Vagrant Story Boss Walkthrough (Version 1.0) By Odge (djgaunt86@hotmail.com) Contents 1)Introduction 2)Bosses i) First Play Bosses Minotaur – Beast Dullahan – Evil Golem – Evil Dragon – Dragon Duane + 2 Crimson Knights – Human Wyvern – Dragon Fire Elemental – Phantom Ogre – Beast Giant Crab – Beast Earth Dragon – Dragon Father Grissom and Dark Crusader Jan Rosencrantz – Human – Demi Boss Dark Elemental – Phantom Weakness: Earth Shadow – Evil – Demi Boss Wyvern Knight – Dragon – Demi Boss Iron Golem – Evil Harpy – Beast – Demi Boss Lich – Evil Nightstalker – Evil – Demi Boss Lady Neesa and Sir Tieger – Humans Minotaur Zombie – Undead – Demi Boss Water Elemental – Phantom Air Elemental –Phantom – Demi Boss Earth Elemental – Phantom – Demi Boss Ogre Lord – Beast Snow Dragon – Dragon Last Crusader – Evil – Demi Boss Minotaur Lord – Beast – Demi Boss Kali – Human Marid – Phantom Ifrit – Phantom Iron Crab – Beast Djinn – Phantom Flame Dragon – Dragon – Demi Boss Arch Dragon – Dragon – Demi Boss Dao – Phantom Nightmare – Phantom Romeo Guildenstern Part 1 – Evil – Last Boss Romeo Guildenstern, Dark Angel – Evil – Last Boss ii) Second Play Bosses Marid and Ifrit - Phantoms Damascus Crab – Beast Damascus Golem – Evil Wyvern Queen – Dragon Dark Dragon – Dragon Ravana – Human Dragon Zombie - Undead Ogre Zombie –Undead Death – Evil Asura – Human 3) Legal stuff and credits 1) Introduction Just as the likes of Ehrgeiz (5/10) and Chocobo Racing (3/10) disappoint many, you might think that Square is a lost cause. How wrong you are. Vagrant Story, perhaps one of their best games ever was recently released, to wow audiences in Britain, America, and Japan alike. It was awarded a perfect score of 40/40 by the gaming bible of Japan, the weekly Famitsu, which has only previously been achieved by classic games Zelda 64 and Soul Calibre. The game combines RPG antics with an action twist, and all the battles are in real time, but kept fair by a "targeting sphere" system (I think used previously by Zelda...heh heh.) There are many other features you can use to enhance your attacks, many of them borrowed from Square’s other games. For instance, there is the Break Art, which bears some resemblance to the Final Fantasy Limit Breaks. These do an enormous amount of damage and expend your HP. There is magic, as well, as is usual in a Square RPG. However, magic is learnt by reading books called Grimoires, and then the spell is transferred into your magic list. There is also a welcome return of MP, which is used for casting the spells. Among the magic and in other parts of the game some will be pleased to see the return of Secret of Mana elementals such as Undine and Gnome and such Final Fantasy ones as Diablos and Ifrit. There are also Chain and Defence Abilities. Chain Abilities allow you to add extra damage or status abnormalities onto your attack. You can chain repeatedly to do a lot of damage, but this increases your RISK (as your RISK increases, your chance of hitting decreases.) Defence Abilities allow you to benefit from an enemies attack, either reflecting some of the damage done to you back onto the enemy, or cancelling an effect that is cast onto you. Both defence and chain abilities require you to tap a button at exactly the right time, so don’t think that these abilities are a pushover. You may also see that Vagrant Story bears remarkable resemblance to the Ehrgeiz RPG, The Forsaken Dungeon. Once entering a workshop, you may combine and repair weapons, restoring their DP back to full (much like in the Blacksmith’s in the Forsaken Dungeon.) Also, the long series of rooms and variety of enemies has been adapted to fit Vagrant Story. However, thankfully, the pitiful ‘Materia’ magic system has been removed. The Hunger gauge (that goes down slowly as you move around; you eat food in various forms to refill it) has been scrapped. The lack of bosses taken care of (there are more bosses packed onto one disc than any other game I have chanced upon). The rather random real time battle system removed… I could spend all day remarking on the Forsaken dungeon's faults. What’s worth taking has been taken by Vagrant Story. But the most remarkable thing about the game is that you weapons and armour mould themselves to adapt to what you are fighting. For example, if you repeatedly fight Beast-type enemies, then your weapon type will do more damage to beasts. However as one status goes up, another (or others) go down. For example, if you repeatedly fight human enemies, your attack becomes less for undead enemies. Anyway, enough with the pre-emptive flannel. I’ll list all the bosses in the order I have done them and give a few hints. Note that this is the complete version with every boss in the game listed. 2) Bosses First Play Bosses Minotaur – Beast This guy is a bit of a pushover, and since you probably haven’t got any Break Arts, Chain Abilities, Magic, etc. it’s just a case of hacking away until you kill him. Equip your best beast weapon, and simply hack away at his weak spot (the head) until he blows up and dies. You probably won’t need a Cure Root or Bulb, but if you do feel you need one [amateur] then use one. There are plenty more to be found later on... Dullahan – Evil An Evil guy with a pretty massive blade, the Dullahan might prove a tad tough for the novice who can’t chain or defend. Set chain and defence abilities to your buttons if you haven’t done so already, Heavy Shot and Reflect Damage in particular are useful. Equip a weapon who’s Evil statistic isn’t too bad (you won’t have fought an Evil enemy before, so the highest you’re gonna get is probably gonna be 0.) Go in there and start chaining with short Heavy Shot combos on his abdomen, and reflecting his damage back onto him. Heal yourself using the Heal spell (obtained using one of the Grimoires from the Minotaur battle) should you start to ail. Soon (well, after a long time), he’ll be dead. Golem – Evil Another Evil guy, this is a living hell if you don’t know what to do. Most of your attacks will do zilch damage, so the real key to this battle is reflecting damage (so, you’ll need Reflect Damage then...) Equip the Bosom Cleaver with Braveheart attached, and this will do some damage. Keep reflecting his Granite Punch and normal attacks, and healing using the Heal magic, popping in the occasional quick combo using the ‘Cleaver, and he’ll be down before you know it. Dragon – Dragon An easy boss, but you have to know what to do. As with most dragons, he has a deadly breath [grumble] so simply walk underneath his head and he can no longer use the breath. The only other attack he has is a pathetic tail attack and a bite, which you should reflect back onto him. Get out your Rusty Nail (still one of my favourite weapons, by the way...) and equip it with the Dragonite. Now just start chaining on his head to knock off about 30-40 damage off per hit (heh heh.) He should be down in no time, but if you’re having trouble, use Break Arts. Duane + 2 Crimson Knights – Human Stay where you are when the battle starts and choose your best Human weapon (probably the Fandango) and a nice shield. The crimson knights will come to you, but Duane won’t, so you can take them out in comparative safety. The knights aren’t too much to worry about but you may need to use a piercing weapon to do some decent damage. Once the knights are taken care of, proceed on to Duane. He is mostly a magic user and has a lethal spell called Explosion, which you can’t reflect unless you have Reflect Magic [unlikely.] Just get in close and hack away using your weapon. Break Arts are probably unnecessary. He should soon draw his final breath... Wyvern – Dragon I found this guy a bit tough, but not seriously hard. Equip a nice dragon weapon (preferably Edged) and go for the tail, chaining generously. I found the most damaging way to kill him was to reflect his attacks back onto him and Heal afterwards. Don’t let your RISK get too high and use Vera items. Just general hints really. Fire Elemental – Phantom Weakness: Water You should have obtained Reflect Magic by now, so equip it to one of the buttons. Also in a treasure chest nearby there is a spell called Frost Fusion. This is extremely useful in this battle. Equip a good Phantom weapon with the Undine Jasper, and the Quad Shield with the Salamander Ruby. Head into battle, casting Frost Fusion onto your weapon. This actually makes the weapon do some damage. Start chaining and wearing his HP down. When he casts Flame Sphere be sure to reflect the damage, knocking off roughly 1/6 of his health each time. Ogre – Beast Weakness: Fire If you kept a specific weapon for killing beasts before, you will thank the heavens that you did! Your best bet is to equip this weapon (piercing weapons such as the Rusty Nail are the best) and continually use Break Arts (Ruination and Scythe Wind do lots of damage) to kill him off. Keep healing whenever you do a batch of Break Arts as each one drains your health. He should only get in about three hits (which you should reflect as well) before dying. Giant Crab – Beast Weakness: Fire, Air Not easy, but fairly simple if you know how. Equip a fairly good Beast weapon (piercing is, as always, best) and start chaining. Reflect his Tidal Rush special attack and regular attacks. The Crab is weak against both Fire and, to a certain extent, Air, so I equipped the Rusty Nail and repeatedly did Scythe Wind to take him out. This does roughly about 50-60 damage per attack, and should lead to a quick death. Earth Dragon – Dragon Weakness: Air The most annoying thing about this guy is that once you have actually found him (which can take some time...) he will usually just use Acid Breath as soon as you come near. This will usually kill you in one hit, meaning that you have to do the whole area again...its enough to make you scream. So, before you go in, make sure you have Terra Ward as one of your Defence Abilities (along with the usual Reflect Damage.) When he uses Acid Breath, use Terra Ward to prevent death, and quickly sneak under his head. This tactic usually works for all dragons, preventing them from using their lethal breaths. Cast heal and Luft Fusion and select a good Dragon Weapon. Again, any type of polearm is good as his head is vulnerable to piercing attacks, and you can use the Break Art Scythe Wind, which is pretty lethal to him, as he is weak against air. To begin with, use a couple of Break Arts, then when your RISK increases, start chaining until your RISK gets to around 50. Use a Vera Bulb, and then use a couple of Break Arts. Keep up this cycle until he is dead. And don’t forget to reflect his Tail Attack and Bites. Father Grissom and Dark Crusader – Human, Evil Dark Crusader Weakness: Air This is a bit difficult, but Sydney’s on your side for this battle. This is basically a one-on-one with Grissom, as the Dark Crusader’s a bit rubbish. Equip your best human weapon with a Haeralis gem and just go in for Grissom, Chaining where possible. Grissom has a lethal Thunderburst attack, so you probably should have Windbreak as one of your Defence abilities, to counter this. Draining his magic is a must; so chain abilities such as Mind Assault and Mind Ache are useful. Once he has no magic he’ll start using piss weak attacks (Reflect them) and running around like a woman. Sydney will probably spend all his time doing similar things, only he will cast Prostasia on you after a while, which will allow you to cause some real damage to Grissom. Soon he’ll be out of it, and you can focus on the Dark Crusader, who has probably spent all of the time messing around repeatedly casting Prostasia on itself and vainly trying to attack Sydney. All you need is a piercing weapon and Scythe Wind. The Scythe Wind does roughly about 50 damage plus it eliminates the effect of Prostasia, effectively casting Tarnish. The Dark Crusader is so slow you can just run around him, healing and popping in the occasional Scythe Wind to finish him off nice ‘n’ easily. Jan Rosencrantz – Human – Demi Boss Okay, so he’s not officially a boss, but he’s a bit tougher than your average enemy and has 400 HP. Since he isn’t an elemental enemy, you won’t have any Enchanter spells to boost your attacks. Not to worry though. Cast Prostasia on yourself and equip your best Human weapon (piercing weapons are generally better.) Now just lay into him with short chain combos, and don’t let your RISK get too high. Once he has tired of attacking you with his Break Arts (all of which you should reflect using Reflect Damage,) he will continually use Cure Roots on himself (probably once for every two attacks you make), recovering 50HP per time. So you need each attack to take off at least 25 damage to actually hurt him, as I fear that he has unlimited supplies of Cure Roots. Chaining works nicely, and if you have any Break Arts, try them as well. Soon he will give up and inform you of your past. Dark Elemental – Phantom Weakness: Light This guy is the worst boss you’ll find yet, as he is Dark-aligned, meaning you cannot enhance your attacks except by using Prostasia, and this doesn’t do much, to say the least. If you have a good weapon against Phantoms then equip that with some Demonia gems attached, then cast Prostasia. He is, of course, weak against Light attacks, so if you have any Light Break Arts, use them against him. Of course, if you don’t have any of these and no good weapons against Phantoms, then you are a tad stuck. But there is a way. Equip a suitably powerful weapon at magic casting (I used a Norse Sword (Fandango/Katana blade combo with a knuckle grip) and make sure you have at least 56 maximum MP (you should have by now, due to Elixirs and end-of-boss bonuses.) You’ll also need at least 4 Cure Bulbs and a Mana Tonic. Go into the boss room and immediately fire off the spell "Spirit Surge" (which you should have got off of the Dullahan way back at the beginning of the game.) Then cast it again immediately. You should at least be doing 80-90 damage. The Dark Elemental should now take the chance and counterattack with Meteor or Dark Chant. Meteor is a seriously nasty spell, doing roughly 150-200 damage. Dark Chant is less powerful, doing around 100 damage. Try to reflect whichever he casts, then use Cure Bulbs to recover to at least 200 HP. Now use a Mana Tonic to recover 100 MP (which will probably be more than your max.) Immediately fire off another two Spirit Surges. He should now be on around 60 HP (unless you reflected his first spell, in which case you can celebrate now.) You can now attempt to finish him off either by reflecting his spells or just hacking away with whatever you got. Soon he will die (hopefully), and you can be on your way. Sky Dragon – Dragon Weakness: Earth Another easy dragon, this time of the air variety. As per usual, rush under his head before he can use his Thunder Breath on you. However, just in case he manages to fry you before you get under cover, have Windbreak as one of your defence abilities. Now it’s just a matter of time before he’s a dead duck (sorry Soo.) Cast Soil Fusion (Grimoire Gnome) and start hacking away at the head using a high dragon-affinity (piercing) weapon equipped with Dragonite. Unfortunately the chance of actually hitting his head is small even when your RISK is zero. Employ a similar tactic as you did for the Earth Dragon (i.e. hit him with a couple of (preferably Earth related) Limit Breaks, then start chaining until your RISK reaches around 25, then use a Vera Root. Then use a couple of Break Arts again etc.) It is useful to have Gain Magic as one of your Chain Abilities as you will need Heal quite a lot during this battle. When he uses the bog-standard Dragon attacks (Bite or Tail Attack) be sure to reflect them and Heal afterwards. After some severe beating, the Dragon should fall, dead. That was one easy boss! Shadow – Evil – Demi Boss Now you have the Tearose Sigil, you can make your way back to the Iron Maiden B1 and open the door into the dungeon. Not far after entering the dungeon you will probably meet one of these magic – oriented demi bosses – it looks like a pair of purple translucent hands waving about in the air. These Shadows are not hard to beat, but a novice gamer may find these guys a tad tougher than the normal Skeletal muck. They have strong Dark and Light affinities, but are quite weak in other elemental attributes. However, knowledge of this is unnecessary, as the Shadow is weak enough to be polished off using your average-type blade. Get in close, and hack away using a suitable Evil weapon with several Demonia and Braveheart gems attached. With a couple of ten-hit long chains, the Shadow should soon be dead. However, should you fail to knock the 170 HP off him, then be prepared to be hit by an elemental spell. Each Shadow you encounter possesses a different elemental spell, including Vulcan Lance, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, and Aqua Blast. Wyvern Knight – Dragon – Demi Boss A tougher version of the Wyvern you fought in Abandoned Mines B1, the Wyvern Knight’s head is weak against Blunt weapons, its neck and body are vulnerable against Edged weapons, and the hard-to-reach tail is weak against Piercing. As with all Dragons, run under its head to avoid any potential problems with its Flame Breath. Since getting to the tail is so hard, you’re best off equipping a nice Dragon edged weapon set up with Dragonite and Braveheart gems. Then chain on the neck and body, popping in a Break Art or two, and reflecting his various attacks. You should have a reasonable chance of hitting, so you probably won’t need to use a Vera item. Magic attacks are useless as this guy’s INT rating is pretty colossal, and he has no elemental weaknesses, disabling your enchanter spells. If you’re having a rough time, you can always use Sorcery spells such as Prostasia, Herakles (if you have it), Degenerate and Tarnish to tip the scales in your favour. After receiving 520 HP worth of damage, the dragon should fall, and you can get the very useful Chest Key. Iron Golem – Evil The first proper boss of the Iron Maiden, this Iron Golem is a descendent of the Golem you met at the very beginning of the game, and this guy hasn’t learned much either, so you should find it easy to do him in. You’ll need a Blunt weapon with a high Evil affinity. Attach some Demonia and Braveheart gems to this, then cast Luft Fusion, and you should be cleaving off good chunks of his health without effort. If you’re packing a one-handed Mace, then Glacial Gale will come in handy, as will any other Air affinity Break Arts or Spells. Seeing as you should be doing 100 damage per shot now, he should go down in about five hits, and you can get some decent items along with the regular bonus slot machine. After this guy you won’t be able to get a great deal further in your first play, so any other bosses in here will be documented at the bottom, under Second Play Bosses. Harpy – Beast – Demi Boss Weakness: Light This guy is dead easy as well. Equip a good beast weapon, preferably with Braveheart and Demonia attached. Then just lay into it, chaining using Heavy Shot, Crimson Pain, and other such heavy damage dealing chain abilities. Reflect its Devitalise attacks, and try to nullify the Curse status caused by its Blasphemous Howl, but beware of its Banish attack. It rarely hits, but if it does, then you instantly die. Nasty. After receiving about 210 damage, the Harpy should go down (this should be roughly around 3 hits.) You will get some nice items after killing him, including the Herakles spell. Lich – Evil Weakness: Physical Very easy as well. However the Lich (a dedicated magic user) has a spell called Radial Surge, which does roughly around 240-250 damage. Try to reflect it, as this should cause massive damage to the Lich (around 100) which is a lot, considering he only has 130 HP. Try to equip a good Evil weapon with two (or more) gem slots, so that you can put two Demonia gems into it. If you have more room, then the Lich is weak against Physical, so Talos Feldspar, Titan Malachite, and Polaris gems are all useful. This should enable you to do some serious damage. Chain to kill him quickly. Nightstalker – Evil – Demi Boss This guy is very easy...what a run of easy bosses, eh? Basically, all he will do in this battle is continually cast Degenerate on you. There is no point in casting Dispel or Herakles to counter this; he will just cast it again. Simply equip a powerful Evil weapon with Demonia gems attached, and then use Break Arts against his Abdomen. If he casts Prostasia or Herakles then counter them with Degenerate and Tarnish. Reflect its regular attacks and Solid Shock magic attack. Once you’ve knocked 260 HP off the Nightstalker, you can move on. By the way, there’s a Dark Elemental nearby...heh heh heh. Lady Neesa and Sir Tieger – Humans Neesa Weakness: Water, Tieger Weakness: Fire Lady Neesa and Sir Tieger have 800 HP between them… all you have to do is knock 800 HP off one or both of them and they will both submit. Equip a good Human weapon and boost it using Haeralis, Braveheart, and Undine Jasper/Salamander Ruby gems. You’ll probably want to choose one of the pair and focus your attacks on them. So, if you want to fight Lady Neesa, cast Spark Fusion (if you have it; it can be found in Bandits Hollow in Abandoned Mines B2 behind a door locked using the Iron Key) and equip the Salamander Ruby to your weapon. If you want to fight Sir Tieger, cast Frost Fusion and equip the Undine Jasper to your weapon. Both Lady Neesa and Sir Tieger will use a variety of Break Arts, but Lady Neesa likes to use Bonecrusher, and Sir Tieger often uses Accursed Umbra. Lady Neesa’s attack isn’t much to worry about, it only does around 100 damage, but Sir Tieger’s Accursed Umbra is much more dangerous. It causes around 150 damage plus causes the Curse status, meaning you both have to cure yourself and use an Angelic Paean, which gives him the chance to reel off another attack on you. I found that generally it was a better idea to attack Lady Neesa. She usually hangs out on a platform at the edge of the arena. Jump up there and try to position yourself behind her. Then equip necessary items, cast Spark Fusion, Prostasia, and Herakles, and hack at her body and head. You should be aiming to try to take some of her MP using Gain Magic, to replenish MP for Heal spells. You should Reflect Lady Neesa’s Break Arts, and if you’re standing in the right place, Sir Tieger’s Break Arts will hit Lady Neesa, causing more damage. After a lot of hacking, they both will die and you can be out of here. Minotaur Zombie – Undead – Demi Boss Weakness: Light It looks as if the Minotaur, shamed from a good hiding at the beginning of the game, has resurrected and is gonna try to kill you once more. You can find this demi-boss by teleporting to Blackmarket in the Wine Cellar (the first area in the game) and then using the Stock Sigil on the door to get into the lair of the previous Minotaur. This guy has an increased HP and the same Giga Rush attack, but this is nothing to worry about. Equip a good Undead weapon and boost it up using Braveheart and Iocus gems, then just chain on his head and he’ll die fairly quickly. None of his attacks are much to worry about, but try to reflect them, this guy has a load of HP… He should soon die after a few hits, and you will be given pretty good Rune Earrings (+10 Affinity for all elements except for Physical), a few Cure Bulbs, and an Elixir of Queens. Plus, the chest at the end of the room has been re-stocked with goodies for you to take. Not bad, I suppose. Water Elemental – Phantom Weakness: Fire Another elemental, this one has a bucket on his head and flippers. Equip a good phantom weapon with Braveheart, Demonia and Salamander Ruby gems. Then cast Spark Fusion. If you haven’t got Spark Fusion, then you’re in trouble. Go for the body, chaining generously, and popping in the occasional Break Art. The elemental has only one attack, Aqua Blast, which does a negligible amount of damage plus can easily be reflected. The elemental should soon concede as he has only around 380 HP. Air Elemental –Phantom – Demi Boss Weakness: Earth You’re unlikely to have any problems on this guy, as he’s only a demi-boss guarding a chest, but you’ll need the right equipment. Equip a good Phantom weapon with the Gnome Emerald, Braveheart, and Demonia gems attached, and cast Soil Fusion. This should allow you to do 30-40 HP damage per hit. Chain attack him, and reflect his Lightning Bolt attack. He should die quite quickly. You may also find this guy as a real boss in the Abandoned Mines B2. Earth Elemental – Phantom – Demi Boss Weakness: Air Another easy demi-boss, which looks a bit like a certain greasy papa. If you have a Djinn Amber, equip that on your weapon, but if you don’t, then a Sylphid Topaz will do. If you have any gem slots left, equip the usual Demonia and Braveheart gems. Then cast Luft Fusion and chain away, reflecting his pathetic Vulcan Lance attack. This guy is as easy as the Air Elemental, and can also be found in the Abandoned Mines B2 as a real boss. Ogre Lord – Beast Weakness: Fire Since this guy has a slight weakness against fire, cast Spark Fusion, along with general boosters like Prostasia and Herakles, and this should allow you to do some damage. Equip a good beast weapon with Braveheart and Salamander Rubies attached, then chain on him, throwing in a Break Art when necessary. His attacks are a bit weak. He has attempted to master Tornado magic, but has failed and it only does roughly 50 damage. His other attacks, Surging Balm and Degenerate, aren’t much to worry about either. Just keep up your attacks, healing frequently and you should easily win. Snow Dragon – Dragon Weakness: Fire I bet you’re glad you got Spark Fusion, eh? Another monster weak against fire, the Snow Dragon possesses many qualities similar to the other dragons (i.e. Breath, Bite, Tail attacks) except that this time it’s head is weak against edged weapons, so put away that polearm, and root out a reasonable dragon sword/axe. Equip it with Dragonite and two Braveheart gems. As the battle begins, run under its head to avoid the Frost Breath, and then cast Spark Fusion. Start the usual routine for dragons, i.e. start with a couple of Break Arts, then chain until your RISK reaches 25, then use a Vera Root and start the cycle again. The dragon has the usual Tail Attacks and Bite, but these aren’t life threatening and can easily be reflected. After some severe beating, the dragon will fall over and die. Last Crusader – Evil – Demi Boss Weakness: Physical Before you go into the boss room, check the container outside and choose a weapon with a high STR and Physical affinity, then put Demonia gems and a Talos Feldspar in it. The Last Crusader’s chief weakness is Physical, so by equipping a Talos Feldspar, you are capitalising on that. Enter the boss room and cast Prostasia and Herakles, then Silence the Crusader before it casts its Sorcery spells. Now it’s just a matter of chaining and using Break Arts until he dies, reflecting his attacks for extra damage. Note that if, on second play, you wander into Tormentium Insomniae in Iron Maiden B2 with less than 150 health, then there’ll be one of these guys in here. He holds...Excalibur, the Holy Win that Guildenstern wields in the final battle (!) with a Spiral Hilt grip, and with two of the most powerful gems ever, the Arturos gem, giving +20 everything. If you continuously beat him down, then eventually he might give you this, but I’ve spent a fair time in there and got nothing. Hmmm... Minotaur Lord – Beast – Demi Boss Pretty much the same as the first Minotaur, except with marginally more HP. He has Giga Rush, and the big club attack, as always… Equip a good beast weapon, you’ve probably got a pretty tasty one by now, and equip it with the Orion and Braveheart gems. Now just lay into his head, using extensive combos to do him in quickly. You shouldn’t need any Break Arts or spells, but you can use them if you really want. Once he’s dead, check the chest in the corner for the Silver Key. If you leave the area (i.e. go into the Limestone Quarry using the nearby Silver Key Door) and then come back in, then the Minotaur Lord will have regenerated and you can fight him again. Fight him continuously and you might obtain the fearsome "Hand of Light" that he wields. Note that if you obtain it, it is still enormous and makes Ashley look tiny in comparison! In combat terms, the attack power of the blade is 36, I think that’s better than the Destroyer, and the range is unimaginably good – 7! You can take out things on the other side of the screen with this baby, and boy does it feel good... Kali – Human Technically a God, Kali is pretty fearsome, what with four arms each wielding weapons, and two heads. But to you, she’s a human, and a pretty weak one at that. Equip a good human weapon with Haeralis and Braveheart and attack the arms and legs using chain combos and Break Arts. Cast Leadbones on Kali and boost your equipment using Prostasia and Herakles. She’ll soon be out like a light. Watch out for her attacks and reflect them if possible. Marid – Phantom Weakness: Fire The lord of the water elementals, Marid gets to wear a pointy bucket on his head as a mark of superiority. Hmm…. This guy is very similar to water elementals except that he has a dangerous Avalanche Level 3 attack, which does quite a lot of damage. Heal after this one. You’ll need to dig out that Phantom weapon again, equip it with the Salamander Ruby, and cast Spark Fusion as before. Blunt weapons are generally best, and attack the chest to do maximum damage. Throw in the occasional Break Art and reflect his Aqua Blast and he’ll soon be back with the fishes again. Ifrit – Phantom Weakness: Water The infamous Ifrit resurfaces again, looking much as he did in Final Fantasy VII – more Human-like than Bull-like. As per usual he is fire-aligned, casting spells such as the usual Fireball and a mildly dangerous Level 3 Flame Sphere. As you do with the Fire Elementals, equip the Undine Jasper to your weapon, and cast Frost Fusion. Then just hack away at his weak chest and he’ll soon be dead. Attempt to reflect his magic attacks and get in a Break Art or two. Iron Crab – Beast Weakness: Fire Get out your Beast weapon again and equip it with Orion, Braveheart, and Salamander Ruby gems. If you are wielding a blunt weapon, then go for the body, but if you have a piercing or edged weapon, then get in close and attack the weak mouth. This guy only has around 375 HP so if you find yourself doing 50 damage a turn, then he should go down after about 4 decent combos. He has a regular attack as well as Aqua bubble and Tidal Rush, all of which do roughly 100 damage, and should be reflected before Healing. Djinn – Phantom Weakness: Air Another regular elemental who increased his HP and attacks, Djinn looks a lot like a regular Air Elemental. You should employ the same tactics as well; equip the Gnome Emerald on a Blunt Phantom weapon, and cast Soil Fusion. Use chain combos and Break Arts on his chest, reflecting his Lightning Bolt and powerful Level 3 Thunderburst attacks. After receiving 500 damage, Djinn will explode in a display of sparks and lightning bolts. Flame Dragon – Dragon – Demi Boss Weakness: Water Another easy dragon to contend with, you should equip your best Dragon weapon with Dragonite, Braveheart, and an Undine Jasper. Run under its head to stop it from using Searing Breath, and start the usual routine. If you have a piercing weapon, attack the legs, and if you have an edged weapon, attack the head. Start with a Break Art or two, then chain away until your RISK reaches 25. Use a Vera Root, then start the cycle again. This guy has 750 HP, so you’ll need to keep up your onslaught for quite a long time. As always, reflect his Tail Attacks and Bites to cause some bonus damage. Arch Dragon – Dragon – Demi Boss Weakness: Dark Yet another Dragon rolls off the production line, this one being of the Light variety. This guy has 785 HP, the highest yet for a dragon. Equip a good dragon weapon with Dragonite, Braveheart, and Morlock Jet, and put some Angel Pearls on your shield (if you have one.) Your weapon will do vastly more damage if it has a dark affinity, so if a high dragon affinity weapon isn’t doing the job, try a high dark affinity weapon. Before going into the boss room, do not draw your weapon but simply go through the door. This will allow you to run under its head in time and dodge it’s Divine Breath attack. If you have a weapon drawn, you will not be able to get under the head, and will be subject to the ultra-powerful Breath, sapping most of your HP and MP. Once under the head, start chaining away on the limb that is weak to your weapon (the head is weak against Edged weapons, so the tail must be weak against Piercing attacks.) You should use the normal Dragon routine (described above.) You should have Gain Magic as one of your Chain Abilities to increase your MP flow for restorative spells such as Heal, and attack spells like Dark Chant or Meteor. He will, of course, use the regular Bite and Tail Attacks, but these are the same as they ever were, and by now you should know exactly when to reflect them. After a lot of Break Arts, chain abilities, and magic assaults, the Dragon should fall forward and die. Dao – Phantom Weakness: Air Another fatty bloke, Dao leads the Elementals of the Earth. Although he is a phantom, having a Blunt weapon is more important than having a good Phantom weapon. Equip this weapon with the Djinn Amber (should you possess it), a Sylphid Topaz, and a Demonia gem. Then cast Luft Fusion and be prepared to run after this guy as he floats around the arena. If you have any air-affinity Break Arts use them, but if you don’t then just chain away using damage dealing abilities such as Heavy Shot, Temper, Crimson Pain, or Phantom Pain. Also, you could cast Thunderburst if your magic was really plentiful. Dao has one attack, known as Vulcan Lance. Since this is a puny attack, plus can easily be reflected, its not too much to worry about. Simply follow Dao around the room, chaining away, and he’ll be dead before you know it. Nightmare – Phantom Weakness: Light Brother of the Dark Elemental, Nightmare seemed easier to us than the Elemental. Maybe I was using the wrong tactics on the Dark Elemental … Anyway, equip a blunt weapon that has a high light affinity to maximise damage, and add Angel Pearl, Braveheart, and Demonia gems to it. Put a Morlock gem on your shield and boost your equipment using Prostasia and Herakles. Now you should be able to deal a fair bit of damage to the Nightmare. Light affinity Break Arts will get you off to a good start, then chain away, trying to reduce his MP using Mind Assault, and add to yours using Gain Magic. If you feel you’ve got some spare MP, then cast light-related spells such as Spirit Surge and Radial Surge. The Nightmare has a few attacks up his sleeves; the first being Curse (which causes the curse status; you’ll need to use Blessing after this), the second Dark Chant, which is no real threat, and can easily be reflected, and the third Level 3 Meteor. Now he doesn’t do this move often, but it does some serious damage, so be ready with Demonscale. Once you do 500 damage to this guy he’ll go down with a bang, and there’s nothing between you and Guildenstern… Romeo Guildenstern Part 1 – Evil – Last Boss The first form of this last boss, Guildenstern can prove to be a real nuisance if you haven’t got the right equipment. You’ll need a suitable edged weapon with a high attack power. A two-handed one is usually best, as they have a greater attack power and range than one-handed weapons; you’ll need at least a +30 attack weapon to deal any damage at all. I used a Great Sword with the Shiavona blade (found in the Limestone Quarry) and the Power Palm grip, which had +39 attack. If your weapon doesn’t have a high evil affinity, then increase it by repeatedly attacking the training dummy (an Evil Gremlin) in Gharmes walk (Town Centre East). You’ll then want to equip the weapon with two Demonia gems and one Braveheart gem before going into the boss room. When the battle starts, cast either Prostasia or Herakles; don’t cast them both, as this will simply provoke Guildenstern into casting Dispel to remove both of these. Its probably best to cast Herakles, as casting a Prostasia will induce a retaliation of Tarnish from Guildenstern. Any attack spells (Warlock or detrimental Sorcery) are, of course, useless, so use only beneficial Sorcery and Shamanic spells. Now start using Break Arts on him, as much as you can between his attacks. See which one does the most damage and stick with it, repeatedly using it on the boss. For the Great Sword, the Thunderwave attack does more damage than either the Swallow Slash or Sunder moves (I hadn’t got the fourth Break Art for this weapon.) You should be doing roughly around 50+ damage per turn. Keep up a routine of doing 2 Break Arts, then Healing. If you’re quick, then Guildenstern should only get in an attack after each Heal. As for Guildenstern’s attacks, he has quite a few. He has the Sorcery spells Tarnish, Degenerate, Dispel, and Stun Cloud. He tends to use Dispel and Tarnish on you much more frequently than Degenerate. He uses Stun Cloud on you very frequently, so be ready with Yggdrasil's Tears or the magic Restoration or Clearance to nullify the Paralysis effect. Other than this, he has his regular attack and the Break Art ‘Last Ascension.’ His normal attack takes off around 100-200 HP damage, but his Last Ascension is slightly more dangerous, taking off around 250-300 damage, so be ready with Impact Guard/Reflect Damage, and Heal afterwards. Soon you can chuckle as Guildenstern explodes on the roof of the Great Cathedral. But you haven’t completed the game yet. Oh no. That easy boss wasn’t sufficient for Square. After a short cut sequence, you’ll have to face the Dark Angel… Second Play Comments After combining my humble Shiavona blade into a powerful Nodachi sword, and then equipping a Power Palm grip with three Demonia gems onto it, I was able to fairly comfortably kill Guildenstern's first form. My regular attacks did about 80-90 HP damage per hit - more when improved using Sorcery spells. It was here, and when fighting Asura, that I was able to appreciate the formidable Swallow Slash move. It seems to do roughly double the damage that you would normally do with a regular attack, which meant around 200 damage per hit with Guildenstern. Hehehe... Romeo Guildenstern, Dark Angel – Evil – Last Boss Now this guy is the hell that you expected from a high ranking Square game. Safer Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII and Ultimecia from Final Fantasy VIII were ******* hard, so why shouldn’t Guildenstern be? Equip a good one-handed weapon here, with a high Evil affinity and attack power. Also, equip your best shield, as you’ll need it for Guildenstern’s most powerful spells. Put some Demonia and Braveheart gems on your weapon, and the Angel Pearl and Morlock Jet gems on your shield. If you've got some extra space, then some Dao Moonstones/Gnome Emeralds are also useful. Warlock or detrimental Sorcery spells are, as usual, useless against the Dark Angel, so the only spells you want to use are beneficial Sorcery spells or Shaman spells. As the battle starts, recover your HP, but don’t bother casting any Sorcery spells; they’ll run out before you get any hits in on him. Simply run to one side of the combat ring, and Guildenstern should go to the other side, and repeatedly sway around. Don’t bother running after him, as you won’t manage to catch up with him as he flees around the circle. Now wait until he goes red and approaches you, then run towards him. If he casts the spells Apocalypse (Dark aligned) or Judgement (Light aligned) then try to Reflect the damage (using Reflect Magic,) but you won’t be able to get near enough to get any hits in. If he casts Gravity or Poison Rain, then reflect the damage, and then run in. You should be able to get a few hits in before he flies off. However, if he casts one of his Sorcery spells (he has many including Tarnish, Degenerate, Psychodrain and Leadbones), then he will have to fly right up close to you, allowing you to cause more damage with either Chain Abilties or Break Arts. Don’t attempt to counteract these spells, as it will reduce your MP that could be used for Heal spells, and he will just cast them again before you know it. If you have any Break Arts that actually work, then use them as much as possible, Healing afterwards. However if this doesn’t work, then you’ll have to resort to Chains (like I did.) Don’t be discouraged if the information bar says that you’re going to be doing 0 damage; as you chain, the damage you do goes up slowly. Use Crimson Pain and Heavy Shot alternating to do a lot of damage. Try to stop chaining as soon as you get to 8 Chains, as if you chain further, then your RISK will jump up in steps of about 25 per hit, which you don’t want. Use Vera Items afterwards to clear the built-up RISK. Soon, after you have slashed off around a quarter of his HP, he will use his ultimate attack, the Bloody Sin. You will be given fair warning that he’s going to do this attack by a fairly obvious camera angle change. Press and hold R2 and shortly you will regain control. Heal yourself back up to full and equip a shield if you haven’t one already. Then cast Prostasia to boost up your armour statistics. This done, Bloody Sin should do around 20 Damage in total (ha ha) which you can reflect using Reflect Damage. [The right time to reflect is after his wings rain down blue spears of light, and when the camera zooms into Ashley’s face.] I'm not entirely sure that you can reflect this using Reflect Damage, as when I used this after the Bloody Sin I just came up with misses. You can probably use Absorb Damage though. After this mega attack, Heal and then go to the edge of the arena. Now Guildenstern won’t use any other spells other than Sorcery spells, so you can take advantage of the fact that he now has to zoom right next to you to cast the spell to get off some serious chains or Break Arts. After reducing him to around one third of his health, Guildenstern will use Bloody Sin again. Use the same tactics as you did for the previous Bloody Sin and you’ll be fine. Now he’ll continue using the usual Sorcery spells, and you can chain or use Break Arts to kill him off. After 700 HP worth of damage, the final boss will fall and you can enjoy the dramatic end sequence. Second Play Comments After defeating this guy for the second, third, and fourth times, I realised some alternative strategies. By the second time, you should really have some good Battle Abilities and weapons, so Guildenstern will be that bit easier. However, unless you want to take 20 hours out of your spare time to traipse round Iron Maiden B2 on 150HP trying to get Rhomphaia and Holy Win Blades, then its not going to be that much easier (as I found out.) However, if you pick out your best weapon and then cast Prostasia and Herakles onto it, then some of your Break Arts might now do some very reasonable damage. If they don't, and you have a decent array of Battle Abilities, then you can use them. A good idea is to obtain Phantom Pain and Instill, and fight with enemies in the Wine Cellar to get the PP of all your weapons up to maximum levels. Then go into the boss room and unleash all the PP of your weapons onto the boss to do a lot of damage. While fighting the boss, you can use Instill to recoup your PP for another attack. If you have a lot of HP and Crimson Pain and Raging Ache, then you can get your HP down to about 200 using either your Crimson Pain or the Dark Angel's various attacks, then use Raging Ache to kill the boss in no time. Second Play Bosses If you fancy going through the game a second time (and you should – you retain all your ultra – powerful weapons from the first time through, so you can beat enemies and bosses alike with great ease and pleasure. Believe me, dropping that Golem and the Dark Elemental in a couple of hits makes you feel a lot better…) then you might come across the bosses described below. Most are easy by the second time through, but some are seriously tough cookies. Here, I will add to the normal account, where you can find the boss, as some are quite a bit out of your way: Marid and Ifrit - Phantoms Weakness: Ifrit - Water, Marid - Fire Location: Escapeway, through Rood Inverse gate in Town Centre West, requires Iron Key Okay, okay, so we've seen these guys before, but now there are two of them, and one of you. Its best to start with Marid, so equip any Ifrit Carnelians/Salamander Rubies that you may have, in conjunction with Trinity/Demonia gems, to your best Blunt Phantom weapon. Try to position Marid in front of you in relation to Ifrit, so any spells that he casts will be relayed onto Marid, for spectacular results... Now cast Spark Fusion, and lay into Marid. He should die within a couple of chain combos. Now go for Ifrit. You must change all of your set-up, otherwise he'll make mincemeat of you. Change all the Ifrit Carnelians/Salamander Rubies on your weapon for Malid Aquamarines/Undine Jaspers, and replace Spark Fusion with Frost Fusion. Now employ similar tactics as you did for Marid and Ifrit should soon be dead, and you'll get a Grimoire Avalanche as well as another Grimoire Flamme. I assure you, by the end of the Second play, you'll have about 5 more of these than you actually need... Damascus Crab – Beast Weakness: Fire Location: through Rood Inverse door in City Walls East, in Snowfly Forest East Great. Another crab. This one has a shell of Damascus, and 500HP, so is a little tougher than any of the crabs you’ve seen previously. Equip a good Beast weapon with Orion and Ifrit Carnelian Gems attached. Blunt weapons obviously have the edge here, so if your beast weapon is Blunt, then you’ll do even more damage. Piercing and Edged weapons are at a general disadvantage. Cast Spark Fusion and then just lay into him with various attacks; intersperse a few Break Arts among your usual chaining. He has the normal Aqua Bubble and Tidal Rush attacks, but if you’re good, you shouldn’t even get a chance to Reflect them. After receiving that 500HP of damage, the Crab will surrender the Platinum key. Damascus Golem – Evil Weakness: Air Location: Gold Key door in the Keep, in Forgotten Pathway Another upgrade, the Damascus Golem hasn’t learnt new attacks or tactics. He has the usual Granite Punch and regular attacks, and these now cause less damage due to your superior armour. Just equip a Blunt weapon with a reasonably high Evil affinity, and soup it up using Djinn Amber, Demonia and Braveheart gems. Cast Luft Fusion, and you should be able to kill him within about three chains. Having killed this guy, you’ll get a lousy prize of only three Cure Tonics. Hmm… Wyvern Queen – Dragon Weakness: Magic of any kind Location: Iron Maiden B1: After Platinum and Steel Key doors Extremely tough if you don’t know what to do, the Wyvern Queen is the ruler of all Wyrms. However, if you do spot that chink in her armour, then she is extremely easy. However, you’ll need to bring along a Staff of some kind and some MP restoring items before you confront this boss. The staff I used was a Summoner Baton with Grimoire Grip, accompanied by two Ifrit Carnelians. You should now have a weapon with a seriously high INT that can capitalise on the Wyvern Queens weakness (an extremely low INT.) Go into the boss room and start firing off spells left, right and centre. Due to the extremely low chance of hitting (around 50% is about as high as you’re gonna get) you will often miss, but continue regardless. The average spell causes roughly about 225 HP damage per hit, so after about 4-5 direct hits, she’ll cave in and die. As for the Wyvern Queen, she has a normal bite and a Flame Breath attack in her arsenal, but as long as you keep up a vicious assault and keep your distance, then you shouldn’t have much trouble with her at all. Dark Dragon – Dragon Weakness: Light Location: Iron Maiden B2: Ordeal By Fire If you were looking for the Arch Dragon’s Dark twin, this is your man. Equip a suitable dragon weapon with Dragonite and Angel Pearls attached. Once you see him, run under his head to avoid his dangerous Poison Breath attack, and start with the age-old routine. Use a couple of Break Arts (light affinity ones are super effective) then chain on his head until your RISK reaches 25, whereupon you use a Vera Root, etc. This guy has even more health than the Arch Dragon, and this guy has probably got the most HP in the game. However, you shouldn’t have any troubles, as your main dragon weapon is probably quite powerful by now, but if you want to finish him off in style you could use Spirit Surge or Radial Surge. After receiving 850HPs worth of damage, the Dark Dragon will yield and you can progress on to the next challenge… Ravana – Human Location: Iron Maiden B2: Pressing Remember Kali from the first time through? Well Ravana is a mechanical version of this boss, with a few more HP and a new special attack, Heaven’s Tear. Equip a suitable Human weapon boosted up using Orlandu and Haeralis gems, and then just hack away at her legs using this weapon. Leadbones is again useful, as it dispels the Surging Balm she often casts, plus slows her down. She’ll soon give up the ghost after receiving 750 damage, and you can keep going… 
Dragon Zombie - Undead
Location: Iron Maiden B2: The Saw
Possessing none of the splendour and impressive headgear of its living 
partners, and a very suspicious ‘Untitled’ attack, you can be forgiven for 
laughing in the face of this boss. Indeed he is weak, with only 500HP, and 
slightly uncoordinated attacks. But his Rot Breath is slightly dangerous, so 
you’ll want to run under his head before he can use it. This time, equip a 
good Undead weapon, with Balvus and Iocus gems attached, and start chaining 
and using Break Arts on his already wretched body. He’ll give way 
surprisingly quickly, after maybe biting you a few times. On to the next 
boss then…

Ogre Zombie –Undead
Weakness: Fire
Location: Iron Maiden B2: The Shin Vice
You’ve probably had enough of this long run of bosses, but here’s another. 
This time it’s a partnership between pure muscle and magical knowledge, as 
you face both a Death [detailed below] and this Ogre Zombie. You’ll want to 
start with the Ogre Zombie first, as the Death will stay out of your way to 
begin with. Equip the Undead weapon that has had some use already, and keep 
the Balvus and Iocus gems on it. Firstly cast Spark Fusion, then cast a 
Magic Ward (to protect yourself from any attacks death may make) and lay 
into the Zombie. Since he can resist chain combos that actually damage him, 
you can either just go in for single hits, or use chain abilities that are 
beneficial to you (like Gain Magic and Gain Life.) You could also use Break 
Arts, but try to save your Magic Points for Magic Wards. Soon the Zombie 
will die and you can focus your attention onto Death.

Death – Evil
Weakness: Physical
Location: Iron Maiden B2: The Shin Vice
This guy is basically a very powerful Lich Lord, and has pretty much the 
same characteristics (i.e. has a weakness against Physical, wields only 
spells.) However, all of his spells are much more powerful and he has 360HP. 
So equip a nice Evil weapon, with Titan Malachite, Talos Feldspar, and 
Demonia gems attached, and maintain a Magic Ward at all times. Now you’ll 
have to catch him. Approaching him is usually a bad idea as he’ll simply 
fire off a Thunderbolt, Gravity, or Fire Storm and then warp away, 
chuckling. Try to stand away from him, out of his range, and he may warp 
right next to you, allowing you to chain on his legs or head. You should be 
able to kill him in one long eight-hit chain. Letting him get away is 
usually not a good idea, as you’ll have to catch him again.
When you’ve killed him, you can progress into the next room and go left and 
right for goodies in chests. Now you’ll have to tackle a long maze of 
tunnels before you can get to Iron Maiden B3 and the real head boss of this 
dungeon.

Asura – Human
Location: Iron Maiden B3: The Iron Maiden
As the name of this room implies, Asura is the master of the bosses in this 
dungeon, and therefore rock hard. Equip a nice Human weapon with Orlandu and 
Haeralis gems attached, and then boost this up using Prostasia and Herakles, 
and you probably won’t be doing any damage using normal chains. The best 
tactic to use are Break Arts, then Heal.
I was using a Great Sword, and so used Swallow Slash, which did about 50HPs 
damage per hit. The best place to go for is the legs, but you may often 
miss, as the chance of hitting is usually only 60-70%. Keep on hitting 
anyway, and Heal when your HP get low. Soon you’ll give her a Movement x50% 
injury, and she’ll be so slow that you can finish her off in comparative 
safety. She has a few special attacks Raven Eye, Caesar’s Thrust, and 
Heaven’s Tear, Guildenstern’s Judgement, and Surging Balm. If she casts 
Surging Balm, counter with Leadbones. It’ll distract her so that you can 
kill her easily.
After receiving roughly around 800-900 HP of damage, Asura will fall. Get 
the treasure in the left and right rooms before leaving.

3) Legal Stuff and Credits
All material © 2001 Odge

You may put my FAQ on your website without asking, but you must do a few 
things in order to be able to put this article on your site. Firstly, you 
must not change anything. Secondly, you must accredit me as the author of 
the article. Thirdly, you must send me an e-mail telling me who you are and 
what website you have put my FAQ on. Lastly, if possible, you should put a 
link to www.satsumaonline.com on your website.

Any further tips or boss queries would be greatly appreciated.