The Bosses of Dark Cloud... And How To Beat Them. Version 2.0 By David "The DMC" Consolazio This Boss FAQ is totally original, and it includes my tactics on how to make your way through the bosses of the game. While I'm sure there are other boss strategies that look somewhat similar, this one is totally out o' my brain! This is Copyright of David Consolazio, 2001. If you would like to use this FAQ on your site, feel free, under TWO CONDITIONS. MAKE SURE THAT YOU: Leave the document unchanged, and that includes the entire document, including my name and this copyright. And secondly, notify me please! I'd like to know where my FAQ is ending up :). As long as I'm getting credit, I'm perfectly ok with you using this FAQ. Now, on to it... I. Intro II. Leveling Up (Important!! Make sure you read this) III. Divine Beast Dran IV. Forest Guardian Master Utan V. Ice Queen La Sala VI. King's Curse VII. Minotaur Joe VIII. Dark Genie IX. Mini Bosses X. Finishing Thoughts I. Intro - Hi there! Up front, I'd like to thank you for reading my FAQ. This is the first one I have ever written, sooo I'm sure it will NOT be perfect, but nonetheless, everyone has got to start somewhere right? Originally, I wanted to do a full walkthrough on Dark Cloud... though as you can see (if your reading this from GameFAQs) there are plenty of GREAT guides here that would suit any gamers needs. These guides even include info on bosses. However, I noticed there was not an In-Depth on bosses, and I think the problem with going to those walkthroughs is that you may only go in there for a boss or two... but your eye may trail a bit, and you might accidentally learn a thing or two that you didn't want to know. So, this being boss exclusive, that wont happen! Wow, did you actually read my Intro and not just skip down??? Thanks! II. Leveling Up Ok, lets get a scenario going here. Suppose you, yes you the reader, were forced to fight a battle. Suppose you could only bring one person to help you out in this fight. Would you bring a member of N'Sync, or would you bring Jet Li? Hmm... c'mon now. Sadly, this is how easy the question of leveling up is. If you level up, your only making things MUCH easier on yourself. Back floors have enemies worth double the Abs, so that's your best bet. But even just hangin out on the first floor of the first dungeon can level up your weapon and help you out eventually. Dran was the only boss I faced with an un-leveled up weapon, because I didn't know how the leveling system worked all that much. Instead of building up a Bone Rapier I had found, I stupidly fought with just my common dagger in hand, doing only 16 damage a pop. He took forever to beat!!! I soon got the hang of it though, and I spent HOURS leveling up (had nothing better to do, lol) and by the time I reached the second boss, I had the Big Bang (evolved from Cross Hinder, which was a Claymore, which was a Buster Sword I had found in the forest). Facing La Sala, I already had the SWORD OF ZEUS. I'm not saying you have to level up this much or with this path, but I think beating bosses in 1-3 hits is quite amusing! The BEST place for leveling up is Shipwreck Floor 14 in the back... The enemies back there are worth 24 Abs each and they are fairly easy. Great place to build up Ruby too. Just run through and get them all weak with Toan, then use whatever other char you want to run around dealing the finishing blows. Fish and ice can be acquired in Queens, so you can do this as many times as you want. Remember, fighting with a guy from N'Sync might get you a few girls... but what good would that do if you're both dead? Jet Li would keep you alive MUCH longer... III. Divine Beast Dran Hmm... Divine Beast? Did he name himself, cause if so, that's a little conceited... in any case, we have to take this foo down. He is fairly easy if fought right, and quite tough if fought wrong. As I have mentioned earlier, your leveling up would only help make the situation easier, and that includes Xiao. But it doesn't matter too much, since even if she only does 1-3 damage, she still gets the job done. Here's the deal... make sure you have plenty of repair powders and breads just to make sure things don't get too ugly for your characters or their weapons. He shouldn't drain too much of your supply, but better safe then sorry. Dran is just a boss you have to hit and run. BE CAREFUL of the floors, for he will dispose of big chinks of it. The safest thing to do is hang out on the outer rim, since he can't affect that area. Anyhow, when he takes flight, switch to Xiao, target in, and take a shot. You don't even have to see him as long as he's targeted. You'll hear him make a noise when he's shot; upon hearing this noise, switch to Toan. Dran will now be lying there, and it is key to remember NOT to attack him head on. If you do, he will charge at you and it will hurt. From behind you take less damage from his kick, but that still hurts. The best idea is to come in on the SIDE and hit him on the side/foot, then after hitting him ONCE (don't go for a combo, its too dangerous), run back to the outer rim and switch back to Xiao. He will take flight again, and you can just keep repeating the process. If you haven't leveled up (gee, I keep pointing that out, huh? Haha) this could be a looooong battle... hit run hit run hit run... _yawn_ . In any case, just keep at it, be patient, and TAME THE BEAST! Note: All you really have to worry about is his head ram, but it shouldn't give you much trouble if you attack from the side... and it can be dodged. In any case, even if it does hit, it shouldn't kill you, so that bread should come in handy! IV. Forest Guardian Master Utan Wow, the forest is being guarded by a monkey, I'm sure it feels safe now. However, this is not any monkey that you would see at a zoo or on your orange juice substitute (by not using the name of it, lawsuit avoided, bwahaha)! This is one MEAN monkey. Though he shouldn't be too hard to beat. Now, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but I think Goro is one of the worst characters in the game. He just angers me. But, angry or not, I did need his help in this one! Make sure you have his Battle Axe (you acquire this by perfecting Matataki Village), and you should be fine (I didn't level him up and I still pulled this one out... though it was another long battle for me since I didn't). Leveling up or not, here's how it works. Utan throws a boulder at you that you dodge, and then the battle is on. He will start by spitting nuts and berries at you. These don't do much damage, but if you lock in on him and block, they wont do ANY damage, which is always nice. Now, when he's done shooting his berries, run at him, and when you get right next to him, switch to Goro. Lock in and chop those feet, and then back away. If you stay semi-close range with him, he really can't do anything but his stupid spinning attack. Back up just enough to dodge his flailing attack (I was never hit by it, so I don't know how much it hurts, but I'm sure you'll be fine). When he's in a bit of a stupor after his attack, walk in and chop his feet again. He'll just keep running at you and doing his silly attack, so as long as you dodge it, he shouldn't even get a hit in. Just always stay locked in, move ONLY far enough to dodge the attack, and keep hitting, back stepping, hitting, back stepping. Repair your weapon when necessary. Eventually (depending on how strong Goro and his weapon are) Utan will fall and his head will be all yours to finish. Finish him up with Goro, or if you prefer, switch to Toan and do his combo, and the attack that comes down should deck Utan out for the count (finishing with Goro is recommended, because I finished with Toan and right before I did I think he was starting to move, so I don't want any hate mail if he gets up and turns into some second form or something... lol. If he does get up, I'm sure you can just repeat the process above, but I don't think you have to worry about it.) V. Ice Queen La Sala Here's a woman that you can walk in thinking your all that with your Sword of Zeus in hand with its 99 fire attribute, and then have your butt served to you as she easily destroys you and your ego... What?? Oh, that wasn't ME, I was just... um... using an example, yeah, ehem... Anyhow, Ok, ever stand a girl up on a date you were supposed to go on (or for female readers, been stood up)? If you have, you have seen the fury of a woman, or I'm sure you can imagine if you haven't. Now take that fury and multiply it by 100 years of waiting at the bottom of the ocean, and you have La Sala. Now she is arguably the hardest boss in the game, with the only one close to her being the Dark Genie. So I got roughed up a few times before I beat her. I'll give you a few different strategies to beat her. ALL of the strategies do include a LEVELED UP Ruby. She has the ability to be one of if not the strongest person on your team, so take advantage of her (wait, that doesn't sound right at all, but you know what I mean)! Now is your chance to use the back level of Shipwreck 14... ok, I've bugged you enough on leveling up. Now there are three ways I can think of to beat La Sala, and each players character strengths will vary, so I'll go over all three. Make sure you have plenty of throbbing cherries and cheese just incase! ONE: The method I used was quite simple, once I figured it out. To start, run at La Sala (dran's feather I hadn't used, though I imagine it would help a lot) and slash her with Toan. ONCE you slash, run to a side of the cathedral so that you have some distance between you and the queen. Switch to Ruby and blast La Sala with a fire blast. Right when it hits, switch back to Toan and run at her again, attack, then run back to the side and blast her with Ruby again. Once I started using this method, she never got a hit in. The ice that came out of the ground kept missing, and she could never get off her heat-seeking attack because I kept attacking her too fast. Hopefully this method can work its wonders for you too. However, if it doesn't, another way I figured would work... TWO: If you have a strong weapon on Xiao and have spent some time leveling her up, I assume this will be easier. I don't know how strong La Sala's shield is, but regardless, stay far away from her and use Xiao to shoot down the shield. Then switch to Ruby and use her fire blast to deal some damage, then go back to Xiao and repeat. Just keep moving so the chances of being hit by her random ice attacks will be lessened. If even this doesn't work, then THREE: Take the shield down with Toan, then attack with Ruby. Just keep repeating, but in between that, run! Her attacks follow you, so run like crazy until it diminishes and then attack. I hope it doesn't come to this for you, and I think using my first method with a few tries you should top her. I was doing about 100 damage a hit with Ruby's fire and it took me only 5 hits (my winning battle was like 30 seconds long), so I estimate her HP at about 400-500. Remember, attacking her w/Toan when the shield is down has no effect, and attacking her as Ruby when the shield is up has no effect, so this has to be a team effort. Save before you fight her, and don't be discouraged if she roughs you up a bit. After all, the harder she is, the more fun it will be to see her slump. Good Luck! Note: Attribute FIRE to your weapons. In the words of my little brother, "Duh". <<>> - There ya go. 100 HP for the shield. Should be no problem with a fire attribute attatched to the weapon! <<>> - This is a smart plan, if you do have any fire gems on you. Even if you only have a few, perhaps doing this and then resorting to one of my methods above can help you out. VI. King's Curse Its only curse is that it wasn't even as hard as a Bomber head. Of course, that's coming from a guy who had enough attack power as Toan to kill this guy in 3 hits, and never even see him get an attack off, but even when I went back and fought him with no attribute attached, he still didn't seem bad. The strategy for him is quite simple. Run at him and do Ungaga's wind-tamer attack. The black clouds in front of Curse will disperse, leaving him open for attack. Now switch to Toan (or, if you have a stronger char, use him or her), and then attack. Switch back to Ungaga, step back a bit, and then repeat the process. This boss is quite simple and I'm sure you don't need my help topping this foo. Note: Attribute HOLY to Toan/strongest char when attacking for a much shorter battle. VII. Minotaur Joe Gee, I guess after La Sala, the creators figured they wouldn't make you fight another boss until your final one. You will be told that this guy your about to fight has 38 consecutive victories or something like that. I would like to know how pathetic those 38 guys must have been... In ANY case, once again, with my leveled up Sword of Zeus this dude was gone in two hits, no strategy required. But for those of us who STILL HAVEN'T LEVELED UP... you still don't have to worry, this guys a piece o cake. Upon fighting him again with my weakest guy (Goro, the piece o junk..) he was still easy. Start off with an attack, then he should run away and put some distance between him and you. Now, every now and then, he picks up a barrel and starts chugging it. At this point, attack! He wont finish his drink, and after you get a hit in he'll move again. Just wait for another barrel to come, and get behind it so he is on the other side. When he picks it up to drink, attack again. Just keep repeating, you know the story. I estimate this guys HP at about 2000 (maybe give or take some, I don't know). In any case, you shouldn't have any trouble, just don't let him finish his drink or he will "go beserko style" as some might say. Note: If you do let him finish his drink, which he shouldn't, drink a Stamina Drink, because he will have the power like he just drank one. This will up your defense and limit the chances of a one-hit-death should he get to you. VIII. Dark Genie HE-LLO! This is not the tubby genie we all have gotten to know! This is one psycho genie! Too bad Toan couldn't o' just stopped this guy from coming, it would have made our job a whole lot easier. Ah, well, what fun would the game be without a final boss? And a tough one at that! Hopefully you've chosen to level up by now... I mean for goodness sake, those of you who haven't must have learned your lesson by now? In any case, I'm not your mother, so I'm not gonna lecture you anymore about it. After all, your here, and its time to take this guy down! Ok, so you aren't surprised as it happens, I'll tell you know. The genie has three phases, and I am going to break him down phase by phase. Make sure you have plenty of healing items, repair powders, some stamina drinks help, stand in/revives, and you NEED a dran's feather (I'll explain when necessary)! PHASE 1: The Hands The genie stalks a bit and then starts to attack. His attack involves putting one hand into the ground, and that hand will pop up under you to attack. You can note that on each hand, the genie has some sort of colored crystal. You MUST attack with the attribute that matches this color, or else it will have no effect. There are two ways to defeat this stage. One is to look at the genie and watch his hands; you will be able to see both colors. Make Toan's weapon attribute one of these colors, and run around waiting for him to attack. The odds of it being your color are 50/50, so when it is, slice it! Don't get too close though, or you will get hurt. Once you take out this color hand, switch to the other, and then take out that one. Make sure you read my note below! The other way to take out his hands are once you see the color, quickly change to that attribute and then attack. This may take longer and his hands move fast so it may be harder to pull off, but this tactic can work too if you get the hang of it. Note: When the genie covers himself up with his wings, when he opens them, the colors on his hands are new. Make sure you note this and make whatever attribute changes may be necessary. Also, every now and then the genie does this attack that you can not avoid that takes away about 30-50 damage, it's a cheap shot, but bosses always cheat. <<>> - True, while attacking with no attribute will significantly lower your attack power, if the whole attribute system in this battle is frustrating you, this way may be helpful! PHASE 2: The Head Ok, I don't have hands now, so I might as well start BLASTING YOU WITH MY MOUTH BEAM. Eh, whatever makes him happy. Switch to Ruby, and note the color of the crystal on his head, and match your attribute to it. All you have to do is dodge his mouth beam (which could be fatal, but its slow enough to dodge). Every time you get a shot in, you will be hit by one of those cheap shots he does. I suggest that you chug your stamina drinks now, for a few reasons. One, if Ruby isn't strong in the department of his head attribute, you do twice the damage when pumped with energy and two, those cheap shots of his do no damage. This part of him is fairly simple, just keep moving so his beams don't hit you and that's really all there is to it. Keep it up until he changes into his final form. Note: Having Ruby leveled up is almost essential, since she is a big part in this final battle. <<>> - This is totally preference... While I am still a strong Ruby supporter, for those of you who did not level her up and did level up Osmond, this could work. However, don't count on doing 300-400 damage unless you've leveled him up! As I said, this is really just a matter of preference. Use who you feel is stronger, which I think is Ruby, but may differ from gamer to gamer! PHASE 3: This is it! Not really much I can tell you here, except that that feather of yours comes in handy now. Now the genie comes with two skeleton enemies, which you can choose to take out or ignore. They will come back to life a little while after being killed, so don't think your doing yourself too big a favor by beating them. Anyhow, in the big picture, all you have to worry about is one thing; the genie's laser beam. It is fatal, and it follows you around. So when he starts shooting it, get your feather quipped and run like mad! When his beam finally stops, run at him, and take a shot at the crystal in his mouth. Then put some distance between you and him and wait for the beam again. Once dodged, attack again, and keep repeating. You can do it! Just keep your hopes and confidence up and this dude will be toast before you know it. Note: Make sure you don't get caught up in those skeleton buddies of his, whether they are alive or not. If you don't get out of the way of the laser beam, things will not be looking pretty. Good luck! <<>> - Ah, this idea had totally skipped my mind. While I'm sure many of you figured this one out, it was still definitely a noteworthy tip! IX. Mini Bosses These things are simple and easy to do. If you do a great job, you are awarded with prizes. I never did all that great, but hey, it doesn't matter much! As long as you complete it, right? I only have one note for this section. If you can't beat the Serpent in the forest because your weapon won't pierce him, that's because you don't have the Serpent Sword equipped. This is essential. If you don't have the Serpent sword, you can acquire it by completing the river system in Matataki Village so that the tree in the cave comes back to life. Am I the only one who gets de ja vu of Parappa the Rappa in these battles? Ahhh well.. X. Finishing Thoughts Well that's it! I have completed my first ever FAQ. Hopefully it wasn't too bad, and it was able to get you through whatever boss(es) was giving you trouble. If your wondering why the Demon Shaft boss isn't here, I just figured it wasn't necessary. I'm sure you'll do fine with him, and he's just an extra anyhow. For other info on things like fishing or how to build villages, the other FAQs at GameFAQs should help you out just fine. Thanks for using my guide, and I hope it helped you out! Please, if you have any questions or comments, send them all to me at DBZKrilln@aol.com. I will appreciate any and all feedback, be it good or bad. I'm sure more FAQs will come if you all like this one! I'm glad I was able to help you out! A guy with many nicknames, but you can call me David "The DMC" Consolazio Peace out!