Romancing SaGa II copyright 1993 Square Inc., all rights reserved. FAQ 2002 by Michael Baker, aka WeekendRisktaker =================================TOC==================================== ++Manual and FAQs++ 1-Introduction -- the Legend -- the Way Things Are ---Inheritance, weapons, and other odd stuff to remember ---Menu Screens ---Status Ailments 2-Characters 3-the Hitchhiker's Guide to Avalon --Avalon City ---the Magic Research Center ---Avalon University ---the Heroes' Quarter ---the Sewers and Thieves' Den --Avalon Castle ---First Floor ---Second Floor ---the Blacksmiths 4-Formations 5-the World Map ++WALKTHRU++ 6-the First Scenarios --The New Champions --Gerard's Second Quest 7-Choices, Choices... (early scenarios) --Ludon Mines 1 --the Cumberland Civil War --Pirates of the North Rongit --the Saigos Clan --the Hive Queen --Komulune Volcano 1 --the Towers of Terelutva 8-Places to go... (scenarios w/ requirements) --Ludon Mines 2 --Garon's Coup --South Sea Mermaid --Komulune Volcano 2 --What Lovely Music 9-People to kill... (Hero scenarios) --the Land Ship (Bokuohn) --the Lost Child (Dantarg) --the Desert Swordsman (Noel) --the Verdant Ruins (Rocbouquet) --the Haunted Ship (Subier) --the Land to the East (Wagnas) 10-Endgame (the Final Emperor) --the Risen Menace --the Queen's Revenge --Unfinished Business --Into the Hellmouth 11-Extra Areas --the Frozen Ruins --the Southlands --Austoroth ++EXTRA INFO++ 12-Store Info 13-Formation Names 14-Blacksmith Items 15-Magic List 16-Known Bugs 17-Acknowledgments ==============================INTRODUCTION========================= The Legend: "This is the Legend of the Seven Heroes... Once, they subdued countless hordes of demons, and saved the world... And then vanished from it... Kujinshi... Subier... Dantarg... Noel... Bokuohn... Rocbouquet... Wagnas... And one day, so they say, they will return to save the world again..." Long after the people were scattered across the world, they told the legend, and were thankful for their salvation... However, as peace and prosperity came, the legend was forgotten... The world of Man was once again prosperous. The peaceful times that brought stability to the nations came to an end. An era of division and war began... And the names of the Seven were spoken once more... ...and then... they came... ...so they say.... ===The Way Things Are=== These are the Dark Ages. War has broken out across the continent, spurred on by the mysterious motives of the Seven. The few remaining kingdoms struggle to survive the monstrous onslaught. In the far northwest corner of the world lies the small kingdom of Avalon. Its rulers have been chosen for a great destiny... You are the heirs of the Imperial Dynasty. All of them. Romancing SaGa II is a generational game, which means that there is no one main character throughout the entire game. When your party is wiped out, or you complete certain scenarios, you will have to choose an heir out of the four warriors presented to you. After a major scenario, or a few of minor ones, there will be a generation shift. Many years pass (usually more than a century or two), and you choose a new Emperor. Each Emperor or Emperess inherits ALL abilities gained by their predecessors, including HP, WP, JP, and skill levels. By the end, your final ruler will probably have 35+ skill levels in all weapons and two or three magics. HP and skill levels are gained at the end of a battle. The Tech/Art points that appear after battle are added into a tally that determines when and if a particular character's level increases, similar to experience points, but for HP and skill levels independently.WP and JP levels are dependant on a character's weapon and magic levels, respectively. On average, you gain 3 WP for each weapon level and magic level. At higher levels though, this isn't as accurate as described. --ADDITION: WP is based on a character's highest skill level x 3, plus the total skill levels in other weapons, while JP is based on highest magic level x 3, plus a base 5 JP for having magic, plus total number of skill levels in other magics. Thanks go out to Zach Keene for pointing this out to me. There are five categories of weapons: Swords/Great Swords, Spears/Epees, Maces (or Staves)/Axes, Bows, and Martial Arts. Weapons in Romancing SaGa II have four types of damage: slicing, piercing, crushing and missile. Swords and Great Swords are primarily slicing damage; Spears and Epees are piercing damage; Staves, Axes, and Martial Arts are primarily crushing damage. Bows are, of coursemissile damage. When you are fighting in the wild, you'll have to take a weapon's damage type into account before you decide to use it. For example, skeletal monsters take little damage from piercing attacks, but a lot of damage from crushing damage. Plants take more from Axes, flying monsters are weak against bows, and slime type monsters take practically no damage from crushing attacks. You might want to equip more than one type of weapon on each of your warriors, in case you run into a situation where they would otherwise be useless. Techniques can be taught by the Technique Instructors in Avalon Castle (second generation and later). In order for them to have a tech available, it has to have been learned in a previous generation. Techniques that are learned in the current generation cannot be shared, but more than one person can potentially learn them in battle. Once a full generation passes (more than one year passes), ALL techniques learned in that generation go to the instructors, even if that technique was lost because a character died. There are six types of magic: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, and Dark. Each has their own particular strengths, including offensive, defensive, support, and healing magics. At first, you will only have access to a few spells in Fire, Water, Wind and Light magics. After you build the Magic Research Center, you can access Earth magic, as well as develop new magics of each type, teach magic to non-magician characters, and develop combination spells using two different elements. Light Magic can be taught after the Tactician class is unlocked. Dark magic requires a certain choice to be made later in the game, so you may or may not want to pursue it. If you teach a character a new type of magic at the Magic Research Center, they will gain it at the current global level (the skill level that Mage characters start with when you recruit them, at that particular moment, minus a certain amount--7~10 levels, more or less). Starting levels for weapons and magic (and learning magic as well) are determined by the global levels for that ability. Generally, the more you fight, the more your characters' personal levels will go up, and the more the global levels will increase. Higher global levels mean better stats from the time you recruit the character, including HP, WP, and JP as well as better fighting skill in their chosen weapons. The Tech/Art Points at the end of each battle are added into both personal and global levels to determine who levels up in what, apparently. Your main source of money is the Imperial Treasury. Money goes into the Treasury in two ways: either you find treasure to add to it (whenever you find a chest with an obscene amount of money in it), or you gain money from taxes. The amount you get in tax is based on how many regions you've added to the Empire. You can ask the Tax Officer in Avalon Castle what the current amount received is. Every time you win a battle, that amount is added to your treasury. What do you do with all that money? You can use it to fill up on the petty cash, use it as a charge account in stores (IF they're already part of the Empire), use it to fund your R&D department, and use it to pay for extremely expensive "public works" projects to improve the capital. ADD: apparently the money you get from taxes is tallied every time you get in a battle, not just when you win one. So technically, you can get into battle and run away, and still get the money. However, the enemy levels are ALSO determined by number of battles total (including those you run away from), so if you do this too much to gain money, the monsters may level up faster than you do... (thanks to Zach Keene for pointing this out to me) There are several "public works" projects that you'll have to OK. They're offered to you for approval occasionally at the start of a generation, but you can also talk to the Chancellor about them if you sit on the throne a few times (this might take a while, and only works for one project per generation). The Magic Research Center costs 1,000,000 crowns, Avalon University costs 2,000,000 crowns, the Imperial Guards cost 300,000 crowns, and the Heroes' Quarter costs 3,000,000 crowns. Finally, there's the battle system. Battles in RS2 are turn-based, with a character's speed affecting when they attack in battle USUALLY. All formations give certain pluses and minuses to speed, except for three: Dragon Tail (all characters attack after Emperor), Inazuma (where all characters attack in reverse order after 5th character), and Rapid Stream (all characters attack before enemy). Defending and running away are controlled by the L and R buttons, respectively. Note that ONLY the Emperor in your party can call for retreat, so if that character is unconscious, paralyzed, or otherwise disabled, you cannot run away from battle. The X button makes you exit a building, town, or area of the map. It's a quick way to leave a peaceful area. This (usually) won't work for areas w/ enemies. The Y button lets you run. However, you can't see enemies while running, and if you run into one, then it's an automatic surprise battle (party fights in Free Fight formation). New techniques are learned by using weapons in battle. There's always a certain chance of learning a technique whenever you attack, but an individual's chances vary from character to character, and some techniques are harder to get than others. Characters usually specialize in certain weapon types, generally the ones that they come with, and can learn techniques more easily from that particular weapon type. ==The Menu Screen== Along the top of the screen, you can see your party. Pressing the directional buttons left and right lets you flip between HP, LP, WP, and JP, for quick reference. --Status The first choice on the menu, this lets you see your character's stats, including stat increases caused by armor or accessories (blue numbers next to the stats). The little pictures on the lower-right corner of the status screen shows you what that character currently has a defense against. The first four are physical defense (cut, bash, stab, missile), and the second for are magical defense (fire, ice, lightning, and status). Pressing the A button here will give you a sub-menu (Equipment, Techniques, Spells). These sections are also accessible from the main menu. Use the L/R buttons to switch between the members of your party. --Items Lets you see your current inventory, including equipable and non-equipable items. This is where you go to use recovery items outside of battle. Also, you can see the defensive properties of armor by selecting them once on this screen. --Equipment Also accessible from the Status screen, this is where you go to change equipment. Select an item once to move its position on the screen (rather pointless), or select twice to have it changed for something else. Note that you have four spaces for weapons and healing potions, and four for armor, shields and accessories. Some characters have special equipment that cannot be removed. These appear in red as a fifth spot in the equipment list. Use the L/R buttons to switch between the members of your party. --Techniques This is a character's list of techniques currently available. You can take techniques off manually, but you can only put new ones on through learning them, or going to the Technique Instructors in Avalon. Use the L/R buttons to switch between the members of your party. --Spells This is a character's list of magic spells. You cannot remove spells here, only see what a character has available. To add or remove spells, go to the Magic Research Center. --Formation Here you can find the battle formations currently available to your party, and switch your group's order and formation. --Configuration Here you can switch your Message Speed (Fast/Slow), and your Sound(Mono/Stereo) --Save Rather self-explanatory, this, but good to know where it is. ============================Status Ailments====================== Status ailments (negative): Stun, Blind, Sleep, Poison, Paralyze, Mute, Charm, Petrify, and Confusion (1, 2, & 3) Status ailments (positive): Regenerate, Berserk, Invisible, Counter-Spell --Negative Status Effects *Stun*: caused by techs like Sweep Draw and Foot Swipe, or spells like Foot Grip (E, lvl 2). Stun cancels the target's attack for that round. *Blind*: caused by spells like Light Ball, or attacks like Spore. Black line appears over character's eyes. Hit rate with physical attacks severely hampered. *Sleep*: caused by Crown Split, Hypnosis, etc. Character knocked unconscious, with little Z's floating above their head. Can't do anything for several rounds. Wakes up when attacked. *Poison*: caused by various attacks and spells. Character's face/skin turns purple. At the end of every round, poisoned characters lose a small amount of HP. Cured by Health Water (W, lvl 2) *Paralyze*: caused by Gaze attacks, certain spells, some attacks. Yellow stars above character's head. Can't move for several rounds. *Mute*: caused by Mad Biter. The effect looks similar to confusion, but without the gray clouds above their heads. All techniques and spells are blocked. *Charm*: caused by Charm, Charm Gaze, Temptation, and Pheromone. Hearts appear over head. Character attacks party, or heals enemy. Lasts several rounds. *Petrify*: caused by various physical, magical, and gaze attacks. Character is turned to stone, and cannot be revived until after battle (you can't target them with anything, not even Health Water) *Confusion*: caused by various spells. Character acts erraticly. The effect gets worse the more times it is used on a character. You can tell how serious it is by what colors the letters are when character is hit with this status. First use/white letters: Character may/may not attack (you choose action and target). Second use/green letters: Character randomly picks target (you pick action). Third use/red letters: Character picks target and attack at random. Note: multiple hits by the same confusion attack will increase level of status, but some attacks will inflict 2nd and 3rd level confusion directly. --Positive Status Effects *Regeneration* You'll probably see this one on the enemy more often than on you. As far as I know, only your four elemental classes can regenerate in battle. Regeneration occurs when a spell or technique of the right elemental type is used. All enemies or characters corresponding to that type will automatically regain 10% HP per round. Using several spells of other types can cancel the effect. *Berserk* Caused by the martial arts technique of the same name (tech. heals HP and causes Berserk). Berserk raises your attack power by quite a bit. Again, unfortunately, the enemy is likely to have this well before you do. *Invisible* Thankfully, it doesn't seem like any enemies use this one. When you use the Water spell Mist Cover (Water, level 3), the targeted character becomes invisible until an offensive action (i.e. an attack or attack spell) is taken. Healing and support spells can be used without becoming visible. Direct attacks (mostly physical) cannot be used on this character. Invisible characters can be hit with hit-all spells (but not target-specific spells, including healing spells cast by other characters), spell-like special attacks, and non-direct damage attacks like Arrow Rain and Grand Slam. This effect can also be produced by the special Axe technique Feather Seal for the LadyHawk Axe. *Counter-Spell* Caused by spells Self-Burning and Freeze Barrier. These spells can only be used on the caster. When hit with a physical attack, the spell will counterattack with either fire or ice damage, depending on the spell used. The counterattack doesn't come into effect if you're killed in the attack. These spells also make the character immune to attacks based on that element (Self-Burning nullifies fire damage, for example). =========================Characters============================== These are the characters available to you in the game. A few of them are unique (available only once), and several of them are acquired through subquests and choices you make in the game, but most are available throughout the game. They each have their own set of specialties in weapons and/or magic. You can only have one warrior of a given type at a time (ex. if you already have a Heavy Infantry, then you can't have another join your party). Warriors leave your party if 1) they run out of LP, 2) your entire party dies, or 3) there's a generation shift. --The Final Emperor and Emperess. You choose between these two at the beginning of the game. Since they are the final heirs to the entire Dynasty, they have high skill levels in all weapons, as well as Light and two other magics. The Emperor has higher physical stats, while the Emperess has higher magical. The Emperor also comes with the Day Blade (w/ the Sun Ray and Holy Light techniques), while the Emperess has the Moonlight Sword (w/ MoonLight and MoonShades techniques). --Leon. This is the first Emperor of Avalon, and is only available during the first scenario. His specialties are Swords and Light Magic. --Gerard. This is Leon's son, and is available only in the first two scenarios. In the first scenario, he pretty much sucks, since he starts with ZERO skill in anything, and learns very slowly. You can get Fire Magic for him if you want. If you want, you can have him use another weapon besides the longsword he comes with, it won't matter much in the first scenario. In the second scenario, however, he's a much better character. --Heavy Infantry. This guy is found in Avalon Castle, on the first floor on the left, by the bar. He specializes in Swords. He's pretty slow, but he does well with suits, which he comes equipped with. --Ranger M/F. These are the castle huntsmen. They're found in the first floor of the castle, in the room on left (along the top of the screen). They both specialize in bows, but the male Ranger (guy with buzz cut) comes with Spears, while the female (pony-tailed gal) comes with Epees. --City Fighter M/F. These guys are found on the first floor of the castle, in the room on the right (along the top). They specialize in great swords. The male looks like he has a helmet w/ a mohawk, while the female looks like she has a push-up breastplate. The male City Fighter can also be found in the Pub in Avalon City. --Light Infantry M/F. They're found on the first floor, in the room behind the main staircase. The weapon they come with is the great sword, but they have decent skill levels in all weapons except Martial Arts. --Court Mage M/F. They're found on the far right of the first floor of Avalon Castle. They both have Wind Magic, but the male also has Water, while the female has Fire. Later on, they can also be recruited from the Magic Research Center. They come equipped with a non-removable robe. --City Thief M/F. They're the leaders of the Avalon Thieves' Guild, located in the Sewers. They'll only join if you help them out in the second scenario, then let Cat the Thief help you out in return. They both use Epees, while the female Thief's special equipment, the Heeled Sandals, lets her use the special martial arts technique "Trample" (16wp). --Mountain Monk. This macho man lives in his dojo in the mountains of South Barene. He prefers to solve problems with his fists, and is the only character class that always specializes in Martial Arts. He also tends to have higher LP than most characters. He'll help you if you help him, but he's very touchy about things. More on this later in the FAQ (second scenario). --Free Mage M/F. These mages become recruitable once the Magic Research Center is built. They both specialize in Earth Magic, with the male using Water, and the female using Fire. Free Mages come with the Tumbler Rod, w/ the technique Don't Move! (chance to paralyze all enemies) --Holy Order M/F. These holy warriors live in Cumberland. The male lives in Nerack Castle, and the female lives in Fofa. The male specializes in Sword, the female in Staves. Several of them come with Light or Water Magic. Their special equipment, the Paladin Shield, is one of the better shields in the game. --the Privateer. This is the captain of the pirates of the North Rongit Sea. If you can make peace with him, then he'll help you. He specializes in Axes and Swords, and sometimes comes with Water Magic. --Ocean Woman. This petite lady is a pearl diver in the South Rongit Sea. Don't be fooled, she's very good with Spears. Her specialties include Water and Light Magics. She comes with the Trident (spear, att. 18, tech. Poseidon Shoot). --the Herder. The chief of the Saigos Clan, this burly Moo-herder can be found driving his livestock between his Summer and Winter Grazing Areas. He specializes in Maces. --the Tactician. This scholarly warrior is found in Avalon University. To get him, you must first take the test that the guy in the upper right corner of the school will give you. The Tactician doesn't come with any skill levels in weapons (usually), but he's the only character to come with three magics at the start, and the only pure magic character to come with Light Magic. He is necessary if you want to complete Bokuohn's quest the easy way. --the Nomads M/F. These warriors are the leaders of the wandering nomads of the Steppe. While Bokuohn roams the land, they don't dare leave their families to go adventuring, but if he's defeated, they'll gladly join your cause. They use Axes, and sometimes Wind Magic. --the Hunter. The leader of South Village in the Savannah, this warrior is a master marksman who also uses Spears with ease. He'll join once you've defeated the threat to his village. --the Amazon. She's the Queen of the Jungle, no matter what Rocbouquet says. If you save her life in the Jungle, then talk to her later in her village, she'll join you (just remember that males are persona non grata there...). Her specialty is Bows, Spears, and sometimes Great Swords. --the Desert Guard. This turbaned warrior is the famed champion of the Meru Desert. When you first meet him, he's getting his butt whupped by Noel. Make peace or defeat Noel, and then he can be recruited from the Pub in Terelutva. He comes with the Crescent Sword and Blue Dragon Blade automatically. --the East Guard. This noble warrior is the scion of a long lineage of samurai in service to the kings of the East Kingdom. Betrayed by Ato, they join your cause against Wagnas. --Imperial Guards M/F. You can hire these two late in the game, for 300,000 crowns, after which they'll appear to either side of the main staircase of Avalon Castle. They use Spears and Epees, and can also use Swords. --Moleman. This is one of the non-human characters you can recruit. They can be found in the Mole Village, which is under South Village in the Savannah. Same as the Hunter, they will join you if you can get rid of the infestation that's plaguing the area. They can use Spears and Epees, as well as being very good with Earth Magic. Their special equipment, the Iron Will, protects them against Charm and Confusion. They regenerate HP after Earth Magic has been used several times in battle. --Salamander. The fiery non-human. This scaly warrior will join if you can save its village from the volcanic lava. Of course, if you make the wrong decision, they'll be wiped off the map completely... They use Maces and Fire Magic (of course). Their special armor gives them immunity to fire attacks. They recover HP after Fire Magic is used several times in battle. --Nereid. This watery beauty lives in the Aqua Lake, up in the Ludon Highlands. Give her what she wants, and she'll join you. She uses Maces (poorly), and, of course, Water Magic. Her Merrow Ring protects her from icy attacks. She regenerates HP after Water Magic is used several times on the battlefield. --Iris. These winged warriors are enslaved by Wagnas, but they'll help you in other ways besides fighting if necessary. You can only recruit them after Wagnas is defeated, in their village on Mt. Chikapa. They use Bows and Wind Magic. They're also known for their love of music. They regenerate HP after Wind Magic has been used several times in battle. --Coppelia. This animatronic doll is the creation of Hiraga, the mad scientist of Somon. Don't go looking for her immediately, she only appears after several generations have passed. While she doesn't have an element, and doesn't come with any magic, she DOES come with equal levels in every type of weapon, and even better, with 99 LP! Unfortunately, it looks like she's only available once, so be sure to put her to good use! =================Hitchhiker's Guide to Avalon============================== Here's a rough guide to the city of Avalon and its environs. At the start of the game, there's only the main part of the city and the castle, but in time you can add on sections, for a price. 1) The Weapons Store. This shop is located on the left side of town, and sells weapons, duh. The inventory will upgrade occasionally, depending on the efforts of your blacksmiths, but generally, there's not much worth buying there later in the game. It's important for other reasons though. 2) The Armor Store. This store is in the lower-right corner of town. It sells generic armor. The armor upgrades whenever your R&D department finishes a new item (and a generation passes), but again, it's usually not worthwhile to shop there. 3) The Inn. This B&B is found near the front gate, on the right. They wouldn't even THINK of charging the Emperor for a night's stay, so stay as often as you need. You'll have to come here during the Mermaid quest, and there's a Bard instrument hidden somewhere in there... 4) The Pub. This watering hole is found just north of the Inn, and is a good place to get information early in the game. The City Guard M hangs out here pretty often. 5) The Cemetary. This area is to the east of the city proper. You'll find it if you follow the path in the upper right part of town. There's not much there, except for a hole that leads to the Thieves' Den. 6) The Magic Research Center. This is an institute founded to develop new magics, and teach them to others. This is the first public works project that you'll have to pay for, for 1,000,000 crowns. There's normally five workshops inside, for Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Light, but it's possible to found a Dark Magic Lab there (find it by going straight right through the woods outside the entrance to the Center). You can find the Center by following the path on the upper left side of town. 7) Avalon University. This institute for higher learning is the second public works project, costing 2,000,000 crowns. The main reason to have this place built is to gain access to the Tactician. You can find it by following the path on the left side of town, near the Weapon Store. 8) The Heroes' Quarter. This is a residential district for all the foreign warriors that have joined your cause. You have to pay 5,000,000 crowns to have it built, but after you do, you won't have to travel all over the map to gather recruits. It's just south of the Cemetary. 9) The Sewers. This dank network of waterways lies under the city, and has entrances all over the place. The Thieves' Den is at one end of it. It's occasionally infested with monsters, and that's about the only reason to go there. There's a set of crypts hidden deep within it... --The Castle Avalon Castle lies just north of town, and is your seat of power. There are more recruitable characters here than anywhere else in the game. Here's what you can find here: --First Floor 1) The front stairs. These go directly up to the Throne Room. The Imperial Guards will stand guard here, once you hire them. 2) The bar. This is over to the left side. The Heavy Infantry can be found here. Nothing else important, tho. 3) The warriors' chambers. Two rooms along the top, and one behind the stairs; you can recruit the Light Infantry, the Rangers, and the City Guards here. 4) The old magic lab. This room on the far right side is where you can find City Mages. 5) The Technique Instructors and Formation Specialist. These guys are found just to the north of the old magic lab. The Tech guys can teach you any technique learned in a previous generation. The Formation Specialist has his men show you which formations are available. To get new formations, talk to the Specialist whenever you make a new character your Emperor. Several characters will know special formations that they can teach the Specialist, making them available to your party. --Second Floor 1)The Throne Room. This huge room dominates the floor. Each generation starts here, and you have to order public works projects here as well. 2) Treasury Office. This small room is just to the left of the Throne Room. Here, you can talk to the Tax Official and the Treasurer. The Official will tell you how much you are currently receiving in taxes, and the Treasurer tells you how many crowns you have available in the Treasury. He can also refill the petty cash (10,000 crowns) for your spending money. 3) Chancellor's Office. This is in the lower right corner of the second floor. The Chancellor keeps track of the affairs of the Empire, as well as gathering information on other lands. He'll often have a report ready at the beginning of each generation, and several scenarios start by asking him for information. 4) Storage. The door on the north side leads to the Storage Room. Here, you can pick up all the equipment left to you by previous generations, as well as stock up on potions that slowly accumulate over the years. You can also dump unnecessary items here. Even if your party is defeated in battle, all of your items will be returned here, ready for the next Emperor to claim them. --Third Floor. There's not much up here except for bedrooms. You can sleep in your own bed here, if you so desire (necessary for the "Cat the Thief" scenario), and if you've equipped the DemonStone Ring, then this is the only place you can sleep without sacrificing LP. --The Blacksmiths These guys are your R&D department, located in the tower on the upper-right corner of Castle Avalon. For a load of money (taken out of your Treasury), they will develop new weapons and armor for you. After they make them, these will usually be available in stores in the next generation. There are two or three items of each type that can be made by the Blacksmiths. Items from the Blacksmiths are considered the second, third, and fourth levels of each type (level 1 items are general issue, and the Steel Sword and Armor come w/ Leon). Each level of item costs 400,000; 800,000; and 1,200,000 crowns, respectively (for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th). For some items, there is no third or fourth level. I'm including the Blacksmith items lists at the end of the FAQ. ========Formations======== Formations are learned when you talk to the Formation Guru in Avalon Castle when you have a new character as Emperor. In formation, the Emperor's placement is ALWAYS in the same spot, but the other characters can be switched around, outside of battle. Characters in the front tend to be hit more often, and characters in back aren't. However, there ARE some attacks that will specifically target a column or row, or someone in the back of the formation, so be careful. They are listed at the end of the FAQ. ========The World Map======== There are 13 regions on the map that can be brought into the Empire, plus three other areas. Any area that is part of the Empire (shows up in color on the world map), can be traveled to quickly, just be selecting it from the map screen. For any other area, however, you'll have to walk, usually through mountains, grasslands, or jungles. Once you are in an area, you have access to all places in that area, but only if they show up on the map. To add places to the map, you have to hear about them from someone. Once you know they're there, you can travel to them. Regions: North Barene (Avalon and Somon) South Barene Ludon Highlands Cumberland The Steppe North Rongit Sea South Rongit Sea North Nazelle region The Savannah Komulune Island The Jungles of Saramat The Meru Desert East Kingdom Austoroth (cannot be added; City of Ancients is here) Southlands (cannot be added; two optional dungeons) South Nazelle area (cannot be added; optional dungeon, site of final dungeon) ============FAQs=========== Q: For the record, who are the Seven Heroes? A: There's Kujinshi (undead goblin thing), Bokuohn (puppet master), Dantarg (elephant man), Rocbouquet (would-be Queen of the Jungle), Noel (honorable swordsman), Subier (octopus-man), and Wagnas (Hell's own butterfly). You'll get to know these guys a little too well during your adventures, since many of the plots against the Empire are started by them, and you'll probably die a time or three before killing each one. Q: Can I learn the Seven Heroes' signature moves? A: Yes, but only three of them. Marionette is an epee technique that can be learned normally. Psycho Bind is a special tech for the Holy Spear Longinus, and MoonShades is a special one for the Moonlight Sword. The other four signature moves are unlearnable, though LifeSteal is a close second to Soul Steal (steals 1 LP instead of all, but small difference since most monsters have only 1 LP anyway) Q: Is there any way to restore LP? A: Yup, the Life Restore potion. In your storage area, in the potions section, it's the first thing you can select (and it even says LP in the description). You can also buy these from the Witch in the South Rongit area for 10,000 crowns a pop. Q: Is there any way to learn techniques faster? A: Not really. Tech learning in this game seems to be even more random than in other games. Attacking stronger monsters obviously has an effect, but I once learned Barrage Shot with Therese in the GOBLIN CAVE (as in, very-very early in the game), which would suggest to me a significant random element in the learning process. Also, while sparking (using weaker techniques to learn stronger) seems to exist in this game, it's not as necessary as it is in later games. Every "sparkable" tech I've ever heard mentioned, I've learned from regular attacking as well, with a few exceptions. Namely Jolt Counter and Berserk. These MUST be sparked from the techniques Counter and Focus Energy, and can only be sparked by characters of a certain learning "type", mostly Mountain Monks and a few Salamanders and Saigos Clansmen. Your best bet on these is to make a Monk your Emperor, and keep on practicing. Q: What do those numbers after battle mean? A: Those are the "Tech/Art Points". Those are added to a total to determine whether or not a character "levels up" in a particular weapon or magic. There's also a total used to determine global skill levels. Q: Why won't [insert place name here] show up on the map? A: You haven't talked to anyone about that place, most likely. Talk to your Chancellor every generation. Believe me, it pays off. Also, in one scenario the town of Nuono drops off the map for a while. Q: How do I get good weapons out of the stores? A: Honestly, you can go through this game without ever buying something from a store. Every time you recruit a character, he or she automatically comes with the best generic equipment designated for their class (in other words, the stuff you can buy in stores). As all equipment goes into storage after the character dies, there's quite an accumulation of stuff after a while. Also, rare equipment is usually much better than the store-bought stuff. Q: What's the difference between Shields and Guards? A: Shields have a greater chance of blocking attacks, and add to your defense. Guards have a slightly lower chance of deflecting attacks, but when they work, you take no damage whatsoever. With shields, you'll often take reduced damage off of attacks, but that doesn't matter if the reduced damage still kills you (tentacle attacks are notorious for having a "reduced" damage of 500+ HP, for example). Also, Shields and Guards aren't very useful on characters that use two-handed weapons, like great swords, spears, and bows. Q: I got Dark Magic!! Now what? Who do I give it to? A: Goodie for you. Tough luck about those Salamanders, ne? Well, according to the inestimable Alex Jackson, there's a separate, secret stat that controls a character's ability with Dark Magic and dark-element techniques. There's no real name for it (it doesn't show up on the status screen at all). I'm refering to it as Dark Affinity. characters w/ high Dark Affinity stat (those above 20): Cat (City Thief F) 24 (highest) Jubei (East Guard) 23 Fatima (Nomad F) 23 Starling (City Thief M) 23 Rabbit (City Thief F) 23 Linda (Ocean Woman) 22 Ekatarina (Amazon) 21 Osei (Hunter) 21 Drake (Privateer) 21 Fisher (Privateer) 20 Q: What are the answers for the Avalon University test? A: Those are listed under Bokuohn's scenario in the walkthru portion, since that's the only scenario where Avalon University has a direct impact upon the game. Q: Why don't you give any detailed info on monsters past the first part, huh? A: Because the early part of the game is the only place where I can be sure that monsters are on the same level. The stronger you get, the stronger the monsters get. Even if you take the scenarios in the exact same order I did, there's bound to be a lot of variation in what shows up where. While there ARE exceptions (like the Hive and the Meru Desert, more on that later), in most dungeons monsters are determined by your current strength (some bosses too, for that matter). Q: You keep mentioning that this monster drops that item, but I've never seen anything! A: Note that practically all monster-dropped items in the game can be classified as "rare item drops". And this game means it when it says "rare". If you're wanting weapons like the Destroyer Axe or Hauteclaire, don't hold your breath. Q: So what exactly are the odds for getting items? A: Zach Keene told me this one.... can't remember the exact formulae he quoted, but I think the answer's about 7% chance for "common" drops, and 6% chance for "rare" drops. In other words, you're lucky if you get ANYTHING from a battle in this game. Q: What do the technique Phantom Fighter, and the Dark/Earth spell Wraithform do? A: For this answer, we refer you to Alex Jackson: "Basically, Phantom Fighter creates a "body double" to fight in place of the user. The double has the same stats as the character at the moment of use--if the character has a status ailment or enhancing magic affecting them, then the double starts with the same ailment or enhancement. However, the double can't use anything except the Amethyst Axe (not even Punch), can't use dodges, can't be healed, and will be destroyed instantly by anything that drains HP (e.g. Suction, Blood Suck), anything that directly attacks LP (e.g. Lifesteal, Deathscythe), or Vortex. When the double is destroyed or when the battle ends, the character is restored to the status they had when they used the technique (including remaining WP--however much you spent with the double is restored, minus the cost of Phantom Fighter itself) There is one obvious use for this technique and one non-obvious one. The obvious use is as a substitute for Reviver. When the double is destroyed it just reverts to the original character, who doesn't swoon or lose LP--more or less the same effect as Reviver. The non-obvious use is to combine it with the spell "Dragon Pulse" (Earth/Water fusion). Dragon Pulse greatly increases all of the user's stats and can be cast multiple times for cumulative effect (unlike most stat-boosting spells in RS2) but the effect wears off as soon as you attack. However, if you cast Dragon Pulse and then use Phantom Fighter, the boost will last as long as the double does. This is a really powerful combination for the last boss battle, though you have to choose your formation carefully to take full advantage of it (since the double can't be healed, you want your Amethyst Axe user in a position that doesn't get hit too much) You also have to take into account that the double can't use dodges... The Earth/Dark fusion spell Wraithform has a lot in common with Phantom Fighter. The Dragon Pulse trick even works with it too. The differences are: - casting Wraithform costs 1 LP - the double can't use anything except magic - the double is immune to most physical attacks (including spells like Wind Cutter and Stone Shower) and to all status ailments - trying to heal the double will destroy it (instead of just having no effect) - when the double is destroyed, the original character swoons (but without losing LP--you already lost it when you cast the spell)" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++WALKTHRU++++++++++++++++++++++++ ==========================First Scenarios========================== OK, the first two scenarios are a little different from the rest, so I'm doing them special. For the first, you lose if either Leon or Gerard die (no inheritance). You don't have to worry about that in the second, but you don't have a choice about doing the second scenario, either. --The New Champions This scenario begins as Leon leads an expedition to eliminate monsters from the Sealed Earth. He brings three of his warriors along with him, as well as his son, Gerard, in an attempt to give the kid some experience. Leon gives a few orders, more to show Gerard how it's done than anything else. Characters: -Leon (Sw 5, Sp 2, L 2) comes w/ Steel Sword and Steel Armor; Sweep Draw and Double Strike techs; Lightball spell -Gerard. Comes with.... NOTHING. Nada, zilch for skills and techniques, and no special equipment, just basic armor and a long sword. -Bear, Heavy Infantry (Sw 3) comes w/ the first-level suit, making him the highest-defense character at the start. Has the Sweep Draw technique -Therese, Ranger (B 3) comes w/ ID Break and Sidewinder techniques, but low HP at the start -James, Light Infantry (Sw 1, Sp 1, AM 1, B 1), comes with a Great Sword equipped, but no techs Chests: 100,000 crowns (treasury) Kris Knife OK, it's time to kick monster butt! Gels (slime types) are really tough against physical attacks (i.e. you can't hurt them right now), but Leon's Light Ball attack should take them out easily enough. Tuataras (lizard enemies) hit a little harder than the other monsters. Bees are REALLY wimpy, except when they use their Sting attack, then the target's dead (does about 100 damage). There are two chests in here. The first one's 100,000 crowns (goes straight to Treasury), and guarded by a group Ghetto (funky bunny-man). The other's a Kris Knife (def. 1, status defense?), guarded by a group of Tuatara, with a Gel. Beat up all the monsters, and head back to Avalon. There'll be a small procession, and you end up in the throne room. Viktor (older son) will give Leon back the throne. A soldier comes in and announces that Waib, the seer, has arrived to talk to Leon, and Leon dismisses Gerard for awhile. Take Gerard around the castle. You can talk to the Court Mage gal on the first floor, who'll give Gerard the FireBall spell. Leave the castle and come back, then head to the throne room. Leon says something about that "damned witch woman", then mentions an outbreak of monsters just to the south. Leon, Gerard and co. head out to deal with them, leaving Viktor on the throne. --Watchman's Den 1 chest: Bastard Sword (Att. 16, sword and great sword techniques), lower level This is a two-floor level. The only treasure is the Bastard Sword on the lower floor, which uses both regular and great sword techniques. This is a GREAT place to level up; you can keep coming back here again and again, until you defeat the boss. Once you do that, then all the enemies disappear, however. A good rule-of-thumb here is to level up until you start ncountering Corpse-Eaters (zombie monster, looks like a were-rat). These things have an attack that hits the person in the back position (most likely Gerard). This makes them very dangerous, since one hit will kill Gerard, and if he runs out of LP, then the game's over. The boss battle here is a pair of Watchmen (bunny-men w/ watches, less than 200HP), with a couple of Ghetto helping them. Watchmen have bow attacks and the Pain spell, which causes stun. They can also use ID Break and a sleep attack, but only rarely. This isn't really much of a challenge, so mop the floor with them. --Attack on Avalon When you get back to town, you'll find your soldiers are all dead. In the middle of town you find Viktor, who disappears, showing you what Kujinshi did to him at the same time. That night, while Gerard is crying in his room, Leon meets with Waib again, and this time, actually bothers to listen to her. She's an emissary from the Ancient people, asking him to start a war against the Seven Heroes. The first time, he just blew her off, but this time... Well, there's revenge involved, so Leon agrees to go and attack Kujinshi in Somon. --Somon Somon's a town to the east of Avalon that's been overrun by Kujinshi's forces. The town itself is full of humanoid, goblin, flying and beast monsters, none of them really difficult. Inside the mansion on the north side, you'll find skeletons, beasts, humanoids, and demons on the first two floors, and ghosts & zombies on the third. Avoid the skeletons, they're hard. The humanoid enemies are usually Shadows, who use the Throw Kill attack (hits from behind, avoids defense). 1st floor- The first chest you see on the left is a Mimic (HP 999). This thing's HARD for your probable level at this point, and loves to use the Mad Biter attack (can cause confusion). They're only found in this mansion (four in all), and you don't seem to get anything for beating them, but they make for good practice, if you so wish. The next room up (on the first floor) has two chests and a fireplace. The chest on the left is Mimic #2, the other is 120,000 crowns. Go through the fireplace to find a secret room, with a Somon Ring (def. 1, def. against Charm) and 200,000 crowns. 2nd floor- The first big room is a barracks. The chest on the right is Mimic #3, the one on the left is a Lionhead Helm. There's a bedroom in back, with two chests. The one on the left is 150,000 crowns, the one on the right is Mimic #4. The stairs up are right through here. 3rd floor- There's not much to this floor, but there are two different paths to Kujinshi. One way, there are skeletons, the other way lie Undeads. Your choice. There are also ghost-type monsters hanging around the throne room. They fade in and out, so it's hard to avoid them sometimes. Boss: KUJINSHI (undead-looking goblin thing, with a huge sword) For the record, you are not supposed to win this battle at this time. After 5 or 6 rounds, Kujinshi will pull out his signature attack, Soul Steal, and kill Leon. --Second attack on Avalon You aren't given much time to mourn, unfortunately. After a death scene, the Inheritance Magic takes effect, and all Leon's experience is passed on to Gerard. With it comes an evasion technique for Soul Steal. DO NOT TAKE THIS OFF UNTIL AFTER KUJINSHI IS DEFEATED. As you're leaving Leon's room, a soldier rushes up to tell you that the town is under attack. Before leaving the castle, be sure to pick up another warrior. Someone with magic might be a good idea, but you might prefer another strong warrior. The next few battles aren't too bad, so don't worry over it too much. In town, there are seven groups of goblins, in front of various buildings and at the entrance to town. Just defeat them all to end the scene. The enemies will reappear if you exit the screen, but the scene will still end after you defeat seven groups. --the Goblin Cave 2 chests: Elder Bow and 100,000 crowns After the attack on Avalon, you're given a choice between taking on Kujinshi immediately, or going after the rest of those goblins. Take the first choice (goblins) for some much-needed building up and treasure hunting. Be sure to stop by your R&D department to finance some research; the results should be ready for you by the time you get back. This cave looks like a cliff face, with many cave openings all around. Most of these lead only to little caves with a few monsters in them. When you enter the cave, head right and down the stairs. Ignore the next cave you see, and head right past the other staircase for now. On the far right side of the screen is a cave. Go in. Head all the way to the top of the next screen, and touch the skull on the ground. Ta-da, you're in a battle with a skeleton-type monster. Defeat it, and then step on the skull to open the passage to the south. Continue that way to pick up the Elder Bow (att. 12), and some money for your treasury. To go back the way you came, you'll have to defeat another skeleton monster (step on the skull on the other side of the barricade). Now head back to that stairway you ignored earlier. Go up that way, and through the next cave to an area that's just crawling with goblin-type monsters. The one at the very top won't chase you, so you have to go to it to start the battle. If you've got a Court Mage with you, be sure to top off his MP first (don't be afraid to use up his magic in the cave, since that's the only way you'll be able to raise his levels; you'll find MP-restoring items in your pack, if you check). Boss: KING GOBLIN (1000HP) Just a fancy red goblin with a crown, really. At first you can't get to him because of his warriors in front. Just eliminate a few of them and that problem's solved. A few more will appear in a couple of turns, but you should be able to defeat the King before then. Have Therese (and a Mage if you have one) attack the King in back, while Gerard and your swordsmen take on the lackeys. Don't waste Therese's WP with Random Arrow attacks (Bow, hit all attack), concentrate on the King with ID Break or Double Shot (if you've got it). --Gerard's Revenge Now it's time to take on Kujinshi again. Be sure to pick up whatever you had your R&D department make, rest up at the Inn, and then head back to Somon for a rematch. Nothing much has changed here, though the enemies will probably be a little harder this time through (new enemies become available as you increase in power). Make your way up to the throne room. You can try and fight the Mimics again, if you feel like it. This'll be the last time you see them. Boss: KUJINSHI (999 HP, and then he gains an extra 1300 HP) He's back, and he's just as ugly. He uses basic attacks for a while before he gets tired and pulls out Soul Steal again. Surprise though... Gerard avoids it! Kujinshi might try this once or twice more, effectively wasting a turn. He won't target anyone else with the ability, thankfully. Kujinshi can also use some basic sword techniques, and maybe some Dark Magic. Frankly, this rematch is kind of a gimme, in terms of difficulty. You should have no trouble defeating Kujinshi once you get to him the second time. ======Gerard's Second Quest======= One year has passed, and Gerard is now an experienced ruler and warrior (note the cool new armor). One day, the Chancellor of Avalon comes to him, and tells him of troubles in the lands of the south, South Barene and the Ludon Highlands. Gerard decides to take the battle south, and drive back the monsters. --South Barene -the Town of Nibel This town's the only settlement in the region. When talking to the people in town, you find out about the monsters in the fortress to the east (already on map), and about the warrior monks at the Dragon's Den Dojo up in the mountains. You can do either one, but I suggest heading over to the Dojo first. -Dragon's Den Dojo The warrior monks are a little preoccupied at the moment. There's a den of monsters to the north that is keeping them too occupied to come to the aid of the villagers in the lowlands. They've tried to defeat the demons at the heart of the cave, but the way is blocked by a very strong slime creature (martial arts are completely useless against it). Agree to take care of the slime monster for them. -Monster Cave 2 chests - Nibel Ring, 90,000 crowns Take your time building up your stats and techniques in here, because the slime boss is a difficult one. The dungeon is pretty simple. When you walk in, head right to the staircase, then keep walking right, around the bend, until you get to a small hoard of slime monsters. There's one stationary enemy, in front of an entrance. That's the one you need to get rid of. Boss: GELATINOUS MATTER (HP 888, regenerates ~80 per round) might drop Candy Ring (very low probability) This thing is MEAN, for your current experience. First, it is a slime-type monster with a high defense. Staves, axes, and martial arts are useless against it, and swords don't do too well either. Spears and arrows do the most physical damage (epees are a little low in the attack power to do much). Magic attacks probably do the most damage. It would be smart to have a Court Mage M here to attack it with Wind Cutter, since in my experience you can do over 100 damage easy with that. Now, strategy. The first thing you do, before attacking, is to 1) put two healing potions on each fighter, and 2) put your party into Free Fight formation. Gelatinous Matter's main attack is a powerful electrical blast that hits everything on a horizontal line, and can KO any one of your characters in one hit, if you haven't got their HP up enough. So, the Imperial Cross formation gives it the chance to kill three of your characters in one hit. With Free Fight, it can only take out one of your warriors per round, and one of the others can use a potion on them the next round. Finally, Gelatinous Matter regenerates 80~90 HP per round, so if you don't hit hard enough, then the thing will only get stronger. After you've disposed of the Gelatinous Matter (might take a time or two), then you've got a choice. Either you go straight back to the Dojo and tell the Monks, or you go straight ahead to the next area alone. Either way, be sure to pick up the two chests up ahead (Nibel Ring and 90,000 crowns) -Going alone At the end of the tunnel, there are three groups of demons. The one the monks are after isn't moving. This group will be a bit stronger than you're used to, and fairly difficult. The problems start AFTER you defeat them, however. If you go back to the Dojo after defeating the demons, then the head monk gets mad at you and attacks. It's a one-on-one duel between Gerard and The Dragon (seriously, that's what he's called in this battle), and it's pretty easy. But if you kill the Monk, then you cannot get him as a character, ever. -Going back to the Monks Choice number two, you go back to the head monk, and let him know you've beaten the slimes. He rushes out. Head back to the Monster Cave, and at the very end of the cave to find the head monk and two others beating the stuffing out of the demons. Talk to him, and he'll pledge his loyalty. You can recruit him anytime after. After this, you can continue to the River Fortress. ==River Fortress== The castle dominates the riverside, with monstrous sentinels watching from the towers. There's also a small pub nearby, and a storage area. This is a staging area, where monsters are preparing for the invasion of Avalon. There are three ways into the fortress: 1) Walk up to the gates. The first choice given is "Storm the gates". Good luck. You have to physically attack the gate (HP 3000), which is guarded by two Gargoyles and two Dobbies. This battle is too difficult to really consider, especially since the monsters regenerate every time you defeat one. Really good for learning new techniques, though. 2) In the pub, there's a guy who will sneak you into the Fortress for 20,000 crowns. If you take him up on it, you'll have to fight your way through the fortress, and up to the boss. I recommend option 3: getting a specialist on the job. ==Thieves' Guild== Go back to Avalon, and take a nap in Gerard's bed (in the castle). Night falls, and you can walk around. Head over to the Weapon Shop in town. Walk into the fireplace, and you'll be on the rooftops. Jump from rooftop to rooftop until you get to a window in the castle. Head inside, and walk in on Cat the City Thief. She'll bolt. Be sure to grab the chest (100,000 crowns). As you backtrack along the rooftops, you'll see Cat being accosted by a group of monsters. Drive them off (no battle), and she'll thank you and scram. Head back to bed. The next morning, head over to the Pub in town. Talk to the bartender, and ask how Cat is doing (second choice). He tells you to head over to the cemetary. Talk to the man in the cemetary to enter the Thieves' Guild. Talk to the leader of the thieves. He asks you to help clear the sewers of a small problem, and then they will help you out. So into the Sewers we go! The man in the lower left corner of the room will let you by. -Sewers There aren't very many monsters in here, only two groups of fish monsters, and the boss. Head left, down the steps into the water, down a bit, and through the covered tunnel to the right. Defeat the fish, then head to the boss. BOSS: Deep One (HP, 1200~1300. Regenerates ~120 HP per round) This guy isn't too difficult. It can use Water magic, and the Don't Move technique, but more often uses wrap attacks. Two rounds, and he's dead, easy. Head back to the Thieves' Guild. Swallow (head thief) will send Cat ahead to the Fortress to scout the place out for you. ==Infiltrating the Fortress== Chests: (first floor) 180,000 crowns, Fairy Sword Tatsumitsu (great sword, att. 10, tech. Throw Kill and Exorcism) (second floor) Star Stone, 200,000 crowns First, head to the pub near the fortress and meet up with Cat. She's already been in and out of the place, and has some good news for you. Follow her to the building south of the pub. The boss is on the 3rd floor, she tells you, and then shows you the secret passage she's found. You get into the fortress without anyone sounding alarms. Trust me, this is GOOD. Cat has placed daggers on the floor to show you which way to go. If a dagger points towards a door, then it's safe to go through. Unmarked doors have monsters, who will sound the alarm and cause lots of trouble for you. Watch where you step. The next part is simple: follow the daggers. The first room you can enter has two chests: 180,000 crowns, and the Fairy Sword Tatsumitsu. The Tatsumitsu may not look too powerful, but it has one thing in its favor: the Exorcism technique, which does massive damage to undead and (some) demon monsters. I recommend learning it quickly. Second floor: the daggers lead you to another treasure room, with a Star Stone (Def. 1, Magic Defense up) and 200,000 crowns. Just beyond there, you'll see an enemy sentry. You do not want him to see you, so head down around the other corridor, like the daggers show you. Third floor: Go through the door indicated to confront the boss. He admits to being a servant of Lord Bokuohn, sent to finish the job that Kujinshi was meant to do: ending the Imperial Line. BOSS: Vicar (~1000 HP), w/ Lizard and Pyro Rex Lizard has strong physical attacks, but only about 300 HP. Pyro Rex has a bit more, and uses fire attacks as well. Vicar uses staff attacks, like Ground Shake, Crown Split, and Double Hit, as well as Dark magic, like the Pain spell. Focus on one after another until all three are dead. Have a Court Mage M ready with Life Water, or a character loaded with potions, because you'll need healing available. They tend to target the character in front more, so it's a good idea to have Life Water targeted on that character at all times. Defeat them, and South Barene will join the Empire as your second region. Congratulations. That ends this generation. Time will fast-forward a few years, and a new generation will get their chance for adventure. ==The Next Generation(s)== You're presented with a choice of four warriors to inherit the Imperial skills. It doesn't matter too much who you choose, so follow your own preferences. When you're finished passing the torch along, the Chancellor will appear with a report. It seems that trouble is brewing in three regions bordering the Empire: south, in the Ludon Highlands, southeast along the Rongit Sea, and east, in the kingdom of Cumberland. You can do these in any order (though I recommend finishing the Cumberland scenario before the next generation change). Also available at this moment are several other quests, in the regions of the Steppe (with Bokuohn, "The Landship"), the Savannah (The Hive Queen), the Jungle of Saramat (with Rocbouquet, "the Verdant Ruins"), Komulune Island, and North Nazelle ("The Saigos Clan"). You can do any of these you like, in most any order (though you need to finish the first Ludon quest before you can get to North Nazelle). The main problem is getting to these regions (you'll have to hoof it overland a long ways if you want to get to the Jungle or Komulune Island, for example; and you'll have to really build up your party before taking on the Meru Desert). Be sure to recruit four powerful warriors to accompany you, grab the good equipment out of storage, and tally ho! ==Ludon Mines 1== The Chancellor has spoken of lands to the south. Head to Nibel and talk to people in the Pub. One of them will mention the town of Tifarl, to the south. Once you've spoken with them, go to the South Barene map, and check along the bottom of the screen to get to the Ludon Highlands. You find Tifarl to be almost a ghost town. This place has made its living off of the gem trade for generations, but now monsters have taken over the mines, and so everyone's left. Ask around a little to get the mines placed on the map, then head on over. --The Gem Mines treasure: (first level) 90,000 crowns, 70,000 crowns (second level) 280,000 crowns, 190,000 crowns, 220,000 crowns On the first floor, you'll find four rooms with gems lying on the ground. Two of these are trapped. The rooms with the real gems have ore visible in the walls in the back. The fake rooms will drop you into the level below, among a large group of monsters. For the record, the two non-trapped rooms are the one just to the left of the entrance (90,000 crowns worth), and the one just above the ladder to the lower level (70,000 crowns worth). Either by ladder or by trapdoor, make your way to the lower level, and head up. The uppermost room in that level has three reptile monster groups. The one blocking the passage beyond is the boss. Boss: LIZARDMAN and LIZARDLADY Just a pair of slightly higher-power monsters. LizardLady uses spears and spear waza, while Lizardman has swords and sword techs (including the rather damaging MultiWay attack). LizardLady has upwards of 1000 HP, and Lizardman is slightly weaker. Once you beat these two, the quest is over (short, no?). The Ludon Highlands become a part of the Empire, and time fast-forwards one year. Be sure to get back to the mines right after, and explore the area behind where the boss was. You can find three gems there (for 280,000, 190,000, and 220,000 crowns). Be sure to talk to the grandmother in Tifarl as well. She'll tell you about the Aqua Lake, which lets you enter the Ludon Highlands from the map screen. ========The Cumberland Civil War========== This scenario is a little trickier than most. For one, if you exit the region or your Emperor dies before it's finished, then you fail the quest, and get to go through some extra trouble when you return to Cumberland later. Two, there is more than one path to follow, depending on what answer you give at the beginning. Finally, if you do not start this scenario before the first generation jump (several years pass) after Gerard, then the scenario will automatically start as failed, with the Gold Army in control of the country (thanks for Zach and Alex pointing this out...). If this happens to you, skip ahead to Path #3 in this section. To start this scenario, go to Somon, and take the first option to go to Douglas (the other goes to Miles, on the edge of the Steppe). Once in Douglas, talk to everyone in town first, to open up Nerack Castle and the city of Forfar on the map. Then go into the castle. Walk straight into the throne room to pay your respects to King Harold, who has requested your advice (this is why your Chancellor tells you to come here, after all). You are introduced to the king's youngest son, Toma, before the two of you talk in private. The king confides that he's too sick to rule; that he's not going to last long, and needs to choose one of his children as his successor. The choices are: Georg, head of the Holy Order of Nerack Castle; Sofia, the head of the Holy Order at Forfar; Toma, the king's third and youngest son; or, finally, to not make a choice on the matter. No matter what your choice, King Harold dies the following night, while you're staying in the castle. The castle is in an uproar because Prince Toma has gone missing at the same time. Go outside, and right to the kitchen garden. Over on the right edge of that, there's a passage hidden by trees. Go right, up, and around to find Toma sobbing. Talk to him and cheer him up a bit. Soon, a soldier in a gold uniform shows up looking for Toma (note: all the soldiers in Douglas and Nerack wear GREEN uniforms...). Here is where the first branch-off occurs. #1 If you answered Toma when talking with King Harold (choice #3), or didn't make a choice (option #4), then Toma will accept his choice as heir, and return to the throne room with Saifreet, the Cumberland Chancellor (man in pinkish robes). Toma will ask you if you could make contact with his brother and sister to the south. Take the first choice to agree, and head out. If you take the second option, then you leave Cumberland (not a good idea). Leaving Cumberland for any reason leads to path 3, which I'll talk about in a little while. #2 If you answered Georg or Sofia when talking with King Harold (choices #1 and #2), then the soldier will let something slip, and get you suspicious. The soldier will attack. This battle, with a Viking and a Killer Machine, isn't that hard. In fact, you'll be seeing this same fight several times over, very soon... After the battle, you decide that it's best to get Toma to safety at Nerack Castle (or Forfar if you chose Sofia). You take an escape route through the forest south of Douglas. The Saifreet's Gold Army has got its soldiers out, however, and they're backed up by many types of monsters. At the very end of the trail, you'll have to defeat an Army enemy to get past. It's a pair of Shadow Ninja (you should remember these guys) and two Killer Machines. Focus on the Killer Machines; the Shadows are too weak to worry about now. If you've got multi-hit techniques, feel free to use them, and take out the Shadows while damaging the stronger enemies as well. --Nerack Castle No matter which choice you made, you seem to show up here anyway. On path #1, you can go to Forfar and talk to Sofia, or go to Nerack and talk to Georg. Either way, the three of you will wind up chatting in Nerack Castle. This is where you go if you take path #2, as well. A soldier runs up and informs Georg that monsters have dug a tunnel under the Great Wall, which is Cumberland's main defense against the forces of Bokuohn on the Steppe. Guess who gets to go plug that hole? --The Great Wall. Yup, you. Once you arrive at the Wall, head right to find the tunnel entrance, surrounded by monsters. The tunnel itself is mercifully short, with only a relative handful of monsters. The boss is a snake-type enemy that's at the bottleneck of the tunnel. Boss: DUNEWORM (~1800 HP, regenerates ~180 HP if earth attacks are used), w/ an insect monster The DuneWorm is a denizen of the Meru Desert, far to the south. Thankfully, in this battle, you're not limited the way you would be in the Meru (more on that later). The insect accompanying it is laughably weak. Have a great sword user whack it hard, and that should take care of it. The DuneWorm has at least one earthquake attack, which can attack your members along a horizontal line, and stun them. You can switch to Free Fight formation if you'd like, but it's not necessary. If you've got the sword technique Air Pressure Wave (WP 5, looks like enemy is caught in stream of wind before you slash), then you can knock a lot of HP off it at the very start of the battle. After this, events split again. If you followed path #2, then you can go straight to Saifreet's Castle, to the far north. If you took path #1, then... =====Path #1: Rescue Toma!==== If you're on story path #1, then Toma is still in Douglas castle, and at Lord Saifreet's mercy. Now it's time to rescue him. When you return to Douglas, you'll have a nasty surprise waiting for you in front of the castle gates: a Spriggan (12,000 HP). This is one of only three Giant-type monsters in the game, and thankfully, fighting it is completely optional. Its Grand Cross attack will take you out VERY fast, unless you've been building up insanely. There IS a better way, however. Remember where you found Toma? Go back over there, and hop up through the castle window. Head left, past the throne room, and around to the down staircase on the left side of the castle. Avoid enemies if you like, the point is to rescue Toma. Down in the dungeon, you can see that he's not in any of the cells, but if you continue right, you'll see two humanoid enemies standing by a wall. Eliminate them, and then find the spot that was between where they were standing (directly below the unlit lamp). Go down to find a hidden doorway, where they're keeping Toma. Congratulations, you've just taken back the castle. After this, it's off to Saifreet's Castle.... ======Path #3: The Rebellion===== Now, let's go over what happens if you have to leave Cumberland for any reason (walking out on Toma, Emperor dying, accidentally walking through the gate at the Great Wall). Upon returning, you'll find that Douglas and Forfar have been overrun by the Gold Army. Soldiers wander around town, and will shake you down for money if you run into one. Refuse to pay (which you'll have to do eventually, since they won't stop asking for money), and you'll have to fight. Oh, and guess who's in front of the castle again? Yup, it's Spriggan. Since the scenario's blown anyway, you might want to take on Spriggan a few times, to see if you can learn the Grand Slam evade. Trust me, that's worth it. However, you cannot fight the Spriggan until after the tunnel under the Great Wall is blocked, and every time you leave the area, everything resets. Very annoying. For now, head to Forfar. This town's been taken over by the Gold Army as well, and there's a demon enemy (a Cult in my playthru) in front of the throne in the castle. But there's no sign of the Holy Order. Go back to the first house in town (the schoolhouse), and walk through the fireplace to find Sofia and what's left of the Holy Order. Sofia tells you how Saifreet, with the help of monstrous allies from the Steppe, has seized power, wiped out the Order, and is holding Toma hostage at Douglas Castle. The first thing you have to do is block off Saifreet's source of reinforcements. Yup, that means... --The Great Wall Tunnel Yup, here again. And nothing about it has changed. The boss is still a DuneWorm (~1800 HP), and a little insect with it. After you've blocked off the Tunnel, head back to Forfar and talk with Sofia. She'll get excited, and bound out of the room. Outside, you'll notice that their are no Gold Army soldiers in town now. Apparently Sofia is rounding up what's left of the Holy Order for one final assault on Saifreet. Head on to Douglas. --Douglas Castle, just a little too late... Note: If you got this story path because you waited too long before coming to Cumberland, you won't know about the window entrance, and will HAVE to defeat the Spriggan to get in. That'll take a while... Enter the castle through the window (where you found Toma crying). Don't take on the Spriggan unless you really, really mean it. Go down the stairs on the left side of the castle, and then all the way to the right side of the dungeon, where the two humanoid enemies are. Defeat them, then find the hidden door (directly below the unlit lamp). On this path, however, Toma isn't there to be rescued. That is, there's no one there but his ghost. Talk to his ghost, and it will call out for his brother, sister, and father before disappearing. Exit the castle, and head back to Forfar. Even with Douglas Castle taken back, Saifreet is still at large. Talk to Sofia again (still hiding in the schoolhouse), and she'll tell you how Georg tried to defeat Saifreet with most of the Holy Order, but all were killed. Their spirits now haunt Nerack Castle. The only way to find Saifreet is to ask them. --Haunted Castle Nerack. Transparent warriors walk the walls, and guard the doors. They stare at you, but will not speak a word. In the throne room, a ghostly Georg sits, with his brother Toma watching from the side. Dare you speak to him? You must. Georg asks you to avenge the deaths of his brother and himself, and, taking Toma's hand, walks away into the distance. Just before the two of them disappear, he tells you that Saifreet's castle is in the far north. NOTE: if you visit Nerack Castle before Toma's ghost is set free, then you'll get into a one-on-one fight with Georg if you try talking to him (HP 503, but hits HARD) ======== Cumberland: Endgame ======== --Saifreet's Castle chests: (first floor) Rubber Sole (shoe, lightning resist), 90,000 crowns (lower level) Sweat Suit, 120,000 crowns, 110,000 crowns, Wormslayer (sword, att. 17, tech. Final Strike and Swarm) Saifreet's Castle is very straightforward. No multiple paths, no hidden areas. The first two chests are in plain sight in the enemy mess hall, first floor. The other four are in the side-rooms near the down-stairway in the lower level. Head downstairs from the lower level to find the docks. Saifreet's trying to make a getaway! Get rid of the three Gold Army soldiers guarding him, then move in for the kill! Boss: SAIFREET, w/ human-type enemies for support Saifreet has several powerful Water spells, including Diamond Dust and Prism Light (confusion, all). The immediate danger is from his allies' physical attacks, then Saifreet's spells. Just unload your strongest techniques on them, and they should go down quickly. --The Succession Decided. This scene changes depending on who's still alive at the end. If everyone's still alive, then you'll meet with Georg, Toma, and Sofia in the Douglas Castle throne room, where Toma decides that you should be the ruler of Cumberland. You take the throne, and Cumberland becomes part of the Empire. If Toma and Georg are dead, then the scene happens in Forfar Castle. It's just Sofia thanking you for all that you've done. As you walk away, she pledges the eternal loyalty of the Holy Order to the Empire. Cumberland joins the Empire. The only major difference in the long run is that, for the everyone-dead path, there will no longer be a little Toma lookalike sitting on the Cumberland throne as viceroy. Instead, the throne will be empty whenever you visit. You'll still be able to recruit members of the Holy Order, both male and female. ==Pirates of the North Rongit== This quest takes place beyond the Victor Canal, where the Fortress was in the previous generation. There's a sleepy little hamlet there now, called Miramar. You can cross via the ferry, and the first house in town has a chest in it with a weak pair of gloves (Pot Gloves). The city of Morbellum should be on the map when you exit Miramar. Be sure to talk to the Chancellor again if it doesn't immediately show up. Morbellum is a bustling seaport, but one with a pirate problem. The pirate colony of Nuono lies just across the gulf. In the store, you can pick up a few new items, including the Crescent Sword (att. 12, tech. Throw Kill), and the Battle Axe, which is probably the first axe you'll get in this game. Head over to the pub, and talk to the two guys on the right to hear about the Harrier Peninsula, where Nuono lies. Finally, enter the house on the far left side of town. This is a meeting place for less-savory types, such as pirates. Here is one place where your choice of Emperor does have an effect. Certain character classes can lure the guard away and knock him out before he can sound the alarm, the rest blunder in and scare everyone off before you can learn anything. City Thieves are a good choice of Emperor for this scenario, as is the Fighting Monk. If you have the chance to overhear some of the conversation, you'll hear the pirates describe the various ways to approach Nuono, and how they're guarded. The sea approach is guarded by the Marine Labyrinth, which is filled with octopus monsters. The overland route is over the Harrier Peninsula, which is covered with monsters of all sorts. There are three choices in all, and all result in the addition of the North Rongit to the Empire. Option #3 also nets you some more money for the treasury, and a much better epee than the Fleuret that some of your characters are stuck with at the moment. #1 For the first option, all you have to do is go to the ship in the harbor, defeat the Viking in charge of it, and steer it westward. Navigate through the Marine Labyrinth, defeat a buttload of octopi, and then fight your way through Nuono before confronting the great Privateer and claiming this area for the Empire. #2 The second option is available only to characters who could overhear the entire conversation in the room, and heard about the approach via the Harrier Peninsula. Head back over to Tifarl, talk to the bartender in the pub (middle option), and you should be able to access Harrier Peninsula from the right side of that map. After battling through the fairly straightforward cave-and- cliff setup of the level, you'll bound over the walls into Nuono. The fighting's a bit lighter, since you've caught them by surprise this way, and again confront the Privateer to end the threat and add the North Rongit to the Empire. #3 The third option: Get on the ship in the harbor, and talk to the captain of the ship. Take the second choice (the first leads to a fight). The man agrees to take you to Nuono, if you can eliminate the monsters in the Messina Mines, to the northeast. --Messina Mines chests: Love Omen (epee, att.17, tech. Final Strike, Mad Biter), 100,000 crowns Apparently, the mines are still in operation this time. Monsters (presumably servants of Bokuohn) have enslaved the miners, and are taking the metals and gems for themselves. After you enter the actual mines, head up and left, down the ladder, and then follow the tunnels and ladders as far as you can go. At the end are the two treasure chests, the Love Omen epee, and 100,000 crowns. Backtrack, and back to the first screen of the mines. This time, head to the right. If you follow this path down to the third and lowest level, you'll find an area with many dead ends. The miners all say that the boss is hiding itself. The miner in the upper left part of the screen will tell you where the boss is though: to the upper right part of the screen. Walk over there, and straight through the wall at the end of the corridor to find the hidden room. The boss is a Spirit monster (the one that's not moving around, of course). In my playthrough, it was a Valkyrie, but I'm not sure if this is set. The boss will be slightly more powerful than you're used to, definitely. --Ship Ride After defeating the monsters at Messina Mine, head back to Morbellum, and talk to the man on the boat (who asked you to help with the mines). He agrees to let you ride for free. You're left in one of the storage rooms, and asked to sweep up while in transit. Clean the dust off the floor, exit the room, re- enter, repeat. After you've cleaned the room two or three times, go up top, and you should be able to exit the ship. The Captain will be waiting for you, and the two of you will sign a truce bringing Nuono and Morbellum into the Empire. ========Generation Change======= If you've been following this guide in the exact order I'm writing it (which honestly, you don't have to do at all), then this should be where your next generation shift happens. If you're going your own way through the game, the generations shift approximately every three scenarios that you finish. It mainly depends on how many battles you fought in each scenario (there's a counter that tallies up points based on # of battles and scenarios cleared, and declares a generation change whenever the points reach a certain amount). If you're a big-time level-upper, then you'll probably change generations more often than I did. At this point of the game, your Chancellor has no info on anything outside the Empire, so feel free to explore wherever. At the moment, the only scenarios open (that don't have prerequisite scenarios) are the Hive Queen (Savannah), the Saigos Clan (North Nazelle) and Komulune Island scenarios. The Steppe and Jungle of Saramat regions are also available (these are listed in the Heroes' Quests sections of the game). Whenever you finish a scenario, be sure to check in with the Chancellor. He'll inform you of various things, like if Hiraga in Somon wants to talk to you. ===========The Saigos Clan=========== requirement: "Ludon Mines 1" completed This scenario is a little different from the other Hero quests, in that the Hero in question, Dantarg, is not really involved in the storyline. Here, you're helping the Saigos people of the North Nazelle region eliminate monster dens. One of the odder thing about all dungeons in this area, is that the boss monsters are much more variable than most (as in, they level up according to your skill levels), and that Dantarg can show up in any of the dungeons as the boss. He's more likely to show up in the later dungeons, so that one's listed under the Heroes' section, but be prepared anyway. To get to the North Nazelle region, first open up the Ludon Pass for exploration (talk to the grandmother in Tifarl to open the area). The pass has three exits: north-east, to Tifarl, south-west to Aqua Lake, and south to the Saigos Village. In Saigos Village, you can rest up, but not much else. Talk to the man in the lower-left side to open up the East Dungeon on the map. Later on, you can buy a nice seashell here as well. --East Dungeon This cave is very simple. No chests, only two levels. The down staircase is in the upper-right corner of the first level, and the second level is a simple room-within-a-room design. There's a demon-type boss near the center of the level. The actual boss enemy seems to vary according to when you play through here. If you visit here before Dantarg comes through, then it's a snake-type. If you're (un)lucky enough to arrive at just the right time, then you'll fight Dantarg here. If you come here after he arrives, then the boss will be a demon. After you've cleared out the East Dungeon, head back to the Saigo Village, and talk to the kids to open up the Winter Grazing Grounds for the moo herders. The moos are a yak-like creature that provides many things for the Saigos Clan, and the herders are always moving back and forth between the Winter Grounds in North Nazelle, and the Summer Grounds in South Nazelle (across the Straits of Nazelle). --Winter Grazing Grounds Here, you get to meet the Herder. He's got a bit of a problem too. He needs to drive the Moo herd to the Summer Grazing Grounds, but a Dragon has made its lair along the route, and it's threatening the herd. Choose the first option to agree to help. South Dungeon is now open on the map. --South Dungeon chests: 110,000 crowns, Splasher Sword, 120,000 crowns South Dungeon is full of large stones that provide barricades. Wherever you see a smaller stone set between two large ones, you can run and jump across the gap. Just below the entrance, there's a jump that leads to two chests: 110,000 crowns and the Splasher Sword (att. 29, tech. Final Strike and Molecular Dissolve) The first staircase is at the lower-left part of the first screen. Go downstairs, then up through the next cave entrance to get to the second large screen. From here, take the series of jumps starting on your right to get to a chest with 120,000 crowns. Go back, then head up left to find the exit and the level boss (a lizard-type before Dantarg, a spirit-type after). Oddly enough, they aren't really near each other. Go back to the Grazing Grounds, and talk with the Herder to end this first scenario, and add the North Nazelle area to the Empire. =========The Hive Queen======== This quest is in the Savannah. To get there, either take the ship from Somon to Miles in the Steppe, or go straight to Cumberland and go through the gates at the Great Wall, again entering the Steppe. In the Steppe, head south-east to the overland passage to the Savannah. --The Savannah The Savannah is a large grassy area, with scattered trees. There are three towns here, West Village, South Village, and East Village (inventive, no?). West Village's entrance is directly south of the passage from the Steppe. All you get there is some information about the ant-monsters attacking the Savannah, and a town to the south, Bihara, which is the entrance to the Meru Desert. You can also rest here. East Village, on the far side of the Savannah, has been overrun by monstrous termites. There's an entrance to the Hive here, but the tunnels lead to nowhere. On the south-east corner of the Savannah is a passage to the Jungle. South Village is, appropriately enough, on the south side of the Savannah. This village is led by the Hunter. The scenario begins here. Spend the night in the village, and wait for a rude awakening in the middle of the night. The termites dig a tunnel entrance in the middle of town, and attack. Go over to the hole, and you have two options. #1 is to plug up the hole (the termites will attack again the next time you rest). #2 is to head down into the anthill and take them on yourself. Inside the Hive, you'll see two types of enemies: tan insects, and metal-grey insects. The tan insects are Mantarms (termite workers) with either insect or slime monsters. You'll likely remember the Mantarms from much earlier. They're no threat to you, though their companions might be. Take out the other monsters before the Mantarms, whenever you get into a battle with them. The metal-grey insects are Term Soldiers. These are something else altogether from the workers. They wield swords and spears, and techniques to match. Try to take them out fast, but watch out, they can use the Windmill counterattack. It's best to avoid these guys. They can be insta-deathed with the appropriate techs, though. --The Hive chests: 60,000 crowns, 90,000 crowns, Queen Bee Robe (def. 8, m.def up), 40,000 crowns From the South Village entrance to the Hive, go left and down through the next chamber, then right. The exit to the next area is to the right. The passage to the north leads to 60,000 crowns in a chest, and the passage south leads to 90,000 crowns. Grab these and head right. Hop down the hole. The next passage has a series of side-caves to look through. There are chests in the first passage along the bottom (Queen Bee Robe), and the last one along the top (40,000 crowns). The exit is the last passage along the bottom. Again, hop down the hole. Head down the long walkway to find... a weird, long, pink thing... Continue right to get to Moleville. The molemen are under attack by the termites, but they can't do much to help you at the moment. Head up, right, and down to get to the other side of Moleville, and the heart of the Hive... Boss: The QUEEN (HP, 11,898) Yes, the long pink thing was in fact the tail end of the Hive Queen herself. And she's one ugly piece of royalty. Note the scepters she's wielding. She uses several Mace attacks, including Crown Split, Double Hit, and Bone Crush, as well as the specialty technique Don't Move! (chance to paralyze all enemies). She also uses special abilities like Sonic Boom (hit one, or hit all, can hit invisible characters), and Pheromone (chance to charm enemies along a vertical line). Really, this battle is much more difficult than even some of the early Seven Heroes. The Queen can target all characters at once, or hit singly for more damage, and can inflict several status ailments if she so chooses. Hope for her mace attacks; they're the weakest skills at her disposal. Once the Queen is beaten, all of her brood will disappear, and the threat to the Savannah is ended. Go back to South Village and talk to the Hunter to end the scenario. The Savannah will be added to the Empire, and the Hunter and Moleman classes will be made available. ==========Komulune Island 1======== Komulune Island is a volcanic isle north of the Jungle of Saramat. To get there, you either have to take the boat from Muliay (town in north Saramat), or travel the Komulune Straits from Forfar (talk to the man with the boat, with a Privateer for an Emperor). You arrive in Tsukijima, the main town on the island. Talk to the locals to get info. It seems that Komulune Island is suffering from a volcano problem. As in, it's threatening to explode. After you've talked to everyone (esp. to the Mayor in the upper-left house, and the guys in the bar), you should have Tsukijima, the Volcano, the Sorceror's Tower, and the Salamander town of Zemio on the map. --Zemio You don't actually have to visit Zemio at this time, but it's an interesting side-trip. Zemio is a town built on a lake of molten lava. In order to visit the Salamanders, you're going to need something to travel around in. From Tsukijima, take the boat back to Muliay, and head into the Jungle. If you've been through here before, then you should remember where you met the Amazon. If not, head for the lower right corner of the Jungle. RUN down through the gap in the rocks to jump across. Behind one of the bushes to the left you can just barely see something black. This is the stone canoe. NOTE: while carrying this item, you cannot run. Do not even bother trying. Fall through that hole in the ground like a man. This passage will take you to the hill in the middle of the Jungle. Make your way out from there. But as soon as you bring it to Zemio, it stays there permanently. --Sorceror's Tower This is, of course, where the Sorceror lives. Right as you walk in, note the two statues. If you walk BETWEEN the statues, then the area beyond leads to the Sorceror's workshop. If you walk AROUND them, then it leads to the right, to the rest of the tower. There are two chests on the second floor of the tower, but the door's locked at the moment. Anyways, you're here to talk to the Sorceror, and he's in his workshop. Ask him for help (first option), and he'll give you the Ice Seed. You'll have to carry this to the top of the Volcano and throw it in, if you want to prevent an eruption. --Volcano This part is really simple. Fight your way up the Volcano, throw the seed in the caldera, watch the lava cool down, head back out. There isn't even a boss here. Head back to Tsukijima, and talk to the Mayor and the Sorceror in the mayor's place (upper-left building) to end the scenario, and add Komulune Island to the Empire. ==========The Towers of Terelutva========= This scenario takes place in the Meru Desert (obvious enough). There are four sections to this region. Where you enter from Bihara is the first section. The area west of that (where it connects to the South Rongit region) is the second section. The town of Terelutva is the third section, and the fourth section is the entire southern part of the desert. Travel through the desert is brutal, however. Your HP will be halved at the start of every battle. Streams of sand carry you away if you step wrong. Also, three different types of serpent enemies wander the sands: the Sand Biter (red), the Sand Dragon (purple), and the DuneWorm (yellow). These enemies are the always the same, regardless of your own levels. The flying enemies still change, however. The town of Terelutva is on an island due south of Bihara (exit on the southern edge of the first section to get there). Terelutva is an ancient city, with great towers left behind by the Ancient civilization. Noel has since moved into the area, and has stationed monsters in the towers. First order of business, take the battle to the monsters. There are three towers in town. The boss of all the monsters in the towers is in the middle tower, but you can take the other two towers first for the exercise, if you'd like. The boss of the tower on the right is insect-type (MantisGod in my playthrough), and the tower on the left is a reptile type (Basilisk and Toad Soldier in my playthrough). You get a bottle of the mid- level magic restore potion after each battle. The boss of the middle tower is a beast-type. There's a lot of conversation before this battle, most of it reflecting on the political balance between the various Heroes. It seems that Wagnas and Noel have some conflicting issues as to how to proceed with their plans. Wagnas favors the brute-force approach, while Noel's in support of more diplomatic means. After this conversation, then you fight. Defeating the boss removes the monsters from all three towers (if you haven't already cleared the other two). The Meru Desert is added to the Empire. ===========================PLACES TO GO=========================== The following scenarios all have prerequisites before they become available; usually completed scenarios. Note: Again, you can play these in almost any order, even ahead of scenarios mentioned earlier. I'm just putting them in this order for my own convenience. =======Ludon Mines 2======= Scenario requirements: "Ludon Mines 1" completed, several generations passed since. It seems like those miners have uncovered more than they can handle, again. The real level begins where the first Ludon scenario ended, in that room where the three large crystals were. The tunnels extend beyond this point. Time to go monster hunting. --Ludon Mines, lower levels. chests: 300,000 crowns (crystal) There are a ton of undead monsters in this level; more than any other type of monster in fact. Be sure to bring along the Tatsumitsu sword (you DID learn the Exorcism technique, I hope...) From the entrance, head up and left, and keep going left to find a crystal worth 300,000 crowns. At the top of the screen you'll see a door guarded by a zombie-type monster. With Exorcism, this should be a really short battle. Go through the door to find the Demon Stone. This is the source of the monsters plaguing the mines. Break it to end its terror. Afterwards, you have the option to take the shards of the Demon Stone with you. One of the Molemen can make a ring out of it. The DemonStone Ring provides massive protection against magic, and is one of the few items that will protect against Charm, but there is one major drawback: when equipped, it will reduce everyone's LP by one every time you sleep at an Inn, or any other place that is not Gerard's bed in Avalon Castle. The benefits do balance this out, and if you're not planning on sleeping anytime soon (or are about to take on the last boss in a scenario), you might want to equip it for that extra bit of protection. ========Garon's Coup======= Scenario requirements: "Pirates of North Rongit" completed, more than 1 generation passed since. This scenario is started by talking to the Chancellor in Avalon Castle. After several areas have been added to the Empire, he will mention something going on down in Morbellum. If you go to the map of that region, and Nuono no longer appears on the map, then the scenario has begun. If you're very savvy, you might notice that your incoming revenue (talk to Tax Official) has dropped a bit. --Morbellum Go to the northwest building in town to find the Captain and the Pirates' Guild in a meeting. This time, you'll be invited in. The Captain will tell you how Garon, a servant of Subier, has taken control of the town of Nuono. He will mention your choices for how to get to Nuono. The choices are 1) by land (Harrier Peninsula), 2) by sea (Marine Labyrinth), or 3) don't go anywhere. A real adventurer wouldn't choose number 3, of course, ;) Whichever route you've chosen, nothing has changed one iota from the first time you might have come fighting through here, in the earlier scenario. Once you reach Nuono, head for the docks (if you took the Marine Labyrinth, that's where you enter). Garon will be waiting for you there. Catch him by surprise if you took the land route, or battle through his gathered monsters to reach him. Beat him (a cakewalk), and he'll flee to the house on the hill (the Captain's former headquarters). Don't worry about the pirates in town, they all run away if you talk to them. Walk into the headquarters, and be jumped by a set of Killer Machines. After you take these guys out, Garon will run for it again. Follow him through the secret passage to below the fireplace. This next passage leads to a secret dock, where Garon has a ship hidden. On the way, be sure to grab the two chests: a Viking Axe, and the Bard's Bassoon (Thanks go to Ayaka Matsumoto for the vocab hint). It's one of the Bard's Instruments, and a fairly important story item later on. You get to the end, and you think you'll be facing Garon, right? Nope. He exclaims that he'll be back, and that Lord Subier will grant him greater powers in order to defeat you, then jumps on his ship and escapes. Oh well. You've reclaimed Nuono, and the entire North Rongit for the Empire, and the Privateer class should be available now. ========South Sea Mermaid====== requirements: "Pirates of North Rongit", "Ludon Highlands 1", "The Hive Queen" scenarios completed; male character as Emperor. NOTE: if the scenario "The Haunted Ship" begins before you do "South Sea Mermaid", then this scenario will be superseded. To start, go to Morbellum, and take the boat south to the town of Mermaid (second choice). The town's named after the legendary mermaids who live in the South Rongit Sea. Mermaid is a town built on islands, with bridges connecting all over. Talk to the people in town until it gets dark. Everyone in town will disappear. Head to the Pub. Here's where everyone is! As you walk in the door, you'll see the Dancer giving a performance. After she's through, she'll leave. Talk to everyone in the Pub. Go outside, and it's miraculously day again. Talk to everyone outside again until night falls. Head back to the Pub. This time, she's dancing on the bar (note the two dirty old men, hehe). Again, she leaves before you have a chance to talk with her. Third time's the charm... Again, talk to everyone in town until night falls. This time, the Dancer pulls your Emperor into the room, and the two of you start dancing. After you're finished, follow her out the back door. On the cape north of town, you see... the Dancer shed her clothes, and turn into a Mermaid. After a few choice words to the Emperor, she jumps into the ocean. Back in town, talk to the people in the houses. A woman will tell you about the old witch who lives in the eastern mountains. Guess where you're headed now? --Witch's Cave This cave is really short, but full of monsters (I guess witches value their privacy). All the way to the back of the cave, and to the left, and you'll find the Witch. You'll have a choice of what to get from her. The first is a Fishman Potion (to breathe underwater), a powerful magic-restoring potion, and an LP restoring potion (this is the only place you can buy this potion, though you can also find them in your storage space). She'll give you a list of ingredients, and a bill for 10,000 crowns (all her potions cost that much, by the way). Ingredient #1: a sea-swallow's nest Go to Toba (sail from Morbellum or Mermaid). Exit the town to the right to get to the cliffs. Go past the first vine you see, and take the second. Follow the vines up and down, up and down, work your way down to the small coast area (w/ a few aquatic enemies) and all the way right, then up, over, and up and down vines again until you work you're back up on the top left side of the screen. Take the nest you find up there, then work your way all the way back. Rest up in town, and let's continue. Ingredient #2: the eggshell of a rare bird of the Savannah Go to South Village in the Savannah. Talk to the Hunter to ask about the rare bird. It nests in the grove on the eastern side of the Savannah, but is often attacked by monsters. Leave South Village, and head east and a little north until you see a bunch of trees grouped together. Walk into the grove, and you'll see the nest under attack! Boss: PYROHYDRA (~4500 HP) You might've already run into this monster, but maybe not. Pyrohydra can perform multiple attacks in one round, have fire attacks (single and multi- hit), wrap attacks, Fang Crush, Triple Hit, etc. If you've got a sword-user, lead off with an Air Pressure Wave attack to bring its HP down fast, then beat it down with other high-power attacks to finish it off. Once you beat it, behold the miracle of life as the egg hatches, and the birds fly away. Now you can take the eggshell. Ingredient #3: Water from Aqua Lake. On the western edge of the Ludon Highlands, lies the Aqua Lake. Try and take any water, though, and you'll be told off by the Nereid, the watery maiden who lives in the lake. She'll let you take some water, but only if you bring her a Moonlight Comb. For the Moonlight Comb, first head to Moleville, under South Village. Talk to the stationary Moleman on the far right of the screen (one of the two that was under attack by the termites, earlier). Ask him about the comb, and he'll tell you to bring him some moonbeams, caught in a special pot. He provides the pot. Leave the Savannah, and head to Avalon. Stay the night in the Inn, and around midnight you'll go to the roof to gather some moonbeams. Do this two or three nights in a row, then go back to Moleville. The Moleman will take the moonbeams, then charge you 10,000 crowns for the service of making the comb. You have to pay him, so fork over the cash. Return to Aqua Lake, and give the comb to the Nereid. She'll let you take some of the lakewater for yourself. Also, the Nereid class is now available. Return to Avalon to recharge the petty cash (talk to your Treasurer, remember?), then head back to the Witch's Cave in the South Rongit area. Pay the witch, give her the ingredients, and receive the Fishman Medicine in return. She warns you that a person can only use it three times safely, so be careful. Return to the place you saw the mermaid dive in, and use the potion. Jump in, and you find yourself in the undersea home of the Fishmen. Talk to the mermaid, and the two of you wander off... You return out of breath, and the mermaid says she really had fun... Make of that what you will, ;) Return to dry land, jump back in, and repeat. After you do this three times, your Emperor decides that he doesn't want to leave, and abdicates. You get to choose a new Emperor now. Scenario over. NOTE: South Rongit is not added to the Empire in this scenario. ==========Komulune Volcano II============= Requirements: Komulune Volcano I scenario finished, several generations. To start this scenario, talk to your Chancellor. If he mentions something going on in Tsukijima, then the scenario has begun. The people in Tsukijima are frantic. The volcano shows all signs of impending eruption, and the Sorceror's doing nothing about it. Tremors interrupt people's conversations, etc. The thing to do this time is to talk with the Salamanders in Zemio. Get back to the World Map, and then to Zemio. It seems that the lava has cooled off, and you can walk around town. The building on the right side of town has notes on the stronger Fire spells, as well as the Bard's Guitar (if you've talked to the people in the bar in Yuyan). Visit the uppermost house in town to talk to the lead Salamander. According the him, the volcano's about to blow any minute! Head back to Tsukijima and talk to the Mayor to evacuate the place. Then return to Zemio and talk to the Salamander leader again. He'll give you more info on what to do, and give you a powerful mace, the Komulune Hammer (att. 24, tech. Grand Buster), to help. At this point, you've got two choices: go straight up the Volcano, or head back to Tsukijima. Trust me, this is a major decision. --Path 1, up the Volcano. The actual level hasn't changed any. Go up to the caldera. Instead of the mass of spirit monsters you saw the first time, there are three beast monsters in the crater. Go to them to start the fight. Boss: LAVA FLOW, and HELLHOUND (infinite number, max three at a time) Hellhounds should be no problem by this point, aside from an annoying tendency to use Flame Wind. However, the Hellhounds will replace themselves every few rounds. Also, all your characters will take ~90 HP damage per round automatically (same as if they're poisoned, but unpreventable). The big rock that's your main target won't attack you, but the never-ending supply of Hellhounds can wear you down as much as the every-round damage. This is a marathon battle, so pace your WP and JP usage. The self-healing Focus Energy attack (martial arts, 0 WP) can be very useful in this battle, as are Dimension Chop (axe tech, 9 WP, instant death to all weaker enemies) and the Grim Reaper bow's Deadly Shot attack (again, instant death to all weaker enemies). Using Self-Burning will negate fire attacks on a person-to-person basis, but if one of the Hellhounds attacks you physically, the spell will counterattack, and you'll lose that character's action for the turn. Once you've defeated (if that's the word) the rock blocking the volcano, the lava starts flowing again. All monsters have disappeared from the Volcano as well. Now, it's time to visit the Sorceror again. If you talked to the Salamanders in the far-right building in Zemio, you'll have heard that he was sniffing around for information shortly before the Volcano started acting up. The Sorceror's Tower is crawling with monsters now, which is definitely not a good sign. If you check the lab, the Sorceror's no longer there. Walk back through the statues so you'll be able to get to the rest of the Tower. Along the way, you'll find three chests that were inaccessible the last time you might have visited here: a Liberty Staff (att. 28, tech. Blessing), 240,000 crowns, and 160,000 crowns. A quick trip across the roof, and you're going up the tower itself. If you keep going up the staircases, you'll notice something: you're not going anywhere. After one flight up, search along the bottom edge of the room to find a secret passage to the real staircase leading up. Now you're in the Sorceror's bedroom. Talk to him to wake him up. He's not going to be happy. Apparently, his research has led him to the location of the secrets of the Dark Magic. Unfortunately, in order to access it, he had to blow up the Volcano. Since you've prevented that, he's kind of mad now. Boss: SORCEROR (9553 HP) might drop a Cat's Eye (accessory, defense against Gaze attacks) The Sorceror likes to use hit-all magics like Stone Shower, and has even mastered combination-element spells like Arc Thunder, Flame Wind, and Prism Light. He regenerates 10% HP per round, almost from the start. Put the Golden Strength spell (Earth, 1 JP, raises attack power) to good use and up your warriors' damage to offset the 900~ HP that this guy gets back every round. Another suggestion is to have all characters possessing the spell Self-Burning use it at the start. The Sorceror has no physical attacks to counterattack, but Self-Burning will negate the Flame Wind spell, which will be one less worry. Defeating the Sorceror ends the scenario. --Path 2, back to Tsukijima First, let's be frank and upfront. Taking this path will make the Dark Magics available for your party's use. It will also annihilate the towns of Zemio and Tsukijima, and all the humans and Salamanders within. It's very simple to start. So simple, that you might accidentally do so without even meaning to. All you have to do is return to Tsukijima after you've gotten the Komulune Hammer, and witness the destruction of the town by eruption. If you go back to Zemio now, all you'll see is a glowing pool of lava. I hope you grabbed that guitar... You might also notice that there's a new addition to the map, the Risen Isle. You can either go here directly, or pay a visit to the Sorceror. If you talked to the Salamanders in the far-right building in Zemio, you'll have heard that the Sorceror was sniffing around for information shortly before the Volcano started acting up. The Sorceror's Tower is crawling with monsters now, which is definitely not a good sign. If you check the lab, the Sorceror's no longer there. Walk back through the statues so you'll be able to get to the rest of the Tower. Along the way, you'll find three chests that were inaccessible the last time you might have visited here: a Liberty Staff (att. 28, tech. Blessing), 240,000 crowns, and 160,000 crowns. A quick trip across the roof, and you're going up the tower itself. If you keep going up the staircases, you'll notice something: you're not getting anywhere. After one flight up, search along the bottom edge of the room to find a secret passage to the real staircase leading up. You'll be in the Sorceror's bedroom. When you wake him up he'll be all happy that his experiment was a success, and the eruption forced sunken ruins above the waves. He rushes out to search for the secrets of Dark Magic he so greatly desires. --Risen Island chests: Heavy Water Spear (att. 38, tech. Poseidon Shot (learned from Trident)), 200,000 crowns, Sage Rod (att. 16, tech. Spell Enhance), Gloaming Robe (def. 10, major magical defense), Grimoire of Ancient Magics. Now it's time to visit the Risen Isle. The surface is pretty simple. There's a down staircase on the right side of the island. You enter in the lower- right corner of an underground gallery. There's a chest on the upper-left corner, a Heavy Water Spear. As you walk around the gallery, you might notice a cracked spot on the ground. Step on it, and one of the statues starts moving in place. That marks the passage to the next part of the level. Go down the staircase. Head right, then up and a bit left to the passage to another ruined gallery. Up at the top of the room there's an undead boss (no set monsters for this battle). Exorcism's a lot of help in this little battle. Be sure you've can take this battle with a minimum of effort before committing to an attack. You can run away and start the battle again any number of times, with different monsters each battle. Note: if you've already been to the Sorceror's Tower and woken up the Sorceror, then you'll be fighting him right now. In any case, as soon as you've defeaten the undead, the Sorceror rushes up and attacks you. Boss: SORCEROR (9553 HP) might drop a Cat's Eye (accessory, defense against Gaze attacks) The Sorceror likes to use hit-all magics like Stone Shower, and has even mastered combination-element spells like Arc Thunder, Flame Wind, and Prism Light. He regenerates 10% HP per round, almost from the start. Put the Golden Strength spell (Earth, 1 JP, raises attack power) to good use and up your warriors' damage to offset the 900~ HP that this guy gets back every round. Another suggestion is to have all characters possessing the spell Self- Burning use it at the start. The Sorceror has no physical attacks to counterattack, but Self-Burning will negate the Flame Wind spell. Defeating the Sorceror ends the scenario. Your Emperor will abdicate for allowing the Volcano to erupt. After you've chosen a new Emperor and gotten another warrior in your party (you should still have the same party, minus the former Emperor), head back to the Risen Island to open the chest the undead was guarding (or Sorceror was examining, whichever applies). There's 200,000 crowns inside, as well as a Sage Rod, a Dusk Robe, and the Grimoire, an ancient book of magic. Take the Grimoire to the Light Magic Lab in Avalon and show it to the first person there. Take the first choice. The Dark Magic Lab should immediately appear near the rest of the Magic Research center (exit the building, and explore the woods to the right of the building to find the DML's tower). ===========What Lovely Music========== requirements: "Hive Queen" scenario completed, access to Terelutva, Yuyan, Muliay, Zemio, Moleville, North Nazelle, etc. This isn't a scenario, per se, since it involves Wagnas' scenario directly, but I thought I should mention it separately. To start this, talk to the bartender in Yuyan to hear about a melody much loved by the Iris folk of Mt. Chikapa. You can do this well before Wagnas' scenario becomes available. The bartender mentions that the Bard went north. If you stop by Muliay, someone should mention that the Bard went to Komulune Island. In Zemio, in the house farthest right, you'll find the Guitar. According to one of the Salamanders, the Bard's gone to Cumberland through the Komulune Straights. Go to Forfar and talk to the little girl. She's singing the same song that the bartender in Yuyan mentioned. According to her, the Bard's left for the Steppe. Go to the Nomad's Village and talk to the first kid you see. You'll get serenaded again, then the kid will tell you the Bard went to the Savannah. Walk through the passage between the Steppe and Savannah, and go down to visit West Village. The blue-haired girl tells you the Bard went down to Moleville. Go to South Village, and then down the ant hole to Moleville. Talk to the Moleman in the lower right corner, and he'll tell you the Bard came to see the site of the historic battle against the Hive Queen. Apparently, he forgot something before he left for the desert. Go in the last room in Moleville (right above where the Queen was) to find the Bard's Conga drum. If you search across the desert (Bihara, Terelutva, Wandering Lake), you won't find anyone who's seen the Bard. But remember that overland connection to the South Rongit. Go to the town of Toba, and talk to the first lady you see. She'll mention the Bard had stayed overnight after visiting Mermaid, and that he was heading for the Nazelle area. Visit the Saigo Clan Village, and talk to the kid in the upper-left part of the encampment to learn that the Bard had stopped by, then headed to a cave in the western mountains. Afterwards, he went north. The Bard's Grotto is now available. NOTE: you can open this area at any time, as long as you've talked to the bartender in Yuyan. It IS possible for Dantarg to appear in this cave, so if you haven't beaten him yet, be forewarned... --The Bard's Grotto chests: Lancer (spear, att. 33, tech. Poseidon Shot (learned from Trident)), Tourmaline Axe (att. 29, tech. Electric Boomerang), Bard's Flute, 250,000 crowns From the entrance, go down the steps and into the cave entrance. Go down into the water, and to the small island with a staircase. Go down. Next floor, go into the water, then head all the way left and down a bit for a chest (Lancer spear). Go back right, and head down and left. Go back up onto dry land and walk out through the next passage. You'll be back on the first screen, one tier below where you were the last time. Head left to find another passage. Go past it, and all the way on the far left of the tier is a chest with the Tourmaline Axe. Go back to the passage, in, and take the up staircase inside. You'll be on the first of three islands in the water. The second island has a chest with the Bard's Flute in it. The third island has a random insect boss (or Dantarg, if you're unlucky; see "The Lost Child" scenario for details on him). There's a chest with 250,000 crowns in it. After this, head north from the Nazelle region. If you stop by Tifarl, Nibel, or Miramar, you're wasting your time. No one there has anything to say about the Bard. Head straight to Avalon instead. Stop by the Inn in Avalon, and ask the lady at the desk about the Bard (second option). Apparently he stayed here a few nights, but left in a rush and may have left some stuff behind... Check the desk in the first room upstairs (the one the Emperor stays in if you sleep there). You'll get the Bard's Horn. If you remembered to grab the Bassoon in Nuono during the Garon scenario, then you should have five Bard items in all. If you do, then this quasi-scenario is over. =========================People to Kill================================ These scenarios pit you directly against the Seven Heroes. Again, you may not take these in the order presented, and you will certainly complete many of them before the scenarios mentioned in previous sections. =========The Landship======= This scenario takes place in the Steppe. To get to the Steppe, either go to Miles from Somon, or go through the gate in the Great Wall from Cumberland. This scenario can be started any time after Gerard's scenarios, but it's recommended that you wait until Avalon University is built (and you have access to the Tactician) before taking it on. The Steppe is a large grassland, with a road or two cut through it. The western entrance to it is the port of Miles. To the south is Wailinga Lake (accessible from Bihara), and to the southeast is the passage to the Savannah. The Nomads' encampment can be found somewhere on the Steppe, though the location may vary. --Nomads' Village To start the scenario, first find the Nomads' Village. Talk to the head Nomad (upper left tent) to hear about Bokuohn's Landship. The Nomad will take you to see it. The Landship starts up as you watch. Bokuohn is in search of new slaves, it seems. If you return to Miles, you'll find the town overrun by his demihuman slavers. Everyone in town is in hiding. There are two ways to take on Bokuohn in his Landship: #1) Go back to Miles. The town is swarming with slavers (who don't attack you, oddly enough). If you talk to the men in charge of the operation (one's walking outside, the other's in the building on the upper-left), then it's possible to be taken up as a new slave for the Landship. You really don't want to take this path, believe me. It just gets you onto the Landship. From then on, it's no different from the other way, except that you're on the Landship, facing one of the Seven Heroes, with NO EQUIPMENT WHATSOEVER.... But if you're a glutton for punishment, and feel up for a challenge, then think ahead, and put a ton of martial arts attacks on everyone. These are the classes that can be "recruited" by the slavers (courtesy of Alex Jackson): Light Infantry (male/female) Free Fighter (male/female) Imperial Guard (male/female) East Guard Desert Guard Holy Order (male only) Privateer Saigo Herder Fist Fighter Salamander The Last Emperor (male/female) #2) Method number two requires that you have Avalon University built, and the Tactician class available. The University can be built as early as third generation, and you get the Tactician by answering the questions posed by the man in the upper-right part of the building (you need to get 6 out of 10 correct). --Avalon University Test Crib Sheet Q.1: Emperor Leon sealed away the dungeon north of Avalon in what year? A: 772 Imperial (answer 3) Q.2: Avalon and Douglas are separated by what sea? A: the Orion Sea (answer 1) Q.3: Which of these Heroes is a woman? A: Rocbouquet (answer 2; apparently the tester doesn't consider Wagnas to be a woman....) Q.4: If you give Wind Magic to someone, what magic must be removed first? A: Earth Magic (answer 2) Q.5: What is Kujinshi's signature move? A: Soul Steal (answer 1) Q.6: If you buy 3 maces and 7 great swords, and have 200 crowns left over, how much money did you have to start with? A: 10,000 (answer 2) Q.7: Photon Dissolve, Atom Dissolve, or Molecular Dissolve, which is a real technique? A: Molecular Dissolve (answer 3. Innate technique for the Splasher sword. Thanks go to Zach Keene for the interpretation) Q.8: Buffalo, Lynx, Watchman. Which one is different? A: Watchman (answer 3. Watchman's a demihuman, and the other two are beasts) Q.9: Who among the Seven Lords has the largest following? A: Bokuohn (answer 2; it seems like he's always pulling out another army to send against you...) Q.10: How much is the Empire currently receiving in taxes? A: varies depending on what you're actually getting at this point in the game. Go check with the Tax Official near the throne room before taking the test. Once you've finished the test satisfactorily, exit and come back in to find the place swarming with young students. The Tactician is in the room to the right of the entrance. After the Landship starts moving, go to him and ask for his help. He'll agree to help you, then leaves for Forfar to research tactics. Follow him there. You'll find him in Forfar Castle. Talk to him again, and he'll tell you he's come up with a plan to attack Bokuohn's Landship. Meet him at the Nomad encampment near the Great Wall. Go to the Great Wall, and take the EASTERN exit (much closer to the Nomads' village). There you'll see... a Landship? The Tactician has been very busy, it seems, and has created a decoy to lure away Bokuohn's defenders. Rest up with the Nomads if you need to, then head over to the ship and talk to the Tactician. You'll discuss strategy for a few moments. After, you need to go back to the Nomads' village and talk to the head Nomad. Now the fun begins. After the monsters have all debarked, the Nomad wishes you luck, and you hop on the Landship. --Landship chests: Steel Armor (def. 8), Iron Armor (def. 6), Great Sword (att. 11), Steel Sword (att.11), 210,000 crowns, Fiery Sword (att. 30, tech. Final Strike, Prominence Cut), Leather Armor (def 3), Doublet (shirt, def. 2) NOTE: If you took the slaver approach, then you're depending solely on the weapons you grab in here. From the entrance, head up and right, to the up staircase. (If you're on here as a slave, then you'll have to defeat the guard at the door where you're at, up the stairs, then find the staircase on the right side of the area). Surprise! You're in the mess hall. Defeat whatever attacks you, then head up to grab the Steel Sword, Steel Armor, and 210,000 crowns. Head up the staircase in this room (the door's locked) to find the barracks. Dash between the beds to get to the other side before the monsters have a chance to grab you. In the closet on the right are three chests, Iron Armor, Great Sword, and the Fiery Sword, which is the main reason to come this far (unless you're lacking in basic equipment, of course). The Fiery Sword's Prominence Cut is a very powerful attack, so try and learn it quickly. Now head all the way back to the entry level. Down two flights of stairs, and you should be back where you started. Go through the door below, and left to the other set of stairs. In the lower left corner of the next screen, there's a down staircase, and no monsters to get in the way, for now (NOTE: the slaver approach has several more monsters wandering around). Downstairs, there are two chests (Leather Armor and Doublet), and another staircase. Take it. Take the next staircase up as well, and you're in Bokuohn's throne room. Hope you're prepared. Boss: PUPPET LORD BOKUOHN first form: 10,892 HP second form: 23,999 HP In his base form, Bokuohn is a stringy looking demon with two marionettes. In this form, he uses mace attacks like Bone Crush, Double Hit, and Full Flat (1 LP damage, instant death). His greater form wields one large marionette, and uses great sword attacks. He also uses hypnosis attacks, and Marionette. When you talk to him, you've got too choices. Take the first one (Fight). The second one, and you end up turning your back on him for a few seconds. He'll jump you from behind, the tricky knave.. The big thing you've got to worry about here is his signature move, Marionette. The targetted character gets attacked by all other characters who haven't had their turn yet. Depending on what you've chosen each character to do, this can be pretty bad. Counterattacks are useful in this battle, because you're not endangering yourselves. Thankfully, Marionette can't always affect all of your characters all the time. If you've got a Mage with Water Magic, be sure to have the third water spell, Mist Cover (JP 6), to make them invisible to attacks (and immune to Marionette). Another way to get around Marionette is to make sure most or all of your characters have acted before Bokuohn. He's fast, but with one good character as Emperor, you can be faster. Dragon Tail Formation, for example (learned from the Monk), links the actions of the entire party to the Emperor's. If your Emperor's faster than Bokuohn, then EVERYONE is faster than Bokuohn. But if you've got Rapid Stream formation, that would be preferable, since it lets everyone hit first. This is really an endurance battle. His direct attacks can't hurt you too badly, so you're really just watching out for your own attacks. If you've got a Mage with high skill levels healing, then you're set for this battle. Once you've defeaten Bokuohn, the Steppe is added to the Empire, and there's a time shift (1 year or 100, depends on how many scenarios you've already completed). =========The Lost Child========== requirements: Saigos Clan scenario possibility that this scenario won't exist if you defeat Dantarg in an earlier dungeon? To start this, you need to talk to the Herder in the Winter Grazing Grounds (North Nazelle). If no one's there when you visit, you'll have to travel to the Summer Grazing Grounds in South Nazelle. Check the bottom-right corner of the map screen in North Nazelle to find the path across the Icy Sea. Because of the ice, you'll keep moving in a direction until you're stopped by the edge, or a hole in the ice. Watch out for octopi. Once you make it to the other side, visit the Herder in the Summer Grounds, and talk to everyone else in the encampment to open the Ice Ruins on the map (optional level). Go back to North Nazelle via the Worldmap, and visit the Winter Grounds again. Talk to the Herder to find out that a child has disappeared along with a Moo calf. They've gotten lost in one of the caves in the area. You're asked to find them. --The Cave of the Lost Child (and Moo Calf too) The first room of this cave has many holes to drop down into. All but one lead to a dummy room that leads straight back outside. To find the right route, walk right past each hole. When you pass by the right one, the screen will pause a second while you hear sobbing. (For reference, the correct hole is due south from the entrance, around a bit of cave wall, near some lizard monsters). From here on out, you'll need to guide yourself by that sobbing. You'll hear it at the third opening on the right in the room full of ghosts. One floor down, there's a long corridor with many openings to the north. Ignore all of these. Run along the bottom edge of the corridor until you see the screen pause and hear sobbing. That's where the passage down is. Go down the stairs. On the next floor, head south past the beast monsters, then down right past the demons (if you walk through the passage in that direction, you should hear more sobbing). Continue through the next series of rooms (no sidetracks), to reach the final room of the level, where Dantarg awaits. A short conversation later, mostly concerning why Dantarg is there in the first place, and the fight commences. Boss: LORD DANTARG 1st form: 19,999 HP 2nd: 24,999 HP 3rd: 29,999 HP 4th: 29,999 HP --possibility to win the Destroyer Axe (att. 50, tech. Destruction) in his third and fourth forms, but don't hold your breath. Dantarg has four different forms, depending on your own strength when you fight him. These are all centaur-elephant-dinosaur thingies, but with differing amounts of armor. Since you can fight him as early as the 2nd generation, if you really try, then there's a world of variation in this battle. Each form is, of course, more dangerous than the one before. All forms use Spear techniques, as well as the signature move Rampage (hit all), and the 3rd and 4th forms will use the Grand Slam technique as well (hit all, delayed action). Various other mace, spear, and martial arts attacks may be used as well. If you're fighting him in his later forms, then an evasion for Grand Slam is highly recommended. However, there are only two other monsters that use it in the entire game, the Beastmare (high-level demihuman), and the Spriggan (giant parked in front of Douglas Castle for a while). Count yourself lucky if you can get this. After the battle is over (assuming you survive), head north to find the lost child and his calf safe and sound. Talk to him, and the scenario ends. =========The Desert Swordsman===== requirements: high enough HP to survive Meru Desert, "Towers of Terelutva" completed. First, find the Wandering Lake in the middle of the Meru Desert. There are three locations where it'll show up, one in each of the three sections of the desert. The easiest places to find it are in the lower-left corner of the second section (that connects to South Rongit), and the upper-left corner of the third section (southern half of desert). Four times out of five, the lake will disappear when you enter. Once it disappears, you'll have to exit the section and come back. Once you actually enter the area around the lake, go left, and take the second drop-off to walk along the lakebed (first drop-off, and you consider taking a drink of water). Walk over to where the water leaves the odd building on the right. Up the canal, and through the door, and you're inside. There's a short hallway with three small side-rooms (including the one you enter by). If you go to the doorway of the middle room, then head straight down, you'll find a hidden room with the epee Star of Irolina (att. 30, tech. ScatterFlowers). Continue left, and go up to find Noel and the Desert Guard duking it out in front of a blue- haired man. Talk to Noel to find out some of what the Heroes are doing in the Desert. Apparently, there's something important about the towers in Terelutva and Saramat, and so monsters were sent in to control them. As for the Wandering Lake, the blue-haired man there is one of the Ancients, and an old acquaintance of Noel's from long ago. After you're done talking with Noel, then you're given a choice. Take the first, and you make peace with Noel (he keeps his word meticulously). The second, and it's a battle. I would suggest making peace. If you've already beaten Rocbouquet, then you won't have a choice, though. He'll just attack. Fight or peace, afterwards talk to the Desert Guard, Sharkhan, to gain his allegiance to the Empire. Talk to the blue- haired man to learn about an Ancient ruin to the south of the desert (in the Southlands). Boss: LORD NOEL (if you so choose) HP is approximate *first form (two stages): 7000 HP, then he switches attack patterns. 10,999 HP after that. first form (Rocbouquet defeated): 28,998 HP *second form (two stages): 9999 HP, then attack pattern switch. 16,999 HP after that *second form (post-Rocbouquet): 32,000 HP Lord Noel uses sword and great sword attacks, including the powerful Kamaitachi attack (hits along vertical axis). A good suggestion is to build up Light Magic until you have Sword Barrier. This will really help you defend against his physical attacks. His signature attack is MoonShades (a host of blue skulls streams forth for massive damage). NOTE: if you've defeaten Rocbouquet already, then he'll go into hyper-mode from the get-go, instead of waiting for a while before pulling out the high- power attacks. Alex Jackson, on Noel: "Noel, first form, before defeating Rocbouquet: Have everyone cast Self Burning at the start of the fight. Recast it whenever it gets nullified (i.e. when someone gets hit). At first Noel uses Counter often, so use magic, bow techs, or other long-range techs to hit him. Once he casts Heat Hand, open up on him. Red Dragon Wave will wipe out characters who aren't protected by Self Burning, so keep it up at all times. Noel, first form, after defeating Rocbouquet: Ugh. Just leave him for last so you can fight his second form instead :) Noel, second form, before defeating Rocbouquet: Sword Barrier will nullify most of his attacks (all of his attacks for the first half of the battle) Missile Guard will nullify Kamaitachi. Wall of Fire will nullify MoonShades, but only works if you can cast it before he attacks (very hard without Rapid Stream--Noel is fast), and casting it will nullify your Missile Guard (only one full-party defence spell can be in effect at a time). It's up to you. Your best bet is probably to use Rapid Stream and Wall of Fire, and just take your Kamaitachi like a man. He doesn't use it all that often. Noel, second form, after defeating Rocbouquet: See above. The main differences are (a) he attacks twice per turn, and (b) he uses all his moves right from the start of the battle, rather than holding back. Don't even think about fighting this version of Noel without Sword Barrier. ======The Queen of the Jungle==== The Jungle of Saramat lies southeast of the Savannah. The passage there is due east of South Village. The Jungle has five passages out. The one on the north-west is to the Savannah; north-east leads to Muliay; faaar southeast corner leads to the Amazon Village; south to Eilunep; and southwest to the East Kingdom of Yauda. First, head southeast, battling through the many encounters in the busy Jungle, and exit southeast. You'll find the Amazon leader being beset by a pair of monsters. First choice is to take them out; second is to wait it out and watch her do it instead. Talk to her to get invited to the village. RUN through the gap to the south (watch her, she does it too). If you try and walk through it, you end up dropping through a hole. Continue right to reach the Village of Amazons. Remember, you cannot enter this village if your Emperor is male. No exceptions. It seems like the women of Eilunep have all taken refuge here, after having been driven out of their hometown. The Amazon Janne is their leader. She fills you in on the situation as it is. One of the Seven Heroes, Rocbouquet, has taken over the city, and inhabits the strange tower on the edge of town, filling it with monsters. Now you've got a target. The city of Eilunep is filled with men only, and they're all obsessed with Queen Rocbouquet. According to them, all the women left out of jealousy, but it seems like something iffy is going on... The bartender lets on that Her Majesty is interested in the ruins on the north side of town, but the stone Guardian is blocking the way. But before anything else, it's time to meet Rocbouquet. --Eilunep Tower For this tower you need to go up the front staircase all the way to the top, then go to the upper-left corner of the top floor and take the stairs down. On the next floor, take the stairs left of the ones you just came down. Yes, it's that simple. Next floor, the down staircase is in the lower-left corner of the room. Floor after that, ditto. After this, you'll be on the ground floor. Rocbouquet is standing on a pedestal with a plant monster in front of it. Defeat the plant(a Ruffle Tree), and talk to her. She's impressed that you managed to make it all the way through her tower, with all the monsters patrolling it, and she makes you an offer. She wants you to eliminate the stone guardian in front of the Eilunep Ruins. Choice 1, and you agree to help her. She takes you straight to the Guardian. Choice 2, and you walk out of there without fighting her (if Emperor is female). If your Emperor is male, then you'll have to fight her. ==Path 1 (male Emperor, fighting Rocbouquet)== first form HP: 16,555 second form HP: 32,000 might drop Cat's Eye (accessory, status defense up, blocks gaze attacks), or Ruby Rod (epee, att. , tech. Fire Dragon Flood). Neither's very likely. Rocbouquet varies greatly in difficulty depending on which form you fight her in. Her first form has only single-hit attacks, while her second form has Call Lightning (electric attack). Her signature move, Temptation, makes up for all that if you're idiotic enough to bring an all-male party against her. Temptation attack charms all male characters for massive friendly fire damage. It can be blocked by accessories that negate charm, but there are only three of those in the game (and one is a non-removable item on the Moleman). The other two are the Somon Ring and the DemonStone Ring. Also, if a majority of the people in your party are charmed at once, then you automatically lose the fight, and Rocbouquet forces you to take on the Stone Guardian for her. If you defeat her, then the scenario ends. You can still take on the Stone Guardian and later levels if you'd like, however. ==Path 2== Boss: STONE GUARDIAN (10889) might drop Hauteclaire (great sword, att. 50 (actual att. 35), tech. Coup de Grace) This monster uses great sword attacks, has a high defense (it's stone, after all), and makes frequent use of the Poison Gas attack. After you've defeaten the Guardian, Rocbouquet (if she's there) will thank you and walk up between the dragon statues, disappearing. Follow her, and you'll be transported to the building on the right. Go through the next pair of statues, and you'll be in the building on the left, in front of a staircase. Go down. Walk between the two statues in the corridor. Then walk between the pair of statues on the RIGHT. In the next room, again take the right pair of statues. After that, the left pair, and then the right pair again after that. You should be in a room with a single set of statues, and Rocbouquet (if you've defeaten the Guardian for her, instead of on your own). Talk to her, and she'll start yelling something to the effect of "Eureka! I found it!", and rush out. Walk between the two statues she just vacated to find the location of the Sunken Tower, in the Jungle of Saramat. Walk back out the way you entered the room to reach the exit to the ruins. --The Sunken Tower chests: 120,000 crowns, Ladyhawke Axe (att. 12, tech. Feather Seal), 130,000 crowns, 150,000 crowns. This place succumbed to the Jungle long ago, and now only the top remains in view. Take the door on the right to enter (the one on the left leads to a plugged-up staircase. The first floor is a carbon copy of the top floors of the towers in Eilunep and Terelutva, except for being in better condition. In the lower left corner, guarded by spirit and aquatic monsters, is 120,000 crowns. In the upper right corner, in a hidden area (search down along the wall for the passage through) is the Ladyhawke Axe. This axe, though one of the weakest, has the very useful Feather Seal ability, which makes the caster invisible for just 1WP. The downstaircase is in the upper-left corner, in another hidden area. Just search for it the same way you did for the Ladyhawke, and you'll be fine. The next floor down is full of moving pathways in the shape of dragons' heads and flying monsters moving in circles. There's 130,000 crowns in the lower- left corner, and another 150,000 crowns in the chest just below the next staircase, guarded by an aquatic. The paths are pretty straightforward. You might remember the next floor down from the towers in Terelutva. This time, you can't see the holes, so you risk falling down to the wrong part of the floor below (not a good idea if you're unprepared). Defeat the undead in the doorway below, then go left and up (don't go down at all), and then right to where there's three sets of three archways. Only one arch in each set is safe to walk through. Defeat the monster on the far right arch in the first set, the far left in the second, and the far right again for the third. The staircase is hidden in the lower-left part of the floor (if you try to go too far north, then you'll fall in a pit, so be careful). Fourth floor down is very simple. If you took the hidden staircase, you can just go straight down. If you took the other staircase (readily visible when you enter the third floor), or fall down a pit, you'll end up in the area full of Water Dragons. They're the easiest of the great dragons to beat, but can still take you out if you're unlucky. Fifth floor is even simpler. Follow the corridor to find the pedestal room. If you've come here on your own, and Rocbouquet is still alive, then there'll be a dragon there who gives you information as to where the doorway to hell was opened in the time of the Ancients (this is also the site of the last dungeon). If you defeated the Stone Guardian for Rocbouquet, you'll have to defeat the dragon (a Water Dragon) to talk to her. She won't fight you though, she's too busy. You'll have to wait until the Final Scenarios to fight her. If you've already defeated her before coming to the tower, then you won't find anything here. Boss (possibly): WATER DRAGON HP: 10,000 This thing isn't so tough. Use a formation that gives you the speed advantage (DragonTail w/ a fast Emperor, or Rapid Stream), and its near-constant series of Cyclone Squeeze attacks won't bother you. It sometimes uses Prism Light and Diamond Dust, however, so be careful. Boss (possibly): QUEEN ROCBOUQUET first form HP: 16,555 second form HP: 32,000 might drop Cat's Eye (accessory, status defense up, blocks gaze attacks), or Ruby Rod (epee, att. , tech. Fire Dragon Flood). Neither's very likely. Rocbouquet varies greatly in difficulty depending on which form you fight her in. Her first form has only single-hit attacks, while her second form has Call Lightning (electric attack). Her signature move, Temptation, makes up for all that if you're idiotic enough to bring an all-male party against her. Temptation attack charms all male characters for massive friendly fire damage. It can be blocked by accessories that negate charm, but there are only three of those in the game (and one is a non-removable item on the Moleman). The other two are the Somon Ring and the DemonStone Ring. ========The Haunted Ship========= requirements: "Garon's Coup" scenario completed cancels out the "South Sea Mermaid" scenario if not yet completed. This scenario is a little odd, too. Depending on what your actions are outside the scenario, you might not end up fighting Subier in this scenario. To get Subier: 1- Have Hiraga build the bridge in Miramar. 2- When bridge is destroyed, talk to everyone in town to learn about Master of Ocean 3- Buy the seashell from Saigo Village. 4- Find Master of Ocean at the lake on the Steppe, talk to him to find out about Subier, or fight him to ensure that Subier goes to his second form. Your Chancellor informs you when there's something, ah, fishy going on in the South Rongit area. If you go to Morbellum, you'll find that the ships going south are no longer running because of a great storm. Now here's the problem: the only way to get to the South Rongit area now is through the Meru Desert. The Meru Desert is not for the weak. Your HP is automatically halved whenever you get into a fight. There are three sections to the desert, and the town of Terelutva. Bihara connects to the first region. Head to the south-west corner of that first area to find the entrance to the second area. On the far north side of the second area is the exit to the South Rongit area. Once you're in the South Rongit, head over to Toba. Talk with the Ocean Woman in the pub to find the place where Garon's ship sank. Guess what though: since it's underwater, you're going to need the Fishman Potion to reach it. If you haven't finished the Mermaid quest, then you're going to have to travel back and forth across the continent grabbing the ingredients. If you've already got the potion, you're good to go, however. --The Shipwreck chests: Sapphire Spear (att. 32, tech. ThunderBolt), Super Alloy Armor (def. 25) Underwater, find the wreck of Garon's ship. The outside is crawling with aquatic monsters, and the insides are reeking with the undead. From the entrance stairway, head up through the door, right and down, through the door and down the next staircase. The next floor is a corridor. First head right, until the corridor ends, and go through the door. You'll find a chest with a Sapphire Spear. Exit, and head left until you get to the other end of the corridor. Go through that door. Head up and try to open the chest... and suddenly the chest is on the right side of the room. Still trying to figure that out... Back in the corridor, head one door right, and up the stairs. Go north to the next room to find a chest with 330,000 crowns. North again, and there's a staircase. Go down, through the door, and there's another corridor. Go ALL the way to the other end (the doors all lead to dead-end rooms; the doors on the other side are fake). The last door on the corridor has a real door on the other end, that leads to a... pub? Try going up to the bartender and talking. Oops.. these sailors have been down here a little too long... Good news is, now you can get to the chest: a Super Alloy Armor. Battle your way out, then head up the stairs at the end of the corridor. You're outside of the ship now, though still underwater. Head down and left to find another hole. You're now in a room full of ghost-type monsters, and a very transparent Garon at the end. Work your way over and talk to him. Boss: GHOST PIRATE GARON Well, he got that power-up he'd boasted about, though I doubt he'd thought of this possibility. Now Garon is undead, transparent, and floating. Of course, this doesn't help him much. He only has a bit over 800 HP. One hit with pretty much anything is enough to wipe him out. Well, the boss is dead, again, but things haven't changed much so far. The monsters are gone, thankfully, but the scenario hasn't ended yet. So backtrack through the ship, and exit. At this point, you MIGHT encounter Subier. If you met and killed the Master of Ocean, then he'll show up for sure, in his second form. When you exit the underwater area, you'll end up in Toba again. Go to the Pub and talk to the Ocean Woman to end this part of the scenario and add South Rongit to the Empire. The Ocean Woman will become available for recruitment. Before the end of the scenario, the Ocean Woman will tell you where Subier went (if he doesn't show up at the ship). You can conclude this after the scenario ends: Afterwards, go to Morbellum and commandeer the ship (if you've gone through the bridge and Master of Ocean parts already), to go to the Icy Sea of Nazelle and fight Subier if you want to. I really recommend leaving him for last, however, since his first form is pathetically easy by the time you're at the end of the game (a welcome change, ;)) Boss: SEA LORD SUBIER 1st form (octopus): 18,000 HP 2nd form (whale): 37,496 Obviously, you REALLY want to fight this guy in his first form. Fortunately, you also really have to work hard to get this guy into his second form. If you talk to the Master of Ocean instead of fighting (easily possible with a 1000 crown purchase from Saigo Village...), then you effectively negate all chances of him getting to second form. Subier's signature move is Maelstrom. This is a NASTY hit-all water attack which he always uses as his first move in battle. Be sure to have the healing spells ready from the start. Thankfully, he won't use it often afterwards, but there's always the chance. It can be blocked by the Wall of Fire spell. Be sure to top off your character's HP whenever possible. Subier also uses the ever-annoying tentacle attack, which does way more damage than it has any right to, a paralyzing wrap attack, the Line Lightning attack (weak electrical attack, horizontal line), and, in his second form, several spear attacks that can hit hard. He also regenerates 999 HP per round, but frequent use of Earth Heal should cancel that out after a few rounds. Defeating Subier here counts as another finished scenario, so you might have a generation shift after you kill him. =======The Land to the East====== requirements: several scenarios finished, including 3(?) Hero scenarios. If you sail east from Terelutva, you will arrive in Yuyan, the main port of the East Kingdom of Yauda. This is the requisite Oriental style country that all good RPGs seem to have. There are a few new weapons to buy in the stores, like katana. The Pub is on the north side of town (marked with the symbol "sake" for those who read kanji), and if you talk to the bartender, you'll hear about the Iris' love of music (and one song in particular; see scenario "What Lovely Music" for details). Note, you can visit this city as soon as you can make it through the Meru Desert to Terelutva (or survive the overland route through Saramat), but you can't actually access any other places here until the scenario begins. You'll know it's available when people in Yuyan start mentioning Chontou Castle and Ryanshan, and those places become available on the map. --Ryanshan Ryanshan is a typical Eastern town, much smaller than Yuyan. The weapon shop has a naginata for sale, but otherwise nothing new. Exit on the north side of town to reach Sekishusei's house. Talk to him in the back room to hear about Hakuro Castle, and his concerns about Lord Ato in Chontou. This place is more of a side-trip right now. You can go straight from Yuyan to Chontou as well. --Chontou Castle As you arrive, you'll notice that there isn't anyone here. Odd... Walk in, and head around to the staircase (the room with the chest isn't available yet). On the next floor, head down and right to the door leading out to the balcony (again, ignore the room with the chest: unavailable). Walk around the balcony to reach the next flight of stairs. Head around the top balcony, through the door, and up through a series of doors. You walk in on the lord of the castle making plans with his warriors, including Sekishusei. He greets you politely, then quickly hustles you out. Afterwards, he and his men have a discussion about Wagnas, up in Hakuro Castle, and the possibilities that your presence in the kingdom might bring. Sekishusei and Lord Ato get into an argument, and the meeting is adjourned. You wind up back at the front gate, which is now guarded. --Ryanshan Head back here to talk to Sekishusei again. Apparently, Lord Ato has decided to deal with Wagnas on his own, without the support of the Empire. Sekishusei has some misgivings about this... --Chontou Castle chests: 150,000 crowns, Famous Blade Senchou (att. 32, tech. Throw Kill and Lightning Slice) Head back here to find the castle literally overrun with monsters. You should remember the floor plan from before (it's really simple). The main difference is that you can now access those two chests: 150,000 crowns on the first floor, and the Famous Blade Senchou on the second. Up on the top floor, there's a demon boss (not pre-determined) guarding the last set of doors. He taunts you, saying that Lord Ato has made a pact with Wagnas, and then attacks. Walk through the final set of doors, to find Lord Ato and Sekishusei. Tell him what the monster told you about Lord Ato, and he'll fight you, not because he wants to, but because he must uphold the honor of his lord. Boss: SEKISHUSEI (~800 HP) This is a one-on-one battle. If you're using any sort of strong weapons attacks, you can take this guy out in one hit. If you're on a more magic- reliant class, then you'd better hope you've got a few good attack spells in there. Sekishusei is odd, in that his main attack is Bare-Handed Catch (no, you can't learn this ability in RS2. Go play RS3 if you really really need it...). Bare-Handed Catch is a counter-attack that does decent damage against you. However, since he relies on it for his actual attacks, you can heal up easily without him attacking. After you defeat Sekishusei, he'll have a touching death speech to say before passing away. Lord Ato will then talk to you, basically admitting everything and thanking you for eliminating his loyal, but overly scrupulous, retainer before leaving the castle. --Ryanshan Return here, and go back to Sekishusei's house. His son, the East Guard Jubei, will be here. Talk to folks in town to make Hakuro Castle available on the map. East Guard is now available for recruitment, if needed. --Hakuro Palace chest: 280,000 crowns Walk straight into the castle, then head left (the door directly ahead of you is locked). Go up and take the stairs. Head down through the next two doors to reach the walls of the palace. Travel around the walls of the palace up and around the back of the palace. Don't bother with the down staircases in the towers; they don't lead to anything. Eventually, you should arrive at the door on the opposite side of the palace from the door that lead you out onto the walls in the first place. Go through it, left and up through another door that leads to a set of down stairs. You should now be behind the locked door that blocked your way earlier. Confront the humanoid enemy blocking the door up for a short conversation, mostly insulting your intelligence for thinking you could confront Wagnas, and then a fight (no pre-determined enemies). After the battle is over, Wagnas will appear to taunt you personally. The palace begins to shake, and you rush through the door. You'll be surprised to see that the inner keep of the palace is.. gone, leaving a very large crater in the ground. Walk around the crater to find a gateway in the back; there's the one chest available now, with 280,000 crowns inside. You can now exit the short way; that one door is no longer locked. Once you return to the world map, you'll notice an interesting addition: the keep of Hakuro Palace is now floating above Chontou Castle! There are two ways to get to Hakuro Palace now: 1) Get the Helicopter from Hiraga in Somon. Only the following classes can take it and use it. Note that these are the same classes recruitable in the slaver scenario. Info courtesy of Alex Jackson: Light Infantry (male/female) Free Fighter (male/female) Imperial Guard (male/female) East Guard Desert Guard Holy Order (male only) Privateer Saigo Herder Fist Fighter Salamander The Last Emperor (male/female) After you've got it, go to Chontou Castle (or wherever Hakuro Palace is currently floating) to use it. 2) If you've collected all the Bard's instruments (as listed in "What Lovely Music"), then climb up Mt. Chikapa (lower-right corner of East Kingdom map) to meet the Iris. The Iris love music, and hate Wagnas, who has enslaved many of them. They'll give you a lift up to the palace if you ask. There's also a passage through to Austoroth via their caves, but those are sealed off by order of Wagnas. Also, after letting them help you, they become available for recruitment. --Floating Hakuro Palace chests: 130,000 crowns, 100,000 crowns, Sanctuary Stone (restore WP/JP, all), Vorpal Sword (att. 42, tech. Mortal Sword, Swatter Sword), 160,000 crowns, Vorpal Axe (att. 13, tech. Dance of Death), Whichever way you get there, you'll start out on a small ledge below the main palace. You're going to have to fight your way to the top, in true RPG fashion. Go in the passage on the ledge, to find yourself in a gallery. To the right and left are chests, with 130,000 crowns and 100,000 crowns. Head up the stairs in the center to continue. Go left along the corridor and down to find the stairs to the outside. Walk along the ledge outside, defeating the groups of plant-type monsters (no way to avoid them). Go inside the cave at the other end. Go through the two doors guarded by demihuman monsters, then up and around. This entire section is set up like a spiral. Continue through the halls to the very end, and step on the plate-like stone. Then head one room left and go up the stairs. Go up two stories, and then south through the door. Go all the way right, up the ramp, and around to the chest with a Sanctuary Stone. The exit is on the upper-left side of the room. Now you're on an open gallery, with the clouds in the background. Behind the pillars there's a .... very... large... dragon... flying by. Continue right. On the next screen, the dragon lands, and you can fight it. Boss (optional): ICE DRAGON (HP 15,555) might drop Dragon Spear Gae Bolg (att. , tech. Dragon Submission) This thing is BIG, reminescent of the Dragon Rulers in Romancing SaGa III. This one's not as bad as some, thankfully (?). It will use claw and horn attacks, and the ice breath attack (hit-all or single), but that's enough to do a lot of damage. It can also cast the ice counterattack spell Freeze Barrier (similar to Self-Burning in effect). Before attacking, be sure that all characters have a defense against cold attacks (check through the status screen). Fight the dragon or go on, that's up to you. Whatever you choose, take the stairs near the dragon, then head left down the hall and up through the door (ignore the big doors for now). You'll find a chest with the Vorpal Sword in it. Now go through the big doors, down two flights of stairs, and through the next pair of doors. In the next gallery area, go up and right to find a door. Go in to find 160,000 crowns. Then go down the stairs to find the Vorpal Axe. Go back to the main gallery area, then up to defeat the demon enemy guarding the door. Go through the door after the battle, and head left. Ignore the two doors to the right; there's nothing in them but monsters. You are now in the throne room. Go all the way down to the bottom of the room past all the monsters, and exit through the double doors. Go up past the swarm of spirit enemies and the two demon enemies to reach the ruler of the castle, Wagnas. Choose either of the first two options to fight. The third will take you straight out of the palace. Boss: LORD WAGNAS 1st form: 20,001 HP 2nd form: 34,999 HP Wagnas is, literally, a butterfly from hell. And, all appearances to the contrary, Wagnas is apparently supposed to be male. Scary... Obviously, you want to fight Wagnas in the first form, with less HP, but it's fairly easy to leave this scenario off to the point where you're going to have to beat the harder form. The attacks don't change much between the two, but the power level certainly does. Wagnas uses a lot of Fire spells, plus the signature move Psycho Bind (hits and paralyzes one character, does collateral damage to everyone else). If you have everyone cast Self-Burning at the start of the battle, you'll negate most of Wagnas' attacks, leaving only Psycho Bind as a real threat (Wagnas doesn't attack physically, so the only way to cancel Self-Burning is to run out of HP). Psycho Bind is more than enough to give you trouble, unfortunately. Wagnas can also use Light attacks. Your healing characters are going to be really busy for this one... Suggestions: first, if you've got the Salamanders as an available class, get one. They're immune to fire damage, which helps a LOT. Also, when looking at armor, think more about magical defense than physical. Dusk Robes reduce the damage from Psycho Bind by an incredible amount (100~200 damage, as opposed to 500~800 with suits). Also, make sure that EVERYONE in your party has healing spells, either Earth Heal or Moon Light. Finally, pray that Wagnas does NOT use Psycho Bind two or three times consecutively, because it's terribly difficult to recover from that. ============================Final Scenarios============================= These last few scenarios are played out with your Final Emperor (who you chose at the very beginning of the game, remember?). The Final Emperor is the culmination of the entire Imperial Dynasty. If he/she dies, then finito. There is no inheritance magic past this point, so now's the time to dust off those Life Restore potions you've been hoarding the entire game. The Final Emperor comes into play when five of the seven Heroes have been defeated (including Kujinshi at the beginning). There are four scenarios you have to play as the Final Emperor. One of them has to be one of the Heroes you haven't offed yet (the other will show up in the final level), so refer to the previous section for details there. The fourth scenario is the last dungeon itself. ===Final Scenario 1: The Risen Menace=== At the start of the scenario, the Chancellor will come to you with the keys to the Sealed Earth(remember that place, from the beginning?). Waib shows up, revealing more about herself, and tells you that Kujinshi has been reborn, and waits for your challenge beneath the earth. Go to the Sealed Earth and investigate. --Sealed Earth chests: 250,000 crowns, Black Galadriel (armor, def. 32), Tiger Armor (def. 20), In the stone circle north of the entrance, there's now a staircase heading down. This leads to a small room with two plant monsters and another staircase. Go down again. Now you're in an aquatic area. Get in the water and head up and right to find a chest with 250,000 crowns in it, then head left to the small islands to find the Black Galadriel armor. From the first staircase, head down and a bit to the left to find the next available set of stairs, guarded by an aquatic monster. Now you're in a graveyard, with denizens who are a little too lively... Go to the top of the room and into the left corner. Walk between where the two rocks are. You'll find a hidden staircase leading up to a chest you couldn't get to earlier (Tiger Armor). Back down in the cemetary, head all the way right, and follow the wall down to a little alcove with a skull. I'm fairly sure that's a switch. Now, fight your way through the zombie-infested cemetary, and the corridor full of skeletons to make it to the next staircase. Up to the lake level again, past the two aquatic monsters, and down the next staircase, where you'll meet up with an old friend.... He'll lure you forward, only to ambush you with a skeleton monster. Then a zombie monster... then a ghost monster... sensing a pattern? He's trying to wear you down... Hope you brought the Tatsumitsu, with its lovely Exorcism technique, you're gonna need it. And finally, after his minions have taken a good chunk out of your WP and JP, he steps in to finish you off. Boss: KUJINSHI REBORN He's back, and he's uglier than ever, having finally unveiled his face, and producing some ghastly head for a shield. If you didn't equip the Soul Steal evade on everyone at the beginning of this scenario, then you're a moron, and dead, because he'll use it on various party members, often twice in a round. He'll get sneaky sometimes, and use the LifeSteal attack as well, which only steals 1LP, but gets around your defenses against his signature attack. He also uses cold-based attacks, like Cold Ball and Freeze Barrier. Other tricks up his sleeve include the Kamaitachi attack and the spell Ghost Light. On the good side, however, he's undead, so the Exorcism attack works very well in this battle. Once you defeat him, he'll sink back into his tomb, and you'll continue automatically to the next scenario. ===Final Scenario 2: The Queen's Revenge=== Soon after the previous scenario, your old enemy the Hive Queen strikes. This attack is really insidious. The Queen has cast a spell that transforms humans into her termite slaves. You find this out when your Chancellor morphs in the middle of a conversation, and attacks you. From hereon until the end of the scenario, you'll get into a battle whenever you talk to someone in Avalon, including your recruitable warriors. For reference (you'll be seeing a lot of these guys): Term Battler (HP 5,934) often comes in pairs, or with random other insect uses lower-level Earth magic can be insta-killed. These things have overrun town. Anyone you talk to immediately transforms into one. The Swatter waza for the Vorpal Sword does a ton of damage as well. The first thing to do is to get out of the castle (the shortcut with the Y button still works, thankfully), and then into the Sewers. There are easy access points for this in the Cemetary, the Magic Research Center, and the University. Once down in the Sewers, make your way back to the spot where you defeated the Deep One, back in Gerard's time. Go through the door and explore the old crypts beneath the city. Up on the third tier of the crypt, you'll see two termites guarding a particular headstone. Investigate to find a down stair- case. Whew, there's a lot of bugs in here! Battle your way through to the hole, and head down. --New Hive chests: 250,000 crowns, Avalonian Holy Mail (armor, def. 25, mag. power up) Head straight down the ramp, through the thronging hordes of bugs, and left to get 250,000 crowns and the Avalonian Holy Mail. The Holy Mail is a REALLY good armor, that defends against all types of physical and magical damage. Battle your way to the right, and the Queen's right there. She's... changed a bit since you last saw her, and her spells are much more powerful now, but she shouldn't be too much of a problem for your guys. ===Final Scenario 3: Unfinished Business=== This is where you take on whichever Hero you haven't already killed. Realistically, this could be ANY of them, except Kujinshi. Check the appropriate section of the "People to Kill" section. Also, depending on how you finish the scenarios (i.e. order), you might end up with no Heroes left to defeat, but a scenario or two that needs to be completed. You can do that now as well. ===Final Scenario 4: Into the Hellmouth=== This is it, the Last Dungeon. To get there, head to North Nazelle, and take the icy route across the Straits to reach South Nazelle. Rest up at the Winter Grazing Grounds, then head to the spot glacier on the map (should be south of the Grounds; near the edge of the ice). The first two parts of this dungeon are above-ground, on the glacier. Just head south through the first area. Ignore the caves, they don't have anything in them. The fourth giant-type monster, the Cyclops, can be seen wandering around here, so if you're up for a challenge... The second area has a winding trail that leads to the true entrance to the dungeon. The Ice Dragon from Wagnas' castle is hovering around here. The disturbingly organic dungeon is pretty straightforward. In the second underground section (where the crystals grow), there's a choice to go up or right. Go right, the way up's really a dead end. You'll see a long walkway leading into the darkness. At the end of this is an Ancient ruin, with the last Hero standing in front of it. Be forewarned, this is RS2's official Point of No Return. You go up there, and you won't be able to leave. Be very sure that you're ready before challenging the Hero. Penultimate Boss: WHICHEVER HERO IS STILL ALIVE AT THIS POINT Check the "People to Kill" section for strategies against whichever Hero you're battling at this point. After defeating the Hero, she/he/it will retreat back into the ruins. Take this moment to top off everything with potions. If you've got any Life Restore potions left, don't be afraid to use 'em up. This is why you bought all of them, right? It'd be a shame if all your characters died of low LP in the middle of battle. Final Boss: THE SEVEN HEROES (HP, LOTS) Thought you'd seen the last of these guys, eh? Wrong. They're all here now, and they're ready to take you on all together by fusing into this weird... gooey... organic looking thing. This is a multi-stage battle. Every 6000 HP in damage that you deal to the boss, the body of another Hero sprouts out of it. It starts with Rocbouquet at the beginning of battle, then Subier (blue guy with single horn in forehead), then Noel, and then randomly with the other four Heroes. Now, this is very important: the final boss has available every technique, spell, and signature move belonging to those Heroes currently visible. So, at the beginning with Rocbouquet, the final boss can use Temptation, an electrical attack, Siphon, and weak epee attacks. As soon as Subier pops out, however, the final boss ALSO has Maelstrom, water spells, and spear attacks. For every Hero visible, that's one attack the final boss has, every turn, choosing from any attacks belonging to those Heroes. So by the end of this, the final boss will be throwing seven attacks at you EVERY ROUND, with everything ranging from weak stabbing attacks to Maelstrom and Psycho Bind. Scared yet? As I mentioned, each "stage" of this battle has 6,000 HP before the next form will open up. Any damage done over that 6,000 is wasted, because the HP resets upon form change (so if you hit the boss with a 7000 damage technique, that's 1000 damage wasted). After all seven Heroes become available, the HP resets to over 65,000. So, in total, the final boss has around 100,000 HP. There are two ways to prepare for this battle. The first is the "cheese" method, involving the effects of a certain high-level Water spell, QuickTime. QuickTime is supposed to make it so that your party attacks first in the next round. What it also does is cancel any and all enemy attacks after its casting. So, with enough JP (it's 36JP a pop to cast it), you can technically coast through the entire battle without the Seven Heroes attacking. Through general math, I figure you can use QuickTime to buy you about 35 rounds of uninterrupted monster-bashing, if EVERYONE is at max JP (~250). The other method takes a bit more finesse, plus a much better knowledge of the game's spell library. First, make preparations. Self-Burning can cancel out fire attacks; Wall of Fire can block out Maelstrom; Missile Guard protects against Kamaitachi, but only one party-effect defense spell can be used at a time, so Wall of Fire and Missile Guard will cancel each other out. Also, Sword Barrier can defend against Wind Cutter (frequently used in this battle), due to a bug that makes the game consider that spell to be a slashing attack. Any male characters should either have one of the anti-charm items on (Somon Ring or DemonStone Ring), or the evasion against Temptation (this is a must for the battle, and a major reason to get the female Final Emperor). SoulSteal's evasion might be a good idea too. Next, load up on the stat-upping spells. Golden Strength and Golden Shield are both good, but Dragon Pulse is better (effect only lasts until you attack, though). Fairy Light ups speed. Remember, with proper defenses against charm, the final boss's first stage is pretty ineffectual, so load up NOW on status modifiers. I hope you've been funding your magic research people sufficiently, ;) Those are some very good investments. A good combination is to cast Dragon Pulse several times on an axe-wielder (the effect is cumulative), and have that person use Phantom Fighter. Then, until their HP runs out, they have a PERMANENT stat-boost from Dragon Pulse. 7000-damage YoYo attacks, anyone? Recommended spells: Self-Burning Wall of Fire Missile Guard Fairy Light Elixir (full HP + status heal) Dragon Pulse Reviver Sword Barrier With any luck, you'll weather this battle and put an end to the Heroes' destructive need for vengeance once and for all. And then..... ==================================YOU WIN!============================= Wow, you managed to defeat the Seven Heroes, probably one of the nastiest boss battles ever included in a Super Famicom game. Congratulations. You DID do it without Quicktime, right? *wink* Well, for your trouble, the ending sequence is ... not much. You see the images of the Seven Heroes (in secondary/hardest forms) fading into the sunset as they're pulled back into the Hell dimension. As the credits roll, your party travels across the land in various formations, your Emperor eliminating monsters with one attack (which is really odd when that attack is Quicktime). You can see several rare attacks in this sequence. For example, this is the only time I've ever seen Fudoh's Sword. Finally the scene switches back to the Pub in Avalon, where the Bard is finishing up the ballad he wrote about the history of the Empire. Everyone is dully impressed, and the pub empties. The Final Emperor then thanks the Bard for keeping the memory of the wars alive, so that none would ever forget what had happened. The Emperor is left alone with his/her thoughts, until your final party comes in, and asks them to go adventuring some more. FIN. I hope you got a nice warm feeling from beating this game the hard way. I know I did. ==============================Extra Areas================================== These areas aren't part of any scenario, and can be completed whenever you like. There are lots of good items to be found, plus some rather powerful enemies. They're good for training. ===The Icy Ruins=== The Icy Ruins lie in the South Nazelle region, near the Moo Summer Grazing Grounds, and the Last Dungeon. To access the Icy Ruins, talk to the people in the grazing grounds. Chests: 250,000 crowns, 350,000 crowns, Grim Reaper (bow, att. 27, tech. Deadly Shot(hit-all instant-death)), Amethyst Axe (att. 36, tech. Phantom Fighter) Right at the start, there are three doors, that lead to rooms with chests. The door in the middle and the door on the left are traps; when you try to open the chest, skeletons ambush you. The room on the right has a chest with 250,000 crowns. Up on the next tier, there are three more doors. The one on the far left has a chest with 350,000 crowns. The one on the far right is trapped. The one in the middle leads to the inner sanctum of the ruins. In the final room, there are too cracked tiles on either side of the platforms, that open stairs up to the Giant. The chest on the first platform is the Grim Reaper bow. Up on the next platform is the dungeon boss. Boss (optional): GIANT (220,000 HP) can possibly drop Triple Sword (great sword, att. 33, tech. Dancing Sword) This guy's big and mean. He uses a lot of Great Sword techniques, from Hilt Hit (no damage, paralyze) to Crane Strike (hits all on vertical line). In fact, he likes Hilt Hit a LOT, so if you've got the evade tech for it, then it might be a good idea to put it on your front line. This particular boss will come back once you leave the room. If you've really got your heart set on that Triple Sword, then you'll have plenty of opportunities to get one. Plus, the Crane Sword evasion can really come in handy in the battles against Noel. In the chest behind the Giant, there's the Amethyst Axe, one of the stronger axes in the game. Its special technique, Phantom Fighter, is kind of odd. When used, a body-double of the character that can only use the Amethyst Axe is created. More detail on this in the FAQ section. ===The Southlands=== There are two dungeons in this area. The first you hear of from the man in the Wandering Lake temple. The second appears after you visit Austoroth. --first ruin, Sand Ruins Note: the snake-type monsters in this area aren't set, the way they are in the Desert. This is a large sandy area. The entrance to the dungeon is in the upper-right corner of the screen. After you defeat the first few goblin-types near the beginning, you'll find... a teleportation puzzle. Joy. The cracked spots are the teleporters. Take the one on the left, go up past the zombies to the next, then down past the skeletons. You should be in a small room with ghost monsters. Take the teleporter in the lower-right side to reach a chest (200,000 crowns). Go back around the teleporter series to return to the ghost room. Take the upper- left transporter this time to get to the last room of the dungeon. Take the teleporter on the right to get up to the platform with the chest (Phantom Beast Sword, att. 37, tech. Illusory Dragon + Air Wolf Sword) --second ruin, Snowy Ruins chests: DragonScale Armor (def. 35, no extra defense for bash/status attacks), DragonScale Shield (def. 30, 40% chance of block) From the entrance to the temple, head up three rooms, left three (you can see the shadow of a doorway in the walls), one down and one left, then up to reach a large red dragon. Boss (optional): FIRE DRAGON (HP 19,999) might drop Dragon Spear Gae Bolg, or potion can be poisoned, stunned regenerates automatically First, tactics. This thing can use several fire-based attacks (I assume, it doesn't use them often), but prefers physical attacks, and fairly weak ones at that. Critical party members (Emperor and healers, mainly), might want to use Self-Burning, just in case. A good idea is to poison it immediately (cast Poisonous Blow and hope for the best). This will effectively cancel out its regenerative ability (poison for 999, regen for 999), and since regen always happens AFTER poison, there's the chance that it'll die of poison eventually. Finally, this monster is more susceptible to bash attacks than to cut and pierce. An axe-wielder with Golden Strength cast on him will do good damage with the YoYo attack. Defeat this thing, and you can claim the chest in the room behind it: DragonScale Armor. Go back down two, and right (backtrack a bit), then head all the way up. There's a passage right, with a different kind of dragon in it. There are actually three of these things, in three conjoining rooms. Thankfully they move around, so you can avoid them if you wish. In the farthest room is a chest with the DragonScale Shield in it. Boss (optional): GOLDEN DRAGON (HP 19,000) chance to drop Ruby Rod (att. , tech. ), or Spirit Ring This sinuous, Oriental dragon uses wind-based attacks, electrical attacks (including Call Lightning and Arc Thunder), and wrapping attacks (chance to paralyze). It regenerates pretty easily (wind-spell trigger), but a few rounds of other spell types can counter that. Now, from the area where you fought the Fire Dragon, if you head all the way down, you'll find an outside passage. Once outside, go left, up the stairs, and then right to the next entrance The first thing you'll notice in this next room is the two large, green dragons that come flying at you as soon as you come too close. What you probably won't notice is the undeads hiding behind the elephant statues, at least not until it's too late to avoid them. Anyway, the dragons: Boss (optional): LIGHTNING DRAGON (HP 18,888) chance to drop Dragon Spear Gae Bolg, or potion For all its size, this thing isn't much of a fight. It uses physical attacks like Kick and Horn, but its electric attacks are a bit wimpy (Line Lightning and Thunderbolt). Like the other dragons, it's weaker against bash attacks than anything else, so Martial Arts and Axes are the way to go (even with just the basic attacks + Golden Strength). It can be annoying when it uses ThunderBolt several times in a row, but otherwise, you're in no danger as long as you've got healing ready at all times. On the platform behind the two dragons, there's a switch (cracked spot). Step on it to open the door on the left side of the room. In the corridor past the door, there are skeletons behind the statues, no end in sight... Most of the doors take you back exactly where you came from. Take the fourth door on your RIGHT to go to someplace new. Continue down this way (be sure to step on the cracked spot!), and go outside. Go left, up the stairs, and through the next door. New room, with two more Lightning Dragons to fight or avoid, your choice. On the platform behind them, however, is something new... Boss (not optional, if you want the chest behind it): BLACK DRAGON This thing is NASTY, and in some ways even harder than the Seven Heroes. First, it has all the usual dragonish physical attacks, such as horn, fang crush, and kick, but it also has a slew of poison attacks, including Poisonous Blow, Poison Cloud and Hell Claw. The attacks that it uses the majority of the time are poison-type, and usually multi-target as well, so you'll be needing LOTS of healing for this one. I'd recommend two magic-users with Mist Cover, Heal Water, Cure Water, Golden Strength, and Elixir. Have the other three throw everything they've got at it, after getting the attack-up spell on them. Make sure somebody's got Reviver, and that it gets used on as many people as possible. If you've got it, the Hell Claw evasion tech is a must for this battle. =====Austoroth===== There is one place to visit in this area: the Forgotten Village of the Ancients. Here lives Waib, the witch-woman who first gifted the Dynasty of Avalon with the inheritance magic. If you can understand Japanese well enough, you can get a lot of background info on the Heroes and the Ancients' civilization while you're here. To get there, you need to go through the back passage in the Iris Village. This is only possible after you've defeated Wagnas. Along the way, you can pick up three treasure chests that you were denied access to earlier: an Elven Skin (armor, def. 12, defense against heat/cold/electricity, specific defense against paralysis), 200,000 crowns, and the Starry Heaven bow (att. 35, tech. Starlight Arrow).Exit through the back, and walk down the trail to get back to the map. --the Forgotten Village This is an odd town, full of underground passages and blue-haired people. Talking to various townsfolk nets you background information about who the Heroes were before they became monsters, from people who actually knew them, once upon a time. You'll also hear about the experiments in Dimensional Magic that opened a way to Hell, which the Heroes closed. Apparently, there was some disagreement over the use of Dimensional Magic after that, and the Heroes were trapped behind the gate to Hell for disagreeing with the leadership on this matter. Also, you hear about the Snowy Ruins in the Southlands somewhere around here. In the upper-left house, you can find Waib, who talks cryptic mysticism with you for a little bit. Opposite the house, on the other side of the stairs is a wooded area. Find the hidden passage through there to reach the guy in the back of the village, and a house with two chests: Holy Spear Longinus (att. 45, tech. Psycho Bind), and Holy Buster (mace, att. 40, tech. Holy Light). The Holy Buster's tech can only be learned if you've chosen the male Final Emperor (or unless you're using Alex Jackson's bugfix). ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Extra Information+++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ===Shop Info=== Each shop in each town will offer only four types of items. These items will gradually get better as your R&D department cranks out new prototypes for equipment. Here, I'm only listing what types of equipment each store sells, with a few exceptions. These exceptions will all begin with capital letters. Also, I'm listing the Witch's store in the South Rongit area. She sells three potions, all for 10,000 crowns apiece. Avalon Store -- 1st store: sword, great sword, mace, shield; 2nd store: heavy armor, light armor, helmet, gauntlet Douglas Store -- mace, greaves, shield, guard Forfar Store -- sword, great sword, heavy armor, light armor Miramar Store (after bridge is built) -- heavy armor, suit, Long Spear (Halberd if you have that developed), sword Morbellum Store -- guy on left: axe, epee, bow, Crescent Sword guy on right: shirt, gauntlet, light armor, guard Nibel Store -- bow, shirt, light armor, Headband Ryanshan Store -- Katana, Naginata (spear), bow, light armor Somon Store -- spear, epee, greaves, guard Terelutva Store -- Crescent Sword, Blue Dragon Sword, shirt, light armor Tifarl Store -- sword, great sword, heavy armor, light armor Tsukijima Store -- greaves, gauntlets, heavy armor, sword Yuyan Store -- Katana, greaves, gauntlets, heavy armor Witch's Store -- Fishman Potion (only once), Spirit Sake (100 MP restore), Life Restorer (1 LP restore) ===Formation names=== most information courtesy of Shingo Endo's website. http://www.yk.rim.or.jp/~s-endo/rs_analyzer.html Free Fight - Basic Formation. Everyone stands in a vertical line. Fallback formation when you're surprised in battle. Imperial Arrow - get from Imperial Guard. Same as Imperial Cross, except front line character stands farther out. Good for counter-tech users. This formation focuses attacks on the number 3 position (81% chance of being targeted) 2 3 E 4 5 Phoenix Dance - get from Tactician. enemy attacks focus on E-position more often. However, a bug makes it so that the Emperor's defense is a little lower after he/she has taken an action that round. If you really like counterattacks, then this might be a good formation. 2 3 E 4 5 Inazuma Formation Desert Fox - get from Desert Guard. Melee attacks and certain spells (those that inflict cut/bash/stab damage) are strengthened. Also, Emperor gains a defense boost after an action taken in this formation, but also a higher chance of being attacked. 2 4 E 5 3 Imperial Cross - Basic formation. Emperor stands in the center. Number 3 position has a higher chance of being attacked. 2 3 E 4 5 Free Fight 1 - get from the City Thieves. Emperor stands behind column of other characters. (Emperor is _ ) 2 3 _ 4 5 Dragon Tail - get from Fighting Monk. Emperor stands at front of formation, helps defend characters behind them. The Emperor attacks first, then the rest, in order. In other words, all characters attacks are linked to the Emperor's speed. Enemies are least likely to attack the character in the number 4 spot, so put your Mages there. 2 E 3 4 5 Hunter Shift - get from Hunter. It gives a ranged attack bonus for the Emperor. 2 3 E 4 5 Whirlwind - get from the Nomads. The front two characters will act more quickly than they would otherwise. 4 2 E 3 5 Power Raise - get from the Ocean Woman. This formation raises the magic power of the person in the E position, specifically for status-causing magics and magics that cause miscellaneous damage. 2 4 E 5 3 Amazon Strike - get from the Amazon, obviously. This formation is supposed to raise everyone's action speed. 4 2 E 3 5 Rapid Stream - get from the Privateer. This formation lets you go first in each round, but there are some problems with it. If the formation is broken up in any way (KO, paralysis, sleep), then the hit-first effect is nulled, and your battle speed goes down. Try hard to maintain this formation if you use it. 1 2 E 3 4 Moo Fence - get from the Herder. 4 2 E 3 5 ===Blacksmith Items==== R&D items cost: 2nd level item: 400,000 crowns 3rd level item: 800,000 crowns 4th level item: 1,200,000 crowns Swords | Great Sword | Axe | Mace | Spear | Steel Sword | Claymore |Battle Axe| Battle Hammer | Diamond Spear Harmonia Sw.| Zweihander |(no third)| Silver Hammer | (no third) Obsidian Sw.|Cross Claymore| Great Axe| Amber Mace | Obsidian Spear Epees | Bow | Helmet | Hat | Heavy Armor |. Rapier | Strong Bow | Open Helm | Straw Beret| Steel Armor Epee |Almighty Bow| Greek Helm| (no third) | Silver Mail Estoc |(no fourth) | Close Helm| (no fourth)| Harmonia Armor Light Armor | Gauntlets | Greaves | Clothes | Shield Rigid Leather | Gauntlet |Steel Greaves | Guard Wear| Iron Shield Brigandine | Vambrace |Silver Greaves| Hyper Wear| Steel Shield (no fourth) |Master Glove| Quicksilver |(no fourth)| Obsidian Shield Guard | Suit Buckler | Lamellar Suit Metal Guard | Plate Suit Harmonia Gd.| Harmonia Suit Other stuff for Blacksmiths: Suits don't just appear normally as something to produce. First you have to produce the helmet, heavy armor, gauntlets, and greaves for that level of suit, and then the next generation of suit will appear in stores in the following generation. Finally, there's a certain spear, the Halberd, which you can have produced for 1,200,000 crowns. =================================Magic List=============================== Here, we're listing the various spells, according to elemental type. Each spell has its own particular effects, as well as different global skill levels necessary to make them available: Fire: Fire Ball - automatically available (1JP) --small fire attack on one enemy. At higher skill levels, the attack gains the ability to inflict collateral damage. If the primary target is immune to Fire, then no collateral damage. Self-Burning - automatically available (3JP) --protective flame shell surrounds caster. Self-casting only. Any physical attack on the character will cause a fire-based counterattack. Spell also negates fire damage. Flame Whip - requires global fire level of 13 (5JP) --tendrils of fire surround one enemy. Chance to paralyze. Sunspot Destroyer - requires global fire level of 22 (8JP) --black flame dragons descend from the sun, attacking the enemies' LP directly. All or nothing attack. Reviver - requires global fire level of 29 --Auto-life spell. Targeted character comes back to life instantly when killed, with no LP loss. Water: Life Water - automatically available (1JP) --soothing water heals for a small amount of HP, and cures paralyzed status Health Water - automatically available (3JP) --soothing water cures poison Mist Cover - requires global water level of 7 (6JP) --concealing mist renders target invisible to physical attacks. Character is still vulnerable to magic and indirect damage attacks like Grand Slam. Offensive actions cancel the effect. Water Dance - requires global water level of 13 (2JP) --Raises defense against physical attacks and heat Quicktime - requires global water level of 26 (36JP) --ensures that the party will attack first next round, and also cancels all enemy attacks that come after it. Incredibly easy to abuse. Wind: Wind Cutter - automatically available (1JP) --cutting damage attack. The number of cutting blades increases with your level Air Screen - automatically available --Raises defense against physical attacks and electricity Missile Guard - requires global wind level of 8 (6JP) --blocks missile-type attacks, including bow techniques and Kamaitachi Strength Absorb - requires global wind level of 17 (3JP) --siphons off HP and gives it to the caster. The damage done isn't too great, but it will still heal your character for a good amount Fujin Sword - requires global wind level of 25 (10JP) --conjures up a sword that can use Lightning Slash and Kamaitachi techniques Earth: Golden Strength - automatically available (1JP) --boosts target's attack power a little Foot Grip - automatically available (3JP) --Chance to stun entire enemy group. Not too reliable. Earth Heal - requires a global earth level of 11 (4JP) --one of the better healing spells in the game, this spell also eliminates "mind" status ailments like confusion, charm, and mute. Stone Shower - requires a global earth level of 18 (8JP) --bashing damage attack to entire enemy party, high damage. Vajra Shield - requires global earth level of 28 (10JP) --summons a golden shield to protect the caster for one battle Light ("Heaven" magic): Light Ball - automatically available (1JP) --weak hit-all attack. Only useful for its high blinding rate Moon Light - automatically availably (4JP) --the moon's light heals HP and removes blindness from its target Sunlight - requires global light level of 10 (5JP) --Light/Fire damage on one enemy. Critical hit to undead enemies. Counts as a heat attack, so it can be defended against with the proper armor or Self-Burning Sword Barrier - requires global light level of 20 (12JP) --Summons a luminescent sword for one battle. All short-range physical attacks are parried. Galaxy - requires a global light level of 30 --Massive light-based attack on all enemies. Dark: Pain - automatically available (1JP) --A ghostly hand grips the enemy, causing damage and stun Horror - automatically available (2JP) --A ghost races around the enemy, causing level 3 confusion Claw Extend - requires a global dark level of 10 (1JP) --Grants the caster a claw in their equipment slot, with the innate technique Hell Claw. Deadly Drive - requires a global dark level of 20 --Temporarily drives all enemy stats down. Shadow Servant - requires a global dark level of 30 --Creates a shadowy body-double that copies all your attacks (two attacks per turn, in effect) ---Fusion Magics--- These magics all require certain spell skill levels in order to be developed. They cost 500,000 each (one time payment) for the research, and are available in the next generation. Low-level fusion magics require both base magics to be at global level 15 or higher, while the higher levels require a global level of 25. ==Low Fusion Magic== Global levels for both elements must be 15 or higher. Wall of Fire (Earth + Fire) --Defends against heat and cold attacks. Good for defending against Maelstrom Heat Wind (Fire + Wind) --Hit-all fire attack that also lowers dexterity Elixir (Water + Earth) (8JP) --Curative spell that restores HP and status Cyclone Squeeze (Water + Wind) (4JP) --A waterspout surrounds one enemy, and causes damage and stun. Saint Fire (Light + Fire) --A spell that causes a lot of damage to undead. Hits on a horizontal axis. Diamond Dust (Light + Water) --A massive hailstorm pummels all enemies. Bashing damage. Arc Thunder (Light + Earth) --Energy radiates from the ground to the sky, damaging all enemies Fairy Light (Light + Wind) --Raises target character's speed by a lot. Hell Fire (Dark + Fire) (2JP) --A suped-up version of Flame Whip. Can also paralyze. Poisonous Blow (Dark + Water) (2JP) --A cloud of poison gas damages and poisons one enemy. Sandstorm (Dark + Earth) (6JP) --Desert winds scour all enemies, and causes blindness. Dark Sphere (Dark + Wind) (6JP) --Like the name suggests, a sphere of darkness envelops and damages one enemy. ==High Fusion Magic== Global levels for both elements must be 25 or higher. Heat Hand (Earth + Fire) --Grants the caster two martial arts waza (Red Dragon Wave and Salamander Claw) Firestorm (Fire + Wind) --Massive flame damage to all enemies. Dragon Pulse (Water + Earth) --Provides a major stat boost, that only lasts through one use (i.e. effects are cancelled when target character attacks). Effects are cumulative, and can be sealed on the character with Phantom Fighter. Self-casting only. Call Thunder (Water + Wind) --Massive hit-all electric attack. Crimson Flare (Light + Fire) --Major fire attack that lowers magic power and can cause blindness. Prism Light (Light + Water) --Confuses all enemies. The first hit is level one confusion, but the effects are cumulative. Wall of Light (Light + Earth) --Provides protection against sundry attacks for one turn. Solar Wind (Light + Wind) --Hits all enemies for heat/cold/electric damage Ghost Light (Dark + Fire) --Charms one enemy Ill Storm (Dark + Water) --Foul vapors rise from the ground to poison all enemies (doesn't cause direct damage) Wraithform (Dark + Earth) --For 1 LP, the caster exchanges his/her physical body for one of magic. Character can only wield magic (except for Wraithform, Shadow Servant, and Reviva). Character is totally immune to physical attacks, but can be hit by magic. Healing magic kills it, so keep that in mind. Since you sacrifice 1 LP to cast this, if the character is killed, there is no further LP loss. Vortex (Dark + Wind) --This spell removes all status enhancements from the enemy, including body doubles (from Phantom Fighter and Wraith Form) ============================Known Bugs======================== Like many other fine Square games of the SNES period, Romancing SaGa II has its share of bugs (though thankfully not as many as FF6...). Alex Jackson has made a patch that fixes/reverses most (if not all) of these bugs. Most of these have to do with the coding for weapons, techniques, and formations: -due to two numbers being switched in hexadecimal, the Hauteclaire has an attack power of 32, not 50 as quoted in its description. So it is NOT the most powerful great sword in the game. -there's something buggy with the dropped items algorithm that makes the odds of getting anything fairly low. -formations that give specific bonuses for magic (Power Raise is the only one, as far as I can tell) in reality only give bonuses to magic based on status effects and/or miscellanous damage. Spells that cause cut/bash/stab damage, such as Wind Cutter or Stone Shower, get attack bonuses from formations that are supposed to improve melee attack damage. -any of the weapons techniques that are shared by multiple weapons (Throw Kill, Poseidon Shoot, Siphon, Holy Light) can only be learned by the first weapon in the potential sequence: only Crescent Sword can learn Throw Kill (but the Tatsumitsu, Blue Dragon Blade, and Senchou can also use it), only Trident can learn Poseidon Shot (but it can be used with the Heavy Water Spear and Lancer spear), only Spectre Sword can learn Siphon (but Soul Sabre can use it as well) and only Day Blade can learn Holy Light (also works with Holy Mace). So, if you don't get the male Final Emperor, then you cannot learn Holy Light. -in any given formation, if a character receives an odd-numbered speed bonus in that formation, then they get a defense bonus after attacking. Normally, however, this is only supposed to happen in two formations: Phoenix Dance and Inazuma. However, because of this, the Emperor's position in these two formations LOSES defense after attacking. The patch fix is supposed to correct this loss, but it also cancels the "illicit" bonuses that the bug gives to everyone else. -the epee Soul Sabre is supposed to be able to learn the technique LifeSteal (closest equivalent in the game to Soul Steal). Due to a glitch, it's actually impossible to learn this technique in the game as-is. This isn't too much of a problem, since Soul Sabres are rare drops, so you might never see one in your game. Alex Jackson's patch makes the technique available, but it's still difficult to learn, according to him. He's not giving hints about how to learn it yet, either. -Contributed by Zach Keene: **Like the Axel Turn/Orbit Borer bug in RS3, there's an entry in RS2's waza tree for Mortal Sword to flash from Hilt Strike, but Hilt Strike's "can flash derivative waza" flag is turned off. Unless my math is off, this code should fix it: DE1CCAE0 (previous value should be 60) **there seems to be a bug where receiving a prototype helmet, heavy armor, gauntlet, or greaves can cause the suit available in stores to regress a level. -Contributed by Alex Jackson There's a bug in which if you don't take the Messina Mines route through the North Rongit scenario, then you won't be able to develop the Halberd with your R&D department. -this one's more like FF6's infamous bugs: Alex Jackson: **This is a memory-corrupting glitch like the one with the Sketch command in FF3US, so I suggest making a backup copy of your .srm file (assuming you're playing on an emulator) before you try to reproduce it. The following spells must be available in your Magic Lab to activate the glitch: Reviver (ultimate Fire magic), Wraithform (Earth/Dark fusion magic), and a total of seven or more Water spells (regular and fusion). 1: Teach any character the "Wraithform" fusion spell (if they don't have skill in both Dark and Earth magic, you'll have to first teach them one non- fusion spell of each) 2: Fill the character's remaining seven magic slots with Water magic (any will do, regular or fusion). 3: Teach the character "Reviver". The game will ask if you want to forget all your Water magic; say yes. Now the only magic the character knows will be Wraithform and Reviver. 4: Get into a battle, and have the character cast Wraithform in the first turn. 5: In the second turn of the battle, when the character's turn to input a command comes up, the game will glitch up with varying effects. Sometimes it'll lock up completely, but usually you'll be able to press B to return to the Emperor's command menu and select "retreat" to exit the glitched battle. After the battle you may have items added to (or missing from) your inventory, screwed up game status (income, state of conquered/unconquered regions, etc.) and so on. You can also trigger the glitch using Shadow Servant instead of Reviver. In this case you would fill all the character's magic slots with Light magic, teach them Shadow Servant to erase it all, then finally teach them Wraithform. The reason this glitch occurs is that a character under Wraithform's effect can't select any command except magic, and there are a few spells (namely Reviver, Shadow Servant, and Wraithform itself) which they can't use either. The important point is rather than being greyed out, the unavailable spells are completely removed from the character's command menu. If you set a character up so that the only spells they know are ones that can't be cast in Wraithform, then they will have no valid commands at all and the game will glitch as it tries to draw a completely empty menu. ==Acknowledgments== First acknowledgment goes to Alex Jackson, whose knowledge of the mechanics of this game is truly remarkable. Almost all info in this FAQ relating to statistics or internal game coding came directly from him. Also, he corroborated many things I wasn't sure about, such as which classes could set off which events (in the case of Bokuohn and Wagnas' scenarios), and the gender question for fighting Rocbouquet in Eilunep. Next there are Zach Keene, who also provided much information as to what did what, etc., as well as verifying several things like levels for learning magic. Polygon and the (few) others on the RS2 message boards, for showing so much interest whilst I was typing this up. And finally, my brother, who is currently giving this FAQ a test-run to see if it really does help players who have zero knowledge of Japanese.