_____ __ _ _ ______ / ___/ / /_ (_)____ (_)____ ____ _ / ____/____ _____ _____ ___ \__ \ / __ \ / // __ \ / // __ \ / __ `/ / /_ / __ \ / ___// ___// _ \ ___/ // / / // // / / // // / / // /_/ / / __/ / /_/ // / / /__ / __/ /____//_/ /_//_//_/ /_//_//_/ /_/ \__, / /_/ \____//_/ \___/ \___/ /____/ RESURRECTION OF THE DARK DRAGON Mechanics Guide version 1.1 John Orapello [email protected] In order to find something, simply do a Find (CTRL+F) for the section number or letter. In other words, if you wished to find out about character Promotions, you would do a CTRL+F search for 3b. /////////////////////// ///TABLE OF CONTENTS/// /////////////////////// A.) CRAP 1a.) COPYRIGHT INFO 2a.) UPDATES 3a.) INTRODUCTION 4a.) TERMINOLOGY / BASICS B.) THE GOOD STUFF 1b.) THE BIG FORMULAE 2b.) EXPERIENCE 3b.) LEVEL UPS 4b.) PROMOTION 5b.) NEW GAME + / HARD MODE 6b.) GAMEFLOW C.) APPENDICES 1c.) SPELL INFORMATION 2c.) MISC. FORMULAE 3c.) CARD EFFECTS 4c.) CHARACTER STATS/GROWTH (incomplete) 5c.) GLITCHES/EXPLOITS D.) MORE CRAP 1d.) CONTACT INFO 2d.) HOW YOU CAN HELP 3d.) MUSINGS 4d.) CREDITS ____________________ [------------------] [ SECTION A - CRAP ] [------------------] 1a.) //////////////////// ///COPYRIGHT INFO/// //////////////////// Basically, I own this document. I am an extraordinarily go-with-the-flow kind of guy, so if you ask me if you could do just about anything with this document, I will probably say yes. (Hey, when you are going to go to college in Hawaii, you have to be go with the flow. :) But still, I would like to be asked at least. You can find my contact information at the bottom of this document. (Section 1c.) So far, this document only has permission to be shown at GameFAQs.com. This document is Copyright 2004 John Orapello. 2a.) ///////////// ///UPDATES/// ///////////// 08/21/04 - v 1.12 - New Game + errors in HP and MP increase. An error introduced by the new format of the equations, and due to my own mistake. Blech. Miscellaneous reformatting, clarification, and typo correction. 08/16/04 - v 1.11 - Added a bit to the New Game + section. Just clarification. Added a bit of clarification to Promotions. Slight formatting changes. 08/14/04 - v 1.1 - Added the ASCII title. Added disheartening (IMO) info to the promotion section. Added more critical hit info. Added more experience info. Added to the How You Can Help section. Added Musings section. 08/07/04 - v 1.0 - Ah, a whole number. _I_ am finished with Appendix 3c, even though it is not fully complete. Added the How To Help section-- see that if you want to help me finish it wholly. :P Various little fixes, I believe. 08/06/04 - v.99 - More appendices added. Stuff added. Etc. etc. Not done with Appendix 3c. Fixed stupid mistakes. 08/06/04 - v.95 - Added appendices. Simplified some formulae; my enjoyment of lots of variables caused me to overcomplicate them. :P Various superficial corrections and additions. Version 1 will be out once I finish appendix 3c. Which may be a while, since I do not feel like taking Mawlock into battle over and over just to find out what cards do what. :P 08/05/04 - v.90 - Added a lot of stuff! Credits, tidied up the entire guide. . .etc. etc. Basically, the first major update of the guide. A while ago - v.01 - Started the guide. Basically just a jumble of data. 3a.) ////////////////// ///INTRODUCTION/// ////////////////// Shining Force and Shining Force 2 were games that I grew up with, games that hold a particularly dear place in my heart. I have loved these games-- indeed, they caused me to take my Internet pseudonym of johnthehero, from the HERO promoted class of the main characters in both games. That is one of the reasons why I am writing this guide-- it is a labor of total love. Another reason I have decided to do this guide is out of admiration of the people at the Final Fantasy Tactics board, which I am a traditional lurker on since 2002. Aerostar, the author of the most brilliant FAQ ever written-- the FFT Battle Mechanics Guide-- and all of the contributors to said guide should proud of themselves, and I hope to make this guide a fraction of how brilliant the FFTBMG is. Having a mathematical/scientific mindset also causes me to want to look deeply into the simplest things, which is what the FFTBMG, this guide, and strategy games on the whole are all about. :) I hope you enjoy the guide as much as I enjoy writing it. 4a.) ////////////////////////// ///TERMINOLOGY / BASICS/// ////////////////////////// Much of this is blatantly taken from Aerostar's Final Fantasy Tactics Battle Mechanics Guide. Apologies. :) An unspecific character or enemy on the battlefield would be referred to as a UNIT. A Unit can be anything from a Dark Dragon head to a level 1 Lowe. In general, the character/enemy who performs an action is called the CASTER. Any of the Caster's stats used in the formula for said action is usually denoted by a C_ in front of the stat. In other words, if the Caster's Attack is used in the formula, it would be labelled C_ATK. A character such as Luke is a Caster when he attacks an enemy, or when he uses an Evil Ring, or when he uses a Medical Herb on a friendly character. The target of the action is referred to as the TARGET. Their stats would be denoted by a T_, for example, T_ATK. The stats are as follows: ATK - Attack DEF - Defend AGI - Agility/Speed MOV - Movement HP - Hit Points MP - Magic Points EXP - Experience Points RES - Magic Resistance % RNG - Attack Range EVD - Evade % Since people may be unfamiliar with some symbols, here are the ones used in this guide for mathematical operations: () parentheses (do operations inside these first!) + addition - subtraction * multiplication / division [] truncation About truncation: Calculations in most video games are truncated, which means that decimal places are dropped, not rounded. This is a typical mathematical function and makes it easier for the computer to handle such formulae. Truncation in mathematics is denoted with square brackets, []. I apologize if any of this seems pedantic. :) _________________________________ [-------------------------------] [ SECTION B - THE GOOD STUFF :) ] [-------------------------------] 1b.) ////////////////////// ///THE BIG FORMULAE/// ////////////////////// These are tentative: the exact effects of some variables are yet to be determined. Any contributions or testing of the formulae would be welcome. It should be stressed that these formulae tend to have a random element. You may do 26 damage one turn and then under the same circumstances do 25 or 27. Generally, the random element is just that-- a difference of 1-- but that can be enough to screw you over against Darksol . . . Physical attacks: [(C_ATK - T_DEF) * (1 - T_TER_AFCT)] = Damage -C_ATK is the caster's Attack rating. -T_DEF is the target's Defense rating. -T_TER_AFCT is the value of the Terrain Effect for the target. This is the absolute value of the number shown in the "STAT" window on the upper left corner of the screen when your cursor is on a unit, expressed as a decimal. -There is some element of randomness involved in this as an attack under the same circumstances may vary in damage by a point or two-- most likely a random +1 possibility. -Damage, if less than 1, becomes 1. -Critical hits are undetermined: I do not believe it is merely a multiplier of 2 like is commonly suggested, but perhaps a doubling of the attacker's ATK, or--and this math fits what just happened in my game-- a damage multiplier of 1.75. Narsha was projected to do 11 damage based on the above equation, and did 19 damage. [11 * 1.75] = 19. Stakk theorizes that the critical hit bonus is a separate multiplier for each character. Additional data would be appreciated. -For the best results in attacking exchanges, you want to ATTACK from high terrain effect, to low terrain effect, and BE ATTACKED the other way around. Magical attacks: [(SPELL_DAM * BOOST) * (1 - T_RES)] = Damage -SPELL_DAM is the spell's base damage. This varies depending on the spell, and I will be researching the base damage for each spell in the future, and recording them in Appendix 2c. -T_RES is the target's magical resistance expressed as a decimal. -BOOST is the percentage by which the spell has been boosted expressed as a decimal: this would be 1 for an unboosted caster, 1.2 for a caster with Boost Level 1, 1.5 for a caster with Boost Level 2, and 1.8 for a caster with Boost Level 3. -Some enemies (and some characters like Bleu) appear to have extra innate resistances and immunities-- Freeze magic, for example, is ineffective against Skeletons. (T_RES = 1) -Some magical attacks such as Chimerae's Breath attacks ignore T_RES. (T_RES = 0) -This also works for magical healing. T_RES, in that case, is set to 0. 2b.) //////////////// ///EXPERIENCE/// //////////////// So far little progress has been made in figuring out exact equations for EXP gain in battle. However, it basically goes by this: Kills give you good EXP, depending on the difference of level between you and the target. The bigger a difference in the target's favor means more EXP for you, up to 48 EXP. Doing damage gives you more EXP as you do more damage and as the target's level increases compared to yours. Theoretically, the max is probably 48 EXP. Multitarget offensive spells (Blaze 2, Bolt, etc.) gives you more EXP depending on how many targets you hit and how many you kill, up to a total of 48 EXP. Multitarget buffing spells (Attack 2, etc.) give you more EXP depending on how many targets you hit. 5 = 48 EXP, 4 = 40, and I have never really hit less than 4. . but I would assume (and will test) 3 = 30, 2 = 20, 1 = 10 EXP. Heal spells give you 10 EXP always, and then add EXP depending on how much you heal a character for, and if the target has a higher level than the caster. I have seen a max of 22 EXP to my recollection. Aura spells are still in testing. Apparently, the lowest EXP possible is 20. The more targets healed for more HP = more EXP. Items such as Medical Herbs give EXP when used.. Items tend to act very similar to spells. Medical Herbs basically act like slightly weaker Heal 1s, and the EXP goes along with it. cosmicat offers a theory that leads into this equation, roughly: kill_exp = [(T_LVL - (C_LVL + 1)) * 12] Thus a kill at equal levels nets you 12 EXP. This obviously does not work as a simple equation when enemies are at a lower level than you, but does seem to be generally roughly accurate for the given scenario as a minimal EXP. Most likely the kill_exp is added to the EXP gained by the damage you do (dam_exp) to give you your total EXP bonus. 3b.) /////////////// ///LEVEL UPS/// /////////////// The maximum amount of stat gain is up for debate. I have seen claims of up to a gain of 13 ATK in one level, but have only experienced +7 in any one stat myself. Level ups are random to the extent that you will not always gain the same amount of stat in every level of every game. However, it is obvious upon some observation that they are not completely random. My theory is that characters simply have a tendency to grow in certain stats with each level up. Magic casters are much more likely to have any MP growth than fighter characters, while they are much less likely to have ATK growth than fighter characters. I shall elaborate more in a further update, hopefully with concrete information. There is a way to always get good level ups, or at the very least mediocre ones, that can be found in the Glitch/Exploit Compendium (Appendix 5c.) 4b.) //////////////// ///PROMOTIONS/// //////////////// Characters who are promoted suffer a degradation in stats (roughly a 12-15% loss, give or take-- quite a bit actually) immediately after promotion. Many people become frustrated at this because formerly unstoppable characters are in need of quite a bit of babying after promotion. I would say this is most noticable amongst bare-handed fighters such as Zylo or Zuika due to the fact that they have no weapon (the attack bonus of which is unaffected by the stat drop) to balance out their loss of attack. Armed fighters tend to get better weapons immediately after being promoted, balancing out their lost ATK. . . bare-handed fighters do not have such a luxury. Promoted characters also tend to gain frustratingly little stats immediately after promotion, sometimes nothing, sometimes 1 HP, or the dreaded 1 AGI. However, upon advancing to level 4-8, the stat gains tend to pick up and surpass that of pre-promotion level ups. The maximum level for a character who can be promoted, prior to promotion, is 20. After that they will still gain experience on the Status screen, but it will not say so in the in-battle text. Once promoted, a character drops to level 1. Due to the apparently random stat gain, common opinion is that it really does not matter when you promote. As someone who almost always promotes at level 20, fighting battles once or twice on my fifth playthrough so that my highest level character was about level 27 upon defeating Dark Dragon (Musashi), I can offer some persuasion to the contrary, though new experience from Sonsaru shows the contrary: The only levels which give relevant status gains are 1-20, both promoted and otherwise. At/after level 20, the best stats you can hope for are usually +1 ATK, DEF, or HP-- often times you get nothing. In order to have a more powerful team, it is important to get the most out of these stat gains. While stat gains do tend to taper off in the latter stages of unpromoted levelling, they are still more stats than would be gained past level 20 post-promotion. Additionally, since a promoted character is treated like an entirely new level 1 character while gaining experience, if you promote at level 20 when the enemies hit roughly 20-25, your newly promoted character will shoot up through the levels, hitting those drool-worthy level 7+ stat gains fast, with the additional bonus of having that extra 10 or so levels of pre-promotion training. It is not necessary to level all the way up to 20 prior to promotion for strong characters-- but every level past 10 is basically a level of free stat gain. Zuika, for example, almost always gets nothing for me on his 20th level pre-promotion, and Zylo tends to gain +1 AGI. But it is still prudent to level a bit past 10 before promotion. As a rule of thumb, I would say promote once you find weapons that you need to be promoted to use. I tend to be about level 15 at that time, if memory serves-- while I feel the need to fight through those last few levels with weaker weapons, you may not. Anecdotal experience from Sonsaru leads him to believe that it really does not matter when you promote, and better stat gain is had upon promotion at level 10, so that ultimately it will all balance out. Make of this what you will. A proof, or even a statistical tendency, would require trial upon trial, and frankly I do not have the patience for it. :P If you would like to attempt to help collect data on promotions, see Section 4d. 5b.) //////////////////////////// ///NEW GAME + / HARD MODE/// //////////////////////////// In each New Game enemy stats increase by a certain amount. The equation is as follows E_HP = [HP_BASE + (HP_BASE * (.2 * PLAY_NUM))] (20% increase) E_MP = [MP_BASE + (MP_BASE * (.2 * PLAY_NUM))] (20% increase) E_ATK = [ATK_BASE + (ATK_BASE * (.1 * PLAY_NUM))] (10% increase) E_DEF = [DEF_BASE + (ATK_BASE * (.1 * PLAY_NUM))] (10% increase) E_AGI = [AGI_BASE + (AGI_BASE * (.1 * PLAY_NUM))] (10% increase) E_MOV = [MOV_BASE + (MOV_BASE * (.1 * PLAY_NUM))] (10% increase) E_RES = [RES_BASE + (RES_BASE * (.1 * PLAY_NUM))] (10% increase) -E_HP, E_ATK etc. are the enemy HP, ATK, and other stats. These are base stats; modifiers could be added based on enemy weapons, rings, or spells. -HP_BASE and other stats are the first playthrough stats for each enemy. -PLAY_NUM is the number of times you have previously played through the game. On your first game, it is 0. -Enemy level does not increase. -It is unknown if enemy evade increases. Compare these two stats for Goblins: First playthrough: Lvl 3 HP 12 Atk 8 Def 6 Agi 5 Mov 5 Fifth playthrough: Lvl 3 HP 21 Atk 9 Def 8 Agi 7 Mov 7 Interesting things to note: -Many enemies, even if they do not seem to have any normal weapon in their sprite, are equipped with weapons. (Goblins, for example, have Short Swords. Short Swords give +5 ATK. So, their base attack in Playthrough 1 is 3.) Due to this, as seen in the above example, their ATK is not increased as greatly as you would think. However, this makes unarmed enemies seem even deadlier in comparison. -Kane only has a base attack of 3. :) -One of the scariest things in this, I think, is that movement increases. After enough playthroughs the enemies will simply be able to walk up to and kill your healers, or Max. "Waltz up and smash Lowe in the face", as I like to put it. -After enough playthroughs, the enemy will probably have high enough AGI to always have their entire force go before any of your characters. Strategies helpful in a NG+: -Basically, spellcasters are going to be part of your primary force, even though the power of spells was greatly reduced in the remake. Since they tend to do a set amount of damage most of the time, you are going to want to abuse them. Your strongest physical attackers will only be doing 1 damage to a 99-DEF enemy, but Blaze 1 will probably do 8 damage to it. (Depending on magic resistance, of course.) Narsha's Boost spell will let you get through later playthroughs easier, as well. -Similarly, since enemies with weapons have their ATK go up slower than their DEF, even your strongest physical attackers will only be doing 1 or so damage to them. This is when you should start to shift your Force to contain high defense physical fighters. The high defense fighters will be able to get through more playthroughs since they will rely on simply taking hits while other, probably magical characters do the real damage. -Abusing Mawlock is key to getting through the latter playthroughs. What is a good combination of cards? My favorite: Narsha, Colossus, and your two best character cards. Copy Narsha for Attack Level 1. Effect Colossus for +15 DEF. Move the other two cards. The Max card is also useful for its effect in order to save money-- you will want to buy as many rings and the best equipment as possible. -Abuse terrain effect. In later playthroughs, when you will be doing 1 damage to many enemies, get on as high terrain effect ground as possible. That way, the enemy's attack is reduced by that much. If your physical attackers are still viable, find the area with the biggest difference between terrain effect and try to lure the enemy into the low terrain effect area. This will let your tanks survive as long as possible. -Buy as many Steel Rings as possible in Chapter One. Use the Teeny Bikini trick if necessary. Buy as many Silver Rings in Chapter 3 as possible. Buy as many Prayer Rings in Chapter 8 as possible. -Desoul, Elude, Sleep, etc. become more and more effective with each playthrough when enemies are too strong to kill in more than a few hits. Particularly use the Dark Saber, which is unbreakable and casts Level 1 Desoul. 6b.) ////////////// ///GAMEFLOW/// ////////////// Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon has a very simple gameflow. Basically, the unit with the highest AGI will go first. Following that unit will be the unit with the second highest AGI, and so forth. How ties are determined is as of yet unknown. You can always check the AT list (FFT term, eh? It sounds better than just the "Turn List") in order to determine in what order the units will move. After the unit with the least AGI moves, a new turn starts, and the fastest unit will move, and so on. Due to this, AGI is sort of a lame duck stat. Sure, it is sometimes nice to go first, but it is just as often strategically advantageous to move after the enemies have moved closer. So AGI +1 on a level up is kind of a waste. __________________________ [------------------------] [ SECTION C - APPENDICES ] [------------------------] 1c.) /////////////////////// ///SPELL INFORMATION/// /////////////////////// The basic format for this section is as follows: Spell Name: Descripton Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 3 / Range: 2 / AOE: 1 / Effect: DAM 8 Character(Level), Character(Level) Use: Item -Spell Name and Description are self-explanatory. -The Lv. 1 and such refer to the level of the spell. -MP Cost is self explanatory. -Range refers to how far away a spell can be targeted. 0 = caster only, 1 = any adjacent square, etc. An I means infinite, able to hit any unit on the field. -AOE refers to the Area of Effect. Basically, how many squares are effected by the spell. 1 = 1 square. 5 = Plus formation. An I means infinite, hitting all units. -Effect refers to average damage, amount healed, status change, etc. DAM means damage. HP + means HP restore. Cure Poison. . .etc. This is where you can find the average damage for spells. -Characters listed learn the spell, and the number in parentheses is the level at which they learn it. N/A means they start with it. Levels refer to either promoted or unpromoted characters. -USE: Item means that if you use that item, you will cast the spell. OFFENSIVE MAGIC --------------- BLAZE: Fire offensive magic. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 3 / Range: 2 / AOE: 1 / Effect: DAM 8? Alef(N/A), Anri(N/A), Arthur(15), Tao(N/A) Lv. 2 / MP Cost: 8 / Range: 2 / AOE: 5 / Effect: DAM 10? Alef(N/A), Anri(8), Tao(4) USE: Atlas, Black Ring, Heat Axe Lv. 3 / MP Cost: 8 / Range: 2 / AOE: 1 / Effect: DAM 20? Tao(12) Lv. 4 / MP Cost: 10 / Range: 2 / AOE: 5 / Effect: DAM ? Tao(20) BOLT: Lightning offensive magic. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 8 / Range: 2 / AOE: 5 / Effect: DAM 13 Alef(N/A), Anri(19), Arthur(25) Lv. 2 / MP Cost: 15 / Range: 3 / AOE: 12/ Effect: DAM 15 Alef(17), Anri(26) USE: Light Saber Lv. 3 / MP Cost: 20 / Range: 3 / AOE: 1 / Effect: DAM ?? Alef(22) Lv. 4 / MP Cost: 25 / Range: 3 / AOE: 12/ Effect: DAM 25 Alef(30) USE: Evil Ring, Miracle Mace DESOUL: Steals target's soul. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 8 / Range: 2 / AOE: 1 / Effect: Instant kill Alef(26), Domingo(17), Hanzou(7) USE: Dark Saber Lv. 2 / MP Cost: 15 / Range: 2 / AOE: 5 / Effect: Instant kill Hanzou(25) DISPEL: Seals target's magic. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 5 / Range: 2 / AOE: 1 / Effect: Target can not cast magic Tao (16) ELUDE: Envelopes target in fog. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 6 / Range: 2 / AOE: 1 / Effect: Target hit rate down Anri(10), Domingo(7) FREEZE: Ice offensive magic. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 3 / Range: 2 / AOE: 1 / Effect: DAM 10? Alef(N/A), Anri(5), Arthur(20), Domingo(N/A) Lv. 2 / MP Cost: 9 / Range: 2 / AOE: 5 / Effect: DAM ?? Alef(N/A), Anri(13), Domingo(4) Lv. 3 / MP Cost: 10 / Range: 3 / AOE: 1 / Effect: DAM ?? Anri(16), Domingo(13) Lv. 4 / MP Cost: 12 / Range: 3 / AOE: 5 / Effect: DAM ?? Anri(23), Domingo(26) USE: Chaos Breaker SLEEP: Lulls target to sleep. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 6 / Range: 2 / AOE: 1 / Effect: Puts target to sleep Hanzou(N/A), Tao(8) SLOW: Slows target down. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 5 / Range: 2 / AOE: 1 / Effect: AGI -10 Khris(8), Lowe(10) Lv. 2 / MP Cost: 20 / Range: 2 / AOE: 5 / Effect: AGI -10 Lowe(19) SUPERNOVA: Special magical attack. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 16 / Range: 3 / AOE: 1 / Effect: DAM ?? Max(12) Lv. 2 / MP Cost: 18 / Range: 3 / AOE: 1 / Effect: DAM ?? Max(16) Lv. 3 / MP Cost: 20 / Range: 3 / AOE: 1 / Effect: DAM ?? Max(20) Lv. 4 / MP Cost: 24 / Range: 3 / AOE: 1 / Effect: DAM ?? Max(26) SUPPORT/HEALING MAGIC --------------------- ATTACK: Strengthens target. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 10 / Range: 3 / AOE: 1 / Effect: ATK +8 Domingo(20), Hanzou(4), Narsha(N/A), Tao(27) USE: Power Ring Lv. 2 / MP Cost: 15 / Range: 3 / AOE: 5 / Effect: ATK +5 Narsha(2) Lv. 3 / MP Cost: 40 / Range: 3 / AOE: 5 / Effect: ATK +10 Narsha(16) AURA: Heals multiple targets. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 7 / Range: 3 / AOE: 5 / Effect: HP +15 Gong(30) Khris(20), Torasu(N/A) USE: White Ring Lv. 2 / MP Cost: 11 / Range: 3 / AOE: 12/ Effect: HP +20 Khris(28), Torasu(20) Lv. 3 / MP Cost: 15 / Range: 3 / AOE: 12/ Effect: HP +40 Torasu(24) Lv. 4 / MP Cost: 18 / Range: I / AOE: I / Effect: HP MAX Torasu(28) BOOST: Increases target's magical power. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 8 / Range: 2 / AOE: 1 / Effect: Magic Power +20% Narsha(4) Lv. 2 / MP Cost: 20 / Range: 2 / AOE: 5 / Effect: Magic Power +50% Narsha(10) Lv. 3 / MP Cost: 40 / Range: 2 / AOE: 5 / Effect: Magic Power +80% Narsha(22) DETOX: Cleanses body of poison. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 3 / Range: 1 / AOE: 1 / Effect: Cures poison Lowe(4), Torasu(N/A) EGRESS: Escapes from battle. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 8 / Range: I / AOE: I / Effect: Exits battle Max(N/A) USE: Angel Wing, Speed Ring HEAL: Heals target. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 3 / Range: 1 / AOE: 1 / Effect: HP +15 Gong(N/A), Khris(N/A), Lowe(N/A) Lv. 2 / MP Cost: 5 / Range: 3 / AOE: 1 / Effect: HP +20 Gong(8), Khris(5), Lowe(7) Lv. 3 / MP Cost: 10 / Range: 3 / AOE: 1 / Effect: HP +30 Gong(16), Khris(16), Lowe(16) USE: Holy Mace Lv. 4 / MP Cost: 20 / Range: 1 / AOE: 1 / Effect: HP MAX Gong(24), Khris(21), Lowe(22) QUICK: Speeds target up. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 5 / Range: 1 / AOE: 1 / Effect: AGI +10 Khris(12), Lowe(13) USE: Shield Ring Lv. 2 / MP Cost: 16 / Range: 2 / AOE: 5 / Effect: AGI +10 Lowe(25) SHIELD: Makes target immune to magic. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 5 / Range: 2 / AOE: 1 / Effect: Immunity to Magic Damage Hanzou(15), Torasu(N/A) USE: Devil Lance STEP: Allows target to move further. Lv. 1 / MP Cost: 8 / Range: 2 / AOE: 1 / Effect: MOV +2 Narsha(7) Lv. 2 / MP Cost: 20 / Range: 2 / AOE: 5 / Effect: MOV +3 Narsha(12) Lv. 3 / MP Cost: 40 / Range: 2 / AOE: 5 / Effect: MOV +4 Narsha(18) 2c.) //////////////////// ///MISC. FORMULAE/// //////////////////// This is simply a listing of all the forumlae in the guide, so if you know what you are basically looking for, and just want an equation, you can find it here. Physical attacks: [(C_ATK - T_DEF) * (1 - T_TER_AFCT)] = Damage Magical attacks: [(SPELL_DAM * BOOST) * (1 - T_RES)] = Damage New Game + stuff, alternative formula: E_HP = [HP_BASE * 1 + (.2 * PLAY_NUM)] E_MP = [MP_BASE * 1 + (.2 * PLAY_NUM)] E_ATK = [ATK_BASE * 1 + (.1 * PLAY_NUM)] E_DEF = [DEF_BASE * 1 + (.1 * PLAY_NUM)] E_AGI = [AGI_BASE * 1 + (.1 * PLAY_NUM)] E_MOV = [MOV_BASE * 1 + (.1 * PLAY_NUM)] E_RES = [RES_BASE * 1 + (.1 * PLAY_NUM)] Zuika Berserk Mode: Z_ATK = [(BASE_ATK * 1.5)] Z_MOV = (BASE_MOV * 2) Z_RNG = (BASE_RNG + 1) 3c.) ////////////////// ///CARD EFFECTS/// ////////////////// (incomplete) A listing of the effects of each card, in exact terms that people can actually find useful as opposed to "Attacks some enemies!" An (untested) means that the effect is untested, but assumed. . .many cards have similar effects. An asterik/set of asteriks means that the ability is useful in my opinion. If there are any duplicates of the ability without the asteriks, they are either untested or meant to be there and I was just lazy. Some of these are untested but heavily inferred and I do not feel like testing each and every one. MP : xx means that the ability costs that much MP. MAX: COPY: Mawlock's Attack becomes SUPERNOVA LV. 1 with RANGE: 1 EFFECT: ** EGRESS LV. 1, revives all party members. MP : 20 ** MAE, PELLE, KEN, VANKAR, EARNEST, ARTHUR: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. (You will see this a lot.) EFFECT: Mawlock performs a physical attack with RANGE: Infinite. MP : 3 GORT: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: ATK +8, RANGE: 3, AOE: 1, MP : 11 LUKE: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: DEF +15, RANGE: 3, AOE: 1, MP : 7 GUNTZ: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: Reduces next amount of damage done to target to 1. (Untested) ANRI: COPY: Mawlock's Attack becomes FREEZE LV. 1 with RANGE: 1. EFFECT: FREEZE LV. 2 with RANGE: Infinite. MP : 30 ALEF: COPY: Mawlock's Attack becomes BOLT LV. 1 with RANGE: 1. (untested) EFFECT: BOLT LV. 2 with RANGE: Infinite. MP : 15 TAO: COPY: Mawlock's Attack becomes BLAZE LV. 1 with RANGE: 1. EFFECT: BLAZE LV. 1 with RANGE: Infinite. MP: 6 DOMINGO: COPY: Mawlock's' Attack becomes FREEZE LV. 1 with RANGE: 1 EFFECT: FREEZE LV. 2 with RANGE: Infinite. MP : 30 LOWE: COPY: ** Mawlock's Attack becomes HEAL LV. 2 with RANGE: 1. ** EFFECT: HEAL LV. 2 with RANGE: Infinite. MP : 10 KHRIS: COPY: ** Mawlock's Attack becomes HEAL LV. 2 with RANGE: 1. ** EFFECT: +10 HP, RANGE: Infinite, AOE: Infinite, MP : 25 TORASU: COPY: ** Mawlock's Attack becomes HEAL LV. 2 with RANGE: 1. ** EFFECT: ** SHIELD LV. 1, RANGE: Infinite, AOE: Infinite, MP : 25 ** GONG: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: Skips target's turn. (untested) DIANE: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: +2 RNG, RANGE: 1, AOE: 1, MP : 24 HANS: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: +1 RNG, RANGE: 1, AOE: 1, MP: 12 LYLE: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: +2 RNG, RANGE: 1, AOE: 1, MP : 18 AMON: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: +3 MOV, RANGE: 2, AOE: 1, MP : 10 BALBAROY: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: Target's movement type becomes "Flying". (Unhindered movement, no terrain effect) KOKICHI: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: Target's movement type becomes "Flying". (Unhindered movement, no terrain effect) BLEU: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: Bleu-esque Attack with RANGE: Infinite, AOE: 5, MP : 30 ADAM: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: When the target ATTACKs, C_ATK = T_ATK. RANGE: 1, AOE: 1, MP: 15 (Untested) ZYLO: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: Target's movement type becomes "Beast". (Move unhindered by most terrain) MUSASHI: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the characters. EFFECT: Target's next attack is a critical hit. HANZOU: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: AGI +15, RANGE: 1, AOE: 1, MP : 8 YOGURT: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: ATK = 1, RANGE: 1, AOE: 1, MP : 1 NARSHA: COPY: ** Mawlock's Attack becomes ATTACK LV. 1 with RANGE: 1. ** EFFECT: +20 MP, RANGE: 1, AOE: 1, MP : 30 ZUIKA: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. EFFECT: DESOUL LV. 1. MP : 25 MAWLOCK: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the character's. Har har. EFFECT: Returns any used cards to an unused state. RUNE KNIGHT: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the enemy's. EFFECT: Mawlock performs a physical attack with RANGE: Infinite. SKELETON: COPY: +3 HP per turn. (Untested) EFFECT: Put 1 enemy to sleep. (Untested) MARIONETTE: COPY: Mawlock's Attack becomes BLAZE LV. 1 with RANGE: 1. EFFECT: BLAZE LV. 1 with RANGE: Infinite. MP : 2 GHOUL: COPY: +3 HP per turn. EFFECT: Poison 1 enemy. (Untested) GOBGOVITCH: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the enemy's. EFFECT: Random, crap damage. RANGE: 1, AOE: 1, MP : 20 PEGASUS KNIGHT: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the enemy's. EFFECT: Mawlock performs a physical attack with RANGE: Infinite. LASER EYE: COPY: Mawlock's Attack becomes BOLT LV. 1 with RANGE: 1. EFFECT: BOLT LV. 4 with RANGE: Infinite. MP : 30 SILVER KNIGHT: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the enemy's. EFFECT: Mawlock performs a physical attack with RANGE: Infinite. SOUL EATER: COPY: +3 HP every turn. (Untested) EFFECT: Target gets +3 HP for 5 turns, RANGE: 1, AOE: 1, MP : 30 ELLIOT, HELLHOUND: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the enemy's. EFFECT: Mawlock performs a physical attack with RANGE: Infinite. MP : 3 BALBAZAK: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the enemy's. EFFECT: +5 ATK, +15 DEF, +15 AGI, RANGE: 1, AOE: 1, MP: 40 MASTER MAGE: COPY: Mawlock's Attack becomes BLAZE LV. 1 with RANGE: 1. EFFECT: BLAZE LV. 2 with RANGE: Infinite. MP : 20 DULLAHAN: COPY: +3 HP per turn. (Untested) EFFECT: DESOUL LV. 1. (Untested) KANE: COPY: ** Mawlock's Attack becomes DESOUL LV. 1 with RANGE: 1. ** EFFECT: EGRESS LV. 1. MP : 8 MISHAELA: COPY: Mawlock's Attack becomes BOLT LV. 1 with RANGE: 1. (Untested) EFFECT: BOLT LV. 1, RANGE: Infinite, AOE: Infinite, MP : 40 DEMONMASTER: COPY: Mawlock's Attack becomes FREEZE LV. 1 with RANGE: 1. (Untested) EFFECT: FREEZE LV. 4, RANGE: Infinite. MP : 25 CHAOS: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the enemy's. EFFECT: When the target attacks, C_ATK = T_ATK. RANGE: 1, AOE: 1, MP: 15 RAMLADU: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the enemy's. EFFECT: Target does not take its next turn. RANGE: 1, AOE: 1, MP : 20 COLOSSUS: COPY: Mawlock's Attack becomes BOLT LV. 1 with RANGE: 1. EFFECT: ** +15 DEF, RANGE: Infinite, AOE: Infinite, MP : 30 ** DARKSOL: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the enemy's. EFFECT: Demon Breath?, RANGE: Infinite, AOE: Infinite, MP : 50 (Untested) DARK DRAGON: COPY: Makes Mawlock's stats similar to the enemy's. Including MOV. EFFECT: Demon Breath?, RANGE: Infinite, AOE: Infinite, MP : 50 (Untested) 4c.) Coming soon. 5c.) /////////////////////// ///GLITCHES/EXPLOITS/// /////////////////////// Ah, the last resort of the powergamer. It is not technically "cheating", is it? :) Here is a compendium of known glitches, exploits, and just weird things in the game. These have been collected in my mind and the knowledge of who discovered them first is lost to me. If anyone wishes to claim discovery and would like to be listed in the credits, I would be glad to do so. REPAIRING CURSED ITEMS: In general, you are not supposed to be able to repair cursed items. The merchant that you propose this to has a rather humorous message if you attempt to do so. However, there is a glitch that will let you repair any cursed item. Let us say you use the Evil Ring too much, and tiny cracks appear in it. This means the item is "broken"-- one more use and it disappears. Equip the Evil Ring on someone, then fill up their item inventory. Go to a priest and have that person uncursed. It costs 20 gold. Now normally, an uncursed item would go into your item inventory, and still be broken. However, since your item inventory is full, the item goes straight to the Item Box. The Item Box was not designed to have broken items in it-- try putting a broken item straight from your inventory/equipment to the item box. Due to this, all items in the Item Box are always "not-broken". . .so your cursed item is now repaired. For a measly 20 or so gold, too. MISSING DEALS: There is a sort of of "glitch" with the fusion of the old Shining Force deals system and the new features, particularly the new bonus rare items one receives for winning battles efficiently. The original game rarely had you selling off multiple rare items, and-- though this may only be in 2-- had multiple page listings when more than one row of items was necessary. Unfortunately with the onset of multiple, basically useless after one battle (IMO) rare items, the Deals section gets crowded. Presumably, the newest items-- since those would be the most useful in general, who wants a Demibuster in Chapter 8?-- are the ones shown. I believe the problem is simply that when you sell an item, that is the newest item to the merchant, and so it is displayed first. There is some degree of randomness to it as well (as I recall occasionally getting the Holy Ring instantly once I got to Runefaust, sometimes never having it show up) but the basic operating principal is as I outlined above, I believe. Reloading the game probably resets the item list, shuffling items to random spots on the "New" list or, as I would think, simply removing the items you sold from the shop altogether. GOOD LEVEL UPS / BEAT THE RNG: Here is a nice method in order to "beat" the RNG at its own game and get only level ups that even Volcanon would envy: When you see that a character will level up with his or her next action in a battle, wait until their turn comes up, remove your cursor from that character, and press a button on an empty space. Select "Quit". Quitting saves your game at the exact spot you are in battle. Load up your save game. Perform the action that will level you up. Now, here is where the road diverges. Let us say you are doing this to Arthur, because lord knows he needs it at the beginning. If you are satisfied with the level up he gets-- for example, 2 DEF 2 HP-- you can stay with that. But what if he gets crap, like 1 AGI? No one wants that. If that turns out to be the case, shut off your GBA and reload your save. If you perform the same action, you will get the same level up. However, you can simply go into Arthur's item menu, and select the option to drop his weapon (or any other item he has.) When prompted if you really wish to drop the item, say no. This will reset the random number generator. Exit out of the menu and then perform the action. You should get a different level up-- possibly better, possibly worse. Perhaps you get 3 DEF 1 HP. Is this good enough for you? If so, continue your battle as normal. If not, simply perform the above again, only pretend to drop the item twice. This will reset the RNG twice-- once to its value in your second load, and then to a new value, so you should get a new level up. Repeat this until you get a value you like. You can always go back to a level you were satisfied with by pretending to drop the item as many times as you needed to get to that level. Interestingly, though this is untested, you _should_ be able to mess with the RNG enough to get critical hits or misses whenever you wish. TEENY BIKINI EXPLOIT: The Teeny Bikini is the "special item for a certain character" as detailed in the manual for ROTDD, even though it is for two characters. When the game gives you a new card on a New Game +, it checks for two things: 1.) whether or not you have all the cards; 2.) whether or not you have a Teeny Bikini already. You need to have all the cards, and not have a Teeny Bikini if you want a Teeny Bikini. The trick here is to sell the Teeny Bikini whenever you get one, for 100 gold. Rinse and repeat, basically. You can get a free couple of hundred gold with this. It may not sound like much-- and really, it is not-- but I find it useful in later playthroughs to get as many Steel Rings as I can. This also allows you to get two Teeny Bikinis-- you can either sell one, find a second, and buy the first one back, or win one in a Narsha battle (by having Narsha kill Gobgovitch, or Zuika kill Soul Eater) to get one for both Tao and Narsha. ________________________ [----------------------] [ SECTION D - MORE CRAP] [----------------------] 1d.) ////////////////// ///CONTACT INFO/// ////////////////// My name is John Orapello. I am contactable via email at [email protected]. I already get tons of spam, so you might want to title your email something about Shining Force so it stands out. I welcome questions that are NOT about main gameplay-- in other words, do not ask me how to find Hanzou or Musashi, do not ask me how to get all the cards, do not ask me how to defeat Dark Dragon with Mawlock. I am interested in idiosyncracies of later playthrough gameplay, however, so if you are on about playthrough 5 or above and have a unique problem, I would like to hear about it. You can also contact me at the above address or on the GameFAQs Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon message board if you have anything to add to this guide (I generally have a few topics I look at and post in on the message board.) If you want to use this guide on your website, email me and I will most likely say yes-- however, if I decide not to let you, please abide by my wishes. Any contributions to the guide would be gladly examined and, if placed in it, credited. 2d.) ///////////////// ///HOW TO HELP/// ///////////////// I am typing this up as I play the game, going through the arduous process of testing out most of the cards. If you see any card effects/copies with "(Untested)", feel free to try them out and send me the results. Extra data is always appreciated, as long as you have a big set-- I am hoping for at least 20 trials in each set. For example, if you tested out EXP, record what EXP you get for what character from what action at what levels and any extra data that may be relevant. . .and make sure you have at least 20 of those before emailing it to me (with a proper subject) or posting it on a RELEVANT topic on the message board. What is needed at this moment: -Promotion data. Stats of characters at Level 20 Promoted, after having been promoted at Levels 10, 15, and 20. -Experience data. How much experience is received from attacks/kills. What attack, how much damage is done, enemy max HP, and levels are all required for this. -Card effects. Simply peruse the format I have used in my card section and describe what cards do what. -Critical hit information. I will take 1 or 2 trials for this. Simply give me enemy data (HP, defense, etc.-- preferably all of it, could not hurt) and attacker data (the same). Please do not bombard me with hundreds of emails or posts that have 1 trial each. Anything that you think should be included in here, or any inaccuracies you find in the guide, submit via email or post on the message board. Credit will be gladly given where due. 3d.) ///////////// ///MUSINGS/// ///////////// Just a place to put random thoughts and speculation on the game. It seems to me that all the "special" characters-- that is, characters with some kind of oddity or unusual bonus-- tend to be the most powerful. The two which immediately come to mind are Zuika (Berserk Mode) and Mawlock (Cards). Zuika's Berserk Mode is undisputably powerful and easily makes him into the first person to be able to reach 99 ATK. Mawlock's cards make him, if you simply Move with 4 cards, roughly 4 times as efficient as a normal character. Other, less convincing examples would be Arthur (magic = magic resistance growth, and evidence of big stat gains later in his "career"), Hanzou/Musashi (hidden, incredibly powerful), Domingo (same), and Lyle (archer/knight, and usually a staple of my force-- probably the best archer either way). Considering your magic users are generally not in need of having their cards Moved, or really any other bonus, you can stick to powering up your fighters with Mawlock. Zuika in particular benefits much from many of Mawlock's bonuses due to his incredible Berserk mode. 4d.) ///////////// ///CREDITS/// ///////////// Well, getting the preliminaries out of the way, I would like to thank: -GameFAQs and CJayC for maintaining such a good site. -Atlus, Camelot, Sega, et al for making Shining Force. -Aerostar and the entire FFT Board for doing such a damn fine job on a damn fine guide for a damn fine game. And here, in the order in which I find their usernames on the message board, are people contributing to the guide in some way, shape, or form, and whose help is greatly appreciated: -Sonsaru (promotion, new game +) -HawkMasterD (experience) -Faris Sherwind (providing Kane's first playthrough stats, new game +) -MephistoXD (Dark Saber attack power) -Skye7707 (goblin stats from his FAQ) -cosmicat (experience) -Stakk (critical hits, general crap) -http://www.network-science.de/ascii/ for the cool ASCII title. And anyone else I forgot. :) Here is a fantastic SFROTDD fansite, that I am putting here so I never lose it again: http://rpg-home.lunar-net.com/sf_gba/index.html