______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
| |
| Sengoku Musou by Koei for Playstation 2 |
| Maximizing a Character Guide Final Version |
| by Not4Rent aka Nelstar |
|_______________________________________________________________________|

TABLE OF CONTENTS
01. Revision History
02. Things to Note (Disclaimer)
03. Introduction
04. Pointers before starting
05. Stats Maximizing
- Clear Time
- Item Exp Bonus
- Mission Completion
- Musou KO's
- Experience
06. Skills Maximizing
- Battle of Kawanakajima
- Betrayal at Honnouji Trick
07. Detailed Map of Betrayal at Honnouji
08. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
09. Author's Last Words
10. Credits

=========================================================================
________________________
| |
| 01. Revision History |
|________________________|

v 2.01 (20/05/04)
- Final Update
- Redesigned FAQs Layout
- Added more FAQs and information
- Edited grammatical errors

v 1.04 (13/04/04)
- Added more FAQs and information
- Added information regarding Agility
- Edited an important error

v 1.03 (09/04/04)
- First officially published version in Neoseeker
- Added more FAQs and information

v 1.02 (08/04/04)
- Edited typo errors and grammar errors
- Added some FAQs

v 1.01
- First officially published version in GameFAQs
- Detailed guides to maximizing characters' skills and stats
- ASCII map of Akechi Mitsuhide Third Stage, Betrayal at Honnouji

=========================================================================
___________________________________
| |
| 02. Things to Note (Disclaimer) |
|___________________________________|

In this guide, the author will include his own thoughts which are of
negliable importance to the guide. These quotes usually comes in
between two tildas ( ~ ). An example of a quote from the author would
appear: ~Saika Magoichi looks like rambo on his second costume.~

The author will not cover how to unlock the stages that are required
to train stats or skills of the characters since those were covered in
the stage flowchart FAQ. Thus, it is to be known that whatever problems
anyone faced in unlocking the stages will be neglected and it is up to
individual users to unlock the stages so that they can maximize their
characters.

Any errors are made without any ill intent to dishonor the game
creators. The author is sincerely trying to help gamers and will be
happy to receive information about alternative ways and errors. As this
is the final version, there will not be further updates made on this
guide.

Thus, anyone who should happen to be reading this guide and find the
errors and quotes unacceptable should stop reading it immediately as
the author has no malicious intents. If anyone should feel that the
Maximizing a Character Guide is spoiling their gameplay, they should
stop reading this immediately.

It is therefore considered that any person who reads this, understands
and accepts the contents of this guide, and therefore, will not, in any
case, send any complain to GameFAQs, Neoseeker, or through the author's
email. However, remarks and suggestions that will improve the quality
of the guide is welcomed.

The sites mentioned below are given permission by the author to host
this guide in its original form:
- GameFAQs, http://www.gamefaqs.com
- Neoseeker, http://www.neoseeker.com
Any other sources are without expressed permission from the author to
host the guide and can be outdated and illegal.

=========================================================================
____________________
| |
| 03. Introduction |
|____________________|

This is Maximizing a Character Guide for Koei's action game Sengoku
Musou (Samurai Warriors). This guide only features details on how to
achieve maximum stats, maximum skill points. The aim of this guide is
to provide a detailed directional guide to help achieve a fully
maximized character.

You can check the skills your character had acquired by going to the
vault option from the main menu. After which choose the skill option
which is the second option from the left. Characters that had not been
unlocked will not be in the list.

There are three types of information indicators for the skills.
Firstly, the skill tablet with dark shadow with no number on it are
skills you've not acquired at all. Secondly, a skill tablet with the
numbers in white font that indicates that you have the skill but you've
not maximized the skill. Thirdly, a skill tablet with the numbers in
yellow font that indicates that you have maximized the skill and you
cannot put anymore skill points into learning it.

=========================================================================
________________________________
| |
| 04. Pointers before starting |
|________________________________|

The author recommends that before attempting to maximize a character's
stats and skills to collect several items that will aid you.

A short list of what you should have.

01. Fifth weapon for the character you want to maximize or a very good
fourth weapon.

02. Amaterasu no Tama/Solar Gem (Life +)
Effect: Increases Life Gauge
Recommended: Amaterasu no Tama/Solar Gem 40-50

03. Tsukuyomi Ishi/Moon Stone (Musou +)
Effect: Increases Musou Gauge
Recommended: Tsukuyomi Ishi/Moon Stone 40-50

04. Takeru no Wa/Power Bracer (Attack +)
Effect: Increases Attack
Recommended: Takeru no Wa/Power Bracer 40-50

05. Himiko no Fu/Himiko's Rune (Defense +)
Effect: Increases Defense
Recommended: Himiko no Fu/Himiko's Rune 40-50

06. Reikobi/Vixen Tail (Musou Charge +)
Effect: Increases Musou Gain
Recommended: Reikobi/Vixen Tail 40-50

07. Tengu Geta/Tengu Sandals (Speed +)
Effect: Increases Speed
Recommended: Tengu Geta/Tengu Sandals 40-50

08. Umakura/Saddle (Power +)
Effect: Start stages mounted on a horse
Recommended: Umakura/Saddle 40-50

09. Shishi Horo/Cloak of Might (Ranged Defense+)
Effect: Increases Ranged Defense
Recommended: Shishi Horo/Cloak of Might 40-50

10. Orochigote/Serpent Bracer (Horse Defense+)
Effect: Increased Mounted Defense
Recommended: Orochigote/Serpent Bracer 40-50

11. Matsukaze kura/Matsukaze Saddle
Effect: Start stages mounted on Matsukaze in field maps

12. Uma Tekkou (Horse Armor)
Effect: Damage taken to horse gauge reduced by half

13. Hachiman Suzu
Effect: Shows the location of traps in castle maps

14. Onmyou Teshoku/Lantern
Effect: Displays entire castle map

It is recommended that you reset your character back after you've
managed to secure all or most of the items above. You might not have
maximized most of your characters and may actually not be able to
maximize them due to negligence. The author also warned you that it is
your decision to reset your character and the author is not responsible
for any problems arising from resetting your characters.

=========================================================================
________________________
| |
| 05. Stats Maximizing |
|________________________|

There are five categories where a character gained stat points.

A. Clear Time
B. Item Exp Bonus
C. Mission Completion
D. Musou KO's
E. Experience

It is recommended that with a fresh character (level 1 character), you
should go through the entire musou mode (both paths if possible) in
hard or hell (Chaos) mode. Going through the musou mode and attempting
most of the missions will usually maximize your characters stats and
your character will most likely be at level 12 to level 16.

.................................................

A. Clear Time

This is one of the easiest category and most people hardly have any
difficulties trying to achieve this. Getting an S ranking here will
greatly increase your character's Speed, Jump and Agility.

We will be covering this portion together with Mission Completion so
we'll skip this and look at the next portion.

.................................................

B. Item Exp Bonus

This is the second easiest category since defeating enemy generals,
enemy gate captains will easily get you awarded with item experience
points. Getting an S ranking here will greatly increase your
character's Ranged Attack and Ranged Defense.

We will be covering this portion together with Musou KO's so we'll skip
this and look at the next portion.

.................................................

C. Mission Completion

This is oftenly one of the harder categories and we will be covering
how to achieve this in the easiest possible way. Getting an S ranking
here will greatly increase your character's Horse Attack and Horse
Defense.

How to achieve an S ranking in Mission Completion and Clear Time
without facing much difficulty:

Select Hattori Hanzou's Fourth Stage, Ueda Infiltration from Free Mode
with the character whom you want to maximize Horse Attack and Horse
Defense in Hard or Hell (Chaos) Difficulty. (Hard difficulty is
recommended here as you'll be facing Kunoichi.)

Select the following items:
1. Onmyou Teshoku/Lantern
2. Takeru no Wa/Power Bracer 40-50
3. Himiko no Fu/Himiko's Rune 40-50
4. Tengu Geta/Tenga Sandals 40-50
5. Amaterasu no Tama/Solar Gem 40-50 or Hachiman Suzu/Guidance Doll or
Reikobi/Vixen Tail 40-50

Level 1 of Ueda Infiltration
- Go close to where the enemy is (red dots symbolizes where they are)
- Do NOT confront the enemy behind the door (do not open the door)
- Exit the level once you hear enemy generals discussing

Level 2 of Ueda Infiltration
- Go close to where the enemy is
- Do NOT confront the enemy behind the door (do not open the door)
- There are two groups of enemies you need to spy
- Exit the level once you have heard both group of enemy generals'
discussion

Level 3 of Ueda Infiltration
- Go close to where the enemy is
- Do NOT confront the enemy behind the door (do not open the door)
- There are two groups of enemies you need to spy
- Exit the level once you have heard both group of enemy generals'
discussion

Level 4 of Ueda Infiltration
- Head to the exit, you'll face a confrontation with Kunoichi
- Defeat Kunoichi and exit the level

Level 5 of Ueda Infiltration
- Simply head straight and the stage is cleared

You should get at least a A ranking for Clear Time in this map while
a definite S ranking for Missions Completion if you followed the above
instructions with a slow character like Shingen. However, repeated
attempts should at least bag you a S ranking for Clear Time. A fast
character like Hanzou and Kunoichi should get S ranking for Clear Time.

.................................................

D. Musou KO's

This is the hardest categories for characters like Oda Nobunaga whose
musou are pretty crappy. Getting an S ranking here will greatly
increase your character's Normal Attack and Defense.

How to achieve an S ranking in Musou Kills and Experience Gained
without facing much difficulty:

Select Akechi Mitsuhide's First Stage, Defense of Inabayama Castle, in
either Hard or Hell (Chaos) Difficulty.

Select the following items:
1. Reikobi/Vixen Tail 40-50
2. Takeru no Wa/Power Bracer 40-50
3. Himiko no Fu/Himiko's Rune 40-50
4. Tengu Geta/Tenga Sandals 40-50
5. Amaterasu no Tama/Solar Gem 40-50 or Tsukuyomi Ishi/Moon Stone 40-50
or Hyourougan/Provisions

Simply follow all the respective missions and don't fail them while
using musou to kill 100 enemies. Defeat all enemy generals, capture all
enemy gates and defeat Oda Nobunaga. That should actually get you a S
ranking in Item Exp Bonus. Getting 100 musou kills should get you an
S ranking in Musou KO's and even if you didn't get 100 musou kills,
geting 80 Musou KO's isn't hard and you still get A ranking which
will boost your attack and defense a lot.

The missions:
1. Defeat Sassa Narimasa and Shibata Katsuie
2. Defeat Hachisuka Koroku, Reserve Captain at the gate and another
Reserve Captain further down the map
3. Defeat Sakuma Nobumori, Hashiba Hideyoshi and Reserve Captain
4. Defeat Niwa Nagahide and Reserve Captain
5. Defeat Takenaka Hanbei
6. Defeat Nouhime (Noh) and Oichi
7. Defeat Maeda Toshiie
8. Defeat Oda Nobunaga

For characters like Oda Nobunaga, Okuni and Kunoichi, it is recommended
to tap the Circle button lightly once and immediately do a SSSTTT or
SSSSSSSS. This will actually bag you more Musou KO's easily than simply
using the normal Musou.

.................................................

E. Experience

This is the one category that you'll most likely end up hating. The
higher your experience the higher your ranks. The higher your ranks the
longer your life and musou gauge. That sounds good right? However, if
your experience is maxed out at 99999, you'll not receive any more
skill points irregardless of how many times you attempt any map and
irregardless of how you cleared them. At 99999, you'll not gain skill
points and increase in stats. You'll want to maximize this part last.

We will not cover this part as simply repeatedly playing the maps will
accumulate your experience until you reach 99999.

=========================================================================
________________________
| |
| 6. Skills Maximizing |
|________________________|

Skills are gained when you use skill points to learn them. These skills
in turn will effectively help you in certain areas, especially rare
skills like Inashi. These skill points are very precious as it's very
hard to gain skill points without gaining experience points and when
experience is maximized you cannot gain any more skill points. There
are two places where it is recommended to gain skill points.

.................................................

1. Uesugi Kenshin's First Stage, Battle of Kawanakajima

Select Uesugi Kenshin's First Stage, Battle of Kawanakajima from free
mode with the character you want to use in Hell (Chaos) Difficulty.
Repeat this map until you've reached 98000 in experience or more.

Select the following items:
1. Amaterasu no Tama/Solar Gem 40-50
2. Takeru no Wa/Power Bracer 40-50
3. Himiko no Fu/Himiko's Rune 40-50
4. Hyourougan/Provisions
5. Umakura/Saddle 40-50

Immediately head towards Takeda Shingen and defeat him, that will
actually give you an S ranking in time used to clear stage. You will
bag around 1000 ~ 1250 ranking points and 500 ~ 650 skill points if you
didn't use too much musou and defeat more than two generals including
Shingen. You may want to do this in two player mode, using the stronger
general like Maeda Keiji to rush Shingen while the one you are training
as the second.

.................................................

2. Akechi Mitsuhide's Third Stage, Betrayal at Honnouji

Select Akechi Mitsuhide's Third Stage, Betrayal at Honnouji from musou
mode using Akechi Mitsuhide as first character and the character you
want to maximize as second character. (Note: Akechi Mitsuhide must
feature!) The stationary character is the weaker character when
mounted. The moving character can be Akechi Mitsuhide if he's the one
you want to maximize.

=========================================================================
Select the following items for the stationary character:
~ If Akechi Mitsuhide is not the only character ~
1. Amaterasu no Tama/Solar Gem 40-50
2. Himiko no Fu/Himiko's Rune 40-50
3. Hyourougan/Provisions
4. Shishi Horo/Cloak of Might 40-50
5. Tengu Geta/Tengu Sandals 40-50

Select the following items for the moving character:
1. Uma Tekkou/Horse Armor
2. Matsukaze kura/Matsukaze Saddle
3. Umakura/Saddle 40-50
4. Orochigote/Serpent Bracer 40-50
5. Shishi Horo/Cloak of Might 40-50

=========================================================================
Recommended route of advancement for both characters
- From S to F, turn left at junction, then turn right at the next
junction, take item, go and hide at rooftop. Wait until time drop to
eight minutes and below.

Move both characters to the roof on the building of the sniping area
where Saika Magoichi snipes Oda Nobunaga. This place is found near the
x spot on the map below and only found when you jump and see a bamboo
stand. Jump up the two bamboo stands to the roof of the building and
stay there until there's eight minutes left.

Recommended route of advancement pointers for moving character
- Jump down and ride horse once time left to clear stage is down to
eight minutes.

- From x return back to F, head towards the right of the map, go
straight until J. Fire attack activated. Turn right to P, then at R2
turn left and turn left again at corner. Head straight till second
junction, and turn left.

- Go straight and along the way, take item and go straight till second
junction, and turn left. Head straight pass a junction and keep
right, take item and head down again until third junction and turn
left.

- Head straight to R1 and turn left. Reinforcements activated and
appear at 2. Turn right at corner, and head straight, keep right,
take item, and head all the way from J to M and turn right.

- Head to O and keep right, take item and turn around and head back to
M.

- Head straight all the way to N, keep left, take item and turn right
to other door you've not passed.

- Turn left when you're near the Gate, and turn right at the corner.
Head straight till you enter another room and pick up item on bottom
right corner.

- Make sure Oda Nobunaga had exited Honnouji Temple before turning
right to the other door you've not passed. Head straight and keep
left, take item.

- Run around Honnouji temple now in clockwise direction until Oda
Nobunaga exits the map. The time should be below five minutes.

You should get 0 experience points and 80 skill points for the effort.
So repeat this map until you fully maximize all your skills or get the
skills you desired. Remember to use timer instead of waiting since it
will be very tedious.

=========================================================================
____________________________________________
| |
| 07. Detailed Map of Betrayal at Honnouji |
|____________________________________________|

--Note: Not drawn to scale--

........................................................................
........................................................................
........................................._____................_____.....
........................................| G |..............| |....
........................................| ___|..............| 2 _|....
.........._____......................___| |___...............| |......
.........| |.........___........| A |..............| |......
.........| 3 |________| |_______| |_________@____| |_.....
.........|_______ ____________________ ____________________ |....
.................| |..____...___________|/|___________...____..| |....
.................| |.| |_| @ |_| |.| |....
.................| |.| _ _ |.| |....
.................| |.|_ @|.|______ _____|.|_ |.| |....
.................| |.._||_.........| |.........| |.| |....
.........________| |.| |........|____ |.........G |.| |_...
........| _____ |.| |.............|__ __|.........| |.| |..
........| |...__| |.| |..............._|/|_...........| |.| |..
........| |..|@ |.| |..............| |..........| |.| |..
........| |..| |_| |..............G # |..........| |_| A|..
........| |..| A /_ |._____........|_ _|..........| _/ |..
._______| |_.| |.| || |.......__|/|_________...| |.| |..
| _ ||__ |.| || G |....._| |..| |.| _|..
| G |.| |...| |.| ||_ _|....| _ ___ |..| |.| |....
|_____|.| A _|...| |.| |__| |______| |.| |...| |..| |.| |....
........| |.....| |.| |.| |...| |_.| |.| |....
........| |_____| |.| |.| |.._| || |.| |....
........| ______ |.|_______ _______|.| |.| ___|.| |....
........| |......||.........| |.........|_ _|.|_ _|.....| _|....
........| |......||........._| |_...________|/|_..._| |_......| |......
........| |......||........| |_| |_| |.....| |......
........| |......||........| N _/ M /_ O |.....| |......
........| |......||........|@____|.|______ ___|.|____@|.....| |......
._______| |______||.........______________| |___________......| |____..
| _ __ |........| A ____ J _________ P|.....| G.
| |.| |..| |________| |....| |.........| |_____| ___|..
|_____|.| |..|__ ________ R1 |....|@____ |.........|R2_______|......
........| |.....| |........| |...._____.| |.........| |..............
........| |_____| |........| |...| || |_________| |__............
........|______ |........| |...| G _________ __|...........
...............| |........| |...|_____|| |.........| |..............
...............| |........| |_____@___.| |.........| |..............
...............| |........| ______x__|| |.........| |..............
...............| |________| |__________| |_________| |..............
...............| F ______________________ |..............
...............| S ____________|......................| |..............
...............| |_...............................___| |..............
...............| G |.............................| 1 |..............
...............|_____|.............................|_____|..............
........................................................................
..........................................y.............................
........................................................................
........................................................................

Legend:
S - Starting Point
A - Ally General
M - Mori Ranmaru
N - Nouhime (Noh)
O - Oichi
# - Oda Nobunaga
F - Fire Attack Team
P - Fire Attack Mission Completion Point
x - Sniping Roof
y - Sun
G - Gate
J - Junction where you turn right on first time, go straight on second
@ - Item Box
1 - Escape Pt 1
2 - Escape Pt 2 (R1)
3 - Escape Pt 3 (R2)
R1 - Reinforcement Activation Pt 1
R2 - Reinforcement Activation Pt 2
. - Impassable
/ - Gate (Can be opened)

=========================================================================
__________________________________
| |
| 08. Frequently Asked Questions |
|__________________________________|

Regarding Stats Points

-----

Q: Why attempt a level in hard or hell (Chaos) difficulty when raising
stats? Isn't it easier to attempt it in easy or normal difficulty?
You don't get extra stats point for beating the level in easy or
normal difficulty.

A: Most of the time everyone is capable of maximizing the stats without
much difficulty and will find that once they reached 99999 in
experience, they can't actually maximize all skills. In order to
minimise the need to go through the tedious, time consuming Honnouji
trick, it is recommended that you gain as many skill points while
maximizing your characters.

-----

Q: Do stats actually affect the game a lot? Is there a need to maximize
the stats?

A: Stats actually do not affect a lot on the difficulty. In fact, it is
known that the higher your stats, the more difficult the game gets.
However, stats are important to unlock certain skills as you need to
have at least a certain amount in that stat to gain access to
certain skills. These skills tone down the difficulty a lot so there
is an advantage in getting high stats afterall.

-----

Q: How does the stat agility affect the game?

A: Agility affects a character's rolling ability. The higher your
agility the further and longer your character can roll.

-----

Q: Can I still get stats points when I reached 99999 experience?

A: No. You'll not gain anymore increase in your stats and you'll not
gain anymore skill points after you reached 99999 experience.

-----

Q: What do I lose other than stats and skills if I reset my character?
Do I lose my items, weapons and have to clear the missions and
stages again?

A: No. You only reset your character's stats and skills only when you
reset your character.

-----

Q: Are there fairy wines that add +10 Musou gauge like DW and something
like that to add +10 to Life gauge? Are there items that you consume
on the map to permanently increase your stats?

A: No. The system has changed. Your stats increase is determined now by
your performance on the map.

-----

Q: Why must the characters' stats be maxed at certain amount instead of
all maxed at 200?

A: If every character can max their stats at 200, then Hattori Hanzou
and Kunoichi will probably be the best character in all stages since
some stages there are places where you can reach with double jump.
That defeats the purpose of having different characters. The system
is implemented to make characters unique and special.

.................................................

Regarding Skill Pts

-----

Q: Is there a need to learn all skills? Is there a need to maximize my
character skills?

A: No, in fact the author had proven that even with no skills, you can
actually defeat the game. The skills are only essential to make the
game easier. Maximizing character skills is totally personal and it
is up to different individuals to decide whether they should get all
skills or just get some of the skills. There are few necessary
skills but they come with the characters already. These are Hanzou
and Kunoichi's double jump and Ishikawa Goemon's wall destroying.

-----

Q: I can still get skill points when I get my 99999 experience. Why did
you say that we can't get any more skill points after reaching 99999
experience?

A: That is the last you'll get. On the point where your ranking goes to
99999, you can still gain skill points. After you reached 99999 and
attempt a stage with a character with 99999 experience, you will not
be able to gain any more skill points or any increase in your stats.

-----

Q: My character is stuck at 99999 experience and I can't gain anymore
skill points after that. Is there any way to gain skill points for
my character without resetting?

A: No. The only way to avoid this is to reset your character back to
level 1 and to lose all skill points and stats points gained and
retrain your character so that you can get the skills you desired or
maximize your characters fully.

.................................................

Regarding Betrayal at Honnouji (aka Honnouji Trick)

-----

Q: Why did you recommend mounting a horse to run around the stage? Why
did you choose Matsukaze?

A: Firstly, movement will usually be faster if you ride a horse as
compared to running on foot. Secondly, being mounted actually
prevents heavy damage from enemy shooters and archers while in
movement. In fact, by dismounting and mounting the horse again when
enemy are far from you, you actually refill the Horse gauge.
Matsukaze is notably the strongest horse in the game that can easily
knock down generals too, thus making movement easier.

-----

Q: How come I get experience? Didn't you say I will be getting zero
points for experience?

A: There are a few possibilities this had happened.
- Firstly, the fire attack worked, when it shouldn't since it's Hell
(Chaos) Mode and no one is defending the fire attack team on its
way to the fire attack mission completion point.
- Secondly, it might be that you failed to observe the timing and
actually used less than 25 minutes in the game, causing you to
gain experience points for Clear Time.
- Thirdly, you might have defeated enemy generals, gate captains, or
did Musuo KO's when you're supposed to leave them alone.

-----

Q: Is there any other easier stages that I can gain skill points
without increasing my experience? I'm sick of playing Betrayal at
Honnouji.

A: Apparently, that is the easiest stage to gain skill points without
increasing your experience. Oda's version is harder since your life
will drop due to the waiting at the sniping area. Any other stages
either require you to defeat certain characters. Attempting
Kunoichi's Rescue of Ueda Castle will be harder since you do not
have a safe hiding spot like Betrayal at Honnouji and thus you had
to run around for the time spent whereas you could easily set a
timer for Betrayal at Honnouji.

.................................................

Regarding Ueda Infiltration

-----

Q: Help! I'm lost in the castle. I couldn't find the way to the exit in
level 1.

A: Step on the pedestrial, a weird square platform where you can step
to activate the trapdoors. In fact, Hanzou will hint by saying,
'Shikake tobira ga (Trapdoor),' then followed by 'Chi ga myou na.
(The floor)' The loosely translated meaning, 'Sliding door,' and
'Stench of the floor.'

-----

Q: Why shouldn't I engage the enemies behind the doors?

A: Firstly, you'll fail the mission to spy on enemy as you're not
supposed to be spotted by the enemy. Secondly, as you'll be playing
as a lone invader in a castle map in Hard or Hell (Chaos)
difficulty, it would actually easily mean that you're making it
harder to clear the stage.

-----

Q: Are there ways to avoid those traps? They are killing me!

A: Yes, by having the Hachiman Suzu/Guidance Doll, you can actually
know the positions of the traps. An alternative is to jump or roll
over the activated traps and always avoid obvious traps. One of the
most irritating trap is the falling ambush party so always be
prepared to press the roll button.

-----

Q: Kunoichi is too hard to beat. Can I simply avoid her?

A: No. You need to beat her to access to the next level. She is the one
and only obstacle that you have to beat in this map and the rest is
a breeze. Either lower the difficulty level to Hard or simply try
defeating her with the red life, musou trick. Run around with very
low life and use musou on her whenever the musou gauge is filled and
run around in circles till musou is fully charged. This trick works
only when your life gauge is red.

.................................................

Regarding Defense of Inabayama Castle

Q: Why did you choose Defense of Inabayama Castle when there are other
maps where you could probably get more enemies to kill to get 100
musou KO's?

A: First of all, it is an easy first stage map compared to most maps.
The missions that appear in sequence are actually easy to
accomplish. Then another important point to note that there are only
two opposing forces so you don't have to worry about losing enemies
to another enemy. Thirdly, this map is easily available since Akechi
Mitsuhide is one of the first five characters. Lastly, the
conditions to failing this map is much more simpler and easier to
prevent than most maps.

-----

Q: I'm running short of time and I die oftenly fighting enemy generals.
Is there a way to avoid this? Those generals heal too oftenly!

A: The field map actually allows you to save during the map and it
actually helps a lot to save after killing every general. I prefer
to play this map in Hell (Chaos) difficulty but if Hell (Chaos)
difficulty is too hard, you might try to lower it to just Hard
difficulty. Any lower difficulty levels defeat the purpose of
playing on this map.

.................................................

Miscellaneous Questions

Q: How come it becomes so easy to beat the enemies at Akechi
Mitsuhide's first stage in Hell (Chaos) difficulty after I reset my
character? Isn't Hell (Chaos) difficulty extremely hard?

A: The enemies in any stage possesses a ratio of stats equivalent to
yours. The latter the stages, the higher the ratio for the enemies.
Therefore, the enemy tends to have shorter life gauges when you play
the stage again with an resetted character. Therefore, the stronger
you are, the stronger your enemies. The reason behind this is that
the enemy also possesses skills like vitality as they are in higher
levels, so it becomes harder to kill them as their life becomes
longer. Moreover, the ratio is based such that it is against your
base stats and not inclusive of bonuses from weapons and items.
Thus, having a +50 bonus do a great deal of benefit to a reset
character.

-----

Q: If a resetted character can easily defeat enemies what is the point
of levelling them?

A: Skills. Skills require higher stats to activate them and skills
make the game easier. Imagine a character with a weapon with ice
element freezing everything in its path in Hell (Chaos) difficulty.
Though it takes longer to kill, it makes the game a lot easier.
Imagine a mounted character without the skill auto-block, dying and
getting thrown off the horse by the multiple muskets firing.

-----

Q: How does experience affect the gameplay?

A: The experience actually determines a character's level. As the
enemy's level is proportionate to the character's development,
enemies higher in levels have more skills. This actually improves
the difficulty if the player's characters had not been accumulating
skills. In the worst scenario, it might be too hard to even take out
a general in hard difficulty as the enemy generals have too many
skills acquired. Another thing to note is that the enemy do not
actually possess all skills when your character is level 20 and
playing in hell (Chaos) difficulty. This balances the gameplay. In
this guide, you'll actually learn to go against balancing system of
the game and it is considered that you're cheating the system.

-----

Q: Wow! This guide is great, can I use it on my website?

A: No, you're not to use the guide on any website without crediting the
author for his work. In order to use it, you must keep the guide in
its original form without adding any additional information or
comments without expressed permission from the author. You must also
acknowledge on your website, webpage, or homepage that you're to
gain no credits nor benefits for the creation of any part of the
guide. You are not allowed to abstract parts of the guide without
crediting the source and the author for the information. The author
can at anytime, request any such information to be removed even
after giving permission at the author's sole discretion without
giving any reason unless the rights of the guide has been
transferred to any owner through any legal source. If the rights to
the guide has been transferred to any owner, the author has the
right to request all unauthorized publications of any part/s of/or
the entire guide to cease. Thus, it's recommended that you seek
permission from the author first before posting any part/s of/or the
entre guide.

=========================================================================
___________________________
| |
| 09. Author's Last Words |
|___________________________|

As I told many people before, the maps are not created such that the
top is North. The observation at Betrayal at Honnouji from the sniping
rooftop had actually proven that if the top is North, the sun would be
rising from the south-south-east of the the map. You need to be in
sniping mode to catch the beautiful sunrise in this map. Although Oda
Nobunaga did mention that to escape to the northwest or northeast, the
map is not ideally situated such that the top of the map is North. It
is for simplicity that Oda used the terms Northeast and Northwest.

Oda Nobunaga is a big time coward. You might not believe it but it's
proven in this game he's a coward. In the Betrayal at Honnouji, Oda
Nobunaga actually ran away when the enemy is alone. Yes, while waiting
for the time to pass, Nouhime (Noh)'s ferocious soldiers actually wiped
out very single ally you have on the map. In the end, your four
bodyguards also get caught and dies in action, leaving the lone Akechi
Mitsuhide to hunt him down. Oda Nobunaga still scurry away in fear,
like a coward.

Don't attempt the Betrayal at Honnouji trick until you're really
desperate since it's tedious, irritating and an ugly map to play
repeatedly. You might even curse when someone actually appears on the
rooftop and kills your second character which is idling there. It
happened before once to me that my character was thrown off the roof
and raped by the mob.

It took me some time to work on the ASCII of the map, Tenken's Map was
a great help since I take lesser time to switch to my game screen. If
you noticed, a slight portion was missing. Yes, it's a gate on the
right that's protruding so much that I can't keep it in this guide. It
wouldn't be much of a hassle though.

=========================================================================
_______________
| |
| 10. Credits |
|_______________|

Special thanks to Neocrusader for the discovery of the Honnouji Trick
and sharing it with us on the GameFAQs message board.

Thanks to sou for pointing out the stats agility. I did not notice
that it actually existed. Also thanks to onyx for pointing out how
agility affects rolling.

Special thanks to Tenken for the wonderful map on GameFAQs which made
the ASCII map easy to create.

Thanks to misterasian for pointing out another stage for maximizing
stats. However, after much testing it was deemed worse than Defense of
Inabayama as there are not enough enemies for characters whose musou
charges too slowly. (for example Hanzou, Akechi) Moreover, Maeda Keiji
must be unlocked and slow characters like Shingen will have to run
around too much. Another problem in that map was the fire attack and
the shelling which depletes the player's health.

Thanks to all the contributors whom I may had left out. My apologies if
you had been left out.

Thanks to Koei and Omega Force for creating this wonderful game that
made me exhaust my time playing it.

Thanks to GameFAQs and Neoseeker for hosting this guide for all gamers.

Thanks to gamers who had been shown enthusiasm for the game, for
helping me and others on the message board and all your feedback.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by
their respective trademark and copyright holders.
Copyright 2004, Lim Li Hao, Matthew.
Duplication of any material found within this Guide is strictly
prohibited by Copyright Laws unless the author is properly credited for
the work with an email link to [email protected].