King's Field (JP) - Class System FAQ - Version 0.96
by MMDE

[TOC] - Table of Contents
[INT] - Introduction
[CLA] - Explanation of the Class system
[AFT] - How the Class system affects the game
[SWM] - Swordmaster and Sword Magic
[UPG] - How to quickly upgrade class
[STR] - Quickly increase secret STR counter
[MAG] - Quickly increase secret MAG counter
[SPL] - Magic spells and how they affect the secret MAG counter
[RES] - How and where to restore MP
[GSP] - Grind spots
[2DO] - To-do list
[CLG] - Change log
[CRD] - Credits


[INT] - Introduction
I really liked playing this game, but I wanted to play around with it a bit
more to figure out if there was some unused stuff and do various tests for
stuff I wanted to know more about. There's really not that much information
out there for this game. Most of it is spread out over a lot of old fan
websites, which can be quite hard to navigate and make any sense of. One thing
I never really found a good answer to was the class system, and that is where
this guide comes into the picture.

I did various experiments by editing the memory of the game while playing it.
While editing what I thought was the STR or MAG stat I all of a sudden changed
class. My character's STR and MAG stats weren't affected. That's when I got
the idea of writing this guide. From what I've read people wonder how to
become the various classes, and especially the Swordmaster class. A common
misconception as to how it works is there is a level requirement (level 20). I
can safely say there is no level requirement. I can also safely say there is
no requirement of becoming the Swordmaster class to enter the sealed door on
the fifth floor, to upgrade the Dragon Sword to the Moonlight Sword or to beat
the game.


[CLA] - Explanation of the Class system
The class system is determined by two values, more precisely your STR and MAG
stats. The STR and MAG stats gets higher whenever you level up and when a
secret counter reaches 100 for either STR or MAG. When the secret counter
reaches 100 for either of the stats that stat will get one higher and the
counter resets. Whenever you hit an enemy with a physical attack with your
weapon, the secret STR counter gets increased by one. The secret MAG counter
works much the same way, but how much it gets increased by depends on the
spell used and how much damage it does. Sword magic also increase the secret
MAG counter. You can also use a Verdite to increase your MAG stat. When the
stats reach a certain number the class changes. The whole system works on an
iteration of 20. Both stats start at 20, the first upgrades for each stat is
at 40, and the last ones are at 60.

|---------------------------------|
| STR     | MAG     | Class       |
|---------------------------------|
| -1<x<40 | -1<x<40 | SOLDIER     |
| 39<x<60 | -1<x<40 | HIGHSOLDIER |
| -1<x<40 | 39<x<60 | MAGE        |
| 39<x<60 | 39<x<60 | MAGEFIGHTER |
| 59<x    | -1<x<60 | SWORDMAN    |
| -1<x<60 | 59<x    | WIZARD      |
| 59<x    | 59<x    | SWORDMASTER |
|---------------------------------|

As you may see, the class is decided by the stat that is in it's highest
iteration. If both are in the same iteration there is a special class for
that.


[AFT] - How the class system affects the game
I only know for certain the class affect two things in the game.

1. A visual appearance of the class name in the main menu and on the status
screen.
2. When you become the highest class, Swordmaster, you can start casting Sword
Magic.


[SWM] - Swordmaster and Sword Magic
When you become the highest class, Swordmaster, you can start casting sword
magic. This is done by doing a normal attack (pressing triangle) with a sword
that has sword magic when your power meter is full while trying to cast a
magic spell (pressing square) in the latter half of the sword's attack
animation. If done successfully there will be some kind of magical attack
coming from the sword and it will consume some of your MP. If you need to
practice this you can always unequip your magic and go to the dragon fountain
to quickly recover MP when needed. Just a little heads-up, sometimes I've
personally sometimes had issues using one of the sword's sword magic. It's not
always the same sword, and I think it's connected to which sword you try to
use sword magic with first. I usually am able to use all sword magic again at
some point though.

|-----------------------------------------------|
| Sword           | MP | Magic Effect           |
|-----------------------------------------------|
| Colichemarde    |  2 | Multiple Light Needles |
| Flame Sword     |  4 | Multiple Fire Balls    |
| Triple Fang     | 23 | Homing Light Grenades  |
| Moonlight Sword | 32 | Lightning Wave         |
|-----------------------------------------------|


[UPG] - How to quickly upgrade class
Obviously leveling up is the quickest way to improve your stats, at least up
to a certain point. You can at the same time go for increasing the secret STR
and MAG counters as well. Using a Verdite is a quick way to improve your MAG
stat.


[STR] - Quickly increase secret STR counter
To increase the secret STR counter; just hit enemies with 100 attacks using a
sword and the STR stat gets increased. You will naturally be hitting enemies
with your sword while progressing through the game, and you can easily use the
grind spots described further down in this guide for this as well.


[MAG] - Quickly increase secret MAG counter
The secret MAG counter works much the same way as the secret STR counter in
that you got to hit enemies to increase it. It differs from the secret STR
counter in that how much it gets increased by is not always just one and it
differs depending on what spell or sword magic you use and how much damage it
does. It is also not as easy to just keep on using magic spells over and over,
because magic consumes MP when used, and while there's 4 ways to restore MP
they all have some negative aspect to them. You can read about them a bit
further down. I highly recommend using the Colichemarde to quickly increase
the secret MAG counter. It can increase it by quite a lot when used against
strong enemies, it's fast to use and doesn't cost much to cast. If you want to
grind using it, I recommend you use the rock giant grind spot on the fourth
floor. It's a rather easily controllable room to grind in and they have more
health, so your secret MAG counter will increase more by each hit. If you got
a sword like the Moonlight Sword or Triple Fang, you can take small breaks to
restore your MP again, or you can just go down to to the Dragon Fountain again
to heal. There is a teleporter between the first and fourth floor, and on the
fourth floor it's rather near the teleporter up to the fifth floor too. You
can also go down to the third floor and heal there too, whatever fits you.


[SPL] - Magic spells and how they affect the secret MAG counter
You need to hit an enemy with a magic attack to increase the secret MAG
counter, meaning defensive spells won't increase your secret MAG counter. How
much a magic spell will affect your secret MAG counter depends on how much
damage the magic spell does and the spell's max secret counter increase. All
sword magic can increase the secret MAG counter as well and the same rules
apply to this as with all the magic spells. The table under is the data I
gathered from using all my spells and sword magic against the last boss.

|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| Spell           | MP | Type  | Max secret MAG counter increase |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| Healing         |  4 | Water |  0 (defensive)                  |
| Dispoison       |  5 | Water |  0 (defensive)                  |
| Resist Fire     |  8 | Light |  0 (defensive)                  |
| Breath          | 12 | Light |  0 (defensive)                  |
| Lightning Bolt  | 24 | Light |  9 (offensive)                  |
| Fire Ball       |  4 | Fire  |  1 (offensive)                  |
| Fire Wall       | 15 | Fire  | 17 (offensive)                  |
| Wind Cutter     |  5 | Wind  |  0 (offensive)                  |
| Light Needle    |  2 | Light |  2 (sword magic)                |
| Colichemarde    |  2 | Light | 14 (sword magic)                |
| Flame Sword     |  4 | Fire  |  6 (sword magic)                |
| Triple Fang     | 23 | Light |  6 (sword magic)                |
| Moonlight Sword | 32 | Light | 14 (sword magic)                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|


[RES] - How and where to restore MP
There are only 4 ways to restore MP as far as I know.

1. Dragon Fountain
The Dragon Fountain fully restores your HP and MP for free, but there is only
one in the game and it is located on the first floor. From where you start in
the game, walk forward and the second path to the right should be a rather
long one. Inside this path take the second right and you should get to the
fountain, but you can't use it before you've activated it. To activate it, you
need to go pick up the Golden Chalice at the end of the long path you entered
the fountain room from. This Golden Chalice must be placed/used at an altar in
a special room on the first floor. Go back to the path you went up from where
you started out in the game. Continue go upwards and take the next right after
the right you took to get to the fountain. At the end of this path there
should be a lot of snakes etc (at least the first time you're there). To the
left of where the snakes are is there a path. Don't take the first left and
not the first right, but do take the second right and then keep going forward
until you get to a special room. Go to the very right of where you enter the
room, and use the Golden Chalice near the altar. The fountain should now be
active and can be able to use to fully restore your HP and MP for free.

2. Dragon Tree Fruit
This item can fully restore your HP and MP. Dragon Tree Fruit completely heals
HP and MP too, but it's an item you can take with you anywhere. It does cost a
lot of gill to purchase, and can only be purchased in the two stores on the
first floor. You will also most likely find several of them throughout the
game. To be able to afford them you will probably want to sell the items that
is not used for anything but to be sold, namely Blood Stone and Moon Stone.
Ghosts can drop Blood Stone at random in my experience, and they are nice to
grind to upgrade your magic too.

3. Equipped Weapons
There are two/three weapons that restores MP while equipped, and two of them
even restores HP while equipped too. They do so slowly, but steadily. The
two/three weapons are called Triple Fang, Dragon Sword/Moonlight Sword. Why I
say there are two/three when you read three names is because the Dragon Sword
will be upgraded to Moonlight Sword at some point in the game. Up until that
happens I recommend using the Triple Fang which can be found in a secret path
on the third floor. The secret treasure chest containing the sword is hidden
behind two hidden doors on the right side before the final staircases up to
the Wind Seal after the path to the Water Seal. Behind the first hidden door
there is a treasure chest with a Crescent Axe, and the Triple Fang will be in
a treasure chest behind a hidden door in this room. The Dragon Sword that is
required to obtain the Moonlight Sword is located on the fourth floor in the
room named Saturn Shrine -Earth Star-. To get to the sword you first need to
obtain the Magicians Key on the fourth floor. On the opposite side of the long
room you obtain the Magicians Key there is a cross road where the path to the
east is locked and requires you to use the Magicians Key to enter it. Inside
there should be a gravestone with the sword in front of it. To upgrade it you
need to get to the fifth floor and enter a certain sealed door. To find this
sealed door, at the beginning of the fifth floor, go down the staircase, take
the left then another left, followed by yet another left before a right, left
again and finally just walking forward to you get to the sealed door. This
sealed door will open if you got the Dragon Sword. Inside you will find a
dragon, but also a fairy if you talked to it on the second floor standing in
front of a treasure chest with the Dragon Rod near a save point in the
south-western tunnel system. Talking to the fairy in the room behind the
sealed door after having obtained the Dragon Sword will transform your Dragon
Sword into the Moonlight Sword.

4. 3rd Floor Full Heal Location
On the third floor you are supposed to place a lot of Seal Stones to open up a
path. After opening the path you will see the beginning of the path is a long
staircase upwards and when you walk through the room at the top of the
staircase you will learn a new magic spell and your HP and MP will be fully
healed. Obviously you will only learn the magic spell once, but you can keep
on using the room to fully heal your HP, MP and cures all status ailments.


[GSP] - Grind spots
If you've played the game a little bit you may have noticed some locations
where the enemies respawn over and over. There are especially two spots that
are useful for grinding.

1. Early in the game you got the location on the first floor where whenever
you kill a spider a new one will come out from a little hole in the wall.

2. A good spot later in the game is a room on the fourth floor where there is
a giant rock circling around with these giant rock enemies in it. When you
kill one of the rock giants a new one will spawn in the middle of the room.

3. A lot of the enemies on the fifth floor respawns, and you can basically be
walking around and find alive enemies all the time. Most of the enemies are
rather strong, so this is not a good grind spot until you pretty much are
ready to face off against the last boss, in which case it might seem rather
pointless to grind for better stats. I would say it's almost required to have
the Moonlight Sword equipped while grinding here, but you can spam enemies
with Light Needle if you want.


[2DO] - To-do list
* Add the location of the Colichemarde.
* Fix typos and listen to feedback etc.


[CLG] - Change log
* 0.96 - Fixed a small typo in one of the tables related to requirements of
the class MAGEFIGHTER.
* 0.95 - Small additions to the 4th grind spot.
* 0.94 - Added another grind spot.
       - Added one more way to restore HP and MP.
       - Added a list of all spells in the game, their type, how much MP
is required to cast them and how much they increase the secret MAG counter by.
       - Fixed some information about the secret STR and MAG upgrade counters.
       - Tested what affects the sealed door on the 5th floor.
       - Added the location of the Dragon Sword and how to upgrade it to the
Moonlight Sword.
       - Added the location of the Triple Fang.
       - Corrected a couple of more typos and rewrote a sentence.
* 0.81 - Corrected some typos and added a missing word.
* 0.80 - The original version.


[CRD] - Credits
This guide was created by MMDE (mrmasterdevil (at) gmail.com) and it's content
can be used by anyone as long as they credit MMDE for it. The guide is based
on the game with English translation by John Osborne. Don't hesitate to send
me an e-mail if you got any information you feel I've missed out on that you
feel is important for the guide or you've spotted something wrong and want me
to correct it. You will be credited in the guide for it.