sdSS_SSSSSSbs .S_SSSs sSSs sdSS_SSSSSSbs .S sSSs sSSs YSSS~S%SSSSSP .SS~SSSSS d%%SP YSSS~S%SSSSSP .SS d%%SP d%%SP S%S S%S SSSS d%S' S%S S%S d%S' d%S' S%S S%S S%S S%S S%S S%S S%S S%| S&S S%S SSSS%S S&S S&S S&S S&S S&S S&S S&S SSS%S S&S S&S S&S S&S Y&Ss S&S S&S S&S S&S S&S S&S S&S `S&&S S&S S&S S&S S&S S&S S&S S&S `S*S S*S S*S S&S S*b S*S S*S S*b l*S S*S S*S S*S S*S. S*S S*S S*S. .S*P S*S S*S S*S SSSbs S*S S*S SSSbs sSS*S S*S SSS S*S YSSP S*S S*S YSSP YSS' SP SP SP SP Y Y Y Y sSSs_sSSs sSSSSs .S_sSSs sSSs d%%SP~YS%%b d%%%%SP .SS~YS%%b d%%SP d%S' `S%b d%S' S%S `S%b d%S' S%S S%S S%S S%S S%S S%S ~Tactics Ogre Walkthrough~ S&S S&S S&S S%S d*S S&S ~WRITTEN BY TRAZ~ S&S S&S S&S S&S .S*S S&S_Ss (Trazmann@gmail.com). S&S S&S S&S S&S_sdSSS S&S~SP S&S S&S S&S sSSs S&S~YSY%b S&S *Copyright: Troy de Haan* S*b d*S S*b `S%% S*S `S%b S*b ~7TH JANUARY, 2011~ S*S. .S*S S*S S% S*S S%S S*S. SSSbs_sdSSS SS_sSSS S*S S&S SSSbs YSSP~YSSY Y~YSSY S*S SSS YSSP SP Y =__=TO=____=TO=___=TO=__= === === === === === === == || || == === === === === === === + + + + + + || TABLE OF CONTENTS || + + + + + + === === === === === === == || || == === === === === === === =--=TO=___=TO=____=TO=--= --- 1. About (000A) --- 2. Frequently Asked Questions (000B) --- 3. Hints And Tips (000C) --- 4. Pre-game Quiz (000D) --- 5. Walkthrough (Chapter 1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0 ~ Battle 01 (0000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 ~ Battle 02 (0001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 ~ Battle 03 (0002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 ~ Training 01 (0003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 ~ Battle 04 (0004) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 ~ Battle 05 (0005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6 ~ Training 02 (0006) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7 ~ Optional Battle 01 (0007) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 ~ Battle 06 (0008) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 ~ Training 03 (0009) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.10 ~ Battle 07 (0010) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.11 ~ Battle 08 (0011) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.12 ~ Battle 09 (0012) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.13 ~ Training 04 (0013) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.14 ~ Battle 10 (0014) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.15 ~ Battle 11 (0015) --- 6. Walkthrough (Chapter 2 Chaos Route) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0 ~ Intermission (0016) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 ~ Training 05 (0017) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 ~ Battle 12 (0018) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 ~ Battle 13 (0019) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 ~ Optional Quest for Unluck (0020) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 ~ Battle 14 (0021) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.6 ~ Equipment Hunting (0022) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7 ~ Battle 15 (0023) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8 ~ Battle 16 (0024) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.9 ~ Battle 17 (0025) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.10 ~ Optional Battle 02 (0026) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.11 ~ Battle 18 (0027) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.12 ~ Changes (0028) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.13 ~ Battle 19 (0029) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.14 ~ Battle 20 (0030) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.15 ~ Training 06 (0031) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.16 ~ Battle 21 (0032) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.17 ~ Battle 22 (0033) --- 7. Walkthrough (Chapter 3 Chaos Route) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 ~ Battle 23 (0034) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 ~ Let's Go Shopping (0035) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2 ~ Battle 24 (0036) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3 ~ Battle 25 (0037) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4 ~ Battle 26 (0038) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5 ~ Intermission (0039) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6 ~ Battle 27 (0040) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7 ~ Battle 28 (0041) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8 ~ Battle 29 (0042) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.9 ~ Battle 30 (0043) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.10 ~ Battle 31 (0044) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.11 ~ Battle 32 (0045) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.12 ~ Battle 33 (0046) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.13 ~ Battle 34 (0047) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.14 ~ Wing Ring Dreaming (0048) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.15 ~ Shopping and Reequip (0049) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.16 ~ Optional Battle 03 (0050) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.17 ~ Battle 35 (0051) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.18 ~ Battle 36 (0052) TO BE CONTINUED --- 8. Credits (00CR) ============================================================================== 0==================================================================0 | A B O U T (000A) | 0==================================================================0 * Updated Since there aren't any detailed battle-walkthroughs for Tactics Ogre, I decided to give it a shot. There won't be any story spoilers, and I'll only tell you how to answer certain questions/etc that other characters ask you when it's of any importance. Rather than waiting until I've actually finished this guide, or to make regular updates, instead I'll do so in instalments chapter by chapter. Excluding any typos or errors, I won't update again until I've finished Chapter 4 in its entirety. You'll be able to master Chapter 1 and Chapter 2C/3C (Chaos) so far, and from either point you should be familiar with the game enough to proceed confidently on your own or with further help from existing walkthroughs. It's been a long time since my last update, but I've been on a roll with the last Chapter, so hopefully I can finish Chapter 4 before Tactics Ogre's Remake is released, just for posterity. From there, hopefully I can remain motivated to actually complete the Lawful and Neutral routes. As this walkthrough will at first get you a "Perfect" Chapter 1 and Chapter 2C, be sure to keep a permanent copy of your save-files *before* you make the decision at Baramus which leads to either the Lawful or Chaotic route, and likewise at the end of Chapter 2C. This way you can resume your old saves at a later date to choose another path without having to replay the whole Chapter or both in a 'perfecionist' fashion. So to sum up, the order I'll be writing this walkthrough in is as follows: Chapter 1 --> Chapter 2 (Chaos) --> Chapter 3 (Chaos) --> Chapter 4. Then: Chapter 3 (Neutral). And finally: Chapter 2 (Law) --> Chapter 3 (Law). Naturally, Chapter 4 in each case may be slightly harder or easier, depending on how your team differs. I'll make any special relevant notes beyond Chapter 3 of Law/Neutral when the time comes. There's a good chance I'll take a long hiatus after finishing the write-ups for the Chaos route, but we'll see. Further Notes: ~~~ I will frequently reference Luct.TacticsOgre.com in regards to Buried Treasure locations, rather than point out the exact coordinates (with a few exceptions) as that should be easier for the reader as well as I. I apologise if you print this out, but I expect the majority of people to be able to access their computer for this purpose easily enough while gaming. Over the first Chapter, I won't have you collect every last piece of treasure for a good reason; we'll come back for what we missed when we have characters with higher/lower LUK at a later date. ~~~ I don't bother pointing out enemy unit-types per battle, but see the above site's (Summarised) Walkthrough to compliment this one if that's important to you. ============================================================================== 0==================================================================0 | F R E Q U E N T L Y A S K E D Q U E S T I O N S (000B) | 0==================================================================0 +--+ Does it matter if I use different Classes than you? +--+ Generally, no; not when you know what you're doing. It's fun to experiment, so I'd encourage you to do so. Just don't complain if you fail a mission as a result; I've never run into a single problem, nor has any character of mine ever died, including undead units, where it doesn't really matter (excluding Exorcism). If you're new to the game, you should follow my advice to the letter. If you are a veteran Strategy RPGer like myself, it's safe; but you should still find at least a few of my notes of value in this guide. +--+ Could you start with the Law path first? +--+ Nope, sorry. Every other author seems to have done that, so I might as well be different, eh? +--+ Will you ever finish your Wild ARMs XF Walkthrough? +--+ One day... I haven't touched the game since my last update, and it's not on my priority list. It is an awesome TRPG, so I'm bound to resume it eventually. I figured that it served as the ultimate guide for mastering the majority of the game, from which point a person would be able to ace any battle without help; or they could peruse another walkthrough from that stage. +--+ Can other questions be submitted for this section? +--+ As long as they are only in relation to whatever Chapter(s) that I have completed a walkthrough for. I've finished the game before, naturally; but my memory is far from impressive. In any case, as always you'd get a quicker response at the Tactics Ogre Forum at GameFAQs, as there is an impressive rate of reply there at present. If you'd like to contribute some Q&As of your own though, I'd appreciate it and give you the credit. +--+ What is this 'MVP Award' you sometimes mention? +--+ The MVP Award is usually gained by a character who kills the most enemies in a battle; where if they killed four out of ten enemies it'd almost be guaranteed that they'd get the MVP Award (providing no one else killed that many as well). However, the amount of HP damage delivered or HP healed also factors into this, especially if you have your Cleric heal a higher-level individual repeatedly to level her up; I've had such a character win the MVP where she didn't actually kill a single foe. You'll gain an instant level-up should a character of yours achieve the MVP Award. ============================================================================== 0==================================================================0 | H I N T S A N D T I P S (000C) | 0==================================================================0 1.] The easiest way to use the save-abuse method to get desired treasure/Stat Card drops from a defeated enemy is when a Archer/Wizard/etc is in range where they can deliver the deathblow first and then move over the treasure/etc right away (saving beforehand). Of course, such can usually only be safely accomplished when there are few foes left or they are scattered; since one doesn't tend to have their weaker characters in the thick of battle thusly. Failing this, if you can time it so that you can kill the desired foe one turn and someone else from your team is up next right away, you can minimize annoyance and not have to wait for a few other enemies to have their turn before you can check if the treasure is what you want. 2.] Save your game often, naturally; but especially right before entering battle, so you can alter your lineup of troops if required, as the 'front row' is not always the best place for your fighters to be. Often, directly to the left or right might be closest to the enemy. 3.] When Training, have everyone damage each other as close to near-death as possible while you are waiting around (to kill a higher-level character, one by one with your party until everyone is the same level), so they will be easy kills. You wouldn't want to be left with a higher-level Berzerker with full health and a Cleric; it'd take a very long time to get the job done. 4.] When you've started a new game and are in battle, press Circle and go to System --> Options --> '11. L1 Button Shortcut' (Turn it On), and do the same for '12. R1 Button Shortcut'. Holding either of those buttons during battle will bring up a menu of sorts with some interesting options. Namely, holding L1 + Circle will scroll through the Attack Order at the present time. Very handy if you don't like manually checking everyone's weight to see who has a turn soon. It's still a little unorthodox for a TRPG where 'speed' determines the order, however. 5.] *Contrary to what I’ve written in my guide, it’s easiest to get Canopus’ LUK to 57 the quickest, since he starts with 55 and hence only needs one Luck Card (+2). If you manage to get his LUK to 57 prior to your battle in Rime City during Chapter 1, you can get yourself an extra Orb and a Escape Gem or Blessing (since you can’t re-enter this stage at a later date). In your battle at Baramus at the end of the chapter, you can get the same items once more. Have some worthy 'Hints And Tips' to contribute? Feel free to send them into me via email and should I use them, you'll receive the credit. Note that there are plenty in the other Tactics Ogre guides at GameFAQs, so I didn't bother repeating the basics. *Has since been written into the walkthrough. ============================================================================== 0==================================================================0 | P R E - G A M E Q U I Z (000D) | 0==================================================================0 As you begin a new game, you have to answer a quiz of sorts, which will determine the basic makeup of the main character's statistics, and his Element. However, as you gain several levels through battle, it won't seem to matter all that much. You can get a detailed analysis of how it all works at: http://luct.tacticsogre.com/inquisition.html Most people like to choose options that leave them with a higher AGI (Agility) than normal, since that is the only one which you cannot increase via Stat Cards. Balance is always the safest bet, but I didn't experiment around too much to get it perfect. Below I'll list what I went with, and how the hero's stats changed in brackets from the 'default' values. [-Hahnela-] Pray - Honor Offer - Reign Vow - Glory [-Zoshonell-] Pray - Peace Offer - Love Vow - Hatred [-Bartha-] Pray - Victory Offer - Sacrifice Vow - Flourish [-Gurza-] Pray - Ideal Offer - Hope Vow - Revenge Results: HP : 68 (63) MP : 4 (6) STR: 27 (23) VIT: 25 (23) INT: 26 (28) MEN: 24 (28) AGI: 20 (24) DEX: 26 (28) Now, higher INT (Intelligence) isn't what you'd want for a fighter over STR (Strength), but you've got 4+ AGI points, and two simple Stat Cards (+3) would bring your STR and VIT (Vitality) close to balanced anyway. You might like to try and aim for an even higher AGI, but this setup served me well enough. As for your Element, there are many opinions on the subject. Fire or Earth tend to be the best choices, but it's up to you. For the recond, I went with Fire (Zoshonell). ============================================================================== 0==================================================================0 | W A L K T H R O U G H: C H A P T E R O N E | | | | Are You Telling Me To Stain My Hands? | 0==================================================================0 |----------------------------------| | Battle 01 - Griate City - (0000) | |----------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You are thrust into battle without any preparation (or any such need.) STRATEGY: You will only be controlling the Hero in this battle (from this point on known as Denim). Check out his stats to see what you ended up with, and hopefully they will be somewhat balanced if you followed my advice further above. All you can do is to move Denim up as high as he can go (8H elevation) and target Warren with an indirect attack/stone, who will have his back toward you. Don't worry about being out of range, as due to your height and the direction your foe is facing, you cannot miss. You'll get between 12-18 EXP, which is better than nothing. The rest of the battle will then play out its course. ============================================================================== |---------------------------------------| | Battle 02 - Amorika Entrance - (0001) | |---------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Bring up the menu, and check out the Warren Report option. Read everything in here (unless you are new to the game, you can ignore the "Hints" area). It's a good habit to check for new entries after each story battle, as eventually certain pieces will lead to special sidequests and whatnot. Individual character profiles are also constantly updated. Also, you can make events in the next two battles favour Denim slightly more be removing Vice's 'Short' (Sword). This way, he'll use his 'Tower' (Shield) when attacking enemy units (excluding counter-attacks) to do hardly any damage; meaning there is more of a chance Denim can get in a kill or have more time to get a certain Stat card. Unfortunately, you cannot rob the Zenobians of their great equipment. STRATEGY: ~ Position Denim right behind Lans to discover Buried Treasure. With your current Luck statistic, the 'rarest' item you can get is the magic spell 'Heal' or 'Clear'. If you're fussy, you may wish to save your game prior to moving Denim. Every time you select your character to move somewhere/etc and cancel, what you might get is reset. A 'Cure+' item is most common, but I got a Clear spell. After you have got your item, throw a stone at Lans (93% chance for me) to get 12-18 EXP. ~ Lans killed an enemy unit in my game who yielded a Strength Card, so I had Denim move there (raising his Strength from 23 to 26). I then threw a stone at Mildain (which had the highest success rate, 72%; still easy to miss) and received 18 EXP. If you're lucky, Denim should have almost 50 experience points by now. ~ Kachua then healed a nearly-dead Denim, and then Lans healed him as well. ~ If Bapalu is still alive and Denim can finish him off (or any other near- dead foe) do so, but if there's a Stat Card nearby go get it instead and throw a stone at whoever has the best success rate (usually one of your allied Guests who has their back to you). ~ Due to the fact that Vice did hardly any damage to the Boss unit, and that Mildain missed hitting him *twice*, Bapalu was left only with 1 HP. I simply had Denim face his back from a greater height, and threw a stone to kill him with a 100% success rate (his direct attack does the same damage). It's highly unlikely that you'll be this lucky, but don't fret; if you've been throwing stones, you'll probably reach level 2 after the next battle. Do note that a Boss kill in this mission or the next will instantly push you to level 2 and other EXP you've gained won't carry over. I.e. if you have 75 EXP and get 100 EXP from a higher-level foe, you'll lose the excess and still have to start from 0 EXP to get to the next level. Makes all the stone-throwing seem a waste of time, but keep in mind it can be difficult to kill either boss. ~ I received 1,700 Goth for completing this battle, and do note that all bags of treasure from defeated enemies are collected automatically after you are victorious; but Stat Cards are not, hence it's better to give them priority. The downside to not picking up the treasure manually, is an enemy (or Guest) may step on it to attack a nearby character; which means you won't get it. If you know the foe has as special piece of equipment, then it's worth getting the treasure as soon as possible just to be safe. I'll generally point out such instances, in any case. ============================================================================== |-------------------------------------| | Battle 03 - Amorika Castle - (0002) | |-------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You begin this battle right away, although you are able to edit your units. Any damage done to your team cannot be healed out of battle, either. Vice should still have his sword unequipped, to keep a certain enemy alive just a bit longer. STRATEGY: ~ Denim was still wounded in my game (44 HP) so Lans had to waste a turn using Heal on him (which works to your favour to prolong the battle slightly). If you are even worse off, Kachua will heal him as well. ~ I moved Denim straight ahead as far as possible for his first turn, and you should also try to throw a stone at one of your allied Guests (enemies are out of reach, so go for whoever has the highest success rate or their back to you). Mildain was actually defeated after a constant onslaught, but he used his Escape Stone to survive and fight another day. ~ At this point there will most likely be a Stat Card or two lying around from defeated enemies, so move Denim on top of the one you need the most. For me there was a Strength Card and a Life Card (HP), but as I'd already leveled-up, Denim now had 31 Strength so I went for the Life Card which gave me 5 HP. Note that this amount fluctuates, so you might even like to save your game prior to picking up the Card. Such an act will get *very* tedious and annoying, but it may be worth doing early on in the game. I think a general rule is to accept anything between a stat increase of 2-3 for non-HP/MP stats (and 4-5 in those cases). ~ After collecting a Stat Card, I threw a stone at Agres since he had his back to Denim. When the Boss unit had his next turn, he attacked Denim, which you'll probably counter. Even if you don't kill him, with all of your stone- throwing and whatnot, Denim should probably advance to level 2; but it's not the end of the world if he doesn't, especially if you've snared a few good Stat Cards already. ~ Once you finish this battle, you'll be able to name your 'Battalion'. The default name will be whatever the month of birth you chose for Denim (such as 'Fire' for mine). You'll get more satisfaction if you choose your own name, but you're limited to only 8 characters for the title. I chose 'Fedaykin', who were the elite Fremen death commandos under Muad'Dib, if you are familiar with Frank Herbert's Dune novels/etc. ============================================================================== |-----------------------------------------| | Training 01 - Amorika Entrance - (0003) | |-----------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Every now and then I will suggest good times to train your Troops, but don't fret; it won't take all that long and you shouldn't have to do it often if you follow my advice and maximize EXP in story battles. I unequipped the worst three generic characters that Duke Ronway provided you with (judging by their statistics; although it's mostly irrelevant), gave Vice his Short Sword back, and equipped Denim with one of the spare Tower Shields to replace his 'Cure' item. You'll be replacing most of your generic units with special characters and whatnot as you proceed through the game, so you can save yourself some time and annoyance by not training a full team from the get-go. Having three of your generics be made into 'fodder'/'healers-via- items' will help to this affect. I went to the Shop and bought 6 Cures, which left me with about 22,000 Goth. I made sure my three fodder generics had 3 Cures each, along with a Short Bow (we don't want them to do much damage, but they can still help nip away at the enemy's HP without stealing much EXP). It's doubtful you'll need that much Cures, but don't be stingy with them should you need to use them in a story battle. STRATEGY: To give yourself an edge, use Training until all but your three generics (Guests cannot participate) are level 3. Divide into a team of four with Denim, and a team of five with the remaining generics. The first step is to get Denim to level 3, which is made easier by having each team whittle away at their own HP as they advance toward the other team, and make sure no one but Denim does any killing. Be careful how much damage you do and be wary of counter-attacks that might kill someone unintentionally. Using Short Bows and throwing stones can help avoid this problem. Just take note of how much damage an attack is going to do. It'll only take one Training session to get Denim to level 3 if he gets all the kills (in my case one of the generics got themselves killed via a counterattack, and it still didn't matter). Training Battle 1: Denim --> Level 3 Training Battle 2: Repeat, favouring a non-generic, and once they have 25~ EXP, kill Denim, which will give them 75-80~ EXP, advancing them to level 3 right away. In the meantime you should still be whittling away everyone else's HP to near-death, which should get them to around 25 EXP as well (don't worry so much about your 3 'fodder' generics, remember), at which point you can kill your first level 3 generic. Repeat this process until all your important generics have reached level 3. If any of your fodder troops are still around, feel free to give them the final blow as well; but don't bother doing a third Training battle. So, from two simple Training Battles, everyone in my party (not counting Guests) including the 3 fodder units were level 3. You'll be facing foes in the next story battle who are only level 2 (boss is level 4), which is good because it means you won't have to be concerned too much with designating kills, and can go for the Stat Cards instead. Minimal Training is the key, as opposed to too much or none at all; which also minimizes annoyance or growing bored with too much 'grinding'. NOTE: Re-check your generic units' statistics, just to make sure none of your designated fodder/healer troops ended up with something substantially better. It won't make all that much of a difference in the long run, but it works to your favour. ============================================================================== |----------------------------------| | Battle 04 - Tanmas Hill - (0004) | |----------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Purchase a spare 'Cedar' (Staff) and give it to Kachua so she has two, replacing her '+1' armour. This will make her Healing slightly more useful. At this point all of your characters should be level 3 (excluding Guests). Here's how my current lineup were equipped: - Denim: Default + a Tower Shield replacing his 'Cure' item. - Male Soldier 1: Short Sword/Tower/Leather Armour/Leather Hat - Male Soldier 2 + 3: Short Bow + 3 Cures (each) - Male Soldier 4: Same as Soldier 1 - Female Amazon 1: Sword/Tower/Leather Armor/Leather Hat - Female Amazon 2: Same as Amazon 1 - Female Amazon 3: Short Bow + 3 Cures - Female Amazon 4: Sword/Bow/Leather Armor/Leather Hat Note that the numbers are irrelevant, that's just how my 3 'fodder' generics fit into the picture. As you can see, I'll have five front-line characters that will deal the most damage and have the best protection, while those in the rear can all attack from a distance, and heal other units as required. All of the sword-wielders (except for the one with a Sword + Bow which I put in the back) had 48-49 Physical Resistance, except for one Amazon who had 46; compared to those I intended to keep to the rear of combat, since they had only 40~. You'll be pretty safe with the above setup, especially with everyone at level 3. STRATEGY: As you have a few makeshift 'healers' (don't be stingy with their Cures; the cost is inconsequential) to compliment Kachua, along with front-line Soldiers with acceptable defences, you can charge everyone straight ahead as far as they can go for your first turn. Note that your weaker back-row units will get to move before everyone else since their weight is so low, but they'll survive. Feel free to only move them four spaces ahead if you want to play it safe; this way you'll still lure the enemy in, but they'll have to come just a bit closer, which will set them up nicely for your front-row attackers. You don't want to sit back too much though, as Vice and Canopus certainly won't; although wasted EXP isn't too big of a deal since you engaged in Training beforehand. Be sure to pick up any Stat Cards, but don't worry about giving them all to Denim if he's too far away. A certain character or two will usually get ganged up on, so in the early stages it's safer to heal anyone whose HP drops to 50; as such a unit would not survive two successful direct attacks and an arrow. You will learn when healing is necessary in this regard, depending on how many enemies are nearby. Sometimes it'll be safe to wait until you have less HP; other times it may result in death. It doesn't really matter at this time, but I'm a Fire Emblem gamer and let no one die, since it's not all that hard and doesn't require too much luck if you plan things out. Kachua is pretty useless since she only heals about 15 HP tops, but it's better than nothing. Once you have wiped out a few foes, it's safer to ease back on healing so soon, but don't worry about the cost of a few measly Cures; eventually you'll have little need for them anyway. I tend to send Denim and a couple of other units (one of your fodder-healers included) toward the enemy that Canopus severely injures, and take care of that side of the battle. The bulk of my other units I sent through the middle and other side of the map, where the more dangerous group of enemies tends to congregate. Concentrate each group on one enemy at a time, and when no one is in need of 'healing' be sure to constantly fire arrows from those who only have bows; and still throw stones when your sword-fighters are out of range. Every little bit of damage helps. Vice should score a kill in this battle, which is no problem as it'll push him to level 3 to join the rest of your team. Just make sure neither Canopus or Vice get the death-blow on the wizard/boss. One of the enemy Amazons and the wizard will eventually retreat as you advance on them, which makes things slightly annoying when Canopus tends to head straight for the boss. Luckily, he'll often miss, which should give you plenty of time to wipe out all remaining enemies, collecting Stat Cards when they appear, and have Denim or whomever has around 20-25~ EXP to finish the boss off which will bring them to level 4 or very close. END RESULT: I received 1,800 Goth and some equipment, including the FireBurn spell. As for my makeshift 'healers', I only had to use two Cures anyway. Canopus will join your team now, thankfully. I didn't have much luck with the Stat Cards, but here's what I got and who I designated them to: - Mentality Card (3 points) - Male Soldier - Life Card (4 points) - Different Male Soldier NOTE: It's semi-rare, but it is possible to face a lineup of enemy troops in this mission that is slightly different to the rest. With luck, one of the Amazons will be equipped with a Spear *and* Battle Boots. Both are decent additions this early on in the game, so you should try and Persuade her to get both pieces of equipment; rather than just killing her and hoping you get the Spear rather than the Battle Boots or a Stat Card. In any case, save before trying to Persuade her to join you. I reloaded this battle about a dozen times, and only once did I come across an Amazon who had a Spear, so it's really not worth doing. Going through the motion of choosing your troops and waiting to start the battle so many times kills the fun very quickly. RANDOM BATTLE NOTES: Possible Encounters: ~ 1X Amazon + 3X Lizard Man ~ 4X Lizard Man ~ 1X Amazon +1X Soldier + 2X Lizard Man ~ 1X Soldier + 3X Lizard Man No 'special' equipment in any of the lineups, here. ============================================================================== |----------------------------------| | Battle 05 - Krizar City - (0005) | |----------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Canopus has great Physical Resistance (Defence) as it is, so there's no need to slow him down with a Shield and Sword in place of his Spear. I gave him the 'Blessing' you got from mission 3, which will revive him automatically should he get killed. It would make more sense to give this to Denim, but I never let him die anyway and his defence rating was still lower than Canopus even with a shield. Training would seem a good idea since one of your characters should be level 4 or very close (whomever killed the wizard at Tanmas Hill), but a slight boost is unnecessary for this easy battle. A training battle hosted after this one will be easier and very short; and you'll discover another reason soon enough. If you're new to Tactics Ogre, feel free to get all your characters to level 4 now though so you have a slight edge. STRATEGY: I had everyone move forward as far as possible (those on the right I had come down the middle though), with my Bow-wielders shooting at the Skeleton down below (along with throwing stones from those without bows), and you'll easily defeat it on your first turn. Even though it'll revive again soon, it'll give you some extra time. Presance didn't get put to sleep by the enemy Ghost until its second turn. Be sure to take note of the Spear-wielding Soldier, and save right before killing him to ensure he drops his weapon rather than a Stat Card (or a different piece of equipment) and that an enemy doesn't step on the treasure. There's no guarantee that even if treasure is dropped it'll be his Spear, so an easier method is to try and Persuade the foe; depends on how lucky you are and how much reloading you can take. Focus on wiping out the Soldiers first, since you can't rely on Presance Exorcising the undead too quickly. His priority will normally be to heal people first. Once the Soldiers are out of the way, the pesky undead coming back to life won't be much of an issue. They hit hard, but Presance will eventually get rid of most of them. As you advance, the Ghost and Witch will retreat to the rear of the map. Be careful of a Skeleton reviving and going after Kachua or Presence; keep a fodder-healer and a fighter present at all times, and Vice will stick around to lend a hand too. One of the Soldiers dropped a Life Card (5 HP) which I gave to Denim. Kachua also made it to level 3 during this mission (mostly because a Skeleton took a swipe at her which she countered). I picked up Buried Treasure in this mission that was 'Heal', which is located at coordinates 17,10 (starting from the top-left of the map), which is a square of water surrounded by soil and you need an Amazon to be able to get it. I also Persuaded the Ghost to join my team in this battle, who will then be the prime target for the Witch who won't hurt it, but constantly cast Stun (and most often miss) which is a great distraction for them both. I healed the boss with a few Cures to allow more time for a few non-training level-ups and such; and my new Ghost even reached level 4 from constantly casting 'Incubus' on her. A few of my troops were very close to reaching level 4 as well, so when the battle was nearly won I had them target the Witch (or level 4 allies with lots of HP) with stones/etc. We'll get everyone else to this stage in our next training mission. As long as they all have 25~ EXP, you're set for instant level-ups. I only received 1,300 Goth for this victory. AFTERWARD: To save yourself some slight annoyance, swap the position of Presance's Exorcism and Heal spells around; since you'll be using the latter much more frequently. ============================================================================== |------------------------------------| | Training 02 - Krizar City - (0006) | |------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: WARNING: Do *not* try and return to Amorika Castle, as you'll lose the chance to do the first optional story battle at Fort Kadoriga. You should probably have at least 2-3~ folk who are level 4 now, so we'll do another training mission to bring the others up to speed. We'll be replacing a few of those fodder-generics, but it's worth leveling them up this last time just to make sure you keep the best-of-the-best, Stat-wise. You'll only be keeping four of your best generics, which is exactly half of them (unless you purchased more for some reason). When you divide into two teams, make sure one of them has your new level 5 Archer (Sara) and put your level 5 Knight (Voltel) in the other; as this way you'll save yourself some time as you won't have to march toward each other unless you make a mistake. STRATEGY: I made sure one of my teams had the benefit of my new Ghost so it could put people to sleep when required to avoid lethal counterattacks, while the other team had Presance who could heal anyone who took too much damage but you wanted to keep around a while longer. In both cases, level them both up last, especially in the case of the Ghost as even at level 5, it won't give much EXP since it is 'undead' and can't actually be killed traditionally. Weaken your level 5 characters with anyone who is still level 3, and make sure you only kill them with a level 4 character who has 25~ EXP for a guaranteed level-up. As you gradually level everyone up, you'll have plenty of time to get everyone to this stage. You need only throw stones when you're trying to get to 25 EXP, but a few Bow shots will help speed up the process when required. If you do this properly and keep an eye on everyone's EXP, like myself you'll only need to do one easy training mission. It doesn't take all that long, as once everyone is level 4 with 25 EXP, each one who kills a level 5 character will level up instantly, and you can repeat the process until everyone is at the same level. Just remember to not wipe out *all* the members of either team, as that will end the Training battle. Your Ghost is useful all this time putting the higher-level character to sleep, and it does decent damage to a high-defence individual where other generics might only be doing like 10~ HP of damage even with a sword. You might want to save every now and then in case you make a mistake, to save yourself needing to do a second quick training battle. AFTERWARD: Strip your generics of all their equipment, so you can get an accurate look at who has the highest attack/defence (Physical Resistance) rating, alongside their Stats (which is more important for Clerics/Wizards). Hopefully you have an idea as to what Classes you will want them to be, but keep in mind you'll only be needing four of them, and you have eight. You'll therefore generally want your two best Soldiers and two best Amazons. Here's how my current team looks and what I have planned: (All of them are level 5) Unit 1: Denim - Soldier (Same equipment as before, future Berzerker). Unit 2: Soldier - High Attack/Defence levels (Future Berzerker or Beast Tamer). Unit 3: Soldier - High INT/MEN/MP(Future Wizard) - I gave him the Spear I acquired on the last mission, along with Leather Armour/Hat, and I took Canopus' 'Blessing' for this unit to have since Canopus can take care of himself easier. This Soldier will still be a great fighter for now. Unit 4: Amazon - Higher INT/MEN/MP (Future Cleric)- For now I armed her with a Short Bow/Tower/Leather Armour/Leather Hat; we don't want her in the fray or getting many kills. She'll have decent Physical Resistance should she take a hit though. Unit 5: Amazon (Future Archer or Witch, and then future Valkyrie or Dragon Tamer, otherwise Siren). Unit 6: Canopus - Eagle Man. Unit 7: Ghost - 2X Cedar Staff/Leather Armour/Hat (106/108 Def/Mag Def respectively). Since it has very high Physical Resistance as it is, you can also slot in two Cure items and use this Ghost who has excellent movement to heal others. You should also buy it a magic attack that matches its element to add to its spare slot alongside Incubus. Unit 8: Sara - Archer. Unit 9: Voltel - Knight (temporary Class, your general tank for now; although you could make him a Ninja/Beast Tamer if you want). Unit 10: Presance - Exorcist - 2X Cedar Staff/Magic Ring/Battle Boots. NOTE: Since you have a magic-user in the form of a Ghost now, you are finally able to get all the Buried Treasure you missed in previous stages that require you to 'burn' the grass first. However, at the moment such isn't really necessary, and I advise against it. You have ample opportunity to pick up a 'Heal' magic if you don't have it already, and you wouldn't have anyone with 57 or higher Luck yet; meaning you'd miss out on the better treasure available. ============================================================================== |---------------------------------------------| | Optional Battle 01 - Fort Kadoriga - (0007) | |---------------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Note that it is worth Persuading a second Ghost in this mission, simply to take its Incubus Spell which you can later give to your future Wizard. Its range is one square further than the other elemental Spells (for now), and you'd be surprised how often you may be just out of reach by that much; so you'll at least be able to do some minor damage and possibly put a foe to sleep. STRATEGY: Kachua and Vice both reached level 4 during this battle for me. Considering your two healers have rather weak...healing skills, make sure you constantly put them to work, rather than in typical RPGs where it is safe and generally better to wait until your allies have lost at *least* half of their HP. At this point in the game, 25~ is probably the strongest they can manage; and considering how MP for such a weak ability is essentially unlimited, it's not a waste to heal someone who has only lost 10~ HP. If you followed my advice above with the Training battle your characters will be at a perfect level (5), so you won't need to try and 'designate kills' to your lower-EXP/level party members nor worry about an NPC 'stealing' the death-blow (try and time it so Vice gets a few kills or let him kill the boss before Leonard does; where the EXP is useless to him as he is level 6). As usual I moved everyone straight ahead as far as they could go. Ghosts will slow you down somewhat annoyingly by putting a few of your characters to sleep via Incubus; but said individuals wake up pretty fast, and though the Ghosts tend to retreat, you'll catch up to them or back them into a corner fast enough to either defeat them temporarily (difficult, due to their surprisingly high Defense) or with Presance's Exorcism. Try to focus on the Ghosts first rather than the silly Skeleton, which Leonard can nearly eliminate in one blow (and thusly provides a good distraction for him). Your own Ghost, should you have one, will be Public Enemy Number 1, which is actually a good thing, as it will generally force the other Ghosts to target it, hopefully failing to put it to sleep for a few turns; thusly making it easier for your other characters to move closer. Nybass has powerful magic that can hit up to *five* people; yet he'd prioritize your lone Ghost over five enemy party members clumped together every single time. This isn't Shining Force, people! Note that another tactic is that you can try and damage Leonard with Bows (direct attacks are much too dangerous, since his counter will do 50+ damage) so that Kachua will focus on healing him, so she gets more EXP (12-18 compared to 6-10) if she's close to her next level. In the end it simply makes her slightly better at recovering lost health for your party, and every little bit counts. If you're feeling particularly brave, you can even kill Leonard for an extra instant level-up. It'll take some time, since Kachua will heal him and he's very good at blocking most attacks, but since you don't need his help at all it's worth considering once all enemies but Nybass are defeated. There is Buried Treasure you can acquire with an Amazon right away, which you can see here: http://luct.tacticsogre.com/walsta.html . You can't pick it up with a Ghost, since they 'float' above the water which doesn't count. I got a second 'Heal' here, so hopefully you'll have at least one by now. I only received 1,250 Goth for this battle, but it was complimented by a further 500 which was dropped by a felled enemy. As there were only two 'human' units you could kill excluding the boss, you might not get a Stat Card. I didn't, but Leonard is to blame for that since he finished off both Soldiers and has higher Luck than your own characters. Something to watch out for. Make sure not to take Nybass' HP below 20~ to ensure you can kill him in one hit and get good EXP; rather than the battle ending automatically when you get him even more dangerously close to defeat, where you get nothing. I let Vice finish him off, who was already level 4 because I surrounded the boss and let him damage the Necromancer for a while. Thusly he'd easily reach level 5 in the next story battle; as would Kachua, hopefully. NOTE: I wasn't able to encounter any random battles at Fort Kadoriga, even after retrying at least a dozen times, advancing the 'calendar' by several weeks and so on; so I'm guessing at this point in time (perhaps always) you can't run into any random encounters here or at any Fort. Perhaps they didn't bother since this was an optional battleground? ============================================================================== |--------------------------------------| | Battle 06 - Gruborza Plains - (0008) | |--------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You have a good opportunity to Persuade an enemy Cleric or Wizard here, who will likely have better Stats than your own future healer or magic-user. Their loyalty to their leader seems to be quite high though, and I didn't bother as I'd rather use my own people and not run the risk of ever losing them due to disloyalty. Don't let their much-higher MP sway you; such will be irrelevant when you have access to new Classes once you reach level 6 (most assuredly) and you'll gain more than enough MP from there; not that you need it for the basic spells which replenish MP instantly anyway. You're well-prepared from the last battle to go straight into this one. STRATEGY: Position Denim to his far-right as opposed to his usual centre position, so he'll be closer to the enemy Wizard; who you can try to Persuade to rob him of his equipment, or save beforehand to ensure the treasure you receive is his Magic Ring. Note that the Soldier you meet along the way also has Chain Armour, which is twice as good as Leather, so you can try to go for that as well; but it's easier to get some in the next mission so I didn't bother. The Cleric in this battle also has a Magic Ring, and I received both of them via reloading twice to make sure. As a result, I only got one Stat Card from a felled enemy, which was another Life Card which I gave to Denim. It's best to only give them to characters you know will be with you throughout the entire game or the grand duration. It's okay to give them to Generics when you know they are lacking in a particular Stat or so to gain access to a new Class. Vice and Leonard will charge toward the enemies on your side of the river and will defeat them with ease, so keep that in mind should you plan to go after their equipment or to Persuade them. Your other characters should march straight ahead as far as they can go, not worrying about crossing the river until the other enemies are nearby. The boss tends to stay on the other side the whole time, even if he has a good opening. The Cleric can be annoying, since she will heal her allies and then retreat as far away from you as possible; corner her and put her out of her misery as quickly as possible. If Leonard starts heading toward the Berzerker, surround the boss with your own people should you need more time to wipe out remaining foes. Just keep in mind that this leader can do 50~ damage or more to your people; but Kachua and Presence will be able to handle the healing. Again, when there are few enemies left, if Kachua is close to reaching her next level, fire away at Leonard with Bows/Magic/etc so that she gains more EXP faster (and kill him for lots of EXP or an instant level-up, too). Vice reached level 5 in this mission in my game. Be careful how much you weaken a certain enemy if Leonard is nearby, since you don't want him to steal kills where it'd be more beneficial for Vice to finish the job since he's not as far ahead level-wise. Leonard also has the highest Luck compared to any of your party, hence you'll most likely get often useless treasure rather than a Stat Card. Kill the Berzerker with a character who has 25+ EXP so they reach level 6. This mission is very easy since your team is quite powerful for this part of the game if you've followed all my advice. You'll receive 1,650 Goth if you manage to kill all your enemies here. RANDOM BATTLE NOTES: Possible Encounters: ~ 1X Hawkman + 3X Lizard Man - Two of the Lizards had Phlanka Axes, which are slightly more powerful than Short Swords (+1...), which you can grab at least another one (you got one from the last boss) should you desire this very slight boost. The other Lizard had a Spear and Battle Boots, where such a combo would be worth Persuading the foe to ensure nabbing both pieces of equipment. Keep in mind that a Spear is slightly weaker than a Short Sword (- 3) but you can either hit two enemies at once (one of which is a weaker attack, since the first unit takes the brunt of it) or attack from a distance and hence free of counters (unless they have a Spear/Whip themselves). In any case, this is the first random battle worth fighting just to nab some new weapons/etc. ~ 4X Lizard Man ~ 1X Wizard + 3X Lizard Man ~ 3X Hawk Man + 1 Lizard Man ~ 1X Wizard + 1X Hawk Man + 1X Lizard Man + 1X Amazon ~ 1X Wizard + 1X Lizard Man + 2X Hawk Man * You'll find similar equipment regardless of the lineup of foes. ============================================================================== |------------------------------------------------------------| | Training 03 (Via Random Battle) - Gruborza Plains - (0009) | |------------------------------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Note that to Denim's right is really the 'frontline' as those positions are closest to your enemies. STRATEGY: This will be more fun than actual 'Training', since you face proper enemies who will actually be stronger than you since one of your characters (whether it was Denim or not) would have leveled up to 6 after killing the boss in the last mission; and hence all the random battle foes will also be level 6. If you play this right your whole team will get to that level as well, which almost assures that everyone who can will be able to change Classes. Most of your characters should have 50+ EXP already give or take, and over the course of the battle some of them will level-up just from attacking your foes; and your four most EXP-lacking members can simply deal the final blow to level up instantly. A good trick if you need more time is to wait until only one foe is left, surround it on all sides, and throw stones/etc while you have Presance heal the enemy continuously (getting him to level 6 in the process). I received an extra Spear and Phlanka for my efforts, which is a nice bonus. If you are facing Lizard Men, you'll notice that their Physical Resistance (Defence) is quite high compared to yours. Worry not, as by focusing all your attacks on them one at a time (where applicable) will wear them down slowly but surely, and I was never in any risk of someone dying. If your Ghost has two Cures equipped, you'll have a backup 'healer' just in case. If you're not confident as to how much a certain person can handle, just save your game before you meet up with your foes at the river's centre. Keep in mind that one or two of them will likely have a Spear, so be wary as to how you position your party. Where receiving equipment from an enemy is concerned, it seems that you have a much higher chance of getting money or a Stat Card in random battles; but it's probably just a coincidence. It might take a few save-and- reloads to get what you're after. Once you've killed a couple of your opponents, the rest of the battle will be a cakewalk. Just remember to give the EXP-rich kills to your characters who have the least EXP to save yourself some time. Once there is only one enemy left, you can just have your level 6 people wait around and do nothing. Congratulations, it's now time to upgrade to a few better Classes for your generics and Denim. Class Changes: 1. Denim: Berzerker - I gave him the Phlanka you received from the last boss. 2. Soldier 1: His Vitality was a tad too low, so I couldn't make this unit a Berzerker/Beast Tamer just yet. If you run into a similar problem with one of your characters, you can either fight another random battle (which I did) and aim for a particular Stat Card by saving your game first, or do the same in the next story battle. You could also make this unit a Ninja, if you're confident. 3. Soldier 2: *Wizard - Cedar Staff X2, Magic Ring, Battle Boots. 4. Amazon 1: Cleric - Cedar Staff X2, Magic Ring, Blessing. (Leather Armour/Hat had such a low defence boost at +1). 5. Amazon 2: Archer - Short Bow, Tower Shield, Leather Armour/Hat. * For this Wizard, you have 3 Spell slots. Give him a Spell of his Element (such as Fire or Water, Earth or Wind) and FireBurn if said Element isn't Fire. Hopefully you Persuaded a second Ghost at Fort Kadoriga, so remove its Incubus Spell and give it to your Wizard, who will now be very balanced. If you want more diversity, you could also make Sara a Spear-wielding Valkyrie. ============================================================================== |--------------------------------| | Battle 07 - Rime City - (0010) | |--------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Do a mock Training Battle at Gruborza Plains, where you only need your Wizard with FireBurn on Team 1 and just Denim/etc on Team 2. Right near where your Wizard starts, on the left is a small plateau so to speak (4H elevation), which contains Buried Treasure (look below for a small 'map', where X marks the spot). The spell Vitalize in particular, which you should save your game beforehand to get a hold of. It only took me three attempts. Keep in mind that we will clear out the rest of the Buried Treasure at previous locations at a later date; your Luck will be too low to get the best-of-the-best at the moment, or even the 'worst-of-the-worst'; which on some occasions isn't actually the case. [o][o][o] [x][o] * Below I mention one Buried Treasure location to aim for, but you may as well get the other two (see http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html) as you won't have access to this location again. Read 'Hints and Tips' number 5 if you want to get the best of the best; although ensure you get a second Vitalize. STRATEGY: For your lineup, note that those to Denim's left will be the closest to combat, so consider those on the right to be the true 'back' row. As you go into the battle, choose to help the woman; as you'll have no choice in any case. Note that the enemy Soldiers and Amazons all have Chain Armour, which is twice as good as Leather; so it's worth Persuading at least one of them, or save your game before killing them to ensure you get the desired equipment as treasure. I didn't have the patience for such a practice, but you might be lucky. The Witch also has a Magic Ring; but you can buy them prior to the next battle. As usual, charge everyone forward. Since you know the best formation ahead of time, your weaker characters will all be safely at the back. You'll lay waste to that Dragon in no time at all. There is Buried Treasure to your left (needs to be burned) on the single-square 'island' in the water. You can get a second Vitalize spell here, so get it now with your Cleric (via saving first). This mission is easy, as all your foes excluding the Witch and Knight are only level 5 and you have your new Classes. The only hard part is if your luck goes a bit sour and the enemy rains all blows successfully on Sisteena; you should save your game in case you make a mistake or she doesn't block at least 1-2 attacks. Watch out for Guests or enemies stepping on treasure or Stat Cards, since they are always moving around and you fight in a relatively small area. Try to coordinate your attacks so that a Guest won't deal the final blow, if only to know when to save your game should you be aiming for certain equipment drops. Thankfully, with your new Cleric, you now have three healers on your team (with Kachua as a Guest) and your Ghost as a backup with his Cures should he be needed in a pinch. Later on in the battle, I was able to put Leonard to sleep, thankfully. Stops him from getting in the way or stealing kills for a little while. Sadly I didn't have any luck with scoring some Chain Armour, but I did receive a Vitality Card (+3) which I gave to my Cleric who was quite lacking in that stat. I also got a Luck Card, which I gave to Denim (+2). Keep in mind that this one can give either -1/-2, or +1/+2; we'll focus on getting Denim's Luck high enough to get the best Buried Treasure, and a fodder character's Luck low enough to get the 'worst' (which includes some stat- increasing items). When the boss (Knight) is hurt badly, he will use his Cure item to recover 50 HP and retreat further away. Kachua reached level 5 in this battle for me, since she gets decent EXP for healing characters two levels higher than herself (upwards of 17~ EXP). Vice reached level 6, as his EXP was 25~ when I let him deal the final blow to the leader. Your Guests are now a lot more useful; although not annoyingly so as in Leonard's case. AFTERWARD: Shortly, you'll be prompted with an important choice. Answer 'For true peace'. You'll probably be forced to fight a random battle on your way back to Amorika Castle, but you'll make quick work of wiping out the four foes you come across; and score some good Stat Cards (keep in mind you'll be able to buy Spears/Battle Boots before the next battle). After returning to Amorika, you can now buy the stuff I just mentioned, along with Magic Rings; not to mention new 'supplemental' magic spells (by now you won't have to waste 2,000 Goth on Heal and Incubus thanks to Buried Treasure and Ghosts). Note that Battle Boots are actually better than Leather Armour by +1 in their defensive capabilities, and they also increase a character's AGI by +4. ============================================================================== |-------------------------------------| | Battle 08 - Bordo Lakeside - (0011) | |-------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Give Kachua your second Vitalize spell, which will make life much easier for you when you are dealing with annoying Witches and such. I'll give you a quick list as to how my team is equipped, but factor in Chain Armour over Leather for whoever needs the defence boost the most. 1. Denim: Blue (Necklace), Phlanka, Tower, Battle Boots. 2. Berzerker: Phlanka, Tower, Leather Armour, Battle Boots. 3. Wizard: Cedar X2, Magic Ring, Battle Boots. 4. Archer: Short Bow, Tower, Leather Armour, Battle Boots. 5. Cleric: Cedar X2, Magic Ring, Battle Boots. 6. Canopus: Spear, Leather Armour/Hat, Battle Boots. 7. Ghost: Cedar X2, Leather Armour, Battle Boots (can swap Armour for Magic Ring if you prefer). 8. Presance: Cedar X2, Magic Ring, Battle Boots. 9. Sara (Archer): Short Bow, Tower, Leather Armour, Battle Boots. 10. Voltel (Knight): Short Sword, Tower, Leather Armour, Battle Boots. Position healers/magic-users to Denim's left and fighters to his right. STRATEGY: You'll have four chances at nabbing some Chain Armour in this mission; and the Soldier who tried to run away before the battle begun can be Persuaded pretty easily even with lots of HP (it'll still hardly ever work unless you can get behind him though). Hopefully you can get at least two pieces of Chain. The Amazon near the enemy Wizard has the 'Matou' Claw (+24 Strength) along with her own Chain Armour; and hence your priority Persuasion choice, or you can try and save-and-reload in the hopes that she drops it as treasure but it's very difficult. Move all your troops straight ahead towards your enemies, but do check the movement range of others so you don't get a healer/magic-user in the way of a fighter. You are aiming to meet your foes around that dry land in the middle near that 'Tochi' Tree. The opposition are all level 6 except for the boss (level 7). Watch out for Vice killing the Amazon with the Matou Claw, should you block his direct path to other enemies. It took several reloads, but I eventually got the weapon when I killed her. Persuasion is a much better idea (since you'll get her Chain Armour as well) although it's still somewhat hard with all the other enemies and Guests around. Even at 1 HP, Persuading her from a distance is next to impossible. Do whatever it takes, though. If you need to bide your time to collect treasure/Stat Cards/etc, surround the enemy Knight with four of your characters; it doesn't matter if they are weak or strong, since your three healers will easily keep them alive. You'll also get Kachua some more EXP in the meantime. Don't forget to heal the boss if his HP gets too low, however. If no one is injured, use a magic attack or arrows on a character who isn't next to the leader so Kachua has someone to heal. While you are surrounding the boss, check if any characters of yours are close to reaching level 7 (80+ EXP). If so, it's well worth it and easy to throw stones/etc at the Knight while you keep him healed to level up. There's no need to be excessive about it, but if it only takes you a hit or two to get there, do so. Be sure to deal the final blow to this leader with a character who has the least EXP (25~) to minimize wastage. Denim, my Cleric and Voltel reached level 7 in my case. It's doubtful you'll get Kachua to level 6, but I stuck around and wounded my own level 7 characters (Denim and the Cleric, at that point) to ensure she got close to 17 EXP each time she healed. Piece of cake, and you should get 2,150 Goth. RANDOM BATTLE NOTES: Possible Encounters: ~ 4X Lizard Man ~ 1X Wizard + 1X Amazon + 2X Lizard Man ~ 1X Wizard + 3X Lizard Man No decent equipment worth mentioning by this point. ============================================================================== |---------------------------------| | Battle 09 - Zodo Marsh - (0012) | |---------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: I gave our new Matou Claw to my generic Berzerker, as Denim was already much stronger. Voltel had decent Strength as well, so I went with attack balance here, rather than Weight. I had two pieces of Chain Armour, so I gave one to my weakest Archer, and the other to my Ghost as he is Public Enemy #1 and you have three good healers now anyway. Note that this battle ends instantly should you get the boss or his two Gryphons down to 20~ percent HP; but we'll still be able to defeat Ganb and get good EXP if we injure him close to that mark but not completely, so he can be finished off in one hit. Thusly, to maximise EXP/treasure/Stat Card gains, our priority for this battle will be to wipe out the other human foes and Lizard Men, while healing Ganb and his Gryphons if required. * You may wish to remove Vice's weapon, to lessen the damage he can dish out to the Gryphons. LINEUP: Consider Denim's right to be the front row. STRATEGY: Looking at the battleground, you'll see water blocking your way and a clearer path on either side. You'll want to head toward the route Vice is closest to, as your enemies will come at you from that way. Don't worry about the single Lizard Man; he'll make his way toward you soon enough. Try and block off Vice's easy access to a Gryphon, as he can deliver quite a punch. There is only one piece of equipment worth aiming for in this battle; Chain Armour, which one of the Lizard Men should have. Unfortunately we can't steal Ganb's awesome whip. Your human foes are all level 7, while all others are a level below. The terrain will slow your people down (except Canopus and your Ghost) but once you're past the starting position, your enemies will be closer and you can begin to mow them down as quickly as possible. Don't worry about finishing off a level 7 enemy with a level 7 character of your own if you get the chance; we'll bring the rest of your level 6 people up to speed via Training before the next mission if required. You don't want to waste any turns aside from picking up Stat Cards. The Witch in this level has a much higher success rate than the one you faced at Krizar City, but Kachua will help you out there since you gave her Vitalize as well. Your Archers and magic-users will be a great help from a distance, while your fighters draw closer to direct combat (throwing stones when you can do nothing else). Don't forget to heal the Gryphons when none of your own people are injured worse than 20+ HP. They are no threat to you attack-wise, but do watch out for lethal counters when they attack a stronger member of your team which will end the mission instantly if they get hurt bad enough. Ganb hits hard, at 40+ HP to a strong Berzerker even. Don't worry if you aren't able to kill all the other foes before one of the Gryphon's gets killed or close and the battle ends; in the worst case you'll only miss out on a Stat Card or two which is no big deal. At least half of your party should be level 7 by now, so we can do a quick Training battle after this to catch everyone else up; as it'll be your last chance until the next Chapter... 1,575 Goth this time. ============================================================================== |-----------------------------------| | Training 04 - Zodo Marsh - (0013) | |-----------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Equip your new Chain Armour if you got one during the last battle. It's better to get the rest of your characters up to level 7 via a random battle (especially since you'll get some Stat Cards) either here or at Bordo Lakeside, but you can do a safer traditional Training session if you'd prefer. Just put your 10 usual characters on one team, and one of the blank generics on the other. STRATEGY: If you're fighting a random battle (recommended for the Stat Card rewards) just march toward your foes as quickly as possible, wounding them primarily with your level 6 characters who are closest to leveling up, and finally killing them with those who have the least EXP. As long as everyone is level 7 by the time you're finished, no worries. It'll be very good if you can get a Luck Card (+2) for Denim, as well. If instead you're just doing a simple Training battle, if you set up your teams like I mentioned above, you can ignore team B completely; just hack away at your level 7 characters, killing them when required, so that you get the rest of your party to the same level. Done and done. ============================================================================== |---------------------------------------| | Battle 10 - Baramus City (1) - (0014) | |---------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: All of your characters should be level 7 now. Below I'll list the best lineup to go with your current troops, which will put your Archers in prime position to snipe from a great distance, while your fighters will have direct and quick access on foot. You'll quickly realise why the below layout works the best. Denim will be in his default position as usual, so I'll start with the back row: Presance -- Wizard -- Ghost -- Canopus -- Cleric Voltel -- Berzerker -- Denim -- Sara -- Archer * Read 'Hints and Tips' number 5 if you want to get the best Buried Treasure during this mission. NOTE: Be sure to save your game before your finish off the last enemy unit, and keep a permanent copy of this save since it will allow you to choose the Chaos path for now and return later to try the Lawful route at a later date or vice-versa. STRATEGY: Canopus (via throwing a stone) and your Archers can easily kill one of the Soldiers who is facing sideward before he even has a chance to act (move said Archers in front of Kachua and Vice respectively). If you'd prefer, you can keep all your troops where they are, raining stones and arrows down upon your enemy until they finally get to you; but you're more than capable of mopping these foes up post-haste. If you'd like to play aggressively like myself, very shortly your fighters will meet head-on with the enemy Soldiers and the carnage will ensue. They may miss often if you're unlucky, but your Archers/magic-users will more than compensate. Keep your Archers stationed on rooftops the whole time, while your magic-users are safe enough to bring behind your fighters. Be sure to time your death- blows so you can collect Stat Cards promptly. You might lose a couple early on due to the abundance of enemies, but it's no big deal. You'll begin taking some damage, but it's really just a joke considering you have three decent healers at present. Vice also reached level 7 for me before this battle met its end. In Kachua's case, she would easily get to that stage in the next battle. If you're keen, you can stick around and injure your own troops so she gains enough EXP; but she's already more leveled-up than most people tend to have her. Once only one Soldier is left, quickly surround it so Vice can't finish him off. Heal the foe if necessary (counter-attacks), so you have time to pick up any leftover Stat Cards and Buried Treasure. Make sure everyone on your team is at full health, though. Speaking of treasure, you can get yourself an elemental Orb and an extra Cure+/Magi+/Clear/Heal. You can't access this battleground again excluding the second part of this mission, so this is the safest time to do so. Check the map at the L.U.C.T site (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/walsta.html#baramus) but do note that the location of where you can get the Orb is slightly off; it's actually right in the corner, and needs to be burned first (as does the other location). AFTERWARD: Eventually you'll have to make a choice which will determine whether you take the Lawful or Chaotic path. This Walkthrough will follow the latter for now. ~ 1. I understand. -- Lawful Route. ~ 2. No way! -- Chaos Route. ============================================================================== |---------------------------------------| | Battle 11 - Baramus City (2) - (0015) | |---------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: If you followed my advice, all of your characters will have full HP for this mission. I'll note that I'm going the Chaos route, though the battle is pretty much the same. You'll have no reason to edit your characters, but review them if you wish. Vice's equipment will end up in your inventory, including his Escape Gem, in case you were wondering. Position-wise, to Denim's right is the 'front'. I stuck Canopus and my Ghost right at the 'back' (so to speak) as they can catch up the quickest due to their lack of terrain restraints. V= Voltel, S= Sara, W= Wizard, C= Cleric, G= Ghost (Back Row). V--S--W--C--G B--D--A--P--Canopus B= Berzerker, D= Denim, A= Archer, P= Presance (Front Row). STRATEGY: All of your enemies except for one of the Knights/Berzerkers (Law) have a decent weapon which they will always drop when killed; no Stat Cards or need to save first. Just be very careful when you time your death-blows and such, so no enemies/Kachua position themselves on the treasure and it disappears. Collect the treasure manually whenever you get the chance just to be safe; but still take priority on taking out your opponents when you feel confident it won't matter. Some folk may prefer to have Canopus closer to that side path near where you start so he can fly up there promptly to act as a decoy, but I've never had any need to; it simply makes your weaker foes keep their distance which we don't desire. Move Canopus up to the high ground above though, as he'll still be too far away to draw anyone in. The Chaos path battle is a bit easier in my mind, since you don't have an annoying Cleric to deal with. The Witch is of no concern due to how often her spells miss you; and you have two healers with Vitalize if you've been following this walkthrough properly. The Wizard will heal himself with his staff when he gets hurt, but your team can dish out far more damage than 50 HP. On your second turn, have Canopus fly to that house just above him (18H square just above the broken barrel). This will draw one of the Archers much closer to him where you can move directly behind her on your next turn if you want (I prefer to focus on the enemy Wizard first though) when the Knights have moved elsewhere. Fortunately, the enemy A.I won't have their Archers attack when greatly out of range diagonally; even though it's possible to get a shot in. Move your Ghost behind Canopus and that barrel, so the Knights won't come after it; hence it's better to take out that Wizard before an Archer. The enemy's Archers are really only a threat if you get your healers too close to them. Canopus should easily wipe one of them out in quick order anyway, and can then get to the other one while your other characters are advancing on her. The Knights/etc fall quickly to your grouped-together party, especially if you get in some nice counters to their attacks. Despite the terrain advantage the enemy has on you, I didn't consider this mission to be all that hard. Just the same old case of my poor Ghost taking in a lot of damage; although I've always managed to keep it undead-alive, not that it really matters. You'll get 2,100 Goth for your victory, and the abundance of special weapons will aid you nicely in the coming chapter. ============================================================================== 0==================================================================0 | W A L K T H R O U G H: C H A P T E R T W O | | | | Just Because Things Don't Turn Out Like You Expected, | | I Won't Give Up. | 0==================================================================0 |-------------------------------------------| | Chapter 2 (Chaos) - Intermission - (0016) | |-------------------------------------------| NOTES: You can now buy Phlanka (Axes), Heavy (Hammers), Great (Bows) and Power (Gauntlets). All you should need to buy is 3 Power Gauntlets (for Denim/Berzerker/Voltel) to replace your Tower Shields. They are supposed to boost Strength, but for some reason it's simply got higher defence ratings than a Tower; no actual STR boost. If it worked properly, I'd be telling you to not bother with Great Bows at all; since an Archer with just a Short Bow would be much more protected with a Power Gauntlet. Since it doesn't work this way, you'll have to ignore the idea. Also make sure you have a spare attack spell of each Element + Incubus at all times. You can also buy Cure+/Magi+ items now (which you won't need), along with new magic spells (mostly supplemental). If your Wizard or Ghost has the Element of Wind, you can get a more powerful spell in the form of Thunder; but other Elements are out of luck. Pick up a LightBow spell for Presance though (not Kachua). He'll be doing 30+ damage with this ability; although obstacles get in the way easily, so it's nowhere near as successful as an arrow or stone. Only use it when you have a rather direct path to an enemy, and try to be on terrain that matches his Element for even greater damage. Regarding Archers, with a Great Bow, mine were doing an extra four points of damage to a high-defence character, where those with a Short Bow and Gauntlet have +10 Physical Resistance. The general rule is to keep them away from direct combat anyway, so you should go with the higher attack (which is even more effective depending on height advantage/etc). In any case, with a Great Bow, just equip a Leather Hat in place of your lost Tower. I'll give you a look at how my characters are equipped shortly. Decision - Canopus: Spear or Heavy Hammer? Because the Hammer is his 'preferred' weapon type, you'll actually get an attack boost of +9 (it'll only say +6, though). It'll also be more accurate, although you'd only really notice this when attacking a foe from the front, since Canopus has great stats. You could also now equip him with a Power Gauntlet, which would mean he'd have about a +10 defence boost...very tempting. However, a Spear can attack two people at once, or be free of a counter-attack; and his 'Attack' stat was as high as Berzerker Denim's anyway, so balance was definitely there. It's up to you, and really depends if you've found you get plenty of chances to attack two enemies at once. If you're new to this game, it might be safest to go with the Hammer + Gauntlet. New Equipment: 1. Denim: Swapped his Tower for a Power (Gauntlet). 2. Berzerker: Phlanka, Power, Leather Armour, Battle Boots. 3. *Wizard: Clear Staff to replace one of his Cedars. 4. Archer: Great Bow, Leather Armour/Hat, Battle Boots. 5. Cleric: No change. 6. Canopus: No change. (See above) 7. **Ghost: Life Staff to replace one of its Cedars. 8. Presance: No change, but equip his new LightBow spell. 9. Sara (Archer): Great Bow, Leather Armour/Hat, Battle Boots. 10. ***Voltel (Knight): Swapped his Tower for a Power (Gauntlet). *Wizard: Now you'll have a third person with the abilities of 'Vitalize', but do note that he can only cast it on someone who is directly adjacent; hence it doesn't have the range of a normal spell. Note that you access the staff's ability by trying to use it as an item. If your Healers are tied up, this might save you some annoyance from time to time. You'll get a small INT/MEN boost with this stronger staff, too. **Ghost: Even better, you'll now have a fourth healer, so to speak! 3.5 would be more accurate, since it lacks the long-reaching range. On the plus side, it heals 50 HP, which is better than what your proper healers can dish out at present, and it works on Undead units too. Most likely, this very unit has been attracting most of the damage in battle. I've always managed to keep it from "dying" (being knocked out temporarily) anyway, but now once it's injured badly enough, you can retreat to the back of the battle and recover its health. It's a waste giving this weapon to your healers, for obvious reasons. By the way, there's no need to use these staves sparingly; the abilities have an unlimited usage and they will never 'break'. ***Voltel: Yes, I've not made him a Ninja yet, since his AGI/DEX are on par with most others so I haven't felt the need. With four healers (essentially) it's definitely a safer time to make the Class change and give him your Matou and a Power Gauntlet, but it's best to hold off if you're a rookie to Tactics Ogre. ============================================================================== |------------------------------------| | Training 05 - Ashton City - (0017) | |------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: WARNING: If you try to leave Ashton City, the next story battle will begin automatically. Some people consider the battle ahead to be difficult, so we'll get our party up to level 8 just to take the edge off a little. Veteran TRPGers can feel free to skip Training, and get your characters to level 8 during the following story battle. Remember to put your main 10 characters on Team 1, and just a generic-nothing unit on the other. STRATEGY: You might be lucky and already have someone who reached level 8 or who is very close; you only need to get one person to this stage by killing several fellow level 7 characters. Once you have got to that stage simply start the battle over. Most of your team should have 25~ EXP each; those who don't, simply have them do the bulk of the damage to your level 8 people. Once everyone can gain an instant level, kill your first level 8 individual and repeat the process same as always. ============================================================================== |----------------------------------| | Battle 12 - Ashton City - (0018) | |----------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: I went with a typical lineup here, meaning your fighters at the front, and the rest in the rear. STRATEGY: I think they're trying to mock us with this stage; I mean, a Knight with a Robe? Come on! As such there is no special equipment worth aiming for, just Stat Cards. Thusly, try to get at least one Luck Card, so Denim has 56 LUK (1 point away from better Buried Treasure possibilities). On your first turn, Canopus should move onto the roof and throw a stone at the Soldier below; you'll easily wipe him out with your first few characters. Aloser will crazily march straight toward you initially, so it'll seem a little harder to kill her lackies while the powerful little lady tries to snipe your weaker characters. Presance should do a decent 30+ damage with LightBow; just keep in mind it will be blocked easily by objects like houses and high terrain, so you should really only use it when you have a relatively clear shot at an enemy (and urgent healing isn't required). Your Ghost should distract Aloser and the Hawk Men from going after your other people. The enemy Cleric will be annoying at first, but once your powerhouses get closer, her weak healing ability won't have a chance at keeping up. She'll also drop a guaranteed Vitalize spell; not that you'll need it if you've been following my guide properly. This is actually a very easy battle due to the low-defence of your foes; and that it's easy to keep Aloser alive since you don't have to worry about accidentally killing her with a counter-attack. Hence, she's easy to surround when you've defeated most of the enemies, to give yourself time to collect any scattered Stat Cards/etc. Her arrows have a nasty bite; but it's nothing your 3.5 healers can't laugh away. Aloser tends to prioritize firing at Denim or a really weak Cleric. I got Denim's LUK stat to 57 in this battle, thanks to two Luck Cards (+1/+2). Don't injure this leader to below 30 HP or the battle will end instantly and you'll miss out on good EXP from defeating her. One decent thing is that while Aloser is surrounded, she'll constantly fire at someone which will keep Kachua busy with healing, so you'll hopefully get her at least halfway toward level 8. For the record, the boss Archer does 70-80~ damage to say a healer, and 50~ to a high-defence character (all at level 8). When you are ready, kill her with whoever has 25~ EXP. I had a few candidates, but I chose Canopus as the defence/HP boost would serve him best, since I always put him in dangerous situations. ============================================================================== |---------------------------------| | Battle 13 - Zodo Marsh - (0019) | |---------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: For the record, you'll have two chances at snatching some Chain Armour from the Hawk Men in this battle. Funnily enough, the Leader is only level 8 like most of his troops, while the two Amazons are level 9. You will have to keep the HP of the boss above 30 otherwise the mission will end, but he mostly stays away from combat so you'll have ample time to collect scattered Stat Cards or finish off wounded foes. G= Ghost, C= Cleric, W= Wizard, V= Voltel (Back Row). G--Canopus--C--W--V A----S---P---D----B A= Archer, S= Sara, P= Presance, D= Denim, B= Berzerker (Front Row). STRATEGY: Initially, head to the left; don't be lured down the path to the right which looks better at first. This includes Canopus and the Ghost as well; don't have them cross the river just yet. Your Archers should go near them, but they can go in the water since it will slow them down. To this effect, you'll split your party in two, but each team will still be very close together, and the enemy will be drawn between the two. Make sure your Ghost stays relatively in the middle-rear of your party, so enemies have to come in as close as possible to hit it. Be mindful of the high Strength of your foes when moving your healers/magic- users. They'll likely only be able to survive two strong attacks; although you're more than safe with all your healers as long as you don't allow yourself to get ganged up on by three foes. You can easily focus on two enemies at a time, with your direct fighters and aid from Canopus and your Archers along with magic from afar. The boss Berzerker and the Lizard Men will be slowed down quite severely by the terrain, so it'll be a long while before you need to worry about these 'reinforcements'. I got Chain Armour from one of the Hawk Men, and 1,200 Goth from the other. Since you'll have several separate skirmishes with the small groups of enemies over this battle, with your excellent formation it'll be a breeze. Give the level 9 Amazon kills to whoever has 25~ EXP as per usual. I got Canopus' LUK to 57 here; so I now have two folk who can pick up the best Buried Treasure. Soon enough, it'll be time to surround Zapan; heal him if necessary, if you need more time to designate any remaining Stat Cards. Injure any level 9 characters of yours so Kachua will reach level 8 more quickly. Take note if any of your remaining characters are very close to level 9 themselves, and throw stones/etc to get them the required EXP if so. AFTERWARD: If you haven't already, make Voltel a Ninja and give him your Matou Claw, a Power Gauntlet, Chain Armour (remove from someone else if required) and Battle Boots. His defence will still be low, but not as bad as a healer or Wizard. The idea is to boost his Agility, since his Strength should be pretty high by now; and once a Whip comes along, he can be made a Beast Tamer for a better Vitality Boost. Basically, swapping between such a class and a Ninja will even out his important stats more effectively. Voltel's Physical Resistance dropped 15~, but his Attack went up 9 points (taking into account his 'Weapon of Choice' bonus). As for his new spell slot, some like to give Incubus to a Ninja; the damage will be mostly negligible, but you might put an enemy to sleep as a bonus. However, depending of the weather and terrain, a spell that matches his Element does decent damage when you are on the right terrain and hit multiple opponents; so it's my advice to go this route. RANDOM BATTLE NOTES: Possible Encounters: ~ 1X Berzerker + 1X Lizard Man + 1X Gryphon + 1X Octopus ~ 1X Berzerker + 1X Wizard + 1X Gryphon + 1X Octopus ~ 2X Berzerker + 1X Gryphon + 1X Octopus ~ 1X Berzerker + 1X Witch + 1X Gryphon + 1X Octopus The Wizards you come across possess the next level of magic spells here depending on their Element, which you cannot buy just yet (with the exception of Thunder for Wind). If you are patient, you can reload until you face a Wizard who matches the Element of your own magic-user or Ghost, and Persuade him so you can take the spell. In my case I didn't bother. On occasion you may come across a Berzerker with a Slender Spear. I cover it in an optional 'sidequest' after the next battle, but keep an eye out just in case. ============================================================================== |-------------------------------------------------| | Optional Quest for Unluck - Zodo Marsh - (0020) | |-------------------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You should now have at least one character who has 57+ Luck, who can collect the best Buried Treasure (remember they are broken into three groups). But, we need someone who can get the 'worst', which on occasion are actually spectacular items. Good sense would have you use one of your lower-level generics who you won't ever need in battle again, but that method will take longer. Notice that Presance only has 46 LUK already? That's half the effort taken care of. He doesn't need high Luck since he is no attacker (and it won't affect his LightBow spell) and even when he counter-attacks, the damage in most cases would be negligible anyway. All you need to do is enter one random battle at Zodo Marsh, and aim for two Luck Cards (of -2) and this mission is accomplished; he'll have the required 42 LUK. The rewards of this 'optional' quest? Of immediate value, an advanced Wind Ring for one of your healers/magic-users. In the future? Oh, plenty of awesome items, most specifically stat-increasing items that raise a certain statistic ten points... Tasty and well worth the effort, eh? You only need to do this once and you're set for the rest of the game. The unfortunate thing is, you also need someone who can walk in (not 'on', like a Ninja) water in some locations, so you also need to do this with your generic Archer; but you can concentrate on her over the course of this chapter. She'll be replaced with someone better shortly, but will still be of use in battle. If you can get her at least one Luck Card between now and the end of the next mission, you're doing well. STRATEGY: You should have positioned everyone in the same formation as in the story battle, and go in the same direction you went last time. Don't worry about the annoying terrain, as the Gryphon and Octopus will reach you very quickly. Another decent thing is you'll probably get most if not all of your characters to level 9 during this battle. Designate the final blows accordingly, but remember to save beforehand to make sure you get a Luck Card; you'll have three chances since there are four enemies. Try to be patient, and it's well-worth ensuring you get -2 LUK from each card, since it probably took several re-loads to get them. Thusly don't forget that we are trying to *decrease* the statistic. If worse comes to worse, and you just don't seem to be getting any Luck Cards, you can always fight a second battle. It's also not the end of the world if you want to proceed with the next story mission if you need a break. AFTERWARD: Head on over to the L.U.C.T site for the Buried Treasure locations (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html) and scroll down to 'Ashton City'. For 'A', you need your low-Luck generic Archer; but we'll work on that later. For 'B', you can grab another Escape or Blessing (whichever you prefer; needs to be burned). After this, go back to the top of the page for Zodo Marsh. You can't get an Orb in the water yet, so ignore 'A' for now, but get a Wind Ring for 'B' with low-Luck Presance (needs to be burned). NOTES: ~ As your generic Archer won't be needed in battle for much longer, the plan is to eventually make her a 'backup' character as a Valkyrie or Dragon Tamer. A lower-LUK fighter isn't exactly ideal, but she'll only be needed on the rare occasion where you face a story battle that you can't revisit and the Buried Treasure is in the water. She can be leveled up appropriately when the time comes, so she'll still be of value on your team. ~ Blessing/Escape items are much rarer than the various Orbs, but this isn't reflected in their Goth value (100 for a Blessing, 1,250 for an Escape, and almost 5,000 for an Orb). ~ A high-LUK character that can go in water? Don't worry about that just yet. Wind Ring: This only has a +1 Intelligence boost over a normal Magic Ring, but it also has +4 Agility (like Battle Boots) and Earth Resistance +5. This doesn't sound too impressive given the effort required to attain it, but it can also be used as an item for unlimited summoning of the ability 'WindShot'. Give your first one to your Cleric, as the attack has a range of 7 and it's pretty damn accurate; hence much better than just throwing a stone (unless you have a huge height advantage, although the damage still won't be high). You're in luck at the moment if your Cleric is also of the Wind Element. If you happened to get both Wind Rings (from Ashton City and Zodo Marsh) just give the second one to Presance, since the speed boost will best serve a healer rather than a Wizard/Ghost. You can do some great damage comparable to your other magic-wielders (depending on what/whom you are attacking) as long as you use the ability from terrain that works well for your Element (even if they are not of the Wind Element). For an example, my 'weak' Cleric was doing 30 damage from terrain with a '0' bonus. Also note that WindShot damages the caster equal to their level (level 9 = 9 HP damage). ============================================================================== |-------------------------------------| | Battle 14 - Bordo Lakeside - (0021) | |-------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You have the height advantage here. Consider Denim's left to be the 'front line', but I'll share my lineup below and in every battle from now on. Note that you'll have six chances at getting some dropped Chain Armour in this battle, so it's likely everyone who has it will have replaced their Leather Armour after this. One of the enemy Archers has a Crossbow as well, which is worth aiming for. LINEUP: C= Cleric, P= Presance, S= Sara, V= Voltel (Back Row). C--P--S--V--Canopus G--A--W--D--B G= Ghost, A= Archer, W= Wizard, D= Denim, B= Berzerker (Front Row). STRATEGY: Head to Denim's left, where you'll end up on the best terrain to make your stand before the enemy catches up to you. You'll meet them at that good choke point near the river in the centre, where your fighters can easily hold off the first few foes to arrive while you also rain arrows and magic at them from afar. The two Hawk Men will naturally come after your Ghost, but you can easily wipe them out from a distance as well. Remember to utilize your Cleric's WindShot ability (unless you skipped the last part of the walkthrough) and Presance's LightBow when you have good openings early on in the battle and no one is greatly injured. Try not to heal minor damage (30~) when Kachua will be better off gaining the experience for doing so. Try to get at least one Luck Card (-2) during the course of the battle (two being ideal) for your generic Archer. The boss (Genzo) in this mission is level 10, while the rest of his troops are level 9. The Golem would be more threatening if it had a high amount of HP to match its towering defences. Your height advantage should allow you to get off a few indirect attacks as your foes try to get in striking distance. Note that the Octopus is hard to hurt while it's in the water; but it's easy to lure it out. You'll have no problems focusing on damaging two to three enemies at a time, and Canopus with a Spear should get a chance to hit two folk at once if you plan things out (such as hitting a Berzerker from a distance, ensuring there is space for the Golem to attack you on the next turn; where you'll likely counter and hit the Berzerker again in the process). Don't forget to try and get a Crossbow from one of the enemy Archers here. If they aren't already, your whole team will reach level 9 in this battle, while whoever finishes off the leader will get to level 10 (as long as you have 25~ EXP). Genzo will heal himself if his HP gets too low and he has the chance, but as usual make sure you've collected any scattered Stat Cards before finishing him off. I ended up killing him with Voltel (Ninja), as by reaching level 10 first he'll have a further defence boost. I scored two Life Cards (among others) which I gave to him as well, so at level 10 he had 100 Physical Resistance (which is about what he had as a Knight back at level 8) which is comparable to a well-equipped Archer of level 9, and his HP was nearly at 150. Thusly he's quite a balanced and safe Ninja to have relatively in your front line with your Berzerker and Denim. Note that for some reason the leader's Matou Claw is *NOT* a guaranteed drop; you might get a useless (at this point) Stat Card or his other equipment. Save beforehand if you want his weapon. Your already powerful Ninja would be quite an asset with two Matou Claws since he can attack twice with them, but you'd be sacrificing 10+ defence points. I wouldn't recommend it unless you missed out on getting one on this very battleground back in Chapter 1, but hopefully you'll get Chain Armour or money, at the least. You'll also get close to 3,000 Goth for felling all your opponents. AFTERWARD: You should give your new Crossbow to your Berzerker; he'll be losing 15 Physical Resistance and 12 Magic Resistance points, but its power matches a Great Bow, and he'll likely have a higher attack than either of your Archers. A Berzerker is quite strong defence-wise anyway, so now he'll also be useful from a distance as well which makes him quite versatile. Denim isn't the best choice to give it to, since you want him to be as safe as possible with his defence. You could also give it to an Archer (giving them a great defence boost with the addition of a Power Gauntlet) but that won't be as effective where shooting out of range and such is concerned. Stick with the Berzerker. Try and give him a couple of Vitality Cards over the next couple of battles to 'lessen the blow', so to speak. If you are concerned about his Weight you can equip an Orb over his Armour (especially if it's only Leather) to decrease it by -16 (-19 if you have Chain Armour). Just try to give your Berzerker another Vitality Card when you get the chance. * You can get another Wind Ring at Bordo Lakeside now. (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/walsta.html) The terrain needs to be burned, and then have your low-LUK character pick it up (save beforehand, naturally). If this is your second one give it to Presance, and if it's your third then hand it over to your Wizard. RANDOM BATTLE NOTES: Possible Encounters: ~ 1X Berzerker + 1X Lizard Man + 1X Dragon + 1X Octopus ~ 1X Berzerker + 1X Cleric + 1X Dragon + 1X Octopus ~ 1X Berzerker + 1X Faerie +1X Dragon + 1X Octopus ~ 1X Hawk Man + 1X Cleric + 1X Dragon + 1X Octopus ============================================================================== |----------------------------| | Equipment Hunting - (0022) | |----------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Technically this is the second time we've done this, but in any event, in either Zodo Marsh or Bordo Lakeside you can come across a Berzerker or Lizard Man respectively who possesses a Slender Spear; which for Canopus will boost his attack by +10, which is even better than a Heavy Hammer with his preferred weapon bonus. If you come across a Hawk Man, they also have Crossbow's should you want another, or if you missed out on getting one in the last battle. According to Town Knave's guide, you can also come across a Cleric in Bordo Lakeside who has Heal+; but I reloaded dozens of times (literally) and while I did come across several different lineups and such, none of the Clerics had it. They may not show up until you are at a higher level, but if anyone can verify this please let me know. ~~~ GOAL: Slender Spear. STRATEGY: Messing around with your lineup is a good way to reset the enemy's own lineup in a random battle, as does removing 2-4~ characters entirely, but the best method I found was to enter Training and then leave immediately and then try again. If you find you're coming up against the *exact* group of enemies time and time again (lacking the weapons/etc that you are after), it's a good idea to position your troops as randomly as possible and without putting any thought into it. You won't have an ideal formation, but against four distant foes it's of no consequence. For some reason I seemed to have a much harder time at Bordo Lakeside, since even with the above techniques a Cleric showed up a lot, but I got the lineup I was after at Zodo Marsh instantly. If you're after a Crossbow as well, stick to Bordo Lakeside. Once you successfully come across a battle with a Berzerker/Lizard Man that has a Slender Spear, it's easier to kill two of the four enemies who get to you first, and then the Spear-wielder third; otherwise if you kill them last, you'll have to wait for the battle to end again and again, seeing if the treasure is what you want and then reload from the map. The prize is well worth it, though, as Canopus should be your strongest character while holding his new weapon. If you have a Valkyrie or some other Spear-wielding character in your party, definitely try to get a second Slender Spear. Do note that an enemy Gryphon in a random battle will now have WindShot, since someone in your party would be level 10 by this point. Persuading a level 10 Gryphon and Dragon for future purposes is also advisable. ============================================================================== |----------------------------------| | Battle 15 - Tanmas Hill - (0023) | |----------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: WARNING: Access to Ashton City/Zodo Marsh/Bordo Lakeside is unavailable after this battle. Training is possible at Tanmas Hill, but random battles are not (until Battle 16 is cleared). Make sure you still have a spare attack spell of each Element along with Incubus before proceeding with this battle. At least half of your team have probably reached level 10 by now; and if you completed the optional quest above Canopus will have a powerful new Spear. You should be able to get the rest of your team to the same level during this battle. Aloser will join you in this battle, and unfortunately you cannot change her equipment; she's actually more of a nuisance with a weapon as you'll come to find out. LINEUP: W= Wizard, P= Presance, D= Denim, C= Cleric, A= Archer (Back Row). W--P--D--C--A B--S--G--Canopus--V B= Berzerker, S= Sara, G= Ghost, V= Voltel (Front Row). STRATEGY: Strangely, Vice's stats are worse than when you left him; despite being four levels higher than he was back at Baramus. The enemy Beast Tamers and the Gryphon/Dragon are all level 9 (and thusly only good for Stat Cards) while the Knights and the Witch are a useful level 10; and Vice is level 11. The only equipment worthy of note in this battle is the Chain Armour that each of the Knights possess, should you still need any at this distant point of the game compared to when you could first nab some. With your perfect lineup, you can move everyone straight ahead for their first turn (sending your Cleric to the left, where your generic Archer can go in front of her). I was able to kill the Beast Tamer + Dragon duo on my team's first turn, along with nearly killing the Knight who moves close to Kachua. Speaking of Kachua, she'll be badly injured early on, and she'll move to heal Aloser rather than retreating to recover her own wounds. Your Cleric should get a chance to heal Kachua, so it's no big deal. There are no consequences if this Guest is defeated since she'll just use her Escape Gem, but why lose one of your healers when it can be easily prevented, eh? For a perfectionist, the hardest part of this battle is keeping Vice alive long enough to wipe out all your other foes gaining Stat Cards and EXP from killing the level 10 opponents. He'll only survive *one* of Aloser's arrows; since another will bring his HP below 30 and the battle will end instantly. As a result you must keep a good eye on the HP of your weaker characters while constantly healing the enemy leader. Kachua and your Ghost with his Life Staff should allow you to accomplish this; but it's not the end of the world if you can't manage it. Kill the Witch as soon as you can, since her annoying Stun magic can hit five clumped-together individuals at once. The Knights can deal a very mean blow to your healers/magic-users, so they're a priority kill if they get too close as well. In case you were wondering, you cannot defeat Aloser to make things easier (nor remove her weapon before battle) as she'll be gone forever if you do. Your Wizard and Ghost should prove a great distraction for Vice; since he'll constantly cast a 100% successful (and weak) Incubus spell rather than better utilising his Great Bow. Basically, if Vice's HP gets below 100, the battle is pretty much over as soon as Aloser gets another turn before you can heal him since the fiery Archer can do nearly 60 HP of damage. Kachua will be a great help at curing anyone who gets Stunned or put to sleep, where your Wizard can also help to that affect with his 'Clear' Staff. Try not to clump your troops together whenever possible, to lessen the chances of the Witch being a bother. Again, you have the tough task of healing lost HP from severely damaged party members, making sure Vice stays alive long enough, and removing abnormal statuses. It's a great accomplishment if you can pull it off, though. Another bonus is that constantly healing Vice with any level 9 healers will get them to level 10 in this mission with ease. Kachua will get herself to level 9 easily by healing your level 10 characters as well. A good strategy to lure Vice away from Aloser and up the hill as quickly as possible is to have your Ghost or Wizard in range of his maximum movement (6 squares) and Incubus spell (7 squares). Aloser can reach far with her ranged weapon, but not fast enough to match this when you head up the hill. Hopefully your generic Archer gets a couple of Luck Cards to bring her to 42 LUK during this battle; or at least to 44. When you have finished off most if not all of the other enemies and finally manage to surround Vice on all sides, the rest is a cakewalk as he'll simply keep casting the weak Incubus spell. Heal him non-stop with your Cleric and Presance (and your Ghost if it's not level 10), while injuring your level 10 characters so Kachua can heal them and reach level 9 quicker. Aloser will constantly fire at Vice, which will in turn get her to level 10 as well. When you are ready to end the mission, have your Ninja (as long as he has 25~ EXP; throw a shuriken or two if required) finish him off so he reaches level 11 for a slight defence/HP boost. AFTERWARD: Decision time: Now that you've had two Archers for a good while, you can better decide if you like it that way, or if you would prefer to make Aloser a Valkyrie. She'll most likely be stronger than Sara, and you'll have no further need of your generic Archer aside from story battles where you need a low-LUK character who can walk in water. At the moment you only have four direct attackers so in the name of balance I recommend making Aloser a Valkyrie and giving her your Slender Spear (since Canopus should be much stronger already, and we'll get a new one for him in the next battle). Give her an attack spell of her Element along with Incubus. ============================================================================== |----------------------------------| | Battle 16 - Krizar City - (0024) | |----------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: WARNING: Do not let Denim get to level 11 during this battle unless you have three Orbs. Keep an eye on his EXP, but you should be pretty safe as long as you don't kill any level 11 foes with him. Aim to have just five of your characters reach that level by the end of the mission. You'll see why at the next battle. It matters not at all if you've been following this Walkthrough properly though; you'll have at least three Orbs by now and can ignore this warning. *Note: Over the course of the next few battles, if you happen to get two Luck Cards, give them to Aloser (+2 each) as that'll bring her LUK to 57; making her your high-LUK water-treader. LINEUP: S= Sara, P= Presance, G= Ghost, C= Cleric, D= Denim (Back Row). S--P--G--C--D A--B--W--V--Canopus A= Aloser, B= Berzerker, W= Wizard, V= Voltel (Front Row). STRATEGY: Yes, enemies tend to have teasingly better stats than your characters even at the same level; but do you really want to Persuade them the whole game? You'll likely run into a better replacement in every battle. Half of your opponents (4) are level 11, while the rest are level 10. Make sure you kill the level 11 foes with characters who have 25~ EXP for an instant level-up. After this battle half of your team should be level 11. You are up against a Wizard and seven Knights, all of whom have Cure+ items (excluding the magic-User) which can recover 100 HP. This isn't an issue with the level 11 enemies if you need the extra EXP, but it can be annoying with the lower-level opponents. One of the two Knights closest to you has a Crossbow (if you still need one, another Knight drops it guaranteed) which packs a mean punch against a weaker character from a distance, so try to injure him by 50+ HP and he should retreat to heal himself. Two of the level 10 Knights at the rear have Slender Spears, so grab one if Canopus or your Valkyrie needs it. A third level 10 Knight has a Crossbow as well, which is a guaranteed drop. I moved everyone straight ahead on my first turn, with Canopus moving onto the grass area near the Knight with the Crossbow where he can pull off a nice WindShot. Your Archer won't be able to reach him, so target the other Knight instead. As for the others who could reach I simply had them throw stones/etc. My Ninja (Voltel) also couldn't reach the Crossbow Knight, so I had him use magic on the other Knight who had moved closer. As a result I actually managed to kill him first, where the Crossbow-wielder still had about 80~ HP; and yet he still used his Cure+ item right away and retreated. The leader (Ganashe) will be right near you before your second turn, so you need to keep him alive; but injuring him to under 80 will be enough to make him use his Cure+ item and run away. I sent Canopus onto the roof to take a stab at the boss with his Spear, and beyond that you need not injure him much more to make him retreat. I sent my Archer toward the building opposite the one Canopus is on and shot at the Great Bow-wielding Knight. I was able to move my Ninja onto the roof near Sara (Archer) and used magic to hit the most damaged Knight. You might hit all four depending on the weather and your Element. My Wizard did over 150 damage to the four clumped-together Knights; try not to cluster your own troops due to the enemy's own Wizard, and watch out for the Slender Spear-wielders who can hit two people at once (although they tend to prefer hitting from a distance to avoid a counter). When your Ninja has another turn, use magic on anyone who has less than 30~ HP, since your Wizard will easily destroy such foes with his Area-of-Effect spells. Your lovely Ghost should distract the enemy Wizard. I sent my Valkyrie toward that level 11 Crossbow Knight who healed himself, so she could be in range for a better target on her next turn. Perhaps seeming a threat initially, most of the Knights should be repelled quickly enough, as they'll heal and retreat to the bridge. I had Canopus move to the side of the enemy Wizard to Spear him from a distance, allowing Aloser to finish him off from behind on her next turn. Choose those who deliver the death-blow to level 11 foes wisely; someone who only needs 20~ EXP to level-up is a waste. It's very difficult to get a Slender Spear as dropped treasure, so it's easier to Persuade a wounded Knight rather than reloading constantly. Try to time it so only one of them and the leader remain; where you can safely surround Ganashe to give yourself time, and so your new 'recruit' doesn't steal the kill. Kachua should be about halfway toward level 10 by now. AFTERWARD: There's nothing new in the Shop to buy, and you can't access any random battles. However, do a mock Training battle with just Denim on Team Blue, and your Wizard, Canopus and Ninja (if your Ninja has 57 or higher LUK, otherwise swap with Denim) on Team Red. It's time to get some more Buried Treasure (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/walsta.html). You should already have got 'C', so go for A + B, aiming for an Orb you lack and a Blessing or Escape. Note that 'B' doesn't need to be burned, while 'A' does. If you Persuaded a Knight for his Slender Spear (or were lucky enough to have it dropped as treasure) equip it on Canopus or your Valkyrie (they both should have one now). ============================================================================== |------------------------------------| | Battle 17 - Fort Kadoriga - (0025) | |------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Excluding the leader (level 12) the rest of your enemies in this battle will match your own party's highest level character, which should be level 11. This makes saving the Guest Wizard impossible without preparation or cheating. But there is always a strategy to get the job done, so pay attention. Some might say to keep your level low, but there's no need. Firstly, you need to match my lineup below. The only other special things you need to do involve Canopus and your Wizard. * Canopus - His Weight must be lower than 489. At level 10, this is accomplished with the following equipment: Slender Spear/Leather Armour/Battle Boots/Orb. You should have at least four Orbs by now, but try and give him one that matches his Element if possible for a better defence against his opposing Element. * Wizard - His Weight must be lower than 481. At level 11, this is accomplished with the following equipment: Clear Staff/Battle Boots/Orb X2. It's no big deal what Orbs you give him, but match his Element if you can with one of them. If you don't have any Orbs because you didn't follow this Walkthrough properly or only recently started using it, then your best bet is to only use your level 10 characters in battle, and hopefully you have a spare Gryphon/Dragon to lend a hand. With Forcas, the level 13 (Guest) Knight helping you, the mission will still be very easy. Whatever the case, definitely remember to save your game before you start this battle. *Note: The enemy Cockatrice in this mission does indeed drop a certain special item; it's just not visible in an 'equipped' capacity. LINEUP: G= Ghost, P= Presance, W= Wizard, C= Cleric, S= Sara (Back Row). G---P---W---C---S Canopus--B--D--A--V B= Berzerker, D= Denim, A= Aloser, V= Voltel (Front Row). STRATEGY: Move your Wizard straight ahead and use magic on the Ninja above. This will put you in a position to distract nearby enemies from Byan to your weaker Wizard. Canopus can then move ahead as well, two spaces high up from the Ninja for a nice swipe from your Slender Spear, nearly killing the foe. You should save your game before trying to attack him though, in case you pull off a critical hit and actually manage to kill him. The Guest character, Byan, will then move in to finish off this Ninja, as opposed to going right for the leader in suicidal fashion. His AoE (Area-of-Effect) magic won't matter to you as Canopus and your Wizard will be out of the way; although a Guest won't ever pull off 'friendly fire' anyway. Kachua will heal your Wizard if he didn't block the Ninja's attack, otherwise she'll tend to Canopus. The rest of the enemy troops should move toward you, setting themselves up for some good counters. Canopus will take a beating, but it's nothing your 3.5 healers can't handle with a yawn. If you have your Archer fire at the other Ninja who moves nearby, note that Forcas will finish him off, stealing the kill. He'll do 125~ damage alone, so you're best off letting him deal the first blow. Denim can finish off said Ninja with a stone since he should easily be strong enough to do so, getting himself to level 11 if he isn't already there. Aloser the Valkyrie should move behind Forcas, hitting the two Soldiers near Canopus with magic. When my Ghost's turn came up I moved it onto a tasty Vitality Card (+3) that the Ninja from the start dropped, and used magic on the two Soldiers above to bring them very close to death (if your Valkyrie has strong magic, they might even be defeated). Your Berzerker can move straight ahead all the way as well, but he won't be able to reach any of the enemies with his Crossbow; you'll just hit your own people or miss, but worry not for this turn. Move Voltel the Ninja to the side of the enemy Amazon and attack her directly. If the Cockatrice successfully Petrifies anyone, Kachua should cure them right after. Have your Archer move onto good terrain that works well for her Element and fire at the Cockatrice. I also had my Berzerker attack the same foe while he was there (80% chance) and then moved him above to the 10H square (face his back to the enemy leader, Dasa, to distract him). When your Wizard is up again, just kill one of the Soldiers if he's still level 10, otherwise use magic to target the Cockatrice (as long as you won't hit your own people) and position him over a useful Stat Card if there are any nearby. Move Canopus to the right of the Soldier, on the 10H square which blocks the path to Byan, and finish him off with your Spear (or use a stone/WindShot on the other one). Byan will then finish off the Cockatrice and any Soldier who remains, and note that the Cockatrice drops treasure despite not having any visible inventory; which turns out to be the rare Undead Ring that can get you a Lich later on, so to speak. I had my Cleric heal my Berzerker before collecting the treasure containing the Undead Ring, and then Forcas killed the Amazon. From this point, quickly surround the boss so he won't get attacked by any of the Guests. Injure Byan/Forcas and heal them with Presance/Cleric/Ghost if they aren't level 11 already; and Kachua will reach level 10 in no time at all. If you have any other characters who are still level 10, make sure they are the ones injuring Byan/Forcas. Level 10 characters will get 20-28 EXP for injuring/healing a level 13 character, while a level 9 Kachua will get 35~+. Once every one of your characters are level 11, finish off Dasa with your Ninja (ensuring he has 25~ EXP) to get him to level 12. Be careful not to surround Dasa with any Spear-wielders, as they might hit your ally on the other side; likewise from two spaces directly away since the boss Berzerker has a 2-space hitting Whip. His decent Guard Whip is also a guaranteed drop, in case you were wondering. Note that if you kill Forcas or Byan for the EXP, they'll be gone forever, which is bad. You can save your game beforehand if you'd like to check out the following scenes where either of them is dead, and then when they are both killed as well. AFTERWARD: You'll have to make a choice after this mission, which will determine whether or not you take on the game's second optional battle (the first one being when you fought Nybass). Obviously, agree to help out. Make sure you get another Orb from Kort Kadoriga (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/walsta.html), which requires a magic-user with FireBurn and a high-LUK character on Team Red. ============================================================================== |------------------------------------------| | Optional Battle 02 - Fort Damsa - (0026) | |------------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Wizard - Clear Staff/Cedar Staff/Battle Boots/Undead Ring. Note that the defence rating of a Leather Hat is nowhere near as useful as an Orb; so alter the equipment of any character who has a Hat with an Orb, preferably matching their Element where possible. I kept the Orb on Canopus from the last mission as well (even though he's already pretty fast), and gave one to my Valkyrie and Archer as well (which makes four Orbs since my Berzerker has had one since Krizar City). As you get more Orbs, remember to replace any non-matching Elements. You might be worrying about your Ninja, but his unnaturally high defence is worth it and he'll get faster and faster as he gains levels. Normally a Ninja would be dead after two strong attacks; with the right preparation they can easily survive three. At level 12, Voltel (Ninja) matched the decent defences my Archer had (about 120 each) and he had over 160 HP; and he was stronger than Denim and my Berzerker. LINEUP: S= Sara, W= Wizard, P= Presance, C= Cleric, G= Ghost (Back Row). S--W--P--C--G A--B--D--V--Canopus A= Aloser, B= Berzerker, D= Denim, V= Voltel (Front Row). STRATEGY: Five of your foes are level 12, while the two Archers are only level 11. One of the Amazons has a Slender Spear which is a guaranteed drop. Byan and Forcas (level 13) both accompany you on this mission, so make sure they don't steal any of the level 12 kills. Try and plan your attacks accordingly, and remember that Byan won't use his magic if your team is in the way. Move Canopus all the way forward and use WindShot on the Amazon ahead of him. The enemy Archers will rain down a lot of hurt due to the height advantage, but just keep healing; they'll lose their bonus soon enough as you and they get closer. Move everyone mostly straight ahead; though do remember to save your game a few times early on in case you make an error. The Witch will try to Stun Canopus; and she's hard to kill until your fourth turn or so. Remember, even if you've already injured an individual enemy, it's generally better to use magic that will hit multiple targets whenever possible even if they have full HP. When your Ninja's turn comes up, move him behind Denim (assuming you moved him straight ahead) so you can target the Archer and Witch with magic. Your Ghost should try to reach the Amazon above Canopus. Keep your healers distant, while Byan and your own Wizard will take a beating. However, the bow-wielders will be close enough to go for your Ghost instead after that stage, even though combined they could have finished off Byan with ease. I got a Matou Claw in this battle, so you should have two by now. Overall, this battle can be hard at the start, but the difficulty quickly goes back down once you and your enemy get closer to each other; and the AI isn't too smart. Once you have the leader Veldo (Valkyrie) surrounded, collect any scattered Stat Cards as per usual. If anyone is close to level 12 (70~ EXP) throw a stone/etc twice at Byan/Forcas. Kachua should be close enough to level 11, so injure them even more so she can heal them for a great amount of EXP. Considering how easy it is, I'd suggest getting all but one of your characters to level 12 by injuring your level 13 Guests (saving one for an instant level up by killing the leader). Most likely it'll only be your 2.5 healers, so throw stones with them one turn, heal the next. This will save you any need for proper Training battles, and it's better to level-up in story missions anyhow. AFTERWARD: Time to get some decent Buried Treasure (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html). For 'A', put a Wizard and your low-LUK character (Presance) on Team Red, and aim for a 'Fire Ring'. As for 'B'... Decide whether you think you'll actually ever use a Blessing/Escape item. If you have three of each, that should be enough in case you change your mind and need one or two in the future. You can never have too many Orbs; especially if you use them during battle to injure every single enemy from time to time. So, I put a character with 50~ LUK on Team Blue and aimed for an Orb. If your Cleric's Element is Fire, give her your new Ring, otherwise equip it on whichever magic-user/healer is lacking a better one. ============================================================================== |----------------------------------| | Battle 18 - Griate City - (0027) | |----------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You should be set to go straight into this battle, but just know that one of the enemy units is random; but you'd be used to saving your game prior to starting a new mission anyway. LINEUP: V= Voltel, A= Aloser, S= Sara, P= Presance, C= Cleric (Back Row). V--A--S--P--C B--D--W--G--Canopus B= Berzerker, D= Denim, W= Wizard, G= Ghost (Front Row). STRATEGY: All of your main foes are level 12, while the boss Wizard (Dagon) is level 13. It'll be fourteen characters on your side versus...six enemies. Your strong Guest allies will likely steal a few kills, but most of your characters should be level 12 by now anyway. Get dropped Stat Cards as soon as possible due to all the Guests and clumped enemies. Your opponents here can vary slightly in that one of them changes. You may be up against a second Knight, a second Wizard or a Witch. A second Wizard seems to be most common, and that's what I came up against. This battle may seem initially laughable, but the hard part is keeping Byan alive; or at least things will seem that way after the first few turns. Have most of your team move toward the main stairs near your Guests, while Canopus and your Ghost can aim for the roof of the building nearby; Canopus can reach the enemy Archer with a tasty WindShot. Byan will take a savage beating due to his reckless charge (especially if the Archer isn't distracted by your Ghost) but once your characters get your next turn, you'll be able to heal him back to full health while moving everyone else into the fray; and from that point he'll be at no risk of dying as you kill some of them and still have plenty of time to heal when required. Your Wizard should be able to move in range to attack the enemy Archer if she moved in for a shot at Byan, and if there was a second enemy Wizard who also moved down to attack Byan then Denim can throw a stone at him (not the Archer if she's straight ahead; you'll just hit your Guest). Since Byan gets in the way of your Ninja, just move him all the way forward on the level below (as he can climb 3 stories high) and use magic on the non-boss Wizard or whomever else. I killed the enemy Archer with my Valkyrie (Aloser), and then moved my Ghost next to Canopus on the roof so it could use magic on the uninjured Red Dragon. Forcas moved in to finish off the second Wizard, and I got a great opening for Canopus to hit both of the Dragons at once; killing one of them in the process. My Cleric healed Byan, and if Forcas' HP drops low enough (48 in my case) he'll retreat to the lower level rather than going straight for the leader. In any case, surround the Wizard Dagon as soon as possible when you get the chance, and conduct your usual Stat Card collecting/etc. Kachua reached level 12 from healing the severely wounded Byan and Forcas during this battle, so be sure to get her to that stage as well. She'll be even level-wise with the rest of your team for probably the first time in the game. Once all your foes are dead, finish off the leader with your Ninja (Voltel; make sure he has 25~ EXP though) to get him to level 13. You'll get the spell 'Necro' for your efforts. AFTERWARD: For Buried Treasure (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/walsta.html) you can pick up two Orbs with High-LUK characters and a third with someone who has 50~ LUK or a Blessing/Escape if you'd prefer. Put your Wizard, Canopus and Aloser on Team Blue, and send your Wizard to burn the grass at 'A'. Aloser can go after 'B' by stepping in that little pool (top-left hex, looking at the map). Denim should be on Team Red to go after 'C'. Equip any new Element-matching Orbs over any non-matching ones if needed. ============================================================================== |------------------------------| | Fort Bodo - Changes - (0028) | |------------------------------| There is no battle here, but eventually you'll be prompted with two choices while speaking to Sisteena. Naturally, go with '1. Join us', and Sisteena, Byan and Forcas will all join you permanently; otherwise you'll miss out on all three of them. As a result, given their superior stats and non-generic status, you'll have to make some changes to your battle party; but it's for the better. We'll be replacing our generic Berzerker, Wizard and Cleric, and I'll give you good reasoning and further information below. ~~~ SISTEENA - Cleric: Likely, Aloser will have better stats than Sisteena at level 13, but she'll make a great Cleric for many reasons. She won't be able to become a Priest, but your existing Cleric can be kept around for that purpose at a later date if you wish to replace Presance (providing her Alignment is Lawful). Depending on how many Stat Cards you may have given to your generic healer, the below statistics may differ but they should be more or less accurate: * 30+ HP, 20~+ Physical Resistance (10~+ Magical), 30+ Attack, 20+ AGI (20 less Weight) and 25+ DEX. Add all of that up and compare it with the only slight negative: her INT/Magic rating will probably be about 5 lower... With her extra HP and stronger defences, in most cases she'll be able to survive an extra attack, not to mention the fact that Sisteena will have a great chance to dodge a blow altogether. She'll work well with a Wind Ring as well since it matches her Element. ~~~ FORCAS - Berzerker: If you've created a 'super-Ninja' with Voltel like I have, you definitely won't want to be replacing him. Forcas will be a much better Berzerker than your generic one; the only downside to some would be his 'Neutral' Alignment. But he'll make a great Dragoon eventually, and Denim can be your Terror Knight (depending on certain circumstances), while your Ninja could become a Sword Master. * 25~+ HP, 20+ Attack (direct and indirect), same if not slightly better defences, 10+ AGI (hence 10~ lower Weight), nearly 20+ DEX and with 53 LUK as a slight bonus. A definite worthy replacement along with the fact that you're not simply swapping a generic for another generic. ~~~ BYAN - Wizard: Initially, you might think replacing your Ghost and having two Wizards would be the better idea; but by now you should know how useful the Ghost is at distracting the enemy when they get close to it even when weaker healers/magic-users are around. Your Ghost can also move anywhere, and replenish its HP with its Life Staff when required. So, replace your generic Wizard. * 10~+ HP (I gave my generic some Life Cards), 30~+ Magic (attack/heal rating), similar defences, 10~+ AGI (10 less Weight), 15~+ DEX. Not as impressive basic stat gains compared to Sisteena and Forcas, but a huge INT gain which will push him to a 211 Magic rating; under the right weather conditions his basic attack spells will hit *13* squares... Don't worry about if your people are in the way, since Meteor will still hit the usual five spaces in such an instance, until Byan is much stronger. EQUIPMENT: ~ Sisteena: Cedar Staff X2, Wind Ring, Battle Boots. ~ Forcas: Phlanka, Crossbow, Fire Orb (preferably), Battle Boots. ~ Byan: Clear Staff, Cedar Staff, Undead Ring, Battle Boots. AFTERWARD: It's easy to forget since you didn't fight a battle there, but you can get some rare and special Buried Treasure at Fort Bodo (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html) right away. Now, you may be tempted to aim for the Heal+ spell, but you can eventually buy them anywhere; such is not the case for the special 'Charm' necklaces. You can also pick up one of the following: Steak/Chicken/Burger/OctoBall, which when used in battle/Training will increase STR/VIT/INT/MEN respectively by 10 permanently. 'A' - Team Blue: Presance (low-LUK) and your generic Wizard (with FireBurn). Aim for 'Chicken', as Byan will benefit from a good Vitality boost. Once you have it, temporarily equip it as an item and use it in Training, then reequip whatever you replaced. His Physical Resistance should be very nearly 100. 'B' - Team Red: Ghost (if LUK is between 43-56). Aim for 'VanCharm', as this will work greatly on your Wind-Element Archer, Sara. This particular 'Charm' Necklace will increase her attack power slightly (+5~) along with a slight Mentality boost, and you should replace her Orb with this as she'll be faster than most of your other characters anyway. You can also use a VanCharm to summon the Wind Goddess Hahnela, which like the Witches spell will increase the power of all with the Wind Element (friend and foe alike) while weakening those who have the Earth Element. If you have many characters with Wind and few with Earth, while facing enemies who have lots of Earth-Elements and few Wind-Elements, it's well-worth using; and repeatedly for stacked bonuses. ============================================================================== |--------------------------------| | Battle 19 - Rime City - (0029) | |--------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Make sure Kachua's Weight is less than 484; if you've followed this guide properly then she'll be level 12 and her Weight should be under 480 anyhow, otherwise give her an Orb temporarily to replace one of her Staff weapons. This will ensure that the start of the battle flows greatly in your favour since you won't have to worry about losing one of your healers early on (even though Kachua can't actually die). As we've made quite a few character changes and acquired some new items/etc, I'll list below an update on how everyone is equipped (your order will likely differ, since I removed a few generic/useless characters): EQUIPMENT: 1. Denim: Phlanka, Power Gauntlet, Battle Boots, Blue Necklace. 2. Aloser: Slender Spear, Chain Armour, Battle Boots, Wind Orb. 3. *Sisteena: Cedar Staff X2, Wind Ring, Battle Boots. 4. Canopus: Slender Spear, Chain Armour, Battle Boots, Wind Orb. 5. Ghost: Life Staff, Cedar Staff, Chain Armour, Battle Boots. 6. Sara: Great Bow, Chain Armour, VanCharm, Battle Boots. 7. Voltel: Matou Claw, Power Gauntlet, Chain Armour, Battle Boots. 8. Presance: Cedar Staff X2, Wind Ring, Battle Boots. 9. Forcas: Phlanka, Crossbow, Fire Orb (preferably), Battle Boots. 10. **Byan: Clear Staff, Cedar Staff, Undead Ring, Battle Boots. * Don't forget to equip Sisteena's Heal/Vitalize spells. ** With Byan, give him Incubus for his third spell. LINEUP: D= Denim, P= Presance, S= Sara, A= Aloser, G= Ghost (Back Row). D---P--S--A---G Sis--B--V--F--C Sis= Sisteena, B= Byan, V= Voltel, F= Forcas, C= Canopus (Front Row). *Note: You can only acquire the Buried Treasure during this story battle; you cannot engage in Training at Rime until a much later point in the game. Grab yourself two extra Orbs (or an Orb and an extra Wind Ring) and a Blessing or Escape. [http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html] STRATEGY: There is no special equipment worth aiming for, but all of your enemies are level 13; as the rest of your team should be by the end of this battle (aside from Kachua). Normally, if Kachua was a lower level or if you didn't give her an Orb, the two Hawk Men would move in to attack her; but as she will move first they'll go after Denim instead since they can attack from his sides. Initially, you'll want to have Denim retreat to the right of Kachua (so Zapan can't reach either of them) while having the rest of your team come to his aid as quickly as possible. Canopus can move onto the roof to get in a nice WindShot on the Blue Dragon below, and I should note that the little one-square gap on the left side of the building will probably get blocked by an enemy or two. Presance should be able to move into a position close enough to heal Denim from afar, while your Ghost should move across the water and below the roof of another building and use magic. Each of the Witches fired at Denim and Kachua respectively before the two dragons moved (one of which positioned itself right in front of my Ghost but didn't attack). When Sisteena was able to move again I had her heal Denim (Kachua will take care of herself while retreating further if she hasn't already). Make use of Byan's Meteor magic to fell the injured Blue Dragon if possible while injuring any nearby foes (use Acid if the weather is favourable and can hit a space of 13 squares). Hopefully your Archer can take out anyone still blocking that side path, but do note that Zapan will probably fill the gap anyway. Initially, you'll want to distance your Ninja and just use magic on clumped enemies from afar; make use of his powerful direct attack when there are fewer enemies and no real danger of being ganged up on. Get rid of the Witches as quickly as possible, as they and the Hawk Men will come after Byan or your Ghost with a vengeance; and Byan can usually only survive two strong arrow hits. The remaining dragon should also be destroyed in a hurry as well, which will take quite a few hits. As Zapan closes in, try to get his HP below 100 (80 being a good aim) so he'll use his Cure+ and retreat, usually jumping down to the area where the bulk of your party started, which will delay him for a couple of turns. It's easy to trap him there since there will be only one way out; simply heal your path-blocker and Zapan when his HP drops too low (watch out for counters; and the mission will end if his HP gets below 40). Your healers will be very busy this fight, which is why it's very helpful to ensure Kachua is still around (especially with the risk of negative status effects the Witches and Dragons might inflict). Don't forget that your Ghost can heal a wounded ally with its Life Staff if things are grim. Note that Poison inflicted on a full-HP character should not have priority over someone who has been Stunned (although Kachua won't be that bright). Note also that you can have AoE magic target unlit squares on rooftops that are in range (diagonally). You should get a nice amount of Stat Cards in this battle, so designate them accordingly to whoever needs them the most. Once you've taken care of all your opponents aside from Zapan, get his HP close to 40 or so and then finish him off. ============================================================================== |--------------------------------------| | Battle 20 - Gruborza Plains - (0030) | |--------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: The regular foes of this mission should all be level 13, which your entire party should already match at this point, meaning you don't have to worry about designating kills to anyone in particular. There is no special equipment to aim for (the Clerics do have Mind Rings, but the +1 to INT isn't as useful as an elemental Ring). However, one of the Witches has 'SlowMove', if you're interested in Persuading her to get the spell. The boss, Ramidos, is level 15 and will begin summoning Skeletons once you have killed one of your living enemies. Note that the two Clerics will each heal about 50 HP, and all the Ninja have Cure+ items which they will use and retreat when hurt. LINEUP: P= Presance, G= Ghost, S= Sara, C= Canopus, A= Aloser (Back Row). P---G--S--C---A Sis--B--V--D--F Sis= Sisteena, B= Byan, V= Voltel, D= Denim, F= Forcas (Front Row). *Note: As you will be facing Undead, just be careful to not accidentally hit your Ghost with Presance's Exorcism spell. STRATEGY: You may have noticed that the leader Ramidos has a FireOrb. The only instance that *she used it in my playthroughs was if you moved any of your party before she has her first turn. Thusly the best course is to have any of your speedier characters simply use the Wait command, and once Ramidos has moved you are free to begin advancing toward your foes. If you ignore this advice and she severely injures a lot of your party, have them hold back and heal them (using your Ghost's Life Staff to speed up the process). You could also give yourself more time and even out the playing field by using an Orb of your own which will make your enemy waste a few turns recovering their damage. I only needed to have Sisteena and Canopus use Wait, before Ramidos moved forward without using her FireOrb. With my lineup, you'll be able to move your Archer (Sara) ahead of Voltel to hit the Ninja in the water for some decent damage, and then the three Ninja should group together, allowing Byan to move in and hit all of them with his magic for 70~ HP damage each (killing the one Sara injured). Don't forget how useful WindShot from Sisteena/Canopus can be. Once you've killed one of the enemy's Ninja, Ramidos will then start summoning Undead (Skeletons), which is much more preferable to using that FireOrb she has. If the other two Ninja are still alive when their turn comes up, they'll use their Cure+ item and retreat; leaving the Witches/Clerics defenceless. Forcas will be a great bane to those spellcasters with his Crossbow, since the terrain won't really get in the way. Once you've mopped up all the regular enemies, surround Ramidos and designate any Stat Cards as you see fit. Note that the leader will still be able to summon undead even when she is surrounded. Finish off the boss with a character who has 25~ EXP, to bring them to level 14. Presance probably killed the most foes via Exorcism, so he should get the MVP Award for the match, which will provide him with an instant level-up. If his EXP is close to level 14 anyway, it'd be in your best interests to heal Ramidos with him until Presance reaches level 14, so he'll then go up to level 15 at the end of the match. You could go even further by throwing stones/etc with a second character who has nearly reached level 14, so you can let them be the one to finish off the boss so you'll have two party members at level 15. You'll also receive the tasty Revivify spell, which will come into play early on during the next chapter, depending on your needs. AFTERWARD: There should only be one piece of Buried Treasure (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/walsta.html) left at this location. 'A' - Place a high-LUK character who can walk in water in Team Red, and you can get yourself another Orb of your choice. * = Wait for her death-cry... ============================================================================== |----------------------------------------| | Training 06 - Gruborza Plains - (0031) | |----------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: It has been a while, but this is your last chance for Training, and you'll be facing some stronger opponents in the next battle. At least one member of your party should be level 14, so we need to get the rest of the team likewise. You'll probably have 2-3 folk who are fairly close to level 14 (75~+ EXP), so try to place them on the same Training Team as your level 14 character. Also make sure you have a healer/magic-user on each Team to make things easier. *Note: If you managed to get someone to level 15 in the previous match, you could go even further and repeat this Training session a second time to get everyone else to level 15. I didn't have any level 15 characters anyway, but if you do take note that you will face regular enemies in the next battle who will all be level 15; since they match the level of your strongest character. Veterans will simply see this as a good thing due to the slightly more challenging battle, which will provide instant level-ups to level 15 anyway. STRATEGY: Move your two teams toward each other as you begin doing the basics. Throw stones/etc at your higher-level character with those who are close to reaching that level themselves, and soon enough you should have at least 3 people who are now level 14. The rest of your parties will most likely already have 25~+ EXP, so you can then start killing off your level 14 characters to gain an instant level, and repeat the process until everyone is at the same level. Just don't forget to balance the kills by not accidentally wiping out an entire team early on, prematurely ending the Training session, and level up your Ghost last as defeating it at level 14 with a level 13 character won't get you much EXP. Work on getting everyone's HP down at the same time, and choose the order in which you kill a level 14 character carefully to avoid a situation where you might have a level 13 healer who has to whittle away the HP of a strong Berzerker. ============================================================================== |---------------------------------------| | Battle 21 - Amorika Entrance - (0032) | |---------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You'll be facing ten opponents in this battle (including the leader Zapan). There's no special equipment of note, so you can slay your enemies with no such concern. Zapan will be level 16, and your other opponents will be level 14 or 15 depending how you went in the previous battle and Training. You're mostly dealing with hard-hitting strong tanks as your enemies in this battle, with two Ninja acting as archers (two of the Knights also have Crossbows as their secondary weapons). You should be prepped to go straight into battle. LINEUP: P= Presance, S= Sara, B= Byan, G= Ghost (Back Row). P--S--B--G--Sisteena V--A--D--F--C V= Voltel, A= Aloser, D= Denim, F= Forcas, C= Canopus (Front Row). STRATEGY: The two high-AGI Ninja will move down very close to your party, leaving themselves in a very vulnerable position, so you can quickly dispatch the two bow-wielders nice and early. Your other foes will clump themselves together nicely, which bodes well for your magic-users. It may look like a tough fight at first, but you'll quickly find that's not the case when you breeze through the battle in 2-3 turns. I moved Canopus to the side of the Ninja on the left (next to that tree/plant) and attacked, and then Sisteena healed Canopus and moved three squares ahead. I positioned Sara two squares directly in front of the other Ninja and fired (91% chance), and then Aloser went in front of Sara and finished off the same Ninja (93%). I had Byan move straight ahead all the way and used Acid on the clumped enemies (hitting five of them for a total of 250~ HP damage), and then I had Denim stand in front of Byan and throw a stone at Zapan for good measure. I positioned Voltel to Denim's right and used magic to hit three Knights and one of the Golems (100~ HP damage), while Forcas finished off the remaining enemy Ninja with his Crossbow (97%) and then moved to Denim's left. I had my Ghost stand behind Forcas and use magic on the Knight + Golem ahead (100~ HP damage), and finally Presance moved as close to Voltel as he could and healed him. With the first round concluded, two opponents were dead while most of the rest were pretty badly injured; while your entire party should be at full HP (or very close). The hard-hitters will now move down, but it's nothing you can't handle, and you'll do even more damage via counter-attacks, meaning you'll wipe out most of them on your second turn; too easy. Remember, Byan's magic will be able to kill all of the low-HP foes in one hit, so try and have your warriors target the ones further away that have high-HP (such as the Crossbow-wielders). It's safer to have Byan use Meteor to avoid hitting your own characters, since most enemies are near-death anyway and you'll have plenty of folk yet to move. After turn 2, only Zapan was alive, and he was injured enough to use his Cure+ item and retreat. From there, surround Zapan and gather any remaining Stat Cards as per usual, and also *Buried Treasure for 'B' if you haven't already got it. Aim to finish off Zapan with Denim, but do note that the battle will end automatically if you get his HP below 40. Throw stones with weaker characters who only do 1-2~ HP damage if you need to bring Zapan's HP down slightly. Make sure Denim's HP is fully restored (or close) before killing the leader. *Buried Treasure: (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/walsta.html) For 'B', have a magic-user burn the grass and aim for another Orb. ============================================================================== |-------------------------------------| | Battle 22 - Amorika Castle - (0033) | |-------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You will now go straight to the next part of the battle without a proper break. Denim will fight solo for this bout, so hopefully you made sure to heal him at the end of the last mission; although it's only semi-important if Denim is a Wizard or otherwise weak class. He should be level 15 or 16, depending on your actions in the past few scenarios. *Note: Save your game as soon as you can, in case you forget later on. Save again once you know you'll be able to end the battle after one final attack. STRATEGY: This is just a short 1-on-1 fight against Ninja Vice. If Denim isn't a strong warrior-character in your game, you could equip an Orb or two to ensure you get a turn before your enemy, so you can attack and retreat out of range. After Vice's first turn Denim countered, leaving him with 50~ HP. The hard part would be keeping Vice alive long enough to enjoy all the dialogue. For my first turn, I simply had Denim retreat (to prolong the battle), and Vice did nothing for his second turn. Beyond this point, you'll miss no further conversation by finishing off your opponent. Just remember to save your game beforehand, and keep a permanent copy of this save file. AFTERWARD: Just like at the end of the first chapter, you will now have to make an important decision which will determine what path you'll be taking for the third chapter of Tactics Ogre; changing to Neutral or continuing along the Chaotic route. ~ 1. There's no time. -- Neutral Route ~ 2. I can't go back. -- Chaos Route ============================================================================== 0==================================================================0 | W A L K T H R O U G H: C H A P T E R T H R E E | | | | Ambition And Desire Is The Motivation. | | Losers Are Called Dogs And Hogs. | 0==================================================================0 |----------------------------------------------------| | Chapter 3 (Chaos) - Battle 23 - Ashton City (0034) | |----------------------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Voltel had superior AGI/DEX at this point for me, so it was a great time to change him into a Beast Tamer to boost his VIT. Nearly +40 DEF, however once you equip his Guard (Whip), he'll lose about half of that increase. Then you can equip a Leather Hat for a slight boost, or a Fire Ring to match his Element + retain an indirect attack for when he's out of range (recommended). The regular enemies in this battle should match yours, while the leader is level 17. There's no special equipment worth aiming for. At the battle's end your team should all be level 16 if they aren't already. LINEUP: A= Aloser, P= Presance, G= Ghost, S= Sisteena, V= Voltel (Back Row). A--P---G---S--V D--Sara--C--B--F D= Denim, C= Canopus, B= Byan, F= Forcas (Front Row). STRATEGY: With this effective lineup, you'll be able to split your party into three teams, while remaining close enough to provide backup to anyone in need. Canopus and your Ghost should head onto the roof in front of them and use Windshot/Magic, while Denim/Aloser/Sara/Presance cover the left side of the house (targeting the Red Dragon), and Forcas/Voltel/Byan/Sisteena advance down the right path. Forcas' team should easily kill the nearby Gryphon on your first turn whilst severely injuring the Wizard. You can also finish off said Wizard with Voltel's Fire Ring magic (87%; worth Saving beforehand). Denim's team whittled away about one third of the Red Dragon's HP. After my second turn, only three low-HP regular enemies remained, while the leader (Gannon) had only just entered the fray. When only Gannon is left, surround him and then collect any Stat Cards. Everyone should be level 16 by now, but throw Stones//Heal the enemy Leader to catch up a few stragglers if necessary. Finish him off with a character who has around 25~ EXP so they will reach level 17, which will in turn make the next level a bit harder which is always a good thing if you want to minimize Training/Random Battles. ============================================================================== |-----------------------------------------| | Intermission - Let's Go Shopping (0035) | |-----------------------------------------| NOTES: You can now purchase some new equipment at last. ~ Balder Armour: Buy 10 of these. They are 1.5X better than Chain. ~ Balder Helmet: Buy 5 of these. They are 3X better than a Leather Hat. ~ Balder Staff: Buy 6 of these. Nearly twice as good as Cedar. ~ Balder Bow: Buy one of these. +6 points over a Great Bow. ~ Balder Shield: Buy one of these. 1.5X better than a Power Gauntlet. * Purchased Acid Rain (Water Element) for my Ghost to swap for his Incubus (which I never use anyway, and with good weather his spells have amazing Area- of-Effect). * Heal+ for Sisteena (Presance cannot use it). * If you don't care about extra Weight, you can buy a Balder Sword + Helmet for your main warriors. I had 80,000~ Goth to start with, and was left with only 40,000 after these purchases. However, once I sold all of my old or unnecessary equipment, I ended up with 75,000 Goth anyway. Don't forget to sell excess Spells as well, though it's a good idea to keep one spare for each of the main attack spells. Here's how everyone looked with their new gear: 1. Denim: Phlanka/Balder Armour/Balder Shield/Fire Orb. 2. Aloser: Slender Spear/Balder Armour/Balder Helmet/Wind Orb. 3. Sisteena: Balder Staff X2/Balder Armour/Wind Ring. 4. Canopus: Slender Spear/Balder Armour/Balder Helmet/Battle Boots. 5. Ghost: Life Staff/Balder Staff/Balder Armour/Balder Helmet. 6. Sara: Balder Bow/Balder Armour/Balder Helmet/VanCharm. 7. Voltel: Guard Whip/Balder Armour/Balder Helmet/Fire Ring. 8. Presance: Balder Staff X2/Balder Armour/Earth Orb. 9. Forcas: Phlanka/Crossbow/Balder Armour/Fire Orb. 10. Byan: Clear Staff/Balder Staff/Balder Armour/Undead Ring. Everyone's Weight was pretty even, with Canopus and Sisteena being the fastest, while Voltel and Presance were the slowest. It bodes well having the Healers that way, since you'll have one ready to provide aid at both the start and end of your turn (with your Ghost and his Heal Staff around the middle of your turn). ============================================================================== |---------------------------------| | Battle 24 - Zodo Marsh - (0036) | |---------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: See above. The Amazons in this battle have Gemini Crossbows if you are interested; though I still prefer regular Bows. The enemy Witch has HealRain which will come in handy later; however I'm unsure if this is a guaranteed drop. The Siren has Grease Boots; I didn't bother. LINEUP: G= Ghost, P= Presance, B= Byan, V= Voltel (Back Row). G--Sara--P--B--V C--A---S---F--D C= Canopus, A= Aloser, S= Sisteena, F= Forcas, D= Denim (Front Row). STRATEGY: Naturally, you can hold your ground and wait for the enemy to come to you if you prefer the boring approach or are a TRPG-rookie. Like last time, it's best to stick together if you advance toward your foes. Your warriors and Byan should head to the left, while the healers can cross the river by jumping from that raised elevation (noting where the enemy's attack range is). Canopus/Ghost and Sara/Aloser can safely cross the water directly, still checking the enemy's range. Sisteena and Canopus should be able to use Windshot on one Ninja each (note that Canopus has a 100% chance against the Ninja on the right). Aloser was also able to injure that same Ninja, while Sara finished him off with her bow (even out of range by one space; there is no need to position her in the water). You should also be able to finish off the other Ninja on your second turn or very nearly. You'll have a slightly enhanced challenge for once, since the Valkyries can attack from a distance, and the Amazons pack some nasty Crossbows. The Siren should be removed ASAP as favourable weather for her means huge AoE magic. I managed to kill her on my third turn with some seemingly risky unit placements. However, I did some severe damage to the leader (Knight Felnator), who had advanced dangerously close; but there was no need to worry since he just used his Cure+ item and then retreated. Plans- within-plans-within-plans, remember. You'll most assuredly get a good chance or two for some savage AoE magic of your own on grouped enemies. Before you kill the Witch, save your game, and check if she drops the HealRain spell. If not, it's worth your while to try Persuading her. Once only the leader remains, surround him and collect any Stat Cards as usual, and get your party to level 17. If you chose who dealt the final blow carefully, this should be no problem. Worry not though, since the boss is only level 17 as well meaning the next battle will not offer much in the way of EXP. AFTERWARD: You can now use Aloser to aim for another Orb here in the water for 'B' (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html). RANDOM BATTLE NOTES: Possible Encounters: ~ 4X Lizard Man ~ 3X Lizard Man + 1X Faerie ~ 2X Lizard Man + 2X Faerie ~ 2X Lizard Man + 1X Faerie + 1X Hawk Man ============================================================================== |----------------------------------------| | Battle 25 - Coritani Entrance - (0037) | |----------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Voltel was able to become a Sword Master for me, but I wanted him to gain another level or two for an extra VIT boost. Forcas could also become a Dragoon at this point, but I left him as a Berzerker for now since his STR/DEX were his highest stats already. In saying that though, there are two Dragons in this battle. NOTE: There is some good Buried Treasure at this location, but you may wish to get them later. If you wish to get the treasure from all four locations, you will need a Fire spell to burn the grass on one of the spots. Remember that since this is a castle battle, it is done in two parts without a proper break. Scroll to the end of the second fight to see which treasure you should aim for. LINEUP: G= Ghost, S= Sisteena, B= Byan, V= Voltel (Back Row). G--S--Sara--B--V C--P---A---F--D C= Canopus, P= Presance, A= Aloser, F= Forcas, D= Denim (Front Row). STRATEGY: My plan was to head straight across the river and deal with the enemies directly opposite your starting position. Canopus/Ghost can easily manoeuvre their way over, while Aloser/Sara can march straight through the water. The warriors should take the easy land path, while the healers follow but hang back a bit. The enemy Hawk Men will foolishly abandon their excellent positions, thankfully. Sara should use VanCharm after she has moved, as it'll lower the effectiveness of over half your enemies, while only two of my 10 characters were of the Earth Element (Byan/Presance), and four of them were Wind which was strengthened. Keep using VanCharm during any free turns. I was able to kill the closest Wizard with a combo of Byan's magic and Forcas' Crossbow (and some luck, I guess). After my opening turn, the party were in an excellent position, and three of the enemy had helpfully moved close enough to be more or less wiped out on my second turn. The other Wizard and Dragon will advance on you from behind, with the Wizard most probably targeting your Ghost from afar, so be ready to have some of your party double back and slay them (Forcas' Crossbow works well, as does Byan's magic; and when they are close enough Sara should be able to lend a hand with her bow too). The leader Zildor (Siren) was always too far away to aid her allies until they were all dead, constantly moving around to try and do some Ghost-bustering with her painful magic. Depending on where the Siren goes, you may need to cross the river again to reach her. It would be best to get all the Stat Cards on the way, as surrounding a magic-user of her calibre is a bit harder. Heal any wounded characters as best you can in the meantime since damage carries over into the next battle. Finish her off with someone who has 25~ EXP to boost them to level 18. ============================================================================== |--------------------------------------| | Battle 26 - Coritani Castle - (0038) | |--------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You will go straight into this battle, but as usual the Edit screen for your characters will come up if you want to make any equipment changes/etc. LINEUP: Irrelevant since you won't want to advance until your second turn. Good old- fashioned setup of warriors at the front, and the rest at the rear. STRATEGY: Note that the two Valkyries and two Wizards have Cure+ items, so make sure you kill them before they have the chance to use them and retreat. There are also two annoying Clerics, who use Heal+ with a savage AoE unlike anything you can match at present. Aside from Canopus or your Ghost (and any other fliers or Ninja), anyone who goes down to the lowered side-path on the left or right will be stuck down there for the rest of the battle (the same goes with your enemies, meaning you can lure the direct-attackers down there to trap them). For once it's actually imperative that you wait for your first turn (use this time to heal any lingering injuries from the previous battle if you need to). The enemy Wizards have a huge spell-reach, and grouping your party together in their range is not a good idea. If you want to know how far down you can move your characters without being in danger, note the 'bridge'? Well, you can move one square down on the left, two squares down in the middle, and three squares down on the right side. Adjust your positions accordingly but go no further. Save your game in case you make a mistake. Since you waited, the enemy will group themselves together nicely, which you can exploit with tasty magic attacks; instead of them doing so. The Valkyries will move in and use their Cure+ items on the Wizards if you give them the chance, not to mention the Clerics, so be sure to prioritize wiping the magic- users out first. Again, it's advisable to save your game before you enter the fracas, in case you make a mistake and kill the wrong enemy first/etc. Make sure you constantly take a look at the Turn Order so you know if you'll be able to kill a certain foe in time before the Clerics cast their healing annoyances, or so you can priority-kill a threat to any low-HP character of your own. Veterans will have no need of a Priest with Revivify for this mission, but if you are truly struggling to make it through without someone dying, you may need to acquire one. We'll review that later. Eventually, surround the leader (Knight Zaebos) with four of your level 18 characters, while you go after the Clerics with the rest of your party (excluding healers). Get any stragglers to level 18 by hassling-and-healing the leader. AFTERWARD: Denim got the MVP award in this battle for me, so he was upped to level 19 instantly. It's a good idea to start giving him some extra kills so he can change his class to Terror Knight (30 Kills). You'll eventually have to make a story-choice, but neither of the options will matter so pick whatever you like. Engage in 'Training' at Coritani, making sure low-LUK Presance and a magic-user with FireBurn are on the blue team, and throw Sara (if her luck is still 43-56) on the other team. Have Presance get the Buried Treasure at 'B' first and then 'A', while Sara gets 'C' first and then 'D'. 'A' - Soil Ring (Low-LUK character). 'B' - Chicken (Grass needs to be burned; Low-LUK Character). 'C' - FolCharm (Mid-LUK character). 'D' - FolCharm or VanCharm (Mid-LUK character). http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html ============================================================================== |-------------------------------------------| | Intermission - Coritani Entrance - (0039) | |-------------------------------------------| NOTES: I changed Forcas' Class to Dragoon now, and his defences dropped 9 points each. However, I equipped the 'Chicken' item that we got from Buried Treasure in the last mission, went into a quick Training battle and used it as an item, and then said defences were boosted by 10 each. Thusly, I was able to change his Class without any penalty, so to speak. I equipped him with a Balder Sword, which boosted his ATK from 234 to 248 (maintaining his Preferred Weapon Bonus as well). Unfortunately his Weight went up to 502, even with a Fire Orb still equipped. Having a Crossbow as well is just too good to refuse in my mind. Also be sure to give him a magic spell that matches his Element. You could swap his Crossbow for a lighter piece of armour or another Orb, but I didn't see the need. My plan was to not change Voltel into a Sword Master until he was level 20, hoping to give him a 'Chicken' item and a VIT Card or two to boost his defences to counter the loss that the new Class would bring. Denim's Weight was quite good at this point, so I swapped his FireOrb with a FolCharm which will boost his attacks and come in handy during the next battle. If Denim does not have the Fire Element for you, equip the FolCharm on someone who is, at least just for the next battle. Regarding my lack of a 'Priest'. If you can wait until early on in Chapter 4, you will get a 'Story' Priest, otherwise you'll have to use a Generic one in the meantime to replace Presance. The best thing to do is buy two (or three, if you are keen) Generic level 1 Amazons who are of the *Lawful* Alignment, and engage in Training until they can become Clerics. Then continue levelling them up until they can become Sirens. At this point it should be clear who has the best statistics, so choose whoever is superior. Continue to level-up your Siren until she can become a Priest, and then finally continue Training until she has caught up in level with your main characters. Personally, I didn't bother; I never allow anyone to die. If you are not confident in your TRPG skills though, it'd be worth your while to do this. Denim's stats were well beyond the requirements needed to change his Class to Terror Knight, but he still needed several more Kills to reach 30. See how many you need (via the CLass Change menu), and plan accordingly. I gave him plenty in the next story battle, but don't worry if you need to fight another Random Battle or two to get the Kill-count you need. ============================================================================== |------------------------------| | Battle 27 - Vahanna - (0040) | |------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: Even though Denim was level 19 for me, enemies were still only level 18 in this battle, hence catch your party up if they're not already all level 18, and try and give a majority of the kills to Denim (he'll get another MVP award bringing him to level 20). You are up against simply four Lizard Men and four White Dragons, whose special attack can put you to sleep. Also, note how many Kills Denim needs to reach 30 before he can become a Terror Knight. LINEUP: B= Byan, V= Voltel, P= Presance, G= Ghost (Back Row). Sara--B--V--P--G A---F---D---S---C A= Aloser, F= Forcas, D= Denim, S= Sisteena, C= Canopus (Front Row). STRATEGY: You should have two aces up your sleeve. The first being your new Dragoon, and the second being your FolCharm; which boosts your Fire Element characters and lower the Water Element. Every single one of your foes are of said Water Element (only one of my characters was, while three were Fire). Use your FolCharm every turn where the wielder isn't attacking/etc. Anyhow, the idea of my lineup was to have Aloser/Sara advance to the right (the high ground that they can reach) while the rest of your characters advance directly through the lower ground path. You can put FireBurn to good use to melt the snow along your path to make the going easier. Once the Dragons have advanced, check their movement range and position your characters accordingly during your second turn (i.e. don't move Canopus suicidally far ahead of everyone else). Note that each of the Lizard Men have Cure+ items, which they will use on wounded allies if they are not hurt themselves. Try to give Denim as many of the kills as you can, however the Dragons should be a priority-kill regardless so you need not worry about being put to sleep. The Dragons can be pretty stupid (or perhaps smart...) when they are injured, in that they'll often simply do nothing during their turn if they can't reach a weak character such as your healers. Speaking of Denim again, he should easily be able to get at least five of the kills during this battle. Sisteena's Heal+ was finally targeting 13 squares for me now. There is a downside to this though since there will be times where you'll have no choice but to heal enemy units as well when they are scattered among your party. When only one Lizard Man remains, surround him and get any Stat Cards lying around before having Denim finish it off. You may also like to get the Buried Treasure now as opposed to coming back in a mock Training session. (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html) 'A' - HealAll if you have a Priest, otherwise SolCharm or OhnCharm (Mid-LUK; snow needs to be melted). 'B' - Another VanCharm or FolCharm (Mid-LUK) RANDOM BATTLE NOTES: Possible Encounters: ~ 2X White Dragon + 1X Blue Dragon + 1X Skeleton AFTERWARD: Denim had 26 kills at this point, and was level 20 (everyone else was level 18). Thusly I needed to fight one Random Battle to get the needed 30 kill- count. It is easier to have a quick RB at Zodo Marsh, since a Skeleton won't count as a Kill for Denim. You may prefer to have a second Random Battle at Vahanna anyhow though to Persuade a White Dragon to join you. At Zodo Marsh, use the same lineup and strategy as before, and use FolCharm a couple of times if most of your enemies are of the Water Element. Shortly, I changed Denim's Class to Terror Knight, where his defences went up nearly 20 points each. The enemies you face in the next story battle will be level 18 with three exceptions, so you don't need to worry about catching the rest of your party up to Denim level-wise. ============================================================================== |-----------------------------------------------| | Battle 28 - South Brigantes Entrance - (0041) | |-----------------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You actually get to chose to attack either South Brigantes or West, but for a few important reasons this walkthrough will chose the southern route. You will be back here in Chapter 4 where you can get some fine equipment held by the opponents at the West Route. Also, when you engage in Training at Brigantes, it will be at the West Entrance so you can get all the Buried Treasure now. Anyhow, be sure that someone has FireBurn magic in this battle. LINEUP: G= Ghost, F= Forcas, D= Denim, P= Presance (Back Row). G--F--Sara--D--P C---B---A---V---S C= Canopus, B= Byan, A= Aloser, V= Voltel, S= Sisteena (Front Row). STRATEGY: Note the three Soldiers 'trapped' up on the high wall of the castle which can only be reached directly by Canopus/Ghost and magic spells. You are up against four magic-users in this battle, made up of two Wizards and two Valkyries. Your enemy will do nothing during their first turn if you move closer without attacking them. Thusly there is no need to trudge through the slow snow- clogged route; head right up the stone stairway *without* attacking your foes in any way. Their second turn will come quickly since all they did was Wait, and again they'll do nothing. I used this time to move as close to them as I could, with Canopus and my Ghost moving along the upper path directly to the right, and then moving along the wall. On your second turn, your magic-users will be able to move into excellent positions to primarily target the two Wizards (and one of the Valkyries in some cases) and the two Valkyries + Dragon for those who couldn't reach (Aloser in my case). Choose your targets wisely because you do not want the Wizards to have a chance to be heal or be healed. Sara can reach the enemy Archer, and Canopus' WindShot can hit the Wizard closest to your other characters doing 100~+ damage. Voltel's Ring Magic can hit the Dragon from the first step (closest to the enemy), while LightBow from Presance standing behind Voltel can also hit said Dragon (75% chance for me). This strategy will be enough to kill both Wizards, and do significant damage to the others (some of which will waste turns using Cure+ items). The Soldiers on the roof will use their insane range to try and snipe your Ghost, but they mostly always seemed to miss. A healthy enemy Valkyrie will also take a liking to centring their magic attacks against your Ghost, but at this point it shouldn't be surrounded, and won't matter after your third turn. The snow route is slow and seemingly safer, but there's no need to resort to it. My Ghost did not die in this battle for me and never has at all; though its Loyalty was at its maximum so it wouldn't matter at this point anyway. At the end of the third round, only the leader (Knight Didario) and the three roof-bound Soldiers remained. At such a point, save your game. I now surrounded Didario whilst heading after those three Soldiers. If they manage to kill your Ghost, be quick to finish them off lest they go after your Wizard/Healers. Canopus will tear them apart, and they'll need a spare turn to use Cure+ so harm them accordingly if you need to buy more time. If Denim is level 20, be sure to make Presance/Sisteena heal him whenever they have free turns to reach level 19 (Sisteena can use Heal+ to target both Denim and the enemy leader anyhow). Probably a coincidence, but I received an abundance of Strength Cards in this battle. Once only the leader remains, use the time to collect said Stat Cards, and gather the two Buried Treasure items (see below). Your other level 18 characters should throw stones/etc at level 20 Denim since your entire party will reach level 19 in no time (you can skip this for one of them, who can deal the killing blow to Didario for an instant level-up later). Be sure to heal your characters before finishing this battle, as you go into the next one without a break or recovery. Byan received the MVP award this time and advanced to level 20. His stats were more than enough to let him die and turn into a Lich... 'A' - SolCharm or OhnCharm (Mid-LUK; snow needs to be melted). 'B' - VanCharm or FolCharm (Mid-LUK; should have three of each now, more than enough). http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html ============================================================================== |---------------------------------------| | Battle 29 - Brigantes Castle - (0042) | |---------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: I decided that it was time for Byan to become a Lich toward the end of this battle. The only downside to this is that the game will regard him as 'dead', although this will only affect his minor mentioning at the end of the game. Still, if you'd rather simply replace Byan rather than kill him so he resurrects as a Lich, buy three level one Soldiers after this battle. Take the similar advice I gave you about making a top Priest. Train them as Soldiers until they can become Wizards (you might also like to level them as Ninja for a while too), and then keep going until one of them seems superior and make them your Lich. You could give them a few levels as a Warlock if you wanted a bit more MP/Mentality. LINEUP: P= Presance, C= Canopus, B= Byan, G= Ghost (Back Row). P--C--Sara--B--G S---V---D---F---A S= Sisteena, V= Voltel, D= Denim, F= Forcas, A= Aloser (Front Row). STRATEGY: Move Canopus directly in front of Voltel (go no further) and throw a stone at the Terror Knight for the sake of it. The first enemy Wizard won't be able to reach anyone, while the second will hit Aloser/Forcas/Ghost; however Sisteena and Presance can undo most of that damage with their Heal spells. Now, aren't the two enemy Wizards and Terror Knight bunched together nicely? You can now safely move your warriors ahead, aiming to be just out of range of the enemy Knights. I had Sara target the Terror Knight, while Aloser's magic hit the Knight/Wizard/Terror Knight group. When it was Byan's turn I had him hit the two Wizards and the Terror Knight, while the enemy Exorcist healed the Terror Knight (he only had 80~ HP left afterward). Voltel severely injured the Amazon near him with his whip, while Denim threw a stone at the Terror Knight. My Ghost's magic finished off the pair of Wizards along with said Terror Knight. Forcas severely injured the other Amazon near him with his Crossbow and then moved ahead. The enemy Exorcist will be too busy healing his allies to 'Exorciiise the Demon' (Ghost). The Knights should be getting into the action at this point and potentially deal a few nasty blows, but you'll quickly wipe most of them out very shortly and with extreme ease during your next turn and the threat will fade. When only the leader (Knight Zaebos) and Exorcist remain, surround Zaebos, go after the healer and collect any scattered Stat Cards. I killed Byan with a level 19 character (Canopus) to be boosted to level 20, and he became my powerful new Lich. His defences more than doubled (Physical Resistance went from 139 to 289, and Magic Resistance from 161 to 333) which is very nice, since previously two moderate attacks would be enough to kill him, where he'll now be able to survive two *heavy* attacks. A Lich can also equip all supplemental spells as well. Anyhow, I finished off the leader with my Ghost which naturally got the MVP Award and was boosted to level 20. Sisteena reached level 20 also for me. You will always win Zaebos' Fafniel sword. AFTERWARD: It's time to engage in mock Training at Brigantes Castle for some Buried Treasure, which just happens to be the West Entrance. Remember our old generic Archer that we had her Luck lowered to 42? We'll need her on the Blue Team. Also bring Aloser and someone who has FireBurn. Bring someone with Mid-LUK if you don't want an Aqua Ring for 'B'. Red Team is irrelevant. (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html) 'A' - Soil Ring (Low-LUK; in water) or and Orb (High-LUK). 'B' - Aqua Ring (Low-LUK; snow needs to be melted) or SolCharm/OhnCharm (Mid- LUK). 'C' - Chicken (Low-LUK; in water). Save the 'Chicken' until after the next story battle just in case. Equip Denim's old 'Blue' (Necklace) on your Lich otherwise buy him a Mind Ring. I purchased 'Quick' (Wind Element) magic for my new Lich, and then equipped him thusly: Spell #1: Acid (Meteor or equivalent is only a few points stronger, and you can't use it on your first turn so is hardly worth it). Spell #2: Quick (Boost the speed of an ally when you have a spare turn). Spell #3: HealRain (Received in an earlier battle. This spell will hit 13 squares, and it can heal Undead as well, like your Ghost). ============================================================================== |------------------------------| | Battle 30 - Vahanna - (0043) | |------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: For now, I gave Forcas our new Fafniel Sword. In this battle you have the seemingly difficult task of saving someone. There are a few ways to go about it, so choose from these methods: Choice #1: Sara (Archer) shoots the enemy Leader, nearly killing him. Forcas finishes him off with his Crossbow. Mission over and Harborym saved. [Very easy method, and if your party are all level 19, you may as well do this]. Choice #2: If someone in your party is level 20, the enemy Ninja will have an enviable Weight of 424. Thusly your party members need to be quicker than that, which involves removing all armour and weapons, equipping a Short Bow and one or two Orbs. However, in doing this, only seven of my characters had a Weight lower than 424, where only five had a Bow equipped. If you actually use an Orb at the start of the battle, you should be able to get a few kills in to up a few more of your characters to level 20 before you need to make haste and slay the leader. This is one way to kill all your opponents, but in my mind isn't really necessary. Choice #3: A combination of the above two choices, and the one I will write a Strategy for, hence see below. Will enable you to save Harborym and kill all of the enemies. (See Note below before proceeding). Choice #4: If Harborym's stats aren't better than Voltel's (keeping in mind Voltel's defences will drop about 30 each as a Sword Master), let him die if you don't care and proceed as normal, using your height advantage to quickly slay your opponents. NOTE: As I am writing a strategy for Choice #3, all you need to do to prepare is equip a Wind or Fire Orb on your Lich/Byan (give an extra Orb to Denim if you want to be safe). It actually works to your favour, when your enemies are faster than you. Purchase five Balder Bows, and equip them on Denim/Canopus/Aloser/Voltel/Forcas which means you'll have six (with your Archer Sara) strong bow-wielders. Make sure your Ghost has FireBurn, and that his Weight is the lowest in your party (remove any pieces of armour, and equip an Orb if required). LINEUP: P= Presance, B= Byan, D= Denim, G= Ghost (Back Row). P--B--D--Sara--G S---V--F--A---C S= Sisteena, V= Voltel, F= Forcas, A= Aloser, C= Canopus (Front Row). STRATEGY: Your enemy will have their turn before you, potentially dealing 100~ damage to Harborym which you can easily recover (note: sometimes the flow of this battle changes when some of the Ninja utilize magic; this only happened once out of several experiments). When your Ghost can move, have it melt the largest amount of snow that it can in the immediate path of your allies. Move Lich Byan in front of Forcas so he's not standing on snow, and use an Orb (save your game and reload if it doesn't hit the leader and at least three Ninja). Now your eight other characters can move; and if you aren't able to kill a few of the Ninja Harborym will probably die beyond that. I had Canopus badly injure one of the full-HP Ninja (save before each turn in case you hit a tree or an attack gets blocked), and then I made Sisteena use her WindRing to harm the Ninja closest to Harborym so said Sword Master could finish him off on his next turn without suffering damage from a counterattack. Sara moved ahead to target a Ninja which had 135~ HP for a kill (levelling up to 20), and Forcas was only able to badly injure another Ninja but not kill him. When Denim's turn came up, I simply had him use his VanCharm, but at this point you may prefer to use a second Orb if you gave him one. I didn't need to, but you may not wish to take the risk (like last time, save your game first and make sure the Orb successfully hits the leader and at least three henchmen; also making sure Denim isn't standing on snow which halves the damage). Voltel wasn't able to reach anyone with his bow so I just made him move closer and wait. Presance healed Harborym, who was only hanging on by a thread now, but he survived thanks to much fewer surviving enemies. Voltel got a turn again pretty quickly, which I used to move closer and wipe out another Ninja. I used my Ghost to melt a large amount of snow again, and my Lich was able to cast Heal Rain on Harborym which helped out nicely. Canopus moved down and badly injured a high-HP Ninja, while Sisteena used her turn to heal Harborym this time. Note that magic-attacks from the Ninja are pathetic, and even the Sorcerer is pretty weak compared to your magic-users. Harborym felled another Ninja, and Sara moved in to badly injure the last high-HP Ninja. I had Aloser use magic on the leader (Sorcerer Mordiart), as I didn't want to kill him just yet. Forcas got himself a kill (reaching level 20), and Presance healed Harborym once more. The Sword Master finished off the last Ninja, and I let Presance kill the leader as he was my last character to reach level 20 (use Quick on him so he can reach Mordiart before Harborym if needed). AFTERWARD: Reequip your characters properly, and you should give the Fafniel sword to Denim. Even without his 'preferred weapon bonus', it's still a fair bit stronger and more or less makes him a Terror Knight/Dragoon hybrid (Fafniel has the 'Dragon Slayer' bonus native to that Class). Be sure to swap his FolCharm for an Orb to lower his Weight a bit though. Make Voltel a Sword Master, and remove all his and Harborym's possessions. Compare the two and decide which one you want to use. In my case, it boiled down mostly to this: Voltel: ~ Had +16 HP, but -31MP ~ Had +10 ATK, but -14 M-ATK (Magic-strength) ~ Had +39 DEF/ +24 MDEF, but Weight was 41 points higher Harborym: Noting all of these things, it looks like you have a choice between stronger defence, or a lower Weight. However, Harborym had about an extra 40 in the field of Dexterity, meaning combined with the speed he was more likely to dodge attacks, so I had to ditch Voltel in his favour. You'll probably want to do the same. Now, equip Harborym with that Chicken you got a short time ago, and go into a mock Training round and use it to increase his VIT by 10. Aim to give him a few VIT Cards in the next few battles if you can, too. You may wish to fight a Random Battle or two now in such hopes. I gave my Sword Master the 'Heat' spell, which raises the attack and defences of the target and doesn't cost too much MP. Some will prefer *Petrify (received in the previous battle), but that's up to you. Note that your entire party should now be level 20. Here's what I equipped for Harborym: 2X Balder Sword/Balder Armour/Balder Helmet. * I prefer to utilize this later, when its AoE always hits 13 squares and is thusly too good to refuse. It should be noted that due to his high Dexterity, Petrify has a rather high success rate for Harborym. ============================================================================== |----------------------------------------| | Battle 31 - Coritani Entrance - (0044) | |----------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: As per usual your characters will not be healed between this battle and the next. Change your Ghost's magic if you gave it FireBurn for the last mission and don't normally use it. The enemies will match your own level (which should be 20) while the leader will be level 21. VanCharm and FolCharm would serve you well as half the enemies are Earth Element, while the others are Water Element. LINEUP: H= Harborym, P= Presance, S= Sisteena, B= Byan, G= Ghost (Back Row). H--P--S--B--G D--C--F--Sara--A D= Denim, C= Canopus, F= Forcas, A= Aloser (Front Row). STRATEGY: The enemy is divided into two groups of four and six. The aim is to wipe out the smaller group across the river from afar, where the Black Dragon is the only direct attacker. With my lineup, I didn't want to bother to try and give chase with my warriors. I had Canopus move all the way straight ahead and threw a stone at the Dragon, while Sara did similar and hit it with an arrow. I had Aloser use magic, and then made Byan wait (otherwise one of the Lizard Men will use Cure+ on the Dragon). Harborym need not move for now, and your Ghost should move behind Sara and use magic on the Dragon (provided the Lizard Men have had their turns). Denim and Presance can move closer to their allies, and have Forcas move next to your Ghost and target the Lizard Man behind the Dragon; which will instead hit said Dragon, finishing it off. I continued to make Lich Byan wait, and from here proceeded to wipe out the other three characters across the river. However, when Canopus' turn came up one of the Lizard Men had moved up and away to use its Crossbow on him from afar, I had Canopus stay as far away as possible and use Tornado on it rather than be lured toward the Wizards. Speaking of the Wizards, they will most probably separate, one going below and one heading across the 'bridge'. As the other enemies approach, your warriors will be ready for them and your indirect attackers can easily provide support from afar once they have cleaned up the other side of the river. I now had Harborym use Heat when he had spare turns, and made Lich Byan cast Quick on whoever would benefit most. The leader Irvine (Terror Knight) has a Cure+, which is always a good thing since it means once you wound him enough he'll use it and retreat, giving you more time to finish off any regular enemy survivors. Eventually, surround the leader as per usual, and collect any scattered Stat Cards. Before you finish him off with someone who has 25~ EXP to level up to 21, be sure to heal everyone as you will go straight to the next battle without being recovered. Know that in the next mission you get to choose to fight the leader one-on-one with Denim, or a normal fight against ten foes (including said leader). Fighting with just Denim is a bad idea purely because you will lose out on the EXP which would boost the rest of your team to level 21, not to mention any Stat Cards. Nonetheless if you want to fight one-on- one, be sure to let Denim deal the killing blow to Irvine so he reaches level 21. ============================================================================== |--------------------------------------| | Battle 32 - Coritani Castle - (0045) | |--------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: As always with castle battles, you will not get to shop or be healed in between. At the Edit screen, be sure to give Fire-Element Denim your new Fire Sword, and give his old Fafniel Sword to Harborym. Now three of your party members will have the 'Dragon Slayer' bonus which is quite nice. NOTE: Before the battle begins, you will be presented with two choices. Here is what they will result in: ~ 1. So be it... = One-on-one EXP-sacrificing battle. ~ 2. No! = Regular party battle. With the first choice, it's obviously the quickest method since with a counterattack against the leader, Denim will finish him off on his first turn with extreme ease and prejudice. I will naturally choose the second option. LINEUP: D= Denim, P= Presance, H= Harborym, G= Ghost (Back Row). D--P--Sara--H--G S--F---A---B--C S= Sisteena, F= Forcas, A= Aloser, B= Byan, C= Canopus (Front Row). STRATEGY: Have Canopus wait for his first turn, and the enemy Wizard will reach Denim with a semi-weak magic attack of no consequence, while the Witch will use Stun on him (probably successfully). Move Sisteena three squares ahead of Forcas and use Vitalize on Denim if required, and then have Sara move behind Denim and shoot at the Hawk Man on the bridge. Position Aloser in front of Sisteena and use magic to hit Leonard and the Hawk Man near him, and then Byan should move all the way ahead and hit the Witch/Hawk Man/Leonard, which will finish off the Hawk Man. Harborym can go behind Byan and try to use 'Accuse' (equivalent to throwing a stone) on the Witch, while your Ghost moves ahead and uses magic to hit the other Hawk Man and Leonard, which will wound the leader more than enough to make him use his Cure+ and retreat. Presance should heal Denim (position him three squares behind Sara), and simply use Denim to throw a stone at the Hawk Man below and then move him in front of Byan. Have Forcas move ahead all the way and finish off the Witch with his Crossbow, although it might be worth saving beforehand to save yourself some potential annoyance. Canopus could now move below (out of the Knight's range) and kill the remaining Hawk Man with Tornado, while the enemy Wizard will score a nice AoE magic attack against your main group; but Sisteena can recover most of the damage right away with Heal+. From here the rest of the battle is easy. Slay the biggest threats first, and try to attack from afar initially to take advantage of AoE magic without hitting your allies. Choose who deals the final blows carefully so that your entire party reaches level 21. I finished off Leonard with Harborym so he reached level 22. ============================================================================== |------------------------------| | Battle 33 - Wyoburi - (0046) | |------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You will only have five opponents in this battle. The four beasts are level 21, while the leader is level 22. You should still kill the animals for Stat Cards; but you might prefer to just slay the leader to get it over with and fight a Random Battle for EXP as well. You'd just want to alter the lineup a bit. NOTE: Attacking from 'Ash' terrain will weaken your abilities considerably. LINEUP: D= Denim, P= Presance, H= Harborym, G= Ghost (Back Row). D--P--Sara--H--G S--F---A---B--C S= Sisteena, F= Forcas, A= Aloser, B= Byan, C= Canopus (Front Row). STRATEGY: For your first turns move your characters ahead to their best vantage points, with Forcas and Sara getting in some good shots with their Crossbow and Bow respectively, while the others throw stones. I chipped away half of Obda's HP, and two thirds of Cockatrice Zanga's. A Cockatrice would be much more threatening if they could use Petrify from afar. Be wary of the Gryphons' WindShot though; the first one did 140+ HP damage to my Ghost, where luckily the second one missed. It dying temporarily is of no consequence in this short battle in any case. The enemy's second turn will come quickly since they performed no action previously. The leader, Ganb (Beast Tamer) recovers 50 HP per beast you kill. He also enjoys taking advantage of his 'Spark' boots by walking in lava; even though it severely dampens his attack strength (however increasing his defences). Once you have collected any Stat Cards, finish off the leader with someone who will reach level 22. Be careful not to wound Ganb below 50 HP otherwise the battle will end before you can score the level-up. RANDOM BATTLE NOTES: Possible Encounters: ~ 2X Earth Dragon + 2X Red Dragon ~ 3X Earth Dragon + 1X Red Dragon ~ 2X Red Dragon + 1X Earth Dragon + 1X Cockatrice ~ 2X Red Dragon + 2X Cockatrice ~ 2X Cockatrice + 1X Earth Dragon + 1X Red Dragon ~ 2X Cockatrice + 2X Earth Dragon AFTERWARD: Equip your 'Spark' (Boots) acquired in the previous battle on a character with Mid-LUK if you want another SolCharm/OhnCharm, or High-LUK for another Orb. Don't forget to reequip this character with their original gear when you are done though. 'A' - SolCharm/OhnCharm (Mid-LUK) or an Orb (High-LUK). http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html ============================================================================== |---------------------------| | Battle 34 - Rime - (0047) | |---------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: This will be a slightly more drawn-out battle than usual; especially since you have four Buried Treasure's to acquire which are Lost-Forever's if you do not get them now. Thusly I will list what you should aim for first, although you shouldn't worry about trying to get them before killing all enemies except the leader. Unfortunately, said leader has Warp Boots and thusly cannot be trapped when surrounded. Still easy enough to deal with though. (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html - Find the one that mentions Chapter 3). 'A' - Chicken/Steak/Burger (Low-LUK) 'B' - Chicken/Steak/Burger (Low-LUK) 'C' - SolCharm/Ohn Charm (Mid-LUK) or Orb (High LUK), in water. 'D' - JoyStone (High-LUK; grass needs to be burnt). NOTE: I got a 'Burger' (+10 INT) and Chicken (+10 VIT), another Orb and finally a JoyStone. This is one of the rare opportunities that you can get a JoyStone without sacrificing a +10 Stat item. Unlike the now-useless 'Blessing', a JoyStone will automatically revive a character who dies while equipped with one to *full* HP and MP. Be sure to save it for a rainy day. LINEUP: P= Presance, B= Byan, S= Sisteena, G= Ghost, A= Aloser (Back Row). P---B---S---G---A Sara--D--H--F--C D= Denim, H= Harborym, F= Forcas, C= Canopus (Front Row). STRATEGY: Make Canopus wait for his first turn, and have Sara shoot the Wizard and then move directly in front of Denim. Harborym can wait where he is, and then move Aloser ahead so she can target the other Wizard + Dragon with her large AoE magic, before moving Byan where Sara used to be and finish off the nearby Wizard. Position your Ghost to the left of that 'Redwood Tree', and just have Presance wait. Move Forcas to the left of Canopus and one square down, and have Denim move one square ahead of Sara. I had Canopus move to the left onto the roof of that house and use Tornado on the enemy Wizard, then put Sisteena to Presance's right and used Wind Ring to hit the Dragon Tamer (65 HP damage). I made Presance wait once more, and moved Harborym ahead all the way, casting Heat on himself, before moving my Ghost ahead (closer to Canopus) so it could target the Wizard + Dragon Tamer + Dragon, finishing off the Wizard. I positioned Forcas in the nearby corner of the rectangle-esque area you started in and used his Crossbow to hit the Dragon Tamer (worth saving first), and then moved Denim ahead to deal a hefty blow to the Cleric (190~ HP damage). Denim will take a beating, but he can more than take it. The first Dragon easily failed to Stun Harborym (you saved your game recently if otherwise), but my Ghost was put to Sleep by the other one (with 10 HP remaining). I had Sara fire at the Dragon nearby and then move to the grass patch near Harborym, while Aloser finished off her Dragon Tamer. I made Byan use magic to hit the Dragon + Cleric combo (finishing off the healer) then moved him next to Sara but not the Dragon, and had Presance move next to Forcas and use Heal on Denim. Canopus should move closer to his allies but hit the Dragon from afar with his Slender Spear, and then have Sisteena go to the grass near Presance and use Heal on Denim. The enemy leader, Terror Knight Highlam, declined to move in and attack Denim twice in a row, doing nothing. I had Harborym attack the Dragon directly leaving it with 2 HP (could have killed it if attacking from its side but he was already level 22 and I wanted to give the kill to Denim) before moving him up past Aloser, and then used Forcas' Crossbow to severely wound the other Dragon and moved him up near Aloser. Denim now finished off his Dragon and moved ahead next to the enemy Knight (with his back against the house), and Sara went behind Aloser to finish off the remaining Dragon. I positioned Aloser above the nearest Knight to use her Slender Spear from afar (not on the Grass square or you will get the wrong kind of Buried Treasure), and then made Byan move near Harborym and use magic to hit both of the enemy Knights. Presance now went ahead next to the grass patch (so he's opposite the water near the female enemy) to use LightBow on the final Dragon Tamer so she'd waste a turn using Cure+ and retreat, while Canopus used Tornado to finish off the closest Knight before moving next to Presance. Position Sisteena behind Canopus so she can use Heal+ to target Denim and the Terror Knight Highlam, and then save your game if Harborym is injured just to be safe; mine had full HP though. Now Harborym can move ahead to double-attack the last Knight, and then have your Ghost go ahead to finish off said Knight. From here, keep your weak characters out of the Warp Boots-wearing Terror Knight's range while you collect Stat Cards and all the Buried Treasure, making sure you won't accidentally kill the leader prematurely in a counterattack. Don't forget about the remaining Dragon Tamer; I had Lich Byan cast Quick on Canopus so he could move near her and slap her with his Slender Spear, finishing her off on his next turn which came quickly and using him to get the JoyStone. Note how there is only one path Presance can take to reach the second Buried Treasure which yields a Stat-increasing item. If you find Highlam is blocking your one-way access to the Buried Treasure located at 'B', lure him over with your Ghost. Even if he gets off a mean attack on Presance or Sisteena, casting Quick on them will get them out of danger; even though with 3.5 healers (Exorcist/Cleric/Lich with HealRain + Ghost with Life Staff) it's not hard to recover said damage. You can also use four of your characters as a 'human shield' to prevent Highlam from attacking someone. Anyhow, finish off the Terror Knight with someone who'll reach level 23 once you have all the treasure. Make sure your throw stones/heal him if someone in your party isn't level 22 though. ============================================================================== |---------------------------------------| | Wing Ring Dreaming - Wyoburi - (0048) | |---------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: It's time to make the future much easier on ourselves. You can skip this part if you want, but it's highly recommended and it will be factored into my walkthrough so choosing to do otherwise will most assuredly conflict heavily with my strategies. At this location you can run into a single or pair of Cockatrice foes. What you want to do is try and Persuade seven of them to join you. If you are patient and only complete battles where there are two Cockatrice units in them, you'll only need to do this four times. Not too difficult, but at the very least try and recruit *three* of them. Very shortly, you can Auction them for a *very* tasty reward; Wing Rings. They will give your characters unrestricted movement. Naturally, your Ghost does not need one, nor does Canopus or whomever you give your new Warp Boots to. You will win three of them in battle eventually, but they will be infinitely more useful earlier than later. Now, in these four battles you will need to fight, you should also try and Persuade three Red Dragons if you can, which will net you three Fire Swords at Auction too (two for Harborym and one for Dragoon Forcas). They will be insanely powerful with Element-matching weapon preferences. I found this task to be very damn easy. NOTE: I gave the Warp Boots to Denim for now, since he's got the best defence for charging ahead recklessly. I gave the powerful 'Fenril' spell acquired in the last battle to my Water Element-matching Ghost. If you are having trouble coming across your desired enemies, a good way to reset them is to enter a mock Training match (at Rime or wherever) and then end it instantly. Your own lineup is unimportant, but I'll list mine below anyway. LINEUP: P= Presance, B= Byan, G= Ghost, S= Sisteena (Back Row). P--B--Sara--G--S C--F---D---H--A C= Canopus, F= Forcas, D= Denim, H= Harborym, A= Aloser (Front Row). STRATEGY: If you're not having much luck coming across Random Battles where there are always two Cockatrices, just reload and enter a Training match and end it instantly to reset the lineup. I only had to do so once. Since you only face four enemies, you'll blast through these fights pretty quickly. What you want to do is wound the Cockatrices in short order since they are always the closest or will reach you first, and then worry about the Dragons. When you get a chance to get Denim behind one of the wounded Cockatrices, save your game and successfully Persuade it. Cast Quick on Denim and Heal your new 'ally' before it gets targeted with a vengeance by its old friends. If the second Cockatrice is the only remaining enemy, you'll Persuade it with extreme ease. I found it very easy to Persuade the Red Dragons at the same time as well. It's annoying, but remember that the rewards are well worth it, and you only have to do this 'homework' once, so to speak. Take your time with this, and take a break if you start to get bored. Remember that as a bonus you can get the rest of your party to level 23 as well, which will give you a slight boost for the next Story Battle, not to mention some Stat Cards. The easy aspect of this exercise is that the Dragons have severely limited movement and are thusly very slow and won't prove much of a hassle to you, while the Cockatrice's will fly over to you in short order. Be sure to heal newly Persuaded units to keep them alive, and any enemies that may die prematurely (check the Turn Order). Remember that you have a much better chance at Persuading a foe by moving Denim directly behind them when they are severely injured. Save your game first, though for some reason I sometimes found it easier to Persuade them after the first failed attempt. My Results: ~ After Battle #1: Persuaded 2X Cockatrice; two characters reached level 23. ~ After Battle #2: Persuaded 2X Cockatrice and 1X Red Dragon; one character reached level 23. ~ After Battle #3: Persuaded 2X Cockatrice; three characters reached level 23. ~ After Battle #4: Persuaded 2X Red Dragon and 1X Cockatrice; entire party was level 23. ============================================================================== |-------------------------------| | Shopping and Reequip - (0049) | |-------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: After visiting Amorika Castle, you will be able to purchase a few new weapons. You'll also get two new recruits, but all of my characters were superior. Anyhow, purchase 2X Balder Spears for Aloser and Canopus, and then Auction off all of your Cockatrices at Amorika's shop. You'll get a nice amount of money for them, and then seven Wing Rings will magically appear in the shop's Item list, right at the bottom of the 'Hand' part (where you choose weapons). Buy them all. Afterward, head over to Coritani and Auction your three Red Dragons and buy the three Fire Swords that appear. Since I had forgotten, I equipped Harborym with 'Chicken' (+10 VIT) and Sisteena with 'Burger' (+10 INT) and quickly went into a mock Training battle and used the Stat-up items. You may have noticed a new location on the World Map that you haven't visited before, known as Swanzi Forest. I only came across Skeletons and Ghosts of no importance there, but go into a mock Training battle to get the two Buried Treasures. The 'Red Team' will be closest to the locations. (http://luct.tacticsogre.com/gargastan.html) 'A' - Orb (High-LUK; in water). 'B' - Orb (High-LUK; grass needs to be burnt). Congratulations on successfully completing all of these tasks. The rest of the game will be much simpler without having to worry about annoying terrain slowing you down. Below I will show you how my party are now equipped: 1. Denim: Fire Sword/Balder Armour/Balder Shield/Warp Boots. 2. Aloser: Balder Spear/Balder Armour/Balder Helmet/Wing Ring. 3. Harborym: Fire Sword X2/Balder Armour/Wing Ring. 4. Sisteena: Balder Staff X2/Balder Armour/Wing Ring. 5. Canopus: Balder Spear/Balder Armour/Balder Helmet/Battle Boots. 6. Ghost: Life Staff/Balder Staff/Balder Armour/Balder Helmet. 7. Sara: Balder Bow/Balder Armour/Balder Helmet/Wing Ring. 8. Presance: Balder Staff X2/Balder Armour/Wing Ring. 9. Forcas: Fire Sword/Crossbow/Balder Armour/Wing Ring. 10. Byan: Clear Staff/Balder Staff/Balder Armour/Wing Ring. NOTE: You can also win an Orb per Random Battle fought at Bordo Lakeside, essentially for an unlimited supply if you wanted. It's not worth it in my opinion since I rarely factor them into my strategies and you get plenty via Buried Treasure, but just for reference. ============================================================================== |-----------------------------------------| | Optional Battle 03 - Fort Bodo - (0050) | |-----------------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You will only face seven opponents in this battle, four of which are only level 22 while the other three match yours; hence the EXP received in this battle is negligible. Aside from any Stat Cards, there's another important reason to be here that you'll find out later. This battle is made much easier and quicker thanks to your lovely new Wing Rings. Hardly too difficult without them, it just saves you annoyance. LINEUP: P= Presance, B= Byan, G= Ghost, S= Sisteena (Back Row). P--B--Sara--G--S C--F---D---H--A C= Canopus, F= Forcas, D= Denim, H= Harborym, A= Aloser (Front Row). STRATEGY: Finally we can use a good old-fashioned standard lineup in a story battle again. On your first turn, move everyone straight ahead as far as they can go, where you can get in some great attacks from afar to wound many of the Templar Knights. I managed to kill one of them and bring another three down to more or less critical HP. The leader Oz's (Temple Commando) huge AoE Charm spell is quite dangerous, but he can easily be distracted by having a weak character (or anyone, I'd assume) present their back to him while in range. All of the Templar Knights have a distinct magical ability each, but they won't have time to use them more than once, nor will Oz get a chance to use his special 'DarkCell' ability which is quite painful and Stuns a character. Soon enough only the Temple Commando will remain. Don't injure Oz below 50 HP unless it will finish him off otherwise the battle will end instantly (not that the EXP really matters at this stage). AFTERWARD: I compared Selye to Sisteena as Clerics, and while Selye had better HP and slightly superior defences/Dexterity, she had much less MP and Magic (weak Heal), hence I didn't bother using her. ============================================================================== |---------------------------------| | Battle 35 - West Fiduc - (0051) | |---------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: You get some very good and unique gear here that gets dropped by some of the enemies, so be very careful not to let a foe accidentally stand on it. Now, I had to take the West route (you get to choose again) for the 'Light' Bow; although it would seem better to do the South route since 'Training' is done at West Fiduc meaning you'd lose out on the Buried Treasure, but I needed that Wind-Element Bow for my Archer Sara. The regular enemies here are level 23, while the leader Mercury (Sword Master) is level 24. I used the same lineup as the last battle. NOTE: As always with these two-part battles, make sure all of your characters are at full health before finishing off the leader. LINEUP: P= Presance, B= Byan, G= Ghost, S= Sisteena (Back Row). P--B--Sara--G--S C--F---D---H--A C= Canopus, F= Forcas, D= Denim, H= Harborym, A= Aloser (Front Row). STRATEGY: Move all of your characters ahead during their first turn, except have Canopus only move five squares ahead. I was able to kill the Terror Knight during my first turn thanks to Canopus/Byan/Ghost/Aloser. One of the Dragon Tamers will use AoE magic on you, but the minor damage is easily recovered instantly with Sisteena's Heal+. The Black Dragon may Charm a character if you're unlucky. On your second turn you should finish off the rest of the nearby troops with ease; and from here random new enemies will spawn, one per turn, mostly on the far-away upper-rampart, but sometimes closer below to the left or right. From this point you can get the Buried Treasure located at 'A' + 'B', and then finish off the other enemies and leader, but it'd be easier to just wait until the next Chapter and get them during a mock Training battle. Thanks to your Wing Rings, as the other enemies try to reach you by coming down the long way, you can have some of your characters take the high ground and come up behind them (albeit dealing with the weak reinforcements that appear). I was able to nearly one-hit-kill the enemy Wizard/Siren with Sara's arrows from the highest part of the castle, even from the middle when the foes were on the ground at the right end. Don't let an individual unit get in range of said Wizard or Siren to be safe, as their multi-hitting magic will most assuredly kill a single character. Finish Sword Master Mercury with Harborym to get him to level 24, but not before giving another character 3-4 reinforcement kills so they are assured the MVP award to also get them to level 24 (Canopus is always a good choice). If some of your characters are close to level 24 (70+ EXP) you may as well spend a bit more time killing enemy reinforcements (they will 'run out' eventually, somewhere around after a dozen I think), where Sisteena and Presance can get to level 24 easily as well by being Mercury's punching bags (counterattacks + Healing). You may as well gather the Buried Treasure if you choose to do this. Sisteena actually won the MVP Award despite not killing anyone; all of her repetitive healing and counterattacks resulted in this. AFTERWARD: I'll list the Buried Treasure here for reference, although you'll have to wait until the next Chapter to get them via Training if you don't want to do so during the story battle (makes no difference either way). 'A' - Chicken (Low-LUK; needs to be burned). 'B' - Chicken or Burger (Low-LUK). 'C' - Orb (High-LUK). http://luct.tacticsogre.com/bacrum.html ============================================================================== |-----------------------------------| | Battle 36 - Fiduc Castle - (0052) | |-----------------------------------| PRE-MISSION ADVICE: At the Edit screen, give your new magic spell 'Gnome' to Byan, replacing his HealRain. I never really had the chance to use it much, and I found it much more effective (and cheaper) to just use Quick on Presance or Sisteena when I needed some urgent healing. I gave Canopus the 'Wing' Armour, and the 'Aqua' Armour to my Ghost since it was the only Water-Element character of mine. Finally, I equipped the Light Bow on Sara since it matched her Element. Your foes in this battle are all only level 24, even if you got an MVP Award and one of your people made it to level 25. NOTE: If you want a generic Priest you can Persuade one here, but you'll get a Story character Priest after the next two battles. LINEUP: D= Denim, H= Harborym, S= Sisteena, B= Byan, G= Ghost (Back Row). D--H---S---B--G P--C--F--Sara--A P= Presance, C= Canopus, F= Forcas, A= Aloser (Front Row). STRATEGY: On your first turn, move Sisteena/Harborym/Sara ahead as far as possible. A counterattack from Denim along with Tornado from Canopus and Acid from Byan will be more than enough to kill Oz during your first turn. Your Ghost's magic will be able to hit the two Templar Knights that move down, as will Aloser's. Presance can move ahead and Heal Denim, while placing Forcas behind your Ghost to target one of the enemy Valkyrie's with his Crossbow. Position Denim to the side of the closest Templar Knight and finish him off (go behind him if you're not strong enough; save beforehand). I had Harborym use Heat on Aloser then move near the enemy Valkyries, while Sisteena waited where she was. I used Sara to fire at the slightly injured Valkyrie before moving closer to Denim (in front of the treasure bag), and then Harborym delivered a nice counterattack to the remaining Templar Knight. Annoyingly, the enemy Witch cast Stun on Denim + Sara, but fortunately it didn't work on Denim. I positioned Canopus to the side of the last Templar Knight and finished him off, then employed Byan's Acid on the pair of Valkyries, killing one of them before moving closer to the other enemies. I moved my Ghost in front of Forcas and used LifeSuck on the Valkyrie, and then Aloser finished her off via a good Balder Spear. Heal Harborym with Presance, and make Sisteena use Vitalize on Denim if needed, otherwise cast it on Sara. Move Forcas ahead and use magic on the Witch + Priest in range, then make Denim finish off the Witch. He'll probably get Petrified by Ozma. From here, kill the remaining Priests and Siren before defeating the remaining leader. Petrify from Ozma can hit many people at once, so spread out and take advantage of your Wing Rings to attack her from behind. Byan received the MVP Award this time, moving up to level 25. ============================================================================== TO BE CONTINUED 0==================================================================0 | C R E D I T S (00CR) | 0==================================================================0 ~~~ Luct.TacticsOgre.com: Awesome Buried Treasure 'maps', which were in turn originally taken from Ogre.org (Japanese site). ~~~ ASCII Generator: Tactics Ogre 'header'. ~~~ Various: To those who sent encouraging/motivational emails. ============================================================================== Copyright ©2011 @ Troy de Haan (Traz).