"Might and Magic: Gates to Another World" for Sega Genesis Stat Raising Guide, v1.5 (5/7/2011) by Dammit9x dammit9x at hotmail dot com Copyright 2004-2011 This document may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any unauthorized web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited and a violation of copyright. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Changed since v1.4 (5/5/2011): * Fixed some things in ulillillia's guide * Added more info on item enchantment and cursing * Detailed the Ice Cavern treasures * Correction on Bronze equipment and a note on item storage Changed since v1.3 (6/20/2008): * Corrected some small mistakes * Added chart for number of hits per level * Added a note about class-specific weapon accuracy * Added ulillillia's extensive level-up scheme * Added a note on beating the Ancient Dragon at low level Changed since v1.2 (3/31/2007): * Restructured guide and improved writing * Added and improved many sections * Verified some uncertainties Changed since v1.1 (1/5/2005): * Added section on the Frenzy glitch *************************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I. STATS 1. ROLLED STATS 2. DERIVED STATS 3. TEMPORARY CHANGES 4. SECONDARY SKILL BONUSES 5. PERMANENT BONUSES 6. STAT TRADES 7. CLASS-SPECIFIC ITEMS 8. LUXUS B2 HP BONUS 9. CASTLE DUNGEON HP BONUSES 10. DRAGON'S DOMINION HP BONUSES II. PLAYING THE GAME 1. CREATING A PARTY 2. FAST MONEY AND EQUIPMENT 3. CHOOSING EQUIPMENT 4. EXPERIENCE TRICKS 5. ALIGNMENT AND SEX CHANGES 6. ENCHANTING ITEMS 7. CASTLE DUNGEON PORTALS III. ULILLILLIA'S MAX-OUT METHOD IV. CHEATS AND GLITCHES 1. FREE ITEMS, GOLD AND GEMS 2. FREE TREASURE 3. REST TO TELEPORT 4. FRENZY MY PARTY CLOSING *************************************** INTRODUCTION This is not a walkthrough for Might and Magic II. Refer to Andrew Schultz's guides and maps for that. This guide will help you I.) boost your character's stats, II.) quickly get treasure and experience for your party and III.) apply some cheats and glitches in order to exploit the game to the fullest. It is written for the Sega Genesis version of Might and Magic: Gates to Another World, which is Might and Magic II in the series. However, it is applicable to all versions of the game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. STATS 1. ROLLED STATS Might: Causes more damage with both melee and missile attacks Intellect: Determines max SP for Sorcerers and Archers Personality: Determines max SP for Clerics and Paladins Endurance: Determines the max HP gained when training (leveling up) Speed: Determines order of action in combat. Faster monsters and characters go before slower ones. When speeds are equal, characters go in the order of the party arrangement. Higher speeds give a bigger AC bonus. Accuracy: Determines the chance of hitting with missile or melee; However, it is difficult to notice the difference when Accuracy is changed. The target's AC also plays a role in determining hits or misses. Luck: Possibly affects the chance that the party will successfully Hide from combat and the chance of success for thievery. Luck may have other effects. 2. DERIVED STATS Level: This determines max HP, max SP, spell level, thievery, the number of attacks a character makes per round, and whether enemies try to run away in battle. It is raised by gaining experience and then paying for training at training center in one of the towns. HP: Hit points. If they run out the character becomes Unconscious. An Unconscious character dies if hit again. You can raise the HP of a wounded or Unconscious member with healing items or spells. HP is refilled with Rest. There are several ways to raise max HP, the most obvious of which is leveling up. SP: Spell points. They are required for casting spells. The SP cost of some spells is fixed, and with others it depends on the caster's level. SP are refilled by resting and maximum SP is increased only by leveling up. SL: Spell level. This determines which spells are available to the character. Some spells need to be bought or found. SL = level/2 + 1/2 for Clerics and Sorcerers or level/2 - 5/2 for Paladins and Archers. AC: Armor class reduces the character's chance of getting hit. It does not reduce the damage taken. AC is raised by wearing protective equipment and by high Speed. Thievery: This determines the chance of success when opening locked doors and chests. Failure usually results in setting off the trap. Failures still occur occasionally even with very high (>150) thievery. Thievery starts at 15 for Robbers and 10 for Ninjas and increments by 1 for each level up. Certain equipment increases Thievery, and it can be boosted to 50-59 in Sandsobar dungeon. AC/dmg HP per SP per Stat Rating: Bonus: Level: Level: 0-13 0 3 3 14-15 1 4 4 16-17 2 5 5 18-19 3 6 6 20-22 4 7 7 23-26 5 8 8 27-30 6 9 9 31-45 7 10 10 46-60 8 11 11 61-75 9 12 12 76-90 10 13 13 91-105 11 14 14 106-120 12 15 15 121-135 13 16 16 136-150 14 17 17 151-175 15 18 18 176-200 16 3 19 201-225 17 3 20 226-250 18 3 21 251-255 19 3 22 AC/dmg bonus: The damage done by Attack, Fight and Shoot is increased by the amount that corresponds to the character's Might rating. This bonus is added to both the min and max damage. For example, a Holy Cudgel wielded with 50 Might does 9-18 instead of 1-10 damage. Similarly, AC is improved by Speed. HP per level: This is the number of max HP a sorcerer gains when training at Middlegate with the given Endurance. Use the following table to make adjustments for other classes and training centers: Middlegate Sansobar Tundara Vulcania Atlantium MAX Sorcerer +0 +1 +1 +2 +3 21 Cleric +1 +2 +2 +3 +5 23 Ninja +1 +2 +2 +3 +5 23 Robber +1 +2 +2 +3 +5 23 Paladin +2 +4 +4 +5 +7 25 Archer +2 +4 +4 +5 +7 25 Knight +3 +5 +5 +6 +9 27 Barbarian +5 +7 +7 +9 +12 30 Notice how by some oversight the HP per level resets to the minimum if you exceed 175 Endurance. Don't let this happen. If it gets too high, you can reduce it with the Intellect trade. (See section I.6.) The MAX is what a character with 151-175 Endurance gains from training at Atlantium. SP per level: Unlike max HP, max SP is recalculated every time you rest. For Sorcerers and Clerics, the max SP is your level times the number in the table corresponding to Intellect or Personality at the time when you rest. For Archers or Paladins, it is (level-6) times this number. For example, a level 10 cleric with 50 Per has 11 x 10 = 110 SP. A paladin with the same level and Per has 11 x (10-6) = 44 SP. The number of strikes attempted in an Attack, Fight or Shoot command depends on level and a class-dependent parameter: attacks = level/parameter + 1, rounded down Parameter Class 4 knight, barbarian, paladin 5 archer, robber, ninja 7 cleric 10 sorcerer Example: a level 21 knight gets 21/4 + 1 = 6.25 -> 6 chances to hit per attack. 3. TEMPORARY CHANGES Certain events change stats of the whole party until the next encounter or until resting: Location: Effect: B1 (11,14) Set Might to 40 D2 (1,12) Set Might to 200 B4 (14,9) Set Might to random number B2 (8,8) Set Intellect to 65 D1 (13,9) Set Personality to 65 B4 (3,2) Set Personality to 75 A3 (1,13) +25 Speed D2 (1,7) Set Speed to 200 C2 (1,13) Set Accuracy to 40 A4 (10,10) Set all stats to 100 E2 (11,9) Set all stats to 200 and Level to 50 A1 (2,3) Set Level to 25 C1 (1,11) Set Spell Level to 9 C4 (9,14) Set HP to 150 C2 (14,10) Set SP 20 C1 (1,5) Set SP to 200 D3 (3,14) Set SP to 200 Murray's Cavern (0,9) Set HP to 1 and SP to 200 Murray's Cavern (5,15) Set HP to 500 Potions serve a similar purpose and are more convenient, but costly. Item: Buy at: Cost: Effect: Charges: Force Potion Sandsobar 100 Might +10 3 Skill Potion Tundara 500 Level +5 5 MaxHP Potion Atlantium 4000 HP +512 2 The drinks in the taverns also give temporary bonuses. A character must keep drinking the same drink without leaving the drink menu a number of times before the benefits show. The stats reset if the character gets sick (poisoned) while drinking: Drink: Cost: Effect: Orc Beer 5 +5 Might per drink after 2 drinks up to 99 Mgt Straight Shot 5 +20 Accuracy per drink after 3 drinks up to 99 Acy Id Elixir 20 +10 Personality per drink after 3 drinks up to 99 Per Academic Age 20 +10 Intellect per drink after 3 drinks up to 99 Int Rare Vintage 50 +3 Levels per drink after 3 drinks up to Lv 49 Mystic Brew 100 +1 Spell Level per drink after 5 drinks up to SL 8 Example: A level 5 character drinks Rare Vintage 10 times and goes to level 26. 5 + (10-3) x 3 = 26 Temporary boosts to Intellect, Personality and Endurance seem to be pointless. These stats are only polled during level-ups, and the values that get checked are the permanent ones. 4. SECONDARY SKILL BONUSES Each character can have up to two skills from the table below: Skill: Town: Cost: Purpose: Cartographer Middlegate (0,15) 10 Add to the automap as you explore Mountaineer Middlegate (3,12) 2000 Pass through mountains (need it twice) Pathfinder Middlegate (1,9) 1000 Pass through forests (need it twice) Crusader Tundara (2,14) 250 Can take quests Merchant Tundara (5,13) 1000 Half buy price, double sell price Navigator Tundara (8,13) 750 Won't get lost in the desert Gladiator Vulcania (3,9) 500 +5 Might Intellect Atlantium (8,4) 500 +5 Intellect; read runes at C3 (0,7) Diplomat Sandsobar (3,4) 500 +5 Personality Soldier Vulcania (0,3) 500 +5 Endurance Athlete Atlantium (6,2) 500 +5 Speed Arms Master Vulcania (15,3) 500 +5 Accuracy Gambler Sandsobar (3,0) 200 +5 Luck Hero/Heroine Atlantium (9,2) 1000 +1 Mgt, Int, Per, End, Spd, Acy, Luc Pickpocket Sandsobar (0,5) 300 +5 Thievery (Ninjas and Robbers only) Middlegate (12,10) 100 Remove both skills The secondary skills that give stat bonuses don't do anything if the character learns it when the stat in question is 50 or up. But removing the skill with Brain Detoxification in Middlegate still deducts from the stats that were supposed to be increased. I recommend not getting those skills except to give an early boost to Speed or Endurance. Use the permanent method instead. 5. PERMANENT BONUSES Character stats can be increased permanently at certain dungeon locations: Cavern: Tile: +10 to: Combat required: C3(1,6) Druid's Cavern (1,15) Might none; use Teleport A4(13,10)Below Atlantium (11,15) Intellect none; use Teleport B1(4,12) Ice Cavern (7,15)F Personality none; run away afterward (8,15)M E1(3,4) Below Vulcania (15,14) Endurance none; use Teleport E3(5,5) Nomadic Rift (0,15) Speed none; use Teleport A2(1,1) Pinehurst B1 (14,13) Accuracy several difficult battles D4(3,7) Dawn's Mist Bog (12,7) Luck battle with Lucky Dogs E4(4,10) Below Sansobar (0,12) Thievery none; use teleport; 700 gold required Your stats can only be improved to 50-59 in this way. For example, if Might is 49 or below, you get +10 Might from eating spinach, but if it's 50 or higher you get nothing. For this reason you should remove stat raising equipment or skills before getting the bonuses. Try to get the Thievery bonus before level 5 for Robbers or level 10 for Ninjas, so that they can benefit from it four times. This effectively offsets the poor initial thieving ability of the Ninja. The bonuses do not show up until you've rested or had an encounter. You may recieve more than one bonus without resting or entering combat; the multiple bonuses will just register all at once. However, the ceiling of 50-59 still applies even if the bonus is not shown. The event is spent after you visit the tile. To reset it you need to leave the area and come back. Drop a Lloyd's Beacon when you reach the tile for the first time. Cast Surface, or run away to the exit, then just return to your beacon. Lloyd's Beacon is learned at (7,11) in Corak's Cave, C2(5,11). Another way to do this is to bring the man at D3(7,13) a Cupie Doll, then visit the fountain at E3(10,12). The circus which is open from day 140-170 at B2(14,4) now raises stats by +10. You may repeat the process until you reach 50-59. To do this you would have to wait until day 140. 6. STAT TRADES To raise stats past the 50-59 ceiling, you'll have to trade away other stats: Dungeon: Tile: Trade: Combat required: Hillstone B1 (0,0) +3 Mgt, -5 Int none; use Teleport Woodhaven B1 (15,0) +3 Mgt, -5 Per none; use Teleport Hillstone B2 (3,9) +3 Int, -5 End none; use Teleport Woodhaven B2 (8,6) +3 Per, -5 Lck two battles Luxus B1 (5,0) +3 End, -5 Spd none; use Teleport Luxus B2 (15,0) +3 Spd, -5 Mgt none; use Teleport Pinehurst B1 (2,7) +3 Acc, -5 Spd none* Pinehurst B2 (4,15) +3 Lck, -5 Per none* *Accuracy trade: Coming from the ground level entrance, Jump N at (1,10) to avoid a battle. To get to the ground level stairs from the stairs to B2, get into a battle then run away. *Luck trade: Etherealize W from (6,9) and N from (5,10) to avoid battles. These trades are better than they look. Unlike the bonuses, stats can be brought up all the way to 255 this way with enough patience. The procedure to raise Endurance, for example, would be to trade away Speed down to 5-9, return to the Nomad's Cave to replenish Speed, then return to Luxus B1 and repeat. Each round trip (10 trades) would and raise Endurance by 30. If you try to trade when your stat is less than 5, you get nothing but the stat is brought to 0. To avoid mistakes, use Exchange to put the member you want to make the trade at the front of the party. Like the bonuses, the changes aren't shown on the status screen until you've had combat or rested. Unlike the bonuses, you can make the trade any number of times without leaving and returning to the area. Teleport, Lloyd's Beacon, and the portals from area B2 can minimize the amount of time and combat required. Take note of what trades require what. Try to first increase the stats that won't be decreased later by other trades. For example, if you want to raise both Speed and Accuracy, do Accuracy first because it requires Speed. If you did Speed first all your hard work would be traded away when you did Accuracy. Some stats must remain below the 50-59 ceiling to serve as the source for other trades. Don't get too greedy. 255 is the absolute max. That includes AC. If you equip an item that would increase your stats past 255, only part of the bonus is applied. When you remove it, your stats will be decreased by the full amount. So if your Speed is 200 and you put on Speed Boots +60, Speed goes up only 55, up to 255. When you remove them, speed goes down by 75, down to 180. Also remember the unusual cap of 175 on Endurance. 7. CLASS-SPECIFIC ITEMS Class: Item name: +15 to: Dungeon: Tile: Combat required: Knight Ivory Cameo might Pinehurst B1 (11,13) several Ruby Tiara accuracy Pinehurst B2 (2,13) none* Paladin Agate Grail personality Pinehurst B1 (6,6) several Opal Pendant might Pinehurst B2 (14,13) none* Archer Topaz Shard accuracy Luxus B1 (0,15) none; use Teleport Sun Crown intellect Luxus B2 (15,13) none; use Teleport Sorcerer Amber Skull intellect Luxus B1 (0,0) none; use Teleport Quartz Skull intellect Luxus B2 (14,14) none; use Teleport Cleric Onyx Effigy personality Woodhaven B1 (4,4) none; use Teleport Pearl Choker personality Woodhaven B2 (10,4) lots Robber Sapphire Pin luck Woodhaven B1 (7,1) none; use Teleport Amethyst Box luck Woodhaven B2 (4,6) lots Ninja Crystal Vial speed Hillstone B1 (15,4) none; use Teleport Ruby Amulet luck Hillstone B2 (4,0) none; use Teleport Barbarian Coral Broach might Hillstone B1 (1,14) none; use Teleport Lapis Scarab might Hillstone B2 (15,15) none; use Teleport *Ruby Tiara: Etherealize W from (6,9), again from (5,10) and again from (3,11). Do it one more time to get through the barrier. *Opal Pendant: Etherealize E from (8,8), again from (9,9) and again from (12,12). Do it one more time to get through the barrier. They will not let you pick up a class-specific item if the class that can use it is in the party. The obvious way to get around this is to leave a Beacon one or two squares away from the item, then come back after dropping the offending member off at the inn. You can leave and Beacon back to get as many as you want. Like any other equipment, these can be enchanted to +63. They cannot be duplicated, however. 8. LUXUS B2 HP BONUS There is a guy at (0,15) of Luxus B2 who offers to sell a character all the HP "you SHOULD have" for 1 million gold. This brings the maximum HP up to where it would be if the character had done all level-up training at Atlantium at his or her current Endurance rating. This negates the non-optimal HP raises derived from leveling at an inferior training center or at a lower Endurance rating. The seller can't help and won't take the money if the max HP is above the point projected by the character's Class, Endurance and Level. Thus, to get maximum benefit from Luxus B2, it's best to buy it after raising Endurance and before getting the castle dungeon and Dragon's Dominion bonuses, especially before the 1000 HP bonus. Likewise, it won't matter if previous level-ups were bought at inferior training centers. 9. CASTLE DUNGEON HP BONUSES Dungeon: Tile: Don't bring: Combat required: Pinehurst B1 (14,5) Humans several Pinehurst B2 (13,1) Humans none* Luxus B1 (11,14) Dwarves none; use Teleport Luxus B2 (8,11) Dwarves none; use Teleport Woodhaven B1 (0,7) Elves none; use Teleport Woodhaven B2 (12,2) Elves lots Hillstone B1 (11,1) Half-orcs none; use Teleport Hillstone B2 (10,7) Half-orcs none; use Teleport *Pinehurst B2: Etherealize E from (8,6), again from (9,6) and again from (12,4). Now Etherealize S from (14,4). Do it one more time to get through the barrier. These bonuses increase your max HP by 1-12. Each of them can only be accessed once per moon phase. The moon phases are 60 days long. 10. DRAGON'S DOMINION HP BONUSES The cave is entered from D1 at (12,14). Tile: HP bonus: Limit: Combat required: (0,0) +10 up to 200 HP 3 Earth Wyrms (11,2) +25 none Armored Dragon (7,14) +1000 once per character Ancient Dragon +10 HP: From the starting point, Jump E from (2,8). Move E one step, S one step, then Jump S from (5,7). Move S then W to (4,0). You have to face the Earth Wyrms. After that, walk W through the walls to the fountain. +25 HP: Jump E from (2,8), then (6,8) and (8,8). Jump S from (10,8). The Armored Dragon is at (7,0). +1000 HP: Jump E from (2,8), then (6,8) and (8,8). Jump N from (10,8) and again from (15,12). The Ancient Dragon is at (15,15). You can try raising Luck at the Greatest Fountain to improve your chances of hiding, or just fight. I am told by false that since all it does is attack a single character, he can be beaten with weak characters if you bring healing items. The biggest point of interest is the one-time 1000 HP jackpot. The +25 fountain gives HP once per visit and can be used indefinitely, it seems. Lloyd's Beacon, Time Distortion, and Surface don't work in this dungeon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. PLAYING THE GAME 1. CREATING A PARTY Don't worry about rolling 21s for your characters. Just roll reasonable numbers, because all stats can be raised. Speed and Endurance are most important for weak characters. The six default characters are adequate if you don't want to create your own. You may wish to have a party of six characters and two hirelings that has one representative from each class, or to take multiple characters of the same class. But getting treasure will be difficult without a Robber or Ninja. The spellcasting ability of at least one Cleric or Paladin and at least one Sorcerer or Archer will help with getting around and fighting certain enemies. Name can be changed from the View Char menu. Race is permanent. It has a trivial effect on stats, and specific races are barred from getting benefits from each castle dungeon. Thus, a racially uniform party will be somewhat better able to deal with this problem. Sex is permanent but can be changed (for the whole party) in two places. The Personality boost in the Ice Cavern is sex specific, so a non-unisex party will have to make twice as many trips to exploit it. Alignment is permanent but changeable like sex. However, alignment can be easily restored to its original state at a temple or with the Cleric spell. Alignment determines whether a character can equip an item with +5 or higher enchantment and may also determine whether the character can hit and damage certain enemies. 2. FAST MONEY AND EQUIPMENT The guardian pegasus Meenu is at B1(9,9). Tell him his name for 100,000 gold. Path to avoid blizzards: (8,3) > (8,8) > (7,8) > (7,10) > (9,10) > (9,9) No skills or magic are required, so a new party can do this. B2(5,13) has a free Ice Sickle +2. Buy the Merchant skill in Tundara(5,13) for 1000 gold and give it to whoever is at the front of the party. With this done, you can buy items, use them partially, and sell them back for the same price. (Plus you'll earn double from selling treasure.) Buy a Witch's Broom in Tundara and a Teleport Orb in Atlantium to use Fly and Teleport without a high level Sorcerer. These spells will help get treasure quickly. Teleport to (15,9) at Tundara and get the Emerald Ring. Run away at the (15,8) encounter to escape without being thrown in jail. Gemmaker's Volcano A4(4,7) has no encounters and lots of Fire-type equipment. Make sure you have Levitate status to avoid the lava, either from the Levitate spell or a temple blessing. Get 500 gems at (6,10). Ice Cavern B1(4,12) has useful treasure lying around, especially the gems and Speed Boots. Use Teleport to avoid traps and battles. (0,15): 500 gems (6,15): +5 Cold Shield (14,15): +3 Giant Sling (5,12): +3 Speed Boots (9,12): +5 Looter Knife (3,3): Ice Sickle & Cold Blade (10,3): +15 Dagger (12,0): 5000 gold Dragon's Dominion D1(12,14) has four guarded but valuable caches. (3,6): Broad Sword +5, Great Bow +5, Flamberge +5 (3,10): Great Shield +5, Helm +5, Plate Mail +5 (13,6): Titan's Pike +7, Photon Blade +7, Ancient Bow +7 (13,10): Gold Shield +7, G Plate Mail +7, Gold Helm +7 3. CHOOSING EQUIPMENT Weapons: For fighting characters, go for maximum damage weapons. The stat boosts are not as important. However, there is something to be said for using a one-handed weapons over Titan's Pikes, because they allow you to equip the Magic Shield. ulillillia reports that some weapons give a better hit rate than others for some classes. He says that the Titan's Pike is good for archers and bad for barbarians, while the opposite is true for the Grand Axe. Beware of elemental weapons such as the Flaming Sword. Some enemies are weak to certain elementals, but many are immune to them. Elemental weapons are troublesome when fighting strong monsters. Missile weapons: It's not necessary to equip both a strong melee and strong missile weapon. If one of them is much stronger, it can be used in combat while the other can be used to raise some exotic stat. Armor: Try for gold equipment. Bronze resists Poison, Iron resists Sleep, and Silver resists Energy, all pretty much worthless. Whatever Luck does, it's probably more helpful than those effects. When it comes to Gold or highly enchanted non-Gold, keep the Gold because you can enchant it eventually. Resistances: Poison, Sleep, Energy, Acid, Fire, Electricity, and Cold are all worthless. These attacks are used against you rarely enough that it's not worth wasting equipment slots on them. Magic resistance is good however, and sometimes magic resistance encompasses the others, for example if the enemy casts Fireball. You can determine a character's resistance stats from the scale at (10,5) in Vulcania. You can use unneeded characters and hirelings as mules to store extra items. 4. EXPERIENCE TRICKS A nice quest for beginning parties is the Mark's Keys quest. Go to A2 (2,9) and answer KEYS. Then bring them to C1 (1,1) for 10,000 xp. Don't go there unless you have the keys or a character will die. Try the quests for Hoardall, Slayer, and Haart. (You may remove an unwanted quest at Hillstone(13,2) or Woodhaven(13,2). Don't waste your time with quests lower than lord rank.) Lord's Quest of Hoardall at Woodhaven(9,11) in C1(3,14): reward 100,000 xp Sword of Valor at A2 (11,2) guarded by 6 Mountain Men Sword of Honor at D4 (14,11) guarded by 6 Guardians Sword of Nobility D1 (0,8) guarded by 4 Priests Lord's Quest of Slayer at Hillstone(5,2) in D4(13,1): reward 1,000,000 xp Dragon Lord at D1(10,12) Queen Beetle at E2(11,6) Serpent King at E3(5,6) Quest of Haart at B1(5,5): reward 250,000 xp, 50,000 gold, 500 gems Phaser at A1(11,2) in year 600 guarded by Spaz Twit and 6 White Knights Loincloth at E2(4,5) in year 700 guarded by Long One and 30 Crazed Natives It's possible to randomly find these items in treasure chests also. The Epicurean quest requires eating all three meals at all five taverns for each character who will get the bonus. It's best to do all the meals at once to avoid missing any. Then visit A3(7,7) to get 100K exp. This doesn't work for hirelings because they can't order at taverns. There is a coin slot in Hillstone B1 (11,5) that gives 1 exp per gold. Downstairs in B2 (9,15), a magical pit gives 3 exp per gold. These methods require gold and don't work for hirelings since they can't hold gold. A fast method is to fight the Cuisinarts at B2(1,9). If Speed is approaching 200, levels are high and weapons are highly enchanted, you should be able to drop all three Cuisinarts before they can move, leaving 60 million exp, or 7.5M to each member of a party of eight. The treasure is good too. The Greatest Fountain at E2 (11,9) can solve the level and Speed problems, but you will need to provide your own weapons. It's not feasible for low level parties to kill them but it's still possible to beat them. Give each character Magic Herbs and make them heal each other when the Cuisinarts frenzy. Some members may still be alive once the Cuisinarts have killed themselves. 5. ALIGNMENT AND SEX CHANGES Dungeon: Tile: Party becomes: Combat required: Pinehurst B2 (5,1) Good none* Woodhaven B2 (7,8) Neutral one large battle Luxus B2 (5,11) Evil none; use Teleport Hillstone B2 (0,8) Male none; use Teleport Luxus B2 (4,8) Female none; use Teleport *Good alignment change: Etherealize S from (6,6) and again from (6,3) Often you will want to equip an item but have an alignment conflict. Use the alignment-changing locations to correct this. You can get realigned at a temple or with the cleric spell, if desired. The only reason to use the sex change is to make the whole party the same sex, in order to expedite the Personality-boosting process in the Ice Cavern. Sex changes are permanent. To reverse them, bring the characters to the opposite fountain. The alignment and sex changes affect all characters present in the party. 6. ENCHANTING ITEMS Ultimately you will want to complement your stats with the appropriate equipment. All items can be enchanted to +63 with the level 9 sorcerer spell Enchant Item, available in the Gemmaker's Volcano. If you want to start enchanting without a level 17 sorcerer, rescue Mr. Wizard at D3(1,14). The enchantment increases whatever bonus the item gives, so that +20 Speed Boots give +35 speed. Magical armor or weapons that are enchanted get a bonus to both AC/damage and the bonus feature, so a +20 Titan's Pike does 1-40 +20 damage (21-61 damage) and raises Might by +35. Most items become alignment- specific to a random alignment at +5 enchantment or higher. The spell costs 50 SP plus one per plus of the item. So enchanting a +50 item takes 100 SP. If you want to replenish your SP without resting, use the fountain at C1(1,5). Get gems quickly at the Ice Cavern or the Gemmaker's Volcano by using a Beacon. Enchant Item will curse the item if you go from +63 to +64, but sometimes it happens from +62 to +63. You get no notification until you try to equip the item. The character becomes Cursed and the item cannot be equipped. The level 9 cleric spell Uncurse Item doesn't work. So save before trying to enchant something past +62 and make sure it works before saving again. 7. CASTLE DUNGEON PORTALS Stairs Stairs Teleport/ Area B2 Dungeon Castle: Location: up: down: Etherlze: warp: warp: Hillstone D4(13,1) 1F (10,13) Yes B1 (8,15) (5,1) Yes (4,3)->(11,13) (15,15)->W(0,14) B2 (0,12) Yes (7,10)->W(7,15) Woodhaven C1(3,14) 1F (11,9) Yes B1 (0,15) (13,13) Yes (4,1)->(0,14) (1,9)->P(0,15) B2 (7,15) No, No (8,4)->P(7,7) Pinehurst A2(1,1) 1F (11,2) Yes B1 (0,15) (1,2) No, No (6,3)->(1,2) (12,8)->L(11,9) B2 (7,7) No,Yes (8,6)->L(10,2) Luxus E1(3,4) 1F (0,0) Yes B1 (11,9) (13,5) No, No (6,1)->(9,8) (15,0)->H(8,15) B2 (10,2) Yes (11,1)->H(0,12) The table gives all the information pertaining to travel into and within the castle system. Most of the important places for stat-massaging are located in the castle dungeons. You will be spending a lot of time down there if you want to raise them really high. The Teleport/Etherealize column tells whether these important spells are allowed on each floor. Without these you will have to fight to get anywhere. Both floors of all the dungeons have links to other dungeons, indicated by the Dungeon Warp column. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. ULILLILLIA'S MAX-OUT METHOD ulillillia has sent me an elaborate procedure to obtain maxed out levels and HP that relies on a glitch that allows you to Train endlessly if you have a specific amount of experience points. I have formatted it and added some clarifications but not tested it entirely. 0. This method is intended for low level parties but requires getting some money and gems beforehand and not resting once begun. Resting will cause HP and levels enhanced by potions to return to normal. Otherwise the effect is essentially permanent. 1. Use Max HP Potions from the Atlantium blacksmith to bring everyone's HP to at least 5000. Items found in chests also work and tend to have more charges. Going up to 55,000 to 60,000 max HP is better, but too much and you risk variable overflow after enough leveling up, especially on barbarians and knights. 2. Use Skill Potions from the Vulcania blacksmith to bring paladins and especially clerics to close to level 200, but don't go over. 3. Go to the 200 SP fountain at C1(1,5). Two pathfinders can cut through the forest and avoid a battle with ghouls at (2,6). Alternatively, eat the Soup de Ghoul at the Middlegate tavern to make them leave you alone. 4. Cast Power Cure with the clerics and paladins to fill up everyone's HP. Each cast will restore about 1000 HP and use one gem. Use the fountain to replenish SP as necessary: simply turn away then back south. Repeat until the party's HP is full as shown in the View Char menu. This way, a low level party can have tens of thousands of HP. Save the game. 5. Starting from A1(13,3) (the tile in front of Tundara), go north to (13,14), which requires two mountaineers. Go west to encounter two Air Elementals at (10,14). Defeating them is easy with a party with lots of HP, even at level 1. They give 360K exp total, plus treasure. To respawn them, go east exactly six tiles, stepping one tile out of the mountains and into region B1. (If you take seven steps you'll be blown away and hurt by a snowstorm.) This way you can repeat the elemental fight with only 12 steps and amass exp early, quickly, and easily. 6. Train at Atlantium and save. 7. Continue farming exp and treasure from the Air Elementals. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to replenish HP should it go below about 1000. Train at least until a sorcerer gains access to level 9 spells at level 17. 8. Save. Activate Levitation, either by spell or temple blessing. Head to Gemmaker Volcano to obtain Enchant Item. Etherealize north at (3,2) to reach it. Party members will age 10 years when getting this spell. 9. Collect the 500 gem cache at (6,10) while at the volcano. Exit and reenter to obtain more. At least 15K gems will be needed for enchantments, meaning up to 30 repetitions. Roughly 6000 more are needed for each additional item. 10. Buy a Defense Ring from Atlantium. The Invisocloak is better if you have it. Buy a weapon that all classes can equip from the blacksmiths. These do not have the alignment restrictions at high enchantment. Items found in treasures with an enchantment of +4 or less also work. The dagger may not seem powerful, but when fully enchanted, it is pretty much about as strong as any other. 11. Use the fountain at C1(1,5) as a source of spell points and enchant the weapon and defense item to +63 with the sorcerer. (Save before going past +62 and verify that +63 doesn't curse the item.) Repeat for each item to be enchanted. Get more gems from Gemmaker Volcano if necessary. 12. Duplicate the weapon and defense item for all your characters. Always save before a duplication attempt and reset and reload if it fails. Repeat the enchantment and duplication process for any other desired items, especially the Speed Boots from the Ice Cavern. 13. Enter the Dragon's Dominion at D1(12,14) go straight east, fighting through all the encounters. They should be easy with the enchanted equipment. There is an Ancient Dragon at (15,8) and another at (15,15). Each gives 20 million total exp and a fixed cache of 10 million gold and 1000 gems. With maxed-out Speed Boots, they can be defeated before they get to strike. 14. Exit the cave, reenter, and repeat, earning about 40.5 million total exp, 20 million gold, and 2000 gems per cycle. When HP drops below about 1500, Train at Atlantium. Save, restore HP, and keep farming the Ancient Dragons. 15. Once a character's exp and the total accumulated gold gets to about 4.6 billion, save. Reaching this from zero exp and gold takes about 172 Dragon's Dominion cycles, which takes as little as two hours. 16. Train as needed and save. Write down exactly how much exp the characters need upon reaching level 255. Make sure you have this much gold before continuing, and avoid combat at this point to prevent exp from rising. 17. Go to Castle Hillstone at D4(13,1) and teleport to the dungeon entrance at (10,13) to avoid encounters. In the dungeon, teleport to the secret room with the coin slot at (11,5). 18. For one character, distribute gold so that the amount of gold carried is equal to the required exp that was reported at the training center. If some exp was gained since that time, you will need to deduct that amount from the gold carried. 19. Have that character, and only that character, trade gold for exp. Town Portal to Atlantium and visit the training center. The Train option should be available. Training will cause HP gain as usual, but unlike before it's possible to Train without end. Save and rest to remove the effects of the Max HP Potions, which are no longer needed. Train until max HP is at 65,535 or about to go above it. This will cost 150 to 300 million gold, depending on Endurance and class, and take about 20 to 25 minutes, much less with a turbo controller. With that kind of HP, HP bonuses are detrimental due to variable overflow. Endurance also becomes worthless, so trade it off. 20. Steps 13 through 19 can be repeated for other characters, including new ones. Hirelings can't use the coin slot because they can't hold gold. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. CHEATS AND GLITCHES The following are curiosities specific to the Genesis version. They were not intended by the game developers and may be considered cheating. 1. FREE ITEMS, GOLD AND GEMS Choose "View Char" and at the "View which?" prompt, press C while holding A. A nameless character with invalid stats will be displayed. You can take his stuff by using the Trade command. Press left to view more characters. The set of characters available depends on the last enemy or NPC sprite to be displayed. 2. FREE TREASURE Choose a party of six characters and two hirelings and dismiss one of the hirelings. Without moving, search to find a trapped chest. It will contain 84 million gold, 34 thousand gems and a Small Club. This can be repeated by bringing the hireling back. 3. REST TO TELEPORT In any dungeon where Teleport is forbidden, simply Rest to re-enable the spell. This can be used to zip around otherwise dangerous areas. This also unlocks other forbidden spells, such as Lloyd's Beacon in Dragon's Dominion. 4. FRENZY Cast the Frenzy spell on any character in combat. With this done, the enemies will lose all magic resistance and spells that never work, like instant kill spells, will now work even on the strongest enemies. This makes it possible to open up with Frenzy, revive the fallen character, and then nail the enemies with your killer spells all before they get a chance to move. Remember that Frenzy affects the character one slot above the designated target, and be sure to deal with the Endurance penalty. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MY PARTY This is to demonstrate what kind of party you can make with enchantments and stat-boosting. All equipment is +62 or +63, and the party is so strong that visiting the Greatest Fountain makes them weaker. The names will be familiar if you've played the D&D arcade games. Base stats for all characters: Mgt 130-140 Int 55-59 (120-129 for spellcasters) Per 55-59 (120-129 for spellcasters) End 160-169 Spd 124-129 Acy 134-139 Luc 55-59 (124-129 for thieves) Equipment-modified stats: Mgt 200+ except sorcerer, archer, and ninja Int 200+ for spellcasters Per 200+ for spellcasters End 160-169 Spd 200+ Acy 200+ except sorcerer Luc 200+ for thieves Crassus M/Good/Human/Knight+ Photon Blade (Might) G Plate Mail (AC, Luck) Silver Shield (AC, Energy) Ruby Tiara (Accuracy) Speed Boots (Speed) Magic Charm (Magic) Dimsdale M/Neutral/Dwarf/Barbarian+ Swift Axe (Speed) Gold Shield (AC, Luck) S Scale Mail (AC, Energy) Lapis Scarab (Might) Acy Gauntlet (Accuracy) Magic Charm (Magic) Lucia F/Good/Elf/Archer+ Magic Sword (Magic) Ancient Bow (Accuracy) G Chain Mail (AC, Luck) Elven Cloak (AC) Sun Crown (Intellect) Speed Boots (Speed) Greldon M/Good/Human/Cleric+ Holy Cudgel (Personality) G Splintmail (AC, Luck) Magic Shield (AC, Magic) Acy Gauntlet (Accuracy) Mgt Gauntlet (Might) Speed Boots (Speed) Moriah F/Neutral/Human/Robber+ Force Sword (Might) Magic Shield (AC, Magic) G Chain Mail (AC, Luck) Acy Gauntlet (Accuracy) Speed Boots (Speed) Stealth Cape (Thievery) Syous M/Neutral/Human/Sorcerer+ Wizard Staff (Intellect) Magic Charm (Magic) Emerald Ring (AC) Invisocloak (AC) Speed Boots (Speed) Ruby Ankh (Luck) Sherman M/Good/Human/Paladin+ (hireling) Thunder Sword (Might) Ancient Bow (Accuracy) G Plate Mail (AC, Luck) Magic Shield (AC, Magic) Agate Grail (Personality) Speed Boots (Speed) Nakazawa M/Good/Human/Ninja+ (hireling) Sun Naginata (AC) G Ring Mail (AC, Luck) Crystal Vial (Speed) Acy Gauntlet (Accuracy) Castle Key (Thievery) Magic Charm (Magic) All characters have: - one item that boosts speed, luck, and magic resistance, and two that boost AC - one item that boosts accuracy (except the sorcerer) - one item that boosts might (except the archer, ninja, sorcerer) - one item that boosts thievery, for the thief classes Other points: - The sorcerer doesn't wear the stupid Padded Armor - The knight, barbarian, archer, paladin and ninja use one class-specific item - The knight and barbarian also get energy resistance - The most reused item is the Speed Boots (6 times) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLOSING References: * "Sega Genesis Secrets: Volume 2" (ISBN 1-55958-125-5) by Rusel Demaria and Zach Meston for info on the Greatest Fountain, Cuisinarts, and Dragon's Dominion * CrazyLaz for the Frenzy trick * radjenef for the free treasure and rest to teleport tricks * Andrew Schultz for info on the HP seller in Luxus B2 in his guide http://tinyurl.com/6chmsdo * false for telling me about beating the Ancient Dragon at low level * ulillillia for his exp/money method and other contributions http://www.youtube.com/user/ulillillia Watch the tool-assisted speedrun I made for this game at: http://tasvideos.org/2015S.html This document is my own work. Any questions, comments, corrections or complaints should be addressed to the address below, with clear indication in the subject line that the email is concerning this FAQ. dammit9x at hotmail dot com