TALES OF THE ABYSS AD SKILLS/CAPACITY CORE FAQ by Edward Chang (chang dot 459 at osu dot edu) v2.1 (2-4-06) Revision History v2.1 (2-4-06) Added and revised info based on the Tales of the Abyss Official Complete Guide (ISBN 4-902372-09-6). v2.0 (1-7-06) Revised version. Added all C. Cores, corrected some mistakes, added Frequently Asked Questions sections. v1.0 (12-23-05) First version. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. AD Skills 3. Capacity Cores 4. Frequently Asked Questions 5. Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a guide for Namco's PS2 RPG, Tales of the Abyss. It deals with the AD (Additional) Skills and Capacity Core systems, two related systems that are used to power up your characters. By equipping C. Cores onto your characters, they will gain various stat bonuses every time they level up. Also, as you accumulate bonuses, your characters will learn various AD Skills that will give them special abilities in battle. C. Cores need to be found during the game. When you go to the C. Core menu, you will see the bonuses that C. Core will give you and the cumulative bonuses the character has earned over the course of the game. As your cumulative bonuses reach certain values, your characters will learn more AD Skills. You can check what AD Skills your character has learned in the AD Skills menu (appropriately enough); you can even turn them on or off with the Square button should you so wish. This FAQ makes use of SJIS encoding in order to display Japanese characters. I included this feature so that if you do not know Japanese, you can easily match up the characters on your TV screen to the characters in this guide. You will need to have support for viewing Japanese characters on your computer, however. Newer versions of Windows should have it built in, though you may have to install some new files from your Windows Install CD; otherwise, you'll either need to get a program like NJStar Communicator, or you'll need to get Japanese character support for Internet Explorer and open this file in IE instead of Notepad/Wordpad. The only website authorized to post this FAQ is www.gamefaqs.com. If you see this document elsewhere, not only are they posting without my permission, but they likely do not have the most current version of this FAQ. Emails to me asking questions already answered in the FAQ, even if the answers are not in the version you are reading, will be deleted without response. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. AD SKILLS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Backstep　バックステップ Level 2 Take a backstep with Square + L Stick Back. Recovering　リカバリング Level 3 When knocked away, press Square to recover and keep from being knocked down. Critical Guard　クリティカルガード Level 4 Advance forward and reduce physical damage to 1/4th with Square + L Stick Forward. Magic Guard　マジックガード Level 7 Do a guard that reduces magic damage to 1/2 with Square + L Stick Down. (Note that this is inferior to "Suigojin" in that it only blocks magic damage and does nothing for physical damage; however, unlike Suigojin it doesn't cost any TP.) Free Run　フリーラン Level 5 Hold down L2 and move with the L Stick to move freely. Overlimit　オーバーリミッツ Level 15 With the Overlimit Gauge full, press R2 to engage Overlimit. Aloss　アロース Level 22 When the Overlimit Gauge is not full, press R2 to do a taunt motion to fill the Overlimit Gauge some. Special　スペシャル Level 30 During Overlimit hold O during an ougi or cast an upper-level magic to perform a hi-ougi. Efficient　イフィシェント Physical Attack +30 Reduce the damage prorating done for normal attacks to 10%. Power Charge　パワーチャージ Physical Attack +40 While standing still, hold the L Stick down to raise physical attack power for 20 seconds. (Despite the skill description, you can actually also do it while free running, if you just run downwards.) Critical　クリティカル Physical Attack +50 Increases the chance of doing a Critical attack. Faint　フェイント Physical Attack +60 Increases the chance of dizzying the enemy with physical attacks. Combo Plus　コンボプラス Physical Attack +70 Increases the number of chainable O attacks by one. Combo Plus 2　コンボプラス２ Physical Attack +120, Dexterity +20 Increases the number of chainable O attacks by another one. Combo Plus 3　コンボプラス３ Physical Attack +160, Dexterity +40 Increases the number of chainable O attacks by another one. Combo Plus 4　コンボプラス４ Physical Attack +200, Dexterity +60 Increases the number of chainable O attacks by another one. Passive Safe　パッシブセーフ Physical Defense +20 Reduces additional damage taken from being knocked back. Will Guard　ウィルガード Physical Defense +30 Reduces damage taken while guarding by an additional 10%. Back Guard　バックガード Physical Defense +40 Even attacks from behind do not trigger Guard Break easily. Invalid Attack　インバリッドアタック Physical Defense +50 When receiving physical damage, have a chance of not being staggered. Immunity　イミュニティ Physical Defense +60 Reduce the chance of getting a status effect. Enduro　エンデューロ Physical Defense +70 Reduce stagger time by 1/12th of a second when getting hit. Magic Critical　マジッククルティカル Magic Attack +20 When casting a spell, make critical damage possible. End Lucky　エンドラッキー Magic Attack +30 When casting a spell, have a chance of 75% shortened recovery time post- casting. Magic Faint　マジックフェイント Magic Attack +40 Increase the chance of dizzying the enemy with magic attacks. Spell Lucky　スペルラッキー Magic Attack +50 When casting a spell, have a chance of reducing TP Usage by 1/8th. Speed Spell　スピードスペル Magic Attack +60 Reduce casting time. Magic Charge　マジックチャージ Magic Attack +70 When standing still, hold the L Stick Down to raise magic attack power for 20 seconds. (Despite the skill description, you can actually also do it while free running, if you just run downwards.) Invalid Magic　インバリッドマジック Magic Defense +20 When receiving magic damage, have a chance of not staggering. Resist　レジスト Magic Defense +30 Reduce the chance of getting a status change. Unelemental　アンエレメンタル Magic Defense +40 Have a chance of reducing elemental damage by 1/2. Magic Will Guard　マジックウィルガード Magic Defense +50 Reduce the damage taken during magic guard by an additional 10%. Effective　エフェクティブ Magic Defense +60 Increases the effect of status change buffs. Life Up　ライフアップ Growth +20 Have a chance of increasing Max HP after a battle. (Gained max HP is 0.5% of current max HP.) Mental Heal　メンタルヒール Growth +30 Increase the amount of TP regained after a battle by 3%. Happiness Sing　ハピネスシング Growth +40 Have a chance of increased experience gained after a battle. Life Heal　ライフヒール Growth +50 Gain the ability to regain HP (6% of max) after a battle. Mental Up　メンタルアップ Growth +60 Have a chance of increasing Max TP after a battle. (Gained max TP is 1% of current max TP.) HP Recover ＨＰリカバー Growth +70 Increase HP regained when being healed by an additional 5%. TP Recover　ＴＰリカバー Growth +80 Increase TP regained when being healed by an additional 3%. EXP Plus　ＥＸＰプラス Growth +90 Increase bonus experience gained. Dash　ダッシュ Dexterity +20 Raise movement speed during battle by 20%. Escape　エスケープ Dexterity +30 Reduce the time taken to run away by 25%. Stacks to an extent between characters. Comeback　カムバック Dexterity +40 When staggered, mash Square to shorten stagger time. (Stagger time is reduced by 1/30th of a second for each press of Square.) Good Job　グッドジョブ Dexterity +50 Reduce recovery time after using an item by 25%. Limiter　リミッター Dexterity +60 Lengthen Overlimit time by 25%. Landing　ランディング Dexterity +70 Reduce recovery time after landing from a jump by 33%. High Turn　ハイターン Dexterity +80 When braking after stopping movement, can cancel braking into movement immediately. Aerial Jump　エリアルジャンプ Dexterity +90 Can jump again after jumping. Recovery Attack　リカバリーアタック Physical Attack +20, Dexterity +20 Allows attacking after using Recovering. High Combo　ハイコンボ Physical Attack +30, Dexterity +30 Allows attacking after landing from a jump. Counter Combo　カウンターコンボ Physical Attack +40, Physical Defense +40, Dexterity +20 Can chain into a special skill after using Counter. Cross Counter　クロスカウンター Physical Attack +40, Dexterity +40 Do 25% increased damage when attacking the enemy while it is attacking. Counter　カウンター Physical Attack +30, Physical Defense +30 In the instant of guarding an enemy attack, press O for a chance of ignoring stagger and performing a normal attack. Inelemental　インエレメンタル Physical Attack +20, Magic Attack +20 Have a chance of increasing the amount of damage done for elemental physical attacks by 25%. Flash　フラッシュ Physical Attack +30, Physical Defense +30, Magic Defense +30 During a combo, avoid staggering for a short period of time. Step Away　ステップアウェイ Physical Defense +20, Dexterity +20 Avoid staggering when damaged during a Backstep. Lucky Pool　ラッキープール Physical Defense +30, Dexterity +30 Have a chance of not taking damage when receiving physical damage. Recall　リコール Physical Defense +50, Magic Defense +50 Have a chance of reviving automatically when killed. Pain Reflect　ペインリフレクト Physical Defense +40, Magic Defense +40 When guarding, have a chance of reflecting damage back to the source. Accidental　アクシデンタル Physical Defense +30, Magic Defense +30 Have a chance of not taking damage when receiving magic damage. Loseless Soul　ルーズレスソウル Physical Defense +20, Magic Defense +20 Have a chance of regaining 5% TP when knocked down. Mental Supply　メンタルサプライ Physical Defense +45, Magic Defense +45 When getting hit with a combo, regain TP proportional to the hit count (1 TP for every hit past 3 hits). Skill Guard　スキルガード Magic Defense +25, Dexterity +25 Perform "Suigojin" with Square + L Stick Down. (Still takes TP if you do it this way...) Life Reverse　ライフリバース Physical Defense +30, Magic Defense +30, Growth +30 Slowly regain HP up to half of the last damage taken. (HP regained at a rate of 1 per every 1/60th of a second.) Angel Call　エンジェルコール Physical Defense +60, Magic Defense +60, Growth +50 When killed, revive automatically once. Glory　グローリー Physical Defense +60, Magic Defense +60, Dexterity +50, Growth +60 Avoid all staggering. (Actually, hi-ougis will still stagger you... but everything else won't.) Spell Voltage　スペルボルテージ Magic Attack +20, Magic Defense +20, Dexterity +40 Reduce casting time by 1/8th if spell used is same as last spell cast. Spell Keep　スペルキープ Physical Defense +30, Magic Attack +30, Magic Defense +30 When a spellcasting is interrupted by an attack, continue casting time where spell left off if the same spell is cast. Reduction　リダクション Magic Attack +30, Magic Defense +30 Reduce TP usage by 25% when casting the same spell again. Rhythm　リズム Magic Attack +20, Magic Defense +20, Dexterity +20 Mash O during casting to reduce casting time. (Casting time is reduced by 1/60th of a second for every press of O.) Suppress Guard　サプレスガード Magic Defense +40, Dexterity +40 Avoid being staggered when receiving magic damage while dashing. Item User　アイテムユーサー Dexterity +30, Growth +30 Increase effects of items by 1/8th when this character uses one. Pikohan Revenge　ピコハンリベンジ Physical Attack +40, Physical Defense +40 When being damaged, have a chance of automatically countering with Pikohan. Auto Medicine　オートメディスン Physical Defense +60, Magic Defense +60 When being damaged, have a chance of automatically receiving First Aid. Canceller　キャンセラー Physical Attack +80, Dexterity +80 Allows chaining from a tokugi to a tokugi once in a combo. Item Getter　アイテムゲッター Dexterity +40, Growth +40 Increases the chance of gaining an item after battle. Stacks with other characters. Robber Item　ローバーアイテム Physical Attack +20, Dexterity +40 Increases the success rate of stealing. Status Guard　ステータスガード Physical Defense +40, Magic Defense +40 Reduces the status decrease from a status change. Grace　グレイス Physical Attack +60, Magic Attack +60, Dexterity +40 Avoid staggering when being hit while casting a spell. (Very useful because this means you cannot be interrupted while casting.) Turnless　ターンレス Physical Attack +60, Dexterity +60 Allows chaining from an ougi back to a tokugi. Rear Guarder　リアガーダー Physical Defense +60, Dexterity +50 Makes it harder to be guard broken. Condition Guard　コンディションガード Physical Defense +30, Magic Defense +30 Reduces the duration of status effects (poison, weakness) by 1/2. Back Action　バックアクション Physical Attack +25, Physical Defense +25, Growth +10 Allows ignoring recovery time and attacking after a Backstep. Item Throw　アイテムスロー Physical Attack +40 Allows using items on character other than oneself. Step Long　ステップロング Physical Defense +20, Dexterity +20 Increases the distance of Backstep by 30%. Spell End スペルエンド Magic Attack +30, Dexterity +30 Eliminates recovery time after casting a spell. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. CAPACITY CORES ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Store ストレ Physical Attack +2, Physical Defense +1 Obtained automatically from Ion in the Cheegle Forest. Nole　ノーレ Physical Defense +1, Magic Attack +1, Magic Defense +1 Tear's initial C. Core. Arca　アルカ Physical Attack +1, Dexterity +2 Guy's initial C. Core. Noledo　ノーレド Physical Defense +1, Magic Attack +2 Jade's initial C. Core. Sildo　シルド Physical Defense +2, Magic Defense +1 Natalia's initial C. Core. Spirito　スピリト Magic Defense +2, Growth +1 Anise's initial C. Core. Stoile　ストイル Physical Attack +2, Growth +1 Treasure chest on the Tartaros. Nobile　ノービレ Magic Attack +2, Magic Defense +1 Catch Tarlow X during the event on the Transport Ferry Katzbert. Forstore　フォルストレ Physical Attack +2, Physical Defense +1 Treasure chest in the Zao Ruins. Fornore　フォルノーレ Magic Attack +2, Magic Defense +1, Dexterity +1 Treasure chest in Aczelius Tunnel #14. Forsildo　フォルシルド Physical Defense +2, Magic Defense +2 Treasure chest in Yuriacity, Tear's house. Forspirito フォルスピリト Dexterity +2, Growth +2 Treasure chest in Dart. Forbarra　フォルバルラ Physical Attack +1, Magic Attack +1, Dexterity +1, Growth +1 Treasure chest in Oracle Headquarters. Forarca　フォルアルカ Physical Attack +2, Dexterity +3 Treasure chest in Ketelburk's governor's house. Mezzistore　メジストレ Physical Attack +3, Physical Defense +2 Treasure chest in Grankokma, Peony's room. Mezzinore　メジノーレ Physical Defense +1, Magic Attack +3, Magic Defense +1 Item creation. Mezzisildo　メジシルト Physical Defense +3, Magic Defense +1, Dexterity +1 Treasure chest in Shuray Hill. Mezziarca　メジアルカ Physical Attack +2, Dexterity +1, Growth +2 Treasure Chest in the Tatar Valley (ruins section). Mezzibarra　メジバルラ All Stats +1 Item creation. Marcato　マルカート Physical Defense +1, Magic Defense +3, Growth +2 Treasure chest in Mejiora Plateau Cave #1. Stressido　ストレッシード Physical Attack +4, Physical Defense +1, Magic Defense +1 Treasure chest in Zareho Volcano. Nolessido　ノーレシード Magic Attack +4, Magic Defense +2 Treasure chest in Ronile Snowy Mountain. Barrassido　バレラッシード Physical Attack +2, Magic Attack +2, Dexterity +2, Growth +1 Treasure chest in the Absorb Gate. Rebhaudo　レーブハフド Physical Attack +2, Physical Defense +3, Magic Attack +1, Magic Defense +1 Treasure chest in the Feres Island Ruined City. Silssido　シルシード Physical Defense +1, Magic Defense +1, Dexterity +3, Growth +2 Treasure chest in the Tower of Rem. Barranto　バルラント Dexterity +4, Growth +4 Item creation. Largamente　ラルガメンテ Physical Attack +2, Physical Defense +2, Magic Attack +2, Magic Defense +2, Dexterity +1, Growth +1 Item creation. Lunattito　ルナティート Physical Attack +3, Physical Defense +1, Magic Attack +2, Magic Defense +4, Dexterity +1, Growth +2 Treasure chest in the Radiate Gate. Grandioze　グランディオーツ Physical Attack +3, Physical Defense +3, Magic Attack +3, Magic Defense +3, Dexterity +2, Growth +2 Treasure chest in Eldrant. Tutti　トゥッティ All Stats +4 Steal from Nebilim. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q. What's the point in turning off AD Skills? A. In most cases there is no point. Faint can interrupt some float combos, so you may want to turn it off; Skill Guard makes it so you can't do just plain old Magic Guard, and Skill Guard costs TP so in limited cases you might just want to turn it off (since you can always activate Suigojin by a Shortcut anyway.) Otherwise you'd only want to turn skills off to challenge yourself. Q. I missed the (such and such) C. Core. Am I screwed? A. If the C. Core is in an area you can't return to later, such as the Tartaros or the Aczelius Tunnel #14, then yes, you're screwed. You'll just have to get the C. Core your second time through the game. Q. Can I carry over AD Skills to a new game? How about C. Cores? A. Yes and yes. Carrying over AD Skills (ADスキル引継ぎ) costs 900 Grade, while carrying over C. Cores (キャパシティコア引継ぎ) costs 500 Grade. However, your cumulative bonuses do NOT carry over. For instance, if you want to learn an AD Skill that requires Physical Attack +50, and Luke has Physical Attack +40 at the end of your first playthrough, when you carry it over Luke will start over at Physical Attack +0, meaning you'll have to earn 50 points all over again to learn that AD Skill. Q. How do I get the C. Cores I make through Item Creation? A. Item Creation is performed at Din's shop in Kesedonia. To get the C. Cores, you have to give Din a certain number of trade items that you find in those glowing search points around the world map and a certain amount of money. Giving Din a total of 50 of Aqua Sapphires (アクアサファイア) or Meteorite Fragments (隕石の欠片) and 2000 Gald will give you either the Mezzibarra or Mezzinore C. Core. Giving Din a total of 50 Aqua Sapphires, Meteorite Fragments, or Revavius Ore (リヴァヴィウス鉱石) and 4800 Gald will give you 2 C. Cores, either Mezzibarra or Mezzinore (if you're unlucky, you'll get two of the same ones.) Giving Din a total of 120 Revavius Ore and Spirit items (火精の…水精の…etc.) and 9600 Gald will give you either the Mezzinore or Mezzibarra C. Cores, plus the Barranto C. Core. Finally, as a 'special request' (特別な依頼) which triggers once you give a total of 140 Spirit items and Revavius Ores, plus one Mana Fragment (マナの欠片) will give you the Largamente C. Core. All of these recipes allow mixing-and-matching, though you need at least one Revavius Ore for most of these recipes. Q. How do I steal? A. You need to put a Glass Chamber (green FS Chamber) on certain skills. Luke's Reppashou or Hien Shunrenzan, Tear's Vanishing Sorrow, Jade's Tenraisou, Anise's Yousou Shuugeki or Rentou Raikoudan, Guy's Shinkuuhazan or Zeppa Juujishou, and Natalia's Aerial Laser all have the steal property. Note that until you get the Chamber to level 6, the steal won't activate all the time. Also, even if it activates there is no guarantee of success. Learning the Robber Item AD Skill improves the chances of success. Finally note that the skill must actually inflict a clean hit on the enemy; if they autoguard as many bosses tend to do, you can't steal. For this reason, many of the skills that steal that are too slow to combo from normal attacks (Luke's Reppashou, Anise's Yousou Shuugeki, Guy's Shinkuu Hazan etc.) aren't nearly as useful as skills that DO combo (Jade's Tenraisou, Guy's Zeppa Juujishou, etc.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. CREDITS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks go to: Namco and Tales Studio for another great Tales of game. The only website authorized to post this FAQ is www.gamefaqs.com. If you see this document elsewhere, not only are they posting without my permission, but they likely do not have the most current version of this FAQ. Emails to me asking questions already answered in the FAQ, even if the answers are not in the version you are reading, will be deleted without response. This FAQ Copyright 2005, 2006 to Edward Chang. Redistribution in any form, including reprinting in electronic or print media, without express permission of the author is strictly forbidden.