thanks, Chamillion! And another thanks to Michoo!)
Icon: A penguin.
Purpose: 1st Place Hindrance (aka Spiney Blue Shell)
Friendly Fire: Yes
Normal: Penguin sends his penguin friends to freeze the first place racer in its tracks, complete with arrogant grin.
Critical: Iced out King Penguin sends his subjects to free the first place player for a noticeably longer period. He still has that grin.

My, my… I’ve been hit with Penguin more times than I used him. First place just wasn’t meant for me. There are some interesting notes to take here.
1. Your combo gauge freezes along with you, so you don’t have to worry about losing your combo.
2. Your activity is interrupted, not stopped. Once you thaw out, you’ll continue at the speed you were frozen at, even if you were in mid-air.
3. If you’re hit with a Jack Missile or Earthquake, you’ll break out of the ice! …But you’ll still get hurt.
4. You can’t use items while frozen.
5. It attacks the first player, period. That includes your teammates!

Bighead Pumpkin (Thanks Michoo!)
Icon: A jack-o-lantern (pumpkin)
Purpose: Hindrance
Friendly Fire: No
Normal: A jack-o-lantern drops on the head of the target and slows them down. They won’t be able to jump due to its weight.
Critical: Drops a large, black, burning jack-o-lantern that slows the target to a crawl. They won’t be able to jump, due to its weight.

Oh, how I hate these things! You’re running, you’re running, and then WAM! Snail’s pace. But, like being frozen, you can be broken out of it if you’re hit with a missile or earthquake. And… hehe… did you know that you can break out of it with a shield, too?

Shield
Icon: A blue shield.
Purpose: Self-Protection
Friendly Fire: N/A
Normal: Places a shield that protects you from all attacks and harmful environment. Will not prevent Big Gurl Lovin’.
Critical: N/A

A top placer’s best friend. Use these babies when you know you can’t dodge, or at the last stretch of the track to ensure victory. …Not much to say, really.

Mega Quake (Thanks Michoo!)
Icon: What I believe to be a giant rock with a crack in it…
Purpose: All-out attack.
Friendly Fire: No
Normal: Sends a quake that knocks the opposition of their feet and sends them rolling.
Critical: Sends the opposition straight to the floor.

You’ll be getting these if you’re in the lower part of the rankings. All your enemies are, whether on the ground or not, unless they dodge or use a shield. I find them fun and exciting to use. Dodging them gives me this warm feeling of satisfaction…

Dash
Icon: A yellow figure running.
Purpose: Speed-Up
Friendly Fire: N/A
Normal: Temporarily boosts you to max speed.
Critical: N/A

Zooooooom. That is all.

Strike
Icon: A yellow figure attacking… I think.
Purpose: Line-of-sight strike.
Friendly Fire: Yes
Normal: Strike out and attack everyone in your path!
Critical: N/A

STTRRRRRRIIIKE! This strike is stronger and goes farther than your normal strike in Speed Mode. Use it to attack, or even skip ahead.

Instant MAX Booster
Icon: Flaming MAX Icon
Purpose: MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAX
Friendly Fire: N/A
Normal: BOOOOOOOOSTER!
Critical: N/A

When you’re down on your luck and trailing behind, the great item keeper in the sky may grant you with one of these life savers! It’s not as strong as the normal MAX Booster, however. This item disappears quickly if you don’t use it, so don’t go hoarding it! It’ll also cancel out your combo once you use it.

Map Tips

Cosmos Jack

-Near the final stretch of the race there’s a jump-off that leads you to a fence. If you have a Strike item, you can use it to boost off of the yellow ramp and fly over the fence. Remember that Strike takes a second to charge, so time it right!

GO! SAKURUNNER!

-In the first half of the race, you slide down two fountains and climb up a wall. If you have MAX Booster and you have a Strike item, use it at the top of the second fountain to fly over the wall!

Skyscraper

-Dashes and kicks are your best friend; use them wisely to soar through the air and skip over wide gaps in the straightaways.

-Kiss&Cry and Bighead Pumpkins are your BANE. Jumping, airplay, and vision is essential to racing this track. Lose any one of them and you’re dead meat.

Builds! Builds! Builds!

Strong as an Ox [Strength]

Simply put, this is a Strength focused build. Maximize your strength so you can minimize your recovery time. Your MAX Booster will also benefit with greatly increased stats!

Extra Tips
1. MAX Booster makes you fast and strong, but it doesn’t make you invincible. If you’re hit with an attack, you’ll stop in place for a second.
2. There’s no reverse firing here; items work one way! Meaning if you’re in first and you fire an attack meant for someone in front of you, you miss and your item is wasted. Oh…
3. You know that an item disappears if it’s not used, right? Well, apparently using a Slot Changer will “reset its timer”, so to speak. Maybe it’s worth the Jack…
4. Watch the opposition! If a rival is tailing you pretty hard, chances are he or she is lining up a strike attack. What if they suddenly swerve in front of you; maybe they have a mine? If they have a shield up, patiently wait it out, and then attack!
5. There’s no such thing as a clear winner here. You can be attacked at any time by any player. Even if you’re in first during the last stretch, be wary of last minute items and dashers. Especially dashers. Remember, shields are your friend…
6. Above all, keep your cool. An angry player is a bad decision maker. Ya know.
7. Just like in Team Speed, a successful Strike on an opponent will steal from their team’s gauge and add to yours. Just be careful not to take out any of your teammates in the process!