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This guide is copyright 2013 by Thomas de Jong, e.g. coineineagh.
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___________________________________________________________________________
<3 <3 <3
Dedicated to my wife Suby, my son Owen, and my bouncy baby boy Andy!
<3 <3 <3
{1} INTRODUCTION
----------------
If you are a beginning player, just learning the ropes, then Scavenging &
Recruitment should *not* be the first thing you learn about this game. If you
are a newbie, I strongly recommend you read the chapter Early-Game Advice in my
Skill Improvement FAQ first and foremost, as it has more directly relevant
information for you. Return to this FAQ when scavenging comes into play.
This guide was written mainly as an aid for players in mid-game who don't yet
understand how scavenging works. All aspects are discussed, from the most basic
form of scavenging, to more complex and involved forms. The Advanced Scavenging
and About Units chapters were transplanted from my Skill FAQ, but have been
tailored for use in this FAQ. The scope of this FAQ has been expanded since its
creation, which necessitated a renaming. A lot of loosely related info about
weaponry and equipment is also included now.
Be advised that scavenging a unit's skills requires that a unit in your roster
is deceased, and this is not compatible with the requirements of certain titles
that can be acquired in the game. Titles offer no advantages in the game, so
many players, like myself, simply choose to forgo the effort of obtaining them.
Out of the almost 100 songs in the Warren Report, one can only be unlocked by
beating the game with no deaths, incapacitations, or use of the Chariot tarot.
{2} WHAT IS SCAVENGING?
-----------------------
Scavenging is the process of transfering the skills from a deceased unit onto a
living unit. Many players often have questions about what kind of things can be
scavenged. A lot of people have the mistaken impression that spells are also
transferable, but this is not the case. Only skills can be scavenged. Ranked
skills are not cumulative; they can only override the target's ranked skill, if
the target has lower skill rank.
To be able to scavenge a unit's skills, it must first be deceased. This means it
must permanently lose a heart in battle three times. When a unit loses all of
its hitpoints, it is merely incapacitated. A timer starts, with a number
indicating the amount of units turns before the unit actually loses a heart,
starting at 3. If battle ends before the timer expires, then the unit is rescued
before it dies. It is included in the victory screen, obtains XP and SP, and
will not lose a heart. There are exceptions, like falling into bottomless pits,
which do not allow a timer. This saves time if you want to kill off a unit.
Undead can only be killed by bottomless pits and exorcism, and Lanselot Tartaros
has a finisher which takes away a heart. Once all 3 hearts are gone, a unit can
no longer take part in combat, or purchase skills with skill points. Keep this
in mind when preparing a unit for scavenging.
{3} HOW IT WORKS
----------------
All skills of the deceased unit are scavenged onto a selected target, at the
cost of a Silver Oberyth. This is why it is wise not to sell of all your Silver
Oberyths. I kept 10 of them in my inventory at all times, but after frequent
scavenging, those still ran out. Story battles often drop them, but there are
vast areas with few non-story battles, like Palace of the Dead, where they are
very hard to come by.
Humans can only scavenge onto other humans. This doesn't include winged race,
but Divine Knight is part of the human scavenge group. Further details on
scavenge groups can be found in the Advanced Scavenging chapter.
--- Recruitment skills
In order to get hold of suitable targets with the skills you are looking for,
it is often not enough to wait for storyline characters to join your roster.
Units you encounter in battle have a variety of skills equipped, but remember
that only the skills present in the first four skill slots are retained upon
recruitment. Usually, the only ranked skills present in the first 4 slots are
weapon skills. This is nevertheless very useful, as weapon skills are quite
hard to improve through AI Skill Improvement. The Fusils and Spellbooks weapon
skills are also hard to acquire without using rare classmarks to switch class,
so it is often more practical to get hold of these ranked skills by scavenging.
- Humans & Winged: Recruit (from Cleric, Rune Fencer/Valkrie, Knight, Ranger,
Princess, Paladin, White Knight, and Songstress)
- Beasts: Subdue (from Beast Tamer)
- Lizardmen & Lamia: Coax (from Wizard/Enchantress, Buccaneer, P/Matriarch)
- Dragons: Tame (from Beast Tamer)
- Divine Knights: Seraph's Pact (from Cleric, Divine Knight, Priest, Princess)
- Orcs, Imps, Zombie Humans and Zombie Winged: Demon's Pact (from Lich)
- Fairies: Fey Pact (from Rogue, Vartan, Shaman)
- Skeletons & Ghosts: Master Undead (from Necromancer)
- Golems & Pumpkinheads: Control Golem (from Warlock/Witch, Wicce)
Recruiting opponents in battle can have other beneficial effects besides
scavenging skills. During the difficult mid-game, equipment and money are hard
to get hold of. Recruiting an opponent guarantees that you will receive the
entire equipment it had in battle. This is a great source of up-to-date gear,
preventing the need for buying or crafting it yourself. If the gear is of no
practical use, then it can be sold for Goth.
--- Ranked skills from opponents
These are locations where you can scavenge useful skills:
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/58370371
/688396854
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/63779092
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/59665872
An edited/updated repost by BlueMage279 of info provided by Humble_Novice,
with new sightings by beatumdown and supersaiyangohan:
!!Pay attention to whether an opponent is listed in Random or Event battles!!
--Event Battles
1H SWORDS - Reptile Hoplite (Rank 5 - Phorampa Wildwood: Wonder at the Gods
Above Ch. 4)
1H KATANA - Ninja (Rank 4 - The Vanessan Way Ch. 4)
2H KATANA - Female Swordmaster (Rank 4 - Bahanna Highlands Ch. 4)
WHIPS - Female Beast Tamer (Rank 4 - Bahanna Highlands Ch. 4)
CUDGELS - Human Wizard (Rank 3 - Vasque Ch. 4)
Phantom Wizard (Rank 4 - Pirate¡¯s Graveyard: Cape of Spite CODA)
SPELLBOOKS - Human Warlock (Rank 4 - Vasque Ch. 4)
Phantom Warlock (Rank 4 - Pirate¡¯s Graveyard: Cape of Spite CODA)
BOWS - Winged Archer (Rank 6 - Floating Ruins 4F Coda)
CROSSBOWS - Winged Archer (Rank 6 - Floating Ruins 4F Coda)
THROWN - Reptile Juggernaut (Rank 5 - Phorampa Wildwood: Wonder at the Gods
Above Heavenly General battle)
AUGMENT EARTH - Earth Dragon (Rank 4 - Tzorious Field Ch. 4)
AUGMENT LIGHTNING - Thunder Dragon (Rank 4 - The Vanessan Way Ch. 4)
AUGMENT WATER - Flood Dragon (Rank 4 - The Vanessan Way Ch. 4)
AUGMENT FIRE - Flame Dragon (Rank 4 - Tzorious Field Ch. 4)
AUGMENT ICE - Frost Dragon (Rank 4 - Bahanna Highlands Ch. 4)
AUGMENT LIGHT - Human Witch (Rank 4 - Brigantys West Curtain Wall)
Arc Dragon (Rank 4 - Lambiss Hill Ch. 4)
AUGMENT DARKNESS - Human Warlock (Rank 4 - Brigantys South Curtain Wall)
Human Witch (Rank 4 - Brigantys South Curtain Wall)
Dark Dragon (Rank 4 - Tzorious Field Ch. 4)
TELLURIC RESONANCE - Earth Dragon (Rank 4 - Tzorious Field Ch. 4)
CHARGED RESONANCE - Thunder Dragon (Rank 4 - The Vanessan Way Ch. 4)
AQUATIC RESONANCE - Flood Dragon (Rank 4 - The Vanessan Way Ch. 4)
BLAZING RESONANCE - Flame Dragon (Rank 4 - Tzorious Field Ch. 4)
ICY RESONANCE - Frost Dragon (Rank 4 - Bahanna Highlands Ch. 4)
LUMINOUS RESONANCE - Arc Dragon (Rank 4 - Lambiss Hill Ch. 4)
SHADOW RESONANCE - Dark Dragon (Rank 4 - Tzorious Field Ch. 4)
BLACK MUCUS - Octopus (Rank 4 - Pirate¡¯s Graveyard: Cape of Spite Coda)
FEATHERSTEP - Cockatrice (Rank 4 - Oeram Ch. 4)
EMPOWER BEAST - Winged Beast Tamer (Rank 5 - Pirate¡¯s Graveyard: Bosom of the
Sea God) --> Iuria questline
-Of particular interest may be: Meditate - Human Enchantress (Rank 4 - The
Reisan Way)
-Not in this list, and from my own experience: The shrines are full of
Fusiliers with rank 3 Fusils. This is a hard skill to acquire normally.
Fusils skill is only selectable from Fusiliers at level 15! I scavenged many
of them. Chapter 4 may have some rank 4 Fusils, as the story battles in this
chapter have many rank 4 skills, making them the best place to find skills.
-Bortegun Fens, the area before Palace of the Dead, is brimming with units
that have multiple rank 4 skills each. You can recruit human Warriors (Fist,
2H Sword & Whip), Archers (Bow & Crossbow) and Rogues (Fist & Dagger).
Opponents in chapter 4 story battles also have many rank 4 weapon skills.
-Many Heavenly General battles have Winged, Lamia and Orc Archers with rank
6 Bow & Crossbow skills. The Winged are in San Bronsa Floating Ruins floor 4.
Some Orc and Lamia Archers can be recruited in Palace of the Dead floor 89.
--- Ranked skills from allies
Many allies come equipped with certain ranked skills upon recruitment, and you
might consider scavenging the ones you don't plan to use for those skills.
This subchapter should not be given too much weight: You should not go out of
your way in storyline or World mode just to get hold of a halfway-leveled
Augment. If they happen to be upon your path, that's useful, but otherwise
most of those skills can be better trained in AI battle. Special thanks to
"Badposter" for registering to help me complete this list. Ranked skills below
rank 2 and non-ranked (tiered) skills were omitted both for simplicity, and to
dissuade players from scavenging units for unimportant skills. I list the units
with the most noteworthy skills for *scavenging* first, also taking the ease or
difficulty of (re-)recruiting each unit in World mode into consideration:
Lanselot - Augment Light 4, Parry 4, Overpower 4, 1H Swords 4
Rudlum - Golemy 3, Daggers 5
Chamos - Augment Fire 3, Meditate 3, Cudgels 3
Oelias - Augment Light 3, Anatomy 2, Cudgels 4
Tamuz - Augment Light 3, 1H Swords 3, Crossbows 3
Dievold - Augment Darkness 3, 2H Swords 4
Phaesta - Augment Lightning 3, Spears 3
Warren - Augment Lightning 4, Augment Darkness 4, Daemonology 2/3?
Lindl - Fusils 4, Crossbows 4, Anatomy 3
Ozma - Augment Ice 3, Parry 2, 1H Swords 4, Whips 4, Resist Stun 4
Ravness - Augment Lightning 3, Deflect 3, Spears 3
Deneb - Augment Fire 3, Cudgels 3, Golemy 2, Control Golem 2
Ganpp - Subdue 2, Empower Beast 2, Teratology 3, Anatomy 2, Deflect 2, Axes 3,
Resist Slow 4
Occione - Tame 2, Empower Dragon 2, Draconology 2, Parry 2, Axes 2, Thrown 2
Cerya - Augment Fire 2, Anatomy 2, Spears 2, 1H Swords 2
Gildas - Augment Light 2, Anatomy 2, 2H Swords 2, Axes 2
Mirdyn - Augment Light 2, Anatomy 2, 1H Swords 2, Spears 2
Ehlrig - Augment Light 2, Thanatology 2, Anatomy 2, Hammers 3, Cudgels 2
Azelstan - Herpetology 2, Anatomy 2, Parry 2, 1H Swords 3, Fusils 2
Jeunan - Draconology 2, Anatomy 2, Spears 2
Cressida - Augment Darkness?, Resist Stun 5, Resist Silence 5
Iuria - Instruments 2, Daggers 2, Resist Silence 2
Catiua - Augment Light 2, Anatomy 2, Cudgels 2
Sherri - Augment Earth 2, Augment Darkness 2, Empower Golem 2, Cudgels 2
Olivya - Augment Light?, Anatomy 2, Cudgels 2
Obda the Younger - Featherstep 2, Resist Charm 4
Berda the Younger - Featherstep 2, Resist Charm 4
Vyce - 1H Swords 2, Parry 2
Hobyrim - 2H Katana 2?, Anatomy 2
Xapan - Axes 2
Folcurt - 1H Swords 2
Arycelle - Bows 2
Cistina - Anatomy 2
Bayin - none
Donnalto - none
Voltare - none
Sara - none
Canopus - none
Denam - none
There are unique units known to come with higher skill ranks when recruited at
higher level, as well as hard-to-acquire spells such as Heal IV, Heavenly Judge
II and tier II Draconics. I have strived to report the *highest* version of any
ranked skill, but there may still be inaccuracies. Also brace yourself for
disappointment in case early recruits have less impressive skills than listed.
--- Auctioning monsters
Monster recruits have no gear besides jewelry, but they can be auctioned to
shops for a profit, and their sale makes a variety of crafting components and
consumables available in the shop. An overview of the auctioning components:
- Auctioning a DRAGON in a shop will make 2 Orbs of the Dragon's element
buyable. The Orbs can be bought from Deneb's shop to recruit her (5 of each 9
Orb types must be bought). You can also buy a Dragon Steak, which slightly
raises STR & DEX. 2 of the dragon's classmarks also become buyable.
All dragons yield the following crafting components upon auction: 6 Iron Ore,
4 Silver Ore, and 2 Baldur Ore. Earth Dragon also yields 8 Graphite. Thunder
Dragons also yield 8 Saltpeter. Cloud and Flood Dragons also yield 8 Tin Ore.
Frost Dragons also yield 8 Limestone. Flame Dragons also yield 8 Sulfur.
Dark Dragon also yields 8 Saltpeter. Arc Dragon also yields 8 Graphite.
- Auctioning a HYDRA in a shop will make 2 Void Orbs buyable. The Orbs can be
bought from Deneb's shop to recruit her (5 of each 9 Orb types must be bought).
They yield 6 Iron Ore, 4 Silver Ore, 2 Baldur Ore, 1 Gold Ore, 1 Gemstone,
1 Krystallos Ore, and 8 Beasthide. You can also buy a Minced Patty, which
slightly raises AVD & RES. Hydras have no classmarks.
- Auctioning a GOLEM to any store will only make a mix of crafting items
buyable, but it doesn't allow you to buy a stat-raising food (Beast & Dragon),
or an Orb (Dragon). After auctioning, all 4 golem types make buyable 4 Iron
Sand & 2 Silver Ore. Clay & Stone Golems yield: 8 Tin Ore, 8 Graphite, 4 Iron
Ore, and 8 Limestone. Iron Golems yield: 4 Tin Ore, 4 Graphite, 16 Iron Ore,
and 4 Limestone. Baldur Golems yield: 4 Tin Ore, 4 Graphite, 16 Baldur Ore,
and 4 Limestone. 2 of the golem's classmarks also become buyable.
- Auctioning a GRYPHON in a shop will make a Braised Skewer buyable, which
slightly raises DEX & AGIL, as well as 4 Silver Ore, 2 Gold Ore, 1 Platinum
Ore, and 8 Beasthides.
- Auctioning a COCKATRICE in a shop will make a Minced Patty buyable, which
slightly raises AVD & RES, as well as 4 Silver Ore, 2 Gold Ore, 1 Platinum
Ore, and 8 Beasthides.
- Auctioning an OCTOPUS in a shop will make a Steamed Mollusk buyable, which
slightly raises INT & MIND, and also 8 Silver Ore, 2 Gold Ore, 1 Platinum Ore,
1 Gemstone, 1 Krystallos Ore, and 8 Beasthides.
- Auctioning a CYCLOPS in a shop will make buyable: No meat, 12 Tin Ore,
12 Graphite, 8 Saltpeter, 8 Sulfur, and 8 Limestone.
{4} SCAVENGING GROUPS & LIMITATIONS
-----------------------------------
Be advised that some weapon skills from newly recruited units in battle have
been observed to lose ranks if the unit changes classes. Although I believe the
phenomenon only takes place when a ranked skill is entirely unused (0 Skill XP),
this is not yet confirmed. This already occurs before scavenging, though.
Skill ranks are transferred, but skill XP is lost. This doesn't mean that
accumulated skill XP is lost if the target unit has the same or higher skill
rank. Scavenged skills do not override existing ones, only improve. An example:
A deceased body has rank 3 Blowguns with 55XP, and rank 4 Daggers with 70XP.
Selected recipient has rank 3 Blowguns with 12XP, and rank 3 Daggers with 15XP.
After scavenging, it has rank 3 Blowguns with 12XP, and rank 4 Daggers with 0XP.
As you can see, the rank 4 Daggers skill is transferred, but without accumulated
skill XP. But the scavenged body's Blowguns skill was lower than the target's,
so the target has unchanged skill. Skills are not added to each other's ranks,
so the deceased body's Blowguns skill was wasted in this example.
--- Unavailable skills
There are restrictions as to which races can scavenge onto each other. These are
the groups, including their accessible classes in parentheses (). I list all
skills that that the races can make use of, but not purchase themselves:
ZOMBIE WINGED (Warrior, Archer, Wizard, Cleric, Rune Fencer, Beast Tamer,
Vartan).
- Tactician II, Treasure Hunt II, Reflect Magic II, Rampart Aura II (for RF) and
Blowguns (for Beast Tamer), Recruitment skills.
SKELETONS (Warrior, Archer, Wizard, Knight, Terror Knight).
- Sanctuary II, Treasure Hunt II, Recruitment skills.
GHOSTS (Wizard/Enchantress, Warlock/Witch).
- Divine Magic, Max TP IV, Tactician II, Teasure Hunt II, Trajectory,
Recruitment skills.
PUMPKINHEAD golems (Songstress & Familiar).
- Max TP IV, Reflect Damage II, Treasure Hunt II, Recruitment skills.
GOLEMS (Clay, Stone, Iron and Baldur).
- None
DRAGONS (all 8 elemental types, not Hydra).
- Divine Magic, Dark Magic (no actual spells castable by dragons)
HYDRAS
- None
GRYPHONS
- None
COCKATRICES
- None
OCTOPI
- None
CYCLOPES
- Absorb MP II (apparently impossible to scavenge in any way)
* these are special classes for Canopus and Iuria, respectively. Keep in mind
that Iuria can't be a Vartan.
These are your limitations for most of the game. But after you have opened up
the Palace of the Dead and San Bronsa ruins, you can do a bit more.
{5} ADVANCED SCAVENGING
-----------------------
Most people will end up playing with the humans mainly, because there are unique
characters with special classes. Humans have access to most classes, and can
acquire almost all skills without needing to scavenge. But for a few skills you
will need to use complicated methods in order to acquire them from another race.
There are only 2 methods that can change a unit's race: (1) Bodysnatch ability
of the Ogre Blade 2-handed sword, and (2) creating a zombie, turning it into an
undead, then reverting it to human/DK form. The latter is technically combining
three race-changing methods, but practically speaking, Undead are not useful, as
they can't be healed normally or cast Divine Magic, Skeletons and Ghosts have
very few class options, Skeletons actually get +1 RT making them slower, and
Zombie units don't gain any XP or SP after battle (they do drain XP & SP gains).
To prepare for these methods, look up item drops in the loot spreadsheets:
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/59010574
If you are on Neutral Route in story, then you will not be able to do any of
these things yet, because one of the characters required for unlocking CODA 1
is dead. Fortunately, world mode is available after finishing chapter 4. You
should travel back and finish another path first, most easily Chaos Route from
the end of chapter 3.
--- Turning a zombified unit into Undead, then a regular Human
This is a very long task, than can only be completed after your 2nd visit to
Palace of the Dead. First you need a Book of the Dead, which first drops on
floor 37 of the Palace. Unfortunately, the location for turning a zombie into
Undead is on floor 22, meaning you must leave and return to the Palace.
Next you must turn your Undead into a regular Human in San Bronsa. Although the
'official' way is to use a Seal of Rebirth in floor 12, you can more easily do
it with an Ensanguined Rood (drops on floor 1) on floor 3. This makes your
Undead a Divine Knight, but Divine Knight can switch classes into human, and
already is part of the same skill transfer group. For all intents and purposes,
a Divine Knight is just a regular Generic Human.
You will need this method only for acquiring certain Familiar skills which
Rogues can use: Agonal Scream, Lingering Kiss, Coquettish Kiss and Selfless
Kiss.
On a sidenote, Divine Knights can use many skills, but have limited access.
For a long time people complained about this, but few realized that the Divine
Knight can simply scavenge the skills it needs. It needs to learn beforehand,
or scavenge the skills: Rampart Aura IV, Treasure Hunt II, Reflect Damage II,
Tactician II, Max TP IV, Reflect Magic II and Absorb MP II.
--- Ogre Blade's Bodysnatch
Getting an Ogre Blade is not easy. There are 2 places you can get hold of one,
each with different requirements. For the first option, you must already have
all Wind God weapons: Euros, Notos, Boreas and Zephyros. Zephyros is found in
San Bronsa ruins, the others can be found in the Palace of the Dead. Once you
have them, and have already defeated Nybeth on floor 100 of the Palace, then
Blackmoor will appear on floor 100, 1 time only. He will not reappear there,
so you must travel back in World if you want him to appear again. Blackmoor's
ally Lich King and Lich Queen can drop the Ogre Blade, as well as other Ogre
gear. Blackmoor will drop the Crest of Fire, an accessory that is useful for
snapping cursed weapons, read below.
Alternatively, Rodrick is a story encounter on map 115; this 1 time only map
disappears after the story battle, making 114 the final floor if you return
there afterwards. Don't forget to keep Catiua, Gildas, Mirdyn & Canopus alive
if you plan to use world to repeat this battle. Rodrick sometimes drops the
Ogre Blade if you defeat him on floor 115, but not always. Either way, you
can't get an Ogre Blade until your 2nd visit to the bottom of Palace of the
Dead. the Ogre Blade is a unique weapon, so you can have only 1 at any given
time.
Bodysnatch ability:
It works on generic humanoids only. Not on monster classes, not on uniques,
and not on unrecruitable enemies. If your unit can't equip 2 handed swords,
then it can't use the ability of course. Both units must be generic humanoids,
and the target must be an opponent. Range 2, guaranteed success.
Your unit keeps:
Name, Loyalty, Skills & Skill Points, Spells, base INT, MIND & Magic Points.
Your unit takes from opponent (and loses its own):
Location, Race, Nationality, Gender, Alignment, Class, Equipment, base STR,
VIT, DEX, AGIL, AVD, RES & Hit Points.
Most of this is of little importance, because most Bodysnatches will be
performed in order to scavenge skills onto a different unit. Spells will still
be lost after the scavenge.
I have some tips to convey, when preparing skills for special units.
Canopus needs skills from regular humans, meaning a generic must aqcquire the
skills and Bodysnatch with a Winged Recruitable Generic. All skills lacking:
Fusils, Double Attack, Tactician II, Treasure Hunt II, Reflect Magic II,
Rampart Aura II (for Valkyrie) and Blowguns (for Beast Tamer).* In Ndamsa
Fortress 1st descent, a Winged Rune Fencer may appear with Rampart Aura II, to
recruit and scavenge. Winged Beast Tamers spawn on the same map with rank 2
Blowguns.
Iuria needs skills from regular humans, meaning a generic must aqcquire the
skills and Bodysnatch with a Winged Recruitable Generic. All skills lacking:
Spellbooks, Draconic Magic, Tactician II, Treasure Hunt II, Reflect Magic II,
Rampart Aura II (for RF) and Blowguns (for Beast Tamer).*
A generic Lamia has access to the humanoid-only classes Hoplite, Juggernaut
and Matriarch. Orcs and Lizardmen also have access. Orcs have more available
classes, while Lizardmen have high STR and VIT. I prefer Lamia, because it has
access to the useful classes Archer and Witch. Witch can use Empower Golem on
Pumpkinhead Familiars, which is a powerful combo. The only usable skills a
Lamia lacks access to, are Divine Magic, Treasure Hunt II and Reflect Magic II.
In my opinion, it's not worth using bodyswap for these skills. In level 7 of
the San Bronsa Floating Ruins, a Lamia Witch can be recruited with Divine Magic
skill.
A Pumpkinhead golem, as was mentioned, gets a great boost from Empower Golem
skill. Skills it can use but lacks access to are: Max TP IV, Reflect Damage II.
Use a regular human with the skills to Bodysnatch with an enemy Pumpkinhead on
floor 10 of the Palace, if you consider the skills important.
* Be advised that there are very few suitable targets to Bodysnatch in tiers IV
and V (floors 76-100 & 101-115) of the Palace of the Dead, which is where you
first get access to the Ogre Blade. the only bodyswappable winged are in the
Ahurama Heavenly General battle, which requires that you have a Heavenly Fork
before entering floor 77 of the Palace (so go to floor 100 before floor 77).
Other Heavenly General battles have other races. Asurama on 89 has 2 Lamia and
Orc Archers (Archers in Heavenly General battles have rank 6 Bows & Crossbows).
If you use the Ogre Blade from floor 100 inside the Palace, you can get
yourself a new Ogre Blade on floor 115 from Rodrick for a 2nd Bodysnatch.
{6} ABOUT UNITS
---------------
--- Unit Types
This is a small subchapter to detail the traits of different recruits, so you
will know what to expect, and what's best to do with them. There are 4 types of
recruits in the game:
1. UNIQUE Characters. These are often important people in the game. They have
better average starting stats (STR, DEX, VIT, AVD, AGIL, MIND, INT, RES) than
the rest, some much more than others. Many have special classes available to
them, as you can read above. They are often the better choice for permanent
units in your attack roster.
2. SEMI-UNIQUES: Donnalto is the first example of such a unit. He starts off
looking like a generic Cleric, and if you change his class into something else,
his portrait and sprite will still appear as that of a generic Cleric.
3. NAMED GENERICS: These are like generic units because their portraits can
change when changing their class. Voltare and Sara are examples. The only reason
they are not truly generics, is that they still have a character entry in the
"Warren Report", and this is quite important. When using the term 'generics' by
itself, this group is not what it refers to, but rather the next & last group...
4. REGULAR GENERICS: these are units recruited from shops or in battle. They are
unpopular because they lack the boost to their stats that most of the other
types get, and they also don't have a reduced Reaction Time (RT). But battle
recruits can be of all species and races. This makes them the only units that
can be classed into humanoid- or monster-only classes. Humans recruited from
shop are the only units you can name yourself, and bodyswapping would allow you
to transfer the name onto any humanoid race.
--- Uniques' RT.
Reaction Time (RT) determines which units get to move first in battle, which can
be an advantage, especially at the start of combat. RT is determined by unit,
class, equipment weight and actions taken. RT is the only feature of a unit that
cannot be changed*. This gives many Unique Characters a permanent advantage.
A quick overview of unique units' RT, and access to special classes:
35 - OZMA (Knight Commander, White Knight)
38 - HOBYRIM, RAVNESS (White Knight)
40 - FOLCURT, GILDAS (White Knight)
41 - SHERRI (Shaman), OLIVYA (Shaman), LINDL
42 - CERYA (Shaman), CISTINA (Shaman), IURIA (Songstress, Shaman), JEUNAN,
LANCELOT (Paladin)
43 - DENAM/main character (Lord, Buccaneer), CANOPUS (Vartan, Buccaneer), GANPP,
MIRDYN (White Knight)
44 - ARYCELLE, RUDLUM, OCCIONE
45 - CRESSIDA, CATIUA (Priest, Princess, Dark Priest), VYCE (Ranger, Buccaneer),
DENEB (Wicce, Shaman), AZELSTAN (Buccaneer, Ranger), XAPAN,
WARREN (Astromancer)
46 - FELICIA, BAYIN, VOLTAIRE
47 - OELIAS, SARA
48 - PHAESTA, DONNALTO, DIEVOLD
49 - EHLRIG
50 - TAMUZ, Generic Humanoids (includes Pumpkinhead Golems)
51 - CHAMOS, Skeletons*
53 - OBDA THE YOUNGER, BERDA THE YOUNGER
55 - Generic Monsters
* It was recently observed that the Skeleton subrace (not Ghosts) gets +1 to
their base RT. Note that this is tied to the race, so if the Skeleton unit
changes into another race (read previous chapter), it will have an RT of 50.
Monster units (Beasts, Dragons and regular Golems) appear to be slow, but they
are actually quite speedy due to the fact that they don't wear equipment
besides jewelry. This is also their huge drawback, limiting their potential
once you have acquired powerful weapons and armour.
--- Getting the most out of all your units.
As described in this FAQ, there are certain things you can do with recruits.
DO WHAT WHO CAN DO IT
- Use them in battle ALL (zombies receive no XP or SP)
- Scavenge them for skills ALL (for recipient: see Scavenging/
Recruitment FAQ)
- Bodysnatch Regular Generics who can use 2H sword
- Zombify Regular Generics only
- Transform into Undead Zombified Humanoid Generics only
- Transform into Human Regular (Skeleton/Ghost) Generics only
- Transform into Divine Knight Regular (Skeleton/Ghost) Generics only
- Transform into Lich True Unique (Regular Human) Characters
and Generic Humans only
- Snapdragon into a Cursed Weapon Regular (Humanoid) Generics only
As you can see, there are very little options for Unique, Semi-Unique and
Named Generic units in your army when they become redundant. You can only
scavenge them for skills. I'd avoid the slower uniques for this reason.
For Cursed Weapons, the stronger the snapdragoned unit's base stats were, the
stronger they will become. Many people enjoy recruiting humans from shop for
this, because this allows you to name your future weapon yourself.
It takes a long time to improve a unit's base stats to a point that the
cursed weapon becomes strong for attacking. I'd suggest snapping a series of
weak recruits with varied elements first, if you plan to take advantage of
the methods I describe in the Skill Improvement FAQ (link in last chapter).
You can later destroy the weak cursed weapons, and return to the Palace to
get new Cursed Weapon drops for strong snaps. A recent (re)discovery is that
the Crest of Fire from the Blackmoor battle in PotD (Blackmoor drops this; he
is mentioned above) will lower the RT of the snapped weapon by 5 if the unit
had it equipped at the time. The Crest of Fire will also be returned to
inventory afterwards. Equip no other items when snapping, because they will
increase weight. To save yourself time in the arduous task of improving the
unit's base stats, it's wise to do 2 things:
(1) Pick up tarot cards that give stat boosts: STR is best (The Chariot,
Strength), and the other relevant stats are VIT (The Hanged Man, The Tower),
DEX (Judgement, The Star), MIND (The High Priestess, The Hierophant) and INT
(The Hermit, The Magician). Don't bother with AVD, AGIL or RES for a weapon.
(2) Team-level a single class. If you have enough equipment, you can be strong
enough to take the units through many level-ups of a single class. Every time
a unit levels up a class in battle, it gets +0.1 to ALL of its base stats,
which amounts to +4.9STR, +4.9VIT, +4.9DEX, +4.9AGIL, +4.9AVD, +4.9MIND,
+4.9INT and +4.9RES from level 1 to 50. After battle, if only 1 class gets all
the XP, you will see levels go up rapidly, speeding up the process, and giving
stat boosts to many units.
Technically a 3rd method would be eating Dragon Steaks, which you can buy after
auctioning in a shop Dragon units that you recruited in battle. But this only
gains the equivalent of 2 tarot cards (+0.1-0.5STR, +0.1-0.5VIT) for your unit.
If the Dragon recruit is low level, it will also steal all the XP gains after
battle unless you kill it yourself.
--- Stats of Regular Generic recruits
Unfortunately this subchapter isn't as detailed as you might have hoped. There
is a Brady Guide for sale which will tell you about how this works, and even
lists stat ranges for recruits. What I can convey, are some simple observations
about the recruits I had. First of all, I added up the values of all their base
stats, and I noticed some curious things:
(1) The total base stats was always similar. A unit may have higher STR than
another, but it will have other stats which are lower, so it all averages out.
Since there are decimal values involved which are not visible, they probably
get exactly the same total amount.
(2) Unused units I recruited long ago had lower total stats than similar ones
I recruited en masse at the time, which seemed to disprove what I said in (1),
but when I got recruits with higher total stats a while later, I understood
that recruits' stats improve as your own roster improves.
(3) Most humanoid races had the same amount of total stats, which was about
260 at the time I recruited mine. Because of (2), this value will be different
for other people at different stages of the game.
To give an impression of which stats are more pronounced for which races, I can
summarize my observations as:
- Regular HUMANS have average stats across the board, with some variation
depending on their class when recruited. Average value was about 31-32 for me.
Humans' biggest advantage is the variety of classes available. They are the only
race that can snap into a cursed 1- or 2-handed katana, for example.
- HAWKMEN, FAIRIES and MONSTERS were not tested yet, though this may be added
in the future. Monsters are of no relevance for Cursed Weapons, though. From
distant memory of old recruits, I recall that Hawkmen had disappointingly low
starting stats, which caused me to abandon 4 Winged generics I had recruited.
I'd hazard a guess and say that they start with lower average stats, just like
Skeletons, Pumpkinheads, Imps and Ghosts do. How much lower is yet untested.
Although I've never recruited a Fairy, observations in battle make it clear
that Fairies are very fragile, so I expect their stats will resemble the Imps.
- LIZARDMEN have significantly higher STR and VIT than other races, which puts
them at an advantage when snapping a cursed weapon. Be advised that they have
few available classes, so their resulting equippable weapons and snappable
elements are quite limited. They had low AGIL & AVD, and INT & MIND was a tiny
bit below average. Due to the importance of STR for a weapon, they are the best
choice if they can snap into the right element. Due to their high STR & VIT,
Lizardmen are tough to kill in battle. Many believe they have a hidden damage
resistance, but I suspect this is merely because of their stat distribution.
- ORCS have above average STR, DEX, INT & MIND, the other stats below average.
This is a good 2nd choice, if Lizardman can't snap the element you need. They
also have a wider variety of classes, so you are more likely to snap the
element you want with an Orc.
- LAMIA also scored well, with stats distribution similar to Orcs, though
slightly less favourable. Be advised that they have few available classes, but
including valuable mage classes and Archer.
- SKELETONS' stats averaged to 250; 10 points lower than most living recruits.
Their stronger stats were STR, DEX, AVD and RES. Remember that Skeletons get
+1 RT. I snapped a skeleton Terror Knight (89RT), and this value was rounded
down to a weapon attack RT of 44, so it didn't affect my weapon. But if your
Skeleton's RT becomes an even value, it's another disadvantage. Overall not
the best race, but not the worst either.
- PUMPKINHEAD GOLEMS also had the 250 average stats that Skeletons got.
Pumpkinheads have average STR, INT & MIND, high DEX and low VIT. Snapping
from a Pumpkinhead is a lesser alternative. Besides story battles, you can
only find them in Palace of the Dead floor 10, and they are the only unit
that can be snapped into a Cursed Instrument, because only Songstress can
equip it.
- IMPS/GREMLINS had very high DEX, high AVD and RES, average STR, low MIND
and very low VIT. Their stats also added up to about 250. Since they fill
the same role as Fairies, I suspect Fairies are the same. This also explains
why they are so fragile.
- GHOSTS' stats are quite poor. Total stats added up to 232 average, which
is lousy compared to the 250 of Skeletons, and 260 of every living recruit.
But they do have considerably high VIT, INT and MIND. Such units might still
be decent for snapping weapons that complement casters especially, although
they wouldn't do much physical damage. Remember that you can convert Ghosts
and Skeletons to Divine Knight quite easily, which can then be reclassed into
human. So they can equip all cursed weapons, and snap into anything.
--- Snapdragon usefulness
I calculated the races' Snapdragon usefulness, by the following method:
STRx2 [Strength is added to bonus stats, ATT & DEF bonus, and damage type]
+ VIT [bonus stats & DEF bonus]
+ DEX [bonus stats, damage type & ATT bonus]
+ INT [bonus stats & affinity]
+ MIND [bonus stats & affinity]
= TOTAL 'usefulness'
This isn't a foolproof method, because there are many factors to consider.
You wouldn't care as much about INT&MIND when snapping a Fist, for example.
--- The Snapdragon process
Cursed weapons have 34 specific drop locations in the Palace of the Dead: 2 for
each weapon type. These weapons appear completely useless when you get them,
because they have no ATT value, or any other stat value for that matter. Their
appeal is the Snapdragon ability that allows the weapon to trap a unit's life
force into the weapon. The unit's stats then determine the bonuses that the
weapon receives. This information reposted by Woofrikinhaw explains the process
by which stats are calculated for the weapon:
ATK = (Base STR + Base DEX) * 0.6
DEF = (Base STR + Base VIT) * 0.6
Added STR/VIT/DEX/AGIL/AVD/INT/MND/RES = 1/2 sacrificed unit's base stats
Added HP/MP = 1/4 sacrificed unit's base HP/MP (capped at 50)
RT = 1/2 sacrificed unit's current RT (rounded down)
Damage type modifier (Crush, Slash or Pierce) = (Base STR + Base DEX) * 0.1
Elemental affinity modifier = (Base INT + Base MND) * 0.1
Racial bonus modifier = (Base VIT + Base AGI) * 0.1
The actual damage type, elemental affinity and racial bonus are determined by
the class of the sacrificed unit. Any class has a chance to produce any element,
but certain classes are highly predisposed towards certain elements. Each weapon
will have one damage type, elemental affinity and racial bonus. Classes with two
or more damage types or racial bonuses will assign one of them at random.
Warrior:
Crushing, Slashing, Piercing
Earth, Fire
Human, Beast, Reptile
--- Maxed Cursed Weapons
I have maxed cursed weapons with 50 to every stat, so I thought it might be nice
to compare their damage to eachother, to see if any weapon types get advantages.
I unequipped all skills and equipment on the units i used in this comparison. I
brought along a target for each race I have acces to: Azelstan Human (H), an
Orc/Umbra (U), a Lizardman (R) and a Pumpkinhead Golem (G). I also targeted
Flame Dragons (D) and Griffon beasts (B) that spawned in Mount Weobry, but keep
in mind that these have *variable* spawning stats. Also remember that they all
have different classes and base stats, so the actual damage you will see
actually says nothing about whether certain races take more damage or not. I
personally suspect that there is no such weakness in existance, and only the
stats matter for damage, not the race.
Each cursed weapon has a racial affinity, which was also maxed at 20. The type
is listed in parentheses below. All weapons were crushing damage type, with the
exception of the Slashing cursed 2H katana.
My lvl41 Lord was equipping most weapons, but I had to bring in Songstress Iuria
and Ranger Vyce to test cursed Instrument and Fusil, respectively. Testing other
equips in comparison, I could observe that Instrument and Fusil conformed to the
damage picture of most other melee/ranged weapons.
Denam's targeting results on the 6 above-mentioned targets:
___________________________________________________________
H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 232 |D 087 |B 160 =Fist(B)
H 339 |U 310 |R 305 |G 339 |D 168 |B 220 =Dagger(G)
H 285 |U 239 |R 233 |G 244 |D 102 |B 158 =1H sword(H)
H 255 |U 240 |R 221 |G 232 |D 086 |B 142 =2H sword(U)
H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 232 |D 088 |B 159 =Axe(B)
H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 246 |D 089 |B 144 =Spear(G)
H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 232 |D 088 |B 168 =Hammer(B)
H 339 |U 310 |R 327 |G 315 |D 164 |B 227 =1H katana(R)
H 255 |U 227 |R 234 |G 232 |D 087 |B 140 =2H katana(R, slashing)
H 255 |U 227 |R 241 |G 246 |D 088 |B 145 =Cudgel(G)
H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 232 |D 088 |B 160 =Whip(B)
H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 246 |D 088 |B ??? =Spellbook(G)
H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 232 |D 088 |B 165 =Instrument(B)
H 312 |U 283 |R 298 |G 288 |D 145 |B 197 =Blowgun(R)
H 312 |U 283 |R 298 |G 288 |D 142 |B 194 =Bow(R)
H 312 |U 283 |R 278 |G 288 |D 167 |B 194 =Crossbow(D)
H 312 |U 283 |R 278 |G 288 |D 167 |B 194 =Fusil(D)
Instrument and Fusil numbers were extrapolated from comparing Songstress and
Ranger damage output of these and other equippable weapons, to project what my
Lord would have had as targeting results, if they could equip them.
The conclusions I have drawn from these observations:
1) Dagger and Katana both get the same very high damage boost to their attacks,
which results in roughly +80dmg for my weapons.
2) All ranged weapons also get the same high damage boost to their attacks,
which results in roughly +60dmg for my weapons.
3) Swords (1H) gets a slight damage boost to its attacks, which results in
roughly +12dmg for my weapon.
4) There is no percievable difference in damage against monsters for slashing
and crushing damage, and I respawned multiple battles with the slashing 2H
katana to confirm this. I later tested piercing damage with a piercing 1H
sword, and confirmed there was no difference in damage against monsters.
5) The maximum of 20 racial affinity resulted in a very minor boost to damage;
13-24HP depending on enemy toughness.
6) And finally, I tried zombifying my targets on the spot, to see if they would
have any weakness against Light-elemental cursed weapons afterwards. They do
not, and I later confirmed that Light-elemental cursed weapons give no innate
bonus damage to Skeletons or Ghosts either. The damage boost must be coded in
each existing Light-elemental (& Baldur) weapon individually. Cursed weapons
miss out on this bonus, but that's no reason to avoid creating Light-element
weapons if it suits your purposes.
--- Recommended snaps
Snapping a weapon from a fresh generic recruit with low base stats will result
in an equally weak weapon. Its ATTACK value will be below the threshold needed
to hurt monsters (~70-90ATT), and it will likely do only 1 damage against tough
humanoids as well. Its main uses would be as a defensive & caster weapon, giving
a substantial boost to VIT, AVD & RES, as well as the caster stats INT & MIND.
They are further of great use in A.I. training, because they offer weak attack
but high defensive boosts. Read my Skill Improvement FAQ for details. In the end
weak cursed weapons become undesirable, so I'd advise destroying your old cursed
weapons when you have no further use for them, and returning to the Palace of
the Dead to get a new series for stronger snaps with high-base-stats generics.
Remember that any equipment worn by the generic when it was snapped will add to
the slowness of the cursed weapon's attacks, though it remains weightless. The
Crest of Fire has a -10 weight value, though, so euipping this during snapping
will shave 5RT off the resulting weapon's attacks. The Crest of Fire is returned
to inventory afterwards.
Cursed Weapons have NO Augments, so it will not boost elemental damage of magic,
finishers or any other special attack. However, it still seems best to snap a
cursed weapon with the same element as any other attacks your unit employs. For
this reason, I've compiled a list of recommended snaps, with explanations of the
synergy it offers a unit.
FIST: Primarily physical classes use Fists, and I feel that the best synergy is
with Fire element, to combine with the srong rank 2 finisher. A Warrior can be
used to snap it, and I give the weapon to Canopus as Vartan or Buccaneer.
DAGGER: Although there is a decent Air element finisher, and this goes well with
the Rogue's Sparagmos ability, I personally end up giving the cursed dagger to
a mage class, because of the limited weapon options for mages. A Warlock/Witch
can be used to snap the weapon, and I prefer Dark element for its versatility.
SWORD (1H): There are many knight-type classes with healing and other uses for
Light element, but there are only 3 unique Light-elemental 1-handed swords for
them to use. I snap this element from a RF/Valkyrie.
SWORD (2H): The 2-handed sword weapon type is best put to use by Terror Knights,
however they have enough skill slots to squeeze in a 2nd element. I believe
that a Lightning weapon offers the best synergy with 2 finishers, but I still
give it to my Terror Knight, which is the class needed to snap it as well.
AXE: Axe is a poor weapon type, so you may opt to forgo the effort of training a
generic for this. Personally I chose Earth element for mine (Warrior snap),
but there is also a decent Ice finisher.
SPEAR: The rank 6 Giga Tempest is an impressive Lightning finisher, but you may
end up regretting a Lightning spear. The best classes to use Spears also make
good use of Divine Magic, so a Light-element cursed spear is in fact the best
choice. It is snapped from a RF/Valkyrie.
HAMMER: The rank 6 Fire-elemental Crimson Reach is as impressive as Giga Tempest
is for Spears, but there is no other consideration this time. Hammers are very
widely equippable among different classes. You can snap Fire element from a
Warrior, and I like using it on a Berserker or Paladin (room for 2nd Augment).
KATANA (1H): This Katana can only be snapped from a Ninja, and the best element
it can become is Lightning, due to a finisher.
KATANA (2H): This Katana can only be snapped from a Swordmaster, but there are
no elements the snaps and finishers share. I chose Earth, but there is little
difference. It's a weapon type you may choose to forgo, if you find training
generics for snapping to be tedious.
CUDGEL: There is only 1 element good for Cudgels, and that is Light. Finishers
all have the same element. You can snap it from a Cleric, and whether or not
you actually attack with the Cudgel makes little difference: Without Augments,
the only purpose of a cursed weapon's element is for attacking anyway; you're
always better off with a Light Cursed Cudgel.
WHIP: I chose Water element for synergy with the 1st finisher. People often
choose Ice or Fire to complement Ozma or Deneb, but their elements are easily
altered. Light may be a possibility for Princess Catiua, but there already are
Light-elemental Whips, and she has better weapon options. Casters don't have
many weapon options, so I made my Deneb into a Water Wicce for synergy. Water
element can be snapped from Beast Tamer.
SPELLBOOK: This became an unexpected dilemma when I was deciding who to allocate
which mage weapon to. Shaman was the best recipient for the Spellbook, but she
is barred from using Dark Magic, so she has no synergy with the universal Dark
element. If you also plan to give your Shaman the Cursed Spellbook, Earth is
your best option. Either way, you can snap it from a Warlock/Witch.
INSTRUMENT: You need a Pumpkinhead to snap this, because that's the only race to
allow generic Songstresses (use classmark), the only class that can even equip
the weapon. Air is the best element, and you'll find the rank 4 finisher quite
impressive. Though due to its class limitation, this is a low priority weapon.
BLOWGUN: Although Light element would be best to equip on a Familiar with Divine
Magic, there is no way to snap this element. I used a Ninja to snap Lightning
element instead, which coincides with the strongest finisher.
BOW: I chose to snap a Ninja for the bow to gain Lightning element. Not only is
Lightning the strongest Bow finisher, but the best regular Lightning Bow only
has a range of 7, making the Cursed Weapon's range 8 an improvement. Thunder
Maiden Arycelle would be the traditional recipient, though I'd use a Ninja
instead of an Archer: More movement range, and there is no need for Archer's
damage boosting skills once you equip a maxed cursed weapon.
CROSSBOW: The best element for Crossbow is Fire, for the powerful Brimstone Hail
finisher. You need to use a Fusilier to snap this element. Great for a Rogue,
Dragoon, Vartan or Archer.
FUSIL: With no option to create an Air elemental Cursed Fusil, the best element
for Crossbow is Light for the powerful Attunement finisher. Good for a Ranger.
{8} ENEMY EQUIPMENT
-------------------
--- What to expect
Equipment selection in stores updates very slowly. It is not sufficient to
rely on the selection available there, as you will soon find lucky drops from
enemies to be far better. There are ways to secure a good selection of up-to-
date weapons and armour for your allies, and I will discuss them here. First
of all, I should explain what to expect about enemy levels:
In random battles, enemy units will scale to the level of your highest ally.
In story battles, enemies are at a fixed level on your first playthrough, but
will begin to scale to your highest ally once you are 10 levels above that
fixed level. Once you have finished the main game (after Hanging Gardens),
World mode is unlocked, and replaying previous story battles (even in new
paths) will cause enemies to scale to your allies now. The San Bronsa ruins
adds levels to enemies once you have progressed through the ruins. After San
Bronsa, enemies will forever be 1-2 levels above your highest ally. This is
usually a good thing, since the XP bonus will increase.
Enemies come equipped with a selection of weapons based on their level. It
doesn't have to be the best item they can equip, but it will never be above
what they are able to equip, nor will you find level 30 enemies with much
level 1 equipment. There is usually a variety of 2-4 possible weapons that
they might have. So, a level 30 enemy with Hammers skill may have Yggdrasil
Gnarl (lvl28), Dragon Hammer (lvl25) or Damasc Hammer (lvl22), but it will
not come equipped with a Halt Hammer (lvl 1) anymore.
Generally speaking, equipment will appear within a certain level range.
Exceptions to this level range are the Buckler shield, which high level mages
still use often. Baldur Bows and Crossbows also continue to drop at high
levels, because the selection of 1-handed ranged weaponry is so limited.
The equipment selections follow a broad pattern, that starts with the 'BASIC'
versions, and almost all of these are equipped on enemies of certain levels,
and it is advisable to get hold of these items from drops or battlefield
recruitment. They can often be purchased or crafted, but this is usually a
waste of money and crafting components when you can get hold of the items
from enemies.
Almost all 'basic' equipment has an 'UPGRADED' version, which never drops in
battle. These upgrades are a significant improvement over the basic versions,
so it is worthwhile to get hold of the crafting recipes for these.
And finally, there are ELEMENTAL weapons which come into play later on. They
are the most powerful weapons and armours, and only some of them follow the
'basic' & 'upgraded' pattern mentioned before. Sometimes the upgraded weapon
is not of the same element as its basic version. Some basic elemental weapons
are equipped by enemies, but the most powerful gear only has one specific
drop location, and aren't actually equipped by the enemy who drops them. Many
of the most powerful stuff is also unique; you can only have one of the item.
MOBILITY rings and footwear come into play later on, and movement advantages
far outweigh any damage bonuses later on, when your units are much stronger.
--- What can drop?
Of course, enemies can drop tarot cards, consumables, goth, and any number of
miscellaneous items they did not have equipped. But drop tables are complex
and beyond the scope of what this subchapter is intended to convey. Here I'm
focusing on gear that enemies have EQUIPPED, so you can either kill or reruit
them to get hold of said gear.
Here is a list of the most powerful items that enemies drop, for each item
type. Remember that you won't find any 'upgraded' items, even if they are less
powerful than the items that do drop.
Fists: Hellhound Claws
Daggers: Marauder Knife
1H Swords: Kukri (Walloon Sword is rare; appears within a narrow level range)
2H Swords: Rhompaia (also rare)
Axes: Dragon Axe
Spears: Culnrikolnne
Hammers: Yggdrasil Gnarl
1H Katana: Ghostblade (Muso Blade is rare)
2H Katana: Oakblade
Cudgels: Staff of Restoration & Wands of [element]
Whips: Holy Comet
Spellbooks: Biblion [race]
Instruments: Cavaquinho (not equipped, but many San Bronsa enemies drop it)
Blowguns: Damasc Blowgun
Bows: Thunder Bow (Crescente missable, see Useful Info)
Crossbows: Keening Bowgun
Fusils: Musket
Shields: Rozenzi Shield
Helms: Holy Crown (never Wyrmscale Helm)
Armours: Wyrmscale Armor
Armguards: Wyrmscale Sleeves
Legguards: Damasc Leggings (never Arkhiatros or Mage Trousers)
Rings of [stat]: All except Rings of Intellect or Fortune
Other jewelry: No random drops
--- Equipment tips:
To give some tips as to which items are most worth equipping, I'll say this:
DAGGERS and 1H KATANAS have a very high damage bonus to their weapon types.
However, Daggers in particular have a low base ATT value. Monsters become
impossible to beat when your weapon ATT is too low.
1H SWORDS are a decent starting melee weapon, because they have a double-hit
finisher at rank 2 already, as well as a slight damage bonus.
HAMMERS are very good against monsters, because their high ATT values easily
overcome the monsters' defense threshold. Many classes can use them.
CUDGELS are the best weapon for mages, and all their finishers are Light
elemental. Clerics and other Divine casters can attack best with them.
BLOWGUNS are handy for inflicting status effects on opponents, like Charm or
Petrify. But they do little damage because of their low ATT.
BOWS are the most overpowered weapons in the early game. Keep your Bows up-
to-date and you will easily win most battles. They can lob arrows in an arc,
avoiding many obstacles in city maps.
CROSSBOWS will start to outperform Bows once you enter dungeons, and need to
shoot uphill. THey have a devastating area-effect finisher at rank 2, which
is probably the best finisher in the game.
CURSED WEAPONS can be snapped from untrained allies, but they will have weak
attack. They are still useful for casting and defensive stat bonuses, and
may facilitate skill imprvement sessions in A.I. (See the Skill Improvement
FAQ). If you can train a generic ally to have high STR & DEX, the resulting
Cursed Weapon will become immensely powerful. See the About Units chapter
for more details. For further details on how weaponry and finishers work in
general, read the About Weapons chapter in my Skill FAQ.
BRONZE HELM +1 is a lifesaver in the early game. Your improvement in defense
and offense will be noticeable. It has a nice bonus to STR and a bunch of
innate racial defenses against all races. It takes a while before equipment
will appear that is clearly better than Bronze Helm +1.
WIZARD'S HAT +1 can be crafted by the mid game, and this item has so many
advantages that it will continue to outstrip all other pieces of armour.
Craft many ofthese upgraded hats for the success of your casters. No other
defensive item offers such a high INT boost, and INT is very important.
BRIGANDINE +1 has a high DEX bonus that improves attack accuracy when mid
game players still have problems hitting enemies.
Most WYRMSCALE gear drops frequently at high level, and equipping 3 pieces
will give a unit a handy Dragonslayer TP skill in combat.
MOBILITY footwear (Winged Boots, Sidhe Shoes, Sparkguard Boots and Cloud
Shoes) is extremely useful in the late game, so they are worth getting hold
of multiple times. Rings can do the same, but the jewelry slot is usually
reserved for Chokers.
CHOKER necklaces add a huge elemental damage component to a spell or weapon
of their element on top of their Augment +1, making them the best non-unique
damage booster in the game. Here's some testing done on them by Flaresky:
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/67753410
RING OF FORTUNE +1 offers a substantial bonus to luck which won't fade. Even
though most units are better off with a Choker, this ring may be worth using
on a monster. Especially a Gryphon, which gets no benefit from a Winged Ring.
{9} USEFUL INFO & CREDITS
-------------------------
--- Rare item drops
Loot spreadsheets for Palace of the Dead, San Bronsa and Pirate's Graveyard:
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/59010574
Those loot spreadsheets handle over 90% of what you need to know, but let me
add what I learned. Some items are hard to come by, and you may not know of
their existence yet.
Elixirs: All Octopi in Phorampa Wildwood. Thanks go to Maltherion for
confirming that they all drop it.
Snipe Gators: Unique boots. Chaotic Rogue Gremlin, Neimrahava Wood non-story
battle. Thanks go to beatumdown for this (re)find.
Fusilier Classmarks: Fair weather, The Leupha Coast, Fusiliers at (5, 24) &
(7, 24). Thanks go to grift3r74 for this find. Recruiting Lindl also gives 3.
Dark Priest classmark: 8th, 12th & 18th floors of Hanging Gardens, all drop
from Cleric Templars. World mode has a shortcut from 1st to 18th floor.
Necromancer classmarks: Drop from 2 Necromancers in floor 18 of Palace of the
Dead, but only if you have recruited Cressida (who also brings 3 classmarks
upon recruitment) in Warren Report. If you go to another route (law/neutral)
the Necromancers in PotD floor 18 will no longer drop classmarks.
Buccaneer classmarks: Only drop if you have Azelstan in Warren Report, alive,
AND present during the battle. 1 mark can be gained in the Pirate's Graveyard
treasure, an Imp rogue in Neimrahava woods can drop it (drops rogue marks
without Azelstan), and 3 Skeleton Archers in the *Non-story* battle of On
Holy Ground will drop 3 each.
Tier II ninjutsu scrolls: All but 1 are found deep in Palace of the Dead.
Many also drop in pre-shrine fortress battles. Waveshear II ONLY drops in
the Quadriga pre-shrine fortress battle. It drops from a Kunoichi.
Tier II Apocrypha: If you faced all the guardians in story battles before
hitting level 35, only tier I dropped. After level 35, recipe drops are not
guaranteed, but tier II Apocrypha also become a possibility. I recommend
saving, reloading and charioting the killing blow until you get it all. Only
the LAST story guardian you defeat will drop 3 (sometimes 6) Shaman classmarks.
Non-story guardians are very different, and won't drop Apocrypha OR recipes at
all. Guardians in non-story revisits are not designated targets, and are not
guaranteed to spawn anymore. They have a chance to drop a Shaman classmark.
Non-story item drops :
Water- Tlaloc's Bolt (unique spear)
Fire - Fire Gauntlets and Fire Shield
Lightning - Xolotl's Canine (dagger), Wyrm Whisker
Ice - Hoarfrost Greaves (boots), Enchanted Feather
Air - Vainateya's Talons (unique fist), Enchanted Feather
Earth - Nathalork's Mail, Orichalcum
Despite numerous tries, I was never able to get both a crafting component and
an item in the same drop, but classmarks dropped frequently with the rest.
Dark Knight Commanders' Loot: The best place to get these is during CODA 4.
Read Elyon's CODA guide for details. Ozma can in fact drop 2 unique whips.
The Alluring items are special drops, only accessible in world. They are not
equipped, but the female only Dress and Highboots will drop from Gousin
during the story battle at the Golborza Plains, but only when you replay
this battle in world, not during the first run of the game. Catiua must be
present, and answer Gousin's question with the 2nd dialogue option. Similarly,
the male-only Corset and Boots drop when Oz dies in Phidoch Great Hall chapter
3, but only when you replay in world. They won't drop in the CODA 4 battle.
The Abyss I & II scrolls can be found in Palace of the Dead, but are easily
missed. Abyss I drops in the pre-Fortress battle with the Lich, Water Shrine.
One of the Ghost Witches has it, but only when replaying in world. Abyss II
can be found in world in a special battle against Xapan in Golyat: You need to
have rescued him before, and refused to recruit him. The battle is only
available in lawful path. The Witch present in the battle drops it.
--- Missables
Only titles are considered missable in this game, but there are also 3 items
that will no longer drop once your party is beyond a certain level. Since
Denam must be present in STORY battles, you can't just recruit a bunch of
low level monster classes you neglected, to pick these up later. If Denam
has no more low level classes available to him, then you missed your chance.
-Crescente bow: Numerous random & story Archers between levels 24 and 26.
Sharp and Cold the Stars, Hanging Gardens. Disappears after level 34.
After getting one, I saw some in Wonder at the Gods Above, Phorampa Wildwood.
-Treatise on Seduction: Demonpetal Dance for Swordmaster. Chapter 4 Barnicia
Grand Staircase, from Neutral Swordmaster Templar. Disappears at level 26.
Enraptured Dreams, Hanging Gardens. Disappears after level 34.
-Scroll of the Cicada: Decoy for Ninja. Hagia Banhamuba (vs. Sherri). Drops
from one of the male Ninjas - the one with lower loyalty up to level 26.
Chapter 4 Heim Courtyard. Drops from male Ninja next to wizard <lvl27.
Ebon Stair, Hanging Gardens. Drops from Kunoichi Templar. Disappears @lvl35.
Thanks go to BM Sirius for quoting the strategy guide, and ronin7997 for
dispelling rumours that the Hanging Gardens drops stop appearing after lvl26.
- Wicce class: This seems to have been overlooked. Many people think it's OK
to just recruit Deneb as a Witch, because getting 30 Glass Pumpkins is a lot
of work after having recruited 27 dragons already. But this is one thing that
cannot be remedied by traveling back in world, because Deneb will no longer
appear in her shop after she is recruited in your roster. Even when traveling
back in world mode, Punkin will be running her store. You'd need to remove
Deneb from your roster to reactivate her quest. An unappealing prospect if you
invested a lot of time into your Deneb unit.
--- Rare steals
-Classmarks for Knight Commamder: can be stolen from Zombie Templars during
rain at the Reisan Way. You need to have Ozma already.
-Priest classmarks: Stolen from clerics on the 1st map of Phorampa Wldwood,
Adventurer's Gap.
-Reaver: Stolen from Grim Reaper in Scenic Knoll (Phorampa Wildwood). Requires
rank 3 Steal, and item gives +2 Steal. The ring is not unique, so you can get
more than 1 of them. Since it can cast Boon of Swiftness three times in battle,
and has Stopproof effect, it is very useful on any class. Getting rank 3 Steal
is a very tedious & difficult task. Here are some tips on how I did it:
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/64869191
--- All about weapons
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/66109724/
743212391
Damage comparison with maxed cursed weapons, weapon inventory summary, list
of finishers, skill comparisons, and much, much more.
--- About Fortify, Strengthen & Spellcraft
Rumours that Fortify is useless were based on the fact that it only helps if
you have a *very* low defense, which is only true in the early chapters.
There are also cases where Strengthen and Spellcraft become useless, but
this happens much less quickly.
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/66623108
--- Credits
GAMEFAQS for hosting this and many other useful guides, as well as the forum.
All the frequent visitors to the forum on GAMEFAQS, who offer unique
insights, inspiration for ideas, as well as new discoveries. I'd name names,
but there are lots and I'm too afraid of forgetting a name and offending
someone...
Woofrikinhaw for cursed weapon info
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/59045605
You'll need this to find out which class you need for a certain element.
Humble_Novice & BlueMage279 for scavenging info
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/58370371
/688396854
Col_mobius for loot spreadsheets, helpful for charioting rare item drops:
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/59010574
Google spreadsheets can't be accessed from certain countries. Like China,
where I live now. If you have this problem, consider using a proxy program.
Cyril(=Elyon) for the helpful CODA guide:
www.gamefaqs.com/psp/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/faqs/63915
Read this to learn more about Heavenly Generals and their special weapons.
Maltherion for the Crafting Guide:
www.gamefaqs.com/psp/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/faqs/62110
Check out my Skill FAQ, to shed light on all the class & level requirements:
www.gamefaqs.com/psp/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/faqs/66864
Basic to advanced instruction on the intricacies of Scavenging & Recruitment:
www.gamefaqs.com/psp/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/faqs/67152
Special thanks to sEmesextrEm for posting helpful links, as well as providing
support during hostile discussions.
And a big shout out to all you trolls out there! I have mixed feelings when
I need to defend myself on the boards. Any news is good news, as the saying
goes. By attacking my credibility, you add to my exposure. There's no better
way to get to know an author than when he's responding to personal attacks.
Thanks for reading, everyone. I hope it's of some use to people for
scavenging, and advanced planning for skills.
{10} VERSION INFORMATION
------------------------
Version 1.0 adapts the chapters Advanced Scavenging & About Units from the
Skill FAQ for use in this FAQ.
Version 1.1 adds some corrections, relevant links to threads, and some special
targets for scavenging rare skills.
Version 2.0 adds the Enemy Equipment chapter to this guide, and due to the
expanded scope, the name has been changed from "Skill Scavenging FAQ"
to "Scavenging / Recruitment FAQ". The subchapter "Ranked Skills from
Allies" was also added for completeness. Sightings of enemies with
ranked skills were added to the subchapter Ranked skills from
opponents. Advanced Scavenging & About Units chapters were removed from
the Skill FAQ, so this is now the only FAQ with those chapters. Numerous
subchapters were formed for a better overview of info, and a new chapter
was created for Cursed Weapon information.
Version 2.1 is a very minor update.
