Rudra no Hihou - Magic FAQ
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written by: Chief Ug (
[email protected])
Version 1.0
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* First release
I. Introduction
II. How magic works
III. Good spells to have
IV. Miscellaneous hints and tips
V. Conclusion etc
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I. Introduction
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Rudra no Hihou (Rudra's Secret Treasure) is a less-known game released by
Squaresoft for the Super Famicom. It is another game which never saw the
light of day outside of Japan. The game has a few nice features which make
it worthy of trying to hunt down. Unfortunately the game can also be very
hard at times. Understanding the magic system of Rudra no Hihou will make
the game a lot easier, and some places are downright impossible without
having the best spells.
Knowledge of katakana, or being able to constantly look up letters in a
katakana table is a requirement. Sorry, but there is simply no way for you
to have any hope of pulling off spells without being able to decipher those
letters. This guide uses romanji equivalents of katakana, and is written in
pure ASCII text.
If you have any general questions about the game, you can mail me and I will
try to answer. Don't ask me about the storyline though, since I only know a
little bit of Japanese. And needless to say, don't ask stupid questions. If
you are stuck at some place, I may be able to help you (or not).
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II. How magic works
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In Rudra no Hihou, spells are not learned by gaining levels or the like.
Instead, spells are all self-made. Essentially, you "create" your own
spells. The third menu option (sakusei) brings up a table from which you can
create any word you like from katakana, up to 6 letters. Once that word is
finished, it becomes a spell that can be used. The kind of spell depends on
the combination of letters used. Rudra's magic is literally using
"words of power".
So, in order to gain the best spells, all you have to do is put in the
correct magic words and they are ready to use. This means that all the most
powerful spells are available from the beginning (though the MP cost may be
too high at first). Every letter combination results in some kind of spell.
A large majority of combinations are just simple elemental attack spells,
but with luck, a random combination of letters could end up being a very
useful spell. By going through every possible letter combination, you can
find all spells in the game. However, there are a total of 307,759,840,206
different combinations that can be created. So, obviously, finding some
way to learn the best letter combinations is preferable to randomly trying
out combinations.
Where to start from? First, you may have noticed that some towns in the
beginning have bars which feature a cloaked woman of some sort. She will
ask whether or not you wish to learn a spell from her. The top choice means
"yes", after which you can select the slot in which to put the spell. You
can overwrite old spells, but it's not recommended. This is the basic way
to learn spells, but it is only notable in the beginning, since they never
have any really useful spells. Ordering a drink may also give you a clue
for spell names.
Next, treasure chests. You may have encountered several treasure chests
from which no item is picked up. Instead, the character spins around, and
some text flies by. Pay attention to the text. What is found in the treasure
chest is actually a clue to some new spell. It is not a complete word, but
it always has at least one character replaced by a ?. Replace the question
mark with the correct character, and you have found a new spell! This sounds
easier than it is, since even with only 1 question mark, the only sure-fire
way to find out the correct spell name is to try out all combinations, and
for 1 missing character there are 82 possibilities. How do you know you have
found the correct character? Well, if the spell description is something
clearly different from an ordinary elemental attack, you may have found
something. Also, when you first open the treasure chest, you are given a
description of the target spell. For example, it may say something like
"Power goes up". Treasure chests often have useful spells, so do not neglect
them. It is worth your while to try to find the word of power they refer to.
Do note that some spells have logical names, and figuring out the missing
letter(s) is simple.
Then, enemies. Think of this as the "enemy skill" of Rudra no Hihou. If
you see an enemy cast a spell, quickly read its name before it disappears!
For this, you need to be able to read katakana quite fast. Most of the time,
when a monster uses a technique on you which is composed of katakana letters,
it is a spell that you can also use. Hiragana and kanji techniques cannot
be learned, for obvious reasons. The same goes for techniques over 6 letters
long.
Finally, dumb luck. If you are feeling lucky, pick a few letters at random
and see what spell you get. Most likely it is a useless elemental attack
spell, but it could also be a very useful spell indeed. Try letter
combinations which actually mean something.
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III. Good spells to have
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So, you want to cut to the chase and get all those powerful spells right
away? It would be more fun to figure them out on your own. But, here is a
list of spells, and some basic theory behind them. There are many "base"
spells which are only 2-3 letters long, which can be combined with other
words for some nice effects. The most common addition to a base spell is
a word which makes the spell affect All instead of One.
NOTE: trying to use romanji for spell names can be a bit tough. I have
encoded katakana like this: "normal" syllables as normal. The "dash" line
for an elongated vowel is listed with a "-". The small "tsu" for an
elongated consonant is listed with a "*". "Small" katakana letters are
in lowercase as opposed to uppercase. This may look ugly, but at least
this way there is no danger of confusing letters.
List of basic spells (Single/All, MP cost):
REFU (S, 2) - basic healing spell
IGU (S, 2) - basic fire attack
AKU (S, 2) - basic ice attack
TOU (S, 2) - basic thunder attack
TEO (S, 2) - basic wind attack
SOA (S, 2) - basic light attack
SERE (S, 2) - basic dark attack
Familiarize yourself with the above, since even very powerful spells are
just expanded versions of the above words. Now, let's list some prefixes
and suffixes which, when added to those words, will cause a new effect.
These words are not meant to be used by themselves, but combined with
basic spells. They all work with elemental, a few won't work when combined
with a healing spell.
NA - suffix, add this to the end of the spell to make it affect All. 2 MP.
NATI-SU - suffix, powers up more, affects All. 9 MP.
GURAN??NA - (?? = element) powers up a lot, affects All. 19 MP.
RANDE - suffix, powers up. 6 MP.
TEi-O - suffix, powers up more. 8 MP.
TEiUMU - suffix, powers up the spell a lot. 11 MP.
NARI-MU - halves all damage from corresponding elemental attacks
These are the ones I have found and used, there are bound to be more. Next,
let's list some "unique" spells. Again, there are sure to be many more than
I have listed here. These are just the ones I have found.
MEGAMI (A, 8) - powerful healing spell
RUMEHA (A, 9) - dispels all status ailments
ANIMU (S, 5) - revives a dead character
PAWA-A*PU (A, 13) - raises physical attack power
RESAINA (A, 16) - raises dexterity
SUPI-DONA (A, 10) - raises speed
SUBAYA (A, 11) - raises intelligence
TOUMEI (A, 13) - raises physical defense
UeNBORISU (S, 7) - lowers physical defense
PIKUGAZERO (S, 22) - lowers magic defense
SUTE*RA (S, 4) - steals HP
PURUMORA (S, 1) - steals MP
URUMO (S, 18) - raises attack accuracy (to 100% ?)
Finally, I will list the spells which I ended up using once I was nearing
the end of the game. This spell list is one I found quite useful.
REFU (S, 2) - a small-time healing spell is also nice, for sparing MP
REFUNA (A, 4) - ditto
REFUTEiUMU (S, 12) - heavy-duty healing for tough battles
MEGAMI (A, 8) - as above
ANIMUSU (S, 8) - I think it's a bit more powerful than the basic ANIMU
RUMEHA (A, 9) - instantly dispel bad status, quite important at times
IGUTEiUMU (S, 11)
GURANIGUNA (A, 19)
AKUTEiUMU (S, 11)
GURANAKUNA (A, 19) It's good to have all elemental attacks
TOUTEiUMU (S, 11) in both Single and All versions, that's why
GURANTOUNA (A, 19) I put all these up. The single-enemy attacks
TEOTEiUMU (S, 11) are more powerful, good against bosses with
GURANTEONA (A, 19) elemental weaknesses. All-enemy attacks are better
SOATEiUMU (S, 11) against random encounters.
GURANSOANA (A, 19)
SERETEiUMU (S, 11)
GURANSERENA (A, 19)
PAWA-A*PU (A, 13) - this makes a HUGE difference in boss fights! A must!
RESAINA (A, 16) - all stat boosters are nice for boss fights
SUPI-DONA (A, 10) - if any of your characters are slower than the boss, use
SUBAYA (A, 11) - powering up spell power is also a nice thing to do
TOUMEI (A, 13) - another VERY important spell, you can survive much longer
REFUNARI-MU (A, 10) - magic defense shouldn't be neglected, either
UeNBORISU (S, 7) - yes, this works on bosses too. Use it!
PIKUGAZERO (S, 22) - as above
IGUNARI-MU (A, 12)
AKUNARI-MU (A, 12)
TOUNARI-MU (A, 12) Being able to halve your damage for any elemental
TEONARI-MU (A, 12) attacks can make all the difference.
SOANARI-MU (A, 12)
SERENARI-MU (A, 12)
I am certain that there are many powerful spells which I have missed. It
wouldn't surprise me if there were an ultimate magical attack. Still, these
are enough to get you through the game without much trouble. If you find
some mega-powerful ultimate magic attack or other neat spell, please do tell
me about it.
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IV. Miscellaneous hints and tips
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Now you have some good spells with you, which will make your life a lot
easier. Before we're finished, let's look at some more quick advice.
- Boss fights
Boss fights in Rudra no Hihou are often times very difficult. The key to
winning these is status-boosting spells. These truly make the difference
between life and death, and will change the tide of a battle completely.
Cast defense-boosting spells first, and if you know the enemy likes to
attack with a certain element, put up a magic shield against it. Now you
will already take much less damage. Then, power up your physical
attacks and lower the enemy's physical defense to have your fighters cut
through the boss. Also do the same thing for magical attacks. Don't forget
to heal if you are in any way weakened. It also might be a good idea to
put spellcasters in the back row to lessen the physical damage they take.
If any of your characters is slower than the boss, cast a speed-up spell
right away to take away his advantage. Remember that stat spells wear off
after a few turns! You will need to re-cast your defensive spells every
few turns to avoid nasty surprises.
- Elemental boo-boos
So, you found an artifact that gives you extra defense against a certain
element? Good for you. Don't forget, though, that it comes with a price.
All elements have their "opposite". Having a raised defense against one
element will cause you to be WEAK against the opposite element. So, wearing
an armor which protects you against Thunder will cause all Wind attacks to
be extremely devastating to you. If you are fighting a boss which uses
many different elemental attacks, it's better to just equip something
which does not give you any elemental affinities. You won't have extra
elemental defense that way, but at least you will not be extra-vulnerable
to some other elements.
- 3 characters, 3 spell lists
If you have just finished one character's scenario, write down all the
spells learned! You can instantly have your other characters learn those
spells too.
- More MP = good?
If you experiment with spell names, you can come up with all sorts of
interesting things. For example, you may get a fire spell which costs
28MP to use. "Wow!" you may think at first, "this has to be powerful!"
Don't be fooled, though. Test your newly acquired spell in battle before
jumping to conclusions. Often times, a spell taking up more MP does nothing
but waste them.
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V. Conclusion etc.
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Thanks to:
* Square for making a nice RPG and keeping it inside Japan.
* Roger Phillips for writing the only English walkthrough of the game.
This article Copyrighted 2001 Chief Ug. If you wish to post this FAQ somewhere
or even parts of it, please ask me for permission first.
