STAR OCEAN: TILL THE END OF TIME BOSS FAQ (v0.7, 9-01-04) by Edward Chang (chang dot 459 at osu dot edu) Revision History v0.7 (9-01-04) About 3/4 done. v0.5 (8-23-04) First version. Around half of the bosses done. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. General Tips 3. In-depth Boss Strategies 4. Credits 1. INTRODUCTION This is an FAQ for Star Ocean: Till the End of Time Director's Cut, AKA Star Ocean 3: DC. The Director's Cut is the version that the US release of SO3 is based off of, so if you are playing the US version you've come to the right place. This guide deals with strategies on dealing with the bosses in the game. With a fully real-time, 3D fighting system, strategy is extremely important in taking down some of the harder bosses. Although I address some quick-and- dirty tips on the bosses in my main walkthrough, this guide is intended to give you a much more in-depth look at fighting the bosses, as well as much more in-depth tips on earning the Battle Collections associated with those bosses. There are four difficulty levels in SO3. "Earth" is the easiest difficulty, more like a Beginner's Mode, as the enemies are made weaker than the default. Since Battle Collections cannot be earned in Earth difficulty, most players skip it and go straight to Galaxy. Earth mode will not be considered in this guide, but if you are playing on Earth you can multiply the provided enemy HP and MP stats by 0.7. "Galaxy" is the standard difficulty. "Universe" and "FD (Fourth Dimension" are unlockable difficulty levels which feature considerably buffed-up enemies; HP and MP values for enemies in Universe are 150% of their Galaxy values, and those in FD difficulty are 180%, although most bosses get an even higher boost, up to 300%. Enemies in FD difficulty also move faster than normal, and you can no longer see their Guts gauge. Enemies also sometimes 'cheat' in FD mode; since you can no longer see enemy Guts gauge, you have to guess on how much Guts the enemy has by what they're doing. However, in certain situations in which they should not have 100% Guts (such as immediately after starting a strong attack, for instance), they still manage to Counter Aura your attacks anyway. Other than the increased difficulty, however, most strategies remain the same. All strategies presented in this guide should work regardless of difficulty level, unless otherwise noted. Just be prepare to heal/revive more often on Universe/FD. 2. GENERAL TIPS Having the best equipment possible is a good start. In the early-mid game, make sure you have the best equipment purchasable in stores. In the mid-late game, you'll want to make use of Item Creation to make more powerful equipment; details can be found in my Item Creation guide. In the late-post game (secret dungeons), you'll be able to find and make use of each character's "ultimate weapons"; see my Maximization Guide for information on using those. If you have trouble with an early boss and the strategies here just don't seem to work for you, you can always gain a few levels and then come back. This is not feasible in the post-game, as you'll likely end up hitting the Level 255 barrier before reaching the last set of secret bosses, and they'll be trouble even at Level 255. Thus strategy, patience, and skill are much more important in these fights. Healing and reviving are very important aspects of boss battles. The Healing spell gained from the Common Support Spell skill is good, though it's tough to give up those 2 Capacity Points to equip CSS. Nel, Sophia, and Adlai all learn Healing naturally, making them excellent characters for inclusion in the party. Only Sophia and Adlai can use Raise Dead. Casting spells takes time, though, and you may not have time to use it. Items are the other possibility. Item stack size in SO3 is limited to 20 items, though, so you have limited healing capacity. This isn't as much of a problem if you are able to make unique items via Item Creation; for instance the Blackberry and the Aqua Potion do the same thing (heal 30% of one character's max MP), but since they are two different items, you could have 20 of each. Here's a list of healing, reviving, and other items that will probably be useful to you, as well as how to make them: HEALING ITEMS Blueberry - 30% HP, single. Buy in stores. Blackberry - 30% MP, single. Buy in stores. Vitality Stimulator - 50% HP, single. Buy in stores. Mind Stimulator - 50% MP, single. Buy in stores. Berry Potion - 30% HP, single. Refinable to 10, 50, 70, 90, 100%, or add 30% MP. Item Creation, base cost 21. Aqua Potion - 30% MP, single. Refinable to 10, 50, 70, 90, 100%, or multiple 30%s. Item Creation, base cost 22. Fruits Pot - 50% HP, single. Refinable to 10, 70, 90, or 100%. Item Creation, Millenia, Ruid, or Mirage, base cost 13. Fresh Botle - 100% HP, single. Item Creation, Millenia, Ruid, or Mirage, base cost 310. Witch Beads - 30% HP, all. Item Creation, Millenia, Puffy, or Ruid, base cost 210. Heal Unit - 30% HP, all. Item Creation, Vanilla, Meryl, or Cliff, base cost 201. Ripe Berry - 30% HP, all. Find in treasure chests. Super Heal Unit - 60% HP, all. Item Creation, Meryl or Souffle, base cost 401. Very Ripe Berry - 60% HP, all. Find in treasure chests. Miracle Heal Unit - 90% HP, all. Item Creation, Meryl or Isaac, base cost 801. Magical Berry - 90% HP, all. Find in treasure chests. Mix Syrup - 30% HP/MP, single. Refinable to 50, 70, 90, 100, or multiple 30%s. Item Creation, Millenia, Ruid, or Mirage, base cost 20. REVIVING ITEMS Fresh Sage - Revive+30% HP/MP, single. Buy in stores. Resuscitation Medicine - Revive+30% HP/MP, all. Buy in stores. A final caveat: these are the strategies that have worked for me. They may not work for you, if your play style happens to be vastly different from mine; that's just a consequence of the way SO3's battle system works. Get used to switching characters on-the-fly, rapidly, to respond to the new situations that come up; adjust your characters' tactics as needed or use the R2 button shortcut to set a character on manual (a key point since the AI sometimes makes your characters charge into certain death when the enemy is doing a super-powerful move; setting all of your characters on manual rapidly is the best way to deal with some of these). 3. IN-DEPTH BOSS STRATEGIES Here's a list of the bosses in the game, with my strategies for each boss. Bosses for which Battle Collections can be earned will have notes on how to obtain those BCs, not just strategies on simply defeating them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NORTON ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 1600 HP, 35800 MP Universe: 2400 HP, 53700 MP FD: 2880 HP, 70884 MP Special Attacks: Half-crazed (weak) Elemental Defense: Fire (half) Counter Aura: None Suggested Character: Fate Suggested Skills: (Short Weak) Blade Reactor (Short Strong) Blade Reactor Battle Collections: Defeat Norton in 30 Seconds, Defeat Norton with No Damage Norton's the first boss of the game, and you'll have Cliff join you for the first time. Cliff is quite a monster compared to your puny level at this point in the game, so your strategy should mostly consist of letting Cliff handle Norton, while you avoid eating his gunshots. You should be able to get the Defeat Norton with No Damage pretty easily just by running in circles around him. 30 Seconds is a little more complicated, as you'll have to join in with Cliff. I suggest setting your Battle Skills as indicated, and then doing a normal short weak attack -> short weak attack -> cancel bonus short weak Blade Reactor (2 hits only) -> cancel bonus short strong Blade Reactor (all 3 hits). Repeat until you defeat him. Norton takes half-damage from Fire attacks, so I suggest NOT using Blaze Sword. Half-crazed is a rapid, semi-circular series of shots. It's a weak attack, so you can Protect it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ GIANT CRAB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 3500 HP, 80 MP Universe: 5250 HP, 120 MP FD: 6300 HP, 144 MP Special Attacks: Burst Run (weak) Burst Cannon (strong) Elemental Defense: Water (null) Fire (weak) Counter Aura: Standard Suggested Character: Fate Suggested Skills: (Long Strong) Blaze Sword Battle Collections: Defeat Giant Crab in 1 Minute, Defeat Giant Crab with No Damage Like many bosses, Giant Crab suffers from a severe lack of MP. He's also weak against Fire, which means that having Fate use Blaze Sword will spell a quick demise for the Giant Crab. You should have no problems getting the 1 Minute Battle Collection. Slightly trickier is the No Damage condition, as you have to get close to Larva Crab to do any damage with Fate. If you're having trouble, I suggest switching to Nel and using Kagebarai (if you have it, which you may not) as a long-range battle skill. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EARTH SMASHER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 3600 HP, 163 MP Universe: 5400 HP, 244 MP FD: 6480 HP, 293 MP Special Attacks: Earth Grave (weak) Earth Storm (strong) Elemental Defense: Earth (absorb) Counter Aura: 2Way Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Kagebarai (Long Strong) Kagebarai Battle Collections: Defeat Earth Pluto in 1 Minute, Defeat Earth Pluto with No Damage Earth Smasher is another boss quite low on MP. His attacks do cover quite a large area, so I recommend staying far away. Enter Nel and her Kagebarai. If set to long-range, Kagebarai just barely hits, but it also keeps you out of the way of most of Earth Smasher's attacks. The MP damage it's capable of causing will bury Earth Smasher in no time. Earth Grave is similar to the spell, but it counts as a weak attack, and so you can Protect against it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SHELBY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 5100 HP, 13816 MP Universe: 7650 HP, 20724 MP FD: 9180 HP, 25835 MP Special Attacks: Ice Breath (weak) Giant Swing (weak) Elemental Defense: Wind (absorb) Counter Aura: Regeneration Suggested Character: Cliff Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Might Hammer (Long Strong) Might Hammer Battle Collections: Defeat Shelby in 1 Minute, Defeat Shelby with No Damage Shelby isn't very difficult. However, he does come accompanied with 4 extra Shikkoku knights, and if you get stuck in the middle of them, it's bad news for you. Go after the extra knights first. Shelby himself is slow and has no long range attacks, so you should be able to avoid him and clean up the others. I suggest using Cliff's Might Hammer, which does MP damage (not useful for Shelby, but useful for the knights) and can hit a large area at once. Nel's Kagebarai is another alternative. Once you've got them all, focus on Shelby with whatever your most damaging skills are. Have Nel use Healing if the situation merits it, but you shouldn't have too much trouble. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MOONSHADOW CLAN CHIEF ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 5500 HP, 250 MP Universe: 8250 HP, 375 MP FD: 9900 HP, 450 MP Special Attacks: Dagger Dance (weak) Healing (magic) Elemental Defense: None Counter Aura: Standard Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Kagebarai (Long Strong) Kagebarai Battle Collections: Defeat Moonshadow Clan Chief in 1 Minute, Defeat Moon- shadow Clan Chief with No Damage An absolute joke, thanks to his lack of MP and his lack of serious attacks. He can cast healing, but if you just hammer away at his MP with Kagebarai, he'll go down in no time at all. The Battle Collections aren't even a challenge for this particular boss. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MUDMAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 8000 HP, 500 MP Universe: 12000 HP, 750 MP FD: 14400 HP, 900 MP Special Attacks: Mud Punch (strong) Mud Splash (weak) Poison Punch (strong) Healing (magic) Elemental Defense: Earth (absorb) Wind (weak) Counter Aura: Standard Suggested Character: Cliff Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Might Hammer (Long Strong) Might Hammer Battle Collections: Defeat Mudman in 1 Minute, Defeat Mudman with No Damage Another boss that suffers from the lack of MP problem. Unlike the Tsukikage Leader, his reach is quite long and you'll have to stay pretty far away if you want to avoid taking damage. He can also poison your characters. Still, a repeated Might Hammer cancel combination will take him out very quickly. Alternatively, if you're sick of MP damage, you can use Nel's Fuujin, which handily causes wind-elemental damage. Fuujin is unique in that you can activate it anywhere on the screen, and as long as the whirlwind is active, anybody that gets near you takes damage. So in Nel's case, all you have to do is set Fuujin to long weak and long strong, cancel combo it into itself until you get as high a multiplier as possible, then just run up to Mudman and rack up the hits. He'll go down in no time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ COCKATRICE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 15500 HP, 431 MP Universe: 23250 HP, 646 MP FD: 28055 HP, 776 MP Special Attacks: Sharpeck (weak) Stone Blessing (weak) Elemental Defense: Earth (null) Wind (null) Counter Aura: Aiming Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Kagebarai (Long Strong) Kagebarai Battle Collections: Defeat Cockatrice in 1 Minute, Defeat Cockatrice with No Damage Cockatrice's MP is even worse than Mudman's. Thus, you can use Cliff's Might Hammer as described above, or Nel's Kagebarai. I prefer Nel slightly in this battle as she is faster than Cliff. Be warned that almost all of Cockatrice's attacks can petrify you, so be prepared and carry along a bunch of Sage. If your whole party is petrified, it's game over, so keep at least one character out of Cockatrice's attack range. Still, with MP damage, 1 Minute should be no problem. A word of caution if you are going for the No Damage condition: if you take damage from the rocks that are rolling around the field in the battles in this dungeon, that counts against the No Damage condition. So be on the lookout to make sure a wayward rock doesn't roll you over. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DEMETRIO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 14800 HP, 17776 MP Universe: 22200 HP, 26664 MP FD: 26788 HP, 33597 MP Special Attacks: Master Combination (weak) Servant Breath (weak) Elemental Defense: Wind (absorb) Counter Aura: Aiming Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Touga (Short Strong) Aerial (Long Strong) Touga (Support) Critical HP Battle Collections: Defeat Demetrio in 1 Minute, Defeat Demetrio with No Damage This is a tough battle compared to the previous battles, so be prepared. Demetrio comes along with two fellow dragon knights. These guys are wimps in the MP department, with less than 200 MP on Galaxy difficulty. Try setting skills like Might Hammer and Icicle Edge on Fate and Cliff, while you focus on Demetrio with Nel. Fate/Cliff should be able to clean up the dragon knights by themselves, though if you get unlucky, they'll eat fire breath and die quickly. Demetrio himself is not suited for the quick MP kill, so you'll have to make use of Nel's insanely good Aerial skill, as well as Touga. Nel's Aerial does approximately 10 times the damage of a normal Strong attack, so that's where your main damage is going to come from. Unfortunately, it's a little slow. Basically your tactic should be repeated Touga cancel combo chains normally. When Demetrio charges up for his fire breath (the purple shadow indicative of strong attacks will clue you in), quickly run behind him and activate Aerial. He shouldn't survive more than a few Aerials. The 1 Minute condition might be a little tight, but Touga also causes lots of damage, so if you have it at a moderately high level you shouldn't have too many problems getting it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ALBEL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 26000 HP, 2600 MP Universe: 39000 HP, 3900 MP FD: 47060 HP, 4706 MP Special Attacks: Kuuhazan (weak) Charge (weak) Elemental Defense: None Counter Aura: Standard Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Kagebarai (Long Strong) Kagebarai Battle Collections: Defeat Albel 1 with Items Only Like Demetrio, Albel comes along with some lackys. Again like Demetrio, the lackys are a wimp in the MP department, so have Fate finish them off with Icicle Edge and the like, while you help out with Kagebarai. Now you can focus on Arbel himself. He's not too threatening; almost all of his attacks are weak, and his strong attack is easy to see coming. With all three of you pounding on him, he shouldn't be much of a challenge. Defeating him with Items Only, however, IS somewhat of a challenge. You can't cause him damage with anything else, thus, you'll have to set your other characters on Manual and have them just stand still. Then you'll have to whittle away at his 2600 MP (along with his 2 pals) with bombs made through Item Creation. The best bomb you're probably going to be able to make at this point is EM Bomb MP, which does 600 points of MP damage. You can make it with Machinery for a base cost of 61. Be sure to make them before defeating Cockatrice! With 7 of these bombs, you should be able to take out Albel and his pals with MP damage, thus earning yourself the Defeat Albel 1 with Items Only condition. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ VOX ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 30000 HP, 20000 MP Universe: 45000 HP, 30000 MP FD: 54300 HP, 38000 MP Special Attacks: Shippuu-giri (strong) Servant Breath (weak) Kouzanha (strong) Elemental Defense: Wind (absorb) Counter Aura: Ring Wave Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Touga (Short Strong) Aerial (Long Strong) Touga (Support) Critical HP Battle Collections: None Vox is like a pumped-up version of Demetrio, with a few special moves added. However, he comes alone, and so in some respects he's much easier to handle than Demetrio. The same strategy that worked for Demetrio pretty much works for Vox as well. Simply run around, Touga cancel combo, and if he charges up for the fire breath, run behind him and smack him with a strong Aerial. You don't even have to worry about earning any Battle Collections for him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CRYSTAL CERBERUS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 30000 HP, 3500 MP Universe: 45000 HP, 5250 MP FD: 54300 HP, 6370 MP Special Attacks: Tri-spike (weak) Elemental Defense: Fire (null) Water (null) Wind (null) Earth (null) Counter Aura: Standard Suggested Character: Maria Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Aiming Device (Long Strong) Aiming Device (Support Critical MP) Battle Collections: Defeat Crystal Cerberus in 1 Minute, Defeat Crystal Cerberus with No Damage The most annoying thing about the Crystal Cerberus is his incredible speed. He's hard to hit, but thankfully doesn't have much in the way of MP, so that is his one weak point. Unfortunately, he nullfies all elemental damage, so Fate is going to be pretty much useless in this battle (since all his MP damage comes from his elemental enchantments). I suggest having Cliff with Aerial Raid set on both short range skills, Nel with Kagebarai set on all four, and your own Maria with Aiming Device. Maria is slow, but Aiming Device's biggest attraction is that you don't have to be anywhere near the Crystal Cerberus to hit him, and if you cancel combo Aiming Device you can get a goodly amount of MP damage off of it. Meanwhile Cliff and Nel should be able to whittle away at the Crystal Cerberus on their own. Don't be afraid to use Healing if your allies need help. No Damage should be easy enough if you're successful at running away. One minute might be a little harder, but if you're moderately levelled up at this point it should be no problem. If you're STILL having problems, take Nel up to Level 30, when she learns Kokuyousen, which will totally massacre the Crystal Cerberus. Note that you must have the Saint Amulet in your possession to damage the Crystal Cerberus. To get the Saint Amulet, you must collect the three Saint Stones and then use the factory hidden in one of the rooms behind the cracked walls to make the Saint Amulet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ VENDEENI SOLDIERS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 7400 HP, 336 MP Universe: 11100 HP, 504 MP FD: 13320 HP, 605 MP Special Attacks: None Elemental Defense: None Counter Aura: Standard Suggested Character: Maria Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Aiming Device (Long Strong) Aiming Device (Support Critical MP) Battle Collections: None This "boss" comes as a collection of 4 regular enemies. They can be tough if you let them get to you, but otherwise they're a piece of cake. Once again, MP damage will finish them off quickly. Unlike the Crystal Cerberus, they specialize in long-range attacks, making getting close to them a challenge. Thus, once again Aiming Device is your best friend. Be warned that they can petrify your characters, so bring along some sage. Otherwise they shouldn't be much of a problem. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SCHWEIMER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 16800 HP, 1400 MP Universe: 25200 HP, 2100 MP FD: 30408 HP, 2534 MP Special Attacks: Master Combination (weak) Servant Breath (weak) Elemental Defense: Wind (absorb) Counter Aura: Aiming Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Kokuyousen (Long Strong) Kokuyousen Battle Collections: None Another pumped-up version of Demetrio. Oh wait... pumped-down. He comes with two pals, like Demetrio, but unlike Demetrio, he is similarly low in MP to his pals. You should have Nel close to Level 30 by now, and Kokuyousen will take these guys out in less than a minute. Really, the only way you could lose this battle is if you were caught unawares by their appearance and neglected to heal up... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BLUE DRAGON ZOMBIE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 30000 HP, 2500 MP Universe: 45000 HP, 3750 MP FD: 54300 HP, 4525 MP Special Attacks: Poison Breath (weak) Fire Breath (strong) Elemental Defense: Fire (null) Water (null) Wind (null) Earth (null) Counter Aura: Ring Wave Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Kokuyousen (Long Strong) Kokuyousen Battle Collections: Defeat Blue Dragon Zombie in 1 Minute, Defeat Blue Dragon Zombie with No Damage He doesn't move much, and he has low MP. However, he's pretty dangerous up close, as he has plenty of MP-damaging capabilities (hence, Cliff is in danger of dying rapidly); plus, he nullifies all elemental attacks, so Fate is a bad choice. Kokuyousen will take him out quickly, though, it's just a question of how fast you can kill him. 1 Minute and No Damage should both not be a problem (again watch out for falling rocks). Incidentally, he'll drop a good weapon for Maria, who up to now will have had pretty crappy attack power. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ROBIN WIND ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 50000 HP, 1800 MP Universe: 75000 HP, 2700 MP FD: 91000 HP, 3276 MP Special Attacks: Rise Stream (weak) Air Slash (strong) Thunder Flare (magic) Elemental Defense: Wind (absorb) Counter Aura: Aiming Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Kokuyousen (Long Strong) Kokuyousen Battle Collections: Defeat Robin Wind in 1 Minute, Defeat Robin Wind with No Damage Quite an annoying little bugger. He's got wind-elemental attacks up the wazoo, so if you have some of the wind accessories that halve wind damage, equip them. Air Slash will take out anyone close to him, so stay far away with your character and heal as necessary. Once again, Nel with her Kokuyousen and built-in Healing capabilities is the best possible choice. One Minute shouldn't be much of a challenge. No Damage you'll have to get lucky with, as if he casts Thunder Flare at you, there's almost no way to dodge. To make things vastly easier, you could retreat from the Bar Mountains as soon as you recruit Misty Lia, and then attempt to create and Orihalcon with her in Alchemy (you'll definitely need the Alchemy Stone from the Mosel Sand Hills). Orihalcon has an ATK+500 factor, so synthesizing it to Nel's weapon and then refining it constantly will boost her attack by 4000. With this much ATK, 1-2 Kokuyousens will kill Robin Wind flat. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CROSELL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (First Form) Galaxy: 29000 HP, 4200 MP Universe: 43500 HP, 6300 MP FD: 52490 HP, 7644 MP (Second Form) Galaxy: 62000 HP, 6000 MP Universe: 93000 HP, 9000 MP FD: 113460 HP, 10980 MP Special Attacks: Doom Raid (weak) Fire Supreme Breath (weak) Elemental Defense: Fire (half) Wind (half) Earth (half) Counter Aura: Wide Aiming Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Kokuyousen (Long Strong) Kokuyousen Battle Collections: Defeat Crosell in 1 Minute, Defeat Crosell with No Damage Be scared, Crosell is a big bad guy and just as threatening as he looks... or at least, he used to be. Prior to the DC, with no Cancel Combos and no Orihalcon, Crosell was very, very tough. Now in the DC, with Cancel Combos and especially with Orihalcon, should you choose to use it, he's very, very easy. In either case, you'll have to fight him twice. The first form isn't very threatening, as he doesn't use much in the way of special attacks, but his second form is quite threatening. Doom Raid is a near instant shockwave attack that will really hurt your characters. It's weak, so you can Protect it, but don't count on always being able to do it. His second form also has the Wide Aiming counter aura, which does damage proportional to what you would've done with that attack. Getting hit with all four blasts of Wide Aiming hurts a lot, and they home pretty well, so try your best not to trigger his Counter Aura. It's best to only have one short-range fighter, so have Cliff with Aerial Raid, or Fate with Icicle Edge. If you want to use Arbel, he learns Kikoushou at Level 26, which is another good skill to use. Adlai can cast spells from afar, but in general his spells AND his skills all cause elemental damage, plus he's rather slow, so he may not be the best choice. Maria can cast Protection to buff up your characters. Once again, however, Nel's Kokuyousen is your best bet. Run around, trying to get Crosel to follow you instead of beating up on your melee characters, and fire off Kokuyousens in his general direction. Use the tactical skill Taunt, if necessary. Note that the Battle Collection conditions only apply to the second form. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BIWIG ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 26000 HP, 13816 MP Universe: 39000 HP, 20724 MP FD: 47060 HP, 25836 MP Special Attacks: Enchant Rifle (weak) Enchant Rifle (strong) Elemental Defense: Fire (half) Water (half) Earth (weak) Counter Aura: Aiming Suggested Character: Cliff Suggested Skills: (Short Weak) Flash Chariot (Short Strong) Flash Chariot (Long Strong) Aerial Raid Battle Collections: Defeat Biwig in 1 Minute, Defeat Biwig with No Damage Coming into this battle, you will have a party of Fate, Cliff, and Maria. (You can actually have fewer than this if you actively decide to take somebody out, which you should do if you are planning to shoot for Defeat Lucifer at Level 1 - just put Fate in the reserve in this case, although this means that fighting Biwig will be that much harder). Biwig comes with two extra Bandein Soldiers. The Bandein Soldiers, like before, have very little MP, so take them out quickly with Aerial Raid or Maria's Aiming Device and the like. Biwig himself is a different matter. He's weak against Earth, but since you have nothing substantial to do earth damage with, this doesn't matter much. Just keep in mind that he doesn't take much damage from fire or water so Fate's Blaze Sword or Icicle Edge shouldn't be used. Biwig's HP is high, but once the other soldiers are gone you should be able to focus just on him. Use a Flash Chariot cancel combo (the cancel point for Flash Chariot is right before the last two punches, so you can basically keep punching him forever until you run out of Guts). If your attack power is high enough, doing such a combo should allow you to beat him in 1 minute. Beating him with no damage might be tougher, as he and his pals all have long range attacks. Just try to run around in circles to avoid getting shot, and don't do anything that will lock you into place for long (in other words, don't do Flash Chariot until the two Bandein Soldiers are gone). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE PROCLAIMER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 50000 HP, 50000 MP Universe: 75000 HP, 75000 MP FD: 91000 HP, 102500 MP Special Attacks: Divine Wave (weak) Moving Bug (special) Dark Circle (magic) Elemental Defense: Fire (half) Water (half) Earth (half) Wind (weak) Counter Aura: Aiming Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Fuujin (Long Strong) Fuujin (Support) Critical HP Battle Collections: Defeat Proclaimer in 1 Minute, Defeat Proclaimer with No Damage As you explore the Moonbase you'll be ambushed by this lovely character, so make sure you do NOT have Souffle or Sophia in your party when you do (since they'll more than likely be Level 1, or at least a very low level). The Proclaimer has equal amounts of HP and MP (more MP on FD), so since your capability to cause MP damage is generally less than HP, your best bet is to aim for HP damage. The Proclaimer also takes only half damage from most elements, but is weak against Wind. Enter Nel and Fuujin, the lovely skill that you learned back at Level 25. Simply set it to both Long range skills, and cancel combo it into itself until you get a 200% (or 250%, if you have Guts reduction equipment) whirlwind. Then just run up to the Proclaimer and watch her take loads of damage. The Proclaimer can cause lots of damage on her end, but her strong attacks take very long to happen and so are quite easy to dodge. Her only magic is Dark Circle, which is also easy to dodge (and usually doesn't work anyway, it's an instant death spell whose rate of success depends on your current HP level). You shouldn't have too much trouble getting 1 Minute and No Damage with the Fuujin method, especially if you made Nel that Orihalcon-enhanced weapon from before fighting Crosel. If you're having trouble, switch Nel back to Kokuyousen and use repeated cancel combos of that instead so that you can play keep away. Beware of Moving Bug, however, which allows the Proclaimer to teleport instantaneously. Just don't stay in one spot too long and you'll be fine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AZAZER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 99000 HP, 9000 MP Universe: 148500 HP, 13500 MP FD: 183150 HP, 16560 MP Special Attacks: Sniping (weak) Crystal Jail (weak) Elemental Defense: Fire (weak) Water (half) Earth (half) Counter Aura: Regeneration Suggested Character: Fate Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Blaze Sword (Long Strong) Blaze Sword Battle Collections: Defeat Azazer in 1 Minute, Defeat Azazer with No Damage Azazer is fast and can damage your MP pretty quickly. Conversely, his own MP is quite low. He's weak against Fire, so Fate's Blaze Sword, set to long and cancel combo'ed into itself, can make a huge damage source against him. To tag along, have Fate repeatedly using Might Hammer (another huge MP damage source that is fire-elemental), and for the third person have somebody with high MP who can heal, such as Maria, Nel, or (if you have her built up enough) Sophia. Beating Azazer in 1 Minute shouldn't be much of a problem. Once he gets low on HP, he begins to use Crystal Jail, which can freeze your opponents. Be prepared with Lavender or equip Freeze checks, as a character who is frozen will die instantly if hit again. Still, if you keep him surrounded he shouldn't have too many chances to attack. If you are going for the No Damage condition, you may want to end up controlling Sophia or Adlai instead and casting Explosion over and over while your two melee characters keep him busy. Don't forget to heal MP as well as HP and you'll be fine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BERIAL AND BELZEBER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (Belial) Galaxy: 70000 HP, 5000 MP Universe: 105000 HP, 7500 MP FD: 128100 HP, 9100 MP Special Attacks: Auto Aiming (weak) Fire Dance (weak) Elemental Defense: Water (half) Earth (half) Wind (weak) Counter Aura: Aiming (Belzeber) Galaxy: 62000 HP, 30000 MP Universe: 93000 HP, 45000 MP FD: 113460 HP, 58500 MP Special Attacks: Life Steal (special) Spirit Steal (special) Elemental Defense: Fire (half) Wind (half) Earth (weak) Counter Aura: Regeneration Suggested Character: Fate Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Lightning Bind (Long Strong) Lightning Bind (Magic) Rock Rain Battle Collections: Defeat Belial and Belzeber in 1 Minute, Defeat Belial and Belzeber with No Damage A tough duo boss. Belial hits very hard, his missiles home and do tremendous damage, and he has a tendency to use an invincible sidestep-like maneuver with aggravating frequency. Belzeber is weaker but faster, has much more MP, and can suck up your HP and MP when he gets low on health. Your first priority should be to take out Belial. The weak point of this pair is definitely his low MP total of 5000 on Galaxy, and he's weak against Wind. With this in mind, use Lightning Bind with Fate, and then go after him while your other characters (hopefully) keep Belzeber busy. He shouldn't last too long, but watch out for his sidestep. You can Protect most of his moves so you can try and dizzy him as well. Once he's gone it's time to turn your attention to Belzeber. Belzeber is weak against earth, so if Fate's high enough level to learn Rock Rain, you can just keep casting that, or you can try and get into the fray with your best battle skills. Belzeber is not as threatening damage-wise as Belial is, although his Life Steal and Spirit Steal are quite annoying, as well as his Regeneration counter aura. Just be prepared to keep piling on the damage and don't let him heal too much. With appropriate use of cancel combos, you should be able to take out the pair in a minute. Winning with No Damage requires a fairly different tactic. One is to control Sophia, and just cast Thunder Flare/Thunderstruck on Belial and Rock Rain on Belzeber from a safe distance. The problem is as usual Belial's homing missiles, and Sophia's relatively slow movement speed. It's doable, but risky. Another tactic is the trusty Nel/Kokuyousen tactic. Once Belial is gone, you should have a much safer time avoiding damage. One last note, getting your HP/MP sucked up by Belzeber's Life Steal or Spirit Steal does NOT count as taking damage for the battle collection, so as long as you don't receive any other kinds of damage you'll still earn it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONVICTOR ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 120000 HP, 10000 MP Universe: 180000 HP, 15000 MP FD: 223200 HP, 18500 MP Special Attacks: Aero Blast (weak) Lightning Horn (weak) Elemental Defense: Fire (null) Water (null) Wind (half) Earth (weak) Counter Aura: Regeneration Suggested Character: Arbel Suggested Skills: (Short Weak) Goumashou (Long Weak) Kouryuuha (Short Strong) Goumashou (Long Strong) Kouryuuha Battle Collections: Defeat Convictor in 1 Minute, Defeat Convictor with No Damage The Convictor is rather creepy, but other than his excellent elemental defense, he's quite easy. All of his attacks except for one are weak, and his strong attack is extremely easy to see coming and only hits in front of him. He also has rather low MP. Your tactic should simply be to run up to him and wait. If a weak attack comes, you will be able to counter aura it and dizzy him; if he happens to use his strong attack, you should have more than enough time to run behind him and use Goumashou or Kouryuuha to cause good damage. In the meantime your allies will be attacking him as well, and as long as you heal them (one melee and one long-distance healer is recommended) you should be able to take him out in no time. Although I've suggested Arbel, you can pretty much do this with anybody who can run fast and can deal good MP damage. Nel and Cliff come to mind; Fate would be ok, except for the fact that the Convictor nullifies fire and water and takes only half damage from wind, so his enchant skills will not be useful. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LESSER EYE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 230000 HP, 56000 MP Universe: 345000 HP, 84000 MP FD: 439300 HP, 116480 MP Special Attacks: Fire Circle (strong) Misery Circle (strong) Dark Circle (magic) Thunder Flare (magic) Elemental Defense: Fire (absorb) Water (absorb) Earth (absorb) Wind (absorb) Counter Aura: Ring Wave Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Kokuyousen (Long Strong) Kokuyousen (Support) Critical HP Battle Collections: None Quite an annoying opponent. He absorbs all elements, has a goodly amount of HP and MP (nearly twice that of the last boss), and often floats up into the air out of reach of your characters. The key is staying out of the way of all of his attacks, which are mostly radius attacks around him. The AI generally tends to make your characters run up and attack the enemy head-on, which is not a wise idea for this guy. Maria is an exception, so make sure you have her in your party and have her set with the strongest long-distance battle skills you have (Pulse Emission, perhaps). Your job as Nel is to shoot of Kokuyousens and cast Healing when necessary. For the third character, you could use Adlai. His Southern Cross is non-elemental, meaning he'll actually be able to cause some damage. However Southern Cross requires him to be a certain distance from the Inferior Eye. Also be warned that the Eye can cause all sorts of status effects - Paralysis, Petrify, and Frozen. Equipping a bunch of different Checks is impractical, so make sure you have a full complement of Basil/Sage/Lavender before coming into this fight. Thankfully there are no battle collections to get for the Lesser Eye. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DARK ARMOR ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 67000 HP, 6000 MP Universe: 100500 HP, 9000 MP FD: 122610 HP, 10980 MP Special Attacks: Hammerquake (weak) Elemental Defense: Fire (null) Counter Aura: Standard Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Kokuyousen (Long Strong) Kokuyousen Battle Collections: Defeat Dark Armor in 1 Minute, Defeat Dark Armor with No Damage Quite easy compared to the last boss. You'll find yourself matched up against 3 Dark Armors, but they're pretty wimpy with a low low MP total of 6000. They are also quite slow, and their only really threatening attack is their Hammerquake, which is a radius attack (but is weak). Once again, your strategy will be to use Nel's fast speed to separate herself from the Dark Armors, then send out cancel combo'ed Kokuyousens until they die... which should be very quickly. 1 Minute is no problem, and unless you get unlucky and eat a Hammerquake somewhere in there, you should be able to get No Damage as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CRYSTAL STATUE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 168000 HP, 10000 MP Universe: 252000 HP, 15000 MP FD: 315840 HP, 18500 MP Special Attacks: Tri-spike (weak) Elemental Defense: Fire (null) Water (null) Earth (null) Wind (null) Counter Aura: Standard Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Kokuyousen (Long Strong) Kokuyousen Battle Collections: Defeat Crystal Statue in 1 Minute, Defeat Crystal Statue with No Damage The Crystal Statue is an enhanced version of the Crystal Cerberus you fought a long time ago. He's not much different except for the fact that he's much faster. He still has low MP, but he still nullifies all elements. An interesting party to have at this point is Cliff and Mirage, both with Aerial Raid set to both short range attacks, and Nel with Kokuyousen. If Cliff and Mirage can keep the Crystal Statue relatively confined (don't bet on it), you'll be able to defeat him pretty quickly. The same tactics will work here (run away and take potshots); you just have to have faster reflexes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DARK EYE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 330000 HP, 56000 MP Universe: 495000 HP, 84000 MP FD: 646800 HP, 116480 MP Special Attacks: Fire Circle (strong) Misery Circle (strong) Dark Circle (magic) Thunder Flare (magic) Elemental Defense: Fire (absorb) Water (absorb) Earth (absorb) Wind (absorb) Counter Aura: Ring Wave Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Kokuyousen (Long Strong) Kokuyousen (Support) Critical HP Battle Collections: Defeat Dark Eye in 1 Minute, Defeat Dark Eye with No Damage Hope you didn't have any trouble with the Lesser Eye, because you're about to face his bigger, stronger brother. Actually, aside from buffed up HP (MP remains the same), this guy is no different from the Inferior Eye, and so the exact same tactics should work. The addition of Battle Collections to earn make this a little more challenging, and 1 minute can be a bit tight if you haven't dedicated some time to Item Creation yet (if you don't have Orihalcon-enhanced weapons yet, now would be a good time to start). Again, watch out for his status effects. Though annoying, make the long trek back to Sealand if you don't have enough Basil/Sage/Lavender. No Damage should be ok if you stick with a dedicated long-range fighter (Nel or Maria); just be cautious and try to stay behind the Eye, as he can send out his eyebeams pretty far forward. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHIMERA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 200000 HP, 28000 MP Universe: 300000 HP, 42000 MP FD: 380000 HP, 54320 MP Special Attacks: Pyro Blast (weak) Rush Extreme (weak) Protos (strong) Cao Upper (weak) Elemental Defense: Fire (half) Wind (half) Counter Aura: Standard Suggested Character: Nel Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Touga (Long Strong) Touga (Support) Critical HP Battle Collections: Defeat Chimera in 1 Minute, Defeat Chimera with No Damage This is the boss that many got stuck on in the original version of SO3; now, he's not as bad. One reason is the addition of Cancel Combos (for greatly increased damage); another is the simple fact that the DC version of the Chimera just has less HP and MP. Perhaps tri-Ace felt he was too hard as well. In any case, he's not too bad now, but he can still wipe out your party if you aren't careful enough. His flaming tail causes damage to you even if you touch it, so close-range fighters will have to watch out; sneaking up behind him is generally not possible. His tail can also cause Paralysis, so if you do have a close-range fighter, try putting a Paralyze Check on him or her. Touga causes great damage, is fast, and can be done from quite far away; thus it will be quite useful in this battle. Cancel Combo'ed, it should do enough to let you take out the Chimera within 1 Minute, although your allies might bite the dust in the meantime. No Damage should also not be an issue, since you should be fast enough to run away from anything the Chimera has coming. You can always equip Bunny Shoes to improve your chances. If you face the Chimera alone (such as in the Gemity Arena), there is a simpler way to defeat him; set Nel's Aerial on both shorts, and then just stand still. The Chimera's strong attack is easily avoidable if you see it coming, and most everything else (such as his tail) counts as a weak attack. Thus, by simply repeating Counter Aura (standard) -> Aerial, you should be able to finish him off. You might get hit a few times, but you should be able to survive. If not, use a move with less recovery time, such as Touga or Kokuyousen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ STONE GOLEM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 300000 HP, 20000 MP Universe: 450000 HP, 30000 MP FD: 585000 HP, 38000 MP Special Attacks: Magna Blow (weak) Magna Kick (strong) Elemental Defense: Fire (null) Water (null) Earth (null) Wind (null) Counter Aura: Aiming Suggested Character: Maria Suggested Skills: (Long Weak) Aiming Device (Long Strong) Aiming Device (Support) Critical MP Battle Collections: Defeat Stone Golem in 1 Minute, Defeat Stone Golem with No Damage The Stone Golem is big. Very big. You'll want to stay far away from it and snipe at its MP - hence Maria and Aiming Device. The Stone Golem nullifies all attacks, so unfortunately Cliff/Mirage's Might Hammer or Fate's enchant skills will be of little use here. As backup, Nel with Kokuyousen and Arbel with Goumashou or Kouryuuha are good choices (if you use Arbel, keep a close watch on his HP, since he has to get close to the enemy to cause damage). He's slow, so you shouldn't have any problems running away with Maria, and consequently No Damage shouldn't be much of a problem. You'll almost certainly need enhanced weapons (most like with Orihalcon) to beat him in 1 Minute, but with 2 or 3 of them he'll go down in no time at all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AMOEBA GIANT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 220000 HP, 25000 MP Universe: 330000 HP, 37500 MP FD: 420200 HP, 48000 MP Special Attacks: Mud Punch (strong) Mud Splash (weak) Poison Punch (strong) Healing (magic) Elemental Defense: Earth (absorb) Wind (weak) Counter Aura: Wide Aiming Suggested Character: Sophia/Adlai Suggested Skills: (Strong Long or Magic) Thunderstruck (Magic) Fairy Light (Support) Quick Charge Battle Collections: None The Amoeba Giant is actually a better version of the Mudman you fought a long time ago. He comes with the much more threatening Wide Aiming Counter Aura, so keep your melee fighters down to one. (Fate, with Lightning Bind, is a good choice). With Wind as his weak point, you'll almost definitely also want to include Nel, with her plethora of wind-elemental skills such as Fuujin, Raikoua, Thunder Flare, and (if you're high enough level) Thunderstruck. As Sophia or Adlai, stay to the perimeter of the battlefield and cast Fairy Light and/or Healing as necessary. If you have time, send off a Thunderstruck in the Amoeba Giant's general direction. There are no battle collections for this boss, so don't worry about defeating him quickly, although if Nel/Fate have Orihalcon-enhanced weapons, and if Sophia/Adlai have Dark Crystal- enhanced ones (for INT+1000), you'll be in good shape. Keep in mind that setting a spell to a strong battle skill will cause the skill to do 30% more damage than it would if you had cast it from the Heraldry menu, so if you have the spare CP, by all means set it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AURORA GANASH ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Galaxy: 285000 HP, 212025 MP Universe: 577500 HP, 318038 MP FD: 552900 HP, 606392 MP Special Attacks: Current Horn (weak) Lightning Blade (weak) Bind Lash (weak) Paralyze Lash (strong) Elemental Defense: Earth (weak) Wind (absorb) Counter Aura: Wide Aiming Suggested Character: Adlai Suggested Skills: (Strong Long or Magic) Rock Rain (Strong Long) Titan Fist (Magic) Fairy Light (Support) Quick Charge Battle Collections: None You should have seen this type of monster before, so his attack patterns should be familiar to you. Fundamentally, he's not much different from the Amoeba Giant - specializes in short-range combat, has the dangerous Wide Aiming counter aura, and so on. One major difference is his elemental weakness, which has now been shifted to Earth. Another is his considerably high MP, meaning you'll want to take him out via pure HP damage. For those reasons, you'll probably want to take Fate out. If you have Roger, you can stick him in, as his Stream Attack is about the only melee Earth-elemental skill in the game, though any strong fighter (Cliff/Mirage perhaps, or Nel with Kyoumensatsu, or Arbel) will do. Once again with Adlai your job is to stay away from the enemy and cast Fairy Light, and if you have time, Rock Rain. Adlai is suggested slightly over Sophia here because he also has the earth-elemental long-range skill Titan Fist, which can help a little. However, feel free to use Sophia if she's more buffed up than Adlai. There are no Battle Collections to worry about, so as long as you are meticulous about Healing you shouldn't have any problems. Occasionally Aurora Ganash can paralyze you, but that shouldn't be an issue with Cure Condition in your repertoire. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SPIRIT TRIO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BATTLECOPTER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PSEUDO BLAIR ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LUTHER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SCULPTERE LORD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BIGFOOT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SUCCUBUS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BASILISK KING ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EARTH DRAGON ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SHUBRINGER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ARLIE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MIGHTY VOX ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SOOTIES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ GABRIEL CELESTE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NEL AND ZORTO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ALBEL AND ROMERO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ROGER AND FABNIR ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SOUFFLE AND HODGE-PODGE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FATE AND ??? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NORTON REDUX ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ENRAGED CROSELL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SHADOW DRAGON ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ VENGEFUL SHELBY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FRENZIED BIWIG ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ GREEN MOJARA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ARCHDEMON ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ANGERED AZAZER AND FURIOUS BELZEBER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FURIOUS BELIAL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SUPER BLAIR ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LENNETH ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ETHEREAL QUEEN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FREYA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. CREDITS Thanks go to: tri-Ace and Enix for the best RPG I have ever played. This FAQ Copyright 2004 to Edward Chang. Redistribution in any form, including reprinting in electronic or print media, without express permission of the author is strictly forbidden.