Illusion of Gaia
In-Depth: Maximum Stats Guide
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>> Author: Zack Averyt
>> Version: 1.01
>> Updated: October 6, 2013
>> Contact:
[email protected]
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/ -Table of Contents- /
1. Copyright
2. Version History
3. Introduction
4. Overview
5. Main Guide
6. Conclusion
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/ -1. Copyright- /
This document is currently authorized for display on GameFAQs.com and
neoseeker.com. Copyright belongs to Zachary Averyt. If you wish to post it on
another site, please contact me at
[email protected] for permission.
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/ -2. Version History- /
1.01 >> Updated copyright and fixed a typo.
1.00 >> Original FAQ completed.
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/ -3. Introduction- /
This guide is designed to be the one-stop source of information for maxing out
your stats in Illusion of Gaia without having to wade through a full
walkthrough. It was born of a recent playthrough of the game wherein I
followed the maps and Red Jewel guides on GameFAQs but wound up missing a
couple of well-hidden upgrades in towns. I also noticed that some guides
disagree on what the maximum stats actually ARE (presumably because some of
the enhancers are so well hidden), so my goal is to make an easy-to-use
guide to ensure you don't miss a thing without having your hand held for the
entire game.
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/ -4. Overview- /
Illusion of Gaia doesn't use EXP like your average RPG, opting instead to
provide stat upgrades as rewards for accomplishing specific tasks. There are
a few different ways to earn these precious commodities:
1: Defeat all the enemies in a single dungeon room. This is by far the most
common source of stat boosts. You can keep track of your progress on the pause
screen (press Start). THe number of enemies left in the room is shown as well
as a radar system to help you find them. Most important is the "Force"
symbol in the upper-left of the screen; this indicates there's an upgrade
yet to be earned. As enemies can sometimes respawn if you leave a dungeon and
return, this may be important to ensure you don't waste time on kills that
won't earn you anything. NOTE: While there are some instances where you can
collect stats from enemies you missed by beating the boss of the dungeon, it's
not really recommended simply because those stats will help you survive the
place anyway. It's also not guaranteed to work in every dungeon; I can
confirm first-hand that you can miss the stats in Edward's Prison...yes, that
dungeon has no boss and the two may be related. At any rate, killing the
enemies isn't usually a big problem, and it's definitely the safest option.
2: Gem's gifts. As you turn Red Jewels in to Gem the Jeweler, he'll give you
rewards. Three of these are stat boosts; one each for Defense, HP, and
Strength.
3: Hidden boosts. There are a few of these in the game, and some are hidden
better than others. Worse yet, one of them can be permanently missed if you
progress in the story without collecting it.
4: Defeat a boss. The game makes no effort to TELL you this is happening, but
two bosses give you stat boosts when you defeat them that have nothing to do
with missed enemies in their dungeons.
A properly maxed-out file should have 40 HP, 30 Strength, and 32 Defense.
This guide is meant to get you every point of that as early as possible.
I will assume you're following Xi's Red Jewel Location guide on GameFAQs to
earn the upgrades from Gem on schedule.
As we progress, I'll be listing the new stat total at the END of every area
in the following format: xx/xx/xx These numbers represent HP, Strength, and
Defense in that order from left to right.
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/ -5. Main Guide- /
>> South Cape & Edward's Castle
You begin the game with 8 HP, 1 Strength, and 0 Defense. There are no upgrades
to be found prior to the first dungeon.
*08/01/00*
>>Edward's Prison
There are five rooms with stat boosts to earn. This first dungeon is very
linear, so most of the enemies are hard to miss. The only thing to watch for
is the snake-like things that come up out of the water; you'll know where to
find them by the holes in the barrier surrounding the platforms. Use your radar
to make sure you don't miss them as you go along and this will be easy. You'll
earn two hearts, one sword, and two shields as you progress.
*10/02/02*
>>Itory Village & Moon Tribe Camp
Once you collect the 8th Red Jewel in Itory Village, you should take a quick
detour back to Cape Town and claim your Defense and HP bonuses from Gem. This
is easy to forget, but the stats will serve you well moving forward. There are
no other stat boosts to be found in these two locations.
*11/02/03*
>>Incan Ruins, AKA Larai Cliff
There are nine rooms with stat boosts to earn. The level design takes a huge
step up in complexity over the previous dungeon, but the end result still
winds up pretty linear. The main thing you need to watch for is the gooey
enemies that seep up from the floor; as usual, using your radar should make
finding them all fairly simple. Also note that you'll need to get close enough
to most of the statues to make them come alive and attack; there are a couple
groups of four that wake at once when you hit a nearby switch instead. Every
statue except the four in the puzzle room need to be killed to earn all stats.
You'll earn three hearts, three swords, and three shields as you progress.
*14/05/06*
>>Golden Ship, Diamond Coast, and Freejia
There are no stats to be gained in the first two locations, only Freejia. If
you're following the Red Jewel guide correctly, you should have enough of them
to earn the Strength upgrade from Gem in this town. Next comes one of the two
easiest-to-miss stat boosts in the game, and the ONLY one that is permanently
missable. As you walk into the back alley, there's a trash can which has been
knocked over almost directly in front of you. Examine it to receive an HP
boost. This is the one I missed which lead to the writing of this guide, so
make sure you don't make the same mistake! Thanks to Atom Edge on GameFAQs,
whose full walkthrough I had to consult to find the missing point.
*15/06/06*
>>Diamond Mine
There are seven rooms with stat boosts to earn. This dungeon is between the
first two in terms of linearity, so finding your way around and seeing out
enemies shouldn't be much of a problem. The purple snakes that pop up from the
ground are the most likely foes to be missed, but they generally appear near
skulls on the ground which you can use to identify likely spawn points. They
appear from fairly far away, and you can always use the radar to track them
down if necessary. You'll earn three hearts, two swords, and two shields as you
progress.
*18/08/08*
>Neil's Cottage, Nazca Painting, and Sky Garden
There's nothing to be found in the first two locations. The Sky Garden is the
next dungeon, and contains eight rooms with stat boosts to earn. Navigation is
both relatively simple and complex here because there are four separate
quarters with two rooms each and you have to jump back and forth between the
top and bottom of the Garden to get everything. There are no hard-to-find
enemy types, so it all comes down to navigating the area. The segmented nature
of the place makes it pretty easy to make sure you have everything before
moving on, though. You'll earn three hearts, two swords, and three shields as
you progress.
*21/10/11*
Seaside Palace & Land of Mu
Although there are enemies in the Seaside Palace, there are no stat boosts to
be gained. The Land of Mu is the next dungeon proper, and it contains six rooms
with stat boosts to earn. This dungeon can be confusing to navigate, and you
have to remember to check back in every room for monsters once you lower the
water level. You'll pass through all six rooms before gaining the ability to
finish any of them; this is the only dungeon in the game where that is true.
The teleporting mage enemies might be the easiest to miss here if you run
around too fast, but as always, a cool head using the radar will prevail.
You'll earn two hearts, two swords, and two shields as you progress.
*23/12/13*
>>Seaside Tunnel & Angel Village
There's nothing to be found in the Seaside Tunnel or the town portion of Angel
Village. The pathways below the village that lead to Ishtar's studio constitute
a dungeon in their own right, however. There are six rooms with stat boosts to
earn. This dungeon is largely straightforward, with only one room having extra
doors to make a rather pitiful maze. The enemies here are mostly very easy to
spot, but there's one dark room with bats hiding in the shadows to watch for.
You'll earn two hearts, two swords, and two shields as you progress.
*25/14/15*
Watermia & Great Wall of China
There's nothing to be found in Watermia, so move on to the Great Wall of China,
our next dungeon. There are six rooms with stat boosts to earn...we're in a rut
here, huh? The enemies are generally pretty easy to find and the level design
isn't too complex in general. There are statue enemies very similar to the ones
in the Incan Ruins hiding amongst real clay soldiers. You can tell them apart
by the pupils in their eyes and the fact that they always face toward the
screen...the radar helps too, of course. You'll earn three hearts, one sword,
and two shields as you progress. This dungeon's boss stealthily provides
another point of Strength upon defeat as well.
*28/16/17*
>>Euro
We've finally arrived in the other town with stat boosts to find! First, get
in line at the store on the southern edge of town...you can't miss it. Once
you finally get inside, you can drink some Life Medicine to increase your HP by
one. There's also some Dark Medicine in here that will power up your Dark Friar
attack if you didn't already get enough Red Jewels to earn it that way. After
that, locate the hidden alley that leads to the Shrine. Instead of walking
straight through, push up partway along to find a hidden door. Inside is a man
who will increase your Strength by one. Thanks to Xenesis Xenon on GameFAQs for
posting about this in the forums...I'd never have found it otherwise, and I
grew up playing this game!
*29/17/17*
>>Mountain Temple
There are nine rooms with stat boosts to earn. This place is kind of maze-like,
but only on a room-by-room basis; the overall path is fairly simple although
there are a few manditory side-rooms as well as one entirely optional one east
of the third room. There are silver floating skull enemies here that can fly
well off the screen, so you'll have to be very careful to find them all...
naturally, the radar will be EXTREMELY useful in this task. You'll earn three
hearts, three swords, and three shields as you progress.
*32/20/20*
>>Natives' Village & Ankor Wat
There's nothing to earn in the Natives' Village, so move on to Ankor Wat. This
is a huge, sprawling dungeon, but still mostly linear. There are a whopping
fifteen rooms with stat boosts to earn, and you'll need them because this is
the hardest dungeon in the game...at least when you first arrive and haven't
gained any stats yet. The blue monsters in the outdoor rooms require two hits
to the extended head in one pass to remove it, then you can kill the enemy
properly. There are more enemy types here than anywhere else, and some move
very fast. The hardest to find would be the bush monsters...especially one
hiding outside the path in the Garden, which you'll need the Dark Friar to get.
As always, the radar is invaluable to ensuring you don't miss a thing. You'll
earn six hearts, four swords, and five shields as you progress.
*38/24/25*
Dao & Pyramid
There's nothing to earn in Dao, so move on to the Pyramid. This is the last
real dungeon (meaning it has stats to earn) in the game save Gem's optional
mansion, and there are fourteen rooms with stat boosts to earn. The place is
split up into six sub-paths, so navigation isn't too difficult. The biggest
problem for getting all the enemies here are the invisible ones...that's right,
one enemy type here cannot be seen at first. You have to use a combination of
their projectile attacks and your radar to find and kill them, so be vigilant!
You'll earn two hearts, five swords, and seven shields as you progress. This
dungeon's boss steathily provides the final point of strength. If you've been
following this guide all the way through, you should now have maximum stats!
Now you just need to play through the Tower of Babel (and Gem's Mansion if you
so choose) to finish the game.
*40/30/32*
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/ -6. Conclusion- /
I hope you found this guide useful. This is the first walkthrough I've ever
written, and I did it just to fill in a niche requirement for an already fairly
niche game. If you have any comments or questions about this guide, please feel
free to email me at
[email protected]. Be sure to put "Illusion of Gaia"
in the subject line.
