*************************************** *****Summoner 2 Strategy FAQ by WZ***** *************************************** OK this is not a walkthrough neither a list of side quests, as some are already available ( for the 0,01% of you who don't know about http://www.gamefaqs.com, well, now you do ). The purpose of this FAQ is rather to "fill in the gaps", correct a few mistakes, and is very much focused on how to build the "ultimate" team. All the information included here has been verified by myself unless specifically marked *NV* for Not Verified. There is a lot of ranting about each character, which skills are best for him/her and why, and what equipment it should ideally have at the end of the game. For those of you who will get addicted to the Arena like me, I will make a section about it. I will also include various tips which I think may prove helpful. Credit must be given to Upright8infinity and BlackKnightVirgil for their FAQs, and to my beloved Spyro for finding out a few things I did not :) Note : This FAQ isn’t complete yet, but it may be one day, as I've become addicted to this beautiful game yet again, Gamecube version this time. ************************ ***** About the AI ***** ************************ If you intend to build a strong team, you have to take the AI into account. Your computer-controlled friends will not behave exactly like you wish them to, so get used to switching characters quickly to cast a specific spell or use a specific skill. Giving your characters skills that the AI will be able to use effectively is always a good thing. - Characters using the Melee script will not cast any spells nor use any skill. They will use normal attacks & "special moves" ( from skills like Halassar Combat & Assassination, those moves require a button combination to use manually ). - Characters using the Healer script will behave just like those using Melee, but if a character needs healing they will use Heal, Cure or Vitalize depending on the situation. They tend to stupidly keep Healing a poisoned character instead of Curing him first, so Cure manually if needed. They will never cast Revive or Resurrect, or Power of Healing, unfortunately. - Characters using the Caster AI will cast basic attack spells ( Fire Arrow, Icicle, Energy Bolt, Dart ) & status-effect spells ( Sleep, Freeze, Ice Coffin, Poison, Curse, Omen ). They will cast power up spells ( Haste, Empower ) on any character using the Melee script. Be aware that unlike in the first Summoner, they will not necessarily use the most appropriate element. Indeed, sometimes they will cast Fire Arrow on a enemy with 200% Fire Resistance or Faithed status... An exception to this is the Destroy Undead spell ( probably because it cannot be cast on the non-undead, even manually ). They will never use any other spell than those listed above, so if you want to cast Dispel or Explosion or anything else, do it manually. - Healer/Caster is a Caster who will cast healing spells in the same way a Healer would do. Healing is usually prioritary, but sometimes they seem to forget about it. - Don't ask me about the Support script. I used it once and the character kept running from enemy to enemy instead of finishing them off before going to the next one... - None of the AI scripts will let your characters use non-magic skills automatically. Anything under Summon, Poison, Stealth or Warrior must be used manually. ************************** ***** The Characters ***** ************************** Maia : ------ Unsurprinsigly, she is the best character, and this is all due to the Summon skill. Her various summons can handle any situation during the normal course of the game. And in the end, combine the 13th Summon with the Summoner Mastery ring, and you have an all-around killing machine. Aside from her Summoning ability, she can deal *loads* of damage with Fire Spells thanks to her Discipline-Fire skill. Be aware that the stats of her Summons do not depend on her stats, so don't waste any Stat bonuses on her! Well, you *might* want to boost her Intelligence & her Magic Power, but don't forget your other spellcasters : *they* can't summon anything. However the *Skills* of her Summons depend on hers, so go ahead and give her the Skill bonuses. - Summon : This is whats makes Maia so powerful. When she transforms into a Summon, all of Maia's stats & skills are modified, depending on what Summon she transforms in & what skills she possess herself. Remember that her Summon form's stats depend only on the type & level of the Summon, and not on Maia's own stats. The various Summons in the game enable her to have access to almost any skill or spell, and enable her to handle any situation. Needless to say, this skill should be maxed out. - Sword Weapons : Maia can become a powerful fighter through Summoning if need be, and thus combat skills are not really interesting for her. It can get tiresome to Summon every 2 minutes though, so giving Maia a little edge in melee combat can be interesting. However the best weapons in the game for her are all maces, and many of the enemies she will have to fight on her own are resistant to slashing damage. Even if you want to make Maia more of a fighter than a mage, this skill should not be your priority. In the end, you can still forge her a good sword. - Warrior : If your Maia is the fighting type, you should consider boosting this to 10 once she's got her Weapon & Parry skill at max, as Offensive Stance is really quite powerful. If you use her more as a mage, boosting this to 5 and leaving her in Defensive Stance can also be interesting. - Halassar Combat : Maia's special moves skill. You get +1 in this by wearing the Prophet Boots, giving you access to the simple & efficient Kick. The only other really interesting move after that is Whirlwind, but it requires a skill of 9! If you think you can afford 8 skill points just for this, go ahead, but I'd put them elsewhere if were you. - Blunt Weapons : If you want to use Maia as a melee fighter without Summoning, this skill is the way to go. The best weapons for Maia are all maces. Additionally, none of the enemies you will have to fight with her alone are resitant to blunt damage. Remember that Maia doesn't *need* to be a good fighter. - Nimble Attack : This is interesting only if your Maia is already a powerful fighter. It will let the AI attack more effectively with her ( more combos and speed increased a bit ). You can perfectly go without it. - Parry : This is a very interesting skill for melee characters, as it will let the AI block much more effectively with them. It should be one of your priorities if your Maia is the fighting type. - Discipline-Fire : Let's get serious. This skill is awesome. It will power up all of Maia's Fire spells, enabling her to deal tremendous amounts of damage with Fire Arrow & Explosion. Additonally it makes her immune to a few status effects & boosts her Fire Resitance. If you want to use Maia as a mage, don't hesitate : max this out to 10. - Circle-Fire : While one point ( Fire Arrow ) suffices to get you through the game, boosting this skill is still very interesting as it is linked to some of the most interesting skills on Maia's summons ( Heal for the Blood Summon, Stealth for the Sand Summon, etc ). If your Maia has got 7 in this skill when entering the Tower of the Ancient Ones, you will be able to stock up big time on level 5 orange gems with the Sand Summon! At level 10, the Explosion spell is the most powerful attack in the whole game. - Concentration : This skill is an absolute must for spellcasters, so if your Maia is the mage type, go ahead and boost it. However, before rushing it to 10, note that later on, in the Tome of the Nhuvasarim, you can get two sets of +2 permanent bonuses in this skill. If you plan to give them to Maia, boost this skill only to 6 for now. - Necromancy : An extremely interesting set of spells, containing the very useful Heal, Death Ward, Destroy Undead and Resurrect. You can access all four of those with 7 in this skill. A rating of 8 will give you the Death spell, which can be useful if you have very high Magic Power, while 10 gives you the not-so-powerful Death Pact spell. Boost this to 7 at least, and to 8 or 10 if you wish. The Anima Cuirass will eventually give you +1. Sangaril : ---------- Those who liked Flece in the first Summoner will love this character. Her Backstab attack can deal loads of damage if the enemy is caught flat-footed ( surprised / paralyzed / etc ), and ( unlike Flece who had to switch to a Short Sword or Dagger ) she can backstab when dual-wielding a pair of katanas. Her Stealth skill is also superior. But Sangaril is more than an improved Flece, her Poison skill can prove useful ( especially if you enhance the poisons with the sidequests ) and her Discipline-Cold skill is a must for those who want to level up in the Arena. The finishing touch : with Assassination at max she can Paralyze enemies all by herself. - Stealth : This skill should be your top priority, as it enables you to steal from enemies, pick locks, and of course hide & sneak so that you can backstab efficiently. At level 10, the awesome Sunken State ability makes Sangaril virtually undetectable. - Sword Weapons : This should be your second priority, enabling Sangaril to deal lots of damage with her daggers & katanas. Combine to Backstab and enjoy. - Assassination : Boosting this to 2 is the very first thing you should do with Sangaril in this game, as it gives you access to the awesome Backstab attack. After that, the only really interesting move is Paralyze, which requires a skill rating of 10, but it can wait. - Parry : Sangaril is definitely the Melee type, and she hasn't got that much life, so being able to block efficiently is very important to her. You should bost this skill quite early, I usually make it my 3rd priority. - Nimble Attack : Same as for Maia, it is interesting if your Sangaril is already a good fighter, but you can live without it. Keep it for the end. - Bow Weapons : This you will have to use at some points in the game, but you don't really need to boost it. You get a +2 permanent bonus with a sidequest which will prove sufficient. - Poison : An interesting set of skills, you should boost it to 3 after your first visit to Hopiris as the enhanced Snake Poison is really useful. Later on, once your Sangaril is experienced, boost it to 10 to enjoy Deadly Venom. The enhanced one is even better, if you can be bothered hunting for Deceivers in Vandal's Ruins. Asphixia is interesting against spellcasters. - Discipline-Cold : One of Sangaril's best skills, it makes her immune to the most annoying status effects ( Slow, Sleep, Freeze, Ice Coffin ). A must if you intend to level-up in the Arena. Also boosts her Cold resistance. Improves the stats of Cold weapons but there's almost none in the game... Taurgis : --------- There has to be a grunt in every action-rpg game, and here he is. Taurgis isn't very smart but he is quite funny. An interesting character to have in your team if you want some refreshing humor in the storyline. He is a good fighter for most of the game ( you can get the pretty good Nammu Claymore quite early ), but don't expect him to perform very well near the end when serious damage is needed. Taurgis is tipically best used as a lure to distract enemies while your spellcasters pound them. - Warrior : You'll have to use these skills manually. Mostly interesting for the Defensive & Offensive stances, helping you make Taurgis a better tank, or a stronger grunt, depending on what you need. These stances don't have to be used manually on a regular basis, in fact you need only select them once and he will stick with them for the whole game! I'd recommend you get 10 in this, although it is not the highest priority. - Axe Weapons : You guessed it, Taurgis is the Melee type. The question being which type of weapons should you choose to specialize him in. The best weapon for him in the whole game is a Hammer, so Blunt is a must. You do get enough points to pick another weapon type if you want though, and to be honest Blunt sucks until you get that Hammer. So if you want, you can pick this as your first weapon type. It is fairly good as it includes both Axes & Halberds, thus giving you a choice between Slashing damage & Piercing damage. The Nammu Battleaxe is good early on, and later on the Haradi one is rather impressive too. - Parry : I'll stun you by saying that, Taurgis being a fighter, this ability is quite important to him. Seriously. Boost this to 10 from the start. - Galdyr Combat : Taurgis's special moves. The AI will use them if he knows them. Most of them completely suck. The only good one requires a skill of 10, which is a bit expensive if you ask me, especially considering that the AI will waste all your AP by using pointless moves all the time. - Sword Weapons : Choose wisely. Axes or Swords? Don't start boosting both, they're both Slashing damage anyway, plus the best weapon for Taurgis is a Hammer. But it can be a good choice to start with. The Nammu Claymore is excellent in the early game, and the Khandas give Taurgis so much HP he will be the perfect tank. You may prefer Axes for the option of picking a Halberd. - Nimble Attack : Again, not useless, not important either. Boost it last. - Blunt Weapons : The best weapon in the late game for Taurgis is a Hammer. Hence, picking this is a good idea. Taurgis gets enough points for you to be able to choose two types if you really want to, but if you really don't want to waste any single point, then choose this from the start and stick with it. - Discipline-Fire : Will make Taurgis resistant to Fire, and immune to some status effects. It should be maxed out, I tend to do it early, but in truth there is no hurry. When you get the Haradi Battleaxe, enjoy 200 Strength. Krobelus : ---------- Those guys at Volition have a dark sense of humor... Krobelus is easily one of the best characters, but let me warn you : you don't keep him. Don't waste time levelling him up, because he leaves your team about half-way through the game and never comes back. A shame really, as that guy is the best healer in the game, combining Heal, Holy & Concentration, coupled with a good offensive spellcaster with Energy & Cold spells. OK, no Discipline skills to boost the potency of his offensive magic, but now you're being fussy. I will not detail his progression, this guy is too frustrating, it makes me angry. - Important Note : I just figured out that levelling up Krobelus is in fact NOT a waste of time. Yago joins you just Krobelus leaves, and if you pay attention, you will notice that he starts with exactly the same level & skills as Krobelus had, only replacing Holy with Fire. It's still a bad deal, but at least your efforts will not have been in vain. I still won't bother going into detail though. Refer to Yago's section. Be careful not to put tons of skill points into Holy if you don't want them in Fire with the old crip. Neru : ------ This character is your typical "monk" type, combining bare-fists fighting & healing spells, but unfortunately he isn't very good at either of them. However he is the only character aside from Krobelus & some of Maia's summons who has access to Holy spells, and some of those are truly awesome, especially Curse & Prayer. His Magic Power is too low to really use Curse efficiently, but Prayer is a must against strong Magic users. Be aware that he does not have Concentration, so you will often have to control him manually and get him out of the enemy's way before he can cast anything. Still, he makes a reasonably good lure, and one who knows healing & defensive spells at that. - Hand to Hand : Well, if you want Neru to be able to do more than tickle the enemies in combat, you'd better boost this, hadn't you? 10 points coming up. - Parry : Another no-brainer. Boost to 10 if you want Neru to survive. - Martial Arts : Ah, a Special Moves skill. You may have guessed by now I'm not too keen on them. This one is no exception, the only interesting move is Whirlwind, and Neru's looks so stupid I will never stoop to using it. Who is responsible for this? Hang him. That's right : Neru attacks *with his hair*. Well, actually there is another good move, Leg Sweep, but it requires a whole 1 point in the skill... Yup, you start with it. Just forget this skill. - Steelskin : Boosts Defense. Yet another no-brainer. This is NOT a priority though, you have quite a few other skills to boost, so you are better off waiting until high levels for this. Very high levels. - Heal : An invaluable set of spells. Cure will take care of these annoying status effects, Vitalize will keep your party alive. A skill of 5 will give you access to all the must-haves. One more point will give you Revive, which can be a good idea. A skill of 8 would give you Power of healing, which the AI will unfortunately never use, but is quite good for the late game. 10 for Complete Heal is worthless imho, as Power of Healing heals tons of HP anyway. - Discipline-Fists : Neru's attacks are practially all kicks, so why is his discipline called fists, don't ask me. It is a good skill though, that will help Neru not only hit harder, but also block & dodge attacks better. I tend to boost it to 10 after I have done Heal, Parry, Holy & Hand to Hand. - Warrior : Just like for Taurgis, I would recommend a skill of 5 in this at least, for Defensive Stance, but it is not very urgent, and you have quite a few other skills to boost first. 10 for the Offensive Stance can also be good, but obviously the same thinking applies. Be patient. - Holy : This set of spells is not even funny. It is monstrous. You've GOT to boost this to 8 as early as you can. Prayer is the ultimate defensive spells when it comes to protecting your party from the enemy's magic. A shame that there is no mass Protect spell. Can't have everything I guess. Curse is also a potent spell that will lower the enemy's physical *and* magical resistances. A 10 in this will grant you acess to Holy Shield, which lowers any damage taken by one character. Cast on Neru and tank with him. - Willpower : Raises your magic resistance. While it certainly is interesting, it certainly isn't the biggest priority either. Don't go shoving tons of skill points in it, Neru has many more important skills. Iari : ------ This robotic character is quite strong & extremely adaptable. She makes a good ranged attacker with her Beam attack, and her Energy spells give her an interesting alternative way to pound the enemy if necessary. She doesn't have Concentration, but if you keep her out of the enemy's way she will do a reasonably good job as a spellcaster. Her real strength however, lies in her ability to equip gems. High-level gems give truly radical changes to her stats, so you can give her tons of HP, AP, Speed, or whatever else it is you want. Once you have the Supreme Arm she can equip 2 Gems, and you can make her insanely powerful. - Energy Weapons : Why, don't you know, you should max this out! Honestly! - Golem : I recommend 4 points in this. Beam is an unblockable and rather powerful attack, while Scan is invaluable. Know your enemy. I was not impressed by any of the skills available with a higher skill level. - Aimed Attack : Iari's Special Moves. Again, they're not really any good. Forget it. To cause big damage with Iari, just manually use Beam. - Discipline-Power Sources : Well, this is a must-have if you're going to equip any high level gems, and believe me, you will want to. In truth, 5 is sufficient to get you through the game, you can steal & find quite a few lvl 5 gems of many different types. You can only find one gem of a higher level, a lvl 10 Red one is the Tome of the Nhuvasarim, so it's up to you. Remember you *can* spend time devouring souls with Morbazan to craft lvl 10 gems for Iari, and it *will* make her insanely powerful. - Parry : Can be good for Iari, while she is a Ranged character, she is still mostly a fighter, and thus can block effectively if need be. I tend to max it out fairly early. I guess you can go without it. Ultimately up to you. - Discipline-Energy : This will make Iari's attacks more powerful. Need I say you should max this out? Well, I say so. Enjoy a powered-up Beam. - Energy : A good set of spells, Energy Bolt gives Iari an alternative means of attack ( keep her out of the enemy's reach ), and Haste & Empower are interesting boosts. No Concentration means you will probably not use her on Caster AI though, so you'd have to use them manually, which is hassle. 1 is enough, 10 is better, Iari only has 7 skills anyway, so do what you want. Morbazan : ---------- You'd expect this muscle mountain to crush skulls with his hammer, but he is more subtle than he looks, and he his an extremely powerful spellcaster. His Discipline-Blood skill works marvel at augmenting the power of his spells. His Soul Consumption abilities are useful if you want to create Gems. I tried boosting him with most of the stat bonuses and I ended up with an unkillable monster able to deal insane amounts of damage with a mere Icicle or Energy Bolt. His Necromancy spells also worked fine, and he could insta-kill most enemies with Death or Destroy Undead. His little flaws : Discipline-Blood does not power up his standard Cold spells, and he has no means of dealing Fire damage. - Blunt Weapons : While Morby looks rather impressive and the idea of getting hit by that hammer is not a pleasant one, you should stay away from making him a fighter. His attacks are so slow you'll never hit anything, and his combo sucks. Just forget it. Magic is the way to go with him. - Steelskin : Improves Defense. Need I say more? Max out. Oy, wait for it. Morbazan has got *MANY* skills a lot more urgent than this. Read the rest. - Soul Consumption : An interesting set of spells, Vitalize and Urath's Prayer being among my favorite. You'll have to consume your enemies' souls to stock up on these. Soul Consume usually works whenever an enemy is down to 1/3 of their HP. Late in the game, you'll get a Hammer enabling Morbazan to Consume the soul of any enemy he finishes off, which will make it a lot less hassle. Also useful to create Gems, for Iari or for weapon crafting. You will need 10 points in this, but it's not urgent. Get other the spell sets first. - Twilight Combat : And another set of Special Moves. And another to avoid. Given that Morby is useless as a fighter, this isn't really any good. - Pain : While this is Morby's main means of dealing big damage, it isn't really that interesting to boost this above 4. With 4 you have Dart, Icicle & Energy Bolt. Basic damage dealing magical attacks, 3 different elements to pick from. None the other Pain spells are truly impressive. Well, Glyph is not bad ( requires 7 ), the explosion is rather big, so you can kill off a big group of enemies in one go, but the recovery time is too long to make it really good. And Iron Maiden ( requires 9 ) inflicts tons of statuses on the enemy, which isn't bad, but don't you prefer just killing it? - Discipline-Blood : Now THIS is what I call a skill. Awesomeness incarnate. Your Pain & Necromancy spells are going to wreak so much havoc with this that the only thing you need to ask yourself is : do I want an overpowered monster in my team? The answer is obviously Yes, so max this out and be done with it. - Necromancy : Again, a priority, boost to 7 at least. 8 for the Death spell can be interesting thanks to Morby's Discipline skill. A death spell that actually works! Pick Neru and try the Curse / Death combo while you're at it. - Concentration : Didn't you listen? I repeat : this is a must for any spellcaster. What are you waiting for? Remember : two sets of +2 await in the Tome of the Nhuvasarim. I'd recommend them for Maia, but it's your call. - Cold : OK, don't get me wrong, this is a good set of spells. However they do not work in conjunction with Morby's awesome Discipline skill, so he's not not AS good with them as he is with Pain or Necromancy spells. What I find especially frustrating is that the AI seems to like using the Cold version of Icicle instead of the Pain one, meaning it is NOT powered up. However, this spell school is still good. Freeze anyone? Try combining with Backstab. It can also help you Steal. Boost to 7 if you want Freeze, forget it otherwise. - Parry : I dare hope you know what it does by now. Not the most important skill for Morby. As he will be casting continuously, he will not get that many chances to Parry either. One of the last skills you should worry about. Yago : ------ Old Yago from the first Summoner has decided that he'd give a hand with the fighting this time. Take Krobelus, replace Holy with Fire, and you have Yago. Hmm I'm not so sure that was a good deal... His spells won't be as powerful as Maia's or Morbazan's as he has no Discipline skill, but nevertheless he makes a potent spellcaster, and he is the only one who has access to all 3 types of elemental damage. His main default is that he looks like a *complete idiot* and a *total crip*. I know he's old but if he's able to run, fight and cast spells he should at least be able to stand & dress properly. You won't believe how stupid he looks once you equip him with armor... Be ready for a laugh. A shame, as he is actually quite good in combat. - Staff Weapons : Really, does it look like Yago has the makings of a fighter? I mean, honestly, he might have well wield a fork or something. Forget it. Ah well, try if you want, just don't blame me afterwards. Who knows, he might be real good. I didn't try, to be honest. I just can't picture it. He doesn't even have the Parry skill... Who's feeling Kamikaze? - Willpower : Boosts Magic Defense. Yup, it is good, nope, it is not urgent. Make sure you have everything else you want before boosting this. - Elemental Combat : Yago's Special Moves. If you are making him a fighter, you can try it. Why would you want to, I have no idea, but it's up to you. - Heal : Refer to Neru's section. A minimum a 5 in this skill is needed, 6 for Revive is a good idea, 8 for Power of Healing is even better. - Circle-Fire : It's very simple, a skill of 1 gives you the Fire Arrow you need, but a skill of 10 gives you Explosion. Boost when you can afford it. - Circle-Cold : Again, it's simple, Icicle is all you need, but a skill of 7 for Freeze is a very good idea. Very, very good. Boost it asap. - Circle-Energy : I'd go all the way up to 10 on that one. Yago will use Haste & Empower on your fighters. It even works on the Creature when it teams with you at Miridan's Pass! Just for that, it's worth it. - Concentration : You should know by now. Max this out asap. ************************* ***** Quest Bonuses ***** ************************* Complete list of permanent stat bonuses, to help you plan your team's progression. Remember, the maximum you can get in a stat, INCLUDING any equipment bonuses, is 200. So don't go wasting bonuses on someone who's can get 200 in the stat through equipment! Example : Taurgis & Strength. You also cannot go above 10 in a skill through knowledge ( that can only be done through equipment ), so be careful who you give the Concentration bonuses to. Maia is a good choice. Teomura's Wyrms : ----------------- - Wyrm of Wisdom : Choose Power for +20 AP or Choose Insight for +5 Intelligence ( more than 20 AP... ) - Wyrm of Vigilance : Choose Swords for +5 Defense or Choose Spells for +5 Magc Defense - Wyrm of Luck : +1 Skill Point - Wyrm of Songs & Vengeance : crap equipment Munari City Shrines : --------------------- - God of Walls ( forgot the name ) : +20 Defense - Amasido : +20 Stamina - Ifano : +20 Magic Power - Sekkaf : +20 Magic Defense - Libuhle ( or something like that ) : + 40 Fire Resistance - Ilgerd : +40 Cold Resistance Munari City Laboratory : ------------------------ - Stabilizer : nothing - Buoyancy : +10 AP - Wave Study : +10 HP - Condenser : +1 Skill - Moto Perpetua : + 5 Energy Resistance Elixirs : --------- - Each one, if the plant was boosted with fertilizer, will give +30 in its respective stat. There are 5 different Elixirs : Strength, Defense, Speed, Magic Power, Magic Defense. Enjoy. Magic Circles : --------------- I'm such an idiot I forgot to write them down... I remember three bonuses out of the five though I can't say which circle does which. Save / Reload. - + about 10% in HP and AP - +2 in Concentration - 25 000 xp ( that one I remember, is Magic Circle 5 ) Tome of the Nhuvasarim : ------------------------ The cursed colored circles on the ground give permanent bonuses if you are equipped with the corresponding amulet. Be careful who you bring to the tome frist time through, so as not to waste them. - Blue Circle : About +100% AP!!! Fantastic. Morbazan a very good choice! - Yellow Circle : +2 Concentration - Red Circle : Can't remember... Sorry... Gladiators from the Arena : --------------------------- - Aeron : + 2 Cold - Varaleth : +2 Sword Weapons - Marlak : +2 Bow Weapons ********************* ***** The Arena ***** ********************* The mode to go for is Survival. Waves keep getting stronger, and eventually you will end up fighting enemies stronger than anything else in the game. The xp gains will follow, eventually some enemies can give you 100 000 xp per head or more! Of course it won't be a walk in the park. You'll have to be patient as it takes ages to reach high level waves, and you cannot save while in there. But if you want realy high level characters, this is your only option. A sitting of more than 5 hours in there without defeat can mean characters above level 25. You'll have to hone your skills to get there. To survive a long time in the arena, one must be immune to Ice Coffin and all these nasty cold status effects. Sangaril will be through skill, the others will have to equip a Time Ward. You can only find one in the game : in the Adytum of the Unseen. You cannot buy it anywhere. BUT you can steal however many you want from a specific enemy, and that is the robot that casts Ice Shield on itself, in the same Adytum ( part 2 ). Steal one, leave the area, come back and steal another, however many times you like. Note that when you get your hands on the level 3 Rune Stone when you visit the Adytum in the late game, 3 of these enemies will spawn at once, so you can use that opportunity to get 3 with a bit less hassle ( have 2 of your characters killed off so that they don't killl the enemies before you get a chance to steal from them). Focus Rings are also a good idea. Only one place where you can get them : Tower of the Ancient Ones, meaning you'll only get one chance at grabbing them. Cannot be stolen, you'll have to be lucky, Purple robots drop them at random. Use Save / Reload and just be lucky. You'll need a couple at least, 4 is better if you can manage it. After that, it's a question of staying alive, and killing off the strong, most xp gaining enemies in your path. Use Prayer to keep everyone Faithed permanently, with Neru or one of Maia's summons. Use Defensive Stance on those who have it, to help them stay alive while tanking, and make sure you've got all the best equipment you could find. Use your most powerful spells, have a couple of Focus Rings on each spellcaster, and pray. Eventually enemies will have so much HP that only Death & Destroy Undead will work. Morbazan is at his best here if you have boosted his Magic Power. If you gave him the quest bonuses for resistances, he'll be *very* hard to kill, and he can Resurrect whoever dies. He *is* the god of the Arena, if you boosted him well. The 13th Summon is also impressive. Try Cursing the enemies if you can manage it. Good luck! *************************** ***** The Petitioners ***** *************************** Petitioners 1 - Admiral Zoradin : Gives you Golden Censer and asks for you to lend money for an expedition. - Lend Nothing ------> Nothing - Lend 300 Gold -----> Golden Chalice ( sells for 10000 Gold ) - Lend 500 Gold -----> 5 800 Gold + Leviathan Cuirass ( Best Choice ) - Lend 700 Gold -----> Golden Idol ( sells for 50000 Gold ) Petitioners 2 - The Statue of Alomdir : The citizens of Alomdir wants to build a statue of Maia. - Statue of the Warrior Queen : - Send an Army : - Pay 10 Gold ---------------> 10 Exp - Pay 100 Gold --------------> 80 Exp - Pay 1000 Gold -------------> 600 Exp - Send the Mage's Guild -------> Alomdir Necklace + Ibarnibi's Fire Ring ( Best Choice ) - Arrest the Magician ---------> 100 Exp + Worship Song ( -> Stamina Amulet ) - Statue of the Child of Prophecy : - Send an Army ----------------> Dancing Song ( -> Nimble Ring ) - Send the Mage's Guild -------> Ibarnibi's Ice Ring - Arrest the Magician : - Absolutely Not ------------> ??? - Deal with It --------------> Song of Thanks ( -> don't remember what you get from it, but it's no good ) Petitioners 3 - The Lord of Haradi : A citizen from Haradi reports that there is serious trouble there. - Summon Lord : - Send Inquisitor ----------> Haradi Crossbow + Katana + Battle Axe ( Best Choice ) - Throw in the Dungeon -----> Bejeweled Goblet ( sells for 5000 Gold ) - Arrest Lord : - Offer Reward : - Pay 10 Gold ------------> 10 Exp + Bacite Tail ( sells for 100000 Gold ) - Pay 100 Gold -----------> 80 Exp + Bacite Tail ( sells for 100000 Gold ) - Pay 1000 Gold ----------> 600 Exp + Bacite Tail ( sells for 100000 Gold ) - Send Emissary ------------> Bacite Shaman Staff ( not as good as the Staff of Faith ) Petitioners 4 - The Duke of Nammu : The Duke of Nammu is dead, his family wishes to bury him in the Imperial Sepulchre. - Grant Request ----------------> Nammu Claymore ( Best choice 1 ) - Deny Request : - Hold her for Ransom --------> 2500 Gold - Let her Bury him -----------> Nammu Battleaxe ( Best Choice 2 ) - If Tribute is Paid : - Send Armies ----------------> Githiran's Necklace - Send Thief : - Pay 10 Gold --------------> 10 Exp - Pay 100 Gold -------------> 80 Exp - Pay 1000 Gold ------------> 600 Exp + Githiran's Ring + Nammu Scepter ******************* Copyright 2003 WZ ******************* *** This FAQ is to be posted on www.gamefaqs.com ONLY ***