__.--./`. __ _.-` } \ `-._ ,. _.-'` __.-. / '. `> | \ .-` ,` \ /. ._ ___ ' ' \ \ .` { \'/ } | '' `-.,_ <`------^. ' ' .`^.`.' <._ ( |`' ; | || ,._`-.| ,----.\ : : .-`.`'/`. `-._ \ / } | || | `. ) |___,. | `-`_.` | | . `. '. .' / | || | } ; ___ ) | <` | | { \ \ '< < | || | .` / | `' : '. | | \ \ ' ''._ `-.| || |,` .`| |_.----` ^. '. | | \ `._ ) `-.-._ || _.-` | _____.' / \ '.`-._> `. `-.___/ .' `--..\ \,' /.-` .' .' < `-. '._ _.-` ` _.' _.' `-------` '.___.--` _.-`_.-` `--` -=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=- + + | *** A Complete Sudeki FAQ/Walkthrough *** | = = | by - Syonyx - | + Version 1.01 + | | =-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ _____________________ _____________ TABLE OF CONTENTS GAME INFO 1) Introduction Title: Sudeki 2) Controls Platform: Xbox 3) Gameplay Genre: Action-RPG 4) Characters ESRB Rating: Teen 4a) Tal Developer: Climax 4b) Ailish Publisher: Microsoft 4c) Buki Release Dates: 20-Jul-04 (NA) 4d) Elco 27-Aug-04 (EU) 5) Walkthrough 6) Quest Summary 6a) Main Story Quests 6b) Optional Quests 7) Weapons & Armor 7a) Tal's Equipment 7b) Ailish's Equipment 7c) Buki's Equipment 7d) Elco's Equipment 8) Blacksmiths & Runes 9) Items & Commerce 10) Monster Compendium 11) Closing Info _______________________________________________________________________________ WALKTHROUGH IN-DEPTH CONTENTS 5a) Illumina Castle 5m) Road to Transentia 5b) Illumina Countryside 5n) Transentia City 5c) New Brightwater 5o) Transentine Research Center 5d) Return to Illumina Castle 5p) Crystal Reef 5e) Illumina Castle Revisited 5q) Siren's Grotto 5f) Road to Shadani-Mo 5r) Return to Crystal Reef 5g) Shadani-Mo 5s) Aklorian Countryside 5h) Shadani Temple 5t) Cyantine Citadel 5i) Realm of Shadows 5u) Road to Aklorian Stronghold 5j) Return to New Brightwater 5v) Aklorian Stronghold 5k) Illumina Castle Revisited, Again 5w) Elco's Awakening 5l) A Bunch of Side Quests (optional) 5x) Endgame *** To skip to a particular section, press ctrl-F and enter the section number (e.g. '5p') *** #+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1) INTRODUCTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+ Greetings to all, and welcome to my guide to Sudeki on the Microsoft Xbox. I am Syonyx, and I this guide will serve you well as you explore the realms of this gorgeous action-RPG. Climax has crafted visually rich characters and environments for you to squander your waking hours exploring, so fire up the big box, crank up the Dolby Digital, and prepare to enter a world of swords and sorcery, lust, honor, and betrayal, as four heroes face their destiny... I have attempted to make this guide as extensive as possible, and to that end have included, in addition to the full walkthrough, details on each story quest and side quest, full lists and details of all items, equipment, shops, monsters, etc. If you want any additional information or clarification, have a suggestion for improvement, or just want to make general comments on this guide, feel free to drop me a line at [syonyx_faqs at yahoo dot com]. #+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2) CONTROLS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+ =============== | =============== NOT IN COMBAT | DURING COMBAT =============== | =============== L-stick: Move character | L-stick: Move character R-stick: Move camera | R-stick: Aim in ranged combat A: Talk, action, select in menus | A: Vertical strike (melee) / B: Back up in menus | Fire weapon (ranged) X: Additional info in menus | B: Sweep surrounding enemies Y: Open Quick Menu | X: Horizontal strike (melee) / Change Black/White: Switch lead character | weapon (ranged) / Select in menu L trigger: Hold for 1st-person view | Y: Open Quick Menu R trigger: Center camera behind you | Black/White: Switch lead character D-pad: Use set Quickshot items | L trigger: 1st to 3rd-person view Start: Open Main Menu | R trigger: Defend (melee) / Back: Back up in menus | Fire weapon (ranged) L-stick (click): Put health bars | D-pad: Use set Quickshot items over characters | Start: Pause game R-stick (click): 1st-person view | Back: Back up in Quick Menu #+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3) GAMEPLAY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+ The story is broken up into a series of 'Quests', specific tasks entrusted to members of your party. Each quest may have more than 1 part, completed in sequence. As you seek to fulfill these duties, you will travel the world, engage in battles large and small, and pick up additional optional tasks along the way. Now, that doesn't tell you much, so let's go into more detail about how the game will progress. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ DEFINITIONS ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following are some of the terms and abbreviations you'll encounter in this guide and in the game. HP: Health Points. Refers to the amount of life each character possesses, or the amount of damage they can sustain before falling in combat. SP: Skill Points. Allows characters to perform special moves called Skill Strikes while in combat. SSP: Spirit Strike Points. Allows characters to call on incarnations of mystical guardians to devastate their foes in combat. Power: Physical strength. Determines the damage caused by regular attacks. Essence: Magical strength. Determines the damage or duration of effect caused by Skill Strikes. XP: Experience Points. Determines level increases. Obtained by completing quests, solving puzzles, and defeating enemies. N: North. S: South. E: East. W: West. NE: Northeast. NW: Northwest. SE: Southeast. SW: Southwest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ GAME SCREEN ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pardon my artwork, but here's the game screen and features that bear some attention: ____________________________________________ | __ | | / \ (+) |<-- Quickshot Navigation -->|( )> | menu map | \__/ | | | | | | | | ---()| other party | ---()|<-- characters | ---() | (shows HP/SP) | _ __ | | /_) ( \| | .-. __________ //==== ||<--lead player Combo meter -->|{!}()()() (_A_)__action__) //=====__/| character /ammo meter |____________________________________________| (shows HP/SP) (in combat only) ^ ^ ^ | | | (appears here | | Spirit Strike meter when not in combat)<----available action indicator While not in combat, the action indicator will pop up whenever a particular action can be performed. Press A at these times to take that action. This might be smashing a crate or vase, opening a treasure chest, talking to others, examining something, or performing a character-specific action (see below). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ WORLD EXPLORATION ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, so the main way to do this is to move around and use the camera to check out your environment as you progress through the game, passing through roads, fields, towns, and dungeons. However, there are some other tools to help you out, and some special things to look out for. -- NAVIGATION MAPS -- At all times, there is a round display in the upper left corner of the screen which displays the features of the immediate environment. The outlines of the local topography (basically the path that is open to you) will be drawn in blue. There will also be a white arrow around the outside of the circle while you are in the field, indicating the ultimate direction that you need to go in your current quest. Other features on this map include: -White dot + yellow cone: your current lead character's position and the direction they're facing. -Purple dots: other party characters. -Green dots: Friendly non-player characters. -Red dots: Enemies. You can also access World Maps through the Main Menu (see below). These maps display the entire region you're currently in. They can be hard to make out, but if you look closely, you can see the entire road system for the region. On these maps, there will also be icons indicating the locations of helpful service outlets: -Traders (scales icon): Buy and sell items. -Kamo's Shops (duck in hat icon): Buy and sell items. -Blacksmiths (hammer and anvil icon): Upgrade equipment. -Inns (knife and fork icon): Rest to restore all HP and SP. -- CONVERSING WITH OTHERS -- As you approach friendly non-player characters, the action indicator will appear, providing you with the option to talk to that character by pressing the A button. They will say what they have to say, both in text and audio format. You can accelerate speech by pressing A again in the middle of it, but this skips the audio portion. Sometimes, after a character speaks, you will have one or more options with which to respond or prompt the character for further information. Highlight the option you desire and press A again to activate it. One of the options will always be to just say goodbye. Talking to characters may be required for a particular quest, may give useful but not absolutely essential information, or may trigger a new side quest. Different quests will be available at different points in the game, too. So if you're in a big rush, you can ignore all passers-by, but it could also be in your interest to talk to every character every time you're in a particular area. It's up to you to find whatever balance you're happy with. -- FOUND OBJECTS -- Throughout the worlds of Sudeki, there are valuable and useful items to be found. Some of these are restorative items, some are only good for trading with others for cash or yet more valuable items. The different ways to fill your inventory without spending any money are: -Smashing crates/vases: Press A when the 'Break' action indicator appears near certain objects. Just don't be too disappointed if they're empty. -Opening treasure chests: You know whatever's in these has got to be reasonably good. -Dropped by defeated enemies: In battle, you must walk over these earned items to add them to your inventory. -Gifts from other characters: If you fulfill Quests for others, they will reward you in some way. -Hidden in the environment: There are a few items that can only be found by examining objects around you. -- ENTERING BUILDINGS -- As you approach a door, the action indicator will come up either as 'Locked', in which case you can still press A to rattle the door (serving no real purpose, however), or as 'Open', allowing you entry. Only the lead character will enter a building while the others wait outside. This is a minor problem if there is a barrier inside that only one character may pass by virtue of their individual skills. If you find yourself with the wrong person, go back outside, switch to the right one, and go back inside (unless the right person isn't in your current party, in which case you'll have to return at a later time). -- MONEY & SHOPPING -- You can obtain Florins (the currency of Sudeki) in 2 ways: finding some in treasure chests or smashed objects, or by selling valuable items to traders or Kamo. As for buying, a word of advice: Save your money primarily for equipment upgrades. You can usually pick up enough restorative items in the field to meet your needs, and don't need to spend Florins to purchase these items, though you may occasionally be desperate for a particular type of item, in which case spend away! There are 4 types of locations for you to spend your dough: -Kamo's shops: These franchise locations, found in or near towns, offer a wide variety of restorative items and some weapons for purchase. You can also sell your items here, but Kamo's pretty stingy and won't pay you much. -Traders: Located throughout the world, traders are particularly interested in purchasing your valuable items, but also offer a few items for sale. Each trader has a particular fetish, meaning that they will pay top dollar for a particular type of item, such as animal furs, or precious gems. -Blacksmiths: These skilled tradesmen can imprint mystical runes upon your current armor and weapons, conveying special attack and defense properties. You can also find special runes which any blacksmith will then be able to inscribe. Basic runes are square, while round runes are generally stronger and more expensive. -Inns: These comforting hostels offer rest, restoring the entire party's HP and SP for the meagre price of 25 Florins. See the Shops section much further down in the guide for details on the prices of all bought, sold and processed items for every shop and trader. ~~~~~~~~~ ~ MENUS ~ ~~~~~~~~~ There are 2 menus in the game: the Main Menu, which is only available when not in combat, and the Pause Menu, which you can access at any time, but which is particularly useful in combat. -- MAIN MENU -- Opening this menu shows you the full status of the current character, including their current and maximum HP, current and maximum SP, level, experience, and experience required to reach the next level. You can switch characters on the main menu screen and within any of the sub-menus by pressing the Black/White buttons. Scroll through the sub-menus by pressing left/right and press A to open the one that you want. Any options within each sub-menu will be displayed across the bottom of the screen. ITEMS: This is where you'll find all consumable items. You can use any of them for which you have a need (i.e. you can't use a HP-restoring item if all characters are at full HP), look at the descriptions of each, or assign them to the Quickshot buttons for rapid access during battle by pressing X while the desired item is selected. VALUABLES: There are 3 lists here, side by side, of items available for trade, equipment runes acquired, and key story items. Scroll over each item to see a brief description. ADVANCEMENTS: Here, you can spend available advancement points (acquired by leveling up) as you see fit on Max HP, Max SP, Power, or Essence, or you can learn new Skill Strikes. If you don't have points to spend, you can still just look at where each character stands. WEAPONS: All weapons for the current character will be displayed. Scroll through them to see their basic stats, inscribed runes and available rune slots. Press X while a weapon is highlighted to see a longer description of its qualities and history. ARMOR: As each character only owns one set of armor at one time, it will only display the current outfit, along with its inscribed runes and available rune slots. QUEST LOG: All current quests will be displayed in this menu. Highlight the quest title to read the description of the current task within that quest, which will change as you accomplish each task. Once the quest is complete, it will vanish from the list entirely. MONSTER COMPENDIUM: Each monster type that you've defeated will gain a listing in this menu, including a picture of that monster and a description of its abilities and status defenses. There will also be a suggested strategy for fighting it. Whether you heed this particular advice is up to you. MAPS: The maps available for viewing for each area you've encountered will be listed in one of three columns, divided by different realms. Open a map and look closely to make out the road pattern for that area. Not all regions will have maps to accompany them. OPTIONS: Control various game settings. I won't go into detail, the game tells you what you need to know. Of particular note is the ability to reverse the Y-axis (up/down) on aiming with the R stick during first- person view, primarily of use in ranged combat. QUIT: You can select this option at any time to exit the current game, load a previous file, or return to the most recent save point. You might want to do this if your game is going particularly badly. You will often notice that the sub-menu icons have a "+" character laid over them. This indicates that something new has been added to that menu, such as advancement points available to be allocated, a new weapon or armor listing, new items, or new quest information. -- QUICK MENU -- Opening this menu by pressing Y slows down the world around the lead character substantially, but not completely (so in combat, you can still be damaged if you take too long). It is the only way to use Skill Strikes and Spirit Strikes in combat, and is invaluable for using items not added to the Quickshot buttons in emergency situations. It is also the only way to modify your allies' AI setting. The following sub-menus are available: SKILL STRIKES: The current lead character's special abilities will be listed here, along with a brief description and the SP cost. If you have enough SP, you can activate the skill by selecting it during combat. SPIRIT STRIKES: These ultra-special abilities are also particular to each character and will be acquired at key points in the game. Activating each during combat requires sufficient Spirit Strike Points, which can be restored by causing and taking damage in combat. WEAPONS: Use this to change weapons on the fly. Does not contain the full descriptions that are found in the Main Menu, so get to know your arsenal well. ITEMS: Use any consumable item on any character that needs it in a flash. Just remember that even though time is slowed while the Quick Menu is open, it isn't stopped completely, so don't take too long deciding what to use. A.I.: Set the artificial intelligence settings that will influence how non-lead characters will behave during combat. See below for more details on each setting. OPTIONS: Go to the options menu (same as for Main Menu) to change settings. ~~~~~~~~~~ ~ COMBAT ~ ~~~~~~~~~~ -- INITIATING COMBAT -- Battles occur only in pre-set designated areas. As you travel the lands, you will pass through a number of small areas, some of which will see you pit against the forces of darkness. If you re-enter these areas at any time, you may trigger another battle, either with a similar group of enemies, or different foes altogether. You will sometimes be spared a fight upon re- entering an area, because some are determined by some unknown percent chance of combat, but others will see you fighting each and every time you enter the area, even if you just cleared it out, stepped over the threshold, and re- entered it 2 seconds later. -- GENERAL FLOW AND A.I. -- Once combat has been established, the music will change to a more exciting theme, the sky may darken, your characters will draw their weapons, and monsters will start to appear. At this point, all controls switch to the battle configuration, your combo or ammo meter will appear in the bottom left corner of the screen depending on which character is in the lead, and the Main Menu will no longer be available to you (though you can still pause the game by pressing Start). The combat system in Sudeki is largely controlled by the games A.I., or artificial intelligence. This means that any characters other than the one you're controlling directly will still participate fully in battle (sometimes performing better than if you were controlling them yourself). You can switch between any characters in your party at any time by pressing the Black/White buttons, and the computer A.I. will take over the previous character. This allows for fast-paced, often chaotic combat with dozens of characters acting all at the same time over a large area. You will have to switch characters whenever you want to use a particular character's Skill Strikes, as these can only be activated by you, or when you want to heal anyone, as the A.I. only allows your allies to move, attack, and defend. While you can exert no specific control over characters other than your lead at any particular time, you can adjust their A.I. settings to determine the overall slant of their actions. Open the Quick Menu and choose the rainbow- colored brain icon to access the A.I. menu. Select the character you want to change and set them to one of the following 3 options: -Attack: The character will go after any nearby enemy and try to take them out. They will run after enemies if there aren't any nearby. Characters on this setting will still defend if surrounded and call for help if seriously injured. -Defend: On this setting, characters will adopt a defensive stance more frequently. They will still seek out enemies if none are nearby. -Retreat: Choose this to make characters avoid combat, running away from enemies whenever possible. Just remember that even though the other characters can largely fend for themselves, it is still you're responsibility as the player to keep the party alive and kicking. You can only heal characters through direct actions, either using special Skill Strikes or restorative items (which can be used on any character that needs it regardless of where they are on the field). To use a healing item on another character, however, you must select it from the Quick Menu. The Quickshot items programmed onto the D-pad will only be used on whoever your lead character is (unless it's a rare whole-party item). Remember, too, that player characters cannot harm each other, so feel free to unleash attacks around your allies without fear. -- MELEE COMBAT -- Combat in Sudeki can take one of 2 forms: Melee, a.k.a. up-close and personal hacking and slashing, or Ranged, where attacking takes place from afar. Each character can engage only in one of these 2 forms of combat. Tal and Buki are your melee fighters, Tal engaging the enemy with his sword and Buki with her claws. When controlling a melee fighter, the camera is in third- person mode, as it is for most of the non-combat game, allowing you full view of your character and their immediate surroundings. Melee combat includes 3 types of attacks: vertical slashes (A), horizontal slashes (X), and spin attacks (B) to knock over enemies surrounding you but without causing them much damage (one note: Buki seems to take longer to make this move and has a shorter radius of attack when she does, compared to Tal). In addition to single slashes, the player can also carry out a number of combos using the X and A attacks. Entering combos depends on proper timing. Watch the combo meter in the lower left corner of the screen, and as each circle flashes, press the next button in the combo sequence. NOTE: Tal's combos require slightly slower button presses than Buki, so get used to the timing for each. COMBOS: A, A, A - Rapid slashing attack. Easy to execute. X, X, X - Spinning horizontal attack. Easy to execute. A, X, X - Forward charging attack. Plows character into enemies. X, A, A - Spinning stun attack. Wide area of attack on final strike. A, X, A - Jumping air attack. Slow but extremely powerful. X, A, X - Slow spin attack. Vulnerable while making final strike. X, X, A, (A, A, A) - Vertical juggling combo. Can add up to 3 hits. A, A, X, (X, X, X) - Horizontal juggling combo. Extendable attack. These combos will be elaborated on further for each melee character in a section below. It is important to note that you can control your direction throughout a combo to a limited extent, meaning that you can sometimes target different enemies with each hit. Use this to your advantage when surrounded, or when a combo finishes off an enemy before the final strike. Since you're in the thick of it in melee combat, you're almost always in a good position to unleash a furious Skill Strike on nearby enemies. It also means that you're highly vulnerable to enemy attacks, so watch out for what's going on around you and heal as necessary. -- RANGED COMBAT -- Ailish and Elco are your ranged fighters. Ailish fires blasts of magical energy from a variety of staffs, while Elco uses a collection of high-tech guns to dispatch foes. When controlling a ranged fighter, the camera shifts to first-person view, in essence turning the game into a mini-FPS (First Person Shooter). You can control your movement in this view with the left analog stick, moving back and forth and strafing left and right. You can control the direction you're facing with the right stick. In essence, full movement control requires coordinated use of both sticks simultaneously. Use the R trigger to fire your current weapon while doing so. Hold the R trigger to fire continuously (if the weapon allows it). You can also use a pseudo-physical attack to clear surrounding enemies by pressing B (similar to in melee combat) Your firepower varies according to the weapon equipped. You can cycle through the weapons in your inventory by pressing X. Weapons will cycle down the list as they appear in your inventory, looping back to the top after the last weapon. Each weapon also has a particular amount of ammo, or number of times you can fire before you must reload. Reloads happen automatically once you're out of shots, and the time to reload varies by weapon. For both Ailish and Elco, the initial weapon has unlimited ammo and can be fired continuously, but is also fairly weak by comparison. Some weapons have area effects upon contact with a target, some can only hit enemies at closer range while others can shoot across the entire field, and some weapons' shots can pass straight through enemies to hit multiple targets in a line. Whenever you get a new weapon, experiment with it from a safe position in combat to get a feel for its abilities. -- DEFENDING -- Attacking is all well and good, but you also need to know how to defend yourself to stay alive. The easiest way to do this is to keep moving using the L analog stick, dodging attacks before they connect with you. In melee combat, you can also raise a shield by holding the R trigger. This will defend against most attacks, but powerful enemies will be able to break through your shield, so it's not always effective. You can also perform acrobatic rolls while blocking in melee combat, by holding R trigger and moving the L stick left, right, or backwards. The character can thus move out of a lot of sticky situations. And again, the B-button sweep attack can clear surrounding enemies, giving you a brief breathing space. In ranged combat, you have no shield with which to defend yourself, so continuously moving around the field is your best option. Since you attack from a distance, you can stay away from any enemies while still contributing effectively to battle. Remember that ranged fighters also have use of the sweep attack, so press B if monsters are getting too close. It is especially important to keep moving while a weapon is recharging, since you're vulnerable during that period. -- SKILL STRIKES -- All characters have special abilities that they can learn and use during battle, called Skill Strikes. These powerful techniques are useful for doing massive damage to multiple enemies, healing or reviving allies, or conveying positive status effects to your party. New Skill Strikes can be learned by spending advancement points on them after leveling up. To activate a Skill Strike, open the Quick Menu during combat by pressing Y. The action all around you will slow down to a crawl, giving you a moment to make your selection from the Skill Strike menu (you don't have forever, though, so make up your mind quickly). Performing a Skill Strike requires that you have enough SP. If you don't, restore it by using restorative items, or by sleeping at an inn between battles (there are also some weapon runes that will restore your SP as you cause damage to enemies). You will also be unable to perform a Skill Strike if your character is 'not ready', meaning that they are busy recovering from being hit or are otherwise engaged in a certain action. Once you have selected a Skill Strike, you will see your character in third- person view with a colored zone indicating the area of effect of that skill. The area will gradually fill with brighter color, and once it is full, the skill will be activated. This gives you a little bit of time to aim or move yourself into an ideal position to ensure the maximum effect from the strike. You are invulnerable while the skill is charging in this manner. If at any point you find that your Skill Strikes are not as effective as you would like, one option is to boost your Essence after leveling up and earning advancement points. Each character's essence score determines the strength of their Skill Strikes, either through the amount of damage they cause or the amount of time that the status-enhancement skills last. -- SPIRIT STRIKES -- In addition to the powerful Skill Strikes, characters will gain the use of Spirit Strikes. These ultimate powers can either devastate an entire field of enemies, or bestow positive status effects upon your party and negative status effects on your opponents. performing Spirit Strikes requires sufficient SSP (Spirit Strike Points). These are shared by the entire party, and are gained by engaging in combat, damaging monsters and taking damage yourself. Your party's max SSP is 200. Damaging Spirit Strikes consume 200 points, while status Spirit Strikes only use 100. The SSP meter is the curving sliver along the left edge of the lead character's icon in the bottom right corner of the screen. It fills with silver to reach 100 SSP, then again with gold to reach 200 SSP. -- USING ITEMS -- This was discussed briefly above, but it bears repeating, since it will help keep your party alive. In combat, there are 2 ways to use restorative items. First, you can use those already mapped to the Quickshot menu (D-pad). This has to be set up in the Main Menu between battles. Quickshot items are also only used on the current lead character. The other way is to open the Quick Menu, and quickly choose the desired item from the list, then the character to use it on (only those who can benefit from the item will be listed). You cannot use items from the Quick Menu if you are busy recovering from being hit or otherwise engaged in another action. -- STATUS EFFECTS -- There are several positive and negative status effects that can be applied to either player characters or enemies. When a status effect is in play, its corresponding icon will appear over your character's icon in the bottom right corner of the screen, or over an enemy's health bar. Most positive status effects will also be indicated by a glowing ring at the character's feet. The statuses are as follows: POSITIVE STATUSES: Boost (Red heart) - Doubles physical damage caused with regular attacks. Haste (Yellow up arrow) - Increase speed of movement. Protect (Blue shield) - Halves damage received from all attacks. Regen (Green drop) - Gradually gain HP over time. NEGATIVE STATUSES: Weaken (Broken heart) - Halves damage caused to others with regular attacks. Slow (Purple down arrow) - Reduce speed of movement. Curse (Broken green shield) - Doubles damage received. Poison (Green bottle) - Gradually deplete HP over time. Freeze (Snowflake) - Unable to move for short time and very vulnerable to attacks. Stunned (no icon) - unable to move for a few seconds or until hit. Indicated by stars around head. All statuses vanish at the end of battle, and some will fade on their own even while the battle still rages. You can also remove negative statuses by using special items (Panaceas) or certain Skill Strikes. It is also possible for player and enemy characters to possess innate defense against specific negative statuses. For your party, this is achieved through inscribing special runes onto your armor. For enemies, this is an inherent quality. The statuses that each monster is resistant to will be listed in their entry in the Monster Compendium, viewable through the Main Menu. When a player or enemy attempts to invoke a negative status on a character that is immune to it, a black shadow of that symbol will appear (in the same location that active status effects do), indicating that resistance. Continued attempts to inflict that status will be pointless. You can also gain temporary resistance to a particular status by curing yourself of it using a Panacea or special Skill Strikes. -- EXPERIENCE AND REWARDS -- For each enemy dispatched, the team is rewarded by a certain number of experience points. Combined with experience gained in completing quests, this is how characters will grow and advance in their abilities. All characters in the party gain experience for enemies killed by any character. In addition to experience points, some monsters leave behind treasure when defeated. You must then walk over the dropped item to collect it (this often happens automatically as you are killing them in melee combat). These prizes can be either valuable items for trade, or consumable restorative items. Items can be picked up after the end of battle too, once your fighters have sheathed their weapons, but if you wait too long the items will vanish. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When your characters gain enough experience (see the Main Menu main screen for the current level, experience points, and experience to reach the next level for any characters in your party), they will gain a level and receive one or more advancement points. Use these as soon as you get them to make your life a lot easier. Open the Advancement page from the Main Menu, switch to the character you want to advance, and scroll through the possible ways to spend your points. Each character increases in the various stats by different amounts for each point spent, for example, Tal will gain 500 max HP for each point, while Ailish only gains 300. Use this to your advantage, but also think of what kind of fighter you want each person to be. A mix of strengths throughout your party generally the best way to go, but you might prefer to, say, make Elco physically very powerful by increasing his Power, or you might prefer that he can perform lots of Skill Strikes and boost his SP. In the end, it's up to you and how you want your characters to perform. Just remember that they all need some balance, so don't neglect any category entirely. You might be unable to advance a particular stat beyond a certain point before you reach a certain level of experience (e.g. you can't raise any stat more than 7 times until you reach level 20). This discourages you from spending all of your points in one area at the expense of all others. Aside from increasing Max HP, Max SP, Power, and Essence, you can also learn new Skill Strikes from the available list. To learn a Skill Strike, you must first have sufficient max SP to be able to perform it, then you must spend an advancement point on it. Not every character absolutely needs to have every one of their Skill Strikes, but you could find some use for all of them if you tried. Here is a table of the experience points required to reach each level. Note that the maximum level you can obtain in this game is 30. Level | Experience Level | Experience ============================================= 1 | 0 16 | 11000 2 | 100 17 | 15000 3 | 200 18 | 20000 4 | 300 19 | 25000 5 | 500 20 | 30000 6 | 750 21 | 35000 7 | 1000 22 | 40000 8 | 1250 23 | 45000 9 | 1500 24 | 50000 10 | 2000 25 | 55000 11 | 3000 26 | 60000 12 | 4000 27 | 65000 13 | 5000 28 | 70000 14 | 7000 29 | 75000 15 | 9000 30 | 80000 That's it for this section. If you can think of anything else that might be useful in explaining how to play the game, please let me know (see bottom of guide for contact information). #+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4) CHARACTERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4a) TAL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tal's father left the family to pursue a life with the Illumina army, leaving Tal and his brother to be raised by their mother. Unfortunately, war claimed the lives of both mother and brother while Tal was still young. Lacking other role models in his life, he became determined to prove himself to his absentee father by training as an elite soldier. Tal has grown skillful as a swordsman, but is still stung by the loss of strong family ties. FIGHTING STYLE: Melee WEAPON: Sword SPECIAL ABILITY: Strength. Tal can push and pull large objects to remove barriers in his path. Use this ability on large crates and other objects with handles for grasping. ADVANCEMENT LEVELS: HP: +500/point Power: +10/point SP: +20/point Essence: +5/point MELEE COMBOS: A, A, A - Lightning Thrust. Rapid vertical slashes followed by a forward thrust. Quick, must be aimed well at target. X, X, X - Sidewinder Slash. Horizontal cuts can also hit nearby enemies, finished by a spinning knock-down strike. A, X, X - Crusader's Charge. Two strikes followed a forward dash and final cut. Moves you out of the way of other foes. X, A, A - Whirlwind Smash. Ends with planting your sword and kicking in a circle, briefly stunning enemies hit. A, X, A - Aurora Scythe. Horizontal spin jump and downward slash is powerful, but slow and leaves you vulnerable while executing. X, A, X - Typhoon Cutter. Rotating horizontal cut, knocks down opponents. Quicker than Aurora Scythe. A, A, X, X, X, X - Blade Mirage. Multi-slash combo. Moves you forward a bit, may help dodge other enemies. X, X, A, A, A, A - Tornado Spin. Juggles opponents with series of upward slashes, moving you forward a bit. SKILL STRIKE SP Description & quotes =============================================================================== Iron Warrior 40 Bestows party with Protect status, reducing the damage they receive. Duration depends on Essence. "Stand behind me. I shall not fall!" "I shall lead us to victory" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Will of the Sword 10 Creates an energy sphere around Tal, blasting and stunning surrounding enemies. "Stand firm!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shin Splitter 20 Tal sweeps his sword in an arc, damaging and knocking over enemies. "I'll stain the floor with your insides." "Those that stand before me, die!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blade Spark 30 Throws an electric spark ahead of his with his sword, damaging opponents. "You shall die by my blade here, or there!" "You shall taste pain... Blade Spark!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Geyser Charge 30 Creates an eruption of earth beneath any single target, with unlimited range. "The earth and you shall feel my rage!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blade Dance 75 Tal spins continuously with his sword for a short time, repeatedly damaging enemies. Steer him with the L stick to target enemies. SPIRIT STRIKE SSP Description & quotes =============================================================================== Sword of Ashuran 200 Summon the incarnation of Kariston the wolf to make the earth erupt and devastate all enemies. "I call on Kariston to deliver final judgment!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moon Wolf 100 Grant Boost status to all allies and Weaken status to all enemies. "I summon Kariston, protector of the world, slayer of the demons!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4b) AILISH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailish is the daughter of the Queen of Haskilia and grew up in luxury in Illumina Castle. She has also been blessed with magic abilities almost unmatched in the realm. Despite the tight control of her life, this sultry sorceress is a free spirit, and won't hesitate to go off on adventures against her mother's wishes, consequences be damned. She has admired Tal for his physical, uh, prowess, for some time, often watching him practice his swordplay from the castle balconies. She lacks friends of the same station in life, but has developed a somewhat unequal relationship with her servant, Yemi. FIGHTING STYLE: Ranged WEAPON: Magic staffs SPECIAL ABILITY: Magical Sight. Ailish can see objects invisible to others, and make certain objects vanish or appear at will. To use this ability, look for areas with fluttering yellow fairies. Examine the area in first-person view, then press A to make the object appear or disappear. ADVANCEMENT LEVELS: HP: +300/point Power: +7/point SP: +40/point Essence: +10/point SKILL STRIKE SP Description & quotes =============================================================================== Witch's Kiss 40 Bless the entire party with healing energy, restoring some HP. "This one's just for you." "You can't resist my healing kiss." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blaze Ball 30 Generate a fireball and blast it forward through enemy ranks. "Burn in hell, you fiends!" "You will burn in the inferno." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shadow Nexus 75 Revive any defeated allies and restore some HP to the to the entire party. "From the depth of the void comes the pain of the fallen." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestial Circle 60 Create a field of holy power to damage surrounding enemies. "Fiends, leave this world!" "Get back, or I'll toast your soul." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gaze of the Wind 45 Grant Haste status onto all party members. Duration depends on Essence stat. "Always one step ahead." "Come on people, pick up the pace." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Permaforce 80 Drop surrounding air to sub-zero temperatures, damaging and causing freeze status to monsters. "I'll freeze the hearts of those that fight against me." "I'll chill your flesh and break your frozen hearts." SPIRIT STRIKE SSP Description & quotes =============================================================================== Pure Land 200 Summons the incarnation of Olivitess the eagle to freeze the terrain and devastate all opponents. "Olivitess, queen of light, banish those who assail us!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spirit Flute 100 Revive any fallen members and bless party with the power of regeneration. "Olivitess, entrust us with your power in our fight against evil." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4c) BUKI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Buki is an Anthropomorph, a race of half-human half-animal beings sharing the world with humans. Anthropomorphs are highly spiritual creatures, and Buki is no exception. She holds great respect for the mystical world and honors the deities that watch over it. Buki is also a formidable warrior, trained from an early age to defend her people. FIGHTING STYLE: Melee WEAPON: Claws. SPECIAL ABILITY: Climbing. Buki can use her claws to hang from and scale certain walls that are covered in ivy-like growth. Once attached to a wall, she can move up, down, and sideways to reach otherwise unattainable areas. ADVANCEMENT LEVELS: HP: +400/point Power: +10/point SP: +25/point Essence: +6/point SKILL STRIKE SP Description & quotes =============================================================================== Spirit Wind 50 Grant regeneration status to entire party, slowly restoring their HP. "The spirits guide this wind to us. Breathe deep, my friends." "The great eagle watches over us. We are honored indeed." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Path of the Warrior 80 Slows down time for everyone except Buki, allowing her to move among enemies and kill them with ease. "You will see things no one else can see, do things no one else can do." "Only a focused spirit can walk the path of a warrior." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clawed Frenzy 35 Slash foes with her claws in a furious attack affecting an arc ahead of her. "I will shred your flesh, and tear your very soul asunder." "My claws will taste blood, then they shall feast on your bones." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Storm Kick 25 Start a continuous spinning kick that repeatedly damages foes. Steer her with the L stick. "When I attack, even the heavens scream." "I am the one!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asilas the Wolf 40 Summon this animal guardian to fight with you, attacking and distracting enemies. "My savage friend, your skills are needed." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dragonfire 60 Send a blast of fiery dragon's breath in a line across the field. "A dragon's rage is second only to Mo, the great cat." "Writhe in agony! The serpent fang bites deep." SPIRIT STRIKE SSP Description & quotes =============================================================================== Fire and Ice 200 Summon the incarnation of Mo, the great cat, who burns then freezes the land, destroying all foes. "Spirit of the fiery beast, release your fury on unclean souls!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blessing of Mo 100 Bestows protect status on the entire party while while inflicting all enemies with curse status. "Spirit of my ancestor, come forth and rage in battle once more." "Great Mo, return to the world and fight with me." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4d) ELCO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elco is a tireless engineer and inventor, and possesses great wisdom despite his young age. He lost his left arm in an industrial accident and endured the pain of grafting a mechanical arm in its place. He is mistrustful of mystical beliefs not grounded in the world that he can see and understand, but his loyalty to his friends and his liege is unquestionable. Elco is a married man (sorry, ladies), and he values his wife Tilly above all other things. FIGHTING STYLE: Ranged WEAPON: Guns SPECIAL ABILITY: Jetpack. Elco can power up his jetpack temporarily by absorbing the energy from nearby glowing crystals. He can then use his pack to sail across great chasms and reach new areas. ADVANCEMENT LEVELS: HP: +350/point Power: +8/point SP: +50/point Essence: +5/point SKILL STRIKE SP Description & quotes =============================================================================== Cybernetica 40 Fire volley of pulse charges in wide arc ahead of him, damaging several enemies at once. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nano-Enhancement 35 Use nanobots to boost the physical damage caused by party members. "Okay, time out." "I hope these things work, they are still prototypes." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plasmatica 55 Unleash an energy device to send a blast ripping through a line of enemies. "Let's put a little lead in the air, and see what falls over." "Do you feel lucky, punk? Statistically, your chances are not good." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Toxic Cloud 30 Spray poison gas into the air ahead of him, causing damage and poison status to enemies. "Eat rocket fuel!" "Smoke on this!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tesla Shield 50 Removes any negative statuses from the party and transforms them into positive ones instead. "Shocking stuff, huh?" "Switching Tesla generator to full power!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trick Shot 80 Fire a grenade under any enemy with unlimited range, damaging them significantly. "I'm going to kill you in the face!" "Now you've made me mad." SPIRIT STRIKE SSP Description & quotes =============================================================================== Storm of Wrath 200 Summon an incarnation of Lebius the dragon to devastate all foes with an electric storm. "None can stand before us when the spirits are with us!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unkind Universe 100 Caste haste status on all allies and slow status on all enemies. "Lebius, by your will even time will dance!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUEEN LUSICA: The stern queen of Haskilia, residing in Illumina Castle. GENERAL ARLO: The hard-as-nails captain of the Illumina elite guard, he is Tal's superior officer as well as his largely absentee father. YEMI: Ailish's lady-in-waiting at Illumina Castle, and the closest thing she's got to a friend. DENSI: Yemi's mother. She lives in New Brightwater, and is always welcoming to guests in her home. TILLY: Elco's young wife, a resident of Illumina Castle, and an acquaintance of Princess Ailish. She fully supports her husband despite his eccentric nature. LORD TALOS: Mysterious masked figure, both respected and feared in the kingdom of Illumina. A master of the arts of war. CAPRINE: Queen of Cyantine in the realm of Akloria. She is a wizened old magician with great knowledge and compassion. KAZEL: Head of the Cyantine armed forces, and a magnificent swordsman. ALEXINE: Daughter of a wealthy family in Akloria, her magic ability is surpassed only by her beauty. NICO: Wise anthropomorph and strong fighter, from a near-extinct tribe. CAFU: Gentle artist who knows the value of dreams in the human experience. #+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5) WALKTHROUGH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+ Throughout the walkthrough, I will try to divide the action by main areas and sub-areas. Sub-areas are named at the bottom of the game screen when you enter it. Use this to help you keep track of where you are in the guide. FINDING ITEMS: I have listed the key items and treasures found in chests for each area of the game. One thing I could not do, however, is list the items found in breakable items (chests, barrels, urns), because these items are randomized to some extent, i.e. you'll only find the more powerful healing items and certain valuables in difficult areas late in the game, but the exact contents of each barrel/chest/whatever changes from game to game. So your best bet is to just smash everything you can find! I realize that this can get tiresome, but it's worth it in the end, at least until you reach the point when you're carrying the maximum number of most items. SECRETS: There are many hidden items in this game, most of which require the use of one or more character's special abilities to reach. Throughout the walkthrough, I will mark these special items like this: *** Do this task here to get to the hidden item. Look for these markings *** throughout the walkthrough to make sure you get everything. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5a) Illumina Castle ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ -== Training Grounds ==- First of all, enjoy the lovely opening FMV. After being introduced to some of the characters, the first point you gain control is when Tal is engaged in a combat training demonstration. Use this opportunity to practice with the different melee combos and establish the proper timing for button pressing. You have to perform the actions that are dictated at the top of the screen. Once they end, you can keep going for as long as you like. Press the Back button when you're done to exit training. -== Castle Grounds ==- Chest items: 25 Florins 75 Florins 100 Florins As soon as you start to move out, a fellow soldier informs you that you need to pick up a map at Kamo's shop. If you ask him to, he'll take you all the way there (though he walks pretty slowly). Otherwise, you can use the knowledge that it's in the NE corner of the courtyard to locate it on your own. You can also check your area map in the Main Menu to get a look at the entire castle layout, with icons indicating Kamo's, the Blacksmith's, and the Inn. Have a good look around a talk to some folks for some basic information. Don't miss the treasure chests! There's one along the N wall past the sheep pen, and another along the S wall behind the last market stand. There's a third chest by Kamo's shop, too. Be sure to smash open barrels and vases, too, because you never know what you might find inside. Look around the area and notice several doorways that are locked right now. You'll get a chance to open them later on, don't you worry. You might also notice the puppet master advertising his show. It's the same as the intro when you load the disc, so don't waste your money. If you talk to the 3 little kids running around the area, you can initiate the first side-quest (see optional quests section of this guide, below walkthrough). Once you're done exploring everywhere else, enter Kamo's shop and talk to the miserly duck. -== Kamo's Shop ==- Talk to Kamo at the counter, and choose to pick up a map. You have obtained the Wilderness Map! Look at his wares for sale, too. You don't need to buy anything at this point, though you might want to pick up the status-healing items if you're particularly paranoid. There's also a crate you can smash open in the store for a small prize. Leave the shop to start another brief FMV and receive the next part of your mission. -== Tal's Room (optional) ==- Chest item: 100 Florins To get to Tal's room now or at any time, climb the stairs to the right of the gate leading S away from the castle. Examine the bedside shelf to find the Battle Manual, which goes under Quest items in the Valuables menu. All it does is remind you to use B to clear surrounding enemies. -== South Courtyard ==- Chest item: Wolf Totem Once you've crossed the first gate, you're in a smaller, unpopulated area. There's a door on the right, which if you examine, describes a mechanical opening system (okay, the door doesn't describe it, the game does, but you know what I mean). *** Go to the left up the stairs to reach a large yellow button. Press it. *** You'll see that the door opens, and a timer starts. You have 10 seconds *** to enter the room it reveals, so run straight there. You should make it *** with 2 seconds to spare. Open the chest inside to receive a Wolf Totem. *** You'll find out what to do with it later. Head through the other large gates. -== Drawbridge and Harbor ==- Cross the bridge and notice the save point. You've come this far, you might as well use it. Head into the dock area to find many barrels and crates to smash for items to trade later. -== Castle Checkpoint ==- This tunnel system helps the castle control who moves in and out, but it's seen better days due to the ongoing war in the countryside. Eventually you'll come to an abandoned marketplace, where you take a left to continue down the tunnel to reach the outside. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5b) Illumina Countryside ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ -== King's Road ==- Head up the road and admire the scenery. You'll notice some buildings along the sides of the road that are all locked up. They'll stay that was throughout the game. Eventually, an FMV shows the sky darkening while Aklorians attack. For your first real battle, you have a little help from your 2 recruits, who won't cause much damage, but can at least distract the enemies a bit. After the first wave of attackers, another set appears, then some more. At the end of the road, which is barricaded, go through the door on the right to continue. -== Nolan Farm ==- Chest item: 100 Florins Whoops, so much for your recruits! In this, your first solo battle, it might be wise to use your sole Skill Strike (Shin Splitter) on the melee fighters who all rush you right at the start. Just lure a bunch of them close together, and wham! Anyway, use the large size of the field to maneuver around your enemies. I know you can do it. After the fight, check the side of the porch of the farmhouse for a treasure chest. Past the farm, talk to the soldier tending his fallen comrade for an ominous message. Where the path splits to go around a tree, there's a temporarily abandoned trading post on the right, and a Wolf Shrine on the left. Examine the latter to start the Wolf Totem quest, and to receive your first prize (assuming you picked up the Wolf Totem in Illumina Castle. If you didn't, you can still get that one later). Just ahead, there are a couple of heavy crates blocking the path. Hold A while standing in front of them to have Tal move them. Pull the first one back, then push the next crate forward. You can also push both to the side to make the path even clearer. Look at the ground to see the tracks that you can push the crates along. -== Parham County ==- Chest items: 100 Florins 250 Florins After another battle, Tal will likely level up. You have 1 advancement point to spend, so choose wisely. HP might be a good investment right now, since you don't have any back up, but you should also have a lot of Healing Ointments, so if you're careful you can just use those. It's up to you, all I can do is offer my opinion. Notice the busted cart blocking the road ahead. This will be cleared much later in the game. For now, take a left towards the river, and go back along the wall on this side to find a treasure chest. There's another chest if you climb the ladder in front of the water wheel. Also check out the round blue thing on the ground. What is it? Cross the bridge to start another fight with a new, bigger, badder monster, the Grotesque. After a moment, some other fighters will appear, so take them out while avoiding the Grotesque. Once you can concentrate on him, dodge his attacks and hit him from behind. While he's got boosted power (red heart, red glow at his feet), it's best to just avoid him until the effect fades. Watch out when you get his HP really low, because he'll explode, damaging you in the process if you're too close. After the fight, the path to the left is blocked by a cart again, so you have to go to the right. But even before that, go to the save point on this side of the bridge. Past it, and past the house, there's an outhouse along the cliff wall. It's got handles, so you can pull it to the side. *** Pull the outhouse to the side to reveal a climbable wall for another *** character to use later. At the end of the path through the graveyard zone, there's a gate for you to open to progress further. To the right, though, you can enter a narrow area of the cemetery with many urns to break with goodies inside. There's a statue at the end with an inscription that you can read, with a hint of what to do later. Go through the gate when you're done to trigger another battle, and go through the next gate when finished that. -== Brightwater Beach ==- Chest item: Mojo (weapon) Talk to the guard behind the house and check out the shack's resident in his beach chair. Inside the house, talk to the other guard to get a hint of what to do later on. Back outside, head down to the beach proper for a fight with 2 waves of Aklorians, with a Grotesque in the second wave. Collect the treasure chest that appears when you win. Past the beach, there's a save point, which I highly recommend that you use. Across from it, notice the Eagle Shrine, which you will return to later. Just ahead... boss fight! ____________ ______/ Siege Ogre \___________________________________________________ | | | This battle requires some quick dodging. Let the ogre get close to | | you, then dodge to the side once he stops, either by blocking and | | rolling, or just running to the side. While he's busy unleashing his | | barf attack, hit him from behind with some quick strikes. After you | | do some damage, he smashes his shield over his head and throws it | | away. After this, when you let him approach you, he'll smash the | | ground with his club and cause and eruption of earth. As he does | | this, run around him and hit him from behind. Just 1 or 2 strikes is | | better than getting caught in the middle of a combo while he pounds | | on you. If instead of raising his club, he just shakes his body, | | he's about to fart and unleash a cloud of gas that will poison you if | | you touch it (and the cloud stays around for a short time). If you | | are poisoned, smash the barrels in the corner to get an Emerald | | Panacea and use it. | |_______________________________________________________________________| Once the ogre falls, watch an FMV in which Tal receives his first Spirit Strike, new armor, and a Rune Scroll. -== Path to New Brightwater ==- Enter the tunnel the ogre came out of and follow it through to the lands beyond. Along the path, you'll encounter Jurgen, your first trader. Man, are all traders weird fethishists like this guy? ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5c) New Brightwater Village ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ -== Shadani Encampment ==- Chest item: 50 Florins As you enter the mini-village at the top of the road, Kirklin-Rah the bunny man will let you know that Ailish is indeed in the village. If you prompt him further he'll give you even more details about which house to visit to locate her. Note that 2 of the tents are locked. You may be able to enter them later on. There's a treasure chest tucked behind one of the tents, so open it before moving on. Head down the path for a small FMV showing off the town. -== Village Square ==- Right near the entrance and the save point, there's a small boy named Sunder-Rah (the bunny-man's son). If you pay him 50 Florins, he'll take you to the major destinations in town on request. This is a steep price, though, since you can find everything easily on your own. If you do choose to employ his services, just talk to him and tell him where you want to go at any time. Feel free to check out the shop (what's Kamo doing here now? Talk to him to find out), the blacksmith, or the inn, but they're functionally no different from those in Illumina (though you have a rune scroll that shows up as a round weapon rune at the blacksmith, even though you don't have any weapons that can take it at this point). In the church straight across from the town fountain, agree to give the preacher 50 Florins, then another 20 Florins, and the church font will grant you full healing (but no SP restoration) anytime you check it from this point on. You can also play the organ, but the thrill wears off quickly. A couple other points of interest: you can enter the graveyard behind the church and read some of the headstones. Also, behind a trio of houses on the N side of the road, there's an outhouse that's locked, but if you rattle the door, you get a funny reply. When you've done all that you want to in town, head into the blue house that the road encircles (just behind the boathouse) to talk to Yemi. She tells you that Ailish is at the lighthouse, so continue along the main road and take the stairs on the left when you reach the last house. -== Brightwater Lighthouse ==- Chest item: 150 Florins You can see Ailish standing by the lighthouse. Approach her to initiate a FMV, finish the current quest, and pick up a new one. You now travel as a team, and can switch between the two characters at any time. *** You can now enter the lighthouse. There's a chest inside, and you can *** can also check under the bed for a Stardust Vial. -== Village Square (with Ailish) ==- Chest item: Orb of Vigor First of all, head up the road past the house at the bottom of the stairs from the lighthouse. *** At the top of the hill, there's a pavilion with a ring of benches. On *** one side, you'll notice a swarm of yellow glowing lights. These fairies *** indicate a magically-hidden item that only Ailish can reveal. Have her *** look at the area in first-person view (either click the R stick button *** or hold the L trigger) and press X to make a chest appear. At this point, if you talk to Sunder-Rah (the little animal boy near the entrance to town) and choose the top response, you can initiate a side-quest in which you must give him Brightwater Pearls. -== Brightwater Thicket (optional) ==- Chest item: 150 Florins To get here, just head north up the road across the river. There's only a treasure chest and a cheetah-woman who will give you a hint about fighting a certain type of monster. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5d) Return to Illumina Castle ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Head back out of town the way you came. You'll have to re-cross all the areas you came through to get to Ailish in the first place. -== Brightwater Beach ==- Chest items: Orb of Vigor Eagle Totem Once you pass through the tunnel, you start a brief training mode for Ailish. Checklists of tasks for you to complete will appear at the top of the screen. Just do what they say to destroy the barrels, make a chest appear, then make the cart disappear. Down on the beach proper, you get into a fight with some new monsters. The Aquaticlaws sometimes drop Brightwater Pearls, useful for the quest initiated with Sunder Rah back in Brightwater Village. You can also use Ailish's Shockstaff weapon to take out multiple Venom Gnats in one shot. Now, re-enter the beach house with Ailish in the lead. Remember the rumor about the invisible treasure? *** Use Ailish's special ability on the wall with the glowing fairies to *** locate a chest with your first Eagle Totem. You can return to the *** shrine right now and offer it up, too. -== Parham County ==- Chest items: Orb of Might Eagle Totem You first encounter some Scarecrows, just defend against their wild spinning attacks and let loose on them when they end, if you're using Tal. *** After you pass through the next gate, remember to go through the small *** cemetery section above the main road to the statue of Ailish's ancestor. *** Use Ailish's dispel ability next to the statue to reveal a treasure *** chest. Continue through the area, and cross the bridge over the river. After another fight with Venom Gnats and Scarecrows, head through the gate opposite the cart blocking the other path. *** There's a well by the beehives with glowing fairies. Have Ailish dispel *** the well wall and climb down the ladder to a chest. Open it to get 25XP *** and an Eagle Totem. Just ahead, the trader across from the Wolf Shrine has returned, now that the Aklorians have been cleared out. He has a thing for scaly hides. Hey, whatever rocks his boat. -== Nolan Farm ==- Chest items: Hukin's Fate (weapon) 150 Florins The farmhouse is now open to you. In the first room, remember to go left to find a treasure chest. Head deeper into the kitchen and down the stairs to the den, where another chest holds a weapon for Tal. -== King's Road ==- Here you face a long battle, with new waves of Aklorians teleporting in as you advance down the road. At one point, you'll be prompted to try Tal's Spirit Strike, but it's better to wait until the final wave, when Grotesques appear, to lay that particular smack down. -== Illumina Castle ==- Just head up the tunnel and go over the drawbridge to complete the quest and to watch another FMV. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5e) Illumina Castle Revisited ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ -== Tal's Room ==- Chest item: 100 Florins (only if you didn't get it before) If you didn't visit here last time you were in the castle, you can still pick up the Florins from your chest, and check the shelf by the bed for a little document. Head outside to pick up your next, very short quest. -== Castle Courtyard ==- There's nothing new for you to do here now, so feel free to head straight to the training grounds on the W end. -== Training Grounds ==- Chest item: Orb of Might Inside, a FMV reveals some conflict in the family. You're sent next to report to the castle courtroom. *** If you re-enter the training ground, you can find a block-pushing puzzle *** in the back corner. Push the left block forward twice, then go back and *** pull the middle block back once. Finally, push the right block in twice *** to reach a treasure chest. -== Castle Interior ==- Chest items: 150 Florins 25 Florins Head into the castle and follow the path around to the rear door. Enter it to watch a FMV, after which Ailish is alone and in charge. Head back into the courtroom and talk to everyone. The tailor in the red will give you the Woluf Pelt collecting quest if you ask him why his job is on the line. Head outside and now, as Ailish, you have access to some new areas of the castle grounds. -== Lusica's Garden (optional) ==- Chest items: 250 Florins 1000 Florins 500 Florins Orb of Might Enter the door that is between Kamo's and the castle entrance (you couldn't enter as Tal, but as a member of the royal family, it's open to you). Cross the bridge, and you'll find that your passage is still barred on the other end. No worries, just climb down the ladder on the left side of the door. Below, there's a red door, which if you took on the street urchins earlier in the courtyard, you now have the key to. There's also a tunnel with another ladder that leads into the gardens. In the gardens proper, you have to be careful not to be spotted, for if any of the workers see you, they'll send you back outside. It's no big deal, you can just come back in again, but still, just watch the navigation map for green dots and use your eyes too. There are lots of breakable objects in the gardens, and a couple of treasure chests as well. *** At the very N end of the garden, head up the stairs and to the right, *** then enter the tunnel to find a magically-hidden chest for Ailish to *** dispel. -== Ailish's Room (optional) ==- Found item: Skill Salve Ailish's room is up the stairs next to the entrance to the training grounds. Talk to the guard there as Ailish to gain access. Inside, you can talk to Yemi and Tilly, Elco's wife. If you examine her vanity table, you'll find a small treasure. -== Training Ground (optional) ==- Chest item: Orb of Wisdom *** Beside the target range, there's a wall that Ailish can dispel to reveal *** a treasure chest. When you're done poking around everywhere, just leave the castle via the usual path. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5f) Road to Shadani-Mo ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ -== King's Road ==- At the end of the road, Ailish gets assaulted by a swarm of Venom Gnats. Use her Shockstaff weapon to take out multiple targets at one time and the fight will go easier. -== Nolan Farm ==- Here, you face a pair of Scarecrows too. If you want to use Blaze Ball, just try to get them both lined up. You can manage just fine with your regular weapons, though, as long as you keep moving. -== Parham County ==- Hey, the road ahead is clear! Someone must have moved that cart. Anyway, take the path opposite where you entered, staying on this side of the bridge. -== Sheep Herder ==- There's a pleasant man who loves his sheep. Talk to him to start a sheep- herding mini-game, after choosing to wager either 50 or 100 Florins. Run near the sheep to make then run in the opposite direction from how you approach them. Get a clump together and push them towards the entrance to the pen just up the hill from where the herder is standing. Once a sheep is in the pen, it'll stay there, so just worry about the rest. Each time you get one in, you'll get a message saying how many are left. It's easiest if you start by going down the road and rounding up the stragglers there, then deal with all the ones on the grassy hill. You can cheat a little too by rounding some sheep up and placing them near the pen before you talk to the herder and initiate the game. The prizes are as follows: 50 Florin wager --> Brightwater Pearl 100 Florin wager --> Illumina Opal Plus, you get 50XP the first time you win. You can return at a later time and repeat the game as many times as you want. -== Path of Totems ==- Nothing special, just an abandoned hut along the road. Eventually, the path widens into a small clearing with some signposts. If you go straight ahead following the signpost, you go through Spirit Valley. If you go to the right towards the save point, you take the Path of Mo. Let's start with the latter. -== Path of Mo ==- Take the lower path from the save point. You shortly come to a signpost advertising a trader. Follow that path. *** Have Ailish dispel the wall at the end of the trader's path to reveal a *** hidden cave. Mandrik the trader awaits inside. Keep following the path. You'll come to a small red signpost that points to the Cat Shrine, which you need to return to later with Buki. At the top of the sun-bleached ramp, you re-join the path on the other side of Spirit Valley. -== Spirit Valley ==- All there is in Spirit Valley is a fight with a pack of Wolufs and a red Pack Leader. Kill the Pack Leader first to cause all of the Wolufs to be slowed. Up ahead, there are more signposts indicating where the path back to the Path of Mo starts, and also pointing the way to progress ahead towards Shadani-Mo. Take that path, leading to the left. -== Woluf Valley ==- Here, you encounter a Pack Leader and Wolufs again. Take them out, and a whole bunch more will appear and surround you. But it's Tetsu to the rescue! Enjoy the FMV, in which you get the Witch Armor and Ailish's first Spirit Strike. You also earn 20XP for some odd reason. After the series of events, just head out of the valley where the twin signposts point the way. -== Susto's Gorge ==- There's an anthropomorph family here without much to say, so just keep following the linear path until you reach the outside of the city, where there's a save point and a Kamo's Shop. The ramp into Shadani-Mo village is on the left. *** Go past the entrance to the village and move along the wall to the *** corner. Ailish can dispel a wall blocking a cave here, but no one can *** enter it right now. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5g) Shadani-Mo ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Chest items: 50 Florins 100 Florins X 2 250 Florins To the right upon entering the village, there's a small side area marked by a blue flag. Inside the house there, there's a treasure chest. Behind the house, there's a path leading into a cavern with a bell, which is no use to you now. In the house that the blacksmith is working beside, there's a tunnel leading down to some crates that you can't move, so ignore this spot for now. In the middle of the village, the small hut serves as the inn, so rest up if you want to. There's also a treasure chest in the inn. Towards the back of the main village area, speak to Opal in her small house. Give her sympathy and she'll give you a Healing Ointment. There are 3 other side areas to the village: the yellow-flagged area on the right side leads to the Shadani Temple. If you try to enter there before speaking with Carrick Lore, you receive an extra quest to find him, which will net you 40XP that you wouldn't get if you just went straight to the lore-master first. Enter the green-flagged area to find the 'Council Room', with a treasure chest tucked behind the stairs. The red-flagged area is the elder's housing area. Enter the first central hut to speak to Carrick Lore and ask about your friends to acquire the Hunting Spear, which will let you enter the temple. There's also another treasure chest in his hut. Once you've got Carrick Lore's blessing, head up the path to the temple. Once your friends are in sight, a FMV takes over, and Ailish and Tal take the lower path while Elco and Buki take the high road. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5h) Shadani Temple ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ You can save your game outside the temple before heading in. You can also go back and rest in the inn if you want to restore Tal's or Ailish's health and SP. Inside, follow the winding path down and around to enter the temple proper. -== Tal & Ailish's path ==- Chest item: Eagle Totem After wiping out the spiders that come down from above, it's puzzle time. Stand Ailish in the middle of the room and look at the glowing fireflies in first-person view. Dispel the illusion that was hiding the blue torch. Now have Tal push and pull the 3 torches so that they're each over the block of the identical colors. The three blocks are all between the starting positions of the red and green torches. You get 30XP each for solving this highly complex puzzle, and the doors with the blue flags on the side of the room open up. Continuing onward, head down the tunnel and stop at the save point if you wish. Further below, you come to an optional fountain room. Walk under the water to be fully healed. *** To the left of the fountain, there's a wall that Ailish can dispel. *** That's all you can do for now, you'll have to return later with other *** party members. At the bottom of the tunnel, another round room awaits with more spiders to eliminate. Opposite the entrance to this room, go up the ramp that encircles it. At the top, have Ailish dispel the wall. Inside, there are 3 urns of incense, red, blue, and yellow. Opposite this room, there is a torch and 2 closed gates. You have to throw incense into the large torch to make the color that corresponds to the small torches by either gate. You can also only carry one color of incense at a time, so you have to make a couple of short trips. *** Open the green gate first! Throw blue and yellow incense into the fire *** to do so, then go up the ramp and enter the next room. Fight 2 Impaler *** Spiders, then open to chest to receive an Eagle Totem for Ailish. Go back to the incense and pick up red and blue (one at a time) to throw into the fire to open the purple gate. You get 30XP for doing this (you also got 30XP for opening the green gate). Go up the ramp to switch parties. -== Buki & Elco's path ==- Chest items: Orb of Might Orb of Power Shalizeh (weapon) Around the rim of the level you start on, there are 2 locations for Buki to climb. Each is marked by moss on the wall. Move Buki to these walls and press X when the action indicator reads 'Climb'. Going counter-clockwise from the start, this leads to a lever that you must pull to open the exit door. *** Going clockwise from start, climb the mossy wall with Buki to reach a *** treasure chest. Enter the door with the yellow flags and go down the tunnel to a small room, where you fight a couple of waves of spiders. Get used to fighting with the new characters. Open the opposite door and continue onward. You eventually reach the top level of the Shrine of Mo, where Ailish and Tal pushed some torches around. After a fight, it's up to Elco to fly through the rings on this level. Stand near the yellow crystal to the left of the entrance to charge up your jetpack meter, then press and hold A to hover. Use the L stick to fly around the room clockwise, passing through the pair of rings to unlock the door. If you fall to the ground, just climb up the ladder to another crystal and try again. Go through the E door that you unlocked. When the tunnel turns to the right, look left to find a treasure chest. Just down the path there's a save point. Ahead, you enter a square room where you must fight a whole bunch of Arconites. Open the chest in this room to receive a new weapon for Buki. Ahead, you enter the Dragon Chamber. Your duo splits up here. As Elco, go counter-clockwise to reach an energy crystal. Charge your jetpack and fly across the gap, then keep flying until you reach the floor with 2 circular runes. Get on your feet and stand on one of them. Switch to Buki now, and go to the fallen debris by the entrance to this area. You can climb the wall up and over the debris. Do the same across the next gap. Stand on the other circle, and the game switches to the other partners again. -== Tal & Ailish again ==- You can go back along the path to smash open some breakables if you like, or just go ahead and open the door in front of you. Inside the long hall, advance a bit to trigger a fight with some Arconites. Afterwards, head to the far end of the hall and stand in the circle in front of the large statue. Have Ailish look to either side and dispel the blocks in front of the totems. Tal must pull each totem out 3 spaces and push them over once to cover the squares on the ground. You gain 50XP for this feat, and the doors beside the statue are unlocked. Head through them. Go through another set of doors to enter the Dragon Chamber, on a level below Buki and Elco. Go clockwise around the ramp until you reach the floor. Here, there are four glowing panels surrounding a central ring. You must move the four pillars with glowing blue gems in them onto the 4 panels, so that the gems are all facing inwards. In the SW corner, the panel is covered by the wrong pillar, so pull it off. The SE panel is already correctly covered, so don't worry about that one. Along the W edge, pull the first of the pillars that are next to each other to the very SW corner, then push the other pillar over to it and up onto the panel. Next, go to the NW corner. The S-most of the 2 pillars needs to be pushed in once, then pull the other pillar S and over to the panel. The last pillar needs to be moved around the roots to the final panel, completing the puzzle. You get 65XP for accomplishing this, and the dragon statue breathes fire, burning the webbing blocking a cave at the very top of the ramp. Head up the ramp and enter the room you opened, and use the save point. Head into the tunnel to trigger a FMV reuniting the entire party. Buki must fight Queen Ghara, guardian of the temple, alone. _____________ ______/ Queen Ghara \__________________________________________________ | | | There is a set pattern to Ghara's attacks, and once you learn it, the | | battle is easy. She'll stand in the centre and rear up, then charge | | at you. If you dodge and she hits one of the four pedestals around | | the room, she'll be stunned, and you'll have time to get in 3 to 4 | | combos on her before she recovers. When she does, run away, because | | she does a body slam that sends out energy waves for a short | | distance. She then returns to the centre. From there, she'll often | | spit purple goo at you, which if it touches you or if you walk into | | the patch it creates, you'll be slowed. Just use a Sapphire Panacea | | and this worry is eliminated for the rest of the fight. After | | shooting goo, she'll charge again, so just let her hit a pedestal | | again, rinse and repeat until she's dead. | |_______________________________________________________________________| Buki receives 750XP and the Vampire-Fanged Scroll after the fight, and another FMV ensues. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5i) Realm of Shadows ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Chest items: Orb of Might X 2 Debilitator (weapon) Just down the ramp from the portal area, the path leading out of here is dead ahead. Don't take it yet, though. Go left a short distance and find the mossy wall for Buki to climb. *** Have Buki climb the wall just counter-clockwise from the ramp to find a *** treasure chest. The team gets 25XP just for this, in addition to the *** chest contents. There's also a path at the N side of the area that leads to some breakables. Now you can go and take that main path on the E side. Follow the path until you reach a bridge. At the bridge, the camera view changes. Your goal is to cross the bridge without letting the ghost heads touch you, because they take away 50 HP and 25 SP each time (but only from the lead character). It can be hard to judge when they'll touch you, so just do your best. They won't kill you outright. At the other end, there's a save point, and past that, a hell of a fight. Watch your health, especially since you'll likely be poisoned. If you survive, head through the gate at the other end, and run up the winding path. At the top, before entering the metal gates, take the path to the left to the end. Touch the glowing orb near the treasure chest. You'll see what it does later. Return to the gates and enter. This is another large battlefield, and watch everyone's health. Don't be afraid to use lots of Skill Strikes, and even Tal's Spirit Strike would be in order. After the battle, head to the E end of the field and go N through a small wooden gate. You'll find a house by the save point. Enter it and climb the ladder to trigger an FMV in which the team meets Hexam. Return to Hexam's house and speak to him at any time to fully heal the party. With key in hand, you can now also open the large gate in the previous area (after another fight, of course). You now get to cross another bridge. But wait! This time, due to the power of the Ghost Orb, every time a ghost touches you he heals 50HP and 25SP, but only for the lead character. The effect disappears when you reach the other side, but there's another Ghost Orb on the right for you to use. Please do so, and also note the save point here. Enter the Hall of Heads. Creepy. Note the pike at one end that seems to be missing a head. Anyway, cross another bridge on the other side, and pick up another Ghost Orb between the tree roots before heading through the iron gates. This triggers the next boss fight. ____________ ______/ Farex Lore \___________________________________________________ | | | This fight plays out more like a regular fight, just with a really | | tough guy thrown in. You can kill the smaller foes, but Farex Lore | | will just keep regenerating more. Still, this is a good way to get | | extra XP and Spirit Orbs. It's best if you attack the main guy with | | whoever your lead character is (feel free to switch frequently) and | | let the others take care of the fodder. It'll take a while to bring | | him down as he stomps around and launches a variety of melee attacks. | | Just keep at it and he'll fall eventually. | |_______________________________________________________________________| You receive the Soul Seeker Scroll for your trouble. Have Buki enter the iron gates on the opposite side of the arena, and climb the mossy wall, after of course opening the chest for Elco's new weapon. Climb down the other side of the wall and run along the path that forms as you cross it. In a FMV, Buki picks up the navigation stone, and Tetsu appears to her, granting her a Spirit Strike and the Mist Tiger armor. You also get 25XP for picking up the stone. Return Buki to her friends and head back out toward the Shadow Nexus. On the way back, make sure you pick up the Ghost Orbs before crossing each bridge, and put whichever character you want to heal in the lead. Remember that you can go back to Hexam's house for healing. On your way out after the last bridge, you will run into Pitt, the ferryman of the dead, at the top of the ramp leading down to the Nexus. Agree to collect souls to begin a new quest that can produce a new weapon for each member of the party! This quest encourages you to go back and kill more enemies in this region to gain the Spirit Orbs you need. Remember, if you fight near Hexam's house, you can get healed whenever you want. You can only carry a maximum of 99 Spirit Orbs, so don't push it. At the Shadow Nexus, another FMV ensues. How did Hexam beat you here? You all return to New Brightwater in a flash of light and a load screen. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5j) Return to New Brightwater ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Your job this time is to find a boat to rent so you can return to the castle in style. If you try to leave the village by going up the road past the Shadani encampment, or by entering the stone portal, Ailish complains and makes you turn back. What a princess. Anyway, talk to the boat guy near the docks, and he'll ask you to retrieve his oars. As Buki, move to the cliff right beside the blacksmith, and climb down the wall where the barrier is missing. Pick up the oars by the smashed boat, then climb back up and return to the boatman. *** Talk to the blond man walking around, Reddish, and ask him about his job *** in the castle to receive Talos' letter. You must do this before you *** return the oars to the boatman, or do it on another visit to the town. *** The letter doesn't do anything for you, though, it's just something to *** add to your valuables list. Oh, you can also examine the fountain on the side by the bench to find 50 Florins. The lady in the red dress, Sasan Miko, gives you a hint of this if you ask her about the town. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5k) Illumina Castle Revisited, Again ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ This is the first time you're in the castle with the whole team. If you've been following this walkthrough, there aren't many new things to do, but if you didn't do them earlier, this is a good time to visit Ailish's room by the training grounds, and go to the Garden via the bridge beside Kamo's shop. -== Training grounds ==- Now, training is in full swing. There's a pen on the left side with a hanging straw dummy, and any character who steps in there can practice their combat. Also, General Arlo will be standing in the back. Talk to him to pick up a new quest where you have to bring him Cyantine Eyes. -== Illumina Castle ==- Chest items: Orb of Might Orb of Wisdom X 2 500 Florins Orb of Vigor Orb of Power You can go to the courtroom and finish the Pelts for Ricardo quest (or start it, if you didn't earlier). Also, if you talk to Porkin Binsce, who is standing near the throne, he'll give you the Balcony Key. *** Once you have the Balcony Key, bring Elco into the courtroom and open *** the door on the right side. Go up the stairs and stand by the crystal *** to charge his jetpack, then fly over to the 2 treasure chests. Cross *** the balcony, pass the ladder and go down the stairs on the other end. *** Pull the lever to unlock the other door. Now bring Ailish in here, go *** through the new door, climb the ladder to the second balcony and dispel *** the chest, then dispel the wall just ahead to reveal another chest. Now *** go out and bring Buki to the second balcony, enter the area where Ailish *** dispelled the wall, and climb the ivy to reach another final chest. *** Finally, have Tal come in and climb the ladder to the upper balcony, and *** look to the spot on the wall with the brighter blue runner and 2 *** handles. Pull this block out to reveal the last chest in this area. How's that for a secret? Anyway, now you can finish the current quest. Go around the ring in the castle entrance to reach the engineering room and talk to the guy standing there. He'll ask you to confirm when you want to continue the main game, so choose yes when you're ready. After a FMV involving Tal and his father, Ailish is commanded to report to her mother. Enter the courtroom to trigger another FMV and begin your next quest. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5l) A Bunch of Side Quests (optional) ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ I'm going to put this stuff at this point in the walkthrough because it's a good time when you can roam the world freely (at least those areas you've been to before). Any of these actions can be done at any time from here on in until the final sequence of the game. Just make sure you've got the right person in your party to do them. You could have done these before returning the crystal to Illumina Castle, so you would have the whole party together. -== Return to Shadani-Mo (optional) ==- Chest items: Cat Totem 150 Florins X 4 Take the path to Shadani-Mo, past the sheep herder (play if you want), and into Spirit Canyon. *** Just over the dirt bridge by the waterfall, there's an ivy-covered wall *** for Buki to climb that leads behind the waterfall to a treasure chest *** with a very important Cat Totem. Continue onward to Shadani-Mo. There are several things to do there. First, you can talk to Lamper, the small boy walking around town. He'll challenge you to a bell-ringing contest, where you have to find and ring all 5 bells in the town. The bell locations are as follows: 1. In the village centre, just past the house with the blacksmith; 2. In the village council area (left side of main village); 3. In the elder's home area (left side of main village); 4. Outside the entrance to the Shadani temple (right side of village); 5. In the first area to the right on entering the village, up the ramp behind the houses, and down the ladder into the pit. Once you've rung them all, return and talk to Lamper to receive your prize: an Illumina Opal. Have Tal enter the hut with the blacksmith working outside. Descend the ramp and push the boxes around to clear the path to 4 treasure chests, all containing some Florins. Talk to Campos in the Shadani temple entrance area. This carver will give you the Shadowstones quest. Talk to Opal in her tent in the main village area. She'll give you the Balum's Staff quest. In the village elder's area, talk to Mafu in the side tent to receive the Mafu's Proof quest. Also go into Carrick Lore's tent and check the shelf near the treasure chest. You can pick up a skull, which you must then take to the Hall of Heads in the Realm of Shadows at any time. Talk to the woman by the cooking pot to get the Duct Soup quest. Finally, talk to Malik in the rear tent to gain permission to enter the Trials of Mo. -== Shadani Temple (optional) ==- Chest items: Melakorka (weapon) Orb of Vigor Dragon Totem Head into the temple and follow the path until you reach the fountain room (take the blue-flagged doors from the Shrine of Mo room, where you pushed the colored torches around). To the right of the fountain, follow the path to a wall that Buki can climb. Do so, open the chest, and pull the switch on the wall. This lowers a gate on the other side of the fountain. Go and open the chest it revealed. Now, find the yellow crystal tucked around the corner from the entrance to the fountain room. Charge up Elco's jetpack and fly across to the chest. Open it and fly back. Make your way back out of the temple again. -== Trials of Mo (optional) ==- Chest items: 250 Florins 2000 Florins 500 Florins Cat Totem 1000 Florins Once you've spoken to Malik, the Shadani village chief, you can take on the trials of Mo. Go outside the village and go left to the corner of the cliff wall. Have Ailish dispel the wall, then have Buki enter the secret cave. She will face 5 trials, each consisting of 3 waves of enemies to defeat. At the end of each trial, she receives a treasure chest. Open it to receive a treasure and start the next trial if you wish. If you choose not to do the next trial, or if you die, you'll return outside. You can re-enter the cave at any time to pick up on the next unfinished trial. Since you're fighting alone, using your Asilas the Wolf Skill Strike is useful to distract the enemies. If you're trying to do all of the trials at once, save your SP (or make sure you've got lots of restoring items) for near the end, and save a Spirit Strike for the end too. You don't have to do them all at once, though. You can quit part-way through and go rest at the inn, or buy more supplies at Kamo's. If you level up at any time, advance yourself before starting the next trial. 1st trial: 2 Wolufs + Pack Master, 4 Aquaticlaws, 3 Scarecrows. 2nd trial: Arconite Warlock + 2 Arconite Raiders, 5 Arconite Raiders, 2 Arconite Raiders + Arconite Warrior. 3rd trial: 3 Wolf Spirits, 2 Wolf Spirits + Eagle Spirit, 5 Wolf Spirits. 4th trial: War Wyrd, 3 War Wyrds, Illusion Master + 2 War Wyrds. 5th trial: 2 Illusion Masters, Wyrd Warlord + 2 War Wyrds, Toxic Scribe. Hint: for any enemies that can be poisoned, just do so with the Mephiticus (if you have it), then you can just run around and wait for them to fall over. This is particularly useful with the War Wyrds, and is almost a necessity since they can cast regenerate on themselves (poison will cancel regeneration). Another hint: for really easy fights, just keep using Storm Kick and restoring SP as needed. -== Realm of Shadows (optional) ==- Don't return here unless you need to fulfill the quests you picked up in Shadani-Mo, i.e. Fallen Warrior's Skull and Balum's Staff. Go to see Hexam and the Hall of Heads to complete those quests. -== New Brightwater Village revisited (optional) ==- Go and talk to Jim, the lighthouse keeper. He'll tell you about cargo washed up on shore at Brightwater Beach, and that other people are missing stuff too. Talk to Sherry, Sasan Miko, Galex in the inn, and all 4 fishermen on the pier. Go to Brightwater Beach, and you'll find breakable chests near the water. Smash them open (after a fight) to receive the prizes. Leave the area and return to get more chests, and repeat until you've got all of the treasures. Return to the village and give them all back to their respective owners. Also, if Buki talks to Hazim, the bear-man in the Shadani encampment, he'll give her a quest to fetch Arconite Skulls. Now that all of that is done, return to Parham County and head off to Transentia, like you were supposed to all along. Use a portal ring to go to Parham County if you want to take a short cut. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5m) Road to Transentia ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ -== King's Road ==- At the end, you'll encounter an Aklorian raiding party that shouldn't give you too much trouble. They're the same type of monsters that you encountered in the Shadani temple. -== Nolan's Farm ==- Another fight. Basically, just keep going until you reach Parham County. -== Parham County ==- Chest item: Orb of Vigor When you reach this area, you get into a fight with some Venom Gnats and Scarecrows. Cross the bridge for another similar fight. On the other side of the bridge, the cart that was previously blocking the left path is now gone. This is the road to Transentia. *** Behind the house by the river, there's an ivy-colored wall for Buki *** to climb, provided that Tal moved the outhouse out of the way earlier. *** Climb it to reach the treasure chest. -== Transentia Road (Ailish & Buki) ==- Chest items: Orb of Vigor Veshchenega (weapon) Cat Totem The women enjoy a nice chat as they go along. Pass Fatty's Scrapyard, and stop one you go through another arch and see a signpost pointing to Transentia City. Look to the right to find a cave behind a tree stump. There's a treasure chest in there. After a battle encounter, continue up the road. Watch along the right side of the road for a break in the cliff marked by some large pipes. Head to the back of that dead-end and turn around. *** Climb the wall in the back of this area with Buki to find... another *** wall. Climb up, across and down that one to reach a chest with a weapon *** for Buki. Just ahead, along the left side, there's a break in the wall, but ignore it for now. It's for Elco later on. There's a trader and a save point up ahead, too. When you reach a closed drawbridge, it's up to the 2 of them to put the pieces back together. First, have Ailish dispel the green button on the side and press it. Now, Buki must climb down the cliff beside the end of the path. There's another button for her to press there, completing the bridge. *** There's another wall for Buki to climb at the other end of this *** platform, leading to a mechanical cave with many breakable items and, *** more importantly, a chest with a Cat Totem. Reunite the pair and move them across the bridge. After a fight with some Arconites, Tetsu appears to Ailish again in a FMV. She gains another Spirit Strike and the Seraphitic Armor. Head through the next gate and go down the road notice the Dragon Shrine on the right side. You can't do anything here now, so continue onward. After a brief fight, go through the cave, then down the docks and talk to either robot to board the flight to Transentia. -== Transentia Road (Tal & Elco) ==- Chest item: Dragon Totem You start part-way up the road already. Just ahead, on the left, watch for the break in the wall beside the water tower. Have Elco climb down the ladder there. *** Charge your jetpack and fly over to the green button. Press it, then *** immediately fly past the previous platform, between the metal pipes, and *** to the cavern at the back of this area to the chest. Float to the *** ground and take the ladder back up to the crystal. You can fly back and *** smash the crates if you want. Follow the same path as Ailish and Buki, fighting a couple of battles along the way, until you reach the airship. Talk to either robot to hop on. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5n) Transentia City ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ -== City Level 1 ==- Chest items: Dragon Totem Wolf Totem Head inward to trigger a conversation with the maintenance man. You have to help him fix the elevator system or you're not going anywhere. Climb up the ladder on the right to reach a crystal and fully charge your jetpack. Fly a short distance to the platform on the left, land and climb the ladder there. Fly left a little more to in front of the machine, and examine it to replace the cogs. *** From the second platform, if you fly to the right instead, you can reach *** a treasure chest with another Dragon Totem for Elco. Back on the ground, note the bunch of crates behind the first ladder you climbed up. *** Have Tal pull the first line of crates back so he can get in the middle, *** then pull one of the second line of crates 2 spaces back while pushing *** an adjacent crate forward, to reach the chest in the upper left corner. Head toward the elevator to trigger an FMV while you wait for the lift to come down. -== City Level 2 ==- Chest item: 500 Florins On this level, you can find a blacksmith, a save point, and, down the stairs, the Rusty Cog tavern and inn. At the bottom of the stairs, if you go left, you'll reach a work area with a treasure chest behind one of the big pipes. You can also talk to the 'female' robot outside the tavern to receive the Heart's Heart quest. Talk to the robot outside the lift when you want to go to another level of the city. -== City Level 3 ==- Chest items: 500 Florins Wolf Totem There's a treasure chest right beside the lift entrance, underneath the stairs. Up the stairs, you'll find Kamo's, and the entrance to the university. Across from the entrance to Kamo's, there's a ladder leading to a special arena. *** Have Tal climb the ladder and accept the battle challenge. To fight the *** killer machine, here's the best advice: block, block, and block. Defend *** yourself almost constantly when he's near, wait for him to finish a *** strike, then immediately hit back with only one or 2 hits. If you try *** to do a combo, he'll hit you and hurt you bad. Let him push you into a *** corner so that when he does his other attack, a wide area blast with a *** long charge time (so you can see it coming easily), you can run to *** the opposite corner to avoid the blast. If the blast hits you, you will *** die, no doubt about it. If he's charging up while in the middle of the *** arena, you can't get far enough away to survive. But, if you run into *** him, you can slide him over toward a corner, giving you room to hide on *** the opposite end. Be patient, keep blocking, and you'll come through *** fairly unscathed. You get a Huge Gold Bar and a Wolf Totem for winning. Head into the university via the round sealed door (why do they need these things?). Go past all of the desks and talk to the teacher to take an exam. I don't know if the questions change, but here are the ones I got last time I played: 1. Some Glue Spiders spit sticky webs. True. 2. Most of the people of Illumina follow the religion of Tetsu, the Giver of Life. True. 3. The Wyrd's earthquake attack can damage you even if you block. True. If you get 3 questions right, you receive a Healing Potion. If you get any wrong, you can talk to him again and keep trying. The questions are based on information that you can receive by talking to the young anthropologist outside the university entrance, and to professor Gottgetreu on the next city level. Go up the stairs past the desks to locate the professor and the ladies in a FMV. You get automatically taken to the Research Center entrance. -== City Level 4 ==- Chest item: 50 Florins You don't have to enter the Research Center right away, so feel free to keep exploring the town. Go up the ladder by the entrance to the Research Center to find a treasure chest. You can talk to Professor Gottgetreu and enter his house, but there's nothing noteworthy there. -== City Level 5 ==- Chest item: 500 Florins Up here, go right and follow the long metal walkway to locate a treasure chest in the work area at the end. To the left from the entrance to this level, go into Lupa's Observatory and talk to Lupa. Ask about her telescope and she'll give you the Omnium Collector quest. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5o) Transentine Research Center ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Head down the tunnel until you reach a circular room. Walk into the middle of the elevator and activate it. You'll watch a FMV introducing Krenn at the bottom. Enjoy your first fight with the mechanical monstrosities that populate this area. The flying sphere controls the other machines to some extent, and if you kill it, the other machines will die. This is hard to do, though, but luckily, if you kill all of the machines, the sphere will die too. Remember to pick up any Omnium that is dropped, if you're doing the Omnium collector quest. Head into the tunnel on the W side when you can. -== Dean's Office ==- Chest items: Master Key Card Wizardwood Staff (weapon) Enter to trigger a close-quarters fight with some humanoid robots. Afterwards, have Ailish dispel the painting of Elco behind the desk to reveal a special safe. There are 4 switches labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4. Examine the desk to receive the combo 0101, 1011. There are 2 sets of numbers because there are 2 doors to open. '0' means down, '1' means up for each lever. So first, pull levers 1 and 3 down, then push up all levers except for 2. You get 250XP for making it through. Open the chest inside to get the computer key card. *** Have Ailish enter the safe and dispel the invisible chest to receive a *** new weapon. Return to the main room and open the door opposite the tunnel to advance. -== Computer Room ==- After another fight, a FMV takes over, and Tal and Buki are sent off on their own adventure. Head up the stairs to the right of the computer core entrance, use the save point if you like, and head through the next door. -== Mining Ore ==- In the large round elevator room, you need to activate the power before using the lift. Have Buki go around the rim of the room from the entrance to reach the metal grate material on the wall, which she can climb up and over to the power switch. Pull it, return to Tal and press the green button by the lift to go down (green is down, blue is up). Press it again to go down to level 3. Go down the tunnel. Once you pass a gate, you'll notice the elevator for the raw minerals on your left. So go get some raw minerals! Go to the bottom of the ramp and kill all of the extractors. Spirit Wind is a good Skill to use as the extractors pound on you. Once you've defeated them all and picked up the 6 Raw Minerals, head back up the ramp to the mineral elevator and use it (this happens automatically as you pass near it). After a FMV of the processing room in action, head back to the large elevator and press the blue button to go up one floor. Enter the processing room and go down to the main floor. This will trigger a fight with some Hunter series robots. Afterwards, Tetsu pays Buki a visit again in a FMV, and she receives her second Spirit Strike and some new armor. Also, a gate in the upper area has been lowered. Have Tal move the power block on the right side of the upper level. Pull it back to unplug it from the lift control, then place Buki onto the lift and climb the grate beside it. Now, Tal has to move the power blocks into position in front of each the 4 platforms in a row so that Buki can cross each one. As she walks onto each platform, pull the block out from the previous one and plug it into the next platform. With processed Transentium in hand, return to the elevator, press the blue button, and return to Elco. -== Return to Computer Room ==- After another fight, take control of Elco and go up the stairs to the left of the central vault door. Charge up your jetpack by the crystal and climb the ladder. Fly to the center of the room, climb the next ladder, and then fly over and drop onto either of the platforms with the switches. Pull it, and you should have enough fuel to make it to the other platform. Once you pull the second switch, Elco gets 100XP and the game takes over for a FMV, after which Elco must prove his mettle on his own. Head up the hall and ride the elevator in the middle of the room down (after saving, of course). ___________ ______/ Krenn CPU \____________________________________________________ | | | Krenn has only one vulnerable spot: his red 'eye'. Shoot it while | | dodging his attacks. The easiest way to do this is to circle him in | | either direction (I suggest counter clockwise, or left while you're | | facing him) for most of the fight. Krenn will march towards you and | | strikes with a leg, which you can dodge if moving to the side and/or | | backing away. He will then return to the center and charge up for | | his beam attack. Stay close to him and circle around him as he fires | | to avoid this devastating attack. Keep firing at his eye whenever | | get a clean shot. Once you get him down to 1/2 health, he'll curl | | into a ball and an arm will come out from the wall to recharge him. | | You want to shoot the sphere on the end of this arm until it is | | destroyed. This is complicated by the little suicidal robots that | | try to self-destruct near you. Just keep moving to avoid their | | blasts. Once the arm is destroyed, Krenn resumes his pattern until | | his health is down to 1/2 again. Once you've destroyed all 4 | | charging arms, Krenn is vulnerable. Reduce his health to below 1/2, | | and he goes nuts. He'll still approach you, then do a spin attack | | that you definitely want to back off for. Then, he'll return to the | | center and repeat his beam attack. While Krenn is in his wounded | | state, there will also be a constant flow of suicide 'bots, so keep | | moving and firing. Nano-Enhancement will be extremely useful in this | | fight, especially while destroying the charging arms. I think that | | the Ion Fluxinator is the best weapon too, for sheer power. | |_______________________________________________________________________| After the fight, Elco receives 1500XP, the Essence Gnawer Scroll, and the Transentine Crystal. Take the elevator back up and rejoin your friends. -== Another World? ==- Talk to Professor Hayton just outside the Research Center to complete the quest for the Transentine Crystal. He now gives you some free time to do whatever the hell you want. Rest up, complete any quests you have, go shopping, it doesn't matter. You can even leave the city and return at any time. Once you're satisfied and want to advance in the game, go to the portal site on the same level as the Research Center and talk to Professor Hayton again there. After that, it's all FMV. *** If you return here later, go into the Rusty Cog tavern and talk to *** Azgarth, the maintenance man you repaired the elevator for. He'll *** say thanks and give you 2 Luster Wines for your efforts. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5p) Crystal Reef ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ -== Realm of Shadows ==- Back in this place, circle the portal rings until you find the one that will bring you to Crystal Reef and use it. -== Crystal Reef ==- Chest items: 150 Florins Anemomir (weapon) 250 Florins Orb of Might Chilltip Cane (weapon) Orb of Sanctuary This place should look kind of familiar. Behind the lighthouse, there's a chest on the ground. You can climb the outside of the lighthouse for a look through a telescope, but it's nothing too exciting. Go down the path and up to the N edge of town. Have Ailish dispel the invisible bridge across the waterfall, and go over it to find a treasure chest with a new weapon for her in the back woods area. Along the main road, the 2 houses on the N side at the end each hide a treasure. Go behind the last house and have Buki climb the wall to reach a chest with a weapon for her. In the house next door, have Ailish enter from the E side and climb the ladder, then dispel and open the chest up above. There's another chest for Ailish to dispel in the graveyard behind the church. And one more good find: there's a healing potion in the trough of fish by the entrance to the docks. Head up the road leading out of town. Enter the mansion (it's where the Shadani Encampment was back in Illumina). Talk to Samuel and ask him about his problem and offer to help. Return to the village proper and talk to the reverend outside of the church. Next, go to the docks and talk to Finbar. With his key, go up to the boathouse and enter it with Tal. Pull the closest crate out and push it to the corner. Pull the second crate out twice, then the last crate out once to reach the chest. Open it to receive the Holy Symbol, then return that to the reverend. Now that that fetch quest is over, enter the church and talk to the human boy inside. You can also talk to the reverend to be fully healed (HP & SP). Talk to the fish kids for a chuckle. Return to the mansion and talk to Samuel again, then go down the elevator in front of the mansion and enter the cavern in a FMV. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5q) Siren's Grotto ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Head into the grotto to learn just how childish Tal and Elco really are. Continue down the path until you reach the next major room. -== Singing Siren Chamber ==- Thanks for leaving us, guys. Take out the waves of bad guys and go around to the opposite side of the central structure. Climb the ramp and step on the glowing circle in front of the statue. You have to find 2 Mermaid Pearls to offer the statue. Go back down the ramp and enter the door on the E side of the room (there's also a save point if you take the bridge going straight from the statue). -== Endless Stairs Cavern ==- After another fight, take the other door on the floor of this area. -== Aequoris Falls ==- Chest item: Shell Key Go up the ramp and cross past the waterfall, going through the next door. After a fight that includes a Crystal Scribe, have Ailish dispel the rock with a skull on top. Walk onto the platform it revealed and 'use' it to cross to the center platform. There, dispel another rock and ride the platform again. Have Buki climb the wall and press the green button. Take the platform back and ride the new one (directly across from where you just arrived). Open the chest it brings you to to acquire the Shell Key. Retrace your steps to the previous area. -== Endless Stairs Cavern ==- Chest items: 250 Florins X 2 Now that you're back here, go up the stairs. When you reach the first landing, go straight down the stairs on the other side to reach a treasure chest. When you reach the steps you can dispel, keep going to a small treasure trove first. Have Ailish dispel the steps, then use the Shell Key on the weird barrier. -== Singing Siren Chamber (upper level) ==- Up top now, press the green button to hear the Siren's Song. Listen carefully. Now, go left to the five glowing rings. You have to step on them in the correct order, playing back the song (each one produces one note). The circles are arranged as so: x-x-x-fence-x-x-x- 1 4 3 2 5 Step on them in the order 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 as illustrated. Going to the other end of this ledge, the statue of a head over a pool of water has revealed the first Mermaid Pearl. Collect it. Head back to the previous area. Stay along the top of the stairs, going left when they branch to reach a save point. Enter the door past it. -== The Natatorium ==- Chest item: Orb of Vigor You have to get both Buki and Ailish to the giant clam to receive its prize. Have Buki go left and climb the wall, first pull the lever, then push the green button. Move Ailish along the new bone bridge to the next landing, go left and pull the lever embedded in the wall, then go across the next bone bridge and pull the lever there. Ailish now has a bridge to a treasure chest. Open the chest and pull the levers again. As Buki, push the green button once more to finalize the path for both to the giant clam. Switch and move both women until they're standing on the glowing rings. This opens the clam to reveal the next Mermaid Pearl. Solving this puzzle nets you 200XP too. Make your way back to the central chamber where the boys disappeared. -== Singing Siren Chamber ==- Go back up to the mermaid statue and give it the Mermaid Pearls. This opens the shell door that Tal and Elco were taken through. Head into it and go down to the next inner chamber. Immediately go left and use the save point. Head down the ramp to the center of the room to face... __________ ______/ Nassaria \_____________________________________________________ | | | Once you learn the pattern, this fight is easy. Imagine that this is | | the dock you're on: ___ X | | __| |__ 'X' = where Nassaria appears | | |A B| | | |__ __| | | |_C_| | | | | You can always tell where Nassaria will emerge from the water by the | | red dot on your navigation map. Orient yourself so that's she's in | | position indicated by the 'X' above. At first, she uses a 3-step | | attack. First, a sweep with her trident, which will hit areas A and | | B. Stand in spot C to avoid this. Next, she lunges with her trident | | into spot A. Stay on C to avoid this as well. And last, she strikes | | with her tail across B and C, so move to A or the middle of the | | the platform to avoid this. She then dives back into the water, and | | you must wait for her to re-emerge. Shoot her whenever she's out, | | while dodging her shots. Once you get her down past 1/2 health, she | | changes it up a bit. First, a trident zap between A and C (stay on | | C to avoid), then a tail hit across B and C again (move out to A or | | the middle), then another zap at A (move to B). She then dives | | across the platform, hitting you unless you're staying on B. Rinse | | and repeat as many times as it takes for you to whittle her health | | down to nothing. | |_______________________________________________________________________| You receive the Dispelling Scroll as a reward. Head along the plank bridge that appeared. When you reach the end, a FMV is triggered. Have the boys leave the area by the tunnel leading out from the save point. -== Depths of the Grotto ==- Chest item: 250 Florins Head up the path around the lake until you reach a wider clearing. Note the door on the right with yellow fairies. Only Ailish can open this, and she ain't here right now, so just remember to come back later. Head through the left door and go up the stairs. Once you emerge from the tunnel, the stairs split. Go straight ahead to reach a treasure chest, then go back and take the side path to continue. Keep going, pass a save point, and keep going down until you reach the floor. -== The Maze ==- Chest items: 250 Florins Siren's Song (weapon) It isn't really much of a maze. There's just one winding path with a few little side alcoves, nothing to get lost in if you keep an eye on the navigation map. What can get annoying, though, is when you get in a fight and your partner keeps running way off after more enemies. Equip Tal with a poisonous sword to cancel out the Hydrogenates' regeneration ability. After a few fights, you'll reach some stairs, signalling the end of the maze. Before going up them, take the last side branch of the maze (check your navigation map) to reach a treasure chest. Go up the tunnel until you reach the end of the cave. There are 2 pink shells on the sides. The left one contains a Healing Potion, so examine it to retrieve it. Don't forget the open the chest for a new weapon for Tal. Have Tal approach the rock at the end of the cavern and pull it back to open the way back to the main chamber. -== Singing Siren's Chamber ==- After a fight, head out the way your first came in, on the W side of the cavern. Head back out through Dead Fish Cave to get back to Crystal Reef. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5r) Return to Crystal Reef ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Chest items: Orb of Might Orb of Wisdom There's not much to do here any more. Use the elevator to get back up to the mansion. Talk to Lord Mewsley, who is now hanging out outside. He'll give you the key to leave the village, and also open up his warehouse. It's back in the town center, right by the save point (a short cut-scene shows you where). Go inside to find 2 chests that you can reach, and a third behind a gate that needs to be dispelled later on. You can talk to Finbar on the docks to pick up the Eden Coral Collector quest, and you can also talk to the minister in the church to be fully healed before heading out. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5s) Aklorian Countryside ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ -== Wielow's Gully ==- Chest items: 250 Florins X 3 Omnium Rocket Gun (weapon) This path is pretty similar to the one back in Illumina. There's a trader along the side, and you reach a tunnel like the one back home too. Just inside it, though, the path spreads out quickly. At the first signpost pointing to Devil Belch Canyon, take the path to the left down to an alternate Kariston altar. Just ahead, there's a treasure chest by the rope bridge. The path meets back up with the high road. Go back along it if you want a fight with some Wolufs. Just ahead, at the next signpost, the path splits again. The right path leads to a climbing wall, which is no good to you now. Go down the left path a little ways. *** Beside the signpost pointing back to Crystal Reef, have Elco climb down *** the ladder, then down another to a Lebius altar. Charge up by the *** crystal and fly ahead to the next landing. Charge up again, then fly *** around the pillar on the left to find a treasure chest. Go back to the *** previous landing. From there, fly straight out to the single barrel in *** the distance. From there, head to the pillar with the ladder going up *** at the end of the canyon. Get the chest behind the pillar before *** climbing up. Fly to the middle pillar with a crystal on this level, *** recharge, and head out to the final landing on this level with another *** treasure chest. From there, you can fly all the way back to the start. Once reunited, go ahead into the next wide area. I think you can guess what's coming. -== Devil's Belch Canyon ==- Get ready for a fairly big fight with some new monsters, though they're basically just variations on things you've seen before. Keep an eye on your health and have healing items ready, since you don't have access to any healing magic right now. Feel free to let loose with the Skill Strikes, maybe even a Spirit Strike if the mood takes you. After the fight, move to the N end of the clearing to find the signpost pointing you towards Cyantine Citadel. Cross the bridge to reach another clearing with some more fighting to do, then head out the far side where another signpost points the way. -== Ashenbark Woods ==- More of the same, fighting some Aklorians. This area has lots of breakable items, so be sure to run around and smash them. Afterwards, head out the other side to find a portal ring and a save point. You can't go back through the portal just now (try if you want to, but Tal gets all indignant). Head into the tunnel to the castle, which has seen better days. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5t) Cyantine Citadel ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ On this side of the drawbridge, there isn't much to see. You can go down to the docks but there's nothing terribly noteworthy there. Head towards the closed gate to trigger a very revealing FMV. Afterwards, it's clobberin' time! This time you must face a Wyrd Warlord in addition to a couple of War Wyrds. He's tougher and even a little bigger. Feel free to use a Spirit Strike at this point, but it's not like it's the hardest fight you've ever been in. Open the drawbridge and head inside. -== Castle Gates ==- Chest item: 250 Florins First, Tal has to pull the boxes out of the way so that Elco can reach the crystal behind them. Just pull them all out and push one to the side, until you've cleared a path. Switch to Elco and charge up your jetpack. Now run out just past the crates. On Elco's right around the edge of the wall, there's a short flight of stairs and a ladder going up. They're kind of in the dark. Climb up the ladder and use your jet pack to fly straight across all of the debris to another ledge. Climb the ladder there and cross over top of the gate to pull the switch, opening the way below. *** From the top of the first ladder, you can also fly straight across the *** room to reach a treasure chest. Open the unlocked gate and head inside. -== Ruined Courtyard ==- Now you're in for a real fight. Afterwards, head through the NW corner of the yard to reach the door that leads to the gardens. Do cross that bridge to trigger another FMV, revealing a few surprises. Elco finally gets a Spirit Strike and some new armor. -== Darkened Gardens ==- You can go back inside Caprine's Keep if you like and talk to your friends, but there's nothing of consequence inside. Check around the rim to find Kamo's, a blacksmith, and an inn. By the exit, check the planks over the hole that, in your world, held the ladder that you used to get in and out of the gardens. You'll find 250 Florins hidden behind the planks. Head through the gate and cross the bridge to leave. -== Ruined Courtyard (shadow party) ==- Chest item: Orb of Power Fortunately, these characters have the same special abilities as their counterparts. *** Have Alexine dispel the debris beside the gate to the bridge to the *** garden. Switch to Nico and have her enter the area it revealed, and *** climb the vine-covered wall in the rear. Open the treasure chest on top *** and climb back down. -== Castle Gates (shadow party) ==- After a fairly big battle on the main castle bridge, made more difficult by the close quarters, take the team out of the castle through the checkpoint tunnel. At the end, you emerge outside by the ring portal. You can bring all of the shadow characters over to Illumina if you want, just to tease them with the sunny world they've been missing out on. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5u) Road to Aklorian Stronghold ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ -== Ashenbark Woods ==- This time through, you must fight a pair of Accursed. The real monsters are the mounds of bones. They generate the skeletons and keep them alive indefinitely. You'll never be able to hurt one of the skeletons, but if you destroy the Accursed controlling them, they'll all just fall to pieces. -== Devil's Belch Canyon ==- Chest item: Orb of Vigor Here you get to fight seemingly endless hordes of Aklorian troopers and Abominations. Once the carnage is over... *** Start up the path toward Crystal Reef, but once you're at the top of the *** ramp, go left along the cliff wall toward the dead end. Have Nico climb *** the wall at the end to reach a ledge with the mirror Mo shrine and a *** treasure chest. If you just want to get on with the show, head E from the middle battle area along the path to the Aklorian Stronghold. Alternately, there are still a couple of pieces of unfinished business elsewhere in this realm. -== Return to Crystal Reef (optional) ==- Chest item: Huge Gold Bar Head back along the path to the town where you started off in this mirror world. *** Once you're in town, send Alexine into the warehouse that Mewsley opened *** for you earlier. Dispel the gates and open the third chest inside. Remember, too, that you can fully heal your party by talking to the minister in the church. -== Return to Nassaria's Grotto (optional) ==- Chest items: Huge Gold Bar Orb of Power Head down into the Singing Siren Chamber, and then go up the ramp to the upper level. Find the crack in the wall where Tal had pulled a rock out of the way and slip inside. It's along the W side, in case you're having trouble finding it. Head through The Maze and up the stairs on the far end. Stay along the left wall when the stairs split to reach the Depths of the Grotto. Enter the door at the bottom of the stair to reach the wide room. *** Dispel the other door in this room with Alexine to reach the two *** treasure chests inside. That's it for in here. Retrace your steps all the way to get back outside. One other advantage of going through this dungeon again is that you can gather more Eden Corals to complete the quest for Finbar. -== The Fire Pits (Path to Aklorian Stronghold) ==- Chest items: 250 Florins X 3 Once you're done messing around with other stuff, head E over the bridge from Devil's Belch Canyon (there's a signpost with an image of a scary helmet pointing the way). You see the alternate Olivitess altar on the right side, and a treasure chest just past it. There's another one just ahead on the very right side when you reach the bottom of the ramp. A fight awaits you at the top of the ramp. Head up to the next landing by the ramp on the opposite side, then go up one more time. You reach a crossroads at the top. Directly ahead, the path leads to the stronghold. On the right side, the ramp leads to Sherra, a researcher who will give you tips on monsters in the region if you talk to her repeatedly. There's also a chest to open on her scaffold. If you go up the left path from the crossroads, you reach a save point and the Tree of Woe. -== Tree of Woe (optional) ==- Chest items: 250 Florins Mammoth's Fang (weapon) Open the chest by the save point, and go up the ramp to the swirling lights. Head into the middle to trigger a fight with a Wyrd Warlord and 3 War Wyrds. After the fight, you receive a new treasure chest, and also the Combat Fortify Scroll, which appears as a dropped treasure (it has unique light effects to draw attention to it). Now, if you leave the top of the tree and return, you can trigger fights with an Accursed an indefinite number of times, but you don't get any extra bonuses beyond the 100XP for each kill plus whatever they normally drop. -== Eagle Rock ==- Chest items: 250 Florins Orb of Wisdom You can't help but notice the ladder going up the side of the cliff just over the bridge. If anyone other than Alexine (or Ailish, if you returned here later with the regular party) goes up, they will be greeted and the party will be fully healed. If Alexine (or Ailish, again, later) goes up, she will be given the choice to accept Olivitess' challenge. You are asked 3 questions. To answer each, walk up to the person you think is right, look at them in first-person view and dispel the image. If right, you will receive a breakable item with some treasure inside. Here are the correct answers: 1. Whom should you trust...? A: Alexine - receive 50 Florins 2. Who is the descendant of Kariston? A: Tal - receive Illumina Opal 3. Who is not worthy...? A: No right answer. Choose any to start a fight. After you win, you get a chest with an orb. If you get an answer wrong, it starts a fight and you get no treasure (though the prizes aren't great to start off with). You will still get asked the next question, however. You can get into a maximum of 3 fights up here, if you answer every question wrong. The first fight is with a pack of Wolufs. The second is against an Accursed and its skeletons. The third fight is against 2 Illusion Masters. Remember that you must fight them all alone. There's also a treasure chest on the side here with some Florins. Back on the main path, Alexine must dispel the rocks blocking the path ahead. -== Vosser's Peaks ==- Through the tunnel, you emerge into a snow-covered mountainous region. Travel the path to find a new save point and portal ring. Continue onward to the stronghold. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5v) Aklorian Stronghold ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Once you cross the drawbridge, it collapses behind you. Also, the main gate ahead is locked. You must go up the stairs on the side of the entrance tunnel in the hopes of finding a way to get inside. -== East Battlements ==- After a fight with some crazed Aklorian troopers, head to the W end and have Alexine dispel the invisible block, conveniently beside the visible one. Have either Tal or Kazel pull the blocks out and push them into the spaces along the N wall. Next, Nico climbs the ivy-covered wall in the NW corner and runs across to the switch. Pulling it unlocks the S gate. Run back and climb down, then bring the whole team through the S gate. Now, either Tal or Kazel must clear the path for Nico to reach another climbing wall. Start by pushing the crate nearest the entrance over once. Next, go down the far row and push the first block W as far as it'll go, then pull the next block back towards the gate. Go around it to reach the block nearest the climbing wall, and pull it back once. Now, go to the pair of blocks in the SE corner. Pull the first one back, push it to the S wall, then pull the next block back to open the path. Go back out of this area and bring Nico in to climb the wall and pull the switch. Go back out and head to the E end of the battlement. Go through the door to trigger a FMV. After the brief conversation, pull the switch in this room to open the main gate down below. Go back outside and down the stairs to enter it. -== Outer Bailey Courtyard ==- You'll see a guard ringing a bell, which calls out more guards on either side of the courtyard. Every time you kill a few, any guard can ring the bell again and call more out. So if you don't want to fight indefinitely, you must defend the square in the middle of the courtyard where the bell-ringing rope is. Stand your ground there, and no guards will be able to reach it, allowing you to finally finish the fight, which opens the gate ahead. Go inside and open the next door. -== Inner Bailey Courtyard ==- Chest item: Faustian Blade (weapon) More guards to fight in here, including a hulking Horror. You know the type by now. Once they're all done for, go through the door on the left side (from when you came in). This triggers another FMV. Open the chest in the room when it's over, and examine the bed beside it to find a hidden Woluf Pelt. Open the dark blue doors in this room before you head back out to the courtyard. -== Garden & Training Yard ==- Examine the fountain to be fully healed, then go through the S set of doors. Watch a funny little scene, then fight the 2 Ogres. Go to the small gate and Kazel will take on the task of holding up one of the counterbalances. He still needs to get to it, though. He has 2 things to do: lower the ladder, then get to the ladder and climb up it. To lower the main ladder, you need to get to the ladder by the stairs. Pull the block blocking them back several spaces, then go up the ladder and down the next one at the other end of the platform. Pull the switch there then return to the starting position. Push the block beside the other ladder, across from the stairs, forward until you reach the corner. Now push the northernmost of the 2 blocks beside you forward once, then push the other block beside it to the wall. Push the next block beside you forward, then pull the first block that you pushed in front of the ladder back, then go around it and push it to the wall, then down to the corner near the entrance to this puzzle. Now go back to the other side and pull the block nearest the ladder back to reveal yet another ladder. Climb up this one and down the other side of the platform. Push the block in the tunnel back, then go back up the ladder and down the other side again. Push the block you just moved further back to the wall. Now you can go through the tunnel to the final block blocking the main ladder, pull it out, then pull it back toward the tunnel. Go around and climb the ladders to get to the other side of the last block and climb to the end of the puzzle. Pull the block up top back once to raise the counterweight. The rest of the team can heal themselves at the fountain again before heading back out to the courtyard. Head through the door on the opposite side now that you have the key. -== Kennels & Grotesque Experimental Laboratory ==- Use the save point if you like and head through the next door. A Woluf will emerge from each doghouse around the room. After the fight, you can examine the Woluf crap and step in it to experience the sound effects the game designers put in just for that. Head through the door on the opposite side to enter the laboratory. In here, you must fight a pair of Horrors that were generated by the machines. Each time you finish one off, another will be generated. This will continue indefinitely until you destroy the machines. To do this, your lead character must attack the 3 cylinders on either side of the room. Once you destroy all 3 on one side, the machine on that side will collapse. You also get 1XP for destroying each cylinder (whoopee!). After the fight, have Tal enter the small gate beside the climbable wall. Nico will automatically climb it and wait for you to create a path for her. You must move the blue towers around to make the path. Pay attention to the bars on the sides to build it properly. Also note that you can pass underneath the permanent platforms to get around. Start by pulling the first blue tower on the left side out once, then back once so Nico can make her first move. Once she does, push the tower you just used down one more space. Next, you need the tower in the far right corner. First, pull the tower with the block on top out to the middle, and push it forward once. Now, get the tower you need from the corner and maneuver it to in front of Nico. Now push the first tower you used back into the middle and pull it to the right, then pull the block tower back a couple of times. Go around the whole mess and push the block tower the rest of way down to the entrance. Now move the tower you need into position. Once Nico crosses it, push it down toward the entrance, by the block tower. Now you need to move the tower on the left side all the way to the right, and push it down to get it out of the way for now. Push the other block tower down once, then the tower with the corner guardrails over to the right, then pull the block tower back down and push it to the left corner. Now you want to move the corner-rail tower to the middle of the puzzle. Finally, pull the tower on the right side all the way up to the top right corner, and push the corner-rail block over beside it. Fait accompli. Down to 2 fighters, return to the courtyard, but be sure to use the save point first. -== Inner Bailey Courtyard (just Tal and Alexine) ==- Now, have Alexine climb the ladder to the left of the main gate, cross over the top and climb the next ladder, and finally dispel the gears on the side of the upper level. This opens the path for Tal. He rushes inside and confronts Galen in a FMV, and the next boss is revealed. __________ ______/ Behemoth \_____________________________________________________ | | | Watch the FMV for a hint on how to survive this fight. Shielded by a | | blast wall, wait for him to fire 2 volleys of yellow energy blasts. | | Immediately after the second shot, run to the nearest electric eye at | | the end of the rails going out from the center. Chop it once to shut | | it temporarily, and head straight for the opposite side to do the | | same to the other eye. With both out of commission, head towards the | | Behemoth and approach him. Run to the side to dodge his axe chop (he | | gives fair warning of this move) and hit him while his axe is stuck | | in the ground. The A,X,A combo does great damage here. If you stick | | around, he'll do an axe chop again and you can hit him with one more | | combo. After this, run for one of the blast walls as he charges up | | for another energy assault. Wait there until he fires 2 volleys of | | yellow energy, then head for the electric eyes again. Just keep up | | with this pattern until it's all done. He will sometimes have time | | to get off another shot of yellow blasts before you get to him, so | | you can use your Iron Warrior skill to minimize the damage. | |_______________________________________________________________________| After the fight, you receive the Combat Regen Scroll, and Tal recovers the Vessel of True Sight. Head back to Cyantine Citadel. You can take a shortcut via the ring portal outside the stronghold, or walk and fight your way there. Once you return to the castle, a series of FMVs propel the story along. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5w) Elco's Awakening ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ -== Cyantine Citadel ==- First, you make a choice. Ultimately it doesn't matter, the only difference is in when you meet Lord Talos, which happens pretty soon either way. He will accompany you and fight with you, but you can't control him. Journey out of the castle. When you reach the final gate, a short FMV will play, then you continue onward. When you reach the ring portal outside of the castle, you have to use it. The game won't let you go any further into Akloria. Similarly, in the Realm of Shadows, your only choice is to teleport to the Illumina Countryside. -== Illumina Countryside ==- Talos will stop you if you try to take any path other than the one leading back to the castle. Once you go up the castle crossroads tunnel, another FMV will play, revealing everything. -== Escape from Illumina Castle ==- Your first job is to find Tilly. She's in the gardens. Before you go there, however, this is your last chance to do a couple of things in the castle. This is your final chance to complete the Pelts for Ricardo and Eyes for Arlo quests (and for the latter, your only chance, since it's extremely unlikely that you would have had 3 Cyantine Eyes before going to Akloria). This is also a good time to explore the gardens if you think you might have missed some treasure earlier, since it is currently unstaffed. I also suggest stocking up on some SP-restoring items for the battles ahead. In case you've never been to the gardens before, to get there go through the door next to Kamo's shop. On the far side of the bridge, climb down the ladder on the left side. Go into the tunnel down here and climb up the ladder at the end. In the gardens, go up the path on either side and go through the first wooden arches leading over the grass. Tilly is working beside the tree outside the patio. Approach her to trigger a FMV. Now, Tilly will follow you but you can't control her directly. She also does some really strange thing with her arms while she runs. Leave the castle. -== Get Tilly to Safety ==- This job can be tricky, because you run into multiple rounds of Illumina Guards. Tilly can't fight, and will generally be able to avoid them, but she will take some damage, and she doesn't have an unlimited health bar. In battle, Nano-Enhancement will be quite useful, as will the Ion Fluxinator because it knocks down enemies. Use Skill Strikes liberally, and your Spirit Strike too, but you'll probably only get one chance for that one, so you might want to wait until the situation is getting critical. After the first round of knights, which appear by the castle gates, it's a good idea to hang back and take out the rest of the knights that appear further up the road from a distance. Once you reach the Nolan Farm, Tetsu appear to Elco and grants him another Spirit Strike and some new armor. There's another fight after that, then another when you reach Parham County. It'd be nice if you could use the ring portal to skip to New Brightwater, but alas, 'tis not the case. So that means another fight on the other side of the river, then one more before the tunnel to New Brightwater, this one with 2 waves of enemies. In the second wave, note the Captain with the red helmet-topper. He drops the Combat Boost Scroll when you defeat him. Be sure to pick it up. Head through the tunnel and go all the way to the village proper. Go to the front of Densi's house (the blue house beside the village fountain) to trigger a goodbye FMV. *** In New Brightwater, talk to Galex in the inn. Ask him what's going on, *** then buy him some champagne (50 Florins). He'll give you the key to his *** house, which is the one nearest the lighthouse. Open the 2 chests *** inside to get 250 and 750 Florins. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 5x) Endgame ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Return Elco to Cyantine Citadel. Of course, the ring portals are working now. Use the one by the lighthouse, then in the Realm of Shadows use the portal leading to Devil's Belch Canyon. From there, head through the tunnel to the castle. You have a couple of solo fights on your way in. Remember, Nano- Enhancement is your friend. Enter the Darkened Gardens and approach the door to Caprine's Keep to trigger another FMV. -== Finishing up ==- The lady said there would be no going back, so make sure that you're ready. You have unlimited access to the entirety of both worlds, with the exception of Illumina Castle, which is closed to you now and forever more. Any quest that originated anywhere else can be completed if you haven't done so already, and you can still start any that you missed (see below for a full list of side- quests). Also to do before you take on the final conflict: -Use up any orbs you might still be carrying around (ideally on Tal); -Put your best HP/SP healing items onto the Quickshot buttons. I suggest using Apotheosis Drink, Miracle Potion, Luster Brew, and Healing Elixir. -Beef up Tal's armor and weapons at a blacksmith's. Sell any valuables you're still carrying to finance this; -Fill up your SSP meter by fighting; -Rest at Antoine's inn just before you go into the fray; -Use the save point behind Caprine; -== The Void ==- Talk to Caprine, who will be standing outside of her keep waiting for you to make up your mind, and choose to enter the void. After a moving FMV, the final fight begins. ___________________ ______/ Heigou/Lord Talos \____________________________________________ | | | In this fight, blocking is your best friend. For Talos' normal | | attacks, simply defend with the R trigger until he completes his | | combo, then launch your own combo back at him. The juggling combos | | work pretty well, as do X,X,X and A,A,A and A,X,X. All other combos | | leave you open to retaliation before the final strike, so avoid using | | them. Talos can use the equivalent of Skill Strikes himself, and | | these can be problematic. The most common one is comparable to | | Buki's Path of the Warrior, in which he slows down time while he | | attacks 4 times. You can't block these attacks, and they hurt a lot. | | To avoid them, you can try blocking and rolling at the right time to | | move out of the way, but the best way is to do Skill Strikes right | | back at him. Perform one when you see he's about to attack, and you | | can do some damage to him while his attack misses you completely. | | When he creates doubles of himself, you can just run around to avoid | | them until they vanish on their own. Alternately, use your Spirit | | Strike to take away most of the doppelgangers' health, then a couple | | of Skill Strikes to take them out and get some extra XP (not that you | | need it). When Talos draws a pentagram, he'll start shooting skulls | | out at you. If one hits you, it'll cause poison, slow, curse, and | | weaken, but you can just move to the side to avoid them. He also | | casts regen, haste, boost, and protect on himself, so if you've got a | | weapon with either the Mana Spark or Essence Burn runes on it, switch | | to that and go after him. Otherwise, the status effects will just | | fade in time. Finally, when you get him down to about 10% health, he | | uses his final strike, which cannot be dodged, and which brings your | | HP down to one. He pauses for a while after that, so just use a | | healing item and jump back into it. Hack away at the last of his HP, | | then sit back and enjoy the finale. | |_______________________________________________________________________| Yep, that's it. #+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6) QUEST SUMMARY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ 6a) MAIN STORY QUESTS ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MUSTER AT THE GATES Your first mission requires you to visit Kamo's shop in the Illumina Castle grounds and pick up a free soldier's map to the countryside. You must then meet up with the rest of the castle guard just outside of the grounds, where General Arlo entrusts you to lead 2 men across the country- side to ensure Princess Ailish's safety. Reward: 30XP CLEAR ILLUMINA COUNTRYSIDE Travel to New Brightwater while destroying all Aklorian forces and other monsters along the way. Reward: nothing. Thanks, Dad. FIND PRINCESS AILISH Go to New Brightwater and locate the princess at Densi's house. Well, she's not actually there, just talk to Densi's daughter, Yemi, then go find Ailish at the lighthouse. Reward: 5XP ESCORT AILISH HOME Journey with Ailish back across the Illumina Countryside to the castle. Reward: 50XP FIND ARLO Locate your father and commanding officer, General Arlo, in the training grounds in Illumina Castle. Reward: 15XP COURTROOM DUTY Report to the castle courtroom as ordered. Head through the castle doors from the courtyard. Reward: 15XP FOLLOW TAL TO SHADANI-MO Ailish assigns this quest to herself. Head into the Illumina Countryside and go S from the Parham County crossroads to reach it. After a long trek to the anthropomorph city, visit the village lore master (see next quest below), then head up the path on the right to meet your friends outside the Shadani temple. Reward: 100XP VISIT CARRICK LORE You only get this quest if you try to enter the Shadani temple area before speaking to Carrick Lore, the village elder, to gain permission. He's in the area of the village marked with a red flag, in the rear hut. Reward: 40XP, Hunting Spear CLEAR TEMPLE MO After speaking to Carrick Lore, Ailish is entrusted to help her friends eliminate the evil creatures that have taken over the Shadani Temple. Meet up with Tal at the temple entrance and head inside. The job will be over once Buki slays Queen Ghara. Reward: 0 (except for what Buki gets for killing Ghara) RETURN TO ILLUMINA Once you find yourself in the Realm of Shadows, you must investigate a way to get back. Head into the realm and explore away. Talk to Hexam to learn the location of the Navigation Stone, then retrieve the stone from Farex Lore. Return to the Shadow Nexus and use the portal to return home, ending up in New Brightwater. Reward: 50XP INSTALL THE CRYSTAL Back in Illumina Castle, go the machine room in the castle proper to have the engineers install the crystal from Shadani-Mo. Reward: 25XP BY ROYAL COMMAND After handing over the Shadani Crystal, Ailish is commanded to report to her mother, the Queen, to explain her predilection for running off on adventures. Go to the courtroom and speak to her. Reward: 15XP TRANSENTINE CRYSTAL Ailish and Buki go ahead of Tal and Elco to reach Transentine to collect their crystal. Successfully retrieve the crystal from the research centre, where a crazy computer is guarding it, and see Professor Hayton to report your success. Reward: 250XP FIX THE ELEVATOR Elco, upon arrival in Transentia City, must fly around and fix the machine powering the elevators. Reward: 75XP OBTAIN TRANSENTIUM Elco sends Tal and Buki to locate some raw minerals and process them so that he can use them to power his decryption machine, allowing you access to the Krenn computer core. Reward: 25XP USE THE PORTAL After successfully retrieving the Transentine Crystal, talk to Professor Hayton near the Transentine portal ring to attempt traveling to a parallel world. Reward: none AKLORIAN CRYSTAL On another world, locate the Aklorian Crystal near Crystal Reef. For some odd reason, all you need to do is defeat Nassaria and get back to Lord Mewsley to get credit for finishing this quest, despite the fact that you haven't come anywhere near the crystal yet. Reward: 500XP HOLY SYMBOL OF TETSU Locate the missing symbol from the church in Crystal Reef. Talk to Finbar the fisherman to get the key to his boathouse, where Tal finds the symbol behind some crates. Return it to the reverend to finish the task. Reward: 200XP PEARLS FOR THE MERMAID STATUE Once the men are taken away, examine the statue of the mermaid. Find 2 Mermaid's Pearls in the grotto and offer them to the statue to open the way. Reward: 200XP DEFEAT NASSARIA Having opened the way to her lair, Ailish must fight and kill this giant sea-witch to rescue her boys. Reward: 500XP RESCUE AILISH AND BUKI After waking up from the sleep of the siren, Tal and Elco must journey across Akloria to Cyantine to rescue Ailish and Buki, who have been taken captive. Lord Mewsley lets them out of the city and points the way. Reward: 500XP AKLORIAN STRONGHOLD Tal must journey with an Aklorian party to the Aklorian Stronghold, which has been commandeered by a crazed commander. Defeat the troops within to retrieve the Vessel of True Sight, which Caprine says can show your party the truth of her words. Return to Cyantine Citadel with the Vessel to complete the quest. Reward: 500XP RETURN TO ILLUMINA CASTLE With the Aklorian crystal in Elco's possession, he and Lord Talos must travel through the ring portals and return to Illumina Castle to give it to the queen. Reward: none GET TILLY TO SAFETY After learning of the Queen's true plans, you must escape and take Tilly with you, or her life will be forfeit. Go to the castle gardens to find her, then leave the castle and fight your way to New Brightwater without letting her get killed. Reward: 500XP RETURN TO CYANTINE Having learned the error of his ways and taken Tilly to safety, Elco now has to return to Cyantine Citadel in Akloria to see his friends, tell them of the queen's and Lord Talos' plan, and ask for forgiveness. Reward: 500XP DEFEAT HEIGOU Now that the plot is revealed, Caprine realizes that it is too late to stop the rebirth of the dark god. Instead, when you are ready, she will transport Tal, Ailish, Buki, Elco, Kazel, Alexine, Nico, and Cafu to the Void, where they will be unified, and one will be chosen as the conduit of Tetsu to challenge Heigou in a fight to the end. Reward: you get to finish the game. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ 6b) OPTIONAL QUESTS ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE RED DOOR First Available: Start of game. Location: Illumina Castle courtyard Reward: Orb of Power, 25XP Talk to the urchins running around in the East end of the courtyard. They'll pick your pockets, so hunt them all down. One is along the N wall beside where you encountered them, one is along the wall behind the Blacksmith, and the other is directly across from the Blacksmith along the hitching post. Once you've found them all, you'll receive the key to a red door somewhere in the castle. You can't reach that door the first time you're in the castle grounds, so wait until you return and are in charge of Ailish. Enter the door that leads to the garden from the courtyard (it's between Kamo's and the entrance to the castle), cross the bridge, and climb down the ladder on the left at the other side. The red door leads to a secret area of the castle, with a treasure chest up the circular stairs. You can return to this area periodically to read new journal entries on the top level. KARISTON ALTAR First Available: Crossing the Illumina Countryside with Tal. Location: South of Nolan Farm, along the road. Reward: Orb of Vigor, Orb of Wisdom, Orb of Power, Runic Blade, 150XP Have Tal examine the altar to take on this quest. There are 4 Wolf Totems in the world, and if you find them all and bring them here (or to another Kariston Altar, if you can find one), you'll receive a different orb for each of the first 3, and Tal's ultimate weapon for the last totem. Totem Locations: 1. Illumina Castle, timed door puzzle in South Courtyard. 2. Return 5 items in the New Brightwater Valuable Cargo quest. 3. Behind large crates on Transentia airship dock. 4. Reward for defeating Hunter-Slayer in Transentia. OLIVITESS ALTAR First Available: Returning to Illumina Castle with Ailish. Location: W of Brightwater Beach, along road. Reward: Orb of Might, Orb of Vigor, Orb of Wisdom, Nightshadow, 150XP Examine the altar with Ailish as your lead character to initiate the quest. For each of the first 3 Eagle Totems that you bring to the altar, you will receive an orb, and bring the final, fourth totem for Ailish's ultimate weapon. Totem Locations: 1. Brightwater Beach, behind vanishing wall in beach house. 2. Parham County. Dispel the well wall and climb down. 3. In Shadani Temple, use incense to make the torch green. 4. Complete the Omnium Collector quest in Transentia. MO ALTAR First Available: After returning from the Realm of Shadows. Location: Along Path of Mo near Shadani-Mo. Reward: Orb of Vigor, Orb of Wisdom, Orb of Power, Staeysekin, 150XP Examine the altar with Buki to activate the quest. For each of the first three Cat Totems that you bring here, you'll receive an orb. You'll receive Buki's ultimate weapon on finding and bringing the 4th Cat Totem here. Totem Locations: 1. Behind waterfall along Spirit Canyon (path to Shadani-Mo). 2. Received for completing the Trials of Mo. 3. Complete Brightwater Pearl quest for Sunder-Rah in New Brightwater. 4. Climb wall after restoring bridge on road to Transentia. LEBIUS ALTAR First Available: While traveling to Transentia Location: Transentia Road, after mechanical bridge. Reward: Orb of Might, Orb of Vigor, Orb of Wisdom, Plasma Launcher, 150XP Have Elco examine the shrine to begin the quest. For each of the first three Dragon Totems that you bring here, you'll receive an orb. You'll receive Elco's ultimate weapon on finding and bringing the 4th Dragon Totem here. Totem Locations: 1. In Shadani temple fountain room (need Elco to reach it). 2. Jetpack puzzle along road to Transentia. 3. Jetpack to it while repairing elevator in Transentia. 4. Complete Heart's Heart quest in Transentia. BRIGHTWATER PEARL COLLECTOR First Available: Once Ailish joins your party in New Brightwater. Location: New Brightwater Village. Reward: Remi's Trinket, Skill Tincture, Miracle Potion, Key to Kirklin-Rah's tent (nets you a Cat Totem). Talk to Sunder-Rah, the little animal boy near the entrance to the town. He'll question your fighting prowess. Choose the top response to start the quest. Bring him one to receive Remi's Trinket (see next quest below), then 5 more, then 5 more again, and then another 10 for a total of 21 pearls. The best way to pick them up is to fight the Aquaticlaws on Brightwater Beach, but Scarecrows will occasionally drop them too. You can also get them from playing the sheep-herding game later on. Once you get the final prize, a key, go to the Shadani encampment outside the village and open the locked tent (it's the one past the cooking pot). Go in with Buki and climb the wall to reach the treasure chest. REMI'S TRINKET First Available: Once Ailish joins your party in New Brightwater. Location: New Brightwater Village. Reward: Amaranth Drink, 15XP Talk to Remi who walks around behind Densi's house, and ask her what the matter is. Get her trinket from Sunder-Rah by initiating the Brighwater Pearl Collector quest and bring him one pearl to get the trinket back. Then talk to Remi to return it to her. She'll tell you about the preacher's healing powers in the church, in addition to your reward. PELTS FOR RICARDO First Available: When Ailish goes solo after returning to the castle. Location: Castle Courtroom Reward: 1000 Florins, 15XP Talk to the queen's tailor, Ricardo, in the castle courtroom. He sets you to collect 5 Woluf Pelts for him to make a new coat. Give them to him to receive your prize. You have to complete the quest before Elco locates Tilly after returning from Akloria. DUCT SOUP First Available: When Ailish visits Shadani-Mo Location: Near elder (Carrick Lore)'s house. Reward: 3 Luster Wine, 25XP Talk to the woman named Tamista standing near the cooking pot in the red- flagged area of Shadani-Mo. She want 3 Glue-Spider Ducts as ingredients (yuck!). Bring them to her to collect your reward. SOULS FOR THE FERRYMAN First Available: While leaving the Realm of Shadows Location: Top of ramp from Shadow Nexus Reward: Jakome, Batholith, Chronotron, Preystalker, 50XP Talk to Pitt, the Ferryman, who appears once you're on your way out of the Realm of Shadows after you defeat Farex Lore and gain the Navigation Stone. He'll set you to bring the Spirit Orbs that are obtained by defeating enemies in this realm to him. For every 25 orbs, he'll give you a new weapon for a member of your party. After you bring him 100 orbs, each one beyond that will net you 50 Florins. He also has a few life-restoring items for sale. STINGERS FOR KILK First Available: On returning from the Realm of Shadows Location: New Brightwater docks Reward: 750 Florins, 15XP Talk to Kilk, the first fisherman on the docks, and talk about hunting. He'll ask you to get him 5 Gnat Stingers. Give them to him to receive your prize. EYES FOR ARLO First Available: On returning from the Realm of Shadows Location: Illumina Castle training grounds Reward: Arlo's Key (gets you an Orb of Sanctuary), 100XP Talk to General Arlo and he'll set you to find him 3 Cyantine Eyes. These are pretty rare, so you likely won't have any the first chance you have to talk to him. In fact, it's doubtful that you'll find enough until you go to Devil's Belch Canyon, and the only time you'll have to give them to him will be when Elco is in the castle alone after acquiring the Aklorian crystal. Once you do complete it, Arlo gives you the key to his room. To get to his room, go to the castle gardens, and look for the door on the far side from the entrance. It's an ornate silver door with a red carpet leading up to it. Go in and open the chest by the bed to find an Orb of Sanctuary. SHADOWSTONES First Available: On returning from the Realm of Shadows Location: Shadani-Mo, near temple entrance Reward: Luster Wine, Luster Brew, Miracle Potion, Agarth's Cleaver (weapon), 25XP Talk to Campos the carver outside the Shadani temple entrance. He'll ask you to bring his Shadowstones for his artwork. Bring him 1, then 5, then 5 more, then 10 more to receive all of the prizes and complete the quest. BALUM'S STAFF First Available: On returning from the Realm of Shadows Location: Shadani-Mo, Opal's tent Reward: Orb of Sanctuary, 25XP Talk to Opal in her tent. She'll give you her dead son's staff to return to the Realm of Shadows. Give it to Hexam in his house there to finish the quest. MAFU'S PROOF First Available: On returning from the Realm of Shadows Location: Shadani-Mo, Mafu's tent in the elder's living area Reward: 1000 Florins, 10XP Speak to Mafu and choose the top response to receive this quest. Bring him 5 Arconite Skulls to finish it. FALLEN WARRIOR'S SKULL First Available: On returning from the Realm of Shadows Location: Carrick Lore's tent in Shadani-Mo Reward: Pathosis (weapon), 50XP Enter Carrick Lore's tent and check the shelves near the treasure chest. You'll pick up a skull from a Shadani Warrior. Return to the Realm of Shadows and go to the Hall of Heads, on the way to Farex Lore's tomb. Once there, examine the empty stake near the far end of the hall to replace the head. You receive a weapon for Buki as your reward. TRIALS OF MO First Available: On returning from the Realm of Shadows Location: Shadani-Mo, Malik's tent Reward: 3750 Florins, Cat Totem Talk to Malik, the village chief. Accept the challenge and you can enter the Trials of Mo. Outside the village, go the corner of the cliff wall on the left (when exiting the village), and have Ailish dispel the wall. Buki can now enter the secret cave. Fight and survive through 5 trials, each with 3 waves of enemies to destroy. You receive a reward in a treasure chest after each trial. SKULLS FOR WAZIM First Available: On returning from the Realm of Shadows Location: Shadani encampment in New Brightwater Village. Reward: Wazim's Key (nets you 2000 Florins), 15XP Talk to Wazim, the bear-man, with Buki as your lead character to receive this quest to prove that her fighting skills haven't dulled. Return 8 Arconite Skulls to him to receive the key to his tent, which is the first one by the encampment entrance. Enter the tent and open the chest for some Florins. You can also use his hammocks as a free inn at any time to restore your HP and SP. VALUABLE CARGO - LIGHTBULB First Available: After being ordered to go to Transentia. Location: New Brightwater lighthouse Reward: See below all 'Valuable Cargo' quests. Talk to Jim, the lighthouse keeper, who will tell you about a ship that sank at sea. Go to Brightwater Beach to find crates of treasure washed ashore. Smash them to retrieve a Crystal Lightbulb and return it to Jim to get your prize. VALUABLE CARGO - INVITE First Available: After receiving Lightbulb quest. Location: Given by fisherman Teebor on New Brightwater pier. Reward: See below all 'Valuable Cargo' quests. After talking to the lighthouse keeper and getting his quest, talk to the fisherman to get this one. Go to Brightwater Beach repeatedly until one of the chests washed ashore contains the Party Invitation. Return it to him to get your reward. VALUABLE CARGO - BAIT First Available: After receiving Lightbulb quest. Location: Given by fisherman Merther on New Brightwater pier. Reward: See below all 'Valuable Cargo' quests. After talking to the lighthouse keeper and getting his quest, talk to the fisherman to get this one. Go to Brightwater Beach repeatedly until one of the chests washed ashore contains the Party Invitation. Return it to him to get your reward. VALUABLE CARGO - BOOK First Available: After receiving Lightbulb quest. Location: Given by fisherman Kweeg on New Brightwater pier. Reward: See below all 'Valuable Cargo' quests. After talking to the lighthouse keeper and getting his quest, talk to the fisherman to get this one. Go to Brightwater Beach repeatedly until one of the chests washed ashore contains the Self-Help Book. Return it to him to get your reward. VALUABLE CARGO - FEATHER First Available: After receiving Lightbulb quest. Location: Given by fisherman Kilk on New Brightwater pier. Reward: See below all 'Valuable Cargo' quests. After talking to the lighthouse keeper and getting his quest, talk to the fisherman to get this one. Go to Brightwater Beach repeatedly until one of the chests washed ashore contains the Parrot Feather. Return it to him to get your reward. VALUABLE CARGO - PAINTING First Available: After receiving Lightbulb quest. Location: Given by Sasan Miko in New Brightwater village square. Reward: See below all 'Valuable Cargo' quests. After talking to the lighthouse keeper and getting his quest, talk to the lady to get this one. Go to Brightwater Beach repeatedly until one of the chests washed ashore contains the Oil Painting. Return it to her to get your reward. VALUABLE CARGO - LILY SEEDS First Available: After receiving Lightbulb quest. Location: Given by Sherry in New Brightwater village square. Reward: See below all 'Valuable Cargo' quests. After talking to the lighthouse keeper and getting his quest, talk to the lady to get this one. Go to Brightwater Beach repeatedly until one of the chests washed ashore contains the Lily Seeds. Return it to her to get your reward. VALUABLE CARGO - SUSPENDERS First Available: After receiving Lightbulb quest. Location: Given by Galex in the New Brightwater inn. Reward: See below all 'Valuable Cargo' quests. After talking to the lighthouse keeper and getting his quest, talk to the man in the inn to get this one. Go to Brightwater Beach repeatedly until one of the chests washed ashore contains the Trouser Suspenders. Return it to him to get your reward. *** VALUABLE CARGO REWARDS: The rewards are given out in a particular order, regardless of who you give back their items first. The rewards are as follows: Return 1st item: 25XP, Cyantine Eye Return 2nd item: 25XP, Omnium Return 3rd item: 25XP, Wyrdlord Gem Return 4th item: 25XP, Eden Coral Return 5th item: 25XP, Wolf Totem Return 6th item: 25XP, Crab Crystal Return 7th item: 25XP, Brightwater Pearl Return 8th item: 25XP + 100XP, Illumina Opal HEART'S HEART First Available: In Transentia Location: Outside Rusty Cog tavern. Reward: Dragon Totem, 50XP Talk to the robot named Heart, who will send you to get her Heart Circuit from a guard in the research centre. It's in the very bottom level of the mining area, defeat all foes to receive it. You'll probably have to return there after your first visit to the area to find it. Return it to her to get your prize. OMNIUM COLLECTOR First Available: On reaching Transentia. Location: City level 5, in Lupa's Observatory. Reward: Stardust Vial, Moondust Vial, Starflare Vial, Power-plant Key (gets you an Eagle Totem), 50XP Talk to Lupa and ask about her telescope to receive this quest. Bring her 1, then 5, then another 5, then 10 more pieces of Omnium to complete the quest. To get Omnium, fight robots in the Research Center. Most fights there will net you 1 or 2 pieces, or sometimes none. Once you get the final reward, have Buki climb the vine-covered wall near the Observatory and enter the door. The chest inside holds an Eagle Totem for Ailish. COLLECT EDEN CORAL First Available: After clearing Nassaria's Grotto. Location: On the docks of Crystal Reef. Reward: Apotheosis Drink, 2500 Florins X 2, Huge Gold Bar, 100XP Talk to Finbar, the fishy fisherman, once you've returned from the Grotto. He'll get you to bring him Eden Coral. Give him 1, then 2, then 2 more, then finally 5 more to get all of the prizes and complete the quest. These can be hard to acquire, they are sometimes dropped by Hydrogenate Shamans in the Grotto. #+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7) WEAPONS & ARMOR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+ Following are the lists of all weapons and armor that can be acquired during the game. Armor is upgraded automatically, so don't go looking for new outfits for your characters. Weapons, however, can be obtained in a variety of ways, i.e. found in obvious or hidden chests, or given out as rewards for different side-quests. Each weapon has its own strengths and weaknesses, but all can be upgraded to some degree. Visit any blacksmith to inscribe either a square rune (basic, available at start of game) or a circular rune (advanced, acquired throughout the game) on a weapon with the appropriate type of rune slot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ 7a) TAL'S EQUIPMENT ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ TAL'S WEAPONS ~~ RECRUIT'S SWORD Base Strength: 15 Critical Hit Rate: 10% Rune Slots: 2 Square Basic, good quality sword. Standard issue to members of the Haskilian defense forces. Obtained: Start of game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOJO Base Strength: 25 Critical Hit Rate: 5% Rune Slots: 2 Square A ceremonial-looking slightly curved blade with good strength, but low chance of making critical hits. Obtained: Brightwater Beach, after first battle there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HUKIN'S FATE Base Strength: 10 Critical Hit Rate: 10& Rune Slots: 1 Circle (comes with Poison), 2 Square There are stronger swords, but this one's ability to poison enemies makes it a valuable weapon. Obtained: Nolan's Farm (2nd time through, on way back to Illumina Castle). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PREYSTALKER Base Strength: 15 Critical Hit Rate: 5% Rune Slots: 1 Circle (filled with Poison), 2 Square This is another blade made to poison your enemies, but is slightly stronger than Hukin's Fate, due to it's jagged edges. Obtained: Souls for the Ferryman quest, in the Realm of Shadows. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AGARTH'S CLEAVER Base Strength: 20 Critical Hit Rate: 15% Rune Slots: 2 Circle (1 filled with Poison), 1 Square Yet another poisonous sword, but this one is much more powerful and with the best upgrade potential. Obtained: Complete Shadowstones quest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAIN SWORD Base Strength: 25 Critical Hit Rate: 15% Rune Slots: 1 Circle, 2 Square This sword boasts a cutting chain that runs constantly around its blade. Physically powerful, with excellent upgrade potential. Obtained: Kamo's shop. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIREN'S SONG Base Strength: 15 Critical Hit Rate: 10% Rune Slots: 1 Circle (filled with Slow), 2 Square This is an average weapon obtained late in the game. It inflicts Slow status on enemies that are struck by it. Obtained: Nassaria's Grotto, after passing through the Maze. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAMMOTH'S FANG Base Strength: 10 Critical Hit Rate: 15% Rune Slots: 3 Circle (1 filled with Slow) A weak, but highly upgradeable weapon that causes a long-lasting Slow status on enemies struck, due to the numbing cold stored in the blade. Obtained: Tree of Woe (on way to Aklorian Stronghold) - optional area. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FAUSTIAN BLADE Base Strength: 35 Critical Hit Rate: 10% Rune Slots: 3 Circle An intricately designed blade with molten hot edges. It is surpassed in power only by the Runic Blade. Obtained: Aklorian Stronghold, Inner Bailey Courtyard ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RUNIC BLADE Base Strength: 40 Critical Hit Rate: 35% Rune Slots: 3 Circle A one-of-a-kind blade imbued with mystic carvings, it's ultra-sharp edge produces frequent critical hits. It also has incredible upgrade potential. Obtained: Complete Kariston Altar quest (find all 4 Wolf Totems). ~~ TAL'S ARMOR ~~ HASKILIAN PLATE Rune Slots: 1 Standard Haskilian armor. Nothing special, though it does show off your physique. Obtained: Start of game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHADOW ARMOR Rune Slots: 2 Dark shimmering armor forged from black ore found in the mountains. Obtained: Defeat Siege Ogre. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KNIGHTLY ARMOR Rune Slots: 3 This is the finest armor ever crafted for a member of the Aklorian army. It provides excellent protection while freeing the arms for swordplay. Obtained: After defeating Nassaria. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ 7b) AILISH'S EQUIPMENT ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ AILISH'S WEAPONS ~~ ROYAL SCEPTER Base Strength: 16 Critical Hit Rate: 5% Recharge Rate: Fast Rune Slots: 2 Square This rapid-fire but weak weapon offers unlimited shots with no recharging time. Obtained: Start of game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XURIC'S SHOCKSTAFF Base Strength: 50 Critical Hit Rate: 10% Recharge Rate: Medium Rune Slots: 1 Square The Shockstaff sends out short-range bursts of electrical energy, affecting a wide range of targets ahead of you, causing fair damage. Great for when you're being swarmed by Gnats. Obtained: Start of game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BATHOLITH Base Strength: 60 Critical Hit Rate: 10% Recharge Rate: Slow Rune Slots: 2 Square This fire-charged staff shoots explosive bolts of power, that will damage enemies close to the target upon contact. You can fire it twice before it needs to recharge. Obtained: Souls for the Ferryman quest, in the Realm of Shadows. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WIZARDWOOD STAVE Base Strength: 70 Critical Hit Rate: 15% Recharge Rate: Slow Rune Slots: 2 Square This magical weapon delivers a powerful blast that passes through multiple enemies in a straight line, knocking them over if possible. It takes a long time to recharge after each shot. Obtained: Transentia Research Center, Dean's office. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHILLTIP CANE Base Strength: 30 Critical Hit Rate: 5% Recharge Rate: Medium Rune Slots: 1 Circle (filled with Slow), 2 Square This chill-inducing staff will slow down any enemy that it hits with its magic bolts. You can fire 5 bolts before recharging. Obtained: Crystal Reef. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HISTANICA Base Strength: 10 Critical Hit Rate: 5% Recharge Rate: Medium Rune Slots: 1 Circle (filled with Curse), 1 Square This magical weapon causes enemies to weaken so that they cause only 1/2 damage to your party. Otherwise, it isn't good for much. Obtained: Kamo's shop. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NIGHTSHADOW Base Strength: 48 Critical Hit Rate: 10% Recharge Rate: Fast Rune Slots: 2 Circle, 1 Square This staff fires bursts of dark energy rapidly, with no need to recharge. Powerful and with excellent upgrade potential. Obtained: Complete Olivetess Altar quest (find all 4 Eagle Totems) ~~ AILISH'S ARMOR ~~ SILK DRESS Rune Slots: 1 Smooth, shimmery and drop-dead sexy! It can't offer much in the way of protection, at least not to more than her breasts. Obtained: Start of game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WITCH'S ARMOR Rune Slots: 2 This armor provides scarcely more coverage than the last. Whoever designed these things, I thank you, but you obviously didn't have physical defense as a high priority. Obtained: Woluf Valley, en route to Shadani-Mo ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SERAPHITIC ARMOR Rune Slots: 3 Specialized prototype armor developed especially for members of the royal family. Obtained: Transentia Road ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ 7c) BUKI'S EQUIPMENT ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ BUKI'S WEAPONS ~~ KALAMARKA Base Strength: 10 Critical Hit Rate: 15% Rune Slots: 2 Square A standard traditional Shadani Warrior weapon, very few are still trained in its use. Does moderate damage, but has a good critical hit rate. Obtained: Start of game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHALIZEH Base Strength: 20 Critical Hit Rate: 5% Rune Slots: 3 Square More powerful than her basic claws and with good upgrade potential. The blades are red due to the fire burning inside them. Obtained: Shadani Temple ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAKOME Base Strength: 20 Critical Hit Rate: 30% Rune Slots: 1 Circle, 1 Square These mighty blades have an excellent chance of critical hits, on top of the good base damage. Obtained: Souls for the Ferryman quest, in the Realm of Shadows. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MEPHITICUS Base Strength: 10 Critical Hit Rate: 10% Rune Slots: 1 Circle (filled with Poison), 2 Square Low-damage weapon, but poisons foes for ongoing damage. Especially useful against enemies that can cast regeneration on themselves. Obtained: Kamo's shop ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATHOSIS Base Strength: 15 Critical Hit Rate: 5% Rune Slots: 2 Circle (1 filled with Poison), 1 Square Another poisonous claw, this one is slightly stronger than the Mephiticus, but has better upgrade potential. Obtained: Complete Fallen Warrior's Skull quest ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MELAKORKA Base Strength: 25 Critical Hit Rate: 20% Rune Slots: 2 Square A physically powerful weapon with frequent critical hits, but poor upgrade potential. The blades are made of industrial strength steel. Obtained: Shadani Temple fountain room ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VESHCHENEGA Base Strength: 10 Critical Hit Rate: 15% Rune Slots: 1 Circle (filled with Slow), 1 Square A hit with these claws will temporarily slow them to half-speed, due to the intense cold stored within the blades. Obtained: Road to Transentia ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANEMOMIR Base Strength: 10 Critical Hit Rate: 15% Rune Slots: 2 Circle (1 filled with Slow) These blades feature carving inspired by the ocean's waves. Will cause slow in opponents, but weak claws otherwise. Obtained: Crystal Reef on house rooftop. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STAEYSEKIN Base Strength: 30 Critical Hit Rate: 40% Rune Slots: 3 Circle These masterfully hand-crafted claws pack a powerful punch, and make critical hits extremely frequently. Coupled with incredible upgrade potential, there is no wonder why these are Buki's ultimate weapon. Obtained: Complete Mo Altar quest (find all 4 Cat Totems). ~~ BUKI'S ARMOR ~~ TRIBAL HIDE Rune Slots: 1 This well-tailored suit made from animal hides doesn't afford much protection, but allows for freedom of movement. Obtained: Start of game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIST TIGER Rune Slots: 2 This ghostly armor helps camouflage Buki, made of the skins of rare beasts that live in mist-enshrouded areas. Obtained: On finding the Navigation Stone in the Realm of Shadows. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COELACANTH SCALE Rune Slots: 3 Formed from the scales of a prehistoric fish, this armor provides incredible defense while remaining highly flexible. Obtained: Transentia Research Center, Processing Room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ 7d) ELCO'S EQUIPMENT ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ ELCO'S WEAPONS ~~ PROTON PHASER Base Strength: 20 Critical Hit Rate: 5% Recharge Rate: Fast Rune Slots: 2 Square Standard weapon, this gun doesn't do much damage with each shot but allows for unlimited rapid firing. Obtained: Start of game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ION FLUXINATOR Base Strength: 35 Critical Hit Rate: 15 Recharge Rate: Slow Rune Slots: 2 Square This powerful gun shoots straight through opponents, causing heavy damage and knocking them over, but it takes a long time to reload after each shot. Obtained: Start of game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DEBILITATOR Base Strength: 20 Critical Hit Rate: 5% Recharge Rate: Medium Rune Slots: 1 Circle (filled with Weaken), 1 Square This weapon of moderate power posseses the ability to weaken your enemies so that their attacks do only half damage. You can fire 5 shots before it needs to reload. Obtained: Realm of Shadows, after Farex Lore's arena. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHRONOTRON Base Strength: 30 Critical Hit Rate: 5% Recharge Rate: Medium Rune Slots: 1 Circle (filled with Slow), 2 Square The Chronotron's shots create mini temporal distortion fields, slowing enemies hit with it to half speed. Obtained: Souls for the Ferryman quest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEUTRON BLUNDERBUSS Base Strength: 90 Critical Hit Rate: 10% Recharge Rate: Medium Rune Slots: 1 Circle, 2 Square This is a physically powerful gun with a spray effect (hits enemies in a wide arc), but with short range. Obtained: Kamo's Shop. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OMNIUM ROCKET GUN Base Strength: 100 Critical Hit Rate: 10% Recharge Rate: Slow Rune Slots: 2 Square This fun fires high-powered explosive material that causes damage all around the target. You can get off 2 shots before having to reload. Obtained: Near Devil's Belch Canyon, rocket puzzle. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLASMA LAUNCHER Base Strength: 48 Critical Hit Rate: 10% Recharge Rate: Fast Rune Slots: 2 Circle, 1 Square Fires balls of liquid energy in a rapid stream, with no time required to reload. Obtained: Complete Lebius Altar quest (find all 4 Dragon Totems). ~~ ELCO'S ARMOR ~~ PROTOTYPE SHIELD Rune Slots: 1 This personal shield generator designed by Elco himself provides a little bit of protection against damage. Obtained: Start of game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESSENCE SHIELD Rune Slots: 2 This darker armor combines high-tech fibres in the weave to provide superior protection. Obtained: Cyantine Citadel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALLOY SHIELD Rune Slots: 3 This armor provides high-tech protection using a power-generating material enclosed in a hardened breastplate. Obtained: Nolan Farm while escorting Tilly to safety. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ SHADOW CHARACTER'S EQUIPMENT ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ KAZEL'S EQUIPMENT ~~ MOURNBLADE Base Strength: 35 Critical Hit Rate: 25% Rune Slots: 2 Circle A blade containing a lost soul. It cuts through enemy ranks cleanly in the hands of a master. Obtained: When Kazel joins party. KALAMAR ARMOR Rune Slots: 3 This unique armor is mostly cloth with a metal frame. It provides moderate protection while allowing freedom of movement for swordplay. Obtained: When Kazel joins party. ~~ ALEXINE'S EQUIPMENT ~~ SOUL WHISPER Base Strength: 60 Critical Hit Rate: 10% Recharge Rate: Fast This rapid-fire wand shoots bolts of electrical energy. Obtained: When Alexine joins the party. DREAM SHROUD Rune Slots: 3 Weaved from magical thread, this costume is impervious to enemy blades. Obtained: When Alexine joins the party. ~~ NICO'S EQUIPMENT ~~ DARK MOON Base Strength: 30 Critical Hit Rate: 30% Rune Slots: 2 Circle These patterns fashioned after the horns of a stag deliver frequent critical blows to Nico's enemies. Obtained: when Nico joins the party. QUICKSILVER SUIT Rune Slots: 3 This tough armor made from Dilodactyl Hides provides excellent protection, though it doesn't give full body coverage by any means. Obtained: When Nico joins the party. #+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8) BLACKSMITHS & RUNES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+ Blacksmiths can be found in any town. Their work is not to make new equipment, but to inscribe magical runes onto the armor and weapons you already have. All blacksmiths can inscribe the same runes, starting with a base set which then expands as you find new rune scrolls. These are usually obtained by defeating bosses, but a couple are obtained in other ways. BLACKSMITH | LOCATION ------------------------------------------ Hagren | Illumina Castle Gobbit | New Brightwater Village Raku-Li | Shadani-Mo Jacob ('Nuts') | Transentia City Stanton Rosse | Crystal Reef Riklak | Cyantine Citadel ARMOR RUNES | EFFECT | COST ============================================================================= Anti Venom | Prevents Poison status. Available at start of game. | 2000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anti Evil | Prevents Weaken and Curse effects. Available at | 2750 | start of game. | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hex Proof | Prevents Slow status. Available at start of game. | 2000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Damage Shield | Damages melee attackers whenever they hit you. | 1000 | Available at start of game. | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Fortify | Grants you Defend status for the first minute of | 1500 | combat. Found at the Tree of Woe. | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Regen | Grants you Regeneration status for the first minute | 1500 | of combat. Received for defeating Behemoth. | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Boost | Grants you Boost status for the first minute of | 1500 | combat. Found while escorting Tilly to safety. | ============================================================================= WEAPON RUNES (SQUARE)| EFFECT | COST ============================================================================= Razor Edged | Increase base damage by small amount (see | 250 | below for exact bonuses) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heart Seeker | Increase chance of critical hits by 5% | 325 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bat Fang | Raise own HP by 10% of damage caused to | 450 | others when using this weapon. | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spirit Bite | Raise own SP by 1% of damage caused to others | 500 | when using this weapon. | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mana Spark | 25% chance of dispelling enemy's positive | 100 | statuses with each hit. | ============================================================================= WEAPON RUNES (CIRCLE)| EFFECT | COST ============================================================================= Jagged Edged | Increase base damage by large amount (see | 400 | below). Acquired after defeating Siege Ogre.| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soul Seeker | Increases chance of critical hits by 10%. | 500 | Gained after defeating Farex Lore. | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vampire Fang | Restore HP by 20% of damage caused to others. | 700 | Gained by defeating Queen Ghara. | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Essence Gnaw | Raise own SP by 2% of damage inflicted to | 800 | enemies. Received after defeating Krenn. | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Essence Burn | Each strike has a 50% chance of removing any | 175 | positive statuses from the target with each | | strike. Received for defeating Nassaria. | ============================================================================= Two of the weapon runes, Razor Edged and Jagged Edged, provide different strength bonuses on different weapons. Here is the complete list. Note that all of Tal's and Buki's weapons will always receive a +5/+10 bonus, but the bonuses on ranged weapons vary greatly. I'm not sure why the game designers did it this way, maybe to keep the balance of non-damage intensive weapons intact, so that, for example, you don't make a super-strong weapon that also causes status effects on opponents. On the other hand, you can boost the weapons meant to be physically powerful to much higher levels. Razor Edged Jagged Edged Weapon | bonus | bonus ---------------------------------------------- All melee | +5 | +10 (Ailish's Royal Scepter | +2 | n/a weapons) Histanica | +2 | n/a Chilltip Cane | +2 | n/a Nightshadow | +2 | +4 Xuric's Shockstaff | +10 | n/a Batholith | +30 | n/a Wizardwood Stave | +35 | n/a (Elco's Proton Phaser | +2 | n/a weapons) Debilitator | +2 | n/a Chronotron | +2 | n/a Plasma Launcher | +2 | +4 Neutron Blunderbuss | +15 | +30 Omnium Rocket Gun | +20 | n/a Ion Fluxinator | +35 | n/a ----------------------------------------------- #+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 9) ITEMS & COMMERCE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+ ~~ CONSUMABLE ITEMS ~~ These can all be found in breakable objects, dropped by enemies, bought, or received as rewards for completing side quests. Listed by name, effect, whether they affect only a single character or all characters in your party, the maximum number that you can carry, and the Florins you'd get for selling it to Kamo (who is the only person who'll buy these items). Item Name | Effect |Max# | Sale Price =============================================================================== Healing Ointment | +250 HP, single | 15 | 35 Healing Salve | +500 HP, single | 10 | 60 Healing Potion | +1000 HP, single | 8 | 90 Healing Tincture | +2500 HP, single | 5 | 125 Healing Elixir | Restore all HP, single | 3 | 220 Stardust Vial | Heal 500 HP, all | 5 | 115 Moondust Vial | Heal 1000 HP, all | 3 | 265 Starflare Vial | Heal 2000 HP, all | 2 | 525 Skill Ointment | +50 SP, single | 10 | 75 Skill Salve | +100 SP, single | 5 | 115 Skill Potion | +250 SP, single | 3 | 235 Skill Tincture | Restore all SP, single | 2 | 430 Amaranth Drink | Restore all SP, all | 3 | 575 Miracle Potion | Restore all HP and SP, single | 2 | 630 Apotheosis Drink | Restore all HP and SP, all | 2 | 850 Luster Drink | +200 HP and +50 SP, single | 8 | 90 Luster Wine | +500 HP and +100 SP, single | 5 | 165 Luster Brew | +1000 HP and +250 SP, single | 3 | 345 Emerald Panacea | Cure Poison status, single | 5 | 20 Sapphire Panacea | Cure Slow status, single | 5 | 20 Blazing Panacea | Cure Weaken & Curse status, single | 5 | 20 Golden Panacea | Cure all negative statuses, single | 3 | 35 Aegis Drink | +750 HP + remove all statuses, single | 5 | 75 Royal Potion | Heal fully and remove statuses, single | 2 | 285 Spirit Nectar | Revive and heal 250 HP, all | 5 | 195 Soul Nectar | Reveive and heal 1000 HP, all | 3 | 350 Holy Nectar | Revive and heal all HP, all | 2 | 575 Orb of Might | Increase Max SP by 20 | ? | 500 Orb of Power | Increase Power by 10 | ? | 500 Orb of Vigor | Increase Max HP by 100 | ? | 500 Orb of Wisdom | Increase Essence by 10 | ? | 500 Orb of Sanctuary | Increase Max HP by 250 | ? | 750 ============================================================================== ~~ TRADERS ~~ Throughout the lands of Sudeki, various traders set up shop to ply their wares. Most are primarily interested in buying valuable items that they can then flip for a profit elsewhere. Most of these items are only obtained by defeating monsters, making acquiring them a dangerous business. That's why they depend on you to do the collecting for them. Traders tend to have preferences for certain classes of items, and they get all giddly like little schoolgirls at the prospect of buying some off of you. Trader | Location | Fetish --------------------------------------------------- Jurgen | Path to New Brightwater | Furs Hambos | Parham County | Scales Mandrik | Path of Mo | Gems Pitt | Realm of Shadows | Spirit Orbs Letchko | Transentia Road | None Olaf | Road to Crystal Reef | Various items Kamo | All towns | Profit ~~ BUYING ITEMS ~~ This is each shop's sale inventory. KAMO'S SHOPS | Price ============================ Healing Ointment | 50 Healing Salve* | 85 *these items are not available until Healing Potion** | 120 you return to Illumina Castle with Ailish. Healing Tincture^ | 180 Healing Elixir^^ | 345 Skill Ointment | 100 Skill Salve* | 175 **these items are not available until you Skill Potion^ | 300 return from the Realm of Shadows. Skill Tincture^^ | 525 Emerald Panacea | 30 Blazing Panacea | 30 Sapphire Panacea | 30 ^These items are not available until you go Golden Panacea** | 50 to Crystal Reef. Luster Drink* | 120 Luster Wine^ | 215 Luster Brew^^ | 435 ^^These items are not available until you Spirit Nectar | 250 reach Cyantine Citadel. Soul Nectar** | 475 Holy Nectar** | 850 Chain Sword | 6500 Weapons can only be purchased one time each. Histanica | 7500 Neutron Blunderbuss| 5950 Mephiticus | 2500 JURGEN | Price HAMBOS | Price =========================== =========================== Aegis Drink | 100 Aegis Drink | 100 Stardust Vial | 175 Stardust Vial | 175 Spirit Nectar | 200 Moondust Vial | 325 Soul Nectar | 400 Luster Drink | 105 Healing Ointment | 45 Luster Wine | 200 Healing Salve | 75 Luster Brew | 395 =========================== =========================== MANDRIK | Price PITT | Price =========================== =========================== Amaranth Drink | 725 Emerald Panacea | 25 Moondust Vial | 300 Healing Potion | 100 Skill Ointment | 85 Spirit Nectar | 200 Skill Salve | 155 Soul Nectar | 425 Skill Potion | 265 Holy Nectar | 750 Skill Tincture | 450 =========================== =========================== LETCHKO | Price OLAF | Price =========================== =========================== Healing Tincture | 145 Apotheosis Drink | 1000 Healing Elixir | 275 Miracle Potion | 875 Spirit Nectar | 200 Royal Potion | 355 Soul Nectar | 425 Starflare Vial | 625 Holy Nectar | 750 =========================== =========================== ~~ SELLING VALUABLES ~~ Remember that different traders will offer you different prices for different classes of found items. Here is a list of all of these items and the prices, in Florins, that each trader will give you for them. Some of these items are marked with an '*'. These are items that you will need to complete some of the side-quests, so don't just sell them willy-nilly. Check below the following table to see how many of each you need to keep for the side-quests. Trade Item | Kamo | Hambos | Olaf | Jurgen | Mandrik | Letchko ======================================================================== Aquaticlaw Shell | 60 | 150 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 105 Arconite Skull* | 105 | 275 | 140 | 140 | 140 | 160 Bearal Fur | 130 | 170 | 170 | 315 | 170 | 190 Brightwater Pearl* | 80 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 215 | 120 Crab Crystal | 310 | 345 | 345 | 345 | 515 | 365 Cyantine Eye* | 155 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 385 | 230 Dilodactyl Hide | 65 | 145 | 85 | 125 | 85 | 100 Eden Coral* | 365 | 400 | 695 | 400 | 400 | 450 Glue-Spider Duct* | 95 | 210 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 140 Gnat Stinger* | 5 | 40 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 25 Huge Gold Bar | 3000 | 4000 | 5500 | 4000 | 4000 | 4500 Hydrogenate Scale | 340 | 375 | 500 | 375 | 375 | 400 Illumina Opal | 425 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 675 | 570 Kargal Fur | 100 | 125 | 125 | 200 | 125 | 145 Marble Shard | 80 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 245 | 120 Omnium | 175 | 215 | 215 | 215 | 385 | 245 Reptuffalo Hide | 25 | 40 | 40 | 65 | 40 | 50 Scribe Skin | 450 | 750 | 875 | 650 | 575 | 625 Shadowstone* | 80 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 195 | 120 Woluf Pelt* | 35 | 50 | 50 | 85 | 50 | 60 Wyrdlord Gem | 260 | 300 | 300 | 300 | 625 | 340 ======================================================================== *Keep at least this number of the following items: Arconite Skull - 13 Brightwater Pearl - 21 Cyantine Eye - 3 Eden Coral - 10 Glue-Spider Duct - 3 Gnat Stinger - 5 Omnium - 21 Shadowstone - 21 Woluf Pelt - 5 #+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10) MONSTER COMPENDIUM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+ This is the list of all monster types that you will encounter in the game, the amount of experience received for defeating them, and the items that they may leave behind when they die. Not all monsters will drop an item every time, and for those that drop multiple items, some are dropped more or less frequently than others. I plan on expanding this section in a future update. ============================================================================= ENEMY NAME | EXP. | DROPPED ITEMS ============================================================================= Aklorian Warrior | 3XP | Marble shard, Healing Ointment Deathbringer | 2XP | Skill ointment, Marble Shard Wolf Knight | 5XP | Healing Ointment Grotesque | 15XP | Skill Ointment, Aegis Drink Siege Ogre | 250XP | Venom Gnat | 1XP | Gnat Stinger Aquaticlaw | 5XP | Brightwater Pearl, Aquaticlaw Shell Scarecrow | 8XP | Healing Ointment, Skill Ointment, | | Brightwater Pearl Woluf | 4XP | (100XP in Akloria) Woluf Pelt Pack Master | 6XP | (105XP in Akloria) Woluf Pelt Glue Spider | 12XP | Glue-Spider Duct Impaler Spider | 15XP | Glue-Spider Duct Arconite Raider | 18XP | Arconite Skull, Shadowstone Arconite Warlock | 15XP | Shadowstone Arconite Warrior | 50XP | Healing Potion, Stardust Vial Queen Ghara | 750XP | Bat Spirit | 20XP | Spirit Orb Wolf Spirit | 23XP | Spirit Orb Eagle Spirit | 30XP | Spirit Orb Farex Lore | 1000XP | War Wyrd | 85XP | Healing Salve, Shadowstone, Wyrdlord Gem Illusion Master | 150XP | Spirit Nectar Wyrd Warlord | 300XP | Wydlord Gem Toxic Scribe | 350XP | Soul Nectar Hunter-Killer | 2000XP | Huge Gold Bar Z 1000 | 60XP | Omnium Controller | 50XP | Omnium Hunter-Slayer | 100XP | Omnium Z 2000 | 75XP | Omnium Z 3000 | 100XP | Omnium Extractors | 40XP | Raw Mineral Suicide Droid | 10XP | Hunter-Shooter | 100XP | Omnium Krenn | 1500XP | Hydrogenate Warrior | 100XP | Hydrogenate Scale, Healing Salve Hydrogenate Myrmidon | 115XP | Hydrogenate Scale, Healing Salve Crystal Crab | 150XP | Crab Crystal Crystal Scribe | 175XP | Scribe Skin, Skill Salve Hydrogenate Shaman | 125XP | Hydrogenate Scale, Eden Coral Nassaria | 2000XP | Myrmidon | 175XP | Marble Shard, Luster Wine Cerberus | 170XP | Marble Shard, Luster Wine Slayer | 185XP | Luster Brew, Cyantine eye Abomination | 250XP | Cyantine Eye, Healing Elixir Pirouette | 135XP | Skill Salve, Marble Shard Blood Gnat | 20XP | Accursed | 100XP | Moondust Vial, Golden Panacea Horror | 250XP | Cyantine Eye, Healing Elixir Ogre | 750XP | Healing Elixir, Amaranth Drink Behemoth | 3000XP | Elite Illumina Guard | 190XP | Brightwater Pearl, Healing Potion, | | Royal Potion Elite Illumina Archer | 185 XP | Brightwater Pearl, Healing Potion, | | Royal Potion Elite Illumina Captain| 200XP | Illumina Opal, Healing Tincture Lord Talos | 9999XP | ============================================================================= #+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11) CLOSING INFO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+ -- VERSION HISTORY -- Version 1.0 - Completed 09-Feb-05. Complete FAQ/Walkthrough posted. Version 1.01 - Completed 18-Feb-05. Reviewed guide and fixed typos. Future update: -Expanded monster compendium with details on each creature and strategies. -- LEGAL INFO -- This author of this document is Marc Lalonde, a.k.a. Syonyx, for purposes of copyright law. It is provided for personal enjoyment only. Any use of this guide in whole or in part for financial profit or in hopes of such profit is expressly forbidden. Any display of this document must include the original indications of authorship. If you wish to post this guide on your website, you may do so only if it is unchanged in any way, and asking first would be nice too. Violations of my ownership of this document will make you a very sad example of humanity. -- CONTACT INFO -- Thanks for perusing my work! As stated, I am Syonyx, at least as far as video game guides are concerned. In the rest of my life, they call me Marc. Anyway, I'm always open to comments, questions, or suggestions for improving my work. If you have something to say, drop me a line at: [syonyx_faqs at yahoo dot com] And please feel free to check out my entire body of work at GameFAQs: http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/35729.html -- THANK YOU'S -- I am not indebted to anyone for the production of this body of work, except to Climax for creating Sudeki in the first place. This may change if I receive contributions from readers, of course. But for now, let me just say thanks to CJayC for creating GameFAQs.com, the greatest gaming site in the known universe. That's it for me! I hope you enjoyed the ride. Remember to get some fresh air once in a while, and don't be surly. Cheers! Syonyx 2005.