Bard's Tale II(NES) FAQ/Walkthrough
version 1.0.1 by
[email protected]
Please do not reproduce this FAQ for profit without my prior consent. If you
write a polite e-mail to me referring to me(and this FAQ) by name, then I
will probably say OK. But if I ignore you that means no--and I am bad about
answering e-mail. Sorry.
Thanks to odino for all the translations. And for answering all my questions
despite being busy.
My maps on GameFAQs were intended to be used in conjunction with this FAQ.
================================
OPTIONS
1. INTRODUCTION
1-1. WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
1-2. BIG DIFFERENCES FROM THE PC
2. CONTROLS
3. STATISTICS
4. WALKTHROUGH
4-1. STARTING OUT
4-2. TANGRAMAYNE AND THE DARK DOMAIN
4-3. EPHESUS DUNGEON
4-4. FANSKAR'S CASTLE
4-5. THESSALONICA DUNGEON
4-6. PHILIPPI DUNGEON
4-7. CORINTH AND OSCON'S FORT
4-8. THE GREY CRYPT
4-9. TEMPLE OF NARN, COLOSSE, DESTINY STONE
4-10. DENOUEMENT
5. CHEATS
6. CHEAT-THROUGH
6-1. TANGRAMAYNE AND DUNGEON
6-2. EPHESUS DUNGEON
6-3. FANSKAR'S CASTLE
6-4. THESSALONICA DUNGEON
6-5. PHILIPPI DUNGEON
6-6. CORINTH AND OSCON'S FORT
6-7. THE GREY CRYPT
6-8. TEMPLE OF NARN AND COLOSSE
6-9. THE DESTINY STONE
6-10. THE FINAL FIGHT
7. VERSIONS/CREDITS
================================
1. INTRODUCTION
1-1. WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
Probably most of you who are playing this game are because you played and
loved it for the Apple. So you are probably wondering how it compares. Pretty
favorably, really, for its faults and limitations--the big one being only
256K of ROM. The Apple had more. You still have a Destiny Wand to build, and
there are still seven segments. The dungeons are smaller, the monsters are
fewer, the riddles are non-existent, and the mapping is not so tough. But
it's still a fun game. And it's got some cool bard songs.
Unfortunately due to my lack of Japanese knowledge, I can't tell you about
the details of the plot at this point. There's an actual castle in
Tangramayne, though, and you can't leave there til you solve the Dark Domain-
-which was optional in BT2 on the Apple(BT2-A). Fortunately, it's an easy
quest, a 12x12 dungeon with no riddles. With each dungeon you solve, a new
one opens up, often with a town accompanying it. The town's weapon store has
many items for sale. You equip, go in, defeat the dungeon boss, and work your
way through a maze with a few gimmicks to find a piece of the Master Wand.
Leveling up is weird in the game too--the amount needed for a level was
capped in BT2-A but in BT2-NES it keeps going up. However, each level makes
you almost ridiculously better, as it improves your stats, which improve how
much you make per level. For those careful with their spells, they can move
pretty smoothly up the ranks, and with magician class changes, the
spellcasters become particularly powerful.
The big problem with the game--and it's a big one--is what may have made it
so accessible. You pretty much just need early dopey spells to blast the
enemy. That helps you build up, and then you find more items, and that builds
you up some more. There's a good item/level trade-off, but most of your
ingenuity will be devoted, not too mapping, but to figuring how to chisel
time off leveling up.
The other big problem is that there'll be something challenging to do once--
deal with spinners, secret doors, or traps. Then the game will give up on it.
It's as if it could've done more, but it did not have the space. Which is too
bad. Everything else is there and there's even the occasional add-on to BT2-
A--combat front lines are more easily adjustable, the enemy pictures are
cool, you have a spell to replenish bard songs, and there's even an optional
side quest late to make the ending easier.
So while I can't judge the humor of the random fat guys carrying bags who pop
up and yell at you, or the long cut scenes before the boss fight in each
dungeon, I can say that it's a fun game to play even though you don't know
Japanese. In fact it has retained some weird mystery for me. But I wanted to
make this guide, so it did not maintain total mystery for everyone, and those
who wanted to solve it, by methods cheating or honest, could.
What else is there to add? Oh. Thieves are still useless. So that's all good.
1-2. BIG DIFFERENCES FROM THE PC
Maps are 16x16 max, vs 22x22.
Far fewer teleports, traps, and spinners, or spells to detect them.
Treasure rooms replace death snares.
Cool bosses. No boss fight in the PC version.
Monks are not a character class. Knights seem to be a combo of Paladins and
Monks.
The princess in Tangramayne is not an ogre.
You can leave town before completing the Dark Domain.
Oscon's Fort(ress) is in Corinth.
The Destiny Stone is in Colosse.
No fights in NES towns except Colosse.
All towns have a guild in the PC version, not just Tangramayne.
Wilderness wraps in the PC and not the NES.
You need more real levels to get spell levels, but you don't have to pay for
spell levels.
Experience per level doesn't top out.
No dream-mage experience mill in the Maze of Dread. No maze of dread. No
experience for disbelieving summoned monsters. Or even beating them.
Weird guys babbling randomly in dungeons! Or in town! They look the same!
No cool animated graphics. But at least there's yellow.
No dream spell.
No anti-magic zones!
No level drainers
And the big one...in the NES version, the Sage is not Lagoth Zanta, the big
evil guy! I think.
2. CONTROLS
Here are some heuristics for English speakers to get by in a Japanese game.
In general option 1 is yes and 2 is no.
up,A=go forward
down=turn around
left,right=turn left/right
B=menu (B moves back through menu, A forward)
option 1 = view character stats and items (select character up and down)
option 2 = cast spell
conjurer/mage/sorcerer/wizard/archmage in that order
scroll left/right through spell levels(can wrap from 1 to 7)
select 1/2 up/down
option 3 = bard song
1=avoid traps/spinners
2=avoid encounters better
3=exit dungeon
option 4 = equip
A toggles equip. If you equip one helm with another already equipped, you
lose the first one.
option 5 = items
(1) in detail. Move up and down to pick someone, then up and down for an
item
(1) use item(for instance, herb to heal)
(2) trade. Select person with A. Automatically un-equips item.
(3) drop item. Warning--no confirmation.
(2) ????
option 6 = sort troops
(1) you can exchange 2 players you select
(2) the player you pick is at the back of your front line. You may wish
to change this when a player is hurt or when you get a powerful NPC--expand
the front line 1, or even shrink it to 1 if the NPC is super powerful and
your fighters are unable to do damage.
option 7 = use map ??
Small trick--trade unequipped items to yourself before equipping, so you can
remember what to sell.
Bard song notes:
if enemy is vulnerable to magic, use defensive song, otherwise use offensive
song
Combat is pretty straightforward. Everyone has an option to fight, including
a bard in the back ranks with a bow. If that is available, it will be the
first. Bards and spellcasters have an additional option, too--singing or
casting spells. Protective spells don't appear to be cumulative, and if you
cast similar ones(M1-1, M3-2) the stronger one trumps. Bard songs aren't
cumulative, either, and if you play one during battle, the old one will
continue out of combat. Monsters always attack the first enemy in melee or
have a set spell to cast.
Statuses are not hard to understand either.
Poisoned = lose 1 HP per turn
Charmed = cannot be healed
Confused/Blinded = lose 1 turn
Petrified = need to be healed with special spell
Dead = see petrified, but worse
3. STATISTICS
3-1. LEVELS
Gaining levels is not terribly hard to calculate in BT2. Basically, you
advance from level x at level (Class coefficient) * (x^3)
The class coefficient is as follows:
Fighter, Knight:6
Thief: 5
Hunter: 7
Bard: 4
Conjurer, Mage: 7
Sorcerer: 8
Wizard: 9
Archmage: 10 (0a)
You can gain 98 levels in the game. So that means your fighter needs
6*98*98*98=5647152 total experience to max out. Don't worry about getting
there right away. You can also change mage classes, and when you do, the
first levels will be extremely easy to pick off. You may get several levels
for your very first fight. It should not be bad to max out your spell levels
for subsequent mage classes. You always should max out mage classes before
moving on. It may seem like a lot of experience, but every level and spell
counts, and of course you get the best spells at the end.
Level 1 gets spell level 1
Level 3 gets spell level 2
Level 6 gets spell level 3
Level 9 gets spell level 4
Level 12 gets spell level 5
Level 16 gets spell level 6
Level 20 gets spell level 7
Mages should change class at level 20. While the level 7 spell is not always
the most useful, it's rather nice, and later on they would be begging for a
level a just 8000 points or whatever. That means they gain 19 levels, or
6859*(class index)...
Mage/Conjurer: 48013
Hunter=20, Fighter/Knight=21, Thief=22, Bard=23
Conjurer/Mage(flip levels: 48013 more, 96026 total
Hunter=24, Fighter/Knight=26, Thief=27, Bard=29
Sorcerer: 96026 + 8*6859 = 150898
Hunter=28, Fighter/Knight=30, Thief=32, Bard=34
Wizard: 150898 + 9 *6859 = 212629
Hunter=32, Fighter/Knight=33, Thief=35, Bard=38
Archmage: 212629 + 10 *6859 = 281219
Hunter=35, Fighter/Knight=37, Thief=39, Bard=42
You can see that the spellcaster levels pile up pretty quickly. Once you
change classes the first time, your back row is much less of a liability
against spells, too. They get rather good by the end. You will probably need
at least Archmage level 20 to win the game. But fortunately there are ways to
build up experience quickly. Not as good as the Maze of Dread dream mages,
but good enough!
I had a perl script which calculated the next level easily enough. It is not
too difficult to write in any language. While you ultimately need to just put
your head down and fight, or cheat up experience if you get bored, it's good
to have a basic idea of which level you get, when. Here's a chart for
details. Each new line is 10 more levels.
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
|
---------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+----
--+
Bard | 0| 4| 32| 108| 256| 500| 864| 1372| 2048|
2916|
| 4000| 5324| 6912| 8788| 10976| 13500| 16384| 19652| 23328|
27436|
| 32000| 37044| 42592| 48668| 55296| 62500| 70304| 78732| 87808|
97556|
|108000|119164|131072|143748|157216|171500|186624|202612|219488|237276|
Thief | 0| 5| 40| 135| 320| 625| 1080| 1715| 2560|
3645|
| 5000| 6655| 8640| 10985| 13720| 16875| 20480| 24565| 29160|
34295|
| 40000| 46305| 53240| 60835| 69120| 78125| 87880|
98415|109760|121945|
|135000|148955|163840|179685|196520|214375|233280|253265|274360|296595|
Fighter | 0| 6| 48| 162| 384| 750| 1296| 2058| 3072|
4374|
| 6000| 7986| 10368| 13182| 16464| 20250| 24576| 29478| 34992|
41154|
| 48000| 55566| 63888| 73002| 82944|
93750|105456|118098|131712|146334|
|162000|178746|196608|215622|235824|257250|279936|303918|329232|355914|
Hunter&| 0| 7| 56| 189| 448| 875| 1512| 2401| 3584|
5103|
Conjurer&| 7000| 9317| 12096| 15379| 19208| 23625| 28672| 34391| 40824|
48013|
Magician | 56000| 64827| 74536| 85169|
96768|109375|123032|137781|153664|170723|
|189000|208537|229376|251559|275128|300125|326592|354571|384104|415233|
Sorcerer | 0| 8| 64| 216| 512| 1000| 1728| 2744| 4096|
5832|
| 8000| 10648| 13824| 17576| 21952| 27000| 32768| 39304| 46656|
54872|
Wizard | 0| 9| 72| 243| 576| 1125| 1944| 3087| 4608|
6561|
| 9000| 11979| 15552| 19773| 24696| 30375| 36864| 44217| 52488|
61731|
Archmage | 0| 10| 80| 270| 640| 1250| 2160| 3430| 5120|
7290|
| 10000| 13310| 17280| 21970| 27440| 33750| 40960| 49130| 58320|
68590|
Cue-card summary: Fighters are good all around, Hunters earn critical hit,
Knights might as well have it by level 45(and hunters can't dent the REAL
enemies,) you need a Bard to win, Thieves are lame, and you want a conjurer
and a magician to start for spell variety.
3-2. ITEMS
4. WALKTHROUGH
4-1. STARTING OUT
Well, first things first. You need to create a party that will work well
together. I went with a fighter, a knight(paladin in the English version,) a
bard, a conjurer and a mage.
The fighter is option #1, the knight #2, the bard #5, conjurer #6 and mage
#7. You might as well create them in this order.
Here is a table of the beginning stats for males. * is important for that
particular class. Females get +2 dexterity and -2 vitality and strength, not
a good trade-off.
STR DEX INT WIS VIT REF HP MP
Fighter 15*19 07-11 01-03 01-03 19*21 01-04 24-30
Knight 17*21 09-13 01-05 01-04 16*19 04-08 23-29
Hunter 09-13 14-18 04-08 04-08 09-13 07-11 13-19
Thief 12-16 12-16 03-07 03-07 11-15 03-07 17-23
Bard 09-13 08-12 08-12 10-14 09*13 15*19 13-19
Conjurer 03-07 08-12 16*20 12*16 02*06 11-15 03-09 16-20
Magician 01-05 08-12 12*16 16*20 04*08 13-17 04-10 12-16
I'd assume vitality and strength are important for hunters and thieves, too.
But I did not use them in the game.
You can choose a different character by pushing B and A. You'll do a lot of
this. Initial hit points aren't nearly as important as vitality, as each
level, you gain hit points based on your vitality score. Similarly, magic
points aren't as important as intelligence and wisdom. You want the very best
vitality for your mages, who are susceptible to back-rank spells early on.
Best 3 out of 4 good stats is good enough. It's nice if your players have
good dexterity for fighting but not critical. Often you want to get the first
attack in, and a higher dexterity early on helps that later.
I named my characters after the first five characters BT2 gives you. You may
wish to make their names repeating characters so you can be sure when
something happens to them.
Now join your players to the party--2nd selection, then 1st, then pick them
in the order above. You have a starting party.
4-2. TANGRAMAYNE AND THE DARK DOMAIN
You don't need to watch for monsters in town, so you can go where you please.
First, you will want to buy some equipment. The shop is N 2W S 2W N 2W N of
the main guild. Here is what to buy at first:
Fighter: Normal Sword(#3), Leather Armor(#5), Small Shield(#6), Leather
Gloves(#7)
Knight: Normal Sword(#3), Leather Armor(#5), Small Shield(#6), Leather
Gloves(#7)
Bard: Normal Sword(#3), Leather Armor(#5), Small Shield(#6), Leather
Gloves(#7)
The sword is $20, leather $30, small shield $25, leather gloves $15. You can
use this as a check-off in case you are worried you will buy the wrong items.
This leaves 30 gold for later. I didn't buy the bard an instrument yet as
you'd also have to buy a drink for it to be useful, and that's less
protection. Save the game and go to the Dark Domain and look for your first
fight. You only need 4 experience to get your bard a level, or 6 for your
fighters, or 7 for your magicians. Still, you will want to take the fights
one at a time.
And of course you will want to equip your items the VERY first thing. Choose
option 4, pick a player, and equip all his items. Do that for players 1-3.
Now find the dungeon. You may wish to save at the inn first--S E and pick
option 1 a few times. There'll be two Y/N options and hit yes both times.
Go east along the north bit, then south when you hit the wall. (N from inn)
2E S 2E N E* 3S. You're now in the first dungeon to conquer. It's not a very
big one at 11x11, but you still need to build your party up a bit before you
can definitively win it. The most important thing is, don't get killed. That
costs a lot of money to undo.
In order not to get lost, just go north and south in the first corridor.
You're just looking to win a fight--monsters like slimes should go down to
just one hit, but you will want to focus on spell casters. In general you can
spread the hits around, though the safest strategy is to have a fighter
attack enemy 1 and knight and bard attack #2. Have your conjurer cast 1-1 on
the fighter's enemy and your mage 1-1 on the fighter and knight. This should
work well for the first fight. Don't worry about draining your resources. You
can rest at the inn to recoup. It is only 10 gold. Soon, you will get a feel
for which monsters go down with one hit and which don't. It's more important
just to avoid two groups of monsters until level 3 or so.
So winning the first battle should get at least your bard a level. You should
get 10+ gold from it, but if not, rest up anyway. This is an immediate
sacrifice of gold for long term gain. Of course, if you suffered no damage,
you can take another shot at things.
Once you get everyone to level 2, which should happen after 3 fights, you
won't have to rest so much, and gold should be plentiful throughout the game.
Where it's not, you can just level up for a bit in choice places. Your mages
can cast a few more spells, too. So with everyone at level 2 you can afford
to explore a bit. You also should not have to worry about stuff like being
poisoned. None of the monsters have terribly special abilities. Watch your
bard songs(they last for 32 square-moves,) but even if you are drained, cast
C1-2 on your bard to give him a song back.
Now you will want to build up cash to buy your bard an instrument. Either #9
or #10 at the shop--it sells for 50 gold. You'll also need to buy a drink at
the tavern(2E 4S of the weapon shop) and now you can proceed by getting your
first NPC to join.
Be sure to have the sound on and play song #2. That will result in fewer
encounters. It's a pretty long walk. If you get low on HP, play noncombat
song 3 to retreat and leave the area, then drink up and try again. If you
fail a few times, you'll probably gain a few levels, which will make you
tougher in the future. So don't rush things.
3S 2W N 2W S 2W 3N E 2N W 5N 4W (if the bard song goes quiet here, and you're
only level 2, just gut it out. Otherwise, play it again.)
2S 2E 3S 2W 2S. Accept the Wing Creature's offer to join you, then sing song
3 and go back home and recharge. Also flip him with your bard(option 6,
option 1, him, your bard.) This guy really pulls his weight early on. He
attacks the first enemy and usually kills it. That, and he has a use at
another square in the Dark Domain.
Before conquering the Dark Domain's big boss, it's probably best to build
your fighting characters up to level 4. You can win with level 3 but it is
tricky. This requires more milling around the Dark Domain. Bard songs aren't
critical, but be sure to save one before you get to the fight--#1 in battle,
and you won't need to retreat. Don't worry about building up items or gold
along the way. You'll have enough gold for the Ephesus weapon shop later.
So at level 4 you are ready to rumble. Be sure to have saved your game, or
taken a save state or whatever, and then climb down. Play song #2 so you
don't have any battle scars before the big fight. Be sure to save a song #1
for the fight. You will be automatically transported home. Try to run from
anyone who might fight you. You can take a bit of damage, if you can't flee,
but do use C1-1 when you can and C2-2(30 HP) when necessary. You'll have
enough magic for the fight.
3S 2W N 2W S 2W 3N 3E 3N 3E 3N and the Wing Creature should jump you over the
gap. Go to the very north and you will encounter the Wing Creature. Now you
will want your bard to play the defense song(combat option 3, song 4) and
then have everyone hit the big guy. Again, C1-1 is a nice addition, C2-2 is
necessary if anyone is <40 HP, and M2-2 is handy to make your guys hit for as
much damage as they can. It may be a few rounds, but you should make it. You
are automatically transported back to the castle and can now enter the
wilderness after a big long cutscene. You also get a dragon scale, which is
worth 2000 gold, but don't sell it! It will come in handy down the line.
4-3. EPHESUS DUNGEON
Your first order of business is to find Ephesus. The second tree you see on
your right, turn right and enter just before there. It's time to improve your
party some more. You probably won't have enough cash to buy everything, but
here is what you eventually want:
Broad Sword(3) for knight and bard $100 each
War Axe(4) for fighter $150
Chain Mail(7) for fighter, knight and bard. Once you equip it, the Leather
Armor will unequip, and you can sell that. Chain is 100.
Helmet(8) for fighter, knight and bard $50 each
Fight the outside battles as they give a bit more experience than the Dark
Domain. While the simplest way to get fights is to go south and north by
Ephesus til you've got some cash piled up. Don't skimp on going to the inn,
temple or tavern to stock up. Against giants or when in HP trouble, use a
defensive song. Whatever you pay for healing can be reclaimed in a fight or
two.
When finding your way further around, it's most useful to walk in the
corridor just west of Ephesus, so should you get poisoned, you can return
there immediately and go to the temple. A poisoned character loses 1 HP for
each move you make outside, and while you can should an antidote at 50 in
Ephesus, it's better to conserve money and just use the temple when you can,
reserving the antidote for when a character is near death(stats red and
poisoned.) As always, the temple heals your conditions, and the inn heals
your HP and MP, and there's no markup as you move to the next town.
The total bill is $600 for everything, and if you patiently fight outdoors,
you will be ready for the Ephesus dungeon. You will still want to avoid
combats, but you are ready for the next phase. I would recommend beating up
on monsters there. Take it one fight at a time. If anyone gets a condition,
sing song # 3 and heal immediately. You can actually get rid of the Wing
Creature pretty quickly. Once you get to level 6, summon Elik's Wolf(C3-1) if
you want a more powerful NPC. You can do a bit better with Ramsel, but first
you want to mess around a bit.
I went to the Tangramayne big guild(where you started) and removed the Wing
Creature. From Ephesus to Tangramayne is easy: 1 square south, then east all
the way. Choose option 1, then 2, then choose Wing Creature. He is now out of
your party. Make a front line of 3(option 6, 2, player 3) if playing without
the wolf(he will disappear if you leave a dungeon,) and now go back to the
Ephesus dungeon. Have the sound up and play song 2 continually.
Now you have the safety valve of M3-1 to forcibly flee. You have M2-1 to kill
undeads(which is just about everything here, except obvious humans,) and you
have C2-2 to heal. Bard songs in combat should be defensive. You can win
fights outright with just magic and bard songs against the undead. They're
easy enough you can try to flee from everything else. The only problem may be
that spellcasters attack your back rank. But it is a chance worth taking,
since you can reload. If you recognize a spellcaster, run til your mages have
~35 HP.
But here is what to work up to if you want to get a shiny new NPC. If you
fall short, just re-try.
2E 3S 2E 4S 2W 2S 3E (guy talking, ignore him) 2S and D.
On level 2, 2N 6W N 2W S 4W 2N and say yes to Ramsel. Adjust him in the party
as before and make a front line of 4. You may not be perfectly ready to face
the big enemy, but you are on your way. I would recommend level 8 at least--
level 10 is probably best. The second boss critically hits. Hang around on
the 2nd level for a while, and don't use bard song 2. You may wish to use
bard songs in combat to improve your chance of winning. Remember always to
save one to leave the dungeon.
When you get fighters to level 9 or 10(8 is possible too if you feel
comfortable with the controls of this game--the problem is, the boss may cast
a death spell or a spell at your conjurer,) then, you'll want to use bard
song 2 to get to the big fight with as little damage as possible. Save
beforehand, of course, and then get to level 2 as before.
3N W 3N 3W 2S W 2N W N 2W S 3W and all the way north. Hit this guy with
everything and I mean everything. Have the bard play song 3 in combat to
decrease the enemy's magic attacks. He may hit your spellcasters if you do
not watch it, and they are fragile. Use C1-1 constantly and M2-1 because he
is undead. He has 600 hit points, but these spells should do him in.
You may need to rest up after this. You get Magic Chain for winning this
fight, so equip that. Now there are a lot of fights in the treasure room, so
don't go down there yet. Heal, and if you still have enough spell points for
a few more, don't bother retreating. It may be worthwhile to buy a Heaven
Drop as the next bit is confusing. That is more for convenience's sake,
though, as you may forget things. Your conjurer can also replenish your bard
in an emergency, remember.
The map of the treasure room is simple, but there are so many spinners that
you will get distracted. There are two ways through.
1. cast M1-1 at every square to determine which spun you around. The squares
only spin you once.
2. play bard song 1 at the start of each of the 5 hallways. Your bard should
have the extra songs and that way, the song will not die, either.
I recommend #2 as your bard should have extra songs especially with a Heaven
Drop. The corridor is 13 squares long, and you get 32 moves per song, so that
means you can make it across in just three songs. However, to be sure of
things, at the end of a long walk, you may want to cast M1-1 and be sure you
are at:
(13,3)
(0,2)
(13,1)
(0,0) where you'll see a door and take the pink gem.
While the bats are not tough for a fully healthy party, they are a
distraction and not worth the experience. Run from them if you can, just to
save energy. Cast heal spells if your HP go below half the maximum. Also, the
X and Y coordinates are backwards here for scry-site(M1-1), but it's not a
huge deal.
You need 2 bard song #3's to get to the surface.
4-4. FANSKAR'S CASTLE
Fanskar's has some tough monsters worth lots of experience, including some
nasty spellcasters not seen in Ephesus, so you may wish to just save states
after each fight you win. You may also want your fighters at level 10 or so
before starting. You'll need to use a lot of the old familiar spells.
Fanskar's is unusual in that it has no treasure room. There's just an
additional fight. Keep Ramsel for this. He is useful to beat up an enemy per
round, which balances out the shared experience you lose.
From Ephesus, go south til you hit a tree, east til you hit a tree, south til
you hit a tree, and east til you are in an enclosed area. Fanskar's is to the
south. For the most part, it has monsters that cast minorly annoying spells
or fighters. There's one set of monsters where you have a minstrel/mage who
confuses your players constantly, leaving the other monsters to clean up the
mess. This is bad for you, and you should run from them. Maybe there is a
spell to take them out, but I could not find one that would repel the
confusion. Other fights are tolerably good, though bard song 1 in combat
helps you win quickly. Probably M3-1 is best here though.
You have some level building to do. Much more so than in Ephesus's dungeon,
you'll find new items every now and then, ones which really improve your
party. You even have a fixed treasure on the second level. There are two
stairs up to level 2: the near one, which leads to small treasure, and the
far one, which leads to Fanskar. The monsters are about the same either way.
For the first trip you might as well play bard song 2, go 2 forward, take the
stairs, 2 forward, left and go right. Treasure! Equip the Madito's Boots and
use song 3 if you want. The armor class boost is handy. You'll probably have
similar things fall out as you walk around fighting. It won't happen often,
but you may be here a while.
So you need to paddle around for a while on level 1. Spells like C5-1 are
useful to blast enemies in the back ranks, along with M4-1 for a lot of bad
guysC1-1 when you know there is just one spellcaster back there. You need the
bard song to kill the instant wolf, and the instant ogres are tough enough
early that it is worth running from combat. If an instant giant appears, run
right away. They are deadly. In general, level 2 is a lot trickier than level
1, so don't go up there. Level 1 features groups of big beatable monsters.
You want to get at least to level 5.
To get to Fanskar's area of the second level, go 2W 5S 3W 6S and take the
stairs. 3N E N 4E 4S 3W. Fanskar is not too bad. He only has 500 hit points,
and with a M3-1 or two you can win in three rounds. But you should bring all
your stuff anyway including a regeneration spell. You get a thief dagger when
you win. I recommend that you try to flee from Fanskar and try to re-heal. If
you are able to do this, then you can get to 20000 gold more quickly when you
sell the thief dagger.
Why 20000 gold? Because boss #2 will probably shred your spellcasters, and
there is nothing you can do. But you should be able to win the fight pretty
easily. The plan is to cast M3-2 on whomever you can. Sing song #1, of
course. This enemy has 3600 hit points, so while the technique is the same as
for Fanskar, but expect to take a while. You get a spell spear when you win.
It is a handy weapon. You also get the second gem, and now Thessalonica, a
new town, opens up for you.
4-5. THESSALONICA DUNGEON
Thessalonica is in the SW corner of the map. The weapons shop is 3W 4S E 2N E
S of the entry. There you will want to buy Magic Chain(6) and a Magic
Sword(5), for everyone in the front line, and Gauntlets(3) for your fighter,
unless you already have better--and if you have only 1 or 2 better, give them
to your Knight and Bard. You can get a Magic Dagger(7) for your back row,
since you should be rolling in cash by now.
Also, you will either want to drop Ramsel off or let him die once you get to
level 6. He has good attack strength, and he will help speed combats up a
bit, but once you're at level 6, summoned monsters pull their weight better
than he will--the ogre from C6-1 has 82/54 attack/defense versus Ramsel's
54/40. I recommend using them, because they take 1/6 of your experience and
improve your attack by at least 1/3--you should have a 4 person front line.
So that is a total gain of (4/3 * 5/6) - 1 = 11%. Remember that summoned
monsters disappear when you return to town, so you need to cast your spell
again when you enter the next dungeon. You get a nasty surprise if you
forget. But it'll be nice that YOU can summon monsters to annoy the opponent
now, instead of the other way around.
Nobody here's good at magic, except for magic mushrooms, who hit your front
line for 30 each. Fighters can't do much damage to you if you're properly
equipped. This is great, til you get to the boss fight and can't even do
significant damage with a bard song going. So you basically have to run
around winning fights and using battle bard song #1 and mage spell 3-2(give
to your guys in order of attack score--the more monsters, the more times you
should cast it,) even if you just arrived from Fanskar's.
Death strike works well against weak monsters(speeds up experience). You can
use C5-1 and M4-1 if there are a lot of monsters, too. Remember, it's always
easy to recharge, so while this may drain spell points(and is inadvisable as
your fighters get better) it can win a few fights to get you started. And
even if you lose track of spell points, enemies can't much dent a group with
good armor. You'll get nice items along the way, both in battle and from
specific treasure squares. Those will be the first item(s) of business(pun.)
For the process below, just retreat if you're damaged, then go back up.
Getting to level 2 is easy. Just go east all the way. Then go back west on
level 2 until there are doors on each side. The Knight Shield is 3S 2E. Give
it to your knight, because he has fewer hit points than your fighter. The new
items will make your knight a superstar, though. There's a third your mages
can't use yet, but it will be handy later. Return. N W N 3E N 4W 3N and W you
have a mimic. Say no to avoid opening it, though you can beat it up for fun
and practice. W and you get the Sword of Zar. Apparently the Sword of Zar is
Graphnar's weakness, Graphnar being the boss of the dungeon. So says odino.
Return. Go west. Up to level 3, 6E 3N 2E S 2E. The boss is nearby, but you
can't really dent him yet. So you will need to build levels.
But how much? And where? First, level 3 is best. You need spells to do damage
anywhere, so go where the experience is greatest. Once you cast M3-2 on your
knight, he can do 500+ damage, which is effectively a critical hit. By the
time you get to level 20 for your fighters, they may not need M3-2 for the
weaker fighter opponents, as the bard song will be okay. With 20 bard songs
and 500 experience per fight, you can get a level each time through the
dungeon.
Now your object is first to get your mages to level 20. Then you can go to
the review board and flip their classes(2nd option.) The review board is in
SE Thessalonica. Flipping classes kicks them back to level 1, affording them
a bunch of easy levels. Here it is your choice whether to cast 7-1(Elik's
Slayer) at the start of a dungeon trek. It's good at attack, but at the same
time, you may not always be able to use it. If there are 2 slots in the enemy
front line, you can probably kill them with a M3-2 from both spellcasters and
with your fighter, knight and bard. So the choice is yours. It's a bit safer
to have the Slayer, and you'll need him for the boss fight. But he is not
critical until the boss fight.
So you will basically whizz around using bard song #1 and hammering your
enemies with your fighters. The map itself is not tough--go straight east to
get to level 2. Then you can go straight back west til you have doors on each
side.
When my fighters got to level 23 and my mages to level 12, I was ready. Here
is your blueprint to winning the boss fight.
1. First round, play bard song 1. Cast M3-2 on fighter and knight. Attack the
guy.
2. After that, you just need the knight to attack him. Others can and should
guard. It will reduce the damage taken.
3. If someone is getting <2/3 hit points, have both mages cast heal, C5-2 and
C6-2. They should cast it first thing, because after all the levels they
gained, they'll have high dexterity. Your enemy hits for 400 points, and your
knight goes for 500+. So the fight takes 10 rounds maximum, accounting for
random damage. You should have 500+ spell points, which make the fight easy
enough once you have the power and know how to use it. There's a small chance
the enemy may attack one player several times in a row. So be proactive with
the heals even if it seems like you don't need to be. You have enough spell
points.
You get a magic axe for this. This may help your fighter. Next you'll be
asked if you want to go to the treasure room. It has no forced fights, so you
should just go through with it. You can get easy experience casting 3-2 on
your knight, but it is not much. It may be a way to get new items, but you'll
be getting enough in Philippi in a bit.
Go forward, ignoring all chests til you have a door on the right. Go through
it, then go through the door on the left. Go forward and ignore the first
chest. The purple gem is in the second one. Now leave. You can use two bard
song #3's.
4-6. PHILIPPI DUNGEON
Philippi is way on the east side of the map. Go 5N E* 3N 5E 2N 2W to get
there. The dungeon here is probably the biggest of the game. It is the
messiest to traverse. But it has some interesting treasure along the way. You
also need to see one square to open up the boss fight. As always, though, you
will want to stop at the weapons shop first. It's got some upgrades.
The inn is right in front of you, and Philippi is arranged in a nice little
grid. E 3W 5W 3N W S for the arms shop.
Item 1 is a magic sword, which you should have.
Item 2 is a magic shield, which you may not. Your front line can use this.
Item 3 is magic scale, which is worth buying. Again, everyone on the front
line can use this. I didn't find anything better til now.
Item 4 is a bird sword, which only a bard can use. This may be an upgrade.
Item 5 is a magic helmet. It doesn't give much more protection than a regular
one, but you have so much cash that the safety is worth it.
Item 6 is magic gloves. You probably won't need gloves, but give any excess
ones to your back rankers.
Item 7 is a magic bow, but there are better weapons out there.
Herb, antidote and heaven drop are below that, as in previous towns(except
Tangramayne.)
Now you may wish to build your party up to sorcerers before tackling this.
The Thessalonica dungeon is easier and does not have monsters who can knock
out your back rank. But with patience, you can win fights giving bigger
experience, or you can go item grabbing in the dungeon first.
West down the center of the street, you have the stairs to the Philippi
dungeon. Monsters are tougher here. They actually do damage! But you can hit
them for a lot of experience. You should be building your guys up to
sorcerers. The same formula applies as before. Eyeballs(which summon and
should be fled from) and insects are your main enemies here. Hack away at
them with M3-2 and your fighters, and don't worry about wasting any, because
you should have well over 1000 spell points by now. However, you will learn
that spells bounce off some monsters and hit you. The wall is one example of
this. So stick to what works.
On level 2 you have Social Plate. Only bards and theives can use it. It's
great for boosting defense and should be your first goal(use song 2.) Here is
how to find it:
W N 4W 3N 3E S E* N 3W 3N 4E 3S to stairs
5W 2N 2W 2S E.
There are more items on level 3. Watch out for walls here--they deflect magic
damage back on you. Speed boots are in the NE. They are good for your bard,
since you want him to sing before your other guys attack. The Pan Flute in
the SE is good for your bard, too. It gives him extra attack and defense.
Again, have song 2 playing because the encounters here really drag on.
You will save a bit of time if you go the south way to level 2--5W 3S 3E N 8E
S 3W 3S 4E 3N. Then W S W* 2S W* 4N 2E N E*.
N 2W S 3W and it doesn't matter what you get first. 2N E N 3E N 2W 2N 2E.
Now a word on the lower levels--the monsters are tougher and get less
experience. I found level 1 worked great for building you up. The walls on
level 2 protect spellcasters. Occasionally you may have to run(better, cast
M3-1) from a summoned monster, but that is not so bad. There's no need to
save spell points since (1) you get more with each level and (2) bard song 3
is still a safety valve.
So when you want to get to the bottom(about when you have L9 sorcerers,) have
bard song 2 playing. Also you may wish to have a heaven drop or two. The way
down from the stairs to level 3 is pretty easy though. West from those
stairs, then down. South out the door, 2E S E N* 3W 3N D. South all the way
to the boss--heal before you start.
If you do that, the boss is pretty straightforward. He has 5000 hit points,
but I tried to see if he cast any terrible spells. Have the attack song
going, cast S1-1, and cast M3-2. Then cast C6-2 a lot if you're low on HP.
You will be able to tackle him eventually. It's not worth it to summon a
powerful monster just for this fight. You get a War Staff for defeating the
boss. It is good for mages, if they should ever be dragged into combat.
The treasure room has lots of fights that regenerate on fixed squares. The
usual ritual of raising strength with M3-2 and whaling away works very well
here. Given that each fight is worth 750 for a 5-member party, it can be
quite lucrative to mess around. Each fight should take 3 rounds, maybe 2 if
you're really lucky, or if you improve as in step 5 below. The enemies have
1500 hit points.
If you actually want some sort of progress in the meantime, you can find an
Arc Royal near the corner, which I recommend. It is a great shield for your
fighter. So I will make the detour.
1) go south--away from the stairs. There's a fight and a teleport to the
corner..
2) west, fight, 2 north, fight, east, north, and you get the arc royal.
3) bard song 3 to go to the entry. This time, 2 east, fight, south, fight,
and south into a teleport. You'll see a long wall on the left and then it'll
disappear.
4) go south and west. Get the green gem. Note--this walls this area off to
you later, so just sit at an intersection as step 5 says. You can come back.
5) You may actually want to fight until your magic is drained here. Doing the
mat, sorcerer level 20 is at 54872. 54872/750=73. That is not a lot of
fights, though you may have to come back a few times to recharge spell
points(remember, if you forgot your heaven drop, conjurers can give bards
songs back with C1-2, and this helps you stay a bit longer.)
5) Play bard song 3 twice. Now for Oscon's.
4-7. CORINTH AND OSCON'S FORT
Go E S* and W S W S to get to Corinth. The inn in Corinth is just as you
enter, and the weapon shop is on the other side. Corinth has some more good
stuff but you probably found better--or these exact items--on your travels.
Pick up the magic plate(#4) for your fighter and knight. It's a steal. Then
go south and talk to the man. Say yes. Not that you have much choice--it's a
Dragon Warrior "but thou must" conundrum here. But it will allow you into
Oscon's.
Oscon's is 2N 4E 2S 2E 2S. It gives good experience though it takes a while
to win fights. Also, you may need to flee from some of the nastier summoned
monsters. So be ready to flee spellcasters. Your wizards should have good
speed by now. So they can flee first thing.
Oscon's dungeon is not hard, but the Oscon fight is. Your goal at the very
least is a pair of level 12 wizards to beat Oscon. You probably also need a
good NPC, which your wizard can summon. And as you win more fights, you may
also find items like a Saw Hammer which will do a lot of damage. That in
itself is worth several levels. You can probably win strictly melee fights
easily without spells once you have it.
To see Oscon, you need to rescue 3 kids who look like Alfred E Neuman. This
is a potrzebie dungeon where enemies have a lot of things they can do to you,
so I recommend having song 2 going and fleeing all fights, period, for the
first bit. There's Carmine Plate in a chest on the east side of level 2. That
will be your first goal.
But since it's not too far out of the way, go west to the edge, 5S, 4E and
2S. You've rescued one kid!
Then, 1N, E* and follow the path south to the next level. You will need to go
along the south/west edge to rescue the next kid. The Carmine Plate is along
the wall N* 2E N 4E 4S W. This is useful for your fighters in melee
regardless of what you do next to pump your characters up.
Again it is up to you whether to summon a monster or not. It helps avoid
damage and it can soak up hit points. You can put your bard in the back row
and the mosnter in slot #3. I built my guys up to wizard level 12 here. I was
able to win without a monster, but I had a saw hammer. My advice is to try
after each new item, to see if you can take him out quickly. If you can kill
Oscon before he summons monsters, great. But it may take a little luck.
Because Oscon(6000 HP) himself isn't very tough, but the monsters he summons
are. So your very best extra monster will come in handy. He will blast Oscon,
with or without M3-2 cast on him. Of course, you should still cast the basic
spells, M3-2 first round and M3-2 and S1-1 the second. And you may need to
make sure that the enemy does not burn your characters to death--Oscon can
summon devils who whip your party for 1000 damage each. So you can try the
luck route(hope to beat him up quickly) and eventually with a good monster.
The alternative is to get to Archmage level 6 and then use the Kringle
Brother on Oscon, which is overkill and takes too much preparation.
There's no treasure room once you beat Oscon--well, you have to walk a bit to
find it. E* S. This one is queer--there doesn't seem to be much of a puzzle.
There are fights here which just give good low-risk experience but they
aren't very practical, so try to flee when you can. The enemies charm you, so
you need to cast W5-1 to heal--it is the only way to regain hit points. You
can leave and return a few times if you'd like, but really, the Philippi
dungeon was better. Enemies give more experience in the Crypt, and better
items, too. If you get in a fight, your bard song should be enough. The
enemies have 200 HP each.
Go along the west wall to the south, through the door and to a place where
you're asked yes/no. Say yes. Now exit the door. 7E N and you will find the
yellow gem. You can get out of here now.
4-8. THE GREY CRYPT
From Corinth, N* 2E 2N 2E N* W 2N E, down. Philippi is actually closer if you
want to rest and come back.
The pace changes significantly when you get through here. It's a pretty
straightforward dungeon if you know where to go. The second level is divvied
up, and the wrong stairs mean a dead end. But the only real risk is after you
leave--the monsters outside become insanely tough! As before, bring the
Kringle Brother along. Though you don't want to go out of your way, it's
worth fighting here as you get some cool items for so doing. They will make
your party very tough. Once you are at archmage level 7, new levels are not
so important. You have all the spells you need. Make sure also that you have
a bow for your bard as you start. And keep him out of melee. When he becomes
a Destiny Knight, he will do a lot of damage, but it's a hassle to buy stuff
otherwise.
E S* E* 4S 2E 2N 2E N* E 2N 2W, down. (Note: there is a Dark Coat in the
southeast.)
7W 5S E S W, and you'll see the Zen Master talking to you. Ignore him for now
and win the boss fight below. Keep your party healed and you should be okay.
You should have strike first capability. So use it to heal if the dragon
breathes on you. The dragon has 11000 HP, so it'll take a while.
If you're damaged here, go back to an inn and rest before the next bit.
That's because, when you get the next gem, the monsters in the outside world
become much tougher, and the Zen Master replaces the Kringle Brother in your
party. Which is bad for you.
The treasure room is straightforward. The monsters aren't worth dealing with,
so play bard song 2. You want to get through a bunch of secret doors to the
gem. Cast C4-1 to reveal them, or you can just follow the instructions:
3N 2E 6S E 2S 5E 7N 3E 2N. Get the white gem. The Zen Master joins. Bard-song
out of there.
4-9. TEMPLE OF NARN, COLOSSE, DESTINY STONE
Now you're in the outerworld. You need the Zen Master for the next bit. Use
bard song 2 for as few encounters as possible. You need to get to the
northwest. Head west, 1S, W*, N W* 3N 3W. You should see your bard change
from "B" to "BD" and so he is now a Knight of Destiny. Also, his songs last a
lot longer--109 moves and note 32. And his stats go to 99. Basically, you'll
be wasting a move in combat with bard song 1, now. And you'll want to give
him and your knight M3-2 first.
You can dump the Zen Master in Tangramayne now or later. I say now, because
he's probably the weakest in your group. Now head to Colosse, the only place
you haven't visited yet, for a little plot development. This is the only town
in the game where you have combats, and while the mages are easy, the dragons
can do a bit of damage. From Narn, E* 3S E* S 2E N. From Tangramayne, 3N 3E
4N 3W 4N.
Two places in town here: N* E 3N 4E S 2E 2N W*. Equip the Zen Blade for your
bard immediately. It makes him very strong--even more than your knight.
You'll see his attack numbers jump. You can use bard song 3 to exit. Or you
may wish to head E* S E S* for a fight. The big boss you'll meet at the end
of the game sends a minion down.
This is a very tough fight, and while it is optional, I recommend it, because
if you do not beat this guy now, you will have to beat him in the next-to-
final fight, where he has three buddies as tough as he is. You should not
only heal for this fight but also having archmages of at least level 5. You
need a total heal spell for the damage summoned monsters may do.
You can cast A-2 here for a boost, then M-3 on everyone and S-1 on the enemy.
A-5 should be interpolated if someone goes below 1000 hit points. Let your
Destiny Knight attack the summoned creatures. The enemy has 15000 HP so this
may take a while. But if you are very lucky, a few hits will knock him out.
This gets you an Iara shield when you win.
Now from Colosse to the Destiny Stone. You won't have seen it before, but now
you can go E* S* 2E S(2S W*, Philippi, E* 2N if you need to heal) 2E N. The
Destiny Stone is pretty big, and it has mapping puzzles that are tough to
figure, but as with other dungeons, it's a pretty straight shot once you know
the way through.
First, an overview of what you don't need:
A red ring, which you don't need, is in the NE corner.
A blue ring, which you don't need, is in level 2 7,0.
Schaefer, an NPC, is at level 2 0,0. He is not as good as the Kringle Brother
in some ways, but he does not go casting magic at people who bounce it back
off you. So stick with Schaefer, because his lack of magic is a bonus. (Get
rid of Zen Master?)
You will want to play song 2 as you go about this, and it will last a long
time. But if you get into a few fights, it is no big deal. M3-2, and even A2
if you have a lot of enemies. You may need A5 a few times as well. But try to
conserve.
Level 1: 3N 3W 4N 4W 3N E 2S 2E 3N E 2N E S* E 4N 2E 2N 2W 2N E D.
Level 2: go 4E 10S D. It's tough to get your bearings if you get lost, but
basically you can go east to the wall, south, and 2W, if you exited the
stairs facing east.
Level 3: this one has a group of cyclical teleports and a lot of hatchlings
to avoid, or you will have some annoying fights. They have 4800 HP and great
magic resistance. And you only get 500EXP for them.
Unless you are facing west, go back north to the stairs, say no and go W. Go
west, then face north and go 6N(til you see the wall ahead) and 2W. The
details of all the teleports are in the maps.
Level 4: zigzag SE to get to where you see a door to the north. Then enter it
and zigzag SE again.
The devil, who has 20000 hit points, means business. Have your bard focus on
him, with mages casting M3-2 on him and S1-1 in the first round. Nobody else
can do as much damage. You should have someone casting A-5 if anyone is below
1000 hit points, and because the game discounts summoned creatures, let your
bard focus on the big bad guy. You can maybe sneak in an A-2. At level 40,
your bard can do 4000 damage. That means this will last five rounds. Don't
worry if the devil may kill a guy, because you can always cast A-5. You will
get a seal ring at the end.
In the treasure room, here is the solution. It could have been a lot worse.
There's not too much branching, and they didn't use much of the available
squares. 2E, teleport. 2W 2N E 2N 2W, teleport, 2W, teleport, W 2S W,
teleport, E 3S E, teleport, E 2S E 4S 9W 3N 2W for the final (pink) gem. On
my map, this is 0-3-4-6-7.
But wait! Don't go so fast. You can get into fights here and make a lot of
experience, actually--I fought 3 dragons for 15000. You just need to hit them
constantly and heal when your HP get low--each one breathes for 300 damage.
You can gain a level per fight for your archmages for a while, provided you
do not run out of spell points.
So in fact you may wish to defeat the devil and win here, then return home,
then come back here later, before getting the final gem and triggering the
final fight, building your characters up.
Each dragon has 3000 hit points. This means your bard at level 40 can take 2
hits to kill--without magic help. With it, he kills them the first hit. You
should cast M3-2 on whomever you can, too--the fighter and knight can kill a
dragon per round that way. The time saved means fewer A5 spells to cast, a
net spell point savings. You can also cast M3-2 on the knight and have
everyone attack dragon #1--the bard goes before his bonus, but the knight
goes after. That's the way to wipe out one monster right away. These guys are
about as easy and quick as the monsters in the main area, but they take less
time to beat.
In either case, bard song 3 twice to leave. If you want levels in the future,
though, A-7 all around is not a bad strategy to get them quickly.
Now I mentioned Schaefer above. I recommend him for the final fight. Once
your fighters are at level 50 or so, you can go to the last bit. You need to
go to level 2 and get to the west wall. Go south and he will be in the very
orner. He is the NPC you want for the final battle.
4-10. DENOUEMENT
Save your game before attempting the next bit. If your party isn't good
enough, they'll get damaged too easily. And past a certain point, you cannot
rest anywhere. You will need to pay the healer the full 20000. You can
probably win the 5-6 fights you need to make this up, but it's all a hassle.
Return to Tangramayne. Go to the castle. Rest at the inn. Then return to the
castle. You should face 3(4 if you skipped Colosse) enemies who are very
tough. You should cast a heal whenever a character gets under 2000 hit points
while fighting against them. First, your old standbys--M3-2 on the bard and
Schaefer. Then S1-1 on all enemies. A2 is good. A5 will replace these
whenever something doesn't work.
When you get to the final lady enemy, count how many times your bard hits
her. After #3, heal up so the final fight goes more easily. The enemies have
16500, 14000, and 13800 HP respectively, so that is about 4 hits each from
your bard, or 16 turns. Your bard always gets to go first, so enemy spells
should not be a problem. When in doubt, have both mages cast heal.
The last fight is almost a letdown--the final enemy has 65530 HP, but you
just attack him the same way as the others. Be sure to cast heal when anyone
goes under 2000, as before. The guy will probably cast a lot of dumb spells,
but if he attacks, look out. Also he may cast a healing spell(pay attention
to the hex bits for this) and it seems he is more likely to if you have
anyone but your bard hit him. Even at level 99 your bard can only do 5000
damage, so this may take 13 or more rounds(22, with level 56.) If you want to
be a pedantic cheater, just push F5 after each round he does not heal.
I think the bard-or-guard method works, though it seems inelegant, and it is
fair to people who didn't just level up. I can only be 99% sure of it with
all the other random spells the guy casts. Perhaps there is a clue that I
couldn't read. See cheat below on the off chance I missed something, but I've
tried all other spells.
5. CHEATS
Control where you are on the map for easy teleporting:
0x2a8 = y coordinate
0x2a9 = x coordinate
0x330 = # of steps left in your bard song
Set these to 0 for easy combat:
0x3b5 = 0 monsters in front row
0x3d8-9 = 1st monster's HP(low byte 1st)
Each character's data is comprised of 0x3c bytes.
0x7252-7269 = name
0x726a-b = player 1's cur HP(low byte 1st)
0x726c-d = player 1's max HP(low byte 1st)
0x726e-726f = cur spells/songs(low byte 1st)
0x7270-7271 = max spells/songs(low byte 1st)
0x7272 = class
00=fighter
01=knight(paladin)
02=thief
03=hunter
04=bard
05=conjurer
06=magician
07=sorcerer
08=wizard
09=archmage
0a=NPC
84=destiny knight
0x7273 = status
0x01=dead
0x02=petrified
0x04=paralyzed
0x08=charmed
0x10=possessed
0x20=blind
0x40=poisoned
0x7274 = status
0x01=sleeping
0x02=confused
0x7275 = str
0x7276 = dex
0x7277 = int
0x7278 = wis
0x7279 = vit
0x727a = ref
0x727b = attack
0x727c = defense
0x727d = level
0x727e = spells(Conjurer=hi nibble, Magician=lo nibble)
0x727f = spells(Sorcerer=hi nibble, Wizard=lo nibble)
0x7280 = spells(Archmage=hi nibble)
low bit = 1 if female
0x7281 = experience(low byte 1st)
0x7284-728d = items
6. CHEAT-THROUGH
This is for people that don't want to understand the Japanese but just want
to get through the game. It's how I got through the game.
There are two versions--quick and super quick. I'll provide the super-quick
in asterisks at the end of each section. Always take the first option in a
menu unless I note otherwise. Note after some combats you may get a "yes/no."
That means you need to drop something. There are no critical items in your
inventory, so don't worry about that. Also, choose the first item in combat
all the way through. If you lose your sense of direction after an
instruction, walk into a dead end.
6-1. TANGRAMAYNE AND DUNGEON
Create a party with bard, knight, thief, conjurer and magician.
??what to buy to start
??what bard song to play
Talk to the king at the castle, forward from where you start.
Go 2N 6E S* to the first dungeon. Enter it. It is not a very big dungeon. The
object here is to go find the Wing Creature and use him to jump over the gap
in the northeast. But you will also want to build your party up.
The first level is easy to get as it occurs after your party gets 7
experience. Run from fights of more than 2 monsters. The next one takes
longer, as they need from 32 to 56. You can beat up more enemies then,
though, so it is not too bad.
Work your way to 0,3. There aren't many branches here.
**create just one guy, a bard. Cheat him up.
** (option 2 - 1 - 1 - 5) to create
** (option 1 - 1 - 1 - 1) to join
** go to the dungeon(see above)
**set y=0a x=0a. Go forward. Beat the boss. Set y=03 x=0a. You're sent back
to the castle. Lots of blather.
6-2. EPHESUS DUNGEON
**go talk to the sage if you want at y=0b x=0b outdoors(exit is W)
**visit Ephesus y=0c x=02 and north
**enter Ephesus, walk to the dungeon
**N E 3N W 3N E N E* S to dungeon ?? 0r y=06 x=0f
**take the stairs down
**y=02 x=0d, go south and take stairs
**y=0b x=02 and go north to fight the big boss
**y=01 x=00, go south, get the gem
**play bard song 1 twice(option 3:bard:song 1)
**y=02 x=01 to leave Ephesus
6-3. FANSKAR'S CASTLE
** outdoors, y=01 x=0b, south
** 2 squares forward, yes
** y=03 x=05, south
** win 1 fight, then another, get another gem
** y=0c x=08, south
** N to exit, 0e 08(work around stairs)
6-4. THESSALONICA DUNGEON
** y=02 x=03, go west
** 3W N 3W S E, take stairs
** plow forward(or x=0d,) take stairs
** plow forward(or x=02,) take stairs
** x=0d, go forward for fight
** descend to treasure room, respond 2nd option to all
(no big deal, easy fight if you don't)
** 4E S 3E, or y=07 x=0a and forward to stairs
** y=08 x=04 and forward to leave
** x=08 y=02 and forward
** y=0d and forward
** y=02 and forward
** S 3E N 3E
6-5. PHILIPPI DUNGEON
** outside, y=0c x=13, go west
** W 3U 11W 3S 3W, or y=03 x=01
** y=03 x=0d, north
** y=07 x=0b, east
** y=0d x=01, west. Talk to the guy.
** y=07 x=07, west
** y=0c x=06, north
** straight south, or y=04 x=06, win boss fight
** y=03 x=08, pick door right of wall, get gem
** y=0c x=08, up
** y=0c x=06, north
** y=08 x=06, south
** y=06 x=0c, north
** y=03 x=0d, north
** y=07 x=05, east
6-6. CORINTH AND OSCON'S FORT
** outside y=02 x=12, enter
** 2S E 3S W S*, talk to the guy
** exit
** y=01 x=18, enter Oscon's
** y=08, x=06, south, rescue kid 1
** y=06, x=07, north, stairs
** y=08, x=03, west, rescue kid 2
** y=08, x=07, south, up
** y=02, x=02, west, rescue kid 3, fight Oscon
** y=02, x=08, south, stairs to treasure
** y=09, x=01, north, say yes
** y=01, x=0a, north
** y=0d, x=07, north
** y=0e, x=08, north and up
6-7. THE GREY CRYPT
** y=16, x=15, east
** y=0e, x=0d, east, go down
** y=08, x=02, west, go down (x=03 if you want to see the Zen Master before
he joins up)
** straight east, or x=7 and east
** y=0b, x=0c, north
** y=08, x=01, up
** y=0e, x=0d, east, up
** y=0f, x=01, west
6-8. TEMPLE OF NARN AND COLOSSE
** y=19 x=01, go west. Your bard will become "BD" or a Destiny Knight
** y=15 x=0b, enter Colosse.
** y=01 x=08, go south and fight the bad guy.
** y=05 x=00, go south, leave
6-9. THE DESTINY STONE
** y=0e, x=19, go north
** y=0d, x=06, go east
** y=03, x=0b, go east
** y=0d, x=01, go east
** y=01, x=0f, go south. win the fight. Go to the treasure chamber.
** y=04, x=04, go west(corner).
** y=03, x=02, go north
** y=0c, x=02, go north
** y=02, x=0c, go north
** y=0c, x=07, go north
** y=01, x=07, go south
6-10. THE FINAL FIGHT
** y=0b, x=0b, east, enter Tangramayne
** E S 2E N 2E S 2E N 2E (y=03 x=0a east)
(long talk at castle)
** W S 2W N 2W S 2W N E (y=03 x=03 east)
** option 2, option 1, you'll see dialogue
** back to castle y=03 x=0a east
** blather, talk, win 1 fight
** win another
** more blather
** end text
** credits
End of FAQ Proper
================================
7. VERSIONS/CREDITS
0.6.0: sent to GameFAQs 11/11/2008, complete through Corinth
0.9.0: sent to GameFAQs 11/12/2008, almost done except for Zen Blade
1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 11/14/2008, complete
1.0.1: sent to GameFAQs 11/15/2008, added good intro, still need proofreading
Thanks to GameFAQs for being, well, THERE.
Thanks to the NES completion project in general.
Thanks to odino for translations(a ton) and AdamL(playtesting the
quickthrough)
Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang, current and emeritus. They know who they
are, and you should, too, because they get/got some SERIOUS writing done.
Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, Sashanan, Masters, Retro, Snow
Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, Brian Sulpher, AdamL, odino, JDog,
Lagoona, Da Hui and others I forgot. OK, even Hydrophant in his current not-
yet-banned message board incarnation. I am not part of his gang, but I want
him to be part of mine.
