Xenogears "Battling" Guide for Special Mode 2
(C) 2004, Kenneth Whitten, all rights reserved.
Version 1.0, April 13, 2004.
As we all know, Xenogears is a great game. And within this great game, the
great mini-game of Battling exists. Gear-versus-Gear fast-pased fighting-
game-style combat.
Of course, there are already two FAQs on this site covering Battling,
complete with full Gear and move lists, but I have noticed that the "Special
Mode 2" is not covered in these guides. Thus I have undertaken to create one.
And this is the fruit of my labor.
This guide can be found either on my webpage:
http://www.geocities.com/kewhitte/battling.txt
or under the Xenogears segment of GameFAQs:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
------------------
(Entries marked with an asterisk (*) instead of a dash (-) are the meat and
potatoes of this Guide - the actual game-related info.)
- Introduction
- Table of Contents (You are here.)
- Revision History
* Quick list of Battling Gears
* Why play Special Mode 2?
* Complete list of Prizes
* What's this "Gear Level"?
* Earning of Battle Points (BP)
- Credits and Copyright
Revision History:
1.0) You're looking at it.
QUICK LIST OF BATTLING GEARS:
Of course, the other FAQs give full lists of Gears as well, but I feel it
worth including.
For full details on each mech, please see the other guides.
Weltall Vierge Heimdal Brigandier Renmazuo Stier
Bladegash Siebzehn Crescens Chu-Chu Weltall-2 Xenogears
El-Regrs El-Fenrir El-Andvari El-Renmazuo El-Stier Ganador
Titan WShaver Firewheel Silverstar Musha Hatamoto
Backfirer Shinobi Wyrm Tin Robo Rankar Etone1
Etone2 Golem Fixbot Worker Dozer Death
Merman Salvager Trooper Twinburner S-Trooper S-Tripper
Sufal EG-Gunner EG-Armor Pedestal Edin EG-Blade
Argento
On Disc One, your competitor will be any Gear from Ganador to Argento, chosen
at random. On Disc Two, however, you can find yourself pit against any Gear
on the list except Fei's trio.
WHY PLAY SPECIAL MODE 2?:
I mean, really. Special Mode 1 is so much cooler. You can choose who to play
as, you can choose number of rounds played, difficulty level, and you can
play against a friend! So what makes Special Mode 2 so, well, special?
The answer is simple. Battle Points. Battle Points (BP) are used to purchase
items - prizes if you will - from the Arena. Some of these are very useful,
and some are extremely rare. Some are both! In the next section, you will see
a full list of prizes.
All Special Mode 2 fights are a single round only versus a randomly selected
opponent, at a difficulty level of your choosing. Lastly, your choice of Gear
is severely limited. On Disc One, you fight only with Weltall. However, when
you play the Arena on Disc Two, you can choose ANY of Fei's Gears from the
game: Weltall, Weltall-2, or the Xenogears itself.
NOTE: All prizes are obtained from the third person at the counter, closest
to the Gear Paddock door.
SPECIAL PERK! In Disc Two, the lady you register with will ask at the end
your choice for the battle music. "The usual please!" gives you the standard
Battling theme, while "It's O.K. as is." uses the current background music
for the battle. I know what you're asking -- why would you want to fight to
that dreary tune? Well, my friend, step into the side room, and take a look
at what everybody's favorite friend. Big Joe, has for you! The Jukebox next
to him can change the BGM, and has quite an impressive array of tunes to
choose from. And whatever's playing will carry over to the arena if you
choose that second option when signing up.
COMPLETE LIST OF PRIZES:
There are two types of prizes in the Battling Arena. Common items can be
obtained as often as you like, but Rare Items can only be picked once each
(although they do not disappear from the list).
NOTE: There are two totals of BP tallied. There is Total BP, which does not
go down except when purchasing Rare Items, and Current BP, which goes down
with item purchases or by losing in the Arena.
So, first the Common Items.
NOTE: (G) denotes it is equipment for Gears (both lists).
NO. ITEM COST USAGE
00 Anoret Seed 250 Weight reduced 4.4 lbs.
01 Bulimy Seed 250 Weight increased 4.4 lbs.
02 Samson'sHair 800 Use in battle to increase Attack
03 Anoret Fruit 750 Weight reduced 8.8 lbs.
04 Bulimy Fruit 750 Weight increased 8.8 lbs.
05 Lite Ar +1 750 Defense +15, Response +5 (G)
06 Lite Ar +2 1000 Defense +40, Response +5 (G)
07 Lite Ar +3 1250 Defense +60, Response +5 (G)
08 Mirror Ar 1500 Defense +50, 50% Beam resistance (G)
09 Wind Ring 2000 Defense vs. Wind element
10 Earth Ring 2000 Defense vs. Earth element
11 Fire Ring 2000 Defense vs. Fire element
12 Water Ring 2000 Defense vs. Water element
13 Wind Veil Ar 3500 Defense vs. Earth Ether (G)
14 EarthVeil Ar 3500 Defense vs. Wind Ether (G)
15 Fire Veil Ar 3500 Defense vs. Water Ether (G)
16 WaterVeil Ar 3500 Defense vs. Fire Ether (G)
17 ElementAero 4500 Add Wind element to attacks
18 ElementTerra 4500 Add Earth element to attacks
19 ElementPyro 4500 Add Fire element to attacks
20 ElementHydro 4500 Add Water element to attacks
21 EtherStoneLg 7500 Ether +5
22 AntiEthRockL 8000 EthDef +5
And now, the Rare Items. In this section, the "CBP" Column will indicate the
Current BP you need to get the item, while "TBP" is for the Total BP amount
needed.
NOTE: Items with TBP cost, but not a CBP cost, do NOT expend the TBP. THey
only require you to have that many. Items with costs in both columns DO,
however, expend from both columns.
NO. ITEM CBP*COST*TBP USAGE
00 M Disk 3500 4000 Used to fix the Wildcat Bar's Jukebox
01 Power Ring S ---- 2000 Power +5
02 StaminaRingS ---- 3000 Defense +5
03 Speed Ring S ---- 4500 Agility +2
04 Gallant Belt ---- 6000 Adds 10% to your Max HP, but only in battle
05 Fei Jr.Doll 500 3000 Critical damage up (only Emeralda can equip)
06 Bart Jr.Doll 500 3000 Critical rate up (only Emeralda can equip)
07 BillyJr.Doll 500 3000 Accuracy and Evasion increase
08 Body Guard 500 4000 Prevents Physical Statuses (Stop, slow,
poison, DUR/ACC/ATK/DEF/STR down)
09 Mind Guard 750 4500 Prevents Mental Statuses (Confuse, forget,
sleep, ETH effect down)
10 EtherDoubler ---- 8000 Spells cost twice as much, and become twice
as potent
11 Ether Guard ---- 8500 Prevents EP-Drain attacks
12 Life Stone ---- 9000 Doubles healing recieved
13 S Charger 2500 10000 "Charge" restores 100 Fuel (G)
14 X Charger 3000 12500 "Charge" restores 200 Fuel (G)
15 GNRS50 5000 15000 Engine Output increases by 50% (G)
16 Deathblower3 7500 18000 Enables the X,X Gear Deathblow (G)
17 Speed Shoes 4500 30000 Auto haste (Auto-Booster in Gear)
WHAT'S THIS "GEAR LEVEL"?
When you choose to play Special mode 2, you are asked to choose Gear Level.
This is effectively Difficulty level. Gear level 0 is "Easy", 1 is "Normal",
and 2 is "Hard".
NOTE: In Disc One, only Gear Level 0 and Gear Level 1 are choosable. Gear
Level 2 is opened on the second disc, after unlocking the first Secret Gear,
El-Regrs.
UNLOCKING EL-REGRS: Enter Deus in Disc Two, delve your way to the core, and
go east to find a repairbot giving you the option to exit. When you get back
to Nortune, Elly's Omnigear will be ready.
The higher Gear Level you choose, the greater the points awarded (see next
section).
EARNING OF BATTLE POINTS (BP)
At the end of each fight, you pay a certain cost for Gear Repair for the
fight, and you are awarded Battle Points as well as a cash Bonus. (Remember:
BP lost will subtract from your Current BP, but will leave your Total BP
untouched.)
The amounts you earn are based both on what Gear Level you have chosen and by
how much you win. There are eight distinct ways a battle can end:
Great Victory
Victory
Close Victory
Close Loss
Loss
Great Loss
Ether Bullet Loss
Forfeiture
The lady at the desk gives a different speech depending on which of these you
get.
GREAT VICTORY
"Wow, you're sooo strooong! Boy, was he ever outmatched! Ooh, I get
goosebumbs at your overwhelming power!"
If you win without losing more than a pixelwidth or two of health, this is
the result you get.
LEVEL G.L.0 G.L.1 G.L.2
Gear Repair Cost -0G -0G -0G
BP Awarded +215P +300P +900P
Bonus +500G +700G +1000G
VICTORY
"Hmm, not a bad battle! Keep it up!"
This is what you're most likely to get. You win, but you took damage.
LEVEL G.L.0 G.L.1 G.L.2
Gear Repair Cost -10G -30G -50G
BP Awarded +145P +175P +450P
Bonus +210G +330G +550G
CLOSE VICTORY
"So, this is what they mean by 'taking great risks'? Well done on a close
win!"
As opposed to a Great Victory, in this, you won with just a pixelwidth or two
of life REMAINING.
LEVEL G.L.0 G.L.1 G.L.2
Gear Repair Cost -50G -100G -150G
BP Awarded +75P +120P +245P
Bonus +150G +300G +450G
CLOSE LOSS
"So near yet so far! Too bad! You almost had him!
That was a good match! Either of you could have easily won! Now try harder on
the rebound!"
This is when you lose, but the ENEMY had only a pixelwidth or two of life
left to go. Opposite of a Close Victory.
LEVEL G.L.0 G.L.1 G.L.2
Gear Repair Cost -50G -100G -150G
BP Awarded -90P -120P -175P
Bonus +0G +0G +0G
LOSS
"Too bad, you lose! It was not due to any obvious flaw, so you might win next
time."
A loss. Nothing big; it occasionally happens.
LEVEL G.L.0 G.L.1 G.L.2
Gear Repair Cost -10G -30G -50G
BP Awarded -32P -48P -150P
Bonus +0G +0G +0G
GREAT LOSS
"... Are you a pacifist?
.. Or don't you know how to control a Gear?
You need to know the basic controls, so perhaps you should try out out
Practice Mode! Speak to the girl at the counter next to me.
"You can't just do nothing and expect to win! You need to practice first to
get the hang of it!"
You should never, ever get this message. It's a loss with the enemy
completely undamaged, or with only a pixelwidth or two of health taken out of
him. The only way I know this exists is because, while recording stats for
losses on various Gear Levels, I tried not doing anything, which put me in
this bracket.
LEVEL G.L.0 G.L.1 G.L.2
Gear Repair Cost -50G -100G -150G
BP Awarded -100P -150P -450P
Bonus +0G +0G +0G
ETHER BULLET LOSS
"One weakness that I can see from watching your bout is that you seem to use
your 'Ether Bullets' too much. You should better understand the nature of the
attack... 'Ether Bullets' raise your 'Heat Gauge (H.G.)' by quite a large
percentage. Three shots will easily send your H.G. to the MAX condition. If
you continue to attack in that condition, your machine overheats.
"The excess heat begins to cause damage, so if you don't take care, your HP
will fall to zero before you realize it!
"The heat accumulated by your Gear is shown in the on-screen H.G.. Manage
your heat during battle with the aid of this H.G.. Oh, and don't forget to
stay cool now!"
If you lose the battle and have at some point taken damage due to excessive
Ether Bullet shots, this is where you land. Repair costs and BP loss are
lesser than for other losses, but it's a loss nonetheless. Best bet is to
head for water, or at least refrain from Ether Bullets, until your heat level
drops back to blue.
LEVEL G.L.0 G.L.1 G.L.2
Gear Repair Cost -15G -45G -75G
BP Awarded -16P -32P -175P
Bonus +0G +0P +0G
FORFEITURE
"Match forfeited!"
Hit Start. Choose "Give Up", and confirm with "Yes". Simple, eh? BP loss is
slightly greater than a normal Loss would yield, though.
LEVEL G.L.0 G.L.1 G.L.2
Gear Repair Cost -0G -0G -0G
BP Awarded -45P -75P -300P
Bonus +0G +0G +0G
FINAL NOTE: A tip. It's far better to do this on Disc Two. Since Gear Level 2
has the best BP output, and since you can play as the Xenogears instead of
Weltall, you will rake in the points.
So have fun Battling, and load up on loot! Then, when you're done, go play
the much cooler Special Mode 1!
Credits:
As this is the first version of this guide, sole credits go to myself,
Kenneth Whitten, for authoring it, and to Squaresoft, for making the
Xenogears game to which Battling is home.
(C) 2004, Kenneth Whitten, all rights reserved.
P.S. Keep the above line in mind should you ever wish to use this guide. If
you wish to use it, all you need do is follow the universal FAQ/Guide
courtesies of keeping the content unaltered and remembering to credit me for
authoring it.
P.P.S. I will know if you don't.
