Star Ocean 2 Claude and Rena Solo Walkthrough

By JustPlayItLoud
[email protected]

First Off, Legal Stuff:
This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright.

This FAQ Copyright 2005 Brett Horne

As of the most recent update the only sites with the permission to have this
FAQ are:
www.gamefaqs.com
www.neoseeker.com

Contact me if you would like me to post this on your site, or if you think it
would be of benefit to others for me to post it on another site. I don't want
to have to send any nasty e-mails regarding plagiarism or copyright
infringement, but I will if I have to. Chances are, if you just ask, you will
get permission to use it.

Also, if anyone reading this notices that this FAQ is in use on a site, or in
any printed commercial format, please contact me so that I may take any action
necessary.

I personally verify that this document is made up of concrete facts, personal
work, or properly cited work of others. Any uncited similarities to another
work regarding strategy or any other non-factual, subjective topic are purely
coincidental. If you feel that I have somehow plagiarized your original work,
contact me and I will edit the matter in question or properly cite it.

If you notice any errors on my part regarding anything, contact me. I will
correct the error and give credit to the first, and only the first, person to
bring it to my attention. I will also keep records of all correspondence for
any purpose for which it is needed.

Also, I apologize if any portion of this guide is confusing or hard to
understand. I have a tendency to sometimes get carried away and type things in
such a way that they are understandable to me, but are basically gibberish to
anyone who isn't familiar with my haphazard literary style.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.

In no way is this FAQ "official" or "authorized". In no way was I commissioned
to create this guide by any institution, public or private. I am in no way
affiliated with tri-Ace, Enix, Sony, or any other company. I am receiving no
form of compensation for the creation of this guide, although donations are
welcome.

Updates:
7/23/05-Ver 0.61 I updated some stuff in the Miscellaneous section, as well as
some minor things in the walkthrough that I had left out. I also fixed a minor
idiotic typo.

7/21/05-Ver 0.6 I updated the Tips section and also the Miscellaneous section.
I also created the Post-Fienal section and called it "Under Construction".
Next update, start the Cave of Trials walkthrough, maybe some more crazy
theories or other miscellany, and anything anyone sends me that is important.
I also intend to make some of the strategy guides far more in depth

7/20/05-Ver 0.5 I decided to make the first version just go up to the end of
the game the first time through. I will put the section on the Cave of Trials
and Limiter Off Indalecio at, as well as some other stuff, like more tips,
into later versions. Also, I intend to put a section on questions, theories,
and other stuff relating to the Star Ocean world and not so much to game play.

7/18/05-Ver 0.1 This is the start of the FAQ. I plan to do this all at once
then post it and then only update for corrections or if anyone brings up
something important that I missed?

Next to items in the Table of Contents is a keyword (in parentheses) you can
search for to quickly jump around.



Table of Contents
-What is this? (WTF)
-Tips and Suggestions (TIPS)
-Walkthrough Disc 1
     -Part 1: Beginning through Cross (CH1)
     -Part 2: Cross Cave (CH2)
     -Part 3: The Tragedy at Clik (CH3)
     -Part 4: Mars and the Heraldry Forest (CH4)
     -Part 5: Crossing the Ocean to Lacour (CH5)
     -Part 6: The Tournament of Arms (CH6)
     -Part 7: The Sanctuary of Linga and the Ancient Writings (CH7)
     -Part 8: The Assault on Lacour and the Hoffman Ruins (Ch8)
     -Part 9: Battle with Shin and the Crossing to El (CH9)
     -Part 10: Eluria and Meeting the Ten Wise Men (CH10)
Walkthrough Disc 2
     -Part 11: Central City and North City (CH11)
     -Part 12: The Nedian Nature Preserve (CH12)
     -Part 13: The Field of Intelligence (CH13)
     -Part 14: The Field of Strength (Ch14)
     -Part 15: The Field of Courage (CH15)
     -Part 16: The Field of Love (CH16)
     -Part 17: Marianna's Sacrifice, Heraldry Weapons Laboratory
               Mihne Cavern (Ch17)
     -Part 18: The First Three Wise Men (CH18)
     -Part 19: The Assault on Fienal and the next Six Wise Men (CH19)
     -Part 20: The Final Battle: Indalecio, Limiter On (CH20)
     -Part 21: Post-Fienal Star Ocean (CH21)
       -Part 22: The Heraldic Ruins (CH22)
-Questions, Theories, and other Miscellany (MISC)
-Thanks, Acknowledgements (THANKS)

-What is this? (WTF)

This walkthrough is clearly for Star Ocean: The Second Story for the
PlayStation. I've been playing video games for fifteen years and I've been a
diehard RPG fan for probably fourteen of those years. Both Star Ocean games
are definitely in my list of all-time favorites, and I'm currently waiting for
someone to finish a translation patch for Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, because I
can barely read English, much less Japanese. Although I've heard some negative
opinions, I also want to play Star Ocean: Till the End of Time if I can find a
copy that's not $50.

Anyhow, the purpose of this here walkthrough is to take you through Star Ocean
using only Claude and Rena. You will recruit no other characters, and
characters forced in your party will be removed from the active party so they
cannot be used. It's basically information to survive the game with only two
characters. I did this on the standard difficulty setting, so doing it on
Galaxy or Universe will be decidedly more difficult. But most importantly,
have fun with this challenge. It isn't insanely difficult, but is a challenge
for anyone who isn't an Uber-Champion at Star Ocean. Also, this FAQ assumes
you have already played through Star Ocean before, so I pretty much skip plots
points and don't really detail what you have to do. For example, the
description of the Linga Sanctuary isn't going to explain the difference
between getting the two herbs, it'll just say "Go to the Sanctuary of Linga.
When you're done, return to Linga". This guide doesn't intend for you to take
some of the "shortcuts" to make the game easier. The main ones I'm thinking of
are using the Treasure Chest or other item to get the Marvel Sword and using
Radar to get the materials to make the Eternal Sphere on disc 1. Although
these make the game easier, the first disc and the beginning of disc 2 are
already pretty easy.

By the way, this is my first FAQ, so if it sucks, oh well. I may do more or I
may not.

-Tips and Suggestions (TIPS)

First off, I recommend you ignore Private Actions. PAs just take up time.
Since there are no other characters, the endings don't really matter. Fighting
with Claude and Rena all the time, they're pretty much guaranteed to end up
together (surprise, surprise) unless you go crazy with Reverse Side or picking
people's pockets.

I recommend you never run away if at all possible. Being as you have only two
characters, it's greatly to your benefit for them to have levels that are high
relative to your position in the game. Fol will never really be a problem,
since you find a lot of good equipment and you only have to buy equipment for
two characters anyhow, but experience is pretty nice to have, as it turns out.

Always have a stock of Resurrection Bottles. Until Rena learns Raise Dead, and
even still after, you'll want to have Res Bottles. If Claude dies during a
boss fight and you can't bring him back, you won't be able to rely on other
fighters to finish the job. Plus Rena isn't a particularly good fighter and
will likely be unable to take down a boss single-handedly.

For pretty much the whole game, I used the Tri-Shift 1 formation. Formation
isn't particularly important, but I thought you might like to know.

Buy every skill set as soon as it becomes available. Money should be no issue,
and doing so prevents you from forgetting to buy something. Then might get to
Energy Nede and be stuck without a skill until you can return to Expel. It
happened to me once.

Alright, now tips on fighting with only two characters. First off, you
basically have to change the way you think about the fighting system. Without
other characters, a lot of things can go wrong. Before you have Bunny Shoes,
there's really know way for a fighter to disrupt enemy spell casters, since
Claude has no really fast long range attacks. Therefore, you have to learn to
use Rena for this. Rena's Ray spell is perfect for this. It's quick to cast,
has a low MP cost, and will disrupt and enemy spell, since it only takes one
hit. Using the square button, you can see the entire battle field. Once you
see an enemy spell caster start to charge a spell, switch to Rena and issue
the command to cast Ray. Chances are, she'll fire it off before the enemy has
a chance to cast the spell.

And now, a tip for controlling Claude. With only two characters, Claude
basically has two main objectives. One is to not get sandwiched between
enemies, since there are no other fighters to draw away enemy attention. The
second is to defend Rena, since she can't defend herself very well, and there
are no other fighters to do it. Keep an eye on the enemies and if one gets too
close to Rena, run after it.

As far as battle strategies goes, I used the same two for the whole game. I
didn't like Claude doing anything after I cast a spell with Rena, so I set him
to "Do Nothing". And, because I made sure to always try to defend Rena, I just
left her on "Recover Friends Only" so she would always be focused on healing.

Regarding Killer Moves, I never much used them. I find Claude's physical
attack to be generally more useful than his physical attacks, especially once
you get the Eternal Sphere. I don't use them at all until I get Headsplitter.
Then I use that occasionally until I get Ripper Blast. Ripper Blast is rather
useful to keep multiple close enemies at bay. Once Claude learns Twin Slash, I
ditch Headsplitter in favor of that. Then, once Claude learns Mirror Slice, I
ditch Twin Slash and have the two Killer Moves I used for the rest of the
game. For what it's worth, I put Mirror Slice on L1, and Ripper Blast on R1.

-Walkthrough
At the beginning of each Chapter, I will list the levels of Rena as they were
in my play through, just to give you an idea of where I was at. I won't list
Claude's levels, since they'll be almost identical except for the 18
experience I gained in the Salva Drift.

Part 1: Beginning through Cross (CH1)

Rena Lv.1 (Duh)

Basically, this is the least important part of the challenge, since you can
only have Claude and Rena through this part. First things first, since the
only differences between each characters scenario are some story events and
recruitable characters, it doesn't matter who you choose. If I happen to
choose Claude (for this particular walkthrough I picked Rena for two reasons.
First, and most important, I HATE Claude. Hate him, hate him, hate him. I'm
not sure why. He is a great fighter though. Second, and not that important,
I'm pretty sure Rena's scenario has a bit less dialogue in some parts) I
usually rename him Crawd, just because.

After sitting through the extended opening scenes, proceed with the saving of
Rena and defeating of Alen-Tax as normal. Return to Arlia and set out for
Cross. After meeting with the King, it's now time to meet Celine.

Well, you're forced to accompany Celine to Cross Cave, so just let her join.
After she joins, remove her from your active party. Buy new equipment in
Cross, and stock up on healing items if you wish.

-Part 2: Cross Cave (CH2)

Rena Lv.4

Before heading to Cross Cave, I recommend you level up. I also recommend you
build up your fol, just so you have it. There are two ways to do this. The
first is to build up Rena's Chori skill, buy ingredients, and cook your way to
fame and fortune, mostly fortune. The second is a bit harder, but more
rewarding. Go build some levels outside Cross, then go to the mountains near
Cross. The enemies here are though, but give a butt load of XP. With some
luck, one of the soldier-type enemies will drop a Walloon Sword, the most
powerful weapon Claude will see for a while. This will make the game easier.
After you've bulked up, cross the mountains into the desert area. The enemies
here will be tough too, but they drop rare minerals like orichalcum, which can
be sold for a lot of cash. Hello, Bandit Glove. Once you've built some levels
and made a veritable fortune, head to Cross Cave. Even without Celine, your
high level characters should mow through the enemies. Even the boss here
should be cake. Another thing, if you find the Lasguss mountains to be too
difficult, head to Mars and train in the Heraldry Forest. As you start to
level up, you should buy some skills. When you have enough fol, go to Herlie
and Cross and buy the available skill sets. First, of course, max out
Perseverance. Then Claude should max out Kitchen Knife. Herbal Medicine is
also good. Both should invest in Biology. Mineralogy is good for Rena since it
boosts her INT. Buying these skills will make life much easier. Also, once
Kitchen Knife starts getting really expensive, Scientific Ability and
Functionality will both boost Claude's strength. These skills early on can
make the difference between doing 100 damage per hit, and 400-500 damage per
hit, so I can't stress their importance enough.

Once you've leveled sufficiently and cleaned out Cross Cave, bid Celine
farewell, and hit the road for Clik.

-Part 3: The Tragedy at Clik (CH3)

Rena Lv.35

This isn't a very long event. If you want to pickpocket the Mischief (I
didn't), now's the time. This is also the only PA you should watch until
Energy Nede, so you can remove Indalecio's Limiter. Buy anything you need,
then watch Clik get leveled. Once things are wrapped up here, hoof it to Mars.

-Part 4: Mars and the Heraldry Forest (CH4)

Rena Lv.35

At this point, you've a decision to make. Regardless of who you picked at the
beginning of the game, you now are forced into a party with another character.
In this guide, it is assumed you choose to use both characters. I did. You
COULD try to complete the Heraldry Forest without using Celine or Dias, but I
wouldn't recommend it. It will be difficult for Claude with neither a healer,
nor magical support, and it will be nearly impossible with Rena. Anyhow, with
Claude and Celine, simply have Claude attack and have Celine kick back and use
spells. Turn off her crappy ones, leaving only her best single- and multi-hit
spells. With Claude at a high level and Celine to keep the enemies off of him
with spells, it shouldn't be too hard. Rena's scenario will be incredibly
easy. Dias, being the powerhouse that he is, barely needs Rena's healing,
plus, with Rena at the same level as Dias, it becomes even easier. If playing
Rena's scenario, I recommend you remove Dias' armor after beating Azamgil and
save it for Claude. As Claude, remove Celine's equipment so you can sell it.
After finishing the Heraldry Forest and returning to Mars, it's time to take
the short walk to Herlie.

-Part 5: Crossing the Ocean to Lacour (CH5)

Rena Lv.35

In Herlie, buy anything you want or need. Do the PA involving Zand and Yul if
you want to (again, I didn't) and hop on the ship to Hilton. In Hilton, buy
anything you need, buy new skills, watch the event with Claude at the inn if
you want, and walk to Lacour.

-Part 6: The Tournament of Arms (CH6)

Rena Lv.36

Go and register, find the sponsor of you choice (I recommend the one that
gives Claude the Long Edge, Knockout I think), and stay at the inn. The
tournament shouldn't be very hard at all. Even on auto-pilot, Claude should
win the fights with no problem. After the tournament, make sure you get the
Sharp Edge so you don't miss out on the Eternal Sphere later. After getting
the runner up prize from your sponsor, it's time to go get those Ancient
Writings translated, so head for Linga.

-Part 7: The Sanctuary of Linga and the Ancient Writings (CH7)

Rena Lv.37

The Sanctuary is a pretty good place to build levels if you need to. Get
either the Clairsage or the Dill Whip and head back to Linga. If you choose to
take on the Vissayers, beware. This fight is rather tough, because if one of
them eats Claude, the fight is pretty much over. Use his Killer Moves, and try
to prevent him from getting sandwiched between two Vissayers, as that is
pretty much a guaranteed ass kicking coming your way. Head Splitter and Ripper
Blast are your best friends in this fight. Use Headsplitter to close the
distance between you and the Vissayers, and use Ripper Blast to keep them at
bay, because when they crowd together, Ripper Blast will hit multiple
Vissayers even at 0 proficiency. If you haven't gotten it already, make sure
to get the Might Chain in the Sanctuary. It gives Claude a nice attack boost
and also increases his Stamina by 30.

After you get back to Linga, give Keith the Ancient Writings and head to
Bowman's house. Refuse his offer to join, and then head on back to Lacour.

-Part 8: The Assault on Lacour and the Hoffmann Ruins (Ch8)

Rena Lv.40

Once Leon joins up, unequip him and take him out of your party. Head to
Hilton, stock up on anything you need, and head to the Hoffmann Ruins.

None of the enemies in the Hoffmann Ruins should pose too much of a threat,
except those damned Salamanders. They can easily wipe out your party, even
with high levels. Their regular attacks can paralyze you quickly, and their
fire breath will really do a number if you get caught in it. Use some caution
and you should be okay.

The boss here can pose a few problems. Try to keep them together so Claude can
alternate his attacks to prevent them from casting Thunderstorm. Also, try to
make sure that Claude doesn't get sandwiched between them, as they have a
tendency to do this to you. They have a lot of HP, but you should be able to
beat them without too much trouble. Get the mineral here, and head on back to
Lacour.

-Part 9: Battle with Shin and the Crossing to El (CH9)

Rena Lv.43

Deliver the Energy Stone to the King, then head to the frontlines. While
you're here, stock up on anything you need, and don't invite Dias into the
party. Shin can present a problem to a party of only two characters, but you
only have to survive for a minute, so it shouldn't be too hard. After the
Lacour Hope crushes the monster horde, it's time to make the crossing to El so
hop aboard, and get ready for another ass kicking from Shin.

-Part 10: Eluria and Meeting the Ten Wise Men (CH10)

Rena Lv.43

Interestingly enough, if you only have Claude and Rena in the party and are
playing Rena's scenario, Leon will actually be there when Rena wakes up, and
they decide to go together to search for Claude. Walk to the refugee camp.
Rena will ask the leader to look after Leon, at which point, you'll be free to
raid the armory, and I suggest you do so. After the guy there gives you the ID
Card-o, it's time to head to the tower of Eluria-o.

The monsters in Eluria can be pretty tough with only two characters, so I
recommend that you take the time to gain a few levels here before attempting
the ascent. Make your way to the top of the tower, see the event with Claude,
then proceed to the confrontation with Shin. Shin isn't really difficult, so
much as annoying. He's fast, hard to hit, and tends to drain Claude's MP. Use
as many of Claude's Killer Moves as you can before he's drained. Then, dodge
Shin's attacks and wait for him to start casting a spell. This is the best
time to hit him. If you're lucky, you may even be able to hit him twice. After
a while, you'll beat him. Then, head up so you can get your ass handed to you
by Berle. It's actually pretty easy to survive Berle's attacks. Just have
Claude get close to him, then start running. He'll stop to attack, Claude will
move out of range, and Berle will start chasing Claude again. After surviving
Berle, it's on to Disc 2.

-Part 11: Central City and North City (CH11)

Rena Lv.53

Head into the transporter and meet with Narl. After the conversation is
finished, buy new equipment and supplies, and head to North City.

The Synard shouldn't be too tough. If you bought an Ignite Sword at Central
City, Claude should be dealing plenty of damage. I recommend using Twin Slash
and Ripper Blast. If Claude has a Meteor Ring and a decent Parry skill, that
should help. Just keep at it with Killer Moves and regular attacks and the
Synard should fall quickly enough. Once you've beat the Synard go to Artis'
office, then step in the transporter to the Nature Preserve.

-Part 12: The Nedian Nature Preserve (CH12)

Rena Lv.55

After barging into Noel's house, open the chests, unequip Noel, and take him
out of the party. Then, after resting at Noel's house, it's time to head for
the Deep Preserve. Head all the way to the bottom, save, and proceed to the
boss fight. The boss here, shouldn't pose to much of a threat, just keep
Claude attacking, and Rena healing, and try not to get Claude into any tight
situations. Before this fight, I found a second mithril via the Trickster, so
I decided that this was a good time to make the Eternal Sphere. This makes
this section of the game A LOT easier, so I recommend trying it. Having the
Eternal Sphere caused the boss fight here to last less than 30 seconds. Hop
aboard your Synard and bid Noel farewell. Head back to Central City, speak
with Narl, and get ready to tackle the Fields. At this point, although you
will not recruit Chisato, you should take the time to go through the steps of
recruiting her, then refuse her after all, just for sake of completion. I also
think this may have some effect on unlocking the Secret Files, if you want to.
Not sure though

-Part 13: The Field of Intelligence (CH13)

Rena Lv.57

The enemies in the Field of Intelligence shouldn't pose you much of a threat.
Just make your way through, collecting items along the way. The boss shouldn't
be too much of a threat either. Just have Claude run up to the main arm and
have him jump attack repeatedly. The boss should essentially do nothing. After
the arm is dead, just attack the other smaller portions until the fight is
over. Next, is the Field of Strength

-Part 14: The Field of Strength (Ch14)

Rena Lv.59

The Field of Strength is a great place to build levels. The enemies aren't too
tough, and they give great experience. As you make your way up, make sure to
grab the Atlas Ring, and the Marvel Sword. The Marvel Sword is a great weapon
if you haven't made the Eternal Sphere yet. Once you get to the top, save and
prepare to fight the Guardian of Power. This boss isn't too tough in its
normal form, but in its second form, it can really deal some serious damage,
so beware. If you have the Eternal Sphere at this point, you should be able to
keep the boss peeped for the duration of the fight. He shouldn't be able to
change forms, or even hit you. Next comes the Field of Courage.

-Part 15: The Field of Courage (CH15)

Rena Lv.69

After beefing up in the Field of Strength, Courage should be no problem. This
is another good place to level, if you think you need to. After finding the
Warrior Statue and taking it to the basement, it's time for yet another
Guardian. The same rules apply to this Guardian as did to the Guardian in the
Field of Strength, but it should be even easier due to your increased levels.
And now, last but not least, it comes time for the Field of Love.

-Part 16: The Field of Love (CH16)

Rena Lv.75

The Field of Love is another good place to gain a few levels. There is an ooze
type enemy that has a ton of HP, but isn't hard and gives a huge amount of
experience to only two characters. Save before the entrance to the altar, and
go to face Lover. Lover isn't particularly hard. Take out the two enemies with
him first, so they can't cast Star Flare, although it will heal Claude if he
has the Eternal Sphere equipped. After those two are dead, go after Lover.
Once he's by himself, Lover is pretty much helpless. It shouldn't take too
long to pound him into the ground. By the way, doesn't Lover seem to be a
woman? That's what I think, anyhow, but he refers to himself as a "manservant"
to the Ten Wise Men. Whatever. Wrap things up here, and head back to Central
City to speak to Narl.

-Part 17: Marianna's Sacrifice, Heraldry Weapons Laboratory, Mihne Cavern
(Ch17)

Rena Lv.78

After speaking with Narl, head to L'Aqua and make the crossing to Fienal.
After falling to Marsilio and returning to Central City, make your way to
Armlock. Follow Narl to the Heraldry Weapons Laboratory, and learn about
Rena's past and how to make Antimatter weapons. Next comes the Mihne Cavern in
order to procure the LEA metal. In the Mihne Cavern, none of the enemies pose
too much of a threat, just watch out for Star Flare. The fight with the Elder
Barker isn't too tough either. Lost Patience will deal a lot of damage, but
Rena's Fairy Light should keep you healed, and he doesn't attack that often.
With the Eternal Sphere, he'll attack even less, since he'll be peeped some of
the time. Take the LEA metal, and return to Armlock, because it's time to
begin the destruction of the Ten Wise Men. At this point, if you don't have
the Eternal Sphere yet, I would highly recommend you get it at this point.
Having the Eternal Sphere makes the fights against the Ten Wise Men much
easier, since the stars it shoots out when attacking do extra damage and have
a high tendency to peep enemies. Also, if you want, you can get a pair of
Bunny Shoes at this point if you haven't done so yet. Before delivering the
LEA metal, go to Fun City. Give Rena Bandit's Gloves, or, better yet, a
Magician's Hand. Also equip her with a Beret if you have one. Make sure her
pickpocket level is 10 and she has the Dexterity talent, if not, use Metalwork
to unlock it. Do a Private Action at Fun City, and go into the Bunny Races.
Play the violin song Hail to the Goddess and try to pickpocket the bunny that
sells tickets. If you succeed you will get a pair of Bunny Shoes. Equip them
on Claude and the boost in speed will turn him into a killing machine. They
also boost STM by a whopping 80 points, so he'll also recover a lot after a
fight.

-Part 18: The First Three Wise Men (CH18)

Rena Lv.80

Head to Fun City with your spiffy new N.F.I.D. and go through the training
exercises. Get the Antimatter weapons and Void Matter from Dr. Mirage. Train
if you want, then continue to your encounter with Marsilio. This time around,
Marsilio should pose little threat. He's actually rather weak. Just attack him
with Claude and the Eternal Sphere should keep him peeped most of the time. He
may still get to hit you with Cruelly Rushes or Eternal Slay, but his attacks
are much less impressive than they sound. They should only do about 1000 or so
damage to Claude if he's around level 80 with good armor. Marsilio will fall
quickly enough. Leave the arena and head for the confrontation with Shigeo.
Shigeo's super upbeat battle music lets you know right away that this guy has
only one speed, crack fiend. He moves really fast, and without Bunny Shoes,
he'll be able to get away again and again. Even with Bunny Shoes, he's still
hard to catch. His attacks aren't powerful, so just run after him and keep
attacking. Eventually you'll catch him and get some attacks in. If you manage
to peep him, keep attacking and you can eventually force him against a wall.
Once that happens, he'll have a difficult time escaping and you can pound him
into submission. Now, head back to Armlock to help out Dr. Mirage by getting
your rematch against Berle. Berle isn't nearly as tough now as he was when you
fought him in Eluria. He's slow and his attacks don't deal too much damage. He
can still be annoying because he loves to use Meta-Guard, which negates all
damage for a certain period of time. Just wail on him with Claude, he's got
quite a bit of HP, and he'll eventually fall just like the rest. Once Berle's
dead, wrap up anything else you need to do, since Narl's messenger will arrive
to tell you to head to L'Aqua, at which point you'll be heading to Fienal to
finish off the Ten Wise Men.

-Part 19: The Assault on Fienal and the next Six Wise Men (CH19)

Rena Lv.82

Once you've done everything you want to do, head to L'Aqua then Fienal. The
first fight is against the trio of Ruprecht, Jibril, and Nicolus. The main
Wise Man of worry in this fight is Jibril. He has an attack in which he
engulfs a character. He can do this to both characters for a quick, cheap win.
Attack Jibril first and, once he's dead, the others will fall in short order.
Expect to get hit with quite a few spells, mostly Noah and especially
Thundercloud. Make sure none of them gets too close to Rena. If one does, run
up to them and put on a thrashing. Their attacks and spells aren't super
damaging, and none of them have a great deal of HP. All in all, this fight is
pretty easy, even with only two characters.  After taking the Ten Wise Men
down to only four, start climbing Fienal. The only monsters to really look out
for are the Weird Avia, whose Master Attack can own you rather quickly, and
the two monsters that are palette swaps of the Vissayers. If they eat your
party, it's all over. Proceed through Fienal until you confront Vesper and
Decus, your next targets. Once you get to Vesper and Decus, get ready for the
first truly tough fight so far. Decus's Spicule will deal massive damage to
your whole party. Vesper can also poison and stone your party members, so a
Stone Check might not be a bad idea. Just keep attacking Decus, and hope that
Vesper spends most of his time doing lame attacks like Blood Sucker. Once
Decus falls, and it'll take a little while, the fight is pretty much over.
Without Decus, Vesper is a total sissy. After you beat these two continue your
ascent until you encounter Cyril. Compared to Vesper and Decus, Cyril is
actually quite easy. The stars from the Eternal Sphere won't do any damage to
him at all, so it's difficult to peep him. Every time you hit him, however, he
will try to teleport. As fast as Claude attacks, you can hit him before he
finishes teleporting. The only thing you really need to worry about is Wind of
Destruction. When he starts casting it, he becomes immune to all damage, so
you have no recourse against this attack. Just make sure Rena keeps the both
of you healed, and you'll have no problem surviving it. He has a whopping
300,000 HP, but you'll wear him down soon enough. Now, make the ascent to the
top section of Fienal and prepare yourself for the fight against Indalecio.

-Part 20: The Final Battle: Indalecio, Limiter On (CH20)

Rena Lv.93

Once you reach the final floor of Fienal and save in front of Indalecio's
chamber, you have a choice. You can either go ahead and fight Indalecio to
beat the game, or you can go all the way out of Fienal in order to unlock the
ability to return to Expel, as well as unlock Indalecio's more powerful form.
If you wish to fight Indalecio now, this section will help you do so. If you
wish to skip Indalecio for now and leave, skip to the next section. When you
climb the stairs to fight Indalecio, get ready for quite a fight. Indalecio is
fast, strong, and has a number of damaging spells. Just keep attacking with
the Eternal Sphere so as to prevent him from attacking as much as possible.
Once you've done about 250,000 damage and are at the halfway point, he will
use Time of Truth and join himself with Filia. At this point, he will start
casting Angel Feather on himself, and will start using two new attacks, Divine
Comedy and Earthquake. Divine Comedy, in addition to being rather long, will
deal a significant amount of damage to the party. Earthquake is even more
powerful, and can wipe out both your characters even if they are at full
health. Just keep up the onslaught and Indalecio should fall eventually. Then,
enjoy the end of the game, as you've just completed the first half of the
Claude and Rena Solo game. Now, watch the ending and get ready for the second
half of this challenge, the Cave of Trials and Limiter Off Indalecio.

-Part 21: Post-Fienal Star Ocean (CH21)

This section will detail unlocking Limiter Off Indalecio, the super
hard optional final boss, and also how to return to Expel and tackle the bonus
dungeon, the Cave of Trials.

After making your way out of Fienal, do the PA in Central City with Filia if
you want. I did, since part of this guide is going to involve beating Limiter
Off Indalecio. Also, I find that the Israfil's Tear accessory you get is
pretty good to equip on Rena until you get Tri-Emblems and Angel Armbands.

Then, head to the crazy virtual reality guy in Fun City, and return to Expel.

-Part 22: The Heraldic Ruins (CH22)
Rena Lv.95

This first section of the Cave of Trials isn't too terribly difficult. Just
watch out for spell casters. The boss, Blackfeather, isn't to hard either. If
you have Claude equipped with the Atlas Ring, it's likely that Daemon's Gate
will deal 9,999 damage to him, so watch out. She has a weird animation on
being attacked that sometimes makes it difficult to hit her with normal
attacks. I found Ripper Blast to be my weapon of choice for this fight. Take
out the two Weirdknights first. With the Eternal Sphere, Might Chain, and
Atlas Ring, Claude should be able to take them out before Blackfeather can
fire off more than one spell. After that, Ripper Blast as necessary. Equip
Rena with the Bunny Shoes you get, and descend to the next level.

-Part 23: Love Alley (CH23)
Rena Lv.99

Again, another level with little to offer by way of challenges. The boss here
is a total joke, and a bad one at that, when compared to Blackfeather. There
is the slight risk of death by petrification, but it's unlikely.

Part 24: Single Path Cave (CH24)
Rena Lv.101

Make sure to get the Slayer's Ring from this level. That, plus the Eternal
Sphere and the Atlas Ring makes Claude a powerhouse. This is the first level
wherein enemies start to pose a serious threat. The boss here can be easy of
difficult, depending on strategy. If the Dream Shades start using Dream Peace
like crazy, they can finish you off with little problem. If, however, you have
Rena continually casting Ray, the fight should be over quickly. Take your
magical Drops as a reward and take the stairs.

-Questions, Theories, and other Miscellany (MISC)

This section is basically for things related to the Star Ocean world, and not
so much related to actual game play.

Also, I would just like to point out that this section is IN NO WAY required
for a play through of Star Ocean, either with two characters or with eight. It
is merely a supplemental section dedicated to things about the Star Ocean
universe that have made me scratch my head at one time or another.

Noel tells you he wants to fight the Ten Wise Men because he was a former
partisan of the Ten Wise Men. Being partisan could either mean being in
staunch support of, or in staunch opposition to, a certain party. Being a
"former" partisan leads me to believe that Noel means he used to be a
supporter of the Ten Wise Men. I wonder how that's possible. The Ten Wise Men
were sealed away 3.7 billion years ago from the current time frame in which
Star Ocean takes place, as said by Narl. Now, that could mean a couple of
things. First, it could mean that Noel is 3.7 billion years old, which I doubt
because if he could live that long, it stands to reason there would be other
Nedians who were that old as well. Second, it's possible that Noel came to
support them after they returned to Energy Nede. This also seems doubtful,
since Noel is rather isolated and the Ten Wise Men immediately seize Fienal
and isolate from the rest of Energy Nede right after their return. Plus, this
would mean that Noel would support them, then have a change of heart and
decide to basically become a pacifist in a matter of what I assume to be
hours. The third possibility is that he was a member of some group or
organization that was in support of the Ten Wise Men, despite their being
presumably sealed away in the Eternity Space. Since it has been so long since
the original defeat of the original Ten Wise Men, it would seem that the
memory of the Ten Wise Men would likely have faded in nearly 4 billion years.
In this situation, I could only think of one reason why such a group would
exist. Although I don't have the information directly at hand, I'm relatively
certain that in the game, it details the release of the Ten Wise Men from the
Eternity Space as such. Dr. Lantis creates the first nice Wise Men as part of
the Ten Wise Men Project, then creates a body for himself, assuming the alias
of Indalecio. After igniting the war with the Nedians, he somehow "becomes"
Dr. Lantis again. With Indalecio gone, the Nedians assume he has been killed
somewhere, and Cyril assumes leadership of the remaining Wise Men. Then, Dr.
Lantis, knowing the power of the Nedians, advises them to seal the Wise Men in
the Eternity Space. They seal Cyril and the others, and, seeing the fighting
stop, continue to assume Indalecio's death. Dr. Lantis then advises the
Nedians to seal their evolution, give up much of their power, and
destroy Nede to seal themselves away in Energy Nede. Then, at some point, Dr.
Lantis would have faked his own death and gone into hiding. Then, at some
point, he could assume yet another identity to garner support for the Ten Wise
Men, although I can see no reason for that to be of benefit to him. Over time,
he could continue to lead the faction by assuming new identities and faking
the deaths of older ones. At some point, Noel would have been caught up in
this, and then at some point been disillusioned with the faction, and left to
watch over the Nature Preserve. This of course assumes that somehow Dr. Lantis
would be able to enter and exit Energy Nede, since he is on Expel with the
rest of the Wise Men. Then, at some point, figuring that the power of the
Nedians had waned sufficiently, he would have left Energy Nede and released
the rest of the Wise Men from the Eternity Space. Then, he would've crafted
the Quadratic Key in order to help the weaker Wise Men make the jump to Energy
Nede. He would only be releasing the Wise Men so as to use the energy of their
life force to power of the Crest of Annihilation, since for some reason, Dr.
Lantis/Indalecio desired to destroy the entire universe. Why? Perhaps he
thought that the government established during the Planet Nede period was just
a precursor to future wars and conflict, there is no way to tell for sure.
This wouldn't explain why he would have created the group to begin with,
unless he did it for no other reason than to feed his ego. Which brings me to
my next point, why did he create Filia to act as a Limiter? The only reason
that comes to mind was that, by limiting Indalecio's power, he would somehow
still be able to retain his original identity. If that is the case, he most
clearly failed. Even before removing his limiter, Indalecio seems completely
immersed in the identity of Indalecio. He never truly acknowledges that he and
Dr. Lantis are even the same person. Perhaps by becoming completely engrossed
with the idea of having been created expressly for the purpose of something so
monumental, with such finality, as destroying the universe, Indalecio
essentially "forgets" the part of him that was once Dr. Lantis. He only thinks
about who Indalecio is, and that Filia exists as a Limiter for him, so he has
to erase her to unlock his full capabilities. Perhaps, being so self-absorbed,
Indalecio would try to garner support for the Ten Wise Men during the period
between the sealing of the Wise Men and the freeing of the Wise Men simply to
feed his own ego. Perhaps it initially started as Dr. Lantis coercing people
into stroking his ego as the creator of the Ten Wise Men, and it eventually
developed into the psychopathic, omnicidal(I totally think I just made a word
up) mania that was Indalecio. Which leaves one, minute question unanswered.
What's up with Indalecio's death quotes? One potential quote is "Is it true
that humans will destroy me? Then what is the significance of my existence?"
This would indicate that Indalecio had become so engrossed in his mission with
destroying the universe and his own god-like power, that he never considered
the possibility of failure. Conversely, his questioning the significance of
his existence in the face of failure indicates that there is still some part
of him that is Dr. Lantis and that he questions for what purpose he created
himself and the Ten Wise Men if mere mortal creatures could undue all his
creation. The second potential quote is "Yes, thank you for stopping me. No
need to put the light out yet." I don't know if you can get this with Limiter
Off Indalecio, but I know you can with Limiter On Indalecio as you hear both
he and Filia saying it. It makes sense why Filia would say it, seeing as she
was basically created as a foil to Indalecio. But it would not make sense for
Indalecio to say it, unless they had become fully joined, with Filia not
actually being subsumed into Indalecio, such that she could speak for both
parts of Indalecio, which would explain why both voices would use the pronoun
"me". Also, I can understand Filia opposing Indalecio's mission, but, being
created specifically as a limiter, it wouldn't actually explain why she was so
opposed to the destruction of the universe. On this point, I basically have
two theories. First, is that she was created by Dr. Lantis, with her
personality being created by him. This would then indicate that Dr. Lantis did
not actually wish the destruction of the universe. It would then seem that he
did, in fact, wish to rule the entire universe and that is was Indalecio who
wished its destruction. Then, as Dr. Lantis became almost completely consumed
by Indalecio, his desire for domination would be forgotten as the desire to
destroy became stronger. Though this leaves unexplained why Indalecio came to
want to destroy the universe in the first place. My second theory on the topic
is that Filia wasn't created. Possibly, she was a normal Nedian woman who was
given the power to be Indalecio's limiter, much in the same way that Dr.
Lantis created Indalecio and somehow transferred his consciousness. I would
then assume that Filia was probably Dr. Lantis' wife or lover. In which case,
it would make sense that she still saw a small spark of Dr. Lantis in
Indalecio and, desiring that they be together again, she would not want
Indalecio to destroy the universe and would try to hide from Indalecio so as
to prevent him from erasing her within himself. So, sorry if you thought this
was going to be a little more about Noel. Wow, I just looked up and saw how
long this was. I knew I had put a lot of thought into the creation and purpose
of the Ten Wise Men, but never had I realized just how much! Anyhow, this is
all opinion and conjecture, supported only by one definition, partisan, and a
couple of small facts that are presented within the game. Of course, some of
those facts I don't have access to, and I could just be thinking that some of
my own theory was actually part of the game. If you feel that I'm wrong on
some count, or that I need to visit some other topic, or if you just feel the
need to add something, e-mail me. If it's something important, I'll put it in
here and give you credit for it. I always enjoy discussing these theoretical
video game related questions.

Anamnesis writes:
"Also, about your conjecture on the possibilities of Dr. Lantis, the game
itself actually explains a fair ammount of the information, but it's spread
out, and dropped at odd times. Fillia, is in fact Dr. Lantis's daughter, who
was killed in an attack while he was making the Ten Wise Men. He wasn't told
of the information, 'cause of a military information blackout, so when he
finally figured it out and snapped, changing the purpose of the Wise Men from
"Defend Nede" to "Kill Everything, Mwahahahaha!". This would make it so that
the Fillia you see in the game would've been a creature created in the image
of his daughter (Who must have had lots of respect for life, and concern for
innocents, etc.). But since she would've been manufactured like the Wise Men,
her existence... maybe synced up with them, and that's why she became
Incandelo's limiter. Both are strong opposing forces, one to protect life, one
to annihilate it. In the end, Incandelo comes out on top, so his strength's
unlocked. As for Lantis, his body was found in the Heraldry Weapons facility,
and he had committed suicide. This was most likely out of equal parts guilt
and insanity, realizing that he'd basically screwed over the universe."

And also:
"As for Noel... it's hinted at points that he was a researcher. Perhaps the
project he was working on, indirectly aided the wise men in some manner, such
as capturing Feinal. So, when he realized this, he took off, and went back to
his love of nature, looking after the animals in the preserve."

Also, thanks for pointing out that in the WTF section, I misspelled Star Ocean
as Start Ocean. Ugh.

So, it looks like some of what I said was right, to some degree, there was
just information I didn't have due to my not knowing where my memory card
wherein I had unlocked the Secret Files is. Oops, I totally just ended a
sentence with a preposition. Whatever.

Second question, what the hell happened to the Ancient Writings? You give them
to Keith, he says he needs time to decipher them, then, the next thing you
know, you're in Energy Nede! Did I miss something? Is there some point after
you deliver them to him that you can go back and find out what was in them? Or
were they just a plot device that took you to Mars, and then took you to
Linga, and then took up time in Linga to essentially "make time" for Lacour to
get attacked? I want to know what's in those writings! Help me out, Keith! E-
mail me if anyone knows if you can find out what's in those writings from
Keith, or if there is any other information somewhere else in the game that
hints as to what is in the Ancient Writings.

[email protected] sent an e-mail detailing the rumor that in one of
Bowman's endings, he speaks with Keith. Supposedly the Ancient Writings
details an ancient, advanced civilization, and Bowman guesses that
civilization to be called Nede.

Robert Brown also sent an e-mail regarding the same thing, so I'm pretty sure
this is true now. If anyone out there has any screenshots or short video clips
of these, I would greatly appreciate it.

-Thanks, Acknowledgement (THANKS)
Aside from the obvious, such as tri-Ace and Enix, and the sites who posted
this FAQ, I would also like to thank the following:

EChang's Star Ocean Character FAQ as found on www.gamefaqs.com for Indalecio's
quotes.

I Kelley's and Exdeath's Star Ocean FAQs for use numerous times in various
play throughs, both this one and others.

All the people mentioned elsewhere for contributing to the continued growth of
this FAQ.

You are viewing proxied material from gopher.endangeredsoft.org. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.