From watching videos, Donald and Goofy are getting knocked out in one or two hits in the Hades Cup, for example. However, Donald should have Second Chance by around level 25, which is the level you're around when you reach Atlantica. Skip to 18:20 for Hades: It also seems like they don't have MP Haste or MP Rage at that point like they should.
Final Mix changed a lot about how you level up. On my first playthrough, I chose the staff and gave up the sword, which got me finishing combos (such as Stun Impact and Ripple Drive) very fast, but I didn't get counterattack until level 50 or so, and Second Chance until level 90. I played it again this week, choosing the shield and giving up the staff, and got Second Chance pretty early, but I'm at level 60 and I still don't have MP Rage or MP Haste. Unfortunately, they pushed back the time that you learn Scan as well. You used to get it at level 12 the latest, but I've been getting it in the late 10's to mid 20's.
Seems kind of unfair, if you ask me. The non-Final Mix version was pretty balanced, in my opinion. Doing some research: http://www.khwiki.com/MP_Haste#Learning_MP_Haste http://www.khwiki.com/MP_Rage#Learning_MP_Rage http://www.khwiki.com/Second_Chance#Learning_Second_Chance http://www.khwiki.com/Second_Wind#Learning_Hyper_Healing Going by that, there was no change to when Goofy learns Second Chance, so I guess that guy just didn't have it equipped on him. However, Donald's change was really drastic and unfair. It was changed from level 25 to level 59. After all, he's the "squishy mage" and should get those things relatively early.
Sounds like what they did with KH2. Depending on the weapon you chose with Roxas, you would get abilities in different levels. Maybe they just did the same thing with Donald and Goofy as well.
Well, it would help keep him alive, but in my personal opinion the fact he doesn't really get many defensive abilities until later on just enforces the idea that he's a squishy mage lol
donald has always been really dang squishy the thing is, you gotta master the art of "not giving a rats ass about everybody else" luckily in kh3d the dream eaters were the perfect companions since they didn't die easily
You only gotta master it if you don't already not care. My first time playing the game I never bothered healing the guys in the first place. Or if I did, it was just because I needed free item spaces for other things and didn't want to worry about whatever reasons. Besides, Donald dies all the time, so it's not worth helping him. Goofy too for that matter. Though, this is Amaury we're talking about, and he feels inclined to always heal his allies
Once he learns MP Haste, MP Rage, Second Chance, and Second Wind, no, not really. And he's even more useful when he learns MP Haste and MP Rage again. The only exception I can think of is the Chernabog because his mega firewall attack (not the smaller one), when he gets to that phase, will constantly be hitting you, Donald, Goofy, and if Donald or Goofy are already at, say, half health, then they're pretty guaranteed to get screwed since they'll keep attacking rather than temporarily retreat. Unlike Kingdom Hearts II, there are no invincibility frames when healing, so when Donald tries to heal, he'll keep getting interrupted. Items, thankfully, are different. Even if you're interrupted, while the animation will stop, the item will still take effect. See my fight. The mega firewall attacks start at 1:35: Donald can heal you and Goofy can give you MP. Totally worth keeping healthy. Not only that, but Donald, Goofy, and the other allies can also do damage, making a boss easier, or take care of other enemies in the vicinity if you're trying to take out, say, a fat bandit so you don't get swarmed.
I've always fought without worrying about them. And I find myself fighting enemies more than they do. In KH2 they helped out a little more, but in the first game, they were just worthless. I let them die most of the time and fought the bosses myself
