AZURE DREAMS SURVIVAL GUIDE v0.8
by Electromax ([email protected])
began May 28, 2006
submitted June 30, 2006

game released June 30, 1998

release notes -
       I am submitting this exactly 8 years after the game's release! And this
       was not intentional. 8 years is pretty good staying power, wouldn't you say?
       Most everything is done except various monster sections (which I have not had
       the chance to write/research) and the glitches section, which will come in the
       next revision. Email me with the subject line 'Azure Dreams' with comments or
       complaints, and I am open to both. This is my first FAQ, so cut me some slack,
       OK?

       Happy 8th birthday, Azure Dreams!



-0- Contents
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Introduction

2) Explanation of Basic Elements

3) Tower Structure

4) Item Catalog / Commentary
       a) Weapons
                i) Swords
               ii) Wands
            iii) Troll Weapons
       b) Shields
       c) Fruits
       d) Herbs / Seeds
               i) Herbs
            ii) Seeds
       e) Balls
       f) Sands / Crystals
               i) Sands
            ii) Crystals
       g) Loupes / Glasses
       h) Bells / Scrolls
       i) Other
               i) Eggs
            ii) Quest Items
           iii) Decorations / Gifts

5) Monster Index / Commentary
       a) Tower Creatures
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
          iv) Notes
       b) Fusion / Genus / Magic
               i) Fusion Basics
            ii) Trait Geneology
           iii) Spell Families
            iv) Mechanics of Magic
               v) Fusion Strategy

6) To The Pinnacle
       a) Equipment Strategy
       b) Familiar Management
     c) Notes on the Ascent
               i) Routine Strategy
            ii) Status Afflictions
         iii) Traps

7) Town Mechanics
       a) Good Samaritanism
       b) Construction
       c) Relationships

8) Exploitable Glitches

9) Conclusion



-1- Introduction
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I must admit Azure Dreams has never worn on me. I still remember renting
it when I was nine, and then ten, and then buying a copy when I was twelve,
selling it when I was fourteen, and reacquiring it at seventeen. And now,
at eighteen, nearly a decade after I first began, I still look forward to
my next visit to Monsbaiya. Azure Dreams is truly a unique game and a gem
to anyone with the patience to see it out. I wrote this guide because I
adore the game and I can't help but notice that GameFAQs still has the same
(excellent) guide from Billy Sauls I used nine years ago. I was surprised,
upon visiting the boards, that there was still minimal life despite no real
updated information in the long, hard years past. So perhaps this may
rekindle the ailing interest in the game. If not, it will give me an excuse
to log a few more hours into the game I'll never grow out of. Enjoy.

NOTE: I am aware there is a Nintendo DS game called Tao's Adventure: Curse
of the Demon Seal. I own a DS but I have not played it; I understand
it is a sequel of sorts to this game. The reviews have not been kind, but
if I get a chance I'll add a comparison section.



-2- Explanation of Basic Elements
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As you're probably aware, Azure Dreams is a 1998 game by Konami chronicling
the rise of a young boy to manhood. He lives in a town called Monsbaiya,
which centers itself around the Monster Tower. The tower is a 40-floor
labyrinth with monsters and treasure. The hero, who I will hereafter refer
to as Koh (his default name) is left fatherless after his father Guy
mysteriously disappears upon reaching the top floor. Upong reaching age 15,
Koh sets out to attain that same level of skill.

You'll spend most of your time in the tower, building your stable of
Familiars (basically little pet monsters which help you fight the good fight)
and reaching higher floors. The rest of the time you'll spend in town,
funding building projects, meeting people, and improving the initially
pitiful layout. It is amazing how such a small playing field provides such
possibilities.

This is an RPG at the basest level, but the combat is simple. The tower is
grid-based, and movement is turn-regulated. This means things move around on
what is essentialy a huge chessboard, and monsters and only move when Koh
moves. So if you are surrounded, take your time. No enemies may advance
until you do.

Koh builds levels by defeating monsters. His Familiars do as well, but there
is a catch: after exiting the tower, either via a Wind Crystal, Oleem, or
defeat, Koh's level resets back to 1. This is unavoidable. His Familiars,
on the other hand, are allowed to keep their levels. Thus it becomes fairly
clear what the overall Flow of the Game becomes:
       1) Enter tower
       2) Defeat enemies to build Koh and Familiar's levels
       3) When things get tough, exit tower
       4) Koh's level resets, Familiar's levels stay the same
       5) Sell items / use money to improve town
       6) Repeat
In this fashion your Familiars' levels continue to grow and allow you
to reach higher and higher levels, eventually reaching level 40 and
the story resolution. Note however that the game never "ends" like a
regular game; even after reaching level 40 and viewing the credits, you
can continue making regular tower trips and exploring.

At any given time, Koh can hold 20 items in his inventory, but when
he walks in the front door of the tower he can only have 5 at most or
he will be rejected. The 5 item limit includes Familiars. You'll
probably generally want to carry two Familiars, your Sword, your
Shield, and a fifth item of your choice which can be a Wind Crystal,
a Pita Fruit, Medicinal Herb, etc.



-3- Tower Structure
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As I mentioned before, the Monster Tower has 40 levels. Each set of five
levels has it's own graphical theme and music. You will almost never see
the same setup twice; the tower room/hallway arrangement is randomized
for each floor so you won't know what to expect. On each level you are
primarily searching for an elevator which will allow you to ascend to
the next floor; elevators are circular, rainbow-flashing plates. Hidden
in in the floor are traps which can affect you, your familiars, and rogue
monsters. Items are randomized upon each visit. After many visits you
will start to recognize some of the basic setups:
       1) Tutorial Setup
               -You'll only see this once, upon entering the tower for the
                first time. Kewne will guide you around, teaching you the
                basics on items, combat, and exploration. After you leave
                the first floor, you won't ever see this again.
       2) First Floor Setup
               -There are really only a few first floor designs you'll run
                across. The first floor is almost nothing like the others;
                it has waterfalls, large staircases, and is often close to
                symmetrical. Get used to seeing the same three or four
                designs over and over.
       3) Second Floor Setup
               -This and Floor 40 are the only two floors that are always
                the same. This floor is always a large room with some railings
                planters scattered about, and you'll always meet either
                Ghosh or Selfi. You can fight Ghosh or talk to Selfi, but
                there are never items to find or monsters to fight.
       4) Basic Setup
               -This is what you'll see most often: a mix of small rooms and
                long connecting hallways with slight changes in elevation.
                You'll occasionally see rooms with checkered vertical plants
                obscuring your view; otherwise, there's not much to see. Dead
                ends become more commonplace as you reach higher floors.
       5) Gigantic Room Setup
               -This is rare, but occasionally you'll come into a floor that
                is just one ENORMOUS room. This is sort of handy because, since
                the room is automatically filled on your automap, you can
                instantly see the locations of all items and treasures, and
                the exit. If there are tough monsters about, use a Holy Bell
                to make them flee to the edges of the room, where they won't
                attack you and you can kill them at will. You don't see this
                one too often.
       6) Fortieth Floor Setup
               -This is always the same. Your first visit is obviously the
                most important, since you fight the final boss and view the
                ending and all that. But upon subsequent visits, there is
                absolutely nothing up here. No items, no elevator, no nothing.
                So, if you don't have a Wind Crystal, you'll have to reset.
                Although I suppose you could command one of your Familiars
                to attack you repeatedly until you die, but you would lose
                all of your items.
I have also compiled a list of the monsters you can expect to run into
on each of the tower floors; if you are looking for a specific egg
then I recommend searching on a floor that monster occupies. Each floor will
contain at maximum four unique types. Here is the monster distribution:
 FLOOR | Monsters
------------------
 1     | Pulunpa, Noise,   Troll
 2     | [Ghosh]
 3     | Pulunpa, Troll,   Cyclone, Flame
 4     | Troll,   Cyclone, Flame
 5     | Cyclone, Flame,   Manoeva, Balloon
 6     | Cyclone, Manoeva, Balloon, Blume
 7     | Manoeva, Balloon, Blume,   U-Boat
 8     | Manoeva, Blume,   U-Boat,  Clown
 9     | Blume,   U-Boat,  Clown,   Dreamin
 10    | Clown,   Dreamin, Troll,   Volcano
 11    | Dreamin, Troll,   Volcano, Griffon
 12    | Dreamin, Volcano, Griffon, Kraken
 13    | Volcano, Griffon, Kraken,  Nyuel
 14    | Troll,   Garuda,  Kraken,  Nyuel
 15    | Troll,   Garuda,  Kraken,  Nyuel
 16    | Troll,   Garuda,  Manoeva, Barong
 17    | Troll,   Manoeva, Picket
 18    | Manoeva, Picket,  Arachne
 19    | Picket,  Arachne, Weadog
 20    | Arachne, Weadog,  Unicorn, Viper
 21    | Pulunpa, Weadog,  Unicorn, Viper
 22    | Pulunpa, Unicorn, Viper
 23    | Unicorn, Viper,   Stealth, Block
 24    | Viper,   Stealth, Block,   Zu
 25    | Steath,  Block,   Zu
 26    | Zu,      Snowman, Mandara, Barong
 27    | Zu,      Manoeva, Snowman, Mandara
 28    | Manoeva, Snowman, Mandara, Naplass
 29    | Manoeva, Naplass, Killer
 30    | Manoeva, Naplass, Killer,  Tyrant
 31    | Naplass, Killer,  Tyrant
 32    | Killer,  Tyrant,  Glacier, Dragon
 33    | Tyrant,  Glacier, Dragon,  Golem
 34    | Tyrant,  Glacier, Dragon,  Golem
 35    | Glacier, Dragon,  Golem,   Maximum
 36    | Glacier, Golem,   Maximum, Barong
 37    | Glacier, Dragon,  Golem,   Maximum
 38    | Dragon,  Golem,   Maximum
 39    | Glacier, Dragon,  Golem,   Maximum
 40    | [Beldo]
A few things to note:
       1) The monster levels are generally equal to the floor. A Floor 38
          Maximum is slightly weaker than a Floor 39 Maximum. The exception
          is the Pulunpas on Floors 21 and 22; these remain low-level.
       2) Trolls on Floors 1-4 carry Hammers; Trolls on Floors 10-11 carry Bows;
          Trolls on Floors 14-16 carry Swords; Trolls on Floor 17 can carry all
          three.
       3) On Floor 25 only you can run into a white Picket; this unique enemy
          is carrying the stolen W.Medal for the pool. Once you acquire this
          quest item you won't see the white Picket again.
       4) Ghosh is a unique fight. To actually initiate a 1-on-1 fight with him
          (your Familiars will stand back and won't participate) you must
          select [I feel lonelier.] then [I accept your challenge.] If
          you win, he will give you a Medicinal Herb and occasionally a
          Wind Crystal. If you lose, Ghosh teleports out but Koh won't
          die and you are allowed to continue your ascent.



-4- Item Catalog / Commentary
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Here you will find lists of all the items you can find or buy and any
merit I think they possess.
a) Weapons
  i) Swords
       o Gold (ATK 1)
               You'll want one of these. They are a great find because you
               can sell them for 1000g and they are rustproof, so no matter
               how many rust traps you step on you won't lose sand bonuses.
       o Copper (ATK 2)
               The most common sword, you'll find a lot of these on your
               visits. You are given one during the tutorial stage. Only
               use as a placeholder until you get a Gold Sword.
       o Iron (ATK 3)
               These are plentiful too. Meh.
       o Steel (ATK 4)
               Slightly rarer, but if you have a Gold Sword these are useless.
       o Vital (ATK 5)
               These don't show up too often. If you attack a Manoeva with it,
               said Manoeva can't produce clones (which are only marginally
               bothersome to begin with). It sells for 800g.
       o Blizzard / Fire / Gulfwind (ATK 5)
               These are the three element swords. They carry the Water, Fire,
               and Wind genuses respectively. They are useful early on before
               you have starting building a sword of your own, but after that
               you can ignore them.
       o Holy (ATK 7)
               These are extremely rare; I have only gotten one from a Barong
               in 100+ Tower trips. Building it up to +20 with sands will
               awaken it's power.
       o Dark (ATK 10)
               Also rare; it carries the strongest base ATK rating but lowers
               your accuracy. I would still just go for a +9 Gold Sword. Both
               this and the Holy Sword go for 10,000g.
       o Seraphim (ATK 7)
               You'll get this after your first visit to Floor 40. It is Guy's
               old sword. The major draw here is that each time you strike an
               enemy with it, there is a chance said enemy will revert into
               an egg. I'm not positive what the chances for this are.
 ii) Wands
       o Wooden
               All wands have an ATK of 1, and are useless unless you're going
               to use your Familiars' mixture magic with them. Mixture magic is
               greatly improved, but otherwise wands are pitiful.
       o Paralyze
               There is a small chance to paralyze the enemy with each attack.
       o Stream / Scarlet / Gulf
               The element wands. Similar to the element swords in that they
               increase the affinity for same-genus magic.
       o Seal
               There is a chance to seal enemies' magic with this wand. In
               practice this is fairly useless unless it is a monster with an
               annoying spell like the Griffon's Rise spell.
       o Money
               With each hit there is a chance you will alchemize the enemy into
               coins with the deathblow. The coin value increases with the
               floor level.
       o Life
               You regain a negligent amount of HP with each hit. The actual
               amount of life is so small you don't even need to bother.
               This wand and the Money Wand well for 1000g.
       o Trained
               This is the one wand worth keeping for good. Trained wands
               function just like the others, but they can be given bonuses
               with Red Sands just like a sword. So if you run across one
               and your Gold Sword isn't too high in bonuses, switch to
               this. Unfortunately, there are nigh impossible to find.
               A Barong is your best bet, and even then chances are slim.
iii) Troll Weapons
       o Hammer
               The weapon Trolls are armed with at low levels; it looks like
               a mace or a club. It is weak. However, you can use Hammers
               to get better weapons; simply throw a Hammer at a Troll
               carrying a Bow or a Sword and it will drop it's weapon
               in lieu of the Hammer. Note that Troll weapons can also
               come with bonuses and curses like regular swords, and you
               can temper them with Red Sands (although I don't know why
               you wouldn't use them on yourself instead). Troll weapons
               are fairly valuable though, with hammers and swords going
               for 1000g and the Bow selling for 4000g.
       o Bow
               The only distance weapon in the game, however you must
               manhandle the Troll with direct commands to ensure it
               uses the Bow correctly, otherwise it is wasted.
       o Sword
               The strongest Troll weapon and the one I would recommend
               if you're going to use a Troll regularly.
b) Shields
       o Leather, Wood, Copper, Iron, Steel (DEF 1, 2, 4, 5, 6)
               All of these shields are middling in usefulness. They are
               not what you want to choose when picking a shield to use
               regularly, and should only be placeholders. They are all
               common.
       o Ice / Scorch / Earth (DEF 5)
               Element shields. Use only if you know a strong matching spell
               is on it's way.
       o Live (DEF 5)
               There is a small chance these will counterattack for you
               when you are hit; however damage is slim.
       o Mirror (DEF 3)
               One of two shields you'll want to choose from when picking.
               Mirror Shields are less powerful at the start than Diamond
               Shields, but they have the chance to reflect spells back
               at the caster. It may take a few trips to get the +4 bonus
               to make these even with Diamond Shields, but the spell
               reflection may save your life.
       o Diamond (DEF 7)
               These are my personal preference. I like to get as high DEF
               ratings as I can as early as possible, and these seem more
               common than Mirror Shields. I managed to find one on Floor 1 of
               my second visit. It is your choice whether to go with Mirror
               or Diamond; both are rustproof and worthy of a look. Both
               also sell for 1000g.
c) Fruits
       o Pita
               Very common, restores 50 MP to a familiar. Feeding your Familiar
               one when it has full HP will increase it's MP by 1 permenantly.
       o Big Pita
               Less common, restores 100 MP.
       o Leva
               It will prevent a Familiar from changing forms during a fusion.
               Basically that familiar will become the dominant monster no
               matter what you fuse it with. Ignore these until you start
               to fuse monsters carefully. Also, if you feed these to a monster
               that evolves at level 20 before they hit level 20, they will
               not evolve.
       o Laev
               Causes the MP of a monster to decrease quickly; I would only
               throw these at enemies if you carry them at all.
       o Tumna
               These turn the eater into a frog. Toss them at a strong enemy
               to make your job a breeze.
       o Leolam
               Prevents MP from decreasing for a bit; these are handy to give
               to Barongs to allow you to morph a large number of items
               without making them run out of MP.
       o Limit
               It will increase the eater's critical hit occurences. These
               work on both Familiars and Koh himself.
       o Geropita
               Reduce eater's MP to zero. Very useful at higher floors, since
               you can toss them at an enemy to render him harmless but still
               get the EXP for killing him. These are extremely rare.
       o Roche
               This will revert the monster that eats it into an egg. These
               are incredibly rare but obviously very useful; toss it at
               a tough monster to spare you the trouble of finding its egg.
               I got many a Maximum this way. You'll (almost) never find
               them around and must get them from a Barong by chance. They're
               worth 5000g.
       o Oleem
               These will return you to town but will vanish your familiar. The
               best use for these is to throw them at enemies, making the
               enemy teleport from the spot. You'll get no EXP, but if it's
               a tough monster it will save you the trouble of fighting it.
d) Herbs / Seeds
  i) Herbs
       o Medicinal
               Restores HP of whoever eats it. Feeding it to a Familiar with full
               HP will increase it's max HP by 1. These usually restore around
               30-35 HP.
       o Antidote / Antichaos / Wake-up / Roeam / Shomuro / Hazak / Cure-all
               Status restorers. Cures poison / conufsion / sleep / blindess /
               DEF down / ATK down / all ailments respectively. These are common,
               but I recommend saving Hazak herbs for the 20ish floors, where
               Vipers will lower your ATK rating fairly often.
       o Toxic / Paralyze / Sleep / Horrey /  Harash
               Causes poison / paralysis / sleep / DEF down / ATK down
               respectively. All are very rare.
 ii) Seeds
       o Mahell / Slow
               Raises / lowers speed. Pretty useless on your Familiars, since
               when they have 2x the turns they use 2x the MP. Slow is useful
               to toss at enemies, however, and Koh benefits from the speed if
               he doesn't have a Familiar out to leave behind.
       o Mazarr / Lar
               Raises / lowers level. Lar seeds are generally pointless since a
               one level fluctuation against a high-level monster has a
               negligible effect on HP and damage, but you should save
               Mazarr seeds for your Familiars, and use it right after
               they get a regular level up, since their "star level"
               won't carry over when they eat the Mazarr Seed.
       o Hazak / Shomuro
               Raises ATK / DEF levels. Again, use them only on your
               Familiars, since Koh's stats reset each visit.
       o Sea / Light / Wind
               Changes eater's genus to Water / Fire / Wind. As a general
               rule Water is the best genus for Familiars due to the
               high percentage of fire genus monsters in the tower; Conversely,
               Wind is the worst genus to make your Familiar.
               These seeds will also change your Famliars' magic.
       o Tovar
               Increases luck. Extremely rare. It will make you find
               rarer items more often, increase critical hits, and
               allow you to dodge more. Give these to Koh.
e) Balls
       o Fire / Blaze / Flame / Pillar
               Fire genus attack balls in order of increasing strength. These
               are very handy to cart around if the floor you're on is
               over your head, since you can count on these for a
               1-hit kill on most floors under 30. Toss 'em after
               the charges wear off.
       o Sleep / Blinder / Binding / Weak / Poison
               Inflicts sleep / blindness / paralysis / LVL down / poison.
               Maybe you could use these as a last resort, but I usually
               ignore them. Poison, Weak, and Blinder aren't worth the
               time, but Sleep and Binding can incapacitate your enemy
               and can thus come in handy if you're in trouble.
       o Repel / Water
               Repels magic / creates a water barrier. Repel is basically
               like a 100% effective Mirror Shield.
       o Recovery
               A basic healing spell. The major downfall is that Koh cannot
               use these on himself, only on Familiars or monsters (since
               the spell fires forward). The only way to use them is to
               cast Repel on a monster or Familiar and then cast Recovery
               to reflect it back on Koh, but it is very inconvenient
               to waste space on Repel and Recovery balls when you could
               carry something else.
       o Ice Rock
               A large chunk of ice appears and basically takes up space.
               Use this in a thin hallway to congest things and limit
               encounters to 1-at-a-time.
       o Acid Rain
               The best spell ball by far; use any White Sands you find on
               these to add charges and just keep refilling them. This spell
               causes a rain which afflicts everyone in the room; usually
               it kills everything in one hit, giving you a massive EXP
               reward. Great on high levels. Use this in an ENORMOUS ROOM
               floor to make the game slow down a lot and drown yourself
               in levelups.
f) Sands / Crystals
  i) Sands
       o Red
               Weapon is tempered, permenant +1 ATK bonus. You will learn
               to look forward to seeing these little red bags on the floor;
               it means +1 to your sword or shield (if you're lucky) and
               you get that much stronger. If you find these or Blue Sands
               and you don't have a sword or shield you are tempering
               regularly, put them in your safe at home until you find
               a Gold Sword and you can use them all at once.
       o Blue
               Shield is tempered, permenant +1 DEF bonus. See above.
       o White
               Use on a spell ball to add +1 to number of uses. I'm always
               grouchy when I see a red bag and it's one of these. I
               guess they're useful if you have an Acid Rain ball or
               a Pillar, otherwise you'd wish they were Red of Blue Sand
               instead.
 ii) Crystals
       o Wind
               Use to escape from tower. You'll see and use a lot of
               these, so learn to love them. It is vital you acquire
               one at some point on your trip (or bring one in) or else
               you'll lose all your items. Any extra ones should go
               in your safe for safekeeping (haha!).
       o Water
               Use to restore all active Familiars' HP, MP and status.
               Handy if you have an empty Familiar you can bring out,
               but don't lug more than one around.
       o Fire
               Summons a Salamando to burn enemies. I don't bother with
               these because they are hard to come by and once you use them,
               the Salamander AI is too sporadic to count on. Sometimes
               he'll kill everyone in sight, but sometimes he'll wander
               around hitting everyone with a weak attack but never finishing
               anyone off. Not reliable enough to count on, but you might
               use one if you have no other viable options. He will float
               around 'bobbing' on enemies' heads for a fair number of turns.
g) Loupes / Glasses
       o Exit Loupe
               Puts the exit on your automap. Don't bother ever carrying
               loupes around, if you must use them then do it from your
               hand without them taking up space. Star Glasses do everything
               these do without the bother.
       o Treasure Loupe
               Shows you treasure locations.
       o Monster Loupe
               Shows monsters as red squares. This can be useful on higher
               floors to play cat-and-mouse while you look for the exit
               and avoid monsters too strong for you.
       o Trap Loupe
               Shows traps. Traps aren't even that worrisome, but you can
               swing your sword over a trap square to deactivate it and get
               a little EXP.
       o Truth Glasses
               Will reveal information about items with green names. If used
               on weapons and shields, it reveals bonuses and curses. If used
               on magic balls, it reveals the number of uses. I would save these
               for eggs, because it reveals what kind of monster is inside.
       o Star Glasses
               Reveals the whole floor on the automap. These are handy if you
               wanna get the treasures and get out quickly.
h) Bells / Scrolls
       o Holy Bell
               I love these, especially on higher floors. It forces any monsters
               in the room with you to run toward the doorways until it wears off,
               and you get free hits in if they have to move past you to escape!
               in ENORMOUS ROOMS, enemies simply head for the borders and wander
               aimlessly, allowing you to move in for the kill.
       o Malicious Bell
               This raises all enemy levels on the current floor. Use it on floors
               of medium difficulty to keep things at a manageable level and
               still increase your EXP. I don't use these much.
       o Familiar Bell
               If your Familiar is abducted or steps on a Warp trap, you can use
               this to call them back to you. Since it is only useful a small
               percent of the time, don't pass up better items for these.
       o Holy Scroll
               The best kind of scroll, these create a square of immunity. Use
               them on upper floors when you have multiple enemies closing in,
               and kill them at your leisure.
       o Malicious Scroll
               These create a square of confusion. Throw them at enemies. Note
               that if you use this on your Familiar to confuse it, then ring
               a Malicious Bell to raise monsters' levels, your Familiar will
               level up! Of course, have an Antichaos Herb ready unless you
               want a beating.
       o Trap Scroll
               These reset all traps on the current floor. Why anyone would want
               to use these, I don't know. Unless you see a monster headed directly
               for a trap you've already set off, skip these.
       o Restore Scroll
               The only thing that can bring a defeated Familiar back to life. I
               wouldn't bother with these until you're on higher floors and your
               Familiar can hold it's own enough to actually merit being revived.
       o De-curse Scroll
               Allows you to remove cursed equipment. Rarely useful.
       o Alchemic Scroll
               Every item on the floor becomes gold coins. These are very rare,
               but great if you've been through a floor and see a lot of items
               you don't really want. If you have an inventory full of garbage,
               dump your unwanted items on the floor (especially Herbs and such,
               since you can't sell those for 200g+) and use this to cash them
               in.
       o Flat Scroll
               All sections of the floor become flat and even, eliminating elevation
               advantage. This is very rare and very worthless.
i) Other
  i) Eggs
       o General
               Finding eggs in the tower is moderately rare, and they usually
               come unnamed and unknown. All you know is the color; use Truth
               Glasses to reveal the monster within. You can do four things with
               eggs: sell them, hatch them at home (they become your Familiar),
               hatch them in the tower (don't do this, they're your Familiar only
               until you exit, at which time you lose them forever), or toss them
               at an enemy (the monster within will hatch out and deliver one
               hit to the enemy, usually causing an instant kill, and disappear).
               Eggs sell for more than hatched monsters, but I would always
               hatch the eggs I find at home. If nothing else, you can fuse them
               to improve your other familiars. You'll find monsters' eggs on or
               above the floor that monster is first found on.
       o Ultimate
               The Ultimate Egg is different from the others in that there is
               only one and it is only found on Floor 40. You can use item
               duplication to get more than one, but that will come later.
               Be extra careful if you have it in the tower with you for
               whatever reason; if it is on the floor and you walk on it, it will
               look like Koh picked it up, but in reality it disappeared. You
               must pick it up to "Have" it and select "Put in" from the menu.
               Only item-dupers have to worry about this, though.
 ii) Quest Items
       o B. Collar
               Once you find this you can have two Familiars out at once. You'll
               find it on the ground somewhere on Floor 12. After that you can
               choose either Red or Blue collars from the Select menu.
       o Oil Pot
               This can be given to a man in town to restart the windmills,
               which gets you nowhere. Useless quest item you find on Floor 15.
       o Blue Cape
               This initates a sequence with the pub owner which eventuates
               Koh's meeting with Vivian. Take it to the bar after you find it
               on Floor 20.
       o W. Medal
               On Floor 25 you'll occasionally see a white Picket running about;
               kill it to make it drop this. Then give it to Wotta at the pool
               and he'll fix the pool, allowing you to go swimming and talk
               to people at the pool. I don't know how exactly a Water Medal
               fixes the pool, but hey, whatever works.
       o Healing Herb
               You'll find this on Floor 28 once you know about Cherrl's
               condition. Use it to heal her at the hospital.
iii) Decorations / Gifts
       o Aura Bike / Booster
               This is a really oddly shaped hoverbike that allows you
               to zip around town, and the booster speeds it up. It's not
               like Koh can't already run pretty fast, but whatever
               floats your boat.
       o Bed / Canopy
               Simply changes how your bed looks. Canopy has the overhang
               above your head.
       o Table / Bonsai / Plant
               The names say it all.
       o Tiger fur / Carpet 1 / 2 / 3
               Changes the way your floor looks.
       o Stuffed D. / Painting / Scroll / Poster / Wall P. 1 / 2 / 3
               All various wall adornments.
       o Sculpture
       o Something
               A strange ball which you can interact with and it morphs
               around, doing random things.
       o TV
               Yes, despite everyone still using swords and building
               everything out of stone, you can buy a TV. I wonder
               where the electricity comes from.
       o Fridge / W Machine
               Mundane items, yes, but your mom appreciates them. They
               both look like pots of some type rather than fridges
               like we know them.
       o Range / Light
               You may have seen items of this nature in your very own
               house at home! The range looks suspiciously like the TV,
               which looks suspiciously like the washing machine, which
               looks like a huge ball. Yes, Azure Dreams' appliances
               are weird.
       o Good Vest / Jacket / Trousers / Shoes
               For some reason you can buy duplicates of the same outfit
               you have on the entire game.
       o Telephone / Trophy
               No, you can't call anyone. The trophy is decorative, though.
       o Cream / Roses / Hand Bag / Ring / Duck / Octopus Dumplings
               You can give all of these things to prospective girlfriends,
               but it isn't necessary. Think of them simply as mementos
               of friendship. Note that you can use these as a gauge of
               sorts to see how much a certain girl likes you; the more
               she likes you, the more expensive thing she'll accept as
               a present.



-5- Monster Index / Commentary
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this section you can read about all the obtainable monsters and
their evolutions, as well as my comments on their difficulty/usefulness.
There is also a section on good fusion practices, genus preference,
and raising tips. NOTE: If a spell is listed as [Hidden] next to the
name, it can only be revealed via fusion with another monster. Spells
are listed as the overall spell family, and spells which can be altered
by genus will be touched upon in part b) of this section. The monsters
are ordered roughly in the order you meet them in the tower.
a) Tower Creatures

       o Kewne
               i) As a Monster
                       There's only one in the game and fortunately, he's
                       all yours!
            ii) As a Familiar
                       A great starter and a good companion throughout, but
                       you can find better monsters around the 20s. He
                       has a strong spell and can't be turned against you,
                       but he CAN be confused. He absorbs anything you fuse
                       him with. A solid follower all around, I used mine for
                       a healty portion of the first 25 floors.
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Brid
                       TRAIT: Unbrainwashable
          iv) Notes
                       Apparantly he's the only monster than talks.

       o Pulunpa
               i) As a Monster
                       These guys are no threat the first time around. They
                       will almost always do 1 damage unless you're unshielded
                       at level 1, and they die in 1-3 hits. Use them to
                       ease new Familiars into the flow. Around Floor 22,
                       however, you'll start running into dark Pulunpas which
                       can Collar Jack your Familiars, making them return to
                       your inventory. This can be dangerous if strong
                       monsters about, but the dark Pulunpas are just as
                       weak HP-wise as the others and they will NEVER
                       attack Koh if he doesn't have a Familiar out.
            ii) As a Familiar
                       These are the weakest monsters in the game, but their
                       eggs aren't all that common so you won't really have
                       to mess with them.
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Heal [Hidden]
          iv) Notes
                       For some reason, when dark Pulunpas start appearing on
                       the mid-20 Floors you'll start running into normal
                       Pulunpas again. It is a bit odd to find a level 1 Pulunpa
                       with around 10 HP with Vipers and Zus all over the
                       place; I wonder why the programmers threw in normal
                       ones with the dark ones. To confuse us?

       o Noise
               i) As a Monster
                       These guys are slightly stronger than Pulunpas at the
                       start, but you still shouldn't have any trouble. These
                       guys are basically cannon fodder.
            ii) As a Familiar
                       If you manage to find a Noise egg, which is actually very
                       rare because Noises are found only on Floor 1, then
                       I would recommend simply fusing it with a monster you
                       use to protect it from spells. The Noise's ability, Play
                       Flute, is helpful to prevent enemies from using spells,
                       but it is more sensible just to make a familiar you
                       like completely immune to magic. On their own, these
                       guys aren't worth the effort.
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Sleep [Hidden]
                       TRAIT: Spell-proof
          iv) Notes

       o Troll
               i) As a Monster
                       You'll see these guys throughout your climb, and they
                       are always a monster to keep an eye on. On the first 4
                       floors these are among the strongest (and definitely a
                       threat on Floor 1) and carry Hammers. They do give
                       nice EXP bonuses, though. About 10 floors up you'll run
                       into stronger Trolls, now armed with long-range Bows.
                       These are dangerous because you cannot always see them
                       coming before you are fired upon. Just stay out of a
                       direct line of sight until you can get close and take
                       them out. Bows do a lot of damage. Even higher up, you'll
                       run into Sword-carrying Trolls. These guys hit for
                       heavy damage, and they're everywhere. Be very careful,
                       and don't let your guard down because you're used to
                       seeing them; they can take you down.
            ii) As a Familiar
                       Trolls make interesting Familiars, since they are the
                       only ones who can carry weapons of their own. You can
                       use Red Sands to upgrade their weapons and make them
                       stronger physcially, but they don't use Bow weapons
                       as effectively as the monster Trolls do. You can use
                       direct commands to give yourself an edge at range,
                       however. These guys aren't that strong but they are
                       useful solely based on their unique range attacks.
                       I would pass on them unless you're looking for some
                       range combat early on, because they can't hold their
                       own once the difficulty increases.
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Brid
          iv) Notes
                       You'll find Troll Hammers fairly easily, but Bows and
                       Swords are harder to come by. I would recommend finding
                       a Hammer, and throwing it at a Bow-holding Troll. The
                       Troll will drop it's Bow to equip the Hammer, and you
                       can pick up the Bow and give it to your own Troll.

       o Cyclone
               i) As a Monster
                       These guys will hurt if you're not prepared early on. They
                       are a lot stronger than the Trolls and Flames that are their
                       floormates, so be cautious. Cyclones can cause an ailment
                       called Anorexia which prevent the victim from eating anything,
                       but I've seen it happen only once so the chance of
                       actually getting Anorexia is slim to none. I would avoid
                       fighting too many of these until your shield is tempered.
            ii) As a Familiar
                       Cyclones are strong fighters on the lower floors, but get
                       left behind higher up. They also have the ability to
                       cure Anorexia, but it's not like you'll ever need to. They
                       can also cause Anorexia but that is equally useless since
                       its not like enemy monsters ever eat anything unless you
                       decide to throw a fruit or an herb at them or something.
                       I would use these a bit early on, but later fuse them
                       with another Familiar for their ultra-useful MP-halving
                       trait.
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: LoGrave [Hidden]
                       TRAIT: MP Consump. Dec.
          iv) Notes

       o Flame
               i) As a Monster
                       These guys sure look threating, with their battle armor
                       and bodies of fire, but they are actually weaker than
                       Cyclones damage wise. They give decent EXP so hang
                       around on Floors 4-6 and farm these to build your levels
                       before ascending. They have a Sled spell which creates
                       a trail of fire which is slightly stronger than a physical
                       attack, but still nothing to balk at.
            ii) As a Familiar
                       Flames are great Familiars if you can find one. Their eggs
                       are relatively common on the early floors and he is a
                       strong fighter with a good spell to boot. As long
                       as you keep leveling him on a regular basis he'll stick
                       with you throughout the climb, not to mention he transforms
                       into Ifrit at level 20. This guy is a winner if you find
                       one.
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Sled
          iv) Notes
                       This is such a nice monster design, I would've saved it for
                       a more powerful monster. You would imagine a sword-bearing
                       knight of flame would be stronger than a big green blob with
                       a flower head, but no. Oh well.
       o Ifrit
          iv) Notes
                       I was afraid they would make it look worse, Grineut-style,
                       but Ifrits actually look pretty awesome. Flames are fierce
                       looking to begin with, but Ifrits basically look like big
                       red orcs with dreads. It is unusual that they attack with
                       their head-tentacles (hair?) but they retain the '+' pattern
                       from the Flame's mask on their chest.

       o Balloon
               i) As a Monster
                       These monsters will give you trouble until you level your
                       Familiars. They hit hard and they are EVERYWHERE on the
                       early floors. They have a strong defense, so if you aren't
                       very strong or are just setting out, I would set your
                       Familiar AI to Direct Attack and doubleteam Balloons.
            ii) As a Familiar
                       Unfortunately, their strength and defense seem to dissipate
                       when you get your own. These guys level their stats slowly
                       and are never strong enough to hang with the big dogs past
                       Floor 15 or so. They do have a Fly ability which will lift
                       you up to the next floor, but there's no sense in skipping
                       floors unless you're close to death or in the 30s. In order
                       to Fly, your Balloon must have a level greater than or equal
                       to the floor in question.
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Breath [Hidden]
          iv) Notes
                       These guys have a very interesting death animation, but
                       once you're strong enough to kill them in 1 hit it gets
                       annoying to watch them deflate all over the place each time.

       o Blume
               i) As a Monster
                       They're pretty strong physically, but not as bad as their
                       U-Boat floormates. Beware their brainwash ability, and
                       remember Kewne isn't affected. A pretty generic monster,
                       really.
            ii) As a Familiar
                       These guys start off slowly, but they work well for
                       mid levels of the tower. Their mixture magic is very
                       handy, since they're one of the first monsters that
                       can give you a long-distance attack.
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: DeWall [Hidden]
          iv) Notes

       o Manoeva
               i) As a Monster
                       Get used to these guys, because you'll see them through
                       the majority of your climb; I'd venture that these are
                       the most commonly appearing monsters in the tower, even
                       more than Trolls. Like Trolls, you meet Manoevas in
                       waves, on early floors, then mid floors, then even in
                       the early 30s. They keep getting stronger, and are
                       usually a monster to be wary of. If you attack and the
                       Manoeva creates a clone of itself (which can be prevented
                       by equipping a Vital Sword) ignore the clone because it
                       is almost always a weak low-level replica. These monsters
                       may look like lightweight goo puddles, but they pack
                       a punch. Don't underestimate them. On floors where
                       Manoevas are present, be wary of finding two of the same
                       item on the ground. There is the off chance (it is
                       actually probable if the item isn't coins) that one of
                       the items is actually a Manoeva lying in wait. Treasure
                       Loupes and Star Glasses will reveal true items, negating
                       the advantage.
            ii) As a Familiar
                       I would place these in the category 'must-have'. Manoevas
                       are useful in almost every situation, and if they are
                       lacking at some point, Transform them into a strong
                       monster on the floor you're on! Not to mention their
                       hidden spell, which comepletely heals the recipient. If
                       nothing else, bring these guys out when Koh is weak
                       as a kind of 100% never-ending Medicinal Herb. But
                       why would you want to keep it put away? Fuse one with
                       an Arachne to double its attack and you'll bring it
                       with you for a while.
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: DeForth [Hidden]
          iv) Notes
                       These guys are very handy for all of you not-100%-honest
                       players because they have a lot of glitches associated
                       with them. But on the other side of that same coin, there
                       are a lot of ways these guys can hang your game and make
                       you have to reset. Be careful when using one, but if
                       manipulated properly they can open a world of success. They
                       always remind me of ducks for some reason, also.

       o U-Boat
               i) As a Monster
                       These guys are deadly to deal with during the early part
                       of the game. You meet them early in the tower, they are
                       very strong, and they usually get in the first hit
                       since they are sunk below the ground. If you don't feel
                       prepared, run when you see the ominous blue periscopes
                       approaching.
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: DeRock [Hidden]
          iv) Notes
                       Don't bother picking up Star Glasses if you have one of these,
                       because their Scout ability serves the same function.

       o Clown
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: LoDown
                       TRAIT: Magic Attack Inc.
          iv) Notes

       o Death
          iv) Notes

       o Griffon
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Rise
          iv) Notes

       o Grineut
          iv) Notes
                       I like the way Griffon looks much better; the pink skin
                       on these guys makes them look awkward and weak.

       o Volcano
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Sled [Hidden]
          iv) Notes

       o Dreamin
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: LoSleep [Hidden]
                       TRAIT: Sleep-proof
          iv) Notes

       o Kraken
               i) As a Monster
                       I absolutely hate Krakens. Not only are they very strong
                       at the point in the tower you meet them, but no matter
                       how high you level yourself in preparation, they always
                       leave you aching. This is due to that abhorrent Electric
                       Shock Body trait, where a portion of all physical damage
                       dealt to these guys comes right back to the attacker.
                       That means that even if Koh kills them in one hit with a
                       55 damage strike, he takes a 15 HP hit as well. Thus,
                       fighting multiple Krakens back to back is always an
                       ordeal. No matter how strong you think you are, you are
                       in trouble in Kraken country. Tread with caution.
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: DeWall [Hidden]
                       TRAIT: Electric Shock
          iv) Notes

       o Picket
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: LoDown [Hidden]
                       TRAIT: Quick
          iv) Notes
                       In the NTSC manual, these guys are called 'Souvenir'. Perhaps
                       they changed the name at the last second, or there was
                       a mistranslation. Interesting, no?

       o Barong
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
                       Barongs gain EXP at double the normal level, and have
                       staggeringly high HP levels.
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Poison [Hidden]
                       TRAIT: Growth Promoted
          iv) Notes
                       These guys are the gateway to most of the rare items
                       in the game. If you find an egg exit the tower right
                       then and save your game, because they are very rare.
                       If a Barong runs out of MP (which they will) you can
                       toss any Fruit or Herb at it to give it just enough
                       MP to convert one more item, so use all those Roeam
                       Herbs on these guys.

       o Nyuel
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: DeHeal
                       TRAIT: Poison-proof
          iv) Notes
                       You can ride these guys at the racetrack, if you didn't
                       know.

       o Battnel
          iv) Notes

       o Garuda
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: LoDown [Hidden]
          iv) Notes

       o Archane
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: DeMirror
                       TRAIT: Strength Inc.
          iv) Notes

       o Ashra
          iv) Notes

       o Unicorn
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: LoBlind
                       TRAIT: Blinder-proof
          iv) Notes
                       This was Guy's familiar from the opening sequence. That is
                       surpising, seeing as these guys are solidly average.

       o Univern
          iv) Notes


       o Weadog
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Brid [Hidden]
          iv) Notes

       o Viper
               i) As a Monster
                       These guys are a major threat and you'll encounter them for
                       a large portion of the mid-floors. Not only do they hit
                       hard, but they can lower your ATK randomly and have fairly
                       good defense. You'll need a Familiar to help you out 90%
                       of the time. As slight compensation, these are the only
                       monsters that have a chance of dropping eggs when they are
                       killed, and even though this is very rare, it is a welcome
                       surprise.
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: DeMirror [Hidden]
                       TRAIT: Lowering Atk
          iv) Notes
                       Save all your random Hazak Herbs for these guys, because
                       it is very annoying to get out of Viper country only to
                       have your ATK lowered by 6 points for the rest of the trip.
                       And yes, you WILL have decreased ATK after you meet a couple
                       of these.

       o Block
               i) As a Monster
                       When you meet these in the tower, you'll find that they aren't
                       noticably stronger than other same-floor monsters (although they
                       do pack a punch, usually 15-30 HP average), but they have a very
                       high defense which makes them difficult to harm physically. The
                       route to go against Blocks is Direct Magic from Familiars or
                       heavy reliance on Balls. It is very economic to use one Flame
                       charge to kill one of these than take 90 damage and not even finish
                       it off completely. You can tell one is nearby because the screen
                       shakes when they drop to a lower level, and they step heavily.
            ii) As a Familiar
                       Everybody loves Blocks. These are one of my favorite Familiar
                       types and a great primary choice; their Hard trait doubles
                       DEF and is a fantastic fusion tool, but Blocks can hold their
                       own in a fight as well. Fuse one with an Arachne for double
                       ATK and DEF for an unstoppable force. I would rant about the
                       merits of Blocks all day, but just get one and see for yourself!
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: LoBind
                       TRAIT: Hard
          iv) Notes

       o Metal
          iv) Notes

       o Zu
               i) As a Monster
                       I hate Zus. Their Roar move will paralyze you, leaving you
                       open to attack from Blocks, Vipers, and other Zus. Needless
                       to say, there is high probability of death if you draw a
                       long paralysis period (it seems to be random). On top of
                       that, Zus are no slouch in the attacking department, so
                       they can do heavy damage while you stand helpless. I usually
                       try to kill these guys from afar with spare Balls if I
                       can, to avoid possible paralysis traps. It sucks that they
                       have the Roar attack on the same floors that Blocks are
                       gunning for you with LoBind! You'll get paralyzed a lot in
                       this section of the tower by those two particular monsters,
                       but it seems like Block's LoBind has a lower success rate
                       than Zu's Roar does.
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: LoGrave [Hidden]
                       TRAIT: Paralysis-proof
          iv) Notes

       o Stealth
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
                       His Rustproof trait is only useful if you fuse him with
                       a Troll; it prevents the Troll's weapons from rusting.
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: LoBlind [Hidden]
                       TRAIT: Rust-proof
          iv) Notes

       o Mandara
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: DeForth [Hidden]
          iv) Notes

       o Snowman
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: DeWall
          iv) Notes
                       These Familiars can destroy barriers (like those left by
                       Volcanoes) in one hit.

       o Saber
          iv) Notes
                       These Familiars can destroy barriers in one hit.

       o Naplass
               i) As a Monster
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Rise [Hidden]
                       TRAIT: HP Increased
          iv) Notes
                       If you run across a sleeping Naplass enemy, trying to
                       get in free hits is useless. A sleeping Naplass will awaken
                       and counterattack immediately upon being hit, so don't
                       think you can get the jump on one.

       o Tyrant
               i) As a Monster
                       Barely a step down from Killers, these guys hurt. Don't
                       be deceived by their small size, because they CAN kill
                       you in four hits or less if you aren't prepared. Be wary
                       of them, especially since it is common to find two of them
                       circling each other in a room.
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Rise [Hidden]
          iv) Notes

       o Killer
               i) As a Monster
                       These guys mean trouble. Unless your shield is +50 or more
                       (and where's the fun in that?) you absolutely cannot fight
                       these alone, and unless you have a Block-fused Familiar
                       then your Familiar won't last long either. I'd consider
                       running from these guys unless you're VERY strong or there
                       is only one in the area.
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Sled [Hidden]
                       TRAIT: Atrocious
          iv) Notes

       o Kid
               i) As a Monster
                       You'll never see one of these in the tower; you unfortunately
                       will only ever see their evolved Dragon form.
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Breath
          iv) Notes

       o Dragon
          iv) Notes

       o Glacier
               i) As a Monster
                       Finding these monsters in the midst of Dragons and Killers
                       is a breath of fresh air. They are weak compared to those and
                       I would recommend killing all the Glaciers you see for the
                       high EXP you receive for your Familiars. The only real danger
                       with these is that they can conjure up an ice block which will
                       shove you backward until you hit a wall / monster. This spell
                       can be deadly if it pushes you into a pursuing Golem or
                       Maximum, so use caution.
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: DeMirror [Hidden]
          iv) Notes

       o Golem
               i) As a Monster
                       Although they don't bear the cool name, treat Golems the same
                       as Maximums. In fact, treat them with MORE caution because they
                       have a ranged fist attack that HURTS. If you see one charging
                       it, move out of the line or pick up another monster and drop
                       it in the way or something. Golems are strong offensively and
                       defensively, and worthy of their place at the pinnacle. Of
                       course, at that point in the tower, you ought to be making a
                       mad dash for the exit on each floor anyway.
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: LoBind [Hidden]
          iv) Notes

       o Maximum
               i) As a Monster
                       As the name implies, Maximums are the strongest (enemy) monster
                       in the game. They have a huge, ugly, pink sprite and don't look
                       all that intimidating, but when they knock you for 60 HP in one
                       hit you'll realize why they are an enemy to be feared. If you
                       see one approaching, use a Holy Scroll if you have one, or an Oleem
                       or a Tumna Fruit or something to calm their onslaught. Do not
                       try to fight more than one in a row, but I would recommend
                       running from any sightings.
            ii) As a Familiar
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Breath [Hidden]
          iv) Notes

       o Hikewne
               i) As a Monster
                       You never have to fight one. Consider yourself lucky.
            ii) As a Familiar
                       Well you get this guy at the top and there is only one
                       for a reason. He is basically a super version of your
                       very first Familiar, and has darker skin and better
                       stats. He'll generally break the game so he's not
                       very fun to use; you'll become invincible to pretty
                       much everything if he doesn't kill it first. Really
                       just a novelty monster and a reward for reaching
                       the top.
         iii) Spells / Traits
                       SPELL: Dark Wave
          iv) Notes
                       This is the only monster with the unique tri-genus symbol,
                       and thus it essentially has no genus. Koh is the only other
                       creature with a comparable alignment. Element seeds have
                       no effect on these guys. In a fusion, the Hikewne will
                       always be absorbed, regardless of Leva fruit or relative
                       strength or otherwise. I don't know why you would need
                       to fuse him anyway, since he is game-breakingly strong.
                       The only way to aquire multiple Hikewnes is to use item-
                       duplication to dupe his egg before you hatch him, but
                       again there is no reason to have more than one. It is
                       more fun and rewarding to breed your own supermonsters
                       than use him, but he can be fun to exploit from time to
                       time.

b) Fusion / Genus / Magic
       As you climb the tower, you'll begin to realize that your Familiars just
       don't level up fast enough on their own to keep up if you just let them
       level passively a whole lot. Luckily, a wonderfully deep part of the
       game is monster fusion; once you get both collars you can combine
       two monsters to make one (usually) superior monster. Fusion is
       almost an art and a lot is involved which takes place "under the
       table", unnoticed by the average player. I will touch on some of the
       subtleties of fusion in this section.
        i) Fusion Basics
               At a very basic level, fusion is the combining of two monsters
               into one. You are graciously given the ability to see the
               fusion result BEFORE you perform the actual fusion, so use
               this to your advantage. However, this becomes slighly less
               valuable when you realize we can predict the outcome before
               the fusion is initiated even without the game's help. There
               are certain constants during fusion which you should keep
               in mind.
                       1) The monster with the higher EXP level will be the
                          'dominant' monster. You will still have this
                          monster after fusion; it absorbs the lesser.
                       2) If a monster consumes a Leva fruit prior to
                          fusion, it will become the 'dominant' one
                          regardless of other variables. The exceptions
                          are Kewne and Hikewne.
                       3) You can determine the resulting genus of the
                          monster based on the genus cycle; the more
                          powerful genus will win out. The cycle goes
                          water >> fire >> wind >>water.
                       4) The resulting max HP and MP of the monster will
                          equal the respective max HP and MP of whichever
                          monster has higher max HP and MP.
               Also, now is a good time to touch on genus. There are
               three genus families in the game: Water, Fire, and Wind.
               That is also the order of usefulness: because of the
               high concentration of Fire genus monsters in the tower,
               a Water Familiar will have the best chance of surviving.
               On this same token, Wind Familiars are at the biggest
               disadvantage because of their inherent weakness. I
               recommend using Sea Seeds to change all of your Familiars
               you use regularly to Water Genus, unless there is an
               important spell you are nurturing. There is more
               information on spells later.
       ii) Trait Geneology
               Certain monsters have traits associated with them which
               give them an advantage over the average monster; through
               fusion, you can pass these traits on to other monsters
               on your quest to craft the perfect Familiar. You can
               imbue stat bonuses, status immunities, and various
               physical abilities through traits. Each monster can
               have only TWO traits at a time. Fusion beyond that
               point will replace one of the traits. Note that the game
               treats having no trait like a trait (if that makes sense);
               for example, if your Familiar has both trait slots
               filled and you fuse it with a no trait monster, the
               initial Familiar will lose one of its traits to replace
               it with no trait. Here is a scenario:
                       MonsterA (Trait1, Empty ) fuses with MonsterB (Trait2, Empty )
                               Result: MonsterA (Trait1, Trait2)
                       MonsterA (Trait1, Trait2) fuses with MonsterC (Trait3, Empty )
                               Result: MonsterA (Trait1, Trait3)
                       MonsterA (Trait1, Trait3) fuses with MonsterD (Empty , Empty )
                               Result: MonsterA (Trait1, Empty )
               This is assuming MonsterA is the higher level monster in all
               three fusions. The key is to manipulate various fusions
               to acquire traits on your Familiars which would benefit them
               most. This takes time, but it will pay off in the end.
               Here is a quick rundown of the traits you can acquire:
                       -Unbrainwashable [Kewne]
                       -Spell-proof [Noise]
                               Prevents your familiar from monster status spells.
                       -MP Consump Dec [Cyclone]
                               Halves MP cost of everything.
                       -Magic Attack Inc [Clown]
                               All spell levels are doubled.
                       -Sleep-proof [Dreamin]
                       -Electric Shock [Kraken]
                               Your Familiar can carry the Kraken's electric charge.
                       -Blinder-proof [Unicorn]
                       -Strength Inc [Arachne]
                               ATK is doubled.
                       -Hard [Block]
                               DEF is doubled.
                       -Lowering ATK [Viper]
                               A random chance to lower ATK per hit.
                       -Paralysis-proof [Zu]
                       -Poison-proof [Nyuel]
                       -Quick [Picket]
                               The Familiar gets 2x the moves, just like Pickets.
                       -HP Increased [Naplass]
                               Familiar's HP is doubled.
                       -Rust-proof [Stealth]
                               Only for Troll weapons.
                       -Growth Promoted [Barong]
                               Familiar levels 2x as fast.
                       -Atrocious [Killer]
                               Increase critical hit percentage.
    iii) Spell Families
               Here are the various spells Familiars can have. In each
               section (water, fire, wind) the genus column that matches
               the section title is the basic spell title; the other
               two columns are what the spells become if the spell
               owner changes to that genus. For example, if your
               Kewne has Brid and it becomes Water genus, its Brid spell
               will change to NeaBrid.
                       Water Genus / Fire Genus / Wind Genus /  MP
                       ------------/------------/------------/----
                       DeHeal        DeaHeal      DeoHeal       10
                       DeWall        DeaWall      DeoWall        8
       WATER           DeRock    DeaRock      DeoRock        6
                       DeForth       DeaForth     DeoForth      16
                       DeMirror      DeaMirror    DeoMirror      8

                       NeaBrid       Brid         NoaBrid       10
                       NeaSled       Sled         NoaSled        8
       FIRE        NeoBreath     Breath       NoaBreath     12
                       NeaRise       Rise         NoaRise       16
                       NeaPoison     Poison       NoaPoison      8

                       LeoGrave      LaGrave      LoGrave       12
                       LeSleep       LaSleep      LoSleep       10
       WIND        LeDown        LaDown       LoDown         9
                       LeBind        LaBind       LoBind        12
                       LeBlind       LaBlind      LoBlind        8
       iv) Mechanics of Magic
               You have most certainly noticed during the course of
               your time with the game that for the most part, Koh
               lacks any magical ability whatsoever. This area of the game
               is left to his Familiars, because magic balls just won't do
               it. You probably saw your first spell with Kewne, who
               already knows the Brid spell when you get him. Spells will
               make your climb much easier if you utilize them correctly.
               Here are some spell pointers:
                       1) Spells level up just like their owners do. However,
                          This does not mean spells must always be the same
                          level as their owners. In a regular environment
                          spells level at roughly the same speed; however,
                          certain actions, like changing the monster's genus,
                          will prohibit spell growth. In other words, a spell
                          won't level unless you keep it as the original
                          genus.
                       2) Hidden spells are exactly that; when you hatch
                          a monster it won't have the spell right away. In
                          order to reveal hidden spells, the monster must
                          go through fusion. I would recommend using a weak
                          monster like a Pulunpa or Noise to fuse with as
                          'spell-awakeners' to get those rarer level spells
                          available for your own use. The monster you use
                          for fusion, however, CANNOT have any spells
                          whatsoever.
                       3) In general, monsters only have one spell available
                        to them. The spell's appearance and effect will
                          change through genus shift / mixture magic, but
                          the only way to get a monster with 2 purely different
                          spells is to fuse 2 monsters together with one
                          spell each.
               Most of the time (at least early on) you won't even want to
               bother with spells. They use a lot of MP you need to keep your
               Familiar concious, and mixture magic is more effective in most
               cases. Also, unless you breed monsters with spells in mind,
               you can end up with some pretty useless spells. Here are the
               good spells to aim for:
                       DeForth (fully restores HP, it's hidden in Manoevas)
                       DeRock (useful if you're at high floors, monsters will go
                               after the rock instead of you in a lot of cases)
                       Sled (a good spell for mixing, less MP than Brid)
                       Rise (gets pretty powerful at higher levels)
                       LaDown (make LoDown a Fire genus, it lowers ATK power
                               and can make those Killers more manageable, but
                               remember you can't level it unless you change
                               it back to LoDown for a while)
               Those are the main spells you'll want, covering both attack
               and defense. However, once you start building your Familiars
               spells like Sled and DeRock become less important. DeForth
               is always helpful, just keep your eye on your Familiar because
               if you're getting kicked around a lot it can suck up your MP
               pretty quickly.
        v) Fusion Strategy
               When fusing monsters, you should mind the traits you are
               manipulating more than the spells you are creating, because
               traits can make or break a monster. Key traits to keep in mind are
               Hard, Strength Inc, MP Consump Dec, HP Increased, and Growth
               Promoted. If you have a monster with good spells but you're
               having trouble keeping it going, fuse a Cyclone into it to
               essentially double its MP. Monsters like Killers with high attack
               can be rounded out with Hard or made unstoppable with Strength
               Inc. Barongs have really high HP and a Naplass fusion will make
               them into a great damage sponge. You just have to play to your
               Familiars' weaknesses and strengths, and try to round out their
               shortcomings by doubling any stats that are holding them back.
               Even though you can only hold 2 traits at any given time, often
               that is enough. If you fuse a monster and it switches genus, make
               sure you remember to give it the proper seed to change it back
               so that its innate spells continue to level. The Familiar that
               took me to the top, by the way, was the classic Block+Arachne
               fusion; you can't go wrong with double ATK and DEF. Just use the
               trait chart as a guide and make a monster to suit your playing
               style; a magic-heavy Familiar will benefit from halved MP more
               than a fortress for attacking only. Just use common sense.



-6- To the Pinnacle
----------------------------------------------------------------------
a) Equipment Strategy
       As I mentioned in the item section, one of the most important steps
       in your quest to the top is to properly arm yourself. While it is OK
       to procure new weapons and shields each time you visit, you'll
       eventually need something with a bit more oomph. You'll need to start
       tempering one sword and one shield only, using each Sand you find
       on them to build them up and basically level yourself up without
       leveling up. You'll need the following for weapons and shields:
               -Gold Sword
                       Go for these. Much more common than Trained Wands.
               -Trained Wand
                       Preferable, but don't hold out for one. I've never
                       seen one and they are rare even from a Barong. But
                       if you have the opportunity, use one; they're the
                       exact same as Gold Swords except with increased
                       Cooperative Magic.
               -Mirror Shield
                       Use this if you want more complete defense than a
                       Diamond Shield, but you start off at a -4 DEF
                       advantage to one of those, so you'll need 4 Blue
                       Sands just to break even.
               -Diamond Shield
                       I use these, they don't rust. Neither do Mirror, Wood,
                       or Leather Shields, but Diamond Shields already start
                       off with a +7 DEF bonus so you can just start piling
                       on Blue Sands from there.
       Personally I always use the Gold Sword / Diamond Shield combo. Once
       you have one (uncursed) copy of each, start using every Red and Blue
       Sand you find, stockpiling them until you can use them all at once.
       Over time your equipment will get better and better, and Rust traps
       won't slow you down. You'll want to save them after every visit and
       bring them in with you. It will take a huge number of visits, but once
       you play as much as me and you get in the +40 to +50 range, you can solo
       the entire tower without even bringing a Familiar. But, with a good
       Familiar, you can make it to Floor 40 with only a +8 to +15 of each.
b) Familiar Management
       As a general rule, only keep one Familiar out at a time. Having two may
       seem safe and helpful, but unless you're already in the 30s your Familiars
       will run out of MP so fast you'll end up just shortening your trip. Don't
       take a Familiar out until you are around 10 to 12 floors in, or you risk
       running out of MP too soon to be effective. Always try to carry a Pita
       Fruit around with you if you find one on the ground, and a Water Crystal
       if you're on the strong floors.

       If you're leveling a Familiar and you are strong enough to explore but it
       isn't, then set its AI to 'Follow Me' so it won't rush ahead and attack a
       monster it is too weak for. Always try to protect your Familiars, but don't
       be afraid to use one as a shield if you are about to die and you can't escape.
       It can protect you for a few turns so you can flee. Don't worry, it'll be fine
       once you get back home.

       Get used to the Line Up command from the menu. Here you can choose which
       of the 8 squares around Koh the Familiar will occupy and how its AI is
       set. Line your Familiar up behind you if it is weaker and in front of
       you if it is protecting your butt. The AI setting has 5 settings:
               1 - Your Familiar will sit there, doing nothing. It won't even
                   follow you if you move. Use this if you don't want it to
                   interfere.
               2 - Your Familiar will follow you but it won't attack (usually).
                   The exception is if Koh is paralyzed, put to sleep, etc.
                   Basically, if your monster sees you are in a dire situation
                   it will step in; otherwise, it follows only.
               3 - The default setting. You get Cooperative Magic with this
                   setting, but the Familiar won't fight on its own.
               4 - The Familiar will cast spells on its own judgement. I
                   don't ever use this setting; I prefer either 3 or 5. But
                   it's your choice.
               5 - Your monster becomes another fighter, attacking nearby
                   enemies as they approach. Use this if you are on high
                   floors and you need your Familiar to soften up an enemy
                   before you finish it off, or if you just need breathing
                   room.

       If you go to the menu and select Cmnd. you can issue your Familiar a variety
       of simple commands. Get used to this if you really want total control over
       your adventures; you can stop your Familiar from doing anything unexpected.
       The commands are:
               Move - Self explanatory. You would typically use this command to either
                        move your Familiar between you and an enemy to take a hit, or
                        to move it behind you so it doesn't die.
               Direct - Your Familiar will attack the selected square. This is
                          effective if you wait until an enemy is 2 squares
                          away, then command your Familiar to attack the square
                          the enemy will occupy on its next move. Then skip a
                          turn. The enemy will take a step, your Familiar will
                          hit it, you can hit it, and then your Familiar gets
                          ANOTHER hit. This is almost essential on higher floors
                          to get an advantage over Killers and such.
               Direct: Spell - Cast a spell in the preferred direction. Use
                                 this when you need your Familiar to cast a
                                   spell and it won't do it on its own.
               Direct: Mix - Use Cooperative Magic to hit a selected square.
                                 This is useless, since all you need to do is hit
                                 X to use it if your Familiar AI is set to 3.
               Wait - Your Familiar will skip a turn. This command can be
                        utilized to help your Familiar refrain from attacking,
                        if you only want to hold if off a couple turns instead
                        of setting the AI to 1.
c) Notes on the Ascent
  i) Routine Strategy
       Movement is something you'll want to get a handle on because it is just as
       important to combat as your weapons themselves. Learning how to force enemies
       to move where you want them (especially Pickets) so that you can get the first
       blow in is crucial as you advance and you need to spare as many hits as
       possible. Remember that using O+X will skip your turn, so if a monster is
       pursuing you and there is one space between you, skip a turn so that it moves
       into said space and you can get in a free hit, instead of vice versa. Also,
       keep in mind that if you skip a turn, enemies will get in a move BEFORE your
       Familiars can, but if you act on that turn (even whiffing a sword swing on
       an empty square) than your Familiar will immediately follow your move and
       perhaps save your life. You can also command your Familiar to attack empty
       squares, so if you're in the above situation you can command your Familiar
       to attack the soon-to-be-occupied space, skip a turn, watch it attack,
       attack yourself, and watch it attack AGAIN all before the monster gets one
       hit in. This is a strategy you'll have to use often higher up.

       You'll want to travel lightly and flexibly. Don't drag along excess equipment
       if you already have a good sword and shield; don't carry a Repel Ball when
       you could pick up a Pillar Ball instead. Prune your inventory so that you
       have items which are very useful (Holy Scrolls, for example) and aren't
       laden down with a lot of Antichaos Herbs. If you use a ball up, toss it off
       to the side. Throw unwanted weapons at distant enemies. If you're going to
       die and you have eggs available, throw one (better to lose one than your entire
       bag if you die) and it will usually count for a one-hit kill. Don't weigh
       yourself down, and check to see you aren't carrying too many extraneous
       materials that will take up space that could be put toward better items.

       Don't break out your Familiars until you absolutely have to. Bringing out
       your level 23 Viper on Floor 1 is unnecessary and wasteful; you need to
       conserve MP until Koh absolutely cannot advance any farther without help.
       If you are sparse with Familiar use early on you'll thank yourself when
       you hit Floor 30 and you still have enough MP for a few more fights.
       You can't always count on finding a Pita Fruit when you need one, so don't
       take the risk.

       Money is not vital to survival, but it is important in improving your town.
       You'll find three coin varieties in the tower: copper, which come in piles of
       16-24g and are found from the onset; silver, which come in piles of 90-120g
       and start appearing on Floor 12; and gold, which come in piles of 160-240g and
       start appearing on Floor 22. On longer trips money can really rack up, so
       hopefully you can start to average 3000-5000g per visit. This, coupled with
       the selling of any valuable excess items, can really boost your income, so
       grab any coins you see. The Money Wand will transform enemies to money if
       you're really hurting for cash, but it is too weak to be used as a proper
       weapon. If you do use it, it changes monsters to coins based on the floor;
       higher floors yield higher coin amounts, from copper to silver to gold.

       As one final note, I know there are a lot of impatient gamers out there.
       I played through from scratch several times for research, and I didn't
       want to spend a whole lot of time building up all of the different variables
       so I used the following method to get to the top as fast as possible
       eash time. I don't condone item duplication for your first time (or any
       time you're trying to have fun) since it effectively ruins the experience,
       but you can't really beat it if you're going for speed. So for a quick
       climb:
               1) Try to find a Gold Sword and Mirror / Diamond Shield in early
                  trips. As soon as you find them, save them. Once you find Red
                  and Blue Sands (one of each) put them in your safe.
               2) Build up Kewne / Familiar of preference until you can get to
                  Floor 16. Toss unwanted items at a Barong until it gives you
                  a Roche Fruit, which shouldn't take too long, and then toss
                  it at him WHEN HE IS OUT OF MP. If you toss it before he is
                  glowing blue, he will just eat it and spit something else out.
               3) Go home and hatch your new Barong, then take it in along with
                  a Pita Fruit. Feed it until you get two more Roche Fruits.
               4) Use one Roche Fruit each on a Manoeva and a Picket. You'll find
                  them on Floors 5 and 17, respectively.
               5) Go home, hatch the Manoeva and the Picket, and bring them in
                  along with your Red Sand, Gold Sword, and a Pita Fruit.
               6) Use the item duplication glitch (Section 8b) on your Red Sands
                  until you fill your inventory. Use them all on your Gold Sword,
                  then repeat. Do this until your Gold Sword is in the +40 to +50
                  range. If your Manoeva runs low on MP, give it the Pita Fruit.
               7) Go home, put your Gold Sword in the safe, and take in the same
                  Familiars, your shield, Blue Sand, and a Pita Fruit. Repeat
                  step 5 until your shield is +50 to +55. Note that when you
                  arrive back in the tower, your Manoeva will still have the Red
                  Sand in its inventory from before. If you attempt to dupe
                  while it has this, when it returns from Picket form it will
                  have the Red Sand again and the Blue Sand will be lost forever.
                  To stop this problem, have your real Picket steal the Red Sand
                  before the Manoeva transforms, then have it steal the Blue Sand.
               8) Go home, and bring in your Gold Sword, shield, a Medicinal Herb,
                  and a Familiar if you want (though you shouldn't need one). Now
                  you should just be able to solo all the way to Floor 40,
                  assuming you level Koh appropriately as you go. The only items
                  I would bother keeping are Holy Scrolls, Holy Bells, Tumna Fruits,
                  Oleems, and Medicinal Herbs. That way you have something to drive
                  off the strongest monsters on your race to the top.
       In this manner you can reach the top in no time, which is handy if you're
       researching a guide about various story events and Ultimate Eggs. :)
 ii) Status Afflictions
       It is worth knowing that if your Familiar has a status ailment and you pick
       it up, the status will be fixed (in most cases). This is handy with light
       monsters like Kewne.
       o Confusion
       o Blindness
       o Paralysis
       o Anorexia
               Prevents you from eating anything. This is both caused and cured by
               Cyclones, but it's so rare don't even worry about it.
       o ATK Down
       o DEF Down
iii) Traps
       o Rust
               These put a -1 on your sword or shield. Once you find a good
               Gold Sword and Diamond or Mirror Shield, you won't have to
               worry about these ever again since said equipment is immune.
       o Warp
               This is only a dangerous trap if your Familiar steps on it
               and you need him to survive, or vice versa. A Familiar Bell
               will remedy the problem, but if you don't have one your best
               bet is to make a dash for the elevator before you or your
               Familiar dies.
       o Seal
               This is only effective if your Familiars step on one, since
               it locks their magic, but it doesn't last long.
       o Frog
               You become a very weak frog. Run from any battles, but just
               hold O+X if you're not in immediate danger to skip turns
               until it wears off.
       o Poison
               This is a very annoying trap because you can lose a lot of
               HP and it makes you walk obnoxiously, with weird sound effects
               for each step. Hope you have a Medicinal Herb, or skip
               turns to heal yourself.
       o Prison
               The victim is paralyzed, usually for a middling number of
               turns. Only dangerous if 2+ monsters are nearby or you're
               weakened.
       o Blinder
               You can't see anymore, but you can usually tell where
               attacks come from if you are attacked anyway.
       o Chaos
               Causes confusion. It makes Koh walk funny and you can't control
               the direction he attacks, but it is very dangerous if your
               strong Familiar is confused and starts hitting you if you are
               underpowered. I would either return it to the bag, pick it up
               (which cures confusion if it's light enough), or run away.
       o Sleep
               Like Prison, only with a different graphic.
       o Slow
               These obviously slow Koh down, making every monster move like
               a Picket. It doesn't last TOO long, but if you're nervous just
               take your Familiar out since it still moves at normal speed.
               It will be burning MP twice as fast relative to you, however,
               so keep that in mind.
       o Reversal
               This annoying trap turns the screen upside down, but you can
               still control Koh just fine. If you have any kind of spatial
               judgement, you shouldn't even think twice when you step
               on one of these; keep on moving.
       o Crack
               Simply annoying to extricate yourself from. They make the floor
               into a pit of sorts. I just skip turns until it fixes.
       o Upheaval
               Simply annoying to extricate yourself from. They make the floor
               into a hill of sorts. I just skip turns until it fixes.
       o Bump
               These shake the floor, awakening any sleeping monsters nearby.
               Nothing to worry about, and the chances of stepping on one when
               a monster is actually sleeping in the room is fairly small.
       o Slam
               Drop a medium-damage rock on your head. Not much to worry about.
       o Bomb
               Weaker than Slam, but this explodes in a '+' pattern and anything
               caught in the blast radius takes damage, including Familiars,
               monsters, and items (which are destroyed instantly, one of the
               main reasons I hate Bomb traps).
       o Go Up
               These spring you to the next floor, like an elevator without
               the option to save. No big if you step on one, unless you
               were about to pick up an item or something, but it can
               be very bad if your Familiar steps on one at the wrong time.
               You'll be left to solo the rest of the floor, so good luck.
               It is amusing when a tough monster like a Viper is coming
               toward you for the kill, only to suddenly SPRING up offscreen.
               I love when that happens.
       o Monster Den
               The most dangerous trap, this drops a literal roomful of monsters
               DIRECTLY where you are standing. You are instantly surrounded,
               the music changes and everything. If you have a Holy Bell or Scroll
               you might be ok, otherwise it usually means Wind Crystal time. I
               personally have only stepped on this trap 3 or 4 times, and each
               time it has been in the 34-39 Floor range. So perhaps you only
               run into these traps on the higher floors (where it is deadliest)
               but it is a trap to dread anywhere. Thankfully it is extrememly
               rare.



-7- Town Mechanics
----------------------------------------------------------------------
a) Good Samaritanism
       As you talk to various people in the town, they'll tell you about their woes
       and complaints, and being the hero you are you'll end up helping them. The
       good thing is there are women and prizes to be had through these acts, so
       here are the (non-building related) problems and solutions.
               1) Wotta and the Pool
                       Yes, Wotta has messed things up pretty good at the pool. He
                       lost the Water Medal which keeps the water clean, apparantly.
                       He'll beg Koh to get it, alluding to a Picket-type monster.
                       On Floor 25 you'll see a white Picket (the only Picket on
                       that floor) so kill it and it'll drop your Medal. Give it
                       to Wotta and you can then take your girlfriends to the pool.
               2) Windmills
                       When the windmills at the S end of town break, you can
                       retrieve Guru's oil pot from Floor 15 to fix them. That will
                       allow an octopus dumpling stand to be built, and you can give
                       these to prospective relationships.
               3) Lost Adventurer
                       This is touched on in Vivian's section, but the bar woman will
                       always talk about a blue-cloaked adventurer she loved. On Floor
                       20 you will find said cape, and she will be devastated. After
                       she closes the bar go and get a drink and you can convince her
                       to re-open it.
       Girlfriends are mentioned below, but it is important to note that Koh, being
       the womanizer he is, is not limited to one girlfriend. It is possible to have
       all seven at once, so if you have favorites don't worry about 'deleting' them.
b) Construction
  i) Home Upgrades
               Expand 1          - 6000g
                       Increases safe size to 30.
               Expand 2          - 60000g
                       Increases safe size to 60, and all of Fur's items become available.
 ii) Hatchery Upgrades
               Hut Expand 1      - 4000g
                       Hut expands to 3x3 grid for 9 Familiars.
               Hut Expand 2      - 6000g
                       Hut expands to 4x4 grid for 16 Familiars.
               Hut Expand 3      - 20000g
                       Hut expands to 6x6 grid for 36 Familiars.
               Hut Expand 4      - 60000g
                       Hut expands to 8x8 grid for 64 Familiars.
iii) Building Upgrades
               Temple            - 4000g
                       Available after first home expansion. You'll need this as a
                       bridge so Jorda will suggest the casino, and so that girls
                       will begin to notice you. In order to get this option to
                       appear, talk to Jorda and he'll suggest it.
               Hospital          - 4000g
                       The doctor in the regular hospital suggests this. It is key
                       in dating Cherrl.
               Library           - 8000g
                       Go visit Doc Hal a few times in between trips to see his shelves
                       fall down, and eventually he'll suggest this. You only need the
                       library to date Mia.
               Fountain          - 2000g
                       Donate 1000g to Nico twice for this. It allows you to date her.
 iv) New Construction
               Alley     - 40000g
                       Jorda suggests this after the Temple upgrade. Basically just a
                       semi-entertaining bowling minigame.
               Gym               - 30000g
                       Barry the Blacksmith suggests this, but you have to talk to him
                       behind the counter. You can toss weights (?) in this minigame.
               Circuit           - 30000g
                       Talk to the Nyuels in Silver's house (NW corner) and tell him
                       you're building a racetrack, then do it. Until you can afford
                       the Casino you can win good money here and even race yourself.
               Theater           - 8000g
                       Fon, the guy outside the carpenter's shop, wants one of these.
                       You can play a stand-up comedy minigame (answers: OXOOXOOOXXOXO)
                       but more importantly you can date Vivian.
               Casino            - 100000g
                       Jorda suggests this one after you build the Bowling Alley. This
                       will become a major source of income (not that you need it after
                       you build the most expensive building in the game) and time-wasting.
               Amusement Center  - 3000g
                       The guy in the carpenter's shop suggests this. More minigames.
c) Relationships
  i) Nico
               Nico is Koh's childhood friend and the most obvious candidate for
               girlfriend-dom. She is also fairly easy to seduce; after a few
               tower trips you'll begin seeing her at the center of town collecting
               donations for a fountain. Donate 1000g twice (Ghosh will show up and
               1-up you each time) or enough smaller donations to equal 2000g, and
               the fountain will be built. Nico will begin fawning over Ghosh and
               his culturedness, but don't lose hope; eventually, a travelling cellist
               named Chero will appear at the fountain dressed in green. When you
               talk to him, Nico and Ghosh will walk up. Ask Chero to play (he will
               play the Azure Dreams theme!) and Ghosh will scoff at him. Stand up
               for him, and Ghosh will get all huffy ("Is this a deal between bums
               or what?") and leave. Nico realizes Koh is indeed a respectable
               young man and after a couple visits to her home, she will fall in love.
 ii) Selfi
               Selfi requires very little effort other than a lot of tower visits.
               On Floor 2 you will usually see and possibly fight Ghosh; sometimes,
               however, you'll run into Selfi who will talk about the strange rumors
               Ghosh spreads about you. Eventually, you'll see her being attacked by
               a Pulunpa and save her. Things continue until you will be attacked
               by a U-Boat on that floor; this time, she saves you and wonders why.
               Go to her home, and tell her she loves you. She'll laugh it off, but
               the next time you visit she'll agree.
iii) Fur
               Fur, the orange-haired general store clerk, takes a bit of money to
               win over. Buy some expensive things from her and always talk to her
               behind the counter during visits. She'll take a liking to Koh, even
               telling Ghosh off. Bring her octopus dumplings from the stand which
               she loves, and eventually she will fall for you. Not too hard, it
               just takes time.
 iv) Patty
               Patty is another one that requires some money. Go to the restaurant
               until you have ordered everything on the menu at least once (it'll
               cost you 3230g) and go to the tower. Eventually you'll come back and
               the restaurant will be empty, but Patty will offer to cook you
               something herself. Order the prawns, her specialty, and you will
               share a moment. The next time you go, Ghosh will be there. Be secretive
               about your last visit, Patty will like that. She'll kick Ghosh
               out after a few trips like this and she'll be yours.
  v) Cherrl
               After upgrading the hospital, you'll meet Cherrl when she throws her
               teddy bear out the window N of the hospital. Go in and make friends
               with her. Keep visiting, and eventually she'll ask you to go for a
               walk. Go, and she'll collapse. Agree to get the Healing Herb for her,
               and find it on Floor 28. Give it to the doc, tell him you want to
               remain anonymous, and keep visiting her. She'll become a nurse. One
               day she'll be out and you can talk to the doc about her; she'll find
               out Koh saved her and fall in love.
 vi) Mia
               After upgrading the library, start visiting Mia and talking to her,
               feigning interest in what she says. Eventually Ghosh will show up
               and knock her glasses off; comfort her. After a few more trips, she'll
               go to the pool with you and you'll have another scene with Ghosh. Keep
               talking to her until one day she isn't there. Enter and exit the library
               repeatedly until you can talk to her and tell her not to follow you. She'll
               then confess her love for you.
vii) Vivian
               Vivian requires a bit of work. You'll need to build the Theater and
               Casino, and find the B.Cape on Floor 20. When you return to the bar
               the owner will freak out; console her and the a few visits later
               she'll reopen the bar and Vivian will be on the stage dancing.
               Introduce yourself. After a few MORE visits, you'll find Vivian at
               the Casino gambling. Tell her to go to the Theater; you can then
               see her there but she'll mess up. When she asks what you think
               pick option one then option two; you'll go for a walk and meet
               Ghosh. Together with Ghosh convince her to go to the bar for
               another dance and admire her with him (be nice to Ghosh for once)
               and she'll return to the Theater. She'll move her way up the dancers'
               ranks to the front row, and then she'll say she loves you.
viii) Beldo
               Once you defeat Beldo at the top of the tower you'll get this
               face. It is fairly well known now that in Japan, this diamond
               was Ghosh and you could get him as a boyfriend, but the US is
               more culturally close-minded and they removed it for the NTSC
               release. Also removed was the option to marry your girlfriends,
               since they listed Koh as being 15 and thus too young for marriage.



-8- Exploitable Glitches
----------------------------------------------------------------------
a) Tower Save Duplication
b) Item Duplication
c) Manoeva Egg Exploitation
d) Manoeva Barong Exploitation
e) Double EXP Familiar Sequence
f) High-Level Fusion Shortcut

-9- Conclusion
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(c)2006 Electromax
I hope you enjoyed this game as much as I do. It'll live on for years
to come. Thanks Konami, and hopefully a true sequel will come down
the pipe eventually. Until then...