____ __ __ __ /\ _`\ /\ \ /\ \__ /\ \ \ \ \L\ \ ___\ \ \____ ___\ \ ,_\ _ __ __\ \ \/'\ \ \ , / / __`\ \ '__`\ / __`\ \ \/ /\`'__\/'__`\ \ , < \ \ \\ \ /\ \L\ \ \ \L\ \/\ \L\ \ \ \_\ \ \//\ __/\ \ \\`\ \ \_\ \_\ \____/\ \_,__/\ \____/\ \__\\ \_\\ \____\\ \_\ \_\ \/_/\/ /\/___/ \/___/ \/___/ \/__/ \/_/ \/____/ \/_/\/_/ ROBOTREK FAQ/WALKTHROUGH For play on Super Nintendo Entertainment System Presented by BoredGamer Version: 4.5 Last Updated: 8/27/03 Phase: Technically Complete. THE FOLLOWING SITES HAVE HOSTING PRIVILEGES: GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) IGN (www.ign.com) If you are e-mailing me about feedback, questions, or anything having to do with any FAQ, please send it to BoredGamerAdvanc@cs.com. If any e-mail is sent to BoredGamerAdvanc@cs.com that does not concern a FAQ, it will be deleted/ignored, as I primarily use this address for FAQ- related stuff. Another new note: DO NOT put my name in your address book. I'm not doing this to be mean, and I extend my full apology to those of you who know how to take care of your computer who have had my name in their books. The person you can blame is whoever it is that just will not get rid of their klez problems (as well as other e-mail viruses). I'm sick and tired of opening my e-mail and seeing more than a dozen messages from MAILER DAEMON saying that e-mail I set was not accepted, especially when it was to somebody I've never sent mail to in my life; or when I get mail from newsletters I've never signed up for. If you are reading this and know you're responsible, PLEASE GET SOMETHING TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR VIRUSES. I don't mean to come off as sounding mean, but it's seriously irritating the bejesus out of me. After the Monster Rancher 3 FAQ, I'm going to say this. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all. I know that not everyone is instantly going to listen to this, but if you wish to flame me for something on a FAQ, please don't even bother e-mailing because you will be instantly ignored and added straight to my e-mails' blocking lists, so that you can never e-mail me with that address again. Also with the last one, if you feel the need to falsely accuse me of plagiarism, please only do so if you are the author of the item that you felt was plagiarized. If you are not, you will be instantly ignored. Please stop sending me files. I will not download them unless they are someone I know, and by this I mean someone I know -personally- like family or best friends. I have suspected that some files that have been sent to me are viruses (with good justification after being persecuted) and did not download them. This also means not to send me FAQs or any other material to critique. INFO INVOLVING PUTTING MY NAME IN ADDRESS BOOKS: It has come to my attention recently that some of you out there have been putting my name in your address books. This is all fine and dandy by me. However, one, maybe more, amonst you have contracted the Klez virus (or something similar). I know this because I'm constantly getting e-mails sent back to me by MAILER-DAEMON and the like that certain e-mails that I didn't personally send are not going through because they have viruses in them. This is usually how viruses like Klez operate; they get into your address book, find a name, and begin sending e-mails using that name. I will say this loud and clear... CLEAN YOUR SYSTEMS!!! Download FixKlez or AVG Virus Scanner Free Edition. They're free, much emphasis on FREE, which means costs you nothing but time and hard drive space. You can probably find them on Download.com, if not do a Google search for them. If you have something you would like to contribute to this FAQ, do send it in. That does not mean it will be definitely accepted, though. _______________________________________________________________________ UPDATE HISTORY 2/7/02- I recent withdrew from my Astronomy class. Usually, I don't withdraw from classes, but this combined with my already heavy work load from my History and Math classes has had a heavy toll on me and my stress level. I've decided to wait until next quarter to do my Astronomy class and now have some free time to FAQ write again. I've decided then to do a FAQ for this game. Legal Bit is up. Combination list for combining items is up. 2/8/02 -11:00 AM Update Woohoo! Head baggers elections start at the Commissary today! I can't wait to vote! I just added a little to the walkthrough. Not very much. I also added a little info in there about distributing ability points for your robots. -5:30 PM Update 3A Completed. Added some characters to section 1C. -6:30 PM Update Section 1D Complete. -8:30 PM Update Added some weapons to Section 3B. Info given for Sword 1 and Shot 1. Walkthrough goes through Forest. That's enough FAQing for one night. It's off to play me some Silent Hill 2. 2/9/02 -4:30 PM Update Did some title Updates. IE- Changed Martians to aliens. Don't know why I put Martians, but oh well... Section 1 completed. That brings the FAQ (in Rich Text form) up to 60K. -7:00 PM Update Section 2 complete. -11:30 PM Update Section 4 complete. Added a little to the walkthrough. It now covers up to the point where you get the Drill. Enough of this. Sleepy time for me... 2/10/02 -10:20 PM Update Added a little to the walkthrough. Got up to the part where you first see Meta Crab and that's it. I probably won't be adding too much more until either later tomorrow night or Tuesday before I go to work. 2/11/02 -6:45 PM Update Major reconstruction to the Item section, at least to most of the equipment. Full stat information given for Sword 1 and Shot 2. There was also a little added for Bomb 1, Hammer 1, and Shield 1 (I will keep you posted when their stats are complete in the FAQ). I would do more stat updates, but right now I have a big headache and would like to rest for a little while. 2/15/02 -1:00 PM Update Full stat information for Hammer 1. Added a little stat info to Axe 1 and Punch 2 as well. Added Kotetsu to the character list. Walkthrough goes through the first boss battle and covers a minute amount of info afterward. 5A is nearly complete. 2/17/02 -6:40 PM Update Section 5A is declared complete. Full stat information for Punch 1, Axe 1, and Shield 2 available. Added a little stat information for Punch 2, Punch 3, and Sword 2. Walkthrough is up to the point where you have to go to the Forest of Illusion. 2/18/02 -2:00 PM Update No school today thanks to President's Day. To salute our past leaders, I've decided to spend today writing my Robotrek FAQ and playing GTA3 and Gunman Chronicles. Full stat information for Shot 2, Sword 2, Punch 2, and Punch 3 available. Walkthrough spans through the Forest of Illusion. -7:30 PM Update Added a little to the walkthrough. 2/20/02 -12:00 PM Update Only added a bit to the walkthrough and added some more information on Stone 1, as well as added Light to the item section, and full information for Boots 2. I also threw in just a bit to the section when fighting Meta Crab. It just dawned on me that you can have Shield 2 before you even fight the creature. 2/22/02 -4:00 PM Update A bit more added to the walkthrough. Right now, it's up to the point where you gain access to the Breaker Room in the well. 2/25/02 -6:30 PM Update Full stat information for Axe 2, Shield 3, and Power Pack available. Walkthrough goes up to the beginning of the Clock Tower. 2/26/02 -1:45 PM Update Section 5B of the walkthrough complete (5B covers up to the battle against Mamurana and a few small cutscenes thereafter). Getting a start now on Section 5C: Tropical Getaway. Full stat info for Boots 3 and Boots 4. 3/17/02 -4:00 PM Update Looking back on past updates, I noticed the dates said, "5/XX." How that came to be, I have no clue. They've been changed to reflect truthful date, though. Walkthrough covers up to the part where you first enter the volcano. 3/22/02 -11:20 AM Update Completed my last college final today and I'm officially on Spring Break! I also have to work like hell these next two weeks, doing express work... Bah! Decided to take "Difficulty Rating" out of the boss battles. My reason being that difficulty really varies as an effect of your level. Walkthrough covers up to the point where you enter the Hackers' base in the Volcano. I'm off to eat lunch and there should be another update directly after. -10:00 PM Update Yeah, I said "after lunch." I didn't say how long after lunch. What? You have a problem with 10 hours? Did some odds and ends in the Hacker's Volcano Hideout as far as the walkthrough goes. 3/23/02 -7:30 PM Update I started work today... 6:35 AM. I got done with work today... 6:25 PM. That's the longest workday I've ever had. I'm aching like hell and nothing sounds more tempting right now other than relaxing and adding to this FAQ until Yu-Yu Hakusho comes on. 3/24/02 -12:00 PM Update A small update to pass the time. Just added a tiny bit to the walkthrough. I'm not even putting this update online. -8:30 PM Update Another small update. The walkthrough covers up to the point where you enter the Volcano Hideout the second time. 5/9/02 -1:14 PM Update It's been a while since I've actually updated this. I've had a very busy quarter this month involving Astronomy and Abnormal Psychology. I think I'm doing very well in both classes. Finally, back to the walkthrough. Added a little more to the walkthrough. Right now, I'm going to head off to mail something that's needed mailing since last month and I'll probably be heading off to do a little gaming (the things I do with my days off...). -7:10 PM Update Fixed the mistake in the walkthrough section that I just added and also added more to the walkthrough. It now covers up to the point where you develop the Chameleon Glasses. 5/10/02 -2:40 PM Update Full information for Quick Pack and Celtis 1 available. Added to the walkthrough. It now covers up to where you must steal money for Kotetsu. Also just added partial info for the Sword 4. I'll probably have full info for it by the next update (if all goes well). 6/3/02 -4:50 PM Update Added a tiny amount to the walkthrough. Full data for Sword 4 up. I would have added more, but dinner's callin'. Just wait until I'm done. -5:57 PM Update Full information available for Sword 3, Axe 3, and Shield 4. Added more info for Bomb 1. Walkthrough now covers up through the third boss battle. I've put an ample beginning for the fourth section of the walkthrough (which has no real information) uncleaverly entitled "Framed!!!" I couldn't think of anything more original, so that will just have to do. 6/4/02 -7:40 PM Update Found that I'm not done with the 5C portion of the walkthrough and added what little needed to be added. Got a start on Section 5D: Framed!!! Added to the walkthrough. It's about halfway through the Rococo Sewers. 7/28/02 -8:00 PM Update It's been almost two months, I figure I should update my FAQ. Heh, I thought the Summer would bring more opportunities to write. It's only kept me away from writing, what with all the free social time I get! Added to the walkthrough. Some info for Bomb 4 is up. 7/29/02 -1:35 PM Update Yep, you heard me! I'm updating more today! Just a tad bit more to the walkthrough right now. Maybe more after I take a shower. 11/3/02 -6:01 PM Update It's been months since this FAQ has been touched. I apologize for it not being complete by now. I figure now that the Cel Damage FAQ I was writing is complete, I can finally go on to finish this. There will not be any other FAQs going into creation until this one is technically complete, or at least the walkthrough is complete. Walkthrough is up the Air Base -10:15 PM Update Sidetracked a bit by a phone call. No biggie. Section 5E of the walkthrough complete. Also a few items added to the item secion. I also decided to stay up 1/2 hour later just to finish a section for a side quest (5F). 11/5/02 -10:24 PM Update Beginning work almost right away. I may not be adding too much tonight, though. I would like to play a little Vice City before going to bed. Added a little to the walkthrough. Started on the Fortress for Section 5G. 11/6/02 -1:35 PM Update Added a tiny amount to the walkthrough. Partial information given for Laser 1 (will probably have full info on the next update), Blade 1, and Blow 1. Full information up for Celtis 2 and Turbo Pack. 12/17/02 -8:28 PM Update The Fall quarter ended more than half a week ago. It's finally time to try to finish this FAQ before the next quarter starts. I'm only hoping that I can, otherwise... Oh well... Full information available for Shot 3 and Laser 1. Added a sparse amount to the walkthrough. -12:00 AM Update Walkthrough now covers the first battle with Bugbug. Also updated the definition of Speed. 12/31/02 -1:33 PM Update I know, I've really been slacking. Then again, I've got about 121 uncompleted games I've been trying to complete (I've completed four in the last couple days). Full information now available for Shield 5, Blade 1 (with a correction on level 8), and Blade 2. Walkthrough covers up to the Blacktank boss battle. 1/13/03 -8:35 PM Update Updated the walkthrough some more. Section 5G complete. Walkthrough covers up to the point where you have to enter the Forest of Illusion in the past. 6/11/03 -10:00 PM Update My apologies to anyone who was waiting for updates to this FAQ or any FAQ-related e-mail. The main reason that nothing has been done in terms of FAQs is that I have been going to school full time and I finally got a break for summer. This has been the roughest year of college yet. I did poorly the last couple of quarters, however, I feel I recovered quite strongly this quarter. Enough musing, on with the updates. The walkthrough is coming along well. As of this update, it's about halfway through the cave in the past. Currently taking a break to watch Family Guy. 6/12/03 -12:40 AM Update Back to updating... Walkthrough is past the situations involving the past. -3:40 AM Update Advanced the walkthrough a bit further. It's now at Choco Lab. 6/16/03 -4:40 PM Update Thanks to Karsanow, the weapon section information will be complete. 6/29/03 -12:40 PM Update Every night, I say to myself that I'm going to update, then I get a call saying, "Hey, let's hang out tonight!" I haven't had much time to myself in the last week. Finally, here's an update. I used Sacred Hero/Solomon Warrior's guide (with permission, of course) to verify what Karsanow already had, just to be extra safe. -3:30 PM Update Got sidetracked on other things while doing the previous update (phone call, other FAQs, Arc the Lad 3), and didn't add much consequently. 6/30/03 -4:30 PM Update Did a little more for the walkthrough. It's currently to the early events in the Hackers' Space Fortress. Would have put more up if not for the needs of the body. Must have dinner, but will update again after I'm done. -7:20 PM Update Added Section 1E: General Tips. I completely forgot to put one of these in this guide. 8/8/03 -8:30 PM Update A little more to the walkthrough added. At the point where you can use the elevator in the Space Fortress. 8/10/03 -10:00 AM Update More added to the walkthrough. Getting closer and closer to finished. -1:30 PM Update Added a little bit about the yellow doors to the walkthrough. I was going to add a whole lot more, but I am on-call for work today and I just got called (I don't have to come in if I get called, but I do really need the extra money). -6:00 PM Update Meager update. -10:00 PM Update Guess what... This FAQ is finally complete! Walkthrough complete, final boss strategy down, etc. Have a nice day... Oi vey... This was a long-lasting project... 12/28/03 -10:17 PM Update New e-mail, and a new message involving the e-mail. Reference credit goes to: The chart that came with the game Karsanow and Solomon Warrior for information on the following pieces of equipment: Bomb 1-4, Blade 3 and 4, Hammer 2 and 3, Celtis 3, Blow 1-3, Laser 2 and 3, and a few of the packs. Contents According to Joe ------------------------- Section 1: Introduction 1A: Goofy Aspiring Inventor vs. Aliens: Details at 11 1B: Gameplay 1C: Characters 1D: The R&D 1E: General Tips Section 2: Building Robots 2A: The Act of... 2B: Gaining Levels and Inventor's Friends Section 3: Items 3A: Regular Usage 3B: Weapons 3C: Basic Equipment 3D: Event/Special Items Section 4: Generating/Combining Items 4A: How to... 4B: Combination List Section 5: Walkthrough 5A: In the Beginning... 5B: Home of the Haunted 5C: Tropical Getaway 5D: Framed!!! 5E: Maximum Penetration 5F: The Fever Flower (optional) 5G: Into the Fray 5H: Connection to the Past 5I: Danger is My Middle Name 5J: Final Showdown Section 6: FAQ Section 7: Legal Bit Section 8: Thank You and Goodbye Walkthrough Notes: 5A: In the Beginning...- Covers the beginning through the first boss fight. 5B: Home of the Haunted- Covers the events after the first boss through the second boss battle. 5C: Tropical Getaway- Covers the events after the second boss through the third boss battle. 5D: Framed!!!- Covers the events in Rococo leading up to the fourth boss (that would include the sewers and exposing the fake Mayor). 5E: Maximum Penetration- Starts after you defeat the fourth boss and ends when you obtain the Blimp. 5F: The Fever Flower- Optional side quest. 5G: Into the Fray- Starts after you get the Blimp. Still under construction. 5H: Connection to the Past- Covers all the events in the past. 5I: Danger is My Middle Name- Begins after you return to the present and ends after the first battle with Gateau. 5J: Final Showdown- Final evens and final boss. ------------------------- / SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION \ ----------------------------- 1A: GOOFY ASPIRING INVENTOR VS ALIENS: DETAILS AT 11 For the last couple decades, Enix has brought us some of the best RPG's. Many would argue that they are the end all greatest RPG company, even more so than SquareSoft. Personally, I really don't think I could fully decide on who makes the best RPG's, but I will agree that Enix has brought us some of the best from Dragon Warrior to Star Ocean. Robotrek is no exception. While it may not be the best RPG created (in my opinion), it is definitely a worthy game. A small continent not too far away is home to a very famous inventor. His name is Akihabara. His inventions are considered some of the greatest ever thought. After a while, Akihabara decides to take his son and assistant, Nagisa, to a new town. It is around this time that his son can finally start that career as an inventor, just like his father. Akihabara's son (who is not given a default name, which means you'll have to name him) does not fully know the situation he is about to fall into. Akihabara decides it's time to take a trip to a little retreat he has in the forest. His son decides to visit him and upon arrival finds a strange figure speaking with his father. It is now that a group of evil aliens known as the Hackers make their appearance. Not much is known about the Hackers aside from the fact that they are ruled by a strange individual named Blackmore. Their intentions are obviously evil (as they so blantantly point out), but what could their plans for the human race be? 1B: GAMEPLAY If you've played this game before, then you can obviously tell that this is an RPG. If not, then well... Look at the last word on the last sentence! The game layout is a bit like this... You have a regular, 2D plane-based environment which your main character moves around on. In the regular environment, you character can inspect various things around him with the A button. This can be helpful as you can find items and even special books called Inventor's Friends (see Section 2B). As you leave an area, you will be placed on the world map. The world map looks a lot like Super Mario World's world map. You see various dots next to different structures or land features. You can then walk to those dots and push A to enter the area. Pushing X brings up your character screen. Here you can work with various different features. Each of them are indicated below. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ | | | | | | | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| 1: INVENTORY This is where your items are stored. Please not that you CANNOT use healing items from this selection. Here is where you can equip special or event items to use during the game. To do so, pick the item you wish to use and push A to select it and make sure its icon appears at the top of the screen. Then, push Y when and where you wish to use. 2: MAINTENENCE This is where you can use healing items and such. There are a few selections on this screen as well. The capsule is the arrange icon. That allows you to arrange your robots in whatever order you wish to have them in. The next one is Cure. This allows you to use your Cure items, assuming you have any. After that is Clean, which takes care of any adversive effects on your robot. Finally, there's Repair, which fully restores you robot to one whole piece. 3: STATUS This is where you can check on your status and the status of your robots. Your status will display a variety of things. Experience in this game is expressed in terms of Memory (Megs of data). Just below your character's picture is the experience he has gained and the experience remaining. This place also displays the amount of money you have (in GP's), your program points (which go towards your robots' stats), the item you have equipped, and the items you can develop. Viewing status for your robots is a bit different. Below them is their base stats. They are: Energy: The more energy, the more HP your robots have. Power: Decides the amount of damage your robot does. Guard: Decides the amount of damage your robot can absorb. Speed: Decides how often your robot will evade attacks. I also think this might be your robot's luck, as far as hit rates and critical rates (although I'm not sure on that). Charge: This is how fast your robot's action meter fills up. This just in on the definition of speed. "SPEED: inaccurately named, should be DEXTERITY (DEX). This stat affects the robot's turn order in battle (initiative), chance to hit/critical hit (THAC0), and its chance to evade physical and status/effect attacks (saving throw). The higher the SPEED number, the better your robot's chances are for first turn in battle, fewer misses when attacking, more critical hits and fewer successful enemy hits. Also increases % resistance to status effects like RUST and STOP. Useless under 10 points." Thanks to virgo1869 for that. To the right is also your robot's current stats: Energy: Robot's HP Left/Right Arm Strength: The amount of damage that arm can cause with its current weapon. Back Strength: Assuming a Bomb is equipped, this would be the damage it can cause. Move: How much space your robot can use to move during battle. Guard: Robot's over-all defense. Evasion: Robot's dodging ability. Finally, there's the robots equipment below the current stats. 4: RUN This allows you to program different attack sequences that you can run during battle. These are a MUST in this game! One of the best, in my opinion, is having a triple attack with a melee weapon. Let's say you have a sword in your right hand and you want to use that to attack three times. You would then select a space and enter the program RRR. This will allow you to attack three times, but only with a melee weapon. Experiment with different attacks and different weapons, as different ones can generate different attacks. 5: CONFIGURATION This allows you to set different preferences you have for this game. Message: Your message speed during the game. The faster your set it, the faster text will go. I recommend fast. Sound: Set it to stero or mono. Button Setting: Set the buttons as you wish. The battle system of this game is quite unique. The layout is a bit like early Final Fantasy games like FF6. You character will throw a robot out (somewhat like Pokemon, except that this game came out before Pokemon) and the battle will commence. There will be several different things you see here on the screen. One of them you might first notice is the timer. Should you win the battle before time runs out, you get extra experience! There are several capsules on the battle field. If you hit the capsules with a melee weapon, they will open and give you various different goodies. You usually, if anything, get items or extra experience. Once in a great while, you can have your equipment's level increased by 1. Sometimes, though, the capsules will just explode. If they explode near you, they will cause damage (very little, but still damage nonetheless). When you enter battle, you will see a meter building up. When that meter is full, your turn has arrived and you can execute your actions (to make the meter fill up faster, push B repeatedly). Attacking an enemy depends on what you have equipped and where it is equipped. You can just walk up to the enemy, push A to bring down the action list, select attack, then pick your weapon, but that's a bit redundant. Instead, get into proper position and push either L, R, or X. L will execute an attack with your left hand, R will do the same for right, X will do an attack with your pack (assuming a weapon is equipped). You don't even need to bring up the menu when doing an automatic attack with L, R, or X. Just push the button and you're set! Also in the menu is Guard, which allows you to defend for a round. Escape allows you to run away from battle if need be. Finally, there's [Insert Main Character's name here]. This allows you to use items for healing and such. There are a few different regular usage items (see Section 3). Finally, to execute a run get in proper position, bring up the menu, select Attack, then select Run and pick the program you wish to use. Button Breakdown Environment D-Pad: Move character A: Inspect, advance text B: Run X: Bring up character screen Y: Use equipped item L: Inspect, advance text R: No use Select: Bring up character screen Start: Pause game World Map D-pad: Move character A: Enter level B: Run X: No use Y: No use L: Enter level R: No use Select: Toggle view mode Start: Pause game Character Screen D-Pad: Move cursor A: Make selection B: Cancel X, Y, L, R, Start, Select: No use Battle Screen D-Pad: Move robot when initiated, move menu cursor A: Make selection B: Cancel/Move back one menu X: Attack with pack Y: No use L: Attack with left hand R: Attack with right hand Select: No use Start: Pause game 1C: CHARACTER Main Character: Our unnamed hero. Well, unnamed until you finally name him. He aspires to be a famous inventor like his father, Akihabara. Akihabara: The Main Character's father. He's a famous inventor. Teaches his son how to build robots. Nagisa: The Main Character's mother figure. Not his true mother, although she does bear a strange resemblance to her... Hmm... Kurogane: Akihabara's cat. Doesn't go far from his master. Mayor of Rococo: Has a strange infatuation with his new intern. Um... Clinton much? Rose: The Mayor's new intern. She's been making jaws drop lately around Rococo. Carl: A little boy living in Rococo. He and some others get lost at one point and it's up to you to find them. Dr. Einst: A pompous inventor. Believes he's so much better than the Main Character. Kotetsu: A young man who enjoys exploring and adventure. He is captured early on in the game by the Hackers and it's up to you to set him free. Mint: A reporter from Rococo. She goes whereever she can find a top story to report on. Flavon: An old man who is a partner of Akihabara. He is injured while running from Hackers and winds up at Count Prinky's Mansion Parsley: Flavon's dog. Count Prinky: The owner of the "Old House." His house appears to be haunted by some supernatural force. Igor: Count Prinky's servant. Mamurana: A possessed doll that dwells within Prinky's abode. It teleports through the different areas of his mansion. Blackmore: The leader of the Hackers. Has a major evil scheme to unleash on the Earth. Meta Crab: A higher ranking member of the Hackers with a crab for a head. Strange guy who loves to boss around his subordinates. Shaman: A powerful shaman of a village on a tropical island. He seems to speak highly of some deity that needs appeasing in the volcano. Napoleon: A mysterious being indeed... You learn more about him later in the game and that's all that I'll say. Dr G: A Hacker scientist who's developing innovative computer equipment including a helmet that allows you to go inside a computer. Polon- A young woman who helps you out in the past. She finds the main character injured and nurses him to health. Rask- One of the space travelors. When his ship crashed, he was badly injured and taken in by Polon. Cookie- One of Rask's companions. Gateau- Accompanied by Napleon and Cookie, he came with strange interest in the Tetron. Hmm... Tira- Princess of Choco and descendant of Cookie. 1D: THE R&D Ahh... Research and Development! Scattered throughout the game are various R&D rooms where you can maintain your robot and do many different functions that are quite necessary to the game. Needless to say, you should be getting -quite- familiar with this place before you even complete the first dungeon. In the R&D is a huge computer that looks like an SNES gamepad. If you investigate the very middle of the gamepad/computer thing, it'll take you to another screen with some choices at the top. They should look something like this (numbers will indicate what each selection does): _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ | | | | | | | | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| 1: INVENT/CREATE Have a new invention that you need to make for a special event? Or, is there an item you need to build for your robots? This is where you do it. Throughout the game are various inventor's helpers and special events that will give the Main Character ideas as far as new items to create. So, I would strongly recommend you search just about every bookshelf you see. 2: COMBINE Very useful section. There are quite a number of items and weapons that are very useful for given parts and require you to combine. See Section 4 for details. 3: RECYCLE Basically, this game's version of selling. You can't sell items at shops, so you must recycle them here and get a little GP in return. 4: BUILD A ROBOT This selection allows you to build a robot. You can only have up to three robots. Each robot progressively costs more money. Try to build your robots as soon as possible (yes, all three of them). It can make things a lot easier having three allies to mess with. 5: MAINTENANCE With this function you can fully repair robots, but at a cost. 6: PROGRAM This allows you to program different attacks into your robots, depending on what they have equiped. See Section 2D for better details. This also allows you to distribute ability points your robots get when they are created and when you gain a level. See Section 2B for more details. 7: EXIT Figure it out... 1E: GENERAL TIPS -The further in the game you'll get, the more you'll start to see enemies who are weaker/stronger against different types of weapons than others. This is why it's a great idea to give you robots different types of weapons. Aside from just projectile weapons (Shot, Laser), be sure to carry some magical weapons (Sword 4, Blade 4) and some melee weapons (Axe, Hammer, Punch). -While engaging a boss, try to get behind them to attack. You can do more damage that way, especially if you hit with a critical shot. -Try not to leave your back open. This is like saying, "Okay, you can kill me now." This especially applies to bosses. A good number of boss attacks will kill you instantly if you leave your back open. -Big Bombs eventually become obsolete. In fact, they do become so quite early in the game. I recommend recylcing them, but if you really like them that much, then whatever... -Always keep a fresh stock of Cures, Repairs, and Cleans. Cleans are not completely important, so don't overstock on them. If you have too many, recycle them to make room for Cures and Repairs. -Keep your old weapons. You never know when you'll need them in a combination. Even if the combinations that weapon makes are little ones, little ones can eventually become big ones if you become literate enough with combining. -After a while, using your bomb pack becomes obsolete. So, equip whatever on your pack you feel would be best for your robot. Always take into consideration what stats you are emphasizing on your robot. You may want to put something to accentuate your stat emphasis and make it higher, or to try to compensate for one stat that isn't as emphasized. -Try to end battles as quickly as possible. Quicker end = More experience = Faster levels. -If you just cannot beat a boss, try one of two things: 1) Buy more Cures and Repairs or 2) Build levels. The recommended levels is only the MINIMUM level that I've been able to beat the boss with. This doesn't mean that everyone else will be able to, as playing styles in this game could vary. -Don't give up until you've been defeated. There was one battle when I was fighting De Rose where she maliciously kicked the crap out of me. I was down to the last hit on my last robot with no more healing items and I said, "Only a miraculous act of God can save me now..." I took one more shot on De Rose and destroyed her. Just because you think you've gotten your ass handed to you does not mean that you're completely out of the ball game. Keep dishing out until all of your robots are dead. -Always check frequently to see if you can make newer, more powerful weapons. When you get a new weapon, see if there's a way you can create more or create components to combine to make more. For example, if you have an Axe 1, check if you can create more Axe 1s. If not, then see if you can create the components to make an Axe 1, combine those to make another Axe 1, then combine the two Axe 1's. Combining the same weapon repeatedly can make it stronger. That and it cuts down on the time spent having to wait for Equipment Level Up capsules. The only downside is money. If you don't have much money, this can be a problem. So, fight battles often enough so you can get some money to use for such projects. -SAVE OFTEN! If you have anything equipped often, MAKE IT YOUR TRANSCEIVER! Save before you make really big decisions, save before boss battles, save every time you make some progress in the right direction. Save, save, save. This is the only time I'm going to emphasize it. I will not remind you throughout the FAQ. Of course, if you're using an emulator and save states, then I probably don't have to remind you that much. ---------------------------- / SECTION 2: BUILDING ROBOTS \ -------------------------------- 2A: THE ACT OF... Building robots is the core of the game. In most RPG's, your party is comprised of various characters who join you on your quest or someone you recuited. This game is somewhat like recuiting, except instead of actually recruiting, you actually BUILD your party. The best part is that you can build just about any time in the game. Yes, you can even try to go through the game with only one robot (for a good challenge). The most robots you can create is three. While I do recommend that you create them as soon as possible, I do indicate in the walkthrough where you -should- have X number of robots built. Upon building your robot you will be asked to do two things. The first is to name your robot. The name really doens't matter, but this helps you to distinguish your robots from each other. After naming them, you can then allocate the program points (or ability points as I sometimes refer to them). Allocating these really depends on your preferences. If you want an all out powerful robot, then of course your major emphasis will be on Power. I usually like to have one balanced robot, one all out power robot, and one that has a good emphasis on Power and Charge [see Section 1B for details on stats; They can be found under the explanation of the Status explanation] This does not, however, mean that you should completely undermine any stats. You should regularly boost every stat, even Speed. Each stat helps very much in battle. When leaving main emphasis on one stat, that means you should give a bit more to the stat(s) that you wish to emphasize. After that, allocate the rest about evenly to the rest of your stats. Each level brings 10 more program points, so allocate wisely. Be sure your robot is equipped with some of the best equipment and give the best Run Programs. See the Section 1B and look under the section on Run explanation to get more info on Run Programs. Both good equipment and good Runs are helpful. Powerful weapons can cause good damage and using runs to execute more powerful attacks and combos can increase the damage you do drastically. I've found that a triple hit combo with a melee weapon from behind can cause massive damage on a critical. Weapon levels also can help. While it may not be economical to go for the highest weapon level, sometimes actually building up a weapon can helpa bit. 2B: BUILDING LEVELS AND INVENTOR'S FRIENDS As you win battles, you gain megs of data. This is the game's experience system. As you gain more and more data, you eventually gain a level. Upon gaining levels you gain two helpful edges in the game. One is that you get 10 more program points and the other is that you can read the next level of Inventor's Friend and learn how to develop something new. What is Inventor's Friend? Inventor's Friend is a book that appears on various bookshelves throughout the game. You can only read an Inventor's Friend that corresponds with your level or lower. So, if you're level 5 and you read level 4, you will still get the data from it. Reading them allows you to gain ideas for developing weapons and items. Items can be developed in any R&D. They can all be found in these places: [locations credited to Enix on their chart that came with the game] Level 1- Father's home; In the back. Teaches you Boots 1. Level 2- Your house. Teaches you Sword 1. Level 3- Your house. Teaches you Shot 1. Level 4- Your house. Teaches you Bomb 1. Level 5- Your house. Teaches you Shield 1. Level 6- Your house. Teaches you Hammer 1. Level 7- Your house. Teaches you Punch 1. [the following will have specific locations as this guide progresses, except for ones indicated with *] Level 8- Haunted House. Teaches you Boots 2. Level 9- Haunted House. Teaches you Axe 1. Level 10- Haunted House or Fortress. Teaches you Shield 3. Level 11- Haunted House or Fortress. Teaches you Power Pack. Level 12- Bio Lab. Teaches you Sword 2. Level 13- Bio Lab. Teaches you Punch 2. Level 14- Bio Lab. Teaches you Celtis 1. Level 15*- Father's home; In the back. Teaches you Shield Pack. Level 16- Bio Lab or Fortress. Teaches you Quick Pack. Level 17- Bio Lab or Hacker Hideout. Teaches you Bomb 2. Level 18- Your house or Hacker Hideout. Teaches you Turbo Pack. Level 19*- Your house. Teaches you Weather. Level 20*- Your house. Teaches you Vanish. Level 21*- Rococo Tool Shop. To the left of the manager. Teaches you Smoke. Level 22*- Rococo Tool Shop. To the left of the manager. Teaches you Cure. Level 23*- Rococo Tool Shop. To the left of the manager. Teaches you Clean. Level 24*- Your house. Teaches you Repair. Level 25- Hacker Hideout. Teaches you Laser 1. Level 26- Hacker Hideout. Teaches you Blade 1. Level 27- Hacker Hideout. Teaches you Blade 2. Level 28- Rococo's Past or Polon's House. Teaches you Bomb 3. Level 29- Rococo's Past or Polon's House. Teaches you Shot 3. Level 30- Choco Lab. Teaches you Shield 5. Level 40- Choco Lab. Teaches you Boots 6. Level 50- Choco Lab. Teaches you Bomb 4. ------------------ / SECTION 3: ITEMS \ ---------------------- 3A:REGULAR USAGE -Cure- Restores a little HP to your robots. -Clean- Eliminates adversive conditions from your robots. -Smoke- Automatically allows you to run from battle. -Big Bomb- Throw this out during battle to damage all enemies on the screen. -Repair- Fully restores a destroyed robot. -Scrap- Can be used in combinations to make other items. 3B: WEAPONS One thing you should know about weapons is this: They all have a rank and a level. The rank is expressed within the name (Bomb 1 is a rank 1 Bomb). The level is not expressed in the name and all new weapons start at level 1. Weapons can go no further than level 9. Each level is shown on the status screen of the game. The higher the level, the stronger the weapon. In this section, I list the weapon's strength ranking at level 9, so that way you can see what the best ones can be at their highest level. Building levels on weapons isn't hard if you have enough money. -Bombs- Long range weapons that take a lot of energy to use. They are capable of causing pretty good damage to enemies, but I usually tend to stop using them after the first boss or so. Bomb 1: Creation Cost: 400GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 4 Lv 1: +10 Lv 2: +15 Lv 3: +20 Lv 4: +25 Lv 5: +30 Lv 6: +35 Lv 7: +40 Lv 8: +45 LV 9: +50 Bomb 2: Lv 1: +23 Lv 2: +28 Lv 3: +34 Lv 4: +41 Lv 5: +49 Lv 6: +59 Lv 7: +71 Lv 8: +85 LV 9: +101 Bomb 3: Lv 1: +28 Lv 2: +33 Lv 3: +39 Lv 4: +46 Lv 5: +54 Lv 6: +64 Lv 7: +76 Lv 8: +90 LV 9: +106 Bomb 4: Lv 1: +36 Lv 2: +41 Lv 3: +47 Lv 4: +54 Lv 5: +62 Lv 6: +72 Lv 7: +84 Lv 8: +98 LV 9: +114 -Swords- These are really basic weapons. However, I'll tell you that Sword 4 is one of the best for a while. Sword 1: Creation Cost: 200GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 2 Lv 1: +5 Lv 2: +6 Lv 3: +7 Lv 4: +8 Lv 5: +9 Lv 6: +11 Lv 7: +13 Lv 8: +15 LV 9: +17 Sword 2: Creation Cost: 400GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 12 Lv 1: +10 Lv 2: +13 Lv 3: +16 Lv 4: +19 Lv 5: +22 Lv 6: +26 Lv 7: +30 Lv 8: +34 LV 9: +38 Sword 3: Lv 1: +20 Lv 2: +25 Lv 3: +30 Lv 4: +35 Lv 5: +40 Lv 6: +45 Lv 7: +50 Lv 8: +55 LV 9: +60 Sword 4: Lv 1: +40 Lv 2: +45 Lv 3: +50 Lv 4: +55 Lv 5: +60 Lv 6: +65 Lv 7: +70 Lv 8: +75 LV 9: +80 -Shots- Your basic, long range, gun weapon. Very useful for getting those far away enemies without having to waste a lot of energy on a Bomb. The only advantage a Bomb has over a Shot is the fact that Bombs are generally stronger. Shot 1: Creation Cost: 200GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 3 Lv 1: +4 Lv 2: +6 Lv 3: +8 Lv 4: +10 Lv 5: +12 Lv 6: +15 Lv 7: +18 Lv 8: +21 LV 9: +24 Shot 2: Creation Cost: N/A Lv 1: +10 Lv 2: +12 Lv 3: +14 Lv 4: +16 Lv 5: +18 Lv 6: +21 Lv 7: +24 Lv 8: +27 LV 9: +30 Shot 3: Lv 1: +32 Lv 2: +34 Lv 3: +36 Lv 4: +38 Lv 5: +40 Lv 6: +43 Lv 7: +46 Lv 8: +49 LV 9: +52 -Blades- Very strong sword-like weapons. Blade 4, if memory serves me correctly, has the potential of becoming the strongest weapon in the game. Blade 1: Lv 1: +10 Lv 2: +12 Lv 3: +14 Lv 4: +16 Lv 5: +18 Lv 6: +21 Lv 7: +24 Lv 8: +27 LV 9: +30 Blade 2: Lv 1: +15 Lv 2: +17 Lv 3: +19 Lv 4: +21 Lv 5: +23 Lv 6: +26 Lv 7: +29 Lv 8: +32 LV 9: +35 Blade 3: Lv 1: +20 Lv 2: +22 Lv 3: +24 Lv 4: +26 Lv 5: +28 Lv 6: +31 Lv 7: +34 Lv 8: +37 LV 9: +40 Blade 4: Lv 1: +55 Lv 2: +65 Lv 3: +75 Lv 4: +85 Lv 5: +95 Lv 6: +105 Lv 7: +115 Lv 8: +125 LV 9: +135 -Axes- Very strong weapons. These actually have potential of becoming some of the strongest early in the game. If you do get these, I advise building them at least a little bit early in the game. Axe 1: Creation Cost: 400GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 9 Lv 1: +10 Lv 2: +20 Lv 3: +30 Lv 4: +40 Lv 5: +50 Lv 6: +60 Lv 7: +70 Lv 8: +80 LV 9: +90 Axe 2: Creation Cost: N/A Lv 1: +20 Lv 2: +30 Lv 3: +40 Lv 4: +50 Lv 5: +60 Lv 6: +70 Lv 7: +80 Lv 8: +90 LV 9: +100 Axe 3: Lv 1: +40 Lv 2: +50 Lv 3: +60 Lv 4: +70 Lv 5: +80 Lv 6: +90 Lv 7: +100 Lv 8: +110 LV 9: +120 -Hammers- Also fairly tough. I really haven't used these ones too much, so there really isn't much for me to report. They're probably not one of my favorite weapons. Hammer 1: Creation Cost: 200GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 6 Lv 1: +8 Lv 2: +11 Lv 3: +14 Lv 4: +17 Lv 5: +20 Lv 6: +24 Lv 7: +28 Lv 8: +32 LV 9: +36 Hammer 2: Lv 1: +10 Lv 2: +12 Lv 3: +14 Lv 4: +16 Lv 5: +18 Lv 6: +21 Lv 7: +24 Lv 8: +27 LV 9: +30 Hammer 3: Lv 1: +24 Lv 2: +27 Lv 3: +30 Lv 4: +33 Lv 5: +36 Lv 6: +40 Lv 7: +44 Lv 8: +48 LV 9: +52 -Punches- I actually used these a lot. They aren't the best weapons in the game, but for some reason I noticed they have a high critical hit rate. I don't know if it's just me or if they really do have a high critical rate, but I still like punches just fine. Recommended early in the game, but by the latter scenes, you should have some bigger and better guns, so to speak. Punch 1: Creation Cost: 200GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 7 Lv 1: +12 Lv 2: +15 Lv 3: +18 Lv 4: +21 Lv 5: +24 Lv 6: +28 Lv 7: +32 Lv 8: +36 LV 9: +40 Punch 2: Creation Cost: 500GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 13 Lv 1: +24 Lv 2: +27 Lv 3: +30 Lv 4: +33 Lv 5: +36 Lv 6: +40 Lv 7: +44 Lv 8: +48 LV 9: +52 Punch 3: Creation Cost: N/A Lv 1: +48 Lv 2: +51 Lv 3: +54 Lv 4: +57 Lv 5: +60 Lv 6: +64 Lv 7: +68 Lv 8: +72 LV 9: +76 -Celtises- I'll give you a description later. I haven't played the game in a long time and have pretty much forgotten exactly what a celtis is. Celtis 1: Lv 1: +12 Lv 2: +14 Lv 3: +16 Lv 4: +18 Lv 5: +20 Lv 6: +23 Lv 7: +26 Lv 8: +29 LV 9: +32 Celtis 2: Lv 1: +24 Lv 2: +26 Lv 3: +28 Lv 4: +30 Lv 5: +32 Lv 6: +35 Lv 7: +38 Lv 8: +41 LV 9: +44 Celtis 3: Lv 1: +36 Lv 2: +38 Lv 3: +40 Lv 4: +42 Lv 5: +44 Lv 6: +47 Lv 7: +50 Lv 8: +53 LV 9: +56 -Blow- These are basically fists that you can shoot off. I don't know why I thought these were trumpets and tubas, but hey, if the shoe fits... Blow 1: Lv 1: +16 Lv 2: +18 Lv 3: +20 Lv 4: +22 Lv 5: +24 Lv 6: +27 Lv 7: +30 Lv 8: +33 LV 9: +36 Blow 2: Lv 1: +32 Lv 2: +34 Lv 3: +36 Lv 4: +38 Lv 5: +40 Lv 6: +43 Lv 7: +46 Lv 8: +49 LV 9: +52 Blow 3: Lv 1: +64 Lv 2: +66 Lv 3: +68 Lv 4: +70 Lv 5: +72 Lv 6: +75 Lv 7: +78 Lv 8: +81 LV 9: +84 -Laser- Strong gun-based weapons. I think that's about all I can say. I say just use them with swords to make various blades. Laser 1: Lv 1: +25 Lv 2: +27 Lv 3: +29 Lv 4: +31 Lv 5: +33 Lv 6: +36 Lv 7: +39 Lv 8: +42 LV 9: +45 Laser 2: Lv 1: +35 Lv 2: +37 Lv 3: +39 Lv 4: +41 Lv 5: +43 Lv 6: +46 Lv 7: +49 Lv 8: +52 LV 9: +55 Laser 3: Lv 1: +45 Lv 2: +47 Lv 3: +49 Lv 4: +51 Lv 5: +53 Lv 6: +56 Lv 7: +59 Lv 8: +62 LV 9: +65 3C: BASIC EQUIPMENT -Shields- These add a little defense and can also completely block different shots with a certain probability. It should be noted that Shields cannot be combined. Shield 1: Creation Cost: 400GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 5 Added to Defense: +8 Shield 2: Creation Cost: N/A Added to Defense: +12 Shield 3: Creation Cost: 1000GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 10 Added Defense: +16 Shield 4: Creation Cost: N/A Added to Defense: +20 Shield 5: Creation Cost: 3000GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 30 Added Defense: +34 -Boots- The better the boots, the further you can walk during battle on a turn. Boots 1: Move: 4 Creation Cost: 200GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 1 Boots 2: Move: 6 Creation Cost: 1000GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 8 Boots 3: Guard +2 Creation Cost: N/A Boots 4: Move: 8 Guard +4 Creation Cost: N/A Boots 5: Move: 6 Guard: +16 Boots 6: Move: 8 Guard: +6 -Packs- Packs can provide different stat improvements or just give your robots an extra edge. It varies with each pack. The thing is in order to equip a pack, you must sacrifice your Bombs. I believe it's worth it, depending on the type of robot you have. Empty Pack Creation Cost: N/A Boosts Guard +1 Power Pack Creation Cost: 3000GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 11. Boosts power on both arms +10 Turbo Pack Creation Cost: 3000GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 18 Boosts guard +2 and movement +2 Quick Pack Creation Cost: 5000GP Can be learned from Inventor's Friend Issue 16. Boosts guard +5 Solar Pack Creation Cost: 4000GP Boosts Guard +5 Also said to regain HP 3D: EVENT/SPECIAL ITEMS These are items that serve special purposes or can be used a specific times in the game. -Transceiver- This allows you to get hints from Nagisa and save in many areas of the game. You can pretty much save anywhere, but there are some areas that won't allow you to save at all. Given to you by Nagisa early in the game. -Surprise Horn- A new invention of Akihabara that makes a really loud boom. Given to you by Akihabara when you go to visit him after building your first robot. -Rusty Drill- Looks like if it were cleaner (hint hint), it would be able to drill through rock. Found in the Cave Mouth. -Drill- A little hand drill that can break through weak spots in the wall. -Kotetsu Key- They only call it "key" in the game, but I wanted to give it a distinct name. This is the key you get from the Hacker's base in the Cave Mouth to unlock Kotetu's chains. -Stone 1- Can be used to open the family shrine. Note that you don't even have to equip it, just inspect the shrine after you obtain the Stone 1. Can also be used to lure Parsley out of a room in the Old House. -Light- Adds a bit to your light radius when equipped. -Relay- Allows you to speak with animals. Can only be developed. Idea is given to you by Flavon in the Old House. Costs 20GP. -Stone 2- Gained from your battle against Mamurana. -Chameleon Glasses- Help you to see what cannot be seen (such as hidden doors or even motion detection sensors). -Stone 3- Obtained from Napoleon -Scrap A- Pieces of a familiar robot friend... -Change- Transforms you into a mouse while equipped. -Leader's Badge- Allows you to get into a classified area in the Air Base. Obtained by helping Meta Crab when he's about to be eaten. -Letter- A note from Carl's father. Give it to Carl. -Litho- Given to you by Carl. It's for his father. -Red Flower- Is said to cure fevers. Needed during a side quest. -Cyberjack- A helmet that allows you to go inside computers. Learned from Dr. G's book on his desk after he disappears into the computer. -Little Robot- Something to give to the old bed-ridden woman in Rococo. -Weather- An item that let's you change the weather. -Spaceship- Allows you to travel between planets. -Red Jar- Used to stop the Engine Room. -Blue Jar- Used to stop the Engine Room. -Yellow Jar- Used to stop the Engine Room. --------------------------------------- / SECTION 4: GENERATING/COMBINING ITEMS \ ------------------------------------------- 4A: HOW TO... Generating... Developing... Creating. No matter how you put it, it's all the same. In this game, you can (and must) develop items for your later usage. Developing can actually produce some special and event items. There are two ways to generate items in this game. One of them is through development. As I've explained a few times before, after you read and understand each Inventor's Friend, you can develop new items by going into the R&D and selecting the first selection on the menu. Pushing R while on this menu can bring up another menu to make robot equipment. No matter what you create, though, it will cost money. Some things are flat out cheap to create, others can be expensive (but may still be worth it). Another way to generate items is through combining. When you go into the R&D, you can select the second selection and this will take you into your inventory screen. From here, you can choose from two items which may be put together to make another item. Not all items work together (the game will indicate, don't worry). One thing interesting about combining is that combining like weapons can increase the power of the stronger weapon. I think you've noticed almost every weapon in the game has a number after it. This number is the weapon's rank (so Sword 1 is a rank 1 sword). Each weapon also has a level (from 1 to 9). The higher the level, the stronger the sword. With combining weapons, there are two principles exerted here. 1) Like weapons with like rank will wind up having a level that is the sum of both weapons' levels. For example: Celtis 1 (level 6) + Celtis 1 (level 2) will yield Celtis 1 (level 8). 2) Like weapons with different ranks will wind up having a level that is the sum of the higher ranked weapon's level and the 1/2 the lower ranked weapon's level. For example: Blade 1 (level 6) + Blade 2 (Level 4) will yield Blade 2 (level 7). If the level of the lower weapon is not even, then it will be rounded down. Higher ranking weapons take precedence over lower rank weapons, so your final product will always be a higher rank. So, with both of those stated, it is apparent that like weapons can only improve from combining. I have just discovered that Bombs cannot be combined to make stronger Bombs. 4B: GENERATING LIST This list comes with the Robotrek game. I'm mainly reprinting this for anyone who lost the list or has never seen it. Hence, the contributor credit here goes to Enix. -Swords- Sword 1: Scrap 1 + Scrap 1 Sword 2: Sword 1 + Scrap 1 Sword 3: Sword 1 + Scrap 9 Sword 2 + Scrap 9 Sword 4: Sword 3 + Scrap 7 -Axes- Axe 1: Sword 1 + Hammer 1 Sword 2 + Hammer 1 Sword 3 + Hammer 1 Sword 1 + Hammer 2 Sword 1 + Hammer 3 Scrap 1 + Scrap 6 Axe 2: Sword 2 + Hammer 2 Sword 3 + Hammer 2 Axe 1 + Scrap 1 Sword 2 + Hammer 3 Axe 3: Sword 3 + Hammer 3 Axe 1 + Scrap 9 Axe 2 + Scrap 3 -Blades- Blade 1: Sword 1 + Laser 1 Sword 2 + Laser 1 Sword 3 + Laser 1 Sword 1 + Laser 2 Sword 1 + Laser 3 Scrap 1 + Scrap 10 Blade 2: Sword 2 + Laser 2 Sword 3 + Laser 2 Sword 4 + Scrap 1 Sword 2 + Laser 3 Blade 3: Sword 3 + Laser 3 Blade 4: Blade 3 + Seed Scrap 8 + Smoke -Hammers- Hammer 1: Scrap 6 + Clean Hammer 2: Solar Pack + Scrap 6 Hammer 3: Scrap 6 + Scrap 6 -Punch- Punch 1: Scrap 4 + Scrap 4 Punch 2: Punch 1 + Scrap 4 Punch 3: Punch 1 + Scrap 9 Punch 2 + Scrap 4 -Celtises- Celtis 1: Hammer 1 + Shot 1 Hammer 2 + Shot 1 Scrap 2 + Scrap 6 Celtis 2: Hammer 2 + Shot 2 Hammer 3 + Shot 2 Celtis 3: Scrap 6 + Scrap 9 -Shots- Shot 1: Scrap 2 + Scrap 2 Shot 2: Shot 1 + Scrap 2 Shot 3: Shot 2 + Scrap 2 -Blows- Blow 1: Punch 1 + Laser 1 Punch 2 + Laser 1 Punch 3 + Laser 1 Punch 1 + Laser 2 Punch 1 + Laser 3 Blow 2: Punch 2 + Laser 2 Punch 3 + Laser 2 Punch 2 + Laser 3 Scrap 4 + Scrap 9 Blow 3: Punch 3 + Laser 3 Scrap 4 + Scrap 10 -Lasers- Laser 1: Scrap 2 + Scrap 7 Laser 2: Scrap 7 + Laser 1 Laser 3: Scrap 7 + Laser 2 -Shields- Shield 1: Scrap 5 + Scrap 5 Shield 2: Shield 1 + Clean Scrap 5 + Clean Shield 3: Scrap 5 + Scrap 9 Shield 4: Weather + Scrap 9 Scrap 7 + Scrap 9 Shield 5: Shield 4 + Scrap 9 Scrap 9 + Scrap 9 -Bombs- [NOTE: According to the list, there is no given combination for Bomb 1] Bomb 2: Bomb 1 + Scrap 10 Bomb 3: Scrap 10 + Weather Bomb 4: Bomb 1 + Boots 6 -Boots- Boots 1: Scrap 3 + Scrap 3 Boots 2: Boots 1 + Scrap 3 Boots 3: Boots 1 + Scrap 7 Boots 2 + Scrap 3 Boots 4: Scrap 3 + Scrap 5 Boots 5: Scrap 3 + Scrap 9 Boots 6: Boots 5 + Scrap 10 Scrap 3 + Scrap 10 -Regular and Special Items- Repair: Cure + Scrap 7 Clean + Smoke Cure + Big Bomb Cure + Clean Clean + Big Bomb Smoke: Repair + Big Bomb Repair + Repair Big Bomb + Big Bomb Cure: Smoke+ + Big Bomb Smoke + Repair Clean + Clean Repair + Clean Clean: Cure + Cure Cure + Repair Big Bomb: Bomb 1 + Smoke Scrap 7 + Scrap 7 Smoke + Cure Drill: Rusty Drill + Clean Solar Pack: Empty Pack + Weather Quick Pack: Empty Pack + Repair ------------------------ / SECTION 5: WALKTHROUGH \ ---------------------------- Know one thing. I may be referring to directions in terms of north, south, east, and west. In case you're not very keen on your directions (not to be condescending, but some people do have trouble with that), here's a compass. N | | (aka Left) W______|______E (aka Right) | | | S 5A: IN THE BEGINNING... As the game starts, it will ask you to input a name. Any name will do. After that, you will see some text saying you name followed by a bang. You will see the main character in bed with his father, Akihabara, and the father's cat, Kurogane. He will tell you to get up and talk to Nagisa. Before going to speak with Nagisa, go up to the dresser next to the bookshelf and inspect the right side to get 500 GP. Now, go up and into the next room. Upper right corner should be a crate for you to inspect with a Cure inside of it. Also go inspect both sides of the dresser to the far left to pick up a Cure and a Clean. Now, head all the way down into the room Nagisa is in and speak with her. She will tell you to pay your respects to the mayor. You can't go through the door on the right yet, so just head out of your house -ROCOCO- Rococo Information Shops: (only one shop in town) Smoke: 20GP Cure: 60GP Clean: 100GP Repair: 300GP Big Bomb: 200GP Items Hidden: In your house: Clean, Cure (x2), 500 GP. Shop: Cure, Repair, Scrap 2, Scrap 5. City Hall: Scrap 6 (in a hidden room; see the Framed!!! section for details), 2000GP (also in Framed!!! section) Inventor's Friends In your house: 2-7, 18-20, 24. Shop: 21-23. Back to the objective. Head north of your house and there should be a huge building to the right of the poice station. This is city hall. Go inside and you'll see the receptionist at her desk. Go past her into the next room. You can go right if you want after climbing the stairs to talk to some other people, but they really don't say much. Go into the mayor's room and you can speak with the mayor, Rose, and Dr. Einst. You'll notice Dr. Einst is quite the pompous... You know... Anyway, once you're done here, go back home. Once you're back in, you should notice Akihabara at the table with Nagisa. Speak to Akihabara. He will say a few words to you; Telling you he's leaving with Kurogane and that you are basically on your own with Nagisa as your assistant. After he leaves, read the book on the table. After reading it, you will be able to develop robots! You will also get 2000 GP! Now, speak to Nagisa and she will take you into that room on the right you couldn't go in before. This room is the R&D. You will be seeing a lot of this room through the course of the game. Walk up to the huge control pad and investigate it. There will be a horizontal list along the top. Select the one with the robot head to build a robot. After the robot is created, you will be given the option to name it and distribute its ability points. Distributing ability points is mainly a matter of preference and planning. This really depends on what kind of robot you want. Usually, I go with a balanced robot. I take 20 points away from energy (they start you off with 40 points on energy and none anywhere else) and give five points to each other category, but that's only if you want a balanced robot. I do recommend that you give your robots at least average power. In giving them low power, it may become harder for them to defeat later, stronger enemies and even bosses. If you want an all out powerful robot, then beefing power (duh) would be your angle. One with high defense would require high guard. If you're going with high defense, then at least make the power rating average. Guard can help you live longer, but what advantage is it to live longer if you can't defeat your enemies (particularly bosses)? Speed and charge are also quite helpful, although I usually don't raise robots dominantly on either. The major advantage is that they can get off attacks faster and more often. This does not mean that charge and speed are not important. They are -very- important. So, here are some good combinations for you... Power and Guard- If you emphasize these a lot, then you'll be more resistant to damage and do some decent damage. Power and Charge- What could be better than hitting hard and hitting often? Some other considerable ideas... Speed and Guard- Just make sure you have good enough Power here. This will make it so that you resist more damage and have a better chance of dodging other attacks. Guard and Energy- Again, with good enough Power. Stay alive longer this way. After you're done messing around with the robot, Nagisa will give you a Transceiver. This will allow you to save when you want to. Of course, there are some areas that it won't allow you to save in, but oh well... Nagisa will now tell you to go see your father and show him your new robot. Head out of the R&D and out of the house. Before you leave, Nagisa will test out the Transceiver to see if it works. After that is over, leave. Don't leave town just yet. Head to the right and do yourself some shopping. Talk to the shop keeper and he'll offer to give you some junk. Accept and then take the door on the left. As you reach the room in the very back with the dressers and the bookshelf, search the crate at the far right side to get a Cure. Now, head down and inspect the capsules to get some more items (Scrap 2 and Scrap 5). Also check the crate behind and to the right of the capsule that had the Scrap 5. You'll get a Repair. Before leaving, I suggest buying a few Cures, but don't spend all of your money unless you want to. It's probably best to conserve just a bit, though. There really isn't much you can currently do with the scraps you've just received. Now, it's time to leave. Head out of the village and onto the world map. A pathway will clear to a new area. That's your father's house. Head there. -FATHER'S HOUSE- Father's House Information Items Hidden: Inside the house: Clean Invetor's Friends: Inside the house: 1, 15. Once you've made it to your father's house, you can explore if you want. There isn't much to see except the tomb at the bottom right corner of the area. Anyway, once you're ready to progress the storyline, go through your father's door and you'll see him with a rather peculiar figure. That, my friends, is a Hacker (see Section 1A). A little scene will ensue here. [This scene has one of my favorite lines: "...But evil is good."] Akihabara will scare the hell out of the Hacker and he'll make his way out of the house. Before talking to Akihabara, inspect the left side of the dresser behind him to get a Clean. Then, go into the back room and inspect one of the bookshelves and you'll find Inventor's Friends 1 and 15 (you should be able to learn how to make Boots 1 with IF1). Now, talk to Akihabara. After a little talking, he'll give you a Surprise Horn. Now, leave the house. As you leave, the Hacker that was there earlier will approach you. At that moment, you'll have to fight him. He's a pushover really. If you want to see what's in any capsules on the screen, be my guest. I recommend using Bomb 1 (push X when your turn comes) on this guy. It shouldn't take too incredibly long to finish him. Now, leave the place and head back to Rococo. -ROCOCO- As you enter, there will be a little scene between a cop and some citizens of Rococo. Apparently, some of the town's children have decided to go on a Goonie-esque adventure through the riverside. Has anyone ever told these kids not to emulate what they see on television? Ugh... Anyway, you may have noticed the house to the right of yours was impossible to get into before because a kid there named Carl kicked you out after you entered. He's gone now, so you can enter his house. You'll find there's no point to it right now. If you need to stock up on some items (which you really shouldn't need to right now), then do so and leave Rococo. To the right of Father's House a new path opens. This leads to the Forest. Go there now. -FOREST- Forest information Items Hidden: 300GP Enemies Present: Mushroom- Killer fungai lookin' to make you die-die. Pathetically weak. Attack using their caps or even throwing explosives at you. Mine- A strange wind-up robot. Stronger than the Mushrooms, but very much weak. Pinch you with their claws or attack with the drills on top of their heads. Commander (Cmdr.)- Hacker soldiers ready to give their best attempt at destroying you. These are actually the weakest of the bunch. Use their hard hats as weapons. Strategies: This early in the game, you really don't need any strategies towards killing the enemies, especially not these ones. Just hit them once with your sword and they are history. This is the first area you'll really begin to encounter enemies. This is also the area I would recommend you build your levels. You should notice that you don't gain any money from winning battles. The only way to get money from battles is if you get a capsule with money in it from a dead enemy. Head up and to the left will be a mushroom. Fight it and get whatever you can out of the battle. I do recommend that you try to open the capsules in battle, as they can increase your equipment level. Past that is another Mushroom. Destroy that one and keep making your way upward. After that is a Mine. Attack that one and destroy them as well. You should notice that this area is quite linear. Not like the other areas later on. After killing the Mine, go up, but then head back down past the row of trees that were blocking you from the capsule. Head towards the capsule. You'll most likely have to fight the mushroom on the way. Kill it and go straight for the capsule. You'll find 300GP inside. Head back upward and fight the Mine that blocks your path. After it's been defeated, head through the small gap in the trees and out. A new area will open for you. I recommend buidling some levels before going there, though. I'd say gain up to about level 3 to 5. After you have, head home and read the Invetor's Friends for the levels you've gained. After this, you can use the Scrap 2 you found at the shop to combine with a Shot 1 that you can make to create Shot 2. This may or may not be better than the Shot 1 you started with, all depending on what level your Shot 1 is at. If you did decide to go all the way to five, go back home and look at Inventor's Friend #5 to learn how to make Shield 1. I highly recommend grabbing a shield early on. Equip it in place of the weapon of your choosing. While Shot 1 is more powerful, Sword 1 doesn't use as much power. Are you really wanting to know which weapon is the best? Well, trial and error goes a long way in this game (or save state if you're using an emulator). In combining like weapons, you can build your weapon's levels. See the section on combining for more detail and see the weapons list for details on what weapons have potential for being the strongest or the best. One thing I should also note that if you choose to have a Shot weapon with a shield, you will be inable to open capsules during battle. Capsules can only be opened with melee weapons. After you've done a bit of this and that, head to the River. -RIVER- River Information Items Hidden: 300GP Enemies Present: Mine Gel- Gelatinous beasts that rain down on your robot. Rushbird- Probably among the toughest here (and that still isn't saying much). These are quick birds that can hit from long range. On lower levels, they're quite powerful. Strategies: Gel is a push over, so no need to worry there. The Rushbirds can be a pain if you're lower than level 4 or 5. If you are a low level, I suggest taking them out with a Bomb. At a higher level (with some decent weapon levels) you should be able to whoop them with regular melee weapons. As you enter, you will be instantly greeted by a Mine. After battling that, you can head up and to the left on the small stretch of land to fight a Gel as well. Climb the stairs to the right. There should be a Mine there and a Rushbird. Battle them if you wish, but do move up the next staircase and make your way right. Chances are, you'll have to fight the Rushbird before grabbing the capsule. Inside is 200GP. After that, you can defeat the Mine up there if you wish as well. Head back down the stairs and make your way left. Make your way across the bridge and you will see a Mine that you can fight if you wish. After crossing the bridges, head downward. Head all the way down, even down the stairs. If you want, you can kill the Rushbird on the right. Either way, head left and upward. As you are doing so, a Gel should pop up out of the ground. Careful around these parts, unless you're like me and you fight everything in sight. Keep heading upward and another will appear. After that one, you should be in the clear and out of the stage. You really don't need to do too much level boosting yet. Upon completing the River, a new path should open. Head directly to that or go back to Rococo and take care of business (buy items, develop stuff, read IF's) first. -CAVE MOUTH- Cave Mouth Information Items Hidden: Outside: Cure Inside Cave: Rusty Drill, Cure (x2), Clean, 250GP, Scrap 4, Key, Scrap 1 Enemies Present: Gel Rushbird Mine Spider- Dangerous arachnids that are actually quite powerful for early game. Cmdr. (Commander) Cmdr. (Commander) (2)- This one can attack from long range with a gun. Cmdr. (Commander) (3)- Same as the first one, except he attacks with a sword. Meta Crab (boss) Strategies: If you really find that using single attacks doesn't cut it on the Spiders, then use Runs on them (i.e. three hit combo with melee weapon, etc.). They shouldn't be too much trouble if you have your levels past 5. Before you fight the boss in this dungeon, I highly recommend you have a second robot built. It will cost you 3000GP, but if you fight enough (or recycle enough items), you should be able to pull out enough money to create a robot. You will actually start the area outside. To the right as you enter is a Rushbird for you to fight if you wish. Either way, head left. As you are doing so, a Gel will jump out of the ground. After it's defeated, head up toward the cave entrance. Inside will be some people with Dr. Einst walk around. If you stand on the far left side of the people a small scene will ensue. They will eventually ask you to step back. Make sure that when you do, you are still facing foward (the scene will only advance once you're facing forward). Everyone will leave and you should too. Head left again and confront the Mine. After destroying it, head up into the next screen, then right to pick up a Cure from the capsule. Hmm... Now what to do... Well, they did say that they needed a way into the cave, but the explosives obviously failed. Why not run into the hole in the ground? Ah... Gotta love video game logic! Well, run into the big hole and you will fall into the cave. Once inside, head up. Inside this room are two Gels. Fight if you wish, run if not. Go through the door on the upper right. Squeeze through the tight spot and go left. Open the capsule here and obtain the Rusty Drill! If you want, you can go across the stream. There's nothing really there of use, but you can fight the Gel there if you want. I recommend letting the river carry you out from here. There will be another stream in another room and just let that one carry you too. This should lead back outside. Leave the area and go back to Rococo or Father's House and into an R&D. Combine the Rusty Drill with a Clean and you will get the item Drill. This can drill through those weak areas in the wall. Once the Drill is made, head back to the Cave Mouth. Now, go back to the large hole in the ground (near where you found the Cure earlier) and drop down again. So, once you have dropped down the hole, make your way back to the stream, but this time attempt to cross it. This can be done if you run straight across the stream, keeping far enough right that you won't be swept into the wall. Do not stop. Once you're across, use the Drill to open the wall. Remember, there will be a Gel in this area for you to fight as well. After all is clear, go through the new passage and open the capsule to get a Cure. Inside this little area is another Gel if you wish to fight. You should notice another weak spot here. Open it and the children will be inside. Talking to them and you'll just get some whining and crying. There's another weak spot at the north wall. Drill through that and the kids will suddenly be extatic. They'll push you out of the way, leaving Carl behind. Carl says that he will eventually find his way home. Head out the cave through the new path you've created. This will take you outside. Exit the area and head back to Rococo. -ROCOCO- Once you're here, head directly home. Nagisa will mention your recent rescue and says that the mayor now wants to see you. Exit your house and go to city hall. Talk to the mayor and he will reward you with 1000GP. Now, leave city hall. As you're leaving, the secretary (Carl's mother) will say something. Go speak to her and she'll say that Carl still hasn't come back. Hmm... As you exit city hall, Nagisa will page you and say that your father is on his way home. Head back home right away. When you get home, Akihabara and Kurogane will be standing there. Speak with Akihabara. He will congratulate you one your recent accomplishment. After that, he'll say that he and Flavon are going on a trip. With that, he leaves, leaving Kurogane behind this time. Well, now time to find Carl. Head back to Cave Mouth (the initial entrance). -CAVE MOUTH- This time, enter the small cave entrance at the beginning of the area. You should be in the same place Dr. Einst messed up at. There should be a cop inside talking about someone taking the explosives from earlier. That's not important right now, though. Drill through the area that Einst tried to blast through (take that, Egghead!) and go through the passage and head north across the small stream and finally through the door. To the northwest of this next room should be a weakened wall for you to drill through. In front of it is a hidden Gel, so be careful (not that Gels are really anything to be worried about). Go up through the hole and open the capsule for another Cure. Head back out and now through the northeast hole. There might be another Gel in the room before going through the hole, so stay alert. Heading north through the hole, you will most likely encounter a spider. They can be tough if you're a low level, so stay on your toes. Head right after the spider and there will be a path heading south. Directly right of that first spider is a hidden Gel, followed by another Spider. Just head down until you come to a right turn with a Spider near it. Head right then up through the narrow passage. Before making it to the door, a Gel should appear. Fight that if you wish, then go through the door. In this room, you can head right immediately to engage a Gel if you feel like fighting it. If not, then head up (either fight or dodge the Spider) and through the door. Head right and you should come to a few passage ways linked together with some Spiders in the main passage. Go up, then take the first right. Go down and through the door and a Gel will appear. After fighting it, open the capsule for a Clean. Head out and drill a hole through the wall across the way (should be north of the little chamber that had the Clean in it). Open the capsule in there now for 250GP. Head out and make your way towards the door to the left. It doesn't matter which way you take here. Both sides are guarded by Spiders. Again, you'll have to cross the stream. Just don't get swept too far left. As soon as you cross you'll hear an explosion. Head up and a Gel will appear. Get past that and head through the door. In the next room should be a hole in the ground. It really doesn't matter how you get down, either climb the rope or fall, just get down. Head west. The door is shut tight and cannot be opened until later. Continue west and you will see a Hacker and a Spider at the very end of the passage. Engage them or not, but just head down through the door. Here, you will see a scene with a rather peculiar creature. He is called Meta Crab. He isn't a real major character, but he does fill a little spot early in the game and even in a few lesser parts later on. He'll announce that he's going to take a shower and then leave the area. Go out the door he did. If you actually paid attention to the conversation between Meta Crab and the two Hackers, you might have noticed they said something about a Tetron. Hmm... Buildling a plot indeed. Have you got a lot of money and some extra time? If you're at least level 6, I suggest you try to learn Hammer 1. After that, develop some Hammer 1's and combine them. Soon as you've gotten a rank 8 Hammer 1, combine it with a rank 1 Sword 1 (Apply math if you have any other Sword 1's; So if you have a Sword 1 that's rank 5, you only really need to build your Hammer 1's up to rank 4. Build such that their combined ranks make 9.) Why do I ask you to do this? To get a rank 9 Axe 1. It's probably the strongest weapon you can get right now and it should be incredibly useful from here on. If you can, try to make enough to supply your current number of robots. Anyway, back to the walkthrough. From the room where you saw Meta Crab, head down through the door. Walk around the corner here and head west. There should be a Hacker and a Spider along the way. Eventually, you should see some water with a spider next to it. Run across the water and you'll most likely have to fight a Hacker. Whoop its tail and head through the door. You should now be at the base entrance. This is where the Hackers are stationed in this area. There is a Hacker at the entrance. If you run up along the left side, you'll see a Hacker guarding the entrance. You can't get him to move, it seems. Hmm... What to do, what to do... There should be a little cubby hole to the right of him. Equip the Surprise Horn and blast it in the cubby hole (okay, that sounded a bit nasty...). The Hacker will start moving. You should then run down toward the rock formation to the lower left and wait (make sure you're not in his line of vision). Once the Hacker starts heading right, run down, left, and through the narrow passage quickly. Run to the door as fast as possible. If you are seen, you can just as easily start over again. When you enter, a Hacker will ask you if you're one of the new workers. It doesn't seem to matter which one you say (yes or no). After you've answered run past him and he'll run downward to block the entrance. Head up and around the corner and through the narrow passage. Don't worry about the Hacker here, he's not an enemy (you can talk to him though). Walk up and talk to the blonde haired prisoner. This guy is Kotetsu. You're going to be seeing quite a bit of him throughout your adventure. After talking to him, he'll throw you on a trolley while he distracts the guard. Upon getting off, open the capsule to the right to get a Scrap 4. Head through the door. As you enter, there will be a spider right above you. Head right and around this area a Hacker will appear. That might prompt you to fight, so be careful. After him is another Spider; Keep heading right. Another Hacker just might appear after that Spider. Continue on. At the end of the tunnel should be a Hacker guarding a door (another Hacker can appear way below the door). Talk to him twice and he'll attack. When you head into the next room, head to the upper right and through the door. Meta Crab will say something to you. He wants you to turn up the heat on his shower. Do so, but not just once. Keep doing it until he is silent (.......). The door will automatically open. Head up to the shelves and grab the key! Head back to Kotetsu. Before exiting the computer will fire up and ask for Meta Crab. Walk up to it and push A. Whoever it is, he thinks you're Meta Crab due to the faulty screen. He/She/It will ask you if you've found the Tetron. It doesn't matter what you answer, just do so and head back to Kotetsu (the guy with the blonde hair). When you get back to him equip the key and talk to Kotetsu. Follow Kotetsu's path. Remember when you went down the rope in this cave? Near that is a door that was locked when you first got here. There's now a Hacker in front of it. Talk to the Hacker twice and he'll attack you. Go through the door, then head east. There will be a door with a somewhat evil lookign insignia in front of it. Hmm... Remind anyone of Zelda: LTTP? Go through that door. You'll see Carl throwing bombs at Meta Crab, who seems to have recovered from the shower debacle. Meta Crab will eventually notice that you're in the room. All the mounting frustration has brought MC to the snapping point. He's finally decided that he's taken enough crap and it's time to buckle down on a certain pest... YOU! BOSS META CRAB Suggested Level: 6-7 If you're finding this guy too tough, then you should try to build up a really good weapon (one of the best weapons you can easily get right now is Axe 1 by combining Hammer 1 and Sword 1; I've noted this earlier in the walkthrough). Building levels will also do you some good. At this point, you should also be able to make Shield 1. Combine Shield 1 with a Clean to get Shield 2. You may not need the extra defense if you're levels 6-7, but it's nice to have anyway. Meta Crab has some weak offenses. He shoots different kinds of projectile out that sweep across the screen. Some of them have a random chance of putting you in Stop. He can also shoot out little crabs at you which will either generate baby crabs or explode. Don't even worry about the baby crabs. They really shouldn't be much trouble. The best way to defeat him is to get behind him. Do not use a triple attack run. A single, close range shot should do it. If you think it'll help you at all (which it probably won't), you can use Big Bombs. I highly recommend either Hammer 1 or Axe 1 when fighting this guy (try to get them as high as you can in ranks). If you can get behind Meta Crab, you can cause quite a bit of damage. I recommend doing so, but if you have to settle for the front, then that's the way it goes. The guy probably has around 200-275 HP (the 275 part is probably a bit exaggerated). It shouldn't take too long to take him down if you've got a strong enough weapon and a high enough level. --- After you've defeated Meta Crab (I keep wanting to call him Meta Crap), he change into a crab (!?!?!?!). That's when the brown-nosing and the butt-kissing starts. After MC pulls his crabby head out of you... Um... You know... He'll crawl away. He'll give you 1000GP. Carl will thank you and ask you to follow him. Go on, now. Once outside the room, head toward the left and through the door that was previously closed. Carl will look around and notice the remaining capsules have been opened. AWW! Oh well... You'll get your choice on which of the two remaining capsules you wish to open. It doesn't matter which you do open, you'll get a Scrap 1 either way. Carl gets a Litho. Well, you've done your duty. Good work! Now, leave the dungeon and head back for Rococo... NOTE: The Scrap 1 can be combined with Axe 1 to make Axe 2. If you have A LOT of GP (relative to this part of the game), then you can try to build Axe 2 up to level 9 and have a fairly powerful weapon early in the game. Remember, combining Sword 1 and Hammer 1 can make Axe 1. Continually combining Axe 1's with Axe 2 will build up Axe 2's level. 5B: HOME OF THE HAUNTED NOTE: I recommend having a third robot before fighting the second boss. -ROCOCO- Once you're in Rococo, go straight home. Nagisa will greet you. She says that a "cute customer" is waiting for you. Go to the back and Carl will be in front of one of your bookshelves. Speak with him. Carl will give you Stone 1. If you wish to mess around a bit with weapons and junk, now is a good time to do so. When you're done at home, leave. Before you can, Nagisa will tell you that she hasn't seen Kurogane around for a while. She says to look at Father's House. So, leave Rococo and go to Father's House. -FATHER'S HOUSE- Right as you get there talk to Kurogane. The cat will move you away from the house. Some Hackers will come out. Hmm... After they leave, follow Kurogane into the house. You should see the cat at the top left of the screen in front of the dresser. Inspect the dresser and you should get Father's Note. He'll leave you a not-so-heart-warming letter. Ah... Unemotion at its best! Walk out of your father's house and head down to the family shrine (it should be the tombstone-like structure to the southeast of the house). Inspect it and it should open this time, thanks to Stone 1. -FAMILY SHRINE- Family Shrine Information Items Hidden: Shield 2, Axe 1, 1000GP Enemies Present: Monk- Flame creatures. They seem to be immune to bomb attacks. They can attack using a flamethrower-esque attack or cause a rain of fire that can damage your robot and destroy all capsules on the field. Strategies: I arrived here around level 9 or so. Against the Monks, I recommend you try to use melee weapons. Bombs don't seem to have much of an effect on them. I've never tried shoot-based weapons, but I guess it's worth a try. Head up the far left path. At the end is a Monk (the fire creature) with a capsule next to it. Open the capsule for Shield 2. Now, go back to the beginning and head along the far right path. As you're going along, a Monk will pop out. If you wish to advance, you must fight it. Defeat it and get to the capsule at the end of the path. Open it for an Axe 1. Now, back to the beginning again and through the middle path. Bypass the door that you come to (if you want the item, that is) and head through the path to the lower right of the door. You'll probably have to fight a Monk near there, too. Defeat it and open the capsule for 1000GP. Head back up and go through the door you just passed. Go up through the next door into the small room. A person will appear. The man is Rask. Apparently, he claims you are his descendant. He'll tell you a bit about the Tetron and say that he entrusted one of the pieces of the Tetron to a man named Count Prinky, who lives in the Forest of Illusion (which is east of Father's House). Exit the shrine and leave Father's House. A new path will open to the right. -FOREST OF ILLUSION- Forest of Illusion Information Items Hidden: None... Enemies: Mole- Burrowing rodents. You can't see them on the screen until they dig out of the ground and head for you. Can't be harmed while under ground. Cmdr. (Commander) Rushbird Spider Mushroom Mine Gel Strategies: The Moles are really nothing if you're a high enough level. I recommend being about level 8 or so here. Only attack the moles when their heads are sticking out. They've got 26 HP (I found this out when I killed one with 26 damage, but one survived with 25 damage), so use only attacks that do that much or less. If a mole does go underground, try not to stay in the same row as it, so as to save a little HP. Right as you enter, head up and almost immediately you will be attacked by a Mole. If you're a high enough level, they shouldn't be too much of a bother. Kill it/them and continue upward. Two more Moles appear at the top of the screen. After battling, go up into the next screen. You can go one of two ways here: Left or Right. Do not go right unless you want to fight the different enemies that are over there. If you do go right, there will be three paths you can take from there, each of which takes you back to another path and leads you around in circles (the south path will take you to the beginning, the north path will take you to the T-shaped intersection right after the beginning, and the east path will just keep sending you to the four-way intersection that it is currently found on. Anyway, back to the T-shaped intersection (the second screen on the Forest of Illusion), you can fight a Mole here towards the middle of the intersection. Whether you fought or not, head left. The next screen is just a one-way curve towards the south. There should be two Spiders and a Rushbird here. Avoid or fight; Either way, head south. Another straight forward path here. There should be a couple Moles here. Head down and curve east. Another curve like earlier with a Rushbird and two Spiders. Head up. You should see a blonde-haired woman here. After this point, she'll become a regular character in this game. Walk up an talk to her. Her name is Mint. When she asks if you want her to join you, say yes. From there, head up continually. There will be several striaght forward paths head north. Mint will add comments here and there. Eventually, she'll say that she can see a house. At that moment, she will leave you and head for the house. Head up out of this screen and that's it for the Forest of Illusion. A path will open to the huge mansion above. Head there. -OLD HOUSE- NOTE: The Old House and the Clock Tower will be divided into two separate sections since they practically are different dungeons. Old House Information Items Hidden: Cure, Repair (x2), Clean, Light, 500GP, Sword 2 Inventor's Friends: 8- Hallway where you have to follow Igor without being seen. 9- Found near the library in the west wing. 10- Found in the library in the west wing. 11- Found in the library in the west wing. Enemies Present: Monk Ho Ho- Ghost creatures that can hit from a long range. They can be fairly tough if you don't have a strong enough weapon or high enough level. They can also use ice magic. Cmdr. (Commander; past types) Cmdr. (Commander- with machine gun)- This is a newer type of Commander. He can hit you from afar with his machine gun blasts. If you're not very high in defense, he can do some good damage. Plasmoke- Very tough smoke creatures. Can absorb life or shoot long range, projectile attacks. Elesmoke- A bluish version of Plasmoke. Has a bit higher attack and defense than Plasmoke. Cmdr. (medic)- Gives health to your enemies. Strategies: There isn't a whole lot of strategy to apply here. Ho Hos are pretty much the type of creature you can easily kill when you are powerful enough. If you are not, I suggest avoiding them or at least making sure your robots have Shields. Melee weapons seem to be enough to dispatch them, or you could use a Bomb if you're not close enough. My only suggestion on the new Commander is to have high defense. Hopefully, you have a high enough rating on your equipment to take out the Plasmoke. Those guys have fairly high defense. Melee weapons can destroy them, as can Bombs, but you'll need to have a necessary power rating to be able to take them out. The same principle should be applied to Elesmoke, aside from the fact that the Elesmokes are a bit more powerful. I did just find that Elesmokes can use lightning magic, which strikes random areas of the screen. The medics are really no problem. They can give health to your opponents or even use a light attack which damages your robot and destroys all capsules, but it can be easily blocked (if it isn't blocked, I've had robots gain status afflictions and even take much damage from that attack). Right as you enter the Old House the door will mysteriously open. Walk through it. It will appear dark, but slowly a man will appear. This is Igor. He says he and Count Prinky have been expecting you. After he steps through the door, follow him. You should appear in another room with a staircase just above you. Walk forward a bit and Igor will appear on the right and tell you to use the room near him to rest. Ah... In this room, we get our first appearance from Mamurana. She is a possessed doll that you'll be seeing a lot in this section of the game. You can see her up on top of the dresser. When you get too close, she disappears. Search both front sections of the dresser to get a Cure and a Repair. Crawl in bed and you will have a dream involving Rask, Igor, and Prinky (with Mamurana in the back). When you leave the room, you should see Igor walk in front of a door and disappear. Go through that door. Note that there is a staircase to the left of the door that takes you to another door on the west wall. You cannot go through this door yet, though. You will be able to later on. After you've gone through the door Igor went through, you will appear in an elaborate hallway. You should see Igor walking. DO NOT FOLLOW CLOSELY BEHIND HIM. If you do, he may spot you and send you back to your room. Wait in front of the door until he is about to round the second corner. Before rounding the second corner, he will look behind him. Once he starts moving again, round the second corner and wait (make sure Igor is still in your sight). He should take a right turn and when he reaches the corner on that right turn, he will look behind him again. From there, he should move upward through a narrow hallway. Wait just around the corner of the hallway. He'll head left now. Head just a ways up the narrow hallway, but do not round the corner. Wait around the corner again because he will be looking back once again. Now, he should head up to a door and look behind him again. Then he will disappear. This gives you free reign over the hallway. _____ __ | D | | I| __ | |_| | | M| |________ C| | | | | | | |4| | | _______| | | | | | | |___| 3 | |______ B| | ____| ______| | | 2 A| | _______| | | | | ____ | | | | | 1 | | S | |___| |____| Above is an ASCII rendition of the hallway you follow Igor through. Letters A-D are places that Igor will stop in alphabetical order. Numbers 1-4 are the places you should stand correspoding with each number (When Igor gets to A, you stand at 1. When he's at B, you stand at 2 and so on...). M is a special book you can read. Nothing special, just builds the story a bit. S can be reached through a door and gives you a Shot 2. I is Inventor's Friend Issue 8. Before you go through the door Igor went through, you'll here him and Prinky talking. Go through the door. Walk up to the middle of the room and Mint will walk in. She'll tell you to go back to your room. Do so. On the way back you'll hear Mint yell. Go back inside. You should see a couple different books that are a different color from the rest. The one on the left isn't anything special, but does set the story a bit. Read the one on the right and it will take you to a cut scene where Prinky gives you a tour of the mansion, so to speak. After it's over, a hole will open in the middle of the room. Drop down the hole. You will fall down the hole. Mamurana will appear and head towards you and speak. After she leaves, you will be surrounded by Monks. Usually, you would be given the option to fight or run, but in this situation you must defeat the Monks. So, kill all four Monks (they all seemed to drop items for me, but I don't know if that's guaranteed or not). There is a capsule to the right, but you can't grab it yet. After you defeat the Monks head up to the door and press A. Mamurana will be a bit surprised that you won, then she will open the door for you. As you head through the door, you will see Mink and an elderly man. When you get close enough, Mint will speak to you. It seems the old man needs his dog. Now, walk up and speak to the old man. He is Flavon, a friend of your father. He'll tell you that he's hurt and needs medicine from his dog's pack. His dog is named Parsley and he likes shiny objects. Hmm... Head left and step on the button. This will lower the barricades in front of you... and elsewhere. Head back to the previous room real fast (where you saw the blocked-off capsule). You can get to the capsule now; Open it for a Clean. Head back into the room with Flavon and go out the door just north of the button. You'll come into a long hallway (with a small room to the right with a capsule in it). As you're running along, a skull will appear. These skull-creatures are called Ho Hos, and they're actually ghosts (as you will see when you fight them). Run up the hallway and through the door. You should notice that the door just above you is blocked (as was the capsule you saw the the right). Head right. Before you can quite head up, a Monk will appear. After you've killed or avoided it, head up. As you head through the door, you may notice a button on the left. You cannot get there yet. Head all the way north, towards the door up that way. You will most likely be attacked by a Monk on the way there. The next room is very small, but there is a chain on the north wall. Climb the chain and into the next screen. You should be in the middle of Prinky's Mansion, exiting via the well. Up north is a door for you to head through. Do so. Head up the staircase and once you reach the top, you will be approached by Count Prinky. He'll tell you that there is a white pest in the room. It's your turn to go in and take care of it. You'll see a small, white dog in there. That is Parsley! Remember that he likes shiny objects? Equip Stone 1 and talk to Parsley. He'll say BOW WOW WOW! With that profound statement made, he'll begin to follow you. Take Parsley back to Flavon. As you approach Flavon, Parsley will be happy and join his master. Talk to Flavon. A bit more story info will be given (nothing you really haven't heard before except that the Hackers are at the mansion doing something). Mint will leave and you and Flavon will continue talking. After he's done, speak to him again and he'll give you a Light. Equipping the Light will increase your light radius, so you can see more. Flavon will tell you where he can be found from here on. Now, head back to the staircase where you saw Count Prinky. Once at the stairs, Prinky will appear again. He will ask you if you've looked at the well, then saying that looking at the source of light will take you to a new path. He says your friend lies waiting there. He also warns you of Mamurana (even though he says "dolls," but it could be that either this is a translation error and Mamurana is truly the only doll or that there are many dolls and Mamurana is the leader). According to Prinky, there is also something Rask left behind around here. Head up through the door behind him (where you found Parsley), and finally through the door at the north wall in there and you will be at an R&D! If you need anything developed, don't hesitate. If you haven't yet gotten Shield 2's for all your robots or Axe 1's or 2's, then I suggest trying now. The next objective I have in mind for you right now is saving up your money to build a third robot (if you haven't already and want to). A third robot may prove helpful in future battles, both regular and boss battles. [THIS JUST IN: Some technically useless information. Okay, so there is more than one doll. Whether or not any or all of the dolls you have been seeing are Mamurana is questionable. The reason I forgot that there was multiple dolls was that I haven't played this game in so long. I found this out through a small scene in the Clock Tower.] Anyway, go back to the room where you spoke with Prinky and head left. You'll be in a long structure connecting the north part of the east wing to the north part of the west wing. Just head straight, there's nothing here except Mamurana watching you. When you're in the next room, you will notice that Hackers are about. You will most likely be attacked since one is so close and they moves so fast. There should be a bookshelf above you with another book written by Rask. It'll tell you of Rask naming a doll Mamurana (!). Head left and then down through the door. There will be two more Hackers in here, and just beyond them is the door you should head to to go the next room. You will appear in a hallway with a library on the other side of the wall on the left. Head down the hallway and eventually a Monk will appear. After that, head all the way down and into the next room. You should notice a Ho Ho to the right as you enter. The big question here is what to do first. I recommend heading directly left. You should go into a small room where there are two other doors, one to the north and the other to the west. In this small room a Plasmoke will appear just to the south as well. Head through the west door and into the bedroom. Inspect both front portions of the dresser at the top left. There should be 500GP and a Repair inside. Now, head back out, but this time go north. You should appear in a hallway with a bookshelf at the upper left and a door on the other side. If you want to read what's on the bookshelf, you'll have to fight a Plasmoke first. It's worth it as this does teach you Axe 1. Now, go back down and take the right turn, heading for the northeast door. A Ho Ho should appear, so remain alert. Walk up through the door and into the library. A Ho Ho will appear. Also found in this library is a Plasmoke. So, what's so special about the library? More Inventor's Friends! In here should be Issues 10 and 11, which teach you Shield 3 and Power Pack respectively. There's also another volume of "My Life with Prinky." Not necessary to read, but if you want a little plot builder, be my guest. Head out of the library and back to the area where you first saw the Plasmoke (or at least where I first mentioned it in this FAQ). Head to the right and get out of that confined area and head down. Just beyond the overpass (on the other side of the overpass are a couple Monks and a Plasmoke and a door to the bottom right that leads you to the east wing). to the right, a Monk should appear right before you make it to the staircase. If you head left and down after that, you will see a Ho Ho and a door leading to a room. This room is empty now (sorry if you came here reading my directions; I just wanted to make you aware of this place). I recommend heading down the stairs. Take a right after that and go up, passing under the overpass. A Plasmoke should appear just before you reach the door. Head for the door and enter it. Inside, you'll see a little robot. Talk to it a few times and it'll say a few different things. Search the pillar in the middle of the room for a Sword 2. After you've done all this, head back to the inside of the well. Near the north end of the well should be a door on one side of a wall, but nothing on the other side (note that there is a Monk nearby). Search the wall directly in-line of the door with the Light equipped. A passage will open. Once inside walk on the button and the barricades will go down. Head south to the previously blocked off capsule with a Scrap 3 inside (there's also a Ho Ho to the left of the capsule). Head back up, go left and up through the previously blocked door. As you walk into the next room there will be three Hackers talking amongst themselves. You need them to get out of your way and they seem to be scared out of their wits by their exchange of ghost stories. Equip the Surprise Horn and give it a blast. They'll all practically crap their pants and run away. Now, walk into the door that they had blocked off and into the next room. Just a small, one-way room leading to another door. Go through that and you're in the breaker room. Just above you should be a small room. Enter it and a cut scene will ensue between Mint and a Hacker in another small room. The only way in is locked, though. In the room you went into to initiate the cut scene should be a small switch on the north wall. Continually flip the switch with the A button until finally the Hacker comes out (you will hear the door open). Now, turn the light on and go talk to Mint. She will tell you that Parsley seems to have something the Hackers want. After that, she will take off looking for Flavon. Now, time to find Parsley. First, you want to look for Flavon. You want to be in the south part of the west wing (where you have the overpass and the room with the robot). Flavon should be in the room directly to the left of the entrance to the south portion of the west wing (assuming you came from the north). Go into that room and you should see Flavon in bed with a Hacker right next to him. After the Hacker speaks with him a bit, he will notice you and attack. Defeat the Hacker, it shouldn't be a problem. After you have, he'll suck up to you and you'll be able to get some info out of him. He'll tell you that his boss, Blackmore, has plans to grab something called the Tetron. After that, the selection will pop up again. From there, you just need to select the second selection and let him by. Now, go talk to Flavon. Flavon will tell you that Parsley hid an item called the Clock Tower Key. Flavon then gives you and idea for an invention called Relay. This will allow you to speak with animals. Now, head out of here and go to the R&D and develop a Relay. Now, equip the Relay and go outside to area with the well. You will see Parsley walking around. With Relay equipped, you can talk to him and he'll tell you where the key is. It should be right in front of the well. Inspect the area and you will obtain the Clock Tower Key. Now, you can head to the Clock Tower. Before going to the Clock Tower, there are a few things you should do. First is beef up. Get yourself to about level 9 or so (I was level 12 by this point, but I had also done a bit extra leveling on the side). Also, be sure you have your third robot ready to go. If you don't already have any Axe 1's (at least) for your robots, I highly recommend you get them. If you saved the Scrap 1, you can combine that with Axe 1 to get Axe 2, although it really isn't worth taking the time or spending the money to boost this up to level 9 to replace a level 9 Axe 1 since there is only a 10 point difference in strength between the two. By now, all you robots should have at least Boots 2. If you want, you could make a Power Pack for a Power-centered robot, but for 3000GP to raise Power only 10 points is a bit like highway robbery in my opinion. Therefore, I don't highly recommend it. I would also recommend your robots have Shield 3. Once you have everything read, go back to the beginning of the Old House and leave out the front door. Head all the way around the house to the back and you'll see a locked up structure. This is the Clock Tower. -CLOCK TOWER- Clock Tower information Items Hidden: Cure, Scrap 1, Scrap 6 Enemies Present: Mummy- Wrapped undead beasts. Fire projectile shots. They can also become invisible. Elesmoke Plasmoke Franken- Creatures that look like Frankenstein's monster. Ho Ho Monk Strategies: The Mummies can be taken down with a Bomb if you're close enough and strong enough. I recommend using melee weapons, though. Those can do more damage (assuming they're strong enough, and they should be by now) and don't use up as much charge time. When/If Mummies go invisible, remember their position because they will stay still. They cannot be harmed when in this state, however. Frankens can be tough if you're a low level. If one hit cannot make them succumb, use a triple-hit combo. No, there's no Scissorman in this Clock Tower. Just Mamurana. Equip the key and use it on the locked door to get into the Clock Tower, then go inside. You'll see a locked door with a switch to the left. Hit the switch to open the door and go through. This place can be somewhat complex, but not extremely. Anyway, here is the layout to this part. In the small room you're currently in, there are paths to the left and right. There's also a couple of Mummies in this room. To the left is a locked door with an Elesmoke in front of it and to the right is a blocked off area behind a door (and a Mummy in front of the door). The only place to go is straight up (through the door with the plaque next to it). In this little area should be an Elesmoke to the left and a Mummy to the right. After you've finished them off or retreated, go up through the door on the left (which should take you to the second floor). You should see a door on the north wall. Go through it and it will take you to a very small ledge with a capsule and an Elesmoke. Open the capsule for a Cure. Head back out and start heading south. There should be a couple of Frankens that appear in your path. Go through the door on the right. A Ho Ho should appear in this small section. Head down through another door. There should be a locked door to the right and a blocked off path directly to the south. Head right and down, taking the path in front of the locked door (there should be a Mummy that appears) and go through the door here. This should lead to a very straight-forward path heading left with a Plasmoke in your way. Through the door to the left here and you will be brought to an O- shaped room. There should be a plaque on the wall and a switch next to it. Flip the switch and head back the way you came. Remember that last locked door you saw? It's now open! This is the only locked door that is currently open. The other at the beginning is still closed. Head through the newly unlocked door and you will see a Ho Ho appear and a drop-off on the left side of the ledge. Drop off the drop-off (novel idea!) and you will land in the area on the first floor that was previously blocked off. Step on the button and it will lower the barricades below. Go north through the door. You will see Mint is cornered by a mouse. If you speak with Mint, she'll ask you to get rid of the mouse. Equip the Relay and speak with the mouse and she will tell you one of her babies is trapped inside Mint's bag. Mint will let the baby out and the mice will leave. Mint will soon leave and that will be your cue to flip the switch to the left and head out of the room. That will open the locked door to the left of the entrance. Go through it and you will get a Scrap 1 from a capsule (upon opening the capsule, a Monk and an Elesmoke should appear). Head back up to the second floor- You should be able to get past the barricades that were there. If you return to this room, you'll see the young mouse. Speak to him with the Relay and he will tell you to search the left wall. Go through it and you'll see a capsule with Scrap 6! Cross the downed barricades (they should be right after you get past the two Frankens and the Ho Ho) and head left through the door (note the Mummy that appears just below the barricades. You should be heaing left down the path and a Mummy will appear near the top of the path. There should also be a locked door on the west half of the path. Head through the door on the west wall. You should come to another O-shaped room with a plaque and a switch. Go back out and up through the locked door (which should be open now) and through the door to the third floor. Here on the third floor, a Plasmoke should appear to the right. Hit the switch to the right of the plaque and go through the door. A small cut scene will happen and the dolls will prevent you from going further. You will be thrown out of the room. Re-enter and the mouse you helped earlier will help you out in turn (If you haven't helped the mouse out yet, then I suggest you look about two paragraphs up). You can now go through the door. In this room, you can climb down using the left chain. Walk over to it and climb all the way down. Head up through the door into a strange-shaped hallway. Here, go up through the narrow hall on the right and push the switch to open the door. Now, go through the door and watch the small cut scene between Mamurana and the Hacker. Walk up to the middle of the room. Mamurana will speak. She seems to know why you're here... And she seems pretty pissed off! BOSS MAMURANA Recommended level: 11-12; Although higher definitely wouldn't hurt. Our sweet and lovable doll from Hell has become a gigantic killer bee- butterfly-moth-monster-...thing. She has some odd attacks... If you're robots aren't very powerful, then Mamurana will just walk- er... fly all over them. One ability she possesses is the ability to clone herself. Her clones are significantly weaker than her, but can range in stats. If you're high enough of a level and have good weapons (again... Axes!), you should be able to take out the clones with a shot or two. I've also noticed that if she spawns a clone where you're standing, it will automatically die. Mamurana also loves to do her lightning attack, so if you have to guard, then do not remain in the same line with her. She also has a pollen attack that she shoots out in front of her which can put status (I believe) afflicitions on your robot. All over her attacks can do quite a bit of damage. That is why I recommend having the best defense possible before initiating this fight. Notice a few things to your advantage. First off, she is much weaker when hit from behind. Also, she cannot change lines. She is apparently confined to a line and her only true means of changing lines is when she clones herself. So, if she does no cloning, then she can not change lines. Hit her with single shots using a melee weapon. Using a robot that is Power-centered might also help. Using my Power- centered robot, I was able to do about 100 damage (of course, I was level 13). Just be sure that your Power robots have decent enough Guard. It is not necessary to try to kill both clones. Just work on one Mamurana at a time; The others can't hurt you. If one dies, then move to another one. Bombs have little effect on Mamurana, so I recommend not using those. Triple shots and most Run attacks also seem to do nothing. You'll get ~50 megs of data for defeating Mamurana. --- Mamurana will speak... Then shut the living hell up! Inspect her inanimate body and you will get Stone 2! The Hacker you just saved will thank you, announce that he is quitting the Hackers, and leaves. Leave the room and Mint will be just outside. She'll say that she's got a top story to write now and leaves. Follow her and as you leave you'll see Prinky and Igor appear behind you and say a few things. Outside this room you will see Flavon. He will speak to you and the two of you will automatically go back to Rococo... 5C: TROPICAL GETAWAY -ROCOCO- You will be in Flavon's house. He'll speak with you and a cutscene will ensue. After it's over, Flavon will say something about a South Island. Hmm... There's nothing in Flavon's house, just leave. Head back home and Nagisa will tell you that you got an invitation to an island resort and that the boat leaves shortly. Now, do anything that you really need at the moment (such as buy supplies or make items) and get ready to leave. As you leave, a new path will clear to the left of Rococo. Head there. -HARBOR- There is no information for this place because there really isn't much here. Head toward the docks to the left and make your way to the boat. There should be a tribal guy standing in front of the boat. Speak to him to make him move, then board the ship. You're well on your way to the South Isle. -PIER- Much like before, nothing much here. You will exit the boat as it docks at the pier. Speak to the tribal as you get off and he'll escort you to the village. Just leave this place, there's nothing special here except the boat (which can take you back to Rococo whenever need be). As you exit the pier, a new path will open to the right. Go to the village, now. -VILLAGE- Village Information Shops: Smoke Bomb: 30GP Cure: 90 GP Clean: 150GP Repair: 450GP Big Bomb: 300GP The first duty I place in your hands is to explore. There are only four buildings here: The tool shop and inn at the south end of town, the shaman's house at the northwest corner, and the elder's house at the northeast corner. You may also notice that the Rococo mayor and Mint are also here. Mint will tell you that all who have received invitations have turned up missing. Hm... After you've explored and normed yourself with the area (which shouldn't take long), head to the elder's house. You will see a conversation between the elder and the shaman. When they are done talking the shaman will leave and push you out of the way. Now is the time to speak with the elder if you really wanted to (although he doesn't say a whole lot). Exit the elder's house. You can also go to the shaman's house, although there really isn't much there, either. When you've had enough, head to the inn and hop into bed (your bed should be the one on the left). You will have another of those dreams. You should see a strange, robot-like figure on what appears to be the nearby volcano. He'll say a few intriguing things, then a tribal will come up and scream, then run away. The dream sequence will end and... Head outside the inn and just to the right and a bit below should be a red-haired tribal. Speak to him and he'll escort you now to the volcano. Leave the village and a pathway will open to the volcano. -VOLCANO- Volcano Information Items Hidden: Outside Volcano: Celtis 1, 300GP Inside Volcano Cave: 500GP, Repair Trash Chute Area: Cure Enemies Present: Powermole- A suped-up version of the original mole. Spider Gator- Small, but fierce alligator monsters. Bosstoad- Giant, toads that hop around upright. Turbo- Suped up version of the Mine. (See Volcano Base section for Strategy) Gold Cmdr.- (see Volcano Base section for details) Quickbirds- High powered versions of Rushbirds. Maskers- They appear invisible on the regular screen. Beret- Invisible like the Maskers. Guys with cannons. The Powermole is basically just a powered up version of the regular Mole. So, just apply the same prinicples, except taking into consideration higher stats. I've noticed that higher forms of boots are quite helpful this early in the game. I don't quite remember the regular Moles having this attack, but it seems the Powermoles have the ability to cause great fissures that damage you and all capsules. So, if you really want to open capsules, go for those first. Gators can be a bit nasty. When you first encounter them, they may be able to do loads of damage if you havne't been leveling up. They have one attack in which they drop a weight on you that can do damage even in relatively higher levels. They don't have very high defense, though, and can be take out just as easy as any other enemy. They also use projectile attacks that really aren't much to worry about. Pray they use those more than the weight attacks. The Bosstoads have one aspect to them that makes them a bit formidable, but one fatal flaw. They have high defense and relatively high attack (they can do a bit of damage), but they are just so damn stupid! I think their AI might have been programmed stupid on purpose. I was actually allowing one to get hits off on me and he just kept maneuvering around me and stopping in completely different rows than I was or pointlessly attacked capsules. Use this stupidity to your advantage. Just make sure your attacks do a good amount of damage or you're screwed. The Quickbirds can be very deadly. Even at level 17 with some relatively good stats, they were taking off half of my HP. They still died with one hit, though. If you're not ready for Quickbirds, RUN! Just one peck almost dropped one of my 'bots. I've also noticed that their pecks CAN destroy your robots quite easily. Level 17 and one of my robots was hit for 45 damage when most enemies around this time were doing 1-5 damage. Maskers are probably the deadliest of them all. You cannot see them when walking around, but when you do initiate more than one, run. They can easily decimate your group with their powerful water balloon attack. On the flip side, they have just under 30 HP, so if you can cause that much damage and you're only fighting one, give it a try. Two is a bit iffy and three you should just run unless you feel like repairing your robots. I've also noticed that bombs do very little against them. Berets are even worse than Maskers. These guys have high defense AS WELL AS high power. They do have low HP, however. I was able to take one out with about 18 damage (two blows of 9 damage each). I recommend leaving these guys alone all together, though. Soon as you arrive at the volcano, head right. Open the capsule that you should eventually come to and you will get a Celtis. Head back to the beginning, only this time head north. Pass the stairs and head toward the capsule that should appear. Open it for 300GP. Now, head up the stairs. Head right and up another set of stairs, then up and left toward the tribal. Speak to him. He'll give you access into the volcano. Descend into it. Walk around a bit. In fact, purposely walk to far and the tribal will take away the rope. Don't worry, this is supposed to happen. If you feel like challenging everything in sight, you could head down the path to the left and battle the Powermole in the small, confined area. Just for experience and whatever you could get from the battle, I do recommend it. That and it's a good way to test the waters of this area; A good way to assess your robots' power against modern enemies. Either way, you're going to have to head right (which is the direction in which you trigger the rope to disappear). Okay, there should be several different pathways to go. If you head straight down from the spot that triggers the rope event, you will come to a Spider and a door leading to a pathway heading east. You will see a capsule at the end of the pathway, but there's also a Powermole guarding it (it's hidden underground, so you can't immediately see it). Battle the Powermole, then open the capsule for 500GP. Head back out. It seems your only option is to go right of the area that triggered the rope event. There are two pathways to the right: Up and Down. Down is only for the sporty types. It leads to a confined area with a couple Spiders. Up will take you to a narrow path, followed by a small room with a Spider and a door. Kill the Spider if you wish and head through the door. After heading through the door, know that there is a Powermole hidden to your left. Before doing anything on the left, though, go across the land bridge just up above you. On the other side, a Powermole should appear, so stay alert. There's another land bridge just to the north, but it leads to nothing so just leave it alone. Take the path to the far right and head up. You should notice a capsule at the end of the path. Guarding the capsule is another hidden Powermole. It doesn't look like you'll be able to avoid this one easily, so just kill it. After you've finished off the pesky rodent, open the capsule for a Repair. Head back to the start of this area. Head toware the path that is west of the first land bridge. You should notice that there are actually two paths west of the land bridge: One heading left and the other heading up. The one heading left is another for the sporty people. There's nothing there but a few Powermoles. Up takes you to a strange, metal wall with a door in it. Go through the door and... *cough...save...cough* -VOLCANO BASE- Volcano Base Information Items Hidden: Cure (x2), 600GP (x2), Key, 800GP, 400GP (x2), Scrap 4, 298GP (x2), Scrap 7, Clean, 5000GP (don't get too excited, you'll be losing it soon), Sword 4 Inventor's Friend 12- R&D 13- R&D 14- Secret Room 16- Dr. Einst's room 17- Secret Room Enemies Present: Turbo Gold Cmdr. (Commander)- Same Commanders as before, but stronger. These ones are also more likely to call reinforcements, so stay alert. Minicom- Small Hackers. Can pack quite a punch for their size. They also have a highly damaging attack that occurs when you kill them. Be thankful they don't have a whole lot of HP (< or = 30) Gunrobot- Bouncing, one-eyed robots. They can do a bit of damage if they hit you from behind, so don't leave yourself too widely open. Biolion- Mutated lions. CannonX- Robots with huge cannons on their backs. Strategies: Noting much to apply to Turbo except the usual level rule. They basically have the same attacks as a Mine, except with higher stats. Good levels and weapons will dispatch them with one shot. The new Commanders (the gold ones) are a bit of the same. No new attacks and they can be easily taken out. Be sure you have good equipment for this area. The Minicoms can pack one hell of a punch if your robots are weak. They're bomb attacks can be devestating and they can be pain to take out if you don't have high levels (if you don't, then I recommend running). The one thing I recommend the highest when fighting Minicoms is long range weapons. Why, you ask? When they die, they crumble apart and their parts do TONS of damage to your robots. Even at level 16, they were tearing my robots apart with their crumble attacks. Bombs may not be the best choice, but if you're a high enough level they can take them out. So, I do recommend having at least one robot in this area with a long range weapon. Gunrobots are fairly weak for the most part, especially if your levels are high. They have two attacks: a charge attack (the more powerful of the two) and a laser attack. If you really want to cause some damage, wait until they get close enough to you, then hit them from behind. I've also found that they are fairly strong against bomb attacks. The Biolions are much like Gunrobots, except a bit weaker. Just apply the same basic strategy to these guys as Gunrobots. Same thing goes for CannonX. The only difference with CannonX is that these guys can absorb life. They also tend to absorb relatively good sized amounts. You'll be inside what appears to be a Hacker base. How do you know it's a Hacker base? Well, there is a Hacker standing right there talking to you! He'll recognize you as "the new sacrifice guy." Sounds like a Rob Zombie song title, no? Well, you're in the new "shop" and if you try to run, you'll be thrown into the volcano according to the Hacker. From here, head down. You will see a Turbo with a long pathway heading south. There's nothing down there, but if you want to kill the other two Turbos down at the end of the path, be my guest. It's nice to gain some experience. Anyway, you should notice a door to the left. Go through it to enter a room with a Turbo and a capsule. Open the capsule for a Cure. Head back up into the shop where you were sent to earlier. You should notice a switch to the right of the right treadmill. Press the switch and the treadmills will reverse. Walk on one of them through one of the doors and into the next room. You will come to a very complex room indeed. You should see Hackers pacing around throughout this area. If one sees you, you will be sent back to the beginning. First thing's first. Go into the path to the right of the sign proclaiming this month to be Work Build-Up Month. Wait out of the view of the Hacker pacing above. He should pass you on his way to the left and then pass you again while heading right. After he passes you while heading right, run out from behind him (press the button if you want, but you won't be needing it just yet) and head down into the hiding place created by the crates. Run around to the far right side of the crates and when he begins heading left, run out and up the corridor to the right of the button. Keep heading up until you come to a room with a Hacker patrolling in a rectangular pathway. Try not to let him see you (possibly even follow right behind him or just run when he's not looking left), but head to the upper left. Run down the stairs and head right. Pass the door and keep going past the overpass. You should come to a capsule in a corner. Open it for a Cure. Head back to the door you just past and go through it. You'll be in a bathroom. A couple of Hackers will be taking a leak and talking. Eventually, one of them will turn around and run towards you. He seems a bit panicky because he slipped something he shouldn't have. You will be given two choices. The first one does nothing at all and just causes him to repeat the process. Pick the second choice and he'll put a stamp on your hand. With this stamp, you can be admitted into various secret rooms and labs throughout the base. Head back out of the bathroom. Head back to the first guy I had you sneak past (the one guarding the button). If you haven't pressed the button yet, do so now and head up the treadmill. You'll notice that you will stop with another treadmill to the left of you and a Hacker patrolling just above. Head right because there's nothing above, it's just a trap. Now, you will be caught in an area with three treadmills around. The one to the right you just came from. One below you leads down and another leads to the left. Take the one leading the left. You can only head down from here. Sneak past the guard and head straight down and through the next treadmill (which should be heading down). There should be another switch to the right. Be quick, though. There is a Hacker running around in this area. Hit the button and make it go red, then head back up through the treadmill you just came on. Sneak back up to the treadmills above and take the one that leads up. Run across the overpass and into the room. There should be a Hacker guarding a door to the left. If you have a stamp on your hand, he will let you pass. If you've been following the walkthrough, you should have a stamp by now. Go through the door. Notice the new enemies? Hackers as usual, only one of them is gold and the other is a tinier version of the regular Hackers. Careful for the Minicom (the small Hackers that run around). They can be very powerful if you're not very strong. If you do plan to fight Minicoms, use long range weapons. It seems that when you kill them, they break apart and can do massive damage to your robots. After you get past the first two enemies you see in this area, head down the hallway that you see just below the door you entered. You should come to a little area with another Gold Hacker and a Minicom patrolling the area. To the left should be a door leading to a little room with a capsule in it. Whenever you can, get to the capsule and open it for 600GP. If you haven't destroyed the enemies and would like to, go right ahead, then go through the door on the far left wall. You'll see a locked door with the evil looking insignia you saw before. You really can't do much, but run up to the door and inspect it. You'll actually spy some words of a conversation between a couple different villains in the game. After a while, they'll kick a Hacker out and sentence him to 100 years of toilet cleaning and he'll scramble out of the area. Nothing more you can do here after that. Head back to the area with all the treadmills and head straight to the bathroom you were in earlier. There should be a Hacker in there walking around (quite possibly the one that was sentenced to toilet duty). Speak to him and he'll walk into the other room. After he comes out it's... Kotetsu! Talk to Kotetsu and go follow him into the next room. He'll be standing on the right side of the screen. He'll tell you that if you wish to escape, you have to use the door just behind him. It's the trash chute. Go through the door and down the chute. -VOLCANO- You're back in the Volcano, and you've got to escape. For information on this area, just look back at Volcano Information. Items will be listed under "Trash Chute Area." Anyway, after falling down take a left. You'll see some strange crocodile-like creature bouncing around. These are Gators. Defeat that then head left some more. Another new creature. It should look like a giant, biped toad hopping around. These are called Bosstoads. There's not much to worry from them. They have probably the worst AI program in the game (I think they were made that way on purpose, too). After the first Bosstoad, head down. Along your way down should be another Bosstoad and a Spider to the right. Don't go right just yet though. Go down. Battle the Bosstoad on the way down may be inevitable. Battle your way past it and just to the south should be a capsule being guarded by a Gator. Again, battle may be inevitable. Kill the Gator and take the Cure from the capsule. After you've gotten the Cure, head back up and go right (where you see the Spider walking around). There's nothing in taking the path just south of the Spider, so ignore it and continue right. The pathway will curve downward and along the path heading down are a Spider and a Bosstoad. Get past them and... Two more Bosstoads! From here, the path begins to move left. So, after the Bosstoads here, head left and you'll come upon another Gator. You should notice that just down from the Gator is a door. Also, just to the left is another Spider and a door just down from it as well. Only take the one below the Gator if you really badly want to battle the Bosstoad on the other side. Other than that, there is nothing there. So, after getting past the Spider, head through the door just below it. You should be to the left side of a lava flow dividing the room in half. You will be instantly greeted by a Bosstoad as you enter. Get past this one and continue downward. The path will curve right for a few steps, but there is a Gator impeding your way with another Gator just south of it. Fight or whatever, just keep heading down until you reach the door. Run through it. You'll appear in a small room with a Spider nearby. Get past that and head down through the door. There's nothing to the right. Head down, fighting or passing the two Spiders that will appear, then head right. Head to the right now and you'll see a Gator and a Spider patrolling. There's nothing to the north but a strange, sealed temple of sorts. You can't get inside... yet. Continue right and through the door. Right here is where you want to be careful. You cannot see them, but there are enemies in this room. They're invisible, and quite powerful. They're called Maskers. Even at high levels, they can take your team out easily. Even at level 18, they were able to kill one of my 'bots with just one attack. I highly suggest running if you are attacked by one. If you feel gutsy, give it a try but save first. Head straight to the door and you will be taken to another room. This one also has an invisible surprise. It's called Beret and it's -worse- than the Maskers. I recommend just running from these guys as well. Head straight for the door. Ah, finally out! -VILLAGE- You should appear in the Shaman's Hut. Walk out of the hut and you'll scare a villager. Guess he's never seen a dead guy walk before... Head to the elder's hut and speak to the elder. After a bit of talking, Mint will walk in. Before long, the villagers will be packing you and Mint into the crate and offering you as a "sacrifice." -VOLCANO- Back here again. This time you'll be in a shrine-like area, still in the box. Before long, some Hackers will come along and take you back to the base... -VOLCANO BASE- Yep, you're here again. You and Mint will walk out. Mint will inspect the area a bit. Take a few steps and Dr. Einst will appear. He'll go face-to-face with Mint and run off, prompting Mint to follow him. Open the capsule at the top of the room for a key. To the left is also a bookshelf with Inventor's Friend 16 (which teaches you Quick Pack). For giggles, you can also run over to that strange knob in between the two statues and inspect it. The Shaman will note that "the Diety's voice sounds different." Get out of this room. This should all look familiar from here. This is the door you couldn't get through earlier. Heading through the door to the lower right will take you back to the hallway full of gold and tiny Hackers. Once you're in that hallway, head north and through the door at the upper left. Yep, now you're back in the huge room full of conveyer belts. If the button you see after entering this is red, push it so that it is white and make your way through the belts again. You'll want to move as if you're heading toward the bathroom from earlier. Yep, that's your destination. Head inside and talk to Mint. After that, head into the next room and you should see a Hacker walking around. Don't worry, he's benevolent. Go into the Exec. Toilet. Inspecting the toilet should take you to a new area. Head out and you should see some rather unfamiliar surroundings. First, head right. You won't be able to go into the room above. There is a sign saying that it's the room with the Earthquake Machine. Awkward... Head down. Open the capsule for 400GP. Head back out of this room. To the south should be a narrow walkway with some white things on it. You cannot see it with the naked eye, but there is a motion detection beam streaming between the two. Should you walk between the two detectors when the beam is active, the door above you will open and some Hackers will come out and attack you, so be careful. Head across the bridge of sorts and into another room. You should see the familiar boss insignia on the floor. Inspect the wall near it and it'll mention something strange. Head back to the Exec. Toilet. After you land back where you came from, head out and speak to Mint. She'll wander off again. Head out of the toilet. Do you remember the locked door with a mouse near it? It should be just to the right of the bathroom (it's on the upper level). Go there, equip the key in your inventory, and use it on the door. Head through. The first thing you should see is a couple of Turbos walking around. Do with them as you wish. You should also see a sign at the top of the screen. This sign should read that the door next to it leads to the lunchroom. Enter this area. You can talk to any Hackers here, but most importantly talk to the one on the very far right. It's Kotetsu. He'll tell you that you can benefit from owning a pair of Chameleon Glasses. He won't give them to you, either. He says you must head to the R&D. So, how do we get there? Simple. Head back out of the lunch room, but this time go right. You should be in an area with railings in different locations. There should also be mini-Hackers and gold Hackers all over the place. Just head right. At the end of the hall should be a sign. It will give you directions to different areas of the base. Notice the top one shows that there is an R&D just to the north! Head through the door. The first thing that will most likely catch your eye here is the new type of enemy. The one-eyed jumping robots are called Gunrobots (very original and mindblowing name, no doubt). To the right of the first Gunrobot you fought should be a capsule with 800GP. Head up. You should see a couple of motion detectors on either side of the walkway. If you really want, you can head left although there isn't anything that way except a couple of Gunrobots. Instead, go through the door (you'll have to open it with the A button). As you enter this new area you will see some new enemies yet again. The new one will look like some weird, deformed lion with fly wings. These are called Biolions. They shouldn't be incredibly strong, so don't worry. Another thing that should be brought to your attention is the new type of robot in this area that looks just like the Gunrobot on the field screen. These guys are called CannonX. After getting past the first Biolion and CannonX that you see, head left and then up. After the narrow walkway should be some more motion detectors. Just north of the detectors is a capsule guarded by a couple of enemies. The capsule contains 400GP if you can reach it. You should know that the way you want to go is northwest of the motion detectors; Through the door. Running all the way left and... YOU'VE MADE IT TO THE R&D!!!! ...Only to be told that you're not allowed in. Feh. You'll have to deliver lunch to these guys. Before you do, though, there's a few things I recommend doing first... There should be a staircase just west of the door you came through (there should be a Biolion just near it). Notice that all around this staircase on the floor you're on, there really isn't anything but enemies. If you'd like some experience, jog around this area and take out the enemies as you go. Then, head down the staircase. To the left should be a CannonX and a door right beyond it. After the door should be a capsule with 600GP inside. Go back out the door and head right. Go through the door and into the next room. You should have already been in this room before, just not on this level of the room. There's a Biolion just near you, and just to the north of it, beyond the overpass, is a capsule. Inside is a Scrap 4. After that, head east past the overpass. You should see another Biolion and a closed door here. Open the door and enter. 3 capsules await you inside. Open them: Two have 298GP (nice round number, no?) and one has a Scrap 7. Go back outside. Head back towards the door you came through originally (where you saw the first Biolion in this room and head down into the next room. Head right. After the CannonX should be some Hackers in a straight line. Ignore them for the time being and grab the capsule just to the south. There should be a Clean inside. The Hackers to the right will not let you in or even budge, so just ignore them. What you want to do right now is head to the kitchen in the lunchroom and speak with the cook. He'll give you lunch to give to the guys in the R&D. Now, head all the way back to the R&D. He'll let you in now. In here, Inventor's Friend Issues 12 and 13 can be found. Read the big red book to learn how to develop the Chameleon Glasses. Now, head into the R&D and make some Chalemeon Glasses (they should only cost 10GP to make). Once you have the Chameleon Glasses made, equip them. Everything will go to a redder tint, but you should now be able to see certain invisible things in the game (such as the motion detector rays and even the invisible enemies from before like Masker and Beret). Your next goal is to get all the way back to the Exec. Toilet and warp back to the hidden area, then go to the room where you saw the boss insignia on the floor. This time, if you have your Chameleon Glasses on, you should notice the bright red outline of a secret door. Open the door and walk through. A small, empty room. First thing you should do is read the two Inventor's Friends on the bookshelf (14 and 17). Those will teach you Celtis 1 and Bomb 2 respectively. Now, read the red book on the table. After you've thumbed through it a bit, Dr. Einst will walk in. He'll walk over and push the white button on the back wall, turning you into a mouse. Bah! You should see a small slot to the left of the bookshelf. That is a mousehole. Enter it. Run up and take a right. You can't go through the pipe heading north, though. Head all the way right, then south into the next screen. You can take the west turn here and go up to talk to the other mouse here. He'll tell you about the manager of the Earthquake device, mentioning that he must be a mouse as well. Head back out and go along the route you were just on; Heading south, west, then south again into the next screen. You should now be in the area with the hidden door. You won't be able to go back inside through the door, so just leave this area. Go through the door on the left and continue until you come back to the narrow walkway with a couple of motion sensors. All the same stuff you've seen before. However, if you remember properly, there should be a door at the top right side of this room that leads to a locked door. Now that you're a mouse, you can sneak through the mousehole here. The passage ways look just like they did before, so just follow that same basic design. There is also another mouse in here you can talk to, but he really doesn't say anything to incredibly important (you can still talk to him if you wish). As you come out on the other side of this passage, you should see Mint in front of the Earthquake device. Talk to Mint when she's done talking. Continue to talk to her until Kotetsu comes in. Kotetsu will then ask you (as he believes you are another human victim of the Chief) to chase Mint. Repeatedly talk to Mint until she runs away. Kotetsu now wants you to steal him some money. The first thing you're going to need to do is find a particular mousehole. This hole is found on the way to the R&D. Basically, go to the room just before the lunch room, head right and go all the way to the end of this area and into the next room. Finally, you should see a mouse hole in this room (where you first met Gunrobot). Go into the hole and speak with the mice in there. I'm not sure if you have to speak to them twice or speak to a certain one, but one of them will tell you "1000 times no" and not let you pass. However, he will also say that he'll let you pass if you go to the lunchroom and get some food. Go to the lunchroom. You'll see that it's overrun with mice, all of them scared out of their wits. Speak to the Hacker and he'll challenge you. Defeat him and he'll leave the lunchroom, giving free reign to the mice. Now, go back to the hole where you met the two mice and speak to them. They'll rejoice in your victory and run off to chow down. Make your way through the tunnel now. There will be 3 capsules. The one at the top will have 5000GP. Don't get too worked up. This is the money you'll be parting with by giving it to Kotetsu. You will also get Scrap 9 and Sword 4! Both of these items are highly useful. I recommend equipping Sword 4 onto one of your robots (most likely the well balanced one). You may find that it's a bit weaker than what you're using, but not only can it become very strong, but it hits all enemies in battle with a bolt of lightning. This thing can be highly effective when used with a triple attack on enemies, as it can wipe out an entire entourage. Head out of this area and walk all the way back to where you met Kotetsu. For a brief overview, that's back to the bathrooms, through the Exec. Toilet, into the hidden area, and where you found the Earthquake machine. Speak to Kotetsu. You'll give him the money, and then he'll tell you to meet him at the secret lab. Remember where that is? It's the place where you needed the Chameleon Glasses to see the door; Where Dr. Einst turned you into a mouse. It's not too far away from the Earthquake machine, in fact. Once you enter, Kotetsu will be standing there. Kotetsu will turn you back into a person, then give you some info on shutting down the Earthquake machine. Head to the lunchroom. On the far right should be a mouse. Equip Relay and speak to him. He'll tell you how to shut down the Earthquake device. He says to turn the right switch 3 times and the left switch twice. Now, MAKE SURE THAT BEFORE YOU DO THIS NEXT ACTION THAT YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU WANT FROM THIS AREA. After you've destroyed the Earthquake machine, you can never return to this base. Anyway, make your way to the Earthquake machine. There should be two little white buttons on it. Push the button on your right three times, then the one on your left twice. The machine should explode. Exit the room and Mint will be outside. She'll take you out of the area and a cave-in will occur, blocking off the entrance to the Volcano Base. Mint will walk off after some talking. -VOLCANO- Exit the Volcano by heading south. Once in this room, head to the right and climb up the rope. You should know your way pretty easily from here. Just be aware of the moles that are now around the volcano premises. Exit here and head to the village. -VILLAGE- Right now is actually a golden opportunity to powerup any weapons you have or even build new, more powerful stuff. You will be encountering the third boss soon, just so you know. If you have the opportunity, I highly suggest upgrading Sword 4, making at least one Axe 3 (Axe 2+Scrap1), and possibly making a Shield 4 (Scrap 7+Scrap9). You'll find that the Sword 4 will be incredibly helpful when powered to level 9. Be sure that if you do make an Axe 3, that you bring it to level 9 as well. As you can see, the villagers have been turned to mice. There's nothing much here, so head to the Elder's hut. The shaman will be holding a conversation with the Elder. You'll notice that the Elder's guards will be turned to mice. Eventually, the shaman will turn his attention to you, and no much later will he mysteriously be turned into a mouse while the guards are changed back. Speak to the Elder and he'll tell you what to do next. Now, speak to one of his guards, it doesn't matter which, and they'll take you to the temple. -TEMPLE- Temple information Items hidden: Clean, Stone 3, Scrap A Enemies Present: Poison- A highly powered mushroom that can poison your robots. Gelgel- High powered gels. Strategies: Both Poison and Gelgel are nothing to fear. However, both can also poison your robots. Use a Clean if you need to. I recommend using basic attacks on these guys. Assuming you went through with my heedings and gave a robot a high-powered Sword 4, you can easily take these ones out. They'll do a dance and open the entrance to the ruins, where the treasure is. You can leave this area if you wish. You also don't have to go through all the trouble to find your way back if you do leave. Simply speak to the guards again and they'll bring you back here. Enter the door that just opened. Before you can, someone will speak out. It's Dr. Einst! He'll speak a bit, then walk up to you and do some really lame looking kick and push you aside. With you out of the way, he enters the room. Follow him. You'll enter into a room with two doors and a switch. Currently, you can only really go anywhere through the right door. That will only take you to a plaque. This should give you a clue to the puzzle you need to solve. Head back to the switch and step on it to move it to the left. Now, go through the left door. You should eventually come to a capsule with a Clean in it. There are also a few doors near the capsule. None of them are open. You have to pick the right (as in "proper", not right as in "right or left") door. You could head left, but that will take you to a dead end (for now, let's worry about the doors). I think it is worth mentioning that a Poison and a Gelgel lie in that direction though. Anyway, back to the doors. If you pick the furthest left door, you will be attacked by Gelgels. The middle door will just take you to the beginning. The furthest right door is what you want. Search it and you'll hear a ding-dong. The door will then open. Go through it and into the next area. Make your way to the door to the very north. The plaque is almost pointless. I'm sure you can guess what to do in this room. Just step on the switch and that will bring up a piece of floor back outside. Exit and cross. You should see the familiar boss insignia. Open the door and enter. Dr. Einst will be searching some strange thing (person? armor?) If you think back, you may actually recognize this from the dream that the main character had a while back. After a while, Dr. Einst will stop. Walk up and talk to him. It seems he's been prepared for a showdown with you for some time. He's created his own robot. He named it... Big Eye. Okay, so he didn't exactly go all out with the name, but he did create a solid robot. BOSS BIG EYE Recommended Level: 20, possibly higher Big Eye can really be a pain in the ass. If you aren't prepared, he can rip your robots to pieces. I highly recommended having one robot use Sword 4. You may notice this sword is pretty weak against him. However, it seems to do more damage if you use a triple-hit Run. Just hope that Big Eye doesn't block one of the attacks. However, do not (or at least try not) use close-range robots. I'll tell you why in a minute. I should also note that Bombs seem to be useless. Big Eye has a few attacks that are all pretty devestating. First, he has his laser attack. This only hits two rows, and the row he tends to miss is random. So, all you can really do is pick a row and hope it doesn't it. Should it hit and bypass your shield, it'll inflict a bit of damage. Big Eye also has a medium range attack in which he throws his hands at you. This does just slightly more than the lasers, assuming he hits. The attack can also knock you all the way back. The worst attack he has is a close-range one (hence the reason I told you to avoid close-range robots). It isn't so much that the attack does more damage than the others. This attack sends Big Eye flying across the screen... Putting him right behind you! This means your incredibly vulnerable. He'll then fire a laser, which can do TWICE the damage from behind as it can from the front. This can quickly put your robot down for the count. My suggested strategy is to get a robot with Sword 4 or another incredibly powerful long-range weapon and power it up. Then, beat the living crap out of Big Eye with it. When your robot drops below 30 HP, heal. Make good use of charging up your meter with the B Button. You may not be satisfied to know that only one hit with the Sworld 4 does about 1-3 damage, however, hitting more times (using Runs, again) can increase the damage quite a bit. Another strategy I have involves a lot of repairs. Say screw off to the long-range robot and bring out your best short- ranger. Send him head on with Big Eye. Assess your own HP. Should you have a high enough amount of HP (over 30), then attack Big Eye. Should you have less than 30, use a Cure. If that robot is destroyed, then use a Repair when your next robot is spawned. Repeat the process, except try to keep all your melee robots in for the most part. If you run out of Repairs and your melee robots are dead, then you'll have to depend on the long-range robot. Keep alive and perservere and Big Eye should be brought down and ready for the junkyard. Remember, if any of your robots fall in battle, you always have repairs. You can also build levels if you can't seem to defeat Big Eye. --- Dr. Einst will storm out, furious. Speak to the armor thing in the middle of the room. It'll reveal itself as a character named Napoleon. He'll then give you Stone 3, which is another part of the Tetron. The room will shake and Napoleon will lead you out. Follow him. He'll find that the pathway out is blocked and the floor you once had that left you there has been moved. He'll then go back inside after you speak to him. He'll stand in front of a peculiar door that you may have noticed at the back of the room. Napoleon will break through it. Follow him again. Keep following and talking to Napoleon all through this area. Napoleon will break through each wall. On the last one, he'll explode in an attempt to open the door. Search his remains and you'll get Scrap A. Now, head back out. -VOLCANO- You should be inside the volcano once again. Finding your way out shouldn't be too hard. You may know it by now, but just in case: Head all the way left from your position and south through the door. Keep heading south from here, past the Bosstoad, and through the door all the way down. Continue downward and head east until you see a door. From here, it's pretty obvious (just wear the Chameleon Glasses so you can see the invisible enemies). -VILLAGE- You're back here again. Exit the hut you're in. A man outside will tell you to go see the Elder. Head to the Elder's hut and speak with him. He'll tell you someone in front of the inn saw a strange man leaving. Speak to the villager in front of the inn. He'll tell you someone escaped using the hidden bay behind the volcano. Leave this area. A new area should open up to the north. -INLET- Inlet information Items Hidden: Change As you enter, you should see Mint and a capsule. You can speak to Mint, but you really don't have to. She'll basically tell you that Dr. Einst has escaped. Open the capsule for a Change (see item list for details). Now, Nagisa should call you up and tell you to head back to Rococo... Thus concludes this section of the walkthrough (after having a good-sized fallacy in the last version of this FAQ). 5D: FRAMED!!! -ROCOCO- Obvious as this sounds, head back to Rococo. Return home and there should be a police officer inside your house. Before much else happens, you are placed under arrest and sent to the jail. The officer also takes away all three Stones! Crap! First, we've got to work on getting out. If you search the walls along the back, you'll find something written that gives you a clue to solving this part. It'll say something about "wishing I were a mouse." Here's what to do. Equip the Surprise Horn (that thing that makes the loud blast) and use it. Quickly, go back into your inventory and equip the Change device taht you just found. This will instantly turn you into a mouse while it is equipped. The police officer will walk in and note that you're not in your cell. He'll then walk out of the way, leaving your exit clear. Run through the door and out the police station. When you are outside, be sure to stay in mouse form. For the hell of it, you can speak to the boy in front of City Hall and the dog on the far right and they'll both chase after you. At any rate, head home. You should see Carl inside your house this time. Turn back into a human and speak to him. Carl will tell you that a room south of the police station can lead you to the Mayor. If you're really careful, you won't need to change back into a mouse to get there. Head along the southwest side of town, then head north. You should see a very small building (I believe it used to be blocked off and is now open). Head inside. Carl will be standing in front of a blocked off doorway. He'll tell you that he needs a push to open it. Help him push the door open by pushing up along with him. After a few tries of doing this, the door should finally open up. Carl will step out of the way, allowing you to enter. -ROCOCO SEWERS- Rococo Sewers information Items Hidden: Scrap 5, Cure, 1500GP, Scrap 2, Empty Pack, Axe 3 Shops: Scrap 1- 1500GP Scrap 4- 1500GP Scrap 5- 1500GP Scrap 7- 1500GP Cure- 90GP Enemies Present: Shell- Crab-like creatures that carry their "homes" on their back. A bad pun of nature. Cmdr (Harpoon)- A new type of commanding Hacker. Appear in wet suits with diving helmets and all the gear. Use harpoons as weapons. Cmdr (Laser)- Just like the others, except they have a laser weapon. Apply the same strategies. Angler- Big killer fish. Attack with electricity. Luckstar- Seastars that appear out of nowhere like the Gels. Urchin- Another sea creature. Appear as little spiked balls with eyes. Octopus- Giant octopus creatures with a jug on their head. Strategies: Shells are quite annoying little creatures. A lot like the last boss you faced, Big Eye, they can randomly block an attack. They also seem to be a bit hard to hit. Top it off, they love to run away. Getting a hit off on these guys is next to impossible. I recommend possibly trying to defeat these guys if you can, but maybe not going to such great lengths to do so. However, should you succeed, a good amount of experience will be your reward. I was able to kill one once using a melee weapon. I got a critical shot using a three-hit Run. Commanders can be easily taken out with the Sword 4's attack. Anglers seem to be strong against just a single attack from a Sword 4. Anglers can also slowly tear you down, as they can do anywhere from 10-20 damage, depending on where they hit. Kill them either with multiple Sword 4 shots (as in a Run) or a single melee weapon shot. Luckstars seem to be incredibly strong against Sword 4, even in multiple hits. These guys can be formidable, but one solid melee weapon shot will take them down instantly. One thing I recently found that is worth noting is that they do a star rain attack that seems to vary greatly in damage depending on which side of your robot it hits. It seems to do much more damage from the front (most of my 'bots took 26 damage from frontal hits). Another thing I found worth noting is that it seems the Luckstars can drop capsules during battle. I still haven't been able to see if they give you any goodies or if they just explode on you. Urchins are of practically no threat defense-wise. Even one shot from Sword 4 or other melee weapons can easily take these ones down. Octopi can be killed using a three-hit run for a Sword 4 or a single melee shot. These guys are not incredibly strong, but they can blow you back. They also have the ability to darken the battlefield and move yours and their positions in that short instant. In the beginning, you'll see a lot of crab-like creatures called Shells around. These guys are pathetic, but actually almost impossible to kill because of how timid they are. They do, however, have a new type of Hacker with them that will randomly appear. You should notice a closed door at the very top of the screen when you first enter this area. Go up to the door and open it. There will be a mouse inside. Either equip change or Relay and speak with the mouse. He actually sells items! The only items he sells are Scraps 1, 4, 5, and 7, which is good if you can find a good combination with those scraps (let's also not forget the Cures you can buy from this guy). Sword 4 can be combined with Scrap 1 to make Blade 2 (although I wouldn't recommend using your current Sword 4 to do so; Make a second if you can). Scrap 2 (assuming you have one) can be combined with Scrap 7 to create a Laser 1. You can also buy more Scrap 7's to make Lasers 2 and 3. Boots 4 can also be made by combining Scraps 3 and 5. Grab whatever you need. You can also ask for information from this little guy. Leave the shop and get past all four shells in this area. You'll want to head left and through the door. You'll come to a little area with an Angler right in front of you. Continue left from here. You'll bump into another Angler and along the way left a Luckstar should appear. Luckstars can be a bit annoying, as they just seem to appear out of nowhere. Heading left a little more and you'll see a door near another Angler and a Luckstar that appears within the same screen of the door. Head up through the door. You'll see an Urchin hopping along. These guys really aren't much to worry about. Head right now. Along the way, a Luckstar should appear, so stay alert. You should see a door on your way to the right. There should also be a door just south of it with three Urchins in front of it. Head toward the south, but don't go through the door just yet (also note that there is a Luckstar to the right of the door before you enter). Head left, making your way past the Urchins previously mentioned. Go through the narrow walkway and open a capsule beyond it to receive a Scrap 5. Now, go back and head through the south door. You'll be greeted by two Anglers. After them, head right and a Luckstar will appear. There will also be a door just above you. Go through the door. There will be a small room through it with a Luckstar, an Angler, and a capsule. Open the capsule for a Cure. Now, head all the way back to the door that you weren't yet told to enter. To the right is nothing. Just go through the door. There will be a capsule in here with 1500GP in it. Grab it and turn yourself into a mouse and got through the tight area above the capsule. Go through the piping and you'll emerge in a new area with some giant, purple octopi. These creatures, naturally, are called Octopus. Although they look powerful, they're nothing. Just get past them. Head up through the door. There's another Octopus beyond it, with two more just beyond that in the back of this room. There is a door directly to the right, but there's nothing beyond it but a couple of Shells. Only enter if you're a sportsman type. There are two other doors here. One at the very top and one to the right of that. The one at the top leads to a locked door, so don't worry about that one yet. Head through the one just to the right of that. Walking along this path, you should bump into a Shell and an Angler along the way. There's also a door for you to go through. Do so. Through the door are three Hacker commanders. They're easy to kill, so no real frets needed. Even though the walkway here is narrow, it can easily be crossed. Cross it and enter the door beyond it. Two more Anlgers here, and a capsule right after them. This capsule contains a key. Get the key and head back to the room that I told you had the locked door. There should be some Urchins in this room. Equip the key and use it. You should now be in what appears to be a small area. This actually leads a nice route up north. Before you are a Shell, a Luckstar, and an Angler. If you look up, you should see that there is a door and a weakened part in wall (door to the left, weakened part on the right). Head up the right first, equip the drill, and drill through the wall. You may have to fight your way through the Anlger and the Luckstar. Drill through the wall and head through the opening. There should be a Hacker just after that. After taking out the Hacker, open the capsule for Scrap 2. Head back down and take the door to the left of the hole you just drilled. After going through it, you should bump into a Luckstar. Get past it and cross the bridge. Another Shell? Avoid or fight, you choice. Get past it and head through the door that to the north of the Shell. Heading right, you will see various octopi scattered about this area. As you get all the way right, there should be another situation with a door and a weakened area in the wall (same positions, too; Door on the left and weakened area on the right). Which one to take first? The right, of course. Drill through the right and head along the pathway. It should be pretty straight forward, complete with two octopi along the way. Take them out and keep going. You should eventually come to a capsule with a weakened wall near it. Open the capsule for a key. Now, drill the weakened part. Heading through it should reveal a small room with an Angler and a mouse hole in the back. Kill the Angler and equip Change, then go through the hole. Make your way through the piping and eventually into another small room. In there should be a capsule with an Empty Pack in it. Head back out, all the way back to the door that was to the right of the hole you had to drill (two holes ago). Head back up through the door and meet the Octopus on the other side. Another pretty straight forward winding path. Along the way, you should come across three more Octopi. Eventually, after a short trek you should come to a door. Head through it. You'll come out in a small closed area with another Octopus there. Just head through the door to the right. Entering will take you back into a room you've been in before. There should be a couple Hackers and an Angler. In any case, head through the door on the right. A nicely composed and large room awaits you on the other side. The first thing you'll see is a Luckstar. There is nothing to the right except an Angler and a Luckstar for those of you looking for a fight. The place you really want to go is up. There should be an abrupt turn left. Head that way and go past the bridge heading up with a Shell in front of it (you will have to backtrack there after you get the next item, though). Head all the way left and up. Past the Shell and through the door, then past the Hacker is another capsule with Axe 3 in it. Now, head back to the bridge. Cross the bridge and you'll meet an Angler. Get past it and equip the key, then unlock the door. Go up through the door and you'll see a Shell (it should be back in the corner) and a Hacker. Cross the bridge there and another Hacker should be just to the left. Go through the door. Finally, THE WAY OUT!!! -ROCOCO- You'll be back in Rococo. Notice that you're near City Hall. Go through the door and enter City Hall. There really is no reason to go back outside from here unless you want to go the store and stock up on items. First, allow yourself some time to explore the facilities again and talk to any NPC's you see. Mint will be at the front office. You should notice that there's a Hacker blocking a room. Head right of the Hacker and into the door. Head up and left through a door and you should see a mouse hole. Equip Change and go through it. There should be a couple distressed workers to the right. They say the Hackers are impeding there work. Head left and you should see another Hacker guarding a door. Unequip change or all he'll say is, "Mice are cute." Keep talking a few times to him and he will get pissed and fight you. That should open the door behind him as well. Walk through it. There should be a door just to the north of you. To the left of it is a hallway with a mouse hole in between some plants and a door even further left that leads to an empty room. The door to the lower left side that will eventually take you to the roof. Now that you're familiar with the area, equip Change again and go through the mouse hole. After you come out the other side, check the dresser to the right for a Scrap 6. Now, unequip Change and speak with the Mayor. Equip Change again and head back out through the mouse hole. Go back to the front desk (where Mint is) and talk to Mint. Mint will then head through the door to the Mayor's office. She will then come back frustrated... Head outside of City Hall. There should be a dog to the right of the buliding. Speak with the dog and it will follow you. Take it into City Hall and Mint will come up with a plan to expose the fake Mayor for what he really is. Take the dog into the Mayor's Office. Mint will conduct the interview. Talk to the fake Mayor. He'll slip up and say the dog you have with you is cute. The original mayor hated dogs. He'll come clean and say that he is the Vice-Commander of the Hackers (and Rose's biggest fan). And it is in the name of Rose that he plans to kill you... BOSS PAPAMECHA Recommended Level: 23-25 Papamecha has a couple different attacks up his sleeve. First is the torpedo attack. It's pretty weak, so there really isn't much worry in that attack. The one that does more damage is the jump attack. That will not only knock you back, but does almost 20 damage (that's with my main character at level 25). The one that you really want to worry about is his rapid fire attack, which will hit all rows with bullets. This attack actually hits criticals quite often, ranging from 20-40 damage, depending on your robots' guards. Try not to allow him to hit your robots from behind with this attack. Single hit Sword 4 attacks do VERY little damage. By very little, I mean 1-2 damage. Triple hit Sword 4 does a bit more, but 20+ damage isn't exactly the ideal type we're striving for. So, if you have a Sword 4 toting robot, either put the Sword 4 away or keep the robot out of battle. Hopefully, you have a very powerful melee weapon. Get behind him and give him a nice single hit with an Axe or even a more powerful weapon (assuming you've happen to come across one by now). I usually try not to use Cures very often, since those can take up a turn that you could be using to whoop him. If a robot breaks down, repair it. If you have no repairs, use Cures. Papamecha may be a bit tough, but he's not impossible. Stay persistent and keep hitting him and eventually he'll bite the dust. If you find Papamecha too hard, head back to the sewers and build levels, or just get yourself some better equipment. --- After you've defeated Papamecha, Mint will run off. It's time to find the real Mayor. Search the desk where he was just standing to find the key. I should note that the Hacker blocking the small office can be defeated if you defeat the guard that was to the right of the two scared employees. Find the locked door with the Mayor behind it and unlock it. Enter and talk to the Mayor. He'll tell you the whereabouts of the stones. Head out and to the left and through the door. Remember he said they were in the fireplace. Search the fireplace for a secret passage. This will take you to Stone 1. The screen will then go black and Rose will steal Stone 1. Head out and Mint will be standing there. She'll tell you where Rose is. Head to the roof. Rose will be on the roof. She'll say a few departing words and then just leave. Head back inside. Walk to the place where the two men are sitting in desks (it should be on the way out). Talk to the one with the facial hair and he'll tell you where you can get some easy money. Go back to the room where the fireplace is and search the dresser to the right of the fireplace for 2000GP. 5E: MAXIMUM PENETRATION Now that you've foiled the plans of the Hackers in Rococo, it's time to hit 'em good where it counts; On their own home stadium! Head south from City Hall and some children will be gathered near the front of Rococo. Get close enough and they'll talk about some crab and run off. Hmm... Take care of what ever crap you can right now and leave Rococo. Head to the Harbor. -HARBOR- Take notice just to the upper left. You should see some kids gathered around a crab. Talk to the crab and he will not only call you "master," but ask you to help get get kids away. Speak to the kids and they will agree to leave him alone... For a price! Equip the Surprise Horn and talk to the kids. You'll lose the Surprise Horn, but the crab will not be free! In case you haven't guessed by now, It's Meta Crab (the first boss). He'll give you a little info on the Hacker's HQ. Now, head up and walk into the house. Talk to the fisherman. He'll tell you that he'll take you to Snow Mountain. All you have to do now is head out to the dock and take the boat on the right. -SNOW HARBOR- Nothing here at all. Exit through the south. You should appear on the world map. A pathway will open to Snow Mountain. Head there. -SNOW MOUNTAIN- Snow Mountain Information Items Hidden: Secret Cave: Bomb 3, Boots 3, Cure (x2) Enemies Present: Tackler- Huge football player-like Hackers. Quickbird- Golden birds that chase after you very quickly if they see you on the main screen. Cmdr. (Commander) Strategies: Tacklers seem very weak. In fact, I was able to take an entire group of them out with one Sword 4 (level 9, of course) attack. They all took 60+ damage and died (I've noticed that their HP is between 64 and 67, because 63 damage didn't kill one, but 67 did). Not much there. They also use a tackle attack (imagine that) that pushes you backward. The Quickbirds are also just as weak. They can be easily taken out with one attack, even Sword 4. I've noticed they have a peck attack that can do a bit of damage when hit from behind. If you have a good enough shield, then the projectile attack they also do should be of no worry to you whatsoever since it seems to get blocked quite often. As you enter, there should be two Tacklers and a Quickbird there to greet you. Also notice that there's a path leading up and a path leading left. The left path is the one you want to take first (it'll lead to some hidden items). Naturally, head left. You'll meet another Quickbird and a Tackler along the way, just so you know. See those little mounds on the ground? Running on those will slow you down. Hey! I'm a poet and didn't give a- Shut yo' mouth! Anyway, when you need to head upward, do so. At the very end of that path (where the next Quickbird is), you can turn left onto a new screen. Keep heading left. There should be three Tacklers and a couple Quickbirds leading to a cave. Go into the cave. There's three capsules in this cave. Head straight up. Notice to the left that there is a weakened part in the wall. Drill there and enter. Wait a minute! The capsule at the end doesn't open! Sorry to lead you here, but I just wanted to bring it to you attention. Leave this little area. From the cave's entrance, head all the way right and up. Drill through the wall there as well and enter. You should see a Hacker in front of a capsule. Talk to him. Talk to him a couple times and he'll give you some info on the Hackers. Now, open the capsule behind him for a Bomb 3, and head to the left of him and down into a small room for Boots 3 in another capsule. Now, the Hacker told you that there's a "Jeweled Box" that you can open. Remember the capsule that wouldn't open? You can open it now... For a Cure! That's it? A sealed capsule and it's just a Cure! Also, not that it's of any importance, but it's something to do, you can find a hidden NPC in this room. From the entrance, head up and there should be a hole to the right. Go through it and equip the Chameleon Glasses and there will be a hidden robot in the middle of the room. All he does is tell you about scraps 9 and 10 and that they have special powers. Exit the cave and head back to the entrance of Snow Mountain. From the entrance of Snow Mountain, head north. Up that way will be two more Tacklers and two more Quickbird. Get past them however you wish and further up north will be two ropes on the side of a cliff. The question is which one to pick... Take the right as the left will lead you to a dead end. Heading up the right rope will take you to two more ropes. Head up the left rope here and open a capsule for a Cure. Climb back down and take the right rope now. Right away you should be on a screen with three Quickbirds and a couple ledges and ropes; nothing too comlex, though. Get by the first Quickbird, climb down the first rope, get past the other two and make your way up. After climbing that, you should be done with Snow Mountain. Out on the world map, a pathway will clear heading up. This should take you to the Base Entrance. -AIR BASE- Hacker Base information Items Hidden: Key, Leader's Badge Enemies Present: Cmdr (Commander)- All the different types of Hackers will be present. The only difference is that the Hackers here will be wearing berets. Minicom Strategies: The commanders are, as always, the usual wash, rinse, repeat strategy. There are, however, commanders with a golden blade that cannot be killed with the same routine. I've found that these ones can be killed with multiple hit combos. Welcome to the deluxe, luxurious Air Base! The home of 16-bit monsters, prisoners on dinner menus, and (of course) evil!!! Just how hard is it to get into a huge complex like this? You must be thinking, "Utterly impossible. I'm probably going to have to sneak in Metal Gear Solid style, beat the crap out of a bunch of Hackers, possibly have to develop some strategy involving an event item, and raise my stress level..." So, how do you enter? Well, through the front door, of course! As you head up and search around, you should see a Hacker building a snowman. He doesn't give a flying crap that you're here to storm the base and attempt to score a victory for the good guys, he's just going to sit there and build his snowman in peace. In the meantime, you can head right through the open door into the base. Ah, bad guys that obviously spare no expense when it comes to security! Gotta love Hackers! [thus concludes my obvious sarcasm at what was somewhat meant to be not-so-obvious sarcasm in this fine game...] The base acutally is quite complex by the looks of it. Don't worry, though. It's still fairly easy to get through. You don't have a whole lot of options to go to just yet. To the right and up is a locked door. Head left and up. All the way left leads to nothing at all. You should see a strange UFO type creature as you're heading up. These are not enemies. Rather, they are the defense system of the base. While the Hackers may not have all that great of exterior security, the security for the inner sanctums is impeccible. What you want to do is not get too close in front of this thing's eyes. Just creap on past it while it's not looking, heading all the way left and up through the door. You should be in a room with some people in it. If you talk to the people, you should learn that someone is building blimps for the Hackers. Hmm... Head out of this room. There will be a rather small room behind the people with a capsule in it. Open the capsule to receive a key. Now, remember the locked door I told you about when you first entered the Air Base? Go there and unlock it using the key. After heading through the door, you should be in an area with a couple Hackers wandering around. Get past them however you can, and head right. Now, more decisions. Heading up just takes you into a bathroom with a Hacker taking a leak. Talking to him is pretty much useless, as all he says is, "Hey, wait your turn!" If you stand in front of the urinal next to him, he'll look at you in wonderment (a message will even pop up that says something along the lines of "................"). I guess you can enter the bathroom if you really feel like dinking about. At any rate, heading through the south door just below the last Hacker in this area is where you want to go. You should see a Hacker stading guard with a bunch of other Hackers sitting down to a big feast. He'll tell you he can only let soldiers buy. Here's where you use Change and transform into a mouse. All he'll say then is, "Mice are cute." Succinct and utterly brainless. Just sneak past him from there. Notice that the Hackers are about to sit down to a CRAB dinner. Not just any crab, but poor old Meta Crab. Well, it looks like you're going to have to save him. Unequip Change and you should become a regular human again. The Hackers will not even notice you. In fact, the cook will tell you to sit down. On the right side of the left table should be a place for you to sit. Stand there and the Hackers will begin to speak of Meta Crab as their former leader turned traitor. After a bit more talking, the Hackers will recognize you as the inventor and attack. Stupid thing about this scene: In my playthrough while writing this FAQ, the random battle I got was a single commander. After killing just one commander, all the Hackers in the area are magically gone! Anyway, after you win the battle Meta Crab will crawl over to you. After a bit of talking, he will give you the leader badge. Enter the door to the furthest right of this area. Head straight up along the walkway with the computers everywhere and there should be a Hacker guarding a door. He'll tell you only leaders can go in. If you haven't already done the above stuff to get the leader's badge, then please scroll up and read it, then come back to this. If you have, equip the leader's badge and talk to him. He'll move aside and let you in. More Hackers in this area. At first, you should only see a mini-Hacker and a regular Hacker walking around. Get past them and head right. Two more Hackers should show up before you reach the door at the end of the hall. Do as you wish with the Hackers and walk through the door. There should be a man in here. He will reveal himself to be Carl's father. Speak to him. He'll tell you this and that. Talk to him again and he'll find out that you know Carl. He'll then type up a letter to Carl for you to deliver. Well, now this just might piss you off a little, but you have to head to Rococo and come back... So, leave the base and get where you need to go. -ROCOCO- Go to Carl's house and give him the letter. After reading it, he'll just say you're very nice. Phooey... Leave his house. Carl should give you the Litho that he found earlier. He wrote a letter to his father on it. Nice! Now, head back to the Air Base. -AIR BASE- Make your way through all the of the Air Base again. You shouldn't need to be walked through it since it's all pretty straight forward. Get back to Carl's father, equip the Litho, and speak to him. He'll reveal that the Litho itself is plans for an engine! You will now be transported outside. Carl's dad will be out there, too. Speak to him and he'll give you the Blimp, which you can use to reach the tower. You now have this game's version of the airship in your possession! NOTE: There is a side quest available right now. 5F: THE FEVER FLOWER (optional side quest) If you really don't feel like doing the side quest, then skip to 5G. Note that I'm not adding any information for the new areas available. Using the blimp, head to the secluded island to the southeast. On this island should be a hut with Dr. Einst inside. He'll be pissed off at you for defeating him. Oh well. Now, get out of here and head to the other secluded island to the southwest. There should be a couple from Rococo. The woman is sick with a fever. Her husband says the only way to get rid of the fever is with the Fever Flower. Head back to Dr. Einst's island and speak to him. He says he'll give you a fever flower if you get him a Scrap 7. Where exactly can you get a Scrap 7? If you don't already have one, head to the show in Rococo Sewers and buy one there. It should be only 1500. Now, take it to Dr. Einst. Yes, you will have to equip it. After doing so, Einst will run away and tell you that it grows on a tree behind the house. Go out behind the house and there should be two trees protruding from the rest. Search the one on the left and you should get the Red Flower. Take it to the couple, equip it, and speak the husband. You will get 3000GP for your reward. The quest itself almost isn't worth your time, especially if you had to buy a Scrap 7 (in which case you truly only made 1500GP). Oh well, it's nice to actually have a side quest, though. 5G: INTO THE FRAY Whereever you are, equip the Blimp and use it. Head jsut west of the Air base and you should see a huge tower with a dot below it enclosed in mountains. That's where you need to be. Land on the dot and enter the area. -FORTRESS- Fortress Information Items Hidden Celtis 2, Scrap 3, Cure (x2), Key, 1200GP, 2500GP, 2000GP, 5000GP, Blade 2, Scrap 9, 1500GP, Scrap 5 Inventor's Friends 10, 11, 16-18, 25-27 Enemies Present Cmdr. (commander)- Same old, same old. The only new ones are one with a rocket launcher and one with a mortar that brings down ice crystals when he shoot it. Minicom Pumpy- A strange tire creature that inhabits the Fortress. Faceman- Soldiers with large heads. Knight- Armored terrors that attack with a mace and spear. They can do a devastating jump attack (a la Kain from FFIV). Beret- Invisible enemies with cannons or ground-shakers. Can be disposed of with melee weapons. Masker- More invisible enemies that appear with either jackhammers or bagpipes. Redpixy- Annoying little faeries. Use trumpets to damage your robots. Strategies: The Hackers with rocket launchers are pretty much the same as all the others, save for the fact that you may have to hit them a few times before they go down. Same goes for the one with the mortar. Pumpy is quite a pushover. I recommend using Sword 4 above all, though. Melee weapons seem to do just a bit less damage than it. Pumpy also has a regular attack that's virtually useless and a laser attack that does moderate damage if you're hit from behind. It shouldn't be too much of a problem unless you're almost dead and incredibly cocky. If you're going to nail the Facemen with Sword 4, do so with a triple shot. A single shot only seems to do 1-5 damage where a triple shot does around 300+ damage. They have a couple different attacks. The heart attack is nothing to worry about. However, should they nail you with their sword from behind, it can cause a bit of damage, so be careful and don't leave yourself open. The Knights are actually a bit more powerful. My advice as far as getting rid of them is to use a triple shot Sword 4 or a single shot from a really powerful hand weapon like an axe. Their spear is nothing to fear (hey hey a rhyme!), but their mace and jump attack (the latter, especially) are both pretty powerful (the latter incredibly devastating if it hits you from behind). Berets can be much more formidable. Their attacks can be quite devestating, but don't seem to hit too often if your speed is high enough. They can be easily dispatched with melee weapons like axes. The same strategy applies to the Maskers and RedPixies. It's finally time to take some names, kick some booty, and chew some bubble gum. If you're all out of bubble gum, though. Chew some snow, it's all around. From where you start, you can head upward the entrance to the fortress. Along the way are a couple Hackers and a mini. Do whatever you wish, but at any rate enter the fortress. Despite the fact that you see Hackers all around, you can do nothing except run straight up. So, head north and into the door there. Before doing much else here, I highly recommend running left, climbing the stairs, then running right to get a Celtis 2 from the capsule. As you search this room out, you may notice that there are four doors being guarded by four Hackers in the positions listed below: 2 4 3 1 Hacker number 1 can be easily removed by just talking to him. However, doing so will block your only way out. 2-4 will not be shaken by way of idiocy. Just talk to 1 and go through the door he was once guarding. Open the capsule he was guarding for a Scrap 3. Exit and equip the Leader's Badge. Now, talk to number 2 and he will move out of the way. You should now be in a meeting room. In here should be Dr. Akihabara, Rose, a bunch of Hackers, and Jack Pumpkinhe- I mean, Blackmore. Talk to Dr. Akihabara a couple times. He'll tell you to leave him alone. Now, stand in the very middle spot of the bottom row of Hackers and Blackmore will give a speech. You will be automatically pulled out of the room. All of the Hackers that were guarding doors are now gone, so you can go through doors 3 and 4. It really doens't matter which you go through because they both connect, although 4 will take you to an area of the room closest to the capsule. There should be enemies set up as follows: Lower level- Minicom and a Hacker; Upper Level- Two Hackers and two Minicoms. Do as you wish, but definitely open the capsule on the west side of the room for a Cure. The only thing left to note about this room is the locked door on the east side, as well as an open door below it. Go through the open door. Not surprising to find Hackers, is it? Get past the first Hacker, heading right. There should be a Minicom in your way now. Just get past that and head up, winding around the square in the middle of the room. Take a left and another Hacker should be there. Head up again and take another right. The last Hacker in the room should be there in front of the door. Get past him and through the door. The next room should have a door that's locked from the inside. Don't gripe, you can still get in. Equip Change and go through the mouse hole to the right of the locked door. The pipes should be a straight shot to get through. You should enter a room now with Dr. Akihabara, Rose, and Blackmore holding a conversation about the Tetron. After it's over, you have free reign over this room! If you missed Inventor's Friends 10, 11, and 16, they are on the bookshelves in this room. Also, don't forget to open the capsule to receive a key. Now, make your way back to the locked door (not the one next to the mouse hole, as you are in that room already, but the one a couple rooms ago where you found the Cure). Equip the key and unlock the door. Behind it should be another Hacker and a capsule with 1200GP in it. Now, go through the doorway to the right. Two more Hackers here. Take care of them and go through the door at the bottom left of the screen. There should be another of those UFO things hovering around. Sneak past it and run all the way to the right. Open up another capsule there to receive a Cure. Now, go down the stairs and stay clear of the next UFO thing. Get past it and creep through the door to the right. From strange to stranger... A new enemy appears here. Those tire creatures are called Pumpy. Kill it and proceed north. Here is where you're torn on several different areas to go. You have the road behind you, but we're not going to worry too much about that. If you really want to just proceed ahead, head directly north past the next Hacker there and through the door. Just skip on from here to the next paragraph. However, if you really want to explore (highly recommended, seeing as how you're going to need to go through a couple of those areas later anyway), stay on this paragraph for now. Head east instead of straight north. There are a couple of paths along the way, but they're just dead ends. You want to reach the furthest east where the Pumpy is and head up from there. Go up the stairs. Taking a left from here will take you to a couple Hackers and a capsule with 2500GP inside. Now, head back to the stairs and you can go through the door just above them. That will take you into a small lab with some Hackers in there. They aren't malevolent, so don't worry. You can speak with them. However, notice the door at the upper left side of the screen. That takes you to an R&D. If you really need to do some development, etc., then go in there and get it taken care of. Head back out and take a right. Wind your way all the way around the room, fighting Hackers and Pumpies along the way. There should be a door on the far west side of the area. Go through it. There should be a few bookshelves. Investigate them for Inventor's Friends 17, 18, and 25. Head out. When you're done exploring all there is about this area, head back to the doorway that I told you would advance you along in the game. Heading into this new room should reveal a small area with two Hackers and a set of stairs. Do the usual and head through the door after the stairs. Next room will have a door and a couple new enemies called Faceman. Choose whatever you wish with the Facemen. Yet another small, straight-forward room with two Pumpies in it after that. Just kill them and go through the door. We finally come to a much larger room. Initially, you should see two Hackers and a Minicom lurking about. Head right since down is a dead end. You should notice now that there are several different ways to go. There is a locked door just ahead with an open door to the right of it and a Hacker guarding it as well. Below that door is another door, but you can't get to it yet. A ways below that one is yet another door that you can go through with another Hacker in front of it (there's also another Hacker on the way to it). The topmost door that isn't locked should be avoided unless you want to fight the Pumpy that's behind it (that's all there is). The southern door is where you want to go for now. The only thing after that is a single Minicom and that's it. Head through the door. A familiar room. A couple Pumpies and a door. Do just the same as you did before and head through the door. Yet another semi-familiar room with Facemen and a door just ahead. Go through that door now. You should see a Hacker guarding a door. To the far east of this door is another door. Talk to the Hacker twice to get him to move. In here, you can read Inventor's Friends 26 and 27 to learn Blade 1 and 2. Dr. Akihabara is in there wandering around, but you won't get much out of him. Leave this room and head right (if you want some money right now, about 7000GP; otherwise you can just skip this paragraph, but do keep in mind that there is a locked door in this room). There should be a couple enemies in the next room that look a bit like Shredder from Ninja Turtles in this room. These are Knights. Finish these guys off and advance into the next room. Explore around a bit. You should notice no enemies, a locked door, and two capsules with money (one with 5000GP and the other with 2000GP). After you've raided this room, if you chose to (you can do it later), head back to the lab that came right before the R&D where the Hackers were gathered around a computer. Speak to the middle Hacker (Dr. G) and he'll tell you he's looking for a test subject, preferably a mouse. Change into a mouse and speak to him. Dr. G will grab you and place a contraption on your ears that will send you into the computer. You should now be in the computer. There's nothing to do here. Run around a bit, then run back onto the black dot. That should take you back out of the computer. Dr. G will be amazed that you came back out. Dr. G and his assistant will then go into the computer. Read the book on the desk now and you will learn how to make Cyberjack. Now, go into the R&D and make a Cyberjack. It's only 100GP. After you have, speak to the remaining Hacker in the lab and he will say that Dr. G hasn't come back yet. Now, exit the R&D and the lab. Head back to the room just to the west of here with all the Inventor's Friends in it and you should see a computer there. Equip the Cyberjack and enter that computer. As you walk around, you should notice some different black circles like before, except these ones have what look like pillars of ice or something. These are your warp points. You use them by examining them (that is, pushing A while facing them). Now, starting from this point, take the furthest right warp point. Head up and use the left warp point. Head left and you should see Dr. G and his assistant. Speak to Dr. G and when he gives you a choice of what you want, say information. Now, they want you to show them the way out. Take them left and go through the warp point. This will take you back to the circle that leads to the lab. Go through the circle. After a bit of chatter, Dr. G will say that Akihabara's memory is stored in the computer and you can get it back if you defeat the computer's "protector." You'll have have to jack in to a different computer (jack in... I feel like I'm talking about Mega Man Battle Network). Dr. G will give you a key before you go (make sure your inventory's got an open spot). Now, remember the locked door near here that's next to the flooded floor? Not the one after the two Knights, but way before all that. Head back to that locked door, equip the key, and use it on the door. You should now have access to this room. Equip the Cyberjack and enter the computer. Use the red warp point to the left, then work your way around the corners in the next room to enter the only other warp point here. In this room should be a rather interesting looking character. This is the next boss. His name is Bugbug. Speak to him and after a little chit-chat he'll battle you. BOSS BUGBUG (Round 1) Recommended level: Late 20's-30's This boss really isn't that hard if you're in the level range given above and you have very powerful weapons. I noticed fully powered Axe 2 and 3 can deliver major punishment. What's more is that this is one fo the few bosses that takes more damage from a triple shot than a single shot. If you have a Sword 4 character with the weapon fully powered, you can do about 100 damage (which isn't bad considering Bugbug's got about 1000HP; that's 1/10 of his life). When Bugbug's attacks do land they can cause good damage. That means you should stock up on Cures and Repairs before this battle. I recommend mostly using melee characters. It may take a few hits, but if you're lucky enough to land a critical, he's toast. The only really hard part about Bugbug comes in the form of his attacks. His zap attack does major damage, even if it hits you from the front. A behind attack without guarding is practically fatal. Same goes for his cannon attack, which isn't nearly as powerful as the zap but does supply a good amount of damage. On a side note, one of my robots had a Guard rating of 61 when I fought this guy and Bugbug's zap attack only did 1 damage from the front. So, if you don't have really good shields, I suggest finding a way to get them or just beef up your robots' guards. Pretty much stick with what's above. Late 20's or so as far as levels (I'd say about 28 or 29) and really powerful melee weapons like the axe are enough to defeat eater of memory. On top of that, do not leave your back exposed. If you have a shield equiped, it helps a lot. Bugbug's attacks don't hit nearly as often (or for as much) if you don't leave yourself open. --- Just like other villains in RPG's, Bugbug will give a quick excuse for his shortcomings in battle, then disappear. He will leave behind a warp point. Go through it. Head back around the elaborate corners again and through the other warp point here. The yellow block things that kept you from going anywhere are now gone. You can freely roam about without being held back. With that said, head right two warp points over. In this area should be a warp point to the north with a crystal and one without. Go through the one without. This should take you to a secret room with a capsule. Open it to receive a Blade 2. Exit out and back to the warp point that takes you to the main computer (should be just to the left). Go back to the room where you saw Dr. Akihabara and speak to him. Defeating Bugbug has restored his memory to normal. After explaining what has happened recently, he'll ask you to follow him. Exit the room and head to the right. You should see him in front of a door. Speak to him and he'll continue on. Get through the Knights in the next room and work your way to the next one. If you haven't already come into this room, there are a couple capsules with money in them (as indicated earlier). After you've secured a little more green, speak to Akihabara in front of the door. He'll open the door and continue on. The next room has a couple of Pumpies guarding a staircase, which is where you should go next. The next room is... empty? No, if you put on the glasses, you should notice a couple of invisible enemies here. These are Berets. They can be a bit more powerful, but not too hard. If you are attacked by one, use melee weapons to destroy them. Heading into the next room, head around the corner and make your way upward. Akihabara should be there in front of another door. Speak to him and he'll tell you the plan. Now, head as far down as you can, then right. You should eventually bump into two doors. One of them (the south one) leads to an empty room with a capsule holding Scrap 9. Grab that, then head into the east room. It's pretty much a straight shot from there to the waterworks controls. Flip the switch on the right side of the room to lower the water level in the base. Head out. On the way out, in the hallway, you should notice that Hackers are matieralizing in front of you. There doesn't seem to be an easy way to avoid the first two in the hall. After the hall, another appears to the right. This one is easier to avoid though (if you choose to avoid). I usually just fight anyway. Heading back to where Akihabara was, there should be quite a few more Hackers just popping up. Head to the staircase near the room you last saw Akihabara and head down them. Even down here, more Hackers pop up. Head around all the corners and open the lone capsule at the end for 1500GP. Head back up the stairs. Remember where the main computer was? The one you entered to fight Bugbug... Head back to that. If you remember, there was a staircase leading down that was originally blocked by water. It's now open. Head south and to the left to get to another room with a Knight in it. Past the Knight is another room with Scrap 5 in it. Grab that and head back to the stairs only this time head right, through the door. Head up the stairs and get past the Pumpies. There should be a door just up north. This should be a familiar room, despite the fact that you've never been on this level of the room. Work your way around the corners and defeat the Hackers that pop up. To the northwest corner of this area should be a door you can go through. The next room should have one of those little UFO things. Try to get up the stairs and sneak past it. It may seem almost impossible, but if you're patient enough, you can do it. Head past the room with the Knights. You should be in another room with inivisible enemies, only this time it's Maskers. Get past those and head through the door. This should be the last room before reaching the next boss. It's got four Facemen in it. Get past them and save just before the next door. Now enter. A cutscene should automatically ensue with Blackmore and Rose. Head upward after it is over and Blackmore will approach you. After a few words from him and Rose, Blackmore will spout out some bad translating and attack you. BOSS BLACKTANK Recommended Level: To this point, this should be the hardest boss you've faced. He has some rather devestating attacks that actually hit more than often. One of them is a huge bomb attack where he drops gigantic bombs on you. This can take off more than half of your life, should it hit. Another one that's just as devestating is one where he drops a bunch of exploxive robotic troops. Don't worry, only the first one that hits you does damage. To top it all off, you really can't get too many good melee hits on him because he has a bash attack that can totally destroy your 'bots (he damaged me for about 90 damage on robots that were level 31 with HP in the mid 70s). The unfortunate thing to this is that melee weapons seem to be quite effective against him. There are several different strategies to use against him. I found that using a fully powered Sword 4 can do about 100+ damage. However, this can take quite a bit of time to wear him down. When your robot takes damage, use some cures or wait until he dies and use a repair. The other strategy I used was to send my melee characters in and have them take a good shot at Blacktank. Try to take a shot behind him, if you can. This can actually cause a bit more damage. After taking that shot, your character will more than likely be dead. After your character dies, just have the next one revive the last. This can be inefficient and costly, but can get the job done. If you can efficiently wear down Blacktank, more power to you. There are more powerful bosses coming in the future. --- After you've defeated Blackmore, head into the door behind him. In the next room are a Knight and a Faceman. Head progressively to the left, where you will meet Knights along the way. You should eventually come to a door heading south. Go through the door into a familiar shaped room with a couple Knights in it. Get past that and into the next room. Another familiar room. Put on your glasses in this one so you can see the invisible enemies. Head straight up through the hall and along the walkway. You should eventually come to a door with the boss insignia in front of it. Don't worry, there isn't a boss behind the door. You've already fought both of the bosses in this area. Enter the next room and you will see Rose with the Tetron laying in front of her. Speak to her and she'll tell you a little of her plans. Blackmore will walk in and interrupt Rose. The next thing you will see is a big explosion as your character phases off the screen. 5H: CONNECTION TO THE PAST Yes, in case you couldn't have guessed, that's supposed to be a reference to Zelda. No, you haven't gotten a game over. Yes, it looks like the game over screen, but you haven't lost. Just watch. You should appear in familiar surroundings. -ROCOCO (PAST)- Past Rococo Information Inventor's Friends- Level 28 and 29 (both in Polon's House) Yep, you're in Rococo of the past. You should appear right in front of a child, in fact. The kid will get scared and run off. The place is now yours to explore. The first thing you should probably do is enter the shop at the bottom right of the town (same place it's in in the present Rococo) and talk to the shopkeeper. He'll say he can't open his shop and he needs about 5000GP. If you have the money (which you should if you've been fighting regularly and finding money as a result of extensive exploring), spot him the cash. You can also head up to the northern part of town and give up to 1000GP each time to the construction of the Mayor's House. Now, remember where your house was? That is now Polon's house in this time. She's the one who rescued you. Enter the house to the left of Polon's and speak to the woman inside. This will open a passage to another area. Exit the town once you feel you'v explored enough and head to the next area. -FOREST (PAST)- Forest Information: Items Hidden: Scrap 10 Enemies Present: Quickbird Gelgel Poison- Just like all the mushrooms from before. It's the same old forest you went through before, except new enemies. As such, there really is no new strategy to apply. All the enemies are actually very easy to kill. Like before, this should be a straight shot. There will be a few Quickbirds and Poisons on the way. Do not pass up the opportunity to open the capsule on the right. It's got something new in it this time (Scrap 10). Exit at the top to open yet another area. -RIVER (PAST)- River Information: Items Hidden: Cure Enemies Present: Gator Quickbird Gelgel Same story here. Same old area, new enemies and items. As before, there is no use for new strategies. You should be able to tromp all over the baddies in this area. Defeat the Gator as you enter. Shouldn't be much of a challenge and it's easy experience. You can also see Quickbird up the stairs, if you're interested. Other than that, there's nothing up there. Don't climb the stairs (unless you want to fight the Quickbird) and head left, crossing the log. Along the way to the left side of the area, some Gelgels should appear out of the ground. When you've made it to the left section of land, head down and left again. You can climb the staircase and fight the Gator and Quickbird on the way to a capsule. Open it for a Cure. Head back down the stairs and all the way left, then up. Kill the Quickbird and Gelgel along the way and you should be safely to the goal of the area. Another road should open. -CAVE MOUTH (PAST)- Cave Mouth Information: Items Hidden: (inside the cave) Repair (x3), Clean, Scrap 8, Scrap 5, Light, Drill, Blow 2, 3000GP Enemies Present: Gator Big Fan Cmdr. (commander) Masker Minicom Big Fans are not just your typical Hackers, but ones that are infatuated with Rose. These guys can be killed almost like normal Hackers, except for the fact that they can block some attacks. They shouldn't be incredibly tough, but their attacks can add up to some good damage after a while of fighting them. There should be some more Gators as you enter. Deal with them as you like and head left. Yep, more Gators along the way. No matter, they should be major pushovers. Now, enter the cave. Once inside, you should see Polon talking to a Hacker. The Hacker will eventually turn around and attack you, claiming to be a member of a "theft ring." You have no choice but to win. After that, Polon will take you back to her house. -ROCOCO (PAST)- Polon will speak of rest and chicken soup and all that other healthy crap. After that, she'll disappear into the back room and scream. There will be a guy in her bed that looks "just like you" (in a super- deformed sort of way). After that, she'll leave the house. You can speak to the guy, but you don't get much out of him. While you're at it, you can read the Inventor's Friends on Polon's shelf in the upper right of the room. Now, exit the house and head to the shop once again. You should see a woman inside. Speak to her and she'll call you Rask. She will also mention one name that you will hear a lot of from here on: Gateau. I won't tell you exactly why... You'll find out. After that, she'll leave. By now, a new road should have opened up for you. Exit here and head to the Forest of Illusion. -FOREST OF ILLUSION I (PAST)- Forest of Illusion Information: Enemies Present: Powermole Quickbird Spider Cmdr. (commander) Turbo Look familiar? Well, it should! This one is actually easier than the original. So much that you can almost question its name... Head up and past the three Powermoles into the next screen. This is pretty much a straight shot. From the beginning on, you should notice that this place (as in the forest as a whole) is practically crawling with Powermoles. The worst part is you don't even know where they are. They'll just pop up out of nowhere and great with you a lovely punch to the face. Just in this one screen, you should bump into three. Head up and into the next screen. The only way you can go here is to the right. Beware the Quickbirds as you do. Another straight shot after that, except this time you're surrounded by Spiders. Fight or flight, whatever, just head up. That's it. Your done with the level. This should open a path to... Another Forest of Illusion? WTF? As soon as you enter the world map, head down to the second Forest of Illusion. -FOREST OF ILLUSION II (PAST)- Forest of Illusion Information: Nothing to detail... Nothing at all... Nothing to be scared of here. There are not enemies. You may, however, recognize the two men you see when you enter. Yes, it's Igor and Count Prinky. If you talk to them, they'll tell you that there is something odd about the area you're currently in. If you walk up, you may notice at several areas that you cannot pass, as if something invisible is in your way. Hmm... Put on the glasses in your inventory and a spaceship can be seen on the ground. Enter the ship. You won't be able to enter the two rooms on the right and left. So, enter the center door. In this room, you should see some people having a conference of some kind. Sit back and watch the conversation. They will mistake you for Rask. After the conversation, you can talk to them. Once you're done, leave. As you attept to, Cookie will stop you. They'll ask you to do something for them. Afterwards, exit the ship. Prinky and Igor will say a few more unimportant things, then leave. Why don't you follow suit and head back to Rococo? -ROCOCO (PAST)- As soon as you enter, go straight into Polon's House (the house right in front of you as you enter, in case you couldn't remember). Head into the back and Napoleon will immediately run to Rask. Talk to Napoleon and Polon will enter the room as well. Watch the cutscene and Polon should eventually leave. Talk to Napoleon. He will lead you into another bout of dialogue, then leave. After that, speak with Rask as well. He'll ask a favor of you. Now, leave Rococo. If you head back to the spaceship, Cookie will tell you that Gateau and Napoleon went to the cave. Time you should do the same. -CAVE MOUTH (PAST)- Once you're back, enter the cave immediately. You should have free entrance the conventional way. Head north, past the flowing current and into a room where a couple of Big Fans are spinning around. Kill them and equip the drill and break through the wall on the upper left corner. Head straight through the wall and deal with the Big Fan on the other side. Tread through the water, heading left, and a bunch of Big Fans should running around near there. No matter, continue your progression left. There should come another small body of water. Head to the south through the narrow walkway (yes, there're more Big Fans here after being barraged with them just a second ago), and head straight to the door. Another narrow walkway... Head up and meet the Big Fan there. Head right and another will greet you. Continue heading all the way to the right and through the walkway heading down. From here, go through the door into a small room where a capsule and a Big Fan are waiting. Punish the victim and open the capsule for a Repair. Head back out and straight up, taking on another of Rose's fans. After that, you should come to another couple of weak spots in the wall. Drill through them to obtain a Clean and another Rpeair. After that, head left of the weak spots and head up. You should see a Hacker running around and another off color weak spot in the wall. Talking to the Hacker doesn't seem to reveal much. The Hacker won't do anything while you're apparently present. So, turn into a mouse and wait for a bit. Eventually, he will walk up to a certain point in the wall just to the left of the weak spot and the spot itself will open like a door. Change back and push the hidden switch on the wall where the Hacker did. Head through the weak spot. Walk upward a little bit and a cutscene should ensue. Rose will speak to you, mutter a few angsty things, then you'll drop into a pit. From here on, you'll have to do without your Light and Drill. They are gone for now. You'll first be treated to a double attack by Big Fans. Head up through the right path and take the long route left, fighting more Big Fans along the way. Head straight down when the time arises and open the capsule there for a Scrap 8. If you have the ability to create a Smoke or have a Smoke on you, then I HIGHLY recommend you combine the Smoke with Scrap 8 to make Blade 4, which is (or can be) the strongest weapon in the game. Head back to the beginning, only this time take the left route. On the way back to the beginning of this screen, you may have noticed a hole in the northern wall. Ignore this hole, unless you just want to go in there and fight a couple of pointless battles. Fight your way to the hole at the end of the path and fall down it. Fight the enemy at the bottom, then head to the right and up through the narrow walkway. Cross the body of water near the next enemy and open the capsule for a Repair. Head through the door to the right of the water, kill the enemy if it's in your way, and head through the door on the northern wall. Inside, you should see Napoleon and a Hacker conversing. After a little yapping, the Hacker will turn around and notice you, then engage you in battle. It's a pretty easy one. Pretty much all that you've been fighting all through this level. Dispose of him and speak with Napoleon. He says that he's been damaged. Equip a repair and speak to him again (do not try to use it on him, it won't work that way). When the choice comes up to fix him or give him sympathy, fix him. As long as you have a Repair equipped, it should fix him. Napoleon will follow you around now and act as not only your Light, but your Drill as well. Head down along the east wall, past the Big Fan and enter the room down there. There should be another of those pests. Do what you will, but examine the weak spot at the bottom left of the screen. Napoleon will destroy it for you, giving you access to a capsule with Scrap 5 inside. Exit back out and work your way to the place you landed when you fell down the hole a few minutes ago. From there, continue left and work your way to another weak spot. Once again, Napoleon will open it for you. This should lead to a tiny, closed-off room with a capsule containing your Light! Move past yet another Big Fan while you continue north into the next room. Pretty much just a straight shot here. Work your way left amidst all the Big Fans in the room. Go through the door once you get there. Another small cutscene will ensue. Napoleon will head upward and begin to speak a bit. After that, he'll walk away. Head up and open the capsule to get your Drill back as well! Napoleon is no longer with you, but you do (or should) have your Light back. Equip that. Work through the winding tunnel and through the door. The next area has a good amount of Big Fans littered about it. Just work your way through the winding tunnels some more and kick ass every step of the way. When you come to the crossroads, you can head up to go to an R&D (in a cave?). Once you're done there, head back down. You should recognize this place. This is where you dropped down the last hole. Head directly right as you enter and you might notice the fallen rocks on the northern wall (it's all the way right). Drill 'em and head through. Another enemy waits you behind the wall, and a doorway with the boss insignia in front of it. Hmm... Go through the door and you should come to a small area that looks like a normal, striaght shot. Just a warning that there are invisible enemies in here. Do what you can and head down through the door. Gateau and Rose will be having a conversation here, with the Tetron in between them. After a little cutscene, Gateau will run off with Napoleon following him, and Rose will shut the door and once again proclaim her hatred for you. I hope you're prepared for a slightly frustrating battle. BOSS DE ROSE RECOMMENDED LEVEL: Mid 30's-Mid 40's De Rose has a devestating close-range attack in which she launches her head at you. If you're back is turned, look forward to this attack doing nearly 100 damage. She also has a decent long-range attack (dropping bombs) that does not do quite as much. She also has a very devestating blast attack that she emits from her mouth. If any of your robots are hit with this, it should take off about 2/3 of their life. From the git-go, you should notice that Sword 4 does not do much. At a fully powered level with average Power, my Sword 4-toting robot was doing about 60 damage per hit with single strikes and a mere 1-2 damage on triple shots. What I suggest is getting out your best melee attackers and doing only single shots. I was able to do about 90 or so damage to her. The trick is to position yourself such that she will not back up. In other words, put yourself on the screen to where she will leave herself wide open after attacking, then hit her from behind. This actually does quite a bit more damage. If your robots die or are dying, repair/heal them. If you're finding this battle just a bit too hard, try gaining some levels or buying a ton more repairs. --- Rose will piss and moan a little more, then leave the room. Afterwards, you should here (or rather read) a satisfying scream, followed by a loud THUMP! Heh, serves her right. Open the capsules for a Blow 2 and 3000GP. Head down through the door and you should be in familiar surroundings. From here, head ouf the caves. Once you're out on the world map, head back to Rococo. -ROCOCO (PAST)- Enter Polon's house and into the back room where Rask is. Cookie will leave after speaking with Rask. Speak to Rask and he will give you yet another favor. Now, leave Rococo and head back to the ship. -FOREST OF ILLUSION II (PAST)- Enter the ship (use the glasses if you need to) and talk to Napoleon. He'll move out the of the way of the door. Enter it and speak to Gateau. He will attempt to use the Tetron, but all will backfire... 5I: DANGER IS MY MIDDLE NAME -ROCOCO- You should wake up in bed with Dr. Akihabara right next to you. After a bit of speaking to you, you can get out of bed. Try to exit your house and a quake will start. Nothing really, just a factor of drama. Exit the house. A short cutscene will take place just outside in which a policeman announces that he's going to check a strange light that crashed near the river. After they're done talking, explore the place. If you want, you can head over to second far west house from the bottom and speak to the old lady in the bed. She will say she needs a little helper. You will then learn how to create a Little Robot. Head back to an R&D and make one. Equip it and talk to her. When the choice comes up, pick "I'll loan it to you," or something to that effect. Note: If you haven't already, I would advise you use the Scrap 8 that you got (assuming you picked it up) in the cave in the past to create a Blade 4, then take it into battle and boost it up to level 8. By that time, it becomes the strongest weapon (though maybe not the best) and can hit all enemies on the screen. Leave Rococo and head for the Cave Mouth. -Cave Mouth- By now, the enemies here should be incredibly pathetic. Anyway, in your human form the cops will not let you into the cave. To get into the cave, change into a mouse and enter. Equip the Drill and break through the rocks. Head up. Before you even get to the current, you will be stopped by someone just ahead of you. The girl is Princess Tira and the guy who pops out behind her is Space Butl- I mean... Valet. You will be instantly taken back to Rococo. -ROCOCO- You, Akihabara, Valet, and Tira will all be having a discussion. You will be given a Spaceship. Tira and Valet will then both leave. Talk to Akihabara and tell him you believe. He will then give you all three Stones. Equip the Spaceship, exit your house, and use it. Fly to Choco, which should be far east and a little north. -CHOCO- Choco Information: Shop: Cure- 90GP Clean- 150GP Repair- 450GP Scrap 9- 1500GP Scrap 10- 1500GP Items Hidden: Scrap 7 Inventor's Friends: 30, 40, 50 Once you land keep heading upward until you come to an intersection. The first thing you should do is head left (you could also head right, but for the sake of the FAQ, my fingers, and my sanity, let's just say left). Head through the door that you see there. This will take you into a room with a couple of people just wandering around. Head through the door at the top of this room into one that's a bit more important. In here, there are a couple shelves, an item capsule, and a door in the back that leads to an R&D. You can also see Gateau here, for you information. The shelves here have Inventor's Friends volumes 30, 40, and 50. Read those and then open the capsule for a Scrap 7. Once you're done with everything here, you can head back to the intersection near the beginning and to the right. There really isn't much here aside from a load of people to talk to and a door leading to a shop with some pricy items. Once you've thoroughly explored this way, head back to the intersection once again, only this time head up. This will take you to the meeting room. It's all a pretty easily laid out area. Near the upper-left corner should be a guard. Walk up to him and he'll move out of your way (you don't even need to speak with him). Enter the door that he was blocking. You should see Tira and a couple others in the next room. Speak to them all. Speaking to the guy on the far left will cause you to lose the pieces of the Tetron. Worry not, you're supposed to. The guy will also ask for Scrap A. Tell him that he can examine it and he'll walk off. Tira will follow suit. Head to the lab where you found the Scrap 7 and the Inventor's Friends. Talk to everyone in here. Now, head back to the place where you met Tira and the others just a moment ago. The Consul will be sitting in Tira's throne. Speak to him. The chief will come in and report some bad news. With that he and Valet will leave. Leave this room. Head back to the intersection near the beginning and head down towards the way you came from and speak to the guard just standing there. He will explain everything involving Gateau and Tira. Valet and another guard will walk in and read a telegram that Gateau sent. After that, everyone will congregate in the meeting room. After some words, Valet will ask everyone to draw straws to see who will go to the Hacker Fortress to rescue Tira. When your turn comes, you will get the choice of the "Left Straw" or the "Right Straw." It doesn't matter which one you pick, because you will always draw the red straw. Some of the men will leave. Finally, you can move again. Speak to Valet and he will tell you what to do and give you 5000GP. Exit here and head for the R&D. If you don't have Shield 5 on all your robots, make some now. Head to the shop and buy what you need as well. Once you're done, head towards the place you landed at and talk to the guard blocking the way. Tell him you're ready and you'll be put on a spaceship on its way to the Hackers' Fortress. -SPACESHIP- Wander around and talk to everyone. You're pretty much confined to this room. Speaking to the guy with bluish-green hair will cause a little cutscene to ensue. Your ship will be blown to bits. -THE METAL IRON- After a while, you'll wake up in bed with Kotetsu right next to you (not in bed with you, silly). After Kotetsu leaves the room, you'll be free to explore his ship, The Metal Iron. Well, okay, there really isn't much to explore, but anyway, exit your room and head up. Kotetsu should be standing there all by his lonesome. Talk to him. After he's done speaking, talk to him again. During your conversation, Mint will come out of hiding. Don't ask me how, but she somehow managed to sneak onto Kotetsu's ship. It does sound somewhat like a plot hole, but I'm sure someone could reason it somehow. After they're done talking, speak to them both. Kotetsu will ask you to sit next to him. Walk over to the chair and stand in front of it, facing the control panel. Kotetsu will put the ship into Warp. With that done, you should dock at the fortress in no time. A short conversation will take place on The Metal Iron. After it's done, Kotetsu will leave. You should do the same (head down two screens). From here, you will enter the Hackers' Fortress. -HACKERS' SPACE FORTRESS- Hackers' Space Fortress Information Items Hidden: First visit: Scrap 4, Repair, Scrap 5, Shield 3, Cure, Shield 4, Scrap 6, Scrap 7, 3000GP, 2000GP Second visit: Scrap 8, Cure Iventor's Friends: Enemies Present: GoldPixies- Cute little angels of death. They can be quite a pain to bump off, too, considering that Sword 4 and Blade 4 are pretty much useless against them. Bumpy- Just like Pumpy, except stronger. Bighead- Is as the name implies... Master- Rather powerful knights that you'll find after gaining the red password. Ninja- Invisible stealth killers. Not the type you'd likely see at a church picnic. Cmdr. (commander) RedPixie Beret Masker WhitePixie- Just like any other Pixie, except white. Strategies: At this point in the game, you should pretty much know how to take care of enemies on your own. I should have discontinued the strategies section a long time ago, as it has become more of an exercise in redundancy for this FAQ than anything else. The previous ones will be saved on this FAQ, but outside of that I think you should be able to wipe your own butt from here on, so to speak. Note: Before you even start the next boss battle, which won't be the last one, you should be around level 50. So, while you're here do some beefing up. :::First Floor::: After you've exited the ship, head up. Kotetsu will tell you to follow him. Do so right into the next room. Kotetsu will be speaking with a Hacker. Ride the conveyor belt to the left. There will be a few other conveyor belts, one heading up and the other heading right. Ride the up one, but try to get off instantly to the right so you can hit the switch. The second conveyor belt that was heading right should be heading left now. Get on it and make your way to the capsule. Open it for a Scrap 4. Hit the switch next to the capsule to reverse the direction of the belts yet again. Now, ride on the conveyor belt heading right and skip across the conveyor belts heading up. Hit the switch again to reverse the directions of the belts. Cut across the vertical belts and make your way up (you should be on the left side of the belts here). You will see a Hacker standing there. You can't get past him now. Head right now, riding the conveyor belt that should be heading that way (if it isn't, then press the switch to make sure it is). Get off the belt before too far and head down towards another capsule that contains a Repair. Finally, take the last conveyor belt heading up and through the door. Equip Change to become a mouse and go into the hole between the crates. Work your way through the pipes. You should stumble upon some Hackers having a conversation. After a little basic conversing and telling bad jokes, the alarm will go off and the Hackers will scramble out of the room. From here, you can either head down or up through the stairs. Heading down only begets one advantage in that you'll gain a Scrap 5 in the process, but then you have to make your way back around to this room (you cannot simply go back the way you came, because in one room a red door will close behind you and the only way you can get through it is with a password, which you don't know yet). For the sake of the matter, let's just say you did head down... You'll first be in a long hallway with a couple of GoldPixies. These things are incredibly annoying. Get past these blond-haired beasts and head into a small room. You'll fight a suped-up version of Pumpy called Bumpy here. Kill it and veer to the left to get the Scrap 5 in the capsule. Exit to the east. You'll be back to the room with the conveyor belts. From here, head back to the room where you saw the Hackers holding the conversation and head up the stairs in that room. :::Second Floor::: You should appear in a room with a couple of Bumpies. Get past them and head south. Yet another large area full of Bumpies. Along the way you will bump into a Bigface. These guys can be deadly if you let them be. I've noticed hitting them with a triple hit from Sword or Blade 4 can take them out easily. You can't go into the red door just yet, so go directly into the door near the bottom left. A room with three doors: One to the upper right, one to the upper left, and one to the lower left. Walk up into the upper left door first. Open the capsule for a Shield 3... Which should be obsolete by now... No matter. You can use it in a combination or for recycling. Avoid the lower left door for now. You will be coming back to it later, though. Try to go through the upper right door and a Hacker will walk in and stop you. Don't worry, it's actually Kotetsu. He'll give you a little useful information, so pay attention. After that, he'll teach you the password to the red doors. Nothing to fear, you don't have to enter it manually at each red door. Just examing the doors and they automatically open. After Kotetsu leaves, don't go through the door you were about to go through. This just leads you to a blue door, which you don't have a password for just yet. Instead, exit out the way you came. Remember that red door you saw before coming in here? Yeah, that's right. That's where you want to go right now. Going through the red door, you should wind up in a room with some GoldPixies in it. I usually tend to avoid these things. Head on to the next room and you'll find yourself with a couple of Bumpies. Do whatever you wish and head into the next door. The enemies in here are called Masters (tips a hat to the legendary reviewer). They shouldn't be too big of a hastle. Use the same technique you did on the Bigheads and they're through. Head down and through the door. The next room has a Hacker just kind of standing there (and rather spastically) while the princess is being held prisoner. Talk to the Hacker and he'll battle you. Whoop his pathetic ass and step on the button he was just on. You now have access to the princess. Go speak to her. Follow her into the room to the right. Watch the cutscene. That bastard! Gateau will drop you down into the Trash Chute! :::Basement::: Exit the room. Head down into the next room, don't worry about going left just yet. Put on your Chameleon Glasses so you can see the invisible Ninjas in this room. The new kind of enemy you see here (that you could have seen earlier, if you ignored me when I said don't worry about the lower left room when you last saw Kotetsu) is called Gagarian. They can be a bit mean, but the usual triple shot seems to do the trick. At 2.8 Megs each, I recommend you do a mass genocide on these guys to gain a few levels, if you need to (killing three within the time limit would provide you with 8.6 Megs!). Head down going past all the Gagarians and Ninjas. There should be a Gagarian out on one little piece of floor sticking out near the top on the right. Also, after meeting your first Ninja, there should be a walkway leading to a capsule guarded by another Ninja. Open it for a Cure. Keep heading down, but don't go through the door on the left just yet. Head back down and to the left, past the Gagarian to open a capsule with a Shield 4 in it. Now, head back to that door on the left. The only reason I told you to go to the Shield 5 first was in case you wanted to use it at the R&D, which is the first door down the hallway you have just entered (it's got the two Bigheads right in front of it). Enter and do as you please, then exit and continue left. There should be a Gagarian and a capsule at the lower left room. Open it for a Scrap 6. Exit the room again and continue back on the route you were going. Instead of going to the left, head right, past the Ninja. Continue on past the Gagarian right into the next door. Mint should be here, and she's surrounded by mice. Talk to Mint. Then, equip either Change or Relay and talk to the mice. Now, talk to Mint again and she'll move, giving the mice access to their home. Talk to Mint again, then equip Change and go through the mousehole into the next room. Step on the button on the floor here, then exit. Remember back to when you first entered the chute? I told you not to take that one left turn just yet. Well, head that way now. You should find Mint there at the entrance. Speak to her and then head inside. From here, you can head to three different floors. You've already seen all you can on the second floor. :::Third Floor::: Head to the 3rd floor. Head down and to the right, fighting all the Bigfaces along the way. Just past the Gagarian in this room should be the door you go through. You should now be in a room with two Gagarians and a few different doors. You can't go through the yellow door yet, so there's no need to worry about that one. Go through the door above the one you just entered through. This will take you to another blocked off area with a Gagarian guarding a door. Go through the door and you should see a couple of capsules. Open them both for Scrap 7 and 3000GP. Head back to the room with all the doors and the Gagarians. Head through the door at the lower right (the higher one, not the one that leads to the two Bigfaces). You will be in a room with green crates everywhere. Equip Change and go through the mousehole. Make your way through the tunnels and you should appear in a small area of a room where some Hackers are conversing. Listen to what they have to say. After they're done talking, head back to the room with all the doors and the Gagarians yet again. This time, take the lower door on the lower right, which leads you to the two Bigfaces, get past them, then head south through the door. Push past the Masters and head to the left. Open the capsule nearby for 2000GP. Nothing left in this direction, except the yellow door. Head to the right now. Go through the door. The room you're in now should have a Master and a Gagarian, plus a couple other doors. Get past the menaces and head towards the northern door. You should see a cutscene involving Blackmore. After he's done talking, talk to him again and listen to his "hard-luck story." After he's done talking about that, talk to him again and he'll teach you the Yellow Password. Exit the bathroom. There is no need to use the door on the right just yet. It's time to find the computer that has the No-Run Program and delete the program. OLD YELLOW DOORS: We'll now take the time to revisit some of the yellow doors we missed. You do not have to go to these doors, really, so just read on and decide whether or not you'd like to visit some of these places in particular. Basement (Trash Chute): To the left of the R&D, in the long hallway- Computer room. Gives you access inside the computer that you need once you get the yellow password. 1st Floor: Conveyor Belt room- Computer room. Gives you access inside the computer that you need once you get the yellow password. 2nd Floor: None 3rd Floor: Multi-door room with 2 Gagarians- This one leads you to a room you can access through a mousehole on this floor. Ultimately, there is nothing here. However, enter through the mousehole and you can see a small cutscene. Hallway with the Masters- Computer room. Gives you access inside the computer that you need once you get the yellow password. 4th Floor: None that can be accessed at this time. Well, isn't that special? Well kids, it's beef-up time. If you haven't already, beef up to level 50. I suggest fighting Gagarians and Bigfaces (which you can just go back and forth through the first two rooms of the third floor to find all that you need) since you can easily dispatch them with triple shots from Blade or Sword 4. Even the second floor elevator room has a lot of Gagarians for you to pick at. I've also noticed that area seems to have a better chance for you to face three of them in a battle. If you're feeling up to the task, however, you could send out someone with a decent melee weapon to kill some of the tougies on the fourth floor or some of the Ninja's in the basement. Either way, get yourself to level 50 (or at least bring yourself up high enough such that your stats are all maxed out). Stay on the third floor. Go into the hallway where you saw all the Masters. Go to the end of the hallway, equip the Cyberjack and enter the computer. This is all a straight shot from here. Head towards the left and walk onto the teleporter. From here head up, make your way wall the way left, and go down. Walk onto the teleporter. You should be in a room with a very familiar figure... Yes, Bug-Bug! Talk to him. He'll tell you he has the No-Run Program, but in order to do anything about that, you'll have to defeat Bug-Bug. After he's said his piece, you'll be taken into battle BOSS BUGBUG (Round 2) Recommended level: 50 (or have maxed out stats, sans life) Be sure you also have the best Shields and Boots equiped by now. If you fought Gagarians and Bigfaces, you should have gotten a ton of both. Bugbug has all the same attacks he did before, except now his cannon attack can confuse you. This can make the battle that much harder, especially since there aren't any status ailment blocking equipment items in this game. Follow the usual routine as you did in the last battle. Use a melee weapon, avoid using Sword or Blade 4 as those only do 1 damage. Nail him with only one-shot attacks at a time and try your damndest to hit him from behind to maximize damage. With your stats maxed and a fully powered Axe 3 or any melee weapon of comparable power, his attacks shouldn't hit very often or for very much (assuming he hits from the front, which he usually does unless you've been confused). With my guard maxed on one robot, his cannon did only about 5 damage and his shock attack did only about 20. That and your action meter should fill up fast. In short, you should quite literally tear him to pieces. If you find you're having problems with this battle, make sure you are at a very high level (close to 50, since you should be able to max you stats around that level) and you have a good melee weapon. If your life is low, use Cure. If you die, use repair, etc. etc. etc... I'm starting to sound like a broken record, so let's move on. --- After you've defeated Bugbug, he'll mutter something incoherent and disappear, leaving a crystal behind. Examine the crystal and you'll move on. Exit the computer and head back to Blackmore. Speak to him and he'll do some inbecilic dance. Don't forget to talk to him again to get the key. He'll then leave the john. Exit yourself, in fact, and head through the door on the right. You should see some of those stupid UFO-looking things in here. Remember, if they see you, they'll call the guards. Oh no! Don't call a pack of weak-ass commanders! Do as you wish, but the consequences shouldn't be too intimidating. Exit to the south. Equip the key and make your way right, up, then right do a locked door. Use the key on the door. Enter and you should see Tira in there. "It's big full of people and interesting." Yet another memorable quote due to lack of grammar/proper use of English (not that I'm one to comment after reading my own work, heh). Talk to Tira twice. The first time she'll spout some air-headed mumbo-jumbo. The second time, she'll finally put 2 and 2 together. Now, she'll ask you to guide her out. Do so and Gateau will enter. I don't know what the hell Tira's packing, but she lays the smackdown on Gateau. Talk to Tira and here more incoherent mistranslations, then leave the room. Equip the Spaceship and use it. From outer space, head back to Choco. -CHOCO- Once you're here, enter and Valet will greet you immediately. Now, sit back and watch a decent length cutscene (no, the game isn't over yet). Once it's over, exit the room you are in and head to the lab. Talk to the guy at the north end of the table, say yes, and he will give you the Red, Blue, and Yellow Jars. Make your way back to the entrance and talk to the guard. Tell him you're ready, he will move out the way, and Tira will come out to say a few important words. When she's done, equip the Spaceship, exit, and leave for the fortress yet again. -HACKERS' SPACE FORTRESS- You should arrive near the room you found Tira in. Enter it, equip the Cyberjack, and examine the computer. From here, it's a straight shot to another warp pad to the left. Walk on it and exit the room you wind up in. Head to the right past the Bumpies and the Bigface and enter the room to the north. This should be the Red Reactor. There will be a bunch of Masters, Gagarians, and Ninjas in this room, so equip the Chameleon Glasses. Make your way up, then take the right down the little narrow path. This should take you to a door at the very bottom right of the screen. Once inside, walk on the button near the machine just a ways up from you. This should release the prisoners that are in this room. You can talk to Mint if you want, but if you want to advance, talk to Kotetsu. After that, Blackmore will walk in, have the two escorted out, then tell you the Blue Password. Now you can enter blue doors! Exit here. Move all the way up and take a right. Open the capsule for a Scrap 8. Head back to the blue door you just saw and enter it. Push the button on the right and walk between the two blue lines you see just ahead. You'll have to fight the Master you bump into. Head all the way up and work your way left. Avoid the RedPixies as often as you can. Start on your way down. Remember to have the Glasses on so you can see the trip laser when it comes on. Take the first left turn you see on your way down. Halfway down should be a Master that will pop up. Dispose of it and continue on. At the intersection, head up and equip the Red Jar. Examine the reactor to place it in. Now, head down (don't turn right, go straight down). If you can't progress along the blue lines, hit the switch to the right. When the chance comes up to head right, do so. Do the same now with the Yellow Jar that you did with the red one once you reach the Yellow Reactor. Now, do you remember that door you saw not too long ago before all the RedPixies? Go back to it and enter it. Go all the way up. If you need to, push the button on the right first. Put the Blue Jar in its place and the ceremony should be done. Hit the button on the left. From here, head south as far as you can go, from room to room. You should pass a Bigface along the way. Head south of him and you should be in familiar territory. This is where you met Kotetsu when you first started at this fortress. Continue down and head to the left into another familiar room. Get past all the Gagarians and get into the elevator. Select the fourth floor. :::Fourth Floor::: Finally, the ominous fourth floor! Equip your Glasses before going too far. You should find some Berets and Maskers riddled throughout this place. Head down and take a right. About halfway down the hall, go up to where you see two doors. Avoid the left door, as it leads to a dead end and go through the right door. Follow this up past the RedPixie and you should come to an intersection. Hang a right into a room with a Red Pixie and a Master. Go through the door just above the one you just came from. This will take you to a capsule with a Cure, which is being guarded by a measly Bumpy. Go back to the intersection and go left this time. You will bump into none other than Gateau. Imagine that. Watch the cutscene. Napoleon will make a surprise appearance. Gateau will destroy part of the bridge, forbidding your passage. Save and talk to Napoleon. He'll throw you across. Only do so when you are perfectly ready. Head left and go into the door. You should come into a room guarded by two Ninjas. Do what you can to get past them, then head down. You should be outside now. Head up the stairs and through the door. Head left past all the Bigfaces and through the door. Now go straight up. You will come to the familiar emblem in front of the door. Heal up and save and get ready for battle soon. Enter the door. Gateau will give you a short speech and challenge you to a duel. BOSS GATEAU (Round 1) (Accompanied by two Soldiers) Recommended level: 50 and beyond If you're at max. stats. this battle should be a breeze. The soldiers' attacks are really basic, so there's almost no need to worry. Just don't leave your back exposed to often. When Gateau's back is exposed, however, go straight for the throat. The best thing about this boss is that triple hit combos actually work! So, when you can, use a triple shot from a fully powered Axe 3 or Blade 4 (Blade and Sword 4 can both work fairly well, since they hit multiple targets). The only things you really want to worry about are Gateau's attacks. Some of them can drop over 100 HP with a critical. They also have Run blocking attacks, so be careful of those. Once the Soldiers are disposed of, go after Gateau with a melee assault. Use the three hit combo as much as you can. If you can ever be so lucky as to get his back exposed, go for it. You can sometimes do this by strategically placing yourself a bit away from him when he's in the corner. For instance, if he's in the lower right corner, you can place yourself near the middle bottom rather than right up against him. From here, he'll usually move near the very middle (maybe slightly to the left of it). Since you're positioned near the middle and not near the bottom right corner, you should have a shot at his back. Use this luring tactic against him often. --- Gateau will blurt a few more lines out after you've defeated him and ask you to enter the machine before you. Do so. Before you can, Nagisa will stop you. You will have your last chance to save right here. Enter the machine... Welcome my son... Welcome... to... the machine... Where have you been? It's alright, we know where you've been! Sorry, couldn't resist! Walk up along the trippy background. You should bump into lots of familiar people along the way. Most of this is just character development and backstory. Anyway, keep heading up. At the top, you should be greeted by not one, but four Gateaus. It's all the same guy, just "special effects" I guess... He'll tell you exactly what the Tetron has done for him. Not only does he plan to rule the universe, but over all time and fate of man. The long and short of it is he's pretty much become a god (or so he thinks). I hope your robots are rarin' to go and you've got plenty of supplies. This is it. FINAL BATTLE GATEAU (Round 2) Recommended level: 50's and beyond There are no soldiers to help him this time. He doesn't need any. Depending on what background he selects, he will do a different attack. I really don't recommend using melee weapons unless you're daring (the on advantage melee weapons can bring here is that you can land a critical if you're lucky). You may want to consider staying with Blade 4 or Sword 4 to a lesser extent. Only use triple hit combos, as single hit won't even make double-digit damage. The main reason I say to keep away from melee is that he can ram you for a decent amount of damage if you're too close. If you're lucky, he may not ram your robot at all. If you can get him going on changing background and not ramming your robot, then melee fighting may be worth it. One advantage to taking a ram is that you won't get hit with the fire attack as much, which means less chance of confusion. Anyway, attacks will change in accordance to background, as mentioned previously. Pay close attention... War scenery- He'll summon soldiers to shoot you. Low damage attack, but devestating critical. Icy background- Large chunks of falling ice. Moderate damage. City exploding- Bombs dropped on your robots. Moderate damage. Erruption scenery- Lava rocks fall on your robot. Moderate damage. Aside from what was mentioned above, Gateau also has a fire attack that does moderate damage. This can also confuse your robots, so be careful. You may only really need to keep two of your robots alive. Mainly focus on only healing your best robot when it's damaged or killed. All in all, it's difficult to guage whether or not you should go with melee or long-range attacks. Personally, I stuck with melee attacks since my 'bot avoided becoming confused that way. Also, hitting him with a fully powered Axe 3 did 790-800+ damage criticals! Do those enough and you can dispose of him easily. Just to break down the events, continually hit him with triple shot attacks, try to focus on keeping one robot in paricular alive (you may need one other in case that one dies), and take which ever you think is the less of the evils (doing criticals, but possibly taking more damage; or not doing criticals and possibly becoming confused). --- You've done it. You've defeated Gateau and saved not only the universe, but all time. Enjoy the ending... ---------------- / SECTION 6: FAQ \ -------------------- Q: What do I do if the enemies in an area are way too strong? A: Level up. However, there are a few areas where they purposely put a major leap in enemy strength, but these areas usually don't have a whole lot of enemies. Q: Are there any combinations for Bomb 1? A: Other than actually using a Bomb 1 in the exchange, no. Q: What would you suggest is the best distribution for my robots' ability points? A: This really depends on your strategy. I usually take either a major Power robot, or one that has main emphasis on Power and one other stat. Some like Guard, as that can help you absorb damage. Other like Charge, which makes sense since it allows you to hit more often. Q: How do you save? A: You'll need an item called the transceiver first. When you have that, equip it and use it. Nagisa will ask you if you wish to save; Just say yes. Q: Would you recommend beefing every weapon to level 9? A: Not really. While this may sound like a good idea, this can make the game a whole lot more tedious than need be. There are basically two ways to boost equipment. One is through constant combination, which can sap your money. The other is through battle, assuming you open a capsule that boosts equipment level (these are quite rare). Either way, it's not worth the time because you'll eventually advance the game and eventually find better items that you'll also have to build. That and some weapons can pretty much only be boosted through battle, since you either can't develop them or the fact that combining them can be a royal pain. Q: How do I use event items? A: Push X and go into your inventory (first selection), then push A on the item you wish to use and make sure that its icon appears at the top of the screen. When you want to use it on the screen, push Y. Q: How do I use healing items? A: Push X and go into maintenence (second selection). From there, there will be a few different selections for different items you want to use and which robot you want to use them on. Q: When I build a robot, does it start with lower stats than the original to allocate? A: No, their stats are based on your program points. This is not influenced by how many robots you have, but by what level you are. So, if you are building your second robot and have 100 program points, that's 100 points you can allocate on each robot. This means, when building a robot you can give it the same stats as the first if you wish. Q: What is the "ultimate weapon?" A: The one that can get the strongest, if I remember correctly, is Blade 4. Q: How come when I use a Run that hits three times with the same weapon, it does less damage than hitting only once with the weapon? A: I'm not 100% sure, but I think many enemies (bosses especially) are made to withstand multiple shots from a weapon. It almost makes it inefficient to program a triple hit combo. Q: If I combine two weapons that aren't the same, but can combine, how is the level decided? A: It still just takes the sum of the two levels if they're the same rank. Q: Why do you indicate where enemies are in the FAQ? Does it matter? A: It's mainly for the type of people who like to kill about every enemy they find (the "sporty type," as I call them), a bit like myself. While it's not necessary, sometimes it can help. Q: Then why later in the FAQ do you stop mention every enemy so often? A: Because by that time, you should be so powerful that it really doesn't matter. Q: Why do some weapons have N/A as a creation cost? A: Not all weapons can be developed. Some must be either found or created through combining. Q: Why don't you recommend developing packs very highly? A: Because they only give a very small increase to stats for a very high price. I'm not saying you absolutely should not do it, it's totally up to you. I usually go without them unless I happen to find one while running around in the game. Q: Do you know of any place where I can emulate this game? A: I'm not telling you. Use a search engine. Q: How about a place where I can buy this? A: eBay or GameStop if you don't mind getting it used. I have no idea where to get this still packaged. Q: Parsley said he hid the Clock Tower Key in front of the well. I searched the area and can't find the key. Where is it? A: Be sure you're touching the bottom part of the well while also facing the well. In short, it's against the bottom side of the well. Q: Is it truly necessary to kill every enemy? A: No, but it is HIGHLY recommended. This is a chief means of gaining experience. Higher experience=Stronger robots. Stronger robots=easier bosses. Easier bosses=less stress. Also, it doesn't hurt to build levels every now and then either. Q: What's a good way to gain experience? A: See above... Q: Does it matter what order the items are in when you combine them? A: No. Q: I spoke to a character who was supposed to give me an item, but he/she didn't give it to me. What do I do? A: If you read the message carefully, sometimes the other characters will say something along the lines of, "I have an item to give you, but you're inventory is full. Please rearrange it." This means you'll have to use, discard, or equip something (assuming nothing is equipped) in order to get the item. Q: What took you so long to update/read e-mail? A: This delightfully powerful and soul-sucking force called college. This was my senior year and I'm still not graduated, as I need to complete a few more classes (people involved in the Ed. department as I am usually take 5 years to complete at the school I'm going to, or so I'm told). Q: How do I reform my party? A: Go into your menu screen. Enter the maintenence screen and select the first icon (the far left one) that looks like a capsule. From here, pick whichever robot you want to be first, then second, etc. Q: Are you ever going to complete this FAQ? If not, I'd like to continue it. A: Sorry, I'm in the process of completing it, albeit the fact that I'm inching slowly across. Q: I put the jars into the generators, but nothing happened. What do I do? A: Either, A) You didn't put them in in the right order. It has to go Red-Yellow-Blue, B) Forgot to put one in (I made this mistake while writing this FAQ), or C) I can't think of anything for C. ---------------------- / SECTION 7: LEGAL BIT \ -------------------------- This FAQ is copyright 2002-2003 to Joe Shaffer, aka BoredGamer. Any use of this FAQ for commercial purposes in any way, shape, or form without confirmed consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This can be used for personal use and freely distributed, as long as there is no profit being made off the FAQ without my approval before hand (this includes magazines). This also cannot be posted on any websites without my solid approval. Any failure to comply with said premises can, and probably will, result in legal actions. ---------------------------------- / SECTION 8: THANK YOU AND GOODBYE \ -------------------------------------- Thanks goes to the following people and such... Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and everyone at GameFAQs Enix for this game Die Hard Game Club back when it was in existence. Probably one of the best used game dealers in Spokane and unfotunately, gone for good. virgo1869 for the speed defintion. Karsanow and Solomon Warrior for the equipment information. There is one thing I would like to leave with saying before submitting the final version of this guide into GameFAQs. I have learned a few things from writing this guide. Maybe I should outline them. This is not only getting a bit off my chest, but also this can serve as a word of advice to any future FAQers. 1) Choose wisely the game you do a FAQ for. This FAQ took me over a year to complete because I had so much work to do in college. One thin you will see all over GameFAQs are FAQs that aren't complete. I won't name any names, but seeing ones that haven't even been touched in years and aren't even close to finished it depressing. Especially so if it's the only FAQ. What I'm getting at is it's always best to finish what you start. Don't leave something incomplete to rot on the net, and definitely don't give up. 2) Doing a FAQ for an RPG was somewhat of a mistake for me. I didn't have the time to do it. Folks, if you aren't devoted or don't have time, don't do a large FAQ. This FAQ is well past due because of that. 3) Avoid redundancies. They can make a FAQ seem very dry. This FAQ is covered with them. Thank you, and thank God. This FAQ is finally... FINALLY... complete. I guess my last thanks goes to Skin of Skunk Anansie. Why? Because she has a beautiful voice. (C) Joe Shaffer 2002-2003