The Vagrant Story Ultimate Weapons FAQ ver 1.1 or So You Want To Kick Some A$$ by Matt Hamand =============================================================================== Contents 1. Legal Stuff 2. Introduction 3. Training 4. Assembly 5. Notes 6. Tips 7. Alleviating The Boredom 8. Thanks 9. Revision History =============================================================================== 1. Legal Stuff All Text Copyright 2000 Matt Hamand I wrote this. Feel free to read it, distribute it, copy it, whatever. Just give me credit. Any questions or comments please email me at mhamand1@yahoo.com Vagrant Story is copyright Square. =============================================================================== 2. Introduction *What is an Ultimate Weapon?* An Ultimate Weapon is a weapon with 100 in all classes and affinities. Ideally the weapon will also be made of Damascus. *Why should I make an Ultimate Weapon?* The first time I played through Vagrant Story I did okay. But the final battle with Guildenstern was a bear. I did not use combos for most of the game which was a mistake. So I spent a couple of hours nickel and diming him to no avail. Then I hit upon using a Heavy Shot/Crimson Pain combo and that worked much better. But I was still only doing about 15 points of damage on a critical hit. I eventually beat him but it was a pain. Fast-forward to my first replay game. After spending a lot of hours building an ultimate weapon (Hagane Romphaia, Spiral Hilt, Tertia, Tertia, Braveheart) the final battle with Guildenstern went much better. I killed his final form in one 5 chain combo (Heavy Shot/Crimson Pain). I was pleasantly surprised. I expected to do well but this was terrific. Some credit has to go to my increased stats, but most of the credit I think has to go to the weapon. Before I continue I should say that my weapon isn't even quite as ultimate as it could be. It is not Damascus and I really would like to have Arturos gems. But after at least two dozen hours of spelunking in Iron Maiden B2/B3 I could not come up with one lousy Holy Win Blade. My girlfriend can attest to the hours I wasted on this quest. So I settled for Hagane and lower quality gems. But the results cannot be argued with. The GameFAQs Vagrant Story message board has a lot of info on ultimate weapon building. That's where I got the method I used, the method I'm writing about here. But to get to the info you have to wade through thousands of posts over 2 or 3 months. So I decided to write this and put all it in one place. Here it is. =============================================================================== 3. The Method The method I used is a four blade method. There are some three blade methods out there. I like the four blade method. It ensures that there will be no conflicting classes/affinities. And once you have the blades it doesn't take any longer that a three blade method. You still have to spend the same amount of time whacking away at training dummies no matter how many blades you are going to eventually combine. Blade 1 - Dragon / Beast / Physical For the first blade head to The Boys Training Room in City Walls South. Attack the Dragon dummy there until your Dragon class and Physical affinity are up to 100. Then travel to The Dark Tunnel in Abandoned Mines B1. Use the Beast dummy there until your Beast class is up to 100. Set that blade aside. Blade 2 - Phantom / Human / Earth / Darkness / Water For the second blade go to From Boy To Hero in City Walls North. Attack the Phantom dummy there until your Phantom class is up to 100. Then travel to the Worker's Breakroom in The Wine Cellar. Attack only the Right Arm, Left Arm, and head until your Human Class and Earth, Water, and Darkness affinities are up to 100. Set that blade aside. Blade 3 - Human / Fire / Air For the third blade stay in the Worker's Breakroom in The Wine Cellar. With the same dummy attack only the Body and Legs until your Human class and Fire and Air affinities are up to 100. Set that blade aside. Blade 4 - Undead / Evil / Light For the fourth blade go to the Hall Of Sworn Revenge in The Catacombs. Attack the Undead dummy until your Undead class is up to 100. From there go to Gharme's Walk in Town Center East. Attack the Evil Dummy there until your Evil class and Light Affinity are up to 100. =============================================================================== 4. Assembly The best place to assemble your weapon is the Godhands workshop. This workshop is only available on replay. If you want to build an ultimate weapon on first play I suggest Junction Point workshop. Just make sure none of the blades you will be combining are Silver or Damascus. Combining these blades and assembling this weapon is similar to combining and assembling any other with just a couple of key differences. I will now go into detail on how to combine and assemble the ultimate weapon of each weapon type. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultimate Dagger Blade 1 - Baselard Blade 2 - Baselard Blade 3 - Stiletto Blade 4 - Holy Win Hilt - Spiral Hilt Gems - Arturos, Arturos, Arturos First combine the two Baselards to get another Stiletto. Then combine the two Stilettos to get a Jamadhar. Then combine the Holy Win with the Jamadhar. This should create a Damascus Jamadhar with 100 in all classes/affinites. Assemble the blade with a spiral hilt, and 3 Arturos gems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultimate One-Handed Sword Blade 1 - Romphaia Blade 2 - Romphaia Blade 3 - Romphaia Blade 4 - Holy Win Hilt - Spiral Hilt Gems - Arturos, Arturos, Arturos Combine the three Romphaias. Then combine the Romphaia with the Holy Win. This should result in a Damascus Romphaia with 100 in all classes/affinities. Assemble the blade with a spiral hilt and 3 Arturos Gems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultimate Two-Handed Sword Blade 1 - Holy Win Blade 2 - Holy Win Blade 3 - Holy Win Blade 4 - Holy Win Hilt - Spiral Hilt Gems - Arturos, Arturos, Arturos Combine all four Holy Wins. This results in a Damascus Holy Win with 100 in all classes/affinities. Assemble the blade with a Spiral Hilt and affix 3 Arturos Gems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultimate One-Handed Ax Blade 1 - Tabar Blade 2 - Tabar Blade 3 - Bullova Blade 4 - Holy Win Hilt - Elephant Gems - Arturos, Arturos, Arturos Combine the two Tabars. This should result in another Bullova. Caombine the two Bullovas. This results in a Crescent. Combine the Crescent with the Holy Win. This should result in a Damascus Crescent with 100 in all classes/affinites. Assemble the blade with an Elephant grip and 3 Arturos gems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultimate Two-Handed Ax Blade 1 - Balbriggan Blade 2 - Balbriggan Blade 3 - Sabre Halbred Blade 4 - Sabre Halbred Hilt - Elephant Gems - Arturos, Arturos, Arturos Combine the first Balbriggan and Sabre Halberd. This results in a Double Blade. Combine the second Balbriggan and Sabre Halberd. This results in a Double Blade. Combine the two Double Blades. This results in a Halberd with 100 in all classes/affinities. Assemble the blade with an Elephant grip and 3 Arturos gems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultimate One-Handed Mace Blade 1 - War Hammer Blade 2 - War Hammer Blade 3 - Bec De Corbin Blade 4 - Holy Win Hilt - Elephant or Grimoire Grip Gems - Arturos, Arturos, Arturos or Arturos, Arturos Combine the two War Hammers. This results in a Bec De Corbin. Combine the two Bec De Corbins. This should give you a War Maul. Combine the War Maul with the Holy Win. This should result in a Damascus War Maul with 100 in all classes/affinities. Assemble the blade with either an Elephant or a Grimoire Grip. Affix either 2 or 3 Arturos Gems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultimate Two-Handed Mace Blade 1 - Hand Of Light Blade 2 - Hand Of Light Blade 3 - Hand Of Light Blade 4 - Hand Of Light Hilt - Elephant or Grimoire Grip Gems - Arturos, Arturos, Arturos or Arturos, Arturos Combine all four Hands Of Light. This should give you a Hand of Light with 100 in all classes/affinities. Assemble the blade with either a Elephant grip or a Grimoire Grip. Affix either 2 or 3 Arturos gems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultimate Staff Blade 1 - Shamanic Staff Blade 2 - Summoner's Baton Blade 3 - Bishop's Crossier Blade 4 - Holy Win Hilt - Elephant or Grimoire Grip Gems - Arturos, Arturos, Arturos or Arturos, Arturos Combine the Shamanic Staff with the Summoner's Baton. This gives a Bishop's Crossier. Combine the two Bishop's Crossiers. This results in a Sage's Cane. Combine the Sage's Cane with the Holy Win. This should result in a Damascus Sage's Cane with 100 in all classes/affinities. Assemble the blade with either an Elephant grip or a Grimoire Grip. Attach 3 or 2 Arturos Gems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultimate Polearm Blade 1 - Pole Ax Blade 2 - Pole Ax Blade 3 - Pole Ax Blade 4 - Pole Ax Hilt - Spiral Pole Gems - Arturos, Arturos, Arturos Combine the two Pole Axes. This results in another Bardysh. Combine the other two Pole Axes. This results in another Bardysh. Combine the two Bardysh. This gives a Damascus with 100 in all classes/affinities. Assemble the blade with a spiral pole grip. Attach 3 Arturos gems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultimate Crossbow Blade 1 - Lug Crossbow Blade 2 - Lug Crossbow Blade 3 - Seige Bow Blade 4 - Holy Win Hilt - Sonic Bullet Gems - Arturos Combine the two Lug Crossbows. This results in a Seige Bow. Combine your two Seige Bows. This results in an Arbalest. Combine the Arbalest with the Holy Win. This gives you a Damascus Arbalest with 100 in all classes/affinities. Assemble the blade with a Sonic Bullet Grip and attach 1 Arturos gem. =============================================================================== 5. Notes *Obtaining The Holy Win & Romphaia* On second play or later the Iron Maiden B2 and Iron Maiden B3 are accessible. If you enter these areas with 150 or less hit points you encounter different enemies. Normally there are shriekers, ogres, and liches. With less than 150 HP you run into Dark Crusaders and one Last Crusader. The Dark Cruaders are armed with Romphaias, the best one handed sword available. The Last Crusader carries the Holy Win blade, the best two handed sword. They will drop these swords rarely. Very rarely. I spent at least 20 hours in the IMB2/3 and only had 6 Romphaias and no Holy Wins to show for it. I've heard of others obtaining as many as 6 Holy Wins in only 2 hours of trying. As far as I tell there is no sure way of getting them to drop what you want. With the rarer items, at least, it appears pretty random. *Obtaining The Hand Of Light* The Hand Of Light is the best two handed mace in the game. It is obtained by battling the various Minotaur Bosses. They drop it rarely. About as rarely, I hear, as the Holy Win is dropped. I didn't spend as much time looking for one of these as I have little interest in two-handed weapons, I like using shields. *Combining With The Holy Win Blade* The most useful thing about the Holy Win blade is its use as a metal converter. When certain sufficiently powerful blades are combined with the Holy Win the result is that blade in the superior Damascus material. This is the best way to make most weapon into Damascus. *Limitations Of The Holy Win* You cannot make use a Holy Win to convert a Hand Of Light blade into Damascus. The Holy Win also will not convert two-handed axes, two-handed maces, or polearms into Damascus. The best way to make ultimate weapons of these types Damascus is to start with Damascus components. I know this is not easy, but its the best I can do within the scope of this document. I suggest Jay Tilton's Combination Guide. *How Many Holy Wins Do I Need?* To make a complete set of ultimate weapons you will need 10 Holy Win blades. This is enough to convert all the weapons that you can to Damascus and to create an ultimate Holy Win blade. *Alternate Ultimate Two-Handed Mace* An alternate method of creating an ultimate two-handed mace is to use four Mjolnir blades. This gives you a Destroyer blade with 100 in all classes/affinities. Not having a Hand Of Light or a Destroyer to compare I don't know which one has higher base stats. I suspect it will be the Hand Of Light, but if you really enjoy the ultimate weapon making process or are having problems getting Hands of Light here's how to make a non Hand Of Light ultimate two-handed mace. *Elepahnt or Grimoire Grip* When choosing a grip for your maces and staff you have a couple of choices. The Elephant grip is not the best for blunt weapons but it does have 3 gem slots. The Grimoire Grip is the best grip for blunt weapons but it only has 2 gem slots. It's your call but I'd go for the Elephant. *Arturos Gems* Another reason to spend some time getting Holy Win blades is the gems they come with. Specifically the Arturos gem. This gem adds 30 to all classes/affinities and boosts STR, INT, and AGL as well. This is the preferred gem for ultimate weapon building. =============================================================================== 6. Tips *Training Dummies* When attacking training dummies to gain class/affinity bonuses do not use chains. The dummies give out the bonuses based on hits received and chains only count as one hit. Chaining will only make a long hard job harder. =============================================================================== 7. Alleviating The Boredom This could be the most important section of this whole document. Ultimate weapon building is a tedious process. Just the time with the training dummies takes hours, to say nothing of the time spent seeking the blades involved. I recommend setting a second TV up next to the set that the PSX is hooked up to. This way you can still use the controller and have something to pay attention to other than which part of the dummy you are hitting next. =============================================================================== 8. Thanks The first person I need to thank is a poster on the GameFAQs Vagrant Story Message Board, whose name I can't remember. The post was from back in June and has since been purged from GameFAQs. This person spelled out how many blades to use and which dummies to hit. His post also said that he planned to write it up as a FAQ. I haven't seen that FAQ yet. I took it upon myself to put that info into FAQ form. I feel guilty about not properly crediting this individual. My guilt is somewhat alleviated by the fact that other posters to the message board reiterated this info, so its not exactly proprietary. I hope that if that person reads this they treat me kindly. Also worthy of mention is the awesome FAQ written by Zy Nicholson. This guide is the best resource out there for the Vagrant Story Player. I considered buying an Official Strategy Guide at one point, then I found Zy's FAQ and never looked back. If you are reading this and haven't viewed Zy's guide stop right now and hit your back button. The information on the limitations of the Holy Win blade's metal conversion powers comes from Jay Tilton's Combination Guide. This is the best guide out there for information on what to combine with what. Thanks go out to my friend Mark Coleman who pulled me back into the console gaming world after a long absence. Thanks to my friend Michael Martin. Gaming is just one of many topics upon which his opinions have been invaluable to me. Thanks to my girlfriend Michelle for putting up with me while I was building my weapon. Patience is golden. =============================================================================== 9. Revision History August 23rd, 2000 - Wrote Version 1.0 August 31st, 2000 - Changed the method for two-handed maces, two handed axes, and polearms to reflect the correct metal converting powers of the Holy Win blade. Updated the notes to reflect that change. Added new introductary paragraph. Added Tilton to Thanks.