-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phantasy Star IV
A comprehensive FAQ/Walkthrough/Strategy Guide
By Marak
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version: 1.0
Author: Mark Quaintance, a.k.a. Marak
e-mail:
[email protected] OR
[email protected]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents:
1. Legal Text
2. Revision History
3. Introduction to my guide
4. Preamble: The Playable Characters
5. Complete Game Walkthrough
6. Wrap up and things to come
7. Credit where credit is due
-------------
1. Legal Text
-------------
This FAQ is copyrighted material.
LIMITED REPRODUCTION LICENSE: This FAQ may be posted, emailed, or saved to a
disk without express permission, provided that the FAQ remains unaltered, and
the full copyright notice is in place. Removing the copyright notice and
rights disclaimer voids any rights assigned.
Exclusions: This FAQ may not be used for promotional purposes, nor may it be
incorporated in guides, magazines, secured websites, or in any state or place
where a fee is charged in order to obtain the information contained within.
All professional use rights are retained by the author.
Future revisions of this FAQ may be found at
http://www.gamefaqs.com.
Contact me!
If you have anything you want me to add to this guide, if you know something I
don't know, if you have a better way to beat a certain enemy or Boss, or if
you have CONSTRUCTIVE criticism/feedback, or heck, even if you just have a
question about the game, PLEASE e-mail me at:
[email protected]
OR
[email protected]
and tell me! You could also post on the GameFAQs Phantasy Star IV Message
Board, but I don't get the chance to hang around there as much as I would
like. You'd get a faster reply by e-mailing me, trust me on this one.
This FAQ should be found in only one place:
http://www.gamefaqs.com
(and I better not see it anywhere else...)
-------------------
2. Revision History
-------------------
Version 1.0 - Completed 8/4/04
My first attempt at a full-fledged Walkthrough. I think it turned out pretty
well, but we'll see. Guide includes descriptions of every playable character;
the location of every treasure chest; the location of every town and a listing
of every shop and what it sells; how to get to every dungeon - and how to get
THROUGH every dungeon; descriptions of every monster as you encounter them in
the game; tactics for beating every Boss; and a walkthrough that takes you from
the game's introduction to the defeat of the game's end Boss. The storyline is
also paraphrased, so you can reference important plot points, and I give
information about how the storylines and characters from Phantasy Stars I and
II tie into the plot line of Phantasy Star IV.
Now that we have all that out of the way, it's time for the...
---------------------------
3. Introduction to My Guide
---------------------------
Welcome! I'm glad you've chosen to at least check out my (not so) little
Phantasy Star IV FAQ.
I'm going to attempt to make this thing a bit different than most FAQs, in that
it's going to be one continuous walkthrough, rather than being split up into
all these different sub-sections and whatnot. In addition, the Walkthrough is
going to contain a TON of relevant info within it, including:
-Monster descriptions: their capabilities, attacks, and weaknesses. Also, what
attacks/Skills/Techniques your characters should use for a quick victory.
-Character Rundowns: a description of each character is given when they join
the Party. Starting Level, Techniques, Skills, and combat role are all given.
-Ability info: a description of what each character's Techniques and Skills do,
both when they join the Party and whenever they learn new ones.
-Storyline descriptors: I paraphrase the storyline as it happens, and give
clarifications and additional backstory (from Phantasy Stars I and II) where
appropriate.
-Town sections: lists Inn prices, what each store (weapon, armor, item) carries
and how much each item costs, and what you ought to buy for each character
while in said Town.
-All the side-quests: as soon as they become available/reachable, I describe
all of the game's optional dungeons and Hunter's Guild Jobs, giving the
requirements and rewards of each.
-And, of course, complete walkthroughs of each dungeon: monster stats,
directions to each and every treasure chest, directions on how to get to the
end of each dungeon, and lastly how to beat the Boss that awaits you there.
A quick note on transrations: In the original Phantasy Star, the 3 planets of
the Algo Solar System were Palma, Motavia, and Dezoris. In Phantasy Star IV,
they are referred to as Parma, Motavia, Dezolis. Gotta love that whole "The
Japanese use "l" and "r" as the same character and thus when games are
transrated you get crap like Parma/Palma and Dezoris/Dezolis" thing we got
goin' on here.
And so, because I'm stubborn, I refer to "Parma" as "Palma", because it was a
fertile planet (think, PALM trees). And, I refer to Dezolis as Dezolis and not
Dezoris because it is the DEZOLATE (yeah, it's spelled desolate, I KNOW)
planet. You get it? PALMa and DEZOLis. I'm not crazy; I just disagree with
certain tranration choices.
In addition, the game's transrators couldn't decide on whether to use the term
"Dezolian" or "Dezolisian". I will ONLY use Dezolian, because it matches the
other terms the game uses: Palmanian and Motavian. Three syllables across the
board.
Finally, it's Lassic, not Lashiec. Uh, so there, SoA!
But enough rambling... let's get on with it, shall we?
------------------------------------
4. Preamble: The Playable Characters
------------------------------------
Before we get to the Walkthrough itself, I'll start with a detailed description
of the game's playable characters.
THERE ARE SOME MINOR SPOILERS HERE, SO BE WARNED.
*Ahem*, anyway, I'll first tell you how each Character Entry will be broken
down:
-----
Name - Job, Sex Age
Class Type: Not on your Status Screen. This is MY description of what type
of character this is. Do they fight with Melee or Ranged weapons? What kinds
of Techniques and Skills do they have? I take these things into account and
list what type of fighter they are here.
This first paragraph will detail a bit about the character's past, as told to
us either in the game's instruction book, via the storyline, or both.
The second paragraph will list the character's strengths. Which of their
statistics get a high score? Do they have a lot of HP/TP? What powerful
Techniques and/or Skills do they learn? What is their best role in combat? I
answer questions like these in this area.
The third paragraph (just to be fair) lists the character's weaknesses. Yes,
every character does have a least a couple of weak points, and I list them all
here.
Techniques learnable: I list every single Technique the character will ever be
able to learn here. This can be a spoiler, of a sort, so read this entry at
your own risk.
Skills learnable: Same as above, but Skills instead of Techniques.
Overall: Here, I put all the above info together for you. I spell out how
powerful in combat the character is compared to your other Party members. I
reiterate their best combat role. Tell you what you can expect the character
to do for you while they are in the Party. Stuff like that.
-----
OK, that about covers it. PLEASE NOTE, that throughout this guide, I will
FREQUENTLY abreviate Techniques as "Tech" or "Techs." I may even say *gasp*
"spell" because some of them are so magic-like that I can't help myself.
And now, your Cast of Characters:
-----
Chaz - Hunter, Male Age: 16 Starting Level: 1
Class Type: Hybrid Melee Fighter and Balanced Tech user.
Chaz is the game's Main Character. Originally an orphan, he was saved from a
hard life on the streets by Alys. Alys, herself a famed Hunter, has trained
Chaz to follow in her stead. As the game begins, Chaz has been promoted from
Assistant to full-fledged Partner. There has been a mysterious outbreak of
monsters in the basement of Motavia Acedemy, and Alys and Chaz have been hired
to wipe them out. But perhaps this "simple" job will lead to greater (and more
sinister) challenges...
Chaz is primarily a Melee Fighter. He weilds two-handed swords (and is able to
equip daggers) and can wear most any type of armor. Thus, Chaz will always
have very respectable Attack and Defense. Chaz also learns a variety of
damage-dealing and Travel Techniques, which will benefit the Party greatly (and
can save you a crapload of time, to boot). Chaz' Skills are also very
formidable. The proper Skill used at the right time can end a battle quickly.
He also has a healthy supply of HP: this, combined with his formidable Defense
and adequate Magic Defense, make him one tough cookie to take down.
Chaz's weaknesses are few, but they are there, nontheless. He has a relatively
small amount of TP, and his Mental stat (which governs how powerful your
Techniques are) is, for a Hybrid Caster, pretty abysmal. Finally, his very
limited selection of Healing Techs pales in comparison with most other Party
members.
Techniques learnable: Res (Gi,Na), Tsu (Gi,Na), Hinas, Ryuka, Anti,
Zan (Gi,Na), Rimpa, Brose, Rever, Megid
Skills learnable: Earth, CrossCut, AirSlash, RayBlade, Explode
Overall: Chaz is one of the best characters in the game. Great physical combat
ability combined with a wide selection of useful Techniques and some of the
most powerful Skills in the game makes for one potent character. Oh yeah, and
he gets the most powerful weapon in the game as part of the storyline.
-----
Alys - Hunter, Female Age: ?? Starting Level: 7
Class Type: Stealth/Ranged Fighter and Offensive Tech user.
Alys is a world-famous Hunter who hunts the biomonsters of Motavia for a
living. She took in Chaz a few years ago and has trained him to be her
Partner. Alys has a very straightforward personality and doesn't take crap
from ANYONE. Her determination to get the Job done, coupled with Chaz's
curiosity, starts a quest to stop the spread of evil across the entire Algo
Solar System...
Alys is best described as a Mass Damage Character. Her regular weapons -
slashers - attack all foes at once, although they are not very strong compared
to Melee weapons like Axes and Swords. She also learns a number of Techs and
Skills that affects multiple foes at once. Alys has above-average HP for a
non-melee character and also has respectable TP. In fact, almost all of Alys's
stats are strictly average, except for her Agility, which is quite high.
Alys's weaknesses include a marginal Mental stat and a lack of Techs and Skills
(she only learns a handful of each).
Techniques learnable: Foi (Gi,Na), Shift, SaNer, Zan (Gi,Na)
Skills learnable: Vortex, MoonShad(e), Death
Overall: Alys starts out a few levels higher than Chaz and Hahn, so she is your
most powerful Character for quite a while. Once everyone's Levels catch up,
she becomes less impressive, dealing less and less damage as her slashers'
attack power falls behind that of the straight Melee weapons. Still, she's a
good character to the end.
-----
Hahn - Scholar, Male Age: 24 Starting Level: 1
Class Type: Tech User, with an emphasis on defeating Biomonsters.
Hahn is a scholar studying with Professor Holt. When the good Prof. goes
missing, Hahn "hires" Alys and Chaz to help search for him. Little does he
realize that finding the Professor means finding other, less desirable
things...
Hahn is, basically, PSIV's version of PSII's Biologist class. He has a lot of
TP, high Mental, and most of his Techniques focus on the healing, harming,
disabling, and destruction of organic creatures. He also learns some Techs
that are useful against more than Biomonsers. While Hahn can use daggers, he's
actually better off not attacking physically. It's honestly not a bad idea to
equip him with two shields (one in each hand) and simply use Wat and Vol as his
primary "attacks".
Hahn's weaknesses are the same as those of most Tech Users: below average HP
coupled with a poor physical defense and low, low attack power. He also has a
VERY limited selection of Skills, and half of those are nothing special.
Techniqes learnable: Res (Gi,Na), Gelun, Wat (Gi,Na), Anti, Doran,
Zan (Gi,Na), Vol (Sa), Rimpa, Rimit
Skills learnable: Vision, Astral, Eliminat(e)
Overall: Healing coupled with a wide array of attack Techs makes Hahn a force
to be reckoned with - if you can keep him alive, that is. Two Shields (or 1
Shield and a Dagger) is a good way to acomplish this. Even with 2 daggers,
Hahn will never deal good damage, so... go with the shields.
-----
Rune - Wizard, Male Age: ?? Starting Level: 16
Class Type: Wizard, duh. Emphasis on destructive Techs and Skills.
Rune is an enigma, at least when you first meet him in the ruined town of
Molcum. He knows Alys from somewhere, but neither will say from where or when.
He picks on Chaz frequently, and yet, he seems to have Chaz' well-being in
mind, often giving him advice or warnings. He leaves shortly after joining
Alys & company, departing with Grandfather Dorin on a mysterious quest. Fear
not, your path and his will cross again...
Rune is your Party's main magic damage dealer - essentially, he's Chaz' magical
counter-part. His Techniques - with a few limited exceptions - focus solely
on dealing damage or teleporting the Party. He has a huge selection of
offense-oriented Techniques, and ALL of his many Skills deal damage or attempt
to slay your foes outright. In fact, Rune has SO much firepower at his
fingertips that it's not a bad idea at all to have him "pull a Hahn" and equip
two Shields. With his massive, massive stores of TP and damage dealing Skills,
it will be a very rare occasion that Rune will ever need to attack physically.
This is good, because his attack is just downright pathetic.
Rune shares most of Hahn's weaknesses: low HP, terrible attack power, and
pathetic physical defense. However, his high magic defense makes him a bit
more survivable than Hahn, especially in Boss Battles.
Techniques learnable: Foi (Gi,Na), Wat (Gi,Na), Gra (Gi,Na), Arows, Hinas,
Ryuka, Seals, Rever
Skills learnable: Flaeli, Hewn, Diem, Tandle, Efess, Negatis, Legeon
Overall: Rune could compete with Chaz for the "most powerful character" award.
He can fight with Techs and Skills until the cows come home, so do NOT be
afraid to have him cast a spell or use a Skill in every single round. If you
use him like the Battle Mage he is, you'll go far. An excellent addition to
the Party.
-----
Gryz - Motavian, Male Age: 19 Starting Level: 6
Class Type: Melee Fighter. Pure Melee Fighter.
Gryz is a young Motavian driven by a burning desire for revenge. Zio the Black
Magician murdered his parents, and when he finds out that Alys' Party is also
looking into Zio's activies, he invites himself along in the hopes that he can
confront Zio and make him pay for his crimes. Maybe he ought to be more
careful what he wishes for...
Gryz is your Meat Shield. He has the highest HP of any character (except,
perhaps, for Wren) and has excellent Attack and Defense, as well. With his
massive, two-handed Axes, he can deal more damage than even Chaz, which is no
mean feat. He also had good Dex, which means he'll get more than his fair
share of Critical Hits.
Unfortunately, Gryz's weaknesses really outweigh his strengths. He has only
one Tech, and only three Skills, of which one is useless and another you won't
get until the very end of the game. He also has absymal magic defense, which
means he takes outrageous damage from most bosses. He's also pretty slow,
which doesn't help his case any.
Techniques learnable: Brose
Skills learnable: Crash, WarCry, Sweeping
Overall: Gryz is there pretty much there to balance out the Tech-heavy Party
you have when you get him. He can take a lot of hits, and dishes out some nice
damage, but his lack of ability to do anything other than attack, attack,
attack really keeps him from being a "must have" Character. You won't be
shedding any tears when he finally leaves the Party for... personal reasons.
-----
Rika - Numan, Female Age: 1 Starting Level: 1
Class Type: Melee Fighter/Healer hybrid.
Rika is a genetically enhanced humanoid, the product of a thousand years of
improvent on a Prototype from prior to the 'Great Collapse'. She is sent by
her "father" - the AI dubbed 'Seed' - out into the world in an attempt to stop
the outbreak of biomonsters. Rika is compassionate and intelligent and
capable, but will her naitivete hinder your quest?
Rika is probably third on the list of "most useful characters", after Chaz and
Rune. She is a capable fighter, able to deal almost as much damage as Chaz.
She also has HP and Defense equeal to Chaz'. In addtion, she learns a useful
assortment of defensive and healing Techs, and a few powerful offensive Skills.
She also has high Dexterity, Agility, and Strength.
Rika has few weaknesses, actually. She lacks offensive Techs, and a lot of her
Skills simply aren't as effective as you might think, but Rika still has good
stats all around and isn't really lacking in any particular area, except
perhaps an ability to damage multiple foes at once.
Techniques learnable: Res (Gi,Na), SaNer, Deban, Shift, Sar (Gi,Na)
Skills learnable: Illusion, DblSlash, Eliminat(e), Disrupt
Overall: You'll be pleasantly surprised when Rika joins the Party. Rika is
versatile, powerful, and durable. In addition to the basic Res line of Techs,
she learns the Sar line of Techs (heals all humanoids in the Party
simultaneously), as well as Deben, which cuts down physical damage dealt to the
entire Party. Offensive skills like DblSlash and her ability to weild powerful
Claw weapons makes her a force to be reckoned with in melee combat, as well.
Rika is one of my favorite characters, and I think you'll find she grows on
you, as well.
-----
Demi - Andriod, Female Age: 324 Starting Level: 12
Class Type: Ranged Attacker and Healer.
Demi is an Android, a robot given human form. She is very knowledgable about
machinery and the various Climate Control Systems still functioning on Motavia.
After you rescue her from the clutches of Zio, she will join your Party in an
effort to stop the systems from spiraling out of control, thus destroying
Motavia's climate and making the planet unhospitable.
Demi, like Gryz, seems to be more a part of the plot rather than a well thought
out character. She has a few useful Skills and respectable HP, but all her
other stats are average at best, and her Gun weapons aren't that great, either.
If there's one thing that Demi does well, it's kill Mechanical creatures, but
that is literally ALL she does well.
Demi has more than her fair share of weaknesses, as well. The fact that she's
not alive means that Healing Techniques (and items) do not work on her; thus,
she must use her Recover Skill to heal herself. She also has no Mental score
(which means that she has abysmal Magic Defense), TP, or Techniques.
Techniques learnable: none.
Skills learnable: Recover, StatisBm, Spark, Barrier, Medic Pw, Phonomezer
Overall: It's good thing that Demi is only with the Party for a limited amount
of time, because quite frankly, she sucks. One strength with a host of
weaknesses and unhealthy dose of all-around mediocrity does not a good
character make. You'll just have to bear with her for now; she thankfully
won't be with you for too long.
-----
Wren - Android, Male Age: 998 Starting Level: 20
Class Type: Front-line Fighter.
Wren is the android in charge of keeping Motavia's control systems functioning
properly. When he is rendered helpless by an unknown usurper, he joins the
Party in order to find out who is messing with the Algo Solar System, and how
to stop them.
Wren is basically a better, stronger version of Demi. He has more HP than
anyone else, period. He also has very high defense, and his Gun weapons are
much more powerful than the ones that Demi uses. With both Flare and Spark,
Wren is equipped to handle both Biomonsters and Mechs.
Wren does have a few weaknesses, namely his magic defense, which is generally
horrendous due to his having a 0 Mental stat. This means that he spends the
better part of most Boss battles using Recover repeatedly instead of
contributing. He is also a bit on the slow side, and since he is an Android,
he is completely bereft of TP and Techniques.
Techniques learnable: none.
Skills learnable: Recover, Flare, Spark, Barrier, HiJammer, BurstRoc(ket),
Posi(tron) Bolt
Overall: Wren is a welcome addition to the party, stepping in to fill Gryz'
shoes as the, uh, guy who can take a hit - only he does it better. He can take
the hits and dish them right back out, which helps immensely. His greatest
weakness is his magic defense, which is beyond abyssmal, and results in his
taking more than his fair share of damage in most Boss battles. Wren will be
with you permanently, so you had better get used to him. However, I think
you'll be okay with that.
-----
Raja - Priest, Male Age: 85 Starting Level: 25
Class Type: Primary Healer, undead slayer.
After the Party "crashes" Raja's temple, he decides that he was bored of being
in charge of the temple, anyway. He invites himself to tag along with the
Party, supposedly in order to help them find an alternative means of leaving
Dezolis. That, and he hopes to find to good time. Along the way, Raja
continuously states his belief that the foul Garuberk Tower is the cause of the
current unending Blizzard that is threatening Dezolis. No one seems to believe
him, but perhaps they ought to. Raja may be more than he seems...
Raja's strengths are an insane amount of TP, excellent magic defense, and a
dangerously high Mental score. He also has passable physical defense, and his
Skills are very powerful and useful. His selection of healing and recovery
abilities is without equal.
Raja's weaknesses include low HP and no way to deal damage to anything that
isn't undead or unholy: his attack power is pathetic, and he has no damage
dealing Techniques. He's also very slow.
Techniques learnable: Res (Gi,Na), Anti, Rimpa, Sar (Gi,Na), Arows, Rimit,
Seals, Rever, Regen
Skills learnable: Blessing, HolyWord, Ataraxia, Miracle, St. Fire
Overall: Raja is a bit like Hahn, except that his focus in not on Biomonsters,
but on foes that are undead or otherwise rely on the evil energies of Dark
Force. As such, his Techs deal exclusively in healing and recovery, while his
Skills are a blend of recovery and undead slaying. The main problem with Raja
is that he literally cannot hurt anything unless it's undead/unholy. However,
his ability to heal the Party is second to none. And with Ataraxia, Raja
doubles as your own personal Inn. Don't be afraid to abuse Ataraxia!
-----
Kyra - Esper, Female Age: 18
Class Type: Ranged Fighter and jack-of-all-trades.
After the Party rescues her from the carniverous forest, Kyra accompanies them
to the Esper Mansion, where they mean to seek out the assistance of the most
powerful Esper of all, the legendary Lutz. Kyra may be roung and reckless, but
she means well, and she is a good ally to have. Hopefully her crush on Lutz
won't complicate matters for the rest of the Party...
If Kyra has a strength, it's her ability to use Slashers to damage all foes at
once, and the use of the Medice Skill, which can heal even androids, and for
a signifigant amount of HP. She also has a LOT of TP.
However, her other stats are all completely average, and she doesn't have too
many HP, either. Also, her offensive Techniques leave a bit to be desired.
I mean, really, GiFoi and Gra, this late in the game? Her Flaeli and Hewn
Skills are a joke compared to Rune's.
Techniques learnable: Res (Gi,Na), Foi (Gi,Na), Anti, Rimpa, Gra (Gi, Na)
Skills learnable: Medice, Flaeli, Telele, Hewn, Warla, Bindwa, Tandle
Overall, Kyra is a useful character that does a lot of things well but has no
real outstanding strengths or debilitating weaknesses. Her slashers do good
damage, but she has only moderate HP and defense. She has a lot of TP, but
not a lot of useful Techs to use them with. She has a nice balance of
offensive and defensive abilities, but with her slightly-above-average Mental
score, her abilities aren't as strong as say, Rune's or Raja's.
She's Rune without the insane Mental score; Raja without the ability to utterly
obliterate the undead; Alys without the powerful offensive abilities. A jack-
of-all-trades, and a master of none.
-----
Seth - Scholar, Male Age:??
Class Type: Weak melee fighter and Battle-Skill user
Seth is a mysterious "traveling archeologist" who accompanies the Party while
they are exploring the Soldier's Temple in search of an important artifact.
Not much is know about him, but he seems to be able to hold his own in battle.
And don't some of his skills seem a bit, oh, I dunno, familiar?
Seth would be compeletely pathetic if not for his array of potent Skills. With
attacks like Corrosion and DeathSpell at his command, Seth can kill monsters
with the best of them.
Weaknesses? Let's see... pathetic, Hahn-like attacks, mediocre HP, and poor
speed and magic defense. No TP or Techs, although he DOES have a Mental score
higher than 0. Once again, Seth would be a joke if it weren't for his insane
Skills.
Techniques learnable: none.
Skills learnable: Shadow, Corr(o)sion, MindBl(a)st, D(ea)thSpell
Overall, Seth is a very limited character. Sure, those Skills are nice, but
that's ALL HE HAS. On the bright side, Seth won't be with you long after you
clear out the Soldier's Temple.
-----
OK, that's all of the playable characters. We now proceed to...
----------------------------
5. Complete Game Walkthrough
----------------------------
Before I begin, let me tell you the about the general layout of this
walkthrough.
Basically, it goes like this: I start off by paraphrasing the storyline. Then,
I tell you what Town you are currently in - or the one you should be heading
to. Once in town, I list the things you can do there: what the shops sell,
what rumors are floating around town, who you need to talk to, and other things
of that nature. From there, I give directions to the next dungeon you're
supposed to tackle.
Each Dungeon walkthrough will go like this: First, I'll list all the monsters
and items that you can find in chests (or other places) in this dungeon. I'll
then give the Level I think that most of your Party members ought to be at to
tackle this dungeon, and a Level you should really make a serious attempt to be
at when you fight the Boss and/or complete the dungeon (not all dungeons have
Bosses).
After all that, I list the floor or level you start on, and then I give you
directions on how to get to all the treasure chests on said level. Then, I
tell you the shortest route the stairs (or elevator, or whatever) that lead to
the next part/level/floor of the dungeon. I will repeat these last two steps
until you encounter a Boss and/or reach the end of the dungeon.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note that I will frequently use N, S, E, and W in place of North, South,
East, and West!! (If I didn't, this file would be a megabite instead of only
500K. I'm almost serious about that.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Boss section will tell you the best way to take down the beastie with the
characters you currently have, at the Level I recommended they be at at the
start of the Dungeon walkthrough. I'll list what each character should be
doing and when, as well as describing what the boss can do to you, and a rough
estimate of its HP. Not all dungeons end with Bosses, so some dungeons
obviously will not have a Boss section in their walkthroughs.
Other things I'll include are general tips on how to fight the various monsters
that you'll encounter, and (most importantly) what new Techs and Skills your
characters will learn by reaching the Recommended Level. I'll also tell you
what these new Skills and Techs are best used for, and how much TP they consume
(in the case of Techniques).
In addition, I will give in-depth coverage of each side-quest (or side-dungeon)
as soon as you are able to get to it. If you don't feel like doing the side-
quest (they are optional, after all), I'll even tell you what section to scroll
down to in order to skip the side-quest and get on with your mission.
Hrmm, that should be about it. On with the walkthrough!
------------------------------------
Introduction: Chaz and Alys' new Job
------------------------------------
Things start off with Alys and Chaz, in Alys' home in Aeido. Alys tells Chaz
that his training has ended and he is now a full-fledged Partner. Chaz is
pleased about this, until Alys yells at him to get a move on: they have a new
Job that they've been hired to do. As they leave Aeido, Chaz asks Alys for
some more info, and she says that they are going to Motavia Academy in the far
off town of Piata. And so, off they head for Piata...
A cut scene then describes how Biomonsters have been increasing in number in
recent years, and how a new class of people has emerged to combat them:
Hunters.
Fade out, fade in... and we find Chaz standing by himself in a corner. Now,
you can finally take control of Chaz and the game begins in earnest.
---------------
Motavia Academy
---------------
Unless you're legally blind, it shouldn't be too hard to find Alys, although
you can always explore the rooms to the North first, if you like. In this
game, you'll be rewarded with amusing and/or informative messages if you search
things. "Things" include objects such as: books or papers on desks, bookcases,
cupboards and cabinets, people's kitchens, fireplaces, jars, mirrors... well,
you get the idea. Searching never yields plot-important info or nets you
items, but it IS kinda fun to read what Chaz has to say about darn near
everything.
At any rate, once you hook up with Alys, she'll tell you that the Academy's
Principal has all the details of the Job, and thus they should find and talk
to him. You can do this right away or you can explore the Academy and town
first; it doesn't matter much, as people say pretty much the same things
whether you've spoken to the principal or not, and you can't leave town in any
case until you complete the Job.
You might notice a statue on the first floor of the Acedemy. If you search it,
you'll see that it refers to a "Dr. Lubetz". Welcome to the wonderful world of
discrepencies, boys and girls! This statue is obviously supposed to be a bust
of Doctor Luveno, who helped the Heroine Alis from the original Phantasy Star.
Now, how do you get "Lubetz" out of "Luveno"? I don't know, but this is the
first of many transration oddities I'll point out in this walkthrough, mainly
because they bother me and I want to gripe about them. Enjoy!
The Principal's office is that big doorway due NW of where you rejoin Alys.
Once you've satified your wanderlust, head into his office and chat it up with
our nameless Principal friend.
After some pointless chitchat, the Principal finally gets to the heart of the
matter: about a month ago, monsters began appearing in the Academy's basement,
and the Principal wants you to go a-monster hunting. Alys does a bit of
prying as to the whole "how did monsters get into a town?" mystery before the
Principal tells her to stop asking questions and start killing monsters.
Alys comments on the Principal's evasive behavior once you leave his office.
The Academy's basement is the game's first Dungeon, so if you're feeling
nervous or inadequate, you can take the 500 Mesata you start off with and buy
some Monomates (basic healing items) from the Item Shop in town, but it really
shouldn't be necessary. You have Res, the basic healing spell, and the
monsters (including the, um, "boss") really aren't that tough.
At any rate, the entrance to the basement is on the First Floor, in the same
spot the Principal's office is on the Second Floor. Here you will find Hahn
pacing back and forth, preventing anyone from getting to the stairs that lead
to our friendly monster-infested basement. Talk at him.
He begs you to take him with you into the basement. When Alys asks why, he
explains that he is an assistant to Professor Holt, who disappeared while
doing research at nearby Birth Valley. Shortly thereafter, the Principal
issued a decree that no one else was allowed to go to Birth Valley, and has
since evaded questions as to why it's suddenly off-limits. Hahn thinks there
is a connection between the Birth Valley quarantine and the sudden appearance
of monsters in the Academy's basement.
And so, after Alys extorts 100 Mesata out of Hahn (she basically makes him
hire her and Chaz as bodyguards), he officially joins the Party and the path
to the first dungeon lies before you...
--------------------
The Academy Basement
--------------------
Monsters found in this Dungeon:
Xanafalgue, Zoran Bult
Items found in this Dungeon:
Monomate, 100 Mesata, Antidote
The Boss of this dungeon is:
Igglanova, the pathetic test tube Biomonster
Suggested Level: Chaz & Hahn 1, Alys 7
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz & Hahn 1 or 2, Alys 7
Well, here we are, the first dungeon. It's short, fairly straightforward, and
the monsters are weak, so it's not a bad idea to wander back and forth in one
of the long hallways, fighting random battles to get a feel for the game's
combat system.
The XP and Mesata you earn by fighting these weak creatures is helpful, but you
can beat the boss at Level 1 without any problems, so fighting enough battles
to get Chaz and Hahn up to Level 2 in this place is entirely up to your
descrection.
I recommend that you just skip leveling up here, as the monsters outside Piata
are worth twice the XP and really aren't any more dangerous than what you're
fighting here.
Basic Combat strategies:
Alys starts out at Level 7 to Chaz and Hahn's 1. As such, she will be
invincible in this place. The monsters can only deal 1 HP of damage to her,
and she has enough TP and Vortexes to kill most anything at a whim. You can
just use the pre-set Macro A to win most battles down here with a minimum of
fuss. Just keep an eye on Chaz and Hahn's HP - unlike Alys, they can take up
to 5-6 damage per hit, and they don't have that many HP... yet. So don't be
afraid to have either Chaz or Hahn whip out a Res spell if either one loses
more than 15 HP or so.
Don't forget that Alys' Boomerang can hit every monster at once!
P.S. Macro A works better if you change its order to Alys, Chaz, Hahn instead
of Chaz, Alys, Hahn. Trust me on this one.
As for the foes you'll face down here, there are two types:
Xanafalgues are weak little critters. You should have no problem with these as
they have very little HP, poor defense, low attack power, and lack any sort of
special attack. Just attack with your weapons (think Macro A) and take them
down.
Zoran Bults, on the other hand, can be a bit of a threat. They can do some
decent damage to Chaz or Hahn, and they have a few more HP than Xanafalgues.
Still, don't do anything drastic like using up a Vortex on them; just be
cautious and watch Chaz' and Hahn's HP, and be ready to cast Res if necessary.
If you encounter them singly, it's not a bad idea to end the battle quickly
with Alys' Foi Technique.
Now, for your character's Skills and Techniques:
Alys starts at Level 7, and begins the game with the following abilities:
Skills
Vortex: Alys can use this Skill to deal around 50 damage to a single enemy.
Try to save these for the "boss", Igglanova, as this skill will take him down
in the shortest amount of time.
Techs
Foi: Basic Fire Tech. Deals around 30 damage. A good way to quickly dispose
of those annoying Zoran Bults and other weak individual foes. Uses 3 TP.
Shift: Increases 1 Ally's Attack Power. An excellent Tech to whip out for
Boss battles, but kind of a waste against normal foes. Uses 7 TP.
SaNer: Increases the entire Party's battle speed. But since your Party is
faster than these monsters 90% of the time, it's a waste to use it here. Uses
6 TP.
Chaz starts at Level 1, and begins the game with the following abilities:
Skills
Earth: Paralyzes one foe for 1 round (sometimes 2). Don't bother; attack
instead.
Techs
Res: Restores about 25 HP to a single Party member. Uses 3 TP. Don't forget
to use this to heal either Chaz or Hahn if they lose more than 15 HP or so.
Hahn starts at Level 1, and begins the game with the following abilities:
Skills
Vision: Increases the Party's Dexterity, which means you'll get more Critical
Hits and take slightly less damage (provides a minor Defense Power boost). If
you don't feel like watching Hahn do 8 whole damage with his knives, use this,
but save at least 1 for Igglanova.
Techs
Res: The same Tech that Chaz has; however, since Hahn has a higher Mental
score, his Res will recover more HP per casting than Chaz' will. Uses 3 TP.
Gelun: Attempts to lower the Attack Power of all foes, but has a very low
success rate, and it really sucks up Hahn's TP. It also will not work on
Igglanova. I wouldn't bother with this one. Uses 4 TP.
Walkthrough:
------------
Floor B1F (Monomate, 100 Mesata)
As soon as you walk downstairs, you'll see a chest to the West. Head on over
there and snag the Monomate it contains. From here, you can see a set of
stairs leading down to the next floor, again just to the West of where you
are standing.
Once you walk West and approach the area where the staircase is, you'll notice
that there is a side passage that leads even further West. You may as well
follow it, as it leads to a small room with another chest. This one contains
100 Mesata. Now you can go back and head down the stairs, which take you to...
Floor B2F (Antidote)
Once again, there is a chest immediately to the West. This one contains an
ever-useful Antidote. Whoo. Let's move on. Following a rather disturbing
trend, you can again see the next staircase from the chest, and again it's a
hop, skip, and a jump to the West. Descend the stairs, and you'll find
yourself on...
Floor B3F ("Boss": Igglanova)
This very small floor contains nothing but monster breeding capsules (!) and
our good buddy Igglanova, who is presumably spawning most of the Xanafalgues
that you've been slaughtering wholesale. Once you put him down, your task will
have been completed... right?
Igglanova the Pathetic (300 HP)
Iglanova is technically a Boss, but it's such a pushover. It only has two
attacks, but only one deals damage, and if you play your cards right, Iggy
won't ever even use it. Anyway, its attacks are as follows:
Fission: if Iggy is alone or only has 1 Xanafalgue at its side when its turn
comes up, it will use this ability to spit a new Xana out.
Iggy also has a regular attack, which it will ONLY use if there are two living
Xanafalgues when its turn comes up.
Thus, if you have Alys and/or Chaz disposing of the Xanas and being diligent
about NEVER letting a new round of combat start with 2 Xanas still left alive,
Iggy will never so much as lay a slimy tentacle on you. And even if does, it
won't do all that much damage, anyway.
I recommend doing the following:
Alys should alternate between tossing her 'rang (to weaken the Xanas that Iggy
is constantly producing) and nailing Iggy with Vortexes.
Chaz' time is best spent alternating between attacking weakened Xanas and Iggy
itself every round. If Hahn can kill a weakened Xana, have Chaz attack Iggy
instead, since he does more damage.
Hahn should definately use Vision in the first round of combat, and then just
have him mop up the wounded Xanas in subsequent rounds with physical attacks.
This frees up the much more powerful Chaz to attack Iggy more often.
If you so desire, you can have Alys cast Shift on herself and Chaz to boost
their attack power, but that's two rounds spent boosting yourself when you
could be nailing Iggy with Vortexes. Pass.
Iggy does have one thing going for it: 300 HP, which seems like a lot; however,
since the above strategy ensures that he never once attacks your Party... well,
suffice to say you'll put old Iggy down with extraordinary ease.
*Begin Rant* In fact, this "boss" battle is SO easy, I even loaded up a
savestate from before I fought it and tried to make it a bit harder: by using a
Level 1 Party, and only physical attacks. I still won without him touching me;
it was sad. However, things WILL only get harder (a LOT harder) from here on
out, so if this thing somehow gives you trouble, do yourself a favor and just
set the controller down now. *End Rant*
After the fight is over, Alys tries to humble the excited Chaz by telling him
that he needs practice: his swing is too slow. Alys then asks Hahn if he knows
anything about the monster breeding capsules. Hahn claims to know nothing
about them, and Alys says she'll believe him... for now. The Party decides
to back and ask the Principal a few questions.
From here, you must backtrack out of the basement...
------------------------------
The Motavia Academy, revisited
------------------------------
..and hike back on up to the Principal's office.
The Principal insists on playing dumb until Alys begins threatening him
physically, at which point he caves in (the wuss), and begins telling you
everything you want to know.
He begins by saying that Professor Holt identified Birth Valley as the source
of a recent monster outbreak. The Professor and his team of researchers found
the remains of an ancient-yet-advanced civilization deep in Birth Valley!
They brought back the monster breeding capsules they found there to the Academy
for study, and departed immediately for a second expidition, from which they
never returned.
Hahn acuses the Principal of twiddling his thumbs and doing nothing to rescue
the missing scientists, but the Principal says it was because, as he was
organizing a rescue party, a man named Zio appeared before him...
Using his dark magic, Zio showed the Principal a vision of the research team,
all of whom - even Professor Holt - had been turned to stone in the depths of
Birth Valley. He threatens to do the same to the Principal if he doesn't keep
everyone else out of Birth Valley.
After hearing all this, Hahn rashly decides that he must head to Birth Valley
himself and try to help the research team. Alys reminds him of the dangerous
Sandworms that prowl the area, and offers to tag along for a mere 300 mesata.
Hahn readily agrees, and tells them that Birth Valley is to the Northeast.
We'll head out for Zema and Birth Valley in a minute, but first let's take a
good look at...
-----------------
The Town of Piata
-----------------
Inn: 5 mesata per person (15 mesata)
Item shop: Monomate 20 mesata
Not much to do here at all, really. I would advise staying at the Inn to
quickly recover your lost HP, TP, and Skill "charges". You can talk to the
townspeople, but most of them don't have anything terribly important to say.
However, one of the stundents in the dormatories mentions that one of his
classmates joined a strange new religion and disappeared; this will become
important later on.
Once you're done chatting it up with the townsfolk, exit the town (the town's
gate in the center of the south wall), and we'll begin our journey...
----------------------
To the Village of Mile
----------------------
Suggested Level: Chaz & Hahn 1 or 2, Alys 7
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz & Hahn 3, Alys 7
Foes you might face: MonsterFly, Crawler
There's actually a small town between you and Birth Valley, and it has both a
Weapon and an Armor shop, so it's worth your while to stop off there. From
Piata, head just a bit to the East and then head almost due North.
You'll probably encounter a few foes along the way, but don't let them scare
you. As I stated earlier, they're not much tougher than what you fought in the
Academy's basement. The monsters you'll face out here are:
MonsterFlies, which are a bit like Xanafalgues, but much faster. Thier attacks
can deal a bit of damage, but they don't have many HP and are pretty easy to
kill with Alys' Boomerang.
Crawlers are harder to kill than MonsterFlies, but not by much. If you want,
you can have Alys cast Foi to eliminate one insantly. Otherwise, just use
Macro A.
It's not a bad idea to kill enough random baddies to reach Level 3, if you
aren't already. The extra HP, TP, and stats will make the upcoming trek into
Birth Valley much easier.
After heading NNE for a bit, you'll see a village just south of a large patch
of quicksand. Note the sinister-looking building on the other side of the
(currently uncrossable) quicksand. At any rate, the aforementioned village is
our next destination. Let us explore...
-------------------
The Village of Mile
-------------------
Inn: 10 mesata per person (30 mesata)
Item shop: Monomate 20; Antidote 10
Armor shop: Lthr-Helm 80; Lthr-Crown 90; Lthr-Band 70; LthrShield 140
Weapon shop: Dagger 40; Hunt-Knife 120; Stel-Sword 280; Boomerang 80;
Slasher 160
The first thing to do here is hit the Weapon and Armor shops. This is
another reason I told you to Level Up outside of town: you'll need a fair
amount of Mesata. Be sure to purchase all of the following:
For Chaz, a Stel-Sword. Don't sell his two Hunt-Knives just yet (see Hahn,
below).
For Alys, get 2 Slashers. Now Alys can REALLY dish out the damage. Sell her
old, obsolete Boomerang.
Since Hahn is getting Chaz' hand-me-downs, you don't need to buy him anything,
really. You can just equip him with Chaz' old Hunt-Knives. HOWEVER, I
STRONGLY recommend an alternative to Hunt-Knives: buy and equip him with 2
LthrShields. "But Marak," I can hear you cry, "If Hahn has 2 Shields
equipped, he won't be able to attack!" And you'd be right. But you never
need to attack with Hahn: he deals much more damage with Wat - which he will
learn at Level 4 - and has enough TP to cast it repeatedly. If you find him
running low on TP, just use Vision. So, for now, give Hahn a Hunt-Knife or
two, and once he hits Level 4, slap on the LthrShields.
You can also buy a couple of Monomates if you like, but with Hahn and Chaz both
able to restore the Party's HP with Res, they really shouldn't be necessary.
If you blew a bunch of TP leveling up outside of town, feel free to hit the Inn
and heal up. Having enough Mesata should be no problem, between the Mesata
you've harvested from fallen foes and the cash you've bilked out of poor Hahn.
Don't forget to sell any old weapons you have left over after upgrading at the
shops!
Points of Interest in town include:
A fledgeling sand worm ranch at the entrance to town. There's only an
immature sand worm burrowing about at the moment, but this location will become
important later, so try to keep it in the back of your mind.
And, uh, that's about it. This town is here mainly to intoduce you to
Quicksand and to upgrade your weaponry. Let's move on, shall we?
-------------------
To the Town of Zema
-------------------
Suggested Level: Chaz & Hahn 2 or 3, Alys 7
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz & Hahn 3 or 4, Alys 7
Foes you might face: MonsterFly, Crawler
The next destination, Zema, is home to this Birth Valley everyone is so
concerned about. To get there, simply head due NE. You'll see Zema at the
base of a mountain range. Go ahead and enter.
You'll notice that there are several ways to go once you reach Zema, however,
most lead to nothing at this point. If you go NW, you'll find a broken,
uncrossable bridge. To the S, you'll find the Village of Molcum, but a pair of
crabby Motavian gatekeepers won't let you in the village. East of Molcum is
Hahn's hometown of Krup. Here you can find out some things about Hahn a bit
ahead of schedule, and buy some better equipment if you can afford it, but
since the monsters in Birth Valley are so weak, there's really no point in
doing so. If you go N of Krup, you'll find a cave, but the entrance is blocked
by a landslide. So, basically, you can go a LOT of places right now, but you
can't do anything relevant to the storyline until you find Professor Holt deep
in Birth Valley. So, let's go do that now.
----------------
The Town of Zema
----------------
Inn: Locked.
Item Store: Locked.
Armor Store: Locked.
Weapon Store: Locked.
Yep, you read that right. Every building in this town is locked up tight.
You'll also notice that it's not just the researchers in Birth Valley that were
turned to stone by Zio; the whole town has been petrified! You can "talk" to
the statues to elicit a reaction from Chaz, but there's literally nothing you
can do except head north, into Birth Valley (the cave in the back of town).
------------
Birth Valley
------------
Monsters found in this Dungeon:
Xanafalgue, Zoran Bult, FlattrPlnt
Items found in this Dungeon:
CrbnShield, Monomate, Crbn-Suit
Suggested Level: Chaz & Hahn 3 or 4, Alys 7
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz & Hahn 4, Alys 7
Well, here we are: the infamous Birth Valley. This is another short dungeon
so don't be afraid to tackle it even if you're not fully healed or a bit low on
TP. There are two nice pieces of armor here: the Carbon Shield and Carbon
Suit. Both are better than what you have, so be sure to snag them before</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
meeting up with Professor Holt and his researchers.
General combat strategies:
You've fought Xanafalgues and Zoran Bults before, and with your new weapons,
they're complete pushovers. There is one new monster here:
The FlattrPlnt. Uh, Flattr? Flutter with an a? Plants that are flatter than
normal? At any rate, these things are a bit tougher than Xanas and Zorans,
due to their Acid Spit attack, which can deal 10-12 damage to a single
character. They're pretty rare, however, so fear not. Just nail them with a
Vortex when they do pop up and watch them go down.
Your characters should reach these levels and gain these abilities:
Chaz will learn the Tsu Tech at Level 4. Similar to Hahn's Wat, but instead of
being ice/water element, it's Holy element. Holy element isn't anything
spectacular right now, but it becomes very important later on. Anyway, as I
was saying, Tsu is similar to Wat but more powerful. However, it uses up a
staggering (for Chaz) 6 TP, so try not to use it unless you're REALLY in a
bind. Chaz needs to save his TP for healing and let Hahn use his more
TP-efficient Wat. Speaking of which...
Hahn learns the Wat Tech at Level 4. This will be the mainstay of Hahn's
offense for quite a while. Wat costs only 4 TP, but it deals about 35 damage
(on average) to most foes, and it will do even more damage as Hahn's Level
increases and his Mental stat goes up. Hahn generally has enough TP that you
can make this his primary attack; that is, don't be afraid to have Hahn cast
this instead of attacking. With Wat in his arsenal, Hahn can forego using
weapons at all, and instead cast Wat while hiding behind a pair of shields.
Sure, it sounds silly, but it's surprisingly effective in practice.
Walkthrough:
------------
Floor 1F (Carbon Shield, Monomate)
Head N until you come to an East/West T intersection. Go E first, and you'll
come across a chest containing a CrbnShield. Equip this on Hahn if you're
using my "Mage Hahn" advice, then backtrack to the T intersection and go W this
time. Follow the passage as it almost immediately turns N. Ignore the side
passage to the E for now and continue going N. You'll soon stumble across
another chest, which contains a Monomate. Now backtrack and take that E
passage you bypassed earlier. Follow it E, then N, then W, and you'll come to
a staircase that takes us down to...
Floor B1F (Carbon Suit, Professor Holt)
Head N from the Stairs and you'll soon come to another E/W T intersection; head
E first, following the path as it curves to the N. Take the Crbn-Suit out of
the chest you'll find at the end of the passage. This can be worn by Chaz,
Alys, OR Hahn... Personally, I would give it to Chaz, as he will eventually
surpass Alys in HP and move to the front of the Party formation, but the choice
is yours. Now, head back to the T intersection and head W. Once again, the
path will turn N immediately. After a short walk, you'll find yourself in a
wide passage - filled with petrified people! Looks like you've found what you
came here to find... Sure enough, the Petrified people are none other than
Professor Holt and company, all turned to stone by Zio's dark magic.
That's right, no Boss for this dungeon, just stoned scholars. Hahn will
immediately recognize the man standing in front of the large metal doors as
Professor Holt. Alys says that she can't believe that anyone is able to
inflict a potent magical curse on people in this age of Techniques and
technology. She also mentions that she's heard of a medicine that can restore
stone to flesh called "Alshline". (Ahh, more fun with bizarre transration
issues. In Phantasy Star, this same medicine was called "Alsulin". How you
get "Alshline" from one transrator and "Alsulin" from another is beyond me.)
At any rate, Alys says she heard about Alshline being found in the Motavian
village (as in, peopled by native Motavians) of Molcum, far to the south.
Hahn insists on rushing off to Molcum immediately, and Alys generously agrees
to tag along for a mere 500 Mesata. Who needs to fight biomonsters for Mesata
when you've got Cash Cow Hahn to milk?
The game then takes you back to entrance to Birth Valley. Leave Zema and its
cursed population behind for now; it's time to travel...
------------------------
To the Village of Molcum
------------------------
Suggested Level: Chaz & Hahn 4, Alys 7
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz & Hahn 5, Alys 7
Foes you might face: MonsterFly, Crawler, Locusta, Sand Newt
From Zema, head S, keeping the mountains to your left (and the river to your
right). After a bit of a walk, you'll see Molcum just a teensie bit to the
East. If you're not Level 5 yet, you should really fight some more Biomonsters
until you are.
Speaking of biomonsters, let's run down the new ones you may encounter:
Locusta: these guys are kind of nasty. They have around 70 HP and can deal a
fair amount of damage. Don't be afriad to use Vortex, Wat, or even Tsu to take
them down quickly.
Sand Newt: These guys can be dangerous in large numbers. They have about 50
HP, decent defense, and a painful attack. Use Wat if you can, as it really
does a number on them. Alys' slashers will also help to soften them up. If
you get 4 of these in a battle, you can get almost 100 exp. Not too shabby.
When you're ready (and Level 5), feel free to enter...
---------------------
The Village of Molcum
---------------------
No shops.
This village looks normal... until you move North only to see the blasted
remains of buildings..! There is no one to be found - save for the mysterious
white-cloaked figure standing in the midst of the destruction. You may as well
talk to him, as it appears that this person is the only one who may have a clue
as to what happened here.
The man's name is Rune, and Alys seems to know him, but neither says how they
might have met. Rune comes off as more than a little aroganat, and he seems to
enjoy taunting Chaz (possibly because he is amused by Chaz' hotheaded
reactions). Despite all this, Rune is actually quite knowledgeable, and since
you're in Alys' company, willing to help you out.
After some prodding, Rune tells you that Molcum's destruction was at the hands
of (no wait, you'll never guess)...Zio!! No way man, no way! Ahem, sorry...
At this point, Hahn mumbles something about Alshline, and Rune suggests that if
you're looking for that, you should head to the nearby, not-destroyed Motavian
town of Tonoe, to the north. He also suggests that you stop by Krup, due East
of here, before setting off for Tonoe.
Hahn REALLY doesn't want to stop at Krup, but since when does anyone care what
Hahn wants? Rune also decides to tag along(!), saying that he has some
business in Tonoe as well. Chaz isn't too thrilled about Rune coming with, but
Alys is the Boss here. Grow a pair, Chaz!
And so, you get to play with Rune! Let's do a Rune Rundown, shall we?
Rune, Wizard, starting Level: 17.
Techniques
Foi: Foi is your basic Fire attack Tech. Cheap TP-wise, but not too powerful.
Well, okay, when Rune uses Foi, it blows the damage Alys can do with Foi
right out of the, uh, water. Yeah. Rune rules. And Foi uses 3 TP.
Gra: Gra uses pockets of intense gravity to deal insane damage to ALL your foes
at once. It uses 10 TP, but casting it will end any battle instantly at this
point - none of the monsters in these parts can survive the damage it deals.
Wat: You should be familiar with Wat, but Rune's does much more damage, due to
his much higher Mental stat. Uses 4 TP.
Arows: Awakens sleeping Party members. You'll probably never use this. To
boot, it eats up 9 (!) TP if you do.
Hinas: Escape from the dungeon you are currently in. ONLY works in dungeons
(for obvious reasons). Uses 8 TP.
Ryuka: Warps the Party to any previously visited town. Only functions when
you're in a Town or on the World Map. Uses 8 TP.
Skills
Hewn: It's just like Gra, except that it's a Skill instead of a Tech, and it
uses tearing winds instead of gravity pockets. Like Gra, it deals so much
damage that using it will slay whatever you're currently fighting.
Flaeli: Magic that is similar to Foi, except that it's a Skill instead of a
Tech. For being "free" (i.e. consumes no TP), it sure does a lot of damage.
In fact, it seems to do MORE damage than Foi, so I recommend you use this up
first, then switch to Foi and Wat. It's not like he doesn't have enough
"charges" of it.
OK, here's the deal: Rune is a god at this point. He's (generally) your
fastest Party member, so have him cast Gra or use Hewn in every battle to end
it in one fell swoop. This a great way to power up: drain Rune dry of TP and
Hewn charges; stay at an Inn; lather, rinse, repeat. Go ahead, try it! It's
fun!
If you REALLY want to get those pesky random battles over with quickly, set up
the following two "Rune Macros":
1) Rune: Gra, everone else: attack
2) Rune: Hewn, everyone else: attack
Enjoy!
-------------------
To the Town of Krup
-------------------
Suggested Level: Chaz & Hahn 5, Alys 7, Rune 17
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz & Hahn 5, Alys 7, Rune 17
Foes you might face: Crawler, Sand Newt, Locusta
Krup is literally only one "screen" to the East, so you won't have to strain
yourself getting there or anything. Play with Rune's godliness if you want -
there's going to be some new equipment to buy once you enter Krup, so try to
have at least 1,800 Mesata handy, if not more. Heck, just suck Rune dry (as
described above) because it's easy, EASY XP and Mesata - you can always rest
in Krup's Inn to restore your (his) TP and Skills.
When you're ready, head East and a smidge North, and enter...
----------------
The Town of Krup
----------------
Inn: 15 mesata per person (60 mesata)
Item Store: Monomate 20; Antidote 10; Telepipe 130; Escapipe 70
Armor Store: Crbn-Helm 200; Crbn-Crown 150; Circlet 100; Crbn-Suit 550;
CrbnShield 220
Ahh, Krup. You'll notice right away that most people in this town seem to know
our good buddy Hahn... they ought to, as this is his hometown. The Armor shop
is where Hahn's parents live: his dad acts all peeved because Hahn left to
study at the Academy rather than make Crbn armor for a living... but his mom
tells him to just ignore the old codger: they both still love their son. How
sweet. You can also meet Hahn's fiancee (!!) Saya at the town's school. She
and Hahn will share a moment before Hahn leaves her to resume the Search for
Alshline.
By the way, Saya's School is a riot. Be sure to talk to the kids, and seach
ALL of the bookshelves, the kids' desks, both ends of the blackboard, the
dressers in the back room, the mirror... everything! Some rather amusing stuff
to see here, if you're thorough.
After talking to Hahn's folks, be sure to stop by the business end (ba bum BUM)
of the Armor shop, and purchase the following:
For Chaz, a Carbon Helm, and a Carbon Suit if you didn't give him the one you
found in Birth Valley.
For Alys, a Carbon Crown, and a Carbon Suit if you didn't give her the one you
found in Birth Valley.
For Hahn, a Circlet, and a Carbon Suit if you didn't give him the one you found
in Birth Valley. You can also buy him a second Carbon Shield if you're
following my "Mage Hahn" build (you ARE, aren't you?).
The only thing that Rune can use from this shop is the Circlet, but he already
has one, so you don't need to get him anything at all.
Once you're fully equipped (don't forget to sell all that now-worthless Leather
equipment!!) and well rested, it's time to leave Krup behind and begin the
journey to Tonoe.
---------------------------------------------
To the cave which leads to Tonoe (ValleyMaze)
---------------------------------------------
Suggested Level: Chaz & Hahn 5, Alys 7, Rune 17
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz & Hahn 5, Alys 7, Rune 17
Foes you might face: Crawler, Sand Newt, Locusta
Another long, arduous journey. Follow the river N, then E, and you'll see a
cave just a bit more to the North. Go ahead and enter it. Chaz will notice,
quite astutely, that the entrance is blocked by a rather sizable stack of
rocks and boulders. However, Rune clears a path by blasting the stones aside
with his Flaeli magic. Hahn mentions that he doesn't recognize Rune's
Technique, and Rune explains that it's not a Technique - it's actual Magic.
Very unusual; not many people know Magic. Most use Techniques.
Anyway, you are now free to enter the cave. Go on, it won't bite.
----------
ValleyMaze
----------
Monsters found in this Dungeon:
Sand Newt, Blob, Carrion Cr(awler)
Items found in this Dungeon:
Antidote, 300 Mesata
Suggested Level: Chaz & Hahn 5, Alys 7, Rune 17
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz & Hahn 6, Alys 8 (finally!), Rune 17
This place normally would give you a bit of trouble - if it weren't for Rune.
Use your Rune Macros to slaughter anything that so much as looks at you the
wrong way. This little cavern then becomes a hunt for the meager treasures
found here before you sprint for the exit.
General combat strategies:
There are two new monsers to "contend" with in here. Or, to be more accurate,
to look at briefly before Rune obliterates them:
Blobs have high physical defense but very little HP. Strangely, their attack
damage varies wildly, dealing 1 damage one time and 10 the next. Just use
Wat, or better yet, Gra/Hewn to dispose of them quickly.
The other new monster, the Carrion Cr(awler), is merely an upgraded (and
palette-swapped) version of the reddish Crawlers you were fighting around
Zema. Dispose of them as you see fit (GRA *cough* GRA). Oh, yeah, they have
the frightening ability to use Thread. This fiendish ability forgoes dealing
damage to instead lower one character's Agility. Be afraid; be very afraid!
Your characters should reach these Levels and learn these abilities:
At Level 6, Chaz will learn CrossCut, a handy little Skill that allows him to
deal double damage to one enemy. However, until you go up a few levels and
get more than a single "charge" of this at a time, it's best to save it for
Bosses or unusually tough foes.
At Level 6, Hahn will learn Anti, which will save you the hassle of having to
buy those incredibly expensive Antidotes. Whee. Uses 2 TP.
At Level 8, Alys will learn Zan. Zan is like Gra, in that it attacks all your
foes at once. However, it's Wind-based instead of Gravity-based, and since
Alys does NOT have the Mental abilities of Hahn or Rune, it actually doesn't
deal that much more than her slashers do. Think of it as a stronger Slasher
attack, and save it for large groups of tough foes (like four Sand Newts).
Uses 8 TP.
Walkthrough:
------------
Floor 1F (Antidote, 300 Mesata)
Follow the winding passage until you come to a spot where a side passage
branches off to the W. Ignore that side passage and instead continue into the
chamber straight ahead. You'll find a chest with an Antidote with it. Now, go
back and take that W passage, which turns N after a short time, and ends in an
opening. Head through it.
The opening leads to the next section of the dungeon. Head N, then W. You'll
see a branching path that leads N, but it leads to nothing but a dead-end
cavern, so just ignore it and continue heading W. The passage turns N after a
short time, and ends in another opening. Again, go through it.
You'll find yourself in the third major section of the dungeon. Walk N to a
T-shaped intersection, and head E. Go through the opening that presents
itself, and raid the chest in the watery chamber for a quick 300 Mesata. Now,
turn around, and head W at the T intersection. This passage leads to another
of those openings, which again you should enter.
Once through the opening, you'll be in the fourth and final section of the
dungeon. Walk due N for a while and you'll exit the cave. You'll appear
exactly three feet away from Tonoe. Let's check the place out, shall we?
-----------------
The Town of Tonoe
-----------------
Suggested Level: Chaz & Hahn 6, Alys 8, Rune 17
Suggested Level to reach*: Chaz & Hahn 7-8, Alys 8-9, Rune 17*
* You should reach at least Level 7 with Chaz/Hahn while collecting the
necessary Mesata to buy all the new equipment this town offers.
Inn: 15 mesata per person (60 mesata)
Item Store: Monomate 20; Antidote 10; Cure-Paral 120; Telepipe 130;
Escapipe 70
Armor Store: Circlet 100; Titn-Helm 570; Crbn-Suit 550; Titn-Mail 1120;
CrbnSheild 220; TitnShield 600
Weapon Store: Hunt-Knife 120; TitnDagger 240; Stel-Sword 280; Titn-Sword 560;
Slasher 160; TitnSlashr 360
Let me start by saying: do NOT enter ANY building other than the Inn! If you
speak with Grandfather Dorin in the building N of the Marketplace, Rune will
leave the party, and you do NOT want that to happen just yet.
Instead, let's hit the shops. In this town, the Weapon and Armor stores aren't
located in nice, comfortable buildings. Oh no. Instead, they are found in
unlabeled stalls in the marketplace in the SE corner of town:
The Armor store is in the third stall from the left in the bottom row of
stalls.
The Tool store is in the second stall from the right in the bottom row of
stalls.
The Weapon store is the second stall from the left in the top row of stalls.
The Motavian folk in this town are adept at making Titanium equipment, and
that's mostly what you're going to find here. Unfortunately for you, Titanium
is very pricy. In order to buy everything you need, you require at LEAST 4530
Mesata. I'd even recommend a few hundred more, for Cure-Parals and a couple of
Inn stays. Yes, that's a LOT of cash, but we have a REAL easy way of getting
both XP and Mesata, don't we?
Yes, that's right, it's time to abuse Rune some more. Make sure your Rune
Macros are set up (see Rune Rundown, above), and just use them over and over
and over on the critters outside of town until you have enough Mesata.
An alternative method is to just forget Rune abuse and head directly to the
next dungeon, the Basement Warehouse. Rune will leave the Party, but you'll
get a replacement (see below). In the Warehouse you will find large quantities
of Mesata scattered about; you can loot 800 Mesata from the Warehouse, and pick
up quite a bit more from the random battles there. It's your call.
At any rate, get the money now, or get it later, just remember at some point to
buy the following:
For Chaz, pick up a Titn-Sword, a Titn-Helm, and a Titn-Mail. Be sure to sell
your Stel-Sword, Crbn-Helm, and Crbn-Suit
For Alys, puchase two TitnSlashrs and a Titn-Mail. Sell her old Slashers and
Crbn-Suit.
If you've been following my advice, Hahn will need nothing from either shop.
If you're not doing my Mage Hahn thing, go ahead and get him either two
TitnDaggers (or, just one TitnDagger & keep your CrbnShield).
I would recommend getting Rune 2 CrbnShields and selling his worthless
Wood-Cane. See, if you're having Rune attack, you're not following my advice
anyway, so you might as well keep the cane.
You should also buy a couple of Cure-Parals, since monsters in the upcoming
dungeon can (and will, most likely) Paralyze someone at least once. Problem
is, until Hahn learns the Rimpa Tech, Cure-Parals are the only way to cure
Paralysis short of walking around and hoping that it wears off before the next
battle (it will wear off "by itself", but only outside of battle after a
seemingly random number of steps are taken). Getting an Escapipe isn't a bad
idea, either. Yes, I know that both Chaz and Rune have Hinas to take you out
of dungeons, but Rune is leaving you soon, and this way you can still escape if
you accidently use up all of Chaz' TP.
Right about this time, you'll notice that Chaz' HP and Defense will surpass
Alys' HP and Defense, due mainly to the Defense boost Chaz gets from his
Swords. So, right about the time Chaz hits Level 6 or 7, don't be afraid to
re-arrange your Party to this order: Chaz, Alys, Rune, Hahn. From this point
on, Alys will no longer be this invincible Tank that can absorb all kinds of
punishment, so it's best to "back her off" a bit.
And that's enough on equipment and such; onto the storyline. We're here for
Alshline, remember?
Talking to the townsfolk reveals little relevant info, other than a couple of
hints to go to Grandfather Dorin with "questions". We can find Dorin in a
white tent just to the North of the Marketplace. You can't miss him; he's the
big Motavian in the comfy-looking chair. You may notice Gryz and his little
sister standing off in the corner, but trying to talk to them at this point
will yeild nothing, so don't bother unless you just HAVE to talk to everyone.
Ironically enough, it is not any of your Party members, but Grandfather Dorin
himself who asks the questions around here. If you answer "Yes" to either of
the first two questions, you'll get a tidbit of dubiously useful information,
but then you'll have to talk to Dorin again and start all over from the first
question.
However, when he asks you if want to know Alys' measurements, say "Yes". This
will prompt a humorous response from Alys. Rune will calm things down a bit
and finally manage to steer the conversation to the subject of Alshline. Dorin
tells you that there's some Alshline in the basement warehouse out back.
However, the warehouse is in a state of disuse and probably a teensie bit
dangerous - i.e. filled with monsters and the like. Being the nice guy that he
is, Dorin sends Gryz to help you along.
At this point, Rune tells you that he's leaving with Grandfather Dorin. Before
he disappears, however, he mysteriously issues a warning to Chaz: don't even
think about trying to fight Zio; you're no match for him at this point.
Chaz is a bit shell shocked at the idea, but before anyone comes up with any
sort of appropriate comment, Rune and Dorin dash out of the tent. Fear not,
you'll bump into Rune again, soon enough. At least he left you with a
replacement Party member, right? Let's do a quick Gryz Rundown:
Gryz, Motavian Warrior, Level 6
Techniques
Brose: Attempts to instantly destroy all Mechanical enemies at once. The
problem is, you don't fight any Mechanical enemies for quite some time, and
even when you DO use this on them, it has an abysmal success rate. Uses 16
TP.
Skills
Crash (7): Crash is Gryz' other instant death ability. It works on any type
of creature, and has a farily high success rate. However, unlike Brose, it
can only affect one creature at a time. Still, it comes in handy for
killing creatures quickly, or eliminating the biggest threat in a hurry.
And that's it. Gryz is mainly here to take hits and attack physically. He
does both of these things quite well, but he's still a boring, limited fighter
with almost no tricks up his sleeve. And he's none too quick, either. After
fighting a couple of battles with Gryz, you'll begin to REALLY miss your old
pal, Rune - condescending comments and all.
At least Gryz comes fully equipped with the lastest Titanium equipment, meaning
that you don't have to buy him anything from the Marketplace. It also means
that his attack and defense are even higher than Chaz'. Couple that with his
higher HP, and you have a new Party "leader". Stick Gryz in the front position
(so we now have Gryz, Chaz, Alys, Hahn) and let's go get us some Alshline.
If you like, you can now speak to Pana, Gryz' sister, and she will give you a
little backstory on where Gryz comes from and why he's so anti-Zio.
The Warehouse is North and a bit West of Grandfather Dorin's house. "Search"
the trapdoor you find there, and Gryz will open it for you. Note to the
curious: no, you can't get into the Warehouse without Gryz in the Party; only
he knows the "trick" to getting the trapdoor open. Now, it's time to tackle...
----------------------
The Basement Warehouse
----------------------
Monsters found in this Dungeon:
Blob, Abe Frog, Toadstool, Carrion Cr(awler)
Items found in this Dungeon:
Monomate, 100 Mesata, 500 Mesata, 300 Mesata, Antidote, Titn-Crown, Escapipe,
Alshline
Suggested Level: 7 (Alys 8, Gryz 6)
Suggested Level to reach: Gryz 8, Alys/Chaz/Hahn 9
Surprisingly enough, this is actually a somewhat lengthy and demanding dungeon,
filled with a lot of treasure - and a lot of Biomonsters. Be sure to enter
this place fully rested: you're gonna need those TP for this one, especially
with Rune gone...
General combat strategies:
Grandfather Dorin was certainly right about one thing: this place is crawling
with hostile critters. You'll encounter a few new foes down here:
The Abe Frogs are pretty nasty. They have a lot of HP and their attack can
really rip Alys or Hahn a new one, so try to Crash or Wat them before they are
able to lick anyone to death.
The Toadstools don't pack quite the punch that the Abe Frogs do, but they make
up for it with numbers and a chance that each attack might Paralyze someone.
Their low HP makes them fairly easy to take down, but you still want to be
quick about it, lest you find yourself using up the last of your Cure-Parals.
They also LOVE ganging up on Hahn, so watch his HP and be sure to Res him if
he loses more than 25 HP. Try to have Chaz do all the healing, as Hahn will
need his TP for continual Wat usage.
Even though you've gone up a few Levels since the ValleyMaze, your characters
are in a bit of a "we refuse to learn useful combat abilities" funk right now:
Chaz learns Hinas at Level 8. This allows to you warp out of a dungeon, no
matter where in the dungeon you are. It costs 8 TP but it will save you
TONS of time throughout the game.
In addition, Chaz learns Ryuka at Level 9. This outrageously useful Tech
allows you to travel instantly to any town you have previously visited. It's
actually very convenient that you learn this Tech at this level, as it will
save you a long and annoying walk back to Zema. Uses 8 TP.
Hahn learns Doran at Level 7. Another one of those "why bother?" Techs, Doran
will lower the agility (battle speed) of all your foes at once, with a high
probablity of success. But why lower their agility when you can just kill
them? The only monsters I want to lower the agility of are the Bosses, and of
course all of them are immune to Techs such as Doran. Sigh. Uses 4 TP.
Fortunately, Hahn does learn Zan at Level 9. Hahn's Zan is much more effective
than Alys' Zan, since Hahn's Mental stat is so much higher. If you have Alys
attack, and have Hahn use Zan, you can kill mulitple foes in a single round!
It does tend to suck up Hahn's TP quickly, though, so don't go overboard.
Uses 8 TP.
At Level 7, Gryz learns nothing.
At Level 8, Gryz learns nothing. Isn't he fun?
Walkthrough:
------------
Floor B1F (Monomate, 100 Mesata)
From the stairs, head slightly W, then turn N, and go N until you can't any
more. You'll see a chest to the W - open it up to procure a Monomate. Head
back to the stairs; from there, go slightly E and then turn N. Head N until
you can't go N no more. You'll walk into a second chest which contains 100
Mesata. Now, go back to the stairs and head due N to find a new set of stairs
that descend down to...
Floor B2F (500 Mesata, 300 Mesata)
This one gets a bit confusing, so pay attention: from the stairs, head W, then
S around the bend, and then take the first E passage you come to. You'll
immediately hit a 4-way intersection: N and S both lead to small rooms. The N
room is empty, but the S room contains a chest with 500 Mesata in it. Go back
to the intersection and head E a bit more: you'll come to another 4 way
intersection, again leading to small rooms N and S. Once again, the N room is
empty, and the S room has a chest containing 300 Mesata. Now that you're
filthy rich, go back all the way W and head S, follow the passage back E, and
you'll hit the stairs down to...
Floor B3F (Antidote, Titn-Crown)
Oh no, more rooms. If you head E from the stairs you'll come across the stairs
to B4F, but let's loot this floor before we go that way. Basically, there is
a passage that wraps all the way around this floor, with another passage
cutting it down the middle. Thus, the floor is split into 4 rooms. Each room
is enterable via an opening in its West wall, and contains the following:
NW room: a chest with an Antidote inside.
SW room: nothing.
NE room: nothing.
SE room: a chest containing a Titn-Crown. Oh yeah! Slap this on Alys, pronto.
Now, let's proceed to...
Floor B4F (Escapipe, Alshline)
This level is very straightforward. Head N, then E, and you'll see a set of
large metal doors. You can't open them, but there's a way around. Keep
heading W until you come a cave-ish area, then head N, E, and finally S through
a break in the N wall of the room you just circled around. In this hard-to-
enter room are three chests. One of them is open (and empty), but the other
two remain unlooted. The right-hand chest contains an Escapipe (how
convenient, an Escapipe at the very end of a dungeon), and the left-hand chest
contains the ever-elusive magical medicine, Alshline.
Opening the Alshline chest starts a short conversation: Hahn, of course, wants
to immediately head back to Zema in order to de-stone the townsfolk (and Prof.
Holt, of course). Gryz wants to tag along, because he thinks that you're going
to fight Zio, because of what Rune said. Chaz evades the issue, saying that
Rune was spouting random nonsense, and that they're "not necessarily" going to
fight Zio. Alys says that it's okay for Gryz to come along; apparently she
enjoys having a big blue meat shield standing in front of her in battle.
Now that you're holding that big pink bottle of Alshline in your sweaty little
hands, go ahead and use that Escapipe you just got to escape from The Basement.
Once you're back in town, use a Telepipe or the Ryuka Technique to return to...
----------------
The Town of Zema
----------------
Inn: 20 Mesata per person (80 Mesata)
Item Store: Monomate 20; Antidote 10; Cure-Paral 120; Telepipe 130; Escapipe 70
Armor Store: Circlet 100; Crbn-Suit 550; Grpt-Suit 1200; CrbnShield 220;
GrptShield 900
Weapon Store: Hunt-Knife 120; Stel-Sword 280; Slasher 160; Broad-Axe 1000
As soon as you enter Zema, the game will take over and show you a cut scene
wherein your Party uses the Alshline to return the townsfolk and the research
team to normal. The Good Professor, seemingly unfazed by his run-in with
petrification, orders Hahn to head back to the Acedemy and make a report while
he re-opens the investigation into the deeper levels of Birth Valley. Alys
suggests that they take a well-deserved day off, and Chaz agrees.
And so, we find the Party talking amongst themselves in the Inn. Hahn says
that he's going to return to the Acedemy, while Gryz expresses his suicidal
desires to fight Zio, even if he has to go alone. Chaz mentions that tackling
Zio single-handed probably isn't the smartest thing to do, and Alys says that
Standard Operation Procedure dictates that she and Chaz should return to Aeido,
and report that their job is complete to the Hunter's Guild (which enriches the
lives of hunters).
At this point, someone screams in terror, and the Party rushes to investigate!
As they near the entrance to Birth Valley, our good buddy Iggy reappears,
barring entrance!
"Boss": Iggy
That's right, you get to fight Igglanova AGAIN. This is the EXACT same
creature that you fought in the basement of the Academy. And if it was a
pathetic excuse for a boss at Level 1, just imagine what it's like now...
In fact, I'm not even going to give you a strategy. Do whatever you like, Iggy
will die in a round or three, and we can get on with things.
After the gueling, hard fought battle, Chaz asks Alys how his swing looks now,
and Alys grudgingly concedes that it's gotten better. The superstitous
townsfolk start going on and on about curses and the violation of "sacred"
Birth Valley. Hahn expresses concern: monsters are coming out of Birth Valley,
but none of the research team are. Alys generously offers to protect Hahn from
the dangerous beasts of Birth Valley for a mere 1000 (!) Mesata. Hahn pouts
about having to dip into his wedding fund but eventually agrees. Looks like
we have a new Job on our hands, eh?
Well, before we tackle the mysteries of Birth Valley, let's look around town.
The townsfolk aren't much use here; they either thank you for unstoning them
or they give vague warnings about going into Birth Valley. The real fun is in
the shops. You should have more then enough Mesata - you only need 4000 - to
cover things, but if you somehow do not, you get a crapload of Mesata from the
monsters in the Bio Plant. At any rate, purchase the following when you can:
For Hahn, a Grpt-Suit and at least one (*cough* twogettwo *cough*) GrptShields.
These are must have items, as without them Hahn takes outrageous damage from
the monsters in the Bio Plant. Sell his outdated Carbon gear.
For Gryz, snag a Broad-Axe. Since all he does is attack, you may as well
ensure that he can deal as much damage as possible. Sell his old Titn-Axe.
There's no better equipment to buy for either Alys or Chaz in this town.
--------------------------------
Return to Birth Valley/Bio Plant
--------------------------------
Monsers found in this dungeon:
Xanafalgue, Zoran Bult, FlattrPlnt (Birth Valley)
Gicefalgue, Ismounos, Guilgenova, Sensor Bit, NeoWhistle, Arm Drone (Bio Plant)
Items found in this dungeon:
Cure-Paral, Grpt-Crown, Crmc-Sword, Antidote
Suggested Level: Gryz 8, Chaz/Alys/Hahn 9
Suggested Level to reach: Gryz 9, Chaz/Alys/Hahn 10
This is potentially quite the tough little dungeon, depending on what monsters
the game throws at you. Don't be afraid to use Hinas (or an Escapipe) in order
to retreat back to town and use the Inn (and buy the rest of that equipment,
perhaps?) if your Party's TP and/or Skills start to run dry.
General Combat strategies:
You'll encounter quite a few new foes down here, some of them quite nasty:
Gicefalgues are an upgraded, palette-swapped version of our old friend the
Xanafalgue. They can do some mediocre damage, but they're easy to kill and
pose no real threat. Don't waste Crashes or Wats on these guys; regular
attacks will suffice.
Ismounous are, well, weird fish creatures. They have a lot of HP and hit hard,
so break out your "single target" stuff: Crash, Tsu, Wat, Vortex, etc. to kill
them before they can put the hurt on your Party.
Guilgenova: Iggy's big purple cousin makes his debut! Guil is exactly like
Iggy, except that it spits out Gicefalgues instead of Xanas, and it has a few
more HP. Like Iggy, if you can continuously kill the Gices, it'll expire
without ever getting the chance to attack you. Use your single-killers (see
above) to kill it more quickly. Finally, Crash DOES work on Guilgenova (just
not every time), so use it!
Sensor Bits are the very first Mechanical foe that you have to face. These
things are evil, I'll warn you now. They dodge physical attacks quite often,
they pack a punch with their guns, and they're fast, too. Alys' Slashers and
a Zan from Hahn can wipe them all out at once, so that's not a bad idea. If
you're running low on TP with Hahn, have your other Party members hit the Bits
with Skills and Techs in order to cut down on missed (i.e. wasted) attacks -
while your regular attacks can miss, Techs and Skills never do.
NeoWhistles are probably best described as the mechanical equivalent to
Ismounos: tough, slow, and hard-hitting. Use the same strategy on these guys
as you would the Ismounos, and you'll be alright. Just remember to watch your
HP and Res-tore your characters when necessary.
Arm Drones are kind of like mechanical Gicefalgues: not too tough to deal with,
since they have only mediocre attack power, defense, HP, etc. Regular attacks
should be more then enough to finish these off with ease.
Your characters should reach these Levels and learn the following ablities:
Alys learns the Skill Moonshad(e) at Level 10. This skill will simultaneously
Paralyze every foe at once, with a good chance of success. However,
Mechanical foes are immune to the effect, so don't try it on groups of Sensor
Bits. Save it for large groups of Ismounos instead.
Hahn learns the Vol Technique at Level 10. This deceivingly useful Tech will
instantly slay any living creature, with a very high rate of success (unlike
in MOST RPGs, where Instant Death spells fall into the "why bother" category).
This means that you can use Vol to kill irritating foes like Ismounous or
Guilgenova without having to deal a bunch of damage to them... not bad. Vol
has one major drawback, however: it will not work at all on anything
Mechanical. Hahn IS this game's Biologist, remember. Uses 8 TP.
At Level 9, Gryz learns nothing. Such a jack-of-all-trades, he is!
Walkthrough:
------------
Fist things first, we need to get back to that door that the formerly stoned
Professor Holt was blocking when we first came here. To do that, head N to the
T, go W then N, take the E passage and follow it to the stairs down.
Now on Floor B1F, head N to the T, then go W and N. You'll see the bodies of
a couple of poor researchers lying near that mysterious door. Talk to them,
and they'll tell you that Professor Holt went deeper inside Birth Valley, but
has yet to return. Although it seems unlikely that he's still alive, let's
head in there and look anyway...
Bio Plant, 1st Floor (No items - a first)
As soon as you try to head into the Bio Plant, a red light shines on your Party
and freaks Chaz and Hahn out. Alys tells them to chill out, and then it's time
to move on. (If you read the screen to the left of the door, you find out that
the red light was some sort of "Sterilization Treatment").
Follow the yellow glowing line in the floor, through the doorway to the N.
Head N a bit in the next room until you come to an Elevator leading down to
the...
Bio Plant, B1F (Cure-Paral)
Head S from the elevator, and you'll come to a 4-way intersection of sorts. To
the W is a little dead end; to the E, you'll find a chest containing a Cure-
Paral; to the S, you'll find 2 elevators. The West one (W3 according to the
sign) will take you to the West block (optional treasure section), while the
East one (E3 says the sign) will take you to the Central Block (where we need
to go, eventually). For now, take the W elevator down to...
Bio Plant, B2F West (Grpt-Crown)
Head S out of the elevator, and follow the path as it curves to the W, and
finally to the N. You'll come upon 2 empty chests to your left, but keep
going N. You'll eventually find another set of 2 chests, this time with only
one already looted. The other chest contains a Grpt-Crwn. Grpt, by the way,
apparently stands for "Graphite" and it the next "grade" of armor you'll be
encountering. It's better than the Titn-Crown, so equip it on Alys.
You can continue a bit further N, but all you'll find is a collapsed tunnel.
Guess it's time to take that Eastern elevator... Walk S, then E, and then N
back to the elevator. Take it back to...
Bio Plant, B1F revisited
Just walk E until and take that other elevator down to...
Bio Plant, B2F Central (No items)
From the elevator, follow the passage E, then N, then back W. You'll come
across more of those monster breeding capsules; Chaz and Alys will discuss them
if you "search" one. Anyway, head N until you come to an E/W T intersection.
The W path is a little dead end, so head E instead. You'll soon find yet
another elevator, which will take you down to...
Bio Plant, B3F (Crmc-Sword, Antidote)
Well, this floor is certainly... different. Head S from the elevator, ignoring
the W walkway for now. You'll literally walk into a chest; open it and claim
your Crmc-Sword. Ahh, nothing quite like having a new toy for Chaz to play
with! Once you've equipped Chaz with his potent new weapon, backtrack and take
that W walkway we ignored before. You'll quickly come to a N/S T intersection:
the N path quickly dead ends, so head S instead. Follow this curving walkway
until you see a side passage heading E; you can see the chest from here, so go
ahead and snag the Antidote out of it. Or not. Continue S now, following the
path as it curves some more, and you'll go through a doorway, which leads to
the next part of this floor.
Part 2 of B3F returns us to the traditional "green hallways with gold floor
lines" theme. From the doorway, head S some more and you'll see an elevator
just to the W. This elevator will take us down to...
Bio Plant, B4F (Prof. Holt, Rika, Seed)
You'll emerge from the elevator, and immediately see two doorways: one to the
NE, and one to the NW. You can take either one, they just lead to opposite
sides of the same area. You'll see Professor Holt in this northern room! When
you approach him, the game will enter a lengthy and important cutscene:
Hahn greets the Professor and expresses his relief at finding the good Prof.
unharmed. Alys asks how Holt was able to escape being brutalized by the
plethora of monsters that inhabit this place all by himself; he replies that
"this person here" (the myserious woman dressed in black, standing behind the
Professor) came to his rescue.
The woman greets the Party, telling them how glad she is that they are here.
She answers the obvious "who are you?" question by introducing herself as Rika.
Alys notices Rika's unusual ears, and asks about what exactly Rika is and where
they are. Rika tells them that they are in the Bio-plant, a research facility
from 1000 years ago. Hahn asks if the plant is still operational; Rika says
that it is - and in fact, it is not the only still-functioning system. It is
thanks to these systems, which somehow alter the climate and soil of Motavia so
that it is not one huge desert (the planet's natural state, as seen in the
original Phantasy Star), that the human race survived the 'Great Collapse' at
all.
At this point, Hahn and Professor Holt ask Rika why the climate of Motavia is
reverting, if these systems that protect it are still working. Rika tells them
that the systems can barely maintain the minimum conditions required to support
human life, and currently some systems are beginning to malfunction. After
hearing this, Hahn puts 2 and 2 together and asks if the recent outbreak of
Biomonsters is connected somehow to this Bio-plant. Rika confirms that this is
so; the Bio-plant is fouling up. She says that, for details, the Party ought
to talk to 'Seed'.
Rika and the Professor walk N, into the next room, and the Party follows.
There, they find a humongous supercomputer the size of a large room. Alys asks
where this 'Seed' person is, and Rika tells them that "he" is right in front of
them.
Seed, the control computer for the Bio-plant, then greets the Party. He tells
them that the system is out of his control, and is continuously breeding (and
releasing) dangerous biomonsters. Seed goes on to say that if the systems
continue to spiral out of control, there will be violent, earth-altering
earthquakes to go along with mutant biomonsters and an increasing inhospitable
climate; in short, Motavia will be destroyed!
Hahn asks what they should do, to which Alys suggests that they shut down the
entire system. Hahn points out that shutting things down completely would
create its own set of problems (like revertion to a desert climate because
there would be no climate controal). Gryz says that it would be better to shut
the system down rather than have it ruin everything, and Chaz points out that
it will be problematic to shut down all the systems, seeing as how they are
spread out over the entire planet.
At this point, Rika says that shutting everything down is as simple as
deactivating 'Nurvus', which supples power to all the systems. Seed then
requests that the Party rescue a 'control android' named Demi. Apparently Demi
is the only android with the knowledge (programming?) need to shut Nurvus down.
Alys asks Seed what he means by 'rescue', and Seed tells her that she is being
held hostage by a man named... you guessed it... Zio. Rika tells them that
Demi is currently being held in Zio's Fort. Hahn remembers that Zio's Fort is
that huge castle on the other side of the quicksand by Mile.
Alys says that it's a bit far to travel, but she's obviously intruiged (and
excited) about foiling Zio's plans. Similarly, Gryz is ecstatic that he can do
something to piss Zio off, and perhaps even confront him.
Seed then requests that you take Rika with you. Alys asks who Rika is, and how
she came to be so knowledgable. Seed replies that Rika is his child, of sorts,
a product of 1,000 years of improvement on a Prototype from prior to the 'Great
Collapse'.
Alys agrees to take Rika along, and Rika expresses excitement over being able
to see the "outside world". After the party leaves, Seed comments vaguely
about having "one way" to stem the outbreak of monsters, now that he has sent
Rika out on a mission.
We join the Party as they are leaving Birth Valley altogether; Rika is amazed
at how vibrant the outside world is. But then, they hear an explosion behind
them: Seed has self-destructed, taking himself, the Bio-plant, and all of Birth
Vally with him! Well, that certainly is one way to stem the outbreak of
Biomonsters...
You now have control of the Party, with Rika, standing just outside of Zema.
Before we proceed, however, I'd like to fill in some gaps in the backstory,
just in case you haven't played Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star II.
Phantasy Star takes place 2,000 years before this game does. In Phantasy Star,
the people suffer under the wicked rule of the corrupt King of Palma: Lassic.
Alis (now a legendary Heroine of yore) sets out on a quest to destroy Lassic
after his bodyguards kill her brother Nero for "sniffing around in Lassic's
affairs". She gains three companions: Odin, the mighty warrior; a talking
cat-like creature (and a friend of Odin's) named Myau; and the powerful Esper,
Noah. The 4 travel to Dezolis and Motavia, gathering the potent Laconian
armaments, before finally killing Lassic in his own Sky Castle high in the
skies above Palma. But, that's not the end of it... Lassic was corrupted by
a powerful evil force, Dark Falz, whom Alys and company find cowering in the
basement of the Governor of Motavia's mansion. After defeating Dark Falz,
peace settles over the Algo Solar System for 1,000 years.
Phantasy Star II takes place 1,000 years after Phantasy Star one. High
technology reigns. Motavia has been terraformed into a plant almost as lush
as Palma, and the AI system dubbed "Mother Brain" takes care of everything, so
that the people of Algo live in peace and contentment. The Hero of Phantasy
Star II, named Rolf, is directed by the Government of Motavia to investigate
a disturbance in the bio-plant. After being joined by several companions, Rolf
finds that a rogue Biomonster is trying to sabotage the control systems of
Motavia. One of his companions, a half-human named Nei, is the better half of
the rogue biomoneter, named NeiFirst. Rolf has no choice but to kill NeiFirst
in order to save the planet, but killing NeiFirst means killing Nei as well.
Greiving over their fallen comrade and branded outlaws by the government for
screwing up the control systems of Motavia, the Heroes escape to Dezolis.
However, the unthinkable happens: Mother Brain directs one of the control
satellites orbiting Motavia to instead collide with Palma! The impact destroys
the entire planet. Having lost both their friend and 1/3 of the solar system
to the Mother Brain, the Heroes meet up with Lutz, the distant ancestor of
Noah, who teleports them to the Satellite where the Mother Brain is housed.
After destroying the malicious AI and it's defense mechanisms, Rolf and the
others come face-to-face with none other than Dark Force! 1000 years after its
defeat at the hands of Alys, it has come back to destry the entire solar
sytem. The Heroes defeat Dark Force, only to learn an even more sinister
truth: Dark Force did not create the Mother Brain, it merely corrupted it.
No, the Mother Brain was given to the citizens of Algo by a group of
Earthlings, who wanted to pacify the people of Algo so that they could take
over the Algo solar system. Although vastly outnumbered by hightly advanced
Earth soldiers, the Heroes fight for their freedom, and are never heard from
again...
But that's not even the end of it. A piece of the destroyed planet Palma
smashes into Motavia, with an effect similar to the meteor that practically
wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth. This impact comes to be known as 'The Great
Collapse', as it represents the collapse of the highly technological
civilization provided by Mother Brain, not to mention the near extinction of
the human race in Algo...
In addition, Seed mentions a Prototype from 1000 years ago that Rika is
an improvement on; that Prototype would be Nei, the Numan who escaped from the
bio-plant where she was created and eventually died saving Motavia from her
other half, the malicious NeiFirst. So Rika is Nei with 1,000 years of
genetic and technical advancement; it's no wonder she's so powerful.
Personally, I really like how they made so many tie-ins to previous games in
the series, as it makes this one so much more compelling. And now, back to
your regularly scheduled walkthrough.
OK, now, before we go running off after Zio and Demi, it's time for a Rika
Rundown!
Rika, Numan, Level 1
Technique:
Res: the basic healing spell. Chaz and Hahn have this already, so you ought
to be familiar with it by now. Uses 3 TP.</pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
Skill:
Illusion: lowers the agility of all foes, seemingly with a 100% success rate
(except on Bosses, of course). While it's sort of useful to slow your
enemies down, it's much more effecient to just kill them. Don't waste time
with this.
Rika will level up very quickly, so don't worry too much. Just keep her way in
the back, behind Hahn, until she reaches Level 8 or 9, at which point she can
fight with Alys over who gets to be in third place behind Gryz and Chaz. Rika
may not seem like much at first, but once she starts catching up in levels,
you'll find that she fights almost as well as Chaz, plus she has a choice
selection of very useful healing and defensive Techniques to call on. Rika is
a welcome addition to the Party, to be sure.
You can stop back in Zema if you like, but the only pertinent information to
be gained is that someone finally fixed that broken bridge to the Northeast.
This is good, because it gives us a way to return to Aeido. In addition,
Rika's starting armor is just as good as what's for sale in Zema, and she is
unable to use any of the weapons sold here, so you don't need buy her anything
before heading out. In fact, just forget Zema, and let's just head...
-----------------------
To the Village of Nalya
-----------------------
Suggested Level: Rika 1, Gryz 9, Chaz/Alys/Hahn 10
Suggested Level to reach: Rika 6, Gryz/Hahn 10, Chaz/Alys 11
Foes you may encounter: MonsterFly, Crawler, Locusta, InfantWorm, Scorpirus
All right. From Zema, head W and then turn N, keeping the mountains on your
right. You'll soon come across the now-repaired bridge. Go ahead and cross
it, then continue heading N until you see a small village. Before we enter, I
would advise that you take some time to fight the local monsters. You really
want to raise Rika's level to at least 6 before we venture into any dungeons.
It's no fun when the monsters keep killing your newest Party member in one or
two hits because she's still only level 2 and only has 40 HP and below-average
defense...
Speaking of Rika, she learns the Skill DblSlash (Double Slash) at Level 4.
This is basically indentical to Chaz' CrossCut, in that Rika will deal double
her normal damage to whatever foe she elects to use this on.
Chaz will learn the Antidote Tech at Level 11, making the Antidote items
completely obsolete. If you still have any cluttering up your inventory, just
sell them. Uses 2 TP.
Oh yes, and Gryz learns nothing at Level 10. Just so you know.
You will most likely encounter two new foes whist powering up Rika:
The InfantWorm is actually the best monster to fight at this point. They are
average in every way - HP, defense, attack power, speed - but are still worth
33 exp each. So, you can kill groups of 2 or 3 with ease and still net
yourself a decent chunk of exp.
The Scorpirus, on the other hand, is a big pain in the rear. They have about
170 HP, and very high physical defense, and are resistant to Wind Techs (like
Zan). In addition, they have a powerful attack that can poison you. Nasty.
However, they are weak to Techniques with elements other than Wind, so Tsu and
Wat will damage them quite a bit. They are also quite susceptable to Instant
Death attacks. Thus, the easiest way to dispose of these things is to simply
target them with Vol and Crash, while the other characters attack so as not
to waste TP/Skills hurting a monster that will be insta-killed later in the
round. At least they're worth 1 1/2 times as much exp as the InfantWorms are.
Once Rika reaches Level 6, go ahead and enter...
--------------------
THe Village of Nalya
--------------------
Inn: 25 Mesata per person (125 Mesata)
Item shop: Monomate 20, Antidote 10, Cure-Paral 120, Telepipe 130, Escapipe 70
As for the village itself, there really isn't much to do here. A meteorite
recently crashed nearby, and the ensuing shockwave destroyed or damaged half
the buildings in town, leaving a lot of townfolk living in tents or damaged
houses. There is a working Inn, and an Item shop, but no Weapon or Armor
shops. The main purpose of this town is to serve as a base of operations
should you decide to tackle the optional dungeon nearby. And you really
should, as the Experience, Mesata, and items you can gain there make it well
worth the time and effort of clearing out this non-storyline-influencing
dungeon.
You should be able to see a tangled pile of metal a short ways Northwest of
Nalya; this is the game's first side-quest, the Wreckage. If you don't want to
clean this place out (for whatever reason), and instead want to proceed
directly to nearby Aeido, just scroll down until you see the "To the Town of
Aeido" section. Otherwise, it's time to raid the...
--------
Wreckage
--------
Monsters found in this dungeon:
Whistle, Warren286, Tracer
Items found in this dungeon:
CrmcShield, 1500 Mesata, Dimate, Crmc-Knife, Crmc-Mail
Suggested Level: Rika 6, Gryz/Hahn 10, Chaz/Alys 11
Suggested Level to reach: Rika 8, Chaz/Alys/Gryz/Hahn 11
This dungeon has some powerful Mechanical foes, and is a bit complicated (at
least compared to other dungeons we've been through) but perserverence will pay
off big time in terms of XP and Mesata gained, not to mention a few useful
pieces of equipment and items. Don't be afraid to Hinas out in order to go
back and heal up at Nalya's Inn; this place WILL drain your TP quickly, as your
robot foes deal a good amount of damage, forcing you to cast a LOT of Res
spells to keep your Party's HP in a safe range.
General combat strategies:
First off, let's cover our wonderful new mechanical foes, shall we?
The Whistle (another PSII monster) is this dungeon's "average" sentry bot.
They can deal a fair amount of damage, and are reasonably quick, but with the
addition of Rika you shouldn't have any problems killing them quickly with
just regular attacks (and maybe the occasional Wat from Hahn, if you get a
group of 3 or 4).
The Tracer is a bronze-colored, tougher version of the Whistle. They have more
HP and do more damage (like most palette swapped baddies) than their lesser
cousins, but still really aren't much of a threat, so try to save your TP
and Skills charges for the real threats here, the Warren286s.
The Warren286s are humanoid sentry bots, armed with automatic weapons that pack
a punch. They can also attack with Flare Shot, which can deal upwards of 40
damage to a single character, so keep your HP up when fighting these guys!
Since they have such a potent offense, it's best to whip out some of your good
stuff for these guys: Crash, Vortex, Wat, maybe a CrossCut if you're getting
badly injured. Use Chaz or Rika to heal with Res or Monomates if someone
drops below 45 HP, unless you want that character Flare Shot to death...
As for character abilities gained:
Hahn will finally learn GiRes at Level 11. Now, Phantasy Star uses prefixes
to denote the more powerful version of various Techs: "Gi" is the more potent
version of a Tech, while "Na" is its most powerful form. At any rate, GiRes
can cure about 100 HP at a pop, and it only gets stronger as Hahn's Mental
stat increases. It costs 6 TP, so don't go crazy with it; try to save it for
healing emergencies, when a Party member is on the brink of death.
Rika will learn the SaNer Technique at Level 8. Alys also has this, and as you
may recall, it increases the Agility (Battle Speed) of the entire Party.
Useful for Boss battles, but not much else. Uses 6 TP.
At Level 11 Gryz will - you guessed it - learn nothing. Incredible!
Walkthrough:
------------
Entry Level (CrmcShield, 1500 Mesata, Dimate)
You enter the Wreckage via a large hole torn in a wall. You'll notice that the
floor is torn up in several places, creating impassable "pits". At any rate,
from where you enter, head W and take the passage that leads N (continuing W
just takes you to a dead end). You'll soon find yourself at a 4-way
intersection. The N and E passages are both little dead ends, so head W.
Follow the passage as it turns to the N, and you'll soon come to an E/W T
intersection. In the N wall, you'll see an opening, and there's another
opening just like it if you head a bit to the E. Take the E opening: you will
enter a small room with 2 chests! The left one has a CrmcShield in it, while
the right one contains 1,500 Mesata. Not a bad haul, eh? Hahn can't use the
CrmcShield, however, so I normally just sell it. You can slap it on Alys or
Rika if you want to severely reduce their combat effectiveness, I guess.
Anyway, go back and enter that first opening we encountered (the one on the
left, W of where you are now). You'll find yourself in a narrow hallway, which
will branch off to the W. Take this side passage, because you'll only hit
another dead end if you continue N. Don't be in such a hurry that you miss the
chest sitting in a little alcove in the N side of the corridor; it contains the
first-ever Dimate! Dimate is, basically, Monomate's big brother. Instead of
healing 45 HP, it can restore close to 100 HP. It's GiRes in a can, so save it
for an emergency or a Boss Battle (Zio looms in the distance, remember?).
Continue W, and when the corridor turns N, follow it. You'll run smack dab
into an elevator, which takes us down to...
Floor B1F (Crmc-Knife, Crmc-Mail)
Ooh, another nifty walkway area! From the elevator, head W and then N. You'll
walk into a T instersection, complete with treasure chest. Open the chest for
a Crmc-Knife (if you're not doing my "Mage Hahn" thing, give it to him,
otherwise just sell it for more Mesata). From here, you can go either W or E.
W will lead to the elevator down, so instead head E for now. The walkway leads
N, so follow it N all the way to an opening, ignoring the side passage you'll
see heading W. The opening enters into a small room with a chest containing a
suit of Crmc-Mail. Finally, something worth equipping! You have a choice to
make here, as Rika, Alys, Chaz, AND Gryz can all use it, and it ups your
defense by 10 over the Titn-Mail. I normally give it to Chaz or Gryz, but the
choice is yours. Exit the room, head S, and take the first side passage going
W. Follow this skinny walkway W, then N, then W again, and you'll come to the
elevator that leads down to...
Floor B2F (No items, only plot)
Once out of the elevator, follow the green line W and N, through the opening.
In this next little area, follow the path N, then W, then N through yet
another opening. Keep going N until you come to computer terminal.
Now, the game will launch into a mini cutscene wherein Sega tries to pass off
the not-Phantasy-Star-at-all PSIII as a legitimate part of the Phantasy Star
story (although it's not, AT ALL, but that's another rant for another time).
Basically, the ship that the characters of PSIII inhabit is a humongous escape
pod that was launched from planet Palma before it was hit and destroyed.
Apparently, the inhabitants of Palma were able to lauch some previously readied
escape pods that doubled as miniature worlds. Thus, some of the people of
Palma where spared.
Some of the pods, instead of landing on Motavia or Dezolis, shot off into
space (like the ship of PSIII). The ship you're in now suffered damage when a
chunk of Palma struck it, and its systems were damaged. Instead of landing on
Motavia as is was supposed to, it locked into an orbit around the planet
instead.
Over the course of 1,000 years, the life support systems gave out and the
inhabitants on the ship died. Then, its orbit began to decay when the ship's
computers could no longer support it, and it crash landed near Nalya.
So, here it is and here you are. Don't you feel enlightened?
Well, we're done here, unless you wish to fight some more and level up a bit,
but we have a couple of dungeons coming up to do that in, so let's just leave
this place, and head...
--------------------
To the Town of Aeido
--------------------
Suggested Level: Rika 8, Chaz/Alys/Gryz/Hahn 11
Suggested Level to reach: Rika 8, Chaz/Alys/Gryz/Hahn 11
Foes you may encounter: MonsterFly, Crawler, Locusta, InfantWorm, Scorpirus
Starting from either the Wreckage or Nalya, head a bit South and a lot West,
and you'll find Aeido just to the south of mountain range. Aeido is a huge
town, so let's get to exploring it!
-----------------
The Town of Aeido
-----------------
In the Marketplace:
Inn: 50 Mesata per person (250 Mesata)
Item shop (left): Monomate 20, Dimate 160
Item shop (center): Telepipe 130, Escapipe 70
Item shop (right): Antidote 10, Cure-Paral 120
Armor shop (left): Titn-Helm 570, Titn-Crown 490, Titn-Mail 1120,
TitnShield 600
Armor shop (center): Crbn-Helm 200, Crbn-Crown 150, Circlet 100, Crbn-Suit 550,
CrbnShield 220
Armor shop (right): Lthr-Helm 80, Lthr-Crown 90, Lthr-Band 70, Lthr-Cloth 160,
LthrShield 140
Weapon shop (top): Dagger 40, Stel-Sword 280, Boomerang 80
Weapon shop (middle): Hunt-Knife 120, Slasher 160, Claw 1000
Weapon shop (bottom): TitnDagger 240, Titn-Sword 560, TitnSlashr 360,
Titn-Axe 640, Broad-Axe 1000
Near the Hunter's Guild (where they enrich the lives of Hunters):
Alys' Home: same as a stay at the Inn, but free!
Weapon shop: Crmc-Knife 1600, Crmc-Sword 3600, Saber-Claw 1700, Struggl-Ax 4600
Armor shop: Grpt-Crown 1000, Crmc-Helm 1800, Grpt-Suit 1200, Crmc-Mail 3700,
GrptShield 900, CrmcShield 2300
Naura Cake Shop (hidden behind the Hunter's Guild; you must walk around the
wall that surrounds the town to get there): Shortcake 280
In the Hunter's Guild: 1000 Mesata and a Trimate in a pair of chests in a
"hidden" room (thru the West wall of the room behind the receptionist).
Aeido is a MASSIVE town. However, there's really not that much going on here.
There's a ton of people to talk to, but very few have important information.
A couple of people mention an army coming to and from the cave just north of
Aeido, and a couple of Hunters in the Guild mention that they might be part of
Zio's army. A lot of folks talk to/about Alys, seeing as how she's quite well
known here, being a succesful, famous hunter and all. The basic gist you
should be getting here is that the cave north of town will eventually lead you
to Zio's Fort.
As for shopping, avoid the "Marketplace" like the plague. There is nothing
there that you don't already own, and its Inn is horribly expensive, especially
since you can sleep at Alys' house for free. Instead, hit the Weapon/Armor
shop in the Northwest corner of town, just South of the Hunter's Guild.
For this little excursion, you're going to need a grand total of 22,700 Mesata.
However, unlike previous shopping trips, you don't need ALL that money right
this minute, although you should have most of it if you went through the
Wreckage. Now that you have the Ryuka Tech, you can warp back here whenever
you wish; thus, keep the following shopping list handy, and be sure to come
back here whenever you garner enough Mesata to buy a couple more things.
In order to have everyone fully equipped, you'll need to buy the following:
For Chaz, a Crmc-Helm and Crmc-Mail if you didn't give him the one you found in
the Wreckage.
Unless you missed the Grpt-Crown from the Bio Plant, the only thing Alys will
need a suit of Crmc-Mail - unless you gave her the one you found in the
Wreckage, of course.
Getting Rika fully equipped is going to cost you, unfortunately. She needs two
Saber Claws in addition to a suit of Crmc-Mail - unless you gave her the one
you found in the Wreckage.
Gryz needs a Struggl-Ax, and it costs an arm and a leg, but you really do need
in order to keep Gryz from being a complete liablity. He will also need a
Crmc-Helm, and some Crmc-Mail - unless you gave him the one you found in the
Wreckage.
If you're doing my Mage Hahn thing, you won't need anything for Hahn; however,
if you're NOT, you can buy him a Crmc-Knife or two.
If you went in and got all the stuff out of the Wreckage, don't forget to sell
the CrmcShield and Crmc-Knife (unless you're giving Hahn knives) for some extra
Mesata. Also, sell all your old gear as soon as you can, as the Mesata your
obsolete gear brings in might well be enough to allow you to buy everything you
need, even if you started with less than 23,000 Mesata!
As a side note, if you for some reason did not do the Wreckage, you're going to
find yourself rougly 7000-10000 Mesata short. Guess how much Mesata a trip
through the Wreckage will get you? That's right. 7000-10000 Mesata, after
you sell some of the stuff you find there (wink wink nudge nudge).
You're also going to want to visit the Hunter's Guild. It's the humongous
building Northwest of the Marketplace. Talk to the hunters here, working your
way East until you come to a bar. Go into the opening in the North wall at the
far Eastern end of the building. You'll find yourself in a room with a stage.
You can watch the totally uncalled for dancers do their thing, but you're here
for some semi-hidden goodies, so walk West past the stage, and go that little
section of wall that doesn't have the vertical "border" in front of it (it's
the Northmost part of the West wall; just walk through it). You'll now be in
the dancer's dressing room; again, head West through the gap in the wall. Keep
walking West, through the receptionists room, through the wall, and into the
"hidden" chamber. Here, you'll find two chests, one with a Trimate (restores
one ally to full HP) and the other with 1500 Mesata. Not a bad haul for doing
a little walking, eh?
Now, return to the front of the receptionist's desk, and talk to her. Welcome
to Side Quest Land, otherwise known as The Hunter's Guild (where they enrich
the lives of hunters). Currently, there is only one new Job available: The
Ranch owner. You can do this quest whenever you want, but since we're
currently trying to amass Mesata for equipment, this is as good a time as any.
If you don't want to do this side quest (you should. You can get everyone to
go up two levels by fighting a single battle), just skip ahead to the section
titled "The Cave North of Aiedo/PassageWay". Your loss, if you do.
--------------------------------------
Hunter's Guild Job #1: The Ranch owner
--------------------------------------
First available: upon first visiting Aeido's Hunter's Guild.
Reward: For the Worm, 5000 exp and 1000 Mesata. For completing the
Job, 5000 Mesata from the Hunter's Guild.
Associated Costs: None, unless you consider fighting monsters costly.
Difficulty: High.
Location: Village of Mile.
Suggested Party Level: 11+
The request for help comes from the sandworm ranch owner from the village of
Mile (remeber him?). The sand worms in his ranch have grown so large that he
can't control them any longer... He offers a reward of 5000 Mesata if you can
help him. Chances are, that 5000 is exactly what you need to buy the last of
the equipment that your characters need from the various shops in Aeido. Be
sure to rest at Alys' Home before using Ryuka or a Telepipe to warp to Mile.
The Ranch owner is the guy standing directly in front of you when you first
enter Mile. Talk to him, and he tells you that the worms are out of his
control, and asks you to do whatever you need to do. He then moves aside,
allowing you to walk through the gap in the fence and into the "ranch".
You will immediatly encounter a fully grown Sand Worm, and let me tell you,
this thing is DANGEROUS. It has 1400 (!) HP and deals 40-50 damage with its
attacks. For this fight, do the following:
Round 1: Chaz attacks. Gryz Attacks. Alys casts Shift on Chaz. Hahn uses
Vision. Rika casts SaNer.
Round 2: Chaz uses CrossCut. Gryz attacks. Alys casts Shift on Gryz. Hahn
casts Wat. Rika heals whoever got hit by the Sand Worm last round.
Round 3: Chaz uses CrossCut. Gryz attacks. Alys casts Shift on Rika. Hahn
heals whoever got hit by the Sand Worm last round. Rika uses DblSlash.
Round 4: Chaz and Gryz attack. Alys casts Shift on herself. Hahn heals
whoever got hit by the Sand Worm last round. Rika uses DblSlash.
Round 5+: Chaz, Gryz, and Rika attack. Alys uses Vortex. Hahn either heals
whoever got hit by the Sand Worm last round, or casts Wat if the Worm missed.
As long as you buff yourself in the first few rounds with Shift, Vision, and
SaNer, and make sure you cast Res on whomever the Worm attacks, you should be
able to walk away from this fight without anyone dying.
Now, with 5000 exp per person gained, each Party member will gain at least two
Levels. If you've been following this FAQ to the letter, your Party will be
at the following levels after beating the Sand Worm, and they will learn these
abilities:
Chaz will learn the Zan Tech at Level 12. Alys and Hahn know this already, so
I'm not going to describe it here again. Uses 8 TP.
Chaz will also learn the Skill Airslash at Level 13. This incredible skill
allows Chaz to attack every foe onscreen at once, dealing insane amounts of
damage in the process. Not too useful against bosses, but it's great when
you're trying to end battles quickly (dangerous foes, leveling up, etc.).
Just keep in mind that Chaz will never really have a LOT of "charges" for
this, so try to save it for battles that yeild great rewards (or danger).
Alys will learn the Skill Death at Level 13. Death is Alys' version of
Crash, but it only affects Biomonsters. Not too useful, but I guess it's nice
to have in a pinch.
Hahn will learn the Rimpa Tech at Level 12. Rimpa is the Tech version of a
Cure-Paral, and as such will cure paralysis. Whee! At least it saves you
from wasting 120 freakin' Mesata whenever someone is paralyzed. Uses 5 TP.
Hahn will also learn the Rimit Tech at Level 13. Rimit is one of those Techs
that could be great, if it wasn't for a prohibitive TP cost. Rimit can
paralyze every non-mechanical foe at once, leaving them at your mercy. It has
a good rate of success against most monsters, but the 10 TP cost means that
you won't be able to just whip it out whenever you feel like it. Like Zan,
you should save this one for groups of tough monsters. Uses 10 TP.
Rika, unfortunatly, "pulls a Gryz" and learns nothing at Level 9, 10, or 11.
Bad Rika! No biscuit!
I know this is going to be hard to believe, but Gryz learns nothing at Level
12. In addition, he learns nothing at Level 13. Go Gryz!
Right. In order to recieve your 5000 Mesata reward, return to the Hunter's
Guild in Aeido (where they enrich the lives of Hunters) and speak to the
receptionist. She will fork over your hard-earned reward money.
It is now time to move on. Be sure that you bought everything on the above
shopping list (and equipped it, and sold your old stuff), rest up for free at
Alys' Home, and exit the town of Aeido. Head due North and you'll see a cave
in the mountains, behind some trees. This is your next destination, the...
--------------------------------
Cave North of Aeido (PassageWay)
--------------------------------
Monsters found in this dungeon:
Zol Slug (Meta Slug), Speard
Items found in this dungeon:
Dimate, Cure-Paral
Suggested Level: Rika 11, Chaz/Alys/Gryz/Hahn 13
Suggested Level to reach: Rika 13, Chaz/Alys/Gryz/Hahn 14
Much like ValleyMaze, this area exists to take you from one part of a mountain
range to another. It's fairly straightforward, but the monsters you find here
can hit pretty hard, so be cautious and heal frequently.
General Combat strategies:
First, let's meet our new playmates:
Zol Slug/Meta Slug: Zol Slugs are weak, pathetic little critters - with a nasty
secret. They won't do much - they have low HP, low attack power, and low
defense - until you reduce their numbers to exactly two (they usually appear
in groups of 3 or 4). If two slugs are left alive long enough, they'll merge
together into a Meta Slug instead of attacking! Unlike Zol Slugs, Meta Slugs
are something to worry about: they have a lot of HP, strong defenses, and to
top it all off, they pack a punch. They do have one glaring weakness: you can
snuff them Instant Death attacks, so when a Meta Slug forms, break out Vol,
Death, Eliminat(e) and Crash. One of those WILL work, and you'll end up with
a whopping 400 (!!) XP for your troubles, plus 42 XP for each Zol Slug you
killed before they merged. Obviously, letting Meta Slugs form on purpose and
then killing them with Instant Death attacks is an easy, easy way to Level
your characters up at this point. Hint hint.
Speards are a bit on the slow side, and have only average HP, but they make up
for it by hitting hard and having solid defenses. Still, you shouldn't need
to use anything special on these guys.
Your characters should reach these levels and gain these abilities:
Chaz will learn the Rimpa Tech at Level 14. This is exactly the same as Hahn's
Rimpa Technique; it will remove paralysis. Uses 5 TP.
Alys will leann the GiFoi Tech at Level 14. This upgraded version of Foi can
deal even more damage than Vortex, and Alys has plenty of TP by now, so don't
be afraid to use it! Uses 6 TP.
Rika will learn the Skill Eliminat(e) at Level 12. Like Crash, Vol, and Death
before it, Eliminat(e) will instantly slay one foe. However, it is most like
Vol in that it only works on non-mechanical foes.
Rika will also learn the GiRes Tech at Level 13. You're going to need the
extra healing that GiRes provides very soon, so don't forget that Rika has it
in her repertoire! Uses 6 TP.
Gryz will ACTUALLY LEARN A SKILL AT LEVEL 14!!! WarCry will increase Gryz'
attack power for the duration of the battle. Wow, we had to wait 8 Levels,
and all we get is Gryz' self-only version of the Shift Tech? Whatever.
By now, Rika can move to the 3rd Position, behind Gryz and Chaz. Alys'
defense (and HP) are starting to lag behind, so moving her further back is a
good idea.
Walkthrough:
------------
Entry Level (Dimate, Cure-Paral)
From the entrance, head N and follow the passage as it curves W. Eventually,
you'll see a side passage leading S. Take it, for it leads to a chest
containing Dimate. Return from whence you came and continue heading W. After
a while, the passage will turn S. Soon after you begin going S, you'll see a
side passage heading E, but ignore it; it's just a little dead end. Continue
S while hugging the E wall. At the end of this little area is another chest:
snag the Cure-Paral out of it and head back to the intersection you just came
from, and head W. The passage will turn S and split into two paths: one
leading SW, and one SE. The SE passage is another dead end, so head SW. Head
S until you see a narrow beam of light in what would otherwise be a dead end:
that's the exit.
---------------------
To the Town of Kadary
---------------------
Suggested Level: Rika 13, Chaz/Alys/Gryz/Hahn 14
Suggested Level to reach: Rika 13, Chaz/Alys/Gryz/Hahn 14
Foes you may face: Scorpius, Speard, Tech User
If you get into a battle with a Tech User, try to kill it as soon as possible.
They can use Res to heal themselves (or others) and they can use a Hahn-
strength Wat on you. Occasionally, they'll cast Foi instead, and this is a
good thing, because Foi does a fraction of the damage Wat does. Also, these
things are hightly resistant to magic, so don't waste a GiFoi or a Zan on them
or anything; use physical Skills like CrossCut or Crash instead.
At any rate, all you need to do here is head due Southeast, and in no time
you'll see your next destination...
------------------
The Town of Kadary
------------------
Inn: 40 Mesata per person (200 Mesata)
Item shop: Monomate 20, Dimate 160, Antidote 10, Cure-Paral 120, Telepipe 130,
Escapipe 70
In the rundown hut in the NE corner of town: A chest containing a LasrSlashr
for Alys.
Kadary is an... interesting town. Being the closest town to Zio's Fort, Zio
decided to found a church here. Now, this church's dogma states that Zio will
cleanse the impure peoples of the world in the fires of destruction, and lead
his followers to a utopian existance, built on society's ashes. How lovely.
The town is split into two camps: the sane folk, and Zio's followers.
The sane people of the town are generally disquieted by, disturbed by, and
otherwise uncomfortable with Zio and his fanatical worshippers.
Zio's followers all come off as insane, for the most part, doing nothing but
ranting and raving about Zio's greatness.
In Zio's Cathedral, you'll find a girl, one of Zio's followers, who says that
she ran away to join Zio's church. Remember her, as you'll have to come back
to see her later.
At some point, be sure to walk around the town's East wall and go into the
smaller of the two buildings you find there; there's a Laser Slasher for Alys
in a chest. The other building here is an Inn that has been taken over by
Zio's mercenaries.
When you're done chatting it up with the townsfolk, I would recommend warping
back to Aeido to heal up at Alys' Home, then warping back to Kadary. You could
stay at the Inn here, I guess, but why waste money? Once you're healed up,
it's time to depart. We will be heading...
-------------
To Zio's Fort
-------------
Suggested Level: Rika 13, Chaz/Alys/Gryz/Hahn 14
Suggested Level to reach: Rika 13, Chaz/Alys/Gryz/Hahn 14
Foes you may face: Scorpius, Speard, Tech User
Yet another grueling journey. Head a whole screen to the Southeast, then look
for the big, pointy castle. You literally can't miss it. Well, this is it.
It's time to tackle...
----------
Zio's Fort
----------
Monsters found in this dungeon:
Speard, Tech User, ShadowSabr, Ripper
Items found in this dungeon:
2000 Mesata, Moon-Dew, Lasr-Sword, Dimate, LasrBarrir, Lasr-Claw
The Bosses of this dungeon are:
Juza, Dark Priest of Zio
Zio, servant of Dark Force
Suggested Level: Rika 13, Chaz/Alys/Gryz/Hahn 14
Suggested Level to reach: Alys 15, Chaz/Rika/Gryz/Hahn 16
Let me be blunt here: playtime's over. This dungeon is complex, long, and
filled with a variety of baddies that can put the hurt on you. To top it all
off, there's not one, but two powerful Bosses waiting at the end of it all.
So, be prepared. Buy some Dimates. Make sure you have at least one Escapipe.
Buy all the equipment you need from Aeido if you haven't done so yet. Rest at
Alys' Home before even thinking about entering.
Once all that's done, you're ready to rumble. So let's get on with it, shall
we?
General Combat strategies:
I've already covered Speards (PassageWay) and Tech Users (To Kadary), so let's
begin with the new foes you'll find here and not outside:
ShadowSabr(e)s aren't too dangerous by themselves, but their ability to cast
Deban makes them a good choice to eliminate first. They also pull off a LOT
of critical hits when attacking physically, which is something to watch out
for. If they haven't used Deban yet, you can take them down with 2 powerful
melee attacks (a combination of Chaz/Vortex/Gryz/Rika), but if they're
protected by Deban, don't hesitate to use Instant Death attacks or GiFoi.
Rippers are dangerous primarily because of their Firebreath ability, which will
do a lot of damage to characters with poor defense (like Hahn). They also
have a fair amount of HP and aren't impressed much by Foi or GiFoi. Like the
ShodowSabres, they're not too tough alone, but you may want to try to finish
them quickly when you encounter them in a group, using Zan and Alys' Slashers
to kill all of them at once.
Your characters should reach these levels and gain these abilities:
Chaz will learn the GiRes Tech at Level 16. It never hurts to have more
characters with better healing Techs, right? Uses 6 TP.
Rika will learn the Deban Tech at Level 14. This supremely useful Tech will
boost the pysical defense of the ENTIRE Party for a mere 5 TP. This thing is
great for Boss Battles, but it's worth whipping out if you're fighting
multiple foes (especially mechanical ones) to reduce the damage they can
inflict before you kill them.
Hahn will learn the GiWat Tech at Level 16. You thought Hahn could deal good
damge with Wat? Check THIS bad boy out. This stronger version of Wat can
deal in excess of 100 damage to a single foe. The best part is, Hahn has so
many TP that you can make this his new primary attack. Uses 7 TP.
Gryz reverts to his old self, gaining nothing at all at Level 15. Oh! oh!
and nothing at Level 16, either.
Walkthrough:
------------
First Floor (No items)
From the entrance, head straight N. You'll see a staircase leading down, but
if you approach it, you will (literally) walk into an "invisible" barrier. You
can't circumvent or disable this barrier... yet. So, ignore it for now and
head N around the circular room that the staircase is in. Go up the steps and
through the doorway in the N wall. You'll see two staircases leading up, one
on the W side of the room, and one on the E side. The E stairs lead to a long
dead end, so don't bother unless you're taking the scenic route through this
place. Instead, head on up the E stairs, to the...
2nd Floor (No items)
Go SSW from the stairs, until you come to a fork in the path. Ignore the
straight Southern hallway for now and instead go N. You'll see a set of
stairs, so take them down to the...
1st Floor, Northwest Tower (2000 Mesata)
You'll find yourself on the 1st Floor, in the Fort's Northwest Tower. There's
a chest here, so snag the 2000 Mesata out of it and head on back upstairs.
2nd Floor, revisited
Return now to that straight hallway I just mentioned, and head S. The hallway
will jog to the W after a bit, and you'll see a set of stairs leading up, but
beware! That oval-shaped black thing to the right of the stairs is a pit, and
yes, you CAN fall down into it. For now, do just that: walk into the pit.
1st Floor, West Tower (Moon-Dew)
You'll find yourself in the Fort's West Tower. You'll also find a chest. Open
it to claim your Moon-Dew. Moon-Dew acts like the Rever Tech (which you won't
be learning for a while) in that it will revive a character who has been
reduced to 0 HP. This will be your ONLY portable method of reviving a dying
Party member for a long time, so don't waste it! Now, when you try to leave
the tower, you'll leave the Fort entirely, so you'll have to start over from
the beginning and work your way back to the pit/stair area, but the Moon-Dew
makes the backtracking worthwhile.
When you get back to the stairs, ascend them. We'll save that narrow passage
beyond the stairs for later.
3rd Floor, West Spire (Lasr-Sword)
You'll emerge on this floor into what appears to be an empty room, but in this
case, looks can be deceiving. That funky looking extension of the E wall is
actually a tube-like walkway that leads to the Center Spire of the Fort. Walk
through the E wall to enter this tube. Once you exit on the East side, head
North to a chest containing the Lasr-Sword. Oh yeah. Give that to Chaz
immediately (if not sooner), and then retrace your steps back to the pit/stair
area.
2nd Floor, Western pit stairs
Head S of the stairs, and then go E, hugging the N wall (after you pass the
pit, though). You'll come across another pit/stair combination. This time,
skip the pit, and go around the stairs and head S. You'll find a staircase
leading down at the end of the hallway.
1st Floor, Southeast Tower (Dimate)
Another Tower, another chest. This one conains Dimate. Snag it and head on
back to the Eastern pit/stairs. Don't take the stairs just yet; we have
another pit to fall into!
1st Floor, Eastern Tower (LasrBarrir)
Noticing a pattern yet? The chest in this tower contains a LasrBarrir, which
I can only assume is supposed to be "Laser Barrier", as it's a type of Shield.
Slap it on Hahn, as it's better than a GrptShield. Now, as with the Western
Tower, when you leave here, you leave the Fort entirely and have to start
again from the entrance. If you're running low on TP/Skills, now would be a
good time to warp back to Aiedo for some free healing. At any rate, once
you're ready, head on back to the eastern pit/stairs, and ascend them.
3rd Floor, East Spire (No items)
Well, here we are, the Eastern Spire. Walk into the tube/catwalk that's
projecting out of the West wall, and head on through it until you emerge into
the Eastern half of the Fort's Center Spire.
3rd Floor, Center Spire (Lasr-Claw, Juza)
Grab the Lasr-Claw from the chest just to the N (and equip it!), then turn
around and head S, head W a few steps, then go N again.
You'll see a black robed man standing there; this is the Boss of Zio's Fort, a
Dark Priest named Juza, so don't talk to him unless you're ready:
First, heal everyone to full HP with monomates and Res.
Second, everyone except Alys should be Level 16 (but Level 15 for everyone is
acceptable, if you don't want to Level up).
Third, make sure Hahn and Rika have at least 40 TP remaining; you're most
likely going to need that much TP for buffing up the Party and casting healing
Techs.
Once you're fully prepared, speak to Juza. He tells you that you're going to
have to get past him if you wish to bother the great and powerful Zio...
Juza, Dark Priest of Zio (1500 HP)
This guy can really put the hurt on your Party, so the best thing to do is take
him down as quickly as possible. He can use Zan or ForceFlash - attacks that
damage the entire Party - on you in any given round. Not good. Even better,
Zan and ForceFlash aren't the only tricks up Juza's long, black sleeves; he
uses all of the following attacks:
Zan will deal 1 damage to Alys and Hahn, and 20-25 to everyone else. Big deal.
Be thankful that he used Zan and not...
ForceFlash. This is why Juza is nasty. It deals 40-55 damage to everyone
except Hahn, who "only" takes 20-30 damage. This is why it's good to have
3 characters that can cast GiRes!
Foi and Wat: Once in a while, Juza will cast Foi or Wat on someone. Use this
"free round" to hit him with everything you've got, before he goes back to
pounding you with ForceFlash.
Now that you know that Juza will almost always hit your entire Party every
round, you need a strategy that will minimize buffing and maximize damage
output and healing. Such a strategy might look like this, but there are other
variations if you wish to expiriment:
1st Round - Gryz: WarCry. Chaz: CrossCut. Rika: SaNer. Alys: Shift on Chaz.
Hahn: Vision or GiWat.
2nd Round - Gryz: Attack. Chaz: CrossCut. Rika and Hahn: use Res or GiRes on
the 2 Party members that took the MOST damage from Juza's attack last round.
Alys: Cast Shift on Rika.
Following Rounds - Chaz: Alternate between CrossCut and GiRes, depending on how
many Party members are below 60 HP (ForceFlash killable, in other words).
Gryz: just keep attacking, unless you REALLY need him to use a Dimate on
someone. Rika: Use GiRes on the most wounded Party member. If you get lucky
and Juza uses Zan more often than ForceFlash, have her sneak in the occasional
DblSlash. Hahn: As with Rika, but substitute "GiWat" for "DblSlash". Alys:
Have her cast GiFoi repeatedly, unless you REALLY need her to use a Dimate on
someone.
As long as you don't skimp on the GiRes Tech and keep everyone's HP above 60 at
all times, you should be able to defeat Juza without suffering any casualties.
Your characters can deal up to 650 damage to Juza in a single round:
Chaz' Shift-enhanced CrossCut deals about 180 damage,
Gryz' WarCry-enhanced attack dishes out rougly 90 damage,
Rika's Shift-enhanced DblSlash can do 170 damage, and
Hahn's GiWat and Alys' GiFoi should both be dealing approximately 100 damage.
Thus, it's important to keep track of how much damage you've dealt to Juza at
all times; once you have over 1000 damage pumped into his skinny, black-robed
hide, you can forego any healing in the last round and just hit him with
everything you've got, killing him before he can ForceFlash you into oblivion.
Or, you can play it safe, and whittle him down slowly while GiRes-ing your
little head off.
Once Juza is dead, his illusion spell (which was hiding the staircase that
leads to the upper floor of the Spire) dissipates. With the previously hidden
staircase now visible, head W and ascend it to the...
4th Floor, Center Spire (No itmems)
Nothing to see here. Just go S, then E, and hit the stairs directly N. They
will take you to the...
5th Floor, Center Spire (Demi, Zio)
Head N from the stairs, and you'll see Demi "chained" to the North wall. As
you approach her, the game will enter a cut scene...
The Party quickly confirms the prisoner as Demi, the android that can help us
to stop the flow of power to the various out-of-control systems. Wasting no
time, Chaz uses his sword to cut away the vine-mucus-chain things that are
holding Demi to the wall.
Demi seems a bit groggy from her improsonment, and wonders idly who you are.
Alys introduces the Party, and Demi thanks them by using her Medical Power to
restore everyone's HP/TP. Chaz, as usual, freaks out.
Demi then formally introduces herself, confirming that she is the android in
charge of controlling Nurvus.
At this point, everyone comments on how human-like Demi is. Ever practical
Alys dispenses with chit-chat and asks Demi if she knows how to stop the flow
of power to the malfunctioning systems. Demi replies that she has already
tried to freeze the entire system... when a mysterious voice speaks.
It's Zio! Rika is repelled by his Aura of evil, while Gryz is enraged.
Zio, mighty Zio, insults the Party repeatedly. Chaz responds by trying to use
logic to put Zio in his place. Logic has no effect on an insane mind, however,
and Zio continues to taunt the Party. Gryz becomes more and more angry, to the
point that he begins to give into his hatred... which excites (!) Zio. Zio
rambles on about suffering and offerings to his great god. Alys tries to
coerce some more info out of Zio, telling him that keeping Demi from stopping
the malfunctioning systems will eventually result in the death of all living
things on Motavia.
But Zio, being the corrupted evil wizard-type that he is, says that the
eradication of life on Motavia is exactly what he wants. In fact, his dark
god wishes to exterminate all life in the entire Algo solar system, a feat that
Zio intends to do all by hisself if he has to.
Chaz and Hahn point out that killing all life on Algo would mean killing
himself, eventually, but Zio is apparently okay with that. They proceed to
tell Zio that he's obviously out of his mind, and he responds by offering up a
prayer to his dark god, Dark Force, and attacking the Party.
Zio, servant of Dark Force (???? HP)
Well, here it is. You know that EVERY RPG must, at some point, have a battle
that you are forced to lose, and yet does not end the game, but instead
advances the storyline. Well, this is it. Zio puts up a Magic Barrier in the
first round. This Magic Barrier reduces the damage from EVERY attack you hit
Zio with to 0. NOTHING you do will hurt him at all.
Zio casually summons a Nightmare (if you've played the original Phantasy Star,
you may recognize it) in the 3rd round. As soon as round 4 starts, the
Nightmare emits a Black Wave at Chaz, and the battle abruptly ends.
The game immediately begins another cut-scene:
Alys selflessly dives in front of Chaz, and the Black Wave strikes her instead,
rendering her unconscious. The Party uses Hinas to escape from Zio's Fort
before the Nightmare can toast anyone else.
Rika informs them that not even GiRes can heal Alys' wounds! Well, that's a
first... but it's certainly NOT a good sign. Hahn suggests that they take
Alys back to Krup, and the scene fades out.
We rejoin the Party as they stand around helplessly, staring at Alys, who is
bedridden. No one can figure out why Alys resists being healed, and Rika
theorizes that evil power may be at work here. Hahn wonders if shutting down
Zurvus might help Alys, but Demi tells them that Nurvus is, in fact, directly
under Zio's Fort (remember the stairs behind the invisible barrier? Yep.).
Zio actually built his castle on top of the entrance to Nurvus, and sealed it
off!
Alys comes to long enough to mumble something about Rune, and how he should be
able to do something. She also cautions them that, as it stands, there's no
way the Party can beat Zio. They need to find a way to nullify his Magic
Barrier!
Rika points out that Magic hasn't been seen since the time of the Great
Collapse, 1000 years ago. Hahn remembers that Rune was indeed using magic -
the spell Flaeli. Alys again tells you to seek out Rune before relapsing into
silence. Rika wants to know who Rune is, and Chaz tells her all about Rune's
sparkling personality before grudginglyh admitting that they do need his help.
Ever helpful Hahn also recalls that Rune ran off with Grandfather Dorin. Gryz
says that they probably went to the Ladea Tower, as Dorin had mentioned it
earlier. It's located beyond the quicksand to the East.
Chaz and Gryz ponder how Rune and Dorin crossed the quicksand. Demi pipes up
and mentions the Land Rover (another thing that Phantasy Star veterans ought to
be familiar with). Demi says that there should be one in the Machine Center
just South of Krup; with a Land Rover, quicksand is a mere annoyance.
Because we need to have 2 spaces in the Party line-up open (1 for Rune, 1 for
Demi), Chaz asks Hahn to stay behind and look after Alys.
Now, the game finally relinquishes control to you. Before you head out though,
we need to do a Demi Rundown:
Demi, Android, Level 12
Techniques: None. Demi has no Mental score and no TP, and thus cannot use
Techniques.
Skills
Recover: Heals Demi (and only Demi) for roughly 300 HP. This Skill is vital
because androids are not affected by normal Healing Techs or items! Thus,
the only way to heal Demi (at least for now) is to have her use Recover.
Fortunately, this can be used outside of battle as well as in battle, and
Demi has many "charges" of it.
StatisB(ea)m: Puts an enemy mechanical unit into statis (i.e. paralyzes it)
for 1-3 rounds on average. Not that useful, unless you're facing a lone
Mechanical foe.
Spark: Demi's instant death Skill. Will destroy a mechanical creature
outright. Doesn't affect living creatures at all. Not as good as other
instant death spells due to it not affecting Biomonsters, but it will still
come in handy when you're exploring places like Nurvus.
Barrier: Here we go. Barrier increases the entire Party's Magic Defense!
This Skill is particularly handy against bosses (since most of them have at
least one nasty magical attack of some sort), although it's not a bad idea to
whip it out against monsters like Tech Users, who rely on magic to damage
you.
Medic P(o)w(er): This unimpressive Skill restores a whopping 30 HP to every
humanoid Party member at once. It's sort of nice if you get hit by something
that damages the whole Party, but... with only 30 HP healed, it just doesn't
keep up with the damage output of some of the monsters you're going to have
to face soon...
Demi is a bit different than your other characters, mainly due to the fact that
she is a machine, and not a living person. This means several things in game
terms:
1) She uses her own set of equipment. You must find better weapons and armor
for Demi, as you can't buy her anything.
2) She heals 1 HP for every step you take out of battle. This is partly done
to balance out the fact that...
3) She cannot be healed by ANY Healing Technique or ANY Healing item. The ONLY
two ways to heal Demi are to either use her Recover Skill, or to walk around
in an area without battles and let her self-regeneration do the job (see #1).
4) She uses a new weapon class: Guns. These are similar to swords and axes in
that they require 2 hands (thus exluding shield use) and deal good amount of
damage (most Guns seem to bypass physical defense somewhat), but this is
balanced by the fact that Guns do not increase Demi's Defense Power the way
Chaz' Swords and Gryz' Axes do.
For now, stick Demi in the back of the line up, since she starts out 4 or 5
levels lower than everyone else. She also has a rather low HP total. Demi's
role in combat will be to destroy Mechanical enemies - when facing biomonsters,
Demi is next to useless.
So here we are in Krup with a new Party line up: Chaz, Gryz, Rika, and Demi.
You might want to fiddle with your Macro A so that the proper people are
attacking first (I recommend Rika, Chaz, Demi, Gryz), and don't forget to alter
your line-up so that Demi is in the fourth spot. You may want to heal at the
Inn in Krup (or warp on over to Alys' Home if you're feeling frugal) before
heading...
---------------------
To the Machine Center
---------------------
Suggested Level: Gryz 17, Chaz & Rika 16, Demi 12
Suggested Level to reach: Gryz 17, Chaz & Rika 16, Demi 12
Monsters you might face: Crawler, Sand Newt, Locusta
From Krup, head due South until you see the shoreline. Go a few steps East,
and then head back South. After a few more steps, the ground will rumble, and
the entrance to the Machine Center will reveal itself. Go ahead and enter it.
------------------
The Machine Center
------------------
Items found in this area: ControlKey
Monsters found in this area: none!
This is a very brief area. Head N and take the elevator down. When you emerge
from the elevator, you'll see a chest on your left. Open it and claim the
ControlKey, and then touch the weird symbol on the right side of the room.
These symbols - you'll find them in various buildings like this one - will
completely restore the Party's HP and TP (and Skill uses). A free stay at an
Inn, or its equivalent, in other words. Not too shabby. Once you're all
healed up, head South and exit this room.
</pre><pre id="faqspan-4">
Once you enter the next room and take a single step south, you'll enter a new
cutscene. Rika will proclaim that this place has (somehow) become independant
of Nurvus. Demi will whine about how the machines housed here are going to
need repairs. Chaz asks Demi if she was caught by Zio while trying to stop
the malfunctioning systems. Demi answers that yes, she was.
This is when Demi reveals a twist: defeating Zio will not stop the systems from
spiraling out of control! In fact, Nurvus isn't really the problem at all, and
in fact, it's the Control Satellite Zelan that has been issuing "abnormal
commands" which are contributing to the destruction of Motavia's ecosystem.
Chaz wonders how you're supposed to get to a satellite orbitting far side of
Motavia, and Gryz tells him not to worry about that and just focus on defeating
Zio and halting Nurvus, for now. Chaz says he's worried about this Dark Force
that Zio keeps going on and on about...
Demi has an andoid orgasm over the awesomeness of the Land Rover once she gets
it out of the Machine Center. You'll find yourself back outside the Machine
Center, but in the Land Rover this time!
About the Land Rover:
Vehicles (such as the Land Rover; there are others that you will aquire later
on) are a great way to travel. They move much faster than your normal walking
speed, and you can use them to bypass barriers or obstacles that impede foot
traffic (such as Quicksand). In order to begin using a vehicle, you must
select it from your Item list and "Use" it. To disembark, simply press the A,
B, or C button. The Start button does nothing whilst you are driving a
vehicle.
However, you'll encounter big, nasty monsters that you would never encouter on
foot (apparently, the vibrations from a vehicle's engines catches the attention
of some of Motavia's larger predators - at least, that's how the instruction
book describes it). As such, you will still get random battles in vehicles,
but the battles will be a bit different. Let me explain:
A battle screen will appear as normal, but you'll see the cockpit of the
vehicle instead of your Party members. Instead of HP, the vehicle has "SP"
instead (what, Special Points? What was wrong with using HP as "Hull Points"?
I really don't understand game transrators at ALL!). SP works just like HP:
run out, and it's game over, man, it's game over!! Actually, there is ONE
major difference: this is NO way to restore SP in battle, but you always start
with Max SP whenever a new battle starts (i.e. all damage taken during a battle
is erased once said battle ends).
Not that it matters much, but the Land Rover will start every battle with 740
SP.
In addition, each vehicle has a regular attack, and a couple of "Optin" (here
we go again. "Optin". What, "Option"? Why are alternate attack modes called
"Options"? Urrggghh!) Special Attacks.
The Land Rover has a cannon of some sort that blasts a single foe when you use
the Attack command. Its two "Optin"s are:
Cluster: Fires a cluster bomb that deals about 175 damage to all your foes at
once. Has 8 uses before you have to "recharge" them by staying at an Inn.
Gravit(o)n: The Land Rover version of Gra. Deals about 300 damage to all your
foes at once. Has 8 uses before you have to "recharge" them by staying at an
Inn.
You'll notice that Land Rover battles are worth very poor experience and almost
no Mesata at all, so you may want to just Run to save time. I won't tell if
you won't.
You will (for now) only encounter two types of Biomonsters in the Land Rover.
They are:
GrassHound: A variation of our good buddy, the Locusta. Has a lot of HP and
does a lot of damage to the Rover, too. If you fight a GrassHound and one or
more Forced Flies (see below), use Graviton to clear out the Flies and blast
the GrassHound with your cannon. If you encounter them alone, just trade
blows with the Hound until it goes down.
Forced Fly: Forced Fly? What? At any rate, the only thing we're going to
force it to do is die (yuk yuk yuk). Right, anyway, just nail these annoying
pests with Graviton to wipe them out quickly. If you encounter only one, just
shoot it until it dies.
One last thing about the Land Rover: possession of it opens up the next Job at
the Hunter's Guild in Aeido. This one really is optional; you don't get a
massive reward like the Sandworm Ranch Job, but if you're like me, you do all
the Jobs just to be thorough. I'll detail this little side-quest quick, but if
you just want to get on with the REAL quest, scroll on down to the section
titled "To the Village of Monsen".
---------------------------------------
Hunter's Guild Job #2: Tinkerbell's Dog
---------------------------------------
First available: once you obtain the Land Rover from the Machine Center.
Reward: 2,000 Mesata for returning Rocky the dog safely back home.
Associated Costs: 280 Mesata for a ShortCake from the Nuala bakery, located on
the outskirts of Aiedo.
Difficulty: Annoying.
Location: Aeido, then Krup, then Monsen.
Suggested Party Level: Whatever Level you're at now will suffice.
This Job request comes from the home of Tinkerbell, the little girl who lives
with her parents in a small house in Eastern Aeido. It seems that she has lost
her pet dog, Rocky. The parents will pay 2,000 Mesata to the Hunters who can
find the lost pet.
First off, you need to buy a ShortCake from the Nuala bakery on the outskirts
of Aeido. You can see it from the Hunter's Guild, but you must go to the
cemetary east of the prison, and then walk North and West along the town's
outer wall to get there.
Once you have a ShortCake (this is yet another Phantasy Star reference; in PS,
Alis and Co. had to go through a little dungeon in the boonies of Palma in
order to find the Nuala Cake Shop at the bottom of it. One 2000 Mesata (!)
ShortCake later, Alis and friends were on their way to Motavia, where they used
the ShortCake to bribe the robo-guards into letting them see the Governor. The
Governor was a sucker for sweets, you see, and...), it's time to visit
Tinkerbell's house. Her house is the one in the far southeast part of town,
just to the left of the old fortune-teller's house. Tinkerbell and her folks
don't have much to say, other than that Rocky is A) Fat, and B) likes sweets.
Thus, the ShortCake.
So, warp to Krup. There was a fat little white dog sitting by the ducks in the
pond south of the item shop, remember? Well, the dog's not there any more, but
the guy standing there tells you that he thinks the dog "went north". Well,
there's a town almost directly north of Krup, and that's Tonoe, so don't go
there. Instead, you must head to Monsen. Stupid vague townsfolk; Monsen is
much further East of Krup than it is North... grumble...mutter...
To get to Monsen, first head back to Krup. From Krup, you want to head North
until you come to ValleyMaze (but don't enter it!), then proceed East and just
a bit South. You'll come across a huge patch of quicksand, surrounded by
mountains. If you're not in the Land Rover for some reason, hop in it now, and
motor on over the quicksand, heading NE. Keep the mountains to the North in
sight, and you'll soon see it!
Once in Monsen, you'll find Fatty...er...Rocky sitting next to that big crack
in the ground in the Southeast part of town. IF you have ShortCake in your
inventory, talk to Rocky not once, but twice. Chaz will feed Rocky the
ShortCake, and you'll find yourself back in Tinkerbell's house in Aeido. The
overjoyed parents will submit the 2,000 Mesata to the Hunter's Guild, so be
sure to speak to the receptionist to claim it.
Wow, all that walking and warping around, searching through towns for a fat
little dog, having to make a side trip to a semi-hidden shop to buy an
otherwise useless item... all that for a grand total of 1,720 Mesata after
expenses. Oh well, at least it's over, and you can get on with more important
things, like going to the Ladea Tower. In fact, let's do that right now! It's
time to travel...
------------------------
To the Village of Monsen
------------------------
Suggested Level: Gryz 17, Chaz & Rika 16, Demi 12
Suggested Level to reach: Gryz & Chaz 17, Rika 16, Demi 12
Monsters you may face: Crawler, Sand Newt, Locusta, Caterpillr, Sand Worm,
Fanbite
Land Rover foes: GrassHound, Forced Fly, DesrtLeech
First off, head back to Krup. From Krup, you want to head North until you come
to ValleyMaze (but don't enter it!), then proceed East and just a bit South.
You'll come across a huge patch of quicksand, surrounded by mountains. If
you're not in the Land Rover for some reason, hop in it now, and motor on over
the quicksand, heading NE. Keep the mountains to the North in sight, and
you'll soon come across a village! Of course, if you just got done doing the
Tinkerbell's Dog Job, then you can simply use Ryuka to warp to Monsen. In any
case, Monsen is a good place to stop for a bit and rest, but first, let's
examine the local wildlife:
Caterpillrs are a new breed of Crawler-type monsters, and boy, they are a
definate upgrade! They have 170 HP or so, deal 25-30 damage with a regular
attack, and can spit poison. They also dodge physical attacks quite often,
which is especially bad considering you no longer have access to GiFoi or
GiWat. Bah! You can either take the hits and just Macro A them to death, or
you can burn a few Crashes, CrossCuts, and DblSlashes to kill them quickly.
Chaz's Zan comes in handy if you encounter them in larger groupings.
Fan Bites are yet another Locusta relative (and a monster from PSII). With
around 250 HP, good speed, and high Attack Power, these are some dangerous
giant insect-things! I'd recommend Crashing them into oblivion if you can,
but tag-teaming them with Statis Beam, CrossCut (or GiThu), and DblSlash is
another viable option. Just try not to let them live too long.
Sand Worms, as any experienced Hunter can tell you, are a dangerous and deadly
foe. While you can TRY to fight the Sand Worms at this point, their
Earthquake attack WILL kill the ENTIRE Party. Game over, just like that.
The only thing to do when you encounter these is to simply Run away; you will
escape every time. To recap: do NOT fight the Sand Worms. Run instead.
Des(e)rtLeeches are the, uh, Land Rover "version" of Sand Worms, except that
these guys are beatable, yay! They do a lot of damage, and have a powerful
Sand Storm attack; however, they only ever appear one at a time, and if you
just keep on firing the main cannon, they WILL die before you take more than
half your "SP" in damage, so fear not and fire away.
If you fight more than a couple random battles on the way to Monsen, your
characters should achieve the following levels and gain these abilities:
At Level 17, Chaz will learn the GiThu Tech. This more potent version of Tsu
will deal around 120 damage to a single foe. The problem is, CrossCut deals
more damage then GiThu 95% of the time - and CrossCut doesn't eat up 11 TP!
Save this for monsters that are highly resistant to physical attacks.
At Level 17, Rika will learn the Skill Disrupt. Disrupt in simply Rika's
(weaker) version of Airslash: she will deal her normal attack damage (or
thereabouts) to all your foes at once. This is Rika's only method of dealing
damage to multiple foes at once, so try to save it for when you really need
it...
At Level 17, Gryz will learn nothing, absolutely nothing. You're shocked,
aren't you?
With all that out of the way, we're quite prepared to enter...
---------------------
The Village of Monsen
---------------------
Inn: 45 Mesata per person (180 Mesata)
Item shop: Monomate 20, Dimate 160, Antidote 10, Cure-Paral 120, Telepipe 130,
Escapipe 70
Monsen is a village plagued by earthquakes. You'll notice a large crevasse in
the ground in the SE corner of town, and a ruined house in the Northern part of
town.
The hunters in the Inn have some valuable advice: if you see any full-grown
Sand Worms, RUN! You would be wise to heed their advice: fully grown Sand
Worms can kill your entire party with a single attack.
Another intruiging thing in this town is the Item shop. A couple of townsfolk
complain that the shop owner is taking advantage of the earthquakes (and the
fact that earthquakes break things that will need replacing with wares from
said shop) to raise prices. Uh, nevermind that this shop's prices are EXACTLY
IDENTICAL to the prices in every other Item shop in the game. Whatever.
Now, there's another not-so-optional dungeon that we can explore, and if you
speak to the blue-shirted man in front of the town's easternmost house (the one
with the huge crack in the front yard), you will trigger the hint about what
(and where) it is.
When you speak to the man, he mentions that there have been a lot of
earthquakes lately. As luck would have it, one occurs just after he finishes
telling you this. Gryz promptly Freaks Out: it appears that Gryz is afraid of
earthquakes. Rika takes this opportunity to call Gryz all sorts of nasty
names before Demi mentions that the nearby Plate System is most likely to blame
for the recent spate of quakes. She says that it's just North of here (and it
is!), and Gryz, not surprisingly, wants to shut it down.
Upon hearing this, townsfolk flock to Our Heroes, begging them to stop the
earthquakes, if they can. Chaz tries to decline, but no one is listening to
him... looks like it's up to us to stop the quakes, eh?
Once again, going to the Plate System is optional, but as was the case with the
Wreckage, you'll find some nice equipment (particularly for Demi) and the exp
and Mesata you'll gain there will help make the Ladea Tower much easier to
handle. If you (for whatever reason) decide not to undertake this little side-
quest, just scroll on down to the section entitled "To the Village of Termi".
Otherwise, it's time to mosey on over...
-------------------
To the Plate System
-------------------
Suggested Level: Chaz/Rika/Gryz 17, Demi 12
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz/Rika/Gryz 17, Demi 12
Monsters you may face: Caterpillr, Fanbite, Sand Worm, InfantWorm
Land Rover foes: GrassHound, Forced Fly, DesrtLeech
Starting at the village of Monsen, simply circle East or West around the small
mountain range north of the village. You'll come across the Plate System once
you circle around to the North side of the mountains. However, on the way
there, you might just run into some new opposition.
North of Monsen, you may encounter InfantWorms. These juvenile Sand Worms are
no where near the threat the fully grown Worms are, but the problem is, if you
don't kill them all, they can burrow into the sand and summon a Sand Worm. If
they do this, you must run from the Sand Worm, and you won't get any exp or
Mesata for killing the InfantWorms. It's quite the crock, so either run away
as soon as the battle starts, or be prepared to waste an AirSlash or a Disrupt
in order to kill them all at once.
Boy, all these Sand Worms sure are annoying, aren't they? Good thing we won't
encounter any in...
----------------
The Plate System
----------------
Items to be found in this dungeon:
Repair-Kit, Titn-Gear, Crmc-Armr, Phonomezer, Lasr-Axe, Lasr-Knife, LasrBarrir,
Shun-Shot
Monsters to be found in this dungeon:
Seeker, Gunner Bit, Loader, Slave, Worker Pod
Suggested Level: Chaz/Rika/Gryz 17, Demi 12
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz/Rika/Gryz 18, Demi 14
We might as well call this place the "Blatent Demi-boosting dungeon" now and
get it over with, because that's mainly what it's here for. So, let's get
hoofing. The sooner we can get Demi to be less of a liability, the better.
General combat strategies:
Oh goodie, more Mechanical stuff to bust up. Actually, that's a good thing,
since Demi is beyond useless when fighting Biomonsters. Let's take a good,
long look at the newest homicidal Mechs you'll be encountering:
Seekers are pretty weak combatants. Their attacks can deal fair amounts of
damage, but they have pretty low HP and are quite slow. You can normally
beat them down with just physical attacks and not even suffer a scratch.
Gunner Bits are a bit like seekers. They have a moderately powerful attack,
but they have even fewer HP than Seekers. They are faster, however, and will
most likely nail you with a couple of Rail Gun shots before you off them.
Again, just use physical attacks on these guys.
Loaders look menacing, but your Laser weapons will tear them a new one in no
time. Crash and/or Spark will work on them most of the time, but physical
attacks are all you really need to destroy them.
Slaves, as loaders, are imposing to look at, but aren't really all that nasty.
They have more HP than the other mechs in this area, but they are slow and
ponderous. A combination of physical attacks, Crash, and Spark will take
them down with ease.
Your characters should reach these levels and gain these abilities:
Chaz, Rika, and Gryz should all hit Level 18. None of them learn any new
abilities at this level. Ugh, no fun at all.
Demi will most likely advance to Level 14, but she won't learn any new
abilities, either. Oh well, this dungeon is mainly here for its plethora of
useful new equipment, anyway. And technically, Demi does learn a new Skill if
you open that chest with the Phonomezer in it...
Walkthrough:
------------
First Floor (Repair-Kit)
From the entrance, you have no choice but to head N. You'll come upon a T
intersection; ignore the yellow line on the floor for now and go E. You'll
come upon another T almost immediately: go S to find a chest containing a
Repair-Kit. Repair-Kits are like a Solar-Dew for Androids: they will heal an
Android (and ONLY an Android) to full HP. Even better, you can use a Repair-
Kit on an Android even if they have been reduced to 0 HP and are, uh, "dying".
Needless to say, Repair-Kits are very useful, especially at this point in the
game.
Moving on. Going N is futile, as it's only a dead end, so go back the way you
came, to the original T intersection, and head W this time. You'll see a
passage leading N, but ignore it, it's another dead end. Keep going W, and
you'll see an elevator to the north. Take this elevator down, to...
Floor B1F (Titn-Gear, Crmc-Armor)
From the elevator, head N into what appears to be a 4-way intersection, but is
in fact a T, with exits W and E. Go E for now. You'll come to another T, with
N and S passages, both of which are little dead-ends with chests in them.
The S chest contains Titn-Gear, which is better than Demi's Head-Gear, so slap
it on her before you forget to.
The N chest contains Crmc-Armor, which is better than Demi's Titn-Armor, so
slap it on her before you forget to.
Return to the original T, and go W this time. This level mirrors itself, so
you will again come to a T with N and S passages. S leads to a dead end, so
go N instead. This N passage curves E and then ends in an elevator. Take this
elevator down to...
Floor B2F (No items)
From the elevator, head S and you'll come to (surprise) a T. Ignore the E
passage (it's a dead end) and go W, until you hit a N/S T. Go S (the narrow
N passage is another dead end) until you can't go S no mo', bypassing the side
passage leading E. There'll be an elevator immediately to your right; take it
down to...
Floor B3F - West (Phonomezer)
From the elevator, just follow the passage W then N then E to a chest
containing...
Well, it contains a Skill for Demi, in the form of Parts that Demi can
"install". After a bit of goofy dialoge, Demi will have a new Skill:
Phonomezer! The Phonomezer is great because it gives Demi a way to attack more
than one foe at once; it's basically Demi's version of AirSlash or DblSlash,
except that the damage dealt has little to do with Demi's attack power. I'm
not sure what it's based off of, but the 'mezer always deals a lot of damage...
I'm sure that's why you never get that many uses of it.
All right, we've got our new toy, so now let's head back to...
Floor B2F (No Items)
Return to that Easterly side-passage we went past on our way to get the
Phonomezer, and head down it. You'll see what appears to be two passages
leading S, but you can just ignore them: they're are 2 halves of an empty loop.
Keep going E until you come to a N/S T. N is an empty dead end, so follow the
magic floor line to the S, and you'll come to an elevator leading down to...
Floor B3F - East (Lasr-Axe, Lasr-Knife, LasrBarrir)
Head E and N from the elevator. The game will taunt you by forcing you to walk
past 2 chests that you can't get to... yet. Follow the passage as it winds to
the W and then to the S, and you'll find yourself in a 4-way intersection.
Both the E and W "passages" are little stubby things that end in chests:
West side: Lasr-Axe. Oh yeah! Now Gryz can burninate Mechanical enemies with
the best of them. Don't delay in equipping it.
East side: Lasr-Knife. Uh, what? Are we supposed to save this for Hahn, or
something? Just sell it, you won't ever need this.
The S passage of the 4-way intersection leads to an E/W T. The really short
E passage has yet another chest, this one containing another LasrBarrir. Well,
that's useless to us. Don't forget to sell it when you get the chance. The W
hallway abruptly ends in yet another elevator. This one will take us down
to...
Floor B4F (Stun-Shot)
From the elevator, head E, ignoring the N side-passage for now. After a very
short walk, you'll come across a chest containing a Stun-Shot. Give this to
Demi, as it allows her to do a bit more damage, and it will (very rarely)
paralyze a non-mechanical foe that Demi shoots (but doesn't kill).
Now take that N passage to a large computer terminal. "Search" it, and Demi
will shut down the Plate System. In game terms, this does absolutely nothing
other than open up some new dialogue (from your characters and from some of the
people in Monsen), but do it anyway. You came all this way, so you might as
well make yourself useful, right?
Well, with all this fancy new equipment for Demi, you have a few options in
regard to the Party's battle order. Now that Demi has more HP and decent
defense, you could put her in front (which looks REALLY funny, with her little
legs pumping to keep ahead of Chaz/Gryz), and let her self-healing and "free"
(it consumes no TP) shots of Recover negate the damage she takes in combat.
This ensures that you'll be using less of Chaz' and Rika's TP, since Demi is
taking a lot of the Party's damage and constantly healing herself. I find an
order of Demi/Gryz/Chaz/Rika works surprisingly well.
Or, you can keep Demi in the back somewhere, where she's less likely to be
"killed". However, even if she is "killed", Demi will not be Dying after the
battle; her self-repair systems will restore her to 1 HP, allowing her to use
Recover to replenish the rest of her HP. Why keep a character that can't be
killed in the back?
In other words, there's no reason not to let Demi be your meat shield for a
while, strange as it sounds. So, uh, do it. Put Demi in the front.
And, well, that's it for this side-quest. Hinas on out of here (unless you
wish to Level up some more, which is never a bad idea, really) and head back
to Monsen (or Aeido) to rest up. It's not a long trek to the next little
town, but we're gonna need those TP and Skills for the Ladea Tower. When
you are properly prepared (it's also not a bad idea to pick up a few doses of
Dimate while you're in Monsen, and maybe an Escapipe if you don't have any),
hop in the Land Rover. It's time to travel...
-----------------------
To the Village of Termi
-----------------------
Suggested Level: Chaz/Rika/Gryz 18, Demi 14
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz/Rika/Gryz 18, Demi 14
Monsters you may face: Caterpillr, Fanbite, Sand Worm, Infant Worm
Land Rover foes: GrassHound, Forced Fly, DesrtLeech
From Monsen, just head East until your way is blocked by a mountain range. Go
a bit South, and you'll encounter more quicksand, so you'll need to hop in your
Land Rover (if you didn't when you set out) and continue South. On the horizon
you will soon see...
--------------------
The Village of Termi
--------------------
Inn: 50 per person (200 Mesata)
Armor shop: Psy-Crown 2800, Psy-Circlt 1200, Psy-Mail 7400, Psy-Shield 4600
Tourist Trap: Alis-Sword 500, Perolymate 40, Pennant 600, WoodCarvin(g) 3000
Ahh, Termi. This rustic little village is our last stop-over before we finally
tackle the Ladea Tower. There's a couple of things to do here:
First off, check out the Tourist Trap in the Northwest corner of town. BUY AN
Alis-Sword AND SOME Perolymate, AS THEY WILL COME IN HANDY LATER. Ignore the
rest of the junk this guy sells, none of it does anything.
Next, head on over to the northeast part of town and check out that statue.
It's a statue of Alis and Myau from Phantasy Star! How cute.
Finally, check out the Armor shop. Apparently, the blacksmith learned how to
imbue his armor from a wandering "spell binder", and thus all his equipment is
Psy-enhanced. And expensive as hell. The best part about Psy gear is that it
gives a slight increase to your Mental score, which makes your magic defense
better and increases the effectivenss of your Techniques. Good stuff, no? Be
sure to purchase the following:
For Chaz, a suit of Psy-Mail. Sell his old Crmc-Mail.
For Rika, a suit of Psy-Mail and a Psy-Crown. Sell her old Crmc-Mail and
Grpt-Crown.
For Gryz, a suit of Psy-Mail. Sell his old Crmc-Mail.
You may also want to pick up at least one Psy-Shield (but I recommend two).
You know, just in case you run into some needy Wizard-type who might be needing
some more powerful equipment (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
Now, I suppose it's feasible that you might not have enough Mesata to buy
everything that you need (3 suits of Psy-Mail and 2 Psy-Shields IS a lot of
cash), but if you've been following my walkthrough diligently, you should have
at least 40,000 Mesata by now, which is more than enough to support your
expensive shopping habits.
If you don't have enough Mesata, you either haven't been doing the sidequests
and/or you've been running from monsters WAY TOO MUCH. I would recommend
Leveling up at the Plate System, if this is the case. The Ladea Tower is
pretty nasty, and I'd hate to see you get wiped out due to lack of levels or
proper equipment.
Well, that was a fun little town, wasn't it? Now it's time to, as the cast of
Monty Python and the Holy Grail would say, "GET ON WITH IT!!!!!" and find that
elusive Ladea Tower...
------------------
To the Ladea Tower
------------------
Suggested Level: Chaz/Rika/Gryz 18, Demi 14
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz/Rika/Gryz 18, Demi 14
Monsters you may face: Caterpillr, Fanbite, Sand Worm, Infant Worm
Land Rover foes: GrassHound, Forced Fly, DesrtLeech
Boy, this is gonna be a long trip. Head exactly one "screen" Southwest of
Termi and there you are, the Ladea Tower. Boy, that was rough. You probably
had to fight one whole random battle and everything!
---------------
The Ladea Tower
---------------
Items to be found in this dungeon:
Dimate, Star-Dew (x2), Escapipe, FradeMantl, PsychoWand
Monsters to be found in this dungeon:
FlyScream(e)r, ShadowSabr, Ripper, Centaur, Haunt, Rune (j/k)
The Boss of this dungeon is:
Gy-Lagiah, monstrous servant of Zio
Suggested Level: Chaz/Rika/Gryz 18, Demi 14
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz/Rika/Gryz 20, Demi 16
Finally, the Ladea Tower! This is an important dungeon for a number of
reasons, which we'll get into later. For now, let's just concentrate on
snagging all the treasure we can get our grubby mitts on and finding Rune.
General combat strategies:
While our old buddies ShadowSabr and Ripper from Zio's Fort are here to play
with us again, there's also some new playmates that I ought to tell you about:
FlyScream(e)rs are more annoying than deadly, what with their regular attack
that randomly paralyzes people and the ever-irritating Acid Breath ability.
They have a fair amount of HP, too. It's tempting to use things like CrossCut
and Crash on these guys, but think about saving that for the upper levels of
the tower, and just using regular attacks to finish these stupid bug-plant
things off.
Phantasy Star veterans should recognize the Centaurs. They haven't gotten any
less deadly in the last 2,000 years, either. Fast, powerful, and hard to
kill, Centaurs will plague you throughout this dungeon. Don't be afraid to
use some of your Skills up on these guys: Crash, CrossCut, DblSlash, etc.
Haunts can be nasty, as well. They have very high defense (physical attacks
only do 1 damage to them) but only 3 HP. However, you really want to hit
them some kind of elemental Tech, like Tsu or Wat or Foi, as this will kill
them instantly. You don't want to let these things live for more than a round
if you can help it, lest they use the dreaded Corrosion ability on you.
Corrosion is bad, mmm-kay, because it will deal 40 damage to your entire
Party. They might also use the Evil Eye, which can paralyze a Party member.
Your characters should reach these levels and gain these abilities:
Rika will learn the Shift Tech at Level 19. Hmm. Alys, the only character
with Shift leaves the Party, and a couple of levels later, Rika leans it.
Coincidence? I think not! It certainly is nice to have access to Shift
again, as it always helps your Party defeat Bosses more quickly.
In addition, Rika will learn the Sar Tech at Level 20. Ahh, Sar. Your bestest
friend! Sar is like Res, but it affects every humanoid Party member at once!
Oh yes, with Sar, Bosses become much less dangerous... for now. Just remember
not to use up so much of Rika's TP that she doesn't have enough left to cast
this a couple times when you reach the Boss. Uses 12 TP.
Gryz will, predictably enough, not learn a single new ability at Level 19. Or
Level 20. Must... be... one... dimensional...
Demi, like Gryz, also continues to learn nothing. This has to be the most
useless Party configuration in the entire game, honestly...
Walkthrough:
------------
1st Floor (No items)
The First Floor, while outrageously large, is completely empty except for a
staircase smack dab in the center of the floor. To get there quickly, simply
head due N from the entrance of the tower. There are no chests to be found
anywhere, so don't bother exploring. Instead, hit them stairs and proceed
to the...
2nd Floor (Dimate)
Don't wander too much in this confusing level if you can help it... from the
stairs, go W, and take that narrow little passage heading N. At the end of it
is a chest containing Dimate. Snag that, and continue heading W. Follow the
hallway as it turns N, and then take that little side hall that heads W (if you
keep going N, you'll loop all the way around to the other side of the floor).
Follow this new path when it turns S, then SE, and finally E into a flight of
stairs. Take these up to the...
3rd Floor - West (Star-Dew)
Not much to do here but follow the passage around the West side of the floor
until the hallway dead ends. But wait, there's a chest here! Open it to claim
your Star-Dew. Star-Dew is a (for now) rare item that is, basically, GiSar in
a can. It restores roughly 120 HP to every humanoid Party member, so save it
for the inevitable battle with Zio...
Now, we need to retrace our steps, and take those stairs back down to the...
2nd Floor, revisited
Okay, walk W, then NW, then N, and then E. At the N/S T intersection, head S,
then turn E, and you'll find yourselves standing by the stairs that lead down
the 1st Floor. From here, it's time to head E. The E path is a mirror image
of the W half of the floor, except that the little dead end by the stairs
doesn't have a chest. Boo! Anyway, just head E, jog N, take the E side
hallway, then go S/SW/W until you reach the stairs that lead to the...
3rd Floor - East (Rune, Escapipe)
Ahh, finally. You'll see a familiar face when you reach this floor. Chaz
greets Rune and beseeches him for help. Rune tells you that he'll help in
earnest once you recover the Psycho-Wand from the topmost floor of the Ladea
tower.
Apparently, this Psycho-Wand is the only way to bypass Zio's Magic Barrier.
This is the item that Rune left with Grandfather Dorin to retrieve (seems like
forever ago, doesn't it?), but he hasn't gotten to it, yet. Damn, he's slow,
isn't he? You've gone through like 12 dungeons, and all he's done is ditch
Dorin, cross some quicksand, and climb halfway up a tower.
Oh yeah, and he's somehow gone up 5 levels. Yep, ol' Rune is now Level 21.
Let's take a quick look at what new tricks he has up his sleeve:
GiFoi: you know what this does, but with Rune's TP, you can use it constantly.
Uses 6 TP, if you forgot.
GiWat: see GiFoi. Uses 7 TP.
Seals: This will attempt to silence your foes so that they can't use any Techs.
Sounds great in theory, but it has a low success rate, and there really aren't
that many monsters that use Techs, anyway. This Tech, like Arows, will
probably never see the light of day. Would use 8 TP if it ever did.
Rever: This is nice. Rever is the Tech version of a Moon-Dew. It will revive
a character who is Dying - reduced to 0 HP - and restore about 1/4 of their
Maximum HP. No more running back to an Inn if someone dies! Do try not to
let a character reach 0 HP, however; Rever sucks up 12 TP. That's 2 GiRes
worth of TP because you were negligent!
OK, slap your two Psy-Shields on Rune (you DID buy two Psy-Shields while you
were in Termi, RIGHT?) and let's move on. Starting this floor's walkthrough
over:
From the stairs, follow the hallway E, then NE, then N, and finally NW. Take
the S jog when you come to it, and then the W hallway. You'll enter a largish
room with a flight of stairs, but don't ascend them yet! Continue W, turn N,
and you'll see a chest in a little dead end. Snag the Escapipe it contains and
THEN go up the stairs, which will take you to the...
4th Floor - East (No items)
Once you reach this floor, the encounters start getting a bit nastier, as your
foes will begin appearing in larger groups than what you've been seeing. From
the stairs, head S, and you will have no choice but to follow this passage as
it winds counterclockwise around the edge of the tower. Once you reach the E
side of this floor, you'll come across the stairs. Continuing N leads to an
empty dead end, so take them there stairs up to the...
5th Floor (FradeMantl)
When you reach this floor, you appear to be in a W/N/S T intersection, but in
actuality, N and S are just mini-dead ends, so go W. You'll come to a large
central room with a chest right in the middle of it. Open it and the
FradeMantl is yours. The FradeMantl (the best armor for Noah of Phantasy Star)
is an upgraded version of Rune's Psy-Robe, so equip it on him and let's move
on. To the S is the staircase that leads up to the next floor, but we want to
go W for now, and take that set of stairs that leads back down to the...
4th Floor - West (Star-Dew, 1000 Mesata)
After descending the stair, you can go either N or S. Go N, as the S hallway
is another short dead end. After circling clockwise to the Northernmost part
of the floor, you'll come across 2 chests!
The left one contains another Star-Dew! Sweet!
The right one contains 1,000 Mesata. Eh, I guess that helps.
Return to the stairs from whence you came, and ascend back up to the...
5th Floor, revisited
Go E to the central room and then head S, until you come to the stairs going
up. Take them up to the...
6th Floor (Gy-Laguiah, Psycho-Wand)
This is the final floor of the Ladea Tower, so you can probably guess what THAT
means... that's right, it's Boss time! Heal your Party up to full HP (or close
to it, anyway) and proceed N up a couple small flights of stairs, to a platform
in the center of the tower that has a chest resting on it. The chest contains
the Psycho-Wand, of course, but before you can grab it, a foul creature by the
name of Gy-Laguiah appears, saying that by the decree of Zio, the Psycho-Wand
belongs to it. Fat chance, buster. Time to take this misguided minion down.
Boss: Gy-Laguiah (2700 HP)
Gy-Lagiah has 2 powerful attacks: Firebreath, and critical physical attacks.
Firebreath can deal up to 50 damage to a single character. Of course, after
you have Demi put up her Barrier in the first round, it will only deal 10-20
damage to Party member with low magic defense, and 1 to everyone else. So
scary!
His critical physical attacks, however, can deal over 100 points of damage -
even to high-defense characters like Gryz! This is why Deban is essential:
without it, Gy can kill Rune or Demi in a single lucky shot. With deban up,
they should survive the attack, allowing Rika to GiRes them back to full
health.
If your Party is Level 18 or 19, this fight should be no problem at all. Do
the following, substituting a GiRes or Sar or MedicPw in for Rika or Demi's
turn if someone gets wounded badly:
1st Round: Gryz uses WarCry. Chaz casts GiThu or attacks or uses CrossCut.
Rika casts Deban. Demi uses Barrier. Rune casts GiWat.
2nd Round: Gryz and Demi attack. Chaz casts GiThu or attacks or uses CrossCut.
Rika casts SaNer. Rune casts GiWat.
3rd Round: Gryz and Demi attack. Chaz casts GiThu or attacks or uses CrossCut.
Rika casts Shift on Chaz. Rune casts GiWat.
4th Round and beyond: Gryz and Demi continue attacking. Chaz uses GiThu or
CrossCut or simply attacks, depending on TP/Skills remaining. Rika casts
Shift on herself and then attacks, uses DblSlash, or heals injured Party
member, depending on the situation. Rune casts GiWat until his TP runs dry,
then switches to Fleali.
As you can see, while Gy has a LOT of HP, his attacks are easily nullified by
Barrier and Deban, while SaNer (cast by Rika in Round 2) pretty much guarantees
that your characters will all be faster than Gy - which is useful for ensuring
that when you have Rika cast GiRes, it heals your intended target before Gy can
attack that character again (potentially finishing them off). If you just
follow the above strategy, you won't have to worry too much about healing, as
Gy will go down fairly quickly, without having ever been much of a threat.
After Gy bites it, Rune grabs the Psycho-Wand. Gryz comments on how, now that
they have the Psycho-Wand, they no longer need to fear Zio. Just then, Rune
and Rika both start acting strangely, apparently sensing something that the
others do not. Rune yells at Chaz, telling him to get a move on: they need to
return to Krup immediately!
--------------
Return to Krup
--------------
In the blink of an eye, the Party is clustered around Alys' bed. Hahn tells
them that Alys condition has suddenly worsened... Alys tells Chaz that she's
glad he managed to meet up with Rune. Chaz asks Rune if he can't help Alys
with his "powers". To this, Rune informs them that the Black Wave does not
come solely from Zio's power; there is an underlying evil of a more malignant
source that not even Rune can cure!
Alys implores Rune to help Chaz, and Rune solemly agrees. Alys tells Chaz that
from now on, he must pursue his destiny by himself. With her last breath, she
thanks Chaz...
The game then shows us pictures of the Party kneeling by Alys' grave and
grieving. That night, we find Chaz standing alone on a balcony. Rune comes
out to meet him there, and they have a converstion about what Alys and Chaz
have been fighting for, and what Chaz really learned from Alys in their time
together as partners and Hunters.
Later, Rika joins Chaz. She tells him how she's glad that she has been able
to leave the Bio-plant, and experience everything that Seed taught her about
for herself. Chaz puts his arm around Rika, while Rune stares at the night
sky...
The next morning, we find the Party, Hahn, and Saya all standing in front of
Alys' grave. Hahn says he is going back to the Academy in order to attempt to
prompt those in power to come up with a plan of action relating to recent
events. The Party wishes him luck, Chaz takes one last look at Alys' grave,
and then you are in control again.
I'm sure you're sad to see Hahn leave, but it'll be okay. You can visit Hahn
whenever you like! You can find him in the Principal's room in the Motavian
Academy. If you talk to him there, he whines about how hard-headed the
Academy's higher-ups are. Professor Holt is there as well, but neither he nor
the Principal have much to say to you.
Whenever you're ready to move on, have Chaz or Rune warp back to Kadary...
-------------------------------------
Return to Kadary/Zio's Fort revisited
-------------------------------------
Monsters found in Zio's Fort:
Speard, Tech User, ShadowSabr, Ripper
Since the cut-scene depicts the Party spending the night in Krup, your
characters are fully healed, so you don't need to worry about your HP/TP/
Skills. You should, however, check your inventory! Make sure you have at
least 3-4 Dimates and an Escapipe, in case things get hairy. When you're
ready, exit Kadary and head SE to Zio's Fort.
Walk up to that weird yellow barrier and "search" it. Rune will use the power
of the Psycho-Wand to dispel the barrier, and Demi will give you a brief
description of Nurvus. Chaz wants to know if Zio is there, but Rune and Demi
tell him revenge must wait; shutting down Nurvus takes priority over avenging
Alys. Head down those formerly inaccesable stairs, and you'll find yourself
in...
------
Nurvus
------
Monsters found in this dungeon:
Zio(')s Guard, TechMaster, Centaur, Greneris, FloatMine, Tarantella, Tower,
Balduel, Blauzen
Items found in this dungeon:
Wave-Shot, Repair-Kit, Crmc-Gear, SpacedArmr, Plsm-Claw
The Boss of this Dungeon is:
Zio, servant of Dark Force (for really this time)
Suggested Level: Rune 21, Chaz/Rika/Gryz 20, Demi 16
Suggested Level to reach: Rune 23, Chaz/Rika/Gryz 22, Demi 19
Nurvus can be a difficult and confusing dungeon. There are more than half a
dozen new foes that you'll be fighting (see above), some of them quite
dangerous. In addition, there's a lot of side paths that aren't easily
definable as such, so it's easy to get lost whilst treasure hunting. If your
Party isn't at the recommended level, don't be surprised if you have to warp
back to town in order to heal up at some point; you will fight a lot of battles
in this dungeon, and it's easy to keep fighting until suddenly, you start up a
battle and realize that you've drained all your resources without realizing
it...
Also, try to keep an eye on your TP, as Rika and Rune (in particular) will need
50 TP (or more, if you can manage it) for the battle with Zio at the end of
this dungeon. I really recommend using Hinas to exit the dungeon after you
collect all the treasure scattered about, and then warp to Aeido for some free
healing at Alys' (Chaz'?) Home. Then, come back fully rested, and just buzz
through the entire dungeon from start to Zio. You'll fight a LOT less
encounters than you did the first time through, so you'll be fairly fresh for
what promises to be a difficult Boss battle.
General combat strategies:
Unlike the other Control Systems we've been in, the foes you'll face in Nurvus
aren't all Mechanical, though most are. There's a LOT of new faces here, so
let me give you a rundown:
Zio's Guards are, basically, just an upgraded version of the Speards you fight
in Zio's Fort. They're still just fodder, though. If you take advantage of
their mediocre HP and low speed, you can mount a fierce offensive that leaves
them dead before they can so much as take a poke at you.
Similarly, TechMasters are the newer, tougher versions of the TechUsers that
you fought in Zio's Fort. They still use Foi and Wat, but these guys have
Mental power on par with Rune, so these little Techs will HURT. Wat
especially. You should focus your attacks on these guys in an effort to kill
them before they decide to Wat Gryz for 75 damage. Another reason not to let
these guys live is that they can cast Sar, healing themselves and any
accompanying Zio's Guards for 60 or more HP...
Greneris is a foe you want to kill as fast as you possibly can. Why? Because
if you don't, he'll use ForceFlash on you, and it's even stronger than the
one Juza was tearing you up with! With 400 or so HP, that's easier said than
done, unfortunately. Try to Crash or Eliminat(e) him if you can, otherwise
use your big guns: CrossCut, DblSlash, and Flaeli or GiWat. Of course, you
might get lucky, and Greneris will use some of his other, less dangerous stuff
on you: Doran, Foi, or Wat. Wat hurts a bit, but it's no ForceFlash, so just
suck the little stuff up if he throws it at you and keep pounding on him. On
a positive note, Greneris will sometimes drop a Star-Dew after the battle is
over. Hey, GiSar-in-a-can makes up for a couple of ForceFlashes in my book.
FloatMines are cheap little buggers. They don't attack; instead, they randomly
rush forward and detonate themselves, damaging your Party members for 30-50
damage (on average). This normally wouldn't be so bad, but any FloatMine that
destroys itself in this manner does NOT give you any exp and Mesata. Thus,
you must choose between using up your resources (Gra, Crash, CrossCut, etc.)
in order to kill them before they detonate, or simply running from them.
Tarantellas sure are ugly little mechanical critters, aren't they? They do
like to travel in packs, but they aren't much of a threat. They possess only
average HP, low attack power, and mediocre speed. Just use regular attacks
to defeat them. Rune's Hewn can slaughter entire groups of these by itself,
if you feel like ending the battle quickly.
Towers like to use their Warning ability to summon FloatMines to help them.
Oh boy, more FloatMines to fight! You have to make a decision here: do you
ignore the FloatMines and kill the tower, thus ending the battle quickly; or,
do you kill the Floatmines as they appear while trying to use an Instant Death
attack on the tower, thus getting more exp and Mesata for the battle but
potentially taking more damage? The choice is yours!
Balduels are a bit more of a threat then most of these other foes. They can
deal a fair amount of damage, and they have a lot of HP and high physical
defense. They are susceptible to Techs and Instant Death attacks, so be sure
to use those types of attacks in order to elimate the Balduels quickly.
Blauzen are a bit like Balduels: they have good defenses and a lot of HP, and
are slow but powerful. They will occasionally shoot a Statis Ball at you,
which can paralyze a Party member. Deban takes the edge off their attacks,
but using that every time you encounter one is a drain on Rika's TP. I would
recommend attempting to kill them outright with Crash and Spark, and back that
up with CrossCut or DblSlash and Fleali in case your Instant Death attacks
fail. If you're lucky, a Blauzen may drop a Lasr-Claw after the battle is
over; if it does, give it Rika and watch her REALLY tear up your Mechanical
foes!
Your characters should reach these levels and learn these abilities:
At Level 21, Chaz learns the Brose Tech. Now, since Chaz has enough TP to use
Brose more than once (unlike Gryz), it's not a bad idea to cast it when you
encounter a particularly nasty group of Mechanical foes. Uses 16 TP.
At Level 23, Rune learns the GiGra Tech. This bigger, badder, better version
of Gra will really eat your foes (and your TP reserves) up like no one else's
business. Try not to use it too much, lest you find Rune drained of ALL his
TP, with Zio still lurking somewhere ahead...
At Levels 21, 22, AND 23, Gryz will not learn a single thing. Here, have some
smelling salts... that was a nasty faint!
Similarly, Demi learns absolutely nothing at Levels 17, 18, and 19. Be glad
that both Gryz and Demi have almost served their purpose.
Walkthrough:
------------
Floor B1F (Wave-Shot)
From the entrance, head N, and you'll come across a computer terminal in the
center of the N wall. "Search" it and Demi and Rika talk about how it's
impossible to send an iterrupt command to Nurvus from here; you must go to the
central computer to stop Nurvus. At any rate, you're now at an E/W T
intersection. For now, go W and when you see an opening in the N wall, go
through it. Head N a ways and you'll come to a chest containing a Wave-Shot
for Demi. Since you're fighting mostly Mechanical foes down here, swap out
her Stun-Shot for the more powerful Wave-Shot. Now, head on back to that
computer terminal and head E. You'll soon see another opening in the N wall.
Enter it and follow the hallway N, then W for a bit, and then go N again. You
can continue W at this point, but it's just a dead end. At the end of the
hallway heading N, you'll come across an elevator, which leads us down to...
Floor B2F (Repair-Kit)
Starting from the elevator, head S. Follow the hallway when it turns to the W,
and you'll soon come to a N/S T intersection. Head S along the narrow walkway
until it dead ends in a little platform with a chest. Grab the Repair-Kit out
of the chest, and go back and take the N passage. This will soon lead us to
the elevator which will take us down to...
Floor B3F (No items)
As soon as you emerge from the elevator, you'll see another descending elevator
immediately to the W. Jog on over there, and take it down to...
Floor B3F - Lower Level (Crmc-Gear)
Head S through the opening, then jog E and go S down the narrow walkway. The
walkway will end in a chest containing Crmc(Ceramic)-Gear. Equip it on Demi,
and return to the elevator whence you came. Ascend it back up to...
</pre><pre id="faqspan-5">
Floor B3F, revisited
Head S from the elevator(s), along the narrow walkway that wends S, then E,
then S again. You'll come to a T intersection, with options to go W or S.
Going W leads only to a curvaceous dead end, so head S. After a short walk,
you'll see an elevator to the W. Take it on down to...
Floor B4F - South (No items)
Head SE from the elevator, and you'll come across an opening in the N wall.
Enter that, and you'll find yourself on a walkway not unlike the between-spires
tunnels of Zio's Fort. Walk across it, and you'll emerge at...
Floor B4F - North (No items)
Follow the yellow floor line E, then N along a long, narrow walkway. Ignore
the dead end W passage and continue N until you come to another descending
elevator. Take it down to...
Floor B5F (SpacedArmr)
Ignore the other elevator you see for now, and head S. When you come to a side
passage leading W, take it, as continuing S leads only to a long, LONG dead
end. Follow the hallway W, then turn N. You'll come to a cheast containing,
uh, SpacedArmr. This is better armor for Demi, so equip it. Now, retrace your
steps, and take that other elevator you saw when you first emerged onto this
floor. You'll be taken down to...
Floor B5F - Lower Level (No items)
Head S immediately. You'll pass through an opening into a hallway; follow this
hall SW, then S. You'll come to a room of sorts, with an opening to the W and
an elevator to the S. For now, go through the opening. You'll find yourself
on another side-view balcony type thing. Once you cross it, you'll find that
you are now in the last little area of...
Floor B4F - Lower Level (Plsm-Claw)
Head W, jogging S around the ledge, and you'll find a chest. Man, this thing
is REALLY out of the way, isn't it? That's because it contains the Plsm-Claw,
a really powerful weapon for Rika. Equip it on her, and then go back across
the balcony, back to...
Floor B5F - revisited
Okay, head a bit SE and take the elevator down to...
Floor B6F (Zio!)
If you're not ready to fight with Zio, use Hinas (or an Escapipe) to leave
here and heal up. You do NOT want to fight Zio without a healthy supply of TP
and Skills. He can kill you if you aren't prepared for him; you've been
warned!!
Once you emerge from the elevator, follow the yellow line in the floor. You'll
go a bit W, then turn N and through an opening in the N wall. In this next
room, there's a narrow walkway. Walk along it, and you'll see Nurvus' central
computer. Of course, before you can get within 30 feet of it, Zio appears!
He makes some comments about how he's not going to let you leave here alive,
yadda, yadda, and then calls on Dark Force to lend him power.
Boss: Zio, servant of Dark Force (2,900 HP)
Just like last time you fought him, Zio kicks things off by erecting his
almighty Magic Barrier. You must Use the Psycho-Wand AS AN ITEM to dispel the
barrier; equipping it on Rune and attacking will NOT work.
In the meantime, Zio will summon his good buddy the Nightmare. If you haven't
figured it out yet, the Nightmare is a manifestation of Dark Force; thus the
Black Wave and the malignant power it contains.
A few things to keep in mind during this fight:
Do NOT let any character stay below 100 HP for more than half a round, lest Zio
kill him off with a critical hit or a Black Wave.
Don't forget that Star-Dew and Sar will NOT heal Demi; if she falls below 100
HP, you're going to have to waste a turn having Demi use Recover on herself.
You COULD have someone else use a Repair-Kit on her, but then you're wasting
THEIR turn, and Demi does the least damage of all your characters... so stick
to Recover.
Zio has a ton of HP, so be prepared for the long haul. Buff everyone early,
and don't be shy about using Sar, Dimates, and even Star-Dew to keep everyone's
HP up.
Zio can do a number of things to you:
His regular attack - a beam of reddish energy that comes from above - is
damaging enough, dealing 70 damage (or more) even with Deban and Barrier up.
He can cast Hewn, which deals 10-35 damage to the Party. By now, you should be
able to shrug damage like this off, but watch that no one drops too low on HP
from it.
Unfortantely for you, Hewn is not Zio's most powerful mass-damage spell; he
also can use Corrosion, which uses dark acidic energies to deal 35-55 damage
to the entire Party. Be sure to use Sar or Medic Pw to heal yourselves
after Zio uses this on you.
The Black Wave is probably Zio's most dangerous ability; it deals almost 100
damage to a single character, even with Barrier up! This is why you must keep
a close eye on everyone's HP in this battle; don't be afraid to cast Sar or
GiRes, or use a Medic Pw or a Star-Dew to keep everyone above 100 HP. It's
either that, or you're going to be struggling to keep people alive after they
die and you Rever them back to life with less then 50 HP...
With all that said, the battle ought to go something like this:
Round 1: Gryz uses WarCry. Chaz defends. Rika casts Deban. Demi uses
Barrier. Rune goes into the Item menu and uses the Psycho-Wand.
Round 2: Gryz and Demi attack. Chaz uses Crosscut. Rika casts Saner.
Rune uses Flaeli.
Round 3: Gryz and Demi attack. Chaz uses Crosscut. Rika casts Shift on Chaz.
Rune uses Flaeli.
Round 4: Gryz and Demi attack. Chaz uses Crosscut. Rika casts Shift on
herself. Rune uses Flaeli.
Round 5 and beyond: Gryz and Demi attack. Chaz uses Crosscut. Rika uses
DblSlash. Rune uses Flaeli.
Of course, you must deviate from this pattern to heal yourself according to
Zio's attacks. Just remember that when you skip something to heal instead, you
have to be sure to do that something the next round. Also, instead of using up
Rika's turn casting GiRes on a badly wounded ally, consider having Demi use a
Dimate on that ally instead. That way, Rika's buffing of the Party will
proceed with minimal interruption, and Demi can make herself useful.
Once Zio has absorbed enough damage, his body disintigrates while he wonders
aloud why Dark Force has apparently forsaken him. Gryz, of course, freaks out
now that his vengeance is complete.
Now that Zio is out of the way, Demi opens the computer terminal (literally),
walks inside, and connects herself directly to the system. From there, she
breaks through Nurvus' security systems and issues commands to halt Nurvus'
operation.
Of course, a problem remains: with the Climate Control system shut down along
with everything else, Motavia will eventually revert to its barren,
inhospitable state. The solution, of course, is to ONLY re-activate the
Climate Control system.
Without stopping Zelan, though, the Party doesn't dare restore any system to
functionality. The Party agrees that they should head to Zelan, but Gryz
points out that Zelan is in outer space, making it somewhat difficult to get
to. Demi pipes up and says that she is currently prepping an emergency shuttle
to take you to Zelan, where you should be able to meet with her "master", Wren.
Rika says that she used to communicate with Wren from the Bio-plant, but she
lost contact with him about half a year ago. She implores Chaz to let her
travel to Zelan to see Wren and find out what's going on.
The scene changes to outside. Zio's Fort has disintegrated along with Zio,
leaving only the entrance to Nurvus visible. Demi causes a small spaceport to
emerge from the sands northwest of Nurvus.
There, the party finds a space shuttle waiting for them. Gryz also leaves the
Party at this point. Now that he no longer needs to seek vengeance, Gryz has
decided to stay with his sister in Tonoe.
Hey, you know what this means, don't you? Empty Party slots means new Party
members! How exciting, replacing Gryz and Demi with Party members that can
pull their own weight!
But I digress. When the game gives you control, you'll be standing in between
Nurvus and the spaceport. You can head for the spaceport straight away, first
I'm going to cover a couple of side quests:
Since Gryz was such a useful, helpful Party member, you may be sad that he's
gone. Well, fear not, you can visit him in Tonoe whenever you wish! Just go
to Grandfather Dorin's house. Dorin will have mysteriously reappeared, and
he'll thank your for taking care of Gryz on your jouneys. Aww. Gryz and his
sister, Pana, will be in the back of the room. Pana just says, "Big
brother..." and Gryz will continuously apologize for being such a wussy boy and
staying behind.
Wasn't that touching? Yeah, it sure was. Now, it's side-quest time! Now that
Zio is dead, there will be two new Jobs listed at the Aeido Hunter's Guild:
Missing Student and Fissure of Fear. I'll detail those quick, but the rewards
are pretty meager (although you can rake in some serious exp by doing the
Fissure of Fear Job) and I wouldn't blame you if you just wanted to skip the
Jobs and scroll on down to the section titled "The Spaceport", so you can get
on with your quest.
Okay, still with me? Let's start with...
------------------------------------------
Hunter's Guild Job #3: The Missing Student
------------------------------------------
First available: upon Zio's death.
Reward: 3,000 Mesata for finding the lost Acedemy student.
Associated Costs: 40 Mesata for a Perolymate from the Tourist Trap in Termi.
Difficulty: Annoying.
Location: Piata, then Kadary, then Termi, and finally back to Kadary.
Suggested Party Level: Your current Level should suffice.
This request is to find a student who has disappeared from the dorms at the
Academy. Oh boy, another Town Hop to find a lost someone!
Okay, first thing's first. Warp to Piata, and enter the student dorms in the
northwest corner of town. Talk to the caretaker (the fat man standing
directly in front of you as you enter), and he tells you that the missing
student became a devotee of some kind of strange religion, and one day she just
up and left.
Boy, this one is a brain buster, isn't it? What's the ONLY religion mentioned
in the game? And where did you talk to a member of said religion who made
references to school? That's right, it's Zio's Cathedral in Kadary! So warp
there already!
Since Zio's demise, the Cathedral has emptied out considerably. In fact, the
only person there is the one you're looking for. How convenient. Talk to her
(she'll be wandering around near the center of the cathedral) and she'll ask
to be taken back to Piata. Before you can move her, however, she'll faint, and
you'll end up taking her to the Inn in Kadary. An elderly man there tells you
that she's suffering from malnutrition, and she needs some nutritious food to
help restore her strength.
This clue is a bit more obsure. At the Tourist Trap in Termi, there is an item
called "Perolymate". Its description reads, "Simple cakes that have some
nutritional value." This is the item you need to help our hapless student, so
go and buy one if you didn't pick one up when you were in Termi (like I told
you to, remember?).
Once you have a Perolymate in your inventory, talk to the girl. She will
instantly recover, and Chaz and co. will take her back to the dorms in Piata.
The caretaker will thank you profusely and send the 3000 Mesata to the Hunter's
Guild. That's very convenient, since we're heading back there to do the next
Job, anyway...
------------------------------------------
Hunter's Guild Job #4: The Fissure of Fear
------------------------------------------
First available: upon Zio's death.
Reward: 5,000 Mesata for finding the lost child, plus 8446 exp for the Fract
Ooze (14,078 exp if you kill it with only Chaz, Rune, and Rika).
Associated Costs: none, unless you consider fighting monsters costly.
Difficulty: Moderate.
Location: Monsen, and the Fissure in Monsen (The Hole).
Suggested Party Level: 22/23
Suggested Level to reach: 24/25
The ever vigilant parents that live in front of that honkin' fissure in Monsen
have let their son fall into in, and need you to rescue him. They'll pay you
5000 Mesata for his safe return, so warp on over to Monsen and talk to the
folks.
The parents live directly north of the fissure in the east end of town. The
mom is there, and she confirms for you that the kid did, in fact, fall into
the fissure in front of the house.
Once you leave the house, the sign that prevented you from getting too near
the fissure will be gone. Walk into the Fissure, and you'll find yourself
in...
========
The Hole
========
Monsters you may encounter here: Jr. Ooze, Zol Slug (Meta Slug)
The Boss of The Hole is: Fract Ooze
Recommended Level: 22 or 23
Recommended Level to reach: 24 or 25
The Jr. Ooze here are pushovers. They only have 100 HP, are weak to most
everything, and have a rather pathetic attack, too. Just slaughter them with
physical attacks to get them out of your way. A macro of Rika: attack, Chaz:
attack, and Rune: GiWat works very well down here.
After you fall in the Hole, you can go either W or E. Going W leads to a set
of stairs that takes you out of Hole and desposits you in the middle of the
desert near Monsen. So, go E instead. After a few wriggles in the tunnel,
you'll see a couple of blue blobby things in the path; these are the lost boy's
shoes!
Continue E, and you'll come to a N/S T intersection. Going S leads to a long,
narrow dead end, so go N instead. After a bit of a walk, you'll see a large,
brown, ugly slug thing at the end of the path. "Talk" to it, and your Party
will wonder if maybe the boy was eaten by this monster, before it suddenly
attacks.
Boss: Fract Ooze (2000 HP)
Hrm, a Fractal Ooze? Fractured? Oh well, whatever, let's just kill it. It
has an attack called Cell Split that can deal 20-40 damage to the whole Party,
but that's what you have Sar for, so just shrug it off, cast Shift on Chaz and
Rika, and beat the thing down with CrossCuts, DblSlashes, and shots of GiWat.
Oh, Deban and Saner wouldn't be bad ideas, either. It'll go down in 5 or 6
rounds, easy.
After collecting your ludicrous exp reward (it's worth twice as much exp as Zio
for WHAT reason?) and going up at least one level (if not two) in the process,
you'll find that the boy, Tallas, had only been recently eaten by the monster,
and thus had not yet been digested yet (this Job just keeps getting more and
more ridiculous, doesn't it?) and is apparently perfectly okay. So okay, in
fact, that he runs straight home to mommy, who readily agrees to remit the
5,000 Mesata to the Hunter's Guild.
Chaz will most likely reach Level 23 at some point during this Job, and this
is a good thing because he learns the GiZan Tech at that level. While it's
true that Chaz' GiZan will never be as powerful as Rune's, it's still nice to
be able to cast it if you're in a bind and/or facing a multitude of powerful
foes.
Rune will learn a new Skill, Diem, at Level 24. Diem is Rune's instant death
attack. It only seems to work on living creatures, however, so don't waste it
on Mechs. Save it for something that's big, ugly, alone, and susceptable to
death attacks.
Well, that was fun, wasn't it? Nevermind the implausibility of it all, just
go and claim your reward from the receptionist at the Hunter's Guild and keep
quiet. All right, now that we have half of the Jobs done, it's time to warp
back to Kadary. We have a date with...
--------------------
The Nurvus Spaceport
--------------------
Suggested Level: Chaz 24, Rika 25, Rune 24 (you DID do the Fissure of Fear Job,
didn't you?)
The Spaceport contains a pair of "healing circles" right by the entrance, so
don't forget to step on one to restore your HP and TP. Then, head due North
and through the opening that presents itself.
A Map will appear, showing you the Algo Solar System. I will refer to this
screen as the Navigation Screen. For now, the only thing you can do is choose
to fly to Zelan, so... do that.
-------------------------------
The Artificial Satellite, Zelan
-------------------------------
Once you arrive at Zelan, head North, and you'll soon come to an ascending
elevator. Take it.
Once on the 2nd Floor, you'll be in a room with three ways out: W, E, and N.
To the West, there are 3 chests:
The top chest contains a Plsm-Sword for Chaz. Very nice.
The middle chest contains a Plsm-Claw for Rika, giving her a matching set.
The bottom chest contains a PlsmDagger. Uh, thanks, but who are we supposed
to give it to? Dual dagger Chaz is NOT viable, guys. Stop pretending it is.
If you go East, there are 3 chests there, as well:
The top chest contains a Plsm-Field. Hold on to it for now, it may come in
handy later.
The middle chest contains a Pulse-Lasr, which is a Gun for Wren, whom you will
be meeting in a moment or two.
The bottom chest contains the Canceller. What does it cancel, you ask? Well,
since the game never bothers to tell you, I will. It cancels the cloaking
device that hides Kuran from your ship's sensors. If you don't get the
Canceller out of this chest, you will be unable to select Kuran from the
Navigation Screen. What's Kuran, you ask? Read on, we'll get to that in a
second.
Once you're done stocking up on free Plsm (which stands for Plasma, near as I
can tell) equipment, head N. You'll see Wren standing in front of Zelan's
central computer terminal. Talk to him.
After introductions are exchanged, Rika tells Wren about Demi's theory that
the problems on Motavia stem from Zelan issuing abnormal commands. Wren
informs you that Zelan's power has been usurped by Kuran, another Satellite
that was supposed to be a backup for Zelan. Zelan's power and communication
systems have been shut down by the usurper on Kuran, which is why Wren has
been unable to contact Seed, Rika, or Demi.
Wren wants to go with the Party, since he can do nothing in terms of system
restoration from the now-paralyzed systems here on Zelan. Wren also blames
himself for what has happened, so he feels he must leave and attempt to put the
various systems back the way they're supposed to be. No one objects to Wren's
coming along, and in fact, Rika is quite exited to have him.
Well, you have a new Party member, and you know what that means! It's time for
a Wren Wrundown! (yes, that was terrible, I'm sorry...)
Wren, Android, Level 20
Techniques: None. Wren has no Mental score and no TP, and thus cannot use
Techniques.
Skills
Recover: Heals Wren (and only Wren) for roughly 350 HP. This Skill is vital
because androids are not affected by normal Healing Techs or items! Thus,
the only way to heal Wren (aside from Repair-Kits) is to have him use
Recover. Fortunately, this Skill can be used outside of battle as well as in
battle. In addition, this Skill has an extremely high number of "charges",
so don't be afraid to use it if Wren starts taking a beating.
Flare: Flare is a bit like Flaeli. It deals a large amount of Fire damage to
a single foe, whether Mechanical or Biomonster. Moderately useful, but in
most cases, Wren's Guns will deal almost as much damage as Flare, anyway.
You won't use this much unless you give Wren multi-shot weaponry (see below).
Spark: Wren's Instant Death Skill. Will destroy a mechanical creature
outright, but it doesn't affect living creatures at all. Since it only
affects Mechs, it's not as useful as other instant death abilities, but it
still comes in handy now and again.
Barrier: Here we go. Barrier increases the entire Party's Magic Defense!
This Skill is particularly handy against bosses (since most of them have at
least one nasty magical attack of some sort), although it's not a bad idea to
whip it out against monsters that rely on magic or Techs to deal damage.
Wren, being an Android (and thus a machine) follows that same set of game rules
that Demi did. Let's review:
1) Wren uses his own set of equipment. You must find all of Wren's equipment;
he is unable to use anything sold in shops.
2) He heals 1 HP for every step you take out of battle. This is partly done
to balance out the fact that...
3) Wren cannot be healed by ANY Healing Technique or ANY Healing item. The
only ways to heal Wren are to use his Recover Skill, or a Repair-Kit, or to
walk around in an area without battles and let his self-regeneration do the
job (see #2).
4) Wren uses Gun class weapons, as Demi did. Unlike Demi, Wren gets a rather
large of assortment of Guns to choose from as the game progresses. One choice
you'll find yourself making repeatedly is whether to give Wren single-shot or
multi-shot weaponry. Single-shot weapons have high attack power, but they can
only target a single foe every round. Multi-shot weapons, on the other hand,
will target every foe you're facing at once, but they do considerably less
damage than single-shot weapons do. I recommend using multi-shot weapons most
of the time, then switching to single-shot weapons for Boss battles.
Wren is, to be blunt, what Demi SHOULD be/have been, what with his massive
amounts of HP, formidable defense, and powerful Gun weaponry. Put Wren in the
front line, and let him absorb damage for you. Between his self-regeneration
between battles and his nigh-inexhaustable charges of Recover, you can put Wren
in harm's way without fear.
He has some nice equipment to start with, as well: Crmc-Gear, SpacedArmr, and
a Plsm-Rifle. You have a choice to make, though: will you use the single-shot,
high damage Plsm-Rifle, or switch to the multi-shot, low damage Pulse-Lasr?
Personally, I like the "hit-everything-at-once" utility of the Pulse-Lasr, but
you have to decide which Gun to use based on your own playing style.
Well, there's nothing left to do here but return to the shuttle and head for
Kuran. Make sure you grabbed the Canceller from the chest in Zelan's Eastern
wing, because without it, Kuran will remain cloaked from your shuttle's
sensors, and thus will remain inaccessable.
However, if you DID grab the Canceller, then select Kuran from the Navigation
Screen, and you'll be on your merry way.
Unfortunately, whilst en route to Kuran, the shuttle's engines begin acting up.
Wren mentions that there are unknown energy fluctuations coming from the engine
room, and Rune suggests you go and check that out.
One the Party reaches the engine room, they find that they have an uninvited
guest. The interloper tells the Party that they're not getting to Kuran, and
attacks!
The saboteur: ChaosSorcr (625 HP)
This guy has a number of nasty magical attacks, like Hewn, that can deal some
pretty good damage, but since he only has 600 HP or so, you can take him down
in less than 2 rounds if you whip out your big damage dealing Skills and Techs.
Have Chaz use CrossCut, Rika DblSlash, Wren Flare, and Rune GiWat, and this
battle will end quickly.
Unfortunately, the damage has been done. The engines are on fire, and Wren
can no longer steer the ship towards Kuran. Instead, he's forced to crash-
land the ship on Dezolis!
The shuttle ends landing directly on top of a Dezolian temple, crushing it
entirely. The Party appears to be okay, but the Temple's Priest is none too
happy with you. He repeatedly demands to know who you are, but Rika and Wren
and Rune keep making smart-alek comments and no one answers him. The Priest
comments on Rika's "horns" and Wren's, uh, mechanical-ness, and that gets their
attention right quick...
After Chaz and the others explain their situation to the Priest, he starts
making unfunny quips about your predicament. Wren tells Chaz that the shuttle
is beyond repair, and Rika asks the Priest - whose name is Raja - if he knows
of any facilities where they might take the shuttle for repairs. Raja, who
knows nothing about space shuttles, naturally does not know of any such place.
He DOES know of the existance of another "ship that flew the skies", and he
will tell the Party where they can find it - if they agree to take him along.
The Party huddles up, and while Chaz is a bit reluctant to let Raja tag along,
the others don't really seem to have a problem with it. Chaz tells this to
Raja, who then spills the beans about the space shuttle:
Apparently, long ago, a group of Palmanians came to Dezolis (after the Great
Collapse, one can only assume), and supposedly their ship is still in storage
somewhere near the town that the Palmanians later founded. Chaz doubts the
validity of such a story, but Wren says that they really don't have much of a
choice; for now, they must trust in the validity of Raja's info and travel to
this Palmanian town.
The town is called Tyler (Tyler, by the way, is the pilot that rescues Rolf and
friends from the Artifical Satellite Gaira before it crashes into Palma and
destroys it in PS II), and it's only a short distance northwest of here.
As soon as the Party leaves the ruins of the temple, they emerge into a fierce
snowstorm! Raja tells them that this blizzard has been going on for a full
three months now - and that just doesn't happen, even on frozen Dezolis. Wren
suspects that someone has tampered with the Dezolian climate control system,
but Raja insists that the sinister Garuberk Tower - which recently appeared
ovenight (sound familiar? I can think of one other sinister, evil structure
that supposedly appeared ovenight...) is the cause.
Well, now that all that foreshadowing is out of the way, let's proceed with
our Raja Rundown:
Raja, Priest, Level 25
Techniques
Res (Gi), Anti, Rimpa, Sar, Arows, Rimit, Seals, Rever.
You've seen all of these Techs already, so I'm not going to bother re-
describing them here.
Skills
Blessing: Now, THIS is a handy Skill! Blessing is identical to Deban (except
for the fact that it's a Skill and not a Technique, of course), increasing
the physical defense of the entire Party. And he gets a butt-load of them,
to boot. You should make this the first thing Raja does in any given battle.
HolyWord: This is Raja's idea of an instant death attack. The problem is, it
only works on undead or unholy monsters, making it only moderately useful.
Comes in handy when you are adventuring in dark, unholy places like the
Garuberk Tower, though.
Ataraxia: This Skill is a doozy. It restores 60 (or more) TP - that's right,
not HP, TP. TECHNIQUE POINTS! - to ALL humanoid Party members. With Raja in
the Party, you are basically free to cast spells, er, Techs all day long,
since he can restore huge amounts of TP to the entire Party, thus greatly
increases how many battles they can fight before needing to go and rest.
Miracle: Raja cements his status as the Ultimate Healer with this Skill, which
restores as much HP as a casting of GiSar would. However, unlike GiSar,
Miracle restores HP to Androids as well as Humanoids, so it truly heals the
ENTIRE Party. Very nice.
St. Fire: Raja's ONLY offensive ability. Waves of holy power wash over your
foes, dealing large amounts of damage (about 150-200, but it depends on
Raja's Level and Mental score) to undead and/or unholy monsters, but only 1
damage to anything else. If you're fighting groups of undead, this Skill can
end the battle quickly and painlessly, but it's worthless against normal
foes.
Raja's ability to restore health of the Party borders on the ridiculous.
Because his Mental stat is so outrageously high (and with the proper equipment,
you can make it even worse, er, uh, better), his Res heals almost as much as a
GiRes from Chaz would..! And once he learns Sar and GiSar, things become
REALLY sick. But I digress.
So, with his massive TP reserves and massive Mental score, Raja can use the
lowly, inexpensive Res Tech to heal your Party members to full HP, one by one,
thereby saving a TON of TP. And if he DOES ever start to run low on TP, just
use Ataraxia to restore it, and keep on healin'. As long as you don't mind
your other 4 Party members killing everything (because Raja is totally
incapable of dealing damage), you'll go far with Raja.
As for starting equipment, Raja starts with a SilvCirclt, a Silv-Rod, and a
Silv-Mantl. This is adequate, but you may wand to trade the Silv-Rod for the
Psycho-Wand, as it boosts his Mental even further. You can also trade defense
for Mental power by swapping his Silv-Circlt for a Psy-Circlt. A higher Mental
stat is more important than a few points of Defense, so start swappin'!
So, here we are. We know a little more about Raja, and we have a destination
in mind. Let us begin our jaunt across Dezolis; we are heading...
--------------------
To the Town of Ryuon
--------------------
Suggested Level: Chaz/Rika/Rune/Raja 25, Wren 20
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz/Rika/Rune/Raja 25, Wren 20
Monsters you may face: Rajago, Helex, MistralGec(ko)
Before we go anywhere on Dezolis, let's take a look at the friendly local
wildlife that will try to kill you:
Rajagos are just like their cousins on Motavia. High physical defense, decent
attack strength, and poor speed. However, being native to a planet of snow
and ice, they have a massive weakness to Fire-based attacks. Try NaFoi for a
one-shot kill. Or Eliminat.
Helex are big, honkin' flies with an attitude. They can spit Flame Bolts, a
nastly little fire-based attack that can deal decent damage to characters with
poor physical defense. They are also fast, but their HP is pathetic and they
are very weak to water/ice attacks (think GiWat). They are also COMPLETELY
immune to Fire, so no NaFoi! If you're really worried about them, a shot of
either GiZan or Hewn works well in killing them en masse.
Mistral Gec(ko)s are more annoying than dangerous. They can Poison a character
with Poison Mist, and their regular attacks are somewhat painful, and they
normally travel in large packs; however, they have only mediocre HP and
defenses, so just beat them down with a mulitude of mass damage abilities.
You know, stuff like GiZan, Hewn, GiGra, Disrupt...
When you're done playing with the lovable critters 'round these here parts,
head due North from the remains of Raja's Temple. After about 3 seconds,
you'll come across...
-----------------
The Town of Ryuon
-----------------
Inn: 100 Mesata per person (500 Mesata)
Item shop: Monomate 20, Dimate 60, Antidote 10, Cure-Paral 120, Telepipe 130,
Escapipe 70
Weapon shop: Force-Cane 2500, Silv-Rod 2700
Armor shop: Silv-Mantl 7300, SilvCirclt 3000
Our first (and only) pit stop on the way to Tyler is the quaint Dezolian town
of Ryuon. There's not a whole lot going on here, really. Some of the
townsfolk know Raja, and they joke around a bit with him. Some complain
endlessly about the neverending blizzard. But whiny townsfolk aren't why you
are here; you are here to see the knowledgable tavern owner, Gyuna.
The tavern is just to the north of the Inn (which is just to the north of the
town's entrance), so mosey on over. Gyuna is, strangely enough, behind the
counter. Go ahead and talk to him.
Gyuna will ask you a series of questions. If you say "Yes", he will answer
the question and then end the conversation, forcing you to "start over" if you
wish to have a different question answered. If you say "No", he will skip the
current question and ask the next question. The questions are as follows:
1) Do you want to know about the damage from the snow storm?
A: He tells you that the 3-month long snow storm has created huge sheets of ice
all over Dezolis, effectively seperatinging the planet into regions and making
travel all but impossible.
2) Do you want to know about the Garuberk Tower?
A: The tower supposedly appeared overnight. It's "somewhere on Dezolis", and
purportedly, demons live there. The Party debates whether Raja's instincts
about the Tower are correct, and Gyuna tells them that rumours place the
Tower somewhere "up north".
3) Do you want to know about Raja?
A: Gyuna admits that Raja is weird, but says that he is a powerful magician,
who used to be well-liked at Gumbious Temple (you'll get there, don't worry).
Apparently those in power at the temple conspired to have Raja "reassigned"
to this rural area, not that Raja minds much. He didn't like the constraints
of such a major temple much, it seems.
4) Do you want to know about the whereabouts of the space ship?
A: Boy, just give us the answer on a silver platter. Gyuna flat-out tells you
to search the Grave in Tyler to find the space ship, which is currently being
stored underground. There, has it been spelled out enough for you yet?
Yeesh!
Well, that's all. At least, unlike Grandfather Dorin, Gyuna's information is
actually useful. The last thing to do in this town before continuing on to
Tyler is to stop by the weapon/armor shop and purchase the following:
Rune: Pick him up a Silv-Mantl, as it's slightly better than the FradeMantl.
You can also buy him a SilvCirclt; however, it will lower his Mental a bit
(and thus, his Techs will not be as effective), so I would recommend against
it. He has plenty of defense from his 2 shields.
That's it. Time to leave this little town behind. From here, we are
heading...
--------------------
To the Town of Tyler
--------------------
Suggested Level: Chaz/Rika/Rune/Raja 25, Wren 20
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz/Rika/Rune/Raja 26, Wren 21
Monsters you may face: Rajago, Helex, MistralGec(ko), Dezo Owl, Snow Mole
Once you travel north of Ryuon, you'll begin to encounter new critters:
The Dezo Owls are fast and they hit HARD. The good news is that they only have
a moderate amount of HP and average defense. See if you can't beat them to
the punch with a DblSlash from Rika. Otherwise, Blessing/Deban can cut the
damage down while your other Party members beat on the Owls. Just be sure to
give the Owls priority, lest they gang up on someone and peck them to death.
Snow Moles are dangerous for a different reason: they frequently get critical
hits that really do a lot of damage. They are slower than Dezo Owls, however,
and not EVERY hit is critical, so don't worry too much about these things.
If you fight more than 1 or 2 random battles around here (and I suggest that
you do, especially with Raja along), you should attain at least the following
Levels and learn these abilities:
Chaz will learn the Rever Tech at Level 25. Reviving fallen comrades: it's not
just for Rune anymore! Uses 12 TP.
Rune will learn the NaFoi Tech at Level 25. NaFoi is the ultimate Fire
Technique, able to cause 250 damage (or more) to a single creature. Foes that
happen to be weak to Fire can take up to 1 1/2 times (!) that amount. On
Dezolis especially, NaFoi can really tear things up. I recommend making this
Rune's new Primary Attack, instead of GiWat or Flaeli. Uses only 9 TP.
Oh, right, we were going to find that Tyler place, weren't we? Well, from
Ryuon, head Northeast, keeping the mountains south of you in sight. When you
can, head due East, and soon enough you will see...
-----------------
The Town of Tyler
-----------------
Inn: 110 Mesata per person (550 Mesata)
Item shop: Monomate 20, Dimate 60, Antidote 10, Cure-Paral 120, Telepipe 130,
Escapipe 70
Weapon shop: Crmc-Sword 3600, Crmc-Knife 1600, Silv-Rod 2700
Armor shop: SilvCirclt 3000, Silv-Helm 3800, Silv-Crown 5000, Silv-Mail 13200,
Silv-Mantl 7300, SilvShield 7200
Here it is: our ticket off Dezolis! This is a really small town, with only a
couple of houses and a handful of people, but there is still some information
to be gleaned from them.
Talking to the folks in the town's northernmost house would be a good place to
start. The wife tells you the names of the other Palmanian towns on Dezolis:
Meese and Reshel. The Old Man in the back room tells you of the Grave that you
need to go and search. Apparently, it's the grave of Tyler himself, who was
unable (or unwilling) to travel back to Motavia, and thus founded a town here,
instead.
Before you head to Tyler's grave, go to the weapon and armor shop. Ignore the
Weapon shop (it's a joke) and head to the armor counter. You will need at
least 35,200 Mesata in order to purchase the following:
For Chaz, buy a Silv-Helm and Silv-Mail.
For Rika, buy a Silv-Crown and Silv-Mail.
For Raja, you must make a decision. Normally with characters like Raja and
Rune and Hahn, I recommend 2 shields. So, you normally would buy two
Silvshields for Raja. HOWEVER, Silvshields will lower Raja's Mental stat
(especially if you have the Psycho-Wand equipped), and I advise keeping Raja
and Rune's Mental as high as possible, even at the expense of their physical
defense power. Therefore, I suggest that you skip the shields - this time.
You must also decide whether to keep your old Psy-gear, or sell it. It's not
a bad idea to keep it, at least for now, and equip it, say, for a Boss battle
to boost your magic defense and healing effectiveness. However, if your
inventory is full, a few points of Mental on Chaz or Rika doesn't help you THAT
much...
When you're ready to go on, Tyler's Grave is located in the far western part of
town. Head west from the town's entrance and go a bit north, and you'll see
it. Walk up to the center of the grave, and search.
Chaz will read the plaque on the headstone (something about reaching out to
touch the spirits of the dead, yadda, yadda), and while he's pressing his
finger to said plaque in reverence, he feels it shift. Rune tells him to push
harder, and so he does.
Once the plaque has been fully depressed, the entire grave splits into two
halves, which part to reveal a descending staircase! Rika suggests you head on
down. Do that. You'll find yourself in Tyler's hidden underground...
------
Hanger
------
Monsters found in this dungeon:
Gerotlux, Snow Slug, Helex
Items found in this dungeon:
Dimate, Zirc-Gear
Suggested Level: Chaz/Rika/Rune/Raja 26, Wren 21
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz/Rika/Rune/Raja 26, Wren 21
Well, this is a first: a dungeon under a town! It's a bigger place than you'd
think it would be, and there's even a pair of chests to raid for goodies.
There's also some new baddies to check out, so let's do that first.
General combat strategies:
As I said, I'm going to start by giving you the low-down on the various creepy-
crawlies you'll be battling in this Hanger (other than the Helex, which you've
fought before):
Gerotlux are big, unfriendly, purple frogs. They have good attack power, but
what you really need to watch for is their Sleep Gas, which attempts to put
the entire Party to sleep. Ugh. Although it's sorta nice to actually have a
reason to use the Arows Tech, you're better off just nailing these things with
NaFoi or GiThu before they can use the gas; they're not that hard to kill.
Snow Slugs (Ugh! Why are they neon green? My eyes!) are slow as molasses but
their attacks are just... ow. They can deal 50+ damage. To Wren. While
defending. With protection from Blessing. Use instant death attacks to kill
these guys before they decide to attack someone with low HP...
The monsters here are easy enough to kill - especially with NaFoi - so just
swat them out of your way, and let's go find us a space ship.
Walkthrough:
------------
Floor B1F (Dimate, Zirc-Gear)
From the stairs, head S and follow the passage as it curves W. You'll come to
a "room" with exits W and S. The W exit leads to a small alcove with a chest
in it. Grab the Dimate and head back to the "room", taking the Easternmost
Southern exit. Take the first E side-passage you come to, and follow it until
it reaches a dead end with a chest. It contains a Zirc-Gear (which stands for
Zirconium, if you were curious) for Wren. Equip it and return to the "room".
Keep going S, past the frozen pool, and you'll come to an E/W T intersection.
Going E is futile (it ends in a tiny little dead end), so head W instead.
You'll pass by an open chest (you teases!), and the tunnel will turn S
eventually. Follow it S, and the exit to the Hanger: it's that beam of light
shining out of the Southern wall.
Here we go into a cut scene. The Party finds the space ship in a large cavern.
Rune reads the emblem on the ship, which apparently is called the Landale (For
those not in the know, Alis' - the Heroine of Phantasy Star - last name was
Landale). Raja, as usual, makes some unfunny comment, and everyone ignores him
while Wren inspects the ship and gives it a clean bill of health. Chaz tells
Wren to prepare for takeoff...
Next, we see the Party standing outside Tyler as the spaceport emerges from the
snow a short distance southwest. Now that you're back in control, walk three
steps east and enter...
-------------------
The Tyler Spaceport
-------------------
The spaceport is a typical specimen of it's kind: two healing circles and an
opening in the north wall that leads to the Navigation Screen.
This time, you have choices! You can travel to Motavia, Zelan, or Kuran. Of
course, in order to move the storyline along, we must travel to Kuran.
However, I suggest you return to Motavia quick (you'll land at the spaceport
sandwiched in between Nurvus and Kadary), warp to Termi, and buy Raja two
Psy-Shields. This will lower his Mental stat (but only by 2) and increase his
defense by 42. Not a bad trade-off, eh? Okay, now warp back to Kadary, heal
up at one of the magical healing circles at the spaceport, and head for...
-------------------------------
The Artificial Satellite, Kuran
-------------------------------
Monsters found in this dungeon:
Comm(a)ndBall, FloatMine, SatMinion, C-Ray Tube, Siren386, Piercer
Items found in this dungeon:
Hyper Jammer, Repair-Kit, ZircoArmer, 3000 Mesata, Repair-Kit, NapalmShot
The Boss of this dungeon is:
Dark Force, the malignant source of evil in Algo.
Suggested Level: Chaz/Rika/Rune/Raja 26, Wren 21
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz & Raja 27, Rika 28, Rune 26, Wren 23
Now that we have that lengthy and uncalled-for detour to Dezolis out of the
way, it's time to head to the central command computer of Zelan. From there,
Wren ought to be able to stop Kuran from issuing its abnormal commands, and
hopefully, restore the various systems to proper functionality.
General combat strategies:
Another Mechanical dungeon. More Mechanical monsters. Raja is not going to
be able to hurt anything here, so relegate him to Blessing/Sar/GiRes duty.
And do NOT be afraid to have Rune and Chaz use offensive Techs left and right,
as you can always recover your TP with Ataraxia!
Now, it is time to meet our newest Mechanical adversaries:
Now here's a bundle of joy: the Comm(a)ndBall. The CommandBall normally
appears with 2 FloatMine "minions", and then issues a command to have them
both explode at once. This damages the whole Party, but only for 25 HP or so.
The CommandBall will then use Alarm to summon additional FloatMines, so it can
repeat the cycle all over again. My advice? Use Spark to kill it outright if
you can, otherwise try a combination of CrossCut/DblSlash and NaFoi. Keep in
mind that standard physical attacks aimed at CommandBalls have a tendancy to
miss frequently.
Sat(ellite?)Minions are, well, just fodder. They are reasonably fast and can
deal a decent amount of damage, but they have low HP and defense. It's best
just to tackle them with physical attacks; it's not worth blowing TP and/or
Skills on these things, unless perhaps when you encounter them 4 at a time.
Then a GiGra or GiZan may be in order.
Next is the C(athode)-Ray Tube. This thing is slow and weak, but it has good
defense and above average HP. It only poses a threat if you encounter it with
2 Sat.Minions, because then the 3 Mechs can use a Combo Attack on you: Charge
Cannon! This nasty little attack can deal 60-75 damage to the Party if you
don't have any defenses up... ow. As with the CommandBall, try to destroy the
Tube with Spark, but back that up with DblSlash, CrossCut, and NaFoi, just in
case it fails.
Siren386 are humanoid-shaped robosentries, who like to use FlareShot to deal
good damage to your characters. Their standard attacks can be painful, as
well. A well-placed CrossCut or NaFoi is the way to go with these guys. If
encountered in groups, try GiGra or AirSlash or Disrupt. Blessing works
wonders in limiting how much damage their attacks can do. Also, they will
occasionally drop PlasmDaggers. Right. A gun-toting Mech that drops Daggers.
Whatever.
Whoa, a non-mech foe! The Piercer is the backwards relative of the Ripper, or
something, able to use Acid Breath and vicious slashing attacks. Well, with
Blessing up, these things are really not that dangerous. Like the
Sat.Minions, you're best off just hacking at them and saving your resources
for more dangerous foes.
Your characters will make up for their severe Ability drought of the last few
dungeons by learning a plethora of useful abilites here:
At Level 27, Chaz will learn the RayBlade Skill. RayBlade rocks. It deals
more damage than CrossCut, plus it is infused with Holy energy; thus, it will
dish out M A S S I V E damage to undead or unholy creatures. This is
important, since you will be fighting a number of undead and/or unholy Bosses
in the not-too-distant future. So use up your CrossCuts on the regular
monsters, and save ALL your RayBlades for the next Boss.
At Level 28, Rika will learn the GiSar Technique. GiSar will heal all humanoid
Party members for at least 90 HP (and more, as Rika's Mental stat increases).
This Tech will save your ass from so many nasty boss attacks it's not even
funny. However, try to save it solely for Boss battles; it sucks up 24 TP per
casting, and even with Raja's Ataraxia repeated castings will severely deplete
Rika's TP reserves.
At Level 26, Rune will learn the NaWat Technique. NaWat can be even stronger
than NaFoi, depending on whether the target resists Fire or Water better. In
any case, it's a nice compliment to NaFoi, allowing Rune to deal massive
damage to most any single foe. Uses 10 TP.
And at Level 27, Rune will learn the Tandle Skill. Tandle is Rune's new Mass
Damage Skill. Basically, it's a more powerful version of Hewn, except that it
uses electrical energy instead of wind. Oh, and deals a whole heck of a lot
more damage than Hewn could ever hope to. Try to conserve it for a group of
particularly nasty foes (like multiple Mechs: machines + lighting = toasty).
At Level 27, Raja will learn the NaRes Technique. NaRes is the strongest of
the Res line of Techs, and will fully restore the HP of any humanoid Party
member. That's right, even if a character only has 1 HP, NaRes will restore
them to their Maximum HP. Uses 9 TP, so try to save if for emergencies: you
can normally heal a character close to full with a 6 TP GiRes.
A number of these abilities (RayBlade in particular) will make the Boss battle
much quicker. So, it's not a bad idea to fight enough battles that your
characters reach their Suggested Levels, as it can shave a few rounds off the
upcoming Boss battle.
Walkthrough:
------------
1st Floor (No items)
The entranceway to Kuran is about as straightforward as you can get. Walk N
until you reach the ascending elevator, and take it up to the...
2nd Floor - Upper Level, East (Hyper Jammer, Repair-Kit)
From the elevator, head W across a short walkway. You'll see an opening in the
N wall; enter it. Once inside, head W again, until you come to a N/S T. Go N
to find a chest containing the Hyper Jammer, which is a new weapon/Skill for
Wren. He will automatically install it, and it will show up as "HiJammer" on
his Skills list.
The HiJammer is such a waste. All it does is paralyze all Mechanical foes at
once. As I've said before, I prefer killing my foes to paralyzing them, but I
guess it might come in handy if you get a group of three or four hard-hitting
Mechs and you want to slow them down.
Once Wren is done installing the Hyper Jammer, head S. Ignore the elevator for
now, and go S 'till you can't go S no mo'. You'll see another chest, this one
containing a Repair-Kit for Wren. OK, now let's hit that elevator, which takes
us down to the...
2nd Floor - Lower Level, East (No items)
Head E once you've exited the elevator. After a bit of a walk, you'll come to
a doorway in the S wall. Head through it, and you'll find yourself on a
walkway on the level below where you started this floor from. From the
opening, go E. Ignore the first S side passage (it's just a dead end) and
proceed to the second S passage, the one with the Magical Yellow Floor Line.
Follow said line to and through a doorway in the S wall. In this last little
room, go around the "building" in your way. On this buiding's south side is
the next elevator, which takes us up to the...
3rd Floor - West (No items)
You'll emerge on the South side of another small "building". Circle around it
and head N. The standard floor will give way to the walkway-type flooring.
Keep following the walkway N, then W, then N again, and finally E. You'll find
yourself in front of another descending elevator. So, descend to the...
2nd Floor - Upper Level, West (ZircoArmer, 3000 Mesata, Repair-Kit)
When you emerge from the elevator, you'll be standing in an E/W T. Go E, take
the turn to the S, and you'll come upon a chest containing ZircoArmer, which
is better than Wren's SpacedArmr, so equip it on him. Return to the elevator,
and head W. Follow along as the passage turns S, past the empty (?) chest, and
you'll come to an opening. Enter it. Ignore the elevator in the N wall for
now, and instead walk E and go right on past it. You'll come to a N/S T; head
N. There's a chest there with 3000 Mesata inside. Take it, and return to the
N/S T; head S this time. This passage has a chest with a Repair-Kit inside.
Snag that, and head on back to that elevator we ignored before. It will take
you down to...
2nd Floor - Lower Level, West (NapalmShot)
</pre><pre id="faqspan-6">
Ignore the tempting looking Yellow Line for now, and go E. At the end of the
passage, you'll find a chest containing a NapalmShot for Wren. Once again, you
have the choice of giving Wren the high damage, single-target NapalmShot, or
the low damage, multiple-target Pulse-Lasr. My advice: keep on using the
Pulse-Lasr for now, and switch to the NapalmShot when you approach the central
core. NOW we can go back and follow the Yellow Line through the doorway in the
wall directly S of the elevator. This new area is nothing but short little
dead ends, so take the following route: Head S from the doorway, then turn to
the W, ignoring the S side passage. Follow the hallway N then W, and you'll
be standing in front of an elevator leading up. There are 3 other hallways
visible from the elevator, but ALL of them are empty dead ends, so let's just
take the elevator up to the...
1st Floor - Central Area (No items)
Just head S for a ways, and you'll see another elevator. Take it down to
Kuran's final area, the...
2nd Floor - Central Area (Boss: Dark Force)
From the elevator, you can see passages going both W and E, but both are just
big, empty dead ends, so go N instead. Once you reach the Yellow Line, stop.
The central computer (and the Boss) is just ahead, so be sure to do the
following:
Use some of Raja's excess TP (and Wren's Recover) to make sure that EVERYONE is
at full health.
Equip Wren with his shiny new NapalmShot, if you have the Pulse-Lasr on him
currently.
Make sure your Party has access to GiSar, NaRes, and RayBlade. You'll need
'em.
When you're good and ready, head North. Chaz will ask if this is the main
control center; Wren says that it is, and he will search for the cause of the
computer's malfuncion immediately. But then, Rika will see something, in the
shadows...
Keep walking North. Soon, the computer will come into view... and there's a
large, ugly, pulsing THING attached to it! The Party talks it over, and comes
to the conclusion that it can be none other than Dark Force. Well, there's
only one thing to do: destroy it!
Boss: Dark Force (4550 HP)
THIS is Dark Force, the source of all Evil, the Dark God of Zio? I mean, all
it does pretend to be a large, bloated Android, really. It continuously fires
Flare Shots at you, and whips out the occasional weak Phonomezer. And, uh,
that's it. Apparently it's been attached to that computer just a wee bit too
long...
The one thing that Dark Force has going for it is that it has just a crapload
of HP, but with such weak attacks, it's just a matter of beating on it until it
dies. Well, I guess it's a bit more complex than that, but not by much. I
recommend doing the following:
1st Round: Chaz casts GiThu. Wren uses Barrier. Rika casts SaNer. Rune uses
Tandle. Raja uses Blessing.
2nd Round: Chaz casts GiThu. Wren uses Flare. Rika casts Shift on Chaz. Rune
casts NaWat. Raja uses St. Fire.
3rd Round: Chaz uses RayBlade. Wren uses Flare. Rika casts Shift on herself.
Rune casts NaWat. Raja casts GiRes on whoever got wounded the most in the
last 2 rounds.
4th Round and on: Chaz casts GiThu. Wren uses Flare. Rika uses DblSlash.
Rune casts NaWat. Raja casts GiRes on whoever got Flared last round.
The only reason you might have to deviate from this battle sequence would be to
replace Flare or DblSlash with attack (if that Skill runs dry), or GiThu with
CrossCut (if Chaz runs out of TP). Don't be afraid to have Raja skip a round
of GiRes-ing in order to restore the Party's TP with Ataraxia, if Chaz or Rune
start to run low. Wren may need to Recover instead of using Flare, if he gets
targeted often enough. At any rate, after you hit Dark Force's lumpy, bloated,
pulsing mass with several rounds worth of your most potent attacks, it will go
down.
After a brief celebration, the Party will get to work. Wren goes off to fix
the central control computer, while Chaz and Rune chat. Chaz asks Rune how he
knew that what they were fighting was Dark Force, and Rune drops a bit of a
bomb: he's seen it before. Chaz and Rika ask him how in the world he could
have seen if before, but Rune evades the question, telling them he'll tell them
"later". By this time, Wren has restored the malfunctioning systems. All
that's needed now, he says, is a quick trip to Zelan for some final tweaks.
And so, the Party hops into the Landale and flies to Zelan, where Wren makes
said adjustments and pronounces that the Algo Climate Control Systems are now
in perfect health, so to speak. Chaz expresses relief that their quest is
over, but he's being premature: satellite pictures taken of Dezolis show that
the snow storms wracking the planet haven't abated. Wren confirms that the
Climate Control systems on Dezolis are working correctly; there should no
longer be any blizzards.
Raja takes this opportunity to say, "I told you so!" and proclaim yet again
that the Garuberk Tower is the source of Dezolis' unnatural weather problems.
The Party finally agrees to head back to Dezolis in order to investigate this
mysterious Garuberk Tower. However, the problem of traveling on Dezolis
remains: those walls of ice aren't getting any smaller, after all.
Fortunately, Wren has prepped a new vehicle: the Ice Dagger. It's a bit like
a Land Rover, but it's equipped with big honkin' drills capable of tunneling
through the dreaded ice walls. Well, solves that problem, doesn't it?
Right. Back to Dezolis it is. Exit Kuran, and you'll be returned to the
Navaigation Screen. Select Dezolis as your Destination, and you'll soon find
yourself back at the Tyler Spaceport. Warp to Ryuon quick, and head to the
Weapon and Armor shop. Sell off all your old gear for some quick cash (and to
free up some inventory space, you only get 4 "pages" worth of stuff, you know)
and then it's time to check out our newest toy, the...
Ice Digger
The Ice Digger, as I said before, is the Dezolis-specific equivalent of the
Land Rover. As with the Rover, you have the option to Attack (by firing the
Digger's Twin Laser Cannons) or to use the vehicles special attack modes
"Optin"s:
Napalm (x8): Is just a fiery version of the Land Rover's Cluster attack. It
deals about 225 damage to each of your foes. Use this on OwlTalons and save
the N-Spher uses for things like Lw-Addmers.
N-Spher(e) (x4): Your "oh, crap, these things could kill me!" attack mode. The
N-Shpere makes a pocket of negative space that kills all your foes instantly.
Try to save these for groups of 2 or 3 Lw-Addmers, which are a real pain to
kill using other means (and might just "kill" YOU in the meantime!). Works on
Biomonsters and Mechanical foes alike.
For the curious, the Ice Digger begins each battle with 960 SP.
Once again, the vibrations of the Ice Digger will lure forth big, strong,
nasty, evil, vile, monstrous, and otherwise not-encountered enemies, all of
which will promptly attack you. Here's a list of the beasties you'll run into
while driving the Ice Digger:
Lw-Addmers are the Dezolian cousins of our good buddy from the Ladea Tower,
Gy-Laguiah. Like most vehicle-only monsters, these things are dangerous only
because you cannot heal "SP" during battle. They can strike you with their
pointy bits for 75 damage, and they have Ray Breath, a potent little attack
that deals up to 155(!) damage. If you get more than one, I recommend laying
the smack down with the N-Spher, which will kill them all in one shot. They
give you only 221 exp and 1 Mesata each; it's up to you if you think they are
worth fighting or not.
OwlTalons are weak to Fire, so a single blast of Napalm will normally kill the
lot of them (it deals 450 damage to each Owl, double the normal amount).
Their attacks are fairly powerful, but nothing too scary. Just use Napalm and
get the battle over with. Worth decent amounts of both exp and Mesata.
ProtectBits only take 100 damage (rougly half the usual damage) from Napalm,
first and foremost, so don't waste that on them. They have a LaserCannon that
can deal 70-100 damage, but their HP is pretty low, so just bust them up with
the Digger's Laser Cannons. A single attack will kit a Bit with ease. As you
might expect, these things are worth very little exp, but at least they give
you more than 1 Mestata.
Finally, you can drive right through the dreaded Ice Walls of Dezolis, using
the gigantic drills mounted on the front of the Digger. Ice Walls look a LOT
like the mountains of Dezolis, except that are a very pale bluish-green sort of
color, not unlike the snowy ground you've been walking over.
Okay, I think we've said enough about the Ice Digger. Leave Ryuon behind; it's
time we headed...
-------------------
To the Town of Zosa
-------------------
Suggested Level: Wren 24, Chaz & Rika 28, Rune 26, Raja 27
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 24, Chaz 28, Rika 30, Rune 27, Raja 28
Monsters you may face:
North of Ryuon: Rajago, Helex, MistralGec(ko), Dezo Owl, Snow Mole
Area around Zosa: Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug
Ice Digger foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
From Ryuon, head due North. After a bit of traveling, you'll find that an Ice
Wall is preventing further progress. It's time to jump into the Ice Digger and
test it out, eh? Once you bust your way Northeast through the Ice Wall, you'll
see a town just a little bit to the East.
Before you rush off to begin checking out Zosa, I would advise fighting a few
monsters in the Ice Digger, to get a feel for its attacks. You'll be using it
a lot more than you did the Land Rover. Once you're comfortable with the Ice
Digger's attacks, hop on out and examine the new local wildlife:
Red Moles are tougher variations of Snow Moles. They aren't as weak to Fire,
they have more HP, and thier attacks are a bit stronger. Like the Snow Moles,
their attacks are all-or-nothing, dealing either 1 damage or Criticalling for
a lot more (usually about 50). Just use Hewn or AirSlash on them, if you get
more than one in a group.
SkyTiaras are the new, deadlier version of Dezo Owls. These things really pack
a whallop - and are fast, to boot - so try to kill them quickly, with Chaz and
Rika's Double Damage attacks, Wren's Flare and Rune's NaFoi (they, like the
Snow Owls, are weak to Fire). If you can't dispose of them quickly, they're
bound to nail you with their SuperSonic attack, which deals 30 damage to
everyone, even Rune. That's a lot of damage from a non-Boss monster, so make
these things a priority.
Biter Flies are the next incarnation of the Rajago-type monster. Like all the
rest, they have a lot of HP and high defense, with very strong attacks and low
speed. Use Instant Death attacks for an easy victory; these things fall prey
to them every time.
Snow Slugs are a joke. Sure, they're all big and neon green and menacing
looking and stuff... but they only have 300 HP, plus a severe weakness to
Fire, and their attacks are just laughable - even the once-feared Cell Split.
The fastest way to kill one is just to have everyone defend while Rune cooks
it to a nice golden brown with NaFoi.
If you fight enough battles (and you ought to, it won't take too many, around
here). You might even go up a few Levels.
At the very least, fight until Raja reaches Level 28 so he can learn the GiSar
Tech. Raja's insane Mental + GiRes on everyone at once = restoration of the
vast majority of the entire Party's HP. Very nice. Uses 24 TP.
Oh yes, I mentioned something about a town, didn't I? Once Raja learns GiSar,
stop your aimless meanderings and enter...
----------------
The Town of Zosa
----------------
Inn: 120 Mesata per person (600 Mesata)
Item shop: Dimate 160, Antidote 10, Cure-Paral 120, Telepipe 130, Escapipe 70,
Pengu-Feed 800
Armor shop: PhantaRobe 8400
Weapon shop: FlameSword 12900, ThundrClaw 8500, TorndDaggr 8300,
Dream-Rod 5400
The Dezolian Penguin Companion: a steal at only 500 Mesata!
There are a few tidbits of useful information to be gained from the townsfolk
here; the trouble is finding the three Dezolians in town who DON'T babble
endlessly about the glory and cuteness and utility of the Dezolis Penguin.
One man north of the town's entrance tells you that he saw "a creepy tower" to
the East. Hmm, the Garuberk Tower, anyone?
Another Dezolian in the town's southeastern house says that the Palmanian town
of Meese and Reshel are - get this - to the East. Wow, I wonder which
direction you're supposed to go next?
A couple of the more practical townsfolk mention the Gumbious Temple and the
supposed destruction of a Parmanian town.
There are also a couple of crooks in this town who like to steal your hard-
earned Mesata in the name of the Dezolis Penguin.
One of these crooks is none other than the Item shop owner! Don't even think
about buying any Pengu-Feed from her; if you do, a Penguin will just so happen
to bump into you before you can exit the shop. Unsurprisingly, it steals ALL
your Pengu-Feed (how can an armless Penguin steal stuff out of the Party's
inventory? Don't ask me. I just play the game and write FAQs). Let me
re-iterate: DO NOT buy Pengu-Feed.
The other guy looking to steal your cash is the man in the far western edge of
town, by the signpost. He'll let a Dezolian Penguin follow you around town for
a mere 500 Mesata. Yes, they're kind of cute, but you can watch no less than
4 of the stupid things wandering around town without shelling out 500 bucks.
Pass.
Before we depart for points East, check out the Weapon and Armor shops:
The PhantaRobe poses us with a dilemma: keep the Mental-boosting Silv-Mantl on
Raja and Rune, or upgrade to the PhantaRobe, which doesn't boost Mental, but
does give you better Defense, Agility, and an increased chance to dodge
physical attacks? It's your call, but I prefer the keep the Silv-Mantls;
there's no substitue for dealing and healing more HP, and with 2 Shields
equipped, dodging isn't that big of a concern.
As for Weapons, be sure to buy the following:
For Chaz, get the FlameSword. It deals massive damage to most enemies on
Dezolis (that whole Fire deals extra damage to Ice thing, you know), plus you
can use it to cast a weak version of Flaeli if you Use it from the Item Menu
in battle. The Flaeli effect is nice to whip out when you encounter monsters
with high physical defense.
For Rika, buy 2 ThundrClaws. In addition to having excellent attack power, you
can Use the Claws from the Item Menu in battle to cast a weak, single-target
version of Tandle. You may even want to pick up a third one for Raja to use,
instead of having him defending all the time.
While I don't recommend you buy any TorndDaggers, they DO cast a weak, single-
target version of Hewn if you Use them from the Item Menu in battle. I find
the Tandle from the ThundrClaws to be more useful, but if you REALLY need more
Wind damage, go ahead and snag a TorndDagger.
Lastly, the Dream-Rod will cast Bindwa if you Use it from the Item Menu in
battle. Unlike the other items, the Dream-Rod's Bindwa will put ALL your foes
to sleep, or paralyze them, or whatever you want to call it. Again, this is
a GREAT idea for Raja, who otherwise spends most battles twiddling his thumbs.
Be warned, Bindwa is ONLY effective on Biomonsters, and not Mechs.
Sell off all your old Plsm stuff, too, while you're at it. And that should
about do it for this area.
You have some choices to make, now. The obvious way to go is East, to those
two Parmanian towns, Meese and Reshel. However, there is not one, but two
nearby optional areas you can reach in the Ice Digger. As usual, I'm going to
list these optional areas right now, because the Levels, Mesata, items, and
equipment you gain by completing them will make the next "real" dungeon that
much easier to complete.
If you're not in a side-quest mood, don't like better swag for your characters,
are in a hurry, or whatever excuse you're giving me at this point, feel free to
skip these two optional dungeons by scrolling down to the section titled, "To
the Town of Reshel".
If you didn't scroll down, we'll begin with a visit...
----------------
To the Myst Vale
----------------
Suggested Level: Wren 24, Chaz 28, Rika 30, Rune 27, Raja 28
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 24, Chaz 28, Rika 30, Rune 27, Raja 28
Monsters you may face: Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug
Ice Digger foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
The first thing you'll need to do is fire up the Ice Digger. Now, head due
West and you'll come to an Ice Wall almost immediately. Tunnel through it,
first going a few "paces" West and then turning North. Keep going NW, and soon
enough you'll emerge from the Ice Wall into a small clearing. You will also
see a small cave in the Northern mountains. Disembark from the Digger, and
enter the cave. You will find yourself in...
-------------
The Myst Vale
-------------
Monsters found in this dungeon:
HungryMole, SkyTiara, Tech-Plant
Items found in this dungeon:
Trimate, Star-Dew, Silvr-Tusk
Suggested Level: Wren 24, Chaz 28, Rika 30, Rune 27, Raja 28
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 25, Chaz 28, Rika 30, Rune 27, Raja 28
The Myst Vale is not a very long dungeon, but it has its share of twists and
turns. I've gone over the SkyTiaras previously, but there's also a couple of
new creatures that you may encounter:
HungryMoles are much like the other Moles you have faced. They deal very
little damage with their standard attacks - it's their Double Slash that you
need to be careful of. They are also fairly fast. But, because they only
have about 180 HP and are very weak to Fire, you should be able to dispatch
them with physical attacks (and NaFoi) before they can do much to you.
Tech-Plants are the Dezolian version of FlyScreamrs, I think. These things are
slow, have only a moderate amount of HP, and (like everything else around
here) take double damage from Fire-based attacks. They can use a pretty
potent GiWat on you, and will occasionally try to paralyze your Party members
with Rimit, but if you have Chaz attack with the FlameSword and have Rune cast
NaFoi (or Flaeli), they'll never live long enough to do either.
This dungeon is so short that your characters probably won't go up any Levels,
and even if they did, no one learns anything anyway. Boring!
Walkthrough:
------------
Entry Level, part A (Trimate)
From the entrance, you have little choice but to head NW. After a while, the
passage turns to the E, so follow it. You'll see a some steps leading up to a
ledge to the N; we'll go up that way in a bit, but for now, continue walking E.
You'll come to a dead end with a chest in it. Snag your Trimate out of the
chest, then go up the steps onto that ledge you just passed. There will be an
opening in the N wall; enter it.
Entry Level, part B (Star-Dew)
From the opening, head N. You'll come to another ledge, but no stairs this
time. For now, just walk E and follow the passage when it turns to the N. At
the N end of the hall, you'll see another opening, so enter it.
In this next room, head N. You'll come a ledge. Walk up the steps and onto
the ledge, where you'll see a chest to the W. Open it for an ever-handy Star-
Dew, then continue W. When the passage curves S, follow it. At the far S
end of the passage, you'll see that familiar beam of light that indicates the
back end of an opening. Go through it.
You'll emerge on that ledge we walked under earlier. Walk a ways to the W, and
you'll see yet another opening in the N wall. This one, however, is guarded by
a pair of cats. Cats that look strangely like the one by the Statue of Alis
the Heroine in Termi. Coincidence? Not likely. Speak to either cat, and it
will introduce itself as a musk cat. They sense something about the Party, and
they stand aside, telling you to go and see the "old man".
Entry Level, part C, the Musk Cat lair (Silv-Tusk)
Well, we might as well do that. In the cave beyond the "guarded" opening,
there are more musk cats to talk to. Speak with them if you like, then walk
W until you see (you guessed it!) another opening. Enter it.
This final cavern contains several more musk cats which you can talk to. But
you didn't come to chat with little musk cats, did you? No, you came to meet
the "old man", who is that gigantic winged (!) musk cat lazing about on the
Northern ledge. Speak to the "old man". He says that you have "good in your
eyes", and that he has a feeling you've met before. Well, if you've ever
played Phatasy Star, he would be correct, in a sense. I can only assume that
this giant, winged musk cat is none other than the descendant of Myau from
Phantasy Star! He gives you the Silver Tusk, a treasure of the musk cats that
has been passed down through the generations. The Silver Tusk was the best
"weapon" that you could get for Myau in Phantasy Star, and you had to brave a
long, dangerous, pit-trap infested dungeon to claim it. So, be thankful that
you can get your hands on it so easily here. At any rate, Rika can use the
Silver Tusk as a weapon - it's better than the ThundrClaws, because it deals
Holy damage - double damage to all undead and unholy foes! Very nice, indeed.
That does it for this tiny little side-quest. Hinas out, warp back to Zosa,
and we'll tackle the other one, which is a bit longer.
-----------------
To the ClimCenter
-----------------
Suggested Level: Wren 25, Chaz 28, Rika 30, Rune 27, Raja 28
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 25, Chaz 28, Rika 30, Rune 27, Raja 28
Monsters you may face: Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug
Ice Digger foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
Starting from Zosa, you will once again need to get into the Ice Digger. Go
East and North, keeping the mountain range to the N in sight. After going past
a frozen lake, you should see another large Ice Wall to the North. Tunnel
through it in a Northeasterly direction. Once your break through the wall,
head a bit more to the East, and you'll see a structure. Disembark from the
Ice Digger; it's time to tackle...
--------------
The ClimCenter
--------------
Monsters found in this dungeon:
Gy-Laguiah, Arthropod, Wiredine, ProtectBit, Dragerduel, Debugger
Items found in this dungeon:
Repair-Kit x2, PulseVulcn, 5000 Mesata, Compo-Gear, Compo-Armr
The Boss of this dungeon is: D-Elm-Lars, minion of Dark Force
Suggested Level: Wren 25, Chaz 28, Rika 30, Rune 27, Raja 28
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune & Raja 30
The moment you enter the Clim(ate)Center, you'll be attacked by an old friend!
Say "hello" again to our old buddy, Gy-Laguiah, from the Ladea Tower. Like old
Iggy before him, Gy is a recycled Boss that will be a big pushover since you've
gained more than a dozen levels since you fought him last (and don't have the
game's worst Party configuration anymore).
In the first round, put up a Barrier with Wren, use Blessing with Raja, and
have Rika cast SaNer. Then, use GiThu, DblSlash, Flare, NaWat, and St. Fire
or your spare ThundrClaw. Gy counts as undead/unholy, so be sure to have Chaz
use GiThu and/or RayBlade. Gy will die in as little as three rounds. Oh, his
attack power hasn't gone up at all, either, so with Barrier and Blessing in
effect, he won't be able to hurt you.
After you slaughterize Gy, Wren will observe that this must be the Dezolis
Climate Control center. Chaz observes that the monsters seem to have made it
into one giant nest. Wren will state that he believes this system must still
somehow be malfunctioning, which is why the snow storm hasn't abated yet. The
party agrees to check the place out while Raja whines about the Garuberk Tower
and how no one believes that the Tower is behind it all.
Well, now you have control of the Party again. The ClimCenter is a
"Mechanical" dungeon, and you should know by now what that means: Mech monsters
and new equipment for Wren. Yep. Let's go over the new Mechs first:
Arthropods are meaner, greener versions of the Tarantellas we fought on
Motavia. Their attacks pack a punch, but they don't have much in the way of
HP or defenses, so just use physical attacks, NaWat, and the ThundrClaw.
Wiredines are much faster and stronger than Arthopods, making them more of a
threat. They have about the same amount of HP and defense, so I find that
an easy way to kill them all at once is with a combination of AirSlash and
Hewn. Otherwise, try NaWat, Spark, and the ThundrClaw. Just keep your HP up:
their critical hits really hurt.
ProtectBits are the same as the ones you fight in the Digger. They are still
a minimal threat, as you can kill them handily, due to their low HP. They are
fast, though, and they have good physical defense and Fire resistance. Try
using attacks like Flare, NaWat, GiZan, and GiGra to kill them in an efficient
manner.
Dragerduels are the Dezolian version of Balduels. They have good magic defense
and powerful attacks, but they are slow have low physical defense. I normally
save Wren's Spark uses for these guys, but NaWat and a CrossCut will take them
down quickly enough if you run out of (or don't want to use) Spark charges.
Debuggers are big, buff versions of their Motavian counterpart, the Loader.
Like the Loader, these guys will almost always fall prey to Spark, so having
Wren use that is a must. If you're out of Spark charges, try NaWat or the
ThundrClaw, but don't use Fire, as they are resistant to it. You want to try
and destroy these things as soon as you can; they fall into that "slow but
very strong" category of Mech.
Your characters should reach the following Levels and learn these abilities:
Chaz learns the NaThu Tech at Level 31. NaThu shoots an intense bolt of Holy
energy at a single foe. Deals 220 damage to regualar foes, and twice that
to undead/unholy monsters. A great way to deal with the undead beasties that
you'll be contending with soon. Uses 15 TP.
Rika learns the NaRes Tech at Level 33. NaRes (as you've learned from Raja)
will restore one Party member's HP to full, no matter what. Uses 9 TP.
Rune learns the Efess Skill at Level 29. Efess is Rune's version of St. Fire:
beams of blue light bathe all your foes; normal Biomonsters and Mechs will
take 1 point of damage, but undead/unholy monsters will take severe damage
(normally about 350 each). Save this one for bosses or large groups of
undead.
In addition, Rune will learn the NaGra Tech at Level 30. This most potent
version of Gra will deal severe damage to all your foes. A great way to end
battles quickly! Uses 19 TP.
Getting abilites like NaGra and NaThu is worth fighting a few extra battles
for, so don't be afraid to wander around and kill a bunch of random Mechs for
XP before venturing into the depths of the ClimCenter.
Walkthrough:
------------
First Floor (Repair-Kit, PulseVulcn)
From the entrance, walk N along the Yellow Line. You'll see the elevator down,
but ignore it for now, and instead head NE. Follow the curving, S-shaped
hallway all the way S and you'll come to a chest containing a Repair-Kit.
Return to the area just N of the elevator. There will be a narrow hallway
directly above the "building" that the elevator is in. Follow it N until you
come to an E/W T. E is a dead end; head W. After a bit, this W hallway turns
to the S, so follow it. At the S end of the hallway you'll find a chest
containing a PulseVulcn for Wren. The PulseVulcn is an upgraded version of the
Pulse-Lasr that I...er, I mean, YOU have been using this whole time. Very,
very useful. There's nothing else to do on this part of the floor, so return
to that pesky descending elevator we've been walking past this whole time, and
take it down to...
Floor B1F, center sector (5000 Mesata)
You'll emerge from the elevator onto a thick walkway. Follow it S until you
come to an E/W T. For now, go W, past the ascending elevator. The walkway
will curve N, then back E, then N again. At the end of the line, you'll come
across a chest containing 5000 Mesata. Because, you know, you NEED more Mesata
at this point. Backtrack to that elevator you just passed up, and take it up
to...
First Floor, southwest sector (Compo-Gear)
Not much to do here. Head W a short ways until you see a chest. Open it for
a set of Compo(site)-Gear. Slap that on Wren's head, and take the elevator
back down to...
Floor B1F, center sector revisited
From the elevator, head E. When you can't go E any longer, there will be an
ascending elevator in the N wall. Take that up to...
First Floor, southeast sector (No items)
Walk a few steps E when once you emerge from the elevator. You'll find a new
elevator that leads us down to...
Floor B1F, west section (Repair-Kit)
From the elevator, follow the walkway E, then N, then W, then N again. You'll
come to a point where the walkway becomes an E/W T. Take the narrow E side
passage: it leads to a chest containing another Repair-Kit. Now, go back and
take the wider W walkway. You'll soon come to an elevator leading down. The
walkway continues to the W, but there's nothing over there. Just take that
inviting elevator down to...
Floor B2F (No items)
You'll start to encounter some of this dungeon's tougher Mechs, like the
Debugger, once you reach this floor.
You have 2 choices right away: West or East. A Magical Yellow Line in the
floor tells you go to W, so do that. In fact, the only thing to do on this
floor is follow the Yellow Line all the way to the elevator. The path gets
wider at times in an effort to fool you into thinking there are side-passages,
but there aren't any. No chests, either. Just take the elevator down to...
Floor B3F (Compo-Armr, Boss: D-Elm-Lars)
Head S from the elevator. You'll walk into an E/W T. The W passage has
nothing but an already-looted chest. Luckily for us, the chest at the end of
the E passage is still closed. Open it for a suit of Compo-Armr, which Wren
should equip right away.
Now, circle around the "building" that the elevator is in, and head N. You'll
find yourself standing in front of the ClimCenter's central computer - and a
blue robed figure.
The figure insults you repeatedly when you approach it, telling you that this
is nothing but a trap and that you're all morons for falling for it. It says
that killing you is just a waste of time, but orders are orders. Chaz wants
to know whose orders the thing is acting on, since he and the others killed
Zio and offed Dark Force, too. The figure says that there's no way you could
have possibly defeated the mighty Dark Force, and attacks.
D-Elm-Lars (900 HP)
You would expect this guy to be some massive-HP, super high powered Boss... but
he's not. With only 900, a weakness to Holy attacks, and no mass-damage
abilities, I hesitate to even call this loser a Boss. Oh well. If you want
to kill him in one round, try this:
Chaz uses RayBlade. Wren uses Flare. Rika uses DblSlash. Rune uses Efess.
Raja uses St. Fire.
Now laugh as D-Elm-Lars toasts in your holy flames of fury. He might get off
an attack, or cast GiWat, but I think you can handle that.
Once Big D is Dead, Chaz notes that what it said made it sound as though Dark
Force was still alive...
Wren examines the computer, and says that it's functioning normally. It WAS
just a trap! Raja says, yet again, "I told you so," and, "The real cause of
Dezolis' problems is the Garuberk Tower."
Before we leave, I would STRONGLY recommend fighting a few more random battles
in order to get everyone up to the recommended Level. Chaz, Rika, and Rune
will all learn powrful new abilities: a fitting reward for all your hard work.
Once you're at the Recommended Level, listen to Raja's advice, and Hinas on out
of here. Warp back to Zosa for some rest at the Inn (or, stop off at the Tyler
Spaceport for some free healing, and then warp back to Zosa), and then we can
continue our journey. We are off...
---------------------
To the Town of Reshel
---------------------
Suggested Level: Wren 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune & Raja 30
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune & Raja 30
Monsters you may face: Helex, Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug,
Snow Worm
Ice Digger foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
From Zosa, head due East. You'll run into a frozen lake, so detour a bit
South to go around it, and continue East. After you get behind the lake,
you'll run smack dap into a mountain range/Ice Wall. Again, detour around it
to the South, and then head East again. As you pass the mountains and near
Reshel, you'll come across a new foe:
Snow Worms! Uh, not much to say here. They are quick and hit relatively hard,
but they have low HP and are weak to Fire (like damn near everything on
Dezolis, it seems). So, just attack them and have Rune use NaFoi, and they'll
be dead before you know it. Or, if you're feeling saucy, pull out an AirSlash
or a Disrupt and watch them all die, cut into little bloody SnowWorm bits.
Bwahahahahahahahahahaaaa*gasp*aaahhhahahaha!!!
Reshel is nestled on the other side of those mountains you just detoured
around; let's check it out, eh?
------------------
The Town of Reshel
------------------
No shops.
Being attacked by four decomposing Zombies when you first enter a town is
usually not a good sign...
The Zombies are mainly there to freak you out. They look menacing; however, if
Rika has the Silvr-Fang, you can instantly kill the lot of them with a single
Disrupt. If you don't have the Fang, try a combination of AirSlash, Disrupt,
GiGra, and Wren's Pulse-Lasr (or PulseVulcn). Zombies are slow and only have
around 125 HP (and their attacks are pretty weak, to boot), so you needn't
worry about them too much. They also give out pathetic XP and next to no
Mesata, so don't go getting any ideas about Leveling up by abusing Disrupt or
anything.
Once the Zombies are, uh, dead, you are free to explore the town, such as it
is. Reshel has been reduced to a handful of destroyed buildings. There's
nothing to find, explore, or search. You CAN fight more Zombies (oh boy!),
but that's about it.
Well, I guess those rumours about a destroyed Palmanian town were true...
There's nothing we can do here. We'll just have to travel further East...
--------------------
To the Town of Meese
--------------------
Suggested Level: Wren 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune & Raja 30
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune & Raja 30
Monsters you may face: Helex, Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug,
Snow Worm
Ice Digger foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
Now that we've left Zombie-infested Reshel behind, it's time to travel to Meese
to see if we can find out what, exactly, happened to the hapless folk of
Reshel. Meese isn't too far away, either. Just head a bit South from Reshel,
and when a large mountain range comes into view, turn East. You'll see a
narrow gap between a frozen lake and the mountains; squeeze through that, and
you'll see the town of Meese just beyond.
-----------------
The Town of Meese
-----------------
Inn: 140 Mestata per person (700 Mesata)
Item shop: Dimate 160; Antidote 10; Cure-Paral 120; Telepipe 130; Escapipe 70
Second Item shop: Currently closed while the owner is ill.
Weapon shop: FlameSword 12900, ThundrClaw 8500; TorndDagger 8300;
Dream-Rod 5400
Armor shop: Rflc-Mail 26800; RflcShield 15600
Ahh, here we are. The Town with (some of) the answers. You'll want to speak
to the townsfolk, as most of them actually have important things to say.
HOWEVER, do NOT go up to the 2nd Floor of the Inn-turned-hospital, that huge
building with all the cloaked Espers wandering about. Going up there is the
absolute last thing you should do! You've been warned!
That said, by speaking to everyone that's NOT on the Inn/hospital's second
floor, you can learn some useful stuff:
There's an incurable plague that's, uh, um, plaguing the area. The victims of
this sinister disease all suffer from a high fever and aches for about a month.
And then, without fail, they all die. The best part is that if the bodies
aren't destroyed, they rise as rotting zombies. Gee, what a pleasant little
epidemic this is!
There's a lot of refugees from Reshel here, and the old Inn has converted to a
hospital of sorts to accomidate them. A group of mysterious, gifted
individuals - known as Espers - have come from the nearby Esper Mansion to help
ease the suffering of the plague victims.
There's an item shop here that's currently closed down because the owner is
sick with the plague. Apparently, they normally sell perfume. This will
become important later, so don't forget about it.
Speaking of shops, there's not a whole lot that you need. The weapon shop
sells the exact same things that Zosa's weapon shop did, so you shouldn't need
anything from there. The armor shop is a different story, however. Be sure
to purchase these items:
For Chaz, a suit of Rflc-Mail is in order. Hey, it beats the pants off the
Silv-Mail that he's been wearing for the last year and a half.
For Rika, a suit of Rflc-Mail, as well. Rflc-Mail may cost an arm and a leg,
but it's worth every Mesata.
At almost thirty grand apiece, those Rflc-Mails will put a dent in your cash
reserves, but if you went through the Myst Vale and the ClimCenter, you should
have Mesata coming out your ears.
Also, RflcShields SOUND like they might be worth getting for Raja and/or Rune,
but guess what? Only Chaz and Rika can use them. Yeah, like anybody EVER puts
Shields on Chaz or Rika. Why bother putting Shields in the game if the only
characters that ever use Shields can't equip them? I'm baffled.
Oh, before you go running off, don't forget to sell Chaz' and Rika's old
Silv-Mail and any other obsolete equipment you might still be holding on to!
OK, a few things quick. You may have seen the Ice Wall to the East of Meese,
and maybe you wanted to do a little exploring. Well, you can, and if you do,
here's a quick rundown of the places you can get to with the Ice Digger:
First off, there's The Esper Mansion, which lies to the Southeast through a
pair of Ice Walls. However, a pair of Esper guards won't let you into the
Mansion, so going there now is a waste of time.
You can visit Jut and the Gumbious Temple, to the Southwest, for a few free
items and some Laconian equipment. If you wish, scroll on down to the section
titled "To The Town of Jut and Gumbious Temple" and check it out. The swag and
equipment is very nice, if you can afford it, and you'll be able to Ryuka back
here once you visit.
There's also an optional dungeon, the WeaponPlnt, to the West of Jut. You can
certainly explore it right now, but since the closest town to it is Jut, I'm
saving the WeaponPlnt walkthrough for after we check Jut out. If you still
wish to clean it out now, just scroll down to the section titled, "To The
Weapon Plant". It'll be a ways down, below the "The Town of Jut" and "The
Gumbious Temple" sections. Keep in mind that the directions I give you there
will only make sense if you've visited Jut and use it as your starting point.
Finally, the infamous Garuberk Tower lies to the Northeast. However, the
entrance to the tower is blocked off by a forest of regenerating, carniverous
tree-things. If you try to approach the Tower, even in the Ice Digger, you'll
be forced into an unwinnable battle with the tree-things. If you kill one, it
will instantly regenerate. All you can do is fight until you die, or run.
I'm not going to cover any of those places I just mentioned in depth just yet:
although you can get to them now, you're not supposed to visit any of them at
this point in the storyline. Once we reach the part of the plot where you're
required to visit those places, that's when I'll go into them in detail.
What you're supposed to do now is talk to the Esper in the Northeast room of
the Inn/hospital's second floor. So, let's go do that. He tells you that
the plague started shortly after the appearance of the Garuberk Tower. Raja
the Broken Record takes this opportunity to say, "I told you so," and, "The
Garuberk Tower is behind it all." However, Raja suddenly collapses after he
finishes speaking! Chaz assumes that Raja is trying to be funny again, but
Rika says that it's no joke - Raja suddenly has a terrible fever!
The Party gets Raja to a bed, where they ponder his fate. He'll die like all
the others if a cure to this plague isn't found! Rune suddenly pipes up,
saying that he's had a 'feeling' - that he knows Rika can sense, as well -
ever since he came to Dezolis. And that feeling is particularly strong here.
What is this mysterious feeling? Why, it's the Black Energy Wave, of course.
That's right, Dark Force's trademark evil energy is spewing out of the Garuberk
Tower.
At that moment, an Esper comes rushing into the room, shouting for help.
Someone named Kyra is attempting to get into the Garuberk Tower by herself.
The man explains that Kyra is attempting to get past the forest of carniverous
tree-things that surround the tower. Now, Kyra is brave and all, but there's
just no way anyone is getting past those trees. The Esper tells you that the
tower is just to the Northeast of town. So, let's get moving, and rescue Kyra!
We need a replacement Party member for the now bedridden Raja, after all...
---------------------------------------
To the Carniverous Forest, to save Kyra
---------------------------------------
Suggested Level: Wren 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune 30
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune 30
Monsters you may face: Helex, Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug,
Snow Worm
Ice Digger foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
Exit Meese, and head East. You'll pass a bunch of trees and an Ice Wall before
coming to a mountain range stretching North and South. Turn and head North,
through a narrow pass in the mountains. You'll see some sickly brown vine-like
things growing in large clusters, blocking the pass. Walk (or drive) into
them.
The game will enter a cut-scene showing poor Kyra being molested by the trees
of the carniverous forest. Rika wonders if that is actually Kyra before the
Party boldly rushes to her rescue by attacking the carniverous trees. You can
fight with them, if you like, but the instant you kill one, a new tree grows
back in it's place. It's futile to keep fighting these ever-regenerating
things, so run!
Once you've run away (you'll always be able to run from the carniverous trees;
after all, they can't move to stop you from retreating), the game shows us
another scene in which Chaz leads a dazed Kyra away from the carniverous forest
while expressing dismay about the trees' regenerative nature.
The scene then cuts to the interior of the Ice Digger. Kyra thanks the Party
for rescuing her, and asks them who they are. Rika explains that they were
sent by Kyra's Esper friends to rescue her, and Chaz scolds Kyra, saying that
it was, well, pretty reckless of her to try and tackle the trees alone.
Kyra explains that she just had to do SOMETHING; she was tired of watching all
those people suffer. But she misjudged how dangerous the carniverous trees
were... Chaz wonders if there's some way to destroy the carniverous forest,
and Kyra says that she may know of a way.
It seems that the "chief" of the Esper Mansion, a man known as Lutz (yes, that
Lutz, the Esper who helped the Heroes of Phantasy Star II), may know of
something that will defeat the carniverous trees. Apparently, he's kept
himself alive for over 2,000 years, in the depths of Esper Mansion. Or so the
story goes...
At any rate, Kyra seems rather smitten with the legendary Lutz (she even SAW
him once, during a ceremony, like ohmygod!), but her advice to seek his help is
sound, so the Party decides to head to Esper Mansion and see if they can't get
an audience with this Lutz.
And so, Kyra joins the Party. She'll be replacing Raja while the old man loafs
around in his comfy bed in Meese. Before we go rushing off to Esper Mansion,
we should probably do a Kyra Rundown:
Kyra, Esper, Level 27
Techniques
Res (Gi), Foi (Gi), Anti, Rimpa, Gra. You've seen these before. Move along,
move along.
Skills
Medice (18): Medice is pretty sweet: it's an extra-stregth GiRes that can heal
anyone, Androids included. 180 HP (or more) worth of healing, usable on
every Party member, and a ton of "charges". It's not on par with Raja's
brand of insane healing ability, but it's pretty close.
Flaeli (13): The same as Rune's Flaeli; but Kyra's is weaker since she simply
doesn't have the Mental power that Rune does.
Telele (9): Oh boy, get ready to be impressed: Telele is the almighty Gelun
Tech that you never once had Hahn cast - in Skill form! Be still my beating
heart. I think I'll just stick to killing my enemies instead of putzing
around with maybe - if I'm lucky - lowering their attack power. You should,
too.
Hewn (5): The same as Rune's Hewn; but Kyra's is weaker since she simply
doesn't have the Mental power that Rune does.
Kyra is, well, like Alys crossed with Rune and a pinch of Raja or Demi. She
uses Slashers, has average HP, defense, and Foi Techs, like Alys. She has
Fleali, Hewn, and a ton of TP, like Rune. And finally, she has restorative
Techs and Medice, like Raja and Demi. A very... diverse character.
Kyra is nice to have for a number of reasons, like more uses of Hewn (even if
they are weaker than Rune's), the ability to cast GiRes (and use Medice, which
is even better), and lastly, it NEVER hurts to have a character than can use
Slashers. I really like having Wren with his PulseVulcn and Kyra with her
LacoSlashrs, as those two can tear groups of monsters to pieces without having
to expend any TP or Skill charges.
Kyra comes equipped with a Silv-Crown, a Rflc-Robe, one LacoSlashr, and a
RflcShield. Come on, one Slasher and one Shield? Bah! We'll have to pick
her up a second Slasher once we get to Jut; they sell them there. In addition,
I would take the time to warp back to Tyler in order to buy Kyra a Sivl-Mantl
from the armor shop there. It will raise her Mental stat by 3, which will make
her Fleali, Hewn, and Medice Skills more powerful.
Overall, Kyra is a useful character that does a lot of things well but has no
real outstanding strengths or debilitating weaknesses. Her slashers do good
damage, but she has only moderate HP and defense. She has a lot of TP, but
not a lot of useful Techs to use them with. She has a nice balance of
offensive and defensive abilities, but with her slightly-above-average Mental
score, her abilities aren't as strong as say, Rune's or Raja's.
She's Rune without the insane Mental score; Raja without the ability to utterly
obliterate the undead; Alys without the powerful offensive abilities. A jack-
of-all-trades, and a master of none.
Now that your path is decided, warp back to Meese, and rest at the Inn. Once
you're all freshened up and ready to go, we'll head off...
--------------------
To the Esper Mansion
--------------------
Suggested Level: Wren & Kyra 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune 30
Suggested Level to reach: Wren & Kyra 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune 30
Monsters you may face: Helex, Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug,
Snow Worm
Ice Digger foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
Okay. Starting from Meese, hop in your Ice Digger and head East. You will
(literally) run into an Ice Wall. Tunnel Southeast through it for a ways, and
you will emerge from the ice into a forested area. Again, go East, dodging
South around the clumps of trees, until you find yourself in front of yet
another Ice Wall. Tunnel in a Northeasterly direction, and you'll run smack
dab into...
-----------------
The Esper Mansion
-----------------
Items found in this area:
10,000 Mesata, Sol-Dew, Rflc-Robe, Laco-Rod
Now that Kyra is in the Party, the guards will stand aside and let you in the
Mansion. There's a number of things to do in this Mansion, but let's begin
with the gathering of information.
You might notice the large statues scattered throughout the Mansion... you
guessed it, they're all statues of Alis, the Heroine who destroyed the tyrant
Lassic and the foul Dark Falz 2,000 years ago.
The men in the large room North of the Mansion's entrance speak of a potent
Sword that has been passed down from generation to generation since ancient
times. This Sword, dubbed Elsydeon, is supposedly somewhere here on Dezolis.
Most of the Espers here are concerned about their comrades in Meese. They want
to know how they are doing and if their efforts are successful, but the Ice
Walls are seriously limiting communication.
In the Mansion's Southwest room, there are no less than four chests. Their
contents are as follows:
SE chest: 10,000 Mesata. Yay.
SW chest: Sol-Dew. Short for Solar-Dew, I suppose. This powerful item will
Restore all HP to a single Party member; it will even revive a character if
they are Dying. Basically, it's a Moon-Dew and a Trimate, all rolled into
one.
NE chest: Rflc-Robe. Great. Now that we bought two of these in Zosa you give
us one for free. Sigh. At least you can make a killing by selling it.
NW chest: Laco-Rod. This is a nice find: while it may not be worth equipping,
if you Use it from the Item menu in battle, it will cast a low-powered version
of Efess on all foes. This item is just awesome to have in undead/unholy
infested places, like the Garuberk Tower.
When you're done poking about and chatting it up, head to the back side of the
Mansion. You'll see a large archway in the Southern part of the wall, with two
more Esper guards standing in it. Talk to them, and Kyra will try to gain</pre><pre id="faqspan-7">
entry into the inner sanctum beyond. The guards will stubbornly refuse to let
Kyra (and the Party) enter... until Rune suddenly speaks up, telling them to
let her pass. The guards respond with a rather cryptic "Oh... it's you!", then
stand aside to let the Party pass.
Well, that was... odd. Anyway, circle around that big buiding in the center of
the courtyard, and enter it via the archway on its South side. Once inside,
the Party will find a descending staircase. As you approach it, Rune tells you
the Lutz' chamber is below. Kyra, not surprisingly, babbles on about her
appearance like a teenager before a blind date.
Anyway, the game walks the Party down the stairs, and they find themselves in
an... empty chamber? All that's here is a small table, on which rests golden
ring with an orb floating above it.
Kyra quickly points out that there's no one here (yeah, go Kyra, state the
obvious!), and Rune suddenly proclaims that, well, Lutz is dead. To this, of
course, Kyra Freaks Out and rambles on about how Lutz MUST be alive and this
and that. Rune tells her to calm down. He explains that Lutz left his
spiritual essense in the Telepathy Ball, to be transfered to the chosen one at
the proper time.
Guess who the chosen one is. That's right; it's Rune. The Party is a bit
shocked at the news... Rune goes on to explain that the Algo Solar System is
caught in a viscious cycle: once every thousand years, the evil forces of Algo
take physical shape as Dark Force, and attempt to destroy all life in the
solar system.
2,000 years ago, it was Dark Falz corrupting Lassic, which lead to martial law
and unrest and killings throughout Palma and Motavia. Alis defeated Dark Falz
then, but it came back 1,000 years ago (as Dark Force, this time) and this
time, it corrupted the Mother Brain, which eventually led to the destruction
of Palma and the Great Collapse. Now, we can put 2 and 2 together: Dark Force
is back, and it surely has some new plot to destroy Motavia and Dezolis, if it
can.
The Party chats about Dark Force and recent events, and eventually Rune tells
Chaz that he, as Lutz, has chosen Chaz to be the Hero of this era, the one who
can defeat Dark Force and restore peace to Algo. Chaz is taken aback, and
Rune apologizes for keeping all this a secret.
Rune then says that they must get to the Garuberk Tower, but in order to get
past the carniverous trees, they're going to need the Eclipse Torch (which, by
the way, is another item from the original Phantasy Star). The Eclipse Torch
is kept at Gumbious Temple, so that becomes our next destination. It's time
to leave the Esper Mansion, and head West...
--------------------------------------
To the Town of Jut and Gumbious Temple
--------------------------------------
Suggested Level: Wren & Kyra 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune 30
Suggested Level to reach: Wren & Kyra 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune 30
Monsters you may face: Helex, Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug,
Snow Worm
Ice Digger foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
The first thing you'll need to do is hop in your Ice Digger and tunnel through
the Ice Wall to the West (if you're starting from the Esper Mansion) or the
Southeast (if you're starting from Zosa). Eventually, you'll reach a large,
tree-filled "clearing", which acts a sort of intersection:
Meese lies to the Northwest, through an Ice Wall. The Esper Mansion lies East-
northeast, beyond another Ice Wall. And finally, Jut and Gumbious Temple lie
to the West-southwest, beyond yet another Ice Wall. Well, since we're going to
Jut now, start tunneling through the Southwest Ice Wall once you reach the
"clearing".
Once you emerge from the Ice Wall, simply follow the mountians further East
(there will be a large mountain range beneath you, to the South), and
eventually it will take a jog to the North. Follow this jog, and you'll see
your destination:
---------------
The Town of Jut
---------------
Inn: 150 Mesata per person (750 Mesata)
Item shop: Trimate 400; Antidote 10; Cure-Paral 120; Telepipe 130; Escapipe 70
Weapon shop: Laco-Sword 20400; LacoDagger 9400; Laco-Claw 10200;
LacoSlashr 21600
Armor shop: Rflc-Mail 26800; Rflc-Robe 18400; RflcShield 15600
Jut is actually a very large city. There's a ton of houses to enter, and a
LOT of Dezolians to speak with. Unfortunately, most of them just whine about
the winds and the blizzard - a rather irratating trend here on Dezolis, even if
it is understandable. There are still some folks worth chatting with, so do
try to talk to everyone.
If you walk around behind the counter of the Item shop and talk to the
shopkeeper, he'll mention a "strange building" to the Southwest. That would be
the next optional dungeon, the WeaponPlnt, which we'll get to in just a bit.
A few of the townspeople in the northern part of town talk about a flame that
has burned for 1,000 years without ever going out. That would be the Esclipse
Torch that Rune mentioned before.
You'll also notice that the weapon store here sells Laconian equipment. Not
that low-grade Silver crap, but real Laconia! (Oh yeah. For those of you not
familiar with the original Phantasy Star, Laconia is Phantasy Star's version of
Mithril. A metal/material that is lightweight and yet, incredibly strong and
hard.) Laconia is the pride of the Algo Solar System, being not unlike
diamonds in metal form. Which means, of course, that it's very expensive.
Which bring us to another problem. If you wish to buy everything you need from
the shops in Jut, you will need about 62,000 Mesata. Now, given that half the
monsters we've been fighting lately (half the ones encountered while in the Ice
Digger and Zombies) are only worth 1 Mesata each... you may not have enough
cash. Now, if you raided the Esper Mansion, you got the 10,000 Mesata from the
chest, and you'll have a Rflc-Robe to sell (which nets you an additional 9200
Mesata). If that still isn't enough Mesata, I guess you'll just have to go and
clear out the WeaponPlnt and come back for whatever you can't currently afford.
That being said, do your best to buy all of the following:
For Chaz, the mighty Laco-Sword. While it may not deal extra damage to Ice-
element foes, it increases his attack and defense enough that it's not a bad
trade-off. I would keep the FlameSword as a backup weapon, at least for now.
For Rika, buy a Laco-Claw. If, for some reason, you never went and got the
Silvr-Tusk, then you'll want to buy her 2 Claws. Sell all but one of her old
ThundrClaws.
Finally, buy Kyra her second LacoSlashr. Yeah, now Krya can really dish out
the pain! Sell that useless RflcShield of hers, pronto.
You'll see that the Armor store is a copy of Zosa's, with the addition of the
worthless Rflc-Robe. Why is it worthless? Because it will lower your Mental
stat (assuming you still have the Silv-Mantl equipped on Rune), for one, and
because you can find one for free at the Esper Mansion. Also, Krya starts with
one equipped. Since only two characters (Kyra and Rune) can equip a Rflc-Robe,
and you should already have 2 in your possession, you have no need to ever buy
one.
Okay, once you're done in Jut, head outside and take five steps north. You'll
walk right into...
-------------------
The Gumbious Temple
-------------------
Items found in this area:
Star-Dew, Sol-Dew, Moon-Dew, Trimate
Well, this is it: Gumbious Temple. Dezolis' largest temple is pretty
impressive, but surprisingly, there's not a whole lot going on here. You can
talk to the mulititude of priests meandering about, but all they do is go on
and on about the Eclipse Torch and how it's Holy Flame and will someday cleanse
all unnatural things from this world.
Be sure to take the stairs down to B1F! There, you will find a restricted area
(there are two obstinate Dezolian guards blocking access to a stair which one
must assume leads to B2F...) and a small room with four (!) chests. Since no
one is around to see us, raid the chests for the following:
Southeast chest: Star-Dew
Southwest chest: Sol-Dew
Northeast chest: Moon-Dew
Northwest chest: Trimate
Not a bad haul! Okay, now it's time to head back upstairs. Speak with anyone
you haven't spoken to yet, then ascend to the Second Floor. Follow the hall
to a large room, which contains the temple's Head Priest - and the Eclipse
Torch, burning away on a large altar.
Speak to the Head Priest. Even though Lutz commands it, and the fate of the
Algo Solar System is at stake, the stubborn old fart refuses to lend it to you.
Just then, three robed figurs materialize next to the Eclipse Torch! The
figures taunt you, saying that if you want the Eclipse Torch back, you'll just
have to travel to the Air Castle to get it. Uh, the Air Castle? What's that?
Once the robed wizards depart, the Priest Freaks Out (man, is everybody in this
game prone to Freaking Out, or is it just me?) about the loss of the Torch.
Chaz and Rune tell him to calm down: they'll go and retrieve the Torch. But,
in return, he had better let them borrow it for a bit so they can get into the
Garuberk Tower.
Now, about that Air Castle. The Air Castle was Lassic's Castle, which floated
above the skies of Palma 2,000 years ago, during the Time of Alis. Rika and
Wren point out that the Air Castle can't possibly exist, since it was destroyed
- along with all of Palma - 1,000 years ago during the Great Collapse. The
only thing that remains of Palma these days is an asteroid belt.
Rune wonders if somehow the Air Castle is still intact, and floating within the
asteroid belt? Wren finds this very unlikely, but he will use the sensors on
the Landale to check it out. Chaz has one final question to Rune: the wizards
mentioned what someone whom Lutz should remember would be waiting for them at
the Air Castle. Who might that person be?
Rune answers that the only person it could be is... Lassic, the evil tyrant
whom Alis and friends killed 2,000 years ago, thus exposing Dark Falz as the
mastermind behind the problems plaguing Algo. This then raises the question of
how a 2,000 year old corpse could be waiting for them at the Air Castle? Not
even Rune knows the answer to that; he just says that the Party won't know what
they'll find until they get there.
One final note: as a huge fan of the original Phantasy Star, I'm going to use
that game's transration of the evil tyrant's name: Lassic. I know that Lassic
is probably a bad transration, and that this game's take on it - Lashiec - is
most likely truer to the Japanese version of the name, but I don't care. I
like Lassic better, I'm going to use it in this guide, and you'll just have to
deal with it.
Well, now we have a new destination. If you like, you can speak to the
residents of the temple once more, and thrill to their whining and griping and
crying about the theft of their precious Eclipse Torch. Uh, on second thought,
let's just leave...
Personally, I'd just worry about the WeaponPlnt right now. While the
WeaponPlnt is an "optional" dungeon, I don't consider it such. You see, Lassic
is quite possibly the game's hardest Boss. You NEED to be at a high Level,
with the best equipment you can get your grubby mitts on, to stand a chance
against him. And that means going to the WeaponPlnt and cleaning it out,
getting more goodies for the Party and a crapload of exp, to boot. If you're
feeling suicidal, you can scroll down past the WeaponPlnt walkthrough and
continue the quest proper by finding the section titled, "To the Air Castle",
but I strongly advise against skipping the WeaponPlnt.
If you're still here, exit the Gumbious Temple. We are traveling..
-------------------
To the Weapon Plant
-------------------
Suggested Level: Wren & Kyra 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune 30
Suggested Level to reach: Wren & Kyra 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune 30
Monsters you may face: Helex, Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug,
Snow Worm
Ice Digger foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
Here goes. From Jut, travel due Southwest. You may have to detour around a
few clumps of trees, but keep on a Southwesterly course. You'll eventually
come across another Ice Wall. Tunnel through it, heading West, and you'll run
straight into...
----------------
The Weapon Plant
----------------
Items found in this dungeon:
Burst Roc, PlsmLaunch, Elst-Gear, Elst-Armor, Infinite (!) Repair-Kits
Monsters found in this dungeon:
Wiredine & Arthropod -> LifeDeletr, Silvalt, Sweeper, Star Drone, Servant
Suggested Level: Wren & Kyra 27, Chaz 31, Rika 33, Rune 30
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 30, Chaz 33, Rika 35, Rune 31, Kyra 29
As soon as you enter the Weapon Plant, Wren takes some time to explain that
this place used to produce automated weapons. Chaz asks if they ought to shut
it down, then, but Wren assures him that won't be necessary; Wren already did
so when he restored Dezolis' Climate Control systems.
So, uh, we don't need to be here... but let's go exploring anyway! Believe it
or not, this place has a bunch of new, more powerful equipment for Wren - and
it never hurts to make Wren more powerful.
General Combat strategies:
Well, as you may have guessed, there's a bunch of new Mechs to do battle with
here. You will encounter the following new foes:
LifeDeletr: you'll meet some familiar faces: Wiredine and Arthropod. The thing
is, you never encountered them together in the Climate Control dungeon. Here,
you will. And they will merge with each other to create the much more
powerful LifeDeletr. LifeDeletr's have a more powerful attack (complete with
frequent Critical hits), very high physical defense, and about 350 - 400 HP.
They can also use a StasisBall attack to paralyze your characters, and they
also have the ever-dangerous MicroMissle attack, which can deal up to 75
damage to low-defense characters, and 35-40 to characters like Wren. Ouch.
You really don't want to let these things survive more than 1 or 2 rounds, if
you can help it. The problem you'll run into is that Spark rarely works on
them. Instead, try a combination of CrossCut, DblSlash, Flare, NaWat, and
Flaeli. You'll get almost 2500 exp per person for every LifeDeletr defeated,
so fighting them is well worth it, despite the possibility that you'll take a
lot of damage.
Silvalts are very fast and powerful, capable of clawing you for 50 damage or
more. They are even faster than Chaz and Rika, so they will often attack
first in a round of combat. They can also use DoubleSlash, which is a potent
attack that hits a single character. They also have a tendancy to dodge
physical attacks. The good news is that they only have about 200 HP, so your
best bet is to utilize Techs and Double Damage Skills, and make a serious
effort to destroy them before they can get a second round of attacks in.
Spark is also very effective on them, so that's not a bad idea, either.
Sweepers are the newer, pinker versions of NeoWhistles. They can use both
Lightning and LaserCannon, both of which are painful. Like the Silvats,
Sweepers are reasonably quick, and will normally get off a few shots before
you can destroy them. Tandle will wipe out Sweepers in a single shot, but if
you're out of "charges", try AirSlash, NaGra, and Disrupt. Zan and Hewn won't
do much to these guys, so don't bother with either of those.
Star Drones are probably the least dangerous Mechs in this place. They're
about as fast as Sweepers, but they have low attack power, no special attacks,
and only about 130 HP. They also like to use Flash, which will lower the
Dexterity of all Party members (ooh, how scary, it's Anti-Vision!). Be
thankful when these guys show up, as you can off them without expending any of
your resources; physical attacks should be more than sufficient.
Servants are big, tall, imposing Mechs. These guys are dangerous for two
reasons: powerful physical attacks and the MotrCannon. The MotrCannon can
deal up to 60 damage to low-defense characters, so be wary of it. If you get
a large group of Servants, a casting of Deban is a good idea, since it will
limit their damage output while you polish them off. They have about 300 HP
and are strong against Fire and Wind, so attack them using abilities such as
AirSlash, DblSlash, Spark (or Flare), and NaGra.
Your characters should reach these Levels and learn the following abilities:
At Level 29, Kyra will learn the Warla Skill. Disappointingly enough, Warla is
merely Deban in Skill form. However, it does have a lovely orange coloration.
I should note at this point that some of your characters (like Wren) are, well,
"maxed out", and have no new Techniques or Skills to learn. Thus, don't be too
disappointed that your Party members are no longer gaining new abilities every
other Level or so - they're reaching the peak of their power. Just keep in
mind that even if they're not learning new tricks, your Characters are still
getting more HP, TP, and stat points for every Level - all of which makes them
that much harder to kill. The extra Skill "charges" don't hurt any, either.
Walkthrough:
------------
First Floor (No items)
A doozy. Walk N and take the descending elevator down to...
Floor B1F, south sector (No items)
Oh, it's going to be one of THESE dungeons. Walk three steps E and take the
elevator down to...
Floor B2F, south sector (No items)
From the elevator, just follow the Magic Yellow Floor Line W, then N, then
back E. You'll find yourself at yet another elevator, which will take you down
to...
Floor B3F, south sector (No items)
Here we are, the first ever level that requires some sort of visual:
A B Key: A and B are ascending elevators
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx E is elevator you enter this floor from
[ ] xxx's are regular flooring
[ C C ] [ and ] are Vertical conveyer belts
[ x x ] ---- are Horizontal conveyer belts
xx----xxx----xxx----xxx----xx C are panels which reverse certain belts
x x
x x E
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
x
x
xxx
You start at the elevator "E". There is a ring of conveyer belts at the top
of this level, shown as [ and ] for the vertical moving ones, and ---- for the
horizontal ones. "C" denotes a control box that will reverse the direction of
the two vertical belts and the left-most and right-most horizontal belts if you
"search" one. So, the fastest way to get through this chest-less Floor is to
do the following:
From the elevator, head all the way W. Turn N and keep walking until you come
to a small platform with 2 belts attached to it. Currently, you can't use the
vertical belt, as it's going the wrong way. To change that, take the
horizontal belt to the E, then go N up the narrow walkway and search the
control box. Go back down and ride the now-reversed horizontal walkway back
the way you came (West). Now, you can ride that vertical belt to the N. This
long hallway has not one, but two asending elevators in it. For now, ride the
elevator on the far E side of the hallway up to...
Floor B2F, east sector (Burst Roc)
Another straightforward area. Once you exit the elevator, follow the passage
as it winds E, then S, then W, and finally N. You'll find yourself in a dead
end with a chest containing... a new Skill for Wren!
Yessiree. This chest, like the Hyper Jammer chest before it, contains parts
that Wren can install, thus giving him the ability to use the Burst Roc(ket)
Skill.
Burst Roc deals Fire and physical damage to all your foes at once. It is,
essentially, Wren's version of AirSlash or Disrupt. However, it tends to do a
lot more damage than either of those two skills. It also has far fewer
"charges", so it becomes one of those "save it for when you really need it"
sort of Skills.
Wind back around the "s"-shaped hall you're in and return to the elevator,
taking it back to...
Floor B3F, south sector revisited
Walk a bit to the W and take the descending elevator we ignored previously. It
takes you down to...
Floor B2F, west sector (No items)
Another simple area. There aren't any side passages, so just follow the
circuitous path to the ascending elevator, which takes you up to...
Floor B1F, north sector (No items)
Ugh, more uncalled for mechanisms. There are lifts in both the left and right
passages. In fact both passages are indentical: after riding 2 lifts, you'll
find yourself at an ascending elevator. For now, take the E elevator down
to...
Floor B2F, southeast sector (PlsmLaunch)
Exit the elevator, and follow the passage to a dead end with a solitary chest.
Open it to claim a PlsmLaunch for Wren. The PlsmLaunch is Wren's latest
"single-shot high damage" weapon, so keep the PulseVlcn for now and save the
PlsmLaunch for the upcoming Bosses.
Floor B2F, southwest sector (Elst-Gear, Elst-Armor, infinite Repair-Kits)
After getting out of the elevator, head a bit to the N, and you'll see an empty
chest (grrr!). Oh well, walk a few paces E and you'll find yourself in a dead
end with 2 unlooted chests and a computer terminal:
In the left chest, you'll find a set of Elst-Gear for Wren. Elst (Elastic?
Electrostatic? I'm stumped, here) is better than Compo, so equip it.
In the right chest, you'll find a suit of Elst-Armor for Wren. It's better
than the Compo-Armor, so put it on.
And let's not forget that unobtrusive little computer terminal, which just so
happens to double as a Repair-Kit dispenser. Yep, whenever you "search" the
terminal, you acquire another Repair-Kit. Every time. Just don't go
overboard - you DO only have so much inventory space, you know.
Ok, we're done here. If you like, you can fight a few more battles until your
characters are drained of TP and Skills (an extra Level never hurts) and then
leave. Or, you can just Hinas on out of here right now. Either way, you've
done all you can here, and it's time to get on with the main Quest.
-----------------
To the Air Castle
-----------------
Suggested Level: Wren 30, Chaz 33, Rika 35, Rune 31, Kyra 29
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 30, Chaz 33, Rika 35, Rune 31, Kyra 29
Monsters you may face: Helex, Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug,
Snow Worm
Ice Digger foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
If you just got done doing the Weapon Plant, I would recommend returning to a
Town - any Town, doesn't matter - and selling off all of Wren's old equipment,
and anything else you don't need (like Dimates, extra Escapipes and Telepipes,
etc.). There's a fair amount of treasure in the Air Castle, and you really
don't want to get stuck playing the "swap or drop" game every time you open a
chest because your Party's inventory is full.
The only way to reach the Asteroid Belt where the Air Castle waits is to
return to Tyler Spaceport. Once you enter the spaceport, the game will enter
a short cut-scence wherein Wren finds the Air Castle amidst the debris of the
Asteroid Belt.
You are then taken to the Navigation screen. If you need to, cancel out of
this screen and go heal the Party on the Magical Floor Tile. Once you're all
set to go, select the Air Castle as your destination, and get ready for a
long, demanding dungeon:
--------------
The Air Castle
--------------
Monsters found in this dungeon:
Spector, DimensWorm, FrostSaber, Stonehead, Bladeright - Upper Floors
ChaosSorcr - Basement Levels
Items found in this dungeon:
1000 Mesata, 2000 Mesata, 4000 Mesata, 8000 Mesata, Trimate x2, Swift-Helm,
GenocyClaw, Escapipe, Sol-Dew - Upper Floors
Moon-Dew, Star-Dew - Basement Levels
The Bosses of this dungeon are:
Xe-A-Thoul, the trio of Eclipse Torch Thieves (Upper Floors)
Lassic, now a Lich under the control of Dark Force (Basement Levels)
Suggested Level: Wren 30, Chaz 33, Rika 35, Rune 31, Kyra 29
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 32, Chaz 36, Rika 38, Rune 34, Kyra 32
As soon as you disembark from the Landale, Wren notes that someone has created
a livable atmosphere around the Air Castle. Well, that's convenient. On the
down side, it means that someone is most certainly waiting for you...
At any rate, here we are - the infamous Air Castle. This is a long and
involved dungeon, with a host of powerful foes to fight, and one deadly Boss to
contend with. There's also a smattering of useful goodies, so let's start
exploring.
As I've said about twenty times now, this place is by far the toughest dungeon
yet. It's long, it's confusing, and its winding paths and hallways ensure that
you'll get PLENTY of random battles. On the bright side, there's one of those
Magic Healing Circles about halfway through this maze-like castle. Still, if
you find yourself running too low on useful Skills or TP, use Hinas to return
to the Landale. From there, fly back to either the Tyler or Nurvus Spaceports,
and use the Magic Circles there to heal up.
This is not a place to try to push your characters too hard in, especially
considering that it's basically two, two, two dungeons in one: the Upper
Floors, where you must find and defeat the Wizards who stole the Eclipse Torch;
and the Basement Levels, where Lassic lurks.
General Combat strategies:
The Air Castle is home to a host of new foes. For obvious reasons, many of
them are of the Undead/Unholy type. Ironically enough, you're forced to go
through one of the dungeons that Raja would be most helpful in - without him.
Sigh. Anyway, you will encounter the following beasties within the Air
Castle's Upper Floors:
Spectors are pretty nasty. While they don't have a lot of HP, they are fast,
resistant to most Magic (to the point that most magic-based attacks only deal
1 damage to them), and they can slay a character outright with DeathSpell.
They ALSO have the dreaded Corrosion ability, which can deal 75-80 damage to
Wren and 35-55 to everyone else. Ouch. Finally, they can use EvilEye to
Paralyze a Party member - not as deadly as its other two attacks, but
irritating nontheless. So, I recommend using physical attacks and Double
Damage abilities to kill them expediently. Skills like Disrupt and Airslash
can also end the battle in short order. Be sure to have Kyra attack - her
Slashers can do a number on these things, as well.
Dimens(ional)Worms are polar opposites of the Spectors. The only take 1 damage
from most physical attacks - and some forms of magic, as well, cheifly Fire,
Ice, and Wind. The most dangerous thing a Worm can do is cast Gra - but since
it only really hurts Wren, even that's no big deal. The Worms only have 4 HP,
so you COULD wear them down with enough physical attacks - but I know a dirty
little secret. One casting of Gra (NOT GiGra or NaGra, just Gra) will kill
them all, every time. So just have everyone else defend while Rune (or Kyra)
shreds the Worms with Gra. As a side note, Rika can bypass the Worms' insane
defense if she has the Silvr-Tusk equipped, which means she'll deal 250+
damage and kill one of them outright. This would also make Disrupt another
method of killing entire groups. The Silvr-Tusk is your friend.
FrostSabers are the latest incarnation of the ShadwSaber. They can cast Deban
on themselves, which makes them harder to kill with physical attacks.
However, Deban is the least of your worries: FrostSabers pack a mean GiWat,
and a NASTY AirSlash. Fortunately, their physical attack is nothing special,
they don't use AirSlash very often, and they only have about 300 HP. My
advice? Use NaFoi, Hewn, GiZan, etc. if they put up Deban; otherwise, just
beat on them with your weapons and Double Damage attacks. If you encounter
more than two at a time, it's not a bad idea to toss a Disrupt or an AirSlash
of your own into the mix: you really don't want to be on the recieving end of
3 or 4 AirSlashes in a single round.
Stoneheads are rather imposing creatures. They possess a goodly amount of HP,
and have powerful physical attacks. They can also use Firebreath and take
vastly reduced damage from Fire-based attacks. I recommend Double Damage and
Instant Death attacks, both of which will allow you to kill Stoneheads before
they can get too many hits in on the Party.
Bladerights are the new and improved form of the Ripper. Their Firebreath
deals some pretty good damage, but they have only moderate HP and very meager
defenses. You should be able to off these things with just physical attacks,
although their respectable speed will allow them to land the occasional blow.
Once you defeat the Torch-grabbing Wizards, you will be able to access the
Air Castle's dungeons. You will find a new playmate down here, a close
friend of Lassic in fact, who would like nothing better than to end your quest
forever:
ChaosSorc(ero)r... ahh, it's our old buddy, the Saboteur! He hasn't learned
any new tricks since you fought him as a "boss" aboard the space shuttle.
They still have 500 plus HP and a host of Rune-like Skills and spells... but
a barrage of Double Damage attacks will defeat them handily. In addition,
they are (sometimes) susceptable to Instant Death attacks, so that might be
worth a try, as well. Oh, and they drop the occasional Moon-Dew, as well.
Don't shy away from killing as many of these guys as you can, as they give
good XP (and items) and honestly aren't all that hard to kill.
Your characters should reach these Levels and learn the following abilities:
At Level 32, Rune will learn the Negatis Skill. This beastly thing summons
a portal to a negative plane; anything that gets sucked into this portal is
instantly anhiliated. That's my dramatic way of saying that this is Diem on
steroids - it tries to kill EVERYTHING at once, instead of just one foe. This
is an incredible Skill to use when you NEED to end a battle - NOW. Keep in
mind, however, that it won't work on Mechs.
At Level 30, Kyra will learn the GiGra Tech. That's all fine and dandy, but
if you're using dual Slashers, Kyra will deal as much damage (or more) with
those as she will with this Tech. Save your TP and just attack.
At Level 35, Chaz will learn the Explode Skill. This is Chaz' Instant Death
Skill, but it's done in such a bizarre manner: Chaz morphs into a ball of
flame and "body slams" his foe, killing it instantly. It's like a Reverse
FloatMine attack crossed with Fleali: just... really... weird. Anyway,
Explode works on both Biomonsters and Mechs, but it has a very limited number
of "charges", so it's best to save it for something that's putting the hurt on
you.
And then, at Level 36, Chaz will learn the NaRes Tech. Oh yes. You can never
have too many characters with NaRes. Try to save Chaz' NaRes for emergencies
or Bosses, however - he's generally better off spending his TP on the -Thu and
-Zan Techs he has at his disposal.
Walkthrough
-----------
1st Floor - Center (1000 Mesata, Trimate)
Once you have control of the Party, head straight N and enter the archway.
There's nothing to the W or E. Head N in this next tiny room and pass under
another arch. In this third room (with the freaky glowing floor), continue
heading N. You'll come upon an archway - but it's being blocked by a barrier
that's being created by the foul sorcerers who stole the Eclipse Torch. You'll
have to defeat them all before you can enter this section of the castle...
Well, that leaves us with 2 choices: W or E. The W passage quickly dead-ends,
so let's head E instead:
From the archway, follow the hallway as it goes N, then E, then S. Ignore the
E side hall for now, and continue S into a small room. In this room is a chest
containing 1000 Mesata. What? Sigh. Okay, now go back N and take that E
hall, following it as it jogs a bit S, and finally going N through the archway
that presents itself. After a small jog to the W, you'll go through another
arch, and you'll find yourself in a small courtyard. Go due N and you'll find
a doorway that will take us back inside.
You'll be in a small room, with an exit to the N. Once outside the doorway,
ignore the N hallway and instead turn and go E, following the hall as it turns
S and ends in a chest. Open the chest and take the Trimate out of it, then
go back and take that N passage. Follow the hall as it turns E and then back
S, and you'll come across an ascending staircase. Take it up to the...
2nd Floor - East to West (2000 Mesata, Trimate, 4000 Mesata)
From the stairs, follow the hall N, then W, then back S. You'll go through an
archway that will take you out onto a balcony of sorts. Walk a few steps E,
then turn and go S until you come to an opening that takes us back inside.
This new area is a bit weird, so bear with me. Go S for now, ignoring the
descending stairs: they lead only to a small room with nothing in it, cut off
from the rest of the floor by one of those weird glowing pits. Right, so, keep
on walking S, past the stairs, until you come to a chest containing a whopping
2000 Mesata. Whoo. Return from whence you came, and take the passage to the W
that leads S. After a long-ish walk, you'll pass under another doorway, and
you'll find yourself outdoors once more.
Once out on the balcony, head S and then W, until you come an entranceway
leading back inside. You'll find yourself to the E of the Castle's entryway.
Follow the hallway as it twists and turns all over the place. Eventually you
will reach the North-central area of the floor, and you'll see a doorway
leading outside: ignore it. It leads to a tiny dead-end balcony. Continue
walking W, and snag the Trimate from the Chest in the room that you're passing
through. Take the West-most hall and head S. The hallway will wind a bit, and
then you'll find a doorway that leads to a balcony.
Once outside, head W for a short while until you find an archway. Enter it,
and go N. You'll come to a small room which presents you with three choices:
an archway to the N, a descending staircase to the W, and a small room to the
S. Enter the small Southern room and open the chest there for 4,000 Mesata.
Now we can take those stairs back down to...
1st Floor - West (Swift-Helm)
The first thing to do once you arrive in this section is to head S. Ignore the
E hallway: the only thing it leads to a dead end courtyard. Just keep walking
S until you're forced to turn E. Hug the S wall and go through the archway
that will present itself. In this small room is a Chest containing the
Swift-Helm. This little beauty will increase Chaz Defense AND Agility. Six
more Agility is better than that measly two Mental that the Silv-Helm give you,
so don the Swift-Helm and, uh, well, that's it for this little area, actually.
Retrace your steps and ascend back on up to...
2nd Floor - West continued (GenocyClaw)
Now to take the third and final exit from this room: the archway to the N.
You'll find yourself on another narrow balcony: follow it N, and when it widens
out a bit, go E. You'll see a doorway. Enter it, and you'll find yourself in
a small room. Open the Chest sitting in the room's Eastern edge for the
GenocyClaw. Oh yeah! The GenocideClaw should be put on Rika the INSTANT you
get it: with it equipped, Rika's attacks will randomly kill her foes outright.
That's right, Rika will now Insta-kill things with alarming frequency, although
there are a few creatures that are immune to this effect. Oh, just be sure to
swap out a Laco-Claw and NOT the Silvr-Tusk when you're equipping Rika. Now
that Rika is a killing machine (ba bum DUM), leave this stuffy little room and
continue walking N. Enter the archway you come across, and just keep on going
N. Follow the hallway W and then back S, and you'll run across a set of stairs
that lead us down to...
1st Floor - Northwest (Escapipe)
Okay. Walk a few steps N, then follow the hallway E and S. The hall will
branch into two South-running hallways, one on the W of the divider, and one
E. Take the W hall, through an arch into a small room. There's an Escapipe
in the Chest at the end of the hall, so grab that and backtrack to the E hall.
Keep heading S, and sure enough, there's an archway leading out into another
courtyard area, which just so happens to be the last major part of the Air
Castle, the...
1st Floor - North Central area, part 1 (No items)
Go SE, hugging the wall to the S, until you come to an archway. Enter it,
and... it's your salvation! There's a Magical Healing Circle in the center of
this small room. Heal up and walk through the arch in the S wall of this
refill room. You'll be standing BEHIND the rascals who stole the Eclipse
Torch. What does this mean? Well, once you find and defeat them (we're
getting to that), you can walk STRAIGHT THROUGH THE ENTIRE DAMN CASTLE! ARGH!
YOU SADISTIC PROGRAMMERS!! Right, moving on. Retrace your steps N and back
out into the courtyard. Keep walking N and you'll come upon (yeah, you guessed
it) an archway leading back indoors. In this new indoor area, walk a few paces
N. There's another trio of Illusionary Barrier-making Rascals barring entrance
to what can only be a very important area of the castle. You'll have to, for
now, detour to the W. Follow the passage N, through an archway, and then E.
When the path branches N, head that way, for continuing E leads only to a long
and annoying dead end. After a short walk, the path will split, and you must
choose to go either NW or NE. Since the NE path is just a little dead end, go
NW, up the stairs and through the archway, onto a balcony. Follow this S, and
you'll come across a set of stairs leading down. There's also a path leading
E, but it's only a dead end. Hit them stairs, and you'll be in the...
1st Floor - North Central area, part 2 (8,000 Mesata)
Follow this narrow hallway to the N. You'll soon come across a set of stairs
leading up, but for now, walk past them. At the N end of the hall is a Chest
containing 8000 Mesata. Because, you know, we're just HURTING for cash at this
point. Yeah, well, go back S and take them there stairs back to...
1st Floor - North Central area, part 3 (Sol-Dew, Boss: Xe-A-Thoul)
Well, now you're on a raised area that surrounds the room we were just in not
so long ago. Lovely. Walk S, then E, and when the path branches into N and
E hallways, go N. You'll come to a descending staircase. Take it down, and
you'll be in a cellar-type area. You can go either N or S, but the N hallway
leads to a dead end, while the S hallway leads to a chest containing some
Sol-Dew. Needless to say, you should go S, grab the Dew, and head back
upstairs. Retrace your steps to that E-running hall we bypassed earlier, and
head on down it. After a short walk, you'll see an arch to the N. Pass under
it and take the ascending stairs you find there.
Oh boy. Another balcony. Walk due W and enter the archway you come across.
There are no less than three dead-end areas to the N, the E, and the far W, so
don't bother exploring. Just walk back inside.
Well, this is it. The Torch Thieves are in the Northern part of this room,
guarding another archway. Before you talk to them (which will initiate a
fight), make sure you restore everyone's HP to full. Once you're prepped,
speak to any of the three Thieves.
They laugh like good little minions and say that they it was good of all of
you to come, but they really only want to kill and mutilate Lutz. Well, good
for them, but they're not going to do anything but die at your hand.
Xe-A-Thoul (1550 HP each)
Watch out for ThunderBlast! This Combo attack, done by all 3 Thouls, will deal
rougly 75-100 damage to EVERY Party member (except for Rune, who only takes 25%
of what everyone else does. A high Mental score sure comes in handy, no?).
Ow, ow, ow! If the Thouls use this on you (and they will, every round, until
you kill one), do NOT forget to have Rika cast GiSar the next round, unless you
want to start losing people.
If you kill one or two Thouls, but not all three, the remaining Thouls will no
longer be able to use ThunderBlast, and will fall back on regular attacks,
GiWat, and GiZan. You can handle that easily, as none of those attacks are
anywhere near as powerful as ThunderBlast, so just concentrate on offing the
remaining Thouls.
The biggest thing that will get you in trouble in this battle is if they manage
to cast ThunderBlast BEFORE Wren puts the Barrier up, and then AGAIN before
Rika can cast GiSar the next round. Yes, this can happen, and if it does, you
better hope that Wren and Rune can kill the Thouls before they bite it. You
can lose this battle if you get unlucky, so BE PREPARED, and if you're really
worried, Hinas out and save before returning and attempting this battle.
Here's what to do in order to make this fight as short as possible - because
you do NOT want to get into a lenghty brawl with these guys:
Round 1:
Chaz uses AirSlash. Wren uses Barrier. Rika uses Disrupt. Rune uses Efess.
Kyra should use Hewn, as it does 130 damage to each Thoul (Kyra's attacks and
GiGra only deal 100 damage to each Thoul).
Round 2:
Chaz uses AirSlash. Wren uses BurstRoc. Rika casts GiSar to counter the
damage done by ThunderBlast. Rune uses Efess. Kyra uses Hewn.
Round 3:
Chaz uses AirSlash. Wren uses Recover or attacks with his PulseVlcn,
depending on how hurt he is. Rika casts GiSar to counter the damage done by
ThunderBlast. Rune uses Efess. Kyra uses Hewn.
Alternatively, you can have Rika use Disrupt every round, and have Kyra use her
Medice Skill - or Star-Dews - to heal the Party. This is a bit risky, however,
since Kyra is generally slower than Rika, and thus she might not get the
Medice/Star-Dew off before your Party is forced to eat another ThunderBlast.
Your call, but I still recommend using Rika to heal.
That should do it. ThunderBlast is nasty, yes, but as long as you counter it
with Barrier and shots of GiSar while Rune and Chaz and Wren use their most
powerful Attack Everything abilities, you should be able to win this fight in
2 1/2 rounds.
If this battle goes into a 4th round, you're either a) hoarding your best
attacks for no good reason (free healing in the center of the castle,
remember?) or b) you need some more Levels - BADLY. Your average Party Level
should be at least 33 by now, and if it isn't, Lassic is going to have a field
day kicking your under-Leveled asses to the afterlife and back.
Strangely enough, there is no cut-scene or inter-Party conversation after the
Three Thouls are defeated. There is, however, another Magical Healing Circle
just a hop, skip, and a jump to the N. Use it to refresh your wounded selves,
and then it's time to backtrack.
Where are we going? The second opening that the Thoul Illusions were blocking
off (see 1st Floor - North Central area, part 1, where you have to detour
around them to the West), that's where. The fastest way to get there is to use
an Escapipe or Hinas to go back to the beginning of the Air Castle, and hold
up on the controller until you get there. I'm not kidding. If you walk
straight N from your starting point after Hinas-ing long enough, you'll walk
right through the archway in question. Once inside this well-guarded room,
you'll see another set of descending stairs. Take them down to...
Air Castle, Floor B1F East (No items)
Wow. A dungeon within a dungeon. I TOLD you this place was your biggest
challenge yet! Lassic awaits, so let's get moving...
From the stairs... oohhhh! Parralax scrolling on the Genesis! Very nice!
What? The walkthrough? Right, sorry, got distracted. Um... okay, from the
stairs, walk S and you'll almost immediately come across a side passage leading
E. Now, you can continue S or go E, it matters not. They are simply two
halves of the same looping hallway that "ends" in a descending staircase. Pick
a path, step on the stairs, and fly down to...
Floor B2F East (No items)
Once again, a simple loop "ending" in a descending staircase. The fastest
route: walk E, turn N, follow W, take the passage S to the stairs that will
take you down to...
Floor B3F East (Moon-Dew)
This looks like another loop at first, but it's not. From the stairs, walk S
until you come to an E/W T. Go E, and follow the path when it turns N. At the
end of the hall you'll come upon a chest containing a Moon-Dew. Return to the
T and head E this time. Follow along as the hallway turns N, then jogs E and
ends in a descending staircase that will take us down to...
Floor B4F East (no items)
From the stairs, head S, then turn E. You'll come across a side passage
heading N; take it. The E passage simply continues on to a dead end. At the
end of the N side passage is a staircase that descends to...
Floor B5F (Star-Dew)
Once you reach this, the bottom floor, follow the passage as winds around:
first W, then S, then back E, then N. Once you start going N, there will be a
chest to your right; open it for a Star-Dew. Continue N, and the passage will
turn W, then S, then W again, then N, then E, and finally S to an ascending
staircase that takes us to...
Floor B4F West (No items)
Head S to an E/W T, and go E. The W hallway is nothing but a dirty, deceitful
dead end. Once on an Easterly track, follow along as the hall turns N, then
E, and finally N again, ending in an ascending staircase that takes us up to...
Floor B3F West (No items)
Running out of ideas, guys? Head S until the passage turns W, and follow it.
Take the side passage N - if you continue W, you'll just find yourself in yet
another dead end. Now take those stairs up to...
Floor B2F West (No items)
Another loop-de-loop. For best results, head N to the E/W T and go W, then S,
and take the W side passage to the stairs that lead up to...
Floor B1F West (EclpsTorch, Lassic)
This level tries to be confusing but fails utterly. No items here (only
another dead end), so just do the following: head S from the stairs to an E/W
T. Go E, turn N, and walk N 'till you can't no 'mo. There's an ominous black
doorway here, but don't be afraid... yet. Enter it, and you'll be in a small
room. Go E then N, to another doorway flanked by two huge pillars. You can
guess what that means. Yep. This is it: the showdown with Lassic. Heal
yourself up to FULL HP, take a few deep breaths, and step through the
doorway...
Walk N up the narrow walkway, until you come upon a Chest sitting in the middle
of a large platform. Once you open that Chest, Lassic is sure to show himself,
so BE SURE YOU'RE READY. The chest contains, of course, the EclpsTorch.
Wait... no, it doesn't! Chaz exclaims that the Torch is a fake, and it morphs
into a Spector that wastes no time in attacking you!
Eh, it's only a Spector. You've killed about 337,000 of these by now, so just
snuff this one with a DblSlash or something and be done with it.
Once the Spector is no more, Lassic appears behind you, at the edge of the
platform! He "greets" Lutz, and launches into a rather lenghty speil about
how he's going to kill you all and turn you into restless spirits that can
never leave his haunted castle, yadda yadda. And then, he attacks..!
Boss: Lich Lassic, slave of Dark Force (6,400 [!!!] HP)
Oh boy, here we go. If you've played Phantasy Star, you know that Lassic is
no pushover, and 2,000 years of Lich-dom haven't made him any weaker - in fact,
Lassic now knows a whole host of Dark Magics that will test your Party to their
limits. Lassic is tough. He does a crapload of damage. He has a LOT of HP.
He's probably the toughest Boss in the game. But you can still beat him if you
keep a few things in mind:
He's now Undead AND Unholy. Yow know what that means: things like RayBlade,
Efess, and the Silvr-Tusk will all do double damage to him. I don't really
talk about Combination Attacks much in the Walkthrough proper (they have their
own section in the appendices), but this one will make the fight much, much
easier: have Chaz use CrossCut, and have Rune use Efess. If you're lucky, they
will combine this into Grand Cross, which will deal upwards of 750 damage to
Lassic. That'll teach him to come back from the dead!
ALL of Lassic's attacks are Magical in nature. Put up a Barrier with Wren in
the first round, or you're toast. A Barrier will at least cut the damage
Lassic deals down to something semi-reasonable.
SaNer is key. Have Rika use it immediately - you NEED to be faster than
Lassic, or you're gonna have one hell of a time beating him without suffering
heavy losses and using up your precious supply of Dews.
Don't be afraid to "double up" on your healing: have Rika use GiSar, while
Kyra uses Medice, and in an emergency, have Rune or Chaz use a Star-Dew as
well. Sure, you might "waste" some healing, but it's better to "waste" a
Medice or a GiSar than it is to watch as Lassic nails your badly injured Party
with AnotherGate before you're ready for it.
Speaking of Star-, Moon-, and Sol-Dew, DON'T BE LIKE ME AND FORGET YOU HAVE
THEM. If someone dies, screw Rever, USE A Sol-Dew ON THEM. Taking a beating?
Have Chaz or Wren or Rune use a Star-Dew to supplement Rika and Krya's healing
abilities. This is a MAJOR BOSS BATTLE - you have nothing to gain my hoarding
items or saving your TP or Skill charges. Go all out or you'll be loading up
your last save.
Here is, in a final effort to put the fear of darkness in your heart, a list of
all the overpowered attacks that Lassic has at his disposal:
Lassic's most dangerous attack is the incredibly damaging AnotherGate. This
outrageous magic attack will deal 125 (Rune) to 225 (Wren) damage to the entire
Party, or about 2/3 that with Barrier up. Not nice, not nice at all. If he
uses this, your next round will have to be a "AnotherGate Recovery Round" (see
below) - it hurts THAT much. Be ready to use GiSar, Medice, and possibly a</pre><pre id="faqspan-8">
Star-Dew or two.
Lassic can also hearken back to 2,000 years ago and cast, uh, "Thndhalbrt".
Yeah, Thndhalbrt. Thunderbolt mispelled horribly? Thunder Halberd Bolt?
In any case, it hurts. Not as much as AnotherGate, but close: with Barrier up,
it will do between 80 (Rune) and 210 (Wren) to the Party. Fortunately, most
of your Party members only take around 100 damage, so a GiSar from Rika next
turn will erase most of the damage.
After you deal approximately 5,000 damage to Lassic, he will use Reinforce to
up all his stats - making his attacks even stronger! As crazy as that sounds,
it also means that he's almost dead - so keep on dishing out the damage, he
can't take much more.
After Lassic uses Reinforce, he starts using Possession. This can be good or
bad - all it does is put a Party member to sleep. The good? You can lay off
the healing next round. The bad? If he puts Rika and/or Kyra to sleep, and
they don't wake soon, you could be in trouble. My advice is to have Rune cast
Arows to awaken any sleepers, just to be on the safe side.
Now, things will be a bit easier if you're at least at the recommended Level,
as your characters will have enough HP and Magic Defense to take a hit or two
from Lassic's arsenal. I suggest the following strategy:
Round 1:
Chaz uses RayBlade. Wren uses Barrier. Rika casts SaNer. Rune uses Tandle.
Kyra uses Flaeli.
Round 2:
Chaz uses RayBlade. Wren uses either Recover or Flare, depending on his HP.
Rika casts Shift on Chaz, or casts GiSar (more likely). Rune uses Tandle.
Kyra uses Flaeli, or Medice if someone's hurt badly.
Round 3:
Chaz uses RayBlade. Wren uses either Recover or Flare. Rika casts Shift on
Chaz (or herself, if she's cast in on Chaz already) or casts GiSar. Rune uses
Tandle. Kyra uses Flaeli or Medice.
Rounds 4+:
Chaz uses CrossCut. Wren uses either Recover or Flare. Rika uses DblSlash,
casts Shift on Chaz or herself, or casts GiSar. Rune uses Efess (hopefully
producing the Grand Cross Combination Attack with Chaz). Kyra uses Flaeli or
Medice.
Once you run out of Effess and Tandle "charges" with Rune, have him switch
back to NaGra, NaWat, or NaFoi. If Chaz runs out of both RayBlade and
CrossCut charges, have him switch to NaThu, and then to attacks if he runs out
of TP. Have Rika use a Shift-enhanced DblSlash in any round where she's not
casting Sar or GiSar or using a Star-Dew (which may never happen, honestly).
AnotherGate Recovery Round:
Do the following in EVERY round that succeeds one of Lassic's AnotherGate
attacks:
Chaz uses a Star-Dew (if Lassic opens with AnotherGate and your Barrier wasn't
up yet), otherwise have him revive a dead Party member with a Sol-Dew. He can
attack as normal if you're not hurt that badly.
Rika always casts Sar or GiSar. If she runs out of TP, have her use a
Star-Dew instead.
Rune can use a Dew if you're near death, but you should just have him attack
as normal if at all possible - just don't use Efess if Chaz is using items!
Wren will most likely need to Recover, but if you have Kyra use Medice on him,
he can use Flare instead.
Kyra should use Medice on whoever has the least HP remaining; her attacks all
suck against Lassic anyway.
Not much else to say. As long as you heal too much rather than just enough
to scrape by, you should be able to out-last Lassic. Just keep in mind that
with almost 7,500 HP, Lassic can survive no less than 7 or 8 "Full Damage"
rounds of combat. Couple this with the fact that you neeed to heal
extensively, and you're looking at a battle that can drag on for a dozen rounds
or more!
At any rate, once Lassic has been defeated, he uses the old cliche: "you may
have gotten me, but you'll never get the Eclipse Torch!"
Fortunately, Rika leaps forth and snatches the Torch from Lassic's rotting
grasp. As Lassic's undead body begins to disentigrate, he claims that he will
be "reborn" over and over, to plague the future of Algo, for as long as "He"
exists.
And, as Lassic goes, so does the Air Castle. The Party makes it back to the
Landale and takes off just as the Air Castle goes nova. As the Party weathers
the shock wave caused by the massive explosion, Rune talks about how pathetic
Lassic was, succumbing like he did to the lure of power and becoming nothing
more than a puppet of Dark Force.
Chaz wants to know who the "He" that Lassic mentioned is. Rika theorizes that
"He" must be Dark Force... but we defeated Dark Force. Didn't we?
The game then cuts to the Gumbious Temple, where the head priest thanks them
profusely for retrieving the Eclipse Torch, and says he will gladly give it
to those with the strength to use it to lead the people of Algo from the dark
road they are on.
Chaz suggests that the Party return to the Forest of Carniverous Trees with the
Eclipse Torch. Good idea there, Chaz. It's time to heal up (either at the Inn
in Jut or at the Magic Circles in Tyler Spaceport) and make tracks...
-------------------------
To the Carniverous Forest
-------------------------
Suggested Level: Wren 32, Chaz 36, Rika 38, Rune 34, Kyra 32
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 33, Chaz 36, Rika 39, Rune 34, Kyra 32
Monsters you may face: Helex, Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug,
Snow Worm
Ice Digger foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
Well, in case you forgot how to get to the Forest, here's a refresher:
Exit Meese, and head East. You'll pass a bunch of trees and an Ice Wall before
coming to a mountain range stretching North and South. Turn and head North,
through a narrow pass in the mountains. You'll see some sickly brown vine-like
things growing in large clusters, blocking the pass. Walk (or drive) into
them.
Chances are you'll go up a Level or two, either from the XP you got from
Lassic, or from fighting your way to the Forest. That's why, despite the short
trip, I show a few Party members gaining a Level.
At any rate, once you reach the Carnivorous Trees, the game will show a
mini-cutscene in which Chaz holds aloft the Eclipse Torch, and the Trees
dissolve into nothingness. Now, walk North a short distance, and you'll see...
-------------------------------
Garubrk Tw (The Garuberk Tower)
-------------------------------
Monsters found in this dungeon:
FrostSaber, ChaosSorc(ere)r, D-Elm-Lars, Ha(c)kenLeft, Ghoul, Radhin,
King Saber, DarkMaraud(er)
Items found in this dungeon:
Trimate x2, Pow-Shield, MoonSlashr, Star-Dew x2, Moon-Dew, Escapipe
Suggested Level: Wren 33, Chaz 36, Rika 39, Rune 34, Kyra 32
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 36, Chaz 39, Rika 42, Rune 36, Kyra 35
The Boss of this Dungeon is: a spoiler. I'll tell you what it is when you get
there. I'm so evil.
Well, after a LOT of sidetracking, we're finally here: the enigmatic Garuberk
Tower. Is the tower truly the root of all Dezolis' recent troubles? Can Chaz
and the others find a way to topple the tower? And even if they do, will the
tower's fall end the plague, thus saving Raja and the others?
Those are all questions that we are here to answer, so let's get started.
Unfortunately, the Garuberk Tower is a bit like the Upper Levels of the Air
Castle: annoying and maze-like, complete with "switches" than open up new
passages. Basically, be prepared to do a lot of wandering around,
backtracking, and fighting. On the plus side, there's a shiny new Slasher for
Kyra and some Dews to be had if you're diligent and search out all the tower's
chests.
Once again, if you're not at the recommended Level, you may well find yourself
running out of Skills or TP by the time you reach the Boss. I will again
suggest that if you find yourself in such a situation, it is better to leave,
heal up, and come back rather than try and push your Party too far. Subsequent
trips through the tower are much shorter than the initial one, since the
"puzzles" here don't reset, even if you leave.
General Combat strategies:
More friendly foes. Once again, the majority of the critters you come across
fall into that Undead/Unholy category. Remember to use Efess and Rika's
physical/Double Damage attacks (with the Silvr-Tusk, of course) for quick kills
if you think you might be in trouble, but do try to save Chaz' "charges" of
RayBlade for the Boss. Finally, Eliminat is your friend in this place. It can
(and will) slay HakenLefts, Radhins, King Sabers, ChaosSorcrs, DarkMarauders,
AND D-Elm-Lars. Use it with wild abondon; Rika should have close to 15
"charges" of it by this point. Don't forget about Rune's Diem and Negatis
Skills, either: they're just as effective as Eliminat. At any rate, expect to
see the following monsters... a lot:
FrostSabers and ChaosSorcrs both return for a repeat performance, and even our
good buddy D-Elm-Lars is back for an encore. See my above description of
these fiends in the Air Castle's Combat strategies (or the ClimCenter Combat
strategies for D-Elm-Lars) if you need a refresher course in Saber or "Sorcr"
ownage. The only thing to watch out for here is the larger groups that these
old foes now appear in. Don't be afraid to use multiple "hits everything"
attacks in a single round if you get large groups of ChaosSorcrs or
D-Elm-Lars.
Ha(c)kenLefts are yet another incarnation of the Ripper. Nothing new here,
they still have a nasty physical attack and Acidbreath, and more HP than ever.
In addition, these guys have enough HP to survive a few attacks, enough
agility that your Party won't always attack first, AMD they can dodge regular
attacks. Yee-ouch. Don't shy away from using some of Chaz and Rika's (now)
numerous "charges" of AirSlash or Disrupt; using either of those skills will
help make your battles with these things all the shorter. You do get some
very respectable XP for your troubles, too.
Ghouls, another Phantasy Star "throwback" monster, are a stronger, meaner
version of the Zombies you encountered in Reshel. They possess the bizarre
"bad smell" attack, which tries to put your whole Party to sleep, and they
also have a hard-hitting physical attack. However, Ghouls are relatively
slow and possess very low defense and not very many HP. Physical attacks are
more than enough to fell these foul things, so don't waste too many resources
fighting them.
Radhins are Juza look-alikes with attitude. They are the dungeon's token
spellcaster foe, and as such using Wren's Barrier when fighting these is a
GOOD idea. Their spell, er, Tech/Skill list includes SaNer, DeBan, Shift,
Seals, GiSar, and ForceFlash. That's a fairly dangerous combination of
abilities, so it's in your best interests to use copious amounts of Double
Damage and/or Attack All Skills to kill them quickly. Barrier will take the
edge off of their ForceFlash attacks, so feel free to put one up at the
beginning of the fight - Wren has a few "charges" to spare by now.
King Sabers are bronze-toned Centaurs. These little buggers will be a thorn
in your side, much like the aforementioned Centaurs that infested the Ladea
Tower were. They have 2 attacks: Ray Spear and an almost-always-critical
physical attack. Both are nasty if you don't have Deban up, so have Rika cast
that in the first round of combat, and then beat the Kings down with Double
Damage attacks, Instant Death attacks (although they only work once in a
while), and heaping helpings of Flaeli, NaFoi, and NaWat. If you're lucky,
a King Saber may drop a GenocyClaw, which is quite nice if you somehow missed
the one in the Air Castle. Do resist the temptation to double the GenocyClaws
up, however, as the SilvrTusk's extra damage vs. undead is superior to the
tiny extra chance for an instant kill that a pair of Genocy's will give you.
DarkMaraud(er)s are another original Phantasy Star foe. If you've played it,
you might remember them as being pretty nasty, a trait they've maintained over
the passing millenia. They do have one big weakness: they only attack
physically, and thus, a shot of Deban or Warla will all but nullify their
attacks. Once you've done that, you can just use regular attacks to polish
the DarkMarauders off, thus saving your resources for tougher battles. The
Marauders CAN cast Shift (although they don't do so often), which makes them
a bit more deadly, but not by much, to be honest. Lastly, they resist most
types of elemental damage, so stick to physical and Double Damage attacks as
much as you can.
Your characters should reach these Levels and learn the following abilities:
At Level 33, Kyra will learn the NaFoi Technique. You know what NaFoi can do,
but don't expect Kyra's NaFoi to be quite as potent as Rune's.
At Level 37, Chaz will learn the NaZan Technique. This is really handy to
have, as it gives you an alternative to AirSlash when you find yourself
running low on AirSlash "charges". It also gives you a productive way to
spend Chaz' TP.
At Level 35, Rune will learn the Legion Skill. Legion is Rune's penultimate
Skill: it works much like Efess, but it deals equal damage (300 or more) to
ALL foes, not just undead/unholy ones. It seems to be non-elemental, which
is good in that nothing resists it, but bad in that nothing takes extra
damage from it. Still a nice Skill to have around for when you've been
ambushed, are a hurtin' unit, and you need to kill everything - NOW.
At Level 40, Rika will learn the NaSar Technique. The ultimate healing spell,
NaSar will restore hundreds of HP to every member of the Party, for a mere
36 (!) TP. I recommend using this spell in combat only, and even then you
should only cast it after a Boss nails you with something particularly life-
threatening. You'll find Rika TP-less in Seattle in no time at all if you
fail to heed my advice.
At Level 35, Kyra will learn the Bindwa Skill. Bindwa will attempt to BIND all
of your foes, thus rendering them paralyzed. That's all fine and dandy, but
1) paralysis isn't all THAT great except for when you use it on a foe that you
can't kill in a single round (of which there really aren't all that many) and
2) it has so few "charges" that you probably won't have any left for when you
really need them. Oh well, it technically makes Kyra more versatile.
At Level 36, Kyra will learn the NaRes Technique. I'm not going to elaborate,
by now you should know how handy NaRes is. The only thing I'll say is that
Kyra really shouldn't be wasting her TP on NaRes if she still has "charges"
of Medice to use instead.
Ok, that pretty much does it. Kyra now has Bindwa, NaFoi, and NaSar; Chaz has
NaZan; Rune has Legeon; and Rika has NaSar. There are no more
Skills/Techniques that your characters will learn BY LEVELING, so this section
will not appear in any of the subsequent dungeons.
Walkthrough:
------------
1st Floor (No items)
Not much to see here. Just head in a Northerly direction until you see a
strange pink and green cylinder nestled in the North wall. The cylinder is
this dungeon's version of an elevator, so walk up and "search" it. The "doors"
will open. Step inside and travel on up to the...
2nd Floor (Trimate, Pow-Shield)
This tower is awfully organic looking, isn't it? I LOVE what the interior
decorator did: the blue slime compliments the fleshy walls SO well. When you
emerge from the elevator, there will be many directions in which you can
travel. They are ALL dead ends, except for one: the NE passage. Go as far N
as you can, then turn to the W. You'll come to a room with an Eyeball sitting
on its W end, and a slimy chest on its N end. Go N and open the chest for a
Trimate, then walk SW and "search" the Eyeball. Eyeballs are switches; this is
a puzzle dungeon! Oh joy! When you examine the switch, the game makes its
patented Organic sound effect, and the tower quivers, and an opening appears
to the E. Walk due E from the Eyeball and through what used to be a section
of wall. When you can't go E no more, turn and go SE. You'll come to an
intersection, with passages S and SE. Continue SE for now, and at the end of
this hallway you'll find a chest containing a Pow-Shield. Another worthless
shield to completely ignore. Backtrack to that S side-passage you passed by
before, and take it. Continuing past the elevator is a fruitless endeavor that
leads only to a dead end, so stop where you are and ascend to the...
3rd Floor (Trimate)
Ooh, pretty green pulsing vein things! This tower gets more beautiful every
floor! From the elevator, head S until you come to an E/W T. For now, walk a
few steps W, then turn and head SE, until you come to a chest containing
another Trimate. Yay. Return to the T and travel E this time, following the
winding hallway E then N then E and finally S, when you'll come to another E/W
T. To the W is a short dead end, so head E instead. You'll see an elevator,
but you should ignore it for now and head S. Follow the hallway as it winds
S, then E, then N again until it finally ends in a 2nd elevator. Go ahead and
take this one on up to the...
4th Floor - Southeast (MoonSlashr)
Just walk S through the maze of, uh, veins, and claim the MoonSlasher for Kyra
from the chest nestled against the Southern wall of this small area. The
MoonSlasher is a signifigant upgrade over the Laconian Slasher, so give this to
Kyra immediately. Now, go back down the elevator and return to the...
3rd Floor - revisited
Retrace your steps (go S then W then N) until you come to the original elevator
that you blithely ignored earlier. Ignore it no longer and travel up to the...
4th Floor (Star-Dew)
Once you emerge from the elevator, you may be tempted to go S, but you must
resist: it's an empty dead end. Go E instead until you come to a NW/SE T.
The SE path is (again) an empty dead end, so go NW instead. After only a few
steps, you'll see a side passage/room thingie to the W. Detour in that
direction, and you'll soon see a chest containing a Star-Dew. Grab it and
continue heading NW. Follow this wide hallway as it winds NW, then W, then S,
then W again, and finally N. At the end of all that there will be the elevator
that takes us up to the...
5th Floor (Moon-Dew)
Hit the ground running and go NE. After a short run you will come to a 4-way
intersection. Let's go S first, since it leads to a very small room with a
chest in it. Grab your Moon-Dew from the chest and return to the intersection.
Ignore the E path (nothing but a little dead end area) and travel N. The
passage will snake a bit, curving NW, then due W. You'll see an elevator, and
a path leading S. Ignore the S passage: another dead end. Hop in the trusty
elevator and ascend to the...
6th Floor (Escapipe)
Follow the (only) passage as it winds NE, then N, then SW, and finally SE.
At this point the path will split into 2 passages: SW and SE. The SW path is
a very short dead end, so just continue going SE. The path will turn to go
due E and then split again, this time into NE and E paths. Take the NE path:
you'll soon come to a chest containing an Escapipe. Come on! Gimme a break!
Sigh. Anyway, go back and take that E passage. Follow it when it goes turns
to the N, and after a bit of a hike, you'll come across an elevator. Ignore it
for now: , the area it leads to is just a big ol' dead end for now... you must
travel further N and take THAT elevator down to the...
5th Floor - switch room (No items)
Alrighty then. Walk five steps SW and press the Eyeball switch, then return to
the elevator and go back up to the...
6th Floor - revisited
Walk S and descend that original elevator that we bypassed earlier. You'll end
up at the...
5th Floor - northeast (No items)
You can go either E or W from the elevator, but since the E passage dead ends,
you should head W instead. Follow the hallway when it curves N, and you'll
soon come to an elevator that take us up to the...
6th Floor - northeast (No items)
Now, if you haven't pressed that eyeball switch on the 5th Floor, this "floor"
will be nothing but an empty room. However, once you press the switch, the W
wall disappears. At any rate, if you've been following my walkthrough, the
wall is gone and all you need to do is walk W from the elevator. After a few
steps you will see the ascending elevator that you will be riding up to the...
7th Floor - (Star-Dew, Dark Force)
Well, this is it: the top floor of the Garuberk Tower. There are 3 paths you
can take: S, W, and N. The S path is a dead end. The W path ends in a chest
containing a Star-Dew. And finally, the N path contains... Dark Force! That's
right, he's back. This time, he's taken on a scorpion-like form. Well, it
seems pretty obvious that you need to kill him to destroy the Garuberk Tower
and put an end to Dezolis' troubles. So, when you see him, stop. Heal up to
full HP. And when you think you're ready, approach him...
The Party will have a brief conversation, talking about how this is indeed
Dark Force (despite the fact that you destroyed Dark Force in Kuran), but
Wren says that this Dark Force's configuration does not match that of the
Dark Force you fought previously. Rika ponders if this means that there are
two Dark Forces? Before anyone can answer that, however, Dark Force senses
your presence and attacks...
Boss: Dark Force (7500 HP)
Don't let that HP counter fool you. The fact that Dark Force only has 100 more
HP than Lassic doesn't mean that this will be over soon. You see, Dark Force
has much, MUCH better defenses than poor Lassic did, although his attacks also
don't deal quite as much damage. This means that the fight will be a long one,
normally lasting a dozen rounds or more. Ugh. Fortunately, Dark Force still
qualifies as being Unholy, so you can still rely on RayBlade, Efess, the
SilvrTusk, et al, to dish out some good damage.
So what can Dark Force do to you? Well, let's start with Sh(a)d(o)wBreath,
which apparently is the latest version of the Black Energy Wave. This attack
will deal 150-200 damage to a single character (less if they have good Magic
Defense and/or you have a Barrier up). For this reason, it's a good idea to
have Rika whip out the occasional Sar - and Kyra the occasional Medice - to
keep your characters' HP up.
Evil Eye is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it can put a Party member
to sleep, which means you need to waste Rune's turn casting Arows. Bleah. On
the other hand, it does no damage, so everyone ELSE can focus on dishing out
the pain, or you can use the round to catch up on your healing. Dark Force
normally opens with this attack, and pretty much never uses it again. Bizarre.
Finally, LightShow(e)r is Dark Force's Big, Bad, Hit-The-Whole-Party attack.
He shoots beams of electrical energy from its body, striking every Party member
for 25 (Rune) to 225 (Wren) damage - assuming you have your Barrier up. It's
REALLY gonna hurt otherwise. The sad thing is, Lassic did more damage than
that with the weaker of his two attacks (Thundhalbrt), so you should be able to
shrug this off by using Recover, Medice, and possibly Sar the next round.
The battle should proceed something like this:
Round 1
Wren uses Barrier. Chaz uses RayBlade. Rika casts SaNer. Rune casts NaWat.
Kyra uses Warla.
Rounds 2 and 3
Wren uses Flare (or Recover, if need be). Chaz uses RayBlade. Rika casts
Shift on Chaz (round 2) and herself (round 3); if Dark Force uses LightShower,
have her cast Sar instead. Rune casts NaWat. Kyra uses Medice on the most
injured Party member (usually Wren).
Rounds 4 and on
Wren uses Flare (or Recover, if need be). Chaz switches to using CrossCut,
and Rune begins using Efess, in the hopes of getting the Grand Cross
Combination Attack. Rika alternates between healing whomever needs it and
using DblSlash when she can. Kyra uses Medice on badly wounded Party members,
tossing in the occasional NaFoi is the Party is in overall good shape (i.e.
once in a blue moon).
Alternate attacks:
Chaz: once he runs out of RayBlade and CrossCut charges, switch to NaThu, and
then finally to regular physical attacks (Shift-boosted, of course).
Wren: none. Just keep Flarin' and Recoverin'.
Rika: none. Alternate healing and DblSlashes.
Rune: Once Efess is all gone, use the following (in order): Legeon, Tandle,
NaWat, and finally Flaeli.
Kyra: none. She'll most likely be using Medice in every single round anyway.
That's about it. If you have Barrier up, the battle just becomes a matter of
pumping your best attacks into Dark Force while countering his ShadowBreath
with Medice and his LightShower with Sar. Unless Rika is VERY low on TP when
you start this fight, it shouldn't be too difficult. And even if Rika DOES
run out of TP, you should still at LEAST two or three Star-Dews, which you can
use every second LightShower. If you're really worried about Dark Force offing
someone with ShadowBreath, have Rika feed them a Trimate: you ought to be
swimming in THOSE by now.
After beating Dark Force and getting almost 10,000 exp PER PERSON from him, my
Levels looked like this (although your milage will almost certainly vary):
Wren: 36, Chaz: 40, Rika: 42, Rune: 37, Kyra: 36
The game then enters a cut-scene showing us the Garuberk Tower as it
disentigrates in a burst of energy.
"It's over," says the Party, heaving a collective sigh of relief. Rika notes
that the neverending Blizzard has finally abated; the blue sky of Dezolis is
beginning to peek through the cloud cover.
Rune says that the Black Energy Wave is no more, and that the victims of the
Plague should be on the road to recovery.
Kyra gives a long winded speech about how great the Party is, and how she is
going to return to Meese to help nurse the Plague victims back to full health.
Kyra, Chaz, and Rune heckle each other in a good-natured manner for a while,
and then Kyra departs.
Just then, a huge (and I mean HUGE) explosion shakes the very earth. It came
from the direction of Gumbious Temple...!
At this point, the game gives you control of the Party (sans Kyra, of course).
Standing around by where the Garuberk Tower used to be isn't going to do us any
good; it's time to get moving. Obviously, you're supposed to go directly to
the Gumbious Temple, but you really ought to warp back to Meese, first.
---------------
Return to Meese
---------------
New Item shop: Moon-Dew: 5000, Star-Dew 10000, Sol-Dew 20000
Now that the plague victims are all cured, that Item shop that was locked up
is now again open for business.
And what a shop it is! Here you can finally purchase those elusive Dews! I
find that it's best to sell all your Moon-Dews and all but a few of your
Trimates, and instead buy Star-Dews and Sol-Dews until you have 4 or 5 of each.
The best part is, if you ever use up all your Dews in a Boss battle, you can
come back here and replenish what you used. Sure, buying all these Dews can
get expensive, but it's not like you have anything else to spend all those
Mesata on at this point, do you?
If you wish, you can take a trip up to the second floor of the Inn, where
you'll find Krya tending to Raja. However, neither of them will join the Party
at this point. Kyra gripes about Raja's awful jokes, and Raja will continue to
be a big wussy boy and claim that he needs more bed rest. Yeah, Raja, it's so
tough having that fever. Far worse than battle through labrynth-esque dungeons
and battling the very root of all evil in the entire Algo solar system. You
just stay in bed, you poor thing, you. (/sarcasm off)
Finally, some of the townsfolk mention that since the Zombies have disappeared
from Reshel, people are moving back there and rebuilding the town. If you
want, you can warp back there now, and check out the final Dezolis town...
--------------------------
The rebuilt Town of Reshel
--------------------------
Inn: 130 Mesata per person (520 Mesata)
Item shop: Trimate 400; Antidote 10; Cure-Paral 120; Telepipe 130; Escapipe 70
Armor shop: Laco-Helm 13800, Laco-Crown 15000, LacoCirclt 9600,
Laco-Mail 43800, LacoShield 20400
Wow, they certainly got this place up and running in a hurry, didn't they? The
townsfolk don't have much to say, but you can purchase some powerful new
Laconian equipment here that isn't available elsewhere. The LacoShield is
worthless, as only Chaz and Rika can equip it, and the LacoCirclt doesn't
increase your Mental score, making it equally useless. However, I do suggest
you look into buying the following items:
For Chaz, purchase a suit of Laco-Mail. You could buy a Laco-Helm, but I much
prefer the Speed bonus that the Swift-Helm gives you. If defense is your
thing, however, feel free to grab that Laco-Helm.
For Rika, buy a suit of Laco-Mail and the Laco-Crown. It never hurts to have
Rika's defense as high as you can get it: if she dies, you're in trouble.
Sell off your old gear, and prepare to leave. Now that you're well-stocked
with healing items, Dews, and shiny new Laconian armor, use Rune's (or Chaz')
Ryuka Tech to...
-----------------------------
Return to the Gumbious Temple
-----------------------------
Suggested Level: Wren 36, Chaz 40, Rika 42, Rune 37
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 36, Chaz 40, Rika 42, Rune 37
Monsters you may face: Helex, Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug,
Snow Worm
Ice Digger foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
Once you arrive at the Temple, you'll find that there IS no Temple, just a
black scorch mark on the landscape! Walk into it anyway. You'll end up in
the Temple's basement, where the survivors talk about how the Temple was
vaporized by, and I quote, "waves of pure hate". Ouch.
Walk onto the dais, and the Bishop will begin speaking to the Party. He drops
some bombshells on you:
1) Dark Force itself is but a tool of a greater evil force: The Profound
Darkness. Well, THAT'S not good.
2) The Profound Darkness is searching for Rykros. What's Rykros, you ask?
Good question. The Bishop only says that he knows not WHAT Rykros is, only
that you will find all the answers there, and that it is something that The
Profound Darkness does NOT want you to find. Thus, The Profound Darkness
razed the temple in the hopes that the Bishop would be killed, and thus he
could never pass knowledge of Rykros onto you. Well, that plan has failed,
and now the Bishop is telling you that you must find the Aero-Prism (another
artifact from Alis Landale's time) in order to find the way to Rykros.
To this, Rune says that the first generation Lutz (I can only assume he's
referring to either Noah of Phantay Star or Lutz or PSII) stored the Aero-Prism
in the Soldier's Temple. The Soldier's Temple is due East of Krup, Hahn's
hometown.
Wren says that, in order to get THERE, you'll need a vehicle that can traverse
water. He says that he'll get into contact with Demi about finding such a
vehicle.
At this point, Chaz and the Bishop talk about the Party's mission, and
prophesy, and the future. After that, the game shows you flying back to
Motavia.
Once you arrive at the Nurvus Spaceport, Demi begins speaking to you (via
intercom, perhaps?), saying that she's been expecting you. Wren asks Demi what
Motavia's status is, and she replies that everything is a-ok, and that
everything Wren requested is ready.
The game then shows us a picture of the third (and final) vehicle: the
HydroFoil! Now you can go ANYWHERE on Motavia. Anywhere at all. This will
become important in a little bit, but for now it means that you have access to
the Soldier's Temple. Chaz asks Demi if she's ready to tag along (why would
you WANT her back in the Party, Chaz? She sucks. S-U-C-K-S sucks!), but she
says that she must remain wired in order to properly reboot Motavia's Climate
Control Systems, which will still take some time.
After wishing Demi luck, you regain control of the Party. Heal up using one
of the Magic Circles, and exit the Spaceport.
Okay then, before we go galavanting off to the Soldier's Temple, let's first
examine the properties of the third and final vehicle:
The HydroFoil
The HydroFoil is one kick butt machine. Not only is it able traverse any
terrain that the Land Rover was able to do, it can do so at a faster speed.
Oh, and it can travel over ANY body of water, as well. The HydroFoil is
equipped with twin Photon Shot Cannons, plus is has the following special
attack modes "Optin"s:
Th.(under) Grid (x8): When you activate this, the HydroFoil sends out a
smothering grid of electrical energy that fries every monster at once. Good
for those pesky groups of ForcedFlies.
X-Burst (x2): What is this crap? It only has 2 charges, and yet it only does
100 more damage than the Thunder Grid mode? Uh, okay, sure. If you're
traveling over water, save these for the Hewgillas, otherwise you can just
swap a Thunder Grid for this attack once in a while to keep things fresh.
For the curious, the Ice Digger begins each battle with 680 SP.
As with the other two vehicles, the vibrations of the HydroFoil's engines will
lure forth Motavia's biggest, baddest monsters - which will promptly attack
you, of course. Here's a list of the beasties you'll run into while tooling
around in the HydroFoil:
Grasshounds, Forced Flies, and DesrtLeaches you've seen before. I'm not going
to cover them again, you should know how to kill these things by now.
Leviathans are only encountered when the Foil is moving over large bodies of
water, and good thing too, because they're powerful! Don't bother trying to
trade shots with this thing: you'll need to use at least 3 shots of Thunder
Grid and/or X-Burst to kill one - they have over 1100 HP. Or better yet, you
can try running, since the stupid things only give you 300 XP. 300!? When I
was getting 3,000 in the Garuberk Tower? Whatever.
Hewgillas are a bit like aquatic versions of ForcedFlies. They're not that
strong, travel in large grounps, and are more of a nuisance than anything
else. Put them out of their misery with a shot of Thunder Grid and let's
move on.
Elmelews will appear in the far corners of Motavia, near the "new" towns.
They're just grey versions of Hewgillas, with slightly stronger attacks and
a few more HP. They're weak to lightning, so just off the lot of them with
a blast of Thunder Grid.
As I said before, the HydroFoil can move over ANY ground surface - well, except
for trees and mountains. You don't need to utilize cliffs or beaches or
anything like that... the Foil will simply move across any body of water that
you direct it over. Very convenient, to say the least, and it allows you to
access the final little bits of Motavia that you haven't been to yet.
You may notice that the HydroFoil's offensive capabilities are, well, quite
lacking. This is done for a reason, I have found: the HydroFoil can escape
from any battle. Every time. Without fail. So, the moral of the story is
not to fight in the Foil, but to flee using the Foil. I have never once failed
to run from a Foil fight, so flee!
Well, it's that time again: time to do some more side-quests! That's right,
now that you have the HydroFoil, the final four Jobs become available. I'm
going to go over all of them right now (none of them are very long or involved,
really). If you don't want to do them, I'm afraid you're just going to have to
scroll way down until you come to the section titled, "To the Soldier's
Temple".
If you're still here, it's time to complete the final four Jobs. Who knows,
maybe you can honor Alys' memory and make a name for yourself as a Hunter. At
any rate, we'll start with the:
------------------------------------
Hunter's Guild Job #5: Stain in Life
------------------------------------
First available: once you obtain the HydroFoil from Demi.
Reward: 50,000 Mesata for returning Uzo's Chief's two daughters.
Associated Costs: 50,000 Mesata to post the daughters' bail.
Difficulty: Annoying and then some.
Location: Uzo, then Aiedo's Prison.
Suggested Party Level: Whatever Level you're at now will suffice.
This job comes from the "chief" of the remote village of Uzo. Phantasy Star II
players may remember Uzo as that idiotic Island Dungeon wherein you had to
take a series of tunnels to the top of a mountain, where you would find a tree
that may or may not give you the oxygen-producing leaf you neeeded to go
underwater (there were like 8 trees, all identical in appearance, and each of
them had a different path you had to take to reach it). Anyway, about the
Job...
The Chief wants you to find his two missing daughters, and is willing to pay
you 50,000 (!) Mesata. Well, sign me up! The receptionist informs you that
Uzo is on an island "south of here". Wow, be a little more vague there, why
doncha?
Good thing I'm here to help. Warp back to Piata, hop in the Hydro Foil, and
head due SW. If you still can't find Uzo, head due S from Piata, and when you
run into a mountain range (literally), turn and head W. Soon enough, you'll
see...
==================
The Village of Uzo
==================
Inn: 80 Mesata per person (320 Mesata)
Item shop: Trimate 400, Antidote 10, Cure-Paral 120, Telepipe 130, Escapipe 70
Uzo is a very useless little town. About the only thing that the townsfolk do
is whine about how they're cut off from the mainland due to the outbreak of
Biomonsters. Oh, and the monsters have ruined their fishing. Yeah, cry me
a river. Things are tough all over.
Once you've had enough of the locals whining, go the house in the far SW
corner of town and talk to the village Chief's wife (the Chief will claim that
he knows nothing about commisioning the Hunter's Guild). The wife goes on and
on about how worried she is, but doesn't offer any clues as to where her
daughters might be, other than that they build a raft to go to "the mainland."
That's right, it's going to be one of THESE quests.
Warp back to Aiedo. Remember those two girls who were hanging out at the
Marketplace's Inn, staying night after night without any way to pay? Well,
they're in jail now. So, head to the jail (it's a bit East of the Hunter's
Guild) and talk to them in their cell. They'll whine about being in jail.
Talk to the sister on the left a second time, and she'll say that there's no
way the guard will let her out. We'll see about that. Talk to the guard
standing next to you, and he'll offer to let them free if you post their bail.
You'll NEVER, EVER, EVER guess how much their bail is. Ding ding ding, you are
correct sir, the answer is 50,000 Mesata! Oh, the programmers are just SO
clever. All this work for NOTHING. Sigh. Pay the 50,000 Mesata, and talk to
the sister on the left again.
The Party will find themselves back in Uzo, where the ecstatic parents will
agree to remit the 50,000 finders fee to the Guild. Not much else to do but
head back to the Guild so you can break even and start the next Job, which we
will talk about below:
--------------------------------
Hunter's Guild Job #6: Dying Boy
--------------------------------
First available: once you obtain the HydroFoil from Demi.
Reward: 10,000 Mesata for curing the boy's "illness".
Associated Costs: 500 Mesata for an Alis-Sword from Termi's Tourist Trap.
Difficulty: Annoying.
Location: Torinco, then Termi, then Torinco again.
Suggested Party Level: Whatever Level you're at now will suffice.
This Job comes from a gentleman in Torinco village. He wants to discus a plan
to cure his ailing son. Well, we have to get to Torinco in order to do this
Job, and for once the receptionist is right on the money: Torinco is directly
South of Monsen. The only, uh, catch is that you have to detour West around
the mountains, then head East a bit, back to where you started from, and
continue South. After a few moments you will see...
======================
The Village of Torinco
======================
Inn: 90 Mesata per person (360 Mesata)
Item shop: Trimate 400, Antidote 10, Cure-Paral 120, Telepipe 130, Escapipe 70
Another town filled with whiners. Like the Uzoians, the Torincoians bitch
about the local monsters, mainly, and how they're cut off from the Mainland.
A couple people will drop clues about the next Job - the ones that talk about
crops being eaten, and the guy that lives in the center of town. You KNOW
he'll be important because he has a portrait!
Once you've had your fill of whiny, angsy villagers, head as far north as you
can. There will be a house on the northernmost cliff. Enter it and talk to
the guy standing next to the bed. He rambles on about how his son has a
"psychological illness" since they can no longer visit Termi and see the statue
of the Heroine, Alis (The boy idolized Alis, it seems, and is going through
severe Idol Withdrawal). He even tells you what to do next: go to Termi and
buy something from the Tourist trap, in the hopes that it will "cure" his son.
Well, father knows best. If you didn't buy an Alis-Sword from the Tourist Trap
in Termi (like I told you to, but no one ever listens to me), you must do so
now. Once you have an Alis-Sword in your inventory, talk to the ailing boy.
Chaz will whip out the Alis-Sword and show off his 733t sword-swinging skillz
for a while, and then he will give the sword to the boy, telling him that the
sword is filled with the strength and courage of Alis. The boy (of course)
instantly begins feeling better. Talk to dad a second time, and he'll agree
to remit your fee to the Guild.
That's a wrap. Return to the Hunter's Guild, collect your 10,000 Mesata, and
sign yourself up for...
-------------------------------------
Hunter's Guild Job #7: Man with Twist
-------------------------------------
First available: once you obtain the HydroFoil from Demi.
Reward: 9963 XP and 555 Mesata for beating the King Rappy.
Associated Costs: None, unless you consider fighting monsters costly.
Difficulty: Moderate.
Location: Torinco, then the Rappy Cave NE of Torinco.
Suggested Party Level: Average Party Level should be 37-39.
This Job is a monster hunt. To initiate it, return to Torinco and speak with
the man in the house on the far Eastern edge of the 3rd cliff up from the
town's entrance. The man, who calls himself Sekreas, tells you that if you
defeat the "head honcho bird", the others will stop munching on Torinco's tasty
crops. The Boss Bird can be found in a cave to the Northeast.
So, exit Torinco and walk Northeast. You'll find yourself at...
==============
The Rappy Cave
==============
Monsters to be found in this dungeon:
Rappy, Blue Rappy
Items to be found in this dungeon:
None. Ugh.
The Boss of this dungeon is: the King Rappy. Be afraid.
Suggested Level: Wren 36, Chaz 40, Rika 42, Rune 37
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 36, Chaz 40, Rika 42, Rune 37
This short little dungeon is filled with nothing but Rappies and Blue Rappies.
Just follow the walkthrough and heal when necessary. The Boss can be a bit of
a pain, but the XP you get makes it well worth fighting.
General Combat strategies:
Well, there are only 2 kinds of critters here:
Rappies are little pushovers. Equip Wren with the PulseVulcn and set up a
Macro where he attacks first. Voila, the battle's over.
Blue Rappies are fast and hit hard, but have next to no HP and very low
defense. Just take the hits they dish out and use regular physical attacks
to polish the lot of them off.
Walkthrough:
============
From the cave's entrance, walk N until you come to an E/W T. The W passage
is one long dead end, so turn and go E instead. This E passage will turn and
go N after a few steps, so follow it. Eventually you will come to a NW/E T.
The E passage leads to nothing but a pair of dead ends, to take the NW path
instead. Follow as the path goes from NW to due N, and after climbing a few
sets of steps, you'll see a large, yellow bird sitting on a dais-like cliff.
This critter is the Rappy Cave's Boss, the King Rappy:
Boss: King Rappy (3000 HP)
The King Rappy is more of a joke than anything else. It has the following two
attacks:
An attack that looks like Phonomezer, that attempts to Paralyze a single Party
Member. Oh no! Sure, if it works it's fairly annoying, but you can handle it.
Earthquake, which will deal between 40 and 90 points of damage to the Party.
Counter this with a Sar and keep on attacking.
Just do your usual thing. Rika casts SaNer, then Deban, and then Shifts
herself and Chaz, and finally begins DblSlashing. Wren puts up a Barrier and
then Flares away. Chaz uses up his charges of RayBlade and then switches to
CrossCut. Rune uses up his charges of Legeon and Tandle, then switches to
NaWat. Have Rika heal if you absolutely have to.
After several rounds of this, the King Rappy will flee in terror. Before the
Party can chase after it, Sekreas will appear! He tells you to leave the Rappy
alone, and then apologizes?
Rika, understandably confused, asks what's going on. Sekreas explains that, as
an animal lover, he began rearing the Rappy birds here in this cave. As fate
would have it, the birds began breeding out of control and left in search of
food, which they found in abundance in Torinco.
Of course, the people of Torinco were not too happy about this. They tried
(and failed) to get the birds to stop - killing some in the process. This made
Sekreas angry... why kill the birds when all they were trying to do was
survive? So, he commissioned the guild to send a hunter to beat the King
Rappy, in the hopes that this powerful bird would humble the hunter and teach
the people of Torinco a lesson.
Yeah, all this is pretty screwed up. The best part is, Chaz just lets
Sekreas go... and the bastard repays your kindness by NEVER REMITTING THE FEE
FOR COMPLETING THE JOB. So all you get is the XP from the King Rappy. Sigh.
Well, that's three out of four. Return to Aiedo, hit the Hunter's Guild, and
sign up for the eighth and final Job:
-------------------------------------
Hunter's Guild Job #8: Silver Soldier
-------------------------------------
First available: once you obtain the HydroFoil from Demi.
Reward: 80,000 Mesata from the townsfolk of Zema, plus a crapload of XP and
Mesata for going through the Vahal Fort, PLUS a bunch of Laconian equipment
AND a new Skill for Wren. DO THIS QUEST.
Associated Costs: None, unless you consider fighting Mechs costly.
Difficulty: Hard. The Vahal Fort is packed with powerful Mechs.
Location: Zema, then the Vahal Fort.
Suggested Party Level: Average Party Level should be 39 or more.
An old man in Zema is complaining about strange Mechanical critters that have
suddenly appeared outside of town. The villagers are offering 80,000 Mesata
to the Hunters that can take care of the problem. The receptionist tells you
to go to Zema and talk to the old man in the house "furthest back".
Well, get moving! Warp to Zema, and... wait a minute! When you try to enter
Zema, you'll be attacked by three Servants! Kill them off with a combination
of AirSlash, Disrupt, Tandle, and a shot from Wren's PulseVulcn. If you let
them live, they will only target Wren. Very strange.
Now you can head to the old man's house, which is in the NE corner of town.
The old man says that he needs you to drive the machines away... they haven't
attacked anyone - yet - but they sure are making the townsfolk nervous. They
seem to be interested in Birth Valley, as well. Finally, the old man tells you
to question the townsfolk to find out more about the Servants.
There's only one person you need to talk to: the woman in the house closest
to the town's entrance. She tells you that she saw the machines flying in from
the Northeast. Well, there's our clue, people.
Unfortunately, the clue is way off (as per usual). Warp to Monsen, and then
get in the Hydrofoil. Head N to the Plate System, and then go due NE. You'll
cross a river to a large island. In the center of this island (head directly
E, and a little S) is the source of the Servants. Prepare to enter:
==============
The Vahal Fort
==============
Monsters to be found in this dungeon:
LifeDeletr, Jurafaduel, Browren486, VopalSphre, Goldine, Dominator
Items to be found in this dungeon:
Repair-Kit, PhotnErasr, Laco-Gear, Laco-Armor, Positron Bolt
The Boss of this dungeon is: Daughter, the rogue AI system.
Suggested Level: Wren 37, Chaz 40, Rika 43, Rune 37
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 39, Chaz 43, Rika 46, Rune 39
**Please note that while I'm doing this place as soon as it opens up, you can
certainly do the Soldier's Temple first, and head for Rykros, etc. and come
back here later, possibly with a 5th Party Member in tow. That would certainly
make this place easier to tackle, but i think the rewards outweigh the danger.
I suggest you do it now, and that way Wren is that much stronger when you go
through the Soldier's Temple. But again, the choice to do it now, later, or
never is yours.**
Here we are, the game's final "optional" dungeon. It just so happens that you
can't even enter it unless you sign up for the Silver Soldier Job, which is
why I haven't mentioned it before now: if you come here without taking on the
Job, there will be a laser barrier barring your path, and you'll be unable to
enter.
However, now that you're, uh, on the job, Wren will recieve an emergency
message from Demi when you enter. She tells you that the Plate System has been
attacked by a "mysterious android attack squad", and that the rogue androids
captured the "Automatic Defense Module 3". This whole conversation sounds like
a bad episode of Star Trek, especially when Wren tells Demi to "shift to Alert
Mode 1". Mr. Sulu, engage!
At any rate, it seems that someone/thing is giving these androids the order to
destroy any AI systems above a certain level: thus the attacks on the various</pre><pre id="faqspan-9">
systems, and the androids only attacking Wren. It also explains why the robots
were near Zema: they were trying to find and destroy Birth Valley - not
realizing, of course, that SEED already blew it up. After some more
speculation, you regain control of the Party.
Well, the laser barrier is no more, so you're free to enter. But before we go
too far...
General Combat strategies:
As you might expect, the Vahal Fort is much like Motavia's other Systems: a
maze of corridors and elevators, policed by a variety of gun- and laser-toting
Mechs. You will encounter the following:
LifeDeletrs are now a common enemy. That's right, no combining tomfoolery,
they're just there. With all their nasty attacks, these guys should get
Spark priority. If it appears alone, use Double Damage attacks in case Spark
fails. If you get them with Browren486s, try out some of your big guns:
Tandle, AirSlash, and Disrupt. The key thing is to kill Deletrs ASAP.
Jurafaduels are the newest version of the Balduel. These big copper colored
cylinders posses some potent attacks: a flame thrower that toasts a single
Party member, and a missile attack that nails everyone. Yeeouch. Try to
Spark them into oblivion, and back that up with Double Damage attacks and
NaWat in case it fails.
Browren486s are the newest and most powerful model of sentry bot. They pack
a mean chaingun, the ever-powerful Flare Shot, and they can use Spark to kill
Wren instantly! In addition, they can put up a Barrier, making them harder to
kill. They're also fairly quick, but they don't have too many HP and are
seriously weak to lightning attacks. If you encounter these alone, just use
regular attacks and Rune's NaWat or Hewn to destroy them. If you get them
with a LifeDeletr, it's time to whip out Tandle.
Vo(r)palSph(e)res are lean, green, FloatMine-wannabe machines - with a twist.
They won't do anything unless you attack them first, in which case they
respond by blowing up in your face. However, unlike FloatMines, this self-
sacrificing move doesn't damage you - it simply has a (pretty good) chance of
killing you outright! You really don't want that to happen, so try to use
attacks that will kill these things in one shot: Double Damage attacks, NaGra,
Tandle, Flare, etc. Or, you can just run. They're not worth much XP anyway.
Goldines are the latest version of the Blauzen. They can use StatisBall to try
and paralyze someone, and they also have a powerful claw attack. Although
they have only a few hundred HP, Goldines have high defense and can dodge
physical attacks. So use things like Flare, Double Damage attacks, and NaWat.
Dominators are like big, coppery Loaders. They can use DblSlash to deal some
serious physical damage, and Phonomezer to hurt the entire party. They also
have a LOT of HP and high defense. Spark them if you can, otherwise use your
Double Damage attacks to put them out of commision before they kill a wounded
Party member with DblSlash.
Walkthrough:
============
Entry Level (Repair-Kit, PhotnErasr)
From the entrance, head N and after a few steps you'll find yourself in an
E/W T. Head E and you'll come to a dead end... but there's also a chest that
contains a Repair-Kit. Go back to the T and head W this time. Follow the
hallway as it winds W, then N, then NW, and finally S. You'll see an elevator
nestled in the center of a 4-way intersection. Ignore the elevator for now,
and take the E path (the W and S paths are just tiny dead ends). Go through
the narrow N hall, then go E again until you come to a chest containing a
PhotnErasr for Wren. The Photon Eraser is a high-damage, single-shot gun for
Wren. Again, I prefer the multi-shot PulseVulcan, but the choice is yours.
Once you have the Photon Eraser, head back to the elevator and take it down
to...
Floor B1F (Laco-Gear, Laco-Armor)
Once you emerge from the elevator, walk S. At the end of a short walkway
you'll find a chest containing Laco-Gear. Finally, Laconian equipment for
Wren! Put it on immediately. Now go back to the elevator and circle around it
to the N. You can use either path. Once the path intersects with itself
again, head further N and you'll come upon an E/W T. Go W, following the
hallway as it goes W, then S, and then E, ending in a chest containing a suit
of Laco-Armor for Wren. Put it on, and retrace your steps to the T, and then
head E this time. The hallway will head E, then S, and finally W, ending in
an elevator that will take us down to...
Floor B2F (No items)
Your Party arrives on this floor and discovers a literal army of robot sentries
that look like giant Goldines. What if all these machines were mobilized all
at once and given the command to attack..? Not a pleasant thought. Let's move
on...
From the elevator, head W and "search" the control panel at the edge of the
walkway. This reverses the conveyer belts that currently prevent you from
reaching the elevator on the E side of this floor. Now, walk E past the
elevator, and ride the conveyer. Once you reach the small platform to the E,
walk a few steps N and hop on THAT conveyer. This one lets you off by a
descending elevator. Ride it on down to...
Floor B3F East (Positron Bolt)
Only way to go here. Head S, to the end of this short hallway, and open the
chest. In the chest are more android parts, which Wren will promptly install.
Wren can now use the Positron Bolt Skill! This beastly skill is a bit like
Rune's Legeon Skill, in that it attacks every monster on-screen with a non-
elemental attack that deals roughly 300 damage to anything and everything.
Very nice to have, so don't pass it up! Once Wren is done installing the Bolt,
head back up the elevator, to...
Floor B2F revisited
Ok, ride the conveyer to the N. Once you get off, walk as far W as you can,
and ride the conveyer you find there S. At the end of this conveyer is another
descending elevator. Take this down to...
Floor B3F West (Daughter)
From the elevator, follow the narrow hallway as it winds S, then E, and finally
N again. The hallway will widen, and you'll see once of those Super Computers
that marks the end of these dungeons. Approach it, and the computer will
identify itself as "Daughter".
Wren and Rika freak out, saying that the Daughter project was abondoned. Well,
appently not. Daughter confirms that she has been attacking the other AI
systems, since they are not obeying her orders. Any AI that does not obey
Daughter, the protector AI of Algo, is obviously an enemy of the Algo system
and therefore must be eliminated.
Wren tries to explain to Daughter that her network and commands are not working
because she is not connected to any other AI systems. This is because
Daughter's network was replaced by the current one, under control of Zelan.
Daughter thinks that Wren is lying in an effort to deceive her and undermine
her efforts, and she sics 3 Dominators on you!
Ouch! Use your strongest attacks here: PosiBolt or BurstRoc, AirSlash,
Disrupt, and Legeon or Tandle. If you don't kill these things quickly, you're
in for a world of hurt.
Once the battle is over, Wren shuts down Daughter while she argues that without
her, Algo will fall into anarchy. Wren tells her that humans have done just
fine on their own for over 1000 years - and in fact, they are faring better
without super computers guiding their every move, as was the case in Phantasy
Star II, where the people of Algo grew lazy and submissive under the seemingly
benign reign of the Mother Brain.
At any rate, Wren shuts down Daughter for good, and the Party talks about how
Zelan must have sent a signal that awakened Daughter while the Party was
galavanting about Dezolis. Well, now the threat posed by Daughter and her
amry of androids is no more.
Use Hinas to exit this place, and then return to Zema and speak with the old
man. He'll thank you for a job well done and remit your pay to the Hunter's
Guild. Return now to the Guild and speak to the receptionist, who will fork
over your 80,000 hard-earned Mesata.
And that's it. There's nothing more you can do at the Hunter's Guild, where
they enrich the lives of Hunters. Heal up somewhere - Alys' Home, Nurvus
Spaceport, an Inn, whatever - and then warp to Krup. It's time to resume our
Quest, and to do that, we need to go...
-----------------------
To the Soldier's Temple
-----------------------
Suggested Level: Wren 39, Chaz 43, Rika 46, Rune 39 (you did the Man with Twist
and Silver Soldier Jobs, RIGHT?)
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 39, Chaz 43, Rika 46, Rune 39
Foes you might face: Crawler, Sand Newt, Locusta
HydroFoil foes: Grasshound, Elmelew, ForcedFly, Hewgilla, DesrtLeach, Leviathan
Starting from Krup, get in the HydroFoil. The Soldier's Temple is right there
in plain sight just to the East. Float on over to the South side of the little
island that the Temple is on, and disembark. There will be a cave opening in
the cliff to the North. That opening is the entrance to the Island Cave, but
before you can enter, a strange man approaches you.
He asks the Party if they are here to inspect these ruins. They say that they
are, but want to know who he is.
He says his name is Seth, and that he's a traveling archeologist. He tells you
that he wants to get to the Temple at the top of the cliff, but the cave that
leads to it is infested with monsters.
He then asks to tag along, saying that he has some skill in battle and will try
not to make a nuisance out of himself. The Party (mainly Wren) agrees to let
him come with - after all, the more people you have, the easier it is to fight
monsters, right?
Well, new Party Member, new rundown. A Seth Rundown:
Seth, Scholar, Level 35
Techniques:
None. Despite not being an andoid, and possessing a Mental score, Seth does
not know any Techniques.
Skills
Shadow: This Skill will attempt to lower the Agility of all your foes. I
think that by now you know how I feel about these useless abilities that
lower enemy stats, so I'll spare you the lecture. Next!
Corrsion: Now this is what I'm talking about! Corrosion blasts every enemy
for a considerable amount of damage - and Seth starts with quite a few
"charges" of this. Do NOT shy away from using this in every battle.
MindBlst: This Skill will attempt to paralyze all your foes at once. Oh joy,
it's Bindwa with a fancy new name. Here's an idea: let's just use Corrosion
to KILL ALL THE MONSTERS INSTEAD OF PARALYZING THEM! Boy, am I smart, or
what? Sigh.
DthSpell: No pussyfooting about, here. Death Spell does just exactly what it
says. It only works on one Biomonster at a time, however.
What a bizarre character. Seth has no TP (and therefore no Techniques), but
he has a couple of very powerful Skills. I mean, it's nice to have another
body for this dungeon, but it would be nice if this guy was, I dunno, a little
more versatile?
Oh well, all you can do is use what he has to the fullest. This place isn't
very long, so don't be afraid to have Seth use some Skill or another at every
opportuniy. Corrosion in particular will make most battles much quicker.
As for starting equipment, Seth starts with a LacoCirclt, a LacoDagger, a
Rflc-Shield, and a Cyber-Suit. That's some pretty nice gear! Seth has fairly
good defense and HP, so you can put him in front of Rune (or even in the 3rd
spot) if you so desire.
Well, that's enough about Seth. Let's get moving. Once you enter that cave
opening, you'll find yourself in...
---------------
The Island Cave
---------------
Monsters to be found in this dungeon:
Jr. Ooze, Fract Ooze, Shrieker, Flame Newt
Items to be found in this dungeon:
Escapipe, Trimate, Sol-Dew, Star-Dew, Moon-Dew, Aero-Prism
The Boss of this dungeon is: a big ol' spoiler. You'll find out when you get
there.
Suggested Level: Wren 39, Chaz 43, Rika 46, Rune 39, Seth 35
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 40, Chaz 44, Rika 47, Rune 41, Seth 36
This annoying little cave is the only thing keeping you from the AeroPrism.
The monsters here are a bunch of pathetic wimps, but the dungeon itself has a
few false leads that make it a bit tricky to navigate. Having that 5th Party
member does come in handy here, as you'll fight a lot of random battles.
General Combat strategies:
There's a bunch of palette-swapped, generic Biomonsters to slog your way
through in this place. If you couldn't tell, I don't like this dungeon much,
simply because it's an overlong set-up for a fairly obvious plot twist. Oh
well, enough of my griping. I'll say it again: Seth has about 20 charges of
Corrosion, and there is NO REASON not to have him use it in EVERY battle.
Anyway, you will face the following foes:
Jr. Oozes you may have seen before, during the Fissure of Fear Job. And they
are complete pushovers here. Just use physical attacks on them, and they will
die. Moving on...
Fract Oozes appear here as well. Now, this thing was a Boss once, but now it's
just a standard foe. It's once-dreaded Cell Split attack will hardly hurt you
anymore, but it still has a ton of HP. If you want to win this battle in an
easy manner, just use Eliminat, Diem, and DthSpell on it in the same round.
It WILL die.
Shriekers can be a little bit nastier, but not by much. They're pretty slow,
and they don't have that many HP, either. They do have both a paralyzing
attack AND a sleep-inducing attack, but their regular physical attack is what
hurts the most. In any case, they're not that hard to kill, so don't waste
too many resources on them: physical attacks ought to suffice.
Flame Newts have a Firebreath attack that deals moderate damage to low Magic
Defense characters, a regular attack that is equally unimpressive, and *gasp*
a POISON attack! Try casting NaWat on them for a giggle or two, but
otherwise just attack: like the rest of the monsters in this dungeon, the
Flame Newts aren't worth expending resources on. Save your good stuff for the
Boss that guards the AeroPrism.
Walkthrough:
------------
Entry Level (Escapipe)
The moment you enter you're standing in an E/W T. Wow, nothing like forcing
you to make big, life-altering decisions right away! Go E first: the passage
will end in a dead end with a chest containing an Escapipe. Come on now, guys,
aren't we a little beyond Escapipes at this stage in the game? I mean really.
Oh well, go back to the entrance and head W this time. The path quickly shifts
to a NW heading, with a little NE side-passage, which you should ignore since
it's just a dead end. Keep walking NW, then N, and you'll come across an E/W
T. For now, walk E, and ignore the steps to the N: another dead end. When you
come to a N/S T, go N (S is another dead end) and at the end of the passage,
you'll see a path to the W and an opening to the NE. Go in the opening, and
you'll find yourself in a large room. Walk to the room's NE corner, and
descend the stairs you find there.
Floor B1F (Trimate)
Walk W from the foot of the stairs, and you'll soon find a chest containing a
Trimate. Grab it, and go back up the stairs.
Entry Level revisited
Leave the room via the opening to the S (the same way you came in) and then
head W. Follow the pathway as it curves S, then E. Ignore the path N for now
and continue E. After a jog to the SE, you'll see a set of stairs: take them
up to...
2nd Floor - west (Sol-Dew)
From the stairs, walk E and then N. You'll see a chest containing a Sol-Dew.
Finally, some real treasure! Grab it and head back down to...
Entry Level rerevisited
Walk back E, to that N path that you bypassed earlier. You'll know you're
there when you see some steps in the N cliff; walk on up and continue N until
you come to an ascending staircase that will take us to the...
2nd Floor - central (Moon-Dew, Star-Dew)
When you arrive on this floor, Seth compliments the Party on how strong they
are, to which Chaz gets all flustered and modest and makes some dorky comment.
Once the dialogue ends, walk E, ignoring the side passage S for now. At the
far E end of the hall you'll find a chest containing a Moon-Dew. Get it and
return to that S passage you just walked past. After taking a few steps S,
you'll be standing in an E/W T. Take the W passage, which will turn S after a
short walk. At the end of this path is a chest containing a Star-Dew. Not too
shabby; grab it and return to the T, heading E this time.
Here's where things get a bit tricky: you'll see a side-passage S in addition
to the main path E. However, they are just the two halves of the same loop.
At the S end of this loop in a staircase that takes you up to small section
of the 3rd Floor - but it's empty. No chest, no nothing. Ignore the stairs,
and head W out of the loop (the path to the SE is a dead end). After a short
walk, you'll see a side passage to the S (another dead end) that you should
ignore. Keep walking W until you're forced to go S. The path will eventually
curve E and end in a set of stairs that ascend to the...
3rd Floor - (No items)
When you reach this floor, Seth will again pipe up and go on and on about how
marvelously strong the Party is. Better composed this time, Chaz agrees and
tells Seth that if he trains hard, he can become strong as well. Rika calls
Chaz on that, which results in some amusing dialogue. Once you have control
again, walk E until you see a side passage leading N. Take that path, since
the main path to the E is a dead end. The passage widens into a large room,
with an opening in the N wall. Go through it, and you'll find yourself at
the...
Cliff Top - the entrance to the Soldier's Temple - (No items)
Once you emerge from the Island Cave, Seth will thank the Party for all their
help, then ask to come along while they inspect the Temple, since there may be
monsters in there as well. Chaz reluctantly agrees. Walk a few steps W and
then go due N, and there the Temple's entrance is. Take some time to restore
your HP before you enter...
The Soldier's Temple (Aero-Prism)
The Temple is surprisingly small. Just walk N around the "pit" in the center
of the room, then go down the steps and grab the AeroPrism out of the chest in
the center of the "pit". Chaz asks Rune how they're supposed to use the Prism
to find Rykros, but for once Rune doesn't know the answer. Chaz grumbles a bit
about that, but for now there's nothing left to do but go back out the way you
came.
Once the Party is back outside, the AeroPrism emits a blinding burst of light.
Rune tells Chaz to hold the Prism aloft; he does, and a beam of light shoots
into the sky. Rune says that Rykros will be at the end of that beam. Chaz
says that the beam disappears into outer space, and Wren promptly begins
calculating the end point of the beam.
At this point, the light of the beam has a harmful effect on Seth. His human
form crumbles away... and Dark Force stands in his place! Dark Force, back for
the third time, and disguised as a human? This Profound Darkness isn't playing
games, is it?
Before the Party can discuss the situation much, Seth Force attacks!
Boss: Dark Force, the humanoid incarnation (8250 HP)
Well, this is great. Another Dark Force Boss fight... and you're short a Party
member. Lovely. Well, you have no choice but to make due with the characters
you have, so let's get to it.
Dark Force has the following attacks this time around:
He can (and will) lash out with his blade-arm. This attack will usually be a
critical hit, and can deal over 130 damage if you don't have DeBan up. If he
uses this on Rika or Rune early on, have Wren use a Trimate on them so that
Rika can continue to Buff the party.
He also uses ShadowBind, which will lower the Agility of the entire Party.
This is irritating for the sole reason that you have to waste yet another of
Rika's turns re-casting SaNer. Sigh.
The ever-deadly MindBlast will attempt to put the entire Party to sleep. This
is no big deal, since Wren is immune and Rune, with his insane magic defense,
might as well be. You normally wake up the next round anyway, and even if
you don't, you can have Rune cast Arows to wake them up, uh, manually. Shrug
this off and keep attacking.
Once Dark Force has taken some damage, me might use Corrosion on you. You've
seen Corrosion before and you know what it can do. There's not much you can
do about it other than to make sure you have a Barrier up, and cast GiSar the
next round. It will deal about 30 damage to Rune, and 100-125 to everyone
else, assuming your Barrier is up.
While it may seem like 8250 HP is lot for only 4 characters to dish out, it
isn't really that bad. Chaz' NaThu deals 300 damage, as does Rune's Legeon
and Efess; and Rika's shift-boosted DblSlash deals up to 350 damage - if she
has the SilvrTusk equipped. In a good round, you can deal 1125 damage - so
this fight will only last for 9-12 rounds. Then throw in the fact that Dark
Force only uses Corrosion once in a blue moon, and you have a rather easy Boss
fight.
I recommend the following battle strategy:
Wren opens with Barrier in the first round, and then uses either Flare or
recover in the subsequent rounds, depending on how his HP is doing. You can
also use up all his charges of PosiBolt if you got it out of the Vahal Fort.
Finally, if only 1 Party member is badly wounded, have Wren use a Trimate on
them, since his attacks deal the least damage to Dark Force.
Chaz spends the first few rounds casting NaThu. Once he runs out of TP and
Rika has Shift cast on him, he should switch to RayBlade, then CrossCut, and
finally regular attacks (although Dark Force shouldn't last THAT long). You
can have him cast NaRes or use a Star-Dew if the Party is badly injured, but
try to have him attack every round if at all possible.
Rika should open with DeBan, and then cast SaNer in the 2nd Round, Shift on
herself in the 3rd Round, and Shift on Chaz in the 4th Round. You may have to
have her heal instead, or re-cast SaNer if Dark Force uses ShadowBind, but
then go right back to buffing the next round. Once everyone is properly
buffed, have her use DblSlash as much as you can: have Wren handle the healing
as much as possible, stopping your slashing only if Dark Force gets Corrosion
happy or you run out of Trimates and Star-Dews.
Rune is your artillery piece for this fight. Use up all of his charges of the
following Skills, in this order: Legeon, Efess, and Tandle; then, switch to
NaFoi or NaWat. Always have Rune attack with something, every round - all his
attacks deal a lot of damage to Dark Force, and Wren and Rika can easily
handle all the healing.
Once Dark Force has been defeated - again - Rune remarks that the situation is
becoming sticky. Yeah, Rune, that's what happens when the Bad Guys are always
a step ahead of you. He says that you must hurry to Rykros, since Dark Force
saw the beam - it knew where to find Rykros, before you destroyed it again, and
so it stands to reason that The Profound Darkness now knows Rykros' location as
well.
The Party members all agree that haste is needed. Wren says that he has the
location of the beam stored in his memory, so the only thing left to do is
follow the "directions" of the Aero-Prism in the Landale.
Once you gain control of the Party, re-enter the Island Cave, then use Hinas
to return to the entrance. Now Warp to Kadary and walk to the Nurvus
Spaceport. We are at last heading...
---------
To Rykros
---------
Suggested Level: Wren 40, Chaz 44, Rika 47, Rune 41
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 40, Chaz 44, Rika 47, Rune 41
Foes you may face: Scorpius, Speard, Tech User
HydroFoil foes: Grasshound, Elmelew, ForcedFly, Hewgilla, DesrtLeach, Leviathan
Once you've entered the Nurvus Spaceport, heal up using a Magic Circle, and
walk N to the Navigation Screen. Select Rykros from the list. The Landale
will blast off, and then the game will enter a cut-scene.
Chaz ponders what Rykros is... is it like the Air Castle, or perhaps an
artificial satellite like Zelan or Kuran? Wren comments that, if they keep on
this course, they will leave the Algo solar system entirely! Rune says they
have no choice but to continue on...
Just then, the Aero-Prism emits a pulse of light... and a planet appears just
in front of the Landale! This new planet does not show up on the Landale's
radar - and it certainly isn't Motavia, Dezolis, or Palma...
That's right, boys and girls. Rykros is the long-lost 4th Planet of the Algo
solar system, invented by the game's programmers because the morons who made
Phantasy Star II blew up Palma. That's my theory, at least.
At any rate, the Party lands on Rykros and enters an odd looking crystaline
structure...
------------------
The Silence Temple
------------------
Items to be found here:
GuardShild, GuardSword, Telepipe, Trimate
Suggested Level: Wren 40, Chaz 44, Rika 47, Rune 41
The Party enters the shrine, finding themselves in a large square room. They
walk South, and when they reach the center of the shrine, the room darkens
suddenly, and a star map appears on the floor.
At that moment, a voice speaks, welcoming the Party to Rykros and calling them
"Protectors". The voice, who calls itself Le Roof of Rykros, explains that
Rykros is protected by a powerful barrier - normal beings cannot sense its
presence at all.
In addition, Le Roof explains that Rykros is in an ecliptical orbit (kind of
like Pluto in OUR solar system) and it only comes within a reasonable distance
of the other three (well, two now) planets every 1,000 years or so. How
convenient.
Chaz asks Le Roof what it can tell them about The Profound Darkness. Le Roof
replies that he does have many things to tell you - but first, you must perform
a task. On Rykros, there are two towers: the Courage Tower, and the Strength
Tower. Once you have faced the guardians of both, then Le Roof will recognize
you as true Protectors and tell you all it knows.
Chaz asks if they are being tested, and Le Roof replies that they are. But,
the testing is absolutely necessary. Le Roof tells you to hurry... already,
the hand of Darkness is stretching its fingers towards Rykros.
With that, the lights go back on, the Party is healed, and you regain control.
Before we go running off to the Towers, take some time to explore this place
(cryptically named the "Silence Tm"... Tm for Temple?). Once you walk out of
the room where Le Roof is, you'll be standing in a 4-way intersection. The
South exit is just that... an exit to the overworld map of Rykros. The East
and West paths are two ends of a large loop that goes around the room you were
just in. In this loop are four chests:
On the West side of the path, a single chest containing a GuardShild.
In the North area of the passage, a pair of chests containing a GuardSword for
Chaz, and... a Telepipe? Sigh. Rune can cast Ryuka 30 times consecutively,
guys, we REALLY don't need teleporting items anymore. Really.
On the East side of the hallway, a single chest containing a Trimate.
Equip the Guardian Sword on Chaz immediately, and save the Guardian Shild for
later. Rune can't use it, but there are other characters who can...
Once you've raided the Temple, leave it via the South exit. It's time to
explore Rykros!
-------------------------
The Fourth Planet: Rykros
-------------------------
Suggested Level: Wren 40, Chaz 44, Rika 47, Rune 41
Foes you may face: CrminHeads, DeathBearr, Cula-Bellr
Vehicle foes: Cula-Bellr, DeathBearr, CrminHeads
Rykros has a bizarre green landscape dotted with giant cyrstaline formations
instead of mountains. Very strange. For whatever reason, the indigenous
lifeforms on Rykros are all quite hostile. Oh well, I guess a barren Rykros
would make getting to the Towers too easy, or something. At any rate, you will
encounter the following creatures on Rykros:
CrminHeads (Crimsin? Nice transration, guys) are nothing special. They have
a fairly potent physical attack (which can poison you), and a RayBreath attack
that deals good damage to characters with low magic defense. But, they don't
have particularly high HP or defense, and are a bit on the slow side, so a
round of regular attacks (and a Hewn or NaGra from Rune) will earn you an easy
victoly.
DeathBear(e)rs are the new and improved version of the DarkMarauder. They
have learned one new trick: they will (very rarely) cast Seals in an effort
to disable your characters' Techs, but they mostly cast Shift and swing a very
big, damaging axe. They have a respectable HP, but they are undead/unholy...
so use attacks like Efess, DblSlash, and CrossCut to kill them quickly, before
they hack Rune to pieces. Instant Death attacks also work well. Finally,
casting Deban renders them impotent, so you can do that and just attack if you
feel like conserving Skill charges.
Cula-Bellrs are hard to kill simply by virtue of their large HP reserves. They
also have a fairly powerful physical attack, and a Lightning Breath attack
that can deal 200 (!!) damage to Wren (less to the others, but still ouch).
Even better, Instant Death attacks only affect them infrequently. About all
you can do is take your lumps while pumping Double Damage Skills, Flare, and
NaWat into them until they die.
It might be tempting to hop into the HyrdoFoil, IceDigger, or Land Rover and
go exploring, but you're better off on foot. The attacks of the vehicles
simply don't do enough damage to these things, and while you're whittling away
at your foes, they will be taking huge chunks out of the vehicle's SP. If you
decide that you absolutely MUST use a Vehicle to get around Rykros, stick to
the Hydro Foil and abuse it's ability to run from any battle no matter what.
When you're ready, it's time to tackle one of the towers. I'm going to start
with the Strength Tower, to the NW, but you can scroll down the the Courage
Tower section and do that Tower first, if you so desire. However, the items
you find in the Strength Tower make defeating the Guardian of the Courage Tower
much easier, so I strongly recommend doing the Strength Tower first.
------------------------
To the Tower of Strength
------------------------
Suggested Level: Wren 40, Chaz 44, Rika 47, Rune 41 (If done first)
Wren 42, Chaz 46, Rika 49, Rune 42 (If done second)
Foes you may face: CrminHeads, DeathBearr, Cula-Bellr
Vehicle foes: Cula-Bellr, DeathBearr, CrminHeads
From the Silence Temple, all you have to do is walk NW until you come to the
Tower. It's not hard to find at all: once you see some glowing clusters of
crystals, it means you're quite near. Once you see it, go ahead and enter.
It's time to tackle...
---------------------
The Tower of Strength
---------------------
Monsters to be found in this dungeon:
BladeRight, HakenLeft, DeathBearr, CrminHeads, Dark Witch, TwinArms,
BloodSaber, Illusionst, Le-Faw-Gan
Items to be found in this dungeon:
Moon-Dew x2, Guard-Claw x2, Guard-Rod, Palma-Ring, Mota-Ring, Dezo-Ring
The Boss of this dungeon is: De-Vars, guardian of the Strength Tower
Suggested Level: Wren 40, Chaz 44, Rika 47, Rune 41 (If done first)
Wren 42, Chaz 46, Rika 49, Rune 42 (If done second)
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 42, Chaz 46, Rika 49, Rune 42 (If done first)
Wren 43, Chaz 47, Rika 51, Rune 43 (If done second)
Neither of these towers is terribly long or involved, but the monsters are a
bit on the nasty side, so be careful, and make sure that you're keeping your HP
up at all times. There's also some powerful new Guardian equipment scattered
about, so don't be afraid to explore in order to track down every chest.
The following is list of the monsters that you will encounter here:
DeathBearrs and CriminHeads (from outside) will begin to appear on the Tower's
upper floors. See my strategies just above to deal with them.
BladeRights and HakenLefts make encore appearances here. Deban will render
them completely impotent, but if you want to save Rika's TP, regular attacks
and a blast of something nasty from Rune will finish them off in short order.
Oh, when you encounter them together, there's a chance that a single
BladeRight and a single HakenLeft will combine, becoming a TwinArms:
TwinArms are a blend of BladeRight and Hakenleft. And just when you thought
those things couldn't get any more bizarre... TwinArms only use two attacks:
HakenBolt (deals moderate physical damage to one character) and BladeShine,
which it uses far more rarely - but that's good, because it deals almost as
much damage as HakenBolt... to the entire Party. I'd recommend trying a
combination of Instant Death and Double Damage attacks to kill these things
before they can use BladeShine on you.
Dark Witches are, obviously, a magical foe. As such, they have access to the
following Techs: GiZan, GiFoi, GiSar, and GiWat. Either put up a Barrier or
be prepared to use Double Damage attacks to kill them before they can blast
your Party.
BloodSabers are glass cannons: low HP, low Defense, powerful attacks.
Fortunately for you, they're none too fast, either. Just beat them down with
a Double Damage attack, and you should be fine.
Illusion(i)sts are the new and improved variation of the ChaosSorcer. They can
use a number of nasty magical attacks, including Hewn, Corrosion, Tandle,
DeathSpell, and Flaeli. Ouch. Either put up a Barrier, or be prepared to go
all out with your attacks. You don't want to be hit with a Tandle when you
don't have a Barrier up - it hurts.
Le-Faw-Gan, a distant cousin of D-Elm-Lars, will also make an appearance here.
Like the Illusionists, they have a variety of powerful magical attacks,
including "Tandil" (it's just like Tandle), GiZan, and a surprisingly powerful
physical attack. They also pack a lot of HP. These are probably the most
dangerous foe in the entire Tower - ESPECIALLY when they show up in pairs - or
in threes (!!!). Use some of your BIG guns on these guys: PosiBolt, Legeon -
or better still, Negatis - Instant Death attacks, AirSlash, RayBlade,
Disrupt, DblSlash... use whatever it takes to kill them before they manage to
take someone out.
Walkthrough:
------------
Entry Level (Moon-Dew)
From the entrance, walk N until you see an ascending staircase. You will
bypass what appear to be several side passages, but they're nothing but dead
end "wings" of the rooms that you're passing through. The only thing of
interest on this level is the chest just to the left of the stairs. Grab the
Moon-Dew it contains, and then take the stairs up to the...
2nd Floor (Guard-Claw)
From the stairs, head S. You'll see a chest: walk S, then E, then N, and
finally walk W into a narrow hallway to get to it. It contains a Guard-Claw
for Rika, which presents you with a dilemma: you must choose a combination of
Guard-Claw, SilvrTusk, and GenocyClaw. I recommend the Guard-Claw and the
SilvrTusk, but the choice is yours in the end. Now, return to the stairs, and
walk W. There will be an ascending staircase there; take it up to the...
3rd Floor - west (No items)
Nothing to do here other than to walk S and take the stairs you find up to
the...
4th Floor - west (Guard-Rod, Guard-Claw)
From the stairs, walk E to a chest containing a Guard-Rod. While I wouldn't
equip the Guard-Rod, it just so happens to be one of the BEST ITEMS IN THE
WHOLE GAME: IT CASTS GiSar WHEN USED AS AN ITEM!!! Well, now you can sell all
those Star-Dews, I guess. Don't be afraid to have Wren or Rune or Chaz or
whoEVER use this in battle to supplement Rika or just to save TP for a Boss
battle. Alright now, return to the stairs, and head N, then E. At the end of
this narrow hall is a chest containing another Guard-Claw. I'd keep Rika's
Silvr-Tusk over a second Guard-Claw, but you can equip it if you'd like.
That does it for this floor, but what a haul! Go back down the stairs, to
the...
3rd Floor - west revisited
Walk N and descend the stairs back down to the...
2nd Floor - revisited
Alright now, walk a few steps E, then go S. Turn E when you must, and then
head N when you can. Soon enough you'll see a set of stairs on your right;
take them up to the...
3rd Floor - east (Moon-Dew)
Just NW of the stairs is a chest containing a Moon-Dew. Once you've claimed
that, walk S as far as you can, then turn W and finally N. There will be a set
of stairs to your left; take them up to the...
4th Floor - east (No items)
Not much to see here. Walk five steps East and five steps South and ascend
the stairs you find there up to the...
5th Floor (De-Vars)
When you arrive on this floor, you will see a flaming creature being attacked
by a pair of Le-Faw-Gans. They Tandle the creature, and then he promptly
destroys them. Wow. And guess who you get to fight? That's right, so take
this opportunity to heal yourself to full HP. When you're prepared, approach
the creature and talk to it. It will tell you that it's bored of slaughtering
the pathetic creatures that come to challenge it, and it says that if you've
passed Le Roof's scrutiny, perhaps you will be strong enough to give it a good
fight!
Boss: De-Vars, guardian of the Strength Tower (5555 HP)
De-Vars is the "physical" Boss (whereas Sa-Lews of the Courage Tower is more
of a "magical" Boss), so waste no time in putting up DeBan, which will make
this fight a whole lot easier. De-Vars will use the following attack:
DisruptArm, a powerful physical attack that will deal over 100 damage to the
entire Party - unless you have DeBan up, in which case it will deal only 50-70
damage, which is far more manageable. Unfortunately, De-Vars will use this
attack EVERY SINGLE ROUND. Ouch.
The fastest way to beat De-Vars is to do the following:
Wren: in the first Rounds, use his charge(s) of PosiBolt. Once you've used up
all of his PosiBolt charges, have Wren use the Guard-Rod every round to negate
the damage the Party is taking from De-Vars' DisruptArm attacks.
Chaz: Until Rika buffs him with Shift, have Chaz use either NaThu or RayBlade.
Once he's buffed, start hacking away with CrossCuts.
Rika: Cast the following, in order: DeBan, then SaNer, then Shift on Chaz, and
finally Shift on herself. Now you can have her start DblSlashing.
Rune: Use the following, in order: Legeon, Tandle, then NaWat.
It will take quite a few rounds, but eventually De-Vars will go down. The only
hiccup in this strategy is when Wren runs low on HP... in that round, you'll
have to have him Recover while Rika casts GiSar or NaSar (or uses the Guard-Rod
herself). You're then free to go back to your regularly scheduled beat-down.
Once you've beaten De-Vars, he congratulates you and tells you to take "these
items as the proof you need". He disappears in a flash of light, leaving
behind three chests:
Left chest: Palma-Ring (now it's Palma again! Transration is fun and EZ!)
Center chest: Mota-Ring (short for Motavia, of course)
Right chest: Dezo-Ring (short of Dezolis, see Phantany Star II)
The Rings function as Helmets: Wren can equip the Palma Ring; Rika, the Mota
Ring; and Rune, the Dezo Ring. You can and should equip them immediately, as
the Rings are definately better than the Laconian head gear they're currently
wearing.
Now that you have the Guard-Rod and the three Rings, this next Tower should be
a breeze. See why I told you to do this tower first? Well, you're all done
here, so Hinas out, then warp back to the Silence Temple with Ryuka and heal
up in the center room. Once you're back outside, make a Save, and then we're
off...
-----------------------
To the Tower of Courage
-----------------------
Suggested Level: Wren 40, Chaz 44, Rika 47, Rune 41 (If done first)
Wren 42, Chaz 46, Rika 49, Rune 42 (If done second)
Foes you may face: CrminHeads, DeathBearr, Cula-Bellr
Vehicle foes: Cula-Bellr, DeathBearr, CrminHeads
From the Silence Temple, all you have to do is walk SE until you come to the
Tower. It's not hard to find at all: once you see the glowing clusters of
crystals, it means you're near. Once you see it, go ahead and enter. It's
time to tackle...
--------------------
The Tower of Courage
--------------------
Monsters to be found in this dungeon:
BladeRight, HakenLeft, DeathBearr, CrminHeads, Dark Witch, TwinArms,
BloodSaber, Illusionst, Le-Faw-Gan
Items to be found in this dungeon:
Star-Dew x2, Guard-Armor, Guard-Mail, Guard-Robe, Algo-Ring, Rykr-Ring
The Boss of this dungeon is: Sa-Lews, guardian of the Courage Tower
Suggested Level: Wren 40, Chaz 44, Rika 47, Rune 41 (If done first)
Wren 42, Chaz 46, Rika 49, Rune 42 (If done second)
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 42, Chaz 46, Rika 49, Rune 42 (If done first)
Wren 43, Chaz 47, Rika 51, Rune 43 (If done second)
Neither of these towers is terribly long or involved, but the monsters are a
bit on the nasty side, so be careful and make sure that you're keeping your HP
up at all times. There's also some powerful Guardian equipment scattered
about, so don't be afraid to explore.
The following is list of the monsters that you will encounter here:
DeathBearrs and CriminHeads (from outside) will begin to appear on the Tower's
upper floors. See my strategies above to deal with them.
BladeRights and HakenLefts make encore appearances here. Deban will render
them completely impotent, but if you want to save Rika's TP, regular attacks
and a blast of something nasty from Rune will finish them off in short order.
Oh, when you encounter them together, there's a chance that a single
BladeRight and a single HakenLeft will combine, becoming a TwinArms:
TwinArms are a blend of BladeRight and Hakenleft. And just when you thought
those things couldn't get any more bizarre... TwinArms only use two attacks:
HakenBolt (deals moderate physical damage to one character) and BladeShine,
which it uses far more rarely - but that's good, because it deals almost as
much damage as HakenBolt... to the entire Party. I'd recommend trying a
combination of Instant Death and Double Damage attacks to kill these things
before they can use BladeShine on you.
Dark Witches are, obviously, a magical foe. As such, they have access to the
following Techs: GiZan, GiFoi, GiSar, and GiWat. Either put up a Barrier or
be prepared to use Double Damage attacks to kill them before they can blast
your Party.
BloodSabers are glass cannons: low HP, low Defense, powerful attacks.
Fortunately for you, they're none too fast, either. Just beat them down with
a Double Damage attack, and you should be fine.
Illusion(i)sts are the new and improved variation of the ChaosSorcer. They can
use a number of nasty magical attacks, including Hewn, Corrosion, Tandle,
DeathSpell, and Flaeli. Ouch. Either put up a Barrier, or be prepared to go
all out with your attacks. You don't want to be hit with a Tandle when you
don't have a Barrier up - it hurts.
Le-Faw-Gan, a distant cousin of D-Elm-Lars, will also make an appearance here.
Like the Illusionists, they have a variety of powerful magical attacks,
including "Tandil" (it's just like Tandle), GiZan, and a surprisingly powerful
physical attack. They also pack a lot of HP. These are probably the most
dangerous foe in the entire Tower - ESPECIALLY when they show up in pairs - or
in threes (!!!). Use some of your BIG guns on these guys: PosiBolt, Legeon -
or better still, Negatis - Instant Death attacks, AirSlash, RayBlade,
Disrupt, DblSlash... use whatever it takes to kill them before they manage to
take someone out.
Walkthrough:
------------
Entry Level (Star-Dew)
From the entrance, walk W and hug the W wall while going N. You'll see a
chest: open it for a Star-Dew, and then continue N, until you come to an E/W
T. There are ascending stairs at the end of both passages, but for now take
the E stairs - the W stairs just force you walk further to get where you're
going. So, it's time to explore the...
2nd Floor (Star-Dew)
From the stairs, walk N, take a few steps W, and head S again. Hug the E wall
while continuing S and you'll come across a chest containing another Star-Dew.
Joy. Head W, and when you see a set of stairs, ignore them and go N instead.
Follow the hall at is curves E and then back S, and ascend you the stairs you
find there. They will take you up to the...
3rd Floor - central area (No items)
Nothing to do here but head for those stairs that you see just to the NW. They
will take you up to the...
4th Floor - central area (GuardArmor, Guard-Mail)
From the stairs, walk SE and you'll see two chests:
The South chest contains GuardArmor for Wren, which gives him a massive boost
in defense power. Nice.
The East chest contains Guard-Mail. The Guardian Mail is equally good for
either Rika or Chaz... it's up to you to decide who to give it to. My vote
goes to Rika, since she's your Healer and normally has fewer HP than Chaz.
Not a bad haul for a little walking, eh? Go back down the stairs now, back
to the...
3rd Floor - central area revisited
Walk SE and take the stairs back down to the...
2nd Floor - revisited
Walk N, then E, then S, and take the ascending stairs to the W up to the...
3rd Floor - outer area (Guard-Robe)
From the stairs, walk due E until you can't any more, then turn N and snag the
Guard-Robe from the chest you find there. The Guardian Robe presents us with
another dilemma: keep Rune's Mental score high, or sacrifice better damage for
more Defense and some elemental resistance? I have to go with the Guard-Robe
here... the benefits of the new Robe outweigh the extra 10 points of damage
that the old one provided. Backtrack now to the stairs, and head N this time.
Follow along as the passage turns to the E, and ends in an ascending staircase
that will take us up to the...
4th Floor - outer area (No items)
Another boring wrap-around level. From the stairs, walk W, then S, and then
finally E. Take this last set of stairs up to the...
5th Floor - (Sa-Lews)
When you arrive on this floor, you will see a flaming creature being attacked
by a pair of CrminHeads. They fire RayBreath at the creature, who,
unimpressed, promptly destroys them. Wow. And guess who you get to fight?
That's right, so take this opportunity to heal yourself to full HP. When
you're prepared, approach the creature and talk to it. It will tell you that
it acknowledges that Le Roof sent you and challenges you to a duel, to see if
you've got what it takes to be Protectors!
Boss: Sa-Lews, guardian of the Courage Tower (5555 HP)
Sa-Lews is the "magical" Boss (whereas De-Vars of the Strength Tower is more
of a "physical" Boss), so waste no time in putting up a Barrier, which will
make this fight a whole lot easier. Sa-Lews will use the following attacks:
Fleali, with Rune-like power. I'm not kidding. It can deal 200 damage to an
unprotected character, although once your Barrier is up and/or it targets a
character with a Ring equipped, it will do far less. This attack is only
dangerous in the first few rounds, while you're still buffing yourself.
Hewn, as you know, is a powerful magical attack that will deal over 130 damage
to the entire Party - unless you have a Barrier up, in which case it will deal
only 40-100 damage, which is far more manageable. If you did the Strength
Tower first, and have the Rings equipped, your characters will take even less
damage than normal. If you don't, be prepared to do some serious healing after
getting hit by this.
The fastest way to beat Sa-Lews is to do the following:
Wren: in the first Round, have him put up a Barrier. In subsequent Rounds, use
his charge(s) of PosiBolt, and then put him on Guard-Rod/Trimate/Star-Dew (in
short, healing) duty. You won't be have the GiSar-casting Guard-Rod if you
chose to do this tower first, in which case just turn Wren into a Trimate-and-
Star-Dew dispensing machine. You should have plenty of both by now, and
they're rapidly becoming obsolete, so you might as well use 'em up.
Chaz: Until Rika buffs him with Shift, have Chaz use either NaThu or RayBlade.
Once he's buffed, start hacking away with CrossCuts.
Rika: Cast the following, in order: SaNer, then Shift on Chaz, and finally
Shift on herself. Now you can have her start DblSlashing.
Rune: Use the following, in order: Legeon, then Tandle, then NaWat.
It will take quite a few rounds, but eventually Sa-Lews will go down. The only
hiccup in this strategy is if he casts Hewn repeatedly (he seems to favor
Flaeli, fortunately for you), in which case you might need to have Rika use
NaSar to get everyone back up to snuff.
Once you've beaten Sa-Lews, he congratulates you and tells you to take "these
items as the proof you met and passed me". He disappears in a flash of light,
leaving behind two chests:
Left chest: Rykr-Ring (short for Rykros, I can only imagine)
Right chest: Algo-Ring (for the Algo solar system)
The Rings function as Helmets: Chaz can equip the Algo-Ring; you can and should
put it on him immediately, as this Ring offers much better protection than the
Swift-Helm he's wearing now. The Rykr-Ring, on the other hand, can't be
equipped, but it allows you to take a fifth person with you to meet the
Profound Darkness. However, we'll worry about that in just a bit.
For now, just worry about Hinas-ing out of here, and then using Ryuka to..
----------------------------
Return to the Silence Temple
----------------------------
Suggested Level: Wren 43, Chaz 47, Rika 51, Rune 43
Foes you may face: CrminHeads, DeathBearr, Cula-Bellr
Vehicle foes: Cula-Bellr, DeathBearr, CrminHeads
Once back in the Temple's central Room, Le Roof makes his dramatic star-map-on-
the-floor appearance and congratulates you on your sucessful mission.
It then tells you of the Genesis of life on Algo: billions of years ago, there</pre><pre id="faqspan-10">
were two great spiritual beings, who fought over control of the Algo soloar
system, then still in its infancy. The victorous being - dubbed the Great
Light - banished the other to another dimension. That would be the Profound
Darkness.
The Great Light feared the the Profound Darkness might break free one day, so
it erected a great seal: 3 planets, orbiting a fixed star. The Great Light
then ordained that there would be Protectors from each of three tribes: the
Palmanians, the Motavians, and the Dezolians.
For reasons left unexplained, the power of the Great Light's seal would
fluctuate, becoming much weaker than normal every 1,000 years. To combat this
inherent weakness, the Great Light created Rykros and Le Roof, who were to
return to Algo every thousand years to ensure that the Protectors would prevail
over Dark Force and the Profound Darkness.
Ah, but what good is an invisible planet as a warning? Well, the Great Light
knew that, over time, the Protectors would forget their mission. Rykros was
designed to appear in the Seal's final moments.
Yes, the Profound Darkness exploited the weak moments of the seal. During
these times, the most powerful part of its being was able to take physical
from in Algo - Dark Force! Each time Dark Force appeared, a group of Heroes
was able to destroy its physical form, thus keeping The Profound Darkness
fully confined for another 1,000 years.
Unfortunately for life as we know it, the Profound Darkness was able to
PERMANENTLY weaken the seal by destroying the planet Palma. Now, 1,000 years
after Palma's destruction, the Profound Darkness is going to use the
combination of there only being 2/3 of a seal and the seal's natural ebbing to
try and break completely free of it's bondage.
And so the stage is set - by using the Rings, the Party will be able to enter
the dimension that the Profound Darkness resides in, confront it there, and
conquer it forever. If they fail, Darkness will free itself from its prison,
and the seal will be broken. This will surely mean the destruction of the
entire Algo system, and the death of every being living there.
At this point, Chaz objects to being told what to do, of being told that he
was born for the purpose of battling the Profound Darkness. Chaz says that he
isn't going to fight for a cause, or a mission - he's free to live his own
life, and make his own choices. He gets REALLY mad when Le Roof tells him that
the Great Light cannot fight this battle, as it has moved on to cultivate other
solar systems.
The Party gathers near the Landale to talk things over. Chaz talks about how
everyone has come to depend on him, when all he wanted was to avenge Alys. He
says that if they blindly follow the orders given to them by the Great Light
and Le Roof, then they are no different from puppets like Zio!
Rune says he can't blame Chaz for thinking that way, but there is someone at
the Esper Mansion whom he says Chaz ought to meet.
At this point, the game takes you to the Navigation Screen. Select Dezolis
as the destination...
---------------------------
Return to the Esper Mansion
---------------------------
Suggested Level: Wren 43, Chaz 47, Rika 51, Rune 43
Monsters you may face: Helex, Red Mole, SkyTiara, Biter Fly, Snow Slug,
Snow Worm
Vehicle foes: Lw-Addmer, OwlTalon, ProtectBit
Once you arrive on Dezolis, heal up using a Magic Circle and warp to a town,
any town at all (or just walk N to Tyler) and start selling stuff! Your
inventory is probably chock full of obsolete equipment and items, so sell off
ANYTHING you're not currently using - excess Pipes, Dews, Trimates, and all
that old equipment. Keep the GuardShild, however. I'll tell you why in a bit.
Once you've freed up some inventory space, warp to the Esper Mansion.
Return to Lutz' inner sanctum, and speak to the old man. He will say that
surely Rune isn't going to give such an important item to a youth like Chaz?
Rune says that he is, and the old man shuts up. Head downstairs.
Once you're downstairs, Rune opens up a secret passage in the back wall and
says that the Sacred Sword Elsydeon awaits... Rune says that Chaz must go,
alone, and "meet" with the sword.
The game then gives you control of only Chaz, with Rika and Rune blocking the
way back out. You can speak to them, but you're not getting back out of the
mansion until you decide to brave...
----------------------------------
The S.Sword Cv (Sacred Sword Cave)
----------------------------------
Monsters to be found in this dungeon:
Phantom
Items to be found in this dungeon:
Elsydeon
Suggested Level: Chaz 47
Suggested Level to reach: Chaz 47
In this short, short dungeon, Chaz has a date with destiny.
There is but one type of foe here:
Phantoms are easy to take down if you're at or near the recommended level. A
single stroke of the Guardian Sword will slay them, before they use their
Hewn and eye beam attacks on you. Neither attack is particularly damaging,
but with how short this dungeon is there's no excuse for holding anything
back!
Walkthrough:
------------
Entry Level (No items)
From the entrance, follow along as the path winds first N, then E, then S.
After a short time, you'll see a set of stairs that will take Chaz down to...
Floor B1F (Elsydeon)
Walk N from the stairs. You will see a dais. There is a statue holding a
sword on the dais; approach the statue and "search" it. The statue is, of
course, a statue of Alis. She's holding Elsydeon in her hands...
Suddenly, Chaz hears voices in his head... voices of the Heroes who have saved
Algo in the past. They gather in this place, sheltered by the Sacred Sword
Elsydeon. They tell Chaz to take Elsydeon in his hands, and he does...
In his mind, Chaz can see the battle between Alis and Dark Falz, and memories
of Odin, Noah, and Myau... the scene then shifts to the Heroes of Phantasy
Star II... Rolf, Rudo, Kain, Amy, Shir, Anna... the death of Nei, and Rolf's
pain... and then the whole Algo Solar system, with the spritis of Alis, Nei,
and Alys looking on...
When Chaz comes to, the spirits say that they entrust to him the Elsydeon, and
Chaz agrees to fight for them.
The scene then shifts to Chaz, emerging from the Sacred Cave and holding
Elsydeon. Rune says that he knew that Chaz would accept the sword... and his
destiny. Chaz agrees, saying that he is willing to fight for a future free
from the darkness that has plagued the past.
At that moment, Wren receives an emergency transmission from Demi - chaos has
broken out on Motavia!
With that, you are given control again, and Chaz is automatically equipped with
Elsydeon.
Elsydeon rocks. Not only does it do insane damage, it's like the SilvrTusk in
that it deals extra damage to undead/unholy foes. Oh, and it has a VERY good
chance to instantly slay any creature that Chaz strikes with a standard attack,
like Rika's GenocyClaw, only with a much greater chance of success. With this
thing, Chaz suddenly becomes a beast in battle, slaying most anything in a
single attack.
Well, we're coming up on the Endgame here. There's only the game's final
dungeon to tackle - oh, and there's one last optional dungeon, as well. This
final side quest will give Chaz a new Technique to play with, which makes it
well worth doing - after all, your Main Character can never be too powerful.
Well, we'll talk about the final side-quest in a minute. First things first,
you need to warp back to the Tyler Spaceport. When you arrive, Kyra and Raja
walk out to greet you! Raja has (finally) recovered, and both he and Kyra want
to come with Chaz on this, the last stage of the journey.
The game then automatically takes you back to Motavia. You land at the Nurvus
Spaceport, and are immediatly greeted by Hahn, Demi, and Gryz. They also offer
their services.
After everyone exchanges hellos, Demi says that a "large hole" has suddenly
opened just north of Piata! Things around the hole are dying off, and yet
there is no gas or radiation emenating from it. Rune spells it out for you:
the "hole" is a Dimension Gate that leads to the dimension that the Profound
Darkness was banished to. So, this is it then: stop the Profound Darkness now,
or watch as it erupts from that hole, destroying the entrie solar system in the
process...
Now, as cool as it would be to have a nine-member Party, you only have five
protective Rings. And thus, you can only choose a fifth (and final) Party
member from everyone who's ever been in the Party (well, except Alys and Seth,
for obvious reasons). Note that this choice is NOT permanent. You can swap
out your fifth Party member at ANY time, simply by returning here to the Nurvus
Spaceport and speaking to the person who want to put into the Party. They will
join, and the "old" fifth member will wait here for you to return.
If, for whatever bizarre reason, you wish to challenge the Profound Darkness
with only 4 people, don't agree to take anyone along. Be warned: once you have
a fifth member, there's no going back to four.
I'm not sure how they've done it, but all your old Party members have gone up
enough Levels so that they are at roughly the same level as Chaz, Rika, Wren,
and Rune. As such, most of them have learned a bunch of new Skills and
Techniques, so I'm to go through each and every one of them and give you the
low down on all the new tricks they've learned. The list will be in
alphabetical order, so no one can accuse me of playing favorites (although I
do):
*Please note, the Levels given here are not set in stone. The actual Level of
the character depends on Chaz' Level when you ask them to join. The higher
Chaz' Level is, the higher their Level will be. The Levels I list here are
the Levels they were at when they joined my Party, but if your Levels are
higher (or lower) than mine were, the Levels of your 5th character(s) will
vary.*
===============
Demi, Level 45
===============
New Techniques: N/A
New Skills: None, but she gains a crapload of "charges" on all her old Skills.
New equipment: Laco-Gear, SonicBustr, Laco-Armor
Ahh, Demi, you still suck. I mean that. She's stuck with the Sonic Buster,
since she's unable to use any of Wren's "leftover" guns (for whatever reason).
Sure, she has good defense, and a decent attack, and good HP... but guess what?
She can still only fight Mechs, and where you're going there ARE no mechs.
I guess if you really have a place in your heart for tiny little Demi, or if
you can't get enough "Medic Pw", then Demi would make a good 5th member. Me?
I'll choose someone useful. Rating: 1/5
===============
Gryz, Level 49
===============
New Techniques: None.
New Skills: Sweeping. It's Gryz's version of AirSlash, but with more charges!
Not too shabby.
New equipment: Laco-Helm, Laco-Axe, Laco-Mail
Gryz is back and as one-dimensional as ever. At least Grys finally has an
Attack All Skill: Sweeping! With this, he sweeps his axe horizontally,
creating a wave that hits every foe at once. Crash has an insane number of
charges now, if Instant Death is your thing.
Gryz isn't a terrible choice, but his lack of versatility will hurt him you
once you're facing the Profound Darkness. There are better 5th members, but
Gryz will do nicely if you like a highly physical Party. Rating: 2/5
===============
Hahn, Level 46
===============
New Techniques: GiZan, NaRes, NaWat, SaVol, NaZan
New Skills: Astral, Eliminat
New equipment: MahlayRing, MahlayDggr, MahlayShld, MahlayMail
Let's start with Hahn's new abilities:
You've seen GiZan, NaZan, NaRes, and NaWat. But you HAVEN'T seen SaVol. SaVol
is the shiznit - you can attempt to kill every Biomonster on screen for a mere
16 TP. And Hahn has almost as many TP as Rune now! With all these new Techs,
Hahn becomes a sort of Mage/Assassin: able to kill most Biomonsters outright,
but if he can't he has stuff like NaZan and NaWat to fall back on. Oh, and
he can heal with NaRes, as well.
As for his new Skills, Astral is Hahn's version of Chaz' Explode: he turns into
a beam of blue light and instantly kills a single Biomonster. So, uh, it's Vol
in Skill form? Then why does he also have Eliminat, which does the exact
same thing? I sure don't know, but having that many Instant Death abilities
can't be healthy!
I like Hahn, I really do, but I can't give him the best rating, for reasons
I'll get into later. Rating: 4/5
===============
Kyra, Level 44
===============
New Techniques: NaGra
New Skills: Tandle
New equipment: None. She still has whatever she was equipped with when she
left you on Dezolis.
Kyra hasn't learned too many new tricks. Sure, it's nice to have another
character with NaGra and Tandle - well, let me rephrase that. With NaGra and
Tandle, Kyra suddenly contributes a lot more on offense, although she'll run
out of resources long before Rune ever will.
Still, as a jack-of-all-trades character, Kyra is an asset instead of a
liability. Rating: 3/5.
===============
Raja, Level 44
===============
New Techniques: Regen, NaSar
New Skills: none, just more "charges" of his old Skills.
New equipment: None. He still has whatever he was equipped with when he left
you on Dezolis.
Raja is back, and more insane than ever. More Ataraxia. More St. Fire.
NaSar and Regen. With Raja in the party its like having a portable Inn
traveling with you, plus you get a bunch of extra undead/unholy-killing power -
which is very important when you're going to face the root of all evil.
Finally, Raja has an exclusive Tech: Regen. This monster of a Tech functions
at first like NaRes, restoring a single character to full HP. The kicker is
that it will continue to restore that Character's HP for several rounds after
it is cast, as the very beginning of every round. This is an awesome Tech for
the Profound Darkness fight, as it allows you to heal Party members - without
having to use Raja's turn to actively heal them. The drawback to this Tech is
it's cost: 36 TP, or the same as the TP needed for the NaSar Tech. Using
Regen on everyone will severely deplete Raja's TP reservers... but isn't that
what Ataraxia is for?
In conclusion, there's no real reason NOT to take Raja into the final dungeon
with you. Massive amounts of Healing, undead slaying, TP recovery... it's all
here. Rating: 5/5
OK. I strongly recommend taking Raja or Hahn along with you, but again, it's
your game and you can pick whomever you like to accompany you. If you're into
making things more challenging, don't take anyone at all, and try to defeat
the Proufound Darkness with only the Big Four (difficult, but do-able).
Now, you have another choice to make: to do the game's final side-quest or not.
Either way, I'm going to cover this side-quest now, but if you don't feel like
making Chaz stronger before confronting the Profound Darkness, I'm not stopping
you. Scroll on down to the section entitled "Endgame" and get ready to get
some Profound ass.
If you're reading this, then you've chosen to do that last little side-quest.
Good for you.
Heal up at a Magic Circle, and then head North. Once you see the Navigation
Screen, select Rykros as the destination. That's right, we are going to...
----------------
Return to Rykros
----------------
Suggested Level: Wren 43, Chaz 47, Rika 51, Rune 43
Foes you may face: CrminHeads, DeathBearr, Cula-Bellr
Vehicle foes: Cula-Bellr, DeathBearr, CrminHeads
Once you land at the Silence Temple, leave immediately and walk SE until you
see the Courage Tower. Now, head due West until you see Rykros unmentioned
third tower...
------------------
The Tower of Anger
------------------
Monsters to be found in this dungeon:
BladeRight, HakenLeft, DeathBearr, CrminHeads, Dark Witch, TwinArms,
BloodSaber, Illusionst, Le-Faw-Gan
Items to be found in this dungeon:
Sol-Dew, Guard-Mail
The Boss of this dungeon is: Re-Faze, guardian of the Anger Tower
Suggested Level: Wren 43, Chaz 47, Rika 51, Rune 43
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 44, Chaz 48, Rika 51, Rune 44
Now that you have the Elsydeon, you can enter this final sub-dungeon. Much
like the Strength and Courage towers before it, you'll go up and down levels,
getting confused and snagging a few chests before meeting up with the Guardian
on the top floor. So let's get started, shall we?
I'm not EVEN going to bother with the monsters this time. You've fought this
same set of monsters for two whole Towers now, and I think that by now you know
how to deal with them.
Walkthrough:
------------
1st Floor (Sol-Dew)
From the entrance, walk N, across the entire floor, until you come to an E/W T.
Go W, and then follow the hallway when it turns to the S. You'll see a chest
containing a Sol-Dew; grab it and then backtrack to the T. Go E this time,
and then head S until you see a set of stairs that will take you up to the...
2nd Floor - east (Guard-Mail)
Walk a bit to the NE and open the chest you find there for another set of
Guard-Mail. Very nice. Remember that both Chaz and Rika can use it... give
this set to whomever you neglected when you got the original one out of the
Courage Tower. Now, for some more backtracking. Go down the stairs, back
down to the...
1st Floor revisited
Head N, then W, then S, and you'll see another flight of ascending stairs.
Take them up to the...
2nd Floor - west (No items)
From the stairs, walk N, then E, and then head SW until you see a set of stairs
that will take you up to the...
3rd Floor (Alys!?)
WHAT? When you arrive on this floor, the music will play a Dramatic Chord...
and then stop. Chaz finds himself alone. Alone, except that Alys is standing
there in the middle of the room! Approach and talk to her. Chaz will ask her
what she's doing here, but instead of answering, she... attacks?
Boss: Alys Brangwin, Chaz' mentor and Hunter extraordinaire (440 HP)
Alys will throw her Slashers at you, but all it takes is 2 shots of NaThu or
RayBlade to take her down.
When the battle is over, Chaz cries Alys name... and then, a creature of flame
appears and taunts you. When he asks you if you want to know of a way to turn
your feelings of anger and hatred into a Technique of great power - and this
is IMPORTANT now...
SAY NO.
If you say "Yes", Chaz will fight Re-Faze... alone. You can't beat Re-Faze,
unless you're making yourself immortal with a GameShark or somesuch. So,
basically, if you choose Yes, it's Game Over. So...
SAY NO.
When you answer no, Chaz explains that using such a Technique would make him
the same as the Darkness that he's fighting. Re-Faze will then grant Chaz
the power of Megid, saying that he's confindent that Chaz will not be corrupted
by it.
And so Chaz now has the Megid Technique. This Ultimate Attack Tech costs 30
TP, but it deals a crapload of damage to every enemy on-screen. This is great
Technique to use in order to Level Up quickly in the game's final dungeon.
And that's all, folks. We're done here. Hinas out, warp back to the Silence
Temple, and board the Landale. Fly on back to Motavia, choose your 5th Party
member, heal up using the Magic Circles, and then warp to Piata. We are now
at...
-----------
The Endgame
-----------
Suggested Level: Wren 44, Chaz 48, Rika 51, Rune 44 (After doing the Anger
Tower on Rykros)
Sandwiched in between Piata and Mile is the Profound Darkness' nasty Hole of
Death. This final dungeon, dubbed "The Edge", is a freaky trip into the
psychedelic dimension that the Profound Darkness is imprisoned in.
Some final preparation tips: if you're taking Raja or Hahn along (you should),
buy them Psy-Shields for added defense and more Mental power. Their attacks
are pitiful to the point of being worthless anyway. It's also not a bad idea
to take along at least one Escapipe and a handful of Trimates (or Sol-Dews).
When you're ready, walk into the Hole. This will take you to...
--------
The Edge
--------
Monsters to be found in this dungeon:
BlindHeads, OuterBeast, Gi-Le-Farg, ImagioMage, Dark Rider, ChaosBrngr,
SoldrFiend, Prophallus
Items to be found in this dungeon:
None(!)
The Boss of this dungeon is: The Profound Darkness
Suggested Level: Wren 44, Chaz 48, Rika 51, Rune 44
Suggested Level to reach: Wren 45, Chaz 49, Rika 52, Rune 45, Character 5 45+
Here we are... The Edge. This trippy dungeon is a bit hard on the eyes, but
it's not as complicated as it looks. Just follow the flashing lights on the
floor, and remember that the tiles with the funky pattern function like
elevators, taking you to a new section of the dungeon.
There are, of course, a bunch of new monsters here. Most of them are undead/
unholy Biomonsters (just another reason to take Raja or Hahn along). Chaz will
be particularly useful/powerful here, as Elsydeon just eats most of the
monsters here for breakfast. The final dungeon's beasiary is as follows:
BlindHeads are just like all their lesser brethren: the possess a powerful
physical attack (now with Paralyzing Power!), the ever-potent RayBreath, and
high defense, but their HP is mediocre. These guys are nothing to worry
about, so don't waste too many resources in killing them.
OuterBeasts are the granddaddy of all DimensWorm look-alikes. They only have
a few HP, but then they take only 1 damage from most physical attacks. You
can kill them easily in a number of ways: Elsydeon deals full damage to them,
as does the SilvrTusk. Also, the lowly Gra spell will kill the lot of them
outright. So, use Gra on groups and have Chaz and Rika slaughter singles and
pairs. These guys are easy XP, although they may hit you or cast Gra (or
GiGra) on you now and again. Big deal.
Gi-Le-Farg is a nasty spellcaster-type, with an arsenal that consists of a
surprisingly powerful physical attack, "Tandil", Flaeli, and the GiZan Tech.
However, they are easily killed by Chaz' regular attack, or most any other
Instant Death attack, for that matter. Be redundant with Instant Death
attacks, and victory will be yours in no time.
ImagioMages are best described as the Anti-Rune. They have access to most of
Rune's most deadly attacks (plus a few others for, uh, good measure). The
full list of their attacks is as follows: MindBlast (which attempts to
Paralyze everyone), DeathSpell (Instant Death, one Party member), Corrosion,
Legeon, Tandle, Hewn, and Flaeli. That's a NASTY skill set, but the good news
is that they aren't too difficult to kill: Elsydeon and the SilvrTusk both
deal massive damage to them, and Instant Death attacks (especially Raja's
HolyWord) are fairly effective, as well. Hit them hard, and they won't ever
be able to whittle away your HP with attacks like Corrosion and Legeon.
Dark Riders are the last Centaur-esque monster you'll face. Like their
predecessors, they have very high attack power, but their HP, defenses, and
speed are all mediocre. Their one new trick - ThrowLancr - hits everyone in
the Party, but does surpisingly little damage. These guys will fall easily to
most Instant Death attacks, so you can use those with the peace of mind that
they will leave the Rider(s) quite dead. Dark Riders will sometimes drop a
MoonSlashr, which you can give to Kyra to boost her attacks a little further.
ChaosBr(i)ng(e)rs are the final and most powerful of the Dark Marauder line of
foes. These guys are INDENTICAL to Deathbearrs, except that they have
slightly higher attack power and a few more HP. Ooh, big deal. Toast them
with Double Damage attacks and continue on. If you're lucky, they may drop
a Defeat-Axe, which is Gryz' best weapon: it has a higher attack power than
the Laconian Axe, and it has a chance to kill something outright (like the
GenocyClaw). If you're using Gryz, try to acquire one of these, as it makes
him much more useful.
Sold(ie)rFiends are a more powerful variation of TwinArms. In addition to
using HakenBolt and BladeShine (both of which deal a bit more damage), these
guys can use Vol to instantly slay a Party member. Ouch. They can also heal
themselves with GiRes. I think it's pretty obvious that you should try to
kill these things quickly, before they can Vol someone into oblivion. I like
to give them a taste of their own medicine: attacks like Diem, Vol, Eliminat,
Explode, Astral, Crash, Negatis, and HolyWord will ALL work wonders (although
you don't quite get a 100% kill rate, it's darn close) in snuffing out the
threat of any SoldierFiends you may encounter.
Prophallus is this dungeon's rarest foe, appearing only once in a blue moon at
best. This Dark Force look-alike has close to 3000 (!) HP, which means you're
in for a LONG fight. On the plus side, it can only attack, so if you put up
Deban/Warla/Blessing right away, you're pretty much free to beat it into
submission with Double Damage Skills. It's undead/unholy, so CrossCut and
DblSlash (assuming the SilvrTusk) will do a LOT of damage to this thing. Your
reward for beating one: 13099 XP per person, which is twice as much as you can
get from any other (non-Boss) battle in the game, so count yourself lucky if
you stumble across one.
Walkthrough:
------------
Section the first (Rainbow coloration: alternating Yellow/Green and Blue/Red)
A very straight forward area. The only thing you can do is follow the path as
it heads N with a few twists and turns. You'll eventually come to the
Transport Tile that will take us to...
Section the second (Blue/Red coloration)
Walk E from the Tile, until the path splits, with walkways leading NE and SE.
The SE path looks promising, but after you take the Transport Tile to the Third
Section, it dead ends almost immediately. So, head NE. You'll soon come to a
Tranport Tile that takes you to...
Section the third (Green/Yellow coloration)
Walk S, following the path whenever it jogs. That little path that you see to
the W is the dead-end that I mentioned above, so just ignore it. After a
relatively short walk, you'll see another Transport Tile. This one will take
you to..
Section the fourth (Green/Yellow coloration)
Walk W until the path splits, with paths heading N and W. The N path is just a
short little dead end, so just keep on walking W. You'll quickly come to the
Transport Tile that takes you to...
Section the fifth (Blue/Green coloration)
After you walk a few paces N, the path splits into paths going NW and E. The
E path is one LONG dead end (the path goes NE for some time, ends in a
Transport Tile, and the new section is one big wrap-around that ends
abruptly), so go W instead. After a quick jog to the N, the path splits once
more. This time your choices are W and N. N is a short dead end, so walk W.
The path will turn N and then end in the Tranport Tile that you take you to...
Section the sixth (Red/Yellow coloration)
From the Tile, walk W, then S, then W again, and finally N to the Transport
Tile that will take you to...
Section the seventh (Blue/Red coloration)
Not much to see here. Walk due N until you come to the Transport Tile that
will take you to...
Section the eighth - final area! (Blue/Violet coloration)
Again, you have no choice but to walk N until you see the Transport Tile. The
fact there are no random battles in this section is a very subtle hint that
that next Tile just might take you to the lair of...
The Profound Darkness!
Yes, that's right. That final Tile takes you to the "home" of the Profound
Darkness. When you first appear, all you'll see is a dark shadow blotting out
the swirling background. Chaz wonders aloud if this is the shape that the
Profound Darkness has chosen to take.
Rune can sense the intent of the Profound Darkness: anger and hatred of all
that lives, and a great need to destroy. He proclaims that such a being must
NOT be allowed into Algo!
Chaz and company share a brief pep talk with each other, and then they enter
the Dark Portal in order to face...
The Profound Darkness, the source of all evil (4250 HP, 5000 HP, 13000 HP)
Surprisingly enough, this battle will go pretty much like any other Boss
battle - the only real twist being the three forms that the Profound Darkness
takes (thus the 3 HP totals given above). Your tactics will be much the same
as those you used against the various forms of Dark Force. In order to make
things a bit shorter (and save my tired wrists some grief), I'm going to use
PD as an abbreviation for "the Profound Darkness". Got that? PD.
Okay, PD's first form - a bloated, tentacle-encrusted pink monstrosity - has
the following attacks:
Sh(a)d(o)wBreath: You've seen this one before. Dark Force was quite fond of
it, and PD's version is much the same, albeit more powerful. Counter this
attack by casting NaRes (or Medice or whatever) on the injured character and
pounding PD with your best attacks.
FireBreath is, well, pathetic if you have a Barrier up, dealing only 1 damage
to most characters. Laugh this off and keep attacking.
RayBreath is a little more dangerous, but really it's just a 3/4 strength
ShadowBreath. Again, heal the injured character with NaRes or somesuch, and
attack, attack, attack!
That seems to easy, doesn't it? All single character attacks... and
FireBreath? It should come as no surprise that, after you deal a measly 4250
damage, the PD takes on a new form - a large, green, Dark Force-like critter,
with new attacks:
A regular attack, which is only dangerous if he targets Rune, Raja, Demi, or
Kyra with it. Heal with NaRes and be thankful that he didn't use any of his
other, more dangerous attacks, like...
LightShowr is nothing new, but it will do pretty good damage to Chaz and Rika
in particular. It's still nothing that a Sar won't cure.
Distortion is just a fancy name for NaGra. This will deal around 150 damage
to Wren, 50 to Rune, and some number between those two to everyone else.
It's not a bad idea to answer this with a shot of GiSar from Rika or Raja, or
better yet, have Wren or Raja use the Guard-Rod.
Once you pump another 5000 damage into PD's ugly green hide, it will shift
once more, into it's final form: a creepy mix of Mother Brain (from PS II),
and the humanoid form of Dark Force. Very Bizarre, and very dangerous, since
it can now use these attacks:
A regular attack, which is particularly dangerous if you've been Cancelled (see
below), but not too bad otherwise. If your DeBan/Warla/Blessing is down, and
PD gets in a critical hit (very possible), it will deal enough damage that
even Wren will sit up and take notice - and its more than powerful to kill a
"frail" character like Rune outright. Beware.
Evil Eye can put a character to sleep. This is annoying, because it basically
forces Rune to waste a turn casting Arows on them. On the plus side, it deals
no damage.
Canceling is an extremely frustrating ability: it cancels ALL of your Buffs.
If PD uses this on you (and it will, at some point), you're going to have to
decide which Buffs you want to restore: you won't be able to bring them all
back before PD uses this again and ruins all your hard work. I recommend the
essentials: Barrier, SaNer, and Shift on Chaz and Rika.
Megid! Ack, that's not fair! You can't use the most powerful attack spell in
the game on us! What do you think this is, Dragon Warrior? All kidding
aside, Megid is evil. It can deal 175 damage, even to Barrier-protected
characters. If PD uses this, be prepared to spend the next round healing
hardcore. If you have enough TP to cast NaSar, do so. If not, use GiSar,
a Star-Dew, and the Guard-Rod to bring your characters' HP back up.
This final form of PD has a whopping 13,000(!) HP, so be prepared for the long
haul. This form will take longer to kill than the first two put together!
Now, this battle will play out differently depending on who your 5th Party
member is, but the Tactics of the Big Four (Chaz, Rika, Rune, Wren) don't
really rely on Number 5, so I'm going to list their tactics first, and then
give some tips on what your 5th member should do.
A few general tips, before we get to character specific tactics:
1) Each time you "defeat" PD and it changes form, all your buffs (SaNer, Shift,
Barrier, Deban/Warla/Blessing, Regen,) remain is place, so don't waste time or
resources re-buffing yourself needlessly.
2) Each form gets progressively nastier. This should be a given, if you've
read about his attacks, but it's still my duty to warn you.
3) The game doesn't skip a beat when PD changes form. The battle continues
uninterrupted, with characters that haven't gone yet (even PD itself)
attacking in order, as though PD had never done its Presto Change-o routine.
For instance, you might "kill" PD in mid-round, only to have Rune attack and
Raja heal after it re-forms.
4) If Wren dies (and he might, he tends to take the most damage from
everything), have Chaz, Rika, or your 5th member use a Repair-Kit to revive
him. If anyone ELSE dies, use a Sol-Dew on them; don't bother with Rever: the
character will come back to life with so few HP that PD's next attack will
just kill them again, creating a vicious cycle.
5) The Guard-Rod is your best friend in this fight. Use it instead of GiSar
when battling the first two forms, to save Rika and/or Raja's TP for the
third form's ultra-potent Megid attack, which requires a casting of NaSar to
"neutralize".
Now, for character tactics:
Chaz: now that Chaz has Elsydeon, he will become your primary damage dealer.
I recommend having him use NaThu until Rika casts Shift on him, at which point
he can switch to RayBlade. Also have him use NaThu if he gets Cancelled by
PD's final form. Try to save all of his charages of CrossCut for PD's final
form: GrandCross is your friend in the battle's final rounds. Finally, Chaz
shouldn't be healing unless absolutely necessary: that's what Rika (and Raja,
if you have him along) is there for.
Wren: Wren is actually pretty worthless in this fight, except for the Barrier
that he's going to put up in the first round of combat, and after every one of
PD's "Cancelling" attacks. Other than that, you're going to need to have him
Recover often, since all of PD's attacks will deal a great deal of damage to
him, even with Barrier up. Just have Wren use a Flare whenever you think you
can sneak one in, or maybe have him use a Trimate, Star-Dew, Sol-Dew, or the
Guard-Rod if the need arises.
Rika: ever the Party Buffer, Rika should open with DeBan and then follow up
with SaNer, Shift on Chaz, Shift on herself, and finally Shift on Gryz or
Kyra (if present). Once everyone is buffed, have Rika use DblSlash whenever
she's not healing, and don't be afraid to put off a Buff or two in order to
keep the Party's HP up in the early rounds of the fight. Rika will spend the
entire battle healing if you didn't bring Raja along, but if you DID bring
him, he'll be able to handle most of the healing duties while Rika dishes out
shots of SilvrTusk-and-Shift-boosted DblSlash. If you get Cancelled, have
Rika re-cast SaNer, then Shift on Chaz, and then Shift on herself in between
heals.
Rune: your other big damage dealer in this fight. Have Rune start off with
NaWat, NaFoi, and Tandle. You should save all of his charges of Legeon and
Efess for PD's final form, when Chaz is going to be attacking with CrossCut:
that way, you'll get the occasional uber-powerful Grand Cross Combination
Attack to go off. If you somehow use up all Rune's charges of Legeon, Efess,
and Tandle, have him cast NaWat, NaFoi, or NaGra, saving Flaeli as an absolute
last resort. PD's second form is particularly vulnerable to NaFoi, so that's
an option for that portion of the fight. Like Chaz, you want Rune attacking
and NEVER healing unless you're in a "Rune has to use a healing item or we
might die" situation.
As for your Fifth Wheel, here are some ideas:
Demi: why would ANYONE bring Demi along for a dungeon that contains no Mechs?
Well, if you've handicapped yourself with Demi, you can have her use Barrier
in the first round, freeing up Wren to use Flare (big whoop-de-doo). After
that, you may as well put her on healing duty and have her use Medic Pw,
Recover, or the Guard-Rod in every single round. It's not worth having her
attack, since if you're having Demi heal, Rika can be Buffing sooner and
dealing much more damage than Demi could ever hope to with DblSlash.
Gryz: the problem with bringing Gryz is keeping him alive. Sure, a Shift-
boosted Gryz can deal a fair amount of damage, but there are 3 problems:
1) Gryz, despite his high HP, has terrible magic defense. As such, you need
to keep his HP very high, or one of PD's attacks might kill him.
2) Gryz has NO DOUBLE DAMAGE SKILL. This is key. Even with Shift or WarCry,
Gryz can't deal as much damage as Chaz' CrossCut or Demi's DblSlash.
3) Stike Three comes when you consider that, unlike Rika and Chaz, Gryz has no
Holy weapon, and thus he doesn't get that extra damage bonus that his comrades
do. All Gryz can do in this fight is attack, over and over and over and...
Kyra: as you might have noticed, Kyra doesn't contribute much to Boss fights.
Sure, Medice is handy, but not nearly as handy as Rika's (and Raja's) NaSar.
You can also have her use Warla, which means it's one less round before Rika
starts Shifting people. Basically, you have two options with Kyra:
1) Have her use Medice on the most injured Party Member every round, or the
Guard-Rod if the whole Party is hurting. You might still need to have Rika
supplement what Kyra's doing with NaRes and/or Gi/NaSar, depending on what PD
is doing to you.
2) Treat her like Rune, Jr., and have her use Tandle, NaFoi, and NaGra the
whole time, while Rika does all the healing. Not that great of an idea, if
you ask me, but you CAN do it.
Hahn: well, Hahn is a HUGE asset in GETTING to PD, but he isn't all that great
when you actually get there. It's a good idea to have him use Vision once or
even twice to start things off (and after every Cancelling), and then the best
thing to do is have him alternate between NaRes and NaWat. You see the
problem? NaWat doesn't do that much damage, and Hahn has no "heal everyone at
once" ability, so he becomes more of a liablity than an asset. Reading the
above paragraphs, you can probably see why I recommend taking along our good
buddy...
Raja: the #1 choice for fighting PD. With his Levels up and his Mental score
boosted as high as you can get it, Raja becomes very scary (and over-powered,
if you ask me). He makes the fight with PD practically a cakewalk. Have Raja
start things off with Blessing (to save Rika from having to cast DeBan) and
then use Regen on everyone, in this order: Raja, Rune, Rika, Chaz. This will
most likely drain all of Raja's TP, so have him use Ataraxia the next few
Rounds to restore it (and everyone else's, for that matter). If you need to
heal during these first few rounds, have Rika do it, since the Ataraxias will
then restore her TP. Once everyone is Regen-fortified, and you've restored
your Party's TP with Ataraxia, simply have Raja cast GiSar or NaSar every
round to nullify the damage that PD doing to you. If you start running out of
TP, have Rika heal for a few rounds while you abuse Ataraxia some more. Keep
this up until PD gives up the ghost.
-------
The End
-------
Whew! That's it; sit back and enjoy the ending. You've earned it. And no,
I'm NOT going to paraphrase it here; you're just going to have to beat the PD
to see it. If your Levels are 45 or more, you shouldn't have too many
problems, so get your Levels up and get to work!
-----------------------------
6. Wrap-up and Things to Come
-----------------------------
That's all for now. If I get some positive feedback about this guide, I may
be convinced to sit down and add some appendices... you know, Shop lists,
Weapon and Armor lists, Combination Attacks, stuff like that. But really, you
don't NEED any of that to beat the game, and most of the information that would
be in such appendices is already in the Walkthrough itself, so I'm not going
to waste a crapload of time putting all those tedious lists together unless I
get some requests for them.
Otherwise, I can't think of anything else to add. After reading the whole
thing over and proofreading it 3 or 4 times, I think this thing's pretty much
done, but if you feel I missed something, or have some Boss tips, or anything
like that, don't hesistate to e-mail me and share your thoughts with me. I'll
be more than happy to add you to the credits section.
E-mail me at:
[email protected]
OR
[email protected]
-----------------------------
7. Credit Where Credit is Due
-----------------------------
- To Sega of America, for localizing this incredible game for all us American
gamers to enjoy. Kudos to you all!
- To Brian Kern and his Castlevania: Symphony of the Night FAQ/Walkthrough
(here on GameFAQs), for his Legal Text - I borrowed quite a bit of it. Sorry
and/or Thank You, Brian!
- To me, for spending the better part of two months putting this monster
together. I mean, just LOOK at that file size... almost 500 KB... of TEXT.
Just insane. I hope you guys appreciate this thing... it took me FOREVER to
type it up...
Copyright 2004 Mark Quaintance (Marak)
