Yggdra Union: Gameplay FAQ and Strategy Guide Version 2.8 by KholdStare88 [email protected] ================= Table of Contents ================= I. Versions and Updates II. What Is This Guide? III. Frequently Asked Questions IV. PSP Changes V. Hints and Tips VI. Unions, Stats, and MVP VII. Cards Guide VIII. Strategy Guide IX. Summary of Characters X. Credits & Contacts =============================================================================== I. Versions and Updates =============================================================================== Version 0.8, March 23, 2008 -The bulk of the guide is created. Version 1.0, June 01, 2008 -The guide is finished up to Characters. Version 1.5, August 09, 2008 (not submitted) -The Stealing Guide section is changed to Strategy Guide. -Some information is fixed and added; they are too insignificant to list. -The Characters section is half done but not yet released. -The format of battlefield changes from 27C to 27-3. -The Credits & Contacts section is added. (How could I forget this, right?) Version 2.0, August 10, 2008 -Added the PSP Changes section. -Modified the rest of the guide to include PSP changes from here and here. -Finished the Allies for the Characters section. (the most important portion) -Added some minor changes and clarification to the guide. -The entire guide is mechanically spellchecked. Version 2.5, September 26, 2008 (dated for v2.0) -Added Dragon Killer card change to PSP Changes section. -Added the 8 characters change to the PSP Changes section. -Added some information about battlefield 49 to the Strategy Guide section. -Added some information regarding to the PSP version in the FAQs section. -Removed false information about Nietzsche. -Removed some confirmed PSP changes that were false. -Changed some terminology to be consistent with current usage. -Updated information for the card Oblivious Dawn. -Changed some wording on regarding to the card Genocide. -Added a frequently asked question regarding to the purpose of this guide. -Updated information about the PSP status of this guide. -More spelling errors and typos were fixed. *The date of this version is intentionally not updated to preserve a release date of before the NA release since not all PSP information are final. Version 2.6, September 28, 2008 (dated for v2.0) -Changed some random pieces of information. -Updated the Characters section to include some enemies. -More mechanical errors were fixed. *The date of this version is intentionally not updated to preserve a release date of before the NA release since not all PSP information are final. Version 2.7, October 2, 2008 (not submitted) -Removed character ratings, extreme bias, but retained personal opinion. -Added some details about unions and character selection. -Added some strategy tips as provided by Tracy Smith. Version 2.8, November 1, 2008 -Added some PSP information to the FAQs section. -Finished summary of characters. -Added max stats for permanent ally characters. -Changed some character ratings. -Added more information about Oblivious Dawn. Version 3.0, To Be Announced (not submitted) -This version is currently being worked on, which will include a full walkthrough with maps. There is no estimate on when this will be finished, since I have way too much schoolwork as of now. Thankfully, about 75% of what I needed to do will be maps. If you contacted me via the GameFAQs.com message board or by email and your suggestion isn�t in version 2.8, then that just means I saved it for version 3.0. Thanks for your patience! =============================================================================== II. What Is This Guide? =============================================================================== Let's face it, Yggdra Union is a pretty hard game based on Game Boy Advance standards. It has many complex features and a unique battle system to boot. This is not a walkthrough for the game, but rather, it attempts to explain the different features to avoid frustration, restarting, or completely losing interest in the game, which happens to many. In short, this guide contains the information that I wish I knew when I first played this game. So does that means that this guide is only for first time players? Yes, and no. Yes, because someone who is replaying this game would probably know more than 50% of what's in this guide. No, because even after the first time playing it, I still did not know all of what's in this guide. Within this guide are tips and tricks that could greatly boost your performance, but if you can claim to beat Yggdra Union with your hands tied behind your back, then you don't need to read this guide. Also, this guide is a bit different from the other guides. Because Yggdra Union is such a hard game, this guide aims for as little decisions for you as possible and as much straight to the point hints and answers as possible. I will not try to tell you how to do every little thing, but if there is one sure way I know of doing something, then I will list it. I won't list three ways of doing something and then tell you to pick one, but rather, I will just list whichever way I think is best or easiest. And finally, note that this guide contains light spoilers. No major plot revelations will be revealed, but there will be some spoilers to facilitate the process of writing and understanding this guide. In the FAQ section, there are literally no spoilers at all. From section IV and down, there will be a good amount of spoilers since they are reference sections, so be prepared. Again, there will be no major spoilers. As of this time, I have not been able to physically play the PSP version, so I ask everyone to be patient while I update this FAQ. Note that this is only a FAQ/basic guide, and that it is not really a walkthrough. I do hope that one will be posted in the future. =============================================================================== III. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) =============================================================================== This section contains some of questions that others have raised (or I myself have raised while playing the game). Reading through this will help with some of the basics of Yggdra Union, while note that other features of the game such as stats, cards, stealing, etc... are covered in other sections. Q: What is the purpose of this FAQ? A: The purpose of this FAQ is to advise the reader on one or two sure methods to play the game. In short, this FAQ is more opinionated than others. Expect this FAQ to tell you what to do instead of being technical and throw long passages at you trying to explain random stuff and then expect you to make a decision. If you skipped it, please refer to three paragraphs above for more information. Q: Is this game hard? A: Yes, it is very hard. In fact, compared to normal gameplay of all other RPG/Strategy games for the GBA, it is the hardest game in my opinion. While some games in "hard mode" may be harder than Yggdra Union, it is already in hard mode. Note that the PSP version has morale recovery every time a character level up, which makes it considerably easier than its GBA counterpart. In fact, there is a "hard mode" for the PSP version, which is the same as the only mode in the GBA version, so technically, you're playing the hard mode of Yggdra Union. Q: Should I follow a walkthrough? A: To be honest, if it doesn't affect your pride in some way, then yes. It is definitely possible to beat the game without a walkthrough, but many people have lost interest and quit the game because it is so hard. If you really want to play this game without a walkthrough, then maybe you can think about getting the PSP version, playing the "normal mode" first, which is easier than the GBA version, then playing the "hard mode" after, which similar (but still easier) than the GBA version. Q: Why is Milanor so strong? A: It is because Milanor has a stronger starting stats (when Milanor level up once, he will have a natural 3 stars for his ATK) and Yggdra is weak. (see next question) Q: Why is Yggdra so weak? A: That is because this game is already at hard mode from the start. Notice how one of the first major recurring enemy of this game are Undines, which are strong vs. sword users, aka Yggdra. Basically, you'll be forced to use Milanor more to fight against Undine bosses such as Ishiene and Emelone. If you use a character more, then that character will level up faster and is more likely to be MVP. Luckily Yggdra starts with Silk Corset which blocks counters, but after that, you're on your own. Q: How many characters should I play? A: I would try for six, because you don't need more. There's really five different weapons, but since you get both Durant and Nietzsche early on in the game that it's pointless to quit one later on in the game.* Plus, both have their advantages, and if you raise Nietzsche's TEC a bit she can be very good. Use Milanor for axe, Yggdra for sword, Durant and Nietzsche for Spear, Roswell or Rosary (you can't have both) for Rod, and your assassin (please, not Cruz) for bow. Note that you can use your fencer temporarily in place of Yggdra in her absence, but when you get Yggdra back, you should never use your fencer again. Note that you also get a Scythe user in the PSP version, but you should still stick with six characters. To me, Nietzsche is more useful than Durant, and Durant is at his best with the Stray Dragon item at the end of the game anyways, so you might want to have an Yggdra, Milanor, Nietzsche, Rosary or Roswell, your assassin, and your Scythe user. Remember that Nietzsche has decent LUK in exchange for low TEC, so make sure to try to boost TEC some time. *In the PSP version, you do get six weapons, so in my opinion it is best if you ditch either Durant or Nietzsche for Mistel. Now, Nietzsche is an overall more �useful� character in that she can take shortcuts through water, get items that are only on water, and have a huge GEO bonus on water. Also, she has high LUK which is useful to make items drop. Durant is more of a power character with high ATK and low LUK. He is good on roads and bridges, and while those conditions may not be very useful on every map, there are some specific maps where you just need to place a blockade on a road or bridge and Durant is perfect for it. In short, if you want power, go with Durant. If you want more items, go with Nietzsche. I would probably ditch Nietzsche for Mistel. Q: Roswell or Rosary? A: The expert opinions are split half and half about this one, so it's once again up for grabs. If you're following a walkthrough, then pick Rosary, because then you know where to get ATK UP items to boost her terrible ATK. Also, she is excellent against Gulcasa, one of this game's great annoyances, provided that her ATK is actually high enough. If you're trying to play this game through without a walkthrough, then choose Roswell. He has better ATK gains and will be a better character without much pampering. Note that picking Rosary means you'll have more chances to make items drop (due to her high LUK) and that by picking Roswell, you'll be able to use many items that doesn't have the "Not Rosary" requirement. For more details, refer to the their respective sections in the Characters Category. Q: Is Cruz good? Is my assassin better? A: To me, Cruz is inferior. When you get your powerful assassin, she will eventually have higher TEC and LUK than Cruz with about the same ATK. Cruz's higher GEN means that he will lose little morale when he is beaten, but why lose morale when you can actually win? Also, your second bow user can use Bloody Claw, one of the best cards in the game, and Cruz cannot. This is the main reason for my preference for the assassin, but I also prefer the female union more. Cruz is useful at noon and in the forest, but there are no hard forest maps where Cruz can be extra useful (except in the one directly following his recruitment), and at the end of the game where it matters most, many of the battlefields are at night which is the time for Elena to shine. Q: Is my fencer good? A: Yes, he is good, for a few maps at least. Note that you will not have Yggdra when you get him (if you decide to), and for a few maps after, you can use all available characters, so why not use him? However, when you get Yggdra back, you should just set him aside, for his job is done. You only need one sword user, and the less characters you use, the higher their levels will be. Q: Why do I want to use hunters/assassins? Bows are weak! A: Yes, they are weak, but remember that you cannot counter against charges from bow users. This means that if you charge, then you will definitely have a huge advantage, which makes up for your bad weapon affinity. However, unless you use Bloody Claw or Thunderbolt, don't let a bow user be a union leader. The reason is that they cannot counter against a charge also. Since your assassin has low GEN, you can't afford to lose, so get your bow user into a union then after fighting, move out of the union. If you use Thunderbolt, then try to assess the current situation to see if the enemy's union leader will be defeated and leave the battlefield so you can push your army forward to prevent your bow user from getting attacked the next turn. Q: How do I remove an item? A: Well, you can't, and this is quite troubling. Sometimes you have to wear an item to access something on a map, and if you're wearing another item, then you cannot remove it. This might require you to plan ahead in many situations. One example is the Dowsing Rods, which lasts for 6 (!) maps, and you only need it for one map, so try to plan that accordingly. Q: Use item for morale recovery or on a battlefield? A: It really depends, but to save yourself trouble, do not keep all items and think that you will use them in a map sometimes in the future, because that does not work. This doesn't mean that you should use all items for morale recovery and nothing for the battlefields either. It is best to compare the pros and cons of each. For example, items that are used on only one map are often stronger but less useful. Items such as Berserk, Stell Persona, and World Tree Leaf are best used for morale recovery, since they only last for one map and does not really help much on the battlefield anyways. For another example, let's take the item Teddybear. All it does is +2 GEN, when it can recover 5000 morale. I would keep it to recover 5000 morale. Note: The duds are for something, so before you use them for morale recovery, refer to a walkthrough. Q: Why can't I equip a Medallion? A: That's because its only purpose is for morale recovery. Speaking of which, if you have some medallions and you're at very low morale, then by all means, use some. Q: Why won't this item from an enemy drop? A: for an item to drop, the amount of big stars for your LUK stat must be equal or greater than the amount of big stars for the enemy's LUK stat. With proper planning of who will get the enemy's morale to zero, you don't have to Steal to get the item. Q: Why won't this card work on the enemy? A: If you get GUARD, that means your TEC's big stars are lower than the enemy's GEN's big stars. Steal works this way, so if Milanor's TEC is higher than the enemy's GEN, then he can steal it, and LUK does not come into the equation. If you get INVALID, then the enemy voids whatever you are trying to do. (For example, using the Flame card on witches or the Blizzard card on undines will guarantee an INVALID. If you get MISS, then certain conditions are not met, such as if you are trying to Steal an enemy without an item, if you are using Chariot but has more health than the enemy, or if you are trying to use Gravity Chaos on a cursed enemy. STATE GUARD means the target has the "Void ailments" effect. Q: Which item effects are good? A: Besides stat changes, some are really good. The items that increases morale are so-so, because you can probably use that item for about the same morale recovery. "1 on 1 = win" is a good effect, since it often lets you win a clash even at a disadvantage. "No battle penalty" is another good effect, because this means you will not lose members in a handicapped union. "No zero reset" is very useful, since you might use it for a strategic sacrifice. Note that in one specific battlefield, it is easier to let one member "faint" to complete the map. "Move -> Warp", "Move -> Fly", and "Move -> Horse" are some very good utilize effects, because you can move through enemy while mounted and you can move through sand/enemy while flying. If you got Rosary, than you need Move -> Warp to get a special item later on. (Roswell's movement is already Warp at night). "Move -> Swim" is also useful, and "Move -> Dragon" is pretty much the same as flying. "Always Ace" is of course very useful, since any character can use any card (with some exceptions). And finally, "Eat: (stat) UP" will permanently increase a stat, so that is always useful. Q: Why can't I use this card's effects? A: Follow the tutorial and you will be able to use cards soon. In short, if it is an A Card, then you hold A to activate it, and keep holding A until the effect is gone (or if you want to cancel the effect for some reason). If it is a B Card, then you hold B and charge up the card then release it when the charge meter is full to activate the card. Note that sometimes the enemy will do things to cancel your charge and you will have to recharge the card. Q: Which weapons are good against which? A: Here is a chart: T A R G E T --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- |Swd|Spr|Axe|Bow|Rod|Lmp|Scy|Buk| ------ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- A |Sword | - | X | O | - | - | - | X | - | ------ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- T |Spear | O | - | X | - | - | - | X | - | ------ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- T |Axe | X | O | - | - | - | - | X | - | ------ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- A |Bow | X | X | X | - | O | - | - | O | ------ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- C |Rod | O | O | O | X | - | O | - | X | ------ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- K |Lump | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | X | ------ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- E |Scythe| O | O | O | - | - | - | - | - | ------ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- R |Book | - | - | - | X | O | O | - | - | ------ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- To use this chart, the rows of weapons are the attacking weapons, and the columns of weapons are the defending weapons. O is strong against, and X is weak against. For example, let's take axe and bow. Axe users are neutral when dealing damage to bow users. However, bow users are weak when dealing damage to axe users. This means that bow users are only semi-weak to sword/spear/axe users. However, let's take scythe. Sword/spear/axe users are weak when dealing damage to scythe users, and scythe users are strong when dealing damage to sword/spear/axe users. This shows how strong scythe users really are, and how not-so-weak bow users really are. Q: What is High and Protect status? A: High status is shown, and the person with high status will recover all morale at the beginning or his or her turn. This means that if you are trying to defeat someone with High status, you have the turn where they attack you and your turn after to defeat them. For a simpler explanation, after you end your turn, all High enemies will completely recover morale. Protect status is not shown, but you will know when an enemy stays at 1 morale. This just means you can never remove this character off the battlefield (for now). Q: Should I retry a map if I'm having trouble? A: Yes, you should. To replay a map, you basically have to fail it, which means running out of cards (preferable) or by meeting another Losing Condition. When you run out of cards, you can replay that map and keep the experience as well as your cards' experience on your failed map. However, this means you cannot get 3 certain items later on, but if you are having trouble, then just retry. The two items won't affect you drastically in any way. Note that you should only replay a map once because the cards' experience halves every time you replay a battlefield. Perhaps the main problem is giving up the MVP reward, but it is your choice: more leveled up characters/stronger cards or MVP? Q: Why is Revolution so crappy? I pretty much lose anyways even if I use it. A: The point is you will lose less morale if your enemy beats you 1-0. Plus, sometimes you will survive if you're fighting against an axe, bow, or sword user. By the way, Zolfy and Snipe Glass are two very good items for Yggdra, because their effects are 1 on 1 = win, which means after using Revolution, you will win the clash. Q: Why can't I beat Gulcasa? A: That is because he is way too powerful, seriously. No weapons will ever be good against him, but rods (Rosary/Roswell) are not weak against him. If you have Rosary (with decent ATK), use her. Note that if her ATK is still at two big stars, then you might not even win. If you have Roswell, use him, but try to use some cards to help you. If you go head on against Gulcasa without the help of any cards, then you will most likely lose, so plan accordingly. If you have your second bow user, use Bloody Claw. Gulcasa cannot use Genocide without a head. To survive against Genocide, try to use Shield Barrier, Sanctuary, or Ace Guard before his rage meter is at MAX. If you have the Dragon Killer card, use it. Steal his item to lower his stats (although you'll probably lose when you're trying to steal it). Take advantage of GEO; place Durant on a Bridge if one is nearby. Do not form large unions against Gulcasa (unless you're using a Shield Barrier card or something similar), for when it's his turn to attack, he will annihilate you. Last but not least, status effects such as Gravity Chaos and Poison Breath might work well. Summon a golem or skeleton. For some reason the computer AI will go after golems and skeletons if they're closer. When all else fails, wait until night and use Kiss of Death. In the PSP version, use Oblivious Dawn to try and delay Gulcasa's Genocide activation. =============================================================================== IV. PSP Changes =============================================================================== As I mentioned earlier, there is a PSP version for Yggdra Union that is quite different from the GBA version. It is only available in Japanese until September 16, 2008, when it will be localized (in North America). Therefore, many of the changes listed before that time will be estimated transliterations, so it might not be exactly accurate. Also, even though I try to provide information as accurate as possible, none of these changes are confirmed by me, so read them at your own risk. All names are pending. Miscellaneous: -The characters will be voiced, and the North American version will have the option of hearing Japanese or English voices. -In Normal mode, morale will recover (by 25% of max?) on level up. -In Hard mode, morale will not heal on level up. However, all other changes in the PSP version will stay, such as extra card effects. -Several exploitable �bugs� found in the GBA version are now fixed. -Tactician Mistel (scythe user) is a playable character in any mode. -Mystic Witch Pamela (rod user) is a playable character in Hard mode. -Bly is a new, unplayable character. -The �fly� effect will now take no damage from poison marshes. -There is an option to speed up the game. -Some battlefields are modified. -An alternate version of battlefield 14 is added. -The knights in battlefield 35 can now be defeated. Instead, they will have the Protect status. -All ally characters in battlefield 42 will receive HIGH status when the Ankh Cannon is destroyed. -Battlefield 49 is added for hard mode, with a new ending. -There are 8 characters instead of 6 per fight. This implies that for classes with originally 3 characters, they will start with 4. Cards: -The Flame card causes BURN, which damages every turn. -The Thunderbolt card causes PALYZE, which disables movement. -The Rockfall card causes SLOW, which allows moving only one square per turn. -Other cards (possibly GEO cards) might have other boosts. -The Bloody Claw card's kill damage bonus is now in effect. -The Refreshment card now recovers morale (by 10% of max?) when used. -The Dragon Killer card's Ace is changed from Axe to All. -The Medusa Eye card�s STONE status no longer prevents allies from walking over the inflicted character. -The Genocide card�s kill bonus is now 30% instead of 50%. Mistel: -In BF 13-2, visit the two new villages and finish the map. -You will skip BF 14 but go to BF 14I then BF 14II. -In BF 14II, Mistel will join. -After fighting Baldus for a while, Aegina will come; both have Protect status. -After a few more turns, Bly will appear, telling you to move to a location. -The volcano will erupt once in place, removing Baldus and Aegina's Protect status. -After the fight, you will receive the new card, Oblivious Dawn. Pamela: -In hard mode, make sure to have Nietzsche next to Pamela (they will have a conversation) in BF 23-1. After that, Pamela can be defeated if you choose to do so. -In BF 24-3 or BF 24-4, uncover Pamela at her usual spot (far bottom-left corner) and let Nietzsche talk to her once more. Pamela will forcefully join your party. -After the fight, you will receive the new card, Coma Karma. -Note that Pamela is not like Rosary, being a different class, unable to use Doll Craft, and does not attack with the fire element on aggressive. =============================================================================== V. Hints and Tips =============================================================================== I like to call this section the what-I-wished-I-knew-before-trying-to-play- this-game section, because that's exactly what it is. If you are not going to read anything else in this guide, then at least read this section as it doesn't contain many spoilers and gives you straight-to-earth hints and tips. Note that some content from this section will be repetitive from the FAQs section. 1) Basic Controls. - Before a map starts, you are at a screen with the characters that you can select. On this screen you can press Select to see a character's stats and equipped item. Press Left from the main screen to get to your list of equipment. You can also press Select here to view the character's stats. Press Right from the main screen to use items for morale recovery. There are other controls but those are the most frequently asked ones. 2) You cannot remove items. - This is a pretty simple tip that might save you. Just remember that once you equip an item, then unless under special circumstances, you will have to play out as many maps as listed on that item for it to go away. You can't save an item to use for another map or anything like that, so just choose carefully. 3) Yggdra doesn't have an innate Block Counter ability. - Before you get used to Yggdra "guarding" against counters in the early stages of the game, make sure you realize that it's her item (Silk Corset) that enables her to do that. When this item goes away, expect her to receive major damage from counters because her GEN also decreases. 4) When using Rosary to fight Gulcasa, don't go aggressive. - Many people make the mistake of going aggressive against Gulcasa while using Rosary and then saying how Rosary sucks. Remember that Rosary uses the fire element in aggressive mode, and Gulcasa voids fire. If you don't want to go passive to use a skill, then just do nothing and watch Gulcasa use Genocide then lose. Again, boost Rosary's ATK as soon as possible and as much as possible. 5) Genocide gets stronger the more members Gulcasa sacrifice. - In short, Gulcasa sacrificed all members beside the head, breaks your meter, and starts dealing insane damage. If Gulcasa uses Genocide with only the head remaining while Rosary still has three members, then you'll almost always win. If he sacrifices one member to use Genocide, then you pretty much lost. 6) Genocide does more morale damage when activated. - Believe it or not, you can use this information to try and lose less morale, but it will take too long to explain fully. What you want to do is defeat Gulcasa before he activates Genocide (very possible with strategy, sacrifices, and coordination) or lose to Gulcasa before he activates Genocide. 7) The union leader who is an ace doesn't need to be able to use the card. - What this means is that a union leader that cannot use the card but is an ace with the card can make use of the card. Let's take Kylier, who is the union leader, attacking with the Steal card. Now Steal is Milanor-only and have axe as ace, and Kylier uses axe. If Milanor is in that union, then when it comes to Milanor's turn, he can use Steal since Kylier is an ace for Steal. This also applies to Nietzsche being an ace for Chariot which can be used by Durant, and Cruz being an ace for Bloody Claw which can be used by Elena. Yggdra has the Always Ace effect which is helpful starting from Battlefield 35. =============================================================================== VI. Unions, Stats, and MVP =============================================================================== ====== Unions ====== This section covers many miscellaneous features of Yggdra Union. Many of the game's confusing aspects are covered here, so if any part of the game that is hard to understand, this is the section to check out. Note that this section contains some minor spoilers. First of all, there are unions. In short, unions are basically melee fighting, and you can have up to a 5 vs. 5 union. When you start the game, there are no unions, and each character can only attack another character that turn. As the game progresses, you are introduced to basic unions, which are just x for males and + for females. Later on, you will learn how to link unions. This guide assumes that you are far enough into the game to link unions. Males' basic union is an x, while females' basic union is a +: \ / | \ / | M - - F - - / \ | / \ | In short, if any of your other characters are in line with the formations above, then they will join the fight. For linked unions, each addition member in the basic union can form a smaller x or cross (1 square from the character instead of two squares): D C M B | A - - F - - | | Let's assume the character initiating the attack is a female, F. A male character, M, is 2 squares north of F, so M is in F's basic union. However, M can link a small union to the original union, as shown by the other letters. If any characters stands on A, B, C, or D, then he or she will be involved in the fight also while not in the original F union. What is the order of the characters' turns in a union you say? That is a very complicated subject, and the best way to remember it is in diamonds. First, start with the union leader, with is the person initiating the attack, F. Then, go one space north of the F, and draw a diamond clockwise: | - F - | If anyone was in those four squares, then they would be included in the union, starting from the character north of the F, then east, then south, the west. Now, move two squares north of the F, and draw a diamond. Remember that all squares in this diamond has to be exactly two spaces from F: M B | A - - F - - | | Remember M's linked union squares, A-D? Those are included in the second diamond, starting from the M squares two north of the F, then the A, then two squares east of the F, then two squares south of the F, then two squares west of the F, and then finally the B. Now, we draw the last diamond: D C M B | A - - F - - | | There is nothing far straight north of the F, so the C goes first after the F, M, A, and B, then the D. If this is all too confusing, then just play the game. You will get the hang of it. Remember that only 5 characters can be in any union, so for the example above, if all A-D were occupied with your characters, then the D would not be in the union. Now, that's the easy part. The hard part is how to use these unions, because that is really a very important part. Once you commit your move, you cannot go back, so better have a picture in your mind of what your union will be when you initiate combat and what the opponent's union will be. This way, you can place your units to match up weapon affinities nicely. Using the union above, the order of attacking will be F, M, A, B, and C. If the order of the union you're attacking is axe user, sword user, and spear user, and F is Yggdra, then the first match up will be Yggdra vs. axe user, which gives you the advantage. The character that matches with the sword user will be M, so let's have M be Durant. Finally, A will match up with the spear user, so we can put any non- sword user there. Planning before moving (or even choosing your cards) is very important. Let's assume another scenario where you're facing a union of 5 axe users. The characters you have are Yggdra, Milanor, Durant, Nietzsche, and Roswell. It is better to make a union of only Yggdra, Milanor, and Roswell than to put all five players in that union, since both Durant and Nietzsche are weak against axes. Are we following so far? Let's assume another case where it is a 5 vs. 3, you against 3 axe users while having the same characters. Now is the time to introduce what is called battle penalty. Battle penalty is for unbalanced union clashes, where if you fight twice in the same clash you start with one less health, if you fight thrice in the same clash you start with two less health, and so on. In this case, the enemy's first and second characters will match up with your fourth and fifth characters, with one less health to boot. Now, look at Durant and Nietzsche's ATK stat; are they high? Let's assume that Durant's ATK is at 4 stars and Nietzsche's ATK is at 3 stars. If Durant takes the fourth position in your union, then with 4 ATK and the enemy at one less health, despite Durant having a disadvantage against the axe user, he should still win the fight. The same cannot be said for Nietzsche though, so I would just make it 4 vs. 3. Also remember that you can move anyone after clashing if they are not a union leader and if your card still has movement points, so you can safely move Durant away from the union after clashing. That is the simplest strategy, but remember that it does get complicated. Consider things such as weaknesses, elemental cards, etc... For example, Durant is weak against Gryphon Riders, so for the example above, if the axe user is a Gryphon Rider, then I would move Durant away. Another example if your opponent's union leader is a witch with the Flame card. Nietzsche might not be facing the union leader but someone else in the opponent's union, let's say a Valkyrie. You might expect Nietzsche to win, but if that Valkyrie activates Flame, which Nietzsche is weak against, then you might be into trouble. Conversely, Nietzsche voids Blizzard, so she is good to face Undines. Rosary voids fire, so she is good to face Genocide. Now here is the analysis about which type of union is better. Note that both unions effectively covers the same squares but in different shapes, and they also have different advantages and use. The male union covers squares diagonally, which means you can be four squares from the union leader to be in the union. The female union covers squares vertically and horizontally, which means you can be two squares away from the union leader to be in the union. This means that if your characters are spread out, then it will take less movement to be in a male�s union, and if your characters are clumped together, it will often be easily to set up a female�s union. This is why my preference is for the female�s union. I often move my characters together to spread out the experience and choose the best character to attack in each situation, so it takes less moves to set up a female�s union. This does not mean that the male�s union is useless, since in many cases I send off Milanor or Durant and form sub-unions two squares diagonally from that character if the situation allows. However, you can only send off one male at a time, and many maps involve roads and paths that are often one square wide vertically or horizontally. Now that I stated my preference, let�s talk about how this affects which characters you choose. I personally play with six characters, Yggdra, Milanor, Durant/Mistel, Nietzsche/Mistel, Roswell/Rosary, Cruz/Elena. I believe that you should balance 3 males and 3 females or 2 males and 4 females. A game with 4 males and 2 females are somewhat difficult to play, although if one of those females is Mistel, then you could breathe more easily. If you want to choose Roswell and Cruz, then either ditch Nietzsche or Durant for Mistel or use seven characters instead of six. Having 1 male and 5 females is overkill, because the lack of the male union will force you to move in closer groups and might cost you some +2 MVPs. In my opinion, a team of Yggdra, Milanor, Durant, Mistel, Roswell, Elena, or Yggdra, Milanor, Durant, Mistel, Rosary, Cruz, or Yggdra, Milanor, Nietzsche, Mistel, Roswell, Elena. ======== CARD ACE ======== The ace is the weapon affinity of the union leader, and each card has an ace. Let's take the Blizzard card, which is a Spear ace. To use Blizzard, the character initiating the attack (meaning the union leader) has to be a spear user, which is Durant or Nietzsche. This way, everyone in that union, regardless of their weapon affinity, can use the Blizzard skill. Of course, there are some exceptions to this. First of all, there are several items that has the nice effect "Always Ace," which means any character can use any card. But then, there are exceptions to that exception. If a card is only usable by a character or class, then another character or class cannot use that card no matter what. For example, Steal is only for Milanor. Even if Milanor is the union leader, no other characters can steal except him. Now, if you are up 2 vs. 5, then Milanor will fight against the third and fifth character of the enemy union, respectively. This means that Milanor can attempt to steal from the first, third, and fifth enemy. Also, "Always Ace" will not work with Steal, since it is exclusively Milanor's card. There is a trick to everything though. Have Kylier attack with the Steal card with Milanor in the union somewhere. Kylier is an axe user, which is Steal's ace. Even though Kylier cannot use Steal, Milanor can use it when it's his turn, since Kylier is an axe user. Likewise, Cruz can initiate with Bloody Claw even though he cannot use it, but when Elena's turn comes, assuming it's night, she can use the card. ===== STATS ===== For each character, you will receive them at a flexible level, relative to what level your characters are at. For example, you will receive Yggdra the second time maybe at level 10 or 11, depending on your party's levels. The exception is at the beginning of the game, where you get Milanor and Yggdra at a fixed level. The highest level any character can reach is level 20. There are four stats in the game, GEN, ATK, TEC, and LUK. If you do not know yet, only the big stars affect anything in this game. The little stars are experience points, if you will, to get to the next big star. Also, due to how the system of stats work, the more big stars you have, the faster it will take to get to the next big star. GEN: There are three main functions of this stat. The first function is if you resist an attack card's effect. If your GEN is bigger than your enemy's TEC, then you will completely resist that attack. Note that we're only counting big stars here, so if you have 3 big stars and 5 small stars for GEN, while the enemy has 3 big stars and 4 small stars for TEC, the attack will still hit. You will need at least 4 big stars to resist the attack. The second function is how much damage you receive from a charge or counter. If you have very low GEN, then when you get charged, you might go down to 1 to 2 health. Conversely, if you have high GEN, then you might resist the charge or only lose one health. This is why GEN is a very important stat. And last but not least, GEN affects morale damage. If your GEN is low, then you lose more morale when you lose a fight, and if your GEN is high, then you lose less morale when you lose a fight. Note that while Elena is an overall great character, you should try to increase her GEN or else she will almost always lose a battle on a charge and lose huge morale. It should also be noted that a character�s max morale mostly depends on his or her GEN. ATK: This category is still under discussion, but the results are pretty much the same. Some say that it affects how much damage you do, and some say that it affects how much damage you take while fighting. It still comes down to the same thing, since if you do more damage, then you will win the fight, and if you are harder to go down in health, then you will win the fight. Either way, just remember that it effects your efficiency when trying to take your opponent from 6 to 0 health. And also, ATK affects morale damage. This is why Rosary can be so weak earlier on in the game before you give her ATK UP items. At two big stars, you don't take away a lot of morale when you win. TEC: As described before, TEC determines if your card's ability will work or not. Note that some cards such as Revolution or Banshee's Cry does not rely on TEC. Also, TEC determines the damage you take from charges and counters. That said, TEC is the weakest stat in my opinion. If you have weak charges and high ATK, you can still win. The best cards are really Shield Barrier and other defensive cards, and usually enemies have low GEN anyways. However, TEC becomes important later on in the game, but I just want to stress that earlier on, focus on ATK and GEN. Also, TEC affects how much damage you do with your card skill. Or rather, the difference between your TEC and the target's GEN determines the damage. I have seen Thunderbolt get an enemy from 5 health to 1 health with a TEC rating of 5 and a GEN rating of 2, so later on in the game where button smashing is no longer a great idea, try to get TEC up. LUK: In short, the main effect of LUK is if the enemy's item will drop. This is actually very important in terms of beating the game. Without items, you will find yourself with no bonuses on battlefields and no extra items for morale recovery. This is why I prefer new players to pick Rosary because of her high LUK. However, remember that ATK affects how much morale damage you do, and since Rosary has low ATK, you better give her some ATK UP items so she can actually get her opponent's morale to 0. Also, luck affects critical hits, and while they are very useful, it is not very wise to rely on luck to win your battles. It is nothing really to note, but just remember that for Rosary, Nietzsche and Milanor, expect occasional critical hits, but not rely on them. REP: Wait, so what is REP? It's not really a stat, because it really does not effect anything (fighting-wise) except to power up the Kiss of Death card. If you win a battle, you get +1 REP, capped out at 6, and if you lose a battle, all of your REP disappears. However, it does not affect anything, except you can get certain items with a high or low REP, and you might have access to certain battlefields with high REP. For one, I prefer getting the Uncanny Fruit item (you need low REP to get it) as opposed to the Dark Matter item (you need high REP to get it) in battlefield 27. It's good to have high REP, because it means that you are winning many battles, but that was just an example of low REP isn't always bad. ---- NOTE ---- From now until the end of the FAQ, I will disregard small stars in my explanation. This means that if I say your TEC needs to be equal to your GEN, note that I am only looking at the big stars of the TEC and GEN stats. For more information regarding this subject, scroll up a little bit and read the GEN section. === MVP === When you finish a battlefield, one of your characters receive MVP status and they get +1 or +2 to one of the four stats. Whether you get +2 or +1 depends on how many turns you take to finish the battlefield, and you cannot get no MVP bonus unless you retry a map. (If you restart a map, that is fine.) The numbers of turns it takes to receive a +2 MVP can be found on other guides. The MVP is actually very confusing, because the MVP is the one who deals the most morale damage, not the person who gets the most enemies to zero morale. If an enemy has 2000 morale and Durant got that enemy to 500 morale and Yggdra finishes the enemy, then even though Yggdra got "the kill," Durant receives more points towards MVP status. ===== ITEMS ===== In this game, you can get items in two ways. The first way is to step on a square on a map and you will receive that item. This can be finding an item on the ground, stepping on a house and someone gives you that item, or moving to another square on the map and the current item you are using changes into a new item. Note that if you are trying to receive an item from someone, there might be certain restrictions that you will have to meet, with the most popular ones being the time of day (noon, evening, night), which character is on the square, the reputation of the character, the total reputation of the characters on the map, or if an item in your inventory is present or not. The most annoying thing that many people encounter is they cannot get certain items with the Skull Stone in your inventory, so just get rid of it by using it to recover 0 morale. Sometimes, there is a trade, and obviously you need to have that item in your inventory (not equipped!) to make the trade. Note that not all trades are beneficial. Sometimes, you need to equip an item to find a certain item, but you will not lose the item equipped. The second way is to obtain it from an enemy. There are two ways to do this, stealing and making them drop the item so you can step on their square and loot it. If you choose to use the Steal card, then only Milanor can use the card even though Kylier can be the union leader. Milanor's TEC must be equal or greater than the enemy's GEN. If you want the enemy to drop the item, then your LUK needs to be equal to the enemy's LUK. You will know when an enemy drops an item because the square will have an exclamation point (!) when the enemy disappears. You can check to see if an enemy has an item by putting your cursor at the enemy, press B, and while holding B, press SELECT. There is one disadvantage from making your opponent drop the item besides the fact that it can be hard to let the person with high LUK deal the finishing blow: If you have no more movement points on your card after the item drops and you end your turn without picking it up, there is a chance that another enemy will move to that square and pillage the loot. If there are no enemy nearby, then you don't even have to pick it up now, because all unpillaged loot will be automatically obtain once the map is completed. Now, some items are worth stealing/make drop and some items are not, and this is crucial. Sometimes you will have to leave some items behind if you want to make the +2 MVP bonus or if stealing the item will somehow annihilate your morale (notable items being Etherion and Mars Shield). Refer to the Stealing section for more detailed information of items on each map along with my personal input regarding if you should try to obtain that item or not. However, some enemies appear again on later maps, so if you steal from that enemy, then the next map he or she will have another item. This means that if you do not steal now, then you are missing the opportunity to get whatever item he or she would equip the next map. Mizer, Aegina, and Gulcasa. Sometimes, the characters do not equip anything for the next map but will retain the item if you did not steal it before. In this case, it might be in your best interest to steal it early, so the enemy will be weaker (with no items) when he or she appears again. Because of this, it is always better to obtain all items for most maps. One of the most annoying aspects of this game is the fact that you cannot remove equipped items. I will now list the places where you need to equip a certain item: Battlefield 19: Milanor must equip Treasure Map to obtain Seductive Bustier. Battlefield 24: Roswell must equip Dowsing Rods to obtain Element. Battlefield 26: Rosary must equip Warp Shoes to obtain Dragon Killer (card).* Battlefield 38: Rosary must equip Warp Shoes to obtain Snipe Glass.* Battlefield 41: Roswell must equip Evil Eye to obtain Cursed Talisman. What this means is that you need to have nothing equipped at the start of battlefield 19 so you can equip Treasure Map assuming you want the Seductive Bustier item. In other words, if you are going to equip an item on Milanor on battlefield 18, then you can only equip items that will last one map, or else you cannot equip the Treasure Map later on. *You will only get one Warp Shoes that lasts for 2 battlefields, so if you did not pick Roswell, then you can only get the Dragon Killer card or Snipe Glass. Both are good, but Dragon Killer can help with every single Gulcasa encounter while Snipe Glass lasts only for one map, even if it has the powerful effect "1 on 1 = win". Note that Roswell can obtain both items without the use of Warp Shoes, but really the Dragon Killer card is all you need and Snipe Glass should not be the only reason to pick Roswell over Rosary. Items can be used either on the battlefield or for morale recovery. For most items, they offer temporary stat changes on the battlefield as well as other special effects. For reasons of convenience (aka laziness), I will paste one of the questions in my FAQ here: Q: Use item for morale recovery or on a battlefield? A: It really depends, but to save yourself trouble, do not keep all items and think that you will use them in a map sometimes in the future, because that does not work. This doesn't mean that you should use all items for morale recovery and nothing for the battlefields either. It is best to compare the pros and cons of each. For example, items that are used on only one map are often stronger but less useful. Items such as Berserk, Stell Persona, and World Tree Leaf are best used for morale recovery, since they only last for one map and does not really help much on the battlefield anyways. For another example, let's take the item Teddybear. All it does is +2 GEN, when it can recover 5000 morale. I would keep it to recover 5000 morale. Note: The duds are for something, so before you use them for morale recovery, refer to a walkthrough. ---- DUDS ---- And here we are, the duds. What exactly do they do and is there any point to collecting them you say? Of course I'm talking about the Warm Dud, Cracked Dud, Burnt Dud, Disfigured Dud, Muddy Dud, Damp Dud, and Holey Dud. At one point in the map, you will be able to trade in amounts of duds (whichever, as long as you have enough of it) for items. Here is the list: 7 Duds: Hyper Drill (for Durant, 2 maps)* 5-6 Duds: Guillotine Cutter (for Milanor, 1 map) 3-4 Duds: Gatling Bow (for Elena, 2 maps) 1-2 Duds: Night Scope (for Cruz and Elena, 1 map) *You need the Hyper Drill to get another item later on called Fanelia which can only be used on the final map. It basically boosts everything about the character that equips is up. Now, let's analyze these items. Hyper Drill is pretty much bad, since at the end of the game, Durant is one of my strongest characters. Guillotine Cutter is exceptionally bad, since it only lasts for 1 map and at this point of the game every time I play, Milanor is maxed out. Gatling Bow is very useful, since you get Elena late and her stats need some boosting anyways. Night Score is pretty much horrible and it lasts 1 map. So the question is really Fanelia or Gatling Bow. Personally, at the end of the game, if you have one character that is extremely weak for some reason, then go with Fanelia. If you want more versatility and having a stronger Elena for 2 maps, then go with Gatling Bow. Of course, some of us will not get all 7 duds, but if you have 5 or 6 duds, then use some for morale recovery and have 3 left for the Gatling Bow, because the Guillotine Cutter is pretty much useless (except for maybe recovering Milanor's morale). Note that the Gatling Bow is exceptionally useful for Elena, since Elena cannot be countered and the bow allows you to charge immediately, causing massive damage. It also ups ATK, which is always good. ------------- MIZER'S ITEMS ------------- Mizer carries boots that has special effects regarding terrains. Most, if not all, of his boots are useful one time or another in the game, and to get Warp Shoes, you can only miss getting his boots once. The thing about Mizer is that he always appear with reinforcements, and these reinforcements are very quick on pillaging Mizer's item when it drops, so it is best to Steal his items, even though you can make him drop his goods if the other enemies are beaten. Battlefield 7: Winged Sandals The first time you see Mizer he will have Winged Sandals. Its effect is GEO 0% but more importantly, it gives +6 LUK, which could be useful earlier on in the game to get items. Don't save this item and use it for battles or morale recovery. Battlefield 8: Tough Boots The second time you see Mizer he will have Tough Boots. SAVE THIS ITEM! Way later on in the game in battlefield 41, you will encounter poison marshes, and these boots will negate the damage you take from them. While not being useful earlier on, it will be sometime in the far future. Battlefield 9: Ranger Boots The third time you see Mizer he will have Ranger Boots. These boots let you walk over any terrain, and as it suggests, but I have yet to find this very useful. If anyone knows what exactly these boots do, please send me an e-mail, but I know they don't help with moving through sand or marshes. Battlefield 12: Warp Shoes The fourth time you see Mizer he will have Warp Shoes. Of course, this is what you have been waiting for, since if you picked Rosary, then Warp Shoes are needed to get the Dragon Killer card. If you do pick Roswell, then steal from Mizer every time anyways so you can get his last item. Battlefield 23.5: Hoof Shoes The fifth time you see Mizer he will have Hoof Shoes. If you don't know yet, Durant can walk over enemies to pick up loots and items without defeating them. Hoof Shoes will allow you to do just that, which is very useful in getting some items such as the Holey Dud. Battlefield 29: Dragon Boots The sixth time you see Mizer, he will have Dragon Boots. This lets you have Dragon movement. Not only can you step over enemies like Durant, but you can fly over sand (sand restricts your moment to 1 square per turn, very annoying). This is most useful for annoying all-sand levels. Really all you need here is Warp Shoes, and you can only miss stealing from Mizer one time to obtain it! This is because the Dragon Killer card appears on battlefield 26, and the last time you see Mizer will be battlefield 29, so you have only one more chance if you miss once. Note that you will have to go to Cruz's map (battlefield 23.5) to get to Mizer before battlefield 26, so be prepared to do so. Just remember, just because you have Cruz, it doesn't mean you have to use him. =============================================================================== VII. CARDS GUIDE =============================================================================== Here we are, the guide for cards. This isn't a section for me to give you information about where to find a card, what power it originally starts out at, or other useless information. This section aims to give you advice about whether or not a card is useful or not and other relevant information. Just for convenience, I have listed the cards in increasing alphabetical order. Note that cards exclusively used by the opponent such as Angelic Thunder and Genocide are not listed. Even though you probably already know, Move means how many squares you can move with that card, Ace lists the ace for that card plus other requirements, and Type tells you how it is activated. Type B cards require you to hold B to charge up then release B to activate the card. Type A cards require you to just press A to activate the card but you will have to hold it until its duration runs out or if you want to stop the card's ability for strategic reasons. --------- ACE GUARD --------- Move: 4 Ace: All, only union leader can use Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) This is one of the best cards in the game, and it's also one of the cards I use often with low moves. In short, it prevents charges and counters for everyone in the union except for the union leader, who must first activate it. If Gulcasa, for example, takes you down to 2 health every charge, then if you use this card, you will have an overwhelmingly better chance to survive. Note that to use this card, it is best to use another card with higher moves to get closer. In short, with 4 moves, it is just enough to re-arrange your union, so the enemy must be very nearby. In short: Yes, power up this card. ------ BANISH ------ Move: 7 Ace: Sword Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) Like all generic attacking cards, Banish has 7 moves, which is not good, not bad. In fact, it sucks. Banish does holy damage, and only necromancers, astartes, and skeletons are weak to holy. I never seem to have any trouble beating those types, so I don�t consider Banish a very important card. Seriously, it starts out at such a low power that it is pointless to use it, especially when there's Banshee's Cry, Shield Barrier, or Sanctuary. In short: No, never use this card. Note: GEO cards and elemental cards' power is dependent on the user's TEC. ------------- BANSHEE'S CRY ------------- Move: 8 Ace: Sword Type: A (normal duration) This card starts out really weak, because all it does is bring enemies' ATK down to 1 star. In the beginning of the game, most enemies have 2 ATK anyways with maybe 3 ATK for bosses. Later on in the game though, this card is wreckage. Not only can it bring bosses with 6 ATK down to 1 ATK, but if its effects are still in use when you lose, then you will lose less morale! Yes, estimate when you are about to lose and use Banshee's Cry to save yourself a lot of hurt. In short: Yes, power up this card. -------- BLIZZARD -------- Move: 7 Ace: Spear Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) In short, spears have no good cards. There are two, Chariot and Blizzard. For one, Nietzsche cannot use Chariot, so you're left with Blizzard. It's not a very powerful card, but it starts out with good power, and it's the only card with for Nietzsche. Actually, it is very useful against Emilia's troops, since Griffon Riders are weak to ice. Be careful about using Blizzard to freeze water so you can walk over ice, because that is still dangerous and one wrong move could cost you a zero reset (or even a failed map if Milanor or Yggdra drowns. In short: Yes, power up this card. Note: GEO cards and elemental cards' power is dependent on the user's TEC. ----------- BLOODY CLAW ----------- Move: 9 Ace: Bow, assassins only (Elena), night only Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) There's a problem with this card. You get it pretty early in the game but you cannot use it for a very long time. Thus, some people tend to not use this card. This is one of the best cards in the game, so use this card often even though you cannot use its effects. When you do get Elena though, it is basically a 1 on 1 = win. What this card does is kills the head. This prevents certain activations such as Genocide, and also, the head has the most health anyways, so Elena will rock with this card. Even though there's a lot of maps that are night-only (many near the end of the game), that restriction still a nuisance. Its 9 move is very useful still. In short: Yes, power up this card. ------- CHARIOT ------- Move: 9 Ace: Spear, knights only (Durant) Type: B (knocks enemy's health down to yours) At first glance, this card is useful, since knights only have 3 health anyways and it can halve almost any other enemy's health immediately. However, only knights can use this card, which makes it pretty useless. Most hard enemies such as dragon knight (Gulcasa), guardian knight (Leon), and Emilia (griffon rider) starts out with 3 health, and you're already strong against Aegina. Trust me on this, there is pretty much no use for this card. In short: No, only use this card for movement. ---------- COMA KARMA (PSP only, name pending) ---------- Move: 7 Ace: All, Pamela and ??? only (it says ??? in the PSP game) Type: ? (probably B) This card puts enemy to sleep at night, but it is unclear whether it will inflict a SLEEP status or merely make them unable to attack (similar to Skeletons sleeping at noon). In any case, it's probably a good card, but only Pamela can use it (and some other unknown character) makes it a not so useful card. In short: No decisive comment as of now. ------- CRUSADE ------- Move: 12 Ace: All, Yggdra only, when only head is alive Type: B (automatic win) Yes, if you can activate this card with Yggdra, you will win, period. It's also very useful because its ace is All, which means Yggdra does not have to be the union leader to use this card. However, it starts out with very high power and unless you are putting Yggdra alone against another union, it is not very useful. When you need it, it's very powerful, but when you want to use it, there's not many situations where you would need it. I just use it mostly for movement. In short: Yes, use it, but if possible, try to power up other cards. ---------- DOLL CRAFT ---------- Move: 11 Ace: Rod, witches only (Rosary) Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) Simply put, damage-wise, this card always take away 1 health unless only the head is left. It could be useful against, er, Gulcasa or someone, but it's not a very reliable attack card. Despite its low attack power, it is very useful because of its high move. Oh, and it summons golems, which is pretty much useless unless you're trying to run away from a boss. If you summon a golem or skeleton, then for some reason the enemy will attack it first. Since golems don't form unions, let Rosary summon a golem when you're trying to run away or defend from Gulcasa and...run away! However, golems will destroy villages and can only move one square at a time, so aside from distracting enemies, they are useless. In short: You will use it anyways for its high moves even if you want to or not. Note: Only use this card if you picked Rosary. Otherwise, use Necro Gate. ------------- DRAGON KILLER ------------- Move: 8 Ace: Axe, only against dragon riders Type: A (normal duration) Actually, this card isn't that great. You might think it's good against Gulcasa, and while it is, there are better cards to combat Gulcasa. I personally forgot about this card and still beat Gulcasa easily late in the game (but I chose Rosary), so it maybe you people could find more use for it. You get this card somewhat late into the game at a high power, so it doesn't really need to be powered up. Like Crusade, there's not much use for it, but it could be very useful when you need it. Note that when Yggdra gets the Always Ace effect, she can also lead with this card, providing more flexibility. PSP Note: In the PSP version, the Ace for this card is All. In short: Yes, use it, but if possible, try to power up other cards. ---------- EARTHQUAKE ---------- Move: 10 Ace: Lump, golems only (Rosary's summon, Doll Craft) Type: B (halves enemy's health) Well, this card sucks. It sucks so much that I don't even bring it to battlefields for its 10 moves. I pretty much only consider picking it if I still have cards left to choose from. Also, a golem has to be summoned first and this card destroys nearby items. Even if you have a golem and can use this card, don't use it. In short: No, only use this card for movement. ----- FLAME ----- Move: 7 Ace: Rod Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) Aside from needing this card to obtain Grilled Griffon and Dragon Steak, this card is an overall good attacking card. It obliterates Undines, its ace is rod, and Rosary/Roswell is good against sword/spear/axe users, so in general, it is a card I use a lot. PSP Note: In the PSP version, this card inflicts the BURN status, which damages the inflicted every turn with no battle penalty. In short: Yes, power up this card. Note: GEO cards and elemental cards' power is dependent on the user's TEC. ------- FORTUNE ------- Move: 6 Ace: All Type: A (long duration) Basically, when this card is activated, your LUK will replace your ATK in for the duration and the same thing happens to your enemy. It is good for characters like Nietzsche and Elena who has more LUK than ATK, not to mention enemies usually have more ATK and horrible LUK (except bosses). It's not really a fun card to use, but it works. I find Banshee's Cry to be more effective, but Fortune can be used by everyone, so it's up to you. This card also comes with an already-high power. In short: Yes, use it, but if possible, try to power up other cards. ------------- GRAVITY CHAOS ------------- Move: 9 Ace: Axe Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) Along with Bloody Claw, this is a treasured card that I use often. It does dark damage, but the real power behind the card is inflicting the CURSE status. It is great for bosses that do not void status ailments, since it reduces their attack power and they can only move one square at a time, unable to chase you. For Gulcasa's army, I sometimes lead with Milanor and just use Gravity Chaos to the whole union of dragon knights to great effect. In short: Yes, power up this card. Note: GEO cards and elemental cards' power is dependent on the user's TEC. ---------- ITEM BREAK ---------- Move: 8 Ace: Sword Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) This card is annoying, because you never want your enemy using it on you, and if possible, you want to obtain your enemy's items, not break it. I find it not very useful at all. Unless you absolutely cannot beat an enemy without breaking its item and for some reason Stealing isn't an option, this isn't a very good card. In short: No, never use this card. -------- IVY WHIP -------- Move: 5 Ace: All, enemy must be in forest Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) These are what I call GEO cards, because your enemy must be in a certain terrain in order for you to use them. In fact, all GEO cards generally suck except for a few exceptions. They have low moves also, so it is doubly bad. However, note that knights are weak to this card, so in battlefields 23 and 24, do not bring Durant, since the enemy will be using this card. PSP Note: In the PSP version, this card might have its damage boosted. In short: No, never use this card. Note: GEO cards and elemental cards' power is dependent on the user's TEC. ------------- KISS OF DEATH ------------- Move: 6 Ace: All, night only Type: A (7.77 seconds) This is a very powerful and useless card. It adds big stars to your ATK while reducing stars from your enemy's ATK depending on your reputation, up to 3 on both sides. Really, only use this card when you have 5 or 6 REP. Oh, and by the way, if after 7.77 seconds and you fail to win the fight, your head dies. Yes, that is right, so time this card well. Oh, and there's one more thing that makes this card good. During the 7.77 seconds, your opponent cannot break out. Yes, that's right, you have 7.77 seconds to kill Gulcasa because he cannot use Genocide. I wished that it has more than 6 moves though, because that's very problematic at times, and you can only use it at night. It suffers the same issues as Fortune and Crusade. It comes with already-high power. In short: Yes, use it, but if possible, try to power up other cards. ------- MANTRAP ------- Move: 5 Ace: All, enemy must be in poison marsh Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) This is the best GEO card. Why? Because it starts out with already-high power, and there is a poison marsh battlefield soon after you receive this card. Unfortunately (actually, fortunately), that's the only poison marsh battlefield, and this card is useless after that incredibly annoying map. You don't have to power up this card, since it's already high in power, and you will only use it for one map anyways. PSP Note: In the PSP version, this card might have its damage boosted. In short: No, never use this card, except for in battlefield 41. Note: GEO cards and elemental cards' power is dependent on the user's TEC. ---------- MEDUSA EYE ---------- Move: 9 Ace: All, enemy must not be a boss Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) Wow, what a useless card. It's super annoying when used against you, but it's also super useless when you use it. When you turn an enemy into STONE, they cannot do anything and automatically lose the fight. However, you cannot attack them again and you cannot step on their square. They also don't lose morale. I personally wouldn't want to waste a space that could be valuable union space. Note that Earthquake can completely destroy characters inflicted with the stone status, but why would you want to use Doll Craft, Medusa Eye, then Earthquake? In short: No, never use this card. ----------- MIND CHANGE ----------- Move: 6 Ace: All, enemy must be same size and gender Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) Well, this is a pretty useful card earlier on in the game when you have a small pool of cards to choose from, but halfway into the game where you need cards with higher moves, it becomes not as useful. Also, at the beginning when you cannot use unions, you don't have to worry about placing your units at the right squares and 6 moves is plenty. Like Ace Guard, you have to be positioned pretty close to the enemy to use it if you intend to use unions, so it's a toss up whether or not to use this later on. In short: Yes, use it, but try other cards as you progress through the game. ------ MIRAGE ------ Move: 4 Ace: All, noon only Type: A (normal duration) First of all, look at the 4 moves that you can use with this card, and that's pretty much all you need to know to toss it aside. If you must know, Mirage will switch you and your enemy's terrains. It's not really bad, but then again, it can only be done at noon. Some uses for this is if you want a Knight off the road/bridge or an Undine off the water (or vice versa). Some bosses also stand at forts, which you might want to switch. However, noon only, 4 moves, and it's not even a permanent switch...it doesn't last long enough to be useful, that is if you can somehow find a real use for it. In short: No, never use this card. ---------- NECRO GATE ---------- Move: 11 Ace: Rod, necromancers only (Roswell), night only Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) Simply put, damage-wise, this card always take away 1 health unless only the head is left. It could be useful against, er, Gulcasa or someone, but it's not a very reliable attack card. Despite its low attack power, it is very useful because of its high move. Unlike golems, skeletons, in my opinion, are worse. They cannot be tough distractions, and they sleep at noon. Their only advantage would be to move more than one square at a time, but it is still less useful than Doll Craft because you can only summon skeletons at night. However, Doll Craft isn't very useful either, so don't use golems/skeletons to determine if you should pick Rosary or Roswell. In short: You will use it anyways for its high moves even if you want to or not. Note: Only use this card if you picked Roswell. Otherwise, use Doll Craft. -------------- OBLIVIOUS DAWN (PSP only, name pending) -------------- Move: 10 Ace: Scythe, tacticians only (Mistel) Type: A (confirmed) This card decreases the enemy's rage gauge over time, the opposite effect of normal. While this card is activated, the enemy cannot use their card, but be warned that once the duration is over, the enemy�s rage gauge will start to increase again. It seems to be a solid card, useful against Revolution and Genocide. It seems that this card can only be used by Mistel, just like how Steal can only be used by Milanor. Yggdra can still act as a union leader though. In short: Yes, power up this card. ------------- POISON BREATH ------------- Move: 10 Ace: Lump, skeletons only (Roswell's summon, Necro Gate) Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) This is a very useful card if you can somehow activate it. Unlike Earthquake, which has completely no use, this card will poison enemies, making them significantly weaker. The POISON status damages the inflicted every turn and reduces defense in battle. However, you have to attack with skeletons and you can only poison one enemy per turn. Skeletons can only be summoned at night, so to use this card, you have to be really lucky or if you are a very good planner. I would definitely use this card more if I managed to summon skeletons, but unfortunately, I think I successfully summoned two skeletons maximum every time I play through the game. In short: No, never use this card except for bosses, if you can plan it. ----------- REFRESHMENT ----------- Move: 3 Ace: All, noon only Type: B (independent of enemy's stats) With 3 moves, this is one of the most useless cards ever. The only reason you might want to bring this card is against maps with Emilia's army to cure curse inflicted by Gravity Chaos, but really, only Emilia ever has enough TEC to even land curse. It cannot cure stone, which makes it even more useless, and it only works at noon, and you have 3 moves to find an enemy to fight with to activate this card. Under no circumstances should you bring this card to a map without Emilia. PSP Note: In the PSP version, this card will recover some morale in addition to curing status effects. In short: No, never use this card. In the PSP version, it could be useful. ---------- REVOLUTION ---------- Move: 10 Ace: Sword, Yggdra only Type: B (brings enemy to 1 health and do some damage to head) This card is decent if you're not at a disadvantage. I find that if you're fighting a knight or undine, Revolution won't save Yggdra anyways, or if it will, then you don't need Revolution to win. It's only useful if you took huge damage during a charge or counter against an axe, sword, or bow user and you got to 1 health before your enemy. The true power of Revolution reveals when you equip Zolfy or Snipe Glass on Yggdra, which gives 1 on 1 = win, so you will always win after you use Revolution. In short: Yes, power up this card. -------- ROCKFALL -------- Move: 5 Ace: All, enemy must be in wasteland Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) Wasteland is on pretty much all battlefields, but it is still annoying when your enemy is not. I wouldn't use it, because there are better cards (with higher moves) such as Blizzard, Thunderbolt, and Flame, and once again, GEO cards are really useless. You do get this card very early on, but stop using this card once you get Blizzard and Flame. PSP Note: In the PSP version, this card inflicts the SLOW status, which reduces movement to one square per turn with no combat penalty. In short: No, never use this card. Note: GEO cards and elemental cards' power is dependent on the user's TEC. --------- SANCTUARY --------- Move: 8 Ace: All, noon only Type: B (dependent on user's TEC) This is seriously one of the best cards in the game, even with the requirement that you can only use it at noon. Characters with high TEC such as Milanor, Elena, and Russell can almost never lose with this card and if you have 5 TEC or more, you will definitely increase your winning chances by 99%. If you time it well, you can activate it just before you win to deal maximum morale damage, or even better, use it before Gulcasa uses Genocide and you may have a pretty good chance of winning. Sanctuary and Shield Barrier are two very good ace all cards for Gulcasa. In short: Yes, power up this card. --------- SANDSTORM --------- Move: 5 Ace: All, enemy must be on sand Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) It is bad when I'm trying to write a guide and I completely forgot what this card does. Seriously, I have never even thought about this card once when I play this game, and apparently it's another sucky GEO card that shouldn't be used. There's really nothing else to say. PSP Note: In the PSP version, this card might have its damage boosted. In short: No, never use this card. Note: GEO cards and elemental cards' power is dependent on the user's TEC. -------------- SHIELD BARRIER -------------- Move: 6 Ace: All Type: A (short duration) Don't mind its short duration; it's enough to most of the time save you from a loss, or if it doesn't, it will bring the enemy down to 1 health and save you massive morale loss. Like the name says, while this card is active, the user takes no damage. There's a little strategy with this card. When the other side activates a card against Shield Barrier, the effects of Shield Barrier will cancel and you will block that attack (except for a few exceptions). This means that if you know you cannot defeat your enemy before they break out Shield Barrier, wait until they do activate it then immediately activate your attack card, canceling out the Shield Barrier effect. This is also good for you, because you can cancel your enemy's attacking card by putting up a Shield Barrier strategically. Play with this card, because it is very useful. In short: Yes, power up this card. ----- STEAL ----- Move: 12 Ace: Axe, Milanor only, enemy must have an item Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) First of all, it has 12 moves. That's enough for me to bring it to every battlefield. That aside, it is one of the best cards, because it steals your enemy's item. Unless your enemy all have 4+ LUK, you should use this card at least one per map. Also, there's an important reason for using Steal instead of killing your opponent. If you steal an item from a boss like Gulcasa, then often times his stats go down. For example, every time I steal an item from Gulcasa his ATK goes down one big star, so seriously, it is a very good card. In short: Yes, power up this card. ----------- THUNDERBOLT ----------- Move: 7 Ace: Bow Type: B (TEC >= GEN to work) This card is problematic, because it is actually really good, but when you receive it, you have no one that can really use it, so most people don't use it. This is a mistake, because when you get Elena, she can use it, and with her high TEC, this card is a beast. If you power it up even before you have Elena, then you will have a very useful card at the end of the game. Of course, if for some reason you decide to use Cruz, then this is the only ace bow card that he can use. PSP Note: In the PSP version, this card inflicts the PALYZE (paralyze) status, which disables movement, but the inflicted can still fight in unions. In short: In short: Yes, power up this card. Note: GEO cards and elemental cards' power is dependent on the user's TEC. =============================================================================== VIII. STRATEGY GUIDE =============================================================================== This guide is pretty easy to understand, because it gives insight on whether or not you should waste your time stealing something from a certain map. If stealing an item can lead to losing the map, then remember that if you finish the fight with a character with a higher LUK than the enemy's, you will still get that item. Also note that if you make the item drop, you can ignore it; you will receive that item after the map is over if no enemy pillage it. For each item: + means you should try to get that item using any method. = means it's not very important to get, but try if it won't make you lose. - means it could be bad trying to get it, but if you have the skills, go for it. * are notes that you should read. Also, items that you get from stepping on a square, visiting a town, or trading with someone will not be listed. I may add them later, but as of now I am not very confident that I have found all hidden items in the game, even though I am sure that I have found most. From now on, I will refer to battlefields as BF 5-1, 5-2, etc... The number indicates what battlefield I'm talking about, and the dash # indicate a change in winning conditions, which usually happens by an arrival of an ally or enemy group or if there are more to the map. More notes about this section: If I mention +# ATK, that means the item increases ATK by # amount of small stars. If I mention ATK UP, that means the item increases ATK to the next big star. I don't mean to cause much confusion, but it's how the game does it, so please follow along. If an item give +ATK, that doesn't mean guarantee that it will increase your ATK to the next big star, but it certainly can. Finally, this section is more or less a brief walkthrough instead of a stealing guide, but you guys wouldn't complain about that, right? ---- NOTE ---- You cannot use the ability listed on cards until Battlefield 7. Battlefield 1: * Note: If you haven't done so, please read the cards section to get a good idea of which cards are better than others. Don't waste your time with Banish, Mirage, etc..., and use more useful cards such as Steal. - Iron Choker, Level 3 Valkyrie: You will get this anyways when you defeat her. My tip here is to only use Milanor and not Flunky. Battlefield 2-1: * Note: A common mistake here is to overuse Milanor. Make sure to use Yggdra as well, for she is somewhat more powerful now (because of her equipped item) than later. Let Yggdra do the fighting near Inzaghi and Milanor get the items. If possible, let Yggdra get MVP this battlefield. = Leather Hat, Inzaghi: Inzaghi has high LUK, and this item gives GEN (guards against charges/counters, lose less Morale. It's a pretty good item earlier on, but seeing how you have to use Milanor, who is weak against swords, to defeat him, it might not be in your best interest to spend try too hard. Battlefield 3-2: * Note: This is a tough battlefield, so plan carefully. Especially take note of the weapon triangle. Don't send Yggdra to fight knights, and don't let Milanor clash with valkyries. Be exceptionally careful of Eudy, since she has the advantage over all of your characters at this point. + Ruby Staff, Eudy: Again, only Milanor has high enough LUK to make Eudy drop her staff. This staff gives +4 ATK, which is very useful for Rosary or Roswell whom you will get soon, as they start out with a mere 2 ATK and some small stars. It's especially useful for Rosary since it ups fire attacks. Besides, Milanor should be your strongest character at this point anyways. Battlefield 3-3: - Flamberg, Aegina: This is a good item which gives +4 ATK, but it might not be worth it. With Revolution, Aegina is very strong at this stage of the game, and Milanor is weak against swords, and defeating Aegina is already tough, so you don't have to go that extra mile to make it drop. Battlefield 4-1: * Note: Try to get used to unions now. For example, the enemy here is on a two by two square, and they are all males. This means that if you attack one, then only the enemy diagonal from the one you attacked will be in the union. If you attack a fencer that will union with a knight, then attack with Yggdra or Durant and let Milanor be the second person in your union. - Medallion, Garrison Captain: Never steal medallions, because most of the time you can make them drop, even with Durant. You can't use steal yet anyways, but this is just an early tip for later on. Just proceed through the level and beat the garrison captain. Battlefield 4-2: - Medallion, Garrison Captain: Same as above, just defeat him. Battlefield 4-3: - Medallion, Garrison Captain: Same as above, just defeat him. Battlefield 5: - Medallion 3x, Level 3 Undine: You can pretty much use any character to make these medallions drop, but they often get pillaged by other undines. Note that you cannot get them without going on water, so just wait until the end of the map to collect them. + Ice Javelin, Ishiene: This is a good item since it raises attack, so try to get this item with Milanor. However, this could be hard if you want the +2 MVP bonus, but it's a short map if you decide to restart it. Battlefield 6-1: * Note: Please recruit Nietzsche, because she will make your life a lot easier. - Medallion 3x, Level 4 Undine: Same as above, just defeat them. = Kill Blade, Ortega: This is a very good weapon for Milanor, having 1 on 1 = win. Ortega has pretty low LUK, so you can probably make him drop it, you won't find it useful right now (since it lowers GEN), but later on in the game it will become very useful, especially against Gulcasa. Battlefield 6-2: + Gale Bow, Elena: Both Elena and Zilva have high LUK, but if you recruited Nietzsche, she should also have 3 big LUK stars like Milanor, and you can use two characters to try and finish these two off. I'm not sure but Zilva might have 4 LUK. = Stell Persona, Zilva: Again, I'm not sure if Zilva has 4 LUK, but I know for sure that 3 LUK is enough to make the Gale Bow drop. ---- NOTE ---- You can now use the ability listed on cards such as Steal, Sanctuary, etc... Battlefield 7-1: * Note: Blizzard is not useless against undines. When you freeze water, their GEO changes from +50% (water) to -10% (ice), and many undines are situated in the water. Luckily, they will probably use Blizzard themselves, but keep this trick in mind. Of course, don't let your characters stand on ice either, since besides the fact that their GEO is lowered, they might drown. Also, use houses and forts to boost your GEO and try to get the hang of unions. - Medallion 3x, Level 3 Undine: Same as above, just defeat them. + Brave Ring, Ishiene: This is a pretty good item, increasing your morale if it is below 50%. You definitely don't want Ishiene to do this, so either defeat her quickly (ending with Milanor) or Steal it. * Note: Leave Milanor on the upper left side of the map after finishing BF 7-1. Battlefield 7-2: + Winged Sandals, Mizer: This is a hard decision, Mizer has 4 LUK (and Milanor Probably has 3), but I would rather use Steal on Emelone. However, if you want Mizer to drop his item, you will have to prevent his bandit from pillaging. Also, only Milanor and Nietzsche can make him drop his item, and Nietzsche is weak against the bandit, so after all that, Milanor is fit for the job, and since getting Milanor back to Emelone might waste turns for a +2 MVP, why not just use Steal? By the way, this item isn't that great, but you need to steal from Mizer so he can wear another item the next time you meet him. - Medallion, Level 4 Bandit: Focus on Mizer. Don't worry if the bandit's Medallion drops or if Mizer pillages it; focus on Mizer's Winged Sandals. - Medallion 3x, Level 3-4 Undine: Same as above, just defeat them. = Gungnir, Emelone: If you're having trouble defeating Emelone without first stealing her Gungnir, then forget the +2 MVP bonus, kill Mizer with Milanor without Steal, and bring Milanor back to Steal from Emelone. If you want to make Gungnir drop, however, you will have to defeat Emelone with Nietzsche (or Milanor if he's there), but since this is a pretty good item, get it. * Note: You will get the seemingly useless Thunderbolt card after this. Don't set it aside, but use it so Elena can have fun with it in the future. Battlefield 8-1: + Tough Boots, Mizer: Once again, Steal from Mizer. Your cards reset for the next condition change, so just go ahead and use Steal. - Medallion, Level 5 Bandit: Focus on Mizer. Don't worry if the bandit's Medallion drops or if Mizer pillages it; focus on Mizer's Tough Boots. Battlefield 8-2: + Lucky Broom, Rosary: Make sure to get this item! If you make Rosary drop this item or Steal it, then she will have Frilly Lace the next time you see her, which is a very good item. Forget about Russell's Zantetsu, even though it is good, and just get this item. Even though Lucky Broom will make all items drop, if you don't get Rosary, you can't use it, and if you do have Rosary, then her 4 LUK will make enemies drop their items all the time anyways, so this item is kind of useless. - Zantetsu, Russell: This excellent item gives ATK UP and TEC UP, which is very good, but only Russell can use it and it's best to not use him for a long time anyways (if you get him). Right now, Frilly Lace will benefit you more, so focus on stealing the broom and try to let Milanor get the kill on Russell for Zantetsu (even though Milanor is weak against Russell). Battlefield 9-1: = Ranger Boots, Mizer: At this point if you think that Milanor is strong enough to take on Mizer and his bandit alone, then go for it, and use steal on Roswell this turn instead. Note that if Mizer charges, Milanor won't be able to counter and Mizer's stats are good enough to beat Milanor, so it's your choice to not steal from Mizer (you can always reset if you fail), use Steal on Roswell, and use steal on Leon in BF 9-2. - Medallion, Level 5 Bandit: Focus on Mizer. Don't worry if the bandit's Medallion drops or if Mizer pillages it; focus on Mizer's Ranger Boots. + Gargoyle Rod, Roswell: He has protect, but you can still Steal from him. Roswell is pretty hard to beat without unions, so it's hard to arrange someone with more luck than him to get the kill next BF, so you definitely needs to Steal from Roswell, preferably this on this BF. Remember that like Rosary's Lucky Broom, stealing Gargoyle Rod from Roswell now means he will have another item later, and in this case it is Midnight Robe. Battlefield 9-2: + Gargoyle Rod, Roswell: Hopefully made Mizer drop his boots last BF and stole from Roswell, so you don't have to do it this BF. If you stole from Mizer instead, then use this BF to steal from Roswell, because if you put Milanor against Leon (Milanor has high luck and is good against spear users), Milanor will win and you will get his Phalanx. - Phalanx, Leon: Steal it from him if you can, or if you can't, make a union of Milanor and Nietzsche with Milanor as the leader, then after the battles, move Undine away from Milanor's union before ending your turn (so she won't get charged when it's Leon's turn). By the way, Leon has very low LUK. Battlefield 10-1: - Headgear, Inzaghi: Here's the deal. Inzaghi starts off at the very top-left of the map behind all enemies, and if you defeat Ortega Inzaghi will leave. Therefore, you must be careful in not defeating Ortega but all the other enemies so you can get to Inzaghi. However, he's a sword user and Milanor's an axe user, so stealing isn't a great idea. Durant has low luck so just get Nietzsche to go one on one with Inzaghi until he's defeated. Headgear isn't a very great item, and if you do this, then you will surely miss out on the +2 MVP bonus, so decide carefully. = Berserk, Ortega: Ortega has low LUK so it doesn't matter if you Steal from him or just defeat him. However, that doesn't mean you should use Steal on Inzaghi, since Milanor is at a disadvantage against swords. Also remember that if you want Inzaghi's item, you have to defeat Inzaghi first. Battlefield 10-2: + Frilly Lace, Rosary: If you've decided to attack Rosary, and if you stole her Lucky Broom or made her drop it in BF 8-#, then she will have Frilly Lace. As always, she has high LUK, so it's a good idea to just Steal it from her, also lowering her stats. + Midnight Robe, Roswell: If you've decided to attack Roswell, and if you stole his Gargoyle Rod or made him drop it in BF 9-#, then he will have Midnight Robe. Unless Durant and/or Yggdra somehow has 2 LUK, you should use Steal. He is a hard opponent anyways, so stealing his robe lowers his stats. * Note: You will get both items anyways regardless of which one you Steal. For example, if you attack Roswell and steal his Midnight Robe, then Rosary will join you in the next BF equipped with Frilly Lace (or Lucky Broom). Battlefield 11-1: * Note: You will fight Leon or Russell, depending on which side you attacked last BF. - Brascendo, Leon: Seriously, this item sucks, since it decreases morale. However, it's very good for morale recovery, and since Leon have low LUK anyways, it's not very hard to obtain the item. = Shin Zantetsu, Russell: Again, Milanor is weak against sword users, but there's nothing else to Steal this BF anyways, so you might as well do it. Note that this is also a Russell-only item, but if you do use him later, it's a good item. Battlefield 11-2: * Note: If you want Zilva and/or Elena's items, then do not defeat Leon or Russell, because then everyone will leave. Also, if you go after Zilva and Elena, then you will probably sacrifice your +2 MVP bonus. + Lightning Bow, Elena: This is a very good item for when you get Elena (or if for some reason you want to use Cruz), so try to Steal this item instead of Zilva's item. - Murderous Mask, Zilva: What, -6 GEN? Only Elena can use this item and her GEN is already low. However, as with most items, if they're not useful, then you can probably use them to recover morale. I think if you defeat Zilva, Elena leaves, so try to get Elena's item before you touch Zilva. Battlefield 12: - Medallion, Level 5 Bandit: As usual, just defeat him instead of using Steal. It should be noted that from now on, most enemies with medallions are leaders, and if you defeat that enemy, their "group" leaves, so you will lose some experience. Try to defeat the other enemies before defeating the ones with the Medallion. - Medallion, Level 6 Bandit: Focus on Mizer. Don't worry if the bandit's Medallion drops or if Mizer pillages it; focus on Mizer's Warp Shoes. + Warp Shoes, Mizer: Note that Mizer is exceptionally strong here, so be careful if you only leave Milanor back to face him. However, you should do so, because if you don't advance everyone else west, you will miss out on the +2 MVP bonus. You can make Mizer drop his Warp Shoes without stealing them, but if you do this, make sure to take care of his bandit first. ---- NOTE ---- From here on, it is your duty to check your characters' LUK against the enemy's LUK, because I don't know your characters' stats. When I say Steal, note that it also means you can try making the enemy drop the item, depending on your characters' stats and also how good you are. Here are some tips: Emilia usually has high LUK, as well as Zilva and Elena. Knights such as Baldus and Leon have low LUK, Russell have low LUK. Aegina, Inzaghi and Gulcasa has medium LUK. And for one last time, stealing items from your enemy often lower their stats, so try to do so anyways. Battlefield 13-1: - Medallion, Level 6 Bandit: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. Battlefield 13-2, 13-3: * Note: If you reveal the enemies here, you might run out of cards trying to defeat them. Just try to defeat the bosses! One trick is to clear everyone in front of Baldus (before he moves) then place someone directly one square south of his. This way, he cannot form unions (because of his location on the map) nor can any of his troops move to be in his union. * PSP Note: In the PSP version, visit two villages to go to BF 14I instead of regular BF 14. The details are not clear, but you get a new character if you go to BF 14I. = Ipponki, Baldus: This is a great spear, but it prevents you from using cards. Note that while Baldus has this spear, he cannot use his ability, so you actually might want to think twice before stealing. He also has HIGH status, so I would just try and kill him. + Zolfy, Aegina: You might think that it is bad to try to steal from Aegina since she's a sword user, but do it. It is very hard to beat her if she has Zolfy equipped (1 on 1 = win, and she uses Revolution), so spend that extra turn losing morale to steal it. Note that Zolfy is very good with Revolution, and Yggdra is a powerhouse at taking down hard bosses (such as Gulcasa) with it. Battlefield 14-1: * PSP Note: In the PSP version, you have the option of going to BF 14I if you have visited the two villages in BF 13. Here, you can recruit Mistel and also obtain a new card. For more details about BF 14I and BF 14II, please refer to the PSP Changes section. - Medallion, Garrison Captain: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. Battlefield 14-2: * Note: Use catapults to quickly get rid of these two enemies and get the +2 MVP bonus! - Medallion, Level 6 Valkyrie: Just try to get the +2 MVP bonus; don't Steal. - Medallion, Level 6 Witch: Just try to get the +2 MVP bonus; don't Steal. Battlefield 15-1: * Note: If you have trouble with this battlefield, bring Durant instead of Nietzsche, but Rosary/Roswell should be present. = Soldier's Bandana, Inzaghi: Steal it if you want, but using Nietzsche to get the kill on Inzaghi works too. Battlefield 15-2, 15-3: - Death Bringer, Aegina: Wonderful, you get to fight against a unit with HIGH status, only Aegina is now level 10, higher than when we last met her. It is completely suicidal to bring Milanor into this, and just try to get the kill with Nietzsche (or Rosary if you have her). It is important that you read the part of this guide about unions to know where to place Nietzsche and Rosary. Battlefield 16-1: * PSP Note: In the PSP version, this battlefield has been slightly modified. The full details are not clear, but do note that if you follow this (or any) GBA guide, expect to see some differences. = Teddybear, Emilia: This item is only good for morale recovery and stealing it does absolutely nothing, so it's your choice. Personally, I would try to get it. Battlefield 16-3: * Note: Do not attack the knights (Leon's army)! They are invincible. - Lady's Coat, Eudy: Kylier's LUK is not enough to make Eudy drop her item, but if you really want to, form a union with Milanor and use the Steal card. Don't worry about it, however, since this item really sucks. Battlefield 16-4: - Medallion, Level 7 Knight: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. + Catastrophe, Leon: Whew, Steal this item from Leon to make him much easier to defeat. Whatever you do, try and get this item, since it is extremely good for Durant, especially when fighting against strong bosses. Battlefield 17-1: * Note: Here we go. This is one of the hardest battlefields in the game. First, if you want Zilva and/or Elena's items, move Kylier all west (to where the Cat's Eye) is then one south if you wish. This lets you form unions more easily. Bring Roswell or Rosary. Nietzsche will not do very well here. Get Milanor's morale up close to maximum if you want the fight with Gulcasa to be easier. A tip is to disband unions after you attack Gulcasa, before you end your turn. = Ipponki, Baldus: If you did not get this item from Baldus last time, then he will still have it. Note that Baldus can use cards without it. Battlefield 17-2: + Rainbow Arc, Elena: I prefer Rainbow Arc, but depending on the game's AI, you might not have a choice. Select the Steal card Kylier is at the left of her little map with Milanor two west of her, and attack whoever that you can, may it be Elena or Zilva. When it's Milanor's turn, use Steal. To get the other enemy's item, the game has to arrange unions in such as way that after you end your turn, somehow Milanor will be matched up with the other enemy so you can use Steal. Don't count on this, though. = Nightmare, Zilva: This item is inferior, but it is still good. At least get one of the two. Battlefield 17-3: + Early Drive, Gulcasa: The best way to defeat Gulcasa is to Steal his item. However, when Milanor uses Steal, he is certain to lose the fight, so when you Steal, do not form a union against Gulcasa. Let Milanor alone lose morale for two turns (the turn where you Steal and the turn where Gulcasa charges). After that, just hit Gulcasa with everything you have. If you have trouble killing him, refer to the last question in the FAQ. Battlefield 18-3: * Note: Decide now whether or not you want the Etherion item from Nessiah. If you want to, then prepare for Milanor to lose a lot of morale, and also, make sure that Milanor has 4 TEC. If he doesn't, then don't even try to equip anything, because you will need to equip the Treasure Map (assuming you got it) in the next map to get a very good item). - Etherion, Nessiah: I personally think that it's not worth it, even though it is a good item. If you want to do it and have enough TEC for it, then attack the Knight that will form the least union (with Nessiah in it) with Milanor alone, or if you are really good, try to form unions so that Milanor will face Nessiah later on in the union. You won't win against Nessiah unless you get a critical against him, so your goal is to Steal Etherion then run, or just don't try. Battlefield 19-1: * Note: Bring cards that have no use but lots of moves here, such as Poison Breath, Earthquake, and both Necro Gate and Doll Craft. = Iron Helm, Inzaghi: If you try too hard in this BF, then you might find yourself being hurt a lot by Eudy's cannons, so just move everyone up and gang up on Inzaghi. Battlefield 19-2: - Medallion, Level 8 Knight: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. = Noble Glasses, Eudy: You cannot Steal, so if you have someone with 4 LUK and knows that you can defeat Eudy with that character, then go ahead. Note that you don't even need to touch Eudy to complete the BF, but she gives a lot of experience to anyone who fights her, so if you still have cards extra, try to defeat her, or at least, get some experience from her. Battlefield 20: * Note: Bring cards that have no use but lots of moves here, such as Poison Breath, Earthquake, and both Necro Gate and Doll Craft. A lot of people run out of cards because they didn't plan this BF, so be careful. If you are following a walkthrough and have trouble with this map, then you do not have to collect any items and go straight to Aegina then the flag. Remember that only one character needs to reach the flag to finish the map. + Platinum Ornament, Aegina: This is actually an optional battle, but you want Russell anyways since you don't have a sword user. Since Milanor is weak against Aegina, you can try to use Gravity Chaos before using Steal, or better yet, pick Nietzsche and you don't even have to Steal. Defeat Aegina, and hope that you have enough cards to get both of you to the flag. Milanor has to be spotted by Aegina to be in a union, so make sure that happens first. You could try to defeat Aegina only using Rosary or Nietzsche if they have the LUK and if you think they are strong enough, since once again, Milanor can be approaching the flag since only one person needs to go to it. Battlefield 21: * Note: If you want Russell, then try not to form unions with him because you don't want him recruited with low morale. Also, Russell's card is Item Break, and he has high TEC, so you do not want your item destroyed. My tip is don't even try to defeat Inzaghi (but Steal from him) and talk to Russell to end the map quickly, also getting the +2 MVP bonus. Since you have to move a lot of characters, also bring useless cards with high movement. + Criticalizer, Inzaghi: Warning, this item is dangerous. With a 50% chance of landing critical hits, you do not want Inzaghi to be charging. In fact, after you clear all enemies, use Steal on Inzaghi then in that same turn place a unit next to Russell. Since this is a great weapon, try and Steal it before you talk to Russell. - Yashamaru, Russell: Since I highly recommend you to recruit Russell, just recruit him and he will have this item equipped when you get him. Battlefield 22-1: + Gauntlet, Aegina: Steal this from Aegina, preferably before you do anything, because it is a very annoying item that blocks counters. Battlefield 22-2: * Note: Plan carefully. Use a union of three people to defeat Gulcasa. Let Milanor go up to Gulcasa then form a union 2 squares northwest with him, preferably with Durant, then form a linked union from Durant to someone else. You will probably need Rosary/Roswell to deal with Eudy, so I suggest you use Rosary/Roswell and Russell to deal with Eudy. If you have trouble, stop using Nietzsche. Gulcasa and Eudy are both fire users, so Nietzsche will have trouble. If you really have trouble, then forget Eudy and just defeat Gulcasa to end the map. You will just miss out on some experience for not defeating Eudy, since it is hard to get her item anyways without Milanor/Nietzsche. Again, bring useless cards with high moves because you will be moving your characters a lot. After defeating Aegina, you can just leave Nietzsche there. - Sorcery Glasses, Eudy: Do not waste time trying to get this item. If you have Rosary, then you can try, but unless you're 100% sure you can win, don't bring in Nietzsche. + Cardinal Cloak, Gulcasa: Please get this item in some way, shape, or form. It voids fire, which will help a lot against future encounters with Gulcasa. Note that Gulcasa is so much weaker than last time that you might kill him with someone with 1 LUK and forget about this item. Battlefield 23-1, 23-2: * PSP Note: In the PSP version, hard mode, have Nietzsche visit Pamela (they will have a conversation) if you want to recruit Pamela. Note that you can defeat her and she will still appear in BF 24. * Note: Move two people up and use a strong card to defeat Pamela. You only need one character to move to the flag to open up 23B, and you can use just that person to move to BF 23.5. Because of the simplicity and ease of this map, you can use it to restart and get a weaker character the stats you want through MVP. Yes, this means don't uncover any enemies. Even if you don�t defeat her, the morale damage still counts towards MVP. You only need to move one character to the alternate flag to get to Cruz�s map. - Dream Cap, Pamela: This is a useless item that recovers a lot of morale. This item has a 100% chance to drop, so you do not need to Steal. - Medallion, Level 9 Knight: You should never go after this item since you will have to uncover enemies to get it. Battlefield 23.5-1: * Note: Make use of the catapults by making a union with them, steal from Mizer, and get the Powershroom item. - Medallion, Level 9 Bandit: Just defeat this enemy. - Medallion, Level 9 Assassin: Just defeat this enemy. Battlefield 23.5-2: * Stop using Cruz or putting him in unions against Mizer. + Hoof Shoes, Mizer: Make sure to Steal this item, since it could be useful for walking over enemies. Battlefield 23.5-3: * Don't waste your time here. Just pick up the Powershroom and go to the flag quickly to get the +2 MVP bonus. If you have another character besides Milanor that you want to be MVP, then attack the knights if him or her (the knights will be weak due to them having a disadvantage in forests) while having Milanor and Cruz move towards the flag. - Medallion, Level 9 Knight: He is protected so you will have to Steal it from him, but doing so will lose you the +2 MVP bonus, so just forget the enemies. Battlefield 24: * Note: You can still uncover Pamela here if you haven't done so before. This is actually a very good place to gain experience so if you want, you can uncover the enemies. Note that Ivy Whip is useful here, and the enemies will also use it against you. Since Durant is weak to Ivy Whip, don't use him. Also, Rosary will need to wear Warp Shoes in BF 26, so try not to put on any items that lasts way too many maps. Cruz is really good on this map due to his high affinity for forest squares. * PSP Note: In the PSP version, hard mode, have Nietzsche visit Pamela the second time to recruit Pamela. Actually, she forcefully joins your party, but same thing. You will get a new card along with Pamela. - Medallion, Level 9 Knight: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. + Bloody Rapier, Aegina: This is one advantage of uncovering the enemies, because this means you can steal the Bloody Rapier from Aegina. If you don't, then the next time you see her she will be with Gulcasa, and if you does not have the Bloody Rapier then, ATK and TEC will be one big star lower, which should help you a lot. So yes, in some way, get this item. Battlefield 25-1: * Note: Durant is pretty terrible for this map, Rosary/Roswell is great for BF 25-2, and Nietzsche/Russell is so-so. The point of this map is to uncover Emilia first. The next map includes a mixture of spear and axe users, so it will really test how well you can create unions so take advantage of weapon affinities. - Medallion, Level 9 Knight: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. Battlefield 25-2: * Note: Move together. When you uncover Emilia, you should be close enough together to make unions with the least moves as possible. Forget Leon. = Ribbon, Emilia: This is a great item for future encounters with Emilia's army, since she uses the Gravity Chaos card and this item will void it. Try to somehow obtain this item, but if the map is too hard for you (which means you messed up your unions), then you can just forget about it. Battlefield 25-3, 25-4: * Note: If you let Kylier get all the action, you might waste MVP on her. I forgot if Kylier's LUK is high enough to make Zilva drop her item, but if it's not, then bring only Milanor over to Steal and have all the other characters go to the flag. = Scorpio Tail, Zilva: Hey, Zilva carries a good item for once. Get it if you can, then get out of this miserable map. Elena's low GEN means if you don't take care of Zilva's army soon, she might actually die, so be quick. If you can't arrange yourself to get Zilva's item, then don't. Also remember that Kylier can fly over enemies. Battlefield 26-1, 26-2: * Note: Get the Dragon Killer Card using Roswell or Rosary with Warp Shoes. Also bring lots of cards with high moves and position yourself so that you can warp to the square with the card before night comes. - Medallion, Level 9 Hunter: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. - Medallion, Level 9 Assassin: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. Battlefield 27-1, 27-2: * Note: Similar to the last map, this is the time to perfect unions. There are also catapults, to plan ahead on how to use them (or how to prevent your enemies from using them). + Small Breastplate, Emilia: Ah, what a wonderful item for Nietzsche. Make sure to get it. Steal is best, but this battlefield can get annoying due to Gravity Chaos. This might actually be the one time where Refreshment is useful, so you can consider it. Battlefield 27-3: * Note: Get the Kiss of Death card to have an easier time against Gulcasa in the future. - Silvia, Leon: At this point in the game Leon's LUK still sucks, so just try your best to defeat him and his item will definitely drop, unless you only have small stars for LUK, which I'm not sure if it's even possible. Battlefield 28-1: * Note, this is one of the hardest battlefields in the game. You need someone with high enough ATK to stall Gulcasa. A good strategy here is to use a weak character that will lose before Gulcasa uses Genocide but has high GEN (Cruz) so you won't be victim to Genocide's morale damage bonus. Also, you *can* risk losing a lot of morale by losing to Gulcasa on purpose with a large union in exchange for massive experience, but don't try this unless you know exactly what I'm talking about. Before you save Yggdra, you might want to spend a few turns to moves units back after killing the enemies around Yggdra before having only Milanor going up to rescue her. Don't move them too far back and get ambushed by Aegina's army though. If you're having trouble then equip the Cardinal Cloak on Milanor and use Steal, since you might actually win this way (but you still can't defeat Gulcasa because of Protect). However, if possible, save the Cardinal Cloak for Battlefield 32. - Medallion, Level 11 Knight: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. Battlefield 28-2, 28-3: - Inferno, Gulcasa: Once again, this item isn't very good at all, but it's good for recovering Milanor's morale. Definitely don't try to get this item if you are having trouble just escaping, and only get it if you know what you are doing. Battlefield 29-1: * Note: this battlefield is surely confusing. Mizer is strong, too, so if you want the Dragon Boots (and you do), then you better plan well. Get Kylier to do whatever it is that you her want to do since she can fly over the sand. + Dragon Boots, Mizer: Once again, try to get this item. It will be annoying moving through the desert, and you will surely want to form unions, so move together and use card skills. - Medallion, Level 11 Bandit: Focus on Mizer. - Medallion, Level 11 Witch: Focus on Mizer. - Medallion, Level 11 Assassin: Focus on Mizer. Battlefield 29-2: * Note: Confused on what to do? You have to move southwest to the town even though it doesn't look like you can get to it. Then, you will get ambushed. - Hammer of Ruin, Dort: You don't have to get this item. Seriously, you can even use Item Break on it to lower his stats. Battlefield 30-1: * Note: BF 30-1 and 30-2 are not friendly to spear users. - Medallion, Level 10 Bandit: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. Battlefield 30-2: * Note: You should consider moving some units one by one south through the sand instead of using the road. Get close enough for Kylier to form unions while attacking Dort's army. It is really inevitable for Kylier to get MVP if you want to finish the battlefield fast to not be too annoyed. - Golem Suit, Protector: Even if you do get this item, never equip it. + Gaudy Turban, Dort: Get this item in some way, shape, or form. It prevents zero-reset, which will be very useful for one of the following maps. As for Dort himself he's not that good, especially if you use catapults. Just make sure to take it slow and move your units one by one through the sand to form the right unions. Battlefield 31-1: + Jack Hand, Zilva: Steal this, since Elena will be almost unstoppable for one battlefield with this item. Actually, Zilva can be very annoying with this item, so make sure that it's a priority to get Milanor down southwest as soon as possible. Battlefield 31-2: * Note: Only let Milanor go with Gordon to meet Emilia. Also, let Milanor go before Gordon, and Milanor should do most of the fighting. If you want (or if you're too weak, leave a character where he/she started so when Milanor gets up there, he can form a southeast union with that person. The others should hang out near the southwest of the map waiting for 31C to start. + Walnut Bread, Emilia: Get this item. It raises GEN permanently, which is perfect on Elena, who has high stats in most areas except GEN. Battlefield 31-3: * Note: Keep Milanor and Gordon up there. There's no need to waste moves and bring them back. = Jewel Rod, Mardym: Really, this item never works for me. Every time I try to equip it, it always lowers Rosary or Roswell's ATK by one big star, so maybe it's just bad timing on my part. The rod only gives -2 ATK, so get it if you think that you can use it. Remember that if you want the +2 MVP bonus, then you shouldn't move Milanor back which means you won't have Steal. Battlefield 32-1: * Note: The Meria Bible cannot be dropped. Even if you have higher LUK than Juvelon when you defeat him, it will not drop. Therefore, you must Steal it from him. However, don't, since it has -4 ATK, which is too much for me. Try to Steal from Amareus or Mardym instead. Also, Durant is wonderful for this map. If you haven't used the Cardinal Cloak yet, then equip it here. If you don't have Rosary, then max Durant's morale before the fight and put him on a bridge to have the best chance against Gulcasa (in BF 32-2 and 32-3). Bring Shield Barrier, Ace Guard, and Kiss of Death. Boost up Milanor's morale so he can steal. This is one of the hardest maps, so be patient. - Medallion 2x, Level 12 Necromancer: Just defeat this enemy. = Alchemy Glass, Mardym: I'm not sure if Mardym will have the Jewel Rod if you did not take it from him the last map. It doesn't matter, since the Alchemy Glass isn't such a great item anyways. Look at Amareus' LUK, and try to think whether or not you will have to Steal her item. If you think that you will have to, then forget Mardym's item. + Amareus, Wind Cutter Blue: No Battle Penalty, +6 ATK, and TEC UP? Wow, what a wonderful item for Elena. Make sure to get this, since this is actually your priority. - Meria Bible, Juvelon: As I said before, this item isn't really good, so just beat him and you will never get this item. Battlefield 32-2, 32-3: * Note: Have you saved ATK UP items for Rosary? If her ATK is 4 stars or more, then she will probably beat Gulcasa. If not, then put Durant on the bridge and use Blizzard, Kiss of Death, Ace Guard, Sanctuary, Shield Barrier, or other useful cards against him. Aegina really sucks because I think she has to use Genocide (which she can't use) instead of Revolution. Union Rosary and Durant (he should be on a bridge) then use Doll Craft and you already won the fight. - Rosary of Taboo, Aegina: Aegina will probably be defeated somehow before you realize it anyways, but this item decreases morale per turn, so I have no clue why you would want to use this item. You will probably be too occupied to even try to Steal. + Burning Sun, Gulcasa: Steal this item now, or else Gulcasa will be very powerful at noon. It also lowers his ATK, so yes, get this item. Note that Milanor will probably lose if he uses Steal, but it will give others a chance. Battlefield 33: * Note: Unless you abused MVP and gave Yggdra mad LUK items, she probably won't get the crest. Also, make sure to get the Forbidden Fruit (located in the lower square of the two right-most squares), because that is a very good item that raises all stats. Characters such as Elena or Cruz could use this item to become very powerful. Also, whomever you defeated before, (Roswell or Rosary), you will fight him or her here. Both BFs 33 and 34 are very good for resetting so Yggdra can get the MVP you want. - White Rose Crest, Rosary: You can't Steal and Yggdra's LUK is probably not high enough. This item sucks anyways. - Black Rose Crest, Roswell: You can't Steal and Yggdra's LUK is probably not high enough. This item sucks anyways. Battlefield 34: * Note: You may want to reset this BF so Yggdra can get the MVP you want. + Revenger, Aegina: You will obtain this item regardless of LUK. ---- NOTE ---- Starting now, Yggdra's effects change. She no longer deals more damage to golems and she is no longer weak to Dark attacks. In exchange, she gets two very useful effects, Always Ace and Void Ailments. She is now an Ace with any card (but that doesn't mean she can use it due to other restrictions) and makes a very useful union leader. Yes, she can use Gravity Chaos, Dragon Killer, you name it. Also, she is immune to all ailments, so she won't be cursed, poisoned, or turn into stone. Alone with boosted stats, Yggdra is now literally a beast. Battlefield 35-1: * Note: In short, the goal is for you to lose 10 times. This can be done in one turn (you attacking in a union of five then Baldus' army attacking) unless you really want to steal the Mars Shield, which isn't that great anyways. When you say you have to lose 10 times, that means there's no way you can possibly win, so keep this in mind. * PSP Note: In the PSP version, the knights are no longer protected. I am not sure how this changes the conditions to move to Battlefield 35-2. - Mars Shield, Baldus: The best way to do this is by going passive all the way so you can charge up Steal right away after losing. In my opinion, this is not worth it and it's better to spread out the damage. However, if you do want to steal it, then it would be better to steal it now instead of the next map. Use an item with the No Battle Penalty effect. You only have one at the point, Soldier's Bandana, an item you might not have anyone since it was from Battlefield 15. Battlefield 36: * Note: Basically, your goal is to get Milanor and Elena to the bottom-left two flags and the rest of your party in the top-right four flags. However, you will be ambushed after you do against those unkillable knights. My best advice is to put a male in the left-most flag so he doesn't form a union with the rest of the other characters while using an item with the No Zero Reset effect. This way, he will gain experience but doesn't lot any when he loses all morale and is removed from the battlefield. Roswell and Durant are best suited for this, but if you can't use them for some reason, then just use a character that you have thrown away, such as Russell or Cruz. If you haven't stolen the Mars Shield in the last map and you still want it for no reason, then just forget about it. Battlefield 37-1: + Carnage Claw, Zilva: It's a pretty good item that only lasts for one map. Try to steal it, since assassins have high LUK and Zilva probably has 5 LUK. Battlefield 37-2: - Medallion, Level 14 Knight: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. Battlefield 38-1: * Note: The point of this battlefield is to have all characters next to at least one other character. Also, bring Nietzsche equipped with Glass Bottle if you want to get Bottled Dozeu. Battlefield 38-2: * Note: Try not to use Kylier too much or she will drain valuable experience and possibly steal your MVP. - Bead Bracelet, Emilia: This item is kind of useless and it might actually be to your advantage to not Steal this item since it gives Emilia �4 GEN. Of course, her luck is probably way too high anyways for you to make her drop it, but who really need panic evasion, right? = Grand Cross, Baldus: You only have one Steal card and you have three items to get. We should all know by now that Baldus has low LUK, so you don't have to Steal it. However, if for some reason you have trouble defeating Baldus, then you might want to Steal if, but Eudy is harder in my opinion. This is a very good item though. - Formular, Eudy: Yeah this item sucks since you can only use it for one map, but it is useful later on if you ever pit Rosary against Gulcasa. However, use the Steal card on Eudy, because it neutralizes a witch's weakness, which is low ATK. This broom gives ATK UP, which makes Eudy very strong along with her weapon affinity, so Steal it to make your life easier. Battlefield 39: * Note: Baldus has HIGH status, so you'll only have two turns to beat him, so create huge unions (but smart unions). Kylier is very good for Baldus, but once again, don't overuse her so that she gets MVP. What you could do is use your Steal card when Baldus is almost alone. Then, without using Milanor, use your other units to get rid of his army. After doing that, move Milanor next to Baldus (along with fixing your formation if needed), so you can Steal when it's his turn. On your next turn, use Gravity Chaos. Note that Baldus has 6 GEN, so give Milanor +TEC items if his TEC isn't 6 yet so he can Steal. A good formation is Milanor then Kylier with other characters in Kylier's union, preferably Yggdra in the last spot. If you're really having trouble, then use Kylier as a union leader since you should probably know that you can still use Steal with Milanor with Kylier (or Yggdra, but she's weak against Baldus) as a union leader. + Werdna, Baldus: Steal this item, and I mean it. It makes fighting Baldus less difficult. Once again, you need 6 TEC to Steal from Baldus, but if you can't, then this item will probably drop anyways since his LUK is so low. ---- NOTE ---- Believe it or not, you've gotten through most of the hardest maps in this game. Except for some rare cases, the rest of the game should be somewhat easy for you. If you haven't done so yet, pick a handful of characters to continue leveling while keep the others inactive. My advice would be to ditch Russell since you already have Yggdra, ditch either Cruz or Elena, but I recommend keeping Elena and boosting up her GEN. You can keep both Nietzsche and Durant, but if Nietzsche is exceptionally weak and you just don't want to bother, then ditch her too. Battlefield 40-1: * Note: Be careful of water square and use Nietzsche to get an advantage. + Rosary of Hope, Monica: This is a great item, especially since in this stage of the game, since you have almost maxed stats that a slight increase could easily bump you up to the next big star. It fills gauge, anyone can use it, and increases GEN, TEC, and LUK, so do get this somehow. Battlefield 40-2: + Lionheart, Canaan: At this point you should have enough characters with high LUK to get this item without Stealing, but Canaan is a sword user anyways, so why bother with Milanor? This is a pretty good item that anyone can use, but it only lasts for one map. = Cat Ears, Emilia: To be frank, this is a pretty good item. However, Emilia has HIGH status this time around, so I'm not sure if stealing it would be a good idea. Right now morale recovery shouldn't be a problem, so I would just use strong cards to bring her down instead of trying to Steal and such. Battlefield 41-1: * Note: Bring Mantrap, the card. This battlefield is annoying not only because of poison but because you can only move one square at a time. This is why you will need to plan it out. If you're planning to get the Shaman Mask and convert the duds, then have only one character move southwest to those two square, while the rest move straight west. Note that since you can only move one square at a time, use the female union to your advantage. - Medallion, Level 12 Hunter: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. - Medallion, Level 14 Necromancer: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. + Black Maria, Emilia: If Nietzsche's low GEN and TEC is starting to bother you, then this is the perfect item for her. Steal it anyways so Emilia will have less GEN, meaning lose more morale, but either way, get this item for Nietzsche. Battlefield 42-1: * Note: Eudy's cannons do more damage in this battlefield than the previous ones, so be careful. Also, the victory conditions lie. You don't have to defeat anyone, but wait a while for Kylier to show up. If you're up to it though, try to combat the enemies (which has HIGH status) to try and get more experience, but just calculate Eudy's cannons into the equation. Also note that your cards do not reset after Kylier arrives, so try not to screw up. - Medallion 3x, Level 14 Imperial Knight: You don't really need to defeat these enemies, but if you so you'll get Medallions and more experience. - Ifrit Fling, Gulcasa: It looks like he can be defeated with no Protect status, but he has 9000+ morale with HIGH status, so I never tried. This item is only for Milanor only, and he will max out soon if not yet, so it's pretty much useless to get. Like I said before though, if you're really confident, you can combat Gulcasa for some experience, but don't expect to defeat him. In short, unless you're suicidal, stay away from Gulcasa this map. Battlefield 42-2: * PSP Note: In the PSP version, at some time in this BF, all of your units will recover to full morale. Like any other PSP changes, this is not yet confirmed. - Medallion, Level 16 Knight: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. Battlefield 43-1: * Note: This is an important note, but get the Stray Dragon item at the top- left-most corner of the map. Durant will become a scythe-user for 3 maps, which means he will be better suited to combat Gulcasa. Plus, Gulcasa doesn't fight in this map and it's a really fun one too. Level up Nietzsche/Durant here a lot, especially Nietzsche, since she might still be weak. Also, the game lies again, since you only need to defeat Luciana or Aegina. However, try to take out most of the enemies before you defeat one or the other to get more experience. I recommend you to defeat Luciana. + Red Crimson, Aegina: What I do is Steal from the one I won't defeat and use Nietzsche (or someone with high LUK) to defeat the other. Whatever you do here, it's best if you get both items, even though you will only defeat either Aegina or Luciana. However, do note that both of these are sword users, so be careful so that Milanor doesn't get defeated. + Blue Stinger, Luciana: See above. Battlefield 43-2: * Note: If you got both items from the previous map, then the person you're fighting here won't have anything. However, she will have HIGH status, so be careful. This is why we stole from her in the last map. Battlefield 44-1: * Note: Equip the Stray Dragon now. It lasts for three maps, and the game is going to end soon. Use the same cards I've listed at least ten times in this guide to defeat him, Rosary/Roswell, and your new Dragon Knight. I think the whole battlefield takes place at night, so have Elena use Bloody Claw. Even if she manages to lose somehow, Gulcasa can't use Genocide for that clash. + Ifrit Fling, Gulcasa: Definitely Steal this item (and of course, Milanor will lose the clash), because it lowers his ATK by one big star. After that, pummel him with the strongest cards and characters. Battlefield 44-2: * Note: If you took my advice and defeated Luciana earlier, then you will get to fight Aegina now. Aegina has a better weapon than Luciana in this map, so that is the reason. - Medallion, Level 16 Guardian Knight: This is the leader. Just make him drop it. - Medallion 4x, Level 18 Imperial Knight: You should not be going after Gulcasa, since your focus is on Aegina or Luciana. + End of Ages, Aegina: Wow, this item is good. In fact, it is too good, so you might want to Steal this if you're having trouble defeating her. Of course, remember that Milanor is an axe user, so he might very well lose after doing the dirty work. + Mistilteinn, Luciana: This item isn't as good as End of Ages, but it still gives Luciana ATK UP, so Steal this also. However, whenever Luciana wins a clash, she will lose morale, which is interesting to say the least. This is why I didn't want this item. Battlefield 44-3: * Note: Gulcasa has HIGH status and is now stronger, so be very careful. I would get close to him, pick Steal, then place Milanor close to him, forming a union with Durant and Rosary/Roswell. If you want to be strategic, place another character between Milanor and Durant (order-wise) so when it comes to Durant, Gulcasa will have 2 health instead of 3. Do not include Elena. The idea is for Gulcasa to attack Milanor, Milanor Steals (and loses), the second character loses, but Durant and Rosary/Roswell should win. Next, form a union with Elena as leader with another character that will lose, Durant, and Rosary/Roswell. The point is for Elena to use Bloody Claw for a quick win, then some random character loses, and Durant/Rosary/Roswell will face Gulcasa with 2 health instead of 3. Of course, if you don't want to Steal or have other problems, then try Shield Barrier, Ace Guard, and Kiss of Death. Battlefield 45-1: * Note: Do save before attempting this character (but you should save after every map anyways, right?). Also, the other character that you picked besides Milanor cannot be the union leader (since he or she will be in another area) but can form a union with Milanor, so cards such as Bloody Claw, Doll Craft, etc..., should not be used. My recommendation is Steal, Dragon Killer, and some other strong card like Ace Guard or Kiss of Death. + Prominence, Gulcasa: So yes, this item also gives Gulcasa ATK UP, so Steal it promptly. This isn't really a hard battlefield at all, especially if your other character is Durant or Rosary. You will never have to fight Gulcasa again after this. Actually, all of the tough battlefields in this game are over. Pat yourself on the back and move on to the ending. Battlefield 46-1: * Note: You can either win easily or lose easily. Kylier's card's power is 8000, which means if you lose a clash, you take a huge morale hit. However, she's just a Griffon Rider, and you should have four characters who are strong against her, Yggdra, Durant (as a Dragon Knight), Rosary/Roswell, and Elena. As usual, don't include Elena when you form your first union, and when it's your turn, form a union starting with Elena's Bloody Claw. It's like your second to last fight with Gulcasa, only with half the difficulty. Battlefield 47-1: * Note: You might think that rods are useful against books, but you're wrong. Don't let Rosary/Roswell clash with Nessiah, and like usual, use Elena's Bloody Claw. That card is getting pretty useful lately, doesn't it? Nessiah has HIGH status, but he is incredibly easy to beat if you any useful card that does something. He will also lose the HIGH status once the astartes are defeated. - Medallion 3x, Level 19 Astarte: Just defeat them. = Rev. of the Gods, Nessiah: This item pretty much does nothing, and it doesn't boost up his stats or something. It's for the credits, so if you want to see all the pretty cards after you beat the game, then do get it. Battlefield 48-1: * Note: If you do what Marietta asks you to do then you will do no fighting. If you want to see an alternate ending, then start to head towards Marietta. Also, bring Crusade and max out everyone's morale. Battlefield 48-2: * Note: If you're here, that means you've decided to defy the will of the gods or something. Your object here is to form large unions and lose to Marietta repeatedly. - Scepter of Wisdom, Marietta: Much like Mistilteinn, this item will decrease Marietta's morale every time she wins a clash. This means you will have to lose repeatedly to Marietta (you shouldn't zero reset either, since her card has a low power) until she has 1 morale, and only then should Yggdra use Crusade to defeat Marietta. Enjoy your alternate ending. * PSP Note: In the PSP version, there is an alternate ending with a different battlefield in hard mode. It is not known whether the new battlefield will be integrated into BF 48 or if you have to beat BF 48 then go on to BF 49. =============================================================================== IX. Characters =============================================================================== This shouldn't come as a surprise to you, but be warned that this section reveals many spoilers. I will tell the history and basic outline of each character as long as their strengths and weaknesses in battle. ----------- ALIES: MAIN ----------- Yggdra, La Pucelle: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the Princess of Fantasinia, Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz fled her kingdom with only the holy sword Gran Centurio in her possession. She believes that justice lies in holy sword, and this ideology leads the army through its campaigns. She seeks revenge from Gulcasa for killing her parents, which sometimes lead to irresponsible actions without properly thinking. Sometimes, she wonders about justice and the innocents, which shows that she can also be compassionate even though she has to carry out her duty. She is a sword user, and she starts with good GEN and ATK gains but lacking in TEC and LUK. After she becomes La Pucelle, her TEC increases significantly, and she will end up naturally maxing GEN and TEC with a high ATK, but her LUK is still lacking. She has no notable advantages/disadvantages, although she might be weak against assassins since she is weak against Dark, and Holy attacks won't work against her. When she gets Zolfy, save it for one of the battles with Gulcasa, and she will automatically win after using Revolution or if somehow she gets Gulcasa to 1 health before losing. When she is crowned as Queen of Fantasia and changes her class to La Pucelle, she suddenly becomes very powerful. Now only can she use most cards with Always Ace, including powerful ones such as Gravity Chaos and Dragon Killer, but she can act as a flexible union leader since she is an ace with any card. She will also have a significant stat boost and the card Crusade, which is an automatic win. With time, Yggdra will be finding herself near the front lines often, leading the charge like a true leader should do. Class: Sword Maiden (Sword) -This character deals more damage to Golems. -This character deals more damage when at a fort plus 10% GEO. -This character is immune to Holy. -This character is weak to Dark. Class: La Pucelle (Sword) -This character is immune to all ailments. -This character is an ACE with any card. -This character deals more damage when at a fort plus 10% GEO. -This character is immune to Holy. Max Stats: 6 GEN, 5 ATK, 6 TEC, 3 LUK Rating: 8/10, Weak in the beginning, very useful near the end. Milanor, the Silver Wolf: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Milanor appears to rescue Yggdra after what appears to be the end for her. He is really just a thief, and a famous one at that, which earns him the respectable title "The Silver Wolf" among other thieves. He first decided only to help Yggdra with her goal in exchange for her castle, but later on, he wanted to continue travelling and seek more adventures. Although he appears to be just following orders to get his castle, he later on agrees with Yggdra's ideal does his best to help her achieve her goal. He is an axe user, and a good one at that. He has higher ATK than Yggdra in the beginning, and this fact often means he will rack more MVP, and he will probably max out without needing any stat UP items. Without MVP, he will eventually max out ATK with high TEC and LUK and decent GEN, but since his ATK enables him to win often, he does not need high GEN anyways. A good portion of the maps have wasteland squares, so expect him to get an unexpected boost every now and then. Class: Stray Thief (Axe) -This character is immune to Petrify. -This character deals more damage when on wasteland squares plus 10% GEO. -This character is immune to Rockfall. Max Stats: 4 GEN, 6 ATK, 5 TEC, 5 LUK Rating: 9/10, very useful, but is weak against Aegina's units in the beginning. If overused, he might steal MVP bonuses and make others weaker. ------------------ ALLIES: SUPPORTING ------------------ Durant ~~~~~~ Durant is a loyal knight to the kingdom, fighting until his very last breath for its cause, at least until Yggdra and Milanor rescues him from his doom. Since then, he works on very good terms with Milanor, not treating him as a thief but another support of Yggdra. He always follows Yggdra's orders, and he is an important strategist along with Milanor for many missions. In the beginning, he is pretty strong due to his high ATK, but unlike Milanor, he does not have the LUK to make many enemies drop their items. Without MVP, he will eventually max out GEN with high ATK and decent TEC, but he will never go above 2 LUK without extra help. His special card, Chariot, does not depend on TEC however, so that is a plus at the beginning of the game. He is a good fighter but shouldn't be used to finish off opponents with items. He should stay away from Griffon Riders, and he is a good wall on roads and bridges. Class: Knight (Spear) -This character deals more damage when on the road plus 10% GEO. -This character deals more damage when on a bridge plus 10% GEO. -This character deals less damage against Griffon Riders. -This character deals less damage when on forest squares plus -40% GEO. -This character receives fatal damage from Ivy Whip. Max Stats: 6 GEN, 5 ATK, 4 TEC, 2 LUK Rating: 7/10, very useful in the beginning and end, especially against Gulcasa's units. He is somewhat weak against archers' charges, and cannot be used in certain situations, such as in forests and against Emilia's units. Nietzsche ~~~~~~~~~ Nietzsche is a young Undine who seeks the Transmigragem that has been stolen from her country. She joins the Royal Army because the Empire has tricked and taken over her home, and now she wants revenge, even if she has to fight against her own people. She is usually quiet, following the orders of others, but under no circumstances should she be treated as a child. Since she is a spear user like Durant, most people just toss her aside after a couple of maps, but she is very helpful when getting items due to her high LUK. Her GEN and TEC increases very slowly, but items can help with this, and there are especially many +GEN items. None of her stats will max out although she will have high ATK and LUK, decent GEN, and average TEC. She might have trouble using some techniques with 2 TEC, but with a TEC UP item, she should be a fine fighter. Class: Undine (Spear) -This character deals more damage when in water plus 50% GEO. -This character is immune to Ice. -This character deals less damage when on sand plus -20% GEO. -This character receives fatal damage from Sandstorm. -This character is weak to Fire. Max Stats: 4 GEN, 5 ATK, 3 TEC, 5 LUK Rating: 7/10, somewhat weak in the beginning due to low GEN/TEC gains, but can be powerful later on due to high ATK. Her high LUK makes her useful in getting items, and many battlefields have water. She is useless against both Eudy and Gulcasa, which is a pain. Roswell ~~~~~~~ Roswell is a Necromancer who may be on your side or defeated by you depending on your actions. When you first meet Roswell, he is being attacked by Rosary and the Imperial Army because Rosary wants Roswell's cannon, the ankh. After the Royal army stops Rosary's attempts, Roswell invaded back, and Rosary fires her own ankh. When war breaks out, the Royal Army decides to side with Roswell and defeats Rosary, only to find Roswell betrayed by the Imperial Army. The Royal Army rescues Roswell, but alas, the Imperial Army is now in possession of his powerful ankh. Roswell is a rod user, which is a nifty addition to your team since rods are powerful against swords, spears, and axes. He starts out with low ATK and LUK, but with the help of items, he should be fine until level 13 when his ATK naturally increases to 3 big stars without MVP. He ends up not maxing any stats but has good GEN and decent ATK, TEC, and LUK. Although he is well-rounded, he does have a superior weapon and high GEN means that even if he does lose, he won't lose much morale. His summons are skeletons, which he can only do at night and skeletons sleep during the day, so it's pretty bad. Class: Necromancer (Rod) -This character deals more damage to Skeletons. -This character is immune to Dark. -This character is weak to Holy. Max Stats: 5 GEN, 4 ATK, 4 TEC, 4 LUK Rating: 8/10, useful for defeating opponents, but if ATK isn't boosted, he usually deals low morale damage. Being immune to Dark enables him to sometimes survive against archers, but his summons are often weak. Class: Rosary ~~~~~~ Rosary is a Witch who may be on your side or defeated by you depending on your actions. When you first meet Rosary, she, along with the Imperial Army, is attacking Roswell because Rosary wants Roswell's cannon, the ankh. After the Royal army stops Rosary's attempts, Roswell invaded back, and Rosary fires her own ankh. When war breaks out, the Royal Army decides to side with Rosary and defeats Roswell, only to find Rosary betrayed by the Imperial Army. The Royal Army rescues Rosary, but alas, the Imperial Army is now in possession of her powerful ankh. Rosary is a rod user, which is a nifty addition to your team since rods are powerful against swords, spears, and axes. She starts out with low ATK and GEN, which is somewhat annoying. Although she will still beat most enemies, she will often have one to two health left which takes off very little morale. However, if her ATK is boosted, and there are many ATK UP items, she will be a powerhouse. Her high TEK enables her to make powerful charges, and her high LUK enables her to critical hit often and good at making enemies drop items. She is a pretty useful character if you use her correctly. Her summons are golems, and for some reason enemies attack golems before they attack you. This is good for when Gulcasa is chasing you. Also, her immunity to Fire means that she is strong against Eudy and Gulcasa, providing she has at least 3 ATK. Class: Witch (Rod) -This character is immune to Fire. Max Stats: 4 GEN, 3 ATK, 5 TEC, 6 LUK Rating: 10/10, incredibly useful, especially against Gulcasa if you boosted her ATK. She helps in the beginning with making items drop. Her summons can stop an enemy dead in their tracks and can be used to distract them. Cruz ~~~~ Cruz is the leader of the Resistance against the Imperial Army. His forces are thin and few, but he manages to resist for quite some time. Taking advantage of Cruz's army's weakened state, Mizer decides to raid headquarters of the Resistance Army. Just when things are starting to turn for the worse, the Royal Liberation Army comes and rescues Cruz as well and recruiting him into the main army. Amazed by his luck, he gladly takes the post and continues to fight for the princess until the end. As a hunter, Cruz uses his bow to strike down his enemies. His resilience is shown in his high GEN stat, allowing him to take many hits before retreating from battle. He also has high TEC, allowing him to use card skills very effectively, such as Thunderbolt and Sanctuary. His ATK is decent and his LUK is low, but he becomes stronger at noon and is good against Griffon Riders. However, he is not very useful, being overshadowed by Elena's pure offensive power. Cruz is too defensive in a way, and unless you have a problem with Emilia's army, there is no reason you should use him instead of Elena, since having two bow users on the field is usually not recommended. The deciding factor is that he cannot use Bloody Claw, a card that can take down the toughest enemies. Class: Hunter (Bow) -This character deals more damage to Golems. -This character deals more damage during noon. -This character deals more damage when in forest plus 20% GEO. Max Stats: 5 GEN, 4 ATK, 5 TEC, 2 LUK Rating: 5/10, could be useful in defeating Griffon Riders, generally, being weak against Spear, Axe, and Sword plus having average to decent attack doesn't cut it. Elena is a better alternative. Russell, the Astral Fencer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Russell is at first working for the Imperial Army, but later on it was revealed that he was doing so only because his fianc�, Flone, has been held hostage. Once the Royal Liberation Army rescues Flone, Russell immediately offers them his gratitude and sword, joining them with the search for Yggdra and eventual justice. Since Yggdra is missing when Russell joins the party, his sword affinity as a fencer is very valuable. Being the only sword user, he is pretty useful in the maps following his recruitment, but when you get Yggdra back, you should stop using Russell since you should only concentrate on five or six characters at most. If you stole or looted any items from him in the past, then use them now so he could become very powerful. He is actually a pretty decent character with high TEC, max ATK, and decent LUK, but Yggdra as La Pucelle is superior. Class: Fencer (Sword) -This character is immune to Lightning. Max Stats: 3 GEN, 6 ATK, 5 TEC, 4 LUK Rating: 6/10, good character, could possibly replace Nietzsche if she is not as strong as you wanted her to be, but Yggdra is better. He is definitely useful when Yggdra is missing, and you should use him then. Elena ~~~~~ Elena is the sister of Leon, the Black Knight, one of the Five Dragon Generals. She has been against the Imperial Army for quite some time now, and she joined the assassin squad, waiting for that right time to take down her brother and restore the family honor. When her assassination attempt of Leon failed, she is rescued by the Royal Liberation Army and later on joins them to further her cause. Elena, in short, is amazing. Similar to Rosary, Elena is a bit lacking in a few areas but with some stat up items, they become extremely powerful. She will eventually max TEC with decent ATK and LUC and average GEN. Since you get Elena late in the game, giving her the Forbidden Fruit as well as maybe a GEN UP item will be sufficient. With such a high TEC, she can deal massive damage on charges and with cards such as Thunderbolt. Her best weapon, however, is the Bloody Claw card. She can stop Gulcasa's Genocide or disable the enemy's ability to use cards in general since Bloody Claw kills the head character of a clash. Even though it can only be used at night, many maps at the end of the game featuring Gulcasa are entirely fought at night time. Class: Assassin (Bow) -This character deals more damage at night. -This character is immune to Dark. Max Stats: 3 GEN, 4 ATK, 6 TEC, 4 LUK Rating: 9/10, excellent character if trained properly. Elena is one of the characters that could take down boss enemies easily like Gulcasa. High TEC means more critical charges and when coupled with Bloody Claw, she is very hard to take down. However, her GEN is low, so don't let her lose. Mistel ~~~~~~ Mistel is a character exclusive to the PSP version, so not much detail is known of her at the moment, expect that she is a Scythe user and can be recruited in BF 14II, skipping BF 14 if you visited two villages in BF 13-2. While her weapon affinity is strong against most enemies' in the game, she apparently cannot use any weapons (there are no scythe weapons) but only hats, boots, clothes, etc... Her ATK growth seems to be high although her LUK is low. She seems to be similar to Durant; the only difference is that she can use Oblivious Dawn, a powerful card to stop Gulcasa, not to mention the fact that her weapon affinity is not weak against Gulcasa's. Class: Tactician (Scythe) -This character deals more damage when in town plus 10% GEO. Max Stats: 4.1 GEN, 4 ATK, 3.5 TEC, 2.5 LUK Rating: 9/10, excellent character if trained properly. Let�s face it, her initial stats suck and her stat gains are too spread out to be really useful. However, this doesn�t mean that you can�t take matters into her own hands. Elena or Roswell used to be the usual contender for the Forbidden Fruit, but in the PSP version give it to Mistel. Along with some smart ATK MVPs after getting her and a few edible stat UP items, Mistel will become a powerhouse. Pamela ~~~~~~ Pamela is a character exclusive to the PSP version, and you can only get her in hard mode. Not much is known about her at the moment except that she is recruited with Nietzsche talking to her in BF 23-1 and 24. She is a rod user, although she cannot use Rosary's Doll Craft card nor have her fire element when in aggressive mode. Her growth is unknown, although it should be similar to Rosary's having low ATK and high TEC and LUK. Without the fire element, she is to me pretty useless at a first glance. She comes with the Coma Karma card, which puts enemies to sleep at night, but only she (and some other mystery character) can use it. It may be very useful for those night-only battlefields at the end of the game. Class: Mystic Witch (Rod) -? Max Stats: 2.6 GEN, 3.4 ATK, 6 TEC, 6 LUK Rating: ?/10, I have no clue if this character is useful or not. ------------- ENEMIES: MAIN ------------- Gulcasa, the Emperor of Carnage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gulcasa is the Emperor responsible for slaying Yggdra�s parents and the leader of the Imperial Army. He is a dragon rider and a scythe user, which makes him powerful against most of your units. His card, Genocide, sacrifices all members besides the head to perform a devastating attack to your unit, also dealing extra morale damage. Hints and tips on how to beat this enemy are found in the FAQs section and in the Strategy Guide, when he appears. As a quick summary, Stealing his item usually lowers his stats, and cards such as Shield Barrier, Ace Guard, Fortune, Sanctuary, and Banshee�s Cry may help. Kiss of Death and Oblivious Dawn cards can prevent Gulcasa from activating Genocide. Marietta, the Guardian Angel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Coming soon) #367 ~~~~ (Coming soon) ------------------- ENEMIES: SUPPORTING ------------------- Leon, the Black Knight ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leon is a knight, notorious for his violence and cruelty. His card is Chariot, which is somewhat strong if you cannot defeat him fast. However, unlike Genocide, you can use Shield Barrier to block the charge or use Sanctuary after Leon uses Chariot to replenish your health. It is often good to let other knights before Leon in Leon�s union use Chariot so Leon will have a low rage meter. Also remember that Kylier is very effective against Leon since knights are weak against griffon riders. Leon has very low luck so even if you decide not to Steal his item, it will most likely drop anyways. Emilia, the Scarlet Princess ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Emilia is a griffon rider and also Gulcasa�s half-sister. She is very powerful because of her card, Gravity Chaos. Her TEC is usually higher or equal to your character�s GEN in all encounters, which means that Gravity Chaos will hit almost every time she uses it. This means that you can use the same strategy you used for Leon � let another griffon rider before Emilia with lower TEC use Gravity Chaos and have it be guarded and miss, so Emilia will have a low rage meter when it�s her turn. Griffon Riders are weak against cold, so use Nietzsche�s aggression or the Blizzard card. Baldus, the God of War ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Baldus is an old and wise general but also a very powerful warrior. His card is Ace Guard, which is definitely annoying, but it does not usually work, especially if Baldus is not the union leader. There is really no strategy for Baldus since he is not that hard to beat. For the map where he can actually pose a problem, you have Kylier, who is once again strong against knights. Milanor usually destroys Baldus, taking away a good chunk of his morale too, without Stealing. Baldus, like Leon, has low LUK, so his items will also drop easily. Eudy, the Court Magician ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eudy is the powerful witch of the Imperial Army. Even though her weapon affinity is strong against your main characters, her true annoyance comes from the fact that she hides far away behind the cannons and hurt your characters� morale without fighting. You encounter Eudy as soon as battlefield 3, making it one of the hardest battlefields in the game. Since you won�t get a bow user for a while, the best bet is just to gang up on Eudy and use as many useful cards as possible. Her card is Flame, which is powerful with Eudy�s high TEC. A trick is to activate the Shield Barrier card right before Eudy�s rage bar is max, so Eudy�s activation will cancel your Shield but the Flame card will be nullified also. Keep Nietzsche away from Eudy, as well as characters will low GEN. Nessiah, the Fallen Angel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nessiah is the strategist of the Imperial Army and also the true mastermind behind the war and the Gran Centurio. Your first encounter with him is against a very powerful Nessiah, who besides having Protect, is unbeatable, except if you get a critical hit and take out the head right away. You won�t get a real fight with Nessiah until the very end, and by then he is significantly weaker (well, your characters are significantly stronger). His card is Reincarnation, a very strong card. However, by the end of the game, you should be able to defeat Nessiah before he can activate Reincarnation anyways so that card never really come into use. Don�t send Rosary or Roswell against Nessiah since for some reason books are strong against rods, but any other character with an attacking card will work well. Zilva ~~~~~ What is Zilva? Well, no one really knows, since she and her army operate in �secret.� In the beginning of the game she really sucks badly unless you are unfortunate enough to be charged at by her at night. There�s nothing really that you can say about her, since she...really sucks. Her card is annoying, but unlike Revolution and Genocide, she can only use it at night. The only thing worth mentioning is that she has Jack Hand in battlefield 31, which gives her a huge advantage, so much that she will win every time she charges even if it�s not at night. Her TEC and LUK on that map is wonderfully high too, so you can�t just Steal it (unless you overMVP�ed Milanor, which you might) or make her drop it at the right time. Other than that, she�s a bow user, so send in anyone, and I mean anyone except for Rosary and Roswell, and you should be fine. She is one of those characters where you don�t even need to activate a card to win. Mizer ~~~~~ Hey look, it�s Mizer, that annoying person who wrecks havoc in the earlier map just when you were trying to focus on another objective. Even though he is a bow user, he becomes annoying by appearing at exactly noon (when he is strong). He is not that hard to beat, but you do not want have to charge since you cannot counter. Unlike assassins (Zilva), he has way too high HP and GEN, which means you will have to take multiple turns or a fairly large union to be able to defeat him. This means that in order to prevent him from charging at you, you should stray from your main objective and spend a turn forming a good enough union to defeat him before he can get a second chance. Mizer is quite an annoying guy, but he holds good loot so make sure you Steal or have enough LUK to make him drop his item. Of course, he is annoying here too because he has high GEN and LUK, making Milanor sometimes unable to Steal. =============================================================================== X. Credits & Contacts =============================================================================== Well this guide was written entirely by me and so far no one has sent any e-mail regarding corrections/additions. However, that doesn't mean I finished the game on my own, for I received help along the way. If you do want to e-mail me, please make sure that: 1) You're at least 95% sure on what you're talking about. This game is pretty confusing, and little do you know that there might be other factors unknown to you regarding the content of your e-mail. 2) No flaming/trolling/etc... Do realize that THIS IS A GUIDE SOLELY BASED ON OPINIONS. The point of this guide isn't to describe 50 choices and tell the reader to pick one, but to be straight to the point. If you have a problem with me preferring Elena over Cruz or Rosary over Roswell, then please keep it to yourself. 3) Please read through the guide first to make sure that I covered what you're trying to tell me. 4) Please e-mail me in English. I can read French but I won't use an online translator to try to decode weird languages. 5) If you don't want your e-mail posted on this guide, leave an alias that you want to be referred to when I give you credit. I WILL give you credit, so if you want to contribute to the guide, then please go ahead. Also, thanks to: -Atlus and Sting for creating Yggdra Union (and Riviera too). -Walkthrough by Lufia_Maxim, which helped me get through the game in the first place. -FAQ by theseus19, which explained many things in great detail that I assumed. -The message board on GameFAQs.com, which is a great source of motivation when I quit the game at least two times before finishing it. -Lacrima Castle (http://leyviur.net/) and its forums for reference and information on PSP changes. -PRIDE, for providing much needed information about the Oblivious Dawn card. -ServantOfGoth for pointing out some errors and providing some obscure technicalities in the game that I did not know. -Tracy Smith for being nice while giving constructive criticism and comments. -Chrono Ivan for providing more GBA -> PSP changes. -Many users on the GameFAQs.com message board for supporting my FAQs.