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                 TALES OF SYMPHONIA: DAWN OF THE NEW WORLD
                           An FAQ/Walkthrough
                          For the Nintendo Wii
                      Copyright 2009 Richard Beast
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Table of Contents:
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-!NOTE!-
This guide, as you will soon see, is pretty big. Seeing as how this takes
effect, you will most likely be lost in trying to find out what you want to
read. There is one way to get to it, instantly. Press Ctrl + F, and then look
for whatever you want. Let's say you want to go to the Basics section. Type in
"IV. Basics", and then you'll go to the basics section, instantly! Pretty neat,
eh?

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~ -------------------------- * TABLE OF CONTENTS * -------------------------- ~
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I. Introduction
II. Legal Disclaimer
III. Contact Rules
IV. Basics
V. Characters
VI. Walkthrough
   VIa. World in Discord
   VIb. Troubled Heart
   VIc. Footfalls of Tomorrow
   VId. Light and Darkness
   VIe. Truth Behind the Mask
   VIf. Dark Premonition
   VIg. Reawakened Memories
   VIh. Eternal Bond
VII. Equipment
  VIIa. Weapons
  VIIb. Armor
  VIIc. Headgear
  VIId. Gloves
  VIIe. Accessories
VIII. FAQ
IX. Credits

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                  ~-~ ~-~ ~-~  I. Introduction ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I just realized recently that I hate writing introduction. One could call me
slow, because this is my 45th FAQ and all of my guides have intros in them,
but that's just the kind of person you're dealing with. Oh, you didn't know?
My name's Richard Beast. I'm going on 21 in a few months, and I'm from south
Michigan. That, and I have little better in my miserable life to do than write
guides, so might as well put it to good use. This being my latest offering.
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. Which reminds me, four years ago or
so, I wrote a guide for the original as well. Oh, you're falling asleep? When I
talk about myself I fall asleep too, so I sympathize. Let's talk about this
game.

Well, I get extremely skeptical when there's a direct sequel to a game in a
non-continuous series like the Tales one. I think we all remember how Final
Fantasy X-2 went over (id est, fantastic game, awful sequel). This game,
however, wasn't disappointing. Now, granted, it's far from the longest game
in the Tales series. The two most popular ones from recent years, Symphonia and
Abyss, were 60 hours long, but you needn't expect anything like that from this
game. It's about 30 hours long, which I suppose is fair for a game of this one's
nature. But yeah, while it's nothing compared to the original, this game is
extremely decent, and has relative appeal no matter whether you've played the
original or not. So, yeah, when a game like this comes along, expect me to cash
in on it like the jackass I am. Or not. Whatever.

- Richard "Gbness" Beast

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               ~-~ ~-~ ~-~  II. Legal Disclaimer ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
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You are NOT permitted to put this FAQ on your site without my permission first.
All you have to do is email me or IM me saying you want this FAQ on your site,
then you can tell me your site and the chance is high that I'll let you. But if
you put this FAQ on your site without my permission I swear you will regret it.
If I let you, not ONE word should be changed from this FAQ! NOT ONE! Got it?
Good. Also, make sure that no money is involved. If you want this FAQ to be sold
on eBay, then just forget about it, man. And don't sell this guide either, or
pay people to use it, or you'll be in such big trouble you don't want to think.

Another little note is that I will not have this guide hosted on many other web
sites besides GameNotOver, GameFAQs, IGN, and Neoseeker. You need full-on
permission if it's not one of the four above sites. I am sick of people ripping
me off (I have been ripped off three times in the past), so if I don't like your
site, I won't let my guide be posted on it. I am sorry, but this is how it has
to be. If you ask politely and I like your site, you will definitely have the
luck of getting it up there. Thank you very much.

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                ~-~ ~-~ ~-~  III. Contact Rules ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
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First of all, feel free to check out the stuff I've written on GameFAQs. Those
include a guide for Mega Man 5, a few other Mega Man games, and tons of random
PSX games. Honor to the PSX, yanno? Hopefully, that'll be added with awesome
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Wild Arms guides. As you might be able to
guess, I'm a large RPG fan and writer.

Alright, enough shameless advertisement about me. You can e-mail me if there is
a question you wish to ask that hasn't been answered in the guide, but I REALLY
don't want to bother answering questions that have already been done, answered,
and done again in the guide, if it isn't too much trouble. Feel free to tell me
if there's something I've forgotten, however.

My e-mail address is richard_power1000 [at] yahoo [dot] com. Except, replace the
[at] and spaces with a "@" symbol and the [dot] and spaces with a period; I have
to write like that so I don't get a dozen spam bots e-mailing me and getting me
viruses. Just be polite in the e-mail, don't talk like "omg wtf rich ur gides r
t3h su><0rz & how du i beat brute", and don't ask something that's already been
answered in the guide, and I'll respond.

And don't bother sending things like:

"You friggin' idiot. Your guides suck, you suck, and everything about you
sucks. DIE DIE DIE!"

"BURN IN THE FLAMES OF HELL, YOU STUPID RETARD!!!"

"What the hell did you think you were doing writing all that garbage, you piece
of crap?

"I hope you fall down the stairs and break every bone in your body!"

"u su><0rz, eVrYtInG BoUt u sUx, dIe ass!!!!!!1"

I will laugh at such e-mails and delete them. So... if you're not just playing
a friendly joke on me or something, don't bother with that crap cos I've been
through with it too much.

Okay, that's enough for that. My AIM name is rbeast288; sorry, I don't have MSN
or YIM. The list is closed, but I'll add you if you ask politely via e-mail. I
like chatting with people, but try not to overdo it on AIM if I add you to my
list. Since I am busy a majority of the time and all.

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                    ~-~ ~-~ ~-~  IV. Basics ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
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Dawn of the New World is a Tales game. If you're familiar with these games,
then you're not going to find a hell of a lot here that will make you get lost.
That being said, I'm a terribly nice guy and I put these sections in there for
people, so yeah, whatever.

--------
OVERVIEW
--------

Dawn of the New World, like all Tales games, does not have random battles.
You can see all enemies out on the field map, and when you approach them, or
vice versa, you will enter battle. Note that if one side approaches another from
behind, then they will get the first strike, in that whomever got attacked will
be stunned initially. But basically, battles are in action RPG format, and
you are allowed to Free Run around the battle by holding down Z and moving,
although if you are hit by an enemy attack while doing that, you will be hit
critically, so be sure not to abuse it.

Characters in Dawn of the New World consist of the two main characters, Emil
and Marta, characters from Tales of Symphonia, and monsters. Emil and Marta
will gain experience and level up as you would expect. Monsters do the same,
although they level up vastly differently than characters do. As for the
Symphonia characters, they level up with the story, though they cannot gain
experience during a chapter. So at the end, all of them will be at Level 50,
but they cannot progress beyond that. But anyway, as you level up, you will
gain artes and skills. Artes are battle techniques that are learned by level.
As for skills, those are typically special bonuses, and are all equipped.

So, during battle, you have the following options. You can either attack with
the A button, use artes with the B button, guard with the Z button, or at
certain points, use unison attacks with the C button. You'll notice you have a
unison gauge at the bottom, and it's got a halfway point on it. When you get
past this halfway mark, you can use unison attacks, which I'll get into in a
moment. When it reaches full, then under certain conditions, you can use
unison attacks. You basically need to use them with an arcane (basically a
higher leveled) arte, be Level 30 and have the skill Special equipped, and
have 50 TP. But anyway, that's an overview. On to the element grid.

------------
ELEMENT GRID
------------

You will notice fairly quickly how there's an element grid at the bottom left
of the screen. This is fairly important to determining how unison attacks are
going to work, as well as monster recruitment. Basically, there's a prime
element, and there's five additional ones. When someone uses an elemental
attack, that element is added into the element grid. When three of an element
show up, that will become the PRIME element. That's basically the gist of it.
During unison attacks, if an element is on the grid, any character or monster
besides the controlled character who is of that element will join in the
attack. For example, Marta is of light, Regal is of water, Sheena is of wind.

--------
MONSTERS
--------

Monsters work fairly similarly to humans, except for recruitment. To get these,
you'll need to defeat a monster in battle when the prime element, as well as
four of the elements in the grid, are the same. Not easy to do, and that's why
you'll want to have the corresponding Centurion ability of that element to do
it. But anyway, then you'll have the option to try and form a pact. Which may or
may not work. I can tell you that having monsters in your party already will
help tremendously. That, and you might be able to strengthen the pact with
another monster.

As I said before, monsters run on different experiences for levels than humans
do, but they still level up. However, you need to feed them for them to evolve.
To do this, you need to go to a Katz guild. At a Katz guild, you are able to
feed monsters, and accept quests (the latter of which is basically a side
quest or battle in a different area, to in the end usually defeat a monster).
To feed the monster, you'll need a recipe, which you get from finding the
Wonder Chef, and a cook. The best cooks are typically Emil, Genis, and Regal,
but anyone can work. The monster may or may not like it. If they like it,
their stats will increase. If they don't, then well, they decrease. One of the
stats that goes hand in hand with that is Synch. That's basically the ability
to use certain boosters for the party and themselves in battle, though they're
always just little bonuses so I'm not gonna get into that.

In Pokemon style, monsters are also able to evolve. Basically, you'll get a
message in battle, after they reach a certain level, that they are able to do
so, then you can go to the Katz guild and feed them, and you will have the
option to evolve them. Naturally they will go back to level one, but their
stats will be far better, plus they'll level right back up. Some of them,
though, you'll need a certain statue that you need from synthesis to evolve
completely though.

Anyway, I think that's basically it. If there's anything I forgot to mention,
then feel free to ask.

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                   ~-~ ~-~ ~-~  V. Characters ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
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This game consists of two main playable characters, Emil and Marta. That's far
from all of it, though. Throughout this game you are able to recruit monsters
by making pacts with them (see the basics section for that though). Apart from
that, at given points in the game you will be joined by the Tales of Symphonia
characters. They aren't always available, plus they don't gain EXP and level up
as you do, and their equipment also cannot be changed. That being said, you're
allowed to control them if you so desire, and they're all together for the
end battle in this game. Plus they have their own Mystic Artes. But anyways,
the characters.

  ~-~  EMIL CASTAGNIER  ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Emil is the timid young protagonist of this game, and I have to say that he
defines bipolar disorder, or should I say, disassociative identity disorder.
There's one side of him, that's completely emo and depressive, yet at the same
time is an extremely nice person. That being said, he's a coward and gets
afraid frequently. Then there's another side of him that's a complete brute,
has red eyes, and is strong as hell, but is a complete jackass. Regardless,
Emil is a sword user and will more than likely be the character you control
throughout this game.

Lv. 1   -- Demon Fang (Base Arte)
Lv. 3   -- Recover (Skill)
Lv. 4   -- Havoc Strike (Base Arte)
Lv. 8   -- Ravaging Tiger (Base Arte)
Lv. 10  -- Sky Combo 1 (Skill)
Lv. 12  -- Savage Reaper (Base Arte)
Lv. 14  -- Backstep (Skill)
Lv. 15  -- Dark Radiance (Arcane Arte)
Lv. 16  -- Item Pro (Skill)
Lv. 17  -- Sky Attack 1 (Skill)
Lv. 18  -- Phoenix Rush (Base Arte)
Lv. 20  -- Dual Death (Arcane Arte)
Lv. 22  -- Blade Fury (Base Arte)
Lv. 24  -- Converging Fury (Arcane Arte)
Lv. 25  -- Add Combo 1 (Skill)
Lv. 26  -- EX Attack 1 (Skill)
Lv. 28  -- Fiend Fusion (Base Arte)
Lv. 30  -- Auto Item (Skill)
Lv. 30  -- Special (Skill)
Lv. 32  -- Heavenly Tempest (Arcane Arte)
Lv. 33  -- EX Attack 2 (Skill)
Lv. 35  -- Raining Fangs (Base Arte)
Lv. 36  -- Sky Combo 2 (Skill)
Lv. 38  -- Raging Heaven (Arcane Arte)
Lv. 41  -- Swallow Fury (Arcane Arte)
Lv. 42  -- Sky Attack 2 (Skill)
Lv. 44  -- Roaring Tiger (Arcane Arte)
Lv. 45  -- Ability Plus (Skill)
Lv. 46  -- Light Spear Cannon (Arcane Arte)
Lv. 48  -- Raging Thrust (Arcane Arte)
Lv. 50  -- Sword Rain: Alpha (Arcane Arte)
Lv. 51  -- Add Combo 2 (Skill)
Lv. 53  -- Demon's Rage (Arcane Arte)
Lv. 57  -- Sky Combo 3 (Skill)
Lv. 60  -- Quake Assault (Arcane Arte)
Lv. 100 -- Ability Plus 2 (Skill)

Emil has two (actually technically three) Mystic Artes. The first is Devil's
Hellfire, which is activated like any other. It's a rather decent in power
Mystic Arte which hits the close surroundings for fairly good damage. That being
said, there's an extension to it. Between Chapter 5 when he uses it in the
storyline, and the big scene in Chapter 8 (trust me you'll know when you see it)
you can hold down B for a moment when you see Emil's portrait cut in, and he'll
do an extension called Ain Soph Aur. This extension is HORRIBLE and costs 100
extra TP, so do NOT use it. Seriously, it sucks ass.

The reason I say he has technically three, is that after that scene in Chapter
8, let the Mystic Arte be known as the "green eyed Devil's Hellfire". You can
no longer use Ain Soph Aur, but Devil's Hellfire will have its power increased.
More than worth it.

  ~-~  MARTA LUALDI  ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Marta is the main female lead in this game, and is in the same boat as Emil in
many ways. First of all she's rebellious by nature, since she used to be a
member of the game's evil organization, the Vanguard, but she's also completely
desperate for love. But you'll see that constantly throughout the game, so
moving on. Apart from that, she bears the core of Ratatosk on her forehead, and
is therefore the target of many of the game's villains. In battle though, she's
a healer and occasional offensive mage. Basically what you would expect from a
white mage. They serve to heal you about anything else, but they gain attacks
eventually, and when they do they become infinitely more useful.

Lv. 1   -- Dancing Swallow (Base Arte)
Lv. 2   -- First Aid (Spell)
Lv. 4   -- Swallow Waltz (Base Arte)
Lv. 6   -- Recover (Skill)
Lv. 8   -- Barrier (Spell)
Lv. 12  -- Backstep (Skill)
Lv. 14  -- Add Combo 1 (Skill)
Lv. 16  -- Stealth (Skill)
Lv. 18  -- Run Away (Skill)
Lv. 19  -- Heal (Spell)
Lv. 20  -- Ability Plus (Skill)
Lv. 21  -- Roaring Phoenix (Base Arte)
Lv. 22  -- Speed Cast 1 (Skill)
Lv. 25  -- Tempest Swallow (Base Arte)
Lv. 27  -- Resurrection (Spell)
Lv. 28  -- Add Combo 2 (Skill)
Lv. 30  -- Auto Item (Skill)
Lv. 30  -- Special (Skill)
Lv. 31  -- Steel (Base Arte)
Lv. 33  -- Photon (Spell)
Lv. 34  -- EX Attack 1 (Skill)
Lv. 36  -- Radiant Gale (Base Arte)
Lv. 37  -- Enhance Cast (Spell)
Lv. 38  -- Concentrate 1 (Skill)
Lv. 40  -- Dispel (Spell)
Lv. 42  -- Item Pro (Skill)
Lv. 44  -- Prism Sword (Spell)
Lv. 47  -- Cure (Spell)
Lv. 50  -- Remnant Strike (Base Arte)
Lv. 52  -- Divine Saber (Spell)
Lv. 53  -- Add Combo 3 (Skill)
Lv. 58  -- Speed Cast 2 (Skill)
Lv. 62  -- Revive (Spell)

Marta's Mystic Arte is one of the most valuable assets you will use in this
game, by a long shot. Basically, the attack hits all enemies for about 10,000
damage. That's not much considering some of the killer Mystic Artes you get in
this game, such as Zelos's or Presea's, but it also heals your party for a
decent amount as well. This is absolutely invaluable when you're fighting a
boss with his own share of Mystic Artes, the majority of which reduce your
party's HP to 1. With Radiant Roar, Marta's Mystic Arte, you can reserve it and
be back on your feet in no time.

COLETTE BRUNEL: Colette is the Chosen of Regeneration back from the actual
journey of world regeneration, and one of Lloyd's closest companions. She is a
complete klutz, but for some reason, every stumble of hers is followed by
miracles, so it's all good. Anyway, when she first joins you in Chapter 2,
she'll undoubtedly be a bit stronger and higher in level than your other party
members, but later in the game, there are FAR better characters for your use.
Colette is primarily an offensive character, but come on, seriously, you have
far better options. Her Mystic Arte, Holy Judgment, is fairly decent though,
as it hits all targets for pretty good damage, and also gives you a small heal
bonus.

RAINE SAGE: Raine Sage is Lloyd's old teacher from Iselia. As a person she's
obviously incredibly intelligent, but she's just as bipolar as Emil, as when
she sees an ancient ruin, she goes completely berserk. That being said, she's
a half-elf, so she's seen some discrimination in her day. She's a very useful
asset in battle, in any case, because like Marta, she's a healer, which if you
are on your first playthrough, she does a lot better than Marta does. Especially
during unison attacks, which she occasionally heals you during. Her Mystic
Arte, Sacred Shine, is also very similar to Marta's, and while it doesn't heal
for as much, it does more damage. So while using both her and Marta together
might be a little excessive, she's a good addition to any party.

GENIS SAGE: Genis Sage is Raine's kid brother, but he's pretty much a lot like
her. He's a complete genius (his name says it all right), plus like her, he's
a half-elf, though he bears a kind of grudge against humans because of the
discrimination his race has faced. In battle though he's, as you'd expect,
the exact opposite of Raine. Raine is the white mage, Genis is the black mage.
Genis joins you in Chapter 3 and is a little inexperienced then, but when you
recruit him later in the game, he'll know the complete list of spells, and he
uses them to great success. Genis is great for combos, since you'll be hacking
away at an enemy, then Genis will come out with a spell, which will allow you
to keep going. His Mystic Arte, Indignation, has a rather short range, plus it
pales in comparison in power to Presea's or the like, but for all intents and
purposes, it's a very strong spell and does extremely heavy damage.

REGAL BRYANT: Regal Bryant is a man with a lot of honor to his name. He's a
duke in Meltokio, on top of being the president of the Lezareno Company. He's
an extremely dependable, noble human being, yet despite being such a perfect
gentleman, Regal is constantly finding himself thrown behind bars. In fact,
that's how you find him when this game starts, it's ridiculous. Because of a
horrible event that happened in his past, Regal refuses to fight with his hands
and instead fights with his feet, which is surprisingly useful in battle.
He's an extremely powerful offensive character on the frontlines, my only
problem is that when the other Symphonia characters join you, people like Presea
and the last character are a lot stronger than him, mainly due to his Mystic
Arte. Final Fury is a rather strong move, but it only hits one enemy, and it's
one of the absolute weakest Mystic Artes that only hits one target. Ah well,
that's only for the endgame. Earlier on, Regal is great.

SHEENA FUJIBAYASHI: Sheena Fujibayashi is a ninja from Mizuho, and someone who
you can pretty much count on to come to your aid at any time. On top of that,
she's a summoner who's formed pacts virtually everywhere in the world. That
being said, she's a klutz much like Colette, and she has a strange pension for
falling into holes, which you'll see happen a number of times. In battle, she
serves as sort of an in-between. Her physical attacking power is obviously
nothing next to Presea or even Regal, but she's a lot faster than they are,
plus she has a number of punch moves that debuff enemies or even steal HP from
them. Her Mystic Arte, Quasi Seal, is not one of my favorites as I find it
rather unpredictable, plus as a wider range Mystic Arte I prefer ones that
heal characters rather than just do damage, even though this one is slightly
stronger, but it's still a rather good Mystic Arte, and since they're grouped
together, I prefer it quite a bit over Regal's.

ZELOS WILDER: Zelos Wilder is a noble from Meltokio, second in status only to
the actual royal family there, but he's completely different from what you'd
expect. He is a complete pervert and flirts with everything within a mile long
radius of him, which tends to lead to quarrels. That being said, he trusts
Lloyd perhaps more than anyone, so he's certainly a loyal person. In battle,
he's one of the most decent, straight down the middle characters you'll see.
He's got an onslaught of physical attacks, plus he has a ton of offensive magic
as well as healing spells. You can pretty much count on him for anything, though
it's true the majority of his time will be spent using magic. All this pales in
comparison to his Mystic Arte, though. His hi-ougi, Shining Bind, is one of
the most useful in the whole game, in that it hits all the enemies on screen,
and while it lacks a healing effect, it's over twice as strong as artes like
Radiant Roar or maybe even Sacred Shine. Truly awesome.

PRESEA COMBATIR: Presea Combatir is a young girl (or so it seems) from the
backwater village of Ozette, which you never visit in this game, but you can
assume is pretty much a trash town. She has a number of eccentricities, in that
she has a strange obsession with paw pads, and an almost robotic, analytical
way of speaking. That being said, she's a true force to be reckoned with on the
battlefield. She's pure physical attacks, no magic whatsoever, and that's
probably a good thing. While she's rather slow, she has a number of multiple
hitting techniques, making her fantastic for combos, as long as you turn off
her Infliction skills. And then you've got her Mystic Arte, which is called
Crimson Devastation. If you need to just completely overkill one target into
submission, THIS is the Mystic Arte to use. I can't possibly justify it with
words. One of the best in the game. Needless to say, Presea is great.

***** ******: I'm not going to reveal who this character is, since it's a
person who you kind of didn't expect to see back in Symphonia and it's kind of
a spoiler to reveal all of that, but suffice it to say, he's a total beast in
battle, just like you would expect. He's pretty much a physical attacker by
nature, plus he's incredibly fast at the same time. So in a sense, you could
think of him as Sheena with Regal's attacking ability. A great character, and
at least until the Symphonia characters become underleveled due to their level
caps, I STRONGLY suggest using him, you won't regret it. His Mystic Arte,
Divine Justice, is also the best in the entire game until Emil surpasses him
by like 30 levels. It's basically even stronger than Presea's, except it hits
all targets. Basically, Shining Bind on steroids. You'll love this guy.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
                  ~-~ ~-~ ~-~  VI. Walkthrough ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

This is one of the few RPGs in which I haven't needed to split the walkthrough
section into multiple parts, although that's partly because this guide is
structured the way it is. It'll go chapter by chapter, though feel free to
ctrl+F "--- 'location'" to find the specific location, if you're afraid of
spoilers. Which I tried to minimize, but they still exist. But anyway, enjoy
the game and the guide. I have one thing to say, though: WHEN I USE CAPITAL
LETTERS, IT'S USUALLY IMPORTANT! It's usually denoting a side quest that you
have limited time to do, or an item. Just throwing that out there.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIa. World in Discord
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

The game will start off with a rather lengthy storyline sequence. Basically,
they all take place in a city called Palmacosta, which you may or may not
remember from the original Tales of Symphonia. Basically, Lloyd Irving commits
the Blood Purge, a young man we can assume to be Emil saves a girl with a red
gem, and then he awakens in the town of Luin.

--- Luin ~~ Chapter 1 ----------------------------

  You'll finally gain control, waking up in Luin. I swear, waking up has to
  be the most cliched way I've ever seen of starting an RPG. The original ToS
  started that way, then there's both Chronos, both Baten Kaitos'... the list
  goes on and on. Whatever. Anyway, when you emerge, head out the door right
  next to you and talk to Aunt Flora there. You can get a feeling right off the
  bat that neither she nor anyone else here really likes Emil. But whatever.
  Head outside the door to get to the actual village.

  Once you end up outside, Emil will hear a monster howl for the third time in
  a row, and sense that it's coming from the fountain plaza. To get there, head
  to the western exit of this screen. You can get there through either the
  lower or upper paths; just don't take the bridge to the southwest. On the
  screen of the fountain plaza, approach the statue of Lloyd in the center.
  Two thugs will taunt Emil to pledge his allegiance to Lloyd. The decision
  you make here might actually affect the ending that you get, believe it or
  not. To make it best though, REFUSE to pledge allegiance. Be a badass mofo
  like that.

  Obviously, they don't take well to that, and they start to knock Emil down,
  although he gets picked up by a stranger who tells him to stand up for
  himself. Well, that's not going to happen, since Emil is emo and that goes
  against the very definition of emo, but whatever. Emil wants to go talk to
  him again though, so to find him again, head down the southwest bridge that
  I said not to take before, on the central screen. You'll find that man there.
  Talk to him, watch the resulting scene, and then head up to hear the monster
  howl again.

  Head on to the next screen, then head towards the east. You'll find Emil's
  uncle Alba talking to a guard about the monsters in the nearby lakebed,
  which is of course where Emil heard the howl from before. Turns out he
  doesn't like Emil either. But anyway, they'll run off, letting you head out.
  As soon as you exit Luin, you'll find this game doesn't have a world map;
  it's got a location selector thing instead. It's a blessing and a curse
  really, I guess. But anyway, enter the Lake Sinoa Cave.

--- Lake Sinoa Cave ~~ Chapter 1 ----------------------------

  As soon as you enter Lake Sinoa, Emil will be attacked by a monster, and will
  naturally be scared off his ass. Somehow he has a sword and you're thrust
  into battle though. Ignore the fact that he's slow as hell (don't worry, he
  won't always be), and just hit the thing. It'll barely damage you, so this
  portion of it is easy. Once that's done, Emil will be lying down, and the
  girl you saw from the opening sequence will jump in and save Emil. And thus
  a second battle starts.

  It's a tad bit easier this time around, plus you actually notice the bar atop
  the monster's head diminishing, indicating that its HP is running out. With
  two people smashing it though, it's bound to die quick. Watch the scene that
  follows, in all its awkwardness (don't worry, Emil will pull a Luke fon Fabre
  and stop acting like this pretty soon, actually). The girl is now to be known
  as Marta, so at least we've established that. When you regain control, head
  west to pick up the LIFE BOTTLE there, then head out the south exit, get
  yelled at by Uncle Alba again, and then go back to Luin to tell the mystery
  man about Marta.

--- Luin ~~ Chapter 1 ----------------------------

  Back in the town, cross the bridge over to the southwest once more, over to
  where you found the man the second time around. At that point, enter the
  building to the northeast, and then head up the stairs. You're free to buy
  items if you want, though if you have a completed save of Tales of Symphonia,
  you'll already have quite a few items under your belt. Upstairs, talk to the
  man again, who will from this point forward be known as Richter, and he tells
  you to take him to where Emil saw Marta. Alright, that works. Talk to Richter
  outside the building, then leave the town and return to the Lake Sinoa Cave.

--- Lake Sinoa Cave ~~ Chapter 1 ----------------------------

  Once you arrive here, head to the north, over to where the passage and the
  guards are. Emil gets a choice of going back with Alba, or entering the cave
  with Richter. Thankfully, he enters the cave with Richter. After the scene
  that results, head down the stairs and examine the doorway to proceed. If
  you're a Tales of Symphonia fan, you may recognize this theme as a slowed
  down version of the Tower of Salvation theme. It's pretty nice, actually. But
  anyway, time to start the game's first dungeon.

  As soon as you step through the door that opens, you'll be thrust into a
  battle that serves to explain the functions of battle, which is trademark
  in all Tales games. Finish the battle off, and then follow the path north.
  You'll be interrupted twice with scenes with Richter, but that's about it.
  No other monsters along the way or anything. When the path diverges to the
  right, though, follow it down and to the right to get 300 GALD at the end.
  Otherwise, head back up to the save point, save, and then examine the door.
  Richter goes in by himself, then a scream is heard. Never good. Go on ahead.

  Richter and Marta are then seen fighting. When you're given the option, it
  doesn't really matter which option you pick, but I just choose to stop
  Richter, because I'm hardcore like that. He summons something to stop Emil,
  then he runs off on his own. When you re-emerge as Emil, though, examine the
  door and then choose to form a pact with Ratatosk. A badass moment then
  occurs as Emil's clothes disappear (you never find out exactly what happens
  to them by the way), and then he starts acting like his balls have dropped.
  Which is tight.

  You're thrown into a battle with a rather easy monster, though it serves to
  explain the function of artes. So it looks like Emil's new "mentor" is this
  Tenebrae rather than Richter. I'm okay with that, since Tenebrae is the Jade
  Curtiss of this game (in other words, he's a freaking riot). But anyway,
  you'll be right next to Aqua when you're done. Head through the door right
  above you, and then examine the door up ahead. Richter has apparently sealed
  it, so you need to find another way around. Coincidentally, Tenebrae brings
  up the fact Emil has the Sorcerer's Ring though, another staple in the Tales
  universe.

  Now that the Sorcerer's Ring is discovered though, head back to where the
  save point was. As soon as you reach that screen, hang a right, follow the
  path to the switch, use the fiery ring on the moss, then pick up the MITTENS
  there. Now head back up, over to where the sealed door was. Follow the path
  to the right, and you will be interrupted twice to enter explanatory battles.
  These will basically explain unison attacks and forging pacts with monsters,
  and along the way you'll forge a pact with an Imp and a Wolf, which will,
  for all practical purpose, be battle allies now. Nifty.

  Keep on the path until you reach another glowing red spot with moss, then hit
  it with the ring. At that point, head down and take an immediate right to
  get a CAPE at the end of the spiral path. Head back down to reach another
  fork, to which you can head east to get an APPLE GEL. Back at that fork, go
  west to yet another fork, this one up and down. Down will unlock the sealed
  door, and up will lead you to Richter, who's been knocked out by Lloyd. I
  legitimately didn't see that one coming, but anyway, Tenebrae goes off to
  find Marta while Emil stays behind to get help for Richter. At this point,
  head back to the room where Aqua collapsed (right ahead of the save point)
  and talk to her. She's lying on the ground still, naturally.

  Go back up to where you found Richter afterwards, and then Aqua will start to
  treat him. At this point, you're allowed to open the door ahead, and head
  forward towards a save point. Here's where it starts getting groovy. In the
  next room you'll find Marta fighting Lloyd, so Emil decides to step in and
  help Marta. I guess you could technically call Lloyd Irving the first battle
  of the game, but you can't possibly beat him. He's got over 15,000 HP, will
  kill all the characters in one hit, and is just overall a beast. Just die,
  there's no way around it. Turns out that he let you live though, and at that
  point your other true, permanent character joins. That obviously being Marta.

  When you regain control, pick up LLOYD'S MASK 1 at the left side of the
  altar. Examine the south door only to find it's sealed, so to remedy that,
  examine the Lloyd poster at the upper right and burn it with the ring. Hit
  the switch and take the northern path out, getting the BANDANNA on the way.
  Outside the Lake Sinoa Ruins, save if you want, then take the southern path
  out. There's two divergences along the way which will net you a COCOON and a
  RED RIBBON, but otherwise, it's a straight path out. Might as well go back to
  Luin.

--- Luin ~~ Chapter 1 ----------------------------

  Once you enter Luin, Marta and Tenebrae will attempt to explain the situation
  with Ratatosk to Emil, and then you'll end up back in the village, where
  Emil will want to talk to the mayor. Take the usual southwest bridge to that
  general area, only to run into two Vanguard soldiers who you'll have to
  fight. At that point, this town is in some pretty deep crap. In any case, go
  to the northwest, and near the fountain plaza you'll run into the Church of
  Martel instead, who aren't any nicer. After a scene, it's revealed that if
  the core if removed from Marta's forehead, she'll die, and with that Emil
  converts to his infinitely cooler dark side, and you'll have to fight two
  easy Martel Knights, and then their boss Magnar.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Magnar
HP: 1754
EXP: 500
My Level: 4

A rather easy boss battle to kick things off. Magnar has an extremely large
weapon (probably to compensate for something), but he's actually a lot less
damaging than you'd think, with his attacks only really doing about 40 damage
or so each. With four characters beating down on him, obviously he's not going
to be lasting for very long. My suggestion first off, though, would be to fill
up the unison gauge if it's not already up, and use Devil's Maw, especially
if it's at the end of a combo. That'll result in at least 300 damage, and you
should realistically be able to do that twice during the battle. But either
way, it doesn't matter, since he'll be biting the dust extremely quickly.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  With that you'll really start to see the difference between light Emil and
  dark Emil, as dark Emil starts to go on a complete rampage right on Magnar's
  face, although Marta makes him stop. I wouldn't, but that's basically that.
  At this point, head east next to Emil's house, to find the two thugs are
  scared of him now. Too right they should be. Marta rejoins you, so now head
  to the mayor's house and talk to him. He's actually a decent guy, you have to
  admit. He wants you to go find Lloyd Irving, which is exactly what I want to
  do, so it's set. Now that the journey has officially begun, head out of Luin.
  Chapter 1, the shortest chapter of the game, is officially over.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIb. Troubled Heart
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Congratulations, you've cleared one of the eight chapters of the game. That,
as I said before, however, is the shortest chapter of the game by far and only
consisted of one dungeon, while most of the chapters contain three dungeons,
plus all the stuff that comes in between. Chapter 2 takes it a step forward with
two dungeons. And with that, it all starts when you enter Asgard.

--- Asgard ~~ Chapter 2 ----------------------------

  As you'll see when you enter, the weather isn't just screwed up in Luin.
  Apparently, Asgard is prone to some fairly nasty winds, and we'll see that
  later. Once you enter though, head up the stairway nearby, and you'll be able
  to do some shopping. The first building is food, and the second building is
  equipment. I'd definitely suggest do some stocking up in both departments.
  Not only that, but there's a Katz guild right ahead of them (though it's a
  little too early in the game to bother with that), and below there's an item
  shop. All good stuff.

  Head along the path to the east, and along the way Emil will bump into a
  mysterious man who notices Tenebrae. I won't spoil it, but that's indeed a
  character from the original Symphonia. In any case, enter the building right
  nearby (it's directly under the inn) and examine the white pot looking
  object in the back for the GRILL RECIPE. But anyway, that's that for the
  first screen. Head back outside and then go further east to get to the second
  screen, then go up all the stairs and try to enter the door at the top of the
  hill.

  You'll find it locked, and a scene will interrupt as a wind almost blows
  Marta off the cliff. I gotta hand it to you, she is pretty damn lightweight.
  But anyway, Tenebrae will tell you to head to the nearby Mural Cavern to
  escape the wind, so that's as good as the next destination. Return to the
  first screen and enter the cavern between the weapon shop and the food shop
  (basically atop the stairs), and after the ensuing scene, head outdoors to
  run into one of the Vanguard's officers. Her name is Alice, and she's this
  game's trademark crazy bitch. Fun.

  After the scene, in any case, note that there's a boss fight coming up very
  soon. Head to the inn to save, definitely, plus make sure your equipment got
  thoroughly upgraded. And with that, head east, head up one set of stairs, and
  enter the house there. You'll find Colette, the Chosen of Regeneration,
  inside, and it turns out Marta doesn't like her any more than Emil likes
  Lloyd. Figures. Head outside and talk to Marta, than head west to get yelled
  at by a kid, for being mean to Colette. As he yells at you, he gets blown
  away by the wind, so head west, only to be assaulted by Alice and Hawk.
  Colette saves Marta, only for you to be thrown into a rather decent boss.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Hawk, Athos, Portos
HP: 1613, 1558, 993
EXP: 600
My Level: 5

Okay, if you're not ready, this fight can easily kick your ass. My strategy
is the classic one though, and that's to target the enemy with the lowest HP.
In this case, it's Portos. Hit - right off so that you can target him, and
then just let loose with whatever you've got. The idea that two is a lot less
to deal with than three is especially true, so even if your monsters start
taking damage, make sure you get Portos out first. After that, focus on healing
and then take out Hawk. Even if he has slightly more HP than Athos, he's a
lot faster and more powerful. Now would be a perfect opportunity to rip out
some unison attacks, aka The First/Second Movement with Devil's Maw. As long
as you keep all characters alive, he'll succumb pretty fast, and then with
only Athos left you shouldn't have too many problems. Again, if you didn't buy
new equipment you could be overwhelmed, but otherwise it's not too bad.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  With that battle done, Colette and the kid go away, but Marta wants to go
  thank Colette for that. So with that, go back to the second screen and head
  back to the house at the top of the hill, which you couldn't enter before.
  You'll be formally introduced to Colette finally, but the mayor there will
  talk about the stone dais in the city having something to do with the wind.
  Emil and Marta decide to help Colette out with that, so in any case, she
  joins your party and that's your next stop.

  I'd definitely recommend putting her in your party, since she's a little bit
  stronger than Emil and Marta, even though she's not great. But anyway, go
  back to the first screen, and up to the gate just a little bit west of the
  second screen. Go up the stairs that follow, and then you'll soon be thrust
  into battle with a monster called the Garuda. You can't damage it, so just
  hit it around for a while until the battle ends. MAKE SURE YOU DON'T DIE,
  though, since that can kill you. Tenebrae will explain you need a winged
  dragon to damage the Garuda, so now your next destination is Hima to find a
  man there who tames winged dragons. Alright, Asgard out.

--- Hima ~~ Chapter 2 ----------------------------

  When you get here, you'll find that the whole town has been overrun by
  monsters. Always a good sight to behold. Despite the fact it's full of
  monsters, Hima has a number of town functions though. If you enter the
  building nearby you can rest at the inn, plus there's a merchant to the
  eastern side who sells items, although most of it consists of equipment you
  could pick up in Asgard. That, and if you go up the hill, there's a Katz
  on the small bridge outlooking the area below.

  Anyway, head up the mountain path above, making sure you fight at least some
  of the battles that come midway. At the top of the mountain you'll be
  attacked by a giant imp, which is technically a special encounter, but I
  don't consider it a boss, mainly since the music doesn't change, and the EXP
  it gives is pathetic. Once it's dead, though, a small winged dragon will fly
  down, and Tenebrae will communicate that it wants to help you. That settles
  that. Leave Hima and return to Asgard, with that winged dragon as an item.
  As morbid as that sounds.

--- Asgard ~~ Chapter 2 ----------------------------

  When you enter, Tenebrae will mention the idea of using a decoy to lure out
  the garuda while the dragon strikes it from behind. Guess Emil's gotta do the
  dirty work. I'd recommend first heading to the inn and saving, but anyway,
  once you're done, head to the stone dias. You'll then have to play a little
  mini-game that comes in the form of dodging the garuda's wind gusts. Not too
  bad, just make sure that's your priority. It'll also drop treasure chests,
  which are definitely worth picking up, but don't worry if you miss a few, as
  the items inside aren't absolute necessities. When the bar at the bottom
  reaches green, start wildly swinging the Wiimote, and then battle starts.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Garuda
HP: 8391
EXP: 1000
My Level: 7

The Garuda may have a ton more HP than the other two bosses we've fought so
far, but it's still not too bad. It's obviously a flying monster, so really
the best strategy would be to have Emil use Havoc Strike, then follow it up
with a combo, which can end in anything he wants, but Havoc Strike is really
the only anti-air thing he has. I'll say this, though: do whatever you can to
get the Garuda stunned. When it's stunned, it's on the ground and you can do
whatever you want to it, which often leads into upwards of 1500-2000 damage.
Otherwise, plan usage of The First Movement carefully, such as when the
garuda starts breathing, which indicates a stronger attack. Again, if you have
decent equipment, you'll be fine.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  It seems like it's all well and good, but then another garuda swoops down and
  attacks. So with that out of the question, it's recommended to talk to
  Aisha's brother. Head to the second screen, up the stairs and into the usual
  house on the right, and then you'll run into some old characters from Asgard
  in Symphonia, plus an outburst from Emil about Lloyd. Anyway, Marta agrees to
  perform a ritual, so now leave this house and head to the inn. Once you
  arrive, you'll be taken to your room, where Tenebrae explains the concept of
  Ratatosk to Colette. But anyway, now this so-called ritual is ready to go.

  Head back up to the stone dias, and guess what. You'll need to fight the
  Garuda again. Fortunately it's the exact same battle as it was the first
  time, so if you beat it then, you'll beat it this time. With the battle done,
  Marta will perform the ritual, opening up the ruin underneath the dais for
  your access. Might as well stand in the glowing pink light in the center and
  go inside.

--- Underground Ruins ~~ Chapter 2 ----------------------------

  Yay, second dungeon of the game. Let's get this show on the road. Head to the
  right, down the staircase, and then start following the path north, while
  Emil and Marta explain to Colette what Lloyd has been doing. But anyway, go
  straight north until you reach a dead end, then head east until you see a
  room right above, with a pedestral above. Examine that, and the Sorcerer's
  Ring's property will change from fire to wind, which is necessary to get
  through this place.

  Use the power of wind to blow down the wall to the left, nad behind it will
  be revealed four bells. You're supposed to have examined the four bells at
  the entrance to know the order to hit them in, but basically, from left to
  right, use the Sorcerer's Ring of wind to hit first, third, second, and
  fourth in that order. The wall at the top will be removed to reveal a
  staircase, so take that down to reach the next screen. The first thing here
  is a square shaped structure, and a monster guarding a door at the northeast.
  There's a catch, though. You need to beat the monsters in this general area
  in a specific order.

  Ignore that golem there, anyway, and keep heading to the far east. There's
  another golem there, so beat that one, and the door will open. Avoid heading
  north as there's another golem there; take the upper left path to find a
  chest containing a POISON CHARM. With that, take the left path right below
  that to come to another area. Once there, head north until you see a golem,
  which you can feel free to fight, but make sure you get the SAGE which is
  straight west of it first.

  After beating the golem, go through the door it guards, and you'll get a nice
  old fork to start things off. Head west first of all to get a SLOUGH down
  the lower path, but don't fight the golem at the north. Head east instead,
  and fight the golem at the end of that path. Once you get in through where
  it guards, head straight west down the path, and fight the first golem you
  come to. Once done with that, go down the stairs it guards to reach the next
  screen.

  New screen, new puzzle. I dig. Head straight down the path until you come
  to a blue inscription on the wall, which comes with an arrow. You gotta get
  the arrow, no way around it. With that, follow the path straight north until
  you come to an angel statue. Examine it and put the arrow into its bow, and</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
  now you're ready to go. Basically, the angel is faced in front of a set of
  switches on the wall, and only one can be lit at a time. These switches open
  up a new path, so I guess we gotta take it piece by piece. Head to the
  switches below, and hit South, South, East.

  A path will open up to the west, so head in that general direction, up the
  path, and to the OPAL on the other side. With that, go back to the switches
  and hit North, North, West. This will open up a path to the east which
  contains a SILK CLOAK for Marta. With all the treasures in hand, go back to
  the statue and hit East, South, East. This opens up a path to the northeast,
  or basically just to the east of the statue. Convenient. Over there, you'll
  find a healing save point, a merchant, and a Katz guild. Can't beat that.
  When you're done what you have to do, head down the stairs.

  Anyway, the last stretch of this place is fairly easy. You need to get to
  the northern door, but you can't go straight north, because of the wind. So
  to get there, head west, and then follow the path up until you can go right.
  Do so, and then force your way up a little bit through the wind to continue
  eastward. In the passage over there, you'll find an INK and a SEAL CHARM.
  If the door closes in this time period, though, head back to the entrance,
  then go west, but this time just head straight north. The two doors along the
  way can be opened with the Sorcerer's Ring. At the very end, head to the
  east, then force your way through the door. Yep, Ventus's core is there, and
  so is a boss.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Wind Master Prime
HP: 11772
EXP: 1200
My Level: 11

The Wind Master Prime is actually a little easier than the two bosses you
fought back in Asgard, in my opinion at least. First of all, he comes with
two Axe Beaks, which each have about 3000 HP. They're definitely your first
targets, as they're only going to add to the injury this thing throws at you.
Once you get rid of them, pretty much your best bet is to use the same
strategy as you did with the Garuda. When the boss starts casting magic or
otherwise indicating that he's going to fly through the screen slashing things
which is his trump move, interrupt it by using a unison attack. For that
reason, you'll want to save those up and reserve them for the proper moment.
But in any case, high HP, not a whole lot of output, comprende?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  With that, Colette picks up Ventus's core, Marta hatches it, and you'll need
  to make your way out of the ruin. Which is of course a pain in the ass, but
  it's not as long as you'd think. Make it out to see a crispy clear sky
  overhead, then head back to the mayor's house at the top of the second screen
  to report to him. With that, head outside and Colette will fly off to chase
  Lloyd herself. Marta decides it would be ideal to go to Iselia, Lloyd's
  hometown, to find out more about him, so to do that, we need a boat, so the
  next stop is Palmacosta. Leave Asgard at last, and then head to Hakonesia
  Peak, which is of course between Asgard and Palmacosta.

--- Hakonesia Peak ~~ Chapter 2 ----------------------------

  But of course, the first thing you run into on your way to Palmacosta is
  Alice. She basically plans to set up an ambush for Marta right when she
  arrives in Palmacosta, so that's not good. Take a few more steps, and then
  Emil will get a sudden vision of Richter, which basically knocks him out,
  though he's alright. When you regain control, you can talk to the merchant at
  your right to buy some items, if need be. SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT THOUGH:
  enter the hut at the right to talk to old man Koton. Who, if you remember him
  from Symphonia, is as sexist and much of a douche bag as ever. But anyway,
  that's important to the Richter sidequest, which is a long process which you
  shouldn't really be worried about yet, but it all starts here. Just make sure
  you talk to Koton, then leave to the south and enter Palmacosta.

--- Palmacosta ~~ Chapter 2 ----------------------------

  When you enter Palmacosta, Emil and Marta split up. Take a few steps more
  into the main plaza, though, and Richter shows up to have a word with Emil.
  Alice also shows up and tries to take Emil, but Richter stops her and reveals
  he's a member of the Vanguard. Easy to see that coming. With that, anyway,
  head west to the next screen, and if you remember the original, you'll see
  Palmacosta is nowhere near as large as it is. The first shop, though, is a
  food shop. To the direct left of it is the pub. If you go further left
  though, there's a weapon shop, an inn, and an item shop. I'd check them out.

  In any case, head to the pub and talk to Marta, who is on the left side. She
  will rejoin, but a sailor will tell you that the seas are in bad shape, and
  to get a ship out you'll need to talk to the Governor-General's wife. With
  that, head back to the first screen and enter the large building at the upper
  left. Talk to the woman to the left, and she'll give you the plan: head to
  the Dynasty Ruins and find a man named Thomas there. Now that's set, leave
  the building, and then Richter will descend to ambush Marta, only to be
  counterattacked by a man with red hair you may know as Zelos.

  After that scene is done, you're free to go the mountains, aka the Dynasty
  Ruins, but there's something else important to do in the time being. Leave
  Palmacosta, and go to Luin. Right there, you'll find Richter and Alice
  talking about Cruxis Crystals and Colette and all that good stuff. This is
  part of yet another side quest, but it's something out there. Now, here's the
  last checklist. Make sure you've talked to Koton in Hakonesia Peak, and seen
  that scene. If you've done both, go to the Dynasty Ruins next.

--- Dynasty Ruins ~~ Chapter 2 ----------------------------

  Well, it's the final dungeon of chapter 2. As you can expect, it's quite the
  place. To start it off, take the first eastern path you come across to the
  end, to find a pedestral which changes the Sorcerer's Ring to the light
  element. I didn't expect that, but whatever. With that, take the first left
  path up to find a THUNDER CAPE at the top of some stairs. Go back to the
  main path, then take the extremely long path to the east straight over to
  find a LIZARD SKIN. With that in hand, head up the nearby staircase to follow
  yet another long path to a pair of WHITE MITTINS. Phew, alright. Go back to
  the main path, then head up the stairs. You'll find Thomas... and a boss.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Alice, Athos, Portos
HP: 3171, 4246, 2729
EXP: 1114
My Level: 12

Alice is a bitch. But we all know that, so now since she comes with the same
accomplices that Hawk did, the only question is who to aim for. I'd say
Alice, because Portos may have the lowest HP, but he's by far the least
damaging of the three. Alice, on the other hand, casts magic and uses healing
spells, so to speed this up, definitely target her first. She takes a fair sum
of damage from physical attacks, so keep doing that on her, and her HP will
fall quickly. Pay close attention though when you hear her voice saying "oh
healing power", or even see her casting magic. If she does that, she's using
magic, and you'll want to use a unison attack right there to interrupt it. If
you can do that, she won't be a problem. Once she's out of the way, Portos will
die quite fast, and Athos will shortly follow.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  A moment later, Alice ends up in danger, but Zelos comes in to save her.
  Because of Emil's attitude to Lloyd though, Zelos ends up a little pissed at
  the duo and runs off, though. Although Thomas is taken off, we still have a
  little work to do here, though. Head over to the far east, where you'll need
  the Sorcerer's Ring of light to get through the next door, by shooting light
  into either of the two orbs. But you know that, so you're good. Am I right?

  You'll be interrupted with a scene in the next area, which serves to showcase
  Marta's desperation a little more. Afterwards, head down and take the bottom
  staircase there to the end, where you'll find a block. Push it forward until
  it hits the water, then go back up to the entrance of this screen and take
  the staircase directly above the bottom one. Follow that to the end, and
  ignore the first ladder you come to. Take the second ladder you arrive at up,
  and then use the Sorcerer's Ring on the orb in the pillar there. It shall
  change the flow of water. Because it's special like that.

  Head to the right to find a ring pedestral again, and change the ring back
  to fire. Now go to the block right near that pillar, and burn the moss off
  of it. Naturally you'll want to change the ring back to light again, but
  now that's done, push the block off the edge right below it. Now, change the
  flow of water again by hitting the pillar with light, which will be
  followed by the block drifting. Now head down the ladder to the right of the
  orb (which is outrageously long, who the hell makes ladders like that), to
  find a LONG SWORD to your left.

  At that point, head to the bottom left and push the block into the water,
  then go right back up the ladder you came from, and shoot the light in the
  orb yet again to change the flow of water. From there, go back down to where
  you pushed the block in the water, take another ridiculously long path to the
  east and up, and there you'll find a LEATHER CAPE in a chest. Enter the door
  that's there, to boot.

  Once you reach the next screen, you'll see a quick scene, then you know that
  you're about done. Take the path to the right and follow it past a block,
  down a staircase, to find a VERBENA at the top and 1000 GALD at the bottom.
  From there, head back to the entrance and take a left this time, following
  the path to a GOTHIC SPINNER for Marta. With that, head down the stairs
  there and take the path to the far right for a STURDY BANDANNA for Emil.
  Alright, the save point and isolated platform in the middle should give it
  away. Save, head down, get attacked by monster. Capiche?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Manitou
HP: 12648
EXP: 1500
My Level: 14

This thing is freaking easy. Seriously, this battle may get a little longer
than you want because it likes to heal itself for a little over 120 HP at
moments, but that's not going to be a serious factor. Pound into this thing
with your ground stuff like Savage Reaper, and it'll be adding up damage
fairly quickly. Actually, there's not really anything in particular that you
need to avoid or look out for here, to warrant interrupting it with a unison
attack. All you really need to do is pound it with Emil while Marta heals
when necessary, and you'll get through this without a problem.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  The Manitou lives through the slaughter though, and it pulls off some extra
  attack on the duo. Flash out, and you'll be on a beach. Apparently, you
  crossed the ocean somehow. That's a bit strange, but hey, it's video game
  logic. Where you wake up, you'll find a dwarf and his dog, which you'll
  immediately recognize if you've played Symphonia, but the dwarf will inform
  you that you're just north of Iselia. That's very convenient. Well anyway,
  you're now isolated from the rest of the world, and chapter 3 starts.

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VIc. Footfalls of Tomorrow
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So, now you're washed up on a new continent, which was basically where you
wanted to go in the first place. Chapter 3 starts as soon as you head to the
only location available, which is Iselia, so there you go. I'd say chapter 3
is approximately the same length as chapter 2, which is to say, decent but not
too massive, so might as well get it underway.

--- Iselia ~~ Chapter 3 ----------------------------

  Upon entering Iselia, you'll instantly bump into a small kid named Paul
  who claims to be "Lloyd's number one apprentice". Yep, looks like Lloyd is
  pretty much idolized in Iselia now. Anyway, Marta suggests talking to the
  mayor. There's actually not a whole lot to do in Iselia while you're here.
  If you enter the building that's directly north and a little bit to the
  right of you when you enter, there's an item shop. That serves as really the
  only shop in the village, but it sells items and some equipment, so
  definitely check that out.

  There's two ways to go to get to the mayor's place: directly east of the
  entrance, or around to the northwest. If you go east, there's two screens,
  but northwest will take you directly there. When you get there you'll find a
  small crowd of kids talking about the "Desians", who if you're not familiar
  with Symphonia, Marta explains. But anyway, enter the house at the northwest
  to talk to the mayor. This scene features Emil's third of many, many flip
  outs in this game as he converts to his dark side. It's tight. But anyway,
  he says that Lloyd's father is at the Martel Temple. So with that, leave
  Iselia through either the north or south exit and head there next.

--- Martel Temple ~~ Chapter 3 ----------------------------

  The first thing you see here is the dog from the beach guarding the place,
  although if you talk to it, somehow Tenebrae gets it to move. So with that,
  head up the stairs into the temple, and you'll find the dwarf from the
  beach inside. Talk to him and he'll reveal himself as Dirk, Lloyd's father.
  Small Emil transformation, but he trusts Lloyd too. Head outside to run into
  Professor Raine Sage, Lloyd's old teacher, looking for Paul. Followed by a
  mild explosion from Emil towards Marta, and that's really that. You can
  tell where you're going very quickly, but for now, head to Iselia next. One
  second in, Emil and Marta will decide to head for the Iselia Human Ranch,
  so... that's our next target. :P

--- Iselia Human Ranch ~~ Chapter 3 ----------------------------

  Be warned. This is the hardest dungeon so far, and one of the hardest in the
  game period. In fact, it's such a badass of a dungeon, that it immediately
  starts off with a battle. A rather easy one, but once it's done, Emil will
  go to the dark side again and diss his light side. Now that's the way to do
  it. But anyway, the ranch is extremely foggy right now, so when you gain
  control again, head towards the northeast, and you'll encounter another
  monster. Just beat it, and then all the fog clears up. Which is quite nice,
  I have to say.

  Now that you can actually see where you're going, pick up the shiny object
  above you for the CARD KEY 1. That is quite important. With that, find the
  open hatch to the northeast and go down its ladder to enter the actual ranch.
  There will be a scene when you come in, then you'll find a pedestral above
  to change the Sorcerer's Ring to blue lightning. As opposed to white or red
  lightning, I suppose. Either way, if you head just a little bit north you
  can even find a save point. I dig.

  Head directly west of the save point, and you'll find a door with an orb on
  either side. You know what to do. Bust out the Sorcerer's Ring and use the
  blue lightning in the both of them, and then the door opens. Hit the first
  switch you see, and enter the room that opens to find a WIND CAPE towards
  the back. With that done, go back and head to the west, hitting the switch
  that you find to open the door as usual. Go through what opens, head to the
  back wall and then hit that switch. This turns on this place's defense
  system, but in the area with the save point, it opens up a healing pod to
  the left and a shop to the right. Which is pretty nice.

  Next, enter the room that's to the very far west, just left of that second
  switch hit. In there you'll find a staircase that's submerged, but if you
  head to the left you'll find a sparkling object, this one being the
  ELEVATOR KEY. That's necessary, but we're basically done in this little area
  now. Head back outside and then go to the east to the save point again. Do
  what you need to at the two things that are now open, then head north until
  you reach a fork, at which point you can turn right.

  From there, head south down the stairs when you're given the opportunity,
  then you'll come to an elevator with a blue orb next to it. I bet you know
  what to do here. Charge it up, then take the elevator to basement level 3.
  Head down the stairs, then you'll watch a scene featuring more Lloyd
  bashing. With that, there's a merchant and a Katz on the right if you're
  interested in them, and a little navigation puzzle. Start by examining the
  computer next to the merchant to open a door at the top, then approach the
  green platform.

  Ride it up, then hit the nearby control panel. This will cause the platform
  to move horizontally, so get on it again, ride south-ish, then examine the
  aqua panel to change another platform's direction. As you can guess, color
  corresponds. Head up the stairs and ride the aqua platform to another
  control panel. Hit this one, then ride the platform down, hitting the #4
  panel you come to, which is also aqua, but provides another function to the
  platform. Ride it to the east at this point, then immediately the purple
  #6 panel. If you rode the platform before, you'd get taken to a #5 panel
  which is broken. I fail to see the point of that, but yeah, don't do it.

  What you'll also want to do while you're here is examine the small machine
  next to the panel to drain the water below. At this point, take the purple
  platform down to a white panel, which you'll also want to hit. And now, I
  hate to tell you this, but you need to make your way all the way back to the
  entrance of this giant room. Basically, get back on the aqua platform,
  reverse its direction with the panel whenever applicable, until you hit the
  green platform. Do the same process to get back to land, then head to the
  right and go down the ladder.

  There, you'll find a block to the upper right that can be moved, so do that
  to see it float over to around where the white panel was. Meanwhile, you'll
  also need to examine the machine below it to drain all the water, so do that
  next. Now, you'll have to go all the way back to the white panel (I dislike
  this place if you can't tell), to where you bridged the gap. So basically,
  follow the process above to get back to where the white panel is. At that
  point, cross the pipes at the southeast until you get to another block. Yep,
  you guessed it. Push dat baby.

  Now that's done, go back to the area with the white panel, and make sure
  it's elongated vertically. Now go down the ladder to the left, cross the
  area with the block, and then go to the left to find the white platform.
  It will take you up to a new area, so that's good. Go up the stairs then
  head straight west, examining the computer along the way to open a door,
  and picking up the FLOWER PETALS at the end. Now, though, head up the
  stairs above, then take the blue platform up to a ledge hanging above. You
  will see two panels to your left, but first take the light blue platform
  horizontally to find a PINEAPPLE GEL. A new, quality item.

  Take the light blue platform back to the two switches, then hit both of the
  two panels. With that, take the darker of the two blue platforms (the one
  on the right, basically), and then you'll find a yellow panel. Dammit, the
  crap never ends. Either way, hit the yellow panel, ride the yellow platform,
  and... it's a purple platform! Yay! NOT. Ride the purple platform down to
  another computer, which will open yet another door. Afterwards, ride the
  purple platform back up, then hit the purple panel. Guess what's on the other
  side? You won't believe it. ANOTHER purple panel.

  Anyway, hit this one then get back on the purple platform, which will take
  you down to a ledge with a LIZARD SKIN on it. Anyway, hit the panel at the
  right so that two up arrows appear, then ride that up to the very top, where
  you are finally free to exit to the left. You're not quite done, although
  the worst is over. This room is filled with electric beams, and if you touch
  them they'll drain HP from you. Which is a dick move, but it's what they
  do. Start by going to the right and hitting the monster behind the far right
  beam with the Sorcerer's Ring, luring it out and disabling the electricity.
  Odds are you'll have to fight it.

  Either way, head straight north and use electricity on the orb to open a
  door where you'll find a bird monster, a CHAMOMILE, and the CARD KEY 3. Get
  'em all, then your next task is to get past the red electricity in the
  middle. Fire at the monster behind to deactivate it, then once you're in the
  center, snag the WHITE MITTENS at the top. At this point, you'll need to
  play around a little to deactivate the yellow and green lightning. The
  monsters respawn, thankfully, so to do this, start by standing on the left
  side, and using the Sorcerer's Ring on the monster when it appears at your
  upper right.

  Once it's shocked, it'll definitely run through the yellow lightning, then
  you can play around a little to get it through the green. Once one green is
  deactivated, all of them are, allowing you to get up to the northwest. :D
  Go through the door there and pick up the SILVER CLOAK inside, then hit the
  switch on the wall to open the gate. There's the CARD KEY 2 there, but be
  very careful, as the mushroom monster there is extremely tough and will
  probably kick your ass if you attack it. So... just leave it alone and head
  outside. Go to the west, hit the switch with the Sorcerer's Ring lightning
  to open the door, and proceed.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Gerichtslinde
HP: 11338
EXP: 2000
My Level: 16

Well... I'd go so far as to call this the easiest boss since Magnar, back in
Luin. This boss comes with two Hirsulas, so obviously that's going to be the
most difficult part of the battle. Start by hitting them; they've got 4000
HP, and you're probably used to them by now. In fact, I got The Third
Movement right off the bat, so the one I attacked was pretty much dead from
the get-go. That, plus once I got through the second one, the main boss was
pretty much almost dead. Matter of fact, it's fairly hard to decide when if
at all to interrupt the boss with a unison attack, but if I had to pick a
time, it's when it starts swinging its arms around. That can be a rather
damaging attack, but it's nothing that Marta with First Aid can't help.
Emil with Dark Radiance and his other artes will beat this tree up, trust me.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  With that, Raine finally introduces herself, plus she takes Paul back with
  her and joins your party at last. But anyway, you've got to get out of the
  Iselia ranch on your own. Well... basically, follow the purple platform out
  and hit the switches when necessary, then follow the platforms you come to
  over to the light blue platform, which you can take down to a door. Head
  through there, and then examine the elevator at the bottom left to head to
  the basement level 1. You're on your way out.

  Now it's time to make use of the card keys. From the massive room with the
  save point, the northeast door can be opened now, which leads to a computer,
  where if pressed, will drain water. The northwest door takes you to a SILVER
  SPINNER for Marta. Now, head back to the room with the submerged stairs,
  straight west of the save point. In there you can head down the stairs to
  find a WHITE RIBBON and a SILVER PLATE. There, that's your reward for
  putting up with this place. Now get the hell out of here for good.

--- Iselia ~~ Chapter 3 ----------------------------

  Alright, when you get here, Raine goes her separate way to the school and
  tells you to meet her there. You might as well take on some Katz quests or
  buy some stuff at the store while you're here, since the ranch likely took
  away some of your items. Either way, head to the school next, where you'll
  find a bunch of pictures of Lloyd on the walls. Raine comes in and tells
  the story of Lloyd and Paul, which completely infuriates Emil into his dark
  side again. But that is what we like, so that's forgiven. Marta also walks
  away, so you'll need to find her next.

  Leave the school, and then head to the lower left, on to the first screen
  again. Marta is at the far left, next to the house which used to belong to
  Genis and Raine, if you're familiar with that. After she rejoins, head back
  to Raine to come to terms with her, and she'll tell you Colette's neighbor
  Pepe has info on Lloyd. So, to find this guy, head east of the school, and
  you'll find him standing in front of the northeast house. He'll tell you
  Lloyd is at the Triet Ruins, so... leave town, and that's our next
  destination.

--- Triet Ruins ~~ Chapter 3 ----------------------------

  When you enter, you're familiarize yourself if you haven't played the
  original Symphonia, with Raine's bipolar disorder that results from seeing
  ruins. Basically, she completely loses it, just like Emil does in battle.
  But anyway, when you regain control, enter the door at the back, and you'll
  see Raine's brother Genis there, trying to get past a monster and failing.
  So, to get past this monster, we're going to need to feed it, and we need to
  go to the actual village to do that. Genis joins you, which is rather nice.
  But anyway, take you and your new party member out of the ruins and to Triet.

--- Triet ~~ Chapter 3 ----------------------------

  So, when you enter, you'll notice that Triet fits in with the rest of the
  surroundings: it was once a desert, but now it's a frozen wasteland. It's a
  village though, and there's things that you can do. For one thing, the inn
  is down the stairs to the northeast, and there's a number of shops to the
  west. Then again, if you cleared all the stuff out from the Iselia Human
  Ranch, you'll already have the majority of it. Adding all of it to your
  arsenal won't hurt, though.

  When you're ready to move on, though, exit to the north. There's a food
  shop further up, but otherwise you want to go to the bridge overlooking the
  frozen oasis on the left. Tenebrae agrees to turn himself into a fishing
  rod (...wow) for your use in fishing out a monster for use against the big
  one in the ruins, so examine the lake again, and Emil will pick out some
  invisible bait and a whole, then you need to play a little game. Basically,
  swing the Wiimote in a downward direction in the second that the blinker on
  the right hits the green section, and then you've got yourself a monster to
  fight. It's quite easy though, due to its low HP. Once it's in your
  possession, Emil makes a pact with it, and you're free to leave. Aight then.

--- Triet Ruins ~~ Chapter 3 ----------------------------

  Well, it's time to get this show on the road. Enter the ruin, then head to
  the west, where you will find the monster. After the scene, talk to
  Tenebrae, and then the group will sneak past the monster, though due to its
  aggression it doesn't end as well as it should have. It even results in one
  of Emil's dark flip outs. But anyway, you wind up in a different room. Let's
  save that room for a little bit later. Head outside, and then you'll find a
  three way fork right off. You can head south initially to get the WATER CAPE
  there, but otherwise go north and through the door on the left.

  In this room, head up and to the left to find a block in the corner. What
  you need to do is pull it out, and then push it to the space a little bit
  below it, just to the left of where another block is in the ground. Pull it
  in there and then light the torch across the bridge formed, and you'll see a
  bridge somewhere else descend. Let's take advantage of that. Leave this room
  and go back to the area with the three-way fork, then go to the south, to
  where you found the Water Cape. Enter through the door above you.

  When you arrive there, head up the stairs to your left, and light the torch
  there. 'Tis followed by a familiar looking bridge being lowered. Now leave
  this room and go back to the room on the upper right of the three-way fork.
  Head north, then down the piece of bridge that was lowered, and light the
  torch to your left. This will raise another bridge, naturally. One other
  thing to do here, though. Head up all of the stairs and push the block at
  the end off. With that all done, leave this room, and at the three way
  fork, this time go through the central door.

  From here, take the upper path to find a PINEAPPLE GEL there, plus you'll
  be able to cross the block and then go up the bridge at the lower left to
  pick up HALF GAUNTLETS and a BLACK RIBBON. With those in hand, light the
  torch to the left, and then you'll have a scene and be raised up to a blue
  warp pad. That, and you can cross below to pick up a BROADSWORD. You can
  then step into the warp pad to arrive at the altar of Efreet the summon
  spirit, if you remember that from Symphonia. Otherwise, head through the
  door above.

  I might mention this now. Do NOT leave the Triet Ruins more than nine times.
  This will affect the ending you get, as well as how the end of this very
  dungeon goes. If you want to try it, be my guest, but the actual end results
  aren't as great. But oh well. In the new room that you come to, you can head
  up the stairs to pick up the STONE BLOCK at the top, but otherwise proceed
  to the center, save at the save point, and then head down the path. There,
  you'll find Ignis's core, and Lloyd. The situation can go one of two ways,
  but either way, he kicks Emil's ass, and then a boss comes after you.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Bartek
HP: 18447
EXP: 3000
My Level: 18

This bad boy isn't too bad, as you can probably imagine. You'll notice that
it immediately comes with three Jabbers, but you've fought plenty of these
already, especially outside of the actual Triet Ruins. Just beat them up
quickly and heal if need be, then it's time to fight the actual Bartek. Its
worst attack by far is a spin attack that injures everything around it, but
there's a trick here since you have Raine. Keep the unison bar high at least
to some extent at all times, and try to interrupt the Bartek when it starts
its spin move. At which point, you may get a special thing in between where
Raine uses her Revitalize spell, which heals your whole party almost to full
HP. That should take care of all healing purposes. Again, this thing is large
so anti-air attacks won't be very effective, although Emil with the Ventus
skill and Phoenix Rush works very nicely. It should go down before too long.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  With the battle done, you'll need to get out of the Triet Ruins on your own
  as usual, but that's not too bad. Make your way to the exit to find it's
  stopped snowing, so at least the weather is gradually improving. The strategy
  is now to go to Izoold to get to Flanoir, where the closest centurion core
  is. So anyway, just leave the Triet Ruins, and once you're on the world map,
  select Izoold. There will be a little bit interrupting all this, though.

  You'll be at a camp site, and Genis will instruct Emil to get some firewood.
  He goes off, then Richter shows up, then a Jabber attacks. It's as easy as
  ever, but when that's done, a stronger dragon monster attacks. Fortunately,
  you've got a party of Emil and Richter against this dragon. It's got the HP
  of a boss, so feel free to use Devil's Maw a lot, plus your strongest artes
  with Melange Gels to heal when necessary. Eventually it'll go, Emil gets more
  dreams, and Richter leaves you alone for the time being. End Chapter 3.

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VId. Light and Darkness
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This is quite the chapter and it only serves to develop things until they
absolutely crash in the next one, but let me say this right now: Chapter 4 is
a HUGE side quest chapter, and I'm actually going to start you off with that
right now. Enter Izoold and watch the scene, then leave the town and just go
straight to Hakonesia Peak. This is the second part of the Richter quest.
THIS IS QUITE IMPORTANT, PEOPLE!

--- Hakonesia Peak ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  When you enter this place, Emil will see Richter going into Koton's house.
  Choose to go talk to him, which obviously means leaving Marta behind. That,
  and it seems Raine and Genis follow Marta wherever she goes. But whatever.
  Head into Koton's house, and you'll find Richter trying to make negotiations
  with Koton, which involve going to Asgard. He agrees to let Emil help, so
  head outside, let Tenebrae fool Marta as to what's going on, and then head
  for Asgard.

--- Asgard ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  This place gets off to a rather creepy start. Enter, and you'll find the
  mayor offering to take Marta to his house, which is then followed by him
  pushing her off. Wow, talk about sexual harassment. But whatever, it keeps
  her away from Emil. Now, with your other characters gone and with just Emil,
  head to the inn. Go up to the second floor and enter the room on the left,
  and there you'll find Richter. He wants to talk to Linar to get into the
  Balacruf Mausoleum, basically, so it's to his house next.

  If you forgot, Linar's house is the one to the right on top of the first
  set of stairs on the second screen. Enter, and he's the man in the green
  sweater. Turns out the entrance is completely blocked off, but Emil says to
  use the stone dais instead. So with that, go back to the first screen, head
  up the north gate, and then go to the dais, and then Aqua will open the
  path to the Underground Ruins. Which we'll need to go through just a little
  bit to get to the Balacruf Mausoleum. But whatever, warp there now.

--- Underground Ruins ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  Wow, feels like forever ago since we came to this place, doesn't it. Well,
  anyway, take the usual stairs down to the right, then head up and take the
  right when you can. When you come to the second northward facing path, go up
  and you'll see a scene, where Richter says the statue looks out of place.
  Indeed. Examine it to turn it over to the south, which changes the entrance
  music.

  Anyway, head northeast to the room with the Sorcerer's Ring pedestral, and
  change it from fire to wind again. Now, with the bells to the left, hit
  them in the order of third, fourth, second, first. You'll hear something
  move around, so that's our cue. Basically, leave this room and head to the
  very northwest part of the first area. You can then examine the door there
  and go through a warp, and if you're familiar with Symphonia, you'll be
  familiar with where you end up.

--- Balacruf Mausoleum ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  Yeah, this place should definitely ring a bell. It's a fairly decent
  dungeon too, plus it gives really good experience, so that's all good. Watch
  the scene, then head northwest to enter the actual ruin. Now, you'll see a
  huge gust of wind in front of you when you start, and your first objective
  is to stop that thing. So, to kick this off, head up the stairs right in
  front of you when you enter, and push the block to the left off. You'll see
  a small platform right in front of the wind gust, so push that there to
  make it stop.

  You may want to use the Sorcerer's Ring of fire to light the torches here,
  as they always come in front of the inscriptions in the wall. You can do
  without any of them, really, but they provide hints to this place. For
  example, with the gust of wind stopped, you can light the one on the far
  eastern side. Watch out though, as this place is filled with spike traps.
  The one directly east of you, for instance, practically needs to be timed
  for you to move the second it stops, for you to get past without taking
  damage. That's okay though, they won't kill you.

  The west and east staircases are shaped in a large square so that you can
  get around. Your destination is the central north path. There's three
  horizontal spike traps there, each one of varying speed, though none of them
  are particularly hard to get past. Just get through them and head up the
  stairs to the left, then head around the path and to the far east. Go down
  those stairs, and you'll see two large vents producing gusts of wind on the
  far right side. Do yourself a favor and push the nearby block onto the
  platform in between to stop them. Your reward is the BLUE LAVENDER in the
  chest at the bottom right.

  With that, you'll notice at the very top of the stairs in the center of this
  place is a door with one torch on each side. You'll need to light both
  torches to get the door open, but before going in, head down the stairs to
  reach the pedestral directly below. Examine the pedestral to change the
  Sorcerer's Ring to wind elemental, then enter. If you played Symphonia you'll
  remember this room instantly. Basically, you need to hit the five windmills
  in a certain order for a different function. Here's all the orders.

   Red, Green, Yellow, White, Blue -- Mystic Mark
   Blue, Red, Yellow, White, Green -- Heal Mark
   Red, Yellow, Green, White, Blue -- opens exit

  Basically, activate the windmill with the Sorcerer's Ring of wind, and to
  stop them, you need to exit the room. Either way, pick all that stuff up,
  and the center will glow, plus the northern door opens. If you head into the
  north door there's a save point, but DO NOT approach the monster up there.
  It's one of the hardest bosses in this game, so SAVE THAT FOR LATER AND DO
  NOT FIGHT IT. Just examine the center so that you can descend deeper into the
  ruin.

  Well, it's new territory from Symphonia. Start by heading right at the
  initial fork, then head all the way to the very top then to the left. Somehow
  Emil can defy all laws of physics and push these massive things, as long as
  it's on their line. So, pull the one you can to up, and then go back and
  down the staircase directly below the one you just went down. You'll find a
  BLUE CHAMOMILE and a THIEF'S CAPE in the two treasure chests there. With
  those in hand, push the other block there to the far left. You can head
  south to the entrance now, if you so desire.

  You can now push the blocks accordingly so that you can pick up an ALL-DIVIDE
  to the northwest, plus the path to get to the northern part should now be
  open, which is your destination. Approach the tombstone, but then the party
  gets attacked by a giant bird. It's another mini-boss battle, but like the
  last one, it gives incredibly small EXP and has fairly little HP, so I don't
  really consider it a full-fledged boss fight. Just get through it, and you
  will obtain the BALACRUF TOMBSTONE. Also, if you want, you can push the block
  right below to the left, and then head around it to the right to get a pair
  of BOOTS, though why something that bad is in a ruin like this, I don't know.

  In any case, we will be back in this dungeon later when we're actually
  strong enough to beat the Phoenix, which is certainly not now, so just hang
  tight until that happens. For now, you've got to make your way out. When
  you arrive back in Asgard, Richter gives Emil a bracelet for Marta, then
  leaves with Aqua. Go to the mayor's house to get Marta back in the party,
  and now it's really about time to get back with the story, though we'll
  continue this side quest shortly. Head back to Izoold.

--- Izoold ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  So, basically, you've already seen the scene that comes with this place
  and you know what's going on if you've as much as started Chapter 4. It
  smells like someone is incinerating fish when you come into here. Which I
  can actually imagine would smell good, but whatever. What you need to do is
  talk to everyone here, basically. Just talk to everyone who's standing
  outside, plus go inside the building next to the Katz, which is a gel shop,
  to find it's closed.

  Head to the next area, and then talk to the guy behind the counter. This
  serves as the shop for Izoold, so definitely check stuff out, as there's new
  equipment, plus there's seafood ingredients. Speaking of seafood, head to
  the boat at the far right and examine the fish at the corner to get the
  SASHIMI RECIPE from the Wonder Chef. Bet you saw that coming, but whatever.
  Talk to the people at the lower left and then approach the center, and a man
  will tell you that there's an arsonist that got thrown in jail. Who is
  apparently a large man, but he "broke out", evidently.

  Talk to the guy at the bottom left in front of the boat, who suspects you're
  the arsonists because you're in a hurry, which leads to Emil trying to kick
  his ass in Ratatosk mode. That's funny. But anyway, Raine suggests checking
  out the prison, so head to the door at the northern part of this screen.
  Head inside the jail then examine the cell at the back, and you'll learn the
  suspected arsonist is actually a man you may know as Regal Bryant from the
  original Symphonia. Basically, another one of Lloyd's companions.

  Naturally, he got in an accident and was accused of it but is actually
  innocent. So, to clear his name, we've got to talk to a man named Berg, who
  he was with. Anyway, to go find him, head to the gel shop, which is next to
  the Katz shop. He's the man in the bed, and apparently he's inflicted with
  the so called light frog poison. Raine is initially reluctant to help him,
  so much that she provokes Emil into another rage, which is entertaining. But
  anyway, this poison can be cured with the rare Rosemary herb, which is in
  the Camberto Caves. 'Tis our next destination.

--- Camberto Caves ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  Okay, to kick this place off, start by heading west and following the path
  until you can go north. Do so when you can and follow the path left to the
  end, for a HUNTING SWORD for Emil. Now go back to the entrance and go east
  this time, then head north, west at the top, then follow the path up to
  where you can see a mushroom that Emil thinks will smell good when burnt.
  See, someone agrees with me that fire smells good! Ah well, burn it, defeat
  the easy monster that drops out, and then you'll have two more paths that
  you can take.

  There's nothing to see by heading east there, so head west at the fork to
  find a pedestral to change the Sorcerer's Ring to water. Well, whatever
  floats this game's boat. No pun intended. Enter through the passage there,
  and you'll see a scene as you come across, with a kickass quote from
  Tenebrae. Once that's over, follow the path until you find a yellow flower
  in the water to the left, then squirt it with the Sorcerer's Ring. Head up
  the bridge to find a flower bud right below, and then you guessed it. Hit
  that with water to make it float to the first flower.

  Across the path that forms, hit the flower at the end of the path with some
  more water, then you'll need to go back to that pink flower bud from before.
  Just head straight there and hit it with water, then it'll form a path
  below. Head across, then flow it to find a mysterious bud (...) at the
  bottom. Hit that with some water to form a bridge, as usual, then head to
  the far east, below that pink bud from before, to find a DEMONIC SPINNER
  for Marta.

  From there, go back to where you came from, and west of the bud you just
  watered. This time use the water on the left bed, and then the bridge will
  float on to the left. Cross it and then go to the far west, which is where
  you'll need to play around a little bit. First water the bud right next to
  you, and the one in the island in the center, and then the bridge will move
  so that you can cross to the center. At this point, hit the bud directly
  north of you, and the one to the northwest, and then cross to the island
  that's, well, to the northwest. Followed by a scene.

  The skit that ensues is rather nice, too, but anyway. There's two passages
  that you can head through here: west and north. Head through the north one
  first, and although the path is rather winding, it's actually fairly
  straightforward. Go down the cliff halfway through to pick up some BATTLE
  GAUNTLETS for Emil, but then head to the far east to find a new screen,
  which you may recognize as an off hanging part of the first screen. Examine
  the pedestral to change from water to light in the ring, and step on the
  switch at the bottom to lower a bridge, enabling you to get out whenever you
  want.

  Don't be getting out of here quite yet though. Return to the north/west fork
  a screen or two back, and head west this time. You'll run into a save point
  first thing, which is good. Keep going until you reach a scene, which is
  directly at a north-east fork. Head east, take either of the two resulting
  paths, and then you'll find a withered rosemary that's not getting any
  sunlight. Do we have a Sorcerer's Ring of light? Yes we do. Use that on it,
  and... something else gets bigger. That's what she said.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Amanita
HP: 22660
EXP: 3000
My Level: 23

This is yet another extremely easy battle, but it's the most enemies you've
fought in one battle, as this thing comes with four companions. Without any
doubt, hit - so that you can target the Marcoids first, as they inflict
paralysis on you, which is definitely a problem in battle. That, and they
only have slightly over 3000 HP, making them ideal first targets. When
they're gone, the Stinkhorns are your next course of action. I used the
ability Emil gets from combining Ventus and Phoenix Rush here frequently, as
it's great for targeting all of your surroundings. By the time you get done
with the Stinkhorns, the Amanita will pretty much be worn down as well, so
a few more hits will seal the deal.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  The ROSEMARY is added to your stockpile, and now you'll need to worry about
  getting out of here. All you have to do is leave this screen by heading
  west and getting out through the south exit, to where you'll return to that
  west-north fork. Go north and exit that screen through the eastern exit,
  then when you're at the light pedestral, leave through the southern exit.
  Head for Izoold, next.

--- Izoold ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  First thing to do when you come here is to enter Berg's house, the gel
  shop, which is just to the right of the Katz. Enter and talk to Berg, who
  if you forgot is obviously the man in the bed, and the rosemary will heal
  him. He confirms it was the light frog that did it, so now the next step is
  to talk to Regal. Go back to the jail, and then Regal will get out, not to
  mention he'll break the handcuffs while they're still on his hands. Damn,
  that's pretty good, you gotta admit.

  Anyway, head out of the jail and talk to Berg right outside, who will tell
  you more about the light frog incident. Now go back to the first screen,
  and over on the left side you'll see Regal, clad in a completely different
  outfit that wasn't even in the original. Not bad. But anyway, Regal says
  that Lloyd headed for Flanoir, so that's set, though Emil has second
  thoughts about something. Head to the boat at the lower left corner of the
  second screen, and then Genis and Raine head for Flanoir while the others
  handle what was bothering Emil, which is the light frog in Izoold.

  So the task at hand is going to be figuring out what exactly the light frog
  went after. Start by going to the first screen and talking to the sailor on
  the west side. He'll say something else about gels, and then your next stop
  is the second screen. Head to the right side and talk to that man, who also
  mentions gels. Now if you talk to the kid at the upper left, a scene will
  then ensue where Emil and company finally piece it together, followed by
  Emil exploding at Tenebrae. Anyway, go to Berg's house, who says he needs
  special jellyfish to make seafood gels. Fair enough. They need to be fished
  from Triet, so that's our next destination.

--- Triet ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  When you come here, head over to the far north, and then at the usual bridge
  on the left, examine the edge, and then after Regal has a discussion with
  Emil briefly, you'll be at a hole, and all you need to do is examine it and
  pull the Wiimote back as a fishing rod to get the jellyfish. That is actually</pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
  all that you need to do while you're in Triet, but THERE'S SOMETHING VERY
  IMPORTANT TO DO HERE WHILE YOU'RE HERE! Remember how Aqua said to meet
  Richter in Triet? Well, now's the time.

  With the jellyfish in hand, leave Triet, and then reenter, where you'll find
  a large crowd of people at the top, lined up to get their fortune read. Marta
  goes there, and then a monster from Aqua interrupts, telling Emil that
  Richter is in the inn. Indeed. Enter the inn, which is the building to the
  northeast on this screen, and enter through the door at the top. You'll find
  Richter there, and when you talk to him, he'll tell you that he needs a
  certain bug from the Camberto Caves and wants Emil to guide him there. Well,
  that's set. You're automatically taken there, matter of fact.

--- Camberto Caves ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  Once you arrive here, Richter tells Emil that what he needs is right near
  where the rosemary grows. Yep, I think you know where we found that. The
  very back end of the cave. Fortunately you made the shortcut at the east
  part of the first screen, so head there first, then make your way west and
  over to where the rosemary was. Richter will dig and find what he wanted for,
  though because Emil is obsessed with the guy, he'll want to go with Richter
  to see him give it to Phaidra in Iselia. That, and you hear Richter laugh,
  which is definitely a first. Oh well. You're taken to Iselia too.

--- Iselia ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  Richter explains to you right there, if you're unfamiliar with Symphonia,
  that Phaidra is Colette's grandmother and she lives in her old house to the
  northeast. So to get on with it, just take the path east, then follow it up
  to the north, where you'll see Alba there, yelling at Phaidra about the
  Church of Martel and Lloyd. Plus he notices Emil, which isn't pretty. But
  basically, Richter then takes Emil to the beach near Triet, reveals a little
  more, and then goes off. He's actually a decent dude, you have to admit.

  Ah well, back in Triet, Marta reveals the fortune telling, and it's... yeah,
  a bit ironic, I agree. Anyway, you have the jellyfish so you can go back to
  Izoold, but THERE'S ONE OTHER THING YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO MISS! This isn't
  as important as the Richter side quest, but either way, return to Iselia
  and approach the school, where you'll find Alice there. Basically it's
  revealed she's a half elf and burned down an orphanage. Not anything too
  surprising. It's back to Izoold to finally get this light frog thing done.

--- Izoold ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  So, when you get back to Izoold for about the fifth time this chapter, head
  to Berg's house, and give him the jellyfish. He says he'll wait for you at
  the harbor, and in fact you can just head there and he'll be there, which is
  pretty nice. You might want to save beforehand, but anyway, go to the harbor
  and he'll make a meal of gels. Which is immediately followed by a flash of
  light and the appearance of a boss.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Nazdrovie
HP: 16338
EXP: 3500
My Level: 25

This is one of the most annoying, difficult bosses in the game, believe it or
not. It doesn't look like much, but believe me when I say, this thing sucks
royally. That is because it's one of the few bosses with the ability to heal
itself. Therefore, you need to completely overpower it. That means, start
with when it has a large amount of HP already. Pound into it, but do NOT use
unison attacks. With Lloyd, Regal, and a powerful monster hitting away at it,
you should be able to reduce it fairly quickly. Try to stun it as well. In
that case you can make an argument for using a unison attack in the middle,
but otherwise, hit it.

What you need to do is keep an eye out for when the words "Seafood Gel"
appear at the top. Believe it or not, that's the frog's work. This will heal
a ridiculous amount of HP, so you need to take advantage of the fact that
unison attacks interrupt the enemy. Start hitting away at it for about three
seconds, basically a little less than the amount of time it takes to use an
item, then use the attack. Keep hitting away at it, then wait for it to
happen again, taking advantage of the fact you get two with a full bar. With
that, you should hopefully be able to finish it off before it gets a Seafood
Gel off. Otherwise... I don't know what to say. Heal when necessary, and just
hope you have the endurance to last until you get the thing finished off,
and try the unison attack strategy again. Good luck with that.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  Well, in a somewhat anticlimatic finish, the frog is dead, and the town is
  hopefully safe for a while. There's now another ship leaving for Flanoir,
  so you're in good shape to go there. The man right next to you, to your left,
  is the boatman for a Flanoir trip, so assuming you did both parts of the
  Richter side quest and went to Iselia, head there next.

--- Flanoir ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  So, guess what the first thing you see when you arrive in Flanoir is? Yep,
  a massacre just took place, at the hands of Lloyd Irving. Well, anyway,
  take the path down to the right and up to a new screen, and at the northern
  part of the screen, the group will stand to talk for a little bit, and then
  none other than Lloyd will run out of the nearby building, and then run
  away, refusing to talk to Regal. Unexpected, huh, I could swear that Emil
  would just be an idiot and not see him, which would be cliche, so I need to
  give this game credit for that.

  The group splits up, and Emil is told to go to the church next. That's
  fairly close to where you are; just head left and then you'll find Regal
  again, in prisoner clothing. He moves, so you can head up the stairs to the
  church on the next screen. In there you'll meet Decus for the first time,
  who is basically another bad dude. But anyway, you're taken back to the
  entrance, and now the next destination is the Temple of Ice, plus as you
  leave you're given the WATER SPIDER, so that you can walk on water. Anyway
  though, make sure you've bought items and equipment while you're in the
  town, then go straight to the Temple of Ice.

--- Temple of Ice ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  If you're familiar with Symphonia once again, you'll find this place looks a
  tad bit different. Looks warmer, for one thing. But anyway, when you arrive
  you'll find Genis and Raine, and they tell you an accessory seller took the
  Centurion core from the temple before Lloyd got there, and he's in Flanoir
  now. So, with that, leave this place and go back to Flanoir, then head up
  the northwest stairs. On the next screen, enter the first building atop the
  north stairs, and talk to the owner. The person left to go back to the
  Temple of Ice, apparently, so... go back there, I guess?

  ...Yeah. When you return to the Temple of Ice, head a little bit forward,
  and then Tenebrae will sense the Centurion of Earth Solum's core rather
  than Glacies's, but whatever. To get into the temple, you need to jump
  on the rocks on the waterfall to the left. Start by jumping up, moving
  forward, jumping up, rinsing and repeating until you reach the top. Also
  note that when you enter battle you'll get a new battle theme, which is the
  remixed Like a Glint of Light. Which isn't as good as the original, but it's
  still nice.

  Once you're inside the cavern, head south down the path inside, and you'll
  quickly come to a pedestral that will convert your Sorcerer's Ring to, you
  guessed it, ice. Head back up the path and now exit the cave area. Walk
  east outside, and you'll see some dripping water to the east. Just freeze it
  with the Sorcerer's Ring, and then walk down the path to find another cave
  entrance. You'll find a WHITE MANUSCRIPT inside, which raises a monster's EXP
  by 1000. It's useful for when they evolve, definitely. Head out, west, and
  then back inside the cave.

  When you come in, head east across the bridge, and then south through the
  little canyon there. When you get the chance, head up the path to the
  east, and then you'll find some more water dripping to the north. Freeze it
  with the ring, then pull the block into the canyon below, so that you can
  get across to the other side in the middle. You'll find a FIRE CAPE there,
  which is convenient. Head back across and south this time, where you can
  freeze more water to the east.

  Drag this block into the water to the left, then get across to find yourself
  with a lake in your way. Try to freeze the waterfall at the left, to failure,
  but then Marta will point out that you can walk on water. Yeah, I would
  naturally make a religion joke here, but I'll refrain. You can get in the
  water at the decline just to your right, so walk across to the left to pick
  up a MYSTIC CLOAK, then just head straight north. Enter the door, and you'll
  find the room where Celsius initially was. Just head around the platform
  and into the door behind to get to the second part of this dungeon. Use the
  heal point at left, enter the door ahead, get the LIGHT GAUNTLETS, examine
  the altar where the Centurion's core would be, and... boss time?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Mirka x2
HP: 20133
EXP: 2000
My Level: 26

Alright, I normally wouldn't consider these things to be bosses, but since
they give at least reasonable EXP, which you actually wouldn't expect, I'll
bite and do it this time. These things are actually relatively strong, but
I found one of the most dangerous things for them was to equip the Ignes
ability on Emil, and use his new Havoc Strike ability multiple times. That's
fire elemental, which these things aren't tragically weak against, but it
does a lot of damage. Besides that, focus on one at a time, use unison
attacks really whenever applicable, and they'll fall before too long.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  Well, one moment after that, Regal realizes that this was all a trap, and
  that someone wanted the group to come here. So, with that, head out the door,
  then Marta will supposedly see her father, only to run off, a boulder will
  fall, and you'll get attacked by the Vanguard. Well, fight them as usual,
  then follow the path up. You'll then see Richter about to finish Marta, but
  Aqua sics some monsters in there before Emil can get there. So Richter does
  the inevitable, homicidally inducing Emil, but you find out that the ruse
  fell play to another ruse, so to speak.

  Which is good, because you had to wonder how they were going to get out of
  that. But yeah, meet Sheena Fujibayashi, another one of Lloyd's companions.
  Once she joins your party, pick up the LIGHT PLATE that's next to you when
  you leave off, and also examine the statue (actually more of a pillar) next
  to you. It'll rotate when you examine it, so rotate it until it faces to the
  west (actually more of a southwest-ish, but whatever). Then head up the path
  towards the north.

  You'll arrive at another statue, and then Sheena will fall through a hole.
  Not an unfamiliar sight if you're a Symphonia player. Anyway, turn the
  statue there to the south, then move down the path to the left. When you
  come to another statue, there will be more one of Emil and Marta's love
  scenes, which actually isn't as bad as you'd expect. Pick up the 3000 GALD
  to the left, and turn the statue so that it faces east. At this point, the
  wall at the bottom, and the door above, will both open.

  First head down the south path, which will take you to a cliff with a GOLD
  SPINNER on it. Now go back and enter through the door right above the
  statue which opened. Inside you'll immediately find a heal point and a
  MELANGE GEL. Move to the east though, to find that Sheena actually fell on
  top of Alice, and Decus is there. Sheena creates a wall of ice so that you
  can escape, and you should definitely take advantage of that, methinks. You
  basically need to leave the way you came, which is to the right, up, and
  then out as you went in. Sheena joins your party because she's as curious as
  you about Lloyd, and now you need to go back to the accessory place in
  Flanoir.

--- Flanoir ~~ Chapter 4 ----------------------------

  A rather quick little thing to wrap up Chapter 4. Head to the accessory shop
  and talk to Sheena's scout outside, then talk to the old man inside, to hear
  his son is selling the Centurion core in Meltokio. That's the next stop, but
  THERE IS SOMETHING THAT MUST BE DONE RIGHT NOW WHILE YOU'RE STILL IN CHAPTER
  4! Very small time frame to do it: head to the Iselia Human Ranch to
  continue the Alice side quest. You'll find Alice and Decus talking there,
  and it's revealed exactly what Alice is doing to control her pets. Nothing
  fascinating, but you need to do it to continue her side quest. Anyway, the
  chapter's done. Head to Meltokio.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIe. Truth Behind the Mask
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Well, people, I'll just throw this out here right now. Chapter 4 was definitely
the longest chapter of the game, although there's a lot of stuff to squeeze
into the end of Chapter 8. I'd say this chapter is my favorite in the game
based on storyline development, but don't worry, it's not got nearly as much
side quest stuff as the last chapter. So with that, it begins in Meltokio.

NOTE: Regal and Sheena are at Level 30 now, meaning they've learned the skill
"Special". Equip that on both of them so that they can use their hi-ougis, aka
Mystic Artes in battle.

--- Meltokio ~~ Chapter 5 ----------------------------

  Big city, and easily my favorite in the entire game, as it was in Symphonia
  as well. Basically, Meltokio is the type of city in an RPG that you'll
  always be returning to, as it comes off as kind of a base for your main
  characters. That, and because there's so much to do there. There's always
  equipment being updated, plus there's a battle arena where you can, well,
  fight battles and win prizes. Which is also quite nice. But anyway, when
  you arrive here, watch a quick scene, and it's to the item shop to look for
  the buyer of the Centurion core.

  To get there, enter through the big gate you're right next to, and you'll
  find an immediate fork of west, north, and east. East leads to the inn and
  some slums where there's really nothing, north we'll explore later, so start
  by heading west. When you arrive at the next screen, you'll see a person
  that Regal and Sheena identify as Tokunaga walking out. Hmmm, guess we'll
  learn about that later. Before talking to the item shop guy, head behind
  the buildings and examine the airship model at the back. This will net you
  the DESSERT RECIPE from the Wonder Chef.

  So, with that done, talk to the guy in front of the item shop. Basically,
  the Centurion core was already sold, but Regal suggests talking to the king,
  suggesting that the person who bought it was a noble. Anyway, go back to that
  fork and head up the stairs this time. If you head west, you can reach the
  battle arena, plus there's an equipment shop along the way. Inside the arena
  is a Katz guild, if you're interested, though I'll get back to you on the
  Katz during this chapter. Anyway, return to the plaza then head up the north
  stairs to the castle. Guess what, Alice beat you.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Aramis, Helion
HP: 19179, 14934
EXP: 8400
My Level: 28

That was unexpected, but anyway, Helion is the golem, Aramis is the purple,
flying... thing. I have no idea, I couldn't hope to identify what the hell it
is, but anyway, I finished this battle in under a minute. Regal and Sheena
having their Mystic Artes readily available for use makes it a tad bit
easier. What you need to do is build up the unison gauge to full, then switch
to one of them. I prefer Sheena's, but that's just me. Set her to an arcane
arte, use it, then hold B at the same time, and she'll whip out a devastating
attack. Hell, you may get to use this multiple times, which should pretty much
get both bosses close to dead. Make sure Marta is ready to heal though, as
Aramis uses rather nasty magic.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  It's not over though. Helion grabs Emil and attempts to self destruct, but
  Tenebrae saves Emil at his own expense. So, after a hopelessly tragic looking
  moment, the Centurions leave Marta and enter Emil, putting him in a permanent
  state of Ratatosk mode. Now you see why I love this chapter. Apparently
  Tenebrae is now sleeping at the Temple of Darkness, so that's going to be the
  next stop. Regal leaves to talk to the king, while the rest of your party
  needs to go to the Temple of Darkness.

--- Temple of Darkness ~~ Chapter 5 ----------------------------

  Symphonia people remember that this dungeon was a bitch and a freaking half
  during that game. Don't worry, it's not going to be nearly as bad this time
  around. Anyways, watch the scene as you come in, and then go straight to the
  east to pick up a MELANGE GEL. After you've done that, head back and take
  the bridge to the south. There you can go to the east to get the LAMIA'S
  HAIR TIE along the way (and let me say, you WANT to do that), and west to get
  the 3000 GALD there. Afterwards though, head south into the actual temple.

  You may notice a white crystal to your right when you enter. These are
  basically lanterns, and you need to light all of them as you go, which can
  naturally be done using the Sorcerer's Ring. Start by using it on the one
  to your right, then follow the east path to pick up the LEMON GEL there. Next
  go back to the entrance of this room and head west, lighting another lantern
  along the way, and going all the way down to snag the MIMIC FRAGMENT there.
  You'll notice two face shaped blocks right here, and yeah, these aren't
  gone if you remember them from Symphonia.

  Grab ahold of the green one, and then push it as far in as it can go. This
  will cause the green block that's obstructing your way a little bit up to
  go deeper into the wall, so yeah, that's what you want. Head up a little bit
  to the stairs to the east, and then head down. A scene will take over where
  Emil hear voices behind the wall, so you know that there's a switch some
  place that lowers it. That's new.

  If you head left here, you'll find a Katz and a merchant, so definitely
  check those two out. From there, head south and then you'll find two
  slightly different looking lanterns to the south and east of where you are,
  but they're definitely white and you can totally light them up. Go ahead and
  do that, and then start to cross the bridge to the east. You'll get a message
  halfway, indicating there's a lantern below. Well, get in a good position
  then aim the Wiimote down there and light it. This will cause a door up near
  the entrance to open, so that's good stuff.

  Keep on taking the path to the end to get the LIFE BOTTLE at the end, then
  go back to where the Katz and the merchant were. If you head to the far east
  from there, you'll pick up a SLEEP CHARM hidden over to the side. Now it's
  time to check out that door. Head up the stairs and over to the far east,
  which is where the door opened. Head through there, then head down the
  massive staircase in this room. When you get to the bottom, you'll find a
  QUALITY STONE at the bottom, and a door. You would never think to go through
  that door (not...) but that's where you need to go.

  Inside, head up the path, and you'll notice two pillars of light below you
  as you go. Light them both, and you'll see a door open above. Well, that's
  the exit, now we have to find the entrance. Head back in the room where you
  came from, then start walking up the large staircase. Halfway up you'll see
  an exclamation point appear over Emil's head, which is the cue to jump up.
  The only thing you'll see in the area you emerge in, though, is a pedestral
  that change the Sorcerer's Ring from fire to, well, darkness. But that's
  what we need.

  Head back, and now go to the bottom of the staircase and through the door
  again. Once in there, head up the path, and now you'll notice three clouds of
  darkness blocking the path. By some foreign logic the Sorcerer's Ring of
  darkness will make those disappear, so just use it, and then you'll see a
  large path over to the northeast. That is where you need to go, although
  also note that the path a little back, near you, has a cloud of darkness
  and will take you back up near the entrance if you need a shortcut.

  But anyway, head down that path to get to the next area, which happens to
  be even darker. Head down the eastern stairs, then you can start heading
  north. Follow that path but pay attention to the west, as when a side path
  appears there you'll be able to take it and get a LIFE BOTTLE. Keep on
  following the path as it curves around to a fork. East and south are both
  rather long paths, but they'll lead to 2500 GALD and a WEAK CHARM
  respectively. Ultimately, you'll want to go north though. North is a rather
  twisting, but overall straightforward path that will end in a scene. Which
  also nets Emil a new title as a bonus.

  Anyway, head south and then take the path west to the end for a PINEAPPLE
  GEL and a save point. Head north down the stairs and to the end of the path
  to find a switch upon an altar, which I bet you figured out is what you need
  to hit. Now, head back outside, and take that path which I mentioned was a
  shortcut back up. That'll put you right outside the wall where Emil heard
  voices from. It's open now, so basically, go inside, walk down the path
  (which is kind of fun because everything lights up as you go), and then as
  expected, there's a dangerous person at the end. It's Richter.

  You'll enter battle with Richter, but I don't consider this little episode
  to be a boss battle, simply because you can't possibly beat him. He has
  over 96,000 HP, which I'd be okay with ignoring the fact you can't damage
  him. His attacks are manageable, but watch out, as his Mystic Arte, the
  Towering Inferno, does massive damage to all characters and will probably
  reduce everyone to 1 HP each. So watch out for that. Otherwise, just stay
  alive and the fight will end after long enough.

  Dark Emil then uses a technique called Ain Soph Aur twice on Richter, to not
  much success, except for pissing Richter off. Anyway, after the scene that
  occurs, Emil will be alone with Tenebrae's core and gain the Tenebrae
  skill, so with that, just head down to run into Marta, which leads in the
  Ratatosk mode Emil getting angry and passing out, reverting to regular.
  Tenebrae then hatches out and returns, so that's good. Now make it all the
  way back out of the Temple of Darkness. When you emerge outside, you'll run
  into Regal, who announces that Zelos's sister Seles has the Centurion core.
  Guess Meltokio is our next step.

  NOTE: I'm hoping that you're Level 30 or above at this point; if you're not
        I would definitely get there as the bosses in the next dungeon are
        rather tough. But anyway, now that scene's done, Emil can now use a
        special addition to his Mystic Arte, which is Ain Soph Aur. It's
        beyond terrible (it's just one additional hit), but it basically
        activates by holding B during the portrait appearance in Devil's
        Hellfire. I wouldn't even bother, but whatever, it's there.

--- Meltokio ~~ Chapter 5 ----------------------------

  Upon arriving in Meltokio, head up the two stairways until you reach the
  second screen, and now head to the east. In this area, head forward until
  you come to the second mansion, and then enter. Once you arrive, the group
  will talk to Zelos's butler Sebastian about Glacies' core, when suddenly
  Tokunaga comes in to tell you that Seles got kidnapped by Lloyd. I have to
  say, I legitimately wasn't expecting that. Afterwards, head outside and the
  group splits up. Head west and then south, then keep moving towards the
  middle of the town.

  At that point you'll see Zelos, who sees Lloyd with his own eyes, though he
  insists it's not him. Anyway, go back to Zelos's mansion and talk to
  Sebastian, and then Marta rejoins, Zelos suggesting to go to the king's
  palace. Yep, sounds good. Leave, head back a screen, and head north into the
  palace, then Sheena and Regal will rejoin. It's discussed that it might be
  Decus behind all this, but that's just speculation. But anyways, the Rheaird
  went east, which Marta says is the Vanguard's base, the Cape Fortress. And
  that's also our next stop.

--- Cape Fortress ~~ Chapter 5 ----------------------------

  Here we have the real dungeon of chapter five, the Vanguard's base, and
  believe me when I say it lives up to its name. As Zelos and the others point
  out though, it's not heavily guarded. You start from the outside as you
  would any major dungeon. Start by going up either set of stairs, and then
  towards the northwest you'll find a piece of FRAGRANT WOOD. Anyway, with
  that in hand, head down the stairs in the center to really get this dungeon
  underway. Oh, I might add, this is the best piece of music in the whole
  game, remix or not. It's brilliant.

  Anyway, when you come to, head north, and then you've got a long stairway to
  descend. Get all the way down to the floor level, fighting the enemies on
  your way down, and then guess what, Sheena falls into a hole. Regal goes off
  to look for her, so now Zelos is the only Symphonia character left with you.
  Wow, figures. Anyway, look under the stairway to the left to find an
  ANIMUS (and trust me that you want that), and keep going to the east. It's
  a rather long path, but eventually you'll get a double staircase.

  Head up either of the two stairs and then follow it up to the west, where
  you'll arrive at a three way fork. To the north you'll find a LIGHT
  BANDANNA, to the west you'll find a HOLY CLOAK, and south is... well, the
  next area. Head east when you get there, and you'll see a door along the
  way. Enter and pick up the 3000 GALD inside, then go back out and keep
  going east. Watch the scene that interrupts, and keep on going. In the area
  that you arrive at, there's really nowhere you can go that's not blocked off
  but up the northeast stairs, so head there.

  Once up the stairs, get the STONE CHARM towards the east, then head west
  until you find a yellow symbol on the floor. Step on this, which will cause
  a green symbol to rise up. Let's not be touching that one though, as it
  reverses the effect. Head back to the floor, down the staircase you came up,
  and then south, where originally a gate blocked progress. Behind the golem
  there, there's another set of switches. Hit the blue one there to raise a
  purple one, and now head back up the stairs to step on the green one. This
  will lower the gate to the east, so head there next.

  When you walk past that gate you'll see two doors. Ignore the first one and
  go straight to the second one, which has a pair of WITCH MITTENS in it.
  Anyway, keep going and head north to a new room, which you'll immediately see
  is quqite a bit larger. First, use the heal point and use the pedestral to
  convert the Sorcerer's Ring to water, and then use that water to extinguish
  the six flames surrounding you. With that, examine the red knight statue at
  the upper left. This will drop you below, where you can get a PINEAPPLE GEL.
  To get out of here, though, you need to beat the Igniter in the center.

  After the monster is beaten a gate opens below, allowing you to get back up,
  and then all the flames will be relit. Now is an opportunity to get a rather
  rare and quality item. You need to extinguish the flames in the following
  order: Southwest, West, East, Northeast, Southeast, Northwest. Now, examine
  the blue knight statue at the northeast three times. Once to see what it
  does, once to lower the gate, and once to lower the platform you're on.
  Geez, takes enough time, but it eventually lowers you. What you need to do
  now is head east and follow an absurdly long path that spans three screens
  to get to a PHILOSOPHER'S STONE, then head back. Long, but worth it.

  Once you return, defeat the Thinker in the center to open the gate, and now
  it's finally time to finish this dungeon. You now need to extinguish the
  flames in the order East, Southwest, Northwest, Southeast, Northeast, West.
  Now examine the red knight statue, and the northern door opens. Now SAVE,
  as what lies ahead isn't a pushover. Head down the stairs to find that
  Zelos's theory was correct. Well, when you get the choice, select "this
  Lloyd" (the one on the left), and that's indeed Decus. Alice appears,
  though Colette, Sheena, and Regal appear to save the day. You still have
  Decus to deal with though.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Decus
HP: 45669
EXP: 12000
My Level: 34

Well, this is a battle that's going to depend on your levels. If you're
really up there, then Decus will pretty much be a pushover, but if you're
not ready, he can easily give you a run for your money. The thing that's
hard about Decus is that he's difficult to stun, making it hard to add damage
up on him. It doesn't help that he has a lot more HP than any other boss
you've seen thus far. But anyway, I wouldn't recommend using unison attacks
here, as once again, Decus is difficult to stun and he doesn't have anything
in particular that you can interrupt. Instead, build your unison bar up to
the maximum, and then use Marta's Radiant Roar Mystic Arte when you get the
opportunity. This will heal the party on top of doing decent damage, so it's
your best option by far. Note that Decus also has a Mystic Arte called
Sturm und Drang, which is devastating, and Radiant Roar after that is by
far your best bet. Overall it's a rough battle, but it's winnable.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Afterwards, Decus reveals what Brute's orders to him were, but you've got
bigger fish to fry, as Richter shows up a minute later and lets Decus escape.
Second boss.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Richter
HP: 102096
EXP: 13000
My Level: 35

Ugh, two times in two dungeons, huh. Well, this time Richter is actually
defeatable, but god damn is he hard. The game will actually let you defeat
him this time around though, but whether you should do that or not is up to
how well you managed the last battle. If you struggled with Decus, there is
no way in hell you'll be able to Richter. You can just let him kill you,
and it'll work out just fine. However, it's rather rewarding to be able to
defeat him here, and if you're mid 30s in level or above, it's certainly
doable. It's incredibly hard though, easily the worst battle in the whole
game to do, though.

Here's the most important thing. NEVER use unison attacks. Unless you're
finishing him. They're barely damaging, they drain the gauge which is much
better spent for Marta's Radiant Roar ability, and they just waste time.
That, and Richter is surprisingly a lot easier than Decus to stun. The only
thing that you can really interrupt Richter from is his spells. When you
see Richter cast a spell, sigh in relief, because they're very easy to
interrupt. I used Emil's Phoenix Rush with Ventus, and with an arcane arte
at the end, it'll easily interrupt Richter's spells. Then you can keep
pounding on him. That, and Richter has a ton of physical attacks, and likes
to chase you around. You can use Emil as a decoy to buy Marta time to heal,
if need be. Unfortunately, that is far from all that Richter will do.

Richter still uses his Mystic Arte, Towering Inferno. It will reduce your
entire party's HP to 1. No questions asked. There's an easy way to remedy
this, though. Keep the unison bar full at all times, if you can heal it.
Then with that, switch over to Marta immediately, and use Radiant Roar.
That'll restore your party's HP to some extent, then you can probably get
back in, restore your unison bar, and be ready the next time he uses it. To
pull this off, though, you'll need to be consistent. You'll have to make it
through as many as 3-4 Towering Infernos, while doing damage yourself and
staying alive without completely depleting your item supply. I'd actually
strongly recommend using two strong monsters instead of Zelos, as the latter
won't really help you out too much in this battle. You'll need luck, but if
that's on your side, enjoy the massive benefits this battle gives. 13,000
EXP, 36,000 Gald, and a Mystic Mark. That's what's in it for you.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  Well, no matter how that battle ends, Richter lets you live, and then Zelos
  runs off to find Seles. You're even healed back to full HP and TP somehow,
  which isn't too bad. Anyway, head east to the next screen. Alice and Decus
  leave, and then the entire party reunites. Watch the skits, grab the VIRUS
  CHARM and TWISTED HORN there, and now you have to head all the way back out
  of the Cape Fortress by foot. A pain in the ass, but it must be done. Exit
  to find... Lloyd isn't actually all good, and he runs off. Oh well, nothing
  you can do about it now. Head to Meltokio.

--- Meltokio ~~ Chapter 5 ----------------------------

  Head to Zelos's manor first thing, and then Zelos and Colette leave your
  party in order to find Raine. Regal stays with you though so that he can
  eventually find Lloyd. While you're here in Meltokio, there is something
  EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO DO if you haven't done it yet. Talk to a Katz and
  accept the Search quest that gets you the Treasure Hunter's Trophy. THIS IS
  AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY TO ENTER A BONUS DUNGEON LATER IN THE GAME. SO DO IT
  BEFORE CHAPTER FIVE ENDS. It may take a while to show up, but DO IT. Done?
  Alright. Leave Meltokio, and Tenebrae suggests going to the Temple of Earth
  to check Solum's core. Not a bad course of action.

  Head to the Temple of Earth, and when you arrive you'll find the whole area
  has been sealed off due to accidents inside. One moment later, Emil passes
  out, and then awakens to see more visions of Richter, then awakens in
  Ratatosk mode, although it's very brief. Head outside, then ONE LAST
  IMPORTANT THING TO DO! Continue Alice's side quest by heading to the main
  plaza of Meltokio and watch as Decus goes insane. That's it. The very most
  important thing to do was to get the Treasure Hunter's Trophy. If you've
  done that, go to the Temple of Lightning, which ends Chapter 5.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIf. Dark Premonition
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

I take back what I said about Chapter 4. This is the longest chapter of the
game, based on both what's added to the chapter in terms of side quests, and
in terms of actual material. There's three long dungeons in this chapter, on
top of one long town, and side quests on top of that. This will all begin in
the Temple of Lightning, so when you're ready, stop there.

--- Temple of Lightning ~~ Chapter 6 ----------------------------

  When you enter, the two guards there say that the Temple of Lightning is a
  restricted area as well, and they're rather shovy about it, which sends
  Emil into a homicidal rage on them again. But anyway, Director Schneider of
  the Sybak Research Academy shows up and explains what's going on, adding
  that Emil looks like someone he knows. Hmmm, good to know. Anyway, you can't
  enter the Temple of Lightning yet, so just leave. By the way, now that
  Chapter 6 has started, you can enter the Katz' Village, though there's
  nothing of particular interest there. Just head to Sybak.

--- Sybak ~~ Chapter 6 ----------------------------

  At least they made the music here a little better. Couldn't stand it in the
  original, but thankfully it's at least tolerable here. Anyway, towards the
  northwest on the screen you start out on, you can find an item shop, an
  equipment shop, and a Katz guild, so stock up on things, as odds are the last
  two dungeons ate in to your supplies. Afterwards, head west, and then as
  you approach the research academy, a man comes out and calls Emil "Aster".
  That makes two times now. But anyway, you're allowed in.

  Start by heading through the west door, and then halfway down the hall
  you'll find a book which just so happens to be the Wonder Chef. He'll give
  you the BURRITO RECIPE, which is nice. But anyway, keep going to the end of
  the hall, and the last door to the west is the basement. There, the group
  has a quick discussion about half elves, then Emil comes back to, except
  his memory is fuzzy again. Marta suggests he go to the inn, so that's the
  logical next stop. Leave the academy, and return to the first screen. The
  inn is the first building up from the entrance. You're automatically taken
  to bed.

  To which Emil awakens quickly, seeing more visions. Head outside to
  eavesdrop on Marta, Sheena, and Regal talking about who Emil actually is,
  plus the nature of possession. Quite the tale. Anyway, head to the academy
  once again, and once inside, go to the second floor and enter the only room
  there to find Schneider, who will give you a pass to the Temple of Lightning
  and give the history of Richter and Aster. Well, now we can get in, but
  SOMETHING IMPORTANT COMES FIRST! Head to the center of Sybak to find Richter
  there, heading to the Cape Fortress again. This is if you've been doing his
  side quest up to now. Supposing you have, return to the Cape Fortress.

--- Cape Fortress ~~ Chapter 6 ----------------------------

  When you get here, Emil admits that he's been lying to Marta, then goes into
  the fortress by himself. Just head inside and follow the same path down,
  and soon enough you'll find Richter and Aqua, who let Emil go with them,
  rather reluctantly. At this point, you'll need to go all the way to the room
  with the six torches. Along the way there will be a scene as the two totally
  ignore Emil, but anyway, just reach that room. You need to go to the area
  where you found the Philosopher's Stone earlier, or basically east of the
  main area. If you didn't do that, just hit the torches in the order of
  Southwest, West, East, Northeast, Southeast, Northwest.

  If you already got it, however, just examine the blue knight statue and
  you'll be dropped down so that you can do it. Now take the eastern path,
  and then Richter will finally start talking. Keep going, and then you'll
  eventually come to a book across the path, which is what Richter was looking
  for. He'll take you back to Meltokio, so at that point, head in front of the
  inn to rejoin the party, and now it's finally time to start this game's
  longest dungeon. Head to the dreaded Temple of Lightning.

--- Temple of Lightning ~~ Chapter 6 ----------------------------

  NOTE: You actually have to make an important choice around this point, and
        more quickly than you would think, and that's that you have to choose
        something. If you get struck by lightning 14 times here, the events
        at the end of this place will end differently, and you will collect
        Lloyd's Mask 3. If you don't, however, you can't get the mask, but
        you will still be able to get the good ending. So basically, you have
        to choose between the mask, or the ending. I'll leave that to you.

  When you get in, you'll find the soldiers are already dead, meaning the
  Vanguard or Lloyd must have beaten you. Well, it's time to get this bitch
  underway though, and I'll tell you. The puzzle here is the EXACT same as
  it was in the original Symphonia. If you're familiar with it you shouldn't
  have any problem here, as there's only a few minor alterations, which you
  will easily be able to figure out. If you're not familiar with that, though,
  then I'll tell you now. This is the longest, most frustrating dungeon in
  the game. Bar none.

  Directly north of you when you start is a chest containing 3000 GALD. Then
  if you continue by heading west, you will find a chest above with MIRAGE
  MITTENS. Approach the center of the hallway by continuing, to which a scene
  will interrupt. Afterwards, go south to find a QUALITY STONE off the path
  there. Once you've done that, head back and to the west, and then you can
  keep going west to get an EARTH CAPE there, but otherwise go north and
  head up to the pedestral, which will convert the Sorcerer's Ring from
  fire to Blue Lightning. Yep, you heard, Blue Lightning.

  Return to where Emil found the notes, and head north, to find that it was
  indeed the Vanguard and those notes are Rilena's. Anyway, there's a heal
  point in here which I would recommend using, but I feel now it's time to
  discuss the concept here. The blue clouds represent the blocks that were
  present in the original, and a cloud can only be removed by hitting it
  with the lightning of its color. That's right, there's blue, yellow, and
  red lightning to be found in this place. Start by dispelling the blue
  lightning straight north.

  Don't go in there quite yet though. Pick up the SHOCK CHARM on the ground,
  then head up either set of stairs to the top. This very area is where the
  place will end, but to do so you need to get rid of the three sets of
  lightning here. MAKE SURE YOU GET RID OF THE BLUE CLOUD NOW. Forgetting to
  do so will expend a lot of time. Once you've gotten rid of it, head back
  down to the floor and enter through the north door. There's a west-east
  fork here, but east is a dead end for now, so head west.

  From there you can head down the stairs above you to find an electrically
  charged floor, which Tenebrae points out you'll need to set up a lightning
  rod high above to discharge. So for now, get the STRIPED RIBBON underneath
  the larger staircase, and head up that one. Enter through the door at the
  top, and now you'll need to do some navigation. This room is extremely dark
  so make sure you move slowly and carefully. If you approach an edge you'll
  fall, so tap A to stay on. Gradually make your way across the catwalks and
  up the stairs (always up the stairs), then enter the door at the top.

  There, watch the scene, and you've got some Vanguard soldiers to fight. You
  may notice the bridge at the right is collapsed, so to get around that, take
  the upper path around and come down to find a Katz and a merchant. I'd take
  advantage of that, but whatever. Head through the east door and you'll need
  to navigate through another dark room. This one isn't too bad, but note that
  you're moving downstairs, but eventually you'll come to a fork of straight
  under the bridge, or up the stairs. Go up the stairs; heading straight only
  serves to be misleading. Which is a douche move on whomever designed this
  place, but whatever. Head to the exit, anyways.

  On the other end you'll find a device there. Examine it, at a lightning rod
  will rise. This will draw lightning away from the field below, which is
  extremely nice. Now go back in the last room and just fall off, it'll speed
  things up. When you land back in the room with the heal point, heal/save as
  usual, then take the north door again. Now head down the stairs at the upper
  left and walk across the water, where to the right you'll find a pedestral
  that changes the Sorcerer's Ring to Yellow Lightning. Good. We've got work
  to do. Start by going south back out of this room.

  As you may recall, the spinning lightning at the top of this room is the
  ultimate goal. Get rid of the yellow cloud there, and now we've only got one
  more to get past, which is good. Now, you may have noticed a yellow cloud of
  lightning to the west. Guess what? BLOW THAT SHIZ UP! Or whatever the
  Sorcerer's Ring does when it's lightning elemental. What lies behind is
  another dark room, this one the most difficult of all, but it's at the very
  least linear. At the other end of it you'll come out on a ledge containing a
  HOLY MARK on it. Yep, gotta go back though.

  When you return to the room with the heal point, head north this time, and
  now go up the left stairs as usual, making it back to the room with the
  collapsed bridge. There is a yellow lightning cloud to the south, which you
  obviously need to get rid of, but sadly you need to go back to a pedestral
  as soon as you get rid of it and change the Sorcerer's Ring back to FIRE.
  Which you'll see why in a moment. Once you're done there, head back into that
  south room behind where the yellow cloud used to be, and then you'll find
  yourself in a high up area. With a ladder next to you, to be specific.

  Head down the ladder and get the TOPAZ at the west, then Emil will point out
  that the rope next to you isn't in good shape. Use the Sorcerer's Ring of
  fire to burn it down, and then it'll drop on top of the machine north of the
  heal point. Hmmm... intriguing. Use whatever means necessary to get back to
  the heal point room, then go north. Switch the Sorcerer's Ring back to
  Yellow Lightning, and then examine the machine on the right. It says it has
  no power though, because a lightning rod is hooked up above. Yeah, I'm not
  even joking.

  Yes, now you need to head west, back to the room with the collapsed bridge,
  south, through two dark rooms in total, back to that one ledge where you
  set up the lightning rod in the first place, to now retract it, because it
  steals lightning from this machine. No joke. Oh well, just do that, then go
  back in the dark room you came from and just land back in the heal point
  room. At that point, go back to the machine and turn it on. Apparently this
  turns on all the devices in the Temple of Lightning. Where's the other
  device? In the room with the collapsed bridge and the pillars.

  Go back there, and once inside, examine the device to find out what it does:
  shoots lightning through the pillars, but the rods between the pillars will
  transport the lightning around. It moves from the bottom to the top, so
  since there's five pillars, there's five places it can end up. Anyway, start
  by immediately shooting it, which will send the electricity to the far left
  pillar. This drops a treasure chest, which you can get by going up, left,
  down and around for a RED BASIL. So from here you get the concept. Here's
  what you get from each. Going from left to right:

   First Pillar  - Red Basil
   Second Pillar - chest you can't get yet, but contains a VIRUS CHARM
   Third Pillar  - clears debris (you need to do this to proceed)
   Fourth Pillar - drops a monster on you
   Fifth Pillar  - drops another RED BASIL next to you

  So as you can see, you want to do all of them except the fourth, but the
  third is most important. Again, these are rather easy to set up. Use the
  machine to reset the blocks every time, then in the end, send it up the
  third pillar to drop dynamite on the debris. Head that way and pick up your
  Virus Charm, then go down the next set of stairs to come to an overlook with
  a pedestral that changes your Sorcerer's Ring to Red Lightning. YES. That
  took long enough.

  Now, find some way to return to the room with the heal point, save and heal
  if need be, then go to the top of the room and finish off the last lightning
  cloud. At that point, head through the northern door, and it's finally new
  territory from Symphonia. You'll immediately find Decus attacking Rilena,
  so Emil actually willingly calls out his Ratatosk mode self, which... does
  not end well. You gotta admit, he's a douchebag. But anyway, head up the
  long stairway, where the end result really depends on the choice I mentioned
  at the beginning here. Either way, you've got a boss to fight.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Corduroy
HP: 23346
EXP: 10000
My Level: 38

This battle is easy as hell, and in fact with Mystic Artes working out the
right way you can make it even easier. First of all, this beast comes with
five Were Bats alongside it, each of which has about 12,000 HP. Now, there's
six targets overall. What do you know that hits everything on screen, no
questions asked? If you guessed Marta's Mystic Arte, Radiant Roar, you would
be right. Start this battle off by building the unison gauge as high up as
you can if it's not already maxed out, and then switch over to Marta and use
Radiant Roar, which will heal your party on top of doing 10,000 damage or so
to all the enemies. Beautiful. Anyway, Corduroy will have no chance after
that, but basically, apart from that, handle one bat at a time. This boss is
weak as anything anyway, so it'll be easy going.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  Alright, so whether you get the Centurion core after that battle really</pre><pre id="faqspan-4">
  depends on whether Lloyd got here, as I mentioned above. If Lloyd did show
  up, pick up LLOYD'S MASK 3. If he didn't, don't worry about it. Either way,
  Marta continues to give Emil the cold shoulder (for good reason), and an
  elevator pops up to the east, which will take you back to the beginning of
  this screen. It's now high time to get out of the Temple of Lightning, and
  now go to Sybak to see Schneider again.

--- Sybak ~~ Chapter 6 ----------------------------

  Before you actually arrive in the town, there's a scene part way through
  as a Mizuho scout arrives to talk to Sheena, and then Emil and Marta have
  another argument. But with that done, regain control in Sybak and head to
  the research academy. Head over to Schneider's room, watch the scene in
  there that ensues with discussion about Ratatosk, and then it's suggested
  that you go to Meltokio to go to their elemental research facility. Guess
  you'd better get on that.

--- Meltokio ~~ Chapter 6 ----------------------------

  Well, if you're unfamiliar with the research facility's location, head into
  the town, and at the first fork, head east past the inn. The building with
  the blue roof right past the inn, is the facility. The researcher compares
  Emil to Aster and then points out that Rilena's notes are below. Head down
  there and examine the sparkling notes to the right, and then Emil has some
  internal strife, but basically the conclusion is that Ratatosk is actually a
  benevolent character. But anyway, Rilena is apparently at the Temple of
  Earth, so leave and head there next.

--- Temple of Earth ~~ Chapter 6 ----------------------------

  The scene that precedes this place is one of my favorite in the game. Just
  watch it, it's actually pretty decent. Anyway, at the fork right in the
  entrance, head south to get the WIND CAPE, then take off to the north. By
  going that way you'll soon come to another fork. Once you do, take the
  lower path. It's basically a path that slopes downward and leads to another
  screen, but when you get there you'll end up with MIRAGE MITTENS. With those
  in hand (not literally because Marta should already have those), head back
  to that fork and head north to a new screen.

  Once there, you'll see a dead end bridge to the west, plus a hill above it
  that will lead to 2000 GALD. After you get that, you've got a bit of
  navigation to do, like before. The bridge is comprised of three panels.
  You can jump on any of them, and it'll take you somewhere below, where you
  will find some more stuff to jump on, as well as treasure. For example,
  start by jumping off the leftmost one, which is at the very end. After you
  fall, get the OGRE'S BLOOD that comes your way, then eventually you'll land
  on a piece with some treasure chests at your sides. They contain a WYVERN'S
  WING and a MELANGE GEL. Jump the one on the left to get a STONE CHARM, then
  the one you're right next to.

  You'll then have some more to jump, but what you'll inevitably come down to
  is a RUBY and a pedestral that changes the Sorcerer's Ring to earth
  elemental. Anyway, head to the west, and jump down to ground level. If you
  head past the dragon here, eventually you'll find a pair of ROYAL GAUNTLETS
  at the end of the path, which I'd suggest doing. Now, if you exit to the
  west you'll arrive back at the first screen. All the bridges will magically
  respawn, so you can just keep going.

  Go back there, and this time pick the middle panel. Drop through it, then
  keep going until you reach the area where the two chests were. This time
  drop down the eastern one, and at the bridge you arrive at, drop through
  the first panel to pick up a LEMON GEL on your fall. Make sure you then drop
  down the left panel there, and you'll arrive at an INSECT FLUID. Alright,
  time to rinse lather and repeat. Head to the west then back north up there,
  and this time drop down the rightmost panel. Drop down that one and you'll
  get some CHICKEN BONES. That is it.

  Anyway, head west to go through the rocks and back towards the entrance,
  then use the Sorcerer's Ring of earth on the pillar around the center of
  this room. It'll collapse, and we'll get to reap the rewards in just a
  minute. Now, take the lower path nearby and follow it down to the area where
  the Mirage Mittens were earlier. Examine the bridge you come to, and then
  use the Sorcerer's Ring of earth to break it. When you come to, head south,
  past the dragon, and you'll find a TREAT (awesome). Then if you head further
  up the path, you'll eventually find a DRAGON SPINNER, which was inside the
  pillar.

  Once you've done that, go all the way back to where the bridge fell, and
  head north to find Rilena, who will basically confirm all of the party's
  suspicions. Anyway, Decus is apparently inside, so get the PINEAPPLE GEL to
  the left and then head further inside. One screen in you'll see a large
  array of blocks, plus where Solum's core originally was, although it's gone
  now. Anyway, what you need to do now is one of the most difficult but oddly
  entertaining mini-games in the game.

  Examine Solum's altar, and then a golden emblem will appear in the center
  of the block field. Basically, it'll start to shake, and you need to stay on
  it for long enough, while parts of it start collapsing. First, fall once
  intentionally. You'll then end up in an area below where you can get a
  MELANGE GEL and 3000 GALD. Then all you need to do is head up the stairs to
  the left, and you'll reappear back in that room. I would just recommend going
  to YouTube and watching a video if you need help, but if you guys insist...

  You start in the middle of four squares. Start at the lower left of those.
  When it starts shaking, move to the lower left, diagonally down one. Wait
  there until it starts shaking. Move up, then when that one starts, move down
  one again. Then move up two and left one when necessary. Then move left.
  Then you're done. The eastern door then opens, so it's time to plunder dat.
  When you enter, you'll find a BLUE SAVORY on the left, a SPECIFIC (yay) on
  the right, and a boss in the middle. Have fun with that.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Lookin x4
HP: 14733 (each)
EXP: 5912
My Level: 40

These things actually put up a lot better fight than you would expect. The
reason being, while their HP may not be the hottest, there's four of them,
and they're extremely fast. That, and they can be extremely aggressive and
attack you repeatedly, then before you know it you'll be reduced to critical
HP. But I'll remind you once again of an almost cheap way to get past a
battle like this. Marta's Radiant Roar, if you can bring that up, will do
about 10,000 damage to all of these things. That should be more than enough
to pretty much seal the deal in your favor, but basically, just stay away
from these things if that's not an option, and play it defensively.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  I gotta say, that "They are blind with rage" is one of the better quotes in
  this game, for some reason. Only really beaten by "What is this ominous
  light that threatens to engulf us?" from the first game, but I digress. The
  lookins calm down, and they offer you transport somewhere, so choose to ride
  them, and you're outta here.

--- Toize Valley Mine ~~ Chapter 6 ----------------------------

  It figures though, you go straight from one dungeon to another. Start by
  using the much needed save point, then head through the door at the east,
  by first touching the panel and then heading on inside. Inside you'll find a
  LIGHT BANDANNA, then you can go back to the fork and head west this time.
  Go onward until you find another panel with a door in front of it, this door
  of which contains a LIFE BOTTLE that you should probably pick up if you have
  room.

  Keep taking the path to the west, though, and when you exit the screen the
  first thing you'll see is a boulder to your right. Head west, with that in
  mind, and jump across the gap. If you go south there all you'll see is
  debris blocking the actual path forward into the mine, so just head east
  and go down the ladder there. If you head around to the north you'll find an
  ELEMENTAL FRAGMENT, and then if you take the ladder to the right up, you'll
  come across 2000 GALD and a door for you to enter.

  A rather large room, once you go inside. Head over to the right and take the
  path until you see a collapsed wood bridge there. Walk down it and then go
  to the far eastern side to pick up a LEMON GEL there, then head back up and
  follow the path northeast this time around. When you get a choice of north
  or east, head east though, as north only leads to a dead end. Follow the
  eastern path, ignoring the switch you come to, as that was an old thing for
  Symphonia people. At the end, you'll come to a new area, which I suppose was
  what we were looking for.

  In the aforementioned new area, head under the bridge first of all, and
  examine the pedestral, which will change the Sorcerer's Ring for fire
  elemental to... explode elemental. Yeah, I didn't make that up. I couldn't
  come up with stuff that crazy if I tried. You are truly using explode
  elemental material. Be careful with that now! Whatever. Blow up the boulder
  right above you, then pick up the QUALITY STONE, AMETHYST, and SAPPHIRE that
  you find behind it. With that, head back to the last screen, then go all the
  way back to where you found a northwest path. Guess we'd better take that.

  You'll see a boulder blocking your way, so blow it up and then head left to
  get a BASTARD SWORD and an ANIMUS. Now what you need to do is head back one
  screen, then return all the way to the top where you found the boulder which
  blocked your way to the east. Blow that shit up for a MIRAGE CLOAK. Not only
  that, but blowing up the boulder right near you when you come down will net
  you an ANIMA. Much better. Anyway, head back to where you blew up the boulder
  to get the two chests, and head north this time. Keep going straight north to
  blow another one up, then get the GARNET you see in the chest along the way.

  As you can tell by the presence of sunlight at the top, the exit is right on
  top of you. When you get out, Regal decides Altamira, or the Lezareno
  Company's headquarters, is the next logical stop. Before though, THERE IS
  SOMETHING EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO DO IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE IT ALREADY! Go to
  the Katz' Village, AND MAKE SURE YOU DO THE QUEST INVOLVING GETTING THE
  SECOND TREASURE HUNTER'S TROPHY! THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE! That'll be the
  second one, so yeah, do that. I needed to get that off my chest. Altamira
  time.

--- Altamira ~~ Chapter 6 ----------------------------

  Rather large and festive city, as you can tell right from the get-go.
  Anyway, once you gain control, start by heading into the massive building
  to the east, which happens to be the inn. Once you're inside, feel free to
  rest, but otherwise take the elevator to the second floor. In there, you'll
  find shops. Ignore the weapon shop as you should have all of that stuff by
  now, but the armor shop sells some fairly decent stuff. Plus there's a Katz
  there, and NEED I REMIND YOU HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO GET THE SECOND TREASURE
  HUNTER'S TROPHY?!

  Pardon. Anyway, afterwards, take the elevator to the seventh floor, and in
  there examine the toy on the ground, which transforms into the Wonder Chef,
  giving you an OMELET RECIPE. Me likes. Alright, take the elevator back to
  the first floor, exit the inn, and then head west. Use the lift to get down,
  and then examine the boat looking transport there to get to the Lezareno
  Company Headquarters. Once inside, head up and use the elevator there to
  get to the President's Office.

  You'll arrive in Regal's place, where his accomplice George is there. Moments
  later though, you'll get an alert saying that the Vanguard are attacking the
  city. Oh joy. Marta runs off, stupidly, so I guess we need to go get her.
  Back outside, you'll find her with Hawk approaching, so at this point it's
  decided to go to the inn and plan things out there. Once she rejoins, get on
  the lift to get back up, then head in the hotel to find Alice. She relays
  the gravity of the situation and then leaves. As does Regal.

  Head up to the seventh floor suite, enter the room, and then Marta runs off
  while getting Tenebrae to stop Emil, though his Ratatosk mode self gets
  through. With that, go back to the first floor to meet Regal and Sheena,
  and then after that, go back to the suite to get some rest. With that, Emil
  will be awakened by Sheena, Regal will relay the plan (which I must admit is
  rather clever), and then the next stop is the casino. Head there next, then
  watch the scene that follows. You'll find Alice and Hawk immediately there,
  who naturally throw you in jail, although Regal's plan pulls through. Inside
  the cell, head west, then watch what Tenebrae does. You can't tell me that's
  not hilarious. But ah well, you've got at least one boss to deal with.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Hawk
HP: 58113
EXP: 11800
My Level: 41

This battle is actually surprisingly hard, and it's the first battle in a
while where using Radiant Roar isn't going to win it all for you straight
off, since Hawk has more HP than that. He comes with two Vanguard soldiers
as accomplices, and indeed, if you have Radiant Roar available for use,
definitely do that right then and eliminate them. Nothing stopping you from
doing that. The most important thing beforehand though, is to change your
party before you walk out the door, as the scenes probably screwed with it a
little bit. But anyway, here's the thing. Hawk goes into Overlimit very
frequently, and you do not want to attack him during that time period. He
will run all over the place, and basically just cut you up. Even if you're
high leveled, you'll be surprised how much damage he'll do. Just wait until
he comes off of it. Thankfully Hawk stuns easily, so if you just play it
safe until he comes off Overlimit, you should be able to combo and use
Devil's Hellfire on him to good results.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  You didn't think it'd be over after a little guy like Hawk though, did you?
  None other than Commander Brute comes in a moment later, and I gotta say,
  he looks like roadkill. That tattoo on his head spells it all. Anyway, the
  things he has to say to Marta are pretty much what you'd expect. Someone
  like you hanging around with outsiders, your mind is poisoned, ad nauseum.
  Anyway, you're going to have to fight him, and he's basically like the first
  battle with Richter. You can't even damage him, so just stay alive for a
  little while and get a feel for his fighting style, as he'll be back, trust
  me.

  It all works out by an accident one moment later, though, that the party is
  able to escape. Once you have free control in the casino, head south outside,
  and Regal will stay behind to stop Brute and the others. Regrettably so, but
  that's the case. Outside, use the usual lift to get up and head out of the
  casino only to run into Alice, though a certain pink haired girl by the name
  of Presea, who you may recognize from Symphonia, comes to help you. She goes
  to take you somewhere safe, and this chapter is left behind. 'Twas a long
  one.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIg. Reawakened Memories
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

This is probably the next shortest chapter in the game next to Chapter 1, which
I suppose may come as a relief after those last three beasts. In fact, this
chapter doesn't even have a whole lot of side quest material, which is really
surprising. But anyway, it all starts when you're on the world map, Presea needs
to get you somewhere safe, and Altessa's House shows up on the map.

--- Altessa's House ~~ Chapter 7 ----------------------------

  When you attempt to head in, it's actually a Vanguard search point, but
  Presea manages to put Marta in an iron maiden and get you through. Slick
  moves, I say. When you get inside the house, save outside, then talk to the
  dwarf over at the left side. Doesn't take long before the Vanguard start
  making noise outside and inspecting the iron maiden. Also turns out that
  Magnar was actually only pretending to be a Martel Knight, but is actually a
  Vanguard officer. Well... didn't take long before this chapter threw a boss
  at us, huh? Make sure before you head out, that you give Presea some skills.
  Special in particular.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Magnar
HP: 77995
EXP: 13700
My Level: 42

Well, if you got past the battle with Hawk, you should have no problem with
Magnar, since this guy may have higher HP, but he's not nearly as fast, and
with that, won't hit you near as hard. As usual, eliminating the Vanguard
soldiers at his side is the first priority, and Marta's Radiant Roar is as
good for that as ever. Obviously though, that's not going to make a dent in
Magnar's HP, in terms of getting him closer to being finished off. Note that
he has an overlimit, and if you find him rather tough, that's a good time to
stay away from him. Otherwise, hit him with Mystic Artes whenever you want.
Presea's Crimson Devastation is by far the best choice, with over 20,000
damage right there, but Devil's Hellfire works rather well too. Anyway, this
shouldn't pose too much of a problem.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  Anyway, there's not much more to do here, as being here endangers Altessa,
  obviously. Use the heal point again if you need to, then leave and head for
  Mizuho, which is newly opened on the map.

--- Mizuho ~~ Chapter 7 ----------------------------

  When you get here, one of the ninjas, Orochi, has a word with Presea, also
  mentioning that Genis and Raine are here, which is always a good thing.
  So anyways, when you gain control, you've got a whole new town to explore,
  so might as well make the most of it. Head into the first house on the left,
  and inside, examine the pile of cooking stuff on the left, which you have to
  admit is a fairly good disguise, but it is indeed the Wonder Chef with the
  PICKLED VEGETABLE RECIPE.

  Anyways, with that in hand, head north to find Genis and Raine, and to report
  to them basically what's been up. They rejoin your party, but before you go
  into the hut up above, there's a couple things to do. First, there's some
  new weapons and armor to buy at the left, so make sure you do that. That,
  and there's a Katz guild to the right. There's a lot of quests to do there,
  BUT MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT YOU GET THE THIRD TREASURE HUNTER'S TROPHY!
  TIME TO DO THIS IS EXTREMELY LIMITED! MAKE SURE YOU COMPLETE THE QUESTS
  THAT COME BEFORE, AS WELL AS GET THE TROPHY, RIGHT NOW!

  Ugh. When you finish that quest, enter the hut above to talk to this place's
  chief, and then the strategy is made to go for Brute. Marta then runs outside
  so naturally it's going to be your job to talk to her. She's at the west
  side near the entrance, so head there, and after a brief conversation, the
  Vanguard starts attacking Mizuho. Hahaha, that's just gold. Anyway, Emil
  transforms again, and you'll have a series of battles to fight, with an
  ongoing scene in between. Which is actually a decent way of setting things
  up. When that's done, it's time to make a strike on Altamira.

--- Altamira ~~ Chapter 7 ----------------------------

  The whole place is completely blockaded when you get in, but Tenebrae has
  the solution: transform into a beautiful woman and distract the guards. Wow.
  That's class. Anyway, watch the scene, which will pit you inside the hotel,
  followed by the group's decision to rest. There's not really much else that
  you can do, so since you're healed anyway, use the right exit on the seventh
  floor suite, and you'll see the elevator nearby. Pick the bottom option,
  which is the basement aka the passageway to Building Number Two, the
  Vanguard's headquarters, and there we go.

--- Building Number 2 ~~ Chapter 7 ----------------------------

  Well, I've said it in the case of dungeons of this magnitude in other games,
  I'll say it now. This is no ordinary dungeon. It's one of the biggest
  dungeons this game has to offer, as the music would indicate, and while it's
  not nearly as confusing and long winded as the Temple of Lightning, it's
  epic in proportion, and a massive undertaking. So enjoy it, it's one of the
  game's highlights without a doubt. When you start off, Genis and Presea feel
  agitated, but that's because of Solum's core being in the hands of Brute.
  Time to get this show on the road.

  Anyway, start by heading to the east, and flick the switch that you see on
  the wall to open the door. Head up the stairs and get the MYSTIC SYMBOL that
  you see on the way, and then proceed. As the scene indicates, Genis and
  Raine know what's up with places like this. But anyways, hit the switch by
  the door to open it, then head in to reach the actual building. The first
  thing you'll find is a fork, in which case you'll want to head west. The
  camera will alter itself as you walk, but basically, follow the path down
  the stairs, then head right under the stairs and enter the first door.

  Inside, you'll find a single Vanguard soldier, who will drop a PASS CARD
  upon his demise. After that, head back outside, and go to the left this
  time. Ignore the door that you see, though we'll head there next. Fight the
  Vanguard soldier in the way, then head inside the large vehicle at the
  right for a MYTHRIL CLOAK in the back. Over to the far left is a DARK CAPE,
  so once you've gotten both, enter that door. Defeat the Vanguard soldier
  inside, and then guess what, you reached the security room. Raine decides to
  divide forces, with a decoy causing commotion while the main force goes up
  the emergency staircase. Emil and Marta are the main force. Tight.

  Well, you're back to just Emil, Marta, and monsters, so I hope you're used
  to that. Anyway, head to the right and back up under the staircase, then
  head east, beyond where you found the pass card. You'll find one more door
  with a switch next to it shortly after, but ignore that one. Continue going
  until you find another door, where inside you can find MYTHRIL MITTENS.
  Outside there's a staircase just to your right, but don't take that one.
  Keep going east to a much larger, spiraling staircase.

  Under the stairs is a DUSK BANDANNA, so get that and then go up, to where
  the first thing you see is a heal point. I smell danger. Just head to the
  west and you'll find Alice, who will tell you in a nutshell that Decus has
  gone mad and is in the nearby room. Before you go to see what's up, head to
  the far west to get the MYTHRIL PLATE there, then head into the room that
  Alice said Decus was in. Well, she was right when she said Decus was mad,
  although Marta falls into a trap. Decus is brought back to his senses for a
  moment due to his cologne, but then Zelos and Colette show up to save you.

  You'll have one quick battle with the Vanguard in between, which will have
  only Emil and a few monsters versus them, so just be careful and don't let
  Emil get knocked out, because otherwise you could get screwed over. Anyway,
  Emil leaves with Zelos and Colette for a safe place, explains it, and now
  it's time to get Marta back. In the room you wind up in, get the RED SAGE
  over to the right, then head outside. You'll realize you're in the same room
  where you found Alice in, which is good.

  Head to the west and enter the first door you see, and inside, examine the
  machine on the right to renew your pass card to D-rank. This'll allow you to
  ride the elevator on the east side, which is basically where you came out
  near, so ride that one to Floor 4. Speaking of which, now is a perfectly
  good time to make sure Zelos and Colette both have Special equipped, so that
  you can use their Mystic Artes whenever. Zelos probably does, but Colette
  definitely won't, so just make sure those are good to go. And with that,
  on Floor 4, defeat the Vanguard you're next to and snag the ORICHALCUM there.

  Take off to the west with that done. In the first door you'll find another
  Vanguard watchdog, and a LIGHT CAPE behind him. Keep going, and in the next
  door you'll find a machine which upgrades the pass card to C-rank. So, with
  that you can use the elevator on the right to get to Floor 2. Head there
  next, and then get the SARDONYX right above you as you land. From there, go
  to the left, and halfway down the hall you'll find a machine which upgrades
  you to B-rank. We're getting there. At this point, though, we have to go
  back down to Floor 1.

  When you wind up there, head all the way over to the west. Use the heal
  point on the way, as I'm sure that'll come in handy right about now. But
  anyway, the west elevator will allow you to access Floor 3. When you wind
  up there, pick up the MYTHRIL SPINNER you land next to, and then enter the
  door halfway down the hall to find a Katz and a merchant. I have to say, I
  wasn't expecting something that nice. I strongly suggest stocking up on
  Lemon and Pineapple Gels, the latter in particular, but whatever.

  Examine the machine to upgrade your pass card to A-rank, and then head back
  outside. Now use the left elevator to find you have full reign wherever you
  want. Start off by going to Floor 2, and then getting the RED SAVORY that
  you're now able to get, to the left. With that, go down to Floor 1, and now
  head all the way to the right. This elevator here now allows you to access
  Floor 3 as well, so take it there to get the MYTHRIL GAUNTLETS on the right.
  I'm likin' this. To get back though, you need to head down to Floor 1, then
  all the way to the west and up that elevator to Floor 4.

  But yeah, make sure you're using the LEFT elevator and get to Floor 4. Now
  you can proceed to the west, where you'll find a switch and another door.
  In the area you end up in, in any case, Tenebrae points out that Marta is
  on that floor. Well, there's only one door to enter. Inside, Emil will
  point out that something's suspicious, so basically investigate everything.
  Inspect the red monitor, the stuff to the left both down and up the ladder,
  as well as the consoles to the right. At that point, Sheena then drops down.
  Good to know!

  Anyway, she says Marta is on a stockroom up through the ceiling, which
  Colette carries you to. You can see a scene as Marta is trying to talk sense
  into Brute by examining the upper vent, but otherwise, take the right one.
  There, beat up the guard you see, then you're free to rescue Marta in the
  other room. Now, with her back, head to the right, and then you'll be
  rejoined by Presea, Genis, and Raine. Awesome, now we have the whole
  Symphonia list except for Lloyd and Regal. So, for that, just head up the
  stairs at the north to find Brute. Looks like another sticky situation, but
  you get some unexpected help. "Don't even start spewing the word 'justice'!"
  - Lloyd Irving. But... you've still got the head honcho to deal with.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Brute
HP: 91362
EXP: 20000
My Level: 47

You probably know what to expect from this fight as you battled him at the
end of Chapter 6 as well, but Brute is a pretty strong man. Actually though,
the majority of his attacks are magic based. He's a lot more difficult to
interrupt than say, Richter was, but his magic is anything but devastating.
Brute's most dangerous normal attack is a darkness based attack that spews
from his scepter and will pretty much do several thousand damage to one
character. That, and Brute likes to teleport around, making it difficult to
maintain combos. Still, if you have a magic user or two plus a couple good,
strong physical attackers, Brute shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Basically my suggestion for Mystic Artes here is that if you get the
opportunity early, you should most certainly use it. Presea's is the overall
most powerful towards one target though, so if she's in your party, definitely
use her's. Emil, Genis, and Zelos are all good too, though, but that's only
if you can squeeze that into the first half of the battle. Towards the later
end of the battle, Brute will start using his own Mystic Arte, Ragnarok, and
suffice it to say it will ruin your whole party, and then some. You'll
definitely need Marta's Radiant Roar to heal you back up from that, but Brute
reserves that for a lot later in the battle. Apart from that, this fight
shouldn't be too problematic.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  To add further injury to Brute, Decus runs in and steals Solum's core from
  him, though Emil swipes it and Marta manages to hatch it. Meanwhile, Raine
  heals Brute, and he manages to regain his sanity. He's actually not a bad
  person, as you can tell, plus he reveals Richter was behind everything. But
  anyway, all the Symphonia characters minus Presea will leave you, and now
  you need to get out of here. You gain the ability of Solum, which is nice.
  But with that, make sure you use the heal point at the left again and SAVE.
  Then use the elevator at the right, to see Lloyd fighting a losing battle.
  Well, guess we've gotta do this again.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Richter
HP: 102096
EXP: 13000
My Level: 48

This fight is absolutely no different than it was when you fought Richter
back in the Cape Fortress. So basically, if you struggled with that battle,
this one should be a little more manageable. If you managed to beat that one
though, this battle should be a breeze. Still, Richter is no pushover. He
still uses Towering Inferno, which will rape your party into submission.
Then again, you'll do a LOT more damage to Richter, which will stop the fight
from getting as drawn out. I'd still recommend keeping Marta ready to use
Radiant Roar whenever that comes out, but this time, if you want to use
other Mystic Artes, that's definitely possible. Again, Presea's is by far
the best. If you want to use Emil's, go ahead, just don't use Ain Soph Aur,
as Richter will counter with Eternal Recurrance, screwing you over. Then
again, you deserve that for using a crappy skill like Ain Soph Aur in the
first place. Anyway, keep in the fight, and you should be able to do this.
I have faith in you guys.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  Which is followed by the dark Emil using Ain Soph Aur again to no success,
  and then a flashback which shows what actually went on way back when. It's
  basically Richter and Aster talking to Ratatosk, showing what actually
  happened to Aster, which climaxes in a completely frenzy on Richter's part.
  You gotta admit, he pulls that off. But still, Emil, Ratatosk. That's
  crazy. Lloyd then covers for Emil, but Aramis helps get Richter out. Now
  that's what I call the ending to a chapter.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
VIh. Eternal Bond
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Yep, Chapter 8 starts a little bit differently than the others do, in that
you're automatically taken to it after the scenes. You don't have to go to a
given new location to start it, in fact it cuts right in there mid-scene. It's
still not done explaining the whole thing about Ratatosk, but either way, you
emerge as Emil in conversation with Tenebrae, on the seventh floor suite of
Altamira.

--- Altamira ~~ Chapter 8 ----------------------------

  Yep, we've been here in three different chapters. I think that's a record
  or something. ^_^ But ah well, Emil is in a fairly depressed mood when he
  gets up, which I would be too. Feel free to watch the skits that follow,
  then head outside that room to find Marta outside. She'll rejoin you, and
  then the next stop will be Brute's room, on the fifth floor. Head there and
  talk to Orochi outside, then Brute will request to you that you go and stop
  Richter, the one who fashioned the Vanguard into such a militant group. Will
  do.

  Outside, Presea appears and tells you that Regal found out where Richter is,
  so at that point, take the elevator and go down to the first floor and use
  the heal point. Head out and then take the lift down to the usual transport,
  then go to the Lezareno building. Take the north elevator up to the Sky
  Terrace to find Lloyd and the others. Lloyd reveals that Richter is at the
  Otherworldly Gate, making pacts with demons, and then leaves, suggesting you
  go to the World Tree. Naturally Lloyd leaves, but all the other Symphonia
  characters will join you. So, now when you head off, the Tower of Salvation
  is open, so head off there.

--- Tower of Salvation ~~ Chapter 8 ----------------------------

  Don't worry, it's not a new full length dungeon, although I sort of wish
  that it was. When you arrive here, you'll meet the guardian of the World
  Tree, whose name is Yuan. If you played Symphonia, you'll instantly know
  who he is. In any case, Lloyd now reveals why he's been doing what he's
  been doing with the Centurion cores for so long, and to go along with his
  plan, he says that Emil's two personalities must be combined into one, which
  Martel told him could be done by the Summon Spirit of Heart, Verius. So,
  that's going to be the next stop.

  Yuan gives the whole party Rheairds, which will now allow you to access the
  entire world at ease. Matter of fact, there's several things to do now.
  First of all, Lloyd joins your party, and I definitely suggest using him,
  since he's a complete beast on the battlefield. Particularly, his Mystic
  Arte, Divine Justice, is in my opinion the best in the game. But anyway, do
  some quests, and one of them will be the final Treasure Hunter's Trophy,
  though I'll cover that a little later. If this is your second playthrough,
  Gladsheim will appear, though I ain't gonna get into that. Right now,
  though, remember that Phoenix in the Balacruf Mausoleum? If you did Richter's
  side quest, we should probably get on that now. IF YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED,
  OR DIDN'T DO THE RICHTER QUEST, GO TO THE MARTEL TEMPLE NOW.

--- Balacruf Mausoleum ~~ Chapter 8 ----------------------------

  If you don't remember how to get here, head to Asgard, up to the stone dais,
  and stand in the center to get into the Underground Asgard Ruin. From there,
  head forward and to the northwest corner, where there's a door which will
  open, taking you here. From the mausoleum, enter and then go to the far north
  side, where you'll have to open the north door again, then change the
  Sorcerer's Ring back to wind. Once in that room, use the Sorcerer's Ring to
  spin the Red, Yellow, Green, White, Blue, in that order. This will open the
  northern door, allowing you to challenge the Phoenix.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Phoenix, Were Bear x2, Igniter x2
HP: 24596, 36486, 24914
EXP: 3929
My Level: 48

These things can best be described as monsters that have strong attacks but
don't typically feel like using them. First of all, the Phoenix is by FAR
the strongest target here, no questions asked. Its attacks are extremely
powerful and you leave it alone it can easily knock out a character very
quickly. But with a strong party like the one you're bound to have now, these
guys won't be any problem at all. In particular, Lloyd with Divine Justice
will absolutely annihilate everything that so much as looks you in the eye
in this battle. But basically, go for the Phoenix first, then for the
Igniters, then the Were Bears. I figure this would be more fun in Chapter 6
or so, but whatever, that's water under the bridge.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  Your reward for that is the BALACRUF SYMBOL, which we can put to some good
  use right about now. Anyway, head back to the Underground Ruins. From there,
  head east to get to the room with the pedestral, then go down the stairs.
  Once you arrive there, defeat the first golem you see, which is just to the
  right. Inside the door it opens, take the east passage and then kill the
  golem there. That door will open, then you need to fight the golem over to
  the west (basically just to the right of the two paths).

  With that done, head to the west and you'll see a place to set the Balacruf
  Symbol. On the other side you will find 30,000 GALD, the SOUL BLAST, and the
  STRANGE BLUE, which is all for Emil. But hold on, there's more. Defeat the
  golem to the right and head into the next room, then pick up the arrow on
  the blue panel as you did before. Now set it on the statue and fire the
  arrow to East, South, East, so that you can reach the next room. That's the
  room with the big winds, and I hate to say that you'll need to get through
  that again.

  Why these puzzles are still in play baffles me, but basically it's to the
  left, down a bit and to the right, around and then up through the door. When
  you get in, you'll find a place to put the symbol to the left, and then the
  door will open to reveal a RETRIBUTION and a RAIN MAKER, which are both uber
  equipment for Marta. At this point we're done in this place and with the
  Balacruf Symbol, so now it's time to head on to Martel Temple. Which is a
  little higher up the list of locations if you're wondering where it is.

--- Martel Temple ~~ Chapter 8 ----------------------------

  Well, the Martel Temple is the second to last storyline dungeon in the
  game, I don't think I ought to mask that for one second. And actually, it's
  not a hard one at all. With Lloyd in your party, you can kill everything
  that comes your way, using Divine Justice. Most of the enemies aren't very
  difficult at all though. The main enemy you'll fight is the Golem, which dies
  in about three hits, so it's smooth sailing from here on out. Once you arrive
  you'll find Dirk, who after he talks with Lloyd, Emil finally realizes why
  everyone stood up for Lloyd. Yeah, took him long enough.

  Head inside the temple, and at that usual fork, head east this time, and now
  you can go down the stairs. Anyways, go down to that floor, and now you'll
  have to play around a little bit if you want to advance. First of all, if
  you use the stairs at the southwest of this room, you'll end up in a scene
  where Sheena explains who Verius really is. But basically, you've got a
  golem here. When the golem is defeated, it will transform into a block which
  can be pushed. However, the block will be of a color, and the block can only
  be pushed into a hole of that corresponding color.

  There's three colors and they will alternate, so you can be sure you'll get
  the one you need eventually. I will say that if you get a red block that's
  the most versatile, as if you drop it in the middle hole, it'll fall in the
  center. But yeah, you need these blocks in the holes in order to bridge the
  gaps below. There's one in the middle and one on each side, so there you go.
  I will say this, though: when you get a green block, push it in the middle
  hole. You need to do that twice to bridge the north gap. When the second one
  falls, just head down and push it in.

  When you bridge the east gap, you can get 4000 GALD and an ELVEN CAPE on the
  other side. As for the west side you can get a MIRACLE GEL and a HOLY SYMBOL.
  That's what's in it for you, though once again you don't need to get those
  if you have no desire to. Just bridge the north gap, then head up there.
  You'll find a pedestral there that will "weaken the seal" when you examine
  it, so just do that, and then head back to the top part of the room. From
  there, take the left staircase. This will lead you up a path that will end in
  a SPECIAL GEL. Trust me, it's rather hard to come across those.

  Anyway, that seal is in the first room. Head back down to the room with the
  golems, then head up the staircase to the right. Back at the entrance fork,
  head right and take the teleport there, though there's a scene with Emil
  and Marta halfway between. In the room you end up in, take another teleport,
  and then you'll be in a short little passage. There's three monsters along
  the way, and I recommend fighting all of them for the experience. Halfway
  through there's also an ALL-DIVIDE, but to the far west you'll find the
  altar.

  Verius doesn't give Emil his help yet until he's made up his mind, but a
  minute later there's an earthquake, which signifies Richter is opening the
  Ginnungagap door. Emil then completely loses it, then after some flashbacks,
  Raine suggests getting out of the temple. Which you'll need to do, but it's
  a very short way out. When you end up out, you'll see Dirk fighting some
  monsters, and you'll have to join in. I suppose what follows is a mini-boss
  battle, but I wouldn't even consider it that, since it has so little HP and
  is relatively easy too. Just get through it.

  A moment later, Emil then converts to his other self, but then you're taken
  inside his thoughts, where the green-eyed Emil finally makes up his mind
  and calls Verius, and then you could say that the red-eyed Emil gets... uh,
  blown away. Anyway, Emil then requests everyone's help, which they will of
  course give him. Head outside and then everyone will go off their own way to
  do what they need to. Emil decides he'll got to Luin to say his goodbyes to
  the world. So, I'll start a new section for it, but there's some stuff you
  can do first.

--- Luin ~~ Chapter 8 ----------------------------

  Yep, don't necessarily go straight to Luin, although you can if you want to.
  You have the option of talking with the Symphonia characters, and most of
  the conversations are relatively interesting, so you might as well, though
  if you don't want to, that's cool. Here's where they are.

-> Colette is by the school in Iselia.
-> Raine is towards the center of Sybak.
-> Genis is right at the entrance of Palmacosta.
-> Regal is in the harbor at Izoold.
-> Sheena is off the western path in Mizuho.
-> Zelos is near the palace in Meltokio.
-> Presea is right outside Altessa's house.
-> Lloyd is near the church in Flanoir.
-> Yuan is in the Tower of Salvation. Watch this scene if you're a Symphonia
   player, you'll get a wave of nostalgia.

  At this point, head over to Luin to find Aunt Flora right there, and then
  go inside to the usual second floor to meet Alba in there as well. It's
  actually not a very abrasive conversation. Looks like they're proud to have
  Emil as a nephew after all. Anyway, Emil wants to visit "Lloyd the Great"
  one more time, so leave this screen and head to the west to examine the
  statue of Lloyd there. By the way, Emil talks to Tenebrae here and yeah,
  something fishy is indeed up.

  When Emil is done talking to himself aka to Lloyd's statue, leave Luin and
  head to Altamira at last. There you'll immediately be taken outside the
  casino, where Emil talks to Marta about what's going to happen, as well as
  the battles they'll face at Ginnungagap. Warning: major cheese. But anyway,
  when that scene is over everyone assembles in front of the Altamira hotel,
  and you have a full party. Now there's plenty of stuff to do, and I have a
  final preparations section set aside for just that.

--- Final Preparations ~~ Chapter 8 ----------------------------

  Alright, there's a few things you might want to do before you head off to
  the Ginnungagap to stop Richter.

 -> If you head to Sybak, enter the library, and you'll see Aqua getting
    something from Norton that will allow Richter to turn his body into "holy
    flames". That can't be good. That's only if you've done Richter's side
    quest though, I believe.

 -> If you head to Meltokio, you can approach the top of the last screen
    before the palace, and then after a scene, you'll find LLOYD'S MASK 4,
    and Emil will get a new title. Nice.

 -> Head to Iselia next. When you get there, Lloyd will reminisce and then
    talk about how he went around the world collecting Exspheres. Emil will
    then try to guess who it was that he went with, and no matter which
    Symphonia character you pick, it'll be right somehow. But anyway, just
    pick anyone. The Raine, Presea, and Sheena ones are pretty funny, but
    that's just me.

 -> After you pick someone, head to Flanoir, where Lloyd will get punched
    in the face by an angry man there. I was wondering when that would happen.
    Anyway, Lloyd will be alone, so to find him and continue with the story,
    head to the balcony in Flanoir near the church, and the person you picked
    in Iselia will comfort him. In most cases, not a bad scene at all.

 -> The Meltokio arena is still open, and you should probably finish that.
    Get the skill Regenerate 2 on Emil, for instance, and the single battle
    should be doable. The group battle is a breeze, and the monster battles,
    well, that's just entertaining. Have fun with all of that.

 -> MOST IMPORTANTLY: if you did the Treasure Hunter's Trophy quests in
    chapters 5, 6, and 7, after you do some more quests, you'll have the
    option to go to the Twilight Palace. Do not take that place lightly, as
    the boss at the end is ridiculously hard. It's rewarding though, so if
    you're up for it, go there. Otherwise, head to the Otherworldly Gate.

--- Twilight Palace ~~ Chapter 8 ----------------------------

  Be warned before you step in this place. The ultimate, most difficult boss
  in the game (Abyssion, Nebilim esque) is at the end of this place, and you
  need to go through the entire thing to get to it. So basically, don't even
  attempt this unless you know you have a good shot at beating that boss. So
  in any case, have at least a few Miracle Gels, 20 Life Bottles, Lemon Gels,
  and Pineapple Gels, and a couple Specifics and Treats. That's just for
  healing items. I also took it on at Level 60, but I'd advise being WAY
  higher than that.

  When you finally do accept the Twilight Palace quest, you'll be there, and
  you'll see a crystal on the left and right sides of this place. One of them
  is blue and one of them is red. Basically, just fire at either of them, and
  then what you want to do is make your way to the top of this area and fire at
  the one of the opposite color. Once you've done that, all of the colored
  barriers here will disappear. The chests that you can pick up will contain a
  STAR BREAKER, a FAIRY TALE, a LION HEART, and a HEALER'S RIBBON. That's very
  very hi-tech equipment, so equip it if it benefits you.

  At the top near the stairs, you'll see a large plant monster, which in
  battle comes with small Mandragoras and other monsters which are capable of
  using Life Force, a rather potent healing technique. That's not a good
  situation overall, so what you'll want to do is use an encompassing Mystic
  Arte like Shining Bind to wipe them out in one fell swoop. The actual plant
  that you saw outside is by far the least of your worries. When it's dead
  though, you'll see three staircases there. Only the one on the right is not
  sealed off, so head there.

  This is the first of three absolutely massive stairways that you'll need to
  ascend. This one is blue, which is a fairly neat horizon. But anyway, dodge
  the enemies on the way if you want to make things faster. Otherwise, get to
  the top and you'll find a large bat. This is in my opinion the easiest of the
  four battles here, but don't underestimate it. The monster is capable of
  doing a lot of damage very quickly, so keep an eye out. When you beat it,
  pick up the WARRIOR'S BANDANNA in the chest, then you'll need to go back the
  way you came. At this point, the left staircase is unsealed, so...

  Anyway, the staircase you see there is exactly the same as the first one.
  Head up to the top for a slightly more difficult battle. Basically, the
  enemy you see is a large frog, but it comes with a massive fish enemy that
  is far more dangerous, in my opinion. It's a good opportunity to abuse
  Mystic Artes, but I'll say, if you can't get past that, there's no hope in
  hell of you beating Album Atrum. When it's done, get the MASTER MIND, and
  now in the first room, the central staircase is open. Head up to the very
  top, grab the PHILOSOPHER'S STONE on the right (wow...) and 50000 GALD on
  the left, then approach the chest. Tenebrae unlocks the seal, and...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Album Atrum
HP: 314424
EXP: 71004
My Level: 60 (but for your sanity, be way higher)

Here we are. This is the ultimate of the ultimate, the hardest that anything
in this game will get, and god damn does it live up to its name. This is</pre><pre id="faqspan-5">
truly Abyssion or Nebilim material, and you need to make preparations before
you come in here. First of all, a party. My Emil and Marta were at levels
60 and 59 respectively, then I brought Lloyd and a Fenrir. It's tough for me
to say where you should be at, since people come into this fight at wildly
different levels (I've seen people recommend being way higher than Level 80
and some doing it in low to mid 50s), but either way, I like to have Lloyd
because his Divine Justice helps to kill the monsters surrounding Album
Atrum and lets you get to him more quickly. The stronger and the more high
leveled your monster is, the better. And since I'm not a huge monster expert
I can't really advise you on which one to bring, but if you have a Ravenous,
bring it, definitely. No doubts about that.

Anyway, no matter what level you're at, the hardest part of this battle is
going to be getting rid of the four extremely strong monster accomplices
that Album Atrum comes with. I will say this, though. Pay extremely close
attention to if meteors start falling. ALBUM ATRUM'S SIGNATURE, AND MOST
DEVASTATING ATTACK, IS METEOR STORM. If you see that happen, then you have
three options, depending on whatever is most convenient for you. You can
either use a unison attack, a Mystic Arte, or an All-Divide if there's no
other choice. Even at levels as high as 80-90, Meteor Storm can wipe out a
whole party at full HP. You absolutely must interrupt it, or you will be
screwed. But obviously though, your first target is going to have to be the
monsters. I would go for either the Incognitos or the Vrooms first. The
Incognitos have a regeneration tactic which makes them somewhat of a pain in
the ass to eliminate, but the Vroom has slightly higher HP. Neither is as
dangerous as the Jormungandr, but save that for a little later. First of all,
this is the reason I like to bring Lloyd here. Because Divine Justice will
go a long way to damaging the Incognitos. It could do anywhere from 20,000
to 40,000 damage, depending on how your luck works out.

I'd highly suggest that you set Lloyd, or whatever else you're using, to
the strategy of attacking the same target as you, just to speed things up.
While you're doing this, never for a moment neglect your safety. In fact,
don't necessarily use Divine Justice exclusively. If Emil is super high
leveled, then use Devil's Hellfire. If you need the healing, use Radiant
Roar. Hell, use ANYTHING if it helps you interrupt Meteor Storm. Eventually,
you'll be able to get down to just Album Atrum. Well, you're through with
the hard part of the battle, but fighting the big guy is an extremely
daunting and frustrating task. I hope that your Emil has upwards of 1500 ATK
at least, because otherwise, damaging him is going to be VERY hard, as Album
Atrum is very frequently in a state of guarding. Obviously though, you're
going to want Emil and whatever else you've got to pound on him no matter
what. As for Marta, if she has Revive, definitely use it on everyone. If you
don't have Marta, you're both insane and underleveled. I didn't have Revive,
by the way.

Album Atrum's attacks consist of all the upper level spells like Meteor
Storm, Indignation, Gravity Well, and Flare Tornado (by the way, if his
battle quote is something about burning in hell, that's what he's using, not
Meteor Storm). That, and he can also charge through your attacking party
members for about 3000-4000 damage, and teleport around, only to instantly
cast a spell whenever he arrives where he does. He also likes to claw
around himself, breath fire (very dangerous), and call you a piece of crap.
Yeah, he calls you a piece of crap. That's kind of hilarious. What's very
important that he does, though, is he glows in red energy and increases his
power, but in this process his defense significantly decreases. At this
point, use Fiend Fusion for Emil, and start hacking away at him. This fight
will take an extremely long time, plus Album Atrum heals 3144 HP sporadically
as well, making this battle even longer. If you hit him at the right moment,
though, that HP will decrease. Just make sure you stop ALL of his spells, or
you could get your ass kicked at a moment you don't expect. That, and use
Fiend Fusion, which helps you in every way. Hit him at the right moment, use
every last thing you've got in your arsenal, stun him, and after enough time
you will get through this battle. It took me 21 minutes, and I used 14
Mystic Artes, though I got a 111 hit combo. VERY difficult battle.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  Your treasure for that battle is a Kitty Kat added to the Katz Guild, and
  Emil and Marta both get new titles. Well, you beat the hardest boss that
  you can reach in your first playthrough, so what can I say. Do another
  playthrough and get through Gladsheim so you can beat Album Atrum again
  there. Otherwise, if you haven't already, finish the game.

--- Ginnungagap ~~ Chapter 8 ----------------------------

  When you show up at the Otherworldly Gate, Raine will talk about it a little
  and then Tenebrae explains how it worked to separate the worlds, and now
  you can finally enter into Ginnungagap, which is the game's final dungeon.
  Might as well jump right into it. Head down the path when you enter, and
  eventually you'll come to a fork, as there's two paths on the left as you
  walk down. Both of them lead to the same place, but halfway down the
  leftmost path you'll find a BLOOD LUST, which is a fairly decent piece of
  armor for Emil.

  At the end of the path you'll find an elevator to take down, as well as a
  save point on the left, though once you go down it'll tell you there's a
  seal that needs to be broken. We can make arrangements for that. Now what
  you need to do here is quite simple. Head up any of the paths that are
  surrounding the elevator, and you'll see that it's a very circular setup.
  On the outside of this area, you'll find four tree roots that are encased in
  ice. You need to use the Sorcerer's Ring to melt the ice off of them. It's
  as simple as that.

  So yeah, there's four in total, and once you melt all of them, the seal
  will be broken. Head back down to the elevator and take it down to the third
  level, where you'll basically have to do the same thing again, except this
  time the tree roots are of four different elements. That's acceptable. Just
  melt these roots and then the seal will break, allowing you to access the
  bottom level. I would recommend going back to the top and saving again, but
  eh, whatever. When you're ready to go, head down to the bottom level.

  When you get down there, all of the Symphonia characters just vanish into
  thin air, basically because they have the Derris Emblem. Now that they're
  gone though, I would strongly suggest saving if you didn't and changing your
  party adequately, but anyway, all you have to do is follow the new path and
  then you'll run into Alice and Decus. Basically, Alice reveals why she hates
  Marta, and Decus reveals why he caused the Blood Purge, and now it's time to
  settle all of this.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Alice, Decus
HP: 63480, 75864
EXP: 30000
My Level: 52

This is quite possibly the most difficult battle of the game. As you can see,
both of these two have a very strong amount of HP, plus they complement each
other perfectly, which will obviously lead to an extremely rough battle. So
obviously you're going to have to choose one of the two to go after, and in
my opinion there is absolutely no doubt that you should go for Alice first.
It's not only because she has less HP, but she still casts healing magic.
There's nothing worse than pulling a 50 hit combo into Decus, and then having
Alice heal him back for 22,000 HP. At least with Alice, you can keep her under
control, since she casts magic and you're within your ability to interrupt
it. But anyway, the most important thing to do here is to immediately heal a
character who's falling into critical HP.

If you're going to go for Alice first, then obviously you're leaving the
physically stronger of the two around. Naturally he'll be hitting Marta, so
if you build your unison bar, unless you're feeling really damn confident, if
both are alive, then use Radiant Roar. It'll damage both of them for fairly
decent damage, plus it'll heal you back. You really need to keep an eye on
Alice later though, since she'll be constantly spellcasting. Never let her
get it off. Her Mystic Arte, Fimbulvetr, is rare, but it'll happen, so once
again, you may need to save up Radiant Roar for an instance in which your
party drops to 1 HP. When Alice dies, it's still a tough battle, but it'll
become a hell of a lot easier. If you build a Mystic Arte up here, though,
definitely reserve it, since you never use when Decus will use Sturm und
Drang. But anyway, the challenge here is killing one of the two. That being
said, if Alice drops to about 7000 HP and you're feeling lucky, by all means
try Devil's Hellfire.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  The scene that results can be interpreted in many different ways on your
  party. Regardless, it's a lot more depressing of a scene than you would
  expect. Anyway, Emil and Marta have a journey to finish. Your immediate
  reward for that battle (apart from the insane EXP) is a RED LAVENDER, which
  is straight to the north. From there, keep going by heading to the west.
  This will pit you in a completely new looking area. A lot more psychedelic
  here if you ask me.

  Anyway, take the path to the left, up and around, and then as you're moving
  south you'll come across a fork. Head west rather than south, then take the
  path that results until you finish another fork, this one being east and
  north. Get the MILLSTONE for Marta to the east, then head north. Take that
  path until you reach a new screen, and you'll arrive in a place I call the
  treasure room. Straight ahead is the MIND SLICER for Emil, and to the east
  you can find a RED VERBENA and an ANGEL DUST.

  All this equipment is very good, though it will pale in comparison to the
  Balacruf Symbol stuff. But anyway, now it's time to head back to that first
  fork. To do so, head out of this room, then at the fork you come to, head
  south and follow the path until you reach that original west-south fork.
  Now it's time to go south. Follow that path to the west as it turns around
  a little bit, then proceed to the next area.

  On this next screen, you can head north straight off to get a RED BASIL.
  Which there's way too many of in this game, but whatever. Head to the west
  and then Lloyd will come down, saying he escaped the curse due to Martel's
  protection. He also is like-minded with Tenebrae, knowing what Emil is gonna
  do. But anyway, keep going further to find the petrified Symphonia heroes,
  which Emil then saves. Now, form a party that you want to use, because as
  soon as you head down, Aqua gives a long winded speech about how evil
  Ratatosk is, and sics a three headed dragon at you. That's badass.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Ladon
HP: 94221
EXP: 22000
My Level: 54

I'd be lying if I told you this was a hard battle. Ladon is rather powerful,
as a dragon obviously he's going to feature breath attacks that surround
him, and the damage will add up very quickly. That being said, if you've
got four strong characters, you'll start pounding and building up combos
extremely quickly. It's time to give Marta a break here and use the Mystic
Artes of your other characters. If you're using Presea here, her Crimson
Devastation is by far the most ideal, but Emil's, Lloyd's, Genis's, Sheena's,
all of those are appropriate. Just don't completely neglect yourself when
you run low on HP, and you'll breeze through this one.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  Aqua then turns into a core since she herself was the monster, and although
  Emil gives it to Marta saying that he doesn't want to hatch her immediately
  and form a pact, you'll learn Aqua as a skill. But anyway, we are done now.
  Just head up ahead, and then you'll be on a long bridge, where halfway
  through you'll find a save point as well as the trademark Tales scene right
  before the end where everyone says their final words. Up ahead is the actual
  Ginnungagap, so make sure you save, then go right in ahead.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss: Richter
HP: 148503
EXP: 30000
My Level: 55

Well, you've fought Richter multiple times, and he's not incredibly different
this time around, although immersing himself in flames certainly gives him
some new abilities. The main difference here is that Richter will at times
surround himself with circling red flames, and if you stand next to him,
he'll just keep damaging you. Probably multiple times, since he'll be doing
some other attack at the same time. But he's still Richter, and he does
essentially the same things, such as cast magic, which once again, he is very
easy to stun. I was able to pull off a 117 hit combo here, Richter isn't
completely relentless. It's really an endurance battle more than anything,
since Richter has a ton of HP, and he'll be killing some characters unless
you're incredibly overleveled. Also, his new Mystic Arte, Lord of Flames, is
exactly the same as his old one, so just watch out for that. Again, the
Radiant Roar will work to your advantage, but feel free to use a Specific or
such if you get into a tough spot, and just use Shining Bind, Divine Justice,
or Crimson Devastation. Just keep in there, and you should be able to win.
If you're having trouble, use both Raine and Marta.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There's a lot that happens after that battle, even though it is definitely the
technical final battle. I'm not going to say anything about the scene, though
if you read ahead of here you've got it coming to you. You'll fight two
enemies after that, the girl of whom has about 9000 HP and the guy who has
about 15000. LOSE THE BATTLE. Otherwise you will get the bad ending. You pretty
much have to force yourself to win it, but if you want to for some ungodly
reason, just hit the girl, she heals. The guy should kick your ass though. After
that you're fighting Emil with Emil. It's stupidly easy, he has about 12000 HP,
and dies very quickly. Again, just hit him. Afterwards, enjoy the ending! Go
to the grade shop afterwards, then do as you wish. Gladsheim, a new playthrough,
whatever floats your boat.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
                   ~-~ ~-~ ~-~  VII. Equipment ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Weapons, armor, headgear, armgear, accessories... you name it, it's got its
spot right here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIIa. Weapons
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For my notes, typically it'll list the location, and sometimes, if I'm nice
enough, I'll even list the skills that the weapon comes with.

+-----------------+-----+-------+---------------------------------------------+
| Weapon Name     | Atk | Used  | Notes                                       |
+-----------------+-----+-------+---------------------------------------------+
| Bronze Sword    | 24  | Emil  | Initial equipment                           |
| Iron Sword      | 52  | Emil  | Bought in Asgard                            |
| Small Sword     | 79  | Emil  | Bought in Palmacosta                        |
| Long Sword      | 107 | Emil  | Bought in Triet                             |
| Broadsword      | 135 | Emil  | Bought in Izoold                            |
| Hunting Sword   | 163 | Emil  | Found in Camberto Caves; VS Beast 1         |
| Great Sword     | 190 | Emil  | Bought in Flanoir                           |
| Riot Spike      | 190 | Emil  | Synth; Regenerate 2, Critical 2, Fire       |
| Gold Sword      | 218 | Emil  | Bought in Meltokio; Cast Delay Atk 1        |
| Echo Tracer     | 218 | Emil  | Synth; Critical 2, Accelerate, Light        |
| Black Sword     | 246 | Emil  | Synth                                       |
| Vile Requiem    | 272 | Emil  | Synth; Relax 1, Critical 2, Ice             |
| Bastard Sword   | 273 | Emil  | Bought in Altamira; P. Def Decrease Atk 2   |
| Knight's Sword  | 301 | Emil  | Bought in Mizuho; VS Ghost 2                |
| Mythril Sword   | 329 | Emil  | Synth; VS Magical Being 2                   |
| Mind Slicer     | 367 | Emil  | Found in Ginnungagap; Spirit Drain 2        |
| Demonic Torment | 384 | Emil  | Synth; Speed Decrease Atk 2, EXP Minus 1    |
| Soul Blast      | 412 | Emil  | Use Balacruf Symbol; Life Drain 2, W Attack1|
| Mesmeric Trance | 495 | Emil  | Found in Gladsheim; P. Attack 3, HP Dec 1   |
| Nether Traitor  | 551 | Emil  | Found in Twilight Palace; Regen 3, Accel.   |
|                 |     |       |                                             |
| Bronze Spinner  | 16  | Marta | Initial equipment                           |
| Iron Spinner    | 35  | Marta | Bought in Hima                              |
| Ivory Spinner   | 54  | Marta | Bought in Palmacosta; VS Bird 1             |
| Gothic Spinner  | 73  | Marta | Bought in Triet                             |
| Silver Spinner  | 92  | Marta | Found in Iselia Human Ranch                 |
| Coral Spinner   | 111 | Marta | Bought in Flanoir                           |
| Demonic Spinner | 129 | Marta | Found in Meltokio; VS Dragons 2             |
| Gold Spinner    | 149 | Marta | Found in Temple of Ice                      |
| War Chariot     | 149 | Marta | Synth; Fire Ball, Fire Element              |
| Black Spinner   | 167 | Marta | Bought in Altamira                          |
| Clock Spinner   | 167 | Marta | Synth; Cast Delay Attack 2, Run Away        |
| Dragon Spinner  | 186 | Marta | Synth; VS Free From 2                       |
| Dark Sphere     | 205 | Marta | Synth; Sleep Attack 2, Dark Element         |
| Unicorn Spinner | 205 | Marta | Bought in Mizuho; VS Demon 2                |
| Mythril Spinner | 224 | Marta | Synth; VS Magical Being 2                   |
| Energy Arc      | 224 | Marta | Synth; Relax 1, Lightning Element           |
| Retribution     | 242 | Marta | Use Balacruf Symbol; EXP Minus 2, TP Inc 2  |
| Trick Bind      | 299 | Marta | Found in Gladsheim; Delay, Concentrate 2    |
| Millstone       | 371 | Marta | Found in Ginnungagap, P. Def Dec Atk 2      |
| Kismet          | 375 | Marta | Dropped by Album Atrum; Recall, Light       |
+-----------------+-----+-------+---------------------------------------------+

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIIb. Armor
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For my notes, typically it'll list the location, and sometimes, if I'm nice
enough, I'll even list the skills that the weapon comes with.

+---------------+-----+-----+-------+----------------------------------------+
| Armor Name    | P.D | A.D | Used  | Notes                                  |
+---------------+-----+-----+-------+----------------------------------------+
| Leather Plate | 11  |  6  | Emil  | Initial equipment                      |
| Iron Plate    | 22  | 13  | Emil  | Bought in Hima                         |
| Chain Plate   | 33  | 19  | Emil  | Bought in Palmacosta                   |
| Scale Plate   | 44  | 26  | Emil  | Bought in Iselia                       |
| Silver Plate  | 55  | 32  | Emil  | Bought in Triet; A.Atk Increase 1      |
| Half Plate    | 66  | 38  | Emil  | Bought in Izoold                       |
| Battle Plate  | 76  | 44  | Emil  | Bought in Flanoir                      |
| Strange Blue  | 82  | 142 | Emil  | Balacruf Symbol; TP Inc 2, A.Def Inc 2 |
| Light Plate   | 87  | 50  | Emil  | Found in Temple of Ice                 |
| Black Plate   | 98  | 57  | Emil  | Bought in Meltokio; Delay              |
| Lawful Light  | 98  | 57  | Emil  | Synth; Life Charge, Res. Darkness/Sleep|
| Royal Plate   | 109 | 63  | Emil  | Bought in Altamira; A.Def Increase 2   |
| Power Drive   | 120 | 70  | Emil  | Synth; Critical 2, HP Dec 2            |
| Rare Plate    | 120 | 70  | Emil  | Bought in Mizuho; Item Pro             |
| Mythril Plate | 131 | 76  | Emil  | Synth                                  |
| Pain Killer   | 131 | 76  | Emil  | Synth; Glory, A. Def Dec, P. Def Dec   |
| Solitude      | 142 | 82  | Emil  | Synth; HP Inc 2, P. Def Inc 2          |
| Incinerator   | 152 | 88  | Emil  | Found in Gladsheim; P Atk Inc 1        |
| Blood Lust    | 175 | 102 | Emil  | Found in Ginnungagap; Life/Spirit Drn 1|
| Lion Heart    | 218 | 126 | Emil  | Twi. Palace; Delay, Lure 3, P.Atk Inc 2|
|               |     |     |       |                                        |
| Cloak         |  7  | 10  | Marta | Bought in Luin                         |
| Feather Cloak | 15  | 20  | Marta | Bought in Hima                         |
| Silk Cloak    | 22  | 30  | Marta | Bought in Palmacosta                   |
| White Cloak   | 30  | 40  | Marta | Bought in Iselia; Luck Increase 2      |
| Silver Cloak  | 37  | 50  | Marta | Bought in Triet                        |
| Mage Cloak    | 45  | 59  | Marta | Bought in Izoold; Concentrate 1        |
| Mystic Cloak  | 52  | 68  | Marta | Bought in Flanoir                      |
| Holy Cloak    | 59  | 78  | Marta | Synth                                  |
| Witch Cloak   | 67  | 88  | Marta | Bought in Meltokio; A. Atk Increase 2  |
| Mirage Cloak  | 74  | 98  | Marta | Synth                                  |
| Windmill      | 74  | 98  | Marta | Synth; A. Atk/Def Increase 2           |
| Moon Luminance| 82  | 108 | Marta | Synth; Happiness 2, Stealth 2          |
| Elder Cloak   | 82  | 108 | Marta | Bought in Mizuho; A. Def Increase 2    |
| Mythril Cloak | 89  | 118 | Marta | Synth; TP Increase 2                   |
| Anthem        | 89  | 118 | Marta | Synth; Critical 2, Lure 2              |
| Angel Dust    | 96  | 128 | Marta | Found in Ginnungagap; Relax, Dark Elem |
| Phantom Lord  | 96  | 128 | Marta | Synth; Resurrect, Item Getter          |
| Rain Maker    | 103 | 137 | Marta | Balacruf Symbol; Regenerate 2, Fire    |
| Prime Evil    | 119 | 158 | Marta | Found in Gladsheim; Accelerate, Light  |
| Fairy Tale    | 148 | 196 | Marta | Found in Twilight Palace; Technical 1  |
+---------------+-----+-----+-------+----------------------------------------+

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIIc. Headgear
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For my notes, typically it'll list the location, and sometimes, if I'm nice
enough, I'll even list the skills that the weapon comes with.

+-------------------+-----+-----+-------+-------------------------------------+
| Headgear Name     | P.D | A.D | Used  | Notes                               |
+-------------------+-----+-----+-------+-------------------------------------+
| Bandanna          |  2  |  1  | Emil  | Bought in Luin                      |
| Leather Bandanna  |  4  |  2  | Emil  | Bought in Asgard                    |
| Custom Bandanna   |  5  |  3  | Emil  | Bought in Palmacosta                |
| Sturdy Bandanna   |  7  |  4  | Emil  | Found in Dynasty Ruins              |
| Fencer's Bandanna |  7  |  4  | Emil  | Synth; Critical 2, P.Def Increase 2 |
| Plate Bandanna    |  8  |  5  | Emil  | Bought in Izoold                    |
| Quill Bandanna    | 10  |  6  | Emil  | Bought in Flanoir                   |
| Studded Bandanna  | 12  |  7  | Emil  | Bought in Meltokio                  |
| Martial Bandanna  | 13  |  8  | Emil  | Bought in Altamira; Lure 1          |
| Rogue's Bandanna  | 13  |  8  | Emil  | Found in Gladsheim; Item Finder 2   |
| Light Bandanna    | 15  |  9  | Emil  | Synth                               |
| Noble Bandanna    | 16  |  9  | Emil  | Synth; A. Def Increase              |
| Thick Bandanna    | 18  | 10  | Emil  | Bought in Mizuho; TP Dec, P.Def Inc1|
| Dusk Bandanna     | 20  | 12  | Emil  | Synth; HP Increase 1                |
|                   |     |     |       |                                     |
| Red Ribbon        |  1  |  2  | Marta | Bought in Luin                      |
| Blue Ribbon       |  3  |  4  | Marta | Bought in Luin                      |
| Orange Ribbon     |  3  |  5  | Marta | Bought in Palmacosta                |
| Wizard's Ribbon   |  5  |  6  | Marta | Synth; Mental Charge, A. Atk Inc 2  |
| Green Ribbon      |  5  |  6  | Marta | Bought in Iselia                    |
| White Ribbon      |  5  |  7  | Marta | Found in Iselia Human Ranch         |
| Black Ribbon      |  7  |  9  | Marta | Bought in Izoold                    |
| Purple Ribbon     |  8  | 11  | Marta | Bought in Flanoir                   |
| Yellow Ribbon     |  9  | 12  | Marta | Bought in Meltokio                  |
| Healer's Ribbon   |  9  | 13  | Marta | Twi. Palace; Resurrect, Technical 3 |
| Plaid Ribbon      | 10  | 14  | Marta | Bought in Sybak; Resist Ailments 1  |
| Pretty Ribbon     | 12  | 16  | Marta | Bought in Altamira; Mental Charge   |
| Elemental Ribbon  | 14  | 18  | Marta | Bought in Mizuho; Resist Elements 1 |
| Puppet's Ribbon   | 14  | 18  | Marta | Found in Gladsheim; Happiness 2     |
+-------------------+-----+-----+-------+-------------------------------------+

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIId. Gloves
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You know, I dropped that note thrice and don't think I need to do it again, so
you know the drill.

+-------------------+-----+-----+-------+-------------------------------------+
| Glove Name        | P.D | A.D | Used  | Notes                               |
+-------------------+-----+-----+-------+-------------------------------------+
| Leather Gauntlets |  4  |  2  | Emil  | Bought in Asgard                    |
| Iron Gauntlets    |  8  |  5  | Emil  | Bought in Palmacosta                |
| Chain Gauntlets   | 12  |  7  | Emil  | Bought in Iselia                    |
| Scale Gauntlets   | 15  |  9  | Emil  | Bought in Triet                     |
| Dark Passage      | 15  |  9  | Emil  | Synth; Critical 2, P/A Atk Inc 2    |
| Silver Gauntlets  | 19  | 11  | Emil  | Bought in Triet; VS Ghost           |
| Half Gauntlets    | 23  | 13  | Emil  | Found in Triet Ruins                |
| Battle Gauntlets  | 27  | 16  | Emil  | Bought in Flanoir                   |
| Light Gauntlets   | 31  | 18  | Emil  | Bought in Sybak                     |
| Soul Forge        | 33  | 18  | Emil  | Found in Gladsheim; Relax, Regen 1  |
| Black Gauntlets   | 34  | 20  | Emil  | Bought in Altamira                  |
| Royal Gauntlets   | 38  | 22  | Emil  | Synth; A. Def Increase 1            |
| Rare Gauntlets    | 42  | 24  | Emil  | Bought in Mizuho; Dex Increase 1    |
| Mythril Gauntlets | 46  | 27  | Emil  | Synth; TP Increase 1                |
| Star Breaker      | 46  | 27  | Emil  | Twilight Palace; Technical 3, Light |
|                   |     |     |       |                                     |
| Mittens           |  3  |  4  | Marta | Bought in Asgard                    |
| Feather Mittens   |  5  |  7  | Marta | Bought in Hima                      |
| Silk Mittens      |  8  | 11  | Marta | Bought in Palmacosta                |
| White Mittens     | 10  | 14  | Marta | Bought in Triet                     |
| Silver Mittens    | 13  | 17  | Marta | Synth                               |
| Mage Mittens      | 16  | 21  | Marta | Bought in Flanoir; A.Atk Increase 1 |
| Mystic Mittens    | 18  | 24  | Marta | Bought in Meltokio                  |
| Holy Mittens      | 21  | 28  | Marta | Synth                               |
| Fortune Teller    | 21  | 28  | Marta | Synth; Stealth 2, A. Def Increase 2 |
| Elder Mittens     | 22  | 39  | Marta | Bought in Mizuho, A. Def Increase 1 |
| Witch Mittens     | 23  | 31  | Marta | Bought in Altamira; Stealth 1       |
| Mirage Mittens    | 26  | 34  | Marta | Synth                               |
| Mythril Mittens   | 31  | 41  | Marta | Found in Building #2, TP Increase 1 |
+-------------------+-----+-----+-------+-------------------------------------+

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIIe. Accessories
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This time the character the accessory is used by will not be listed because
unless otherwise specified, both Emil and Marta can equip it.

+-----------------+-----+-----+----------------------------------------------+
| Accessory Name  | P.D | A.D | Notes                                        |
+-----------------+-----+-----+----------------------------------------------+
| Cape            |  3  |  3  | Bought in Luin                               |
| Leather Cape    | 11  | 11  | Bought in Hakonesia Peak                     |
| Ice Cape        | 16  | 16  | Bought in Asgard; Resist Wind 1              |
| Thunder Cape    | 16  | 16  | Bought in Palmacosta; Resist Water 1         |
| Wind Cape       | 16  | 16  | Bought in Iselia; Resist Earth 1             |
| Water Cape      | 16  | 16  | Bought in Triet; Resist Fire 1               |
| Fire Cape       | 16  | 16  | Bought in Flanoir; Resist Ice 1              |
| Light Cape      | 16  | 16  | Bought in Meltokio; Resist Darkness 1        |
| Earth Cape      | 16  | 16  | Bought in Sybak; Resist Lightning 1          |
| Dark Cape       | 16  | 16  | Bought in Altamira; Resist Light 1           |
| Thief's Cape    | 18  | 18  | Bought in Triet; Stealth 1                   |
| Elven Cape      | 25  | 25  | Bought in Katz Village; Resist M. Ailments 1 |
| Ymir's Cape     | 33  | 33  | Synth; Resist Ice 1, Resist Wind 2           |
| Thor's Cape     | 33  | 33  | Synth; Resist Lightning 1, Resist Water 2    |
| Forseti's Cape  | 33  | 33  | Synth; Resist Wind 1, Resist Earth 2         |
| Aegir's Cape    | 33  | 33  | Synth; Resist Water 1, Resist Fire 2         |
| Surtr's Cape    | 33  | 33  | Synth; Resist Fire 1, Resist Ice 2           |
| Baldr's Cape    | 33  | 33  | Synth; Resist Light 1, Resist Darkness 2     |
| Freyja's Cape   | 33  | 33  | Synth; Resist Earth 1, Resist Lightning 2    |
| Woden's Cape    | 33  | 33  | Synth; Resist Darkness 1, Resist Light 2     |
|                 |     |     |                                              |
| Sapphire        |  0  |  0  | Found in Toize V. Mine; Ice, Resist Wind 1   |
| Sardonyx        |  0  |  0  | Found in Building #2; Lightning, Res. Water 1|
| Opal            |  0  |  0  | Found in Underground Ruins; Wind, Res.Earth 1|
| Aquamarine      |  0  |  0  | Found in Ginnungagap; Water, Resist Fire 1   |
| Garnet          |  0  |  0  | Found in Toize V. Mine; Fire, Resist Ice 1   |
| Topaz           |  0  |  0  | Found in T. of Lightning; Light, Res. Dark 1 |
| Ruby            |  0  |  0  | Found in T. of Earth; Earth, Res. Lightning 1|
| Amethyst        |  0  |  0  | Found in Toize V. Mine; Dark, Resist Light 1 |
|                 |     |     |                                              |
| Electrum Ring   |  1  |  1  | Synth                                        |
| Garnet Ring     |  1  |  1  | Synth; Technical, Fire Element               |
| Ruby Ring       |  1  |  1  | Synth; Technical, Earth Element              |
| Platinum Ring   |  5  |  5  | Synth                                        |
| Aquamarine Ring |  5  |  5  | Synth; Technical, Water Element              |
| Opal Ring       |  5  |  5  | Synth; Technical, Wind Element               |
| Mythril Ring    |  9  |  9  | Synth                                        |
| Sapphire Ring   |  9  |  9  | Synth; Technical, Ice Element                |
| Sardonyx Ring   |  9  |  9  | Synth; Technical, Lightning Element          |
| Orichalcum Ring | 13  | 13  | Synth                                        |
| Topaz Ring      | 13  | 13  | Synth; Technical 2, Light Element            |
| Amethyst Ring   | 13  | 13  | Synth; Technical 2, Dark Element             |
|                 |     |     |                                              |
| Seal Charm      |  0  |  0  | Bought in Asgard; Resist Seal/Wind 1         |
| Poison Charm    |  0  |  0  | Bought in Hima; Resist Poison/Water 1        |
| Shock Charm     |  0  |  0  | Bought in Hakonesia; Resist Shock/Lightning 1|
| Weak Charm      |  0  |  0  | Bought in Palmacosta; Resist Weak/Light 1    |
| Stone Charm     |  0  |  0  | Bought in Iselia; Resist Stone/Earth 1       |
| Virus Charm     |  0  |  0  | Bought in Triet; Resist Sick/Fire 1          |
| Sleep Charm     |  0  |  0  | Bought in Flanoir; Resist Sleep/Dark 1       |
| Seal Periapt    |  0  |  0  | Synth; Resist Seal 3, Resist Wind 2          |
| Poison Periapt  |  0  |  0  | Synth; Resist Poison 3, Resist Water 2       |
| Shock Periapt   |  0  |  0  | Synth; Resist Shock 3, Resist Lightning 2    |
| Weak Periapt    |  0  |  0  | Synth; Resist Weak 3, Resist Light 2         |
| Stone Periapt   |  0  |  0  | Synth; Resist Stone 3, Resist Earth 2        |
| Virus Periapt   |  0  |  0  | Synth; Resist Sick 3, Resist Fire 2          |
| Sleep Periapt   |  0  |  0  | Synth; Resist Sleep 3, Resist Dark 2         |
|                 |     |     |                                              |
| Amulet          |  0  |  0  | Bought in Sybak; Resist P. Ailments 1        |
| Talisman        |  0  |  0  | Bought in Sybak; Resist M. Ailments 1        |
| Blue Amulet     |  0  |  0  | Synth; Resist P. Ailments 2                  |
| Blue Talisman   |  0  |  0  | Synth; Resist M. Ailments 2                  |
|                 |     |     |                                              |
| Boots           |  2  |  2  | Bought in Luin                               |
| Leather Boots   |  4  |  4  | Synth                                        |
| Long Boots      |  7  |  7  | Synth                                        |
| Heavy Boots     |  9  |  9  | Synth                                        |
| Sturdy Boots    | 11  | 11  | Synth                                        |
| Feather Boots   | 13  | 13  | Synth                                        |
| Combat Boots    | 16  | 16  | Synth; Dex Increase 1                        |
| Studded Boots   | 18  | 18  | Synth; A. Def Increase 1                     |
| Persian Boots   | 20  | 20  | Synth; Stealth 2, Resist Element             |
|                 |     |     |                                              |
| Heal Mark       |  0  |  0  | Bought in Triet; Life Drain 1                |
| Heal Symbol     |  0  |  0  | Synth; Life Drain 2                          |
| Holy Mark       |  0  |  0  | Bought in Triet; Regenerate 1                |
| Holy Symbol     |  0  |  0  | Synth; Regenerate 2                          |
| Mana Mark       |  0  |  0  | Bought in Flanoir; Spirit Drain 1            |
| Mana Symbol     |  0  |  0  | Synth; Spirit Drain 2                        |
| Spirit Mark     |  0  |  0  | Bought in Flanoir; Relax 1                   |
| Spirit Symbol   |  0  |  0  | Synth; Relax 2                               |
| Mystic Mark     |  0  |  0  | Bought in Flanoir; Speed Cast 1              |
| Mystic Symbol   |  0  |  0  | Synth; Speed Cast 2                          |
+-----------------+-----+-----+----------------------------------------------+

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
                     ~-~ ~-~ ~-~  VIII. FAQ ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Have a question? Well, before you email me, make sure you check out this
section, since there's a strong possibility that a lot of people have the same
problem.

[Q] THE MYSTIC ARTES! THEY DO NOTHING!

[A] Ugh. #1 asked question right there. Okay, there's a major checklist. Make
   sure, especially if it's a Symphonia character, that they have the skill
   Special equipped. To do that, they must be Level 30 or above. Make sure
   that they use an actual arcane arte (or in the case of Marta, Genis, and
   Raine, a spell). Zelos and Colette can do either. Then, make sure that you
   have 50 TP left over AFTER the arcane arte. Also, make sure that the unison
   bar is completely filled up. If you do all these, your Mystic Arte WILL
   work. I promise.

---

[Q] Uh... Ain Soph Aur isn't working...

[A] Don't use Ain Soph Aur. It sucks ass. But if you insist, hold B when Emil's
   portrait cuts in. Don't hold it throughout the entire thing, though. What I
   typically do, is when the portrait appears, I start to hold it for about
   two seconds, let go, hold for two seconds, repeat til the end. It'll work.
   If you have the TP. Also, you need to be in between the one scene in chapter
   5 and the one scene in chapter 8.

---

[Q] How do you use Emil's and Marta's special unison attack?

[A] Alright. On the element grid, you need to have at least one dark and at
   least one light. Then, in battle, use the unison attack when the bar is
   BETWEEN halfway full and completely full.

---

[Q] What do you use the Card Keys for in the Iselia Human Ranch?

[A] Covered it in the walkthrough, but since I'm so nice... go through the
   whole place collecting the card keys as you go. Then when you go back out,
   head to the first room of the actual ranch. There's doors with treasure
   behind them, plus there's a console which drains the water in the room with
   the submerged staircase, allowing you to get more treasure there.

---

[Q] Where is a good place to get EXP, late in the game?

[A] Here's all I'm going to say, whether it's at that point or anywhere in the
   game if you need EXP: TURN UP THE DIFFICULTY. With the difficulty turned
   up, the combo bonus you will get from battles is raised to incredible new
   levels. So just go to the final dungeon, really. Pull off combos there
   and you'll get upwards of 7000 EXP in most battles.

---

[Q] How do you unlock Gladsheim? And why is Gladsheim not fun?

[A] If Gladsheim ain't unlocking for you, it's probably because you're not on
   your second playthrough. It'll unlock when you're there, then at chapter 8
   after the Tower of Salvation trip. As for why it's not fun... well, just
   look at the Replication Facility of the Abyss in Tales of the Abyss.
   Actually scratch that, Gladsheim is worse than that. Never mind.

---

[Q] How do you get through the Sandy Wind Cave in quests?

[A] That is a rather confusing area, you have to admit. But anyway, in the area
   with the lifts you can jump on to lower them, head to the far north. You'll
   see a rock covered with vines. Flame it with the ring, and it'll drop below,
   breaking the boulder there. Now you can go down to the lower level, and the
   path to the north will be clear.

---

[Q] The Twilight Palace doesn't show up. Am I screwed?

[A] Not necessarily. I assume in this event that you did the quests in chapters
   5, 6, and 7. If you didn't, then yes you are screwed. At the start of
   chapter 8, though, make sure that you actually do the quests that appear
   there first. The Twilight Palace quest shows up at the far back, so just
   note that. If you see a blank there and the Twilight Palace quest doesn't
   show up, then make sure your monsters are high leveled, or for that matter,
   that you actually have monsters in your party. I don't know the exact
   mechanics, but I've found the Twilight Palace showing up has something to do
   with your monsters. If you do all of those, it'll show up in the end.

---

[Q] omg lloyds voice sound different......

[A] There's new voice actors. Get over it.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
                    ~-~ ~-~ ~-~  IX. Credits ~-~ ~-~ ~-~
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

You have just gone through yet another huge RPG guide, copyrighted and written
by none other than a lifeless nerd. Or, in other words, me. Interpret that in
any way you wish. So with that, hope you enjoyed this guide and this game, and
expect to see my name on many more guides in the future. I'm awesome like that
and stuff. With that, buhhh-bye.

- Sailor Bacon: For taking over GameFAQs in the place of CJayC, which I'm sure
must have been extremely difficult shoes to fill. He's doing a great job, so,
my hat is tipped.

- Stephen Ng: For being the FAQ editor for IGN, which is the other site that I
write for. I am honored to write for IGN, since it is a great site. I was also
very glad to do an exclusive for IGN.

- Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, U2, The Eagles, Queen, Van Halen, The Beatles, and
many others: You probably know why I'm thanking you, but I don't believe this
guide would be up as quickly if it weren't for all of you.

- All the guys who first got me started writing from GameFAQs and all of my
best friends like SinirothX, Psycho Penguin, Meowthnum1, CVXFREAK, Karpah,
ZoopSoul, Crazyreyn, Gobicamel, asa2377 (OH EM GEE YOU TROLL), Warhawk, Cyril,
supernova54321, Minesweeper, AlaskaFox, me frog, RHarrison, masterzero99, Tom
Hayes, wayalla, djg40, MTincher, NickBush24, BurningFox, AquaBlast, and
definitely more that I'm forgetting: you are some of the best friends that
anyone can have, and I may have quit FAQing/left FCB forever without all of
you. Thank you for everything and for motivating me to get my ass in gear.

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