BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | | \/ B T \ * ~~BTB's Dragon Warrior IV FAQ~~ * \ T B /\ | | \/ B T \ * ~Final Version~ * \ T B /\ | | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB !@#$%^&*!@#$%^&*!@#$*% * @ % CENSORED VERSION & $ # #@!*&^%$#@!*&^%$#@!*$& wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ _\ /_ | | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | | / /\ \ _\ /_ | ~Quick-Naviagate~ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | | / /\ \ _\ /_ | | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm To get where you're going in a hurry, try Quick-Navigate! Just follow these five easy steps: 1. Highlight the name of the section or subsection that you want to go to in the table of contents (listed below). 2. Press ctrl + C. 3. Press ctrl + F. 4. Press ctrl + V. 5. Press Enter. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ _\ /_ | | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | | / /\ \ _\ /_ | ~Table of Contents~ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | | / /\ \ _\ /_ | | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm -------------------- I. Basic Information -------------------- A. Author's Note (Read This!) B. Quick Info C. Statistics & Probabilities D. The Tactics System Explained E. The Tactics In-Depth F. "Lost-Forevers" (Definitely Read This!) -------------- II. Characters -------------- A. Ragnar B. Alena C. Cristo D. Brey E. Taloon F. Nara G. Mara H. The Hero I. The UC's ---------------- III. Walkthrough ---------------- A. Chapter One: The Royal Soldiers B. Chapter Two: Princess Alena's Adventure C. Chapter Three: Taloon the Arms Merchant D. Chapter Four: The Sisters of Monbaraba E. The Chosen Ones F. The Zenithian Hunt G. Quest for the Zenithian Sword H. The Center of the World ---------------------------------- IV. Side Quests (The Cascade Cave) ---------------------------------- ----------------- V. Little Secrets ----------------- A. Endor's Treasury B. The Burland Treasury C. The Hidden Shop at Endor D. Gardenbur's Third Basement E. The Treasure of Branca F. Town Treasuries G. The Treasury at Dire Palace H. Items From Chests, Drawers, & Other Strange Places ------------------ VI. Level-Up Spots ------------------ A. Cave North of Endor B. The Royal Crypt C. Hills Northeast of Gottside D. Final Cave, Part Two (Near Last Refuge) ---------------------------- VII. Concerning Small Medals ---------------------------- A. Immediately Available Medals B. Magic Key Medals C. Final Key Medals D. Ruler of Evil Medals E. Late-Game Medals --------------------- VIII. Casino Strategy --------------------- A. The Coliseum B. The Slots C. The Poker Table ------------------- IX. Equipment Lists ------------------- A. Weapons B. Armor C. Shields D. Helmets ------------ X. Item List ------------ -------------- XI. Magic List -------------- ------------------------- XII. Other Battle Effects ------------------------- A. Basic Non-Magical Attacks B. Nara's Tarot Card Effects C. Taloon's Battle Techniques D. The Chance Spell ----------------- XIII. Other Stuff ----------------- A. The Fate of Rosa B. Whatever Happened to...? C. The Musical Stylings of Chapter Five ------------------- XIV. Hints & Tricks ------------------- A. The Branca Tunnel Trick B. Surviving Necrasaro's Palace -------------------------------------------- Version Info, Credits, & Contact Information -------------------------------------------- BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~I~ ~I~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | I. Basic Information | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~I~ ~I~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section I: Basic Information|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. Author's Note (Read This!) | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section I: Basic Information|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Thank you for choosing a BTB FAQ. From the name of the section, "Stuff You Definitely Should Know Before Playing", a few things should be apparent. Here, I shall convey useful information about the game itself which is not readily apparent to the player. This is information that would greatly behoove the player to know and does not reveal anything, either story-wise or anything that may give you an unfair advantage while playing (for those of you who hate that sort of thing). In short, it is highly recommended that you look this section over before you begin playing. The walkthrough is the "meat" of the guide, containing in-depth strategies, directions, and so on. The appendices, or in other words all the parts of the walkthrough that are not the walkthrough, contain supplemental information that may be often referenced in the walkthrough. However, take note that during the walkthrough, I generally assume that my reader possesses a basic knowledge of the information found within the appendices, so please keep that in mind when using the walkthrough. Lastly, I must stress that in addition to providing help and information with the game itself in the walkthrough, I also keep a very good running tab on whatever plot may exist, often adding insight and commentary. This is meant to assist you, the reader's understanding of not only the technical aspects of the game, but also the finer details (namely the plot). Many people often say that my various commentary makes the game more enjoyable for them, which is indeed my intent. If you do not wish to partake of my commentary, I most certainly understand, and hope you at least find the answers to your question in the various non-plot-related parts of my FAQ. If, however, your distaste for my writing style leads you to bitch about my "filler-laden" FAQ, then my advice to you is quite simply to go fuck yourself and find something better to do with your time. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section I: Basic Information|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. Quick Info | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section I: Basic Information|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm The following list is a quick run-off of general things to bear in mind about this game: While you obviously know that every treasure chest should be opened and thusly looted, as a general rule, examine every jar, set of chests or drawers you come across, as well. You often find useful items in them, and this is where the game's majority of Small Medals can be located, as well. Also, some items can even be picked up off the ground. Think about places where people stood, the ends of roads that lead nowhere, or prominent, unique, or strikingly out-of-place objects, and use the search command liberally. Alternatively, see section V.H. of this FAQ, which offers a list of all the items in the game that can be found in this manner (which can help because the majority of these items will not be mentioned in the walkthrough). In addition, section VII. lists the locations of every Small Medal in the game, as well as a brief description as to why exactly these items can be of use to you throught the game. --- Next, some of the game's treasure is locked up. Whenever you see a locked door, make a note to return later once you have the key. Doors that almost look like normal doors, but with a lock-looking symbol in the middle are the lowest level and can be opened with any key. The ones that are pinkish-red with a silver lining can only be opened with the Magic or Final keys, and the doors made of iron bars can be opened only with the Final Key. Things to further your quest, great treasures, as well as most Small Medals, are all locked up. For future reference, all of the locked doors that are not a part of the game's main walkthrough (e.g., not relevant to the plot) will be listed throughout section V. of the FAQ. --- Pay attention to who you're having your character's attack and how much damage they're doing. If a character, by your command, goes to attack something that already been defeated, then guess what? Their turn is wasted. --- Direct magic attacks, such as Blaze and Icebolt, all do set damage rather than a greater amount to any particular creature that happened to fall weak to it. However, certain monsters may be much more difficult to hit with a given type of magic, or may be immune to it entirely. Note that almost all monsters have a small chance to avoid almost any type of direct magic attack, however. The four types of magic are fire, ice, lightning, and vacuum. Fire magic is a bit more complicated in that it consists of three different sub-types of magic: blaze, flame, and explosive. Normally, a monster will possess resistance or susceptibility to all three as a group, though in a few instances this is not the case... --- While adventuring, remember that you have a greater chance of being attacked while traveling through forests and hills as opposed to open plains, desert, and light shrubbery. You'll stand the least chance of being attacked while traveling on water- random encounters at sea are few and far between. Traveling at night means you stand a greater chance of running into the region's more powerful enemies (not that you won't run into them during the day, mind you). --- Aside from affecting local monster activity, time also affects villages. For instance, most shops are usually closed at night. Also, you may find out different information from people during the night, as well. In addition, a few places are only accessible during the day/night-time. Time passes only on the world map, and only passes with each step taken. So standing in place does little more than waste time (your time, that is). --- The game takes place in a top-view setting of your characters. At times, what appears to be a solid wall to you may be in reality an opening of some sorts. When in doubt, press your characters up against the walls and snoop around. --- Return and Outside are two of the game's most important spells. When traversing dangerous terrain and/or dungeons, it's almost always a good idea to retain enough MP to use them if need be. --- Spells that effect a character's abilities, such as Increase or Bikill, will last for the remainder of the battle or until that character is killed. Even if that character goes into the wagon, he or she will still retain the enchantment. --- Dragon Warrior IV presents the unique "Chapter" system (see section I.D. of the FAQ for more details.) At the end of each Chapter, all the gold you have is taken, but all of your items will be retained (excepting the Iron Safe which Taloon leaves behind, and the Sphere of Silence, which vanishes mysteriously for some unknown reason...) Use this knowledge to your advantage when nearing the end of each chapter! wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section I: Basic Information|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | C. Statistics & Probabilities | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section I: Basic Information|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm This is a subject that is mostly limited to RPG's, and deals with the random probabilities of things happening in the game and the statistics that they are based upon. Statistics are important in every RPG, and some other games as well. Unfortunately for us, statistics are a far different thing in every game we have ever played, and they can often be confusing. Below is listed every statistic in the game, how we get it (and/or make it bigger), and what it does (simple enough for ya?): HP & MP are self-explanatory stats. Your HP/MP maxes will increase with each level up, and may also be raised through the use of Lifeforce Nuts (HP) or Mystic Acorns (MP). --- Vitality is a stat that poses no real function except to pose as a indicator as to how much HP a character will gain at the next level-up (so a higher Vitality rating means more HP gain on average at level-up). --- Intelligence is exactly like Vitality, except that it applies to MP, and that even characters with no magical abilities may have a little Intelligence (we can't have a bunch of imbeciles saving the world, now can we?) --- Strength refers to your character's natural fighting ability. Strength has a direct impact on your Attack Power (see below), and is widely believed to be the biggest factor in the probability of scoring a critical blow. This will increase at level-up and may be additionally raised with Strength Seeds. --- Agility, pretty much, is your character's speediness. Faster characters have a greater chance of making the first strike in battle, and one half of your Agility rating is directly added to your Defense (see below). This goes up at level-up and may be further increased with Agility Seeds. --- Attack Power is the statistic that directly effects how much damage your character does with his/her "fight" command, and also effects how likely your character's attack is to hit its target. Attack Power is a sum of your strength stat plus the equipped weapon. --- Defense effects how easy it is for your characters to dodge incoming non-magical attacks, and reduces damage dealt by all non-magical attacks that hit. Your Defense is one half your agility rating plus the defensive power of all your armor. --- Luck is a statistic that has a very subtle influence on your characters. While its exact roles remain an enigma, Luck is known to affect a character's resistance to status change (e.g. Sleep, Poison), and is thought to be a factor in the chance of your character striking a critical blow, as well. In addition, characters with a higher Luck stat are believed to be more likely to deal high-end damage with their magical attacks, and receive low-end damage when absorbing them. Luck goes up with a character's level and may be increased with the notably rare Luck Seeds. --- Equipment Selection, while not a statistic, is a general measure of a character's ability to use the game's various weapons and armor. A character with a higher rating in this category may use a wider variety and more powerful equipment than one with a lower rating. --- Magic Variety indicates the types of magic that are used by a character. The types of magic include direct attack (Blaze, Icebolt), indirect attack (Sleep, Chaos), defensive (Upper, Barrier), healing (Heal, Revive), and miscellaneous (Repel, Day-Night). Note that every character that uses miscellaneous magic will know at least the Return and Outside spells. --- Level-Up Speed generally refers to a character's ability to gain levels quickly. Some characters generally require far less experience to level-up than others do. Likewise, some characters are very slow to gain levels. This effect can be the most pronounced in the later game, where there may very well be gaps several levels large between your characters. --- Each character, as well as a breakdown of their particular statistics are listed in section II. Of the FAQ. Each statistic (excepting magic variety) will be listed as: Very High/Good, High/Good, Average, Low/Poor, or Very Low/Very Poor. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section I: Basic Information|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | D. The Tactics System Explained | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section I: Basic Information|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Most every RPG in existence has at least one unique feature that sets it apart from the rest of the RPG world. These features can often add a considerable element of enjoyment to the game, and at times can even define the game itself. Dragon Warrior IV is no exception to this rule, boasting the highly-prized chapter system which introduces you to all of the game's characters on their own separate quests before finally uniting them to kick some ass in Chapter Five. Reaching Chapter Five introduces you to yet another interesting element of the game. After completing their own separate quests, your characters are considered experienced enough to act on their own, while you, the player, now only directly control the Hero him/herself. While you cannot flat-out tell your characters what to do, you can influence their actions via the tactics system. To begin with, several points must be made about the tactics system: The Hero, being the only character under your control, possesses a few responsibilities in this respect. Obviously, you must do certain things at certain times that the other characters will neglect to do. This includes, for example, the occasional protective Fendspell, battle-ending Lightning spell, or live-saving Sandglass of Regression usage. However, the biggest application of this is for the Hero to "play healer", if you will. Your characters, depending on the tactic selected, will use any available method (this usually means Cristo and/or Nara will use their healing magic) to heal themselves or each other when someone's HP reaches a certain percentage. When more than one character must be healed, their priorities seem random at best, except that your healers, in true selfless style, will usually opt to heal others before themselves. This system has its flaws, obviously, aside from Cristo's and Nara's considerable lack of self-preservation. Nara, for instance, much be watched like a hawk because even when her HP is at 80%, she's still fairly vulnerable. Ragnar, on the other hand, can go for ages without needing the healing. This is why you, as the Hero, must come to understand exactly how dangerous each enemy is and how long you can continue fighting with it before healing becomes necessary- because often your teammates seem to disagree with you in this respect (and take back what I said earlier- you are a bunch of idiots questing to save the world). --- In addition, your characters react to battle in "real time". Their commands will be selected at the time of the command, not at the beginning of the turn. For instance, everyone began the turn healthy. Then, Brey takes a big hit halfway through. Nara will use her turn to heal Brey, even though if she had picked her command at the beginning of the turn she would not have known to do so (well, I dunno, she is a fortuneteller...) Or, for instance, an enemy is killed before Ragnar gets his chance to hit- he'll just crack something else's skull instead. Take this into consideration mainly when you, as the Hero, are deciding to "play healer" (as mentioned above). --- You, as the Hero, may be the leader of the team, but your teammates will in no way, shape, or form take your actions into consideration when deciding what to do. They will "play off each other", and combine their attacks in such a way as to efficiently deal with the enemy. You, however, do not deserve that consideration. If you attempt to strike something, and your team kills it before you do- tough luck, you miss a turn. Likewise, if you are "playing healer" and using your turn to cast a healing spell, your teammates don't seem to realize this. They may very well heal themselves before you get a chance to and then, yes, your turn will again be wasted (though if you cast the spell first, they won't be idiots and waste their turns if they don't have to, because, as we've already established, the team reacts to battle in real time). What this means, pretty much, is instead of your team playing off you, you must play off the rest of the team. Watch them, and learn their tendencies. I already mentioned that your characters will heal themselves when they feel it's necessary. As for their offense, it's a bit different. First and foremost, your team will gun first for the enemy they see as the biggest threat, and the work their way down from there (and I'd think they were a lot smarter if they didn't see a monster who's asleep or confused as a threat...) Also, your characters will usually try to do as much damage as possible to as many creatures as possible. Mara, for example, given the choice of casting Firebane on a large group of foes, or casting Blazemore on a single foe, will usually opt for the former. Likewise, if there are several smaller groups of enemies present, she'll probably go with one of her explosive spells, like Bang or Boom. --- Lastly, your characters will learn from their actions. Cristo, for example, will only try to cast Beat or Defeat on a boss character so many times before he gets it through his head that it isn't going to work. And when a character finds a certain course of action that is particularly effective, they tend to take the idea and run with it. However, some things, interestingly enough, your characters know to do by instinct. For example, Cristo knows when Stopspell will be a good idea and will readily cast it (he may also know when Increase may be of help, but he apparently doesn't seem to care). Another example would be when Mara automatically casts BeDragon when she sees Metal Babbles. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section I: Basic Information|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | E. The Tactics In-Depth | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section I: Basic Information|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Taking these points into consideration, choose the tactic that best suits your needs. There is no one tactic ideal for the game, or even one ideal for a certain area. You can change tactics from battle to battle, or even in the middle of one, to best suit your needs: The Normal tactic is your basic, all-around tactic which is a good idea to use at most times. With this tactic, your characters tend to realize that they do, in fact, have teammates. Your offensive magic users tend to lay off the heavy stuff and attack only with what is needed to combine with the forces of your other members to efficiently deal with the situation at hand. Oftentimes, when the rest of the team is capable of taking out the monsters with little help from the magic-users, indirectly offensive spells will be utilized. On the defensive end of things, your characters will pay a moderate amount of attention to their HP (though, as we've already established, your characters are generally poor judges of when it's time to heal up). All in all, this is a good tactic to use in general, though there are times when it can lead to a battle being needlessly drawn out instead of quickly ended. --- The Offensive tactic: for when it absolutely must die now. Under this tactic, your magic-users, especially, don't really care about anyone else. They see a monster and they want it dead! They will cast whatever it takes to rid themselves of the offending beasts, but will not indulge in overkill. Your magic users will still use indirect offense spells, but will usually only do so when they currently do not possess a spell that will kill said monster(s) in one fell swoop (though this will not always hold true). The two drawbacks to this tactic are that it can be a real MP drain, and that you must keep an eye on your teammates' HP. While they will not entirely neglect their HP, they will pay less attention to it in their battle-driven lust than under the other tactics. --- The Defensive tactic is the antithesis to the Offensive tactic. Basically, it's the Normal tactic with a heavier focus on defense. This means that your characters will pay a bit more attention to healing themselves (though still not enough in some instances), and may occasionally bust out a defensive spell like Increase or Barrier. The only downside here is that the defensive spell usage is far from consistent, and is nothing to be relied upon. --- The Save MP tactic is a general call for your team to, guess what, conserve MP. This combines the offensive magic frugality of the Normal and Defensive tactics with the healing magic conservation of the Offensive tactic. --- The Use No MP tactic is your last-ditch effort in conserving MP. Under this tactic, your characters will only fight and use whatever items are available to heal or attack with. This tactic has its uses, including saving that last little bit of MP for when you'll need it, or a clutch move to get Nara or Cristo to shut up with the healing magic and fight! The obvious downside here is a stymied magical offense, and the Hero alone (if the Hero is even present) is left to act as healer. --- The Try Out tactic calls for your characters to do things that they otherwise would not normally do. Basically, stupid things like offense and defense are put on hold in favor of, "let's see what this does!" Under this tactic, the more items a character has in his/her inventory, the more substantially useless they will become, as they will spend that much more time looking at all of the pretty things that they're carrying. Also, your characters will let loose with spells they would usually not cast. While the drawbacks are readily obvious, this tactic, sadly, is pretty much the only way a few spells will ever see the light of day outside of using the Transform spell. Note, however, that Transform is far more reliable. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section I: Basic Information|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | F. "Lost-Forevers" (Definitely Read This!) | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section I: Basic Information|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm In most games, normally RPG's, there are an abundance of things to collect, acquire, do, find, and see. While most of these can usually be done at your leisure, this section is dedicated to helping you find certain things that can no longer be done after a certain point within a game: * One of the Small Medals at Koneber is a "lost-forever". You must collect it before completing the Lighthouse mission. For more information on Small Medals, refer to section VII. of this FAQ. * Alena's weapon, the Iron Claw is a "lost-forever". You must purchase it before entering (and winning) the tournament. * The Sphere of Silence is a lost-forever. If you do not follow the plot as detailed in the walkthrough, you run the risk of possibly bypassing the part of your quest where you collect it (again), and should you reach Esturk’s Palace before collecting it, it shall become lost forever. BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~II~ ~II~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | II. Characters | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~II~ ~II~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. Ragnar | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * Vitality (HP)---------------Very High * Strength--------------------High * Agility (Speed & Defense)---Very Low * Luck------------------------Very Low * Intelligence (MP)-----------N/A * Magic Variety---------------N/A * Equipment Selection---------Very Good * Level-Up Speed--------------High A brave and loyal soldier of the Burland Royal Guard, Ragnar is a powerful addition to your attack team. He has an endless supply of HP, easily the highest in the game. The downside is that with his extremely low Agility, he's not only slow, but both his Attack Power and especially his Defense are highly dependent on his equipment. The good news is that Ragnar can equip powerful stuff, and when he does, he becomes a force to be reckoned with. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. Alena | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * Vitality (HP)---------------High * Strength--------------------Very High * Agility (Defense & Speed)---Very High * Luck------------------------High * Intelligence (MP)-----------N/A * Magic Variety---------------N/A * Equipment Selection---------Very Poor * Level-Up Speed--------------High The brash, tomboyish, yet determined Princess of Santeem doesn't take crap from anyone- she's got some of the best stats available. Her advantages include the ability to be effective with virtually no equipment, the ability to strike hard and strike fast, and lots of critical blows. Seriously, Alena gets an astoundingly high number of critical hits. Her disadvantages mainly involve her lack of decent equipment, but she can still fight with the best of them at a good level and with the right equipment. Other than that, Alena's only disadvantage is that her high HP is still far outdone by Ragnar's sky-high supply of it. She's still faster than him, though... wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | C. Cristo | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * Vitality (HP)---------------Average * Strength--------------------Average * Agility (Speed & Defense)---Average * Luck------------------------Average * Intelligence (MP)-----------High * Magic Variety---------------Healing, Defensive, Ind. offense * Equipment Selection---------Average * Level-Up Speed--------------Average The concerned chancellor who accompanies Alena is adept in the ways of healing and defensive magic and possesses a number of invaluable spells, like Healus, that can alone make him worth having around. His "attack" magic consists entirely of his two instant-death spells, Beat and Defeat. While these are actually quite useful against the vast majority of the enemy population due to their high success rate, these spells are still a double-edged sword. With only an average attack strength, Beat and Defeat are likely the only offensive contributions Cristo can make. On the other hand, for a magician, Cristo at least has pretty good survivalability. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | D. Brey | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * Vitality (HP)---------------Low * Strength--------------------Very Low * Agility (Speed & Defense)---High * Luck------------------------High * Intelligence (MP)-----------Very High * Magic Variety---------------All types except Healing * Equipment Selection---------Poor * Level-Up Speed--------------Low Alena's tutor and constant companion, old man Brey possesses a myriad of wicked bad magic, with all sorts of practical uses. He wields enough offensive magic to be reasonably effective, as well as some kick-ass indirectly offensive magic. Being a wizard and all, Brey naturally can't fight worth a crap, but given his magic prowess, this is but a trifle weakness. He's surprisingly nimble for an old geezer, but little HP or armor for protection leave him in need of strong companions. In addition, Brey has a tendency to advance in level a bit slower than everyone else, which can be a pain at times (especially when he's waiting to learn those damn spells!) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | E. Taloon | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * Vitality (HP)---------------Average * Strength--------------------High * Agility (Speed & Defense)---Average * Luck------------------------Very Low * Intelligence (MP)-----------N/A * Magic Variety---------------N/A * Equipment Selection---------Good * Level-Up Speed--------------Very High Taloon, the loveable and corpulent merchant who wants to buy the world, is an alternative fighting choice. In Chapter Five, Taloon starts doing very weird things during battle in addition to his normal fight command. For the entire listing of the things he might do, refer to section XII.C. of this FAQ. These attacks are generated purely at random, and naturally, the fault lies in their unpredictability. He can fight well, and his levels will fly way past everyone else's, but Alena and Ragnar have him beat in the HP department by a long shot. Either way, kudos to someone with the courage to wear his pajamas into battle... wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | F. Nara | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * Vitality (HP)---------------Very Low * Strength--------------------Average * Agility (Speed & Defense)---Low * Luck------------------------Average * Intelligence (MP)-----------High * Magic Variety---------------All types except Misc. * Equipment Selection---------Average * Level-Up Speed--------------Very Low The elder of Edgar's revenge-crazed daughters is a fortuneteller who leads her sister on a quest to find his killer. On the bad side of things, she suffers dangerously low HP, and she's slow! Top this all with the fact that Nara's level advancement is the slowest of them all (which will have a huge impact later on), and you've got the game's most fragile character on your hands. At least with good armor the effects won't be as bad. Like Cristo, she uses healing and some defensive magic, but just doesn't have a lot of the useful spells that he does. However, she beats out Cristo in the direct offense department with some good spells, which are equal in strength to some of Brey's, making her a very versatile magician. It's just durability she lacks. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | G. Mara | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * Vitality (HP)---------------Low * Strength--------------------Very Low * Agility (Speed & Defense)---High * Luck------------------------Very High * Intelligence (MP)-----------Very High * Magic Variety---------------Dir. Offense, Ind. Offense, Misc. * Equipment Selection---------Poor * Level-Up Speed--------------High Nara's younger, cuter, perkier, dancer sister is a venerable offensive powerhouse. Mara's powerful attack magic rivals the strength of any fighting character. However, she lacks Brey's impressive repertoire of magic, possessing mostly spells that do direct damage (excepting Sap, BeDragon, and Robmagic), and what big damage they do. Like Brey, she is quite fast, but has low HP and can't wear much armor to protect herself. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | H. The Hero | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * Vitality (HP)---------------High * Strength--------------------High * Agility (Speed & Defense)---Average * Luck------------------------Low * Intelligence (MP)-----------Average * Magic Variety---------------All * Equipment Selection---------Very Good * Level-Up Speed--------------Low The Hero is not only a damn good fighter with a healthy supply of HP, but he/she's got some good magic, as well. He/she learns most of the best spells available from all of the magic types, making your Hero a great warrior, physically and magically. To boot, your Hero can equip pretty much all of the game's most powerful equipment, making him/her that much more powerful. The only (minor) weaknesses to speak of include an inferiority to the other magic-users in terms of Intelligence and Luck, and a slower-than-normal level-advancement rate. Despite this, the Hero is still the best you've got... wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | I. The UC's | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm And lastly, the UC's. These are characters that join your party, usually unsolicited, and fight alongside you. They aren't members of the "chosen ones", you can't equip them with anything besides what they already have, they don't level-up, and you still lose the fight if they're the only ones left standing. However, on the other hand, since their lives are of such little value, having them revived at a house of healing is outstandingly cost-effective. The following UC's either can or will join your team at some point in the game, and all but the last will leave you at some point, as well: --- Healie joins Ragnar halfway through Chapter One. Healie is a friendly version of the healer monster, and is a welcome asset to Ragnar's quest. Unfortunately, all Healie ever does is cast Heal, and will run his MP into the ground with wanton disregard, so Ragnar should still carry a medical herb or two around. Also note that once he's out of MP, Healie'll probably get his big blue ass kicked fairly quickly due to a complete lack of equipment or any form of durability, which is why it's useful that he's so cheap to bring back from the dead. Despite this, Healie is one of the more useful UC's, just for his healing capabilities alone. Healie stays with Ragnar clear until the end of Chapter One, and well past that, even. --- Strom is a guard hanging around Endor. During Chapter Three, Taloon may choose to hire Strom to assist him for a brief period during his travels, for the low, low price of 400 GP. Strom is a tough guy who wields an Iron Spear, can take a few more hits than Taloon can, and displays the intellectual capacity of soup. --- Laurent is also hanging around Endor just waiting for Taloon to hire him in Chapter Three. His price is a bit more steep, at 600 gold pieces, but look at what he brings to the party. Laurent knows the Firebal and Sleep spells, and, lacking MP, can still fight halfway decently with his venomous dagger. Of course, his HP and attack power are a far cry from that of Strom. --- Orin joins Nara and Mara during Chapter Four when he realizes that their group breaks the standard RPG rule of "every traveling party must consist of at least one brain-dead muscle head". He can fight well, and is far more durable than Nara or Mara could ever hope to be, which helps. Stick him at the front of the group, let him take all the damage, and carry on. --- Hector is yet another expendable addition to your team, but, like Orin, he's someone you're required to get. You actually really never asked for Hector's company- just for his possession. He just came along, anyways. He's useful much like Orin was- another body to absorb damage (on a scale about equal to Orin). He fights well, again much like Orin did (they even use the same weapon, as a matter of fact), except that he also has an interesting tendency to "save up his strength" in battle to unleash a more potent attack the next round. Of course, with the characters you should have with you at that time, it's rare that a battle should go more than a round without the complete annihilation of every enemy on screen... Anyways, once Hector realizes that you don't need his body as a human shield anymore, he gets the hint and leaves. --- Panon may or may not see one battle in your party. He's necessary to a quest you must complete later in the game, but it's a quest that may done immediately and bloodlessly after you ask for his assistance. Some people, however, choose to put off completing his quest and exploit him. Panon's chief advantage would be that he wields a Sword of Lethargy, a favorite weapon amongst some players. And if you're only looking for its benefits short-term, Panon may be of help. Other than his armament, though, Panon is pretty mediocre. He knows the Sleep spell (and can use his sword to cast Sleepmore), and isn't much more durable or powerful than anyone else on the team. And since you've already got eight people on your team, you can't really use the "human shield" argument (that at least he fills up an empty spot and takes damage...) --- Lucia, while not absolutely necessary to your quest, is still a good idea to pick up, if not only for the favor that she will later do for you. As a teammate, she's passable. She has typical "magician" stats: low HP and strength and high MP. She knows the Healall, Defense, and Surround spells. Healall is obviously useful, as can be Surround and Defense because she actually uses them! However, if you follow the plot they way you're supposed to, she shouldn't be with you for too long. --- Doran would be the favor that Lucia will do for you. He is a baby dragon that comes along with you on the last leg of your quest. He can take and deal about as much damage as one of your weaker fighter-types (like Taloon), but it's his alternate attacks that really make him special. Doran is capable of emitting both blizzards and violent blazes. Doran's only disadvantage is his stupidity. When you pull him into battle from the wagon, it'll usually take him a turn to "assess the situation" and figure out just what the hell is going on. Oh, well. It's either that or he torches your party to a crisp. BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~III~ ~III~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | III. Walkthrough | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~III~ ~III~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section III: Walkthrough|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. Chapter One: The Royal Soldiers | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /___________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section III: Walkthrough|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Burland The game begins in the kingdom of Burland, where children have been mysteriously vanishing lately. The king, unable to allow this to happen anymore, summons his legions of worthless soldiers, as well as the almighty Ragnar (that's you). At the royal court, he informs you of the situation at hand. The king has decided to abandon his previous tactic of ignoring the problem (which really hasn't been working out too well) in favor of sending his legions of crappy soldiers after the cause of the disappearances. As an appropriate afterthought, he's also decided to send someone who will actually be able to get the Goddamn job done (that again would be you). After a rather uninspiring pep talk, he then sends you all off to discover who's been taking the children (Michael Jackson?) Leave the castle, ignoring the crazed mother who begs for your help. Outside the castle, you'll first notice that your crappy paycheck won't buy you much, so you'll have to live with what you have for the moment. You may feel the need to level up a level or two before adventuring out (always a good idea), and save up a little bit of cash. However, the most expensive thing you can probably afford at this time would be a Wooden Hat (which is the best helmet Ragnar can buy in Chapter One, actually). The local enemies are of the lowest quality and are easy to kill. However, the Babble, which you'll probably only run into at night, can poison Ragnar, so be on guard. Also, before setting out, take note of the woman named Flora, whose husband, Alex, has gone missing. Anyways, when you feel ready, head west to the big cave that connects Burland to the village of Izmit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Cave to Izmit The cave is a very small, very harmless dungeon, to say the least. The monsters you face in here will be no different than the ones outside, except in here you meet a new enemy called the Healer. Basically, fights with these little bastards are a little more drawn out because they'll keep casting Heal on themselves. So the fight lasts until Ragnar scores a critical hit or it runs out of MP, which is tedious to say the least. Anyways, those players who have IQ's higher than that of an eggplant should be able to swiftly make their way past the soldier here that apparently doesn't, and out the other side. Start by heading into the cave and make a right at the fork. You'll end up at another fork. The right path will take you to a treasure chest with a Medical Herb in it, while the upper path takes you to a large room and our eggplant-brained friend, who's extreme lack of intellect has permanently confined him to this room. How sad. Two paths, leading up and left, will both meet at a treasure chest containing 40 gold pieces. From there, a path leading up will take you outside the cave. Then, it's a short walk to northeast to a town called Izmit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Izmit Well, the monsters around here are fairly tame, as they were back in Burland. You may happen upon a Demon Stump, which is just a normal monster that carries a Medical Herb. It's nowhere near as obnoxious as the Healer can be in that it only carries one Medical Herb, so killing it just takes twice as long as with any other enemy. On to Izmit. Snoop around town and see what you find out. The people here are intelligent enough (you'd think they'd be smarter when you consider that Izmit is home to the only school in the world), and you can ask around a bit for information useful to your quest. Of course, the only people with useful information are the children (the adults just frantically bitch about their vanishing kids). One of the kids at school will tell you about how a kid named Pocos flew into the sky, which helps to explain how they're vanishing. Come back at night and speak with another local child who has befriended the dubious fellow in the jail cell in the back of town. He informs you that he is Alex, the husband of Flora, the woman you met back at Burland (Alex would have told you himself, except that he seems to have lost his memory). So return to Burland, speak with her, and take her to see her husband. She speaks with him, and brings back his memory with a good smack to the face. Out of gratitude, Alex will let you in on a little secret. He tells you about a secret well hidden in the forest to the east that the children have been going to. Obviously, you need to go there. First and foremost, heavily consider dropping some coinage on a couple of Medical Herbs. Since you have no other way of healing yourself, and Medical Herbs come cheap, you'd either have to be incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid to go without them. Or maybe both. You may fight around a bit to become stronger before the trip, if you'd like. The monsters down the well, while posing no threat to six-year-old children, may decide to open a can of whup-ass on you. If you decide to go shopping for better equipment, here's a little something to keep in mind: in a little while, you will be presented with a very powerful weapon that far outclasses anything you can buy in these shops, but the best armor exiting Chapter One you will have to furnish for yourself. Meh. When you're ready, head for the well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Bottom of an Old Well You'll enter a small clearing with a well at the end of the path heading north. Hop in. Not too far into the well, you'll hear a mysterious and substantially creepy voice that will guide you through the well. As long as you stay on the path (the voice will warn you if you're going the wrong way), you can avoid enemy encounters. Step off that path, and you forgo that safety. However, you'll probably end up stepping off the path in order to get all the stuff down here, and end up running into a few enemies. First, there's the Sizarmage, which can cast Blaze. Due to this, whenever you encounter one, you should try and dispense with it before it can cast said Blaze spell (Ragnar may be slow, but still may get first strike, especially at higher levels). Luckily, the Sizarmage only has the MP to cast Blaze once, and is fairly impotent afterwards. If no Sizarmage is looking to torch Ragnar, the only other "dangerous" enemy down here is the Lethal Gopher. The Lethal Gopher can save up its power and attack at double its strength on the next turn. What this means is that you can kill it while it's saving up its strength, and escape the battle unharmed (by the Lethal Gopher, at least). Anyways, at the end of the path is a treasure chest containing... a pair of Flying Shoes? OK... You should now be on the well's bottom floor. There are six paths down here, three leading left, and three to the right. The upper-left path was what took you to the Flying Shoes, and the bottom-left path was the way you came. The bottom-right path will take you to a valuable teammate, Healie (see section II.I. for more on the UC, Healie). The upper-right pathway takes you to a chest containing 600 gold, and the middle-right and middle-left paths connect and contain nothing of any interest. Back upstairs, the path going right (before the downward path leading downstairs) is a path to a Medical Herb. Going left and heading back the way you came, you'll see another path leading up, which is a dead-end. Continuing back the way you came is another path to the right and another dead-end. Lastly, the path going left near the entrance will take you to the well's exit (don't forget to take the Medical Herb and the Agility Seed hidden in the jars here before you leave). Back at Izmit, do your shopping (and, if you wish, return to the well and level-up to prepare for the trials ahead), and make sure to restock your Medical Herb supply. Remember, Healie does little else besides cast Heal in battle, and it's nice to have a way to heal yourself after he's gone and stupidly run his MP supply dry. When you're ready, the next dungeon awaits you... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Loch Tower Don the winged footwear and you'll transform into Pauly Shore! Just kidding, it's not that bad. You are instead transported to the top of a tall tower teeming with horribly evil things that want to kill, hurt, and inconvenience you. You'll notice a particularly unsavory pedophile dragging an unwilling child into the tower to do... horrible things to him. Don't think about it, and proceed boldly down the stairs and into Loch Tower. The enemies here are a far cry from the crap that you've been fighting. You'll face a brand-new set of creatures, all ready to fold, spindle, and mutilate you. First, there's the Ozwarg, which is essentially a harder-to-kill version of the Sizarmage that casts Icebolt instead of Blaze. The Lillypa is one of the more irritating creatures here in that it can cast the Upper spell. The Lillypa alone protected by the Upper spell isn't too hard to kill, due to a low HP total, but when it begins casting Upper on its fellow enemies, it can really begin to piss you off. Also among the more difficult enemies is the Ducksbill, who can cast Sap, making you much easier to kill. Goodie. The Giant Bantam can be one of the worst in that its attacks may put you to sleep, leaving you wide open for an ass-kicking. Finally, you may happen upon the Trixie monster. They can cast Speedup, but their ability is negligible compared to that of the other monsters here. Also, about halfway through the tower you'll locate a weapon called the Sword of Malice, which should be a substantial boost to your offense. Your attacks should become powerful enough to deal with most of the creatures here in one or two hits, and it also may be used to cast Firebal in battle. This is very useful if you are up against a group of foes, or to eat through the defense of any enemy protected by Upper. Note that if at any point the action here gets too heavy to deal with, all you have to do is head for the south end of the tower and jump off. Don't worry, this is a video game, and the drop will land Ragnar and Healie safely in front of the tower (note that if you're at the bottom floor, you must step outside the tower, use the Flying Shoes to get to the top, and then jump to make it over the moat). Anyways, downstairs you'll see a path going down, and one going up. The path leading up takes you to a Wing of Wyvern, the one going down proceeds though the dungeon. Going down, take the path going right an proceed down to the next floor. Here, you'll have the option of heading up or down. Going up, you'll see a door on the left. Inside is a chest with 640 gold. Continuing up, you'll see some stairs that will take you to a Strength Seed, and a path going left. The path going left will loop around to the bottom of the room (a place you could also have reached by going down when you got to this floor rather than up). At the bottom, there's a path leading up that takes you to a chest containing a Scale Shield, and the path to the next set of stairs. Down here, there's a path leading up and one leading down. Going up (and opening the big door in your way), you'll see a two paths going left and right. These lead to the must-have Sword of Malice, and a Luck Seed, respectively. Going down from the original fork, you'll see some more stairs, and a path to the left. The stairs take you to a "pool", which will fully restore your HP and MP as many times as needed. After taking full advantage of it, head to the left and follow the path around to the next set of stairs, which will take you to the basement. In the basement, proceed boldly towards the creepy guy who has been taking children and announce your plans to purge the world of his presence. Before engaging in combat, however, see to it that you have the full advantage by entering the fight fully healed, if possible. Then, talk to the creepy guy and the fight begins. In this battle, you fight the creepy guy (Saro's Shadow), and his pet... Giant Eyeball... Saro's Shadow is a tough creature that can hit hard, cast Blaze and Firebal, and emit fireballs. The Giant Eyeball may also emit fireballs, but usually just attacks (though it also has the annoying tendency to occasionally emit hideous shrieking roars). It's most dangerous when its near death, as its expression may change and it will start hitting much harder. To avoid this, don't let it linger too long with little HP left. As for which one to attack first... the Giant Eyeball is easier to kill, but Saro's Shadow is much stronger than the Giant Eyeball, and can probably deal much more damage over time. Take advantage of any MP Healie has left by putting Ragnar on the offensive. However, once Healie runs out of MP, try to play it safe, using Medical Herbs when needed and fighting when it's safe to do so. After your lemony-fresh battle, the children cheer for you. They then tell you that the creepy dude was looking to kill the Hero, who at this time is only a child. Anyways, head back upstairs and step outside the tower. If you don't have a Wing of Wyvern, you'll have to do that thing where you put the Flying Shoes back on to get to the top of the tower again, and then jump off to make it across the moat. Congratulations, you've saved the children. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Izmit (Again) Take the kids back home to Izmit, and they will have a happy reunion with their mothers. As for you, Chapter One is nearing a close. As mentioned earlier, all the money you have will be lost, so go all out and buy things (even if you don't need them, you can sell them later) until you're flat broke. Then, make your way back to Burland, making extra sure to stop and ridicule the rest of the soldiers, most of which who have yet to even get their shoes tied. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Welcome to: Burland (Again) Upon returning to Burland, you receive a peasant's welcome, and should immediately head to see the king. Ragnar informs the king that he'd like to go on a journey to find and protect the Hero, who is still a child. The king gives Ragnar a going away present (in the form of a strict training regiment heavily condensed into about five seconds' length resulting in Ragnar gaining 3,000 experience points almost instantaneously), and then bids Ragnar (and his country's safety, for that matter) farewell, and so concludes Chapter One. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section III: Walkthrough|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. Chapter Two: Princess Alena's Adventure | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /___________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section III: Walkthrough|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Santeem Chapter Two begins, I'm guessing a number of years later, far away from Burland in a country called Santeem. Inside Santeem Castle, you (now assuming the role of Princess Alena) wish to embark on a journey to prove your strength. However, you are denied permission from your father to leave the castle. Apparently, he thinks you're going to go off, smoke pot, and get drunk. Hanging around up here, is your tutor, Brey, who yells at you for wanting to leave. Now, go downstairs and converse with everyone here (this is imperative). You find out very little from the local peasants, though the priest mentions something about a "dark, ominous cloud heading toward the kingdom..." Meh. Probably rain. The chancellor, Cristo, also expresses his opposal to you leaving (he likes you...) Anyways, head back upstairs to your room. First of all, check Alena's drawer for a Feather Hat- the best helmet Alena can equip in Chapter Two, and a great help early on in your quest. Anyways, if you talked to everyone, repairs should now be complete on a hole you had earlier kicked in the wall. Hell, someone as strong as Alena doesn't need to prove her strength- she kicked a hole through a brick wall! And if that's the case, the boards now covering the hole shouldn't even faze you. Kick through and drop two stories to your grisly death. Wait a minute, no, apparently you can survive this, being superhumanly powerful and all. Upon leaving, you won't get far before you are approached by your two bitches, Cristo and Brey, who insist on going along to protect you. To be perfectly honest, someone as powerful as Alena has absolutely no need for protection from these two, but being the nice lady she is, she lets them come along anyway. Your first stop on this wonderful journey is the town a few tiles over called Surene. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Surene Surene is pretty much a safe haven for your party to rest between battles with the local flora and fauna. You may have already realized that even though you have three characters in your party, they hardly amount to just one of Ragnar. This is partly due to the fact that your characters are armed mainly with their sense of justice and a sunny smile. Sure, it helps to have these things, but smile or no, you're still getting your defenseless ass beaten out there. It would behoove you greatly to fight around and level-up a little bit, and at least buy a few pieces worth of equipment. Unless you have a lot of patience, though, you can't really buy all of the best stuff here, but just a few items will do you. Also, to save money, incorporate the hand-me-down system. For instance, when you buy Cristo a better weapon, instead of buying another for Alena, just hand Alena the Club that Cristo was using. This helps because, as I've already mentioned, money doesn't grow on trees. Whenever you feel that you've become powerful enough, a nun at the local house of healing had mentioned that there was a town in the mountains to the northeast. What better place to begin Alena's quest to prove her strength than a mountain town in the middle of nowhere? Well, seeing as it's on the map, it obviously has something quest-related in it, so you might as well go there. Head north towards the mountains and then east through the hills until you arrive at the little mountain town of Tempe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Tempe Well, apparently Tempe has a little problem... Some asswipe is threatening to destroy the place if young virgins aren't systematically offered to him. Could this be the work of Michael Jackson again? No, wait a minute, it's young girls he's after... What to do? Naturally, being the heroic type and all, Alena volunteers to be offered so that she may thoroughly kick some serious pedophile ass. Do so by speaking with the priest. Alena and her two bitches will all be placed inside the casket together... A fact that still amazes me, and brought out to where the monster appears. Then, the fight begins... This fight consists of a guy named Chameleon Humanoid (who is pretty much Saro's Shadow in a bad-looking outfit) and his two pet Rabidhounds. The Chameleon Humanoid can use healing magic, so his destruction should be a priority. Brey's Sap magic should make all three enemies easier to deal with, and Icebolt is a passable attack once that job is done. Likewise, Cristo's Upper spell can really help the party out against these powerful enemies, and the Heal spell is an obvious asset. Anyways, with the battle won, a new hope arises in Tempe, and the town's back exit will now become available to you... One of the local villagers tells you about a tournament being held in Endor, which is reachable via a shrine to the southeast (now there's a way to prove your strength). So thus begins your quest again... Exit through this wondrous new back entrance and head northeast to a town called Frenor. On your way, you'll probably meet a number of new and interesting enemies that can pound and pulverize you. Apparently, you can kick through a brick wall and survive a two-story fall, but you can also get your ass pureed by what appears to be a Venus Flytrap on growth hormones. Hurry to Frenor to avoid incurring the wrath of the Venus Flytraps on growth hormones. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Frenor When you arrive in town, you'll discover that the princess of Santeem is currently staying at the inn here. This is impossible, seeing as you are the princess of Santeem, or at least you're assuming the role of her. Go to the inn to check on this only to discover the alternate princess's abduction. Oh, well, at least it wasn't you. The town is grief-stricken afterwards, so what's a selfless heroine like Alena to do? That's right, save her! You'll learn from talking to a local child that the abductors were after a little something called the Golden Bracelet. You'll find out that the Golden Bracelet, the town's treasure, is located in the Cave South of Frenor. They will meet you at night at the graveyard in Frenor. Which night? Well, apparently they will continue to go there every night in hopes that not only had their ransom note somehow been conveyed from a child's dog to you, but that you would for some reason decide to give in and go fetch the Golden Bracelet for them. Outside town, however, you may have already noticed the increase in the difficulty of the local monsters. Our Venus-Flytrap-on growth-hormones friend, for instance, is a creature known as the Carnivorous Plant. They have a tendency to attack in large groups, and may summon Healers to their aid, as well. As for dealing with them... Surround helps, if Cristo knows it (Surround is very helpful in early Chapter Two against virtually any large group of enemies). Also native to this region is the Demon Toadstool, who may poison you. Either use Cristo's Antidote spell, return to Frenor to detox, or carry an Antidote Herb or two on you at all times. Brahmirds are large donkey-like creatures that may begin the fight asleep, but are just as dangerous as they can roll over and cause damage. The Somnabeetle also has a tendency to start a fight asleep. They're fine this way, but if they awaken, they are capable of casting Sleep and Sleepmore, which can be a real pain in the ass. Lastly is a thing called the Blazeghost. These things can cast Blaze once, like the Sizarmage, The difference is that the Blazeghost is quite resilient to physical attack. Sure, one or two hits may kill it, but there's a good chance that it may avoid the attack altogether, or, when hit, split into two Blazeghosts, which can become extremely counter-productive, not to mention outright aggravating. A level-up or two may be in order before attempting to make the journey into the cave. As for equipment, you can shop around Frenor or you can make the treacherous journey south to a little desert oasis called Bazaar (a villager in Frenor will tell you about it). The monsters there are much tougher (note that going anywhere past the Cave South of Frenor means you'll be fighting stronger monsters), but the weapon and armor sold there is quite good. When you feel ready to venture into the cave south of Frenor, rest up and move out. As for preparations, the only things you should need are maybe an Antidote Herb or two if Cristo does not yet know the Antidote spell (or maybe just for in case he dies or runs out of MP). Also, a Medical Herb or two in your inventory never hurts, because as I've said, Cristo may die or run out of MP, and you don't want to find yourself screwed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Cave South of Frenor The monsters in the cave aren't really that bad. The Somnabeetle, while a rare happenstance outside the cave, appears here quite frequently. Also, you may meet a Vampire Bat or two, a creature that is known to enter a battle in a confused state. Leave them alone, and they'll aid you in your fight. The battles at first are easy, so try to conserve the MP of Cristo and Brey. For one, the battles get tougher on the bottom floor, and secondly, if Brey knows the Outside spell, you'll need 8 MP left over to use it. And trust me- you don't want to find yourself at the bottom floor of this cave with no MP left. From the start, you'll see a path going down and one going left. The downward path leads to a Wing of Wyvern, while the left path continues on to a big room with a chest in the middle of it. This chest contains an Agility Seed, and from this room spawn two more pathways, going up and left. The pathway going up will lead you to a chest with 360 gold in it, while the left path takes you to a set of stairs leading down. Now, downstairs, you'll fight some considerably stronger monsters (which some may recognize as the same monsters that hang around Bazaar). The Kordra, a dinosaur-creature, is a powerful enemy with a high frequency for striking critical blows. The Sand Master is a worm creature that usually attacks in large groups, and has attacks that lower your MP, as well. If you're really pulling for MP, consider running from them. If not, Surround is a big help against these things. The Orc is another creature that likes to attack in groups, and they like to cast Surround. This is probably another fight that probably isn't worth the hassle to fight out, but if you decide to, cast Surround at least to level the playing field, and realize that Brey's Icebolt becomes the most accurate attack you have. The Armor Scorpion enemy has a higher defense than most, but Brey's Sap spell can alleviate this problem. Lastly, the Crested Viper is another dangerous enemy that not only may poison you with their attacks, but has the really annoying tendency to cast the Defense spell, which can spell doom for you pretty quick especially if there's a large number of these things attacking you. A good idea to use in this fight (besides Surround, of course), is Brey's Bounce spell. Not only will it protect him from Defense, but it will bounce back and affect the caster, as well. Anyways, from the stairs head down to a down/right fork in the road. Go right. You'll end up in a room with a path leading left, and one going down (covered in underbrush, so it may not appear to be a path at first). The left path leads to a Magic Potion, which can be a real asset if your MP supply is fading fast. Anyways, take the path heading down and go through the little maze that follows to reach the chest containing the Golden Bracelet! Return to Frenor with it, and wait for night to fall. Head to the graveyard, Golden Bracelet in hand, and speak with the grossly unhygienic kidnappers, who angrily request it in return for the "princess's" life. Sadly, you can refuse him all you want, but he won't take no for an answer, insisting that if you say no, the "princess" will be harmed. Even after you've told him no for the hundredth time, his peanut-sized brain still won't comprehend the fact that you don't give a rat's ass if this bitch dies. After potentially hours of fruitless bargaining, fork it over and save the princess, who reveals a potentially shocking secret, (gasp) she's not a real princess! Well, duh. In return for saving her sorry ass, the actress gives you a key. Oh, goody! Just what you've always wanted! Take your booby prize and head to Bazaar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Bazaar As you should know by now, the monsters around here are fairly tough (they're the ones you found on the bottom floor of the Cave South of Frenor). However, at this point, you should be at least used to dealing with them. Still, waste little time in heading to Bazaar. If you already haven't, head to the western area of the bazaar, where you'll be approached by a castle guard who tells you to quickly travel back to the castle. Sure, why not? I mean, it's not like the king is trying to trap you there, is he? Actually, he's not, so go home immediately (via the Return spell, if you've got it). Back at the castle, you'll discover that the king has lost his voice! After being treated as shabbily as Alena had been by her father, any other person would tell him to eat it, but not our valiant heroine! Alena rushes from the castle in an attempt to find a cure for her father's condition. The king's counsel suggested that maybe the guy living in the shed out back would know of a cure. This may be true because, as we all know, creepy old hermits always have the best information in RPG's. Head out back by jumping off the roof and break into his shed with your key. He tells you that the poet, Marone, once damaged his voice, but now he has a very good one. Maybe Marone would know what to do... A few tiles over, in the town of Surene, Marone will inform you of the steps he took to improve his voice. He drank Birdsong Nectar, which only comes from Birdsong Tower, which is conveniently located southwest of Bazaar. Guess where you get to go? Before rushing straight to Birdsong Tower, realize first that the creatures there are another step up from what's hanging around Bazaar. A level-up or two may help out, and if you haven't been to them already, the weapon and armor shops in Bazaar sell some powerful stuff. A final note is that Brey will learn the Snowstorm spell at around level ten, which will be a huge asset in making it through Birdsong Tower alive. Rest up, make any preparations (like maybe a few Medical Herbs, and possibly an emergency Antidote Herb or two), and head southwest towards Birdsong Tower! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Birdsong Tower God, this place can drive a guy crazy. The monsters here are quite difficult, to say the least. Expect to see tough creatures like the Pteranodon, who can cast the Firebal spell (ouch!) on occasion, and the Flythrope, which usually attacks in large groups and can seriously hamper your abilities with the Stopspell spell. Then there's the Grislysaber, which is a particularly nasty creature in that it is virtually impossible to hit with any kind of directly offensive magic, and that it can summon more of itself to fight. Razor Winds are another common creature. They have the capability to cast Infernos, but they really don't do it that often, and are at least a little easier to deal with in that respect. The Poison Lizard, while not one of the more threatening creatures down here, can emit poisonous gas, which can poison multiple characters at once. This is more of an MP drain in Antidote costs than anything. Lastly, there's the Butterfly Dragon, who can emit fireballs. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that they have a tendency to attack in large groups, and use the fireball attack quite often. If you're unlucky, a happenstance encounter with four Butterfly Dragons can decimate your entire party in one fell swoop, so be careful, and keep your HP up as you venture through the tower. Also, Brey's Snowstorm may be a great tool to use in ridding yourself of these pests, but it is also a real MP drain, so try and restrict Snowstorm's use to the dangerous enemies and/or large groups of enemies. Make note, however, that Brey doesn't need to leave enough MP lingering to cast Outside. You can cast Return from the top floor of this tower, but you can negate the casting cost of even that with the Wing of Wyvern you'll discover somewhere in this tower. This ensures that Brey's MP, while limited, is all freed up for offensive purposes. Cristo's MP has to last, too, but should be used mostly for healing purposes this time around. Surround isn't nearly as useful in Birdsong Tower, as the majority of the enemies have attacks other than a direct attack (as we've already established). Cristo should by this point have taken weapon and joined Alena on the front lines in cracking some skulls. On the bottom floor, you'll see first and foremost a creepy jailbird wandering around. He whines that the door leading upstairs is locked (gee, I wonder why he wants up there...) The path on the bottom floor wraps all around, but goes nowhere. There is a path leading up from the entrance leading to a stairwell heading into the basement. Located in the tower's basement is a brain-dead retarded man who thought it a good idea to build an inn down here. If you don't mind being devoured by bloodthirsty creatures in your sleep, go ahead and take a nap... Actually, all kidding aside, it's probably a good idea to tackle this tower freshly restored, so go ahead and set a spell. As for the door leading upstairs (which is clearly visible to the left of the entrance near the creepy jailbird guy), the key given to you by the bitch back at Frenor unlocks it and grants you access to the upper levels of the tower. On the second floor, you'll see three paths. The path leading down (on the right-hand side) is a dead end, and the other path leading down (the one on the far left) takes you upstairs to a small room (which you can enter from the bottom) where you'll discover 1,200 gold and a Strength Seed. Finally, the path leading right takes you to yet another three-way fork in the road. Three paths, side by side, all lead down. Only the path on the left is not a dead-end., and it leads to a set of stairs going up to the next floor. On the third floor, a Wing of Wyvern is located at the end of the path leading up (you can use the Wing of Wyvern to escape Birdsong Tower on the top floor), and the path leading to the left will take you an a roundabout trip to the next floor. Watch out, though. You can fall through the holes in the floor here, and it can be very annoying if you accidentally do so. The fourth floor... you're almost there. From the stairs from the third floor, head down and around to the last set of stairs. You'll emerge at the top of Birdsong Tower, where you'll discover elves, who quickly run away from you and back to Santa's workshop. Maybe you were hallucinating, I don't know. You really didn't see the elves, now did you? Search the area you saw them in to find the Birdsong Nectar, and then leave via either Return or the Wing of Wyvern. Failing either one, it's a long trek back down, but at least you can jump though the holes in the third floor to accelerate your trip from this wretched place. Back at Santeem, give the Birdsong Nectar to the king, who immediately gets his voice back. He informs you that he was having nightmares and then lost his voice after he decided that he was going to tell someone about them. The nightmares involved monsters rising up from the underworld to destroy the kingdom, so now the king encourages Alena to continue her adventure so that she can find out just what the hell is going on and how to stop it from happening. Most normal kings would have sent his legions of guards, but this wise man instead sends the super-powerful Alena and her two bitches! Southeast of Bazaar is a shrine containing a portal to the castle-town of Endor, which has now been opened by the decree of the king. Pay it a little visit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Shrine Southeast of Bazaar/Shrine Northwest of Endor The portal will teleport you to another shrine like it, where an inn has been established by yet another aimless entrepreneur. It seems that even though the portal had been completely shut down and unused until just recently, this dude receives an unusually high amount of business. In fact, if you happen to show up at nighttime, you'll run into your old buddy, Ragnar. During the day, you'll happen upon a traveling merchant who heard of "some portal" around here, but just can't find it... Take some time to belittle and berate him, and then head south. You'll notice yet another increase in the difficulty of the monsters you face around here, but at this point they shouldn't be too difficult to deal with. There's the Rogue Knight, who usually attacks in large groups and can summon Healers to their aid. The Skeleton usually doesn't attack in such large groups, and can't summon anything, but they can cast Defense, meaning they can put the hurt on you if you're not paying attention. You'll still see a few Pteranodons (from Birdsong Tower) hanging around, and, if you're lucky, you may even happen upon a Metal Slime! Metal Slimes are creatures that offer very high experience, and they only have about three to five HP. But, they are very hard to hit, have defense so high that each attack only does one point of damage, and they run away too damn much. In addition, they are completely immune to any and all magic attacks. They can cast Blaze, but consider it a blessing when they do (hey, at least they're not running). If you happen upon one, just have the whole team attack. If you're really lucky, Brey may paralyze it with his Venomous Dagger (assuming he has one), or Alena may get off a critical hit. Don't be too let down if it gets away from you, though... Just continue south to Endor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Endor When you arrive in Endor, many things are abuzz. For starters, the tournament to find the strongest person in all the land is conveniently being held at the exact moment you happen to show up, whenever that might be. Equipment-wise, the Half-Plate Armor is available here, and is the best armor available for Cristo exiting Chapter Two, so you might as well nab him some. Before you buy him an Iron Shield, however, take a step into the one and only casino, located underneath the inn here. Though casino strategy is covered in full in section VIII. Of the FAQ, realize that all you really need is a small amount to start off with, and right here, right now, you can earn all the coins here you'll ever need! Earning at least the Metal Babble Shields at this point will give you a huge advantage in early Chapter Five, so you might as well do it now (because, interestingly enough, the other characters will have full access to Alena's casino account). Spend enough money to get a fair amount of coins to start out with (a few hundred is plenty), but save a little over 1,500 gold pieces, as you'll be needing them when you enter the tournament. Oh, yes, I mentioned the tournament. With your gambling cravings settled for the moment, traipse into the castle of Endor and have a little chat with the king, who seems to be upset with a promise he made to the winner of the tournament. The princess here then informs you that whoever wins the contest will get to marry her. However, if the winner is female, they won't be required to marry. The princess has nothing to fear, for the brave and selfless Alena is around to save the day! Translation: you'll be entering the tournament... Travel to the arena located behind the castle, and head up to the front desk. The dude there tells you that all people wishing to participate should head left, while all viewers should head right. If you do go right, you'll be presented with a nosebleed section seat surrounded on all sides by sweaty freaks of nature who all seem to be watching the same two imbeciles beat the living hell out of each other for all eternity. Go left. In the fighter's quarters, you'll be able to purchase a much-needed Iron Claw for Alena at the low, low price of fifteen hundred coins (for so many reasons you should by the iron claw, one of them being that it will be Alena's best weapon well into Chapter Five and also because it is one of the game's "lost-forevers" mentioned in section I.F. of the FAQ). Also, you should give Alena all the Medical Herbs she can carry (so try and free up her inventory space by letting someone else carry the Goddamn key for awhile). However, if you have already procured a couple of Metal Babble Shields for your spellcasters, consider letting Alena carry one into battle. While she cannot equip it, she may still use it to alleviate the difficulty of one of her following battles. Anyways, Taking no heed of the advice of every fighter here torn asunder by a guy named Necrasaro, head up to the tournament. The tournament proceeds simply enough- beat the living hell out of five jackasses and then proceed to the final jackass. You'll get to use Medical Herbs between fights, so don't use them during one if you don't have to. After each fight following the first one, you'll receive a Medical Herb, but if you can't carry it, it will be lost. So try to use them wisely, K'? The first two fights are laughably easy. The third fight is against a magician named Vivian. This is actually the easiest fight if you have a Metal Babble Shield with you. Use it to cast Fendspell, and then just wail on her ass. The fourth fight is against Samson, who's only advantage includes being twice as hard to kill as most of the other fighters (you'll likely end up using a Medical Herb in this fight). The only fighter here who should give you much trouble is the fifth one- Linguar. He'll split up into four at each round, and you'll have to guess which is the real one. Sadly, there's no trick to this- you have to guess. Fortunately, you only have to hit him two or three times to put him out for good. After you beat him, it's time for the final battle with Necrasaro. Naturally, he seems to have disappeared, so Alena wins by default. Feel lucky for this, because Necrasaro is the game's final boss and would have separated our heroine's spine from the rest of her body had he been there. Following the tournament, step outside Endor castle where you'll be hastily approached by a guard from Santeem, who tells you to come back home and then dies mysteriously. Sure, go back home, it seems safe enough. You can attempt to teleport home to your own death, but the game won't let you. At any rate, before you take off, do that thing you do where you spend all your cash on things before you leave (assuming you have any cash left to spend...) Exit Endor, then once in the field, cast Return and go back to Santeem. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Santeem (Again...?) You'll enter the castle and make a horrifying discovery- someone left the cake out in the rain! Oh, yeah, and the entire castle is completely abandoned because everyone there seems to have mysteriously vanished likely due to a horrible and unknown death. Look all around, and then exit in the same manner you had at the beginning of Chapter Two- off the roof. This will end Chapter Two not because a two-story impact finally sustained some form of injury with the almighty Alena, but because she decides to set off once again, this time to discover what happened to her people. This woman just can't leave well enough alone, can she? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section III: Walkthrough|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | C. Chapter Three: Taloon the Arms Merchant | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /___________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section III: Walkthrough|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Lakanaba Immediately following the events of Chapter Two begins Chapter Three, which is radically different form the first two. No longer are you an all-powerful warrior with or without a couple of bitches in tow. No longer can you strike down all who oppose you with one swipe of your powerful blade. Nope. Now, you're just a loud fat man. Chapter Three begins with Taloon's wife handing him lunch and sending him to work at a nearby weapon shop. It's simple: you arrive late every day and go behind the counter. People come in talk to you like pages from an instruction booklet, and you can respond to them in generally any way you wish. Really. You're unsupervised, so you can tell every customer to sod off, if you'd like. But since you get paid on commission, this strategy is not recommended. All in all, this is an easy job to do, though. All you have to do is keep saying yes to people (put a brick on the controller, if you want) until your boss shows up, pays you, and sends you home. The next day, you do it all over again. Work is pretty boring, mind you, but it's a necessary evil. Besides the obvious benefit of earning money without having to kill for it, you might be at work one day when someone sells a kick-ass Sword of Malice to you (which you should fondly remember form Chapter One), and it will thusly be added to the shop's inventory. If this happens, do not sell it! Come back near the end of Chapter Three only to discover that your boss has yet to sell it himself (some businessman he is) and purchase it for yourself, easily the best weapon you can get your hands on in Chapter Three. Anyways, you'll want to save your money and purchase something from the armor shop in town (because, as we've already learned from Chapter Two, adventuring without armor is a good way to get your pasty ass kicked). The quality of the armor you purchase will be directly related to your level of patience in working at the weapon shop. Low-budget, "get-me-the-hell-away- from-this-damn-job" armor includes the Wayfarer's Clothes, Leather Hat, and Leather Shield. Those with more patience may decide to save up for Leather Armor, or better, even. As far as a weapon goes, you find a good one not too far into your journey, so just buy a Club from your boss on the day you plan on leaving. Your boss apparently doesn't seem to care that you're quitting with absolutely no notice, and will let you come back and work anytime you want. One good reason to do this is that, as we've already established, you just may earn a Sword of Malice through your daily bargaining. Lastly, Taloon has no healing capabilities, and, like Ragnar, must rely on medical herbs to heal himself. So be sure to always keep one or two on hand at all times. However, every time you return home, Neta gives you a lunch which will serve essentially the same function as a medical herb except that it's free. Anyways, Taloon, tiring of this life, wants to start his own shop, thus forms the basis of your journey. The owner of the weapon shop, if you visit him at night, will tell you that Endor would be a good place to open up a shop. The owner of the inn will tell Taloon of the Iron Safe that is rumored to exist in the Cave North of Lakanaba, and also take note of poor Grandpa Tom, who eagerly is awaiting the return of his prodigal son. And when you're ready to abandon your wife and kid, take that first dangerous step outside town. Actually, if you're decently armored, you shouldn't have many problems. Of course, don't get cocky in this respect- you're still a neophyte. Play with the monsters a bit, and a level-up or two never hurt anyone, you see. When you feel up to it, head towards the Cave North of Lakanaba to see about that Iron Safe the innkeeper was telling you about... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Cave North of Lakanaba This place shouldn't be all that difficult. The monsters are no better in here than they are outside (though, in Taloon's case, this may still be a problem...) As an added bonus, any room inside the cave involving a puzzle (which most of them do) are free of enemy encounters. A little ways into the cave you'll see a door guarding a reservoir of water. Press the button on the door to receive a free ride to the stairs below (and when you come back, the water will have gone back to where it belonged and the door will be reset. Cool! Follow the stairs to the next room. You'll see another reservoir here, but this one is different. This one can only be activated once. Before you press the button, though, go around to the left and take the Chain Sickle from the chest. With this, Taloon should prove a much more formidable opponent in battle. Anyways, the Chain Sickle in hand, press the button and enjoy the ride. Where you land, you'll see a fork in the road. The right path will take you back to reservoir from which you came (this is the only way to get out of the cave), and the left fork takes you to the next puzzle room. In this room, continue around, enjoying the freedom from random encounters. you'll see some stairs, but they're unnecessary to use. You'll end up downstairs if you screw up the next puzzle and this is how you'll get back up. A little to the left is a door with a giant boulder behind it. Continue down the path leading down, and the boulder escapes and comes after you. Don't sweat it, though. This is an intelligent boulder that will not only wait for you to move, but will follow you wherever you go! If that's not the work of Satan, I don't know what is. Anyways, from here, go down and then take the first right you see, then go down again and take the first left you see, and then turn up. The boulder will roll forward and plug up a hole in the floor (there is another hole in the floor, but all it leads to is yet another stairway leading to that room below you with nothing in it). Anyways, there's a set of stairs over here that will take you to the room where you'll find the Iron Safe. On the cave's bottom floor, begin shoving the first rock you see. A 'la Indiana Jones, you will be trapped forever if you take the Iron Safe from it's chest without replacing it with an object of similar weight. Push the rock to the chest, take the Iron Safe, shove the rock onto the chest, and then be on your merry way. Taloon returns to Lakanaba triumphantly with the Iron Safe. Worry not about getting killed in battle now, for the Iron Safe prevents any and all money loss due to death. Yes, in Chapter Three, they may have your life, but they'd better damn well keep their hands off your cash. The innkeeper now asks you if you've ever been to Endor... Endor, you should recall is the trade capital of the world, and what better place to set up shop? Head south now, taking with you the Iron Safe. Taloon, who doesn't appear to be in very good shape as is, apparently gets to lug around a sixteen-ton safe with him wherever he goes. Good. The fatass looks like he could use the exercise. Anyways, as you travel south through the dense forest, you may happen upon a small village in the middle of the woods. Stop by and pay it a visit, why don't you? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Foxville Well, there's something very creepy about this village. The beginning loops around endlessly, and there's no way to leave! Furthermore, the item shop here will swindle you out of your money, and all of the villagers end their sentences with, "Yelp!" All except for this guy named Da Gardi, who happened upon this village and fell in love with one of the yelping villagers. Taloon really can't convince this guy of what it should have taken you no longer than a few minutes to figure out: there's something seriously wrong about this place. Oh, well. His funeral. There's still the little matter of getting out of this village... The only way to exit is to see the guy living in the northwest corner of town. He asks you if you'd like to spend the night. Agree, and you will wake up in the middle of the forest, alone and scared, but at least away from that damn village. Oh, well. At least with your trusty Iron Safe, nothing was stolen from you. Leave now. Head south and leave this unsettling experience behind you. However, upon heading south, you'll discover something you probably knew from Chapter Two- the bridge is out. Under normal circumstances, I suppose you could swim, but we all know that RPG characters are afraid of water (and I guess that sixteen-ton safe doesn't help much, either). So, the point now becomes to fix the bridge so that you may travel to Endor (and what surprises me the most is how Endor became the trade capital of the world when it is obviously isolated from all of the kingdoms surrounding it). Not too far from the bridge is the castle-town of Bonmalmo. The answer to getting this bridge fixed perhaps lies somewhere within...? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Bonmalmo You hear a few things of interest here. A man staying at the inn will shed some light onto your recent situation by telling you that foxes live around here and like to trick people... A dog could get rid of them, he says... Foxes... Foxville... see the connection? Neither do I. Also, one of the castle's guards will tell you that a man in Endor is looking to see his old shop... this should now cement your desire to find a way to get there. Maybe the king knows something? The king is whining because his invasion of Endor is hampered by the bridge being out. Bonmalmo has a strong military, but apparently is not much of a major naval power... Anyways, the king claims to have hired someone to fix the bridge, but that his lazy ass has yet to get to work. Da Gardi was his name... Sound familiar? While you're trying to figure out what to do, another villager tells you that a man from Lakanaba is in the jail underneath the castle. And wouldn't you have guessed it, it's Grandpa Tom's son! And he wants you to help him out by sneaking him a Wing of Wyvern. Do so, for aiding and abetting known criminals is truly the work of a hero. Just don't be seen by the guards who for some strange reason seem to oppose you trying to bust this guy out of jail. With this done, leave quickly. Now head home to Lakanaba and chat with Tom's son, the guy you busted out of prison. He's playing with his dog, who loves to hunt foxes. Foxes, Foxville... see the connection yet? Me, neither. But borrow Tom's dog, Tov (now there's a well thought-out name), anyway, and head back to Foxville. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Foxville (Again) Upon entering the village, Tov immediately springs into action, and savagely attacks the creepy dude in the northwest corner of town. Talk to the dude, who pleads for his life. You may refuse him, but he is such a good con man that he can convince Taloon to spare him even if you say no a hundred times. At least in return he forks over a set of Full-Plate Armor that you can't even equip. Oh, well... At least you can sell it for cash (but wait until you get to Bonmalmo to do it). Now it's time to do the decent thing and bring Tom's dog back to him, and then head back to Bonmalmo. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Bonmalmo (Again) You may have already discovered that there is currently an armor shortage in Bonmalmo, and there is an old man in the castle who pays top dollar for it. He can take that heavy suit of Full-Plate Armor off your hands and instead weigh you down with gold. Don't spend it, for very soon you'll be needing to come up with a very large sum of money. While most of this money will present itself at the right time, you'll still have to acquire a good chunk (say, 10,000 gold pieces) of it on your own. More importantly, speak with Bonmalmo's maniacal king (this is imperative, as it triggers the bridge's repair), who now seems intent on invading Endor. Well, the trade capital of the world isn't going to do you much good under this bastard's rule, so you, a loud fat man, must find some way to stop an army. And no, you're not that fat. But this is a video game, and things like that are extremely easy to do in this world. You'll first have to speak with the prince in his chambers, who tells you to meet him at night behind the weapon shop. This is before his maid throws your ass out the door to wait until nightfall. Like Frick and Frack from Chapter Two, this dingbat will wait behind the weapon shop every night until you show up, and even past that. I think someone should check out what's in this guy's dresser, if you ask me... At any rate, meet him and he gives you a letter to give to the princess of Endor. If you appraise it, Taloon will comment on the terrible handwriting, even if the prince is still standing right in front of you when you do it. Taloon, obviously, possesses little in the way of brains, or at least common courtesy. Anyways, head towards the fixed bridge, and upon crossing, it will buckle and again break under the immense weight of your fat ass and your sixteen-ton safe. Well, it should, but it doesn't. Apparently, this Da Gardi bastard really knows his stuff. As you cross the bridge, you are now entering the kingdom of Endor. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Welcome to: Endor (Again) This place look familiar? It should- you were only here, like, what, an hour ago? Even though the creatures around here are stronger than the ones at Bonmalmo, Taloon is damn lucky that they're far weaker than the ones Alena had to put up with during Chapter Two. You should actually recognize all of the local monsters from the previous two chapters: the Blazeghost, Demon Stump, Lillypa, Lethal Gopher, Ducksbill, and the return of the Venus Flytrap on growth hormones! Even though you should be familiar with these creatures and how to deal with them by now, Taloon is still probably pretty weak, so waste little time in hightailing it to Endor. The place hasn't changed much since the last time you were here. Though, sadly, the casino has been shut down. But you'll find someone down there who apparently has a hard time letting go of gambling. It's Ragnar! He claims to be looking for the Hero. Yeah, right, Ragnar. This is exactly where you come the world's most righteous and valiant Hero (who's, by the way, still a kid). Denial is an ugly thing... Also, you hear an interesting tale from a man at the inn about the Silver Statuette, located in a cave somewhere to the northeast... Anyways, making your way to the castle, read the letter to the princess, only to learn that the prince of Bonmalmo wants to marry her. In this case, the king there doesn't need to invade Endor- he'll simply inherit the kingdom. The king of Endor writes you a letter to give to the king of Bonmalmo (actually, he really doesn't even take the time to write it... he just apparently pulls it out of his ass). If you appraise it, Taloon makes the exact same comment about the bad handwriting that he did about the prince's letter. Apparently, all forms of royalty in this game are so damn inbred that they couldn't even learn how to write properly. Sad. Also, amazingly enough, no matter how long it takes you to deliver this letter, war will be averted. No matter how disturbingly long it takes your fat ass to go back to Bonmalmo, you'll still get there before their soldiers have even set foot out the door. Is it me, or does the army of Bonmalmo seem to have the same procrastination complex as those losers back at Burland do? At any rate, you're a hero. Your reward? Speak with the king of Endor to receive his permission to own a shop in Endor. Bull! You need his permission? Worse yet, it's still up to you to raise the money to actually buy the damn thing, and the only available one will run you 35,000 gold pieces! Can anyone say, "fundraiser"? There is a relatively simple way, however, to come up with 25,000 thousand of it, and the rest of it shouldn't take much time, either... Remember the Silver Statuette the guy at the inn mentioned? Well, there's an art collector around here that'll pay top-dollar for it. Time to saddle up and go after the Silver Statuette... But wait. The Cave of the Silver Statuette is dangerous. There are several treasures there that Taloon cannot equip, such as the morning star, but can sell for good money (remember that you've got to come up with the other 10,000 on your own). Assuming you have a full set of equipment and the Iron Safe, you can only carry three things at a time, so you will obviously be making several trips there. Also note that with the Iron Safe, all you need to do is simply collect as much stuff as you can carry, and then die. You'll be taken back to Endor for free, can sell your wares, and then venture back into the cave. I mention this because there are two UC's hanging around Endor, Strom and Laurent (see section II.I. of the FAQ for more on them). They are meant to assist Taloon's journey into the cave... for a price. The prices really are negligible, and they can help. The main reason you would probably want to hire them would be if you intend on doing a bit 'o levelling up there, as discussed in section VI.A. of the FAQ. Of course, it's also fairly easy to do it alone. Of course, if you don't hire them because you're stingy, note that you're probably just defeating the point by going out and buying a thousand bucks worth of new equipment. Sadly, this whole dilemma could be avoided if Ragnar would get off his ass and help you, but, alas, he won't. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Cave of the Silver Statuette Regardless of your decision, head over the other bridge (the one that doesn't lead back to Bonmalmo), and head north. You'll pass by a very large cave, which isn't the cave in question. In this cave you'll find an old man who tried to dig a tunnel to the neighboring kingdom of Branca (because if you're gonna be the trade capital of the world, you really need connections, you know). However, he failed and now he's getting old. Poor guy. Leave. Further north, you'll find the Cave of the Silver Statuette. The monsters in here are of a good difficulty. Expect to see Giant Bantams (a pestilence from Chapter One) among other creatures. You'll also see the Ducksbill in here, as well as the Vampire Bats from Chapter Two (which are really more of a blessing than anything). On the bottom floors, you may run across the Flythrope (who isn't much of a problem unless Laurent is with you), the Poison Lizard (oh, goody), and, perhaps, a Metal Slime (goody!) Of course, the more people that are on your team, the better chance you stand of killing a Metal Slime. The Metal Slimes are discussed in further detail in section VI.A. of the FAQ. Anyways, heading inside the cave, you'll see some stairs and a path to the right. The stairs lead to an area currently sealed off by water, which Taloon is deathly afraid of, so go right. You'll see a ship here. Get in it and follow the path to a hole, which your ship will fall into. Getting off the ship, you will soon reach a fork in the road. The left path leads to a Wing of Wyvern, and then goes further to a dead-end. The upper path is also a dead-end. Follow the right path a few feet to another fork. Here, you see a path leading up, and two going down. The path leading down (on the left) has a guy lost in it, but nothing else of interest. The path leading down (on the right) continues through the cave (oh, and the one going up was a dead-end). A little ways away, you reach some stairs to the floor above. Upstairs, there's another fork. Head to the upper-left corner of the room to drain all of the water, and then feel free to loot the place (there are no dead-ends up here). However, realize that you only need 10,000 gold. What this means is that any treasure you don't need to take, you should leave, because you'll be coming back by here during early Chapter Five, and any treasure left lying around will be of utmost use to the party at that time. At any rate, the treasure in this room includes: a Morning Star in a chest on the left side of the room (near the stairs that lead back to the cave's entrance), the chest in the center of the room has 760 gold in it, the chest near the bottom-center of the room contains a Medical Herb, and a chest in the upper-right corner of the room holds an Iron Spear. The stairs on the left side of the room take you back to the cave's entrance, and the stairs in the bottom-right corner of the room (the way you came) will take you further into the cave. Back downstairs... the whole place has been flooded! Luckily, a ship is conveniently available right next to you. You can now sail to all of the ledges that were previously inaccessible. In the upper-right corner of the room is the guy you met earlier. He has looted the two treasure chest next to him. Now, there are two more treasure chests down here, and they are ones that should really be left for Chapter Five (a Broad Sword and a Half-Plate Armor). Despite what you may think, even if you leave this guy down here all the way until Chapter Five, not only will he have not found those treasures, he won't have even moved! Amazing! Anyways, the decorated platform in the upper-middle section of the room will lead you to the Silver Statuette. Return to Endor. Buy your shop. Rejoice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Endor... Again... Taloon's ambitions don't stop here though, nosireebob. Remember the half-finished cave you say on the way to the Cave of the Silver Statuette? The one that was built by a once young man who is now quite geezerly? If he had 60,000 gold pieces to excavate again, he could finish building the undersea tunnel to the semi-distant kingdom of Branca. Well, it has always been Taloon's life long dream to traverse the world looking for treasure (actually his life-long dream was to be a contestant on The Gong Show, and he did that in 1976), but 60,000 gold pieces!? That's getting a little pricey... Of course, there's always help. First of all, you'll be needing a small supply of cash, which can be easily obtained by giving things to your wife to sell at ludicrously high prices. Seriously, Neta sells crap at 150% markup, and that's marked up from the retail price... I'm sorry, but it takes some amount of underhanded deceit, or possibly satanic mind-control powers, to sell crap at that rate. Whatever it takes, Neta's got it, by God. It doesn't matter how bad the prices seem, it doesn't matter if you completely lack variety in sales, and it doesn't matter if the exact same thing can be bought extraordinarily cheaper a few stores down. None of these things matter, because it seems that your wife could sell a refrigerator to a bunch of frostbitten Eskimos. Head back to see the king, who, if you remember, told you to come visit him if you actually got a shop. Speak with him, only to find out that he wants something! Who woulda thunk it? He asks you to outfit his troops in exchange for 60,000 gold pieces. How convenient! Luckily for you, the order is relatively cheap to fill: 7 sets of Half-Plate Armor and 7 Broad Swords. You see, now, this is why Endor's army stood such a risk of being overrun by the army of Bonmalmo. Apparently, the entire royal guard consists of seven soldiers. Anyways, the Half-Plate Armor can be bought in town at 1,200 gold pieces apiece, and you'll have to head over to Bonmalmo for the Broad Swords, which are 2,000 each. However, you'll also want to leave Chapter Three with some... excess things to sell upon entering Chapter Five. Rather than outfitting Taloon before he leaves Chapter Three, why not buy him 7 Broad Swords (or, better yet, 7 Swords of Malice), which can be sold for a hefty amount of cash when Taloon joins the fray in Chapter Five, and then you can re-outfit him for a fraction of the cost (if you even want to do that). Anyways, here's the math: the total cost of the armor (8400) plus the total cost of the swords (14000) is 24400. Add to this the cost of 7 more Broad Swords, or 7 Swords of Malice (24500) to get the total amount of money you should scrounge up from your shop before going about filling out the order. You'll probably also want to save an extra 100 or so for a few Wings of Wyvern, as unarmored travel is, at the very least, annoying. Anyways, after filling out the order and getting your money, go talk to the old man, and he will begin the excavation again. When you're certain that you no longer need to use your shop anymore, go inside and talk to him again. This triggers him to send a letter to Neta. Go talk to Neta, who tells you that you should go relax at the casino. Of course, coins are at the time ludicrously overpriced, and Ragnar seems to have been ejected from the place. That's what he gets for trying to use royal credit for his gambling problem... Anyways, how you spend your time now is up to you. Some prefer to go bonk some heads for awhile to bide their time. However, if you're carrying nothing but Broad Swords or Swords of Malice, fighting is probably the last thing you're suited to do right now. So, go to the casino. Have some fun, watch some fights, place some bets.... And, do it all from Alena's account! Yes, my friend, someone who has no relationship to Alena whatsoever has access to her casino account. Does that say anything about the security in these places? Eventually, you can head back to your wife who will tell you, if enough time has passed, that the tunnel is complete. She bids you farewell as you leave Endor for the tunnel to Branca. Enter it, and traverse your creation to its other end. Upon emerging on the other side, Chapter Three abruptly ends. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section III: Walkthrough|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | D. Chapter Four: The Sisters of Monbaraba | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /___________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section III: Walkthrough|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Monbaraba From the look of things, Chapter Four takes place a considerable number of years after Chapters Two and Three. However long it's actually been is unknown, but, the Hero, somewhere out there, is now almost grown-up. Chapter Four takes you to the southwestern continent that mysteriously resembles South America. Unfortunately, you are unable to get your hands on that great Colombian coffee, because in the world of Dragon Warrior IV, the continent of South America is tyrannically ruled by the maniacal Keeleon, ruler of the land of Keeleon (and such an imaginative name this prick came up with, no?) Then there's the gypsy sisters, Nara and Mara, who have more to worry about than a bastard like Keeleon- the guy they're after is named Balzack. Chapter Four begins with Mara, the dancer sister, giving her last performance in a little hot spot to the far south called Monbaraba, before she and her sister, Nara (again, that's you) set out on a quest for revenge (with full support from your former boss). Nara, a fortuneteller, apparently only specializes in giving vague and/or incorrect information, because you haven't got a clue about where to find this bastard. First things first: Nara and Mara are poorly-armed neophytes. While a bit of leveling-up outfitting is always in order for such a situation, this can almost be remedied before you even set foot outside town. The next town you reach sells Feather Hats and the Chain Sickle... which are both good buys in the helmets/weapons department. Here, you can buy some good armor (for example, the Leather Dress), as well as the best weapon Mara will be able to use for most of early Chapter Four (the Thorn Whip). Here's a little trick, though: with the money you being Chapter Four with, the money you can earn selling Nara's Silk Robe, and the money you can earn by selling Mara's defensively-bankrupt Dancer's Costume, you are only a few gold pieces away from having enough money for two Leather Dresses. Pretty neat, huh? Anyways, even after you've outfitted your delicious duo with a bit of protection, you still should level-up a level or two outside town. While doing so, you'll probably be making a number of trips to the inn. This is because Nara and Mara are both magicians. And, outside of Nara's mediocre strength, their magic is all they've got. Needless to say, you'll find ourself pretty screwed once their MP supply runs dry. Once you have gained a level or two and feel confident, you can set out on your journey. Begin by snooping around Monbaraba and see what you can figure out (but given the nature of Monbaraba, you only find out the good stuff at night). Edgar, your father, had been experimenting in turning iron into gold (back in the day, those folks were known as 'alchemists'). His pupil, Balzack, murdered him. This sorta explains why you're after him. Also, there apparently was a coup at Keeleon Castle and King Keeleon was overthrown. The new ruler is supposedly evil and does... experiments... Interesting. But, you won't find much else out here. Leave Monbaraba and head north for a small town called Kievs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Kievs Approaching the small town, you may notice a slight change in the monster activity. Nothing major, but you may run into a Rabidhound (which you may remember from Chapter Two). Obviously, these things are much stronger than any other creature around, and should be the first to be dispatched in battle. Mara's Sap spell helps Nara make quick work of them, though they may need a little "extra" encouragement from Mara's Blaze spell to go down for the count. Anyways, hurry along to Kievs. Well, whaddaya know, it's Nara and Mara's hometown! The innkeeper will recognize you and give you a free night at the inn whenever you want. Everyone else recognizes you, too, but don't go expecting any free stuff from them, the worthless bastards. The item shop, as I mentioned before sells Feather Hats and the Chain Sickle, both of which are good buys. What else? Well, you'll find out a wealth of useful information around Kievs. You hear that Edgar was rumored to have discovered the secret of evolution, but subsequently tried to destroy it... very interesting... You'll also hear rumors to the effect of the new king of Keeleon. Apparently he has allied himself with the evil ones and jacked up taxes with wanton disregard. Lastly, you hear that Edgar had a second pupil by the name of Orin, who is said to be hanging around a cave to the west of here. Maybe you should go check it out...? Be warned, however, that stepping over the bridge to the west will introduce you to a few stronger enemies. They're good for level-up practice and all, but you shouldn't attempt to venture into the cave until you can go for extended periods of time dealing with creatures like these. Among the "newer" enemies you meet are the Demon Toadstool (remember them?) and the Sizarmage. While the Demon Toadstool is pretty much the same as ever (watch out for the poison), there's a few new points that must be stressed about our Sizarmage friend. First, despite what you may think, Blaze does work here. Secondly, while the Sizarmage was always quick to Blaze Ragnar's non-magically inclined ass, the Sizarmage is at least a tad bit more reluctant to cast Blaze on the gypsy sisters (which is a smart move, when you think about it). This doesn't mean that they won't cast Blaze, just that Blaze is no longer consistently their first attack of any given battle. When you feel ready, and have prepared yourself (with good equipment, and perhaps a few Medical/Antidote Herbs) head for the cave... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Cave West of Kievs The monsters here are no more difficult than those outside the cave- if you can deal with them, you'll be fine. The only new monster you'll meet is the Xemime, who really have no powers to speak of besides being adorably cute, but in an evil sorta way... The only trouble you should have will probably be with the Demon Toadstools in here (beware their poisoning powers), and with the Blazeghosts (remember them?) While Blaze will not affect a Blazeghost, Firebal will still do the trick. The only thing you do have to worry about is your MP. This is a fairly big cave, and need I remind you what happens to Nara and Mara when they run out of MP? Use it wisely. Anyways, wander inside the cave until you reach the first fork. A path leads into a room above, which is a dead-end (there should also be a guy wandering aimlessly about near here, as well), and a path to the left takes you to the next fork in the road. At that fork, a path leading up will take you a chest containing a Wing of Wyvern, and a path leading to the right continues to a room at the end of the hallway. Inside this room, you'll discover for the first time the game's version of elevators. For instructions on proper usage, please hit yourself over the head with a hammer now. Downstairs is yet another fork in the road, with paths leading left, down, and right. The one going left takes you to another elevator. Taking it, you'll emerge downstairs and see two paths, going down and to the right. The path leading down is a dead-end, while the one heading right will take you to a chest containing the Lamp of Darkness, and standing next to it will be Orin, who happily joins Nara and Mara (interestingly enough, he recognizes them despite never having met or seen them). For more information on the UC Orin, refer to section II.I. of the FAQ, but suffice it to say that you'll fondly remember having a brain-dead muscle-head in the party, as you've experienced pretty much just that for the entire damn game. He does inform you, however, that Balzack has allied himself with the evil ones and that the Sphere of Silence (also found here in the Cave West of Kievs) may be of a great help against him. Head back upstairs now. Back at the fork you came from, there are two remaining paths, leading down and right. The path leading down is a dead-end, and the one leading right takes you to yet another fork. To your right is a room containing some Lifeforce Nuts, and the path leading down continues to another elevator, hich will lead you to the Sphere of Silence. Having obtained the Sphere of ilence and Orin, your task here is now complete. North of Kievs is the one and only Keeleon Castle. Time to pay it a little visit... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Welcome to: Keeleon Castle Even though Orin is now with you, be careful as you venture north. The creatures becomes much stronger, and Orin or no, you're still gonna get bitched if you ain't careful. You'll see the Xemime creature from the cave start to appear in very large numbers, you'll also happen upon newer, more dangerous creatures. Take note of the powerful Liclick, who can cast Surround (which can be devastating until you learn some good attack magic). Also note the Magemonja, who casts Icebolt (but isn't too dangerous besides that) and the Infernus Beetle, which is capable of emitting fireballs (but does so rarely). Last, but not least, beware large groups of Slimes, for they can transform into a King Slime, easily the most powerful and dangerous creature in the area. King Slimes are made all the more difficult by the fact that they can defend themselves with Fendspell, which it will usually cast as its first attack. If you're lucky, you may be able to get off a Sap spell before this happens, and if you're really lucky, Nara may get off a Sleep spell in time. Mara's Firebal does good damage if this happens, if not, normal attacks are pretty much your only option (and work better if you cast a Sap spell). But on all accounts, beware the King Slime. They are very powerful and have far more stamina than any other creature in the area, not to mention the occasional body attack, which reduces the target's HP to almost 0. At any rate, you'll arrive in Keeleon and find the place securely locked. Don't worry, you actually get to bend the rules of video game logic a little bit on this one, as Orin will bust open the locks with little difficulty and grant you access to Keeleon Castle. However, keeping well in touch with video game logic, the guard standing on duty outside will take absolutely no notice of your flagrant breaking and entering, and should be considered in no way to be a threat. Then again, maybe he just doesn't feel like screwing with someone powerful enough to break open the locks here (apparently, all doors in video games are constructed of some form of titanium alloy judging from how hard they are to destroy). Though you may have heard a lot about the recent power struggle here, there, interestingly enough, is no room for the king! This seems curious enough, but oh, well. You do hear from someone that the counsel (who sits in a room on the bottom-right) is a real wuss and runs scared to the king's room every time he hears a loud noise. Though you'll find yourself somewhat incapable of recreating the experience, you'll also hear that the last person to scare the counsel was thrown in jail. So, on that note, leave Keeleon and head north to the port town of Haville. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Haville Here in Haville, take note first and foremost of the most excellent weapon and armor shops here (stuff it might be a good idea to purchase, given the obvious strength of the local monsters). As always, you may want to save up some money, level-up, buy more equipment, etc... Remember that Nara and Mara especially rely on levels, as it is the source of their magic. At higher levels they'll learn (if they haven't already), the Infernos, Firebal, and Bang spells, all of which are a great help. Better equipment can be a real asset here. As for other supplies, even though Nara knows Heal, a spare medical herb or two never hurt (though on the next leg of your quest, you need not fear being poisoned, so you really don't need any antidote herbs). At any rate, when you feel comfortable with the state of your party, continue on your quest for revenge. Haville is a wonderful hub of information. This is a port town where, as someone will tell you, ships bound for Endor depart. Endor... God, that place sounds familiar... Anyways, there's more talk of the new evil king here. A soldier at the eatery will inform you that Balzack is the supposed new king of Keeleon... now things are getting interesting. Picking up on the information you learned back at Keeleon (about the counsel being such a wuss, that is), head to the jail here and speak with the poor guy who's apparently serving a life sentence for his heinous crime of scaring someone. He tells you that he scared the counsel with a Gunpowder Jar from the northwestern town of Aktemto. Now, I know what you're thinking: Nara and Mara are clearly capable of making loud noises without outside assistance, right? I mean, Mara knows a spell called Bang for God's sakes. Despite all this, video game logic dictates that there exist an exclusive item in the world whose sole purpose is to make a loud noise. And it's not here. With a sigh, grumble, and a hearty cry of "Goddammit...", depart for Aktemto. Actually, there is one last side trip you may consider making before you head out that way. Directly east of Haville is a little shrine called the House of Prophecy. The prophetess here gives an interesting foreshadowing of Chapter Five by telling you of seven small lights surrounding a bigger light and whatnot (Nara will actually steal this speech later on in the game and claim it as her own vision). Anyways, there's not much else besides that here, so it's off to Aktemto with ya! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Aktemto Be wary as you travel westward. A new enemy called the Viceter appears. They're not overly powerful, but they are capable of appearing in swarms and summoning more of themselves, so a group attack like Firebal and/or Infernos is suggested. Furthermore, your friends, the Liclicks, also appear in larger numbers out this way, and are another prime candidate for attacks that target the whole blasted group. Among the other new enemies you'll encounter out this way are the Dark Doraid, which may cast Sleepmore, and Weretiger, who can roar. This ability is actually more useful than it seems, as it may frighten your characters and rob them of a turn. However, they usually travel alone, and when they do, this ability is next to worthless. Anyways, far in the northwestern reaches of South America, I mean, the land of Keeleon, is the small mining town of Aktemto. It is a fun and cheery place. So fun, in fact, that a constant rendition of funeral music can be heard in the background. Apparently, poisonous gas or something-rather has been seeping out of the mine and killing people left and right. This poisonous gas is so powerful, in fact, that the local priest, whose job is to bring people back form the dead, is helpless. Yes, my friends, this poisonous gas is part of the only thing in a video game that can permanently kill someone: the plot! The good news? This means that Nara, Mara, and Orin are pretty much immune to said poisonous gas, and proceed boldly into the mine with the express purpose of finding some gunpowder. However, while the poisonous gas may not kill you (or even poison you, for that matter), the monsters inside the mine just might. You'll meet the Weretigers, who now often show up alongside other monsters, as well as a number of other new baddies. The Mad Clown is a dangerous foe that can cast Firebal, but thankfully doesn't do it too often Still, get rid of them with the quickness (all magic will work against the Mad Clown, as well). The Baby Salamand down here is capable of emitting fireballs, so is also a worthy opponent. There's also Metal Scorpions down here, whose defense is high. While Sap may work, other offensive magic works equally well. An interesting opponent down here is the Rogue Whisper, a distant cousin of the Blazeghost. They can be difficult to hit with Mara's fire magic (though Nara's Infernos is a sure bet). Also, unlike the Blazeghosts, direct physical attacks will always work, as well. Lastly, you may run into a Garcoli Rooster or two down here, but they have no abilities or resistances worthy of mention. Nara and Mara have the magic capabilities to make short work of all the enemies down here, but keep an eye on your MP. Nara is still the only healer you've got (besides any emergency Medical Herbs you happen to be carrying), and Mara is the only one who knows the Outside spell. Anyways, when you first arrive in the mine, there'll be a chest with some Mystic Acorns a little bit to your right, and the path leading up will take you deeper into the mine. Shortly ahead will be a fork in the road, at which you should go right (as the other path is a dead-end). A little ways away from here, you'll see a path leading right that is an obvious dead-end, so continue to the next fork. Here, the path leading left will take you to Nara's Silver Tarot Cards, and the pathway leading right takes you to the stairs leading deeper into the mine... Once downstairs, the path eventually leads to another fork. To the left is a graveyard, but little of any interest is in it, so continue upwards, instead. There, you'll reach the final fork, with paths leading left and right. The former is a dead-end, and the latter leads to a set of stairs. Down here, you'll see a couple of miners continuing to dig through the mines! Listen up, idiots. When you're digging through the mines when all of a sudden poisonous gas comes out and monster start appearing, I'd take that as a pretty good sign to stop. Someone really doesn't want you down there. Hey! Are you listening to me, you stupid asses!? God, these guys are so freaking stupid... Anyways, one of them points to a nearby treasure chest that contains the Gunpowder Jar, so at least you've got that. Having retrieving your noisemaker, the Gunpowder Jar, whisk back to Keeleon Castle and leave these two damned idiots to their inevitable demise. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Keeleon Castle (Smackdown!) Ready to kick some ass? You'd better be. You'll notice a small hallway near the counsel's room that really leads nowhere... Well, it was obviously placed there because someone who was building the castle knew that you'd have to hide there in order to scare the hell out of the counsel. Head there, and set that son-of-a-bitch off! He'll run down the hallway at roughly the speed of a tortoise with two broken legs, so just stick behind him. As he rounds the corner, stay where you are. He's going to the king's room, but he won't go in there if he sees you, so you'll have to stay out of sight and use your eagle-eye view to watch as he disappears into Keeleon Castle's northern wall... Hmm... Check the spot where he vanished and you'll find a small button that, when pressed, grants you access to the throne room. And who should you see sitting on the throne that old Balzack himself...? He doesn't look well. Actually, he looks a lot like a monster to me. Either way, it's time to kick some ass! Balzack is known to cast magic (Firebal), but using the Sphere of Silence on him will shut him up pretty damn fast. Besides that, however, he can also emit fireballs and he hits pretty hard, too. With the help of Sap, physical attacks can be the most effective attacks against Balzack (unless Mara knows Firebane, which will take a pretty big bite out of him). Nara, also, should remain vigilant about healing the party. Remember, as long as someone is dealing some damage, you're making progress. As far as MP goes, you'll be getting a free refill after the fight, so worry not about dumping it all into wasting Balzack's ass. Of course, Big Brother is watching you. And after you pound Balzack's ass into creamy cookie filling, the real enemy shows up: Keeleon! Go ahead. Make his day. Actually, despite your best efforts, Keeleon will thoroughly dominate you, kill you, and hurt you. Of course, death is only temporary for your heroes, and you wake up several hours later in a jail cell underneath the castle. You'll find an old man there, who apparently has been here for a long time. He just happens to have a couple of Boarding Passes for the last ship leaving Haville. How convenient! Though just how he got his hands on them is a mystery... Don't ask questions, just take the Boarding Passes and leave through the clearly marked prisoner escape passageway. Of course, this prompts about half a million soldiers to come after you. Brave Orin throws himself at them, stalling them long enough for you to make your escape. Fun fact: if you leave Keeleon Castle and then come back, you'll find Orin on the ground, bleeding to death. He leaves you with a few last words of wisdom and then dies. Aww.... Go now, to Haville. Actually, as much danger as the game makes it seem like you're in, you can take your sweet-ass time in heading back there, but with Chapter Five just around the corner, you're probably gonna want to get there as soon as you can. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Haville/Endor Back at Haville, you'll find that the ship has politely waited for you, and will set sail whenever you tell them you'd like to leave. Such service! Check around, make sure you've got everything you need (while you should know at this point that you should spend all your money before leaving, consider picking up some half-plate armor, which may be given to the Hero in early Chapter Five), and then, just for kicks, converse with all of the jackasses on the ship. Apparently, over the years, Taloon has grown into a pretty popular figure among scumbags and lowlifes around the globe. All thanks to old-what's-his-name who actually built the damn tunnel. At any rate, speak with the captain and set sail for Endor. With this, Chapter Four draws to a close... wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section III: Walkthrough|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | E. The Chosen Ones | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /___________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section III: Walkthrough|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Hometown Well, Chapter Five, which takes place immediately after the conclusion of Chapter Four, introduces you to the final and most important member of this collection of dopes- the Hero. The Hero is both nameless and the gender may vary so now is a good time to consider having an identity crisis. Chapter Five starts out in a quiet, peaceful, nameless town in the geographical middle of nowhere. You are taking to your father his lunch one day, when everyone you talk to seems to feel like bringing up your entire damn life's story. You are the Hero (well, duh...), and these wonderful people have taken it upon themselves to train and raise you, all the while keeping you safe from the monsters, who you will one day frag, spindle, and mutilate. Gee, I can't see why the monsters would want to get rid of you... You'll meet a number of people like Celia, your best friend, and your magic teacher, who plans on teaching you a spell called Zap after lunch. Well, Goddammit, wouldn't you know it, but he just doesn't get around to it. The spell Zap, which you'll learn at level twenty-four, is a good one, and would have rendered you pretty damn unstoppable for the first part of Chapter Five. If he had taught it to you... Bastard. Also, near the front of the village, you may notice at the local inn an "outsider" who wandered into the village the other day. Against the village rules that clearly state that no "outsider" be let into your hidden village, the innkeeper let the wandering poet sleep at his inn. Xenophobia aside, the village does have a point, y'know. The village is supposed to remain hidden so all the things that want you dead can't find you. Now, just how safe do you think you are when the only person standing guard at the village's only entrance didn't notice the guy in the building right next to him sneak somebody in? And if that's not a disturbing enough notion, think about this for a minute: why does a village that nobody is supposed to know about have a Goddamn inn in it? At any rate, after a wonderful chat with your physical trainer, who essentially beats the living hell out of you and then chastises you for letting him do it, hurry to see your father, who'll probably get mad at you because you probably went and ate his lunch for him. And that old fart said you looked hungry... Anyways, at about this time, a rare occurrence in the history of RPG's takes place- monsters attack the village! Most villages seem to have this invisible barrier that enemies will never come past to attack you, but it seems that you have monsters of above-average intelligence on your hands here. Well, the town rallies to your defense, selflessly sacrificing their own expendable asses to protect you (by the way, you're still a wuss). Your father will only manage to tell you that he and your mother aren't your real parents, which sorta figured, as you cower in a basement. At this time, Celia will transform into a replica of you and charge onto the battlefield. Thinking they've killed you, the monsters will retreat. Anyways, this begins Chapter Five. Step out into the vast wasteland of death and destruction that was once your home town, quickly express any feelings of grief or despair that you may have (oh, and search the area where Celia was sitting for a Feather Hat), and then leave indifferently. You'll find yourself on the overworld map in the middle of a forest. I'm sorry, but anyone who didn't know that your "hidden village" actually existed must've been some kind of Goddamn moron! Apparently, people in video games are blind. Just south of your village is a woodsman's shack, home to a creepy woodsman, who lets you rape and pillage his house for supplies (look in his jars... you'll be needing the stuff in them). What you find here (Leather Armor, a Medical Herb, and 50 gold) should tide you over until you can get on your feet. You'll soon realize for the fifth time that being at level one really sucks, and everyone can kick your ass. Hurry south to the kingdom of Branca. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Branca If you made it here without getting your pathetic little ass kicked, good for you. While the monsters outside aren't very difficult, you're not much of a warrior, either. Your Expel spell may not award you experience or gold when you use it, but it's a pretty good way to keep yourself alive right now. Also, beware the Babble which, as we should know by now, can poison you. You may not have a lot of money for equipment right now, so you'll have to deal with what you have (but don't worry- an upgrade shouldn't be too far away). As for the Feather Hat you may or may not have picked up at Hometown, you may have noticed that your Hero, male or female, is barred from wearing it. Because, apparently, it just wouldn't be a good look for the Hero destined to save the world to be wearing a Goddamn hat with a feather in it. However, the Feather Hat can be sold for the next-best alternative, the Wooden Hat, here at Branca. Everyone here really believes that the Hero is dead, so a bunch of losers are now attempting to save the world themselves. Sad... The king here will inform you that you must prevent the resurrection of the ruler of evil at all costs. This will pretty much be the basis of your journey for awhile, so take heed. You also learn that one day, a long time ago, a Zenithian woman (for all practical purposes, an angel) fell from the sky. That woman fell in love with a young woodsman and they had a baby (which would be you). The woman is dead now, by the way, and one can only assume that that creepy woodsman you met back there was your father. At any rate, you've probably put two and two together by now. You, the Hero, are still very weak. Your only hope for survival is to seek out and join forces with those stronger than you, namely the seven putzes you spent the last four chapters dealing with. You should also remember that about three minutes ago, Mara and Nara set sail for Endor, and haven't had much time to move far from there, seeing as not that much game time has passed, either. Also, in Chapter Three, the fat man built a tunnel connecting Endor to the very place you are now standing. Now, for the mentally challenged: go... to... Endor... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Endor (God, this place looks familiar...) Arriving in the trade capital of the world, do with your Hero what every eighteen year-old wants to do- gamble! Screw the world's safety, you wan hit the slots! You'll discover someone hooked to the slots, dropping every last dollar to her name into the infernal mechanisms. This someone is Mara, and basically won't give you the time of day because she's so damn addicted to the slots. Since Gambler's Anonymous has yet to be established, it's going to take a chewing-out from her older sister to set her straight. You'll find Nara talking to Strom (the big, dumb guy from Chapter Three). Through her psychic powers, she immediately recognizes you as the Hero and herself and Mara as two of the seven other chosen ones. Immediately, she joins you, and steers you towards the casino to pick up her sister. Once there, you realize that the two of them are now completely broke and plan to mooch off you while hanging around you for purposes of protection. Ironically, it is they who will be protecting you for awhile. They may be broke, but still have all their items. Half Plate Armor, if they have it, should be handed to the Hero for a somewhat solid defensive base, and anything else should be sold for cash (with any luck providing you with enough cash for an iron shield for the Hero). As for as the now-useless Gunpowder Jar, the Boarding Passes, and the Lamp of Darkness they still possess (interestingly enough, they seem to have lost the Sphere of Silence along the way here), head over to see Neta, Taloon's wife. Bored with the life she is now presented with, she has started a vault business with the Iron Safe Taloon left behind. She'll store gold and items for you, and thus provides you with a valuable way of getting rid of junk, as well as safely storing your money free of cost throughout Chapter Five. Anyways, with your Hero outfitted with (hopefully) good armor, you've still got a long ways to go from here. The Cave of the Silver Statuette (from Chapter Three) is a good place to level-up right now, as the enemies there are stronger than what's hanging around Endor (for more information on leveling-up here, check out section VI.A. of the FAQ.) As far as levels go, be warned that even though Nara and Mara are with you and both can fight well, the next part of your quest will involve the Hero fighting a couple of tough battles alone, so get those levels up! Fortunately, due to a low level, the Hero's level should go up pretty fast. By the by, if you left any treasure behind during Chapter Three (such as, perhaps, the Broad Sword on the bottom floor), you might as well go there now and pick it all up whilst you level up. And whatever you can't equip down there, you can at least sell, if you'll recall. If, by any chance, you didn't leave the Broad Sword behind in the Cave if the Silver Statuette, you can still purchase one from the nearby kingdom of Bonmalmo. Anyways, with some experience under your belt, and a decent set of equipment, you are now ready to resume your quest to locate the chosen ones! You can start by heading back to Branca, and then heading east from there. Soon, you'll see a small inn near the edge of a vast desert: the Desert Inn. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Desert Inn You'll need to traverse this desert in order to continue your quest to find everyone. The problem is, this desert, you see, has an unusual characteristic: it throws your ass out of itself every time you try to enter it! They say you need a wagon to cross the desert, I'm pretty sure all you really need is the horse that comes with it, myself. Of course, the wagon comes in handy later on, as well, so you might as well get that now. The problem, of course, is that there's apparently only one wagon in existence, and the guy here who owns said wagon isn't about to fork it over. The owner of the inn here is the guy's father, actually. If you go around the counter and talk to him, he tells you that after being stabbed in the back by his explorer buddy a while back, this guy doesn't trust anyone anymore. Lucky for you, there's a way to win this dude over, and it lies in a cave to the east. The very same cave that the wagon's owner traveled to so many years ago... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Cave of Betrayal When you arrive at the Cave of Betrayal, you should automatically expect a few things from the name alone. The good news is that there are no random encounters in here. The bad news is that the fights you do get into may prove difficult, especially seeing as the Hero must fight them alone. With the combined strength of the Hero, Nara, and Mara, you are now apparently powerful enough to destroy doors! So just traipse inside, only to be separated from Nara and Mara (and your ability to break through doors, as well). The path from the point you lose them will be fairly linear, and will lead you to a couple of Nara & Mara clones that you must battle. They, in fact, are Liclicks. You'll recall that the Liclick can cast Surround, which can seriously hamper the Hero's ability to do battle. Seeing as they are not grouped, a physical attack is likely to do more damage, but if you find yourself whiffing too much because of Surround, consider resorting to Firebal or, in extreme cases, Expel. Soon after, you'll meet more Nara & Mara clones dancing with a couple of demons. This fight can be a bit trickier, as it consists of two Vampire Bats, and two powerful creatures known as Tricksy Urchins. The Tricksy Urchins are by far the more powerful, so take them out first. Since they're grouped, Firebal is actually a pretty effective spell to use here. Again, resort to Expel only in extreme cases, as the Tricksy Urchins give away assloads of exp (450 each, man!) After that fight, you'll run into the real Nara and Mara. You can probably imagine that they're quite skeptical, but they give you a chance to prove yourself by asking a question that only the real Hero would know... Remember, Mara was the one at the casino... Not Nara. Anyways, the three of you reunited, proceed deeper into the cave into a room with a bunch of doors in it! I've never seen such pisspoor designing in my life, I swear. And what do we do to things that don't make any sense (like a bunch of doors in the middle of the room)? That's right, we destroy them! Oh, and underneath all these doors is something called the Symbol of Faith, an artifact which will instill people with a great trust in you . Forgo the burning temptation to use this thing to get a date and return to the Desert Inn with it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Desert Inn (Again) Back at the desert inn, speak with the guy again. He'll look at the Symbol of Faith and have a wonderful revelation (he finds God, or something like that... I dunno, I really wasn't paying any attention- I was just glad to be getting the hell out of here) and joins your party with the wagon. Time to get the hell out of here! The desert to the south is a tad more perilous than the surrounding areas. You'll encounter stronger enemies out here, though you should recognize most of them (Crested Viper, Armored Scorpion, Dark Doriad) from the earlier chapters. The only "new" enemy out here is a distant cousin of the Lillypa called the Aarop. The Aarop is far more obnoxious in that its attacks can put you to sleep (at least it doesn't know that damned Upper spell). However, the desert isn't too large, and your trip shall be relatively short. And with Nara and Mara on hand, you should be able to quickly disembowel anything that dares to challenge your offensive superiority (remember that since your trip isn't that long, MP conservation shouldn't be placed too high on your list of priorities... hint, hint). The exit to the desert lies in the southeastern corner; any further west and you'll be blocked off by mountains. Exiting the desert, head west until you reach a small town called Aneaux. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Aneaux Besides being a nice place to rest up, Aneaux really serves no purpose. Really. Aneaux could have been left out of the game and virtually nothing would have changed. Other than that, there are a few cute little idiosyncrasies about this little spa town. There are two competing inns here, but despite what you may think, the larger, more lavish one is actually cheaper. A guy standing near the front of the town will give you're a friendly tour of the place and end it with a cheap sales pitch that never fails to make me laugh. Lastly, there's a fun little story you hear here if you take the time to listen ... A great warrior named Ruvas is buried here, and a statue dedicated to him is wearing the armor worn by Ruvas himself... the Zenithian Armor? You can hear the speculations of many a villager that maybe the armor currently worn by the statue is fake... but why not hear it from the source? Go to the graveyard at night only to meet up with the ghost of Ruvas himself. He confirms that the Zenithian Armor was, in fact, stolen (though you never do find out exactly what happened to the Zenithian Armor- you just eventually discover where it ended up). Cute. At any rate, once you've had your fill of Aneaux, head south to the port town of Koneber. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Koneber Before advancing any further, refer to section I.F. of the FAQ, as Koneber is home to one of the game's "lost-forevers". At any rate, here at Koneber, you'll discover exactly what you'd expect to find in a new town you find in an RPG- a problem you've gotta fix. It seems that the light went out in a lighthouse to the east, which has been causing ships to burst into flames, or something like that. At any rate, the ocean's been a real bitch since the light went out, and restoring it will also reduce the weather conditions to navigable, as well. You'll find two ships here, an old one, and one under construction. The one being built belongs to someone you know (only the three dopes you're controlling have never met him before). Yep, it's Taloon, and it seems he decided to go over to the lighthouse and fix the problem himself. Other than that, the only other thing of interest you'll hear is that "a princess and her two cohorts" had recently been through town, which is an obvious indication that Alena's group is somewhere nearby. Anyways, there's really not much you should have to do to prepare for the mission. If you haven't yet bought a Broad Sword, shame on you, and you can buy one here. The Golden Barrette, which is sold here, is also a nice set of headgear for Nara, Mara, and a female Hero. You're not in any danger of being poisoned at the Lighthouse, but if you've developed a habit of always carrying a Medical Herb or two on hand in case of emergency need I again state that having one around can never hurt. However, as you progress further into the game, and acquire greater MP supplies, more characters with healing magic, more ways to keep up your MP, et cetera, you're running a progressively lower risk of running out of ways to keep yourself healed. Head east until you reach a river. There, you'll have to head north to a bridge, then back south to the Lighthouse. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Lighthouse I know we're all probably expecting to see brave Taloon here kicking ass and restoring peace to the surrounding area, so that he may join you in triumph and you may continue on your merry way. Well... that isn't exactly the case. Walk around to the back of the first floor (either way- it doesn't matter as both sides wrap around to the back), and you'll see Taloon come running down the stairs at a high velocity in an obvious state of panic. You know, for someone's who's rumored to have been pursued by monsters for quite some time now, he obviously has yet to become desensitized to their presence. Anyways, in his state of paranoia, he asks you, the first random passersby he sees, to fix the problem for him. Good tactic, Taloon. Your intelligence stat was what now? He mentions the evil fire burning atop the Lighthouse, and the Fire of Serenity located somewhere else in the Lighthouse that should be able to destroy said evil fire. He then runs away like a chubby, frightened MaCullay Culkin. Before you go upstairs, note that you can enter the middle section here from the upper-right part. There are two treasure chests inside, containing 400 gold and a Luck Seed. Oh, yeah. The monsters here are mostly Chapter Two rejects, excepting the Rogue Whisper. The Rogue Whisper, by the way, is now nearly entirely worthless, despite appearing in very large numbers. For some reason, during Chapter Five, the Rogue Whisper will usually spend the entire fight doing absolutely nothing. So you're free to kill them at your leisure. You'll also see what appears to be a rotten version of the Venus Flytrap on growth hormones. It's now called the Vileplant and can cast Stopspell, which can make it a nice big pain in your ass (luckily it'll only appear on the higher stories of the Lighthouse). But the good news? Yeah, there's good news here. Metal Slimes. They're here. In hordes, man! Hordes! And they show up quite often, too, so expect to go up a level or two while fighting here. It's too bad the experiece they offer becomes negligible before long, else this would be a pretty kick-ass place to level-up in the next few stages of the game. Anyhoo, Nara and Mara again should make short work of anything here, just make sure they don't run their MP into the ground before the big boss fight at the top (and someone needs to keep enough MP around to cast Outside). Anyways, upstairs, you're treated to a lovely five-way fork... Paths branch out to the upper-left, lower-left, down, lower-right, and upper-left of you. I'll begin by stating that both the upper-left and upper-right paths are dead-ends. That said, the remaining left path will take you on a long trip to a Magic Potion (you can decide for yourself if it's worth it), and the other path going right will take you on an equally roundabout trip to a chest containing a Strength Seed. The path leading down takes you to the next floor. On the third floor, watch those holes in the floor (you can fall through them, y'know). The room you are in has two exits, going right and down. If you take the exit to the right, you'll meet a really pathetic little demon creature who seems more interested in Taloon than he is in you. Coming to the conclusion that Taloon when back to Koneber, this sad little fellow will run his stupid ass directly into the ceiling, and then fall back onto the floor unconscious. Taloon's fear is made all the more pitiful by the fact that this is the kind of trash that's trying to kill him. Anyways, back in the room you came from, the southern exit takes you to the right and around to the northern end of the tower, where you'll see a fork in the road. The path on the right-hand side will net you a Full Moon Herb while the path on the left will take you to another fork. Here, you'll see three paths heading up, and one to the left. If you continue to the left, you'll see two treasure chests lying side-by side. The one on the left contains a Boomerang, whilst the one on the right is a Man-Eater chest that will try and kill you, so it's probably best to avoid opening it. Of the three aforementioned paths leading up, only the middle one is not a dead-end, and it will lead you to the stairs to the next floor. Emerging on the fourth floor, you should immediately spy a treasure chest, which contained the Fire of Serenity that Taloon spoke of. A chest... that has a fire burning inside it... that you can pick up and take with you... Logical, no, beneficial, yes. There are three stairways on this floor leading to the top floor, but the only one that won't take you to a tiny empty room is located in the upper-right corner of this floor. Upstairs, make your way down to the southern end of the tower, and then proceed up to the middle, where you'll discover little demons performing a strange dance around where a new, evil fire burns. Strange... but what you can't understand, you can at least kill. Oh, and for the full advantage going into this fight, heal your wounds before attempting to fight these guys. This fight will consist of one Lighthouse Bengal, flanked by two Flamers (who are really a couple of bad jokes waiting to happen). The Flamers are by far the more dangerous creatures in this fight. They can cast Firebal, and its effect will truly be felt with four members in your party. You're gonna want to try and rid yourself of at least one of these little bastards as soon as possible, and the best way to do so is a couple of direct physical attacks from the Hero. Mara and Nara can help, but Nara isn't necessarily the best offensive fighter and will probably spend most of her time healing and/or trying to induce a narcoleptic attack on the opposition, anyways. As for Mara, her Bang spell will see limited success versus the fire-based Flamers, and she will deliberately refrain from using blaze and flame-based spells against the Flamers as they are entirely ineffectual against them. So, like I said, direct physical attacks are the best way to take out the Flamers (and who better to make them than our intrepid Hero?) As for the Lighthouse Bengal, we're looking at a relatively easy creature with average power and no special abilities or resistances to speak of. And, as a nice little bonus, you'll get a little over 2,000 experience for the fight. The fight won, approach the center of the room, toss the good fire into the bad fire (by selecting it from the menu and using it), and watch the amazing results. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Koneber (Again) Back at Koneber, speak with Taloon at the harbor where his ship is being built. He continues to whine about being chased by monsters and asks if he can come with you so he doesn't get his ass kicked. Let him come along, because at least he brings his ship with him when he joins up. Now, Taloon may supposedly be a very rich man, but apparently "saving the world" isn't a good enough cause for Taloon to open his purse strings to. Sadly, the only "riches" Taloon brings along would be the contents of his inventory (which may consist entirely of expensive things you can sell if you thought ahead during Chapter Three, meaning you can at least make a quick ten grand off him). Taloon also suggests that you head south to the kingdom of Mintos. Sure, it's not like you have anything better to do anyways, like save the world or anything. Luckily for you, Mintos is a short sail directly south of Koneber. The high seas, you'll learn, are very safe for the traveling. You'll rarely get attacked, if at all, and the monsters, while all having some aquatic theme to them, are quick and easy kills. The only remotely problem you may encounter would probably be with the Plesiosaur, who is difficult to hit with fire magic of any sort (excepting blaze magic). Other than that, enjoy the reprieve of the high seas, and sail south until you hit land. Assuming you traveled directly south from Koneber, a very short journey to the east will take you to Mintos (and no, it's not the "freshmaker"). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Mintos Another land, another shift in monster activity... As we've already established, however, when Nara and Mara can pulverize them before they get a chance to move, you're really probably not even going to be paying much attention at all to whatever it is whose ass you happen to be kicking. Hell, by this point in the game, I've started fights with road signs and cardboard boxes and messed them up pretty bad before I even realized that they probably weren't going to fight back. Despite the likely current "kill everything in sight" mentality of your team right now, here's a couple things to think about. You're still at this point fighting trash recycled from the first four chapters, but you may happen upon a nasty little creature called the Mage Toadstool. These things can cast Icebolt (which can be amplified by their ability to attack in large groups), and can be difficult to hit with nearly any kind of magic, excepting Nara's Infernos spell. So, against large groups, you can't immediately assume that Nara and Mara will decimate them in one fell swoop. There's also a new enemy called the Conjurer, but since it usually attacks alone, it'll taking a dirt nap in no time. At the town of Mintos, the most prominent building is the huge inn here. Apparently this here hotel is the hotel to end all hotels. Before you check in, however, take a look around town first. The shopping here is OK, but you should at this point really start looking at the increasing size of your team, the rising prices of equipment, and put two and two together- money doesn't grow on trees. However, the Iron Helmet, which is sold here, is the best helmet Taloon can equip in the game (besides the Metal Babble Helmet) and is a nice step up from the Wooden Hat he's probably wearing now. As for everything else, it's a "think before you buy" deal. What else? Taloon wanted to come here to speak with an old merchant named Howden. He'll give you a little quiz, but the more disinterested you act, the better chance you have of passing his "quiz". As a reward, he'll give you the Treasure Map, which basically is an undetailed map of the world with Elfville (a place you'll head later) marked off. Other than that, it has no practical application whatsoever, and really probably wasn't even worth the effort to get. Thanks, Taloon. We really needed to come all this way for this piece of garbage, you jackass. Anyways, ask around town and see what else you can come up with. You hear that a chancellor staying at the inn has fallen ill. And since Hitler isn't in this game, we can only assume the chancellor in question is Cristo. Lucky for you, everyone else apparently can sense that you intend to help him out, so you'll hear a lot of talk about the cure-all herb known as the Padequia that is, conveniently enough, located in a country shortly southeast of here. Before leaving, stop by the inn and see Cristo. Only Brey is with him, however. Apparently Alena rushed off to find the Padequia herself. Brey will offer to come with you, though his motives seem, strangely enough, more inclined towards finding the princess than in finding a cure for Cristo. Priorities, old man! Priorities! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Soretta Take your budding party southwest of here to a kingdom called Soretta, where there grows an all-purpose heal-all herb known as Padequia. Of course, when you show up, all you find is a very, very poor country. This is the DW4 equivalent of Africa. Apparently, the drought wasted all of the Padequia, reducing the economy to rubble, resulting in a country so penniless that even the king is working his royal ass off in the fields. He'll tell you that a former king had hidden a seed in the cave to the south in case of emergency. Well there, Sparky, I'd call this an emergency. Not for the country- you don't care. This is about Cristo, dammit! The seed's been in the cave for years, but no one's gone to get it because they were afraid of getting eaten by monsters or something... what a bunch of pansies. They must not be that starving if all it takes is a bunch of bloodthirsty monsters to scare them away from their ticket to salvation. Hell, you've got a team full of people that pick fights with monsters for kicks! On that note, you've probably realized that if you don't head out to the cave and get that seed, it's never gonna get freakin' done. Take your time, though. It's not like Cristo's gonna die or anything, regardless of how long it takes you to get back to him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Cave of the Padequia Seed This is the first dungeon that not your entire party may enter. There are six of you in all, but for some strange reason, only four of you may enter. Why, I don't know. Suffice it to say that if you all tried to enter the cave at once, the universe would collapse upon itself and things would not be pretty. As for who to take with you, it's really a matter of personal preference more than anything. The dungeon isn't too long or treacherous, but you may take the local enemies into consideration when deciding who to take with you. There's the Infernus Knight, which is a pretty nondescript enemy, to say the least. There's also the Ice Sloth, an enemy that can emit freezing winds and is immune to all forms of ice magic (which sort of means that Brey is pretty much worthless when fighting one or more of these). Inside the cave, you'll see another first: floor panels with little arrows on them! I really think their only purpose is to annoy you, but whatever. As you enter the cave, you'll see a chest that you can't reach, because the arrows to the right of it point away from it, and walking against the arrows is against the rules. If you'd like the treasure (an Agility Seed), you'll have to approach the chest from the bottom, where the arrows are conveniently pointed towards it. Also, continuing on the rather straightforward path you're on, you'll reach a set of stairs taking you deeper into the cave. Hmm... Down here, you'll see a big, empty room where you'll meet up with Alena and a small group of ilk. She refuses to join up with you, preferring to instead walk around in circles with her friends. Her father was right- all Alena wanted to do was run off and get high somewhere. I guess this explains why he always sent Cristo and Brey after her... At any rate, the only way to advance is to head to the upper-left corner of the room. You'll see two arrows leading up, side by side. The one on the left is shorter, and will drop you off at a chest containing some Mystic Acorns. From there, you'll have a chance to get on the set of arrows on the right, which will take you on a long trip to the upper-right corner of the room. Here, you'll see two more sets of arrows. The set on the right will take you to an empty room (which I call "the pit"). The only exit here ultimately dumps you off right back off where you started (where Alena and her "friends" are), so taking the right set of arrows here probably isn't too bright of an idea. The left set of arrows takes you to two more sets or arrows, plus a small path leading to the right which contains no arrow tiles (note that this path is the one that takes you to the stairs leading to the Padequia Seed). As for the two sets of arrows: the right set will take you to "the pit", and the left set will take you to a new path altogether. On this path, you may head up and to the right, stepping on a set of arrows that take you to a chest containing 800 gold. Doing this, the set of arrows leading away from said chest drops you back off at the fork located in the upper-right corner of the room. However, if instead of going to the chest with the 800 gold in it, you continued on the path you were on, you would go up and around to a large door. Behind said large door is a small room containing the Robe of Serenity, a nice little piece of armor for whomever you deem worthy to wear it. The exit to this room leads you to yet another set of arrows. The one on the left is a quick route back to the beginning, while the one on the right takes you to the pit. When you're done collecting treasure, you'll notice that somewhere back there was the route to the Padequia Seed. Go there now. It'll take you to a set of stairs to the bottom floor. The bottom floor has about as many arrow tiles as the floor above does, only smashed into a much tinier area. There are two chests down here, and the one in the center of the huge cluster of arrow tiles contains what you're looking for. The other is a Man-Eater, so you're advised to stay away from it. Anyhoo, getting to the chest isn't that hard- it's all a matter of looking at the floor and trying to determine which tile to step on to take you there. And no, I'm not figuring this one out for you. Grab the Padequia Seed and leave. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Soretta/Mintos (Again) Back at Soretta, provide the king with the seed, which sprouts instantly. Amazing. Anyways, you'll get the Padequia Root, which you'll need to cure Cristo. Back at Mintos, you'll find Alena and Cristo in their room. Use the Padequia Root to instantaneously cure Cristo, an action which will unite your team with Alena's (Some advice: don't put the Thief's Key in storage- you'll need it soon). Your goals at the time actually happen to be worlds apart, interestingly enough. You are trying to prevent the resurrection of the ruler of evil and save the world, and they are after a guy named Necrasaro. Maybe it's because they think that maybe he had something to do with the incident at Santeem, but I think that Alena's after him purely because she can't stand the idea of someone out there stronger than she is. Moreover, as you leave your room, a dude will come up to you and tell you of a traveling soldier who has been looking for the legendary Hero. And a damn good job he did of finding you, might I add. He started when you were a kid, and you're now eighteen. Methinks Ragnar spent just a little too much time at the casino... Anyways, he supposedly headed off towards the southwest continent, South America, Mara and Nara's homeland, the land of Keeleon, whatever the hell you wanna call it... Just go there. If you start out from Mintos and just keep sailing west, you'll eventually dock on Keeleon's east coast. You also may want to make a stop by Burland now for reasons mentioned in section V.B. of the FAQ. Oh, and Hector leaves you now, by the way, to stay here and study hotel management under that Howden imbecile. Not that you care. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Keeleon Castle I suppose we could only assume that Ragnar was going to try something stupid like try and take on Keeleon alone. That's why Ragnar does the fightin' and not the thinkin'. Talk to the local trespasser outside Keeleon only to find out that it's... Healie? Yes, through some strange means, Healie has finally fulfilled his dream to become human. I don't know how it happened, it just did. Kinda like a demented Pinocchio... Anyways, Healie lets you know that Ragnar was arrested and asks you to please free him. Unfortunately, you can't just break the locks like you did earlier. Maybe the folks here got wise and sprang for some better ones, I don't know, but the point is, you'll be needing a key. A Magic Key. Head for Haville. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Haville The first thing you'll probably notice about the land of Keeleon is the vast increase in the difficulty of the monsters since the last time you were here. For the first time since entering Chapter Five, you're treated to brand-new wave of creature features. Of course, none of them really have any powers worth mentioning. The Bisonbear is a common creature around here and can save up its strength, but all that means is that when you kick its ass in one turn, you suffer no damage at all. Then there's the Dragonpup, an obnoxious little creature that gets two attacks every round and can summon Butterfly Dragons to its aid. The rumor floating around here is the existence of Magic Keys, which were only made by alchemists. Well, if you'll recall, Nara and Mara's father, Edgar, was an alchemist. And their hometown, conveniently enough, is just south of here. Maybe that's were you should head, eh'? Oh, and if you speak with the poor guy who's still serving jail time for scaring the counsel, he'll tell you about the time he met Ragnar and told him to go kick Keeleon and Balzack's asses. The idiot Ragnar is, he left to do it. Thanks, you imbecile, we really needed that. Just for that, we're letting you stay here and rot. Go to Kievs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Kievs Mara and Nara still get a free night at the inn. Groovy. You'll also meet the dude who was holding the Bazaar during Chapter Two. Apparently, he was hoarding all the good wares then, but he has no qualms about selling them to you now. He has some good wares, including the Iron Mask (Ragnar's best helmet excepting the Metal Babble Helm), and the Cloak of Evasion (excellent armor for your weaker characters). But you'll also hear rumors of a secret laboratory Edgar had in the cave to the west. Someone is also nice enough to tell you that the button revealing its entrance is said to be found at the bottom of a treasure chest... Well, under normal circumstances, you'd be forced to guess, but we can only assume that Orin probably knew about the lab, seeing as he was living in the cave and all. Also, it's probably a good guess that the whole lavish area where he was standing was probably a good indicator that the lab was somewhere near. Now, head back to the Cave West of Kievs and make a beeline for the treasure chest where you found the Lamp of Darkness. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Cave West of Kievs Since the cave's entrance is large, your entire wagon fits inside, allowing for a full-party expedition to the lab. The monsters in here are more difficult (you'll probably have already run into a few of these guys if you tried to head to Aktemto or Monbaraba). First, there's our old friend, the Flamer, as obnoxious as ever. Next, there's the Phantom Messenger. These guys are a bit more tricky for a few reasons. First and foremost, they cast Beat and Sap. This alone is reason enough to dispatch them quickly (and be thankful you have a few members in the wagon to replace the ones who die). In addition, they can also summon Phantom Knights to their aid (the Phantom Knights have the ability to cast Healmore, but little else). Lastly, they are difficult to hit with magic of any sort, and are completely immune to fire magic. But perhaps the most formidable opponent you will face is the Mystic Doll. Mystic Dolls are evil little bastards who appear in groups and cast Chaos. And like the Phantom Messenger, the Mystic Doll is difficult to hit with any kind of magic and is completely immune to fire magic. Thankfully, the Mystic Doll only appears on the bottom floor of the cave. Well, you should remember the path to the chest well enough. If not, refer to the earlier section in the walkthrough (section III.D. of the FAQ) Search the chest and press the button on the bottom of it to make a set of stairs appear. These stairs take you to Edgar's secret lab, and if Alena still has the Thief's Key, she can enter and pilfer the Magic Key, rendering her key useless. At any rate, you've got what you came for; head for Keeleon! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Keeleon Castle (Smackdown!, Part II) Arrange your best team to storm Keeleon. It's at this point where strategy really comes into play, and the proper team organization can make or break you. Cristo is a good call for this fight, because Surround and Stopspell are both excellent spells to have on hand versus the tyrannical overlord. If Mara knows Blazemore, or if Brey knows Bikill, both can be valuable assets, as well. As for your fighters, they can be a big help, too. Despite any magical assistance you may have, the easiest way to claim victory in this fight is with superior weapons. First, there's the Sword of Lethargy, which is a favorite weapon amongst some players. Despite the 8,000 GP price tag, with this weapon equipped, Keeleon will probably spend the majority of the fight asleep, and therefore will be very easy to beat. Another consideration is the Sword of Miracles, given to you by the Small Medal King (he lives in a den in the northeastern corner of the world). What you get with the Sword of Miracles is an uber-powerful weapon at literally no cost to you. All you have to do is scrounge up six Small Medals for payment (see section VII. Of the FAQ for more on Small Medals). Anyways, take your selected party to Keeleon Castle and approach the king's chamber. From around the corner, you'll spy two guards hauling Ragnar off to see the king. Seeing you gives him some sort of energy rush, as he quickly wastes his two adversaries and approaches you. Together, you all enter the king's chamber. Ragnar takes care of the guards, while your party receives the honor of fighting an incredibly cocky (aren't they all?) Keeleon. Let's begin by saying that Keeleon is a very powerful creature, to say the least. He gets two attacks every round, and hits for a very high amount of damage. In addition to his powerful attacks, Keeleon may also cast Firebal, and emit fireballs and freezing winds. This is where Cristo can actually be a big help. Assuming you're using the offensive, normal, or defensive tactics, Cristo will stymie Keeleon's offense considerably with Stopspell, then Surround. Don't get cocky just yet, though. He can still attack twice in any given round, and still has attacks that target the entire group (emitting fireballs and freezing winds). And even though you may have lowered his accuracy, he still likes to take swings at your characters. While he'll usually whiff and cause you no damage at all, just one direct hit is all it takes to ruin your day if you're not watching your HP levels (on that note, the Hero must keep a close eye on everyone's HP levels during this fight to assure their survival). Believe me when I say if you don't keep an eye on your HP during this fight, you will end up with somebody dead by the end of it. At any rate, after you frag his ass, Ragnar ends his long search for the legendary Hero by joining you, thus completing your team. With the eight chosen ones at last united, the a new quest begins... wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section III: Walkthrough|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | F: The Zenithian Hunt | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /___________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section III: Walkthrough|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Keeleon Castle (haven't left yet) Now that the gang's all here, you just might consider doing a bit of leveling up. First of all, it's your first chance for all your characters to gain experience at once, and secondly, Ragnar's level right now is probably a far cry away from everyone else's. If you feel up to it, you might try heading to the Royal Crypt to set a spell (see section VI.B. of the FAQ for more information on leveling-up at the Royal Crypt). Equipment is another issue. You'll probably notice lots of expensive, shiny equipment out there, but not nearly enough cash in your pocket to buy it all. While leveling-up may help you out, it still helps to be frugal. A common solution involves shopping only for those characters that you use a lot, and one idea is to assemble a well-balanced team and proceed to use them exclusively for the next portion of the game. If you decide to go this route, realize that Ragnar right now isn't nearly as useful as he will be once you get him some decent equipment (and, of course, he's pretty much the most expensive character to outfit). Also, in Ragnar's case, the hand-me-down system is an excellent idea to incorporate, seeing as he and the Hero use the same equipment and the Hero's about to get some kick-ass equipment in this next leg of the quest. As far as equipment goes, you have numerous options available to you. The secret shop at Endor (see section V.C. of the FAQ for details) is now available to you, as is pretty much anywhere in the world you can sail to. Most of the good stuff can be found either at the hidden shop or at Rosaville, a place you'll head to a little later in the game (though only Riverton carries Dragon Shields). Seaside Village and Stancia are both a little less out of your way, but their selections are not as good. At any rate, some good equipment to consider includes the Dragon Mail, Dragon Shield, Sacred Robe, and the Cloak of Evasion. Other equipment that may prove beneficial, but can also prove exceedingly costly, includes the Metal Babble Armor, Dragon Killer, Stiletto Earrings, and the Sword of Lethargy. Before you go and blow a hole in your wallet, however, realize that a few powerful weapons are coming your way relatively soon, and the best part is that they're all free! These include the Magma Staff, Fire Claw, Ice Blade and the Metal Babble Sword (though you'll have to wait a bit longer for the Metal Babble Sword). If you are truly determined to get a hold of some decent bladeage, the Small Medal King offers the extremely powerful Sword of Miracles for the small price of only six medals. If you haven't already been there, consider making a stop by his place (it's a small shrine-like settlement located on a tiny island in the far northeastern corner of the world). Oh, and you might also have noticed the catchy new theme that plays on the world map as you adventure. Check out section XIII.C. for a bit more information on the subject. As for now, let's continue on, shall we? Anyways, after you've diffused the aforementioned problems, you can begin your adventure again. Taking it from Keeleon Castle, you may have decided to ask around a bit about recent going-ons. If so, you'd have learned that Balzack has left for Santeem. Since he apparently didn't get enough of an ass-kicking from Nara and Mara back in Chapter Four, it's time to once again lay the smacketh down on Balzack. Using Haville as a staring point, sail north until you reach a small island inhabited by an old man and his pet ghost. He won't tell you much except that the ancient ruler of evil (Esturk) was imprisoned underground a long time ago in his palace and that it was located somewhere around here. Anyways, from there, sail west until you hit another landmass, and then head north. Eventually, you'll see a small town on the coast called Seaside Village. Seaside Village is not relevant to the plot in any way, but it is where the game's side quest originates (see section IV of the FAQ for the full scoop on the side quest). Of course, you can't go through with the side quest right now, so Seaside Village is pretty much a place to rest and shop at this point. Not too much further north from here is the country of Santeem. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Santeem To refresh your memory, when you left this place, the castle was completely devoid of any life whatsoever except for the cat. Despite what you think, no, the cat did not eat everybody! Let's see what's happened since you left... Well, for starters, a horde of monsters has taken up residence here. Luckily, the most powerful ones here are ones you've dealt with before (the Phantom Messenger and the Mystic Doll). The Bengal makes its first appearance here, but is at best annoying with its Stopspell spell. The treasury, located near the back of the first floor, is guarded by this... flaming spirit... thing. Unfortunately for you, there's really no way to kill it except to kill the more powerful force that guides it... video game logic... As for who should come along... This fight is strikingly similar to the one you had with Keeleon, so use that as a basis to decide who comes along. One important note, however, is that Cristo's Surround and Stopspell won't affect Balzack like they did Keeleon. While Cristo was a big asset versus Keeleon, that may not be so much the case now. Especially if he knows Beat, Cristo will stupidly cast it on Balzack about fifty times before he gets it through his head that it isn't going to work. Oh, well. It's only fitting that Nara and Mara be the ones to kill Balzack, right? Whatever. Whoever. Just go. In the throne room, you'll meet up with an old adversary, if you happen to be Mara or Nara, that is. Like all video game characters, death wasn't much of a major setback or anything for old Balzack. In fact, he looks and is about twenty times tougher than he was before. A bit could be said about his appearance, however... Balzack goes on and on about how even Keeleon could destroy him now (of course not, you imbecile- he's dead). He even asserts that he's stronger than Necrasaro. Cockiness, as you can tell, is a fairly standard trait amongst evil monsters. After your friendly hero/villain chat, the fight begins. Good lord, Balzack looks ridiculous. Seriously, if there was a line between menacing and hilarious, Balzack crossed it a few steps ago in the evolutionary process. As for his fighting skills, lets not underestimate those. Even though he doesn't get two attacks like Keeleon did, remember that you don't have Surround or Stopspell to protect you in this fight. Worse yet, Balzack's chosen spell is Snowstorm rather than Firebal, which means you can expect some trouble here. The Sacred Robe (worn by Nara and Cristo) is an excellent piece of armor to have in this fight, as it will reduce the damage done by Balzack's Snowstorm spell. The Dragon Shield or Dragon Mail will reduce the damage done by Balzack's freezing wind attack, but the damage it does is negligible compared to that of Snowstorm. You may opt to protect yourself from Snowstorm via the Hero's Fendspell spell. However, realize that anyone protected by Fendspell may only be healed by their own healing magic, meaning that casting Fendspell on Mara, for instance, may not be such a hot idea, after all. Cristo, Nara, and the Hero are all prime candidates for Fendspell, however. Anyways, as with the Keeleon fight, keep an eye on your HP during this fight, and you should be fine. Luck willing, you will emerge victorious, and Balzack will be dead once and for all. Hooray! Great! Because if I have to type the word "Balzack" one more ****ing time, I'm going to stab somebody. When you win, his bitches arrive... Talking amongst themselves and apparently completely unaware that you are actually listening to them, they divulge some useful information. What happened to Balzack, it seems, is that someone was experimenting on him by speeding up his process of evolution. And since you kicked his ass to kingdom come, the experiment was a failure. The problem was that his evolution couldn't be completely perfected because wasn't wearing the... Golden Bracelet! Goddammit, Alena, you see what you've gone and done!? And guess who has the Golden Bracelet now!? Yes, the bastard pulling the strings behind Keeleon, Balzack, these three bitches, and the resurrection of the ruler of evil... Necrasaro. Necrasaro... let's just think of him as the Anti-Christ (since he fits the image to a "T"). Isn't it nice to know that Alena's ass caused this whole mess? I mean, you'll notice that it was only shortly after she forked over the Golden Bracelet to those creeps that Necrasaro surfaced in Endor and started kicking ass. Well, she wanted an adventure, and now she's got one. Like I said before, nice going, Alena! Seeing as everyone here is dead except the cat, go see the cat, then. The cat, surprisingly enough, divulges some useful information supplied to him by his Slime friend. He tells you that someone in the neighboring village of Surene may know something... OK... Before you leave, by the way, head down to the treasury and claim your prizes; among them... the Magma Staff. This not only serves a quest purpose, but it is also any magic user's most powerful weapon. You'll also discover the Flute of Uncovering, which serves no apparent purpose outside of playing an unsettling melody. Ugh... Leave. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Surene Well, what with neighboring Santeem Castle being overrun with monsters and such, I guess we can sort of guess what the big news story around here is. However, with the Magic Key in your possession, you can now investigate that mysterious locked door just behind the unlocked one on the right side of the big building occupying the back half of the town. Behind it, you'll discover yet another one of the game's ingenious salesmen! It seems this exceptionally brilliant fellow doesn't realize that no one can buy things from him when he's inconveniently located behind an impassible magically locked door! I swear, how do these people stay in business!? Interestingly enough, there's a second shop back here that's only open at night... I suspect the black market has some involvement here... Further back here, you'll meet an old man who tells you that all of Santeem's former kings had the ability to foresee the future, and wonders if the current king has that same ability. Correction there, pruneface, he was the current king until he pulled a Jimmy Hoffa, but you're probably right in your assumptions. Break and enter another geezer's house back here, who tells the story of the king pleading with him one day to put up a signpost to help "his daughter who was in trouble". Of course, Alena is just fine, but the point is that since the king foresaw the future a long time ago (translation: he saw the present), the sign is sorta meant to help her out now on her glorious quest to save the world. Creepy. Of course, the old fart doesn't remember where he put the sign and, judging from where it is, I'd say he's got the mentality of one of the game's many brainless entrepreneurs. Travel the close perimeter of the large building up and around it to the northwest corner of town. The sign tells you what you need to know... Okay, so there's this dude called Master Dragon, okay? Essentially, he represents God. He rules in a place called Zenithia high above the rest of the world. This is the game's equivalent of Heaven. Anyways, a long time ago, he sealed the ruler of evil (we'll call him Satan) away, never to be seen again, or so we thought. It appears his resurrection is imminent, and you, the selfless Hero (and let's not forget about Alena) get to stop that at all costs. Since this is pretty basic information, you are fortunately pointed in the direction of better advice, as well. The sign suggests you seek the help of the people of Stancia, an island kingdom in the far northwestern corner of the world. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Stancia Now, it's time to head out to the kingdom of Stancia. Located on the center island of a circular archipelago, Stancia is a pain in the ass just to reach. You'll have to get a good overhead view of the whole place and actually map it out before you try to wedge your way in (hint: you'll have to park your ship southeast of Stancia and walk around the entire island just to get in). On your short walk to Stancia, you may happen upon a couple new enemies, actually. First, there's the Lethal Armor. These are tough guys who may show up in groups and can cast Sleepmore, making them that much more annoying. Also, there's an enemy called the Bomb Crag. These can be some of the scariest enemies in the game, because they just sit there during a battle, and you're constantly expecting them to explode or something and screw your world up. Lucky for you, this never happens. They just sit there and do nothing. So kick back, relax, grab a beer, and hang out for awhile. And then go to Stancia. When you arrive, you'll discover a place very similar to Venice, Italy, only the people in Venice are much less visually unpleasant. You can't move around on land much; you traverse most of the city via boat. The shopping here's good, but the shops are interestingly located either on other boats floating around or in buildings built in the water. Try checking out the half-submerged late-night restaurant, where that's probably not water you're floating in... I tell ya, Aquaman would clean up in a place like this. Anyways, the dude who gave you the boat you're floating around in mentioned that the king was having some kind of contest. As in all video games, this is one of those contests that seems to have come into existence solely to help your cause, and also is one of those contests that you and only you can win. Beats the hell outta real life, doesn't it? Sail into the castle, which is not only huge compared to the rest of the game's royal dwellings, but is also a wealth of information pertaining to your quest. An old man tells you that in order to go to Zenithia, you must first collect the Zenithian Helm, Shield, Armor, and Sword. Since you'll be needing the help of Master Dragon in this whole fiasco, your quest for the next sizeable chunk of the game is to collect this equipment. This same old dude tells you that the Zenithian Helm is a royal heirloom here. Getting an idea yet...? As someone else here will tell you, the king's proclamation is simple. Make him laugh and you will receive anything you desire, even if that something is a family treasure like, oh, say the Zenithian Helm? However, your exceedingly boring party doesn't contain a single personality between the eight of 'em, and each will fail to solicit so much as a titter from the king. Lucky for you, there's hope. One of Stancia's extremely helpful citizens claims to have seen a comedian named Panon at one point, but he doesn't know where Panon is now. Well, think there, Sparky. What is the only town you've ever been to in which you can correctly assume that someone might be performing there? Back at Monbaraba, speak with Panon, who agrees to come along with you (by the way, while you're here, you may hear an interesting tidbit of information concerning a palace of monsters on the southeastern continent that's unreachable by boat...) Panon is a UC (for more information on Panon, refer to section II.I of the FAQ). Some prefer to use him, and if that be the case, skip the next step for now. However, if you prefer to rid yourself of him, continue on. Drag Panon's ass back to Stancia to talk to the king. Well, it seems Panon is about as entertaining as a piece of wet cardboard. But even though he doesn't make the king laugh, he manages to convince him to hand over his family's treasure for generations. Not caring one way or another, you should leave Stancia, prompting Panon to leave you (and I thought we had something special!) You now have one of the four required items to enter Zenithia, but where do you begin looking for the rest of them? Well, one of your friends back at Stancia Castle is helpful enough to inform you of the Zenithian Shield's whereabouts: Burland Castle. Well, with Ragnar with you, this should be easy, right? I mean, it's not like the king would be bitter about losing his one and only soldier who stands a chance against anything more powerful than a retarded paraplegic on LSD... Sail to the river that separates Burland and Izmit, and exit your ship on the Burland side. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Burland Well, it's official: you've ended back up exactly where you started. While you may be much stronger this time around, so are the monsters here. Among the newbies you'll meet are the Skullknight, a fairly tame monster that possesses the ability to cast Healmore (though only enough MP to cast it once) as well as the ability to summon Phantom Knights (whom you should know to cast Healmore, as well). Then there's the Beleth. The Beleth is a bit more formidable in that it knows both the Firebane and Bounce spells. So unless your characters have the advantage in the speed department, offensive magic of any sort really isn't such a hot idea to use against these guys. Anyways, return to Burland and head for the castle. You keep hearing more crap about the resurrection of the ruler of evil here, but it's nothing you haven't heard at least fifty times already. Head to see the king, who actually tells you something you don't already know. It seems that a hundred or so years ago, the king of Burland gave the Zenithian Shield to the queen of Gardenbur. The counsel tells you that Gardenbur is a country to the east of here that has been completely isolated due to volcanic eruptions, but that you may be able to melt your way through with the Magma Staff. Seeing as you have the Magma Staff in your possession, that should be a piece of cake, now shouldn't it? In other news around Burland, people from the nearby village of Izmit have reported having some strange recurring dream. Since there's a high probability of this relating to your quest in some way, head for Izmit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Izmit Well, let's get started, then. Head to the inn and take a nap. The dream goes a little something like this: a young girl, an elf, actually, resides on the top floor of a tower, looking out the window. Her name is Rosa. Soon, an unsavory fellow named Saro shows up. Saro is the little cretin you see here, and Necrasaro is the highly evolved freak of nature who's trying to resurrect the ruler of evil... Now, admit it, you didn't realize that until I pointed it out just now. Yeah, that's right. Anyways, "Saro", plays a very unsettling tune, revealing a stairway at the foot of the tower. And yes, you do currently possess the item capable of producing this melody. Unless, of course, you already threw it off a bridge, angrily yelling, "to the hell from whence you came, devil-instrument!" You probably didn't do that yet. Saro reveals his plot to Rosa, which is strikingly similar to that of all criminally insane supervillains. Apparently, he wants to exterminate all of mankind or something, same old, same old... The dream ends with Rosa pleading to the dreamer (that would be you) for help. Anyhoo, after this rather disturbing experience, set sail for the eastern mountains. And beware the powerful monsters that dwell there... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Gardenbur You're gonna have to dock your ship a good deal north of Gardenbur and hoof it the rest of the way out there. You'll meet a number of monsters here, both familiar and new. Some of them are fairly tame, like the Archibison, and really have no powers to speak of. Others, however, are much more powerful: namely the Chillanodon and the Great Ohorus. The Great Ohorus is a big fat thing that can take a lot of punishment, gets two attacks every round, and is immune to ice magic. The Chillanodon is just nasty. It can emit freezing winds and it can also emit much more powerful blizzards. Needless to say, the Chillanodon can be very deadly in large numbers, and is also immune to ice magic. Hurry south to the mountain range that cuts Gardenbur off from the rest of the world. While Gardenbur is surrounded by mountains, there is a lone spot that looks like it had once been a path (actually, it was a cave)... the barrier at this point is only one mountain tile thick. This is where your lovely little Magma Staff comes into play- melt the son-of-a-bitch! Feel free to prance into Gardenbur, a country populated and ruled only by women. The only man here works at the house of healing. Considering that this country has been isolated for years, yet still manages to retain a population, this dude looks just a bit unhappy. Would it have been too hard for the programmers to give him an ear-to-ear grin? Anyhoo, the queen here isn't one of those pesky "cooperative" types you've been dealing with lately. She's actually just a little pissed that you melted through her country's natural defenses. It looks like someone needs some Midol... Continuing on your quest to find out all you can, continue searching the castle for information. You'll hear that the place has three basements, but you can only find two. You can go ahead and loot that third basement right now... if you can find it, that is. Alternatively, just look up its location in section V.D. of the FAQ. You'll also meet a prophetess who tells you about the lovely Bronze Amulet that the queen gave her. What this basically means is that her Bronze Amulet is in some way related to your quest. Indeed, you'll soon happen upon a thief, who sees you as little more than a scapegoat. While your lead character stupidly searches the drawer he stole the Bronze Amulet from, the thief makes with the fleeing the scene of the crime. Before you know what happened, your party is captured by the intriguingly responsive police force here and brought before the queen. Now, you may think for a minute that you're screwed. You're not, believe me. Even if you want to fess up and admit to committing the crime, the queen seems to know, deep down, that you're innocent, and will mercilessly poke, prod, and harass you until you break down and admit that you didn't steal anything. She then gives you a chance to clear your names by finding the real thief and kicking his ass into another dimension. So, basically, even though she thinks you're innocent, she also realizes that she has the power to make you rid her kingdom of this guy rather than sending her own soldiers in to do it themselves. What a conniving bitch... And to make sure that you do her bidding, she will hold someone in your team as a hostage. Luckily for you, you can choose your hostage. While one may consider leaving Taloon, the fat man, to rot while you skip town... Alas, no. You're after the Zenithian Shield, remember? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Cave South of Gardenbur Your quest to find the thief is short. Just south of Gardenbur is a cave. Y'know, for an area where for generations the castle and the clearly marked "Thieves Den" were the only accessible places, those guards at the castle sure are a brain-dead bunch. At any rate, you will be thoroughly introducing the thief's ass to your foot, so it's time to think about who gets to do it. The fight isn't utterly difficult, but our thief friend does know the Increase spell, so you'd be wise to have one or two offensive magicians on hand when you venture inside. As for the local monster activity, the cave will contain mostly the monsters that hang around Gardenbur (which are nothing to scoff at, actually). On the lower floors, however, you will start to encounter Dragonits. If you've done any sort of leveling-up at the Royal Crypt, you know what to expect from these bastards. They like to attack in large groups, are resistant to fire magic of any sort, and can emit very deadly scorching breath. While the severity of these attacks can be lessened with Dragon Mail or a Dragon Shield, this equipment is available only to your stronger characters who really don't need that kind of protection, anyways. Keep a close eye on your weaker characters on the lower levels, as losing someone that deep into the cave can be quite devastating (as, as we've already established, your magicians will be some of the most valuable fighters in the big fight at the bottom). The layout of this cave is just cruel, I swear. There are more forks and breaks in the path here than in just about any other dungeon in the game (except maybe the Final Cave). Just inside, you'll see two paths, leading right and left. Go left. The next fork has paths leading left, down, and right. The path leading down is a dead-end, the path leading right will lead you to a chest containing a Small Medal, and the path leading left continues to the next fork. At that fork, go down, as the path leading right is another dead-end. This leads you to the next fork in the road, with paths leading right, and ladders leading up and down. The path leading right will take you to an Agility Seed, the ladder going down takes you to a lovely dead-end, and the ladder leading up takes you to the next fork in the road. At the fifth fork, the right path will take you to a chest containing 1,200 gold, and the path leading down brings you the stairs to the next floor down. Just downstairs is another fork in the road. You'll see two ladders leading down; take the one on the left-hand side. At the next fork in the road, you'll see two ladders leading up and down. The ladder leading down will take you to the treasure of a Strength Seed as well as the next fork in the road. At this next fork, you're presented with a path going down and one going left. Heading down takes you to the stairs to the bottom floor, while heading left takes you to another fork in the road: a ladder and a path leading to the left. Both paths will meet at the next fork in the road, which is yet another ladder and a path leading right. The path leading right, and the ladder will take you to a fork leading up or down. Proceed up to a chest with an Iron Mask in it, while either of the paths leading down from here lead to a Dragon Shield. If your brain isn't completely destroyed by this point, backtrack from here a little bit to the path that leads down to the bottom floor. Once you get to the bottom floor, heal your characters' wounds, because a fight is about to start, and you want to be fully-healed for the ass-kicking. Down here, you'll see Bakor, the thief, sleeping soundly. Since it's pretty much his fault that you've had to come all this way to kick his ass, I imagine you've probably got some pent-up aggression to release here. After waking him and chasing him around the room in a comical Three-Stooges-like manner, proceed with the ass-kicking. As we've established before, Bakor knows the Increase spell, and all it takes is one casting of it to render physical attacks next to worthless against him. If the Hero is toting a Sword of Lethargy, Bakor will likely spend most of the fight asleep (he may not even get a chance to cast Increase on himself). However, even if he does manage to get the spell off, Zap is a nice alternative to fighting him. Mara's Blazemore spell will also shine in this fight (if she's with you, that is). On the offensive end of things, Bakor isn't much to worry about. His attacks aren't too powerful, and the worst thing you have to watch out for is his Snowstorm spell. As you kick him while he lies on the ground bleeding, you'll meet up with a guard from the castle who followed you just in case. This country apparently has some serious issues with trust... Really makes you wonder about the old king of Burland, doesn't it? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Gardenbur (Again) Anyways, back at the castle, the queen more than generously rewards you with the Final Key, which renders your Magic Key obsolete. She also suggests that you may find something of interest in a town called Rosaville, to the south. Why the queen suggests this, I do not know. Maybe she's receiving kickbacks from Rosaville's tourism industry, I can't say. But despite whatever crazy reason the queen has for suggesting that you travel to Rosaville, the mere fact that she mentioned it to you means that there's obviously something vital to your quest to be found there. Before you take off, however, you can use the Final Key to get the Zenithian Shield out of one basement, and your teammate out of the other. If you'd like, free all the other prisoners while you're at it. Of course, they'll still sit in their cells with the door wide open in front of them. Not too intelligent today, are we? Anyways, before you head for Gardenbur, there's one last trip that needs to be made first. Leave Gardenbur and head north to your ship. From there, sail east and around the northeastern corner of the continent. You'll see a small island with a small den situated on it, and a small cave on the coast shortly to the north of it (the cave is nestled in the mountains in the center of the claw-shaped tip of the landmass). One of these places is a dungeon, and one is a safe haven. Since in this case it's not readily apparent (unless you already happen to know where you are), go to the island first. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Castle of the King who Collects Small Medals Even though there's a very likely chance that you've already been here before and know all about this place, just humor me, please. In the small dwelling that he likes to call a castle, you'll come across the home of a rather hermitly guy who thinks he's a king. Okay... He doesn't seem to have much of a kingdom, or much of a population, for that matter. Plus, the official name of this unincorporated hamlet sounds like the name of a bad Pearl Jam song... Of course, it could be that he rules over the vast uninhabited areas to the west and south, in which case, we'll refer to it as "Montana". Anyhoo, king Ted Kazynski here collects Small Medals, as you've probably guessed, and offers powerful equipment in return for them. Actually, come to think of it, isn't it illegal in the real world to supply dangerous weapons to any random person who happens to stop by and offer you a couple of cheap trinkets? Regardless, the king offers some very useful equipment here. Even if you've already had dealings with him before (which you likely have), the acquisition of the Final Key opened up many more opportunities for you to collect Small Medals, so be aware. As always, section VII. of the FAQ covers Small Medals in full detail, but you do have another reason for visiting this place. A knight staying at the inn (you'd really think that this place wouldn't get enough traffic to necessitate an inn...) tells you about the mysterious cave up north. It's called the Shrine of Breaking Waves, and this traveling soldier suggests that the Zenithian Armor can be found there. Now, just how it ended up there is a mystery... Moreover, it's a mystery that the game doesn't really even bother to explain for you. So, I'll offer my humble theory: goblins. Goblins did it. It was all the goblins' fault. Now set sail for the Shrine of Breaking Waves to reclaim the Zenithian Armor from the goblins! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Shrine of Breaking Waves The good news is that you can just sail your happy ass into the Shrine of Breaking Waves, and as long as you remain on the boat, you'll have the full party at your disposal. Furthermore, the Shrine of Breaking Waves is a relatively small place. Now for the bad news: you're introduced to a slew of new and dangerous creature features that can really screw your world up. The powerful new hordes of monsters you'll meet in here include the Dragon Rider, Necrodian, Plesiodon, Snowjive, Karon, Podokesaur, Maskan, and Fury Face. The Dragon Rider is a tough enemy that gets two attacks every round and can emit scorching gas- a deadly combo. To make them all the more difficult, they are evasive of fire magic of any sorts, and are entirely immune to explosive magic. The Necrodian isn't much of a threat, but is resistant to all forms of magic attacks. The Plesiodon, judging from the amount of punishment it can take, must have skin made up of some form of titanium-adamantine alloy. Lucky for you, the Plesiodon isn't much of an attacker, and the only type of magic that it is in any way evasive of is ice magic. The Snowjive is the first creature you'll meet capable of casting the powerful Blizzard spell. While these things are bad enough alone, they're just nasty in groups. And, as one would expect, Snowjives have a bit of resistance to ice magic. The Karon is a creature who is resistant all magic except fire magic and attacks with the Staff of Thunder (which produces effects similar to that of the Firebane spell). This alone isn't too bad, but what's really obnoxious about these little bastards is that they also know the Vivify spell (and they usually travel in pairs for just this reason). The Podokesaur is one of the more obnoxious creatures you'll encounter. While it's offensive capabilities are little to speak of, the mere fact that it knows the Healus spell should be enough for you to put it to the blade with the quickness. The Maskan is another of the more aggravating creatures here. It may travel alone, but don't be fooled: these things have the reproductive powers of a redneck on Jerry Springer, and will summon as many of themselves that can fit on the screen. So, if you don't kill these things the second you see them, be prepared to fight an army of them (luckily they're not one of the more dangerous creatures abound). They do, however, know the Infermore spell, and can be all the more difficult to deal with in large numbers in that they are completely immune to blaze and explosive magics, and are resistant to flame. Lastly, the Fury Face is probably the most God-awful hideous sight you've seen since you happened upon those naked pictures of Bea Arthur. Ugliness aside, these little bastards know just about every breath attack known to man, and can emit fireballs and freezing winds, too... Thankfully, the majority of their attacks won't screw your world up too badly, but some of them can be pretty harsh. Get rid of them any way you can, but know that they do have a resistance to fire magic. One point I should go ahead and make is that the majority of the monsters here have a resistance to one form of magic or another, as we've already established. But since you've got your full party on hand, it's all a matter of knowing who to use and when, and switching them out at the proper times. You have the "switch" command for a reason, y'know. Anyways, the trip is actually fairly short. From the entrance, you'll see three ways to go, but only the path to the right isn't a dead-end of sorts. As you head right, you'll round a corner and begin to sail upwards. As you do, you may notice small pathways on the banks to the left and right of you, with stalagmites separating them. Stalagmites abound, they will create seven rows of paths. In the middle row, the fourth, there is a path leading to the left into the next room (but due to your eagle-eye view, there's really no way that you could tell that it was a path unless you knew where to look) where you may liberate a Small Medal from its chest. Continuing to sail upwards, however, you'll soon round another bend and head to the left. You'll reach a point where you'll have the option to disembark, or continuing to sail downwards. Since disembarking is a fruitless venture, sail down and into a large room. This very large room has a bunch of rocks sticking up out of the water that make a fun little maze. It's very easy to navigate, though, and the exit is on the left side of the room. Exiting the maze room, head down until you see a small island with a set of stairs in it. These stairs will lead you to a small room containing two chests. In one chest is yet another Small Medal, while in the other you will discover the legendary Zenithian Armor! Only the sword's left... wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section III: Walkthrough|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | G. Quest for the Zenithian Sword | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /___________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section III: Walkthrough|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Rosaville Well, wouldn't you know it? The sword is by far the most difficult and painstaking piece of Zenithian equipment to obtain. And it all starts by heading to a little place called Rosaville. While it is south of Gardenbur, a quicker way to reach it is from Koneber (remember that place?). Sail east a bit and then head north along the river until you come across a town near the coast. This is Rosaville, an area populated by the same monsters you've been fighting around Gardenbur. By the by, since it takes you just south of here, now is an excellent time to perform the game's side quest (see section IV. in the FAQ). Since you recently acquired the Final Key, you should now have the Ice Blade in your possession (see section V.F. of the FAQ for details on locating it). And the side quest, should you choose to accept it, will net you the Metal Babble Sword. With these two weapons on hand, not to mention the kick-ass equipment located here at Rosaville (and at Riverton), that you should now be much more likely to afford, you just might want to become a little spendy. For instance, outfitted with some decent equipment, Ragnar should now prove to be much more effective in battle than he was before. Anyhoo, Rosaville is the certified home of dwarves (or "little people"). What you'll quickly notice about Rosaville is that it just happens to be the site of that freaky-ass dream you had at Izmit. Talking to the people here, you learn that Rosa cries rubies instead of tears. For this reason, people were complete bastards to her. Naturally, you, the Hero must investigate, but there's sadly very little that you can actually do. There's a knight hanging around here that is trying to find Rosa so he can get rich off her, but unfortunately for you, the game programmers forgot to include a "kill civilian" command, so you've sorta got to let him go. Anyways, play the Flute of Uncovering in the proper spot, thus granting you access to the tower. Well, it seems that Rosa has a bodyguard called the Saroknight. He'll attack, and he can silence your magic users with the Sphere of Silence (remember that?) You'll just have to fight him instead. If you have any problems, you can bring along Taloon, Ragnar, and Alena (then again, if this fight is giving you trouble, you have bigger problems to worry about...) Beware, however, of the Saroknight's ability to summon Chillanodons. Anyways, frag his ass and loot back the Sphere of Silence he was holding. Now just how in the hell did he get his hands on it? At any rate, it's yours now (again). And I bet ya didn't even know that this time around, the Sphere of Silence is a lost-forever, as mentioned in section I.F. of the FAQ, and that had you not beed following the walkthrough, you might have missed it. Rosa is startled, but seems to realize that you're on the level. She'll again tell you that she wants you to stop Necrasaro. Sadly, for the time being, you've got to lay off searching for the Zenithian Sword for awhile in favor of stopping Necrasaro's crazy ass. Rosa suggests you sneak into the monster's base of operations and listen in on them. In order to blend in, you'll be needing the Staff of Transform, which her slime friend will inform you lies in the Royal Crypt, just south of Endor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Royal Crypt This place, like the Shrine of Breaking Waves, is locked up for no good reason. I dunno, maybe they think that the dead people are going to escape or something. The monsters here are relatively difficult, but if you leveled-up here at any point, you should know what you're dealing with. The Dragonits from the bottom floor of the Cave South of Gardenbur are probably the worst things you'll deal with. In addition, you'll meet the Hambalba, Tyranobat, Bebanar, Hemasword, and everyone's favorite, the Metal Babble. The Hambalba and Tyranobat are both relatively tame monsters, except that the latter can frighten your characters with a loud roar, and the former has a very small chance to paralyze one of your teammates. So, if Nara isn't amongst your numbers, you may consider having a Full Moon Herb on hand just in case. The Bebanar is a distant cousin of the Phantom Messenger that casts Firebane and is resistant to all forms of fire magic. The Hemasword is also kin to a familiar foe. And, like its cousins, the Hemasword has a high resistance to any and all magical attacks. As for the Metal Babbles... think of the Metal Slimes, only they appear in larger numbers, have more HP, and can cast Firebal. For more information on Metal Babble huntin', check out section VI.B. of the FAQ. For now, proceed into the Royal Crypt. Taking the stairs to the next floor down, you'll see some arrow tiles to your left (but they take you nowhere seeing as they are pointed towards you). Head up a little ways to some arrow tiles- both will take you to the same destination, which leads to a set of stairs going down. Downstairs, you are again presented with two arrow tiles, both of which will take you to another set of stairs. On the next floor, hop on some more arrow tiles, which will lead you to the Staff of Antimagic and ultimately, another fork in the road. The right path leads back to the beginning, and the left path takes you to the next fork in the road, with paths leading down and right. The right path leads to a Small Medal, and the path leading down goes to the next fork. The left path here takes you back the way you came, and the right path takes you to another set of stairs. Downstairs, there will be another fork in the road. The path leading up takes you to a "pool", that will fully restore everyone's HP/MP. Down leads to a small maze of sorts. The stairs leading back up are in the lower-left corner of the room. Upstairs, you'll see the final fork in the road. Up is a dead-end, and going down will take you to the Staff of Transform. It's off to Dire Palace, now! Hop on your boat and set sail for the Southeastern continent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Riverton Well, as you may have already learned back in Monbaraba, Dire Palace is surrounded entirely by mountains and is inaccessible by ship. The only way in involves a bit of a detour that takes you first to the town of Riverton. Riverton is located along the river that flows into the southeastern continent from the north. It actually doesn't appear on the map- but if you take the right path when the river forks and keep sailing, you just sorta run into it. On a related note, the southeastern continent will henceforth be referred to as Australia, as it a small island/continent that is mostly wilderness full of things that can kick your ass. Anyways, welcome to Riverton. You've probably already been here to do some shopping, but the only good piece of equipment here that can't be found anywhere else (yet) is the Dragon Shield. Other than that, you hear a bunch of rumors and stuff floating around here, blah, blah... Why do they even call them "rumors" in RPG's? Every rumor in every RPG is a universal truth, anyways... Anyways the universal truths, I mean, rumors, around here involve that giant colossus to the south of here. Someone here says the giant statue move! By the way, guess how you get to cross that tiny little lake to the south? Here's a hint: you ain't swimming it. Also, the owner of the item shop is sitting around wishing he could discover a gas lighter than air. Make a note of this, and insert a Taco Bell joke if you'd like. When you're ready to move out, sail away through Riverton's southern exit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Shrine of the Colossus/The Colossus Now, it's time for another physics lesson- RPG style. What we have here is the Colossus (an enormously large structure) and a shrine dedicated to it inhabited by a mysterious hobo (a comparably miniscule building, not counting the resident hobo). Now, of these two, guess which one is visible from the world map? Hint: it ain't the one that looks like it beat Oprah Winfrey in a butter-eating contest. The point I'm trying to make here is that when you travel to the small shrine-like structure to the south of Riverton, don't be surprised to see a gigantic statue five hundred times bigger than the shrine mysteriously appear out of nowhere. I suppose we should go over the local monster activity before actually venturing inside. A few familiar faces and a few new ones... (déjà vu?) On our returning contestant list we have such obnoxious pains in our ass as the Karon, Fury Face, and Bebanar. Now for the new meat... The Rhinoband is a tough character that gets two attacks every round, casts the Upper and Defense spells, and has a resistance to all fire and vacuum magic. The there's the cousin of the Flamer, the Blizag. In addition to annoying you with its freezing winds attacks, the Blizag may also further annoy you with the spells Beat and Defeat. And trust me when I say the only thing more annoying than getting killed is a Pauly Shore movie. Last on the docket is the Leonar, a powerful lion creature who gets two attacks every round and is capable of saving up it's strength (but with two attacks doesn't need to wait that pesky "whole turn" to attack). Now, the Colossus can move, but you've still got to go inside it to get to those controls (interesting side-note: the controls or "brains" of the Colossus are located in its crotch). Entering the Colossus at its knees, you'll see a myriad of paths spring from around the entrance. But, since the they're mostly erroneous, head towards the stairs directly in front of you (note that there is a small path that wraps around behind these stairs and leads to a chest containing a Small Medal). Having or having not collected the only treasure on this floor (the Small Medal), proceed downstairs to the feet of the Colossus. Downstairs, you'll be given the option of going left or right. If you head left, then to the bottom side of the room, you'll find a chest containing 640 gold. Conversely, if you go right and then up, you'll find a set of stairs leading up. Back upstairs, you're faced with a little maze. From the beginning, go left, down, then right. This lands you at a down/right fork in the road. Going right will take you to an Agility Seed, while continuing downward ultimately leads you to another set of stairs. Um... let's not think about what part of the anatomy of the Colossus we've reached and just continue along, shall we? There's a path leading up, and one going down from the stairs. Go down. As you round the bend and begin to head right, you'll pass up not one, but two paths going up. Both are dead-ends. Continue around the bend until you reach a set of stairs along the path. The stairs will lead you to a chest containing the cursed Demon Hammer, and electing to continue along the path you were on you will ultimately end up inside the big room in the middle of this floor. You'll pass up a dead-end road heading to the left and eventually find the stairs leading up. Upstairs, in the chest of the colossus, you'll find some more stairs and a treasure chest. Since the chest is a Mimic, just continue upstairs. Welcome to the head of the Colossus. Interestingly enough, it's completely empty. There are two places here you can jump from (it's eye sockets, to be precise). If you jump out of the one on the right, it takes you back to where you found the Demon Hammer. So, unless you really hate yourself, avoid that ledge and jump off the one on the left, instead. You're now in the Colossus's left hand (actually, if you want to be technical, it's the right hand). From here, enter the Colossus and go downstairs. Voila! You're in the control room! It really doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure them out, thankfully, and even someone as simple-minded as Ragnar or Taloon can get the thing working in no time. Watch as through some rip in the space-time continuum, the Colossus appears on the map and transports your party safely across the scary puddle in the road. While you watch this, think for a second about how ridiculous this is. You risked life and limb to fight and scrape and claw your way to the top of this huge structure so it could transport you across something you could have just as easily hopped across. I tell you, your average video game character is fearless for the most part, but they're all a bunch of pansies when it comes to water. Anyways, with this done, you can exit the Colossus from either of the side ledges that are clearly marked "jump". And personally, when I jump out of the third story of a tall building, I'd actually prefer I have something underneath me to break my fall... like water, for instance. But your party, frightfully scared of the water, is quite content to have its fall broken by the ground, instead. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Dire Palace You'd think that after you just commanded your characters to jump to the ground from about a hundred or so feet into the air, they'd be about ready to stop taking orders from your evil, twisted ass. At the very least you'd expect them to stop and take a moment to tend to their profusely bleeding wounds, bruised, broken and mangled limbs, and other fractured and/or missing body parts... They don't even do that. They just pop right back up and keep going as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened... Shortly to the east of here is Dire Palace. You don't have your wagon handy, but the trip shouldn't be too danger-filled. The Rhinoband (from the Colossus) is the toughest thing you'll fight out here, though it may come at you with a Mighty Healer in tow. The Mighty Healer is like a Healer, only it casts Healmore instead of Heal, and seems to prefer launching itself towards you in a pathetic attempt to attack you over actually healing its teammates (or itself, even). All in all, it should be a short and relatively easy walk to Dire Palace (note that this will be added to your Return list in case, for some unknown reason, you actually wanted to come back here). As you step inside, you will not be attacked unless you attempt to converse with monsters. Hell, you can just waltz inside and then use the Staff of Transform and they won't even know the difference. I suppose that the monsters shouldn't have any more intelligent of a royal task force than the humans do. Of course, the Staff of Transform will turn you into something random every time you use it. Experiment to see what you like. Of course, some transformations are ones monsters would attack just as they would you. So, let's say you used the Staff of Transform and it turned you into four Hero clones. You'd wanna try it again before walking too far. The same goes for kittens. Try for something just a little menacing? At any rate, once you're satisfied with whatever the hell you've gone and turned yourself into, scout around (you might want to check out the treasury here, which is mentioned in section V.G. of the FAQ). Among the new and useful information you'll discover here is the rumor that humans used to fly in balloons... And remember what we've learned about rumors in RPG's? Also, you may discover the local jail cell where the humans are being kept. Despite your obvious ability to rescue them, you instead decide to leave them to get eaten by monsters. Some Hero you are... Also, apparently, the ruler of evil isn't far from resurrection at all, and there's a meeting about to start on the second floor. Isn't it convenient how you always show up just in time for events like these? Attend the meeting. You won't be sitting there long before Necrasaro's ass shows up (wouldn't want to keep you waiting, now would he?) Of course, at the moment, he is simply Saro. I guess the evolution is a bit unstable, and they go back and forth between each other. Of course, while you're pondering this, Saro tells everybody that the miners of Aktemto have run across something very interesting, and that the monsters should head there immediately. If you recall stopping by the small island near Seaside Village and talked to the old hermit there, you may remember him telling you that the ruler of evil was banished a long time ago, and his castle was buried deep underground with him. The castle was located somewhere in that area... Somewhere... close by... Oh, hell with it. It was located near present day Aktemto! Why are creepy hermits always the most helpful/informative people in video games? But, the point is, you need to get your ass to Happy Land, I mean, Aktemto, and fast! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Aktemto/Esturk's Palace I suppose all of the people here now have some sort of explanation for that poisonous gas they struck earlier. Amazingly, this fatal gas, rather than causing them to quit digging as I wisely suggested they do earlier, inveigled them to stupidly continue digging further until they unearthed a true evil, and the obvious source of the poisonous gas. Say it with me, now: "what are they, a bunch of damned morons!?" In the true spirit of heroism, you must now set out to fix that which others have royally screwed up. With a huge boss fight pending, you need to seriously consider who comes along. You're probably going to want some healing power along, so Cristo, Nara, or both can help. If Cristo knows Healus, actually, there's no better time for it to shine. As for Mara/Brey, realize that indirectly offensive magic really gets you nowhere in the upcoming battle, so Mara would be the choice pick here (especially since she probably knows that lovely little Blazemost spell by now). Fighters, as always, are really more a matter of personal preference. Lastly, Carrot Top will prove to be indispensable. And on a final note, if Cristo is for any reason not included in your party, be sure to bring a backpack full of Antidote Herbs with you... hint, hint... The first half of the Aktemto mine should be familiar, except for the part where you kick the enemies' asses so hard their noses bleed because they're the same damn ones you fought in Chapter Four. The next part, the freshly dug part, is about as difficult as everything else. Taking it from there, now... Remember those blasted Dragon Riders from the Shrine of Breaking Waves? They're here. Then there's the Chaos Hopper, an evil little bastard that can cast Chaos. The most obnoxious thing down here though is the Ryvern, whose attacks can poison you, and tend to do so quite frequently. Worse yet, the Ryvern can summon those aggravating Podokesaurs (from the Shrine of Breaking Waves) and is resistant to fire magic and entirely immune to lightning magic (which is very annoying if you've subscribed to the "annihilate everything in sight with the Lightning spell" strategy). Truth be told, on everything else down here, Lightning (if you know it) is a really easy way to eradicate anything you really don't feel like dealing with. You don't even have to worry about MP, because there's a "pool" that restores your HP/MP as soon as you reach Esturk's Palace. In addition to the monsters I've already mentioned, once you near Esturk's Palace you risk battling Eigerhorns and King Healers. The King Healer is a rare occurrence, and their powers... well... should be obvious. The Eigerhorn, however, is a different story. They have a very high amount of HP and can cast Snowstorm. In addition, when their HP gets too low, they can "get scared"... When scared, these things are far more dangerous than before, mainly because they start tearing through you with body attacks (which, as you may know, will reduce anyone it hits to critical damage). For what it's worth, when you first enter the new part of the mine, you'll see monsters walking around. Remember, if you want to converse with the monsters here, you'll need the Staff of Transformation. Ignore them otherwise. The first (new) fork in the road has path leading left and right. Go left. At the next fork are paths leading up and right. Go right. Lastly, there's another up/right fork. Again, go right. You'll find some stairs leading down to the next floor. Downstairs, there's a path leading left, and one going up. Go up. The next fork is a right/left fork, and you've gotta go left. At the last fork, there's paths leading right and up. Going right takes you to a seemingly dead-end, but if you search the ground in front of the puddle, you'll find a Small Medal. Going up, of course, will take you to Esturk's Palace (though on the way you'll see one last dead-end path going left). You'll appear outside and to the left of Esturk's Palace. Your first stop may want to be in that little building just ahead of you, as it contains the "pool" I mentioned earlier that restores your HP/MP. Then, walk around to the front door of Esturk's Palace and enter. Just walk through the first room to reach a small hallway. This hallway, which leads to the left and then down, has four small rooms attached to it, not counting the end of the hallway, which has the stairs leading up. The rooms contain, in order from first to last: a chest containing a Small Medal, a Mimic chest, a chest with 2480 gold inside, and the last room (which is accessible from the hallway when it turns downward) has two chests inside, which contain a Strength Seed and an Agility Seed. Upstairs, walk up, and around to the right to reach a set of stairs leading up. These lead nowhere, really, so continue down to reach a set of stairs leading down. Downstairs, continue to another fork in the road. Both the paths, leading up and to the left, will merge at this room's exit, but only the path leading left will take you by the entrance to the room with the two treasure chests in it. The chest on the right is a Mimic, but the one on the left does contain a Small Medal. Also, there's a big area in the middle of the room with a treasure chest in it, but the entrance is being faithfully guarded by a skeleton. And like that flaming spirit back at Santeem, you can't just kill it, you've got to kill something much more powerful than it to make it go away. Video game logic... Anyways, as you exit this room, you'll go down a small hallways that leads you to a set of stairs leading down. You'll emerge downstairs in Esturk's throne room. There are some monsters hanging around him and waiting for him to arrive. Even though their primary mission in life is to kill humans like you, they politely give you the option of leaving when you speak to them. In turning them down, you'll have offended them, and they attack. But personally, I've had stronger assaults from my little brother. But, when you waste them, you get to deal with the real evil... Esturk may start out the fight asleep, but he's just as dangerous asleep as he is awake. His attacks can strike the whole party at once for high amounts of damage, and he's also got an attack that erases the effects of any spell in effect. So, in some respects, your strategy should be a fairly simple one: wail on his ass! Let loose with everything you have, while keeping a close eye on your HP (Cristo's Healus spell may be a valuable asset in this fight, but the Hero still needs to keep an eye on everyone's HP). Oh, and good luck. This fight may be quite difficult, but it's really nowhere near as difficult as one would expect when picking a fight with the ruler of all that is evil... Sadly, after his ass is dominated, the game is not yet over for you. You still have Necrasaro to deal with, right? By the way, Necrasaro shows up right about now and comments on the inferiority of Esturk's evolution... Apparently it wasn't quite complete, which is why you were able to defeat him. I suppose he would try and kill you or something, but someone arrives to inform him that his precious Rosa has been abducted by humans (ever wondered why Saro has a burning desire to exterminate all of mankind?) At any rate, Necrasaro is out of the way for the moment (and if you're really itching to figure out what happened to Rosa, check out section XIII.A. of the FAQ). You are now free to continue on your quest to reach Zenithia. On your way out of Esturk's Palace, stop by the formerly guarded room and nab the Gas Canister. What do you do with the Gas Canister? Okay, the Taco Bell jokes are getting old now. Now, you can't just cast Outside from this place like you normally can. Some strange force contains it here, so you'll have to make it back to the mines before it'll work. Once there, whiz outside and head for Riverton. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Riverton (Again) Take the Gas Canister to the guy who was looking for it and impatiently wait for him to build a hot air balloon for you... A balloon. Most games give you an airship, or a bird to fly on, or something else cool like that. Not Dragon Warrior IV. They give you a balloon. A Goddamn balloon! Sigh... At any rate, now that you have it, you can freely explore the entire world. Why don't you start by getting your hands on the Zenithian Sword? But where's it at? Remember the Treasure Map you got in Mintos? Pretty worthless, I know. But it does provide a clue as to the Zenithian Sword's whereabouts. In fact, it tells you exactly where to look- Elfville! Get in your hot air balloon and set a course for this previously inaccessible town in the middle of the desert. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Elfville Remember how when you went to the Shrine of the Colossus I warned you about the gigantic statue that would suddenly appear out of nowhere? Well, brace yourself. When you enter Elfville, you will bear witness to the Giant World Tree: a gigantic freaking tree that puts General Sherman to shame. Another fun fact to consider is that you are currently in the middle of a desert, which is a place where trees normally aren't supposed to grow. And when they do, they don't look like normal trees, are called cactuses, and have thorns growing all over them. Now I could understand jumping off of a three-story building while sustaining absolutely no personal injury, and I can even see giant structures appearing out of nowhere, but trees growing in the middle of the desert? By this point I was beginning to think that the game programmers were just blatantly mocking the laws of nature. The shops in Elfville sell two really kick-ass pieces of equipment, but at a ridiculously high price. However, money probably isn't much of an issue by this point in the game, so go ahead and snatch up what you want. A couple of locals are claiming to hear voices from the top of the Giant World Tree, telling people to come up in groups of three. Remember what we've learned about groups large than four causing a collapse in the space-time continuum? This obviously means that there's someone up there who wants to come with you. This someone is the UC, Lucia (for more information, refer to section II.I. of the FAQ). While it's not required that you rescue her, she's probably worth it if not simply for the favor that she later does for you. However, your trip up the Giant World Tree will be relatively difficult, especially if you've only got three characters on hand. Expect to see Green Dragons up here, who actually should be the least of your worries. The Red Cyclone is another new enemy who can cast the Infermost spell and usually attacks in groups (thankfully they don't cast Infermost that often). Then there's the Infernus Sentinel, a cousin to the Beleth that can cast Blazemore and Fendspell. In addition, the Infernus Sentinel is resistant to all forms of magic. Oh, yeah, and that obnoxious Ryvern creature from Aktemto is back. But also base your party on a few other things. First of all, it's impossible to become marooned in the Giant World Tree, as whenever you get into trouble, all you have to do is just jump off (this is actually more of a hindrance, as you're more likely to accidentally step off than you are to run out of MP at this point). Furthermore, revival comes at a cheap price here in the Giant World Tree, because all you must do is yank up one of its infinite leaves to revive a character for free, which is pretty cool when you think about it. So arrange whatever party you feel comfortable bringing into these conditions and move out! Just inside three tree, you see two paths. The path leading up takes you upstairs to a chest containing the highly-useful Staff of Healing, while the path leading right will take you upstairs and to the next fork in the road. Upstairs, there are paths leading up and down. The path leading up will take you on a nice round trip of the tree and eventually leads to the stairs going up to the next level. Oh, and watch your step here- falling off really sucks. On the next floor, head up to a left/right fork and go left and around until you are heading right. There are two paths heading down that you will pass, but both are dead-ends, so continue right to the next and final set of stairs. Oh, and need I repeat that you watch your step? Falling off this close to the top really sucks. You're on the top of the tree, which is the most branch-bare of them all. If you fall off up here, you're really going to be kicking your ass. Anyways, head southwest from the stairs to the center of the tree to meet Lucia. She's a Zenithian who fell from Zenithia and broke her wings, hindering her return trip home. Say, you're going that way, aren't you? Well, you will be if you could ever find that damned sword! Oh, it's right over there. Grab the Zenithian Sword from a nearby chest (it should be somewhere to the right of where you are now) and leave. By the way, you now have all of the Zenithian equipment! Methinks it's time to pay a little visit to Master Dragon... wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section III: Walkthrough|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | H. The Center of the World | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /___________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section III: Walkthrough|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Center of the World/Gottside Okay, you might notice that the power of the Zenithian Sword isn't quite what you hoped it would be. That's okay, just equip it anyway, for it will soon be a weapon of unsurpassable power. But the question still remains: where the hell are you supposed to go from here? I mean, you've heard all of this crap about the Tower of Zenithia, which will take he or she who possesses all of the Zenithian equipment to the kingdom of Zenithia. But... where the hell is it!? Well, as the name of this section has already tipped you off, you need to head towards the center of the world. Close to the geographical center of the map is a tiny island that remains inaccessible by ship because it's completely surrounded by... this black crap... It might be corral, it might be explosives of some sort; whatever the hell that crap back at Stancia was seems to have proliferated here. At any rate, only your balloon can take you past the indestructible barrier of black crap and onto the tiny island. Of course, when you land, it's not so tiny anymore. Zoomed in, you'll see that even the tiniest island is a sizeable chunk of land. Your balloon can't get you around anymore, sadly. If you get back on, it takes you right off the island. Because, apparently, flying isn't allowed here... Much to your dismay, this is one of those video game logic flukes that can rather really inconvenience you. From here on out, you're on foot only. Oh, yeah. There's a whole new slew of monsters here. Not really dangerous so much as they are new. The Infernus Sentinel, which you may remember from the Giant World Tree, appears here. Though they can be irritating, their pain-in-the-assness is challenged by another local resident, the Wilymage. The Wilymage's usually travel in pairs and carry and endless supply of leaves from the World Tree. What this means is unless you kill them both at once, you're really accomplishing nothing and succeeding only in further irritating yourself. In addition to their infernal survivalability, the Wilymage is also resistant to fire magic and can cast Firevolt. The Ogre is a fairly mentionless foe... Oh, yeah, there is another creature around here called the Noctabat. But, it is fairly rare (given the name, it usually will only show up at night, as well). It's chief ability nullifies any spell being cast in a battle with it. Any spell. So just kick its ass without using magic- it's not that hard to do, y'know. I should also mention the prevalence of the King Metal creature in the hills northeast of Gottside. They boast the Firebane spell and two attacks per turn, making them twice as likely to turn tail and run from you. However, the frequent occurence of them does make these hills a favorite level-up spot of some players, and is discussed in detail in section VI.C. of the FAQ. From where you landed, head east (and avoid going south for the moment) to a town called Gottside. This town is also home to a number of elves and prides itself on being the town closest to Zenithia. At any rate, talk with the people here, and learn very little except that you are (obviously) very close to the Zenithian Tower. You'll also meet a "fallen angel", who sees the Her and tells you to hurry your ass up to Zenithia. Let's get going now, shall we? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Shrine of the Horn Now, there, Sparky. I know you've got your sights set to the sky, but there's one important stop you need to make first. East of Gottside is a ring of mountains that is only broken on its east side. Inside the ring of mountains (enter it from the east) is the Shrine of the Horn. Lucky for you, this place is very small, and your stay here brief. The best news? No enemy encounters! There are two items here you'll want to grab. One is a great piece of armor called the Dress of Radiance, and the other is an artifact called the Baron's Horn. It has no apparent use, but you want it. Why, you ask? Because this is a video game, and you are intended to pick up everything that isn't nailed down, especially if that particular item has it's own little building that's named after it. Remember, in video games, all priceless artifacts and items exist solely for your exclusive use, except, I guess, the Golden Bracelet. Which reminds me, Necrasaro is still out there, don'tcha know? Head to the Zenithian Tower... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Zenithian Tower The Zenithian Tower is a short walk south of Gottside and will take your party to Zenithia (assuming the Hero comes with you). You don't have to take Lucia with you if you don't want to, as the wagon will re-appear at Zenithia. As for who should come on this trip...? You'll see a lot of the creatures from outside roaming around in here (including the Noctabat, despite it not being nighttime in here), plus a several new ones. There's the Ferocial, which is little more than a stronger version of the Leonar from the Colossus. The Beastan is also of little mention, and is nothing more than a cheap Hambalba knock-off that can't even paralyze you. The Pit Viper is a little pain in the ass that it can paralyze you with its attacks and isn't affected by the Hero's kick-ass lightning magic. On the higher levels, the enemies get a little more dangerous, however. You may run into the Rhinoking that you may or may not remember form Esturk's Palace (he was the one guarding Esturk). There's also the Demighoul which brings old problems back to you in spades. Remember the Blazeghost and how you could never hit those little bastards with weapons, and sometimes they'd even split? Say hello to the Demighoul. Another pest roaming around up here is the Master Necrodian. Though you may laugh at the pathetic little Rogue Whispers he summons, beware his mighty Defeat spell. From the beginning, you're given the option to go left or right. The right path is the one that takes you further up the tower. That being said, the left path will also take you to a set of stairs. Up those stairs, you'll see a path leading down and some more stairs. The path leading down is a dead-end, while the stairs going up will take you to a chest containing a relatively worthless Magic Potion. This trip really wasn't worth it, now was it? Taking the right path at the original fork takes you upstairs and to the next fork. Upstairs, you'll see a path going left, and one heading up into a small room. Inside the small room is a chest containing some Mystic Acorns, and the path going left will take you to small room. Inside this small room are three sets of stairs: one on the right side of the room, one on the left, and one in the upper part of the room. The right one leads to a dead-end. The left one leads to a Small Medal. Only the one in the upper part of the room will continue you through the Zenithian Tower. On the next floor, you'll see a room that looks like one of the "pools" that restores your HP/MP, but isn't. Exit the room through the bottom and continue to the next fork. You'll see a small room and a set of stairs going down. The room only leads to a dead-end, so go downstairs. Making your way through this room, you'll see a path going down and a set of stairs to the left. If you take the path down, you'll find the Mysterious Bolero. Finding this, head back to the fork and go upstairs. As you emerge on the next floor, you can go either left or right. To your right is a chest containing a Dragon Shield, and to your left is a roundabout path that will take you around to another fork. From this fork, go down and around to the right side of the room. From here, you should be able to locate the stairs leading up to the top floor. The top floor is pretty simple. Ascend the altar and fly up to Zenithia! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Zenithia Like, wow man! We're in the clouds and stuff! You've got your wagon back, and you see a big castle in front of you. We can only guess that this is, in fact, Zenithia. Put Lucia (if you have her) in your party before entering. And, when you enter Zenithia, if Lucia is with you, she'll run off. Don't worry about her- snoop around... Talk with the angels and the elves here (you'll actually meet the two elves from Birdsong Tower here). There's also a demon watering the plants who gives you the very useful Dew of the World Tree, which restores everyone's HP and MP. Unfortunately, you can only carry one at a time, but there's an endless supply from this guy! Another angel tells you about what really happened so many years ago. One of the "angels" here went to Earth, fell in love with a young woodsman, and had a baby. The woodsman, interestingly enough, was struck dead by a bolt of lightning. Conversely, the angel, whom we all thought had died, was brought back up here to Zenithia. However, she is dead now, so you never get to meet her, which kinda sucks. A nun will tell you that Necrasaro moved to the underground and fortified his palace with an indestructible barrier of sorts, which really sucks. Also, an extremely grateful Lucia will grant you the aid of a baby dragon named Doran for the rest of your quest: a valuable asset, indeed. Lastly, someone here explains that they were nice enough to summon your wagon using a little item called the Baron's Horn. So the Baron's Horn summons your wagon, 'huh? After exploring a bit, enter the castle and speak with the big cheese himself- John Candy. After chatting with him, say hello to Master Dragon. He explains a few things, most of which you already know. He does mention that you need to go defeat Necrasaro (which you know already). Problem is that after this little "ruler of evil" fiasco, Necrasaro has retreated to the underground, a place where he has far much more control. Also, he's renewed his vow to exterminate every living human following Rosa's abduction... At any rate, Master Dragon then grants the Hero a small bit of experience and blesses the Zenithian Sword... This renders it an unstoppable weapon (it also unequipped it from you- put it back on). After this, someone at the edge of town is nice enough to point you towards a hole in the clouds you can jump through in order to reach the Final Cave, which will lead you to Necrasaro. You may ask yourself what good you'll be against the forces of evil after you've died from falling ten thousand feet out of the sky. But, if about a zillion three-story drops didn't kill you, what makes you think a three-hundred story one will be any more damaging? Remember, this is a video game. Only local wildlife and prolonged exposure to marshy terrain can kill you- not a ten thousand foot impact, never mind what'll probably land on top of he/she who lands first. Video games... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Final Cave (Part One) I hate this place... If the layout doesn't confuse you to the point of insanity, the monsters will drive you that way, anyways. Among the little hellions that will try and kill you are the: Red Dragon, Bezzable, Bharack, Fairy Dragon, Spite Spirit, Bull Basher, Ogrebasher, and Master Malice. The Red Dragon makes its first appearance here. They can cast Surround, Infermost, emit scorching gas, and possess an immunity to blaze and flame magic. The Bezzable, actually, is pretty much the tamest thing here and does seemingly little else besides showing up in large numbers. But, if you let them live while killing off all their friends, you soon learn that they are capable of casting the Farewell spell, meaning that you should probably get rid of them as soon as you can. The Bharack, besides showing up in large numbers and being able to summon more of themselves, are resistant to ice and explosive magics and can summon Curers (little pains in the ass that can cast Healall), as well. The Fairy Dragon is actually less threatening than its cousin, the Dragonit, was at the time. Still, beware the sweet breath of the Fairy Dragon, as well as it's Chaos spell. Spite Spirits can produce effects similar to the Bounce spell, so be careful when attacking them with magic. In addition, the Spite Spirit knows the Stopspell spell, and can reproduce like nobody's business (though not nearly as bad as that damn Maskan could). The Bull Basher is one of the tougher foes around here. For starters, they usually travel in pairs and can cast the Revive spell. Not only that, but their HP is kind of high, and they are also resistant to all forms of magic. Their method of attack is usually the Blizzard spell. Next, the Ogrebasher. The good news is that they're pretty much big, dumb guys who always travel alone and smash things with their big sticks. The bad news is that what they do do, they do well. In addition to being good fighters who often strike critical blows, they have around 900 HP to back it up with. Cristo, interestingly enough, will actually cast Surround on these things (which pretty much debilitates their offense, actually). The whole place would actually be a walk in the park if not for the last enemy here... Lastly, we have Master Malice. The single most obnoxious, aggravating, and irritating thing down here is this little bitch. The good news is that, like the Ogrebasher, Master Malice always travels alone. Also, Master Malice is the only enemy in the game who conforms to a specific attack pattern. Master Malice begins the fight with Explodet, and then cats Fendspell, next comes Upper, Blazemore follows, Esturk's "freezing waves" attack that eliminates the effects of any spell affecting any of your characters comes after that, and finally, Master Malice attacks. Then, the whole pattern starts over. And you should expect fights to be considerably long, as well, considering that Master Malice's HP breaks 1,000, giving her more HP than any regular enemy, and more than most bosses, as well. God, I hate this place... From the beginning, you may head up two rooms to a chest containing a Dress of Radiance. Either the path going left from the first room or from the room just above it will take you to a hallway that will lead you to another fork in the road. Here, there's a path going right, and one going down. The path going right takes you to a room where you some more of those arrow tiles on the floor. The one you see going left takes you right back where you started. You'll see two below you, though only one of them points away from you. This one leads to a chest containing a Small Medal. Now, head back up and hop on the arrow tiles that lead back to the room's entrance. At the fork, the path leading down takes you down a large set of stairs that, in fact, takes you down to the floor below. While you may not realize it, in heading down, you're going down a floor. I tell you this, because the rooms down here overlap with the rooms above you, and it can get very confusing if you don't realize that you've gone down. The hallway will lead down, right, up, left, and finally down again to another down/left fork directly below the one upstairs. The left path here actually takes you further through the cave, while the bottom path takes you to a few treasures. Going down from this fork, you're going down another floor, and along another hallway that leads you down, right, up, left, and down to... a path going left directly underneath the two down/left forks above you. Go left into a very large room with a big lake in the middle of it, and a generous portion of swamp tiles surrounding the outskirts (think "Stepguard"). Go left from the entrance, and in the far upper-left corner of this room you'll find chest containing some Lifeforce Nuts. Walk down to the bottom of the room and start to head back right. You'll see some arrow tiles on the floor sending you on a one-way trip back to the right side of the room. They'll stop at a chest containing some Water Flying Clothes, though. Anyways, having collected both treasures down here, head back upstairs to the down/left fork and take the left fork to continue through the cave. Back at the second down/left fork, the left path will continue through the Final Cave. It leads you to a small room with exits leading down and to the left. The left exit leads to a small room with a Staff of Jubilation in it. The exit leading down takes you a large swamp-filled hallway. The chest you see in the far reaches of the swamp is a Mimic, so just walk past it until the hallway finally takes you to a set of stairs leading back up to the first floor. Upstairs, you'll see some more arrow tiles. The ones to your right will just take you the hole you're standing next to and dump you back at the feet of the stairs, so they're really counter-productive when you think about it. Head down and around the arrow tiles you see until you come across two arrow-tile paths leading down. The one on the right just takes you in a loop, so take the one on the left. It leads you to a chest containing the cursed Demon Armor. From here, however, you should be able to step on some arrow tiles leading right. From there, it's a short walk to a set of stairs leading down. Downstairs you'll be in a small room with lotsa treasure! Liberate the chests here of their contents: 3280 gold, an Agility Seed, some Lifeforce Nuts, and a Strength Seed. The stairs leading down to the next floor are only a few tiles away from the treasure horde. Downstairs again, you'll find yourself on a small island in the middle of that big lake you may have seen in that really big room. Right next to you is a boat, which you'll be needing to sail a few tiles to the right to another set of stairs leading down. On this floor, simply head left and then down from where you start to yet another set of stairs going down. You'll see a big door down here that takes you to the second half of the Final Cave. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Final Cave (Part Two) OK, this isn't necessarily the second half of the Final Cave. That insinuates that you're only halfway through. Don't fret- you're actually pretty close to the exit. This is considered to be the second half of the Final Cave because, first of all, there's a distinct change in scenery. You've now entered a castle-like setting of sorts, which is actually a prelate of things to come. In entering the "castle", you have crossed the line that separates the world above with the evil word below. Anyhoo, along with the new settings comes to you a new set of monsters, though you'll still see a few favorites left over from the first part of the Final Cave, like the Red Dragon, Spite Spirit, Bharack, and the Bull Basher. One new addition, the Big Sloth, was intended mainly as a joke. They have little powers to speak of besides that, when hurt badly enough, they tend to "get serious". By "getting serious", I'm not sure what they mean, but they do start trying to cast spells that they don't even have enough MP to cast (Blizzard), and they usually just end up running away. Also, expect to see hordes of Metal Babbles here (yay!) along with the occasional King Metal, whom you may or may not remember from the hills of Gottside. For this reason, this place actually makes a damn fine level-up spot in the late game (see section VI.D. for more on leveling-up here), though some still prefer to stick with Gottside for all their level-up needs. Anyways, your trip through the castle is relatively short. From where you start off, follow the path to a room with a big-ass hole in it, and some stairs behind that hole. The floor below this contains two treasure chests. One, in the middle, contains the Mirror Shield and is only accessible by jumping into the hole in the floor above. The other chest, conversely, is only accessible by taking the stairs and contains Lifeforce Nuts. You can advance to the floor below this one either by taking the stairs or by jumping into the ring-shaped hole in the middle of this room. The next floor down, there ain't much but another set of stairs leading down. On the ground floor, exit the "castle" only to emerge in the evil world... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Evil World/Last Refuge Congratulations! You are now in the evil world (Hell, essentially). Hmm... I didn't know there was vegetation in Hell, let alone trees. Flora aside, the local fauna is a brand-new experience, as well. We've got Swingers, Impostors, Guardians, Ryvernlords, Leaping Maskans, Lethal Armors (what in the hell are they doing here???), Great Ridons, and the Duke Malisto. Swingers, besides being the most poorly-named enemy in RPG history, are essentially rip-offs of the Ogre that possess no special power whatsoever besides being really damn strong. Impostors appear here, and can turn themselves into members of your current team, but are severely handicapped otherwise. There can only be one clone of each team member at a time, and the only attack that the Impostor is capable of is the Transform spell (they can't even attack!) They appear in fours, but in four separate groups. Still, Explodet and/or Lightning makes very short work of them. If you actually have the Mirror of Ra, it will revert their transformations, as well. But, kicking their asses is still much easier. The Guardian is the Dragon Rider creature to the next power. They get two attacks every round, are immune to explosive magic, and can emit blizzards, as well as sweet breath. Ryvernlords are an example of an enemy gone a step down. They cannot poison you like their predecessors can, making them bearable. Their only real strength is their tendency to show up in groups, and they can occasionally summon Bharacks (you may remember them from the Final Cave). Then we have the Leaping Maskan. If you at all remember the Maskans from the Shrine of Breaking Waves, you should understand why these things must die as soon as possible and in some horrible fashion. Even though their only alternative attack targets the whole party, and ends up killing the attacker in the process, these things still are a pain in the ass. As with just about everything else out here, though, Lightning and Explodet will see to it that their reinforcements never see the light of day. The Lethal Armor, for some reason, makes its home down here, too. You may remember these things from Stancia, actually, and be wondering why in the hell they're hanging out with things five times stronger than they are... The last two creatures are rare occurrences out here, but are probably the most difficult fights. Great Ridons can emit violent blazes, which can be damaging. They are resistant to all forms of magic, and are entirely immune to blaze and ice spells, to boot. Duke Malisto is the badass cousin of the Beleth and Infernus Sentinel. In addition to being resistant to all forms of magic, Duke Malisto has a wide library of spells including Stopspell, Beat, Firevolt, and Blazemost. All in all, the fights out here should be very easy (excepting encounters with the Great Ridon and Duke Malisto), because of the Lightning and Explodet spells. Explodet, and especially Lightning, makes pretty much short work of anything you come into contact with, as I've sort of already mentioned. Feel free to use these spells to annihilate anything that comes near you, as MP conservation should be the least of your worries right now. To learn why, keep reading. Directly outside of and right next to the exit of the Final Cave, you'll see a little shrine. Enter it, for this is the Last Refuge, a place run by a rather unfortunate angel, where you can rest up for the upcoming battles. Despite what you may think, if there's anything you still need to do, the Return spell will, in fact, take you to and from this place. If only getting out of the real Hell were so easy... Like I've said, video games don't obey the rules of simple logic. They just don't, kay? In the center of Hell stands Necrasaro's Palace. But, according to the angel at the Last Refuge, you can't just barge in. No, no... Necrasaro's too smart for that. Before getting in, you've got to deal with his four very stupid, very pitiful lackeys! Yes, every super-villain like Necrasaro needs lackeys! And they're just the kind of lackeys you'd expect a guy like Necrasaro to have: blindly loyal, needlessly aggressive, virtually brain-dead, and easy to kill. Each hides out in a hovel-like setting on the four corners of "Hell". You are to enter each dwelling and kick the ass of the inhabitant. After doing this for each of the four lackeys, the barrier is broken and you are granted access to Necrasaro's Palace, got it? Good. Before you begin these lackey fights, there is a point I must stress. As we've already established, MP conservation shouldn't be much of an issue in the Evil World, due to the Last Refuge. As for the lackey battles, you can return to the Last Refuge and heal up after each fight, so, naturally, it would be in your best interests to dump all of your MP into disposing of the lackeys in such a way that an open-casket funeral would be out of the question. Hit those bastards with everything you've got, and don't hesitate to use the Hero's Healusall spell to keep your own HP in the green. And, as always, a Sword of Lethargy can pretty much negate any difficulty these fights have to offer (excepting Anderoug, for obvious reasons). Now, it's off to do battle with the lackeys! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Den of Infernus Shadow We'll start with the lackey to the northwest: Infernus Shadow. Though it really doesn't matter which order they're defeated in, I choose to do this one first because this particular lackey will yield a Sword of Miracles when defeated- a pretty good haul, if you ask me. Anyways, enter the northwestern hovel and face lackey number one. Infernus Shadow's attacks include a normal attack, emitting a blizzard, and the Explodet spell. If you've ever cast that deadly freaking spell, you'll know what to expect. One way to go about it is to just wail on his ass with everything you've got before he can do much damage, while yet another is to constantly keep maxing out your HP with Healusall while the rest of the team does the dirty work (though most people will find some sort of happy medium here...) However, if you're really that worried about his Explodet spell, you can either deal with it via Fendspell, or just waltz in there with the Sphere of Silence and show his miserable ass who's boss. Either way, when you win the fight, you earn the Sword of Miracles, and it's on to the next lackey. Also please note that due to a disturbance in the Force, you must step outside before your Return spell will work. We apologize for any inconvenience. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Den of Gigademon The den of Gigademon is located in the southwestern corner of Hell. It is also the only hideout that is in any way guarded. For starters, the entrance is difficult to reach (you've gotta crawl through some underbrush to reach it), and there's a set of stairs leading nowhere that you must descend simply because that stairwell stands in the way of the set of stairs you must actually use. Just inside, there is a room full of strange clay dolls that will mirror your every step. If you touch one, you will be thrown out of the den. The idea is to move in such a manner that the dolls become trapped behind the stones scattered throughout the hideout, and then continue to Gigademon. Gigademon will laugh, and then ask you to check the ground behind you. Whether you turn around or just talk to him again, the fight will ensue. Gigademon gets two attacks every round and can cast Defense on your party. If you at all remember the Ogrebasher from the Final Cave, you'll know what to expect from Gigademon, actually. If Cristo happens to be around, this is another time that he will miraculously remember knowing the Surround spell and use it with impressive results. Anyways, wail on Gigademon's ass, and then leave for the next lackey's hideout. Oh, and the ban on the Return spell inside each lackey's hideout is still in effect. Please step outside before teleporting back to the Last Refuge. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Den of Anderoug The next lackey can be found in the den to the southeast. You know the routine, walk in, take either the left or right path to the throne room, and pick a fight with the third lackey, Anderoug. Anderoug alone is pretty much the weakest lackey, by far, with both low HP and no noteworthy or dangerous attacks. The problem is that there's three of him, and they are all capable of summoning replacements should one die, so the point is to take them all out together. The good news? Just cast a few spells (Lightning, Blizzard, Infermost, Explodet... and even Defeat works), and you can easily end this fight in less than one round. After the fight, however, feel free to stop and laugh at the pathetic lackey that couldn't even go one round with you. I swear, how did this imbecile even make it on the team, anyways? For a lackey, even, he sucked. In compliance with the "no Return spells inside the lackey's dens" rule, step outside and carry on to the hideout of the final lackey. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Den of Radimvice Big Bad Radimvice is the fourth and final lackey, found in the hideout to the northeast. Inside the hideout, on the second floor, you'll see two stairwells. The one in the upper-right corner will lead you to the Zombie Mail, virtually worthless armor, while the stairs in the bottom-left corner go upstairs to the throne room. You'll approach the throne room from the left, and may continue right to collect a Small Medal, and then head into the throne room itself and speak with Radimvice. In compliance with the rule that states that all evil villains must reveal their nefarious plans before attempting to kill you, Radimvice reveals that he, in fact, was the one who ordered the abduction of Rosa (gasp)! With a new sense of reason to kick his ass, do just that. This fight will play a bit differently than the previous three. The fight consists of Radimvice and her three pet Demighouls. You'll recall that the Demighouls are highly resistant to physical attacks, but before you whip out a Lightning spell to take care of them, realize that Radimvice begins the fight protected by the Bounce spell. And if you were to use the Zenithian Sword to remove that spell, not only would he probably just put it back up again, your team, regardless of who is with you, will have by then likely dealt with the Demighoul situation. And since Radimvice is completely immune to all magic except lightning magic, anyways, it's probably not worth the bother. As for Radimvice's offense, he knows the Blizzard and Infermost spells, and will get two attacks every round to use them. On the other hand, Radimvice is also a very crappy fighter, so the magic is all you have to worry about. Fendspell is a good call for your healers in this fight, while your fighters will probably have the HP base needed to see this fight through to the end (though you should still keep an eye on their HP). Mara and Brey contribute very little to this fight, actually, besides easy kills for Radimvice (though Brey may actually decide to cast Bikill on someone, it's rather unlikely). Anyways, with the fourth and final lackey destroyed, the barrier is broken. Exit the Den of Radimvice and then head back to the Last Refuge. The angel there will heal you up, and will also remind you that you should take the Baron's Horn with you into Necrasaro's Palace. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Necrasaro's Palace Necrasaro's Place really isn't that difficult. Despite only being able to have four members with you, you still have access to everyone back at the wagon (though someone with you still needs to have the Baron's Horn when you exit the place). The monsters here are a "greatest hits" series from the Final Cave and the Evil World. You'll also run into Duke Malisto and the Great Ridon in here much more than you would outside. Of course, the fights here can be the easiest of them all if you know exactly why. For a really cheap trick in getting through Necrasaro's Palace with minimal difficulty, refer to section XIV.B. of the FAQ. Arriving at the front gates, just step inside the place. In the first room, you'll see more of those dolls from Gigademon's hut guarding the place. Only these things won't kick you out- they'll fight you! Aside from being impossible fights to escape from, the Clay Doll also casts Defeat with wanton disregard, so you're advised to avoid these things. To make it through this room safely, head right directly from the entrance (with the protection of Mara's Stepguard spell, preferably), and up along the wall until you reach the exit in the upper-right corner of the room. Follow this path to a set of stairs. Upstairs, you'll come across another fork in the road. You'll see stairs leading up, stairs leading down, and a pit. The pit and the stairs leading down both go to a swamp-filled room with a chest containing a Small Medal somewhere in the bottom portion. Taking the stairs up, you'll eventually reach an elevator, as well as some more stairs. Going up the stairs takes you to a room with an exit in the lower-right corner of it (also, directly above the stairs, is a concealed path leading up and to the invaluable Sage's Stone). The exit in the bottom-right corner of the room will take you to chests containing a Small Medal and the Staff of Thunder. Back at the elevator, hop on and you'll see that it takes you to the floor below, covering up the pit that was once there. Heading up takes you back the way you came, while heading right takes you to a room with some stairs in it. Go up these stairs to find an elevator blocking a stairway leading upstairs. Take the elevator to the floor below, and then climb back up here and go upstairs. Upstairs, there's a small pathway that leads to a big room with a pool in the middle. The exit is in the lower left corner of the room and leads outside. Out there, the palace's back exit is clearly visible, and that's where you'll be wanting to go (make sure that someone's got the Baron's Horn before leaving). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Necrasaro's Mountain You can try and take Necrasaro on now, but you might stop and realize that half your damn party is missing. Try using the Baron's Horn to summon them. Your party whole again, walk up the mountain and approach the evil son-of-a-bitch... Actually, despite the overall scarcity of random encounters on this mountain, you just may run across the last normal enemy to appear in the game, called the Flamadog. I swear, these things would make the most kick-ass pets! Against you, however, they're relatively harmless, they're only attacks being emitting scorching gas and no resistances to speak of (not even against fire!) More than anything, the Flamadogs are just a reprieve before your fight with Necrasaro who, as you should have figured out by now, is sitting atop this very mountain. Go after him! First of all, a Sword of Lethargy can make this fight disturbingly easy, and likely negate the need for any kind of strategic thinking. Either way, you still need to think about who you send in first, because you're only allowed to change members one at a time when you begin fighting. Cristo, Nara, and Brey are all good choices due to their Increase, Barrier, and Bikill spells. Of course, we all know how reluctant they are to use them. However, it's about this time that it might actually just be worth it in the long run for the Hero to use the Transform spell, cast the spell, and then use the Zenithian Sword on him/herself to revert back. The disadvantages are that the Hero will not be able to retain any spell effects, and about halfway through the fight you may find yourself having to re-cast said spells. Whether or not you decide to go with the Transform spell, the Hero does have several responsibilities in this fight. Even if you have Cristo and Nara in the fight, you still need to watch everyone's HP like a hawk. Combine characters who already don't know when it's time to heal up with a creature that deals big damage every round, and you sorta get the idea. Don't be shy to cast Healusall if need be, but keep an eye on the Hero's MP while you're at it, though. If you picked up the Sages Stone back at Necrasaro's Palace, this fight is prety much what it was meant for. Overall, the Hero will probably get a lot of chances to attack, but with all the things I've already mentioned, the Hero is more of a utility in this battle than anything. Your fighters more than anyone should shine in this battle (especially with Bikill cast). Mara's Blazemore can compete with the damage output of your fighters, but the disadvantage is that her magic will occasionally miss, whereas a physical attack will always hit. Also, the high durability of your fighters will be a big plus, especially in the later stages of the fight, so keep them alive and healthy throughout it! At any rate, the fight proceeds a little like this... Necrasaro has seven forms in total. He begins the fight in his first form, and as you continue to deal damage, he will go though each succesional form until he reaches his seventh and final form. Defeat the seventh form, and you've won the fight, got it? Necrasaro's first form is simple enough. You'll first learn exactly how much it hurts to get hit by him (ouch!) The fact that he gets two attacks every round isn't making things any easier. If you're going Bikill/Increase/Barrier, the earlier you cast them, the better. Increase and Barrier are big assets, but make sure not to cast it until you have all the members you want to use for awhile out on the field. Bikill, on the other hand, is a big help, as well, but it's really only worth it to cast this spell on characters whose damage output is already high (like Ragnar, Alena, and Taloon). Due to Necrasaro's high defense, Cristo and Nara, even with good weapons equipped, aren't going to be doing that much damage with them. After a short fight, Necrasaro's arm will fall off. In his second form, Necrasaro battles you with one arm... Basically, this is the same as the first form except that he's no longer getting two attacks. Since this is pretty much the least threatening of all of his forms, now is probably a good time to make sure that your team is comfortably situated, because the upcoming forms are going to get much more difficult. In his third form, Necrasaro's other arm falls off... Despite not having any arms, Necrasaro continues to battle you, however. As you might expect, his physical attacks, if he makes any at all, will be substantially weak, due to a lack of any kind of limb that would inflict much damage. However, it's about this time Necrasaro will begin attacking with the Firebane and Snowstorm spells. True, they may be painful, but coming from the game's paramount boss, I'd expect much better. All in all, consider these two spells a blessing. But since they're the only offensive spells he casts, and he stops casting them in his next form, it's not at all worth it to try and find some way to counter them. Also, you may find that he casts the Increase spell. This is extremely detrimental to your progress, so counter this spell immediately with the Zenithian Sword. Lastly, probably his most irritating attack in this form is his gales of sweet breath. In a fight like this, asleep is one of the last things you'd want to be. If you find that someone in your team has been affected, the Hero's Awake spell should do the trick (unless the Hero is among those affected). And after more fighting, you'll knock his head off... You knock his freakin' head off... What's even more ridiculous is that this still does not stop Necrasaro from fighting you. He just grows a new head out of his chest, turns green, and launches himself at you. After your laughter subsides, you should probably sit up and realize that this is one of his more difficult forms. For starters, he is capable of doing that "freezing waves" crap that erases the effects of all the spells affecting the members of your party. The good news is that this attack is just one of many this form possesses, and if you hurry up and make with the ass-kicking, you may be able to get away without him using this. If he does however, you'll have to decide whether or not it'll be worth it to re-cast your spells, seeing as they will be erased again in his seventh form. Another ability Necrasaro possesses in this form is the ability to meditate and restore his health (thankfully, this ability is possessed only by this form). However, the two most common attacks you'll find Necrasaro using in this form (besides his normal attack, which is now back to its normal strength) are scorching gas attacks and violent blazes. Further along, Necrasaro will grow a giant pair of hands... Personally, I don't think he looks any more cartoonish in the entire fight than he does in this form... A guy with hands bigger than his entire body... Good lord... The bad news is that with his hands back, he's going back to getting two attacks in every round. The good news is that besides attacking, his only other attack in this form is scorching gas (yes, no more of that "freezing waves" crap for the moment). If you want to (and have to) re-cast Increase/Bikill/Barrier, you had better do it now, because you're not going to get much more use out of them past this point. To compensate for his gigantic hands, Necrasaro will grow gigantic legs in his next form. At least now you're not getting you ass whipped by something half your size... Anyways, this form is in every way identical to the previous one. Keep fighting! I don't even know how to describe this last form. He grows... a new head, it looks like... Despite having his face in his stomach, this is just getting hilarious (actually, it was getting hilarious about five forms ago, now it's just getting freakin' scary). Despite your best efforts, Necrasaro will make heavy use of the freezing waves attack in this last form, so it's time to give up on Bikill/Increase/Barrier. Also, some bad news for your magic-users as Necrasaro will automatically cast the Bounce spell upon entering his seventh form. Mara will probably cast BeDragon on herself if she's still around, but take heart, brave warriors. The battlefield just became an extremely dangerous place for your weaker characters. Necrasaro can now emit violent blazes and icy gusts, and when you consider that he gets two attacks in one turn, his potential damage output just shot up pretty damn high. So even though you can counter Necrasaro's Bounce spell with the Zenithian Sword, he'll probably just put it right back up and still have one attack left over to kick your ass with. So Mara and Brey at this point really have no more business on the battlefield. And while Nara does have healing capacities, she's the most at-risk character of them all with her low HP. If Cristo is still alive at this point, now is an excellent time to drag his ass into the fray. As both the healer with the most HP and the wielder of the Healus spell, he's a good idea to have around. The Hero, of course, needs to be extremely vigilant in watching everyone's HP at this point, because the Hero seems to be the only one aware of Necrasaro's potential damage output in just one round. Lastly, Ragnar, Alena, and Taloon are the best characters you can have in the fight right now. With their high HP and fighting abilities, they're not only damage-absorbing tanks, but they'll also pose pretty much as your main offensive unit. Anyways, eventually, the fight ends and you will have saved the world. The ending, as in most NES games, is simple and rather unrewarding. So, I'll take it upon myself to make you feel better: good freakin' going! I hope you get promoted as a result of this monumental achievement! I bow before you as a gesture of ultimate respect... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Ending For the purposes of completeness, I feel compelled to include the ending in my walkthrough. This is an obvious spoiler, of course. But, without further ado... As you stand atop the mountain having defeated Necrasaro, the mountain begins to collapse for some unknown reason. Maybe the only thing keeping the mountain standing was Necrasaro's own sense of evil determination, I don't know. But, the point is, that the mountain is crumbling and you're still on it. Luckily, Master Dragon shows up and whisks you back to Zenithia. Back in his throne room, he'll revive any of your slain allies and then congratulate each member of your team separately, except that he jointly thanks Cristo and Brey as Alena's two bitches, and really can't tell Nara and Mara apart that well, either. He offers the Hero the opportunity to stay here in Zenithia, but the Hero declines, opting to head back to Earth, instead. You can now walk freely around Zenithia and talk with everyone here (and you finally start to get some damn respect from those elves from Birdsong Tower). Leave Zenithia, and everyone hops on the balloon. Now, in every RPG there always lingers that question about whether or not the team members end up going their own separate ways when the storm clears. Dragon Warrior IV answers that question as ambiguously as possible. The balloon expertly navigates the world, and brings everyone back to their respective homes. Alena, Cristo, and Brey first return home to a now-repopulated Santeem Castle. Next, Ragnar returns to Burland where we can only assume that he is knighted and promoted to captain of the royal guard. We'll never know for sure because your characters stopped being able to talk about five minutes ago when the ending music started. Next, Taloon is brought back to Endor. While we'd assume that he'd head directly to the king to inform him of his pursuits, Taloon instead heads home to his family in a touching reunion. The Hero then leaves indifferently to take Mara and Nara home. First, the three go to Kievs. After paying their last respects to Edgar, Nara and Mara head for Monbaraba to resume Mara's dancing show. Exhausted, the Hero returns to the ruins that were once Hometown. The Hero replants a couple of the flowers in the center of the village that were destroyed and revives Celia. As they embrace, they hear someone entering the village... Ragnar, Alena, Cristo, Brey, Taloon, Nara, and Mara... The game abruptly ends without much of an explanation here. I'd really like to know what happened here, actually. But, alas... BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~IV~ ~IV~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | IV. Side Quests (The Cascade Cave) | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~IV~ ~IV~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: Seaside Village Well, there's only one quest in this game you don't necessarily have to do, but it will net you the Metal Babble Sword. This means you'll probably want to do it. It starts in the town of Seaside Village. As mentioned earlier in the walkthrough, the Return spell won't remember this area; even though it can take you to and from Hell, it won't take you here. So, you'll actually have to get off your ass and go there! You'll hear from the Village about the Sandglass of Regression, the Stone of Drought, and the Cascade Cave. All three are related. The Cascade Cave is where your side quest will take place and is where you'll find the Metal Babble Sword. It is also where you'll find the Sandglass of Regression, which will turn back time a few rounds during a battle. It's useful, but keep in mind that you can only get one use out of it per day, so make it count. The Stone of Drought is what dries up the waterfall that blocks the entrance to the Cascade Cave. Essentially, it's the key. I know, I know, you shouldn't have to stop the waterfall to get in, right? Well, remember that this is a video game, and more importantly, an RPG. And all characters in RPG's are scared of the water, remember? Actually, in some cases, water is fatal to a character in an RPG. And we thought water pollution was a problem in the real world. The Stone of Drought can be found here, by the way. Someone here will tell you a rousing pirate story, sending you to the beach with a metal detector. There's an easy way to do this, though. The Stone of Drought tends to detract water, right? Someone here tells you that the tide comes in at night... Come here at night and look for the one panel that is untouched by the water. Since you're too much of a pansy to wade through ankle deep water to retrieve the damn thing, just come back during the day and search that spot for the Stone of Drought. If you're wondering why no one else thought to do this already, just remember that not everyone around here is as brilliant as you. You at least likely have a kindergarten education. Now, it's time for you to head to the Cascade Cave, which you'll find slightly to the southeast of Rosaville.. Keep in mind that you must have the Final Key in order to enter, which means you must have at least reached the point in your quest where you received the Zenithian Shield. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Welcome to: The Cascade Cave The monsters in the Cascade Cave are all different from the normal ones you'll find on your quest. They are like the aquatic-themed monsters you battle at sea, only more powerful. The Minidemon is the one non-aquatic foe in here, and can cast Blazemore and emit freezing winds. The Balakooda also casts Blazemore, and will occasionally cast Increase, as well. The Doolsnake in here will cast Stopspell, the Raygarth may emit scorching breath, and the Tentagor really has no powers to speak of besides getting in two attacks every round. The first part of the Cave is painfully linear. Walk up to the "door" and use the Stone of Drought to reverse the water flow, thus ensuring you don't get any of that deadly "water" on you when you enter the cave. You'll enter the room that is locked up with a Final Key door. Make sure to grab the ~Sandglass of Regression while you're in here, as well. Leaving that room, you're treated to the first actual "maze" part of the cave. The first fork you reach will have paths leading up and down. Go down. Very soon afterwards, you reach the second fork, which is also up/down. Up will lead to a Small Medal, and down will take you to the stairs leading to the next floor down. On the next floor, you may either go down or right. If you go all the way down, ignoring a second path to the right (which is a dead-end), you'll find the Mask of Corruption. From the beginning, if you go right and follow the path, you reach another up/down fork. Down will take you to a chest with 1040 gold in it, and going up will take you on a path to another fork, with paths leading down and right. Go right, and then follow the path all the way down to the bottom of the room. From there, the path will lead you all the way to the left (long path) and to a set of stairs leading down to the next floor. On the third floor down, you will discover the one and only Metal Babble Sword! You are now the proud owner of the strongest sword in the game. That's about the end of your side quest, as well. Enjoy the rest of the game... or don't, I really don't care. Actually, I do. Please have fun. Please? BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~V~ ~V~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | V. Little Secrets | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~V~ ~V~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section V: Little Secrets|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. Endor's Treasury | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section V: Little Secrets|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Endor doesn't have much along the lines of a treasury- it's basically one treasure chest big. But it is quite well hidden. As you are heading down the left hallway in the castle towards the coliseum, you will see a small exit to your left, this exit will take you just outside the castle. Step any further away, and you will enter the world map. If you scale the castle down (back towards the town), you'll run into a stairwell which will take you there. There's a chest here with some Lifeforce Nuts. That's about it. Well, that's not true. The king keeps the good stash of equipment in his room. Later, when you have the Magic Key (and it seems you can only do this at night), return and loot his room only to find... a Feather Hat and a Pink Leotard... ok... I am now genuinely and greatly disturbed... wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section V: Little Secrets|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. The Burland Treasury | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section V: Little Secrets|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Not much of a secret, but Burland possesses a treasury just like every other castle in the game. You'll need the Thief's Key to enter and Mara's Stepguard spell if you have any hope of reaching the treasure alive. The treasure here consists of 480 gold (total), an Iron Helmet, some Lifeforce Nuts, an Agility Seed, and a Strength Seed. Quite a good haul, if I do say so myself. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section V: Little Secrets|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | C. The Hidden Shop at Endor | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section V: Little Secrets|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm You'll notice a building at Endor that is locked up entirely, and you'll need the Magic Key to get in. Inside, you'll find a guy who does a bustling business despite the fact that he keeps his shop off limits to the general public. This is where the infamous Metal Babble Armor may be purchased, as well as the powerful Cloak Of Evasion, and extremely crappy Swordedge Armor. Also, there is a back entrance to this shop that'll let you loot those treasure chests behind the counter. It's located in the castle (by the way, while you're in the castle, feel free to stop by the king's room and loot it, as mentioned above in section V.A.). One the first floor of the castle, underneath the throne room, obscured from your sight against the back wall, there's a door you should be able to open with the Magic Key. From there, you should find a path that takes you high into the sky. From there you can jump and will land in the secret shop behind the counter. Unfortunately, the loot kinda sucks (Multi-Edge Sword, anyone?) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section V: Little Secrets|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | D. Gardenbur's Third Basement | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section V: Little Secrets|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm The legendary third basement at Gardenbur is home to Alena's powerful Fire Claw. It's entrance is in a small room cleverly concealed just behind the stairway leading up to the queen's room. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section V: Little Secrets|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | E. The Treasury of Branca | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section V: Little Secrets|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Also note that Branca has another, more well guarded treasury than Burland's (you'll be needing the Final Key, here). However, the hazardous terrain surrounding the treasure here is thankfully at a minimum. Among your loot is a Small Medal, so don't miss it! wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section V: Little Secrets|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | F. Town Treasuries | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section V: Little Secrets|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Two towns in the game, Lakanaba and Koneber, also possess little treasuries of their own, which are both guarded by Final Key doors. Lakanaba's is in the basement of the weapon shop and contains, among other things, the Ice Blade, whereas the one in Koneber is in the inn, and houses the cursed Sword of Decimation (which is still useful, despite its curse). wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section V: Little Secrets|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | G. The Treasury at Dire Palace | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section V: Little Secrets|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Dire Palace is home to a treasury, containing the powerful Aeolus's Shield. To find it, make your way to the back of the castle and go outside. Scale the outer edge of the castle's northern perimeter to find the treasury. Warning: of the four chests here, the ones on the bottom left and bottom right are both Man-Eaters. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section V: Little Secrets|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | H. Items From Chests, Drawers, & Other Strange Places | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section V: Little Secrets|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm While the majority of the game's cool items are either bought or found in treasure chests, a small minority are found in chests, drawers, and even on the ground! Most of these are not mentioned in the walkthrough, but they're all listed here for your convenience. Excepting Small Medals, which are covered in section VII. of the FAQ, the following is a complete listing of all the items that can be found in this manner: * At Burland Castle, search a drawer in one of the rooms for a Medical Herb. * At Izmit, search a drawer at the inn for a Medical Herb. * At the well east of Izmit village, search two jars near the exit for an Agility Seed and a Medical Herb * At Santeem Castle, search a drawer in the room behind the healing room for some Fairy Water. * At Santeem Castle, search a drawer in Alena's room for a Feather Hat (Alena's best helmet in Chapter Two). * At Tempe, search the platform where the offering casket was placed for some Lifeforce Nuts. * At Frenor, search the bottom-right corner of the priest's garden for some Mystic Acorns (Chapter Five only). * At the Bazaar, search a set of jars for a Strength Seed, and a highly useless Gum Pod. * At Lakanaba, search the jars on the bottom floor of Taloon's house for a Medical Herb. * At Monbaraba, search a chest in the theater owner's room for a Strength Seed. * At Kievs, search a jar in Edgar's old house for some Lifeforce Nuts. * At Hometown (where the Hero begins), search a jar in the cellar for a Medical Herb. * At Hometown, after the chaos, search the area where Celia was lying for a Feather Hat (good headgear for a female Hero, good to sell for money for a male Hero). * At the woodsman's shack south of hometown, search all three of his jars for various useful treasure, including some Leather Armor, a Medical herb, and 50 gold. * At Aneaux, search in front of Ruvas's grave for a Strength Seed. * At Gardenbur, search a drawer near the queen's room for an Agility Seed (after already being accused of stealing... tsk...) * At Dire Palace, search in front of a grave for some Lifeforce Nuts. * Lastly, searching anywhere leafy at the Giant World Tree will pick you up a Leaf of the World Tree. BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~VI~ ~VI~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | VI. Level-Up Spots | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~VI~ ~VI~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section VI: Level-Up Spots|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. Cave North of Endor | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section VI: Level-Up Spots|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm This is the cave where you find the Silver Statuette in Chapter Three, remember? It's a good place to level-up, both with Taloon in Chapter Three and also with the Hero in early Chapter Five. This is mainly because in both Chapter Three and easrly Chapter Five, this is where the most powerful monsters around can be found. This is also because Metal Slimes will sometimes show up on the bottom floors. I'm going to assume that everyone is familiar with the monsters here, but here's a quick recap on Metal Slimes. They are rare creatures that show up every once in a while. Their HP is very low, but attacks towards them have a low success rate and only do one damage when they hit. In addition, they are immune to magic of any sorts, and have a tendency to run away very often. But, they offer some most kick-ass experience when you kill them. Taloon, I'm sad to say, stands very little chance of nailing one unless Strom and/or Laurent is with him, and even then, it's a long shot. The best Taloon can hope for is Laurent to paralyze the Metal Slime(s) with his Venemous Dagger. All in all, though, Taloon's much better off leveling-up by just kicking the ass of everything else in here. As for the Hero, Mara, and Nara, that's a different story. To be safe, exercise the Use No MP tactic if you run across a Metal Slime. Sure, Mara and Nara usually know what they're doing, but with A.I. this stupid, do you really want to risk it? The Venemous Dagger is a good weapon for either or both sisters to be wielding, as it may paralyze the Metal Slimes. Also, if Mara has a Poison Needle, she may even kill the Metal Slime(s) outright! Anyhoo, just fight around here and level the Hero up in early Chapter Five. If you bag yourself a Metal Slime, it alone should probably give you enough experience to quit leveling-up. Of course, you're also quite likely to get all the experience you need down here without so much as running into a Metal Slime... wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section VI: Level-Up Spots|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. The Royal Crypt | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section VI: Level-Up Spots|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Okay, this one's the biggie. Most of the game's major leveling-up will probably take place here. You can head here as early as the time you get the ship (it's that shrine located on the cape south of Endor), but you'll probably get your ass beaten so hard it's not even funny. By about the time you get Ragnar, not only will you have a full party to reap the benefits of leveling-up, but you'll also by this point likely be able to face the monsters here without getting your ass pounded into creamy cookie filling. As for what exactly you're dealing with? Well, since you probably haven't reached the Royal Crypt at the point in the game you'll likely decide to come level-up here, I've excerpted the monster descriptions from the walkthrough. The >Dragonits are probably the worst things you'll deal with. They like to attack in large groups, are resistant to fire magic of any sort, and can emit very deadly scorching breath. In addition, you'll meet the Hambalba, Tyranobat, Bebanar, Hemasword, and everyone's favorite, the Metal Babble. The >Hambalba and >Tyranobat are both relatively tame monsters, except that the latter can frighten your characters with a hideous, shrieking roar, and the former has a very small chance to paralyze one of your teammates. The >Bebanar is a distant cousin of the Phantom Messenger that casts Firebane and is resistant to all forms of fire magic. The >Hemasword is also kin to a familiar foe. And, like its cousins, the Hemasword has a high resistance to any and all magical attacks. As for the Metal Babbles... The Metal Babble would be the primary attraction here at the Royal Crypt. They're like the Metal Slimes in every way except that they have a tiny bit more HP and that in addition to the Blaze spell, they may also cast Firebal. Early on, the Metal Babbles are at a distinct advantagedue to your inability to deal with them. Your leveling-up at this point will more than likely come from killing all of the other monsters roaming around here waiting for a Metal Babble to show up. Even though early on a Metal Babble kill can mean a few levels-up for each character, don't kick yourself in the ass if one gets away. You're doing yourself enough of a favor by hanging around and killing things. This also helps in that you'll get a lot of cash from fighting here (something you probably need a lot at this point in the game). But how to increase your chances of killing a Metal Babble...? First of all, the basics. We all know that our characters "usually" know not to cast magic on a Metal Babble, but to be sure, we like to put it on the Use No MP tactic? Well, the only problem here is that any character of yours that has an item in their inventory that produces quasi-magical effects when used in battle will suddenly remember that they have it under this tactic, and just make a bunch of idiots out of themselves under this tactic. Luckily, this is one of those things they learn not to do after screwing up a few times (seems like a lot more than a few, though). Of course, they still might do this under the Offensive tactic, so your best strategy is actually take the Goddamn things away from them. Anyways, now for the good stuff. Early on, you've only got a few tricks, so you've got to milk them for all they're worth. One, of course, is the Venemous Dagger/Poison Needle trick. Both are effective against Metal Babbles. Also, if you've travelled to Rosaville and purchased a pair of Stiletto Earrings, Alena can make a kick-ass Metal Babble hunter with them in hand. Even without the Stiletto Earrings, Alena kicks ass at the Royal Crypt with her high speed and lots of critical hits, but getting two attacks in eahc round only makes things that much better. Taloon also adds an interesting element to the field with his various antics. Several of them actually have effects beneficial to those seeking to destroy Metal Babbles. As a further bonus, you may get lucky and see Taloon swipe a ~Hat of Happiness from one of them! Be warned, however, that his "expel" attack, used at the wrong time, will get you possibly more infuriated at Taloon than you have ever been at a video game character before. Later on, as you need increasingly more Metal Babble kills to make it worth your while, you have many more tricks up your sleeve. First of all, anyone attacking a Metal Babble with the Metal Babble Sword will do 2 damage rather than 1, which is a nice bonus. But no one kicks more ass than Mara when she learns her BeDragon spell... Upon seeing Metal Babbles, she casts BeDragon and turns into a dragon. While the dragon occasionally makes a normal attack, the usual attack of Mara's dragonized for is to emit a violent blaze. This attack hits the Metal Babbles for a guaranteed 1 damage each. Better yet, the Hero can later cast Transform to turn into Mara and mimic this maneuver. Under this strategy, any fight lasting more than two rounds is pretty much a guaranteed win. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section VI: Level-Up Spots|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | C. Hills Northeast of Gottside | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section VI: Level-Up Spots|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm In the hills northeast of Gottside, there is an inordinately high encounter rate of King Metals. This fact makes it a favorite level-up spot of some, though others may prefer the Metal Babble-infested Final Cave, discussed in section VI.D of the FAQ. One good reason to choose this spot over the other is that Taloon has a chance (albeit a small one) to steal a ~Metal Babble Helm from an unwitting King Metal. I should note, however, that even though you happen upon this spot earlier in the game, you are advised to venture onwards and then return to this spot after acquiring two very important things that will assist you in killing Metal Babbles. The first is Doran (if you have him), who serves essentially the same purpose as Mara does (only he's a real dragon). The second and far more useful object is the Mirror Shield. Now, as we have established, the King Metal gets in two attacks per turn, making it significantly more likely to run away quickly. Add this to the high number of hits needed to kill it, and you have a very difficult-to-kill enemy on your hands. However, the King Metal is known to cast Firebane, which, reflected from the Mirror Shield, can be an instant kill in the bag (since the damage reflected is proportional to the damage delivered, you'd be wise to ensure that whoever bears the Mirror shield is not strongly protected against magic (e.g., the Sacred Robe). Other than that, use all of the knowledge you have garnered thus far on the subject of hunting all things metal. The other note I feel I should make is that this level-up area suffers the same drawback of the second one in that you will not be able to take advantage of it (at least not very effectively) until very late in the game, and unless you are at a very low level, odds are you should be able to go ahead and finish up the game with minimal difficulty. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section VI: Level-Up Spots|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | D. Final Cave, Part Two (Near Last Refuge) | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section VI: Level-Up Spots|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm The second part of the Final Cave (the "castle") is completely infested with Metal Babbles, as well as the occasional King Metal. Granted, there are far fewer King Metals around here than there are in the Hills of Gottside (which is, of course, the level-up area discussed in section VI.C. of the FAQ), there are also many more Metal Babbles. When it comes right down to it, it's a toss-up between this area and the hills near Gottside. And the main issue is, of course, Metal Babbles versus King Metals. The King Metals, as we know, are much more difficult to kill, though the Mirror Shield is a big help in alleviating this problem. On the other hand, Metal Babbles can be extremely easy kills for you at this point in the game, what with Mara, Doran, the Mirror Shield, and other tactics handy. Another consideration would be the possibility of using Taloon to grift an item from said foes. Granted, the chances of him doing it are low, but there is a possibility that he may steal a ~Hat of Happiness from the local Metal Babbles (as opposed to the Metal Babble Helm from the King Metal). While you may get extremely lucky and have Taloon nab a ~Metal Babble Helm from a King Metal here, your chances will be much higher in an area where they are more common (e.g., the hills northeast of Gottside). In conclusion, you can't really go wrong with either this area or the hills northeast of Gottside if you find yourself in the late-game in need of a bit of levelling-up. However, as I mentioned when discussing the hills northeast of Gottside, bear in mind that you are very late into the game, and unless you are at a dangerously low level, you can likely finish up the game without spending too much time here, if any at all. I mean, after all, you were able to make it this far, right? BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~VII~ ~VII~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | VII. Concerning Small Medals | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~VII~ ~VII~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section VII: Concerning Small Medals|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. Immediately Available Medals | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section VII: Concerning Small Medals|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Small medals are items that are located all throughout the world, and can be brought to a king living in a secluded castle/shrine in the northeastern corner of the world in exchange for fabulous prizes. The following Small Medals are not locked up in any way and are basically available to you providing you are on Chapter Five and can reach their locations: * One can be found aboard the old ship in Koneber. * One can be found aboard Taloon's ship in Koneber before it sets sail (this is a "lost-forever"- see section I.F. of the FAQ). * One can be found at Mintos (find it on the ground to the left of the well). * One can be found at the Shrine East of Mintos (look on the ground for it). * One can be found in "The House of an Island's Old Man" (near Seaside Village). * One can be found in the cannon at Seaside Village. * One can be found at Riverton (on the center island, search the ground). * Two can be found at Stancia. (Running total: 9) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section VII: Concerning Small Medals|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. Magic Key Medals | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section VII: Concerning Small Medals|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm The following Small Medals become available to you after acquiring the Magic Key: * One can be found in the secret lab where you find the Magic Key. * One can be found at Endor (Running total: 11) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section VII: Concerning Small Medals|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | C. Final Key Medals | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section VII: Concerning Small Medals|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm The following Small Medals become available to you after or shortly before acquiring the Final Key: * One can be found at Gardenbur * One can be found at the Cave Southeast of Gardenbur * One can be found at Branca * Two can be found at Haville. * Two can be found at the Shrine of Breaking Waves. * One can be found at the Cascade Cave. * One can be found at the Royal Crypt. * One can be found at the Shrine of the Colossus. (Running total: 21) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section VII: Concerning Small Medals|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | D. Ruler of Evil Medals | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section VII: Concerning Small Medals|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm The following Small Medals become available to you upon reaching Dire Palace and/or beginning the expedition deep into Aktemto Mine (note that you should probably start wrapping things up with the Small Medal King by this point, as the endgame is rapidly approaching): * Two can be found at Dire Palace. * One can be found at Aktemto Mine (near the very bottom, take a right before the exit, and search in front of a pool of water). * Two can be found at Esturk's Castle. (Running total: 26) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section VII: Concerning Small Medals|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | E. Late-Game Medals | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section VII: Concerning Small Medals|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm The following Small Medals do not become available to you until inconveniently late in the game, and it would behoove you to have everything you need from the Small Medal King by this point. At any rate, the following Small Medals are found at the Center of the World: * One can be found at Gottside. * One can be found at the Zenithian Tower. * One can be found at Zenithia. * One can be found at the Final Cave. * One can be found at the Den of Gigademon (find it on the ground where the swamp wraps back around to the entrance). * One can be found in the Palace of Necrasaro. (Grand total: 32) BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~VIII~ ~VIII~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | VIII. Casino Strategy | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~VIII~ ~VIII~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section VIII: Casino Strategy|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. The Coliseum | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /________________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section VIII: Casino Strategy|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm The coliseum is probably the most entertaining thing at the casino. The monsters here can be either strong or weak, but generally will not be ones that you have not fought before, and therefore are out of your area of expertise. It really helps to have prior knowledge of all the enemies involved in a fight. Ones with really low odds usually have them for a reason. However, sometimes, even when a creature has higher odds, it's really anyone's fight. That's where prior knowledge comes in... Remember that no matter how many monsters are fighting that they can, and invariably will, pick on whoever you choose. In other words, no matter what, it always comes down to your chosen one and someone else. For this reason, don't wager on monsters that do little direct damage, especially magicians who can use their spells once and then are SOL for the rest of the fight. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. For instance, two Blazeghosts will usually make pretty quick work of a Brahmird, should they both focus their attacks on him. Also, on that note, be wary of fights that consist of two or more of the same creature, therefore forcing you to guess between them. As for your picks, let's go over a few desirable qualities. Obviously, being strong and durable helps, unless, of course, they're up against a bunch of magicians. On that note, high resistance to magic can help, as well. Defensive and indirectly offensive magic can be a big asset. For example, a Lillypa can cast Upper, Skeletons know Defense, Ducksbills can cast Sap, et cetera. Of course, don't just base your entire bet on that fact alone. For instance, we all know that a Lillypa, even protected by Upper, is still a bit of a pushover. More desirable traits include other attacks. The Kordra, for instance, gets lots of critical hits, which makes him an excellent choice. Lastly, the ability to emit anything is a great advantage. Spells like Snowstorm and Firebane, for example, only target enemy groups. So any monster casting either spell at the arena only targets one other monster. But any "emitted" attacks will target the entire opposition. The only abilities that aren't worth your trouble are those who emit poisonous gas (worthless) and hideous shrieking roars (even more worthless). wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section VIII: Casino Strategy|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. The Slots | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /________________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section VIII: Casino Strategy|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm The casino's rip-off corner is filled with slot machines. These are about the least fun things here and also have the least chances of winning anything or any significant amount of money. At any rate, you can put in up to five coins, each successive coin offering you a new line to win on. Your best bet is to always wager your maximum of five coins. Also, which machine you play on makes a difference. From left to right, I've conveniently named them Machines One, Two, Thee, Four, and Five. * Machine One has good odds to win with three bars. * Machine Two has good odds to win with three bars. * Machine Three has good odds to win with three stars, water drops, or suns. * Machine Four has good odds to win with three moons. * Machine Five has good odds to win with three sevens. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section VIII: Casino Strategy|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | C. The Poker Table | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /________________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section VIII: Casino Strategy|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Pound for pound, this is the best place to win money. Bet all you want, because you can simply save and restart the game when you lose, right? Since you should be wanting four Metal Babble Shields, and likely a Meteorite Armband for everyone, you've got quite a hefty order on your hands. The poker table is here to help. Simply wager your maximum of a hundred coins every time you play until you win. Now, double-or-nothing is the place to win. If you have enough patience, keep at this (you'll be restarting a lot, I can tell you already) until you win the maximum amount allowed through repeated double-or-nothings. 100,000 coins... If you can manage to accomplish this twice, you'll earn the four Metal Babble Shields. From here, it's a short road to a few other minor wins to earn enough coins for anything else you happen to want (eight Meteorite Armbands will run you another 32,000, and another highly recommended item, the Wizard Ring, runs at 500 coins per). Anyhoo, if you're curious, the poker table does keep a record on you. When you're placing your bet, press (not hold) B, Start, and Select to view your running tally at the poker table. Of course, if you do this too much, the mob will come and whack you... just kidding. BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~VIII~ ~VIII~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | VIII. Casino Strategy | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~VIII~ ~VIII~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section IX: Equipment Lists|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. Weapons | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /______________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section IX: Equipment Lists|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Abacus of Virtue * Power------35 * Price------1,600 Gold * Used By----Ta * Location---Endor and Mintos The best weapon Taloon can acquire at the end of Chapter Three unless he can find a Sword of Malice. It will perform the Expel spell when used as an item in battle. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Battle Axe * Power------50 * Price------5,500 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Various Shops in Chapter Five For the price of this thing, you don't get much more power than a Broad Sword or a Sword of Malice... Before you spend your hard-earned coin on one, first consider your other options at the moment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Boomerang * Power------18 * Price------350 Gold * Used By----Everyone * Location---Various shops in the world A little more expensive than the Thorn Whip and a bit more powerful, the Boomerang is the only other weapon that may be equipped by every character in the game. If you don't feel like spending a lot of money on a Chain Sickle for Alena in Chapter Two, this can be a more cost-effective alternative that's almost as powerful. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broad Sword * Power------40 * Price------2,000 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Bonmalmo, Various shops in Chapter Five This's a good weapon at a good price for the Hero in early Chapter Five, and a highly recommended purchase as soon as you have the cash. Note that Taloon may deal in these during Chapter Three, but he cannot equip them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chain Sickle * Power------20 * Price------550 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na, Al * Location---Various shops in the world Taloon gets a free one in early Chapter Three, and can make some good use of it for the majority of the chapter. Nara may choose to buy one for a solid physical offense during early Chapter Four, as well. Also, despite the price, this is the most powerful weapon Alena may wield in early Chapter Two before graduating to her trademark Iron Claw. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Club * Power------7 * Price------30 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na, Al * Location---Various shops in the world A very basic weapon that's useful because it's so cheap. It's very early in Chapter Three before Taloon can locate a more powerful weapon, and Cristo starts Chapter Two with one, as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copper Sword * Power------12 * Price------100 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na * Location---Various shops in the world A good starting weapon for such valiant warriors as Ragnar and Nara... not to mention your ever-powerful Hero. Cristo may decide to pick one up before venturing forth, as well. It serves you well until something better comes along. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cypress Stick * Power------2 * Price------10 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na, Ma, Br * Location---Foxville (As Broad Sword) These things can only be bought at Foxville (you get swindled, actually). They are very weak and useless. Brey starts with one, and you might as well let him keep it until you get something better for him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Demon Hammer * Power------70 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Hidden in the Colossus This thing is moderately powerful but will curse you if you try to use it. Besides, you've probably already got better stuff on you by this point in the game and should therefore have no use for it, anyways, unless you just really hate yourself or something. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dragon Killer * Power------90 * Price------15,000 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Rosaville, Riverton These things may be expensive, but they're quite powerful. The downside is that there are several other weapons available, such as the Metal Babble Sword, Ice Blade, and the Sword of Miracles, that are either stronger or of comparable power, and cost much less. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fire Claw * Power------60 * Price------N/A * Used By----Al * Location---Hidden in Gardenbur This excellent weapon casts Firebane when used as an item in battle. It is the treasure hidden in the third basement of Gardenbur (see section V.D. of the FAQ for details). However, later in the game, a pair of Stiletto Earrings may prove more powerful than this... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ice Blade * Power------75 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Hidden in Lakanaba You can find this thing in Lakanaba as soon as you find the Final Key. It's main selling point is that it's a good weapon and it's free! Though, powerful as it is, there're still other weapons available that are much more powerful. Even after (or if) you've outfitted both Ragnar and the Hero with better alternatives, you still may want to keep this around, as it casts Snowstorm when used in battle. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Iron Claw * Power------38 * Price------1,500 Gold * Used By----Al * Location---Endor One of the game's "lost-forevers" (see section I.F. of the FAQ) is Alena's best weapon exiting Chapter Two. This is both a vast improvement over what Alena already had as well as her best weapon for a long while- a must-buy before entering the tournament. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Iron Fan * Power------22 * Price------620 Gold * Used By----Ma * Location---Haville and Aneaux Before picking up one of these, realize that the Venomous Dagger is stronger, may paralyze your opponent, and costs only a little bit more than this does. On the other hand, perhaps you'd prefer to purchase a Poison Needle instead. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Iron Spear * Power------28 * Price------880 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr * Location---Various shops in the world This is a good weapon, but the problem is that better ones are available. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Magma Staff * Power------63 * Price------N/A * Used By----Cr, Na, Ma, Br * Location---Hidden in Santeem Besides being an important quest item, this is the most powerful weapon for magic users (excepting the Metal Babble Sword), and will cast the Bang spell when used in battle, as well. This can either be used primarily as a weapon, and whomever gets it will then have the ability to cast Bang, or you may simply hand it to a character with the express purpose of giving them a free Bang spell, not really caring about the fact that it happens to be a weapon. Your call. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Metal Babble Sword * Power------130 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na * Location---Hidden in the Cascade Cave An entire side quest is dedicated to finding this, and you'll soon see why. With it, anyone can become an offensive powerhouse. You may choose to allow the Hero to wield this until the Zenithian Sword surfaces, or give it to Ragnar and let him kick some ass. Still others seem to prefer handing it over to Taloon (for those that favor his fighting style), or to Cristo (compensating for his one weakness of a poor offense)... Nara already has a good offense with her magic, but some still believe that this completes the package. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Morning Star * Power------33 * Price------1,250 Gold * Used By----Ra, Cr, Na * Location---Various shops in the world In the early game, this is a powerful weapon. Cristo and Nara may very well likely find themselves making extensive use of these well into Chapter Five, though Ragnar has a better alternative in the Sword of Malice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Multi-Edge Sword * Power------99 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Hidden in Endor Really... Go ahead and equip this thing. Just don't come crying to me after you do. It's cursed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Poison Needle * Power------0 * Price------1,300 Gold * Used By----Ma, Br * Location---Haville and Surene (Ch. 5) The Poison Needle, while not offering anything in the ways of offense, at least offers the opportunity for an instant kill. Earlier on, when your characters are still weak, the power of the Venomous Dagger is enough to make even Mara and Brey somewhat effective in dealing physical damage. That characteristic doesn't last too far into Chapter Five, however... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Silver Tarot Cards * Power------21 * Price------N/A * Used By----Na * Location---Hidden in Aktemto Mine As a weapon, these fail miserably. They produce random effect when used as an item in battle (see section XII.B. Of this FAQ for details), but only Nara can use them, and doesn't seem to in Chapter Five unless you're playing on the Try Out tactic. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Staff of Antimagic * Power------50 * Price------N/A * Used By----Cr, Na, Ma, Br * Location---Hidden in the Royal Crypt The Staff of Antimagic is one of the more powerful weapons for your magic users and will also casts Stopspell when used in battle. Like the Magma Staff, you may choose to distribute the Staff of Antimagic based on its power as a weapon, or based on the fact that it casts Stopspell in battle. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Staff of Force * Power------55 * Price------2,500 Gold * Used By----Cr, Na, Ma, Br * Location--- Surene (Ch. 5), Stancia This actually is the most powerful weapon for any magician. To deliver powerful blows, each hit eats up three MP. You'll have to decide whether or not the little extra damage done justifies the serious MP drain it can become, however. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Staff of Healing * Power------5 * Price------N/A * Used By----Cr, Na, Br * Location---Hidden in the Giant World Tree This is the only weapon that becomes counter-productive when used as such. It will actually heal the target, and whoever is using this thing as a weapon just won't get it through their heads that maybe they shouldn't be using it on the damned opposition. However, since this does cast Healmore when simply used as an item in battle, it's still handy to have around. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Staff of Jubilation * Power------33 * Price------1,000 Coins * Used By----Cr, Na, Ma, Br * Location---The Casino When used in battle, there's a chance that it will smile rather than attack. The success rate isn't terribly high, though. Still, it's a nifty item to have around. It's a moderately powerful weapon, too (exactly as powerful as the Morning Star). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Staff of Punishment * Power------35 * Price------1 Medal * Used By----Cr, Na * Location---From the Small Medal King Like many other staves, the best thing about the Staff of Punishment is what it does when used in battle as an item. This casts the Infermore spell when used in battle, making it a good bargain buy from the Small Medal King. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Staff of Thunder * Power------29 * Price------N/A * Used By----Ma, Br * Location---Hidden in Necrasaro's Palace This will cast the Firebane spell when used as an item in battle, so is pretty worthless by the time you find it. As a weapon, it blows as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stiletto Earrings * Power------5 * Price------7,500 Gold * Used By----Na, Ma, Al * Location---Rosaville An interesting weapon, to say the least. These add little to your offense, but allows the user to make two attacks. Since Alena has a very high natural attack power, these can be an excellent choice for her later on, better even than the Fire Claw. Note that the higher her strength is, the more exponentially powerful these are, not to even mention that with these in hand, the Bikill spell will be doubly effective. Plus, there's the doubled chances for a critical hit. So, yeah, these things are definitely worth the money. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sword of Decimation * Power------120 * Price------N/A * Used By----Ra, Ta * Location---Hidden in Koneber This thing is cursed, but, lucky for you, that doesn't apply to using it in battle. Very interesting, to say the least, but it does cast the Defense spell, and is therefore worth keeping around. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sword of Lethargy * Power------60 * Price------8,000 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Stancia, Rosaville, Riverton Despite it's low attack power and moderate cost, this can prove to be an effective weapon in that it randomly puts enemies to sleep when it hits. This even works on bosses, including Necrasaro! But it's only truly effective in the hands of the Hero, as Ragnar tends to stupidly use it to ineffectively cast Sleepmore on a constant basis. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sword of Malice * Power------45 * Price------3,500 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta * Location---Mintos, Kievs (Ch. 5), Stancia This is an excellent weapon in the early game. Ragnar and possibly Taloon should both have one at the end of their respective chapters. While powerful, it also casts the Firebal spell when used in battle. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sword of Miracles * Power------100 * Price------6 Medals * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr * Location---From the Small Medal King A most righteous weapon, indeed... Not only is it one of the most powerful weapons available, it grants you more survivalabilty because it drains HP from the target. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thorn Whip * Power------14 * Price------200 Gold * Used By----Everyone * Location---Various shops in the world A bit stronger than the Copper Sword, but twice as expensive, the true strength of this weapon is the fact that everyone may equip it. Looking for a little more power than the Copper Sword earlier on? You got it. Looking for something a little more frugal than a costly Boomerang or Chain Sickle? You got it. Looking for the cheapest weapon Mara can get her hands on in early Chapter Four? You got it, my friend. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Venomous Dagger * Power------24 * Price------750 Gold * Used By----Ta, Na, Ma, Br * Location---Various shops in the world While a powerful weapon for your magicians, the true power of the Venomous Dagger is the ability to randomly paralyze its target. With this, even Mara and Brey can be effective attackers in the early game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zenithian Sword * Power------65* * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr * Location---Hidden in Giant World Tree Don't be fooled by the low power- this thing becomes an incredibly powerful weapon a little later*. To boot, this is an extremely useful weapon when used in battle, as it will remove the effects of any spell affecting a target creature. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section IX: Equipment Lists|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. Armor | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /______________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section IX: Equipment Lists|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Basic Clothes * Defense----4 * Price------10 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na, Ma, Br, Al * Location---Surene A few characters start with some, which help out very early on. You should never have to buy any. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bronze Armor * Defense----25 * Price------700 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na * Location---Various shops in the world The best stuff Cristo can have until he reaches Endor at the end of Chapter Two. This may be good armor, but the Half-Plate Armor is still stronger, and when you consider that these will be rather long-term investments well into Chapter Five (not to mention the fact that you lose all your money going into Chapter Five, anyways), you should probably consider going for the Half-Plate Armor instead. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chain Mail * Defense----18 * Price------350 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Al * Location---Various shops in the world This is the best armor Alena can manage in Chapter Two, and serves her well until you find something better in Chapter Five. For anyone else, however, take a look at your other options first. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cloak of Evasion * Defense----28 * Price------3,000 Gold * Used By----Ma, Br, Al * Location---Various shops in Chapter Five This is terrific armor for your less armor-inclined characters, at a great cost no less. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dancer's Costume * Defense----8 * Price------400 Gold * Used By----Ma, Al * Location---Gardenbur Mara starts out with one, but she can sell it for more than enough money for something far better. Later, during Chapter Five, you may choose to buy one. In doing so, you are a dumbass. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Demon Armor * Defense----60 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Hidden in the Final Cave Ah, yes, another cursed piece of equipment that no one in their right minds would use. Worthless... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dragon Mail * Defense----45 * Price------5,200 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Various Shops in Chapter Five Highly defensive armor for the Hero and Ragnar, though before you spring for two pairs you should probably be aware of how close you are to finding the Zenithian Armor. Not only powerful, this reduces the damage done by things emitted by the enemy, like fireballs, scorching breath, and freezing winds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dress of Radiance * Defense----45 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr (F), Na, Ma, Al * Location---Hidden in the Shrine of the Horn & the Final Cave Despite being a dress, this is a rather protective piece of armor. In addition to looking good and covering your ass at the same time, the Dress of Radiance randomly bounces the effects of a spell back to the caster. The downside is that this applies to healing spells, as well... At any rate, you'll find two in the game, and both are pieces of armor to consider in the late-game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Full-Plate Armor * Defense----35 * Price------2,300 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Various Shops in Chapter Five Not much more powerful than the Half-Plate armor, but cheaper than the Dragon Mail. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fur Coat * Defense----22 * Price------600 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na, Ma, Al * Location---Bonmalmo, Haville, Aneaux The best armor Mara can have at the end of Chapter Four, and a small-but-cost-effective armor upgrade opportunity when Alena joins you during Chapter Five. For anyone else, however, this is a downgrade. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Half-Plate Armor * Defense----30 * Price------1,200 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Cr, Na * Location---Various shops in the world Great stuff. Ragnar, Cristo, and Nara should all have some coming into Chapter Five (Nara might also have some for the Hero). It serves you marvelously in early Chapter Five until better armor is located. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Iron Apron * Defense----32 * Price------1,500 Gold * Used By----Ta * Location---Endor, Mintos Essentially, this is Taloon's version of Half-Plate Armor. And excepting the Robe of Serenity and Swordedge Armor, the only thing more powerful than this that Taloon may equip is the Metal Babble Armor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leather Armor * Defense----12 * Price------180 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Br, Al * Location---Various shops in the world If you're looking for solid early-game defense, you really can't go wrong with this stuff (except for maybe Alena, whose Silk Robe offers almost as much protection as this does). In addition, this is the best armor that Brey may equip during Chapter Two, so you might as well get him some. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leather Dress * Defense----14 * Price------250 Gold * Used By----Hr (F), Na, Ma, Al * Location---Various shops in the world Leather Armor for women, basically. This is highly recommended for both Nara and Mara before they undertake their quest in Chapter Four. It's also quite obsolete by the time you reach Chapter Five. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Metal Babble Armor * Defense----95 * Price------15,000 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na * Location---Endor What to do with all that extra cash near the game's end? Buy some of this! By far the best armor in the game also has quite a hefty price tag. If you'd like to know where you can buy this stuff, simply refer to section V.E. of this FAQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mysterious Bolero * Defense----37 * Price------N/A * Used By----Cr, Na, Ma, Br * Location---Hidden in the Zenithian Tower For Mara or Brey, this is definitely a piece of equipment to consider. Whenever the wearer is struck with an enemy's spell, he/she will gain MP equal to the spell's casting cost. As for Cristo & Nara, the Metal Babble Armor offers nearly three times the protection of the Mysterious Bolero, so... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pink Leotard * Defense----40 * Price------6,300 Gold * Used By----Hr (F), Na, Ma, Al * Location---Gardenbur The defense offered by this deceptively solid armor may or may not be enough for you to consider buying some for Alena and Mara (considering the hefty price tag...) Nara and the Hero, on the other hand, have much better defensive alternatives than this (the Sacred Robe and Dragon Mail/Zenithian Armor, respectively). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Robe of Serenity * Defense----33 * Price------N/A * Used By----Ta, Cr, Na, Ma, Br, Al * Location---Hidden in the Cave of the Padequia This is an interesting piece of armor... It reduces the damage done when the wearer's HP gets low. Even into the late game, this is a good piece of armor for one of your weaker characters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sacred Robe * Defense----38 * Price------4,400 Gold * Used By----Cr, Na * Location---Various shops in Chapter Five The best armor you can get for Cristo and Nara before you get them some Metal Babble Armor, and probably one of the most kick-ass pieces of armor available. The Sacred Robe will reduce the damage done by magic spells in the fire and ice categories. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Silk Robe * Defense----10 * Price------110 Gold * Used By----Hr, Na, Ma, Al * Location---Monbaraba Alena starts out with one, as does Nara. These do their jobs quite well until better alternatives are reached. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Swordedge Armor * Defense----50 * Price------9,800 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta * Location---Endor Occasionally, this will return a percentage of the damage done by a physical attack to the attacker. The damage done is actually quite negligible considering that the Metal Babble Armor offers nearly twice the protection that this does, however. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Water Flying Clothes * Defense----41 * Price------15,000 Gold * Used By----Na, Ma, Br * Location---Elfville More good armor for your spellcasters, though a bit pricey... While offering great protection, the chief selling point is that it will reduce the damage done by things emitted by the enemy (like the Dragon Mail does). And when you consider how dangerous those attacks can become in the late-game, this fact alone can make the Water Flying Clothes some of the best armor available to your spellcasters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wayfarer's Clothes * Defense----7 * Price------70 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na, Ma, Br, Al * Location---Surene, Lakanaba, Monbaraba Cristo starts out with some, and they serve him well until he finds something else more fitting. The Wayfarer's Clothes also make a good bargain buy for Taloon in early Chapter Three. As for Brey, the Leather Armor is the best armor he can equip during Chapter Two, so consider saving up for that instead of buying him some of these. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zenithian Armor * Defense----70 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr * Location---Hidden in Shrine of Breaking Waves Some of the best armor you'll ever lay eyes upon... The Zenithian Armor reduces damage done by things emitted by the foe (like the Dragon Mail does) and it also reduces damage done by fire and ice magic (like the Sacred Robe does). Kick-ass armor, indeed... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zombie Mail * Defense----49 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Hidden in the Den of Radimvice Okay, this stuff is cursed and its defense sucks and you don't find it until really late in the game... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section IX: Equipment Lists|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | C. Shields | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /______________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section IX: Equipment Lists|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Aeolus's Shield * Defense----50 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Hidden in Dire Palace This is a powerful shield that blows all of your enemies away when used in battle (an effect similar to the Expel spell). It's hidden in the treasury at Dire Palace (see section V.F. of the FAQ for details on locating the treasury). The reason you might not give this to Ragnar is that the Expel effect can begin to seriously piss you off when he starts arbitrarily blowing your gold and experience out the window. The Hero, obviously, has the Zenithian Shield... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dragon Shield * Defense----30 * Price------7,100 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Riverton, Gottside Take everything I said about the Dragon Mail and stick it right here instead. The only difference is that if you want one in the early game, you're going to have to go to Riverton for it (it's a town that doesn't appear on the map that is located along a river on the southeastern continent). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Iron Shield * Defense----12 * Price------650 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na * Location---Various shops in the world A great piece of equipment spanning all five chapters. Though Cristo and Nara should both get Metal Babble Shields ASAP, they'll both be using these until then. Ragnar, Taloon, and the Hero should all get extensive use from these well into Chapter Five, as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leather Shield * Defense----4 * Price------90 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na, Br * Location---Various shops in the world A good asset to Taloon in early Chapter Three, should he choose to buy one. Ragnar, Cristo, Brey, and Nara may consider saving up for a Scale Shield/Iron Shield, however... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Metal Babble Shield * Defense----60 * Price------50,000 Coins * Used By----Cr, Na, Ma, Br * Location---The Casino Not only is this thing kick-ass, but it gives your weaker characters a solid defensive base. If Alena can strike it rich at the casino in Chapter Two and earn enough for four, they'll give you a huge advantage early on. To boot, it casts Fendspell when used in battle. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mirror Shield * Defense----45 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr, Ra, Cr * Location---Hidden in the Final Cave Returns a portion of all magic damage to the caster. This advantage is enough to justify the small defensive loss from switching down from the Aeolus's Shield; switching up from the Shield of Strength is a no-brainer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scale Shield * Defense----7 * Price------180 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na, Br * Location---Various shops in the world This's the best thing Brey can get until he gets a hold of a coveted Metal Babble Shield, and may serve Ragnar, Cristo, Nara, or Taloon well on their way to the purchase of a much more expensive Iron Shield. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shield of Strength * Defense----40 * Price------13,000 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr * Location---Elfville A good investment for Taloon, at any rate, considering it's his best shield. Good buys for Cristo and Ragnar, as well (though Ragnar may have the Aeolus's Shield, and Cristo should have a Metal Babble Shield...). It casts Healmore when used in battle... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zenithian Shield * Defense----55 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr * Location---Hidden in Gardenbur This is a great piece of equipment, offering a high amount of protection to the Hero. As an added bonus, it will cast the Bounce spell when used in battle. One of the better pieces of Zenithian equipment, indeed... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section IX: Equipment Lists|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | D. Helmets | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /______________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section IX: Equipment Lists|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Feather Hat * Defense----8 * Price------280 Gold * Used By----Na, Ma, Al * Location---Various shops in the world Great headwear for your female fighters early on. Alena should both find and equip one early on, and Nara and Mara both would be wise to procure them early into Chapter Four. The Hero, on the other hand, should sell the Feather Hat he or she finds to earn money for something else, such as a comparable Wooden Hat at a decent price. The Feather Hat is made obsolete by the Golden Barrette. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Golden Barrette * Defense----12 * Price------540 Gold * Used By----Hr (F), Na, Ma, Al * Location---Koneber, Mintos, Gardenbur Slightly better headwear for your female characters. It arrives in early Chapter Five, and is also the best headwear Alena can equip. Also, unless either of them plan on obtaining a Hat of Happiness or the Metal Babble Helm, it's also the best headgear you're gonna find for Nara & Mara. In addition to being nice and protective, the Golden Barrette lessens the chance of a Chaos spell taking effect, which is a nifty bonus. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hat of Happiness * Defense----15 * Price------4 Medals * Used By----Cr, Na, Ma, Br * Location---From the Small Medal King It may look goofy, but it has good defensive value and restores MP with every couple of steps. Aside from the Small Medal King, Metal Babbles may leave this behind when the die (or, more often, Taloon will outright steal it from them). But, don't count on it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Iron Helmet * Defense----16 * Price------1,100 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr * Location---Various shops in Chapter Five The best helmet available to Taloon (besides the Metal Babble Helm). As for Cristo, Ragnar, and the Hero, ask yourself how far away they are from their respective better alternatives: the Hat of Happiness, Iron Mask, and Zenithian Helm. Note that Cristo may never actually get a Hat of Happiness, depending (mostly) on your dealings with the Small Medal King. If this is the case, just get him an Iron Helmet and be done with it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Iron Mask * Defense----25 * Price------3500 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra * Location---Various shops in Chapter Five Ragnar's best helmet, pretty much (excepting the Metal Babble Helm). A great buy for him, but the Hero has the Zenithian Helm, so consider that before buying a second one for your valiant Hero. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leather Hat * Defense----2 * Price------65 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na, Ma, Br, Al * Location---Various shops in the world Not a good buy, generally (given the availability of the Wooden Hat/Feather Hat). But, you may pick one up for Taloon for a bit of extra defense in early Chapter Three, and it is the best thing available to Brey until when and if he is blessed with a Hat of Happiness, so you might as well get him one in Chapter Two. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mask of Corruption * Defense----200 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na, Ma, Br, Al * Location---Hidden in the Cascade Cave Okay, so you see the two hundred defense mark. Looks too good to be true, doesn't it? It is. You are strongly advised against using this very, very cursed item. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Metal Babble Helm * Defense----50 * Price------20 Medals * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na * Location---From the Small Medal King If you decide to get this, realize that you're devoting a large portion of your Small Medals to it, and that you either won't be getting this until inconveniently late in the game, or you won't be getting the other items (Hat of Happiness and Sword of Miracles come to mind) until inconveniently late in the game However, if you're really lucky, King Metals may leave these behind when they die, or Taloon may just steal them. If you actually get one, the protection offered is quite divine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wooden Hat * Defense----6 * Price------120 Gold * Used By----Hr, Ra, Ta, Cr, Na, Al * Location---Various shops in the world Great headwear for your male characters throughout a better portion of the game. Ragnar, Cristo, and Taloon should all have one coming into Chapter Five, and the male Hero is encouraged to quickly procure one when Chapter Five starts. For some strange reason, however, the Wooden Hat is sold in item shops rather than armor shops... Glitch, maybe? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zenithian Helm * Defense----30 * Price------N/A * Used By----Hr * Location---From the King of Stancia A great piece of Zenithian equipment that offers great protection. It looks pretty snappy, too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~X~ ~X~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | X. Item List | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~X~ ~X~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Antidote Herb * Price------10 Gold * Location---Various shops in the world Cures poison. A useful item to have around in any area where the local fauna is known to be poisonous, especially if Cristo is not with you or does not know the Antidote spell. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Agility Seed * Price------N/A * Location---From a variety of places, really Increases the Agility of those who consume it by 1-3 points. Can be found in various locations throughout the game, and may also be dropped by the following enemies: Podokesaur, Beastan, and Pteranodon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dew of the World Tree * Price------N/A * Location---From a demon in Zenithian Castle A useful item that restores everyone's HP when used. You may find some at the Giant World Tree, and you'll also meet a demon later has an endless supply of it. He'll only give you one at a time, though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fairy Water * Price------20 Gold * Location---Various shops in the world Mimics the Repel spell, essentially. Useful in getting things the hell away from you if you would rather not be bothered. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Full Moon Herb * Price------30 Gold * Location---Various shops in the world If you venture into any area where the creatures are known to paralyze you and don't plan on taking Nara along, it would behoove you to have on of these just in case. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gum Pod * Price------8 Gold (sells for 1 gold) * Location---Foxville (As Medical Herb) Hmm... This does absolutely nothing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lamp of Darkness * Price------N/A * Location---Hidden in the Kievs Cave This nifty little item will cause night to fall instantly. This works like Brey's Day/Night spell, only it will not change night into day. And if you'd like to turn night into day, just sleep at an inn. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leaf of World Tree * Price------N/A * Location---Hidden in the Giant World Tree Pick these up all over the Giant World Tree (just "search" to reach down and yank one up). It cures death! Useful because this's a difficult area, but you can only find them here, and carry only one at a time (they must be heavy). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lifeforce Nuts * Price------N/A * Location---From a variety of places, really Increases the HP of those who consume it by 4-6 points. Can be found in various locations throughout the game, and may also be dropped by the following enemies: Flamadog, Guzzle Ray, and Tentagor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Luck Seed * Price------N/A * Location---From a variety of places, really Increases the Luck of whomever consumes it by 1-3 points. These are the rarest of all the stat-enhancing items, and, besides being dropped by enemies, are only found twice in the entire game. The enemies that may leave these include: Red Dragon, Demonite, and Vileplant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lunch * Price------N/A * Location---From a variety of places, really A Medical Herb with a different, and considerably more appetizing name. It is also quite amusing to have your characters pause in the middle of a heated battle to sit down and eat lunch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Magic Potion * Price------30 Coins * Location---The Casino Cures a minimal amount of MP. Useful boosts when found, but before you actually buy one at the casino, realize that the Wizard's Ring is a lot more useful to have around. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Medical Herb * Price------8 Gold * Location---Various shops in the world Casts the Heal spell, essentially. While clear up until early to mid Chapter Five it's generally a good idea to have one or two of these around just in case, there are times when the Medical Herb is not just extremely nice to have around, but essential. This includes the tournament during Chapter Two, and pretty much the entirety of Chapter One and Chapter Three. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Meteorite Armband * Price------4,000 Coins * Location---The Casino Use it once to equip it, thus permanently doubling your Agility! Highly useful for getting the drop on your enemies, but you should note that these do nothing for your Defense. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mirror of Ra * Price------2,500 Coins * Location---The Casino Use this on an enemy who has created a false image of themselves. The only time this will actually work is against Linguar or an Impostor. As for Linguar, this is absolutely worthless because he just splits up again, and the Impostor should have had its ass kicked, like, five turns ago. The point I'm trying to make is that besides the novelty, there's really no point in getting one of these. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mystic Acorns * Price------N/A * Location---From a variety of places, really Increases the MP of those who consume it by 3-5 points. Can be found in various locations throughout the game, and may also be dropped by the following enemies: Mandrake, Blizag, and Fairy Dragon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sage's Stone * Price------N/A * Location---Hidden in Necrasaro's Palace You'll find this a bit late, but it does perform the Healus spell when used in battle. It's a handy item to have on hand for the Necrasaro fight, to say the least. As with most items of this nature, it is best placed in the hand of the one person who might actually use it when needed: the Hero. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sandglass of Regression * Price------N/A * Location---Hidden in the Cascade Cave Turns back the clock a few rounds during a battle. This is a nice trump card to have, but you must take note that it only works once per day, so don't overuse it. And as if it needed to be mentioned, an item of such power really should not be entrusted to anyone who isn't the Hero, unless you just really hate yourself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scent Pouch * Price------150 Gold * Location---Various shops in Chapter Five This item increases the enemy encounter rate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Small Medal * Price------N/A * Location---From a variety of places, really Found all over the world, you can collect these and give them to a creepy hermit who lives in a secldued castle in the northeastern corner of the world and in exchange receive wonderful prizes! For more on Small Medals, refer to section VII. Of the FAQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sphere of Silence * Price------N/A * Location---Kievs Cave (Ch.4), Rosaville (Ch..5) An important quest item that stops the affected enemy group from using magic... Find it first in Chapter Four, then it mysteriously resurfaces later in Chapter Five (though it is a lost-forever in that respect, as discussed in section I.F. of the FAQ). In the hands of the Hero, it may come in handy during a few select fights later in the game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Strength Seed * Price------N/A * Location---From a variety of places, really Increases the Strength of those who consume it by 1-3 points. Can be found in various locations throughout the game, and may also be dropped by the following enemies: Lethal Gopher, Brahmird, and Archbison. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wing of Wyvern * Price------25 Gold * Location---Various shops in the world Performs the Return spell. A useful item in Chapter One and Chapter Three, as it's the only method of quick travel. Also useful during Chapter Two and Chapter Four until the Return spell is learned. Obsolete by Chapter Five. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wizard's Ring * Price------500 Coins * Location---The Casino Unlike the Magic Potion, always try to have one of these babies on you. It restores about twenty to thirty MP and is reusable, except that it breaks if used too often. Of course, you can always buy more... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quest Items Lastly, the following is a list, in attempted chronological order, of items that are relevant to the plot. Some are useful items unto their own (and are thus mentioned elsewhere), but most are not, as their function is tied solely to the plot. * Flying Shoes * Golden Bracelet * Thief's Key * Birdsong Nectar * Iron Safe * Silver Statuette * Lamp of Darkness * Sphere of Silence * Gunpowder Jar * Boarding Pass * Symbol of Faith * Fire of Serenity * Padequia Seed * Padequia Root * Magic Key * Stone of Drought * Magma Staff * Flute of Uncovering * Zenithian Helm * Final Key * Zenithian Shield * Zenithian Armor * Staff of Transformation * Gas Canister * Zenithian Sword * Baron's Horn ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~XI~ ~xI~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | XI. Magic List | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~XI~ ~XI~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Antidote * MP--------2 * Type------Healing * Used By---Cr: L.8 * Affects---One ally This removes poison. Cristo picks this up early on, and it's quite useful to know as it negates the cost and the inconvenience of removing the poison through other means, and it can be used anywhere & at any time, assuming Cristo is with you and has MP. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Awake * MP--------2 * Type------Healing * Used By---Hr: L.17 * Affects---All allies Though it's unlikely that you'll ever have to use this spell, it's nice to have around just in case. If anyone in your party gets put to sleep this spell will wake their ass up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bang * MP--------5 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Ma: L.11 * Affects---All enemies This spell hits all enemies on the field with the force of the Firebal spell (15-25 damage). Very useful early on, as most enemies at this time are both numerous and weak. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Barrier * MP--------6 * Type------Defensive * Used By---Na: L.29 * Affects---All allies A late-game spell that protects you from things emitted by the foe. It's one of those spells that would be useful if Nara ever remembered that she knew it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Beat * MP--------4 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Cr: L.18 * Affects---One enemy Instant death. Doesn't always work though. This and Defeat are the closest things Cristo has to an attack spell, and you'll see that he tends to use Beat quite frequently until Defeat shows up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BeDragon * MP--------18 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Ma: L.30 * Affects---Caster Though a bit pricey, this will transform the caster into a violent blaze-emitting dragon (see section XIII.A. for more on emitting a violent blaze) for a single battle. Useful as it is, Mara tends to cast this spell only when it's wise to do so. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bikill * MP--------6 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Br: L.19 * Affects---One ally Doubles someone's attack strength for the remainder of a battle. Great for your fighters, and doubly deadly when used on Alena while she is weilding her Stiletto Earrings. This spell kicks so much ass that Brey, obviously, has to use it every now and then. Of course, he will do it randomly at best, and usually never when you want him to, making you want to kick his withered old ass. All in all, it's a great spell, but not something you can really count on him to cast, especially later on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Blaze * MP--------2 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Ma: L.1, Hr: L.3 * Affects---One enemy Since Mara's normal attack really blows, this is what she can use in lieu of one in the early segments of her adventure. Becomes pretty much obsolete when she can hit for as much damage as Blaze does (about 10-15 damage). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Blazemore * MP--------4 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Ma: L.19 * Affects---One enemy Blazemore sees a lot of action in the mid-game, and makes Mara a powerful force versus any enemy, seeing as it deals 70-90 damage points to its target. The Hero later learns a spell (Zap) identical to this. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Blazemost * MP--------10 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Ma: L.33 * Affects---One enemy As Blazemore's usefulness tapers off, Mara picks up this little baby. It deals 180-200 damage to some extremely unfortunate target, and allows Mara to take a great offensive in any of the game's fights. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Blizzard * MP--------11 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Br: L.32 * Affects---Enemy group The most damaging spell Brey picks up deals 90-110 damage to a group of his choosing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Boom * MP--------8 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Ma: L.23, Hr: L.23 * Affects---All enemies Boom is a more powerful version of Bang that deals 50-70 damage to all enemies present. It's useful in both clearing the field of weaker foes, and in doing some good damage to the more powerful ones. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bounce * MP--------4 * Type------Defensive * Used By---Br: L.8 * Affects---Caster Puts up a wall around the caster that bounces back the effects of any spell aimed at him/her. Can be the bane of any offensive magic-user's existence, but the downside of this spell is that it blocks all spells, including the helpful ones. The exception is that the caster may still direct a spell's effects towards himself. Also note that this spell will not block the quasi-magical effects of items used in battle (e.g., the Ice Blade). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chance * MP--------20 * Type------Miscellaneous * Used By---Hr: L.39 * Affects---Random It's hard to justify using this spell, the effect of which is completely random, in the heat of a battle, taking into consideration both the high cost and the likeliness that the effect may not be very helpful to you. Of course, that doesn't mean that this can't be a kick-ass spell to use. For a full list of Chance's effects, see section XII.D. of this FAQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chaos * MP--------5 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Br: L.30 * Affects---One enemy Brey likes to use this spell to confuse his targets. Even if it doesn't end up fighting the other enemies, at least it's out of your hair. Brey uses this spell quite a bit, but usually only against the more powerful enemies that Brey can't obliterate in a single hit, anyways. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Day-Night * MP--------12 * Type------Miscellaneous * Used By---Br: L.17 * Affects---N/A Turns day into night and vice-versa. Useful if the story insists you do so and you happen to be impatient. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Defeat * MP--------7 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Cr: L.24 * Affects---Enemy group While the chances of this instant-death spell of working are slightly less than that of Beat, it does work on an entire group. For this reason, Cristo uses the hell out of this spell, ignoring Beat for the most part (unless there's only one enemy he's looking to kill). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Defense * MP--------4 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Br: L.21 * Affects---Enemy group Lowers the defense of an entire group of enemies. Though the effects are less than that of Sap, its larger range of effect makes it more useful. Unfortunately for you, this is one of those spells that the Brey conveniently forgets that he knows during Chapter Five, though the Sword of Decimation may be used to similar effect. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Expel * MP--------3 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Hr: L.1 * Affects---Enemy group Expel will rid you of an entire group of enemies, and it has a high success rate. It's quite useful early on when the Hero is still weak. However, you won't get any gold or experience from expelled enemies, so you probably won't find yourself using this spell too much later on. Still, it's a good clutch attack to have handy in case you find yourself really screwed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Explodet * MP--------15 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Ma: L.36 * Affects---All enemies Powerful as Blazemost is, it only affects a single enemy, so it's still back to using Firevolt on groups. That's where Explodet comes in. This spell, which does 120-160 damage to all enemies present, will become, along with the occasional Blazemost, pretty much the basis of Mara's offense in the late game. However, this spell takes its toll in a high MP cost, and may leave Mara with no MP if you're not careful. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Farewell * MP--------Maximum * Type------Healing * Used By---Na: L.35 * Affects---All allies Kills Nara and takes her maximum MP, but fully revives everyone else, and restores both their HP and MP. Given the obvious severity of the cost, she'll only cast it in a true emergency (not to mention only if she has her maximum MP on hand). For the most part, the only way this spell will see any use is if you're getting your ass kicked really hard and you pull Nara out of the Wagon for a second chance at things. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fendspell * MP--------2 * Type------Defensive * Used By---Hr: L.19 * Affects---One ally Like Bounce, this prevents all magic, good and bad, from reaching you, except by any spell cast by the protectorate him/herself. Fendspell, however, does not return the spell to the caster. On the other hand, it can be cast on anyone and is known by the Hero, making it a good way to protect yourself and your allies in certain battles. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Firebal * MP--------4 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Ma: L.7, Hr: L.9 * Affects---Enemy group This spell does about 15-25 damage to a group of enemies. This is the best offensive spell Mara has at the time, either against a group of enemies or a lone one. Of course, the Hero can probably hit for about twice that, even on level 9, so should restrict use of this spell to groups or when physical attacks are failing you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Firebane * MP--------6 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Ma: L.14 * Affects---Enemy group A stronger version of Firebal that does 30-50 damage to a group of enemies. Great against a lone attacker until Mara picks up Blazemore, and even greater against a group until Boom pretty much obsoletes it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Firevolt * MP--------10 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Ma: L.27 * Affects---Enemy group Does 90-110 damage to a group. This's Mara's most powerful spell when she learns it, only she still uses Blazemore a lot due to a much lower casting cost. It's weaker than both Blazemost and Explodet, but cheaper. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Heal * MP--------3 * Type------Healing * Used By---Cr: L.1, Na: L.1 * Affects---One ally Here's a spell you'll use a lot in the early game. It cures around 40 HP of an ally, and essentially keeps your ass alive during a number of tough fights as well as a number lengthy journeys. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Healall * MP--------7 * Type------Healing * Used By---Cr: L.27, Na: L. 26, Hr: L.27 * Affects---One ally Cures all of an ally's HP. By the time you learn this, you'll definitely be needing it. Like the original Heal, this spell keeps you alive during the game's toughest battles, not to mention treacherous expeditions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Healmore * MP--------5 * Type------Healing * Used By---Cr: L.16, Na: L.13, Hr: L.5 * Affects---One ally The transitional spell between Heal and Healall restores around 80 HP of an ally. It's a welcome arrival when you learn it, especially when the Hero learns it very early on. Healall shows up soon enough, though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Healus * MP--------18 * Type------Healing * Used By---Cr: L.30 * Affects---All allies One of the greatest healing spells cures around 80 HP of all of your allies. This is an especially useful spell during tough battles such as Esturk and Necrasaro. It does take its toll in a high MP cost, however. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Healusall * MP--------36 * Type------Healing * Used By---Hr: L.32 * Affects---All allies The ultimate in battle-oriented healing spells restores everyone's HP to the max (unless they happen to suffer from a condition called "death"). Of course, the high MP cost regulates its use to emergencies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Icebolt * MP--------2 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Br: L.1 * Affects---One enemy Essentially, this is a chilled-out version of the Blaze spell (10-15 damage to an enemy). Brey should use it in lieu of a normal attack because Brey has the strength of a paraplegic (or at least that of a crippled old man). Useful until Brey gets a good weapon or Snowstorm. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Icespears * MP--------8 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Br: L.27 * Affects---All enemies Until Brey learns Icespears, Snowstorm is his most powerful spell. So this spell, which is slightly more powerful version of the Boom spell, will become pretty much the basis of Brey's offense (at least his worthwhile offense) until he learns Blizzard. It does 60-80 damage to all enemies on screen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Increase * MP--------4 * Type------Defensive * Used By---Cr: L.14 * Affects---All allies This great defensive spell increases everyone's defense, though the effects aren't as strong as that of Upper. It would be a nice spell if Cristo would ever actually use it (well, there was that one time I stuck it on the Defensive strategy back in '83...) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Infermore * MP--------4 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Na: L.23 * Affects---Enemy group The next vacuum spell, like its predecessor, offers good, reliable damage at a cheap price. It does 30-50 damage to a group of enemies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Infermost * MP--------8 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Na: L.32 * Affects---Enemy group Essentially, this is Brey's Blizzard spell all over again, only a little cheaper, and generally more guaranteed to hit. It does around 90-110 damage to a group of enemies for a decent casting cost. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Infernos * MP--------2 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Na: L.8 * Affects---Enemy group Nara's vacuum spells offer reasonable damage at a low cost, to help keep her MP high for healing spells, if need be. Another nice bonus is that few enemies are resistant to her vacuum magic! How nice. Infernos deals 10-20 damage to a group of enemies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ironize * MP--------2 * Type------Defensive * Used By---Hr: L.21 * Affects---All allies When selected, Ironize will always be the first spell cast the next round. It affects the entire party, and makes you immune to any form of attack whatsoever for the next three rounds. Of course, you can do anything during these three rounds, so Ironize is useful only as a stalling tactic. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lightning * MP--------15 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Hr: L.34 * Affects---All enemies Are you tired of fighting battle after battle to the day's end? Then Lightning is for you, my friend! Because, when you're dealing 180-220 damage to everything on-screen, chances are that there won't be much of a battle left to fight! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Numboff * MP--------2 * Type------Healing * Used By---Na: L.10 * Affects---All allies Cures paralysis. A choice few enemies in the game can paralyze you, and when they do, it's nice to have Nara around. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Outside * MP--------8 * Type------Miscellaneous * Used By---Br: L.7, Ma: L.9, Hr: L.13 * Affects---N/A Transports you outside of any dungeon-like setting such as a cave, tower, etc... Useful if you're in too deep to walk out manually, or if you're just too damn lazy to walk out manually. Either way, it helps. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Repel * MP--------8 * Type------Miscellaneous * Used By---Hr: L.11 * Affects---N/A Reduces the enemy encounter rate for a short time. It's nice to have, but is nothing to be relied upon, as you can still be attacked. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Return * MP--------8 * Type------Miscellaneous * Used By---Br: L.9, Ma: L.8, Hr: L.7 * Affects---N/A Thank the Heavens for this spell. It instantly transports you to anywhere you've been to (exceptions: Seaside Village and a few early chapter towns during Chapter Five). Any method of transportation that you have acquired will also be transported with you. Trust me when I say that you'll be using this spell a lot. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Revive * MP--------20 * Type------Healing * Used By---Cr: L.33 * Affects---One ally Unlike Vivify, this always succeeds in reviving a dead character. It costs a bit more, but statistically speaking, is worth the 100% chance of success, especially in the heat of a crucial battle. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Robmagic * MP--------0 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Br: L.25, Ma: L.16 * Affects---One enemy & caster If either Mara or Brey are hurting for MP, they can always steal a little bit from their enemies. It costs them nothing to use, but since the MP gain is small, they use it only as a last-ditch effort (actually, I've never seen them use it at all). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sap * MP--------3 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Br: L.3, Ma: L.3 * Affects---One enemy Substantially lowers the defense of a single target. Helps out early on when you're up against something really powerful, else it's probably not worth the effort. Later on, during Chapter Five Brey and Mara will pretty much forget that they ever knew this spell. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sleep * MP--------3 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Na: L.5, * Affects---Enemy group This puts a group of enemies to sleep for a brief time. Useful if you need a little breathing room, but believe me, you won't get much, if any at all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sleepmore * MP--------3 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Na: L.16, Hr: L.15 * Affects---One enemy Though Sleepmore only works on a single enemy, it is generally much more potent than Sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Snowstorm * MP--------5 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Br: L.11 * Affects---Enemy group Snowstorm deals 30-50 damage to a group of enemies, and serves as Brey's best offensive spell in the early to mid-game. While it's great asset early on, its usefulness tapers off long before its obsolescence. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Speedup * MP--------3 * Type------Defensive * Used By---Br: L.14 * Affects---All allies Increases the agility of your party and lets them get the drop on enemies. Just one of many spells that old coot will forget he ever knew during Chapter Five. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stepguard * MP--------2 * Type------Miscellaneous * Used By---Ma: L.21 * Affects---N/A This spell temporarily negates any damage done to you by the harmful terrain you sometimes can't avoid. This is useful, especially if you're really hurting and can't take much more damage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stopspell * MP--------3 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Cr: L.12 * Affects---Enemy group The affected enemy group of Stopspell can't use magic. This is a much better idea than, say Fendspell or Bounce because not only does it protect your entire party, but it also allows helpful spells to reach them. The AI will generally instinctively cast this spell whenever it sees something potentially extremely dangerous, though Cristo may occasionally opt for Beat/Defeat, instead. The only downside of Stopspell is that is doesn't always work, and that some monsters are completely immune to its effects. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Surround * MP--------4 * Type------Indirect offensive * Used By---Cr: L.6 * Affects---Enemy group Can seriously hamper the offense of any creature that relies heavily on strong attacks. Since there are so few of those, and fewer still that can't be taken care of in a round or less, you'll very rarely see Cristo use this spell (though he still does, at times). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thordain * MP--------15 from each party member * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Hr: L.37 * Affects---One enemy Thordain. Or, as I like to call it: eat it, you bitch! Thordain seems to be the only spell included in the game solely for the purpose of overkill. Everyone sacrifices their turn, as well as 15 MP (each), to deal 340-370 damage to a target enemy. While, in a way, it is useful as it directs your team's focus all on one enemy, it's horribly inefficient for the most part. But still, you can't deny how good it feels to massacre a group of hapless Slimes with your mighty 340-370 thunderbolt of judgment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transform * MP--------5 * Type------Miscellaneous * Used By---Hr: L.30 * Affects---Caster Transforms you into one of your teammates, but it takes a whole turn to do so, and it won't be much of an improvement. Transform's chief use is to allow you to cast one of the "forgotten spells" that would really help you out if your idiotic teammates ever remembered to cast them. Bikill and Increase are good examples of this. Note that once you Transform, however, you're stuck that way unless you use the Zenithian Sword on yourself to revert back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Upper * MP--------3 * Type------Defensive * Used By---Cr: L.4 * Affects---One ally Substantially increases the defense of an ally. Upper is a good asset during the Chameleon Humanoid battle, but it really doesn't see much action during Chapter Five, mainly because Cristo is a bloody idiot. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vivify * MP--------12 * Type------Healing * Used By---Cr: L.21, Na: L.20, Hr: L.28 * Affects---One ally This has about a fifty-fifty chance of reviving a dead teammate, but you should try anyways. Statistically speaking, you should only have to cast it once or twice, and you save a lot of revival money in the long run. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X-Ray * MP--------3 * Type------Miscellaneous * Used By---Br: L.23 * Affects---N/A Cast this when standing on a chest to receive a signal. Blue is good, and red means it's a monster. But since there are so few monster chests, and they're so easy to kill (and I mention them all in the walkthrough), you're probably too lazy to use this spell. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zap * MP--------4 * Type------Direct offensive * Used By---Hr: L.24 * Affects---One enemy Does 70-90 damage to a foe. At about this time in the game, it deals a little more damage than a normal attack unless the Hero is equipped with, say, a Dragon Killer or a Sword of Miracles. Then the damage is about the same. Zap is still useful in any situation where a physical attack just won't do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~XII~ ~XII~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | XII. Other Battle Effects | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~XII~ ~XII~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section XII: Other Battle Effects|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. Basic Non-Magical Attacks | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section XII: Other Battle Effects|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm The are attacks that are used primarily by the opposing forces, so it would behoove you to know just how badly they can screw your world up. Also, under certain circumstances, some of these attacks may be available to your party, as well. * Summon reinforcements: summons an additional monster(s) to the fight (monster summoned is determined by summoner). * Emit a fireball: 5-10 damage to all opposition. * Emit freezing winds: 10-15 damage to all opposition. * Emit scorching gas: 30-40 damage to all opposition. * Emit a blizzard: 40-50 damage to all opposition (slightly less when your team uses it). * Emit a violent blaze: 80-100 damage to all opposition (slightly less when your team uses it). * Emit icy gusts of wind: 100-140 damage to all opposition. * Emit poison gas: attempt to poison all opposition. * Emit gales of sweet breath: attempt to induce sleep upon all opposition. * Hideous, shrieking roar: attempts to scare all opposition (anyone affected will lose a turn). * Strange dance: reduces target's MP. * Build up strength: sacrifice turn, next turn's attack deals extra damage. * Body attack: reduces target to critical damage is successful. * Eerie mists: nullifies any spell being cast by anyone for the remainder of the battle. * Freezing waves: eliminates the effects of any spells on entire opposition. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section XII: Other Battle Effects|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. Nara's Tarot Card Effects | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section XII: Other Battle Effects|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Nara's Silver Tarot Cards, found in Chapter Four, produce a random effect when used in battle. Sadly, only Nara can use them, and she generally won't in Chapter Five (unless you're using that God-awful Try Out tactic). At any rate, there are nine random effects generated by the Silver Tarot Cards: * The Card of Evil prevents Nara from using magic. * The Card of Justice casts Expel on all enemies. * The Card of the Moon casts Surround on all enemies. * The Card of Perfection casts Defeat on all allies. * The Card of the Stars doubles the gold and experience gained after the fight. * The Card of Strength casts Bikill on a random ally. * The Card of the Sun casts the Healusall spell on your party. * The Card of the Terminator summons a Necrodian to battle you, and can only be drawn after all eight other crads have appeared in the same batlle. * The Card of the Tower attacks all allies. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section XII: Other Battle Effects|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | C. Taloon's Battle Techniques | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section XII: Other Battle Effects|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm When you meet fight alongside Taloon in Chapter Five, one thing becomes readily apparent- his mercantile lifestyle has begun to affect his fighting style. Not that I'm saying this is good or bad, but Taloon begins doing very weird things during battle... Note that Taloon will often opt for the normal fight command, but in addition to this, the following is a list of other things the fat man may decide to do in the middle of a fight: * Taloon trips. Amazingly, his weapon will strike an enemy, causing a critical blow! * Taloon summons an army of merchants to his aid. This works a bit differently than the monsters' summon commands do. This army will attack three times, and then leave (had this been a real army, they'd be court-martialed so fast...) * He sings a lullaby, potentially putting all enemies to sleep. * Taloon steals an item from the enemy. Normally, these are common items. However, a few monsters can carry some pretty kick-ass stuff (the Metal Babble carries a Hat of Happiness, and King Metals carry a Metal Babble Helm!) Unfortunately, this command is somewhat rare. * He will do a strange dance, which lowers an enemy's MP (you should recognize this one...) * Taloon will valiantly leap in front of an ally and take a blow for them. Too bad this isn't dependant on whether or not the ally really needs protecting, or whether Taloon himself can stand the damage. Notice Taloon's lack of an intelligence rating... * Taloon will throw sand into the eyes of all enemies present, lowering their attack percentage (same effect as the Surround spell). Even if there is no sand in his immediate surroundings, Taloon apparently keeps a constant supply on hand. * He will attempt to calm the enemies down, so that the fight immediately ends, like Expel. Also like Expel, you receive no gold or experience for the fight, which is why I usually get pissed off when he does this (of course he'll pick the most inopportune time, such as right before you waste a Metal Babble). * Taloon tells a really bad joke. The enemies apparently understand our English language well enough to not only get the joke, but also have enough of a sense of humor to laugh at it. This will effect all enemies, and will prevent any enemy affected from acting that turn. * Taloon sweeps legs (trips an enemy). The enemy's next attack will be negated (and read something like, "enemy is withering after tripping.") Who says our translation staff doesn't do their work? * He waves his finger in a hypnotic circle like so... If successful, one enemy will become confused. Apparently, the enemies in this game are so stupid that this is all it takes to confuse them (and maybe Brey could save himself some MP and do the same thing.) * Taloon stands in a daze and does absolutely nothing. This one is just a little too common for my tastes. * Taloon shouts. This is identical to when a number of enemies roar, and as you should know, if affected, the character's/enemy's next command will be negated in favor of, "trembling with fear..." Taloon's loud mouth has the potential to affect all enemies on screen. * Taloon will build up his strength, and make a stronger attack next turn. This is another one you should recognize. * Lastly, sometimes when a monster attempts to cast a spell, Taloon will run and cover their mouth (kudos to him for actually touching some of those things...) The enemy's spell will be wasted. The nifty thing about this is that it does NOT use up Taloon's attack for that turn- it's just a nice little freebie. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section XII: Other Battle Effects|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | D. The Chance Spell | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section XII: Other Battle Effects|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm And, of course, everyone's favorite: the Chance spell. The Chance spell has likely the most devastating of all the random battle effects, one way or another. It also has the widest variety of effects (but note that some of these will not occur during boss fights): * Everyone becomes confused ("everyone" meaning all allies and all enemies). * Everyone becomes confused except our valiant Hero. * Everyone's spells are sealed due to "eerie mists that engulf the area". * Everyone is put to sleep. * Everyone's MP is reduced to 0. * Everyone's HP is fully restored. * Everyone "builds up strength". * Everyone suffers 50-60 damage due to an earthquake. * All enemies run away. * All enemies are carried away by a white dragon (same effect as Expel) * All enemies explode into pieces (same effect as Expel) * All enemies killed by an earthquake (experience and gold still earned after battle). * All enemies' MP is reduced to 0. * All enemies are attacked by a laughing giant, whose attacks deal 100-120 damage. * All enemies suffer a reduced chance to hit (same effect as Surround). * All enemies become Metal Slimes. * All allies' HP is fully restored. * All allies' defense is increased (same effect as Increase). * All allies' speed is increased (same effect as Speedup). * All allies transform into dragons (same effect as BeDragon). * All allies strike critical blows for the remainder of the battle due to a morale boost. * Random enemy group or all allies lose a turn due to a mysterious grumbling voice. * Hero is struck by a bright light for big damage. Will transform into a blizzard-emitting dragon if he/she survives. * Time stops for three turns for everyone except the Hero. * Time reverses (same effect as the Sandglass of Regression) * Double experience and gold are received after the battle (same effect as the Card of the Stars). * A booming voice echoes. Any slain ally will be revived to full HP. If no allies are dead, the voice echoes futilely. * Casts the Return spell, ending the battle. Destination is chosen at random. BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~XIII~ ~XIII~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | XIII. Other Stuff | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~XIII~ ~XIII~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section XIII: Other Stuff|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. The Fate of Rosa | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section XIII: Other Stuff|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Rosa, the elf whom you meet on your quest, cried tears made of rubies, if you recall. And people were always really mean to her so she'd cry, so she became a recluse? Yeah, well. You meet her in your quest to stop Saro, but you'll remember that right after fight with Esturk, Necrasaro arrives, but soon leaves once he discovers that Rosa was abducted by humans. You never find out what happened to her, and the next time you meet up with Necrasaro is when you kill him... Ever wonder what happened to her? Return to Izmit village. The dream there has changed, and you'll find out what became of Rosa. It isn't pretty. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section XIII: Other Stuff|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. Whatever Happened to...? | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section XIII: Other Stuff|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Whatever happened to...? Well, most of your characters from Chapter One, Two, Three, and Four all meet up in Chapter Five. But there were lots of other characters who went on to meet other destinies, such as Healie from Chapter One, who finally fulfilled his dream of becoming human. Of course, in Chapter Five you pretty much hit all of your old haunts from the first four chapters only to discover what new things are happening (or what has stayed entirely the same). The following is a short list of people and places from Chapters One, Two, Three, and Four that surface later in Chapter Five, but not as part of the plot- you'll actually have to make separate trips to go see them. Remember Tempe? The little town you saved in Chapter Two? Well, the couple there are now together and happy, but really not much has happened here since Chapter Two (of course, everyone is still quite thankful to Alena for what she did for them so many years ago). --- You know the coliseum at Endor? Well, head there during Chapter Five to witness not a fight, but... a wedding? Yes, that's right, Princess May of Endor and Prince Reed of Bonmalmo are now being united in what seems to be an eternal wedding. Seriously, I've never seen a wedding this long (months, anybody? Months?) in my entire life. And in a coliseum? Whose idea was it to get married in a battle pit? Methinks the princess had little say in this... --- On the above note, due to the union of these two countries, the king of Bonmalmo has turned from a raving madman into a happy raving madman (he is currently attending his son's eternal wedding- see above). And the old fart there that used to buy your armor for top dollar no longer needs to because of the opened trade between Bonmalmo and Endor. The weapon and armor shops here still suck, though. --- Another town from Chapter Three, Lakanaba. Your old boss at this point finally refuses to let you come back to work, mainly because he's already hired someone else to help him out. It's Tom's son! Remember Tom? Tom, by the way, is now living in Taloon's old house. --- Remember Orin? That big muscle dude who helped Mara and Nara escape from prison? Well, he got his ass whipped pretty bad, seeing as he's still in recovery. Admittedly, this is a vast improvement over the condition he was in when Mara and Nara last saw him (dead). In Frenor, the town from Chapter Two, you'll discover a really hot dancer who found him (how he ended up there is a mystery) and is tending to his wounds. See, things worked out for him after all! By the way, you'll hear a lot about the Golden Bracelet in Frenor during Chapter Five, not to mention Orin's invaluable advice to you: he claims that Necrasaro is breeding more powerful enemies with the help of the Golden Bracelet! Really, now? I just assumed that Necrasaro thought it would make a fine piece of jewelry... --- And lastly, I'm sorry, but you never really do find out what happened to all those folks from Santeem Castle. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section XIII: Other Stuff|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | C. The Musical Stylings of Chapter Five | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /____________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section XIII: Other Stuff|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm After Ragnar joins the fray in section III.F. of the walktrough, your team will also be bestowed with a spiffy and heroic new theme (as opposed to the solemn, lonely tune that opened Chapter Five). However, you are also at this point allowed to bring back any of the previous chapters' themes, as well: The theme that plays will be from the home chapter of whomever leads the party. Ergo, when Ragnar leads the party, the theme from Chapter One will be heard as you march. Or, if either Mara or Nara leads the party, their catchy theme from Chapter Four will play. As an added bonus, when Mara or Nara leads the party, the special Chapter Four battle music will also play during fights. To return to the original Chapter Five theme, devise a party consisting solely of the Hero. Adding anyone else to the party (while the Hero still leads the pack) changes the theme back to the new Chapter Five theme. BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~XIV~ ~XIV~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | XIV. Hints & Tricks | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~XIV~ ~XIV~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section XIV: Hints & Tricks|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. The Branca Tunnel Trick | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /______________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section XIV: Hints & Tricks|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Come a little later in Chapter Five and you're too lazy to manually earn or, worse yet, actually buy coins at the casino? If you have enough time to blow to wait on a randomly-triggered event, there's an easy way to net a load of free coins at the casino. Walk completely through the Branca Tunnel a few times and, if you're really lucky, you will be proclaimed the 5,000th person to enter and receive free coins at the casino. The keyword here is really lucky, though. You may not win crap. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section XIV: Hints & Tricks|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/ \¯ \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. Surviving Necrasaro's Palace | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /______________________________ | ¯/ \¯ \ \/ /|Section XIV: Hints & Tricks|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Having a little trouble getting through Necrasaro's Palace alive, are we? Necrasaro's Palace is one of the longest, and probably the most grueling of all the dungeons in the game (fitting, as it is the last dungeon in the game)... At any rate, there is a really cheap way to get through: you can successfully run away from every fight on the first try. That's right, in Necrasaro's Palace only, you can successfully run from every fight on the first try... without exception. 'Nuff said. BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | | \/ B T \ * ~~That's All, Folks!~~ * \ T B /\ | | \/ B T \ * ~Version Info, Credits, & Contact Information~ * \ T B /\ | | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB Well, this is it, my friends. This is the official Final version of my Dragon Warrior IV FAQ. Unless someone can point out something that is blatantly and horribly wrong within the guide, I am no longer updating it and now consider it a finished guide. I am still accepting E-mails and such concerning my guide, however, so shoot me a line if you see anything wrong with it. Of course, I couldn't have done this without the help of everyone on the GameFAQ's message boards. In no particular order, this is a list of people who have made my life considerably easier in the past: Muskey38, The Admiral, Gallione11, SaltyDogs4884, Rekenner, CatonC, TheInfiniteWeird, MasterHIM, Red Scarlet, Seyal, EmailKing, The Magic Pirate, and Robbie Levy. You guys (and the girl) kick so much ass! I couldn't have done it without you. And, of course, there's CJayC, in whose presence I grovel like the lowly scum that I am. All hail CJayC! OK, so I'm not a very good brown-noser... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wanna see an uncensored version of this guide? Wanna see more stuff by me? Wanna see pictures of me, presumably for the purposes of stalking me? You can find all this and more by heading on over to my website at: www.angelfire.com/comics/btb ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ My name is Chad Steele (AKA "BTB"). Those wishing to reach me may do so via E-Mail, at BTB_Enterprises@Ev1.net, on AIM (screen name: Billy T Bum), or by telepathy. Feel free to write me with praise, comments, suggestions, gripes, insults, death-threats, and marriage proposals. Oh, yeah? That whole legal thing? I encourage the spreading around of my guide, so long as I get credit for it and you don't change it in any way. And if you want to host it on your site, I'm all for it. Just please let me know first. Failiure to inform me that you will be taking my guide is grounds for an ass-kicking, so save my foot the hassle and inconvenience of kicking your ass and take heed of my advice. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anyways, that's all, my friends. So until next time: "Good luck and good gaming!" -Klaravoyia Written by BTB, circa 2002 Dragon Warrior IV, Copyright 1992, Enix Company (End of file)