Dark Cloud Bestiary Version 1.2 completed by Odge (djgaunt86@hotmail.com) Contents 1) Introduction 2) Version History 3) Bestiary 4) Legal Stuff and Credits 1) Introduction Hooray! Dark Cloud is finally out and the PS2 has its first half-decent RPG. The long wait since I first bought my PS2 had certainly been worth it, since Dark Cloud is certainly a unique and extremely playable game. Dark Cloud combines elements of a city-building game, and a Zelda-like RPG. Basically, a Dark Genie has been released, and is destroying all the towns of a peaceful continent (original story, I don’t think.) Your job is to rebuild these villages. Easy, huh? Unfortunately, no. The pieces of the village have been transported into a dungeon by the ‘Fairy King,’ to prevent their destruction, and of course its your job to go in their, slaughter bucketloads of enemies that have just coincidentally turned up, and return with the pieces to rebuild the village. However, it doesn’t end there. Once you’ve rebuilt a house and put villagers inside it, they will start demanding things of you, such as things they want in their house, and where they want their house within the village. Only once you’ve fulfilled the needs of all the villagers can you fully complete the village. One of the main joys of the game is creating your own village design using a god-game like interface, deciding where you want to place houses, rivers, and trees. You can then zoom down to the ground, and walk around in your newly created village, chatting to the villagers, and admiring the views. The dungeon part of the game is also worthy of note, and blends parts of Zelda with Vagrant Story, which obviously produces a winning combination. Dark Cloud takes the map, the real time battle system (including the lock on and charge attacks), and the day-night system of Zelda. It then takes the entire weapon system from Vagrant Story (not from Final Fantasy VII and VIII, like some people are saying), including the gem attachments, the weapon attributes (although these are not affected by attacking enemies, rather by attaching gems), and the fact that you can evolve weapons. Since the weapon system in Vagrant Story was ace, this means that I seriously like the weapon system in Dark Cloud. Another aspect of the game pinched from Zelda is the fishing game. I have it from a seasoned fisherman that this mini-game is better than many of the full-price fishing games that he has played (which probably only shows how much effort game programmers put into fishing games...) The only real sticking point of the game is the fact that it repeats itself so often. Basically, you travel to a new town, which has been destroyed, and then go into its accompanying dungeon, slogging through 15 floors of enemies, opening chests and atla (containing town pieces), before beating a boss, and finishing the town. However, this is compensated for by the variety of enemies, the excitement of picking up new pieces of town and improving your weapon. Right, that’s enough about the game. This FAQ is basically a guide to all of the monsters in the game (well, it will be), giving you detailed battle strategies and hints for each one. Included are extra-detailed boss strategies that give you complete coverage of what to do, from buying items to avoiding the monster’s attacks. To find a particular monster, you’ll need to use the Find function in your text editor, and type into the search box what monster you want to look up. Eventually, they’ll be in alphabetical order, but for now, you’ll have to just make do with the Find function. 2) Version History Version 1.2 Completed 22/12/01 Completed: -Game completed (at last!) Strategy for Dark Genie is now included (under ‘D’, unsurprisingly.) -Corrected some bits and bobs that I noticed were wrong. -Started including strategies for Demon Shaft enemies, and updating existing enemies that are also in the Demon Shaft. Future Plans: -Finish Bestiary Sections on the Demon Shaft -Add some other sections (possibly) Version 1.1 Completed 30/11/01 Completed: -All monsters covered up to 151 Years Ago in the Gallery of Time -Monsters ordered alphabetically -Included sections detailing monsters’ attribute weaknesses and monster type. -Added sections on all the characters’ weapon skills Future Plans: -Complete Bestiary for the Gallery of Time -Do Bestiary Sections on the Demon Shaft -Add some other sections Questions: -Does anyone have any other strategies for the monsters mentioned here? I’ll be more than welcome to include them in my guide. Version 1.0 Completed 22/11/01 Completed: -All monsters covered up to the end of the Sun and Moon Temple Future Plans: -Finish the Bestiary (obviously) -Order monsters alphabetically (at current they are in an entirely random order) -Add sections on all the characters’ weapon skills -Include sections detailing monsters’ attribute weaknesses and monster type. Questions: -Does the Yammich exist in the UK version? If so, where? If it doesn’t exist in the UK version, I need someone with the USA version to give me a bestiary section for the Yammich. 2) Character’s Weapons Before we get started with the Bestiary, I thought that I’d include this little section, since in many of the Bestiary sections, I refer to the characters attacks, and so, it is important for you to understand what I’m talking about Toan: Attack#1 – Attack. The basic move. Press X, and Toan will slice the sword in whatever direction you are facing. Attack#2 – Combo. Press the X button repeatedly, and Toan will perform a series of slightly different attacks, before performing a slightly more damaging hit at the end. Combos can ‘interrupt’ some enemy’s attacks (i.e. if they raise their sword, but you start your combo, then they will be forced to put away their sword, and will not attack you. Attack#3 – Charge. Hold down the X button until Toan glows once. Then release it, and Toan will jump, flip over in the air, and smack his sword down on anything in front of him. Attack#4 – Windmill Slash. This move is only available after you’ve completed the first dungeon. Hold down the X button until Toan glows twice, and then release it when necessary. Toan jumps up in the air, flailing his sword around him, and hitting everything within a pretty large radius of him. Goro: Attack#1 – Attack. Press the X button, and Goro will pound the ground in front of him using his weapon (usually a large, blunt instrument.) Attack#2 – Charge. Hold down the X button until Goro glows. Now release it, and Goro will flip over in the air and slam his mallet into the ground in front of him. If you’re near enough to an enemy, as Goro flips over in the air, your weapon should strike that enemy. Xiao: Attack#1 – Attack. Press the X button, and Xiao will fling a pellet out of your current slingshot, at the nearest enemy. Ruby: Attack#1 – Attack. Press the X button, and Ruby will idly fling a magic bolt in the direction you are facing. Attack#2 – Charge. Press and hold the X button, until Ruby glows. Then release it, and Ruby will throw a gigantic ball of magic at the enemy, that will do a lot more damage than your regular blasts. The longer you hold down X, the more potent your attack becomes (up to a certain point.) Ungaga: Attack#1 – Attack. Press the X button, and Ungaga will slash once using his long pole-like weapon. Attack#2 – Combo. Press the X button repeatedly, Ungaga will perform a series of attacks. His combo is slightly shorter than Toan’s (it only consists of three slashes, whereas Toan’s consists of about five.) Attack#3 – Charge. Hold down the X button, and Ungaga will start whirling his pole around like a windmill, and if any enemies are nearby, they will be caught in the blast, and hit multiple times as the pole whirls round. This attack can potentially go on forever – however, your WHp are slowly drained away as you perform it. So, unless you want to lose all your WHp, then you’ll have to stop it yourself, by taking your finger off the X button. Osmond: Attack#1 – Attack. Press the X button, and Ungaga will fire one bullet out of his machine gun, in the direction you are facing. Attack#2– Machine Gun. If you hold down the X button, then Osmond will fire off a volley of shots, until he runs out of shots in his cartridge, upon which he’ll have to reload. 3) Bestiary AA A A AAAA A A A A Monster: Alexander Dungeon: The Gallery of Time Attacks: Close Range (Sword Swipe) + Projectile (Bolt) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: None Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This monster is rather like the Mask of Prajna, which you encountered in the Shipwreck, only he now wields a chunky sword and shield, instead of a petty fan, and has the ability to belch gigantic bolts of death at you. Nasty. Attacking this bloke with a projectile weapon is virtually impossible, due to the fact that he defends so often. The easiest way to kill him is by using Ungaga, and by swiping at him using your pole-arm, out of the reach of his sword. Watch out for his bolts, though. Monster: Arthur Dungeon: The Moon Sea and The Demon Shaft Attacks: Close Range (Spear Lunge) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Metal Monster Weakness: Lightning How to defeat: This monster is perhaps the toughest to defeat in the moon sea, due to its extremely dangerous lunges. It is somewhat difficult to defeat this monster using a close range weapon, since as soon as you get near, the monster lunges at you, blasting you back. I recommend that you either use Ungaga, because his spears have a further reach than the weapons of either Toan or Goro, or pick him off using projectile weapons. If these have a steal element, then you can, in addition, steal a Repair Powder to fix the damage done to your weapon in slaying this mechanised menace. Monster: Auntie Medu Dungeon: Shipwreck and the Demon Shaft Attacks: Close Range (Lance)+ Projectile (Magic Spell) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Mage Monster Weakness: Ice (in the Demon Shaft anyway) How to defeat: You should probably only use projectile weapons for this monster, as its lance attack is extremely damaging, and it rarely chooses to defend itself. Side step to avoid its spell attacks. BBB B B BBB B B BBB Monster: Billy Dungeon: Gallery of Time Attacks: Projectile (Magic Bolt) + Close Range (Suicide Blast) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Mage Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This master of magic is very similar to Mr. Blare from the Sun and Moon Temple, and the Sax from the Shipwreck. As with his predecessors, defeating him is a doddle. Avoid his rather speedy magic bolts, and close in on him. He will start guarding, so stand close to him, and wait for him to uncross his hands, upon which you can let fly a combo, and kill him. You should watch out for his suicide blast, which he performs when his health is getting low. He will blow up in a spectacular display of conflagration, and if you are fighting with a close range fighter, you’ll most likely be caught in the blast. So make sure he’s never allowed to stay on a low amount of HP for too long. Monster: Black Dragon Dungeon: The Gallery of Time Attacks: Projectile (Unholy Breath)+ Close Range (Claws) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Dragon Monster Weakness: Holy How to defeat: Its another dragon again, and you really shouldn’t have any problems with it, save the fact that battering its scaly hide usually annihilates your weapon in next to no time, which isn’t funny. Simply get up close, dodging it’s breath, and slash away while side-stepping out of the way of its mouth. One combo should easily be enough to kill this beast. Monster: Blizzard Dungeon: The Gallery of Time Attacks: Close Range (Pound + Punches) Can defend? No Monster Type: Stone Monster Weakness: Wind (possibly) How to defeat: This monster is the latest variant in the Golem line of monsters, and again, is not really too taxing. Just whip out Goro, and get into the usual routine of slamming him with your axe in between his attacks, dodging away before he pounds you. Easy really. Monster: Blue Dragon Dungeon: Sun and Moon Temple Attacks: Projectile (Icy Breath)+ Close Range (Claws) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Dragon Monster Weakness: Fire How to defeat: Like many of the monsters in the sun and moon temple, the blue dragon is simply a hardened dragon, with much the same statistics. Again, this monster has an extremely rough hide and loads of HP, meaning that defeating it will often whittle a whole WHp bar down to nothing. Just side step until you are behind it, and wear its health down with a few combos. Monster: Bomber Head Dungeon: Sun and Moon Temple Attacks: Close Range (Punch Spin) + Final Explosion Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Mage Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: I wouldn’t advise attacking this guy using close range weapons for three reasons. Firstly, he tends to guard all the time. Secondly, his spin punch attack is extremely damaging and tends not to be interrupted by combos. Thirdly, his final attack, a huge explosion, is very dangerous, and will almost certainly catch you if you are in close. So stay away, and wear away his health with projectile weapons. CCCC C C C CCCC Monster: Cannibal Plant Dungeon: Wise Owl Forest Attacks: Close Range (Vine Whip) + Projectile (Goo Cloud) Can defend? No Monster Type: Plant Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This guy is fairly simple, since, unlike many other monsters, he’s fixed on the spot and so can’t run after you. Run towards him, avoiding the Goo clouds he shoots at you, and then do a couple of combos. Usually, while you’re doing a combo, the plant’s vine whip won’t harm you (this does not work 100% of the time) but if it does, it will poison you, so its probably best to wear an Antidote Amulet before you fight this plant. Monster: Captain Dungeon: Shipwreck Attacks: Close Range (Two-sword swipe) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Undead Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This guy is basically an upgraded version of the Corcea but is not much harder to defeat. Use the same tactics, and use a slash combo as he raises his swords, backing away to prepare another attack. Monster: Captain’s Chariot Dungeon: Shipwreck Attacks: Projectile (Cannonball) Can defend? No Monster Type: Metal Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: The cannonball moving out of this machine moves extremely quickly, and is extremely damaging, making this monster one of the tougher ones that you’re likely to meet on the Shipwreck. However, it does have a major weakness – it has a minimum range. So, dodging its cannonballs, you should run right up to it, and try to get some slashes in before the chariot starts wheeling backwards to try and get away. You’ll most likely end up following the Chariot as it tries to escape, until it ends up in a corner where you can defeat it at your leisure. Monster: Cave Bat Dungeon: Divine Beast Dran’s Cave Attacks: Close range (Fangs) Can defend? No Monster Type: Sky Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: An aerial monster, this bat has the ability to poison your character when it attacks you. Despite being fairly weak, the fact that this monster can poison you is dangerous, especially near the beginning of the game when Antidote Drinks are rare and expensive. Ideally, it is best to pick this guy off with a projectile weapon (Xiao's Catapult) but you can also kill him with a well-placed Charge attack. Monster: Club See the Section entitled ‘Playing Card Soldiers.’ Monster: Corcea Dungeon: Shipwreck and the Demon Shaft Attacks: Close Range (Two-sword swipe) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Undead Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This guy is fast with his swords, but not very strong physically. You should approach him and, as he raises his swords for a swipe, launch off a quick combo, which will put him off his attack. A couple of combo attacks should do him in. Monster: Crabby Hermit Dungeon: Sun and Moon Temple Attacks: Close Range (Shell Spikes and Pincers) + Gas Cloud Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Marine Monster Weakness: Fire How to defeat: It looks like the Gunny has gone away and had a thought about his attack patterns, and has managed to make himself a bit harder. He now spews gas clouds a lot more often, and has had a special “Shell Spikes” defence mechanism installed in his shell – basically, when he withdraws into his shell, four spikes poke out briefly, to try and catch you off guard. This means that you’ll have to be a bit more careful. If, when you’re attacking him, he withdraws into his shell, you’ll have to step back to avoid the spikes. Otherwise, you can use the same tactics on this beast as for the Gunny. Monster: Crescent Baron Dungeon: The Moon Sea Attacks: Close Range (Cloak Whip) + Projectile (Crescent Blast) Can defend? No Monster Type: Sky Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This is one of the many tough enemies in the moon sea, due to its fast projectiles, and deadly whip attack. Its probably best to take it out using projectile weapons, while side-stepping to avoid its crescent blasts, or use a close range weapon, and repeatedly Charge attack it, moving away when it tries to whip you. Osmond is ideal for taking this beast out as you can strafe left and right to avoid his blasts while machine gunning him. Monster: Curse Dancer Dungeon: Gallery of Time Attacks: Close Range (Cursed Flip) Can defend? No Monster Type: None Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: As it approaches you, the curse dancer will bend backwards, before suddenly snapping forwards with a jump, hoping to hit you in the process. This character is somewhat difficult to kill using Toan, as combos do not interrupt his attacks, and he’ll flip forward in the middle of your combo. Nasty. Therefore, I suggest using Ungaga to pick him off from a safe range, and dodging round the dancer when it tries to attack. He’ll go down fairly easily with a few swipes of Ungaga’s stick. Monster: Cursed Rose Dungeon: Shipwreck Attacks: Projectile (Poisoned Breath) + Close Range (Vine Whip) Can defend? No Monster Type: Plant Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: Since this monster cannot move, you are at somewhat of an advantage. Approach the monster, side-stepping to avoid the gas clouds being continually belched forth. When you get near, unleash a combo or two to beat the monster. During a combo, you are usually immune to the monster’s vine whip. DDDD D D D D D D DDDD Monster: Dark Flower Dungeon: Gallery of Time Attacks: Close Range (Vine Whip) + Projectile (Gas Cloud) Can defend? No Monster Type: Plant Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: Another copy of an earlier monster, this time a copy of the Cursed Rose from the Shipwreck and the Cannibal Plant from the Wise Owl Forest. This monster again puffs clouds of gas at you when you are far away, and tries to whip you when you come close. Both of these attacks probably cause negative status effects. However, you don’t want to find out which ones, so use the normal tactic of dodging the clouds, and using a combo on the plant when you’re close. Even if the vines whip you, they can’t harm you when you’re slashing away, so don’t worry. Just pick up whatever it drops and be on your way. Monster: Dark Genie [BOSS] Dungeon: Gallery of Time Attacks: Phase 1: Close Range (Hand Grab) + Projectile (Mind Wave) Phase 2: Projectile (Mind Melt and Eye Laser) Phase 3: Projectile (Earth Shake and Eye Laser) Can defend? See Below Monster Type: None Monster Weakness: See Below How to defeat: Let me make no bones about this – this boss is a complete nightmare to beat. La Saia was a pansy compared to this evil creature of hell. But then, he is the last boss in the game, and you did have it a bit easy with Minotaur Joe. In this battle, you’re gonna need to use at least two of your characters – your best close range fighter (probably Toan) and your best projectile fighter (not Osmond – either Ruby or Xiao.) These characters need to be in tip-top condition, with high HP and defence levels. Try searching around all the villages and non-dungeon areas that you’ve visited during your journey – you’re bound to find Fruits of Eden/Gourds/Defence Foods that you’ve missed, and that you can use to improve your character’s stats. The characters you plan to use should also have exceptionally powerful weapons – preferably ultimate ones, if possible. If they’re pants, then you need to do some training to evolve them into better ones. To evolve weapons quickly, you need gems, which you can either get by visiting Back Floors in the dungeons, or you can obtain them by catching fish and buying gems using the fishing points you obtain. If you have a lot of back floor items or fishing baits that are festering away in your inventory somewhere, then now is the time to use them to try and obtain as many gems as possible. My advice on fishing is to use your Minons and Battens to catch Tartans in the Peanut Pond in Matataki Village, and your Petite Fishes and Potato Cakes to catch the fish that dwell in the Oasis in Muska Racka. Most of the fish in these places give you from about 20 to about 60 fishing points. If you use the Poisonous Apple as a bait while fishing in the Oasis at dusk, you can sometimes also catch a Mardan Garayan fish, which will give you in excess of 200 fishing points. Nice. Once you’ve got suitably large weapons (when I fought the Dark Genie, Toan was wielding a 7th Heaven, and Ruby (my projectile fighter) was using an Athena’s Armlet) you should now be worrying about items. Here’s a basic list of what you’ll need: 5 Waters 5 Repair Powders 3 Auto Repair Powders 25 Premium Chickens 10 Stand In Powders 10 Revival Powders 3 Dran’s Feathers 15 Stamina Potions You probably won’t get round to using all of this, but it helps to be prepared nevertheless. Put an Auto Repair Powder, a Dran’s Feather and a Premium Chicken in your Active Item slots. Phew! Got everything? Well, if you have, and you’ve pieced together all the Atla pieces from the Gallery of Time, then you’re ready to fight the boss. We’ll start with Phase 1... Phase 1: Genie Hands All right, this is it. The final showdown. The Genie, for this phase of the battle, takes the form of some kind of gigantic winged devil, floating on a large earthen pedestal. This means that you can’t actually get at the main body of the Genie. However, one of the attacks the Genie uses does give you the opportunity to attack him. Utilising his complete power over time and space, the Genie can thrust his hand down into the pedestal, and it will then warp to a location underneath you and thrust upwards in an attempt to grab you. Slashing the hand as it comes up is currently the only way you can damage the boss, so that’s what you’re gonna have to do. Charge up a Charge attack. As the Genie thrusts his hand downward, start moving backwards to avoid the hand as it erupts from the earth – if the hand does hit you, it will do enormous damage to your character (80-90 HP of damage), and you should heal using a Premium Chicken as quickly as possible. When the hand reaches its apex, then release the attack to do around 200-300 HP worth of damage to the Genie. You can also simply run out of the way of the hand as it emerges, and attack it normally, causing 100-200 HP of damage. Of course, it’s not quite as simple as that. The Genie’s hand has a specific elemental weakness, which is the hand’s only weakness (so none of the other elements do any damage whatsoever.) This weakness changes every time the Genie covers his body with his gargantuan wings. To find out what the boss’ weakness is at any point during the battle, look at the colour of the gem currently attached to the back of his hand – this is the colour of the element that he is currently weak against. So change your weapon’s attribute to that element, and start attacking that hand, before he manages to cover his body with his wings again! Of course, if you can’t be bothered to do all this attribute swapping, then you can always just remove any attribute properties from your weapon, and just bash the hand regardless of what gem it has on it. You won’t do as much damage, but you don’t need to do so much boring menu trawling. The Genie also has another attack, the Mind Wave, which hits you wherever you are on the screen, for a small amount of damage. There is little that you can do to avoid this attack, since it can reach your character regardless of where you are in the battle arena. However, there are two ways of stopping the attack damaging your main character. One is to swap characters to an ally you do not plan to use in this battle, so that he/she takes the damage instead. The other is to use a Stamina Potion, which nullifies the damage that the attack would normally cause. I don’t recommend using a Stamina Potion yet though (unless you’ve got loads) since you’ll need them later in the battle. Use the first method, and heal Toan when his health gets low using Premium Chickens. Once you’ve killed one hand, the Genie uses his other, and so you’ll need to kill that in the same way. When this is done, you can get on to the second phase of the battle. Phase 2: Genie Eye There now! That wasn’t too difficult was it? Well, the battle’s not over yet by any means. Now that you’ve mauled the poor old Genie’s baby-soft hands, he’ll now turn to his ultra-powerful laser eye to try and eliminate you. This is the time for your projectile fighter to come into play (simply because you can’t reach his eye with any kind of close range weapon.) This bit will be hell if you haven’t got a good projectile weapon, but if you’ve followed my advice, you should have a finely crafted hell-raiser of a projectile weapon, so this phase won’t take long to beat. You’ll notice that you can now lock on to the Genie, so do so. The Genie still has his old Mind Wave attack (no doubt you’ll be pleased to hear...) but now can use a Laser Eye attack, which always kills you in one hit. However, you get a lot of warning that he’s about to use the attack (he crosses his arms over his eyes) which gives you time to move sideways out of the path of the blast. When he’s finished the attack, you have an ideal opportunity to hit him with your weapon (you don’t have many other opportunities, since he’s invulnerable while he’s performing both his Mind Wave and his Laser Eye attack.) You might want to use two or three of your Stamina Potions here, both to speed up the battle (you can be doing in excess of 500 points of damage per hit with a good weapon) and to try and avoid his frequent Mind Wave attacks. Just keep moving and blasting his eye and soon his second form will be vanquished. Only one to go... Phase 3: Genie Spider Things start getting a bit surreal here. Just as you think that you’ve defeated the Genie, he goes and turns into a weird robotic-spider-monster thingy, and you’re both transported into space to do battle. (Weird or what, eh?) Hmm. Anyway, you’ve not got any time to think about the whys or wherefores, you’ve just got to beat the crap out of this thing before he makes mincemeat out of you. The first thing that this boss is likely to do is summon two Gaciouses, who act like guardians to the Genie. He then starts attacking you with an eye laser, which isn’t as dangerous as the previous one, but isn’t static like the Genie’s old one, and tracks you across the ‘floor’ (you are in space), which makes it a lot more dangerous. I advise using a projectile fighter in this battle for two reasons. Firstly, you can stand a distance away, and so can see exactly what is going on, and what the boss is about to do next. Secondly, you don’t have to get too close to attack, and risk being hit by one of the boss’ varied attacks. The first thing you should probably do is get rid of the Genie’s Gaciouses, since they are a nuisance, and if you defeat them, the Genie opens his mouth more often (the significance of this will be revealed in a minute.) Simply use a Stamina Potion to power yourself up, and a couple of shots each should finish them both off. Now focus on the Genie. When the Genie uses his Eye Laser, you’ll need to run around the area to try and avoid it, since it is continually tracking you. Should you get hit, use a Premium Chicken as quickly as possible, and use the Dran’s Feather to get away as quickly as possible. When the Laser ends, look round at the Genie, and see if his mouth is open, revealing an orb. If it is, lock on, and fire at it to do damage to the Genie. When his mouth is open, the Genie will typically also use a ground pound attack to try and hit you when you’re firing at him – simply strafe sideways to avoid it. Simply keep firing at the mouth in the intervals when his Eye Laser is off, and killing the Gaciouses when they revive. Use Premium Chickens generously to keep your health in a good condition, and keep the Stamina status using Stamina Potions. Very soon, the Genie will be defeated, and you can watch the end of game sequence. With the game complete, you can now go on to tackle the Demon Shaft, a massive 100 level dungeon, which will now be open to you. Monster: Dasher Dungeon: Divine Beast Dran’s Cave Attacks: Close range (Club) Can defend? No Monster Type: Beast Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: A basic enemy, the Dasher can run extremely fast, but has a very small amount of HP. Simply lock on to him as he approaches you, and pick him off with a combo. Monster: Diamond See the Section entitled ‘Playing Card Soldiers.’ Monster: Divine Beast Dran [BOSS] Dungeon: Divine Beast Dran’s Cave Attacks: Projectile (Fire Ball) + Close Range (Bite) Can defend? No Monster Type: Beast Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: You will need to combine the efforts of both Toan and Xiao to beat this huge puppy dog with seriously bad breath. To beat this boss, you should have a well honed blade (I used a Sax, but any sword with an attack power of over about 25 will do.) You also need a reasonable catapult or two (I had the good luck to find the Bandit Slingshot in this dungeon, but pretty much any slingshot will do.) You will also need several Repair Powders (about 5) and some Breads (about 5 again.) When the battle starts, switch to Xiao, and equip her with her most powerful slingshot. Lock on to Dran, and as he gets near, press X. If you don’t hit, run after him, and try again. You should be shooting just as he flies overhead. Once Dran lands to lick his wounds, switch back to Toan, with his best sword. Approach his back, and charge up a Charge attack, before releasing it on the mighty beast. Be careful not to release it too close, or you’ll land on Dran, sapping your HP. Make sure you always attack Dran’s back, because he’ll bite you if you attack his front. He’ll then fly into the air. Switch to Xiao, and repeat the process several times to defeat Dran, using Bread and Repair Powder where necessary. Be careful, though. If you take too long in shooting Dran out of the sky, he’ll start hurling fireballs at you, which rip massive holes into the floor. Falling down these holes will not kill you, but will lower your HP. Monster: Dragon Dungeon: Divine Beast Dran’s Cave Attacks: Close range (Claws) + Projectile (Fire Ball) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Dragon Monster Weakness: Ice How to defeat: Make sure your WHp aren’t too low when you fight this beast, as the combination of the Dragon’s scaly hide and its huge amount of HP can often mean that you waste vast quantities of WHp killing him. The best way to kill him is to get in close, side-stepping until he isn’t facing you, and use multiple slash-combos to kill him. This guy can defend, but only when you’re using projectile weapons, and only extremely rarely. In fact, it was only when I was fighting a Black Dragon in the Gallery of Time that I noticed that these things actually can defend. Monster: Dune Dungeon: Sun and Moon Temple Attacks: Close Range (Sand Spike) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Stone Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This monster has complete control over the sand over which he moves, which is bad news for you. When using projectile weapons, the monster summons two huge plates of sand which protect his front and back, which can make killing him difficult. Killing him with Toan is also difficult, because as soon as you start slashing, the Dune will thrust a huge, spiky pillar of sand up into Toan’s tender parts, causing (as you might expect) huge amounts of damage. The way to kill him is to use Goro, and stay a fair distance from the beast, running in to pound him with your axe/hammer, before running away to avoid his sand pillar. You can use much the same technique using Toan’s Charge attack (NOT his Windmill Slash – if you try this, Toan will just land on the spike after performing the attack.) Repeat either process a few times to kill Dune. EEEEE E EEEEE E EEEEE Monster: Earth Digger Dungeon: Wise Owl Forest Attacks: Close Range (Jumps) + Projectile (Icy Breath) Can defend? No Monster Type: Beast Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This monster is extremely tough on all accounts, and is extremely difficult to beat with a close range weapon. As soon as you get near to it, it will start jumping towards you, which cannot be interrupted with combos or the like. If you’re too near, then you won’t be able to run away in time, and the Digger will most likely carve a huge chunk of your health off in one go. When you are a fair distance away, it spews Icy Breath at you, which can cause the Freeze status on you. Most likely, you won’t have a healing item for this, so you’ll have to switch to another ally, putting that one out of action for a while. You basically have two options to beat this nasty. Firstly, you can use a close range fighter, and power up a charge attack, a reasonable distance from the beast. When it jumps near, release the Charge attack, before backing away. Repeat again another once or twice to beat the monster. Your second alternative is much simpler – just blast the beast with projectile weaponry out of the range of its jump attack. Monster: Evil Bat Dungeon: Gallery of Time Attacks: Close Range (Poisonous Fangs) Can defend? No Monster Type: Sky Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: Its nice to see an old friend from the first dungeon in the game (remember the Cave Bat.) But although the new colonies of Cave Bats that have taken up residence in the Gallery have desperately tried to toughen themselves up, all they’ve managed is to put Evil in front of their name (and that’s only because they were being bullied by the tougher monsters.) They still have a poisonous bite, and you can still take them out with one hit. As the bat lowers its altitude to charge at you, charge up a Charge attack, and release it as it approaches to destroy this pathetic beast. FFFFFF F FFFFFF F F Monster: Flifli Dungeon: Wise Owl Forest Attacks: Close Range (Falls Over) + Poisonous Cloud Can defend? No Monster Type: Plant Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This enemy is rather difficult to defeat using a close range weapon due to the fact that it spews out copious amounts of poisonous gas around it as soon as you get near, making it difficult for you to attack without immediately being poisoned. I suggest that you use Xiao, and just pick it off using a slingshot. Monster: Friday See the Section entitled ‘Gnomes.’ GGGG G G GG G G GGGG Monster: Gemron Dungeon: The Demon Shaft Attacks: Projectile (Breath) + Close Range (Bite) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Dragon Monster Weakness: Fire How to defeat: This enemy looks like a sort of floating seahorse, and is deceptively dangerous despite his small size. His attacks do a lot of damage, and he tends to kill you using his bite while you’re attacking him with a combo, so I would suggest picking him off using a projectile weapon. He seems to be invulnerable to quite a few of the elements, which is a bit of a pain in the ass if you have one of those elements equipped. However, equipping the Fire element will allow you to do quite a bit more damage than you would normally. Monster: Ghost Dungeon: Divine Beast Dran’s Cave Attacks: Projectile (Magic Spell) + Close Range (Slap) Can defend? No Monster Type: Mage Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: One of the first wizards you’re likely to meet, and also one of the easiest. To attack you, he first has to levitate into the air, before launching a very slow moving purple ball at you, which poisons you on impact. All this gives you plenty of warning to move out of the way. However, if you lock on to him as soon as you see him, and slash him a few times, he won’t even get to use this attack. He can actually slap you, but he uses this attack so rarely (unlike the Lich – grumble) that you shouldn’t worry about it. Monster: Gnomes (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) Dungeon: Wise Owl Forest Attacks: Projectile (Poisonous Apple) or Close Range (Various Swords and Axes) Can defend? No Monster Type: None Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: All of these gnomes are fairly easy to defeat. Just get in close, avoid their various attacks, and use a combo or two to finish them off. You should be aware of Thursday, however, as he can throw poisonous apples at you, which, as you might assume, can poison you as well as doing a fair amount of damage. Avoid the apples if you can. Monster: Gol See the Section entitled Sil (and Gol) Monster: Golem Dungeon: Sun and Moon Temple Attacks: Close Range (Pound + Punches) Can defend? No Monster Type: Stone Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: As you might expect, this monster is extremely strong, but rather slow. Combos don’t interrupt his attacks either, so using Toan is a no-no. This is one of the few points in the game where Goro really comes into his own. As he raises his hands to pound the ground, smack him with your blunt instrument, and then retreat to avoid the blast radius. Repeat this process until the Golem falls, defeated. Monster: Gunny Dungeon: Shipwreck Attacks: Close Range (Shell Clamp)+ Projectile (Bubble) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Marine Monster Weakness: Fire How to defeat: This is the basic enemy of the Shipwreck, and is very easy to defeat. You should approach it, and slash away, pausing when it retreats into its shell. It sometimes uses a bubble attack, but the bubble moves so slowly that it is hideously easy to avoid. Monster: Gyan Dungeon: Shipwreck Attacks: Close Range (Lance) Can defend? No Monster Type: Marine Monster Weakness: Fire How to defeat: Seemingly swimming in air, the Gyan swims at you with lance bared as you grow near. As he starts his attack, you should side-step out of the way, and as he passes by you, you should attack his rear, dodging out of the way should he turn for another charge at you. H H H H HHHHH H H H H Monster: Halloween Dungeon: Wise Owl Forest and the Demon Shaft Attacks: Projectile (Bomb Nuts) + Close Range (Spinning Forks) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Undead Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This guy throws Bomb Nuts, which can cause in excess of 80 damage to your current party member. Which isn’t nice. As you approach him, you need to watch out for his Bomb Nuts, side-stepping to avoid them. If you are using a close-range weapon, you’ll need to get up close, and slash away, backing away when he uses his spinning forks attack. Monster: Haley Holey Dungeon: Wise Owl Forest Attacks: Close Range (Helicopter Spin) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Sky Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This enemy will bury its wing-like ears in the ground, making it invulnerable to all attacks, until you come near, upon which it will move towards you, spinning its wings in a deadly fashion. Its spinning wing-ears make defeating it with a close range weapon almost impossible, so you should rely on Xiao to take this beastie out. Monster: Heart See the Section entitled ‘Playing Card Soldiers.’ Monster: Hellpockle Dungeon: The Moon Sea Attacks: Close Range (Pick Axe and Charge) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: None Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This monster resembles to some extent the gnomes that you found in the Wise Owl Forest, meaning that they are extremely easy. Use a close range fighter, and use a couple of combos. Sometimes, they will attempt to charge you, which basically means that as soon as it makes contact with you it will blast you over. You should probably stay back when the Hellpockle does this, or take it out with a couple of charge attacks. Monster: Hornet Dungeon: Wise Owl Forest Attacks: Close Range (Stinger) Can defend? No Monster Type: Sky Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This monster is basically identical to the Cave Bat, and again has the ability to poison you. The same tactics apply to this monster as the Cave Bat – use a projectile weapon to pick him off. Monster: Horn Head Dungeon: The Demon Shaft Attacks: Close Range (Flail and Shield Spike) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Undead Monster Weakness: Holy How to defeat: For a Demon Shaft monster, this guy is surprisingly weak, and is pretty much your standard undead monster (with the ability to reanimate included as standard.) Except this time, he’s got a big ball on a chain, which he can’t even lift. This is probably due to his weakness, and not to its heaviness. All you need to do is equip the Holy attribute on your current sword, and just hack him to pieces with a few combos. Combos will interrupt him, so you needn’t worry about being hit mid-combo. With your current weapon standard, this guy should really pose no threat at all to your team. IIIII I I I IIIII Monster: Ice Queen La Saia [BOSS] Dungeon: Shipwreck Attacks: Projectile (Freezing Bolt, Whirlwinds, and Avalanche)+ Close Range (Radial Surge) Can defend? No Monster Type: None Monster Weakness: Fire How to defeat: As hinted by her title, La Saia is an ICE Queen, and so weapons with strong Fire attributes will be super effective. I used both Xiao and Ruby in this battle, basically because I was too much of a wuss to actually go up to her and beat her ass using cold steel. If you want to use my tactic, then one of the females needs a good weapon with a reasonable Fire attribute (for me, this was Xiao, who had a superb Double Impact Slingshot, with a Fire attribute of about 10.) The other female would obviously benefit from having a reasonable weapon. For items, you’ll need around 10 Cheeses (probably not that many, but La Saia’s attacks are incredibly damaging, and its always best to be on the safe side) and 5 Repair Powders. It’s also useful to have loads of Fire Gems, because these do serious damage to the Ice Queen. If you want to use Fire Gems to aid you in this battle, you can buy them from the Joker (in Queens.) You might also want to use some Stamina Drinks in the battle, so bring some along if you want. The Ice Queen has four basic attacks. Her first one is an Ice Bolt which behaves much like a homing missile, and which follows you around the battleground. If you pause for a moment, it ploughs into you, both freezing you and sealing you in a block of ice (besides doing major damage.) If you leave your character like this for too long (or if you stand in the same place for too long) she will follow this up with an Avalanche attack. This basically drops a massive ice boulder on your head, which smashes the ice block, and causes major damage (but doesn’t necessarily unfreeze you.) While firing off Ice Bolts, La Saia will also generate huge numbers of Whirlwinds, which spring up randomly in the battlefield. While you are running full pelt from the Ice Bolt, you will also need to dodge the Whirlwinds as well. The last attack La Saia uses is a Radial Surge. She uses this when you get too near to her, or when her health is running low. Basically, it blasts anyone too near back, causing enormous damage to him or her. However, you can avoid all these complex attacks by using my special technique. At the beginning of the battle, head to the pillar on your near right, and hide behind it. This will allow you to dodge the Ice Bolt, and the Whirlwinds can’t get you there. Switch to Xiao, lock on to La Saia, and pop out from behind your column, and pop off a few catapult shots, before ducking back behind the pillar again. You should keep shooting until your shots start doing no damage and the words ‘No Effect’ appear (you get only a few shots before this happens – about 1-4). This is La Saia’s clever defence system kicking in, and you’ll need to switch to another character to be able to do any damage to her again. So switch to Ruby behind the pillar, move out so that you can shoot La Saia, and hit her with balls of fire, ducking back whenever she shoots off an ice bolt. When you get the words ‘No Effect’ again, you can switch back to Xiao, who can now do damage again, and repeat the whole process until she dies. If you want to get her with the Fire Gems, you’ll need to equip them as active items, and traverse the ‘minefield’ of Whirlwinds to get near to La Saia. When you get near enough, lock on to her, and throw the Gems at her using the Square Button. Each Gem does about 48 damage, which is quite a reasonable amount. JJJJJJJ J J J JJJ Monster: Joker See the Section entitled ‘Playing Card Soldiers.’ K KK K KK KK K KK K KK Monster: King Mimic Dungeon: All Dungeons Attacks: Close Range (Hand Clap + Bite) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Mimic Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This momma mimic hides in the big chests, and constitute a much higher percentage of the big chests than the small mimics do the small chests. Many a time will you head eagerly to a big chest, hoping for some zombie thwarting super-weapon, and instead find yourself facing one of these giants. This guy defends himself much less often, and it is perfectly possible to kill him with Toan. However, his attacks tend to take off large amounts of your HP, so I usually prefer to take him out using a slingshot. Monster: King Prickly Dungeon: Wise Owl Forest Attacks: Close Range (Whirls About) Can defend? No Monster Type: Plant Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: These monsters attach themselves to the forest canopy, and are very difficult to detect, apart from a small shadow on the ground, and an enemy symbol on the dungeon map. As you get near to the shadow, they will drop down, and whirl around, hoping to smack into you and cause some damage. If you see the shadow, cautiously approach it, locking on as soon as possible. If you have a close range weapon, you will need to get close to it as it whirls, and try and slash it without it hitting you. If you have a projectile weapon, step back as it drops down, and pick it off with a few shots. Monster: King’s Curse [BOSS] Dungeon: Sun and Moon Temple Attacks: Close Range (Punches and Gas Cloud) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Undead Monster Weakness: Holy How to defeat: This boss is fairly simple, and you’ll probably have no trouble defeating him once you’ve worked out the technique to use. As per usual, you’ll need to use the character you obtained in this dungeon (Ungaga) to beat this boss. It helps if you’ve completed fully Muska Lacka village (i.e. got 100% in the Completion and Request scores.) Then the village chief will give you the Mirage, a powerful weapon for Ungaga. You’ll also need a powerful weapon for another character, preferably with a high Holy score. On the items front, you’ll need your usual compliment of about seven or eight Cheeses, a couple of Premium Waters, and four or five Repair Powders. The boss you’re facing is a huge cloud of dark matter, protecting a fragile coffin at the centre. You’re gonna need to waft away the dark material so that you can get at the coffin (do you see how this is going to work out yet?) To start with, the cloud will assume the shape of a giant man, and will slowly start walking towards you. You have no hope of harming this dangerous beast. What you need to do is to run near enough to him that he will take a swipe at you (you will need to duck out of the way to avoid the swipe.) Once this occurs, the King’s Curse will metamorphose into a huge cloud of black cloud, and will start relentlessly pursuing you. Retreat to a safe distance, then turn to face the Curse, lock on, and start Ungaga’s Charge attack. This will, as you might expect, clear the cloud (just as his Charge attack clears the black wind barriers) and expose the fragile coffin. Now quickly switch to a character with a fairly hefty weapon (preferably with a high holy attribute) and pound that coffin, which should cause incredible levels of damage. The King’s Curse will then turn back into a giant man, so repeat the process to kill him. L L L L LLLLL Monster: Lich Dungeon: Gallery of Time Attacks: Projectile (Magic Spell) + Close Range (Slap) Can defend? No Monster Type: Mage Monster Weakness: Holy How to defeat: Hmm. You think that this is going to be a nice easy enemy, after your experience with the Ghost in Divine Beast Dran’s Cave. So you calmly stride up to him, expecting an easy time, upon which he gives you a damn good slapping and cleaves your health in half! After dying after some stupid Lich slapped Toan twice, I realised that trying to kill the Lich with combos is not the best idea. Therefore, you should try and take advantage of Lich’s weakness, which is its low health, and use a Charge attack. Upon impact, a single charge will do around 300-400 damage, and the Lich will soon be in a crumpled heap on the floor. Of course, projectile weapons are always an option. Monster: Living Armour Dungeon: Gallery of Time Attacks: Close Range (Lance) Can defend? No Monster Type: Metal Monster Weakness: Lightning How to defeat: This hunk of scrap metal is descended from the Statues (from D.B. Dran’s Cave), although it look slightly different. It is again fairly slow, but their attacks are immensely powerful, and you don’t want to be caught by a blow while you’re slashing away. At a safe distance from the armour, charge up a Windmill Slash (press X until you glow twice.) Now approach the monster, and perform the slash, backing away before it can clobber you. It should now be on low enough health that you can simply run in and poke it with your sword to topple it over. M M MM MM M MM MM M M MM MM M M MM M Monster: Mask of Prajna Dungeon: Shipwreck Attacks: Close Range (Knife Swipe) + Gas Cloud Can defend? Yes Monster Type: None Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This is an extremely dangerous monster. You can’t attack it from afar due to its ‘spinning fan’ defence system, which it has up at all times except when it attacks you. You need to use a close range weapon. Get up close to the monster, and when it unsheathes its knife, you should let rip a quick combo, before backing away. Repeat the process to kill the monster. At all times you should watch out for the monster’s gas attack, which causes major damage to your character. Monster: Master Jacket Dungeon: Divine Beast Dran’s Cave and The Demon Shaft Attacks: Close range (Sword) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Undead Monster Weakness: Holy How to defeat: An advanced version of the Skeleton, Master Jacket can defend, meaning that you can’t be so trigger-happy. Get up close to him, using the R1 to block his sword attacks, and when his defence is down, try to get as many combo hits in as possible, before he puts his defence up again. Sometimes Master Jackets resurrect from the dead with a few HP – all that’s needed is a few more slashes to return him from whence he came. Monster: Masterutan [BOSS] Dungeon: Wise Owl Forest Attacks: Projectile (Watermelon pips) + Close Range (Punch) Can defend? No Monster Type: Beast Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This boss requires the efforts of Goro, so you’ll need to find him a good weapon to succeed in this battle. I recommend the Battle Axe, which you can get by finding all the Atlas pieces, rearranging them into houses, and then putting all the houses in the right places at the request of the villagers. If you then go and see Treant, then he’ll hand you the Battle Axe, a hugely powerful weapon. Equip this weapon with a few Beast Killer gems attached, and that should do the job. You’ll also need to use Toan, so he should have a reasonable weapon as well. On the items front, five or six Cheeses and five Repair Powders should be sufficient. You might want to also take a number of Stamina Drinks to boost your characters during battle. You’ll start the battle with Toan, on the other side of the screen from Masterutan. Quickly switch to Goro, and get near enough that you can lock onto him. This ensures that should he use his Watermelon Seed Spit attack, you can press R1 and avoid taking any damage. Run up to the beast. He will soon start running up to you, and taking wild swings at you. You’ll need to continually back away to avoid these, or risk taking heavy damage. When the opportunity presents itself (i.e. when he is not just about to punch you) quickly nip in, and smack the axe into his soft flesh. This should deal him a good 50-60 HP of damage, and he’ll sit down in a sulk. Switch to Toan, and charge him up until he can do a Whirlwind Slash attack. Release this on the unlucky beast to do a further 50-60 HP damage. He’ll now get up, and resume his wild punching. Switch back to Goro, and repeat the process several times to beat the monster. Monster: Mimic Dungeon: All Dungeons Attacks: Close Range (Hand Clap + Bite) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Mimic Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: You will find this nasty piece of work in all of the dungeons, and if you have played any RPGs at all, the mimic will be a familiar face (they appear in the Granstream Saga, and Final Fantasy IX to name but two.) These cunning beasties disguise themselves as treasure chests, and as soon as you press the X button to open them, will spring open to attack. They are often difficult to beat since their jumping around often makes it hard to hit them with a catapult, and they have a tendency to defend themselves as soon as you start a combo. The easy way to kill one is to use Goro and pound it with your hammer/large axe until it gives in. However, you can also use Toan, and simply slash away, backing away when it snaps at you, or defends. Monster: Minotaur Joe [BOSS] Dungeon: The Moon Sea Attacks: Close range (Punches and Axe) Can defend? No Monster Type: Beast Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: Somewhat oddly for a boss, you don’t actually need to use your latest comrade, Osmond, to beat this boss. Indeed, I wouldn’t recommend using Osmond – you’d be there, slowly draining his health, for hours, and that’s something you presumably don’t want, since this boss is fairly easy. Toan is your warrior of choice here. You’ll need to pick his biggest, most dangerous weapon that you have on your possession, and perhaps equip a few Beast Killer Attachments (or, preferably, some gems.) You might need a Repair Powder or two for your sword survive this battle. However, my weapon (An Antique Sword) had 99WHp, and 99 Endurance by that point, so I didn’t need one. Nevertheless, I brought some along as a safety precaution, as you should too. You’ll need to bring along quite a few Premium Chickens, since if this guy manages to hit you, he can quite easily cleave a good proportion of your health off in one blow. If you’ve been saving your Stamina Drinks up for a special occasion, then now is the time to use them – if you haven’t, and you’ve used ‘em all, then you can always go and buy some from Suzy in Queens. You’ll need about five or six. A couple of Dran’s Feathers might come in useful too. OK, now that you’re fully prepared and stocked up with items, then you can go and challenge that colossus! When the battle starts, you’ll notice huge quantities of wine barrels being dropped into the ring. These barrels, when drunk by the Minotaur, have the same effect on him as Stamina Drinks would on you. Once he has drunk one of these barrels, he goes absolutely psycho, and can easily kill one of your characters in a single blow (this effect wears off after a short period of time). However, don’t try to destroy the barrels, because more drop into the ring as you hack the old ones into pieces. You can use the Wine Barrels to your advantage. When Joe drinks from them, he is extremely vulnerable to your attacks, and cannot counterattack. So, when the battle begins, just keep running away from Joe, keeping an eye on him. After a while, he’ll give up on chasing you all over the place, and make a beeline for one of the barrels. At this point, you should spin round, and run towards him (using the Dran’s Feather if he’s too far away) and you can get a hit in before Joe resumes his onslaught. If you manage to get a hit in, you’ll interrupt his drinking, and he won’t get the beneficial status effect. Back away before he gets a swipe at you, and repeat the process to kill Minotaur Joe. If he does manage to drink the wine, then don’t worry – you can even the odds by drinking a Stamina Drink. This ups your defence, meaning that are safe from one-hit deaths, and your attack, meaning that, even in his improved state, you can still do a lot of damage to him. You should also use some of your Stamina Drinks to simply improve your defence and attack during the general course of the battle. In the end, I couldn’t be bothered to wait for him to drink the wine, so just followed him around the arena, after drinking a Stamina Drink, and kept slashing his retreating ass. This tactic means that you have to use some of your Premium Chickens, but the Stamina Drink means that his hits won’t do all that much damage, so you won’t have to use all that many. Monster: Monday See the Section entitled ‘Gnomes.’ Monster: Moon Bug Dungeon: The Moon Sea Attacks: Close Range (Roll) + Projectile (Cannon) Can defend? No Monster Type: Metal Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: If you imagine the product of a cross between a deranged Rockanoff and a Pirate’s Chariot, which, of course, makes it a bit of a pain in the ass. When you are at a reasonable range, it will open its shell to reveal a huge cannon, which fires a cannonball at you at great speed. You’ll naturally want to avoid this, so get near to him with a close range fighter. He’ll start rolling at you, a bit like a Rockanoff. Fortunately, its turning system is complete crap, so you can keep side-stepping and attacking it as it rolls past you. Monster: Moon Digger Dungeon: The Moon Sea Attacks: Close Range (Jumps) + Projectile (Breath) Can defend? No Monster Type: Beast Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: Yes, this is an upgraded version of the Earth Digger that you fought in the Wise Owl Forest - as if he wasn’t bad enough already. Again, he’s best taken out using projectile weaponry, or repeated Charge attacks from Goro. Monster: Mr. Blare Dungeon: Sun and Moon Temple Attacks: Projectile (Fire Magic) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Mage Monster Weakness: Ice How to defeat: This monster is an upgraded Sax (from the Shipwreck) and behaves much like one. You should attempt to avoid his bolts, and get in close, slashing at him when he lets his guard down. Monster: Mummy Dungeon: Sun and Moon Temple and The Demon Shaft Attacks: Close Range (Sword) Can defend? No Monster Type: Undead Monster Weakness: Holy How to defeat: There is nothing much remarkable about this monster, save the fact that it can resurrect like the Master Jacket. A combo or two should do him in. N N NN N N N N N NN N N Monster: Nikapcus Dungeon: The Demon Shaft Attacks: Close range (Leg Swipes) + Projectile (Bomb) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: None Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This is one of the first monsters unique to the Demon Shaft you’re likely to meet, and he’s quite a dangerous one. Until you’re quite close to him, he tends to remain in his mask-like shell, hovering inexplicably in mid-air. However, once you’re near him, he opens, and after a short pause, will do some rather stylish martial arts kicks, fully utilising his specially evolved knife like-legs, which will do heaps of damage to your current character. He can also throw bombs at you, which are particularly nasty compared to other projectiles, since even if you dodge his shot, the bomb will explode on the floor, and if you’re not far enough away, it will damage you quite badly. The pauses before he uses his kicks are his weak spot. Approach him, and as soon as he opens his shell, slash away at the tender body held within, and before he has a chance to use his attacks, you should be able to dispatch him easily. OOO O O O O O O OOO Monster: Opar Dungeon: Divine Beast Dran’s Cave Attacks: Close range (Body Slam) + Goo Cloud Can defend? No Monster Type: Marine Monster Weakness: Fire How to defeat: If you attempt to fight this fish-like organism with a close range weapon, you should side-step around to his rear (so that he can’t body slam you) and then just lay into him. However, it is far easier (and less risky) just to pick him off with a projectile weapon. Be aware that, when he dies, he body slams you, so be sure not to be standing right in front of him. PPP P P PPP P P Monster: Phantom Dungeon: Sun and Moon Temple Attacks: Close Range (Sting) Can defend? No Monster Type: Sky Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: Remember the Hornet? Well, the Phantom is almost identical, except the developers have imaginatively decided to paint this guy black, to go with its spooky name. Again, projectile weapons are the order of the day to nail this guy, because if you get too near, it’ll fly up into the air before stabbing you with a rather damaging sting attack, which, as usual, causes poison in its unlucky victim. A few catapult shots should see this guy fall in a heap to the floor. Monster: Playing Card Soldiers (Club, Spade, Heart, Diamond, and Joker) Dungeon: Gallery of Time and The Demon Shaft Attacks: Close Range (Various Clubs and Spades) Projectile (Heart Throw) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: None Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: These monsters are the typical cannon fodder materials of the Gallery of Time. Most of these monsters attack using long sticks with their suit symbol on the end (so the Club has a long stick with a Club on the end.) However, the Spade uses a Spade (rather than a big stick with a spade on the end) - although it looks more like a coal scuttle, and the Heart throws projectiles at you. Their attack patterns are varied. Most of them simply whack you with their stick, but the Spade whirls his spade around his head (which makes it a dangerous attack – he can hit you multiple times). The Heart blasts projectiles at you (very quickly – once it has started, it is often difficult to get near, and you’ll have to use projectiles). All five of the soldiers can defend by turning their backs at you, and shaking their ass at you (though how that helps them repel your attacks, God only knows...) You shouldn’t have any problems with these guys. I found that the best way to kill them, especially when they are in groups (like they are on one floor of the dungeon) is to press and hold X, while approaching them. When you are in the middle of the group, let fly a Windmill Slash, and you should hit at least a couple of them. In their weakened state, you can use a few combos to take them out. If there is only one, and WHp is low, then the trusty combo when their defence is down is always an option. RRR R R RRR R R R R Monster: Rash Dasher Dungeon: Gallery of Time Attacks: Close Range (Club) Can defend? No Monster Type: Beast Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: Its rather disturbing that the Gallery of Time, the last dungeon in the game, should contain many of the monsters from the first dungeon. Remember the Dasher monster? Well this monster is virtually the same. He’ll come speeding towards you at an enormous velocity, which is convenient for you, since you don’t have to bother running after him to do him in. Simply lop his head off using your trusty blade before he has a chance to raise his club. Monster: Rockanoff Dungeon: Divine Beast Dran’s Cave and the Demon Shaft Attacks: Close range (Rolling Attack) Can defend? No Monster Type: Stone Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This monster can do some serious damage if he manages to roll into you, so you want to avoid that happening. The best way to kill him is to lock on to him before he notices you. As he rolls towards you, power up a Charge attack, and then release it as he approaches you. Then run back to a safe distance, lock on to him again, and power up another Charge, releasing it again as he approaches. Repeat the process until his health is depleted to nothing. SSS S SSS S SSS Monster: Saturday See the Section entitled ‘Gnomes.’ Monster: Sax Dungeon: Shipwreck Attacks: Projectile (Ice Magic) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Mage Monster Weakness: Fire How to defeat: This monster is fairly easy to defeat, despite its fast moving ice bolts. You get a fair amount of warning that an attack is about to take place, as the Sax bends over backwards, before lunging forwards and shooting a spell at you. Just get close in, and attack when he lets his guard down. A few well-placed slashes should do the job. Monster: Sil (and Gol) Dungeon: Sun and Moon Temple and the Demon Shaft Attacks: Close Range (Pound + Punches) Can defend? No Monster Type: Stone Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: It’s those Golems again. You’ll first see Sil (and his mate Gol) in the Sun and Moon Temple, and there are an abundance of Sils in the Demon Shaft. Like all Golems, you should use Goro (or another close range fighter) and attack in the intervals between his pound and punch attacks, withdrawing so that you aren’t harmed. Monster: Skeleton Soldier Dungeon: Divine Beast Dran’s Cave Attacks: Close range (Sword) Can defend? No Monster Type: Undead Monster Weakness: Holy How to defeat: This monster is one of the first you’re likely to meet, and so is one of the easiest. A few sword swipes will quickly finish this monster off. Monster: Space Gyan Dungeon: The Moon Sea Attacks: Close Range (Lance) Can defend? No Monster Type: Marine Monster Weakness: Fire How to defeat: This guy is much harder than the Gyan you found in the Shipwreck since, instead of just swimming in a straight line, the Space Gyan can turn. This means that it is virtually impossible to attack the Gyan with a close range weapon without being hit at least once (after which just one combo will kill it.) Therefore, I recommend projectile weapons to nail this guy. Monster: Spade See the Section entitled ‘Playing Card Soldiers.’ Monster: Statue Dungeon: Divine Beast Dran’s Cave Attacks: Close range (Big Axe) Can defend? No Monster Type: Stone Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This guy is very slow, but very dangerous. If he manages to hit you while you’re slashing at him, he’ll cause some major damage to you, and you can’t defend using R1. What you want to do is lock on to him, and approach him, charging up a Charge attack as you do so. When you are close enough, and he has raised his Axe to its apex, release the X button. Now retreat, and repeat the process until he dies. Monster: Statue Dog Dungeon: Divine Beast Dran’s Cave Attacks: Close Range (Bite) Can defend? No Monster Type: Stone Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This enemy will remain in a box shape until you get up close, upon which it will unfold and attempt to attack you. Since it has a rather damaging attack, this is best avoided. Lock on to it before it unfolds, and a short distance from it begin a combo. As it unfolds, your last two hits should hit into it, which should easily kill it. It doesn’t have many HP. Monster: Steel Giant Dungeon: Sun and Moon Temple and the Demon Shaft Attacks: Close Range (Pound + Punches) Can defend? No Monster Type: Metal Monster Weakness: Lightning How to defeat: This monster is basically a Golem that decided it would don a rather heavy suit of reinforced steel armour. Which is bad news for you, since its defence is absolutely massive. The same tactic as the Golem applies. Use Goro, and bash him before he pounds the ground. Watch out if you get hit though – this monster packs an extreme punch and he will KO a character in about two or three hits. Monster: Sunday See the Section entitled ‘Gnomes.’ TTTTTTT T T T T Monster: Thursday See the Section entitled ‘Gnomes.’ Monster: Titan Dungeon: The Moon Sea Attacks: Close Range (Pound + Swipes) Can defend? No Monster Type: Stone Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: Another repeated enemy, the Titan is a further upgraded version of the Golem and the Steel Giant. This guy really shouldn’t be very tough for you now, and a few Charge attacks from Goro in the pauses between his attacks should bring him down easy. Monster: Tuesday See the Section entitled ‘Gnomes.’ V V V V V V V V V Monster: Vulcan Dungeon: The Moon Sea and The Demon Shaft Attacks: Close Range (Fire Spike) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Stone Monster Weakness: Ice How to defeat: Oh no. Not the Dune reincarnated. This guy is much the same, and you can use repeated Toan or Goro Charge attacks, or projectile weapons, to do him in. W W W W W W W W W WWW WWW Monster: Wednesday See the Section entitled ‘Gnomes.’ Monster: Werewolf Dungeon: Wise Owl Forest Attacks: Close Range (Claw Swipe) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Beast Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: Another easy to beat monster, the only thing that should annoy you about the werewolf is how often it blocks. As soon as you get near to it (and its guard is down) do a quick combo, and that should do the job. Combos will also interrupt the werewolf’s attacks, so you shouldn’t really be in any danger of taking any damage. Monster: White Fang Dungeon: The Moon Sea and The Demon Shaft Attacks: Close Range (Claws) Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Beast Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This is basically the same as the Werewolf from the Wise Owl Forest, and is also just as pants. You can use just about any character, and just hack or fire away when his guard is down, jumping back when he tries to slash you. In the Demon Shaft, this guy is a complete pain in the ass, however, since he seems to be invulnerable to all the elements. This means that, when fighting him, you need to remove any elemental attributes contained in your weapon. Monster: Witch Hellza Dungeon: The Moon Sea and the Demon Shaft Attacks: Projectile (Magic Bolt) Can defend? No Monster Type: Mage Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: This is the Witch Illza again, except that this time, instead of hurling pathetic poisonous apples, this momma hurls gigantic fire bolts at you, which can cause loads of damage. If you want to use a close range weapon to attack this witch, then get close, and wait for her to raise her wand. Then quickly dodge right just as she releases it to avoid the blast, and perform a quick combo before she can prepare another attack – this should do the job. Note that the witch can teleport all over the place just like her predecessor, leaving you slashing thin air. Monster: Witch Illza Dungeon: Wise Owl Forest Attacks: Projectile (Poisonous Apple) + Close Range Can defend? Yes Monster Type: Mage Monster Weakness: None How to defeat: It is probably best to kill this witch with a projectile weapon, side-stepping to avoid the apples she throws. It is more difficult to kill her with a sword or a mallet, firstly because she has a dangerous close range attack, and secondly because she can teleport all over the place. Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Monster: Yammich Dungeon: Divine Beast Dran’s Cave and the Demon Shaft Attacks: Close range (Drilling attack) Can defend? No Monster Type: Undead Monster Weakness: Holy How to defeat: This guy does exist in the UK version of the game, as I found out when I was wandering Divine Beast Dran’s Cave (to plunder the back floors, and obtain those oh so rare gems.) The evolution into 3D of the rest of the gaming world means nothing to the Yammich, and like many retro gamers, persists in believing that ‘2D is better.’ Hmm. Anyway, he didn’t seem all that difficult to me. As Savior 82 says below, just reel off a few combos, while strafing to avoid his drilling attack. Savior 82 (hedgehog@kotiposti.net) says... It can hit you hard in the start, but it's pretty easy. Just run up and slash, then strafe so he won’t hit you, then hack again if he isn't dead already. 4) Legal Stuff and Credits All material © 2001 Odge Thanks to Savior 82 (hedgehog@kotiposti.net) for the Yammich monster section. If you want to use these hints on your website, ask me first, and don’t change anything! I spent hours writing this thing, so I want some credit. If I’ve missed any monsters out (not counting the ones past the end of the game), if you have any further tips related to defeating the monsters, or if you have any queries relating to the game at all, please e-mail me. I can not guarantee that I will answer, or put up your comments, but you can try. _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx