Illusion of Gaia In-Depth: Maximum Stats Guide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Author: Zack Averyt >> Version: 1.01 >> Updated: October 6, 2013 >> Contact: thestuffgamer1@gmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- / -Table of Contents- / 1. Copyright 2. Version History 3. Introduction 4. Overview 5. Main Guide 6. Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- / -1. Copyright- / This document is currently authorized for display on GameFAQs.com and neoseeker.com. Copyright belongs to Zachary Averyt. If you wish to post it on another site, please contact me at thestuffgamer1@gmail.com for permission. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- / -2. Version History- / 1.01 >> Updated copyright and fixed a typo. 1.00 >> Original FAQ completed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- / -3. Introduction- / This guide is designed to be the one-stop source of information for maxing out your stats in Illusion of Gaia without having to wade through a full walkthrough. It was born of a recent playthrough of the game wherein I followed the maps and Red Jewel guides on GameFAQs but wound up missing a couple of well-hidden upgrades in towns. I also noticed that some guides disagree on what the maximum stats actually ARE (presumably because some of the enhancers are so well hidden), so my goal is to make an easy-to-use guide to ensure you don't miss a thing without having your hand held for the entire game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- / -4. Overview- / Illusion of Gaia doesn't use EXP like your average RPG, opting instead to provide stat upgrades as rewards for accomplishing specific tasks. There are a few different ways to earn these precious commodities: 1: Defeat all the enemies in a single dungeon room. This is by far the most common source of stat boosts. You can keep track of your progress on the pause screen (press Start). THe number of enemies left in the room is shown as well as a radar system to help you find them. Most important is the "Force" symbol in the upper-left of the screen; this indicates there's an upgrade yet to be earned. As enemies can sometimes respawn if you leave a dungeon and return, this may be important to ensure you don't waste time on kills that won't earn you anything. NOTE: While there are some instances where you can collect stats from enemies you missed by beating the boss of the dungeon, it's not really recommended simply because those stats will help you survive the place anyway. It's also not guaranteed to work in every dungeon; I can confirm first-hand that you can miss the stats in Edward's Prison...yes, that dungeon has no boss and the two may be related. At any rate, killing the enemies isn't usually a big problem, and it's definitely the safest option. 2: Gem's gifts. As you turn Red Jewels in to Gem the Jeweler, he'll give you rewards. Three of these are stat boosts; one each for Defense, HP, and Strength. 3: Hidden boosts. There are a few of these in the game, and some are hidden better than others. Worse yet, one of them can be permanently missed if you progress in the story without collecting it. 4: Defeat a boss. The game makes no effort to TELL you this is happening, but two bosses give you stat boosts when you defeat them that have nothing to do with missed enemies in their dungeons. A properly maxed-out file should have 40 HP, 30 Strength, and 32 Defense. This guide is meant to get you every point of that as early as possible. I will assume you're following Xi's Red Jewel Location guide on GameFAQs to earn the upgrades from Gem on schedule. As we progress, I'll be listing the new stat total at the END of every area in the following format: xx/xx/xx These numbers represent HP, Strength, and Defense in that order from left to right. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- / -5. Main Guide- / >> South Cape & Edward's Castle You begin the game with 8 HP, 1 Strength, and 0 Defense. There are no upgrades to be found prior to the first dungeon. *08/01/00* >>Edward's Prison There are five rooms with stat boosts to earn. This first dungeon is very linear, so most of the enemies are hard to miss. The only thing to watch for is the snake-like things that come up out of the water; you'll know where to find them by the holes in the barrier surrounding the platforms. Use your radar to make sure you don't miss them as you go along and this will be easy. You'll earn two hearts, one sword, and two shields as you progress. *10/02/02* >>Itory Village & Moon Tribe Camp Once you collect the 8th Red Jewel in Itory Village, you should take a quick detour back to Cape Town and claim your Defense and HP bonuses from Gem. This is easy to forget, but the stats will serve you well moving forward. There are no other stat boosts to be found in these two locations. *11/02/03* >>Incan Ruins, AKA Larai Cliff There are nine rooms with stat boosts to earn. The level design takes a huge step up in complexity over the previous dungeon, but the end result still winds up pretty linear. The main thing you need to watch for is the gooey enemies that seep up from the floor; as usual, using your radar should make finding them all fairly simple. Also note that you'll need to get close enough to most of the statues to make them come alive and attack; there are a couple groups of four that wake at once when you hit a nearby switch instead. Every statue except the four in the puzzle room need to be killed to earn all stats. You'll earn three hearts, three swords, and three shields as you progress. *14/05/06* >>Golden Ship, Diamond Coast, and Freejia There are no stats to be gained in the first two locations, only Freejia. If you're following the Red Jewel guide correctly, you should have enough of them to earn the Strength upgrade from Gem in this town. Next comes one of the two easiest-to-miss stat boosts in the game, and the ONLY one that is permanently missable. As you walk into the back alley, there's a trash can which has been knocked over almost directly in front of you. Examine it to receive an HP boost. This is the one I missed which lead to the writing of this guide, so make sure you don't make the same mistake! Thanks to Atom Edge on GameFAQs, whose full walkthrough I had to consult to find the missing point. *15/06/06* >>Diamond Mine There are seven rooms with stat boosts to earn. This dungeon is between the first two in terms of linearity, so finding your way around and seeing out enemies shouldn't be much of a problem. The purple snakes that pop up from the ground are the most likely foes to be missed, but they generally appear near skulls on the ground which you can use to identify likely spawn points. They appear from fairly far away, and you can always use the radar to track them down if necessary. You'll earn three hearts, two swords, and two shields as you progress. *18/08/08* >Neil's Cottage, Nazca Painting, and Sky Garden There's nothing to be found in the first two locations. The Sky Garden is the next dungeon, and contains eight rooms with stat boosts to earn. Navigation is both relatively simple and complex here because there are four separate quarters with two rooms each and you have to jump back and forth between the top and bottom of the Garden to get everything. There are no hard-to-find enemy types, so it all comes down to navigating the area. The segmented nature of the place makes it pretty easy to make sure you have everything before moving on, though. You'll earn three hearts, two swords, and three shields as you progress. *21/10/11* Seaside Palace & Land of Mu Although there are enemies in the Seaside Palace, there are no stat boosts to be gained. The Land of Mu is the next dungeon proper, and it contains six rooms with stat boosts to earn. This dungeon can be confusing to navigate, and you have to remember to check back in every room for monsters once you lower the water level. You'll pass through all six rooms before gaining the ability to finish any of them; this is the only dungeon in the game where that is true. The teleporting mage enemies might be the easiest to miss here if you run around too fast, but as always, a cool head using the radar will prevail. You'll earn two hearts, two swords, and two shields as you progress. *23/12/13* >>Seaside Tunnel & Angel Village There's nothing to be found in the Seaside Tunnel or the town portion of Angel Village. The pathways below the village that lead to Ishtar's studio constitute a dungeon in their own right, however. There are six rooms with stat boosts to earn. This dungeon is largely straightforward, with only one room having extra doors to make a rather pitiful maze. The enemies here are mostly very easy to spot, but there's one dark room with bats hiding in the shadows to watch for. You'll earn two hearts, two swords, and two shields as you progress. *25/14/15* Watermia & Great Wall of China There's nothing to be found in Watermia, so move on to the Great Wall of China, our next dungeon. There are six rooms with stat boosts to earn...we're in a rut here, huh? The enemies are generally pretty easy to find and the level design isn't too complex in general. There are statue enemies very similar to the ones in the Incan Ruins hiding amongst real clay soldiers. You can tell them apart by the pupils in their eyes and the fact that they always face toward the screen...the radar helps too, of course. You'll earn three hearts, one sword, and two shields as you progress. This dungeon's boss stealthily provides another point of Strength upon defeat as well. *28/16/17* >>Euro We've finally arrived in the other town with stat boosts to find! First, get in line at the store on the southern edge of town...you can't miss it. Once you finally get inside, you can drink some Life Medicine to increase your HP by one. There's also some Dark Medicine in here that will power up your Dark Friar attack if you didn't already get enough Red Jewels to earn it that way. After that, locate the hidden alley that leads to the Shrine. Instead of walking straight through, push up partway along to find a hidden door. Inside is a man who will increase your Strength by one. Thanks to Xenesis Xenon on GameFAQs for posting about this in the forums...I'd never have found it otherwise, and I grew up playing this game! *29/17/17* >>Mountain Temple There are nine rooms with stat boosts to earn. This place is kind of maze-like, but only on a room-by-room basis; the overall path is fairly simple although there are a few manditory side-rooms as well as one entirely optional one east of the third room. There are silver floating skull enemies here that can fly well off the screen, so you'll have to be very careful to find them all... naturally, the radar will be EXTREMELY useful in this task. You'll earn three hearts, three swords, and three shields as you progress. *32/20/20* >>Natives' Village & Ankor Wat There's nothing to earn in the Natives' Village, so move on to Ankor Wat. This is a huge, sprawling dungeon, but still mostly linear. There are a whopping fifteen rooms with stat boosts to earn, and you'll need them because this is the hardest dungeon in the game...at least when you first arrive and haven't gained any stats yet. The blue monsters in the outdoor rooms require two hits to the extended head in one pass to remove it, then you can kill the enemy properly. There are more enemy types here than anywhere else, and some move very fast. The hardest to find would be the bush monsters...especially one hiding outside the path in the Garden, which you'll need the Dark Friar to get. As always, the radar is invaluable to ensuring you don't miss a thing. You'll earn six hearts, four swords, and five shields as you progress. *38/24/25* Dao & Pyramid There's nothing to earn in Dao, so move on to the Pyramid. This is the last real dungeon (meaning it has stats to earn) in the game save Gem's optional mansion, and there are fourteen rooms with stat boosts to earn. The place is split up into six sub-paths, so navigation isn't too difficult. The biggest problem for getting all the enemies here are the invisible ones...that's right, one enemy type here cannot be seen at first. You have to use a combination of their projectile attacks and your radar to find and kill them, so be vigilant! You'll earn two hearts, five swords, and seven shields as you progress. This dungeon's boss steathily provides the final point of strength. If you've been following this guide all the way through, you should now have maximum stats! Now you just need to play through the Tower of Babel (and Gem's Mansion if you so choose) to finish the game. *40/30/32* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- / -6. Conclusion- / I hope you found this guide useful. This is the first walkthrough I've ever written, and I did it just to fill in a niche requirement for an already fairly niche game. If you have any comments or questions about this guide, please feel free to email me at thestuffgamer1@gmail.com. Be sure to put "Illusion of Gaia" in the subject line.