Shadow Hearts Boss FAQ Version 1.0 - 23 April 2004 Written by: transience (dyschordia242@yahoo.com) --- Table of Contents I.) Introduction II.) Copyright Information III.) Version History IV.) Notes / Strategies V.) Boss List VI.) Boss FAQ VII.) Credits and Thanks VIII.) Contacting --- I.) Introduction: I was kind of surprised that, after two plus years, no one had written a boss FAQ for Shadow Hearts. The bosses in Shadow Hearts are not the hardest things in the world, but still, every great game (and Shadow Hearts is a great game) should at least have a Boss FAQ. In this FAQ, I'll try and include multiple strategies, including stuff for optional bosses and/or new game plus games. Here's the format I'll be using: I.) ROGER BACON (name and boss number, obviously) Location: Train (where you encounter this boss) HP: 242 (How many HP boss has. You can see very few bosses' HP, so I'll be estimating a lot. These numbers are as accurate as I can get) Class: dark (What elemental class the boss is. For a more detailed explanation of classes, see section IV.) Party/Levels: Yuri (3) (What levels I'm at. Until the optional sidequests at the end, I'm going through this game at a pretty low level, so chances are you'll be on a higher level than me. I'm using a new game plus game (you keep all your fusion monsters), but not using advanced ones on bosses. This way you're likely never going to be lower than me unless you're insane.) Difficulty: 1/5 (Obviously, how difficulty the boss is. Here's how I judge difficulty:) 1/5 - It takes a lot of badness for a boss to get a 1. A 1 means you can't possibly lose, or is a scene fight. 2/5 - Easy boss. Nothing unusual - use the usual strategies you would vs. any normal boss. 3/5 - Be cautious. Shouldn't be difficult as long as you don't mess up. 4/5 - Death is possible here. Learn the boss's attacks (or read this FAQ) and heal lots. 5/5 - Difficult. You'll need to prepare for this boss before the fight starts. Attacks: Physical Attack (does about 15 to one character) (These are the attacks the boss does and the damage that they hit me for. The damage will fluctuate for you, but should be relatively consistent. If I miss an attack, drop me an email. Strategy: Defend a lot. This is a scene fight, so don't waste your time. (Strategy for killing the boss. Obvious.) Drops: Thera Leaf (What the boss drops when s/he/it dies) --- II.) Copyright Information: This FAQ is copyrighted (2004) to me, myself and I, luke yagnow. If you want to use this FAQ on your site or elsewhere, drop me an email and I'm sure I won't care. I'd just like to know. If you do host this FAQ, you may not change as much as a comma in it. If touched, altered, or posted without permission, your mickey mouse kung fu will be no match for my superior fighting style, if you know what I mean. --- III.) Version History v1.0 (23rd April 2004) - First completed version of this FAQ. --- IV.) Notes / Strategies Just a couple quick notes pertaining to general strategy, classes, etc: - Class doesn't matter a whole heck of a lot, but you will do more damage (and take more) if you're the opposite class. If you use the "edge" abilities (Holy Edge, Aqua Edge, etc), your physical attack will become that class. Using this on bosses is sometimes a cool idea, especially if they'have a lot of HP. Here's a list of the opposite classes: Earth <-> Wind Water <-> Fire Light <-> Dark Here's a list of your characters' classes: Yuri: Technically dark, but when you fuse, you become that class. Alice: Light Zhuzhen: Fire Margarete: Water Keith: Earth Halley: Wind Conclusion: if you're fighting a boss that is of the Earth class, Keith would inflict and take less damage than usual while Halley would inflict and take more. - Obviously, the choice for who you use is yours, but I always use Yuri and Alice. For the third character, the other four characters are pretty much the same. I tend to favour Halley - he is absolutely balanced (not bad at anything, not great at anything), can heal and do several different-class attacks. Also, by the time you can remove him from your party, he's a good five to ten levels higher than anyone you could replace him with. The choice is yours, however. Alice is essential because her higher-level abilities (especially Arc) are absolute life-savers. Yuri, of course, rules. For this game, I'm using Margarete thanks to her Scout ability. Conclusion: the other four characters are pretty much interchangable. - As far as which souls to equip/fuse with as Yuri, there are only two souls I use, for the most part: fire and light. Fire does the most damage, plus can increase a character's physical attack power, while light can heal all. To be on the safe side, I get enough soul points as soon as I can: Fire - before the fight with Li Li on the Smuggler's Boat, you encounter groups of four fire-elemental monsters. Fight these until you get enough for a level 1 soul. Light - The frogs in Dalian are about as good as you'll find - I've made it all the way to Europe without a level 1 light soul, which can be kind of annoying. Getting light as soon as you can helps, especially for bosses with all attacks. If you want, you can match up your souls to each boss, but in general, I only use these two. V.) Boss List (you can search these) I.) ROGER BACON II.) FOX FACE III.) FELINUS IV.) YAMARAJA - EARTH V.) BEAST DOG VI.) YAMARAJA - WIND VII.) LI LI (form 1) VIII.) LI LI (form 2) IX.) WUGUI (Yuri only) X.) XIESHI XI.) BAIGU XII.) QINGGU XIII.) YAMARAJA - WAR XIV.) CURSED PUPPET (OPTIONAL) XV.) YAMARAJA - STONE XVI.) BADGER DEVIL XVII.) DEHUAI XVIII.) YAMARAJA - CALAMITY XIX.) TINDALOS XX.) YURI XXI.) FOX FACE XXII.) ARCANE OLGA XXIII.) ARCANE OLGA XXIV.) JACK XXV.) MAMMON XXVI.) VISCOUNT RAUSAN XXVII.) OLGA XXVIII.) THE MASKS (OPTIONAL) XXIX.) ALBERT / AMON XXX.) ATMAN XXXI.) SERAPHIM (OPTIONAL) XXXII.) CHERUBIM (OPTIONAL) XXXIII.) ORB CHAOS (OPTIONAL) XXXIV.) GOLDEN BAT (OPTIONAL) XXXV.) BEN HYUGA / SERAPHIC RADIANCE (OPTIONAL) XXXVI.) SOUL BLOCK XXXVII.) HATE XXXVIII.) SCAPEGOAT XXXIX.) MESSIAH XL.) META-GOD --- VI.) Boss FAQ I.) ROGER BACON Location: train heading to Fengtian HP: unknown Class: Dark Party/Levels: Yuri (3) Difficulty: 1/5 This is a scene fight that you can't win. Defend to make it go faster. II.) FOX FACE Location: plains HP: unknown Class: dark Party/Levels: Yuri (3) Difficulty: 1/5 I am moderately certain that you can't win this fight - it seems like you might be able to, but I imagine there is no difference. If anyone has, drop me an email and let me know about it. Either way, you'll end up at the graveyard, so just defend until he does !!! and then attacks again. III.) FELINUS Location: Zhaoyang village HP: about 250 Class: wind Party/Levels: Yuri (6), Alice (6), Zhuzhen (6) Difficulty: 1/5 Attacks: Wind Fang - approx. 15 damage to all (wind-class) Strategy: If you want to fuse into Raging Tiger here, you'll give and take more damage, which is generally a good thing. Have Yuri attack physically, do Ogre Flamedance with Zhuzhen, and heal with Alice. Watch your SP's on Alice as well. All she ever does to me is wind fang, which isn't damaging at all. Easy fight. Drops: Lottery Ticket IV.) YAMARAJA - EARTH Location: Zhaoyang village HP: about 250 Class: water (huh?) Party/Levels: Yuri (7), Alice (6), Zhuzhen (7) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Large Whirlpool (25 - 40 damage to all) Flash Flood (30 - 50 damage on one character) Physical attack (up to maybe 40 damage on one character) Strategy: Despite this guy's name being Yamaraja - Earth, he's water-class. Don't ask me. This guy is a little harder than Felinus. Because he's water, his attacks will hurt Zhuzhen for upwards of 50 damage, so keep him healed up. Otherwise, the same strategy applies; ogre flamedance, fuse into whichever soul you want (I would do the one with the highest attack rating), and heal with Alice, especially Zhuzhen. Similarly not hard, but Zhuzhen can die rather easily, so be careful of his HP. Drops: Star Brooch V.) BEAST DOG (creative name) Location: Fengtian - after the sewer HP: about 450 Class: fire Party/Levels: Yuri (9), Alice (9), Margarete (9) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Breath of Fire (35-55 damage to all) Physical Attack (can theoretically do up to 70 or so to a character) Fighting Spirit (atk + 15%) Strategy: Because he's water-based, have Margarete do Aqua Edge on Yuri. Fuse into whichever your favourite fusion monster is (I use dark) and attack physically. Use grenade with Margarete and heal with Alice like crazy. Because he's fire-based, his attacks mess Margarete up. Watch your SP's with Alice, watch your HP with Margarete, and you should win this fight pretty easily. Drops: Spikes VI.) YAMARAJA - WIND Location: Dalian (NOTE: it is highly suggested that you fight some frog gods here so that you can get the lv. 1 light fusion, as light monsters are hard to find and the light fusion is the best one) HP: about 900 Class: earth Party/Levels: Yuri (10), Margarete (10), Zhuzhen (10) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Flying Stones (60 to one character) Physical Attack (up to 100 on one character) Shockwave (40 damage to all) Strategy: Only special attacks will damage this guy, so basically wham him with grenade, ogre flamedance, and whatever your fusion ability you choose is. I would suggest using the light fusion if you get it so that you can heal all, but wind will do the most damage. Use thera/manaleaves when needed, as this boss has a bit more HP than previous bosses. As long as you're patient, you shouldn't lose this. Drops: Seal of Life VII.) LI LI (form 1) Location: Smuggler's Boat (NOTE: fighting the Ogre Flames is a great way to get the fire soul. I highly suggest it.) HP: about 550 Class: dark Party/Levels: Yuri (12), Margarete (12), Alice (11) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Dark Messenger (Instant Death to one character, likely damaging as well) Paralysis (60 damage to one character, along with paralysis) I imagine she has a physical attack, but she never did it to me. Strategy: If you've got it, use the light fusion. If not, Inferno will do. If you've got it, use Alice's Blessed Light (level 11) when you're not healing. As always, use Grenade with Margarete. This fight isn't hard at all except for the fact that Li Li likes to death you. Use a talisman on the character and proceed as usual. Drops: W. Tiger Hair VIII.) LI LI (form 2) Location: Smuggler's Boat HP: about 700 Class: dark Party/Levels: Yuri (12), Margarete (12), Alice (11) Difficulty: 3/5 Attacks: Paralysis (same as form 1, maybe a little stronger, so 70 damage to one) Hate storm (40-60 damage to all) Physical Attack (potentially as much as 100 damage) Strategy: Again, more of the same - light fusion, heal, grenade, Blessed Light. You may need to heal yourself after the last fight, but this isn't bad. Watch your SP's, as this may be the first time you need to worry about them. If you've got your light fusion going on, use the all heal when hate storm hits. otherwise, you'll be doing a lot of healing with Alice or others. I would suggest using thera leaves with Margarete, since blessed light rules the dark Li Li. She hits hard, so don't be afraid to heal with two characters. No special tricks here, just heal and fight. IX.) WUGUI (Yuri only) Location: Shanghai HP: something like 250 Class: dark Party/Levels: Yuri (13) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Game of Death (Yuri's immune to this) Physical Attack (around 20 damage) Strategy: He'll absorb all special attacks, so attacking is all you can do. Fuse into Inferno and do fighting spirit, followed by wailing away on him. Easy. Drops: Weird Bottle X.) XIESHI Location: Temple Ruins, Trial 1 HP: about 475 Class: fire Party/Levels: Yuri (14), Zhuzhen (12) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Physical Attack (about 60 damage to a character) Flaming Arm of Death (about 40 damage to all plus silence) Strategy: If you're level 12 with Zhuzhen, you'll have Nourishing Potion, which will help a lot thanks to your items being sealed. Also, if you have the light fusion, that will also help. In the face of neither, use a fusion that has a healing spell and just attack a lot. Use Ogre Flamedance with Zhuzhen and this shouldn't be too hard. If you're having problems, buy some bell bracelets from Xiaofang to stop silence from affecting your characters. Drops: Jade Lariat XI.) BAIGU Location: Temple Ruins, Trial 2 HP: about 350 Class: light Party/Levels: Alice (12), Margarete (13) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Physical Attack (can hit for about 70) Shining Arm of Death (40 or so damage to all plus paralysis) Strategy: without Special Attacks, there's really not much you can do here. Attack with Margarete, heal with Alice, and watch your SP's. If you get parlayzed, don't bother healing Alice, only Margarete. Not hard if you take your time. Drops: Coral Lariat XII: QINGGU Location: Temple Ruins, Trial 3 HP: about 550 Class: water Party Levels: Yuri (15), Zhuzhen (13) Difficulty: 4/5 Attacks: Icy Breath (35 or so damage to one) Physical Attack (up to 50) Large Whirlpool (30 damage to all plus ring effects) Strategy: Hey, here's a strategy: ATTACK. That's all you can do. When you don't feel like attacking... attack some more. If you want more indepth strategy, try equipping all your defense-up items and think about moving Zhuzhen to the front row so he does more than .242 damage per hit. This fight is kind of luck - if he picks on Yuri a lot, you might as well restart. This is the best fight to flaunt your ring skills at, because one ring perfect could be the difference. Drops: Leonardo's Bear XIII: YAMARAJA - WAR Location: Temple Ruins, top HP: about 825 or so Class: Dark Party Levels: Yuri (16), Margarete (14), Zhuzhen (13) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Game of Death (death to all) Physical Attack (does about 110 to a light fusion, less to others) Nightmare (60 damage to all) Strategy: In Wugui style, it's all about death. Make sure you have three Leonardo's Beats equipped. Fuse into your light or fire fusion and start wailing away. Use only physical attacks, since Wugui absorbs all specials. Use Zhuzhen to heal, since his attack is terrible. If you need it (especially if he does Nightmare), use your light fusion's all heal. Easy. XIV: CURSED PUPPET (OPTIONAL) Location: Kowloon Fortress HP: about 1000 Class: Dark Party Levels: Yuri (18), Margarete (16), Zhuzhen (16) Difficulty: 3/5 Attacks: Game of Death (death to all) Physical Attack (130 to all) Nightmare (75 to all) Strategy: See above, basically. Wugui 3 is the same as Wugui 1 and Wugui 2. You'll still need Leonardo's Bears and you'll still need to only use physical attacks. Again, I use Zhuzhen for healing if one character needs it and Yuri's light fusion if you need it for all. His attacks do a little more than the previous Wugui, but he's not that much harder. Drops: Seal of Wisdom XV: YAMARAJA - STONE Location: Kuikai Tower HP: about 1900 Class: fire Party Levels: Yuri (18), Zhuzhen (17), Margarete (17) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Illusion (Evade + 15%) Physical Attack (100+ damage to one) Strategy: The usual - light fusion, special attacks. If you've got life sucker for Zhuzhen or snipe for Margarete, use them, especially life sucker. I suppose you could also use Aqua Edge on Yuri with Margarete as well to increase damage, but I generally just wham him with special attacks, so I don't bother. This should be simple. His high HP are the only reason he warrants being careful. XVI: BADGER DEVIL Location: Kuihai Tower HP: 700 Class: fire Party Levels: Yuri (19), Margarete (18), Zhuzhen (18) Difficulty: 1/5 Attacks: Fire Ball (about 50 damage to one) Physical Attack (also about 50 to one) Strategy: Don't blink, you might miss the fight. This fight is pitiful. If Margarete knows Snipe, use it and the fight's over. I hesitated even calling this a boss, but 700 HP qualifies. Alternatively, you could use Aqua Edge. Drops: Seal of Luck XVII: DEHUAI HP: 1700 Class: fire Party Levels: Yuri (19), Margarete (18), Zhuzhen (18) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Magnard (60-100 damage to all) Physical Attack (up to 130 or so to one) Fast ring (70 damage to one plus ring effects) Blaze (pretty much the same as Magnard, slightly less damage) Strategy: This is more of the same. Magnard can mess you up, so be sure to have the light fusion ready to go. Aqua Edge on Yuri, life sucker with Zhuzhen, either Snipe or Grenade with Margarete. Fast ring doesn't really both me too much, so I just let it go, but a phoenix tail will cure it. Keep your eye on Margarete's HP, as she is water and Dehuai is fire. Not too bad a battle. Drops: Hermit's Staff XVIII: YAMARAJA - CALAMITY HP: something like 2800; not exactly sure on this one. Class: none Party Levels: Yuri (20), Zhuzhen (19), Margarete (19) Difficulty: properly equipped, 4/5; not properly equipped, 5/5 Attacks: Crimson Flame (fire-class, 80-100 damage to all plus silence) Petrification (50-75 damage plus petrification) Physical Attack (potentially up to 150 a character) Shockwave (50 to all) Strategy: Calamity can be -nasty- if you don't prepare for it correctly. If you're ready for what he's gonna throw at you, you'll do fine. Who you use really doesn't matter much; I'm using Margarete just so I have Scout. Either way, you're going to need one healer (unless you want it to be Yuri), one magic user and Yuri kicking butt. Calamity does petrification and silence - the latter isn't really that bad, but petrification can stop you in your tracks and make this a -long- battle. Get three mirror bracelets and equip your three characters with them. I generally get a bell bracelet for Zhuzhen just so I don't have to worry about using him to attack physically. Make sure you have a bunch of healing items, especially Thera Roots, and get encounter Calamity. With you equipped like this, Crimson Flame is the rough one, especially if you're using Margarete. Heal silence if you feel it's needed (or if you can't fuse like what just happened to me). Use your light fusion (though I've done it with the fire one, as I've made it to Europe without getting enough points for the light fusion) and have that all-heal ready if needed. Life sucker with Zhuzhen, heal or attack with your third character depending on the need, and attack with Yuri. Heal your HP/MP/SP when needed, He's got a lot of HP. Drops: Fifth Key XIX.) TINDALOS Location: Bistritz HP: about 2000 Class: fire Party/Levels: Keith (20), Alice (20), Zhuzhen (20) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Deathtouch (about 150 damage to one) Fire Breath (50-80 damage to all) Physical Attack (up to 130 or so on one) Strategy: Use Life Sucker and Drain Touch, basically. Alice will be your healer, and on the odd turn she isn't, Blessed Light. Watch Alice's SP and possibly Zhuzhen's MP. This should be a relatively simple fight - it doesn't even have boss music. He does have a bit of HP, though. Drops: Iron Clogs XX.) YURI Location: Blue Tower HP: form 1: 500 HP; form 2: about 800 Class: dark Party/Levels: Keith (22), Alice (23), Zhuzhen (23) Difficulty: 4/5 Attacks: form 1: Physical Attack (150 or so to one) form 2: Dark Messenger (100-130 to one - might also do death) Drain Wave (absorbs MP, special attack power 15% up) Strategy: Yuri has high defense and agility, so he may get a couple moves in before you are ready to heal. Be wary of this. As you'd expect, Blessed Light is good for this fight. If you plan to attack physically, so is Holy Edge, but I only use special attacks here. I use Drain Touch like it's going out of style (because you'll need it) and Life Sucker, along with Blessed Light. If you've got Corpse Arm, it's very nice as well. I rotate Alice and Zhuzhen as my healer, since Alice can do equal damage with Blessed Light as Zhuzhen can with Life Sucker. If you've got Corpse Arm, though, use that and heal your MP a lot. After you've done about 500 damage, he'll turn into Death Emperor. Nothing really changes - he just does Dark Messenger along with a physical attack. I might find him slightly easier because the change for that critical hit is lowered. If you see him do Drain Wave, you're close. Just keep healing. Drops: nothing XXI.) Fox Face Location: Graveyard HP: about 500 Class: dark Party/Levels: Yuri (25) Difficulty: 3/5 Attacks: SP Lowering (SP - 50%) !!! (HP to 1) Physical Attack (about 50 damage) Strategy: Yay, Yuri's back. This fight isn't hard, but it's sure annoying. (Side note: does anyone know what happens if you die in this fight? Is it game over? If you know, email me) Fox Face will start the fight off using SP lowering, so I hope you got the first strike in (which you should). Fuse into your favourite fusion (I use fire) and throw everything you've got at him, preferably your fusion's special attack. For some reason, he only did physical attacks to me this time, but usually, he does !!!. !!! won't kill you, but his next attack can. This is only worrisome if your SP is low, so keep an eye on it. Use a Thera Root or something and whip him. This fight is only 3/5 to me because there's a possibility of you dying - it's not actually hard. Drops: Brass Knuckles XXII.) ARCANE OLGA Location: Bistritz HP: 700-800 Class: dark Party/Levels: Alice (23) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Lightning (about 60 damage) Physical attack (about 50 damage) Nova (about 50 damage) Rock Storm (about 60 damage) Blaze (about 60 damage) Mind Assault (drains MP) Strategy: Not much of a strategy here - Blessed Light and Cure. She has a plethora of attacks, all of which are pretty much the same. Watch your MP/SP (they tend to run out at the same time with Mind Assault) and hit her with about six Blessed Lights to win. Drops: Monk Earrings XXIII.) ARCANE OLGA Location: Rouen HP: about 3300 Class: dark Party/Levels: Yuri (26), Alice (25), Margarete (24) Difficulty: 3/5 Attacks: Black Fog (100 to 150 to all plus poison) Physical Attack (max of 150 damage, usually much less) Nova (70-90 damage to all) Lightning (80-100 damage to all) Icy Breath (70-100 damage to all) Mind Assault (MP to 0) Strategy: As you'd expect, Olga uses pretty much all the same attacks that she did vs. Alice - that is, every class of attacks. Black Fog is a little bit nasty, especially to Alice because she's light-classed. Fuse into your light fusion and do the usual - healing when it is needed, attacking when it's not. If you've got your level 2 light fusion, even better. Alice's Holy Edge can help out here, but not much. Your second and third characters don't really matter, just use whatever their best special attack is, be it Snipe, Drain Touch, Blessed Light, or Corpse Arm. As always, watch your SP, especially on Alice and/or Margarete if you're using her. Not hard, assuming you have a light fusion. Drops: Small Jug XXIV.) JACK Location: Orphanage HP: about 2500 Class: Water Party/Levels: Yuri (28), Alice (27), Halley (26) Difficulty: 2/5 Attack: Physical Attack (up to 150) Paralysis (130 or so damage plus [get this] paralysis) Thera Seed (HP + 150) Slash (like 250 damage to one) Strategy: I know you've heard this one before, but light fusion with Yuri, heal with Alice, and use Strong Earth with Halley. If you're using Margarete instead of Alice, make her the healer anyways, unless you're worried about using items. Alternatively, since he doesn't do all attacks, you could fuse into something like the fire fusion, up your physical attack, and just murder him. It's up to you - he's not supposed to be hard. Slash hurts, but that's about all. Drops: Seal of Speed XXV.) MAMMON Location: Orphanage HP: about 3400 Class: Party/Levels: Yuri (29), Alice (28), Halley (27) Difficulty: 3/5 Attacks: Physical Attack (does up to 170 damage) Petrification (100 damage plus petrification) Shockwave (150 to all) Howling (HP + 540) Needlerain (200+ to one character) Strategy: If you get petrified, heal it or use Alice's Wish. Ideally, you'll have anti-petrification stuff on, but chances are you don't. Light fusion can be a lifesaver here because you'll need that all heal when you're trying to heal petrification and still do damage. Use Aqua Blade with Halley, heal/Blessed Light with Alice, and heal/attack with Yuri. You're gonna need to watch your SP's and MP here, especially your SP's. Heck, watch everything, cause Needlerain can bring unexpected death if you're not careful. Drops: Demon Earrings XXVI.) VISCOUNT RAUSAN Location: Calios Mental Hospital HP: about 3300 Class: fire Party/Levels: Yuri (32), Alice (29), Halley (31) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Elder Sign (Special Defense Power + 30%) Physical Attack (does about 150 damage to one max) Silence (about 100 damage to one plus silence) Blaze (90-120 damage to all) Strategy: There's two ways to go about fighting this guy. You'll win either way because this guy is a joke. Strategy 1: The safe way. Use the light fusion, Halley's Aqua Blade special attack, and have Alice (or whoever else you have) use their best special attack / heal. Ignore the fact that he does Elder Sign and just wail away. If you're silenced, use physical attacks or heal it. It's up to you. He'll die fast. Attack with Yuri and heal when necessary, if he does a couple blazes in a row or something. Strategy 2: Use the fire fusion (from now on, I'm going to assume you have level 2 fusions. If you don't, oh well.) Up your physical attack and just wail away. I'd still use Halley's Aqua Blade and have Alice heal like heck. Drops: Club Key XXVII.) OLGA Location: Calios Mental Hospital HP: about 4000 Class: Dark Party/Levels: Yuri (33), Alice (32), Halley (31) Difficulty: 3/5 Attacks: Black Fog (150-200 damage to all plus poison) Physical Attack (only like 50 to a character) Rock Storm (110-170 to all) Blaze (110-150 to all) Mind Assault (MP to 0) Icy Breath (110-150 to all) Strategy: Olga 3 is the same as Olga 1 or Olga 2 - lots of all attacks. What do all attacks mean? The light fusion. Olga 3 abuses Black Fog, which means a lot of healing is in need. I use Yuri as my main healer (unless Alice somehow knows Arc by now, which I suppose is possible), either Aqua Blade or Air Shot with Halley, Blessed Light or healing items with Alice. I find myself needing MP items like mad in this fight. As long as you stay on top of your healing and your SP, you're all good here. Drops: Warlock Earrings XXVIII.) THE MASKS (OPTIONAL) Location: Anywhere with full Malice HP: between 2000 and 2500 Class: Grail Mask - water; Gold Mask - earth; Staff Mask - Fire; Sword Mask - Wind Party/Levels: Yuri (35), Alice (34), Margarete (28) Difficulty: 1/5 or 2/5 Attacks: SP Lowering (1/2 one character's SP; occasionally it will hit all three) Yuri's L3 fusion attacks (changes based on the mask's class - some do upwards of 200 damage to all, most do very little) Physical Attack (minimal damage) I had written up a whole way to fight these guys, but then my computer crashed and I had already saved after killing them. They don't require a walkthrough anyways - they're quite easy. You'll need the Oath Grail and to fight them in the right order for them to be weak to you. When you fight them, you'll do -insane- damage, except for the Sword Mask, and he's easy. Some notes - the Gold Mask is immune to special attacks; the Staff Mask is immune to physical attacks. Most of them you can kill within two or three rounds. You get a ring from each of them that halves attacks from a certain element (earth, wind, etc). You also get a whopping 45000 exp from each, so fighting them has more than one purpose. You need to kill these guys to get the best ending. See a FAQ for more details. XXIX.) ALBERT / AMON Location: Nemeton Monastery HP: Albert, about 2200; Amon, about 3800. Class: Albert's dark, Amon is non-elemental. Party/Levels: Yuri (42), Alice (41), Margarete (37) Difficulty: 3/5 Attacks: Albert: Holy Chest (All characters' SP - 1/2 plus about 100 damage to all) Blacksurge (Special Atk + 30%) Revelation (140-190 damate to all plus instant death) Amon: Demon Rays (about 300 damage to one character) Atomic Dust (150-200 damage to all) Physical Attack (max of about 250 damage) Strategy: Albert: Holy Chest and Revelation are quite annoying. Ideally you'll have leonardo's bears and will powers or crucifixes equipped, but chances are not. The answer to this? Sandalphon (the level 3 light fusion) and a crucifix. This combination can't be touched and will be able to use revive to bring all your characters back to life. Sandalphon makes this fight simple. If you've got Arc with Alice, this (and every other fight) is made much easier. Explode on him with your best attacks (Blessed Light, Pulse with Sandalphon if you're feeling like ending it faster, your best specials with everyone else). Holy Edge with Alice will work, but Albert has low HP, so there's really not much need. Amon: Amon can mess you up with attacks (especially Demon Rays) but isn't really that hard. Keep on top of your healing, basically, as Arc will be a lifesaver here. If Amon still has Blacksurge going on, he'll do a ton of damage with his abilities. Amon is non-classed, so just use your best attacks. He's got a good amount of HP, so don't slack on your healing. Pay attention to your SP and MP here too, as both will run out. Drops: Angel Earrings XXX.) ATMAN Location: Graveyard HP: about 4000 Class: none Party/Levels: Alice (42); if you've done everything to get Yuri, he's 43. Difficulty: Alice only, impossible; with Yuri, 3/5 Attacks: Physical Attack (max of about 200-250 damage with great sound effects) Eradication (about 300 damage plus 1/2 SP; based on the animation, I'm going to assume it only hits Alice) Status Abnormality (about 180 damage plus a random status ailment; this also only hit Alice for me) Strike (about 200 damage to all) Rising Cry (about 200 damage to all) Strategy: Atman rules. He sounds even better than he looks. And he dies better than he sounds. Figures he'd be number XXX. To get Yuri in this fight, you have to do two things: defeat the masks using the Oath Grail and (this is the annoying one) examine Alice's tombstone in the graveyard. I don't know why you have to do this, but you do. I don't believe you need Amon. Others can correct me if I'm wrong. Make sure the gravestone says rest in peace, Alice Elliott, or else it won't count. Atman likes to pick on Alice. be ready for this when you're fighting. The basic idea for this fight is to attack physically with Yuri and to heal like heck with Alice. There are two ways of doing this fight - Sandalphon and Amon. Amon is faster cause he hits harder, Sandalphon is safer because he can do revive, healing both at once in case of an emergency. I use Sandalphon, but I'm quite sure you could use Amon just as easily. You could probably use Death Emperor and get away with it as long as you're careful. Yuri should do about 300 damage, more if you're using Amon. You should definitely have a crucifix on Yuri (even though Alice is probably a better idea). If you've got a second, throw it on Alice. If you want to be extra safe, throw a Will Power on both as well. (To get a second crucifix, go to the Orphanage, play hide-and-seek, win, and then play lottery. Equip a Pocket watch.) That'll make the fight a ton easier. Assuming you don't have them, here's some guidelines: if Alice gets paralyzed, use items instead to heal. If Alice gets silenced, same thing. If Alice gets petrified, use a soul benediction on her with Yuri. Attack away, using Blessed Light when you get a chance with Alice. Watch your SP closely, use Arc like it's going out of style, and be patient, and you'll win. At the end of the fight, Atman seems to do a lot of L3 Fusion attacks like Strike. Just heal up with Arc and continue. This shouldn't be -that- hard, and is only hard if you fall behind with your healing. If you come to a point where you're out of HP and SP, you can have problems, but you shouldn't. Drops: Moonstone Ring XXXI.) SERAPHIM (OPTIONAL) Location: Ancient Ruins HP: about 4000 Class: none Party/Levels: Yuri (44), Alice (44), Margarete (40) Difficulty: 5/5 Attacks: Physical Attack (can do up to 500 to a character) Divine Punishment (about 300 damage to all plus random status/ring effects) Strategy: To get to Seraphim, you'll need the Book of Rituals from Nemeton. Examine it, go through the Ancient Ruins, examine it, and do it again. Seraphim is nasty. He destroyed me my first time, mainly because I'm really not that high a level for him. My fusion of choice is, once again, Sandalphon, thanks to revive. Alice is -essential- here because of Arc and Resurrection. Anyway, crucifixes are an absolute must here. Get at least two, one for Yuri and one for Alice. Pocket Watches will help a lot, too. For starters, Seraphim's physical attack will maul you. It's by far the strongest you've seen. Divine Punishment can finish you off if you don't heal after the physical attack, too. I like to use Sanctuary with Sandalphon to lower the damage taken from it, along with Alice's Gospel when she has a free turn. After all these precautions are taken, use your special attacks like hell. Pulse, On Switch, your ultimate specials if you have them by now, anything you have. Once you get Seraphim into a routine, he's not that bad. Getting into it, though, can be a little nasty. Drops: Volt Snipe XXXII.) CHERUBIM (OPTIONAL) Location: Cave Temple HP: almost 10000 Class: none Party/Levels: Yuri (46), Alice (45), Margarete (42) Difficulty: 4/5 Attacks: Divine Punishment (250-300 damage to all plus random status/ring effects) !!! (HP to 1) Physical Attack (might do 400) Strategy: The same as Seraphim, with two major differences: He has way more HP and special attacks heal him. The following things are -essential-: Alice's Arc, Sandalphon or Amon, and all the crucifixes/pocket watches you can spare. Divine Punishment is still annoying (though it did slow ring to Margarete for me, which was kind of cool), and !!! is too, though not really because it can't outright kill you. (note: however, !!! plus poison can!) The choice of fusion depends on your style, whether you like to play it safe (Sandalphon) or do lots of damage (Amon, maybe Forron). Forron is actually an interesting choice since all you can do is attack in this fight, making phys atk up for all a very interesting option. Heal Alice's MP when needed and watch everyone's SP, as always. If you don't have enough crucifixes/pocket watches/items to stop status ailments with, be sure to heal them with Alice. You'll need all three characters functional here since you'll often need to heal MP/SP or, at the very least, do a good 200 damage. Since special attacks are outlawed here, use whoever you feel will do the most damage. I find Cherubim to be actually easier than Seraphim because he doesn't do as much damage and s/he/it is less likely to kill you outright with one attack, especially Yuri. S/he/it takes longer, but they're not any harder. If you've got spare turns, you could do things like Gospel with Alice or even attack with Alice. Try and conserve your MP if possible with Alice, and equip MP-reducing items with Yuri and Alice. Makes life faster. (side note: I only had a crucifix equipped on Alice but she never got a single ring effect - anyone know why? If you do, drop me an email.) Drops: Holy Peak Staff XXXIII.) ORB CHAOS (OPTIONAL) Location: Dollhouse HP: about 8500 Class: Light Party/Levels: Yuri (47), Alice (47), Margarete (43) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Release Magic (Special Atk plus 30%) Accelerate (Agility plus 25) Physical Attack (does up to 300) Expression (200-300 to all plus paralysis [might do other effects]) Strategy: If this thing is light-classed, my name is Mahatma. You should know the drill on most bosses by now - crucifixes. Use your best specials. I use Amon for this fight because I'm not so scared about needing a second all heal. His first two attacks are kinda scary because it means he's gonna wail on you hard and fast. To be on the safe side, I use Gospel on my characters with Alice since she won't do much damage with her light-based attacks. Demon Rays with Amon can do up to 700 with a ring perfect (good luck), while other characters' best attacks will do half that. As usual, you'll be using Arc a bit, especially if Expression hits you. Have your third character keep Yuri's MP up while Alice heals. If s/he/it does minimal damage to you, just attack. This isn't hard. I didn't even need to heal my SP, though you may. Drops: Holy Book-Flesh XXXIV.) GOLDEN BAT (OPTIONAL) Location: Blue Castle HP: about 1500 Class: none Party/Levels: Keith (23) (not a typo) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Physical Attack (will do 999) Strategy: You'll get six turns to kill him or you'll die. All you can do is attack, so equip up your best stuff for physical attacks and wail away. If you're at any kind of decent level, this should be cake. If you're at a level like me, this is a little bit trickier. Here's some cheap tricks: Equip a Voodoo Doll and his attack won't actually kill you. With this, you can't possibly lose. Stuff like the Mind's Eye is also an option if you've got knowledge of Keith's ring. The small jug / Demon Earrings are also sexy alternatives. Drops: DemonSwd-Tyrving XXXV.) BEN HYUGA / SERAPHIC RADIANCE (OPTIONAL) Location: Graveyard HP: Ben Hyuga: about 2000; Seraphic Radiance: about 5000 Class: Ben: dark; SR: none Party/Levels: Yuri (48) Difficulty: 5/5 Attacks: Ben Hyuga: Physical Attack (does about 200-250) Seraphic Radiance: Physical Attack (about 300-350) Malcto (does about 300-350 damage and heals him for about 130) Strategy: To get here, see another FAQ. Before detailing this fight, I'm going to get into some preparations you should make. 1.) If you don't have Yuri's ultimate weapon (Nightbird Claw) yet, go to Neameto, leave, and talk to him again. You -should- see a scene with him where you have to do a 10 ring. I know you don't need to fight any bosses, but I don't know what the exact criteria to get this to happen is. I think you need the three documents. Not sure. 2.) Visit a silent peddler and pick up a bunch of Thera Extracts. Thera Extracts will make it so you don't need to use MP. Muchly helpful. 3.) Equipment: Different strokes for differnet folks here, but I would definitely equip the Berserker Earrings. The added HP will help your chances greatly. Some people equip defense-raising accessories, some prefer things like MP cost-reducing accessories. Either way, you won't be hit with status abnormalities here, so no need for a crucifix. On to the fight: the second you get into the fight, fuse into Amon. For your first turn (or some turn while he is still Ben Hyuga), use a Pure Extract. This way you don't have to worry about running out of both HP and SP at the same time. This helps tremendously. Against Ben, attack physically and use a Thera Extract / Mind/Body Revival when you're low on HP. He'll hit for 200-250 on you, depending on what you have equipped and level. He should go down in about seven turns, or at least he'll fuse into the SR. Against SR, be prepared to heal a lot. Use all your best items (Fifth Key, Key to Success, etc) and then Demon Rays if you don't have any. Demon Rays does about 500 for me, while my attack does around 300. If you go below 350 HP, heal no matter what, and blitz him with all you've got. This is the hardest boss in the game, so don't worry about saving items. Alternate Strategies: I don't suggest these, but here's some suggestions: 1.) Some people like to use the Mind's Eye so their attack power doubles and the ring is invisible. If you've got ring skills, go for it, but I don't like missing. 2.) You could try some other ridiculous strategies, such as: fusing into Forron and raising your physical attack; fusing into whatever does phys. def up and using that; using the huge jug (not so bad of an idea, actually). If anyone's got a different way, email me and it'll make its way into here. Drops: Diamond Ring XXXVI.) SOUL BLOCK Location: Neameto HP: about 6500 Class: light Party/Levels: Yuri (49), Alice (48), Margarete (45) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Physical Attack (can do 400) Pulse (50-150 damage to all plus instant death) Shockwave (100-150 damage to all) Strategy: Physical attacks will do 0 here, so use your special attacks. As for fusions, choose your favourite one. If you've got the Seraphic Radiance, use it (and every boss after this as well). If not, Amon or whoever will do. Use Charon if you want the best attack results, especially since he can raise your special attack. For everyone else, Margarete's Snipe is decent, Zhuzhen's Life Sucker is good, Keith's drain attacks are both good, and Halley's Black Hole will rule. As usual, crucifixes, especially on Yuri. Death to Yuri sucks. Instant Death seems to almost never hit, but it can. Otherwise, this fight is quite simple, especially if you've done all the optional stuff preceding it. Drops: Monkey Paw XXXVII.) HATE Location: Neameto HP: about 7000 Class: dark Party/Levels: Yuri (50), Alice (48), Margarete (46) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Physical Attack (can do up to 350) Hate storm (100-200 damage plus invisible ring) Black Fog (100-200 or so damage plus poison) Strategy: Sandalphon's nice here. Pulse will do a lot of damage, as will Alice's Advent if you have it. If not, Blessed Light will do. Invisible Ring is -annoying- if you don't guard against it, so be sure to have something that stops it. Other than that, Hate does very little damage and nothing that approaches being worried about. Attack, heal, attack, heal. Drops: Seventh Key XXXVIII.) SCAPEGOAT Location: Neameto HP: about 5700 Class: wind Party/Levels: Yuri (51), Alice (49), Margarete (47) Difficulty: 2/5 Attacks: Physical Attack (can do up to 350) Wind Fang (150-250 damage to all) Deathtouch (about 350-450 damage to one character - might be something like 75% of your max HP, I'm not sure) Strategy: Use Earth Attacks if you got em - Halley's Strong Earth, Keith's Larva / Earth Edge, and Zhuzhen's Corpse Arm. Otherwise, just use physical attacks. If you wanna use Yuri's L3 earth fusion, it'll work quite well also. If not, just use your best fusion and keep attacking. Wind Fang does some damage but isn't that tough to deal with, as long as you have Arc or Revive. Deathtouch is a little scary, but never seems to kill me. Keep your HP over 350 or so and you'll be all right here. Drops: Crucifix XXXIX.) MESSIAH Location: Neameto HP: about 7500 Class: none Party/Levels: Yuri (52), Alice (50), Margarete (49) Difficulty: 3/5 without Will Power equipped, 2/5 with Attacks: Physical Attack (can do a max of about 400) Holy Chest (250-300 damage to all plus 1/2 SP) !!! (HP to 1) Status Abnormality (about 200-250 damage plus, get this, a status abnormality) Grace (HP + 999) Strategy: If you're into making life easier for yourself, equip Yuri with a Will Power. Holy Chest likes to halve your SP, which is just annoying. He'll start the fight with it just to annoy you. If you don't do this, use a few Pure Roots so you can fuse into something. I would fuse into the SR if I had it here, and if not, Sandalphon or Amon. Messiah is non-classed, so there's no real strategy for attacking. Use physical attacks, watch your SP ultra-carefully thanks to Holy Chest, and heal. If you're having problems with this fight, you're going to get crushed by the next one. Oh, and it goes without saying, but crucifixes, all you have, are a must. Drops: Silver Hand XL.) META-GOD Location: Neameto HP: about 10000 Class: none Party Levels: Yuri (53), Alice (51), Margarete (49) Difficulty: variable; if you've gotten all the optional stuff and have crucifixes equipped, 3/5; if you've got crucifixes but haven't done the optional stuff, 4/5; if you've got neither, 5/5 Attacks: Time of Judgment (about 300 HP / 100 MP lost to all) Verdant Abyss (200-250 damage plus petrification) Nine Springs (HP to 1) Black Abyss (100-200 damage to all plus 1/2 SP) Physical Attack (only did about 350 to me) Scarlet Abyss (200-350 damage to all plus paralyis) Yellow Abyss (200-250 damage to all plus confusion) Blue Abyss (200-250 damage plus poison [see a pattern?]) White Abyss (50-100 damage plus silence) Strategy: Basically, if you've got three crucifixes equipped, this fight is at least twice as short. Trying to heal status ailments can become a royal pain in this fight. If you can avoid them, do so. There's no way to stop the MP draining, so use all the special attacks you can to start. Make sure Alice has plenty of MP so you can cast Arc at any time. Use your third character as a support character almost every turn. Make sure your MP/SP is in good shape before even trying to inflict damage here. Obviously, the Seraphic Radiance is your best choice here. If you don't have it, I would go with Sandalphon second, Amon third. There are times you may need to heal, especially if you don't have crucifixes equipped. If you do, then Amon is probably better. If you're low on level, this fight can go on -forever-. Use all your third/fifth/seventh keys you have with Yuri to do lots of damage quickly. After you've exhausted those, try and keep your MP up if possible and use your best special attacks, especially if you've got the SR. If you've got a mana extract, I highly suggest saving that for Alice. I can't even imagine doing this fight at a regular level without Alice. There's really no other strategy you can give for Meta-God. Heal, attack, heal a lot more, attack a lot more. You can't be too careful here. Drops: The ending, or something --- VII.) Credits and Thanks - Grand Admiral's Sidequest FAQ on GameFAQs has made my life infinitely easier when it comes to finding optional stuff, so he's gotta be first. If you're stuck trying to figure out optional stuff, check his FAQ out. - Yoshitaka Hirota's incredible soundtrack. Yasunori Mitsuda's tracks are but dust in the wind in comparison. And the Shadow Hearts II soundtrack is even better. I wanna meet this dude. - my holy trinity of online friends with taste in music and games - cid, ryan, and stevie. - CJC, cause GameFAQs is the single most important gaming site in the world. VIII.) Contacting Nice and simple - dyschordia242@yahoo.com. You can email me on anything from how to beat a boss to what you use to make breakbeats. I won't care. If I do, I just won't answer. But please, at least pretend you speak the English language. And suggestions are great. Even if they're insane.