[top] Radiata Stories Detailed Recruitment Guide

Version <#history> 6.0 © 2006-2012 by Bill Pringle, all rights reserved.

In addition to being a FAQ/Walkthrough, the purpose of this document is
to help you determine how best to recruit people for the RPG video game
*Radiata Stories* by Square-Enix. If you aren't familiar with the game,
it is a combination of Final Fantasy, Zelda, Suikoden, and a few other
games. What makes this game so much fun is the large number and variety
of characters that can be recruited. Unlike many other games, where the
same sprite is used multiple times (e.g, all the merchants look the
same), each character has a unique appearance, schedule, and abilities,
and they are recruited in a variety of ways.

*Restrictions on Use*
You are free to quote brief portions of this guide for non-commercial
use, such as answering questions on bulletin boards, provided you
clearly mention that you got the information from this FAQ by Bill
Pringle. It is very irritating to see my work quoted on web sites
without credit.

Before the Split <#presplit>    Human Path <#path-human>        Non-Human Path
<#path-fairy>   Post-Game <#post>       Groups <#groups>        Misc <#misc>


   [toc] Table of Contents

 * Introduction <#intro>
     o Purpose <#purpose>
     o Game Play / Battles <#gameplay>
     o Leveling Up <#level>
     o Skills <#skills>
     o Weapons <#weapons>
     o Radiata Knight Overview <#knight>
     o Theater Vancoor Overview <#vancoor>
     o Recruitment Requirements <#reqs>
     o Initial Party <#party>
 * Before the Split <#presplit>
     o Start of Game <#start>
     o Friends List Created <#friends>
     o Initial Friends List <#init-friends>
     o First Missions <#first>
     o Escort the Princess <#princess>
     o Jack's Promotion <#promotion>
     o Large Man in Vancoor Square <#square>
     o Ridley's Birthday Party <#birthday>
     o Jack's Choice - Human or Non-Human Path <#split>
 * Human Path <#path-human>
     o Meeting at Castle <#castle>
     o Leave for Wind Valley <#leavewind>
     o Wind Valley <#windvalley>
     o Duel Gawain <#duel>
     o Meet with Dynas <#dynas>
     o Meet Genius in the Sewers <#genius>
     o Ganz's Letter <#ganz>
     o Fight at Lupus Gate <#lupus>
     o End of the World <#end-human>
 * Non-Human Path <#path-fairy>
     o Meeting with Parsec <#parsec>
     o Goblin Haven <#goblin-haven>
     o First Fight with Gawain <#gawain1>
     o Defeat Gawain <#gawain2>
     o Escort Gawain to Fort Helencia <#helencia>
     o Fight Elwen <#elwen>
     o Cross and the Fire Dragon <#fire>
     o End of the World <#end-fairy>
 * Post Game <#post>
     o Introduction <#post-intro>
     o Dragon Lair <#dragon>
     o Distortion Corridor - Stair Maze <#distortion1>
     o Distortion Area - Element Rooms <#distortion2>
     o Distortion Area - Valkyrie <#distortion3>
     o Distortion Area - Secret Doors <#distortion4>
     o Distortion Area - Shrine of Fray <#fray>
     o Subsequent Games <#subseq>
 * Members of Each Group <#groups>
     o Theater Vancoor <#groups-vancoor>
     o Olacion Order <#groups-olacion>
     o Vareth Institute <#groups-vareth>
     o Void Community <#groups-void>
     o Non-Guild Humans <#groups-non-guild>
     o Non-Humans <#groups-non-humans>
 * Miscellaneous <#misc>
     o What Carries Over to Next Game <#carry>
     o Detailed List of What Items Carry Over <#det-carry>
     o Tria Milk and Polpo's Soup <#milk>
     o Easter Eggs and Silly Things <#easter>
     o Stores and Shops <#stores>
     o Where to Get Records <#songs>
     o Finding the King's Toadstool <#toad>
     o Finding Tsuchinoko Dumplings <#dumpling>
     o Fireworks Date <#fireworks>
     o Radiata Quiz <#quiz>
     o Gotchas <#gotcha>
     o External Resources <#sites>
     o Thanks / Credits <#tnx>
     o Version History <#history>

Top of Page <#top>


   [intro] Introduction

 * Purpose <#purpose>
 * Game Play / Battles <#gameplay>
 * Leveling Up <#level>
 * Skills <#skills>
 * Weapons <#weapons>
 * Radiata Knight Overview <#knight>
 * Theater Vancoor Overview <#vancoor>
 * Recruitment Requirements <#reqs>
 * Initial Party <#party>

This page can be found in two forms: an HTML (web) page at
http://BillPringle.com/games/radiata_checklist.html, and as a text file
on http://www.gamefaqs.com/. The HTML page will probably be updated more
often, and will always be the latest version. The HTML web page will
include hyperlinks, so you can click on a link to find the appropriate
section. The text file was created by the FireFox browser, which inserts
hyper-links inside angle brackets (<#like-this>). To find that location
with a text editor, use the search feature to find the target name in
square brackets ([like-this]). The link inside the angle brackets will
always start with a pound sign (#), indicating that the target is on the
current page. The square brackets won't have that pound sign. For
example, to find the target of link <#intro>, search for [intro].

If you are going to have an electronic copy of this FAQ, I recommend
that you get the HTML version from my web site instead of the text file.
It will allow you to take advantage of the hyperlinks, so that you can
quickly move from one section to another. It also saves you from
printing lots of pages.

Not all details of recruitment are included, but enough to help you plan
who to recruit and when. If you feel that my walkthrough is missing some
crucial information, please let me know
<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=Radiata_Stories_CheckList>. There are a
number of additional resources available. I have listed what I think are
the best ones. <#sites> You can also find some maps on gamefaqs, which
might help you the first time through the game.

If you find any problems and/or have any questions, you can e-mail me at
[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=Radiata_Stories_CheckList>. Make sure
you have "Radiata Stories" in the subject. I get a lot of spam, and will
delete things without looking at them if I don't recognize the sender
and the subject line doesn't stand out as legit (for example, a message
with a subject of "a question" will probably get deleted without me
looking at it.)

Top of Page <#top>


     [purpose] Purpose

Although you can use this document as a walk through, that isn't its
main purpose. The game is pretty good at telling you what you can/should
do next, so a traditional walk through is less important. If you are
ever in doubt, press R1 to bring up the map. You will see a green swirl
where you should be headed. There are several places in the game where
if you try to go into an area you shouldn't, Jack will make a comment
and retreat.

The hard (and most enjoyable) part of the game is recruiting characters.
There are a number of resources that will tell you how to recruit a
given character, but not so many that will tell you when and why you
should recruit them.

I also recommend that you buy the Official Strategy Guide (if you can
find it), since they have some good maps, plus complete character and
bestiary statistics. There are, however, a number of errors in that
guide, and I will point out the ones I've noticed.

I have tried to keep spoilers to a minimum, but there are times that you
need to know something else will be happening later. I don't explain the
content of cut scenes, which should reduce spoilers a bit. Actually, the
game is relatively easy to follow. If you ever get stuck, hold down R1
to see the map. Your current destination will be shown with a swirl. If
there aren't any swirls, then you probably need to sleep or enter your
house to progress the game. If you are in the non-human path after the
split, try sleeping or talking to everyone in the conference room.

For each phase of the game, I will tell you what missions you will have,
with a comment on what you will get from each mission. I will not give
you step by step instructions because, frankly, you probably don't need
them. The game is pretty good at making sure you are doing what you
should be doing. For example, when you are on your first few missions,
if you try to turn away from the path to your destination, the leader of
the group will stop you and tell you that is not the way. If there are
some optional side quests, I will mention them and give you enough
information to let you succeed with those quests.

One of the things I enjoy about this game is the sense of discovery as I
wander around the world. Even though I had the official strategy guide,
I didn't use it to find all the items that could be found; instead I
kicked things all the time. Take time to explore each area of the world.
Talk to everyone you see. Kick everything available, looking for items.
Try every door and see what's behind it. An RPG is like a fine meal: the
goal should be to enjoy the game, not see how fast you can finish it.

I do give you detailed step by step instructions for the final dungeon
of the game, since the map in the official strategy guide is confusing
and has errors, and I haven't seen an accurate map of that area that was
generally available.

Top of Page <#top>


     [gameplay] Game Play / Battles

A word of warning: avoid button mashing. If you are the kind of person
that keeps mashing the "X" button (or the "O" button for this game)
during a battle, get out of that habit. The problem is that each time
you click the button, it queues an attack. If you kill an enemy and
there are still attacks queued, you will either be swinging at empty
air, or the target of the remaining attacks will be the next one in the
list of monsters. That might be the one right next to you, or it could
be the one clear across the battle field. If you think you are close to
killing an enemy, click the "O" button and wait to see what happens. If
it drops, approach the next closest enemy and press "O" again. That way,
you can concentrate on the enemies you want to defeat next, and avoid
running clear across the field, past a bunch of enemies, to get somebody
over in a corner that you hadn't even noticed, let alone were interested
in. ;^)

You will sometimes see one of the enemies with what looks like lightning
bolts over them. This indicates that they are calling for more help. If
they succeed, another enemy will appear and join in the fight. Since
each enemy you defeat gets you a certain amount of experience and money,
you might want to give them time to call somebody before you take them out.

The game has its own internal time system, which is roughly one hour of
game time for every minute of real time. This means that a new day
starts every 24 minutes, or about once every half hour. A 24-hour day is
divided into day and night, with day running from 6AM to 6PM, and night
from 6PM to 6AM of the following day. The clock has a sun in the center
during the day, and a moon during the night. If the clock has a sun in
the center, then the time is between 6AM and 6PM, but if the clock has a
moon, then the time is between 6PM and 6AM. This can get confusing if
you aren't careful. If you see a moon and the clock points to 7, then it
is 7PM (which you would expect), but if you see a moon and the clock
points to 5, then it is 5AM, not 5PM.

You need to pay attention to the time of day for a number of reasons.
Each character has their own schedule which doesn't vary from day to
day, until they are in your current party, or if they are involved in a
current mission. Some character recruitment can only occur during
specific time periods (such as when they are in their room, or at some
other location). Some characters behave differently or have different
abilities, depending on the time of day. For example, those who have
either the King of Day or King of Night skills. One of the more
interesting characters is Cornelia / Rachel, who transforms between a
little girl and a young woman. If she is in your party, she will change
appearances and fighting styles, depending on the time of day or night.
Her name on the friends list is always where Cornelia should appear, but
is listed as Rachel during her transformation.

There are also times when, if you enter your house during a certain time
period, it will cause an event to trigger, which will progress the game.
By avoiding your house except late at night / early in the morning, you
can avoid triggering these events, allowing you to do things like level
up and recruit people until you are ready for the next stage of the
game. (And, when you are in your house, don't sleep, or that might also
trigger an event.)

Monsters regenerate at midnight. Other things reset at midnight as well,
such as who you have dueled, and some recruitments require things
happening on different days. You can use this to your advantage
sometimes. For example, if you need to talk to or duel someone on two
different days, you can do it just before midnight, wait a minute or two
until after midnight, and then do it again. If you clear out an area
just before midnight, you can wait until the monsters are reset, and
then clear it out again. Of course, that means you will have to wait
until the following day if you need to do it a third time.

There are certain times in the game when the next phase happens when you
enter your house during a certain time period (usually during the day).
At other times, you need to sleep in your house to trigger the event. I
generally tell you when you want to avoid your house if you don't want
the game to progress. You can take your time to level up, earn money for
items, etc. as long as you avoid your house during the day. What I
usually do is enter my house late at night (after 10pm), save the game,
and then leave to do whatever I want. A good rule of thumb is that you
don't want to enter your house if Flau isn't sitting on the wall of the
steps. (Of course, if you have Flau in your party, check the time instead.)

You will find a record player in your house, as well as in Fort Helencia
if you choose the non-human path. You can insert records into the
player, and then play whatever songs you want. Records carry over
between games, so you only have to buy them once. If you need them in a
later game, go to your house (or fort) and take them out to place them
in your inventory. For example, to recruit Donkey (who has a very useful
skill for you to learn), you have to buy all his records. The first time
you play the game, you should buy all his records from him. The next
time through the game, you can simply go to your house, add his records
to your inventory, and talk to him to recruit him. After you recruit
him, put the records back into the player to free up your inventory. You
should only need to buy a record once.

Take time to explore the world. You can have a fun time just following
certain characters around all day and seeing where they go, what they
do, etc. Take time to admire the attention to detail that is throughout
the game. See the section Easter Eggs and Silly Things <#easter> for
some suggestions on things to do and things to look for.

Top of Page <#top>


     [level] Leveling Up

Like many role playing games, leveling up can make the fights easier. If
you equip a Training Device, you will gain more experience and level up
faster. If you want more money, then equip Pluto's Trophy. You can equip
two of either accessory to gain even more experience or money.

One of the unique things about this game is the ability to duel
characters. You don't have to go out into the world or a dungeon to find
a fight. Just kick somebody. If you kick somebody twice, they should
fight you one-on-one. Some characters won't duel, so if they keep saying
the same thing, try somebody else. You can only duel someone once per
day. Fortunately, they don't seem to remember that you kicked them,
other than a brief comment immediately after the fight. If you lose a
duel, don't worry, the game isn't over, but you will have an HP of 1, so
don't forget to heal (or talk to Miranda) before you get into a real fight.

When fighting in dungeons and in the world, you will notice that if you
see more than one monster before a fight, some of the other monsters may
not be there after the fight is over. If you leave the area and come
back, they may re-appear. In general, stronger monsters will be less
likely to disappear than weaker ones, but it isn't always that way.

If you do a lot of leveling up (like I do), then you can pretty much
ignore all the strategy hints you read about for the boss fights. Just
plow in and start hacking, telling your healer to concentrate on you if
you take damage, and it will be over in no time. For really big boss
fights, start with your volty attack and repeat that attack each time
your volty guage is full.

If you don't level up, then links will be more important once you have
learned them after your promotion. Using a link allows all members of
your party to share the combined skills of everyone in your party. I
only tend to use links when I need to learn a new skill or early in
later games when my party members are still weak: I will equip Auto Cure
or Absorb HP and link to keep my party members healthy. But that's me;
you might like to experiment with links. There's no "one right way" to
play this game; if you're having fun, then you're doing it the right way.

I like the Septem Cave the best for leveling up before the split. In the
very early stages of the game it might be a challenge, but as long as
you have a good spear, you should be able to get through that area just
fine, especially if you have the "Prevent Freeze" or "Status Cure" skill
equipped. The biggest irritant about the cave is that some smaller
critters will sometimes attach to you. They don't deal any real damage,
but you can't hit them while they are attached. Use the "X" and "O"
buttons to jump back and swing your weapon, and eventually it will come
off so you can hit it. So, if you think the battle is over, but they are
all standing around doing nothing, try hitting "X" a few times and
swinging your weapon. When you are in the second part of the cave, just
before the exit, you will run into a large iceburg. Once in a while,
after it is defeated, there will be another larva-like monster. This is
the rare Killer Queen, who will give you a lot of experience, gold, and
berries if you defeat it. Be careful, though, because she is tough, and
you could lose a lot of experience and money if you get a "Game Over".
Don't be afraid to use your volty on it. Sometimes, you might see her
before the fight, but after the fight with the iceburg, she doesn't show
up. If that happens, exit the cave and come back in to fight her.

If you are at a low level and keep getting killed in Septem Cave, then
you should start off in the sewers below Theater Vancoor. That is a good
place to kill a few minutes, and pick up some gold and experience at the
same time. (If your party members keep getting killed off in the sewers,
then clear out the bugs along the roads until they have gained some
levels.) Once you are strong enough, you can do whatever you need to do
during the day, and then clear out Septem Cave, and get home before
daybreak to save your game.

After the split, your best experience comes from battling members of the
other group. If you pick the human path, use the journey pig to the Dark
Elves location (Mikey won't fight you, but won't let you in, either.)
Travel east, then southwest around the lake, and then head towards Fort
Helencia. You can then use the pig to get to the Goblin village and
wander around there. Towards the very end of the game, the Blood Orc
homeland becomes available. You can get some great experience there.

What I often do during the non-human path is use the journey pig to
Lupus Gate, and then walk from there to Earth Valley, taking all the
side roads. I usually walk toward Septem and Ocho until the bridge, and
take the path up to the Hellforde gate at Radiata City, including the
side path near Mook's house (Lily is at the top). Be careful when you
run into Godwin and Fernando on the way to the gate (Fernando is
actually on the bridge); their volty blast can take out one of your
characters. As long as it isn't Jack, that's not a problem, so if you
see one of them flashing, have Jack defend until the character is beaten
or has used his volty. When you get to Earth Valley, take the journey
pig to the Tria Region and fight the troops around there, then take the
Pig to the Green Goblin village, check for the Dagol Turtle, and then
take the road back towards Radiata that you didn't cover earlier.

I find the human guards quite funny. They seem to be enjoying the
beautiful view rather than looking for enemies. Often you can walk right
up to them and stand there for a while before they notice you (Lily is
the major exception). But be careful, and don't get over confident. If
you run up to them, you risk running past them, and then the game might
claim that you were ambushed, so you start out confused. It is safer to
walk up behind them, and either kick them or wait for them to notice you.

You will be able to recognize many of the characters you fight. If you
are curious, position yourself so that the character you are wondering
about is within the yellow target circle, then press the triangle button
/ select Items / Herbal Extract / Use You normally select a member of
your party, but at the bottom you will see the name of the opponent, or
if it doesn't have a name, then the type (e.g., you might see "Nina" or
"Female Knight"). Remember to click "O" to cancel giving them the item
(unless you really want to prolong the fight ;^)

If you run out of enemies, then go up to Wind Mountain and kick
transporters and fight the few monsters there. The transporters will
give you between 2,000 and 3,000 experience. You will probably want to
avoid the animals on the roads getting there, since the experience is so
low, and it isn't really worth the time to fight them.

That should get you a lot of experience and money. I can usually level
the entire party up a couple of levels each day. Experiment until you
find a route that you like, and then stick with it or mix it up every so
often. Again, there is no one right way to play this game (which is what
makes it so much fun, IMHO).

After you have won the game, the bonus dungeon is a great place to gain
tons of money and experience. Use that time to prepare yourself for the
Etheral Queen, and at the same time build up money so that you will
start your next game in good shape.

Top of Page <#top>


     [skills] Skills

One of the reasons you want to recruit characters is so that you can
learn their skills. If you link with a character that has a skill that
you don't currently have, then after some number of links you will learn
that skill. When you scroll through possible friends to include in your
party, if the name of their skill is in red, that means you don't have
it yet. You can go down to the sewers under Theater Vancoor to get into
a lot of easy fights. If you defeat all the enemies under Theater
Vancoor, you can go to the Void sewers from their torture room (where
Interlude and Eon spend their time), or from the abandoned building you
entered when you lost the princess. Easy fights are useful since the
character you are trying to learn the skill from is probably a low level
character. Since the monsters in that area stay fairly weak, if you
equip auto-cure on yourself, which will continuously heal your party
members, the low level characters have a better chance to survive a
fight. Links use up your volty charge if you are fighting low-level
enemies, but if they are stronger, your volty level can remain at max.

Once you have learned the skill, you need to fight with it equipped some
number of times in order to level up the skill. Leveling up doesn't
require links, any fights will do.

You can fill your party with characters having skills that you don't
know yet, then equip yourself with Auto Cure and link your party
together for each fight until you have learned the skills. Some skills
are learned faster than others, so if you are in the sewers under
Theater Vancoor, you can go to the first floor and swap out the
character with the skill you just learned for someone who has another
skill you need. If you run out of monsters in the basement, the enemies
on the roads near Radiata are also very weak. You can keep this up until
you learn all the available skills.

Remember that there are times when you don't want to go back to your
house to sleep to force a new day. You only need to do this the first
time you play the game, since skills carry over from one game to the next.

The skills that I like the best are:

Auto Cure
   You can learn this from Kain, Genius, Mason, or Stefan
   When you start a new game (other than the first time), equip this
   skill and you will almost never get killed. You will be able to go
   into the dwarf caves on your own when a knight, and duel all the
   characters in Earth Valley. If you start taking a lot of damage in a
   fight, then run around out of reach until you regain your HP.
   When you set up your initial party, include a healer so that each
   character keeps getting healed. This will let you level up your
   characters without having to spend a lot of time reviving them. It
   will also save you a ton on Herbal Extracts. If you also equip the
   Training Device, which increases experience, they will gain quickly
   and be able to survive on their own.
Absorb HP
   You can only learn this from Donkey, which is why you might want to
   recruit him if you don't have it, even if you are planning on
   chosing the human side. (Technically, you can also learn this from
   Valkyrie, but that isn't until the bonus dungeon.)
   This skill heals you about ten percent of the damage you do to the
   enemy. If you keep hitting fast enough and hard enough, you won't
   need healing very often.
Tri-Emblem
   After you have beaten the Ethereal Queen, you will get this skill.
   It boosts all your parameters, similar to King of Day and King of
   Night combined. Remember, if you use links, it will boost your
   party's stats too. This is very handy at the beginning of the game,
   when your party has low levels.
   If you don't have this skill, you can use King of Day or King of
   Night, as long as you remember to switch them when the time changes.
Full Power
   You can learn this from Gruel, Fernando, Galvados, or Sebastian.
   Equip this skill just before you use your volty attack. It increases
   the damage. You might also consider equiping your strongest weapon
   as well. For example, I don't tend to use an axe, but if I equip it
   before a Volty attack, it will cause greater damage.
   For stronger bosses, you might want to use Save Volty instead.
Save Volty
   You can learn this from Curtis or Gobrey
   Your volty attack won't use up all of your volty meter. Equip this
   skill just before you use your volty attack on a very powerful boss
   that will require multiple volty attacks. That way, you will be able
   to launch your next volty attack in less time than normal. You
   probably only want to use this for weaker bosses, or if you have
   another boss fight coming up soon.
Fierce Defense
   You can learn this from Edgar, Interlude, Leban, Leona, or Wal.
   This skill will reduce the damage you take when you are blocking. If
   your enemy is about to use their volty attack, quickly use an herb
   to get to full HP, equip this skill, then hold down the "X" button
   to defend. You should be able to survive the attack.
   I use this skill to beat strong characters with fierce volty attacks
   like Gerald, Elwen, etc.
Complete Defense
   You can learn this from Caesar, Patrick, Franklin, and Grant.
   This skill will reduce damage when guarding to zero. See the notes
   on "Fierce Defence" above. I'm not sure it works all the time; the
   message for this skill says to level up to increase probability, so
   it is possible the attack isn't reduced at all.
Status Cure
   You can learn this from Ardoph, Flora, Morfinn, or Rika.
   This reduces the amount of time that you are inflicted with any
   status ailment. You might want to use "Stop Afflictions" to reduce
   the chances of getting afflicted, but if that doesn't work, you may
   not be able to switch to "Status Cure", which is why I tend to use
   this rather than the other.
100t Body
   You can learn this from David, Gabe, Jill, or Walter
   This reduces the chances of you being knocked down. It will allow
   you to continue to attack rather than keep getting back up and
   attacking again. You probably want to instruct your healer to
   concentrate on you if you do this.
King of Day / Night
   You can learn King of the Day from Elwen, and King of the Night from
   Nyx or Gawain
   These skills increases your stats during the specified time period.
   If you don't have Tri-Emblem, then these are the ones you want to
   use. Just remember to switch to the other skill when the time changes.
   If you need to attack a character that has one of these skills, it
   is a good idea to time it so that you fight them when their skill
   isn't in effect. (Fight Elwen at night, and Nyx during the day.)

There are lots of other skills, and you might prefer some others,
depending on your fighting style. As I keep saying, there is no "one
true way" to play this game. If you are having fun and not getting
killed off, then you are playing it just fine.

Top of Page <#top>


     [weapons] Weapons

Like many RPGs, you have a selection of weapons you can use. You can
also learn various attacks for each weapon. Once you have learned an
attack, you always have it across all the games you play. You learn the
various attacks by using the weapon in battle or by hitting a training
dummy. When hitting a dummy, you can learn additional skills and
sometimes items. Kick the dummy while you are holding the weapon you
want to work on and you will be given a challenge (e.g., defeat enemy).
If you succeed, you will be given a new challenge.

*Note: * If the challenge is "Receive no damage", all you have to do is
run around avoiding the enemies so that you don't take any damage. (You
don't have to defeat the enemies without taking damage, just avoid
getting hit.)

There are two training dummies in the training room of the castle, two
in Theater Vancoor, and one just outside Fort Helencia. If you haven't
built up skills by the time you first get to Fort Helencia (the
Crocogator mission), take some time there, since you have a healing spot
and a save flag available. There are accessories that will allow you to
learn skills for a specific type of weapon in less time. Once you have
learned a skill, you have it for all future games.

Each weapon has a CP value, and each type of attack also has a CP value.
You can select a series of up to 5 (combo) attacks as long as the total
CP value of the attacks is less than or equal to the value of the
weapon. Each time you press the circle button the next attack is
performed. Unlike similar games, button mashing can cause problems. If
you queue up four hits on an enemy, and kill it after two hits, Jack
will still perform the remaining hits, swinging at thin air. In the
meantime, another enemy can be attacking you.

You can change the weapon as well as the attacks at any time during the
battle. At the beginning of a battle with a number of enemies, you can
select a spear and wide circle attacks that will hit a number of enemies
at once. When there is only one enemy left, you can change the attacks,
or you can switch to a sword or axe, and use strong attacks. Available
weapons are swords, two-handed swords, axes, and spears.

If you plan on using a weapon type, you should fight until you have
learned all the attacks, and then continue to fight until you learn the
volty attack. You only have to do this once. Your weapon attacks are
carried over from one game to the next. Since your volty attack is
affected by the attack value of the weapon, always equip your strongest
weapon before you use your volty attack.

You can sometimes get items during training fights. The one you should
know about is the "Defeat a Blood Orc" during the Axe training.
Sometimes the enemy will drop a Blood Orc Horn, which is a key item you
need to recruit a couple of characters. Since it doesn't carry over from
one game to the next, and since you don't get to fight Blood Orcs in the
field until later in the game, if you want to recruit those characters
early in the game, you need to use this training mission to get that
item and recruit the characters. You can repeat the same challenge as
often as you want until you get the horn.

You can switch weapons, armor, and accessories at any time - even during
a fight. When you equip a new weapon, whatever set of weapon skills you
had set up for that type of weapon will be restored. This means you can
switch between weapons without having to set up each new weapon. If you
equip a new weapon that has a higher CP value than your previous weapon
of the same type, you probably want to think about changing the order of
attacks to take advantage of the increased possibilities.

Top of Page <#top>


     [knight] Radiata Knight Overview

You actually spend very little time controlling Jack as a Radiata
Knight, but with all the cut scenes it may seem to take forever. Don't
get discouraged with the cut scenes; they are much less frequent after
the game gets started. The first time through the game, use this time to
learn the back story, and to practice the controls. The second time
through, you will recognize people you have gotten to know during the
previous game. You can't skip cut scenes, but if you mash the "X"
button, you can cut short the dialogue time. If you are really tired of
seeing the cut scenes, go read a book for a while and come back to see
if the real game has started.

Most of this document deals with the game after you have been fired from
the knights and join Theater Vancoor, when you are able to start
recruiting characters. The beginning of the game pretty much leads you
through whatever you need to do, so you won't need much help. There are
some things you can do once you have arrived at some location for a
mission, as well as some things you can do in the castle.

The important thing to remember is that whenever you have a chance, you
want to level up your character as much as possible. This can be done by
kicking characters to get them into a duel, as well as defeating various
monsters in the field (or basement of the castle). Since the monsters
regenerate at midnight, you can clear out an area, then wait until
midnight, and clear it again. Most missions have a time limit, but it
only kicks in once you have arrived and reported to whoever you were to
visit. If you delay that meeting, you can prolong the time you have to
level up. The higher your level, the better you will do when you start
your own missions, and the easier it will be to recruit certain characters.

Kicking isn't limited to people. You can find items by kicking objects.
Get in the habit of kicking everything and everyone in sight. You can
find money or items when you kick things, but only once per game.

Part of the replay value of Radiata Stories is that the game has such a
rich world with a diverse collection of characters. By selecting
different characters in your party, the fights will take on different
flavors. There is a lot of detail throughout the game, and a lot of fun
things you can do in addition to the basic game. Look at the section on
Easter Eggs and Silly Things <#easter>

Top of Page <#top>


     [vancoor] Theater Vancoor Overview

The basic flow of this part of the game is that you have some missions
with your squad that you must take (there are only a few of these at the
start of the game), and you can take a number of solo missions. In
general, once you receive orders for a mission, you are expected to
travel to some location, complete the mission task, and then report back
to Theater Vancoor and speak to Thanos. If the client is known, then you
would usually speak to them before and after the mission task to get
instructions and report the results to the client. Once this is done,
you can speak to Thanos to get your pay and see if there are any more
missions you can take on at this time.

I will list the missions in the order I think they should be performed,
although you can accept them in any order if you prefer. You need to be
a little careful if you change the order of the missions, because some
missions are only available during certain stages of the game, and some
missions will trigger events that might make the rest of the missions
unavailable. I will usually tell you if there are any reasons you might
want to perform any missions in a certain order. If there are no more
missions, then you probably have to sleep to progress the game.

If you want to recruit Thanos (which is needed if you want to recruit
Elwen and/or Nyx), then you must accept all missions and report back to
Thanos at the completion of the mission. To prevent missing any
missions, avoid going into your house during the day, and only save when
you get there; don't sleep. Wait until 9pm (sometimes 10pm) before you
go in and save. If Flau isn't sitting on the wall, don't go in. If you
were waiting for her, wait a few minutes after she gets there before you
go in, since she gets there a few minutes before 9pm. Don't sleep unless
you want to progress the game. Once Thanos tells you there aren't any
more jobs, then you probably need to sleep to make the game progress.
You can do that right away, or you can take time to go out and level up
your party, recruit more people, earn some more money, etc.

If you recruit every possible character (which takes at least two times
through the game), you will be able to view a picture of the main
characters. If you will be taking the human path, you probably want to
recruit the guild leaders, which means you want to recruit all the
members of the different guilds. The only reasons to recruit any of the
farmers are to be complete, or possibly for a specific skill. After the
first time you play the game, you probably won't want/need to recruit
any of them again.

Top of Page <#top>


     [reqs] Recruitment Requirements

There are actually two different "Friends List": one you can access from
the options menu, and another located either next to Thanos in Theater
Vancoor, or on a desk in Fort Helencia. The one in your menu is the
total number of friends that you have ever recruited, including all
previous games. The one on the desk is the list of people you can use
for your party in this game. So, if you want to use a given character at
some point in the current game, you will have to recruit them during
this game, even if they appear in the friends list in your menu.

It is a good idea to check out who you have already recruited every so
often, especially before the game progresses. Go to the Friends List on
the desk and click on L1 to sort the list alphabetically. Then look over
the list of people who you wanted to recruit, and make sure they are all
on the list. If you are trying to recruit several people at the same
time, it is very easy to forget something, especially if you remember
doing that in a previous game.

There are a number of requirements that can affect your ability to
recruit a specific character. In every case, you will at least have to
talk to them. You should continue to talk to them until either they join
or they start to repeat themselves. If they repeat, then something isn't
right and you can't recruit them at that time. Check all the
requirements for recruiting them and make sure they have been done.
Also, if the character is involved in a mission, they may not be
available for the rest of the day. For example, after training the
monks, you will have to wait until the following day before you can find
any of them to talk to.

In most cases, once a character becomes available, they remain available
for the rest of the game (or up to the split). If you try to recruit
someone, but you find out that you are missing something, do whatever
you need to do, then go back and try to recruit them again. There are a
few characters, though, that are only available for a certain period of
time, and if you don't recruit them by then, you will not be able to
recruit them during that game. I will warn you (several times) of these
situations.

A number of characters are recruited by beating them in a fight. In most
of these cases, if you lose, you can try again the following day. You
can continue trying until you win a fight.

The criteria for a specific character can be any combination of the
following conditions:

Major Game Events
   A number of characters can only be recruited after some specific
   event has occurred in the game. For example, you can only recruit
   Flau and Rynka after you have received Ganz's letter. Some of the
   events will always occur (e.g., Link Tutorial), but others may not
   (e.g., Nocturn's letter to Gerald). If you don't cause an event to
   happen, then you won't be able to recruit any character associated
   with that event until the next time through the game.
Time of Day
   Some characters can only be recruited between certain times in the
   day. Since each character has their own schedule, this implies it
   will happen at a specific location. In this document, if the time is
   important, I will usually tell you the approximate time range, and
   where it will take place. The actual time may be off by a few
   minutes, depending on when the character arrives and/or leaves. The
   official strategy guide gives their schedule to the minute, but I
   have found a number of cases where I think the times are close, but
   wrong.
   If a character is involved in a cut scene and/or the plot events,
   then the character usually won't follow their schedule until their
   involvement is done. Obviously, if a character is in your party,
   they won't follow their schedule either, but of course you have
   probably already recruited them.
Character Level
   You can only recruit certain characters if Jack's level has reached
   some criteria, either absolute (e.g., level 22 for Lilly), or
   relative (e.g., no more than 5 levels below Jarvis for Jarvis) Some
   characters can only be recruited after you raise the level of some
   other character. For example, to recruit Cecil, Aidan must be level
   32, and to recruit Godwin, Miranda has to be level 35.
Recruit Other Characters
   Some characters will only join if you have already recruited some
   list of other characters. For example, to recruit the head of a
   guild, you must first recruit all the other members of the guild.
   Sometimes the recruited people have to be in your party (e.g., talk
   to Cecil with Aidan in your party and at least level 32). Other
   times (e.g., guild leaders), you need only to have recruited them,
   but they don't have to be in your party at the time.

Sometimes recruiting will happen in several steps, possibly spread over
a fairly long period of time. For example, a character will ask you for
something, but you can't get it yet. You will just have to wait until
the item(s) become available, and then finish the recruiting. In some
cases, you can wait to talk to them after you have obtained the item
they want, and then give it to them when they ask.

Some recruiting has to be done over multiple days, like Alba, and others
you want to take more than one day, like Joaquel. Since midnight is when
the days switch, you can use this to your advantage. For example, Alba
hangs out in the Void Community area all night. Speak to him just before
midnight, fight him, and then just stand there for a few minutes until
midnight passes. Then speak to him again, fight him, and you can recruit
him. For Joaquel, when he asks you to guard the storeroom, do that just
before midnight. As soon as he leaves, enter the room and take all the
treasure. When he comes back, he will yell at you. Wait a few minutes
until midnight passes, then talk to him again, but this time stay put
and you will recruit him.

You can recruit one character at a time if you want, but you will find
yourself doing a lot of running back and forth. I get a lot of enjoyment
out of planning how I can recruit several characters in a group. For
example, your initial human party could be Flora or Edgar as the healer,
and Cosmo as the fighter. All of these are from the Olacion order. So,
during the morning, go there and look for Flora. Talk to her and find
out about her father, then look for Edgar cleaning windows. If he isn't
there, remember you have to talk to him later. Go find Cosmo and talk to
him to recruit him. Run down to the clinic and get the picture, stop in
Fernando's room to kick the waste basket and get the belt. Give the
items to Flora and Edgar. You have just recruited three characters with
basically one trip to the Olacion Order shrine.

Make a list of what characters you want to recruit next. Add any times
of day and locations. Then plan your trip to get the most number of
characters recruited with the least amount of running around. This is
great practice for having to multi-task in real life.

Top of Page <#top>


     [party] Initial Party

In general, you should recruit characters based on which path you will
choose. If you will be selecting the human path, then your early party
should be all humans (with possible exceptions like Donkey based on
skills the first time through the game.) If you are going to select the
non-human path, then recruit and include non-humans in your parties as
early as possible.

You can keep the same characters in your party as much as possible
(until a stronger character becomes available), or you can select
characters for specific tasks based on their capabilities (e.g., skills
or types of attack.) I tend to keep the same people in my party because
I have leveled them up so much, and so they tend to outperform any other
character that might have more appropriate skills, attacks, etc. In
general, you always want to have a healer in your party. The other two
can be another fighter and a mage.

I don't find too much ailments in most of the stats ailments. If you are
blind, you can still hit; if you are poisoned, you don't seem to lose
HP. Other ailments, such as freeze and blaze, will do significant
damage. In the beginning of the game, it is probably a good idea to have
a healer in your party all the time. As your party becomes stronger, you
might swap out your healer for another fighter. If you are using Romaria
as your healer, she doubles as a fighter as well. When you get to the
Ethereal Queen, if you on the human path, Kain is a good healer to use.
For the non-human path, if you aren't using Romaria, you might consider
using items and having all fighters in your party.

If you are choosing the human path, then Flora is your best starting
healer. You will automatically have Clive, but he isn't very good. If
you will be choosing the non-human path, then recruit Romaria as your
healer. Not only is she the best non-human healer (IMHO), but she is a
decent fighter. What sets her apart from other healers is that she will
heal status ailments and low HP characters on her own; you usually don't
need to tell her what to do. I put Romaria in my party at the start of
the game, and she was able to hold her own up through defeating Gabriel
Celesta, without me needing to issue commands very often. For really
tough fights, like the battle with the Ethereal Queen, you will need to
pay more attention and issue her commands.

If you find Romaria's voice grating, you can substitute Rika, but you
will need to pay more attention to the health of your party, and tell
her to heal rather than rely on her doing it automatically. You will
also need to use more items, since Rika doesn't correct status problems.

A good starting party for the humans path is:

 * Jack
 * Lily (start with Alba or Cosmo until you are level 22)
 * Aidan (so you can get Cecil later)
 * Flora (The best human healer available until you can get Kain)

The first time through the game, you should pick Alba for your initial
party until Lily is available. The reason is that Alba will steal items
for you, and the first time through the game, free items is a good
thing. Subsequent times through the game, you will have enough money to
buy whatever you need.

For the non-human path, a good starting party is:

 * Jack
 * Martinez
 * Sanchos
 * Romaria or Rika (Keep her in your party for the whole game)

You probably want to "trade up" as stronger characters become available.
At first glance, it might look like your current characters are the best
available because you have leveled them up so much. However, you should
consider the strength and defense of the characters, and the type and
strength of any spells, rather than just HP.

Once Aidan reaches level 32, you can swap him out for his father, Cecil.
I kept Lily in as the fighter up until I had Elwen and Nyx, and she held
her own. You might want to replace the mage with Gerald when you recruit
him (if you can stand him saying "What's wrong?" over and over).

Certainly when you get the heads of the guilds, you want to replace most
of your party with them. If you are going to take the human path, you
should at least recruit Elwen and Kain, who are the best fighter and
healer available within the first part of the game. This means you want
to recruit all of Theater Vancoor and all of the Olacion Order. Nyx is a
nice addition, but not essential; you could probably keep your best
fighter to round off the party. The reason for this is that in the
post-game dungeon you will get Valkyrie; you probably want to replace
that character with her. If you want Nyx, however, you need to recruit
all members of all the guilds, since you need to have recruited the
entire Void community, and speak to Nyx with Elwen, Kain, and Curtis in
your party to get him to join. This means that you not only have to
recruit all of Vancoor and Olacion in order to get Elwen and Kain, but
all four guilds if you also want to get Nyx.

For the non-human path, put can Gil in your party as soon as you recruit
him (which is after the split). He is already at a pretty good level,
and he has an attack that hits multiple enemies. Frankly, Martinez is as
good a fighter, and at level 99, Martinez has a higher HP, Strength, and
Defense than Gil, who is only better in Evade and Luck. When you recruit
JJ, you might want to include him as well (although I prefer to keep Gil
or Martinez). Ganz has to be in your final party, but he isn't available
until later in the game. You can either take time to level him up when
you get the chance, or you can just ignore him and basically fight with
three characters.

Top of Page <#top>


     [presplit] Before the Split

 * Start of Game <#start>
 * Friends List Created <#friends>
 * Initial Friends List <#init-friends>
 * First Missions <#first>
 * Escort the Princess <#princess>
 * Jack's Promotion <#promotion>
 * Large Man in Vancoor Square <#square>
 * Ridley's Birthday Party <#birthday>
 * Jack's Choice - Human or Non-Human Path <#split>

This section deals with the initial part of the game. You will do the
following tasks, regardless of which path you will be taking after the
split.


     [start] Start of Game

At the very beginning of the game, it is mostly cut scenes, with some
minimal ability to control Jack. Sit back and enjoy the movie; it will
explain the back story. The next time you play this game, you will
recognize most of the characters in the selection tournament.

You can't win the fight with Ridley, so don't bother trying. If you put
up enough of a fight, you will see her use her volty command. You will
eventually get accepted by the Knights and placed in the Rose Cochon
(French for Pink Pig) Squad with Ganz and Ridley.

Later in the game, if you select the non-human path, Ganz and Ridley
will at times be able to appear in your party (actually, be required to
be in your party), but Ridley won't be in the final battle, so don't
bother spending a lot of time leveling her up, or get too attached to
how she fights.

When you finally get control again, you will be in your room. Save your
game. You don't want to go through all those cut scenes again if
something goes wrong.

Your first task is to go to a meeting on the third floor. But it is best
to take a detour before you get there. When you leave your room, head
east. When you get to the stairs, keep going. When you get to a guard,
take the door just to the east of him. This is towards the training
room. Just before the training room is a storage room. Kick things in
the room until you find the Knights Edge in the locker at the rear of
the room, which is a much better sword than you have now. You won't be
able to buy any weapons until you get part way through your first
mission to Earth Valley. If you try to wander too much, Jack will remind
you. (This is typical throughout the game, when there is a specific task
to be done.) You can press the R1 button to see the map if you get lost.

A good habit to get into is to press R1 to look at the map. It will show
you where you are (sort of), where any save points might be, as well as
a swirl to indicate your destination. If you are in a building or
dungeon, you can use the up and down buttons on the D-pad (directional
pad) to see the other floors. The map is very handy, but it seems to be
a bit off. If you compare your location on the map with your location in
the world, there seems to be some differences.

When you get to the meeting room, another set of cut scenes will take
over. There is no way to cancel a cut scene, but if you click "X" during
a dialog, it will cancel the rest of the dialog. So, if you keep mashing
the "X" button, you will reduce the total time a bit.

When all the cut scenes are over, you will get some training from Ganz
(if this is the first time you played the game.) followed by some more
cut scenes. (The number of cut scenes gets much less further into the
game. Don't get too discouraged at this point.) Eventually you will be
starting off on your first mission. You won't be able to explore the
castle much until you get back.

You will be given some missions to accomplish:

Escort a Dwarf
   This mission will take you to the Dwarf Village in Earth Valley.
   If this is not the first time you have played the game, I suggest
   you equip the Feathered Earring and Training Device accessories, as
   well as the Tri-Emblem Skill. Also, assuming you learned all the
   weapon skills, set up your attack combinations to take advantage of
   the stronger attacks (they take more CP). If your HP starts to drop,
   then equip the Auto-Cure skill long enough to get full HP again. But
   since your HP is restored each time you level up, between the
   tri-emblem and training device, your HP should never get low. You
   should also take all the berries that you bought in the previous
   game, and adjust your weapon skills to suit your fighting style.
   This is the first real chance you get to fight and level up. Take
   your time getting there, fighting everything you can. If you come
   across some people, you can kick them to duel them. If you lose a
   duel, don't forget to heal before you get into another fight, since
   your HP will only be 1.
   Once you get to Earth Valley, go to the large gold building, talk to
   the dwarf, and then save your game at the Inn. Visit the pub to get
   a solo mission and earn an item. Talk to the bartender, agree to
   help, visit the bar when it is closed, and go back and talk to the
   bartender. When asked, be honest. Also, make sure you kick things in
   the blacksmith Gehrmann's room until you find a Mystery Berry.
   You can spend as much time as you want leveling up at this point, as
   long as you don't sleep. If you have the money, buy the Aqua Blade
   sword, which has more attack power. You should start out by dueling
   the shop owners. The blacksmiths and miners are much stronger. If
   you are brave (or already have the Auto Cure Skill), you can wander
   into the Dwarf Caves and gain some experience. There is a time
   limit, but don't worry about it too much. When the time comes, Ganz
   will tell you that the goods are ready, and cut scenes will take
   over until you are outside.
   After your first game, there is a great way to level up in the early
   parts of the game: equip the Tri-Emblem skill and the Training
   Device accessory. The Tri-Emblem increases all your stats, and the
   Training Device increases your experiencer points. (If you equip two
   Training Devices, you will get even more experience.) With this set
   up, you should be able to duel just about anyone. If your HP gets
   low, then just equip Auto Cure status and run around for a while
   avoiding getting hit until your HP is back up. If you got the
   Tri-Emblem skill, you probably want to keep that equipped most of
   the time, and only switch to Auto Cure if your HP gets low. You can
   stretch this mission out almost indefinitely if you don't sleep or
   talk to Ridley and Ganz.
   When you get back to the Castle, you can wander around kicking
   things. Make sure you get the Knight's Edge sword in the locker next
   to the training room (if you didn't earlier), and the Strength Berry
   in the sub-basement "Path of the Spider".
   When you have done everything you want to get done, or you get
   bored, you can sleep to progress the story.
Deliver a Letter
   You will be asked to deliver a letter to the leader of the Light
   Elves. You will be told to meet with Genius, who is on the way
   there. Genius will be in your party, but you can't recruit him until
   much later on the human path.
   Before you get to Fort Helencia, you will pass a path that branches
   off away from the screen. Follow it to a tree and kick it for a
   Celestial Nectar. This is the Ressan Tree. It sppears on the world
   map, and is mentioned several times during the game.
   After you pass through Fort Helencia, double back. There is a
   recover spot, another Knight Edge in a chest (in case you ignored my
   two earlier suggestions), a training dummy, and a guy selling items.
   When you get to the Dark Elf village and have delivered your
   message, talk to Ganz while he is standing near the cellar to get
   some money. Talk to Chatt, and answer "Rich", "No way!", "Master
   Cook", and "Veggie Soup".
   Most of the elves are magic casters, so when dueling them, keep
   hitting them so they can't cast their spells. A few fight like
   monks, so be prepared for a good battle from them. You can't recruit
   anyone at this point in the game, so don't bother trying.
   This is also the mission that causes you to get fired from the
   Knights and sets up the plot for the split later in the game.

Once you get back from your first missions, you can explore the castle
kicking things to find items, but the most important ones are the Knight
Edge in the locker near the training area (if you didn't get it
earlier), and the strength berry at the end of "The Path of the Spider"
in the sub-basement of the castle. Don't forget to kick everyone in
sight so you can level up by dueling people. Even characters you think
won't be much of a challenge can be a surprise. If you kick one of the
little kids in the castle, they will call some guards to fight you. (See
if you can find the ghost.) When you start to get bored, you can do a
few things before progressing the game.

Follow Al
   At some point after your second mission, when you leave your room
   you will run into Al, who is acting strange. (Well, stranger than
   normal.) Follow him west and down the stairs to the next door.
   (These are the same stairs that lead to the Path of the Spider). Go
   into the dungeon for a cut scene; you can then leave. If you don't
   see Al, then go to the dungeon yourself and see if you can trigger
   the cut scene.
Visit the Item Shop
   Before you progress the game, visit the store room (item shop) to
   get another solo mission. This is a mini-quest which will have you
   taking a tour of the castle, trying to find Leonard.

When you get strong or bored enough, sleep in your room to progress the
game. This is a normal way to progress this game. If it doesn't work,
try sleeping again. Some things take several days before they trigger.

The game will progress by Ganz visiting you in your room. Just watch a
series of cut scenes and save if you ever see a small blue flag. (This
is another good general rule to follow.) The blue flags are temporary
ones that appear at special points in the game. The first fight with
Jarvis will be very easy (he only has a small percentage of his HP
remaining). The fight with Gerald you can't win, so don't worry.

After another series of cut scenes, you will end back at Theater Vancoor
and get assigned to a squad led by (you guessed it?) Jarvis. You will
have to fight Daniel. He isn't very strong, and his HP is only around
300, so you shouldn't have any trouble, assuming you did at least some
leveling up. I tried to not fight back, and it took close to a half hour
for Daniel to finally beat Jack, which resulted in "Game Over".

Top of Page <#top>


     [friends] Friends List Created

The beginning of the recruitment period starts when Clive shows up and
writes his name on your Friends List. You can then recruit a number of
humans in Radiata City, as well as farmers and some non-humans (e.g.,
dark elves). The complete list of characters you can recruit at this
time are listed below. The earlier you recruit a character and put them
in your party, the higher level they will be later in the game. For
example, when you first recruit Aidan, he isn't very useful, but as he
gains levels, he becomes a decent mage.

You can't start recruiting characters until Clive turns up and writes
his name in your Friends List. Clive is recruited automatically, and
signals the start of the recruitment process. Work on getting your
starting party first. Once you are happy with your party, you can work
on recruiting the other characters. Most of the characters in this group
can be recruited at any time, even towards the end of the game, so it
isn't imperative that you recruit them now, but it is best to get them
out of the way before you forget about them.

Once Clive has joined, you can continue to recruit people for about a
day and a half, at which time you will be sucked into the Crocogator
mission automatically. However, once you start on that mission, you can
still take some time to recruit people, and wander around and level up.
You will only have Jack and Jarvis in your party, however.

You won't be able to use any of the people you recruit until you get
some solo jobs, which will be after you return from the Crocogator mission.

If you are going to take the non-human path, I suggest you buy weapons
and armor and then sleep to force the Crocogator mission. This is
because when you finish that mission, you will be able to use the
journey pigs to move around quickly. You will still need to walk to the
Dark Elf village, (I suggest you do that with Jarvis on your way to the
Crocogator mission) but then you can warp back using the pig.

You might want to start out by buying better armor and weapons, buy and
read some books so you can give commands to your party, and probably get
some cure items if this is your first time. At a minimum, I would
recommend Cure Friend (Book of Energy) and Use Volty (Book of Power) for
the final battle. If you will be adding weaker members to your party,
then you also want the Back Away (Book of Desertion) command. The first
time through the game, you might consider non-magic healing actions such
as Circle Song (Book of Recovery or Book of Restoration) which will
allow Jack to heal the party using some of his volty guage.

The Dead End Armory in the Void Community has the Wind Garb, which is
the best armor until you get the Recruitment Suit. Buy that and the best
weapon you can afford. I usually get the Brionac spear from Dead End.

I find a spear to be very good when fighting groups of monsters, since
you can use a wide sweep and hit multiple enemies with one swing. For
boss fights, I tend to use the sword, but you might want to experiment
with other weapons to see which ones best fit your fighting style.

When choosing weapons, don't concentrate strictly on the attack value,
but look at the side effects as well. A weapon that causes some status
affliction can, in the long run, do more damage than a weapon that has a
higher attack value but no side effect. This is especially true for
afflictions such as petrify, which takes the enemy completely out of the
battle for a while as you continue to hit them, and poison, which will
continue to drain HP from the enemy. In fact, once you have poisoned an
enemy, you might want to go and attack a different one, and let that one
die a slow and painful death. I have used the Rune Sword (which isn't
very powerful) to beat Gerald and Elwen because they never got to use
the volty attack since they were petrified.

Another factor to weapons is the types of attacks that you use. Some
attacks will affect all enemies within a certain area. This makes it
easy to get rid of a bunch of enemies in short time. You can switch
weapons and/or attacks several times in the middle of a battle, so if
one approach isn't working, try either a different set of attacks, or a
different weapon. For example, you can start with a lance and wide swing
(like wild spin) at the beginning of a battle. Then, once you have a
single strong enemy left, you can switch to more powerful attacks, or
knockdown type attacks. I usually keep the lance / spear set up for
attacks that affect multiple enemies, and then switch to a sword once
there are a few enemies.

The first time through the game, as soon as you have a few people
recruited, wander around the basement of Vancoor until you find the
feathered earring. The basement can be very confusing, since the names
of the passage ways are pretty much all the same, and many of them look
like others. It is important to understand that there are two large
square rooms with paths along the walls. Once you find the altar that is
off the first square walkway (follow Elwen or Alicia to find it), walk
east from that entrance and through the door (it is the only one that
doesn't go back to the exit.) Follow the path and open the chest. Equip
this item and you can move very fast. This will let you get to and from
places in far less time. If you played the game before, it should still
be in your inventory, so you can just equip it.

At some point in the game, you will have to decide on the human or
non-human path. Once this choice is made, no characters in the other
group can be recruited, and none of the other type that you recruited in
this game will be available. Remember this before you spend a lot of
time to build up a character that you will later lose.

Once the game is over, there is a bonus dungeon where you can recruit an
additional character. She will only be available during post-game
events, but she is a great fighter and will join at a high level.

Even though a character may be unavailable later in the game, there are
still times when you might want to recruit them. This is especially true
the first time you play the game and are trying to learn skills. (Once
you learn a skill, it will be available for all subsequent games.) For
example, Donkey is the only character available at the start of the game
that has the "Absorb HP" skill. This is a very useful skill to have,
especially since Auto-Cure isn't available until much later, so you
should think about recruiting him and using him long enough to learn
that skill.

While you are recruiting people, you will be required to go on a few
missions with your squad. Normally, you will have some time between
missions when you can recruit characters, but you can often do some
recruting while you are on the mission as well. For example, during the
Crocogator Mission, you will be able to travel anywhere and recruit
characters before you encounter a Crocogator. If you get into any
fights, you will only have yourself and Jarvis in your party, so if you
didn't level up Jack earlier in the game, you might want to put off any
of the more difficult areas.

About a day and a half after Clive shows up, Jack will wonder what is
going on at Vancoor and you will be sent immediately to the squad room.
You can speed this up by sleeping at Jack's house. Here is the next
squad mission you will take part in:

Crocogator Mission
   This is the first mission, and will start automatically at some
   point. No matter where you are and what you are doing, Jack will say
   something about checking out Theater Vancoor and you will be taken
   back to there.
   You will only have yourself and Jarvis for this mission. Daniel
   refuses to go. You will be able to travel to places other than the
   mission, if you want. For example, if you will be taking the
   non-human path, you can go to the Dark Elf village and recruit
   people. I like to get Romaria as soon as she is available so that
   she can level up more. Or, you can recruit some humans and use them
   temporarily to get to the Dark Elf Village after the Crocogator
   mission.
   Like most missions, you will be told where to go and what to do. You
   can usually talk to Thanos and get some hints as well. If you are
   inside the city and use the map (R1), it will show you which gate
   you want to use. Once in the world, use the map to see the actual
   destination.
   Just go where the map tells you and do what Jarvis says, and you
   should do fine. How much you get is supposed to be random, but I
   have usually gotten the low pay.
   Once you have completed this mission, you should go to Morfin's
   Clinic and talk to the sick kid (if you are taking the human path).
   Keep this up if you want to recruit everyone from the Olacion Order.
   If you are going to choose the non-human path, these missions will
   help you recruit the dark elf Mikey.

Once you are done with this mission, you can work on solo missions with
your party. Check with Thanos each time to see what is available. Just
remember to not sleep at Jack's house until there are no more missions
available, or you might miss some. (Later in the game, you should also
not enter Jack's house except late at night to prevent events from
triggering.)

Even if you are going to take the non-human path, these missions are a
good way to get experience and money. You can have all non-humans in
your party, which means you can be building up your party before the split.


     [init-friends] Initial Friends List

Here are the characters you can recruit at the beginning of the game,
grouped by categories.If this is your first time through the game, and
you plan to take the human path (which is what I recommend), then you
want to recruit all the humans that are now available, and at least
Donkey from the Green Goblins for his Absorb HP skill.

If you plan to take the non-human path, then concentrate on the
non-human characters you can get now. However, I recommend that you wait
until you are in the middle of your next mission to find a Crocogator.
The reason for this is that you will learn how to use the journey pigs,
which makes getting to and from places much faster and easier. Get
Romaria as soon as you can. When you are at the Dark Elf village during
one of your early missions, try to recruit all the available characters.
Your initial party should be Jack, Martinez, Sanchos, and Romaria. You
will probaby keep this party until after the split, when you can recruit
some of the more powerful non-humans.

 * Vancoor Theater <#init-vancoor>
 * Olacion Order <#init-olacion>
 * Vareth Institute <#init-vareth>
 * Void Community <#init-void>
 * Non-Guild Humans <#init-human>
 * Non-Human Characters <#init-fairy>

Top of Page <#top>


       [init-vancoor] Theater Vancoor Characters

If you are going to choose the human path, then concentrate on
recruiting humans. If you are going to choose the non-human path, then
concentrate on recruiting non-humans. If you want to recruit Elwen (the
best fighter in the game), you have to recruit the rest of Vancoor.
(Make sure you take Nocturne's letter to Gerald). See the section on
Your Initial Party <#party> for more detail.

Aldo
   Aldo is a book worm who is always looking for something to read.
   Talk to him to find out he is looking for the Book of Faries.
   Aldo is in the Quarto room from 6am to 11, then the Begin Eatery
   from noon to 3pm, when he talks with Gareth outside the eatery door,
   ending up in the bookstore from 8-9pm.
   You can find the Book of Fairies near the house in the Septem Region
   located between the two houses just beyond the Septem Cave. The
   monsters in this area are fairly strong, so you probably won't get
   him until later in the game during your first play-through.
Bruce
   Bruce is the character who runs the Theater Vancoor infirmary. He is
   in the infirmary from 6am to 7pm. Talk to him when your HP is less
   than 50%.
   (You can put on weak armor, get into a duel, and just stand there,
   letting the other person keep beating you until you get under 50%
   before you finish them off, then go talk to Bruce.)
   After you recruit him, remember to talk to Miranda to get healed.
Carlos
   Carlos is pounding his fist on the table in the lobby of Theater
   Vancoor from 4-6pm. Talk to him and find out that he lost his
   contact lens. He spends the night in one of the cells in B2.
   Enter the Path of the Spider (sewer) through far-right cell in the
   second basement of Theater Vancoor. Keep heading left, following the
   water flow to find his contact, then give it to him.
   While you are in the sewers, make sure you get the feathered
   earring, which will allow you to walk much faster. This is great for
   those of us who are too impatient to put up with Jack walking around
   slowly.
Dennis
   Talk to him in the Triton Locker Room between 8 and 11 AM or 6 and 8
   PM. He will tell you about a flower that glows.
   Take the journey pig at night to near the City of Flowers and go
   west to the end of the path to find the flower, then give it to him
   before sunrise. (He will probably be just outside of the Lupus Gate
   when you get back.)
Gene
   Talk to his mother in the hotel just south of Theater Vancoor, and
   then talk to him until he repeats himself. Do that for five
   different days. (Talking to both his mother and him.)
   He leans against the Vancoor building near the alley that goes up to
   the bar and the square from 11am-3pm. You can also find him in the
   lobby at the table where Carlos sits from 9-11am and 6-10pm.
Gregory
   Talk to him to find out he wants some elvin wine. (He is in the
   Zweit Squad Locker Room from 9am-2pm, then at Begin Eatery from
   6pm-8pm)
   Take the journey pig to Earth Valley and get the wine from the
   bartender. (The one you helped out when a knight). You need to be
   level 23 for him to join.
   If you don't get to Earth Valley until after it is deserted, then
   you can take a bottle from the nearby store left of the bar. You can
   find a bottle on the shelf to the right of the doorway.
   *Note: * Don't wait too long to complete this mission, or the wine
   will no longer be available. You won't be able to recruit Elwen if
   that happens.
Paul
   Paul is the guy who beat Lord Star during the Knight Trials. Talk to
   him with a female in your party. (Non-human females work fine.)
   You can find Paul working out on the bridge above Jack's house from
   4-6am, and in the bookstore from 9am to noon, followed by the
   Eisenhower Pharmacy until 5.
Rolec
   Go into the bathroom in the morning from 8am to 11am or in the
   evening from 5pm to 7pm. He should be standing in front of the
   mirror. Kick him, and he will join you (without having to duel him).

Initial Friends List <#init-friends>

Top of Page <#top>


       [init-olacion] Olacion Order Characters

If you want to recruit Kain (the best healer in the game), you will need
to recruit everyone from the Olacion Order.

Clive
   Clive automatically joins your party by signing your friends list.
Cosmo
   You have to be level 10 to recruit him.
   Talk to him and he should join. He is in his room from 8am to noon,
   in the chapel from 3-7pm, and working out near where Godwin teaches
   the kids from 7-11pm.
Edgar
   Talk to him when he is washing windows outside the Olacion building
   (between 2 and 5pm) to find out he wants Fernando's old belt.
   Enter Fernando's room and kick the waste basket to find the belt.
   Ask Fernando and he will tell you to keep it, then give the belt to
   Edgar.
   Once Edgar tells you about the belt, don't wait too long before you
   get it. Supposedly, the trash might get emptied if you wait too long.
Eugene
   Catch him drinking in the pub between 8pm and 2am. Keep talking to
   him until he joins.
Flora
   Remember that Flora is the best human healer at this point in the
   game, so you want to take the time to recruit her if you will be
   taking the human path.
   Talk to her to find out her father's picture is missing. She is
   sweeping various rooms in the Olacion building most of the day.
   Talk to Synellia, the receptionist at the Morfin Clinic, until she
   gives you the picture. (She should be looking at the picture.) Give
   the picture to Flora
   You will probably have to take the Radiata Quiz before you can get
   the picture. You can either recruit Synellia before getting the
   picture, or mess up the first question and then talk to her again
   for the picture.
Lulu
   Talk to her to find out that her cat is missing.
   She is in Anastasia's room from 7-9, and then in the chapel from
   9-11, and then back at the Anastasia's room until 4.
   The correct cat is at the end of the path to the Void Community, on
   the trash heap that Zeranium checks each day. You will see a bunch
   of cats, but when you take the others back to her, she will complain
   that it isn't the right one. Just get the cat from Void and ignore
   all the others.
   If you check the sign near the Inn south of Theater Vancoor at
   different times, you will see it changes depending on where you are
   on this quest. (See *Signs and Posters* in Easter Eggs and Silly
   Things <#easter> for more info.)

Initial Friends List <#init-friends>

Top of Page <#top>


       [init-vareth] Vareth Magic Institute

If you want to recruit Nyx, you will need to recruit the heads of all
the other guilds, which means all of their members. You can't recruit
Curtis (the head) until all the other characters have joined. If you
don't care about getting Nyx, then you may not care about recruiting
Curtis, either.

Aidan
   If you want to recruit Cecil, you need to recruit Aidan early and
   keep him in your party until he reaches level 32.
   To recruit Aidan, just talk to him. If that doesn't work, recruit a
   few more people and try again.
   He is in the first floor classroom of the Star Tower from 9-11am,
   and on the first floor of the Moon Tower from noon to 1, then in the
   cafeteria from 1 to 4.
Cecil
   Talk to him with Aidan in the party at level 32 or greater
   Finding Cecil can be tricky, since he moves around a lot. He is on
   the second floor (half way up to the library) from 5am to 11 and
   then from 2 to 9, and in the infirmary from 12 to 1.
Christoph
   Get 5 Gobpakken Seeds and 5 Pointura Threads. (The seeds come from
   plants near the City of Flowers, and the threads come from the
   spiders near the Dark Elf area.)
   Talk to them when they are alone in their room (between 11am and
   2pm), and agree to give them the items. When you enter the Star
   Tower, their room is the first to the right.
   Keep talking to Christoph until he joins, then talk to Jill (see
   Jill). You need to be level 16 to recruit him, but I'm not sure how
   you can be at such a low level.
   If you are taking the non-human path, you will need two mages in
   your party to recruit Brie. Christoph and Jill are two mages that
   are easy to recruit, so I usually get them.
Claudia
   To recruit her, you need to get a Blood Orc's horn. You can get
   these later in the game from the Orc homeworld or Fire Mountain, but
   you can also get them during the training exercises for the axe.
   Once you have access to the Blood Orc's homeland, you can also get
   them from fighting. Blood Orc Horns don't carry across between
   games. If you also want to recruit Zida, make sure you show him the
   horn first, since Claudia will take it from you.
   Talk to her in the bottom room of the Moon Tower between 5pm and
   7pm, when she is looking at the sign on the tube. The first time,
   give her the horn, then return on three different nights. Each time
   you return, talk to the large glass tube (that originally read
   "Caution Do Not Touch") The first night, the body will twitch, the
   next night it will say "Clau", and finally "Claudia". (Apparently it
   is the body of her boyfriend who was killed.)
Cornelia / Rachel
   This is a very interesting character. During the day, she is a very
   young girl, but in the evening, she is a sexy night club singer.
   Once you have recruited her, her name will appear where Cornelia
   should be, but during the evening hours it will read "Rachel". If
   you have her in your party, she fights as a little girl during the
   day, and as Rachel during the night.
   Talk to her when she changes personalities to the right of the
   lottery booth in the Void Community around 7pm. You have to be
   talking to her when she does the actual change, not before or after,
   so keep mashing the circle button until you see her change.
Ernest
   Talk to him and lend him "Earth Valley", one of the Battle tunes, or
   probably any other upbeat record.
   Talk to him the next day to get your record back and to recruit him.
Faraus
   Talk to him in the infirmary at the Vareth Magic Institute between
   4am and 2pm or 7pm and 10pm to find out he left his medical text at
   the Olacian Order.
   Talk to Kain to get the book, then return the book to Faraus
Jill
   After Christoph joins, talk to Jill, who will also join.
Johan
   Talk to him on five different days until he repeats himself. He will
   tell you big lies each time, but then finally will join you. He
   arrives at the Vareth Institute around noon, so you can talk to him
   there. If you miss him, he will be in the Moon Tower B1 from 2-7pm.
Marietta
   Go to the bottom door in the Vareth Institute's Star Tower. You will
   see a bunch of boxes and somebody calling for help. Just keep
   clicking "X" and she will join.
Morgan
   Contrary to the Official Strategy Guide, you must be level 32 to
   recruit her.
   You will need 43,000 gold to finally get her, but you can start with
   "only" 1,000, followed by 3,000, then 9,000, and finally 30,000. You
   need to talk to her when she is in her lab in the tower, between
   11:30AM and 5:30PM.
   Talk to her and she will complain about needing money and ask you
   for a donation of 1,000. Come back on a second day and she will ask
   you for 3,000. The third day she will ask for 9,000, and then
   finally 30,000. She might not ask if you don't have enough, so if
   that ever happens, go out and make some more money.
   You don't have to do this four days in a row. If it takes you a few
   days to get enough money for your next payment, that isn't a problem.

Initial Friends List <#init-friends>

Top of Page <#top>


       [init-void] Void Community

If you want to recruit Nyx, you need to recruit everyone in the Void
Community (as well as all the other guild leaders)

Alba
   He is a decent fighter, will steal items for you, and fairly easy to
   recruit, although it takes two days.
   Talk to him each day until he challenges you to a fight. Defeat him
   on another day. You can fight him just before midnight in front of
   the night club where Rachel performs, then wait a few minutes and
   fight him shortly after midnight.
   Alba is an excellent candidate for your initial party if this is
   your first time through the game. The reason is that he will steal
   items, which will save you money. After the first time through the
   game, you should have enough items and money that this won't be that
   helpful.
Butch
   Talk to him with Golye in your party
   Golye hangs out in the Void Community all day, usually outside doing
   something with piles of boxes.
   You might want to read about Butch in the Easter Eggs and Silly
   Things <#easter> section.
Golye
   Talk to him in the Void Community Casino (between 9pm and 3am) until
   he fights you. Defeat him and he will join.
Jared
   Talk to him in the Void bar between 8 am and noon. Keep talking
   (actually, listening) until he joins.
Lily
   You have to be level 22 to recruit her. She is an excellent fighter,
   so even if you don't want to recruit Nyx, she is worth recruiting. I
   had her in my party from the start, and by the end of the game when
   it was Jack, Lily, Elwen, and Kain, Lily not only held her own, but
   actually dealt the final kill every so often.
   Wait outside the chapel / devotional room in the sewer beneath
   Theater Vancoor. (Follow Elwen or Alicia into the sewers to find it.
   Elwen enters the sewers around 8am, so you can follow her the day
   you want to recruit Lily.)
   When Elwen is inside the room, Lily will crouch just outside from
   1-3pm (this is at the base of the stairs, just outside the room).
   Keep talking to her until she fights you and loses. (A kicking duel
   won't count, nor will talking to her at any other place)
Pinky
   Pinky is the watchman outside of the Void club. Kick him when he is
   sleeping there between 9pm and 7am.
   Fighting Pinky is the only way to get the Payapaya Dance record.
Solo
   Talk to Felix in the Vareth Magical Institute Library between 10am
   and 3pm. (He is the feminine looking person facing you on the left
   under the stacks.) He tells you that somebody has been stalking him.
   Solo is hiding near the stairs going up to the stacks. Talk to him
   and tell him Felix is a guy, not a girl. He will join you.
   If you see Leona in the library, you can talk to her and find out
   what book she is looking for. This will let you recruit her later.

Initial Friends List <#init-friends>

Top of Page <#top>


       [init-human] Non-Guild Humans

The only reasons to recruit these characters are either for a skill or
because you want to recruit all possible characters (which will let you
see a "special" picture on the Friends List.)

In some ways, these are the hardest characters to recruit. This is
because of the small window of opportunity to contact them. In some
cases, you can only talk to them for the brief time they walk from their
house to their fields, and then when they come home for dinner. These
periods can be as short as a few seconds that you have to talk to the
character. Get there early and don't get distracted while you wait.

Dan
   Talk to him in the Void kitchen (in the back of the bar) to find out
   about a soup recipe. (He is there from 4pm until 9am.)
   Go to Tria village and ask the elder's wife for the recipe, then
   return it to Dan
Garcia, Bran, Wal
   Talk to Garcia outside the house just past Septem Cave between
   7-10am or 5-10pm. He will mention his two friends are missing and
   wonders if they are in the cave.
   Enter the cave, find the two men, and fight the monster. (You might
   as well finish your trip through the cave, it is a great place to
   level up.)
   Talk to the three of them when they are outside their house. Talk to
   Garcia first, and then the other two until they all join.
Gonber
   Pass through Tria Village and find a man splashing in the water.
   Keep talking to him until you rescue him
Howard
   Talk to him in Nuevo Village, just to the left of the houses, around
   noon, or around 8pm. He will tell you he wants Tria Milk
   Recruit Tarkin and get Tria Milk, then give it to Howard
Leban, Keaton, and Wyze
   Talk to Tarkin in Tria Village and learn that Leban is late. Walk
   east until you find him (just past the journey pig) surrounded by
   monsters. Beat the monsters to recruit him.
   Talk to Keaton in Tria Village after Leban has joined You might have
   to recruit Tarkin before getting Keaton. Be careful, Keaton is easy
   to miss recruiting. I got near the end of the game thinking I had
   recruited him, and found out I hadn't.
   Talk to Wyze after Leban joins.
Mook
   Mook's house is on the road to Earth Valley where you fought the
   Goblin Trio. Talk to him around 7am, noon, or 6pm to find out that a
   monster has been bothering him.
   Take the side path near his house to the end and beat the monster.
   You should also open the chest for a Defense Berry.
   Talk to Mook again, and he will join you.
Morfin
   Talk to Morfin when he is in his clinic between midnight and 6am, or
   around 10am. Agree to try his medicine.
   Go through the same thing on another day, and he should join
   I usually visit him after midnight, since there are less other
   things to do then.
Nick
   Nick is Bruce's son. Talk to him with Bruce in your party, and he
   will join.
   You can find Nick in Vancoor Square during the mornings, and with
   Godwin and the other kids outside the Olacion Order Shrine in the
   afternoon. It is usually easier to talk to him in the morning, since
   there are so many kids close together in the afternoon, you have to
   keep moving around until you are able to talk to any particular kid.
Sarval
   Sarval is the guy feeding pigs in your home town. Talk to him and
   find there are three piglets missing.
   Find the pigs (1) to the east of the journey pig, (2) in your house,
   and (3) north of the town at the top of the steps on the road
   towards Tria Village.
Stefan
   Stefan is a big fan of vegetables. Impress him with your knowledge
   and he will join you. When he asks you questions, answer "yes", and
   then "no".
   The best time to catch him is 4-8pm just east of the houses in Nuevo
   Village. You can catch him when he first wakes up and goes to the
   field around 7am, but that is much harder.
Sunset
   Sunset is the little kid in your home town that runs around with a
   butterfly net. Talk to him and he will join.
Synelia
   She is the receptionist at the Morfin Clinic. Talk to her and take
   the Radiata Quiz and answer three questions correctly in a row. If
   you miss a question, you can take the quiz on a following day.
   The questions she asks are ramdom. You can find the questions and
   answers in the Radiata Quiz section <#quiz>.
   If you are in the middle of recruiting Flora, she might not ask you
   the quiz. Come back after you are done recruiting Flora.
Tarkin
   He is the dairy farmer in Tria Village
   Talk to him in the barn and agree to get him some medicine. He is in
   the barn from around 8am until 3pm, and then from 6-8pm.
   Talk to Nask in the Waldo General Store to get the medicine. (The
   store is near the gate south of the Olacion Order Shrine.)
   Take the medicine back to Tarkin and he will join. If you ask him,
   he will also give you some Tria Milk, which you can use to recruit
   Howard.
Yack
   You can't recruit Yack until after you have met the Large Man in
   Vancoor Square.
   Talk to him when you have a tsuchinoko dumpling. The easiest time is
   when he leaves his house in Nuevo Village around 7am, or returns
   around 10pm
   I read someplace that you only need to have seen a Tsuchinoko, and
   didn't need to have the dumpling. It is also possible that you don't
   run into him until you have a dumpling.

Initial Friends List <#init-friends>

Top of Page <#top>


       [init-fairy] Non-Human Characters

If you are going to choose the non-human path, you want to recruit these
characters as soon as possible so you can create a party of non-humans
and level them up. If you don't, then when the split occurs, you will
have a lot of weak characters to work with. You can use them on any
mission before the split, so there is no real reason to go out of your
way to recruit a human character unless you need one of their skills.

The reverse is true if you will be choosing the human path. You will
want to recruit some of these characters for their skills your first
time through the game, but if you are going to choose the human path,
there is no other reason to recruit them. Wait until you play it again
for the non-human path.

If you are taking the non-human path, I suggest that during the
Crocogator mission, you take a detour and go to the Dark Elf village to
recruit Romaria. After that mission, use the journey pig to return to
the Dark Elf village and recruit Rika (because you can) and talk to
Martinez, giving him a duplicate record or one that you can buy (since
you won't get it back.) Spend the rest of the day leveling up Jack and
Romaria, and go back the next day to get Martinez and Santos.

After you have your initial non-human team (Romaria, Martinez, Santos,
and Romaria), take them through the Septem Cave to level up. Next, clear
out the rest of the Septem area, talking to Garcia if you see him in
front of his house. You can go back into Septem Cave to recruit Bran and
Wal, and find that the cave has been repopulated with monsters.

Chatt
   Chatt will lead you on a few wild goose chases.
   Talk to Chatt, who will tell you that Clarence was looking for you.
   Talk to Clarence, who will tell you that Chatt was joking.
   Talk to Chatt in the brewrey on a different day while he is stirring
   one of the vats, and agree to drink
   Talk to Clarence on a following day, who will tell you to talk to
   Chatt. Go to the store room in the Elder's room and defeat the
   "monster"
   Clarence goes to bed around 5 am, wakes up at noon, and reads his book.
Hyann
   Agree to gamble with him in the morning, making sure you have around
   12,000 gold. Guess even or odd on each throw. If you win four times,
   he will give you back your money and join you.
   If you do this early in the game, even, even, even, odd seems to
   work best. If you do it later, then four odds seems to work. The
   best approach is to save the game, take the journey pig and talk to
   him. If you lose too much, then reload the game and try again.
   At other times, he does a lottery where you can buy a ticket. You
   can't recruit him that way.
Lufa
   Polpo's soup will carry over across games, so if you have gotten
   that during a previous game, you can recruit her now. You can only
   get the soup after the split if you choose the non-human path, so if
   you have not previously chosen the non-human path for this game
   data, you will have to wait until after the split to recruit Lufa.
   See Defeat Gawain <#gawain2> for details on how to recruit her later
   in the game.
Martinez
   You have to be level 23, and have completed at least one solo mission.
   Give him a record (you won't get it back, so pick a duplicate or buy
   one from Chic Records), then talk to him on a following day.
Rika
   Talk to her in her room from 11am-4pm and take her music quiz. If
   you miss a question., you have to wait to another day to take it again.
   Here are the questions I know of:

   What animal hair is in a violin bow?
       Horse
   How many strings in a guitar
       Six
   How many white keys for an octave on a keyboard?
       Seven
   What does the note with a single tail mean?
       Eighth note
   What does "#" mean?
       Sharp - half note higher
   What note is half as long as a whole note?
       Half note
   What does "Allegro" mean?
       Play faster
   What music is done in triple time?
       Nocturne
   Who is the famous goblin guitarist?
       Donkey
   Who is the famous dark elf percussionist?
       Martinez
   Which light elf likes music
       Pitt

Romaria
   Beat her at a kicking duel and then talk to her until she joins. If
   you are going to take the non-human path, recruit her as early as
   possible and keep her in your party for all battles so she can level
   up with you. She is the best non-human healer, and a very good fighter.
   You can usually find her hanging around the entrance to the village.
Santos
   Talk to him with Martinez and Rika in your party (then dump Rika for
   Santos)
Zida
   Talk to him in the cellar between 1-4pm, and show him a Gobpakken Seed.
   Talk to him on another day and show him a Blood Orc's Horn
   *Note:* Zida won't keep the horn, but Claudia will. So, if you want
   to use the same horn to recruit both characters, show the horn to
   Zida first, and then give it to Claudia. (Of course, if you are
   doing that, then you have ignored what I said about recruiting
   people from both paths. ;^)

Initial Friends List <#init-friends>

Top of Page <#top>


     [first] First Missions

Once you get back from the Crocogator mission, you will have some free
time on your hands. At various points during these missions, you will
see some cut scenes about Ganz. During this time, Flau and Rynka may not
be keeping their normal schedule, since they are part of the cut scenes.

You can take any (or all) of three missions. If you are going to choose
the human path and want to recruit Elwen, you need to do all of the
missions, and make sure you report back to Thanos after each of them. If
you are going to choose the non-human path, I still suggest you choose
all the missions since they give you good experience and money.

A Masterpiece of Fantasy
   (Pick Up Weapons from Earth Valley)
   This is very simple and straight forward. Simply talk to the owner
   of the weapons shop just across from the front door of Vancoor Theater.
   Talk to Gregory before you leave, and you can work on recruiting him
   at the same time.
   Travel to Earth Valley and pick up the packages. Get the Elfin Wine
   from the bartender if you talked to Gregory. Return back to the
   weapons shop and give him the packages.
Smilodon Fang
   (Collect Smilodon Fang)
   Go to the Ocho Region, follow the path until you see a stone arch.
   Take the path under the arch and fight the tiger-like monster. You
   can sometimes get a fang earlier on the path, but you should at
   least be able to find one there.
   Jack talks about coming back to make money. Don't bother, you can't
   sell them for much.
   On your way in, there is a path that branches back and to the right
   (or to the left from Jack's perspective). At the end of that path is
   a chest you might want to get.
   This region is fairly tough, so if you haven't leveled up much,
   consider going to Septem Cave a couple of times first.
Beasts by the Bridge
   (Monsters at the Bridge)
   You will battle a king snake and some trees. Take out the trees
   first, and then the snake.
   You must accept this mission to recruit Elef, Hip, and Ryan, who are
   non-guild humans. Talk to these guys after the mission is over, and
   keep checking in with them every so often. You will eventually get
   asked to find some plans for them, which is explained later.

You probably want to do these missions in the above order, since the
first one doesn't involve any fighting, and the third is probably harder
than the second. Avoid going to your house during the day to prevent the
game from progressing before you are ready. Enter your house after 9pm
and leave before 8am to save your game. Remember not to sleep until you
are ready.

If you go to the top floor of the Morfin Clinic, you will see a sick kid
on a bed. Talk to him, and he asks you to come back again and tell him
stories. The stories he wants to hear are the Crocogator mission, the
Smilodon Fang mission, and the Rats in the Vareth Institute mission
(which won't happen for a bit.) These stories are a critical part of
recruiting his sisters Adina and Elena, who are from the Olacion Order
(which means you must recruit them to get Kain). I suspect they are also
needed to recruit Mikey if you choose the non-human path.

Having gone on your own mission opens up a few more recruits, or at
least you can start recruiting them.

Anastasia (Olacion Order)
   Talk to Anastasia in her room between 2-9pm to find out a key is
   missing. If she doesn't, make sure you have 10,000 gold and try again.
   Talk to Lulu who admits she threw it out
   Talk to Zeranium (the garbage picker) to find out that he sold it to
   Thyme at the Faid General Store. (This is the first store in the
   Void District, behind the lottery.)
   Buy it from the store for 10,000 gold and return it to Anastasia.
   This will let you get into her treasury, but I can't figure out
   anything you can do in there.
   You need to be level 25 to recruit her, but that should not be a
   problem by this point in the game.
Dwight (Olacion Order)
   Enter the confessional (the small door at the end of the hallway in
   the Olacion order where Dwight and Anastasia are located) between
   6-10pm, and listen to Dwight confess to stealing the proceeds.
   You have to enter the confessional during that time. You can't be
   wating inside or it won't trigger the event. You might want to stand
   near the outside confessional door and wait for him to enter, then
   run inside and go into the confessional.
   Exit the Olacion Order using the nearby door, turn east to the next
   screen and enter the large door to catch Dwight in the confessional.
   Keep talking to him until he joins.
Grant (Olacion Order)
   After the Smilodon Mission, talk to Grant, who will ask you to
   deliver some church bulletins to the Void Community
   Deliver them to the people who run the Mysterious Creatures Inn,
   Dead End Armory, Chic Records, the bar at Club Vampire, and the
   casino at Club Vampire.
   Return and talk to Grant until he joins
   He is in Dwight's room from 8am to 2pm and then from 8-9pm, on a
   bench outside the building from 2-3pm, and in the Eisenhower
   Pharmacy from 5-6pm.
Elef, Hip, and Ryan (Non-Guild Humans)
   Accept the mission to defeat the beasts on the bridge. If you don't
   do this, you won't be able to get these characters, who are the
   workmen on the bridge.
   Keep checking back at the bridge between missions until they
   complain about needing their spare set of blueprints.
   Get the blueprints from the inn south of the Olacion Order Shrine
   (right behind the lottery stand) and then take them back to the bridge.
   This recruitment will continue later, after the Large Man in Vancoor
   Square <#square>
Elena
   After you have told the sick kid all three stories, talk to Elena
   (his sister) and she will join.
   Elena is either visiting her brother in the clinic from 4-6am, or
   tagging along with Anastasia.
Adina
   Speak to Adina with Elena in your party and she will join
   The easiest times to catch Adina is in Anastasia's room from 6-8am
   or 3-6pm, and then visiting her brother from 8-10pm.
Walter (start)
   You can start to recruit Walter at this point, but you won't be able
   to finish until after the split.
   Talk to Walter (he leaves his house in Vancoor Square around 6am and
   is in the Quinton Locker Room until 6pm) and he will ask you to look
   for his wife Sheila if you ever get into the castle. Tell him yes.
   You won't be able to finish this until later on the human path

To progress the game, enter your room during the day. Yuri will wake
Jack up from a nap and take him to Vancoor Square.

The Algandars Plague
   Yuri will wake Jack up from a nap and take him to Vancoor Square.
   Defeat Sheila, and then return to Theater Vancoor to continue the game.

When the above mission is complete, a new mission will be available.
Before going to the Vareth Institute, remove someone from your party so
that you only have three members. The empty slot will be filled by
Daniel when you get there.

Vexatios Vermin
   This will open up a new mission concerning the rats in the magic
   institute (which is the final story for the sick kid.) Leave a space
   open in your party, since Daniel will automatically join you once
   you get there. (If you don't leave an open spot, one of your
   characters will be removed from your party.)


     [princess] Escort the Princess

When you return to Theater Vancoor, you will be given a new mission with
Jarvis and Daniel. This will be your last mission with the Hecton Squad.
It is pretty straight forward: you are to escort the princess, who will
be kidnapped, and you have to find them. Look in the abandoned house
between the two gates near the Vareth Magic Institute and the Olacion
Order. You will see a healing spot and a blue save flag, so use them
both. There is a switch upstairs that will open a secret door on the
ground floor. When you are in the sewers, take time to explore and
collect the treasures that are available. Any time you have a healing
spot, it is an excellent time to level up. If you don't want to do that
now, you can come back later when you are stronger so it will be easier
to collect items.

When you get to the second large square room, continue straight ahead to
the next exit (exit 03), which contains a chest with a Knight Saber,
which has a strength of 17 and CP 5. (This is different than the Knight
Edge, which you got in the locker room of the castle.)

When you are ready to progress the game, look for a large hole in the
wall, which is a sewer pipe, that will take you to the Void Community.
You get there by taking the "01" exit from the second square room. When
the mission is finally completed (sort of), you will be made sergeant
and have your own squad (i.e., your own party).

Top of Page <#top>


     [promotion] Jack's Promotion

Once you are promoted, you will no longer be dragged into any missions
with Jarvis and Daniel. This is much like the free-time missions your
took earlier, but it opens up a number of new recruits, since you are
more famous (and respected) now.

You should avoid Vancoor Square for a while, since that will trigger a
new event. If you talk to Thanos, he will mention a strange man there,
but ignore it for now. Also, stay away from your house during the day;
don't enter until after 9pm, and don't sleep there. (The only reason you
should ever sleep is when you want to force the game to progress.)

Here is who you can now recruit (do Gareth first - see below):

Conrad (Theater Vancoor)
   Talk to him, and he will join and give you 1,000 gold to buy better
   clothes
   You can find him at his house (Lyle's mansion - take the north exit
   from Vancoor Square) from 5am-7, the Quintom Squad room from 9-noon,
   eating at the Begin Eatery from 1-4, and then at home from 6-7.
Daniel (Theater Vancoor)
   Talk to him
   He is in the Hecton room from 8am to 1pm, the Begin Eatery from
   2-3pm, and at Waldo's General Store (where Nash works) from 6-9.
David (Theater Vancoor)
   Talk to him and he will ask you to deliver a letter to Mint.
   Probably the best time to see him is at the Begin Eatery from 10am
   to noon. The rest of the day is spent mostly training.
   Give the letter to Mint, who is just west of the house in the Septem
   Region before 10am, and in Tria Village after 10am
   Return to David and talk to him when he is not training until he joins
Eon (Void Community)
   Talk to him in the Void Basement between 11pm and 3am. He will
   mention his rats are sick, and wonder if Morfin can help
   Talk to Morfin, who refers you to the Waldo General Store (which is
   south of Morfin's clinic, near the gate.) (*Note:* This step is
   optional. You can go directly to Nask.)
   Talk to Nask, the owner of Waldo General Store to get rat meds.
   Give the medicine to Eon and talk to him until he joins
Franklin (Vareth Magic Institute)
   Talk to him with a female in your party. (Non-humans work fine.)
   He is at Club Vampire from 11pm to midnight, and in the Moon Tower
   B1 from 2pm to 4, after which he is in the cafeteria until 7.
Gareth (Theater Vancoor)
   Talk to him when training between 3-6am or 5-10pm. Defeat him and he
   will join.
   *Note: *When you regain control after the Link tutorial, you will be
   in the training room with Gareth training, so recruit him right away.
Gordon (Theater Vancoor)
   Talk to him and defeat him
   You can find Gordon in the Zweit Squad room from 7-9am, and at the
   Begin Eatery from 7-8pm.
Iris (Void Community)
   Talk to her and double her pay (you will pay her 40,000 gold). If
   you haven't recruited Jarvis yet, this can help you reduce your gold
   supply.
   You can find her in the Beast Pit from 6-8am, in the Olacion Order
   Chapel from noon to 5pm, in Club Vampire from 9-11pm, and then in
   the Void office until 2am.
   She is expensive to recruit, but she attacks groups of enemies,
   similar to a lance. If you are going to pick the human path, and
   want to recruit Nyx, you will have to recruit her. The choice is
   yours all the other times through the game.
Jarvis (Theater Vancoor), Giske (Non-Guild)
   You can't be more than five levels below Jarvis. (Of course, I would
   be really disappointed in you if you are more than five levels below
   Jarvis.)
   Make sure you have less than 5,000 gold. If you have more than
   40,000 you can Recruit Iris. Buy the best armor and equiment
   available, and if you still have money, buy berries at Alkaico
   General Store in the Void Community. If you still have too much, get
   some strong cure medicines until you have under 5,000 gold.
   Talk to Giske (the bartender at Carl's pub) who asks you to collect
   some tabs for him.
   Talk to Jasmine in Sun Patty accessories (around the corner) who
   will give you the money.
   Talk to Jarvis who will ask for more time. Agree to give him more
   time. (You can find him talking to Thanos at the desk from
   10am-noon, in the Hecton Room from Noon to 5.)
   *Note: *make sure you don't have more than 5,000 gold. Report back
   to Giske. He will ask you to pay for Jarvis's tab. Since you don't
   have 5,000 gold, you can't pay it right then.
   Make sure you don't talk to Jarvis a second time, or he might give
   you the money for his tab.
   Go fight someplace or sell some of the stuff you bought (at a loss)
   to get at least 5,000 gold, and then give it to Giske. This will let
   you recruit Giske.
   Speak to Jarvis, who will figure out you paid his tab, and you will
   recruit him.
   *Note: * If you have already been told by Thanos about a strange man
   in Vancoor Square, it will trigger a cut scene when you attempt to
   go into Carl's Pub. Don't worry, you will still be able to recruit
   Giske and Jarvis once the cut scenes are over.

Top of Page <#top>


     [square] Large Man in Vancoor Square

*Before you proceed, double check your friends list.*
Look back over the FAQ and make sure that your friends list has the
people should have recruited by now. If you have already decided which
path to take, then you might want to not bother to recruit members of
the other side. Strangely, the first few times you play the game this is
less of a problem, but I have found that after you play it a bunch of
times, you can miss someone thinking you have already recruited them. I
remember recruiting them, but it wasn't during this time through the
game. ;^)

If you have missed anyone, now is an excellent time to do it. Later in
the game, you might have limited time to recruit them. In particular,
make sure you visit Club Vampire and do the "Chains of Fate" task, which
is described below.

When you want the game to progress, enter Vancoor Square, where you will
find a large man wandering about. The game will walk you through most of
this.

Once you have met this large man, you have a couple days before the next
part of the game will kick in. You can postpone this by not going into
your house during the day. Wait until at least 9pm before you enter the
house, and you can postpone the game from progressing. You can use this
trick to make sure you complete all the missions before the game moves on.

Be very careful about avoiding Jack's house during the day. If you mess
up, you could lose the opportunity to recruit Gerald, which in turn
means you won't be able to recruit Elwen and Nyx.

**** MAKE SURE YOU VISIT CLUB VAMPIRE and get the Chains of Fate cut
scene **** If it doesn't trigger, come back later. If you want to
recruit Gerald, don't forget!

You will now have these missions available:

Visit the Bridge that was being built
   This isn't an official mission, but you should do this if you want
   to recruit the builders.
   They will ask you to fetch a copy of their blueprints. Their hotel
   is right behind the lottery in the Olacion Order section (across
   from the general store and behind the lottery).
   You can actually do this before this point in the game, but if you
   haven't done it yet, now is an excellent time. ;^)
Visit Club Vampire
   (aka Chains of Fate)
   This is another "unofficial" mission, but you need to do it if you
   want to recruit Gerald. If you don't trigger a cut scene, try again
   later.
   See the recruitment details for Gerald.
Creatures of the Sewer
   If you have been exploring the sewers, you have probably wondered
   what was the purpose of that large dead end area at the end of the
   path from the right door near the fountain area. It is for this boss
   fight.
   When the fight is over, you might want to equip the Rune Saber. It
   has a higher attack power than you probably have, and it has the
   added effect of Petrify.
   This mission will allow you to recruit Tony. Talk to him on your way
   back out of the sewers.
Treasure of the Goblin Cemetery
   The recruitment suit that you get at the end of this mission
   continually heals you, which is a nice feature. It is also essential
   for recruiting a few black goblins on the non-human path, so don't
   skip this mission. (The black goblin area isn't available except on
   the non-human path.)
   The main boss will keep fading away and appearing elsewhere. Ignore
   all the skeletons - they will keep reproducing until the main boss
   is taken out. I tend to use R1 to lock the target on the boss. Once
   he fades out, use L2 and R2 to search the area and find where he went.
   When you first get to the green goblin area, you will get an
   opportunity to recruit the Goblin Trio. When given the chance,
   decide to let them go.
   Before you go to the cemetery, I suggest you take the first left
   branch to reach the journey pig. This will let you return here easily.
   If you go past the journey pig, through the village, and across the
   bridge towards fire mountain, you will be able to fight some flame
   lizards once. They won't appear on subsequent visits. (Check out the
   photo cut-out just before the bridge. See the Easter Egg section
   <#easter> for more details.)
   Shortly after you get back to the main path towards the cemetery,
   you might see a yellow glow. If you do, stand near it and kick to
   fight the Dagol Turtle, who will give you 8,888 dagols (10,665 if
   you have Pluto's Trophy, and 12,443 if you have two Pluto's
   Tropies.) It isn't there that often, and it is hard to see the
   glint, so make a habit of looking for it each time you are there. It
   is located just to the right of the first tree that arches the road
   from the near to the far side, and to the left of the large rock on
   the other side of the road. (Jack should be standing between the
   tree and the rock, facing away from the camera when kicking.)
   Explore the various paths and look for treasures or use the map to
   go directly to the cemetery. When you get the rainbow crystal, don't
   sell it if you are taking the non-human path. You will need it to
   recruit Row. If you are taking the human path, then you can sell it.
The Ultimate Battle
   The first of two fun fights with the latest "ultimate weapon". If
   you keep doing these challenges, you will get some nice armor, and
   be able to recruit Ursula.
Gonovitch's Dilemma
   If you wondered what was the purpose of that large empty area at the
   end of the dwarf tunnels, it was for this boss fight. Use the lower
   entrance for this mission, not the one you used earlier in the game.
   There will be a dwarf at the cave entrance who will acknowledge you
   as the person from Vancoor. (If you don't see a dwarf, then you took
   the upper path instead of the lower.)

You can now (or soon be able to) recruit the following people:

 * Theater Vancoor <#square-vancoor>
 * Void Community <#square-void>
 * Non-Guild Humans <#square-nonguild>
 * Non-Humans <#square-fairy>

Top of Page <#top>


       [square-vancoor] Theater Vancoor

Caesar
   Talk to him in Vancoor Square when he is staring at the fountain
   (between 6-11pm) with Gareth and Aldo in your party.
Gerald
   *Note: * It is easy to miss Gerald, so make sure you start this
   before the game progresses.
   Enter the Vampire Club in the Void Community. This will trigger a
   cut scene where Nocture will ask you to deliver a letter to Gerald.
   It will be pretty obvious what to do, although you will gain control
   of Jack a few times between the various cut scenes. You can use
   these chances to go and save if you want.
   Some time after Nocturne and Gerald fight it out, speak to Gerald,
   who will tell you that if you can beat him he will join you. If you
   lose, don't worry, you can try again (once per day)
   One strategy I saw on the recruitment wiki was to poison Gerald and
   then run around avoiding him until he dies from the poison. I don't
   care for that approach, but you should at least be aware of it.
   The method that I use is to equip "Full Power", which increases your
   volty strength, and equip the Rune Sword, which has a side effect of
   Petrify. Whenever your VP reaches max, equip your strongest weapon
   and use your volty. As soon as it is over, switch back to the Rune
   sword. Keep hitting him with the sword. If you petrify him, that is
   great, keep hitting him until he becomes unparalyzed. Lock onto him
   (R1) and use your volty as often as you can.
   If at any time, Gerald starts to sparkle, indicating that he will
   soon use his volty, immediately equip the "Fierce Defense" or
   "Complete Defense" skill and use an herb to bring Jack to full HP.
   Then hold down the X button and wait for his volty. If you are at
   100% HP and your Fierce/Complete Defense skill is up the whole way,
   you should have a few HP left after Gerald's volty attack. Quickly
   feed Jack another herb to restore his HP to max again.
   Keep this up until you win.
   You can find Gerald in his room at Vancoor from 9am-2pm, and at the
   Begin Eatery from 7pm-9pm.

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       [square-void] Void Community

Nocturne
   Talk to him with Gerald in your party. Then defeat him in a duel.
   Put Nocturne in the party and keep him there until you get the guild
   leaders. The reason for this is that, besides being a very good
   fighter, Nocturne steals items. You can build up quite a nice
   inventory without having to spend any money. If you keep him for a
   long time, you might want to sell some items before you max out.
   He is at Club Vampire (2nd floor) from 2am-4pm, and then in the Dead
   End Armory until about 7.

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       [square-nonguild] Non-Guild Humans

Bligh
   This is a pain since it is hard to catch him. The actual recruitment
   is fairly easy, though. You can talk to Bligh in Nuevo Village when
   he first gets up around 6am. He walks from his house directly to the
   field, so be standing in the narrow passage way between the two
   houses. You can also talk to him after he comes home for dinner,
   from 4-6pm.
   Talk to Bligh and find out his pipe is missing.
   Go to the Goblin Village, walk through the town, and fight Brie (the
   goblin with the pointy hat). If you win, he will tell you he tossed
   it in the rubbish heap (which is inside the town)
   Find the pipe (it will be sparkling), and return it to Bligh.
Finish recruiting Elef, Ryan, Hip (Non-Guild Human)
   You had to have accepted the mission to defeat the monsters at the
   bridge.
   You had to have gotten them the spare blueprints
   Talk to them after the bridge is finished in their inn where you got
   the blueprints. They are at their hotel in the room behind the desk
   clerk.
Lyle
   Talk to him with Conrad in your party.
   Lyle is Conrad's father. From Vancoor Square, walk NE between the
   two stairs until you get onto a new screen. That is Lyles mansion.
   Go inside the gate and talk to Lyle. He will be jogging around the
   house in the morning and evening.
Tony
   Speak to him after you beat the boss in the sewers beneath Theater
   Vancoor.
   Tony wanders around the sewers. You can usually find him when you
   enter from the Vancoor basement or where he is fishing near the
   water works area (Elwen and Alicia pass it on their way to the
   shrine.) So when you finish the mission, you should see him, so talk
   to him.

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       [square-fairy] Non-Humans

Aesop, Gob, and Monki (Goblin Trio)
   These are the goblins that were stealing elf wine, and then you
   fought on the way back to Radiata.
   When you first cross the bridge into the Goblin country, you will
   meet them again. Beat them in a fight, and then decide to let them
   go, and they will join you.
   If you mess up, then try going through the same area on another day.
Ben
   Kick him three times when he is sleeping (9pm-3am, 9am - 3pm). When
   he sits up, talk to him. Answer "Sure" when asked, and then don't
   hit any buttons until he joins you. He is inside the Goblin Town
   near the fork in the path.
Brie
   Apparently, Brie wants to be a mage. Maybe that is why he wears a
   pointy hat? ;^)
   First, you have to recruit Bligh (see the non-guild section for
   recruiting Bligh).
   After Bligh has been recruited, talk to Brie with two mages in your
   party (magicians from Vareth Institute). If you haven't been
   recruiting any humans, Jill and Christoph are two easy mages to get,
   since you probably have five seeds and threads by now.
Den
   You will find him wandering around on the platforms above the Goblin
   Town. Kick him a total of five times in one day, then fight him.
   If you have trouble running up behind him and kicking, then get in
   front of him and kick him as he passes.
Donkey
   *Note: * You want to recruit him during your first pass through the
   game so that you can get his "Absorb HP" skill.
   Buy all his records and he will join you. When he finishes
   performing, he will walk left and onto the path. You can talk to him
   then.
   Since phongraph records carry over from one game to the next, you
   only have to buy his records from him once. During subsequent games,
   just remove his records from the record player and have them in your
   inventory when you talk to him, so you don't have to buy them again.
   His records are:

     * Invasion
     * Earth Dragon Attack
     * Dwarf Tunnel
     * Tension
     * Conspiracy
     * War
     * Battle 1
     * Battle 2
     * Battle 3
     * Uber-enemy 1
     * Uber-enemy 2
     * Defeat

Gabe
   Gabe is a shop keeper in the Goblin Town. Talk to him when he is
   smoking, and he will ask you to give him some items (50 panic
   powder). Buy them and give them to him. You can buy them at Black
   Rose General Store. Get panic powder, not startle powder (like I did
   once. ;^)
   He is smoking between 4am-8am, noon to 4pm, and 8pm to midnight.
Gobrey
   He is a ghost who is looking for a Tsuchinoko Dumpling. Give him one.
Golly
   Golly is Donkey's biggest fan. Talk to him with Donkey in your party.
Gonn
   Talk to him five times in one day. (They can be right after
   another). The best way to do this is to talk to him when he is near
   the chest to the right of where you recruited the Goblin Trio. He is
   there between 5am and 5pm.
Goo
   Talk to him when you have an empty bottle, and agree to give it to him.
Lin
   Talk to him and he will ask you some questions. Answers are:
   "Handsome", "Responsible", and "Sergeant Lin". (Honesty is not
   always possible in RPG games. ;^)
Mason
   Kick him three times, and then agree to play a game of hide and seek.
   He will hide three different places. You have to find him and speak
   with him.
   He moves pretty fast, so it is hard to chase him and kick him. You
   might want to stand still and kick him each time he goes by rather
   than trying to chase him. I found that standing on the narrow path
   at the far right of his route worked best. It might take you a few
   trys to get the timing down.
   For the first hiding place, find the ladder that goes from the top
   of the platform into a small area. It is in the south-east portion
   of the platforms.
   The second hiding place is in the tent on the highest platform at
   the north-west corder of the platforms.
   The final hiding place is in the tent where you gave Gobrey a
   Tsuchinoko Dumpling. It is the first tent to the right of the exit
   towards the stage area and Fire Mountain.

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     [birthday] Ridley's Birthday Party

When you are ready to progress the game, enter your house during the
daytime. You will get a visit from Leonard, who will give you an
invitation to Ridley's birthday party.

You will have a little bit of time before you will automatically go to
the castle. Hopefully, you have already done everything you could have
before this event.

After the party, you will be able to recruit two characters from the
Void Community: I was able to recruit them before the birthday party
invitation, so you might want to try earlier.

Elmo
   Talk to him and defeat him.
   He is usually in the Void community: outside of Chic Records, in the
   Vampire Bar, or in the Void Office.
Joaquel
   Talk to him shortly before midnight when he is guarding a door in
   the basement of Club Vampire. Agree to guard the door while he goes
   somewhere.
   As soon as he leaves, enter the room and kick things until you find
   the treasures, including a couple of berries.
   Exit the room and talk to Joaquel, who will yell at you.
   Wait until midnight passes and talk to Joaquel again. This time,
   don't move until he comes back. He will then join you.
   If you start this just before midnight, wait until after midnight to
   talk to him the second time.

You will also have some new missions available, once you get another cut
scene with Genius and Ridley and Zane. (Remember to keep away from your
house during the day.)

Stone of Miracles
   If you haven't already recruited Garcia, Wal, and Bran, now is a
   good time to do it.
   If you took my advice and have been visiting the Septem Cave often
   to level up, things should go pretty easy for you. Even if you are
   blinded by the monster, you will still be able to continue hitting
   it. If you have Status Cure, equip it.
   If you talked to Garcia, go back and talk to them outside their
   house until they all join.
   This mission will kick off some cut scenes once Jack returns the
   stone to Kain.
Top Secret Mission
   You will have to fight several robbers on your own. They look like
   the ones near Earth Valley. If you have a spear equipped, this
   battle will be much easier, provided you are using wide swings.
Go to Dwarf Valley with Donovitch
   This isn't a normal mission. Once you are done with the above
   missions, go to sleep at Jack's house to initiate some cut scenes.
   When you get control again, go to sleep a second time and Donovitch
   will visit you in your room. Go with him to Dwarf Valley.
   Most of this is cut scenes, so sit back and watch. When it is over,
   take the journey pig back to Radiata and check with Thanos for a new
   mission.
Build that Body
   If you aren't sure you can beat Achilles, then you should save
   before you try this mission. (That means you should wait until dark
   before you can save.) You can still recruit Achilles later if you
   lose, but I don't think you will be able to recruit Rocky.
   This mission will allow you to recruit Vitas, Miranda, and Achilles.
   It also opens the possibility of recruiting Rocky, who is an
   optional character from the Olacion Order.
   If you haven't talked to any of the characters before in this game,
   Achilles will give a short bio of them, otherwise, they will just
   say hello to each other.

After the training mission, you can start to recruit more people:

Achilles (Olacion)
   If you beat all the monks during the training mission, you will have
   to fight Achilles.
   You won't be able to recruit Achilles yet. Wait until after the
   meeting in the castle, and Kain will assign Achilles and Alvin to
   assist you.
   Beating Achilles will enable the duel with Rocky. The strategy guide
   claims it won't be available until after you return from Wind
   Valley, but I got it sooner. I don't remember exactly, but I'm
   pretty sure it was after the split.
Vitas (Olacion)
   Speak to her after the training mission when she is training in her
   room (between 10am and 5pm). She will challenge you to a duel. Beat
   her and she will join.
Miranda (Olacion)
   After the training mission, talk to Miranda when you are less than
   100% HP so she can heal you. Do that on four separate days, and she
   will join. (You can kick somebody in the area and let them do some
   damage before you beat them. You could even duel Miranda, but I
   could never bring myelf to do that.)
   She is often running around looking for Master Godwin. The easiest
   way to talk to her is when she is not running: from 6-8am she is in
   the chapel, from 3-4 with Godwin when he is teaching the kids, from
   6-7 in Godwin's room, and then 10-midnight outside of her house.
   As soon as you recruit Miranda, put her in your party in place of
   Flora. There are two reasons for this:

     * Miranda is a better healer than Flora
     * You need to get Miranda up to level 35 in order to recruit Godwin

*Note:*
If you are planning to choose the non-human path, this is your last
chance to buy items in Radiata. At a minimum, you should buy all the
strength and defense berries that you want to have available for the
next game. You should also buy any weapons and armor that you might
need. You will be able to buy normal items on the non-human path, so
don't worry about those. If you will be taking the human path, you can
do this even after you beat the Ethereal Queen.

Once you are done doing everything you want, you can enter Jack's house
during the day to progress the game.

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     [split] Jack's Choice - Human or Non-Human Path

If you enter Jack's house during the day, the game will progress. This
will be the set-up for a major decision: which path will you take in the
game. You will get an invitation to go to the castle that evening. You
have until around 7pm before things kick in automatically. You will be
back in your room, deciding to leave for the castle. Before you leave,
Ridley will show up and tell you she is going to the City of Flowers.

This is where you decide whether you will take the Human Path (Go to the
Castle), or the Non-Human Path (Follow Ridley). I recommend taking the
Human Path the first time through the game, and then the Non-Human path
the second time.

If you are thinking of saving the game someplace else, and then
reloading it to take the other path, don't. The only way you get credit
for recruiting all characters will be to start a new game using an
already completed game. For the second game, you will start out with all
your money, all your skills, and some of your items. This will make it
much easier to get through the game the second time around.

In this walk through, the Human Path is presented first, followed by the
Non-Human Path <#path-fairy>.

Top of Page <#top>


   [path-human] Human Path

 * Meeting at Castle <#castle>
 * Leave for Wind Valley <#leavewind>
 * Wind Valley <#windvalley>
 * Duel Gawain <#duel>
 * Meet with Dynas <#dynas>
 * Meet Genius in the Sewers <#genius>
 * Ganz's Letter <#ganz>
 * Fight at Lupus Gate <#lupus>
 * End of the World <#end-human>

This part of the game is only available after the split, and only if you
chose to go to the castle rather than follow Ridley.

Any non-human characters that you previously recruited in this game will
no longer become available for missions. They will still remain in your
friends list in the menu section, but not on the list next to Thanos in
Theater Vancoor.

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     [castle] Meeting at Castle

If you chose to go to the castle, you will show up for a strategy
meeting. After a series of cut scenes, you will gain control outside of
the castle. Make sure you don't sleep at Jack's house until you are
ready to progress to the next part of the game.

You are now free to recruit some more characters, buy new weapons, etc.
If you are short of money, just buy the weapons instead of the armor.
You will be getting two sets of new armor for free shortly.

Once you are done recruiting who is available, you might consider
leveling up some of the new characters. On the other hand, if you have
been leveling up a lot, it will take a long time to raise the new
characters to the current level of your party. Since will you probably
be replacing them with the guild leaders eventually, you might want to
keep that in mind.

Thanos will tell you about a guy in Carl's Pub who turns out to be Jasne
crying into his beer about Ridley leaving. You should visit Kain,
Ortoroz, and Ray C. Ross (who is the owl in the president's office of
the Vareth Institute). Each of them will assign two members to work with
you. You should recruit them at this time, along with some additional
characters that are now available:

Achilles (Olacion)
   Speak to him after you speak with Kain.
   Achilles mostly tags along with Kain, so when you talk to Kain,
   Achilles should be nearby.
Adele (Non-Guild)
   You can't recruit her yet, but make sure you talk to her if you want
   to recruit her later.
Alicia (Vancoor)
   Talk to Elwen when she is at the shrine in the sewer (from noon to
   3pm.)
   Talk to Alicia in the shrine (between 10 and 11pm.)
Alvin
   Speak to him after you speak to Kain.
   You can find Alvin outside Morfinn's Clinic from 11am to 5pm, or
   listening to Ernest from 6-8pm,
Godwin (Olacion)
   Talk to him with Miranda in your party at level 35 or better.
   He is all over the place, but the best chance to catch him is in his
   room from 6-9am, or teaching the kids from 2-4pm
Fernando (Olacion)
   After you recruit Godwin, you should be able to recruit Fernando,
   assuming you recruited everyone else that you could.
   You need to have recruited Fernando's people, which is basically
   everyone on the right side of the Olacion Shrine. They were probably
   recruited in the following order: Edgar, Flora, Achilles, Vitas,
   Miranda, Alvin, and Godwin.
   You might have to wait a day or so after you recruit the last
   prerequisite (probably Godwin). If you talk to Fernando in his room
   from 1pm-6pm, he should join. If not, go back and check your friends
   list.
   He starts out at Vancoor Square from 5am-6am, works out on the
   bridge above Jack's house from 7-9am, in the chapel from 11am-1pm,
   and in his room from 1pm-6pm.
Kain (Olacion)
   If you have recruited everyone in the Olacion Order (except perhaps
   Rocky), talk to Kain. He will thank you for pulling the members
   together, and join you.
   He is mostly in the chapel, but he also stands on the bridge above
   Jack's house from 3-4pm.
   As soon as you recruit him, put him in your party. He is the best
   healer in the game because he heals all party members
   simultaneously. Unlike Romaria, however, you need to tell him when
   to heal.
Derek (Vareth)
   Speak to him after being told he will work with you.
   He is in the Star Tower B1 from 2 to 6, and then at the intersection
   between Vareth and the gate listening to Ernest play music from 8 to 9.
Felix (Vareth)
   He is another character from the Vareth Institute that will be
   assigned to you. Talk to him and he will join. He is in the library
   from 9am to 2pm (you talked to him when you recruited Solo.)
Herz (Void)
   If you read the sign in the Void Community area, you know that Herz
   is a master of disguise. You have probably encountered her several
   times in one of her disguises. To recruit her, you have to uncover
   them by talking to her with the real character in your party. You
   can do this in any order, but each time has to be on a different day.

     * Go into Blade Pharmacy (near your house) between 4 and 6pm with
       Conrad in your party.
     * Go into Verontier Armory (in Vancoor Square) between 7-8pm with
       Caesar in your party.
     * Go into Carl's Pub (where Giske is the bartender) with Alicia in
       your party between 8pm and 2am.

   Just for fun, before you reveal her disguises, go into these stores
   during those times. If you stand outside before the start time, you
   will see Herz going into the store, then go inside and you will see
   the disguised character. If you are standing inside the store when
   she enters, you will see the disguised character enter. In other
   words, she magically changes characters while entering the store.
   If you remember, during the very beginning of the game, when you got
   kicked out of the Knights, and went into Carl's Pub with Ganz, you
   saw Alicia there. It was really Herz.
   After you have discovered her disguise, when she goes into the
   store, she stays as herself.
Interlude (Void)
   Talk to him after he is assigned to you. He is in the back room of
   the Void basement (where Eon has his rats) most of the time. If he
   isn't there, you can look in the sewers below the same room. Keep
   talking until he duels you. After you beat him, keep talking until
   he joins.
   *Note: * Make sure you keep talking to him. The first time I played
   this game, I stopped after the duel, thinking he had joined. It
   wasn't until I was most of the way through the non-human path before
   I discovered he was not on my friends list.
Ortoroz (Void)
   Ortoroz is usually in the Void office or in the Vampire bar. Talk to
   him and he will ask you to find some meteorite fragments. They are
   in the Septem, Tria, Dova, and Adien regions.
   There are four of them, but they can only be found between midnight
   and 6am. Don't be standing in the area before midnight, or it may
   not be there. If that happens, try leaving the area and coming back.
   If you have the feathered earring equipped, you can get all four
   fragments in a single day. You can take as many days to do this as
   you want, however.

     * The one in the Tria region can be found where you rescued Gonber
       from drowning.
     * The one in the Dova region can be found where you fought the
       bear to recruit Mook.
     * The one in the Septem region can be found where you recruited
       Rocky, and where you can sometimes find the Tsuchinoko (after
       your pass Septem cave, keep going to the end of that road -
       don't take the turn off.)
     * The one in the Aiden region can be found by exiting Lupus Gate,
       making the first left and go to the short dead-end segment.

   Once you have given him all the fragments, talk to him the next day
   and he will join.
Sonata (Void)
   He plays hide and seek with you. Talk to him, and he flies off. Find
   him and talk to him again. You will eventually recruit him. He will
   be on the bridges outside of the following gates: Heliforde,
   Echinda, and Lupus Gate, in that order.

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     [leavewind] Leave for Wind Valley

*NOTE: Before you leave, read the note on recruiting Dynas in the next
section.*

When you are ready to progress the game, sleep at Jack's house. You will
not be able to leave Radiata City by any other gate than the Echinda
Gate until you return from Wind Valley, so make sure you've done
everything you need before this. You will see some cut scenes with Ganz,
Flau, and Rynka, and then Al will wake you up and tell you about Wind
Valley.

When you wake up, some new missions will be available. You can do them
either before or after your trip to Wind Valley. I like to do them
before since both missions give me some nice armor that can come in handy.

Here are the missions that are available to you:

Please Stop Lord Star
   This mission will allow you to recruit Lord Star and Sebestian, and
   get some armor that will prevent all status afflictions. Complete
   this mission before the battle golem and it can help you with that
   fight.
The Real Ultimate Battle
   This mission will allow you to recruit Ursula
   Instead of getting paid, you will get some new armor that resists
   all status afflictions. Personally, I think this is one of the best
   armor available; it has decent defense, and the lack of all status
   ailments more than makes up for anything else. If you are taking
   damage, equip the Auto Cure skill, and you should be fine.

Here is how to recruit those characters:

Star (Vancoor)
   After the mission, talk to him.
   Star (and Sebastian) clean the Vancoor building from 9am to noon,
   starting in the bathroom, and finishing in Elwen's office. From
   1-4pm they are in Vancoor Square, and then back in their room by 9pm.
Sebastian (Non-Guild)
   Talk to him with Star in your party.
   Sebastian keeps the same schedule as Star, so go to where Star would
   be, and you should find Sebastian.
Ursula (Vareth)
   Talk to her after the mission. (That would be after you reported
   back to Thanos, not just after the battle)
   She is in the Moon Tower on the first floor from 10am-1pm, in the
   cafeteria from 1-4pm, and in the lab with Claudia from 6pm-3am.

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     [windvalley] Wind Valley

You can fight the fake transporters for experience, collect the various
treasures, or go directly to the Wind Dragon. Since I like to level up,
I spend some time fighting before seeing the dragon.

The Strategy Guide has a map that can show you which are real and which
are monsters. There might also be a map available from gamefaqs, but you
really don't need any maps to tell the difference. If you approach a
real transporter, the camera will turn to show you where you will be
blown across to. If you approach a fake transporter, this doesn't
happen. Kicking a real transporter will send you to another spot (after
you move into the wind stream); kicking a fake transporter will start a
battle.

Read the notes about recruiting Dynas before you approach the back area
with the Wind Dragon. I never had any problems with the Wind Dragon,
even with only three in my party. Remember, however, that I tend to
level up a lot, so if you don't do that, you might want to be more
careful. Keep an eye on Miranda, since she doesn't tend to heal herself
unless you tell her.

Dynas (Non-Guild)
   If you have an empty place in your party, Dynas will join you for
   the start of the battle (which will add him to you Friends List). He
   will be defeated before the second half, so if you already have
   recruited him from a previous game, you probably don't want to keep
   a space open for him.

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     [duel] Duel Gawain

After the Wind Dragon has been defeated, you will get some cut scenes
and end up near Fort Helencia, where you will encounter Sir Gawain. You
won't be able to win this battle, so don't worry about it.

Next will be some more cut scenes where Jack is in the Castle Infirmary.
After this will be a touching cut scene with Ganz and Cody. When its all
over, you will gain control of Jack outside of the castle.

When you get back from Wind Valley, you can do the previous missions if
you decided not to do them before. You will also have some new missions
available:

Letter of Defiance
   This mission will allow you to recruit Rocky. (The strategy guide
   claims you can get this after the duel with Gawain, but I got it
   after the monk training mission.)
   Even though Rocky is part of the Olacion Order, you don't need to
   recruit him in order to get Kain.
Alien Monster
   (Algandars Castle, which is on the back road past Septem Cave)
   This will allow you to recruit Ardoph and Dimitri, and get the Demon
   Armor, as well as the Book of Angels that Leona is looking for.
   You might not be able to find Ardoph and Dimitri until the day after
   you complete your mission, so if they aren't there when you try,
   wait until the next day.
   The Demon Mail has a very high defense, but continually drains Jack
   of HP. Personally, I don't care for it, but others think it is
   great. If you wear it, then you should either have Auto Cure
   equipped or have the healer concentrate on healing you.

At this point, the Blood Orc homeworld should be available (I was able
to get to it after recruiting Rocky but before going after the Alien
Monster. You might want to try before recruiting Rocky.) Go to Ocho,
where you got the Smilodon Fang, and follow the path to where Jack
decided to go back when you were first here. This is a great place to
level up, especially since there is a journey pig at the entrance. (Make
sure you kick the pig so you can get back there easily.) If you haven't
recruited Claudia yet, now is your chance to get a Blood Orc's Horn. Put
Nocturne in your party, and he will probably steal some for you. I had
him in my party the first time I got there, and he stole four just from
the critters on the outside.

Here are the characters you can recruit at this time:

Adele (Non-Guild)
   You can't recruit her yet, but make sure you talk to her if you plan
   to recruit her later.
Ardoph (Vareth)
   Talk to him after you get back from Algandars Castle
   You can find him in the Vareth cafeteria from 10 to 11am, and in the
   Moon Tower B1 class room from noon to 4pm. After that, he is next
   door in the lab with Claudia.
Dimitri (Vareth)
   Talk to him after you get back from Algandars Castle
   He is at the Begin Eatery from 11am to 6pm. (Nice job, eh?)
Leona (Vareth)
   Talk to her in the Vareth Institute Library (noon-7pm) and find out
   she is looking for a book. Check with the librarian who tells you
   Aldo has it checked out. Talk to him and give it to her. (You can do
   this step earlier in the game.)
   Next she is looking for the Book of Angels (that you got from the
   Algandars Castle) Give it to her and she will join.
Rocky (Olacion)
   *Note: *Rocky doesn't have to be recruited in order to get Kain.
   Go to the lake northwest of the Dark Elves' place. You can take the
   journey pig, go east, and then southwest when you get a chance. Talk
   to Rocky and defeat him.
   After your first fight, talk to Rocky near the ruins beyond Septem
   Cave (the same place where you found the meteorite and/or
   tsuchinoko), and he will join.

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     [dynas] Meet with Dynas

When you are ready to progress the game, sleep at Jack's house. You will
be invited to meet with Dynas. Then you will meet the large man from
Vancoor Square again, who wants you to help him get into the castle.
(Great timing, huh?) Go to the castle for the meeting, watch the movies,
and you will gain control outside of the castle when the meeting is over.

At this point, you will be allowed to enter the castle. This means you
can recruit some new characters, and finish recruiting Walter. Remember
that you need Walter if you want to get Elwen; the rest of these
characters are optional, and you only need them if you want to recruit
all available characters. If you have already done that in a previous
game, you probably don't want to bother with any of them except for
talking to Sheila in the prison. You should probably go right back
inside the castle and recruit the following.

If you ever leave the castle but Jack thinks he can't get back in, walk
left a bit to another door. This is the public entrance, and you can get
into the castle from there.

Astor (Non-Guild)
   He is the cook of the castle, and remembers when he cooked for your
   father. Talk to him and he will join. You can talk to him across the
   counter when he is in the kitchen, or while he is walking in the
   halls. He is in the banquet hall kitchen from 7am-11am, and in the
   banquet hall itself from 3pm to 9pm.
Charlie (Radiata)
   Talk to him. He is in the training room from 7 am to noon. Of
   course, you could try walking into the woman's room. ;^)
   Put him in your party with Nina and watch how the two behave the same.
Nina (Radiata)
   Talk to her while she is training (from 2-7pm) and agree to duel. Do
   this again on a following day and she will join.
Patrick (Radiata)
   Catch him drinking in the dungeon watchroom around 8pm and promise
   not to tell. (If he isn't drinking when you go in, go back out and
   try again.)
   When done, go next door and recruit Putt (see below).
Putt (Radiata)
   Catch him sleeping one room to the right of Patrick around 9pm and
   promise not to tell.
   The Official Strategy Guide claims he is in the watchman's room, but
   he is actually in the next room.
   After you have recruited Putt, visit Shela's cell and talk to her.
Walter (Vancoor)
   After recruiting Patrick and Putt, find Sheila's cell and talk to her
   Talk to Walter (he leaves his house in Vancoor Square around 6am and
   is in the Quinton Locker Room until 6pm), to give him Sheila's
   message and he will join.
Zeranium (Non-Guild)
   Talk to Lord Larks until he tells you about a former fighter. The
   easiest way to find Lord Larks is around 8am in the audience chamber.
   Talk to Zeranium (the trash picker) until he joins.
   To find Zeranium, start at the trash area near your house, go west
   and south, then follow the path to where Ernest plays, then go to
   the Void community, checking all the trash areas you pass. He will
   probably be picking through the trash somewhere along that route.

If you sleep twice at Jack's place, you will be ready to leave for Fire
Mountain. There will be some cut scenes, of course, so sit back and take
note. If you look at the face of the fire dragon when he takes off, you
might notice a resemblence to a previous character. You will have to
travel through the Goblin town, so either avoid the goblins or fight
them for experience. (You will have to fight some, but there are others
you can avoid.) The map in the strategy guide doesn't show it, but there
is a recovery circle at the north east section of the first area of Fire
Mountain.

There are two areas to Fire Mountain. In the first area, rocks will rise
and fall periodically. This means that you can't move forward or back
for a certain period of time. If you get to a ledge, wait a few seconds
to see if a passage opens up. If you are on a section that goes up and
down, it won't go down as long as you are standing on it.

If you didn't get the Blood Orc's Horn earlier using the training
method, or at the Orc's homeworld, here is where you can find one. You
will see a Blood Orc on a side path as you first enter, and there is
another one on top of a vine/branch at the west end of the first area.
Once you enter into the second area (climb down a vine at the north west
corner of the first area and walk through the opening), you will find
some more.

You can go right when you emerge in the second area for some more
experience, but the Fire Dragon is to the left.

When you get close to the Fire Dragon's home, a cut scene will take
over. Also, after you beat the Fire Dragon, you will automatically be
taken back to the castle. This means you want to come back later and
open a couple of chests that you couldn't get on your first trip. You
might as well do it right after you get back, since you probably
remember how to get in and out of there by now.

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     [genius] Meet Genius in the Sewers

A new mission will be available concerning the sewers again. Be very
careful before you take on this mission. It will trigger two events:
Ganz's Letter, and the Fireworks Date. If you don't want either of them
to kick in, you should avoid finishing the mission.

Secret of the Sewer
   This will allow you to recruit Genius
   If you wondered about the shrine that Elwen and Alicia visit every
   day, there is another strange thing down there.
   Head there, but this time you will see a cut scene when you get to
   the square room. It appears that the original builders of the city
   constructed some things down there.
   Genius will show you some strange paintings and explain a few
   things. He is trying to figure some things out, but is stumped. You
   will actually give Genius a clue to solving his riddle.

When the cut scenes are done, you will be outside of the place where
Genius is staying. Go back inside and talk to him to recruit him.

Once the mission is complete, you can recruit the following:

Genius (Vareth)
   When the cut scene is over, go back in and talk to him.
Curtis (Vareth)
   Genius should finish out the Vareth Institute. If you recruited
   everyone else, talk to Curtis in the Observatory from noon to 9pm.
Thanos (Vancoor)
   If you completed all missions and reported back to him, he should
   join you at this point. If he isn't ready, you probably forgot to
   talk to him after a mission, or didn't do one of the missions, and
   there is most likely no way to fix it.
Elwen (Vancoor)
   Thanos should complete recruitment of Theater Vancoor. Talk to Elwen
   and beat her in a duel. If you lose, you can try on another day (for
   as many days as you need)
   Since Elwen has King of Day, fight her at night.
Nyx (Void)
   Talk to him with Curtis, Kain, and Elwen in your party, then beat
   him in a duel. (I'm not sure what happens if you lose, so save
   before you fight him.)
   Since Nyx has King of Night, you should fight him during the day.
   If you haven't met Nyx yet, talk to Ortoroz after you completed the
   mission to find meteorite fragments. He will eventually take you in
   to meet Nyx. Once this is done, you can go in there any time.

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     [ganz] Ganz's Letter

According to othe Official Strategy Guide, the Blood Orc homeworld is
now accessible. It actually has been available since after you recruited
Rocky, possibly after your duel with Gawain. That is a great place to
level up if you need to. That is in the Desneuf Region, the area next to
the Ocho region where you got the Smilodon Fang. If you tried to go
there earlier in the game, Jack would stop and say something about
coming back later. This is later. None of the other new areas that you
visit from the non-human path are available.

If you haven't done the non-human path, near the journey pig is a rock
with a rope hanging down. Use it to descend to the Orc Caves. One of the
things you can get there is a Kings Toadstool, which isn't of use
(except you can sell it), but it is used to recruit some black goblins
on the non-human path. If you have trouble finding it, look at my
section Finding the King's Toadstool <#toad>. It doesn't carry over
between games, but you can sell it to the first store in the Void
Community (Faid General Store). If you enter the store, the shop keeper
will notice that you have the Kings Toadstool, and offer 100 for it. I
have had people tell me it will then be available for subsequent games,
but that has not been my experience.

If you sleep at Jack's house, you will receive a letter from Ganz,
followed by some other cut scenes. The following new characters will
then be available:

Flau (Void)
   Talk to her.
Rynka (Void)
   Talk to Cody and he will tell you he lost his mother's necklace
   Find the neclkace in the Path to the Beast Pit (in the corner near
   where Rynka hangs out) and give it to Cody.
   Talk to Rynka, who will thank you.
   Talk to Rynka on another day, and she will ask you if you know what
   Cody (her son) wants for his birthday.
   Talk to Cody in the Levante Store in the morning (7-10am). He will
   tell you he wants one of the swords there.
   Talk to Rynka, and she will admit that she would rather not buy him
   a sword
   Talk to Cody at least a day later.
   Talk to Rynka until she joins
   You can do all of this in less time than you might think.

   Day 1
       Talk to Cody early in the morning, find the necklace and give it
       to him.
       Find Rynka and talk to her (she will hear about what you did
       even though she and Cody haven't seen each other.)
       You have the rest of the day to do whatever you want.
   Day 2
       Just past midnight, talk to Rynka near her street lamp, She will
       ask you what Cody wants for his birthday
       Wait for Cody in the Levant store until 7am when he comes in.
       Talk to him and he will tell you he wants the toy sword.
       Go to Rynka, who is by now standing in front of Vancoor in the
       morning and tell her what Cody wants.
       You have the rest of the day to do whatever you want.
   Day 3
       Talk to Cody early in the day (like 7am in the store).
       Talk to Rynka in front of Vancoor until she joins.
       You are done recruiting Rynka and it is still early in the day.

   So you can recruit her in three days and still spend most of those
   days leveling up or doing whatever else you want.

At some point around this time, when pass your mailbox you will notice a
letter inviting you to the fireworks. This is a cut scene type event.
The person you will be watching the fireworks with depends on which
female has been in your party the most. (For this date, Charlie counts
as a female.) Obviously, this only includes the characters you could
have recruited by this point in the game (so, for example, Natalie isn't
available). Not all females are listed in the strategy guide (Elwen
isn't, for example.) See the separate section on the Fireworks Date
<#fireworks>.

Someone suggest a way to postpone the Fireworks Date, but I haven't had
time to test it yet. Since the Fireworks start in the evening, go into
your house during the day and then sleep. That way, you will be asleep
when the time for the Fireworks arrives. I'm not sure if that will work,
but if it does, it might be possible to postpone the Fireworks Date
until after Lupus Gate, which is how you could get Natalie for a date.
If anyone tries this, let me know how it works.

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     [lupus] Fight at Lupus Gate

If you sleep, you will set in motion a number of cut scenes, ending in a
battle at Lupus Gate. You are going to have to do two battles in a row,
so you might want to save your volty for the second fight (or equip
"Save Volty" so you don't use it all up on the first attack.)

When all the cut scenes are over, you are standing outside of Lupus
Gate. You probably want to go back and save before you start the end of
the game.

At this point you can recruit two more characters:

Natalie (Radiata)
   Talk to her and she will join. You can find her in the fourth floor
   hallway from 6am to noon, and then in the meeting room from 1 to 7.
Leonard (Radiata)
   Talk to him with Natalie in your party. You can find him training
   room from 9am to noon and then 6pm to 10pm.

Notice you will have to recruit Natalie, run down to Vancoor and put her
in your party, and then run back up to the castle to recruit Leonard.
Consider using the feathered earring. Don't forget to take Natalie out
of your party before you get into any tough fights. It is highly
unlikely you will ever actually use these characters, so if you have
recruited them in a past game, you can ignore them this time.

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     [end-human] End of the World

If you haven't bought and read the Book of Power (Use Volty), now is a
good time to do it. You will have tough fights, and Elwen's volty does
much more damage than yours.

Leave the Lupus Gate and make your way through the Septem Region. Take
the turn that goes to the Algandars Castle, but then take the road that
branches off to the south. If you tried this before, a soldier blocked
the bridge. He is gone now. There will be very strong enemies guarding
that area, so it is a good place to level up. Follow the main path to
the end of the area, and you will be in the Desneuf Region. The really
nice thing is that there is a journey pig there, so coming back will be
much easier. Continue onward until you reach the actual final area, and
then go back if you want to recruit Adele.

Adele (Non-Guild)
   You can't recruit Adele until after your final duel with Gawain and
   you enter the End of the World. She is either in her house, or
   standing by the well talking to a friend.
   Keep talking to her until she joins. She is pretty weak, so I'm not
   sure you will be able to use her, since it is so late in the game.
   But, if you want to recruit all the characters, it only takes a
   Journey pig to the Tria Region.
   You might have noticed several times in the walkthrough where I said
   to visit Adele. I'm not sure all of those are needed, but I do know
   that if you don't visit her until the end, you won't be able to
   recruit her.
   The idea was that you were to talk to her after a number of events
   and tell her what has been going on. The first time I played this
   game, I never talked to her much during the actual game, and Jack
   kept telling her all the things that had happened, one after
   another. At other times, she didn't join, so you have some freedom
   when recruiting her, but don't push your luck.
   My guess is that you need to talk to her before the split, telling
   her that you got fired as a knight, and after the two times you
   fight Gwain. But I could be wrong, and since I tend to be paranoid
   about missing people, I talk to her every so often when I am in the
   area.

The City of White Nights is a series of ladders and sand falls,
something like chutes and ladders. Down ladders are always safe to use.
Some up ladders will take you to the next level, while others will break
and drop you down to some level below. Likewise, if you walk into a sand
spill, you will get knocked down a level or two. Walk slow to avoid them
(try equiping Leprechaun). The sand falls only flow for a short time,
and then you can move past them. As you saw when you first entered, the
path is actually circular, so if you move off the right side of any map
you are using, will you be located somewhere on the left side.

The Strategy Guide has a map with one glaring omission (well, several,
but one that will seriously impact you if you are using it.) Around the
first blue arrow indicating falling from a broken ladder above you is a
sand spill that isn't indicated in the map. The first couple times I
kept forgetting and kept getting knocked off. I then had to figure out
where I was and continue from there.

Actually, you want to get knocked off at a certain place so that you can
move to the next area. The only way to get from the entrance area to the
final boss is to drop down to a different level at some point. The
gamefaqs website has a map that has some stuff missing, but will show
you some things that aren't on the map in the Strategy Guide. I will
provide instructions on how to get all the treasures, since there really
isn't any good map that I know of for this area. Walk slowly so you can
see the sand falls, otherwise you will fall off and probably have
trouble figuring out where you are and how to get back. I will tell you
which ladders to use, but be careful that you don't lose count when you
get into some fights.

When you enter the actual area, walk up the only ladder, and head right.
Ignore the first ladder and then walk slowly (avoiding the sand fall,
which is just past the down ladder) so you can go up the second ladder.
Work your way to the top to find a Tsuchinoko Dumpling, by going left,
up, right, up, left, up, and left (don't go one step past the up ladder
or you will get hit with a sandfall), and then up for the dumpling. The
dumpling is at the left end of the top level, even though the Strategy
Guide claims otherwise. (Remember that they will carry over between
games, so even if you don't think you need it, you can save it for a
later game.)

Backtrack down four levels, then travel to the far right and go up the
last ladder. To the left of you should be a healing spot that isn't in
the Strategy Guide map. At this point, you want to fall down to a lower
level: the first up ladder to your right will collapse. Climb it and you
will fall down a few levels, or walk a few more steps and let the sand
fall take you to the same place. (If you load a completed game with
Continue, and try to beat the boss again, the up ladder will still be
collapsed, so you will need to use the sandfall.)

The Falvern is at the far right of the current level. Walk slowly, but
if you get knocked down to the next level, you can take either ladder
back up. There is a sandfall just before the third up ladder, but be
careful because if you encounter any fights, it is easy to lose count.
You will have a small fight when you open the trunk, but you get
experience and gold when it is over, followed by the sword. Equip the
sword, since it has a higher attack power (127) than what you probably
have, plus a side effect of death, and a CP of 15, which is very handy.

The remaining sections have lots of sand falls, so make sure you walk
slowly to avoid them. If you mess up, then hunt around until you find
the healing point or the empty chest for the Falvern to get your bearings.

From the Falvern chest, head back to your left, ignoring the first two
up ladders, and avoiding the sand fall (which is just after the second
up ladder), then go up the third (or fourth) ladder. Go right (watch for
a sand fall just before the up ladder), then go up, right (watch for the
sandfall just after the up ladder), up, left (again, don't go too far),
up, left, up, right, up. It isn't as confusing as it sounds, since in
many cases there is only one ladder going up.

You will be standing on a platform where you can go either left or
right. If you don't want the Monk Bangle (Defense +10), skip to the next
paragraph. There is only one Monk Bangle per game, so if you did a
Continue from a completed game, the chest will be empty. Also, the Monk
Bangle doesn't carry over between games, so you have to get it during
each game. If you want the Monk Bangle, go right and take the second
ladder up (avoid the sand fall between the two up loadders), and to the
far right (watch for a sand fall when you start) for the chest. After
you get the bangle, head left (again, watch for the sand fall), down,
and then left until you get to the first down ladder (watching for a
sand fall), which will bring you back to where you started. (Don't go
down the ladder).

Move left (avoiding the sand fall between the down and up ladders) and
up the first ladder. *You can see the stairs, but read the next few
sentences before you move.* By this time, you might have developed a bad
habit of standing close to a sand fall, then running across the area
when it stops. Don't do that here. There are two sand falls right in a
row. Walk left, wait until the first one stops, then walk through the
area and stand just to the left of the first sand fall. Wait until the
second one finishes before you move on. The first one is right when you
get to the top of the ladder. You will be standing between two sand
falls if you do it right. When the left one finishes, go left and up the
stairs.

Step in the healing spot and save at the flag. At this point, you might
want to put the controller down, get up and walk around a bit, patting
yourself on the back for getting to the end of the game. All that's left
is the final boss. Keep an eye on the health meters, commanding Kain to
heal as soon as someone takes any significant damage. Whenever the volty
meter fills up, instruct Elwen to use her volty, which is much stronger
than Jack's.

Watch the ending and the credits, and then confirm that you want to save
your game. This will allow you to visit the post-game bonus dungeon,
and/or start a new game, keeping some of the stats from this one. See
the Post-Game section <#post> for what to do next.

Top of Page <#top>


   [path-fairy] Non-Human Path

 * Meeting with Parsec <#parsec>
 * Goblin Haven <#goblin-haven>
 * First Fight with Gawain <#gawain1>
 * Defeat Gawain <#gawain2>
 * Escort Gawain to Fort Helencia <#helencia>
 * Fight Elwen <#elwen>
 * Cross and the Fire Dragon <#fire>
 * End of the World <#end-fairy>

These parts of the story are only available after the split, and only if
you chose the follow Ridley instead of going to the castle. Obviously,
all the characters you can recruit from this point forward are non-human
(except for a few like Gawain, Ganz, and Ridley). Any human characters
you might have recruited will be removed from your Friends List, which
is now located in Fort Helencia. All the humans will still be in the
Friends List from your menu.

Instead of getting missions from Thanos, you will now be getting them
from the council room. If you aren't sure what to do next, go in there
and talk to everyone.

You and Ridley want to head towards the City of Flowers. You can't take
the journey pig, which means that you will be fighting with just you and
Ridley. If you have been leveling up, that won't be a problem;
otherwise, fight agressively so that Ridley can't get into too much
trouble. You can use the "Back Away" command if you need to. You
probably want to save your game in a different slot before you leave
town. If you didn't recruit that many non-humans, you might run into
problems with too weak of a party. If so, then you will want to level up
a bit.

You will see a number of cut scenes on your way there. The healing spot
outside Fort Helencia is gone, but the save flag is still there.

When you arrive, you will see a cut scene. When you get control, travel
to Fort Helencia. You will be fighting any critters along the way on
your own, or you can take the travel pig instead. The healing spot will
be back, and you probably want to use it and save before you approach
the fort.

More cut scenes, some fights, rinse, repeat. When it all ends, you will
wake up inside Fort Helencia, and Ridley will tell you to come to the
strategy meeting. This is your new room, with all the comforts of home:
a save point, a bed, and a record player.

Top of Page <#top>


     [parsec] Meeting with Parsec

There will be a cut scene of a strategy meeting, where you will learn
the background story from the fairy creatures' point of view. If you
took my advice and have already chosen the Human Path in a previous
game, you might notice that many of the major story events in the game
still happen, but you get the see the other side of the story. In both
paths, Cross is obnoxious.

Before you take off on your first mission, you should talk to everyone.
This is one of those "get to know everyone and where they are" type
recruiting sessions that forces you to talk to everyone. You will get a
chance to recruit some more characters, and to set up two shops. To
start the recruiting process, visit the shop in the south-east corner of
the fort. There you will find two shop owners arguing over who should be
able to set up a shop. This will start you on one of those lengthy
quests to help you get oriented to your new surroundings. You will have
to keep visiting different people until the decision is made that each
of them can open their own shop. Once that happens, you can start the
actual recruiting.

Once the two shops are set up, you can buy items and also recruit the
shop owners. If you have already played the human path and the bonus
dungeon, you should have a lot of money which you can use to recruit the
two shop owners. If you are short of money, after you recruit one shop
owner, you can sell back all the items you bought (at a loss, of course)
to get some of your money back.

You will be stuck with Ridley and Coco, so you can pick one other
character to be in your party. You will notice the Friends List in the
Courtyard of the fort. I recommend Romaria, your healer, as the fourth
member of your party, since she is also a good fighter and you will
probably be taking her to the end. But you could use Gil after you
recruit him. Since Gil attacks all enemies at once, and if you have been
leveling up, you might not need healing that much.

Here is who you can recruit at this point:

Franz
   Talk to him
Gil
   Talk to him and beat him in a duel
   I suggest you replace Santos with Gil as soon as you recuit him. Gil
   has an attack that hits multiple enemies. If you like being the one
   doing the victory dance at the end of battles, you will have your
   work cut out for you.. This is a very aggressive party.
Grigory
   Talk to him. He is outside the fort drinking a lot
Keane
   Buy 10,000 worth of items from her, and then talk to her in a few days.
Marsha
   Spend 10,000 in her store and then talk to her in a few days.
Naom
   Talk to him. He is outside the council room.
Serva
   Talk to him when he is training between 9am-noon, or 2-7pm, and
   agree to fight him.
   Beat him on three different days and he will join. (If you sleep, it
   will be the next day and he will be training soon.) You might want
   to check with Marsha and Keanea to see if they have noticed that you
   are their best customer.

Top of Page <#top>


     [goblin-haven] Goblin Haven

After you have recruited everyone possible, you can set off for Goblin
Haven. The journey pig isn't working, so you will have to walk. Stop off
at Wind Valley if you want some experience and money.

When you get to the Goblin Haven area (across the bridge), take some
time to wander around and get used to the area. There are a lot of
dead-ends, and a few loops as well. Kick the mushrooms to go up and
down. Coco will leave your party once you arrive at the actual place.

If you run across Ricky before you arrive, you can recruit him if you go
back to the bridge and find his wolf.

Once you arrive at Goblin Haven, use the Save Point. you will be able to
start recruiting some more characters:

Ricky
   Find and talk to Ricky to find out that he is missing Happy (his
   wolf. Ricky is a wolf rider). Find Happy near the bridge that you
   used to get to this area and give him an herb
   Go back and talk to Ricky.
   Technically, you can do this before you get to Goblin Haven, but
   there is no big advantage of doing this. If you run into Ricky on
   your way to Goblin Haven, then recruit him; if you don't, find him
   on your way back home.
   Remember where you found him, since you will have to find Dominic in
   the same location later with Ricky in your party. Fortunately, by
   that time the journey pig should be working.
Georgio
   Talk to him with a two-handed sword equpped when he is staring at
   his toadstool. (Between 4-10am or 2-11pm) If you have something else
   equipped, he will mention a two-handed sword.
   Fight him and win.
Jan
   Talk to him, then fight him and win. He will ask you a question
   before the fight.
   He is in the southeast corner of the lower level. He is hard to find
   if you don't know where to look.
Niko
   Talk to him when he is spaced out (11am-2pm, or 10-11pm)
Pietro
   Talk to him and then immediately defeat him three times in a row.
   (He isn't hard, but you can always save before hand.)

Top of Page <#top>


     [gawain1] First Fight with Gawain

You can't beat Gawain the first time, but you can then fight him as
often as you want. He doesn't recover HP between fights, so eventually
you should be able to beat him. Take advantage of the healing circle
between fights.

Danny
   Danny is apparently bi-polar. Sometimes he is normal, and sometimes
   he is crazy. It isn't always easy to tell the difference, however. I
   /think/ that if he is standing, he is normal, but if he is sitting,
   he is spaced out.
   Talk to him when he is spaced out. On another day, talk to him when
   he is normal. Try talking to him just after midnight.
   Danny sells Life and Mystery Berries between 7am-9pm when he is normal.
Giovanni
   Talk to him when you are wearing the recruitment suit you got from
   the Goblin Cemetery.
Luka
   Talk to him while wearing the recruitment suit.
Sonny
   Talk to him while wearing the recruitment suit

Top of Page <#top>


     [gawain2] Defeat Gawain

After you defeat Gawain, more folks are available for recruiting:

Alan
   Talk to him. He wants five Matango larvae from the Sediche Region.
   Find five larvae, then give them to Alan.
Bosso
   You will find him being attacked by two Matangos
   Defeat the Matangos, then defeat Bosso in a duel
Gawain
   He joins automatically as part of the game. (Similar to Ganz and
   Ridley on the human side.)
   *Note: *If you don't have the King of the Night skill, fight enough
   link battles with Gawain so you can learn it. Your only chance is on
   the trip back to Fort Helencia, so don't take the journey pig if you
   need to learn it.
Lufa
   Lufa is the cook in the Dark Elf Village
   Talk to her and learn she wants some of Polpo's soup
   Give her some soup. You can get it from Polpo
   *Note: *Polpo's soup will carry over from game to game. So, if you
   have previously played the non-human path, you can collect the soup,
   and then give it to her during some future game after the Friends
   List is created.
Pitt
   Talk to him
   He lives in the first house in the City of Flowers.
Polpo
   Talk to him while he's cooking his soup, and find out he needs three
   Deathclover Larvae
   Find them in the area outside of Goblin Haven.
   Go back to Polpo and give him the larvae
   If you talk to him, he will give you some of his soup (restores 160
   HP) once a day.
Row
   Talk to him and find out he wants a rainbow crystal
   Give it to him. (It is in the Goblin Cemetery area if you don't
   already have it.)
   Row is in the Elder's house from 10am-3pm
Shin
   Shin hates humans. You need to soften him up.
   Talk to him and beat him on four separate days.
   You can find him in the City of Flowers outside the house that is
   just before the Elder's house from 5-5:30am, 9am-12pm, 3-6pm, and
   11-midnight. and at other places within the city at other times
   during the day.
   If you sleep and take the Pig to the City of Flowers, you will be
   able to catch him. Keep that up until he joins.

Top of Page <#top>


     [helencia] Escort Gawain to Fort Helencia

After you have recruited as many characters as you want, you can head
back to Fort Helencia for some cut scenes. If you don't already have the
skill "King of the Night", do enough link fights to learn it from
Gawain. When you get back, take everyone out of your party, then talk to
Coco, so you can recruit him. (Make sure you don't talk to Mikey before
this; otherwise, he will be stuck in your party until you get back from
Algandars Castle.

At this point, the following characters should be available now or shortly:

Coco
   Talk to him when you have an empty party (you are all alone)
Dominic
   Talk to him with Ricky in your party. He will be at the same place
   you originally found them.
Fan
   Talk to her near the entrance to the City of Flowers (which is
   anytime except 2am-9am) and agree to a race.
   Run to the tree at the top of the hill outside of the Eastern
   entrance to Fort Helencia. If you don't normally have the Feathered
   Earing equipped, you probably want to put it on for this race. It
   also helps if you take the journey pig.
   (Fortunately, she doesn't travel during any fights, but you might
   want to clear out that path before you accept.) If you lose, you can
   go back and try again (even on the same day), as long as she is
   still there.
Few
   Talk to her when you have a party consisting of a dark elf, a green
   goblin, and a black goblin.
Mikey
   Mikey is my favorite dark elf. He refuses to hate humans, even if
   you pick the Human Path. You won't be able to recruit him until
   after you go to Algandars Castle with him.
   Talk to him when he is reading in the brewery (10pm-2am) and he will
   ask for a story
   Tell him a story. Repeat this on three separate days. If you talk to
   him just before midnight, wait a few minutes and talk to him after
   midnight.
Clarence
   Talk to him after you have recruited all of the dark elves
   You won't be able to recruit him until after you get Mikey, who is
   after Algandars Castle. Don't forget to recruit Lufa and Zida, if
   you didn't to that at the beginning of the game. You can get the
   Polpo soup from Goblin Haven, and you will be going to Fire Mountain
   soon, where you can get a Blood Orc's Horn.

Once you recruit Clarence, you should consider swapping out Martinez for
him. You are about to recruit JJ, who is a massive Green Orc and a heavy
hitter that you might consider for your final party. If you look at
Clarence, his stats are better than Martinez. On the other hand, if you
have been leveling up, Martinez may have much higher HP than Clarence.
You might not have time to build up Clarence before you recruit JJ, so
the choice is yours. Either Martinez or Clarence should be fine in your
party.

Here are the missions you will have available. You will have to do them
sequentially in this order: (i.e. you have to start and finish the first
mission, then start and finish the second one, etc.)

Algandars Castle
   Talk to Mikey, and he will ask you to take him to Algandars Castle
   to look for a possible cure to the disease. The inside of the castle
   is basically the same as it was during the Human Path, including the
   boss fight.
Goblin Cemetery
   If you talk to Marco, who sells books just outside the upper
   entrance to Goblin Haven, he will ask you to find a book in the
   Goblin Cemetery. He will be surprised that you know the secret
   password. Most of the monsters in the cemetery are too weak to be of
   much use for leveling up, so just run through to the boss room and
   then run back out. (it's times like this that I wish the game had an
   "Exit" spell.)
   When you give the book to Marco, he will pay you a reward. He isn't
   available for recruiting yet, but he will be available shortly.
Special Ore
   Talk to Dyvad in Fort Helencia, who is looking for some very special
   ore in Earth Valley. Use the journey pig to get there and find it
   for him in the mine. Enter the mine using the upper bridge that you
   used at the start of the game. Go straight through the first room,
   then take the exit in the back wall in the second room, down the
   elevator, and then straight through the third room.
   As with the Goblin Cemetery, the monsters here aren't worth fighting
   too much, so just run through the area and get the treasure. Of
   course, you will have a boss fight at the end, but it isn't that
   tough. When you give the ore to Dyvad, he will give you a Deep Lance
   (which you probably already have). Talk to him again and you can
   recruit him.

Top of Page <#top>


     [elwen] Fight Elwen

When you are ready to progress the game, sleep in Jack's room and watch
some cut scenes. When it is over, you should head towards Fire Mountain.
Before you go, though, you can revisit Goblin Haven to recruit Marco.
(You can use the journey pigs, which makes this easy.)

When you start across the bridge after the Green Goblin Village, you
will run into Elwen. You don't have to beat her, but if you want to try,
it won't be easy. For starters, you want to fight her at night, since
she has King of the Day. What makes this easier is that your whole party
will be fighting her, not just you. If she starts to flash, then defend
and let your party fight her until she has used her volty. (Sometimes
she uses her volty to cure herself.)

If you aren't at around 1,500-2,000 HP, and you want to beat Elwen
(which isn't actally necessary), then consider leveling up before you
try. If you have a lot of money, you can buy some Life Berries from
Danny at Goblin Haven. Take the journey pig to Lupus Gate, then walk to
Earth Valley, taking all the side roads. (See the discussion on leveling
up <#level> in the intro.) Use the money to buy more Life Berries. Keep
this up until you are either 1,500-2,000 HP or too bored to continue.

If you beat her, you can proceed to Fire Mountain. If she beats you, she
will let you proceed to Fire Mountain. After the fight, the following
should be available. (Actually, they are available before now, but the
official strategy guide claim they are only available now.)

Dyvad
   Talk to him.
Marco
   Talk to him when he is reading (not selling) a book (10pm to 6am).
   Answer "Ignore it", "Save them", and finally, "That person is crazy."
   The Official Strategy Guide claims you can't recruit him until after
   fighting Elwen, but I was able to do it before then.

Top of Page <#top>


     [fire] Cross and the Fire Dragon

If you didn't get a Blood Orc Horn for Zida yet, here is where you can
get one fairly easily. This area is basically the same as when you are
on the Human Path, so read that section if you haven't done that yet.

You can't beat Cross, so don't worry about the fight. As with the Human
Path, there are two chests that you won't be able to get to this time
through the area (because after the cut scenes, you are returned to the
fort). Don't forget to come back later and get them.

At the end of the fight, sit back and watch a bunch of cut scenes. You
won't get Parsec's match for the Non-Human Path.

Ganz and Ridley are available for your party for a while. Ganz will be
in your final party, so you might want to keep him in your party to
level him up as much as possible. The other option is to ignore Ganz and
basically fight with just three members, ignoring Ganz. I have usually
ignored Ganz, but when playing the game while editing version 5.0 of the
FAQ, I kept him with me. He will probably never be a good fighter, but I
was able to handle the fights when he was in the party pretty well, and
after about level 60 he was less of an embarassment. ;^)

When you want the game to progress, speak to Gawain. When you next get
control, you probably want to equip your new sword. Speak to Zane to get
your next assignment.

Negotiating with the Orcs
   Zane will ask you to convince the Green Orcs to join them.
   J.J. is near the City of Flowers. Use the journey pig, then go west,
   north, then north and east. (This is where a Tsuchinoko can be found
   sometimes.) It doesn't matter how you answer his question.
   You will have to go to the Blood Orc home world in order to get J.J.
   to join. There is a journey pig nearby, which makes returning easy.
   Go down the rope and keep making your way down to the bottom where
   you will fight Galvados, the head Blood Orc.
   On your way down, find the King's Toadstool, which you need to
   recruit a few black goblins. You can only carry one at a time, so
   you will have to come back each time you need one. If you have
   trouble finding it, see the section on finding the King's Toadstool
   <#toad>. When you are all done, talk to J.J., and then report back
   to Zane.
   Return and talk to J.J., and then talk to Zane.

At this point, the following are available for recruiting:

Doppio
   Talk to him while you have a Kings Toadstool. Beat him in a fight.
   After the fight, you will give him the toadstool. He is outside of
   the entrance to Goblin Haven near the journey pig. He is sometimes
   hard to see because he often stands close to the wall that is higher
   than him.
   You can get a King's Toadstool from the Blood Orc's area. You can
   only carry one at a time, so expect to be making several trips here.
   There is a rumor that you can get one during the human path, if you
   sold it in the Void Community during the previous game and bought it
   back in this game before the split. It is a false rumor.
Drew
   Talk to him when you have a Kings Toadstool and give it to him.
Galvados
   After you report back from the mission where you fought him, go back
   and talk to him, agree to fight, and beat him.
Gruel
   Talk to him after you have recruited all the Black Goblins
   He is a good candidate for your final party. See the discussion below.
JJ
   Talk to him and get the Blood Orcs to agree to join (and release the
   Green Orcs). After you beat Galvados, go back and tell J.J., and he
   will join you.
   I have mixed feelings about JJ. He has lots of HP, but he is slow. I
   found him pretty useless for the final battle with the Ethereal
   Queen, but that might be because of my fighting style. I kept Gil to
   the end and did just fine. In fact, I did fine with Martinez instead
   of Gil.

Now that JJ is available, you might want to add him to your party, which
would then be: Jack, JJ, Ganz, and Romaria. Galvados has better looking
stats, but I found that he missed more than he hit, while JJ was pretty
good. Having said that, Gil might be better choice than JJ at this point
(if you have been leveling up a lot). I found that Gil attacked more,
but was more likely to get killed off since he gets in close when
fighting. So if you decide to use Gil, you might need to pay more
attention to the health of your party. I have used both and won, so
either is possible. If you have Martinez built up to a pretty high
level, you can probably use him instead. When Gil and Martinez are both
at level 99, Martinez has more HP, Strength, and Defense, while Gil has
more Evasion and Luck. Another character I didn't experiment for a long
time is Gruel, the leader of the black goblins. I tried dueling him for
his Magic Mirror accessory, and found out that he was very hard to beat,
so I put him in my party in the Dragon Lair Cave and he did very well.
His volty is very powerful. As always, it depends on your fighting
style; the choice is yours. This is one reason why the game has so much
replay value; you can keep trying different combinations in your party.

When you are ready to progress the game, sleep in your room. You might
want to save your game, just in case. You will have two fights and a
bunch of cut scenes. When you get control again, talk to everyone,
ending with Zane. Don't miss Naom along the west wall of Marsha's shop.

You will get a letter from Ridley. You will automatically be sent to the
meeting place when the time comes, so you can spend time leveling up,
recruiting, or whatever. When the cut scenes end, you will probably be
attacked by Paul, who is normally stationed at the Ressan Tree.

After the cut scenes, sleep to progress the game. You will have to
include Ganz in your final party. If you have been fighting with him
already, then fine, but if the rest of your party is a lot above Ganz,
you might want to level him up a bit. You will run into Gerald, but
again, it will be your entire party fighting, not just you.


     [end-fairy] End of the World

Except for the cut scenes, this is basically the same ending as the
human path. And, except for Ganz, I think it is a better ending than the
human side, which is one of the reasons I recommend that you save this
ending for last.

Read the section from the human path <#end-human> for instructions on
how to get through the City of White Nights. As I mentioned before, I
haven't found any good walk-throughs for this area, and the Official
Strategy Guide has a number of mistakes, so I provide you detailed
instructions there.

Top of Page <#top>


   [post] Post Game

 * Introduction <#post-intro>
 * Dragon Lair <#dragon>
 * Distortion Corridor - Stair Maze <#distortion1>
 * Distortion Area - Element Rooms <#distortion2>
 * Distortion Area - Valkyrie <#distortion3>
 * Distortion Area - Secret Doors <#distortion4>
 * Distortion Area - Shrine of Fray <#fray>
 * Subsequent Games <#subseq>


     [post-intro] Introduction

Once you have finished the game, wait until the end of the credits. You
will be asked if you want to save the game. Say "yes", and save the game.

When you go to load your saved game, it will have a red mark on the save
slot. You will have the following choices:

Continue
   This will allow you to beat the final boss again, or wander around
   doing whatever else you want to do. All your money, items, and
   experience will be intact.
   You will also be able to access a bonus dungeon. The journey pig map
   will include a new location, which is the bonus dungeon.
   You can use this time to gain more money and buy berries and other
   items, which can help you in the next game. If you equip the
   Training Device and Pluto's Trophy, you can get huge amounts of
   experience and money. Once you are at level 99, the experience won't
   matter as much, but you can use the money for buying things.
Strong from the Start
   This term is confusing, since it sounds like "Game Plus" from Chrono
   Trigger. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way, but with some
   planning, it can come close. It will begin a new game, but your HP
   and experience are reset to the beginning of the game. You will keep
   all of your skills, money, and some of your items (berries carry
   over, which you can use to up your stats at the start of the new
   game). None of your weapons, equipment, etc. are retained, with a
   few exceptions (e.g., Feathered Earing). For a list of what carries
   over, see What Carries Over to Next Game <#carry>.
   Before you select this option, read the paragraph on raising money
   and buying berries in the Dragon Lair section <#dragon>.
New Game
   Start a new game, but don't retain anything from the previous game.
   Probably the only reason you would ever use this option is because
   the saved game was from somebody else.

Post Game <#post>

Top of Page <#top>


     [dragon] Dragon Lair

You have two goals for the post game bonus dungeon: (1) You want to
level up so that you can beat the Etheral Queen, and (2) Gain money so
that you can buy berries for the next game. When you are ready to start
a new game, buy as many berries as you can so that you can start the new
game with higher stats and lots of money. Remember that you aren't able
to buy berries until you get to Theater Vancoor, so just having lots of
money at the start of a new game doesn't really help that much. Better
to beef up your starting stats using berries, and still have lots of
money to buy stuff once they become available. After you have what you
think are enough berries, sell all the armor and weapons except what you
are currently using (in case you decide to fight some more), and sell
all your accessories except the two that carry over: The Feathered
Earring and the Training Device. (Supposedly you can equip two training
devices and get even more experience.)

When you go into the bonus dungeon, you will be in the center of a
pillar that is inside a circular room with four doors around the outside
of the room. If you walk back into the center column, you will be given
the opportunity to leave. If you leave, you can come back and continue
with the dungeon. It is probably a good idea to go back and save your
game after each dragon (certainly before the ultimate dragon.)

The bonus dungeon has two parts. The second area isn't available until
you have cleared out the first area. The first area has four branches,
one for each element. At the end of each path is the corresponding
dragon. There are a number of side paths, and some nice items. If you
travel clockwise from the entrance, you will encounter paths to the
Earth Dragon, Wind Dragon, Water Dragon, and Fire Dragon. Once all four
dragons have been defeated, a fifth path will open up to a new dragon
directly across from the entrance to the area. This last dragon looks
silly, but it is pretty tough. Save your game before you try it, and
equip something to prevent or shorten status ailments.

After you have defeated the fifth dragon, the second area opens up. If
you walk into the center column, an additional option appears that will
allow you to proceed to the second area.

Post Game <#post>

Top of Page <#top>


     [distortion1] Distortion Corridor - Stair Maze

The second area will take some getting used to. It is basically a set of
dungeons connected together. Just like the outside world, all the
monsters are regenerated at midnight. This means that if you run back
and save the game, you can return to where you left off with little or
no fighting. Of course, you might also want to spend time fighting here
so you can level up more. At this point in the game, you can sleep at
Jack's room if you want to reset all the monsters in the dungeon.

The first area is a series of screens with stairs that look pretty much
the same. You enter from the south east corner, and can exit through
either the north or west sides. If you pick the wrong exit, you will be
returned to the starting screen, which you can easily recognize because
of the red switch in the southeast corner. Stepping on the switch will
return you to the previous area. (If you have the Official Strategy
Guide, the west exit of area 1 connects to area 3.)

The first time in this area, take the north, north, then west exits, and
you will find a Tsuchinoko Dumpling. Either back track, or take a wrong
exit to return to the starting location.

After getting the dumpling and returning to the starting point, take the
west, north, and north exits. From this location, there is a strength
berry through the north exit.

Going west then north will take you to a new area that looks similar,
but slightly different. The screen will be enclosed within a dark
margin, and the exits are different. From this new area, take the
northwest exit (go left down the stairs and then up towards the west
side), and you will find yourself reappearing in a new set of steps in
the southeast corner. Follow the steps up and then to the right, and you
will appear walking across the screen about 1/4 from the top. Keep
walking (don't go up the stairs to the north) and you will appear a bit
below where you started across the screen, and eventually end up in a
different looking area.

Post Game <#post>

Top of Page <#top>


     [distortion2] Distortion Area - Element Rooms

This new area starts with a long corridor. Take the western exit and you
will end up riding across a chasm on a moving platform. While riding the
platform, you will see a series of symbols. Make a note of them, since
they are the key to getting through this area. You will go up some
stairs and enter a series of rooms with four exits, each marked with a
different symbol. Choose the symbols in the same order as you saw
earler. If you mess up, you be returned to the starting area and see the
symbols again. When you get to the last room, before you go out the last
exit, take a detour through the south door to find the Valiant Mail.

If you have trouble remembering, the correct doors are north (green),
east (blue), north (red), east (pink), east (black), south (yellow),
south (yellow) again and open the chest, then north (yellow) and east
(gold).

Post Game <#post>

Top of Page <#top>


     [distortion3] Distortion Area - Valkyrie

Once you get through the maze of rooms, you will find a healing spot.
When you exit to the southeast you will encounter Valkyrie. If you beat
her, she will join you. She will also give you some really powerful
weapons that you probably want to equip.

This is a great time to go back and save, and put Valkyrie in the party
in place of Nyx, or whoever your weakest fighter is. Your final party
should be Jack, Valkyrie, Elwen, and Kain. To get out of this part of
the dungeon quickly, make all the wrong moves to get sent back to the
"start" (which when going out is the end). For example, when you go into
the first square room in the Distortion Corridor, walk straight across
and exit through the west door, which will take you out to the part with
all the stairs in that last part that was different than the rest.
Backtrack to get out of that square, go down the steps and up the other
one, which should take you back to where the red square is. Step on the
red square and you are back to the start, where you can exit.

Post Game <#post>

Top of Page <#top>


     [distortion4] Distortion Area - Secret Doors

When you get back to where you beat Valkyrie, step on the transporter to
get into yet another area. In this area, there are hidden doors. If you
walk near the spot on the wall where a hidden door is located, you will
see a swirling pattern. Kick the wall and the door will appear. The maps
for this area in the Official Strategy Guide are all messed up, so don't
blindly believe them. You want to make your way west when possible until
you find the Boundary Crest, which is the seal for the exit from this
area. (The exit is towards the east).

You will find two special doors that are only open during either day or
night. If you can't get through one, come back after the time of day
changes. Just before the actual exit you will encounter a character
called Lezard who you will have to beat.

Post Game <#post>

Top of Page <#top>


     [fray] Distortion Area - Shrine of Fray

You will exit to an area with a long corridor. At the end of the
corridor is a boss. Once you beat that boss, the same area will look
messed up, and a second boss will be encountered.

The first boss is Gabriel Celesta. The hard part of this battle is you
start out confused. You probably want to equip the "Status Cure" skill
before you enter the area, which will allow you to start fighting
sooner. These last two bosses are much harder than the ones you've
encountered before. When your volty guage is full, you probably want to
command Valkyrie to use her volty, which does much more damage than
Jack's or Elwen's.

After you beat Gabriel Celesta, you should return to Jack's house and
save. The Etheral Queen is much harder. The way I finally managed to
beat her on the human path was to keep Jack far away from the Queen and
not fight at all. Keep an eye on everyone's status. As soon as the volty
guage is full, command Valkyrie to use it. If anyone's health gets down
a bit, have Kain cure them. Keep this up, and eventually she will be
defeated. She will occassionally move over to where Jack is, so simply
move away to the farthest section of the area. A number of the queen's
attacks will cause formations to appear on the floor. Avoid those
patterns and you should be fine.

I didn't work out this approach until my third time through the game,
taking the human path. I had Jack, Elwen, Kain, and Valkyrie all at
level 99, and it took three Volty attacks to finish the battle.

This battle is much harder for the non-human path: keep Jack out of the
way, and keep directing Romaria to heal whoever is the lowest character
in your party. This means the other two party members (probably Valkyrie
and somebody like JJ or Gil), will be doing all the fighting. There is
no time limit, so just be patient and play conservative. Have lots of
cure items. She inflicts status ailments like blaze, bind, petrify. You
want to have lots of items to cure your entire party as well as
celestial nectar to raise characters after they have died.

If you don't have any luck with the above approach, there is a second,
but it is expensive: use tscuchinoko dumplings, which fill your volty
guage. At the start of the battle, command Valkyrie to use her volty.
Then take a dumpling, which refills your volty guage, and tell her
again. Keep this up until you win. You should have at least 3 dumplings
by the end of the game: (1) at City of White Nights, (2) on the path to
the Water Dragon, and (3) from the stair maze in the Distortion
Corridor. If you chose the human path first, then by the time you get
here on the non-human side, you should have at least 6 dumplings (3 from
the first game and 3 from this game). That should be more than enough to
win. If not, then you can always spend some time finding more dumplings
<#dumpling>. Even if you run out of dumplings, your volty guage will
gradually increase just from all the fighting. I was able to win this
battle using 6 dumplings plus 2 volty attacks that didn't require
dumplings. You can use an analysis ball to see your progress if you
aren't sure.

If you first choose the human path, you will have a much better chance
of winning this battle. This will give you the Tri-Emblem skill. Since
it carries over between games, you don't get anything from the second
battle (Jack wakes up in his room saying it was all just a dream). There
is no real reason to fight this battle more than once. So, if you are
having too much trouble, then simply continue to raise money for the
next game.

Once the Ethereal Queen has been beaten, the bonus dungeon is reset. The
first area has only four paths, and the dragons are back. You can go
through the bonus dungeon again. The only difference is that instead of
Valkyrie, you will be fighting the golden dragon.

Since money is carried over between games, you can spend time fighting
and earning money. If you buy the Pluto's Trophy from San Patty
accessories or Keane's shop in the fort, you will win about 20% more
gold than otherwise. The bonus dungeon lets you earn a lot of money,
which you can then carry over to your next game. If you start off the
next game with a lot of money, it makes the game easier since you can
afford the most expensive weapons and armor. Another good use for money
is to buy berries from the Alkaico General Store in the Void Community.
I generally like to buy the Strength and Defense Berries. Unfortunately,
there is no shop in the non-human path that sells all those berries,
(Danny sells Life and Mystery berries when he isn't spaced out) so you
should buy whatever you need before the split. Remember that you won't
be able to buy berries at the start of the game; you will have to wait
until you get to Theater Vancoor. This means you should have enough
berries at the start of the game to beef up Jack's stats. If you then
equip the Training Device, which increases how much experience you get,
you should be able to get through the start of the game without any
problems.

Post Game <#post>

Top of Page <#top>


   [subseq] Subsequent Games

The major portions of this walkthrough are aimed at the first two times
you play the game. If you follow my suggestion, you will play it first
using the human path, followed by the second time using the non-human
path. During these two games, you can recruit all of the available
characters, learned and maxed out all of the status skills, learned all
the weapon skills (including the volty attacks), and learned all the
links. You have probably also accumulated considerable money and items
by this time.

When you start a subsequent game, your goals are probably different than
the first two games. You don't need to recruit all available characters,
and you already know all the skills you need. During subsequent times
through the game, you can spend time enjoying the details and
experimenting using different characters in your party. During one of my
play throughs of the game while writing version 6.0 of this document, I
tried adding Lufa, since I could add her early because I had Polpo's
soup from a previous game. She did surprisingly well, and had the
additional benefit of having a Pluto's Trophy equipped, so I was able to
earn additional money. If you haven't read the section on Easter Eggs
and Silly Things <#easter> this would be a great time to do that.

You probably want to equip the Training Device so that you and the
characters in your party will gain additional experience. I usually
leave it equipped the entire game, switching to Pluto's Trophy for more
money when they have leveled up enough. I also usually leave Tri-Emblem
equipped the entire game, unless I need some protection from status
ailments. Don't forget to buy and read the books you want (I often go to
issue a battle command, only to find out that I didn't do that.)

During these times through the game, you are more likely to add weak
characters during later stages of the game. If your party starts taking
a lot of damage after you have been promoted, remember to use links and
have Auto Cure equipped to help keep your early party members alive.

A major change during these times through the game is that you only need
to recruit the characters you want to recurit: either because you want
them in your party, or because they are required to recruit someone else
that you do want. For example, if you are using the human path, then you
probably want to use Kain, which means you need to recruit everyone from
the Olacian Order. The same is true of Vancour, assuming you want Elwen.
It is unlikely, however, that you want Curtis and Nyxx, so you only need
to recruit the people you want from Void or Vareth. The only ones I use
from those groups is Lilly and Cecil. For the non-human path, once you
recruit Martinez, Santos, and Romaria, you don't really need to recruit
anyone else until you swap out Santos for Gil. You can later recruit
Gruel, JJ, or whoever you want in your final party. JJ is certainly easy
to recruit, but I think that Gruel is worth the extra effort. The
Strategy Guide shows a final party of Jack in Demon Mail, Gruel,
Galvados, and (of course) Ganz.

Post Game <#post>

Top of Page <#top>


   [groups] Members of Each Group

 * Theater Vancoor <#groups-vancoor>
 * Olacion Order <#groups-olacion>
 * Vareth Institute <#groups-vareth>
 * Void Community <#groups-void>
 * Non-Guild Humans <#groups-non-guild>
 * Non-Humans <#groups-non-humans>

This section can help you if you aren't sure that you got everyone is a
given group, or if you can't find how to recruit a particular character.
For example, if I said you should be able to recruit Curtis now, and you
talk to him but nothing happens, then you probably missed somebody in
Vareth Institute. You should then look at your friends list (not from
the main menu, but from the book at either the Theater Vancoor or Fort
Helencia) and compare the list of members in this section to your
friends list. You should be able to identify who is missing, and then
try to recruit them.

If you find someone that you need to recruit, but don't remember how to
recruit them, find them in the following list, and click on the
character's name to be taken to the section in the game when you can
recruit that character. If you are using the text version of this FAQ
instead of the HTML version, you will see a link next to the name of the
character. Compare that link with the table of contents at the top of
the FAQ to find out when then can be recruited. (I strongly suggest that
you use the HTML version on my web site if you are doing this; it is
much easier to click on the link than search for the tag.)

There are some people who you can only recruit at a certain time, or
that have other requirements such that you might not be able to recruit
them. (For example, to recruit Thanos, you had to have reported back to
him after each mission, and finished all the missions.) There are others
where you will have to perform several steps before you can recruit
them. For these characters, there are links to each step of their
recruitment.


     [groups-vancoor] Theater Vancoor

You need to recruit everyone else in Theater Vancoor in order to recruit
Elwen.

 * Aldo <#init-vancoor>
 * Alicia <#castle>
 * Bruce <#init-vancoor>
 * Caesar <#square-vancoor>
 * Carlos <#init-vancoor>
 * Conrad <#promotion>
 * Daniel <#promotion>
 * David <#promotion>
 * Dennis <#init-vancoor>
 * Elwen <#genius>
 * Gareth <#promotion>
 * Gene <#init-vancoor>
 * Gerald <#square-vancoor>
 * Gordon <#promotion>
 * Gregory <#init-vancoor>
 * Jarvis <#promotion>
 * Paul <#init-vancoor>
 * Rolec <#init-vancoor>
 * Star <#leavewind>
 * Thanos <#genius>
 * Walter <#first> (finish <#dynas>)

Groups <#groups>     Top of Page <#top>


     [groups-olacion] Olacion Order

The Olacion Order is divided into two factions headed by Fernando and
Anastasia. You need to recruit all the other members of a faction before
you can recruit the leader. You need to recruit both leaders in order to
recruit Kain.

 * Achilles <#birthday> (finish <#castle>)
 * Adina <#first>
 * Alvin <#birthday> (finish <#castle>)
 * Anastasia <#first>
 * Clive <#init-olacion>
 * Cosmo <#init-olacion>
 * Dwight <#first>
 * Edgar <#init-olacion>
 * Elena <#first>
 * Eugene <#init-olacion>
 * Fernando <#castle>
 * Flora <#init-olacion>
 * Godwin <#castle>
 * Grant <#first>
 * Kain <#castle>
 * Lulu <#init-olacion>
 * Miranda <#birthday>
 * Rocky (optional) <#duel>
 * Vitas <#birthday>

Groups <#groups>     Top of Page <#top>


     [groups-vareth] Vareth Institute

You need to recruit everyone else in the Vareth Institute in order to
recruit Curtis.

 * Aidan <#init-vareth>
 * Ardoph <#duel>
 * Cecil <#init-vareth>
 * Christoph <#init-vareth>
 * Claudia <#init-vareth>
 * Cornelia & Rachel <#init-vareth>
 * Curtis <#genius>
 * Derek <#castle>
 * Dmitri <#duel>
 * Ernest <#init-vareth>
 * Faraus <#init-vareth>
 * Felix <#castle>
 * Franklin <#promotion>
 * Genius <#genius>
 * Jill <#init-vareth>
 * Johan <#init-vareth>
 * Leona <#duel>
 * Marietta <#init-vareth>
 * Morgan <#init-vareth>
 * Ursula <#leavewind>

Groups <#groups>     Top of Page <#top>


     [groups-void] Void Community

In order to recruit Nyx, you need to have Curtis, Kain, and Elwen in
your party, which means you have to recruit everyone from the other
groups before getting Void the leader.

 * Alba <#init-void>
 * Butch <#init-void>
 * Elmo <#birthday>
 * Eon <#promotion>
 * Flau <#ganz>
 * Golye <#init-void>
 * Herz <#castle>
 * Interlude <#castle>
 * Iris <#promotion>
 * Jared <#init-void>
 * Joaquel <#birthday>
 * Lily <#init-void>
 * Nocturne <#square>
 * Nyx <#genius>
 * Ortoroz <#castle>
 * Pinky <#init-void>
 * Rynka <#ganz>
 * Solo <#init-void>
 * Sonata <#castle>

Groups <#groups>     Top of Page <#top>


     [groups-non-guild] Non-Guild Humans

There is no requirement to get all these, but there are some you
probably want to recruit for the skills they possess. Also, if you
recruit everyone you get to see some artwork in your friends list.

 * Adele <#castle> (also <#duel>) (finish <#end-human>)
 * Astor <#dynas>
 * Bligh <#square>
 * Bran <#init-human>
 * Charlie <#dynas>
 * Dan <#init-human>
 * Dynas <#windvalley>
 * Elef <#first> (finish <#square>)
 * Garcia <#init-human>
 * Giske <#promotion>
 * Gonber <#init-human>
 * Hip <#first> (finish <#square>)
 * Howard <#init-human>
 * Keaton <#init-human>
 * Leban <#init-human>
 * Leonard <#lupus>
 * Lyle <#square>
 * Mook <#init-human>
 * Morfinn <#init-human>
 * Natalie <#lupus>
 * Nick <#init-human>
 * Nina <#dynas>
 * Patrick <#dynas>
 * Putt <#dynas>
 * Ryan <#first> (finish <#square>)
 * Sarval <#init-human>
 * Sebastian <#leavewind>
 * Stefan <#init-human>
 * Sunset <#init-human>
 * Synelia <#init-human>
 * Tarkin <#init-human>
 * Tony <#square>
 * Wal <#init-human>
 * Wyze <#init-human>
 * Yack <#init-human>
 * Zeranium <#dynas>

Groups <#groups>     Top of Page <#top>


     [groups-non-humans] Non-Humans

 * Dark Elves <#groups-darkelf>
 * Light Elves <#groups-lightelf>
 * Green Goblins <#groups-greengoblin>
 * Black Goblins <#groups-blackgoblin>
 * Dwarves <#groups-dwarf>
 * Others <#groups-misc>

If you choose the non-humans path, you have the chance to recruit all of
these folks. They are not divided like the humans groups (except by
race), although there are certain characters you can't recruit until you
recruit specific others, and in a few cases, all the other members of
their race.


       Dark Elves

 * Chatt <#init-fairy>
 * Clarence <#helencia>
 * Coco <#helencia>
 * Hyann <#init-fairy>
 * Lufa <#init-fairy> (or here <#gawain2>)
 * Marsha <#parsec>
 * Martinez <#init-fairy>
 * Mikey <#helencia>
 * Rika <#init-fairy>
 * Romaria <#init-fairy>
 * Santos <#init-fairy>
 * Serva <#parsec>
 * Zida <#init-fairy>


       Light Elves

 * Alan <#gawain2>
 * Fan <#helencia>
 * Few <#helencia>
 * Franz <#parsec>
 * Gil <#parsec>
 * Keane <#parsec>
 * Pitt <#gawain2>a\
 * Row <#gawain2>
 * Shin <#gawain2>


       Green Goblins

 * Aesop <#square>
 * Ben <#square>
 * Brie <#square>
 * Den <#square>
 * Donkey <#square>
 * Gabe <#square>
 * Gob <#square>
 * Gobrey <#square>
 * Golly <#square>
 * Gonn <#square>
 * Goo <#square>
 * Lin <#square>
 * Mason <#square>
 * Monki <#square>


       Black Goblins

 * Bosso <#gawain2>
 * Danny <#gawain1>
 * Dominic <#helencia>
 * Doppio <#fire>
 * Drew <#fire>
 * Georgio <#goblin-haven>
 * Giovanni <#gawain1>
 * Gruel <#fire>
 * Jan <#goblin-haven>
 * Luka <#gawain1>
 * Marco <#elwen>
 * Niko <#goblin-haven>
 * Pietro <#goblin-haven>
 * Polpo <#gawain2>
 * Ricky <#goblin-haven>
 * Sonny <#gawain1>


       Dwarves

 * Dyvad <#elwen>
 * Grigory <#parsec>
 * Naom <#parsec>


       Others

 * Galvados (Blood Orc) <#fire>
 * Gawain (Human) <#gawain2>
 * JJ (Green Orc) <#fire>
 * Valkyrie <#distortion3>

Groups <#groups>     Top of Page <#top>


   [misc] Misc.

 * What Carries Over to Next Game <#carry>
 * Detailed List of What Items Carry Over <#det-carry>
 * Tria Milk and Polpo's Soup <#milk>
 * Easter Eggs and Silly Things <#easter>
 * Stores and Shops <#stores>
 * Where to Get Records <#songs>
 * Finding the King's Toadstool <#toad>
 * Finding Tsuchinoko Dumplings <#dumpling>
 * Fireworks Date <#fireworks>
 * Radiata Quiz <#quiz>
 * Gotchas <#gotcha>
 * External Resources <#sites>
 * Thanks / Credits <#tnx>
 * Version History <#history>

This section is a catch-all for things that I think are worth
mentioning, but don't really fit anywhere else.


     [carry] What Carries Over to Next Game

There is no end to the urban rumors about what is carried over in this
game. Hopefully, this section will eliminate (or at least reduce) the
number of rumors people send me. The following items carry over from one
game to the next:

All Money
   All your money will be there
All Status Skills
   All you Status Skills like Prevent Freeze, Auto Cure, etc.
All Weapon Skills
   Whatever weapon attack skills you have learned in previous games.
A Few Accessories
   Feathered Earring
   Training Device (no more than one)
   You can't carry over more than one of the above accessories
   No other accessories will carry over
All Phonograph Records
   All records will be in your record player when you get to your house
   in Vancoor.
No Group Commands
   You must buy and read books for each game
No Links Until Gerald
   You cannot use Links until Gerald teaches them to you after your
   promotion, but once he does, you will have all the links you learned
   previously.
No Friends
   You must recruit friends during each game.
   However, once you recruit a character, they will be in the friends
   list on your menu, but you can't add them to your party until you
   recruit them for this game.
Most Items
   Most Common Items that are consumed when used
   Items that are not carried over are special items that are used to
   track game progress. (These are generally the items you weren't
   allowed to sell) or are used to recruit people, like Gobpakken Seeds
   and Pointura's Threads.
   Of particular interest for improving your starting stats, the
   following items are carried over:

     * Berries (Strength, Defense, Life, etc.)
     * Growth Stone
     * Tsuchinoko Dumpling (even though you can recruit Yack with one)
     * HP healing items
     * Status healing items
     * Status attack items

   If you are interested about a specific item, see the Detailed List
   of What Items Carry Over <#det-carry>.

No Weapons
   None of your weapons will carry over
No Armor
   None of your armor will carry over
No King's Toadstool
   Contrary to all the urban rumors floating around, the King's
   Toadstool does *NOT* carry over
   If you enter Faid General Store in the Void community (behind the
   lottery) with a King's Toadstool, the shopkeeper will notice it and
   offer to purchase it. You can sell as many as you want. (Of course,
   you can also sell it at any other store as well.)
   When the next game starts, that store will not have any King's
   Toadstools for sale.

Misc <#misc>

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     [det-carry] Detailed List of What Items Carry Over

This section provides a detailed list of the items that carry over from
one game to the next. A brief summary of these items can be found in the
Post Game section. <#carry>

These items will carry over from one game to the next:

 * Herb Extract
 * Tria Milk
 * Polpo's Soup
 * Herb Extgract S
 * Herb Extract DX
 * Herb Extract MAX
 * Moon Stone Chip
 * Moon Stone
 * Revival Stone Chip
 * Revival Store
 * Cure Drop
 * Cure Needle
 * Eye Drops
 * Bell Amulet
 * Heating Tablet
 * Cooling Spray
 * Mint Drop
 * Holy Water
 * Flexibility Lotion
 * Sage
 * Cleansing Stone
 * Strength Berry
 * Defense Berry
 * Evasion Berry
 * Luck Berry
 * Mystery Berry
 * Growth Stone
 * Recovery Pills
 * Invincibility Med
 * Toastool Powder
 * Panic Powder
 * Flee Ball
 * Analysis Ball
 * Tsuchinoko Dumpling
 * Celestial Nectar
 * Feathered Earring
 * Training Device
 * All phonograph records (they will be in your record player when you
   get to Vancoor)

In addition to items, all of your money, all weapons skills (e.g. left
slash) and all status skills (e.g. auto cure) will be retained.

No Weapons, Articles, or Accessories (except the Feathered Earring and
Training Device) will be carried over from one game to the next. The
following items will **not** carry over from one game to the next:

 * No weapons
 * No armor
 * No accessories other than one Feathered Earring and one Training Device
 * No Matango Larva
 * No Gobpakken Seed
 * No Pointura's Thread
 * No Blood Orc's Horn
 * No Smilodon's Fang
 * No King's Toadstool

Misc <#misc>

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     [milk] Tria Milk and Polpo's Soup

Both Tria Milk and Polpo's Soup are items that carry over between games.
They are also available to you when you recruit them, and are needed to
recruit one other member. You can get more of both items by talking to
Tarkin or Polpo. Talk to them during the same time frame they can be
recruited. You can only get one per day, but you can build up a large
supply. Getting Polpo's soup is trivial - take the Journey Pig to Goblin
Haven, walk in and up the ramp to the second floor, talk to Polpo to get
the soup, and take the Journey Pig to whereever you were originally
going to go. Getting Tria Milk requires a bit more walking, but with the
Feather Earring, it doesn't take that long.

Misc <#misc>

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     [easter] Easter Eggs and Silly Things

In the programming world, the term "Easter Egg" is used for silly little
things that can happen unexpectedly under certain conditions. In the
very early games, and even some other electronic devices (like Palm
Pilot), programmers added little cute things that you could cause to
happen if you did certain things.

As a programmer myself, I am very impressed with the programming staff
for this game. I'm a long time Final Fantasy fan, so I wasn't surprised
with the quality of the game, but I was very pleased with the attention
to detail. (Of course, many of the games by Square have similar things,
but I think this game has far more than any other.)

In addition to "Easter Eggs", there are a number of silly things you can
do while in the game if you start to get bored. For one thing, you can
try to follow a character around and see what they do throughout the
day. I am amazed at the complexity of this world, and all the little
things that are there. I keep finding new things, and expect to find
more. You will probably find a few surprises, and have some fun at the
same time. Here are some of the things I have found:

People Watching
   Spend some time to closely watch the characters in the game. Follow
   a couple of characters around for a while and see what all they are
   doing. There is a great deal of attention to detail, especially
   considering how many characters there are. Watch their mannerisms,
   and the detail in the outfits. I keep noticing new things every time
   I look.
   Right after I finished this game for the first time, I started
   Dragon Quest VIII. Although I liked the game, I was disappointed by
   the lack of variety of the NPCs. Each town had the same dozen or so
   characters. There was a crowd scene at one point, and you could see
   the same identical character many times throughout the crowd. Quite
   a shock after this game with all the wide variety of characters.
Flau and Godwin
   Two characters you can't follow around all day are Flau and Godwin.
   This is because they can do things you can't. But, if you are in the
   right place at the right time, you can see what they do.
   Godwin transports himself into the castle every morning around 9am,
   and back to the city at around 11. He transports himself to Morfin's
   Clinic around noon, and then to the Olacion Order area around 2pm.
   (Perhaps that is why Miranda is always running around trying to find
   Master Godwin.)
   Flau is also very interesting. She will be walking along, and
   suddenly jump over a fence, bridge, or wall and out of sight. If you
   are lucky, you might also see her jumping over a fence or something
   onto a path. If you get bored, and are waiting for some later time
   to recruit somebody, walk along side her and watch her.
Picture Taken
   If you go through the Goblin City towards the bridge to Fire
   Mountain, you will find one of those plywood figures with a cut-out
   where people can stand behind and get their picture taken. You can
   get your picture taken here, too.
Try all the doors and stairs
   Some doors will never open. Others will only open at certain times.
   And still others will sometimes have the occupant talk to you in the
   doorway. Sometimes you will find treasures behind a door or up a set
   of stairs.
Signs and Posters
   Read the posters that are placed on the various walls of the city.
   Some will change.
   For example, near Lupus Gate is a poster for the Olacion Order. When
   you start recruiting Lulu's cat, the poster will say that her cat is
   missing. If you look after you have returned it, the poster has
   changed.
   If you read a sign just behind where Lily hangs out near the
   entrance to the Beast Pit, you will see some entrance exam math scores.
Bathroom Humor
   Following people into the bathroom can yield some interesting (and
   funny) results. You won't see anything X-rated, but you will
   encounter some "bathroom humor".
   BTW - Some men wash their hands after going, while others don't.
   When you are in the castle, try going into the women's bathroom in
   the castle. It's near the south entrance.
Multi-lingual
   Talk to Butch while he is checking the boxes in the Void community.
   Keep talking until he repeats himself. Unlike most other characters,
   what he says will vary depending on the time / location.

Misc <#misc>

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     [stores] Stores and Shops

This section provides the hours for the various stores in the game and
what I usually buy there. Some items won't be available until near the
end of the game (e.g., a Weapons Shop sells cheap and weak weapons at
the start, but then more expensive and better weapons toward the end.)
The quality (and price) of weapons and armor goes up as the game
progresses.


       Stores in Radiata

These stores are available once you leave the Knights and if you choose
the Human Path.

Alkaico General Store
   7:30am-7pm
   This is the only store that sells berries on the humans path
   If you are planning to take the non-human path, buy strength and
   defense berries before the split.
   The only berries available on the non-human path are life and
   mystery from Danny
Chic Records
   5am-10pm
Dead End Armory
   5am-8pm
   This store sells the Wind Garb, the best armor early in the game.
   They also have a good selection of weapons
Lavante General Store
   2am-10am
   Attack items
   Beckoning Cat (Extra items)
Faid General Store
   7am-5pm
   He will buy any Kings Toadstool you have
Black Rose General Store
   2am-10pm
   Attack Items
OK Hand Accessories
   8am-8pm
   Bangles and Bracelets
Verontier Weapons
   8am-8pm
   Weapons and Armor
   I mainly use it for weapons. For armor, I use Dead End in Void
Belmont General Store
   6:30am-9pm
   You can almost never buy anything here. The clerk is always sick
   Nothing unique, so it probably isn't worth trying.
Survivor Armory
   7am-8pm
   Weapons and Armor
San Patty Accessories
   10am-9pm
   Accessories for learning weapon skills
   Divine Earring (no ambush)
   Pluto's Trophy (20% more money)
Blade Pharmacy
   5:30am-6pm
   Status Cure Items
Eisenhower Pharmacy
   8:30am-7pm
   HP Cure Items
Last Word Book Store
   4am-9pm
   Read books to learn commands
Waldo General Store
   6am-11pm
   HP and Status items
   Training Device (extra experience)

Misc <#misc>

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       Stores Outside Radiata

Radiata Castle Supply Store
   Located on the third floor in the same wing where Jack's room is
   located.
Earth Valley General Store
   Located at the far east of Earth Valley on the same level as the
   entrance to Earth Valley.
Earth Valley Weapon Store
   Located at the far west of Earth Valley on the same level as the
   entrance to Earth Valley.
Louis the Travelling Salesman
   He is located at various locations. You will run into him often.
Marsha
   She is located in the Forest Metropolis on the west side of the
   dining room
   She moves into Fort Helencia during the Non-Human path.
Mint
   Mint sells items in the Tria Region from 10pm to 10am, and in the
   Septem Region from 10am to 10pm.


       Stores in Non-Human Path

Marsha
   She sells items
   She is in Fort Helencia in the room north of the west exit.
Keane
   She sells accessories
   She is in Fort Helencia in the room south of the west exit.
Vladmin
   He sells weapons
   He is located just west of the north exit from the main room in Fort
   Helencia
Gabe
   He sells healing and battle items
   He is located in Shangri-La
Goo
   He sells weapons and armor
   He is located in Shangri-La
Donkey
   Donkey sells his own records outside of Shangri La after his concerts
   You need to buy all his records (once) in order to recruit him.
Pitt
   Pitt sells records in the first building in the City of Flowers.
Danny
   Danny is the only person who sells berries on the non-human path
   (but only when he is normal). He is located in Goblin Haven
   Unfortunately, he only sells Life Berries and Mystery Berries
Marco
   Marco sells books
   He is located just outside the north exit from Goblin Haven.

Misc <#misc>

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     [Songs] Where to Get Records

You probably noticed how the background music changes when you move from
one location to another. These are the theme songs for those regions.
Certain characters also have theme songs, as well as certain plot
elements / cut scenes (e.g., Ridley's Sorrow). You can play any of these
songs on your record player, provided you have obtained the record.
Records are carried over between games (they will be in your record
player, even if they had been in your items at the end of the previous
game.)

The following is a list of all the available records and where to find
them. Possible record stores are Chic (in the Void Community), Donkey
(from him after his concert), and Pitt (in the City of Flowers if you
choose the non-human path). If another name is listed, that means you
can get it when fighting that character, either by dueling them or on
the battlefield. If a location is listed, then you need to kick things
in that area to find it.

 * Aiden Region – Pitt
 * Algendars Castle – Archdemon
 * Audience Chamber – Chic
 * Bandit's Theme – Chic
 * Battle 1 – Donkey
 * Battle 2 – Donkey
 * Battle 3 – Donkey
 * Borgandiazo – Pitt
 * Coliseum – Chic
 * Conference – Chic
 * Conspiracy – Donkey
 * Defeat – Donkey
 * Dichett Region – Pitt
 * Distortion Corridor – Shrine Knight
 * Dragon Lair Cave – Black Tiger
 * Dragon Radian – Radian
 * Dwarf Tunnel – Donkey
 * Dysett Region – Pitt
 * Earth Dragon Attack – Donkey
 * Earth Valley – Pitt, or in the Dwarf Tunnels
 * Elf Region – Pitt, or Forest Metro
 * Ethereal Queen – Ethereal Queen
 * Final Battle – Quasar
 * Fort Helencia – Chic
 * Gabriel Celesta – Gabriel Celesta
 * Ganz's Theme – Ganz's Room
 * Goblin Haven – Pitt
 * Gold Dragon Castle – Wind Cell
 * Invasion – Donkey
 * Jack's Theme – Jack's Room (in Radiata)
 * Mage's Theme – Chic
 * The Night Halls – Chic
 * Ocho Region – Pitt
 * Opening Theme – Chic
 * Payapaya Dance – Pinky
 * Priest's Theme – Chic
 * Radiata Castle 1 – Chic
 * Radiata Castle 2 – Chic
 * Ridley's Sorrow – Chic
 * Ridley's Theme – Ridley's Room
 * Sediche Region – Pitt
 * Shangri La – Pitt
 * Shrine of the Frey – Crystaria
 * Solieu Village – Aidelle
 * Tension – Donkey
 * Uber-enemy 1 – Donkey
 * Uber-enemy 2 – Donkey
 * War – Donkey
 * Warrior's Theme – Chic

Misc <#misc>

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     [toad] Finding the King's Toadstool

I get enough questions on where to find this, that it is worth a special
section. It isn't obvious when you first see it, which is why so many
people miss it. During your trip to the bottom of the Blood Orc home
world, try all the side passage ways. At one point, you will come in
from the left and there will be a rope you can climb down (but don't do
that yet). The path will also lead to the left, curve around to the
right, and dead-end. Along the front of the path are some dark things
sticking up that you might assume to be rock formations. When you get to
this area, face south (towards you) and keep clicking "O" while you walk
along the path. Once you do this, you will probably remember where to
click and it will be easy from then on.

If you still can't find it, then go to the bottom of the cave. Now, take
the rope back up one level, and then walk left, around the curve, fight
the orc and get the toadstool. It will be to the left of a series of
formations sticking up. (If you have a large Hi-Def TV it will probably
be obvious, but on a small or older TV it is harder to see.)

Misc <#misc>

Top of Page <#top>


     [dumpling] Finding Tsuchinoko Dumplings

The Tsuchinoko Dumpling is a handy item. It can be used to recruit
several characters, and it can also be used to restore 100% HP and VP.

The Tsuchinoko is a snake kind of creature that appears at one of eight
locations each day. There is no pattern that I know of for where it will
appear each day. If you have the feathered earring and journey pigs, you
can check most (if not all) of the locations in a single day. Once you
find one, you can stop looking; there is only one of them per day. If
you take Curtis or equip the Magic Mirror you can get from fighting
Gruel, the tsuchinoko is more likely to appear. (I'm not sure I believe
that, but that is what the description of the Magic Mirror says).

To obtain a dumpling, enter into a fight with a Tsuchinoko, but don't
kill it. It will be poisoned, so use a cure drop to cure it. It will
escape, leaving behind a dumpling. The game won't say anything, but if
you check your count of dumplings it will have been incremented. The
hard part of this is preventing the rest of your party from killing the
Tsuchinoko. If you are strong enough, consider going yourself.

Once you have "defeated" a Tsuchinoko, it won't reappear for up to ten
days. According to the Official Strategy Guide, it will next appear when
the day is a multiple of 10 from the start of the game. Since you don't
have any way to determine what day it is, just figure it will be up to
10 days before it shows up again. If sleeping doesn't mess up the story
(like during the post-game period), you can sleep, put on the feathered
earring, and visit most (if not all) of the possible locations looking
for the Tsuchinoko. If you don't find it, sleep and try again.

Here is a cute trick you can use to get a large number of dumplings. The
original comment can be found at
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/924323-radiata-stories/56142498 What I
did to try this was that I only had Curtis in my party. As soon as I
found a Tsuchinoko, I ordered Curtis to back away. I then approached the
Tsuchinoko and fed it a cure drop. You will see an animated sparkle go
from Jack to the Tsuchinoko, followed by a return sparkle from the
Tsuchinoko back to Jack. The first is Jack giving the cure drop, and the
second is the Tsuchinoko dropping the dumpling. As soon as the sparkling
trail starts back towards Jack, use a Flee Ball. Jack will run away, but
if you look in your inventory, you should find one more dumpling. Now,
leave the area and come right back to find the Tsuchinoko is there
again. You can keep this up until you run out of cure drops or flee
balls, or you get 99 dumplings. If you use the flee ball too soon, and
you didn't get a dumpling, then go back and the Tsuchinoko should be
there again. If you use the flee ball too late, you will see the victory
screen, and it will be up to 10 days before it appears again.

My favorite place to use this trick is on Fire Mountain. Once you have
used the flee ball, simply walk out the south entrance (not the big
doors), and then come back in to find the Tsuchinoko. If it doesn't
appear, try going out and coming back in a few times. If you somehow
mess up, make sure you sleep for 10 days before you try it again (or
reset the game if you saved before you started).

You can find the Tsuchinoko in one of the following locations:

Dorse Region
   Take the journey pig to the Goblin town. Head towards the Goblin
   Cemetery, but stay on the path (don't turn right). Look at the end
   of the road.
   This is just before where the snake and rainbow crystal are located.
Elf Region
   Take the journey pig to the Elf region. Walk west, then north
   (towards where you fought the Crogocator Mission). You will
   encounter a spot where you can walk east; follow it to the end.
   This is where you find JJ on the non-human path
Fire Mountain
   It is in the room where you found Parsec
Nowem Region
   Take the circular path clockwise up towards the waterfall area (when
   you get to the circular path, turn left or west). (This is where you
   fight Rocky the first time.)
   Look near the big log that goes over the path on the left side of
   the circle.
Ocho Region
   Take the path that branches back and to the right. (There is a chest
   at the end).
Ressan Tree
   Exit Radiata through the Faucon Gate, heading for Fort Helencia.
   Take the side path up to the tree.
Septem Region
   Follow the road past the Septem Cave. Don't take the branch that
   goes away from the screen. Look at the very end the very end of the
   road.
   This is where you fight Rocky the second time to recruit him
Tria Region
   Take the pig to the Dark Elf village. Head east and south at the
   intersection into the Tria Region. After crossing the bridge you
   should come to some trees. Look right there.
   You can also get there by leaving Radiata through the Echidna Gate,
   take the branch that goes north. It should be near the second group
   of trees (ignoring the single tree). If you reach the Tria-Nowem
   Bridge, you went too far.

Misc <#misc>

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     [fireworks] Fireworks Date

[fireworks_list] List of Fireworks Dates <#fireworks_list>

One of the interesting features of this game is the Fireworks Date,
which is only available during the Human Path. At some point after you
meet Genius in the sewers, you may find a letter in your mailbox. It
will be an invitation to see the fireworks at the castle. The person
that shows up to watch them with you is the female that has been in your
party the longest time. (Charlie is a possible fireworks date.) You
won't see any X-rated stuff. For the most part, you see the two
characters who are watching the fireworks, and at some point, the female
looks at Jack and usually smiles. Jack, however, never looks at the
date; he keeps staring at the fireworks.

The other place where this matters is at the very end of the game. There
is a cut scene with Jack leaving Radiata, and you can see the "fireworks
date" run up to the gate, and then stand there, watching him go. One
person claimed that somebody other than your fireworks date can appear
here, if you have increased the affection level of a different
character. I haven't seen any evidence of this, however.

A word of warning: it is possible for this event to not happen. Once
through the game, I had no females in the party up until just before the
fireworks date. I had planned on putting the different women in my
party, avoid my house for a while, and then trigger the event. This way,
I could keep reloading the game and picking a different woman, so I
could report on all the dates without having to keep playing the game
over and over again. Well, it backfired on me, because when I did that,
I couldn't get the fireworks date to trigger. Somebody else had the same
problem for the same reason. Apparently, there is some minimum amount of
time you need to have females in your party in order to trigger the
invitation.

The second time I tried it worked much better. Whenever I got several
women added to my friends list, I took them out long enough to raise
their skills a couple of levels. During fights, I kept giving them
commands. If I had more than one woman in the party, I made sure their
commands were balanced. Then, just before accepting the "Secret of the
Sewers" mission, I saved the game in a special location. Then I loaded
that game, added the woman I wanted for the Fireworks Date, and spent a
day or so with her giving her commands and letting her level up. For
lower level women, I started out with the small bugs on the way to the
Septem Cave, and then took her through the cave. As long as you are
careful not to trigger the cut scenes in the sewer, you can level them
up there as well. Depending on who it was and how well they handled
themselves, I either had them back away or attack the enemy. I also
commanded Kain to heal the woman, which caused him to continue casting
healing spells on her. When I thought she was ready, I saved the game
(just in case), went into the sewers, and went to Jack's house. This
kicked off Ganz's letter. I walked outside, checked the mailbox for the
Fireworks Date, and then slept to kick off the fireworks.

If you try this yourself (and I have to wonder about you if you do. ;^),
then I suggest you don't try to recruit Godwin until after the Fireworks
Date. The reason for this is that you need Miranda in your party for a
long time to get her to level 35, which means you will have to keep the
other women in your party for even longer. This meant that I wasn't able
to actually get Flau or Rynka on the date because (I think) the
affection level happens after the sewer rather than when you trigger the
invitation.

There is no shortage of theories and claims about this event. There was
a site that claimed to have some details behind how your date is chosen.
Supposedly, there are a number of things you can do to increase the
affection level for each girl. Others who e-mailed me about this issue
seemed to think who the fireworks date was depended on a number of
things, including issuing commands during battles, the number of times
they leveled up, and the total amount of time in the party.

From my experiments, it seems that the amount of time in the party is
the biggest factor, although some minimal amount of levels (and/or
possibly HP) is also necessary. Giving the person commands during battle
sometimes seems to help, but at other times doesn't seem to matter. I
had Miranda in my party so that she could level up 10 levels. I never
gave her any commands, so she was simply in the party. Since Miranda was
levelled up during an early part of the game, it would have taken longer
than when fighting orcs, goblins, and dark elves. When I was trying to
get Charlie, I had him level up 12 levels, but got Miranda. I then had
Charlie go up 20 levels, and still got Miranda. I then loaded the game
and left Jack in his room with Charlie in the party, and let the game
run for several hours before trying again. This time I got Charlie.

But time alone isn't enough. When getting Elena, I got her up about 7
levels and tried, but got Miranda. I then let the game run over night,
with Jack in his room. When I tried in the morning, I still got Miranda,
so time alone isn't enough. I had to get Elena up a few more levels
before I got her on the date.

The Strategy Guide has a list of possible dates. Most are fairly
straight forward, but a few of them are tricky, namely: Flau, Rynka, and
Natalie. While Flau would be possible if you hadn't left Miranda in the
party long enough to recruit Godwin, Rynka takes three days, and Natalie
can't be recruited until after the battle at Lupus Gate, which is long
after the Fireworks Date normally happens. Somebody claimed that
Valkyrie was a possible fireworks date, but I have my doubts. I don't
think you can get the fireworks date after Lupus Gate.

The trick to getting Flau, Rynka, (and maybe Natalie) lies in the fact
that the fireworks happen at 10pm, and when Jack gets the letter, he
comments that the fireworks are "tonight". So, only go past your mailbox
between 10pm and midnight, and you can postpone the invitation to the
fireworks past the day after Ganz's letter. Wait outside until 10pm, go
in and save, and get back out before midnight. (You can actually go in
as early as 9pm, When you are finally ready to trigger the invitation,
you can go past your mailbox another time. I suggest that you go in
between 10pm and midnight, save your game, and then sleep or leave after
midnight to trigger the invitation. That way, if you mess up, you can
reload the game and try again.

If you had Miranda in your party enough to recruit Godwin, you probably
won't be able to get Flau or Rynka for the date. I had Flau and Rynka up
tons of levels with huge HP increases, but I still got Miranda. I then
played it another time where I didn't recruit Godwin, and was able to
get them for the fireworks date. The other problem is that who invites
Jack to the fireworks is calculated at the end of the Sewers mission,
not when you get the invitation.

This means that for Flau, Rynka, and possibly Natalie, you need to get
their affection level up quite a bit before you start the "Secret of the
Sewers" mission. The only way you can do this is by talking to them a
lot throughout the game. You will help if you ignore all the other women
in the game.

I'm not sure that you can have Natalie at the fireworks. I postponed
getting the invitation until after Lupus Gate, but then couldn't trigger
the letter. Unless somebody has a bright idea, I'm guessing that she
can't be recruited.


       List of Fireworks Dates

Here is the date list from the Strategy Guide, along with my comments
about the actual date. The programmers seem to like cloaks, large
collars, lace, and long gloves. There are some clips on YouTube
<http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=radiata+stories+date> of
some dates.

Adina
   She has a sleeveless green dress with white lace and a green
   headband trimmed in lace, and long gloves.
Alicia
   She wears a black sleeveless dress with long gloves. She has a braid
   down her back, covered in black netting, even though she has a
   page-boy haircut.
Anastasia
   She has a purple dress, and her hair is in a large bun wrapped with
   straps or coarse netting. She has a large smile with lots of lipstick.
Charlie
   He wears purple armor over a black/dark-blue shirt. He gives a brief
   smile.
Claudia
   She wears a red dress with black trim. She looks at Jack for quite
   some time, but with no trace of a smile.
Cornelia/Rachel
   She actually appears as Cornelia (even though the fireworks are
   during the night). She is wearing a tan dress with a large white
   collar and white apron, and a brown bow.
Elena
   She has a black dress with a pink cape and large white collar. She
   gives Jack a quick smile, and looks at him for a while.
Flau
   Remember to only leave your house between 9pm and midnight.
   She has a blue dress with a white collar, and looks at Jack for a
   long time. If I didn't know it was her, I'm not sure I would have
   recognized her.
Flora
   She has a light green dress with a white cape trimmed in green. Her
   hair is in pig tails.
Herz
   She has a pink shirt and tan jumper, and is wearing a red and white
   cap with a pom-pom on the top. I didn't notice a smile when she
   looked at Jack.
Iris
   She wears a black sleeveless dress with a purple boa-type collar.
   Iris looks at Jack, knits her eyebrows, and then her expression
   softens as she continues to look at him.
Jill
   She has an orange striped top with a jean jumper. She doesn't really
   smile at Jack.
Leona
   She has a tan jumper and white blouse. There wasn't much of a smile
   when she looked at Jack. She was one of the hardest ones to get. It
   took a lot more time and leveling up than most of the others.
Lily
   She wears a white and blue top with the outline of a red skull and
   her midriff showing, plus a pair of blue shorts. She has red
   sunglasses on.
Lulu
   She has a peach colored dress with a large white collar. With all
   that lipstick, it was hard to tell if she was smiling at Jack or not.
Marietta
   She wears a white Chinese style top with black trim, and something
   white covering her ponytails. She looks at Jack for a long time and
   smiles.
Miranda
   She wears the same white gown she changes into before going to bed.
   If you've seen her near the lamp post around midnight, that is the
   outfit. Miranda looks at Jack for a long time.
Morgan
   She wears a long black evening dress with a fanny pack.
Natalie
   I can't figure out how Natalie could end up on the date, since you
   can't recruit her until after the battle at Lupus Gate, which is
   after the fireworks scene.
Nina
   She wears her armor. She looks at Jack for a while, and then gives
   him a little smile.
Rynka
   Remember to only leave your house between 9pm and midnight.
   Recruiting her takes patience, since you have to wait several days
   before she joins. You can't sleep to hurry that along, since it will
   trigger the Lupus Gate fight, which will cause you to miss the
   fireworks altogether.
   She wears a white peasant blouse with a black waist band and edging
   on the neck and sleeves, with a loose fitting chain belt, and one
   long black glove on her right hand. Her hair is loose with nothing
   on her head. She looks at Jack for a while, and a gives him a very
   small smile.
   Like with Flau, if I didn't know it was her, I would never have
   recognized her.
Synelia
   She has on a white robe with a blue collar and a blue cap. She looks
   at Jack and smiles, raising her eyebrows.
Ursula
   She has on a white patterned blouse with a green jumper, a brown
   broach, and a green cap. She looks at Jack for quite a while and
   gives him a small smile.
Vitas
   She wears a pink top with a green dress and a purple belt. She looks
   at Jack and smiles for some time.

Misc <#misc>

Top of Page <#top>


     [quiz] Radiata Quiz

In order to recruit Synellia, you have to answer three questions from
the Radiata Quiz correctly. Which questions she asks are random. If you
answer one wrong, you will have to wait until another day to take the
quiz again.

Here is a list of the questions and answers that I know of. If you find
any others, let me know.

What is the fourth region of Radiata?
   Tria Region
   (Jack is from the Tria Region)
What dish is the old lady from Tria region famous for?
   Soup
   (To recruit Dan you need to get the recipe from her.)
Who is the king of Radiata?
   Jiorus
   (You can see him in one or two cut scenes, and you can speak to him
   in the audience room on the human path)
Who is the captain of the Violet Chevre brigade?
   Natalie
   (Violet Chevre is French for Purple Goat)
Who is the captain of Noir Mouton?
   Cross
   (Noir Mouton is French for Black Sheep)
How tall is Theater Vancoor?
   Four stories
   (They don't count the basements)
What kind of pet does Daniel have?
   Crocogator
   (Her name is Isabella, and you learn about her after the Crocogator
   Mission)
Who is the son of Theater Vancoor's Bruce?
   Nick
   (You can recruit Nick if you have Bruce in your party)
Who was the high priest of the Olacian Order?
   Kain
   (He is mainly in the chapel, but sometimes on the bridge over Jack's
   house)
What animal is the president of the Vareth Magic Institute?
   An Owl
   (You can see him if you take the escalator in the Vareth Institute)
Who wrote a book about Ether Transmission?
   Curtis
   (He likes his hat)
What is the name of Rynka's son?
   Cody
   (He is in several cut scenes with Ganz)
What kind of hair does Pinky have?
   Afro
   (He is the "Charlie" of the Void Community)
What is the name of Nash's store?
   General store
   (You need to go there for cow medicine to recruit Tarkin, and mice
   medicine to recruit Eon.)

Misc <#misc>

Top of Page <#top>


     [gotcha] Gotchas

This section is a collection of things to look out for when playing the
game. There are a few things that, if you mess up, you can't fix.
Hopefully this section will help you avoid the pain and agony of having
to go through the entire game again to fix one mistake (like I did. ;^)

Don't read the /Book of Fairies/ if you are taking the human path
   You need that book to recruit Aldo. It is in a chest between the two
   houses west of the Septem Cave.
Don't sell the /Rainbow Crystal/ if you are taking the non-human path
   You will need it to recruit Row
Don't miss the letter from Nocture on the humans path
   If you don't enter the Vampire Club and miss the letter from
   Nocturne, you will miss recruiting Gerald and Elwen.
Don't go into your house during the day
   Unless, of course, you want to progress the game.
   It is best to enter late at night and leave before dawn. Don't
   sleep, or that might progress the game.
Keep talking to Interlude until you recruit him
   The first time through the game, I stopped talking after he
   mentioned working with me, but before he actually joined. I didn't
   realize this until the next iteration of the game during the
   non-human path.
Don't wait too long after Edgar tells you about the belt
   Supposedly, if you wait too long, the waste basket might be emptied.
   I don't know if this is true, but then again, I can't think of any
   reason to delay getting the belt.
Don't forget to visit the bridge
   After you beat the mosters at the bridge, you want to stop out there
   every so often. Eventually they will ask you to get some plans for
   them.
   If you miss this, you might not be able to recruit Elef, Hip, or Ryan.
Talk to Adele periodically
   You can't recruit her if you don't speak to her every so often.
Make sure you recruited Keaton
   Double check your friends list to make sure that Keaton is on there
   (assuming you wanted to recruit him.)
Don't talk to Giske if you have more than 5,000 gold
   If you have that much, Giske will demand money from you, and you
   won't be able to recruit everyone.
   And don't talk to Jarvis before you talk to Giske, since he might
   give you the money for his tab.
Hang on to the recruitment suit
   Especially if you want to pick the non-human route.
   It is also a pretty good armor, since it keeps healing you. (I wear
   it until I get the Absolute Armor.)

Misc <#misc>

Top of Page <#top>


     [sites] External Resources

The following web sites might be of use:

http://BillPringle.com/games/radiata_checklist.html
   The HTML version of this page. I think this is the best version to
   use because of hyper-links. It should also have the latest version
   of this file (except for the master copy on my PC.)
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/game/924323.html
   The gamefaqs FAQ/Walkthrough page for Radiata Stories. You can find
   a text version of this file there.
   You can also find a number of maps (diagrams, actually) there, most
   of which have been submitted since I first wrote this FAQ. In most
   cases, this FAQ describes how to traverse the area, but some people
   prefer a picture to words, so these maps will be useful to them.
   Here are the maps I recommend looking at:

   City of White Nights Map
       This wasn't available when I first wrote this FAQ.
       I haven't checked this map closely, but it appears to have all
       the major features. The only concern I have is that, although it
       lists sandfalls, it doesn't indicate where you end up if you get
       caught in one of them. In most cases, you drop down one level,
       but there are a couple where you fall down more than one.
       If you get confused, try to locate either the healing spot or a
       trunk. Even if it is empty, you can use the trunk to figure out
       where you are. Also remember that any collapsable ladders you
       tried to use will be gone.
   The Dragon Lair Map
       The mazes to the dragons aren't complex, and you probably don't
       need a map. This map is more like a connection diagram; it is
       not to scale, so don't trust the length the length of the lines.
       It is handy just to keep track of where you are and avoid
       getting confused on the way to a dragon.
       There is a mistake on the path to the Earth Dragon. One of the
       side passages actually goes the opposite way than as indicated
       on the map.
       Another confusing point is in the path to the Water Dragon. When
       you enter the path that leads to the Dragon, there is another
       branch ahead and a little to the right. On the diagram, it is
       much further away, so it can confuse you a bit if you try to
       figure out where you are on the map by looking at the screen.
   Distortion Corridor Part 1
       This map covers the stair maze at the start of the Distortion
       Corridor. Unfortunately, it doesn't include any detail about the
       different screen at the end of this section. Like the above map,
       it isn't essential, but it handy to keep track of where you are.
   Distortion Corridor Element Maze Map
       This is a map of the elemental rooms, which is between the stair
       maze and the areas with the hidden doors. Again, nice to have,
       but not essential.
   What is missing
       What would be great is if somebody could create a map of the
       hidden doors section (Shrine of Fray). If you use my suggestions
       to head west until you find the Boundary Crest and then head
       east for the exit, you can get through the maze. But having a
       map to look at would be great.

strategywiki.net/wiki/Radiata_Stories
<http://strategywiki.net/wiki/Radiata_Stories>
   This is an offshoot of Wikipedia that deals with strategy guides. I
   initialized this wiki with the material from this FAQ. I have not
   gone through and updated anything since that first time, however, so
   it is a bit out of date, unless somebody else has fixed it up.
YouTube <http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=radiata+stories>
   You can find a number of clips on YouTube about the game.
Radiatapedia <http://radiata.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page>
   This is a nice wiki for Radiata Stories. I got some of the questions
   for the Radiata Quiz from here.
   The site is a bit inconsistent (like some people are missing), but
   it has the schedules for some characters, so if you are having
   problems finding somebody, try there.
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]?Subject=Radiata_Stories_CheckList>
   If you have questions and/or comments, you can e-mail me.
   Make sure the subject contains "Radiata Stories", or it might get
   deleted as spam

Misc <#misc>

Top of Page <#top>


     [tnx] Thanks and Credits

Thanks to the following, who helped with typos, corrections, omissions,
suggestions, etc.
   Pi Threeonefour
   Sara Potter
   Paul Metcalf
   ChaosTyrantX
   William Thomas Tran
   Aaron Hill
   Cam Dawson
   AgtOrnge7
   CURTIS HOFFMANN
   Andrew Toth
   escorpion milo
   Rudy Herlambang
   Woozie66
   scryndemios
   Dungeonmaster17
   John E Warren
   Niko Weilacher
   Meera Khan
   risingdragon18
   donald scharf
   4seiya
   VociferousZeal
   A Darkstar Ripclaw
   Austin Stange
   Alexander Hernandez
   Ash Vanhite

Misc <#misc>

Top of Page <#top>


     [history] Version History

19 July 2013 - Version 6.0
   Added more details after yet another time through the game
   Formatting changes to make all missions stand out
   Added method to get unlimited dumplings.
   Added more stores and how to get records
Oct 2012 - Version 5.4
   Even more emails with suggestions and corrections/clarifications.
6 Oct 2012 - Version 5.3
   Got a spate of emails with comments and suggestions for the FAQ.
2 Oct 2012 - Version 5.2
   Corrected gender for Keane
   Fixed initial recruiting example
12 Sep 2012 - Version 5.1
   Clarified recruitment requirements for Fernando
3 Jan 2012 - Version 5.0
   Major changes from playing the game again after about a year's
   hiatus. I still think it is a great game! Better than some of the
   newer ones.
   Added lots of details, especially things I hadn't remembered from
   before, including the Radiata Quiz Questions. This probably
   introduced lots of typos, so please let me know if you find any.
   Since you probably can't buy the Official Strategy Guide these days,
   added quiz answers and other details you will need.
22 July 2010 - Version 4.10
   Added detail to Keaton's schedule.
17 Feb 2008 - Version 4.9
   More details for non-human side
   Created cross-references from Groups to FAQ for recruiting
1 Feb 2008 - Version 4.8
   More on fireworks date, typos
30 Jan 2008 - Version 4.7
   Added more details during yet another pass through the game. Filled
   in most of the fireworks date section.
2 December 2007 - Version 4.6
   Typo, Fireworks date
12 Oct 2007 - Version 4.5
   Added reference to web site that claims to know how the Fireworks
   date is chosen.
27 June 2007 - Version 4.4
   Minor typos
   Added list of recruitable characters for each group. (If you think
   you recruited everyone in a group, compare these lists with your
   friends list.)
11 Mar 2007 - Version 4.3
   Changed Goyle to Golye (I must have had Harry Potter on the brain. ;^)
   A few other minor changes
16 Jan 2007 - Version 4.2
   Added "Gotchas" Section
15 December 2006 - Version 4.1
   More corrections based on reader feedback
   Added directions to find King's Toadstool
   Corrected a number of typos and added some details
18 July 2006 - Version 4.0
   Added a lot more content: suggestions and walk-through type text
   Added thanks/credits section <#tnx> and the Game Play / Battles
   section <#gameplay>
   Probably the last release for a while, unless people point out some
   mistakes. (But that's what I said for Version 2.0, too. ;^)
2006 - Version 3.2
   Minor corrections based on feedback from readers.
   Used walkthrough for strategy wiki
   Fixed HTML errors.
19 Mar 2006 - Version 3.1
   Tweaked HTML version
13 Feb 2006 - Version 3.0
   General reformatting of page
11 Feb 2006 - Version 2.2
   Added rest of missing characters (I hope)
10 Feb 2006 - Version 2.1
   Added some missing characters (Morgan and Rolec), and some
   additional information.
23 Jan 2005 - Version 2.0
   Added details for non-human side
   Guide completed. Future changes will probably be limited to typos
   and clarifications, based on reader feedback.
   I'm moving on to Wild Arms 4.
17 Jan 2005 - Version 1.5
   Added details for Post Game
   Added details for before split and beginning on non-human path
11 Jan 2005 - Version 1.4
   Filled in some more details
   Added content for the Fireworks Date section
   Added content to Easter Eggs and Silly Things
   Human path mostly complete at this point
7 Jan 2005 - Version 1.3
   All recruitable characters listed in the proper order
   Filled in details of story, tips, etc.
6 Jan 2005 - Version 1.2
   Added more detail.
5 Jan 2005 - Version 1.1
   Added some characters I missed
   Added more recruiting details
   Added section on skills
4 Jan 2005 - Version 1.0
   Initial Release.
   All recruitable characters are identified, and high-level outline
   included.

Misc <#misc>

Top of Page <#top>

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