_______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== X E N O S A G A E P I S O D E I D E R W I L L E Z U R M A C H T =============================================================================== Game: Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht Platform: PlayStation 2 Region: North American Release (NTSC) Guide Type: Complete FAQ & Walkthrough Written by: Darrin Ackerman (VertigOne) Version: v1.4 - March 17, 2005 Portions of this FAQ, information or pieces in part or whole, were taken with permission from the following sources (all from www.gamefaqs.com): -> Damir Kolar's (Split Infinity) Xenosaga: Episode 1 Complete Walkthrough/FAQ -> Edward Chang's (EChang) EMail FAQ This document was written with the font Courier New, Size 10, 79 characters per line. Best viewed with Courier New, Size 10. Notepad, WordPad, Word, UltraEdit and any text editor/viewer work great for viewing. If you are going to print this guide, I strongly suggest you print only the sections you need. This guide is rather large, coming in at nearly 200 pages. ******************************************************************************* * SPOILER WARNING *** SPOILER WARNING *** SPOILER WARNING *** SPOILER WARNING * ******************************************************************************* * * * This guide is NOT spoiler-free! I've tried my hardest to minimize the * * amount of spoilers. There are no major spoilers. I do not reveal parts of * * the plot or anything like that. However, when talking about locations, * * items, enemies and stuff like that, it's hard not to have some spoilers. * * * ******************************************************************************* * SPOILER WARNING *** SPOILER WARNING *** SPOILER WARNING *** SPOILER WARNING * ******************************************************************************* _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ==> i. L E G A L I N F O R M A T I O N SLI01 =============================================================================== First and foremost let's get the legal stuff out of the way. This document is a copyrighted work and is intended solely for your PERSONAL USE. You may print a copy for yourself and you may give copies to your family and friends so long as you do NOT change a single thing. COMMERCIAL ENTITIES (INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS) ARE NOT PERMITTED TO USE THIS DOCUMENT FOR ANY PURPOSE WHATSOEVER BEYOND THE PERSONAL USE OF AN INDIVIDUAL. THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT TO BE INCLUDED AS PART OF ANY SOFTWARE, MAGAZINE, ON-LINE SOURCE OR ANY PART OR AFFILIATE OF ANY COMMERCIAL ENTITY. YOU MAY NOT REPRODUCE, DISTRIBUTE, MODIFY OR DO ANYTHING TO THIS DOCUMENT, BEYOND PRINTING FOR PERSONAL USE. DOING ANY SUCH ACTION IS A DIRECT VIOLATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW! _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ==> ii. D I S T R I B U T I O N A N D H O S T I N G SDAH01 =============================================================================== Distribution and hosting of this document is limited to the following websites. No other sources are allowed! -> GameFAQs.com (and its affiliates) -> neoseeker.com -> faqs.ign.com -> cheathappens.com -> supercheats.com -> xenolegacy.com If you would like to host this FAQ on your website, drop me an e-mail at the address listed above, and we'll see what we can do. You MAY NOT host this guide without being listed in this section or my written permission! -[ Hosting Rules ]- 1. The guide must be displayed in plain-text format. However, it can be wrapped in a frame, table, or whatever. This is primarily to keep the proper formatting of the guide. 2. The guide must be publicly available for FREE. No charges of any kind may be applied for access to this guide! NO EXCEPTIONS! _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ==> iii. L A T E S T U P D A T E S SLU01 =============================================================================== Last Updated: March 17, 2005 - Added "Scope" to the "Character Accessories" section. I had forgot to add it previously. Oops! - Added "Speed Stim DX" to the "Normal Items" section. - Added two more items (Booster Pack and Veil) to the list of items you can get from MOMO's Prayer ether. - Added this section for the Latest Updates and moved the rest of the Version History section to the near-end of the guide. Less clutter is good, yes. - Updated the Pleroma section of the walkthrough. - Missed 2 Ether Upgrade S previously, so I added in where to get 'em. - Added some info on the enemies in the area (and what attacks to use) - Revised the first Mercurio (Decoder 4) and final boss strategies - Updated part of the "Tying up loose ends..." section dealing with the Mintia optional battle. Just a bit of revised info. _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ==> iv. T H I N G S L E F T T O D O STLTD01 =============================================================================== Here's a list of what I have in the works for this guide. - I know I'm missing items (specifically ones from the Drilling game). Help? - UPDATE: I'm working on this, but it's going to take a while. _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ==> v. T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S STOC01 =============================================================================== Welcome to the Table of Contents! Here you can see a quick outline of all the sections in this FAQ. Each section has a Search Code, as does any of its sub- sections. To use the Search Codes, press CTRL+F and enter the code into the Find box that pops up. That will then take you right to the section! If CTRL+F doesn't work for you, use the Edit or Search menu, then Find. Sec# Section Title Search Code ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- i Legal Information SLI01 ii Distribution and Hosting SDAH01 iii Latest Updates SLU01 iv Things Left To Do STLTD01 v Table of Contents STOC01 I Introduction SI01 II Characters SC01 a. Shion Uzuki SC01A b. KOS-MOS SC01B c. Ziggy SC01C d. MOMO SCO1D e. chaos SC01E f. Jr. SC01F III The Main Menu SMM01 a. Active Party Members SMM01A b. Battle Formation Grid SMM01B c. The Menu List SMM01C 1. Items SMM01C1 2. Ether SMM01C2 3. Tech Attacks SMM01C3 4. Skills SMM01C4 5. Characters SMM01C5 6. A.G.W.S. SMM01C6 7. Battle Formation SMM01C7 8. U.M.N. SMM01C8 9. Game Options SMM01C9 IV Starting Tips and Information SSTI01 V Battle Mechanics SBM01 a. The Battle Screen SBM01A 1. Party Information SBM01A1 2. Group Turn Window SBM01A2 3. Event Slot SBM01A3 4. Boost Display SBM01A4 5. Action/Commands Display SBM01A5 b. Battle Basics SBM01B 1. AP and Actions SBM01B1 2. Character Positions SBM01B2 3. Piloting an A.G.W.S. SBM01B3 4. Sub-Weapons SBM01B4 5. Defense SBM01B5 6. Escaping SBM01B6 7. Status Effects (briefly) SBM01B7 8. The Battle Menu SBM01B8 9. Traps SBM01B9 c. The Victory Screen SBM01C VI Status Effects SSE01 a. Bad Character Statuses SSE01A b. Good Character Statuses SSE01B c. Bad A.G.W.S. Statuses SSE01C d. Good A.G.W.S. Statuses SSE01D VII Walkthrough SWT01 a. KOS-MOS Simulator SWT01A b. Woglinde SWT01B c. Asteriod Pleroma SWT01C d. Elsa - Part I SWT01D e. Elsa - Part II SWT01E f. Elsa - Part III SWT01F g. U-TIC Battleship SWT01G h. Dock Colony SWT01H i. Cathedral Ship SWT01I j. Durandal - Part I SWT01J k. Kukai Foundation - Part I SWT01K l. Durandal - Part II SWT01L m. Encephalon SWT01M n. Kukai Foundation - Part II SWT01N o. Kukai Foundation - Part III SWT01O p. Song of Nephilim SWT01P q. Tying up loose ends... SWT01Q r. Proto Merkabah SWT01R VIII Ether SE01 a. Shion SE01A b. KOS-MOS SE01B c. Ziggy SE01C d. MOMO SE01D e. chaos SE01E f. Jr. SE01F IX Skills SSKL01 X Tech Attacks STA01 a. Shion STA01A b. KOS-MOS STA01B c. Ziggy STA01C d. MOMO STA01D e. chaos STA01E f. Jr STA01F XI Items SIM01 a. Standard Items SIM01A b. Special Items SIM01B c. Character Accessories SIM01C d. Character Weapons SIM01D e. Character Ammo SIM01E f. A.G.W.S. Weapons SIM01F g. A.G.W.S. Accessories SIM01G h. A.G.W.S. Ammo SIM01H i. A.G.W.S. SIM01I j. Cards SIM01J XII Shops SSHP01 a. Woglinde A.G.W.S. Hangar SSHP01A b. Elsa - U.M.N. Port SSHP01B c. Elsa - A.G.W.S. Hangar SSHP01C d. Dock Colony SSHP01D e. Cathedral Ship - Mall SSHP01E f. Durandal - Residential Area SSHP01F g. Kukai Foundation - A.G.W.S. Parts Shop SSHP01G h. Kukai Foundation - Our Treasure Inn Shop SSHP01H i. Kukai Foundation - Mayor SSHP01I XIII Bestiary SB01 a. Standard Enemies SB01A b. Boss Enemies SB01B c. Optional Boss Enemies SB01C XIV Mini-Games SMG01 a. Passports SMG01A b. Battle Game SMG01B c. XenoCard Game SMG01C d. Casino Games SMG01D e. Drilling Game SMG01E XV E-Mail and Submissions SEMS01 XVI Version History SVH01 XVII Credits and Special Thanks SCST01 _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ==> I. I N T R O D U C T I O N SI01 =============================================================================== Welcome to my Xenosaga Episode 1 FAQ! Thanks for taking the time to check this FAQ out. Hopefully you find it useful! This FAQ was written to attempt to compile all the XS:E1 info into one complete document. I've tried to break it out and structure it in the most logical and useful order I can. I've also tried to be as complete as possible and make everything easy to understand. In my attempts to find a complete guide, and finding none, I decided to write my own. There are other well written guides out there, but none are finished to a point I'd call "complete." So with that in mind, I'm writing this guide. It will (eventually) contain complete and detailed information on everything, including: weapons, items, skills, Ethers, A.G.W.S., shops, mini-games, enemies and more. I've put a ton of work into this guide. I've spent hours on end compiling all the information you see here. I gathered all of this information from within the game itself. I have not taken anything from any other guides or publications at all, unless otherwise noted. I've only played three times through XS:E1, so far. The first time I didn't use any guides at all.. and I missed a ton of stuff. Then I tried playing through a second time with a guide... and yeah, we end up here. Here are my games and the times spent playing: Game 1 (no guide) - 37 hours -- Shion Level 46 Game 2 (writing this) - 43 hours -- Shion Level 51 Game 3 (double-check) - 47 hours -- Shion Level 54 Oh but the box says 80 hours of game play?!!!! Uh, they lied. Well actually if you took the time to max out your characters, it would probably take around 80 hours or more. With only some leveling, it takes about 40 hours. Plus, at least half of that time (maybe more?) is cutscenes. So if you were to skip all the talking stuff, you could beat it in 20 or less hours, I'm sure. BUT, that doesn't mean XS:E1 isn't fun, it is. It's not a bad game, either. You just have to understand that it's the first chapter in a much larger story, so most of the game is an introduction to the universe and laying down the plot work and characters for the next episodes. Recently, upon reading a copy of the December 2004 issue of GameInformer, the makers of XenoSaga claimed the exact same thing I said above. Episode 1 is a plot-building episode. As such, they claim Episode 2 is going to be more action packed than Episode 1, as well as fill you in on more of the story (obviously). Keep that in mind if the pace of the game gets on your nerves ;) _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ==> II. C H A R A C T E R S SC01 =============================================================================== Here I'll fill you in on the main characters of the game. Most of this is taken straight from the manual itself, but I've also added in some extra info. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> II-a. Shion Uzuki SC01A ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gender: Female Race: Human Height: 163 cm (5'4") Weight: 48 kg (106 lbs) Age: 22 Chief Engineer of the KOS-MOS Project General Operation System Research Center, Vector Industries First R&D Division. When the story opens, she is assigned on a twofold mission: to assist in the investigation of a planetary disappearance which is somehow related to the "Zohar Project" -- a plan developed jointly between the government and private industry -- and to test KOS-MOS. My take: Shion is pretty much the main character of the story, but the story really isn't about just her. Being the saga that it is, she's merely just a piece of the whole. Her standard attacks are rather weak. She does have some devastating Tech Attacks (Spell Ray, for one), provided you upgrade them early on. Her Ethers are good, probably some of the most useful including Healing, Boosting, Speed, and the ultimate Ether, Erde Kaiser. With proper upgrades to her stats and attacks, she's definitely a force to be reckoned with. Don't neglect her. Also she's supposedly fairly good in Judo or Jujitsu or one of them fancy-pants martial arts things (which you can sorta see with her attacks) but, unfortunately, we don't get to see her in her full ass-kicking glory in this episode. -[ Shion's Attacks ]- Buttons Attack Type ------- ------ ---- S Knuckle Physical (Near) T Firecracker Ether (Far) S,S Power Kick Physical (Near) S,T Stun Shock Physical/Ether (Near) T,T Cherry Bomb Ether (Far) T,S Spin Kick Ether/Physical (Far/Near) I will go into more detail about attacks in the Battle Mechanics section. Briefly, each button press (S or T) performs an attack. Depending the order (combination) you use them, determines the attack. Near attacks mean just that, Shion must get close to the target to use them. The same goes for Far attacks, these are ranged attacks. Quick Example: Pressing S,T will execute a Knuckle attack followed by a Stun Shock attack. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> II-b. KOS-MOS SC01B ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gender: Female Race: Android Height: 167 cm (5'6") Weight: 92 kg (203 lbs) Age: Looks 18 A female, armored battle android developed by the interstellar conglomerate, Vector Industries. She is comprised entirely of mechanical parts, a rarity in an age of advanced Realian technology. "KOS-MOS" is not her personal name, but rather the name of the complete battle system designed to combat Gnosis. My take: This chic rules. I want one. But more seriously, KOS-MOS is definitely someone you want on your side. She was designed to combat the Gnosis, so she's a battle android. Loaded with weaponry and advanced fighting skills, and more. Her normal attacks are fairly good, and with properly upgraded stats, can be as powerful as some lower level Tech Attacks. She has some of the very best Tech Attacks out of all the characters. Upgrade them quickly to get the full benefits of them. She has fairly good Ether skills aimed mostly at weakening enemies. She is programmed to protect Shion above anything else, and to obviously destroy the Gnosis that she may encounter. Your first priority with KOS-MOS should be upgrading her Tech Attacks to HI slots and upgrading their attack level. Then spend time upgrading her individual stats. Treat her well and she'll lay the smack down without hesitation. -[ KOS-MOS' Attacks ]- Buttons Attack Type ------- ------ ---- S Punch Physical (Near) T Blaster Ether (Far) S,S S-Sault Physical (Near) S,T Sword Physical (Near) T,T Blaster Ether (Far) T,S Needle Ether/Physical (Far/Near) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> II-c. Ziggy SC01C ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gender: Male Race: Cyborg Height: 191 cm (6'3") Weight: Unknown Age: Looks 30. 98 years since body recycling. (so he's at least 128) A combat cyborg assigned the task of recovering and protecting MOMO, the prototype 100-Series Observational Realian. Instead of embracing the fact that he was once human, Ziggy is constantly tuning his body, eliminating his organic parts in order to erase his own existence and reduce himself from a "person" to a mere "object." My Take: This guy isn't one of my favorite characters, but with proper upgrading he's quite useful. His standard attacks are fairly good and he has some very nice Tech Attacks. His Ethers are also fairly good, but mostly only useable on himself or if MOMO is in the party. Definitely a great support character. Possibility to be your main ass kicker if you feel like spending the time to upgrade his stats and Techs. -[ Ziggy's Attacks ]- Buttons Attack Type ------- ------ ---- S High Kick Physical (Near) T Laser Blade Ether (Far) S,S Jack Knife Physical (Near) S,T Ignition Ether (Near) T,T Laser Swing Ether (Far) T,S Jack Blade Ether/Physical (Far/Near) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> II-d. MOMO SC01D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gender: Female Race: Realian Height: 141 cm (4'8") Weight: 36 kg (79 lbs) Age: Looks 12. A prototype 100-Series Observational Realian (synthetic human) developed to observe and contact Gnosis, an alien life form that can only be detected by a "special sense." MOMO is short for Multiple Observative Mimetic Organicus. She was created by Joachim Mizrahi, a scientist renowned throughout the galaxy, and his wife, Juli Mizrahi. My Take: MOMO is an excellent supporting character. She has some pretty good normal attacks and some useful Tech Attacks, but being a kid basically, she's not really that strong. She takes a lot of work to get strong, but she's formidable if you upgrade her well. She has Ethers of the healing and helpful type mostly, but some attack Ether too. She works well in a party with Jr. or Ziggy, or both. If you spend time upgrading her Tech Attacks she will be very useful in battle, for dealing damage as well as healing any damage. -[ MOMO's Attacks ]- Buttons Attack Type ------- ------ ---- S Stardust Physical (Near) T Melody Ray Ether (Far) S,S Twin Stars Physical (Near) S,T Dream Whirl Physical (Near) T,T Flower Storm Ether (Far) T,S Cosmic Flip Ether/Physical ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> II-e. chaos SC01E ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gender: Male Race: Human Height: 169 cm (5'7") Weight: 53 kg (117 lbs) Age: Looks about 16, actual age unknown. A slender, young boy who appears 16 years old but whose true age is unknown. His perpetually melancholic expression, as well as the depth and scope of his conversations, give the impression that he hails from a higher plane of existence. His translucent blue eyes and silver hair are his particularly distinguishing features. As he volunteers no information whatsoever about his past other than his name, everything about him, including whether he even has any memory of his past is unknown. My Take: chaos is a very, very good character to have, even if we don't know jack about him. His normal attacks are quite good, and his Tech Attacks are among the best. He does require a good amount of upgrading in both his stats and Tech Attacks, but he is quite a formidable character either way. He has very good Ethers, and is great as a supporting character, too. He can heal, and he can remove status effects from friend and foe alike (good and bad!), so he's definitely worth having around. -[ chaos' Attacks ]- Buttons Attack Type ------- ------ ---- S Tornado Flash Physical (Near) T Arrow Ether (Far) S,S Seraphim Rush Physical (Near) S,T Electro Upper Physical (Near) T,T Angel Shot Ether (Far) T,S Star Thrust Ether/Physical (Far/Near) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> II-f. Jr. SC01F ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gender: Male Race: Human Height: 140 cm (4'7") Weight: 38 kg (84 lbs) Age: Looks 12, actual age unknown. One of the directors of the Kukai Foundation, a special organization based on Second Miltia (an autonomous state in the Galaxy Federation). Despite his seemingly carefree attitude, Jr. is actually quite wise and will occasionally make statements, cutting right to the heart of things. My Take: Jr. is a gun-fighter and with that, all of his attacks are ranged and of the physical sort. His Tech Attacks are also ranged, but some of them are of the Beam/Spirit type which comes in handy since almost every enemy is resistant to physical attacks (to some extent anyway, some are extremely weak against them). Careful attention should be paid to upgrading his Tech Attacks quickly. Once you have a decent set of Techs, concentrate on upgrading his stats. -[ Jr.'s Attacks ]- Buttons Attack ------- ------ S Cross Shot T Southpaw S,S Trick Shot S,T Coin Snap T,T Crossfire T,S Hip Shot (all Jr.'s attacks are Physical (Far)) _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ==> III. T H E M A I N M E N U SCMM01 =============================================================================== You can access the Main Menu at any time, while not in a Battle, by pressing the Triangle button. The Main Menu gives you access to all sorts of things, including but not limited to: Items, Characters, Ethers, Tech Attacks, Skills and more. While in the Main Menu, the Circle button confirms a choice while the X button cancels. The X button will also allow you to leave the Main Menu. The Main Menu is split up into five major parts, which are listed below. Please note, that at the very bottom of the window (and every other menu type screen) is the Help Box. This will display some helpful information about whatever it is you're looking at. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> III-a. Active Party Members SCMM01A ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the very left side of the screen is a list of your active party members. This section contains a character portrait, and some info about each character. **> Lv (level). This is the characters level, which indicates their overall strength. **> HP (hit points). This is the characters current hit points and total hit points. Current is on the left, Total is on the right. **> EP (ether points/power). This is the characters current ether points and their total ether points. Current is on the left, Total is on the right. **> NextLv. Tells you how much more experience the character needs before reaching the next Level (Lv). **> Exp. The characters total experience acquired from all the battles thus far. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> III-b. Battle Formation Grid SCMM01B ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just to the right of the Active Party Members list, is a blue-ish grid-type thing with yellow arrows in it. This shows you the characters battle position (at the start of battles), in either the Vanguard or Rearguard, and exactly in which spot. These positions can be changed by accessing the Battle Formation option on the right. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> III-c. The Menu List SCMM01C ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the very right of the screen is the Menu List. From here you can access pretty much everything in the game. Certain features are only accessible on E.V.S. enabled Save Points. The Menu List is separated into the following categories. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> III-c.1. Items SCMM01C1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is where you go to use and view any items you have in your inventory. Press L1 or R1 to switch between Recovery Items, Special Items, Weapons (unequipped), Accessories (unequipped), Ammo, A.G.W.S. Weapons (unequipped), A.G.W.S. Accessories (unequipped), A.G.W.S Ammo, A.W.G.S. that you own, and Cards. Pressing Triangle while viewing the items screen allows you to sort the items by Category (type), Amount and Alphabetical. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> III-c.2. Ether SCMM01C2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This menu allows you to Use, Set, Evolve, Transfer and Use E.Pts. You can Evolve Ether to learn new spells, Transfer it to other characters, both of which use E.Pts. Evolving needs the total number of E.Pts listed, whereas Transfer only needs half of the E.Pts listed. To Use Ether, select Use, and then select the Ether you want to use. You then select the character(s) to use it on. Some Ether can only be used during battles. Ether that you can use will be white, while the Ether you cannot use will be grayed out. To Set Ether (so you can use it during battle), select Set. All Ether that will be available in Battle will have an orange check mark next to it. Every character has a maximum Weight (WT) of 12, and each Ether takes a certain amount of WT. The WT an Ether uses is displayed to the right of it (just left of the Check mark if it's there). To Use E.Pts, select Use E.Pts. Then select the Ether you want to either Evolve or Transfer. As stated above, if you wish to Evolve an Ether (learn a new spell) you must have at least the amount of E.Pts shown to the right of the Ether name. Select Evolve, then the Ether, then what you wish to Evolve it to. Grayed out items are spells you already know. Some Ethers cannot be Evolved or Transfer. Transferring Ethers works the same way, but you only need half the E.Pts listed to Transfer. Remember to Set Ether after you Evolve or Transfer. When you Evolve or Transfer Ethers, you never lose the original Ether, so play around and be sure to Evolve all your Ethers! It also helps greatly if you Transfer very useful Ethers like Medica All and Boost 1 to other characters! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> III-c.3. Tech Attacks SCMM01C3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is where you can Set which Tech Attacks to use during battles, and where you go to upgrade your existing Tech Attacks. Every character learns new Tech Attacks by leveling up, except for KOS-MOS. Her new Tech Attacks are unlocked via E-Mails from Vector Industries. So be sure to read all your E-Mail!!! Tech Attacks, basically, are super-powerful attacks you can use during battle. They're far more powerful than your normal attacks, so you definitely want to take the time to upgrade them. However, upgrading nothing but Tech Attacks isn't recommended, as you should also upgrade your characters stats, too. First let's talk about upgrading Tech Attacks. This is done through the Tech Attack menu, then selecting Use T.Pts. On this new screen, you see on the left all of your Set Tech Attacks. These are the ones available in battle, given the listed button combination. The top two slots are HI slots, which are Tech Attacks that only require 4 AP. The bottom four slots are LW (low speed) slots, which require 6 AP to use. You can upgrade any Tech Attack from LW to HI, by upgrading their Speed. This costs varying amounts of T.Pts, depending on the Tech Attack itself. You should focus firstly on upgrading Tech Attacks to HI speed. After that, upgrade their Wait time. Wait time is how long after using the attack the character must wait before their turn comes up again. The last option is the top option, which is the Tech level of the attack. This is the attacks overall strength. This is the stat that determines how much damage (or how useful) the attack will be. After upgrading Speed and Wait, you should definitely invest some T.Pts into the Tech stat. To Set a Tech Attack to use during battle, select Set. Then select which slot you want to place the attack. Remember, only Tech Attacks which have been upgraded to HI speed can be placed in the first two slots. Also, HI speed Tech Attacks can be placed in -any- slot. LW (low) speed Techs may only be placed in one of the bottom four slots. Tech Attacks are grouped into Near and Far groups, and only Near Tech Attacks may be placed in a Near slot. The same applies for Far. Remember to upgrade your Tech Attacks! Your characters are useless without them! Upgrade the Speed first. BUT, that doesn't mean focus on upgrading every attacks speed. Use your judgement. For Shion, as an example, I normally upgrade Spell Ray first. I spend all T.Pts upgrading it to HI, upgrading the Wait, and then putting a few levels into the Tech. Some attacks you'll want to leave at LW speed, either because they're too expensive to make into a HI, or you don't want to use them as a HI attack. The choice is yours, really. At first, just experiment. As you get the hang of the Tech Attacks, you'll know what to do. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> III-c.4. Skills SCMM01C4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is where you Extract and Set skills. Almost every Accessory has hidden skills which you can Extract by using S.Pts (Skill Points). Check out the Items and the Skills main FAQ section to see which Accessories give you what Skills. Extracting Skills is fairly simple. You select the Extract option first. Then you're presented with a list of Accessories. Use the <- and -> D-Pad buttons to select the different types of Accessories, and Up/Down to move through the list. The list of Accessories shows you (from left to right) the name of the Accessory, the Skill Level (S.Lv) and the Skill Cost (S.Pts needed). Your characters S.Lv is displayed at the top of the screen. You can only Extract Skills that have a S.Lv equal to or less than your characters S.Lv. Accessories displayed in White have skills you make Extract, while Gray Accessories have either been Extracted already, or your S.Lv isn't high enough. Your S.Lv increases as you extract Skills. To Set a skill, access the Set sub menu. Here you can Set up to three Skills on a character. Any Skill already Set will have an orange check mark next to it. Remember you can only Set up to three Skills at once. Simply press the Circle button on a Skill to Set or Unset it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> III-c.5. Characters SCMM01C5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Within this menu, you can view your character stats, Equip and Unequip Weapons and Accessories, and use T.Pts to upgrade your characters Stats. When you select a Character with the Circle button, you are shown the Character Status screen. This screen lists all sorts of handy info about the selected Character, and from here is where you do all the work on a character. You can also press L1 or R1 to switch between characters. The Character Status screen displays the same portrait and info from the Main Menu, as well as T.Pts, E.Pts and S.Pts. Also listed is their Stats like STR, VIT, etc. Here's a quick breakdown of the stats. STR -> strength, determines the amount of physical damage dealt. VIT -> vitality, determines the amount of damage received. EATK -> Ether Attack, effects the power of your Ethers. EDEF -> Ether Defense, effects how much damage you take from Ethers. DEX -> Dexterity, effects your accuracy when hitting an enemy. EVA -> Evasion, determines how often you actually get hit. AGL -> Agility, determines who goes first at the start of a battle and how often your turns come. With all these stats, higher is better! So if you have some extra T.Pts to spend, upgrade something! I recommend upgrading EATK, EDEF and VIT first, followed by DEX or EVA, then whatever others you choose. Next up is the Equip sub menu. From here you can Equip Weapons, Armor and Accessories on your character. Unequip let's you remove a Weapon, Armor or Accessory from the character. Use T.Pts is where you go to upgrade your characters stats. In this menu, select the Stat, then use the Up/Down arrows on the D-Pad to select how many stat points to add. You cannot upgrade the AGL stat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> III-c.6. A.G.W.S. SCMM01C6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From this menu you can Equip or Unequip Weapons and Accessories to the A.G.W.S. you own and assign a Pilot to them. Listed here is the Stats of your A.G.W.S., which is quite similar to the character stats. Here's a quick breakdown. FHP -> Frame Hit Points, the A.G.W.S.' HP DPOW -> Dynamic Power, similar to STR, but affected by the equipped weapons and the Generator it has. PARM -> Physical Armor, similar to the VIT stat. EARM -> Ether Armor, similar to the EDEF stat. AGL -> Agility, how often you get your turn. These stats cannot be upgraded like you can upgrade characters. Instead, you must buy Frames and Generators from shops that have the A.G.W.S. Tuning option. New Frames add more hit points, and new Generators increase the DPOW. If you can afford it, and you use your A.G.W.S. often, then you definitely want to buy new Frames and Generators whenever you get the chance! The Equip sub menu allows you to equip Weapons and Accessories on your A.G.W.S. Usually an A.G.W.S. can have up to three Weapons equipped, in addition to three Accessories. Some Weapons do take up more than one slot, however. The Unequip sub menu allows you to remove Weapons and Accessories from the A.G.W.S. In order to use an A.G.W.S. in battle, you must have a Pilot set for that A.G.W.S. By default, the ones you get in the game already have their Pilots set, so you don't need to worry about it, UNLESS you want to switch who's piloting which A.G.W.S., or you bought a new A.G.W.S. and want someone to pilot it. Everyone can pilot an A.G.W.S. except for KOS-MOS and Ziggy. Instead they have Sub-Weapons. Characters piloting an A.G.W.S. have a check mark next to their name. You must remove a pilot from an A.G.W.S. if you wish to assign them to a new one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> III-c.7. Battle Formation SCMM01C7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is where you change the formation of your active party members while in battle. From here you can choose to place them in the Vanguard or Rearguard, and in exactly which position. You can also replace an active party member with one from the reserves by selecting the character, then Replace. Remember, Vanguard is the front row and any characters in it may attack and receive damage normally. Characters in the Rearguard may not use anything but the Battle Menu, however they receive less damage. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> III-c.8. U.M.N. (Unus Mundus Network) SCMM01C8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This menu is home to quite a few things. You can read and reply to E-Mails here, access the Database, view what Plug-Ins you have and use the E.V.S. -> MAIL This is where you do your E-Mail stuff. Read and reply to E-Mails, and Save Attachments. Sometimes you get stuff through E-Mail, like items and the sort. In order to use them, you need to Save the attachment. -> DATABASE This is the "glossary" of the game. It lists information on the Gnosis and on "Keywords." Come here if you don't understand something, look it up and learn. Good source of information. In order for information to show up in the Gnosis section of the Database, you must use Shion's Analyze Ether on Gnosis-type enemies. After you scan (and win the battle) they'll show up in the Gnosis section of the database. -> PLUG-IN MODULE This is where you can see what plug-ins you have for your Connection Gear. Plug-Ins let you do various things from being able to destroy certain objects in the world, to decoding encrypted messages. -> E.V.S. (Environmental Simulator) The E.V.S. lets you revisit areas you've already been to. Basically, this lets you backtrack to get any items you missed and such. You can ONLY access the E.V.S. on an E.V.S. enabled Save Point. These are the Gold Save Points, but they also have a blue E.V.S. plate above them. Stand on one, then press Triangle to go to the Main Menu, then select U.M.N., and finally E.V.S. Be CAREFUL. If you die in the E.V.S., it's Game Over. So save BEFORE entering the E.V.S.!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> III-c.9. Game Options SCMM01C9 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I won't go into any detail here. This menu is self-explanatory. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> III-d. Reserve SCMM01D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just below the Menu List is the Reserve display. This lists the characters that are in your party, but not in your Active Party. These characters do not participate in battles. They do, however, gain experience with the rest of your party, but only 75% worth. They do not gain Tech, Ether, or Skill points. To move characters into and out of the Reserve, use the Battle Formation menu item. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> III-e. Time SCMM01E ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just below the character Reserve, this shows the total amount of time you've been playing the game, in hours, minutes and seconds (HH:MM:SS) The back of the game box says 80 hours worth of game play. Where? Maybe if you level up to level 100 or something. But an average run through is about 35-40 hours, depending on how much leveling and backtracking you do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> III-f. Money SCMM01F ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Below the Time display is your total money. This is what you use to purchase items and weapons and the likes. Money in this game is generally pretty hard to come by. This isn't like other games where everything always drops cash. Only a few select enemies drop cash and it usually isn't that much. However, there are other ways to make money, so fear not. First, you occasionally get e-mails asking you to invest in a company. These are fairly good sources of income, but one-time only. And there's an E-Mail chain worth 200,000G... but you'll have to read the walkthrough for that one! Also, there's a casino where you can play slots and poker, both turn a pretty good profit if you know what you're doing. Check out the Mini-Games section for info on that. _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ==> IV. S T A R T I N G T I P S A N D I N F O R M A T I O N SSTI01 =============================================================================== In this section I will give you some quick tips (again mostly from the manual) when starting for the very first time. If you've played before, you can probably safely ignore this section, but don't say I didn't warn ya! -[ Running and Walking ]- While you're wandering around, you can run and walk. Running is pretty much automatic. If you use the Left Analog Stick, the harder you press it in one direction, means the faster you'll move in that direction. So if you move it slightly left, your character will start to slowly walk. If you hold down R2, you'll always walk. This is great for sneaking past enemies. But, be warned, you can't always sneak past enemies. And if you spend most of the time doing that, you're characters are going to be really weak and you'll end up having a very long and frustrating game! -[ Talking to NPCs and Examining Your Environment ]- Talk to every NPC you see! You'll often find out information, perhaps be able to buy stuff, and more. Hit Circle to talk to someone. Also pressing Circle will allow you to open doors, activate switches and otherwise examine stuff in your surroundings. Most stuff flashes or blinks if you can activate it, but there are certain things that don't. So explore! I cannot stress the fact enough! You NEED to talk to every NPC. There's not thousands of people to talk to. Sometimes there's none at all. Usually you'll get some good info, and sometimes you have to talk to people to advance the plot. -[ Destroying Objects ]- Sometimes when you're walking around, you will find objects such as crates, boxes and more that you can destroy. Blowing these things up sometimes reveals items for you to collect, or opens hidden passages. To destroy objects you need the Vaporizer Plug-in (which you get very soon after starting). Once you have this plug-in, stuff you can destroy will be highlighted by a big blue circle. Press the Square button to blow it up. If there are multiple targets to destroy, you can use L1 or R1 to switch between targets. The bright blue target is the currently selected one. The Vaporizer plug-in is extremely handy. Always explore your environment, looking for stuff to blow up. Crates and other junk almost always conceal items (sometimes monsters, too, but that's rare) and hidden paths. So blow everything up! -[ Radar ]- While you're walking around, on the bottom right of the screen, is the Radar (provided you didn't turn it off in Game Options). This displays your position and any NPCs or enemies that are near by. The red arrow in the center is you. Any yellow arrows are enemies which have not yet detected you. Any red arrows (besides the one in the center which is you!) is an enemy that has detected you. Some enemies you can run away from if they detect you and turn red. Others will not let you escape and will chase you down. Walking generally helps you sneak past most enemies. If you can, I strongly suggest engaging every enemy you see. You don't level easily in this game, so the more points you get, the better! -[ Shops, Buying and Selling Items ]- Sometimes NPCs will allow you to buy and sell items, and some also have A.G.W.S. Tuning shops. So talk to all NPCs! Otherwise, you can use the Silver U.M.N. plates to buy and sell items. It's always suggested that you check out NPC and U.M.N. shops whenever you get a chance. New stuff is always added, and it's highly recommended that you purchase new items! When you can afford it, stock up on Med Kits, Ether Packs, Bio Spheres and the likes. They aren't terribly expensive and, trust me, you're going to need them. Best to have a full stock! You must also remember to check shops more than once. New items are usually always added, especially before you leave the area to go to a new area. Items and Shops each have their own sections in this guide. Check out the respective sections to see where to buy stuff, where you can find it for free, or even which enemies drop items! -[ A.G.W.S. Tuning ]- This is where you can fix up your A.G.W.S. and upgrade it. To restore your A.G.W.S. hit points, select Restore FHP. To upgrade your A.G.W.S., select Buy Frame or Buy Generator. If you like 'Meching around a lot, and use your A.G.W.S. every chance you get, A.G.W.S. Tuning Shops are going to be your best friend. There isn't many of them, so it should be easy for you to remember where they are. I do tell you about shops in the walkthrough so you can search there if you need to find one. Also, be sure to check out the store itself when you see an A.G.W.S. Tuning shop as you most often can buy new weapons and stuff for your 'mech and sometimes you can even buy new bots!! _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ==> V. B A T T L E M E C H A N I C S SCBM01 =============================================================================== Battles are a major part of XS:E1, so you need to know how they work. With the information I give you here, you should be able to win almost any battle. At the very least you'll know how to manipulate the battle to your advantage, and how to properly fight so you don't waste time and effort. All battles in XS:E1 are turn-based. Meaning everyone gets a turn, and only one person or enemy may make a move at one time. So while you have a turn with one of your characters, feel free to take all the time you need to choose your actions. This section is split up according to the various parts of the battle screen and the actions you can take. Most of this information is taken directly from the game manual, however I've added information to either clarify certain aspects, or simply to provide more detailed information. So let's begin! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> V-a. The Battle Screen SBM01A ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The battle screen is laid out to provide the most information possible without drowning you with details. It's split up into four main parts: your party information (top of the screen), the action/command section (bottom left), the group turn window (bottom right) and the event slot (just to the left of the group turn window, bottom of the screen). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-a.1. Party Information SBM01A1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's where all the important information about each character in your current party is displayed. This area shows you the character portrait, HP info, EP info, AP (action points) and the Boost Gauge (BG). **> Turns. When one of your characters has a turn, their information window will slowly flash Blue. **> HP. This displays the characters remaining HP and their total HP. The remaining HP is on the left, and the total is on the right. As your characters take damage (or get healed) their remaining HP will either lower or rise. When the character is critically low on HP and about to die, the remaining HP will be colored RED. When ANY of your characters are in the red, you should heal them IMMEDIATELY. **> EP. Ether Points (or Ether Power). This displays your remaining and total EP. EP is used on some special (sub) weapons. It's also the main source of energy for your Ether spells. The remaining EP is displayed on the left with the characters total EP on the right. If a characters EP drops to 0, you will be unable to use weapons or spells that require EP. **> AP. Action Points. Every action you take in battle requires a certain amount of AP. You gain 4 AP every turn. Normal Attacks take 2 AP, Ether takes 4 AP, using the Item menu takes 3 AP. More info will be outlined later. **> BG. The Boost Gauge. As you use normal and/or Tech attacks, this gauge will slowly fill up. Once it's full, it'll reset to empty and the counter to the right of the BG will increase by one. This let's you perform a Boost. More info on boosting later. Note: Ether Spells do NOT increase the BG! **> Target Indicator. This really isn't part of the party information window, but it does have to deal with your party. The currently selected target will have a little arrow pointing down with a half-circle above it. Hostile (enemy) targets will have Red/Yellow colored Target Indicators and Friendly targets will have a Blue/Green indicator. You can change targets by pressing the <- or -> D-Pad buttons or by using the Left Analog Stick. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-a.2 Group Turn Window (GTW) SBM01A2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Group Turn Window displays a short list of which characters and enemies turns. Turns go in order from left to right, so the left-most portrait will have the next turn. Just above the GTW on the right is the HP display of the currently selected target. This shows you the remaining HP for the target and their type (B/G/M). You only see the HP display if you have the Scope accessory equipped, or the Search Eyes skill set. Also, the currently selected target, if it's listed in the GTW will have a slightly raised portrait. Turns are figured out by the Agility (AGL) stat. Generally, the higher your (or the enemies) AGL, the more turns they'll get. However, status effects like Speed 25 or Speed 50 will affect this, too. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-a.3. Event Slot SBM01A3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This slot is just to the left of the GTW. During the battle this slot will change, in a pre-determined order. The currently displayed image on the slot lets you know of certain additional benefits granted for that turn. The Event Slot affects both you and enemies so pay careful attention to it. Though the Event Slot always goes in the same order, the starting event is determined at random at the beginning of a battle (as are the first set of turns). The only exception to this is if an enemy was affected by a trap before the battle started. More on traps later. The Event Slot has the following four possible effects, in this exact order: Blank -- no addition affects, the turn will progress normally. Flame image with the word "Up" below it -- Critical Hit Rate Up -- gives you or the enemy a better chance of dealing Critical (CRTC) blows with your attacks. Has no effect on anything but attacks. Ring image with the word "Up" below it -- BG Increase Rate Up -- you or the enemy's BG will increase faster with every attack. Coin image with a "+" sign below it -- Points Bonus -- if you kill an enemy while this slot is active, you will gain additional T.Pts, E.Pts and S.Pts at the end of battle. This event also has three different possible values. x02, x04, and x10, which are chosen at random. You should ALWAYS try to kill enemies with this event active! The Event Slot ALWAYS goes in the order listed. Blank -> Flame -> Ring -> Coin. After the Coin it restarts at Blank. So you can see that the Event Slot can play a vital role in battle. If you pay careful attention to it and use Boosts wisely, you can easily turn the battle in your favor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-a.4. Boost Display SBM01A4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is displayed directly to the left of the Event Slot, almost in the center of the screen, on the bottom. If any characters or enemies have Boosted, their portrait will be displayed here. There are two types of Boost: the standard Boost, which will be displayed by a yellow ring around the character portrait in the boost section. And the Counter Boost, which is displayed by a red ring around the character portrait. Counter Boosts take priority over Normal Boosts, meaning that if you or an enemy has Counter Boosted, they will have the next turn, regardless if anyone else boosted before or after. Counter Boosts also do not take away the characters next turn. So if you are fighting one enemy, and he has a turn coming up after yours, and you attack him, then he Counter Boosts, he will get 2 turns in a row. If your characters have a BG of 1 or more, they can Boost. To do so, simply press R1 or R2 and either Square, Triangle or Circle to boost the character. Square is the left-most character portrait in the Party Information display. Triangle is the middle portrait and Circle is the right-most portrait. Reminder: Boosts can only be used if the character isn't displayed in the GTW and has at least a BG of 1! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-a.5. Action/Commands Display SBM01A5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the bottom left of the screen will be the Action and Commands display. It only shows up when it's one of your characters turns, and it lists all the possible attacks and actions the character may take. Square, Triangle and Circle are reserved for your Normal and Tech attacks, while the X button will bring up the Battle Menu. More on this later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> V-b. Battle Basics SBM01B ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Below I'm listing the Basics to battle. Once again, most of this is taken straight from the manual, but I've attempted to make it easier to understand and more detailed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-b.1. AP (Action Points) And Actions SBM01B1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everything you do during the battle requires AP. Each action requires a different, set amount of AP. Actions take either 2, 3, 4 or 6 AP to perform. Each new turn you get replenishes 4 AP to your character. Any AP that were left over from the last turn, carry over to your next turn, for a maximum of 6 AP. Below is a breakdown of each action and it's cost. **> Normal Attacks These are performed with either the Square or Triangle button, and each one uses 2 AP. You can perform up to 2 normal attacks per turn. **> Tech Attacks These are special attacks that generally deal far more damage than your Normal attacks. At first, you can only use a Tech Attack after 2 Normal Attacks, so to perform a Tech Attack you need 6 AP. That's 2 AP for each Normal Attack, and 2 AP for the Tech Attack itself. As you acquire T.Pts from winning battles, you can upgrade your Tech Attacks speed to HI (all Tech Attacks start at Low speed). Once you've upgraded and set a Tech to HI, you can use it after just one normal attack, meaning you only need 4 AP. To use a Tech Attack, once you have 6 AP. Press S or T, then S or T again, then finally O to launch the Tech Attack. If you have upgraded your Tech Attacks to HI speed, you only need to press S or T, then O. You can set a total of 6 Tech Attacks for each character, two HI and four LW. Each S/T button combination can be linked to a different Tech Attack. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-b.2. Character Position SBM01B2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are six possible places for your characters to position themselves on the battle field. These are split up into two sections, the Vanguard (front row) and the Rearguard (back row). If a character is in the Vanguard, they will be able to perform all actions and attacks, however they will take full damage from enemy attacks. In the Rearguard, a character cannot use normal attacks, only commands on the Battle Menu. However, characters in the Rearguard will take less damage from enemy attacks. You want to put your supporting characters (your healers mainly) in the Rearguard to give them some extra protection. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-b.3. Piloting an A.W.G.S. SBM01B3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Normally in battle, you're on foot. However if a character can pilot an A.W.G.S. and has one handy, you can choose to enter or exit it from the Battle Menu. It takes one turn to either board or exit. Not every character can pilot an A.W.G.S. Some quick notes on A.G.W.S. Upgrade them whenever you can. They don't "level" up like regular characters, and it matters not what level the character is that's piloting it. So upgrade them to make them stronger. Also, if your A.G.W.S. gets knocked down to 0 HP, it won't die, but you won't be able to do anything. You'll be stuck in it. So switch it out before it dies. Furthermore, if your character dies while inside an A.G.W.S. you won't be able to revive them, so be careful! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-b.4. Sub-Weapons SBM01B4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the characters that cannot pilot an A.W.G.S., sub-weapons are available to them. To use one you need 6 AP, and usually you need some EP. Once you have 6 AP and meet the EP requirements, you can use the sub-weapon simply by pressing O. There is a limit to how many times you can use a sub-weapon (most of them run off of ammo, and ammo is limited!), so use it wisely. When you have a sub-weapon, just to the right of it in the Action Menu is the requirements display. From left to right it goes like this: Ammo -> EP Required -> AP Required If Ammo is 0, you can't use it. Likewise, if EP Required is 4, and you have 0 EP, you can't use it. It's easier to think of Ammo as "uses" -- many things use ammo, and ammo is only expended during battle. Once the battle ends, your ammo is restocked. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-b.5. Defense SBM01B5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sometimes when a character is attacked, he or she will automatically defend against it and take less damage. You can tell when a character has defended against an attack, as the letters "DEF" will be displayed above the damage points. Also, if you select Guard from the Battle Menu (takes 2AP), your characters will defend against every attack until their next turn. Enemies can also do this, even if they're not guarding. Watch out for this, too, because this can give an indication of an enemies strengths or weaknesses. For example, if you're using physical attacks like Shion's Knuckle or KOS-MOS' S-Sault, and the enemy is almost always DEFending, then switch to Ether attacks like Cherry Bomb or Blaster. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-b.6. Escaping SBM01B6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There isn't an "Escape" command in XS:E1. You have to either use the Escape Pack item, or the Goodbye Ether to flee. However, there are some battles you simply cannot flee from. Yet again I'm going to tell you NOT to do this. Don't escape from battle unless you absolutely have to. Leveling up takes a LONG time in this game, so every EXP and other Pts you get are extremely valuable! *** Only escape if you're about to die and get Game Over! *** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-b.7. Status Effects SBM01B7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm not going to go into too much detail here about Status Effects, as they have their own section. For information about each individual Status Effect, see section VI - Status Effects. Basically, Status Effects are different effects placed on a character or A.W.G.S., usually through attacks or Ethers. Some are good, some are bad, and some are really bad. You can tell if a character is affected by a Status Effect, by looking to the right of their BG. If there's a little icon displayed there, they have some sort of Status against them. Generally you can use Cure-All items (removes all physical status effects), Antidotes (removes poison-type status effects) or Neuro-Stims (removes mental-type status effects). However there are Ethers and items which will give you good status effects and Ethers that will remove bad ones. More on that later. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-b.8. The Battle Menu SBM01B8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Battle Menu is a key part of the actions and commands display. From here you can use Items and Ethers, board an A.W.G.S. (if available), Move a character around in the Vanguard and Rearguard, or Guard. In the Battle Menu, Circle selects something, whereas X cancels the choice, or closes the Battle Menu. **> Item (requires 3 AP). From here you can use any item in your inventory (limited to items that have some sort of effect in battle, such as healing and curative items). **> Ether (requires 4 AP). From here you can use your Ether spells. These are the spells you get from spending E.Pts, and you can only use the Ehters you have SET from the Ether menu (from the main menu). **> A.G.W.S. (requires 4 AP). This option makes the character board their assigned A.G.W.S. However if they're already in an A.G.W.S., this makes them exit it and return to battle. **> Guard (requires 2 AP). This option has your characters Guard. While Guarding they will take less damage from enemy attacks. This is also useful if you're trying to save up AP. While you are piloting an A.G.W.S., the Battle Menu changes slightly. Listed below is the battle menu while you're in an A.G.W.S. **> W-ACT (requires 6 AP). This is a special attack that is only available if you have two identical weapons equipped in both hands. Some weapons do not allow for W-ACT. **> Item. This command isn't available while piloting an A.G.W.S. **> Move (requires 2 AP). Let's you move your A.W.G.S. around the field of battle. **> A.G.W.S. (requires 4 AP). This will tell your pilot to exit the A.G.W.S. and return to battle normally. **> Guard (requires 2 AP). This has the very same effect as guarding during normal battles does. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~> V-b.9. Traps SBM01B9 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As you walk around and explore your surroundings, you'll notice some different colored barrels laying around that you can blow up. These barrels are traps, and if an enemy is caught in their field of effect, a couple different things will happen to them. For traps to work properly, you AND the enemy must be inside of the area of effect. For example, red barrels explode into red flames in a circle. You and your enemy must be inside the flames (don't worry, they don't hurt) to get the benefits of the traps. Each trap has two effects. One effect takes place on the field map (where you walk around) and the other takes place in battle. TRAPS ARE ALWAYS GOOD. ALWAYS. USE THEM!! Here's a list of the traps and what they do. "Field" is what effect the trap has on the field map (where you walk around). "Battle" is obviously the effects that take place during battle. These effects only last a short time, so be sure to engage the enemy before the effect wears off! Or run... Yellow Barrel - Field: SLOW, Battle: Critical Rate Up - Enemies caught in the electric field will move slowly, allowing you to possibly escape. - In Battle, the Event Slot will be set to Critical Rate Up, and one of your characters will have their turn first. Red Barrel - Field: STOP, Battle: Boost +1 - Enemies caught in the flames will be unable to move at all, allowing you time to flee. - In Battle, all of your characters will have 1 added to their Boost Gauge, so you'll all start battle with a BG of 1. Purple Barrel - Field: NOTHING, Battle: Skill Lock - In battle, enemies won't be able to use certain skills. Normal attacks will still work, but any 'special' attacks, such as ones that inflict statues will be locked out! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> V-c. The Victory Screen SBM01C ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After you've won a battle, the Victory Screen will be displayed. This lists all the information you ever needed to know about the after-effects of the battle. This screen lists the following: **> Clear Time. This is how long the battle took. **> Money. Your total money and the amount of money awarded. Listed as Total and (Awarded) in parenthesis. **> Experience Points. Lists the Exp Points you gained, and how much the character needs to attain the next level. **> T.Pts (Tech Points). This is how many Tech Points you gained. You can spend these to upgrade Tech Attacks or your characters Stats, such as HP, EP, STR, and so forth. **> E.Pts (Ether Points). This shows how many Ether Points you gained. You can spend these to Evolve new Ethers or to Transfer Ethers to another character. **> S.Pts (Skill Points). This shows how many Skill Points you gained. You can spend Skill Points to extract skills from your Accessories. Pay attention to your T/E/S. Pts! Don't hoard them! Spend them! They're useless unless you use them!! Check often to see if you can upgrade Techs, Evolve or Transfer Ethers and Extract Skills! _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ==> VI. S T A T U S E F F E C T S SSE01 =============================================================================== Status Effects get their own section! Here I'm going to list all the status effects you can get during battle. All of these Status Effects can be cured with the Cure-All item. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> VI-a. Bad Character Status Effects SSE01A ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These are all the bad status effects you can get when NOT in an A.G.W.S. There are separate statuses, listed below, for that. This section is split up by the icon representing the status. If you are inflicted with a status (good or bad) it will be displayed to the right of the BG for that character. No statuses last beyond battle. Please note, several statuses share the same icon. I've split this section up by the icon, so one icon will have several statuses listed for it. This does NOT mean when you see that icon next to a character, that you have ALL of those statuses. REMINDER: All these Status Effects can be cured with the item Cure-All! So keep them stocked! The statuses are listed in the following format: -[ Description of Icon representing status effect ]- Status: Effect: -[ Boot with the word "STOP" below it. ]- Status: Stop Effect: Can't do anything. If everyone gets stopped, Game Over! -[ Three Z's ]- Status: Sleep Effect: Can't do anything. Taking damage will wake the person up. -[ Ring with a heart in the upper-right ]- Status: Confusion Effect: Character attacks everybody (friend and foe!) If they receive damage, there's a 15% chance they'll snap out of it. -[ Person with a pink skull in the bottom-left ]- Status: Poison Effect: Receives damage equal to 20% of Max HP, every turn. Status: Attack Poison Effect: Same as poison, but only if the character executes an attack. Notes: Not entirely sure about the icon for this one... -[ Sword with the letters "ST" in the bottom left ]- Status: Ether Bomb Effect: Damage received from Ether attacks is doubled. Status: Reverse Effect: Recovery and Damage are reversed. Status: HP Half Effect: HP Recovery is halved. Status: Curse Effect: Receive damage equal to the damage dealt. Status: EP Half Effect: EP Recovery is halved. Status: EP Over Effect: EP usage is doubled. -[ Boot with an arrow pointing down on the bottom left ]- Status: Slow Effect: Character turn comes 50% slower. -[ Person with an arrow pointing down in the bottom right ]- Status: Dexterity Down Effect: Dexterity down 50% Status: Evasion Down Effect: Evasion down 50% Status: Physical Attack Down Effect: Strength down 25% Status: Physical Defense Down Effect: Vitality down 25% Status: AP Half Effect: AP Recovery for every turn is halved Status: Ether Attack Down Effect: Ether Attack down 25% -[ Circle with a slash through it ]- Status: Lost Effect: Cannot use Ether Status: Boost Seal Effect: Can't use Boost Status: Attack Disable Effect: Can't use certain attacks. Square, Triangle or Circle will be locked out and unable to be pressed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> VI-b. Good Character Status Effects SSE01B ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section lists the good Status Effects you can have, during battle. These range from increasing your speed, attack power, defense and so forth. Just remember, these will also get removed if you use an Ether like Purifying Storm, or a Cure-All item. So be careful, and think before you act. (i.e.: if you're poisoned and have good statuses, use an Antidote instead of a Cure-all). -[ Person with an arrow pointing up in the top right ]- Status: Physical Attack Up Effect: Physical attack (strength, basically) goes up by 20% Status: Physical Defense Up Effect: Physical Defense (vitality) goes up by 20% Status: Focus Physical Attack Effect: Physical Attack goes up 25%, Physical Defense goes down 25% Status: Focus Physical Defense Effect: Physical Defense goes up 25%, Physical Attack goes down 25% Status: Dexterity Up Effect: Dexterity goes up 25% Status: Evasion Up Effect: Evasion goes up 25% Status: Focus Ether Attack Effect: Ether Attack goes up 25%, Ether Defense goes down 25% Status: Focus Ether Defense Effect: Ether Defense goes up 25%, Ether Attack goes down 25% -[ Arrow facing right with the word "MAX" below it ]- Status: AP MAX Effect: Every turn you get 6 AP instead of the normal 4 AP. -[ Person with a lock in the bottom right ]- Status: Status Lock Effect: Shuts out any and all status changes, both good or bad. -[ Boot with an arrow pointing up in the bottom right ]- Status: Speed 25 Effect: Turn comes around 25% faster Status: Speed 50 Effect: Turn comes around 50% faster -[ Portrait of MOMO's face ]- Status: MOMO Guard Effect: Attack and Defense go up when MOMO is in the Rearguard -[ Two blue circles with the letters "X2" below it ]- Status: Recovery x2 Effect: Recovery effects are doubled -[ Two pink rectangles with the letters "X2" below it ]- Status: EP x2 Effect: Ether effects and EP cost doubled -[ Wrench with arrow pointing down in the bottom left ]- Status: Veil Effect: Ether-type damage and recovery by Ether are both reduced 25% -[ Wrench with arrow pointing up in the top right ]- Status: Anti-Veil Effect: Ether-type damage and recovery by Ether are both increased 25% -[ Person flexing bicep ]- Status: Safety Effect: When you deliver a finishing blow, you survive with 1 HP -[ Person with their arms crossed ]- Status: Chivalry Effect: When a female character is in the Rearguard, you will auto-revive upon death. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> VI-c. Bad A.G.W.S. Status Effects SSE01C ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section lists the Bad Status Effects you can get while you're piloting an A.G.W.S. Most of these statuses can be removed if you have the Guard Cleaner accessory equipped, and perform a Guard while in your A.G.W.S. Also there are several A.G.W.S. accessories you can equip that will either block or reduce the effects of these statuses. -[ Boot with the word "STOP" below it ]- Status: Stop Effect: Can't do anything -[ Ring with a star in the upper right corner ]- Status: Pilot Unconscious Effect: Can't do anything. Pilot has a 50% chance of recovering if they take damage. -[ Three Z's ]- Status: Pilot Asleep Effect: Can't do anything. Pilot will recover if they take damage. -[ Ring with a heart in the upper right corner ]- Status: Pilot Confused Effect: They'll attack everybody, friend and foe. Has a 25% chance to recover if they take damage. -[ Sword with the letters "ST" in the bottom left ]- Status: CRTC Mark Effect: Enemy attacks are always Critical hits -[ Boot with an arrow pointing down in the bottom right ]- Status: Slow Effect: Turn comes around 25% slower -[ Person with an arrow pointing down in the bottom left ]- Status: Dexterity Down Effect: Dexterity goes down 50% Status: Evasion Down Effect: Evasion goes down 50% Status: AP Half Effect: Every turn, your AP is halved Status: Power Loss Effect: Attack goes down 25% Status: Armor Loss Effect: Defense goes down 25% -[ Robot head with a question mark above it ]- Status: Junk Heap Effect: 20% chance that your last action will be canceled and not execute. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> VI-d. Good A.G.W.S. Status Effects SSE01D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section lists the Good Status Effects while you are piloting an A.G.W.S. The whole one of them. Yep, only one good Status Effect. -[ Shield with an arrow pointing up in the top right ]- Status: Ether Shield Effect: Ether-type damage is reduced by 25% _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ==> VII. W A L K T H R O U G H SWT01 =============================================================================== This is the heart of the FAQ, the walkthrough. I'll explain everything you need to do, show you where to get every item and more. I'm also including all the E- Mail data directly in the walkthrough, so you can be sure you'll get them all. Please READ the following information before getting into the walkthrough. This explains how I structure each section, and some general information you should know. I DO NOT REPEAT ANY OF THIS. So read it now! -[ ENEMIES ]- If there are any enemies in the area, they will be listed at the top of the section. The list includes the name of the enemy and its type (B for biological, G for Gnosis and M for mechanical) in parenthesis next to the name. -[ ITEMS ]- If there are any items in the area (almost every area has items) they will be listed at the top of the section. This is just for reference, as I tell you where to go to get each item that's listed. -[ PLOT & STORY ]- Pay attention to peoples faces and voices during cutscenes. You may see (or just hear) them again later on, and it'll really help you understand the plot, or at least how it comes together. Duh, you say? Heh. There's several HOURS of cutscenes in this game and you see a bunch of different people. But, I'll let you figure that out on your own... -[ LEVELING & UPGRADING ]- I'm only going to mention when a good time is to level up, if you want. You don't have to. Also, upgrading your characters and A.G.W.S. is pretty much up to you. I'll let you know what stuff you need for a boss fight, so it's up to you to evolve or upgrade it. I'll also mention where shops are and A.G.W.S. Tuning shops. -[ E.Pts, T.Pts & S.Pts ]- Spend your Pts! They're useless unless you spend them. At first, all your T.Pts should be devoted to your Tech Attacks. Upgrade them to HI slots and upgrade their Wait, and finally add some to their Tech stat. Use your E.Pts often! As soon as you get enough to Evolve and Ether, EVOLVE IT! Same goes for S.Pts. Have everyone extract every skill from every item (at first, later on you can be picky!) -[ ETHER ]- There are three Ether Spells that will get TONS of use throughout the game (there are lots more Ethers, but these three are the most important). I recommend that you Evolve and Transfer these Ethers to ALL of your characters as soon as possible! They are: Medica All, Boost 1 and Quick. All three of these Ethers are from Shion. I cannot express how vital these Ethers are! -[ BOSS BATTLES ]- Whenever there is a boss battle, I list all the stats (STR, DEF, etc.) for the boss, as well as any items they drop (or you can steal) and strategies for beating the boss. Please note, any equipment, ether, skill or other loadout suggestions I make are done BEFORE the actual strategy section (so you may have to read up a couple paragraphs if you just jump in at the boss battle section). That said, load up the game if you haven't, watch the opening cutscene, and let's get to it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> VII-a. KOS-MOS Simulator SWT01A ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -[ Enemies In This Area ]- Attack Drone (M), Drone F (B), Drone G1 (G), Drone G2 (G), Drone G3 (G), Drone M (B), Drone SPX (G) -[ Items In This Area ]- Normal: Ether Pack, Med Kit, Med Kit S x4, Revive Special: Battle Passport After the opening cutscene, you'll be in a tutorial with Shion and KOS-MOS. Follow the directions, play with the different commands and basically just learn how to battle if you haven't already. You can repeat each portion if you want. When you're ready, select Switch to Real Battle. Quick cutscene, then you fight 3 baddies. Nothing major, Ether attacks work rather well. Take them out and let's move on. Once you have control of Shion, you can explore. Let me explain a couple things first. There are objects scattered around the area that you can destroy. If an object can be destroyed, it'll be highlighted with a bright blue circle. Simply press Square to destroy them. If there are multiple targets, you can use L1 or R1 to switch between them. There are also several traps in this area. Traps are different colored barrels, that have different effects. The idea is to blow one up when an enemy is near it, and the enemy will be affected with the trap. Here's a quick break-down of the traps in the game. Yellow Barrel - Field: SLOW, Battle: Critical Rate Up - Enemies caught in the electric field will move slowly, allowing you to possibly escape. - In Battle, the Event Slot will be set to Critical Rate Up, and one of your characters will have their turn first. Red Barrel - Field: STOP, Battle: Boost +1 - Enemies caught in the flames will be unable to move at all, allowing you time to flee. - In Battle, all of your characters will have 1 added to their Boost Gauge, so you'll all start battle with a BG of 1. Purple Barrel - Field: NOTHING, Battle: Skill Lock - In battle, enemies won't be able to use certain skills. Okay now that that's out of the way let's get into it. Directly to your left is a ladder, find it and head up. Up top, in a room is a Red barrel an enemy and a chest. Try to catch the enemy in the trap. Take them out, and collect two Med Kit S from the chest. Head back down the ladder. Once you're back down on the ground level, you have two choices. I'd recommend fighting all the baddies you encounter, because the experience will help. But if you wish, you can take the path to the right, down the stairs, and avoid this first enemy walking around. Also, there's a Yellow trap down to the right, so you can try to lure the enemy near it, then attack. It's up to you. While we're down here, blow up the rusted vehicle on the upper-right corner of this area and head down, which leads up a small set of stairs. Follow it down, then blow up the door on the right. Enter and grab a Med Kit. Fight it or not, move on past the gate. You can again try to run past this guy and into the door or fight him, then move on. In this new room there will be some stairs leading up, on your right, and an enemy directly in front of you. Behind the enemy is a door we can't get in yet, so fight him (or not) and move up the stairs. Head left and take out the enemy. For now, ignore the room that's there, you can't get in. Just south of the room is a path, take it. Destroy the box in the way and head outside. Destroy the crate out here for a Revive. Then head back inside and head left by the locked room. Enter the door that's there. Follow the path to the left and north. Quick cutscene, followed by a battle. This battle is with a Drone SPX, sort of a mini-boss, I guess. It's really just a quick tutorial showing you how to use A.G.W.S. Have KOS-MOS use her Blaster attack and Shion attack with the SMG, and the drone should go down in a few turns. After that a quick cutscene. When you have control again, save your game at the Gold U.M.N. Pillar directly behind Shion. Also, you're told that the enemies have been changed to Gnosis type and they're keyed to sound. Meaning if you walk, and not run, you can slip right past them. I strongly suggest you kill everything though, unless you're low on Med Kits. Levels are hard to come by early on, so take the chance to get EXP and Pts whenever you can. Just a quick note about the new enemies. These enemies are Gnosis, and they're way harder than the dumb robot crabs and yellow guys ya fought. The flying type are cake, but the other ones are pretty tough. KOS-MOS is best used for physical attacks. Shion should charge up and use her Lightning Blast Tech Attack as much as possible. Moving on, take the stairs to the right of the screen and then take the ladder on the left side of the path and take the door at the bottom. Once inside the next room, head to the right and blow up the crate for an Ether Pack. Blow up the next crate for two Med Kit S. Move on a bit more and blow up the junk in front of the red door. Run up and try to open it. You can't right now, but remember these doors! This one is Segment Address No. 10. You need the item Decoder 10 to open this door, and since we don't have it, we can't get in! Head back towards the left. There's an enemy in the crate on the bottom left of the screen. Kill it (or not) and head back through the door at the top of the screen and back up the ladder, then head through the door on the right. In this room, grab the Mission Key off the table. It's the blue flashy thing towards the bottom of the screen. Then blow up the junk in front of the door, open it, then head out. Head to the right, back down the stairs. In the center of this room is a door we couldn't open before, but now that we have the key, we can. Take out the enemy guarding it first. Heal up, and get ready for your first boss fight! When you're ready, open the door by using the box with the red light on it, on the right side of the door. Once inside, move up just a bit. You'll get a quick cutscene, and then... ******************************************************************************* >>> BOSS BATTLE <<< D R O N E G X >>> BOSS BATTLE <<< ******************************************************************************* -[ Boss Stats ]- HP: 420 STR: 19 VIT: 6 EATK: 16 EDEF: 13 DEX: 10 EVA: 12 AGL: 6 EXP: 100 T.Pts: 24 E.Pts: 12 S.Pts: 8 GP: 0 Type: Gnosis Weakness: Slash Rare Item: None Item: Ether Pack S Party: Shion, KOS-MOS Shion is pretty weak attacking this guy, so to do some real good damage, have her hop in her A.G.W.S. on her first turn. The SMG deals around 100 damage to GX, so use that. The sword works well, too. Have KOS-MOS use physical attacks and R-BLADE. DO NOT attack when he uses Active Guard. He will counterattack with Revenge Combo, which hurts a bunch. So when you see him use Active Guard, just heal or guard yourself. If you've been killing all the enemies you've met so far, you'll have no trouble beating this dude down. Just pay attention to your health and heal when necessary. ******************************************************************************* >>> B O S S D E F E A T E D ! <<< ******************************************************************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> VII-b. Woglinde SWT01B ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -[ Enemies In This Area ]- Goblin (G), Golem (G), Gremlin (G), Manticore (G) -[ Items In This Area ]- Normal: 400 G, Bio Sphere, Escape Pack x3, Ether Pack, Frame Repair A x2, Frame Repair Z x2, Med Kit x3, Revive x5, Stim, Veil x2, Revive DX Accesories: Coat-Lightning Special: Drill Passport, Decoder 7, Decoder 18, Maintenance Data, Robot Part Right Arm, Segment File Weapons: M.W.S. (Shion) After a lengthy cutscene, you'll have control of Shion again. Head all the way to the south and use the save point. Then what you should do is head up a bit from the save point and talk to the guy crouching next to the big red chair thingie. Say Yes when he asks if you want to go back in the Simulator. Be careful though, you're alone with JUST Shion and not KOS-MOS. You can try to level up if you'd like, but what you're after is in the room with the boss you fought. Just head straight in, twice, grab what's in the box and leave. You'll get a Battle Passport which let's you play the Battle mini-game. Exit via the E.V.S. Exit Pillar in the top right of the room. Now we're going to explore the Woglinde. This is a rather large ship with quite a few areas. You should also talk to everyone you see. When you're done with the simulator and you've talked to everyone, head to the right side and go out the door. After a quick cutscene, move on to the right. Follow the path and you'll get your first E-Mail! This E-Mail talks about the Connection Gear. You'll also get a quick tutorial on E-Mails and some quick info about the U.M.N. Whenever you're ready, let's move on. Continue on and head through the door for another cutscene. Once you have control back, head thought the door on the right for yet another cutscene. When you get control back again, head right. Before going through the door, talk to the guy in orange near the door. Let him send you E-Mail, then head through the door. Head up again and through the door there. Walk up a bit for another cutscene. Move up again once you have the chance, and Shion will mention that she needs some data from her room. Keep heading up, and examine Segment Address No. 18 on the way. Just past the SegAd, on the left is a map of the ship. There are several of these scattered throughout the ship, so check them out if you get lost. Directly across from the map is Shion's room. Go in. Grab the flashy thing on the desk to get the Maintenance Data. Save at the save point, and exit the room. You can also rest if you walk by her bed, but don't do that now. Grab the data and leave the room. On your way out, you should get an E-Mail from Myuki about the M.W.S. (the weapon Shion used in the KOS-MOS Simulator). Anyway read the E-Mail and leave the room. Take a right out of Shion's room and head up to the next area. Hmm, looks like we can't go through. Remember this area, and the flashy button on the crane, you'll need it later. Go back down towards Shion's room. On the way you should pass a room with a woman inside. There's another switch in here, that you should take note of. We're gonna need it later, too. Moving on, keep heading down until you can take a path on the left side of the screen. Go through the door at the end. After a quick cutscene, you have to do some work. Everybody always wants something. Anyway, talk to all the Realians that are on tables in this room. There are several of them. Make sure you talk to them all. After you talk to them all, you'll get another cutscene. After the scene, attempt to leave through the door directly in front of you. You'll get another cutscene. Go back in the door you just came out of and walk around the center of the room. You'll get an E-Mail from Vector asking you to help them. You have to press X first, talk to Bunnie, then you can reply. Reply, saying you will help, then exit the room again. Head straight up a bit and you'll notice some junk in the way. Talk to the guy in orange on the left of the screen next to the machine. He'll explain what's up and ask for your help. Agree to help him, and play a quick drilling minigame. The objective is to line up the drill directly over the junk and release it so it destroys the junk. The guy explains it better than I can so just pay attention. You must clear away all the junk to continue. Just play with the camera angle and you'll get it. When you're done, you'll get a Drill Passport from him. You'll also get a Med Kit S if you destroyed all the objects without missing or a regular Med Kit if you did miss. The Drill Passport allows you to play a similar Drill minigame from E.V.S. enabled save points for prizes. Once you're done, continue moving up and you'll get another E-Mail informing you the Database Service is now online. Read the mail then continue on and through the door. In the next area, the first room on the left is home to a Save Point, so go in and save your game. After that, exit the room and go up to the next room. It's locked, but talk to the guy next to it. Then continue up to the next area. As soon as you can, go left into an area with some couches. You'll get another E-Mail, this time from Myuki asking for your help. Reply that you will help her ("I Read Your Secret E-Mail"). Leave the lounge area and keep moving north, following the path. Enter the next door and you'll get a brief talk about the Segment Address doors. You'll get the Segment File special item from him. Start heading right and you'll get an E-Mail. Read the mail. Now go back towards the left and up the hallway. Once it opens up into a bigger room, there's two guys talking on the left side. Go talk to them and play their mini- game. You're going to need to master this (it's so not hard), as you'll need to use this trick later. You'll get a Med Kit for your troubles. If you're having a hard time, here's what you do, otherwise skip to the next paragraph. As soon as they say go, RUN away from them, to the right of the center square column. Then around it to the left and back down the hall towards where you started. Grab the item and you win! After the game head back north and to the left. Go in the red door. To the right is a guy in orange who will sell you some items. Check it out and stock up on Med Kits, Ether Packs and anything else you want. Save 500G for later on, you'll need it. When you're done with the store, head up and into the hangar area. If you talk to the guy on the right near the top, you can play an A.G.W.S. mini-game. If you play, you'll get 40 EXP, 18 T.Pts and 16 S.Pts for winning, as well as a Med Kit S. It's an easy fight, so do it! Now is a good time to gain some levels. Don't worry about your HP and EP unless you're about to die, because after you exit battle, you get fully restored. -[ LEVEL UP TIME ]- I would strongly suggest that you play the A.G.W.S. mini-game mentioned above and gain some levels for Shion. You don't need to use an A.G.W.S. either (in fact I think you get more points for NOT using it). Level Shion up well, and when KOS-MOS wakes up to join you, she'll be at a level close to yours (so if you get Shion to level 10, KOS-MOS will be level 9 or 10 when she joins you). You don't have to do this, but it would really make things easier in the long run! Anyway when you're done here, exit the hanger and the room. Once outside, head right. As your walking you should see a ladder near the top of the screen. Hop on it and go to the left and talk to the guy up there. Remember this area, we'll be back. Go back down the ladder and keep heading right and out the door. Head right some more and follow the path, then examine Segment Address No. 16. Inside the room to the right of that is a save point and a chest we can't get yet. Save, exit the room and continue right. Keep following the path and you'll soon find a holodisplay of two girls singing or something. To the right of that is a switch, remember it. Keep heading down, then to the left. You'll pass another two switches, remember them or play with them if you want. Continue left and go in the orange door you'll find. Head up to the bridge. Head straight up the ramp and talk to the Captain. You'll get a cutscene. After the cutscene, head towards the elevator and you'll get another E-Mail. Read it, and save the attachment. Go down the elevator when you're done. As soon as you exit the elevator, you'll get paged and informed you have a package waiting. So let's go get it! Head back to the right, and follow the path up. Walk around the left side of the first plant holder thing you see, and you'll get another E-Mail. This one is requesting you invest in a company, but you need 500G to do it. You don't have to do this, but you really should, because it'll help you later. If you choose to invest, invest in Vector-Tenan Pharmaceuticals. Continue heading up and follow the path to the left and go through the door. Continue left back to the A.G.W.S. hangar. Once inside, talk to the man sitting down on the left and you'll get your M.W.S.! Leave the hanger, Shion mentions she's tired, so I guess we'll go to sleep. One thing to take care of first. Head to the right and go down the first chance you get. Go through the door, then head left and follow the path to the next door. Keep heading down, and go back into the Realian maintenance lab, exiting through the door on the bottom right. Head right some more, and then go down when you can. If you don't want to collect all the E-Mails, head up instead and go into Shion's room, save and rest. Otherwise, keep going down and through the next door, then to the left. Go through the door there, then head up. Head back into the KOS-MOS lab and wander around on the left side of the room to get another E-Mail, which turns out to be just an ad. Hit the save point up that's near the bottom center of the screen and exit the room from the right again. Head back right and down and through the door, then right some more and through that door. Head all the way up past the SegAd door and take the next door on the right into Shion's room. You'll get a cutscene. After the cutscene, take a rest for another cutscene. Oooh boy, now the proverbial poopy really has hit the fan. For the time being, AVOID ALL ENEMIES. You can't even damage them yet, so just RUN AWAY. If you get in a battle, and don't have any Escape Packs, it's game over for you. As soon as you have control, quickly run back into Shion's room and SAVE. Run up and attack the first enemy blocking your path. Just attack however you want. Eeeep! No damage! RUUUNNN! You'll get a really quick cutscene. When you have control again, quickly run to the right while avoiding all the enemies. Run past the first flashing red switch and quickly press the second one, thus shutting out the baddies. Continue right, then head up. On the right will be a little nook with a control switch in it. Run over and press it. Slip past the Gnosis that's now, uh... distracted. Head up and left and into the first room you see. Save, then head back outside and follow the path left and up. As soon as the monster sees you, quickly run back into the room with the save point. Monster gets bored and wanders off. Attempt to leave the room for a cutscene. When you have control, follow the path left and through the door. Yipes, more mean ghost monsters! Head left, then up the ladder and left again, and press the flashing switch. Just to the left of the switch is two crates, blow them up for a Revive DX and 200 G. Go back down the ladder and head left. Just in the room where you played tag with the two soldiers, one is alive in the corner on the left. Use your radar to find him. Talk to him. After that head up and to the left and go back in the hangar. Talk to the guy in orange that was selling stuff for the Vaporizer Plug-in! Stock up on Med Kits. Buy as many as you can with your remaining cash, you're going to need them. Now head up to the north part of the hangar. Blow up the crates for Frame Repair A x2, Escape Pack and Frame Repair Z x2. Leave the hangar when you're done. Now walk around to the left of the pile of junk. See that brown box? Walk near it so one of the monsters destroys it, then run away and hide behind the yellow panels until both monsters are trapped. Then go get the 200G that was in the box and Veil x2 from the chest. Head to the right and then down where the wounded soldier was. Blow up the junk blocking the path and move down a bit. Yipes! RUN RUN RUN! Just like you did in the game of tag, and back through the corridor. After a bit the monsters give up and you get Decoder 7! Use it on the red door right there and grab the Robot Part Right Arm from the chest. Head back out and to the right. Well... I guess they came 'cause they're hungry. Go back to the left and head down through the door. You'll get a cutscene. When you have control, search the guy next to you and get the Crewman's Key. Just to the left of him is the door, open it. Go inside and grab the SMP53AG in the chest (Missile Pod for A.G.W.S.). Go back out and down to the next door, enter and save. Exit the room, head down again and through the door. Another cutscene and then... ******************************************************************************* >>> BOSS BATTLE <<< C Y C L O P S >>> BOSS BATTLE <<< ******************************************************************************* -[ Boss Stats ]- HP: 560 STR: 20 VIT: 11 EATK: 21 EDEF: 12 DEX: 20 EVA: 8 AGL: 6 EXP: 560 T.Pts: 30 E.Pts: 16 S.Pts: 24 GP: 800 Type: Gnosis Weakness: Lightning Rare Item: None Item: Ether Pack S Party: Shion, KOS-MOS, Soldier This boss can be pretty tough. Use Physical attacks instead of Ether attacks because any Ether attack makes the boss charge up for his Spread Beam attack, which hits everyone, and gives him the ability to Counter Boost. So stick with physical. He uses a regular machine gun attack which does around 30 damage to one of your characters. Plus he has an attack called Acid Hand, which hits one member and causes the Physical Defense down status. And finally he has his Spread Beam attack which hits everybody for a good deal of damage. However, if you stick to using physical attacks, he should only use his machine gun and Acid Hand. Just beat him up, and heal when needed and he should go down quick. ******************************************************************************* >>> B O S S D E F E A T E D ! <<< ******************************************************************************* Another cutscene. Now you can take on any enemies and actually hurt them. Good idea to kill everything and get a couple levels. When you get control, blow up the stuff on the wall for an Ether Pack and a Med Kit. Continue right for a really quick scene, then head in the room, and hit the switch. Go back up and into Shion's room, rest and save. Go back out and up, take out the baddies. Blow up the thing in the middle of the room for a Bio Sphere. Then head past the flames and through the door. -[ LEVEL UP TIME ]- Now is a good time to wander around a bit in these next few areas and level up. Evolve Shion's Ethers, and any of KOS-MOS' you can afford to do. If you get them, and have enough E.Pts, transfer Medica All and Boost 1 to KOS-MOS. Don't forget to upgrade your Tech Attack's speed to HI! In this area, blow up the pillar thing directly in front of you for Revive x2. Kill the baddies, then head take the right path and follow it up and left. Go in the first door you see. Save, blow up the glass, kill the baddie and grab the Decoder 18 from the chest. Exit the room and head to the left, following the path through the door. Keep heading left and if you need to, visit the shop in the A.G.W.S. hangar. Otherwise, where you played tag, head down. Blow up the thing in the middle of the room for a Bio Sphere. Then head down and through that door. Follow the path left and all the way down and through the next door. Keep heading down. On the right, before the busted up bridge, there is four crates. Blow them up to get a Stim. Head back up, and follow the path back around. Take the first right you can (at the Seg. Ad. No. 7 door). Head through the door, then head down and take that door. Head down to Shion's room and save. Then continue heading down and open up Segment Address No. 18 for a Coat - Lightning. Equip it on KOS-MOS or Shion. Keep moving down, and take on the three Gnosis feasting. Try to kill these guys quick, they can Counter Boost, and hurt. Keep moving down until you see the busted up machinery. On the left are some crates for you to blow up, with Escape Pack x2. Now head down some more and blow up the stuff along the wall for Revive x3. Finally, head through the door for a cutscene. Interesting twist, eh? Get used to it, happens all the time. Anyway, you saw the cutscene, and now... ******************************************************************************* >>> BOSS BATTLE << M I N O T A U R >>> BOSS BATTLE <<< ******************************************************************************* -[ Minotaur Stats ]- HP: 920 STR: 20 VIT: 12 EATK: 20 EDEF: 15 DEX: 26 EVA: 8 AGL: 6 EXP: 150 T.Pts: 42 E.Pts: 30 S.Pts: 12 GP: 0 Type: Gnosis Weakness: Beam Rare Item: Skill Upgrade Z Item: Skill Upgrade S Party: Shion, KOS-MOS -[ Skyfish Stats ]- HP: 240 STR: 25 VIT: 11 EATK: 18 EDEF: 11 DEX: 18 EVA: 18 AGL: 7 EXP: 150 T.Pts: 3 E.Pts: 6 S.Pts: 2 GP: 0 Type: Gnosis Weakness: Pierce Rare Item: None Item: Escape Pack This guy has two friends with him, Sky Fish. Every baddie here is of the flying type, so you're stuck using long range attacks. Minotaur has two attacks he favors. Thunderbolt E/L hits one person and does about 30-60 damage (unless you've equipped the Coat-Lightning accessory). Gravity Pulse E does 40-60 damage and it hits everyone. He also has an attack called Diffusion Beam E/B which hits everyone for about 40-50 damage. The Sky Fish usually just Slash and that can do as much as 60 damage to one person. The Sky Fish and Minotaur can Boost, and Minotaur can Counter Boost. Take out the Sky Fish first, then concentrate on Minotaur. R-CANNON works extremely well. If Shion is getting beat up, you can do one of two things with her. Either stick her in the Rearguard behind KOS-MOS, or put her in her A.G.W.S. The SMG does over 100 damage, so it's handy. Just remember to heal, and get rid of those pesky Sky Fish first. You'll do fine. ******************************************************************************* >>> B O S S D E F E A T E D ! <<< ******************************************************************************* Good job, now watch the lengthy cutscene. That's it for the Woglinde. Next up... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> VII-c. Pleroma SWT01C ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -[ Enemies In This Area ]- Cyber Crab (M), Gardis F10 (M), Gardis M1 (M), U-TIC Soldier (B) -[ Items In This Area ]- Normal: Ether Upgrade S x2, 100 G, Bio Sphere x3, Ether Pack S x3, Ether Pack x2, Ether Upgrade Z, Med Kit, Med Kit S x9, Revive x3, Speed Stim, Veil x2 Accesories: Scope, Snake Hunter, Thief Ring Special: Decoder 4, Decoder 11, Master Key For the time being, try to avoid the enemies in this area. Remember, holding down R2 will make you walk. Hide behind stuff and don't move when you're in an enemies line of sight. If you get attacked, it's not game over, but the battles are a little hard all by yourself. There are two types of soldiers here, ones with 90 HP and the other has 120 HP. The 90 HP ones are nothing of concern, however the 120 HP ones have a Mustard Bomb attack which hits everyone and can cause poison. Also, Ziggy's Ignition combo works very well against all of the soldiers (square+triangle attack). First thing to do is hit up the nearby save point, and save. Then head up, and into the nook by the machines. Blow up the crates for a Scope accessory. Blow up the big red barrel for Ether Upgrade S x2. Equip the Scope and head up and to the right, towards the brick passage, for a quick cutscene. Ah, stuff always breaks when ya need it. Okay, now, be careful to avoid enemy contact. Watch their patrol routes and avoid them. Battle doesn't mean death, but at this point, it's far easier not to get in fights. Head to the right when you're ready. When you get to the next room, blow up the thing on the wall right below you for Revive x2. Directly above you is another shelf thing, blow it up, and the wall behind it for a hidden passage. Follow the passage to the left for a Snake Hunter in the chest, and equip it. Blow up the mural up here to reveal Segment Address No. 4. Go back down and continue heading right. Near the center of the room with the huge flame candle-things, is a statue. Blow it up for Decoder 11. Then continue heading right, past the Chapel. In this area you're confronted with an A.G.W.S. you must avoid. To the lower left of your position is a crane. Press the red switch and then go down the ladder and to the right. Quick cutscene. Kill these two fools. If you haven't figured it out yet, Physical Attacks work best, so just beat them down. You'll get a quick cutscene. Time to get a key. Head to the left, and down the ramp into the next room. Then down the stairs. Try to avoid the enemies, but make your way to the left first to get Veil x2 from the chest, then head right and down through the door. Take your first left into a room with a bunch of crates for an Ether Pack S, a Bio Sphere, a Med Kit S, 100 G and a Revive. Head back out, and then down just a bit, into the door on the right. Ignore the flashy switch for now, we can't use it. Now you have to fight the robot in this room. Beware, he has 450HP, so heal up first. Use Lightning Fist repeatedly, and heal when necessary. Also, ignore his little friends, just concentrate on the main robot dude. Then grab the Master Key from the chest and leave the room, heading back up and to the left, then up the stairs. Use the Master Key to open the door, and welcome your new party member, MOMO! Ah crap. That sneaky guard. If you want, stick MOMO behind Ziggy in the battle formation. Don't worry about fights now, you can take anyone on, as MOMO can heal. In the room just to the left of MOMO's cell is a save point, so use it. In the room just left of that is a crate with a Speed Stim. Grab it and head to the left (not down the ramp). You did save right? Good, cause get ready for a hard fight. Time to beat up on this A.G.W.S. Here we go! ******************************************************************************* >>> BOSS BATTLE <<< M E R C U R I O >>> BOSS BATTLE <<< ******************************************************************************* -[ Boss Stats ]- HP: 640 STR: 45 VIT: 24 EATK: 10 EDEF: 17 DEX: 10 EVA: 4 AGL: 6 EXP: 150 T.Pts: 10 E.Pts: 4 S.Pts: 6 GP: 200 Type: Mechanical Weakness: Lightning Rare Item: None Item: Med Kit S Party: Ziggy, MOMO Okay, first of all, this guy can do a ton of damage in one hit. But we're gonna make it so he gets very few attacks. If MOMO isn't already behind Ziggy, put her there. She'll get killed in one hit from this guy if you're not careful. This guy does about 115 damage normally, and can crit for near 200. He doesn't have any special attacks worth mentioning. He does, however, use Absolute Defense, which will render your attacks more useless than they already are. Just guard or heal when this happens. So what do you do? Use Sheep Beam. Mercurio goes to sleep. Have Ziggy charge up and use his Lightning Fist attack, then have MOMO Sheep Beam him again. This should prevent him from getting in any attacks. If he does attack, have MOMO use Life Shot on Ziggy, then Sheep Beam Mercurio on her next turn. I found on my fourth play of this game that physical attacks worked better than ether, so you might want to try that out. This fight is gonna take a while, so be patient. Pound on him till he goes down and you'll get a Decoder 4. ******************************************************************************* >>> B O S S D E F E A T E D ! <<< ******************************************************************************* Now go up the ladder and head left. Ah, crap, a whole buncha guards. No good, head right and back down the ladder, to the right again. Save again, then go down the ramp to the left, down the stairs and to the right. Go through the door, and head into the first door on the right. You'll get a very quick cutscene. Press the flashy switch and then exit the room. Head down and go through the door on the left for yet another cutscene. Argh, another one of those robot things... this time he has more friends. You can either avoid them and run, or fight. It's up to you. Just head left. On the way, there's a barrel next to a door which gives you a Med Kit after you blow it to bits. Go in the door and head all the way up and grab an Ether Upgrade Z from the chest. To the left of the chest, blow up the altar for Ether Pack x2 and all the way to the right, blow the one up for an Ether Pack S. Exit this room and further left, there's two barrels, one of which holds a Revive. Then continue left past a few sets of ladders. Once you get into the area with the grates above your head, on the left side just as you enter is a barrel with an Ether Pack S. After getting that, head left some more until you see a ladder. Before you climb up, change the Battle Formation so that MOMO is directly behind Ziggy. Climb up it for a cutscene, and then... ******************************************************************************* >>> BOSS BATTLE <<< Z O L F O >>> BOSS BATTLE <<< ******************************************************************************* -[ Zolfo Stats ]- HP: 820 STR: 42 VIT: 19 EATK: 10 EDEF: 6 DEX: 20 EVA: 14 AGL: 6 EXP: 200 T.Pts: 22 E.Pts: 50 S.Pts: 16 GP: 200 Type: Mechanical Weakness: Lightning Rare Item: None Item: None Party: Ziggy, MOMO -[ Mercurio Stats ]- HP: 640 STR: 40 VIT: 18 EATK: 10 EDEF: 4 DEX: 16 EVA: 8 AGL: 6 EXP: 150 T.Pts: 8 E.Pts: 10 S.Pts: 6 GP: 200 Type: Mechanical Weakness: Lightning Rare Item: None Item: None This can look like a really tough battle, but it's not. Using the right Ethers will pretty much let you sit back and do nothing. If she's not already, stick MOMO behind Ziggy. She's weak and we don't need her getting killed or wasting EP healing herself. Also, these Mercurios are much weaker than the one you fought earlier for Decoder 4. Zolfo has a Grenade Launcher P attack which can hit anyone, front or back row, and it does about 60-90 damage. So keep an eye on MOMO's health. Don't let her die, you need her. Otherwise they just use their guns, 30-60 damage depending on your level. The trick here, is to use Sheep Beam on the Mercurio guys. This will put them to sleep. Sometimes, Zolfo gets mad at them, and shoots them (to wake them up) for 100+ damage (almost 200 dmg if he gets a crit!!) Use that to your advantage. Keep the Mercurios asleep and use Lightning Fist on Zolfo. If the Mercurios are getting on your nerves, put one to sleep, and focus on beating up the other one. DON'T FORGET to give MOMO Ether Packs when her EP gets low! If nothing else, you need her for her Ethers!! Also, don't attack when these guys guard. You can tell when they do this, as they bring their shield directly in front of them. Just guard or heal. And DON'T put them to sleep in this state, either. It looks like a hard fight, but it's not. Ziggy's attacks actually do some good damage against these guys (even better if you wait for the Crit Rate Up Event Slot). This isn't like the A.G.W.S. fight for Decoder 4, it's actually much easier, and there's 3 of them... figure that one out, heh. ******************************************************************************* >>> B O S S D E F E A T E D ! <<< ******************************************************************************* When you have control again, blow up the stuff in this room for Bio Sphere x2 and Med Kit S x8. YES EIGHT! Nice. Heal up if you need to and head through the door on the top right. Head up the stairs and on the left side of this room is a save point, use it. Head up past the save point, and out the door. Look familiar? Yep, we're almost out. Anyway, head right towards the next room where the secret passage was I told you about, then go up it and open up Segment Address No. 4. Grab the Thief Ring from the chest, leave the room, then head back left. You should equip the Thief Ring on somebody. It increases your chance for getting Rare Items by 10%, which will come in handy. -[ LEVEL UP TIME ]- Now is a good time to gain some levels for Ziggy and MOMO. There's a rather tough (or should I say REALLY tough) Boss battle coming up, so some extra levels wouldn't hurt. Equip the Snake Hunter accessory on MOMO so she doesn't get poisoned. These guys drop Med Kits and Antidotes so you should do fine. Try to get Ziggy's Lightning Fist and Cyber Kick Tech Attack to HI slots, you're gonna need 'em. Also, don't forget to Evolve Ziggy and MOMO's Ethers. With the standard U-TIC soldier enemies, you can use MOMO for attacking. Her Ether attacks do some fairly good damage against these guys, and if she crits, she can take out the weakest of them in one turn. You can go back in the door you came through to save, so don't forget to do that. Also, make sure you save some Ether Packs and Med Kits for the upcoming battle. You should have a couple Bio Spheres by now, so you can use them to heal on Save Points. After that, make sure you have MOMO behind Ziggy, and you're all healed up, and head all the way left for... ******************************************************************************* >>> BOSS BATTLE <<< M A R G U L I S >>> BOSS BATTLE <<< ******************************************************************************* -[ Boss Stats ]- HP: 820 STR: 40 VIT: 27 EATK: 30 EDEF: 20 DEX: 16 EVA: 18 AGL: 11 EXP: 2400 T.Pts: 58 E.Pts: 60 S.Pts: 26 GP: 3000 Type: Biological Weakness: None! Rare Item: Purple Ring Item: Red Ring Party: Ziggy, MOMO All right! Prepare yourself for a tough fight! First things first, this guys attacks. His normal slashing attack does anywhere from 60-100+ damage. He also uses Spirit Rain, which comes in two flavors: Lightning Phoenix and Flame Dragon. Lightning Phoenix will absorb lightning-type attacks for 1 turn (so don't use Lightning Fist!) and Flame Dragon will absorb fire-based attacks for 1 turn (no Cyber Kick!). He also has an attack called Rune Blade which will hit for around 100 damage to one char, and knock them to the back row (but you did put MOMO behind Ziggy, right?). His final attack is Hell's Crest, which will hit everybody. To start, Ziggy casts My Guard or Bodyguard on himself, then uses a Stim (if you still have it) on himself for a Physical Attack boost. Hopefully you've upgraded Cyber Kick and Lightning Fist to HI slots. Pay attention to Spirit Rain and DO NOT attack with what he absorbs. Have Ziggy pound this guy and use MOMO to heal him, every single turn. If she runs out of EP, have her give herself an Ether Pack. I had Ziggy at level 10 and MOMO at level 8. I used Bodyguard and a Stim on Ziggy and Margulis went down in 4 hits. One of my Cyber Kicks crit'd for 498!! On another game I played, I had Ziggy at 9 and MOMO at 7 and I hadn't upgraded any of my Techs either. I was still able to win, but I had to use Life Shot pretty much every turn. After a while, this guy will go down. Try your hardest to kill him when the Points Up slot is on the Event Slot, 'cause he already gives lots of Pts. MORE Pts is just awesome, right?!! ******************************************************************************* >>> B O S S D E F E A T E D ! <<< ******************************************************************************* Watch the cutscene, take a break and get ready for the next part of the story! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> VII-d. Elsa (Part I) SWT01D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -[ Items In This Area ]- Normal: Ether Pack, Med Kit x3, Ether Upgrade S x3, Ether Upgrade A x11, 900 G, Bio Sphere x2, Med Kit DX Accessories: Coat-Beam, Fiber Suit