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Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 Survival Guide
Version 1.0 - Tuesday, November 15, 2005
By Salah al Din aka Hitoshura
Contact - iaianpr at gmail.com
Note: I created this guide solely for GameFAQs.
It should not appear anywhere else.
Don't email me for permission to post it elsewhere.
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Contents:
0 - Introduction/Version History
0.1 - About this guide
0.2 - Version history
1 - 1.1 General Dungeon Survival Notes
1.2 Hard Mode Survival Notes
2 - Maintaining Character Growth Notes
3 - Mantra list
4 - Useful Combos to Know
5 - Understanding Bad Status
6 - Specific Dungeon Survival
7 - Credits, Thanks etc...
0.1 - About this guide
----------------------
DDS2 is more a game about managing the growth of your characters, while
maintaining a steady flow of resources to support them in long drawn out areas
that never seem to end. If you run out of MP or MP restoring items in the
middle of a dungeon, you'll soon become crippled as you search frantically for
a restore or a save terminal. This guide is meant as means of providing
guidance so that you don't suddenly wind up crippled in the middle of a dungeon
with all your money spent on Mantras, and unable to buy items to restore MP
for later on.
Efficiency and speed are key to getting through this game's lengthy dungeons.
The game rewards you for finishing encounters quickly by providing extra money.
The more money you have the more you can support your characters with better
Mantras, for the abilities they'll need to survive, as well as obtaining many
valuable items from the shop.
Because the dungeons all have 1 goal - Explore. Writing a walkthrough for each
one would be somewhat redundant. Though this document does provide key tips in
getting through particular dungeons, it is not meant to be a walkthrough, just
as a general guide to get you through the game on your own terms with a little
help when it's really needed.
0.2 - Version History
---------------------
Version 1.0 - 11/15/2005
- Goal of the document is complete
- Added some Hard Mode notes
- Changed around some notes, and spelling mistakes.
- Moved the note about the Speedy Ring as it can be found earlier than
I originally thought.
- Added in a few more important combos. Especially the Tentarafoo Combo!
- A few more notes were added.
Version 0.9 - 10/19/2005
- Document is virtually complete.
May add full combo list as they are discovered.
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1- 1.1 General Dungeon Survival Notes
=====================================
- Map everything out, don't head straight to the end.
- If you run into a Save Terminal or fixed battle before mapping out
a portion of the dungeon, head back to the unmapped area.
- After the 3rd Dungeon, heal after every battle.
- Ensure you've collected all treasures along the way as you progress
- Only use Hunt Skills to speed up Mantra learning when you've got
more than enough cash to buy the next one you plan on buying at
the next Terminal.
- Understand your enemies. Kill them in 1 turn to get 50% more money.
- Get the Spyglass as soon as you're able to. It'll be your best
friend for the rest of the game.
- The quicker you defeat enemies the more MP you'll have for later.
- Use reserve characters to heal your active ones.
- Plan your characters so that you have access to as many combos as
possible.
- Don't equip multi-target spells (unless they're Megido or Bad Status
attacks) Equip single target spells so that they can get access to
multi-target combos.
- Don't try to use a combo unless you can hit a weakness.
- Don't use a physical combo unless you know you can kill more than 1
enemy or there are enough targets that you'll get at least 1 Critical
Hit.
- Multi-target element combo versions of character have a greater hit
rate than the normal ones, and are generally more powerful.
- Generally speaking you should have 1 or 2 Shield abilities, and 1
Auto ability set on a character, the rest being attack/magic abilities.
- Human Form is useful for using the elemental gun combos. If you are
using the best ammo that you can buy at that time, they'll do more
damage than a spell of the same tier.
- Human Form is also useful against enemies that use Expel skills and have
more than 1 Press Turn. Human Form naturally has Null Expel. Just
having 1 Character in Human Form is enough.
- When you get the Speedy Ring, equip it to the Party Leader and use
the most powerful multi-target attack or combo at your disposal.
- In darkened areas, always use a Light Ball. You'll always be
ambushed when walking in the dark.
- Only run when things are looking really bad. Eg. 2 characters dead,
Everyone has Low HP and is afflicted with Charm, Panic, Curse,
Poison etc...
- Don't use "Counter" support skills. If a character is poisoned,
they'll take damage from countering. Or kill something you wanted
to use a hunt skill on.
- When running low on MP, mute a monster that uses nothing but magic
attacks and use MP Thief to syphon off its MP for your characters.
- Try to conserve MP Restoring items for boss battles as they are
fairly rare and quite expensive to buy.
- Get Mana or Chakra Walk for all characters.
- Run away from Berserk Mode fights if you couldn't hit anything on
the first round.
- Don't ignore a character's growth. Make sure reserve characters
always have Mutual Karma set, and that you rotate the active party
to speed up AP acquisition when using Hunt skills.
- Never pass up a field hunt. You'll always get some free AP for your
efforts, and a reward if you devour enough Mitamas.
=====================================
1- 1.2 Hard Mode Notes
=====================================
- There are two variations of Hard Mode. One with a fully complete DDS1 Clear
File, and one with the stand-alone DDS2 clear file. The latter being more
difficult than the former for a variety of reasons.
- All optional bosses in DDS1 defeated earns some rather powerful Karma Rings
as you progress through DDS2.
- All Mantras Mastered in DDS1 provides a +5 boost to all stats at the start
of the game. It might not seem like much but it helps out a LOT at the
start.
- If you had over 1 Million Macca currently in DDS1 you'll start DDS2 with
double cash.
- For ease of remembrance, picking the first choice in all of DDS1's decision
events opens up a powerful skill for Argilla, and opens up a possibility to
replace Roland. (Those aren't the exact requirements, but the
requirements needed for Particular decision events must all be the first
choice anyways.)
- Simply using the DDS1 clear file for Hard Mode unlocks a powerful ability
for Gale.
- These additions, obviously, will not appear in a stand alone DDS2 Hard Mode
game.
- Unlock the stand-alone DDS2 Hard Mode by loading the DDS2 Clear File, without
using the DDS1 file. Note that all Mantras and Combos learned in previous
playthroughs will not carry over when you select Hard Mode.
- In the stand-alone DDS2 Hard Mode you will always have the support skill
Human Form at the start of the game. You will only have this if you load
DDS2 Clear File. This ability enables a character to start a battle in
Human Form, and is surprisingly crucial to get through some of the harder
random encounters in the beginning.
- The following tips are for the stand-alone DDS2 Hard Mode.
- If you can remember the event and boss fight weaknesses, set Human Form for
where it is most applicable. Especially in the early goings.
- As the old addage goes if you run into a Tarrasque. RUN! But you can easily
defeat it if you have Argilla set Human Form and use 3 Earth Shots. That's
provided you don't get ambushed by one in which case you may very well die.
- Using Karma Rings for stat boosts is now not just a superfluous addition,
it's a necessity. Take great care in deciding what Karma Gems to attach to
certain rings. The most important stats are Vitality and Magic as they
increase your HP and MP as well as your defense, which will spell the
difference between life and death. If you can live, you'll have the know-how
to kill any enemy before they attack again.
- Get the Rich Ring as soon as you can. You'll need the extra money for all
those expensive healing items. The Rich Ring is is best obtained by buying
the first Mystery Box when Solar Noise is at MAX.
- Evasion is invaluable. Get Sukukaja, Sukunda, and then Dark Mirage ASAP.
FYI -kajas and -ndas cap at 3 uses. Dark Mirage is equal to 2 Sukundas.
- Status effects become invaluable in Hard Mode. The two best are Stun and
Mute, because they never wear off.
- In Normal Mode you could get by with going after 6 Paths. In Hard Mode,
you'll need more powerful abilities sooner, so try to limit characters down
to 5 paths to get to the more powerful Mantras sooner.
- If you didn't use any "Stat" Datas previously, you'll use them in Hard Mode
for sure. Since they completly heal a character as well as raising stats
always use a Data on a character that is low on HP/MP.
======================================
2 - Maintaining Character Growth Notes
======================================
- All Characters should generally have 2 Elemental attacks, and 1
Status attack. Frequently monsters are weak to certain statuses,
and some are only weak to Bad Status. Also each Bad Status has a
damage skill on their paths.
- Characters should master elemental skills that can't produce a
combo by themselves. For instance Fire will combo with Earth or
Force, but won't with Elec or Ice, so a character with Fire should
learn either Elec or Ice as a secondary element.
- Here is a table:
Fire - Ice or Elec
Ice - Force or Fire
Elec - Earth or Fire
Force - Ice or Earth
Earth - Force or Elec
- Argilla should take the Force path as a Secondary to cover her
weakness and to run into the Almighty path to get Mind Charge.
- Serph should take Fire as a secondary path, which will inevitably
cover the Ailments path so that he can protect against most Bad
Statuses.
- Gale can go either Earth or Ice path. Unfortunately the placement
of the Elec path to cover his weakness is behind either Earth
or Healing. Try to get Gale into mastering Physical Mantras, since
he's equally good with them as he is with magic.
- Getting Cielo onto the Ailment path to cover his weakness is quite
troublesome as you'll have to take a short trip into the Fire path
heading backwards to reach it. Ignore Physical Mantras for Cielo
- Roland starts with 3 elements so flesh them out. Also he's best
with physical attacks so work him into the Physical section of
the grid.
- No matter which way you look at it, you can't get to the Death
Path fast enough without running into the Expel path. And
you can't complete the Expel path fast enough with learning the
first Death Mantra. So the two paths should be taken as one by
three characters. The easiest three characters to take it are
Argilla, Cielo, and Roland.
- Note that a character going along the Boost Path will pick up Mute
Skills as well. And character going along the Healing path will
pick up Sleep skills.
- Any character on the HP Recover Path should take the side path of
of Revive Magic.
- Devourer is at the center of the grid, so all characters should
learn it to open up the most number of paths.
- You have a maximum of 8 Slots, plan ahead what type of skills you
want to fill those 8 slots with. It's best to go for as wide a
variety as you possibly can. For example:
Serph with 8 slots
1 Physical Skill
1 Hunt Skill
1 Ice Skill
1 Fire Skill
1 Recover Skill
1 Ailment Skill
1 Shield Skill
1 Support Skill
You can swap out the Hunt skill with anything you so choose, such
as a Boost skill, or another Shield, Support, or Ailment skill.
Once you have an idea of what you want to fill those 8 slots with,
balance out the remaining characters so you can have access to as
many desirable combos you can.
- Everyone should master Esoteric 1 as soon as it becomes available. Which is
after Cielo and Roland master the Mantras they pre-paid for.
================
3 - Mantra List
================
(Numbers are the Mantra# according to the list below)
Gun Combos: Human Form + Void, Repel, Drain skill
Serph = Ice (Single)
Argilla = Earth (Single)
Gale = Force (Random)
Cielo = Elec (Random)
Roland = Elec (All)
Elemental Combos: All single targets. Higher tiers yield better combos.
Ice + Earth = Ice to all
Elec + Ice = Elec to all
Fire + Force = Fire to all
Earth + Fire = Earth to all
Force + Elec = Force to all
Elemental Random Combos:
Element (Single) + Megido skill
============================
5 - Understanding Bad Status
============================
- Due to the localization, some monsters which show "Ailments" in their
status screen may be weak to 3 or more out of 5 Bad Status properties.
Example is Cielo. He is "Weak to Ailments" but in actuality is only "Weak to
Charm/Panic/Nerve". Poison and Mute won't score a weakness hit.
- Death and Almighty are considered a Bad Status property but are not part of
the Ailments grouping.
- Status effects are arranged on a priority basis. You can only be afflicted
with 1 status at any one time. Status effects with higher priority will
replace those of a lower priority.
Below is a table of the status effects.
Name | Type | Effect
--------|------|---------------------------------------------------------------
Dead | N/A | When character's HP drops to 0, they cannot act. When all
| | characters cannot act the game is over.
| |
Bat | Almty| Character changes into a bat. Stats lowered to 1. Death type
| | affinity set to 150%. Force affinity set to Weakness at 200%.
| |
Stone | Death| Character cannot act. When all characters cannot act, the
| | game is over. Sets Phys/Shot/Force/Almighty affinities to 100%
| | Sets Fire/Ice/Elec/Earth affinities to 10%. Other affinities
| | are void. High chance target's HP is reduced to 0 if hit with
| | Phys/Shot/Force/Earth attack.
| |
Curse | Death| Character will take damage equal to the total amount delivered
| | if the target is still alive. Sets Death affinity to 200%.
| |
Charm | Charm| Target loses control. Target either attacks own side, supports
| | opposing side, or does nothing.
| |
Stun | Nerve| Target's agility drops to 1/3 normal. Target's defense is
| | 1/2 normal. Chance of critical hit against target increases.
| | Hunt affinity is set to 200%. Cannot counterattack. Cannot
| | evade. Hama skills always hit so long as there are no Shields
| | in place.
| |
Poison |Poison| Target takes 20% HP Damage for every action. Target's attack
| | is lowered by 1/2. Characters take 3% HP Damage with each
| | step.
| |
Ache | Almty| Character will not earn AP after a battle. Character will
| | randomly not act when commanded.
| |
Panic | Panic| Characters have a high chance of selecting a random action,
| | dropping a percentage of the money you have, or not acting
| | when commanded. Enemies have a high chance of not acting,
| | dropping an item (which you collect), dropping money (which
| | you don't collect), or fleeing.
| |
Mute | Mute | Target cannot use Magic or Shield skills. Target's Mute
| | affinity is set to 200%.
| |
Sleep | Nerve| Target loses a press turn to recover 10% HP/MP. Critical hit
| | chance against target increases. Target may wake up if a
| | Critical hit is scored. Target cannot evade attacks. Hunt
| | affinity is set to 200%. Hama skills will always hit so long
| | as there's no barrier in place.
| |
Freeze | Ice | Target cannot evade attacks. All Phys/Shot/Hunt attacks pierce
| | through all innate shields, to always land a critical hit.
| | Cannot counterattack. Damage from Hunt affinity is set to 1%
| | Fatal Hunt affinity is set to 150%.
| |
Shock | Elec | Target cannot evade attacks. All Phys/Shot/Hunt attacks will
| | be critical hits. Cannot counterattack. Hunt affinity is set
| | to 150%.
| |
Frighten| Almty| Hunt affinity is set to 300%. Target cannot evade attacks.
| |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
=============================
6 - Specific Dungeon Survival
=============================
Dungeon 1:
- Micro Nova can be very effective at killing all enemies in 1 shot once you
reach level 5 or higher.
- Give the Shot Shell you find to Gale. If you're ambushed you can use
Wind Shot for a quick hard hit to all enemies.
- For the Boss Fight, use Earth Shot repeatedly to take down the Andras'. Then
use Wind Shot to take down the Boss
Dungeon 2:
- Make full use of multi-target element combos here. You can get through many
encounters here in under 1 turn.
- Kill this boss quickly, so give Argilla the best Ammo and use Earth Shot
constantly for major damage.
Dungeon 3:
- Use Cielo and Roland here. Many enemies are now weak to Elec attacks. The
dungeon seems tailor made for both of them.
- Reach the Large Karma Terminal before you start a field hunt.
- For getting past the jailer; note where he is, then quickly change to your
map view to plot a course to take. The scenario is "paused" while the map is
open.
- The jailer always takes the shortest route depending on where you are in
relation to him. Move slowly so that he's farthest away from you while still
walking, and then make a run for it.
- The jailer can be Muted when you fight him.
Dungeon 4:
- Be well prepared and that all characters are balanced. This is where
the dungeons start getting really long.
- Take out the Tribhvana in this order: Cu Sith, Ganga, Ubelluris
- Cu Sith is weak to Fire, Ganga is weak to Earth, Ubelluris is weak to Force
- Ganga is easier to take out than Cu Sith, but Cu Sith uses Boost skills.
- On the second encounter it's imperative you dispatch one of the Tribhvana as
quickly as possible to avoid getting bogged down by their combo attack.
- Make sure Serph is kept in the active party for the main boss fight in the
Medical Room, if he's not, you'll probably die.
Dungeon 5:
- Buy a handful of MP Recovery Items, there aren't many Recovery Terminals
inside.
- Use the Tentarafoo combo (Pulinpa + -nda Skill) to take care of the
Scathatches (Possibly the toughest monster to kill quickly any other way)
- When you find the Speedy Ring, immediately get the Sol Blaster combo
(Phys Single + Phys Single + Tarukaja). Nearly every encounter will be over
with one hit from this attack.
- Make sure you know the Angelic Grace combo (Recover All + Recover All) when
you fight Abaddon. Use it 3 or 4 times, and he becomes survivable.
Dungeon 6:
- Take note: You cannot fully explore this dungeon once you reach the control
room.
- You should begin learning Tier 2 Element attacks for this dungeon if you
haven't done so. Enemies start getting progressively harder from here on.
- Buy the best Ammo you can, and use Roland's Elec Gun Combo to take down the
auto-gun walls. Use Angelic Grace a few times to beef up your defense.
- Against the third Auto-gun wall, use Fire Repel to protect against the Main
Gun's attack.
- Against the Raja Naga use Void Elec for most of the fight. Towards the end of
the fight start using up Attack Mirrors to block his Conviction attack.
Dungeon 7:
- When you hear an audible roar when standing in front of a warp point, that
is the correct path to take to the end.
- The Boss for this dungeon is brutally difficult. Use Angelic Grace and
Sukukaja to protect yourself. Use Chi Blast's high critical hit rate to get
rid of the Boss's arms. Then pound on it with Elec skills once the arms are
gone. Rinse and repeat when the arms regenerate. Use Fire Drain or Void Fire
constantly. Don't use Fire Repel.
- After the dungeon is finished, the warp points disappear.
Dungeon 8:
- The Large Karma Terminal is strategically placed in the center of the dungeon
Teleport back to it whenever you're in trouble to recover. There's only 1
Recovery Terminal, and it's at the dungeon's end.
- Use Void Death for the battle against Kali and Dakini. They like using
Blood Curse or Wicked Curse followed by Mamudoon right afterwards. Kill
Dakini with Ice so you can focus on Kali until she calls up another Dakini
and repeat the process.
- A dirty trick to use against Chernobog is to bring in two characters that
have only 1 skill that you can put up a barrier against. Odds are Chernobog
will clone 1 of those characters and make the Shadows a cakewalk. Chernobog
is weak to Fire.
- Kartikeya is weak to Bullets. So using single target attacks can be highly
effective with the best Ammo right now. You have two characters with single
target bullets, so keep a third character in Demon Form to use Elec or Force
barriers. When Kartikeya is nearly dead use Attack Mirrors to avoid his major
physical attack.
- Gale will give you two warnings that you are about to go beyond the point of
no return. Make sure you've done everything you've needed to do.
Final Dungeon:
Part 1:
- Keep Argilla out of the party for this Part. If you run into a group of 3
Cu Chulainns, they will massacre you before you get a turn.
- Start learning -dyne Element attacks if you haven't done so already.
- The boss only knows fire attacks and is weak to ice. He has a lot of HP
though
Part 2:
- The Boss here is very annoying. He's weak to Elec in the air, but his
weakness changes to Earth on the ground. Don't forget to use Force Drain or
Force Repel constantly. Use Angelic Grace to heal. You can't lower his stats
as he'll use Dekunda right away.
Part 3:
- Remember the pedestals you didn't step on. One of two pedestals, when given
a choice, leads to treasure.
- The Boss here is very simple. Use Earth Drain or Void Earth, and attack the
body with fire constantly until it's dead. Then switch to using Elec Drain or
Void Elec and attack with Gale's Tornado Shot repeatedly.
Part 4:
- On the first floor, you can only fight in Human Form, so make sure all
characters have at least Forged Shots equipped. Use Crossfires with the
Speedy Ring holder to take down enemies quickly. Run from any Girimekhalas
or Mithras you see. (Putting monsters that are immune to bullet attacks is a
dirty trick here.)
- On the second floor your Press turns are reduced to nearly one half of normal
The Speedy Ring proves it's usefulness here. Be on the Lookout for the
Shield Ring and equip it. It basically affords you with an extra round
for free as most enemies that attack first usually use physical attacks which
it blocks for the first round.
- The boss is simple if you know the trick. Put up Force Repel every turn to
bounce back it's big Force Attack which it loves to use regularly to kill it.
Part 5:
- This is a looooong warping maze. Don't step on a warp pad until you've
mapped out the area you are in. This is virtually a one-way trip.
- When given a choice of two warp pads, take the one to your left to advance
forward. The one on the right sends you back to the first area.
- This boss is nasty nasty nasty. Start by fully buffing yourself, while using
Void Phys every turn. Don't attack it yet, then start lowering it's stats
except for agility. Keeps using Void Phys every turn and use twin-boosted
element skills to damage it. When it changes forms, you'll have little choice
but to suck up all the damage he dishes out. Whenever it uses Black Bhakti in
this form you *must* use Elec Drain or you will die. This boss speeds up this
pattern as you damage it, so when the damage gets into the red zone that's
your cue to kill it quickly.
Final Battle:
The final battle is relatively simple. Make sure you have 1 each of the Element
Drain shields to use. Use Fire Drain on the first part, then Force, then Earth
then Elec, and finally Ice. It's best you fully buff yourself and lower the
final boss's stats on the first section to speed things up before you start
attacking. Whenever it uses Eternal Zero you're in trouble. Quickly use Dekaja
followed by Dekunda to restore everyone's stats to normal. On the final part
which uses Ice, be sure to use Enervate twice. It has a very damaging Almighty
attack that doubles in power each time it is used. So you'll want to kill it
quickly before it gets too powerful.
Starion - For the stupendously useful map of the Mantra Grid.
Atlus - For creating one of the finest experiences in an RPG.
Enterbrain- For the DDS1 Final Guide, explaining some of the mechanics that
carried over into DDS2.
GameFAQs - For hosting this guide.
Friends
& - You know who you guys all are ;)
Co-workers
(c) 2005-Present -- Salah al Din
All materials used in the writing of this file are owned by their respective
authors.
