NoWorries presents:
the "Most expansive Card FAQ for SF ROTDD" ever
Game: Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon
System: Game Boy Advance
FAQ: Card Faq
Written By: NoWorries
Allowed Website: www.gamefaqs.com
www.neoseeker.com
*If you have a website you would like to post this at just shoot me an email*
**As always, the most up-to-date guide will always be found at gamefaqs**
Version History: 1.0 Submitted 08 of August of 2016
-Major questions that need answering:
1) strength of Lowe's Effect
2) what do the Robot cards effect
3) how random is the "extreme" random damage
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Table of Contents
I. Introduction [1000]
II. A (brief) explanation of Cards [2000]
III. Cards and their locations [3000]
IV. Card Mechanics [4000]
V. Additional Tips related to Cards and Mawlock [5000]
VI. Contact, Copyright, and Conclusion [6000]
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Hit [CTRL]+F followed by the bracketed number to quickly skip to a section
Introduction
[1000]
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-Who should be reading this FAQ?- #The NoWorries Contract to Greatness
I put this in every faq I've ever written, and it goes something along the
lines like this. By writing this, I commit to you the reader that I will bring
to you not only my vastness of knowledge but do it with a sense of humour. I
understand it's easy to get bogged down in detail as well as a mush of opinion
but I strive to bring you something more than just a guide to greatness.
So who should be reading this? I've recently been playing SF GBA as I like
to call it quite a bit on my stream as I play through the higher stars for the
NG+ (new game+). The basic premise being that each time you beat the game,
your file gains a star and the enemies gain +10% HP/MP. In addition to making
the game harder, it gives you opportunities to collect anything you might have
missed including cards. As I've played through into the 5+ range (where the
difficulty really begins to ramp up) I've noticed how some of the cards are
quite a bit more useful than others. There is some knowledge out there
regarding the cards, but there really isn't a comprehensive guide. I hope to
solve that in this one document, ranging all information you might want to
ever know regarding cards, including location, costs, effects, and extra hints
that could help you out. So who should be reading this faq? Anyone interested
in SF ROTDD.
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SF GBA is an interesting game. A "remake" of the classic Genesis version, it
really is a new entry in the series as opposed to a "remake" as SO much was
changed from the original SF title. There's new characters, new items, new
rewards, a new EXP/leveling/promotion system... it's basically a new game.
Some people don't like it, others love it. I feel the game is really
interesting; there are a number of mechanics that make the game very
different especially for speed running, and one of them, is Mawlock, the
Card Master.
A (brief) explanation of Cards
[2000]
Without diving into the aspects of the other characters (all 3 new ones
are vastly broken), we'll focus on just Mawlock. He's the Card Master, one who
has mastered "Splitting" so that he can help young Princess Narsha and Max
together to defeat Dark Dragon time and time again. So first, let's briefly
talk about Mawlock.
In a regular game (new file) Mawlock will first become available to your
party in 3-3*, the last battle with Narsha. As you have no access to cards at
this point, your first true moment with Mawlock is post 4-1 when your 3 new
characters all join together. He joins at level 8 (he's pre-promoted) and has
decent stats (20+ HP/MP, decently tanky). He never seems to get poisoned or
slept, but he never counters or doubles either it feels. What's interesting
about Mawlock, is that for NG+ (continuing a save file) he joins before 1-1
so you get him for the entire game (hence, completely changing the dynamic
of the game at this point). Mawlock is a caster that lacks any real direct
damage unless you have one of those cards. As such, it's important to try and
secure him EXP to get his MP up. Many of his most powerful cards cost 20 MP,
so getting up higher to at least 40 is crucial. I'll detail more of these
specifics later.
So how do we get these cards? Luckily for us, the cards are extremely easy
to come by in 95% of cases and most of them are easy to grab on your very
first run through; making our first "1 star" playthrough much easier. Cards
can be roughly categorized as Objective or Friendship, but due to Enemy
Cards being slightly different; we have the 3 following types: Friendship,
Objective, and Easy.
A Friendship card is much harder to get on your first runthrough. I
recently acquired all the stars during my 5 star runthrough as nearly every
single Friendship card was given to me immediately. Basically, a friendship
card is given to you by talking to said individual in the HQ before and
after battles. The individual needs to be in your party (like Pokemon
friendship) as well as the individual can never die. If they die, they won't
give you their card during that run (don't fret! Just beat the game and
continue your file). All characters will share details with you as you talk to
them, which is really cool, but only the Friendship folks will eventually
give you cards. Luckily, most friendship cards repeat amongst themselves so
unless you want a full collection, you don't have to get them all.
Skipping ahead, the Easy card is one that you really cannot miss. And by
cannot miss, I mean if you grabbed that character, you get their card. For
instance, Max's card is granted to you after beating the game for the first
time, you CANNOT miss it, hence, Easy. Arthur and Amon give you their cards
when they join, making it impossible to miss them. Some objective cards are
SO easy to find as well, that they really warrant being in the Easy category
as well; though, I will footnote them when those arrive.
The last category, which can be harder in some cases and easier in others,
Objective cards are thusly named as you must perform some objective to find
them. You might need to kill the Rune Knight in 1-1 with Max to get the Rune
Knight card (objective) or get turned into a chicken in Manarina (chapter 2)
to sneak in the Wizard VIP lounge to find Tao's card in a chest (quest based).
The next section is the entire list of the cards and where they're at.
Cards and their locations
[3000]
*The comprehensive list will be broken down in numerical order, with a follow
up list to follow that groups cards by type.
NUMERICAL LIST
01. Max
Rewarded for beating the game for the first time
02. Mae
Friendship Card
03. Pelle
Friendship Card
04. Ken
Friendship Card
05. Vankar
Friendship Card
06. Earnest
After beating 4-2 (the Hellhound battle) search the bookshelves in the
barracks. There is only one bookshelf and it's in the room that is in
goes through the stairs left from the stairs that lead to the HQ
07. Arthur
Talk to him after beating 2-2 (Cave of Darkness) and he joins and he
gives you his card as well!
08. Gort
After Guardiana has been ransacked, go to the house on the far left
of town (separated by the bridge) and head to the basement. Gort's
granddaughter will give you his card (after Mae has joined)
09. Luke
Friendship Card
10. Guntz
Friendship Card
11. Anri
Anri's card is in her room in Manarina. From the spot where she joins
in the cutscene, go to the left stairs. Now you're in a room with two
other stairs (up or down) and going down is Anri's room. Check the
bookshelf
12. Alef
In chapter 7, there's a seemingly random treasure chest just outside
of town before leaving and entering battle. Her card is in it
13. Tao
In Manarina (chapter 2) talk to the Wizard on the second floor to get
turned into a chicken. Go through the town and find the guy who turns
you back (this is the VIP lounge). Her card is in the chest there
14. Domingo
In Pao 2 (after 4-1, Elliot) Guntz has misplaced the Pigs/Sheep and
luckily, one of them has Domingo's card
15. Lowe
Friendship Card
16. Khris
After Khris joins and you've beaten the Alterone battle (1-4) Max is
displaced after battle right in front of the castle. The guy standing
near there is a "huge fan of Khris" and gives you her card
17. Torasu
Underground in Prompt Castle (chapter 7) the room on the left has his
card (the path leading towards the Shining Path)
18. Gong
After Gong joins, go inside the hut and talk to the lady
19. Diane
In Pao 1, her card is in a chest in the Pig/Sheep Pen
20. Hans
Friendship Card
21. Lyle
His card is in a chest in the topleft of town. Now that you know where
it is, let's explain how to get there. Similar to Alef, as you are
leaving town, you can hug the wall on the left. If you do this
correctly, you can sneak up to the treeline where you are allowed to
walk all the way left to the literal top/left part of town and find it
22. Amon
Like Arthur, she gives it to you when she joins
23. Balbaroy
In Shade Abbey, his card is in the third bookshelf
24. Kokichi
After watching Kokichi's demonstration, talk to the assistant twice to
get his card. I guess it's good to note that sometimes you have to
talk twice to people to trigger things. Kokichi's card is one of them,
also finding the Domingo Egg is just one other example
25. Bleu
Good news! You don't have to talk to Karin to leave Rudo and head into
battle in 6-3. After talking to Krin though, you can go talk to Karin
and she'll hand over Bleu's card
26. Adam
His card is available in chapter 8 hidden in the wall on the right
side of the castle (opposite the stairs on the left side)
27. Zylo
The wolf's card is hidden in the church sign in Bustoke (chapter 3)
28. Musashi
The spot where you normally recruit Musashi in chapter 7; that's his
card location. There's no card on the wall this time, but search the
wall after being thrown in jail
29. Hanzou
Same thing for Hanzou, search the bush in chapter 8 immediately after
entering Runefaust to find his card
30. Jogurt/Yogurt
No point in his card. Either way, his card is in Pao in the control
panel
31. Narsha
Friendship Card
32. Zuika
Friendship Card
33. Mawlock
Friendship Card
The next section are all "Enemy" cards. I tried to mix up the description to
make it more interesting, but the basic version is this: You have a leader
and a Hero, IE Rune Knight and Max. The Hero must defeat (IE land the final
hit/blow/attack) on said Enemy to get their card. It's not as hard as it
sounds except in some cases like Narsha and Ramladu or Adam and Chaos as you
probably have to bring the boss down to 1 HP.
34. Rune Knight
In 1-1, Max must deliver the final blow to the Rune Knight
35. Skeleton
In 2-2, Anri must deliver the final blow to the Skeleton
36. Marionette
In 2-3, Gort must deliver the final blow to Marionette
37. Ghoul
In 2-4, Max must deliver the final blow to the Ghoul
38. Gobgovitch
In 2-4*, Narsha must deliver the final blow to Gobgovitch
39. Pegasus Knight
In 3-2, Zylo must deliver the final blow to the Pegasus Knight near
the bridge (it's level 14 and obviously stronger)
40. Laser Eye
In 3-3, Anri must deliver the final blow to this machine
41. Silver Knight
In 3-3, have Tao or Anri finish off the Silver Knight
42. Soul Eater
In 3-3*, Zuika must finish off the Soul Eater
43. Elliot
In 4-1, Max must finish off the dragon
44. Hellhound
In 4-2, Guntz must make it to the top of the map and finish the dog
45. Balbazak
In 4-3, Earnest must finish off Balbz
46. Master Mage
In 5-2, Mae (of all people) must finish off the Master Mage
47. Dullahan
In 6-1, Domingo needs to defeat the Dullahan
48. Kane
Obviously, Max must defeat his (spoilers!) brother in 6-2
49. Mishaela
Unsuprisingly, Max must burn the witch in 6-4
50. Demon Master
In 7-2, Narsha must finish the Demon Master (yes, it's long and
difficult and she doesn't do a whole lot of damage)
51. Chaos
Guess who?! Adam must defeat Chaos
52. Ramladu
Sadly, Narsha must poke him for 1 damage and finish him off
53. Colossus
I don't know why, but Luke has to defeat the head (unsure if it must
be the center one, but I don't think it has to be)
54. Dark Sol
You get 10 guesses! Who am I kidding, it's Max. It's always Max
55. Dark Dragon
The last card and one you'll likely never use, Mawlock must finish
off at least one Dark Dragon head. This is one I suggest you pick up
in a NG+ or 1 star file as Mawlock can "Copy" Max's card to make this
a whole lot easier.
GROUPING LIST
The following are all the Friendship Cards
Mae
Pelle
Ken
Vankar
Luke
Guntz
Lowe
Hans
Narsha
Zuika
Mawlock
The following are all the Easy Cards
Max (simply beat the game)
Arthur (simply recruit him)
Alef (hidden in a visible chest in Prompt)
Khris (after beating 1-4, her "fan" is literally right there next to you)
Amon (simply recruit her)
Kokichi (after watching his demonstration, talk to his assistant twice)
All the rest of Objective Cards
Card Mechanics
[4000]
Alright, before we can get into the exact mechanics of cards, let's talk
about what you can do with these cards.
MOVE
Arguably the most useful of all Mawlock's abilities, this first one
that we're looking at is the aptly named "Move". What does it do?
Simply put, it lets the character take an additional turn.
Some extra details:
-only affects HEROs, not ENEMYs (can't use Dark Sol card Move)
-the first turn is taken at the END of the turn
-all other turns then happen immediately afterwards*
*sometimes the double turn is interrupted by similar speeds
-"refreshing" Mawlock's cards can allow for another use of MOVE
-this means you could take 3 turns each round of battle
IMITATE
Imitate is just that; it creates a non-perfect copy of the HERO of the
card used. Enemy cards cannot be used for this. The Imitate is a copy
of the hero down to the smallest detail.
Some extra details:
-you can only have one (1) Imitate summoned at a time
-the Imitate cannot have more than 10 HP
-the Imitate has the MP of the Hero UNLESS the Hero has more than
25 MP. In that case, the Imitate has 25 MP
-the other stats of the Imitate are that of the hero
*if you don't have the hero yet, they join with their starting
stats that they would have
-Imitates cannot use/give/accept/ITEM
Why use Imitate?
-NG+, you can summon Musashi early for OHKOing everything
-in general for NG+, summon later heroes earlier for reasons
-against Dark Dragon for standing on Armed Skeleton squares
-in the event of a hero dying and you can't/don't want to revive
them (eg Dark Dragon) and they still can fight
-extra bodies for cluster battles (eg Balbazak)
COPY
Copy is interesting but rarely used. The reason behind this is largely
due to cards having a single use property about them (right, One Use
per battle since I've not brought it up) and the other uses of Cards
are largely more useful. That being said, Copy does have a use in that
some affects can be very useful. In general, Copy turns Mawlock into
that hero. Some examples, Copying a caster (Tao, Anri, etc) makes
Mawlock attack with Blaze/Freeze/Bolt etc instead of physically
attacking which is interesting. Similarly, Torasu let's Mawlock
"attack" allies with Heal 1; so there's lots of potential uses.
As for stats, Copy changes Mawlock's stats by an amount; it's
different for each card and I'll try to detail those below
EFFECT
The other "most powerful affect" Effect is for lack of a better word,
a magic spell which then grants Mawlock up to 4 unique spells each
battle depending on your selection of cards. The Effects range from
simple (Gort, boosting an allies attack by 8, or, the Power Ring) to
INSANELY BROKEN (Kokichi, changing an ally into a FLYING UNIT, Blue,
hitting up to 5 enemies for 30ish damage from ANYWHERE ON THE MAP)
Ahem... Effect is very powerful if you know what you are up against
and how best to approach the battle. While the other 3 abilities
require no magic to use, each Effect costs magic from Mawlock's
relatively small magic pool.
Due to the size and scope of this next section, I'm going to split it up
into 2 sections, the Copy and the Effect section. Also, because some abilities
are so similar (eg EVERY KNIGHT CARD...) I'm going to try and group them by
the WHAT as opposed to the WHO. You'll see what I mean soon enough.
The Big COPY Moveset
Section 1, Cards that "change" Mawlock's attack
A quick note regarding the stat changes for Mawlock. During my testing, there
were some obvious trends and those are reflected in the percent changes as
those were very easily calculated. In others, there was no clear patten in
which case I simply noted the change of his stats. I think it works regardless
of his level but I have not bothered to test through each level. Regardless,
the stat changes shuold give you a good understanding of what to expect and
more importantly, does his move change from his normal 5 move
Max, attacks with Supernova
+50% ATT, +11 DEF, +5 AGI
Anri, attacks with Freeze
-14 ATT, -22 DEF, 4 MOVE
Alef, attacks with Bolt
-14 ATT, -22 DEF, 4 MOVE
Tao, attacks with Blaze
-14 ATT, -22 DEF, 4 MOVE
Domingo, attacks with Freeze
-11 ATT, +11 DEF, -5 AGI, 9 MOVE
Lowe, Khris, Torasu, "attacks" allies with Heal 1
-11 ATT, -11 DEF, -11 AGI, 4 MOVE
Narsha, "attacks" allies with Boost 1 (+8 attack)
-11 ATT, -11 DEF, +50% AGI, 6 MOVE
Marionette, attacks with Blaze
-6 ATT, -6 DEF, -5 AGI, 4 MOVE
Laser Eye, attacks with Bolt
+100% ATT, -50% DEF, 5 AGI, 1 MOVE
Hellhound, attacks with Flame
+10 ATT, -11 DEF, 6 MOVE
Master Mage, attacks with Blaze
-17 ATT, -22 DEF, 4 MOVE
Kane, attacks with Desoul
+5 ATT, +6 DEF, +5 AGI, 6 MOVE
Mishaela, attacks with Bolt
-17 ATT, -22 DEF, 4 MOVE
Demon Master, attacks with Freeze
-17 ATT, -22 DEF, 4 MOVE
Colossus, attacks with Bolt
+100% DEF, -14 AGI, 4 MOVE
*These are changes to his attack. These are not "spells" in the traditional
sense IE Bolt only hits 1 target here. This is because it is an attack, not
a physically casting of the spell. The damage dealt is however what you would
expect from the spell. What's interesting though is that some of your BEST
stat increases come from this section. Highlights... Max +50% ATT, Narsha
offers +50% AGI, and Colossus gives +100% DEF and Laser Eye gives +100% ATT!
What's really interesting though is that any attack gain doesn't help Mawlock
UNLESS you do something of a mild exploit. Try copying Laser Eye (if Mawlock
has 35+ attack, this works great) and then Effect with any "attack from any
range" card. See what happens. I'm sure you won't be sad
Section 2, Cards that "copy" the character
Mae, Pelle, Ken, Vankar, Earnest, and Arthur
+5 AGI, 7 MOVE
Gort and Luke
+21 ATT, +22 DEF, -14 AGI, 4 MOVE
Guntz
+16 ATT, +50% DEF, -50% AGI, 3 MOVE
Gong
+10 ATT, -6 DEF, +14 AGI
Amon and Balbaroy
-11 DEF, +9 AGI, 8 MOVE
Kokichi
+10 ATT, 8 MOVE
Zylo, increase movement in forests
+14 ATT, -11 DEF, +50% AGI, 6 MOVE
Bleu
+21 ATT, +22 DEF, -50% AGI, 3 MOVE
Adam
+16 ATT, +11 DEF, -9 AGI
Musashi
+21 ATT, +11 DEF, +5 AGI
Hanzou
+16 ATT, +6 DEF, +100% AGI, 6 MOVE
Zuika
+5 ATT, -11 DEF, +100% AGI, 6 MOVE
Rune and Silver Knight
+12 ATT, +5 AGI, 7 MOVE
Pegasus Knight
+12 ATT, 7 MOVE
Skeleton, Ghoul, Soul Eater, and Dullahan
+5 ATT, -11 DEF, -5 AGI
Gobgovitch
+21 ATT, +22 DEF, -11 AGI, 4 MOVE
Elliot and Balbazak
+21 ATT, +22 DEF, -14 AGI
Chaos
+16 ATT, +11 DEF, -9 AGI
Ramladu
+10 ATT, +11 DEF, +9 AGI, 6 MOVE
Dark Sol
+50% ATT, +50% DEF, +50% AGI
Dark Dragon
+21 ATT, +22 DEF, -50% AGI, 2 MOVE
*This section is largely those that "copy" the hero more literally. The stats
do not change as much in general. The biggest thing here is to pay attention
to that MOVE stat, as copying certain characters will wreck Mawlock's ability
to participate in battle. Also, Hanzou and Zuika offer +100% AGI which is
just hilarious. Also, Dark Sol is a great copy as it's a +50% increase in
all of Mawlock's stats
Section 3, Cards that "alter" Mawlock's attack
Diane, +1 range to Mawlock's attack
-11 ATT, -17 DEF, +5 AGI
Hans, +1 range to Mawlock's attack
-11 ATT, -17 DEF, +5 AGI
Lyle, +2 range to Mawlock's attack
+10 ATT, +17 DEF, -14 AGI, 3 MOVE
Jogurt/Yogurt
1 ATT, 1 DEF, 1 AGI
*Obviously Jogurt is a joke, but I pulled the Archers out as they are
quite different from Section 2 because of the range change. As in, Lyle
forces Mawlock to attack at 3 range; 2 range attacks do not count
The Big EFFECT Moveset
Section 1, Attack from any range/distance
Mae, 8 MP
Pelle, 10 MP
Ken, 10 MP
Vankar, 10 MP
Earnest, 9 MP
Arthur, 10 MP
Rune Knight, 5 MP
Pegasus Knight, 7 MP
Silver Knight, 7 MP
Elliot, 3 MP
Section 2, Magic attacks from any range/distance
Alef, Bolt 2, costs 15 MP
Anri, Freeze 2 , costs 30 MP
Tao, Blaze 1, costs 6 MP
Domingo, Freeze 4, costs 30 MP
Bleu, deals about 30 damage in an A2 (cross), costs 30 MP
Laser Eye, Bolt 4, costs 30 MP
Master Mage, Blaze 2, costs 20 MP
Marionette, Blaze 1, costs 2 MP
Hellhound, Flame, 20 MP
Mishaela, Bolt 2 on ALL enemies, costs 40 MP
Demon Master, Freeze 4, costs 25 MP
Dark Sol, Demon Breath I on ALL enemies, costs 50! MP
Dark Dragon, Demon Breath II on ALL enemies, costs 50! MP
Section 3, Random Physical
Musashi, next ally attack is guaranteed critical, costs 20 MP
Guntz, one time use reduce damage to 1, costs 20 MP
Gobgovitch, extreme random damage*, costs 20 MP
Used it 10 times on a Zombie for testing. The results were
14, 20, 9, 19, 25, 1, 17, 14, 6, 12
Thus, the average damage was 13.7 with the range from [1, 25]
I don't know if it does more than 25
Section 4, Offensive Status
Zuika, casts Desoul, costs 25 MP
Gong, cancel one enemy turn, costs 20 MP
Skeleton, puts one enemy to sleep, costs 20 MP
Ghoul, poisons one enemy, costs 20 MP
Dullahan, casts Desoul, costs 25 MP
Ramladu, cancel one enemy turn, costs 20 MP
Section 5, Defensive Status
Diane, +2 to ally's attack range, costs 24 MP
Hans, +1 to ally's attack range, costs 12 MP
Lyle, +2 to ally's attack range, costs 18 MP
Luke, +15 defense to an ally, costs 7 MP
Gort, +8 attack to an ally, costs 11 MP
Hanzou, +15 speed to an ally, costs 8 MP
Balbazak, +5 attack +15 DEF and AGI to one ally, costs 40 MP
Colossus, +15 defense to all allies, costs 30 MP
Amon, +3 MOVE to an ally, costs 10 MP
Balbaroy, changes ally MOVE-TYPE to Flying, costs 20 MP
Kokichi, changes ally MOVE-TYPE to Flying, costs 20 MP
Zylo, changes ally MOVE-TYPE to Beast, costs 15 MP
Section 6, Everything Else
Max, Egress, costs 20 MP
Kane, Egress, costs 8 MP
Lowe, casts Heal 3/4? from any distance, costs 10 MP
Khris, casts Aura 4 on your entire team, costs 25 MP
Torasu, casts Shield on your entire team, costs 25 MP
Soul Eater, an ally will regen health for 5 turns , costs 30 MP
Narsha, restores 20 MP to an ally, costs 30 MP
Mawlock, refreshes used cards, costs 30 MP
Jogurt/Yogurt, makes an ally's attack 1, costs 1 MP
Adam, attack with enemy's own ATT power, 20 MP
Chaos, attack with enemy's own ATT power, 15 MP
*I have literally no idea what Adam/Chaos does. I've used the card on both
Mawlock and other heroes; been attacked and attacked, it doesn't seem to do
anything. There may be something else there that I'm missing, but as of now,
I have no idea
*I also am unsure of the strength of Lowe's card as I haven't had the
opportunity to heal for enough health to determine if it is heal 3 or 4.
Seeing as it costs 10 MP and Khris's costs 25, I'm inclined to think that it
is heal 3 but whichever, all you need to know is that it is a big heal spell
which you'll probably never use because there are better cards
Additional Tips related to Cards and Mawlock
[5000]
As Mawlock and the cards are confusing the first time you've ever picked
up this game; this section will hopefully deal with everything else yet to be
discussed.
First time playing the game?
If this is your first time ever playing the game, the best bet is to try
everything. As I said earlier, all 3 of the new characters are very powerful.
Narsha learns super strong spells including Aura 4 (mega heals), Step (a spell
that increases movement, something you'll love), Boost (a spell that increases
magic potency), and Attack, a proper 4 rank spell now in this GBA remake.
Zuika on the other hand is a melee fighter with no weapon (which seems bad)
but besides having a much higher critical chance, Zuika also gains super stats
when near-death(ish), most of which I've never bothered to test but I have
been told results in a character stronger than all others.
Which of course, leads to Mawlock. The difference here is that Mawlock
requires the finding of Cards whereas Narsha and Zuika can easily be leveled.
So my suggestion for your first time would be, find as many cards as possible!
Use the above list as your guide for finding them, and mix and match. As I've
said before, I enjoy the Move ability more since having characters take two or
three turns is super strong; but you may find that Effect is your jam. The
best way to learn is through trial and error.
Your actual first file
What's neat about the GBA file is that if you missed something, you can
beat the game and then continue it. There is then literally no fear about not
having a complete collection or anything being missed. The only downside is
that things do get harder, especially if you aren't a SF pro like myself. So,
let's talk a bit then about your first file in terms of building into a multi
star file for bragging rights.
The first thing to note is Zuika and Narsha. This is the absolute best
time to get their cards (and Mawlocks) but Zuika and Narsha get special notice
here because their special battles become stupidly harder later in the game
and to get Friendship cards, the individuals must not die (which, for everyone
else, it's generally easier to pick up their friendship card on later runs as
they give them to you much faster and in many cases, without ever needing to
fight with them). It then makes much more sense to get Narsha and Zuika's
cards on the first playthrough. With Mawlock, you need to talk to him after
each battle basically and he should give it to you in Chapter 8.
Do I want their cards? This question can be asked of anyone, but with
regards to the 3 characters at hand, YES! Narsha's card is really cool, the
most obvious being the Effect of giving 20 MP to someone (very handy!) and
Mawlock's card is essential to "restore" used cards to then allow for the
super broken triple movement. Zuika's is less useful, but if you are planning
on using him, having his card is an obvious "go".
Other really important cards to collect are the Enemy Cards that require
not-stellar-characters to KO them. Some that come to mind are Colossus, Chaos,
Ramladu, and the Demon Master as Luke, Adam, and Narsha have to last hit these
and well, obviously it's better to do sooner rather than later. In terms of
Chaos, his card is not so good, so unless you want it specifically for a full
collection, I'd say skip it since Adam is bad and Chaos's card is bad. The
others are definitely worth it, in particular, Colossus is the single most
useful card through the entire game, for every run. More on that later. Some
other really important Enemy cards to pick up due to their usefulness are
Rune Knight and Elliot (attack from anywhere), Torch Eye (100% attack increase
on Mawlock), Gobgovitch and Soul Eater (because grabbing them on later runs
is really hard).
Lastly, any of the non-friendship ally cards (the objective based ones)
are good to pick up on your first run through as you can have a greater
selection with Mawlock for your NG+ file. There are obvious stand outs, but
any magic user allows Mawlock to end battles quickly, as well as Musashi is a
great Imitate through Chapter 1 to help beat battles faster.
The only cards you can absolutely NOT get are Max and Dark Dragon (on your
first playthrough). Obviously you have to beat the game to get Max's card. The
reason I say Dark Dragon, is for Mawlock. Your first playthrough is much
harder to get Mawlock to level up and become powerful due to him not really
having the necessary stats that we are looking for (hence, the first play
looking more at practicing and getting used to him). Later, on your 1 star
run, you can have Mawlock "Copy" Max to hit Dark Dragon with Supernova, which
makes it much easier to kill a head for the card. Alternatively, you can level
Mawlock super high and "Copy" Dark Sol and Mawlock fights like a boss.
NG+ Files
This section could be its own guide, so I'll try to focus on the more
important pieces here.
Leveling Mawlock
To take advantage of all that he offers, we really want to level him up.
Many of the Effect cards cost more magic than Mawlock will ever have in a
regular run, unless you specifically overlevel him. There are two things that
we can really take advantage of to level Mawlock up. First, any healing in
this game follows similarly to SF2 in that you always gain 10 EXP at a minimum
for healing. As such, using Medical Herbs to gain EXP is great. Second, 2-2 or
the Cave of Darkness. This battle is significant really because of the fast
reset. You could do this on other battles, but the idea is this: Mawlock can
Effect Colossus, giving everyone Defense and him gaining 48 EXP (if your party
is at least 5 people) and then Max goes right after and leaves the battle so
that you can then re-enter it. This can go on until Mawlock is level 99 if you
wish. More important, is the MP value of Mawlock. The biggest is 30, allowing
to Effect with Mawlock to restore his cards. Later, is 40 to use Mishaela, and
then 50 to use Dark Dragon (in a 1, 2, or 3 star run, this is particularly
helpful as the enemies will die or be nearly defeated from these effects). We
then have 52 (double use of Gort's +8 attack) and 66 so that you can double
use Lyle's card to give +2 range to two different people (multiple range
effects do not stack). That's probably the highest amount you'll need, as
that's a 4 card set up and you perfectly get triple moves and two characters
with +2 range (using this on Knights allow for 4 ranged attacks making them
safe from ANYTHING). You could level to 90 MP to Mishaela and Dark Dragon, but
I leveled Mawlock to 99 once and he capped at about 80ish Magic so it's not
very likely for that to happen.
Now, Mawlock doesn't have 30 MP for this to start, so you have a couple of
options to get him to 30 MP so that you can then use Colossus. I used to use
Alef's card as it costs 15 and you can Bolt 2 the Skeleton across the map. But
if Mawlock has 25 MP, you can then use Torasu's card to cast Shield for the
same effect of gaining 48 EXP. Colossus is faster which is why we switch to it
but Torasu can get us there assuming you have enough MP.
The other reason why 2-2 is important is because Max will likely be fast
enough (with Speed Ring if you need it) so that the turns go Mawlock-->Max.
Chapter 1
For your NG+ files, we have Mawlock from the start now! I'm going to go
ahead and tell you how I do it (feel free to experiment!) My quest is to get
to 10 stars (or however high the game will go) so I generally plan my route
from the beginning on who I will use. For instance, casters aren't very good
in NG+ files as enemies gain more and more life and casters don't deal more
and more damage. As such, I immediately drop everyone except Max and Mawlock
and set Mawlock up with Max-Musashi-Kokichi-Alef. I mix up the cards, but for
1-1, the easiest way is to Imitate Musashi and let him just defeat the Rune
Knight quickly (I begin leveling Max in 1-4). You can also blast the Knight
down with Alef-Tao but that only works in the 1-2 star range and not higher
which is why using Musashi is good practice. For 1-2, you can Effect Kokichi
to make Max flying and then Move Max to quickly beat the battle. This gets us
the Demibuster, essential to 1-4. For 1-3, you can use Mae or Gort, but I
wouldn't. Instead, you can Effect Kokichi or Amon (the battle speed is about
the same) and you get Max to Alterone very quickly.
It's important to note that I sell everyone else's weapons here and use
the money to buy 2 more Steel Rings (1000) and many Herbs (about 20 or so at
least). The Rings are important to protect Max in 1-4 and the Herbs are for
EXP on Mawlock for when he has nothing else to do. As we go into 1-4, my
set up is Max-Gort-Musashi-Amon, and I have Max with Demibuster/Rousing Ring/
two Steel Rings. I send Max right to fight the Dark Dwarves (hence, the
importance of the Demibuster) but first I Effect Gort and Amon onto him to
give him more damage and extra movement (this is very important on later Star
runs when Max takes multiple points of damage from enemies). I send Mawlock
and Musashi up (right, Imitate Musashi) and yeah. Max generally gets to 5 or 6
this way which is why I don't worry about skipping 1-1, 1-2, or 1-3.
Chapter 2
There isn't much here. I like to buy 1 Charm Ring for Max in the Circus
Tent and don't forget the Speed Ring. To get through the Desert, I usually
just Kokichi-Max to let Max fly and take double turns. You can also use Amon,
again, the battle ends about the same. In 2-2, I level the heck out of Mawlock
and later he can beat the Skeleton from across the map using any number of
cards.
The Circus Tent poses an interesting challenge as Mishaela is magic immune
and the dolls hit hard. The easiest thing to do is double turn Max, he can
Power Ring himself, and Mawlock can give Max triple turns and raise his range
as well. There are a number of set ups, but on later difficulties, you have to
use Luke or Colossus if you are planning on using more than just Max (I used
just Max and Mawlock until Kokichi and then that was it, all the way through
5 Stars just for reference). The dolls hit really hard hence why raising Max's
defence by 15 is essential. Shade Abbey is not hard at all and can be done
many ways.
Chapter 3
You can use the birdmen, but on NG+, it's a little harder as the Mage
rapidly gains too much health. I would opt to just use Mawlock. Until the
Mage gains a ton of health, it's usually easiest to Copy Dark Sol (or Torch
Eye) and then Effect an attack card (Knight or Elliot etc) to OHKO the Mage.
As this puts Mawlock up to a ton of attack (potentially 99) this works for a
while. Moving into 3-2, it's generally faster to fly Max to the bridge with
triple turns. In 3-3, you can blast the knight with magic most of the time,
though copying and attack works fairly well as well. Though, if you haven't
gotten the Laser Eye and Silver Knight cards, this is the best time to do so,
using Anri in combination with Mawlock. Getting the Laser Eye card is VERY
helpful as it can put Mawlock to 99 attack which allows you to Effect with
a Knight card to OHKO most enemies for most of the runs. Also, set up to
recruit Kokichi.
Chapter 4
Because Kokichi naturally flies, he's my option, though I'm starting to
experiment with bringing Arthur as well for later 5+ star runs to hopefully
speed things up. Chapter 4 is where we can greatly level Max and Kokichi with
giving them triple turns. Mawlock is generally set up with Max-Kokichi-Mawlock
and Colossus or Gort depending on the battle as the Power Ring could crack.
Generally, we want to delay promotions as long as possible, although 15 is not
a bad option, although getting Max to Supernova level 2 at 16 is pretty solid.
You also get Narsha and Zuika after Elliot. While Zuika isn't always the
easiest to use on later runs, even a level 1 Narsha is helpful to bring along
as you don't have to use Gort's card then. Later, leveling Narsha is strong as
like I said, Step can speed things up and in some battles, make them way
easier as you can engage from 10+ squares away.
Balbazak is always tough because the enemies swarm you, but Effecting
Colossus pretty much sets you up for safety.
Chapter 5
We're promoting here and continuing to farm. Really, Max-Kokichi-Mawlock
is our standard set up on Mawlock, with that last card being whatever. Most
of the time, Narsha works pretty well to get her extra EXP, but feel free to
mix things up.
Chapter 6
You can defeat Dullahan until he gets tons of HP, and once that happens
I'd just fly Max across. One thing you'll start to notice is that even boosted
your heroes won't do all that much. Because you can't get above 99 attack,
which, you'll never even get close to that unless Mawlock copies Laser Eye,
you have to chip down enemies later in life and later in multiple star files.
Cane/Kain isn't too bad. You'll likely need to Effect Colossus, but using
Lyle is often better as Kane counters a lot though Effecting Colossus makes
that less scary. Getting to Mishaela is a breeze, just fly Max.
Mishaela isn't that bad, but she becomes harder as her life total gets
over 100 pretty quickly, so running through and killing works pretty well.
Chapter 7
It's almost always faster to just fly Max (safer too) in 7-1. For the
Tower, Mawlock can usually take it out but we want the Valkyrie so Kokichi
needs to be the hero. Multiple turns, extra movement, bonus attack, and yeah,
Kokichi can zap things up.
Chaos is pretty tough, again, because you get swarmed. Similar set up to
Kane works well with Colossus to protect everyone. Max and Kokichi are
probably capping hard on EXP, it happens.
To end 7-4, Kokichi is the best option, again, just beefing him up like
you did for 7-2. Also, it's essential to get the 7-4 battle reward of the
Dragon Slayer here as it allows Kokichi to OHKO dragons until the 5 star
range as he'll do 80-90 damage on a non-crit. It's important to note that
these strategies work through the 5 star file and beyond.They're pretty solid.
Chapter 8
This is where things get tricky especially for later files which is why
I'm looking into someone else to bring. For 8-1, raising both Kokichi and
Max's movement is essential as we don't want to get hit, ever. Triple turns
and moving super far is how we can beat these enemies safely.
For Ramladu, the Robots bumrush us. I find that for the first few Stars,
you can rush down Ramladu with Kokichi and Max. Later on, it takes time
especially since Ramladu heals himself with Aura 4. To beat the Robots, Effect
with Colossus is pretty essential, as is sometimes bringing in extra fodder
to delay the damage as the Robots don't go down in one hit from Max and
Kokichi. It's a pretty tough battle and hence why I'm looking into bringing
new people along at this point. Also, I guess it's fair to point out that this
was my suggestion for quickly beating the game, but I always encourage you to
play around and see what you like/discover.
Colossus, like Ramladu, is easy for a few stars, as Kokichi can just
sprint up there and defeat the boss without too much trouble. Later on,
you have to defend from the immediate threats. Strats similar to Ramladu are
pretty helpful here as well as Chimaera hit hard even when you have +15
defence.
Dark Sol is only a problem if you don't double Lyle to let Max and
Kokichi safely attack from a distance as Dark Sol almost always counters and
he gets 99 attack pretty quickly. It hurts pretty gosh-darn bad.
For Dark Dragon, it's super easy and there are a number of ways to beat
him. You really want to prevent the Armed Skeletons from spawning, and again,
you can use Lyle to raise the ranges of your guys (Kokichi literally is safe
from 4 spaces away) but the biggest thing is triple turns let you move in,
hit, hit, then retreat safely back. Really, as long as you set Mawlock up with
enough MP to restore his cards, that's all that's needed to beat Dark Dragon.
Helpful Card Combinations
Mawlock+Fighters for mega double/triple turn movements
Laser Eye+Knight cards for attacking with 99 attack from any distance
Marionette, Tao, and Alef costs 23 magic and deals Blaze 1 twice and Bolt
2 from across the map (on average, 30ish damage)
Bleu+Alef is 45ish damage for 45 magic from across the map
Feel free to be creative!
Contact, Copyright, and Conclusion
[6000]
This is copyright me, Todd Lesinski AKA NoWorries. As such, you cannot use
copy any part of this guide and claim it as your own. I'm not a stickler so
long you make a reference somewhere saying that this guide was so helpful for
whatever purpose you are using this for that would be great. If you are a
cheat bastard then may a ball-eating plague be struck upon you and all
consequent men in your family until you right this wrong.
Contact Info
If you feel the need to contact me about ANYTHING pertaining to THIS guide;
you may contact me at (AT) [.]
[email protected]
Please specify "SHINING FORCE CARD FAQ" to differentiate from my other
Shining Force guides/works out on the webs. I do appreciate your time. If you
don't do this, I probably won't respond. I may also not respond because I'm
very busy but I will do the best I can.
You can also follow me on twitter NoWorries tskisoccer @tskisoccer
You can also follow me on twitch to know when I'm streaming
https://www.twitch.tv/tskisoccer
Normally I do other stuff but frankly this is still a rather large WIP as I
hope to add more card combinations and maybe solve some of the card mysteries.
As of now, don't worry about it! This ends the guide though
Guide Length 49618
